Seattle Schools This Week
Tuesday, November 1st
Board Work Session from 4:30-6:30 pm at JSCEE. Agenda
There is one topic - Annual Evaluation of 2015-2016 Board Governance Priorities and Superintendent SMART Goals, Part 2.
This particular topic has - no kidding - 164 pages for the Board to review. Most of it is around Cedar Park and its enrollment. I do not understand sticking this topic in with SMART Goals.
Then there will be an Executive Session to "Evaluate the performance of a public employee" (likely the Superintendent as it is time for his annual evaluation.)
I am hoping that the Board will soon take control of their own Work Sessions and not allow staff to eat up time with endless reviews and/or documentation delivered before whatever the topic at hand gets actual discussion.
Wednesday, November 2nd
School Board meeting, starting at 4:15 pm. Agenda
My early prediction? It's going to be a mighty long night with:
- Superintendent and Board comments (which I wish were on a timer because I don't think there is a realization about how long these people talk)
- Public testimony - given the intensity of feeling around the growth boundaries, I would think the speaker list would probably be at least 30 people.
Clearly the biggest item in the agenda is the 2017-2018 Growth Boundaries. There are 10 amendments from every single director except for Director Blanford.
It is near impossible to predict the ripple effects of any given change. There has been no real way for the Board or the public to see a big overlay of what would be happening where and yet that ability to map exists.
I wish the Board would vote in Director Harris' amendment to postpone. Here's what Harris' amendment says (partial and bold mine):
I also wish that the Board could, as Director Geary asked last Board meeting, be able to vote on boundary items with no real controversy. That way staff could move forward with those changes.
I would predict that the Action portion of the Board meeting would not be done until at least
7:30 pm. Maybe they can switch the order of the amendments and vote on Director Harris' amendment first.
Highlights of Intro items:
- Legislative agenda. This all read very well until I got to the Summation.
Board Work Session from 4:30-6:30 pm at JSCEE. Agenda
There is one topic - Annual Evaluation of 2015-2016 Board Governance Priorities and Superintendent SMART Goals, Part 2.
This particular topic has - no kidding - 164 pages for the Board to review. Most of it is around Cedar Park and its enrollment. I do not understand sticking this topic in with SMART Goals.
Then there will be an Executive Session to "Evaluate the performance of a public employee" (likely the Superintendent as it is time for his annual evaluation.)
I am hoping that the Board will soon take control of their own Work Sessions and not allow staff to eat up time with endless reviews and/or documentation delivered before whatever the topic at hand gets actual discussion.
Wednesday, November 2nd
School Board meeting, starting at 4:15 pm. Agenda
My early prediction? It's going to be a mighty long night with:
- Superintendent and Board comments (which I wish were on a timer because I don't think there is a realization about how long these people talk)
- Public testimony - given the intensity of feeling around the growth boundaries, I would think the speaker list would probably be at least 30 people.
Clearly the biggest item in the agenda is the 2017-2018 Growth Boundaries. There are 10 amendments from every single director except for Director Blanford.
It is near impossible to predict the ripple effects of any given change. There has been no real way for the Board or the public to see a big overlay of what would be happening where and yet that ability to map exists.
I wish the Board would vote in Director Harris' amendment to postpone. Here's what Harris' amendment says (partial and bold mine):
I move that the School Board postpone consideration of the 2017-2018 Implementation Amendments to the 2013-2020 Growth Boundaries Plan until such time as staff can bring this Board Action Report to the Board concurrently with:
1. A proposed 2017-2018 Student Assignment Plan ready for Board final action, which includes Middle School Pathways (to be heard concurrently);
2. An updated review and report regarding the boundaries and use for Lincoln High School; and
3. The demographic and Free and Reduced Lunch/socio-economic status and disaggregated data regarding racial balance or imbalance for each proposed change.
I recognize that this is a significant delay to that action requested by our hard-working staff; however, it is problematic to move 800 children from their current assignments without having an understanding of the consequences of these many proposed moves and without understanding the strategy or systemic planning of the Student Assignment Plan that absolutely affects the purpose of the schools (e.g. assignment of the Highly Capable Cohort at Cascadia, currently housed at the interim Lincoln site, and the potential for opening an additional option/alternative school).
I would predict that the Action portion of the Board meeting would not be done until at least
7:30 pm. Maybe they can switch the order of the amendments and vote on Director Harris' amendment first.
Highlights of Intro items:
- Legislative agenda. This all read very well until I got to the Summation.
The 2016-17 proposed legislative agenda is focused on three main areas:
-
Fully Fund McCleary by Providing Ample and Sustainable Funding for K-12
-
Fund Capital Projects and Remove Barriers to Address Capacity Needs
- Eliminate the Opportunity Gaps
Summation
Fully fund McCleary, including ample funding for: salaries; capital cost of class size reduction; and non- detrimental levy reform. Good teaching, fair salaries, adequate classrooms and class sizes are all needed to close opportunity gaps for our neediest learners.
No, good teaching, fair salaries, adequate classrooms and class sizes are all needed for ALL students.
It is absolutely important when a school district is considering a course of action to look at ways to support and lift up students who struggle the most. But the overall vision for a school district should be to support ALL learners. Maybe the summation was just poorly phrased but I find that phrasing to be troubling.
- Acceptance of a grant from the State for $332,657 for school security items at two high schools, two middle schools, three K-8s and several elementary schools.
Thursday, November 3rd
Executive Committee meeting from 8:20-10:30 am. No agenda yet available.
Talking about the 2017-2018 Budget community meeting at South Shore K-8 from 6-8 pm. As I previously reported this is not a simple "here's how it works" meeting. Rather, it seems to be getting parents and community ready for possible reductions in the budget due to McCleary factors.
There are no director community meetings this weekend.
Fully fund McCleary, including ample funding for: salaries; capital cost of class size reduction; and non- detrimental levy reform. Good teaching, fair salaries, adequate classrooms and class sizes are all needed to close opportunity gaps for our neediest learners.
No, good teaching, fair salaries, adequate classrooms and class sizes are all needed for ALL students.
It is absolutely important when a school district is considering a course of action to look at ways to support and lift up students who struggle the most. But the overall vision for a school district should be to support ALL learners. Maybe the summation was just poorly phrased but I find that phrasing to be troubling.
- Acceptance of a grant from the State for $332,657 for school security items at two high schools, two middle schools, three K-8s and several elementary schools.
Thursday, November 3rd
Executive Committee meeting from 8:20-10:30 am. No agenda yet available.
Talking about the 2017-2018 Budget community meeting at South Shore K-8 from 6-8 pm. As I previously reported this is not a simple "here's how it works" meeting. Rather, it seems to be getting parents and community ready for possible reductions in the budget due to McCleary factors.
There are no director community meetings this weekend.
Comments
Speaking of CP-- it's funny that the race and equity toolkit documents are being used as evidence for the Superintendent's eval. The community-- with a solid voice, and with 150 plus parents who are primarily ELL and parents of color, said the same thing a year ago as they are saying now, and so did parent representatives on the toolkit team, who did not agree with enrollment staff's outcome. One representative testified to that effect at last Board meeting. Parents do not want to be forced into an attendance area building that does not meet ed spec and will become overcrowded very easily, because that really affects kids-- especially when so many live in poverty. The enrollment planning staff took notes at each meeting but at no point altered the course. Only when the Board became involved did we see real choices. THANK YOU Burke, Pinkham, and Geary. Board, please follow their lead and make a solid decision about Cedar Park. Our PTA is surveying people now and I know they'll passon what they learn. Please don't postpone this decision.
OHCP
I hope you let the Board know that you support Director Geary's idea of getting some work done now.
rb
Many of the elementary grandfathering issues would also go away at the same time.
If they make no other decision this Wednesday, I do hope they vote on the CP amendments.
~ CP neighbor
I foresee Blanford using his comments to chastise his fellow board members for micromanaging staff with these amendments. Where's his fix for the imbalance created by the crazy Meany attendance area?
The race and equity analysis for Cedar Park only took the boundaries between John Rogers and Cedar Park and Olympic Hills and Cedar Park into consideration, and did not address the cascade of boundary changes triggered by splitting Olympic Hills and John Rogers into Cedar Park. It was a race and equity analysis using tunnel vision.
How much more time do they need? I think we have come to the point where it is time to go with amendment 6A, which keeps boundaries as they are currently drawn for the 2016-17 school year.
-North-end Mom
I was under the impression that, if they don't pass an amended plan for 2017-18 (either staff's recommendations for amendments or the staff recommendations plus various Board amendments), then the plan reverts back to what was previously-approved by the School Board in 2013 (Cedar Park opens as an attendance area school, and north-end boundaries redrawn). With no clear implementation specified for the 2013-approved Growth Boundaries Plan, this would be at SPS staff's discretion, and it could very well be geo-splits for all.
So, I might be wrong, but I think the Board has to either go with the motion to delay, OR vote in an amended plan. A no vote doesn't scrap the boundary changes, as they will go forward since they were approved by the Board in 2013.
-North-end Mom
OHCP
I know there is an amendment to grandfather these two change areas, which is great but a short term mitigation to the impact of this change. Going forward, in next few years as kids age out, I wonder what will happen to this neighborhood and how much involvement they will have in their respective schools which is not part of their identity.
It is frustrating because 41 and 44 were put forth to create an alignment of elementary schools with middle schools. Cutting out a part of GLES AA that is closest to Eckstein (at the time) would seem a little bit logical and had an understandable benefit. But now with the whole Hamilton / Eckstein imbalance which hopefully will get rectified with Amendment 2, that whole logic and benefit has unraveled. And Bryant and Wedgewood's capacity demands will be increased even more.
Now the issue for 41 and 44 to get pulled from GLES AA is capacity. Which is a real issue. GLES just added a 4th kindergarten class and has gained the equivalent of another class in the upper grades. At first look, one would have to say there is a huge baby boom in the GLES area. However, if you look at the total number of kindergarteners in the three schools that are within the GLES AA, that number has dropped by a total of 2 students. It is just that MIS and JSIS enrolled a combined total of 24 less Kindergarteners than last year while GLES enrolled 22 more. And to boot, the combined wait list for K Students at MIS and JSIS was 73.
Not to mention that the language schools attrition of older students cannot be made up so their cohorts only get smaller, while GLES has to absorb them and any new upper class student coming into the area.
And to add to the whole issue, BF.Day which borders the GLES AA, has 5 empty class rooms. If you use SPS numbers that equals $800,000 in portables.
Capacity issues at GLES have solutions that make sense.
My question to group is how much can the District modify/direct JSIS and MIS enrollment to address capacity issues in the larger AA? I know they are able to cap their enrollment but could they require the cap to be raised to increase their K and 1 cohort next year. Can they increase the Geo-Zone to take over more of the total GLES area so there is opportunity for more students within GLES AA to get into these option schools.
There is a proposal that JSIS GeoZone be attached to B.F. Day (Option 3 from the 10/20 Friday memo). While it would be unreasonable to in act such a major change on such short notice with out community engagement, it should be something that could be done in next year's cycle. And if so, hold on changing 41 and 44 this year, to align with the overall boundary discussion for GLES. The capacity issue at GLES....well that could...or in my view..should be addressed through amplifying the enrollment at JSIS and MIS for next year. In looking at the schools combined stated capacities, they have 47 extra spaces right now. And afterwards in 2018-2019 rebalance the area using the 5 empty class rooms at B.F. Day.
https://ballotpedia.org/Washington_Class_Size_Reduction_Measure,_Initiative_1351_(2014)#cite_note-leg-3
I've been thinking about this during various boundaries/capacity conversations. If I understand correctly (and please correct me if anyone knows more -- I'm very curious about how this works) in the end the funding from the state is based on having an average class size of 17 in K-3 across the district, based on the ratio of kids to teachers. First, I don't know how SPS can possible attain this given capacity constraints and the current Student Assignment Plan that guarantees any student who moves into/lives in an attendance area a seat at that school. Second, in the end it doesn't technically have anything to do with space and rooms. The goal could be met by hiring more teachers. Hypothetically, you could have a classroom with 34 kids and 2 teachers. (Not saying that's a good idea...just thinking about the math.)
I'm wondering whether the state will actually hold districts with space issues to this standard in the end. And, I can't help but feel like SPS is using K-3 classroom reduction to push certain agendas around growth boundaries (like "no grandfathering"), when in reality it's not currently attainable anyway.
Thoughts? Am I missing something here?
-Green Lake Parent
I'm assuming it's part of McCleary then and I do see class size reduction referenced in various documents regarding fully funding education. But, I can't find anything with timelines/requirements specific to 2016-2017 or 2017-2018.
I do see it in the RCW with an effective date of Sept 2022:
http://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=28A.150.260
Curious if anyone knows more specifics...
-Green Lake Parent