Two Important Stories to Ponder

The first story comes from KUOW, it's related to school safety and it's not good.

Ingraham High murder suspect brought weapons to school the previous month, records show

Ingraham staff confiscated a large knife and a BB gun resembling a real pistol from the boy on October 3, according to district files KUOW obtained through a public records request.

"Can't we just expel [the student] and they can appeal?" one staff member texted another.

Instead, the student was suspended for several days, records show.

A district spokesperson declined to comment, citing the legal case surrounding the shooting and the student.

Are you kidding me? The district knew this happened and yet they just suspended him? It would be great to know what the discussion was when he got caught with these items. Because if he said he needed them for protection, then wouldn't the district worry about if that fear was gang-related? 

Seattle Police Department Detective Judinna Gulpan declined to provide KUOW with the report from the October weapons incident, saying it is related to "an active and ongoing investigation involving multiple juveniles."

State law mandates expulsion for any student who brings a firearm to school. As in most states, however, BB guns are not considered firearms in Washington.

I don't care what is considered a firearm; both of those confiscated were highly problematic. I would have checked that kid every single morning for a month after the suspension. 

Of course, this will be a great aid in any lawsuit the victim's family chooses to file. 

The second story is a column from the Times' Danny Westneat from May 24th:

Bland is back? In Seattle the fiery far left is barely on the ballot

Westneat is referring here to the City Council races but it's a cogent question for the Seattle School Board races. 

It wasn’t long ago that candidates for public office here would routinely declare things like, “We’re going to make Seattle the most progressive city in America.” The campaigns were movements, centered around first-in-the-nation policy ideas involving wages, tenant law, anti-corporate campaign finance measures or such utopian fantasies as completely abolishing the police.

Now candidates are talking about potholes. Building sidewalks. Hiring more cops. Fixing stuff.

I haven't finished interviewing all the School Board candidates (some haven't even gotten back to me). But while I hear the word "inclusion" a lot, it does feel like these candidates realize that all is not well in SPS and yes, there is some "fixing stuff" to do.

Thoughts?

Comments

Anonymous said…
I will vote pragmatism up and down the ballot. Nothing gets done unless schools stay open, people are safe, and government functions properly. The most radical and yes, anti-racist, thing we could do is deliver basic services again to our children and keep this system together. I don’t begrudge leaders for thinking big, but they’ve neglected the basics, and they’ve swam waaay outside their lane.

Traffic Cop

5/29/23, 6:20 PM
Unknown said…
Give me a break. If Martin Floe would have suspended the kid, it would have messed up his discipline numbers.

Administrators allow all kinds of unsafe behavior in the name of keeping their exclusionary practices minimal, and they've largely abandoned old school progressive discipline schemes because they lead to suspensions.

I'm not the only one here who remembers 2018 SPS, am I?

SP
5/30/23, 5:46 AM
Anonymous said…
Oh *gasp*! Someone brought a knife to school? Whatever will we do???

Give me a break too! Students bring knives to school all the time! Enforcement of safety and searches would be a colossal breach of equity. What if more BIPOC students get caught with weapons? Oh the inequities!!!! Better not to know. Ignoring behavior is easiest. Actually doing nothing is the easiest. Unfortunately it perpetuates the inequality.

Sorry
5/31/23, 10:03 AM
Melissa Westbrook said…
Sorry, did you see the size of the knife? You are wrong on this one. I don't give a rat's ass if every other kid has a knife; if they get caught, it should be taken seriously.
5/31/23, 2:21 PM
Anonymous said…
No, I didn’t see the knife. I saw your post. I worked in a school and know the presence of knives and other weapon like items is extremely large in student possessions.

“It should be taken seriously.”

And. The student was suspended. In an era of equity driven no-punishment and “restorative” justice, suspension is a heavy, barely used, serious punishment. The student was punished. But punishment isn’t going to divine future transgressions. So long as equity is our only focus, safety (and everything else like academics) will take a backseat.

Sorry
5/31/23, 2:47 PM
Justice4 Who said…
The Ingraham shooting certainly casts a shadow on Restorative Justice policies. In the case of Ingraham, where is the justice for the murdered student and traumatized community.
5/31/23, 3:26 PM
Anonymous said…
I know that there is a process for an “emergency expulsion” if admin feels that the student is posing an immediate danger. -FormerTeacher
5/31/23, 4:30 PM
Melissa Westbrook said…
Former Teacher, apparently there was one Ingraham teacher asking that question but I suspect got ignored.
6/1/23, 8:13 AM
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