This procedure addresses common issues related to District interactions with other agencies, such as when the District receives requests from law enforcement agencies, the public health department, or other agencies for entry into schools, student interviews, or student records.

Superintendent Procedure 4310SP.B, Limiting Immigration Enforcement at Schools, supplements this procedure to provide protocols specific to District interactions with federal immigration authorities.

I. Definitions

• “Child Protective Services” isdefined as stated in RCW 26.44.020.
• “Federal immigration authority” has the same meaning as in Superintendent Procedure 4310SP.B. Additional terms related to District interactions with federal immigration authorities are defined in Superintendent Procedure 4310SP.B.
• “Law enforcement agency” generally refers to state and local agencies as defined in RCW 26.44.020.
• “Local health department” is defined in RCW 70.05.010 and means the public health entity serving Seattle Public Schools and our community (Public Health—Seattle & King County).

II. General Procedures Applicable to Law Enforcement and Other Government Agencies

A. Entry to a School Building

• A law enforcement officer (e.g., an employee of the Seattle Police Department or King County Sheriff), federal immigration authority, child protective services worker, or health official shall contact the principal or their designee upon arriving at a school building and present proper identification and documentation of the purpose of their visit.
• School building administrative personnel will cooperate in the manner enumerated below with law enforcement officers, child protective services workers, and health officials. For requests from a federal immigration authority, staff should consult Superintendent Procedure 4310SP.B and immediately refer the request to the school principal or their designee so they may consult with the General Counsel’s office.

B. Interviewing Students

To minimize interruption of the instructional program, the District discourages interviews and interrogations of students on school premises. Interviews of students should generally take place at the relevant agency or at the student’s home.

Under limited circumstances a law enforcement officer, child protective services worker, or health official may interview a student at school. Examples of interviews conducted at school could include school-initiated investigations, child abuse investigations, and serious crime investigations.

Protocols applicable to these interviews differ depending on whether the student is identified as a witness, victim, and/or suspect.

• Student Witness/Victim of Criminal Activity
  • Students of any age who are witnesses to, or victims of, a crime may be interviewed without parent/guardian consent. 
  • Should it become apparent during a victim/witness interview that the student under 12 years of age is the suspect of a crime, law enforcement shall immediately stop questioning until parent/guardian consent is obtained.
  • The principal or designee will immediately notify the parent/guardian about the interview unless the parent/guardian has been accused of abusing or neglecting the student. By law, the principal or designee may not prevent the interview and will so inform the parent/guardian.
  • When prior notice is made to the parent/guardian, any expression of objection to the interview made by the parent will be conveyed to the law enforcement officer(s).
  • The principal or designee shall be present during the interview if the parent/guardian is not present unless the student specifically requests otherwise.

• Student Witness/Victim, Child Abuse or Neglect Investigation
  • Students of any age who are witnesses to or victims of child abuse or neglect may be interviewed so long as the interviewer obtains the student’s consent in the presence of the principal or designee. A student may not be interviewed without their consent unless the interviewer has a warrant or determines that exigent circumstances exist.
  • Should it become apparent during a victim/witness interview that the student under 12 years of age is the suspect of a crime, law enforcement shall immediately stop questioning until parent/guardian consent is obtained.
  • The principal or designee will immediately notify the parent/guardian about the interview unless the parent/guardian has been accused of abusing or neglecting the student. By law, the principal or designee may not prevent the interview and will so inform the parent/guardian.
  • When prior notice is made to the parent/guardian, any expression of objection to the interview made by the parent/guardian will be conveyed to the law enforcement officer(s).
  • The principal or designee shall be present during the interview if the parent/guardian is not present unless the student specifically requests otherwise.
  • If the principal or designee believes the student is being intimidated, threatened or coerced; that the student is unaware that they are free to leave the interview at any time; or that the student is in physical or emotional distress, the principal or designee may request that a break be taken and make those concerns known to the interviewer. The principal or designee can then decide whether to continue, temporarily suspend, or terminate the interview.
  • The school will document the date, time, place, interview length, student name and consent to be interviewed, the interviewer, and any additional parties present.  

• Student Suspected of Criminal Activity
  • Student Access an Attorney:
    • Seattle Municipal Code (Section 3.28.147) generally requires that any person younger than 18 be provided with legal counsel before a Seattle Police officer may question them after administering a Miranda warning and before the officer may search the youth or their property.
    • State law (RCW 13.40.740) provides similar requirements for law enforcement to provide youths with access to an attorney for consultation before any constitutional rights are waived.
    • Under state law and city ordinance, it is a responsibility of law enforcement to ensure these requirements are met.
  • In addition to law enforcement’s obligation to provide access to an attorney, the following rights and process steps apply:
    • Student Under 12 Years of Age: Students under age 12 suspected of a crime may only be interviewed with parent/guardian consent.
    • Student 12 Years of Age and Older: Washington state law permits students 12 years and older suspected of a crime to be interviewed without parent/guardian consent. 
    • The principal or designee will immediately notify the parent/guardian about the interview unless the parent/guardian has been accused of abusing or neglecting the student. By law, the principal or designee may not prevent the interview and will so inform the parent/guardian.
    • When prior notice is made to the parent/guardian, any expression of objection to the interview made by the parent/guardian will be conveyed to the law enforcement officer(s).
    • The principal or designee may not, by law, prevent the interview and will so inform the parent/guardian.

• Student Sought by Health Department Officials
  • The principal or designee will permit a health official to conduct a confidential interview with a student suspected of being in contact with an individual infected with a communicable disease when the interview is to be held during school hours, and the principal chooses not to release the student to travel to the health department.

• Student Sought by Immigration Officials
  • Superintendent Procedure 4310SP.B outlines required protocols for District interactions with federal immigration authorities. Consistent with that procedure, school staff receiving requests from federal immigration authorities must refer these requests to the principal or designee who must seek guidance from the General Counsel’s office prior to permitting access to the building and to students or their records.

C. Access to Student Records

A law enforcement officer, child protective services worker, or health department official may request and be granted such student information as address, telephone number, parent/guardians’ names, date of birth, and other directory information, if the parent/guardian or student of at least 18 years of age has not filed a written objection to the release of directory information. Student records protected by the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) may only be examined or released following written permission of a minor student’s parent/guardian or an adult student, pursuant to a court order or subpoena, or in response to a health or safety emergency.

D. Taking a Student into Custody

A law enforcement officer may remove a student from school without a warrant provided that the law enforcement officer (1) provides proper identification, (2)  signs a statement stating the officer is removing the student from the school, and (3) is taking the student into custody on a criminal matter. A student may not be taken into custody at school on a truancy petition.

In the event a student is taken into custody by a law enforcement officer, the principal or designee will immediately notify the parent/guardian unless directed not to by the law enforcement officer because child abuse or neglect is alleged against the parent/guardian, or some other similar, specified reason exists for prohibiting notification. School authorities may request that the law enforcement officer put their reasoning for the denial of parent/guardian notification into writing.

E. Release of Information Concerning Sexual and Kidnapping Offenders

Law enforcement agencies determine when to publicly distribute information about the release of individuals convicted of sexual and kidnapping offenses. The District disseminates information provided by these agencies under the following conditions: 

• When a law enforcement agency specifically requests that the District disseminate information to staff and/or students and parents/guardians, provided that parents/guardians will be notified as soon as possible whenever information is disseminated to students.
• Upon receipt of the actual sex offender documents to be distributed, the District may duplicate the sex offender documents, but they will be distributed in the form received from the law enforcement agency.

Policy Cross References:

• 2022 – Electronic Resources/Use of the Internet
• 2145 – Suicide Prevention
• 3231 – Student Records
• 3124 – Removal/Release of Student During School Hours
• 3143 – Notification and Dissemination of Information About Student Offenses and Notification of Threats of Violence or Harm
• 3207 – Prohibition of Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying of Students
• 3208 – Sexual Harassment of Students Prohibited
• 3225 – School-Based Threat Assessment
• 3414 – Infectious Diseases
• 3421 – Child Abuse and Neglect Prevention and Response
• 4020 – Confidential Communications
• 4040 – Public Access to District Records
• 4200 – School Visitations and Maintaining Safe and Orderly Environments
• 4210 – Firearms and Other Dangerous Weapons Prohibited
• 4310 – District Relationships with Law Enforcement and other Government Agencies
• 4311 – School Safety and Security Services Program
• 5201 – Drug-Free Schools, Community and Workplace
• 5250BP – Reporting Improper Governmental Actions and Protecting Whistleblowers Against Retaliation
• 5253 – Maintaining Professional Staff/Student Boundaries
• 5281 – Staff Disciplinary Action and Discharge

Revisions:

• October 30, 2025 (Renumbered 4310SP.A)
• August 30, 2019
• January 19, 2017

Adopted:

• June 2014 (As 4310SP)