More Hearing Updates

Here is the transcript from last night's hearing at Pinehurst; it was the only one I saw at the Capacity Management website. I myself haven't had time to read it.

Also, here is this message from Bridgett Chander, Director of Communications, for the district about tonight's Genesee Hill meeting:

Dear community members,

We want to thank those of you who have signed up to testify at tonight's public hearing and those who wish to attend. The weather has created concerns about safety, and we send this information to update you about conditions around the Genesee Hill building where the hearing will be held from 6:30-8:30 tonight.

Road conditions this morning lead us to recommend that those who choose to drive to attend the hearing consider carpooling if they can and look for parking along the north shoulder (school side) of Genesee. That road was recently sanded. While there is some remaining ice on the shoulder area, it is much clearer than the south side of Genesee.

The sidewalks and steps into the school building were sanded this morning by SDOT, and staff requested that Dakota and 51st be sanded as well by SDOT since there was ice on both of these side streets. The school playground is CLOSED for your safety because of ice, so please look for parking along Genesee. Metro bus information is available at http://tripplanner.metrokc.gov/cgi-bin/itin_page.pl?resptype=U if taking the bus is a good option for you.

We ask that people enter the building from the corner of 51st and Genesee and follow the signs to the cafeteria where the hearing will be conducted starting at 6:30. Stairs were sanded but can still be slippery, and the entrance from the SW corner near the auditorium doors is flat.

We want our families and staff to be safe, and we also want to hear your input. If you make the decision not to attend tonight, we want you to know that we are reading the emails that come in to capacity@seattleschools.org as we will also read the transcripts of each public hearing held this week. Transcripts will also be posted to our capacity management web site which you can visit from our home page at http://www.seattleschools.org

Thank you for your participation in this engagement process as we prepare final recommendations for further public review.

Sincerely,

Bridgett

Comments

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, grief, that is to come fro
Read more

MEETING CANCELED - Hey Kids, A Meeting with Three(!) Seattle Schools Board Directors

 Update 2: So I have seen a message from President Liza Rankin on why she, Director Evan Briggs, and Director Michelle Sarju backed out of this meeting.  In a nutshell: - She says there was no organization to the meeting which is just not true. They had a moderator lined up and naturally the board members could have set parameters for what to discuss, length of meeting, etc. All that was fleshed out. - She also claimed that if the meeting was PTA sponsored, they needed to have liability insurance to use the school space. Hello? PTAs use school space all the time and know they have to have this insurance.  - She seems to be worried about the Open Public Meetings law. Look, if she has a meeting in a school building on a non-personnel topic, it should be an open meeting. It appears that Rankin is trying, over and over, to narrow the window of access that parents have to Board members. She even says in her message - "...with decisions made in public." Hmmm - She also says that th
Read more