32 Replies to "FOLLOWUP: District announces details of Seattle Public Schools budget-crunch community meeting"

• onion March 10, 2023 (9:04 pm)

  I’m not a parent, but I am curious about how the budget crisis and possible school closures resulting from that budget gap square with the seemingly grandiose plan for rebuilding Alki Elementary.

  • Madeline may March 10, 2023 (10:27 pm)

    I completely agree and have wondered that myself. There are so many fundraisers throughout the year asking us to support this or that sports team or otherwise. Why isn’t the funding spread out to cover sports teams so they don’t constitute have to beg?

    • PRP March 10, 2023 (11:27 pm)

      From the beginning of our two kids being in a Seattle public school, we’ve had to donate and give to our school to meet needs, extend services and basically help teachers out so they weren’t paying for supplies and field trips out of their own pocket. If you want better support at your school, you better hope there is a strong PTSA and other parents that care. Many schools in West Seattle don’t have a strong community to pay for needs and support their kids. They just can’t do it and those kids don’t get the same quality education as other schools right here in your neighborhood. 

      • lafayetteParent March 11, 2023 (10:04 am)

        I would be more willing to donate to our child’s PTA and school if I knew that the funds would stay at the school but unfortunately they’ve started diverting portions of it to other schools so we’ve stopped contributing            

        • Kyle March 11, 2023 (1:20 pm)

          God forbid wealthy PTAs contribute to equity at other public elementary schools in West Seattle.

        • DBurns March 11, 2023 (3:23 pm)

          This comment is frightening. I’m stunned. 

        • Kyle March 11, 2023 (8:11 pm)

          Frightening that someone won’t contribute to their child’s PTA because their PTA engages in fund sharing with less wealthy West Seattle elementary schools? I agree. It’s also usually a small percentage.

        • AlsoALafayetteParent March 12, 2023 (7:47 am)

          Lafayette Parent, you’ve stopped giving donations to the PTA because they gave a minuscule amount to the west seattle equity fund last year? Come to a PTA meeting and voice your concern rather than being a chicken and posting a passive aggressive comment on a blog. Don’t worry though, your kids raised in a hateful home will still benefit from all the wonderful things your PTA and its generous donors provide.

  • Charles Burlingame March 10, 2023 (11:20 pm)

    The school district has a separate capital levy. It was on your ballot, parent or no.

• Why March 10, 2023 (9:44 pm)

  Will there be an opportunity for the public to ask questions or comment, or is it just an SPS dog and pony show? The school board is supposedly so anxious to involve the community (lack of which for the Alki School megabuild notwithstanding) they actually keep track of how much meeting time is devoted to community involvement. Let’s see if SPS or the board really mean it.

  • Frog March 11, 2023 (10:31 am)

    They don’t mean it at all.  The school board knows a priori what the community should want, and will stage a half-hearted “community engagement” effort hoping to get the desired answer, and will just ignore the community if they don’t get the desired answer.  Long history of that.  They also hope to create a sense of crisis among the public to maybe shake more money out of the state legislature, which would be the painless solution to their problems.

• Hf March 10, 2023 (11:35 pm)

  This is what happens when the bargaining unit demands an unrealistic wage increase. The writing was on the wall when the contract was ratified.  

  • my two cents March 11, 2023 (4:45 am)

    @HF – Please cite with sources where you can correlate the latest contract with this budget issue. Are you implying or suggesting that the union contract is the reason, cause for this shortfall? Would be interested in seeing your data sources.

  • JJ March 11, 2023 (7:02 am)

    School employees deserve good wages. This is what happens when district leadership mismanages funds. Please don’t blame teachers.

  • Flo B March 11, 2023 (7:14 am)

    HF. So school teachers/staff shouldn’t expect a living wage?? Why do you consider their wage demands unrealistic. Don’t recall hearing teachers/support staff say they make too much money.

  • Buddy March 11, 2023 (7:32 am)

    Try being a full time teacher and also working part time at a local fast food restaurant in order to pay your bills because you live in this community. 

  • Vee March 11, 2023 (7:45 am)

    I agree

  • Math Teacher March 11, 2023 (8:37 am)

    I disagree. This is driven by a smaller student body. Serving a smaller population will require fewer staff, not poorly paid staff.

  • K March 11, 2023 (11:07 am)

    Weird that no one ever blames SPOG for budget problems, or police staffing problems, or really anything, but as soon as it’s about education and not police, blame the teachers!  The union is the bad guy!  Cut the budget!  Imagine a society where we back up the educational system the way we do police, and constantly ask for more, more, more funding.

    • Mel March 12, 2023 (1:38 pm)

      What are you talking about? Everyone blames the cops and people seem to hate SPOG. As the wife of a police officer, they take more heat than teachers.

• John March 11, 2023 (12:16 am)

  Baffling to me that there can even be a budget crisis with property tax revenues higher than ever

  • Stickerbush March 11, 2023 (3:30 pm)

    Many people do not know that property tax revenue increases are limited to 1% per year. You can find details here.

    • CPA March 20, 2023 (11:10 am)

      I didn’t read the link but I did check my own property taxes and they went up 4.17% from 2021 to 2022.  Honestly I’m surprised it wasn’t more, but it was way more than 1%.

• Canton March 11, 2023 (8:13 am)

  What happened with the 1.4 billion they are currently collecting for the BEX V levy? It runs through 2025. Schools were online for a whole year, wouldn’t there have been some savings during that period?

  • WSB March 11, 2023 (10:21 am)

    The BEX levies are for capital projects, not operational. The pandemic year online would not have affected the cost of projects; if anything, it made planning and construction more difficult. Project list citywide:
    https://www.seattleschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Seattle-Public-Schools-BEX-V-Capital-Levy-Projects-map-and-list-11-29-18_ada.pdf

• KM March 11, 2023 (9:12 am)

  Also not a parent (and luckily no longer working in education), but I have the same questions with Alki Elementary. I understand it might be a separate pool of funds so there is restriction on the spend, but at least it seems like SPS would put the remodel on hold until the potential moves and closures are completed. Perhaps the capital improvements should be spent elsewhere once that happens? Needs for the district are probably going to change once it reshuffles.

  • TC March 11, 2023 (6:39 pm)

    They can’t. Alki Elementary replacement was in the BEX V levy when it was approved so SPS can’t spend it on a different project. 

• Don Brubeck March 11, 2023 (8:08 pm)

  Putting Alki on hold would make so much sense. The District is planning to build a school for 540 students, but there are only 309 now and enrollment has been declining for years.  Construction is from a different pot of money, but running a half-full building will be inefficient and wasteful of funding from the operations budget, too. We pay for both pots of money. The School Board and only the School Board can make this kind of course correction.

  • Frog March 11, 2023 (10:36 pm)

    According to SPS (https://www.seattleschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/P223_Jan23.pdf), Alki ES enrollment is currently 293.

• No name March 12, 2023 (11:07 am)

  Alki Elementary will get redone then the district will close the nearest small school and absorb those students creating a bigger school. Displacing teachers from the small school. Writing is on the walls. 

  • admiral parent March 12, 2023 (4:21 pm)

    It does seem like that’s the direction things are headed, but I have a hard time seeing how that works. The nearest school is lafayette, which currently has 468 students (capacity of 550) per the helpful link posted by Frog above. That is way more than can be absorbed by even the upsized alki. I suppose they could try to split the lafayette students and send some to alki and some to genesee, but genesee already has 520 enrolled (capacity 660). The alki site is just so, so poorly situated for a mega-school. If school consolidation has to happen, then rebuilding lafayette or schmitz makes way more sense given their larger footprints.

• Highland Park Elementary March 20, 2023 (5:03 pm)

  https://www.gofundme.com/f/mightymustangclassroomteacherandysaHighland Park Elementary needs your support to keep a classroom teacher and Youth Services Assistant for the 23-24′ school year.  This money will go directly to supporting our title 1 school positions.  This is a direct ask of our faculty and staff and Highland Park Elementary. HPE PTA is also a recipient of the PTA equity fund.  We so appreciate the money the other PTA’s have helped us to provide pizza at our literacy night and bring back popcorn Fridays in our school.   These funds are helping us bring food to families that are under served. 

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