Well-Resourced Schools Update 10/9/24
Update following 10/9 SPS School Board Meeting
- All Directors (except Sarah Clark) voted to approve SPS creating a proposal for the ’25-26 school year that would address budget concerns and include closing up to five schools
- Superintendent Brent Jones said school communities would be consolidating (not splitting apart); the list of impacted schools is expected to be shared on October 21st
- Directors expect to vote on the proposal during their January general board meeting
- The language of the vote strongly suggested that future school closures remain on the table for future school years
Well-Resourced Schools Updates: 10/9/24
- The October 9 School Board meeting agenda was amended on October 8th to include an intro/vote item related to a 5 school closure plan but the scope/purpose is unclear (full agenda here)
- Sarah Clark, our D2 director, wrote a Seattle Times Op Ed condemning closure plans. Read the full article >>
- Principal Watters identified her key advocacy priorities during the October 8 PTA Meeting:
- Demand the State Fully Fund Education
- Ensure State Legislators, SPS, and our School Board understand Well-Resourced Schools include a full time Social Worker, math and literacy intervention, funded Advanced Learning and HC programs in neighborhood schools, sufficient custodial staff, and smaller class sizes
- Explain we can’t keep chipping away at programs and services and expect school communities to continue to absorb them; PTA dollars can’t continue to bridge the gap between service standards and actual funding
- WSPTA and SCPTSA are in conflict regarding WSPTA’s upcoming Legislative Assembly
- SCPTSA is asking SPS PTAs to boycott this event due to WSPTA’s choice of venue (SPU has a public record of anti LGBTQ+ practices) and WSPTA’s choice to make the event in-person (hybrid isn’t an option due to event logistics) which presents accessibility challenges. Read more here >>
- Dissenting opinion (shared by WSPTA and some other SPS PTAs) is that WSPTA’s current legislative priorities do not properly reflect the advocacy needs of more urban districts and urban district PTAs need to be more vocal and involved so their concerns are addressed
- WSPTA advocates for more funding but does not address the structural failure in the state’s education funding model that leads to underfunding in districts with higher costs of living
- WSPTA does not have a priority to revise or alter levy funding caps so local communities could fund their districts
- WSPTA does not explicitly ask for a return to 50% education funding
- SPS has to present the results of their literacy performance assessment (which assesses 3rd graders) at the October 9th school board meeting
- Link to the progress monitoring document
- Summary: The district assessed itself as failing to meet literacy standards (and will continue to do so without significantly changing their curriculum/process/implementation
- Many groups continue to organize specific advocacy opportunities:
- District PTAs are drafting a collective letter with specific demands regarding closing the budget deficit; they’re asking PTA board members to sign if they agree (Note: Our PTA requested to add that any future deficit proposals identify any changes to the student experience, such as continuing assignments, bell changes, childcare solutions, etc)
- District PTAs are also drafting a proposed WSPTA bylaw addition that would require district-level PTA’s (like Seattle Council PTSAs) decisions reflect the views of their local PTAs; they’re asking any PTA member (not just board members) to sign if they agree
- The Fund SPS organizing group is asking community members to:
- Send a letter to all the School Board Directors asking for closures to be off the table (Note: you can adjust the suggested language before sending if you have a different opinion)
- Send a letter to State Legislators to fully fund education
- All Together for Seattle Schools is holding rallies before upcoming School Board meetings (3:45pm) in front of the John Stanford Center (attendees are encouraged to wear red and make signs); upcoming School Board meetings are scheduled for 10/9, 11/19, and 12/18
- Sign-up to testify at School Board meetings and attend (in-person or virtually). Instructions for how to participate can be found here or here
- Gatewood PTA is also circulating a letter requesting the State Legislature hold a special session to address education funding and are asking community members to sign if they agree
- SPS is asking families to vote to pass levies on upcoming ballots
- We’re still looking for 1-2 volunteers that would be willing to (virtually) attend School Board and/or Seattle Council PTA meetings and bring a summary back to our community (Interested or planning to cover a specific meeting? Please email us!):
- School Board meetings (meetings start at 4:15pm): 10/9, 11/19, 12/18, 1/22, 2/12, 3/12
- Seattle Council PTSA general membership meetings (meetings start at 7pm): 11/12, 2/24, 4/1, 6/10
- Seattle Council PTSA board meetings (meetings start at 6:30pm): 10/15, 11/4, 12/9, 1/13, 2/10, 3/10, 4/7, 5/12, 6/4
- We continue to have a cool community that covers current and historical district issues