Seattle Schools Community Forum

The latest woeful attempt is by The Urbanist . They have an article on Alki Elementary and the zoning departures that SPS wants for that space, Appeal Could Force Alki Elementary To Trade Classroom Space for Parking Stalls. I'll just start off saying the classroom space SPS would give up is pre-K. Lamentable but not totally necessary for SPS' legal mission. “I don’t think that we should be prioritizing cars over kids,” Seattle School Board Director Vivian Song Maritz told The Urbanist. “The choice that we have is to create 10 to 20 parking spots, or we can create space for 20 to 30 kids to have the benefits, all the academic, social, emotional benefits, from having early learning. While Seattle Public Schools didn’t directly confirm that it was considering removing early learning facilities from the plans for Alki Elementary, saying only that the district is continuing to explore options, multiple sources with close ties to the district confirmed that option is on the table. I...

 It can't be a surprise to anyone that Director Chandra Hampson is frantically trying to get several key items (some might call them pet projects) done before her time on the Board (thankfully) ends.  I note that the induction ceremony for the new members is scheduled for Wednesday, November 29, from 5:30-6:30 pm. But what is curious is the Board is not following its basic every two week board meeting schedule. For some reason, they are going 3 weeks in October and 3 weeks in December.  There should be a Board meeting immediately after the oath of office; this indeed HAS happened in the past. I'm not going for any "holiday" reasoning. I find this troubling because it certainly heads off the new Board. They will have one Board meeting with the new members on Wednesday, December 13th and then, I hope, have a Board meeting on January 3rd but I suspect that, too, will get pushed out to the next week.  It certainly gives the powers that be on the Board more time. I sure h...

Update: well, this is curious.  Over the last couple of years, the day after a Board meeting - whether work session or board meeting - the video is posted to the district's YouTube site. I see an October "First Bell" video put up yesterday but no video for the work session that took place on Wednesday. I saw some comments about it at a Twitter page so I do want to watch it for myself (spoiler alert: Hampson goes after her favorite punching bag, Option Schools).  I hope to see it posted by the end of Friday.  end of update Over at the West Seattle Blog, they are reporting that there is a push to get parents to attend today's Seattle School Board Work Session on the Budget.  Here's the agenda ; it starts at 4:30 pm at the JSCEE. I f you can’t go, you can   watch the livestream here . From the post: We heard today from a local teacher who says it’s important for concerned families to turn out for the meeting – at SPS HQ in SODO – because of the recent reconfigurati...

 From the WA Coalition Learning Without Limits; all the details here. Welcome to the first day of Washington state’s annual Equity in Highly Capable Education Week! This year’s festivities include a Tuesday evening online event hosted by NWGCA, the annual WAETAG convention on Friday and Saturday, WAETAG‘s host a legislator in your classroom program, as well as daily advocacy messages on different topics from the Washington Coalition for Gifted Education.         Monday Morning Advocacy Message What if every student in Washington State was considered for accelerated learning opportunities? Now they are! by WaCoalition President Austina De Bonte The new highly capable law went into effect in July 2023. Here are the 3 major new pieces: 1. All school districts in Washington state must universally screen all students in a grade level for Highly Capable programs, once in or before 2nd grade, and again, in or before 6th grade. Universal screening may use existin...

Update: Gitenstein and Carlsen are having yet another discussion.  Oct. 22nd, Sunday, 1pm, Youngstown Cultural Art Center Moderator: TBA end of update Candidate Ben Gitenstein (D3) and Candidate Debbie Carlsen (D6) have joined forces to hold not one but two community discussions about school closures.  The first discussion is Wednesday, October 18th at the Garfield Community Center starting at 6 pm, with doors opening at 5:45 pm. RSVP @ futuretownhall@gmail.com The moderator will be Andrew Ashiofu. Mr. Ashiofu is a former City Council candidate in D3 and social  activist. The second discussion will be Wednesday, October 25th at the Green Lake Community Center starting at 6 pm with doors opening at 5:45 pm. RSVP @ futuretownhall@gmail.com. The moderator will be Sandeep Kaushik. Mr. Kaushik is a political and public affairs consultant. Both forums appear to be in-person so do try to get out and talk to candidates in person.   Learn more about Debbie Carlsen at w...

The endorsement was made yesterday in the Sunday Times . Here's their reasoning: In the case of Seattle Public Schools, board members oversee a gargantuan $1.2 billion budget , so they must be prepared to ask hard questions, demand accurate accounting and challenge the direction of district leaders — especially when student outcomes suggest all is not well. For these reasons, the editorial board endorses Christina Posten, a former principal, for District 2, on the Seattle Board of Education. The incumbent, Lisa Rivera Smith, made it clear in an interview that she does not believe it is her role to get deep in the weeds of budget-scrutinizing, contract-negotiating or much else beyond broad policy oversight. There would have been a golden opportunity for the Times to ask Rivera Smith about SOFG (Student Outcomes Focused Governance) which Rivera Smith supports especially after this statement from her: “We really rely on our staff to make judgments that are sound,” she said.   I'm ...

There’s clearly something very wrong for the district to be losing students. If the district and the Board want to continue with their “housing costs/low birthrate” then they are being delusional. Something is up and any smart district would be working to figure it out. From the Seattle Times’ Danny Westneat who writes about the SPS post-pandemic headaches: The Seattle schools have suffered another blow, with enrollment dropping this fall by 1,100 more students. According to the district’s September count , 48,960 kids showed up for the city’s public K-12 schools. That’s down from 50,111 last September . It’s nearly 5,000 fewer students than in the fall of 2019 , before the virus and the school closures touched off an unraveling. This is the smallest the Seattle school district has been since 2012, just as the big Amazon boom was about to get rolling. It means a decade of progress, growth and popularity has been lopped off. That last sentence is stunningly true. I’ve written before ab...