Seattle Schools Community Forum

I attended today's Operation Committee of the Whole where some important issues for school year 2013-2014 were discussed.  Those would be transportation and what to do in the NE middle school region. The regular Operations Committee meeting went over some sundry items but President Smith-Blum, who came in late, explained she had been at a meeting about Yesler Terrace.  Apparently there will be a large number of very low to moderate income level apartments coming in there and this is something for both the Board and staff to consider in the future. The Transportation presentation was a bit confusing as there several new options in addition to the current one.  The long-term goal is to get to three tiers - each an hour apart - so that they can flip elementary and high school start times, with high school getting a later start time. Staff had recommended shifting 26 elementary schools 10-15 minutes earlier and 30 minutes earlier for four K-8s.  This, according to...

I am blessed to know people who also work hard to understand our district.  Many of these sources have analytic skills far beyond mine and I am so glad they are willing to share their knowledge and understanding with me.  What I put forth comes from conversations with a couple of these people.  (But we don't all agree.) In terms of capacity management for 2013-2014, here are a few things to consider as the Board has its Operations Committee of the Whole meeting today where they will be discussing this issue.  (Also, keep in mind that as we have been discussing the NE middle school region a lot here, there will also be capacity management happening in West Seattle.  For some reason West Seattle folks haven't weighed in much on that and I would guess they feel what the district has put forth for their region is reasonable.) Let's flesh out what is the cold, hard truth - big change is coming to enrollment patterns in the NE.    For elementary, for mid...