Seattle Schools Community Forum

I noticed that the Tuesday Open Thread is chock-full of concerns and complaints.  Most are around the pending SBAC testing but others are more basic.  So, as a public service, I'm going to open this thread up for more of those.  And, in a couple of days, I will forward it to the Board.  It would be helpful if you at least identify your region (possibly school?) so that Directors get an idea who's writing in. I'll start.

From SPS Communications: Seattle Public Schools would like to thank those organizations and businesses that sponsored the District’s 2013-14 wall calendar and family guide, which will be mailed soon to Seattle Public Schools students, families and staff. Sponsors include : Boy Scouts of America, Comcast, Defensive Driving School, Delta Dental, Foster Pepper, PCC Natural Markets, The Northwest Network, Safeway, Seattle City Light, The Seattle Public Library, Sound Mental Health, and Stevens Pass.  “We appreciate the support of our sponsors who ensure we can continue providing the calendar to our families,” said SPS Chief Communications Officer Lesley Rogers. “Without these businesses and organizations, the district would eventually have to stop producing this important publication, which provides families and staff with important news and information throughout the year.” The calendar, which features photos of students and staff, is scheduled to be mailed...

So SPS: Why is there no news and information on the News and Calendar page for 2011? Not one item. Also, no new SPS Schoolbeat e-newsletter since December 2, 2010? ( Update: so on a hunch, I went and checked the new SPS website and lo and behold, there was calendar information for Jan. 2011. So now, until the old website is gone, we get to check TWO websites for information. I thought the link to the new one was just for observational/input, not that it would have information not available at the old one. It would be nice if the district had told people this.) In the job description for the new communications director, there is mention of a "School Board communications point person." Who is that? Why doesn't the job description for the new communications director mention something like "effectively communicating information and issues about SPS to the parents, community, voters and elected officials?" It seems odd that communicating with your ...

UPDATE: Here is the Powerpoint link. Item 8: There was some confusion/frustration over an item on page 12 ( Strategic Plans: Moving Forward ) about the item " School Performance Framework (to include MTSS) . Thanks to Kay who said, "What is MTSS?" Turns out that RTI is now MTSS ( multi-tiered system of support ; a response to intervention) Susan Enfield talked about using what they have learned works and taking it out to other schools. This generated a lot of discussion. The item has its original cost at $8.7M and its proposed cost at $0-3.1M. The focus here has been on Level 1 and 2 schools and the interventions scale-up for all schools. Duggan said that of the $5.2 current budget for 37 schools, they have revenue for $2.1M so they need $3.1M to keep up. But Sherry could not follow the bouncing dollar signs (I couldn't either). Duggan said the $8.7M is in the gap. MGJ said that in a Dece. 15th conversation (I believe it was another ...