December 2, 2019


Dear Honorable Attorney General Ferguson,

We are writing to you, and to the Washington Office of the State Attorney General, to raise
complaints about the egregious process in which the Seattle School District is moving to
change policy on advanced learning in Seattle Public Schools, as well as existing practices
that violate the rights of students. For advanced learners, and particularly, highly capable students, access to accelerated learning and enhanced instruction is access to a basic education,
and is required by law in Washington state. We assert that the Seattle School District is not following the law.

The Seattle School District is not identifying, placing, or supporting students equally on the basis of race. By its own admission, the programs for advanced learning, including Highly Capable education, does not reflect the general racial makeup of the student population. The District
has been advised of this deficiency over the years by task forces convened by the District as
well as consultants hired by the District. In spite of solutions which have been offered to improve identification of highly capable students of color, there has been no concerted effort to
correct this imbalance. We ask that your office investigate the disparate impact on students,
including the lack of processes for universal identification, publicity of the program (including
information around District provided appeals of testing), placement, and supports which the
District has allowed to continue which particularly impact students of color. 

The Seattle Public School District is not providing a basic education for all advanced learners
in the District. The Multi-Tiered Systems of Support model (MTSS), which the District claims to
employ to meet the needs of all students, has not been adequately funded, staffed, provided
with materials, or supported to deliver these programs and services as required. There are no
District training programs in place to train new staff to specifically teach Highly Capable and
Twice Exceptional students. In many elementary schools, the programs for Advanced Learning
Opportunities that are supposed to be provided in neighborhood schools do not exist at all, or
do not meet the standard of providing a basic education for advanced learners.

The Seattle Public School District administrative staff is currently proposing to dissolve the
Highly Capable Cohort (HCC) at Washington Middle School (WMS), beginning in the 2020-21
school year, and administrative staff is already informing parents of this decision before a required vote of the Board of Directors has even taken place. This policy may be adopted by the
SPS Board of Directors as soon as January 2020. The administration is circumventing normal
Board policy safeguards and procedures and is urging the Directors to discontinue the HCC
program at WMS. This will be a break in the Highly Capable pathway for Southeast Seattle, but
will not affect schools in North or West Seattle. If this change is made and implemented the
removal of services and the break in the pathway for Highly Capable students will have a disparate impact on students of color in Southeast Seattle due to the demographics of that area
of the city when compared to Seattle overall. 

The dismantling of HCC at WMS, and if realized city-wide, will have a disparate impact on
highly capable students with disabilities (Twice Exceptional or “2e” students). Placing highly
capable students in a general education setting where advanced learning opportunities are not
delivered amply for a Free Accessible Public Education, and where resources are not available
to increase delivery of an increased level of highly capable education through MTSS in neighborhood schools will negatively impact and undermine the effectiveness of Special Education
supports that some of these students need through IEP and 504 plans. Placing Highly Capable
students in a classroom that will not provide adequate supports for special education needs
and a FAPE based on their actual academic level constitutes an added restricted environment
for learning, and a violation of the law.


 Because of the egregious nature of these conditions and the short time frame of these potential decisions, we ask that you immediately intervene in the administration’s or Board’s further
erosion of advanced learning education, including the highly Capable Cohort, and investigate
these matters. 

Sincerely Yours,

[Signatures redacted]


Sue Peters 

 

 

Kathleen Lendvey

Tanya Davis   

 

Howaida Shahin

Chun Ng


Megan Hazen





Christine Shigaki

Dionne Malatesta

Christine Bates