(Photos by Chi Krneta unless otherwise credited)

By Torin Record-Sand
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Tuesday night brought new Seattle Public Schools superintendent, Ben Shuldiner, to West Seattle for the second to last meeting of his community engagement tour, a major opportunity to hear the voices of local SPS parents. The meeting was held at West Seattle elementary in High Point.

As a recent arrival in the district, Shuldiner is looking to get a better grasp of the district’s needs. In his own words, “Building trust is central to the work ahead, and I believe the best ideas come from listening to you and learning from your experiences in our schools.” The meeting series is meant to bridge that gap; especially key in times when budget-balancing has become a defining issue for the district.

(Photo by Torin Record-Sand)

Around 140 attendees were at the meeting, representing students and families from all schools across West Seattle, as well as members of West Seattle Elementary and general SPS staff. Superintendent Shuldiner was also accompanied by Bev Redmond, SPS chief of staff and public affairs, and school board president Gina Topp, the director of SPS District 6, which includes West Seattle, most of South Park, and Georgetown.

After a brief introduction by Redmond and Topp, Shuldiner quickly introduced the agenda for the evening. Much of the time was spent on small-group discussions at tables of approximately eight people each, with three simple questions: 1. What is going well? [for the district], 2. What is not going well?, and 3. What can SPS do to make things better? The audience was given 30 minutes to discuss, with around 10 minutes for each question, and then they were asked to choose a leader from their table to report back their consensus on each question to the whole of the audience.

On the side of the good, many in the audience highlighted the strength of teaching at schools throughout the district. “We have excellent teaching, and when the teaching is fantastic – it’s really fantastic.” said one of the communiry discussion leaders. Others pointed to the district having strengths in diversity and culture, especially in terms of access to dual language instruction programs. Many also said they were happy with the quality of after-school programs.

The negative side of things was more varied. The most consistent theme was the possibility of further funding cuts for the district, and how they could impact schools, as well as how they’ve impacted schools in the past. Some said they felt the district had so far preferred to cut school staff rather than administrators, while others were worried about whether extracurricular funding would remain the same. A large portion of parents were also concerned about technology use in classrooms, saying that policies against phone or tablet use in schools had not gone far enough. Finally, there were concerns related towards racial justice: one woman in the audience, who self-identified as Latina, said that there was not a good path for the Latino community to be represented in district meetings with the ever-present threat of immigration authorities. Another individual pointed at Shuldiner’s comments in an email to parents from a few days ago as insensitive; in particular, his use of the phrase “the soft bigotry of low expectations” referring to systemic issues BIPOC students encounter in the schools.

Suggestions from the community also featured a large amount of agreement. Many said they were happy with the interest the superintendent was showing in community outreach; and were hoping for even more opportunities for communication with the district. The technology issue was raised again, with many highlighting that they were hoping the district would make a stronger policy on both phones and tablets in schools, as well as the usage of AI. And, as also mentioned above, many hoped that if there were future cuts due to the budget deficit, these would be aimed more at administrators or district positions than staff members directly in the schools.

The superintendent’s tour concluded with an online sessioh tonight. Officials from the school district also said that, for anyone who was present at the West Seattle meeting, if they submitted comments via the digital form available to attendees, district staff will be working on taking in the feedback and making sure that every voice is heard.

West Seattle High School baseball supporters want to be sure you know Saturday (April 4) is your annual chance to see the team play at T-Mobile Park in the Mariners Classic – this year vs. Issaquah HS, at noon. Admission is free – just show up to cheer the Wildcats. They will be coming off a big night Friday – it’s the annual “West Cup” games with crosstown competitors Chief Sealth IHS and WSHS facing off at Nino Cantu Southwest Athletic Complex (2801 SW Thistle), 3:30 pm Friday for JV, 7 pm Friday for varsity. (This afternoon the two schools’ softball teams played each other – we’ll have coverage of that game later.)

Story and photos by Anne Higuera
Reporting for the West Seattle Blog

In the corner of an upstairs playroom at Tibbetts United Methodist Church, a parent is sitting on the floor surrounded by building blocks, talking with a small child. It looks like any other preschool, but this is actually a Parent Education classroom, a lab for a West Seattle cooperative preschool whose focus is to teach not just the kids, but everyone involved, and primarily the parent-students, who are enrolled at South Seattle College. This cooperative parent-education model has taught generations of students and children—hundreds of thousands across Washington since the 1940s—but a crisis is now looming. If a solution is not found, most programs will have to close at the end of June, including five preschools in West Seattle, because of a change in the way that community and technical colleges will be required to allocate their funding starting this summer. We told you last week about some initial advocacy efforts by the West Seattle co-ops to retain their funding, but to understand what’s at stake, and why this long-standing program is so unique and so beloved, there’s a lot more to know and some acronyms to learn.

How does it work and where did the money go?
Parent Education programs look slightly different at all 16 of the state colleges that have one, and 3 of them don’t even have a co-op preschool. Comparing two in close proximity: At North Seattle College, there are tenured professors in addition to teachers and students. At South Seattle, the college pays a coordinator and Parent Educators. There’s also a non-profit that runs each individual preschool site, paying preschool classroom teachers who work with parents enrolled in the college’s parent education classes. Those parents are assistant teachers in the classroom. State enrollment funding goes to pay the Parent Educators through the college and to offer the Parent Education classes, for which enrolled parents get college credit. Tuition waivers allow the parents who are students to pay less for classes to help offset the cost of lab fees at the co-op preschool where their child is enrolled. Some colleges have their Parent Education curriculum structured as a certificate program; neither South Seattle or North Seattle have this option.

(All photos from South Seattle College Cooperative Preschool Admiral location)

Over an extended time, the variability in the program structures across the state and lack of a path toward a degree has not been a big issue. That changed last summer when the State Board of Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC), after a multi-year process, voted to change their allocation model, which determines how to decide which programs get funding. They voted to change the model to focus enrollment dollars on workforce development and credentialed programs. Applying the model this year means the Parent Education classes at 10 of the schools will not qualify for funding starting July 1, and the six schools that have certificate programs in Parent Education now have to become a credentialed program to keep their funding. “To become credentialed, these CTCs [Community and Technical Colleges] must submit required program approval materials … to show their Parent Education Program has workforce outcomes,” says the SBCTC board’s Communications Director Rachelle Alongi. She says they have until the end of June to get their paperwork approved.

The effect of the allocation model change on Parenting Education programs blindsided even those parent educators in regular touch with the SBCTC board. The board has a work group called the Organization of Parent Education Programs (OPEP) that meets quarterly with board staff. “Never once in 2 years did SBCTC say, ‘Hey, work group, we are going to change the allocation model, essentially defunding your 4,500 students across the state, so start looking for another way to pay for yourselves,’” says OPEP President Jen Giomi, who is also South Seattle’s coordinator. “They didn’t officially meet with OPEP until February and programs will be closed by June 30th.”

While following the new allocation model means the parenting programs as they exist today won’t be funded, Alongi stresses that the state board sets policy, while each community and technical college makes the ultimate decision about their offerings. “CTCs budget locally and determine the best way to use the funding that SBCTC allocates to them. We don’t allocate funds for programs or make decisions to cut programs.”

Giomi says communication was poor about all of the impacts of this funding change. “When college presidents voted for this new model, it seems, through conversations with program coordinators across the state, that most presidents didn’t understand that Parent Education would not receive money,” Giomi says. “[SBCTC says] they aren’t closing PE/Co-op programs. Colleges are still free to offer them. But if there’s no money attached to pay Parent Educators, most programs will close.”

Alongi says the SBCTC remains ready to work with colleges as they all adjust to the new allocation model that the board approved. “We will continue to work closely with CTCs, help programs meet established requirements, and provide funding that aligns with state policy standards—reflecting our shared commitment to education and supporting communities.”

What makes the co-op model different
At South Seattle’s Admiral co-op location, the first thing you might notice is that there are adults everywhere–at least one in every room, and interacting with one or more kids at sensory tables, building things, playing in a kid-size kitchen, looking through magnifying glasses. That’s because in addition to paid classroom teachers, part of the parents’ curriculum is being an assistant teacher in their child’s classroom one day a week, which is considered a lab in the parent education class. It’s the first of four requirements for the students.

“I love being in the classroom,” says Holly Stagg, who is in her 5th year in co-op, with her second child in the program. “I had instant admiration for the staff, parents, the community that it brought. Developing a sense of community was really important. It really helped me feel like we put down roots in West Seattle when we were new to the neighborhood.”

For the rest of the requirements, parents attend a monthly parents-only meeting with discussions about everything having to do with parenting—-child development, behavior and more. There are also required seminars quarterly on a variety of topics. If parents have questions or need feedback, help is right there. “The Parent Education program is the reason that we stayed,” says Stagg. “The monthly meeting where we meet as parents and families keeps me accountable as a parent, be a better parent, be a better person.”

Finally, each enrolled student commits to a job that helps make the preschool run. That could be a variety of things, from being a play dough maker or librarian to serving on the board of the non-profit that runs each of the preschool sites. Teacher Becca Allison signed up for the program nine years ago because of the way the program is structured and for the parent education, which she says cut through the noise of all of the opinions online and elsewhere. “Having one trusted source–that was a big deal,” she says. “The parent education is what sets us apart from so many other preschools. I’ll plan to stay for as long as they’ll have me. It is my favorite job that I’ve ever had.”

There’s that word “job” again. Clearly, this program is a job creator, with positions in the program often filled by parents who started out as students. But parenting itself, which anyone who has had kids will generally agree is a job, and an important one, is not workforce creation in the eyes of the state. Jen Schill, who is one of 11 Parent Educators for South’s preschools in West Seattle, says it puts these programs in a place where they have to, “prove that there’s a capitalist outcome,” when the value is in what she calls intangibles: “the connections and community that gets built. It’s a life-changer.”

OPEP, the work group for the Parent Education program, draws the lines between these cheerful classrooms and real-world outcomes when parents are taught best practices for parenting:

Improved child development and school readiness
Reduced child abuse, neglect and family violence,
Better parental mental health and family stability
Long-term economic benefits
Cost-effectiveness compared to remediation

Advocacy efforts
The possibility that Parenting Education programs will stop at the state colleges and technical schools has current and former co-op students and staff at many schools trying a number of things to avert closure, though Bellevue College has announced their program will definitely close this year. Giomi says their primary push is to ask that the SBCTC, “defer applying the new allocation funding model to Parent Education and associated Cooperative Lab Preschools for at least 1 year. There are lots of avenues to find funding, but it can’t be done in the 2 1/2 months that we’ve been given.” Other efforts include new state legislation to fund the programs (though that couldn’t happen until the 2027 session), grants and other fundraising. The West Seattle Co-op points to ways the community can get involved on their website.

The fundraising effort is being focused around a campaign called “It Takes a Village,” which will kick off on April 4th at the Phinney Ridge Association hall. A community meeting with Senator Rebecca Saldaña and educators is at 10am, followed by a press conference at 11 with Mayor Katie Wilson, educators and Mary’s Place. The goal with “It Takes a Village” is to raise $2 million by May 14th to keep the programs at North Seattle and South Seattle open for one more year until permanent funding can be secured. The two programs serve 2,100 families.

There is also a rally planned for April 9th at South Seattle College, where the SBCTC is coincidentally having its bi-monthly meeting. The invitation: “Join educators, families, and community members to make a public statement about the value of co-op preschools and parent education programs. Your presence helps show college leadership and legislators that these programs are essential to families and communities across Washington.” The rally starts at 8am at Cascade Hall.

As students and teachers plan out the final weeks of this school year at South Seattle College’s co-op preschools at Admiral, Alki, Lincoln Park, White Center and South Seattle, they are looking nervously ahead. With preschool enrollment already nearly full for next fall, Schill is worried, but hopeful that the advocacy work being done now will make a difference. “We have 5 trains on the track and hoping at least one of them reaches the station.”