Seattle Public Schools back in the hot seat for ineffective school choice waitlists

Parents and educators are calling for better enrollment management at Seattle Public Schools, as new data suggests these practices — including a confusing waitlist system — have driven hundreds of families out of the district.

The district's school choice program allows students to apply to move schools — whether to a different neighborhood school or an option school with specialized programs.

Families can start the application process in February, and they typically find out which school their student has been assigned to in April. The district limits how many students can switch schools. If a student doesn't make it into their school of choice, they're put on a waitlist.

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But parents say the district has failed to move hundreds of students off waitlists in recent years, even when there's physical space in schools.

That was Alicia Drucker's experience last school year. She applied to enroll her two kids — third and fifth graders at the time — into John Stanford International School, an option school with dual-language immersion programs in Spanish and Japanese.

But only her youngest child was offered a spot, she said. Her oldest remained on the waitlist, Drucker said, even though there appeared to be 19 free spots at that grade level.

"My kids attended two different elementary schools last year, which was difficult for our family," Drucker told the school board Wednesday.

Meanwhile, other families who didn't get a spot at their preferred school opted for other options.

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New data shared with the Seattle School Board Wednesday shows more than 2,700 students didn't get into their first-choice school this academic year. About 450 of those students — or 20% — left or never enrolled in the district afterward.

Marian Wagner is a teacher at Thornton Creek Elementary, an option school focused on expeditionary learning. She believes district leaders have intentionally manipulated enrollment at option schools over the last two years — and she's seen firsthand how it hurts these schools and their families.

"Our services are being cut. Our support staff has been reduced. Waitlists don't move," Wagner told the board. "I'm a special education resource teacher now, and I can see the impact of reduced support staff on our most vulnerable students because of our declining enrollment."

While Wagner understands the district needs to make cuts if a school's enrollment decreases, she doesn't understand why officials appear to be eliminating spots for students at option schools — especially at a time when they should be focused on attracting families to the district.

"What we should be doing is growing our creative options and our program offerings, and honoring families trying to make a choice for their own kids, whether it's going to an option school or a different neighborhood school," Wagner said. "Families are not one size fits all. Kids are not one size fits all."

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District officials said Wednesday they try to balance giving families choice with ensuring enrollment and resources are stable at all schools across the district.

"The more mobility that we provide within the system, the more resources are going to move around," said Fred Podesta, the district's chief operations officer. "It's not a value judgment, it's just these are things we need to consider — that as families make choices, as students make choices and move from one school to another, we'd be moving resources from one school to the other. And that has impacts."

Marni Campbell, the district's well-resourced schools officer, said instability looks like the loss of teachers and other staff, as well as programming — and it can have an even greater impact on small schools.

"When we get small enough, we're not able to provide those basic things that we think students should have, or music, PE, and art in elementary school," Campbell said.

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But parents like former City Councilwoman Tammy Morales said Wednesday that they don't buy it. Morales said her daughter is one of 129 students on the fall waitlist at Cleveland High, an option school focused on STEM.

"The answer isn't to block students from enrolling in their preferred school," she said. "The answer is to staff and resource schools appropriately."

Morales also urged the district to stop framing school choice as a threat to stability, calling it "absurd" and "deeply wrong."

"Families make decisions about what's best for their children, and it's not radical to send your kid to the school that best supports their learning needs," she said. "Lift the waitlist for families who know the school system is stronger because of school choice, not in spite of it."