Seattle Schools Community Forum

Update: Former state legislator, Larry Seaquist, has dropped out of the race for state superintendent.   He has decided to try to shore up Dems in the state House. 

The hearing on 1497 (allowing the mayor to appoint 2 school board members) will be in the House Education Committee on Tues., Feb. 3 at 1:30pm in the House Hearing Room A in the John L. O'Brien building.    I would encourage anyone who cares to send in a message to your legislator or even come on down.  On the Federal Reserve building , apparently it DID go the eBay way. The Times is reporting that there were six bidders with the top bid being $7.6M.  We only know for certain that SPS is one of the bidders.  But the deadline - which was yesterday - has been extended because auction rules state that "the bidding continues until the highest bid goes unchallenged for 24 hours."  

It appears the Board agreed to bid on the Federal Reserve building .  Interesting thing, though, is that the feds have lower the opening bid from $3M to $1M. On the one hand, the district could get themselves quite the bargain if no one else bids.  Or, it may go Ebay style and have multiple last minute bidders.  The district is paying for its own appraisal and can go 10% over that amount (with these "capital reserves" that are apparently sitting around).  I'll try to find out what that amount is.  (If the district is successful, look for this project to be number one with a bullet on BEX V.) The district is looking for members for a taskforce on the new 24-credit graduation requirement. In January 2015, the Washington State Board of Education approved the district’s request for a two-year waiver of the new requirement, which will increase the number of course credits needed for graduation from 20 to 24. Seattle Public Schools students currently are requir...

The General Services Administration has announced that the Federal Reserve Building will go up for auction on December 5th with an opening bid of $5M.  The closing date for bids is January 28th, 2015.  From the GSA website: At the close of the auction, the high bid will be considered for acceptance by the Government.  The Government reserves the right to reject any or all bids for any reason.   The building cannot be demolished because of historic preservation regulations (although the zoning for that area would allow unlimited height if those regulations did not apply to the building).  That right there will severely limit the number of bidders.  So, the district could try to bid on it and obviously, set a limit on how high they go.  I suspect the money could be found a number of ways.  Of course, then it would be quite awhile for the district to find the real money to renovate it.  Is that worth it? Possibly.  Or, as o...

More fleshing out tomorrow but: - Lunch/Recess Matters made a huge impact at the Board meeting. Armed with signs, cute kids (and a couple who were great speakers "We need to get the wiggles out") and, most of all, research and facts to back up their argument, speaker after speaker asked how so many schools were cutting back on the length of time for lunch/recess.  The press release about the lunch/recess issue did not entirely jibe with what Pegi McEvoy told the Board about what the district is doing.  She said there were two taskforces so I'm unclear if the one referenced in the press release is a new one or one of the existing ones.  I'm seeking clarification. - Directors Carr and Patu were not in attendance. News that Communications head Lesley Rogers is leaving was sad news for all. Rogers is one of the most hardworking yet cheerful people in SPS and she will be missed.   - The Board voted 5-0 to reject the district going forward with applying to a...

Monday, November 3rd Growth Boundary Meeting from 6:30-7:30 pm at Alki Elementary Has anyone attended one of these?  I wanted to get to the one at Northgate last week but didn't. Tuesday, November 4th Election Day .  This may be the day when we learn the fate of 1A/1B and 1351.   I say "may" because as we have all seen from previous elections, our "postmarked by election day" voting means some races don't get determined on election day. I have had a very hard time reading the tea leaves on 1A/1B - it is a source of much confusion to voters.  On the one hand, voters do tend to vote no to items they don't understand.  On the other hand, we are in Seattle where voters love kids and education. I perceive that 1B may "win" because of the King County Labor Council endorsement.  Unions tend to be good at getting out the vote but we do have the awkward sight of unions against unions for 1A/1B.  That should tell you something about winners ...

  Summary : About the Gates Foundation grant for a preschool at Bailey-Gatzert.   Several on the Board want a more careful explanation about who is in charge of what (like curriculum, alignment, costs) while a few on the Board want to grab this opportunity.  There seems to be confusion over what early learning is in SPS.  The Board will not be voting on this grant until November 19th, well after the election vote on the preschool props, 1A and 1B. About the downtown school .  Some on the Board pressed for costs around finding room at other schools and the actual numbers for space for students in Central/downtown.  It is unclear what will actually happen but one thing that I believe is firmly settled is that the Board is not going to vote in to take on more debt to renovate the Federal Reserve building.  So unless some generous donor(s) come forward, it seems unlikely that the district will be given the Federal Reserve building.  However, the ...

The reporting on the School Board meeting will be in two parts as there was major discussion around the Gates grant for a preschool at Bailey-Gatzert and discussion around funding a downtown school building. Part One. It was an evening of back-and-forth about the Gates Foundation grant for a preschool at SPS, curious claims on room at that school (for preschool AND for downtown kids) and not one, but two, mariachi performances.  Director Blanford was not present for the majority of the meeting (but came in later).

I received a tweet on Monday from SPS, saying that Dr. Nyland was visiting with the City Council as part of their regular Monday morning briefing.  Here's the link .  It was worth listening to as I heard Dr. Nyland say, with some candor, various interesting things. Summary

Monday, October 13th Curriculum&Instruction Committee meeting from 4:30-6:30 pm at JSCEE. There quite a jam-packed agenda here including discussion of Advanced Learning/Highly Capable programs and discussion about the Board endorsing Prop 1B, the City's preschool measure. I note that the name of this item has changed: BAR for P-5 Schools Aligned with Seattle Preschool Program Universal Pre-K Initiative It a bit amusing as the City rebrands the name of their preschool initiative over and over.  But again, pre-k is NOT the district's state mandate nor are they state funded for it.   At Publicola, there is one person saying that Cashel Toner, who is the district's person for Early Learning, has been working with the Gates Foundation on aligning SPS with this effort via a $750K grant.  (This person says there are e-mails to show this and I hope to see them soon.)  I can only say that in e-mails I have obtained, Toner is very in the loop with many City peo...

Update :  I was mistaken about why the meeting was cancelled.  Several directors were unable to make the meeting. end of update The Work Session scheduled for today is cancelled according to the district website.   I don't know the reason but it may have something to do with today's announced settlement with the family of the Garfield field trip incident.

About ConnectEdu , their college/career division was acquired by a group called Graduation Alliance.    Some other activists and I are looking into this as the FTC had said they were not going to allow ConnectEdu to sell student data. SPS students (and their parents) should have each received an e-mail in the last week, telling them they can take their data off or leave it, should they want to access GA's services.  I was also told that GA had sent a letter to every parent, telling them this and introducing their company. If anyone got such a letter, could you scan it and send it to me?  I'd like to see what they said. I am going to be on hiatus again over the next week but will try to keep up especially if there is breaking news.  It would be great if anyone attending the Work Session on the Federal Reserve building could take careful notes (especially on the recommendation) and either send them to me or write up a report yourself and send it to me. Wh...

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...

That was interesting.  I'm going to flesh this out because I think a lot of these questions asked about Eckstein might ring true for your school building. I was a little confused at first as there were very few parents (even at 5:45 pm) and no handout.  It was in the Eckstein auditorium (about 1/3 ish full by the time it started.) The organizers were smart; Eckstein's curriculum night followed at 7 pm.  (although what a parking nightmare). The district was represented by Flip Herndon, Richard Best, Bruce Skowyra.  The meeting was videotaped (by I don't know by whom). Principal Sherry Kokx was there as was Executive Director, Kim Whitworth.  Elected officials included Rep. Gerry Pollet and Rep. David Frockt.  I saw no School Board members. Dr. Herndon said he would answer some questions already submitted and then take questions.   It's pretty easy - as the parents/staff circled back to the same questions - what the issue is. The district has a c...

(This is going to be an excerpt from the Audit&Finance Committee meeting held on Tuesday.  I note that this information is likely to be again discussed at today's Operations Committee meeting from 4:30-6:30 pm.  Also at the Operations Ctm meeting, there will be a bell times analysis update , a Facilities Condition Assessment and Study and Survey by the group, MENG , 2015-2016 proposed growth boundaries adjustments and Title IX update. I also know that many of you are waiting for updates on MAP and other testing and I promise to get that up in the next day or so. It's been a very busy week to cover.) There were two rather extraordinary presentations (and a couple of just plain "huh" ones that I will also get to later) at the Audit&Finance committee meeting on Tuesday.  One was about Title IX and sexual harassment which I just covered in the Garfield field trip rape update thread posted today. The other was the discussion lead by Flip Herndon, the head...

As a heads up, the district is offering (at nearly every elementary and K-8), Jump Start for kindergarteners.   Sounds like a great program.  From the flyer: It is a weeklong experience for new kindergarteners and their families to learn about their new school. Children will become familiar with the school building, staff, and typical school-day activities and practices. This summer, over 50 elementary and K-8 schools across the city of Seattle will offer Jump Start the week of August 18-22 . Jump Start will run for five consecutive half-days (usually 9 a.m. to noon). Parents/guardians will have a chance to meet with the school principal during the week. Interpreters will be available for children who are English-language learners. Families who have enrolled their child in kindergarten will receive a letter from their assigned school inviting them to participate. Families will need to reserve a space and return needed health and safety forms ahead of time. Not every ...

Went to the BEX Oversight Committee meeting this morning. In terms of notable people at the meeting, Director Sharon Peaslee was there, Lead Counsel Ron English was not. Issues mentioned/discussed - Seems to be some kind of portable placement issue for Blaine and Laurelhurst .  No specifics given. - Only $1M for technology left in BEX IV .  Head of Technology, Carmen Rahm, gave a presentation where he noted that 75% of SPS schools don't have wireless.  But he repeated, again and again, that for the here and now, you still need "wired" buildings for all kinds of reasons.  Meaning, to have a totally "wireless" building for technology is not the desired outcome. There was this interesting back-and-forth with Director Peaslee and Mr. Rahm over smartboards.  She was under the impression that they were $10K apiece.  He said no, you could get 5-6 of them for $10K.  I looked this up and it really depends on what you want to spend.  But the total ...

Further Update:  I asked about Seattle School District's request for a district waiver for NCLB.   (Banda did this back in early July.)  I hadn't heard anything and Communications says time is running out for waivers so an answer will likely come in the next week or so.  I doubt if the district will get it but if they did, that would be good news.) Update: - also Dr Nyland is working this week.  It is unclear to me whether there is any contract in place (despite me asking the question.) - info on the Source from the district: SOURCE is normally down during the summer, this is not unique to this year.  SOURCE is taken down because schools are not in session, and work is going on behinds the scenes to 1) complete end of year processing, 2) implement and update student/academic schedules (which change right up until the final day) for FY15, and 3) complete software upgrades to PowerSchool and related applications.  As a result, we take SOURCE...

There is nothing on the Seattle Schools calendar for this week.  Well, there is one meeting happening and yet strangely, it does not appear on the district calendar.  It's almost as if this meeting is really for one purpose or group.  It's the meeting at the Downtown Library about SPS taking over the Federal Reserve building. (The meeting is at 6 pm in the "Microsoft" auditorium with a walk-thru of the Federal Reserve building around 7:15 pm.)  Again, this is billed as a "conversational" meeting so I will have to see what form that conversation takes. I also see, at the notice at the district webpage, NO mention of how to pay for these renovations.  According to the Times, it would be something on the order of $53M (up from Flip Herndon's ballpark $40M) AND they would be seeking levies funds to pay for it.  No mention either of downtown businesses or foundations willing to help this effort for a school they all seem to so deeply need/want. I hope...

I make no secret of the fact that I had been pushing for the district to consider applying to take over the empty Federal Reserve building downtown.  I believed it was worth looking into (and still do).  However, that is now tempered by this rather large push for the building.  Who's pushing?  All the forces that have decided that, for SPS, preschool is the cause de jour (de annee, as well).  I think this is very much about the City's preschool push and, without that, the district would not be acting as it now is. When I talked to Facilities' Flip Herndon at the community meeting where all the staff showed up to talk to the public, he could not have been less interested.  He practically said that they were just too busy with BEX to consider it.  And now? Well, here's the press release from the district: Seattle Public Schools is inviting the public to attend a conversational meeting regarding the possibility of creating a K-5 elementary school in...