The Seattle City Council will hold a public hearing Monday evening on the proposed $1.3 billion renewal of the city’s Families and Education Levy as a vote on the expanded property tax is lined up for the November ballot.
The increased levy will boost Seattle’s childcare and early learning resources, Mayor Bruce Harrell says of his proposal that would double the size of the levy from its last renewal in 2018 with an ambitious slate of new spending:
- Childcare Expansion: More than doubling access to affordable childcare slots to 1,400 a year and providing direct payments to support the retention of 5,000 childcare workers citywide.
- Nationally Acclaimed Preschool Program: Expanding the Seattle Preschool Program to 3,100 seats, improving access for families across the city.
- Youth Mental Health and Safety: Bolstering youth mental health services for Seattle students through new school-based health centers, expanded staffing, and telehealth support.
- Seattle Promise: Free tuition and expenses for up to two years at Seattle Colleges, available to all Seattle public school graduates.
- Apprenticeships and Workforce Development: Creating a new Path to Trades program to help graduates enter careers in skilled trades.
The proposed expansion Includes a planned $235 million in school safety investments described as supporting existing school health centers and “expanded safety investments in and around schools” in summaries.
New Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes has been a champion of returning “community resource officers” to the city’s campuses. Calls for the return of support school resource officers have also grown in Seattle after gun violence incidents including last year’s killing of a student during a lunch hour altercation in the parking lot of Garfield HIgh School.
In response to 17-year-old Amarr Murphy-Paine’s slaying and gun violence’s impact on school campuses across the city, Seattle officials began the academic year with a $14.5 million plan focused on intervention, mental health, and increased use of “school-based safety specialist” private security guards.
This spring, the district announced important updates to its safety and security efforts including new camera technology and protocols for entering district campus buildings, and increased security and police presence at district campuses where worries about gun violence are highest as the summer months approach.
Community resource officers, dropped by the district in the summer of 2020 when the board suspended a partnership with SPD that provided five armed officers with rotations and placements across Seattle’s public schools, are not part of the district’s plans this spring but Superintendent Brent Jones and new district executive director for safety and security José Curiel Morelos said they are working with the Seattle Police Department to address safety concerns including extra patrols before and after school and during lunch at high schools.
CHS has asked the mayor’s office and city council officials for more information on the safety elements of the levy proposal and will update when we hear back.
UPDATE: The mayor’s office does not want to call them resource officers. “We are being very intentional on not saying police officers, school safety officer, care officers,” Harrell said in a recent press conference as he acknowledged a component of the safety spending will involve SPD.
This week, a spokesperson provided additional details to CHS. “Our levy proposal includes $46.6 million to sustain and expand school safety investments,” the mayor’s representative said. “These investments will continue partnerships with community-based organizations to fund safety teams that provide case management, violence interruption services, and safe passage supports, as well as expand student safety supports in and around schools.”
Under current spending in the 2025-2026 budget, four schools — Rainier Beach, Garfield, Washington Middle School, and Aki Kurose Middle School — have safety teams in place and another three schools –Ingraham, Chief Sealth, and Franklin — will have them before the end of the school year. Remaining focus schools are expected to have safety teams in place by 2026, according to the city.
The spokesperson said the mayor’s office is operating in line with the 2020 moratorium and that reinstating SROs would require authorization from the School Board but the intention is to find a new approach to more closely aligning SPD and the district.
“As Mayor Harrell mentioned at the levy press event, we want the police department to have strong relationships with students, teachers, school staff, and parents,” the spokesperson said. “As part of the levy implementation, we will be working closely with students, the community, and Seattle Public Schools to calibrate what that looks like for each individual school.”
The first seven-year, $69.2 million levy, commonly known as the Families and Education Levy, was approved in November 1990 with support from 56% of the voters, the city says. A $619 million update was passed by voters in 2018. The proposal being lined up for consideration next would grow the program significantly with a planned $1.3 billion program over six years funded by a tax of $0.61 per $1,000 assessed value on property in the city.
Officials say the renewal would have a “$654 average annual impact to the owner of a median value home ($1.1M).”
The Select Committee on Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise Levy committee public hearing begins at 5 PM, Monday May 12th at Seattle City Hall, 600 4th Ave.
Meeting information
- WHO: Select Committee on the Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise Levy
- WHAT: Public Hearing
- WHEN: Monday, May 12 at 5 p.m.
- WHERE: Council Chambers, Seattle City Hall, 600 4th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104
Public hearing process
Members of the public may register to provide remote or in-person public comment during the Public Hearing. Details on how to provide public comment are listed below:
- Remote Public Comment – Register online to speak during the Public Hearing at http://www.seattle.gov/
council/committees/public– comment. Online registration to speak remotely will begin two hours before the meeting start time, and registration will end at the conclusion of the Public Hearing. Speakers must be registered in order to be recognized by the Chair. - In-Person Public Comment – Register to provide public comment by utilizing the sign-up sheet located inside Council Chambers at least 15 minutes prior to the meeting start time. Registration will end at the conclusion of the Public Hearing. Speakers must be registered in order to be recognized by the Chair. Submit written comments to all Councilmembers at [email protected]
Those unable to attend this public hearing in-person can watch a livestream online via the Seattle Channel.
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Keep on raising property taxes instead of showing some budget restraint and discipline, and rents will keep going up too.
The headline is a little misleading as $235M is for “health and safety”. Most of the funds are for school-based health centers and mental health supports. Only $46.6M of the $235 is specifically for safety.
At a time when Seattle Public School are spending ~$20,000.00/student a year and 72% of 8th graders can’t pass Basic Math requirements; it’s time to ask: is money the real issue.
Rents will have a increase about $200/month per apartment to cover this levy and it’s clear that more $$$ do not equal better education