On Monday, one third of Bothell High School’s student body left campus and demonstrated in front of city officials.
BOTHELL, Wash. — Hundreds of protesters took to Bothell City Hall on Monday to protest a local high school’s decision to eliminate a resource officer, organizers said.
Roughly one-third of Bothell High School’s student body left campus and demonstrated in front of city officials, the Northshore School District told KING 5.
“We are going to city hall to protest the school board and their decision to remove Officer Ware. The NSD school board is ignoring the community and we need to stand up for ourselves,” organizers said.
Students organized and led the protest, a spokesperson for the Northshore School District said, adding that the school board was not aware of any planned, future demonstrations similar to the one Monday.
“The district supports students’ rights to express their views and opinions in a peaceful manner, including assembly and peaceful protest as outlined in Board Policy,” the spokesperson said. “Student walkouts/protests aren’t sanctioned by the schools or school district but considered legal and supported by the Constitution. All walkouts, during school hours, must be student initiated and led. If civic engagement actions include missing class, students will receive an unexcused absence per current Board Policy, and this was communicated.”
The action stems from the Northshore School Board’s reported decision to eliminate the school’s longtime school resource officer, Garrett Ware.
The board voted 4-1 last week not to renew its contract with the City of Bothell for services at Bothell High School.
The decision prompted an online petition to reinstate the officer.
“They’re supposed to be voting based on what the community wants,” said Change.org petition author Brady Minneman. “And obviously they’re bringing in their own political and personal beliefs into the issue.”
Ware has served as Bothell High School’s school resource officer since 2017.
“He’s just always there,” Minneman said. “A lot of people who don’t have a lot of friends, they talk to him. You can always talk to him, human to human.”
State law requires the Northshore School District to review its SRO contract annually. This year, the board chose not to renew it. Members cited concerns from some students, particularly students of color, about having an armed officer on campus.
Bothell High School was the last campus in the Northshore School District with an SRO. The board eliminated the program at Woodinville High School in 2022.
In a 2024 survey of Bothell High School community members, 77% of students agreed or strongly agreed that the SRO program promotes student safety. The school’s principal and district administrators had recommended the program continue.
Ware will remain on campus through the end of the school year in June.
District spokesperson Carri Campbell said next year, Bothell High School will have two campus supervisors who receive state-required training that includes social-emotional learning, implicit bias, student-centered mentoring and restorative justice.
The second unarmed campus supervisor at Bothell High School will replace the SRO position. Campus supervisors are district employees, not law enforcement officers.
Minneman said students are not giving up.
“Everybody’s kind of mad … trying to find a solution to keep it,” he said.
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