Middle School Enrollment and Potential Consolidation Study Underway

Article Update: September 26, 2023

Join the 2023-2024 Superintendent Community Advisory Council

The 2023-24 Superintendent Community Advisory Council (SCAC) is seeking members to advise the Superintendent on the community engagement process for the Middle School Enrollment and Potential Consolidation Study. Express your interest in SCAC and/or other BSD advisory groups by completing the Community Advisory Group form by Friday, September 29, 2023.

Having right-sized the number of elementary schools in the 2022-2023 school year by consolidating two schools to accommodate lower enrollment, the Bellevue School District made a commitment to continue to study enrollment at our middle schools and the implication of our declining enrollment on our facilities and operating budget.

Although the trend may not be evident in every school, enrollment in the district is declining, primarily due to declining birth rates and high housing costs in our region. To illustrate, each grade level at high school has about 1,600 students districtwide (E.g., 1,600 students in 9th grade, 1,600 students in 10th grade, etc.). Each grade level at middle school has about 1,400 students. Each grade level at elementary school has about 1,200 students; our current kindergarten has just over 1,100 students which aligns with our enrollment trends.

Demographic Study

The district has retained the services of two demographers to:

• Understand enrollment trends for the next 8 years for middle schools
• Assess whether there is a need to consolidate middle schools to maintain the programs, service levels and opportunities for students
• Assess the impacts of enrollment trends on specific populations of students for each middle school

It is anticipated that the demographers’ results will be available at the end of September 2023. The study to examine middle school enrollment will explore the following questions:

• Will continuing to operate five middle schools provide enough students at each school to offer the quality of programming and services the community expects?
• Will continuing to operate five middle schools be an effective and efficient use of financial resources and facilities?
• Will continuing to operate five middle schools meet the learning needs of our students in an equitable way?

Attend the Board Study Session

The first public step is a School Board study session following the regular School Board meeting on September 21 to discuss the community engagement process  and timeline  to study middle school enrollment and potential middle school consolidation. Community members may attend the meeting and study session in person or watch online via Microsoft Teams.

Learn More

The Middle School Enrollment and Potential Consolidation webpage has been developed to serve as the primary source of information on this topic. Please refer to that page for the study’s background, process, timeline and important updates throughout the process. Information will also be communicated through School Board meetings, emails to families and through community engagement events.