As we get ready for the biggest party of the year and the well-deserved celebration of our community, the Auction Committee needs your help!

Cohort packages you can get excited about

Every year, the cohorts raise money to seed a package for the live auction. This year’s packages are below, followed by their corresponding PayPal link :

• Kinder: Great Wolf Lodge – Donate
• 1st Grade: SIFF Red Carpet Experience – Donate
  (SIFF is the Seattle International Film Festival)
• 2nd Grade: Seabrook Cottage – Donate
• 3rd Grade: Vegas Weekend – Donate
• 4th Grade: Instant Wine Cellar – Donate
• 5th Grade: Raffle Cash Prize – Donate

Which Cohort will rally the biggest support this year?

Teachers: The Real Stars of the Show

I think everyone would agree that at the center of our success is our teachers and staff. Among the ways that we thank them for their commitment is to cover the cost of their tickets to this event. This year, money raised to support the cohort packages will also go towards covering the cost of staff tickets.

Success = Participation

If going to the auction isn’t your thing, donating toward the cohort package is a another way to contribute to our biggest fundraiser of the year. An average of $10 for each of their student will raise enough money to make a real difference for our community. If your situation allows you to help a little more, please know that your donation empowers to the PTA to make every child’s educational experience better!

Tickets

The secret to our success has always been our people, but it’s not really a secret. It’s our parents, educators and everyone else who comes together to make our school great. This year, we have intentionally shifted the focus to more party, and a little less auction. We will succeed with our fundraising goal by having more people there enjoying each other’s company. Tickets are still available here: Tickets

Donate an Item to the Auction

Do you or your business or someone you know have a valuable item to contribute to the auction? We are still in need of a few more things and would love to hear from you! Please email procurement@geneseehillpta.org or enter the item here: Donate an Item

Thank you!

We need your help, and it takes just 5 minutes!

We have moved quickly as parents to address the impending gap on funding available to Seattle Public Schools currently filled by existing levy funds. These funds are set to expire and if not extended, will leave our district short of funds to move forward with existing staffing levels next year. Earlier this week, the House passed Bill 1059 to extend the existing Levy authority one additional year to align with the State’s obligation to fully fund education by September, 2018. Now we need to encourage the Senate to do the same. We need to impress upon them the urgency and importance of doing so quickly, to avoid layoffs and program cuts across the State.

Please take 5 minutes to do one (or both!) of the following:

• The legislature responds to numbers. Email legislators outside of the 34th district. Our legislators are already on board with the extension. We need to educate and inform those outside of this area, especially those materially impacted by the loss of levy funds if the Senate doesn’t approve this bill.
• Legislators respond to voters. Forward, email, share this with anyone you know that lives in the districts below, especially if they have kids in schools that will be affected. Suggested script below.

Below, you will find contact info for the legislators we most need to reach. Together we can bridge the gap in funding until the legislature does their job to fully Fund Education for ALL Students in Washington. Thanks!

Key Senators to focus on, along with what they will lose:

• Senator Zeiger (Puyallup will lose nearly $9M)
• Senator Rossi (Bellevue will lose $10M, Lake Washington $4M, Redmond $4M)
• Senator Miloscia (Federal Way $8M, Auburn $7M)

Script for contacting your friends outside of the 34th:
As a fellow parent of a public school kid, I’m reaching out to you for help. The pending Levy Cliff that impacts your local school district’s ability to raise funds to pay teachers is expiring and will result in a loss of [$$$$$] to your school district if not extended one year. This extension has been passed through the House already; without Senate approval, local districts will have to cut staff to bridge this gap in funding. The first to go will be nurses, librarians, support staff and counselors. These people are vital to our children’s success in school, and we urge you and your fellow parents to reach out to your Senator, [INSERT SENATOR NAME] to ask for their support in a one-year extension on this levy, so that we can continue to teach our kids in a supportive environment.

You can contact your senator by email: [INSERT EMAIL] phone [INSERT PHONE] or via direct email: [INSERT LINK VIA WA.GOV SITE] ask them to move forward with House Bill 1059 and Senate Bill 5023.

For more on the bill: http://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=5023&Year=2017

Thanks!

A list of senators and their contact information.

Hans Zeiger
25th: includes Puyallup, Fife
360.786.7648
hans.zeiger@leg.wa.gov

Jan Angel
26th LD: includes Bremerton, Port Orchard, Gig Harbor, Lakebay, Purdy
360 786-7650
jan.angel@leg.wa.gov

Dino Rossi
45th LD: includes Redmond, Kirkland, Sammamish, Woodinville, Duvall
360 786-7672
dino.rossi@leg.wa.gov

Maureen Walsh
16th LD: includes Walla Walla, Prosser, Horse Heaven
360 786-7630
maureen.walsh@leg.wa.gov

Mark Schoesler
9th LD: includes Ritzville, Pullman, Colfax, St. John, Asotin
360 786-7620
mark.schoesler@leg.wa.gov

Phil Fortunato
31st LD: includes Enumclaw, Buckley, Bonney Lake, Auburn, Sumner, Edgewood, South Prairie, Wilkeson and Carbonado
360 786-7660
phil.fortunato@leg.wa.gov

Brad Hawkins
12th LD: includes Wenatchee, East Wenatchee, Twisp, Winthrop, Leavenworth
360 786-7622
brad.hawkins@leg.wa.gov

Randi Becker
2nd LD: includes Eatonville, Yelm, Orting, Graham, Roy, Rainier
360 786-7602 305
randi.becker@leg.wa.gov

Lynda Wilson
17th LD: includes Brush Prairie, Orchards, Cascade Park East (Clark County)
360 786-7632
lynda.wilson@leg.wa.gov

Curtis King
14th LD: includes Stevenson, White Salmon, Naches, Goldendale, Tieton, Roosevelt
360 786-7626
curtis.king@leg.wa.gov

Barbara Bailey
10th LD: includes Stanwood, Camamo Island, Whidbey Island, Oak Harbor, La Connor
360 786-7618
barbara.bailey@leg.wa.gov

Time to secure your ticket to the most anticipated event of the year! Walk the red carpet, celebrate our community, and support our kids! And at this year’s event – which regularly sells out – we’re raising the bar with a new, swanky venue, a champagne toast, and food provided by West Seattle’s own Tuxedos & Tennis Shoes. We also have terrific new items and experiences to throw your hat in on. You’re going to want to be here!

March 18th, 2017 5:00pm
Seattle Design Center
Catering by Tuxedos & Tennis Shoes

Bring your friends and make sure to invite someone to join in the party! Your support is tremendously appreciated. Remember, it’s for the kids!

BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW

We need your help once more.

In October 2016, Seattle Public Schools surveyed families to gather feedback surrounding yet another amendment to bell times. This change go into effect next year (2017-2018) and would include adding 20 minutes to the instructional day four days per week, and releasing early one day a week to allow for more teacher collaboration.

In order to adopt these time changes, transportation routes must be modified and, therefore, start and end times across all tiers are affected. Genesee Hill is a Tier 1 school – early start, early leave. 11,108 responses were received – the results are attached as well as a summary of findings below.

The school board took over the recommendation process; the resulting proposal was to start school 10 minutes early, end 10 minutes later and leave early every Wednesday. The proposed solution however, doesn’t appear to reflect the feedback received from so many families that will be impacted by these bell time changes.They are also trying to figure out how to cover a 2-tier transportation option, but it results in additional cost that the district cannot cover, yet.

We need you to advocate directly to the Seattle School Board – tell them what you think about their Bell Time Plan for the 2017-2018 school year. What you recommend to them is up to you. As a Tier 1 school, starting earlier (7:40 AM arrival, 7:45 AM start) may be difficult for our student community. An early dismissal mid-week may be difficult for working parents to accommodate; a Friday early dismissal may be more doable. We are again bound by budget constraints, as a two-tier bus system would be preferable, but the district can’t afford to pay for it – at least not right now, but may have some potential solutions that would allow for a 2-tier system to be implemented.

There isn’t going to be a single solution that meets everyone’s needs, but there is STILL TIME to communicate your suggestions to the Board. Thank you once again for your advocacy!

EMAIL THE BOARD & LESLIE HARRIS
Tell them how their recommended solution, a 20 minute split (10 minutes earlier, 10 minutes later) with an early dismissal on Wednesday (every week) would impact your family. Make a suggestion on an option that may work better, see the survey for options presented originally.

SCHOOL BOARD: schoolboard@seattleschools.org
West Seattle Director: leslie.harris@seattleschools.org

SURVEY RESULTS (click here)

SURVEY RESULTS SUMMARIZED
Family Results 11,108 responses

Tier 1 Families (5,683) – These are the EARLY Start Schools Currently with a 7:55 AM start

• 86.5% add time to the end of the day
• 8.2% split the time
• 5.3% add time to the beginning of the day

Tier 2 and 3 Schools (5,209)

• 47.8% (2,488) of Tier 2 and 3 families prefer adding time to the beginning of the day
• 24% prefer adding it to the end of the day
• 28.4% prefer a time split

IN SUMMARY:

• 301 Tier 1 Families want time added to beginning of the day v. 4,915 families who want it added to the end of the day
• 2,488 Tier 2/3 families want the time added to the beginning of the day v. 1,250 who want it added to the end of the day
• 6,165 families across all three tiers want time added to the end of the day v. 2,801 who want it added to the beginning of the day

That’s a 2 to 1 margin who want the time added to the end of the day – according to the SPS school survey results.

In December of 2016, the Seattle PTA adopted a resolution to support a solution to extend the Levy Cliff set to expire in January, 2018 by one year to align it with the deadline for complying with the McCleary decision to fully fund basic education set for September, 2018. The Genesee Hill PTA approved to adopt and endorse this resolution today. Please join us!

We need your advocacy help TODAY. Contact your legislators and urge them to back House Bill 1059, a temporary extension on the Levy Lid set to expire by year end, to buy time for legislators to devise a solution to fully fund basic education in Washington. This delay would prevent the estimated layoff of 440 staff positions in Seattle (10% of SPS Staff) due to an estimated $74M budget short fall that would be experienced by the District being unable to collect necessary local tax funds to cover its costs of operating. If this expiration is delayed, we can push off this RIF process, set to begin in March, 2017 – for at least a year. We hope that this delay will buy legislators time to devise a more permanent solution to funding education that includes cost of living differences by September, 2018.

To be clear, delaying the cliff is not a solution to educational funding but a stop gap. We all need to strongly urge our legislators to work together to fund basic education for all students in Washington State. It will take you less than 2 minutes to send a message to our representatives.

To Advocate, click here: https://app.leg.wa.gov/pbc/memberEmail/34/2
Verify your address
Identify House Bill 1059
Click SUPPORT
Request a response from Joe Fitzgibbon
Copy your correspondence to Sharon Nelson and Eileen Cody

To read the bill, click here
If House Bill 1059 is referred to committee, the House Committee on Appropriations will hold a public hearing on HB 1059 on Wed., Jan. 11, at 3:30 pm.

Not familiar with McCleary? You can read more here,

At last night’s PTA meeting, our Tech Specialist Brock Wuth shared tips on understanding how to keep our kids safe online. If you missed it, his presentation can be downloaded here.

Thank you, Mr Wuth, for sharing your insight on how to navigate this ever changing landscape!

For Direct Give, Enrichment Programs, or other opportunities where you may pay by check, please remember to make your check payable to:

Genesee Hill PTA

Questions? Email vicetreasurer@geneseehillpta.org.

Seattle Special Education PTSA will be hosting a meeting Tuesday, November 1st, from 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM at the John Stanford Center.

Special guest speaker, Greg Abell of Sound Options Group will be joining us to talk about positive conflict engagement. Sound Options Group contracts with the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and the Department of Early Learning (DEL) to provide Mediation for parents, school districts, and service providers working under the IDEA.

Why this is important:

This is a wonderful opportunity for parents to learn more about navigating conflict and engaging in difficult conversations – useful skills for us all, but particularly important for parents who find themselves needing to advocate around educational issues for their children.

Hope to see you all there!

Our annual Genesee Hill-ville Carnival will be held on Friday, September 16th from 5:30pm-8:00pm.

This annual event is a great opportunity to catch up with old friends, meet new ones and rejoice in our community being back together at school. Plus, we’ve got some of the best Seattle food trucks joining us, including Ezells Fried Chicken, The Grilled Cheese truck, Dante’s Inferno Hot Dogs, Wicked Pie Pizzas, Full Tilt, and Jamba Juice.

In addition, our team has once again outdone themselves by planning many fun activities on the playground and in the gym. Your family won’t want to miss it!

But we couldn’t do it without the help of volunteers. We are looking for cake donations for the cake walk, and volunteers – and we’ve broken down many of these volunteer opportunities into just 30 minutes of your time, so please sign up now!

The Genesee Hill Walking School Bus program is off to a robust start!

Over the summer we were able to coordinate eight (8) routes to serve the school’s new walking area.

At this time, walking school bus routes run before school only.

If you would like to join a route, please consult our current map. This map shows the meeting places for each route as well as the captain/coordinator for each. If you live in close proximity to one of these existing routes, please contact the route’s captain for more information about joining their route and schedule. Families who participate in a route must volunteer to walk students to school at least one morning per week as well as turn in updated volunteer paperwork to our Volunteer Coordinator, Athena Fredrick.

If there is not currently a route in your area, please hold tight until we can find a program coordinator who can help launch new routes.

We Need Your Help!
Our former Walking School Bus coordinator, Elaine Bailey, is stepping away from her duties so that she can focus her attention on her new role as a second grade teacher at Genesee Hill. As such, we are seeking a volunteer to take over the coordination of the Walking School Bus program. This volunteer will coordinate the launch of new routes for the un-served areas of our neighborhood by helping plan safe walking routes and schedules for interested families. They will also serve as a central point of contact for the captains/coordinators of existing routes. Elaine will work closely with this volunteer during the transition process and provide all program documents and data that may be needed. If you are interested in this role, please email Elaine at elainenbailey@gmail.com.