Seattle Schools Community Forum

This was in Publicola today (bold mine): More names are circulating as contenders for two open seats in the state house: The 36th District position 2 seat, currently occupied by Rep. Mary Lou Dickerson, and the 46th District position 2 seat, held by Phyllis Gutierrez Kenney. Both Dickerson and Gutierrez Kenney announced earlier this year that they plan to retire at the end of their current terms. In the 36th, which covers parts of Ballard, Queen Anne, Magnolia, Phinney Ridge, Fremont, and Belltown, several folks are rumored to be considering a run. They include John Burbank, head of the progressive Economic Opportunity Institute (and father of the infamous “latte tax”); Progressive Majority’s Washington State director, Noel Frame; Seattle School Board member Michael DeBell; Brett Phillips, son of King County Council member Larry Phillips and the director of sustainability at Unico Properties; and Jeff Manson, chair of the 36th District Democrats. It is unclear to m...

Did you know pizza is a vegetable ?  According to our Congress it is. The House of Representatives dealt a blow to childhood obesity warriors on Thursday by passing a bill that abandons proposals that threatened to end the reign of pizza and French fries on federally funded school lunch menus. The scuttled changes, which would have stripped pizza's status as a vegetable and limited how often French fries could be served, stemmed from a 2010 child nutrition law calling on schools to improve the nutritional quality of lunches served to almost 32 million U.S. school children. Who got this pushed through?  Why our friends in the AFFI (American Frozen Food Institute) with members like ConAgra, Heinz, General Mills and Kraft.  The USDA wanted at least one-half cup of tomato paste on a pizza to qualify as a vegetable serving instead of the current two tablespoons.  Even Italians wouldn't call pizza a vegetable.  Boo to Congress. Heard back from on...

Some items of interest from the district: Open Hours with District Leadership Do you have a topic about Seattle Public Schools that you want to discuss face-to-face with District leadership? Open office hours are available Thursdays from 3-5:30 p.m. rotating between Dr. Susan Enfield,Interim Superintendent; Dr. Cathy Thompson, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning; Pegi McEvoy, Assistant Superintendent of Operations; and Bob Boesche, Interim Assistant Superintendent forBusiness & Finance. Click here for the full Open Office Hours Calendar These 15-minute appointments are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Please call or email to schedule time to talk about schools,curriculum, transportation, finance, enrollment, policy or whatever topic you choose. Better Food, New Items in Cafeterias Seattle Public Schools Nutrition Services Department has launched "Family Night Recipe Tastings" at several area schools to try out some new proposed menu...

Couple of quick Olympia updates.

Famous local chef, Tom Douglas, is lending his skills to creating recipes for lunches for SPS students and teaching district cooks how to make them. From the article at the Stranger Slog: The partnership will allow Seattle Public Schools to serve made-from-scratch meals in its cafeterias for the first time . The project is possible because of a $100,000 federal Communities Putting Prevention to Work grant, said SPS Nutrition Services Director Eric Boutin. It's tied to Mayor Mike McGinn's Let's Move! program—launched yesterday—which seeks to end childhood obesity. (Note: this is First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! project.) Nearly one-quarter of Seattle students in eighth, 10th, and 12th grades are overweight, with rates for Hispanic and African-Americans being even higher. I asked Boutin whether SPS had banned trans fats, preservatives, refined flour, high-fructose corn syrup, white bread, generic hot dogs and hamburgers, and extremely salty foods. ...

Lots to blog about with articles coming in fast about the teacher contract. But first, this pause for some GOOD news about our district. At the Board meeting on Wednesday night, the new director of Nutrition Services was introduced. His name is Eric Boutin and comes to us by way of the Auburn School District. What he said had me floored and then, very happy. Mr. Boutin is on a mission to provide Seattle Public Schools children better food AND as much of it coming locally (Washington State) as possible. Basically, it's more decent fruit and vegetables. First up is taking a hard look at breakfast. He will be running a high school promotion to get more students (not just free and reduced lunch) to eat breakfast. It turns out (and no surprise to parents of teens including Director Carr who said it was a problem at her house) that teens don't always eat breakfast. We all know what happens with any hungry kid, lack of attention and focus. He is creating a $1 breakfast at the h...