The board discussed their frustrations with the Student Assignment Transition Plan rollout; lowered the threshold for board approval of outgoing payments but not incoming grants; and hears public testimony pleading for increased staff allocations at several alternative learning sites.
SOFG is going away and committees are back -- but new controversy erupts over board fiscal thresholds.
The board re-establishes standing committees, weighs changes to the student assignment transition plan and to financial thresholds triggering board review, and hears public testimony on highly capable programs, ethnic studies at SPS, and student safety.
Ben Shuldiner previews a new approach for SPS budgeting: direct, honest competence.
"Your voice should lead to action," says the new Superintendent, who begins his job with high expectations – and immediate concerns about student safety.
Board members discuss restoring committees, updated the rules about cops on campuses, and extended the student representative program.
Two new highly capable cohorts are coming to West and South Seattle -- but so are changes to identification practices.
Immigration enforcement activity has ramped up across the country in recent months. Though Seattle has not been specifically targeted in the same way as other cities, Seattle-area immigration arrests have more than doubled since Trump took office. A well-documented incident of ICE officers executing violent arrests on school property in
Credible reports of ICE near SPS campuses triggered an immediate response.
The board hears updates about "Life Readiness" and about the state legislative session.
Will 2026 be the year legislators amply fund public schools? Probably not. But maybe in 2029...
The board re-elects their officers, hears a budget update, and learns about changes to the choice process.