Seattle Schools Community Forum

It seems some names are out there for both the elementary school and the middle school at the Wilson-Pacific site.  And, there was a survey about it but that survey, somehow, was only sent to select people.  Now why would that be?  (I'll ask tomorrow but here's what I understand.)

About the Sharples renaming. Linda Shaw of the Times did a piece about this and there were a few Board comments. Apparently, the district and the family could not reach agreement on several issues (not all of them named). From the story; "But several of Sharples' grandchildren, although happy the school district was finally attempting to uphold its commitment, felt it had set an unreasonable deadline. Gloria Sharples, a granddaughter who lives in Oakland, Calif., said she and her siblings only learned about the proposal in October and that she hasn't had a chance to visit the Old Hay site. The family, she said, is willing to consider an elementary school to honor her grandfather, but had a number of conditions. One was that Sharples' name would not be overshadowed by any program at the school. Another was that the name Hay be removed from the two buildings on the site, which the district couldn't guarantee." Holly Ferguson, a district staff person, s...

A couple of updates before the Board meeting tonight. One, is that there is a Board Work Session before the Board meeting on what the district will be doing with the MLK, Jr. Elementary building. There have been several bids from various groups (both public and private) that were discussed here in a separate thread. It will be interesting to see what the decision is. Two, the speakers' list is full. The majority of comments will be about the SAP Transition Plan . I predict another long meeting given how much detail there is to the plan. Three, the idea to rename Old Hay with Casper Sharples has been rejected. Apparently the family did not want the building named after their relative. From discussion at previous Board meetings, I believe the issue is largely that the Sharples name was originally attached to a middle school and the family is unhappy that now the district wants to use it for an elementary school. The new name that is being put forth by Dr. Goodloe-Johnson is...