School Board proposal allowing GHS police presence
UPDATE: View the 34-minute portion of the June 4, 2025, School Board meeting featuring discussion of Garfield safety and the proposed School Engagement Officer. Speakers were SPS Chief Operations Officer Fred Podesta, SPS Accountability Officer Ted Howard (a former GHS Principal), and Principal Tarance Hart. The Garfield student survey about the issues was not presented, although Board members received it in their meeting materials.
ORIGINAL: The School Board at its June 4, 2025, meeting is to begin discussion of security/safety policy changes that would allow a one-year pilot of a Seattle Police officer on the Garfield campus (in the form of a “School Engagement Officer,” or as labeled in state law, “School Resource Officer”). The proposal would lift the SPS 5-year moratorium on this type of security arrangement.
| • GHS fall 2024 student survey Qs
• GHS fall 2024 student survey results • Board Action Report – for June 4 • Board Policies 4310 & 4311 amended, for June 4 • SPS YouTube livestream (click on “Live”) |
Materials to be presented for discussion include the results of the Garfield student survey in fall 2024. [See links in box.] The meeting is scheduled for 4:15-8:30 pm, including a public comment period starting at 5 pm. However, the Board’s discussion of the security/safety policies is planned to be near the end of the agenda. No votes are to occur until July 1.
Below is an excerpt from the “Board Action Report” [link in box] explaining the policy proposal.
Amendment to Board Policy No. 4311, School Safety and Security Services Program
State law (RCW 28A.320.124) requires districts to adopt and periodically update a safety and security policy if district-employed or contracted safety and security staff work on school property when students are expected to be present. Because Seattle School District operates a safety and security services program staffed by District employees, Board Policy No. 4311 was adopted in November 2021.
At the time of the policy adoption, the District had stopped contracting for law enforcement school resource officers (SROs) consistent with a moratorium initiated by School Board Resolution in June 2020 [see footnote in text box below]. For that reason, the adopted policy referenced the moratorium on these law enforcement officers working regularly in schools and the accompanying procedure omitted more detailed information that would be relevant if Seattle Public Schools were contracting with the Seattle Police Department for such services.
Regardless of whether law enforcement officers work regularly in schools, state law (RCW 28A.320.126) requires the District to work collaboratively with local law enforcement agencies on systems for expediting the response and arrival of law enforcement in the event of a threat or emergency at a school. As part of a multi-prong process to address gun violence and other student safety issues, the Seattle Police Department has recommended to the District that policies be amended to allow for implementation of a community policing strategy that includes a School Engagement Officer pilot program for initial implementation at Garfield High School.
Garfield High School administrators conducted engagement with the school community, including students, staff, and parents/guardians, as contemplated by the Board’s June 2020 resolution calling for a moratorium to allow for engagement and informed decision making. Surveyed school community members do not have a uniform opinion about police officers working on campus, with some supporting and others pointing to concerns like those shared in 2020. Weighing the feedback received and broader work to improve student safety, this Board Action Report recommends a policy amendment to allow for initiation of a pilot program through an agreement between the District and Seattle Police Department. Continuation of the agreement past the initial year or changes or expansion of the program would require a review and readoption of the agreement by the Superintendent.
In addition to requiring annual review and approval of the agreement, State law (RCW 28A.320.124 and RCW 28A.320.1242) places training, contracting, and complaint resolution requirements on districts that contract for safety and security staff—including SROs—to work in schools with students present. Proposed updates to this policy and the corresponding Superintendent Procedure, 4311SP, will reinforce the applicable state legal requirements including that the Superintendent or their designee annually review and adopt the agreement covering the Garfield pilot program or any other applicable agency agreement, that the agreement must include a jointly determined hiring and placement process, that the agreement provide a performance evaluation process, and that parents, students, and community members are involved.
| FOOTNOTE:
The Board Action Report for Resolution No. 2019/20-38 described practices at the time of adoption in June 2020 as follows: |
|
We have “School Emphasis Officers” in four schools and one School Resource Officer. They are financially supported by SPD, with no funding from SPS, and have largely been in place since 2005. Documentation, policy and clarity around the history, structure and guidelines for these relationships outside of the individual school community is inappropriately limited. As such, SPS is reevaluating the role of School Emphasis Officers in our schools. SPS does not currently have any contracts with the Seattle Police Department outside of providing security at athletic events. In each of these scenarios, SEOs, the SRO and athletic/event security provided by SPD, the officers are armed and on duty. The communities and leadership in these schools have rightfully demanded to be consulted before SPS considers a shift in our relationship with law enforcement there… The indefinite moratorium on this relationship will give the board and senior leadership the opportunity to meet with the students, educators, administrators, and families regarding their experience with Student Emphasis (and Resource) Officers in order to better understand their role and to make an informed decision on their presence in our schools going forward. |
| Statewide findings contained in a report from the ACLU of Washington were also cited in adoption of the resolution(See Students Not Suspects: The Need to Reform School Policing in Washington State, ACLU of Washington, Published April 18, 2017). The ACLU of Washington report included recommendations for reforming school policing including investing in student support services, prohibiting police involvement in school discipline, tracking and publishing data about police in schools, implementing training requirements, and involvement of students, parents, and community members. Subsequently, House Bill 1216 directly addressed the recommended reforms and required that, effective with the 2020-21 school year, districts with school resource officers must annually review and adopt an agreement with the local law enforcement agency using a process that involves parents, students, and community members. |