Takeaways From the September 2025 Seattle School Board Meeting

First, Superintendent Fred Podesta said that there was going to be a discussion of bell times next month. He didn't say why but you could speculate that it is around transportation costs. 

Naturally, this is an issue that could affect every family in the district.

As well, it hasn't come up in awhile but in addition to bell times, the district is going to have to tackle boundaries. When the realignment of HC finally comes (as well as returning a large number of Special Education students to their neighborhood schools), the district WILL have to redraw boundaries. 

That boundary work may have to be postponed a few years because if I am right and the district will be closing several schools within 5 years, it would be better to do it after school closures. 

All to say - more churn at SPS. 

But let's get to the issue of SPD officers in Seattle high schools. My main beef is this - why is this taking so long? A child was murdered and other students saw it happen. Garfield is a school that is traumatized (and I don't use that word lightly) and the Board continues to fuss over what it would look like to put an officer in SPS high schools.

Who is dragging their feet - the Superintendent and staff or the Board? Why couldn't all this questioning get done sooner? 

I do get the vibe that, like so many other topics in SPS, there may be a union issue here and that would be with SPD. Their union might have told staff, it's our way or the highway. But, if that is so, staff should say that out loud. 

Here's The Seattle Times' story.

Wednesday’s vote could have lifted or amended the 2020 moratorium that barred SPD officers in Seattle schools, which must happen before Garfield’s pilot program could begin.

“My discomfort is with bringing a gun into a school, (with) any armed person in a school building, even an officer, ” Mizrahi said in an interview before the meeting. He would like time to consider amendments to the proposal that would impact the scope and specifics of a uniformed officer in schools.

The board unanimously voted to table the decision on lifting the moratorium until Oct. 8; though it could also hold a special meeting to vote before its next scheduled meeting.

Garfield Principal Tarance Hart and others at the meeting encouraged the board to make the decision before its next regular meeting next month, so the pilot program can begin collecting effectiveness data.

I note that Director Michelle Sarju drily told Principal Hart that he wasn't a researcher. That is true but any school can collect data and send it into the district where they do have data specialists. 

As someone who tracks school shootings, I have rarely heard of an officer serving at a school shooting a student. If Mizrahi doesn't want a gun in school, then he doesn't want a police officer. SPD is not sending in an officer without their weapon. 

After listening to any number of speakers at this and other Board meetings, it feels like most students would be okay with an officer IF there are strict boundaries about where the officer is and what the officer can or cannot do in a school. Ditto for parents.

Student speakers seem increasingly uneasy and worried about their safety as the school year has started. And indeed, Garfield High School principal, Dr. Tarance Hart, told the Board on Wednesday that they have incidents every day that the officer assigned to the nearby community center assists with.  

What brings this into sharper focus for me is the continuing string of stories from The Seattle Times about teen boys and guns. Here's the latest one.

Two teens allegedly tied to drive-by shootings arrested in South Seattle

Two teenage boys were arrested by Seattle police in South Seattle on Tuesday on suspicion of their connection to a string of drive-by shootings, police say.

Officers had been on the lookout for a dark gray Toyota that was damaged on the outside that is believed to have been involved in three drive-by shootings, Seattle police said online. Officers spotted the parked car near the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Way South and South Othello Street while patrolling a little after 4:30 p.m.

Seattle police did not elaborate about the three drive-by shootings.

Two teenagers were inside the car and a third was coming back to the car carrying pizza boxes, police said. Police said the teenagers “left the area” in the car before officers stopped them several blocks south near South Kenyon Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way South.

The teenagers, 14, 16 and 17 years old, were then detained by police. 

These teens may or may not be SPS students. 

What I have noticed from afar is the news that the murder rate in Seattle is down but the shooting rate is up. I would venture that the ability for teens to access guns is probably a big part of that. 

My thought is that more transparency on what the issues are that are blocking any forward motion on this issue is what is needed. 

I leave you with what one Garfield student said at the Board meeting (this via Seattle Times):

“The irony is not lost on me that most people in this room are gathered to speak about school lunches,” said Rilan Springer, who graduated from the school in June. “At Garfield, surviving school lunch is not a guarantee. … Most people gathered at this board meeting are here to fight for their clubs. I sat at my vice president’s vigil. The first time my club posted (on Instagram) it was a memorial.”