Keep Seawell Elementary School Open

[Bilyana Georgieva]

Dear Board Members,

Thank you for your services.  I recognize that it is a difficult task to decide which elementary school to close. Based on all data and equities the right decision is to keep our beloved Seawell Elementary School open.

The discussion about school closure started because of budget issues. And from a budget perspective, the Summary Key Data (distributed at the School Board Meeting held May 21, 2026 at Smith Middle School) supports keeping Seawell open. As the data show, Seawell is the school the requires the lowest investment of approximately $21.6M for infrastructure replacements compared to $24.5M and $23.3M for the other two schools.  This difference in infrastructure investment is not insignificant. In addition, keeping Seawell open will save the projected additional $112,500 for transportation costs.  The transportation costs associated with Seawell will be further reduced after thoughtful redistricting to include neighborhoods within a walking distance to Seawell and which are currently zoned for other schools. 

Beyond the budget, keeping Seawell open is the least disruptive option and provides stability for the largest number of 32.2% Economically Disadvantaged Students, 13.4% Students with Disabilities and 15.5% Multilingual Learners. See Summary Key Data, section Pupils Affected. These are families who did not move in the district for a program, but have lived in and make the community.  I urge you to keep Seawell open and not displace these students. 

I endorse everything the Seawell PTA has presented about the uniqueness of Seawell.  And would like also to emphasize the importance of the adjacency of Seawell to Smith Middle and CHHS. My own kids are at CHHS now, but they fondly remember their time at Seawell and the formative influence students volunteers had on their development and continued interest in school. Seawell students can literally see Smith Middle, the athletic fields and middle schoolers.  Please keep Seawell open and allow these students to picture themselves beyond elementary school.  

Thank you for your time. 

Bilyana P. Georgieva (She / her)  Why?

bpgeo...@yahoo.com