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Here's a link to a blog with more information on the activity around Horace Mann, including Twitter feeds you can follow and a Facebook page you can like.
(It's an interesting site with opinions more in common with SSS than with LEV.)
2. A history of Mann, the closure of NOVA, and future fate of Mann. One can argue that having local community groups leasing, sprucing up, and maintaing the Mann building helped preserve Mann from vandalism and neglect. The drawback is the community effort and investment made them community stakeholders. Made the Mann building relevant to the community again. And for some people, that also made them takers.
3. The local politics compounding the conversation. Scroll down to the Nov. 16 ,2011.
http://unite4youth.wordpress.com/
(The videos made by local teens are pretty compelling. Compelling enough that I hope they can find a comparble studio space to rent.)
What I find so sad is the purported goals of all involved, including SSS, are actually quite similar. The breakdown comes with who controls the process, what's in it for my kids, my community (ACIC, NOVA, CD community, greater SPS, the students whose needs aren't being met by SPS, Seattle political leaders and their detractors, and ed reformers), and the agenda of those outside the CD and NOVA communities. After the dust settles, NOVA back at Mann, community groups scattered, we still have the same sorry, recurrent statistics to throw out, to divide or rally around.
de ja vu
Anonymous said…
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Anonymous said…
The City of Seattle Deptof Planning and Development and the Dept of Neighborhoods has been conducting a planning process around the Central District called the 23rd Avenue Action Plan.
There will be a community meeting on Sept 21 to review the draft plan.
You can learn more about this community development project at:
A petition is circulating among the NOVA community that states their support for "an open community process to determine the future of the Horace Mann and other SPS buildings. We seek an inclusive dialogue that will best serve the interests of Central District communities as well as the students and families of Nova and other SPS schools."
Anonymous said…
That's not surprising, given Ed Lambert's comments to the board. I'd like to know how many students and parents at NOVA are signing the petition. If NOVA isn't moved back to Mann, where does the community think the school should be placed? We're going to have some interesting capacity issues if every community gets to decide whether SPS buildings are used as schools or community centers.
I wonder if the Mann building is empty today?
Lynn
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
These folks are not constrained by any need to tell the truth.
Anonymous said…
Charlie,
I would love to attend Wyking's Black Education Summit next Saturday at the Horace Mann building - but aren't they supposed to be put of the building before then? Melissa mentioned that we risk losing state funds for the renovation if the building isn't available for construction by the 18th. Do you know how much money that is? And did the board approve the construction contract tonight?
For accuracy, here is the full text of the letter created by Nova staff:
Educational Justice and the Horace Mann Building
The Nova Project Alternative High School is a democratically-run, all-city-draw, inquiry-based learning community that emphasizes social justice and the arts. We work to educate ourselves and take action around power and privilege and to make our school accessible and inclusive to all students and families. We also strive to maintain and develop a school where LGBTQ students, families, and staff, including LGBTQ people of color, can thrive. We respect the unique importance of the Central District as the historic heart of Seattle’s African American community, and we recognize and oppose the recent gentrification and subsequent displacement of communities of color out of the CD. We also recognize that, historically, the Seattle Public Schools (SPS) has not adequately served African American and other students and families of color. We believe that both of these facts point to the need for long-overdue action on behalf of SPS to listen to and work with communities of color to meet the needs of all students.
Four years ago, SPS displaced Nova from the Horace Mann building and moved us to the Meany building. We fought to stop our displacement and to create solidarity among all of the programs facing closure. After over 30 years of making the Horace Mann building our school’s home, we were heartbroken by our forced move and have no desire for anyone else to be displaced. We do not support the forced relocation of the current programs in the Mann building and are working to explore other possibilities, including collaboratively co-housing with these programs or an alternative location for Nova.
For all of the above reasons, we, the undersigned staff and families of Nova, support an open community process to determine the future of the Horace Mann and other SPS buildings. We seek an inclusive dialogue that will best serve the interests of Central District communities as well as the students and families of Nova and other SPS schools.
Charlie, can you please clarify which links you are referring to when you state that "These folks are not constrained by any need to tell the truth"?
Anonymous said…
Ed, That is lovely - but the staff, parents and students at NOVA do not have the right to determine how the district uses the Mann building. Are they aware that the programs being "displaced" were there for less than six months?
Have you talked to the principal at Madrona? There's a Central District School with space to share.
What was decided at last night's board meeting?
Lynn
Anonymous said…
Those seeking to develop an Africatown district within Seattle should be working with the Office of Economic Development and other neighborhood business associations to help learn about how to make this work.
The OED just updated its Only in Seattle Initiative towards creation of vibrant business districts.
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.)
Why You Should Care Mr. Crabill has found quite the acolyte in Director Chandra Hampson. In the course of discussions over SOFG, she says his name over and over, "A.J .says we...." Now that's not too surprising given the direction the district is heading and that it is Mr. Crabill's work with the Council of Great City Schools is how we got here. But it appears that Mr. Crabill is working very closely with Hampson and we know she wields some amount of power over the majority of the Board. Mr. Crabill is going to continue to work with the Board as SOFG is instituted in SPS. In fact, his role may become more public as it did at one SPS Board meeting in the spring where he was on the phone during the meeting and suggested the Board stop the meeting to "self-reflect." I also noticed that in a district in South Carolina, when things weren't going to plan, he blamed the Board for not following SOFG to the letter. Look for that to happen here if Board members w
This may only be a partial list of reasons; please, add anything else in the comments. The deadline to file to run for the Board is May 19th. Entire Board Majority NOT vetting the Superintendent in any way, shape or form. Even the Seattle Times thought that was wrong. It was just absolute hubris and it was wrong. For the second time in just over a year , board members voted to negotiate a superintendent contract during a special meeting with no opportunity for public comment. This time, they showed an even deeper disregard for their responsibilities as public servants: Aborting a national search for a new superintendent and denying Interim Superintendent Brent Jones a chance to show students, parents and taxpayers that, indeed, he is the best person for the job. Government bodies can’t fast-forward through transparent processes just because they think they know the right answer. One other odd thing about the hiring of Brent Jones - most permanent SPS superintendent contracts ar
Comments
What is the LEV role in the Mann occupation?
http://creativitynotcontrol.wordpress.com/2013/09/08/response-to-the-debate-about-the-acic-on-save-seattle-schools-blog/
http://creativitynotcontrol.wordpress.com/2013/08/12/parents-and-students-self-organize-at-the-horace-mann-school-building/
(It's an interesting site with opinions more in common with SSS than with LEV.)
2. A history of Mann, the closure of NOVA, and future fate of Mann. One can argue that having local community groups leasing, sprucing up, and maintaing the Mann building helped preserve Mann from vandalism and neglect. The drawback is the community effort and investment made them community stakeholders. Made the Mann building relevant to the community again. And for some people, that also made them takers.
http://crosscut.com/2009/07/02/neighborhoods-communities/19079/Can-we-save-old-Horace-Mann-School/
3. The local politics compounding the conversation. Scroll down to the Nov. 16 ,2011.
http://unite4youth.wordpress.com/
(The videos made by local teens are pretty compelling. Compelling enough that I hope they can find a comparble studio space to rent.)
What I find so sad is the purported goals of all involved, including SSS, are actually quite similar. The breakdown comes with who controls the process, what's in it for my kids, my community (ACIC, NOVA, CD community, greater SPS, the students whose needs aren't being met by SPS, Seattle political leaders and their detractors, and ed reformers), and the agenda of those outside the CD and NOVA communities. After the dust settles, NOVA back at Mann, community groups scattered, we still have the same sorry, recurrent statistics to throw out, to divide or rally around.
de ja vu
There will be a community meeting on Sept 21 to review the draft plan.
You can learn more about this community development project at:
http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/cityplanning/completeprojectslist/unionjackson/whatwhy/default.htm
Ann D
I wonder if the Mann building is empty today?
Lynn
These folks are not constrained by any need to tell the truth.
I would love to attend Wyking's Black Education Summit next Saturday at the Horace Mann building - but aren't they supposed to be put of the building before then? Melissa mentioned that we risk losing state funds for the renovation if the building isn't available for construction by the 18th. Do you know how much money that is? And did the board approve the construction contract tonight?
Lynn
Educational Justice and the Horace Mann Building
The Nova Project Alternative High School is a democratically-run, all-city-draw, inquiry-based learning community that emphasizes social justice and the arts. We work to educate ourselves and take action around power and privilege and to make our school accessible and inclusive to all students and families. We also strive to maintain and develop a school where LGBTQ students, families, and staff, including LGBTQ people of color, can thrive.
We respect the unique importance of the Central District as the historic heart of Seattle’s African American community, and we recognize and oppose the recent gentrification and subsequent displacement of communities of color out of the CD. We also recognize that, historically, the Seattle Public Schools (SPS) has not adequately served African American and other students and families of color. We believe that both of these facts point to the need for long-overdue action on behalf of SPS to listen to and work with communities of color to meet the needs of all students.
Four years ago, SPS displaced Nova from the Horace Mann building and moved us to the Meany building. We fought to stop our displacement and to create solidarity among all of the programs facing closure. After over 30 years of making the Horace Mann building our school’s home, we were heartbroken by our forced move and have no desire for anyone else to be displaced. We do not support the forced relocation of the current programs in the Mann building and are working to explore other possibilities, including collaboratively co-housing with these programs or an alternative location for Nova.
For all of the above reasons, we, the undersigned staff and families of Nova, support an open community process to determine the future of the Horace Mann and other SPS buildings. We seek an inclusive dialogue that will best serve the interests of Central District communities as well as the students and families of Nova and other SPS schools.
That is lovely - but the staff, parents and students at NOVA do not have the right to determine how the district uses the Mann building. Are they aware that the programs being "displaced" were there for less than six months?
Have you talked to the principal at Madrona? There's a Central District School with space to share.
What was decided at last night's board meeting?
Lynn
The OED just updated its Only in Seattle Initiative towards creation of vibrant business districts.
http://www.seattle.gov/economicdevelopment/OISI/
Ann D.