UPDATED: Common Good Tacoma supports the staff and students at Jennie Reed Elementary

Educators, families, students, community members gather at Common Good Tacoma in May 2025 to show support for students after massive staffing cuts were announced.

ROOT CAUSES 

Jennie Reed is an elementary school that hides in plain sight. It’s situated atop I-5, just across from Tacoma Mall, and yet no neighborhood institutions claim it. The Reed community is made up of over 80% working class and working poor communities of color who live on the other side of I-5 in the mall area. 1 in 4 students have been identified as needing special education services. 1 in 5 students have been identified as needing English language services. The student population is highly transitory and the student population fluctuates more dramatically than in other parts of the city.  

Jennie Reed educator, Mr. K, featured here on the microphone leading chants for a crowd of 300+ students and educators on May 22. 

Common Good hosted a “Support Our Students” event in May 2025 precisely because of Reed and so many other elementary communities' struggle with under resourcing. Reed began the year under difficult circumstances: proposed cuts to staffing, including the assistant principal and librarian among others, safety concerns in the neighborhood and at school itself, and a building under massive construction. At one point, there weren’t even any working staff bathrooms in the school.

REED STAFF GET SICK

On September 12th, 2025, the majority of Reed staff, roughly 35 folks, called in sick. That morning, TPS leadership deployed employees from the Central Administration Building to Reed to keep the school open. The district wasted no time launching an immediate investigation into the absences. Not once did the district approach the staff, students, or parents to investigate why staff might have risked their careers to raise concerns about significant issues at the school. 

THE INVESTIGATION

After an initial investigation, most educators faced significant discipline for an alleged workplace action. As of now, the staff have been given their disciplines following Loudermill hearings, indicating that staff are looking at a suspension or termination.

COMMON GOOD TACOMA STEPPED IN

Parents and educators were present at our "Support Our Students" rally in May 2025, and a few of us stepped in again to have a conversation with Superintendent Josh Garcia. (Other community groups have also shown support to Reed staff in delivering letters to the Superintendent.) Rev. Shalom Agtarap, Joey Ager, Zev Cook, and a Reed parent and her child met with the superintendent, flanked by his cabinet, legal and HR staff, and were gaslighted for over an hour, with the district unwilling to even admit there was an investigation (despite the KIRO article stating otherwise). Why would the Superintendent show up to this meeting with Legal and HR staff present if they were unwilling to share anything about ongoing investigations? Our one ask among many: "Do not terminate any staff. Work with us to address root problems."

Regardless of whether staff there may or may not have organized a “sick out,” the district’s response has been appalling, focusing countless time, labor and money on an investigation of staff, instead of focusing on the issues at the school. We will always focus our energy on solutions that meet the root causes, not just treat symptoms.

HOW TO HELP

We need the district, especially Dr. Garcia who has the final say in disciplining Reed staff, to feel some public pressure. Please consider joining us at the School Board meeting this Thursday, January 8 at 6pm, held at the Professional Development Center (PDC), Building C (6501 N 23rd St Tacoma, WA 98406) to say:

“I support the staff and students at Jennie Reed Elementary. I encourage Tacoma Public Schools to address the root causes and not the symptoms at Reed. Keep Mr. K at Reed and listen to the community.”

UPDATE: January 7, 2026 6pm

Common Good Tacoma was informed that Mr. K and other educators were able to file an appeal, therefore their discipline is not under the School Board’s purview. We will still show up for our community, Jennie Reed educators and families of our Tacoma students who need to be heard in addressing root causes in their schools.