Seattle Schools Community Forum

 Editor's note: I believe there is one other Board candidate forum in October but I am checking one detail.   Just saw this one which is TONIGHT, September 29th at the Montlake Community Center from 6:30 pm to 8 pm. It is a forum for one City Council seat (Nelson v Foster) as well as City Attorney (Davison v Evans). It states that there will be Seattle School Board candidates. So to be clear, this is NOT just a School Board candidate forum.  This event is sponsored by the Capitol Hill Community Council, Eastlake Community Council, and the Seattle Parks Foundation.    As I previously reported the Urban Native Education Alliance and Native Action Network are having a candidate forum on Saturday, October 4th at the North Seattle Community College Auditorium from noon to 2:30 pm. They will be serving a light lunch before the forum which starts at 1 pm.  It would be helpful if you will be there for the lunch to RSVP to UNEWchair@gmail.com.   Then, on Tues...

 Let's see where their Executive Session discussion has taken them. Topp let us know at 4:40 that the Ex Session will run another half hour and the public session will start at 5:15ish. I would guess they may need a restroom break by then so likely to be more like 5:30 pm. 5:01 pm - They came back into the public domain. Topp, Briggs and Mizrahi were in-person, all others were virtual.  Topp -  3,4,5,6,7,8 are her top choices Mizrahi, Rankin - 11 Briggs - 19 The vote was unanimous for all the above candidates to move on in the process.  Hersey not there to vote. It is unclear to me whether he was participating today at all.  The Board has moved forward eight candidates.  They did not state how many they considered.  And that's that. No further discussion.  

This is going to be a bit difficult to write in a way that doesn't land me in trouble but there is a pattern out there around representation vis a vis superintendent choice.  Over the last 30 years, the superintendents have had varying backgrounds and races.  We have had three Black superintendents - John Stanford, Maria Goodloe-Johnson, and Brent Jones. We have had one SE Asian superintendent - Raj Manhas. We have had one Hispanic superintendent - Jose Banda. We have had one Native American superintendent - Denise Juneau  Also with Juneau, who is a woman, we had an interim superintendent who was a white woman who is Susan Enfield.  The other white superintendent was a man - Joe Olchefske.  (Update: Larry Nyland was another.)  I would say that is pretty good representation that many other urban districts have probably never had.  To note, the Board has just gone into Executive Session with HYA reps to go over the selected (by HYA) candidates ...

Update: The Seattle Times is reporting that the Garfield basketball coach (and something of a basketball legend) Brandon Roy  has been released from his position as boys basketball coach at Garfield. The unexpected move was alongside the school also releasing girls basketball coach Roydell Smiley.   Well that's not good.  Here's what Garfield principal, Tarance Hart said: “We are beginning a new chapter as we reset both programs, building on past successes while continuing to grow opportunities for our student-athletes — academically, socially, and athletically,” Hart wrote, in part. “Our goal is to foster a competitive, academically supportive, and welcoming program that provides a positive experience and meaningful opportunities for all students.” No other details or comments from the parties involved available. If I had to guess, I would say it may be around recruiting. Seattle Schools has a bad reputation for coaches at high school coaches for competitive sports bring...

Update 3: Director Rankin thanked the Alliance for Education for paying for the work of Education Resource Strategies.  So that's where the money came from for this effort.    end of update  Update 2: The West Seattle Blog covered the portion of yesterday's Board Special Meeting on high school lunches. Here's what they reported: The justification was simple. “We serve more lunches if there are multiple lunch periods.” said superintendent Fred Podesta. He provided statistics such as a case study from Cleveland High School that showed splitting the lunch period led to 31 percent more lunches being served to students, addressing the district’s persistent concerns about food access. Other justifications were reiterated, such as the need for staff to take their own breaks in accordance with contracts, which were noted in the slide deck posted before the meeting. Nonetheless, acknowledging the community backlash, the district plans some “mitigations” and will...

  From The Seattle Times  (bold mine): Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes, a former high school history teacher and school resource officer, backs putting a school engagement officer at Garfield High School and “at every school that will allow us to come in and help.”   Seattle schools are grappling with the question of having armed police officers on campus, facing opposition from some students and parents concerned that students of color and those with disabilities could be disproportionately affected by police presence in schools. The Seattle School Board on Wednesday again delayed a vote on amending a moratorium barring school resource officers in Seattle Public Schools. Barnes said he longed for a world where no one needed to be armed, “but that’s not where we are.” “It’s OK to be aspirational,” he said. “But it’s also OK to be realistic and that there are real threats out there.” I hope everyone will read the entire story because it is a good one. I am especial...