SUPERINTENDENT SEARCH COMMUNITY MEETINGS THIS WEEK

 In what are likely the ONLY public opportunities to give input on a new superintendent at Seattle Public Schools, there will be two upcoming virtual community meetings plus one just for students. From SPS:

The School Board will convene a special meeting on February 17th and 23rd specifically to hear from you.

The only agenda item for both evenings is public comment regarding the superintendent search, and we invite you to register in advance to share your thoughts on the leadership needs of the district.

Meeting Details
Thursday, February 17, 4 – 7 p.m.
Wednesday, February 23, 4 – 7 p.m.Like regular school board meetings, registration is required for public comments. Registration opens the day before the meeting at 8 a.m.

Links to attend this meeting and to preregister to provide comments will be provided on this page once available. (Editor's note: I will update this post when those registration links are provided.) 

To note, registration for public comments for Board meetings is NOT the day before the meeting; it's two days before.

What is going to make it a fairly tedious 3 hours for each meeting is that by doing them via Microsoft Teams, you are going to hear a lot of "can you hear me" as each speaker gets on the call. I am assuming that because they are using Teams for the student forum, that they will do the same for the community forums. Make sure you are signed up on Teams to access the meetings. 

Student Meeting

The School Board will be holding a student forum on February 15, 4-7 p.m. to hear from you regarding the superintendent search.

We invite students to preregister using this student registration form to share your thoughts on the leadership needs of the district during the forum. Public comments will be limited to the topic of the Superintendent Search and testimony time will be limited to two minutes per speaker.

You can, of course, write to the Board at:
spsdirectors@seattleschools.org

Of course, members of the Board appear to not even be trying to have their own regular community meetings so you have no opportunity to give input there.  

Comments

Anonymous said…
I filled out the survey but honestly, given that the current school board is ultimately responsible for the hiring, I don't hold out alot of hope that we will find a candidate that will be balanced and understand that their responsibility is to the entire community of kids. Done with activists and narrow focus. This entire district needs to get on the stick and understand why so many families left, address the test scores that have tanked, and commit to a model that gets resources to schools and families, not more adults being hired at HQ.
-skeptical parent
2/15/22, 1:18 PM
District watcher said…
The board needs to find someone who can manage a large district and streamline the central office. Minimize the racial backgrounds or “personal stories” of the candidates. A strong leader can attract professional families, insist upon proven curricula for students to become proficient and transform this district into what it should be. The candidate should also be committed to this area, not just using the position to climb the ladder elsewhere.
2/15/22, 3:36 PM
Transparency Needed said…
I filled out the story and I tend to agree with skeptical parent.

Racial equity needs to continue, but we have 50,000 students living in a pandemic world. Psychological impacts of Covid need to get addressed; something this board doesn't even discuss at board meetings or work sessions.





2/15/22, 7:16 PM
Transparency Needed said…
Will the new superintendent and board commit to NOT switching the bus schedule. It took 10 years to provide high school students with later start times. Studies show that switching start times increased student achievement.

The district has a single focus and I'm concerned that many things are getting swept under the rug.
2/16/22, 5:12 PM
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