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Friday, February 1, 2013

Seattle Schools Community Forum: What is a service, a program, and a school

Seattle Schools Community Forum: What is a service, a program, and a school:


What is a service, a program, and a school

The Superintendent has written his procedure for policy 2200, Equitable Access to Programs & Services, and it is a tangled mess.


It defines a service as:
"A service is required by federal, state or local law and regulations to provide supplementary support to basic education."
Examples include Special Education and ELL services.


It defines a program as:
"A program may offer educational opportunities that are not mandated by law or regulation. While schools offer a variety of approaches to instruction, using a particular pedagogy does not create a program under this policy. Students access programs through an established assignment process consistent with the student assignment plan. Students must opt in and/or qualify for the program."
Examples include: APP, Spectrum, Montessori, and STEM programs. That's okay. Other examples, however, include: AP classes, IB classes, and ALO's. That's a problem.

AP classes, IB classes, and ALOs don't meet the definition. While students do have to opt it for them and