This and That
In "Stuff You Can't Make Up" stories, out of Northshore School District from KIRO tv:
High on cocaine with a loaded gun – that’s what Redmond police say they saw when they confronted a local elementary school principal at a QFC.
The incident has now led to two elementary school principals in the Northshore School District – husband and wife, Michael and Meghan Griffin – to be placed on administrative leave.
The district says it put Griffin on leave May 9th after learning about the incident.
Then on May 30, the district also placed his wife, Meghan Griffin, on leave. The principal at Moorlands Elementary sent out a letter to families, saying it did so because the district “became aware of statements made by Principal Meghan Griffin in a police report.”
Moreover, ‘Griffin’s mental state and access to firearms are made even more concerning as he is the principal at a local elementary school,” court documents said.
Redmond police said no criminal charges were filed, but officers did apply for an Extreme Risk Protection Order, and now Griffin’s firearms are in police custody.
And I have to ask - should these two ever work in public education again? Because comments at various outlets split almost 50-50% that 1) they should never work in public education again OR 2) they are addicts and if they get the help they need and get clean, they should be able to work in public education again. Readers?
I may sound like I'm beating a dead horse but I did listen in on the Board meeting last Wednesday on the district's YouTube channel. One thing I was looking for was an acknowledgment that Lincoln High School had two state champion teams (boys baseball and boys soccer). These games occurred between Board meetings so this one would be the one to say something. Did the Superintendent say anything? Nope. Did President Brandon Hersey say anything? Nope. In particular, did Director Lisa Rivera Smith say anything? Nope and Lincoln is in her district AND one of her kids went there.
The district also has this end-of-year round-up of district news called, "Final Countdown: Looking Back at 2022-2023" with a section called, "All We Do is Win." Nothing there. I note that most of that section is kinda about academics except for noting the drumlines from Garfield and Cleveland won at a competition.
I find this very, very odd.
For the eighth year, SPS is receiving a $100,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to continue to support the district's The Creative Advantage program.
The Creative Advantage is a citywide initiative to establish equitable access to arts learning for every SPS student. It is a coordinated network that includes SPS, the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, Seattle Foundation, and more than 100 community-based arts partners.
The Creative Advantage received funding through the Grants for Arts Projects category, which will allow for the engagement in outdoor arts programming, artist residencies, and public programs by Indigenous Creatives Collective. It is comprised of works by resident Indigenous artists knowledgeable about Native ecological systems. Multidisciplinary arts programming will include an exhibition and other public arts events hosted on the organization’s wooded property in South Seattle.
Since the implementation of The Creative Advantage, Seattle Public Schools has doubled the number of elementary music and visual art programs and is now in 89 of the district’s 106 schools. The team is developing more opportunities to connect arts to career for secondary students through Media Arts Skills Center courses offered in the summer and during the school year.
I am continuing to interview school board candidates and hope to have a post up by next week. I cannot seem to reach Evan Briggs so if anyone knows her contact info, please let me know. I note the following from the Public Disclosure Commission (PDC) website on money raised by different campaigns.
- Christie Robertson - $553.96
- Debbie Carlsen - $1200.00 Among her contributors are Dave Upthegrove and herself ($550)
- Gina Topp - $5,035.01 - Among her contributors is James Bush (who may be the same one who just left the district as the head of Race and Equity partnerships), Frank Fukui ($1200), Leslie Harris,
- Rosie McCarter - $100.00 (labeled "small contributions")
Comments
BLUE SKY
You have to wonder if any school board candidate who can't timely file their F1 disclosure is really serious about the position or are they just playing to get their photo in the voters guide.
RCW 42.17A.700
Elected officials, executive state officers, candidates, and appointees—Statement of financial affairs.
(2) Within two weeks of becoming a candidate, every candidate shall file with the commission a statement of financial affairs for the preceding twelve months.
Not that its a big deal but someone who can follow the rules or has terrible financial affairs has no business overseeing a $1.5 billion a year institution.
--Bye, Tolley
new here
It is as though we live in a very isolated village with an extremely small population of working age adults!
Why did Northshore School district make Michael Tolley, from Seattle Public Schools, their superintendent? Was there anyone else to be considered for the important job like that at all?
And Tolley gave Carri Campbell, from Seattle Public Schools, his district's Executive Director of Communications job.
Exactly the same question with how Brent Jones was given the interim superintendent job, then superintendent job without any vetting.
Merit-Free Recruitments
Citizens of Seattle should vote on who the superintendent is. Set it all up like the mayor and city counsel and for gods sake do not let people outside of a district vote on who represents a district If we want that make 2 positions at large and restructure the districts down to 5. Wait even better, SPLIT this sucker!
Moving to districts didn’t work out great for Seattle council governance, I prefer the blended model of the District. But I’m all for voting for Supt, maybe we’d finally get some accountability there. At minimum there would be a selection process and not the namby pamby rubber stamp the Board gave him, ushered in by SCPTSA.
Mama
So an elected superintendent, maybe.
But we have gone over splitting the district. The only logical way would be north and south and you can imagine how upset people would get (and what they would say). But maybe it would (secretly) make more people happier (on either end). They would get to run "their" district as they please and let the chips fall where they may.
I would rather see a split than a state takeover of the district.
Now it's treated like the board of a charity, where the hired manager does everything and the board is a social club.