City Puts Back Families&Education Levy Funding

Update 2:  I'll have some analysis of why the City may have put the money back (it's not normally their way) but if you have some thoughts, please let us know.  (Also, a huge shout-out to PTA President Chandra Hampson and the Sand Point Elementary community who were fairly relentless on this issue.)

 I'm putting the Mayor's letter to Sand Point at the end of this thread; Emerson received a similar one.  The letter had some language that confused me so I wrote to the DEEL office and here are the Q&As:

1) He says in the first paragraph:

"That said, the collaboration with the District in hiring a new principal at Emerson/Sand Point..."

Who is the Mayor referring to about collaboration?  Is that with the City or that the District collaborated with parents? 

If he means the City, could you explain the details of when that happened and what form that collaboration took?

The District invited the City to participate in the principal interview process at Sand Point and Emerson, along with school staff, the SPS Executive Director, and parents.

2)  What's an "on-boarding process?"

Schools teams will participate in workshops early Fall provided to schools receiving Levy funding that are either new or have new leadership teams. Workshop topics include but are not limited to:

• Levy 101 – This will cover basic contract and program requirements and expectations. This will cover the roles and responsibilities of school team members overseeing interventions funded by the Levy.
• Data Access and Use – We are partnering with school district staff to provide training on accessing and utilizing District generated reports that schools can use to help inform instruction and determine how to implement continues improvement practices for programs serving students.

3)  What's a "high-performing Levy principal?"  Do you mean another SPS principal that has a F&E levy grant and is doing well at their school? 

Yes. We will try to pair the new principals with a principal experienced in implementing interventions funded by the Levy and whose school is showing progress on performance measures such as students meeting standard or making growth on math and reading.

I'll just say that I do NOT like that the district is now allowing outside entities to 

have a voice on principal assignments in exchange for grant money.  

They do this at South Shore (allowing LEV private interviews with all principal candidates for South Shore) and now they allowed input from DEEL for Sand Point and Emerson.

Principal selection and placement is the duty of the Superintendent and the Board.  I believe the District is going down a very slippery slope because one day, Bill Gates will come a'calling.  He gives a lot of money so why can't he have a say?

End of update 2.

 Update: still waiting for more details.

This was the photo at Sand Point's Facebook page:



End of update

I don't know all the details but apparently this issue of pulling/reducing the Families&Education levy grant funding that was happening to Sand Point Elementary and Emerson Elementary went all the way to the Mayor's desk.

And today, he put it back.

I hope to get details soon.

Mayor Murray's Letter

June 18, 2015

Dan Warren, Principal 
Sand Point Elementary School 
6208 60th Ave NE 
Seattle, WA 98115

RE: Letter of Funding Intent-Sand Point Elementary School Innovation Funding for 2015-16 SY

Dear Principal Warren:

I am sending this letter in response to your request that Sand Point Elementary receives the full Families and Education Levy (Levy) Elementary Innovation grant for the 2015-16 school year. The purpose of the Levy is to provide struggling students with the needed academic and social, emotional, family, and health supports to be successful in school. In our experience, strong and stable leadership in a school is critical for the successful implementation of these supports and is a condition for first year schools receiving this grant. That said, the collaboration with the District in hiring a new principal at Sand Point, and the strength of the school community has demonstrated a strong commitment to support Levy-funded services to students during the school's leadership transition next year.

I am pleased to notify you that, at my direction, the Department of Education and Early Learning (DEEL) now intends to award the full Families and Education Levy (Levy) Elementary Innovation grant to Sand Point Elementary School for the 2015-16 school year based on implementation of the following conditions listed below:

Conditions of Award

• New principal and, if available, the Executive Director meet with DEEL staff in early July to do briefintroduction to the Levy grant, review draft plan, and discuss timeline for making any programmaticor budget changes; and

• New principal and school team agree to Levy award guidance and expectations during this transitionyear that includes an on-boarding process.

Department of Education and Early Learning (DEEL) Elementary Consultants will assist with the transition of the new principal and team by providing the following additional supports:

• Seek out a high-performing Levy principal to serve as a mentor/coach to the new principal

• Provide additional access to support, particularly within the first year of implementation. Potential

areas of focus would be:

» Structure and format of Levy team meetings

» Role of Levy coordinator

» Best practices for incorporating Levy work into the total scope of the school's vision, mission and work

»- Development of progress-monitoring systems

»- Problem-solving Levy-related topics

The section below describes how the 2015-16 school year funds are structured, limitations regarding the use of Levy funds, and the charging of indirect costs.

Budget Summary:

• Your total 2015-16 SY Levy award is $318,000 (75% issued as base pay and 25% contingent
upon meeting performance targets that we'll set in July).

• Seattle Public Schools' indirect has already been deducted from the award total. You may earn the
entire amount itemized below.

• You will budget $238.500 for 2015-16 SY (base pay) and then have access to $79,500 in performance pay once earned.

• Levy "base pay" must be used for supplemental educational supports and cannot be used for supplanting of District resources or state Basic Education funding.

• Summary of your 2015-16 SY Levy award:

2015-16 SY Levy Innovation Award Amount
                                                  Contract Limit

Base Budget (75%)                         $238,500

Performance Pay (25%)                      79,500

--- TOTAL BUDGET:                     $318,000
Please contact Isabel Munoz-Colon at lsabel.Munoz-Colon@seattle.gov or 206-674-7657 with any questions.

Thank you for all that you do to support Seattle's students, and we look forward to working with you in the upcoming school year.

Sincerely,

Mayor Edward B. Murray

City of Seattle