Seattle Schools Community Forum

From SPS: The district is distributing prevention materials to families and students this week. The materials were selected by the Task Force for the Prevention of and Response to Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault and were shared with principals and assistant principals at leadership learning events earlier this year.

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...

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.

Director Martin-Morris is hosting a community meeting tomorrow  on August 9  at 10:00 at the Northeast Branch Library, 6801 35th Ave. N.E. You should go. You should go and ask the Director about seriously he takes the issue of sexual harassment. Never mind what he says; let's take a look at what he has done.

The School Board has a new form letter response: " Thank you for contacting the School Board Office. Please be assured that we take the issue of sexual assault seriously and are continuing to work with all parties involved -- including state and federal agencies and the family -- to address the concerns that have been raised and ensure that the appropriate legal process is followed. The family has filed complaints with several oversight agencies, and we trust that resolution of those actions will be fair and equitable.   Kind Regards ," The Board wants us to be assured that they take the issue of sexual assault seriously? Really? Telling us that they care about it isn't convincing at all. They need to show us. Here are seven things that the Board can - and should - do to assure us that they take the issue of sexual assault seriously.

Between the issue of the Pre-K mission study junket and the appalling action (or lack thereof) on the issue of the Garfield field trip rape case, it's hard not to feel very angry.  As you may recall, in the e-mails about the Pre-K mission study, there was a lot of back and forth over where the money - about $2700 per person - was going to come from to pay for the trip.  Well, I found out where the "temporary" money came from.  I say temporary because there were funds used from one pot that will now have to be paid back to that pot by finding another pot of money. Here's how it breaks down (from SPS Public Disclosure): Budget codes that were charged Charles (Wright) - baseline funds (meaning not grant-funded) from the Office of Strategic Planning Keisha (Scarlett) - South Shore funds (Title I, I believe), “borrowed” due to the time crunch to get good flight prices, meant to be paid back Laurie (Morrison )– ditto Cashel (Toner) – Teaching and Learning, “bridg...

Here is an example of where the culture of lawlessness can lead. No one bothered with the rules for field trip. No one bothered with the rules for chaperones. After the crime no one bothered with the rules for investigation or response. Instead of stepping up and doing the right thing, everything was routed to the general counsel's office where they were committed to a cover-up and suppressing the victim's rights. The Title IX officer, who should have taken charge instead took no action at all. And still hasn't. This has been a story on college campuses, but it's a story in high schools as well. Addendum: You can visit this Facebook page for more information about the District's response.

Is it me?  I don't think so.  Lately there have been a swelling of stories that involve misogyny.  First up, is this story from ThinkProgress from West Virginia where a high school brought in a faith-based speaker to talk to the teens about abstinence.  I think all high school should be talking to teens about sex and abstinence can certainly be part of that discussion.  But this discussion was not just saying "wait kids."  In fact, the fliers that advertised it said "God's plan for sexual purity."  Stenzel has a long history of using inflammatory rhetoric to convince young people that they will face dire consequences for becoming sexually active. At GW’s assembly, Stenzel allegedly told students that “if you take birth control, your mother probably hates you” and “I could look at any one of you in the eyes right now and tell if you’re going to be promiscuous.” She also asserted that condoms aren’t safe, and every instance of sexual contact...

A number of news stories have crossed my path this month about boys and girls.  This thread is about issues that happen to kids outside of school. One heads up I wanted to give parents of girls is the movie, Spring Breakers .  Now, you don't have to get too worried because it's rated R so I would hope most of your students could not just go to see it. Spring Breakers is about a group of college girls who want a spring break, have no money, rob a restaurant and they're off and running.   However, you should be warned for a couple of reasons. One, this is NOT a comedy.  It's pretty serious stuff.  Trailer . Two, it stars some very familiar (to young tweens and teens) actors like Vanessa Hudgens (High School Musical), Selena Gomez (Disney Channel) and Ashley Benson (Pretty Little Liars).    I read an article in the NY Times and for most of these young actresses, this is a breaking-away-from-type movie for them and their careers....

It would seem something is amiss. From Q-13 News : The 12-year-old special education student at Hamilton International Middle School reported the alleged incident Wednesday to school officials, who called police. The substitute teacher isn’t employed by the school district, but a spokesperson said he won’t get any other assignments in the district until the police investigation is complete. The boy, who is not being identified since he is underage, said the alleged incident happened between classes while he was alone in a bathroom with the substitute teacher. The details are troubling and thank goodness this student said "stop" to the teacher and went and told other adults.  Those adults rightly called the police but it is unclear from this report if the teacher was arrested.  Oddly, the district says the sub wasn't employed by the district.  I'm not sure what to make of that. But an HIMS parent reports that this same teacher was in her child...

A very carefully worded investigation "report" from Paul Apostle to Susan Enfield about the Lafayette incident  and investigation report from Safety and Security was released today.  Also, a letter was sent to parents, also carefully worded, from Ex Director, Aurora Lora.  (I can't seem to create a link but I will get it up as soon as I can.)   A story is also in the Times and it, too, is carefully written and leaves out a lot.  No link to the investigation at all.  You have to wonder why all this tiptoeing is happening.  (And thanks to the Times for leaving out that we here broke the story - something to keep in mind in the future.)  Clearly, this is story many people don't want to tell. The Times leaves out that while the investigation didn't violate school district policy (i.e. Board policy), it left out the Superintendent's own procedures which are very clear on what is to happen if there is a sexual complaint.  Mum's the word...