 | | | | | SCPTSA Treasurer Office Hours:
Reflections & Givebacks Support SCPTSA Treasurer June Nho Ivers is holding an office hour on Zoom Friday, Sept 20 from 9–10am to support local PTA leaders. Come say "hi" and bring your Reflections and Givebacks questions. |
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| | | SCPTSA LISTENING SESSION: PTA’S ON THE SUPERINTENDENTS CLOSURE LISTSeattle Council PTSA is hosting a listening session for PTA leaders at schools being considered for closure under the Superintendent's Well-Resourced Schools proposed plans. Please bring questions and concerns representative of your school community, prioritizing those from families with students furthest from educational justice. Somali, Spanish, and ASL interpretation will be provided. Please email secretary@scptsa.org with additional interpretation and/or accommodations requests. |
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| | | SPS Well-Resourced Schools Consolidations & Closures Online Information Session Join Seattle Public Schools for a community meeting to discuss the districts' plans to reimagine a system of well-resourced, safe, and equitable schools. Learn more about the proposed plans including school consolidations and closures, ask questions, and share your feedback as we work together to shape the future of our schools. |
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| | SATURDAY
SEPT 28 10–11:30 pm |
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| SCPTSA LISTENING SESSION:
ALL ELEMENTARY & K-8 SCHOOL PTA’S Seattle Council PTSA is hosting a listening session for PTA leaders at all elementary and K-8 schools. The Superintendent's Well-Resourced Schools proposed plans would affects all our school communities, even those not slated to close. Please bring questions and concerns representative of your school community, prioritizing those from families with students furthest from educational justice. Somali, Spanish, and ASL interpretation will be provided. Please email secretary@scptsa.org with additional interpretation / accommodations requests. |
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| | | SCPTSA GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETINGJoin Seattle Council PTSA on Zoom for a General Membership Meeting to discuss next steps as we advocate for an equitable, inclusive, and student-centered system of schools. All are welcome—you do not need to be a PTA member to join us.
We urge each local Seattle PTA to consider sending at least one delegate to this meeting. Each local PTA gets 1 vote. PTA Presidents are authorized to vote on behalf of their PTA, or they may send a designated delegate. Presidents—if you will be delegating someone to vote, please email president@scptsa.org and secretary@scptsa.org with the name of your PTA, your name, and the name of the person who you are delegating to vote on your behalf.
Somali, Spanish, and ASL interpretation will be provided. Please email secretary@scptsa.org with additional accommodation / interpretation requests. |
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| | SAVE THE DATES!Oct 9 — SPS School Board Regular Meeting Oct 20–27 — 46th Annual Washington State PTA Legislative Assembly Oct 21 — SCPTSA Black Disability Leadership with Anita Cameron and Yordanos Gebreamlak
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| | | SCPTSA School Board Testimony #1Sept, 18, 2024 My name is Samantha Fogg, Co-President of Seattle Council PTSA, speaking on behalf of our board, with a mission to make every child’s potential a reality. From the first time school consolidation was mentioned, we have been sharing with Superintendent Jones that our families need to be partners, fully engaged and part of the process. While Dual Capacity Framework was not implemented, it was still our expectation that any plan presented would elevate and improve the experiences of our students, putting into practice the policies of our school board.
Our communities are tired of just being told they are cared about, thought about, and considered. Performative language means nothing without implementation. Policies must be put into practice. Our students need a plan that honors the full range of our community of learners by providing an education that prepares each student for their plans for college, career, life. We need an education that our children do not need to heal from. We need a plan that centers student outcomes. Staff has not even given us a website that is in a format that is accessible to all of our families.
Two years ago we asked that whatever was brought forward by staff be done so in a timely manner. It was our expectation that district staff, in trying to meet the challenge, would use all existing resources - working with experts within our district including all district staff including our principals, our educators, and our families - as well as working with our partners and our city. We ask our volunteer advocates to connect with their full communities. It is not too much to ask that our Superintendent work with his full staff, that he value success over secrecy.
The concept of a plan that has been laid out on the web hub prioritizes facilities over families, with an untenable timeline, and no evidence of how the needs of our full range of learners will be supported. We see none of the information we have shared with our Superintendent reflected in anything other than platitudes.
To our school board, we honor and respect the vision and values put forward, and your consistent and longstanding direction to center the outcomes of students.
We do not see this vision reflected in the actions of our district, and we are out of time. |
| | SCPTSA School Board Testimony #2Sept, 18, 2024
Hello, I am Liz Barry. I am an SCPTSA executive board member, a long-time SPS Dual Language teacher at Denny and an SPS parent with two children at Concord. The Well-Resourced Schools proposals mention expanding the Dual Language program and I am here to offer to help. Expanding DL is a shared goal of many Dual Language educators and families. It is a critical strategy for Multilingual students especially. There is increasing interest in DL as more bilingual preschools open across our city. The amazing Dual Language educators across our district have built and sustained programs. The incredible families that are part of our Dual Language communities want their children to continue on a pathway to biliteracy. There are obstacles, but we can find solutions. Like Highline, we could have one DL school in each region with specific enrollment policies that prioritize access for Multilingual learners. Like Bellevue, transportation could be provided from the neighborhood elementary schools to decrease costs. Naming future DL schools now is critical so that staff and families can begin to prepare. By sponsoring visas, we can recruit teachers from across the world. OSPI wants to support districts in developing their Dual Language programs. We can do this for our students. Dual Language programs are the epitome of equity, a core value of SPS.
They reach students from many different backgrounds, cultures and experiences. Multilingual students continue to develop their home language skills, and non-MLs are immersed in a new culture and language.
For our multilingual, heritage and native speakers, it is a space where their needs, interests and assets are at the forefront of the classroom. By centering their experiences, every student in the room benefits and our world benefits from more multi-literate citizens.
The Dual Language model can provide Advanced Learning opportunities for our HC students, IEP supports for our students in Special Education and critical learning in the home languages of many of our Multilingual students. Our students deserve a clear path for their language acquisition journey, and let’s help them find that place in our Seattle Schools.
I also brought a gift to share with you one way DL supports students’ biliteracy journey. This is the 2024 bilingual poetry anthology, La Vida Latina, written by Denny DL 8th graders last year in collaboration with Jack Straw Cultural Center. They work with poets each year to write their own work, which they record and publish. I am extremely proud of them and I am sure you will be as well. |
| | | Seattle Council PTSA encourages all local PTAs to consider participating in this year's program, regardless if your board has a Reflections Chair.
Please help answer a few short questions for us in the survey below so we can better support our PTAs in bringing Reflections to more SPS students. Thank you! |
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| | General Membership Meeting recording Thank you to the 70 people who joined us at our General Membership meeting on Zoom last week, and to all of you who have been reaching out to connect with us on the Superintendents' proposed plans for Well-Resourced Schools closures and consolidations. As a reminder, Presidents can be reached at president@scptsa.org. In case you weren't able to make the meeting, we recorded our time spent with Dr. Marni Campbell, SPS, Well-Resourced Schools Officier and Devin Gurley, Interim Executive Director of Special Education and Inclusion. |
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| | | | What can PTA leaders & community members do in the face of the SPS budget deficit and lack of state funding?
STAY INFORMED & BE CURIOUS Do your research on school funding and the history of education in Washington State and the U.S. Think critically about everything you read and hear—what sounds like a good idea on the surface can cause more harm if we're not informed. Here’s a thoughtful opinion by Mark Epstein and Michael Dixon. It was published by the South Seattle Emerald last year, but the content is very relevant to our conversations happening today. SIGN THE BIG 5 PLEDGE The People's Big Five—a grassroots coalition echoing Professor David Knight’s “Big 5” legislative priorities for fully and equitably funding education in Washington State—calls on Legislators to reform critical funding for K-12 education. Sign the pledge and share it with your community! PTA leaders can also vote with their board and/or their membership to rally around these five priorities in the 2025 legislative session. You can learn more about the Big 5 here and here. WSPTSA supports the Big Five priorities. Reforming school funding allocations for Equity Statewide – reforming Learning Assistance Programs and Local Education Authority funding to ensure equitable support for low-income students and lower-income districts Passing Progressive Revenue Legislation – identifying sustainable progressive revenue streams for K-12 education funding Fully Funding Special Education – by shifting from rate of inclusion to determine funding weights that include specific disability categories and their associated cost Fully Funding K-12 Transportation Needs – updating the STARS transportation funding model to ensure it is sufficient to meet cost and does not penalize districts for achieving efficiencies Addressing Inflation – increase funding allocation for materials, supplies and operating cost (MSOC) to reflect the impacts of inflation on costs such as insurance, fuel, utilities
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| | OPPOSE INITIATIVE 2109 Talk with friends, neighbors & Legislators about opposing Initiative 2109 that repeals the Capital Gains Tax on long-term capital assets with gains over $250,000 (stocks and bonds, but not primary residences or retirement accounts), with the revenues from that tax going directly to support public education. The first $500M that the capital gains tax collects each year must go into the Education Trust Legacy Account, which can only support public schools (early learning, K-12, and higher education). Amounts collected above $500M must be deposited into the Common School Construction Account.
Washington State PTA, through its member-adopted legislative platform, has consistently advocated for predictable, progressive, and sustainable revenue sources for funding public education and for programs that benefit children and youth. WSPTA opposes Initiative 2109, which would repeal the capital gains tax – a critical and significant source of revenue for education and school construction. WSPTA encourages all local PTAs and Councils to oppose Initiative 2109, and educate their members; And encourages all 83,000+ members to vote NO on Initiative 2109.
ADVOCATE WITH NON-PROFIT ORGS LED BY FOLKS OF COLOR Organize with SCPTSA and other non-profit organizations in Seattle who have been advocating for equitably and fully funding education across Washington State for some time. Families and communities with students furthest from educational justice have the knowledge and experience needed to change the system so ALL children can thrive. SPCPTSA recommends checking out what the Southeast Seattle Education Coalition and Equity in Education Coalition are up to for starters.
READ THE NEW REPORT ON THE SCHOOL FUNDING CRISIS In Underfunded and Unsustainable, The League of Education Voters share findings from in-depth interviews with district superintendents from 28 Washington state school districts and a look at district staffing and spending data to help inform how we can respond and ensure that students are centered as we look to how we can emerge from this challenging time. |
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| | | Standards of Affiliation, Givebacks Stripe Accounts, Membership Dues & more
HAS YOUR PTA ENTERED ALL BOARD OFFICERS IN GIVEBACKS?
This is very important— It’s not just a Standards of Affiliation requirement, it's also a way for WSPTA and SCPTSA to stay connected with you! All local PTAs are required to adhere to WSPTAs Standards of Affiliation to be in good standing. Check out this blog post with an explanation of the Standards of Affiliation, including some new requirements, and please enter your board officers in Givebacks as soon as possible.
HAS YOUR PTA SET UP A STRIPE ACCOUNT?
Paying membership dues to WSPTA is no longer automatic. Each PTA will need to set up a Stripe account for Givebacks to pay dues. On the 1st of each month, either the PTA treasurer or president will need to go into Givebacks and click “submit ACH” to remit dues for WSPTA and National PTA. If WSPTA gets 75% of local PTAs to connect their Stripe before October 31st AND 75% of local PTAs to process at least ONE online join through Givebacks, Stripe transfer fees will be reduced from $2 to $.75.
Your PTA is also a part of Seattle Council, and your Council fees are $3.50 per local PTA member. Council service fees are waived for PTAs in Schools that are Title 1 School Wide or that receive Title 1 Targeted Assistance now or in the last two years. Seattle Council PTSA will bill our 87 PTAs for member dues on November 1, March 1 and June 1. This will allow local PTAs to build their 25 members for the October 31st deadline. Presidents and treasurers of each local PTA will receive an reminder email and can input their membership dues in the SCPTSA Givebacks Store.
MEMBERSHIP CARD DISCOUNT CODES
We have recently been informed that the membership cards do not currently have discount codes for WSPTA. Givebacks is working to update this. For now, local PTAs will have to send a welcome email to all members that includes information about the member discount codes. This is different from Memberplanet, where PTAs could tailor an automated message to be sent after people signed up. If you don’t have the membership discount code, please email secretary@scptsa.org.
NEED SUPPORT?
For Givebacks support, please reach out to Noah griffin or add a meeting directly to his calendar. Additionally, SCPTSA Treasurer June Nho Ivers is holding office hours on Sept 20, 9–10 am. Bring your Givebacks and treasurer questions! |
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| | Have You Checked Out Thrive? Thrive! is PTA’s latest free online learning community for volunteers and PTA members. Thrive offers you volunteer and leadership development at your fingertips. Thrive is great because it offers engaging, short courses that you can take at your own convenience, time, and pace. We are continually adding free e-learning courses you can take at any pace from anywhere to help grow your knowledge on key topics related to your local, district or state PTA. |
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| | Reflections Updates New in 2024-25: Only students that attend a school with a PTA/PTSA may participate. Parent groups not affiliated with National PTA are not eligible to sponsor this program.
New in 2024-25: the Special Artist Division is now called the Accessible Arts Division.
*See Local Leader Training dates below.
National PTA is seeking a theme for the 2026-2027 Reflections Program! Washington students at schools with an active PTA/PTSA may submit their theme ideas (with parent/guardian authorization) via this form. The Washington State PTA Programs Committee will select a top 5 to submit to National PTA. The top 5 will be announced in November after the submission deadline. Theme Search entries due November 4th. Submit an entry now.
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| | UPCOMING WSPTA EVENTS Applications for the WSPTA Scholarship, Essay Contest, Reflections Theme Search, and Leadership Service Awards are now open. You can find them here. |
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| | | | SPS Launches the Well-Resourced Schools Web Hub
The SPS System of Well-Resourced Schools initiative aims to stabilize and improve our schools.The district's primary responsibility is to create schools that are equitable and excellent, ensuring that they operate within our resources to maintain the stability and health of our district for the future. SPS believes that high-quality instruction includes creating schools that are culturally responsive and provide inclusion of all students in meaningful ways. (SPS Board Policy 0010). The district has created two proposed plans as it works to stabilize and improve our school system. As you review the proposed options below, please know these are drafts under consideration. Superintendent Jones will present a preliminary recommendation to the School Board in October. The School Board will vote on the proposal before winter break (Dec. 2024). PROPOSED OPTIONSTake a look at the recommendations including names of schools being considered for closure or consolidation. View the proposed options CRITERIA, DATA & EQUITY What would it look like if this initiative ensured educational and racial equity and access for every student? View the criteria & data reports COMMUNITY MEETINGSTo ensure everyone has the opportunity to understand these proposals and share feedback, SPS is hosting five regional in-person meetings and one online meeting. Please RSVP Online: Tues, Sept 24, 6:30 pm,
Zoom Meeting (Link coming soon)
Southwest Region: Wed, Sept 25, 6:30 pm
Genesee Hill Elementary, 5013 SW Dakota St., Seattle, WA 98116
Southeast Region: Thurs, Sept 26, 6:30 pm
Wing Luke Elementary, 3701 S Kenyon St., Seattle, WA 98118
Central Region: Tues, Oct 1, 6:30 pm
Kimball Elementary, 3200 23rd Ave. S, Seattle, WA 98144
Northeast Region: Thurs, Oct 3, 6:30 pm
Olympic Hills Elementary, 13018 20th Ave. NE, Seattle, WA 98125
Northwest Region: Mon, Oct 7, 6:30 pm
James Baldwin Elementary, 11725 1st Ave. NE, Seattle, WA 98125
Translation and interpretation services will be provided at each meeting. American Sign Language (ASL), Amharic, Cantonese, Somali, Spanish, and Vietnamese interpreters will be available. After the online meeting, a recording will be posted to the district website.
FAQ PAGESPS will be updating frequently asked questions as answers are available.
Share your questions or feedback |
| | | RESOURCES Seattle Indian Health Board — Cultural healthcare, human services, advocacy, and data research. The Arc of King County — Promoting and protecting the rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities so they can live, learn, work and play in the community – improving the quality of life for us all. Washington State Department of Revenue — Working Families Tax Credit, up to $1,255 back for eligible individuals and families. Department of Homeland Security —Know2Protect, a national effort to combat online child sexual exploitation and abuse, Back2School Resources discussion guides, tip sheets, classroom activities, for educators and families.
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| | | | | EVENTSSept 21 — Seattle Indian Health Board, Family Saturdays, Pediatric Dental Clinic & Family Fun. Tie-dye an orange shirt with us to celebrate the resilience of our youth, our Native community, and to honor boarding school survivors. Sept 21 — CID Night Market, FREE, all-ages street festival celebrating the Chinatown-International District neighborhood through street vendors, food trucks, and cultural performances. Sept 23 — Roosevelt Alumni for Racial Equity (RARE), Open Discussion with author and Seattle’s Black Panther Party co-founder Elmer Dixon. Sept 28 — Seattle Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs, FREE Citizenship Workshops for all Washington State legal permanent residents (green card holders). Oct 20 — Seattle Arts and Lectures, A Conversation with Ta-Nehisi Coates: In-person & Online Oct 29 — The Arc King County, Supporting a Person with an Intellectual Disability During Grief and Loss
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| | STATEWIDE LOCAL ELECTION DEBATESSept 19 — Attorney General, Seattle Central College, Seattle, 8 pm, Moderators: Hana Kim, FOX 13 (lead); Laurel Demkovich, Washington State Standard; Shauna Sowersby, Cascade PBS; Libby Denkmann, KUOW Sept 26 — OSPI, Edmonds Center for the Arts, Edmonds, 7 pm, Moderators: John Hopperstad, FOX 13 (lead); Sami West, KUOW; Venice Buhain, Cascade PBS Oct 11 — Governor, Central Washington University, Ellensburg, 4 pm (the earlier start time is because Yom Kippur starts at sunset)
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| | | | VIDEOS
League of Education Voters
What Values and Goals Should Provide the Foundation of Our Education System?
(captioning is available in English, Spanish, and Somali)
Our K-12 education system plays a critical role in communities across Washington. A role that is continuing to evolve to meet the needs of students. As more is being asked of schools and as students need a broader range of support, it brings up some important questions about how we design and resource our K-12 education system.... |
| | HOW CAN SCPTSA SUPPORT YOU? |
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