Darrington School District

Darrington School District
Address
1065 Fir Street
Darrington
, Washington, 98241
United States
District information
TypePublic
GradesPK–12
Established1892
SuperintendentTracy Franke
Schools2
NCES District ID5301980
Students and staff
Students464 (2024–25)
Teachers32.00 FTE (2024–25)
Staff66.97 FTE (2024–25)
Student–teacher ratio14.50 (2024–25)
District mascotLoggers
ColorsGreen and gold
Other information
Websitewww.darringtonschools.org

The Darrington School District (Darrington School District No. 330) is a public school district serving the town of Darrington, the community of Swede Heaven, and the surrounding rural areas of northeastern Snohomish County, Washington, United States..[1] Its boundaries follow the Sauk and Stillaguamish valleys—taking in Sauk Prairie, Swede Heaven, and areas along the Mountain Loop Highway—and a small portion extends eastward into Skagit County.[2] The district operates two schools, Darrington Elementary School and Darrington High School, which share a single campus and together enrolled about 464 students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade in the 2024–25 school year.[3][4]

The district traces its origins to 1892, when settlers in the timber and mining community formed School District No. 64; after a Depression-era reorganization that consolidated several outlying one-room districts, it took its present number, 330, in 1932.[5][6]

More than half of the district's students come from low-income families, and Darrington High School's four-year graduation rate has trailed the statewide average.[3][7] The district relies heavily on state funding and on voter-approved local levies, the renewal of which has recently been contested at the ballot box.

The district is governed by an elected five-member board of directors and led by a superintendent.[2][8] Darrington High School's athletic teams, the Loggers, compete in the smallest classifications of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association and have won three state boys basketball championships.[9][10]

History

Public schooling in the Darrington area began in 1892. In September of that year a petition was filed with the Snohomish County superintendent to split a new district from Arlington's District No. 16; it was approved on October 22, 1892, creating District No. 64.[5] The county granted the new board of directors $94.80, and the first schoolhouse—a one-room building of split cedar—was completed in 1893 near present-day Kirk Lake, southwest of town.[5][6] As settlement shifted toward the railroad, larger schools followed; a fourth schoolhouse was built in 1904, and a second teacher was added in 1905.[6]

During a logging boom, the district (by then numbered 319) built a two-story grade school in 1921 and a separate high school in 1925–26 at what is now Old School City Park.[6] After a 1930 state report found the high school facilities "inadequate," the district reorganized during the Great Depression. In 1932 it consolidated the surrounding rural districts—among them the Hazel, Whitehorse, and White Pine schools, and the Bennettville and Mansford schools in Skagit County—and was renumbered District No. 330, the designation it still holds.[6] A new high school was built in 1936 and opened in 1937, after which most outlying students were bused to Darrington; the last of the small rural schools closed in 1957.[6]

Another new high school opened in 1958, the same year the town's municipal airport opened.[5] In the early 1990s a modern school was built at the present campus on Fir Street, and the older building at Old School City Park was demolished.[6]

In March 2014 the Oso landslide buried a section of State Route 530 between Oso and Darrington—the town's main route west—temporarily isolating the community.[11] In late July 2017, three juveniles broke into the shared campus over a weekend, smashing windows, discharging fire extinguishers, and flooding part of the building; the damage was initially estimated at $500,000 and later put at roughly $1 million, with insurance expected to cover the repairs.[12][13] In 2019, voters approved a $1.4 million capital levy to replace the elementary school's roof, install a high-school heating system, and upgrade fire alarms and security at both schools.[14] During the COVID-19 pandemic, many students in the rural district lacked reliable home internet for remote learning; a 2022 state broadband grant of about $16.7 million was directed at expanding service along the State Route 530 corridor through Darrington.[8]

Schools

The district's two schools share a 12.5-acre (5.1 ha) campus on Fir Street in Darrington:[4][14]

  • Darrington Elementary School – grades pre-kindergarten through 8; about 351 students (2024–25).
  • Darrington High School – grades 9 through 12; about 113 students (2024–25).

Academics

As of 2026, Darrington High School's four-year graduation rate has been about 77 percent, below the statewide average of about 83 percent, and student proficiency on state assessments has generally run below state averages.[7][15] The district offers career and technical education, operates a federally funded Title I program at the elementary school, and provides special education and a highly capable (gifted) program.[16][17] Since 2014 it has partnered with the Glacier Peak Institute, a local nonprofit formed after the Oso landslide, on outdoor and STEM education.[18][19]

Enrollment and demographics

In the 2024–25 school year the district enrolled 464 students and employed about 32 full-time-equivalent teachers, a student–teacher ratio of roughly 14.5 to 1.[3] More than half of its students come from low-income families, and the student body is roughly three-quarters white, about one-tenth Hispanic or Latino, and includes smaller shares of American Indian or Alaska Native, multiracial, and Asian students.[3][7]

Finances

For the 2022–23 fiscal year, the district reported total revenue of about $10.2 million—roughly 67 percent from the state, 21 percent federal, and 12 percent local—and per-pupil expenditures of about $19,900.[3] Local enrichment levies, which fund staff, activities, and student meals beyond state support, have been a recurring point of difficulty: a replacement educational programs and operations levy failed at the February 2026 special election, with about 45 percent voting in favor, and the district placed a smaller measure before voters in August 2026, with officials warning that another failure could force cuts to staffing, athletics, and arts programs.[20]

Governance

The district is governed by a five-member board of directors elected to four-year terms, combining geographic director-district seats with at-large seats.[2] The board sets district policy, adopts the annual budget, and appoints a superintendent to lead day-to-day operations.[2] Tracy Franke is the district's superintendent; in the small district she also serves as the principal of Darrington Elementary School.[8][16]

Athletics

Darrington High School's teams are known as the Loggers, in school colors of green and gold.[9] The school is placed in the smallest enrollment classifications of the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) and competes in the Northwest 2B/1B League.[9][21]

After receiving an enrollment-based exemption in 2018, the football team moved down to play eight-man football in Class 1B.[9][22] In 2025 the Loggers finished 9–2 and won their league with a 7–0 record, earning the program's first state-playoff victory since 1997 before losing in the Class 1B quarterfinals.[23][24] The boys basketball team won Washington Class B state championships in 1955, 1957, and 2003.[10][25]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Geography Division. 2020 Census - School District Reference Map: Snohomish County, WA (PDF) (Map). U.S. Census Bureau. pp. 2–3, 5 (PDF p. 3-4, 6/7). Retrieved August 28, 2026. - Text list
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Information on running for the school board". Darrington School District. April 9, 2025. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Darrington School District". National Center for Education Statistics. U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  4. 1 2 "Search for Public Schools: Darrington School District". National Center for Education Statistics. U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Darrington Area School History". Darrington Historical Society. May 17, 2019. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 "Darrington School District". Washington State Report Card. Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  7. 1 2 3 "$16M grant to speed up broadband to north Snohomish County". The Daily Herald. Everett, Washington. January 25, 2022. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  8. 1 2 3 4 "How a small town saved its high school football program". The Daily Herald. Everett, Washington. 2018. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  9. 1 2 "Class B boys roundup: Darrington wins title". The Seattle Times. March 9, 2003. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  10. ↑ "A brief timeline of the Oso mudslide". The Daily Herald. Everett, Washington. March 20, 2024. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  11. ↑ "Young vandals cause $500K in damage to Darrington schools". The Daily Herald. Everett, Washington. August 2, 2017. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  12. ↑ Hefley, Diana (October 17, 2017). "Second teen charged after $1 million in school vandalism". The Daily Herald. Everett, Washington. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  13. 1 2 Davey, Stephanie (May 2, 2019). "Darrington takes care of its own, school superintendent says". The Daily Herald. Everett, Washington. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  14. ↑ "Washington students boast record-high graduation rates and preparedness for higher education". Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. December 2023. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  15. 1 2 "About Us". Darrington School District. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  16. ↑ "2024–25 Student Handbook" (PDF). Darrington School District. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  17. ↑ "Darrington nonprofit puts kids in touch with timber town's roots". The Daily Herald. Everett, Washington. March 11, 2023. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  18. ↑ "Connecting Youth and Nature — for Learning and Fun". Washington Trails Association. March 25, 2019. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  19. ↑ "Darrington schools hope the 2nd time is the charm for levy". The Daily Herald. Everett, Washington. May 28, 2026. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  20. ↑ "Northwest 2B/1B League". Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  21. ↑ Milles, Todd (November 8, 2023). "Bracket Breakdown: WIAA 1B state football tournament first-round previews". Sports Illustrated High School. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  22. ↑ "State football quarterfinal preview: Experts pick winners". The Daily Herald. Everett, Washington. November 21, 2025. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  23. ↑ "Darrington Loggers football standings (2025–26)". MaxPreps. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
  24. ↑ "1955 Darrington High School Boys Basketball Team". Snohomish County Sports Commission. Retrieved June 5, 2026.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.