Hungry for SPS News? Wednesday's Seattle School Board Meeting Includes a Word Salad

Not that a word salad is anything new in SPS but this Wednesday's Seattle School Board meeting includes a huge one. Here's the agenda.

One item on the agenda concerns a contract for "applied behavior analysis therapy" for some students per their IEPs. When the district signed the contract with Crissey Behavior Consulting in August 2023, it appears it was just under $1M. But the Board is being asked to okay an additional $655K due to more students needing these services. To note:

The revenue source for this motion is state special education funding including Safety Net for extraordinary high-cost needs. 

There is a list of 20 students and their schools (sans names or other identifiers) included in the contract update and the BAR says that "the number of students requiring these services has increased" since the initial contract was signed. Because SPS is one of the few districts able to provide these high-level services, that is one place where enrollment won't be losing students.

 

The Consent Agenda has two items previously introduced. One is the adoption of the 6-8 English Language Arts Instructional Materials and the other is the adoption of the Algebra 1, Geometry, and Algebra 2 Instructional Materials. As one person stated at the last Board meeting, it appears that neither adoption will include books but just digital materials. 

 

There are two Action items - both Intro and Action - which I find troubling. The Board has allowed Intro/Action to become the norm rather than the emergency situation that it had been for decades previous to the last 6+ years. And this change has happened without zero public discussion. 

The first is an item to authorize the Board to :

• make an interfund loan to the SPS General Fund from its Capital Fund 
• ok an amendment to the repayment plan of the Economic Stabilization Account and;

• authorizing the Use of Capital Fund Interest Earnings for Instructional Supplies, Equipment or Capital Outlay Purposes

The first item is not to exceed $35M and the third item would use $2M of interest earnings on capital fund dollars. On the use of interest earnings, this is a bit of a dirty little secret in SPS - they are still making money off levies from a decade or more ago. 

To the Interfund Loan:

The loan is authorized under RCW 28A.505.130: “The proceeds of any interfund loan must not be used to balance the budget of the borrowing fund, except in fiscal year 2024 when such loans may be used to address budget destabilization in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Interfund loans in fiscal year 2024 may be for a duration of two years.”

In addition, WAC 392-123-060 provides: “For the 2024-25 and 2025-26 budget periods, accepting binding conditions due to a negative fund balance position is not required for school districts or charter schools that have an interfund loan for more than the amount of the negative position in the receiving fund. This timebound exception is provided in RCW 28A.505.130 so long as the transaction date on the loan occurs on or before June 30, 2024.”

The loan is also regulated by WAC 392-123-150: “Interest shall be charged by the loaning fund to be paid by the borrowing fund. The rate of interest shall be not less than the current warrant interest rate prevailing in the county in which the school district is considered to be located. The interest shall be credited to the loaning fund and shall not be transferred to any other fund.”

So that money will have to be paid back to the Capital Fund with interest. 

To Delaying Repayment of Economic Stabilization Account (Rainy Day Fund)

In 2015, the District adopted Board Policy No. 6022, creating the Economic Stabilization Account, which is essentially the District’s “rainy day fund.” Per Board Policy No. 6022, the Economic Stabilization Account may only be used to “fund activities that would otherwise be reduced in scope, suspended or eliminated due to unanticipated shortfalls in the General Fund revenues.”

The policy further states that the use of the Economic Stabilization Account must be authorized by a Board resolution and requires that if the use of the Economic Stabilization Account causes the fund balance to fall below the recommended 3% of the District’s total prior year operating expenditures, the resolution must be accompanied by a repayment plan to replenish the Economic Stabilization Account.

The district took the entire $42M for budget 2023-2024.  

The District was originally planning to begin repayment in 2024-25. The proposed amendment to the repayment plan would postpone the repayments to the account by one year. Delaying repayment would allow the District to instead use $7 million to help balance the 2024-25 budget. 

They would start repaying this fund in FY 25-26 at $7M a year. 

To Capital Interest Earnings 

The law allows districts to use interest earnings on capital funds for instructional supplies,
equipment, or capital outlay purposes. 

 

The second item is Receipt of Superintendent's Plan for a System of Well-Resourced Schools and Direction to the Superintendent to Present Preliminary Recommendations with Supporting Analysis.  

From the BAR:

This Board Action Report transmits the Superintendent’s plan for a system of well-resourced
schools, as requested by the Board through Resolution No. 2023/24-7. The recommended Board
action formally acknowledges receipt of the plan and provides responsive direction to the
Superintendent to present preliminary recommendations for school closures with supporting
analysis for further Board and public review.

Approval of the recommended action does not provide final authorization for school closures or
identify specific schools for consolidation. This action instead provides confirmation to the
Superintendent that district leadership are aligned in pursuing school consolidations as a
necessary implementation step to achieve a system of well-resourced schools. 

From the Fiscal Impact/Revenue Source section (partial):

There are no specific revenues or expenditures associated with this proposed Board action, but
there are significant fiscal impacts for the broader budget and educational model question facing
the district: whether to transition to a system of well-resourced schools with accompanying
school closures or whether to provide the Superintendent alternative direction on financial
strategies for balancing the district budget.

The district’s current operational model is not sustainable; maintaining it would require
significant expenditure reductions to address deficits each year, while leaving school
communities without some of the resources they prioritize for student success. This tension has
been documented and discussed during Board and community sessions over numerous years.

From the Student Benefit section:

 Well-resourced schools will:
• include access to high-quality educators and modern classroom resources, textbooks, and
technology;
• offer curriculum that is inclusive and representative of diverse cultures, backgrounds, and
abilities;
• prioritize safety through proactive security measures; and
• foster a supportive environment where students feel valued and supported socially and
emotionally.

I have to smile at a district that with one action - approval of two curriculum adoptions without textbooks - then go onto another action that says well-resourced schools include...textbooks. 

Under Policy Implications:

Under Board Policy No. 6883, the first step in considering school consolidations is for the Superintendent to present a preliminary recommendation for school closures and for the publication of analysis of the possible effects of proposed school closures, including:

• Criteria for school closure(s);
• Demographic and integration effects;
• Relationship of the proposed closure(s) to any on-going, established long-range program for facility use; and
• Proposed site classification.

 This proposed action directs the Superintendent to take that first step—development and
presentation of the Superintendent’s preliminary recommendation for school closure(s) and
publication of analysis of possible effects of proposed school closure(s) and publication of analysis of possible effects of proposed school closures.

Under Timeline for Implementation:

Following Board approval of this item, the Superintendent will present preliminary
recommendations for school closures with accompanying analysis, likely on or about June 10, 2024.

Public hearings for proposed school closures would follow the Board’s receipt of those recommendations. Each hearing will be held in the general geographic area of the affected buildings and in the affected school where feasible.

Hearings will begin no sooner than 30 days after the Superintendent’s preliminary recommendation was publicly published, and all hearings will be conducted within 90 days prior to any final Board action on the relevant school closure.

I don't want to pat myself on the back but I did say that the district would try to start this at the end of the school year and here we are. 

I personally find this a terrible and shameful decision at a VERY busy time of year for parents and teachers/staff and school communities to even have a chance to present their case.  

The timeline draft shows this as Phase 2 through November 2024 but school communities will lose time during the summer to advocate and the start of a new school year is always a busy time. 

Implementation is listed as November 2024 to October 2025.

 

Still hungry for that word salad? Here it is in the form of the attachment to this BAR, the Superintendent's Plan for Well-Resourced Schools.

Page 5 is the Path to a Sustainable Future which includes

- Operations including Transportation, AI and school closures

- Programs/Services for Special Education, ELL, "expansion of Highly Capable Access" and Music, PE and Art.

I'll stop here a second to ask just how HC access is being expanded? Hmmm.

- Governance including new goals and guardrails, full board, stable leadership, SOFG implementation and policy discipline.

I note it says nothing about a new Strategic Plan given the old one is about done. And is that "full Board" notation meant to be funny? As for "stable leadership" well I think that's a nod to Superintendent Jones because his contract is up in July. Don't want to lose him so look for that $335K salary to go up. FYI, he makes more than the Governor. 

- Funding includes fiscal stabilization, multi-year budget, levy passage, legislative push and Strategic Philanthropic Requests.

Nod your head if you want to know what that last item means. Who is SPS going to ask for money? 

Page 6 reviews what the district says is the road to ruin if something doesn't change. But here's how great the Transition to a System of Well-Resourced Schools will be:

- Facilitates expansion of elementary and middle school educational strategies

- Fewer Elementary schools providing equitable and consistent mix of services to more students

- Consistent, stable and comprehensive school staffing

- Space for Special Education Intensive Service and pre-K in every building.

- Stable and balanced district budget

I would like them to define "comprehensive school staffing." And there will be pre-K in every single building - that includes middle and high schools? 

 

From Page 7 onward is where you get the biggest word salad and blah, blah, blah with no specifics.

I do like what the students had to say on the subject of well-resourced schools - quite specific. This is on page 12. 

 

Page 17 has the "vision" for these well-resourced schools and one of them is intriguing (given they want to close some schools):

Scale the system to efficiently accommodate 10-year enrollment projections and regional student population density. 

AND

Consider the building condition score and learning environment score.

So this is where I think the district should come clean on what they have been doing to advance VERY specific school closures.  For example, Montlake is a small school BUT it is the school they have chosen to expand so they can close another nearby school. Ditto for Alki Elementary and Viewlands Elementary.

This closure process already in process before our eyes. 

 

Page 20 states that there will be "a series of community engagement sessions in May and June." 

Well, it is May 5th so tick,tock, these better be up immediately after the Board meeting. 

Our Board will go to community to hear their vision and values to inform new strategic plan goals. 

Our Superintendent will validate the vision for a system of well-resourced schools.

 

And now YOUR part - What Can You Do (page 23)

What can you do?

• We need champions to share the good news and transformation story.
• We need you to help us close the gaps in basic education funding to our school district.
• Help us with fund development for innovation, infrastructure, catalytic, strategic planning, assessment
along the way to ensure we are on the right track- vision maintenance.
• We need support for securing our levies.
• We need support for unfunded mandates such as mental health, safety, digital access.

What good news, pray tell? 

How should the public help them close the gaps in basic education funding? The Legislature does not seem interested in giving more money to a district this poorly run.

Help them with "vision maintenance?" Just say no. It's their vision, not the community's and they know that. 

And that last bullet item? Wait, all those things are on the list for well-resourced schools but they don't have funding for them? Well doesn't that make it convenient to say they care but they don't have the money for mental health, safety and digital access. And again, if they aren't buying school books but using digital materials, they damn well better have digital access available.

 

Then we get to the last page - page 25 - with Opportunities and Challenges. Here's what they have to say about those "challenges:"

- discomfort

- resistance (but that's futile, you know that, right?)

- skepticism/cynicism

- sense of loss (do they mean grief because that's gonna happen)

- mistakes will be made (well, whew! glad they got that out ahead of any actual work)

- No guarantees it will be smooth (see Mistakes)

Buckle up - it's going to be a bumpy ride.