Seattle Schools Community Forum

It is becoming increasingly clear that the vote on whether to offer the job of permanent superintendent to Larry Nyland at Wednesday night's School Board meeting will not be unanimous. In fact, appealing to directors who have not made any statements on this issue might be a good idea.  I think the issue of NOT telling the public that a shift in attitude had occurred over a search is a major issue for a couple of directors.   I think there is discomfort out there over voting yes because of promises made and now a change with no real explanation.   Again, I suggest writing to Director Martin-Morris and Director Carr who may well believe Nyland is a good superintendent but also have a good sense of fairness.   And what of a split vote of 5-2 or perhaps 4-3?  That is no way for a permanent superintendent to start his/her tenure. Now, of course, perhaps there are people trying to manipulate the situation.  What if this were done as a ruse so that eithe...

 Monday, December 1st   Want to get on the Speakers list for the Wednesday Board meeting ?  They take e-mails/phone calls starting at 8 am (not before so don't bother).  Phone: 252-0040 or boardagenda@seattleschools.org.   Coffee Chat with Superintendent Nyland at Neighborhood House High Point from 6-7 pm.  The notice states: Dr. Nyland looks forward to listening to your feedback, concerns, and questions. So I think bring any and all input and questions. Community Meeting with Director McLaren at Neighborhood House High Point from 7-8 pm.

Guess who's having a last Coffee Chat on Monday ?  Superintendent Nyland (although I'll lay odds it gets canceled).  And guess who is joining him?  Director McLaren. Please join Seattle Schools’ Interim Superintendent Dr. Larry Nyland in the upcoming West Seattle Community Coffee Chat: Monday, December 1st 6:00-7:00PM Neighborhood House High Point West Seattle 6400 Sylvan Way SW Seattle, WA 98126 Dr. Nyland is grateful to have this opportunity to meet and talk with our West Seattle families and community members about the educational issues that matter the most to you and your family. Dr. Nyland looks forward to listening to your feedback, concerns, and questions. Guess who else has a Community Meeting right after that Superintendent Coffee Chat?  Director McLaren. Neighborhood House High Point Center, 6400 Sylvan Way S.W. from 7-8:00 pm. Might be a good time for some questions.  Lastly, there is the Board retreat on Saturday the 6th whic...

To have a split vote would look terrible (no matter how large or small).  For the purposes of whoever is driving this process, the Board should be united on who they pick; otherwise, it signals no faith in the choice and/or the process.   It would also serve to isolate whoever votes no.  In essence, they may become a present-day Mary Bass (the former director who frequently was the lone vote against many issues.  She ended up being the canary in the coal mine for former Superintendent Olchefske's $30M+ unraveling.) However, the courage to say NO is more valuable to them than any good will.  It means they stand with the parents and community who knew that the search process had begun and expected them to finish it in good faith.  Or, AT LEAST have the grace to tell people in a timely, rational fashion what they were going to do.  Here's how I see the vote.

Update : from Director McLaren's blog under Priorities (when she ran for office) bold hers: Seattle central administration has turned a blind eye towards the communities which fund its existence and the families it should be serving.  Community engagement should be the foundation of district decision-making, not an afterthought.  I invite members of the community to brainstorm with me and form a constructive venue for two-way  dialogue. Help me reshape the district! Together, we can bring the wisdom and guidance of the community back into the Seattle Public Schools. Guess she forgot about this goal.   You might keep this in mind should McLaren run again because it is quite confusing when candidates say one thing to get elected and another when in office. End of update  She  makes the mistake of believing it's all about the Superintendent when it's all about the dysfunction at the district.  She also completely ignores the student data breach...

You've heard what's on my mind. Also, anyone ever hear about any school paying to be accredited?  Except for IB, I haven't and one parent wrote to ask about this (as their principal wants their PTA to pay for it). What's on your mind?

I did forget to mention this previously and an alert reader reminded me of it; there's a notation on the Board agenda for an Executive Session at the end of the meeting: Executive Session: To consider the selection of a site or the acquisition of real estate – This closed session will begin at the conclusion of the regular Board meeting and last approximately forty-five minutes. The legislative session will not reconvene after the executive session, and no action will be taken as a result of the executive session.    I believe this is likely to be over how much the district is willing to pay for the Federal Reserve building and land.  $10M? $15M? $20M?  I haven't seen any estimates of how much it is worth (given its condition and its landmarking status). The auction starts on Dec. 5th and continues until Jan. 28, 2015.  Opening bid is $5M.   The district, if successful, would buy themselves land and a building and, doing it t...

The Times this morning has their own, rather subdued, story on the attempt by President Peaslee to install Superintendent Nyland permanently.

This is a turning point before us.  We either fight back and let the Board know, in huge numbers, that this is terrible mistake to just appoint Dr. Larry Nyland the permanent superintendent of Seattle Schools or the district will take the most major turn we have ever witnessed. Here's the KIRO-tv news story from Thanksgiving Day. If you watch the story, you will see me being more than fair.  Frankly, that was a mistake on my part.  I am vehemently against this action, no matter Nyland's qualifications.  His experience and qualifications are NOT the only considerations for a superintendent for this district. This is wrong for so many reasons.  Read the agenda item (and note who sponsored it).

Talk about on the downlow.  Talk about shady. Embedded in the School Board agenda for next Wednesday, Dec.3 - for Intro and Action via Sharon Peaslee and Ron English - is this: This action will authorize the Board President to negotiate a contract with Dr. Larry Nyland for the office of Superintendent. Selection of the chief executive officer of the District is a policy decision by the School Board. Per RCW 28A.330.100, the Board shall have the power to employ a superintendent of schools of the district.

Many issues with our district but let's give thanks for what we do have. As well, despite hardships and other concerns, let's be grateful and thankful what we do have in our lives. I hope you feel you have found this blog a place to be heard, to gain and give information and to find some fellowship in this journey of parenting and schooling your children.  I am an absolute sucker for kids (did you really think it was just a love for public education that keeps me here?).  When I went over to Roosevelt yesterday at the end of their march over the Ferguson decision, I had come into the cafeteria and climbed on a chair to film the crowd. It was so energizing to see all these young faces so determined and positive.  The principal (who I know), Brian Vance, told me to get down. I thought it was because I was on a chair but no, he didn't want me giving them attention; he wanted them back in class. And I get that but sometimes, when kids find passion and purpose, it is s...

Wow, just wow.  This from Publicola in its coverage of the Seattle marches related to the Ferguson decision (bold mine).  At the press conference prior to the arrests Murray said: "Bike officers do a great job. Officers will be out there [tonight] on bicycles." He added, "We're not Ferguson," citing the lack of African Americans on the Ferguson police force ["only three," he claimed] saying Seattle had "a number of African American officers." However, saying there was "an enormous gulf of mistrust" between African American communities and the police, he added that, "race remains our greatest challenge. We have to confront the challenge painfully again and again." He said there was "tremendous hurt in the African American community" about the grand jury's decision in "the murder of Mr. Brown." Murray boiled the issue down to the Seattle school system. "We are failing our young...

The PI had an in-depth story today on the accidental disclosure of 7500+ student files to a guardian seeking to protect his sister's Sped rights.  In the story, it was stated that the district had filed to go to court and force the guardian to destroy the files.  This was puzzling to me as at least one reader said it HAD been done last week.  There is an update today from the district saying this (partial): We received confirmation yesterday that the individual provided the court with certification that the documents have been deleted and the individual possesses no copies, electronic or otherwise . The court certification confirmed the documents were not distributed, electronically or as hard copy, to any other individual or party except for a KING 5 News reporter who was permitted to view the files on the individual’s computer. KING 5 has confirmed they did not keep copies of the data. But the questions continue.

Despite Cashel Toner's "this is how it's done," actually NO, this is not how grant agreements over $250K are done in SPS.  Why anyone on the Board took her word for it is beyond me. From the Superintendent's Friday Memo: At the board meeting on Wednesday you approved the $750,000 Gates grant for a Gatzert pre-school. Thank you, that will allow us to move forward on providing much needed and appreciated services for high need students at Gatzert.    Following the board meeting, you noted that the support materials for that agenda item included a copy of the contract between the Gates Foundation and the District. It was noted that I, as superintendent, had signed the grant in September which is much earlier than approved by the board.    In following up, I have confirmed that we did in fact receive the money from the Gates Foundation in October however, those funds were held and would not have been spent until Board approval was obtained. ...

An update if you were thinking of going to the COW meeting this afternoon which says it will be about the search firm for the selection of our next superintendent. There had been a notation on the agenda that it might not happen so I checked in with the ever-sunny Theresa Hale at the Board office. It seems that the Executive Session last night ran over three hours and, they didn't get finished.  (You may recall this was about a review of Superintendent Nyland which seems kind of soon given he just got here six months ago.) So the COW meeting won't happen until that Executive Session is finished.   Meaning, you could go down there, wait until the Executive Session is finished and hope that they then commence the COW meeting.  Or, you could go down and be disappointed if the Board takes longer, is exhausted and then postpones the COW meeting. I get all this except for one thing.  As it turns out, I am getting some very pronounced vibes - both from s...

 Update: I witnessed about 200 Roosevelt students marching and chanting over the Ferguson decision as they made their way back to campus around noon today.  They got corralled in the cafeteria where staff was trying to get them to go back to class.  Rowdy but peaceful. I heard from the West Seattle Blog that West Seattle High students as well as Garfield student also marched today. end of update Richard Lodish collects public education memorabilia .  It's a fascinating story from Education Week : His resume tracks his path from young teacher in inner-city Cleveland, to doctoral student at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, to associate headmaster and principal at the prestigious Sidwell Friends School in Washington. Brief stops were made along the way as a charter school founder in Oakland, Calif., an education advisor to local, state, national, and foreign government agencies, as well as published author in so many periodicals and books that...

Finally sat down to listen to the Gates Foundation preschool grant discussion from last Wednesday Board meeting.  Many adjectives come to mind; disingenuous (Cashel Toner), tardy for the party (Director McLaren), integrity (Director Patu), rationality (Director Peters) and dumbfounded (for Directors Carr and Peaslee). Folks, our Board not only okayed a grant that had been signed off months before by the Superintendent (and more on that in a moment) but most agreed it lacked clarity in one key issue.  Astonishing. It seems that staff was able, somehow, to negate to the Board that going into Years 2 and 3 of this grant, it is completely unclear what will happen.  Both Sue Peters and Betty Patu asked, over and over, and yet no real answer. Here's the crux of the problem as both Patu and Peters pointed out. The district is doing this backwards.   The MOU with the City should come FIRST and then any agreements.  Because what IF an MOU with the City is n...

Want to know my number one piece of advice for young women going off to college?  Not "study hard" or "be open to meeting new people" - it's this: Do NOT attend any frat party If you do, don't go alone and don't separate from your friend.   Do not EVER accept a drink you did not open and pour yourself.   I think this Rolling Stone article explains very well why I have this policy. I wrote a letter to President Sullivan at the University of Virginia (she doesn't have an e-mail but I sent it to her aide): Dear Nancy,   I note that the president does not have an e-mail so would you be good enough to pass this along (if you have the courage of your convictions). President Sullivan, Your "response" to the allegation in the Rolling Stone magazine are tepid at best.  Why aren't the frats shut down for the ENTIRE school year?  Want to send a message?  That's how it's done. I have ALWAYS told girls going of...

From SPS Communications: This message was sent to all principals in the district, to aid them in preparing for and advising their students regarding the Ferguson Grand Jury Verdict.

Good News 3-D Lego making at Cleveland High's STEM program. Chief Sealth wins gold in the Youth Division for their video, Riffing on a Dream at the Social Justice Film Festival. In the film, inspired by a project called  Question Bridge , 13 students sat down in front of a camera and gave their unscripted answers to questions from classmates to prompt racial dialogue within their school. The SPS story does not name the young filmmakers but you know their names, please let me know.  Monday, Nov. 24th No school for elementary and K-8 for parent/teacher conferences. Work Session two-parter from 4:30pm-8:30 pm Part One - Evaluation of the Superintendent (open session) - 1 hour Part Two - Evaluation of a public employee (closed session) - 3 hours  I would urge you to write to the the Board at schoolboard@seattleschools.org with the subject line "Superintendent review" and let the Board know what you think.  I think Nyland is an experienced administrator ...

I have a huge amount of news that all came nearly at the same time.  I am still gathering information about how you can directly complain to various agencies including OSPI, DOE and the Washington Bar Association.  I hope to get that thread info by Monday. First, the district has created a webpage on the issue, Student Information Protection. It has the Superintendent's latest letter to the entire SPS community which includes this:

Garfield teacher (and activist) Jesse Hagopian has edited a new book on student testing called More Than a Score: the New Uprising Against High-Stakes Testing (with a foreword by Diane Ravitch).  The book is a call to action but more than that, a good book for those who want to action but wonder if they can really make a difference.  The answer is, you can.  Hagopian calls those willing to stand up for opting out, testdefyers.  More Than a Score brings together stories of the fight, poems and interviews with leaders about what testing does to students and how to fight for the right assessments and testing. What I really liked were the voices of students because like most of us when we are young, we don't know enough to be scared. 

Let's give the proposed Advanced Learning policy some thought and see where it leads us. Schools had better start thinking about it and right quick because School Board policies become effective immediately upon approval by a majority vote of the Board. That means that any services promised in the Advanced Learning policy will have to be delivered immediately after the vote on December 3. Those services are supposed to be provided in every school and they will be required to be in place on December 4. The Kindergarten services will have to be in place at the start of the second semester, Monday, February 2. Has anyone asked if the schools are ready to deliver?

Guess the percentage of cable news educations guests who are actually educators?  From the Washington Post . Send this to your legislative reps when they ask, "Where will we find the money for McCleary and 1351?"   From the Puget Sound Business Journal, " Boeing CEO Makes More than his Company Pays in Federal Taxes."   Well, that didn't take long.   Buried in the Seattle Times Ed Lab comes news that our new City pre-k program WON'T pay for transportation.  And, since our City is largely segregated that will make having the mix of socio-economic backgrounds even more difficult. They also report that the levy has capital dollars that could help SPS "should the district become a classroom provider for the program."  What's odd is that this isn't new; those capital dollars were already embedded in the levy.  Of course, the City is trying to dangle as much bait as possible in front of the district.  How do capital dollars for preschool ...

It's too late for 1A but from The Atlantic comes a great story of this issue of why "pre-k" and what it means. Background (partial) " Pre-k" and "preschool" are often used interchangeably in education circles and by the news media.  After all, the two can mean the same thing: schooling that happens prior to kindergarten. But rarely do politicians who’ve declared early education a top priority say they want to expand access to preschool.  Pre-k is seen as a solution to those problems. Preschool , on the other hand, connotes nursery school. And when people imagine nursery school, they think of daycare. A babysitting arrangement.  It’s all about the single year that precedes kindergarten: pre-k.  In edu-speak , pre-k typically refers to a specific category of early learning that focuses on ensuring kids are prepared for kindergarten .   Framing the final year of preschool as pre-k, some say, implies that it’s an essential building blo...

November 19, 2014.   Mark it on your calendar or in your journal.  Because today, to my mind and experience, marks the beginning of the reform movement of our district.  (I say "our" district meaning the parents and taxpayers of Seattle.  I leave out staff because they have unions and contracts to protect them.) In a couple of days, if you watch the meeting online, you might be puzzled.  Sure, it's a packed house (and very few who came to the meeting actually got to speak about their issue) and sure enough, droning reports from staff, so what's so different? The difference is - as Charlie points out - that lawlessness has taken our district.  The manipulation of district processes are now being controlled but surely not by the Board. The Board had to vote - under Board policy 6114 and 1620 - on the Gates Foundation Preschool grant.  That Action Item, so lovingly written as to make it sound like the district had to fire this shot against the inju...

No, not the crowd but the people on the dais.  Who are they? To bring you up-to-speed: - big crowd of Garfield/RHS students in support of Latin - big crowd of Hay/Coe parents against placement of Interagency - big crowd of Native American parents/community - Director Martin-Morris on phone from somewhere Then, the Superintendent (and staff) went off on a looong tangent about "Program Evaluation and Assessment Annual Report. 1) no program reports - not one.  Did School Board speak up?  Nope. 2) lengthy report from Tolley, Heath and others that was more like a Work Session.  I could not believe how long it went on.  Tolley said 10th and 11th graders  are taking Smarter Balance test and 10th grade counts for graduation.  I will have to ask how they can make 11th graders do this. McLaren spoke up and said how great Common Core is ("there are quibbles") and it's already approved.  I could not believe my ears. 3) Superintendent had ...

There is a school board policy, 2090, titled "Program Evaluation & Assessment ". It is, of course, about program evaluation. I encourage you to read it - it's only one page long and written in fairly simple language. The policy requires an annual report. Here is the actual policy language: " The Superintendent shall prepare an annual report which reflects the degree to which district goals and objectives related to the instructional program have been accomplished. " Pretty straightforward - evaluate the instructional programs to determine if they are accomplishing their goals. Instructional programs include each school's general education program, each option school, language immersion programs, International Education programs, Special Education programs, Spectrum, APP, A.L.O.s, the Skills Center, bilingual education, Biligual Orientation Centers, and anything else that you could identify as an instructional program. Each year the staff puts tog...

Update:  I spoke with the Board office and they are likely to take five more people from the Speaker waitlist.  I believe President Peaslee may have some discretion in this area but that remains to be seen. Also to note, it appears that the Mayor and the Superintendent will be appearing at Rainier Beach Boys & Girls Club this morning .  I have not been able to find out why nor does this appear on the Mayor's published schedule.  I have another meeting so I cannot attend.  end of update Looking at the Speaker roster, it appears that the topic is "P-5 Schools Aligned with Seattle Preschool Program."   Out of 30 spots, all are on this topic, except for 4 of them for the 2015 State Legislative Agenda and on on Lunch/Recess Times.  (I have one spot about the preschool issue.) Then, there is quite a large waitlist of 30 people.  This may signal the Board may hear 10 more speakers as they tend to open it up if this many people are coming....

Update : I note that neither the Mayor's Facebook nor Twitter account mention the State of the District event at all.  The Mayor sat there for an hour and a half with elected leaders in our city and it was not enough to note on either social media. End of update It was a packed, smallish room for this event.  There was nothing that happened in that room that could not have happen at JSCEE.  Alliance head, Sara Morris, introduced many of the notables in the room. There were a lot of district staff there (including PE teachers who saw their leader, Lori Dunn, speak about their work).  Elected officials included  Mayor Murray, City Councilman Burgess, Senator Pedersen, Rep. Carlyle, Rep. Walkinshaw, Rep. Pollet,  Directors Blanford, Peaslee, Patu, Martin-Morris and McLaren and Jonathan Knapp (SEA).  Ms. Morris also went out of her way to tie the event to John Stanford (which I'm pretty sure he didn't start).  I note that the Allianc...

I've made queries in several directions; one was to OSPI .  Here's what they have to say: Can parents file a complaint thru OSPI or just DOE? If parents can file a complaint with OSPI, what is the process?  What could be the outcomes for the district? The complaint process you identify (in sec. 300.151) refers to a citizen complaint, which is a written statement to OSPI alleging that a federal or state special education rule or law has been violated by a school district, among others. The citizen complaint process is defined by federal law, and all states are required to have one in place as a condition to receiving IDEA Part B grant funding. The U.S. Department of Education does not have a similar process of its own for special education complaints. OSPI's citizen complaint process: www.k12.wa.us/SpecialEd/ DisputeResolution/ CitizenComplaint.aspx . Has OSPI seen a case like this before involving a legal case and student data at a law firm? ...

Went to the "State of the District" event yesterday hosted by the Alliance for Education and sponsored by Group Health.  (I'm sort of kidding about the the sponsorship but somebody paid for that.)   There were some interesting things said from the Superintendent (frank talk, very long and a reference to God), Mayor (how many times can he say "collaboration" until you realize that it may just be a talking point) and Washington State Teacher of the Year (tests are NOT everything but he likes Common Core).  You will not hear all this today when the Superintendent gives his speech again at JSCEE at 4 pm.  It's a 20 minute speech.  Also, no food or wine for you as at the Alliance event (but I was rushing out the door to see David Sedaris so I didn't get any either).  All part of the SPS puzzle (especially around enrollment) - the City announces community open houses around housing.   (What? no love for West Seattle or NW Seattle.)

I am seeking information far and wide on what parents with students affected by the data breach can do in terms of filing complaints.  I believe there may be multiple avenues of complaints about the district and at least one for the law firm.  I have no idea if you can sue (maybe for negligence?), so you need to get a lawyer to answer that question. I am troubled that so many call this "a mistake."  Once maybe but more than once? Incredibly sloppy.  I still don't get that the law firm, when they got that data, didn't do a random check just to make sure it was redacted (if only to protect themselves.) I mean, isn't the district paying them to do due diligence? Stay tuned and I'll let you know what I find out. As for the John Hay/Interagency situation , an update from the Queen Anne View (bold mine):

 I applaud the SCPTSA for this stand and support it. Please, write to the Board and ask them to, politely, say no to this Gates Foundation grant, school board@seattleschools.org As the SCPTA says: the district should negotiate any partnership with the City on preschool BEFORE signing off on any other agreement about preschools any new City preschools must be borne by the LEVY dollars, not district dollars.  This grant would put the district on the hook after year three what are the demands on district resources - facilities, staff time, etc - on an already stretched district I would add: this grant application is vague Bailey-Gatzert, under BTA III, IS scheduled to get a preschool classroom.  This grant is not needed for that to happen. the application says SPS will "lead the work and design the program."  This is NOT what was said during the preschool campaign and again, the district needs a partnership FIRST, then any grants.  SCPTSA Letter to ...

Monday, November 17th  College Application Event , 2:20 PM - 5:30 PM at Franklin High School. State of the District Speech at Group Health headquarters from 4:30-6 pm (with a wine reception to follow the presentation).  RSVP only.  Put on by the Alliance for Education (although, oddly, no mention of it at their own website).  Tuesday, November 18th State of the District speech at  JSCEE at 4 pm.  It is a 20-minute presentation that will be broadcast live streaming and on Channel 26.  I don't think there will be a wine reception. I think of the two dueling speeches (and their location/format) as the Snobs versus the Slobs. (No disrespect to anyone but when a state of the district speech - the first one, the main one - is not at district headquarters, you have to wonder.) Work Session DistrictScorecard/Operations Data Dashboard from 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm.  Presentation  There are quite a few interesting stats in here but I may write...

Part Two from Kellie LaRue and Meg Diaz.   There will be an update at the end by me provided by Garfield staff and PTSA. Garfield High School Garfield High School is still slated to lose a teacher. District administration says Garfield’s enrollment is under projections, and the building is overstaffed. As of Curriculum Night, the Garfield community was under the impression that they were comfortably over projections. There are a lot of conflicting and confusing numbers. Since this is a long post, I’m going to tell you my conclusions right away. I think district administration made a mistake. It’s likely they made more than one mistake. I came to this conclusion after examining the (sparse) enrollment data available on the SPS and OSPI websites. I thought that if the district’s other enrollment data was consistent and normal, the counting difference was probably a mistake on Garfield’s part. SPS enrollment data is riddled with anomalies, conflicts and incons...

A guest post from Kellie LaRue and Meg Diaz in two parts.  My early comment is that these are two parents who know how to analyze both data and lack of data.  They have done their homework.  But like Charlie and I have said, you are only as good as the data that you can get from the district.  But we try. Part One: Enrollment Data and Public Information What seems like a reasonable way to gauge who might have erred is to look at the rest of the available enrollment data, sparse though it may be. If the rest of the data is pretty consistent and lacking in anomalies, then it seems reasonable to conclude that the district got it right, and Garfield had an unusual counting flub.  But first, a second to rant about the incredible scarcity of enrollment data.  Enrollment data directly drives hundreds of millions of dollars of public funding. It is important that it be both accurate and public. Right now, it is neither. 

At least that's an LA court's ruling. Once again, this is not about what happened.  The teacher who raped this child got three years in prison.  (And we can hope he never teaches again.) It's about the district's responsibility for the actions of this teacher.  In this case, it appears there was little to none BUT the district took the opportunity to portray the victim as a wanton harlot. (I'm not exaggerating  - read on.) (I'm also going to say that I find it hard to believe that a sexual relationship that went on for six months was unnoticed by any other adult in the school.  Hard to fathom.) NO district should treat any student this way, CYA or not. From KPCC :

 Update: The Times is saying that the guardian did not just bring it to the law firm's attention weeks ago that he received unasked for student data but that he told the district.  And yet got even more student data after that notification.  If true, this would support the guardian's thought (and mine) that the district and the law firm were trying to bury him with masses of data.  That would mean that somewhere in the district someone did not bother to redact anything, possibly not thinking of the consequences of sending out a huge volume of data.  Because if some of the records had been redacted, that would have been an accident.  To me, that none were, then it seems a deliberate action, possibly done in a lazy fashion. The Times also reports that "the district asked (the guardian) to return or destroy the records so that they can be replaced by a set that doesn't reveal confidential student information."  I'll have to ask if that means he wou...

I'm hoping this is good news but I can only observe that Central headquarters grows larger by the week and you have to wonder where the money is coming from. Also, there is no mention of who is filling in at John Hay. From SPS: Ms. Kari Hanson, Principal of John Hay Elementary has accepted the Interim Position of Director of School Based Special Education Services effective November 24, 2014. She will be joining Special Education Interim Executive Director Wyeth Jessee and Director of Special Education Michaela Clancy on the Special Education leadership team. The position of Director of School Based Special Education Services is being added to the Special Education Department to support systems and procedures within the Special Education Department and improve department response to all 97 schools, parents and guardians. This position will work directly with the Special Education Supervisors and Program Specialists to support the needs of the 7,000 plus students receiving s...

Update: I had bad information about Interagency at Lincoln. Interagency was never at Lincoln.   The student incident with the plastic knife was a Sped student that is part of a Sped program based there. My apologies. Also, the info in italics is from a widely-sent e-mail and included the information about Ms. Powdlodowski. End of update The district plans to move Interagency from its somewhat secret location (until the recent incident with one of its students and a plastic knife) at Lincoln to across the street from John Hay Elementary.  Story from Queen Anne View. There is a online petition against the placement of Interagency across from John Hay Elementary.   The authors of the petition are Christina Economou, Janelle Fowler and Carmen Hagios. Some feel the district is trying to "sneak" the program into their area.  Here are some of their reasons:

I attended yesterday's Audit and Finance Committee meeting which had several fascinating discussions (and non-discussions). In attendance were Chair Sherry Carr and members Sue Peters and Harium Martin-Morris.  Also in attendance was Superintendent Nyland. I had wanted to attend because of a couple of issues of interest to me.  And naturally, one item on the agenda that I really thought would be dry and not-so-vital turned out to be great.  That's why I go to these meetings - you really learn a lot. The items I had wanted to hear about were: - MOA with Africatown - MOU with the Alliance for Education So what turned out to hold my attention? The presentation on Nutrition Services given by Nutrition Services staff, led by Wendy Weyer.  First, kudos to Ms. Weyer.  While her presentation was long, it was detailed and well-organized.  She laid out the information to the Board in a manner they could follow and then connect the dots.   ...

Yes, I will have a separate thread on the data breach that apparently happened at a law firm that was handling a Special Education case for the district.   Community meetings tomorrow: Director Blanford, 10am-11:30 am at Douglass Truth Branch Library Director Martin-Morris, 10 am-noon at NE Library branch News about SPS:

From SPS Communications: Rainier Beach High School will resume classes tomorrow,  Friday, Nov. 14. Classes were canceled today due to a power outage after a small explosion occurred while fixing a transformer. There were no injuries. Power has been restored and the building systems are operational.

You may recall the district's press release on this subject said this: Lunch/Recess Times -          We understand the concerns of parents regarding lunch and recess times. This is an issue we are taking seriously and are working to address. -          A Wellness task force has begun looking into the concerns and issues surrounding lunch times throughout the district. The purpose of this 18-month long task force is to examine nutrition, physical education and physical activity. -          The task force will provide recommendations to the superintendent at the end of this time period. -          Creating daily school schedules has become increasingly complex, due to multiple factors and requirements. This includes: o   State Board of Instruction require...

Overview Schmitz Park Elementary is one of many schools that will be affected by new enrollment boundaries that were agreed on in 2013 but now will affect the school differently given the huge and continuing growth in SPS. Meaning, what was agreed to before is not going to play out as thought. Schmitz Park has been trying, very hard, to explain to district staff what is happening (and what will get worse).  This subject of enactment of these new boundaries came up at the Executive Committee meeting yesterday.  This is what my notes reflect: Flip Herndon said they were "between a rock and hard place."  He said there was no space at Alki for portables.  He said SP had space but not "infrastructure."  The interim director, Brent (something) said, "We really need to make these changes."    Director McLaren was there but said nothing. Here's what Schmitz Park sent to parents and has told the district (bold mine):

From SPS: Rainier Beach High School classes are canceled today, Thursday, Nov. 13th, due to a power outage.

Below the cut is the latest message from Councilman Tim Burgess about the outcome of the vote on 1A versus 1B.  I am putting it up for a single reason - because so many people believe that this program was aimed at and will give preference to enroll mostly low-income tikes. It's just not true.  Currently, there is NO mechanism or "bump" to allow low-income students to the head of the line.  Placement of the preschools could very well decide who enrolls and that may very well be low-income students. But these preschools are open to all so when I hear "we had to do something for these kids," I sigh because that's not the way the measure was written. I'll pull out the pertinent phrases sans "low-income": Seattle's children best prepare children to encourage economically mixed and culturally diverse classrooms  our children He also says this which, to the best of my recollection, I have never seen before (and certainly not during ...

Update : West Seattle meeting with Senator Sharon Nelson West Seattle Blog ‏ @ westseattleblog 15m 15 minutes ago Nelson says she expects the Republicans to ask that i-1351 be suspended. # waleg @ 34dems end of update Passage of ballot outcomes according to Seattle Schools: 1B for Preschool: Yay! Great! Thanks Seattle voters. 1351 for Lower Class Sizes : Not so much. From Interim Superintendent Larry Nyland: It is too soon to know exactly how I-1351 will impact Seattle Public Schools in the wake of the Supreme Court McCleary ruling and actions anticipated during this Legislative session. Class size is one of the top four priorities of the McCleary ruling and long overdue since Washington’s class sizes rank among the highest in the nation. If fully funded by the legislature, the initiative would have a significant impact on staffing and building facilities. That will put pressure on Seattle...

Threads to come - what's the issue w/enrollment counts (and Garfield fights on) - testing opt-outs across the country - recess - not just a problem in Seattle I'll be seeing some legislators today and hope to get their take on the passage of 1351 plus McCleary in the upcoming legislative session. Great article from The Atlantic :  High School Graduation Rates Hit All Time High.   Last year, 86 percent of students took home high school diplomas, while only 7 percent dropped out — down from 13 percent two decades ago, according to Census Bureau data . The national average reflects improvements across all demographics but is boosted by significant gains among black and especially Latino high-schoolers.   Want to see what some of the Smarter Balanced testing for 3rd graders looks like?  This morning, parents and teachers in the Portland Public Schools district are buzzing about one detail of a third grade practice test  that's available ...

I'm going to call it a winner as well (the 1351 campaign already did). Yes - 989,754 No  - 962,794             26,960 Yes - 50.69% No  - 49.31% The gap is only widening (No has never caught up again since Election night).  The last drop of ballots at 6:02 pm was King County which is at nearly 55% in favor with 88K left.  No other county has near the ballots although, oddly, Spokane was supposed to have a new count at 5 pm and did not (they have 13,500 ballots).

From Disability Scoop : In what looked like a puff piece about Jerry Seinfeld, NBC pulled an astonishing admission from Seinfeld: Seinfeld tells NBC News that he sees traits of autism in himself, indicating that he isn’t the best socially and does not always follow what others are saying. “I think on a very drawn-out scale, I think I’m on the spectrum,” said Seinfeld, 60. “You’re never paying attention to the right things. Basic social engagement is really a struggle. I’m very literal, when people talk to me and they use expressions, sometimes I don’t know what they’re saying.” “I don’t see it as — as dysfunctional. I just think of it as an alternate mindset,” he said. It would be interesting to find out what his K-12 school experience was.  FYI, Disability Scoop is a great resource on information on people with challenges. 

Monday, Nov. 10th Curriculum& Instruction Policy Committee meeting , 4:30-6:30 pm.  Agenda Among items of interest: Items Requiring Board Action on Nov. 19/Dec. 3 - BAR for Policy 3201, Disciplinary Appeal Council (McFadden/Sander) - BAR for Policy 2190, Advanced Learning (Martin)  - BAR for 24 Credit Waiver Application (Heath/Stoen)  Standing Agenda Items - MTSS - Special Education RC-CAP Also, policy on attendance, Native American Education Report, waiver of basic instructional materials,program evaluation&assessment, research activity and test administration and selection/adoption of instructional materials. That's a lot of ground to cover in two hours. Tuesday, Nov. 11th Veterans Day - No School

From Seattle Schools: Seattle Public Schools celebrates with the City of Seattle and says a resounding thank you to Seattle voters for their approval of the pre-school initiative.  Our utmost appreciation for the leadership by the Mayor and the City Council in supporting this important work.  Providing an early start to our neediest families is one of the most cost effective ways to help EVERY student succeed.  The city initiative starts small and builds to 2000 students over the next four years.  We look forward to working with the City of Seattle in the implementation of this important work.   Naturally, we all think preschool is a good thing.  But really?  All the schools are excited about this work as they are underfunded and overenrolled?  Hard to believe but I'm going with headquarters staff is happy.   (I also note that the second sentence lacks a verb.)  The district is also WRONG in the "neediest famili...

Update :  the I-1351 campaign has declared victory. My latest tweet:   Yes to lower class sizes in WA continues its winning ways, up 18K votes. Biggest counties trend Yes; should be able to call by Monday eve. After today's ballot drops, Yes on 1351 is up by 18,205 votes (nearly 1%).   Pierce County had 9,000 ballots - they are down to 1500 (at 51.65% Yes) King had 121,000 ballots - they are down to 88,000 (at 54% Yes) Snohomish had 58,000 ballots - they are down to 27,000 (at 50.5% Yes) Spokane has 13,500 ballots outstanding (at 50.23% Yes) So while some counties are just hanging in there, King has, by far, the largest number of ballots and they continue to trend Yes. Biggest approval?  Jefferson County with 60%. Lowest approval?  Colombia County with nearly 65%. I readily admit that, like other measures, voters may have been confused by this measure.  But again, if we all agree to vote Yes to everything for kids, then we will have a ver...

From KING-5 News: Andrew Fryberg, a 15-year-old Marysville student who was critically injured after another student opened fire inside a high school cafeteria two weeks ago, died Friday from his injuries, Harborview Medical Center officials said. The last victim, Nate Hatch, went home from the hospital this week.  He and Andrew were best friends.  The Daily Herald in Everett writes about a gun control bill to be reintroduced in the Legislature: State Rep. Ruth Kagi, D-Seattle, whose district includes parts of south Snohomish County, for two years has sponsored a bill that would require that guns be safely stored, making it a crime if a person stores or leaves a loaded firearm in a place where a child under 16 could get it.It didn't get out of committee in 2013 and didn't get a hearing in 2014. She said Wednesday she'll try again in 2015. The Legislature convenes in January. She introduced it because of a series of accidental child deaths and adolescent suicides ...

The General Services Administration has announced that the Federal Reserve Building will go up for auction on December 5th with an opening bid of $5M.  The closing date for bids is January 28th, 2015.  From the GSA website: At the close of the auction, the high bid will be considered for acceptance by the Government.  The Government reserves the right to reject any or all bids for any reason.   The building cannot be demolished because of historic preservation regulations (although the zoning for that area would allow unlimited height if those regulations did not apply to the building).  That right there will severely limit the number of bidders.  So, the district could try to bid on it and obviously, set a limit on how high they go.  I suspect the money could be found a number of ways.  Of course, then it would be quite awhile for the district to find the real money to renovate it.  Is that worth it? Possibly.  Or, as o...

I've been tracking I-1351 for most of the day.  At 2 pm, they were neck and neck with Yes- 50.07% and No-49.93%.  But as the vote totals go up - Yes had about 7500 more votes at 4 pm, then up 9,000 votes by 5:30 pm and at the last vote count, Yes had over 11,000 votes and has its biggest percentage lead at ....64%.  King County still has 121,000 votes left to count, Snohomish has 58,000, Spokane has 13,000 and Pierce has 9,000. King is solidly yes but Snohomish and Spokane are barely yes. But the trend is to the Yes side.  For me, this is very reminiscent of watching the vote counts for 1240, the charter school initiative.*  Except that, day after day, the trend never changed.  This one is changing.  As I mentioned elsewhere, the Times had not one but two whiny editorials today (and truly, there is no other way to describe them).

SPS tweet: Shelter in place: Chief Sealth, Denny, Roxhill after reports of man w/gun near Roxhill Park. @ SeattlePD investigating. No students involved. This was about 40 minutes ago and the shelter in place was lifted after about 15 minutes. Schools will dismiss at their regular times.

Threads to come - are the school funding numbers a Brad Bernatek kind of issue (meaning, the district has them wrong) or deliberate subterfuge?  What do these midterm elections mean for the state of public education in the U.S.A? Next major drop of ballot counts for I-1351 is about 4:30 pm today. OSPI reports that more Washington students are taking the SAT, PSAT and AP tests , across all racial subgroups.  The state’s student performance remained relatively strong. SAT and PSAT saw a slight downturn in overall scores, but the number of AP scores of at least “3” — the score needed to earn college credit — increased 5.7 percent.  I haven't watched this but there's a "Conversation with the Superintendent" at the district's channel .  It appears this will be a regular feature and you can submit questions. Viewers are invited to submit questions for the Superintendent by emailing publicaffairs@seattleschools.org (please put “Conversation” in the s...

Update 8:25 am The Times is whining that Governor Inslee didn't "lead" by revealing his own vote against 1351. As governor, he should have expressed his concerns with the initiative and let voters know where he stood so they could follow his example. Now, the initiative might require a recount and, if it does pass, it could suck up lawmakers’ time and resources from other matters, and it might not ever be fully implemented. Inslee might have wanted to let voters make up their own minds, but that’s no excuse for sitting back and not doing what voters expect him to do: lead. Since when is ANYONE supposed to reveal their vote (even a Governor)?  I have to wonder if maybe he does support it but worried about the money so he voted no.  Whatever the reason, it's his vote. Next big ballot drop is 4:30 pm. Update 8:05 pm Yes continues upward climb over 4500 votes up with more votes to count. Update 7:40 pm Yes takes the lead...with about 125 votes.  However, K...