The Seattle School Board Needs To Do Right by the Public

 Update 3: Info I gleaned from the KOMO news story:

After a nationwide search and 41 applicants, the Seattle Public Schools board interviewed eight candidates, and the final two were scheduled to have their last round of interviews until 7 p.m. Wednesday. In a three-hour-long closed-door meeting, the candidates were slated to present their plans and goals for their first 100 days in office and answer questions from student representatives. 

There will be more deliberations on the two final candidates on Oct. 29.

The names of the remaining two candidates have not been released. Board President Topp on Wednesday emphasized they are protecting the finalists' identities, for now, because they are in leadership roles in other districts, but the public can expect to learn their names the day of a board vote on or before Nov. 5.

I'm pretty sure that if the Board has kept these names secret all this time, they will release only ONE name, not two. 

end of update 

Update 2:

To note from the southend media sources. 

South Seattle Emerald does not make endorsements. This is a surprise to me because they do have an Opinion section.

Meanwhile The Seattle Medium has made endorsements and they are interesting. In their endorsements, they say nothing about the candidate they are not endorsing but, rather, use the space to tell you what they like about the candidate they are endorsing. 

Seattle School District No. 1, Director District No. 2

No Endorsement

Seattle School District No. 1, Director District No. 4

Laura Marie Rivera

Seattle School District No. 1, Director District No. 5

Janis White

Seattle School District No. 1, Director District No. 7

Jen LaVallee

I wonder why they did not endorse either candidate - Clark or Smith -  in District 2. It is notable because Clark says although she lives in the north end, she is committed to the southend. 

end of update 

Update:

One interesting thing to consider. It appears the Board may name the new superintendent BEFORE the election. So maybe hold onto those ballots if you are not happy with the selection; you might not want to vote for Clark and Mizrahi after all.

Of course, if the announcement is delayed until AFTER the election then, hmmm.  

end of update 

 

By that headline I mean that the Board should announce who these superintendent finalists are and provide an opportunity for some kind of public engagement. 

I would remind them that the Board who appointed Brent Jones did NOT do this and, across the board from parents to The Seattle Times, people were not happy.

If they plan on installing someone as superintendent, they can likely expect that poor candidate will have a lot of fence mending/wooing to do. That would take a fairly dynamic person to take that on.

I have been pondering finding a parent with standing and going to court to get an injunction on any unilateral appointment by the Board.

During an executive session, the Board somehow narrowed the list of candidates from 8 to 2.  At issue is whether that was legal. 

And then, at the open meeting, they magically all picked the same two candidates.  

From The Seattle Times' article on the pick of two candidates, there was a lengthy conversation in the Comments section about pertinent RCWs around what electeds can and cannot do in executive session.

Boards may discuss candidates in executive session, but the narrowing or selection of candidates must be finalized in an open public meeting so the community can observe the decision-making process. 

That did not happen.

As well there is case law:

In West v. Walla Walla City Council (Wash. Ct. App. 2025), the court held that while deliberation about applicants can occur privately, reducing the pool or selecting finalists in executive session is unlawful. That’s considered “action,” and it must be done in public.

The court reiterated the OPMA’s purpose: the public must be able to observe the decision-making process, not just the final vote.

The bottom line, in our state, is boards can privately discuss superintendent candidates, but any decision to narrow or select them must be made in public — otherwise it violates the Open Public Meetings Act.

Even if any action cannot get done before they appoint someone as superintendent, they can always be sued later.

I note that the Board has an executive session tomorrow, October 22nd from 3:30 pm- 7:00 pm. The agenda states that they will be evaluating candidates for superintendent and "next steps in the superintendent selection process." It seems odd to me that they don't know those next steps already. 

Then, on Wednesday, October 29th, they are having a "special meeting" at 4:30 pm. There is no agenda yet available.