Seattle changing school start times to save money; pushing other cuts to close major deficit

School start times are changing for some Seattle schools to help the district save money as it grapples with a $131 million dollar deficit. The district says the changes help with streamlining school bus schedules so it can provide the service with fewer bus drivers.

A dozen Seattle schools will have different start times in the fall of 2024 – a sign that the district is looking everywhere to save money and make ends meet while trying to leave teacher jobs alone. Some parents say they were surprised by the change.

• Follow this link to read additional stories from KIRO 7

“Initially it was kind of a shock,” said James Snyder, who has a son in third grade at John Hay Elementary. The school will be one of seven starting an hour later next year, at 8:55 a.m. instead of 7:55 a.m.

“It’s going to be a little hard but I think we can get by. We can make it, it’s just going to be a little hassle,” said Kassandra Hernandez, a grandparent.

The seven schools changing to the later 8:55 a.m. later time are Bailey Gatzert, Dearborn Park, John Hay, Green Lake, South Shore PreK-8, View Ridge, and West Woodland.

There are also five schools changing to start an hour earlier, at 7:55 a.m. Adams, Concord, Licton Springs K-8, Thurgood Marshall, and TOPS K-8.

The district says bus routes are “imbalanced” in the district, where some busses and drivers only serve the schools that start earlier, instead of both start times. The district calculates that more efficient schedules will save about $4 million dollars.

Some parents say later start times will be difficult to juggle.

“My husband is back to work in person starting this month, so it’s going to be a little bit of a challenge for sure,” said Saki Basken, whose daughter goes to West Woodland Elementary.

Like many districts, SPS is losing federal funding that dried up after the pandemic. Districts have also lost state funding along with falling enrollment.

Families say they’ve already felt the impact. The John Hay PTSA this year fundraised more than $100,000 dollars to save the job of their reading specialist teacher for the 2024-2025 school year.

“Luckily we were able to do that, but it’s been tough, especially at this school – we lost maybe 25 percent of our students over Covid,” Snyder said.

Parents also point out that this school year, John Hay also lost a third-grade teacher and fourth grader teacher because of lower enrollment.

“My son was affected by that because they lost his teacher and they had to have more children in one class,” said Darlene Rapley, whose son is in 4th grade.

During the school board meeting on Wednesday, May 10, the board talked in part about cutting 69 central office positions, saving about $10 million dollars. About 20 of those jobs will be layoffs, while others are through retirement and moving people around. Superintendent Brent Jones said Wednesday night that some of the positions were “key roles” and the district will have to figure out how to work without those employees.

The district also plans to save $7 million with deferred maintenance or funding that works through other sources.

There are also a wide variety of penny-pinching measures, such as reducing the number of staff who are allocated cell phones paid for by the district.

SPS will use $42 million from its rainy day fund to help close the gap and plans to repay that in the coming years.

The budget stabilization plan also includes $28 million in savings for the 2024-2025 school year by consolidating schools.

The final budget is scheduled to be adopted by the board on July 6.

• Follow this link to read additional stories from KIRO 7