Friday Open Thread
As you may be aware, Sound Transit officers were on transit on the first day of school and rather than doing the right thing, decided they had to be tough and asked to see tickets. Many students didn't get their Orca card in time to get them. The students were verbally warning but not ticketed.
The right thing to do - on the first day of school - is welcome the kids to public transit. Explain that it's important to use/swipe your Orca card each time it is used. And tell them, "Good luck." Tough guy tactics not needed.
Sound Transit tried to double down on this event. They said there were not even warning tickets issued but if not, why did they photograph student IDs?
Great classes/programs in the SPS Skill Center and there's still time to sign up for high schoolers.
Tweet from Superintendent Juneau on the first day of school; interesting:
Tweet today from Superintendent Juneau on construction issues at Rising Star Elementary at AAA:
The right thing to do - on the first day of school - is welcome the kids to public transit. Explain that it's important to use/swipe your Orca card each time it is used. And tell them, "Good luck." Tough guy tactics not needed.
Sound Transit tried to double down on this event. They said there were not even warning tickets issued but if not, why did they photograph student IDs?
Great classes/programs in the SPS Skill Center and there's still time to sign up for high schoolers.
Tweet from Superintendent Juneau on the first day of school; interesting:
First day of school,@SeaPubSchools scholars! Do your hair toss and check your nails. How you feelin’?? I bet that@lizzo wants you to have a great school year too! #welcomebacktoschool #SPSConnects
Spent the am at Rising Star at African American Academy. Principal Lam and her staff have created flexible and effective learning conditions despite some roof construction woes. The learning never stops for these Rising Stars. I sat in a mobile art class - awesome.What's on your mind?
Comments
GoGirls
Limiting Distractions
Limiting, you're a brave parent. Do let us know if it is an issue in the class because your student doesn't have a phone.
I heard from one parent that JAMS is implementing an "away for the day" phone policy. One reason given was that the school's server was very slow from all the kids with phones streaming content during the day.
A Parent
-Orwellian
Our SPS HS uses Red Comet for the online Health option. Red Comet is an approved vendor by OSPI. I am not sure if there is a time limit.
Our kids needed to visit their school counselor to get needed permission paperwork and a code. The cost as of this summer was $175. I believe the schools will aid or pay the tuition if there is a financial need. Just check with your child's counselor.
We too needed to go the online route for health as our kids have two year-long electives (music and foreign language) that does not allow for taking P.E. or Health during the school day with a 24 credit graduation requirement.
-StepJ
-StepJ
Families are traveling across the state to take the SAT. This is not ok.
A Parent
According to school counselors the majority of students complete the online health during the summer. I personally think it would be a lot to ask of a student to complete it during the school year, especially if they are taking a lot of AP courses, and/or participating in a school sport.
Per the Red Comet website, https://redcomet.org/, once registered the course must be completed within 120 days. If the course is not completed a grade will not be given. You would need to register and pay for the course again.
The courses are self-paced with suggested completion dates for each section. You can complete the course easily within the 120 days if you complete sections by the suggested date.
A drawback my kids have encountered is they don't like the online learning and find it boring. They have to push themselves to get through the material.
-StepJ
"#SAT cancelled with no notice in SE Seattle by @CollegeBoard, an unaccountable monopoly, affecting scores of first gen college sutdents, many of whom took time off work to day, again, for this opportunity. Really?"
My daughter has dyslexia, and since Seattle public schools did not call it that, preferring to use the vague term “ specific learning disability”, the College Board would not grant accommodations.
However, I believe ACT did, she may have had pencil and paper instead of a screen.
She did very well on ACT.
Colleges accept ACT as readily as they do SAT.
https://mindfish.com/choosing-the-act-vs-sat-for-students-with-a-learning-disability/
HF
Grad
Chris Jackins testifies on a regular basis. He has historical and important knowledge about the district.
On the other hand,Chris Jackins combs thru the agenda and pulls out all kinds of issues and oddities.
- Not only did they move the WA principal to another principal position instead of the demotion to an assistant principal outlined in a letter from Juneau to the principal; they rescinded the demotion. Meaning, she will be a full principal with a full principal salary.
And SPS is advertising for this:
"SPS is currently accepting applications for the 2019-20 School Leader Assistant Principal Pool."
Frankly, putting that principal at Licton Springs K-8 feels like they just needed a warm body there. Except that it comes at a time when that school needs leadership.
That is some kind of BS.
- I know the EDs probably mightily dislike me because I am so hard on them but what - do - they - do? My thought is just provide PD to principals because there is zero evidence of them doing anything else. I can't even find a job description for them at the SPS website.
- I was having a conversation with someone running for school board and told them: there can be a fine line between oversight and micromanaging. But all directors have to do, especially around a BAR before them on the Board agenda, is say to themselves: does this adhere to Board policy and Superintendent procedure? Did I receive information I need to make an informed vote? Is this being introduced for intro/approval without being a true emergency?
Answer yes to any of those and say, "I'm voting no for this reason." That's solid oversight.
( these schools weren’t that old, not compared to schools like Broadview Thompson or Whitman, where virtually nothing has been done besides pain for decades)
I was flabbergasted. How can Bellevue manage to do this, but Seattle seems to have so much trouble with even maintenance?
https://bsd405.org/departments/facilities/
Only if some kid's phone activities become a distraction or an impediment to the school's educational mission should that ever come into play. I'd be very curious to hear if, or why, anybody thinks this is a proper question to ask a class. My 2¢ worth.
-- Ivan Weiss
My child took public transit daily to/from school, too, without a cell phone.
FNH
However, Liza Rankin decided to claim the failure to complete this project on time is an equity issue. The issue has now spread on social media creating animosity. Some north end schools are falling apart. Coe elementary is 70% white and about to start construction that will last through the entire year.
If elected, Rankin will continue politics of creating animosity, dividing and increasing tensions.
- Bellevue is a lot smaller than SPS. Probably unlike Bellevue (which again has a consistently wealthier tax base and fewer schools), SPS made two fateful decisions, decades apart.
1) In the late '70s, they slowly started cutting back on maintenance. While SPS probably has many more old buildings to contend with (and by that I mean 60+ years), pulling back on basic maintenance was not a good call.
What I find really unfortunate is this hand-wringing about buildings from superintendents/board members past and present and yet...nothing really changes.
2) Then, after a facilities levy failure in the early '90s, the district started BEX/BTA. They haven't had one fail since and truly have made a sizable dent in the age of SPS buildings. This has been done on an even basis throughout the district. In fact, for an early period of time, more south-end schools were renovated than north-end ones.
However, they still did not put as much into basic maintenance. So we still have older buildings that get periodic patches, middle school buildings that are inadequate for present-day learning AND buildings that cost double and triple digit millions of dollars and THEY are not being given enough basic maintenance.
As a taxpayer, I find that very upsetting.
- to Van Asselt. I can say that, over the years, the district has frequently found building construction issues. To find it so late in the summer as to make for the school opening to be less-than-pleasant is sad. Hard to say if they could have found it sooner.
But I do not think it has anything to do with its location in the city. The district prides itself on getting this work done and I'm sure they are embarrassed about it.
One thing that did amuse me at the Youth Forum for school board candidates. It was nearly uniformly said, down the line of candidates, that "the district should pay for XYZ." Sounds good on the campaign trail but either they are naive or just saying stuff to sound like Action Jackson, but the reality of getting the district to pay for anything is very different. Beware of those kinds of statements.
- on phones. I know that JAMS has instituted "day away" on kids' phones (not sure if they get them at lunch).
The district can't allow teachers to base any learning on a cell phone. It's just simply an equity issue that cannot be filled. The district is buying enough laptops for all high school students and be 2:1 in middle school. That's got to be enough. Because not all kids have cell phones and not all kids with cell phones have plans that would allow data that app use requires.
https://time.com/5437607/smartphones-teens-mental-health/
This morning I came into my science classroom where water had FLEW up out of the sinks from Saturdays storm. There was dirt, debris, and who knows what else on the wall by the back sink about 7 feet up and the wax on the floor was white where water had puddled and dried. The other two sinks were similar. This has gone on for years. I just put on the rubber gloves and clean it up.