Speaking out at the School Board Meeting
I am urging you to speak out - either via e-mail or via public testimony - to the Board about two subjects.
One, student data privacy. We see from the agenda the RTTT item, some of which is about helping PreK-3rd grade students. It's a fine idea but again, that's exactly the starting age that many entities want to start data tracking. Will their parents be told this is happening (or asked if they consent)?
Two, later start times for high school. As I reported, staff is not saying no but basically, we have enough work and the Board didn't make it priority. President Peaslee said that they could not include everything into the Strategic Plan but that the Board has been talking about this and asking for feasibility information for quite a few years. Help the Board get there to that nuts and bolts discussion.
Write to them at schoolboard@seattleschools.org. Tell them you want a student data privacy policy with real teeth and protections and/or making later start times for secondary schools to be a priority.
One, student data privacy. We see from the agenda the RTTT item, some of which is about helping PreK-3rd grade students. It's a fine idea but again, that's exactly the starting age that many entities want to start data tracking. Will their parents be told this is happening (or asked if they consent)?
Two, later start times for high school. As I reported, staff is not saying no but basically, we have enough work and the Board didn't make it priority. President Peaslee said that they could not include everything into the Strategic Plan but that the Board has been talking about this and asking for feasibility information for quite a few years. Help the Board get there to that nuts and bolts discussion.
Write to them at schoolboard@seattleschools.org. Tell them you want a student data privacy policy with real teeth and protections and/or making later start times for secondary schools to be a priority.
Comments
Sure, it's a great idea for the next few year, and yes it is backed by scientific research, but the district can't handle the operational details of what is on its plate. Especially in transportation and building capacity and that is before we get to classroom issues. The details of a late start would take over the entire plate.
I have written to the school board to tell them to table it for now. And to figure out whether yellow busses will be provided in the future in any grade bands given the financial difficulties of the district. Late starts can/should be considered in that comprehensive context.
Also, the district will need to do a hella lot of outreach to communities where after school jobs (not enrichment and athletics) are a reality. Will a late start hurt these kids' employment opportunities? It is an open question, and one that must be answered in addition to the positives that come with starting later.
EdVoter
And you know this how? This is kind of what Mr. Wright said BUT he said if it was made a priority, they could address it.
I would think that academics would be the focus as THAT would be the most important item to hurt employment opportunities in the future.
The school board will sit there and shuffle through papers while people speak only to have closed door meetings where decisions are made that are forced on the public.
Guess what no one will get upset because all the polite people have turned into sheep. The school board only cares about their power not about real students. They do not care about people anymore. The school board has an adgenda and public input is a minor annoyance for them.
Seattle education has taken a radical turn. Everyone should give the board an earful but they will not pay attention to anything except lawsuits.
"The schol board is not listening anyway. They are obessed with "Nation building" ( school building) The school board thinks that children are interchangable parts that can be motivated no matter where they are or who they team with. Grandfathering is seen as counter to the objectives of raising test scores throughout the district. "Inclusion" is the new buzz word for breaking up functioning groups of student cohorts that support each other.
The school board will sit there and shuffle through papers while people speak only to have closed door meetings where decisions are made that are forced on the public.
Guess what no one will get upset because all the polite people have turned into sheep. The school board only cares about their power not about real students. They do not care about people anymore. The school board has an adgenda and public input is a minor annoyance for them.
Seattle education has taken a radical turn. Everyone should give the board an earful but they will not pay attention to anything except lawsuits."
HP
I am all for the later high school start time. But is it going to happen for 2014-15? No way. I doubt there is enough bandwidth for 2015-16. 2016-17 seems a reasonable goal, but only if systemic planning, community outreach, employer outreach, city outreach, staff outreach and transportation planning begins this spring. My opinion.
EdVoter
I don't think that 2014-15 will happen, even though I think it potentially could with a superintendent and Board who were 100% committed to making it happen. 15-16 is definitely possible, though.
As far as staff bandwidth, the majority of the work is done by a relatively small number of people. Transportation said they can do the transportation studies. There will be demands on other areas, but that could easily be managed between critical workloads. The center of the project will be one or two people part-time collecting the information and digesting it for others.
Start times kicked down the road.
Grandfathered transportation for Option schools on the chopping block.
http://www.seattleschools.org/modules/groups/homepagefiles/cms/1583136/File/Departmental%20Content/school%20board/13-14%20agendas/010714agenda/20140107_Presentation_TransportationWorkSession.pdf
The schools need to be in the business of educating children, not scheduling to suit the desire of parents to have those same kids act as childcare or harming the educational outcomes of thousands of students so that a few families have sports schedules they are used to. Really it's shameful we don't already do this, and to me an example of what a political morass downtown is.
-sleeper
Smoke and mirrors.
P.S. one year I had a high school class that started at 6:30 a.m. I still remember how awful that was.
--Elementary Mom who supports later high school start times
CCA
CCA
CCA,
Do you know children in Seattle today who are working from 2:30 pm until 1 am? A child working those hours would be unlikely to graduate from high school. Luckily, we have child labor laws! 16 and 17 year olds are allowed to work no more than four hours on a school day and no more than 20 hours in a school week.
rb
-priorities
The staff are claiming they don't have time to look at changing school start time because they are focussing on these board priorities:
1. Implementation of Common Core State Standards (CCSS)
2. Budget Sustainability and Alignment to Strategic Plan
3. Capacity Management and Growth Boundaries
None of those things are likely to correct our problems with math, reading and writing instruction.