OPEN LETTER | Highline Parent to School Board: 'Sharpen Your Pencil' and Keep Students First

Editor's Note: The following open letter comes from verified Highline Public Schools parent, Jeff Paulson, based on his testimony at the school board meeting on 10/21/2026.

Good evening. My name is Jeff Paulson, and I am a frustrated parent. I feel that the board is not doing a good job of keeping first things first. Your job is to create an environment where students can learn, and teachers can teach. You are here to remove the roadblocks for the teachers and the students so that they can focus on the most important thing, which is their education.

My hope and expectation is that your decisions will give the next generation the equality of a fair shot and the equity of a fantastic education that brings up each and every student. From the decisions I see, you are falling short of this goal.

For example, Aviation High School is ranked number three in the state by U.S. News and World Report. For reasons that you won’t share, even under the Public Records Act, you have removed the principal from her position as a leader in that school and put her in admin work. Why?

On tonight’s legislative agenda, you have introduced two priorities that are self-serving. One is the update to the Public Records Act. You want to pass a rule that if the requesting party does not answer a single question, you will not have to answer their question. This is a bureaucratic tactic to remove the requirement to answer to the public, like why the principal was removed. You would only do this if you were hiding something.  Why?

Number two, you want to reduce the threshold for bond approvals down to 50% from the supermajority. You snuck that into the agenda as a voting item because you’re asking for so much money. Instead of looking in the mirror and giving the voters a bond that is reasonable and addresses the major infrastructure issues, you have given us high costs and, in my opinion, poor planning. I wish you were as crafty at getting students to learn as you are at putting measures like this into the agenda.

Do better, so that more than 24% of kids in the district are at grade level in math and more than 35% of the kids are at grade level in reading. I implore you to keep the voting threshold high so that you sharpen your pencil and give us a bond package that’s good. I implore you to keep the Records Act as the state intended when it passed in 1972. I encourage you to spend your time working on important issues that will drive our students forward: real policies like cell phone policies, like attendance gaps, like letting our teachers drive forward.

Sincerely,
Jeff Paulson

Editor's Note: Letters to the Editor reflect the views of their authors and do not necessarily represent the opinions of The Highline Journal. To submit a letter, article, story idea, or photo for consideration, email info@thehighlinejournal.com.