Seattle Schools Community Forum

 From SPS Facebook: Huge congratulations to Chief Sealth International High School, home to TWO 2026 State Wrestling Champions! What an incredible season and an unforgettable achievement for our Seahawk community. Lanuola Amituanai made history as the 2A 145 lb. Ladies State Champion, becoming the first female state wrestling champion from Seattle Public Schools. Lanu dominated the state tournament, pinning every opponent, including the final match, and defeated eight other state place winners during the season. An extraordinary accomplishment! Eli Policarpio, 2A 215 lb. Boys State Champion, capped off a remarkable season with a 53–1 record, setting a new Metro Conference record. Eli powered through the state tournament and, despite an injury in the final match, showed grit and determination to finish strong and claim the title. Congrats to Lanuola and Eli!   As I reported previously, the Board is having another meeting today at 4:30 pm to take up agenda items from last Wedn...

I know there are other folks/groups out there writing about Seattle Schools. That's great. You expand your knowledge base with more than one outlet. Or you can get more specific info from outlets with specific topics like HC. If you read something on one of these outlets, you are more than welcome to name them and provide a link. I, however, will not be doing that on a regular basis so please do not name an outlet and think I will supply the link.  

  KUOW is reporting that the Seattle Police Department has arrested "a male juvenile" who is connected to the January shooting of two Rainier Beach High School students at a bus stop in front in the school. Both students, boys, died. (Bold mine) At a news conference announcing the arrest Tuesday, Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes said the suspect was not a student at Rainier Beach High School, but detectives believe there “could have been a relationship” between the suspect and the victims. Barnes said the arrest was made outside of Seattle — though he didn’t say where — and authorities still haven’t found the gun used in the shooting. Seattle Police Department officials shared few details about the arrest or investigation, citing the suspect's age.  As well, it looks like SPD will be around RBHS for the rest of the school year. Is that in addition to Garfield High School?  Barnes said he hopes this case can be a call to action for the entire community — SPD includ...

 As one can see from the YouTube recording, this meeting was over four hours (and there's a good reason for that). Sadly, something went amiss this afternoon (when I was reporting on the second half of the meeting) and it all disappeared. So I'm going to try to recall and just do highlights.   All the directors were present as was Superintendent Shuldiner. Agenda. There was a recognition of the Rainier Beach High School basketball team winning their division in the state for the second year in a row.  The Roosevelt High School girls basketball team came in third in the state and were honored as well. President Gina Topp noted the benefits of athletes including time management. The Board took a recess to meet the athletes of both teams.  Shuldiner also commended both teams.  He explained how deeply he feels about student athletes and what they get from pursuing a sport. He also said that athletes have to be "eligible" and talked about GPAs. (Interesting side note...

Update via the Kent Reporter, fantastic news: A bill guaranteeing full‑ride college tuition for all foster youth and students who experienced homelessness passed both legislative chambers and now awaits the governor’s signature to become law.  The students who qualify are foster youths ages 13 and older and others who experienced homelessness in the year before college. These students already qualify for the Washington College Grant, which covers full‑ride tuition. They must complete the FAFSA, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid that determines a student’s eligibility for aid based on their family income, to receive those funds. This bill waives that requirement.  In both the Senate and House chambers, the bill received nearly unanimous support. No action must be taken by students to receive or renew the funds, which pay for up to six years, or 18 quarters, of full-time education. end of update Looks like Rainier Beach High School took the state  Class 3A champ...

Update: There is to be an Executive Session prior to the Board meeting at 3:45 pm. The agenda states: Executive Session: To discuss with legal counsel representing the agency matters relating to agency enforcement actions, or to discuss with legal counsel representing the agency litigation or potential litigation to which the agency, the governing body, or a member acting in an official capacity is, or is likely to become, a party, when public knowledge regarding the discussion is likely to result in an adverse legal or financial consequence to the agency. RCW 42.30.110(1)(i).  This is a bit odd because 1) Ex sessions are usually just 30 minutes and 2) they are usually about personnel.  Also, I did not know that Licton Springs' principal Ammon McWashington, Jr. had died on Feb. 1, 2026. He was a long-time principal in SPS.  The public testimony list is full at 25 with 29(!) speakers on the waitlist. Most of the speakers want to address a funding issue with Cascade Parent ...

I will up doing multiple posts but let's just start with AI in SPS.  Another long-time public education advocate, Leonie Haimson, who covers NYC public education, had this to say when I asked her about AI: I believe it is the greatest threat to education right now –  as well as huge threat to the environment as you point out.   Here is her group's PowerPoint on AI (She leads the Parent Coalition for Student Privacy) . Emily Cherkin is a noted speaker and writer on screen time in schools; her website is The Screentime Consultant. She's an SPS  parent. Right on her home page she says: Technology has fundamentally changed parenting, teaching, and learning. I absolutely agree.  Help me out - what have you heard from your child's teacher and your child's school? Here's what I have heard from one SPS parent, Emily Cherkin, who told me: Kids were/are using ChatGPT to write essays (because of course they are), and when I complained, the district supposedly blocked Cha...

  Hey.... The district is bankrupt. The next year or so should be really interesting. ~JustCheckedTheFinancials! So this comment just came in. Coincidentally, a public education friend said that they had ran the SPS budget documents through AI. Here's what was stated: 1. The district is functionally insolvent.  2. The accounts payable jumped 296%. It appears the district may be managing cash by delaying payments.  3. A negative $57.7M unassigned equity position, a 296% unexplained surge in payables, a $27.5M internal loan that appears to violate the entity's own governance policy, a beginning-of-the-year balance that came in at $21.2M below plan with no disclosure or adjustment - in a public company context, those aren't budget challenges.   Those are material weaknesses in internal controls, potential going-concern qualifications from the auditor, and the kind of findings that get the CFO terminated, trigger SEC inquiries, and expose board members to personal l...

 Via SPS Communications: Career and Technical Education (CTE) and Seattle Skills Center are teaming up to offer internship opportunities for high school students to earn both credit and compensation this summer.  Ninth grade students can explore coding and careers in tech with Tech Quest. Students interested in education can support social emotional learning among elementary-age students with Education Quest, and students can deep-dive into biology at the Allen Institute’s Open Science Quest!    Internship Opportunities   Amazon Periscope   July 13-24; 9 a.m. – 3 p.m., Monday through Friday with in-person orientation during the week of June 22  A two-week career intensive at Amazon South Lake Union campus for current 10th grade students. Students receive ongoing mentorship from Amazon leadership, earn 0.25 CTE credit, and a $400 gift card upon completion  Career Quest   July 6-30; Class on Mondays from ...