Seattle Schools Community Forum

 

  BECU (Boeing Employees Credit Union) teams with the College Success Foundation to award a minimum of 64 scholarships each year for high school seniors or those undergraduates at a 2/4 year or technical college or university.  This year, we're proud to announce a new partnership with the  College Success Foundation , a nonprofit that makes higher education opportunities more accessible to students who are low-income, disenfranchised, BIPOC and the first in their families to attend college.   Award Details Each awarded scholarship is $2,500 and renewable for two years ($5,000 total). With the help of our business partners, member donations, and fundraising activities, we award a minimum of 64 scholarships each year. 2023 Application Dates Online applications are available as of Dec. 1, 2022, and close at 11:59 pm PST on Jan. 31, 2023. Eligibility To be eligible for this award, you must: Be a member of BECU and primary accountholder at the time of the application sub...

 Hampson's reply to the Court of Appeals (via her lawyers) was almost a week late. Apparently, there was this holiday called Thanksgiving that her lawyer forgot was happening and he had plans, blah, blah,blah. You might not even need to read the entire thing because the Argument outline (pages i and ii) say more than enough.  Now I am not a lawyer so I'll let lawyers duke it out over using De Novo review. But here's what I see in the outline: - The claim is that it was an "exploitation" of the HIB policy " to block an elected school board director's effort to guide the development of a districtwide policy."  There is nowhere in the district's investigative report that said anything about either staffer deliberately trying to block Hampson's efforts. Neither staffer was against the policy and both tried to make sure many community members weighed in (as Hampson desired). As well, you might need to extrapolate that the then-superintendent,...

 Looks like the Seattle Education Association (the Seattle teachers union) is supporting a demonstration on Friday for Starbucks workers who are fighting to create a union. It will be on Capitol Hill where Starbucks apparently closed their last store at Denny and Broadway over safety issues. Oddly, the workers had been begging for a security guard and the company did nothing for months. When I visited Seattle last, I was quite surprised to see the Starbucks at Roosevelt Square closed. I was told it was because of "safety." One, that place was always packed and especially at RHS's lunchtime. Two, I could think of many other neighborhoods that might have more safety issues. Not saying there aren't safety issues in many areas where there are Starbucks, but you have to wonder if it also has something to do with efforts to unionize.  Starbucks still has its huge, glamorous Roastery open on Capital Hill; I'd bet there's security guys in there.  Nova High School ar...

Seattle Public Schools - Via the school board meeting on Wednesday, Superintendent Jones thanked the current Board officers and said that the Board will be having their election for new board officers at the next board meeting.  This should be interesting because the majority will absolutely not allow anyone but one of the four of them to be president. Director Michelle Sarju says little and it's a public-facing job so, not her. Both Hersey and Hampson have already been president and Hampson has already been twice vp and once president. (Oddly, she doesn't say she was president on her official SPS page but it does on her LinkedIn page.)  That would leave Director Liza Rankin and if you want longer Board meetings, she'd provide them.  No, my money is on Hersey running again for president and Rankin for VP.  (To note, Director Leslie Harris has been Board president twice.)  - Via The Seattle Times - Seattle school enrollment levels off, but district still faces b...

Update:  see end of post There are so many stories I want to write about and I do feel a bit overwhelmed. But this story needs to be shared. Please let the Board, your City Councilperson, your King County Councilperson but especially your state elected know that SOMETHING NEEDS TO CHANGE. I was reminded of this at last night's Board meeting when former head of the Seattle Special Education PTSA, Janis White, testified about the story in relation to her own child. She said district staff at suggested she send her child to a school named in The Seattle Times article. She said issues with this school - Northwest School of Innovative Learning (SOIL) - had been known about by SPS as far back as 2015 and that the Board - not the Superintendent - should step up. Here's the Times' story - At Washington Special Education Schools, Years of Abuse Complaints and Lack of Academics by Mike Reicher and Lulu Ramadan. (all bold mine) A therapist emailed about a teenage boy with severe aut...

Dear SPS Families, Seattle Public Schools (SPS) is committed to strengthening communication and community engagement. This school year, we are working with the National School Public Relations Association (NSPRA) to review our communication efforts. This effort will help us better meet your communication needs. NSPRA is conducting focus groups to gather feedback from our diverse Seattle Public Schools community. You are invited to take part in a focus group of families of students who receive special education services.  The focus group will be held Wednesday, Nov. 30, 6 - 7 p.m. Participants will meet with an NSPRA auditor via a secure Zoom online meeting. You can join with a computer, smartphone or other mobile device from a quiet, private location. The auditor will ask questions about the communication efforts of our school district and perceptions of its current image and future challenges. NSPRA maintains the anonymity of focus group participants in its reporting. Only the mem...