Seattle Schools Superintendent Dr. Brent Jones announced Monday that he is resigning from his position effective Sept. 3, 2025.

In a video statement posted to the Seattle Public Schools website, Jones said he is leaving to spend more time with his family. The Seattle Times reported that Jones confirmed that he will move to California, where his wife Dr. Janine Jones was appointed vice chancellor for graduate affairs at the University of California at Santa Barbara earlier this month.

The district intends to announce its plans for the superintendent search process in the coming weeks.

Jones has headed the state’s largest school district since 2021, when he was appointed on an interim basis after the resignation of Superintendent Denise Juneau. The school hired Jones for the permanent position in March 2022.

Jones cited the district’s successes at academic recovery, equity and inclusion, expanding student support services, and strengthening community partnership during his tenure at Seattle Public Schools. He also oversaw challenges, such as a withdrawn plan to close schools due to tightening budgets, and a teacher’s strike in 2022.

Before taking on the top job at Seattle Public Schools, Jones had several previous positions at Seattle Public Schools, including chief equity, partnerships, and engagement officer. Additionally, he held posts at the Kent School District and King County Metro Transit.

This article was originally published by the Washington State Standard.

The U.S. Education Department on Monday warned 60 colleges and universities they could face repercussions if they fail “to protect Jewish students on campus.”

In a statement announcing letters to schools across the country, the department did not detail what consequences the schools could face, but the letters came less than a week after the administration announced that it would be canceling roughly $400 million in federal grants and contracts to Columbia University over “the school’s continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students.”

President Donald Trump and his administration have focused on curbing antisemitism on college campuses after a series of campus protests erupted last year in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and Israel’s counteroffensive.

Immigration authorities over the weekend arrested and detained a former Columbia graduate student who helped organize campus protests last year against Israel’s war in Gaza. The student, Mahmoud Khalil, is a lawful permanent resident and was not accused of immigration violations. Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio conflated Khalil’s protests of the war in Gaza with support for Hamas to rationalize the arrest.

Columbia University is listed as one of the schools that received the letter warning they could be in violation of Title VI, which bars discrimination on the basis of race, color and national origin in institutions receiving federal funding.

“The Department is deeply disappointed that Jewish students studying on elite U.S. campuses continue to fear for their safety amid the relentless antisemitic eruptions that have severely disrupted campus life for more than a year. University leaders must do better,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in a statement Monday.

“U.S. colleges and universities benefit from enormous public investments funded by U.S. taxpayers. That support is a privilege and it is contingent on scrupulous adherence to federal antidiscrimination laws,” said McMahon, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and sworn in last week.

The letters came after a Trump executive order in late January that focused on “additional measures to combat anti-semitism.”

Pursuant to that order, the administration announced in early February the creation of a multi-agency task force to “combat anti-semitism” whose first priority would be “to root out anti-Semitic harassment in schools and on college campuses.”

Three universities and one college in Washington were among the higher education institutions that received the Department of Education warning: Eastern Washington University, Pacific Lutheran University, the University of Washington and Whitman College.

The Washington State Standard originally published a longer version of this article on March 10, 2025.

Washington State University appointed Elizabeth Cantwell as its 12th president on Thursday, Feb. 6. Her term will begin on April 1. Kirk Schulz, president since 2016, will step down on March 30, but stay on through June as a senior advisor to support the transition. 

The WSU Board of Regents unanimously selected Cantwell out of 260 candidates, according to the campus news release. She will be the school’s first woman President.

Cantwell currently serves as president of Utah State University, a post she’s held since August 2023. According to the WSU press release, during her brief tenure, sponsored research expenditures at the school reached a high $495 million, student scholarships increased by 10%, and she oversaw numerous campus infrastructure improvements. But The Salt Lake Tribune describes her tenure as “embattled,” as she navigated the school through numerous high-profile incidents.

Before that, Cantwell was the chief executive officer of Arizona State University Research Enterprise, where she grew the organization from $425 million to $680 million in three years. At the University of Arizona, she oversaw an $825 million annual research portfolio. 

“I am deeply honored by the trust the Board of Regents has placed in me to lead this incredible institution,” Cantwell said in the news release. “To be selected to lead this esteemed institution as its 12th president is a profound privilege. I’ve long admired Washington State University, and a couple of years ago my family’s connection to the university deepened when my daughter became a Coug, enrolling in one of WSU’s graduate programs. This opportunity to serve WSU as president is truly a dream come true!”

The University of Washington Board of Regents announced Monday that Robert J. Jones will become the 34th President of the University of Washington. Jones, ending a nine-year tenure as Chancellor of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, will begin his five-year contract on August 1. 

Jones will become the first African American to serve in the role, according to the UW. 

“I look forward to working with the UW’s talented and dedicated faculty and staff to support and accelerate their work, and to partnering with the UW’s supporters to advance students’ success, economic opportunity and discovery for the public good,” Jones wrote in the announcement. 

President Ana Mari Cauce announced last year that she would step down from the role she held for a decade.

“His inspiring and barrier- breaking personal journey, highly regarded scholarship and decades of transformative leadership convinced us that Chancellor Jones is the ideal person to build upon President Ana Mari Cauce’s legacy,” Board of Regents Chair Blaine Tamaki said in the announcement. 

Jones, who has served at the University of Illinois since 2016, said his priorities include focusing on affordability for students and making education accessible. 

He also served as the President of the University at Albany from 2013-2016, which will make his UW presidency his third post leading a public research university. At Albany, he added academic units and degree-granting programs and expanded faculty research opportunities and student learning. 

The Seattle Public Schools board withdrew its plan Tuesday to close four elementary schools to help address a projected $94 million budget shortfall in the 2025-26 school year.

Earlier this year, the district had proposed closing North Beach, Sacajawea, Sanislo, and Stevens elementary schools starting next year for a potential $5.5 million in savings. Gaps in federal and state funding have been a major reason for the district’s budget shortfall. Seattle and other districts have also seen declining enrollment in recent years. Twenty-nine Seattle elementary schools served fewer than 300 students each last school year.

In a statement released this week, district officials said that the potential savings in closing the four schools “would not solely resolve SPS’s $94 million budget shortfall and has been a source of community division.”

The district will focus instead on “legislative and levy renewal advocacy, as well as pursuing operational efficiencies aligned with our shared values and priorities,” Superintendent Brent Jones wrote in a letter to the community this week.

District officials had warned as far back as 2023 that the district would have to consider closing schools to address its projected budget gap for the 2025-26 school year.

Free school lunches increased by 32% in the 2024-2025 school year, according to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. That means at least 70% – 775,000 of Washington’s 1.1 million students – have access to free school lunches.

In the 2023-2024 school year, 1,269 schools offered free meals funded by the federal government, also known as the Community Eligibility Provision, to students, and that number increased to 1,523 schools the following year. Schools get community eligibility to provide free lunches to all students regardless of income if they can document high numbers of students from low-income families.

OSPI worked with the state Legislature to increase the number of students eligible for free lunches by supplementing the funding of federal programs to cover the full or partial cost of school meals for eligible students.

To be eligible, students’ family income must be at or below 130 percent of the federal poverty line. A family of four that makes a monthly income of $3,380 or less is eligible for free student lunch.

However, the federal dollars aren’t enough to cover the increased demand for these lunches, leaving the burden for schools to pay for it in their budgets or make up the difference in their paid school lunch programs.

OSPI is requesting additional funding to make up these differences due to increased school participation, requesting $108 million a year for the program, a budget increase of $17.5 million annually.

During the pandemic, many families and students received universal free breakfast and lunch, but that ended in 2022. In 2023, a bill was passed requiring districts to pursue community eligibility to continue providing meals, falling short of its original goal to provide free meals for all students, as California and Maine do.

 At schools with universal free meals, staff are freed from tracking and collecting meal debt from students and can instead focus on quality meals, OSPI said. OSPI said these universal meal programs are an economic boost to families in need.

“When students participate in universal meal programs, their participation can save their families up to $1,200 per year that they might otherwise be spending on meals during the school day,” said State Superintendent Chris Reykdal in the press release email. “Especially as we all battle rising inflation and our budgets getting tighter, these programs provide much needed financial relief to families statewide.”

Highline Public Schools will resume on Thursday after being out since Monday due to a cyberattack.

According to the district, technology staff detected the breach and disconnected its network from the internet, disrupting phone systems and limiting access to applications required for the safe operations of schools.

In a statement on the district website, school officials expressed regrets about the disruption and noted that it delayed the first day of kindergarten. 

“We recognize the burden this decision places on both families and staff, but student safety is our top priority, and we cannot have school without these critical systems in place,” the district said in its statement.

University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce announced Wednesday that she will step down from her position in June 2025 and return to the faculty after 10 years at the helm.

Cauce has been president of the state’s largest public university since 2015 and a faculty member or administrator there since 1986. Immediately before serving as president, Cauce was the provost of the school. She also has served as the dean of the College of Arts & Sciences and headed the departments of American Ethnic Studies and Psychology.

Cauce was the first woman to be named permanently to be UW president, as well as the first Latina and the first openly gay person to serve in the role. 

Cauce, who immigrated as a child from Cuba to Miami with her family, first came to UW as an assistant professor of psychology. She became interim president in 2015 after the departure of Michael K. Young. Cauce was given the top spot permanently later that year.

Cauce will step down at the end of her second five-year contract with the University of Washington. Her departure will come at the same time as Washington State University President Kirk Schulz also plans to step down. Schulz, who has headed WSU since 2016, announced his plans to depart earlier this year.

Sarah Clark and Joe Mizrahi are the new directors on the Seattle Public Schools Board, replacing two who resigned earlier this year.

Clark, director of policy for the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, will represent District 2, which includes the area from Magnolia Interbay to Loyal Heights to Green Lake. A graduate of Garfield High School and the University of Washington, Clark lives in Crown Hill and mentors students at Ballard High School. Board members said Clark would be the only graduate of the Seattle Public Schools system on the Board, and also cited her lived experience as a student of color and her work experience with policy as factors in her selection. Clark was selected from a field of 11 candidates.

Mizrahi, secretary/treasurer of UFCW 3000, will represent District 4, which includes the area from

Downtown up through Queen Anne to Fremont. Mizrahi has three children in Seattle Public Schools and his wife is principal of an elementary school in Bellevue. He said his parents taught special education in San Diego and created programs around student inclusion and access. Board members cited his understanding of the Board’s role and his involvement in his neighborhood schools as factors in his selection. Mizrahi was selected from a field of four candidates.

Clark and Mizrahi both will be up for election in November 2025. 

Former school directors Vivian Song and Lisa Rivera, who moved out of their districts, vacated their positions in January. The resignations came after The Seattle Times raised questions about Song living outside her school board district. 

The Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors is scheduled to appoint new members on Wednesday to replace two who resigned earlier this year after moving out of the districts that they represented.

The school district held a forum with the finalists from director districts 2 and 4 last week. The forum was posted to the district’s YouTube channel for board meetings. District 2 includes the area from Magnolia Interbay to Loyal Heights to Green Lake. District 4 includes the area from Downtown up through Queen Anne to Fremont.

Both seats will be up for election in November 2025. 

Former school directors Vivian Song and Lisa Rivera vacated their positions in January after The Seattle Times raised questions about Song’s residency in her school board district. Song and Rivera said they were in compliance with state law, but both resigned to avoid “unnecessary distraction,” according to their joint statement.

The Seattle Public Schools Board is scheduled to evaluate the finalists in an executive session scheduled before the regular public board meeting on Wednesday. The regular board meeting starts at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence, 2445 Third Avenue South in Seattle. The newly appointed directors are expected to take the oath of office at 5 p.m, Thursday. 

Correction: This article originally had an incorrect date for the oath of office. The article was corrected on April 4, 2024.