School Board Discussed Unfair Impact

What I heard at the School Board work session today was encouraging. All the School Board members, except Cheryl Chow who represents southeast Seattle, voiced concern about the unfair impact of the closure plan on south Seattle and children of color.

Michael DeBell raised the issue of different criteria being applied to different schools, mentioning the example (from Graham Hill) of using one year's data for one topic on the WASL to judge the school poorly on academic progress.

Mary Bass expressed concern over the constraints that the CAC worked under. She also asked where south Seattle schools will be housed during building remodels since the only 2 temporary sites south of the ship canal (Hughes and Boren) would no longer be available if the Superintendent's recommendations are implemented.

Please add comments to this message and others! Since my three small children were with me, I wasn't able to stay for the entire work session. And I wasn't at the Board meeting that followed at all. I'd love to hear reactions to what Board members said today.

Comments

Anonymous said…
This is an EXCELLENT question!

Where will schools be housed during building renovations now that the CAC took the easy way out and closed interim sites and moved programs into interim sites?

Will Genessee Hill become an interim site? Will Graham Hill? Boren was the only interim site of its size anywhere in the south. If the district ever renovates Sealth, those students will have to go to Lincoln.
6/13/06, 1:47 AM
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