SUMMARY: Twenty people spoke tonight at the only local hearing the Washington Charter School Commission will have for Summit Public Schools‘ proposal to open West Seattle’s first charter school in a supermarket-turned-church building in Arbor Heights. Only one was a charter-school critic. Another voiced some skepticism. The other 17, including Summit employees and even a recent graduate from a Bay Area Summit school, voiced strong support. The speakers were chosen in a drawing; when they were done, time remained, and many more numbers were called, but almost all those ticketholders seemed to have vanished. Meantime, the commission will make its decision in mid-August and is still taking written comments.
Below, our as-it-happened coverage of tonight’s meeting:
*************
6:12 PM: We’re at what will become, if the state Charter School Commission approves, the home of the first charter school in West Seattle, where three commission members are in attendance for an official public hearing/forum on the proposal. Summit Schools, a California-based charter operator, wants to open a middle-/high-school campus at 9601 35th SW, just purchased by a charter-development firm from Freedom Church (which is leasing back the space until the project gets under way). We’ll be reporting live as the hearing goes.
Joshua Halsey, executive director of the commission (whose members include West Seattleite Steve Sundquist, former member of the Seattle Public Schools board), has just welcomed attendees and explained the process, that the commission will vote to approve or reject Summit’s application in mid-August. Two other commissioners are here, including Trish Millines Dziko, who leads the Technology Access Foundation, which has its headquarters in White Center.
Halsey says speakers will have up to 2 minutes each (longer if they need translation services). A stenographer is here to record the comments. A rough estimate of the crowd? Maybe 100 people, seated in the Freedom pews. Written comments are being accepted, by e-mail and postal mail, between now and July 31st, Halsey says.
And with that, Jen Davis Wickens, Summit’s chief regional officer for Washington, begins her presentation. (We spoke with her for our most-recent story on the proposal, which we’ve been covering since the first of the year, after finding out about it via an application in city Department of Planning and Development files.)
She first shows, on the big screens here in the cavernous former supermarket, a shot from “signing day,” a celebration of college acceptance among Summit schools.
(99 percent of this year’s Summit seniors were accepted to “a 4-year college or university,” according to a slide later in the presentation.) As she had told us in our interview earlier this month, all Summit students are on a “college track.” To go over what that means, she hands the microphone over to Greg Ponikvar, who, if the charter is approved, would lead the West Seattle school.
He talks about the curriculum weaving different subjects – math and science, for example – together. And he discusses the “personalized learning plans” that Summit students receive. The content, he adds, “are organized along the lines of the Common Core subjects.” He says that if attendees visited Summit’s California schools – they have none open in this state yet, though two are set to open next month, in Tacoma and in Seattle’s International District – they could ask about a “growth mindset,” a phrase he says every student knows. And he explains the philosophy of a mentor for each student (one mentor per 18 students, Wickens had told us). Finally, he explains Summit’s “Expeditions” program, which he led, 18 weeks of immersion in an “elective or enrichment … to tap into students’ passions.” In California, they offer more than 45 topics, Ponikvar says.
6:35 PM: Summit’s presentation just ran out of time, after barely 15 minutes. Next, Halsey says those who wished to speak were given a number, and they randomly chose 20 numbers.
First to speak, Sili Savusa, from the White Center Community Development Association, saying she’s talked with Summit leaders about the possibility of White Center students going here. She is a former Highline Public Schools board member. “Parents want choice,” she says. “… The thing I want to be honest about is that, when you have charter programs, I don’t want it to take away all the high-achieving kids out of the public schools … (This) is about education. We need to do this together. Our kids deserve this.” She says charters and regular public schools need to collaborate/cooperate.
Next, Tom Franta, CEO of the Washington Charter School Association, saying he’s here to express full support for the Summit program, and that he sees Summit as an important partner in the launch of charters in our state. He points out that “1 in 5 Washington students does not graduate on time” and says that’s why Summit’s methodology is needed. He calls Summit “a national leader.”
Third speaker, Michael Orbino, a Summit Public Schools board member in Washington, says he grew up in West Seattle and went to Sanislo Elementary, and then says he went through nine other schools before his family found another school district (unnamed) that was appropriate for him. “So this is personal for me.”
Fourth speaker identifies himself as a parent (hard to hear in here, with children playing in the back of the room), saying he was looking at West Seattle High School for his daughter, then heard about Summit, and liked its project-based curriculum, so they pursued it and were accepted.
Fifth, Chris Korsmo from the League of Education Voters, says she is here as a parent, and a West Seattleite. Her son goes to nearby Arbor Heights Elementary. She says this location excites her because it is on (almost) the White Center/West Seattle border, which means the Highline/Seattle districts’ border. “Every one of our kids deserves the opportunity to be one of the 100 percent who get the chance to change their lives, change the trajectory of their family’s lives, (by going) to college.” She looks forward to her son, going into 4th grade, then into Summit for middle/high school.
Sixth, Lindsay Hill, from the Raikes Foundation, says she believes in neighborhood schools and in “high-quality options for all our kids.” She says she is a resident of South Seattle and was the only family on her block to choose the local Seattle Public Schools elementary. She asks the commission to approve the school “for West Seattle.”
Seventh, a woman who says she founded PRIDE Prep, a charter school in Spokane, authorized by the public-school district there, not by the state. She says PRIDE has received a lot of training from Summit.
Eighth, a man named Raul who says he’s from 92.7 FM radio (speaking in Spanish and translated), saying they’re working with Summit and that they’re in White Center, to support the Hispanic community as well as the rest of the community: “We’re here because we believe in education and that we do believe there is a better future, that we can truly bring an impact to society if we are educated.”
Ninth, Kim, who says she will have a child in the Tacoma Summit school this fall and is looking forward to it because she believes his voice and hers will be heard.
Tenth, Laura Rodriguez, who says she is a Summit employee and parent who works from Tacoma. “I have to be honest, a few months ago, when I heard of Summit, I didn’t know much about charter schools,” but she “fell in love with the school and the model” when she went to tour Summit in the Bay Area. She expresses enthusiasm for the area, though referring to it as White Center (this location is in Arbor Heights).
Eleventh, Tiana Lopez, who says she is a Summit employee as well and recently moved here from San Diego, and is the parent of a daughter who recently graduated from a “Summit-type model” of school. She speaks of the importance of the “cognitive skills” on which there’s a focus.
Twelfth, Audrey Gomez, who says she is a founding teacher for one of the Summit schools that’s about to open, and speaks of the importance of teacher diversity. (Earlier, it was noted that Summit so far has hired a teaching staff that is 50 percent of color.) She says she is most excited about Summit because “it has no tracking – all students are held to the same and very very high standard.”
7:06 PM: Thirteenth, James Heugas, director of facilities with Washington Charter Schools Development, which bought this location and will develop it for Summit. He says he is a West Seattle resident and has built many charter schools but is excited finally to be an “internal stakeholder.” He offers high praise for the Summit team members with which he’s worked, and says it’s important to have choices – something he says he didn’t have, going to school in another country.
Fourteenth, a woman who says she is a lifelong West Seattleite with daughters in private schools because she felt “they didn’t have a choice … didn’t have the opportunity I would like them to have.” She recalls having gone to West Seattle schools, including Madison, which at the time had 1,000 students, “too many” in her view. “I would love to see my daughters have the opportunity, growing up on the ‘wrong side of West Seattle,’ which doesn’t exist except when it comes to boundary lines … have the chance to be nourished and fostered and cared for.”
Fifteenth, Colleen Oliver, who says she is here as the Sheri and Les Biller Foundation director: “We support quality public education … whether it’s a district school or a charter school they’re all public … and we believe that we can never have enough high-quality schools.”
Sixteenth, Julie Ortiz, a member of the first graduating class at a Summit school in the Bay Area: “I was asked to reflect on (that) … I connected with the teachers very well … Summit has a quality education, but what’s the (point) if you’re not comfortable at your school?” She grew emotional, saying that the mentor with whom she worked was a big reason why she was comfortable. “I really miss it, that’s why I’m (crying),” she apologized, continuing with the help of notes on a laptop, summarizing it as an “unforgettable experience … I hope others can experience it as well.”
7:15 PM: They’ve gone through all the speakers whose numbers were called and are now calling other numbers – but after dozens more numbers were called, only one more person has come up, a man who says he works for an independent school, which he acknowledges will get competition from Summit, and wants to know how the individualized plans will work for students with different learning needs – “how do you (ensure they move ahead) if there is no tracking?” Next, Nancy, who says she is an Arbor Heights resident and a parent of a fifth grader who is glad for the option, because he otherwise would have to go to a “giant public school” or private school, or outside the district.
Next, Rachel Pelander, who says she too is a parent, and has several concerns about the public-school system – her children are “very different learners,” in some cases requiring that they “work very hard as a family to compensate for (their challenges.” The test-driven system, she adds, brings an artificial pressure, “and it’s heartbreaking to see your second- or third-grader in a panic before school” because of a testing day in which a high score is expected. She also is concerned that a love of learning is not cultivated in regular schools. She concludes that she has many questions about the curriculum and how the classes are structured, and is hoping for a chance to learn more.
Next, a man who is the first person with criticism – he says he’s a Highline teacher and that he believes Summit is making promises on which it can’t deliver, and that its lower class sizes “are at the expense of local taxpayers.” He says their system also equals “taxation without representation” because Summit is not accountable to local taxpayers, and has its own board rather than being accountable to community oversight. He also alleged that the people who didn’t show up when their numbers were called was proof that Summit had stacked the deck with speakers. “Our community deserves better than this corporate sham – please vote against this.” While the pro-Summit speakers drew strong applause, he drew a bit of applause from somewhere in the back of the room.
No more speakers – though more numbers were called – so Summit gets five minutes to make a closing statement, which will conclude the hearing.
But first, commissioner Millines Dziko has a question: She wants to know if the community members who help with teaching the “Expeditions” are paid, and how they are found. “We can hire and pay to bring them into our schools,” replied a Summit rep, adding that some internal teachers also are used to teach these. He then says in summation, “What I heard is there’s a community here who wants a school just like this … we have spoken with hundreds of parents in the community … for our first two schools, we had more than 400 applications …” He recaps more of the high points, and then goes on to mention that Ponikvar, who’s been with Summit for seven years, will spend the next year getting to know the community (assuming the charter is approved). He declared that Summit believes it’s “part of a public-school solution … part of a larger public-education reform …” and he mentions that Summit wants to partner with districts and with other charters who can “take anything we’re using and use it for free.” He mentions stats that Wickens had told us, 82 percent students of color in the first classes at the ID school, 78 percent in Tacoma, and says that’s important.
And Halsey says the forum is over, reiterating that they’ll take written comments until July 31st. (Here’s where to send yours.) The commission’s meeting on August 13th will be at the Georgetown campus of South Seattle College. You can read Summit’s full West Seattle application – 400+ pages – here.
POSTSCRIPT: The first state-authorized charter school in Washington opened in Seattle last year. Six more, including Summit’s first two, are opening this fall. Washington voters approved charter schools in fall 2012, after saying no to three previous proposals. The measure would permit up to 40 to open over the span of five years.
| 55 COMMENTS