School Board Guiding Principles

With an overall goal of providing the highest quality education for all Seattle School students, the following board-adopted principles and criteria guided the School Facilities and Programs planning effort:

Sustain and create academic effectiveness

• Keep, relocate, replicate and/or add effective programs
• Consolidate schools to enhance resources and community involvement
• Demonstrate benefits to students and families

Equity

• Ensure all Seattle Public Schools provide high quality education for students
• Ensure needed programs and services in each quadrant of the city

Minimize disruption to students, families and staff

• Keep school communities intact
• In closing schools, look first for capacity at adjacent schools
• Engage the community in finding solutions

School Board Criteria:

• Effective instruction addressing needs of all students
• Opportunities to consolidate schools to drive additional resources for programs and services for students
• Opportunities and community commitment to add missing services needed by students in that region through consolidation
• Family satisfaction
• Building condition
• Operating costs per pupil
• Building capacity and/or potential for expansion
• Effective connections with community