Seattle Schools Community Forum

The Curriculum and Instruction Policy Committee reviewed proposed revisions to  Superintendent's Procedure SP2190, Highly Capable Services & Advanced Learning Programs , Unfortunately, the proposed procedure is very bad. Beyond that, it fails to meet the requirements of the policy.

I don't know if this effort would be at all worthwhile, but I would really like to see someone try it. Given the presumption and the suspicion that the advanced learning at most ALOs exists exclusively on paper, and that blended Spectrum is no different from an ALO, which is no different from nothing... has anyone ever tried to get their child's teacher or principal to provide evidence of an advanced learning opportunity? What would happen - or, if someone has tried it, what has happened - when a parent or guardian demands evidence that a school is actually providing the advanced learning opportunity that the Board Policy 2190 and the Superintendent Procedure 2190SP requires?

In a recent thread about the culture of lawlessness, I wrote a comment that said, in part: "In the end, though, it will still come down to someone in the District leadership insisting on compliance with the law, regulations, policy, and the District's stated values. All it takes is one person." But what would it really take to foster a culture of compliance to replace the culture of lawlessness? Could just one Board member do anything? Would it require a Board majority? What would they have to do?

November 19, 2014.   Mark it on your calendar or in your journal.  Because today, to my mind and experience, marks the beginning of the reform movement of our district.  (I say "our" district meaning the parents and taxpayers of Seattle.  I leave out staff because they have unions and contracts to protect them.) In a couple of days, if you watch the meeting online, you might be puzzled.  Sure, it's a packed house (and very few who came to the meeting actually got to speak about their issue) and sure enough, droning reports from staff, so what's so different? The difference is - as Charlie points out - that lawlessness has taken our district.  The manipulation of district processes are now being controlled but surely not by the Board. The Board had to vote - under Board policy 6114 and 1620 - on the Gates Foundation Preschool grant.  That Action Item, so lovingly written as to make it sound like the district had to fire this shot against the inju...

The District has posted an updated draft of the proposed Advanced Learning Policy and Procedure . The updated versions still contain the flaws of the previous drafts.

The public is invited to comment on draft updates to Highly Capable Services and Advanced Learning Programs policies and procedures. The drafts are Policy No. 2190 and Superintendent Procedure 2190SP . The documents will be discussed at the Curriculum & Instruction Policy Committee meeting Monday, October 13. Any public comments submitted by the afternoon of October 13 will inform that discussion. Community members who would like to submit a comment should email it to  advlearn@seattleschools.org and be sure to include POLICY – in all caps – in the subject line.

I now have a copy of the Advanced Learning policy brought forward by staff. It is essentially identical to the proposed policy that was roundly rejected by the Board about a year ago. It hasn't gotten better with time. The proposed policy is little different from the WSSDA model policy, which is crap. The policy fails to fulfill the minimum requirements in that it does not say what kind of students HC services are for, it does not say why they need HC services, and it does not address the requirements of policy 2090 : The Board requires efficiency and effectiveness in all facets of its operations. In order to achieve this goal, the Board shall provide: A. A clear statement of expectations for the district's instructional programs, B. Staff, resources and support to achieve the stated expectations; and C. A plan for evaluating instructional programs and services to determine how well expectations are being met.  The full text of the proposed policy is after the jump.

Monday, March 31st The final Strategic Plan Community Meeting from 6:30-8:30 pm in West Seattle at Roxhill Elementary. Tuesday, April 1st Special Education Advisory and Advocacy Council meeting at 6:30 p.m. , JSCEE, Room 2700 Wednesday, April 2nd School Board meeting starting at 4:15 p.m.  Agenda .

Second Update:  I erred in some of my reporting here.  As I told someone, sometimes I get a narrative in my head based upon what I know and forget that others might be starting from a  different place.  My apologies. Corrections: -  Policy 4260.  To understand, there are Board POLICES and Superintendent PROCEDURES, that mostly go hand in hand.  However, ONLY policies are voted on while the Superintendent just puts forth his procedure to enact said policy.  Naturally, it behooves the Superintendent to make sure they line up or have a plausible reasoning for why staff believes a policy should be enacted.  The Board was only voting on Policy 4260 which was to amend rental of school facilities.  This was vetted by quite a few people, including the SCPTA, and it's fine.  It passed. The issue, however, is that district legal staff inserted a paragraph into the Superintendent's procedure 4260 that would make after-school groups liab...