More than 30 people spoke during public comment, and all but one opposed the plan, according to the meeting account. Speakers questioned which schools were chosen, raised concerns about larger receiving schools and challenged whether consolidation would improve students’ experience. Parent Andy Mork told board members his children would not return to the district next year if the proposal passes.

Under the plan, McKenny students would be reassigned to Pioneer and Centennial elementary schools; Madison students to Roosevelt; and LP Brown students to Hansen and Garfield. Superintendent Patrick Murphy said the closures could save about $3.1 million annually. He has said the district’s budget gap persists despite millions of dollars in cuts to central-office operations and services because the cost of running school buildings remains unsustainable.

Enrollment has fallen in recent years. District figures presented Thursday show average enrollment declined from about 9,672 students in 2019-20 to roughly 8,775 this month. The district also had nearly 900 fewer K-5 students across its 11 elementary schools at the start of the 2026-27 school year than in 2019-20.

“We’ve landed in a place where we operate more schools than our enrollment drives,” Murphy said. He cited an average of about 319 students per Olympia elementary school last school year, compared with 447 in Tumwater and 524 in North Thurston.

Collette Paulson, another speaker, said she had seen no evidence that placing more than 500 students in one building would benefit them. McKenny parent Alessandro Tinonga urged the district to focus on attracting students rather than reducing costs.

Murphy said the proposed transfers would not change class sizes. The district’s current teacher-to-student ratio is 22.6, with a projected ratio of 22.8 for 2026-27, he said. He also said special education class sizes and teacher ratios would remain the same, and support and counseling staff would stay with students who need those services. The superintendent addressed questions about relocating special and early education programs but did not detail every move in the meeting account.

The district’s proposal says the state’s school-funding model assumes an elementary school of about 400 students, but that funding does not cover Olympia’s actual staffing costs. According to the proposal, a school needs roughly 450 students to generate funding equivalent to a full-time building administrator and more than 500 to generate the model’s full complement of classroom teachers.

Closing the three schools would also remove them from the district’s long-range capital plan, which the proposal says could avoid about $137 million in projected facility investments that might otherwise figure into future bond planning. The board may hold a work session on the proposal’s effects before its expected Nov. 12 vote.