Why Does the District Let Good Schools Go Bad?
For those of you who don't know, Laurelhurst Elementary, in the past, has had a solid reputation as an elementary school. Naturally, one reason is the tony neighborhood it sits in. But the neighborhood has always embraced its elementary school. They are one of the few Seattle Schools' elementary schools to have a foundation.
Laurelhurst has been feeling unease and discord for more than a year now. From what I had found out, it started when Sarah Talbot was assigned to it as principal and then around the assignment of a Special Education program for support social and emotional services. It is a self-contained program. (They also have an Access group - 10 students - and Resource group - 30 students.) Here's the FAQ at the Laurelhurst Elementary webpage.
Last spring, there was a large meeting,complete with numerous senior management including Chief of Schools, Michael Starosky. Director Geary, whose child is at that school, was in attendance and so was I.
At that time, there seemed to be two chief issues. One was space and the other was the number of students (about 20) in this Sped program. The space issue was big because of the number of incidents where one of these students would be having an episode and the only place to handle it was out in the hallways where, of course, other students might be passing by. One student had said he/she would jump off the roof and kill him/herself in front of other students.
But the issues now seem to be more about leadership at the school and, now Seattle Schools Community Forum: Why Does the District Let Good Schools Go Bad?:
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