The Northshore School District has voted to reject a new contract for the school resource officer program at Bothell High School, ending a more than 30-year partnership with local police despite emotional pleas from students, parents, and school staff to keep the officer on campus.
In a contentious Monday evening meeting marked by more than an hour of public testimony, the Northshore School Board voted against renewing the contract for Officer Garrett Ware, the Bothell Police Department officer who has served as Bothell High School’s armed school resource officer since 2017.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing time and time again, expecting different results.
The North Shore School Board is preparing to vote on whether to eliminate School Resource Officers (police) at Bothell High School
Seattle did this in 2020. Violence and… pic.twitter.com/t7JokxOvOp
— Ari Hoffman (@thehoffather) May 9, 2026
Bothell High was the last remaining campus in the district with a school resource officer after Northshore eliminated the program at Woodinville High School in 2022.
The decision comes amid growing concerns over school violence across the Seattle region, where several high-profile shootings and campus security failures have fueled renewed debate over the removal of police from schools.
According to KOMO News, during the public comment period, students, parents, and community members urged the board to preserve the program, arguing that Officer Ware played a vital role in maintaining campus safety and building relationships with students.
District administrators, including the school’s principal, had also recommended continuing the SRO program following the district’s annual review process required under Washington state law.
But board members rejected their pleas. One board member argued that some students may see a school resource officer as a trusted confidant without fully understanding that information shared with law enforcement could later carry legal consequences. Another board member claimed there were members of the community opposed to the SRO program who felt uncomfortable speaking publicly during the heated debate.
The vote marked the culmination of years of increasingly divided support on the board. Bothell’s SRO contract passed unanimously in 2023 before support narrowed to a 4-1 vote in 2024 and a razor-thin 3-2 approval in 2025.
For many parents, the district’s decision reflects a broader ideological shift away from law enforcement presence in schools that has swept through Western Washington since the 2020 George Floyd riots.
Seattle Public Schools banned police from campus in 2020, citing concerns about racial disparities and student discipline. Critics, however, argue that the removal of officers coincided with a sharp deterioration in school safety across the district.
In June 2024, 17-year-old Garfield High School student Amarr Murphy-Paine was killed outside campus while attempting to break up a fight. His family later filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Seattle Public Schools, alleging the district ignored repeated safety concerns and failed to follow emergency protocols.
The same day Murphy-Paine was killed, another Garfield student allegedly fired an airsoft gun at a teacher while another reportedly fled campus after refusing a backpack search connected to concerns about a possible weapon.
Violence and security threats have continued to plague Seattle-area schools in recent years. A student was fatally shot inside Ingraham High School in 2022, a 17-year-old girl was shot at a Garfield bus stop, and students at Ingraham were previously threatened by an armed individual reportedly carrying an AR-15-style rifle. In December, two students were killed by a gunman at a bus stop outside Rainier Beach High School.
"I want our relationship with the police to be incredibly strong"
Seattle Schools Supt. Ben Shuldiner said safety is his top priority in an exclusive interview, ranging from campus security upgrades to ending remote work, and a full curriculum review pic.twitter.com/y5nkT7K5ZQ
— Ari Hoffman (@thehoffather) April 16, 2026
New Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Ben Shuldiner recently told KVI host Ari Hoffman during a recent interview that his priority is “the safety of our children,” adding that he wants a stronger relationship with Seattle police.
Northshore officials have not announced what security measures, if any, will replace the Bothell High SRO program following the board’s vote.
