This and That

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 brings in top talent to win. That this happened before the season even started tells me it's pretty big because Mr. Roy is so well thought of.

Over at The Seattle Medium, here's their take:

Now, it appears that both the Garfield boys’ and girls’ basketball programs are being thrown in the gutter. The leadership at the school, and allegedly at the district level to some extent, has decided to relieve the boys’ basketball coach and former NBA All-Star Brandon Roy, and the girls’ basketball coach Roydell Smiley, of their respective coaching duties. These changes are an alleged effort to improve the culture of the program and to produce student-athletes that excel socially, academically, and athletically—just in time to ruin their upcoming season and quest for another state championship.

The real question is, why and who? And what is their real agenda? Who is attempting to ruin the successful sports culture in Seattle that took so long to build?

I believe, and think many people will agree, that this is not a coincidence. Witherspoon, Sampson, Smiley, and Roy! All BLACK. All GONE! What did all of them have in common? They were all winners! They were elevating the profile of the programs they were in charge of.

And if I’m being honest, I must say this: Since announcing the departure of Dr. Brent Jones as superintendent of Seattle Public Schools, there appears to be a culture brewing that lacks accountability to the community, students, stakeholders, and even to each other. 

 

Yes, a bit overwrought.

We'll just have to wait and see. 

 

end of update 

The West Seattle Blog has coverage of a local meeting where President Gina Topp was in attendance. 

Among many other updates, Topp said that the application time for district superintendent closed September 15th, and, as of right now, they have "41 qualified candidates" and she says "we are super excited about that number."  

As I previously reported there is to be a Board Special Meeting on Friday, September 26th from 2:30-6:30 pm. Here's what the agenda says: 

Executive Session: To evaluate the qualifications of an applicant for public employment.

Action Item - Selection of candidates for Superintendent interviews. 

I will put out a query as to how many candidate portfolios of the 41 applicants that the Board will review and how many they will pick to interview. My impression is that they would interview 2-4 candidates. 

 

 Interesting thoughts from The Seattle Spiral, a Substack on Seattle Schools on math; she uses a NY Times story on algebra in middle school as a starting point. (I am gifting a link so you can read the story.)

The biggest surprise yet is not that people in college still do Jell-O shots, but that large numbers of incoming freshmen often have taken linear algebra and Calculus 3 (yeah, the course after AP Calculus BC, often viewed as the tippy-top of high school math) before they even arrive on a top 50 college campus.

These courses are taught at community colleges, so clearly they would have taken them there, right? Nope. There are private schools and even public schools around the country that are pushing ahead into this hardcore STEM approach, but meanwhile many public school systems, namely Seattle Public Schools and SF Unified, like to dither about and have silly discussions about whether middle school kids really need access to algebra in middle school at all.

The Seattle Times' editorial board writer Claudia Rowe has written a book, Wards of the State: The Long Shadow of American Foster Care, has been longlisted for the National Book Award for nonfiction. The National Book Award is one of the top American book awards. She has written about youth and government policy for 34 years. She has twice been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in journalism. 

Congrats to Ms. Rowe.

 

From Facebook (link to webinar):