Olympia School District, Washington, elections

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Olympia School District
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District details
School board members: 5
Next election: November 4, 2025
Students: 9,633 (2022-2023)
Schools: 20 (2022-2023)
Website: Link

Olympia School District is a school district in Washington (Thurston County). During the 2023 school year, 9,633 students attended one of the district's 20 schools.

This page provides information regarding school board members, election rules, finances, academics, policies, and more details about the district.

Elections

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Olympia School District school board District 3

General election

The general election will occur on November 4, 2025.

General election for Olympia School District school board District 3

Renee Fullerton and Rhyan Smith are running in the general election for Olympia School District school board District 3 on November 4, 2025.

Candidate
Renee Fullerton (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
Rhyan Smith (Nonpartisan)

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Olympia School District school board District 5

General election

The general election will occur on November 4, 2025.

General election for Olympia School District school board District 5

Gilbert Lamont and Emily Leddige are running in the general election for Olympia School District school board District 5 on November 4, 2025.

Candidate
Gilbert Lamont (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection
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Emily Leddige (Nonpartisan) Candidate Connection

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Olympia School District school board District 1

General election

General election for Olympia School District school board District 1

Maria R. Flores and Talauna Reed ran in the general election for Olympia School District school board District 1 on November 7, 2023.

Candidate
Maria R. Flores (Nonpartisan)
Talauna Reed (Nonpartisan)

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Olympia School District school board District 2

General election

General election for Olympia School District school board District 2

Frank Durocher and Jess Tourtellotte-Palumbo ran in the general election for Olympia School District school board District 2 on November 7, 2023.


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Per our coverage scope, Ballotpedia does not provide election results for this particular race. Check your city or county government's election website for vote totals.

Olympia School District school board District 4

General election

General election for Olympia School District school board District 4

Hilary Seidel and Leslie Van Leishout ran in the general election for Olympia School District school board District 4 on November 7, 2023.

Candidate
Hilary Seidel (Nonpartisan)
Leslie Van Leishout (Nonpartisan)

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Olympia School District school board District 3

General election

General election for Olympia School District school board District 3

Incumbent Leslie Huff won election in the general election for Olympia School District school board District 3 on November 7, 2017.

Candidate
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Leslie Huff (Nonpartisan)

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Olympia School District school board District 4

General election

General election for Olympia School District school board District 4

Incumbent Hilary Seidel won election in the general election for Olympia School District school board District 4 on November 7, 2017.

Candidate
Image of Hilary Seidel
Hilary Seidel (Nonpartisan)

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Olympia School District school board District 5

General election

General election for Olympia School District school board District 5

Incumbent Scott Clifthorne won election in the general election for Olympia School District school board District 5 on November 7, 2017.

Candidate
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Scott Clifthorne (Nonpartisan)

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Olympia School District school board District 1

General election

General election for Olympia School District school board District 1

Incumbent Frank Wilson won election in the general election for Olympia School District school board District 1 on November 3, 2015.

Candidate
Frank Wilson (Nonpartisan)

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Election rules

 

Election dates and frequency

See also: Rules governing school board election dates and timing

School board nonpartisan primary elections in Washington are held on the first Tuesday in August every two years in odd-numbered years. School board primary elections are only held if more than two candidates file to run for a school board member seat. If only two candidates run, the primary is canceled and both candidates advance to the general election.

School board general elections in Washington are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November every two years in odd-numbered years.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: Washington Statute RCW 29A.52.220 and RCW 29A.04.311 and Washington Statute RCW 29A.04.330

Recent or upcoming election dates for all public school districts in the state

Below are the recent/upcoming dates for all public school districts in the state. There may be exceptions to these dates for specific districts because of local charters and district-specific exceptions and carve-outs.

  • Filing deadline date: May 16, 2025
  • Primary election date: August 5, 2025
  • General election date: November 4, 2025

Election system

School board members in Washington are elected through a system of a nonpartisan primary election and a nonpartisan general election. School board primary elections are only held if more than two candidates file to run for a school board member seat. If only two candidates run, the primary is canceled and both candidates advance to the general election.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: Washington Statute RCW 29A.52.220 and RCW 29A.52.210

Party labels on the ballot

See also: Rules governing party labels in school board elections

School board elections in Washington are nonpartisan, which means party labels do not appear on the ballot for school board candidates. Washington statute specifies partisan and nonpartisan offices. Washington has a top-two primary system, which means all candidates appear on the same primary ballot regardless of party affiliation. The top-two candidates advance to the general. For partisan races, candidates can but do not have to express a preference for a political party. If they do, the ballot specifies their party preference. For nonpartisan races, candidates cannot express a party preference. RCW 28A.343.330 states that, "the positions of school directors and the candidates therefor shall appear separately on the nonpartisan ballot."

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: Washington Statute RCW 29A.52.210 and RCW 28A.343.330

Winning an election

The school board candidate that receives the largest number of votes in the general election is elected to office.

The top two school board candidates with the most votes in the nonpartisan primary advance to the general election. If only two candidates file for the primary election, the primary will be canceled and they will automatically advance to the general election. School board primary elections are only held if more than two candidates file to run for a school board member seat.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: Washington Statute RCW 28A.343.010 and Washington Statute RCW 29A.04.127

Term length and staggering

Elected school board members in Washington have four-year terms, except for school districts classified as first-class school districts containing a city of the first-class in a county with a population of two hundred ten thousand or more, can have their board of directors serving six-year terms. As of 2022, only Spokane, Tacoma, and Everett School Districts serve 6-year terms.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: Washington Statute RCW 28A.343.300 and RCW 29A.04.340

Washington school districts have staggered elections based on the rule that not more than a majority of board members can be elected at any election. This means that for all districts with four-year board member terms, as close to half of board members as possible are elected every two years. Four years is the default board member term length. As of 2022, Spokane, Tacoma, and Everett school district board members serve six-year terms with as close to one-third of board members up for election every two years.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: Washington Statute RCW 28A.343.300 and 28A.343.600

Representation: at large vs. by sub-district

School board members are elected at large, by district, or through a combination of the two, depending on the classification of the school district. Any school district in the state that has a student enrollment in its public schools of two thousand pupils or more is a school district of the first class. Any other school district is a school district of the second class.

Most school districts classified as First Class Districts can elect their school board members either entirely at large or entirely by sub-districts.

School districts classified as Second Class Districts must elect their school board members either at large or by director districts (sub-district). Districts opting for a combination of board members elected by sub-district and at large generally must have three members elected from sub-districts and two members elected at large.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: Washington Statute 28A.343.02028A.343.680, and 28A.300.065 and Washington Statute 28A.343.020 and 28A.343.680 and Washington Statute 28A.343.680

Filing deadlines and swearing-in dates

The school board candidate filing deadline is on the Friday following the Monday that is two weeks before Memorial Day. This means the filing deadline is 74 days before the August primary and 172 days before the November general election.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: Washington Statute RCW 29A.24.050

School board candidates cannot submit declarations of candidacy until the filling window opens on Monday two weeks before Memorial Day. This means the filing window opens 78 days before the August primary and 176 days before the November general election.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: Washington Statute RCW 29A.24.050

Newly elected school board members officially take office at the first board of directors meeting taking place after the results of the election have been certified.

DocumentIcon.jpg See law: Washington Statute RCW 28A.343.360

 


About the district

School board

The Olympia School District consists of five members serving four-year terms. To find information about school board meetings, click here.

List of school board members
NameSeatYear assumed officeYear term ends
Jess Tourtellotte-PalumboDistrict 220232027
Maria FloresDistrict 120192027
Hilary SeidelDistrict 420172027
Darcy HuffmanDistrict 320212025
Scott ClifthorneDistrict 520172025

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District map

Overlapping state house districts

The table was limited to the lower chamber because it provides the most granularity. State house districts tend to be more numerous and therefore smaller than state senate or U.S. House districts. This provides an impression of the partisan affiliations in the area.

Budget

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[1]

Revenue, 2020-2021
SOURCE AMOUNT AMOUNT PER STUDENT PERCENT
Federal: $8,361,000 $881 5%
Local: $56,460,000 $5,948 33%
State: $108,154,000 $11,394 62%
Total: $172,975,000 $18,223
Expenditures, 2020-2021
TYPE AMOUNT AMOUNT PER STUDENT PERCENT
Total Expenditures: $176,359,000 $18,579
Total Current Expenditures: $142,287,000 $14,990
Instructional Expenditures: $89,462,000 $9,424 51%
Student and Staff Support: $19,718,000 $2,077 11%
Administration: $13,675,000 $1,440 8%
Operations, Food Service, Other: $19,432,000 $2,047 11%
Total Capital Outlay: $26,608,000 $2,803
Construction: $20,488,000 $2,158
Total Non El-Sec Education & Other: $157,000 $16
Interest on Debt: $7,307,000 $769

Academic performance

Each year, state and local education agencies use tests and other standards to assess student proficiency. Although the data below was published by the U.S. Department of Education, proficiency measurements are established by the states. As a result, proficiency levels are not comparable between different states and year-over-year proficiency levels within a district may not be comparable because states may change their proficiency measurements. To protect student privacy, percentages are reported as ranges for groups of 300 students or fewer. If five or fewer students were included in a data set, the data will display as "PS."[2]

The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:

School year All (%) Asian/Pacific Islander (%) Black (%) Hispanic (%) Native American (%) Two or More Races (%) White (%)
2018-2019 66 83 30-34 51 40-49 60 69
2017-2018 68 86 40-44 54 21-39 65 70
2016-2017 69 86 40-44 55 21-39 64 72
2015-2016 68 85 35-39 55 40-59 64 70
2014-2015 64 83 35-39 46 21-39 63 66
2013-2014 75 86 50-54 61 <50 73 77
2012-2013 73 86 40-44 63 60-79 66 74
2011-2012 73 83 45-49 60 40-59 70 75
2010-2011 72 84 40-44 61 40-59 65 73

The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:

School year All (%) Asian/Pacific Islander (%) Black (%) Hispanic (%) Native American (%) Two or More Races (%) White (%)
2018-2019 75 84 45-49 62 40-49 73 79
2017-2018 77 85 50-54 64 40-59 76 80
2016-2017 77 86 55-59 66 40-59 73 79
2015-2016 77 87 50-54 65 40-59 73 79
2014-2015 71 82 50-54 55 40-59 70 74
2013-2014 85 88 60-64 74 >=50 83 87
2012-2013 84 88 65-69 79 60-79 83 85
2011-2012 83 87 65-69 71 60-79 80 85
2010-2011 83 87 65-69 75 60-79 80 84

The following table shows the graduation rate of district students each school year:

School year All (%) Asian/Pacific Islander (%) Black (%) Hispanic (%) Native American (%) Two or More Races (%) White (%)
2019-2020 93 >=95 >=80 85-89 PS 85-89 94
2018-2019 91 90-94 >=80 85-89 PS 85-89 92
2017-2018 95 >=95 >=50 >=90 PS 90-94 96
2016-2017 89 >=95 >=50 80-84 PS 80-84 90
2015-2016 90 >=90 >=50 80-89 PS 85-89 90
2014-2015 87 90-94 >=50 85-89 PS 80-89 87
2013-2014 85 85-89 >=80 85-89 PS 70-74 87
2012-2013 83 >=90 >=50 70-79 PS 70-79 84
2011-2012 85 85-89 >=50 70-79 >=50 80-89 85
2010-2011 86 >=95 >=80 70-79 <50 60-79 87

Students

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[3]

Year Enrollment Year-to-year change (%)
2022-2023 9,633 1.3
2021-2022 9,508 0.2
2020-2021 9,492 -6.0
2019-2020 10,057 1.5
2018-2019 9,910 1.6
2017-2018 9,755 -4.5
2016-2017 10,196 2.1
2015-2016 9,986 2.3
2014-2015 9,756 2.7
2013-2014 9,491 0.5
2012-2013 9,439 1.1
2011-2012 9,332 -0.4
2010-2011 9,369 -0.1
2009-2010 9,381 -0.6
2008-2009 9,435 1.1
2007-2008 9,331 3.0
2006-2007 9,055 -1.9
2005-2006 9,231 1.0
2004-2005 9,141 -1.0
2003-2004 9,234 2.6
2002-2003 8,991 -2.2
2001-2002 9,185 0.4
2000-2001 9,147 0.3
1999-2000 9,124 0.0
Racial Demographics, 2022-2023
RACE Olympia School District (%) Washington K-12 STUDENTS (%)
American Indian/Alaska Native 0.5 1.1
Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander 7.5 8.7
Black 3.2 4.8
Hispanic 13.6 25.6
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 0.7 1.4
Two or More Races 11.4 8.8
White 61.9 49.1

Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Staff

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[4]

As of the 2022-2023 school year, Olympia School District had 567.25 full-time classroom teachers. The student-teacher ratio was 16.98.

Teachers, 2022-2023 school year
TYPE NUMBER OF TEACHERS
Prekindergarten: 7.91
Kindergarten: 46.74
Elementary: 251.95
Secondary: 260.65
Total: 567.25

Olympia School District employed 13.83 district administrators and 34.15 school administrators as of the 2022-2023 school year.

Administrators, 2022-2023 school year
TYPE NUMBER OF ADMINISTRATORS
District Administrators: 13.83
District Administrative Support: 33.70
School Administrators: 34.15
School Administrative Support: 42.93
Other staff, 2022-2023 school year
TYPE NUMBER OF OTHER STAFF
Instructional Aides: 160.57
Instruc. Coordinators & Supervisors: 26.27
Total Guidance Counselors: 16.00
Elementary Guidance Counselors: 1.50
Secondary Guidance Counselors: 14.50
Librarians/Media Specialists: 12.51
Library/Media Support: 0.00
Student Support Services: 53.00
Other Support Services: 170.17

Schools

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[5]

The Olympia School District operates 20 schools. They are listed below in alphabetical order.
List of schools
SCHOOL NAMENUMBER OF STUDENTSGRADES
Avanti High School1569-12
Boston Harbor Elementary177PK-5
Capital High School1,3269-12
Centennial Elementary478PK-5
Garfield Elementary School351PK-5
Jefferson Middle School4476-8
Julia Butler Hansen Elementary484PK-5
Leland P Brown Elementary316KG-5
Lincoln Elementary School270KG-5
Madison Elementary School197PK-5
Mckenny Elementary393PK-5
Mclane Elementary School438PK-5
Olympia High School1,8389-12
Olympia Regional Learning Academy413KG-12
Pioneer Elementary School380PK-5
Reeves Middle School3926-8
Roosevelt Elementary School382KG-5
Thurgood Marshall Middle School4416-8
Touchstone46-12
Washington Middle School7506-8

About school boards

Education legislation in Washington

Bills are monitored by BillTrack50 and sorted by action history.

See also

School Boards Education Policy Local Politics Washington
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External links

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  • Footnotes