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OCTOBER 2, 2024
VOL. 105, NO. 40
Seattle Public Schools retreat from school closure plans after community backlash By Spencer Pauley The Center Square
COURTESY GARDEN MEDIA GROUP COURTESY OF DIGGER MAGAZINE
Forsythia 'Discovery'
Washington’s best new plants
T
he annual FarWest conference in Portland has wrapped up. Thousands of attendees and 300 vendors came to the Western region’s main green industry conference from across the country. In addition to lectures and exhibitions, plants and products vie for awards for best new introductions – and this year, according to Digger Magazine (diggermagazine.com), quite a few were raised or at least introduced in
Erica Browne Grivas
Get Growing Washington. Besides supporting local growers and innovators, you can rest assured these plants should perform well in Washington, given their favored conditions, of course. Many other winners hailed from Oregon.
You can see the full list of winners here: https://diggermagazine.com/ fws-nvs-peoples-2024/. (Remember, the “Right plant, right place” guideline comes first when eyeing shiny new plants for the garden!) Artemisia ‘Garden Ghost’ from Walla Walla Nursery delivers a shock of silver the lights up sunny garden beds day or night. Once established in
Seattle Public Schools officials are reworking proposals for school closures to address an estimated $94 million budget deficit for the 2025-2026 school year. Superintendent Brent Jones made the announcement on Monday, just 12 days after the district revealed two potential school consolidation plans. The original options would have either closesd17 or 21 elementary and K-8 schools to save between $25.5 million to $31.5 million. Feedback from school staff, parents and students was not supportive of either proposal. During last week’s school board meeting, protests could be heard outside as Student Board Director Colin Bragg said Seattle students were “definitely feeling the tension in the district,” with the trickle down effect of looming budget cuts. “I am sorry our proposed options created anxiety for many families who rely on the key programs and innovations within our schools – we are retooling our plans to address these concerns,” Jones said in a news release. “What we proposed last week were initial approaches, which we are now reworking,” Jones continued.” While our financial challenges are real and it’s our fiscal responsibility to resolve them, it is very clear we need more time to listen and earn your trust as we resolve our structural deficit and revisit our timeline.” The budget deficit is a result of weaker revenue streams and a continually decreasing enrollment. Over the past seven years alone, enrollment at Seattle Public Schools has dropped by 4,000 students. Despite this, the district still operates nearly the same number of school buildings. District officials do not expect enrollment numbers to rebound for many years. According to the district, closing a school could save Seattle Public Schools between $750,000 to $2 million. The approximately $30 million in savings from school closures would have left an estimated gap of $64 million for the district to address after consolidations. The Center Square previously reported on Seattle Public Schools eyeing cuts to programs and staff to continue fixing
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