Last Words from Superintendent Larry Nyland

Final words from Superintendent Nyland, The Journey of Transitioning: Looking Back to Move Forward (partial):

Serving the students, staff and families of Seattle Public Schools for the past four years has been one of my greatest professional opportunities and a profound joy. I know personally the transformational power of education. Education lifted my own family out of poverty and changed the course of my life. My life’s work has been paying it forward and ensuring others receive the same benefits of a great, public education. 

As I look forward to semi-retirement and step into my last month with the district, I have been reflecting on the growth we’ve made as a community. Together, we’ve strengthened relationships in our communities and schools; challenged ourselves and each other to relentlessly address racial inequities in education; created policies and practices that affirm our students and create safe learning environments; and aligned our resources and strategies towards common goals. As a community, we also have learned together to improve our educational practices both in and outside of the district.


 Below are some of the books that have been on my reading shelf. I offer them to you as inspiration and as a parting gift. 

“The Truth About Your Future” by Ric Edelman tells us the future is coming faster than we realize. Edelman speaks of self-driving cars, robots performing surgeries, and the idea that costs will fall and options will grow. 

“Positive Words, Powerful Results” by Hal Urban isn't particularly new, but it is truly timeless. This book shares good reminders on how we can use words to celebrate and affirm each other. 

And finally, an old favorite and a pretty good beach book, “Ship of Gold in The Deep Blue Sea” by Gary Kinder reads like a thriller and tells the story of perseverance and success amongst challenges. 

It has been a privilege to serve you, your child and this district. I look forward to celebrating the district’s continued growth. 

Warm regards,
Larry
Dr. Larry Nyland
Superintendent

Comments

Anonymous said…
good riddance. take tolley with you, will you?


don'tletthedoor hityou
David said…
Pure bs from the dean of the culture of lawlessness.
Anonymous said…
Another Sherry Carr mistake cleaned up, how many are left?

Hoping for better times ahead!
Anonymous said…
such nice people on this blog!!!!!!!!!!!!!

smile
Anonymous said…
He took OVER a million dollars off us, padding his retirement considerably, but what did our kids get from him?!

Nothing!!!

What if... we had a vacant chair there, up on the dias, these last three years? Would anything have changed - either direction, for either the better or the worse?

Other than Tolley vandalizing education, what has Nyland done as a “leader”? The preschool thing with City of Seattle is a shameful boondoggle. Ridiculous amounts of money for precious little service and scant actual impact. I’d honestly rather given the families $42K each directly. It probably would have positively deflected more children’s journeys to an upward trajectory than the half day in preschool.

We spent A LOT of money on Nyland: what did we get in return?

Education is suffering: enrollment at the intake valve is down, probably because of the anti-intellectual stance of Nyland and his team. Sped kids are not being treated better, Title 1 schools are still subject to the principal parade, and advanced learning has been decimated. He has sown the seeds for a failed levy that will be the predictable result of angry families finally saying enough is enough. But he won’t be here to answer for it. They (supers) never are. Nyland, Banada, Boesche, Enfield, Goodloe-Johnson, Manhas. They screw up & tax payers are left with the bills and the kids are the ones short-changed and the teachers just keep on trying to do their very best.

Racism is real and corrosive, but the way it is invoke at JSCEE, it is nothing more than a boogie man that is used as a fog leaf to cover a bunch of laughablely bad decision, and ineffective and inconsistent policy. Meanwhile the kids suffering the worst under the burden of institutionalized racism get no actual relief and the other kids get hobbled in order to mask the obvious deficits.

As long as the levies keep automatically passing, not one single part of this lunacy will have to change.

Like a drunk teenager trust fund baby, they need to hear NO in a LOUD meaningful way, like a bounced check, otherwise they will just continue on in their bad policy ways, education will continue to be a faddish plaything and not an evidence-based rational arena, and Tolley will keep on vandalizing.

Voting No
Anonymous said…
al decimated? then why are there 4500 kids in it grades 1-8 and defenders of the program who pounce on anyone who dares suggest it's unfair like cougars on a mountain biker?

supers cost 300+ grad a year and as far as i know there was no money stolen, schools were built and the kids are graduating at better rates

tolley is hated exactly because he feels that hcc is an unfair program so i think you might be a hcc advocate

am i right?

blue moon
Growth for All said…
Hello, Blue Moon.

AL is more than HCC. In June 2016, 8,716, or 16.2% of the PK-12 enrollment, were eligible for Advanced Learning services. This figure includes the number of students eligible for enrollment in the Highly Capable Program (HC), Spectrum, and the Advanced Learning Opportunities (ALO) program.

It was the ALO and Spectrum portions of AL that were decimated. That would have been clear from the ThoughtExchange silliness if it had clarified what was included in AL.

During Nyland's watch, a lot of AL was decimated. He wanted to close gaps by rationing education for students at the higher end of the gap but not helping students at the lower end of the gap, which is in massive contravention of Policy No. 0030

Here's hoping the new super will promote education for all students no matter where they fall gap-wise.
Anonymous said…
9. Is it required for a child who qualifies as Highly Capable to attend one of the Highly Capable Cohort Schools? Do they have to leave their reference area school?

No. Parents may choose to have their child remain at their attendance area school to be served there. Schools are required to have a Continuous School Improvement Plan (CSIP) in place to provide for the needs of all children, including Highly Capable students. It is important to note that by law, a child who qualifies as “highly capable” is entitled to highly capable services as part of his/her basic education . Services may be provided at the reference area school. However, the child has the option and opportunity to enroll at an ‘HC Site’ upon receiving eligibility status as Highly Capable, and would attend with students who have also been identified and have similar learning needs.

willy
Anonymous said…
"Title 1 schools are still subject to the principal parade"

This was actually spilled out casually, as though "Title 1 schools" are an inherent part of the landscape, for now and forever, outta sight/outta mind.

Here's betting your child isn't in a "Title 1 school." Feigning concern by talking about how they get the shaft in terms of incompetent principals means nothing, since that is a symptom of these dumping grounds for children and not a cause.

Working to keep schools from being highly impacted in the first place should be priority number one in this district.

The entire victim charade on this thread reeks of "me, myself and mine"--as per usual.

Here's hoping the new supe is getting an eye-full. My take is that she's nobody's fool.

DeletEUd
Hank said…
Working to keep schools from being highly impacted in the first place should be a major priority for the district. Still waiting for that to happen...

Meanwhile we have administrators running around trying to consolidate low income students into certain schools. dd's principal was beside himself with glee when he finally, after months of dedicated effort and toil on his part, managed to amass enough low income students to qualify the school for free all day kindergarten.

"tolley is hated exactly because he feels that hcc is an unfair program so i think you might be a hcc advocate."

First, be a grownup; hate is a big word. Dislike or feel is not effective would be more helpful. Second, Mr. Tolley has done much more than just the slow dismantling of AL. Please.

Hank, who is "dd?" Do not make cryptic remarks. Also, kindergarten is now free for ALL students.

Anonymous said…
"dd" = dear daughter
"ds" = dear son
"dh" = dear husband
"dw" = dear wife.

"lol" = laughing our loud....you get the picture.

Hank wasn't being cryptic. You're a bit harsh sometimes.

asdf
I think some of you think everyone is in the same head space and maybe that’s why this district has problems.

If you think that’s harsh, I just don’t know what to say.

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