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Updated – October 21, 2024

In addition to multiple shootings and incidents of physical violence, students in Seattle Public Schools (SPS) were also the subjects of sexual abuse and LGBTQ-themed programs. 

A former student alleged she was repeatedly raped by two coaches, one of which threatened to kill her and her family if she reported the abuse to law enforcement. An August 16, 2024, report from The Seattle Times said:

“A former Garfield High School student is suing Seattle Public Schools, alleging the district employees failed to prevent two of its coaches from emotionally and sexually abusing her throughout middle and high school. The lawsuit claims that one coach, Walter Jones, repeatedly raped the student while she was a young teenager and that a second coach, Marvin Hall sexually exploited the student from the time she was 17 until after her 21st birthday.”

The Times further stated that the district is being sued for negligence and failure to report abuse after employees and board members allegedly “ignored” school policies and “turned a blind eye” to the coaches’ behaviors. An unnamed spokesperson for Seattle Public Schools said administrators were aware of the lawsuit details and simply stated that the district will keep working to “ensure student safety remains the focus of [their] work.”

Coach Jones—who was reportedly placed on a “Do Not Rehire” list following an incident at Ballard High School in 2008—has pled not guilty to two felony rape charges from 2013, when the victim was 14, until 2015. Coach Hall denied allegations that he sexually abused the same student in 2017 when she was 17.

In 2022, a similar sexual abuse lawsuit against SPS was settled for $3 million after a two-year trial. This case was centered around a coach and teacher named Meghan Miller who abused her young classroom assistant in 2016. The district was blamed for allowing Miller to continue her employment despite evidence that she was a pedophile. Miller was finally fired when the victim came forward in 2018.

As of publication, Coach Jones and Coach Hall are no longer employed by Seattle Public Schools. The School Board Watchlist will update this story as more lawsuit details become available.

SPS developed a kindergarten through fifth-grade program in 2017 that introduces students to gender ideologies during school hours. The following information is sourced from the district’s K-5 Gender Lessons website.

This video, featuring the SPS Health Education Specialist Brennon Ham, corresponds to lessons with definitions of words such as “compassion,” “gender role,” and “unique.” A screenshot of the “Introducing Teddy” lesson for kindergarteners can be seen below.

First-graders are reading “My Princess Boy” by Cheryl Kilodavis. The lesson overview outlines a story about a young boy who is subjected to ridicule by his peers for wearing girls’ clothes. One lesson objective says “there is no such thing as ‘girl things’ or ‘boy things.’”

Additional gender identity propaganda can be found here. 

Please send tips, updates, and information on Seattle Public Schools to [email protected].

Updated – July 1, 2024

Seattle Public Schools is back in the headlines after another case of gun violence claimed the life of a high school student.

On June 7, 2024, ABC News reported, “A 17-year-old boy was shot and killed when he apparently tried to break up a fight outside his Seattle high school, according to authorities. The teen was shot multiple times in the Garfield High School parking lot at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, and he died later [that day] … The incident began as an altercation ‘between some high school-aged students.’”

Fox 13 Seattle released a live report following a board meeting in which parents and residents demanded stronger safety measures on school grounds.

Police are still searching for the suspect who fled the scene. He is believed to be high school-aged and was last seen wearing blue jeans, white sneakers, and a red sweatshirt. 

The incident prompted a statement from Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell that said, in part:

“Gun violence is a national epidemic, with very real impacts felt across our cities, our communities, and in tragedies like today in our schools … Our office, the Seattle Police Department, Seattle Public Schools, and other partners … will continue working together to address gun violence and disrupt incidents of violence. Today’s tragic events underscore the urgency of that work.”

Another student was shot outside Garfield High School in March 2024 while waiting at a bus stop. The 17-year-old victim was transported to the hospital and is expected to recover from her injuries.

A history of gun-related incidents at Seattle Public Schools includes the following incidents:

• October 2023: Shots were fired at Garfield High School following a fight behind the school.
• May 2023: A shootout occurred in front of Garfield High School; one student sustained a leg injury.
• April 2023: Police confiscated a gun after a video circulated online that showed a student holding the firearm in the Ingraham High School parking lot. 
• November 2022: An Ingraham High School student was shot on school grounds and later died from injuries.

The School Board Watchlist will continue monitoring issues in Seattle Public Schools and post updates as information becomes available. Please send tips to [email protected]. 

Updated – May 23, 2024

Since January 2023, Neighborcare Health has been offering hormone treatments at Seattle Public Schools. These treatments are offered through the district’s “gender-affirming care,” according to the Daily Wire. A district-wide email reveals the following about this effort:

“Emails obtained by The Daily Wire reveal that Neighborcare Health, a healthcare organization that runs clinics in middle and elementary schools in the Seattle Public Schools district, announced in January 2023 that hormone treatments were now included in the ‘gender-affirming care’ it could offer.”

The email, obtained by Parents Defending Education, states the following about what Neighborcare offers to the district:

“The Neighborcare Health team wanted to share an exciting new update to our School-based Health Center services. Our program will begin offering comprehensive, evidence-based, gender-affirming care services to our students and families who need them.”

The email further states: 

“While our School-based Health Centers have long offered a continuum of gender-affirming care services including supportive student counseling, promotion of social identity, and health education, this step will allow us to begin offering families access to important medical interventions including hormone treatments.” 

Neighborcare has 14 clinics at schools within the district. According to its site, Neighborcare also offers “Reproductive health services.”

Updated – February 26, 2024

During an English class at Lincoln High School, a worksheet titled “9 characteristics of white supremacy” was given out to students. This occurred during Black Lives Matter at School’s Week of Action from February 5–9.

Reporting on this incident, the Jason Rantz Show provided one father’s reaction to the worksheet, which he called “educational malpractice.” The worksheet — a terms and definition matching activity — places several terms in the sphere of “White Supremacy.” Among these terms are “Individualism,” “Fear,” “Perfectionism,” and “Worship of the Written Word,” alongside others.

“I feel bad for any students who actually internalize stuff like this as it is setting them up for failure,” the father told Jason Rantz. 

During Black Lives Matter At School’s Week of Action, a series of demands and principles are promoted by the organization as a teaching resource. Black Lives Matter at School’s 4 demands are: 

• “Zero Tolerance in Schools Stops Now” 
• “Black Teacher Pushout Ends Now”
• ​”Mandate Black History & Ethnic Studies”
• “Students Need Counselors [Not Cops]”

The organizers of Black Lives Matter at School’s Week of Action state the following about their initiative and their mission:

“We are Black led by some of the original steering committee members and new individuals who are dedicated to Black students’ success. Our steering committee is a multi-ethnoracial group of educators, parents, organizers, and community folks located in cities across the country. We share a commitment to creating a more just world so that all people may be able to access their full humanity. We invite school staff, unions, parents, students, and community organizations to join us.”

They conclude by addressing what they advocate for politically and educationally:​

“National Black Lives Matter at School is an organization struggling for liberation and racial justice in education for Black youth, educators, and all youth of color.  We work to address racial justice in education by promoting restorative justice, advocating for mental health support, increasing Black teaching staff, ending police presence in schools, and mandating Black history and ethnic studies.”

Updated – January 29, 2024

A parent within Seattle Public Schools filed a complaint against Chief Sealth High School ethnic studies teacher Ian Golash. According to the Jason Rantz Show, Golash claimed that identifying as straight is offensive and went so far as to say that young men are a “product of the patriarchy that teaches young boys not to care.” Additionally, Golash asked students to complete an assignment involving an identity diagram requiring students to answer various questions about their identity.

The diagram (see image below) shows a variety of ways in which humans can identify, including that of gender and sexual orientation. Gender is defined as “how you socially identify yourself on the spectrum from young woman to young man.” In the middle of the diagram, the teacher asks “What parts of your identity are the most important to YOU and why?”

According to the student’s mother, the student answered the “Sexual Orientation” section with the term “Straight” to which Golash responded in the following manner:

“When filling out a Social Identity Wheel, he (her son) was told that if he identifies as straight that he needed to pick a term that was less offensive. It is completely inappropriate to dictate what terms a student can and cannot use to identify themselves with.”

The Jason Rantz Show reports that “Golash said he did not target her son with his comment. He did, however, admit to saying something similar to the entire classroom.”   In response to the parent’s email, he “stated explicitly that I was not going to tell them how they should identify except to explain the difference between race, ethnicity and nationality.” The term “straight” he admonished the students to refrain from using. Defending this approach, he wrote:

“Because I think language has power and that it shapes the culture that we live in, I did say to the class, in response to a student, that I do not use the term ‘straight’ because it implies that to not be straight is to be ‘crooked’ which could have a negative connotation. But, again stated that I am not interested in telling them how they should identify and that the wheel they are completing is for their own reflection, not for me to assess.”

The parent’s son also claimed that Golash “shamed” her son for having “a conversation about Florida banning left-wing classes with critical race theory indoctrination.” Jason Rantz states that the student told “Golash he didn’t know why the state legislature forwarded the ban.” The teacher responded:

“My response about patriarchy was not directed at one student, it was connected to discussions of systems of power that we had been having in the previous few days and the behavior of several boys in the class.”

The mother eventually pulled her son from Golash’s class. Seattle Public Schools is investigating the questionnaire that Golash has been alleged to use. The district made the following comment on the situation, according to the New York Post.

“Our district has a formal process for student complaint resolution and citizen concerns about employee actions. We take issues dealing with discrimination, harassment or bullying seriously. Freedom of expression is a fundamental right of citizens, and this includes the right to comment on public agencies and the employees of such agencies. The employees of such agencies are also citizens, and have the rights and protections of due process of law.”

Updated – December 29, 2023

According to the Jason Rantz Show, an Ethnic Studies World History teacher at Chief Sealth International High School gave students a quiz called “Understanding Gender vs. Sex,” with true or false and multiple choice options to select an answer. One male student, whose views on gender were opposite to those of the teacher, received a failing grade on the quiz. 

Jason Rantz writes, 

“Many of the [quiz] questions focused on personal pronoun use. (When someone uses ‘they/them’ pronouns, what does that mean about their gender identity?” or assumptions one may make around gender identity. (‘True/false: Transgender people are gay.’) Two questions, however, are objectively false, but students are taught the opposite.”

One such true/false question read, “All men have penises.” The student answered “True,” yet was marked incorrect for such an answer. 

Another true/false question stated, “Only women can get pregnant.” As with the previous question, the student answered “True” and was similarly penalized. 

The test and the student’s failing grade were brought to Jason Rantz’s attention by his mother.  She told Rantz that “she worries about the school routinely allowing teachers to bring political beliefs into the classroom… She also said her child, who is white, routinely faces scrutiny for his skin color and so-called privilege.”

According to the student’s mother, “various teachers have called her son, ‘f****d and racist,’” and a “product of the patriarchy that teaches young boys not to care about anything.” He has also been told that “he shouldn’t use the term straight to identify as because it’s offensive.” 

A spokesperson for the district defended the quiz, making the following statement to Jason Rantz:

“Seattle Public Schools is dedicated to establishing inclusive environments that allow exploration of contemporary issues, specifically examining the impacts of power systems such as racism and patriarchy…This commitment extends to fostering welcoming and inclusive settings where students, staff, and families have the freedom to express their authentic selves.”

The spokesperson even claimed that “the quiz was in line with state and local guidelines covering such topics,” according to Rantz.

Updated – November 18, 2022

A shooting took place at Ingraham High School on November 8, according to KING 5. The suspect is a fourteen-year-old student who was “allegedly seen with a Glock-style handgun.” He was accompanied by a 15-year-old student who was also armed with a similar weapon. KING 5 reports that the latter student’s gun ran out of ammunition.

According to KING 5, “Police were called to Ingraham High School around 9:55 a.m. on Nov. 8 for reports of a shooting. Callers said they heard multiple gunshots from within the school, with some saying they were afraid it was an ‘active shooter,’ according to court documents.”

Upon their arrival at the school, Seattle police encountered an injured 17-year-old student who would later die from his injuries. 

KING 5 reports, “Based on witness interviews, officers learned prior to the shooting there was a fight inside a bathroom that involved the student who died and some of his friends against the 14-year-old and two of his friends.” 

According to witnesses, “one of the 14-year-old’s friends brought a gun to school and the 17-year-old and his friends wanted the gun. A phone belonging to the 14-year-old may have been taken during the scuffle, according to court documents.”

The 14 year old has been charged with “first-degree murder, assault in the first degree and unlawful possession of a firearm.” The 15-year-old accomplice was charged with “second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and first-degree felony rendering of criminal assistance related to the shooting.”

Superintendent Brent Jones “introduced a safety initiative during [November 9th] school board meeting,” according to KING 5. Jones laid out three initiatives in a letter to the SPS community: 

— “Complete a district-wide safety and security assessment.”

— “Establish a Community Action Team to help SPS determine immediate steps to improve school safety.”

— “Launch a child well-being council that will be led by nurses, pediatricians, psychologists, and others who have expertise in supporting mental health and social-emotional needs.”

Published – October 4, 2021

Seattle Public Schools is the largest K-12 school system in Washington with a student population of more than 50,000 students enrolled in 104 schools.

Seattle Public Schools run a progressive agenda with woke culture at the forefront of their mission. In February 2020, the district held a “Black Lives Matter in Schools” week with the intent to “affirm the demands of the Black Lives Matter at School Movement.” Teachers and school administration were provided with various curriculums for students of all ages and tasked with the assignment of adapting the lesson plans into their agenda as they deemed fit. The full weeks’ suggested curriculum is available online here. Students as young as Kindergarten were encouraged to “experience discrimination” and literature focused on “disrupting white fragility.”

In March of 2021, three Seattle voters filed a lawsuit, recalling all members of the Board of Directors failing to oversee a timely transition to in-person teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. The recall was dismissed by a King County Superior Court on April 19, 2021.