Olympia parents worry school closures are imminent as district plans $4M in cuts
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Parents warned cuts could prompt layoffs and potential school closures.
- Enrollment down 777 since 2019; recent decline accounts for about $1.6M loss.
- District plans $4.1M cut to reach 4.7%; 7% is long-term goal.
The Olympia School District is currently overspending by $1.9 million, Finance Director Kate Davis said during a Feb. 26 board of directors meeting.
She said in order to “plug the hole” and increase the district’s ending fund balance to 4.7%, the 2026-2027 school year budget needs to be cut by $4.1 million. That means 4.7 percent ($8,936,000) of the general fund would be available at the end of the 2026-27 year as reserve funds.
Superintendent Patrick Murphy said he plans to bring a resolution to the board’s March 12 meeting to begin planning for a reduction in force to help meet his budget goals.
According to meeting documents, the district is looking to cut $4,132,000 from 2026-2027 expenditures of $195,863,000.
The district’s current fund balance is projected to end the 2025-2026 school year at about 3.8%, or $6.9 million. Superintendent Patrick Murphy’s ultimate goal is to reach a 7.14% ending fund balance by the 2028-2029 school year, which would mean ending that year with $14,277,000 in reserves, according to meeting documents.
The goal of that, according to the documents, is “to restore financial stability, maintain cash flow, and ensure the district can respond to future financial uncertainties.”
Several district parents spoke during public comment about how Murphy’s goal of increasing the ending fund balance to 7% is optional. Some raised concerns about how more cuts might harm students and possibly put school closures back on the table.
It was not immediately clear how many positions are being considered for elimination by the superintendent.
OSD spokesperson Conor Schober told The Olympian on March 3 that an exact number of positions has not been identified yet. He said that work is still underway as the district refines its enrollment projections, staffing allocations and budget assumptions.
Schober said school closures are not part of the reduction in force plan. He said the focus is on “aligning staffing and expenditures with projected enrollment and revenues.”
“Like many school districts in our region and across the state, we are experiencing a decline in enrollment and inadequate state funding,” he said. “Subsequently, in March, the district will ask the Board to authorize the Reduction-in-Force (RIF) process, should it become necessary.”
Schober said the goal of ending the year with a fund balance that covers one month’s payroll is equal to approximately 7%, which is part of a “long-term financial stabilization plan.”
“A healthier fund balance is intended to stabilize the district’s finances, maintain positive fiscal health indicators and ensure we can meet obligations such as payroll during periods when state revenues are delayed or enrollment fluctuates,” Schober said.
Murphy said at the meeting that the district starts any revenue conversation by talking about enrollment. He said the number of students a district has is the “single greatest provider of revenue” it has available. OSD’s enrollment is down 777 students since the 2019-2020 school year.
Murphy said during the meeting that the Feb. 26 discussion was the first step in the budget cycle. He said there will be more opportunities to participate in the budget process and conversation through surveys, upcoming meetings and work sessions, and possibly more events for students and the community. The budget will be finalized in June.
Declining enrollment
Davis said during the meeting that the district is down 75 students in the 2025-2026 school year compared to the previous year. She said between January and the end of the year, OSD will likely lose an additional 22 students, bringing that number just shy of 100. She said overall, the district is down 777 students since the 2019-2020 school year.
“The biggest declines have been in elementary, around 16.7% in our K-5,” Davis said. “Secondary enrollment has remained more stable, declining about 1% over that same period.”
Davis said the decline in elementary school students is driven by a 30% decline in birth rates within the district. She said in 2019-2020, birth rates were around 642 per year. In 2025, she said the preliminary number is 448.
She said the district is projected to lose another 100 students in the 2026-2027 school year. The largest loss will be at the middle school level, with 54 students, Davis said.
Davis said the loss in revenue from enrollment decline is around $1.6 million. She said if staffing ratios weren’t to change, and they only make cuts at the maintenance level, only four teacher positions would be cut. That would only save $600,000, she said.
“With the decline in enrollment, we do have to take additional cuts because the 100 student decline is spread over 13 grades at 19 schools,” Davis said. “So it doesn’t come in a perfectly easy scalpel cutout.”
Director Maria Flores said during the meeting that she didn’t want to make OSD’s situation seem less bleak, but that the district isn’t alone in its budget issues. She said nearly every school district in the state is facing a similar situation, according to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction’s fiscal health indicators.
Flores said it’s a condition of many factors, including the state continuing to not fully fund basic education. She said the next legislative session is the beginning of the next biennium, and that they have to continue to advocate for what Olympia needs.
“I’m not going to believe that we’re going to get everything that we want, but we have to continue to fight for basic ed, special ed and all the things that we’re being shortchanged, which affect our budget,” she said.
Flores said she understands the tension between “trying to be fiscally solvent and financially stable,” but she has concerns about how OSD will get to a 7% ending fund balance.
“I really need to think about this, because I don’t want us to cut services closest to students, and I do hope that since our budget parameters established that we’re going to look at data and research and use an equity lens to analyze the impact of budget cuts on which types of students, that that guides our vision as we go through these cuts,” Flores said. “I know that we will have to make some cuts, but I’m hoping that we can do it in a way that doesn’t hurt kids.”
Community concerns
Miriam Hathaway said during public comment that the $4.1 million in cuts recommended are purely self-imposed.
“There is no law that is telling you to increase the district savings account or ending fund balance to be the maximum percent,” Hathaway said. “Cuts mean school closures are back on the table.”
Hathaway said according to district Policy 6883, OSD can decide to permanently close a school in 10 days. The policy change was adopted in October 2024.
“Superintendent Murphy has already communicated he wants to close schools,” she said. “Here’s a quote from his goals document in the June 12, 2025, board meeting. ‘Following OSD board policy 6883, district staff could pursue the closure of schools over the next three years to decrease expenditures and increase the fund balance.’”
Hathaway said it has been estimated that the closure of an elementary school would save a little more than $1 million. Middle schools could be more than that.
“In other words, this is a forced riff on student facing positions,” she said.
The document Hathaway referred to was a list of responses from Murphy to requests from the Board of Directors: To create an “ideal staffing model” to work toward, as well as a “long-term sustainable budget that results in a fund balance covering one month’s payroll.”
The June 12 document lists McKenny Elementary School, Reeves Middle School and Madison Elementary School as the top three schools for possible closure and consolidation.
Marissa Smith said she’s a parent of two kids at Madison Elementary School. She said she doesn’t see the budget process starting out with a commitment to the students, teachers or community.
“I don’t see a vision. I don’t see something where I see myself in the solution or my kids in the solution, or the people who care for my kids every day in the solution,” she said. “I see it starting with a commitment to an ending fund balance.”
Smith said she wants the board to challenge Murphy’s goal of increasing the ending fund balance to 7%. She said the increase will mean millions of dollars in cuts to schools and services.
“This decision will immediately harm kids, staff, and schools, and that harm is optional,” she said. “It’s a choice you can make. To me, this feels like a manufactured crisis to force you to make decisions that don’t align with your values.”
Ben Edwards said he’s a former OSD student and current parent of two students in the district.
He said it’s inappropriate for a district to make cuts to increase its savings account.
“The money is intended to be used for the students’ education, not be hoarded,” he said.
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