FYI - School Board Testimony

There are still 4 places left on the public testimony list for tomorrow night's School Board meeting. No one on the list is speaking about Transportation. It looks like only 4-5 people are speaking on the budget. I'm pretty surprised but maybe, like me, a lot of people have come to the conclusion that it just doesn't work.

Comments

Sahila said…
I have to be back in North Seattle by 7.30pm, otherwise I would go (moving back into city limits this weekend)...

as a radio journalist, I know that a comfortable rate of speech (for comprehension) is 3 words per second...

3 minutes = 180 seconds x 3 words = 540 words...

If I went, I would bring a record player with me, with a scratched record going round and round, repeating the same phrases over and over again for the full three minutes...

"who do you work for? listen to us... who do you work for? listen to us... put our kids first, listen to us... put our kids first, listen to us... manage the super, listen to us, manage the super, listen to us... uphold your oaths, listen to us, uphold your oaths, listen to us... uphold the laws, listen to us, uphold the laws, listen to us... manage the district, listen to us, manage the district, listen to us... do your jobs, listen to us, do your jobs, listen to us... stop making excuses, listen to us, stop making excuses, listen to us..." etc...
Chris S. said…
Where are you seeing that? The agenda the old/new website sends me to doesn't have the list yet.
mirmac1 said…
Refresh, you may be looking at a cached page
joanna said…
http://www.seattleschools.org/area/transportation/zones/adams.pdf

I cannot make the Board meeting tonight and have examined the web site the above link to the sample plan. There seems a lot of room to make the documents more clear and to the point.

I look at the sample referenced in the link above and ask why in this sample would the transportation zone for Adams include areas within the attendance boundaries of Loyal Heights, North Beach and Whittier? This seem to imply that if you are lucky enough to live in areas close to many schools then you can have transportation outside your attendance area. West Woodland is not in the transportation zone as it is in a different middle school area, right? If in fact it is for attendance area students then the light yellow circle should be interrupted as it enters the attendance area of other schools, just as it is when it enters a different middle school attendance area.

Paragraph stating that attendance areas will be include:
Under the new plan the District will identify a Transportation Zone around each attendance area elementary and K-8 school. This Transportation Zone will be generally be limited by a radius of 1.25 miles from the school. The Transportation Zone will extend beyond that range, as necessary, to include all of the school's attendance area and it will be reduced, as necessary, to remain within the school's middle school service area. Yellow bus transportation will be provided to students living within the school's Transportation Zone but outside the school's walk zone. In no case will any school's Transportation Zone include the entire middle school service area. A couple of the schools in the McClure service area will come closest.
Meg said…
I'm going and speaking. I went ahead and looked into the supposed 85 cuts to the central office, and it turns out... unless you think 33-60 is the same as 85, there weren't 85 cuts. At least 1/4 people whose positions were cut are still employed by the district, some with raises - raises that go as high as $18,000.

At the same time, I'm not under the impression that pointing out budgeting shenanigans will actually do much.
joanna said…
Meg, probably many of the people who read this blog often wonder what if discussing the shenanigans is effective in any way. Nonetheless, it is important and appreciated by many who don't have time to follow everything in detail. The effort of those who run the group, along with that of the people who post is greatly appreciated
GreyWatch said…
Honestly, I don't think the public comment/testimony is taken all that seriously. It's sad to watch people passionately make their case about issues they care about and know the directors aren't going to do a thing about it unless it is something staff support.

I don't think its because they don't care or don't get it (well most of them anyway), it's just an impossible task for what really is a volunteer role, especially given the challenge of timing for some of these issues (e.g., enrollment deadline pressures).

That said, testify, testify, testify. Some people are listening.
dan dempsey said…
GreyWatch I normally agree with you ... but ..

GreyWatch said:

" it's just an impossible task for what really is a volunteer role, especially given the challenge of timing for some of these issues "

NO it is not anywhere close to an impossible task.. ...

These directors for the most part have little interest in the truth or open and transparent processes.

Anyone who believes otherwise needs to pay more attention.

Check out testimonies on 2-2-2011 ..

I agree .. few people testify because it is pointless.

The less than 20 people testifying makes this quite clear .. We had around 15 on 2-2-2011

Whether 20 people or 0 people testify, it makes no difference to this board.

Elect Melissa Westbrook to the Board and you will see the tasks for a Director are not impossible.
mirmac1 said…
Actually, after a pretty frustrating experience last night trying to pack real information into 180 seconds (and emailing the balance), I was pleasantly surprised to hear back from two board members who thanked me for sending along a written follow-up. One said she was even taking notes! Yeah! Really!

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