Thoughts to Ponder on Closures

Some of you may have noticed comments from "OSPI Retired Professional" a person who seems to be quite in the know for state-level public education information. 

I recently wrote a post about a Seattle Times op-ed from an SPS parent who was unhappy with the district. 

OSPI Retired Professional had some interesting information pertaining to school closures.

"District 6 school board candidate Gina Topp when asked about this (school closures) said, “If the board decides that school closures are necessary in order to balance the budget, there needs to be some guiding principles created with communities about what that closure process looks like.”

Since Ms. Topp "previously served as chief legal counsel and policy adviser to King County Executive Dow Constantine, and now has a solo practice specializing in business and tax law" I would have expected her to have done some research to know that Washington State law explicitly states that, ”Before any school closure, a school district board of directors shall adopt a policy regarding school closures which provides for citizen involvement before the school district board of directors considers the closure of any school for instructional purposes.”

Districts should also conduct an equity impact assessment before implementing school closures to protect Washington’s students and communities from inequality and injustice, and provide the public with the set of metrics or criteria proposed for closure decisions so that the public can provide input.

Understanding how dollars are allocated across schools to different student groups and modeling different scenarios for more equitable distributions will give district leaders and communities the tools they need to have uncomfortable, politically-charged conversations about where dollars are being spent and how different allocation methods could create equity for all students."

You may recall that next week at the Board meeting, Superintendent Brent Jones will be presenting a plan for next year's budget deficit that may or may not including schools to close. (My money is on closing schools even though it won't save that much money.)

The Board DOES have a school and instructional site closure policy. It states:

- the Superintendent's preliminary recommendation should have 'analysis of possible effects of closure including criteria for school closure, demographic and integration effects, relationship of the proposed closure to any on-going, established program for facility use and proposed site classification. 

- the preliminary recommendation has to have 30 days for public review.  

- a public hearing for each proposed site "in the general geographic area of the affected building." 

- then, presentation of final recommendations

- then, public review for 14 days. 

- then, another public hearing but not individual ones. 

- then, "school board discussion of Superintendent's final recommendation for school closures"

- then Board action on closures within 90 days of the time of hearings for each site and no less than a week after the last public hearing on Superintendent's recommendation for school closures. 

It says nothing about equity but for an equity-driven district, you'd think that would be part of it. Of course, the district has said that most of the underenrolled elementaries are in the north end so maybe that won't be a big consideration for this Board. 

There is also this wording:

In the event exigent circumstances make adherence to the above policy infeasible, the Board of Directors may so declare and make a school closure(s) decision following a process consistent only with the minimum requirements of RCW28A.335.020

I looked at the RCW and there's not much you could trim off from the process.

So November 15th, the preliminary list is put forth. Then there would be 30 days of public review which  would be until December 15th with Thanksgiving in-between so that might bump it to December 17th. Gee, what else is happening then? Oh right, Hanukkah (December 7-15) and then Christmas (Dec 18-Jan 10. 

How handy is that timeline for schools been considered for closure to organize?

Right after the winter holidays, I suspect the district will get right to those public hearings, final recs, etc.  But, in the middle of all that will come the Mid-Winter Break (Feb. 19-23). I'm guessing the first week of March would be when the Board will vote on the final recommendations. 

So there will be a process and it will go at a quick clip. The way the district has set up this process - with these phony "well-resourced schools" meetings that were really designed to get the parents at other schools to buy into closures - schools on the chopping block won't really be able to mount a defense. 

I will write a separate post on all that MUST happen for those closing schools AND the ramifications for the ENTIRE district. Teachers at non-closing schools getting bumped for teachers with seniority at closing schools, principal movement, custodial/kitchen staff movement, transportation issues and, of course, boundaries. 

And also, this time the district better have better security at the closed schools. Viewlands had all its copper wiring stripped out because that school had no security measures.

OSPI Retired Professional also had this to say and I hope the district and the Board takes it to heart:

Deep community engagement is the best practice for all districts, as it pays dividends beyond school closures. Increased parent and student engagement lead to better academic achievement and attendance, which in Washington State leads to more funding for schools and the decreased likelihood of future school closures.