Are you interested in working with the Schmitz Park Community? This unique opportunity is open to an individual who can commit to flexible hours working from home to coordinate classes and register students and also occasionally at school helping students get settled and working with program providers.  Applicants would enjoy developing enrichment opportunities for students, interacting with instructors, parents, and staff, and would be organized and reliable.  Long term training and support will be available.  If you have questions about the position, please contact Jen Schill: enrichment@schmitzparkpta.org. To apply: please contact Mr. Kischner at gakischner@seattleschools.org.

Tonight – The SPS school board will hold a Regular Board Meeting at John Stanford Center tonight, starting at 4:15 pm (public testimony begins at 5:00 pm). The complete agenda is here. There are many important items on agenda, including:

Approval of Revised Bell Times
Approval of the Student Assignment Plan
Approval of Growth Boundaries Plan
Authorization of $525K for purchasing portables for E.C. Hughes

If you have questions or opinions to share on these or other issues, I urge you to either:

Prepare and deliver public testimony at the meeting on Wednesday.
AND/OR
Contact our school board representative, Marty McLaren (martha.mclaren@seattleschools.org) and The School Board (schoolboard@seattleschools.org).

More details can also be found on the West Seattle Blog:

http://westseattleblog.com/2015/11/tonight-bell-times-boundaries-hughes-portable-purchase-and-more-on-school-board-agenda/

Congratulations to Casie LaBella for winning the Volunteer of the Month for October 2015.  Casie is mom to Jesse in 3^rd grade and Lucy in 1^st grade.  She volunteered 38.9 hours in October. She works in the classroom, as a room parent, and with the passport program.  She enjoys golf and reading. We appreciate her effort!!  For November, Casie has earned the coveted parking space!  Thanks again to Maya & Oliver Smith’s parents for the donation of the parking spot.

“I can give ANY task to Casie – she’s so efficient! She is also incredible at picking up on what we are learning in the classroom and using the same language as she helps kids with their reading. ”  Ms. Veling

“Casie LaBella is an amazing volunteer who anticipates exactly what I need and what the students need. Her warm and friendly smile always puts the classroom in a happy mood.”  Ms. Wells

Along with important local council races and ballot measures, four of the seven Seattle School Board member seats will be decided in the general election on November 3. PTAs cannot endorse candidates, but we can provide voters with information about candidates and take positions on ballot measures.

I-1366: Washington State PTA has endorsed a NO vote. This initiative would require lawmakers to place a constitutional amendment on the ballot to establish a two-thirds majority; if they fail to do so, the state sales tax would be reduced from 6.5 percent to 5.5 percent.

Seattle School Board: The School Board is responsible for establishing District governance policies and has legal and fiduciary authority for the District. Their decisions have a direct impact on your child’s education. SCPTSA and the League of Women Voters held a candidate forum on Oct 8.  You can watch it here on the Seattle Channel.

Other useful resources:

• MyVote Voter Resource by League of Women Voters Information
• King County Voter’s Guide and Voter Registration Information
• Information on the school board candidates, their statements, and endorsements can be found via the links above. We encourage voters to learn as much as they can to make an informed decision.

Sound exciting? Want to help Schmitz Park guide education related decisions locally, within our community, district-wide and at the state level. Our legislative Co-Chairs, Emily Giaquinta and Angela Cough are developing a plan for focusing efforts on specific initiatives that require a group of people to coordinate efforts over the next year and beyond. We can’t do it alone. We need YOU to make these initiatives a success! Don’t assume that someone else will sign up – if you’ve been looking for a way to contribute your talent in organizing, planning and execution, here’s your chance. Be an advocate.

If you’d like to have a voice and guide what we do, email: legislative@schmitzparkpta.org by October 31!

Seattle Public Schools has been analyzing start times across the district since mid-2014 for Elementary, Middle and High School groups, to determine whether or not it is warranted to change start times for Middle & High School based on data suggesting that later start times allow for a better learning experience. Their determination is that it is warranted; the discussion now is exactly how to implement a later start time, and how that change impacts elementary education.

The School board operation committee voted to have the transportation service standards go to the full board – including – the Superintendent’s recommendation on Bell Times. This means, voting on Bell Times will be included in the agenda for October 21 and voted on, November 4.

To stay informed, please visit this link: http://www.seattleschools.org/cms/One.aspx?portalId=627&pageId=2652613 [Mask with Elementary PTA Engagement re: Bell Times]

To see what time SPS has assigned for your school, look here: http://www.seattleschools.org/common/pages/DisplayFile.aspx?itemId=2451501 [Mask as Proposed Bell Times]

You can send feedback until November 2nd to arrivaltimes@seattleschools.org and include the following emails as well: Pegi McEvoy, Assistant Superintendent, Operations pmcevoy@seattleschools.org Kathy Katterhagen, Director of Logistics kkatterhagen@seattleschools.org Sam Markert, Project Manager sgmarkert@seattleschools.org

Attend the Schmitz Park PTA Meeting tonight,  Thursday, October 15 at 6:30PM to hear updates and next steps to advocate for our kids and all students across Seattle.   We offer free babysitting in the gym for school aged kids.  Other agenda items include: budget, Direct Give Campaign and an update from our volunteer coordinator on requirements for volunteering.  We will also show the sexual harassment video at the end of the meeting (15 min), which is one of the volunteer requirements.

October 15 meeting minutes are now posted! Click here to view – OCT 15 2015 meeting.

Future PTA meeting dates:

• November 19th
• December 17th
• January 21st
• February 18th
• March 17th
• April 21st
• May 19th

Microsoft Word – Executive Committee Meet.docx (1)

Passionate about the recent cuts at your school (or last year’s)?

Join #KidsNotCuts advocates at Seattle School Board’s Executive

Committee meeting of the Whole Tomorrow, Wednesday, October 14th at 4:15 pm John Stanford (JSCEE)

2445 3rd Ave S (at Lander St), Seattle, WA 98134

Important Specifics: Meeting is a specially scheduled public meeting of the Executive Committee. The agenda reflects they will talk about the City’s pre-k program as well as the relationship with the Alliance for Education.

Before the meeting starts at 4:30pm, the KidsNotCuts group will make a request that the Board take 10 minutes to discuss the situation with the staffing cuts and will ask the Board to then take a vote to ask the Superintendent to suspend these cuts. The group will remain until the issue is addressed.

The group specifically requests :

1) Full stop to teacher cuts currently underway in the district now and by future policy.

2) Transparency and partnership in moving forward with and communicating about the cuts. With PTAs putting substantially over 3 million dollars towards school budgets we deserve a seat at the table and a clear explanation of projected savings.

Key Issues :

1) Teacher cuts betray lower class size. Governor Inslee allocated budget to lower class size across WA, now we have K-3 classes up to 28 and 29. What happened?

2) Proposed cuts disproportionately affect students w/highest needs (ELL, SPED, FRL).

3) The disruption to over 12,000 students at the thirty-two schools impacted is unacceptable without substantial rationale, community engagement & transparency.

Questions contact Melissa Westbrook sss.westbrook@gmail.com or Chandra Hampson chandra@stanfordalumni.org

Fairmount Park Elementary PTA  invites members of the West Seattle Schools Community to join them for an overview of the current education funding situation and a candid conversation about how schools can come together to effect change on Wednesday, October 14 from 7 PM – 9 PM.

Agenda

*Welcome from FPE PTA Leaders

*Show Us The Money: McCleary & Washington State Budget – Heidi Bennett

*Coming together to create change: How can community members work together to address the ongoing funding shortfall in our state?

*Participate in constructive dialog and candid conversation with longtime education advocates and PTA leaders to formulate action items to which our community can commit to moving forward.

Event information can also be found on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1663724143887481/

Note:  childcare is not available for this event.