Last Seattle School Board Meeting of 2023

It was an eventful meeting as new Board officers were elected. More on that to come. Agenda

It was the first meeting for the newest members, Gina Topp and Evan Briggs, both of whom were silent for most of the meeting. 

Two of the student board members were there. Luna Crone-Barón told the Board that the feedback she hears from other students is the need for more engaged listening, saying that "We want to be seen and heard." She also gave a lovely quote from Bell Hooks - Rarely, if ever, are any of us healed in isolation. Healing is an act of communion.”

Member Aayush Muthuswamy said that it was clear that some high school students cannot read or do math at grade level and that the district is failing those students. 

There was also a mention of a "Board Bulletin" that the Board gets weekly(?) from the Superintendent. There used to be a Friday Memo and it went away. I have inquired where this new bulletin might be accessed from the SPS website.

President Brandon Hersey spoke about the upcoming Board elections and again, apropo nothing, noted how young he is (as compared to the other directors). He said that the new president is not there for "leadership" but rather "vision and direction." I heard that as a direct nod to SOFG. It was interesting when, later on in the meeting, other directors praised him for his leadership.  

He said, "We are at the precipice of something great." SPS is teering on the the edge of a cliff towards greatness? 

He then -again- made a claim that "This is the first time many of us can remember a board squarely focusing their attention on students as opposed to adult issues." He continued,  "That's new, bold, innovative and I am excited to continue that work." 

Well, again, what an insult to past boards and their work. Plus, he himself said he hadn't been around that long but apparently he listened to somebody about board history. I will categorically state that I have seen many Seattle School Boards that focused their attention on students.  

Director Liza Rankin mentioned that the Legislature starts its new (and short) session on January 8th. 

Director Vivian Song mentioned, in connection with her work as City Council liaison, that there will be more funding coming for school zone cameras as well as $20M in support of youth mental health in Seattle. 

Director Rankin forgot an item and came back into mention a "cultural access" tax that will go up 1/10 of a cent for youth access to science and cultural institutions.

Speaker Testimony

It was a very small speaker list. The student speaker spoke about Nova High School and the services it offers but that accessibility in the building is not good. He said that the district needed to not just meet the bare minimum for ADA compliance.

Another speaker, E. R. Álvarez (who appears to have worked for the district) spoke about the Personnel Report saying that, despite possible school closures and enrollment problems, that the district has no demographer on staff nor a long-range enrollment analyst. He stated that a person had been interviewed for that enrollment position and that the person was "a queer person of color with a PhD" and yet when they got the job offer, it was $20K less than the last person who had the job which was a white male. 

Then Alex Wakeman Rouse, a founding member of a new group, All Together for Seattle Schools, spoke about the fiscal plan that was to be voted on later in the meeting. She said cuts in the plan should be "explored" and budgeting should be done with parents and that the Board should wait until after the legislative session to pass any budget. 

Chris Jackins pointed out that the agenda included spending over $1M for a green energy review by a consultant. I admit that in this time of fiscal crisis, you'd think they might put that on hold. As well, he pointed out that the Mercer MS capital building project needed $1M more for completion. He also noted that the lawsuit settlement should have been posted on the agenda three days before the meeting (per Board policy).  Later on in the meeting when Legal counsel Greg Narver came forward to speak on the Juul settlement, he said "mea culpa" and they just couldn't get it done in time. I wonder if he would say that to a judge. 

Janis White spoke about the number of students - including her own - that had to take remedial courses in college for basics when the students had passed them at Seattle Schools high schools.

As I previously mentioned, Sebrena Burr spoke for nearly six minutes without any caution from either the Board office administrator or President Hersey. Of course, she was busy defending Hersey from the perceived slight he got from former director Leslie Harris at the last meeting. So maybe it was in his own interest to not say anything about the time.

But it certainly sets the tone for meetings. Two minutes be damned; in the future, talk as long as you like. 

Consent Agenda

Director Vivian Song asked that Item #13 be removed from the Consent Agenda. That item was the  Superintendent's fiscal plan, and she stated that she said there had been some tweaks since its introduction. She also suggested that perhaps an Ad Hoc Finance Committee was in order with two community members who might be former directors. Hersey waved that idea off, saying they didn't want to "give away" information on the planning. You mean, like being transparent early on about what is being considered? 

Rankin said the idea of fees for athletics and other activities gave her pause because of the families it would affect. (I will say that I believe if the district DID impose fees that community groups would step up to help families with them.) 

Then they went to the vote and, again as in the past, Director Sarju seemed confused. She asked what they were voting on. Hersey explained it was the fiscal plan as stated on the agenda. She seemed to think something had changed - it hadn't, just discussion happened - and then said she would "abstain" because she wasn't sure about what they were voting on!

The Board office administrator did say that the item had not changed but was merely getting its own vote separate from the Consent Agenda. Sarju still abstained. 

Election of Board Officers

This was not the most comfortable election process because of the lack of nominations and the silence that engendered.

Hersey turned the meeting over to Superintendent Brent Jones (as Jones, per Board policy, presides over the elections). Jones asked for nominations for president and only Director Rankin was nominated. She was elected unianimously 

Then there were the nominations for Vice President. After a bit of silence, Director Michelle Sarju was nominated. There were no other nominations and Sarju seconded her own nomination. After she was elected she gave a speech about not trying to be on the Board but she was asked to do so and had stepped up and now, with the VP role, she was doing the same.

(Interesting item is that Rankin said according to Robert's Rules of Order smaller boards don't have to get seconds for motions. I looked that up and it appears it's true.)

Then, the longest silence occurred for the nomination for Member at Large. Finally, new director Evan Briggs was nominated. And no one else. Not Rivera, not Song. It was more than a little shocking to me. But Briggs was elected to the post. I sure hope they don't ever send Briggs off by herself to represent the Board because I'm not sure she can answer that many questions. 

New Board President Rankin noted that the Member at Large post was a Board policy, not in state law. And that the Board had done this because they wanted a third director on the Executive Committee which no longer exists. Not sure what that will mean for the future.

One of the last items was discussion of the Juul settlement which got the biggest laugh of the evening when Legal Counsel Greg Narver nervously said the Board shouldn't ask him about the "Hip-Hop 2 Prevent Substance Abuse and HIV" program that will be funded from the proceeds.

For the Future

I don't think Board meetings will move particularly quickly with President Rankin. She tends to forget what she wants to say and circles back, time and again, to say "just one more thing." I also want to point out how, in the past, she has said that it takes a lot time to be a Board member and that's why SOFG is a good thing. And then, at this meeting. she told the Board she was elected to be on the state directors' board. Oh.