Seattle School Board Candidate Forum: How Did It Go?

 Update 2:

The Board will be having a Special Meeting before their regularly scheduled Board meeting on Wednesday, April 3rd, where they will selected the two people to fill the empty spots in District 2 and District 4. 

The Special Meeting starts at 3:30 pm and can be viewed in person or online. 

Auditorium, John Stanford Center
2445 – 3rd Avenue South, Seattle WA 98134
Remote access:
By Microsoft Teams
By Teleconference: +1 206-800-4125 (Conference ID: 585 057 602#

This meeting will be about a half hour and then the regular Board meeting will start at 4:15 pm.

The new directors will take the oath of office on Thursday, April 4th.  Seems interesting that the Board didn't build in the time for the new members to take the oath after their Special Meeting and seat them for the Board meeting. In the past, this has been done.

Of course, the next week is Spring Break so it that does give the new members the chance to do their homework.  Oddly, the next Board meeting - the first with the new members - won't be until May 2nd. 

Most of the applicants said they would have engagement out in the community and if either of the two new directors has a meeting between the time they are sworn in and May 2nd, I'll let you know.

end of update

Update:

The Seattle Times weighed in - they like Thompson for D2 and Mizrahi or Rivera for D4. 

End of update

There were very nice, sincere statements from the candidates but did anyone break out as the obvious choice? Nope. 

It was disappointing that most of the candidates spoke about "helping the kids" and, at various points, named students as "clients," "customers," and "stakeholders." I had to smile because this was talk straight out of 20+ years ago. Maybe just call everyone not in leadership "stakeholders." 

I'm not going to record all the answers - most of them were edu-speak blah, blah and frankly, not that interesting. Not one person offered anything I thought new or thought-provoking. 

The format of the forum was like this:

- Questions asked by two students in leadership - Aayush Muthuswamy and Semal Hagos.

- 90 seconds for each of five questions (all the candidates were respectful of time)

- 10 minute break in the middle

- Lightening round with one-word answers 

- Closing statements

I will be paraphrasing the questions.

With that format, it allowed the Board members to sit with the audience and listen (and take notes, I hope.) I did not hear that all the Board members were there but I believe so. As well, Superintendent Brent Jones - who was referenced by several candidates - appeared to be in the audience as well. 

 I note that the Superintendent should have nothing to do with this process just as he does not during elections. I wonder if anyone on the Board is going to consult him on his thoughts. 

Here are my impressions and who I think positioned themselves the best for the current Board. (This is NOT the same as who I think would do the best job.)

D2

- Danielle Gahl

- Carol Thompson

- Sarah Clark

- Shawn Sullivan

I had thought Thompson might do better but I didn't find her performance especially good. Clark smiled very little and seemed somewhat detached the entire time. Sullivan got a couple of things wrong with most glaring mistake that the Board is not the boss of the superintendent. That IS one of their main roles.

Why Gahl? She was incredibly positive and it felt like she brightened up the forum whenever she spoke.  It was refreshing to see someone who seemed committed to listening to different stakeholders AND bringing back that info to the district.

D4

As I previously stated, I think Laura Marie Rivera is the best person to put on the Board. At the forum, she noted her endorsements, including from the Seattle Times when she previously ran, and that she got 70,000 votes. I think she presented herself well and knowledgably but this Board is not going to pick someone who might rock the boat. 

So that leaves three candidates; here are my picks in order:

- Gabby Gonzalez

- Joe Mizrahi

- Rachelle Olden

 Why Gonzalez? I didn't think she had a strong start but then her answers seemed to get stronger. She seemed to have done some work in trying to get the lay of the land in SPS, both from the Board side and the district side.

 

Opening Statements

D2

Thompson stated that "making sure the kids have excellent academics with rigor" and "we need diverse ideas." 

Gahl - She talked about being a teacher in Texas and that kids need "full bellies and physical/psychological safety."

Olden talked about "recognizing that student zip codes/circumstances don't determine outcomes." She was the only one who basically read her statement.

 

D4

Gonzalez showed she had done some homework, saying she had been reading up on Board policies, "targeted universalism" and the Strategic Plan. 

Rivera stated she had been active in the district since 2008. No one else cited anything close to that.

 

Question 1

The first question was about what motivated the candidates to serve and do they have any initiatives to offer. 

D4

Mizrahi said that "Schools have been orbitting  around white, mono-lingual, neurotypical students. and that he wanted "to disrupt that system."

Gonzalez said that the SPS image needs help and also that she wanted to serve students "away from educational justice."

Rivera talked about the need for Special Education especially around learning challenging. 

D2

Clark talked about being a practicing Buddist and mentoring youth. She didn't really get to question.

Gahl said she would like to "close the loop" for the district when there are complaints. She said she would go out to community and solicit feedback and then advocate to the district. That was the first of several times where candidates expressed this kind of "go out and listen to the community." Currently, this is not being done in any real and visible way.

Sullivan admitted that he is, "a cis white male." He said that many items like music and athletics are "under threat" because of the budget woes. He made me smile when he said that there is "a lot we can do if we solve the budget problem." No kidding.

Question 2

How do you define governance for an effective school board and what skills do you bring to the Board?

D2

Gahl said a school board is different from other boards and it operates through policy and process improvements. She did reference SOFG.

Sullivan said that the Board "is not the boss of the the superintendent or principals." Well, he got it half-right but one of the key responsibilities of the Board is to hire and guide the superintendent and, if you have a less-than-good superintendent, get rid of that person and find another one.

Thompson asked "what is our north star?" She said the district shouldn't set goals so high that "it set us up for failure."

 

D4

Gonzalez referenced "the what and the how" and looking at what short-term pain might lead to long-term success.

Rivera rambled about the Board being "everything and nothing" and the "link between the district and the public and being misunderstood by both sides."

Olden said the budget is "long" and the public should be "able to read it and it should be digestible." She said she would "challenge the status quo."

Question 3

What guidance would you offer the Superintendent for a balanced budget in these difficult times?

D4

Rivera talked about the work sessions and knew that the Legislature was going to allot districts more money and raise the Special Education cap. 

Olden said the district should hire "the best in class" educators" and there should be "teaching activities that will have ROI "(return on investments) and that there was an "exposure gap" for opportunities. 

Mizrahi offered that cuts should be "rooted in values."

Gonzalez also mentioned the Legislature and that the basics are revenues versus expenses. She noted that increased enrollment would help with revenues.

 

D2

Sullivan suggested "mobilizing popular opinion" to tell the legislature. She also referenced that the law was to "fund education adequately" but the state constitution wording is "amply fund."

Thompson talked about the district having a "growth mindset" and that the district shouldn't operate in a crisis mode.

Clark talked about the superintendent talking to other superintendents to build a coalition and said she would like to be part of the planning for the spending of City dollars for mental health of students.

Gahl talked about "students over spaces." She said the district knew "what was coming" and to "show our work so we can go out to the community and they would better understand what was happening."

Question 4

How would you use student feedback in your decision-making process?

D2

Gahl had best answer about her efforts to reach out to student groups at Ballard High School to "hear directly" from students. 

 

D4

Mizrahi said to ask the question, "If you could wave a magic wand, what would you change?"

Olden talked about shadowing students at school.  She also said the Board should "educate the students about what we do and not because we say so." 

Gonzalez recommended a book, "Move Fast and Fix Things." 

Rivera said that students know what is happening classrooms, they know about safety issues and what classes aren't offered.

 

Question 5

This question was about community perspective in decision-making.

D4

Rivera mentioned Hersey's stand on not going to libraries or coffeeshops for public outreach. 

 

D2

Gahl suggested home visits and that board members could attend school concerts and other school events. (Well, if they don't have committee meetings any longer, maybe this is a possibility.) She also mentioned trying AI for voice translation.

Thompson basically pooh-poohed speaking at Board meetings or letter writing. She also said Asians are the biggest group leaving SPS. I wonder where she got that stat.

Lightening Round

I didn't find this section useful but on "What is your super power?" here's what they said.

Thompson - Prioritization

Clark - Creative thinking

Danielle - Cheerleading

Sullivan - Parking and determination (he said he was great at finding parking spaces and had to say that)

Olden - Empathy 

Mizrahi - Listening

Gonzalez - Curiosity

Rivera - Uplifting

Closing statements

A lot of thanking family/Board and even the Superintendent but only Gahl had an entertaining closing statement.

"I'm not the main character, we're not the main characters. Our students are the main characters, we're just here to further the plot. And so I really want to emphasize that you (the students) are the heroes of this story and we need to be your sidekicks. You're Batman, we're Alfred. We want to make sure you have bandaids and you can Dark Knight. And so, again, my name is Danielle and I'm a candidate for District 2 and I think I would be a really good sidekick.

The students on the dais looked a little nonplussed at this but it got a bit of applause.