Families at two Ballard K-8 schools learned Oct. 23 that Seattle Public Schools is considering merging their campuses after the current school year.

Principals Christy Bowman-White of Licton Springs K-8 and Barbara Dixon of Salmon Bay K-8 sent a joint email announcing a public listening session with Superintendent Ben Shuldiner to discuss the proposal, KING 5 first reported.

That session is scheduled for Friday, Dec. 11, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Salmon Bay K-8, 1810 NW 65th St.

Shuldiner and Justin Hendrickson, the district's executive director of K-8 schools, will attend.

No decision has been made. The district has not identified which school would be the "receiving" campus and which would close.

"This conversation is an opportunity to come together, hear information, ask questions, share your perspectives, and begin building connections with one another," the principals wrote in the email, according to KING 5.

Both schools survived the 2024 closure fight

The merger talk is not new ground for either community. In 2024, then-Superintendent Brent Jones proposed closing as many as 21 schools to save roughly $31.5 million, according to KING 5.

Both Salmon Bay and Licton Springs were on that list. A scaled-back backup plan still included Licton Springs among 17 schools slated for closure.

Community members pushed back, citing disruption to students' education and added costs for families. Jones later withdrew the recommendation, and the Seattle School Board canceled the planned closure hearings, Seattle's Child reported.

A district-wide push

The Salmon Bay-Licton Springs proposal is one of several merger conversations Shuldiner launched in late October. KUOW confirmed that families at Orca K-8, Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary, Sacajawea Elementary, John Rogers Elementary, View Ridge Elementary and Decatur Elementary also received merger-related emails on Oct. 23. Separate proposals pair Stevens Elementary with Montlake Elementary on Capitol Hill and Sanislo Elementary with Highland Park Elementary in West Seattle.

Shuldiner outlined the rationale in his Oct. 25 newsletter to families. District enrollment has fallen from more than 94,000 students in 1964 to below 50,000, according to KOMO News. He pointed to very small schools, including one K-8 with fewer than 50 students, as places where even strong staff face added burdens.

Licton Springs K-8 enrolled 90 students across pre-K through eighth grade, with some grade levels in single digits, according to U.S. News & World Report data drawn from the 2025 Common Core of Data. The school has zero full-time counselors.

What happens next

Shuldiner's timeline calls for staff meetings in October and November, family meetings through mid-December, community meetings and public hearings in January and February 2027, and a possible School Board vote in late February or early March 2027, according to Seattle's Child.

The superintendent said he will extend the open enrollment transfer period until one week after any board decision so affected families can apply after learning the outcome. Students displaced by a merger would receive priority in open enrollment over other transfer applicants, Seattle's Child reported.

The parent-run group Save Seattle Schools is pushing back, calling the proposals a mistake just as optimism about the district was beginning to build, MyNorthwest reported. The group argued closures could drive more families away from the district.

The Dec. 11 listening session at Salmon Bay K-8 is the first chance for Ballard families to speak directly with Shuldiner about the proposal.