Seattle Schools Community Forum: Good News About Long-requested Improvements

Seattle Schools Community Forum: Good News About Long-requested Improvements:

Good News About Long-requested Improvements

One of the recurring themes among the criticisms of Seattle Public Schools centers on annual reports. These reports are required by policy but either the reports simply are not made, such as the report required by Policy 3208, Sexual Harassment, or the reports clearly fail to meet the requirements listed in the policy, such as the quarterly and annual reports required by Policy 2200, Equitable Access to Programs & Services.

You should all be familiar with the routine. Each year the superintendent and staff submits a woefully inadequate report. Each year I complain about it and beg the Board to demand a compliant report. Each year the Board accepts the report without complaint. Each year the culture of non-compliance is strengthened and transparency is weakened.

But this year there's something new. This year the superintendent and the staff are bringing forward a different kind of report for Policy 2090, Program Evaluation & Assessment.



Take a look at the agenda for the Board Curriculum and Instruction Policy Committee meeting of November 9. Scroll all the way down to page 163 - five pages from the end - and you will see the draft of the annual report.

The staff has taken a few important steps:

1. They have acknowledged that the policy requires a report.
2. They have acknowledged the value of such a report.
3. They are working on a plan to deliver a report.

Now, before we go out and get all mushy with gratitude, please remember:

• The District staff are not providing a report that meets the requirements of the policy this year. They continue to be out of compliance with the policy.
• The staff haven't promised that they will deliver this report next year either. They will continue to be out of compliance with the policy for at least another year.
• The staff has promised to provide this report in previous years; a Seattle Schools Community Forum: Good News About Long-requested Improvements: