Federal Way School District

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Federal Way Public Schools is a school district covering all of Federal Way, Washington and portions of Kent, Des Moines, and unincorporated county land between the city and Auburn, totaling 35 square miles (91 km²). There are 37 schools (23 elementary schools, 7 middle schools, 1 Public Academy, 1 Internet Academy (K-12), and 5 high schools) in the district. With 22,395 enrolled students as of 2006, it is the 7th largest school district in Washington. The district employs 3,766 staff members (including substitutes). It was founded in 1929.^[1]

The high schools in Federal Way Public Schools include:

Federal Way Public Schools is unique in that it has a very successful public academy, which provides an advanced education to anyone willing to enroll. It is also one of the strongest advocates for charter schools in Washington. The current Superintendent is Tom Murphy.^[2]

The school district recently completed a transition from Junior High Schools to Middle Schools.

[edit] Censorship

This article documents a current event.
Information may change rapidly as the event progresses.

The Federal Way School District is notable for its censorship of various books and movies. The District has banned the showing of R and PG-13 rated movies. In 2004, the District banned the use of Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, by Dai Sijie, saying that the book's sexually explicit scenes were inappropriate.

In June 2006, the Board publicly considered a ban on flip flop sandals as part of a package of dress code changes. This sparked a local controversy challenging the wisdom of such a ban, and questioning the significance of students' footware compared to other issues facing the district. Both teachers and students opposed the move. ^[3] At the vote on June 27, the flip-flop provision was dropped from the dress code motion, which passed.^[4]

On January 9, 2007, the Federal Way Public School District temporarily blocked its teachers from showing Vice President Al Gore's global warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, without presenting a "credible, legitimate opposing view." The order was passed after Frosty Hardison, a Federal Way parent, complained about the movie's use in his daughter's class. Hardison was quoted in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer citing Biblical predictions of the age and end of the world, and opposing condoms and Al Gore.^[5] The Board cited its policies on the teaching of controversial issues, neither of which provide for a moratorium.^[6]^[7] On January 23, after two weeks of criticism in the local and national scene, the Board backtracked and repealed the moratorium, but still insisted that opposing views need to be considered.^[8]