Seattle Times' Coverage of Seattle School Board Races, Part One

The Times has had two recent articles on the upcoming primary election that includes school board seats.

In the first one, they point out that although the ballot will list 14 candidates in three races, two people have dropped out. 

They cite the two big elephants at JSCEE - the budget woes AND finding a new superintendent. (We might just have to have a separate post on where the process might take us. New Board members take their oath of office in early December, not immediately after the General Election.  Personally, I think whoever gets elected should be brought in to listen to any ongoing interviews. They don't get a vote but they can hear from candidates directly.)

All thought School Board members should create more opportunities to hear directly from parents and the community. They called for more transparency — some on the budget, others on district decision-making. 

The current Board, especially under Liza Rankin's leadership, had private meetings with parents and community. That needs to stop in that form. They can advertise a meeting for a particular group but they should NOT exclude anyone. (I have been to meetings where they asked the audience to leave the space for those mentioned in the title of the meeting. That's easy enough to do.) But nothing should be done on the downlow. 

Because what happened is Rankin made many claims about what was said at these meetings. Where is the transcript and who took the notes? That's not transparency.   

 

District 2 

I do love candidate Eric Feeny - candidate in District 2 - and his blunt talk. 

He pledged to dispense with “the hands-off, too-busy, not-my-job approach” that he said characterized recent School Boards. 

Also Clark, 

... she’ll be leading an ad hoc committee to dig into the district’s finances and come up with solutions."

If only there were a regular committee for finance. Hmm.  

I also want to note in this race that someone said Smith had no children in SPS; neither does Clark. I believe Smith will see one child entering kindergarten this school year.

 

District 4

Mizrahi:

He said he’ll continue to push the district to ensure that Highly Capable Services are provided at neighborhood schools. 

Sorry but that's a pretty vague answer. The district uses that kind of language to claim all sorts of things that are really not happening in any valid manner. 

Laura Marie Rivera made two notable statements:

“I would love to see SPS take a more holistic view of safety and consider that it’s a priority for each student,” Rivera said.

When students with special education services are ignored or not given the staff that they need it also hurts — and it also says a lot.”  

I did like Gloria Suella Menchaca saying this:

She also wants the district to broaden its vision of school safety — including expanding mentoring and tutoring initiatives...

I think that's the kind of in the weeds work that can help students feel seen.

  

District 5

I did like Vivian Song's thought here:

Song wants more budget transparency and details on whether cuts and spending are based on the district’s and board’s priorities.

That would be great to dig down and ask that question over and over - what priority does this spending meet? Is there another way to meet priorities with less spending?

This, too.  

As for the budget deficit, she said the board must first understand its root, including why the district has an annual underspend (money left over from the previous year), and whether that money could have been spent during the year to staff classrooms or provide resources for students and teachers.  

But are you kidding me?

The district also has an opportunity to increase revenues by hiring a chief marketing officer to develop a plan to boost enrollment, she said.

We do have marketing folks who we call parents. Ask them. They do NOT need yet another JSCEE hire. 

I liked what Janis White had to say about the Board's number one job:

She also wants the School Board to conduct oversight of the superintendent’s work.

Yup, if there are "goals and guardrails" then whatever doesn't happen needs to be called out at Board meetings. That has not happened in any real way with the current Board. I do not advocate animosity between the Board and the Superintendent but I think allowing friendship in the mix is not a good idea. 

Candidate Allycea Weil said this:

Weil also wants an audit of the district’s budget to see whether money is being spent on the things that improve student outcomes. 

I think the Board should pour over the budget every year and ask harder questions and NOT take the first answer they get. The Board should control how their Work Sessions go and NOT allow staff to take up the majority of the time. The majority of the time should be spent on questions and answers.