Seattle Schools Community Forum

 I am going to try live blogging tonight. As such, I will be writing in snippets and blurbs but I'll clean it all up later on.  Part of the Eckstein Jazz Band started the meeting with a performance. It sounded very good. There's a buzz in the room; wish they were serving cocktails. The Superintendent, some staff, and some of the Board are walking around talking. That's a change from previous years when leadership sat and listened.  The cameras cut away to their standard YouTube screen - Coming Up Next. I hope they are still recording the band. President Gina Topp got the meeting started with the roll call. Director Joe Mizrahi is coming in virtually. Director Katie Smith is stuck in traffic.  Superintendent Shuldiner asked about taking a photo with the band and they scurried to do that. Mizrahi asked to be photoshopped in. And I guess that's it for his comments.  Student Comments and they had a video to show. It is about applying to be a student rep on the Boar...

  I have written about the issue of vaccinations before.  A British mother, Rebecca Archer, lost her 10-year old daughter to measles in 2023.  What is especially poignant about the story is that her daughter, Renae, got measles at 5 months old. She was months away from being inoculated but, after a hospital stay, recovered.  Renae was a happy, bubbly child but things changed when she was 10. She started having seizures, and seemed confused and robotic.  From the New York Times: Within a week she seemed back to normal. What I didn’t know was that measles can cause long-term complications. A child can seem fine while the virus slowly replicates in her brain, poised to exact a terrible toll years later.     Because both Britain and the United States are confronting outbreaks, I am sharing my story. Parents should know just how dangerous this disease is.   The doctors put her on an antibiotic drip. They did lumbar punctures, collecting cerebrospina...

Update 3: There are 25 speakers on the Board meeting list AND 37 on the waitlist. The majority are on Adams ES's principal selection, technology issues, and Native education.  end of update  Update 2:  This blog does not regularly print anonymous comments. I'm getting too many anonymous comments on this post.  Give yourself any name and I will put it up.  end of update Update: I neglected to include this comment when I first posted this but I think the speakers list for the Board meeting will be packed as there are several school communities with concerns. end of update The Seattle Times sure came out swinging in their editorial over the appointment of former superintendent, Brent Jones, as interim leader for Seattle Central College. Ouch! You can’t blame a guy for cashing in when the opportunity arises. But how does Jones’ distinctly undistinguished track record at SPS make him the best choice to pilot Seattle Central though its own significant fiscal ch...

Update:  Let me make a couple of things clear.  Again, the superintendent cannot just get rid of unsatisfactory staff, whether it's a teacher or administrator or staffer. Their contracts have been written with safeguards - for them - and the district has to follow whatever procedure is on place.  The district HAS to follow the process or it may get sued.  I think the time came to put Anitra Jones back in place as a principal and The current principal, Doug Sohn, at Adams ES is leaving.  I was wrong about why the Adams principal may leave early ; he is not retiring but has an health issue which may or may not allow him to stay until the end of the year. Jones will still be putting in time at RBHS as she transitions to Adams ES. According to the press release on this topic, Jones will be at Adams ES full-time in the fall.  I know it is not easy for a school community to have to be part of the necessary process, especially if the staffer brings some baggage. I...

Update: In what appears to be a Wait, What? story , former Seattle Schools superintendent, Brent Jones, has taken an position for six months as the interim president of Seattle Central College.  The comments from people on the ground at SCC appear to show shock that Jones would be selected.  Here's a partial from one: The appointment of Brent Jones as president of Seattle Central College is a complete slap in the face to our entire community. Jones left Seattle Public Schools with a gigantic deficit in all areas including student academic achievement, meeting students’ needs, parent involvement and engagement, teacher retention and support, graduation rates, administrative oversight, and budget oversight. Furthermore, to add insult to injury, Jones gave himself a significant salary raise in the midst of all the chaos and dysfunction that he fostered throughout SPS before taking a 6-month leave of absence (while still collecting his salary, mind you) and hightailing it outta th...

That faith I reference? It comes from an editorial in Sunday's Seattle Times. I'll get to that after This and That. First, kudos to the SPS Communications department. They are really seeking out good news in Seattle Schools. Under "News" on the SPS home page, you should check out the stories there. I am especially impressed with the Regional School News Roundup and SPS Shout Outs - there is much to celebrate.    Under the News, there is a story about Superintendent Ben Shuldiner marking his first 50 days in office and he has already visited more than half of the district's 106 schools. One teacher, who has been in SPS for 29 years, said this was only the second time in her tenure for a superintendent to visit her school.    As well, there was a story about Sanislo Elementary reopening its food pantry for families and an update on transportation from Fred Podesta.    I was forwarded an update email from the principal on the situation at Cascade Parent Part...