Seattle Schools Community Forum

Rep Reuven Carlyle shared this e-mail he received today from an SPS student: Dear Sen. Carlyle,  today on the first day of school my mom told me to write to my state legislator because I came home so upset.  I expected my first day of 8th grade to be awesome, but I walked in the door to find that the school was packed with over 1200 kids. Hamilton is a gr eat school and I love the teachers and fellow students, but when 3 of my 6 classes were in portables and I had to sit with 5 other people at a 3-4 person desk, it did not feel like the school that I looked forward to coming back to. 

Over at the Community Forum for HCC (APP) in Seattle Schools, there are some concerned parents asking questions about capacity in the building. I'll preface that Hamilton is a bit of an anomaly for middle schools.  It has a fairly small footprint and even a renovation didn't add that much more capacity.  It always seemed to be apparent that there would not be much breathing room in the building. From the HCC blog:

After three long days, the National Spelling Bee ended in...a tie...for the second year in a row.  The judges ran out of words on their list.   In a fun twist, both contestants have last names that might be a challenge to spell - Gokul Venkatachalam and Vanya Shivashankar.  Vanya correctly spelled the word "scherenschnitte" and Gokul correctly spelled the word "nunatak."  The story from CNN is great and the recoiling of one contestant who lost from his mother's sympathetic kiss is priceless (we've all been there if you have boys).  Show the kids the story from CNN - many great moments. Work Party at Hamilton Middle School on Sunday, May 31st from 10 am-noon.

A reader asked for a separate thread on the district possibly creating an annex at Lincoln for Hamilton overflow.  From my original post: From a parent who attended the SCPTSA meeting on Monday, Flip Herndon told several parents that they are considering an annex for Hamilton.   There is space at JAMS and Eckstein but rather than admit the enrollment made a mistake by sending 5 feeder schools to Hamilton, the smallest, least flexible middle school, they are going to plow ahead with an un-workable and expensive facilities solution to an enrollment planning goof. My only comment is that these issues are and have been known to the district.  Why it feels like capacity management appears to have no real vision or explainable thought pattern is troubling.   Comments from capacity expert, Kellie LaRue:

And guess what?  These numbers are different from previous ones. Yes, we all know that forecasting numbers is not an exact science but we all also know how many times SPS has gotten it wrong.  Very wrong.  Tell me again why we should put faith (not to mention tax dollars) into these forecasts? And again, why are these numbers kind of weird to begin with?  Most projections are generally round numbers (with a + or - projection).  It's almost like someone feels they can get it down the the last student and it's just not possible to do so. Of course, these numbers come out conveniently before tonight's Wilson-Pacific meeting.

From the Superintendent: Dear Seattle Public Schools families and staff, As many of you know, the Seattle School Board on Nov. 20 approved boundary changes for the 2014-15 school year to help address our growing enrollment and to plan for three new middle schools. We have heard from several families -- especially from parents of 7th grade Hamilton International Middle School APP students and parents of Eckstein Middle School 7th graders – asking that their students stay at their current school next year, and not move to the new Jane Addams Middle School (JAMS). However, we will not be “grandfathering” – or guaranteeing a seat – for students who are currently in grade 6 or 7 at Hamilton and Eckstein. The new boundary changes mean these students will move to Jane Addams Middle School next fall.  I understand it is a lot to ask of our students to change schools in their last year of middle school. Please know that we do not take decisions like this lightly. ...

Sharon Peaslee has been elected President of the Seattle School Board by a vote of 4-3.  Sherry Carr was also nominated. Betty Patu was elected unanimously to be Vice-President. Marty McLaren was elected unanimously to be Member-at-Large. Superintendent Banda conducted the elections. I'll have a longer wrap-up of the Board meeting but a few notes. Blanford recused himself from two votes that involved his wife who works for the district in CTE. Blanford, Martin-Morris and McLaren won't be having any December community meetings (for various reasons - Martin-Morris was unable to find a space).  They all said you could contact them via e-mail.   The majority of public testimony to the Board were on three topics.   One, allowing current 7th graders at Hamilton to stay on and finish 8th grade there.  One speaker said that they had been told there was not space but now the finding is that there would be space.  As well, they said Laurelhurst 7th...

This Work Session had a larger-than-normal audience which is a good thing because now there are other witnesses to what was discussed.   Charlie and I both went and came armed with ideas for the Board to consider.  (He outdid me, of course, with his sheet with 23(!) questions.  He checked them off as they went along.  At least five of them got asked but not necessarily answered.)  I gave them a sheet with comments copped from Charlie's previous thread.  And, with apologies to all other programs, somehow Advanced Learning/Highly Capable got the lion's share of discussion. Michael Tolley started the session, outlining the higher level thinking.  However, the presentation, on slide 3, says that one goal of the process is to " include access to services and programs as a key component in boundary revisions."   To which Charlie wrote in the margin "except Montessori."  And, he's right.  Montessori is in neighborhood schools but i...

Thank you to Grey Watch for putting this up (bold mine).  I would say, from the Superintendent's statements, that Hamilton is going to be a lot like Eckstein for next year.  June 7, 2013 Dear Hamilton International Middle School community, As many of you are aware, enrollment is on the rise throughout our school district, including at Hamilton International Middle School. At every school we must balance the safety and security of our students with the need to ensure all of our students receive a high quality education. For the 2013-14 school year, we are planning for 1,100 students at HIMS – an increase over our current enrollment of 975 . We believe we can serve this number of students in our current space. We are not planning to relocate any 6-8th grade students to other schools for the upcoming school year. The maximum capacity of the building is 1,294, and we will continue to work with the City of Seattle to ensure we are meeting all the safety codes. I kn...

A comment in another post suggests that the District will announce a late, radical move to address overcrowding at Hamilton for next year. A radical move like using John Marshall or Lincoln to house the HIMS 6th grade or 6th and 7th grade or relocating APP (in whole or in part) out of the building. There is no news, only rumors.

From Superintendent Banda (I haven't reviewed the presentation yet myself): To meet the needs of our growing enrollment, Seattle Public Schools is considering boundary changes for the 2014-15 school year. We will not change any boundaries or assignments for the upcoming 2013-14 school year.   In anticipation of these changes, we are having conversations about our current schools and programs with our stakeholders. On Wednesday, district staff will present several options to the School Board for early consideration, including for  Hamilton International Middle School . We recommend increasing the number of highly capable (APP) elementary and middle school pathways, with guaranteed assignment, to increase access and bring services closer to where students live. If approved, this means APP services will be offered at additional sites – beyond Hamilton and Washington Middle School.   Again, these are all preliminary conversations. We will host five community meetings th...

I attended the Budget Work Session on Wednesday.  It was pretty sobering.  Key facts: There is a projected deficit of $18.4M .  I would love to explain it all to you (and I will try to at least get the PowerPoint up by tomorrow) but frankly, I look down at the paper version and I don't know what half of it is.  Imagine my happiness (and surprise) to hear Board Directors say, "Now, what is this?" because they don't know either.  I don't know if it is the Budget office trying to use smoke and mirrors or just too much jargon but if the people who will make the final decisions don't know what you are talking about, you're doing something wrong. By April 10th, we will have the Governor's budget, the House budget and the Senate budget.  We were told that is when "the rubber meets the road."  The Governor released his budget today and it seems quite favorable to K-12 ed (if not quite the amount everyone would want).  He seems to be finding the m...

First up, some good news from SPS Communications: The McClure Middle School boys team won first place in the Team Relay Heat of Erg Ed’s Indoor Rowing Championship. In second place were the Pathfinder K-8 girls, and in third place were the Madrona K-8/Broadview-Thomson K-8 team. Launched in 2010, Erg Ed is a classroom-based indoor rowing education program operating as part of Seattle Public School's physical education curriculum.  In partnership with Seattle Public Schools, Erg Ed is currently provided at 14 middle and K-8 schools across the city.  With more than 800 pledges, Roosevelt High School let it be known loud and clear that they are against texting and driving . And to celebrate this massive turnout for the "Save it Seattle" campaign, Roosevelt welcomed Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson to their campus March 22. The Verizon Wireless "Save It Seattle” contest challenged students at four Seattle high schools to take a pledge against textin...

It would seem something is amiss. From Q-13 News : The 12-year-old special education student at Hamilton International Middle School reported the alleged incident Wednesday to school officials, who called police. The substitute teacher isn’t employed by the school district, but a spokesperson said he won’t get any other assignments in the district until the police investigation is complete. The boy, who is not being identified since he is underage, said the alleged incident happened between classes while he was alone in a bathroom with the substitute teacher. The details are troubling and thank goodness this student said "stop" to the teacher and went and told other adults.  Those adults rightly called the police but it is unclear from this report if the teacher was arrested.  Oddly, the district says the sub wasn't employed by the district.  I'm not sure what to make of that. But an HIMS parent reports that this same teacher was in her child...

Another event this week: Washington Student Achievement Council Public Forum , on Wed Feb 20, 5–6:30pm , Broadway Performance Hall, Seattle Central Community College, 1625 Broadway, free. The Washington Student Achievement Council is conducting on a statewide Listening Tour to inform the development of a 10-Year Roadmap to increase Washington’s educational attainment level. We want to hear and learn from local communities about what’s working, what we need to pay attention to, and how we can work together to create the integrated, effective education system we need for all Washingtonians. To read recaps of the listening tour sessions and give feedback to the Council, please visit feedback.wsac.wa.gov .  Also, a reminder of the Michelle Rhee talk tonight at 7 p.m. at TownHall.  There will be a protest at 6 p.m. so please try to come.  (Anyone staying to hear her talk?  I just can't - I think I might say something uncivil and that would not be good.)  ...

As I have often said (and found), when you starting looking for one thing, you often find another.  I wanted to see what might be being said at different middle schools about overcrowding.  I found various things but it was what I found being said about other issues that was interesting. One thing I notice is that many middle schools seem to assume in their newsletters/updates that all parents know everyone who works in the school/PTA.  I was the editor for the Eckstein PTA newsletter and I quickly realized that making assumptions about what parents do and do not know is a bad idea.  One, because it isn't true that everyone is up-to-speed on how things work for any given program/activity at school.  Two, it can lead to shutting people out because they feel dumb/frustrated for asking questions.

I hope this to be the last word on capacity issues at Eckstein (but I suspect not as these parents are quite persistent).  From the  DPD/FMO.  (I am not posting the entire thing but here's pertinent info.) "During inspection, staff walked the halls and observed class sizes and hall traffic between classes.   No signs of overcrowding in halls or classrooms was observed with respect to allowing safe exiting in the event of emergency. " "For purposes of safe exiting, the more doors you have off (classrooms and offices and hallways), the more people you can have in the building.  Based on current building code standards, the size of the rooms and number/proximity of exits, Eckstein Middle School could safely handle over 4,000 people for purposes of exiting." "Portables with one door are limited to 49 occupants but portables with an additional exit can have more." Re: pedestrians - " The topic of student safety is important and should be discusse...

Director Carr has a Community meeting tomorrow from 8:30-10:00 am at Bethany Community Church (enter by playground). Director Martin-Morris has a Community meeting tomorrow from 9:30-11:30 am at Diva Espresso at 80th and Lake City Way. Congrats to Roosevelt, Eckstein and Hamilton for their showings at the Clark College Jazz Festival. Roosevelt was awarded the top honor, the Sweepstakes Trophy.  They also placed first in the AAA and AAAA divisions.  Hamilton was second and Eckstein third in the middle school jazz ensemble category.  There were also individual awards to all three schools plus Garfield . Seattle Public Schools dominance in jazz bands marches on (with apologies to actual marching bands). Forgot to mention but I did put up a acronyms list for education in the right-hand column of this blog.  I do state that it is not all-inclusive but if I left out any glaring SPS one, let me know. In the Friday Funny, which apparently is no joke, people ne...

It appears that a couple of people dropping off the speakers list so there is at least one spot open if you want to call in to claim it, 252-0040.   As well, they will have a waitlist in case any of the scheduled speakers do not come forward. Also, Director Peaslee has put forth her own amendment .  I agree with her thinking.  Basically, she is asking for two things: - wait a year for implementing the new JA Middle School with planning for it ongoing and a planning principal in place by September 2013 - reassign Laurelhurst students to Eckstein to take the pressure off of Hamilton (and fit in those APP students).  As well, it asks for the Superintendent to support an effort to recruit students for JA K-8, Pinehurst, TOPS and Salmon Bay.  Over enrollment at Hamilton can be relieved with minimal disruption by assigning the 6th graders from Laurelhurst to Eckstein. Pressure on Eckstein and Hamilton can be relieved by District supported recruitment e...

  So unless someone has a change of heart, it appears that Director Carr has decided her vote for next year's Interim Plan.  She has submitted an amendment (which yes, could get defeated but I doubt it) and it signals, rather clearly, her vote.  The only vote still up in the air is Director McLaren but she appears to be leaning that way as well.  I move to amend the NEW STUDENT ASSIGNMENT PLAN TRANSITION PLAN FOR 2013- 14, as submitted by staff on January 22, 2013, to (1) restore the language included at Introduction on January 9, 2013, where the Jane Addams building will be designated to become an attendance area middle school and the new attendance area middle school and the current Jane Addams K-8 environmental science option school will be temporarily co-located in the Jane Addams building; and (2) to direct the Superintendent to designate a Jane Addams Middle School planning principal or provide for equivalent planning activities, effective April, 2013. ...