Addressing Seattle Public Schools Concerns
On the Seattle School Board home page, there is now a Comments or Concerns link which displays a flow chart that includes contact information and guidelines about who to contact to "get help" with a concern.
According to the flow chart, if you have a classroom concern and have already spoken with both the teacher and the principal about your concern without resolution, you should contact one of the school supervisors:
According to the flow chart, if you have a classroom concern and have already spoken with both the teacher and the principal about your concern without resolution, you should contact one of the school supervisors:
- Elementary Schools
Michelle Corker-Curry..........252-0055
Gloria Mitchell..................252-0399
Patrick Johnson.................252-0397
Pat Sander.......................252-0393
- Middle Schools
Ruth Medsker....................252-0398
- High Schools
Louis Martinez...................252-0395
A link to the Complaint Form is also provided from this page.
So everybody who has been unsuccessful in getting a serious concern about a teacher (When a Teacher Should Stop Teaching and A District without Spectrum?), a principal (Leadership in Seattle Public Schools) or other important issues that affect children resolved, try to work through official district channels and then report back on what happens.
Comments
And when/why did the change happen?
I'm surprised this complaint/concern link isn't on the For Families page as well.
The district, when it redid the website, took all names off of the contact list and only lists departments. Not very handy if you want to speak to someone specifically. I e-mailed about this and the answer was...nothing. So if you just wanted to go to the list and see who works where, you wouldn't be able to do so.
The For Families pages have not been updated since Caprice Hollins was assigned responsibiility for family engagement. The pages still show Adie Simmons as the contact person.
I guess this is what you can expect when the person in charge of family engagement regards family engagement as a sign of White Privilege.
Obviously very educated, from a family that values education as do many minority families in the district.
But what has she done besides run workshops for staff? Anything measurable?
There are clear standards that need to be in place for students to do well- parent/guardian involvement is #1- IMO.
What has been done to facilitate that?
District wide I don't think communication has improved overall in the 8 years we have had kids in the district.
while just like Seattle, Portland is finding that families are looking outside the city for affordable housing and neighborhood schools,the school district enrolls more children than Seattle- more than 85% of Portlands students attend public schools.
Real emphasis on communication can't be overlooked
http://www.centerforpubliceducation.org/
site/c.kjJXJ5MPIwE/b.1591967/k.26C0/
Portland_school_board_remains_resultsdriven.htm
Communication among board members was just as important as communication with the community. In 2004, during the superintendent recruitment, Brim-Edwards and Poe spent hours each day touching base with their colleagues, most of them new to the board. The board met with 70 community groups to hear what they wanted in a new superintendent. Then, working with a non-traditional recruiting firm, the board brought in a new superintendent, Vicki Phillips, who had a successful track record in school reform.
Once Phillips was in place, board members worked hard at making sure they respected the superintendent’s day-to-day management responsibilities, while the board focused on overall policy direction. “She’s the instructional leader,” says Brim-Edwards, “and the board’s role is evolving back to where it should be.”
“There used to be personal animosity among board members that was playing out publicly,” says parent Otto Schell, a state PTA vice-president. “Now the board is much better, and we have a superintendent broadly supported by the community.”
The problem with moving people around so much- is that critical information falls in the cracks.
Continuity is lost, information is lost & parents give up and go away.
I do believe that there are good intentions on the part of many in the district- but you know what they say about "good intentions".
Who is on first and who is doing what? And if the district can't keep something this simple straight, how can they be trusted to get the important things right?