Seattle Schools Community Forum

Updates: - Forgot about the meeting about the naming of the schools at the Wilson-Pacific site on Monday, the 4th at Lincoln at 6:30 pm. -  I was mistaken about the issue of Coe Elementary's library naming. A reader let me know that 6115- Plaques, Name Plates, and Donor Walls, was pulled at the last Board meeting, not about 6970, Naming of School District Buildings. - The Bell Times meeting on Tuesday, the 5th at the New Holly Hall is 7pm, not 5 pm. End of updates Lots of activity in the district this week. Entire week - Teacher Appreciation Week (the district only has Tuesday as Teacher Appreciation Day but I looked it up - it's the whole week). Say thank you to a teacher.  FYI, remember your favorite teacher K-12? They are aging and if you want to let them know how much they meant to you, time's a'wastin'. Tuesday,  May 5th  Operations Committee Meeting of the Whole from 4:30-6:30 pm. Agenda?  What agenda? It's now 48 hours from...

Athletics at Garfield hasn't been going very well this year. First there was an investigation into the football coaches playing ineligible players and the outcomes from that.  Now comes word via a Seattle Times story that the Athletic Director, Jim Valiere, has been fired after a long investigation. From the Times: The action was taken because of "inappropriate and unprofessional behavior" and "violation of district policies," according to an April 11 termination letter to Valiere from Susan Enfield, Seattle Public Schools interim superintendent. The letter was obtained by The Seattle Times under the Freedom of Information Act. In addition to being blamed for allowing ineligible student-athletes to play, the letter said Valiere misused district funds, disregarded policy and provided grades students didn't earn. The investigation also alleged that Valiere misled the KingCo Conference and Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (W...

When we last left Pay for K in November, the district hadn't been able to figure out what money had come in or even who was supposed to be paying.   At a later Audit and Finance Committee meeting, it appeared more under control but the handout still didn't explain if they had fully implemented it and were receiving all the money due to the district. On the heels of that comes another snafu, this time with Pay for Play which is for students who want to participate in competitive athletics in high school.  (This is not for PE or intramural sports.)   The old fee was $50 for the first sport and $25 for the second sport (with a cap at $75 for 3+ sports).  The Board approved raising the fee for this year.   I believe that the new fee was $100 for the first sport and $30 for the second (again, with a cap at $130 for 3+).  (Still checking on this because the new website has old data and no one answers at the School Board office but it was raised.) All st...