Seattle Public Schools leaves community hanging on response to gun violence

There are two schools of thought when it comes to facing problems: Confront them fast and loud. Or go quiet in hopes that they will fade away, forgotten.

But with school safety, factors that can flare into danger — mental health problems, violent rivalries, ubiquitous weapons — don’t go away in silence. They just go underground. The key to thwarting them is creating a sense of security before a shooting like the fatal attack last fall at Ingraham High School, not months after the fact.

Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Brent Jones seemed to recognize this at first, quickly convening a team to review school security districtwide. He also said he would gather a wellness council of mental health professionals, though its mandate was never made clear — at least not publicly. That’s part of the problem. 

Jones assured parents, teachers and students that he would have recommendations from both groups by the start of 2023. Yet with the school year six weeks from ending, there has been only silence. The district won’t even say who, exactly, is on these committees. Why so much secrecy?

It doesn’t have to be this way. Consider Seattle’s neighbor across the lake, the Bellevue School District. After many years of stationing police officers in school buildings, Bellevue took a big step back during the pandemic and came up with a new model. The district then brought that idea to its community, sending out surveys and holding focus groups throughout much of this school year to solicit input from parents and students.

That type of public process — transparent, inclusive — is exactly what’s missing in Seattle.

At Ingraham High, parent leaders were willing to be patient in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, trusting that some sort of communication would be forthcoming, as Jones had promised. So they waited through January. Then February. And March. Silence.

“Our trust has eroded,” said Kathleen Zagers, a member of the parents group Friends of Ingraham. “And they’re running out of opportunities.”

Jones has promised to meet with parent leaders from Ingraham this week. But they weren’t asking for a private sit-down. They were looking for signs of action, engagement, a community conversation.

Likely, there are liability issues at play. While two students have been criminally charged in the killing of 17-year-old Ebenezer Haile, there may be a civil case coming from Haile’s family. Scrutiny of the district’s policies around weapons would surely be part of it, especially as those procedures haven’t been updated since 2013.

Ingraham Principal Martin Floe has told parents that Seattle’s school safety policies were followed, which suggests they are insufficient. Will there be changes? No one at SPS headquarters is saying.

The tragedy at Ingraham cannot be waved off as an aberration. Last week, two West Seattle high school principals sent out messages saying they were assessing threats on social media. The principals communicated with their community. From district headquarters, more silence.

This does not create a sense of security. Nor does it build trust.

No doubt, loose talk on social media can escalate into something that sounds more serious than it is. But kids are reporting these rumors because they are scared. They understand the critical importance of being proactive. The adults leading Seattle Public Schools could learn something from them.