Seattle Schools Community Forum

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...

Update: A&F Tuesday meeting agenda .     The minutes from the previous meeting reveal that the next district audit will include Ballard High and Special Education.  (The previous audit included Garfield and guess what?  They were found to have several volunteers not screened or had no application at all. ) Also, the Internal Auditor, Andrew Medina, said this: Mr. Medina spoke about an additional finding for personal service contracts (PSC). He noted that there have been instances where work started before the PSC is approved, as well as sole-source contracts that lack adequate supporting justification. Mr. Medina also noted a lack of administrative procedures, an employee handbook, and clear channels of communication. The audit also cited that the District lacks procedures covering the delegation of purchase approvals to administrative staff.  Ms. Technow listed some of the forms, co...

Naturally, in Seattle, the first "summer" holiday and it's raining.  At the Columbus College of Art and Design, two anonymous students create art for all to enjoy. Something to show the artist in your home. New names to look for in, say 2019, in SPS classrooms: And once again, Game of Thrones rules. There were 1135 Aryas, 241 Khaleesis and 67 Daeneryses born in 2013.   As well, for girls there is Vanellope, Pistol, Prim, Rarity (from My Little Pony?), Charlemagne and Rebelle.   (Editor's note; because "Rebel" is just too tough for a girl's name? I assume she'll be a feminist rebel.) Brand new boy's names included Rydder, Jceion, Hatch, Tuf, Lloyal, Xzaiden, Charger, Kyndle, Power, Warrior, Kaptain, Subaru, and Vice.  (That second one - Jceion - I believe is a new way to spell Jason.) The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction is awarding nearly $7 million this week to 80 school districts to help them install emergenc...

There will be a Work Session today from 4-5:30 pm that could be of some interest as it covers a variety of topics.  It's the Oversight Work Session on Coordinated Health, Safety & Security  (Coordinated Health and Safety & Security are two different presentations).  This is Pegi McEvoy's area and she tends to be fairly straight-forward so at least there's a fighting chance of understanding the presentation. I do have to wonder, though,  at the ability of staff to cover such large presentations AND allow for questions from the Board. As usual the S.W.O.T. page has the most intriguing information  (that would be Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats/Risks).  From the Coordinated Health presentation:

Well, that was interesting.  I'm sorry there were so few people there (but my experience is that many people never go to SCPTSA meetings anyway, choosing to go to their school PTA meeting). As usual, they had food (so no one goes hungry) and welcoming faces.  I note that the Board is a multi-racial one.  (SCPTSA President Katherine Schomer later mentioned that they have been unable to find a rep from either the NW or NE.  So much for that theory that the NE runs SCPTSA.) Much of the entire senior staff was in attendance including Superintendent Banda. President Schomer started the meeting by acknowledging their contact list has problems and they have been struggling with it since fall.  Apparently the state PTA has had issues of sending SCPTSA updated information on what PTAs are members and who their contacts are. As well, the SCPTSA is working on a new website . They did talk about the state PTA convention coming up from April 25-27th over in Belle...

Had a great time at the Network for Public Education conference in Austin this weekend.  Very inspirational and got to talk with two education heroes - Diane Ravitch and Karen Lewis, the head of the Chicago Teachers Union.  More on this later especially about Common Core. To note, the district and bus drivers have reached a tentative agreement so there should be no bus drivers strike. Also to remember, this is the last week of Open Enrollment.   It ends at 4 pm on Friday, March 7th.