Task force will recommend district close Highland Terrace Elementary

Parents from Syre, Highland Terrace and Brookside wait to hear which of the three schools will be chosen for closure - photo by Oliver Moffat

By Oliver Moffat

A task force will recommend the district close Highland Terrace Elementary next year.

 
At an October 15 meeting, while parents watched from a nearby assembly room, the School Capacity Review and Closure Consideration task force voted to remove Syre Elementary and Brookside Elementary from further consideration for closure and will recommend the school board close Highland Terrace Elementary at the October 22, School Board Meeting. 

The district will hold two public hearings about the closure: one December 4th at Highland Terrace and another later in January. 

To redraw the elementary school boundaries, the district is assembling a new Boundaries Committee that will meet starting in November through the end of January. Information on the Boundaries Committee and information on how to apply is available on the district’s website.

A map from the Shoreline school district website shows the current nine elementary school boundaries 

Once home to three high schools, five junior highs and nineteen elementary schools with nearly 18,000 students at its peak, the Shoreline School District has shrunk to just over 9,000 students and is once again facing budget shortfalls. Shoreline has a long history of closing schools dating back to the end of the baby boom more than fifty years ago. The last time Shoreline went through this painful process was in 2006 when the district shuttered North City Elementary and Sunset Elementary. 

Elementary School Closures in the Shoreline School District (Closure Year):

• Hamlin Park Elementary (1965)
• Cedarbrook Elementary (1971)
• Cromwell Park Elementary (1971)
• Paramount Park School (1971)
• Richmond Beach Elementary (1971)
• Ronald Elementary (1971)
• Aldercrest Elementary (1982)
• Hillwood Elementary (1982)
• Horizon View Elementary (1982)
• Meridian Elementary (1982)
• North City Elementary (2007)
• Sunset Elementary (2007)

Earlier this year, the district assembled the School Capacity Review and Closure Consideration task force to recommend which of the district’s ten elementary schools the School Board and Superintendent Dr. Susana Reyes could close next year. 

The task force spared Meridian Park, Cascade K-8, Parkwood and Briarcrest in May and Lake Forest Park and Ridgecrest were removed from closure consideration in June. 

Echo Lake Elementary was spared by the task force at an October 1 meeting. 

The final decision on whether to close a school and if so, which one, is entirely up to the elected School Board and Superintendent Dr. Susana Reyes. The closure decision and any new school boundaries is expected to be finalized in time for Kindergarten open enrollment in January of 2025. 

Facing a budget emergency, the Shoreline School Board approved a budget this year with a deficit of over $4 million. The district estimates closing an elementary school will save about $1.2 to $1.3 million per year and forecasts it will deplete its unreserved funds next year. 

Although closing a school may be necessary to balance the budget, it will likely be insufficient because teacher and staff compensation accounts for 87% of the district’s $182 million budget.

Despite the McCleary decision, in which the state Supreme Court ordered the Legislature to increase funding for schools, Washington still lags behind other states in adequately funding K-12 education. According to School Financial Data, relative to Washington’s economic output, the state spends less to fund public schools than the national average. 

Schools across the state are facing budget shortfalls, laying off staff and closing schools. In a letter to Governor Inslee, Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal said “no matter how you look at the numbers, Washington currently underfunds K–12 education by around $4 billion per year.”

The local chapter of the Washington Educators Association will be hosting an Education Funding Crisis Town Hall on Wednesday, October 23, 2024, from 6 - 7:30pm at Edmonds-Woodway High School. Legislators from the 1st, 21st, 32nd, 44th and 45th legislative districts have been invited. 
 
A November ballot measure (2109) if approved by voters, would repeal the state’s capital gains tax, which collects up to $500 million per year for schools.

Information on how to attend a school board meeting and submit public comment is available on the district’s website. 

Corrections: Dates were corrected in the beginning of the article.