School Capacity and Utilization Task Force Kicks Off New Year of Study

On Tuesday, September 30, 2025, the School Capacity and Utilization Task Force (SCUT) held its first meeting of the 2025–26 school year at the Karshner Museum and Center for the Arts. This is the third consecutive year SCUT has convened to study enrollment growth, space needs, and short-term planning for Puyallup schools. 

Why SCUT Exists 

SCUT is re-commissioned each year by the Puyallup School Board to review enrollment trends, facility capacity, and demographic shifts. With limited funding for major capital projects, aging facilities, and continued growth in some regions, the district must find ways to make efficient use of every available classroom. 

Most elementary and high schools operate above their built capacity. Portable classrooms provide some relief but carry challenges, including utility access, safety concerns, property limitations, and larger class size pressures. Without new bond funding, the district is left to pursue short-term and creative solutions. 

What SCUT Does and Does Not Do 

SCUT does not close schools or make recommendations about closures. Its role is to study the data and provide the Board with accurate, unbiased information if future decisions are required. SCUT will not hold Board hearings, collect public testimony, or issue public notices. Instead, it serves as a community-driven advisory group that ensures any short-term facility needs are addressed with consideration of the district’s long-range facilities plan. 

Feasibility Study of Spinning and Waller Road Elementary 

A major focus this year is a feasibility study of Spinning Elementary and Waller Road Elementary. Following the failure of the district’s February and April 2025 bond measures, which would have replaced both schools along with others, the Board asked SCUT to examine what closing either school could mean. 

A feasibility study is a fact-finding exercise. It looks at potential impacts on students, families, staffing, transportation, and surrounding schools. No decision has been made, nor is closure under recommendation at this time. The purpose is to understand what ripple effects might look like should the topic ever arise in the future. 

SCUT will not make decisions or recommendations regarding whether a school facility remains open or closed. 

At its first meeting, SCUT welcomed representatives from both schools, including principals, staff, and parents. Members from Waller Road and Spinning shared insight into the unique history and communities they serve. 

• Waller Road Elementary, located in the Summit/Waller area, serves the only rural-designated region within the Puyallup School District, keeping much of the surrounding neighborhood low-density. It is one of the few schools located within the Puyallup Tribe’s reservation boundary and borders three other districts. The building was last modernized in 1985 and traces its roots to a one-room schoolhouse first known as Woodrow School. 

• Spinning Elementary, built in 1891, is one of the district’s oldest schools in the heart of the Puyallup valley. It serves a close-knit community of multi-generational families, many of whom attended the school themselves. Like Waller Road, Spinning’s last major remodel occurred in 1985. It is an all-walking school except for a few boundary areas requiring transportation. 

Enrollment and Building Conditions 

As of late September, Spinning enrolls 318 students, including 62 in the district’s QUEST program for advanced learners. Four portables boost its capacity to 392 students, though the main building is limited to serving just over 300 students. Waller Road enrolls 309 for a main building that has a capacity for approximately 240 students. The school has added eight portables over the years to help mitigate overcrowding. 

Both schools have a building condition score of 40, which is considered poor. District leaders note that replacement projects would modernize classrooms, expand permanent capacity, improve safety, and ease traffic and parking challenges. Without bond approval, however, only limited levy-funded projects can move forward. The 2024 Capital Levy will invest about $3.12 million in 20 projects at Spinning and $4.7 million in 23 projects at Waller Road over the next six years. 

The district’s bond history underscores the challenge. Voters last passed a large bond in 2015, but more recent measures, including the two $800 million proposals in 2025, failed to validate despite receiving over 60 percent approval.

What Comes Next 

The Task Force will continue meeting this fall on October 14, October 28, November 13, and December 2, before presenting its alternative housing feasibility report to the School Board at a study session on December 12. 

Community members are encouraged to follow the process and review meeting materials at puyallupsd.org/SCUT. 

The district remains committed to providing safe, supportive, and high-quality learning environments, even as it navigates tough choices about facilities and resources.