Seattle Schools Community Forum

Remember that Big Picture that I am trying to build about Seattle Public Schools? This is one more set of pixels for that picture.  Say what you will but someday - probably soon - you will see all these pixels from a distance and understand the big picture.  This is co-written with Robert Cruickshank who served as a Senior Advisor to Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn. Seattle’s Families and Education Levy is losing its way Last month, parents at Sand Point Elementary School learned that the City of Seattle had decided to slash a $318,000 Families and Education Levy grant they had worked hard to earn. When parents and staff learned about the sudden cut, they rose to challenge that decision. The dramatic reduction to the grant puts at risk teachers' jobs, instructional supplies, a family support worker, and a school counselor. What was the reason given by the City for taking away the grant funds? It's because the school's principal is leaving for another job . Since this news...

Josh Kerns at KIRO Radio does an excellent job in covering this story.  (I have several questions into the City on this issue and I will update as I receive answers.)  Basically, Sand Point Elementary, a fairly diverse elementary school in NE Seattle, had applied for a grant from the Families&Education levy.  The work on this grant had been done by all stakeholders at the school including the principal, staff, and PTA.  They were awarded a grant of over $300K to hire hire a counselor and enact other initiatives to support students and their families. But, when the City learned that Principal Warren was leaving (to move to Washington, D.C. with his family), they pulled the grant.  Why? I found this in the most recent RFI presentation doc I could find at the F&E levy page.  It says: Applying principal and/or assistant principal is still at school during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 school year. Now, of course, their money, their rules.  But...

There is an issue going on with Sand Point Elementary and the sudden pulling of a grant from the Families & Education levy because SP's principal is leaving.  The school planned staff around that grant and are now scrambling because of the rescinding of the grant.  The school is looking for answers and so far no one - from the City or the District - has any to give them. This could mean dire things for other schools who may get F&E grants and then see them taken back should they lose their principal. I have never seen any documentation mentioning this nor did the Department of Early Childhood and Education staff at a recent Board Work Session on the levy mention this possibility.  I'll have full details after I get some answers to queries I have put to various stakeholders. Today I will be attending an odd sort of panel discussion on charter schools at UW via the Evans Schools of Public Affairs.  It's called Charter Schools: Problems and Poss...

Have you been on a tour yet?  Where and how was it? Had a friend who went to an IBX meeting at Ingraham and said it was absolutely packed to the rafters.  I recently got a private tour of Sand Point Elementary (which I had never been to and had wanted to check out).  Very impressive.  For those of you who wondered how well a new start-up school can do, here's proof.  And, it's a team effort with the principal (Dan Warren), staff and parents.  Principal Warren had done his homework in checking out the Sand Point of former years.  It was opened in 1956 with 13 (gulp) portables as the school and with a K-6 enrollment of 309 students.  (Actually checking district archives, Pontiac Elementary opened in 1890 by the Yesler School district and was annexed into SPS in 1911.  The land was then sold to the federal government in 1926.  But in early 1941, Navy parents at Sand Point Housing wanted a school and staged a one-day strike and out...

So we see the progress being made in preparation for the new K-5 STEM at Boren but it got me wondering; how are the other new schools doing? Sand Point? Queen Anne Elementary? Viewlands? Rainier View? McDonald? Did I leave anyone out? I seem to hear more about McDonald and Queen Anne so I'd love to hear from Sand Point, Viewlands or Rainier View parents but I'm sure we would like updates from all.

Questions and Answers - NSAP Q: Jane Addams only has a 3-year commitment as a K-8. There is concern that we won't be able to attract parents in January if they don't believe the program will continue. A: Dr. Goodloe-Johnson initially seemed confused (even though it was a pretty clear question, maybe she forgot where she was or the circumstances in the new JA creation). Anyway she said there were 3 factors to consider. One, the comprehensive school report. Two, enrollment at JA. Three, we are going into year 2 of the NSAP. Geographic zones are going to be drawn for option schools. There may be a boundary issues for Garfield. Between November and January we should know. (So the enrollment number analysis plus the geographic zones created should give us the answers to what tweaks may occur for the NSAP. This would be a good time to stay tuned in and not zone out during the holidays.) Q: Will boundaries for neighborhoods be redrawn? A: That's always a question mark...

Last week's Board meeting was fairly interesting (well, until you got to the staff updates but more on that later). The room wasn't full of the usual suspects but there definitely were sides. Highlights from speakers list: District watchdog Chris Jackins pointed out that the sale of MLK, Jr . property gives buyers all the money. (Apparently the presumed buyers - First AME Church - is getting the money from the state and the state will give it to the district. This is because the church, in its offer, says it will be offering youth programming and other community activities.) The idea of selling it to First AME is to create a community center in that neighborhood that would offer community services like youth activities. Then came a long line of people against the sale of the property to First AME. This was introduced and will be voted on by the Board in two weeks. Everyone spoke respectfully of the church's long history here in Seattle but the issue seems to be tha...

( Update: feel free to talk about the NSAP plan here as well.) It's a little early but this thread was requested. Any Sand Point, McDonald or Queen Anne Elementary parents out there who could let us know how their buildings feel, how organized the school feels, how that first day went, etc?

It's Labor Day weekend and I decided to labor by reorganizing my upstairs files. Naturally, most of it is SPS information. It's a little overwhelming trying to look through and then decide what to keep. However, at the end, less paper and more organization. And you know what? You never know what you might find. I've found information that, at the time, was not so important and now, after the Auditor's report, might be quite useful. But all that requires more work before disclosure. However, I thought I would pass along some info that I've come across to put on your radar as we move towards planning BEX IV . Having done nearly all the high schools (sorry, RBHS, Sealth and Ingraham; although Sealth just got quite a nice upgrade) and a couple of middle schools, it seems like BEX IV will be heavy on elementary schools . (I do believe the district is likely to do either Eckstein or Whitman or Washington under BEX IV but given the huge amounts we need to spend now ...

I went back and looked at some of the items on the Board agenda for Wednesday. Before the meeting, they are having a Work Session on maintenance. I'll just have to make the effort to go because, on the one hand, they allowed the head of Maintenance to buy some new software and hire a couple of temporary(?) people to organize all the backlogged maintenance. (Yes, I know; it's 2010 and our district really has no idea how much needs to be done, where, and in order of need.) There was this idea that we would have one or two zone crews to go out and get one school's needs done in one shot. On the other hand, the district has just laid off 7 of the 14 maintenance workers (a pretty big hit for any department). So that backlogged maintenance? Either we are going to contract it out or there's going to be a lot of waiting. Now contracting it out has problems. First, the volume of work is such that it makes sense to have your own in-house people. Second, you can certainl...

I attended Harium's Community meeting and the 43rd Dems meeting (partial) yesterday. Here are some updates (add on if you attended either or Michael DeBell's meeting). We covered a fair amount of ground with Harium but a lot on the math ruling/outcomes. Here's what he said: t he Board will decide what will happen from the math ruling . I asked Harium about who would be doing what because of how the phrasing the district used in their press release - "In addition to any action the School Board may take, the district expects to appeal this decision." It made it sound like the district (1) might do something different from the Board and (2) the district had already decided what they would do. Harium said they misspoke and it was probably the heat of the moment. He seems to feel the judge erred. He said they did follow the WAC rules which is what she should have been ruling on but didn't. I probably should go back and look at the complete ruling but it see...

The Queen Anne & Magnolia News has a pretty interesting article from Feb. 4th that basically seems to imply that the parents are going to decide what program is at their school. Good for them but my question, after reading the whole article - is this what is happening at all the reopening schools? (And note, there is a link for 3 of the 5 reopening schools at the schools page at the SPS website but none describe any program.) The opening header says "Decision on QA Elementary curriculum halted after parents voice dissent." There doesn't seem to have been anyone from the district there so I'm wondering if the reporter got the impression that the parents have more sway over the the final decision than it would seem likely (given that we know the district will have it). From the article: Though Seattle Public Schools Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson announced Queen Anne Elementary would have a Montessori program a couple weeks ago-a decision that caught many...

It seems there are other school visit opportunities not listed at the district website's page on Open Houses and Visits. Here is one but let me know and I'll update this thread. Come learn about Sand Point Elementary! Meet and Greet with Principal Dan Warren Sand Point Elementary Auditorium 6208 60th Ave NE Monday Feb. 8 7-8:30 pm Refreshments will be served SPE is shaping up to be a great option for families looking for a small school led by a proven leader! To see one review of Dan Warren and his leadership, check Reuven Carlyle's blog, http://reuvencarlyle36.com/, the January 12th entry. There will be an additional opportunity in March (3/6 9-11 am , children welcome!) To learn more, please email us at sandpointschoolopening@gmail.com or visit our blog at sandpointelementary.blogspot.com Ingraham's IB Information Night February 10th @ 6:30 p.m. http://ingrahamhigh.org/

Dr. Enfield visits Olympic View Elementary PTA on Thursday, the 14th at 6:30 p.m. if you've been wanting to hear her speak or ask a question. From an SPS press release: "Green Lake Elementary Principal Cheryl Grinager will become principal at McDonald Elementary; Coe Elementary Principal David Elliott will be the new principal at Old Hay School, and John Hay Principal Dan Warren will become principal at Sand Point Elementary. Grinager, Elliott and Warren will continue as principals at their current schools while working with members of their respective new school communities in preparation for the 2010 school openings." "Families and staff at Coe, Green Lake and John Hay elementary schools and The Center School will be notified when a hiring timeline for a new principal has been developed. The first step will be for instructional directors to meet with the school community to identify the desired qualities and characteristics for their school leader." I literall...

Transition Plan discussion. Dr. Goodloe-Johnson started off the overview saying that transportation and grandfathering of siblings were two of the key issues for the Transition Plan that will be discussed next Wednesday the 16th at a Board Work Session. She said that "transition rules are for one year and may continue or change based on actual student enrollment". Meaning, " we won't know how the SAP is actualized until students are in the seats" and then they will make adjustments. My interpretation (and again, if you watched or were there, help me out) is that: the transition plan will be for one year only (but may extend depending on the outcomes of that first year. Does this mean grandfathering siblings for only one year? It might and that's a key question to ask Board members to get clarification on at the Work Session. I understand that no one knows how this SAP will work out but I worry about that "one year only" business as a up-front n...

UPDATE: The Audit and Finance Committee meeting today is Executive so no outsiders allowed. Sorry, I missed that word.) Anyone attend the Sand Point meeting last night? I'd be interested to hear about what you heard. This was a meeting that Michael De Bell and Harium Martin-Morris attended. Also, FYI, there is a new photo at the School Board webpage with our two new Board members. Here are their e-mail addresses: betty.patu@seattleschools.org kay.smith-blum@seattleschools.org If you have an issue, now would be the time to engage them. They likely have the least e-mail of any of the other Board members. They will both be at their first Board meeting tonight ; it should be interesting. There is also Audit and Finance meeting Committee meeting today about real estate from 3-4 pm . Oddly, there is also another Audit and Finance meeting tomorrow from 3:30-5:30 p.m. I'm thinking one of them is about Memorial Stadium and one might be about properties that are being sold/le...

I know someone who is now within the Sand Point boundaries. A group of these parents has organized and has a survey for parents who also live in those boundaries. They also have a Sand Point blog as well as a Yahoo group . Here is a link to the parent survey . It is live until midnight Thursday, December 3rd . Please urge parents you know in that area to participate. T here is also another survey for parents in the newly drawn boundaries for Eckstein. Here's info from the blog: "Sand Point Elementary will reopen in the Fall of 2010. We are a group of parents who live in the Sand Point Elementary attendance area. We have been exchanging ideas on the Sand Point Parents Yahoo Group, and we are organizing to ensure that our concerns are communicated. To that purpose we created the "Sand Point Elementary Community Input Survey", which emerged with the help of the McDonald Community Group, and from several in-person gatherings held over the last few weeks. P...

I had heard that McDonald parents had a meeting with the head of International Instruction, Karen Kodama, on Saturday. And boy, I thought, how fair is that to these other reopening schools? Who knew you could just ask for a meeting? And mostly I thought it unfair to Sand Point who seems to have no real focus yet. (Rainier View and Viewlands aren't opening for awhile and McDonald seems in the lead for foreign language immersion and Old Hay has Montessori.) Luckily, I have a friend who steered me straight. The McDonald parents did set up a meeting with Ms. Kodama but they also had the courtesy to invite Sand Point parents. Ms. Kodama apparently did not talk about specifics but did talk about what an international school is and said she was there unofficially. She also said every elementary should have foreign language (she and Kay Smith Blum will get along well). There was also a meeting with De Bell and Carr to go over McDonald's survey results about their school. Sand ...

I attended the informational meeting on boundaries at Roosevelt High on Thursday night. There were about 60+ attendees along with staff. Steve Sundquist, Hairum Martin-Morris, Peter Maier and Sherry Carr attended as well. Dr Enfield was the lead staff person with Tracy Libros giving the presentation. The handouts included the new map, the SAP, information about map revisions as well as a curious handout about the STEM program (I'll try to get a link for it). The information sheets about the map revisions were very cursory and did not fully flesh out how boundary changes impacted other schools. For example, they noted Roosevelt's changes and Ingraham's changes but not that it made Hale's boundaries much smaller. They said at the Work Session that something like 42 out of 58 elementaries boundaries changed but that was not reflected in the information on the sheet. Also, Tracy made note of the updating of the FAQs but I could swear that questions I've heard at...

To note again here: I was mistaken about next week's P ublic Hearing speaking time. It IS 3 minutes as it is at the Board meetings so they will have room for 40 speakers . Please note: I may go out of order of what was said when to group like items. Dr. Goodloe-Johnson went over a lot of backstory on the SAP but did say a couple of interesting things about "first implementation steps". She said that they need to gather information about incoming kindergarten siblings . I'm guessing that means how many there are for next year and possibly after. They have to "complete transportation eligibility analysis". Again, figuring out who gets transportation where. (Someone asked about an analysis of how we save any money on transportation under the new SAP but it will take several years to realize it. I can't see how they could anytime soon.) Fall 2010 opening Sand Point, McDonald and Old Hay with Rainier View and Viewlands to follow . This is a bit of a ...