Seattle Schools Community Forum

The screener being used is an SBIRT one (Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment) called Check Yourself.  It is being used in most middle schools and some high schools.   (All bold mine)  It is not truly peer-reviewed, the protection of the student data has been questionable, and it does NOT require an accredited and trained mental health professional talk to your child. It also doesn't require a parent to be notified if your child is referred for additional services if they are 13 and over unless it's a top-tier issue like self-harm or harming others. Washington state law supports this.  However in the interest of saving you time, here's the bottom line: - Seattle Schools is using a mental health program for teens that is NOT truly peer-reviewed.  - I note that students CAN opt out but may feel peer pressure to take the screener. Your child will take the screener with other students in the class sitting right there, and there are reports of stu...

O n Civics, an op-ed from the Chief Justice of the Washington State Supreme Court and the President of the Washington State Bar Association: There’s urgency for this kind of real-world connection. On the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress , only 22% of eighth graders scored proficient in civics, and 31% scored below basic, the first decline since the assessment began in 1998. Scores don’t improve much with age: Nearly four in five American adults can name freedom of speech as a First Amendment right — but less than half can name any of the other four .   What to do? Let’s start by investing in our students right now, this Constitution Day, and continue the habit throughout the school year.   To our legal colleagues across Washington: If you haven’t yet made plans to visit a classroom on or around Constitution Day, there’s still time: visit wsba.org/classroom-ambassadors .   If you’re a teacher, principal or parent: Invite us in! We’ll come with a grad...

 I grew up with adults (including teachers) telling us to "Remember Pearl Harbor." It was a time when the country united around a common goal and nearly everyone knew someone in that war. In school, it was always mentioned on December 7th.  Then, in my mid-life, came 9/11. It was just devastating in a way that brings me to tears to this day. I may have mentioned this in past posts on this day but I recall telling my 3rd grader about what happened before I took him to school. He asked me, "Is Papa okay?" because my husband was traveling on business. Luckily my husband had gotten to his destination the day before. He was staying in Germany at a hotel called The Manhattan and in the lobby was a mirrored cutout of the New York skyline, complete with the twin towers. We could only communicate via email and he was gone for days before he could fly back. I took my son to school and saw the flag at the top of the pole. I found the principal and told him to put it at half-st...

President Gina Topp and Director Joe Mizrahi have an op-ed in The Stranger which I found, well, a bit strange.                       We Avoided a Strike, Now the Real Fight Begins This Should Be a Wake-Up Call to Fix Our Broken Education Funding System This is a fairly obvious topic for Board members to take up so it's not a surprise.  Both of us are lifelong supporters of organized labor. Joe spent 19 years working in the labor movement with UFCW 3000, the largest private sector local union in Washington State. Gina worked alongside unions for years at King County. Both of us were fervently supported by labor when we ran for office. We believe unions make workplaces better, workers deserve strong wages and benefits, and teaching may be the hardest job in any school district. They go through where SPS is currently: Seattle started this budget cycle staring at an  $87 million hole.  We found a way to balance this ...

The first essay is the Superintendent's Newsletter, dated August 30, 2026. Here's a link.  There is also a link in this post about his newest Newsletter, dated September 6th. All bold mine. It's fairly lengthy as he goes over much of his thinking during the teacher contract negotiations.  Highlights: - However, as many folks know, by not addressing things in public, only one side is being heard from. I have negotiated many contracts in my time, and I have never responded publicly about any of them. But that is also because I have never had a union or association share so publicly as SEA does. That is certainly their prerogative. I would never tell a union how to negotiate. With this current bargain being so important and the community being so attuned with the machinations of the negotiations, I think it is important to follow suit with the union and explain a bit about what is going on. - Note: Throughout bargaining, I am sure you have heard the term COLA (Cost-of-Living ...