The resolution, known as Resolution 689, will close McKenny, Madison and LP Brown elementary schools effective for the 2027-28 school year. Under the plan, McKenny students will be split between Pioneer and Centennial elementary schools; Madison students will move to Roosevelt Elementary; and LP Brown students will be divided between Hansen and Garfield elementary schools.

The vote followed months of heated debate that began in mid-September, when Superintendent Patrick Murphy proposed the closures amid declining enrollment and persistent budget shortfalls. District officials have said the consolidation will save roughly $3.1 million per year.

"This would be devastating to public education as a whole here in Olympia, and I really hope the board votes no," district parent Katie Marr said Thursday, shortly before the board acted.

Murphy has argued that the district's funding problems stem in part from having too many small schools relative to its enrollment. At an Oct. 22 board meeting, the district reported that it had just under 900 fewer K-5 students across its 11 elementary schools at the start of the 2026-27 school year compared with 2019-20. Among 14 similarly sized districts in Western Washington, Olympia has the lowest average enrollment per elementary school and the highest number of K-5 schools, according to district data.

In a September letter to families, Murphy wrote that the state's prototypical school funding model assumes an elementary school of about 400 students, but that even that model does not fully cover Olympia's actual staffing costs. He said it takes roughly 450 students to generate the equivalent funding for one full-time building administrator and more than 500 students to generate the model's full complement of classroom teachers.

The closures were not the only option on the table. Board Director Renee Fullerton had called for a special meeting in mid-December to delay the vote by about a month and had asked Murphy to prepare a report on alternatives that could address the same deficit. In a 22-page response, Murphy proposed options including larger class sizes at the elementary and secondary levels, cutting fifth-grade band, sharing a principal among small elementary schools and eliminating middle school sports. Board Director Maria Flores had also raised a "community school model" as a possible alternative.

Those alternatives did not prevail. The board's 4-1 vote clears the way for the district to begin planning the transition, with the closures set to take effect in less than two school years.

For families in the affected neighborhoods, the decision raises immediate questions about school assignments, transportation and the loss of neighborhood schools that have anchored their communities for decades. The district has said more information will be provided following Thursday's meeting.

The vote comes as districts across Washington state confront similar pressures from declining birth rates, rising costs and a state funding formula that many local officials say has not kept pace with actual expenses. In Olympia, the outcome leaves families and educators who opposed the plan weighing their next steps, even as the district moves forward with a consolidation it says is necessary to stabilize its finances.