Seattle Schools Community Forum

HCC Advisory Committee Position on the High School Boundaries Dear HCC community, As you are probably aware, the District is considering changes to the high school boundaries as part of the Student Assignment Plan that will go into effect for the 2019/20 school year. Meetings are happening and feedback is being collected, and the HCS AC has sent the email below to make clear our position and recommendations regarding the highly capable and high school pathways. Today the HCS AC sent an email to the Superintendent and the Directors expressing our position (see below) in advance of staff preparing their recommendations to the Board in November. Final votes by the Board are slated for January 2018 with implementation in Fall 2019.

From Michele Aoki, International Education Administrator:

There's a petition going around from "North Ballard Parents"about the boundaries for Ballard High and Ingraham.   And so the lines among parents are starting to be drawn. (red mine)

Seattle School Board, District 5's race has taken the very distinct ed reform turn that I knew it would. Democrats for Education Reform's PAC contributed $20K to Vasquez's campaign in an independent expenditure for digital ads.  That's a huge amount of money for a school board race.  DFER supports ed reform including charter schools. Folks, if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and the ducks from the ed reform pond give it lots of bits of bread - it's a duck.

As previously reported, this week's Work Session had a couple of parts and, within each part, several sections.  Here's the agenda and the Budget info is at the beginning of the documentation. I do want to know that staff gave a presentation on Advanced Learning that, while some of it was buried in the agenda documentation, was NOT on the agenda.  I call foul on this as well as some of what was presented (but that's a different thread).

I attended a great UW lecture last night by Professor Kate Starbird from the College of Engineering on the history/recognizing "fake news."   I see from this article in the NY Times that Italy is really getting serious about this in their schools:

Update 4: Good news, kids.  The Board listened and has pushed back - for multiple reasons - on taking the word "transition" from the SAP.  That means, that the current transition plan will stand as an adjunct to the 2009 SAP.  It was not mentioned but I would assume that doesn't mean it precludes updates to the Transition plan but that plan will not become the SAP. Good work to those of you who contacted the Board because they heard you, loud and clear.