The question I get all the time from buyers is, “What are the best schools in Olympia, Washington?”
This is certainly a question to make your REALTOR nervous and here’s why.
As a REALTOR, I can’t ethically nor legally answer this question. Because if I said this house is in a good school district or a bad school district, under the laws of the Fair Housing Act, that is steering. If there is any correlation implied that the rating of a school has to do with race (or any of the protected classes of the Fair Housing Act), that becomes a fair housing issue.
Steering means my opinion about a school district could steer you towards or away from certain neighborhoods according to your race, religion or other characteristics protected under the
Fair Housing Act.
The Fair Housing Act is to prohibit discrimination in housing-relating activities because of:
- Race
- Color
- National Origin
- Religion
- Sex
- Familial Status
- Disability
In Washington State, marital status, sexual orientation, and gender identity are also protected.
My job is not to limit your choices in housing but to provide you with options and objective resources for you to get the information you need.
Researching Schools in Olympia, Washington
Here are the resources I discussed in this video:
Thurston Regional Planning Council:
https://www.trpc.org/392/Education
Greatschools.org:
https://www.greatschools.org/
Schooldigger.com:
https://www.schooldigger.com/
Links to the school districts in Thurston County:
https://www.k12academics.com/national-directories/school-district/Washington/Thurston
Conclusion
I can understand your frustration when I don’t answer this question. Schools are at the top of many buyer’s criteria when searching for homes, but you really want to get the best, objective information from the source. This is why I always recommend to my buyers to talk with the experts, and the experts could be the school principals, district websites, and school ranking websites.
While I can’t make these decisions for you, I can provide you the tools and resources for you to make the best decisions for you.