Seattle Schools Community Forum

I ask this question as two large parent issues are looming large right now.  Those issues are Building Leadership Teams (BLTs) and PTA.

The Board has a policy F20.00 (last revised April 1996) around school governance.  It speaks of "school governance structures such as, but not limited to, local site councils, leadership teams and/or school management teams." I have also heard from parents that parents are not always included on Building Leadership Teams (BLTs).  There are also Site Councils which can include parents and students as well as staff.  The BLTs are much more building governance and Site Council is more about planning and goals. But one key item that generally happens if your school does has a Site Council is that they have some degree of input in any principal search.   I'd be interested if readers could let me know what the structure is at their school. I'd also be interested in readers who ask their principals about Site Council and/or BLT.  My experience is that this "school governance" that includes parents is very hit or miss and is largely dependent on the princi...

Building Leadership Teams (BLTs) exist at every SPS school (or should). There should be parent/community representation at every SPS school's BLT (or should).  That representation should NOT be controlled by the principal. There should be bylaws written and readily available for anyone to be able to access about the decision-making process for each school. Let us know how the BLT at your school works. A huge thank you to  Ann Donovan  who pulled all this info together.  Follow her on Twitter: @ann_donovan for great ed news in one place.