Seattle Schools Community Forum:
Seattle Times Education Lab Blog check-in
Focus on the Southeast
Honor Roll? Should We Care?
Teens, Sex and High School Health Centers
Seattle Schools Community Forum
Seattle Times Education Lab Blog check-in
The Seattle Times started Education Lab on October 24. Education Lab is supposed to be a public conversation about what works in education.I've just made a quick review of the most recent Education Lab stories, the ones on the front page. About half of them have no comments at all. Nearly all of the others have only one comment. Public participation on this blog appears low.Surely they must be con
Seattle Schools School Board Meeting- November 20th
Here is the updated agenda for the Board meeting on Wednesday. To sign up to speak, you must call (252-0040) or e-mail (boardagenda@seattleschools.org) at 8 am on Monday morning.To note:- changes were made to the Pinehurst Action Item. Kudos to parent John Chapman who crunched the numbers and made the query to staff about comparing the costs per student at Pinehurst versus other K-8s. It went
Pottergate: Done and a Lesson Learned
The Seattle Times is reporting the following:- Silas Potter was sentenced to 3 years, 7 months in jail. He could get credit for the eight and a half months time that he has already spent in jail. - One accomplice, David Johnson, was convicted in early November of 30 counts and will sentenced in early Jan.- Potter and Johnson "are jointly responsible for restitution of $168, 275." - The
mark as read
There are no real or urgent capacity issues in the southeast part of the city. Consequently, a lot of the people there are puzzled by the changes proposed for that part of town and Director Patu is reported to be preparing an amendment to the Growth Boundary plan that will call for the deletion of any changes for the Southeast.What is going on in the Southeast - and, more to the point, why?The changes in elementary school attendance areas in the Southeast are not being driven by capacity issues, the projected growth of APP being the only possible capacity driver south of I-90. Many of the chan
A Florida mom was really upset when she received notice from her son's middle school when he was named to the school's honor roll.Why?Because he received a C and a D and she didn't believe he deserved it. From Gawker:"The bottom line is there is nothing honorable about making a D," the Pasco County, Florida mom told a local news station. "I was not happy, because how can I get my child to study for a test when he thinks he's done enough."In addition to the D, Douglas also got three A's and a C, giving him a GPA of 3.16 — more than enough to be counted among the school's bes
Seattle Public Schools, via our generous voters and the City's Families and Education Levy, funds a health center in every comprehensive high school in the district (and I believe one there are four at middle schools). Correction (I had not reviewed my notes thoroughly but the following is correct): In Washington State, minors can consent to reproductive health services at any age without parental consent. In addition, youth ages 13 and over can consent to their own mental health treatment. Parental consent is needed for other health services. (And the sheet sent home is that consent form.
YESTERDAY
Sacajawea Meeting with Director Carr
I did not attend this meeting last night. If you did, could you please fill us in?
Friday Open Thread
Hogwarts (if it were graded under an A to F school grading law). Thanks to reader Tammy. Looks like Director DeBell is already looking for a new gig - he's applying to be a PCO for the 43rd district (where apparently he lives now). It may be a prelude for the appointment to fill the representative seat being vacated by Jamie Pedersen in the 43rd (Pedersen is filling Ed Murray's senate seat). By
Fall Family Symposium - November 23
From Seattle Public Schools, Public Affairs:Seattle Public Schools is committed to preparing all of our students to graduate ready for college, careers and life. The goal of the Family Symposium is to support our families as critical partners in their students' academic success. At this symposium, families and community partners will learn how to support student academic achievement at home and in
NOV 14
Growth Boundaries Work Session Part Two
I am going to attempt to slog through all my notes but I expect Charlie, Kellie and Meg to chime in here as we were all sitting at the back taking notes. (And, I had to take a phone call during part of the APP middle school discussion.) Staff has done an incredible job in creating the various plans. No one can truly know how long it must have taken and the tedious but important job of determini
NOV 13
Live Blogging from Growth Boundaries
As Blogger is quite wonky on my iPad, not a lot here.One thing is clear - there will be no delay. They are going through the 21 amendments and no one is saying, hit pause. The district has a sheet on Assumptions. One is a change from 10-year planning to 5-year planning. Two is APP projections and how the program has grown. Three is implementation "5-year planning horizon, in conjunction w
Upcoming Board Meetings
I wasn't able to attend the Executive Committee meeting this morning but Board staff were kind enough to give me the handouts (thanks Lily and Teresa). As a heads up, a couple of things from the Legislative agenda (aka School Board agenda).- November 20th. The Growth Boundaries discussion/vote is the fifth Action item on the agenda. Two items ahead of it will likely go quickly but the Special Ed
Pinehurst Fights Back
Parents do the work to defend their schools and Pinehurst is challenging the per student figure for Pinehurst students versus other students.As usual, parents step up with extensive research. Pinehurst is no exception and here is a letter to Superintendent Banda asking for an explanation of the costs announced to the Board per student at Pinehurst versus other K-8s.The claim in the Superintendent
Growth Boundaries PTA Meeting Last Night
Board Amendment Work SessionWed. November 13th, 5:30 pmJohn Stanford Center for Excellent Education at 3rd and Lander in SoDoThis will be the first preview of proposed, first-draft Board Director Amendments. Note that whatever is presented today may not see daylight in the end. The Seattle Council PTSA hosted a meeting last night with district staff. Here is what one person heard:"It is c
Mea Culpa
"The Mann thing has had a clear affect on you. That comment, in which you hinted about the identify of an anonymous commenter, is something a couple of years ago, you came on someone else about. It was a wrong turn."Those are the words Charlie wrote to me and he is right. The sadness and frustration I feel over the Mann situation should not have colored my judgment. It's not an excus
KIRO-TV's Second Part of their Investigation into District Spending
KIRO ran the second part of their series last night. This part was around the part of the district audit used by their team that dealt with use of district vehicles and gasoline. I was interviewed and make a statement about being disappointed that the oversight isn't better. This part is as sobering as the first one. (I know that there are a variety of opinions on this series but that the dis
NOV 12
State of the District Shuffle
The superintendent declared the State of the District to be fabulous, despite failing to meet 22 of 23 statistical goals for academics.The District remains focused on closing the academic achievement gap, but still refuses to develop a plan to achieve the goal. The Superintendent claims some progress and attributes it to improved instructional quality resulting from the new teacher evaluation syst
The Right Person Got Elected in District IV
I print that title because I just read the Parent Map editorial about the School Board races. It's a race that should be viewed as a bellwether for the future of the national debate about public education.That's a big statement but the editorial goes on to note the concern over:big money in a school board campaignnegative campaigningDale Estey, who claimed not to be aware of or in control of some
Seattle Schools CFO named
From SPS Communications and Superintendent Banda:I’m very pleased to announce that Kenneth Gotsch has been hired as Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance. He brings extensive experience to the district and will join us on December 2, filling the position vacated by Duggan Harman.As Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance, Mr. Gotsch will provide leadership and expertise in fi
Tuesday Open Thread
I was fortunate enough to go to the ACLU dinner on Saturday night and they premiered a new promo by Macklemore for ACLU. It's pointedly funny (he is, as he says, a rapper) and effective.From Gizmodo, a pretty great domino smackdown featuring a card trick and imploding domino structures - show the kids.Also for the kids about resiliency, Doodlealley's "Be Friends with Failure." Maybe so
NOV 11
KIRO 7 District Budget Investigations
Here's the first story, overtime pay for exempt employees and sick leave pay out.More to come.
Mann Building Update
Water/electricity/heat are shut off. Illegal tenants have a generator running and "guards" at the building. There are many more signs up on the fence and black plastic draping the stairs.Naturally, there have been no classes going on and most educational materials are being stored in the portable at the site.KIRO reported receiving a voice mail asking them to not shine their camera lig
Learn To Code
There is a big push throughout the country for all students (heck, everybody) to learn to code. Do I know how? Nope but I think it's a fine idea. It allows everyone to tweak or invent. Here's the latest from UW's Department of Computer Science & Engineering.Computer Science Education Week is December 9-15, 2013 but never too soon to start planning. What's an Hour of Code?It's a one-hour in
Late Start Petition
If you are interested, read the petition and sign it. It has over 3500 signatures already.
Job Board
Hey, Education Activists! Looking for a way to make a vocation of your avocation? Want to follow your passion? Do you believe that if you do what you love you'll never work a day in your life? Here's an opportunity!Teach for America is looking for a Development Manager in Seattle.Want to work for the District? There are exciting opportunities such as:Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finan
District Scorecard
The Board will conduct a work session to discuss the District Scorecard on Wednesday, the 13th, starting at 4:30pm.Here is a link to the scorecard. You will notice that while the district made positive annual change on 20 of the 23 measures for Academic Growth and Student Outcomes, and has seen positive change over the baseline on 21 of the 23 measures, the District has met only 1 of the 23 target
NOV 10
Slow the Train? Have a One-Year Plan? Full Speed Ahead?
As I wrote for the Seattle Schools This Week thread:FINAL Work Session: Growth Boundaries - Wednesday, November 13th, 5:30-7:30 pm. This is big because it will most likely be the first viewing of Director amendments to the plan and the discussion around it. If you can only attend one meeting, this one is it. The agenda has no presentation attached (and I doubt it will until Wednesday but I wil
Raising Awareness
In light of discussions we have had at this blog, I offer some ideas about creating better understanding.KUOW has had a great series called Black in Seattle. On Wednesday, Nov. 13, they are having an event, Black in Seattle: Continuing the Conversation at Washington Hall at 153 14th Avenue at 6 pm. Free and open to the public. The group, School's Out Washington is offering two caucuses - one f
Mercer Middle School Burglarized
From Seattle.gov (thanks to reader Lynn):Detectives are investigating an early morning arson and burglary to one of the portable classrooms at Asa Mercer Middle School in the 1600 block of South Columbian Way.At around 1:30 this morning, Seattle Fire responded to a fire alarm at the school. SFD found evidence of forced entry and arson. SPD was called and detectives from the Arson/Bomb Squad (AB
Seattle Schools This Week
To note: KIRO-tv (channel 7) will be running a two-part series on district spending on Monday and Tuesday. Monday, November 11thNo school in honor of Veteran's DayTuesday, November 12thRoad Map to College event, 2:30-5:30 pm at Ingraham High SchoolWednesday, November 13thQuite the important and jam-packed day.Executive Committee Meeting, 8:30-10:00 am. Agenda. Given what has been on the agenda i
Random Thoughts about Seattle Schools from Comments
An apology to Director-elect Stephan Blanford; I said he was not at the Board meeting and he was. (I walked the perimeter of the crowded room once; he may have entered after that or I just missed him.)To note: I thought by putting up a thread on the Positive Climate and Discipline Advisory Committee that I might draw more people in who have concerns around the disproportionate treatment of Africa
NOV 09
The Confusion that is Africatown
Here are a couple of photos, all taken in the same room at the Mann Building, that show why some of us are confused about what the real mission is for Africatown. I do not know when they were written but they were left up during the press conference I attended. Mann as a "safe haven for radical thought" or an art space or a fashion academy or a "cannibis farmer's market".They
Saturday Director Community Meetings
Any reports back from either Director Carr or Director Smith-Blum's meetings?
NOV 08
Mann Building Update
The Latest:Based on information I got today at the BEX Oversight Committee meeting, I knew that it was likely that an attempt would be made to clear the Mann Building. I observed the building for a period of time late this afternoon. I saw several people stop and look at the still-locked gates including a construction truck and private electrician company truck. I saw no one come in or out of t
I Support Kellie LaRue's "Let's Hit the Pause Button" Approach
We are fortunate to have some really smart, savvy and qualified-to-speak parents like Kellie LaRue. She has written to the Board about the Growth Boundaries and below are her thoughts. I support them all.Yes, I know that there has been a lot of good, hard work on this effort. But because parents were not really included in the planning in a meaningful way, we are now at the point where people a
Postive Climate and Discipline Advisory Committee
The district is looking for new members for this committee. The deadline is November 15th.This might be a good time to talk about discipline issues in our schools. What have you seen at your school, good and bad, in how teachers and principals handle discipline issues? What do you think would help - more strategies, more cultural competencies, stricter discipline (if you think it is lax), unif
Downtown School Update
There continues to be discussion of a downtown elementary school. The Downtown Seattle Association has released a new feasibility study and it appears to lend support to the idea. Downtown is proving an increasingly desirable residential zone for families with children. There are not a lot of school-age children there - not enough to justify the creation of a school, but the number is growing quic
Friday Open Thread
Two Director Community meetings tomorrow:Director Carr from 8:30-10:30 am at Bethany Community ChurchDirector Smith-Blum from 10 am to 11:30 am at Douglass Truth LibraryRemember that commercial about pollution from the '70s with the Native American man surveying what pollution had done to the land? The one that ends with the tear down his cheek? Here's an inspiring video that I believe all childr