(WSB photos/video)
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
“If you’re organizing and you have your shirts all ready to go to protect your school, it’s a little bit premature.”
Seattle Public Schools superintendent Dr. Brent Jones was trying to be humorous when he said that last night, reiterating to a crowd at Madison Middle School that he has no list – yet – of schools to be closed/consolidated to help pull SPS off the edge of a $100+ million budget abyss.
But his remark couldn’t help but carry echoes of the often-bitterly fought school-closure process of the late ’00s, when indeed, some school communities came to meetings in custom T-shirts and with signs. That potential phase of this process is at least a few months away. First, the district is having a series of community meetings, held regionally but identical in format. Last night’s “southwest region” meeting, as previewed at the Tuesday “central region” meeting, was meant to collect general thoughts, “to share ideas, re-imagine our school system … (so SPS can) get stronger, be more equitable, be better … evaluate how to create and pay for a school system that puts every student on the path to success,” as district chief of staff Bev Redmond outlined in her opening remarks.
In addition to the goal of defining “well-resourced schools” – which ostensibly would be the result of consolidations/closures – Redmond noted the district is also starting levy planning. Regarding the timeline, she reiterated no school consolidations/closures for this school year – but there’ll be a survey toward the start of the school year, and then the input will go to Dr. Jones for a plan to be announced in November.
Here’s our video of what Redmond, Jones, and associate superintendent Dr. Rocky Torres said to open the meeting, before it moved to small-group discussions:
Dr, Jones said what he had said Tuesday night: “As much as we love our schools,” it’s not fair when they can’t all get enough resources. “We are here to prioritize and elevate what’s most important for our students … We can do anything but we can’t do everything.” He said that funding would be used ‘judiciously” and “strategic(ally),” including creating “the safest” schools that are “robust.” He again asked everyone to think about “what a well-resourced school is.”
As Dr. Torres subsequently outlined, that was to be done in small groups at tables around the commons, “getting at what is it you really want from our schools,” discussing three topics over the course of about an hour. Each table had a district administrator (some were principals and assistant principals from West Seattle schools) as facilitator.
The district, as it had on Tuesday, streamed the meeting on YouTube but did not have audio from any of the table conversations. We tried to do that, with half our two-person team observing the discussions and taking notes while the other video/audio-recorded at other tables. Our success at that was somewhat mixed because the acoustics in the room were challenging, to say the least, and it was close to impossible to hear someone even a few seats away. Our video of one table conversation (after we switched locations multiple times) did work out – this was from the third question, “”What kind of programs do you – and (if you have one) your student value the most and why?”
(Our camera stayed on the facilitator while recording participants’ voices.)
At the table where we observed discussion on the same question minus camera, there was a lot of support for PE, and the observation that it has social benefits too. The ensuing discussion was more philosophical than specific in terms of listing valued programs, so that table’s facilitator tried to get it back on track by asking for ideas of “dream programs.” The resulting list included band, theater, field trips, “basic mental health (awareness),” even financial education. Two people at the table spoke admiringly of a teacher who took students to the courthouse and brought in speakers such as political candidates. Also mentioned at this table: Full-time librarians at every school, and better technology instruction.
For the first question, our table notes are somewhat skewed because it turned out that most of the people we could hear were part of the Lafayette Elementary community (even the facilitator). This question for the room was, “What are your favorite things about your student’s school building?” For Lafayette – which is considered to be sorely in need of a rebuild, but in the most-recent levy process, Alki was chosen instead – that was a challenge. Nonetheless, table participants (the ones we could hear) expressed appreciation for the garden, the climbing wall in the gym, large windows and lots of light. Other valued features of schools that were mentioned but not by name: Setting (schools next to ravines/greenbelts as well as Lafayette’s setting in the midst of big-city amenities – “we’re so in the middle of everything.”
Following this discussion, Dr. Torres said from the stage that “themes” heard by circulating district personnel – tables were supposed to have “scribes” but the table at which we sat for that first question did not – included renovated buildings, open space, great greenspaces, student work on the walls, culturally responsive buildings, the value of schools in neighborhoods, safety, community-resource spaces.” Participants also were given time to write responses to each of the three questions and put them up on easels around the room.
The next question was framed as addressing support services and resources – how could they be made “stronger” at individual schools? We moved to another table, and we heard a lot of discussion about more participation, particularly in PTAs/PTSAs and other types of “parent-teacher organizations” (PTOs). That’s difficult at a small school, a participant observed. Barriers to participation are more a matter of time than money, another said. Those who have more time to give are able to raise more money, and that becomes a self-reinforcing cycle. It’s important to get families involved early – kindergarten, 1st grade.
That led to some discussion of how levy money is used. Some participants noted that existing services need to be increased – one school gets West Seattle Food Bank help on Fridays to send weekend food home with kids, but it’s often not enough; another school has a part-time nurse who goes to other schools on other days. Insufficient access to programs and services also can lead to cancellations or cuts in those services because of low participation – a “chicken or egg” situation, one participant observed. Also a factor in situations like that: Insufficient communication about the availability of certain programs. There was general agreement that improved communication was a need – including direct communication such as teachers texting families.
Room-wide “themes” noted by Dr. Torres for this topic included counselors, mental-health support, family resources, translators, community connections, support teams in classrooms, meal services after school and on weekends.
By meeting’s end, the district had dozens of sticky notes as well as observations from “scribes” an other district personnel working the room. So how will all this lead to a plan for “well-resourced schools,” theoretically fewer schools than the district operates now? That’s up to district administrators and school-board members who have a “huge” decision looming, Redmond said in closing: “We want to make sure to secure the future for generations to come.”
WHAT’S NEXT: Since the format and content of the meetings aren’t geographically customized, if you couldn’t get to this one but would like to add your answers to the three questions, here’s the list of the remaining three in-person and one online meeting. Then look for the district to circulate a survey sometime after school starts in early September.
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