Tuesday Open Thread

The race for Supreme Court justices continues to heat up with the news that yet another billionaire has teamed up with a legislator to target Justice Barbara Madsen.  From KPLU:

Ken Fisher of Camas, Washington is a Forbes-listed billionaire. Rodney Tom is a Medina Democrat who joined with Republicans to take control of the Washington Senate in 2013. 

Recently Tom formed and Fisher funded a new political action committee called Judicial Integrity Washington. In recent weeks, the PAC has spent $100,000 on radio ads for Kittitas County Prosecutor Greg Zempel. He’s challenging Chief Justice Barbara Madsen for her seat on the Washington Supreme Court. 

To date, independent expenditures in this Supreme Court race have outpaced spending by the candidates by a margin of more than seven to one. 

News of this funding by ed reformers (both inside and outside our state) has drawn national attention. The Washington Post, Diane Ravitch and bloggers in other states are tracking this race.

Troubling news from the Bellingham Herald on the rate of teen suicide in Washington State.

Across the U.S., 1 of every 9 adolescents aged 12 to 17 had at least one major depressive episode in the last year, according to a report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Of the 10 states with the highest rates, four were in the West: Oregon, Arizona, Utah and Washington state. Oregon ranked first, with nearly 15 percent of teens reporting major depressive episodes. Washington state ranked seventh, with 12 percent.

An average of two youths kill themselves every week in Washington state, with another 17 attempting suicide, according to the Youth Suicide Prevention Program in Seattle. And the state’s report found that 20 percent of the state’s 10th-graders had seriously considered suicide in the previous 12 months.

In 2014, firearms were the leading cause of suicides in Washington state, accounting for nearly half of all deaths. In 2014, Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee signed a bill that called on the state’s Department of Health to create a suicide prevention plan for people of all ages.

Good opportunity for musical students: Meter Music School Youth Scholarships.  Application due by August 15th.

Olympic Hills' principal, Helen Joung, sent a letter to parents announcing her departure from their school to become the new Executive Director for the SW.  This is a good thing for schools in the SW and a bad thing for Olympic Hills as well as the soon-to-open Cedar Park Elementary.

Principal Joung had been a leader in trying to explain to the district and the Board on the folly of the make-up of the student body at Cedar Park especially in light of this new lens of "equity."  

A couple of notices from SPS:

Student Health
The Washington State Department of Health is urging parents to make sure their kids’ immunizations are up-to-date before heading back to school this fall.  The State Department of Health now requires two doses of chickenpox (Varicella) vaccine for all students in grades K through 12.
School nurses will review each student’s vaccination records and notify parents through regular postal mail by the end of the current school year if a student needs additional vaccinations.
A complete list of immunization requirements is available at the following Washington State Department of Health website.

Before/After Childcare - a bit of a interesting notice given the district's moves towards possibly closing some of them because of capacity needs (or maybe for City pre-k space.)

Ninety three percent of SPS elementary schools have on-site care programs.  Programs offer fee-based before and after school, school break, and (usually) summer care for elementary school-aged children. Many also offer preschool for 3-5 year olds (full day or part day).

The Blue Angels flew overhead yesterday as I was eating lunch outside at a restaurant in Georgetown.  So heads up (ha!) for that.

What's on your mind?