Denny International Middle School students walked to the campus together from Westwood Village this morning in commemoration of Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day.

It’s a simple observance in honor of what Ruby herself did on this date 63 years ago – as explained on the official event website, “Six-year-old Ruby Bridges stepped into the history books in 1960 when she integrated William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, becoming a national icon for the civil-rights movement.”

The students warmed up with hot cocoa in the Galleria after their walk. Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day continues to grow nationwide, with Denny students among the more than 343,000 who participated last year.

A group of Holy Rosary School alums is looking for classmates from the ’60s and ’70s and asked us to publish this announcement:

We are actively searching for classmates who attended Holy Rosary Elementary anytime between 1962 and 1970 and graduated high school in 1974. We are putting together a reunion/gathering celebration for next Spring/Summer in West Seattle and would like to include everyone.

I am attaching a Google Doc that can be filled out with your contact information if this description fits you and you are interested in being involved.

The early agenda for the Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors‘ November 15 meeting is online. This meeting will attract more attention than most meetings, because SPS Superintendent Dr. Brent Jones is scheduled to unveil his plan for dealing with a budget crunch by transforming the district into “a system of well-resourced schools.” That is expected to include a proposal to close and consolidate some schools.

Four school-board seats are on the citywide ballot for Tuesday’s election, so the eventual fate of the plan could be decided by a majority-new board. One of the two board members who aren’t running for re-election is our area’s representative, Leslie Harris, finishing her second term, staying involved until the end (and, she promises, beyond). Weekend before last, she held her final pre-election community-conversation meeting. The anticipated battle over likely closure proposals was on many minds, including Harris’s.

She admitted it feels “bizarre” to realize she won’t be among those making the decision. But before she steps down, she has a truckload of questions she suspects won’t be answered when the proposal is first presented – such as what the cost will be for securing buildings and for eventually reopening them, and is it true that charter schools would get dibs on renting a mouthballed school building? She also recapped some of the issues she had raised at a budget “work session” two days before her community meeting, such as a lack of “guiding principles” for the decisionmaking.

Read More

(WSB photo, Alki Elementary site, last month)

Two weeks ago today, a judge rejected Seattle Public Schools‘ challenge to a city Hearing Examiner ruling in the fight over whether the new, larger Alki Elementary can be built without off-street parking. That left the district having to do what the Hearing Examiner ruling in August ordered – work with the city Department of Construction and Inspections to address the parking issue.

If you’ve missed previous coverage, the city originally granted the district’s request for zoning exceptions – aka “departures” – including a plan to build the school without off-street parking (48 spaces would have been required otherwise). Four nearby residents appealed the departures; part of the appeal was settled, part was denied, and the part pertaining to parking was granted. The district challenged that in court and lost. So now, two weeks later, we wondered, what’s happening? We took the question to SPS; a spokesperson replied, “SPS is reviewing designs to include parking while also continuing to work with SDCI.” Some site work has been done, as allowed even without the building permit; the district tells us, “Demolition and site clearing have been completed. With the project paused, the contractor has been preparing the site and gymnasium building for winter. This includes weather protection, security, and temporary soil control measure, which includes hydroseeding.” Alki Elementary is holding classes at the former Schmitz Park Elementary, originally expected to last through this school year and ’24-’25.

It’s open-house time for families who might be changing schools next year. Tomorrow, three West Seattle independent schools are inviting prospective families to visit:

BRIDGE SCHOOL COOPERATIVE ELEMENTARY (10300 28th SW): 10 am-noon Saturday, “Join us for a cup of tea or coffee and tour the school while learning about what makes cooperative elementary education unique. We might be just the school community and your children have been searching for!” More info is in our calendar listing.

TILDEN SCHOOL (4105 California SW; WSB sponsor): This independent K-5 school is in its fourth decade of offering “academic, engaging, individualized K-5 education” and welcomes your visit 1-3 pm on Saturday. You can learn more about Tilden in our story from earlier this year.

EXPLORER WEST MIDDLE SCHOOL (10015 28th SW; WSB sponsor): Also at 1 pm, “You’re invited, whether you have a 5th-grade student thinking about next year or want to begin middle-school research early. Our event features a program with faculty, current students, and families, as well as time to visit our classrooms to offer an in-depth look at our community and programs. Explorer West has been serving local families since 1996.

Even if you don’t have a student in Seattle Public Schools, its annual calendar may affect you – for example, some independent schools follow it, and some school-vicinity neighborhoods’ day-to-day rhythms are yoked to it. So a survey launched today by the district might be of interest. SPS says it’s gathering feedback for future negotiations in which the district and its unions agree to calendar dates (this page includes the tentative dates for the next few years). In particular, the survey asks if you’d like to see changes in any of these current policies:

First Day of School – 1st Wednesday in September

Winter Break – at least 10 weekdays

Mid-Winter Break – President’s Day week

Spring Break – 2nd week in April

Emergency Closure Make-Up Days – currently day between semesters and end of school year

The survey’s open through November 13th; go here to participate.

As we’ve been noting, though it’s only two months into the new school year, it’s also time for many families to look ahead to the next one. If you have a future middle-schooler in your household, Explorer West Middle School (WSB sponsor) invites you to visit this Saturday (November 4) at 1 pm:

You’re invited, whether you have a 5th-grade student thinking about next year or want to begin middle school research early. Our event features a program with faculty, current students, and families, as well as time to visit our classrooms to offer an in-depth look at our community and programs. Event registration is available (but not required) through Ravenna. We’re located at 10015 28th Ave SW.

If you can’t attend this one, Explorer West – serving local families since 1996 – has another one planned for 11 am Saturday, December 9.

If one or more students in your household will be a middle-schooler next year, you might want to set your calendar for Monday, November 6th – you’ll be able to get information about more than a dozen middle schools, public and independent, in one place. The Greater West Seattle Middle School Information Night is set for 6-7:15 pm November 6th, at Our Lady of Guadalupe‘s gym (7000 35th SW). Organizers so far say participants planning to be there so far include Denny International Middle School, Explorer West Middle School (WSB sponsor), Harbor School (Vashon), Holy Family Bilingual, Holy Rosary, Hope Lutheran, Lake Washington Girls Middle School, McMurray Middle School (Vashon), Our Lady of Guadalupe, Pathfinder K-8, Rainier Valley Leadership Academy, St. Bernadette, Summit Atlas, and Westside School (WSB sponsor). If you’re interested in going to the open-house-format event, organizers request pre-registration, which is fast and easy at this link.

Though the ’23-’24 school year is less than two months old, it’s the season to start thinking ahead to ’24-’25. For families of K-5 students interested in independent schools, Tilden School (WSB sponsor) is hosting the first of two open houses soon. You’ll be welcome to visit the Tilden campus on the north edge of The Junction 1 pm-3 pm Saturday, November 4th. If that date doesn’t work for you, Tilden also will offer an open house 10 am-noon on December 2nd. The school is at 4105 California SW. If you’d like to learn more about Tilden – now in its fourth decade of offering “academic, engaging, individualized K-5 education” – go to tildenschool.org and read our story from earlier this year.

(WSB photos/video)

More than 150 Chief Sealth International High School students walked off the campus just before noon today in a protest demanding action against sexual harassment and violence.

Staffers joined them in support.

As reported here last night, this was sparked by text messages described as “graphic … group text messages” that “encourage sexual violence.” The students involved were reported to be football players; the principal’s message only alluded to “athletic” involvement

After walking out, students gathered on the Southwest Athletic Complex field across the street. School officials would not allow media crews into the stadium to hear the speeches (which were inaudible from the street because of a TV chopper hovering overhead).

The student who sent word last night about today’s rally said this has been an ongoing situation without much action from school administrators. We asked principal Ray Morales today if anyone had been suspended and he said he could not comment. We asked the district media office the same question, and others, and received only a statement similar to what the principal sent to the school community Thursday; this one was attributed to district chief of staff Bev Redmond:

SPS takes the safety and wellbeing of students very seriously. We respect student voices and listen to our students’ concerns. SPS condemns any form of sexual abuse, assault, and violence, and we are dedicated to providing a nurturing and safe educational environment for all students.

On Wednesday, Oct. 18, concerns were brought to the attention of Chief Sealth International school leaders. The concerns were related to group text messages written by several Chief Sealth students. The content was graphic and extremely inappropriate. Chief Sealth International staff and SPS leaders do not condone this type of communication in any format.

Chief Sealth International school leaders took immediate action, including:
-SPS and Chief Sealth International leadership will continue to evaluate appropriate discipline and corrective action
-Outreach by school social workers and school leaders to offer direct support to each student who was the subject of these messages

The school’s leadership is actively taking steps to be sure students approach their peers and community members with respect. This includes a plan by athletic leaders to promote gender equity, prevent sexual harassment, and help our students better understand what behaviors are expected of students and student athletes.

The district did not answer our question about whether police had been contacted.

(WSB photo, Alki Elementary demolition site in August)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

ORIGINAL 12:08 PM REPORT: More than two months after the old Alki Elementary was demolished, the rebuild/expansion project remains on hold because of what’s become a court fight. A short hearing in the case was held this morning.

First, the backstory: Seattle Public Schools needed nine zoning exceptions – “departures” – to get approval for its plan to build a bigger, taller school on the site. The city Department of Construction and Inspections granted the nine departures. Four Alki residents appealed the decision. After a subsequent daylong hearing, a city hearing examiner upheld the city decision on all but one departure – the one that would allow the school to be built without off-street parking; current zoning would otherwise require 48 spaces. The examiner’s ruling sent the parking issue back to the city for “further consideration.” The district could have opted to work on that issue with the city but instead decided to file a court challenge to the decision. That challenge is set for a full hearing in January, but the city filed a motion to dismiss it, and that’s what was heard today in an online hearing before King County Superior Court Judge Wyman Yip. We monitored the hearing, which lasted less than 15 minutes.

The case is not a lawsuit per se, but rather, a land-use petition. Lawyer Liza Anderson, representing the city, contends the district’s challenge should be dismissed because the hearing examiner’s ruling was not a final land-use decision – it simply sent the parking issue back to city planners to work with the district, Lawyer Katie Kendall, representing the district, contends the hearing examiner’s ruling is indeed a final decision, because if SPS, for example, found a way to provide parking in or near the project, it could get its permits without further proceedings,

Judge Yip had no questions, and said he’d already read the documents filed by both sides. He told the lawyers – who also included counsel for the residents who filed the appeal, though she did not speak – that he expected to file a written decision on the dismissal motion by Monday. (We’ll be watching the case file.) If he doesn’t grant the motion to dismiss the case, it will proceed toward a hearing set for late January. Alki Elementary, meantime, is holding classes at the former Schmitz Park Elementary, which it was expecting to do for two years even if construction of the new school had started this summer as originally planned.

5:35 PM: Just got word that the judge has already made his decision, and he has dismissed the district’s case, agreeing with the city that the hearing examiner’s ruling granting the appeal of the no-parking decision was not a final land-use decision, so this manner of challenge was not appropriate. Here’s how the ruling ends:

Having reviewed the pleadings, the Examiner’s August 10, 2023 written decision, and the
authority cited by counsel, this Court finds that the Examiner’s decision was not a final
determination under LUPA. The Examiner found that “more attention to parking impacts within this
highly constrained and unique setting is needed” and that the decision is “returned to the
Department” for proceedings consistent with the decision. This was not a denial of the requested
parking departure. It was a remand for more/better information before a more informed decision can
be made.

Based on the foregoing, pursuant to Civil Rule (“CR”) 12(b)(1) the Court ORDERS that:
1. Respondent Seattle’s Motion to Dismiss is GRANTED; and
2. Petitioner Seattle School District’s Land Use Petition Act Petition is dismissed.

This does NOT necessarily mean the district has to provide the required parking – it does mean that the city and the district have to work on the issue, as the hearing-examiner ruling ordered. We’ll be seeking comment on Monday.

Students at Chief Sealth International High School plan a protest walkout just tomorrow over an incident that was described in a letter from the principal as involving “graphic … group text messages” that “encourage sexual violence.” Shortly after principal Ray Morales‘s letter was called to our attention tonight, we received this email from a student:

I am a 12th-grade student at Chief Sealth International High School. At our school, some of the boys on our football team and in general have been known to sexually assault, catcall, and harass women, as well as yell slurs and hate-crime queer and other students. The only thing that has happened to these boys, up to this point, has been a slap on the wrist, and events like this continue to occur. Our school consistently preaches about the physical and mental health and safety of their students, implementing a no-phone policy to reduce students’ anxiety and help our mental health, yet there has been serious inaction when the safety of female and queer students is put in jeopardy.

Recently, there was an incident involving some boys on the football team, and many students are tired of the consistent problems. In the past, students who have had issues with boys on the football team and went the coaches or staff have been brushed off or told that they would be reprimanded by having to “run extra laps.” Students have finally brought this to the attention of the whole student body and the principal. While our principal has been immensely supportive and has brought forth an action plan to change these boys behavior it is disappointing that students had to go this far to feel safe at school and get the justice they deserve. Tomorrow, October 20th, a few students have organized a walkout to protest against sexual harassment and assault. It will be at 11:50 at SWAC, across from the school. Although many staff are supportive of us, these things continue to happen, and I would like to bring attention to this issue and hopefully cease the inaction that continues to persist. By bringing light to the issue and notifying parents and members of the community, I hope to help my fellow students incite the change that is desperately needed.

Here is the note sent to the school community today by principal Morales:

Yesterday, a concern was brought to our attention regarding group text messages written by several Chief Sealth International students. The content of the text messages was graphic in nature and extremely inappropriate. Chief Staff International staff stand united that we do not condone this type of talk.

As soon as my team became aware of these messages, we took immediate action, including:

The school administration team is investigating the concerns and exploring appropriate discipline and additional corrective action.

Our social workers and school leaders are reaching out to offer direct support to each student who was a subject of the messages.

Chief Sealth International athletic leaders are developing a plan to promote gender equity, prevent sexual harassment, and help our students better understand what behaviors are expected of students and athletes.

I take the safety and wellbeing of our students very seriously. I appreciate the messages and questions families have sent to me expressing their concern about this issue. Our school and athletic teams are taking proactive steps to be sure our young people approach their peers and community members with respect.

The district and the admin team support students’ rights to express their views in a peaceful manner, including assembly and peaceful protest.

Our school has support available for students. In addition to our social workers and counselors, our school has a Teen Health Center that can help students talk through their concerns. You can find a list of student supports on our school website.

Thank you to the students who reported these messages to school staff. I encourage students to report any concerns they have to administration or other trusted adults. We want students to understand that it is important to report to a trusted adult when someone is hurt, in danger, or in an unsafe situation.

Please talk to your students to help them understand that comments that encourage sexual violence are not acceptable at our school. I am including some resource links that may be useful in talking to your students.

· UW Medicine/Harborview’s A Safer Families. A Safer World

· Love is Respect, resources for young people to promote healthy relationships

· Amaze.org, age-appropriate sex education resources

We will be following up with the school/district regarding .