Middle College Continues Its Steady Decline

Is there an explanation for how quickly Middle College is sliding downward in just a matter of months?  And, with very little in the way of real explanation to the SPS community?

Comments

Anonymous said…
This isn't a surprise. Associate Sup Michael Tolley has repeatedly stated that he doesn't support "alternative" education. He has systematically eliminated nearly all options that are not in line with corporate ed, most recently using HR policies to do his dirty work. He closed the Interagency Programs in 2008, which were only reopened due to failed political maneuvers. Middle College has always also been a target--as were AS#1, AAA, Ed Service Centers, John Marshall, among many other less known programs.

The attacks on Choice School-Queen Anne Elementary principal David Elliott can also be included. His failure to complete evaluations was a ruse to oust him; Many many administrators have never evaluated all of their staff.

~Brokenhearted
11/29/15, 7:19 PM
Carol Simmons said…
I am also brokenhearted. We cannot allow this to happen to Middle College. They eliminated it from High Point and now are working to eliminate it from the UW campus.

11/29/15, 8:01 PM
Robert Cruickshank said…
We have to save Middle College. The new board must make this a priority - starting with amending the policy to make it clear that the board and the board alone have the power to close programs. And then they have to direct the staff, from the Superintendent on down, to restore Middle College.

This is an immediate and critical test for the new board and it is essential that they pass. This sets an important tone. If the staff are allowed to destroy Middle College, nothing else in this district is safe from them.
11/29/15, 9:58 PM
Charlie Mas said…
We used to ask for clarity. We asked: what is a program, what is a service, what is a school, and who has authority over them? These questions were, supposedly, answered in the superintendent's procedure for policy 2200. Once these definitions and limits of authority were set, however, district officials started violating them.

The board, lead by Michael DeBell and Harium Martin-Morris, broke the rules when they took back the superintendent's authority to place programs. They overrode his decision to place north-end middle school APP at Eckstein (where it belongs).

The Superintendent and staff, in turn, refused to treat Montessori or language immersion as programs. They also eliminated Spectrum by merging it with ALO and changing it from a program into a service.

They said that they didn't have to hold a hearing on the closure of Summit because the building would be continue to be used as a school. They said that closure hearings are for buildings, not schools. But then they also refused to hold a hearing on the closure of the Middle College in West Seattle saying that the school is continuing and they only have to hold hearings when the school is closed, not the building. Tricky.

So before we didn't have rules or definitions and everyone did whatever they wanted. Now we have rules and definitions, but people still do whatever they want.
11/30/15, 8:35 AM
Anonymous said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
11/30/15, 10:51 AM
Carol Simmons said…
The University of Washington would like to keep Middle College on it's campus but the decision is up to the Seattle Public Schools. Who in SPS has made the recommendation to move it from the UW campus? Where will it move? Why? Is there a commitment to support it at another site?
11/30/15, 11:22 AM
Anonymous said…
There is something in the air at the Seattle University one as well.


- Curious
11/30/15, 1:00 PM
Wanda said…
The culture of lawlessness is contagious, being benignly being fed and growing.

Do we have to wait for the next superintendent to deal with it?
11/30/15, 5:19 PM
Melissa Westbrook said…
Nope, we're getting 4 new members of the School Board in less than 24 hours. I think on issues like non-compliance with board/district policy, these directors have a different outlook.
11/30/15, 9:17 PM
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