Seattle Schools Community Forum

You might be thinking, "Gee, Melissa, not much notice." My thought exactly. I had seen this on the district's calendar at the end of last week but thought it might be something internal.  But no, it's this:

Monday, Oct. 7th Community Meeting with Director McLaren from 6-7:45 p.m. at the Delridge Library. Wednesday, Oct. 9th Executive Committee Meeting from 8:30-10 am.  Agenda .  A basic agenda with one note: Board Procedure 1620.  This is around the relationship between the Superintendent and Board.  It's notable because it has been tweaked several times in the last couple of years and I have to wonder what is the issue this time. Work Session on Transportation Standards from 4-5 p.m.   Agenda . Work Session on Budget Guiding Principles from 5- 6:30 pm.  Agenda (not linking because there is zero information). Thursday, Oct. 10th  Audit&Finance Committee mtg .  No agenda yet available. Friday, Oct. 11th BEX Oversight Committee Meeting from 8:30 am-10:30 am.  No agenda available but could be interesting because of the capacity management problems. No school for professional development. Saturday, Oct. 12th Community Mee...

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...

In starting this discussion, I will make a point about transportation in SPS that was made at the Work Session on the Budget.  Overall, SPS transports many more students than the average district does.  My understanding of that meaning is that many other districts do not provide transportation to schools outside of your neighborhood and the amount of transportation available to middle/high school students is far less in other districts. I understand the concern about limiting transportation especially when so much has been provided in the past.  I also understand that it can be seen as a social justice issue when cutting off transportation makes it harder for some families to access programs.  But this is the way it is in most urban cities and students are still able to access schools via public transportation.  (I know in NYC that many students take the subway or bus - for an hour or more each way - in order to access speciality programs.) So what is to f...

I attended the Budget Work Session on Wednesday.  It was pretty sobering.  Key facts: There is a projected deficit of $18.4M .  I would love to explain it all to you (and I will try to at least get the PowerPoint up by tomorrow) but frankly, I look down at the paper version and I don't know what half of it is.  Imagine my happiness (and surprise) to hear Board Directors say, "Now, what is this?" because they don't know either.  I don't know if it is the Budget office trying to use smoke and mirrors or just too much jargon but if the people who will make the final decisions don't know what you are talking about, you're doing something wrong. By April 10th, we will have the Governor's budget, the House budget and the Senate budget.  We were told that is when "the rubber meets the road."  The Governor released his budget today and it seems quite favorable to K-12 ed (if not quite the amount everyone would want).  He seems to be finding the m...

In case you didn't hear, last Wednesday the economic forecast was released for Washington State.  It showed flat growth which was actually good news as it means the Legislature doesn't have to find more cuts (in theory). Here's what was stated by Duggan Harman who is the Assistant Superintendent of Business & Finance (aka the budget guy) for SPS at last week's Board meeting. He stated the following: SPS has an $18M shortfall.  Staff has found cuts that would make up for two-thirds of the shortfall but they are one-time cuts.  A couple of thoughts to close the gap - increasing kindergarten tuition (again) and transportation reductions. SPS, along with several other districts including Tacoma, Spokane, Bellevue and Highline, have sent a letter to the Legislature urging them to pass ESB2261 (which is the full-funding measure for Washington State K-12 schools).  It would include fully funding transportation, K-3 high-poverty students would be in classes no l...

 From SPS Communications regarding the Strategic Plan, SE Region and Hiring/Spending Freeze: Strategic Plan Seattle Public Schools will host five community meetings to share information and ask for public comments about updating the District’s current Strategic Plan, Excellence for All.  The updated plan will guide academic and operational priorities for the next three to five years and include ongoing benchmarking to measure the District’s performance. The community meetings will be held: · Monday, April 1, 6:30-8:30 p.m., at Eckstein Middle School auditorium, 3003 N.E. 75th St. (Interpreters available in Spanish, Somali, Vietnamese, Amharic and Tigrigna) · Tuesday, April 2, 6:30-8:30 p.m., at Chief Sealth International High School auditorium, 2600 S.W. Thistle (Interpreters available in Spanish, Somali, Vietnamese, Chinese, Tagalog, Amharic) · Saturday, April 6, 10 a.m.-noon, at Garfield High School commons, 400-23rd Ave.(Interpreters...

Monday, Feb. 25th Open Enrollment starts today and ends on March 8th.  Info on enrollment. Wednesday, Feb 27th Oversight Work Session :  Technology Services - 4 pm - 5ish Work Session: Budget - 5:30- 6:30 pm Saturday, March 2nd Board Retreat - no details available about where or when.   A few words on the retreats.  The Alliance for Education has been gracious enough to sponsor Board retreats, probably for the last several years.  Usually this has been in the form of finding a site (although I don't know why they pay for an off-site rather than using one of the many SPS sites for free), food, printing, etc. However, at the last Board retreat, the Alliance staffer sat at the table, with the Superintendent and the Board.  This was not the norm.  She then gave input during the discussion.  I was completely dumbfounded as this retreat is for the Board, the Superintendent and the staff.  I asked the facilitator (also paid for by t...

A very quiet week in SPS except for the special Board meeting on Thursday, January 31 to address the Interim Plan for 2013-2014. Thursday, January 31st Board Work Session on the Budget from 4-5 p.m. Special Meeting of the Board from 5-6:30 p.m. Discussion and possible vote on the Interim Plan 2013-2014 .  This is the only agenda item for this meeting. Sign-ups for the Speakers list started this morning and I was surprised to hear they are only taking 10 names instead of 20.  I know this is a special meeting but of such importance that it would seem they might have taken the full 20.  I'll ask.  That they are taking only 10 speakers and have an hour-and-a-half meeting time allows for questions to staff and probably explanations from each Director for his/her vote. They will then have an Executive Session on another topic at 6:45 pm so the meeting will end at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 1st No School - Day between semesters There are no Community meetings by ...

From District Communications: Local businesses, nonprofits and other organizations can now partner with Seattle Public Schools to help defray the costs of our annual calendar, while at the same time reaching a large audience with sponsored advertisements. The calendar, which reaches an audience of 55,000 families, staff and community members, is an essential resource to the district. Becoming a sponsor is a great way to help support the district, staff and students by helping us to fund the printing of the calendar and increase community involvement.  “During these lean budget times, many school districts have eliminated their calendar or placed it in an online-only format, which isn’t easily accessible to all families, especially those without regular Internet access,” said Lesley Rogers, Chief Communications Officer. “With these sponsorship dollars, we can continue to provide our staff and families with this useful information.” Interested busi...

Okay, the latest is that the AL recommendations will be posted Friday sometime. They did go to Dr. Enfield. I will expand on this when I get to a computer that will actually blog but I can only say that this is part and parcel to the district at the end of the school year. Things get stretched out, quick decisions made with parents practically going out the door (that would be Bryant, more on that to come)and that it happens each and every year, well, sigh.  Joe Paperman will officially start as Budget Manager on Monday.

One, the recommendation from the Advanced Learning Task Force Committee about APP elementary north will be posted sometime today by Bob Vaughan (head of AL).   It seems there have been personal issues and traveling and time commitments that led to the delay of this information. Update:  It appears I did not get full information about this appointment; I am waiting for confirmation from the district. Two, it appears that the district has a new Budget Manager, Joe Paperman.  Interestingly, Mr. Paperman was a volunteer on the Audit & Finance Committee (and well-liked by Sherry Carr).  How this turn of events came to be, I don't know but I was told by parents who attended the A&F meeting yesterday that this was announced.

As most of you know, budgets are now being developed at both the district and school levels.   There is a WSS (Weighted Staffing Standards) Committee made up, I believe, of a several principals and staff members.  At the budget work session last week, the principals spoke up and said they could not take any more cuts and, in fact, needed some money restored. I wasn't at this Work Session but Dorothy Neville was and said you could hear the worry in their voices. I do wonder what would happen if PUSH really did come to SHOVE.   Meaning, what if district administration would give up something BIG to protect the schools?  Like MAP or some athletics programs or ??? - you tell me. If you are interested in the budget process, it will be the topic of discussion at the next Seattle Council PTSA meeting on Monday, Feb. 13th.   Here's their blurb: Join us at our next Seattle Council PTSA General Meeting where we will discuss the nuts and bolts of school al...

I did want to write up a post about the Coe event as I thought some interesting things were said.    (This is long so get a cup of joe or tea.) 

The reality is that our country, our state, our city are in a recession that has gone on now for at least two years.  We are moving at a glacial pace out of it.  Our district tells us over and over there is not enough money for all we need to do to the point where we laid off teachers and counselors (and other district workers) and put off planned purchases.  Now, technically, the district has marginally more money than last year, not from the state, but from increased enrollment.  Any other time this might be major good news but just as money comes with those students, so do costs.  I come to an interesting article in the Saturday Seattle Times about schools districts and their budgets.  The State Legislature included a 1.9% pay cut for teachers in the state budget but the teacher contracts are all decided locally.  So that means, our district is, right now, negotiating with the SEA about those cuts.  Now, you may recall that we voted in a...

I was going through the public testimony when I last posted on this topic.

 Decision day for Lowell. A couple of interesting news stories about other area school districts and their budgets came across my desk. One is about Issaquah and how they recalled 35 of 36 laid-off teachers (the 36 declined to return) and avoided the pay cuts to teachers' salaries by the Legislature.  From the Sammamish Review story: District teachers have the opportunity to earn back the 1.9 percent decrease in the state-salary schedule through an increase in their Professional Growth Incentive Fund and 10 available professional-development hours. The measurement is the opposite of a furlough. Instead of working less for less pay, teachers will work more to keep their salaries stable. The money paying for the salaries comes from a variety of sources, including voter-approved increased levy dollars, operational efficiencies, decreased nonclassroom service levels — such as streamlined bus routes — utilization of reserve funds, increased fees and other sourc...

If you wish to speak on the Board agenda on Wednesday, the 6th, be sure to call 252-0040 and leave your name, phone number, e-mail address and topic you wish to speak on. The agenda has several interesting items of note.  one is a renewal of an agreement with Microsoft for software.   There is one puzzling item which I'm sure someone here can explain to me.  "Allows District staff access to the most current version of MS Office for home use."   Does that mean so they can take it home?  Work from home?   a huge item - approval of the budgets.   General Fund for $577,741,503; ASB for $4.4M; Debt Service fund for $85M and Capital Projects fund for $101M.  Adding all those up you get roughly $770M.  That's a lot of dough. Final vote on the attendance policy. The change I see is this: This motion has been discussed at the 5/23/2011 and 6/27/2011 meetings of the Curriculum & Instruction Policy Committee. On 5/236/27/2011, after ...

The Board is holding their prefunctory budget hearing as required by law. There's no sign up in advance. Just show up and add your name to the speakers list. Then, when your name is called, you can drop your words into the abyss. Just don't imagine that anything you say might have any kind of impact at all. What might you say? You might say something about all of the raises given out in the central office over the past few months. Raises for no clear reason. You might raise some questions about specific school budgets. For example: Why does STEM have just one assistant principal? Shouldn't it have two - one for each of the academies? Isn't that what the contract with NTN requires? Where in the STEM budget are the other things like the NTN subscription cost of $400,000 or the expense for the tech support professional with the $70,000 salary? I don't see them in this school budget. Why is the projected enrollment for Rainier Beach High School shown as 402 in...

Let's go back to those days of yesteryear when we were a district with little money.  The district had: "hiring freezes",   RIFed teachers, laid off central administration workers,  laid off elementary counselors  and the state cut teacher and principal pay Oh wait, that's today, right?  I think anyone looking at that list would say that the district is experiencing a severe money crunch. But as I've always said, this is a district that finds money when it wants to do something.   STEM?  No, don't go out and do the hard work of getting the program at least half-funded by private companies and entities (even though our area is rich with science/technology companies).  No, we just take money from other schools.  (Not saying they shouldn't have created the program but that they could have done it in a way that was more cost-efficient to the district like the STEM school over in the Tri-Cities.)  Consultants?  S...