Seattle – Today, on the first day of school, Mayor Bruce Harrell highlighted new resources available to students across Seattle that focus on health, safety, and wellness. Building on Mayor Harrell’s August 2024 Executive Order on youth safety, the City and Seattle Public Schools (SPS) have worked together over the past year to implement a three-pronged strategy — school-based measures, violence intervention and community partnerships, and law enforcement support — to promote school safety, reduce violence in and around schools, and support student mental health.
Mayor Harrell’s administration has implemented a comprehensive set of services to support Seattle’s young people:
- All Seattle youth ages 13 to 24 now have access to free mental health therapy and resources.
- More than 40 new mental and behavioral health professionals have been hired across 21 SPS middle and high schools, bringing the total to over 60 staff providing on-campus mental health support.
- Community safety teams are now in place at focus middle and high schools, offering supportive services, violence interruption on campus, and trusted adult relationships with safe passage support off campus to reduce the risk of student involvement in violence.
- The Seattle Police Department will also provide increased patrols — before school, during lunch, and after school — as resources allow, in the areas around school campuses.
Additionally, Seattle Public Schools will also implement comprehensive safety measures across all sites including:
- Districtwide emergency notification system to secure multiple schools if there is an emergency,
- New security cameras, door and intrusion alarms, and key card readers at entrances, and
- Increased security staffing
“Our administration is committed to a great future for our city’s young people – providing the services and resources to keep them safe and support mental health,” said Mayor Harrell. “We designed these programs based on the needs we heard directly from students and youth, and I’m proud that, as a result, Seattle offers mental health resources to every young person up to age 24, along with safe streets improvements and community safety investments that are creating supportive environments for Seattle kids. I’m grateful for the partnership with Seattle Public Schools in service of our students and our future.”
Earlier this year, Mayor Harrell announced the Every Child Ready Initiative and proposed a renewal of the Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise levy – investing in health and safety services, a doubling of affordable childcare, and expansion of the City’s nation-leading preschool and Seattle Promise programs.
Last fall, Seattle delivered 20 Safe Routes to School projects across the city, surpassing the transportation levy goal of school-focused safety projects at every public school. These upgrades include things like new sidewalks, accessible curb ramps, crosswalks, flashing beacons, and traffic calming measures, and even student-led artwork to improve visibility. Thanks in part to the voter-approved 2024 transportation levy, Seattle will invest $14 million to continue this momentum and deliver at least 70 additional Safe Routes to School programs through 2032.
Seattle is also expanding automated school zone cameras, with 19 new locations being activated this year. The data shows that for schools with cameras there were 50 percent fewer crashes throughout the day, 71 percent fewer crashes during drop-off and pickup, and that 90 percent of drivers who receive a citation never receive a second one.