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Monday, October 15, 2012

Seattle Schools Community Forum: What They Say vs What They Do

Seattle Schools Community Forum: What They Say vs What They Do:


What They Say vs What They Do

Tell me that I'm not the only one troubled by the wide gap between what the District leadership says - mostly the Board, but senior staff as well - and what they do.

They say that they are committed to transparency, but they never offer any. We went through this long process for the BEX IV plan with all kinds of community meetings and you would think that every idea was aired and discussed, but then, at the 11th hour, they interject this weird Jane Addams to Pinehurst idea. It comes out of nowhere and there's no time left to discuss it. And what, exactly, is the process for program placement decisions? What is the rationale behind under-funding the "non-traditional" schools?

They say that they are committed to community engagement, but look at the motions that come before the Board. The vast majority of them have had no community engagement at all. The Board's primary community engagement, public testimony, has been squeezed and reduced and diminished.

They say that they support advanced learning, but they have made a mockery of ALOs, they have destroyed Spectrum, and they are actively ripping APP apart. When have they ever supported advanced learning in any


How the District Cheats Four Schools

There are four schools which are cheated by the District every year. They are South Lake, The Center School, The NOVA Project, and The World School. These are high schools which are not funded in accordance with the Weighted Staffing Standard used to fund every other high school. Instead of getting the funding that they are supposed to get, these schools get much, much less.

High schools with enrollment under 800 are supposed to be funded with these staff positions:


High School Staffing Using AAFTE for 800 p="p" students:="students:" Principal 1.0
Asst. Principal 1.0
Admin. Secretary (260) 1.0
Data Registrar (220) 1.0
Attendance Spec. (201) 1.0
Fiscal Specialist (220) 1.0
Activity Coordinator 1.0
Nurse 0.8
Counselor* (per 400 students) 1.0
Librarian 1.0
Academic Intervention Specs 1.0

These schools, however, are not allotted these staff positions. These schools are singled out to be intentionally underfunded.

You might think it is because they are small schools, but Rainier Beach High School has an October 1