Seattle Schools Community Forum

School Board meeting highlights (thru Board comments).  Here's the full video :

Three years since the Sandy Hook shootings . The SEA , at their representative assembly last night, voted in a resolution in support of Middle College High School (MCHS) for its almost 25 years of serving students of color who are disenfranchised or in crisis.  They note that this means that six teachers of color have been administratively displace or removed from their positions. State that SEA’s position is that the historical focus of the MCHS program and curriculum on social justice and critical pedagogy at all sites must be maintained. We believe failure to do so would contradict the focus on equity agreed to by both SEA and the district during the recent contract negotiations; Los Angeles schools were shut down today over an electronic terror threat relating to backpacks and was directed at schools themselves (not places like buses.)

Is there an explanation for how quickly Middle College is sliding downward in just a matter of months?  And, with very little in the way of real explanation to the SPS community?

One of the Middle College locations - also being reworked by the district -  is named for Ida B. Wells and it is Google's highlight on their home page.   Here's the Ida B. Wells School for Social Justice at UW Facebook page.

 Four Seattle City Council members , Nick Licata,  John Okamoto, Mike O'Brien and Kashama Sawant, signed a letter to Superintendent Nyland to keep Middle College at High Point open.

A great story from the International Examiner by Sharon H. Chang, on the slow dissolve of the Middle College program that serves at-risk teens.  (There is a some confusion over what Middle College is because the Superintendent has said it wasn't a program.  Well, it's not a school so what is it?) Middle College is a program that succeeds with teens who are at-risk for dropping out and then turning them around.   Indeed, where graduation may have been in question for these at-risk youth in traditional high school, almost all Middle College students graduate and around 80 percent go to college.  As many former students - most college grads - stated at last night's Board meeting, "We are not throwaways." What is deeply disturbing is that the principal of the Middle College program, Cindy Nash, seems to have a tin ear when it comes to making decisions in a transparent manner and then communicating them to her community. For example, who allows movers with ...

Those two factors - a hot summer night and a full moon - might just set things off.  Word is that many Middle College supporters will be at the meeting and want to be heard.  Here are some updates from the supporters (and that includes me):

From teacher Alonzo Ybarra: We're ordered to pack boxes today, but the struggle will continue. Thank you to everyone that took the time to write, show up at meetings and stand for social justice education. It takes courage for our disenfranchised youth to speak truth to power. Yet they have remained active in the struggle. I will continue to fight for justice and help grow this movement and I ask for your ongoing support until we achieve victory.

Update:  Packed auditorium with SEA members with lobby nearly filled as well. Kudos to Washington Middle School volunteers - big applause. Following by big tension after Bernardo Ruiz finished his presentation on the annual Education and Racial Equity.  A man stood up and shouted at Bernardo to tell the truth about Middle College.  He wouldn't stop and President Carr said she would clear the room if need be.  He shouted, "*** you!" to the Board and left in a fury. As for the transfers of money, I note that the presentation on the movement of money from the Capital Budget to Operations budget changed and asked Ken Gotsch about him.  He knew nothing and seemed confused. I am VERY suspicious of what is going on with these dollars for the Interfund loan and the Operations and Capital budgets. end of update  Tonight's School Board meeting looks to have one of the longest agendas I have ever seen (and therefore, possibly one of the longest meetings ev...

It's been a long day so I can only be brief here (but I'll write more another day).  Two fairly interesting things happened at the School Board meeting tonight. One, there is considerable support for the Middle College High School program , both from community and some Board members.  Speaker after speaker rose to support the program and ask that the Middle College High School at the High Point Neighborhood Center not be closed.  Especially moving was testimony from a former student, Paul Campiche, who said that these were not "throwaway" students and "people who are the most disenfranchised need the most help."  He had been thru the Middle College program, then went to Evergreen and is now in the Master's program at Antioch for counseling.  Peaslee, Peters and Patu (the Peter, Paul and Mary of the Board), in their Board comments, all said they want a second look at this decision (or at least more discussion).   The other Board members were fairl...

From SPS:  Dear South Seattle Middle College and K-5 STEM at Boren families: As you know, our South Seattle Middle College program lost its classroom space at South Seattle Community College for the 2012-13 school year and we were planning to co-locate the program on the K-5 STEM at Boren campus. I’m pleased to announce that we have secured classrooms for South Seattle Middle College at the High Point Center Building located at 6400 Sylvan Way SW in West Seattle. As a result, the Middle College and K-5 Stem programs will remain on separate campuses. The space at the High Point Center is well-suited for our small Middle College Program and is conveniently located with easy bus line access for our high school students. We appreciate the feedback from our families, and we worked very closely with the Middle College Principal,Cindy Nash, as we developed a solution we believe will benefit both our Middle College and K-STEM families. We look forward to seeing all of you at t...

From the West Seattle Blog: Followup: Middle College HS, K-5 STEM will not share Boren West Seattle’s smallest public high school, Middle College HS , will not be sharing the Boren Building campus in Delridge with the new K-5 STEM elementary school after all – another location for MCHS has been found instead. That’s according to an announcement by West Seattle’s school-board rep Marty McLaren, confirmed by Seattle Public Schools spokesperson Teresa Wippel, though both say the new location cannot be publicly disclosed yet. West Seattle Blog has the scoop!

Listening to speaker after speaker talk about the Indian Heritage Middle College program, I thought, "Well, add them to the list that includes Special Ed, Nova, and World School."  What do these programs have in common?   They get moved around as though they were furniture.   Each and every one of them deserves a permanent home. I spoke to Sarah Kelly, one of the speakers, and asked her about someone in their community doing a guest post about the history of their program.  (I was surprised to learn that Pathfinder K-8 used to be a feeder school for the program.)  One thing I told her was that once we had a history - one that is written by those who know it - it would be here for a long time.  The district may purge some history from its website but at least here it would have a home.  I'm hoping I will get that guest post within a couple of weeks. Also, there is an issue over the feeder patterns in West Seattle from middle to high sch...

From Director Marty McClaren: Bob Boesche, Interim Deputy Superintendent, met with South Seattle Community College President, Gary Oertli on Thursday, 6/28 to discuss possibilities for continuing to house Middle College HS at SSCC. Mr. Boesche reports that President Oertli was very cordial and expressed great regret at having to ask MCHS to vacate its classrooms at SSCC.  He made it clear that the college has had an excellent relationship with the Middle College students and staff, as well as with Seattle Public Schools, and that the college simply has no more space, due to increasing SSCC enrollment. He also confirmed the decision was not based on any financial obligation (facilities have been provided at no cost). In addition, he confirmed that there is not space in the parking lots for portables.   Mr. Boesche and SPS staff are continuing to explore other sites in the Delridge/West Seattle area, ideally in proximity to South Seattle Community Coll...

The district loves to do an end-of-school-year flurry of activities.  It's like parents are just about out the door and the district says "have a good summer and oh, we are changing XYZ". Bryant's long-time child-care provider (17 years)  is getting the boot (but can reapply but good luck).  Parents are rightly suspicious as the answers they are receiving on why this is happening don't quite mesh.  The district says it is compliance issues but it seems that may not be the issue (the provider's license is fine).  Their PTA had no notification this was coming and the Bryant administration does not favor the decision.  Over in West Seattle, it suddenly got announced that the Middle College program that has been at South Seattle Community College for nearly 20 years is getting the boot because SSCC needs the space.  Interestingly, the district has never paid a cent of rent to SSCC and it might have been that with tight times, they asked for some mone...

We've been hearing some news about the District deciding to place the Middle College program, now located on the campus of South Seattle Community College, in the Boren building next year. It would be co-locating there with the new K-5 STEM program. Before you write to the School Board about this, I would remind you that program placement decisions are made unilaterally by the superintendent. They are not board-level decisions. Moreover, the Board has made it clear that they have no interest in enforcing the program placement policy, which would require the superintendent to disclose her process and would require her to provide rationale for them. They have decided that we do not need transparency or evaluation with these decisions and consequently we get the kind of decisions that can come from under the cloak of secrecy and behind the shield of no accountability. In other words, the Board has already determined that they not only will not get involved in this, but t...

Well, look who's the interim superintendent in Tacoma?  None other than our former CAO, Carla Santorno .   This news comes from the Tacoma News Tribune. The board voted 4-1 – with board member Debbie Winskill dissenting – to name Santorno first as superintendent-elect (interim), beginning in January. After serving six months in that position, Santorno would become interim superintendent from July 1, 2012 through June 30, 2013.  The plan would include a board evaluation and community forums to collect public feedback in January 2013, after Santorno serves in her new leadership roles for a year. Then, the board will decide to either extend her contract or conduct a national search.  Sounds sorta familiar. Also, recall Middle College HS teacher Beth Brunton being nominated for 2011 teacher of the year by  the Simon Youth Foundation?  Well, she won.  This is a great story of a teacher going far above and beyond for her students, hel...

Teen Drinking Rates Drop in NE (from the Office of Public Affairs) During the past four years, drinking rates among northeast Seattle youth have decreased, including a 19 percent drop at Nathan Hale High School and 13 percent decline at Roosevelt High School. These numbers far exceed a statewide average decrease of 5 percent during the same time period. What happened? A panel of students, school administrators, parents, and health and public safety officials will share what they’ve done to prevent underage drinking and support healthy decision-making among teens in Northeast Seattle – and how others can replicate their activities – during a “Celebrate Healthy Youth” community meeting on Monday, Oct. 10. This event is presented by Prevention WINS, a community coalition with the mission of preventing youth substance abuse in northeast Seattle. Monday, Oct. 10th at Nathan Hale High School, 10750 30 th Ave. N.E., from 6:30 - 8:00 p.m .  For more info,   Inga Ma...

Another one of the hidden alternatives in SPS is Middle College High School in the Northgate Mall. I've known about this one for a long time and the Maple Leaf Life blog did a story on it Saturday. From the story: The school accepts students ages 16 to 20, many of whom are at risk of not graduating or who already may have dropped out of the traditional school setting. “Rather than giving up on graduating,” said Brunton, shown at right, “we help them catch up – catch up on graduating, catch up on life. Although the space is available to the alternative public school for free through a partnership with the mall’s Simon Youth Foundation , budget cuts throughout the Seattle School District are taking a toll on the school, which has seen its teaching staff reduced from five to two teachers since it opened 10 years ago. Senior Delaney Grieve, the mind behind this weekend’s bake sale, speaks with pride about the school in a way that’s rare in many high school students: “I...

There is a nice story in the Times today about Ida B. Wells School, part of the Middle College, by Jerry Large. It's very clear that this school, which is an Alternative Learning Experience, is not part of the Curricular Alignment effort. That bodes well for the NOVA Project, another ALE that cannot standardize texts and course titles.