SEATTLE – When voters send back their ballots in February, they’ll be deciding on replacing two Seattle Public Schools levies that are expiring in 2025.   

The district relies on local voter-approved levies like those to help pay for operations and to fund building construction and repairs. 

What they’re saying:

While the year’s operation’s levy hasn’t had much pushback, critics say the capital levy is causing controversy, including concerns it will lead to school closures.

Some of those affiliated with the Save our Schools group say the capital levy is also prompting concerns that it will lead to “mega schools.”

“Seattle Public Schools has 106 schools. We have facility needs we are going to place before the voters,” said Richard Best, Executive Director of Capital Projects, Planning and Facilities of Seattle Public Schools. 

School officials say there could be serious consequences for students if two propositions fail to pass February 11.

“That would be, I won’t say catastrophic, but there will be declining systems that could have consequential implications in that, when we do implement that system repair, it costs more,” said Best. 

The operations levy would provide schools with $747 million, replacing the last EP&O levy approved in 2022.

It wouldn’t reduce the deficit, but would continue a current funding source, for things like salaries, school security, special education and multilingual support staff.  

This was a breakdown that SPS provided of the operations levy online:

Operations Levy Details 2026-2028

• Proposed Levy Amount: $747 million
• Levy Collected: 2026–2028
• Replaces: Expiring EP&O Levy approved in 2022
• Current tax rate is 63 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value.

The second proposition, the $1.8 billion Building Excellence Capital Levy, would provide money for building projects and technology. 

This was a breakdown of that proposition by SPS:

Building Excellence VI Capital Levy Details

• Proposed Amount: $1.8 billion
• Capital Projects Funding: $1,385,022,403
• Technology Funding: $$414,977,597
• Estimated Levy Rates: 93 cents to 79 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value
• Levy Collected: 2026-2031

A parent who didn’t want to share his name for privacy reasons told us he was concerned about the school closure plan that was scrapped last year, and wondered if the situation was “sustainable.”

Critic Chris Jackins belies the capital levy, as written, could result in the closure of schools.

“This is a continuation of an effort to close more schools,” said Jackins.

He wrote the statement in the voter pamphlet arguing against proposition 2. He says it would allow the construction of “mega schools,” which will in turn be used to then close more schools.   

“On the capital levy, they have two projects which will create two more mega-sized schools, they are both scheduled at 650 students. They both cost more each, more than $148 million,” he said. “They are continuing their construction to add even more elementary school capacity when they say they have too much. It doesn’t make sense.”

The district’s website reads that major renovations and replacement projects would include replacement of at least one elementary school in northeast Seattle.

“The two schools they are talking about, one they didn’t name, so nobody knows, and one is Lowell, which is an existing school, but they are planning to destroy most of it and make it much larger,” Jackins said. 

“I have worked designing schools since 1991 and since that period, I have never designed a school smaller than 500 students,” said Best. “We use a model for 500 students, which is three classrooms per grade level.”

Best explained further.

“The term is not ‘mega schools.’ We design schools to be schools within schools. You have a first-grade cohort, maybe 75 or 100 students. They stay together. Middle schools are 1,000 students. Those are very common throughout the state of Washington.”

Best says school closures aren’t on the table right now, but may be revisited at some point. 

“We are going to engage in the conversation about schools, school capacity, looking at elementary schools, our focus right now is getting these two levies passed,” he said. 

Meantime, Jackins is asking people to vote down the capital levy, and then to ask that it be resubmitted in a form that uses the funds to fix up existing schools in order to keep them open. 

The ballots are expected to go out to voters around January 22. The election is set for February 11.

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