Seattle Times

Two Tacoma-area families are suing the owner of a now-shuttered private special education school, alleging that school staff abused and neglected vulnerable students. The Northwest School of Innovative Learning was Washington’s largest publicly funded but privately run school for children with disabilities until it closed in early 2024. Its owner, Kirkland-based Fairfax Behavioral Health, shut down the school after a state investigation found an “unacceptably high” number of incidents in which staff restrained and secluded students. A 2022 investigation by The Seattle Times and ProPublica revealed that for years, the school, also known as Northwest SOIL, was accused of injuring students and isolating them in small rooms while failing to provide a basic education. The lawsuit, filed earlier this month in Pierce County Superior Court, also takes aim at Tacoma Public Schools and University Place School District, saying both districts were responsible for these students’ education and kept them at Northwest SOIL despite knowing about some of the problems.