Seattle Schools Community Forum

 In a huge surprise, Director Vivian Song and Director Lisa Rivera jointly resigned on Song's Facebook page today. (Thank you to reader Julie for this early warning.) In its entirety: It has been a tremendous honor to serve the students, families and staff of Seattle Public Schools, as well as all the people of Seattle, who elected us to these roles in city-wide elections. So, it is with great regret that we feel compelled to submit our resignations as School Board Directors, effective Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. We have both experienced significant changes to our family situations, which have prompted both of us to move outside the boundaries of our internal director districts. Separations happen. Divorce happens. Sometimes the rules simply don’t reflect the realities of modern family life, and should certainly never be exploited in the media while plans are made and laws interpreted to determine the right path for Seattle Public Schools and the public trust. In recent years, our b...

I have a rule about anonymous comments that has been in play for years.  It is - NO ANONYMOUS COMMENTS. It simply is not that hard to give yourself a name/moniker.  I let it slide sometimes if I think a comment is worthy but I'm tired of pointing this out and asking, "Please no anonymous comments." If you don't see your comment, go check and see if you put a name to. If not, then there's your answer.

There are four bills in the Washington State Legislature this session around charter school funding.  Not only will charter schools receive more dollars from the state, if charter schools in Seattle start accessing both operations levies AND capital levies, you will see a direct hit to SPS. That budget deficit will only get larger if these bills pass.   These bills will make the above happen. I am begging you to contact to your senator and house representative NOW. Here's how: There are 4 bills in the legislature about charter school funding. Each Senate bill is linked to an accompanying House bill. The bills are: SB5809 - HB1418 SB5442 - HB1897 I beg you to contact your legislators and tell them to oppose these bills.  - Here's a very easy link at the Washington State Legislature site that allows you to find your district if you don't know who your reps are.  - An  link to the House representatives . - An link to the Senate.   Here's a synopsis of ...

 Very sad news that Mobarak S. Adam, a 15-year male student at Chief Sealth International High School was shot and died of his wound at the Southwest Pool/Teen Life Center on Tuesday afternoon. The manner of death from the gunshot - homicide, suicide, accidental - is still pending due to the ongoing investigation. Superintendent Brent Jones issued this statement: Like many of you, I am deeply saddened by the loss of this young member of our community. Our central office and school teams are working tirelessly to offer support to the grieving family and the affected school communities. We are collaborating with city officials to coordinate and share resources. Multiple agencies are joining forces to react and respond to this tragedy. Although there is no known threat to our schools due to this event, the Seattle Police Department will have additional patrols around the Chief Sealth and Denny campuses. The Seattle School Board and I remain committed to creating welcoming...

This is a very difficult topic because, as seen by the public testimony at the last Seattle School Board meeting, emotions are running high.  The Seattle School Board made a commitment to Black Lives Matter in Schools via a resolution in 2017, after the first BLM in Schools day in 2016 started at John Muir Elementary.  Nearly every year since then - 2018-2019, 2019-2020, 2020-2021  - the Board has put out this same resolution.  They didn't in 2021-2022 probably because the schools were closed because of the pandemic. Why they didn't in 2022-2023, I don't know but it's not in their list of resolutions passed that year at the SPS website.  Here's an educator guide to BLM in Schools week developed by several departments/groups in Seattle Public Schools. Here's a very complete guide/list including lessons and resources from the D.C. Area Educators for Social Justice. But now we come to school year 2023-2024. Per the recent Board testimony, it appears that there i...

  Update 1: Two items. One, the Seattle Times seems to be testing the pot-stirring waters with this article today, The Seattle School Board rule that nobody seems to want to enforce. They impart almost nothing new and the headline is a bit off - it's also a law which is more important. Problem is, WHO is the enforcer?  King County Elections also deflected responsibility, saying the office’s role is limited to checking if a candidate is eligible to run when they file in May. That’s when staffers check voter registration records. After that, they are “not responsible for monitoring ongoing eligibility and don’t have any authority to get involved,” said Halei Watkins, the communications manager for the office. Also in the article,  So now it’s up to Song to decide what to do. On Friday, Song declined to comment. My impression is Song is not going to do or say anything. Seattle needs geographic requirements for its board members because it is a segregated city, Rankin sa...