Seattle Schools Community Forum

 Before starting this thread I want to acknowledge that long-time (and beloved) staffer, Joe Bland, died on August 11th.  From the Garfield PTSA Facebook page: Joe was a cherished presence at Garfield High School for almost 30 years where he worked as a teachers assistant in the gym (basketball, volleyball and wrestling), with the kids in detention and the incoming freshmen in the Bridge Program. His warmth and kindness touched so many. I went to this meeting truly not knowing what to expect.

Kind of late but okay.  Cast your vote .  Currently it's 89% against (38K+ votes) and 11% for (4600+votes).  PTA tweeted this yesterday: Have your voice heard on # CCSS ! Poll in advance of Sept @ IQ2US debate wants to know if u "Embrace the # CommonCore " http:// ow.ly/AveEH   1:20 PM - 4 Sep 2014 The link in the tweet takes you to a poll which is tied to an upcoming debate. The event will be live streamed here on September 9th at 6:45pm EST. Where Do You Stand?

 From two area PTSAs: We are proud to announce the Seattle Council PTSA Board and Northshore Council PTSA Board, which represents the PTA's in Woodinville, Bothell and Kenmore, have endorsed I-594. Join these parents and teachers to help make our schools and state safer for Washington families by endorsing 594 today: http://bit.ly/1hbXVd6 This is the measure for background checks for guns.   So I was pretty surprised yesterday that both Banda and Herndon stayed so long at the Cascade meeting give there was the Board Work Session on the Budget at 4 p.m.  (they left around 3:45 p.m.)  Naturally, I did not attend but if anyone else did weigh in, please.

This new webpage at SPS is a welcome addition.  It has an FAQ page (chock-full of info), Building Rentals page and a Contacts page.  The main page, called PTSA/PTO Resources, also has links for forms/documents, policies and procedures and info for various groups/individuals.  I am also glad to see PTOs given the same rank and recognition as PTA/PTSAs.  It's the right thing to do. 

Not completely (more on that at the end) but better.  (Notes in red are mine.) From SCPTSA; Why the sudden change in policy of the new 10% fee for fundraising on school grounds by the district? It not really a new policy, but more accurately a policy the district should have been following but was not. In a workshop sponsored by WASBO (Washington Association of School Business Officials) the district learned they were not in compliance with State laws around Associated Student Body (ASB) activities and funds (WAC 392-138-010, RCW 28A.325.020 and RCW 28A.325.030). The rules indicated the following activities turn a parent group fundraiser into an ASB activity: *    A majority of the work is performed by the students. *    The parent group uses the school name. *    The use of district facilities is not followed per district policy. *    School district personnel are involved during staff time (during ...

I did speak with Teresa Wippel, SPS Communications.  Our conversation helped clear up some issues but my reading of the RCWs cited now muddies it.  I will follow up with Teresa and the SCPTSA President to try to get more clarification but here is what I was told.  (Also, I hope the SCPTA president sends out a detailed explanation of what school PTAs can and cannot do with these types of funds and how to handle them.) The district had been working with the SCPTSA last year on this issue as the Washington Association of School Business Officers (WASBO) told the district they were not collecting the funds from on-site, school-hours fundraising properly.  They cited two RCWs - 28A.325.010 and 28A.325.030 .  What the district is saying those RCWs say is that students should partially benefit from any proceeds of these events, not the PTA.  The money - 10% or $1500 - should go into the school's ASB fund.  I was surprised as I hadn't really given muc...

The vote was 44-29.  It was quite a compelling and civil discussion.  I'll write a wrap-up of it tomorrow but I'll leave you with two thoughts. 1) Will this spur other schools to consider this action?  Hard to say but one person who is a member of two PTAs said her other PTA is also considering this action.  Will it be like Garfield's early and firm stance on MAP and allow other schools to take a look at what is happening at their school? 2) There were several issues in play but one broad issue is this: What is the purpose of a parent-teacher group at a school?   Do you want a combo of school-based needs with big group identity/advocacy?  Is one more important than the other?  Does every dollar raised count when your school has high needs (and possibly low ability to raise much money)? 

A bit of a roundup of PTA news.  (Please keep in mind that I am a long-time PTA parent.  I think, on paper, PTA is a good thing but it doesn't always play out the way you might hope in practice.) First up from the Washington State PTA , news from their upcoming convention.  You may recall that they have teamed up with McDonald's for sponsorship of the convention.   I recall that, at the time, it seemed like an odd pairing given the childhood obesity rates in this country and the food that McDonald's serves.  But The WSPTA offered a spirited defensive saying McDonald's was making an effort to provide better choices to parents.  That may be true but it doesn't make McDonald's fast-food into health food. Now I see that in their PTA convention materials that not only will McDonald's have a presence at the convention, they actually will be presenting at the convention.  Their "director of nutrition" has a spot in the convention lineup of speakers. ...

Are you slammed with things to do? Me, too.   But meanwhile, lots of things are happening.  So a quick round-up of thoughts that settle in my brain as I try to go to sleep (if only there was an on/off switch for our brain at bedtime). 1) Just attended a land use committee meeting. They voted 5-3 to allow 6-story buildings across from Roosevelt High School .  The final vote will come on January 17th.  I'll write further about this but there was some crowing about all the new kids to the neighborhood who will be able to walk to Roosevelt.  Do we need a new high school?  Yup. 2) On capacity management, I am really, really worried.  There is so many moving targets and so much that could go wrong with the wrong choices.  I hope FACMA, if in their guts they feel it, will put up a fight against any position the staff has that they worry about seeing go through. We CANNOT make any more facilities mistakes. Those capital dollars have got to be st...

They keep coming. Saturday, October 15th Nathan Hale High School's all-community celebration and open house for their new building from 10 am to 1 p.m., 10750 30th Avenue NE.   There will be tours of the building available.   Saturday, October 29th Seattle Special Education PTSA presents " Student-Centered Collaboration: Strategies for Effective IEP Teams " from 8:30 am to 2:30 p.m. at district headquarters.  This is also sponsored by SPS and the Seattle Council PTSA.  The conference will provide practical strategies to help parents and educators communicate effectively and craft appropriate interventions to address the individual needs of their students disabilities.  There will be a speaker, a panel discussion and four workshops.  For more information, please contact us at seattlespedptsa@gmail.com .   Requests for interpretation services must be received by October 22, 2011.   This conference is ...

I can't remember right off-hand if I posted this before but the Washington State PTSA is taking a survey of legislative priorities of parents for education.   The deadline is Sunday, September 25th. 

The Washington State PTSA, at this weekend's convention, took up a resolution on local units paying for teachers/staff.   (Note; the resolution is about two-thirds of the way down the document.)  They are advocating for PTSAs to NOT pay for teachers/staff.

I am going to attend the Seattle Council PTSA meeting tonight that features Dr. Enfield and our new CFO, Robert Boesche.   They will be answering school budgeting questions.  I want to say something to Mr. Boesche but I don't have a burning budgeting question. Throw out some to me and I'll try to ask as many as I can tonight.

Boy, I apologize; I let this fall off my radar. Monday is PTA Focus Day at the State Capitol in Olympia. Here's a link to the WA State webpage with info. There will be a noon rally (with a police escort) to the Capitol steps. Also, here's an e-mail to sent to the Speaker of the House, Frank Chopp, and the Senate Majority Leader, Lisa Brown. (This from Ramona Hattendorf, Government Relations Director, Washington State PTA.) MESSAGE: Dear xxx, Will you help us save our ABCs? Monday is Children's Day at the Capitol. The Parent Teacher Association will be there with our kids rallying on the steps, and we hope you'll take a moment to consider the incredible importance of education to their lives. Our K-12 schools need your support, or we'll lose a generation of learners. (Yes! the cuts are that bad.) We need Basic Education funded. It's paramount. Sincerely, ---- frank.chopp@leg.wa.gov lisa.brown@leg.wa.gov Find your legislators: http://apps....

The Times has what they call "The Truth Needle" and Linda Shaw, their education reporter, filed a report this morning. Let me allow her to tell you: The claim: Starting in 2008, Seattle Public Schools reported that a meager 17 percent of its high-school graduates met the entrance requirements for four-year colleges. The district quietly quit using that number then recently revised it, without comment, to 46 percent. "... revised it, without comment ..." classic SPS. This is why, when you read a contract or a hard number, you should bookmark that page or print it out. It might just disappear and you'll feel like you got gaslighted (how old am I to use that reference). Now that 17% is out there in ether and even though many of us were left scratching our heads (how did all those seniors at Roosevelt get into college?), what can you do? This 17% number has been used by LEV, Seattle Foundation and many other "community" groups. What the Times f...

So it's the eve before the ballots are opened. The committee that got formed in opposition to the levy, Committee for Responsible Education Spending, wanted to get issues out there. We wanted parents especially to be better informed about levies and the specifics about this one. I'd like to think that we accomplished that goal. I want to thank the members of our committee for their hard work; Dorothy Neville and Meg Diaz (two crack spreadsheet and data analysts), Eric Muhs (Ballard high science teacher), Ken Berry (IA at Van Asselt Elementary) and Charlie Mas. It was very helpful to have staff on the committee who could lend their voices as those with feet on the ground and in our schools. I ask going forward that each of you consider each future levy carefully. Each levy IS a tax and we are dependent upon our friends and neighbors who don't have children in SPS to help us pass levies. There are those people for whom $48 a year (plus all the other levies and initi...

(Update: ack! I know it's Tracy Record at WSB, not Read. Apologies to Tracy and thanks to Mark A. for correcting me.) I wanted to report back on the press conference. I attended with Dorothy Neville and I think we were possibly the only real members of the public there. I asked again if I could have a press credential because I asked why Tracy Record of the West Seattle blog (who wasn't there but sometimes is) gets a press pass. I was told that (1) I'm not a real journalist and (2) I don't write more broadly (meaning, I only write about public education). Also, I write for a blog which is commentary and not reporting. More on this in a minute. There was a grand total of ONE news organization (there might have been more but no one I recognized). It was a guy from KING-TV shooting B roll footage for the station. So basically, I will be the only person in all of Seattle reporting what happened at the press conference that the district put together because they ...

( Update : The Times weighed in and with a lot of skepticism over this idea. To whit: District leaders must develop a better ear for what works and is acceptable to city families. Floating a ridiculous idea only to pull it back amid an uproar weakens the district's already fragile bond with families. Parents cannot help but wonder what other ideas at central administration are awaiting their ride up the flagpole. Yes indeed, what next?) Thanks to a parent and activist, Kellie LaRue, for this update: the district is not going to charge a fee to cover administrative costs to PTSAs for funds raised for school budgets . (I will name this person after I find out if it is okay. Thanks to all of you who contacted the Superintendent, the Board and for offering to take public action on this issue. Here is what they had to say via Bridgett Chandler, Executive Director of SPS Communications: We want to express our sincere appreciation for the hard work and dedication of our PTSAs....

Please join the Seattle Council PTSA and Speaker of the House Frank Chopp as we discuss the challenges and possibilities ahead: How do we fund the schools we need and still afford our health and social programs? Thursday, Sept. 17, 6:45 - 8:30 p.m. Catherine Blaine K-8, Cafeteria (In the Magnolia neighborhood) 2550 34th Ave. W., Seattle, WA 98199

You just never know what you'll hear at meetings. And so it was last night when I attended a meeting of the Seattle Council PTSA. It was to say thanks to outgoing members of the Board (and they all deserve a BIG thanks especially Sharon Rodgers, the President) and introduce new Board members. They announced that they created a role, District Information Liaison, so there would be one person going to district meetings and being a link between the district and the PTSA. Great idea. They did pick someone, Gary Sievert. (Update: I forgot to mention that Director Carr was in attendance.) There was also an announcement about a one day conference for Special Ed PTSA, tentatively on October 10th, called Best Practices for Inclusion Schools. I also put out, with permission, flyers about this blog. If you are new here, welcome. In addition, the National President of the PTSA, Jan Domene, was there and gave a speech. (FYI, the term NCLB is probably on its way out. The new term to us...