Seattle Schools Community Forum

  From The Seattle Times  (bold mine): Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes, a former high school history teacher and school resource officer, backs putting a school engagement officer at Garfield High School and “at every school that will allow us to come in and help.”   Seattle schools are grappling with the question of having armed police officers on campus, facing opposition from some students and parents concerned that students of color and those with disabilities could be disproportionately affected by police presence in schools. The Seattle School Board on Wednesday again delayed a vote on amending a moratorium barring school resource officers in Seattle Public Schools. Barnes said he longed for a world where no one needed to be armed, “but that’s not where we are.” “It’s OK to be aspirational,” he said. “But it’s also OK to be realistic and that there are real threats out there.” I hope everyone will read the entire story because it is a good one. I am especial...

On Wednesday, September 24th , the Board is having a real lollapalooza of a meeting from 4:30-7:30 pm.  Board Special Meeting:  Strategic Resource Analysis, Budget, October Adjustments, High School Lunch The agenda (with no accompanying documentation yet): - Strategic Resource Analysis discussion from 4:30 to 6:15 pm.  That's a sobering amount of time and I suspect the Superintendent and staff are going to (hopefully) tell the cold hard truth of district finances around resources. I would guess that they have looked everywhere including the sofa cushions and there is no more money to be found. And I assume that means they cannot get more from the Capital side but we'll see.  - 2026-2027 Budget discussion - 6:15-7:00 pm. So after the resource analysis, where does that leave next year's budget?  - October adjustments   discussion from 7:00-7:15 pm. October 1 is when the State asks for a head count from districts. Here's where we see a settling of enrollment ...

The following may sound like a litany of problems that SPS is part of but it's also the truth. First up, a rather tepid (and somewhat damning) endorsement by The Seattle Times of the City's Families, Education, Preschool, and Promise levy. Its aim is worthy: creating a $1.3 billion fund that would help young people from infancy through young adulthood. It includes more subsidized child care, more free preschool, more mental health services for K-12 students (and beyond) and more free college tuition for graduates of Seattle Public Schools. And they note that $1.3B is doubling the levy from last time it was on the ballot. What's the damning part? - During a time of economic contraction, when local corporations are laying off workers every month, the mayor’s push to double the spending level voters approved just seven years ago warrants a pause for serious reflection. - Only seven months ago, voters agreed to foot the bill for two levies floated by Seattle Public Schools fo...

First, Superintendent Fred Podesta said that there was going to be a discussion of bell times next month. He didn't say why but you could speculate that it is around transportation costs.  Naturally, this is an issue that could affect every family in the district. As well, it hasn't come up in awhile but in addition to bell times, the district is going to have to tackle boundaries. When the realignment of HC finally comes (as well as returning a large number of Special Education students to their neighborhood schools), the district WILL have to redraw boundaries.  That boundary work may have to be postponed a few years because if I am right and the district will be closing several schools within 5 years, it would be better to do it after school closures.  All to say - more churn at SPS.  But let's get to the issue of SPD officers in Seattle high schools. My main beef is this - why is this taking so long? A child was murdered and other students saw it happen. Garfi...

I'm going to try to live blog the meeting so you won't be seeing full sentences. Agenda I see Gina Topp, Michelle Sarju, Evan Briggs, Joe Mizrahi, Liza Rankin, and Superintendent Fred Podesta on the dais along with at least two student members. Sarah Clark and Brandon Hersey are there virtually.  Maybe we should run a pool to see if Director Hersey will come - in person - to at least one more board meeting in person before December.  Topp talked about upcoming meetings around the superintendent search and hopes directors will attend as many community meetings as possible. Here's a good chance to see which directors make this a priority.  Superintendent Comments Start of new year and it's great - he's been to 16 buildings. Opened three new buildings and "they are remarkable." Big topic is high school lunchtime change and he and Rocky Torres Morales met with some students for an hour. He said maybe they need to listen to what students experience at schools...

 From KUOW,  Seattle's new $297 million high school was built on a peat bog. Then the foundation started settling Let's start with this - the district knew this situation existed before building. Just like they know the same thing about Hale High School when they rebuilt it and they had to mitigate that issue. (all bold mine) Months before the long-awaited, brand new Rainier Beach High School opened to students last April, engineers on the $297-million project reported problems with the building’s foundation to the city, records show. The school was settling into the earth more than expected in areas, as much as three inches, and it hadn’t stopped sinking. “The project is on fairly porous ground, and it did settle more than they expected,” said Tina Christiansen, Seattle Public Schools capital projects spokesperson. Shortly before the building opened, “it was determined that settlement had stopped,” Christiansen said, and builders dealt with the uneven settlement by releveli...

On high school student protests over changing the one-house lunch i nto two lunch periods, stories from the West Seattle Blog and The Seattle Times. Via the West Seattle Blog : Looks like masses of students outside the JSCEE. WSB estimates about 1,000 students which is a lot.  In the comments at the WSB, I see this: The students voices were heard! The district is postponing the plan for now.  I will check on this news.  I see one statement from Superintendent Podesta in the Times' article that may address that comment. Via The Seattle Times: As students chanted outside the building’s doors, a group of student leaders were allowed inside to meet with interim Superintendent Fred Podesta, who apologized for the rollout of the policy, but did not walk back the proposed change.  “The way we rolled this out, that was on us, and I’m sorry about that,” Podesta told the six student leaders inside his office.  In an interview, Podesta said the students were “really passi...