Note: We are in the process of creating translations. For a version of this letter in Amharic, click here. For a version of this letter in Vietnamese, click here.

Dear Seattle Public Schools and ARC/Seattle Parks Leaders, 

As parents and caregivers of children attending John Muir Elementary School, we are writing to express our continued frustration with the status of the Seattle Parks & Rec-run school childcare for John Muir Elementary School. These issues have significant financial and emotional impact on our families, a major problem for a Title 1 school such as ours. In other words, these issues are failing our kids. We ask for urgent assistance to remedy the problems before the start of the school year. 

1. Please increase capacity onsight at John Muir to 50 children. 

Demand for accessible childcare is much larger than current capacity. During the 2022-2023 school year, there was only capacity for 24 students to be served onsite for after school care through partnership with ARC. There was a waiting list of over 30 students. In the spring of 2023, our PTA identified 63 children who would be in need of care for the 2023-2024 school year (this doesn't include new kindergarten families) via community survey. Our principal approved more space for ARC to include the entire cafeteria (currently only half of it is licensed). Since January of this year, the PTA has met with ARC leadership, conducted need surveys, and worked with school leadership to eliminate barriers. Yet there has been no meaningful progress in addressing this gap. 

2. Amend the enrollment process Seattle Parks & Rec uses, to allow for equitable access, and practical care solutions. 

The current process for signing up for care is completely unfair. It requires one parent or guardian to create a profile ahead of time and then sit at a computer at 11:55 am on Tuesday, anxiously wait for the clock to turn to 12:00, click a button, watch a pinwheel on the screen and hope you get a spot. This policy clearly favors families with work schedule flexibility, doesn't consider need, and doesn't work to keep families together. Returning students, but not their younger siblings, get a one week priority enrollment window. As a result of this policy, some families have children enrolled at different sites/programs. Other aftercare programs have an application window, where families can submit their application at a convenient time and the program can review unique needs (ie. age of the child, family structure, number of working parents, etc) and offer spots. There seems to be limited-to-no emphasis on reaching families furthest from educational justice, those with limited English language proficiency, and those with significant economic need; this is completely unjust.

3. Provide transportation for children receiving after school care off site. 

Currently, ARC is also able to serve students at the Rainier Community Center (RCC). We appreciate the increase in access and options this theoretically offers children at our school. However, this site is inaccessible for families as there is no transportation provided by either ARC or the school district. ARC provides transportation assistance to children at Hawthorne by having an ARC staff person walk the kids from school to RCC. The school district's rigid and yet still inconsistent transportation guidelines make it so that neither the Rainier Community Center nor the Boys and Girls Club are sites they will provide transportation to because they lie outside of John Muir's attendance zone. The transportation to RCC could be accomplished by either a walking school bus (as ARC already provides for Hawthorne). However, given the distance is 1.1 miles and the presence of hills/lack of sidewalks on some routes, a district-provided school bus would be preferable. We are aware that non-transportation standard compliance service is provided by the district for students traveling much farther distances to option schools (or conversely within the 1-mile range for schools like Thurgood Marshall). If the district makes these exceptions, why are they not making such exceptions to the transportation standards for Muir? The Boys and Girls Club have already instituted such an option for John Muir students attending their afterschool program which again begs the question of why ARC cannot also provide such an option. 

As you are likely aware, John Muir Elementary School is a title 1 school and faces continued underinvestment in programs and structures that help students and families thrive. We recognize that the issues we raise are actually city-wide and need to be addressed broadly.  As a first step, if Seattle’s families are to thrive, we believe our school and other South Seattle/D7 title 1 schools should be prioritized to receive investments like these.  

Please assist our families in addressing persistent gaps in opportunity,

The undersigned family and community members