Reading thru the Seattle Schools Board meeting agenda, I see an irony given today's heated debate over the Israel/Gaza war.  SPS has scheduled a high school graduation on a Muslim holiday and people are unhappy and want it changed. (Spoiler alert; that would be hard to do now.) I recall several years back when Jewish parents were upset because kindergarten started on a Jewish holiday and they were unhappy and wanted it changed.  Given the diversity, in SPS, my understanding is SPS tries to be aware of religious holidays but cannot always accommodate all of them. Something of a rock a ..read more

One is an opt-out letter to refuse for your child to do state testing. Parents may have many reasons to opt their student out and it is allowed by law in Washington State to do so. The other item is a webinar from the Parent Coalition for Student Privacy; Join us on Monday, May 6 at 8 PM ET; 7 PM CT; 6PM MT. Find out how you can ensure your children's personal data including their test scores are NOT sold by the College Board or ACT. Here's a registration link ..read more

 The Seattle School Board will have their regularly schedule Board meeting tonight, starting at 4:15 pm. Agenda Public Testimony It appears the majority of comments will be coming from Muslim students who are unhappy that Cleveland High School's graduation is scheduled on a Muslim holiday, Eid al-Adha. I'm a little surprised that staff didn't check this. The only available date to switch would be with Ballard HS which is the only graduation scheduled before June 17th.  There are several speakers on ELL and equity. One is City of SeaTac Councilmember, James W. Lovell. There are 1 ..read more

 From a reader comment: Desperate parent here trying to connect with others in the same boat.   Is no one going to talk about the school choice waitlist for next year?   Why is this school admin a joke? I'm thinking this reader meant the district administration but waitlists are a continuing issue for many parents.  It appears that it never seems clear to parents how they work, do schools have any autonomy over them (I suspect they do) and why it has to be so byzantine?    A comment on Facebook: The language on the website is changed to now suggest that if y ..read more

 I am going to sit in on the brief Board "special meeting" today on the process of curriculum adoption in Washington State. I did ask about any attached documentation but I received no answer and there is still nothing there. But I did want to note something that came up rather quickly - one day's notice - of an "Open House" on the renovation of Memorial Stadium. I first saw this in a tweet and was surprised I had not seen it at the district's calendar. But the Board office sends out THEIR calendar and an update was sent out on the 16th for this open house and a possible quorum of direct ..read more

I see the Board has a curious "special meeting" for tomorrow. It's a half-hour meeting about: Board Development 4:30 p.m.* • Overview of Curriculum Adoption Process in Washington State Adjourn 5:00 p.m. There is no documentation attached.  I'm thinking, due to the brevity of this meeting, this is just some kind of legally required overview for the benefit of all the newbies on the Board. Curriculum adoption is a lot more complex than a half-hour meeting. It's a little sad that the Board is giving this topic so little when, if they did it right, it would be a good time for parents, student ..read more

Interesting story from The Seattle Times on Seattle Schools' declining enrollment. The article does include a questionnaire from the Times so do let them know your thoughts. The Seattle school system lost nearly 4,000 students in about five school years, and the district’s most optimistic projections do not forecast a significant rebound in the next decade. Now, SPS is hoping that a $100,000 state grant to conduct a survey and do other market research will help it understand why families are opting out — or not enrolling their children in its schools in the first place — and find ways to attra ..read more

Linda Jacobson writes for The 74, an education news site, and is interested in talking to families about Check Yourself — a mental health survey that several King County school districts give to middle school students.  Some people, including parents, have complained for years that there are privacy risks. Others say they're not too concerned.  Linda is just looking for more input, especially from parents whose children recently took the survey. Or from a parent who opted out.    You can reach her at linda@the74million.org ..read more

A parent has let me know about this transgression that should trouble all SPS parents. Here's what happened. In January of 2020, a Garfield parent received a call from then Vice Principal Gregory Barnes. She was told her child had been accosted by Barnes and asked to come to his office. Also in the office was the former Resource Officer, Rosel Ellis, a Seattle Police officer. Ted Howard II was the principal in school year 2019-2020. I can't discuss the issue at hand for that day. However, the parents of the student were not happy about the events of that day and, later in the year,  began ..read more

One issue is the financial situation for Seattle Schools. According to the last Budget Work Session held during the last Board meeting: SPS faces a projected deficit of $104M - $111 million for 2024-2025.  I am unsure what raised that amount that had been $104M to $111M but it's not good news.  Now SPS is suggesting an "interfund loan" where the district would "borrow" about $25-35M from the Capital side to shift to Operations. And "to be repaid by June 30, 2026." (This is a legal option via state law.)  The district hasn't even made a move to repay the rainy day fund they used ..read more