Seattle school board hears emotional public testimony on student safety, ethnic studies and support services
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Summary
At its Feb. 11 meeting, the Seattle School Board heard extended public testimony after two students were killed near school grounds. Parents, students and teachers pressed for stronger campus safety measures, trauma-informed services, cameras and mandatory ethnic-studies instruction.
Seattle Public Schools’ board on Feb. 11 heard more than an hour of emotional public testimony focused on student safety, trauma-informed supports and ethnic-studies curriculum following the deaths of two students near school grounds.
Parents described children returning to class frightened and disoriented. "Student safety is not only physical, it's emotional," parent Liz Petersen told the board, urging "strengthen[ed] real gun and campus safety measures," installation of promised cameras and expanded counseling and grief services. Several parents asked the district to move beyond "platitudes" and produce concrete, sustained supports.
Students and youth advocates called for mandatory ethnic studies across K–12 as a means to improve belonging and reduce bullying. Cynthia Cordova of the Washington NAACP Youth Council told directors that a majority-minority student body is not reflected in curriculum and staff, and recommended that ethnic studies be "a mandatory component of our core curriculum rather than offering it as an elective."
Board members and Superintendent Scholdner acknowledged the urgency. Scholdner opened the evening by saying the district would keep safety, student learning and support services "front and center" after recent tragedies. The superintendent and staff said they are reviewing safety measures, communications to families and trauma-support plans; staff also signaled they would provide clearer timelines for promised measures such as cameras.
Speakers tied concerns about safety to inequities across the district, noting Rainier Beach and other South Seattle neighborhoods have voiced longstanding needs. Parents and educators asked the board for both short-term actions (clear safety measures, immediate trauma support) and longer-term changes (policy updates, resource reallocation) to reduce disparities in who receives protections and supports.
The board did not take immediate votes on districtwide safety policy changes at the meeting; directors and staff said follow-up work will include more detailed presentations and committee review.