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At a glance, (and as I suspected) there will be less information available for parents to access quickly. Take a look at how much data you can access on the current web site for your school.
Then look what is available on the new web site. Attendance area and school reports.
Gone are annual reports, school survey data, historic test data and the link to the Washington State Report card.
And I do hope the board pays VERY close attention to their web site.
Really have to drill down to get to agendas (which does not appear to be working yet, so not sure how they will be ultimately displayed) And meeting minutes? No mention?
The logical place to post both agenda and minutes is under School Board Meetings List, alas that really is all that page is: a list of dates.
And no mention of how to sign up for board meetings.
I understand this is just a preview...but all in all I see a VERY stripped down version of the current web site and I cannot help to think that that was the goal!
And remember the price tag is $700K.
Anonymous said…
I still can't find the information on how to pay the kindergarten tuition. You would think that if they want families to pay, they would make it easy to find out how much the cost is and where to send the money. Jane
Anonymous said…
No link to special education on the new web site (not that I can find, anyway). Not that there was anything like enough information on the old website, but at least there was some. How could they overlook something as major as that? Maybe they are hoping that can ignore it & it will go away.
Another thing I found odd was that one the sports page, they had links to the the playing schedules of some of the private high schools, but no mention at all of middle school sports.
Mom of four
Thing1 said…
Geez, guys, it says it's a Beta preview, with more to come. I would wait until it's finished before complaining. I'm sure there will still be something for you to grouse about.
Thing 1- That the site is in Beta makes this the perfect time to go through the pages- examine both content and style- raise issue that would make the site more user friendly, ...
It's also important to note the site as PR tool- consider how SPS presents itself, its programs, its goals, measures of progress, community partners...
I noticed right away that there are NO alternative schools per the new site. All those efforts at adding Nova, Pathfinder, AS1, Salmon Bay, Orca back to the alt tab? Don't worry about it. Poof. No more alts and their pesky identities and histories that the supe doesn't get/approve of. Just options and service schools.
Anyhoo. Any upgrades you appreciate at the new site? It's important to share the positive feedback too. Might help build on what works.
Well, from a "is it pretty" standpoint" it is pretty. Is that what the district is looking for right now? Or are they looking for feedback on the huge amounts of information it is missing? Hard to say as they don't tell us how we should be evaulating the Beta.
Go to the Schools page, it is table now. Do you think lot's more information will be added - such as the schools website? Right now, it only contains information from MGJs "accomplishments" Attendence areas and school reports.
And it looks final to me, unless of the name of the school will become a link and all the information we currently have access too will reappear.
The speaker list is up for the Board meeting tomorrow; not as packed as I thought with just four people on the waitlist. The majority of the speakers are speaking on high school boundaries (with several wanting to talk about Ballard High). There are only three of us speaking about the Green Dot resolution asking the City to not grant the zoning departures that Green Dot has requested. It's me, long-time watchdog, Chris Jackins, and the head of the Washington State Charter Schools Association, Patrick D'Amelio. (I knew Mr. D'Amelio when he headed the Alliance for Education and Big Brothers and Big Sisters; he's a stand-up guy.)
This may only be a partial list of reasons; please, add anything else in the comments. The deadline to file to run for the Board is May 19th. Entire Board Majority NOT vetting the Superintendent in any way, shape or form. Even the Seattle Times thought that was wrong. It was just absolute hubris and it was wrong. For the second time in just over a year , board members voted to negotiate a superintendent contract during a special meeting with no opportunity for public comment. This time, they showed an even deeper disregard for their responsibilities as public servants: Aborting a national search for a new superintendent and denying Interim Superintendent Brent Jones a chance to show students, parents and taxpayers that, indeed, he is the best person for the job. Government bodies can’t fast-forward through transparent processes just because they think they know the right answer. One other odd thing about the hiring of Brent Jones - most permanent SPS superintendent contracts ar
Why You Should Care Mr. Crabill has found quite the acolyte in Director Chandra Hampson. In the course of discussions over SOFG, she says his name over and over, "A.J .says we...." Now that's not too surprising given the direction the district is heading and that it is Mr. Crabill's work with the Council of Great City Schools is how we got here. But it appears that Mr. Crabill is working very closely with Hampson and we know she wields some amount of power over the majority of the Board. Mr. Crabill is going to continue to work with the Board as SOFG is instituted in SPS. In fact, his role may become more public as it did at one SPS Board meeting in the spring where he was on the phone during the meeting and suggested the Board stop the meeting to "self-reflect." I also noticed that in a district in South Carolina, when things weren't going to plan, he blamed the Board for not following SOFG to the letter. Look for that to happen here if Board members w
Comments
Then look what is available on the new web site. Attendance area and school reports.
Gone are annual reports, school survey data, historic test data and the link to the Washington State Report card.
Really have to drill down to get to agendas (which does not appear to be working yet, so not sure how they will be ultimately displayed)
And meeting minutes? No mention?
The logical place to post both agenda and minutes is under School Board Meetings List, alas that really is all that page is: a list of dates.
And no mention of how to sign up for board meetings.
I understand this is just a preview...but all in all I see a VERY stripped down version of the current web site and I cannot help to think that that was the goal!
And remember the price tag is $700K.
Another thing I found odd was that one the sports page, they had links to the the playing schedules of some of the private high schools, but no mention at all of middle school sports.
Mom of four
That the site is in Beta makes this the perfect time to go through the pages- examine both content and style- raise issue that would make the site more user friendly, ...
It's also important to note the site as PR tool- consider how SPS presents itself, its programs, its goals, measures of progress, community partners...
I noticed right away that there are NO alternative schools per the new site. All those efforts at adding Nova, Pathfinder, AS1, Salmon Bay, Orca back to the alt tab? Don't worry about it. Poof. No more alts and their pesky identities and histories that the supe doesn't get/approve of. Just options and service schools.
Anyhoo. Any upgrades you appreciate at the new site? It's important to share the positive feedback too. Might help build on what works.
Hard to say as they don't tell us how we should be evaulating the Beta.
Go to the Schools page, it is table now. Do you think lot's more information will be added - such as the schools website? Right now, it only contains information from MGJs "accomplishments" Attendence areas and school reports.
And it looks final to me, unless of the name of the school will become a link and all the information we currently have access too will reappear.
Got this nagging feeling that it won't.