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.)
Comments
It's not necessarily related, but there is the tragic story of the nine-year old autistic boy who was killed a couple of days ago crossing Highway 99. The sheriff is quoted in today's paper as saying they had been to the house numerous times, that the boy was evidently "hard to control"...One wonders what support there was for this child, and whether the closure of the Viewlands program helped or hindered the cause of autistic children generally. As I said, I respectfully acknowledge that I don't know the details of the recent tragedy, and respect that the family is grieving...I wouldn't want to make "political" hay over this, but only suggest that it might point an intrepid reported towards an important (for better or for worse) story about how children with these sorts of needs are supported by their schools.