Concord Elementary Sends United Message to Nyland
Good afternoon, 
Our parents, teachers, and community members are asking to be included in the processes by which decisions are made that directly affect our students and families. It is essential that members of our school community be actively sought out and included in these conversations due to a unique set of circumstances and our specific demographics. Our school boasts a competitive dual language program and an incredibly competent staff of teachers. However, because our school has a disproportionate number of students of color, English Language Learners, and families at or below the federal poverty level, implementing core curriculum that is both pedagogically sound, in accordance with international education requirements, and culturally appropriate is especially challenging. In addition, because of these dynamics our school and its students stand to be more negatively impacted by inadequate funding and untimely changes to student/teacher ratio than other school communities in our district.
I'm writing to you on behalf of the 
community of parents, guardians, and teachers at Concord International 
Elementary school who together, wrote and gathered over 300 signed 
copies of the letter attached to this email in two days.
Our parents, teachers, and community members are asking to be included in the processes by which decisions are made that directly affect our students and families. It is essential that members of our school community be actively sought out and included in these conversations due to a unique set of circumstances and our specific demographics. Our school boasts a competitive dual language program and an incredibly competent staff of teachers. However, because our school has a disproportionate number of students of color, English Language Learners, and families at or below the federal poverty level, implementing core curriculum that is both pedagogically sound, in accordance with international education requirements, and culturally appropriate is especially challenging. In addition, because of these dynamics our school and its students stand to be more negatively impacted by inadequate funding and untimely changes to student/teacher ratio than other school communities in our district.
At
 this time, our specific request is that you reconsider the staffing 
cuts that are taking place at our school and provide us with the 
information necessary to understand why our school district staff and 
board members are not taking action in light of the state's failure to 
fund our schools.  While it is the paramount duty of our state to 
fully fund public education, a failure to do so does not relinquish the 
school board of directors and our superintendent from their 
responsibilities. These responsibilities include establishing consistent
 and equitable policies, developing a balanced budget, and using their 
legal and fiduciary authority to ensure each child has equal access to 
the education they deserve without discrimination or oversight.  
Thank you for your time, we look forward to hearing from you soon. 
Casey S. Peplow
Co-President, Concord International Elementary School PTA
Comments
SW Mom
Alki parent
EdVoter
Octr Adjustment Summary
Add to these the SpEd FTE adjustments, compare to School Allocation Budgets from May, with the August tweaks.