Seattle Schools Community Forum

It would have been a quiet week for SPS except for the new issue of Superintendent Banda wanting to leave.  As well, there are a couple of events that will impact our district. Monday, June 23rd Seattle City Council will vote on their Preschool for All bill at 2 pm in City Council chambers.  They do take public comment but I note it comes after presentations (which means you get to sit through a lot before you can speak).  This is important because it involves our district.  I cannot support any measure that puts a burden of time and resources on our district.  It is not the district's core mission nor do our facilities in any way support this use of space. Wednesday, June 25th I see that the previous Work Session on the Superintendent's evaluation has been pulled. Public Hearing on the 2014-2015 Budget from 4-4:15 pm.  You are allowed two minutes to give your input on next year's budget.  I believe you can submit a written statement via e-m...

 Monday, December 16th   Seattle Special Education PTSA Meeting, 7 pm at Rm 2700, School District main offices at 2445 3rd Ave S (3rd and Lander). Tuesday, December 17th Audit&Finance Committee Meeting (Quarterly Audit Meeting) from 4-6 p.m.  Agenda . Wednesday, December 18th Work Session: Budget, WSS, and Transportation from 4-7 p.m.  Agenda I see some troubling and yet vital info in this presentation but I think that will be a separate thread. JAMS meeting from at the Jane Addams library at 6:30 p.m.  Thursday, December 19th Operations Committee Meeting from 4-6 pm.  Agenda not yet available. Saturday, December 21st Community meeting with Director Patu (yes, this is still on) from 10 am to noon at Cafe Vita.

I wouldn't call yesterday's work by the School Board especially stellar.  (I think the staff did a pretty good job on the budget but, as usual, what was left out is just as important as what was put in.) First came the Audit&Finance Committee meeting of the Whole to discuss the budget. It is unclear to me when the Board received their copies but there had been some small edits.  I am also not sure when the appendices all got put in.  Director Carr told the group she had not read the appendices as she had been on vacation.  President Smith-Blum and Director Patu were absent.  (Smith-Blum is out of town and Patu has a family illness.) I can only point out that one the Board's main duties and powers is to review the budget and then vote on it.  What I saw yesterday did not inspire confidence that the Board understood the budget they voted on. Here are some key links you may be interested in.  Budget Book Appendix A Appendix B Ore-Level Bu...

The budget is supposed to treat every school fairly, but there are seven schools singled out for unfair treatment. The Board should address this unfairness - which clearly violates policy and the strategic plan - when they vote to today to adopt a budget for the coming school year.

I was mistaken when I previously said there were no district meetings until August. Wednesday Audit and Finance Committee meeting of the Whole from 4-5 pm.  The only agenda item is to debate any last issues on the budget for 2013-2014 and presumably move it forward to the Board meeting. Public Hearing on the 2013-2014 Budget Your opportunity to weigh in on any topic in the budget.  If you have a real concern, it really is important to get it on the record.  You may sign in to speak starting a half-hour before the hearing. You will have three minutes to speak. Special Meeting of the Board from 5:15-6:00 pm Just one action item - voting on the new budget .  They will be taking public testimony so there are speaking opportunities for any topic.   The City Council will be debating and voting this week on whether to create a separate fund for the money from the school speed zone tickets.   So if these are about safety around schools and the City w...

Early notice to put on your calendar is the Building Bridges for Summer Learning symposium on Saturday, May 18th at Garfield High from 10 am to 2:30 pm.   From SPS: Seattle Public Schools will hold a  Building Bridges for Summer Learning symposium on Saturday, May 18 at Garfield High School. All families are invited to attend this free event which includes workshops and a Summer Learning Community Resource Fair. A light  morning snack and lunch will be served. Children's activities, transportation, and interpreters will be available.  Click here to download program brochure. Wednesday, May 8th Executive Committee Meeting from 10 am-11:30 am.  No agenda yet available. Work Session: Growth Boundaries from 4-4:45 pm.  This is fairly short Work Session so I'm not sure how much of an early warning on new boundaries this might be.  No agenda yet available. Work Session: Green Building Resoluti...

Apparently there is some confusion out there about how education dollars are spent, particularly among conservatives. Over at Crosscut, they have been doing some good reporting on this year's legislative session.  (FYI, it is supposed to end on Sunday but odds are they will not reach agreement on the budget and have a (costly) special session.) Reporter John Stang's article about the Dems and what they are trimming from their budget was useful reading.  One quote that is pertinent to this thread was this one: "We don't need new taxes. We've got plenty of money for education," said Rep. Ed Orcutt, R-Kalama. "We have to have the courage to fund education first and say 'no' to the other people," Orcutt said. Really Rep. Orcutt?  And we will have more for education by taking away from public health including homeless people?   That's one way to find the money. Here's an opposing view: We're asking some businesses to...

In starting this discussion, I will make a point about transportation in SPS that was made at the Work Session on the Budget.  Overall, SPS transports many more students than the average district does.  My understanding of that meaning is that many other districts do not provide transportation to schools outside of your neighborhood and the amount of transportation available to middle/high school students is far less in other districts. I understand the concern about limiting transportation especially when so much has been provided in the past.  I also understand that it can be seen as a social justice issue when cutting off transportation makes it harder for some families to access programs.  But this is the way it is in most urban cities and students are still able to access schools via public transportation.  (I know in NYC that many students take the subway or bus - for an hour or more each way - in order to access speciality programs.) So what is to f...

I attended the Budget Work Session on Wednesday.  It was pretty sobering.  Key facts: There is a projected deficit of $18.4M .  I would love to explain it all to you (and I will try to at least get the PowerPoint up by tomorrow) but frankly, I look down at the paper version and I don't know what half of it is.  Imagine my happiness (and surprise) to hear Board Directors say, "Now, what is this?" because they don't know either.  I don't know if it is the Budget office trying to use smoke and mirrors or just too much jargon but if the people who will make the final decisions don't know what you are talking about, you're doing something wrong. By April 10th, we will have the Governor's budget, the House budget and the Senate budget.  We were told that is when "the rubber meets the road."  The Governor released his budget today and it seems quite favorable to K-12 ed (if not quite the amount everyone would want).  He seems to be finding the m...

In case you didn't hear, last Wednesday the economic forecast was released for Washington State.  It showed flat growth which was actually good news as it means the Legislature doesn't have to find more cuts (in theory). Here's what was stated by Duggan Harman who is the Assistant Superintendent of Business & Finance (aka the budget guy) for SPS at last week's Board meeting. He stated the following: SPS has an $18M shortfall.  Staff has found cuts that would make up for two-thirds of the shortfall but they are one-time cuts.  A couple of thoughts to close the gap - increasing kindergarten tuition (again) and transportation reductions. SPS, along with several other districts including Tacoma, Spokane, Bellevue and Highline, have sent a letter to the Legislature urging them to pass ESB2261 (which is the full-funding measure for Washington State K-12 schools).  It would include fully funding transportation, K-3 high-poverty students would be in classes no l...

Wednesday, March 27th Work Session on Update on Families & Education Levy from 4-4:45 p.m. Work Session on the Budget from 4:45-6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 28th Community Meeting with Director Peaslee from 6-7:45 p.m. at Lake City Public Library Saturday, March 30th Community Meeting with Director Patu from 10 am to noon at Caffe Vita.

 From SPS Communications regarding the Strategic Plan, SE Region and Hiring/Spending Freeze: Strategic Plan Seattle Public Schools will host five community meetings to share information and ask for public comments about updating the District’s current Strategic Plan, Excellence for All.  The updated plan will guide academic and operational priorities for the next three to five years and include ongoing benchmarking to measure the District’s performance. The community meetings will be held: · Monday, April 1, 6:30-8:30 p.m., at Eckstein Middle School auditorium, 3003 N.E. 75th St. (Interpreters available in Spanish, Somali, Vietnamese, Amharic and Tigrigna) · Tuesday, April 2, 6:30-8:30 p.m., at Chief Sealth International High School auditorium, 2600 S.W. Thistle (Interpreters available in Spanish, Somali, Vietnamese, Chinese, Tagalog, Amharic) · Saturday, April 6, 10 a.m.-noon, at Garfield High School commons, 400-23rd Ave.(Interpreters...