Seattle School Board Removes Transportation/Bell Times Item from Agenda

 Update:

I will be listening into the Board meeting to see what might be said about the pulled BAR on Transportation/Bell times. 

In the meantime, here's a lengthy document from Director Vivian Song Maritz on the situation. It's quite detailed and thoughtful - like a breath of fresh air. 

The Transportation Service Standards, which contains a proposed change to 3 Bell Times, has been pulled from today’s Board Meeting agenda (May 4). The District acknowledges the community feedback it has received in the past couple of weeks and has decided to do more work before presenting to the full board. 
 
I oppose this change because I do not believe that it is in the best interests of our students, families, and staff. It will have ripple effects throughout our city and I will continue to engage stakeholders on this all- encompassing issue.

end of update. 

I went to check on the speakers for tonight's Board meeting and I see that the entire Transportation item as well as the amendment for it by Director Liza Rankin has been taken off. Perhaps that will be explained tonight.

I suspect it is the hard work of parents across the district who are demanding public engagement on this topic vital to all families. 

Comments

Anonymous said…
It is SO nice to see a SSD BOD Member come up with a substantive and cogent policy response to public input.

Posted by someone who has no kids but is a longtime observer.
5/5/22, 11:23 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday Open Thread

The speaker list is up for the Board meeting tomorrow; not as packed as I thought with just four people on the waitlist. The majority of the speakers are speaking on high school boundaries (with several wanting to talk about Ballard High). There are only three of us speaking about the Green Dot resolution asking the City to not grant the zoning departures that Green Dot has requested.  It's me, long-time watchdog, Chris Jackins, and the head of the Washington State Charter Schools Association, Patrick D'Amelio.  (I knew Mr. D'Amelio when he headed the Alliance for Education and Big Brothers and Big Sisters; he's a stand-up guy.)
Read more

Breaking It Down: Where the District Might Close Schools

Update 2: an absolutely fabulous interactive map made by parent Beth Day (@thebethocracy on Twitter - she covers Board meetings and is fun to read).   end of update    Update 1: Mea culpa, I did indeed get Decatur and Thornton Creek mixed up. Thanks to all for the correction. end of update   I suspect some who read this post will be irate. Why do this? Because the district seems very hellbent on this effort with no oversight skid marks from the Board.    To clearly state - I do not believe that closing 20 schools is a good idea. I think they hit on 20 because they thought it might bring in the most savings. But the jury is still out on the savings because the district has not shown its work nor its data. I suspect closing schools and THEN leasing/renting them is the big plan but that means the district really has to keep the buildings up.   But this district, with its happy talk about "well-resourced schools" is NOT acknowledging the pain and yes, gr...
Read more

Education News Roundup

From the ever-amusing Washington Policy Center : Vouchers are Pell Grants for students under 18.  Vouchers are no different than Pell Grants or GI benefits, except the money goes to the families of students younger than age 18.  Except they are. Pell Grants were created to help needy students and that's not really the goal of the voucher program.  The Pell grant website does have a couple of great studies on why low-income students drop out before finishing their higher ed and what makes a difference.
Read more