Seattle Schools This Week

Monday, Nov. 5th
Curriculum&Instruction Policy Committee Mtg.  (Agenda reviewed by Charlie in an earlier thread). 

Wednesday, Nov. 7th
Road Map to College: College Application Completion Event
Roosevelt High School from 3 pm to 7 pm
For more info and to register, visit www.roadmaptocollege.org

School Board Meeting, starting at 4:15 pm.
Call starting at 8 am on Monday, Nov. 5th to register for the Speakers list.  252-0040 or

Thursday, Nov. 8th
Audit&Finance Committee Mtg. from 4-6 p.m.  Agenda.
Financial updates along with one notation "Change to PTA room rental" - not sure what that might mean.  Availability? Cost? Also, the 2013-2014 budget development.  Superintendent Banda said at the State of the District event that the district was going to be experiencing a budget shortfall (he gave a number but it seemed so high that I want to check it before I print it). 

Friday, Nov. 9th
BEX Oversight Committee mtg from 8:30-10:30 am.

Saturday, Nov 10th
Director Martin-Morris from 9:30-11:30 am at Diva Espresso at Lake City Way/NE 80th
Director Smith-Blum from 10-11:30 am at the Capital Hill Library, 425 Harvard Ave. E.

Comments

mirmac1 said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
11/4/12, 10:04 PM
mirmac1 said…
Special Education Advisory and Advocacy Council, Tuesday Nov 13th at 6:30pm JSCEE
11/4/12, 10:06 PM
Charlie Mas said…
The Audit and Finance Committee will be discussing budget development. This is when they need to step up and end the practice of cheating the "non-traditional" schools which are not funded through the WSS.
11/5/12, 6:04 AM
Charlie Mas said…
Folks should really take a look at the Superintendent Evaluation Tool.

It includes some surprising elements.

Such as these:

"Develop calibration tool(s) to verify consistent, calibrated, quality teacher evaluations by principals."
Gotta like that.

"Asst. Supt for Teaching & Learning – Hire a new Asst. Supt. for Teaching & Learning by the end of the 2012-13 school year, while continuing to support interim leadership."
He has until June to get this done. Nice sense of urgency.

"Executive Director of Special Education – Hire a new Executive Director of Special Education by the end of the 2012-13 school year, while continuing to support interim leadership to ensure that Special Education services are not compromised."
Again, he has until June to get this done. Nice sense of urgency here, too.

"Bringing teachers’ and principals’ Professional Growth & Evaluation (PG&E) evaluation system to scale by August 2013."
I'm curious about how they will judge his performance on this measure when the deadline comes after his performance evaluation.

"Development and community outreach for the next 5-year strategic plan, largely completed by Oct. 2013."
Same as above - how can they judge this in May when he has until October?

"Equitable Access Framework (Phase I): Framework to provide equitable access to rigor and innovative practices completed by April 2013, with the preliminary placement of 2013-14 services identified prior to open enrollment."
Ah! Here's the new deadline for the program placement procedure that was previously due in September.

"Development and implementation of student support strategies/MTSS: Evaluate pilots’ data and develop plan for expansion by June 2013."
This is a nice sense of urgency here. Good.

"Integrity: Is widely trusted; is seen as a direct, truthful individual; presents truthful information in an appropriate and helpful manner; keeps confidences; admits mistakes; doesn’t misrepresent him/herself for personal gain; provides clear and visible leadership on ethical issues, including protection of whistleblowers."
You'll notice that keeping promises is not included in this list - nor anywhere else in evaluation instrument. That's not a value for the Board.

"Accountability: Holds self and others accountable for measurable high-quality, timely and cost-effective results; determines objectives, sets priorities and delegates work; accepts responsibility for mistakes; complies with established control systems and rules; develops and implements corrective action to address audit or other compliance findings."
This is the only part that makes any reference to compliance with policy and laws. It's just not an issue with the Board.
11/5/12, 9:22 AM
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, gr...
Read more

Education News Roundup

From the ever-amusing Washington Policy Center : Vouchers are Pell Grants for students under 18.  Vouchers are no different than Pell Grants or GI benefits, except the money goes to the families of students younger than age 18.  Except they are. Pell Grants were created to help needy students and that's not really the goal of the voucher program.  The Pell grant website does have a couple of great studies on why low-income students drop out before finishing their higher ed and what makes a difference.
Read more