Seattle Schools Community Forum

Dorothy and Dora have raised a topic for discussion. First, the Board has increased the number and the quality of their questions to staff. They are still a long way from the sort of vigorous inquiry and critical reasoning that they should aspire to, but they have gotten better. Second, the Board has also gotten better at insisting on answers to their questions. Again, not where they should be, but definitely improving. Third, the staff has not shown any evidence of getting better at answering the Board's questions. They continue to provide mushy answers or no answers or the over-used "I don't have that data. I'll have to get back to you with that." Fourth, in the event of a promise of an answer later there is often no timeline set for the answer and there is a lot of doubt about whether the answer is ever actually provided. Some times we know that it isn't. The Board has not been diligent about following up on these promises of future answers. Even if...

Friday.  Possible sunshine for this weekend.  Updated college-readiness figures show high schools doing better than was previously thought.  The City is going to help protect district whistle-blowers.  Dr. Enfield ends her second full week as superintendent. Upcoming threads: School Board meeting and ICS, MAP and diversity among the teaching corps. 

The Seattle Times reported today on Seattle Public Schools' updated number on the number of students who have the credits required by public universities in Washington. It's 63%. That's a whole lot more than the 17% initially reported and the 46% reported later. The Times story has links to additional documents including a memo from Mark Teoh to the Board and a table of the adjusted numbers by school. Still no word on when the District will correct the other misleading or simply mistaken data reported on School Reports.

I previous attached the documents from this Work Session to another thread.  I'll put forth what was said but right up front - it is so frustrating but I believe I understand the method to their madness. I'll be blunt - I think the district is growing and will continue to grow.  We have a new student assignment plan that added another layer of complexity to that growth.  What that means to some schools is that they are going to have to man up and buck up.  Portables, using your school's stage, whatever can get you through the next 3-5 years.  I believe the district has sympathy for these schools but really, they've got bigger problems.   Somebody once said that "change is hard" and my friends, that means you get to be the ones to suffer through this change.

This morning I attended the joint press conference between City representatives and district representatives who announced that the district will now be using Seattle's Ethics and Elections Commission (SEEC) services for complaints of violations of SPS ethics policy as well as retaliation complaints for those who do speak out. Good lineup;  for the City, the Mayor, Tim Burgess, Wayne Barnett, Executive Director of SEEC, Robert Mahon, SEEC Chair.  For the district, Susan Enfield, Noel Treat and Steve Sundquist.   There were folks from all the tv stations as well as print/radio reporters.   The two state auditors assigned to SPS were also there. There were brief remarks from Enfield, the Mayor, Burgess and Sundquist.   Enfield stated that the City had "expert" services and their program is highly regarded.  She said it was not all they were doing to restore accountability but that it was a "keystone" step.   Sundquist said that th...

Update:   according to the Seattle Times , it looks like this is about a report that SPS and the City are working on a deal where the City's own watchdog in charge of ethics/whistleblower investigations would monitor SPS employee complaints and any retaliation complaints for whistleblowing.  This would only be for those cases, the district would still set its own ethics policy, determine outcomes for violations and handle complaints about job performance.  The district would pay the City for the services but no amount has been announced and the district hopes it will be less than hiring outside investigators.   (Maybe I should ask how much the Board's own investigation cost.)  There was one odd line in the Times article.  It was stated that Councilman Burgess is worried the scandal will hurt the Families and Education Levy.  The Times article then said: The council will decide in the next two weeks whether to put the levy on the November ba...

Dr. Enfield sent out a letter to parents about the coming days for Seattle Public Schools.  Here's some of what she says: In the coming weeks I will be in the community listening to your comments, questions and concerns. Additionally, I will continue to have an open door policy so you can offer input directly on how we can continue to improve. Beginning on Thursday, March 24th, I will be holding open office hours from 4:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. at the John Stanford Center, 2445 3rd Avenue South. I encourage you to make an appointment to come and meet with me. Please contact Venetia Harmon, vlharmon@seattleschools.org to schedule a time. I applaud the Superintendent for her efforts to reach out and connect with parents and the community.  It is a good first step.