All Together For Seattle Schools
Ways to Advocate for our Seattle Students and Schools Right Now
COME TOGETHER, ALL TOGETHER
RALLY TO SAVE ALL OUR SCHOOLS
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9TH FROM 3:45 - 5:30PM
Before the next School Board Meeting
At the John Stanford Center (SPS District Office), 2445 3rd Ave S, Seattle, WA 98134
It’s clear our last rally in September had a major impact. But we won't be divided. The Superintendent describes the revised plan to close just 5 schools in 2025-2026 as “an initial set of schools” and School Board president Liza Rankin says she still wants to close more than five schools “over time.” Clearly SPS still wants to close as many as 20 schools—but now intends to phase this in, picking off a few schools at a time.
Read our statement about the district's plan to pursue phased-in closures.
We’re rallying because:
We stand in solidarity against all closures and cuts, and for fully funded schools.
Even five closures will cause a lot of disruption to students and families.
A school closure plan lacks vision and ignores the root causes of decreased enrollment and budget crisis.
It’s unclear where budget savings will come from, and how this will affect all our schools.
We can see that the district is still planning a mass school closure—just stretching it out across more than one year, hoping that the media and community attention will ebb.
There is a better way—come together to tell the School Board we are ready to fight together for the legislature to fully fund all our schools!
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 9th, 2024
Agenda is live, and relevant materials will be posted 24 hours in advance.
Public Comment is at 5pm
There will be a "Well-Resourced Schools Update"
Sign up to testify, and consider using our recent Statement about the announcement that SPS will pursue a "phased approach" for closures.
WHAT YOU CAN DO NOW
SIGN UP FOR THE ALL TOGETHER FOR SEATTLE SCHOOLS NEWSLETTER TO STAY UP TO DATE
ENGAGE YOUR SCHOOL & COMMUNITY: We have created a set of communication tools that you can use to inform and engage your community. Our drive includes ready-to-print or shared materials such as window signs, educational flyers, and social media images. These resources are designed to support your advocacy efforts and help mobilize parents, students, and community members.
CONTACT YOUR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES
Visit fundsps.com to send letters to the school board and state legislators
Learn more about Well-Resourced Schools plans, timeline, and FAQs.
SEPTEMBER 2024
SIGN OUR NEW OPEN LETTER URGING SPS TO CHANGE COURSE AWAY FROM MASS SCHOOL CLOSURES
In May 2024, SPS unveiled a plan that would close 20 of our ~70 elementary and K-8 schools beginning in the 2025-2026 school year, among other sweeping changes. We delivered two Open Letters to SPS leadership signed by hundreds of people opposing mass school closures and urging the district to maintain alternative learning programs.
Despite community feedback in multiple community meetings and evidence showing this plan will not come close to addressing the budget deficit, SPS has not changed course.
We believe they should change course. We urge SPS to design a student-centered school system full of diverse, high-quality schools, not attempt to solve a budget crisis as the expense of our students. Join us in signing our new letter to the Superintendent and School Board urging them to do so.
This site was developed by a group of Seattle Public Schools (SPS) parents from across the city and of different backgrounds. We support public education as foundational to democracy and to achieving racial equity within our society. We believe every child deserves a safe, nurturing, and enriching public school experience that allows each child to achieve their full potential.
We believe that in the face of a budget crisis, SPS needs to partner with families, communicate more transparently, and advocate to the state legislature for increased school funding.
Our goal is to offer clear and concise information so that all of us together can understand what's happening at SPS, and all of us together can advocate for our schools, educators, and students.
Questions?
Contact AllTogetherForSPS@gmail.com to get more information on this effort
In the news:
About 300 parents and students wore red and chanted “Save our schools!” outside Seattle Public Schools headquarters Wednesday.
A Seattle Public Schools board meeting is underway as parents and students rally outside, calling for no school closures.
In the South End, parents, students, and educators are coming to grips with proposed massive school closures and their effects on children — especially marginalized and vulnerable students.
Ahead of Wednesday's Seattle Public Schools board meeting, parents and community members held a rally outside the district headquarters in protest of the potential school closures.
The Seattle School Board is now scheduled to vote June 26 on the district budget — which holds in the balance the district’s plan to close 20 elementary schools.
Seattle parents will get more details next week on the school district's proposal to close up to 20 elementary schools by the fall of 2025.
After a proposal to close 20 elementary schools during a Seattle Public Schools board meeting Wednesday, parents have a lot to say.
A week after the Seattle School Board directed Superintendent Brent Jones to draft a plan to close as many as 20 elementary schools in the city, causing thousands of kids and staff to shift buildings, SPS announced a series of community meetings in May and June.
NEW SEATTLE SCHOOLS FISCAL PLAN: NO CLOSURES NEXT YEAR BUT 'NOTHING IS OFF THE TABLE'
The Seattle School Board on Wednesday gave its stamp of approval to a financial stabilization plan that includes no school closures for the nest school year.
WE MUST HOLD THE STATE ACCOUNTABLE FOR ADEQUATE SCHOOL FUNDING
It's an uncomfortable, deeply concerning truth: Our public schools are facing dire financial straits.
SEATTLE SCHOOL CLOSURES COULD HINGE ON NEW ENROLLMENT, CAPACITY COUNTS
Faced with declining enrollment and a $104.4 million deficit, Seattle Public Schools administrators will roll out a fiscal stabilization plan Wednesday that could pave the way for school closures and consolidations.
NO SEATTLE SCHOOL CLOSURE RECOMMENDED FOR 2024-2025
No school closures for the 2024-25 school year.
That is Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Bret Jones' recommendation to the SPS board this week.