With the Procession of the Species back, Madison Lions ROARED through town to cheers, smiles, hugs and dancing with Board Members. The rain was symbolic in washing things away and giving everyone a fresh start to continue to work together.

Olympia School District School Board has no objections to Superintendent’s recommendation to keep all schools open

Ahhhhh…..we can all breathe a sigh of relief for next year. At last night’s packed Board Meeting, the Board unanimously agreed to move forward with Superintendent Murphy’s recommended Budget Plan 1 to KEEP ALL SCHOOLS OPEN for next year. The room erupted in cheers, tears and a standing ovation.

Will the OSD Board finally announce school closures are off the table for next year? Superintendent Patrick Murphy will review two initial four-year budget plans with the Board at today’s regular meeting.

Tomorrow is the day. April 25th. We’ve come so far on this crazy ride together and have much to reflect on.

If OSD cuts the Central Administration budget to 5% (using ‘23-’24 budget data), then it would save over $3.4m. Even a cut to 6% would save nearly $2.0m. Districts typically operate a Central Administration budget at 5-6%

School Board's inability to protect school staff and students over adults at the Knox Building got you down? Yeah, us too...

To be honest - We’re unsure whether school closures are still on the list. At Tuesday night’s LP Brown Elementary PTO meeting, Superintendent Murphy acknowledged the illegal nature of their December 14th vote. Although, he was unwilling to comment on whether school closures were still an option.

Although Judge Egeler ruled the School Board’s actions illegal, and that the process to close schools must stop, the Board remains undeterred from deciding whether to close Madison and/or McKenny Elementary Schools.

15 Elementary and Middle School PTO/PTA/PTSOs signed this letter supporting OSD4ALL's call to pause school closures in favor of consideration of other budgetary solutions with more community engagement.

The current $380K deficit is solvable and the Superintendent can develop a sustainable, 4-year budget keeping all schools open and programs/services at or above existing levels.

Whether you’re for keeping all schools open, or are in support of closures, we all want what’s best for our kids and our community. That means, we’re a TEAM and we have to work together. We have to collaborate, share ideas, LISTEN to each other and TRY different solutions.

The ruling concludes the Board arbitrarily targeted Madison and McKenny when it began the closure process without an adequate written analysis. The Board argued that it fixed the error by developing the analysis after the vote, and by delaying its final decision. The Court disagreed.

THAT IS THE $380K QUESTION
OSD is now projecting a $380K budget deficit on the $182M 2024-2025 budget. This represents 0.2% of the total budget and can be easily overcome with minimal cuts at the Central Administration Office.

When this community was given fear and division, we chose hope and unity.

OSD For All’s community event on Sunday was a testament to what we can accomplish when we all work together!

While OSD4ALL was not a party to the parent’s appeal, we celebrate the Judge’s decision as a win for open and transparent governance. Yet many in our community feel unsettled again. For students, families, teachers, and staff at all our schools, there is a big question of what's next.

Four brave parents of students from Madison and McKenny Elementary Schools took on the Olympia School District School Board when they filed a legal appeal alleging the School Board violated its own policy when on December 14, 2023 it voted to begin the 90-day review to close Madison and Margaret McKenny Elementary Schools.

On Thursday, February 29th the second of two Public Hearings was held at Margaret McKenny Elementary School! Over 500 people braved the weather to join in person.

“We can view this as a crisis, or we can step back and we can see it as an opportunity. We can see it as an opportunity to chart a new course, we can see it as an opportunity to succeed where other districts have failed. We can see this as an opportunity to meet our kids where they’re at in their neighborhoods, and we can see this as an opportunity to deliver a balanced budget and keep our schools open.”

Marissa Smith, Ph.D., Madison Elementary School Parent

If you missed the January 30th OSD4ALL Solutions Forum - OR - just want to relive that magical night, watch the video and get the slides here.