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
Comments
- For once, A Happy Lowell Parent
I think all-in-all the level of community involvement in the principal hiring process for John Rogers was very good. All families were asked to participate in a survey, to give our thoughts on the attributes we wanted in a principal. There were also representatives from the John Rogers PTA and Staff on the hiring team.
John Rogers families have already had a couple of opportunities to meet our new principal, and she has been very well-received. We will definitely miss Marcia, but I think Ms. Mirabueno will be a good fit for our community, and I look forward to working with her.
-JR Mom
In terms of the big picture, What is so disappointing is the lack of guidelines for this process that apply to schools across the board. It seems like the parents at some schools get to be part of the process while others have no say at all. Parents should always be part of the process, even if the district has the final say in who it ultimately hires or assigns.
Green Lake Parent
I'm pretty sure the PTSA president was on the hiring team.
Don't fall for the characteristics survey as a replacement for community engagement for hiring. It is just a gimmick so the district can say they had "input" without actually allowing any parents on the hiring committee. It's a real eye opener to be on a hiring committee- the district allows only a pre-screened few candidates to be on the short list for interview selection, and many times it is clear at the beginning who will be chosen (which is actually only a "recommendation" as the district always reserves final say, and has overridden hiring committees more than once...).
Reader
-Salmon Bay parent