Seattle Schools Community Forum

Principals.  I've said it before and I'll say it again - if your principal is less-than-effective, your school will suffer.  Nothing can pit staff and parents against each other more than a principal who cannot lead. As I previously reported, I attended the HCC Committee meeting earlier this month where a parent asked about what is the line between what the district mandates/oversees about schools and what principals have leeway/control of.  Just like how a principal gets chosen - from school to school - has never been revealed, this is one of the great unanswered questions in our district.  And schools suffer from this kind of deliberate vagueness from the Superintendent and senior staff. Let's chart some of the examples:

I had heard that Emerson Elementary was losing a large number of teachers (somewhere between 10-12) and I asked the district about this. Here is their reply:

Below is a letter I dropped off today - in person - to each City Council member.  It details what I believe is a pattern for the Mayor - via his Department of Education and Early Learning (Families and Education levy and the City Preschool Program and, more recently, the HALA report on housing, in trying to insinuate the City more and more into the workings of Seattle Public Schools. Dear City Council Members,

Remember that Big Picture that I am trying to build about Seattle Public Schools? This is one more set of pixels for that picture.  Say what you will but someday - probably soon - you will see all these pixels from a distance and understand the big picture.  This is co-written with Robert Cruickshank who served as a Senior Advisor to Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn. Seattle’s Families and Education Levy is losing its way Last month, parents at Sand Point Elementary School learned that the City of Seattle had decided to slash a $318,000 Families and Education Levy grant they had worked hard to earn. When parents and staff learned about the sudden cut, they rose to challenge that decision. The dramatic reduction to the grant puts at risk teachers' jobs, instructional supplies, a family support worker, and a school counselor. What was the reason given by the City for taking away the grant funds? It's because the school's principal is leaving for another job . Since this news...

Apparently some kind of gun fire happened in the Emerson Elementary area this morning.  This was staff reported to the SPD who decided to have patrols before and after school.  There was a shelter-in-place at 6:30 am this morning for preschool students and staff in the building. 

 Update:  there was this new comment at the West Seattle blog: As a HP resident and a parent who sends her kids elsewhere I’d just like to point out that the creation of neighborhood schools and the lack of available busing to get away from failing schools has only further segregated poorer kids and families. Segregation by income is just as wrong as segregation by race.. The district needs to change the policies that only exasperated the income inequality issues at HPE. If not, parents with the financial means to make other choices will just continue to do so. Actually, parents at failing schools always did have the ability (with busing) to get away.  Under NCLB, parents were supposed to be notified of this option (along with tutoring options).  I would be fairly sure the district did send those letters but many parents may not have realized what it meant. If your child was enrolled at a "failing" school, you could request being moved to another no...

Highland Park is an elementary school at the south end of West Seattle. The attendance area, between Roxhill's and Concord's, is bordered by Highway 509 on the east, by White Center on the south, and by Delridge on the west. The school report says that the school population is 78% FRL, 27% ELL, and 14% SpEd. Only 33% of the third graders passed the state reading proficiency test last year. You know what they say about the prospects of students who aren't reading at grade level by the end of third grade. Student academic growth, as measured by year-over-year test scores for the same students, is below average. While test scores are rising all across the district, the test scores at Highland Park are falling. Highland Park is one of the few Segment 1 schools in the District's School Segmentation scheme. It is one of the two or three lowest performing schools in the district if not the lowest performer. Among the lowest in scores and the lowest of those for growth. Highl...

Monday, March 17th The wearing o' the Green.  Happy St. Patrick's Day. To note: signups for public testimony for the School Board meeting start at 8 am this morning. Tuesday, March 18th Audit&Finance Meeting from 4:30-6:30 p.m.  Agenda Wednesday, March 19th School Board meeting starting at 4:15 p.m.  Agenda . I see a LOT of audit update items here that I am unclear about -might be worth attending. Items of interest:   - the winning bid for the work for Lincoln comes in at $828k.  What's interesting is that the district decided it needed wainscoting in all the new toilet rooms.  What's more interesting is the variance in cost to do it with the company bidding highest for the overall cost bidding the wainscoting at the lowest cost ($972k for overall, $3500 for wainscoting) and the winning bid at $812k putting in the wainscoting at the highest additional price, $16k.  The average cost for the wainscoting was about $9500.  How...

Over the Washington State Charter Schools Association, they announced the " members of the inaugural Washington State Charter Leader Cohort."   What's striking to me? 1) "... over two dozen applicants in a national search. "  Two dozen over the entire country?  That's all?  Boy, I would have thought they would have droves.  After all, this is what they get: Cohort members will receive coaching on writing a charter school application and board member recruitment. They will also receive a planning stipend during 2013-14, and a variety of support services, including travel to visit high-performing public charter schools, and office space. 2) Here's what they say about the selection process: Representatives from parent, university, school district, and charter communities participated in the selection process. It would be interesting to know what school districts but I certainly hope it wasn't anyone from Seattle School District. 3) Gue...

The School Board had some interesting moments last night and I'll write an update on that later. But I did want to call out some really great acknowledgments last night from both the district and the Board. The Family Support Worker program had a segment where they acknowledged four groups (among many) who have been a huge help in their work.  They are: Theraputic Health Services which has provided a full-time mental health worker at Madrona K-8 since 2009.  They allowed Madrona staff to be part of the interview process.  The director at THS, Norm Johnson, was noted as someone who went out of his way to help (he also organized a conference for FSW going into the MSW program at UW).  In receiving the praise, he said not to just look at what is offered in their brochure but if you need something, ask about it.   What a guy and what a great organization. The Assistance League of Seattle and their Operation School Bell program provided new coats and ot...