Seattle Schools Community Forum

The Times is reporting that the City will be installing speed cameras at five more school zones this summer.  They are Roxhill Elementary (WS), Dearborn Park Elementary (Beacon Hill), Bailey-Gatzert Elementary (Central) and Eckstein Middle (NE).  They will be used starting Sep. 2nd.  For the first 30 days, you'll get a warning and then the ticket is $189.  They will be used one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon most of the time. The Times is also reporting that the Bellingham School district is installing a panic button in every school office in their district using a grant from OSPI.   (As I previously reported, SPS also received money from this grant but I am unsure what it will be used for in our district.) The UW's Computer Science and Engineering Department recently honored 57 teachers in our region for being "Inspirational" teachers.  They include Assegid Derseh from Chief Sealth International High School and John Boucher f...

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:

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.

I ran across some items about science and public education and wanted to share them. An article from the NY Times caught my eye about ADHD and sleep .  For some people — especially children — sleep deprivation does not necessarily cause lethargy; instead they become hyperactive and unfocused. Researchers and reporters are increasingly seeing connections between dysfunctional sleep and what looks like A.D.H.D ., but those links are taking a long time to be understood by parents and doctors. This article appeared in the journal Science about an interview with Ed Lazowska in UW's department of Computer Science and Engineering about the future of computer science.   (Public disclosure; I know Ed and the department very well.)  Some highlights:

From the Times about the West Seattle robberies of Denny students : S eattle police believe they may have caught at least one teen connected to the armed muggings and beatings of West Seattle middle-schoolers earlier this week. When officers approached a dozen teens hanging out around 4 p.m. today near Roxhill Park, where the armed robberies took place, several of them took off running. Officers chased after them and caught eight, all between 14 and 18 years of age. One 18-year-old was arrested and booked into King County Jail because of a gun and box of ammo in a car he’d been driving. The seven other teens were released, but police say they’re continuing to examine any links between them and recent robberies in the area. The Stranger Slog is reporting that Salmon Bay K-8 has dropped out of the MAP boycott.   They surmised, (and I believe rightly so) that their middle school could lose funding via the Families and Education levy for their middle school activities....

There are few people in the Legislature who do not seem to represent the best thinking.  To whit: Newly-elected Rep Liz Pike, R-Camas wants "trained" teachers to carry guns in their classrooms. From the Times : GOP state Rep. Liz Pike helped to kick off the state gun-laws conversation last month with a widely read Facebook post that floated the idea of allowing teachers to carry guns in the classroom if they undergo training and pass a psychological evaluation. The program, modeled after one in place for airline pilots, would be voluntary. Pike suggested in a Facebook post that teachers also would have to pay for their gun training, provide their own weapon and keep it on their person at all times. Rep. Brad Klippert, R-Kennewick, also wants teachers to have guns in the classroom.   Rep Klippert is a school resource officer at a high school.  From the Tri-City Herald : State Rep. Brad Klippert plans to introduce a bill during this year's legislativ...

We note the passing of Loyal Heights Elementary teacher Sally Moneda.   Ms. Moneda taught a multi-grade classroom and directed the school's annual play.  She died of ovarian cancer on January 3rd; she was 47.  A memorial service will be held on January 19th at 2 p.m.at Mars Hill Church in Ballard. The Mayor and other officials and community members are today announcing a gun buy back effort in the Puget Sound region, part of the Gun Safety Initiative.  Among the sponsors Amazon, Five Point Cafe, Eli Lilly, Nucor Steel, PEMCO, Seattle Police Foundation and SEO Moz.  Community partner include Associated Recreation Council, Cafe Racer, Mount Zion Bapist Church and the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce.  Great idea.  I'll post more details as they come.  Don't forget the Frontline show tonight at 10 pm on KCTS 9 about Michelle Rhee.  We'll have a thread tomorrow to discuss it.  What's on your mind?

From the district (at 2:30 p.m.): The lockdown has been lifted at both John Muir Elementary and Franklin High schools. Both schools are in shelter-in-place and students will be released on time. End of Update. From the Times, a report of a shooting near Franklin High School.  Apparently, it had nothing to do with the school, the person shot was believed to be between 18-20 but not a student at the school.  (The shooter, though, apparently looked to be younger, about 15-16 years old.)  The victim is in critical condition.  This happened at about 12:30 p.m. Franklin was not put into lockdown but students were told to stay in their classrooms. One thing that I did learn is that the district does have the ability to text students as well as parents about on-going issues at school.  After the Cafe Racer shooting and this shooting, where it was lunchtime with students off-site, it might be good to be able to text students on what to do. 

The Atlantic Street Center is hosting a Teens Against Guns Youth Summit @ New Holly Gathering Hall, 7054 32nd Avenue South tomorrow, Thursday June 7th, from 5-7 p.m.  It is for youth and organizations to come together and plan a positive way to show the community teens are against gun violence. The Summit will be focused on: being informed (sharing information about the recent incidents staying safe (giving info to teens on how to be safe around guns) taking action (having teens organize a plan to go out into the community to support an anti-gun message in a positive way Also of interest from Town Hall, Public Safety: a Community Conversation : Monday, June 18, 2012, 7:30 – 9:00pm Great Hall, enter on 8th Avenue. Free with reservation . Town Hall Seattle staff, members, and board are deeply shaken and disturbed by the events that took place so close to our offices on May 30th. The other shooting the same day, previous incidents in May, and earlier in th...

  Update: a simple and beautiful tribute by Town Hall to Gloria Leonidas (the woman killed there last week during the rampage).  Ms. Leonidas' profession was lighting design.  I thought it worthy of posting.  Thank you to the Stranger Slog for their posting of it. The story of the killer's saga in West Seattle just goes on.  The West Seattle Blog is reporting that the blueberry plant he picked up at the West Seattle Nursery went to a former teacher he had at Summit K-12 more than 25 years ago.  Unbelievable.   He did not leave a note so she had no idea who had left it until she read about it.  She does not know why he reached out to her and turned everything over to the police. One comment says: The reason that I find this new update extremely alarming is that it confirms that this killer was in the neighborhood of Schmitz Park, Lafayette, Madison and West Seattle High, possibly even as the security precautions were lifted around 2...

Update, Monday night:   This from Director Smith-Blum:  I am forwarding Dr. Enfield's letter addressing the safety concerns with our schools and our coordination with the Seattle Police – both last week and how we will address going forward. I will say that our operations staff indicated to me they felt at least in West Seattle – things were not handled through a central voice and that led to confusion.  I appreciate all your questions and ideas and would ask that if you feel Dr. Enfield's letter does not address your specific concerns or would like more detail, that you send those inquiries to her directly, as it is not the Board's purview to direct staff to change their protocals.  That said, we will be addressing several policies in our areas of safety and student responsibilities this month. I will use your questions and concerns to hopefully create a thought process that will drive a stronger set of policies and procedures for the future.  Best,...

I can't tell you how many times you hear the Mayor or the City Council members lament that they want to do more for Seattle Schools. They don't have governance of the schools.  But while the district is responsible for what goes on inside and on the grounds of every school, it is the CITY'S job to protect the areas around the schools. The Rainier Beach High School area (which also includes South Shore and Dunlap nearby) has had a huge amount of violence and shootings incidents.  RBHS suffers as a result of it and is that their fault?  It is not. And now we have an innocent father killed while driving his children and his own father, right by Garfield High School. He  got caught in the crossfire of two thugs shooting at each other.  This story from the Times. This is completely crazy and needs to stop.   No more of the "no snitching" mantra.  I don't care what people feel about the police themselves (clearly the Feds don't think a lot ...

Monday, May 21st  Curriculum&Instruction Policy Committee Mtg from 4-6pm, JSCEE Agenda .  Promise Neighborhoods MOU with Neighborhood House 2163 School Policy, Supports and Interventions 4110 Superintendent procedure, Family and Community Advisory and Oversight Ctms Policy 2200, Equitable Access to Services and Programs Teacher College Contract NWEA Contract Cost increase for Social Studies Adoption Policy 2420, Running Start and Homeschool discussion 2163 -not sure what they want to change here 4110 - as Charlie as pointed out, this one doesn't always get followed so I'll be interested to see what is said here 2200 - must be new as I don't see it under the current policies 2420 - at the Board webpage, this seems to be about grading so I'm confused here  Promise MOU - this one hadn't been on my radar but it's an agreement with Neighborhood House, Seattle Housing Authority, City of Seattle and SPS to support families and schools in the so...