Issaquah School District


Issaquah School District No. 411 is a public school district in King County, Washington, USA, serving the city of Issaquah as well as portions of Sammamish, Renton, Bellevue, and Newcastle.
As of the 2018-19 school year, the district has an enrollment of 20,965 with 24 total schools.

Schools

High schools (9-12th grades)

2002 District strike

The Issaquah School District teachers' union voted to strike which in turn left Issaquah schools to be closed from the opening day of school, September 4, until September 26 – closing the school for a total of three weeks; fifteen total school days. An agreement was made on September 25 ratified by a 740-45 majority vote cast by the teachers at Issaquah High School, relieving the teachers of the threats of fines that would be put in place because the teachers voted to defy a King County Superior Court injunction calling for the teachers to return to work. Resulting from the strike was a 3.8 percent pay increase over two years; ninety-five percent being covered by state aid. An additional $250 "return to work incentive" was offered to all teachers as well as a $500 bonus the following year. Because of the increased incentive to return to work, more staff was gained in that year than during any previous year.

2006 Bus driver termination

An Issaquah School District bus driver now identified as Staci LaManna was fired in September 2006 when she allegedly "flipped off" former United States President George W. Bush in June 2006 while she was transporting a group of students back from a field trip to the Woodland Park Zoo. The 43-year-old driver has filed a union grievance for wrongful termination.
The Issaquah School District stated that the termination was a result of a "pattern of behavior" and not for any political reasons.

2014 Rape and subsequent victim harassment campaign

In 2014 a 16-year-old girl was raped by two members of the Skyline football team. She reported it, they were convicted and a protective order forced the rapists off the team and out of the school. The community and coaches responded by starting a targeted harassment campaign of the victim and her younger sister that included online bullying, personal confrontations, firebombing the victims house, planting drugs on her, and prominently featuring the rapists during her graduation ceremony attempting to force her to move to another school so the rapists could come back and play for Skyline. After her graduation the harassment continued against her younger sister.

2015 District Walkout

All schools in the Issaquah School District were closed on May 19, 2015 when the Issaquah School District Teacher's Union voted to go on strike to earn more funding from the state for Washington's schools. Thousands of teachers of the Issaquah School District, Mercer Island School District, and Seattle School District filled the streets of Downtown Seattle and traveled from the Seattle Center to Westlake Park. The commotion caused by this walkout caused some senators in Olympia to propose a bill to decrease teacher's pay while on strike, but this proposal was not accepted by many senators.

Demographics

Gender2014-152015-162016-172017-182018-19
Male9,883 10,140 10,475 10,808 10,802
Female9,542 9,743 10,065 10,192 10,163
Total Enrollment19,42519,88320,54021,00020,965

As of May 2016, 7.9% of students are on free or reduced-price meal programs.

Staff

In the district, as of 2016, there are 1029 classroom teachers. Of these, 696 have at least a master's degree. Teachers have an average of 10.6 years of experience in the district.