The school board attempted to bury the report. How will Seattle Public Schools pay for the new teacher contract? Selection of School Board Student Members; Approval of the Amended 2021-22 Superintendent . By. She is the second School Board director in recent memory to resign. West Seattle Blog | Community meeting with School Board director Mar. But some witnesses and school board directors got in the way. Other government bodies, like the City Council, also have to redistrict every decade per the Washington Voting Rights Act, which requires redistricting after each new census count. . Not have been convicted of a felony. During a board meeting Sept. 9, the board voted to take action based on the findings of the investigation. Codd, Superintendent Denise Juneau, School Board President Zachary DeWolf and Hersey heard from community members at a Thursday evening meeting on the issue at Garfield High School. The current policy doesnt codify any punishment for HIB conduct, so neither Hampson nor DeWolf were punished. With just a week before the Seattle School Board is scheduled to vote on a plan for instruction this school year, which begins Sept. 2, some members including Chandra Hampson say the district's . Seattle Parents Shocked After Learning Students Will Return To Schools And its costing taxpayers thousands of dollars. Monica Velez. When Al-ansi attempted to explain why her ties to the local Black communities would help tweak the policy, Hampson interrupted to scoff at the womans bona fides. Click to reveal The controversy began about two years ago, when SPS hired a law firm focused on employment law and human-resource services in the Pacific Northwest to investigate claims that Hampson and DeWolf violated a board policy during meetings that took place in August and September 2020. They were accused of waging sexist and . 8. The student school board positions are new positions, created by School Board Policy No. Two Seattle School Board members violated a board policy against harassing, intimidating and bullying staff members last year when they were working on an anti-racism policy with two Black district employees, an outside investigation has found. For details see Revised Code of Washington 29A.56.110. Seattle Public Schools hired MFR Law Group PLLC (MFR) to conduct an extensive investigation into school board directors Chandra Hampson and Zachary DeWolf. Hampsons attorneys are seeking to overturn the finding that their client violated the districts harassment, intimidation and bullying policy and say the district has not explained how events that led to the investigation meet the threshold of causing substantial harm to staffers under the policy. Ironically, the complaints came out of work on a draft policy concerning anti-racism. DeWolf engaged more harshly, disrespectfully, and/or rudely with women, regardless of race. But others note hes rude to everyone regardless of gender. Each district needs to meet certain criteria set by state law: having nearly the same population size, being as compact as possible and not favoring or disfavoring a political party or racial group. 2445 3rd Ave. S, Seattle, WA 98134 Why a Seattle School Board member plans to appeal - The Seattle Times Last month, the school board voted to repeal the harassment, intimidation and bullying policy for adults (a student policy still exists) and replace it with civility procedures, citing the extraneous resources it took to go through complaints that often didnt meet the threshold of the policy and prevented more serious complaints from being addressed. "It is unreasonable to . Then listen to the Jason Rantz Show weekday afternoons from 3-6 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Some of the biggest changes: District 2, which incorporates Green Lake and Phinney Ridge, has expanded west to include Ballard and Magnolia. The district has improperly employed [the harassment, intimidation and bullying policy] to rebalance the power between elected directors and staff., Board members are elected to advise and approve policies, Talmadge said. School Board student members will also attend the regular meetings of the School Board of Directors on a roughly once-per-month rotation and will have an opportunity to report on the work of their committee, offer opinions on the motions and resolutions before the board, and communicate other topics of student interest or concern. Their feelings about why or how they were targeted do not replace the need for evidence. One witness called it worst meeting she had ever experienced., Another witness said that DeWolf began raising his voice and accused [the complainants] of being dishonest about their collaboration on the policy. She said that it seemed he felt the need to put them in their place., When one of the complainants wondered if a miscommunication could have led to the belief that they were working independent of the school board members, the witness said, DeWolf was relentless in his negative admonishing and chastising tone, which set the stage for a terrible conversation., DeWolf told MFR investigators, according to the report, that he was not scolding [the complainant], because he does not like conflict, and he was trying to be super-intentional and gentle with his language.. GSBA, Comcast, and other partners are working to address disparities in access to financial resources with the Ready for Business fund. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. SEATTLE -- As Washington schools continue to face huge challenges with test scores and student achievement, theres a new proposal from one state lawmaker to help kick-start public education: Pay school board members, he argues, and thereby attract better leaders.We cant demand that our kids and our teachers improve their quality, and not improve the quality of our management as well, said state Rep. Reuven Carlyle, D-Seattle. How can Seattle build climate resilience? Look to its schools Seattle media deserves to be called out on this. High school senior writes Washington's new sex trafficking awareness For example, in one email, DeWolf called out Scarletts dishonesty in claiming she was working with him on the anti-racism policy. Newsletter & Website Content - OPEN. Chandra Hampson email address & phone number | Seattle Public Schools Winner of President's Cabinet for top performance in 2006 and 2008. Specifically, the recall petition itself reports that Seattle school board members have: Delayed reopening Seattle schools to full-time, in-person instruction, compared to the great majority of other districts; Violated their legal duty to provide special needs students with access to in-person instruction; Given away school property in West Seattle in violation of legal standards; Failed to correct a 2015 school board decision to take $2.7 million in private money while keeping the donors name secret; Approved contracts on planned Rainier Beach High School and Northgate Elementary construction projects which involve conflicts of interest and violations of environmental review laws; Failed to protect student privacy online; Failed to consult the Duwamish Tribe regarding environmental review of the Northgate Elementary project; Failed to provide adequate school-day recreational areas for students; Sold school property to a favored buyer without holding a public hearing; Discriminated against students by canceling the Highly Capable Program at Washington Middle School; Violated the rights of Kimball Elementary School students by improperly changing the attendance area. Part of the reason that I personally chose not to run is that it is such a huge commitment, particularly for someone who has a full-time job, and we have three board members who have full-time jobs.Smith-Blum said that there are good quality candidates who dont ever run because of the fact that its so overwhelming, with no compensation.But others doubt that board pay is a panacea.I dont think we are going to get a better corps of board candidates for that level of pay, and I dont think anybody who is doing it is doing it for the pay, said Charlie Mas who writes for the Save Seattle Schools website. Board members must first be elected to the 40+ member BCS Corporation. A hearing is scheduled for April 16th. Seattle, Washington, United States. Sami Al-Abdrabbuh, the chairman of a school board in northwest Oregon, has received death threats. The board vacancy came on the heels of Director Betty Patu announcing her departure from the school board, and without enough time to [] School board members ask city of Seattle not to - KIRO 7 News Seattle Maja Larson - Adjunct Professor - Seattle University School of Law Lets remember, six of the last seven people who had the job ran for re-election. Seattle school officials declined to comment on the case, although spokesperson Beverley Redmond said the replacement of the harassment, intimidation and bullying policy does not impact the superior courts decision. MFR investigators said DeWolf repeatedly and persistently mistreated the two complainants, violating the HIB policy. Subscribe to thepodcast here. The petition is accompanied by a detailed list of news reports, recorded school board votes and official school board resolutions to back up the recall petitions claims. School Board student members will receive $17.27/hour for their work in this role, not to exceed 20 hours a month. 2445 3rd Ave. S, Seattle, WA 98134 2023 Washington Policy Center All Rights Reserved Terms of Use, Closer look at Superintendent Reykdal's dig at WPC has me missing "Better call Saul", Washington state students to get less classroom time under new Dem-backed plan, Proposed WA bill would cut student's classtime by 4 hours a week, Tutoring bill to help students with school-shutdown learning loss blocked in Senate Ways and Means Committee, Bill reducing WA classroom learning by four hours a week working its way through Senate. Im sorry. John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence Seattle School Board President threatens volunteers with trespassing The filing deadline for this election was May 21, 2021 . Population and demographic changes in Seattle cause district boundaries to fluctuate. The two staffers attempted to present the policy during the meeting in September but were cut off by board members. If a superintendent or board member directed staff to get something done by a certain time and the employee refused to and claimed that was bullying, I mean thats just unworkable, said Talmadge, who served as a state senator for 16 years. Bellevue Christian Board of Directors - Bellevue Christian School School Board student members will be provided agendas and other materials in preparation for meetings and are also encouraged to attend board work sessions and other special meetings of the board. Seattle school board members demand city not remove homeless Seattle School Board approves new district boundaries for board members March 24, 2021 Updated Wed., March 24, 2021 at 8:31 p.m.