Seattle Schools Community Forum

Update: Based on early comments, I need to make a few things clear.  1) Just because one person said something about a program or school at the Work Session, it does NOT mean anything. A lot was said but less was stated as fact. For example, dual language is probably going away. If anything, they should expand it because that WOULD draw parents back but dual language is a heavy lift and expensive. 2) President Hersey just alluded to receivership. That is unlikely to be on the table now. If SPS does not get its ducks in order in say 3-5 years, I'd say yes. But not now.  3) When I said "new district" in talking about the timeline, I meant the reorganized one from the closures. Close more than 10 schools (and I suspect it might be more), and the district will look quite different.  end of update I plowed through the two and a half hour Work Session on the Budget from last week. All the Board members were there along with Superintendent Brent Jones and senior staff. I'l...

Looks like Keisha Scarlett, Chief Academic Officer for SPS, has applied for yet another superintendent position, this time in St. Louis.  She's one of three finalists. Here's hoping third time is the charm for her.  On Feb 1 the Board will be having an Executive Session for a half-hour on Feb. 1 for " Real Estate." To consider the selection of a site or the acquisition of real estate by lease or purchase when public knowledge regarding such consideration would cause a likelihood of increased price. Hmm. This will be followed by a Work Session, " Building Relationships with Youth."   There is no documentation attached yet. Then there will be another Executive Session , this one on "Litigation."  To discuss with legal counsel representing the agency litigation or potential litigation to which the agency, the governing body, or a member acting in an official capacity is, or is likely to become, a party, when public knowledge regarding the discussi...

The Board had a Work Session on the Budget yesterday that I was not able to attend but on Twitter, parents are reporting that there was talking about closing schools. Agenda and Powerpoint The meeting WAS recorded and here's the link . I'm going to try to listen to it this weekend. I will check to see if this was recorded so I can listen to the entire thing. If it wasn't recorded, then the Board and the Superintendent are doing a HUGE disservice to parents and taxpayers because if discussion of the budget - and its fallout like closing schools - is not worthy of recording, what is?  I note there was no mention of individual schools except Director Liza Rankin allegedly said option schools.  I see this on one slide: • Consolidate into a system of well-resourced schools   Know what was the first Board committee that I served on? It was called the Consolidation Committee and it was to close schools. I can write about that messed up process elsewhere but there is NO good w...

The NY Times has a very good article (with good comments) about the issue of schools supporting students who believe they are trans to use new names. The name of the article is: When Students Change Gender Identity, and Parents Don’t Know Educators are facing wrenching new tensions over whether they should tell parents when students socially transition at school. I had said I wanted to bring this up so here we go. A few early thoughts.  I'll just note here that we are talking about gender identity, not sexual preference. (Naturally there's overlap but sexual preference is another whole topic. What schools know and what parents know on that topic is also worthy of conversation.) I would also like to acknowledge that, on the surface, it may seem like many more kids are saying they are trans. But like other hot topics, is it that there is more public acknowledgement (especially within schools) that trans kids exist and therefore kids feel safer saying it out loud or is it ...

 Let's start with the Puget Sound. (all bold mine) Item #1 This is quite the story via the Seattle Times ,   Issaquah School District discloses bond funds spent on wrong projects  The Issaquah School District improperly paid for certain capital projects using bonds that voters had approved for other purposes, the school system announced Friday. Because of an internal audit, the district became aware of this issue. They have accounted for all the dollars, say their school board approved the expenditure(s) but their superintendent would not explain what the money was spent on. (Some ISD watcher can go back to the board minutes and check, not me.) The claim is that the money was spend on "capital projects" and the superintendent says she doesn't think any of the money went to their general fund. I have said this many times but I'll say it again for those in the back. When you vote in a levy, you are voting for a bucket of money that your district can spend however ...

In one of the most jaw-dropping education stories I have read in a long time, comes this one out of Fairfax, Virginia via the Fairfax County Times . (bold mine) The headline says it all: Area principals admit to withholding National Merit Awards from students What appears to have happened is that high school principals at two schools purposefully withheld certificates of merit that students at the schools earned from the National Merit awards. The district is claiming this is a "one-time human error" but it appears it may have been part of an equity directive. According to an email statement from a spokeswoman with the National Merit Scholarship Corporation, based in Illinois, around Sept. 10, 2022, the organization sent principals packages with the names of National Merit Semifinalists and Commended Students. The packages included Letters of Commendation for Commended Students. The letter included this note in bold: “ Please present the letters of commendation as soon as po...

 The Times is helping the cause of more funding for Special Education in this legislative session. Chris Reykdal, state superintendent of public instruction, in consultation with Rep. Gerry Pollet, is requesting $972 million to close the gap over the next biennium and asking that the Legislature nix its old 13.5% cutoff on the number of kids who can be identified for special education. Washington is an outlier in this area, one of only five states that uses an enrollment-based flat cap to limit special education spending.  The Governor is not on-board, per his State of the State speech: Inslee devoted 15 seconds to special education, suggesting that the Legislature bump up its cap to 15% of a district’s enrollment and add $120 million to the budget for very young special-needs kids. At one level, dickering over percentages is beside the point. “They’re treating it like a math problem,” said Sarah Butcher, co-founder of the education advocacy group SEL for Washington...

Seattle Special Education PTSA General Membership meeting on Tuesday, January 17th from 8-10 pm.  Executive Director of Special Education Devin Gurley will attend and answer questions. We will have a presentation from District staff about training and implementation of the District's revised policy and procedure on restraints of students. There will be a chance for small groups to make connections in breakout rooms. We hope you can join us! Register on Eventbrite: https://general_membership_meeting.eventbrite.com Register in advance on Zoom for this meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/.../tZErde... To join or renew your membership go to  https://seattlespecialeducationptsa.org/ ASL, Spanish, Somali, and Vietnamese interpretation provided. During the Washington State Legislative Sessions, WSPTA will send action alerts and informational broadcasts to WSPTA members who have subscribed to  WSPTA's Action Network Group . These action alerts are quick, easy ways to communicate wi...

 

  Via the Washington State Board of Education: The Association of Washington Student Leaders and the State Board of Education are seeking a current high school sophomore from western Washington to serve a two-year term as the student representative to the State Board of Education (SBE) and the AWSL Student Voice Network. We need a student who can communicate effectively, listen, observe, and provide input on educational policy issues in Washington State. The Board alternates recruitment for student members between the east- and west-sides of Washington each year. This student will fill the position currently held by graduating senior, Pavan Venkatakrishnan (Bellevue). Current junior, Donalda Brantley (Spokane), will become the senior student representative next year. Pavan is a member of the Executive Committee on the Board, has testified for legislation impacting students ( video ), and has done interviews with the media. Applications are due Friday, March 31.

Update 3: The Times has another story  on this lawsuit by SPS with some compelling quotes plus another Washington state district has followed suit. (Bold mine) Seattle Public Schools on Friday sued the tech giants behind TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat, alleging they have created a public nuisance by targeting their products to children. The Kent School District south of Seattle followed suit Monday. The Seattle litigation has the potential to enact massive change, prompting questions about the appropriateness of addressing big societal issues in court rather than through lawmaking. Yet there is little risk to the school district because a private law firm filed the complaint on a contingency basis in which the firm is paid only if the case succeeds. Like the tobacco, oil, gun, opioid and vaping industries before them, the big U.S. social media companies are now facing lawsuits brought by public entities that seek to hold them accountable for a huge societal probl...