‘City-wide field trip’: Gee admires 12K students cutting class for Super Bowl parade
Feb 12, 2026, 11:38 AM
Despite Seattle Public Schools‘ (SPS) efforts to enforce an unexcused absence policy for students attending the Seahawks’ Super Bowl parade, nearly 13,000 students ignored the consequences and descended on 4th Avenue.
Gee Scott and Ursula Reutin, co-hosts of “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio, praised the students’ decision to skip class to witness history at the Super Bowl parade, noting that the event taught a valuable lesson in community.
“It was a day that is forever going to be etched in our memory. We’ve learned now that nearly 13,000 Seattle students skipped school,” Ursula said. “Hallways were described as graveyards, substitute teachers everywhere, teachers quietly admitting they kind of knew this was going to happen, but the district said absences were not excused. Of course, for the families who took their kids there, they said this was once-in-a-generation memory.”
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WA school districts split on Super Bowl parade attendance
Ahead of the parade on Wednesday, an SPS official stated that keeping its schools open was an “important part of maintaining stability, safety, and continuity.”
On the east side, the Bellevue School District allowed its students to have an excused absence with a note from a parent or guardian.
“I guess it was basically one in four kids who decided not to go to school and go to the parade. Look, education matters. Routine matters, but you want to know what else matters, community,” Gee said. “If your child was there, they got to see one of the most beautiful days in Seattle’s history. They got to see unity. They got to see pride. They got to see peace. They got to see brothers and sisters hanging out, families and loved ones, strangers, high-fiving. They got to see it all.
“So the next time the district says, ‘Where was Larry? Why wasn’t he here?’ Well, Larry was on a field trip,” Gee continued. “He was on a city-wide field trip, learning some civic duties, and watching history. How about that?”
Watch the full discussion in the video above.
Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.
