Seattle Schools Community Forum

Thanks to reader, Alison, for this info from the CDC MMWR (Morbidity and Morality Weekly Report) of August 7, 2015.

I'm a bit late on this one but the the taskforce on bell times released its report to the Board on Wednesday.  The upshot is that they voted that high schools should start an hour later with most elementaries starting 90 minutes later.  There were three minority reports. As I previously reported, Bellevue and Mercer Island are working together on this issues as well as Northshore and Lake Washington.  All these districts and Seattle School District are faced with the financial and logistic challenges that a change would bring. Recommendation: SCORE: [3.45] Modified Flip option             17 votes No Change                              2 votes Extended High School Day     0 votes (Non-voting task force members: 3) 

Tuesday the 21st sees the public forum for Summit Sierra charter school from 6-8 pm at Freedom Church, 9601 35th Ave. SW.   Unfortunately, the Summit site gives no detail on the format of the evening nor does the Charter Commission site.  From my experience, you sign in if you want to speak and are given a lottery number.  There are usually between 3-5 Charter Commission members there.  After they are introduced, then Summit has about 10 minutes to flesh out what their school is and how they will operate. Then, the public gets a chance to weigh in.  Hopefully, the Charter Commission will not allow what happened in the past which is that the charter school gets supporters to come, each gets lottery number to speak.  However, Green Dot had a staffer who collected all those numbers and Green Dot decided who would speak.  I don't have a problem with any charter being able to bring in supporters but it seems like whoever has the number that is dra...

I heard from a friend who works for the Northshore district t hat they have been working on bell times as well.  Here's a link to what they are doing.  They appear to be further along than SPS.  I have not yet had the time to read all their documents but it may offer some answers to what SPS could do. Update:  a reader sent me this info from yet another district, North Clackamas The current 2014-15 North Clackamas school hours are: Elementary School: 7:45 for 10 schools, 8 am for 4 schools & 4 schools at 8:15  > this would be very early for kids on free and reduced lunch Middle School: 9:30 – 4:10 High School 8:35-3:10 Note that North Clackamas bus their high school students which is why the elementary school students start so early — to free up buses for the high school runs. I think they essentially have a 3-Tier system, but they weren’t familiar with that concept. (Seattle Public School high school students that qualify fo...

Where we are today? There have been two of the district's four School Bell Times Community discussion events.  (Anyone go to New Holly on Tuesday night or Garfield on Thursday night?)  I reported back on what I saw and heard at Hamilton. The district has chosen to NOT go with the Taskforce's top picks, citing the Taskforce's agreement with the district on transportation costs.  I would like anyone on the Taskforce who might be reading this to contact me (sss.westbrook@gmail.com) and let me know if this is completely accurate.  This is only what I heard from the district. The last discussion event is on Tuesday, May 12th at Chief Sealth at 7:00 pm  I'll just state a couple of things that I believe.

I attended yesterday's Audit and Finance Committee meeting which had several fascinating discussions (and non-discussions). In attendance were Chair Sherry Carr and members Sue Peters and Harium Martin-Morris.  Also in attendance was Superintendent Nyland. I had wanted to attend because of a couple of issues of interest to me.  And naturally, one item on the agenda that I really thought would be dry and not-so-vital turned out to be great.  That's why I go to these meetings - you really learn a lot. The items I had wanted to hear about were: - MOA with Africatown - MOU with the Alliance for Education So what turned out to hold my attention? The presentation on Nutrition Services given by Nutrition Services staff, led by Wendy Weyer.  First, kudos to Ms. Weyer.  While her presentation was long, it was detailed and well-organized.  She laid out the information to the Board in a manner they could follow and then connect the dots.   ...

The American Academy of Pediatrics issued a policy statement calling on school districts to move start times to 8:30 am or later for middle and high schools, so that students can get at least 8 1/2 hours of sleep a night. Full story here .

Shockingly, I neither attended nor watched the School Board meeting.  But I did hear about it from other sources so here is some of what went on (plus some input from a careful reading of agenda items on the docket).   Apparently it was a love fest for Banda and some tension on the Board.  Here's the information I received from the organizing group for later starts where the tension comes in. Later start times analysis passed, 6-1, with Director Blanford the sole no.  Apparently, though, both Carr and Martin-Morris claimed they felt staff was  "bullied" by others on the Board.  I'm suspecting they mean President Peaslee who can be quite strong-willed.  Is she a bully?  I have never seen evidence of it but I'm not sitting with her behind closed doors.  From the Later Start group e-mail message: We WON!  Bell time analysis was passed 6-1 with only Blanford voting against. Cautions were made about not overworking staff, particular...

This meeting could be interesting for a number of reasons. One, it is likely the last one where we will see Superintendent Banda up there on the dais with the Board.  (The Sacramento School Board is scheduled to vote July 17th and this Seattle School Board meeting is the last until August 20th.)  It may be awkward (to say the least) as the Superintendent is now the lamest of lame ducks.  Does the Board say farewell publicly or throw him a quick party after he makes the final announcement on his departure? Two, as usual, the agenda has got some items that stand out. 

Update :  it appears that the district is working with the City and the Downtown Seattle Association on a proposal for the former Federal Building.  I am somewhat surprised given the district's seeming lack of interest.  The proposal is due July 3rd.  I have no further details until I hear back from the district capital spokesman on this issue. End of update. The West Seattle blog reports on a fire at one play area at Schmitz Park early Thursday morning.  It did $50K in damage to a playground that the district paid for last year.   That likely means it is covered by insurance.  The Fire Department is unsure if it was arson, an accident or spontaneous combustion (from wood chips).   From Principal Kischner: “We appreciate the prompt response of the Seattle Fire Department, which prevented what could have been a much more serious outcome. Although the heat was enough to blister paint on the outside of the building and crack nu...

Just wanted to put this up for tonight; some further input from the Retreat and thoughts tomorrow. Seattle School District presentation on bell times. Framework timeline for work on bell times. Board Resolution (not yet adopted) on later bell times.

There were some other key, important things said at both the School Board meeting last Wednesday and the Board retreat yesterday.  I'll just group information under headings but note by M (for meeting) or R (for retreat) where I heard it. Principals (M) To note, both of the Washington State Principals of the Year, for high school and K-8, came from Seattle Schools.  Keven Wynkoop, principal at Ballard , and Keisha Scarlett, principal at South Shore, were the winners.  Mr. Wynkoop is one of several of our high school principals who actually attended the high school he now leads.  Native American students (M) President Peaslee noted that she wished that the Indian Heritage program would be revitalized especially in high school.  This came in conjunction with the large contingent of Native American parents, students and community members who were part of public testimony.  They said they wanted a program for high school and hoped it could be at Ch...

I went to the Board meeting two weeks ago and a couple of Work Sessions/Committee meetings.   This thread is the Board meeting and Operations Ctm. meeting. Here are the highlights: Board Meeting This was the one where the high school basketball teams were honored.  Very fun to be there (although the Garfield boys wanted to look as serious as possible).  Paul Apostle of HR said they were making "exceptional" progress to hire early in hard-to -fill posts like Sped and ELL.  There was a bit of mention for Genesee Hill which is now running about $2M behind.  As Chris Jackins pointed out, just looking at the site, you can see potential problems.  I'm not sure why this wasn't apparent sooner.  The later start for secondary schools had about 3800 signatures by then. One lone NW Center father spoke about the issue of where their program will end up.  He did say they didn't want to stay but that the district should "own" what they did in...

The story even throws in a nod to efforts here in Seattle.  (Update on SPS and this issue to come.) The takeaway? “Even schools with limited resources can make this one policy change with what appears to be benefits for their students,” Dr. Miller said. And who is getting the most traction?  A civic-minded (and tired) Missouri teen named Jilly Dos Santos. 

Tonight is the second of the Superintendent's regional meetings about the Strategic Plan at 6:30 p.m. at Hale High School. I suspect that this particular meeting - coming on the heels of pushback from staff on later start times AND the brewing rebellion by schools over cuts to their budgets - might prove to be larger and more contentious than the one earlier this week.  And Hale - having had a later start time for 10 years - is perfect backdrop for this discussion. That said, the district loves its Powerpoint presentations and I suspect they will make whoever shows up wait for any questioning beyond issues around the Strategic Plan.  But the district press release does say attendees can question district leadership so it will be interesting to see how this plays out. Also to note, next week's School Board meeting should be a barnburner as several groups - Start School Later-Seattle, school staffs and NW Center parents - could show up to "express" their opinions ...

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.

From School Start Later-Seattle: As a brief update, the school board approved transportation standards for next year that will move us to a 3-tier system in order to save approximately $3 million.  It was impossible to get the school board to consider putting secondary schools in the later tiers and elementaries in the earlier tiers. The good news is that Sharon Peaslee, board president has introduced a resolution to make analysis and community engagement on start times a high priority and then to decide, based on feedback whether to flip elementary and secondary start times for 2015.   The resolution will be introduced on 3/5 and voted on 3/19. We need to win this vote in March otherwise the district will halt any further progress on the issue. Thank you for all of your recent emails.  They made a major impact and helped bring Peaslee's resolution to the table. Please write to board directors and urge them to prioritize analyis and community engagement on start...

Both the Operations and Audit&Finance Committees have meetings tomorrow, Thursday the 13th.  In addition, there is also a Work Session.  Audit&Finance and Operations both start at 4:30 p.m. and the Work Session on Technology starts at 6:30 pm. I call this out because Operations and A&F did not have their agendas out until yesterday.  Again, I have to smile and wonder.  These are very lengthy agendas.  There is truly no possible way to cover everything in them except as a brief update.  The Board is supposed to use these committee meetings to go over - in detail - issues.  I realize a lot needs to get done but I wonder why these agendas are so lengthy for such a short period of time. Operations agenda .  Items to cover: - wireless network deployment - various upgrades/renovations/repairs at several schools - one item that caught my eye is Olympic Hills where there is a "resolution" about the new construction but also a "resolu...

RBHS Coding Team In support of teacher Jon Greenberg This thread will cover the last School Board meeting last Wednesday, Feb. 5th.  All directors were in attendance but Director Carr.  The Rainier Beach High School T.E.A.L. team (Technology Education and Literacy in Schools) gave a presentation on coding work they have been doing.  There was a large crowd primarily around transportation, former Center School teacher, Jon Greenberg and the NW Center Kids program. 

 From one Ballard teacher (via Facebook): Educators at Ballard HS voted today on a motion regarding moving the High School start times to a later time (switching with elementary). The vote was UNANIMOUS in support of the motion. The research, by the way, is also unanimous. Students learn better later in the morning.