Garfield High School community asks for more student mental health resources amid gun violence concerns

Before being shot to death in the parking lot of Garfield High School, 17-year-old Amarr Murphy-Paine was among a cacophony of voices at his school and in the Central District community calling for robust in-school mental health services to help address gun violence.

Since 2023, there have been at least six incidents of gun violence on or near the school’s campus.

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On Tuesday, local politicians, school administrators, and gun violence intervention advocates walked past a memorial honoring Murphy-Paine outside of Garfield High School on their way into the school’s auditorium. They were there for a monthly community safety meeting hosted by the group Central District Public Safety Accountability (CDPSA) since last year.

Prior to his death, Murphy-Paine sat in these same meetings. Appollonia Washington, a member of CDPSA and the owner of A 4 Apple Learning Center, recalled him standing up and sharing his thoughts after another student was shot in the leg off-campus.

“I remember him saying, ‘We shouldn't have to come back to school, we should be able to stay at home and process everything that happened instead of just having to come back to school the next day,’ and all his peers clapped,” Washington said.

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In recent months, she and other members of CDPSA have gone to Garfield, Franklin, and Cleveland high schools, asking students what they needed to feel safe. Students asked that any school resource officers be vetted by students and the community, and be required to work alongside neighborhood groups like Community Passageways. They also asked for more mental health services and safety improvements in school bathrooms — a place students say is rife with bullying. The organizers plan to continue meeting with students.

Last year, the Seattle City Council voted to raise $20 million for mental health services in Seattle schools last year by raising payroll taxes on large companies. But in order to use those funds, the city council would need to change city policy to allow its Department of Education and Early Learning to use them.

In the days following Murphy-Paine’s death, the King County Council approved funding for a youth mental health center; Mayor Bruce Harrell proposed an initial $2.4 million for telehealth services for the 2024-25 school year, plus another $2 million for violence prevention. That number could grow to $10 million. It’s part of a bigger plan that includes boosting safe passage programs for students going to and leaving school, installing surveillance cameras around Garfield, and identifying students who are at the highest risk of gun violence to offer intervention services.

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That funding has yet to be approved by the city council. The lack of clarity surrounding when that money will be available could be fixed with better communication between local governments and schools, said Nicole Czubin. She manages mental health initiatives for the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle and is a community engagement coordinator at Garfield High School.

On Tuesday, 18-year-old Remi Grady, a recent Garfield graduate, was the only student who attended the CDPSA meeting, despite others being invited. Czubin and Grady said it was because other students didn’t feel listened to by Seattle Public Schools or safe around Seattle Police. Two uniformed officers were in the crowd Tuesday night.

“They want to know that when they share something — when they pour their hearts out, when they're vulnerable — that something's going to be done with it,” Czubin said.

Czubin said she thinks students who are reluctant to come to these meetings could have a change of heart if leaders continue to listen and show up.

Grady echoed calls for better mental health resources for students and staff. They said there’s shared blame for the recent spurts of gun violence on and around Garfield’s campus.

“That’s not a function of Garfield; it’s a function of neglect from the city and the school district,” they said.

Grady also called on elected officials to engage more with school communities, like Garfield’s.

“The mayor ran an election campaign on Garfield,” Grady said, while acknowledging that Harrell has been attending listening sessions hosted by CDPSA in recent weeks.

Grady also expressed gratitude about being a Garfield graduate.

“I’m so proud to have gone to that school, and despite all the terrible things that have happened…I love this school,” they said.