Seattle Schools This Week

Back to work.

As one reader reported, the dates for school year 2014-2015 are up.  One of the earlier last-day-of-school dates in recent memory, June 15, 2015.

Tomorrow, Monday the 24th, starts the two-week Open Enrollment period.  I expect to see JSCEE jam-packed this week (and I would advise getting there early).  Info here.  Unfortunately, the "choice" form for those who want an alternative to their neighborhood school is not available until tomorrow.  I find this not-so-helpful as parents could preview it and make sure they understand it BEFORE they get to Open Enrollment.  I'll check it out tomorrow and hope to have some words of advice.

Wednesday, Feb. 26th
Work Session on the Budget from 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm- Agenda not yet available.

Work Session on Board Evaluation Goals from 5:30-6:30 p.m - Agenda not yet available.

As previously noted, there is no School Board meeting this week nor any Director Community meetings on Saturday, March 1.

I'm going to be attending the Network for Public Education conference in Austin, TX at the end of the week.  Diane Ravitch and head of the Chicago Teacher union, Karen Lewis, will be keynote speakers.  It will be great to meet other public education activists and bloggers and share ideas, stories and insights.

Comments

Anonymous said…
The choice form is not available yet? Sigh. That is ridiculous.

Sadly not surprised....

Option mama
2/24/14, 7:46 AM
Anonymous said…
Could this be intentional so they aren't overwhelmed the first Monday back from vacation? I will probably just email ours in, but still frustrated by things like this. Shows a lack of organization that is disconcerting at the very least.

Option mama again
2/24/14, 7:51 AM
Anonymous said…
Sounds like a fabulous conference! Enjoy!

-FedMomof2
2/24/14, 9:12 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday Open Thread

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.)
Read more

Breaking It Down: Where the District Might Close Schools

Update 2: an absolutely fabulous interactive map made by parent Beth Day (@thebethocracy on Twitter - she covers Board meetings and is fun to read).   end of update    Update 1: Mea culpa, I did indeed get Decatur and Thornton Creek mixed up. Thanks to all for the correction. end of update   I suspect some who read this post will be irate. Why do this? Because the district seems very hellbent on this effort with no oversight skid marks from the Board.    To clearly state - I do not believe that closing 20 schools is a good idea. I think they hit on 20 because they thought it might bring in the most savings. But the jury is still out on the savings because the district has not shown its work nor its data. I suspect closing schools and THEN leasing/renting them is the big plan but that means the district really has to keep the buildings up.   But this district, with its happy talk about "well-resourced schools" is NOT acknowledging the pain and yes, gr...
Read more

Education News Roundup

From the ever-amusing Washington Policy Center : Vouchers are Pell Grants for students under 18.  Vouchers are no different than Pell Grants or GI benefits, except the money goes to the families of students younger than age 18.  Except they are. Pell Grants were created to help needy students and that's not really the goal of the voucher program.  The Pell grant website does have a couple of great studies on why low-income students drop out before finishing their higher ed and what makes a difference.
Read more