To address those who think the Olympia School District is only losing students due to birth rate decreases as well as high housing costs. But here are the facts DIRECTLY from OSPI: The Tumwater School District Declined 1% from Oct 2019 to Oct 2023, the North Thurston Public School District declined by 3.5% (the state average) from Oct 2019 to Oct 2023, and the Olympia School District declined from Oct 2019 to Oct 2023 over 7%.
Here is Director Scott Clifthorne's direct quote from 4-25-2024 during his comments at the end of the meeting:
"…And that's not a future I want to be a part of administering, right. None of us joined the School Board because we are hoping to supervise the decline of a once great school district. Right? We ran for these offices because we were interested in making sure that there were real advancements in equity and inclusion.
We ran for this board because we saw well, at least I'll speak to myself personally, a wave of Trumpism taking over decision making at school districts all over this country. And people like me were like you're gone. I'm gonna run, run for school board before something like that in my community happens. And I will take exception with one important talking point that has been reported a few times, and I think it's really problematic. And it's this idea that we as a board have driven students out of this school district with our woke politics.
Okay, no way alright.
This school board, this school district, as long as I'm in this community the pride proclamations are gonna keep happening. The Black Lives Matter proclamations are gonna keep happening. We will continue to invest in these schools until they're safe, and equitable places for all students, irrespective of their color, of their skin, their gender identity and gender expression. And if anyone has a problem with that cause you don’t want to be in a school district where those are the values, bye."
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