Seattle Public Schools, Washington

From Ballotpedia - Reading time: 10 min

Seattle Public Schools
School Board badge.png
Seattle, Washington
District details
Superintendent: Brent Jones
# of school board members: 7
Website: Link

Seattle Public Schools is a school district in Washington.

Click on the links below to learn more about the school district's...

Superintendent[edit]

BP-Initials-UPDATED.png
This information is updated as we become aware of changes. Please contact us with any updates.

Brent Jones is the interim superintendent of Seattle Public Schools. Jones began serving in an interim capacity on May 1, 2021, following Superintendent Denise Juneau's resignation. Jones' previous career experience includes serving as Seattle Public Schools' chief officer of equity, partnerships, and engagement and assistant general manager of strategy and partnerships for King County Metro.[1]

Past superintendents[edit]

  • Denise Juneau was the superintendent of Seattle Public Schools from 2018 to 2021. Juneau's previous career experience included working as an instructional coach and as the Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction.[2]
  • Larry Nyland was the superintendent of Seattle Public Schools from 2014 to 2018. Nyland's previous career experience included working as the superintendent of the Marysville School District and as the chief academic officer and human resources director of Highline Public Schools.[3][4]
  • Jose Banda was the superintendent of Seattle Public Schools from 2012 to 2014. Banda's previous career experience included working as the superintendent of the Anaheim City School District in California.[5]

School board elections[edit]

The Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors consists of seven members elected to four-year terms. Members are elected to specific geographic districts.[6] Members run within their districts during primaries and citywide during general elections.[7]

Seattle Public Schools Map.jpg

BP-Initials-UPDATED.png
This officeholder information was last updated on July 23, 2021. Please contact us with any updates.
BP-Initials-UPDATED.png

Election dates[edit]

See also: Seattle Public Schools elections in 2013, 2015, 2017, 2019, & 2021

Elections for the Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors are held in November of odd-numbered years with primaries in August. Elections are staggered so that three or four seats are up for election each cycle.

Three seats on the board were up for general election on November 2, 2021. A primary was scheduled for August 3, 2021.

Public participation in board meetings[edit]

The Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors maintains the following policy on public testimony during board meetings:[8]

Public Testimony at Regular School Board Meetings
The Seattle Public School Board welcomes members of the public to the legislative meetings of the Board and dedicates time at these meetings to hear from the public on agenda items and other issues of concern.

It is important for all community members to feel welcome and safe in the Board’s business meetings. Audience members will be expected to treat all attendees with respect and civility, just as Seattle Public Schools expects of students in our school.

How to Sign Up

Per Board Procedure 1430BP, the order of public testimony will be determined as follows: the student speaker from the assigned district high school and then those speaking to agenda action items, then agenda introduction items, and then items of general interest. Current district students who sign up through the process outlined in Board Procedure 1430BP, identify themselves as students, and are among the 20 (or 25) speakers on the speakers list, will be placed immediately following the first speaking slot. The Board agenda is posted by close of business the Friday before Board meetings. The School Board Office will take sign-ups for the public testimony list starting at 8 a.m. on the Monday before regular Board meetings and continue until 12 p.m. Tuesday before the meeting.

The final list of public testimony will be posted on the meeting's agenda by the close of business the day before the regular Board meeting. All meeting agendas are located on the Board agenda webpage.

To sign up for public testimony, members of the public should do one of the following:

  • Sign up online between 8 a.m. on the Monday before the meeting and 3:30 p.m. the day of the meeting (Note: this method replaces the prior email sign-up process); or
  • Call 206-252-0040 during that time

Please provide the following information when signing up for testimony:

  • Full name;
  • Contact information (telephone number & e-mail address); and
  • The topic they would like to address.

Please note: Speakers must sign up for themselves, with the exception of students signed up by a parent or guardian and individuals who may need an accommodation for the public testimony sign-up process, including those with disabilities or those requiring language interpretation services. Additionally, if complete information is not provided, you will not be included on the list. The Board Office will not follow-up to obtain correct information or tell you where you are on the list.

Please visit this page for information on ADA Access.

General Rules

Public Testimony at Regular Board Meetings is governed by Audience Participation Board Policy No. 1430 and Board Procedure 1430BP.

There are twenty (20) speaking spots available at each Regular Legislative Board meeting. Each speaker on the public testimony list will have up to two (2) minutes to speak. In the event that thirty five (35) or more public testimony requests are received prior to the start of the Board meeting, an additional five (5) speaking slots will be made available for that meeting only, for a total of twenty five (25) speakers.

If you want to give (cede) your time to someone else, you must attend the Board meeting and announce this to the Board when it is your turn to speak. The person to whom you cede your time, will receive the remainder of your 2 minutes and should speak to the same topic. As you have ceded your speaking time, you will not be able to speak again at the meeting.

If you have handouts to give to the Board, please bring 10 copies and give them to Board staff ahead of the meeting. No one should approach the dais with handouts.[9]

Budget[edit]

From 1993 to 2013, the Seattle school district had an average of $506,864,762 in revenue and $509,368,000 in expenditures, according to the United States Census Bureau's survey of school system finances. The district had a yearly average of $118,729,905 in outstanding debt. The district retired $21,171,857 of its debt and issued $25,718,238 in new debt each year on average.[10]

Revenue[edit]

The table below separates the district's revenue into the three sources identified by the agency: local, state, and federal.

Revenue by Source
Fiscal
Year
Local State Federal Revenue Total
Total % of Revenue Total % of Revenue Total % of Revenue
2010$287,545,00043.75%$299,678,00045.59%$70,060,00010.66%$657,283,000
2011$302,645,00044.56%$307,730,00045.31%$68,850,00010.14%$679,225,000
2012$320,912,00046.88%$307,249,00044.89%$56,340,0008.23%$684,501,000
2013$332,915,00047.35%$317,728,00045.19%$52,494,0007.47%$703,137,000
Avg.$213,564,57140.92%$249,575,76250.59%$43,724,4298.49%$506,864,762

Expenditures[edit]

The table below separates the district's expenditures into five categories identified by the agency:

  • Instruction: operation expenditures, state payments on behalf of the district for instruction and benefits, and retirement system transfers
  • Support Services: support services, food services, and retirement system transfers for support service staff
  • Capital Spending: capital outlay expenditures (i.e., construction, land or facilities purchases, and equipment purchases)
  • Debt & Gov. Payments: payments to state and local governments and interest on school system debt
  • Other: all other non-K-12 programs, except food services
Expenditures by Category
Fiscal
Year
Instruction Support Services Capital Spending Debt & Gov. Payments Other Budget
Total
Total % of Budget Total % of Budget Total % of Budget Total % of Budget Total % of Budget
2010$310,050,00042.54%$220,243,00030.22%$177,849,00024.40%$15,294,0002.10%$5,337,0000.73%$728,773,000
2011$315,395,00046.38%$212,740,00031.28%$133,743,00019.67%$12,735,0001.87%$5,418,0000.80%$680,031,000
2012$325,689,00052.17%$217,823,00034.89%$65,040,00010.42%$9,956,0001.59%$5,733,0000.92%$624,241,000
2013$340,037,00053.98%$227,043,00036.04%$49,139,0007.80%$6,353,0001.01%$7,354,0001.17%$629,926,000
Avg.$236,590,09546.93%$173,352,85734.81%$89,255,28616.38%$4,779,0950.75%$5,390,6671.12%$509,368,000

Debt

The table below shows the amount of debt retired, issued, and outstanding in the district for each year.

Debt
Fiscal
Year
Retired Issued Outstanding
2010$97,555,000$33,080,000$293,980,000
2011$71,470,000$0$222,510,000
2012$74,250,000$0$148,260,000
2013$77,830,000$583,000$118,706,000
Avg.$21,171,857$25,718,238$118,729,905

Teacher salaries[edit]

The following salary information was pulled from the district's teacher salary schedule. A salary schedule is a list of expected compensations based on variables such as position, years employed, and education level. It may not reflect actual teacher salaries in the district.

Year Minimum Maximum
2020-2021[11] $51,310 $118,757

Academic performance[edit]

Proficiency assessments[edit]

Each year, state and local education agencies use tests and other standards to assess student proficiency. Although the data below was published by the U.S. Department of Education, proficiency measurements are established by the states. As a result, proficiency levels are not comparable between different states and year-over-year proficiency levels within a district may not be comparable because states may change their proficiency measurements.[12]

Mathematics[edit]

The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:[13]

School year All (%) Asian/Pacific
Islander (%)
Black (%) Hispanic (%) Native
American (%)
Two or More
Races (%)
White (%)
2018-2019 64 70 30 41 35-39 68 78
2017-2018 65 72 31 42 35-39 69 79
2016-2017 65 72 31 44 30-34 67 79
2015-2016 65 73 31 44 35-39 68 79
2014-2015 62 69 29 40 30-34 66 78
2013-2014 73 82 44 57 45-49 76 86
2012-2013 72 81 43 54 45-49 74 85
2011-2012 69 78 40 51 40-44 71 83
2010-2011 65 73 35 47 41 69 82

Reading/language arts[edit]

The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:[13]

School year All (%) Asian/Pacific
Islander (%)
Black (%) Hispanic (%) Native
American (%)
Two or More
Races (%)
White (%)
2018-2019 72 73 40 51 45-49 75 86
2017-2018 72 73 38 51 40-44 75 86
2016-2017 71 72 37 51 45-49 73 85
2015-2016 71 74 40 52 40-44 74 85
2014-2015 65 67 32 45 30-34 70 83
2013-2014 77 80 52 63 50-54 80 90
2012-2013 77 79 53 63 50-54 80 90
2011-2012 74 76 49 58 50-54 78 88
2010-2011 72 75 49 56 53 79 86

Graduation rates[edit]

The following table shows the graduation rate of district students each school year:[13][14]

School year All (%) Asian/Pacific
Islander (%)
Black (%) Hispanic (%) Native
American (%)
Two or More
Races (%)
White (%)
2017-2018 86 89 78 77 ≥80 85-89 91
2016-2017 79 83 71 64 50-59 80-84 86
2015-2016 77 80 70 63 50-59 75-79 84
2014-2015 77 83 66 58 50-59 70-74 85
2013-2014 76 82 62 61 50-59 80-84 84
2012-2013 73 76 61 56 40-49 70-74 82
2011-2012 75 76 63 61 60-69 85-89 85
2010-2011 76 77 63 65 50-59 ≥50 85

Student enrollment[edit]

Year[15] Enrollment Year-to-year change (%)
2018-2019 55,271 1.3
2017-2018 54,573 0.7
2016-2017 54,215 1.7
2015-2016 53,317 0.9
2014-2015 52,834 3.8
2013-2014 50,905 0.5
2012-2013 50,655 2.8
2011-2012 49,269 3.3
2010-2011 47,705 2.5
2009-2010 46,522 1.2
2008-2009 45,968 0.8
2007-2008 45,581 -1.2
2006-2007 46,113 0.1
2005-2006 46,085 -1.4
2004-2005 46,746 -1.8
2003-2004 47,588 -0.6
2002-2003 47,853 0.9
2001-2002 47,449 -0.3
2000-2001 47,575 -0.9
1999-2000 47,989 -0.6
1998-1999 48,280 0.8
1997-1998 47,883 0.5
1996-1997 47,629 1.9
1995-1996 46,757 0.4
1994-1995 46,565 3.1
1993-1994 45,159 1.5
1992-1993 44,471 0.1
1991-1992 44,423 1.9
1990-1991 43,593 6.9
1989-1990 40,781 -5.2
1988-1989 43,023 -1.7
1987-1988 43,764 10.4
1986-1987 39,637 -

About the district[edit]

Seattle Public Schools is located in King County, Washington.
Seattle Public Schools is located in King County, Washington. It is classified as a large city school district by the National Center for Education Statistics. The district served 55,271 students during the 2018-2019 school year and comprised 108 schools.[16]


During the 2018-2019 school year, 30.6% of the district's students were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, 11.9% were English language learners, and 13.4% of students had an Individual Education Plan (IEP).[17]

Racial Demographics, 2018-2019
Race Seattle Public Schools (%) Washington K-12 students (%)
American Indian/Alaska Native 0.5 1.2
Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander 13.8 7.9
Black 14.5 4.5
Hispanic 12.3 23.6
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander N/A 1.1
Two or More Races 11.7 8.3
White 46.8 53.2

Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Noteworthy events[edit]

2021: Recall effort[edit]

See also: Seattle Public Schools recall, Washington (2021)

An effort to recall six of the seven members of the Seattle Public Schools school board in Washington did not go to a vote in 2021. A King County Superior Court judge dismissed the recall petition on April 19, 2021.[18]

The recall charges were filed against Liza Rankin, Lisa Rivera Smith, Chandra Hampson, Zachary DeWolf, Leslie Harris, and Brandon Hersey in March 2021. District IV representative Erin Dury was not included in the recall effort as she was not a member of the board at the time charges were filed. She was appointed to the position on March 24, 2021.[19][20]

Recall supporters said the board had failed to transition to in-person instruction in a timely manner. Seattle Public Schools started out the 2020-2021 school year in remote learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[21][22] The board voted on March 24, 2021, to move Pre-K through fifth-grade students into in-person instruction starting in April 2021.[19] When dismissing the petition, Judge Mafé Rajul said the decision to close schools was a “discretionary act and members of a school board cannot be recalled unless they arbitrarily or unreasonably exercised such discretion.” She said the school board members had not acted arbitrarily or unreasonably when they voted to close the schools.[18]

2013: Contract negotiations[edit]

Members of the Seattle Education Association (SEA) rejected a contract offer from the district during a meeting on August 26, 2013. Teachers said they were concerned about limited salary growth, crowded classrooms, and new evaluation methods in the new contract.[23] District officials and the SEA avoided a potential strike on September 3, 2013, as teachers voted to approve a new two-year contract that increased pay by 2% and included test scores in teacher evaluations.[24]

2013: Growing classroom sizes[edit]

In August 2013, district officials and the Seattle Board of Directors proposed increasing the maximum number of students per classroom in response to anticipated continued growth in enrollment. The proposal suggested increasing enrollment limits by two students per middle school teacher and 10 students per high school teacher. The Seattle Education Association (SEA) criticized the proposal, saying it was problematic for the student experience.[25] On August 22, 2013, the Board of Directors voted to remove the proposal from negotiations with the SEA.[26]

Contact information[edit]

Seattle PS Logo.png
Seattle School District
2445 3rd Ave. S
Seattle, WA 98134
Phone: 206-252-0000

See also[edit]

Washington School Board Elections News and Analysis
Seal of Washington.png
School Board badge.png
Ballotpedia RSS.jpg

External links[edit]

Footnotes[edit]

  1. King 5, "Seattle superintendent Denise Juneau to resign earlier than planned," March 20, 2021
  2. LinkedIn, "Denise Juneau, JD," accessed May 11, 2021
  3. Seattle Public Schools, "Superintendent," accessed July 28, 2016
  4. Seattle Times, "Seattle School Board opens search for new superintendent," accessed October 16, 2017
  5. Seattle Public Schools, "Jose L. Banda," accessed August 1, 2013
  6. Seattle Public Schools, "Board of Directors," accessed July 22, 2021
  7. Seattle Public Schools, "Board Member Compensation & Expenses," June 1, 2011
  8. Seattle Public Schools, "Attend a Board Meeting," accessed July 22, 2021
  9. Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  10. United States Census Bureau, "Public School System Finances: Historical Data," accessed December 1, 2015
  11. Seattle Public Schools, "2020-21 Certificated Instructional Staff Salary Schedule," accessed July 23, 2021
  12. U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC: EDFacts, "State Assessments in Reading/Language Arts and Mathematics- School Year 2018-19 EDFacts Data Documentation," accessed February 25, 2021
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 To protect student privacy, percentages were reported as ranges for groups of 300 students or fewer. If five (5) or fewer students were included in a data set, the data was replaced by "PS."
  14. U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC: EDFacts, "Four-Year Adjusted-Cohort Graduation Rates - School Year 2017-18 EDFacts Data Documentation," accessed February 25, 2021
  15. National Center for Education Statistics, "ElSi tableGenerator," accessed March 8, 2021
  16. National Center for Education Statistics, "Search for Public School Districts," accessed March 8, 2021
  17. National Center for Education Statistics, "Public Elementary/Secondary School Universe Survey," accessed March 8, 2021
  18. 18.0 18.1 Associated Press, "Judge dismisses petition to recall Seattle School Board," April 20, 2021
  19. 19.0 19.1 Seattle Times, "Seattle School Board chooses new board member, approves plan to return to classrooms," March 24, 2021
  20. Seattle Public Schools, "Board of Directors," accessed March 29, 2021
  21. KIRO 7, "Charges filed to recall entire Seattle school board," March 24, 2021
  22. Seattle Public Schools, "Timeline: Return to In-Person Learning Timeline," accessed March 29, 2021
  23. KOMO News, "Seattle, South Kitsap school districts vote to reject contracts," August 26, 2013
  24. Capitol Hill Seattle Blog, "Teachers ratify contract, Seattle Public Schools start new year Wednesday," September 3, 2013
  25. KPLU, "Teachers Slam Seattle Schools' Proposal to Increase Class Size," August 14, 2013
  26. The Seattle Times, " Seattle schools drop proposal to increase class sizes," August 22, 2013

Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 | Original source: https://ballotpedia.org/Seattle_Public_Schools,_Washington
Status: cached on November 18 2021 12:09:02
Encyclosphere.org EncycloReader is supported by the EncyclosphereKSF