(Image: Seattle Public Schools)
The Seattle public school system needs a new leader.
District superintendent Brent Jones announced Monday he is stepping down from the post after a year of controversy over the system’s plan to eliminate campuses across the city including Capitol Hill’s Stevens Elementary and a continued drop in enrollment across the system.
“During my tenure, I proudly led several key initiatives that strengthened Seattle Public Schools in our pursuit of academic excellence, including the passage of our levies, advancing equity and inclusion, expanding student support services, strengthening community partnerships, and navigating the challenges of the pandemic,” Jones said in his announcement. “We have emerged stronger, and recent research has found that we have achieved accelerated academic recovery from pandemic declines at a significantly faster rate than Washington state as a whole or compared to similar districts in the state.”
His resignation will be effective in September but the search to replace Jones has begun. “Further details on the superintendent search process will be announced in the coming weeks,” the announcement read.
Jones had served as interim superintendent after the departure of Denise Juneau in April 2021. Juneau announced she would be stepping down in the wake of controversy over her handling of COVID-19 policies and relationship with the teachers union during the pandemic.
The Seattle School Board selected Dr. Jones to continue in the role, awarding the veteran education leader a two-year contract in 2022.
Jones has been a longtime part of the district, serving as chief of equity, partnerships and engagement and helping to lead the creation and adoption of the SPS strategic plan. Prior to that role, Jones served as the district’s chief of human resources.
Jones was also the first Black man to lead the district in more than 20 years.
His resignation comes after a year of backtracking with school board officials on his planned “consolidations” as the district backed down from an initial plan that could have cut 21 campuses from the system after public outcry. In the face of a projected more-than-$130 million budget deficit, officials said the Stevens closure would have saved the district around $1.5 million a year.
Superintendent Jones announced the full retreat on the shutdown plan as students headed into the Thanksgiving holiday, saying the months of worry, changing roster of possible closures, and evolving accounting of possible savings from closures “highlighted the need for constructive conversations and collaboration to replace conflict, as meaningful progress for our students requires unity and shared purpose.”
“The projected $5.5 million savings from the proposed closures are significant,” Jones said in the announcement. “However, we agree that achieving these savings should not come at the cost of dividing our community.”
The district, meanwhile, continues to see a drop in enrollment, bleeding some 4,000 students between the 2019 and 2024 school years. The district currently serves more than 51,000 students. A survey of families that left showed that 86% of respondents cited “education quality” was a top reason for their decision.
Education funding advocacy group All Together for Seattle Schools said Monday the exit of Jones marked “a decisive moment for Seattle Public Schools” and urged the board to look beyond the city for a new leader.
“We urge the school board to look outside district headquarters and conduct a nationwide search for a new superintendent,” the group said in a statement. “The next superintendent has work to do to rebuild public trust in the district after a series of incidents and scandals that have threatened student safety. We need a new leader who will conduct a thorough, top to bottom reform of district administration to make it more responsive to the public.”
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