Wenatchee School District To Close Columbia Elementary by End of School Year
Citing budget constraints and declining enrollment, the decision has parents and teachers upset
At an all-staff meeting on Friday afternoon at Columbia Elementary School, Wenatchee School District Superintendent Kory Kalahar announced that the district would be closing the school at the end of the academic year.
District spokesperson Diana Haglund said the decision comes as a result of declining enrollment and the need to optimize resources in the face of significant budget constraints.
“Unfortunately, declining enrollment means declining revenue. We are currently preparing for the 24-25 school year budget and are carefully evaluating our options for making budget adjustments so that our revenues and expenditures are balanced,” she wrote in an email on Jan 19.
The decision has some teachers and parents upset and there were few dry eyes in the room during the announcement, according to those who attended.
Nicole Kern is the school psychologist at Columbia and has a child attending the school as well.
“I’m very concerned for our students. Of course it’s sad that our staff is all being displaced, but our most vulnerable citizens are being uprooted from their school and moved to an unfamiliar school with staff they don’t know. Columbia has felt like a family to me and my daughter, who attends 4th grade at Columbia. As a parent, I am heartbroken that she has to go somewhere new with adults she does not know. This is the story for many families in our little community,” she said. “As a Doctor of School Psychology, and an expert in childhood trauma, many of the students I work with will be heavily impacted by this change. Consistency is extremely important during these formative years, and particularly more important for our neurodivergent and trauma impacted youth. I am having a very hard time understanding how the closure of an entire school is the only viable option at this point in time.”
According to a district press release, students and staff will be reassigned to other neighboring schools in the district. District administrators are also evaluating additional offerings within the district that could utilize the Columbia building.
"While this was a difficult decision to make, we believe it is the right decision for the long-term sustainability of our district," said Superintendent Dr. Kory Kalahar. "By consolidating our elementary schools from seven to six, we can optimize our staff and resources and continue to provide high-quality instruction to all of our students. The bottom line is that operating schools with empty classrooms is not economical. If all schools remained open at their current enrollments, then all of them are going to end up with resources stretched really thin.”
School Librarian Roxy Vanatta has a son who attends Columbia and said the decision will disrupt learning. She said this decision was made in a way that seems to go against one of the district’s stated values and goals outlined in the strategic plan, also known as “the big six.”
“This seems to against the Big Six, it is imposing an educational equity barriers for the following reasons: There was no community involvement, unequal treatment of vulnerable and/or marginalized students who historically have taken the brunt when schools are closed,” she wrote. “This closure is creating a rupture of the fabric of community as that is what Columbia has provided to its students and families. These families and students love their school and that is being taken away without having their voice heard, this also goes against the big six. This does not make students feel seen, heard or validated. There is no educational justice with this situation.”
According to the district, they are facing a $5.2 million budget deficit. District staff will present a detailed financial report and reasoning behind the action to the school board during the school board meeting on Tuesday, January 23 at 6:00 PM.
An emergency PTO meeting at Columbia Elementary will be held the day prior, on Jan. 22 at 5 pm.
I will continue to follow this story as it develops.
Isn’t this an interesting coincidence that this school is being closed and GCC plans to start a school (private) less that 3 miles away?
This smells of racism, disdain for the economically challenged, and the ultra conservative “Christian “ movement that is sweeping our ever bigoted area. I would call it community but this isn’t community. This “me first” unsocial agenda with no Christian conscience nor moral compass at all. I am disgusted and sad about this. These children have fewer resources to attend a school farther away. Why not bus some from the wealthier part of the town to Columbia? This is the result of continual rejection of levies and taxes that could pay for it all.