Abandon Hope All Ye in Seattle Schools

And by hope, I mean the ability to have even one ounce of influence in the direction of the district or conveying any issues to the Board. After yesterday's Work Session on the budget, it is clear:

• that decisions are being made behind the scenes AND will be presented as a fait accompli to parents
• that Director Michelle Sarju is not fully engaged with the work of the Board (not saying she isn't doing anything - she's just not engaging with the work to the level all the other members are). She was reading something on her computer nearly the entire time. When the camera was on her area, you never saw her look at any speaker. She had NO comments on anything. It was bizarre.
  
• that you have a near-constant coming and going at JSCEE. They finally have a CFO - Dr. Kurt Buttleman (also named as an assistant superintendent) but now they are losing the guy who figures out how bad the budget deficit will be (he is retiring). Buttleman did say one funny thing which was to tell the Board members to come to him or Jones if they needed to talk. Under Board policy and SOFG, the Board is NOT to go directly to any staff.
  
• that there are non-advertised, behind-the-scenes meetings with staff/Board members and community groups. Community engagement is being strictly controlled.
  
• that Director Chandra Hampson simply talks too long. Yesterday, I would bet she talked as long as the Superintendent talked, including some out-of-place story about her kids winning their Little League championship. 
• that Superintendent Brent Jones continues to kinda bad-mouth previous superintendents and boards by always saying how his team is doing deep-dive work never done before on budgeting. 
• that the Board is gonna be a sorry place without Director Leslie Harris who was the only director to truly lay out the situation AND acknowledge the good and the bad. 
• that NO ONE on staff or on the Board wants to talk about closure and consolidation of schools in any real way. I do find this somewhat cowardly because they know what will happen when they FINALLY do get around to it. 
• that Board members are as bad as staff members at managing time at meetings. There really isn't a reason for these meetings to go long if people didn't just ramble on.
• that the "well-resourced schools" meetings were actually budget meetings but parents may not have got that from them.  Why ask parents about their own schools when the district is trying to understand what parents value in general?
  
• that the Superintendent may have wanted directors to talk on and the meeting go long but they never went over the timeline in any real way.
• that Jones first said things would be better by '25-26' and yet one slide shows they will have a $129M hole.
  
• that the October Work Session on Budget is going to be wild as they (hopefully) get more specifics.

 

Notable comments

Hampson

She mentioned “staying away from line items” in the budget and I think she means things like WHS music and probably BHS Biotech.

“It may mean goodbye to very special things but we have to stay focused on goals and guardrails.” She said it would be “a difficult conversation to have with our owners - they want it all (as we all do).” (Note: "owners = parents and public which is SOFG speak.)

Hampson claimed Hersey is “committed to a level of community engagement around the budget but we are not where we need to be.” She referenced some app that Tacoma SD is using.

I looked up the app and it's called Compass. It does look like a good way for parents to track what is happening in classes (including if your kid was late), conferences, events and letting the office know when your child will be out for the day.

She also said something kinda ironic about how "having tunnel vision about things that have a lower impact on reducing the deficit." My mind immediately went to the closures. Closing buildings has costs and so the amount saved won't be that great. But, as I have said before, perhaps leasing the buildings will bring in revenue for some net gain.

Also to put out there on closures and consolidations. Parents, think of the newest teachers (not new to your school but to the profession) at your school. They will be the first ones displaced for more senior teachers at closing schools.

As well, all these mega elementaries? Each will absorb some other school's population which may be further from that neighborhood so some kids will have a longer commute.


Fred Podesta, COO

He was asked about enrollment and said that they are currently within 50 students of where they thought they would be.


Harris

Said she was " surprised not to see spreadsheets with this package and tracking numbers for each budget work session is important if not mandatory.” She said she wanted to see “targeted universalism vis a vis the budget.” She said “people are scared.”

Said she was glad for "the happy talk" but said the district never acknowledged the staff who saw their jobs cuts for this year's budget. She said there was a "disconnect between the pain and the happy talk." She said that "closure and consolidation is coming like a tsunami" and that it was "ugly and violent" last time. And she's right; it was ugly and violent.

Harris pointedly asked if there was going to be an RFP for the legislative lobbyist or was this a permanent hire. Jones seemed off-guard and said there was no perpetual job but they were not sending out an RFP this year.


Rankin

“We’ll be supporting kids in a different way.” A SOFG comment if ever there were one. Plus, her usual rambling. For someone running the meeting, she sure didn't keep it moving.

Song Maritz

Near the very end of the meeting, Director Vivian Song Maritz mentioned not doing right by Special Education students. Jarvis said they have ideas on that and it would be part of the October discussion. I cannot say why she suddently said that.


Deputy Superintendent Art Jarvis (a former superintendent himself)

Jarvis' role yesterday seemed to be the sage on the stage.

He had gone to a small elementary to visit yesterday and said that he appreciated the love that staff and parents had for their school but that those small schools would get fewer and fewer services because of enrollment. He said that SPS will "work to attract students" and be "client-centered and serve them well and retain current students." How's that going so far?

Jarvis, Podesta and Jones all indicated getting the budget leveled would take years. Jarvis said people asked why the district didn't do anything three years ago when they lost 1700 students. He said that they "didn't know the students weren't coming back" nor why they left.

The claim was also made that the Legislature knew that SPS had solved its problems on its own for this year. That seemed to be some sort of pride of ownership for senior leadership.

Big News

Apparently Hampson, Rankin and Song Maritz are working on “a fiscal policy” for the Board. Hampson knew she was going to be asked about it but didn’t have it pulled up and rambled about what it was and then contradicted herself. So all I can tell you is that there are two policies to it.

She said something about staff not being able to talk to her about the policy but to give Board staff input. I didn’t understand that.

Harris said she was "beyond thrilled with it" but where was it on the Board Work Plan? She also said it should have been attached to this meeting's agenda with a big DRAFT watermark. She said she thought some of it was "revolutionary" and the public should see it.

Hampson says this policy exists nowhere else and the need for “this level of clarity for this level of work, whatever Board forms after November.” It sounded like she wanted to say that the next Board could not undo this if voted in before that new Board came in because then that work would then belong with the Superintendent.

Rankin demurred on Harris’ request and Director Lisa Rivera smith asked if they could give the draft out. Rankin finally said it did come in an email from Hampson which makes it public. I immediately wrote and asked for it. When I receive it, I'll put it up here.