Seattle Schools Community Forum

View Ridge Teacher Takes Plea Deal The Times is reporting the outcome of a case of a View Ridge teacher who sent "sexually-suggestive text messages" to a high school girl who had volunteered in his second-grade class.  The male teacher was sentenced to two months in jail. He also surrendered his teaching certificate as part of his plea deal but will not have to register as a sex offender.  He will also not make an attempt to get his teaching certificate back and cannot have any kind of supervision of children except his own. Lowell Loses Its Principal It was reported to me Thursday night that Lowell's principal, Marion Smith, Jr., quit Wednesday with no little notice to the school community. I have asked the district if they knew sooner than that and, of course, how the principal replacement process will be handled.  Obviously, leaving at the end of the year makes it harder for the district to easily find a replacement.

As several readers have noted, more information has come out about the suspended View Ridge teacher and how he came to this time and place.  Q13 had the story . Apparently the teacher had reached out to a 16-year girl that he knew had attended View Ridge to ask if she would like to volunteer in his classroom (it is unclear if she had been in his class when she was at View Ridge).  How he knew how to contact her is also unclear but he then allegedly sent her texts and anonymous comments in chat rooms.  The girl felt uncomfortable and did the right thing and told her parents. I report this because, as another reader suggested, parents (and teachers and school staff) should know what " grooming" behavior by an adult to a child looks like.  It is important to know that if you see inappropriate behavior, you report it.  School staff have been trained in how they should interact with children.  Sometimes an action can be innocent or even accidental but on-go...

 Update from Principal Jolly at View Ridge (partial): One of our teachers, Mr. X, was placed on administrative leave on November 25, 2014, immediately after the Seattle Police Department informed the district that they received a report of possible sexual misconduct involving a teenage female. Allegations of physical contact are not a part of this report. Additionally, no students enrolled at View Ridge Elementary are involved in this investigation. Parents may understandably be concerned that a person accused of sexual misconduct interacted with their child/children. The district shares these concerns and we are working closely with the Seattle Police Department. Mr. X has surrendered his employee badge and does not have access to district property or district information, including student information. Mr. X has also been instructed not to have any written, electronic, or direct communications with any View Ridge students or return to any Seattle Public School events. If...

A reader sent in this letter - from View Ridge's principal, Terri Skjei - and frankly, it's all I need to believe that Spectrum is dead. But the letter also makes me wonder about this slow death. What is the point? A few thoughts on the contents: 1) quite calm and thoughtful, almost the epitome of "we want your input" except that there really is no need to give any. The fix is in. 2) The principal is either misleading families or has been mislead herself because in the third paragraph she states, "With the support of Shauna Health (sic), the Ex Director of Curriculum and Instruction, and direction of task forces specifically working on recommendations for Advanced Learning..." No, none of those task forces worked on "AL" - they all worked on APP and only APP. In fact the charge of the last two did not include Spectrum or ALOs. The district should disabuse any principal of this thought so that they do NOT pass it along to parents. It's ...

I attended Director Martin-Morris' this morning and yes, it was all growth boundaries.  It was an interesting discussion because it was so specific in some cases (and rightly so - you look at the maps and the lines and have to wonder) and broader in others.  I was pleasantly surprised at some of what Director Martin-Morris said (and his tone).  Unfortunately, I can't recap right (no time) but I will try to do so soon. But I put this up as an open thread in case anyone went to Director DeBell's community meeting and would like to report back. Update: Meeting Minutes There were about 15 people there, all impatient to talk with Harium. Issues discussed:

Update: Sometimes there are such pluses to what I do.  No, it wasn't seeing Caroline Kennedy (although she is a lovely and gracious person) but going to a school and seeing such enthusiasm from both students and staff.   Director McLaren was also in attendance.  Sanislo Elementary is a school I have not visited before and it has to be one of the most tucked-away schools we have.  It's tiny (about 200 students) and it sits in its own kind of glade with a huge playground. Their teacher-librarian, Craig Seasholes, is just one of those rockstar kind of staff members.  Excited about his work, trying to do more (he has a grant in with the Allen Foundation and Seattle Library Foundation to help his school) and he handled the kids and Ms. Kennedy with a steady hand.  They brought in a first grade class (complete with their poetry scrapbooks), some third-graders and members of their Poetry Club.  They all recited a new "pledge" this one by Jane...

Started sunny, ending rainy - another Seattle week gone by. Five Seattle schools named "Schools of Distinction" for academic improvements in math and reading that put them in the top five percent of improving schools in the state.  Drum roll - - Alki Elementary - Hamilton Int'l Middle - Madison Middle - Mercer Middle - Orca K-8 Madison has won for the last four years - good for them.  Likewise Mercer and Orca have won for three straight years.  Hamilton, no slouch, this is their second year in a row to win this honor. There were 99 schools statewide earning this honor.  The selection is through a group of educational entities; Center for Educational Effectiveness,  Association of Educational Service Districts, Assn. of WA State Principals, Phi Delta Kappa-Washington Chapter, WA Assn. of School Administrators, WA State ASCA and WA State School Directors' Assn. More honors - two of our elementary PE teachers were honored last week and they are Chuck ...

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 ...