Seattle Schools Community Forum

Update : I continue to have concerns. There’s another story in the Times about SPS and they again quote Mizrahi. I find it odd that it’s always President Topp or Director Mizrahi.  Here are the two new things that bother me.  1) Mizrahi went into The Stranger endorsement meeting knowing about the support his union was giving to this publication. I would assume most of The Stranger’s endorsement panel knew this as well. Know who didn’t know because neither side acknowledged it? The three other candidates in the race.  I just find it unseemly and sly to pretend everyone is started at the same start line.  2) If you listen to Mizrahi’s interview with the 36th Dems, he hammers his work with the union over and over. Interestingly, you never saw Director Brandon Hersey, who was a member of union and briefly worked for a union, go on and on about his union ties.  Generally, candidates talk about skills they have gained from work, not about the job they have.  Add...

 I'll let the Times give you the news: Money woes put Bellevue School District under state oversight Bellevue joins eight other districts across Washington that are also under state oversight, and it’s possible more could come. The announcement was made at Thursday’s school board meeting. The approximately 20,000-student district east of Lake Washington is home to some of the area’s wealthiest people. But in the last couple of years, the community has seen elementary schools close and more than a hundred teachers and staff let go to cut costs.     The landmark ruling McCleary v. State of Washington, which capped how much money districts could collect from local levies, hurt Bellevue. It’s a property-rich district that relied on local levy funds to provide high-quality teaching. For Bellevue, the cap meant that starting in 2019, the district couldn’t collect as much as it used to from its residents, meaning a loss of $15 million each year.    “There are so man...

Via Seattle Human Services: Free summer meals are back! This summer kids and teens ages 1-18 can receive a free meal at 40+ sites across Seattle, weekdays from June 25-August 22.  Visit bit.ly/3L5tEB0 to find a location near you. Please tell your communities about this.

Update: There's a blog called Post Millennial and local radio host, Ari Hoffman, wrote about the Hale issue. He got a copy of the compliant filed in King County Superior Court by the parents of the girl.  It is quite detailed. This girl was the only Jewish member of the softball team and started hearing antisemitic slurs after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.  Despite the family reporting this to Principal Jackson, the lawsuit claims the school took no meaningful action. Jackson allegedly acknowledged that the harassment was frequent and severe but failed to implement safety measures or disciplinary steps. Even requests to preserve hallway security footage from an incident where the student was spat on were ignored and the family believes the video was deleted. That last charge is pretty serious. If the school had video that the family requested in a timely manner and then the video is gone, that's not good. In one instance, a swastika was drawn on a bench ...

 I have several articles on AI in the classroom that I'd like to group and then write a post. Today is not that day BUT I call to your attention this item from the Action Network : Please write to your US Senators today, to demand that they eliminate any language from the budget bill that would prevent or dissuade states and localities from passing laws on AI to protect the privacy, safety, education and the well-being of our children.  This provision is a total giveaway to big Tech and is a massive interference with the ability of communities to regulate the use of this potentially damaging technology.  For more on how AI expansion threatens student privacy and could undermine human-centered education, see the presentation we gave at the  NPE conference here .  Feel free to change the title of the email, or any other details to make the letter more personal. Thank you! Can you imagine a federal law that preempts states' from trying to protect children?  Th...

 The district may have closed for the summer but the work goes on to find a new superintendent. Links for virtual meetings available here . Superintendent Search – Family & Community Engagement Session June 21 @ 3:00 pm at Cleveland High School Superintendent Search – Single Language Engagement (American Sign Language) June 24 @ 6:00 pm CANCELLED – School Board Community Engagement – James Baldwin Elementary June 25 @ 5:30 pm Memorial Stadium Open House Farewell June 26   4-7 pm at Memorial Stadium - free Superintendent Search - Single Language Engagement (Spanish) June 26th at 6 pm Virtual Superintendent Search - Single Language Engagement (Somali) June 26 at 7:15 pm Virtual Superintendent Search - Virtual meeting for all June 27th at 6 pm Superintendent Search - Single Language Engagement (Vietnamese) June 27th at 7:15 pm Virtual Superintendent Search - Virtual meeting for all June 28th at 10 am Regular Board Meeting July 2 at 4:15 pm

From SPS Communications: The 2025 high school graduations marked the last time we will celebrate in the current version of Seattle Public Schools’ Memorial Stadium—an iconic venue that has hosted generations of students and families.  Beginning this summer, a  major construction project  will begin to replace the stadium with a new, modern facility. Graduation ceremonies in 2026 and 2027 will take place at alternative locations while the new Memorial Stadium is under construction.   To help us select the best venues, we invite you to complete a brief online survey. Your input is important—please submit your responses by Friday, June 27.   English, Amharic, Chinese, Spanish and Vietnamese Surveys Somali Survey Somali Survey (once complete, email your response to  epmo@seattleschools.org )  As a reminder, the district is having an open house next Thursday, the 26th from 4-7 pm to say farewell to original Memorial Stadium.  For additional infor...

 From KUOW  (bold mine): “We heard our community, and we’re supporting their wants,” said Faauu Manu, the district’s director of enrollment planning and services. “At the same time, we’re trying to really balance the rest of the schools and making sure that they have the resources they need.” In an interview last week, Marni Campbell, who oversees school operations, enrollment, and admissions, acknowledged the district has “more work to do” in finding the right balance between stability and choice in its enrollment processes. For now, as a short-term solution, enrollment officials are focused on moving as many students as possible off the waitlists at 10 of the district’s highest-demand option and neighborhood schools. Those include Asa Mercer International Middle, Hazel Wolf K-8, Salmon Bay K-8, and Roosevelt and Cleveland high schools, among others. So far, Campbell says the district has offered more than 2,500 students seats in the school of their choice this year, through...

 From The Seattle Times  (bold mine): Seattle Public Schools and the district’s teachers union have reached a tentative agreement to extend the current union contract, which is set to expire at the end of August, for another year. Neither side released details of the tentative accord. But it all but guarantees there won’t be a repeat of 2022, when  the union went on a five-day strike. The union plans to take the proposal to its membership this month, with the hope of getting it ratified by the end of the month. The deal needs a simple majority vote to be approved.  Fred Podesta, the district’s chief operations officer, declined to divulge the terms and said they will be released within a week.  Girard Montejo-Thompson, president of the Seattle Education Association, said both sides sought a short-term deal, given the uncertainties at the local, state and national levels. “We are seeing the (U.S.) Department of Education being dismantled, and so making longer-ter...

Update : In a very quick meeting, the Board unanimously voted to appoint COO Fred Podesta as “acting superintendent.” I am not sure if that is different from being an interim and indeed, the word “interim” was never used. I think it might be because Podesta was already de facto acting as superintendent.  They also changed the July Board meeting from July 1 to July 2.  End of update  I was just checking in tonight to the Seattle Schools website and found this: School Board Special Meeting – June 18, 2025  from 4:30-5:00 pm. Board Special Meeting: Action Items – Regular Board Meeting Date Change; Appointing Acting Superintendent. All Board members will attend and vote remotely for this meeting.  The meeting will be live streamed on SPSTV and broadcast on television on Comcast 26 (standard-def) and 319 (hi-def), Wave 26 (standard-def) and 695 (hi-def), and Century Link 8008 (standard-def) and 8508 (hi-def). To listen by phone, dial 206-800-4125 and use Conference ...

 Just two candidates here so they will both skip the primary and be on the ballot in the general election.  The legislative district in their region is the 37th and they endorsed LaVallee. Jennifer Lavallee Here's her website . As I previously reported: Lavallee works at Amazon as a UX designer. She serves on the board of the National Women's Political Caucus and volunteers at Seattle Children's Hospital. She helped launch the Billion Dollar Bake Sale that organized hundreds of parents and students to go to Olympia to advocate for better public education funding. Her website echoes what other candidates say - transparency, community collaboration, but also "celebrating what makes Seattle Schools extraordinary." Building Trust Through Authentic Engagement I commit to listening actively to our communities. While the school board doesn’t have the power to fulfill every request, understanding families’ concerns helps us prioritize what truly matters for student succes...

This is probably one of best races in terms of the number of solid candidates who know the workings of the district. These would be Vivian Song, Janis White, and Vivian van Gelder.   One other interesting thing is that part District 5 is in the 37th Dems district. Everyone in this race except van Gelder answered  their questionnaire.     Allycea Weil Here's her website.   Ms Weil is an old-school progressive candidate. She peppers her website with many social justice issues.  Her main issues: - Find and evaluate the superintendent of schools I find this one a bit confusing because that actually IS the job of being a Board director. She states that she is a current member of the Equity and Race Advisory Committee and "part of the search for a new superintendent."  She active in PTO/PTA and advocates PTA fund sharing.  - Rebuild Trust and a Sustainable Budget - Empower Youth, Our Educators and Community My Promise: I will never pivot on my core...

Bill Campbell Not much to say here as he has not updated his website with any information since filing. I would assume he's not running a real race. He has no Facebook presence either. Gloria Suella Menchaca Has no website or Facebook presence. Nadia Goforth As others have said, it appears she filed but is not running. So that leaves, as I would have expected, the two top contenders, Laura Marie Rivera and Joe Mizrahi. Laura Marie Rivera Here's her website.  It does reference that The Seattle Times endorsed her in 2021; it'll be interesting to see what they say this time. Rivera is VERY active in her community area as well as supporting other candidates who are running for office. In addition to running for School Board, Laura Marie is working on her doctorate in Education at Seattle U, "looking at the intersection of Motherhood and Leadership." Joe Mizrahi I see from his website that he says "Retain Joe Mizrahi." I find that a bit misleading because he...

What I'll be looking for: - Anyone who says they want to have regular contact with constituents outside of Board meetings - Anyone who challenges SOFG  - Anyone who has some new ideas District 2 Sarah Clark 's campaign seems to be humming along. One interesting choice - her website does not list endorsements.  She does seem to be running against what has been happening in the district over the last several years.  Not just " more safety in schools" but, "increasing social worker presence and returning student access to programs that are emotional safe havens, like music and the arts."   Equity but "Since before Covid, Seattle’s entrenched School Board has centered their decisions on a narrowly defined version of equity, using it to push school closure plans and end programs like highly capable cohort schools. But achieving equity for our students farther from educational justice includes recognizing (and advocating) for student groups whose commonalit...

We've heard this for a long time - that Seattle Schools' staffing at schools doesn't reflect the racial diversity of the district.  There has been a call for more diversity in teaching because kids need to see adults that look like them; if not in their own classroom, at least reflected in other classrooms and in administrative/school staff.   It's a district that is majority minority so that certainly would make sense.  I will note that I find that one of the biggest disparities is that there are more women teaching at the elementary level than men. If I was to say one thing that should be given attention, it's finding more male elementary teachers (and hopefully, men of color.) But school leadership sets the tone.   I noticed something in the district's recent announcements of new principal hires which led me to try to look at those principal assignments over this school year. The district's student population breaks down like this: 46% White 15% Hispanic ...

Congratulations to the students in the Class of 2025! Great job, parents, guardians, and teachers! One request - if you attend a graduation, could you let me know if Superintendent Jones is in attendance? Thanks - sss.westbrook@gmail.com

 Via SPS Communications: The  Superintendent Search Community Engagement Survey  opened Friday, May 23 and is available in English, Spanish, Amharic, Somali, Chinese, and Vietnamese.  The survey will close on June 30. Family and Community Engagement Sessions Friday, June 20  (in person) 6:00 p.m. @ Franklin High School (3013 Mt Baker Blvd) Saturday, June 21  (in person) 3:00 p.m. @ Cleveland High School (5511 15th Ave S) Friday, June 27  (virtual) 6:00 p.m. ( Join the Friday, June 27, 6:00 p.m. meeting ) Saturday, June 28  (virtual) 10:00 a.m. ( Join the Saturday, June 28, 10:00 a.m. meeting ) Single-Language Engagement Sessions Monday, June 16 – Chinese 6:00 p.m. ( Join the Monday, June 16, 6:00 p.m. – Chinese meeting ) Tuesday, June 17 – Amharic 6:00 p.m. ( Join the Tuesday, June 17, 6:00 p.m. – Amharic meeting ) Thursday, June 26 – Spanish 6:00 p.m. ( Join the Thursday, June 26, 6:00 p.m. – Spanish meeting ) Thursday, June 26 – Somali 7:15 p.m....

  Via NPR : The Supreme Court on Thursday, in a narrow ruling, made it easier for students with disabilities to sue to enforce their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act and other laws enacted to ensure that disabled children get appropriate schooling.   Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the unanimous opinion. Justices Clarence Thomas and Sonia Sotomayor wrote separate, concurring opinions — joined, respectively, by Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Ketanji Brown Jackson. It sounds like an interesting case - a girl was receiving services in one district in a way that supported her disability needs but when her family moved, the new district would not. Tharpe and her parents sued the Osseo Area Schools under the Americans with Disabilities Act, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and the Rehabilitation Act. The three laws mandate that schools receiving federal funds provide reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities.   A state administrative l...

 Let's take inventory, shall we? 1. On medical leave Superintendent Brent Jones is pretty much the lamest of lame ducks. I do believe he had good intent on saying he was leaving but wanted to stay until September to help the transition. Sure, he may get more money to see his contract through but I do think his heart was in the right place. Keep in mind, this is the Superintendent who - in the midst of terrible budgetary problems - got a raise and then, two months later, announced he was leaving.  2. The Board has a current superintendent search underway with a firm called HYA. (And that reminds me I need to put up their calendar of public input dates which was mentioned at the last Board meeting.)  But I think after this current athletic scandal that those on the Board who want Jones gone and some internal interim installed will bang that drum louder. I believe I understand that President Gina Topp wants to stick with Jones until September but given it is unclear who wil...