Seattle rolls out the red carpet for start of new school year

SEATTLE — Wednesday was the first day of school for the largest district in the state, Seattle Public Schools.

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“I feel a little nervous but at the same time a little excited,” said one student.

“I’m pretty excited that I get to have new friends,” said another student.

Students at four elementary’s walked into upgraded schools:

• James Baldwin (formerly known as Northgate) – new building
• Kimball – new building
• West Seattle- renovated and expanded
• Viewlands– new building

Parents and students at West Seattle Elementary noticed all the major upgrades right away.

Like the new 20,000-square-foot building with 12 new classrooms, and changes to the existing building.

“Everything looks really nice in there, all new, everything is updated,” said a parent.

The staff celebrated the renovations with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Superintendent Brent Jones even stopped by.

“I just want to give a shout-out to the folks who actually passed the levy so we can build buildings like this,” said Jones.

The district says funding came from a levy that was approved back in 2019.

Parent Jaclyn Breding says she voted for that levy.

“We were new to the neighborhood and excited that the school was going to be renovated because it was in not great shape…The facility itself looks outstanding,” said Breding.

This school year is off to a promising start because the district and Local Union 302 -- which represents custodians, culinary services, groundskeepers, and many more -- reached a tentative agreement this week.

The contract between the two came to an end last week. On Tuesday, news about the tentative agreement deal came down.

SPS has not released any of the specifics on the deal but it still needs to be voted on.

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