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The Gaze of the Superintendent and Seattle School Board - Part Two

 Troubling Issues at Hand One - violence to SPS students and at buildings in SPS continues on . To have some students even suggesting bringing back SPD officers to high schools is stunning because my impression is student overwhelmingly didn't want that. But perhaps they are really scared.    Two - Recalling the overzealous middle school mental health screener being used - Check Yourself - my sources has even MORE distressing comments from students. • “ dont contact anyone or talk to me about any of my answers” • “I don't really see why we have to do this because it is private information, and even if someone needs help they would tell someone if they wanted to.” • “IT WUZ WEERD” • “i never want to do this ever again • “there was not msny middle ground options” • “its nice but im worried my parents will get upset if they find out the things i do” • “why do want to know my sexual orientation? - My teacher is watching me take the questions; please tell the teachers not to. - Don

The Gaze of the Superintendent and Seattle School Board - Part One

I have SOFG (Student Outcomes Focused Governance) guru, AJ Crabill, on my follow list on Twitter.  He tweets things like: the tools students need to be successful, the impact of connection on navigating geopolitical challenges, & the role of education in maximizing the potential of individuals in a global sapiosentient society. Okay.  Today he was linking to his article on some of the districts he works with and how it was important for Board's to keep strictly on district goals and guardrails.  I was surprised to read: You will most often hear it suggested that a school board’s greatest power to impact student learning is setting policy. I used to believe this. My experience, however, has taught me a more consistent reality: culture trumps policy every day. Shades of the Moss Adams report on how the district runs from what? 15+ years ago: If you don't change the culture of a bureaucracy, you change nothing.  But here's how Crabill defines "culture:" When

Two Teens Killed in Apparent Gang Violence

Two male teens were found shot to death along I-5. They are alleged to have been part of a gang called 5 Star Bloods. One was found around the NE 85th Street on-ramp. Both boys were 16 years old. From My Northwest: One was found between 10:30 and 11 p.m. Thursday night and the other was discovered at around 8 a.m. on Friday morning. King County WSP Trooper Rick Johnson told KIRO Newsradio that late Thursday the WSP received a report that a pedestrian was seen lying on I-5 north about a half-mile away from the NE 85th Street exit. Johnson noted there was no indication the person found on the freeway was struck by a vehicle. So, that quickly turned into a homicide investigation. Johnson explained the WSP has not established a connection between the two victims, but they’re working to get more information on these cases. He also said they’re also trying to determine if the killings occurred on or off the freeway. The reason it is believed that it was gang-related is because there w

Upcoming Seattle School Board Candidate Forum

Via the SPS webpage: The public is invited to attend or stream this forum for candidates for appointment to the District 2 and 4 School Board Director seats. All finalists will have the opportunity to share why they are interested in serving on the Seattle School Board and answer questions selected by the Board and Student Members. More information about the appointment process, including a timeline and candidate webpages, can be found on the appointment process web page . SPSTV Streaming: The meeting will be  live streamed on SPSTV  and broadcast on television on Comcast 26 (standard-def) and 319 (hi-def), Wave 26 (standard-def) and 695 (hi-def), and Century Link 8008 (standard-def) and 8508 (hi-def). The agenda reflects the above wording - the meeting will be two-and-a-half hours.   The meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 27th at the Performing Arts Center at Lincoln High School, 4400 Interlake Avenue North from 6-8:30 pm.   The Board's schedule reflects announcing

After COVID, Where Was the DeBriefing?

 Even though my life wasn't personally touched by school closures, I tried to be positive with parents. I reminded them that American kids lived through the 1917 flu pandemic as well as World War II. But time continued to tick by and I became increasingly worried about kids being out of school so long.  In short, I think parents were right. Schools should have reopened sooner. That said, what was a district to do? So many teachers did not want to be there, there were teachers in so many buildings with HVAC issues, and, what if the teachers just didn't show up?  As well, were parents going to sue districts for reopening too soon? The fear of lawsuits looms large for many districts.  But my question is, where was the debriefing for parents? I'm going to do a deeper dive but, so far, I haven't found a district that sat down with parents and talked about what happened. Sure, districts needed to ramp back up for in-person fast but you can't just shake off what came in th

Garfield Parents and Safety at Garfield High School

This story from KUOW: Garfield High School parents want Seattle leaders to do more to protect students after a 17-year-old was shot in the leg nearby the school last week. Parents and community members want city leaders and Seattle Public Schools to take stronger action to protect students and the larger Central District community. They told KUOW they feel like they have to do something to make it clear that something must be done about escalating violence they are witnessing. “It should not be a privilege to have safety. [It] should be offered to all students," said another Garfield parent, whose name we're not disclosing to protect their child's privacy. According to a Seattle Police Department statement , the shooting on March 13 was not connected to a homicide that happened later in the day near 24th Avenue South and South Main Street. Investigators are still looking for a suspect. The student who was shot in the leg was not the intended target, according t