This, Not That in Seattle Schools (Plus one update)

THIS - As was previous reported by a reader in another thread, Grammy-winning singer John Legend donated funds to wipe out the school lunch debt for parents who had not paid.  Thank you as well to John Lew, a Seattle Schools parent who got the whole thing going.

The crowdfunding campaign, which was originally started by John Lew, was created with a goal of $20,000 – enough to pay off any and all lunch debt wracked up by families who can't afford to pay for their children's lunches.

Since the story has gotten such widespread media attention, the crowdfunding page has now raised $41,000. All the additional funds will go towards paying nutritious student meals in the future.

In the mean time, however, Lew has started additional crowdfunding campaigns for the Tacoma and Renton school districts as well. Tacoma has already raised $20,000 of its $30,000 goal, while the Renton campaign has reached about half of its attempted $18,000.

NOT THAT
Apparently there are some Seattle Schools that are still using a stick on students who opt-out of SBA testing.  From Mercer Middle School:



Parents are going ballistic at the Soup for Teachers Facebook page and I agree.  I'm guessing the Principal Carter didn't get the memo that it IS legal in Washington State to opt-out and punishing parents (via their students) is wrong.  Call the parents if you have a problem with their decision but their child should be left out of it.

As several teachers chimed in, they don't want students coming to school for the test if they are sick so naturally, they wouldn't have come to school.  Why do they need to write a persuasive letter for that?

It is unclear if this is for students who were not at school or just didn't take the test (but went to school).   It is also unclear what students who are excluded are supposed to do as the carnival was held during the school day.

Their school newsletter also implies that if students have poor attendance and/or bad behavior and/or below a C average, that they won't be going to be able to participate in any of the end-of-the-year activities but doesn't directly mention SBA.

UPDATE
Assistant Principal Kristina Rodgers has been selected to be the new principal of Roosevelt High School.

From Superintendent Nyland's letter:

Ms. Rodgers was selected because of her strong leadership experience and relationships with the students, staff, and families of Roosevelt, and her deep understanding of the strengths of the teaching and learning at Roosevelt.

Ms. Rodgers has served as the Assistant Principal at Roosevelt since 2010 where she has acted as the instructional supervisor for many teachers and staff, led the Multi-Tiered System of Supports work, and facilitated and implemented professional development and training for staff. Previously, she was at Ballard High School, where she taught Spanish and then served as the Activity Coordinator and the Athletic Director.

Principal Rodgers earned her Master In Teaching of Secondary Education from the University of Washington; her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Language and Literature from Whitman College; and holds her Principal Certification from Western Washington University.

Principal Rodgers is looking forward to working with the students, staff, and families of the Roosevelt community to continue to build on the strong foundation put in place by Principal Vance, and collaborating with other secondary school leaders as the work to address the new graduation requirements advances. Her official start date will be July 1, 2017.

 It seems that my belief that high school parents (not to mention teachers) would be included in most high school principal choices seems to be proving wrong.  But again, it would be nice if the district actually explained their methodology.