Eighty-Three Students, Three Chances to Be Heard

Eighty-three students at a small maritime high school in Highline, south of Seattle, get three chances to argue for their school’s survival — the first in five days. As today’s Washington Education Daily reports, the superintendent recommended on October 28 that Maritime High School close at the end of this school year. On November 12 the district posted the practical details: testimony at the board meeting on Wednesday, November 18 at 6 p.m., a dedicated public hearing on Wednesday, December 2 from 5 to 7 p.m., and testimony and a scheduled vote on Wednesday, December 9 at 6 p.m. — all in the Central Office board room on Ambaum Boulevard Southwest in Burien, with advance sign-up required. If the board votes yes, the school closes at the end of June 2027.

The district’s case, in its own terms, is enrollment, money, and a building. Maritime opened six years ago expecting enrollment to start small and grow. It did not grow: the school serves 83 students today, and only 14 of them are ninth graders. Because state funding follows enrollment, the district says a school that size cannot staff a full four-year program on its own allocation, and that it has covered the gap with extra district and partner funding for six years. Highline has already made about $8 million in cuts this year, with another $5 million anticipated next year. Maritime also sits at an interim site in Des Moines, with no permanent campus found.

The counter-record is also specific. Reporting by The Seattle Times, summarized this month by Seattle’s Child and covered in today’s episode, counts 57 Maritime graduates so far: 35 went on to college and 8 entered the maritime workforce, including 4 who joined Washington State Ferries. A letter published November 10 by The Highline Journal reports the Port of Seattle’s deep disappointment, says the Port invested more than $1.2 million in funding, staff time, and internships, and warns the region fills only about one in four open maritime positions. Today’s episode treats those figures as the letter’s attributed claims, not settled facts.

Two process facts belong in the record. The district acknowledges some families heard about the recommendation before the Maritime community was told directly, and the superintendent apologized for how the news was shared. If the board approves the closure, the district promises an individual transition plan for every student, and graduation for the class of 2027 proceeds as scheduled either way.

Takeaway: For Maritime families, the calendar is the decision. Sign up in advance, testify on November 18 or December 2, and be in the room on December 9 — after the vote, the only question left is how the transition is handled, not whether the school survives.

Sources: Highline Public Schools closure recommendation and November 12 hearing details, and The Seattle Times / Seattle’s Child and The Highline Journal reporting — as covered in today’s episode, which publishes its sources in its episode description.