Seattle Schools Community Forum

A very busy week before the holiday break next week.

Update:   I did read the investigation.  Not good on any measure.  The number of times Mr. Gundle said something like "in hindsight" he might have done things differently is deeply disappointing.  The number of things done out of policy is deeply troubling.  That the other teacher on the trip - it was her first field trip - did not question or confirm many details on the trip, either before or during the trip, is concerning. It's astonishing that Gundle allowed someone's 19-year old boyfriend on the trip and left the kids without a group announcement (he says he talked to each kid separately), reminding them about the gender tent rule and allowed kids to drive other kids back to Seattle (one without a seatbelt.) And, once again, we have chaperones paying lip service to district policies on field trip.  I'm beginning to think that the district should have a moratorium on field trips; there are real safety issues here.

The Times is reporting that the district is using the Bill Clinton school of language to explain what the word "support"means in matching funding from the Alliance for Education for the IB program at Rainier Beach High School. The Times includes footage of the Alliance event where the announcement was made by President Patu.  It must have come as quite the surprise to her to learn what "support" means.  Despite great fanfare at the announcement that Seattle Public Schools had made an agreement to fund International Baccalaureate (IB) classes at Rainier Beach High earlier this month, the district says promising to support that program does not mean giving it extra money.

And speaking of field trips , yet again the district cannot get the smarts to head off situation. Now it's all over the news.  This morning students at Stevens protested outside their school for about an hour.  They were protesting the very abrupt announcement that a long-time tradition of 5th graders going on an overnight field trip was not happening.  This is two weeks before the trip was to happen. The "official" explanation is that the paperwork didn't get to the district in time and, even with an extension, could not get done.

The District is definitely having trouble around field trips. There has always been incidents of misbehavior on field trips but they didn't get much publicity until the report of a rape on a Garfield High School field trip to NatureBridge. The review of that incident revealed the lax supervision that was practiced and the total neglect of the policies and procedures.

The Times had two items of note this weekend; one is an editorial and the other is an article. The article is about field trips and how difficult it is to write a comprehensive policy that everyone can understand and cover.  I feel like this commenter, Teresa A., at the Times: "Without clear guidelines, some teachers and parents say, districts and individual teachers open themselves up to liability." This is all that is really needed.  IF students know what the expectations are AND they know with absolute certainty that the teacher will check on them  and enforce those rules AND they know with absolute certainty that they will immediately be sent home (at their parents expense) if they violate the rules AND they know that no amount of whining will change the teachers mind, then 99% of the students will follow the rules with no problems.  That is all that any reasonable person can expect. Students are going to try and break the rules, t...

I went back and reviewed my notes and the public disclosure requests I made about this case. - Beryl Miller, the SPS staffer who was the Civil Rights/ Title IX Compliance Officer at the time of the incident is no longer in that position. She was the SPS Behavioral and Emotional Team Supervisor. Whether she still has that position within SPS, I don't know. - My question to SPS: B eryl Miller said she spoke with Student 1's doctor and psychologist but she only references notes about the call to the doctor. Are there any notes/documentation about Ms. Miller's call to the psychologist? (Please note: I know under FERPA/HIPPA I cannot have the notes or documentation. I am ONLY asking if they exist - meaning did she call both Student 1's doctor and psychologist?) SPS Answer: Ms. Miller has confirmed that no additional documents exist beyond the email records provided as exhibits to the investigative report (see pg 54-57 of the previously provided “GHS Exhibits Final...

From SPS Communications:

The Garfield student protest over the possible loss of their beloved choir/musical director was held on Wednesday.  There were about 100 students, many with signs that read, "Bring Back Burton" and "Hurtin' for Burton."  Their statements are included at the end of this thread (these were supplied to me by them).  Here's their ask: We are calling on Seattle Schools, especially Superintendent Dr. Larry Nyland to take into consideration the legacy Ms. Burton has built and her day to day performance as a devoted, caring, and invaluable teacher. We encourage friends, former students, colleagues, and the public to send letters in support of Ms. Burton and her positive impact to the email: superintendent@seattleschools. org .

One teacher at Garfield was put on administrative leave after a school choir trip to New Orleans earlier this year. Two teachers at Ballard are on administrative leave. I normally might not put this up with so few details but there are a couple of concerns. One, Garfield has had several issues around teacher supervision and school trips.  The last one created upheaval around Title IX issues. And now there's another one.  Hearing from a couple of parents, there is concern this teacher might not come back and apparently, is well-liked. For Ballard, it seems odd that two teachers would be put on administrative leave at just about the same time.  But the district will say nothing as "it's a personnel" matter.  Again, I get that but it does create confusion for students when teachers suddenly disappear. 

A thought-provoking study on day field trips has come out from the University of Arkansas and is covered in Education Next .  (bold mine)  (One irony here is that the students were taken on a tour of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas that was founded by...Alice Walton of Walmart who I perceive as not a friend to public education.) Schools exist not only to provide economically useful skills in numeracy and literacy, but also to produce civilized young men and women who would appreciate the arts and culture.  More-advantaged families may take their children to these cultural institutions outside of school hours, but less-advantaged students are less likely to have these experiences if schools do not provide them. With field trips, public schools viewed themselves as the great equalizer in terms of access to our cultural heritage. Today, culturally enriching field trips are in decline.  A survey by the American Association of...

Field Trip The proposed field trip last Friday to Vashon Island, an eight-year annual tradition by the Garfield jazz vocal group (about 70 students),  had been pulled at what seemed like the last second. This confusion happened because despite the approval of the principal and the district's risk manager, approval was not given by the Executive Director, Sarah Pritchett.  They had only two weeks from the time that the ban on field trips at Garfield had been lifted and felt they had all the necessary documentation done.   The Vocal Music supporters sent a letter to Ms. Pritchett and Mr. Tolley to ask what happened.  They are really upset because there are potential costs of $10K from breach of "various contracts."  They maintain they repeatedly called Ms. Pritchett on Friday to get an explanation and she could not be reached.  They want the district to help mitigate those potential costs. Richard Staudt, Risk Manager, wrote them back today, explainin...

It appears that a field trip this weekend for jazz vocal at Garfield (just over to Vashon), that had been approved by the principal and the district Risk Manager, got pulled by Michael Tolley and Sarah Pritchett (executive director for the region) at the last minute.  (The vocal teacher did get the paperwork in at the last minute because of the new policies but was told it was approved.) There was no explanation given and, despite Principal Howard's best efforts to contact anyone at JSCEE yesterday afternoon, he couldn't get ahold of anyone. There were to be 70 kids on this trip.  Some of the kids think it might be retaliation for the rally on Wednesday. If the district has a problem with a field trip, they need to make that clear BEFORE planning is done, chaperones gathered and money paid.

The deadline for input on the Advanced Learning draft updates has been extended until Wednesday, Oct. 22nd.   The draft policy and procedures are available through the link in the right hand column on www.seattleschools.org/advlearning . The Oct. 22 public comment deadline will provide time for the Advanced Learning Office to edit the documents if necessary before they are introduced to the full school board at the Nov. 5 board meeting. A vote is expected at the December 3 meeting. Community members who would like to submit a comment should email it to advlearn@seattleschools.org and be sure to include POLICY – in all caps – in the subject line. The district is also looking for input on the "revised Special Education policy related to Commencement Exercises and Certificate of Attendance." Deadline for comment is Oct. 31, 2014. The draft policy will introduced to the Seattle School Board at its Nov. 5 meeting. The draft policy is posted on the district’s Speci...

From Garfield parent (and sometime blog contributer) Johnny Calcagno:  As Principal of Garfield High School, I take the safety and security of every student, faculty and member of our GHS community very seriously. Recently, field trips were put on pause until improvements were made to the Seattle Public School's field trip guidelines and protocols. I am pleased to announce that effective October 13th, 2014, Garfield High School will again accept and evaluate field trip applications.

What is the case about? Our goal was to ensure that in the future, District students are safe by having the District recognize the problems that led to our daughter’s sexual assault and recognize the deficiencies in the District’s Title IX compliance. 

According to a couple of my sources, other SPS high schools, primarily thru their teachers, are pulling back on field trips. What are the issues? - the official list of forms at the district website are gone (note: I could not find the webpage that describes what the district is doing BUT I put in "field trip" into Search and I found a 67- page document with all the forms.  It is quite a formidable read (both because of format and length). - according to my source, the official checklist is not complete, with multiple forms required have never existed (and may not exist at all) - some teachers have been told that they need food handler permits - the district wants to see maps/plans on how chaperones will account for all the students...4x a night What a mess. But frankly, it is a mess made at the hands of management, not the teachers.  (Granted the teachers on the Garfield trip did not do well but if procedures and protocols had been followed, the trip might have ha...

Principal Ted Howard II and the Garfield PTSA sent out this message today. It's confusing because he says there will be no field trips "for the current school year" (which would be 2014-2015) but then says it may change in Jan. 2015, depending on the recommendations of the taskforce.  Apparently he didn't check the link to the taskforce because they won't have recs until Oct. 2015.   Maybe he meant January 2016.  I have already heard from parents who have had students go on successful trips in the past.  Will he actually say no if the Garfield Jazz Band is again invited to the Essentially Ellington competition?  I find some of the "suggestions" for future field trips both surprising and sad, mainly because I can't believe they weren't in place already.

I've been out of town so a bit behind on this. I see that teacher John Greenberg has been reinstated at The Center School (this from a story in the PI ).  The story does NOT say what if he will be teaching his Citizenship and Social Justice class.  The petition for a new principal at Garfield (on the heels of the outrage over the investigation of a rape on a Garfield overnight field trip) has over 2,000 signatures.  I hope to talk to some alum next week about this move. Is ballet a sport? Under Armour thinks so with this great video of ABT's Misty Copeland and an apparent letter she received about becoming a ballet dancer.  It's good to defy the odds. What's on your mind?

I myself have not spoken with the family of the victim but Charlie has and believes the sincerity of their story.  I see now at their Facebook page -Stop Sexual Assault in High School - that the district is trying to shape the narrative of this incident. Here's what the family says has happened recently: -  Yesterday, the District wrote it was sending out the parents' Oct. 18, '13 response to the District's skewed investigation without including essential information we parents provided , e.g. National Parks Service reports with the assailant's testimony acknowled ging rape. For the complete thread, request all correspondence between Julie Barbello, public information office, and the parents from July 29-August 1, 2014. From the parents' e-mail to the district: