The Olympia School Board, on 12/14/23 at 11:28 p.m., voted 3-2 to start a 90 day decision process to close Margaret McKenny Elementary School and Madison Elementary School after a 6-hour board meeting where parents were limited to just one minute to comment on the issue. They started the comments
at the beginning of the meeting and concluded around 9 p.m.
The vote to start the 90-day process didn't come until just before midnight, after a majority of the parents left the meeting.
The School Board has not presented the community with any other options for ways to save the $3.5 million they “need.” They are only concerned about what they think is right versus listening to the community. They have rushed this process and have not taken any steps in finding an alternate solution for the students.
Closing our schools would have a huge negative impact in our community from children’s mental health, to their fair education opportunity, to positive learning environments. The superintendent and the board members who voted yes to start the 90-day process do not care about the concerns our community has voiced. It is clear that there is a biased agenda happening behind closed doors since the only option they are willing to present is school closures.
The board would be failing the community if it fails to keep our small community schools open. They are failing our children. And we plan to fight to keep our schools open and to look for other ways to save the $3.5 million.
~ Sabrina Enright, Olympia
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kspence4
I'm interested in knowing how much money would be saved by eliminating the Highly Capable program. Why pull kids out of their classes and bus them across town when they could remain in class and receive differentiated instruction from their highly capable teacher?
Thursday, December 21, 2023 Report this
BCBEAN
How much does the "Highly Capable" program cost? Seems like an extra that parents of students in the program should pay for themselves.
Friday, December 22, 2023 Report this