New superintendent, renewed closures: Capitol Hill’s Stevens Elementary proposed to merge into Montlake

In a renewed push for campus consolidations amid declining districtwide enrollment, Seattle Public Schools has introduced a proposal to merge Capitol Hill’s Stevens Elementary into Montlake Elementary for the 2027–2028 school year,

“I don’t want students to spend one more year in a building where bookcases serve as walls, if we don’t have to,” Superintendent Ben Shuldiner wrote in a district newsletter this weekend as word of the renewed push spread.

“I don’t want students to spend one more year in a sixth-seventh-eighth grade split if we don’t have to. I don’t want teachers to be the only teacher in the grade if we don’t have to. I don’t want to accept large class sizes if we don’t have to. So, the conversation around school mergers begins.”

More accurately, the conversation re-starts. The announcement revives consolidation efforts that stalled two years ago. In late 2024, Seattle Public Schools backed away from a plan that would have shuttered up to 21 elementary campuses, including the Stevens campus along 19th Ave E at Galer just east of Volunteer Park.

Broad community resistance and pushback from families led district officials to back away from those closures.

Systemwide enrollment has now dropped from more than 94,000 students in 1964 to under 50,000 today. Shuldiner says that smaller campuses face operational challenges, including multi-grade split classrooms, solitary grade-level teachers, and limited access to full-time arts and music specialists.

There are major financial stakes to the consolidation plan.

Across the district, Seattle Public Schools has wrestled with annual deficits between $90 million and $130 million as enrollment fell below 50,000 students. In previous consolidation tries, the district estimated that shuttering an elementary campus generates roughly $750,000 to $1.5 million in annual operational savings by cutting administrative overhead, utility costs, and custodial services, while instructional staffing follows students to receiving sites.

Montlake Elementary was prepared for the changes following a nearly $80 million modernization and expansion completed in 2025. The rebuilt campus can accommodate up to 500 students, adding modern classrooms, an integrated library and cafeteria, and energy-efficient systems that replaced decades-old portable classrooms.

Beyond general elementary consolidations, Shuldiner said that the district is reviewing options for specialized programs across the city. This includes the Central District’s Seattle World School on E Union, which serves immigrant and refugee secondary students. Shuldiner said that the school itself will not be shuttered, but district leadership is exploring partnerships with one or more comprehensive high schools to strengthen its academic offerings.

The district is also evaluating site locations for its Bridges transition programs and Interagency Academy sites.

Aside from Stevens, no other neighborhood elementary schools in Capitol Hill or the Central District including Lowell, McGilvra, Leschi, Madrona, or Bailey Gatzert are being considered for closure in this round.

The changes will mean different patterns for families living in the area.

Under Seattle Public Schools student assignment rules, elementary students residing outside a one-mile “walk zone” qualify for bus transportation; however, for many families living in the Stevens area around 19th Ave E, Volunteer Park, and E Galer, the shift to Montlake’s campus at 2409 22nd Avenue E extends the commute up to 1.5 miles across a steep hill. Walking or biking routes will put more kids on busy arterials like Boyer and 24th and the Lake Washington Blvd corridor near 520. If the merger is finalized by the School Board in early 2027, the district’s transportation department will be required to run new walkshed hazard evaluations and adjust bus routing tiers.

Shuldiner took over as superintendent this year, buoyed in the role by the city’s newly approved $1.3 billion families and education levy that could provide funding for the Stevens campus to be part of expansion of programs including city-partnered early learning hubs, SPP preschool classrooms, or specialized programs like Bridges and Interagency..

In addition to the levy funding, transportation, walking, and biking concerns, Seattle City Hall may also have more to say about the proposed Stevens plan — of a more personal note. Mayor Katie Wilson has talked about living in the Stevens assignment area and her child is currently enrolled in the city-funded Seattle Preschool Program.

The new Stevens consolidation push is being rolled out for a more solid, perhaps better communicated process. The announcements come weeks before key meetings. Officials emphasized that no final decisions have been made on any site. In a joint message sent to their school communities, Stevens Principal Peter Donovan and Montlake Principal Tina Wood announced a family listening session planned for early December at Montlake Elementary.

“This work is currently in Phase 1, focused on listening, learning, and gathering feedback. No decisions have been made. Your voices, experiences, and perspectives are important as we begin these conversations,” Donovan and Wood wrote.

Under the district’s schedule, leadership and principal consultations continue through October, while meetings with school staff will run through the beginning of November.

Joint family conversations at proposed receiving sites follow throughout November and conclude in mid-December.

Once staff and family feedback is gathered, Shuldiner plans to formally present the consolidation recommendations to the Seattle School Board and the public around late December. That presentation will launch a 60-day window for public hearings and community forums in January and February, leading up to a final school board vote in late February or early March 2027.

To assist transitioning households, the district will give displaced students open enrollment transfer priority and will keep its school choice application window open until one week after the board’s final vote.