Seattle Schools Community Forum

Today I received a notice about the kick-off for the Seattle Schools levies via Schools First.  They also asked for money to help support and run the campaign.  But they started out saying: Fifty-two thousand students in Seattle’s public schools need our help. And I thought, "What? That's not the number of kids in SPS." So I went to the district's Fast Facts and here's what it says:

Did you know that the district has rank ordered programs/support activities in district buildings ?  The reasoning is two-fold - for enactment of 1351 for smaller class sizes in K-3 and the growth in Seattle Schools.  Here's the list from a letter that Flip Herndon sent on Oct. 13, 2015 to "Seattle Public School Partners:"

As you may recall, a parent had written to me in confusion over how her daughter was on  place on the kindergarten waitlist, only to move downward days later.  She said something had to have changed. An eagle-eyed reader, found this new page at the SPS website, Waitlist Order Update, and it confirms what many of you thought. (Now I note - an issue of HUGE importance to parents throughout the district - and it's not even on the front page of the district's website.) Following the completion of Open Enrollment, an error was discovered in the priority system for waitlisting students. The distance tiebreaker was inadvertently left out of the waitlist priorities.     As a result, the initial waitlist order was incorrect. We have since corrected the error and placed students on waitlists based on the correct tiebreaker set , including the distance tiebreaker. 

I didn't attend the Board meeting last night but watched the first hour or so on tv.  (President Carr wasn't there so Director Peaslee filled in but I never heard why Carr was not there.) Highlights ( updated and complete ):

From SPS Enrollment, videos to help non-native English speakers: 廣東話 登記入學 Cantonese Enrollment Video Español - Spanish Enrollment Video Thủ tục để đăng ký học Vietnamese Enrollment Video