I’ve heard there’s going to be a “Phase II” of closures and consolidations. What’s that?
The School Board initially set a target of closing eleven schools. The Superintendent’s Final Recommendations for Phase I included only seven schools. (One of these – Hughes – is used as an interim site; it does not save any operating costs and does not have a permanent student body.) Phase II was to be a continuation of the process that led to the Phase I recommendations. We anticipated that Phase II would result in four additional closures (West Seattle, the Central Area, and the North end of the city. Closing the Wilson-Pacific building, which houses a number of different programs, was also being considered.) Closures for Phase II was recommended on September 18, 2006 and the School Board voted to table those recommendations indefinitely on October 18, 2006. Thus, there will not be a Phase II closure this year.
