Seattle Schools Community Forum

From the HC community on Facebook: Reminder about this webinar on Thursday afternoon. If you are interested in advocating for improved HC services or even just understanding the implication of the rules for your own child, there should be something useful for everyone! • What's new in WAC (Washington Administrative Code) 392-170 and what it requires of school districts • How universal screening works and what it means for your child or school • How identification and placement are changing — and key protections against exclusion • What the new rules mean for families of multilingual learners, twice exceptional (2e) students, and other underserved groups • What to expect heading into the 2026–27 school year Washington's new Highly Capable rules take effect this June. These updates make significant changes to HiCap Programs including improvements to identification practices, increased access, types of services, notifications, reporting, and more. Join us for a free virtual event ...

The agenda of the Seattle School Board meeting last Wednesday, June 3, didn't really look all that promising. But there were a few items that ended up being quite interesting. Two Board members - Joe Mizrahi and Evan Briggs - came in after the meeting started. Board reports included Director Vivian Song who explained that the proposals that the Board took to WSSDA were mostly rejected. She also mentioned - as chair of the Audit and Finance Committee - that they are working on the audit of HR. I can't wait to see how that turns out. There were a scant 14 people on the Public Testimony list. One of them was former employee, Tracy Castro Gill. I was surprised to see her there as I thought she would never darken the doors of SPS again.She was fairly subdued and polite (in the past, she would generally glare at people when speaking). She explained that her group, Washington Ethnic Studies Now, had created, with others, an ethnic studies curriculum, She said that now the SPS Ethnic...

  From   FOX13 News: The Seattle City Council honored Amarr Murphy-Paine on Tuesday (June 2nd). He's the Garfield High School student who was shot and killed in 2024 outside the school. There was a round of applause as the Seattle City Council leaders proclaimed "Amarr Murphy-Paine Day" at the start of the city council meeting. From the Garfield High School website: On Thursday, June 4, from 4:30–7:30 p.m., the GHS and greater neighborhood community is invited to gather on the front steps of Garfield High School at 23rd & Jefferson. We will come together through art, shared memory, music, and dialogue. Community members are invited to help create chalk art, paint the front steps purple and white with messages of hope and resilience, and enjoy music, the Double Dutch Divas, a dunk tank, hot dogs from the grill, and other activities. On Friday, June 5, from 9 a.m.–3 p.m., Garfield will partner with Bloodworks Northwest to host the 2nd Annual GHS Blood Drive in the Gar...

The Seattle Times has a story about the Anitra Jones issue. The headline: Here are the documents SPS says mandate keeping controversial principal The backstory (in case you missed it because there were several investigations): An SPS spokesperson confirmed the district received complaints about this alleged “toxic” environment on June 13, 2023, and subsequently hired an independent contractor to investigate the allegations surrounding Jones’ disciplinary policies and allegedly discriminatory conduct. That investigator’s report, dated Sept. 27, 2024, concluded “that there was insufficient evidence to substantiate any of those allegations,” according to the district spokesperson.   In addition, the state’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction investigated community complaints from Rainier View families in 2023. The state agency conducted  three   investigations  into  allegations  that Rainier View staff failed to appropriately identify and sup...

As I previously reported, the Board Policy Committee meets Wednesday, June 3rd from 2-4pm. It's a fairly brief agenda: Policy Committee June 3, 2026, 2:00 – 2:30 p.m. Board Office Conference Room, John Stanford Center 2445 – 3rd Avenue South, Seattle WA 98134 Remote access: By  Microsoft Teams By Teleconference: +1 206-800-4125 (Conference ID: 900 837 310#) Call to Order Roll Call Approval of  May 20, 2026 Policy Committee Minutes Resolution Discussion Resolution Draft Scheduling Discussion Adjourn That resolution is to address issues in some initiatives coming before voters.  Partial: A RESOLUTION of the Board of Directors of Seattle School District No. 1, King County, Seattle,  Washington Opposing Initiatives IL26-001 & IL26-638 , concerning parental rights relating to  their children in public school and participation in athletics at K-12 schools in the state of  Washington. WHEREAS, lnitiative IL26-001 would repeal legislative amendments to statute ...