Board Budget Work Session Could Be Tense

Update: well, this is curious. 

Over the last couple of years, the day after a Board meeting - whether work session or board meeting - the video is posted to the district's YouTube site. I see an October "First Bell" video put up yesterday but no video for the work session that took place on Wednesday. I saw some comments about it at a Twitter page so I do want to watch it for myself (spoiler alert: Hampson goes after her favorite punching bag, Option Schools). 

I hope to see it posted by the end of Friday. 

end of update

Over at the West Seattle Blog, they are reporting that there is a push to get parents to attend today's Seattle School Board Work Session on the Budget.  Here's the agenda; it starts at 4:30 pm at the JSCEE.

If you can’t go, you can watch the livestream here.

From the post:

We heard today from a local teacher who says it’s important for concerned families to turn out for the meeting – at SPS HQ in SODO – because of the recent reconfiguration plans (WSB coverage here) as well as what’s ahead. She writes:

SPS’s management made a mistake. We need families to go to the SPS board budget meeting, TOMORROW. Tuesday October 17, 4:30 pm – in-person at JSCEE. The goal is to get many families in one place to connect and support one another. We URGENTLY need to get currently unaffected schools to support our affected schools because they could become affected schools next. 

The main reason to get involved/keep up? There is NOTHING that happens in this district that doesn't ripple out to all schools. Closing some schools will indeed affect all schools to some degree. 

WS Blog also states that Director Leslie Harris is having a community meeting this Saturday, the 21st, from 2-5 pm at the West Seattle Library, 2306 42nd Ave SW.  

The agenda includes the "community engagement" recap as well as survey recap with "general themes."

Budget Development Principles

• Prioritize quality instruction and learning
• Good faith efforts. We each share the same values
• Teamwork – Board and Superintendent are one team 
• Be clear on the challenges and opportunities 
 
Page 8 shows next year's deficit as $131M, '24-25 as $104M and '25-26 ballooning back up to $129M.
 
The district is blaming the state for "funding deficiencies" which is true except the district has been operating all along with these issues and didn't have these kinds of deficits.  They do also say they are down nearly 5,000 student in four years. 
 
But they own this:

District decisions
• Reliance on one-time funding (e.g., $145 million in ESSER)
• System inefficiencies (uncertainty coming out of the pandemic) 
• Staffing growth as enrollment has declined
 
I wonder why they left out the teachers contract because that is a big issue. 
 
Page 11 - Multi-Year Budget Planning states that they can't use more Capital Funds and the Economic Stabilization Fund is gone. 
 
They say "on-going" and state "further reductions in contingency reserves" - I thought they used up all the rainy day funds this year? 
 
More reductions at Central as well as "programmatic reductions" are also offered as solutions. 
 
Page 17 is seems a pipe dream on transportation costs with funding from State

  1. (12)(a) $13,000,000 of the general fund-state appropriation for fiscal year 2023 is provided solely for the superintendent to provide transportation safety net funding to school districts with a demonstrated need for additional transportation funding for special passengers ...
SPS already spends millions more than anyone else on Transportation. I suspect the State would not see it how SPS does.
 
Looks like self-help dollars would go away. 

Fees for Athletics and other activities is on the table. I would think communities would set up a way to pay those fees so students can keep active. 
 
Page 25 is interesting with direct cuts to different central budgets. Eyeballing it, it looks like Academics, Finance, and HR would take the biggest hits. 

Page 28 will make parents unhappy - Transportation Changes -3 bell schedule will "save" $5M. I'd like to see the numbers on that one.

Page 29 is school closures with an estimate of $750,000 and $2M per school. They claim transportation costs but those are likely to be small given that if you still have students at one school who need transportation, they'll need it to get to a new school. 

Page 31 offers some "considerations" like "enrollment changes, external funding opps, sales of assets/property, future labor agreements and partnerships."

Comments

Anonymous said…
Thanks Melissa for diligently tracking and reporting this! You're the de facto SME on all things SPS; the press is asleep and the Seattle electorate thinks it's off the hook because they keep voting yes on operating levies.

WHERE is SCPTSA in all this? Their socials have been very quiet during the storm of school closures and teacher shuffles, why so hands off? I mean, if you're any kind of advocate for public schools, now is the time to make some noise, while Seattle voters still retain control of it.

Enablers
10/17/23, 4:40 PM
Anonymous said…
So the District is slowing down the process so the new board gets a vote on school closures? What’s the point of that? Seems risky what with the election and some candidates saying nah, no school closures. They’re not really going to be flush with new information, why kick the can? Hampson looks pretty ready to chop option schools, although it won’t be her vote at this point.

What
10/18/23, 5:26 AM
SPSAskedForThis said…
SCPTSA doesn't advocate for schools or the PTAs they purport to represent. They only advocate for their own and a few board members' agendas. No wonder they are irrelevant.
10/18/23, 7:55 AM
@What said…
Don’t make assumptions about all school board candidates. Ben Gitenstein is well very aware of issues within Seattle Public Schools.

Evan Britt is Hampson’s hand picked candidate. So, be careful.

Hampson is trying to force her agenda before leaving office. She wants her fiscal policy passed which most likely will get filed in the circular basket because- with continued $100M per year deficits- the district is poised for bankruptcy with state take over. Hampson and Rankin will lead the effort to kill PTA support without a thoughtful analysis. Hampson herself knows issues of PTA dollars will take 10 years to sort out- while the district is heading off a financial and enrollment Cliff.
10/18/23, 9:16 AM
Anonymous said…
Related to the past and future school boards, it is curious that the current board has held two executive sessions focused on review of a public employee in the last month: September 13 and October 11. The board manages one public employee-- the superintendent-- so one might conclude that they are reviewing the superintendent. Since historically it has been in the Nov/Dec time period when a superintendent's contract has either been terminated or extended, it seems like something is in the works.

Indeed there are rumors that a contract renewal is in the works. This fits with this current school board's penchant for slipping in significant decisions before they turn the lights out on their board service.

- Concerned
10/18/23, 9:52 PM
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