This and That, September 19, 2023

Update 2: I have seen on a couple of Facebook pages that there have been robberies involving attacks on students in the Ballard area. (I see from the West Seattle Blog that there have been robberies in several areas of West Seattle as well; one at gunpoint.)

Last night two Ballard High students were attacked by men in a maroon or red SUV. One student's phone was taken. 

Obviously, kids like to walk with their phones out, either checking them or talking on them. Maybe don't do that at night? I wish I knew the answer. 

end of update

Update: SEA contacted me and those are their endorsements and they won't be changing them. 

end of update

The Seattle Teachers Association has been pretty quiet on the endorsement front but at their website, they put up a list of their endorsements for Seattle School Board. 

  • D1 - Debbie Carlsen
  • D2 - Lisa Rivera Smith
  • D3 - Christie Robertson
  • D4 - Gina Topp

The SEA's turning away from incumbent Liza Rankin in D1 is huge, considering she helped found Soup for Teachers which was to support SEA members during strikes.  And, they did endorse the other incumbent, Lisa Rivera Smith.

I'm a bit baffled about D3 now that the primary is over. I am going to try to reach them to ask but I have always found it hard to get info from them. I'm going to try over at their Facebook page as they haven't tweeted since December 2022.

Director Leslie Harris is having a community meeting (with lasagna) on Saturday, October 21st at the West Seattle Library from 2-5 pm. 

There's a new cell phone policy at Chief Sealth International High School. This from the West Seattle Blog:

No cell phone use during class. Under the hashtag #AwayForThe Day, it’s explained: “The expectation is simple. Students will need to keep their phone away for the day. This means that during class time, phones will be in their backpack or bag and remain there until the end of class. Teachers will also have cases, lockers or something similar where phones can be safely stored if the student would prefer that.” After a survey, an FAQ was sent out, with most student questions answered the same way: “You can use your cell phone before and after school, and during lunch.”

It's stated that this will be a (hot) topic at the next PTSA meeting tonight. (There are 37 comments so far at the WS Blog. Most commenters like the policy. One person says they do this in Highline but parents can opt their kid out. Another commenter says this has been adopted at Arbor Heights Elementary School but there is NO usage allowed during the school day.) 

Any other SPS schools with this policy?

Comments

Anonymous said…
Jane Addams is on its second year of Away for the Day. (Yes, they use the same name.) I think it's great. —JAMS parent
9/20/23, 9:52 AM
Anonymous said…
Salmon Bay has an away for the day policy, and has had it for years. I fully support it. I wish Ballard High School would consistently adopt it.

-too much tech
9/20/23, 7:59 PM
Michael Rice said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
9/21/23, 1:14 PM
buystrip said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
9/22/23, 1:44 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, grief, that is to come fro
Read more

MEETING CANCELED - Hey Kids, A Meeting with Three(!) Seattle Schools Board Directors

 Update 2: So I have seen a message from President Liza Rankin on why she, Director Evan Briggs, and Director Michelle Sarju backed out of this meeting.  In a nutshell: - She says there was no organization to the meeting which is just not true. They had a moderator lined up and naturally the board members could have set parameters for what to discuss, length of meeting, etc. All that was fleshed out. - She also claimed that if the meeting was PTA sponsored, they needed to have liability insurance to use the school space. Hello? PTAs use school space all the time and know they have to have this insurance.  - She seems to be worried about the Open Public Meetings law. Look, if she has a meeting in a school building on a non-personnel topic, it should be an open meeting. It appears that Rankin is trying, over and over, to narrow the window of access that parents have to Board members. She even says in her message - "...with decisions made in public." Hmmm - She also says that th
Read more