Overriding the will of the community in favor of economic pragmatism, the Olympia School Board voted 4-1 on Thursday, Nov. 12, to approve the closure of LP Brown, Madison and McKenny elementary schools at the end of the 2026-27 school year.
Board Vice President Maria Flores was the lone “no” vote. Board President Jess Tourtellotte-Palumbo and board members Renee Fullterton, Hilary Seidel and Gilbert Lamont voted “yes.”
The vote was met by boos and jeers from more than 100 district parents, students, educators and community members who attended Thursday’s meeting to encourage a “no” vote on the school closure proposal.
One attendee shouted, “I voted for you and you betrayed me.”
Another yelled, “You lied to me.”
Several young children, who were drawing pictures and writing “save our schools” in chalk on the sidewalk outside the district office before the meeting, could be heard crying.
Many called for Superintendent Patrick Murphy to be fired. Some insinuated taking legal action against the district.
The school board closed the meeting and left the board room quickly after the vote, leaving district families to their grief.
The next morning, Murphy published a statement to the district website addressing the vote.
“I recognize how difficult this news will be for many in our community, particularly the students, families and staff who have built meaningful connections within these schools,” Murphy wrote. “Our schools are much more than buildings. They are places where friendships are formed, traditions are celebrated and a sense of belonging is created. This decision does not diminish the importance of these school communities or the impact they have had on generations of students, staff and families.”
Murphy presented the official school closure and consolidation plan, Board Policy 6883, to the Olympia School Board on Sept. 17, though the concept had been discussed for months prior.
The plan has LP Brown, Madison and McKenny elementary schools closing at the end of the 2026-27 school year, with the students attending these schools transitioning to Centennial, Garfield, Hansen, Pioneer and Roosevelt elementary schools beginning in the 2027-28 school year.
Defending the plan, Murphy has cited an enrollment decline from over 10,000 headcount students in 2019 to roughly 9,300 today, leaving several buildings operating far below capacity.
Murphy and district staff have argued that closing schools is necessary to save the district from a structural deficit.
The consolidation saves the district an estimated $1 million in net annual operating savings per closed facility, primarily achieved by eliminating duplicate administrative, nursing, and custodial staff.
“I have a responsibility to confront the reality facing our district,” Murphy said Thursday over boos from district families
He added that the district has “worked hard to avoid this moment,” pointing to efforts to pull from other expenditures in the budget, expand enrollment opportunities and seek out state funding. He acknowledged that none of those efforts were the permanent solution the district desperately needs.
“I continue to believe that consolidating these three schools is a difficult but necessary step toward a more sustainable school district,” Murphy said.
District families have opposed the consolidation since its introduction, questioning the accuracy of the district’s cost savings estimations and challenging the administration’s reliance on utilization metrics.
Parents and students expressed concerns about having to switch from small neighborhood schools to ones with larger class sizes and less available support.
Over the 90 day feedback period, hundreds of parents, students, educators and community members have given public comments opposing the consolidation proposal.
Many of them gathered for a rally outside the district administration building Thursday evening ahead of the school board meeting to reinforce their opposition to the proposal.
“Patrick Murphy may be in there looking at spreadsheets. He may be talking to some consultants, thinking he knows what’s best … for our district. But your voice here today is proof that we know what we want, and we don’t want our schools to close,” said Hannah Middlebrook, an educator and parent of three Madison Elementary School students.
Rally participants packed the board room, with many young children sitting through the two-hour long meeting to support their schools.
The crowd remained vocal throughout the meeting, cheering and booing as the board members discussed the consolidation plan.
Ultimately, the majority acknowledged that the closure plan was unpopular but agreed that the district’s financial situation made it necessary to adopt the plan and close three schools.
“I'm worried that if we keep every school open as enrollment declines, we have to cut more programs and staff across the district. With each cut, we lose a little of what makes Olympia special,” said School Board Director Gilbert Lamont. “Consolidation will still leave us with a budget gap to close, but I believe it will help us protect more of the people and programs our students count on.”
School Board Vice President Maria Flores was the lone nay vote, saying she could not in good conscience support the consolidation proposal as presented.
“Schools like Madison and LP Brown are what keeps our children safe,” Flores said, referencing public comments that highlighted the neighborhood schools’ student supports and the high poverty levels amongst its students. “I don't want to close any school, and we might have to in the future. But I would rather us take a from-scratch review of our whole system and try to embrace an instructional model that serves all of our students.”
Flores added, “I'm not delusional in thinking that my ‘no’ vote is going to solve any of the financial problems. We still have to work on trying to solve it, and I'm willing to put in as much work as possible to try to solve it so that we're not (impacting) the students.”
While School Board Member Renee Fullerton previously asked for the consolidation vote to be delayed a month, she withdrew that request Thursday, saying the delay would be unfair for families.
She ultimately voted in favor of the consolidation plan, but expressed frustration towards Murphy for his handling of the process.
“The superintendent has backed us into a choice that doesn’t feel like a choice at all," Fullerton said.
School Board Member Hilary Seidel agreed with Fullerton that she wishes she had full access now to a full plan for the district to achieve financial stability.
“Yet, the full scope might have been more than we could manage, sort of, in one swing,” Seidel said, promising “to continue showing up with curiosity and openness to different ideas.”
The school board members ultimately vowed to continue showing up for Olympia families, and encouraged their constituents to support each other over the rough transition period as the consolidation plan is enacted.
“We all really need to work together, and even though we may disagree about the decision that we have to make for kids, we are still all very focused on kids,” Seidel said.
The district is in the process of finalizing operational plans for the 2027-28 school year, and expects to finalize a transition plan in January.
Transition preparation for LP Brown, Madison and McKenny families will start in early 2027, with ongoing support available for families through at least the 2027-28 school year.
The district is also providing counseling and behavioral support as needed for impacted students.
The district intends to launch dedicated school transition resource pages for families within the next week.
