Seattle School Mergers Start as Enrollment Declines

Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Ben Shuldiner has begun conversations about potential school mergers after enrollment dropped below 50,000 students. In a letter to parents, he noted that some students learn in buildings without interior walls, while other schools struggle with split-grade classrooms. A K-8 school with fewer than 50 students and a K-5 school with fewer than 120 students were among those visited by Shuldiner.

Shuldiner said the process will take months, with hearings and conversations to evaluate proposed mergers. This week, he will visit the staff and executive directors of all schools that could be impacted. Family meetings at proposed receiving schools will follow from November through mid-December before a formal list is presented to the Seattle School Board.

Communities will then have 60 days for public hearings in January and February before the school board takes possible action in late February or early March. Shuldiner pledged that families displaced by approved closures will receive priority during open enrollment, and the district will extend the transfer application window until one week after a final board decision.

Shuldiner said he inherited a structural budget deficit and reduced $50 million earlier this year. The district previously delayed merger discussions until finalizing a three-year collective bargaining agreement with the Seattle Education Association. The contract, ratified in September, includes staffing levels, class ratios, and educator wage increases totaling 8.8% to 9.8% for teachers and nearly 11% for paraeducators over three years.

Shuldiner did not publicly release a specific list of schools currently under consideration for mergers or closures. The full newsletter from Shuldiner regarding potential school mergers can be found on the Seattle Public Schools website.