Seattle School Board
Named in 27 stories. Back to all names
- Jul 8, 1885The High School's Secret Salary SchemeA Seattle school board trustee was caught in a tangled web of pay-roll falsification, revealing a bizarre scheme involving a military instructor and a city official's confusion over government pay.Seattle, WA
- Mar 26, 1886Exclusionist Policy at the Seattle Public SchoolsA newly adopted board resolution forbids any principal or teacher from discouraging Chinese pupils, yet the paper reports on the city's ongoing anti-Chinese agitation.Seattle, WA
- Jun 16, 1886The Price of Education in Early SeattleA concerned citizen calls out the School Board for slashing teacher wages to settle district debts, highlighting a lopsided austerity that spared no professional pocketbook.Seattle, WA
- Jan 1, 1891The Great Seattle School Expansion of 1890Facing a tidal wave of new students, Seattle’s rapid development forced the school board to rent dozens of extra classrooms and issue massive bonds just to keep pace.Seattle, WA
- Jan 19, 1891Seattle's School System in Financial CrisisBoard member Thomas Prosch reveals a staggering debt that has school warrants trading at a discount.Seattle, WA
- Feb 12, 1891The Battle for Education FundingSeattle school officials rally against state legislature 'land-booming' schemes that prioritize local property interests over the needs of students.Seattle, WA
- Feb 23, 1891The Seattle School Board's Fight for IndependenceIn 1891, Superintendent Frank D. Barnard sought to sever Seattle’s school examinations from county oversight, a move that echoes modern debates over local versus state control in education.Seattle, WA
- Jan 28, 1892The Struggle for Access in Seattle's Night SchoolsWhen immigrant students sought an education in 1892, they faced exclusionary sentiment from school officials who labeled them 'untidy' and 'dishwashers.'Seattle, WA
- Aug 20, 1892Hop Growers Pivot to Families as Labor Crisis LoomsWith smallpox concerns keeping Indigenous pickers away, farmers in White River and Puyallup valleys appeal to white families to harvest the crop.White River Valley, Auburn, WA
- Aug 23, 1892A High School on Lake Washington? Superintendent Pitches a Boating-and-Baseball CampusAs the school board haggled over an Eighth Street lot, Superintendent Barnard imagined a lakeside campus with running tracks, a gymnasium and machine shops — three blocks for the price of one.Seattle, WA
- Mar 20, 1893The Fight for Seattle’s High SchoolA debate over the legality of public secondary education emerges as the school board moves to abolish the high school designation.Seattle, WA
- Mar 25, 1893Seattle Public Schools Rebrand High School as 'Senior Grammar'Following the controversial abolishment of the city's high school, the school board maneuvers to restore advanced coursework under a new label.Central Building, Seattle, WA
- Apr 21, 1893Seattle Approves a New School Wing as 500 Children Wait for DesksThe school board chose a 20-room brick plan for Pontius, starting with one wing to relieve crowding at Denny, Homer, Columbia and Central.Seattle, WA
- Aug 31, 1893Seattle Schools Slash Budgets Amid Financial PanicFacing high fuel costs and the economic strain of 1893, the school board cuts teacher salaries for sick leave and consolidates classes.Seattle, WA
- Jun 23, 1894The Teacher and the Secret SocietyThe local school board rejects anonymous, secretive charges against a teacher, asserting the right to public accountability.Seattle, WA
- Jul 19, 1894Queen Anne Parents Freeze the School FundResidents obtain an injunction to stop the school board from spending building money on other warrants, charging that children are stuck in a ruinous board structure.Queen Anne Hill, Seattle, WA
- Aug 9, 1894Seattle’s School Board Said No to $153Contractors crowded the board meeting, but a fight over $4,000 versus $4,153 left a school addition unbuilt—and a Lake Union petition for 107 children pending.Seattle, WA
- Aug 22, 1894Seattle Hires a Contractor to Keep South School From Sliding Into the StreetThe school board awards an emergency bulkhead job after nine bids and a bonding standoff, with work required before the autumn rains.Seattle, WA
- Aug 28, 1894The $800 School Contract That Smelled WrongA losing bidder says Seattle’s school board changed the bonding rules mid-bid to steer the South School job to a higher bidder—and cost taxpayers hundreds.South School, Seattle, WA
- Sep 4, 1894Seattle’s First Free Kindergarten Opens in a Remodeled South End SchoolA San Francisco-trained teacher, a borrowed school building, and a training school for young women launch a civic experiment in early education.Seattle, WA
- Sep 10, 1894A Contractor Tried to Quit a School Job Because the Ground Was Too DangerousJames Parks warned Seattle's school board that building a retaining wall at the South School could endanger the building. After two board sessions, he withdrew his letter and went back to work.Seattle, WA
- Sep 15, 1894The Minister Who Called the A.P.A. a Political Machine—and Named NamesRev. William Carnes says he quit Seattle’s A.P.A. lodge after it was used to carry secret school-board charges and promote candidates for sheriff, commissioner and coroner.Seattle, WA
- Jan 8, 1895Seattle's Teachers Refused to Take 85 Cents on the DollarPaid in warrants the district could not back, 140 educators asked voters to bond the school debt so their salaries would be worth face value.Seattle, WA
- May 9, 1895Seattle's School Board Votes $400,000 in Bonds—and Pockets the Audit DemandThe board funds a debt, hears charges that thousands were mismanaged, then lets an audit resolution die for lack of a second.Seattle, WA
- May 22, 1895Scarlet Fever Closes In on Seattle's SchoolsForty cases since April 1 and the tally still climbing — the city's health officer orders two school buildings disinfected, then finds he cannot get the supplies to do it.Seattle, WA
- May 30, 1895Scarlet Fever Shut Seattle's Schools—Then the Board Cut Teachers' PayIn May 1895 a health order ended the school year early. The same meeting slashed salaries, eliminated music and drawing, and triggered a board member's furious dissent.Seattle, WA
- Jun 22, 1895Seattle's Teachers Were Put on Monthly Contracts—and Cut Off in a Fire or EpidemicIn June 1895, the Seattle school board approved next year's teaching staff but changed the terms of the job: no annual contracts, ten days' notice, and no pay if fire or disease closed a school. The same meeting also debated Queen Anne school plans and cost overruns.Seattle, WA