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Public testimony presses district on community engagement failures and Deaf/Hard‑of‑Hearing accessibility; staff pledges changes
Summary
Public commenters on May 14 pressed Seattle Public Schools to fix repeated failures in community engagement and in providing access for Deaf and Hard‑of‑Hearing families, demanding certified interpreters, ADA compliance and a permanent DHH task force.
Hundreds of minutes of public testimony on May 14 focused on community engagement and access for Deaf and Hard‑of‑Hearing (DHH) students and families. Several commenters described repeated failures to provide interpretation at engagement events and asked for sustained structural changes rather than apologies. Speakers urged immediate remedies — certified interpreters at meetings, accessible captioning and larger screens for remote caption feeds — and longer‑term steps such as an ADA coordinator, a DHH task force and an anti‑ableism initiative.
What staff said: Chief Operating Officer Fred Podesta and assistant staff said the district apologized for recent…
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