Marysville unveils 3 options for upcoming school closures

MARYSVILLE — Amid financial trouble, high turnover and declining enrollment, Marysville schools released three options Thursday for anticipated school closures.

The first would reconfigure elementary schools to include grades K-6, while closing the Marysville Middle School “entity” and Liberty Elementary School, the district said. Liberty students would be relocated to a portion of the Marysville Middle School building, Legacy High School would move to the Marysville Getchell High School campus and 10th Street Middle School would be relocated to the Legacy High School building.

It’s unclear what exactly the district meant by the Marysville Middle School “entity.” The district did not respond to questions from The Daily Herald on Friday.

The second option would close Cascade and Liberty elementary schools, while relocating Legacy High to Marysville Getchell and 10th Street Middle School to the Legacy High building.

The third option is identical to the second, but would also close Totem Middle School.

These are the only options, the district said, as they all meet interim Superintendent Dave Burgess’ goal of saving $2 million per year.

It’s the latest effort to cut costs for a district that has been battling financial strife for years.

Enrollment over the past decade has decreased significantly — from 11,500 students in 2010 to 9,000 this year — and a double levy failure in 2022 exacerbated problems. An audit from the state released in August said the school board and executive management did not take proper steps to ensure the district could meet its financial obligations, and said the district is at risk of being unable to operate.

The Marysville School District has also been plagued by high turnover. Four superintendents have served in the past five years. The district’s most recent human resources director, Brooke Marshall, resigned in October, after only a few months in the role.

The district’s previous superintendent, Zachary Robbins, cut ties with the district via mutual agreement in October. He was paid over $400,000 in a severance package and the school board appointed Burgess in his place.

Cascade and Liberty elementaries, along with Totem Middle School, were all considered as possible options for the district to close in May, due to their age and condition.

Once Burgess came in, he started the process from scratch and sought comment from community members through a series of meetings in October and November. The state mandated the district to submit an initial plan for school closures under the binding conditions state officials imposed when the district failed to submit a balanced budget last August, the district said in a press release.

The options will be presented to the newly-formed School Closure Planning Committee. The committee will make a recommendation to the school board by December. The committee held its first meeting Thursday night, less than an hour after the district announced the closure options.

It’s unknown when the next meeting will be, or who is on the commitee.

Marysville school closure options

Option A

• Reconfiguration (elementary schools to K-6 grades)

• Close Marysville Middle School entity (building would be repurposed)

• Close Liberty Elementary School and relocate Liberty students to a portion of the Marysville Middle School building

• Relocate Legacy High School to the Marysville Getchell High School campus

• Relocate 10th Street Middle School to the Legacy High School building

Option B

• Close Cascade and Liberty elementary schools

• Relocate Legacy High School to the Marysville Getchell High School campus

• Relocate 10th Street Middle School to the Legacy High School building

Option C

• Close Cascade and Liberty elementary schools

• Close Totem Middle School (building would be repurposed)

• Relocate Legacy High School to the Marysville Getchell High School campus

• Relocate 10th Street Middle School to the Legacy High School building

Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.