“Somebody was shot.”
That was the textual content. The second such textual content in three months from my son, a scholar at Garfield Excessive Faculty.
That is heartbreaking. A household has misplaced their little one. There could be nothing worse. Seattle has to do extra and higher for our younger folks. That is unacceptable.
I learn concerning the enrollment decline in Seattle Public Faculties. I do know that the decline is an element however actually not the entire reason for the district’s price range woes (committing to lecturers union contracts they can’t afford is an even bigger contributor). These incidents of college violence additionally affect the district’s price range — doubly in truth. Households are certainly leaving district faculties partly due to their security fears, and these incidents are additionally contributing to the district’s rising legal responsibility insurance coverage charges, which The Seattle Occasions reported on final week (see this week’s $45 million go well with from the household of a scholar murdered on Ingraham’s campus).
Seattle shouldn’t want financial strain to prioritize basic security, however maybe it helps.
The upstream causes of the gang and gun violence are deep and must be tackled, however we want a right away downstream plan as properly. Prevention alone gained’t stave off the literal bleeding of the college district.
One 12 months in the past, I attended a group assembly after there have been three shootings round Garfield in as many weeks. We have been advised that police would patrol the neighborhood as they don’t seem to be welcome on campus (recall that SPS severed ties with the Seattle Police Division in 2020), that non permanent safety guards would patrol the campus however not the constructing as a result of they weren’t allowed to work together with college students, and that educated restorative justice facilitators would work together with college students within the constructing. They’d do that for 2 weeks. I imply, the incredulousness of us mother and father at this non-plan was palpable and stays in order I kind this.
Since then, there have been 5 extra shootings (that I do know of) in or round Garfield. Two college students have been shot prior to now three months, one fatally.
SPS is nervous about enrollment, their insurance coverage charges and their price range. Mother and father, college students and certainly SPS faculty workers are nervous about basic security. This can be a disaster and a two-week, patchwork answer won’t repair it.
Having Seattle law enforcement officials in faculties as faculty useful resource officers isn’t with out its controversy, however we’re leaving principals, workers and college students on their very own to fight societal points that seep into faculties. It’s untenable.
One other scholar has died. We’re gone saying that is tragic — that undersells the lack of lives and innocence right here. If SPS needs to maintain its households, it must re-partner with SPD, it wants to handle college students’ psychological well being wants, it must ship an unequivocal message that it’s transferring heaven and earth to create protected studying and educating environments. The bleeding wants to finish.
