Category: School

Seattle Public Schools is warning parents the first day of school, set for Wednesday, could be delayed because of a possible teacher strike.

“We are optimistic an agreement will be reached,” says a statement posted Friday on the SPS website and sent to families across the district. But if school is delayed, SPS said, it is working on a plan to provide pickup meals for students and reaching out to community child care providers. After-school activities will continue even if the school start date is pushed back.

Members of the Seattle Education Association are voting through 9 am Tuesday on whether to authorize a strike. The union has about 6,000 members.

SPS posted a statement Friday saying the SEA has declined to enter into legal mediation to reach an agreement.

But Julie Popper, spokesperson for the SEA, said in a text message Saturday that “SPS did not show up for

A former elementary school principal was accused of abusing a 9-year-old student after video showed him shoving the child to the ground, officials said Thursday.

Brian Vollhardt, who resigned from Wolters Elementary School in Fresno after the school district launched an investigation into the June 7 altercation, faces a charge of willful cruelty to a minor, police and school officials said during a Thursday news conference.

Court records show Vollhardt is scheduled to be arraigned for the alleged crime, a misdemeanor, on Sept. 26.

“There’s no excuse for repugnant behavior such as this,” school district superintendent Bob Nelson told reporters.

A video of the incident was released by the Fresno Unified School District and Fresno police with some faces blurred.

Nelson said the incident occurred after Vollhardt joined a group of students eating breakfast. Fresno Police Chief Paco Balderrama described the boy as a “special needs” student, though he did