Seattle Schools Community Forum

From KUOW, a couple of items to consider. First, KUOW's Soundside program will be hosting Superintendent Ben Shuldiner on Monday, the 9th in the noon hour. They will be taking calls, 206-543-5869 or email your questions soundside@kuow.org. Listening to the chatter out there, it seems many parents are still confused/unhappy with the elementary recess times. Some seem unhappy that Shuldiner makes vague references to some schools not doing well without naming them or explaining his supporting data. Other issues I'm hearing about: It is also interesting to hear high school parents complain that local media tend to focus a lot more on elementary issues and not high schools (except for sports scandals). Also, a longer school day ? Some parents seem to think it would be a good idea both for recess AND for daycare costs (plus more learning). As well, it seems the Superintendent had a meeting with Sand Point Elementary and Laurelhurst Elementary staff about the possible merger of the...

Update: I see at the SPS website that Rainier View Elementary had their "first-ever Tigers Exploring Tomorrow Week" where students got to hear from adults who work for King County Metro, SPD (and their K-9 unit),  firefighters, and former Rainier View ES student who works as a zookeeper.  A bit of irony that this great event may be the last for Rainier View ES as they are slated to merge with Rising Star.  end of update I see that Director Liza Rankin met with Sacajawea parents recently. Their PTA had a summary on their webpage. It makes for fascinating reading but remember, these are just her thoughts.   (As well, their page on What Makes a "Good" Sac Closure is excellent and recommended reading for any affected schools.) Core themes: Long-term facilities & zoning plans Special programs Family choice Building use Misc extras Per those themes, Rankin said: - on "zoning" (by which they mean boundaries,) she said she did not want families displaced fro...

I am quite behind on reporting about some SPS issues including the fact that the Board seems okay with documentation for Board committee meetings not being submitted 24 hours before the meeting. If you have a policy, enforce it. I find this disturbing.  First up, Google is trying to blackmail school districts that use their search engine. From The New Republic: Schools that reject Google’s AI services apparently won’t be allowed to use Google at all.   The company announced Tuesday that it will turn off search engine access for K-12 schools that toggle off its AI tools as soon as next year. Google executives claim the decision is based on the technologies’ recent fusion.   “Search and AI are deeply integrated,” Chris Phillips, vice president for education at Google, told The New York Times , adding that students at schools that have banned AI “will not have access to search, and they’ll see a message from their school that indicates it’s not available.” Many schools acro...

I hope to put out a longer post on the wave of school closures that is sweeping the country but here's what The Seattle Times Editorial Board had to say today. The headline: Handled Correctly, School Closures in Seattle Could Be a Win Well, isn't that a hedge? Especially because there is no one "right way" to close schools. But they seem to think Superintendent Ben Shuldiner is headed in the right direction. This is not a new discussion for SPS, where many of the schools under consideration enroll fewer than 200 students. But the person leading these talks, Superintendent Ben Shuldiner, is proceeding in a manner so different from his predecessor there’s reason to hope for a better outcome. For the financial health of the district, and Shuldiner’s future here, that’s imperative. Then they make a statement I think is key to Shuldiner's plan: While the likely savings could help with SPS’ $87 million budget deficit, Shuldiner is framing this conversation as one driven...

Update:  It appears the Colorado proposition on transgendered children participating in school sports has passed. I didn't realize it but Colorado had two propositions on transgendered children. The other one is  "to prohibit health care professionals from knowingly performing any surgery on a minor “for the purpose of altering biological sex characteristics." That one is also passing. end of update  I, along with millions of other Americans, have been working hard this election cycle. Yesterday, I was a roving poll watcher where I was checking to see if there were any issues like tech, intimidation, handicapped access, etc at polling places. At sites in largely Latino areas, I circled a two-block area to look for ICE officers. I visited 19 sites and halfway through I wondered if I was nuts. (I found no issues anywhere except for a long line at one site at lunchtime.) But I continued on.  I spent more money this election cycle than I have ever spent in my life. It w...

The Seattle School Board will be having a Special Board meeting on Wednesday, November 4th, starting at 4:30 pm. Agenda here. That agenda is brief and, true to form, there is no documentation yet attached. However, per the rally about tech that is scheduled before this meeting, there's to be a discussion on "Educational Technology." The other half of the meeting will be about "Special Populations: Special Education, Multilingual Learners and Highly Capable." However before that, the group, Seattle Families for Intentional Tech (SFIT), will be having a rally from 3:30-4:30 pm outside the JSCEE. Here's what they have to say: The SPS school board and leadership are meeting for a special board meeting on November 4. Yes, we know it’s a Wednesday afternoon and the day after election day, but we need YOU. Let’s channel our activist energy one extra day to demonstrate how important this issue is to the board. AGENDA: 3:30pm Sign-Making 3:50pm Rally & Speakers ...

Today I heard a report on the Today Show about Discovery Elementary School in Loudoun County, Virginia. It's a school with over 600 students, a third of them free/reduced lunch level. Minorities make up the majority of the school. Want to know a fun fact about this school? Discovery Elementary School in Loudoun County, Virginia, is nearly surrounded by 11 data centers within a half-mile radius, with two more currently under construction State-issued permits show well over 200 backup diesel generators near the school. In the story, moms are concerned about air quality. One mom says when her daughter comes out of school, she always thinks it smells like smoke. And it's not just air quality, it's also a buzzing noise that has been reported coming from multiple data centers. Environmental calculations indicate that a single backup generator running at full capacity can emit pollutants equivalent to over 100 semi-trucks (18-wheelers).   Many data centers use diesel back-up gene...