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 attended the Work Session yesterday and was there for all the section on Executive Directors but only 30 minutes of the 24-Credit Graduation requirement.  Agenda plus PowerPoint for each topic. All the Board members were in attendance as well as Superintendent Nyland and other senior staff.

Tuesday, September 27th Growth Boundaries Information Meeting , Hamilton IMS from 6:30-7:30 pm.  Wednesday, September 28th Board Work Session from 4:30-6:45 pm. Topic 1 from 4:30-5:15 pm - Executive Directors of Schools Topic 2 from 5:15-6:45 pm - 24 Credit Graduation Requirement Implementation- Board Policy Review and Revision. I'm not exactly sure what can be said about the role of executive directors but, from my own experience and listening to readers, I'm not sure they serve a great purpose.  It is more than a bit surprising that parents are told to go to executive directors if they cannot solve an issue with a principal and not one single parent has ever told me it helped.  State Superintendent Forum at Town Hall .  Tickets are $10 and doors open at 6:15 pm with the debate starting at 7 pm.  The debate is sponsored by Arc of King County and Washington Autism Alliance and Advocacy.  The theme is Diversity and Inclusion in Our Schools and th...

The race for Supreme Court justices continues to heat up with the news that yet another billionaire has teamed up with a legislator to target Justice Barbara Madsen .  From KPLU :

Update from Principal Archer: I am sorry for the delay. Unfortunately, I am still waiting for authorization from Executive Director Pritchett. This past two weeks, staff was surveyed and I personally approached several staff members about camp. Everyone has refused to accompany the children to camp. I offered to accompany them to allay concerns regarding the larger district context around overnight trips, but was not able to get anyone to commit. I have an alternative plan awaiting approval from Ms. Pritchett. Until I receive that approval, I am unable to comment on the status of the field trip. I would rather wait and give everyone accurate information than tell you what I "think" might happen, get people's hopes up, and then have to disappoint everyone. Again, I apologize for the delay but in this case, proceeding carefully and making sure all procedures are followed is of paramount importance. end of update

Second Update:  There will be a rally and petition signing tomorrow, Friday the 23rd, at 9:15 am at Queen Anne Elementary.   Update: a parent sent me a reply from Ms. Pritchett.  I won't print it in full because I don't know if it a general parent letter but basically she stated: - that it was Mr. Elliott's choice to go "on leave."   That's a bit odd because her first letter to parents said he resigned .  I could be wrong but resigning generally means leaving the place of employment.  Leave is walking away for awhile while some matter gets settled.   end of update This is quite stunning as David Elliott was a dedicated principal who left one school, Coe, to helm the start-up of Queen Anne Elementary.  I know many parents are saddened and upset and want answers. One parent told me he/she feels certain it is not a health issue as Mr. Elliott is unlikely to have started the school year only to leave so abruptly. Also the Executive Direc...

Talk about fast and furious - there's no end to public ed news in the summer. In the "wish we had more School Board members who do this," there are two City Council candidates, Mike O'Brien and Catherine Weatbrook who ask the hard questions (sadly, in the same district - # 6).  Publicola has an article about the HALA report and Councilman O'Brien's pushback to the Mayor on some of the data.

 Update: Here is the Personnel Report to be presented, as part of the Consent agenda, at Wednesday's Board meeting.  It has a number of comings and goings including the departure of Bob Vaughan from Advanced Learning. Madison is losing its principal, Carlisle Henterson, and he will be replaced by Dr. Robert Gary, Jr as interim principal.  Dr. Gary has been at Madison previously as a teacher and interim assistant principal.  No info on whether Mr. Carlisle is staying in the district. (By coincidence, Mayor McGinn will be at Madison tomorrow for a media event around health services at that school.  This from our friends at the West Seattle blog .) Beacon Hill Int'l School is losing principal Kelly Aramaki who is being appointed the SE region Executive Director.  He's a great administrator and I think this is a good choice. Jo Lute-Ervin has been named interim principal for Kimball Elementary.  She's been a principal at many schools. 

From the Tukwila Reporter : The new superintendent of the Tukwila School District is Nancy Coogan, a Seattle Public Schools administrator, chosen unanimously by the Tukwila School Board on Saturday. The district will now offer the positon to Coogan; still to be completed are contract negotiations and a background check. I found her biography (as provided by the district) interesting (partial): DR.NANCY COOGAN is Executive Director of the Central Region of Seattle Public Schools. In this role she oversees all aspects of K-12 schools, serving 10,500 students in Seattle's most impacted neighborhoods, as well as the World School for international students whose formal education has been interrupted. She has collaborated with the school board in development of a five-year strategic plan, led efforts in Special Education compliance and provided professional development for all 93 schools. I'm not sure I know what "most impacted neighborhoods" means.  Let's see t...

 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...

It appears that Executive Director of Schools for the SE Region, Bree Dusseault, will be leaving SPS.   You may recall that Ms. Dusseault was the Executive Director pushing for Ingraham principal Martin Floe's dismissal.   Principal Floe kept his job and she was moved to the SE Region.  I was told she is taking a position with a charter group.  Honestly, not one surprise here and it's one fewer TFA person in this district. 

From Superintendent Banda via SPS Communications: Today I am pleased to appoint two new Executive Directors of Schools. Kim Whitworth, principal at Eckstein Middle School, will be Executive Director of Schools for the Northeast region. Carmela Dellino, principal at Roxhill Elementary, will serve as Executive Director of Schools for the West Seattle region. The new positions will start in mid-August. They join four other Executive Directors of Schools, who support principals’ instructional leadership in order to increase student achievement and close opportunity gaps. This includes using data to monitor school progress, coordinating professional development, one-on-one coaching and principal evaluations, and conducting frequent learning walks through school buildings to ensure quality instruction. Together, they supervise and support more than 100 principals. Ms. Whitworth is replacing Phil Brockman, who has been appointed to a new grant-funded Executive Directo...

I believe we will see ever-changing org charts for several months as Banda gets the lay of the land and new hires/shifts are made.  That makes two Ex Directors changed (Aurora Lora, leaving SPS, and Phil Brockman, moving up). From SPS (via a reader, thanks!)  (Does anyone know what the High School Graduation Grant Initiative is?  Sounds good.) As we continue to plan for the 2012-13 school year and beyond, we recognize the need for increased collaboration between all departments. Providing all students with an education that will prepare them for college, career and life is our mission, and along with that comes many operational duties.   Additionally, coordination between departments is essential as the District begins to discuss system-wide changes that impact schools and families, such as school boundaries, bell times, instructional programming, athletics and transportation.  To ensure this, today I am pleased to appoint Phil Brockman to a ...

Breaking news from the West Seattle Blog ; Executive Director Aurora Lora is leaving the district.  She's going to Dallas as an assistant superintendent.   Her last day is July 6th. That's one TFA gone (and I hear we lost another in HR).  Decline to Sign flyer here . Going to the Gay Pride parade?  There an SPS float in it that will be decorated as a school bus. The Board approved the change to the advertising policy and will permit it on school calendar, scoreboards, etc.  Not sure where (high school only?) and when it starts. Seattle Times' story indicates it will go to high schools only.  Keep in mind, the first year, the district puts all the money into the General Fund (handy, no?)  It's not until year two that ASB students start seeing money and then it's quite vague on how much.  From SPS (to update your calendar): Seattle Public School employees will again take unpaid furlough days in the 2012-13 school year to help bal...

I attended the Denny/Sealth press conference and ribbon-cutting for Denny today.  The Superintendent had a press conference and I was glad I attended.  (Can I just say that boy I miss Linda Shaw and Phyllis Fletcher when they aren't there?  Most of these reporters are clueless.) The Superintendent had a lot of pep rally points that we've heard from her focus for this school year.   But there was some more up-to-date info on certain subjects. Highlights: She was asked about capacity management in West Seattle.  She said that they had a team of staff and community working to help work on this issue (she didn't say but I assumed she meant the Demographics Taskforce).  She said that the district wanted to be "prepared in advance and not just reacting to enrollment changes." She also said capacity management also includes related programs needs and I was grateful that she acknowledged that issue. Again on capacity managment, she said that they had he...

From the district:  Dear Seattle Public Schools families, community and staff: I am pleased to announce the appointment of Marni Campbell, current Executive Director of Special Education, as the new Executive Director of Schools to support the Northwest Region.  A proven instructional leader who has spent the past 10 years working with principals, district leaders and families in Seattle Public Schools, Ms. Campbell will be a tireless advocate for ensuring excellence for every student by raising expectations and making sure that all of our students have access to high-level instruction. Ms. Campbell is committed to building on the foundation that has been established by former Northwest Region Director Brianna Dusseault, who was recently appointed to serve as a second Executive Director of Schools for the District’s Southeast Region.  Ms. Campbell is a long-time Seattle resident with three children who attended Seattle Public Schools.   She recei...

I have a couple of word on the street items to relay; still checking on their veracity (but my sources are good). First up - I think the new Ex Director replacing the ever-popular Bree Dusseault is...Marni Campbell?    Ms. Campbell is the head of Special Education services in the district but was a former principal at Eckstein and Hale.  This might be a better position for her but, in the musical chairs game that is our district's leadership, we would now have no one in Special Ed for awhile. Second - I hear that there was at least one TFAer interviewed for a position at Denny .   This is definitely going to happen but the problem is that it's for a Special Ed class .  I am putting together the latest amazing e-mails from UW's College of Education and Captain America Tom Stritikus and you will see that even the faculty putting the program together are deeply worried over TFA recruits teaching Special Ed and ELL.  I believe all Special Ed and EL...

Word has it that two more high-level SPS employees have left.  One is Jim Ratchford, the head of IT services who I thought was a pretty good guy.  He was here maybe two years. The other is Faye Chess-Prentice who has been with the district since 2001 as a deputy general counsel but then was placed as the interim director of Human Resources and that ended when Ann Chan came (and then went) as head of HR.  The interim HR director (so you can keep up) is Paul Apostle. What is also interesting is that if you look at the employee chart, it looks like the Executive Directors report straight to the Superintendent.  But looking at the Job Opportunities page at the SPS website, I see a notice for a "School Improvement Program Coordinator" who " serves as the first point of contract for the Executive Directors. "  Then that person reports to the Executive Director of School Improvement who then, I assume, reports to Dr. Enfield.  From SPS Communications: Th...

This Accountability Audit Report by the State Auditor was better than the one in February if you are only looking at money.  But yes, money was once again lost and while the amounts are smaller than in February, it still damning and painful.

The Board Directors are busy attending high school graduations this week so the district is fairly light on meetings. There will be a Work Session with the topic "Strategic Plan Refresh" on Wednesday before the Board meeting . The Work Session is from 4-5:30 p.m. with the Board meeting starting at 6 p.m. There are no presentation materials yet available.