A Letter from the PTA Following SPS’ Well-Resourced Schools Update

Hello Incredible Whittier Community, 

Amidst the reveal of SPS’ Well-Resourced Schools update yesterday, we as a PTA wanted to reach out as fellow families navigating and processing these options. This ambiguity can be stressful and deeply upsetting–we feel it, too, and are here for you as an organization and as fellow members of your community.

If you haven’t had a chance to check out the site and the proposed options, we want to provide a brief summary:

• SPS has offered two plans (Option A and Option B). Both options close some schools in the district (21 in Option A and 17 in Option B) and redraw boundary lines for nearly all elementary schools, including Whittier. The selected option would go into effect next school year. Option A also closes option schools or changes them into neighborhood schools; Option B maintains one option school per region.
• You can check your family’s boundary for Option A and Option B using SPS’ interactive map tool. Please note these tools have been overloaded by demand and are sometimes not available. If you’re having trouble loading the tools, try a different browser.
• “Continuing Assignment” is SPS’ term for continuing at a school you’re already enrolled in/established at, even if it’s outside of your boundary. SPS School Board past policy was to always grant continuing assignments, even if a student moved or no longer lived in the boundary. This new plan does not confirm whether continuing assignments will be available for all rezoned students or what the process would be to request continued assignment.
• This plan does not clarify if or how middle school or high school zoning may be impacted by these changes. Most elementary school cohorts are not currently divided between middle schools or high schools, so it’s unknown whether families will remain at their currently assigned middle school (which would divide elementary school cohorts) or will follow the middle school boundary for their rezoned elementary school.
• Both options close a small portion (25-30%) of the estimated budget deficit and will require significant additional funding (likely from the state legislature) to close the remaining 70-75% budget deficit. These plans do not specifically address how the remaining shortfall will be solved.
• The superintendent will present his recommendation to the School Board in “mid to late October” (so unlikely to be at the October 9th regular school board meeting). The School Board is slated to vote on Option A or Option B at the December 18th regular school board meeting. Between now and then, SPS has said they will hold an online information session on 9/24 and in-person meetings between 9/25-10/8, along with public hearings for each planned closed school in November. No specific details for these meetings and hearings have been publicly announced yet.

The definitive source for all confirmed information regarding these plans is on SPS’ Well-Resourced Schools site. The FAQ section might be particularly helpful (and a little easy to miss). It’s important to also understand that SPS is not allowing principals to communicate with families about this issue outside of formal, district-provided workstreams. 

As part of your community, we wanted to make something very clear: we’re all a part of a neighborhood community—not just a Whittier community—and nothing SPS does will change that.

If you’d like to share your voice about these plans, there are individual and coordinated advocacy opportunities available.

Individual Action

• Contact our local representatives and ask questions, share your concerns, and demand they advocate for your family.
  • Use SPS’ “Let’s Talk” tool to ask questions or provide comments
  • Email our School Board Director, Sarah Clark: sdclark@seattleschools.org
  • Contact Seattle Council PTSA, a collective PTA that spans Seattle schools: https://scptsa.org/new-page 
  • Contact WA State legislators: Rep. Liz Berry, Senator Noel Frame, Rep. Julia Reed
• We’ve put together some pre-populated emails and example language across a variety of issues that might be useful when reaching out to these representatives.

Coordinated Action

• Coordinated letter writing campaigns to Sarah Clark (our school board director) and State Legislature: https://fundsps.com/take-action
• Sign an Open Letter directed to SPS by All Together for Seattle Schools, a grassroots organizing team: https://www.alltogetherforseattleschools.org/home/take-action-seattle
• Form letter for State Legislature to increase school funding drafted by All Together for Seattle Schools: https://www.alltogetherforseattleschools.org/home/take-action-washington
• Join an in-person Grassroots community gathering/meeting on Saturday, September 14: https://www.facebook.com/share/CAbspwEbDpBtMbtb/
• Join the rally being held outside the John Stanford Center before the September 18 school board meeting. Supporters are encouraged to wear red, bring signs, and show up at 3:45pm on the south lawn.
• You can also attend the September 18 school board meeting and sign-up to provide public testimony (sign-up opens at 8am on September 16th; learn more here). 

We have a great year planned supporting our Wildcat scholars and providing them with the greatest educational experience we can. To that end, we also want to quickly clarify that fundraising dollars (including Annual Give campaign donations) raised this year pay for this year’s programs and services (not next year’s), like March’s Massive Monkees residency and The Math Agency’s intervention and extension programs.

While we’re all learning this information at the same time, PTA Co-President Kate Scher is planning to be on the playground after pick-up today if you’d like to connect, ask questions, or just have someone to process this information with.

Thank you!

Your Whittier PTA