Days after a student was gunned down in a hallway at Ingraham High School, classmates are demanding more mental health resources within Seattle Public Schools (SPS). Students on Monday walked out of class and over to City Hall to push for millions in funding for school counselors, plus other safety measures.
In a social media post, the Seattle Student Union urged the city council to allocate millions for school mental health counselors, ideally one counselor for every 200 students in every high school to represent the diverse backgrounds of students. They also called on lawmakers for updated safe storage laws and to ban assault rifles; for increased security training at SPS on de-escalation techniques and anti-racism.
"I’m tired of seeing on the news, school shootings close to every week throughout our country and I never thought it would happen to me, personally," said E.O. Franklin, a sophomore at Ingraham High School. "We can’t keep letting our kids die."
Students told KOMO that adding more school resource officers is not the answer, and they want to fight gun violence with more mental health resources. Students, including one who was in lockdown while police looked for the shooter, are hoping the walkout sends their message to district administrators and state leaders.
“Since it’s so close to home, I feel like it’s becoming a bigger issue than it has been in the past,” said Olive Pennington from Roosevelt High School. “I think we need to make a change if this is happening so often and so close.”
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell tweeted Monday following the student's walkout saying, "Today, students spoke out to demand gun safety after the tragic shooting at Ingraham High School. No student should feel unsafe at school, and we will work to support local solutions and advance overdue state and federal gun safety measures - live are on the line."
One student who goes to Nathan Hale High School, and who asked to remain anonymous, planned to walk out on Monday. Nathan Hale High School also went into lockdown during the shooting last week. The student said having more mental health resources may not have prevented last week’s tragedy but it could stop something similar in the future.
“Nobody knew exactly what was going on, so it was like, terrifying,” she explained.
In a statement Monday, Seattle Public Schools said it welcomes student voices and understands families and students are "deeply concerned about safety."
It is fully understandable that students, families and staff are deeply concerned about safety, and we recognize the increased fear and anxiety as a result of the tragic, senseless circumstance at Ingraham High School last Tuesday. Since Tuesday, the SPS Health Services team has been working with school leaders to provide our students and staff with support. It is essential that our schools – starting with Ingraham High – are safe and healthy learning and teaching environments. Today, additional counselors and social workers will be at the school. Additional security will be provided on the school campus. While Ingraham will follow its regular bell schedule, educators will be available for students during the morning classes to discuss their experience.
As of last week, the district is creating a so-called Threat and Community Action Team to see how SPS can improve safety.
The Washington Association of Schools Psychologists told KOMO News earlier this year the number of the state’s mental health professionals is on average two times higher than the national recommendation, with some psychologists serving more than five times the number of students than what is recommended.