Subject: Lincoln Field - Immediate Leadership and Accountability Required

Dear Superintendent Shuldiner,

I am writing as a parent of four Lincoln High School students, and I will ask you the same question that I asked you in person on Monday, how are you managing your team to get this project finished? Four years after voters approved funding, Lincoln High School students still do not have a field. This is no longer a planning issue—it is a failure to execute.

I recognize that you are new to Seattle Public Schools, and I appreciate your stated commitment to moving this project forward. However, from the community’s perspective, there is a significant gap between that commitment and the execution we are seeing on the ground. You are new to SPS, but the team responsible for delivering this project is not. Under the leadership of Richard Best and the Capital Projects and Planning team, the process has become stalled, unclear, and unaccountable.

At a preview meeting yesterday, led by project manager, Paige McGehee for the April 25th Community Engagement meeting it was evident that:

• There is no clear timeline, no defined decision criteria, and no accountability for when or how a final plan will be selected.

• Project leadership has been unable to clearly present basic comparisons between options (budget, schedule, and design tradeoffs), which are essential for informed decision-making.

• Critically, the ultimate decision-makers—including yourself and Michele Finnegan from Seattle Parks and Recreation—will not be present at the upcoming meeting April 25th.

Most concerning, Seattle Public Schools has already hired a professional firm, Shiels Obletz Johnsen, to design and deliver this project, yet you are allowing community groups to advance alternative plans that are not viable. While Paige is not empowered to say so publicly, she has made clear in private that these alternative options are much more costly and would take 5–7 years to complete. Everyone behind the scenes knows there is only one viable option that fits within budget and can be delivered in the next few years—yet leadership continues to delay action.

Continuing to elevate these proposals—rather than relying on the professionals you hired—is causing unnecessary delay. This appears to be driven by Richard Best’s reluctance to make a decision out of concern for community pushback and lawsuits.

That concern is misplaced. The community is already upset—because nothing is getting done.

Lincoln families include experienced executives who manage complex projects for a living. What we are seeing here would not be acceptable in any professional setting: no clear scope, no decision framework, and no accountable leadership driving the outcome.

Students are being asked to show up again on April 25 for yet another meeting without any indication that it will lead to action. That is not meaningful engagement—it is process without progress.

We are asking for the following, immediately:

1. A firm decision timeline following the April 25 meeting.

2. Clear, published criteria for selecting the final plan. 

3. Direct involvement from you and decision-makers at upcoming meetings.

4. A commitment to rely on professional analysis and stop advancing non-viable alternatives.

Lincoln students have already waited 7 years since the school reopened, 4 years since taxpayers approved funding. They should not be asked to wait another five to seven because of indecision.

This project needs leadership. We are committed to partnering with you to get this done—but we need to see decisive action and accountability now.

Sincerely,
Dorothee Graham

SPS RESPONSE:

Dear Dorothee,

Thanks so much for your email. I would love to get the field built. I know that the facilities team is working with the Parks Department to try to get this finished. We are holding a community meeting at the end of the month and then hope to submit something to Parks soon thereafter.

Thanks for your advocacy.

Ben

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Subject: We Did It Before — We Need to Do It Again for Lincoln High School and all its future students currently in middle and elementary schools in our district. 

Dear Ben,

I am writing you on behalf of the kids, the coaches, and the parents of kids in your district from Lincoln High School, McClure Middle School, Hamilton Middle School,  Eckstein Middle School,  Coe Elementary, B.F.  Day Elementary, Green Lake Elementary, John Stanford International, Latona, Loyal Heights, and McDonald Elementary Schools.;  

Great job on all the community meetings!   I mean it!  You are exactly what the District needs!

Some kids I know need your help… and we need your help.

I remember years ago when one of my listeners who was a coach at Cleveland High School, sent me a tip to investigate.  Our team found out that Seattle Public Schools and Seattle Parks were sitting on a mound of taxpayer money—money that was supposed to rebuild the fields at Cleveland High School?

WE are talking over 4.5 million dollars!

So,  I actually signed up to volunteer at Cleveland to find out what was going on.

The district had the money, but never fixed the field!  They fixed Roosevelt,  Ballard, and Garfield as well as all the other fields, but they did nothing for Cleveland….and I found out they weren’t going to. 

We saw what adults were doing to kids…..they were kicking the can on kids, while blaming the District, who blamed parks, who blamed the parents, who blamed the principal. 

You know what I found out???  The tax payers don’t care when it comes to kids in Seattle. 

And my listeners really didn’t like it because they are Seattle taxpayers. 

The Superintendent at the time was Larry Nyland.  

I called Larry as I was walking with the Cleveland Football team to a local park 25 minutes away, just to be turned around because parks had already rented the field out to adults. 

Cleveland couldn’t afford busses and your district did not provide them. 

He wouldn’t take my call. 

After some investigative reporting by my team at KIRO RADIO , we found out Larry had never even been to the school.  

He said someone working for him was in charge of it.

You know what happened?

Months later after our public campaign to hold the school district and Seattle Parks accountable, Larry left, and in 9 months we were able to get the field built with the help of the new Superintendent.

BUT IT TOOK SEVEN YEARS.

All the other schools in Seattle took 3.5 years. 

My sources tell me Larry’s contract was not renewed because of his handling of the field. 

I don’t believe it, but who knows. 

Well… it’s happening again Ben. 

This time, it’s Lincoln High School.

Lincoln is one of the oldest high schools in Seattle, with one of the largest student bodies—nearly 2,000 kids. And there are ZERO fields.

Let that sink in.

It’s also ranked #5 in the state for a public education!  The faculty is extraordinary and so are the coaches. 

But, you all opened a school without fields and parents have to chip in to buy buses to safely transport their kids?

The District, (the tax payer) pays for some, but not all.

Lincoln sat mothballed for over 40 years, falling into decay. About seven years ago, it was brought back as the city grew—which makes sense.

But who reopens a major high school… without fields for kids to play on?

And then blames it on parents , the community, and kids?

Or to say we need to hear more from the community?

Well,  start by going to the meetings where the community is talking. 

Because here’s the truth—

In 2022, the taxpayers showed up. Nearly 80% voted YES on the levy. Over $5.1 million was allocated for this exact purpose.

Four years later… nothing has been done at Lincoln.

Full disclosure—I’m a parent. My son (I call him “G-Force” on the radio) goes to Lincoln.

Last year, I personally contributed $25,000 to help the football and wrestling program—buying equipment and helping cover transportation so our teams can bus to Ingraham, 25 minutes each way, just to practice.

When they get there, they wait. Sometimes until after 7:00 PM just to take the field.

They don’t get back to Lincoln until around 9:20.

By the time my son eats and finishes homework, it’s midnight.

He’s back up at 5:00 AM.

That’s not right.

I’ve attended four community meetings about the field. THERE IS NO ONE from YOUR office….and the last Seattle Parks meeting I went to, they said they knew nothing about this!?

My understanding is your office is blaming all this on community pushback.  

How would any of you know, when NO ONE from your office is at any of the meetings?

Then I was told there were plans.

I build things so ….last week, I went down to the City of Seattle Building Department myself to look at plans or a feasibility study.

They told me they had nothing.

Nothing.  You don’t even have an official site according to city planners. 

They've never even heard about a field!

That’s outrageous. 

And yet $5.1 million was approved four years ago.

So, I made a decision—I signed up to be a coach at Lincoln this year. Because I won’t ask others to step up if I’m not willing to do it myself.

But we can’t do this alone.

WE NEED YOU. 

I’m asking for accountability—where is the money, and what is the timeline?

When will there be a meeting that you will attend and talk about the fiduciary duty to get this done?

The tax payers of Seattle are not going to like this. 

Because right now, it feels like the same thing all over again—adults kicking the can while kids pay the price.

My son will never play on this field. I’ll never coach him on it.

We will keep busing and I’ll keep writing checks. 

But that’s not the point.

We owe it to the next generation of kids to give them a place to unplug, to compete, to grow, and to connect with each other.

A lawsuit just determined META was stealing our kids.

As a coach and parent, let’s steal them back by kicking balls, making friends, and making memories. 

We’ve seen what happens when a community comes together—we built Cleveland.

We can do it again.

But we need leadership to show up.

I’m in this until the end.

I hope you’ll meet us there.

I’ve attached photos of us building the field at Cleveland. 

Can’t wait to see the photos from Lincoln.

AS I always tell my son….Lincoln was a unifier…..but he was also willing to go to war for what was right. 

I’m with Abe. 

You have a lot on your plate…and I’m here to help you in any form Ben.  We are in the arena with you. 

Thanks for your time , Ben. 

Respectfully,

Don O’Neill
Gunnar O’Neill’s dad 

SPS Response:

Dear Don,

Thank you so much for your email. I appreciate the advocacy for Lincoln. We are pretty close to the goal-line.

The district will be holding one more meeting this month and then submitting our plans to the Parks Department. If the Parks Department approves, we can start building this calendar year.

I am sorry it took so long, but now that I am here, I will certainly make sure to see it come to fruition.

Thanks so much.

Ben

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Dear Ms. Finnegan and Ben Shuldiner,

As a Lincoln parent, I’m asking for one clear, decisive action: pass the plan for the Lower Woodland athletic fields and practice track!

Since Lincoln reopened in 2019, our students have been waiting for a field and track of their own. They have waited long enough.

I’ve done the math for my own family. My football player has spent an estimated 13,200 minutes - 220 hours - the equivalent of 33 full school days - just riding a bus to and from practice fields. Lincoln is the only high school in Seattle without a home field.

And football isn’t the only sport. My kids participate in soccer, track & field, and ultimate - and the story is the same. Bus rides. Logistics. Lost time. Late dinners. Homework squeezed into exhausted evenings. This is time they should be training, studying, resting, or simply being teenagers.

The bus time is just one visible example of a larger inequity. Lincoln athletes also navigate seasons without:

• Dedicated locker rooms

• An equipment room

• An onsite trainer’s office

• A true home field advantage

Lincoln is the only high school in Seattle without its own dedicated field and track. That is an equity issue, plain and simple.

Voters approved funding for this project as part of the 2022 levy. The community has already said yes. Yet years later, we are still talking while no physical progress is being made at Woodland Park or on the track project.

Our kids have built programs, school spirit, and community pride despite these obstacles. Imagine what they could do with equitable facilities.

The goal now must be simple: coalesce around one clear course of action and move forward.

Pass the plan.
Honor the levy.
Stop the delays.
Lincoln students have waited long enough.

Kelsey Camp
Lincoln Parent

SPS RESPONSE:

Dear Kelsey

Thanks so much for your email. I would love to get the field built. I know that the facilities team is working with the Parks Department to try to get this finished.

Thanks for your advocacy.

Ben