Weighted Staffing Standard on Board Agenda Tonight
At tonight's School Board meeting, in the only action item on the agenda, the Board will vote to approve a move from the Weighted Student Formula to the Weighted Staffing model for school funding for FY 08/09. Read the School Board Action Report on this topic, along with a draft implementation timeline.
The one introduction item on the agenda at the School Board meeting tonight is the approval of the 2007/08 and 2008/09 school year calendars.
Only seven people are signed up for the public testimony time, so there are spots available if you want to call (252-0040) or e-mail (pjoakes@seattleschools.org) to sign-up.
Even if you aren't interested in testifying, if you have concerns about district finances, it might be worth attending the School Board meeting tonight to hear Dr. Art Jarvis, the new Director of Finance, give a presentation on budget and financial accountability.
The one introduction item on the agenda at the School Board meeting tonight is the approval of the 2007/08 and 2008/09 school year calendars.
Only seven people are signed up for the public testimony time, so there are spots available if you want to call (252-0040) or e-mail (pjoakes@seattleschools.org) to sign-up.
Even if you aren't interested in testifying, if you have concerns about district finances, it might be worth attending the School Board meeting tonight to hear Dr. Art Jarvis, the new Director of Finance, give a presentation on budget and financial accountability.
Comments
I just want to say thank you! Thank you for keeping us so informed, and putting information at our fingertips. I realize how much of your personal time it must take and want you to know that your work and research is much appreciated.
Frankie
"Technology in the form of projection screens, interactive whiteboards, audio support and computer classrooms, will help prepare students for the high school experience."
(As an aside, that's a weird sentence in and of itself because the kids will be using this technology in high school so how it prepares them for the high school experience I have no idea.)
In the South Lake School Design Team minutes from 2006, teachers ask for a computer lab and are reminded by staff that SLHS is too small for one. The staff is told they will have a portable computer cart. One teacher asked if at least one classroom could be wired so they could use it as a lab occasionally. Staff says they will consider it. Whether or not there is the money or the space for a computer lab isn't my point. The point is that when the Board votes tonight on this item, the staff is saying, in the above sentence, that there are "computer classrooms"; however, the minutes do not reflect that this will occur. Keep this in mind whenever you read these items as facilities staff has a tendency to make everything sound great when the reality is more likely to be bare-boned or, in the case of putting in smart boards, very sad. Smart Boards are great and they even put them into Brighton Elementary when it was rebuilt but as the principal told me, the replacement bulbs cost $400 each and that money isn't in their budget. Putting technology into classrooms is great as long as the maintenance costs are something a school can deal with. (I'd question the value of them in elementary school versus the value of putting them into every high school first.)
Keep in mind that the purpose of South Lake is primarily to be a re-entry school, so the sentence regarding preparing students for the high school experience is no that far off when you consider that the goal for most of the student will be to enter a community high school at some point.