What Makes a “Good” Sac Closure?
As always—and possibly for the last time—a disclaimer: No closure announcements have been made as of now for Sac or any other SPS school.
The writing on the wall is in billboard-sized font, though. So we continue to prepare.
Remember the Sac closure survey that the PTA sent around a few weeks ago? If you haven’t yet contributed, please do! I update the results daily. I’d like the widest range of viewpoints to be represented at the moment when any announcement is made.
Major Takeaways: Family Choice, Redrawn Boundaries
If Sac has to close, what outcomes would make that closure satisfactory? What do Sac families actually want?
Here’s a two-pager that communicates the core of our community’s wishes. This includes the survey results plus a few themes that arose in August/September community meetings. Thank you to everyone who participated in those forums and in the creation of the flyer.
Survey data shows that a Sac merger into John Rogers is unpopular. Sac families would rather send their students to a nearby school of their choice, particularly Hazel Wolf or Olympic View.
Geographic data shows that a Sac merger into John Rogers is unsustainable. A core merger question will be: How much room is there in nearby (closer) schools for displaced Sac families?
Is Anyone Listening?
I’ve shared the 2-pager with both Superintendent Shuldiner and the board.
In a brief conversation with me, Shuldiner indicated that he is aware of the importance of planning properly for Sac’s special ed students (particularly Distinct and Pre-K, who were not included in concrete plans in 2024).
He is also aware that the availability of seats in schools nearby to Sac is going to be an important question during closure discussions. He is working with staff to get exact numbers.
A few members of the board have acknowledged the contents of the 2-pager as well. The board doesn’t directly control closure outcomes, but they are certainly working closely with Shuldiner and they can influence the details and tone of any closure plans.
I am loving the yard signs that are popping up all around the neighborhood. Thanks, Anders!
Key Questions to Ask During Closure Engagement
Since August, our community has developed a shared understanding of what we want if Sac has to close. The details (rumors) about what the district is planning are a bit more specific as well.
Given all that, here are the five questions that I think are most likely to be central in closure discussions. We can work together to keep these front and center during community engagement sessions related to closures.
How realistic is family choice?
If family choice is the primary mitigation on offer, it’s important for us to understand how extensive choice really is.
How many schools near to Sac have availability to receive Sac students who don’t want to merge into John Rogers?
Family choice is technically available to all of us already, through the spring choice process. But Hazel Wolf K-8, the top choice of Sac families, is full.
Olympic View, which is only six blocks away from Sacajawea, has a bit more availability. How many Sac families could opt into Olympic View if they wanted? Does this vary by grade level (probably)? By special ed pathway (definitely)?
What is the transportation plan?
No elementary schooler is realistically going to walk across Lake City Way—a five-lane highway—and then walk another half mile or more to get to school.
What kind of transportation is the district going to offer to Sac families who are being displaced to John Rogers?
The option of busing to John Rogers may make the difference for some families who are willing to go there but cannot fathom walking and cannot arrange for alternate transportation on their own.
What is the plan for after care?
Of the 64 students represented in they survey, 40 use Sac’s on-site Boys & Girls club. What is the after-care plan for these families in a transition to John Rogers?
The district presumably has the exact count of students attending Club. The number is obviously higher than the 40 in our survey. We should press the district for details about what opportunities will replace the Club support that so many families rely upon to get to work.
What is the plan for determining long-term use of the Sac building?
Who is accountable for keeping the building safe and maintained in the interim?
Roughly half of the surveyed Sac families use the Sac grounds on weekends or evenings at least once a month. Some kids use it daily. Closure discussions are the time when we are most likely to secure concrete promises (with plans and budgets) to keep the playgrounds accessible.
Our community survey doesn’t even include the usage from neighbors with kids who don’t go to Sac: middle schoolers, toddlers, folks who want to whack a tennis ball against the giant brick wall, etc.
I think we have the momentum and capacity to see building outcomes through the long haul. The survey identified eight people interested in joining a steering committee to help shape the future of a (hypothetically) closed Sac building. Another fourteen folks are willing to pitch in occasionally to help execute the committee’s plans.
This is a heartening level of engagement for this topic! And that’s before we’ve even reached out to neighbors of the building who don’t have kids enrolled in Sac.
Not only is it enough to execute organizing, it’s enough to show the district that the community really does care about what happens next to Sac as a property.
What is the plan for long-term rezoning?
An attendance zone combining Sacajawea and John Rogers makes little sense.
What is the long term plan for rezoning in Northeast Seattle? Surely the long term plan can’t be to take students who live three blocks from Olympic View halfway across the region to John Rogers. Right?
Without a plan, the region is going to keep bumping up against overloads in some schools (i.e. Hazel Wolf) and underenrollments in others (i.e. John Rogers, Cedar Park, Sac).
If we want to avoid further major disruptions, it’s time to rezone the region in a way that makes sense for both families and the district.
A huge thank you to everyone who has completed the survey or joined me at any of the community meetings this fall. Thanks to the folks who chatted with me as I flyered the pickup line, who helped with translations, and who have offered feedback on scheduling and communications.
Thanks to to the district leadership who has engaged in conversation with us about the Sac community’s hopes for decent closure outcomes.
And a special thanks to Anders for the “We 💙 Sacajawea” signs that have sprouted up across the neighborhood. These have been such a lovely morale boost during a time of big uncertainty.
See you all out there soon!
Julie