This and That, October 18, 2024

Coming up tomorrow morning from the Seattle Schools Special Education PTSA:

We offer our Soft Landing event every year to welcome families that are new to the Seattle Public Schools community. Whether you have questions, want to share ideas, or are still learning about special education in Seattle, you are welcome. We’re all volunteers with our own experiences in the Seattle school district. If we can’t answer your question, we can find out who can. 

We also want to say hi because we’ve seen how families with a child with a disability benefit by connecting with other families.

It's at the Douglass Truth Library from 10:30 am to noon.


Seattle Schools has announced a series of informational virtual meetings on the two levies coming up for renewal in February 2025.

Join us online to learn about the proposals to renew two educational levies – the Educational Programs & Operations (EP&O) Levy and the Building Excellence (BEX) Capital Levy. 

  • Tuesday, Oct. 22: 6:30–7:30 p.m. 
  • Wednesday, Oct. 30: 6:30–7:30 p.m. 
  • Thursday, Nov. 7, 6:30–7:30 p.m. 

Links will be posted on the day of the meeting on our Levies information page. 

At these meetings, we will share the recommendations for renewal. Proposals were presented to the Seattle School Board on Oct. 9. The Board is expected to take action to put the levies on the February 2025 ballot at their meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 19. 

There will be additional opportunities to learn about the levies from November until the election in February. Ballots are due on Feb. 11, 2025. 

So people are supposed to come back to this levy page on the day of a meeting to find the link? I would hope that this information would be sent directly to parents so let me know. Also, no mention if you can ask questions.

I am slightly amused that the district is going announce their five school picks for closure in late December, then come back in January for the five required hearings for each school plus a superintendent hearing AND have more "informational sessions" at the same time? 

 

The Board is having a Special Meeting on Wednesday, October 23rd at 4:30 pm at JSCEE. There are two Work Sessions and I would assume each is 45 min to an hour.

One side issue is that I went to find the agenda for this meeting and it's not available yet. The email I received says this:

Board Work Sessions:

- 2025 State Legislative Session

- 2025-2030, Goal and Guardrail Setting

I perceive that last one as working towards presenting information to whatever consultants get hired to create a new Strategic Plan. I will be interested to see what type of firm they hire.

 

I missed this but shots were fired on October 10th in the Central district, one bullet went inside Nova High School. No one was hurt and both Nova and Garfield were sheltering in place.

From the Capitol Hill Seattle Blog:

For the second day in a row, police were investigating a shooting near the Garfield High School campus after Wednesday’s incident reportedly involving shots fired from a vehicle left no reported injuries south of the school’s Central District campus.

 

Hoping parents already saw this:

Seattle Public Schools will offer a free school-day SAT for 12th graders and PSAT/NMSQT for 11th graders throughout the month of October. All 11th and 12th graders have been registered for their respective exams.  

Running Start students must schedule a time with their local high school to pick up an SPS device at least one week before testing is to begin. 

 

SPS is looking for a new Director of Advanced Learning. 


Next up, going over the upcoming BEX levy. It looks different to me from previous levies. 

Also, talk of a recall for some members of the Board is chatter I am hearing.

Comments

WenD said…
"SPS is looking for a new Director of Advanced Learning." Why bother?
10/18/24, 11:20 AM
dj said…
I don't know if this is an open thread, but I'm going to take the title as an invite to circulate two things. One, lots of pretty active debate on social media about the proposal to turn Wallingford Field partially into a turf field that would be used by Lincoln HS and Hamilton MS, neither of which has a dedicated field currently (my kids in middle and high school have had to walk to Lower Woodland for athletics). Two, there was an incident at Hamilton that involved a student with a knife making threats, and it's unclear what is happening to address that situation.
10/18/24, 11:39 AM
Anonymous said…
I'm curious as to what folks think about a hypothetical recall of executive directors, specifically what would the top allegations of mis and malfeasance be? I'll start with misfeasance: 1)failure to adhere to board policies: lack of set agenda and materials 24 hrs before meetings 2) dissolution of finance committee during 100 M deficit. 3) Superintendent evaluation tool only addresses outcomes of 7% of student body. Failures to consider african american females, native americans, asians, multiracial students, disabled, HCC, caucasians 4) extends contract of superintendent who proposes discriminatory closures of schools representing protected classes (medical fragile , deaf hard of hearing, asian & native american predominant.) 5) Extends contract of superintendent who fails to propose budget cuts within necessary time frame.
10/18/24, 12:37 PM
Former SPSer said…
Keisha Scarlett was formally fired from her superintendent job in St. Louis and is threatening to sue.
10/18/24, 12:54 PM
Anonymous said…
@WenD - you gave me a giggle! Thank you. And yes, you are right, they may as well have a blowup doll sitting in that chair.

In terms of the levies, I am going to relishing the opportunity to vote now on both of them.

It’s TRULY The only real opportunity you have to vote about what you think this district is doing. To me, they are destructive and wasteful and beyond wrong-headed.

They’ve taken education out of the buildings, students are being diverted by families to other options, and then SPS Is absolutely petulant and refuses to deal with this feedback of people voting with their feet.

VOTE NO
10/18/24, 1:29 PM
Anonymous said…
@WenD - you gave me a giggle! Thank you. And yes, you are right, they may as well have a blowup doll sitting in that chair.

In terms of the levies, I am going to relishing the opportunity to vote now on both of them.

It’s TRULY The only real opportunity you have to vote about what you think this district is doing. To me, they are destructive and wasteful and beyond wrong-headed.

They’ve taken education out of the buildings, students are being diverted by families to other options, and then SPS Is absolutely petulant and refuses to deal with this feedback of people voting with their feet.

VOTE NO
10/18/24, 1:31 PM
Anonymous said…
@3 (Anonymous) Oh man, the misfeasance is big with this group. I’d also add how much oversight has been offloaded - little to no committee meetings, reduction of Board meetings by half (5 hour meetings serve no one), increase in the threshold required for reporting contracts to the board. It’s negligent. There is such churn on the board, who besides Liza was here four years ago? Brandon?

I do think the board has always played a dangerous game by treating students in protected classes differently, but not sure how that will play out politically.

Also, what happens if a board member is recalled? A public vote, I hope?

It is time.

Recall
10/18/24, 5:33 PM
Seattle is Lost said…
In my opinion, there are plenty of reasons to recall board members. I will be gun with lack of oversight- especially in the realm of student safety. It seems to me that EVERY director should be aware of everything- in regards to safety- at the schools in their district- and I don’t think that is happening. The current board has been vested in giving up oversight, and time required to oversee the district.

IMO, the murder at Ingraham will highlight SPS once the $46M lawsuit comes to light.

The board should be made to answer for their lack of oversight. At this point, legal channels appear to be the only option.

It should be noted that SFOF is now limiting the types of questions and debate that is allowed to happen ONCE per month.

File away!!
10/18/24, 6:17 PM
chunga said…
I've been hearing that SPS is trying to crack down on school lunch "debt". Anyone have more info?
10/18/24, 7:49 PM
Anonymous said…
chunga: Apologies if you meant info more than the official district communication, but here it is (email from yesterday):
--k4mom

Dear SPS Families,

This school year, Culinary Services launched new solutions for meal payments and menu viewing for all cafeterias. Additionally, starting this school year, Seattle Public Schools (SPS) has updated its policy and procedures to allow for the ability to collect any outstanding debt incurred by students and families.

Read the updated policy. https://www.seattleschools.org/departments/culinary-services/student-meal-debt-policy/

If your student has a balance on their cafeteria account of five (5) unpaid meals or more, SPS will be following up on these charges by sending letters, emails and robocalls.

We would like to take this opportunity to remind students and families that for financial hardship, you can apply for Free or Reduced Meal Benefits. Breakfast and lunch will be served at no cost to those students who qualify for free or reduced-price meals. SPS has several schools that will offer free meals for all students.

Families must complete the Meal Benefit application every school year. Families will be responsible for the cost of meals provided to a student until their free or reduced-price eligibility is granted. For students who qualify for free or reduced meal benefits, your student may accrue additional charges for any a la carte items or second meals.

To see if you qualify for free or reduced-price meals, please visit MySchoolApps to apply for this benefit. Online credit card payments can be made through MySchoolBucks. Schools also accept checks and cash in payment for student meals.

For more information, visit our website.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to Culinary Services at culinaryservices@seattleschools.org.

Thank you,

Office of Public Affairs
Seattle Public Schools
10/18/24, 8:18 PM
Amanda F. said…
Wow, trying to increase revenue from charging kids for food or interest fees is stunningly sleazy. Just make it all free for all students. This really shouldn't be hard.
10/19/24, 7:39 AM
Anonymous said…
San Francisco schools superintendent resigning. SF School closures plan on hold, according to today’s S.F. Chronicle.
NESeamom
10/19/24, 8:18 AM
Anonymous said…
Is dr Jones still considering a safety plan of clear backpacks, closed campus, and identification badges on kids? He hasn't brought it up in a long time. Maybe we should keep campuses open since the schools seem more dangerous than the surrounding neighborhoods. And what about cameras? If we had cameras we might have been able to solve the Garfield and other shootings.
10/19/24, 11:42 AM
WenD said…
SF Sup resigned after the Mayor states no confidence. How many still have confidence in London Breed? Interesting development. I doubt Bruce Harrell will tell his friend Brent Jones he's lost confidence in him. Recalling the SOFG team might be the best course to take with SPS.

https://www.sfexaminer.com/news/education/sfusd-superintendent-resigns-matt-wayne-out-at-district/article_ce70b096-8d8c-11ef-91bf-df4d890f07af.html
10/19/24, 12:24 PM
WenD said…
Interesting development. SF's mayor stated she lost confidence in their sup. Doubtful Mayor Harrell will say the same about buddy Brent Jones. Perhaps the best course is to recall the SOFG team. They gave the sup a raise and he's following a weak script.
10/19/24, 12:29 PM
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