Discussions centered on youth safety in schools often focus on armed School Resource Officers (SROs), leaving alternative approaches to gun violence and school security largely unexplored. In Seattle, we have proposed and implemented many promising initiatives that are already making a difference and deserve further exploration.
The overwhelming passage of the 2025 Families, Education, Preschool and Promise (FEPP) Levy included $235 million for K-12 Health and Safety. This would include violence prevention efforts and school safety services, but it was not clearly defined whether the funds would go towards funding an SRO. However, local organizations, students and families continue to advocate against placing an armed officer in schools and instead, promote existing alternatives that have been proven to work.
For us, this topic hits close to home. In August, the Southeast Seattle Education Coalition (SESEC), the UW College of Education, and other community-based organizations organized a convening called ‘Rainier Rising’ for Southeast Seattle community and youth. During group discussions, gun violence stood out as one of the top concerns students had about their neighborhood. That same day, a drive-by shooting occurred nearby during the block party portion of the event. One youth participant witnessed the shooting, while many others heard the shots that should have been a celebration ended abruptly. Though Seattle Police officers were present, the incident still occurred.
That incident reaffirms to us, focusing on the presence of armed officers as the main solution for prevention will not work. Despite the increasing number of SROs on school campuses, there is no consistent evidence that they effectively prevent gun violence, according to research from The Journal of Policy Analysis and Management. Instead, suspensions, expulsions, police referrals and arrests are used at higher rates, resulting in disciplinary actions being the largest for Black students, male students and students with disabilities. This disparity was highlighted in published research by SESEC UW Fellow Meri Kadagize.
The Southeast Seattle Education Coalition advocates on behalf of the 22 public schools in the area and represents over 50 community-based organizations fighting for educational justice. On Nov. 20, members of the coalition, including Rainier Beach Action Coalition, Community Passageways and CHOOSE180 convened to highlight existing approaches that have already proven to positively impact students’ safety and well-being.
These include the Community Passageways’ Deep Dive program that provides wraparound support for teenage boys and young men between the ages of 15 to 27 who are usually gang-affiliated and are at the highest risk of being victims or participating in gun violence. They provide mentorship, financial literacy, employment support and legal system navigation. This type of comprehensive care is exactly the kind of support the FEPP levy should be funding.
Another Community Passageways is also part of the city’s Seattle Community Safety Initiative, which works to strengthen neighborhood safety as a whole. It does this through creating Community Safety Hubs that provide incident responses and employ trusted messengers to provide gun violence for impacted families. In addition, Safe Passage teams employ outreach workers who help community members move safely to schools.
CHOOSE 180’s Restorative Community Pathways is a pre-court diversion program that refers youth accused of first-time felony offenses to receive guidance from navigators. Young people can build relationships with peers and mentors through ongoing weekly check-ins and the program highlights long-term community integration that connects youth with outside programming.
Rainier Beach Action Coalition has devoted an entire $1.2 million called Rainier Beach: A Beautiful Safe Place for Youth to reduce crime and develop youth leaders. The Guardianship program sends trusted adults along routes to and from school every day, making sure students get home safely. The Youth & Neighborhood Engagement team activates neighborhood crime hotspots weekly by cleaning litter, providing food and conducting surveys in order to reduce the incidents that contribute to youth crime. Finally, the Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design program deploys youth teams to make improvements in the neighborhood, including maintaining and beautifying the environment.
School safety for students doesn’t have to look like placing an armed officer on campuses. Instead, it looks like essential support, mental health services and intergenerational mentorship. We must shift from a policing-based model of school safety to one rooted in racial justice, community care and positive school culture.
Hong Ta (she/her) is aRainier Beach resident, where she was born and raised. She is currently the Marketing and Communications Coordinator at the Southeast Seattle Education Coalition. For more Southeast Seattle education policy news, go to sesecwa.org.
Read more of the Dec. 24-30, 2025 issue.
