[10] Thomas E. Peiser photographed a 1905 historical marker commemorating the site of Seattle's first school.

According to the marker: On this spot the first school in Seattle was taught by Mrs Catherine P. Blaine in January 1854.

Like most city school systems, the district has had to face controversy dealing with problems concerning racial tension, student population assignments, and administrative scandal; such incidents include a student boycott in 1966 and using "racial tie-breakers" which led to a 2007 Supreme Court case.

[12] In 1867, the public school moved to what was then the County Building on Third Avenue between James and Jefferson, the site of today's Prefontaine Fountain.

Described as "an architectural jewel... the finest schoolhouse on the West Coast," it was demolished in 1928 as part of the Denny Regrade project.

[15] A new brick Central School opened in 1889 at Seventh and Madison, and was repeatedly expanded with annexes and extensions.

[19] In 2005, it was revealed that a teacher at Broadview-Thomson Elementary had been serially molesting children at the school for a period spanning several years.

The teacher, Laurence E. "Shayne" Hill, had been molesting children for at least four of the twelve years he worked at the school, according to the Seattle Weekly.

[20] The article also said that several school officials had known of the inappropriate touching and did nothing to stop it, drawing outrage from concerned parents.

In June 2006, Andrew J. Coulson of the Cato Institute wrote a column in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer taking the district to task for a page on "equity and race relations" on its website that indicated, in his words, that "only whites can be racist in America" and which, among other things, stated that "Emphasizing individualism as opposed to a more collective ideology" and that this and preferring a "future time orientation" were forms of "cultural racism.

[27] Garfield's boycott of the test quickly expanded to other Seattle schools and drew national attention.

[28] In September 2024 SPS announced two possible school closure lists it is considering to help address the $100 million budget deficit.