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Denny-Sealth: New date for Westwood meeting

January 30, 2008 10:44 pm
|      8 COMMENTS
 |   Denny-Sealth | West Seattle news | West Seattle schools | Westwood

Now that the school district has set its Sealth-Denny community meeting for Monday 2/4 (flyer), the Westwood Neighborhood Council has moved its previously planned forum from 2/5 to 2/12 (the night before the School Board considers whatever becomes the district’s recommended option). Here’s the official news release just sent out by WNC president Steve Fischer:

The Westwood Neighborhood Council has announced plans to sponsor a five-person panel discussion designed to provide information about the Seattle Public School District’s controversial decision to combine Sealth High School and Denny Middle School. The event will take place on February 12, at 7 PM in the Sealth High School Commons located at 2600 SW Thistle Street in the Westwood neighborhood of West Seattle.

The Council is organizing a moderated discussion among five panelists about the School District’s decision to combine the two schools (options 1 and 2) or retain two separate schools (option 3). Key discussion will address academic and social needs of middle- and high-school students, and will include questions from audience members.

Enrique Cerna, Director of Production for KCTS TV Channel 9 will moderate a diverse panel of qualified people, including Seattle School Board Member Steve Sundquist, who
will answer questions from the public about this proposed project.

“The Council has held meetings on other topics recently. In each case, parents and other community members said they wanted information about the Denny-Sealth project. We want to provide a forum for people to ask questions and get information,” said Steve Fischer, president of the Westwood Neighborhood Council. “We are striving to present an un-biased format that allows a range of opinions. People in the community have very strong feelings about this issue.”

The Seattle School District Board of Directors has announced plans to discuss the project at their February 13 meeting and vote on it at their February 27 meeting.

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8 Replies to "Denny-Sealth: New date for Westwood meeting"

  • John Wright February 1, 2008 (11:43 pm)

    http://www.seattleschools.org/schools/chiefsealth/bex_feb4.pdf
    In case anybody wants to see the flyer the district sent out to West Seattle families for their Monday February 4th “public meeting”, click on the above link. As both a Sealth teacher and local resident within walking distance of the school I received it in the mail today (2/1). The meeting is 2/4. It was stamped internal to the district for 1/30 and presort stamped by USPS 1/31. Not much notice for the neighborhood. Reportedly the notice went to 2500 homes in West Seattle (Sealth families, Denny families and 5th grade families).
    It specifically states “We will discuss each option in the modernization of Chief Sealth High School and the construction of a new Denny Middle School, and ask for your feedback as part of the School Board decision-making process”. Sounds like an important opportunity to present views in favor of rebuilding Denny on Denny’s current site. As Steve Sundquist will be at the Westwood meeting on the 12th there now are two opportunities for people to express their view as schedules permit. Of course, there’s always contacting the Board members directly via email ( http://www.seattleschools.org/area/board/contact.xml ).
    Also, a notice was sent out by Sealth to families via students yesterday (1/31) in English, Spanish, Somali & Vietnamese.

  • WSB February 1, 2008 (11:59 pm)

    That same flyer is linked in the post above this comment and has been since we filed it – district PR sent it to us a couple days ago, though we also reported on the meeting date having been set, minutes after it was announced at the School Board meeting Jan. 23. Interesting note re: receiving it in the mail (we are a mile from Denny and Sealth so I guess we’re out of range).

  • Moonflower February 2, 2008 (6:33 am)

    We’re 4 blocks away and we didn’t get a notice.

  • Steve Taylor February 2, 2008 (8:27 am)

    Moonflower, I am told per the Seattle School District’s own “rules” that such hand out notification/s only need to be distributed to houses / homes within three hundred feet of Chief Sealth High School. Such has previously been proven to not be effective, or even properly administered, or executed. One of the many reasons why so little notification is provided by the Seattle School District as a whole regarding BEX information. I personally only know of one family who lives within the three hundred foot notification area, who has also personally appealed to John Boyd regarding their interest to receive information, and they still did not receive information… They have publicly stated such at previous BEX meetings. All John Boyd does is apologize, offering again to get them their desired information. Depending upon the students chosen to deliver such information, is where such notification often fails. Some students do their assigned / volunteered task/s other students do not. Walking into Chief Sealth High School, and inquiring to the Chief Sealth High School Office Staff could gleam a person some information. I wish a person the best of luck should a person choose such. Thank you.

    Steve Taylor

  • Indaknow February 3, 2008 (8:22 pm)

    We live right between Sealth and Denny. We got 2 notices (one in our CSHS son’s name, and one in our Madison MS daughter’s name) both on Friday February 1st. Yesterday February 2nd we got a third identical letter addressed to “resident”.

  • Sasha February 4, 2008 (10:18 pm)

    I have to ask, if Delfino is going to be on the WNC pannel, is a Denny staff member? It doesn’t seem like a very balanced panel with only one teacher from one school. Reading the other posts, the obvious choice to ensure balance would be Mr. Pimpleton.

    One a side note, I went to tonight’s meeting, and I have to say, if my children went to CSH, I would be disapointed that his teachers thought so little of him as to say the types of things the CSH teachers were saying about thier students.

  • Steve Taylor February 5, 2008 (3:18 pm)

    Would it be more appropriate / accurate to have one of the seven percent of Chief Sealth Sealth Teachers in favor of BEX be on the panel as well as Delfino for example, demonstrating a somewhat equal representation from each significant view point, along with the same scenario representing Denny Middle School? Possibly a parent / community member representing each significant view point as well? Only problem with such I am immediately aware of is the Denny staff I am aware of that oppose the BEX 1 & 2 are not willing to publicly express such as of yet… I am told one might be, however I have not recently been able to converse with that person. Thank you.

    Steve Taylor

  • Steve Taylor February 14, 2008 (5:46 pm)

    Indaknow, if I understand you correctly above, you mention your household received three of notices of the same information? If such is correct, would that mean the district possibly only sent our notification to fifteen thousand households, rather than forty five thousand households? I wonder how many households received triplicate mailing information from the District. Like to see those District postage dollars spent so sparingly… Thank you.

    Steve Taylor

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