Seattle Schools Community Forum

Police in Bothell locked down Bothell High yesterday because of an attack on a shop teacher after school.  The school is closed for today as the investigation continues.  The police have not arrested anyone. The teacher is in satisfactory condition at Harborview.  The police say the school has many cameras so they hope they will be able to piece together what happened.  Those slowdowns on the Viaduct for the next week (which SPS said may slow some bus routes )?  Apparently it's for the sequel to Fifty Shades of Gray. Pasco School District had a "High School Reimagining Forum" this week about the 24-credit graduation requirement.   Good for Pasco.

Update: the district reissued its list of seismic updates and it appears every school has or will be upgraded by the end of BEX IV/BTA III. end of update. The Times is running a series on earthquake readiness (or lack thereof) in Washington State.  In April, the City released a document that names hundreds of buildings that they believe are problematic.  And yes, there are dozens of SPS buildings on the list from every corner of the district. (I did write about this issue back in 2013 but given the area of the country we live in, it's worth revisiting.) I actually had already seen the list several weeks back and contacted Tom Redman, Facilities and Capital Communications Coordinator.  He didn't even know it had been put out which is odd given the number of SPS buildings on the list.  

Monday (fun day), April 18th (fed tax day) My property tax postcard said that 47% of our taxes were local and I'd bet that is mostly SPS levies as well as the Families and Ed levy plus the pre-k levy.  Good for Seattle voters but again, I wonder how long voters can keep this up at every single election. Tuesday, April 19th Audit&Finance Committee meeting , from 4:30-6:30 pm at JSCEE.  Agenda  Of interest to me is the Data Privacy Policy that will not be presented by Carmen Rahm, our Tech lead staffer but by Clover Codd, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources.  Given that, I assume it is about adult data privacy issues, not student ones.  Staff is also giving more "informational" purchase updates to the Board for items that don't exceed the $250K vote to the Board. This is a good thing to see. From the minutes in a discussion about effects of catastrophic events on school buildings and the district's coverage: Washington School Risk Manag...

What should we be doing in an earthquake? Drop – get down to the ground or floor before the shaking of the earth throws you there.  (Do this in the first couple of seconds.) Cover – get under a table or desk or other piece of furniture that can protect you from falling items such as books, light fixtures, etc. Face away from windows and mirrors. Hold – hold on to the furniture, move with it. It is your protection from falling objects. - Victims who try to move on their feet during serious shaking are often thrown violently by the seismic forces and can suffer serious injury from being thrown AND… -Are at risk for suffering life-threatening injuries from being simultaneously imbedded with glass shards. Actual post-earthquake data show that large and dagger-like shards of glass can travel more than 20 feet, and with enough force to penetrate solid wood. If you are attempting to move on your feet, your entire body is exposed to glass and other objects tha...

From The New Yorker piece entitled, The Big One" by Kathryn Schultz: When the next very big earthquake hits, the northwest edge of the continent, from California to Canada and the continental shelf to the Cascades, will drop by as much as six feet and rebound thirty to a hundred feet to the west—losing, within minutes, all the elevation and compression it has gained over centuries. Some of that shift will take place beneath the ocean, displacing a colossal quantity of seawater. The water will surge upward into a huge hill, then promptly collapse. One side will rush west, toward Japan. The other side will rush east, in a seven-hundred-mile liquid wall that will reach the Northwest coast, on average, fifteen minutes after the earthquake begins. By the time the shaking has ceased and the tsunami has receded, the region will be unrecognizable. Kenneth Murphy, who directs FEMA ’s Region X, the division responsible for Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Alaska, says, “Our op...

I think most schools will be participating - at 10:16 am this morning - in the Great Washington ShakeOut.  It helps schools (and everyone else) to be prepared and know what to do. 

Friday, August 8th BEX Oversight Committee Meeting , 8:30 am-10:30 am, JSCEE, Room 2750 Minutes from June. It will be interesting to see if the downtown school issue will be discussed.  (Yes, I know that BEX money is spoken for but it might come up as a topic.) No Community Meetings with Board directors on Saturday the 9th. To note: next week, the schedule starts picking up again with two Board committee meetings and one Community meeting.  SPS News: Distinguished Seattle Public Schools Health Services Manager Katie Johnson has been named one of 20 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Executive Nurse Fellows for 2014. Johnson joins a select group of nurses from across the country chosen to participate in the final cohort of a three-year leadership development program aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of nurse leaders who are working to improve the U.S. health care system. According to a news release from Mayor Murray's Office on July 21, 2014, five new ...

It's the end of spring so, I'm spring cleaning.  That means going thru my vast SPS files and throwing out/reordering. Naturally, I found some interesting stuff (but threw out two bags of paper).  Among the things I found: - Did you know I was an education activist in high school?  Me, neither but apparently I wrote, for the school newspaper, an op-ed in support of a bond measure to building onto our school.  I mention that our high school was built for less than 1,000 students and we had over 1500.   We had 30-year old stadium lights that leaned like the tower in Pisa.  We needed science labs and a new auto shop. It was for $3M but I don't know if it passed.  - Did you know the Alliance for Education - at least in 2011 - actually included Spectrum in the feedback they received from folks attending their State of the District luncheon.  " Increase access to Spectrum and ensure consistency across the district."   - Did you k...

The Work Sessions scheduled for today now have their agendas available. One is the Risk Management ; Insurance Coverage Review.    On the face of it, this department seems to be doing a good job.  I only say "seems" because insurance is not my area so it's hard to discern any issues.  Two items of note: Page 6 about Liability Coverage Seattle Public Schools’ experience – One claim in excess of $10 million (athletic injury) – One claim in excess of $5 million (sexual abuse) – Excluding the above, annual liability claims paid by WSRMP since 2006 have ranged from $21,431 to $112,358, average $34,280.    Page 11 - Current Property Coverage   • Is it “enough”? – Maximum probable loss • Dunlap + South Shore + South Lake + Rainier Beach (under $200 million replacement cost )    I don't know what this means - I'm assuming it's some kind of example but I'm not sure ...

Good morning and it was a great talk by Diane Ravitch last night.  I'll have a wrap-up.  A new program from Seattle Police: Do We Have Your Bike ?  via Twitter. Right now, SPD has about 500 “found” bikes in storage at our Evidence Warehouse. Each one of those bikes was abandoned somewhere in the city, then later recovered by officers. We may have your bike, and we’d like to reunite you with your wheels. Also, from the State of Washington, the Governor's office has an initiative , Results Washington , where you can register ideas on five goal ideas including "World Class Education."  (Still hate that "world-class" term which Diane Ravitch can easily refute.)   They seriously want the ideas so let them know. The other initiative is The Great Washington Shake Out on October 17th to practice earthquake drills  (So far SPS has not registered to participate and it's only Bryant, South Shore, Stevens Wedgwood and West Woodland that have registere...

A headline from the Huffington Post - Oklahoma Schools Lacked Consistent Tornado Shelter Rules.   From the article (highlights mine): The two elementary schools leveled by the deadly tornado that swept through the Oklahoma City area Monday lacked designated safe rooms designed to protect children and teachers, despite state warnings that the absence of such facilities imperils lives. At least two other schools in Moore -- the epicenter of the disaster -- did have safe rooms. So far no fatalities have been tied to those schools, whose buildings were fortified after a devastating twister hit the area in 1999. These disparities in structural standards speak to the seeming randomness of who lived and who died in a natural disaster now blamed for taking the lives of at least 24 people, including nine children. Requirements for safe rooms in public schools vary from community to community across the swath of Midwestern and Southern states so accustomed to letha...

Earthquake.  Tsunami.  Get that earthquake kit together. I'm at the BEX Oversight Committee meeting and a couple of things just occurred to me: - the money for the Silas Potter program came from Capital (you all understood this, right?)  Question is, which Capital pot of money - there are 3 possible choices.  It would be interesting to find out and see who had oversight for that money (likely Fred Stephens but there might be others).  - they are going to build decidedly bigger schools for elementary so for those whose schools might come in on the BEX IV list, you will get a new building but you will also have a larger school population.   The new size range proposal is 510-734.  (And there are plenty of large elementaries throughout the nation.  I think we are more of an anomaly for an urban district to have many "small" schools.) - KING 5 news had a blurb about the district cutting one-third of maintenance staff to fill the budget ga...

I haven't been keeping up as much as it seems that things change daily but here is what I believe the latest is. The Senate now has put out their proposal for trying to close the state budget gap (although still haven't closed it). In terms of education, they would protect more of what most of us would want protected. They would cut about $16M less than the House for K-4. They would transfer $25 from the State Need Grant (which would have to come from somewhat and I think higher ed has a big bullseye on it). Neither the House nor the Senate would make cuts to levy equalization or highly capable education. Also, I got a heads up on a real Lallapalooza of a bill ( HB 1025 ) that is being put forth by about 15 legislators led by Rep. Crouse. It is all loosely about education issues and includes highly capable, asthma/anaphylaxis, PE, drivers ed, school safety and civics classes. It also includes a passage about storm water drainage. (I'm guessing they all got in ...

Talking with friends who are here in Seattle on a short-term stay from Wisconsin, we were laughingly telling them about Mt. Rainier (it is a volcano) and our earthquakes (and the "fallout" from the Viaduct). It got me to thinking. About Mt. Rainier: Mt. Rainier is considered one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world, and it is on the Decade Volcano list. T he Decade Volcanoes refer to the 16 volcanoes identified by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI) as being worthy of particular study in light of their history of large, destructive eruptions and proximity to populated areas. [update] Although Mount Rainier is an active volcano, as of 2010 there was no evidence of an imminent eruption. However, an eruption could be devastating for all areas surrounding the volcano. If Mt. Rainier were to erupt as powerfully as Mount St. Helens did in its May 18, 1980 eruption, the effect would be cumulativ...