S1E46 - Season One Lookback

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[00:00:00] Christie Robertson: Welcome to Seattle Hall Pass, a podcast with news and conversations about Seattle Public Schools. I'm Christie Robertson. 

[00:00:14] Jasmine Pulido: And I'm Jasmine Pulido, the Seattle Hall Pass intern, subbing in for Jane. 

[00:00:18] Christie Robertson: It's the end of our first season, and we thought we'd do a look back at the past year.

[00:00:22] Jasmine Pulido: What an intense year it's been for Seattle Public Schools. Let's recap some of the major events and themes we've covered in Season One.

[00:00:31] Christie Robertson: Some of these include the budget crisis, school closures, the resignation of two school board directors and the appointment of two replacements, the state legislature and failure to fully fund schools, the October shuffle, which disrupted so many of our school buildings, and the monitoring of student outcomes progress. 

Budget Cuts and Talk of School Closures

[00:00:57] Christie Robertson: Without a doubt, the biggest story this year has been the district's budget crisis and the proposal to close elementary schools. This dominated a lot of our coverage in the second half of the year.

[00:01:08] Jasmine Pulido: It really did, Christie. Talk of closing schools began in August of 2023 with a series of community conversations the district entitled “Well Resourced Schools”.

[00:01:19] Christie Robertson: In fact, that was the title of our very first episode!

[00:01:22] Jasmine Pulido: Yeah, Episode 1! 

At the time, many suspected they were talking about closing schools, but the district generally spoke in vague terms.

[00:01:31] Christie Robertson: Here's our superintendent, Dr. Brent Jones. 

[00:01:34] Brent Jones: We are at a financial crossroads. This last year of 2023-24 planning, we had $131 million budget deficit. This coming year that we have to prepare for is a $105 million deficit. To deal with that, as I mentioned in the last couple of sessions, we can do anything, but we can't do everything. And so we want to make sure that we are prioritizing what's important to you.

[00:01:58] Christie Robertson: But by November, it had become clear that a list of school closures for the 2024-25 year was imminent. 

[00:02:05] Jasmine Pulido: It was leaked to us a day ahead of the November school board meeting that they weren't going to go through with the list, and that was covered in Episode 12, The Superintendent's Tightrope.

[00:02:16] Christie Robertson: Yeah, the district decided not to close any schools for the 24-25 school year and to postpone the hard decisions until the 25-26 school year. Which is what we're facing now – what's this, like nearly a year later? 

Over the past school year, the district took the school board through a series of 10 budget planning meetings, and we covered all of them.

[00:02:38] Jasmine Pulido: In May, which we covered in Episode 40, the district did a very significant reveal – the number of schools they're considering closing – 20 out of 73 elementary schools in the 2025-26 school year. It was a shock to many who hadn't realized the extent of the situation they were facing,

[00:02:57] Christie Robertson: Here's Superintendent Jones explaining the decision. 

[00:03:01] Brent Jones: We are at a decision point right now. We can maintain the current system of schools. We could continue operating 105 schools, including 29 schools with fewer than 300 students. If we go down the same path that we've been doing over the last several years, we'll be in a position where we reduce school staffing, increase class size, perhaps have to be eliminating preschool programs or our extracurricular activities, we would be continuing the reduction of central office staff, we may have to pause curriculum adoptions, and have reductions in operational staff. 

[00:03:37] Christie Robertson: The community reaction has been intense. We've covered several contentious board meetings and engagement sessions, especially in Episode 42. Parents, teachers, and community leaders all expressed serious concerns about the impacts.

Here's an example of public testimony from community member, Robert Cruickshank. 

[00:03:57] Robert Cruickshank: The well-resourced schools plan as it exists so far has been put together with minimal public participation. This plan needs to be the result of close collaboration with the families, students, and educators who are the heart of this district. You can't just impose something on us, especially a radical, extreme, and frankly unacceptable plan to close at least 20 of our schools. You don't have a mandate from the public to do that. 

[00:04:18] Jasmine Pulido: And it's still an ongoing issue. The final list of schools to be closed still hasn't been released,

[00:04:25] Christie Robertson: In fact, we've had three episodes entitled "There Is Not A List". Episodes 8, 40, and 45.

[00:04:33] Jasmine Pulido: And there are many unanswered questions about the process and impact this will have on communities.

So looking ahead to the fall, the story will continue to develop. The list is supposedly coming in the next couple of months. We're expecting major decisions and potential implementation challenges in the future. It's a complex issue that we'll be following closely.

[00:04:55] Christie Robertson: In covering this, we've tried to break down the complex budget issues and amplify community voices.

[00:05:00] Jasmine Pulido: Absolutely. Stay tuned, listeners. We'll continue to decode the decisions as they unfold in the coming year.

Board Director Resignations

[00:05:07] Christie Robertson: Another major shakeup this year was the sudden resignation of two school board directors in January, Vivian Song and Lisa Rivera, which we covered in Episode 23. It came as a surprise to many in the community and left the board in a challenging position.

[00:05:22] Jasmine Pulido: That's right, Christie. The directors resigned simultaneously, citing changes in their family situations that led to them moving outside their elected district boundaries. Their joint resignation letter was quite revealing.

[00:05:37] Christie Robertson: Yep. They stated they were in compliance with the board policy and the law, but they chose to resign to avoid what they called a manufactured distraction over their residency.

[00:05:48] Jasmine Pulido: They urged the remaining board to appoint replacements aligned with specific values, including diversity and labor partnership.

[00:06:03] Christie Robertson: The controversy about the departures was intense. Remaining board directors had a different perspective on the residency issues. Here are a few of Vice President Sarju's comments at a board meeting before the resignations.

[00:06:17] Michelle Sarju: This situation is not about what is legal or not.  While this situation may compel legal questions, that is not the real issue.  The issue is that a board director is occupying a seat they are no longer eligible to hold. This is different from something being illegal. And it's important that we understand this difference. I'm not going into specifics on this issue. I believe what is important is that the focus should be on doing what is right.

[00:06:48] Jasmine Pulido: We did an exit interview with Lisa Rivera in Episode 25, where she shared some candid thoughts about serving on the board, touching on systemic issues within the district and board itself. She also spoke about the challenges of balancing board duties with personal life. It gave our listeners a rare inside look at the pressures these elected officials face.

[00:07:10] Christie Robertson: But their departure complicated things for the board. 

[00:07:13] Jasmine Pulido: The resignations left two of the seven board seats vacant right as the district was grappling with the ongoing budget crisis and looming school closure discussions. 

[00:07:23] Christie Robertson: And remember that two other board members had just barely been seated after elections in the fall. So there were two baby directors, two empty seats, and just three veteran school board directors to keep the ship on course. 

New Board Directors Appointed

[00:07:38] Jasmine Pulido: Following the resignations, the remaining board members had to quickly organize a selection process to appoint interim directors. We covered the process to fill those vacancies over several episodes, culminating in the finalist forum in Episode 34.

[00:07:53] Christie Robertson: It was fascinating to see how many community members stepped up to apply for these positions. We had, at first, 15 candidates vying for the two open seats, each bringing their own perspectives and priorities to the table. 

[00:08:06] Jasmine Pulido: In the end, Sarah Clark and Joe Mizrahi were appointed to fill those seats in April.

Sarah Clark, appointed to District 2, brought policy experience from the Seattle Chamber of Commerce and was a graduate of Seattle Public Schools herself all the way K through 12. Joe Mizrahi, taking the District 4 seat, came with a background in labor law and union leadership.

In Episode 36, we had an in-depth interview with Director Mizrahi, where he discussed his background in labor organizing and how that experience might inform his approach on the board. He emphasized the importance of community engagement and building trust through consistent communication and follow-through. 

[00:08:44] Joe Mizrahi: How can you make a decision about a school or about after-school programs or whatever if you're not actually talking to the people who are impacted by that. Because they're just going to be a thousand issues and things that you haven't thought of.

 When it comes to building trust, I don't think there's any quick fix. There's no silver bullet. It's about time, engagement, listening, and following through. You have to sort of prove it to people that you're going to be out there listening to them. 

[00:09:11] Christie Robertson: Some in the community were upset that the board was appointing their own colleagues, when board leadership is typically elected, but appointment is the process outlined in board policy and the law for when a position goes vacant. Those positions will be up in the next election cycle.

[00:09:28] Jasmine Pulido: Both Clark and Mizrahi faced a steep learning curve, joining midterm during one of the most challenging periods in recent district history. 

[00:09:36] Christie Robertson: So far the new directors on the board have been rather quiet during these meetings, but it's still early days, and I hope to hear from them more in this new school year.

[00:09:45] Jasmine Pulido: Same. As we move into 2025, we'll watch how Clark and Mizrahi continue to grow into their roles and influence the direction of Seattle Public Schools during this pivotal time.

Legislative Session

[00:09:56] Christie Robertson: Another focus in the middle of the year was the state legislative session, especially around education funding. We covered key bills, lobbying efforts and outcomes in Episodes 21 and 24, including an interview with board president Liza Rankin about the district's push for funding reform in Olympia. 

[00:10:16] Jasmine Pulido: The district and the board are giving every indication that the 2025 legislative session is going to be a huge push to fix the prototypical model and get schools closer to the funding they need to operate. 

October Shuffle

[00:10:28] Christie Robertson: And who could forget the October shuffles at elementary schools? These are the disruptive staffing adjustments that happen about a month into the school year when actual enrollment doesn't match projections.

But this year, the shuffles were particularly painful because the district was also trying to comply with the state-mandated student:teacher ratios in K-3, and they had not adequately prepared for this ahead of time. So there was a really significant upheaval in many elementary schools. 

[00:10:59] Jasmine Pulido: Jane and Christie did a whole series of interviews on the disruption to students, families, and teachers and Episodes 18, 19, and 20. They interviewed parents and teachers at Dunlap, Adams, Cedar Park. Olympic Hills, Orca K-8, and Leschi. 

[00:11:16] Christie Robertson: I remember one parent describing it as “how to break a school”. They talked about children crying because they were separated from their friends and teachers they'd bonded with and the stress it put on families having to adjust schedules mid-year.

Here's Tyler Dupuis, a teacher at Orca K eight.

[00:11:33] Tyler Dupuis: These changes, they make no sense. They don't make anything better, and they benefit no one. Especially our students furthest from educational justice. Now, I know that you are in a tough position here. There's the budget deficit and everything. But we're standing here in incredibly rich Seattle. The richest corporations in the entire world are a few blocks away. This is one of the richest cities in the richest country that has ever existed on the face of this planet. So, no money? Not enough money for public schools? That's not a good enough answer for me. 

[00:12:05] Jasmine Pulido: The series also highlighted broader issues in the district, the challenges of accurate enrollment projections, the impact of school choice policies on individual school populations, and the rigid nature of state funding tied to specific student:teacher ratios.

[00:12:20] Christie Robertson: Many parents and educators we spoke to questioned why these adjustments couldn't have been made before the school year started, or at least earlier in the year when it would have been less disruptive.

[00:12:33] Jasmine Pulido: The October shuffles have become a symbol of larger systemic issues in the district, the tension between budgetary constraints and educational stability.

[00:12:42] Christie Robertson: As we move forward, it'll be important to watch how the district addresses these challenges in future years. Will there be changes to the enrollment and staffing processes to avoid similar disruptions? 

[00:12:55] Jasmine Pulido: I thought I remember Superintendent Jones actually saying, in one of the last meetings, that October shuffle is something they're really going to work on and eliminate. 

[00:13:03] Christie Robertson: Yes.

[00:13:04] Jasmine Pulido: And one of the selling points for school consolidations. 

[00:13:07] Christie Robertson: Yes, exactly 

[00:13:09] Jasmine Pulido: He's been promising that if we close some schools, it will stabilize enrollment at the remaining schools, reducing the need for disruptive mid-year staffing changes. It's an interesting argument, but some in the community are skeptical about whether it will really play out that way in practice.

[00:13:26] Christie Robertson: I guess we'll find out in a couple months. 

Student Outcomes

[00:13:28] Christie Robertson: Another significant theme we've covered this year is the district's ongoing efforts to implement student outcomes-focused governance. This is a system they've adopted that is supposed to focus the school board away from implementation details, so they can focus on monitoring progress toward a set of goals for students.

[00:13:48] Jasmine Pulido: The goals for the last several years have been third grade reading competency, seventh grade math competency, and college and career readiness for our students furthest from educational justice, particularly Black boys. And we actually covered why and how they came to these goals in Episode 27 with Brennan Hersey called, "How are the children?"

[00:14:13] Christie Robertson: That was actually one of our most popular episodes, so it's definitely worth listening. 

[00:14:17] Jasmine Pulido: Oh, really? 

[00:14:18] Christie Robertson: Yep. 

[00:14:18] Jasmine Pulido: Cool. 

[00:14:19] Christie Robertson: We've tracked a lot of difficulties in the implementation of student outcomes-focused governance. In Episode 13, Facing Our Student Outcomes, we reported on some of the concerning trends. Suffice it to say that despite the increased focus, more students than ever are falling below proficiency in math and reading.

[00:14:39] Jasmine Pulido: The board has also struggled to maintain its attention on these outcomes, given the financial situation, the changes in board composition, and a decrease in the number of board meetings per month.

Back in Episode 10, we noted that the board had missed opportunities for scheduled progress monitoring sessions, and this has been an ongoing issue. As the intern, I actually dug into the records and found that progress monitoring was scheduled at seven of our 17 school board meetings, and then two of those were skipped. One was rescheduled, but the other was not. The most recent executed progress monitoring was back in February.

[00:15:16] Christie Robertson: That's quite a while ago. And by the board's own measures, they are nowhere near their goal of focusing 50 percent of their effort on monitoring student outcomes. Jasmine found that most meetings had 0 percent of their time focused on student outcomes with a few in the 10s or 20s.

[00:15:34] Jasmine Pulido: Yeah, it was really surprising when I looked at the it was the time use evaluations. And a lot of the time was actually classified as “Other”, so it wasn't even any of the values or vision-focused intentions that they were hoping to discuss more.

[00:15:54] Christie Robertson: The one major improvement that I give them a lot of credit for is that they're actually doing those time use evaluations. 

[00:16:02] Jasmine Pulido: True.

[00:16:02] Christie Robertson: And they're actually looking at student outcomes. And even though the outcomes are bad, they are bringing them in and acknowledging them, and that's the first step to being able to fix things.

[00:16:12] Jasmine Pulido: Mm hmm. That's a good point. And also when they categorized something as Other, they did a really good job of breaking down what Other actually was at the end of most of their evaluations, which I thought was great as far as transparency.

[00:16:29] Christie Robertson: Yeah, I assume there's going to be a lot of "other" this year too, as they have to deal with this budget crisis and school closures. That's going to take a lot of attention. 

[00:16:39] Jasmine Pulido: Looking ahead to this upcoming school year, it'll be crucial to watch how this governance model evolves. Will we start to see more positive trends and student outcomes? How will the board balance this focus with the pressing issues of budget cuts and potential school closures?

[00:16:56] Christie Robertson: Absolutely. And we'll be keeping a close eye on how the district communicates these efforts to the community.

So this is the last episode of Season One, our first year of Seattle Hall Pass. Jane and I have been joined by two new collaborators of late. 

Dawson Nichols, who has brought superb interview and video skills into our mix. He produced our excellent Episode 43, looking back at the previous round of mass school closures in 2007. And you can see the video on our YouTube channel. 

We have also been joined by Jasmine Pulido, who's right here, and has been contributing behind the scenes in all kinds of ways – research, editing, and just about everything else as our new intern.

[00:17:37] Jasmine Pulido: We're also happy to note that we are not the only media following a city's school board and school districts going ons. We were inspired by a podcast out of Boston called Last Night at School Committee. If you're interested in seeing how other districts operate, it's fascinating to listen in.

We have been talking with others who are interested in starting podcasts in other big cities. And if you're listening from another city, we would be happy to consult on making it happen. 

That's super exciting.

[00:18:05] Christie Robertson: I know. Isn't that cool? 

[00:18:06] Jasmine Pulido: That's super cool though. 

[00:18:07] Christie Robertson: Looking ahead to Season Two of Seattle Hall Pass and the 2024-25 school year, the school closure issue will certainly continue to be front and center. We'll also be watching how the district develops its new strategic plan and addresses the ongoing budget challenges. 

[00:18:21] Jasmine Pulido: That's right. We'll also track the push for more state investment in our public schools in the important legislative session this year. And we're looking forward to seeing the board with all of its new members begin to get their footing and see how they contribute. 

[00:18:35] Christie Robertson: Thank you so much to all of our monthly supporters. You can join them at SeattleHallPass.org. Follow us on Twitter @SeattleHallPass. Contact us at Hello@SeattleHallPass.org.

[00:18:50] Jasmine Pulido: Thank all of our listeners for tuning in this year and engaging with these important issues in public education. Your support and feedback help make this podcast possible.

[00:19:00] Christie Robertson: Absolutely, and we're looking forward to continuing to bring you in-depth coverage and analysis of Seattle Public Schools in the new year with the second season of Seattle Hall Pass.

[00:19:11] Jasmine Pulido: Yay!

[00:19:11] Christie Robertson: Yay.