SEATTLE — Seattle Public Schools Superintendent, Dr. Brent Jones, will leave his position this fall.
Dr. Jones said he wants to spend more time with his family. That may include a move, out of state. The University of California Santa Barbara just announced that Jones’ wife, Dr. Janine Jones has just been appointed the next Associate Vice Chancellor for Graduate Affairs.
“We acknowledge this is a time of great uncertainty and we are striving to provide stability and predictability to our students,” Jones said during the last school board meeting. The district is working on the district’s next strategic plan.
Jones has only been in the superintendent’s office at SPS for four years. His first year was as an interim superintendent when Denise Juneau left after just three years. Jones was then appointed superintendent.
In his short stint, Jones faced many challenges, leading the district out of COVID-19 and out of a $94 million budget deficit plus repeated violence among the student body, some including death.
“There is there is a real challenge around student safety at this time,” Erin MacDougall told KOMO News. She is co-founder of the group, All Together for Seattle Schools, which formed just more than a year ago, when the district started talks of closing schools.
She said families need the district to make obvious changes so that all violence stops.
“We are not seeing either school or superintendent truly stepping up to speak about the incidents to talk about what the district is responsible and accountable for and then really obvious changes to that it doesn’t keep happening,” MacDougal said.
She also said that the district needs better policy over budget oversight that truly includes community engagement.
This is the most recent controversy where parents clashed with Jones, who announced school closures but then reversed that decision in November.
“There really was no money to be saved. That would’ve made a difference in a $94 million budget deficit so that was one major policy that we feel could have gone a different way,” MacDougall said.
Many parents have recently told KOMO that they just don’t think the superintendent was listening to them and MacDougall said they know that’s why families have already left the district or are considering it.
“We know that school districts across the state do not have enough funds parents community members here, deeply about public schools and want to be a part of those dialogues related to policy. We don’t wanna be told this is what’s going to happen with no real place for input the school board has taken away oversight policy spaces in a way that we don’t get to see what’s happening, decisions that are being brought until they are ready to be voted on and that is not an inclusive way of seeing public schools,” MacDougall said.
So, now that the district is being forced to find a new leader, what qualities do MacDougall and All Together for Seattle schools want to see in that person?
“We would like to see the board in the district really go all out to find someone who has the experience, the demonstrated experience, and qualities of being an open transparent leader, who is willing to do the hard work in partnership with the community and families in our school, of making big decisions together, and will partner with the school board,” MacDougall.
MacDougall also said elected officials, including the mayor, city council members and even the state’s Superintendent of Public Instruction should also be involved in making sure a thriving city such as Seattle has a good public school district.
During his remaining time with SPS, he will help with the transition and search for a replacement, collaborate with the legislature for funding the district, work on a balanced budget for the upcoming year, and lead the start of the 2025-26 school year.
“It has been an honor to serve as superintendent of Seattle Public Schools and to give back to the community that shaped me,” said Dr. Jones. “I am incredibly proud of the progress we have made together, and I remain committed to supporting our students, educators, and families during this transition.”
“He has brought a lot of steady leadership during this time and we wish him all,” MacDougall said.
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More details on the search process for a new superintendent will be announced in the coming weeks.
Dr. Jones’ last day with the school district will be Sept. 3, 2025.