Seattle School Board Meeting, January 17, 2024

This is long but I think it's important to report out what was actually said at Seattle School Board meetings. Unlike the manner in which minutes are currently written. To help you skip to the important and/or noteworthy item, I put them in red text. (This took me hours to do but you may need the exact wording in order to fight some of these conclusions especially around school consolidations and closures. I also apologize for any misspellings or grammatical errors; I was going cross-eyed trying to repeatedly proofread this post.)

I note that Director Lisa Rivera was present remotely.  Also, I never noticed that the district turns off comments on their meetings on YouTube. I guess they wouldn't like what some viewers might say. The meeting ran 4+ hours.

Superintendent Brent Jones stopped to honor Martin Luther King, Jr.  He stated that he thought that some of the speakers on the Speaker List looked like they would be talking about justice and equality in learning which aligns with Dr. King's work. He also mentioned items on the agenda including the Budget Work Session. He said, "We are on track to present a final plan in May to actualize a vision of a system of well-resourced schools." 

No student board member comments. 

President Liza Rankin gave a brief legislative session overview. There are a record number of bills this session. She didn't mention it but I will that there is a bill about teaching about genocide in high schools. I believe this topic came up during public testimony. As well she didn't mention that there is a bill to pay school board directors. I'll have a post about these and other legislative issues soon. 

It was fascinating to 1) hear Rankin talk about decorum and the Board policy on public testimony when others out in the community have decried bringing up decorum in public meetings and 2) she said speakers should "honor" the 2 minute time in order to give all speakers time to speak and that she would "cut them off" if they did not. Well, that didn't happen at the last meeting where one person went on for six minutes and neither the president nor the VP (Rankin at the time) cut that speaker off. 

Public Testimony

(I was not entirely clear on why so many speakers were listed to talk about BLM and the Israeli/Gaza war. My understanding from listening to the speakers is that someone at Central has hit the pause button on BLM week (coming up in early February) because of BLM national's support of the Palestinians. I think the district needs to answer that question quickly and fully.)

Student Isabel Ender - senior at Nathan Hale and takes wood manufacturing class there. Finds the class engaging and good for her mental health.

Chris Jackins - For the Alki/Montlake projects, the district said it was impossible to have parking but City ruled against Alki and now "magically" the district found ADA parking and some other spaces. The Montlake project is too big and needs to fit its space. It appears it has no ADA parking and the playground will shrink, despite a bigger student population. He asked if the district has a policy on cell phones in schools. On artificial turf and "forever chemicals" the Children's Environmental Health Center at Mount Sinai Hospital recommends against the installation of artificial turf due to uncertainties in the safety of these projects. The district is using this at John Muir Elementary and Maple Elementary.

I am surprised to hear that the district is using artificial turf at elementary schools. I mean the district likes to champion green initiatives and they are using artificial turf in elementary schools?

James Parker - aka Whitney. This is one of the teachers who participated in the Gaza protest that shut down I5. He stated he was "a proud Jewish paraeducator at Franklin High" and he was "doxxed" for that effort. He said he was protesting the "ongoing genocide in Gaza." He said his union had protected him from any district action against him via the First Amendment. He said there had been three incidents at Franklin High between students that almost came to blows. He said the district should provide "constructive avenues for conversation, we make unproductive avenues for conflict inevitable." He said he was not asking the district to pick a side but wants the district to "empower educators and students to create spaces for learning and discussion." He said the silence must be lifted and bring all points of views together.  He said, "We need your ( the district's) affirmative support."

Then, odd for a paraeducator, he said, "We don't have to be experts but we can create brave space for us to learn together."

He asked for the district to "have our backs with no reprisals if we engage in these brave conversations around this conflict in Gaza, work on creating curriculum and resources to help us navigate and teach the history and pass another resolution reaffirming our commitment to Black Lives Matter schools' week."

Elizabeth Moore Simpson - Jewish parent, I want the history of my people organizing and resisting oppression honored alongside the movement of Black lives and civil rights history alongside the history of the Arab Spring, the land back movement and that of migrant farm workers organizing. She said that reducing Jewish to the "monolithic voice of a state - the state of Israel - is reductionist and harmful."

Claire Abe - Cleveland High School counselor, students advocated for mental health support.  She said the students wanted more counselors, a mental health therapist, and a full-time social worker in every building.

Josh Simpson - History teacher and SPS parent. BLM has always supported the liberation of the Palestian people. He stated that "Now is the time for SPS to combat anti-semitism, islamophobia, anti-blackness ,all of which are interconnected."

Rachel Edelman - Jewish ELA teacher in SPS. Support BLM Week at SPS with "a proclamation."  She starts out talking about her class, which sounds great, but then launched into Israel's ongoing "apartheid" and occupation and "genocide" happening in Palestine. "We should not shy away from difficult conversations. "

Jen Greenstein - She said students learn best when teachers "speak the truth, recognize injustice and respect students enough to be real." Jewish social worker in SPS.  She referenced the "department of liberatory education" which seems to be real and yet I never hear senior leadership talk about it. Kind of odd. She said that the district should not allow "pervasive colonialist ideologies to silence" this work.

Leanne Hust - Ingraham High counselor, referenced murder and mental health supports, they want more couselors at 1-250 ratio. This is what Seattle Student Union wants.

Dana Barnett - Concerned about attacks on DEI, an SPS parent and glad for support of BLM by SPS. As a Jewish parent, though, she is worried about "opportunistic groups using false definitions and claims of anti_Semitism to discredit these programs and to smear groups like BLM group who we should look to as leaders in dismantling all forms of oppression."

Kat Behrend - Jewish educator and SPS parent, support BLM week as they have done for the last three years. She stated that school curriculum on BLM has "been flagged and delayed by SPS senior leadership this year due to BKM National Organization support for the people of Palestine." She said she was concerned because SPS should teach difficult topics "with care, curiosity and respect for one another as opposed to limiting these conversations or silencing entire groups of students."

Daniel Lee - teacher and SPS parent, one full time counselor for every elementary school, Garfield counselor, 250-1 versus 400-1, invites board members to attend a counseling meeting

Emma Klein - Jewish SPS educator, SPS may be abandoning BLM because of national. "We have a responsibility to tell the truth and to help students think critically about the world around them."

Janet Miller - Jewish SPS parent and teacher, same BLM week, one student told her that white students are being performative and they need the ethnic studies classes, more BLM curriculum and more anti-racism education.

Oliver Miska - board member of Washington Ethnic Studies Now, sub in SPS, teaching the truth in front of us now, genocide 5851 SB and Holocaust, we want to include Jewish studies. 

Steven Cecil - resident of Belltown, architect, community vision Belltown Battery into park. Amazed when news surface about trade with City, sell Memorial Stadium parking with money, for a school. It's a steep site with remains of tunnel below the surface. Leaves a cloud of confusion. No more deals on that site.

Jen Lavallee - volunteer with Altogether for Seattle Schools. request that SPS accessible opportunities for students and parents around budget shortfalls. We want more transparent and timely communications. "We do not believe we can close our way to well-resourced schools. "

Lauren Holloway - activist teacher, ongoing genocide in Gaza, "SPS chooses to remain silent, offering no support for our students to help navigate confusion, myths, misinformation, and biased news sources."

Lena Jones - Black Jewish teacher of ELA. In 2016, SPS was one of the first school districts to support BLM Week but has been silent this year. (To note, BLM Week appears to be Feb 5-9th.) MLK said that in the end we will not remember the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.

That ended public testimony. President Rankin mumbled something about Legal Counsel Greg Garver and then explained that she is Jewish and "also the author of the first BLM at school resolution in Seattle. We do believe in BLM at school. Thank you for bringing these concerns forward. Did not know about it and more to come."

 

Progress Monitoring 

I skipped this almost entirely in favor of listening to all of the Budget Work Session.  But I did listen into the intro where President Rankin noted that SOFG guru AJ Crabill was listening in and taking notes.

But I did tune in to hear Director Gina Topp ask about 1) the goal of consistency in high school registration and 2) where they are with different parts of their overall goals. 

Dr. Caleb Perkins said that over the years, the many high schools (he cited 18!) in SPS have had unique and innovative offerings but they want to have a common registration strategy so parents have a better understanding of the process and what is offered.  He said the goal is "a common set of classes that you can access whether you are at Roosevelt or any other place."

Use of data as a goal is something high school counselors want, he stated. He said they had made significant progress on this goal that helps counselors figure out if students are on track or not. He also said the High School and Beyond data is not where they want it to be.  He said it was more of a compliance exercise rather than meaningful reflection by students.

Return to Regular Board Meeting

Topp asked for the 2023-2024 Career Technical and STEM Education Annual Plan to be pulled off the Consent Agenda.  

Topp had a remark, missed opp to have a full conversation as a Board about this item. I just really want to thank CTE staff for this really amazing work.  She noted that her father had graduated from Rainier Beach High School and it was "shop and woodworking" that kept him in school. He was a carpenter for the rest of his life and she thinks this is really "critical" work. 

     Board Comments

No committee meetings to report on. 

President Rankin said she wanted to speak briefly about an issue in the news which is "the question of residency of one of our directors." She noted that state law and board policy have "requirements around eligibility to hold positions and individual candidates affirm upon filing for election their eligibility and we are responsible for complying with state law when we take oath of office."

She continued that "the Board doesn't have the ability to determine membership and the Board does not have the authority or obligation. Resignation is at the discretion of the individual. Authority to determine eligibility of elected officials to hold office falls to King County Elections. I wanted to state that to clarify and I know its something that is public and what our role as a Board is which is it's not in our purview to address as a Board."

Director Topp announced that she will be having a community meeting on January 28th and that all Board members are invited. It's at 1:30 pm at High Point Library. Good for her.

Director Lisa Rivera Smith gave an report from Head Start, things are going well with them and one news item is their ongoing work with the City's DEEL department. Two of the classes will become "S Plus" classes which included Special Education students. 

She also stated that the North Beach PTA had invited her to their next meeting next month and she invited two other directors to join her as well. North Beach PTA wants to talk about budgeting and parent input. 

Rankin chimed in that Genessee Hill PTA had asked her, as legislative liason, to come to talk about budgeting on Feb. 5th and she said, of course, that Director Topp was invited as that school is in her district.

They encourage PTAs to invite Board members to their meetings. 

Director Evan Briggs talked about going to a WSSDA bootcamp for new board members throughout the state. She said there was talk about "this Washington School Board Standards: A Research-Based Framework for Effective School Board Governance." She stated that it "really aligns with Student Outcome Focused Governance." I'll have to get a copy of this but I'd bet the Council of Great City Schools was part of it. 

She is attending the Sand Point Elementary PTA meeting on Feb. 13th. She stated that one of her kids goes there.

Rankin looked around and saw no one and was about to go onto other business and then Director Michelle Sarju spoke up. She said her comment was based on what "President Rankin just read." She had a statement to read which she said is not usually how she usually does but "I want to keep it short."

"My comments today will focus on two things - doing what is right and a rupture in trust. Right now I'd rather be about the business of ensuring we are providing the best possible education to the students of SPS. Instead we have a different issue before us. This situation is not about what is legal or not. While this situation might compel legal question, that is not the real issue. The issue is that a board director is occupying a seat they are no longer eligible to hold.

This is different from something being illegal and it's important that we understand this difference. I'm not going into specifics on this issue. I believe what is important is that the focus should be on doing what is right for my student director board member here today.

This situation represents what we should do when we find ourselves in a situation where our past decisions have created a scenario of unintended consequences. As leaders we must focus on what is right for the good of the whole, not what is best for me or you as an individual. 

The other concern here is the reality of broken trust and again, I'm not going to talk about specifics. And nevertheless the math is not adding up. We have a lot of work to do and having broken trust hinders our ability to proceed with our best work in service to students. I don't want to spend time getting to the bottom of this. I want to spend the time focusing on the biggest challenge that we face that will impact the students of this district.

I pivot back to a previous statement. Having the distraction of this unresolved issue will tax our attention and it is not for the good of the whole. Most of the whole being the need to focus on our students. I encourage all leaders, including myself, to make decisions that are good for the whole. That is the best good that can come out of a difficult situation."

Folks, go back and read this speech again. 

One, did she keep it short? Nope. 

Did she repeat herself, over and over? Yes. 

For someone who wants to put the focus on students, she sure spent a lot of time saying that.

Did Rankin say that the Board has no role in this issue early on which basically should have put it to bed for the Board? Why yes, she did. So Sarju, saying that she doesn't want to waste time on this issue, did just did that.

And, Sarju, trying to be crafty without mentioning names, seems to be stating that yes, what Song has done makes her ineligible to hold her seat. Did Sarju explain HOW she knows this for certain? Nope. 

Sigh.

Work Session on Budget

Dr. Kurt Buttleman referenced the 2022-2023 Annual Financial Report and said he wanted to thank "Director Song for prompting some questions in the Director Questions." He said that typically the annual report has not been presented to the Board at a Work Session and he thinks it's a good idea.

To note, when I wrote this post, I said that the data in the documentation was quite detailed. I think it's because of this annual report.  

He also stated that they would try to use fewer acronyms as many people don't "live and breathe this work every day." Good call. One new one to me "IPD" - implicit price deflator which is also COLA.

Director Song asked about items being "one-time" versus "trends." She said the question didn't need to be answered now but probably should be addressed. 

She also asked, "If I'm understanding this right, 2022-2023's budget came out with $32M..." Buttleman said yes, more expenditures than revenue. She continued, "The plan is that this will be assigned to the 2024-2025 budget and so when we are thinking about the $100M gap that we are trying to close, this $32M will go directly to the $100M as a solution?" 

Buttleman said he didn't want to speak for Jones but he said, "That would be my recommendation." But he said that would be "one-time funding." So not anything to count on going forward. 

Director Topp had a few questions. "On slide 6, the additional $15M,you mentioned city levy, can you expand on that?" Buttleman said they were dollars from the City's Families, Education, PreSchool and Promise levy. 

Jones jumped in to say he wanted to make sure that they were explicit about some funding being strictly one-time and not think that the debt won't come back again. He said they are grateful for the City levy funds but never assume they will always be there. (Well, the preschool funds WILL be there if only because the City has opened so many Pre-K classrooms throughout the city that to pull the funding would upend an entire program that just happens to be housed mostly in SPS.)

Bettleman mentioned that levy is up for renewal in 2025.

Topp came back with more questions, this time about school carryforward funds, noting slide 13. She said, "You mentioned 4.9 is the accumulated sub reimbursement fund required to remain at the schools from the CBA? Can you explain that?" She also asked if the school carryforward had ever been called back?

Buttleman did not want to get into the weeks about the CBA but there's language in there on when you have a substitute and if you are not paying that money directly, the money accrues to the school to "kind of whatever the school determines is best use of that."

Rankin noted that the issue of sub payment is coming up in the legislature because of the "gulf" between what the state allocates and what districts pay.

Rivera Smith asked about on Slide 14  and vacant position savings and how is that an expenditure and also, are those positions that the district wants to fill because she is worried that calling it a savings when actually the personnel is needed.

Buttleman said they had vacancies to "the tune of about $25M." So it's more of a savings than an expenditure. He stated that Superintendent Jones and his team were looking at that list to try to suss out what are important positions to someday fill and if they can find "efficiencies."

President Rankin mentioned some issues in the Governor's budget which she said "is just a proposal." She noted the uptick of funding for Special Education from 13.5% to 15% but that is essentially limiting the number of students the legislature believes are disabled which she said was "a civil rights issue." She said SPS was at about 17%. 

Director Hersey asked about the use of capital gains tax funds, noting that he thought they were for Early Learning and school construction. Rankin said true but there might be some funds left for K-12. Hersey asked if districts would be able to use them outside of school construction? He said he could wait for the answer if it was not easily at hand. Rankin said they didn't want to do that because it's not renewable year to year and so it might be dangerous to do so.

Director Briggs asked a rookie question about if there was this new state source for capital funds, couldn't we release the district's capital funds to the General Fund? Rankin explained that no, the district can't because the Capital funding comes from local levies specific to its use. 

Interestingly, in discussing the Governor's budget, Buttleman said that if it is adopted, SPS would get about $3.7M more than anticipated. As well, SPS is projecting just under 16% Special Education students which would also be a savings. 

Rankin brought up state funding for transportation and said SPS is an outlier because it doesn't use a three-bell schedule as most other districts do. She said it wasn't an endorsement on her part for that but it is the reality. Rivera Smith said she understood that but changing meant some "scary early" start times for some students.  

Hersey asked about the issues of timing and traffic with more people returning to offices and other places of business. He asked about "modeling" less than an hour between tiers. Fred Podesta said it's about 50 minutes but when pressed said the system probably couldn't handle less time than that. He also said they can't have a poor system because that could lead to more absenteeism. Then, for some reason, Hersey brought up their governance model and how the Board was supposed to ask questions.

Song requested some data on the absenteeism around the 12 schools in the lower transportation tier. 

Fees in SPS were on the next slide. Buttleman mentioned "a convenience fee" to use School Pay. He said checking other districts, at least a half dozen charge that fee. Rankin said that the system was still trying to charge protected classes of students like foster students and she wants to see that addressed first before deciding on charging any new fees. 

On properties that the district owns but does not use, he said it would be important to think of "the highest and best uses for some of them" and noted that the parking lot at Memorial Stadium does bring in revenue. But he downplayed that parking lot and wondered if this was the best use. One of the speakers had said it would be a bad idea to swap that lot for property over the filled-in Battery tunnel. Buttleman said this was not a near-term decision but would be good to perhaps do a swap for cash. 

Buttleman talked about delaying the payment for the rainy day fund. He talked about borrowing from the Capital Fund to do some budget balancing that's not for cash flow reasons but for balancing the budget and how that would work legally. 

Superintendent Jones wanted to be very clear that school consolidations, grade level reorganizations and program adjustments/restructuring are very much in play and they are working on the analysis now so this is not a far off proposition. 

Dr. Al Jarvis was asked to talk about grade level organization. He said if you had an overcrowded high school, you might move the 9th graders "to an unused building." I can only say that parents will just love the idea of their 9th grader NOT being in a comprehensive high school. But he went on to say they are really looking at the small elementary schools, saying "which child do you love most?" He said there may be more split classrooms if an elementary can only support one kindergarten class.

Maybe move 6th grade back to some elementaries to even out enrollment. He said the high schools today are "a number of years away from being impacted and are more likely to take the adjustments without major hits to their programs."

Rivera Smith said they "should disrupt somethings and I really appreciate that we shouldn't be afraid of that. She mentioned year-round school. She and Rankin talked of "research" that supports their views on split classes. I will just say that in education, you generally can find research to support several views. 

Hersey said "disruption is good when socialized." He says Seattle is "obsessed with change" but if that happens in the middle of the school year, it's damaging. 

      Staff survey

Dr. Jones talked about "how we have to be ready for how much change we are ready for and we know that there's a whole science of change management." He also said, "Twenty percent of the people have 80% of the impact."

He continued, "Part of our planning has to be bringing people along, has to be providing awareness..." He said that they normally call it "engagement" but that it needs to be "multi-faceted." He also said, "So if we go against the grain around what of people's desires are because there's a logical reason to do so, we have to double-down on the amount of change we are looking at."

"Just because it makes sense, sometimes it doesn't make sense." 

Bev Redmond said, "In terms of community engagement, it's just another way (meaning the survey). We can't underestimate what we learned from part one of the well-resourced schools, that when we say our schools are 'hubs,' there are financial, social, economic impact  to whatever decisions we make. Schools are infrastructure.

Both she and Jones talked about "communicating decisions" but not engagement on making them. It all seems to leave parents and students and community out of any decisions. 

There apparently is going to be a part two to the "well-resourced schools" forums and she said "with the levers we are planning to employ." I hope parents are ready to push back hard on being facilitated in this way. 

Song asked if staff were ranking just what was worded on the list or were there descriptions of each item? The answer was, just that list's wording.

Then President Rankin did something remarkable (and bravo to her) - she spoke her mind on the survey. 

Rankin thanked the staff for the work but said, "It feels a little bit of a setup honestly because now we said the thing we wanted the least was reductions and adjustments. And suppose what you all determine is that the biggest impact on both student outcomes and budget is (sic) reductions and adjustments in schools. So now does this mean well, staff said they don't want that?" 

Dead silence.

She continued, "Also this to me indicates something we should all be super aware of and also relates to what Director Hersey said is fear.  It's fear of 'what are you talking about, what does that mean'" Don't do that, don't come mess with our school and that's an understandable place to be especially given historical patterns between schools and central office. That's also something we have to work really hard to undo and repair. Because if I was working in one of our buildings, I would rank that as last, too because I'd be like 'are you freaking kidding me after all of this year and that year and everything and now this."

"We just have to be really careful that we're not just saying 'what do adults prefer' and I mean staff and parents.  What changes can we make to best meet the needs of our students and support the entire system and be sustainable in being a great place to work, in being a place people want to send their kids. So this makes me nervous because honestly it feels a little bit of a setup. Staff asked us and the Board doesn't care what we think because they did XYZ anyway and we said that was a our last choice. "

She and staff use this word "socialize" to mean explain to parents and staff in a way that will get them onboard. I do not think they understand that THEY may be using the word for their meaning but others may be confused. 

"How can we socialize and move this together? People may have preferences and those should be listed to, but our mission, our very reason for existing is to improve outcomes for students so choices should not be made agnostic of that. "

She also acknowledged that the survey results could be a "fear response" and not just "afraid of change, they're afraid, they have trauma from very real consequences from decisions that have been made to them or at them and I understand the response 'no, no, just leave us alone.''

Director Briggs pointed out something obvious that I saw in these survey results (and you probably did as well if you read my post) - the conclusions that staff made from the survey results don't match what the top two choices for that change are. Namely, leasing/selling properties and reducing central office staff.

Buttleman said the last slide was "a qualitative look" at the open-ended comments that were received. OH! They don't include those comments or even notate there was that opportunity. I will have to ask for them. 

Briggs pressed on, saying that it appears that some items wording got cut off so "what the actual question was and I assumed school consolidations was rolled into that? And so that was their last choice but in the written responses they were open to that (consolidations)? I'm confused."

Jones explained those "9 levers" were those in the resolution and them we also gave them a place to state additional ideas do you have?"

"Folks are sophisticated and they then say this is the reality."

He also stated that Jarvis had extended an invitation to principals to weigh in. 

That's great but where is that documented in any real way? You might ask your principal if they got that invite and did they speak with Mr. Jarvis? And, if so, what questions did your principal have and what were Mr. Jarvis' responses?