Seattle Public Schools to hunt for new leader as Superintendent Jones steps down

Updated: 3/18/24, 11 a.m.

The leader of Seattle Public Schools is stepping down this fall.

After "much reflection and heartfelt conversations," Superintendent Brent Jones announced he's leaving the top job at Washington state's largest public school district. In a video message to families Monday morning, Jones said the decision stems from a desire to spend more time with family.

His last day will be Sept. 3.

“It’s been an honor to serve as superintendent of Seattle Public Schools and to give back to the community that shaped me,” Jones said in a video message. “I take pride in the progress that we’ve made together and I remain committed to supporting our students, educators, and families during this transition.”

Jones has led Seattle Public Schools since 2022, after serving as interim superintendent for a year and in other administrative roles with the district before that.

In the district message to families Monday, Jones said he’s proud of his work on a number of key initiatives in the district — like strengthening equity and inclusion, increasing access to student support services, and bolstering community partnerships.

RELATED: What Trump's second term could mean for education in Washington state

Jones has also faced many challenges throughout his tenure leading the district — including an unprecedented global pandemic and an ongoing budget crisis.

The district faces a nearly $100-million shortfall next year, and under Jones’ leadership, considered closing up to 21 schools last fall to save up to $31.5 million, according to district projections.

After months of community outcry and many twists and turns, Jones scaled those closure plans back to four schools for just $5 million of estimated savings.

About a month later, the district abandoned the closure plan entirely — though some board members continued to argue school consolidation is still necessary down the road to help save money and more evenly and equitably distribute resources across the district.

RELATED: Seattle Public Schools drops contentious closure plan following months of waffling and backlash

Despite all the challenges Jones faced during his tenure, school board President Gina Topp said he’s been a thoughtful, stable force in the district. She also credited him with high levy approval rates and lauded his dedication to equity.

“He is a strong and kind leader,” she said. “The way he works with and conducts his personal relationships with families is really something incredible to watch.”

In his remaining months, Jones said Monday he'll continue to focus on balancing next year's budget and pushing the state Legislature to boost funding for Seattle. Jones also pledged to help with the search for his successor.

Searching for a new Seattle superintendent

Topp said she plans to call a special board meeting in the next week — possibly Wednesday, depending on members’ availability — to discuss first steps in the superintendent search. It’ll be the district’s fourth superintendent search in the last decade.

Jones' departure announcement comes just a few weeks after a split school board voted to extend his contract another year, to June 2027.

Ahead of the vote, board member Liza Rankin questioned why the board needed to extend Jones' contract so soon after they’d voted unanimously for a new two-year agreement — and a raise — for Jones in October.

At that time, board members said Jones came in after three decades of frequent superintendent turnover, and students would benefit from his “consistent and stable leadership.”

RELATED: As Seattle considers school closures, superintendent gets new contract and raise

But Rankin said last month that she didn’t feel Jones had made enough progress in a few key performance areas since then to merit an extension. Vice President Evan Briggs joined Rankin in voting against the one-year contract extension; board member Michelle Sarju abstained.

Board member Sarah Clark said she’s happy for Jones, but is sad and a little disappointed he’s leaving the district.

She credited him with stepping into the superintendent job at a difficult moment — in the middle of the pandemic — and said, since then, he’s navigated the district through the return to in-person learning, financial challenges, and several changes on the school board, including a new governance model and new members like Clark, who was appointed last spring.

“Dr. Jones stepped in and provided a lot of stability for the district,” Clark said. “He really cares about our community, and I think it’s going to be challenging to find somebody to replace him.”

All Together for Seattle Schools, a grassroots parent and community advocacy group that led the fight against school closures, thanked Jones for his service and wished him and his family well. They also thanked him for listening to the community and abandoning the district’s “unpopular and damaging” plan to shutter schools — and they hope the next superintendent will not walk back on that decision.

The group hopes the next superintendent will also better partner with the public on major decisions, bring back “rigorous public oversight” of district finances and operations, and focus on growing enrollment.

“We think this is a decisive moment for Seattle Public Schools,” said Erin MacDougall, co-chair of the group. “The next superintendent needs to build public support for a strong, equitable, and diverse public school system that ensures that all communities thrive, instead of adopting the failed approaches of mass school closures.”

All Together is also calling for a transparent, nationwide superintendent search — rather than hiring from within, as the district has done in the past.

In 2022, the school board abandoned a national superintendent search and instead opted to make Jones, then the interim superintendent, the district’s permanent leader. Former board member Leslie Harris cast the only vote against hiring Jones permanently, saying in previous meetings she didn’t feel the superintendent search included enough community input, according to The Seattle Times.

“The district needs to rebuild public trust after all we’ve been through in the last several years,” MacDougall said. “And the search needs to be public — it needs to involve our families and the feedback from the community needs to be incorporated into the final decision.”

“We see this challenge as an opportunity,” she added. “Seattle now has a unique opportunity to attract exceptional talent — a superintendent who seeks a community, like Seattle, that genuinely values education, no matter what Donald Trump does at the federal level.”

If an interim superintendent is needed, MacDougall said the group wants that to be someone from outside the district. She also suggested the board could wait to hire the next leader until after the November election, when four of the board’s seven seats will be on the ballot.

Topp said she believes the board should move quickly on the search. Ideally, she hopes to have the next leader in place before Jones leaves in September.

“The more overlap that we have as we make this important transition, the better,” she said.

But, Topp promised to involve the community throughout the search.

“That’s kind of a theme throughout my presidency, of how can we better engage families, parents, students, educators, and the broader Seattle community in our decisions," she said.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to include more context and reactions from the school board and community members.