An Encampment Near a School and Yet Another Basketball Coach Goes Too Far

This story comes from the West Seattle Blog on Friday, the 9th:

Local school warns families about ‘growing encampment

The local school in question is Chief Sealth International High School. Below is an email sent to CSIHS families by campus administration.

Hello Chief Sealth’s Families,

We are aware of the growing encampment within Longfellow Creek (east of Chief Sealth). We have reported it to Find It, Fix It App (seattle.gov/customer-service-bureau/find-it-fix-it-mobile-app). We encourage you to do the same! For safety reasons, please ask your student(s) to avoid the area at this time.

Thank you,
CSIHS Admin

The WS Blog said:
It seems startling that the district wouldn’t have a better way to surface safety concerns than Find It Fix It, so we’ll be following up with SPS on Monday.

One commenter sats there is another encampment just one block from Bailey Gatzert ES. 

If I were a parent, I'd be calling electeds. This already happened before and lasted a year. There is no reason for the City to allow this to happen near a school.



It's hard to fathom but yet another high school basketball coach is in hot water. This time it's in the Renton School District. This via The Seattle Times:

A Renton School District staff member watched two students exit the office of assistant principal and boys basketball coach Rashaad Powell on March 20. Documents later described one as “visibly agitated” as Powell followed.

“My mom, pal? My [expletive] mom?” the student yelled at Powell, per an investigative report produced by the Renton School District. “Are you [expletive] kidding me?”

The confrontation prompted the Renton School District to open an investigation into allegations that Powell, who has worked for the district since 2009, sent unwanted sexually explicit photos and messages to mothers of his students in recent years.

The investigation, which Powell has heavily criticized, concluded that Powell “more likely than not” sent sexual communications via Snapchat to two mothers, who told investigators they viewed his actions as “harassment.”

The district did not renew his contract but he is challenging that and is still on paid administrative leave. The district seemed to really try to head this challenge off but Powell declined.

However, documents viewed by The Seattle Times show the Renton School District offered Powell a settlement agreement to “better support (Powell’s) continued career in education” that included several months of paid leave and a neutral letter of recommendation for future employers, among other items, in return for Powell’s resignation and agreement not to sue the district.

Powell declined to sign the settlement agreement “for a variety of reasons, such as the continuing legal action against the District,” his attorney Tyler Firkins told The Times.

This was done over Snapchat with its disappearing messages. However,

The investigation noted that two staff members, whom Parent B knew socially, were interviewed and confirmed Parent B had told them about messages and Powell visiting her house back in 2024.

She said she did not report at the time because of Powell’s “status in the community” and fear of backlash, adding she was concerned it could affect her son, whom Powell coached and supported at school.

And did those staffers warn district leaders? 

Of course she was worried - Powell could have benched her son (and Powell knew it). 

The district did hire another basketball coach.