Seattle Schools Community Forum

I'm confused.  What part of kids and a crosswalk do drivers not understand? Last night at about 6:30 pm, a 7-year-old girl was hit, not once but by two different cars and both cars left the scene.  Apparently she was with a group of people (kids?) and she got hit.  This is both near a park and a Boys&Girls Club.  She was (naturally) severely injured.  From Publicola: Since 2007, SBB reports, at least 32 major collisions involving a pedestrian or cyclist occurred within 10 blocks of that intersection since 2007, including one in which the victim was killed. MLK only escapes being considered the most dangerous street in Seattle because Rainier Ave., a few blocks to the west, takes that dubious honor; just a few weeks ago, a driver plowed through a hair salon and Greek restaurant at the north end of Columbia City, injuring numerous people. Last week, I was driving right by Roosevelt High School. There were two teen girls crossing 15th NE to get to t...

The Seattle Youth Commission is a group of 25 Seattleites aged 13-19 who are appointed by the Mayor and City Council to connect youth to their elected officials. They produced this video to inform students about possible upcoming bus cuts in Seattle. They are clearly saying they are losing or will lose bus service and provide info for each high school's state reps. 

KUOW just reported that the district has canned the new transportation plan.   They will use the old plan but now with 45-minute trips as opposed to the current 25-minute trips.  This will save $500k, not $1M so the district will have to figure out how to close that gap. The reason given is the huge outcry of unhappiness from parents including the 2,000 signatures to the petition. Parent power.  It's a good thing. Partial from SPS press release: This spring we worked to develop a balanced budget for the 2012-13 school year, with a goal of keeping budget cuts away from the classroom.  To that end, the School Board requested an analysis of options that could generate more savings from transportation.  We re-structured the Transportation Office and asked staff to both continue researching the adopted standards and also to research new cost-saving options for Board review.  That research resulted in proposed modified standards for 2012-13, whi...

Very nice explanation (with video) from the Superintendent in Bellingham on how they arrived at their system. Good reading. Thank you to reader, Kelly. (Readers, I LOVE when you send me info and updates. There is just no way Charlie and I can find all this data and information and I appreciate it. If you do send me info, please let me know if it is okay to use your name (first or first/last) or just "a Reader". I want to give credit where it is due but I know some of you would prefer not to be named. As well, if the info you send is about a sensitive school problem, please know I will never disclose it without it becoming public first. I am happy to let the Times scoop those stories as I know how hard it is to read about issues at your own school all over the media.)

Finally at this discussion at 9:15 p.m. Basically, there is one proposal plus two alternatives. I haven't seen alts but staff doesn't seem enthused. Staff says there were 21 start times and this would get it down to 8. As well, this current proposal would be "temporary" in service to later/better bell times in 1-2 years. That sounds great but what happens when we get there and whoops? Can't change those times then?   I would want a guarantee that any changes for 2012-2013 are TEMPORARY with a set endtime. Update:  Dorothy Neville says that Transportation said the EXACT same thing three years ago when the NSAP was rolled out.  Meaning, "this is temporary, we'll save money, better service, will have a taskforce."  No taskforce ever came about and they say there is one now.  There are "civil twilight" issues which I can't speak to but it is a legal issue around children being out in the dark during certain hours and at certa...

There are still some spaces available on tonight's speakers list for the Board meeting. I wanted to let you know because of the concerns, districtwide, over the introduction of changes to the Transportation Standards on the agenda. Understand - changes to Transportation Standards means changes to bus schedules AND start times.   Now is the time to pay attention.

Thank goodness for our readers.   I try to go through the Board agendas with a fine-tooth comb but I usually miss something.   The miss this time is the introduction of Revisions to Transportation Service Standards for 2012013 item. The issue is the district trying to reduce costs and this plan says it would save a little over $1M per year. The Operations Committee of the Whole approved this measure.  However, Individual Board members have requested that the district consider later bell times for secondary schools. Board members have asked staff to review the current bell times and any relevant research and propose any necessary changes to the Board. The Superintendent will review the staff’s recommendation(s) and report back to the Board prior to October 2012. Background Info: District transportation expenses have exceeded budget for each of the past three years. The trend has continued for the current (2011 – 2012) school year. On December 15, 2011,...

The Times had a story about the district's transportation issues.  As with any change, there are growing pains. Calls to the district's transportation complaint hotline increased by 16 percent — from 9,500 to 11,000 — in the first two weeks of the school year, Bishop said. The percent of district students using the bus service decreased by half a percent this year, according to an analysis of numbers recently released by the district. It's just one of those things," School Board member Peter Maier said. "If I have a choice between putting money into the classroom and putting money into transportation, I would prefer to put money into the classroom, because they're not learning on the bus." But Duggan Harman, the district's executive director of finance, said he is concerned that the projected $4 million in savings may not be reached. His office is analyzing the issue, with a report expected next month. Remember when I said the di...

The Insight Network at KUOW is interested in your first day bus stories . 

From KUOW: Seattle School Board Race Position 6 The Conversation at 12:00 p.m. Four candidates are vying for Position 6 on the Seattle School Board, including incumbent Steve Sundquist. How do the candidates plan on handling continuing budget cuts and what are the specific issues facing the West Seattle School District? We speak with all four candidates and take your questions. So it looks like right now they have all four candidates - Sundquist, Joy Stevens, Marty McLaren and Nick Esparza - scheduled to speak.  This should be informative.  I would urge you to write to them if you have specific Position 6 questions you think should be asked ( weekday@kuow.org ). From the District: This summer, Routing Specialists at Seattle Public Schools are working hard to develop bus routes for the District's new Student Transportation Plan. The Routing Specialists are responsible for developing the streamlined bus routes for new neighborhood-based Transpor...

Here are the highlights from the April 25th Curriculum and Instruction Committee meeting.  (I'm just behind, sorry.  I also don't have the agenda with me so I'm flying by the seat of my notes.)