Latest news with #SeattlePublicSchools
Time of India
6 days ago
- General
- Time of India
Seattle Public Schools is phasing out its gifted and talented program — find out why
Seattle Public Schools to phase out HCC program amid equity concerns. (AI Image) Seattle Public Schools (SPS) has decided to dismantle its gifted and talented program, sparking widespread debate among parents, educators, and the community. The decision, which began in 2021, aims to phase out the highly capable cohort (HCC) schools by the 2027-2028 school year, citing racial disparities in the program's demographics as the primary reason. The program, designed for students scoring in the 98th percentile or higher, previously served advanced learners at 11 specialized schools, including three elementary, five middle,_green and three high schools. However, a 2020 SPS task force report highlighted a significant overrepresentation of white and Asian students, prompting the district to prioritize racial equity over the continuation of the program. Addressing racial gaps in education The SPS task force noted that the Seattle community expressed discomfort with the racial disparities in the HCC schools, where white and Asian students dominated the enrollment. Fox News reported that the program was among the least diverse in the U.S., with limited access for underrepresented groups. Critics argue that the program's structure, which often required parents to transport children to testing centers on Saturdays with only one opportunity to qualify, favored more privileged families who could afford private testing. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Spacious 2, 3 & 4 BHK Homes at ₹88 L+* in Pune Dosti Greenscapes Learn More Undo In response, Washington state introduced a law mandating universal testing to identify gifted students from all backgrounds. Anticipating an influx of students, SPS opted to close the HCC schools and integrate gifted learners into mainstream classrooms under a new 'highly capable neighborhood' model starting next school year. However, doubts persist about the district's ability to deliver on its promise of specialized instruction for these students. Financial and educational implications The decision also has financial underpinnings. According to parent Parmar, the cost per student at Cascadia Elementary, an HCC school, was approximately $7,000—about 50% less than many neighboring schools. Despite this efficiency, SPS is replacing the program with what some, like parent Kiley Riffell, call 'empty promises, zero plan, and zero funding.' Teachers are now tasked with creating individualized learning plans for every student, a requirement many believe is unfeasible due to limited time and resources. Potential consequences for students Parents like Katie McAllister, whose son learned to read at age 4, worry about the impact on gifted learners. She described the program as a 'lifesaver,' noting that her son would have struggled in a regular classroom. Critics warn that this move could disproportionately harm low-income gifted students, as wealthier families may opt for private schools or better districts, leaving others in under-stimulating environments. As the debate continues, the decision underscores the tension between equity and educational excellence in public schools. Ready to empower your child for the AI era? Join our program now! Hurry, only a few seats left.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Yahoo
Family of student murdered at Seattle school files lawsuit against district
The Brief The family of Amarr Murphy-Paine, a student murdered in front of Garfield High School last year, has filed a lawsuit against Seattle Public Schools. The lawsuit accuses the school district of failing to provide a secure campus, blaming policies and inadequate security. SEATTLE - The family of Amarr Murphy-Paine, a Garfield High School student who was murdered on campus last year, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Seattle Public Schools. The backstory Murphy-Paine, a 17-year-old, was trying to stop a fight he saw in the parking lot when he was shot and killed in June 2024. The suspect in the shooting has still not been caught. The lawsuit accuses Seattle Public Schools of failing to provide a secure campus for students, and blames open campus policies and inadequate security. Video surveillance captured the whole incident. As Amarr walked past Garfield's Performing Arts Center, he turned around and tried to break up a fight between a former student and current student. Then, one of them fatally shoots Murphy-Paine. Amarr's father says the school and Seattle police initially treated the it like a gang shooting when it wasn't. "They didn't say it was a school shooting. They let Amarr look like somebody, if you ask me, who deserved something brought to him that way. He was a kid that came out of that school. That could have happened to anybody," said Arron Muphy-Paine, Amarr's father. The lawsuit says Seattle Public Schools ignored obvious warning signs about gun violence on and around campus. It details an incident earlier that same day in which a student in a ski-mask entered a classroom and shot a teacher multiple times with an airsoft rifle, then escaped. It says no staff called 911 to report it, as mandated by policy. The suit also states Seattle police responded to at least nine reports of dangerous weapons from 2020 to 2024, when they banned school resource officers on campus. "Just another thing that's happening in and around Garfield. Do you think that if that happened at O'Dea High School…I'm not even going to say the rest," Arron Murphy-Paine said. The lawsuit says the school had a duty to protect Amarr from an armed intruder entering campus. Meanwhile, Seattle police are continuing to ask for the public's help to identify Amarr's killer. You can submit an anonymous tip to Crime Stoppers of Puget Sound by texting the info through the P3 Tips App on your cell phone. There is a $5,000 cash reward offered for information that leads to an arrest. The Source Information in this story came from the family of Amarr Murphy-Paine, Seattle police, and original FOX 13 Seattle reporting and interviews. Microsoft to lay off about 6,000 workers Thurston County shooting suspect arrested after multi-state search Dozens of students sick in possible norovirus outbreak in Gig Harbor Marymoor Park announces 2025 summer concert series lineup in Redmond, WA Car similar to Bryan Kohberger's seen near victims' home multiple times: report Pierce County mother in court for 5-year-old son's fentanyl death First mumps case since 2018 reported in Whatcom County To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily FOX Seattle Newsletter. Download the free FOX LOCAL app for mobile in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for live Seattle news, top stories, weather updates and more local and national news.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
KIRO 7 Investigates: Could officers return to Seattle Public Schools?
Could officers be returning to Seattle Public Schools, five years after the district ended its program that allowed law enforcement in schools? Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes told KIRO 7 in a sit-down interview with Deputy Mayor Tiffany Washington that it's a priority for the city. 'When I talk to people, they want us to return to the schools in some capacity inside the school,' Barnes said. Garfield High School has been at the center of discussions when it comes to returning an officer to Seattle schools. 'Are you saying that SPD is looking to get a school engagement officer inside Garfield next school year?' KIRO 7 reporter Linzi Sheldon asked. 'I think not only SPD but many people in the community, many people who are parents, teachers, and students would like to see some meaningful engagement of our police officers inside the school,' Barnes said. He said depending on data, multiple schools could each have an SEO, a school engagement officer. Each officer would be out of uniform but still armed. 'Do you have enough officers now to have a dedicated officer for potentially each of those high schools?' Sheldon asked. 'I've always believed that resources are spent where your heart and your energy is,' Barnes said. Garfield had a School Resource Officer in the past. But a moratorium in 2020 removed police from inside Seattle Public Schools. The school board made the move amidst nationwide protests against police violence, specifically against people of color, and controversy over armed officers in schools. 'It's my understanding that the school board would have to lift the moratorium and then I would certainly be willing to sit down and have as many meetings as necessary to talk about it,' Barnes said. Seattle Public Schools Executive Director of Safety and Security Jose Curiel Morelos said the district is ready to present a proposal to the school board this summer. 'We need to go up to the board for them to lift it, but we also need communities to come together and ask for it,' he said. Morelos said the district has drafted a Memorandum of Understanding, or MOU. He said a school engagement officer would need to be a person students could develop a trusted relationship with. 'I also grew up undocumented, so for me, you know, for different people, a uniform can mean different things, right?' he said. 'So we have to be mindful of that, too, and how we communicate to the community that police are there to be a resource and they're not there to, you know, be part of disciplinary procedures and or, you know, immigration enforcement or anything like that.' 'This actually should have been in place this school year,' parent Appollonia Washington said. Her son is a sophomore at Garfield High School. Her daycare, A 4 Apple Learning Center, is just a few blocks away. Washington said she knows many in the community wanted an officer to return to Garfield even before the shooting death of 17-year-old Amarr Murphy-Paine in June of 2024 in the school parking lot. Late last year, Interim Police Chief Sue Rahr told KIRO 7 that she had been under the impression that a pilot program was going to begin in the fall of 2024. But in August, she said, something changed. 'I don't know what changed but the plan shifted away from that,' she said. 'We want these resources and they're still not here,' Garfield parent and PTSA co-president Alicia Spanswick said. KIRO 7 first started talking to Washington and Spanswick last fall after the district and city rolled out a $14.55 million plan to make kids safer. Spanswick's two children also attend Garfield. Both parents have been asking for the same things: better communications on the district and city's plan; information on mental health supports for students; and when Garfield will get an officer back inside the school. In September, Spanswick expressed doubts about Public Health's ability to hire 42 new mental health specialists by June. 'I hesitate to say that those would get filled in the in this school year,' she said then. She wasn't wrong. 14 out of the 42 have been hired so far. 'So they've hired 14 of 42. How are they going to close that gap in just a few months?' KIRO 7 reporter Linzi Sheldon asked Deputy Mayor Tiffany Washington. 'So when you hire that large of a group of people that you're looking for the same specialty, you always have people in queue,' Deputy Mayor Washington said. 'And so just because they've only hired 14 out of 42, they probably at any one time could have 150 active applications.' 'So they feel confident that they're going to reach 42 by the time school starts in this coming year?' Sheldon asked. 'Yep,' Deputy Mayor Washington said. According to SPS, the 14 new mental health specialists are being placed across Rainier Beach, Garfield, Chief Sealth International, Franklin, Ingraham, Aki Kurose, Washington, Denny, Mercer, Robert Eagle Staff, and Meany. 'Each school will receive at least one additional mental health clinician, bringing the total to two full-time mental health specialists per site once hiring is complete,' SPS Accountability Officer Ted Howard wrote. 'Hiring is underway, with positions at Garfield and Seattle World School already filled. The full rollout is expected to begin by the start of the 2025–26 school year.' The plan also includes telehealth support. SPS said between July and December of 2024, Joon served 193 students, while Talkspace, which launched in December 2024, served 240 students through March 2025. Both services will continue into the 2025–26 school year. And when it comes to the overall safety plan, the deputy mayor told KIRO 7 that the funding will return next year. Washington said the money would come from SPD, the city's general fund, the Seattle Human Services Department, and $46.6 million from Mayor Bruce Harrell's proposed $1.3 billion levy called 'Every Child Ready,' if voters approve it. Spanswick said it's good information. 'It would just be nice if they shared it with us,' she said. Deputy Mayor Washington said the city will roll out a dashboard to track these investments, something Spanswick has been asking for. But Appollonia Washington wants community meetings to figure out the best ways to spend this money. She said some of the money might be better spent contracting with counseling services already in the community or organizing get-togethers that help people support young people. 'Bring others to the table, more youth to the table,' she said. The city has also made changes to patrols after KIRO 7 discovered the police logged only half a dozen patrols outside the five high schools that the city said had higher rates of violence. Barnes now tells KIRO 7 that SPD's added a new dispatch code to track those patrols. Numbers show between April 15th and May 7th, officers visited each high school dozens of times. Garfield saw 34 patrol counts logged; Chief Sealth, 28; Rainier Beach, 24; Franklin, 22; and Ingraham, 21. 'We're making sure we're more efficient with our patrols,' Barnes said. The district is also rolling out an updated security system across all 106 schools as part of the BEX VI levy. That will include new cameras, access control, intrusion alarms, and vestibule entrances in all schools. The district is focusing on 15 schools right now and plans to complete 30 a year. And Morelos said SPS has added 15 more security specialists. 'We're prioritizing based on the need and based on incidents,' he said. Garfield had two; now, it has four. Both Alicia Spanswick and Appollonia Washington want to be hopeful as the school year ends — but they know a lot depends on the school board. 'I would like to be optimistic,' Spanswick said. 'We need the school board to do their job,' Washington said. KIRO 7 emailed all 7 school board members to ask if they would consider officers returning to schools. None of them responded.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Parents pack Seattle Public Schools meeting to protest student waitlists, option schools
The Brief Parents at Seattle Public Schools protested a number of issues on Wednesday, including ongoing waitlists for students waiting to get into their schools of choice. Parents and guardians said the school district was leaving some students in limbo. SEATTLE - Parents and members of the public packed a Seattle Public Schools meeting to protest a number of issues. Those included the subject of ongoing waitlists for students hoping to get into schools of their choice. Parents and guardians said Wednesday that the school district was leaving some students in limbo. "I'm here to talk about under-enrollment, yet, I see 400 families on the wait list," said one parent during public testimony. Another dad, Phillip Duggan, says his child, Ronan, is one of the kids sitting nervously on a waitlist. "We are trying to get into kindergarten at Hazel Wolf, which is a block away from us," said Duggan. Instead, he says Ronan was assigned to a school further away. The five-year-old drew a picture of Hazel Wolf that Duggan brought to the school board meeting as an appeal to be let in. "Always expected this to be where we were going and I was really excited. Now we are all a little bit worried and stressed. We are number five on the wait list," said Duggan. Parent of a Cleveland student, Tammy Morales, also spoke out. "Today we'll hear that school assignment decisions are being made to balance students. From my perspective, what's really happening is parents are being forced out of the district," said Morales. She believes the answer isn't to block students, but instead to add staff. "The answer is to staff and resource schools appropriately," said Morales. "It's not that there is not enough space in these schools for teachers to teach them, it's a predetermined plan by the district on what schools they want to enroll in, and which ones they don't," said parent Erin Combs. Combs said that she believes that putting a student on a waitlist could cost the district money. "The district spent all of last year telling us that they had to close schools because enrollment was declining, and there was a major budget deficit. They actually didn't enroll over 2,700 kids in the schools that were trying to go to school here," said Combs. "21% of those, I think 450 some, ended up leaving the district entirely." Parents say they are frustrated that students are turning to charter and private schools instead. "If they can't go to the school that they think is best for their kids, they will go to a private school. We are reducing enrollment even further," said Duggan. It's not clear what the district plans to do next regarding the wait lists. Parents say they plan to keep engaging the school board about waitlists and option schools. The Source Information in this story is from Seattle Public Schools and FOX 13 Seattle reporting. Boeing 737 reportedly rejected overseas, FOX 13 finds matching jet in Seattle China retaliates against Trump's tariffs Gov. Bob Ferguson signs bill restricting armed forces from entering WA Fast Ferry cuts loom as Washington faces budget crisis To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily FOX Seattle Newsletter. Download the free FOX LOCAL app for mobile in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for live Seattle news, top stories, weather updates and more local and national coverage, plus 24/7 streaming coverage from across the nation
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Attorney General sues Seattle Public Schools for alleged illegal treatment of pregnant employees
The Washington State Attorney General's Office has filed a lawsuit against Seattle Public Schools (SPS), alleging that the district repeatedly failed to provide reasonable accommodations to pregnant and nursing employees 'as required by law.' According to the suit, SPS 'routinely failed to provide legally required accommodations to pregnant and nursing employees such as flexible restroom breaks, modified work schedules, and the ability to sit more frequently.' KIRO 7 has reached out to the school district for comment and has yet to hear back. The suit alleges that one employee, while eight months pregnant, was unable to sit her entire workday. 'The state's investigation revealed that Seattle Public Schools did not have a district-level policy for how to handle pregnancy accommodation requests from employees. The district also failed to provide reasonable break time to express milk, or clean and private locations for nursing employees to pump. Employees were walked in on while expressing milk, endured painful clogged ducts, and experienced infections like mastitis. One employee felt 'they had no choice but to take leave to continue breastfeeding,' according to the complaint. The suit also alleges the school district violated state law by retaliating against employees who sought reasonable accommodations. The practices detailed in the suit, dating back to at least 2021, allegedly violate the state Healthy Starts Act and the Washington Law Against Discrimination, according to the AG's office. The lawsuit, filed in King County Superior Court, 'seeks to halt Seattle Public Schools from engaging in its discriminatory practices and award restitution to each impacted employee,' the suit reads.
