More Big Seattle Schools Stories, August 14, 2026

The biggest story is this one from KUOW:

Seattle Public Schools audits HR department after complaints of a broken system

Seattle Public Schools plans to begin an audit of their human resource practices.

The step follows a pledge from SPS Superintendent Ben Shuldiner to reexamine how the district responds when teachers are accused of harassment or sexual abuse.

In June, a request for proposals for a human resources internal audit was posted on Bid Locker, a submission platform used by universities and government agencies.

Documents shared online lay out the scope and scale of the audit. Among the list of objectives is determining if investigations are conducted in a timely manner, and if "outcomes" are consistently applied. Other preliminary objectives outline assessing best practices with recruiting, hiring, promotion, and separation requirements.

A scoring sheet for agencies that submitted bids ranks proposals from 13 different groups. Several are located in Washington state. A spokesperson for the district says the contracting phase is still in progress, and the bid selection has not been finalized yet. 

The estimated budget for the audit is $80,000, with a maximum amount capped at $100,000.

The target date for completion is slated for December 2026, with a presentation to the district's finance and audit committee planned for March 2027.

This follows on the heels of head of HR, Sarah Pritchett, being put on leave. Her tenure appears to be marked by talk of nepotism and protection of friends. And, as Shuldiner asks:

"If you came up to my office, you would actually see stacks of data around investigations that have happened over the last couple of years and me really pushing to say, 'Where are we with this?'" Shuldiner said.

I am disappointed that the audit will be completed in December and they will wait until March for a review by a Board committee? I'll have to try to find out when it will be made public (hopefully in December). 

There was also this story in The Seattle Times this morning:

Seattle to conduct study on universal preschool and childcare

Mayor Katie Wilson and City Council members are pushing to make preschool and childcare available to all Seattleites, and an upcoming study could map out how they can make that vision a reality. 

The Department of Education and Early Learning will launch a study in 2027 to assess how the city can develop universal preschool and childcare programs to support families facing financial pressures as the cost of childcare and early learning climbs. 

“Every Seattle family should have access to high-quality, affordable childcare and preschool, regardless of their income or ZIP code,” Wilson said in a statement. 

The study aims to answer questions like whether preschool and childcare can be free to everyone, who should be prioritized for free access and how the city can fund these programs. While DEEL is still searching for a vendor, the evaluation itself is projected to take at least one year, spokesperson Marissa Rouselle said.

While DEEL cannot say with certainty how long the study will take, council members said universal preschool and childcare are at least a few years away from becoming available to families.

This could have major impacts for SPS. If the City figures out funding, would it mean more classrooms given over to the pre-K program? If the district says it will close some small schools, I could see the City asking to use them for pre-K and childcare. If that happens, the district MUST charge the City for the use of the buildings. 

The Times also had this story:

Free meals at all Seattle Public Schools will begin this fall

The City Council voted 9-0 Tuesday to approve $3.6 million in funding for free meals for all Seattle students, part of a large package of updates to the city budget. The funds for free meals will come from a budget surplus left over from an affordable housing project in North Seattle.

For weeks, the City Council and Mayor Katie Wilson have debated the details of how to pay for and implement free meals for all Seattle students, an initiative announced by Wilson earlier this year. Now, less than a month before the start of the school year at SPS, the council has unanimously agreed on where funding for this year’s free meals will originate.

The council also has already OK’d about $4 million as part of a food assistance program to feed low-income SPS students on weekends and during school breaks, a separate effort that will also be funded by the Families, Education, Preschool and Promise levy.

Free meals at all SPS schools will begin this fall. More than half of the district’s 106 schools already offer free meals to all students via various state and federal programs.

Now, the city will cover the costs for SPS students who are not at schools with free meals or those who are not already in free and reduced lunch programs, according to the FEPP levy implementation plan.

Sounds good but I do hope that SPS and the City track the numbers to see how many more students will access those free meals. My experience is that although the district does offer fresh fruit and vegetables not all students make that choice and just get a slice of pizza.