Friday Open Thread - Oh What a Beautiful Morning

Do we not live in a beautiful place or what?

 I told Superintendent Banda that I was from Arizona so I know the kind of getting used to that Seattle can take.  But, I also said that when the sun is out, it's not just nice but dazzling to live here with the mountains and water all around.

There is one community meeting tomorrow with Director Patu at Cafe Vita, 5028 Wilson Avenue S, from 10 am - noon.

And finally, some answers to a long and drawn out mystery - RIP sweet Etan Patz.  


Comments

Steve said…
Melissa, and information from the Advanced Learning Task Force meeting yesterday?
Watching said…
I'm noticing B. Rosenthal and Ross referencing Melissa's posts. Congratulations!

I'm also noticing the Seattle Times Editorial is following up on the piece of junk report written the Chamber of Commerce. What are they up to? Whatever..they are just promoting garbage. I fully expect it to come back and discredit them. Garbage in..Garbage out.
Eric B said…
At least Mr. Banda is showing up here in July, so he gets a summer before descending into November's rain and murk. I always feel sorry for people who arrive from warm climates in October.
mirmac1 said…
There is a Board Work Session on Special Education May 30th at 4pm. You wouldn't know because it has dropped off the calendar.

I have heard from a number of board directors who want to make SpEd a top priority this coming year. Enfield could not see fit to hiring an executive director, but she promoted the old one that was a complete wash-out to Exec Dir of Schools. You know, this one:

"Facebook can really amplify and create conflict," said Marni Campbell, an administrator overseeing all schools in northwest Seattle. "It's something that we really need to be aware of."
mirmac1 said…
enough already,

Where ARE you?!
Anonymous said…
Sorry if I missed this elsewhere on the blog... comments period is over TODAY for a new school to be built on the Thornton Creek Playground? Seems a lot of people might be happy/unhappy/concerned about this and I haven't heard anything other than this notice from the WW community council? So many questions.. Is this BEX funds, or something else? Why not remodel the TC bldg? Where is the new middle school going - seems like by the time this is built, that baby bubble might be bursting?

http://wedgwoodcc.org/new-school-proposed-at-thornton-creek-site-public-comment-period-ends-friday

-Diane
Anonymous said…
I posted something earlier but it seems to have been eaten by the internet.

FHP
Anonymous said…
That's me above.

FHP
Anonymous said…
It won't let me post the email. So I will try cutting it down:

As you may or may not know, Seattle Public Schools is proposing to build a 650-student building on the Thornton Creek field. They are also proposing that Thornton Creek Elementary continue to occupy their present building. This would mean there would be approximately 1,000 students arriving daily at that location. Thornton Creek had originally thought there would be one new building on the site, for 450 students, to be occupied by the TC program, but at the last minute, SPS threw this curveball.

My husband and I are very concerned about the traffic, parking, and related pedestrian safety impacts this will have on the surrounding neighborhood. We just learned that the public comment period on this topic ends this Friday, May 25th.

We feel that the dramatic increase in student numbers on this site will have a big impact on pedestrian safety (not to mention the related driving safety issues!) and were hoping you might alert the people on your list to this issue and let them know about the very limited comment period in case they wish to do so. We plan to distribute some fliers to help alert folks to this plan and to the comment period because our feeling is that this is something the neighborhood should have an opportunity to give input on.

The contact for comments at Seattle Public Schools is: jawolf@seattleschools.org. The Seattle School Board members are:
betty.patu@seattleschools.org
harium.martin-morris@seattleschools.org
kay.smith-blum@seattleschools.org
marty.mclaren@seattleschools.org
michael.debell@seattleschools.org
sharon.peaslee@seattleschools.org
sherry.carr@seattleschools.org


FHP
Diane, that is the Comment period for the preliminary EIS, not for whether or not there should be another school there. You can comment all the way until October on that.

It would be BEX funds paying for this.

I was a little surprised myself that they would not ask TC to be a k-8 and put the seats in a new building there.

So far it's a attendance K-8 at TC, a new middle school at Jane Addams building, move Jane Addams program to a new K-8 on the grounds of Olympic View and a new middle school at Wilson-Pacific. It is a lot of seats.
Spruiter said…
actually the current proposal has Jane Addams moving to a renovated Cedar Park, not Olympic View.

I also thought the additional school on the TC site would be an attendance K-5, not K-8.
Anonymous said…
what year would the new K8 open in this plan? We live closer to TC than Eckstein so I'm wondering if it would come online before middle school for my youngest.

-Neighbor
StopTFA said…
Some interesting insight into all the manuevering to make sure TFA passed the smell test. Actually, I find some of these redactions questionable, as a suit was not filed until October 2011. May have to push back on some of these. Attorney-client privilege has its limits, believe it or not.
Spruiter, my error - yes, NOW moving to Cedar Park. But I thought the school at TC was to be a K-8. Will have to check.

I wouldn't want to give a date as it may change between now and October. So between 2014 and 2019.
Charlie Mas said…
The Advanced Learning Program Task Force met yesterday and finalized its recommendation to the Board, senior staff, and FACMAC.

It would be inappropriate to release the details of that recommendation to the public before it goes to the intended recipients.
Anonymous said…
According to the most updated BEXIV proposal scenario (May 9th BEXIV School Board Work Session):

See: http://bit.ly/SPSBEX
(click on the May 9th presentation and scenario)

A 650-seat K-5 elementary school is to be built on the fields adjacent to Thornton Creek Elementary. As far as I know, it will have its own attendance area.

The Jane Addams K-8 program is to be moved to Cedar Park (new building at site of Cedar Park Elementary). The new building (635 seats) is scheduled to open in 2016.

The Jane Addams building will open as a comprehensive middle school (1080 seats) in 2016. Rising 6th graders from the yet to be determined feeder pattern for the Jane Addams Middle School will be co-located with the Jane Addams K-8 program in the Jane Addams building for the 2014-15 and 2015-16 school years.

A middle school (1000 seats) and 650-seat elementary school is planned for the Wilson Pacific site.

North End Mom
Sahila said…
and this is the greatest country in the world? Big bully police state is more like it... Texas honors student jailed for truancy
Anonymous said…
I forgot to add that the 650-seat elementary school proposed for the Thornton Creek/Decatur site is scheduled to open in 2015. The middle school at Wilson Pacific is scheduled to open in 2017.

North End Mom
North End, the Wilson-Pacific school would open sooner at Marshall; that's on the BEX outline. They then would move into the building when it is finished.
StopTFA:
Personally I find Page 7 most interesting. This is where Wayne Barnett, the Executive Director,
Seattle Ethics and Election Commission, enters the TFA discussion. Ron English (Interim General Counsel)
explains that certain Board members have been asked to excuse themselves from voting on the TFA Conditional Certificates
because they received campaign contributions from those who are covering the TFA recruit costs (4K per recruit).
For example Matt Griffin is, and remains, a substantial donor for both Carr and Martin-Morris. I asked Carr
and Martin-Morris to excuse themselves because of a clear perceived conflict of interest - they are voting on an
issue a major $$ donor has a deep interest in. Carr actually responded, odd I thought at the time since as a parent of a child in
district 2 whom she allegedly represents email responses are rare. She responded with a cut and paste...

"The receipt of a campaign contribution does not impact an elected
official's ability to participate in official matters involving the
contributor. Since Buckley v. Valeo was decided in 1976, contribution
limits and full disclosure have been the accepted methods of addressing
the concern that public officials can be influenced by campaign
contributions. So long as school board members have complied with the
contribution limits contained in RCW Chapter 42.17, and so long as they
have also disclosed the identities of their contributors to the extent
required by law, the Board's Ethics Policy does not require anything
more of them before engaging in official business with a contributor."

I realized after a while Carr had answered a subtly different question - so keeping up a very good record
of not answering the question asked. I asked about a conflict of interest she responds with that there has been no
ethics policy violation. The two issues are clearly different, an ethics policy cannot define all conflict of interest
situations. So I emailed the Waynster - oh dear. Apparently (and he confirmed) his decision was made believing the school
board elections had campaign limits (RCW Chapter 42.17) , building on that foundation he quoted Buckley v. Veleo which specifically
relates to campaign contribution limits. So Wayne, with no due diligence at all gives Carr and Martin-Morris the green light
to rubber stamp away.

I have not seen any evidence Mr. Barnett informed the Board of his mistakes. It is most unfortunate he does not advise
Board members that there is a time to step back from voting.
Just to be clear; when Wayne referenced RCW Chapter 42.17 it did _not_ apply to school board elections - oh dear. I understand there is a new push to reign in such contributions but I am unaware of the state of that effort.
Maureen said…
Re TFA, has anyone else heard that they are entering Renton School District next year? I heard it third hand (that the supe approved them, not that any have been hired as yet.)
Anonymous said…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/23/florida-lowers-passing-fc_n_1539675.html?ref=topbar

More testing nonsense

Public School Parent
Sahila said…
@Maureen.... yep, that's the plan....

Board hasnt voted on it yet...

Super is gungho on getting the deal done, regardless of what anyone else wants...

Renton people need all the help they can get on the pushback...
StopTFA said…
Renton's supe is on notice that TFA did nothing for her comadre at SPS. Mary Alice needs to pull her public records together for her students' families' perusal.
Anonymous said…
Seems like Melissa Westbrook would be better suited to a job at The National Enquirer.....

-BS
Anonymous said…
I do not always agree with everything that is said on this blog. However, I am grateful for the information it provides. Now that we are a one newspaper town, we are less informed unless we know different places to look for good information.

Here on this blog it is easier to find SSD documents than to actually navigate the SSD website. Imagine telling your principal to go to this site in order to find something that is taking too much time to try to find on the SPS website! It is also good to know what meetings are going on because they are listed here. ANd, we know about Washington State laws and SSD policies because we can link to them here---and when our District ignores the law.

The other links on this blog that people provide tend to be useful as well.


--Old School Music
BS, and that's because...?
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said…
BS -- at least if you are going to jump in and be anonymously critical, could you link up your negative comment with something substantive that you think Melissa has or hasn't done.

Pretty hard, no -- impossible, really -- to take you for anything other than a troll when you walk by and lob a totally disconnected one-liner.

--Think your name is apt.

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