Seattle Schools Community Forum

Update 2: I kinda got an answer on "selection of candidate."  - The Board could select more than one person or just one person. - Again, they may not pick anyone if they cannot reach consensus. I think that an outside possibility but it could happen.   - I could not get clarity on if the Board will have forums if they pick someone or more than one person as a finalist. Given how things turned out with Jones, I think it vital to have forums for the public. end of update    Update: I read this timeline too quickly. The last notation says "selection of candidate." As in one person, not a couple. It is too late in the day for me to ask about this but, in the past, the Board would choose 2-3 candidates and "introduce" them to the Seattle Schools community with opportunities to hear from them.   That notation of a singular candidate makes me uneasy. Is the Board going to pick with zero public input? Stay tuned. end of upate     Complete detai...

 Editor's note: I believe there is one other Board candidate forum in October but I am checking one detail.   Just saw this one which is TONIGHT, September 29th at the Montlake Community Center from 6:30 pm to 8 pm. It is a forum for one City Council seat (Nelson v Foster) as well as City Attorney (Davison v Evans). It states that there will be Seattle School Board candidates. So to be clear, this is NOT just a School Board candidate forum.  This event is sponsored by the Capitol Hill Community Council, Eastlake Community Council, and the Seattle Parks Foundation.    As I previously reported the Urban Native Education Alliance and Native Action Network are having a candidate forum on Saturday, October 4th at the North Seattle Community College Auditorium from noon to 2:30 pm. They will be serving a light lunch before the forum which starts at 1 pm.  It would be helpful if you will be there for the lunch to RSVP to UNEWchair@gmail.com.   Then, on Tues...

 Let's see where their Executive Session discussion has taken them. Topp let us know at 4:40 that the Ex Session will run another half hour and the public session will start at 5:15ish. I would guess they may need a restroom break by then so likely to be more like 5:30 pm. 5:01 pm - They came back into the public domain. Topp, Briggs and Mizrahi were in-person, all others were virtual.  Topp -  3,4,5,6,7,8 are her top choices Mizrahi, Rankin - 11 Briggs - 19 The vote was unanimous for all the above candidates to move on in the process.  Hersey not there to vote. It is unclear to me whether he was participating today at all.  The Board has moved forward eight candidates.  They did not state how many they considered.  And that's that. No further discussion.  

This is going to be a bit difficult to write in a way that doesn't land me in trouble but there is a pattern out there around representation vis a vis superintendent choice.  Over the last 30 years, the superintendents have had varying backgrounds and races.  We have had three Black superintendents - John Stanford, Maria Goodloe-Johnson, and Brent Jones. We have had one SE Asian superintendent - Raj Manhas. We have had one Hispanic superintendent - Jose Banda. We have had one Native American superintendent - Denise Juneau  Also with Juneau, who is a woman, we had an interim superintendent who was a white woman who is Susan Enfield.  The other white superintendent was a man - Joe Olchefske.  (Update: Larry Nyland was another.)  I would say that is pretty good representation that many other urban districts have probably never had.  To note, the Board has just gone into Executive Session with HYA reps to go over the selected (by HYA) candidates ...

Update: The Seattle Times is reporting that the Garfield basketball coach (and something of a basketball legend) Brandon Roy  has been released from his position as boys basketball coach at Garfield. The unexpected move was alongside the school also releasing girls basketball coach Roydell Smiley.   Well that's not good.  Here's what Garfield principal, Tarance Hart said: “We are beginning a new chapter as we reset both programs, building on past successes while continuing to grow opportunities for our student-athletes — academically, socially, and athletically,” Hart wrote, in part. “Our goal is to foster a competitive, academically supportive, and welcoming program that provides a positive experience and meaningful opportunities for all students.” No other details or comments from the parties involved available. If I had to guess, I would say it may be around recruiting. Seattle Schools has a bad reputation for coaches at high school coaches for competitive sports bring...

Update 3: Director Rankin thanked the Alliance for Education for paying for the work of Education Resource Strategies.  So that's where the money came from for this effort.    end of update  Update 2: The West Seattle Blog covered the portion of yesterday's Board Special Meeting on high school lunches. Here's what they reported: The justification was simple. “We serve more lunches if there are multiple lunch periods.” said superintendent Fred Podesta. He provided statistics such as a case study from Cleveland High School that showed splitting the lunch period led to 31 percent more lunches being served to students, addressing the district’s persistent concerns about food access. Other justifications were reiterated, such as the need for staff to take their own breaks in accordance with contracts, which were noted in the slide deck posted before the meeting. Nonetheless, acknowledging the community backlash, the district plans some “mitigations” and will...

  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...