Seattle Schools Community Forum

Update: A couple of things. One, on the last Board meeting and the lengthy statement by Superintendent Shuldiner. You may recall that I mentioned that twice during his statement, the camera showed shots of the audience listening.  Normally, the only complete audience shot you get is from behind the audience looking to the dais. I have watched decades now of Board meetings and I can't remember one where they showed the audience head on.  (I will note that you do see some of the audience during public testimony but that is quite limited.) Who told the camera operators to show the audience? I suspect that would be Bev Redmond, head of Communications. Why? I couldn't say except that I am told that a group of women were there to support Jones and were likely from her sorority (she is an alum of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority).  Also, it is also something to note that Shuldiner gave the Adams audience his phone number and told them to "document" anything. He didn't ment...

 From The Seattle Times: Five Tacoma high school students and an adult security guard were injured in a stabbing Thursday afternoon during an “altercation” at Foss High School, police said. Four of the students were seriously injured and taken to nearby hospitals, according to Tacoma police spokesperson Officer Shelbie Boyd. The fifth student, who is suspected of attacking the others, was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and is in police custody. No further news available. 

I have frequently written about that one issue that scares ALL parents with kids at schools with a good principal. And that issue is the district deciding to poach a good principal to prop up a troubled school. Even a principal retirement is reason to sound the alarm. Why? Because the broad issue is the refusal - by ALL superintendents - to explain to parents how principal selection and placement works. This issue has come up again and again.  It is especially galling to parents who see some school communities participate in the selection of their next principal and then just have a principal plopped into their own school. (I used to say that the district always allows high school communities to be part of principal selection because, for a long time, it was true. Today, not so much.) One problem is simply that there is no Board policy on principal placement. Most would say, nor should there be because that is purely a superintendent decision. It is a personnel decision and, except...

Update: I want to note the passing of Kylie Kypreos, a beloved teacher at Blaine K-8 for 27 years. Sympathies to the entire Blaine community. Via the Catharine Blaine PTA Facebook page: Our Blaine community is grieving today. We lost a beloved teacher, Kylie Kypreos, after 27 years of dedication to our students and school. The PTA stands with our families, staff, and students during this difficult time. end of update  The Board has a couple of committee meetings this week but the ones on Wednesday, April 29th is quite interesting. First, there's the Policy Committee meeting from 2-4 pm at JSCEE, agenda here. Then, that is followed by a "Special Meeting" for the entire Board at 4:30 pm and that is followed by an executive session that night from 7:30-8:30 pm. I think the executive session is set for later that night because, per the agenda for the Special Meeting, they have a lot of ground to cover.  The Policy Committee meeting will be reviewing updates to drafted policy...

Part One deals with the principals' contract itself. From my reading of it, I have to wonder what the Executive Director of that region was doing with complaint after complaint from teachers, staff and parents at Rainier View ES.  Here's a link to the contract and below are the basics between the district and the principals that I pulled out. This Agreement shall be effective, when signed by both parties and shall continue in full force and effect until June  30, 2027.  The parties are committed to creating a culture of support and performance and accountability to be characterized by: •   Effective and fair supervisors •   A rigorous performance evaluation system that uses multiple measures •   Fair and competitive compensation amongst state-wide peers •   A system of checks and balances to ensure fairness •   Appropriate training for supervisors and employees •   Recognition that all PASS leaders are valued members of the SPS leadership tea...