Seattle Schools Community Forum

During the discussion at the Boundary Changes thread, I was asked to create another thread on what readers found in the Friday Memo on this subject. One reader noted that two of the attachments that were supposed to be in the original BAR are finally at the SPS website.  (And use that in any argument you want to make about going forward - information was not given to the Board and the community in a timely fashion.)

FAQ: Growth Boundaries This on high schools: We will begin discussions of high school boundaries in 2018. No additional high school capacity will be added until the renovation of the Lincoln Building is complete. The estimated date for Lincoln to open as a high school is 2019. High school attendance area boundaries will need adjustment in order to assign students to the renovated Lincoln High School when it opens. I'm wondering if they can really hold off discussion of this topic until 2018.

A teacher-writer, Sean Riley, at The Stranger thinks so.  It's a pretty lengthy article but one that has good history that I hadn't heard before (not having grown up here.) In total, 10 of my 13 years in Seattle Public Schools involved long rides on a school bus. Between the ages of 6 and 9 alone, I logged thousands of miles looking at the city from a green vinyl seat. This is true for thousands of Seattleites. Seattle Public Schools used busing from the late 1970s through the mid-2000s in the hopes of achieving racial integration. To give just one snapshot of the program's breadth: In 1980, mandatory busing involved 12,000 of the district's 54,000 students. He has one pretty funny line (but I'm not sure if he meant it to be funny): It was watching the OJ verdict with black kids and getting so caught up, I joyfully sprinted in the halls with them for a second. 

Update:  here's the schedule for the district boundary meetings - there are only three and they are all less than a hour. Thornton Creek K-5 lunchroom Tues., Oct. 1, 2015, 6:30 - 7:15 p.m. 7711 43rd Ave NE Interpreters: Chinese and Spanish Schmitz Park Elementary lunchroom Mon., Oct. 5, 2015, 6:30 - 7:15 p.m. 5000 SW Spokane Street Interpreters: Spanish, Somali and Vietnamese Seattle World School Meany Building lunchroom Tues., Oct. 6, 2015, 6:30 - 7:15 p.m. 301 21st Ave E Interpreters: Chinese, Spanish, Somali and Vietnamese Also, a link to the map of the look of SPS in 2020 - wow is the word that comes to mind for those high school assignments.   It says it was approved in Nov 2013 and last updated 9/14/2015.  If you are in PTA, I would go to my PTA/PTO leaders and ask that this be a topic of discussion.  

Talk about fast and furious - there's no end to public ed news in the summer. In the "wish we had more School Board members who do this," there are two City Council candidates, Mike O'Brien and Catherine Weatbrook who ask the hard questions (sadly, in the same district - # 6).  Publicola has an article about the HALA report and Councilman O'Brien's pushback to the Mayor on some of the data.

Update: for one, turns out there's someone from the Gates Foundation on the Committee.  I'm sure that's a bit voice for charters.  His name is David Wertheimer. What seems to be the explanation for this "mandate" for investment in charter schools is the idea that (1) SPS isn't building new schools (wrong) and (2) that school facilities could be built into housing. On the first issue, we all know SPS is opening up every building they can (and those are some schools that have been closed so long, they might as well be new) and, as well, the district IS opening two new schools at the Wilson-Pacific site.  I have no idea why someone would say the District isn't building new schools if they didn't know for sure but you'd have to ask members of the Committee. Now if the City thinks that having charters will serve all these new students, they clearly don't know charters.  For one thing, charters are deliberately smaller so any idea that a char...

In November 2013, the Seattle School Board approved various changes to elementary and middle school attendance area boundaries (Growth Boundaries). These changes are being made over time. Planning is now underway for the boundary changes proposed for implemented for the 2015-16 school year. Students will be grandfathered at their current school. In September, letters, including translated versions, were mailed to the families living in the affected areas who currently have students enrolled in Seattle Public Schools. The letters invited families to come to community meetings in early October to learn more. Enrollment projections show that these changes affect up to 1,172 current students. A second round of community meetings are being held in upcoming weeks to answer questions and receive additional community feedback. The schedule is below.

I have received word that there were several neighborhood boundary meetings last night for Wedgwood/Eckstein and Hamilton.  It's unclear who organized them. If you attended, perhaps you could give us feedback. 

By the way, there is a new message on the SPS Growth Boundaries page (thanks to an APP reader for this tip): "An updated recommended plan will be presented to the board on November 6 . The proposal will be released with the Board agenda at 5 p.m. on November 1 and posted here by 7 p.m. (The information from the September 17 draft and the October 16 proposal shown below is now obsolete.")"  The Board will vote on it November 20th. When that proposal is live tomorrow,  we'll put it up. Update :  From SPS, The recommendations below go to the Board on November 6 for action on November 20. (The information from previous proposals is now obsolete.) Two Types of Recommendations Long-range boundaries that will be phased in as construction is completed by 2020.  Map showing long-range boundaries to be phased in  through 2020 Recommendations for specific components to implement next year.  Map showing recommedations to implement for the...

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:

From North End Mom: Here is a link to the presentation from yesterday's Growth Boundaries work session. There is a new staff proposal to "implement full grade assignment in year one." (see slide 24 and 25). Basically, it is assigning JAMS and JAMS/Eckstein APP, grades 6, 7, and 8, to JAMS, in the JA building, beginning next fall. The APP kids living in the Eckstein SA would have the choice of going to Eckstein as GenEd or going to APP at JAMS. JA K-8 is relocated to John Marshall, so no co-location with JAMS for the K-8. Wilson Pacific would start up (grades 6, 7, and 8) in John Marshall 2016-17. They give enrollment numbers for all the north middle schools, and it looks like the building utilization would be pretty good, if everyone does what they want them to do. End of NE Mom post.  (Thanks!) Here's what the agenda looked like: Work Session: Growth Boundaries–Presentation Discussion of major issues: •T. T. Minor •Washington Middle SchoolBoundary •Acce...

A couple of quick updates: - there are 25 people on the Public Testimony list ; I see North Beach, Maple (6 people), Queen Anne Elementary, Montlake, Schmitz Park, Stevens, Fairmount Park and misc. "proposed growth boundaries."   There are 16 people on the waitlist.  I see a couple of different schools - B.F. Day, Madrona, High Point - and I would urge someone from Maple to cede a place to one of these people to allow as many schools as possible to speak. - allow I note that there are "edits" to the attachments to the Growth Boundaries.   I took a quick look and one edit was to correct the date (they had October 6th instead of 16th) and a couple of corrections to the draft side.  I saw nothing major but check to see if you see any others.  They also shifted the maps to align with feeder patterns.  If you are not planning to attend the Board meeting, do try to make the Maple Leaf Community Council Candidate and Issues Night which is also Wednesda...

There are a LOT of concerns but ALSO a lot of good ideas out there about how to make many of the new issues arising from the "new" boundaries more palatable.  Again, there is NO way to eliminate pain, no way to make everyone even just okay with these boundaries.  They are far too reaching to do that. BUT, finding a way to spread the pain, share the burden and not leave just one group of kids (I'm looking at the 3rd grade APP kids at Lincoln who come from the Whitman area) out on a limb. So I propose this: If you just have a concern (but no real solution), then I'll take those from the thread where I asked for them.  I'll make a list and send it to the directors and explain this is what we are hearing here. But, if you have an idea or solution , what I think would help is if each idea were laid out in a flowchart fashion so that Directors could see it in one fell swoop without a lot of explanation.  (Please add a paragraph or two of explanation before and ...

Our friends over at CPPS (Community and Parents for Public Schools of Seattle) are looking for your stories. From Stephanie Jones, Executive Director: I am seeking parents who may have been involved in boundary conversations around the NE or AP.  (Editor's note: this is her need here as Stephanie went to most of the other meetings.) CPPS is working on a newsletter that will highlight parent/community stories from around the city about the impacts of boundaries and some of the change themes that are repeating from region to region. I am really interested in perspectives that highlight the community level concerns – walkability and community integrity are things I’m hearing a lot, as well as equity.   Anything else?  In particular, do you have a personal story or can you refer me to someone who does about how boundary changes? I’d like just a paragraph or a few sentences, but am happy to see any background info (letters to board, etc) that people are ...

No time to do a complete write-up to several major items of note: It appears that some changing are coming to EOCs for algebra and geometry .  It looks like there will be some sort of comprehensive exam coming in the next four years.  Michael Tolley reported this as coming from OSPI and that he had had a meeting with high school principals.  Most seem on-board but a few felt there was too much testing and would only want to give it to students who hadn't passed a class. A lot of talk around the agenda for working with the State Legislature this session .  Director Peaslee asked for a clear document around the costs of services to students, where WA State ranks nationally for per student funding, and class size.  She said there seems to be a disconnect between the realities in the district and what the Seattle delegation understands.  She said a few of them seem to think the new money makes up for all the cuts and it does not.  Cliff Traisman, the ...

Coming just one day after the Introduction of the new boundaries to the Board, the Work Session on on the Growth Boundaries will be Thursday, Oct. 17th from 4:30-6:00 pm in the JSCEE auditorium. There is an Operations Committee meeting right before the Work Session in the Board conference room from 4-6 p.m.

If you attended either of these meetings and have comments or thoughts, here's a place for them. Early Tweets from the West Seattle Blog indicate  a much lower turnout than the other two meetings (about 60ish),  West Seattle's topography was ignored/not understood in these suggested boundaries,  people unhappy to have bought a house for School X and now getting School Y.    I'm sure the WS Blog will have a wrap-up thread so I'll link that when it is available.  Also, if you do the "Walk the Boundaries", let us know your comments.

There was no press release on this from SPS so I checked and here's what's at the Growth Boundaries website on Walk the Boundaries (bold/color mine): "Community Input — Walk the Boundaries As part of the process, community members are invited to "Walk the Boundaries" and record their observations between September 18 and October 1, 2013. This provides a public, feet-on-the-ground review of the proposed boundaries. Partipants will drive or walk the attendance elementary school boundaries and provide feedback to the Growth Boundaries team. Your Participation For this project, please look for geographic barriers or local features that separate a specific area from the rest of the attendance area. IMPORTANT: These are not walk zone boundaries. You are being asked to review the proposed attendance area boundaries for the school. (The City of Seattle School Traffic Safety Advisory Committee, which includes the district's risk manager, establishes ...

Today, from 1 PM to 3 PM,  Dr. Tracy Libros, Manager of Enrollment, will be available to talk informally about the Growth Boundaries Project. Meeting will be at the John Stanford Center; probably room 2750. This from Director McLaren; thanks for the reminder!

From KPLU : Taking stock of his first year at the helm of Seattle Public Schools, Banda told KPLU a divided board has a definite effect on how he does his job. “[That’s the] reason for my taking a very strong stand with the board to say that we need to be able to do that job unimpeded. They need to have trust in the leadership team, that what we’re doing is in the best interests of the district and our children, ultimately,” he said. Well, yes, but he's new, a lot of the leadership team is new and until everyone has shown some mettle, I'm on the side of Board oversight. Banda said the job review process took place over several weeks, and that he believes by the end he was able to win over the skeptics. “I believe that I have the full support of all seven members of the board,” Banda said. Any change of heart is not reflected in the report produced by the board, and no board member has said publicly that he or she has come around from doubting Banda’s lead...