Tuesday Open Thread
The Seattle Times is reporting that the previously-desired-by-the-District Federal Reserve Building may somehow rise taller under its new owner, Martin Selig. The article also corrects/contradicts earlier reporting that the roof was part of the historic landmark status; it's not. Reading what has to be done in order to build higher is pretty much convincing evidence that SPS could not have made this into a school.
KING-5 story on the installation of geothermal heating at Adams.
It's something the district says is becoming its new standard.
The district anticipates $30,000 of savings on energy reduction every year for Adams Elementary.
Is it? I think maybe a goal as it's pretty expensive to do. Otherwise, the district would be doing this at all the new or renovated buildings. As for that second statement, I'll have to ask. Because when they did this at HIMS, we were told the savings wouldn't be realized for at least a decade.
Want to see something completely heartbreaking at a school? It's a kid in Kentucky being handcuffed by a school resource officer for bad behavior. But because the cuffs are too big, the cuffs are up the child's arms, behind his back, therefore pulling on him harder than if he were just cuffed at the wrists. The ACLU is helping the families sue.
The groups say that law enforcement in schools must be trained on how to work with children with disabilities and trauma. Learning de-escalation skills should be as common as fire drills for schools and any law enforcement officers who serve them
In much better news, the Connecticut News Project reports that President Obama has chosen a nationally recognized expert, Dr. James P. Comer, to join an Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans.
Comer said he will stress to the committee the central importance of child development in helping disadvantaged minority kids succeed.
“The modern school reform movement that focuses on math and reading,” Comer said, “misses what schools are about. Schools are to prepare students to be successful in life.”
In an update from my previous reporting about upcoming SPS meetings, there is indeed an Executive Committee Meeting on Thursday, August 13th and it is a regular committee meeting, not one of the Whole. Still no agendas for the three Board committee meetings next week.
Normally, this is the point where I would say, what's on your mind? But I need to add that for the next couple of days to a week, I'll be moderating comments. It certainly isn't my first choice but it's necessary for now.
KING-5 story on the installation of geothermal heating at Adams.
It's something the district says is becoming its new standard.
The district anticipates $30,000 of savings on energy reduction every year for Adams Elementary.
Is it? I think maybe a goal as it's pretty expensive to do. Otherwise, the district would be doing this at all the new or renovated buildings. As for that second statement, I'll have to ask. Because when they did this at HIMS, we were told the savings wouldn't be realized for at least a decade.
Want to see something completely heartbreaking at a school? It's a kid in Kentucky being handcuffed by a school resource officer for bad behavior. But because the cuffs are too big, the cuffs are up the child's arms, behind his back, therefore pulling on him harder than if he were just cuffed at the wrists. The ACLU is helping the families sue.
The groups say that law enforcement in schools must be trained on how to work with children with disabilities and trauma. Learning de-escalation skills should be as common as fire drills for schools and any law enforcement officers who serve them
In much better news, the Connecticut News Project reports that President Obama has chosen a nationally recognized expert, Dr. James P. Comer, to join an Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for African Americans.
Comer said he will stress to the committee the central importance of child development in helping disadvantaged minority kids succeed.
“The modern school reform movement that focuses on math and reading,” Comer said, “misses what schools are about. Schools are to prepare students to be successful in life.”
In an update from my previous reporting about upcoming SPS meetings, there is indeed an Executive Committee Meeting on Thursday, August 13th and it is a regular committee meeting, not one of the Whole. Still no agendas for the three Board committee meetings next week.
Normally, this is the point where I would say, what's on your mind? But I need to add that for the next couple of days to a week, I'll be moderating comments. It certainly isn't my first choice but it's necessary for now.
Comments
HP
Source: http://bex.seattleschools.org/bex-iv/pinehurst-school/
This technology has gotten a lot more common, so it's probably cheaper from both economies of scale and for finding enough contractors to have a really competitive bid.
There may be different tax or other incentives for doing this. I don't remember WA rules, but something like waiving sales tax makes a huge difference.
$30K/year may still be a decade-long payoff period. The district may have chosen a different length of payoff periods to make a project worth it. This is all speculation, but I know that my co-workers installing solar panels now are getting about 2.5X the installed power for the same price as ones installed 5-6 years ago. I'm a little surprised more SPS projects don't include a smallish (~10 kW) solar array.
Universal preschool: Reality falling far short of vision
It was an ambitious plan: the state would provide the funding necessary to guarantee every child access to a high-quality preschool.
“Let’s commit Connecticut to achieving universal pre-kindergarten,” Gov. Dannel P. Malloy told legislators during his State of the State speech last year.
....... And then reality hit.
Just 22 of 123 eligible school districts applied for the funding.
“We considered it for about 30 seconds,” said Merrill Gay, a member of New Britain’s school board and the executive director of the Connecticut Early Childhood Alliance, which represents early care providers across the state. “It wasn’t that good of a deal.”
The state on Monday awarded districts $1.6 million of the $15 million available — and no more is expected to be given out before the fiscal year ends in seven weeks.
-- Dan Dempsey
The commission is tasked with “improving educational outcomes for African Americans to ensure that all African Americans receive an education that prepares them for college, productive careers, and satisfying lives.”
Yale's James P. Comer tells us he will stress to the committee the central importance of child development in helping disadvantaged minority kids succeed.
“The modern school reform movement that focuses on math and reading,” Comer said, “misses what schools are about. Schools are to prepare students to be successful in life.”
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Please contrast what Comer says with WA State's "Career and College Ready" edicts. In my opinion this huge thrust for college ready is "missing what schools are about" and in doing so does not prepare all students to lead successful lives.
"College and/or Career Ready" should replace "College and Career Ready" thinking.
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Here is another Commission, will it be any more productive than its predecessors?
--To improve a system requires the intelligent application of relevant data. Can this commission do that?
-- Dan Dempsey
- Gemini
My husband is an energy analyst for City Light; his job is to "give away" money for commercial buildings to either install (new construction) or convert to more energy-efficient systems—everything from HVAC units to lightbulbs. SPS is not his customer, but I'll bet they are one of his coworkers'. It is likely the District got a nice subsidy to do this, though I am not certain they participated in City Light's program.
Don't know if this is true, but it does match what the facts currently demonstrate.
Also, there may be seats in the school, but they may not be at the grade level that you need.