Seattle Schools Community Forum

I'll try to hit the major points I heard along with quotes (and color commentary). Just upfront, it was discouraging.  It's now 2013 and so many questions - Special Ed, Advanced Learning, K-8s and others - lack clarity and definition.  What was troubling is the number of "exceptions" to current policies that are out there.   There was also the issue of the so-called Program Placement Framework?  Where is this and should this be guiding the decisions made? As well, the presentation used excerpted quotes from various policies - Board or Superintendent or WAC - to justify their work.  But it seemed somewhat random. Growth Boundaries link .  To find it on your own, go to the district website.  Look for "enrollment" under the Schools tab.  Halfway down the menu on the right side is the Planning for the future: Growth Boundaries. 

(Did anyone attend Tuesday's? I think Dorothy said she did. I looked at the PowerPoint and there is a lot of stuff that I wish I had heard presented. I'll have to tease it out in another thread. Here are my notes from the PowerPoint of the 2nd of last week's "integrated" work sessions (a mash-up of budget and transition plan). I did not stay until the end so help me out if you did. All the Directors were in attendance as was Dr. Goodloe-Johnson. They started at page 45 of the previous day's work session. They started talking about program placement and the new possible Accelerated IB program in response to the overcrowding at Garfield. It would be modeled after the program at Interlake over in Bellevue. (I'll just say here that I think it's done. The community would have to rise up, en masse, to prevent it. I just think there's way too much work already done for this to be just a "possibility." The question is whe...

I saw this agreement last night, hot off the district presses, but for some reason, the network I was on at headquarters wouldn't let me sign on here so I couldn't post it. The Labor Relations page has all kinds of versions of the agreement information (but ignore the Fast Facts - it's useless). There are some interesting things and some things I think are vague and wonder what they mean. Maybe some teachers out there can help us. I did attend the Work Session on Maintenance (interesting) and about half the Board meeting (also interesting)but I'll post separate threads on those. From the agreement: looks like seniority is in and super seniority is out. I think the premise here is that if you start from a place where ALL teachers are good, then you have to have some mechanism to figure out who goes if there are RIFs and the union says seniority. (Yes, I know, that's mighty big if.) On the other hand, I think the union gave in at super seniority which probabl...

I attended part of Director Martin-Morris' Community meeting on Saturday. There was a group of moms who talked about Special Education issues, primarily the change to spreading out Special Ed under the new SAP. It was an interesting conversation as it touched on many areas. One is making sure all principals are up to speed on the legal issues of Special Ed. Many aren't and it can make for difficult conversations between parents and principals over accommodations under the law. Another is the issue that since the Education Directors' positions are being revamped, should their new job description include watching over Special Ed at the schools they cover? Currently, they don't do this. The parents at the meeting were asking Harium how to get this discussion in front of the Board. He told them that it could be put on the agenda at a committee meeting but that it would be better to have it at a Work Session as that is a meeting with the entire Board present. He said ...

Thanks to Kellie La Rue for these Jane Addams K-8 Design Team updates: There are now two information nights for the new Jane Addams program > > March 5 and March 17 > 6:30 - 8:00 > > Opportunity to meet the principals, tour the building, view > instructional materials, get an overview of the program. > > The mission statement is: > "Jane Addams K-8, an environmental sciences school, empowering creative and critical thinkers who nurture themselves, their community and their environment." Also, I did attend the BEX Oversight Committee meeting this morning (more on that in another thread) but there was some information tied to the new K-8. Hale has a Horticulture program and has a large greenhouse some ways away from the building past the athletic field. The greenhouse sits on Seattle Public Utility land (there is no lease just some loose agreement from the '70s) but now the SPU wants the land back. There is not enough land by Hale itself...

Thank you to Kellie LaRue for the alert that this news release about principal appointments was made today by the district. I didn't see any new appointments just the ones discussed previously. The release does outline each principal's academic background. Update: I forgot to put in the information about the new K-8 school that was part of the news release. Here it is: "The new program will include advanced learning, a K-8 world language emphasis, a strong arts program and integrated services for special education that serve as a model for the entire district." This is broad information but it does seem like the district is leaning towards Spectrum and dual languages.

A request was made for a separate thread on what the new K-8 at the Jane Addams building should be. Here are some choices (although I'm not advocating for any of them, I think it would fill more easily with a focus rather than just being a traditional K-8): middle school IB program dual language program math/science magnet performing arts Also, while we're on this subject, what would the name be? Call it Jane Addams K-8 to honor the building namesake, Jane Addams? (Her name was selected from an essay contest to name the building in 1949. She was a noted American social worker who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931. She was the first American woman to win the Peace Prize.) From the archives: J ane Addams Junior High School was the first secondary school constructed by Shoreline School District No. 412. At the time it was being planned, demographic studies indicated the school would serve all junior high students in the area for a long time. Few foresaw the tremendous popula...