AS#1 Lives!
At today's board workshop on Integrated Planning, the district has removed its recommendation to close the AS#1 program and repurpose the Pinehurst building into a sped Pre-K. The new proposal is
AS #1
•Keep current program
•Engage and work with the school community to develop an action plan
•Set specific timeline and outcomes for increased enrollment and academic achievement
•Executive Director will monitor
It is possible to get heard - it just takes a monumental effort from parents, staff, and the community. The AS#1 community has had the misfortune of proving this year after year. If your message is true it is possible to be heard. Congratulations to the AS#1 community on another hard fought victory. Thanks to the board for pushing back and getting the staff to change their recommendation.
(my family is no longer at AS#1 but we still value the unique option that the school provides to families in the district)
Why is AS#1 worth saving? Check it out:
http://as1seattle.wordpress.com/
AS #1
•Keep current program
•Engage and work with the school community to develop an action plan
•Set specific timeline and outcomes for increased enrollment and academic achievement
•Executive Director will monitor
It is possible to get heard - it just takes a monumental effort from parents, staff, and the community. The AS#1 community has had the misfortune of proving this year after year. If your message is true it is possible to be heard. Congratulations to the AS#1 community on another hard fought victory. Thanks to the board for pushing back and getting the staff to change their recommendation.
(my family is no longer at AS#1 but we still value the unique option that the school provides to families in the district)
Why is AS#1 worth saving? Check it out:
http://as1seattle.wordpress.com/
Comments
Here is an action plan:
A) Don't threaten to close the school every other year.
B) Give the school a long term commitment of sustainment, for instance 8 years (it's a K-8), so new families will feel confident choosing, and committing to, the program.
There may also be another bit of good news, but it will take some lobbying. (unless is was discussed tonight as well?)
The board asked the WSS committee for recommendations to fix some WSS problems, with an educated guess of what it would cost.
Well, the group drafted a proposal that would fix the "contact hour" special ed travesty and do a few other tweaks to the system AND fix the K8 travesties. Those include only providing a .5 librarian and a few other things. Plus, especially since we really really need to grow the middle school of the K8s to manage capacity, it included a stabilization for under-enrolled K8s, a guarantee of 2 teachers per grade level. This is crucial because an under-enrolled K8 is facing a chicken or egg conundrum of attracting families without having the resources yet. And, if all goes well and enrollment goes up -- it's a temporary cost.
So moving along, the board was pretty amenable to this draft WSS porposal that had a price tag of $3.2M. Now times are tough, but seriously, restoring and fixing the WSS should be the FIRST priority. And remember, the WSS has seen $10M in cuts while overall district spending has gone up.
Well, the latest version of the draft WSS proposal fleshed out the numbers better and sure enough, it is $3.2M, so the estimate was good. HOWEVER, the breakdown showed that half of that money would go to K8s. At that the board had sticker shock. It seemed as if it was unfair and giving too much to a small portion of the district.
BUT, it is to rectify injustice in the current model and is designed to give a leg up to AS1 and Madrona. So everyone, respectfully but forcefully lobby the board and the district to fulfill that goal in the draft WSS revisions of righting past wrongs to K8s and supporting their 6-8 grades. It is in everyone's best interest that this happen, because we need robust K8 middle school programs to keep traditional middle schools from serious overcrowding.
Confirming the goal of supporting AS1's existence is a great first step.
I'm glad they get to keep their school with 100 + odd students in it (really, I am all for any win against these idiots), while our local elementary is more than 100 students over-enrolled.
Sounds fair to me.
SPS for putting it on the cutting block in the first place. It's all the jerking around and threats to close that caused the drop in enrollment--2 threats to close in the 4 years my kids were there. It was exhausting and took so much attention away from education.
In the NE and other areas of the city there are still schools well beyond the functional capacity from past years or current. Classes being given in the gym or the cafeteria -- tutoring in the halls, art classes in the halls, younger kids and parents being trampled and pushed to the sides of the hallways when the bell rings. No way to have an all school event on the same day and time as there is no space large enough to accommodate everyone at the same time. If this is your reality for this year - the first year - we understand.
There is no special treatment anywhere in the District. In some areas schools are being overcrowded and parents are straining to their maximum to hold together what was a previously thriving school.
In other areas the overcrowding is new.
In some areas there are fewer escape routes than previous to flee a failing school.
No one is getting a pass or a wink. We are all under fire to likely bring us all to a state of mediocrity -- poof, acheivement gap abolished.
There is still so much pain in all areas -
A successful AS1 will go further to alleviate overcrowding than a Spec-Ed preschool.
Folks from the NE, NW, Central, QA have been fighting the oversubscribed fight for many years -- maybe, a coalition to learn from each other and fight together?
Just sayin' - as parents we stand with you not against.
The Central District has no International Programs and really no alternative programs. TOPS really isn't even in the Central District. There are a few programs with good reputations, but little investment has been made over the years to strengthen any program here. Politics plays a major role. School Board representatives have power, but others also have influence. All the schools that closed two years ago were in the 37th. The 43rd District Representatives were proud that no schools closed in their district. We all have to hold all of our politicians accountable to what happens to our schools.
I'm sorry that Steve Sundquist has done such a poor job by WS but hopefully this'll show that its worth it to make your case to all the directors.
Congratulations AS#1.
It's not AS1's fault that they have 150 or so kids. You probably know this already but I'll repeat it just in case. AS1 was a thriving alt school before the district tried to close them not once, but on 4 different occasions. Families are scared to choose the school, and who can blame them? Who wants to put their kid in a school that is fighting to stay open year after year? What the district needs to do at this point, if they really want to give AS1 a fighting chance, is to give them a long term commitment of say, 8 years or more. Then, I believe, the families will come.
As for the NE directors getting anything they want, well, thats just a pile of bologna. The NE is home to the largest middle school in the state of WA., Eckstein, with 1250 kids and growing (larger than most high schools in SPS). With a permanent portable city built on it's playground. And still, it can't house all of the families in the NE. Historically the school got a 200+ kid waitlist. For years families in Lake City were forced into Shoreline schools, or bused an hour each way to Hamilton in Wallingford. A year and a half ago an out of state family with a middle school age child moved in the house next to us, mid school year. There was not one seat for their child in any comprehensive middle school north of the ship canal. She was offered Aki Kurose in SE SEattle without transportation.
My kids elementary school had 550 kids in it. It was bursting at the seems with 31 kids per class in grades 2-5, 3 lunch periods, no all school events, and their science lab was converted into an extra classroom.
If you think WS got the short end of the stick, you need to come look around.
Think about it. If West Seattle could find two good, viable candidates AND the disappointment over Steve's performance there is real, you could bump him out in the primary.
Wouldn't that set the tone for the election.
I say -- hurray for the AS #1 decision -- and since MGJ (and others at headquarters) clearly have NO love for the program, let's continue to make sure that this decision is followed up by real support that will grow the program!
ALL the other problems of the District -- including West Seattle's issues -- need our continued support. One thing that would be helpful would be for specific suggestions as to what would help. Some bells are not going to be unrung (closing Cooper), but other things COULD be done. As I don't live in WS, I don't have a good feel for the right priority list. What is the single biggest problem, what are the two or three things that could be done to fix it, and what are the primary stumbling blocks (money? reversal of stated District positions (such as not to change boundaries until 2015? etc.)
One thing that helped AS 1 is that there was a specific community (and a broader group of Alt supporters) with a specific, doable "ask." What is the most pressing, but still doable, "ask" for West Seattle?
The solution would be the re-opening of Fairmount Park.
This would also help to balance the division between feeder patterns as it would add a fifth elementary school to the Madison/West Seattle secondary school attendance area.
After that, the District needs to add a second elementary language immersion program to feed the middle school one at Denny.
Although the language immersion students would feed up to Denny, I think the elementary program should be in the Madison Service Area (at Fairmount Park) to provide more equitable access. It would also jump-start the enrollment at Fairmount Park.
There are other program placement issues that should be addressed. There is no Option school in the Denny Service Area, there is only one ALO in all of West Seattle (West Seattle Elementary), and there is no traditional K-8 in West Seattle. Equitable access to programs and services, my ass.
Assuming we can't fix everything in any area, including West Seattle, at once -- is this the right "ask" for the community to get behind? Reopening Fairmount Park, and siting a language immersion program there?
If so, here are detail questions:
1. Do we want to go for the "big fix" to the option program problem, and ask them to make the Fairmount LI an OPTION school (with a geo boundary that helps the WS crowding problem), or does that defeat the purpose of trying to prevent crowding in the Madison Service Area (I keep thinking -- if we could get just ONE LI school in as an option, maybe we could start the process of getting them ALL there!)
2. Is the whole school LI, or does the LI program run parallel with a "regular" program (in which case, presumably the regular program is a neighborhood attendance area program, and the trick will be -- can we get the LI portion qualified as an option program).
To the extent LI is involved, we are presumably conceding that this particular "ask" helps elementary overcrowding, but does nothing to solve any imbalances between Denny and Madison (and ultimately between Sealth and WSHS) -- I would be ok with that -- not ok with the long term problem, but ok with the idea that this one, first idea isn't going to solve everything. Sometimes, "perfect" is the enemy of "good."
Finally, wsnorth -- to move the needle at the District (since they seem content to conclude that WS has no problems worth going after -- is this one thing something that West Seattle parents could really rally around? It is harder, I think, to pull together an "impassioned community" around a non-existent school that you want in the future -- but if you can get 1. parents at the overcrowded schools, plus 2. WS parents who really want access to LI, you might be able to make enough noise to make the BOARD notice and think about it -- and they might then ask the Staff to respond.
But everybody has to be on the same page, with one coherent, workable suggestion -- or it just gets diffused into the general clamor of school programs in disarray or under stress (GHS, Eckstein, RBHS, etc. etc.), and it will be ignored.
Along with the unfair treatment of AS#1 and its long legacy in the district is that when people told the district how much money would have to go to fix up Pinehurst for a pre-school center, that really helped turn the corner. (I believe it did.)
Charlie keeps saying that they need to open Fairmount Park.
They don't want to open Fairmount Park because of the money it will take. They can't keep reopening these very poor condition buildings. Nothing will be left for maintenance and it will start eating into BEX which really is for currently used old buildings.
An "ask" that can't possibly be granted is not the one we want to rally behind. Is Fairmount simply impossible based on expense, and if so, what would be one that the District might go for?
Have they tried surge capacity in W.S.? Portables?
You could rebuild one of the West Seattle elementaries but (1) I'd have to check and see who is a likely suspect, maybe Arbor Heights but they are very far south, right? and (2) that would take time if the problem is here right now.
West Seattle folks, what do you think should happen?
The Madison Service Area elementaries are more overcrowded than Garfield and it's only going to get worse. The District pretends that the overcrowding is due to out-of-area students, but that's not true.
The District only recently closed Fairmount Park so, while it probably isn't in good shape, it can't be in totally awful shape.
As to the expense of re-opening a school, the District also claimed that it would be too expensive to re-open Sand Point and McDonald. Their claims that something can't be done are not credible. The District has three other vacant buildings in the area where the Fairmount Park students can attend school while their building is getting fixed up for them (Boren, E.C. Hughes, and Genessee Hill). Of those, Boren is in perfectly servicable shape - it is the interim site for West Seattle. Sealth was there last year but it is empty this year. Denny won't need it - they are moving from their old building right into their new building. Oh! That's right! The Denny building will also be available (until they tear it down).
Engage and work with the school community to develop an action plan.
Just a cessation of the outright hostility would be a positive step, but if the district wants an actual, healthy school in the building, it behooves them to talk up the school, make it find-able on the web site (go ahead, look at the school finder and check the list of "alternative schools" - you'd think a school WITH THE WORDS "alternative school" IN ITS NAME would be on that list, right?), encourage enrollment center staff to suggest parents check it out, and so forth.
I hope the district will walk the walk in this matter, because the school community is eager to get the word out and recruit more students and their families.
Thanks to all who supported us in this iteration of the fight. I think the recently-identified point in this thread is well taken: a coherent "ask" and a determined effort on the part of lots of people to drive home the message really works - just look at how politicians drum their talking points into our ears. They do it because it works.
I really believe the push for the best schools we can have should unite all of us, not drive wedges between us: we ALL want those schools, for ALL of our kids. If we in the AS1 community can help others achieve what they want from the district, give us a shout! We're good at organizing by now!
Your "one-ask fix" only takes care of part of north West Seattle's problems, for 4 elementary schools which are overcrowded. It is definitely a problem which must be addressed (portables won't cut it for a long term problem), but you all are either ignoring or do not understand the critical sprial that the district is putting on the West Seattle middle & high school imbalances (which the district continues to ignore- see the discussion over on the SAP Transition meeting strand).
Because of our unique & isolated geography, West Seattle must have two strong sets of linked middle & high schools for those elementary kids to move up to, or the assignment plan will not work- We can't have one thriving and full set (Denny/Sealth), and the other (Madison/WSHS) with crippling enrollment cuts, program and services shrinking each year in a tailspin.The district is like an ostritch on this one, and we are just in year one of the destruction cuts.
Recently all 15 of the West Seattle school PTSA presidents were sent an invite to meet together to discuss this and those who met all agreed that the two problems combined at West Seattle must be solved as a whole plan and not piecemeal. Please do not present a half baked plan without full representation from all stakeholders!!!
As to opening another elementary school, at the SAP meeting Kathe Johnson said there were 3 options: Fairmount Park, Boren and yes, Hughes (after a 1 year recall option on their lease to West Side School!). There was more, about reopening buildings, limiting new international immersion programs, etc, but I think I should put it in the strand about yesterday's SAP meeting so others can find it.
Oh, by the way, what was the district's new solution for attracting more kids to want to go to WSHS instead of Sealth, in their "Academic Assurances & Program Placement" section last night? The said they will be sure WSHS has 1 (yes, that's one) AP science class!
"To the extent LI is involved, we are presumably conceding that this particular "ask" helps elementary overcrowding, but does nothing to solve any imbalances between Denny and Madison (and ultimately between Sealth and WSHS) -- I would be ok with that -- not ok with the long term problem, but ok with the idea that this one, first idea isn't going to solve everything. Sometimes, "perfect" is the enemy of "good."
Wow, all the middle and high school students present & future in the north end of West Seattle really thank you for throwing them all under your bus!
Do you know that last year the 2015 projections (based on actual in-area enrollment from the off-balance maps we are stuck with) showed a 35% enrollment cut at both Madison & WSHS? This compares to the 10-25% overcrowding at the 4 elementary level. Neither of these problems is acceptable for our kids, especially when there wasn't a problem before the school closurers and the 4 to 6 off balance maps were approved!
Over-enrollment stresses & impacts programs and services to kids just as significently as under-enrollment does, yet under-enrollment takes much longer to recover from the damages (kind of like the stock market)- Once a school has severe program & service cuts, word gets around that it will get worse each year your kid is attending- all those promised cool programs & classes will evaporate, less kids will enroll, and the downward spiral continues. With over-enrollment, once the problem is fixed & enrollment is back at a managable level, parents will gladly keep & send their kids to a succesful school.
The problem is that you will always get more elementary parents rallied around a problem than you will middle & high school parents, who have for many reasons stepped back from the engagement plate. The meeting I mentioned with West Seattle parents we held recently reflects that. Sad but true, MS & HS parents disengage and let the district do what they are going to do anyway.
Please do not throw these kids who do not have a voice under your or the district's bus!
I was actually trying to draw attention to the fact that this particular "ask" does NOT solve one of the other "big" problems in WS. AS#1 has achieved a "win" by pulling together a single coherent request, a clear "do this -- not that" request. My sense is that it was spearheaded by two communities -- AS #1 parents and the alt community -- with some generalized "other" support.
All I really want is for help for WS. But I don't know what to ask for. There is so much that needs to be done, and MGJ has caused so much harm to so many schools, between school closures, the SAP, bad program placement and management, etc. No area is going to get everything it needs or deserves at this point. But we need to grab onto problems and try to fix them. AS was one. My point was -- WS is another. So, let me fetch those poor kids out from under the bus and ask you (really, I have no skin in this game, only a voice to be deployed): Given all of the possible issues in WS, what should parents who care generally ask for. If I show up at a Director's coffee hour, what do I say? I don't think I get a long wish list for WS (I already have things to say about Garfield - where I do have a child). What do you think parents interested in advocating for WS schools should specifically be asking for?