Schmitz Park Elementary will close at the end of the school year and students will begin attending the new Genesee Hill Elementary starting this fall. The building may find some uses for pre-school, private schools or other programmatic needs by the Seattle Public Schools but the matter is not yet resolved.
What will become of Schmitz Park Elementary once it closes this fall? The students will all move to the new Genesee Hill elementary which according to the Seattle Public Schools is at or near capacity. The same question looms over Roxhiil Elementary whose attendees, teachers and staff will all move to the now empty E.C. Hughes building in the fall of 2017. Westside School moved from there to their new facility in Arbor Heights this past fall.
The issues of meeting capacity, and what do with empty school buildings are those that districts across the nation face as populations shift, programs shrink or expand, budgets are reduced or altered.
Seattle School Board member Leslie Harris said, “We’re looking into things but there is no solid plan right now.”
Some ideas have been proposed including converting the buildings to child care or pre-schools but Harris points out that the Schmitz Park facility would be too expensive to operate for that purpose. Private schools might have a need for it and another option would be to make it a magnet school. Public schools with specialized courses or curricula.
Flip Herndon, Assistant Superintendent said, “The district has to look at programmatic needs K-12 first. If we only had a few child care rooms being used, we’d have to bill those folks for the whole building. When a building is operating there are some custodial costs. They would bear the full cost.”
He’s hoping to have more answers in about a month after meetings with teachers and staff at nearby schools including Madison Middle School and West Seattle High School.
He said that additional programs that may need to find space could find a home there but that it is quite possible with continued growth Schmitz Park could become a neighborhood school again at some point in the future.
Both Schmitz Park and Roxhill are in serious need of renovation and upgrades but short of a new capitol levy they will remain as is said Herndon.
In the meantime former students and others are invited to attend the Schmitz Park History Celebration Friday, June 3rd, 2016 @ 6:30 p.m.
