Seattle Schools Community Forum

That would be Tuesday, March 15th from 6-7 pm.  He'll be speaking from JSCEE. Dr. Jones is generally a man of few words so I'll be interested to see how long he speaks.  It would be great if he would forecast some of what he'll be doing as permanent superintendent. For example, he and the Board will put forth a new Strategic Plan so that kind of detail would be good to hear about.  Given it's year 4 for the Plan, it would be helpful to have some actual data on how the current Strategic Plan is going. The event will be broadcast on SPSTV and YouTube/SPSTV Community Cable Channel Livestream. Watch on YouTube .

  At a nine meeting meeting on Friday, the Seattle School Board voted 6-1 to approve the contract for the hiring of Dr. Brent C. Jones as permanent superintendent. Director Leslie Harris was the lone no vote.  President Brandon Hersey said there would be "no public comment opportunity." He said that this had been discussed "at length" and it was a "fair agreement" and he looked forward to working more with Jones on "student-focused governance."  The motion was made and seconded. Hersey then asked for Board member comments. Not a single person said anything, almost if by design. Director Liza Rankin offer to the public that "if you want to hear more about our thoughts around this contract, where we discussed this step, go listen to that meeting." She did not specific any date so it's not clear what meeting she meant. But that's Director Rankin. After the vote, Hersey was ready to adjourn and Director Michelle Sarju chimed in sayi...

 Dear Readers, It seems someone has invaded my blog. There are several things not working; it just started today. I have been notified by readers that my post on the approval of Dr. Brent Jones as permanent superintendent is not loading.  I am attempting to fix this. How very pathetic to try to silence the one voice that actually tries to cover SPS stories fully. 

 Several commenters have stated - and I agree - that the Board should have had in-person meetings for the permanent superintendent discussion as well as their regular Board meetings being in-person.  I did check Governor Inslee's proclamation ( see end of page).  It's a bit confusing because saying there no longer needs to be an indoor mask requirement seems like it would then generate a statement that local governments can conduct meetings in-person. But, apparently, no; there HAS to be a remote meeting but in-person could be also happen. Local governments can't have only in-person. The Board sure could have an optional in-person component. They did for a bit and then went back to remote. The JSCEE auditorium certainly could have spaced seating. And, of course, anyone who wants to wear a mask can do so (Director Michelle Sarju even wears a mask for remote meetings as she is sitting at home).  But it feels like they don't want to have to leave home and drive to JSCEE...

 At a nine meeting meeting on Friday, the Seattle School Board voted 6-1 to approve the contract for the hiring of Dr. Brent C. Jones as permanent superintendent. Director Leslie Harris was the lone no vote.  President Brandon Hersey said there would be "no public comment opportunity." He said that this had been discussed "at length" and it was a "fair agreement" and he looked forward to working more with Jones on "student-focused governance."  The motion was made and seconded. Hersey then asked for Board member comments. Not a single person said anything, almost if by design. Director Liza Rankin offer to the public that "if you want to hear more about our thoughts around this contract, where we discussed this step, go listen to that meeting." She did not specific any date so it's not clear what meeting she meant. But that's Director Rankin. After the vote, Hersey was ready to adjourn and Director Michelle Sarju chimed in sayin...

Update: here is the agenda with the single BAR (Board Action Report) and Jones' new contract. Of interest: - The amount of the base salary in the BAR is $366K and the amount of the base salary in the contract is $335,000. I think what may have happened is that the TOTAL with benefits is $366K. Whether that is the case, they need to get alignment in both documents; otherwise, the Board is voting for one thing and Hersey signing for another.  The base of $335,000 is up from the interim amount of $315K. - This is a two-year contract which is a little odd because usually they want a three-year contract. Hmm - This contract would supersede the interim superintendent contract so Jones would immediately get his new salary. - He gets 13 paid holidays (it was 12 but they inserted Juneteenth). - He gets $700 a month for using his own car.  - He gets $1,000 a year towards life insurance but the contract does not stipulate that it has to be used for that.  - For his retirement acco...

Update (from the Seattle Education Association Facebook page, bold mine): You may have received notice from SPS that they are making masks optional starting Monday, March 14. SPS unilaterally implemented this change in masking policy. We are deeply disappointed that SPS has violated our collective agreement to bargain the change. This causes chaos and confusion for staff and families. Bargaining was scheduled to start Friday. Second post: A statement by Jennifer Matter, President of SEA, and Uti Hawkins, Bargaining Chair of SEA: SEA Response to SPS Announcing Masks Optional We are deeply disappointed by Seattle Public Schools’ masking announcement today which is completely contrary to its prior statements and commitments to its educators and the community and it is in violation of our contractual MOU with the District. The public and SEA members believed the District when it announced, "Future decisions on mask use within the district will be made in partnership with public heal...