Evergreen Public Schools families oppose possible school closures

VANCOUVER, Wash. (KPTV) - At Hearthwood Elementary in Vancouver, there is one grandpa that is a pro at school pick up and drop off.

“Our kids went here and now our grandkids go here,” Barney Early said. “So, it’s been here for as long as I’ve been here.”

He worries that might change soon as Evergreen Public Schools considers closing several schools.

Right now, the district said it is looking at Hearthwood, Riverview, Fircrest, Silver Star and Sunset Elementary Schools. Pacific Middle School is also on the list.

Nothing is final. The district said the list might change, and ultimately, there is a possibility none of the schools could close, which is exactly what Barney wants to hear.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” he said. “I think that if they spent our tax money a little better, we could afford to keep it open.”

District administrators blame declining enrollment, driven by falling birth rates and high housing costs pushing young families out of Vancouver. The district has almost 5,000 fewer students than in 2017, leaving it with quote, “significant budget shortages.”

Because the state pays per student, the district said it lost more than $5 million from last year to this year alone.

“Nobody is going to want to move to a neighborhood where the children are going to be bused automatically because there’s no school for them to attend,” Laurie and Joseph Arndt said.

Laurie and Joseph’s children went to Riverview Elementary. They are also co-chairs of the neighborhood association. The couple spoke at Tuesday’s school board meeting, where they testified closing the school would change the very fabric of the area they have called home the last 47 years.

“This is a really wonderful school,” Laurie said. “The staff and the teachers and the PTO, they’re all really involved. It’s an inclusive school. The kids are happy here. It would be a real shame to close this school.”

Unlike Portland Public Schools and Salem-Keizer Public Schools, Evergreen is just gathering information about what closing schools might look like. The other districts have released formal school closure proposals.

Evergreen school board members are set to vote on moving forward with any closures at the beginning of December. The board would make a final decision in March.