Seattle — Seattle students who return to campus on Sept. 4 can expect to see more security guards and school counselors.
The added content is Mayor Bruce Harrell’s multi-million dollar budget for student safety and mental health services.
City leaders unveiled the plan Thursday, months after the deadly shooting. Amah Murphy Payne, 17 In the parking lot of Garfield High School, the mayor said the first rollout of this first-of-its-kind initiative was: Adding resources 11 schools have the highest infection rates violence.
high school: Rainier Beach, Garfield, Chief Sealth International, Franklin, and Ingraham.
junior high school: Aki Kurose, Washington, Denny, Mercer, Robert Eagle Staff, Meany.
Ray Proctor Mills Jr., a Rainier Beach High School freshman, is still a teenager but has already lost many friends, most recently his 17-year-old cousin, Murphy Payne, in the shooting at Garfield High School.
“We need more support. We need more programs, more funding to get the programs we need,” he explained.
He says he’s excited about Mayor Bruce Harrell and Seattle Public Schools’ plans.
Superintendent Brent Jones said the changes would also include adding more police officers around schools, adding more school counselors on-site and hiring 15 new security guards.
“We will double our core school security staff,” Dr. Jones said. “These professionals will build relationships, monitor school environments and respond to incidents as they occur.”
Additionally, SPS will expand violence prevention and intervention services with current partners. Proctor Mills Jr. told KOMO that support from the Safe Passageways group has helped him work through his grief.
“It can be anything from getting them into a program to getting them to put money through a program as a stipend. We sit down and talk. That’s what helps me,” he explained.
Watch |Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell Expands Effort to Support Student Safety and Mental Health
Harrell said the city and school district arrived at the total amount through months of calculations and discussing needs with students, adding that it’s an evolving program and more investments could be made in the future. Last week the city council The plan will be funded by $12.25 million, with Seattle Public Schools contributing an additional $2.3 million.
Jennifer Marquard, a Garfield High School parent, said she was frustrated with the school district’s response in the days following the deadly spring shooting.
“It was completely insensitive. Everyone was welcoming us with applause and we were sad and wondering how we could go back to school,” she said. “Amar’s death was just the height of tragedy.”
She hopes the plan will be different and ask students like her daughter what changes they would like to see.
“My daughter was on the playground and she heard the gunshots and she was scared and upset,” Marquardt said of her daughter’s experience.
Harrell added that the city will measure the program’s success by looking at data such as graduation rates, number of shootings and number of firearms recovered, and will solicit feedback from students.
According to city officials, the total funding breakdown is as follows:
$5.6 million Plans to hire additional mental health counselors and care coordinators at 21 school health centers
$2.4 million Expanding access to telehealth services to over 2,000 students
$4.25 million Providing funding to community-based partners to deliver a range of interventions
$2.3 million Increased staffing and new infrastructure such as cameras, signs, perimeter fencing and improved gates.
