In the past school year, the Seattle Public Schools community mourned the loss of a 17-year-old senior who was shot in the hallways of Ingraham High School. More recently, gun violence near Garfield and Nova high schools propelled school closures and lockdowns.
At board meetings and rallies, educators, parents and students have been vocal about the need to make Seattle schools safer, address mental health and respond to gun violence — all at a time when SPS doesn't have money to spare for safety fixes.
Regardless, a majority of Seattle residents still have faith that schools are safe.
In a Seattle Times/Suffolk University poll of 500 residents, 66% of respondents said they believe school buildings are generally safe. About 23% disagreed, and 10% were undecided.
More than a third of poll respondents also rated Seattle schools as "excellent" or "good," with 26% rating them only as "fair." Respondents who were more skeptical of the quality of education were more likely to have concerns about the safety of schools, according to the poll, which had a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.
Seattle Superintendent Brent Jones said safety for the district's 50,000 students "is top of mind every day," and that fear of violence "takes a toll on our students. This takes a toll on our staff. It's heartbreaking. It's unacceptable."
It's important for students and staff to feel "not just physical safety but identity safety, safety for who they are, a sense of belonging," Jones said.
The superintendent wasn't satisfied with 65% of respondents rating the schools as safe. "Until we get that number all the way to 100%, our students are not in a fully welcoming environment. That is a goal for us."
A representative of the teachers union wasn't surprised by the results. The union also represents nurses, social workers, school counselors and psychologists, among other professionals.
Jennifer Matter, president of the Seattle Education Association, said that more than a decade before the shooting at Ingraham, communities were having conversations about school safety. But when schools shuttered during COVID-19, safety procedures and protocols weren't at the front of people's minds.
"We were all reeling from the devastating {Ingraham killing} — on so many levels, it was so devastating," Matter said. "It was a real hard slap in the face. It woke all of us up, too, with how much work we have to do, and we have kind of taken our eyes off that for a while."
The poll found younger respondents were the least confident in safety at schools. Of those between 25 to 34 years old, 57% said Seattle schools were generally safe. Among those who are 55 to 64 years old, 77% said schools were safe. Numbers dropped back down to 57% for respondents who were 65 and older.
According to the poll, 71% of parents with more than one child thought schools were safe, compared with 58% of those with just one child.
After the Ingraham shooting, Jones made promises to review and update safety measures. He was criticized for not updating the community on changes that were made, and not reporting the results of safety reviews.
Jones acknowledged the rift in communication.
"We're not in the business of trying to take credit for all the things that we're doing," Jones said. "Frankly we had our heads down — we're doing so many things. We just didn't do the marketing around what we did and so I think that has been fairly critiqued as lack of communication."
There are actions the district took that it can't divulge because that could expose school vulnerabilities, Jones said, but SPS will continue to share what it can.
After the Nov. 8 Ingraham shooting, SPS created a community action team of school, police, city and community leaders to assess safety in and around schools. The district launched a team of psychologists, pediatricians, counselors and social workers to address mental health.
Safety reviews of the district's 106 schools are underway. The district completed an audit of Ingraham's safety plans. Locks are being updated at every school, and safety signage is being added.
Despite the improvements, teachers say they're still struggling.
"Probably nine out of 10 educators that you talk to, if you ask them, 'How did this school year compare to any other school year?' they're going to say this is the hardest year ever in their career," Matter said. "And yet, we heard that last year" as well.
Many educators faced an uphill battle coming back to full-time, in-person classes during the 2021-22 school year, Matter said. COVID cases were still surging, there were a high number of student and educator absences, and substitutes were in short supply. And, she said, many thought this school year was going to be better.
But with the social-emotional needs caused by COVID skyrocketing, compounded with the death of Ingraham student Ebenezer Haile and gun violence near or on high school campuses, the SPS community couldn't catch a break, she said.
The poll also asked residents about the quality of education in Seattle schools. About 6% of respondents said it's excellent, 31% said good, 26% said fair, 9% said poor, and 26% were undecided.
Jones was pleased with those results.
"We typically hear about the challenges of Seattle schools and where we're deficient," Jones said. "Hearing that ... most of the people feel that they are getting a solid experience from Seattle Public Schools, that's something we already knew. To hear that from a poll — that's great."
But he also said he won't be satisfied until everyone chooses excellent.
The poll showed a strong correlation between how people feel about living in Seattle and what they think of the quality of education. Of those who rated Seattle as a poor place to live, 48% also thought the schools provided a poor education. The 48% of those who said it was an excellent place to live also said the schools provided either an excellent or good education.
Perceptions of school safety and quality seemed to go hand in hand.
About 51% of those who rated the quality of education as poor didn't think schools were generally safe. Conversely, 82% of those who rated the education as good and 97% of those who rated it excellent said schools are generally safe.
Safety in and around schools is a community and regional issue, Jones said. And it's going to take partnering with the city leaders, police and community organizations to make schools safer, he said.
"We are not safety experts, but collectively we can create a safe ecosystem," Jones said. "We're reliant on partners, and we don't have all the answers."
Jones, whose daughter graduated from Cleveland High School two years ago, added: "From a parent's perspective, I think about this all the time — every day we dropped our daughter off at school."
