Seattle Schools Community Forum

 Today is International Transgender Day of Visibility and, on its Facebook page, Seattle Schools acknowledged this and said: Today, on International Transgender Day of Visibility, Seattle Public Schools proudly reaffirms our commitment to creating safe, inclusive, and affirming spaces for our transgender, nonbinary, and gender-expansive students.   We celebrate the resilience, strength, and contributions of trans students, educators, and community members. You belong here, and we will continue working to ensure every student is supported and empowered to thrive. To note, a week in November is called Transgender Awareness Week in the U.S.  Kennewick School District, in Eastern Washington, has appealed to the federal government over what to do about transgendered athletes. State Superintendent Chris Reykdal has stated that districts should follow state law because an executive order by a president is not a law.  Story from The Seattle Times: In a  complaint filed ...

  Update, April 1: Dear SPS families and staff ,  We want to provide an update on contract negotiations between one of our bus providers, First Student, and Teamsters 174, the union representing their drivers.  On Saturday, the Teamsters voted to authorize a strike. This means the union now has the option to take action if an agreement is not reached. It does not necessarily mean a strike will happen.  Seattle Public Schools (SPS) is in contact with First Student, which is actively working to reach a resolution with the Teamsters through further negotiations. end of update    I just happened to go to the Seattle Schools' webpage and here was the top story: One of Seattle Public Schools (SPS) contracted school bus providers, First Student, is currently in contract negotiations with Teamsters 174, their bus drivers’ union. The Teamsters have scheduled a meeting for Saturday to vote on a possible strike authorization. This gives the u...

 A story in the Seattle Times this morning seems to say the Board should be considering an interim superintendent and not a permanent superintendent. There are many good reasons for this: Seattle is already entering the superintendent search market late in the game. Districts advertise vacancies in the fall, from around November to January, and start screening, interviewing and hosting community engagement sessions in February, with an eye toward a July 1 start date for their new leaders, said Julia Rafal-Baer, the CEO of the ILO Group, a firm that tracks superintendent turnover and women in district leadership. With a smaller pool of qualified candidates to draw from, a tight timeline and the possibility of significant changes on the School Board in the fall — four of the seven seats will be on the ballot in November — Rafal-Baer said the board might want to consider an interim superintendent.  Rafal-Baer cautioned that a compressed timeline could compromise the thoroughnes...

This meeting ran an hour and that's because President Gina Topp is so good at running meetings. Agenda Only Topp and Director Michelle Sarju were in person and the rest of the directors - Rankin, Mizrahi, Hersey, Clark and Briggs were virtual.  I am going to state upfront that this is an aggressive schedule that may not be able to happen as laid out. Some directors expressed this same thought and some of it is timing. This is NOT the time of year that district normally go looking for superintendents. Usually it starts in fall and ends in spring. So Seattle Schools may have missed that window for the best candidates and may get a line of candidates who were rejected by other districts. That doesn't mean they weren't good candidates but probably not a good fit for a certain district.  But I have also seen candidates who apply for post after post and not get selected. The Board may get some of those.  Topp said interested firms should have their applications to the Board by ...

 That mystery Board meeting that I reported out for Tuesday DOES turn out to be their first step in finding a new leader for Seattle Schools. It's from 3-4 pm at JSCEE but will also be live-streamed on the district's YouTube channel.  Agenda They are looking for a search firm to guide this work.  The BAR documentation shows they are looking around regionally at who else is seeking a new superintendent. They include Bremerton, Evergreen, Kennewick, Port Angeles, and Walla Walla, among others. There is no district even near SPS's size. They are also using the Washington State School Directors' Association (WSSDA) handbook. I did like this: The involvement of staff members in directing the search process may contribute to an impression that some staff members are closer to the new person.  They think they can do this work for around $100,000.  The timing is: - March to send out requests for proposals for search firms -  April 7th applications are due - Someti...

  The Seattle Times Editorial Board has weighed in during the early days of the SPS superintendent search, Dear Seattle School Board: Seize this chance to make major changes I mostly agree with the Editorial Board.  They open with what they noticed first thing during Superintendent Brent Jones' announcement.  Watching the video of Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Brent Jones   announcing his unexpected resignation , a viewer might wonder at his demeanor. Jones is relaxed and smiling, almost beaming. The feeling conveyed is one of happiness, perhaps relief. They continue about the trials Jones has faced but, oddly, left out safety issues.  Every step of the way, Jones was navigating yet another stumbling block: the Seattle School Board. Haranguing the board for past failures will accomplish little, however. The best course of action now is to seize this moment as a welcome opportunity for a badly needed reset. There's pointing out issues and then there's har...