Seattle Schools and Money
So why do I have this tweet graphic that SPS sent out this morning? Read on.
The Superintendent has a budget update page at the district's webpage.
In it, he thanks supporters of Seattle Public Schools and notes the efforts being made to avoid the levy cliff and fully fund McCleary.
The Board is having a Work Session today from 4:30-8:30 pm to cover a variety of topics;
- Seattle Pre-K programs,
- the 2017-2018 budget, and -Enrollment/Assignment (this is an oversight work session, not one to address a specific issue.)
There is also an Executive Session at the end of the meeting for "evaluate the performance of a public employee."
Pre-K
Page 13 of the preschool presentation is amazing - It has survey results from parents in the City's program in SPS buildings that show 100% of parents are 100% satisfied. You don't see that very often. (This is from 36 out of 155 parents answering the survey.) What's interesting is they did not include survey in the City's program in SPS buildings not operated by SPS nor those in non-SPS buildings. I'll have to ask the City about those numbers.)
(Note to staff: you misspelled "caucasian" on page 15's chart in the preschool presentation. Page 4 of the budget presentation, the word "it's" is used improperly. I'm not trying to be unkind but it does glare when an educational entity makes these kinds of errors in public presentations.)
The City's explanation of the money spent is a series of somewhat tortured charts. I cannot ascertain how much of the 25% holdback money based on outcomes that the district did end up receiving.
The City wants to expand into between 3-10 more classrooms (no schools named.) Except for brand-new buildings, it's unclear to me where that space is.
They want to have a decision by early March.
Budget
See page 12 for an interesting list of questions and the answers that follow. I'm not sure there is enough clarity there for a reader to understand what is being talked about and the outcomes.
It also appears that Capital may borrow money from the General Fund and vice versa. How that happens and how it helps is unclear.
Curriculum adoption and implementation seems to be a key area that staff is looking for savings.
The next Work Session is Feb. 8th.
Enrollment/Assignment
Mostly overview of the department, although someone needs to decide if their name is Admissions, Enrollment or Assignment. It's confusing when the Work Session uses one term and yet the presentation uses another.
So why the "SPS Hall of Fame" for Athletics graphic? First, it was what the district tweeted out this morning.
Second, in the midst of all these budgeting problems, this is an important "to-do" for the district and a "to-know" for the public? Oh wait, Athletics is not to be touched under the budget process, even as most areas will see cuts. Athletics is so vital and yet I'm pretty sure there are far more students who access the arts than athletics (and there would be even more students accessing the arts if they were more widely available.)
But maybe that's because the district is anticipating a national title for Hale's manufactured and imported basketball team and that surely needs a big acknowledgement.
The Superintendent has a budget update page at the district's webpage.
In it, he thanks supporters of Seattle Public Schools and notes the efforts being made to avoid the levy cliff and fully fund McCleary.
The Board is having a Work Session today from 4:30-8:30 pm to cover a variety of topics;
- Seattle Pre-K programs,
- the 2017-2018 budget, and -Enrollment/Assignment (this is an oversight work session, not one to address a specific issue.)
There is also an Executive Session at the end of the meeting for "evaluate the performance of a public employee."
Pre-K
Page 13 of the preschool presentation is amazing - It has survey results from parents in the City's program in SPS buildings that show 100% of parents are 100% satisfied. You don't see that very often. (This is from 36 out of 155 parents answering the survey.) What's interesting is they did not include survey in the City's program in SPS buildings not operated by SPS nor those in non-SPS buildings. I'll have to ask the City about those numbers.)
(Note to staff: you misspelled "caucasian" on page 15's chart in the preschool presentation. Page 4 of the budget presentation, the word "it's" is used improperly. I'm not trying to be unkind but it does glare when an educational entity makes these kinds of errors in public presentations.)
The City's explanation of the money spent is a series of somewhat tortured charts. I cannot ascertain how much of the 25% holdback money based on outcomes that the district did end up receiving.
The City wants to expand into between 3-10 more classrooms (no schools named.) Except for brand-new buildings, it's unclear to me where that space is.
They want to have a decision by early March.
Budget
See page 12 for an interesting list of questions and the answers that follow. I'm not sure there is enough clarity there for a reader to understand what is being talked about and the outcomes.
It also appears that Capital may borrow money from the General Fund and vice versa. How that happens and how it helps is unclear.
Curriculum adoption and implementation seems to be a key area that staff is looking for savings.
The next Work Session is Feb. 8th.
Enrollment/Assignment
Mostly overview of the department, although someone needs to decide if their name is Admissions, Enrollment or Assignment. It's confusing when the Work Session uses one term and yet the presentation uses another.
So why the "SPS Hall of Fame" for Athletics graphic? First, it was what the district tweeted out this morning.
Second, in the midst of all these budgeting problems, this is an important "to-do" for the district and a "to-know" for the public? Oh wait, Athletics is not to be touched under the budget process, even as most areas will see cuts. Athletics is so vital and yet I'm pretty sure there are far more students who access the arts than athletics (and there would be even more students accessing the arts if they were more widely available.)
But maybe that's because the district is anticipating a national title for Hale's manufactured and imported basketball team and that surely needs a big acknowledgement.
Comments
At a recent Ballard holiday concert, the orchestras, wind ensemble, and concert choirs were on stage to perform Mozart's Requiem. Nearly 10% of the students at Ballard were on the stage - it was amazing. And there were other choirs and band groups that weren't represented in that performance - so maybe close to 15% of Ballard students are in some sort of performance arts program? (adding in drama, etc?) These are mostly school-day classes, my daughter is looking at scholarship opportunities coming out of her orchestra experience. The arts are very important - what will their burden of the cuts be?
I wonder what is the total percentage of students participating in athletics? And there is no burden to bear from this group? Why? My daughter also participates in sports year round at Ballard so I'm not biased there, just wondering why they are exempt.
QA Parent
I know at Hale that the athletic budget actually decreased dramatically when the school couldn't collect money for each sport played. We already had a way to pay for kids who couldn't afford the $75. The Sports Boosters picked up a lot of the coverage by encouraging parents to donate that $75 to the sport of their choice.
I have heard it said that 50% of Hale kids participate in at least one sport.
HP
Jane
When is the state Senate due to vote on the House bill lifting the levy cliff for this year? Or when would it need to offer its own version? Bottom line, assuming the Senate will delay action as long as possible, when is the last date we could see the Senate take action? Assuming it is close to the end of the session, won't this force all state districts to issue layoff notices even if the levy cliff is eventually dealt with?
EdVoter
EdVoter
I'm not saying sports don't help keep some kids in school. But that is verifiable to the point of saying they should have no budget cuts. (Yes,athletes have to have a minimum GPA although how you know that for homeschooled students who participate in sports is unclear.)
The head of the Senate will not allow the vote to get to the floor. Right now they are in the situation where a GOP senator has resigned. If the vote could get to the floor, it would be a tie (assuming Dems and GOPs vote on party lines) and then our Lt Governor, Cyrus Habib, would break the tie. I think he'd vote to stay the levy cliff.
But as long as nothing gets to the Senate floor, nothing gets voted on. I do think the fact that House passed their version may be giving an added push.
Ed Voter, if we get to the end of the session before anything gets settled on McCleary, yes, districts will be forced to make those cuts. It will be too late by then.
I continue to think McCleary will end up back in Court hands, but what I am specifically asking is Levy Cliff which is somewhat separate. What is the last day for the Senate to either put out its version of a Levy Cliff bill or to vote on the House version? I ask because it would be the M.O. of this group to give relief, but to give it after the date in which districts throughout the state have issued layoff notices. I think Seattle said sometime in Feb is when the process of layoff notices begin? Though some damage could be undone if we got a last minute legislative reprieve, other damage would be permanent as people quickly seek other employment. So I am trying to get us in Seattle to understand what that district deadline is vs. what timeline the Senate is playing with. I use "playing with" deliberately. So very angry.
EdVoter
What is a drop-dead date for schools? I can ask the district but yes, I think end of Feb. is about right.
I do believe the GOP believes this is a high-stakes game.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/news/politics-government/article128525814.html
EdVoter
Hale lets you use playing a Hale sport (club or regular) for up to 1 PE credit. Each season you play a sport counts as 0.5 PE credits. Hale wouldn't have enough PE classes to cover the requirements.
HP
-StepJ
-StepJ
Would the community donate $2.6M for athletics? That would free up money to move to a two tier transportation system or to hire counselors for elementary schools or purchase middle school math textbooks.
He said he often got asked what was his secret to becoming a great trumpet player. He said passion, love of the instrument and, when the other guy is sleeping, you're practicing. He also said arts are vital to children.
I agree.
HP
Offering more PE classes would be one solution but there are other PE waiver options. Garfield waives the PE requirement for any student who takes a full courseload for all four years - no sport participation required.
NE parent
HP