Meetings

Board Calendar
Watch School Board Meetings
Public Testimony
Regular and Special Meetings Agendas

Seattle School Board Meetings

Regular Board Meetings are generally held on Wednesdays, but are occasionally rescheduled around holidays. Regular School Board meetings start at 4:15 p.m. Board meetings are held at the John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence.

Please visit the Board Resolutions webpage for adopted resolutions and the Annual Reports webpage for a list of when and how reports to the Board have been delivered.

Board Calendar

Full Board Calendar

Watch School Board Meetings

Regular Board Meetings are live streamed on SPSTV.

SPS YouTube Live

Regular Board meetings can also be viewed on the following Seattle channels:

Comcast 26 (standard-def) 319 (hi-def)
Wave 26 (standard-def) 695 (hi-def)
Century Link 8008 (standard-def) 8508 (hi-def)

Watch Past Meeting Recordings

Watch past board meetings recordings of the Seattle School Board.

Public Testimony

The Seattle School Board welcomes members of the public to the Regular meetings of the Board and dedicates time at these meetings to hear from the public on agenda items and other issues of concern.

It is important for all community members to feel welcome and safe in the Board’s business meetings. Audience members will be expected to treat all attendees with respect and civility, just as Seattle Public Schools expects of students in our schools.

Public testimony will be taken in person and by teleconference from those who sign up to provide testimony and who are placed on the testimony list per the process described below.

Per Board Procedure 1430BP, the order of public testimony will be determined as follows: the student speaker from the assigned district high school and then those speaking to agenda action items, then agenda introduction items, and then items of general interest.

Current district students who sign up through the process outlined in Board Procedure 1430BP, identify themselves as students, and are among the 20 (or 25) speakers on the speakers list, will be placed immediately following the first speaking slot. The Board agenda is posted by close of business the Friday before Board meetings.

When can I sign up for public testimony?

The School Board Office will take sign-ups for the public testimony list starting at 8 a.m. on the Monday before regular Board meetings and continue until 12 p.m. on the Tuesday before the meeting. Sign-ups received after noon on the Tuesday before the meeting will be added to the end of the list on a first-come, first-served basis until the scheduled meeting start time.

The public testimony list will be posted on the meeting’s agenda by the close of business the day before the regular Board meeting. All meeting agendas are located on the Board agenda webpage.

How do I sign up for public testimony?

To sign up for public testimony, members of the public should do one of the following:

Sign up online starting at 8 a.m. on the Monday before the meeting until 4:15 p.m. the day of the meeting (Note: this method replaces the prior email sign-up process) or
- Sign-up form is available in Amharic, Spanish, Vietnamese, and Simplified Chinese.
Call 206-252-0040 during that time

Please provide the following information when signing up for testimony:

Full name
Contact information (telephone number and email address)
The topic they would like to address
Whether the testimony will be provided in person or by teleconference

Please note: Speakers must sign up for themselves, with the exception of students signed up by a parent or guardian and individuals who may need an accommodation for the public testimony sign-up process, including those with disabilities or those requiring language interpretation services. Additionally, if complete information is not provided, you will not be included on the list. The Board Office will not follow-up to obtain correct information or tell you where you are on the list.

Public Testimony at Regular Board Meetings is governed by Audience Participation Board Policy No. 1430 and Board Procedure 1430BP.

There are twenty (20) speaking spots available at each Regular Legislative Board meeting. Each speaker on the public testimony list will have up to two (2) minutes to speak. In the event that thirty five (35) or more public testimony requests are received prior to the start of the Board meeting, an additional five (5) speaking slots will be made available for that meeting only, for a total of twenty five (25) speakers.

If you want to give (cede) your time to someone else, you must attend the Board meeting and announce this to the Board when it is your turn to speak. The person to whom you cede your time, will receive the remainder of your 2 minutes and should speak to the same topic. As you have ceded your speaking time, you will not be able to speak again at the meeting.

If you have handouts to give to the Board, please bring 10 copies and give them to Board staff ahead of the meeting. No one should approach the dais with handouts.

Questions about Public Testimony

Regular and Special Meetings Agendas

Regular and Special Board meeting agendas are posted at least 24 hours in advance of the meeting. At each Board meeting, minutes from the previous meetings are approved and will be posted to the agenda webpage once available.

Regular and Special Meeting Agenda and Materials

Board Committee Materials

There are three current committees of the Board.

Audit Committee
Ad Hoc Community Engagement Committee
Ad Hoc Policy Manual Review Committee

Committee Materials

About the Board Approval Process

The Seattle School Board generally holds at least one Regular Board meeting monthly. During Regular Board Meetings, the Board takes public testimony and votes to take most final actions. However, Board discussions regarding items approved during Regular Board meetings often begin weeks earlier with preparation of Board Action Reports and Introduction to the Board. Information is included here to support the public in tracking items throughout this extended process.

Board Action Report Development

When an item is brought to the Board for action, a Board Action Report (BAR) is drafted, along with any accompanying Board policy or other attachments as needed. Often these documents are prepared by staff, but Directors also may develop Board Action Reports, generally to revise or adopt policies and resolutions.

Regular Board Meeting Agendas and Use of the Consent Agenda

Board Action Reports are placed on draft Regular Board Meeting agendas developed by the School Board Office. These draft agendas are then reviewed and finalized by the Board President and Superintendent, which set two Regular Board meeting agendas at a time. BARs for contracts, grants, and other routine business like meeting minutes are placed directly on a Consent Agenda for action by the Board. Other Board Action Reports are scheduled to first be introduced at one Regular Board meeting, and voted on at the next Regular Board meeting. When an item is introduced, it is presented by staff or the sponsoring Director, and Directors have the opportunity to ask questions and discuss, but no action is taken. The public also has the opportunity at this point, and during all Regular Board meetings, to provide feedback by signing up to provide public testimony.

After introduction, the Board Action item is then generally scheduled for a vote during the next Regular Board meeting as part of the Consent Agenda. Per Board Policy No. 1420, Proposed Agendas & Consent Agenda, a Consent Agenda is used to expedite business at Regular Board meetings by having the Board approve multiple items with one motion and vote. The use of a Consent Agenda is best practice for governing bodies (See more information on using a Consent Agenda to streamline meetings from the Municipal Research Services Center). The Student Outcomes Focused Governance Manual, developed by the Council of Great City Schools and AJ Crabill, advises that all consent-eligible items should be placed on a Consent Agenda in order to focus Board meeting time on improving student outcomes (See the Board-adopted student outcomes goals and guardrails).

When an item is placed on the Consent Agenda, it may be removed by any member of the Board during the Regular Board meeting. Any items removed from the Consent Agenda are discussed and voted on individually later in the meeting.