Seattle Schools Community Forum

Charlie and I are at the retreat (he was here most of the day) and I can't resist some early alerts/news: - the Superintendent says that the number show that enrollment is at nearly 52,000 .  To understand, this is NOT the case for most urban districts. - still no clear answer on the Equitable Access Framework.  President Smith-Blum pushed back when it was deferred (again).  She stated it does not have to be the same for every program but she believes parents needs to understand how programs work and what is the definition for equitable access. Oddly, Director DeBell pushed back, saying "they could get to this eventually."  He called the programs she called out like language immersion "higher level" programs.  (Of course, later he called out how his goal is to meet the LI goal of 12 schools.  Why that is at the top of the list over a clear understanding of equitable access is unclear to me?) The facilitator got a big laugh when he asked, "Do you ha...

Tuesday starts high school graduations. Best wishes to ALL the grads and their parents/guardians! Monday, June 10th C&I Committee Mtg , 4-6 pm, Agenda This agenda is full of interesting items like a Math Adoption Progress report. Work Session: Board Evaluation , 6:45-8:00 pm I'd love to go to this one but I doubt I can make it.  Not sure who is evaluating whom. Tuesday, June 11th Special Ed Advocacy&Advisory Council Meeting , 6:30-9:00 pm, JSCEE, Room 2700 Wednesday, June 12th Executive Ctm Meeting, 8:30-10 am.  Agenda not yet available but this is where they will decide who gets to organize/set agendas for the Board retreats.   Thursday, June 13th Audit&Finance Ctm. Meeting , 4-6:00 pm, agenda Community Meeting w/Director Peaslee , 6-7:45 pm, Lake City Public Library (note, this has been CANCELLED - but still appears on the district calendar) Saturday, June 15th Community Meetings: DeBell - 9-11 am - Cafe Appassionato near Fishe...

Tuesday, May 28th Charter Commission meeting from 10 am to 5 pm at TAF in White Center.  Agenda .   Updates on finances, the Ex Director search, bylaws, etc.  Public comment is at 11:24 am and you can sign up at the meeting.  Wednesday, May 29th Curriculum& Instruction Policy Committee of the Whole Meeting: Growth Boundaries from 4-6 p.m. The agenda is quite terse/vague so I'm not sure what they are really aiming for here. This should be interesting as all the directors should be there and what they have to say about C&I vis a vis boundaries. Work Session: General Contractor/Construction Manager from 6-6:45 pm. A head scratcher, this one.  A work session to discuss a construction hire?  The agenda says nothing and has no presentation attached. Thursday, May 30th Operations Committee Meeting from 4-6 p.m., no agenda yet available. Saturday, June 1 Board retreat from 10 am to 5 pm at City University, 521 Wall Street.  No agen...

This is an e-mail I sent to the members of the Executive Committee this morning: I note that on your agenda this morning for the Ex Ctm is your Board calendar for next year. I have repeatedly asked about sponsorship of Board retreats since the Alliance was allowed to plan them for this entire school year.  That is NOT part of the Alliance's MOU with the district and appears to look like undue influence from an outside entity.  To avoid that appearance, the Board could do the following: - the Alliance ends its sponsorship of Board retreats - the Alliance can handle logistics but nothing else.  They certainly can weigh in on the agenda for any given retreat as is the right of any other group or individual.  They should NOT be setting the agenda nor directing the facilitator. - the Alliance should NOT have be part of any discussion during the retreats.  No one else is allowed this privilege and it should stop. - if the Board wants sponsorship of the r...