Seattle Schools Community Forum

 As one can see from the YouTube recording, this meeting was over four hours (and there's a good reason for that). Sadly, something went amiss this afternoon (when I was reporting on the second half of the meeting) and it all disappeared. So I'm going to try to recall and just do highlights.   All the directors were present as was Superintendent Schuldiner. Agenda. There was a recognition of the Rainier Beach High School basketball team winning their division in the state for the second year in a row.  The Roosevelt High School girls basketball team came in third in the state and were honored as well. President Gina Topp noted the benefits of athletes including time management. The Board took a recess to meet the athletes of both teams.  Schuldiner also commended both teams.  He explained how deeply he feels about student athletes and what they get from pursuing a sport. He also said that athletes have to be "eligible" and talked about GPAs. (Interesting side no...

Update via the Kent Reporter, fantastic news: A bill guaranteeing full‑ride college tuition for all foster youth and students who experienced homelessness passed both legislative chambers and now awaits the governor’s signature to become law.  The students who qualify are foster youths ages 13 and older and others who experienced homelessness in the year before college. These students already qualify for the Washington College Grant, which covers full‑ride tuition. They must complete the FAFSA, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid that determines a student’s eligibility for aid based on their family income, to receive those funds. This bill waives that requirement.  In both the Senate and House chambers, the bill received nearly unanimous support. No action must be taken by students to receive or renew the funds, which pay for up to six years, or 18 quarters, of full-time education. end of update Looks like Rainier Beach High School took the state  Class 3A champ...

Update: There is to be an Executive Session prior to the Board meeting at 3:45 pm. The agenda states: Executive Session: To discuss with legal counsel representing the agency matters relating to agency enforcement actions, or to discuss with legal counsel representing the agency litigation or potential litigation to which the agency, the governing body, or a member acting in an official capacity is, or is likely to become, a party, when public knowledge regarding the discussion is likely to result in an adverse legal or financial consequence to the agency. RCW 42.30.110(1)(i).  This is a bit odd because 1) Ex sessions are usually just 30 minutes and 2) they are usually about personnel.  Also, I did not know that Licton Springs' principal Ammon McWashington, Jr. had died on Feb. 1, 2026. He was a long-time principal in SPS.  The public testimony list is full at 25 with 29(!) speakers on the waitlist. Most of the speakers want to address a funding issue with Cascade Parent ...

I will up doing multiple posts but let's just start with AI in SPS.  Another long-time public education advocate, Leonie Haimson, who covers NYC public education, had this to say when I asked her about AI: I believe it is the greatest threat to education right now –  as well as huge threat to the environment as you point out.   Here is her group's PowerPoint on AI (She leads the Parent Coalition for Student Privacy) . Emily Cherkin is a noted speaker and writer on screen time in schools; her website is The Screentime Consultant. She's an SPS  parent. Right on her home page she says: Technology has fundamentally changed parenting, teaching, and learning. I absolutely agree.  Help me out - what have you heard from your child's teacher and your child's school? Here's what I have heard from one SPS parent, Emily Cherkin, who told me: Kids were/are using ChatGPT to write essays (because of course they are), and when I complained, the district supposedly blocked Cha...

  Hey.... The district is bankrupt. The next year or so should be really interesting. ~JustCheckedTheFinancials! So this comment just came in. Coincidentally, a public education friend said that they had ran the SPS budget documents through AI. Here's what was stated: 1. The district is functionally insolvent.  2. The accounts payable jumped 296%. It appears the district may be managing cash by delaying payments.  3. A negative $57.7M unassigned equity position, a 296% unexplained surge in payables, a $27.5M internal loan that appears to violate the entity's own governance policy, a beginning-of-the-year balance that came in at $21.2M below plan with no disclosure or adjustment - in a public company context, those aren't budget challenges.   Those are material weaknesses in internal controls, potential going-concern qualifications from the auditor, and the kind of findings that get the CFO terminated, trigger SEC inquiries, and expose board members to personal l...

 Via SPS Communications: Career and Technical Education (CTE) and Seattle Skills Center are teaming up to offer internship opportunities for high school students to earn both credit and compensation this summer.  Ninth grade students can explore coding and careers in tech with Tech Quest. Students interested in education can support social emotional learning among elementary-age students with Education Quest, and students can deep-dive into biology at the Allen Institute’s Open Science Quest!    Internship Opportunities   Amazon Periscope   July 13-24; 9 a.m. – 3 p.m., Monday through Friday with in-person orientation during the week of June 22  A two-week career intensive at Amazon South Lake Union campus for current 10th grade students. Students receive ongoing mentorship from Amazon leadership, earn 0.25 CTE credit, and a $400 gift card upon completion  Career Quest   July 6-30; Class on Mondays from ...

By bad pattern, I mean SPS senior leadership has allowed suspect coaches and athletes to come in from outside the district and miraculously lead sports teams to championships, only to be gone the next year. It's just ridiculous AND SPS gets dinged by the state group overseeing high school athletics each time.  Here's the latest about phenom Tyran Stokes, the nation's top high school basketball player, who transferred into Rainier Beach High School. This comes from J425 , a substack journal on Washington state prep sports.  I note that J425 does not use the word "alleged" but I will for all their reporting printed here.  The athletic eligibility of Tyran Stokes, the nation’s top high school basketball recruit, remains under scrutiny on the eve of the WIAA 3A State Tournament after numerous published reports say his transfer to a Seattle public school involved an eligibility review process that omitted multiple details — including a violent disciplinary record at hi...

 I came across a district "memo" on Athletics from the Office of Accountability to the Board. It's dated January 28, 2026.  This would be Ted Howard's office. I would love to share it with you but I must have somehow deleted the link. It starts with a " Vision for Athletics" which basically says that sports are good for K-12 students for reasons like " student engagement, academic growth, physical health, social belonging, leadership developments, and positive mental health outcomes as well as resilience, confidence, collaboration, and connection to school."  These outcomes directly support the district's commitment to academic success and whole child development.  Then the memo gets to the meat of the matter - costs. Their idea is Pay for Play wherein students ' parents pay for their student to participate in sports. (I'm assuming they mean district sponsored sports.)  Cost Context is the cost for the district. Elementary: $150-$300 Mi...

There are two meetings this week for the Superintendent and the Board, both are on Wednesday, March 4th. (I note that the next Board meeting is next Wednesday, March 11th; there is no agenda yet.) The first one is an Executive Session at 4 pm, to review the performance of a public employee. Executive Sessions are not open to the public.  The second meeting is a Board Special Meeting: Budget Work Session and a Work Session for Goals and Guardrails starting at 4:30 pm.  The agenda for the second meeting only has a presentation for the Budget Work Session and it's quite interesting. The presenters will be Superintendent Ben Shuldiner and Dr. Kurt Buttleman, Assistant Superintendent of Finance.   Legislative - The district notes that the state legislative session will end next week on March 12th.  As of 2/24/26, anticipated changes in State funding for SPS:  - Reduction of ~$1.1 million in bus depreciation reimbursement  - Reduction in BEST grant program...