Wallyhood Interviews Jose Banda, Part 1

Seattle Schools superintendent Jose Banda kindly agreed to answer questions from our corporate world headquarters here at Wallyhood, Inc. [Ed. note: we are not actually “inc“‘ed, but appreciate the literary flourish.]  Better still, the answers he gave were typed up for me so I didn’t get a chance to mess up the transcription like I did with Dr. Enfield. Here’s part 1 of the interview, covering lots of stuff but not “school reform”. Let us know in the comments what you think of his responses and what other issues we should cover regarding Wallingford’s schools!

Capacity Question: Schools like Hamilton and John Stanford are running at maximum capacity, and it’s unclear what will happen over the next couple years as smaller upper grades matriculate and larger populations continue to enter the system at lower grades. BEX 4 includes reopening Lincoln as a high school in 2019, while having it “provide needed space until new facilities are completed” until then. Can you clarify what that specifically means for the Hamilton reference area over next couple years? For instance, where should we expect portables to show up, who will be at Lincoln over the next few years, and what changes will there be to reference areas?

Banda: Our enrollment is increasing and projections show an additional 7,000 students over the next decade. We know much of that growth is in the north end and West Seattle. Our goal is to build capacity for new students, and create the flexibility needed to meet future growth. We are analyzing enrollment projections for the short, intermediate and long term, in partnership with the District’s Facilities and Capacity Management Advisory Committee (FACMAC). FACMAC is a volunteer group of community members representing all regions of the city, with diverse specialties and interests in educational programs, special services (special needs) capacity, demographics and urban geography. The recommendations developed will guide the District in determining enrollment growth solutions in all regions. The Seattle School Board will make a final decision on the list of schools and projects to be included in the Building Excellence IV (BEX IV) capital projects levy that will go before voters in February 2013. For updates on our BEX process, please visit http://bit.ly/SPSBEX. 

Transportation Question: There are many reports of school buses pulling up to schools mostly empty. Do you know what percentage of school buses are arriving at schools at least 50% full? When can we expect public engagement regarding transportation and start time changes for next year, and in particular the possibility of making elementary school early and high school late?

Banda: We won’t know the official percentage until we file our report with the state later in October, but last year our buses on average were 37 percent full. That is low compared to other districts because we have very specialized transportation needs in Seattle Public Schools. With our option schools, alternative schools and special programs designed to accommodate a variety of student needs, we offer more choices of schools, which means that we are busing students outside of their neighborhood more often than other districts.

We know that transportation and the start and end times for our schools are important issues for many families. That’s why the District last spring convened a task force of state and local technical transportation experts in order to more thoroughly analyze future transportation options and provide for increased community input. The Superintendent’s Transportation Task Force will present its recommendations at a school board meeting in the near future.

The task force recommendations addressed ways the district can save money and how SPS transportation operations can be changed to be more efficient. The task force has also recommended creation of a standing citizens advisory committee. We have heard from families that we should consider starting elementary schools earlier and high schools later. This has major ramifications for high school students, including after-school jobs and athletics, as well as before- and after-school child care for elementary school families. This issue will take considerable time to thoroughly study, and is likely to be one of the first issues addressed by the new citizens’ advisory committee.

Special Education: Management of special education staff is split between principals and the district, with special education teachers reporting to principals, and other specialists, like psychologists and therapists, reporting to the district. This management structure results in teams that lack accountability and cohesion, particularly given that special education at the district level has not had an experienced director for many years. Since special education has largely been returned to a school-based model in the last couple years, why not give principals management oversight of all specialists?

Banda: It would be difficult to assign principals oversight of all specialists because many of them are not assigned to one particular school but instead serve several schools. We employ about 186 special education service providers like School Psychologists, Occupation and Physical Therapists, and Speech-Language Pathologists. They have specialized skills and licenses, and provide evaluations that identify barriers to learning and/or services that directly support students’ educational goals. As in many large districts, these staff members are organized centrally in the Special Education department, are led and supported by team leaders, and are evaluated by supervisors in the Special Education department.

In most districts, providers of “related services” such as occupational therapy and physical therapy or speech language services are not members of a school site staff, but are staffed, supervised and deployed centrally so that services can be directed and targeted where they are most needed. They are often itinerant staff members, serving multiple schools, and are assigned case loads according to student need and school size. Their services are not therapeutic, but work toward a student’s ability to achieve her/his educational goals.

These staff members are often part of an IEP team, particularly if they are conducting and sharing information from evaluations to determine eligibility or need for services.

Athletics: In middle school and high school, players that don’t rank as one of the top few players during tryouts for basketball and other team sports are not allowed to participate in athletics after school. There is no intramural team alternative. This policy discourages anyone who isn’t a great athlete from playing at all, which seems backwards in this age of childhood obesity and increased academic time during the school day. Can you fix this policy and eliminate the athletic-skills based cut off for participating in after school sports like basketball? If space is limited, could staff and slots for intramural play be opened up by charging fees to students who are not on a free or reduced lunch?

Banda: Starting in kindergarten, Seattle Public Schools physical education classes provide students with instruction in both team and individual sports. The goal is to teach students to do the activities well so they will continue to enjoy these sports for a lifetime. In middle school, the tryout system is in place for interscholastic sports that involve a smaller number of participants, such as basketball. For those students who don’t make the team, some schools do offer intramurals before and after school and during lunch, depending on that school’s individual budget, staffing and facilities. Regardless of what may be available at the school, our PE teachers promote community connections for students to continue the activities they enjoy, including rowing, biking, volleyball, basketball and soccer. For example, we have a strong partnership with the City of Seattle Parks and Recreation Department, which offers a competitive basketball program for both boys and girls who do not play on their school teams. We are committed to ensuring that parents are aware of this alternative for those students who are interested in continuing to develop their basketball skills.

The Web Site: Fusion Pages were chosen to replace class pages on The Source, but their implementation is a usability mess that has not improved in the year since rollout. Most teachers don’t seem to use Fusion Pages and stick only to The Source, but occasionally important information is posted on Fusion Pages and it is up to the parent to deal with Fusion Pages. The staff in your IT department relayed that they are frustrated by the poor quality of Fusion Pages but are unable to fix them because they are a hosted service. Might Fusion Pages be shut down in favor of returning to Class Pages on The Source? If not, when and how will you be dealing with the poor quality of Fusion Pages?

Banda: The use of data within class pages has always been dependent upon what teachers have wanted to include, so it varies substantially throughout the District and even within a school. Part of the reasoning for moving class pages to School Fusion is because we will be changing student information systems in the next year. The new products for student information also contain a parent portal, so the Source will be phased out and keeping class pages there did not make sense.

We are currently looking at the new student information systems to see what the functionality for class pages will be and if that is a viable option, but we do not know enough about this yet. We expect to be making determinations within the next two months though. The School Fusion vendor has recently unveiled a new product and that is another option for us to consider. In the meantime, we have had issues with teachers using School Fusion before the school has launched their website, which has caused difficulties, and we are continuing to work with our vendor to try to improve the experience.