Seattle Schools Community Forum

One story the Times did cover was that the state Supreme Court said a 14-year old Bethel High school girl who was raped - off-campus - by another student, who was an older registered sex offender, can sue that district.  The older student had been "acting an an unofficial coach and mentor to younger students."  The school knew his background but did not tell staff. It was a 5-4 decision.

Board Policy 3208, Sexual Harassment, calls for an annual report from the Superintendent. There never were any such annual reports until two years ago. The first one, delivered in August of 2014, was completely inadequate and utterly failed to meet the requirements of the policy.

From SPS Communications: SEATTLE–As part of the Seattle Police Department’s Safe Place strategy , Chief O’Toole, Superintendent Nyland and Mayor Murray will officially announce Seattle school buildings as designated Safe Places. Mayor Murray first mentioned the district’s participation during his State of the City address in February. All of the district’s 98 schools will support safe and secure places for victims of crime and discrimination directed towards the City’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ) community. Seattle Police Department launched the strategy through partnerships with businesses throughout Capitol Hill and the City to promote awareness of hate crimes and provide safe places for victims of harassment until officers arrive. Where:             Garfield High School (Outside Quincy Jones Performing Arts Center)            ...

I know that I harp on this every couple months, but it has been another couple of months. Board Policy 3208, Sexual Harassment, requires an annual report from the Superintendent. The policy was adopted over four years ago, in December of 2011, but there has yet to be even one annual report submitted. In 2014, following a reported rape on a school field trip, the Board and the Superintendent tearfully expressed how gravely they are concerned about sexual harassment and how deeply committed they are to compliance with all of the various policies, rules, laws, and regulations that deal with it. Yet, despite their grave concern and their deep commitment, the Superintendent has yet to produce the required report. The Board did wake up and ask for the report. In June of 2015 the Board directed the Superintendent to deliver the report in August of 2015. That was six months ago. The superintendent did not provide the report at that time. When confronted about the failure in December, he cl...

Here's the latest in a recurring topic. School Board policy 3208, Sexual Harassment , requires an annual report. The Superintendent shall make an annual report to the Board reviewing the use and efficacy of this policy and related procedures. Recommendations for changes to this policy, if applicable, shall be included in the report. The Superintendent is encouraged to involve staff, students, and volunteers and parents in the review process. I have written to the Board on numerous occasions over the past two years - since the NatureBridge incident - asking for this annual report. Every time before that I have asked for it, I have been told that no such report has ever been made. That story just changed. I just got an email from the Board office saying that the report has been made. How did I miss it? Because the claim is pretty weak.

As soon as the Title IX news moved off the headlines, the Title IX work in Seattle Public Schools moved off the agenda. The annual report required by Board Policy 3208 has never been submitted. Never. The Board has never asked for it and the superintendent has never offered it. There is no Title IX coordinator. There was an interim person, then another interim person. There's no one doing the work right now. There was a report by the interim Title IX coordinator. No action is planned in response to that report. Despite promises to revise the sexual harassment policy and procedure, that work remains incomplete. Title IX training has come to a stop. The Board has lost all interest in completing the Title IX work that they made such a show of starting. They do not respond to emails about the stalled work on Title IX.

As was reported and discussed, Seattle Public Schools recently settled a sexual harassment suit for $249,999. This situation provides a number of examples of the District's dysfunctional culture of lawlessness. Shall we count them? The staff attempted to keep the settlement from the Board. The staff attempted to keep the settlement from the public. Rather than being held accountable for the failure at the heart of this litigation, the principal in the case was promoted - twice. No one has been or ever will be held accountable for this failure. No one has been or ever will be held accountable for trying to cover up the failure. No one has been or ever will be held accountable for trying to keep the settlement from the board or the public. This settlement will not lead to any improvements or changes in the way the District handles these sorts of complaints. No lessons were learned. The District enacted a crisis response plan for exactly this sort of public relations di...

I am tired and so frustrated over this issue but here we go again. Seattle Schools is paying out $249,999 (to avoid hitting $250k which would have triggered School Board approval) to a former student at Eckstein who says a computer teacher sexually abused her verbally and physically.   This was about the time one of my sons was there and I am appalled and saddened because I thought the teacher was a good one.  Maybe he was a good teacher but this settlement seems to say otherwise. I have no idea if the Board knew this was coming. From the Times :

School Board policy 3208, Sexual Harassment , calls for an annual report to the Board The Superintendent shall make an annual report to the Board reviewing the use and efficacy of this policy and related procedures. Recommendations for changes to this policy, if applicable, shall be included in the report. The Superintendent is encouraged to involve staff, students, and volunteers and parents in the review process. The policy was adopted on December 7, 2011, so you might expect the first annual report in the first quarter of 2013 and the second annual report in first quarter of 2014. Those expectations would not be met. I cannot find any record that any annual report as required by this policy has ever been made.

I attended Garfield's PTSA meeting last night.  There were about 65 people in attendance.  It was a bit odd because they chose to have the lights down so as to put the agenda and supporting documents on a big overhead screen.  It was pretty dark and made the remarks even more gloomy. I was fairly astonished and dismayed at what both Principal Howard and Director Blanford said on the subject of the Garfield field trip incident.  Some of it was contradictory and some was incoherent.  I think they made a confusing situation even more confusing.  But, as Principal Howard told the crowd, he got himself a lawyer and got advice from that lawyer on what to do. I can only say that loose lips sink ships and I was more than surprised at the comments from both men. There were three handouts, two quite interesting. Letter from Principal Ted Howard to Garfield parents Letter from Garfield PTSA to Superintendent Nyland, Michael Tolley, Sarah Pritchett and Ric...

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.

One story is absolutely horrifying and appalling and ties right into the situation around the Garfield field trip incident.  The other story is about how treating more kids as "gifted" makes them perform better.

Get a cup of coffee/tea - there are a lot of them (and big news items at that). Good News The governor of Tennessee just signed into law that every single high school grad gets a free ride for two years at a community college .  From Yes! : The bill provides two years of tuition at a community college or college of applied technology for any high school graduate who agrees to work with a mentor, complete eight hours of community service, and maintain at least a C average. High school graduates will start to reap these benefits in fall 2015. Oregon Sen. Mark Hass is selling the idea to his state, too. He sponsored a bill that passed earlier this year to study whether a similar system in Oregon would work. The results should be out later this year. Education Satire Hey, you 3-year old slackers ! It has come to our attention that your older brothers and sisters have been showing up to Kindergarten completely unprepared for the requirements of a rigor...

Since the sexual assault complaint that arose on a Garfield High School field trip to NatureBridge in November of 2012, we have heard from the Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors and senior management about how seriously they regard it and how committed they are to tightening up procedures, policy, and compliance. But what have they actually done? Shockingly little. And let's remember that they have had almost two years since that day. Almost two years and they haven't really done anything. We got the lip service. We got the crocodile tears. What we didn't get was any real movement towards improved policies, procedures, or practices. Nor have we seen any movement to hold anyone accountable for failures to follow the policy or procedures. Instead, we've seen the Board and the senior management close ranks to not only excuse the non-compliance, not only condone the non-compliance, but actually defend the non-compliance. I'm sorry, but how tragic do the outcome...

Seattle Public Schools, and Board President Peaslee in particular, have been pushing a narrative about the November 2012 sexual assault that has been making a lot of people mad. Just in case you, or someone you know, has read the District's account and cannot see why people are angry about it, I will offer an explanation. Here is the District's narrative . Here's what's wrong with it:

Title IX Update Update!! New web pages added!! Scroll to the end of the post. As you may know, Seattle Public Schools wasn't quite up to snuff on Title IX compliance. The person responsible for Title IX compliance didn't know his responsibilities and, consequently, failed to perform his required duties. When this dreadful situation came to light (with tragic consequences), the District... well, the District didn't do anything for two years. But when this dreadful situation triggered a federal investigation... the District still didn't do anything about it. But when word leaked out and it appeared in the press and people started to hound the Board over it, then we saw some action. In just a couple months the District has finally pretended to take the quick action it should have pretended to take two years earlier and is now promising to talk about planning to address a long-standing deficiency.

Something's missing and we all know what it is. It's the unfulfilled commitment I have been requesting for over ten years. It's the hole at the heart of the district's dysfunction. It is the emptiness at the root of the complaints and protests about the Garfield rape case. It is what was absent from Director Peaslee's understanding of the protests and it was omitted from Dr. Nyland's letter. The District staff does not comply with procedure, policy, regulation, or law and they do so without consequence. No matter if the violation is trivial or tragic, they are not only neglected, not only forgiven, but even defended. A sea of outrage rose up against Director Peaslee's tonedeaf remarks at the Board meeting. We were shocked by her misunderstanding of the protests. They were not calls to hold the boy accountable for his actions but a call to hold the district staff accountable for their actions (and inactions). How was it possible for Director Peaslee to ...

People frequently ask me "What fuels your activist energy?" and I tell them "Outrage." "But how," they ask,"can you stay outraged for fourteen years?" "I can't." I tell them. "I'm newly outraged every couple days. And you would be too if you watched the District closely. There is something new that crops up - generally twice a week - that is a source of new outrage." This story, of the rape on a Garfield field trip in November of 2012, is setting off outrage like a string of firecrackers. The more I look into it, the more horrible it is. As I follow up on every statement and review every action, there is source of outrage. Seriously. I know that if I turn over some rocks I will find bad things, but in this case every single rock I flip over reveals something horrible. Every time I look into any aspect of this case I am outraged anew.

Update:  Both KIRO-7 tv and KING-5 tv have done stories on this issue.  I think that the story has legs and that they may continue on (especially now that the Title IX and the Department of Education has gotten involved.)  I note that the KING-5 piece says that the district couldn't get access to the FBI investigation and that the parents of the girl refused to allow the district to talk to her.  (This because the girl had been out-of-state at a residential facility to help her.)  Therefore, the district "did not have the evidence to fully support her claims."  This seems to be a different story than below but I find the wording suspect below so I would need a timeline to decide. end of update. From President Peaslee: