Editor’s Note: Story updated at 7:03 p.m. on 9/30/26 to include comment from the Bellingham Neighborhood Schools Coalition and Superintendent Greg Baker.
BELLINGHAM, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – Bellingham Public Schools is moving forward with a pair of school closures.
BPS Superintendent Greg Baker announced on Tuesday, Sept. 29, that he’s recommending the district close and repurpose Columbia and Carl Cozier elementary schools for the 2027-28 school year.
The decision is still pending final approval from the school board.
Starting in August 2027, current Carl Cozier students would attend Sunnyland and Wade King elementary schools. Columbia students would attend Alderwood Elementary.
According to the district, Columbia’s low enrollment will allow those current students to stay together in their move to a new school, while Carl Cozier has a larger enrollment that requires students to split up.
Columbia Elementary parent and Bellingham Neighborhood Schools Coalition Lauren Smith is one of many parents who are skeptical about the changes. The group believes the district hasn’t made a strong case that the closures would save a meaningful amount of money and claims it hasn’t explored enough alternative solutions to address the lack of funding.
“I would say we’re advocating for a transparent process in a democratic process like this,” Smith told My Bellingham Now. “When many of the parents in our group, who are really professional in their field, asked legitimate questions, asked for more data, asked for other alternatives to be considered, we never got anything back.”
Baker cites data from the district that projects BPS will lose about 1,000 elementary students from 2018 to 2018, reflecting a 20% drop. He says he understands the pride and love communities have for their schools, but believes hard decisions have to be made given the situation.
“In terms of the budget implications, we spent the last four years looking for alternative solutions,” Baker told Joe Teehan on KGMI Konnects. “On the facilities side, we’ve been looking at every option we can, every idea that people have, that we have. There are some creative things you can do in terms of bringing in a renter to co-locate, but at the end of the day, if you just think about 20% of your population is no longer here, it makes it pretty clear that you just don’t need as many classrooms and facilities.”
Baker’s announcement follows a facilities planning task recommendation in May that the district close and repurpose the two buildings. He says the move would save about $2.2 million, which would help the district avoid staff and program cuts amid four straight years of budget cuts and declining enrollment.
You can view a map of the new school boundaries on the BPS website.
