The Seattle Times published an interesting story today about how parents are challenging the Seattle School Board’s decision to rehire the superintendent by petitioning for a recall election for five of the seven members.

The group alleges the board didn’t fully consider a recent audit on the district’s finance policies before rehiring Superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson.

The petition will go before a judge, before the group must then get 32,000 signatures to win the recall election, according to The Times.

The Washington State Board of Education has a missing person, and Randy Dorn is calling for a special election in November 2010 to fill the spot.

The board is comprised of 16 members:

• Two members from the eastern region of the state, elected by school board members;
• Three members from the western region of the state, elected by school board members;
• One member, at large, elected by approved private schools;
• The superintendent of public instruction;
• Seven members appointed by the governor; and
• Two student representatives selected by the state board itself.

The position up for election is Western Region Position 3.

Candidates must be residents of the region they wish to represent. (For the western region, that includes the 19 westernmost counties.) Candidates cannot be employed by any public or private school, college, university or other educational institution, any educational service district, or the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction after being elected to the State Board. Persons elected to the board may not concurrently serve as a member of the board of directors of either a public school district or a private school.

Debbie Tito, the director of assessment for the Renton School District, accepted a position overseeing the district’s human resources department.

She was introduced to the Renton School Board by Sheryl Moore, who incidentally accepted the assistant human resources position in June.

I spoke with Tito a few times about the High School Proficiency Exam, particularly about how passing the math section will soon be required by all high school students.

This is a cool tid-bit of news about a science teacher:

McKnight Middle School science teacher Carlie Jonas is one of only six teachers selected to help design environmental science and sustainability curriculum this summer with a team at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

The team will work with Nobel Laureate Dr. Lee Hartwell to design a curriculum to be used in a teaching program at
Arizona State University. Fred Hutchinson hopes to eventually have the curriculum used in local universities.

Next school year Jonas will work with other McKnight teachers to implement lessons learned during her  summer program.

The Renton Technical College president’s assistant is retiring this year after 32 years in Renton public schools.

Karen DeBruyn established an RTC baking scholarship in honor of her father, Frank E. Wright, who was a baker all of his life.

“The main purpose of this scholarship is for students to be able to finish the program,” DeBruyn said. “It is not always about the grades, but meeting the needs of struggling families so students can stay in school and finish.”

Getting her start in 1978 as a substitute teacher at Dimmitt Middle School, she left the Renton School District as the Hazen High School principal’s secretary. She was hired at RTC in 1991.

At RTC, DeBruyn has worked for three presidents, including the college’s newest president, Steve Hanson.

Black River High School and the horticulture program have had their last classes. Bulldozers aren’t far from the school doors, but parents are still fighting to keep the school open at a bordering property.

Michele Savelle sent me a letter this morning that they expect to discuss with the Renton School Board this morning.

The letter encourages district administrators and board members to consider placing all of the Black River students at the recently acquired church property, which is right next to Black River. Right now, a core of students and teachers are moving to the Sartori Education Center.

A few groups that won’t be going to Sartori include the Emotional Behavior Disorder students, who are going to Lindbergh High School’s program, and new freshman classes. By not having a freshman class, in three years the last memory of Black River will graduate.

Black River serves as a last-resort school for students who might otherwise drop out. This letter also asks that new students be admitted into the group.

The letter also asks to save the horticulture program and move it to one of the abandoned greenhouses across the street.

The district has responded in the past that the horticulture program was going to be closed for issues of rigor, not property. It’s also said that moving a core group of students (about 73 percent) and teachers (8, or 6.4 FTE) to Sartori is better and less expensive than remodeling the old church property.

Below is Savelle’s letter.

Letter to Board From CRSBA

Randy Dorn, right, at Dimmitt Middle School. He apologized today for comparing his salary to Cliff Lee

In a way I can’t help but sympathize with Randy Dorn, the Washington State’s top superintendent. In social gatherings I too often find myself apologizing for accidentally offending people, granted that’s usually at a barbecue during karaoke, not in front of a statewide audience.

His most recent apology is for comparing his salary to baseball player Cliff Lee, who reportedly makes $9 million.

“It would be embarrassing,” Dorn said, according to the Seattle Times. “Somebody who’s responsible for 1,050,000 kids would only add up to a few pitches by a guy for the Seattle Mariners.”

He later told The Times, “I’m Randy Dorn. That’s who I am…I don’t think people want somebody who’s guarding every single word of what they say. In reality, I know in my heart, I know in my head, that I was trying to make a point that people are choosing to spend resources on things in society that I really don’t think make a difference in this country.”

From my limited encounters with Mr. Dorn, he seems a nice and honest man with a public speaking problem.

This apology comes about a month after he wrapped up a public apology crusade for his DUI this spring.

On Tuesday, June 22, during my testimony in front of the House Ways and Means Committee, I spoke about the need to make education funding a greater priority in our country by comparing what we spend on education with what we spend on professional sports.

Unfortunately I made the mistake of using my salary as the point of comparison.  It was a poor analogy and I regret using it.

But I don’t regret pointing out the absurdity of our current lack of commitment to education funding.  I strongly believe we need to reset government and actually dedicate ourselves to fully funding a basic education for every child in this state.  Our future as a society depends on it.

Today I was blessed to be listed in this e-mail thread between a community member named Donald Jensen and the Renton School District superintendent’s office regarding the closure of Black River High School and the elimination of the horticulture program.

Community members are still upset over the closures, which were announced in April.

While not all of the questions are addressed in these correspondences, the big ones are. Please read both of these unabridged letters before commenting.

RE:

Mr. Jensen,
I am responding on behalf of Renton Schools Superintendent Dr. Mary Alice Heuschel to your e-mail copied below.

1) The purchase by the district of the two properties you refer to—Skyway Church of God and Evergreen Floral—was part of a $150 million bond measure approved in May 2008 by an overwhelming majority of voters. Property acquisition is clearly presented to voters in bond measures to allow school districts opportunities to purchase available and increasingly scarce land for future school construction.

The district’s designed and responsible purchase of the property bordering our Black River High School campus works in the district’s plan for future development of much-needed elementary or middle school space. Purchasing land adjacent to existing property is strategic and forward-thinking as it allows for increasing acreage and expansion of existing property. The site was at one time thought to be a good location to house portions of Black River High students during construction of the new Secondary Learning Center (also approved in the May 2008 bond measure). But, our Sartori Education Center school has proven to be a better and more ready fit for those students during construction.

2) When the new Secondary Learning Center is complete at the Black River campus (see details here) it will not include the horticulture program because that program does not meet newly-established high school-level requirements, or those measured as college-readiness by the Higher Education Coordinating (HEC) Board.

Newly-adopted district science graduation requirements—prepared through a year-long process that included teachers from all district high schools including Black River High School—are now more in line with state standards which require critical science knowledge and rigor, have two years of a laboratory component, include an algebra-based component, and are taught at a 9-12 grade level. The new science graduation requirements also meet the Science Standards for College Success, established by the HEC board, to ensure high school graduates have credits recognized by colleges and universities, and help students matriculate into state and national colleges and universities.

The horticulture program at Black River specifically does not meet high school standards based on several criteria:

· The program’s standards are based on content of K-8-grade level;

· The program does not meet high school standards at the district, state or the HEC board level;

· The program has no complex human cellular or molecular content; and

· The program has no algebra-based component.

Although I am unable to address your concerns regarding the Alaska Way Viaduct, the state’s ferry service, and other stated opposition to state and federal government, I appreciate the opportunity to set the record straight regarding concerns, rumor or innuendo regarding the Renton School District. Please contact me with any other questions.

Randy Matheson

____________

Subject: Letter of Concern to the Renton School District Board of Directors

To: Renton School District Board of Directors, Renton School District Superintendent, Washington Education Association, SeattlePI, Seattle Times, Komo News, Kiro News, Renton Reporter, Those seeking our votes

To whom it may concern,

We continue to be told that our taxes must be raised. We continue to be told that our services must be cut. We keep being told there is no more money. Then we find out the truth. For example, this year Washington state had to raise taxes to make up for a 30 million dollar shortfall. Now, just this past Friday, we find out that 10 million dollars have been wasted on overtime by the Ferry service. In Seattle, we are spending 5.5 million dollars to make just one bridge suicide proof, and yet we are facing reductions in public safety. We keep spending millions of dollars studying the Alaska Way Viaduct, but we cannot seem to get it replaced.

To add to the frustration, we keep telling our elected officials what is most important to us; Education, Public Safety, Transportation. Our elected officials keep raising our taxes to pay for these issues, but it never seems to be enough.

Let us take a look at our education system. By some measures, our education system in the state of Washington ranks below national average. Our student-teacher ratio is one of the worst in the nation. When asked to address it, our elected officials keep telling us that other programs are important also. While looking at the Renton School District, it has come to my attention that our tax dollars were used to purchas two pieces of property for which it paid 2.85 million dollars. The public was told this property was purchased to house the students from the soon to be closed Black River High School, and the school districts horticulture program. Then, against the will of the people, the district changed its mind. The students are going somewhere else, and the horticulture program has been dropped. The taxpayers are stuck owning property for which the school district seems to have no plan.

To our elected officials, and those seeking to be elected officials, the time has come to understand that you are our Representatives. Whether you are a member of the school board, or a US Senator, you are there to speak for us and present our best interested. In simple terms, the will of the people must be taken seriously, and the tax dollars we send to you must be spend wisely. Every dollar should have a question mark on it— Every Single Dollar!

These are no longer requests, but rather standards by which your performance will be measured.

These are the election year issues. These are the issues we will be casting our votes on.

I am asking the Seattle Press to publish this letter. There is nothing bad that can come from an informed public, and so far the public has not been fully informed. Take for example this story published in the Renton Reporter http://www.pnwlocalnews.com/south_king/ren/news/97180009.html If you notice, the entire story is written from the perspective of the school district. There is no discussion of the thoughts or concerns that the teachers, or students, or parents have. No one is asking about the quality of education that the students will receive in their new setting. Furthermore, there is no mention of the 2.85 million dollars that the school district has apparently wasted of property it had no use for. It is time to have these discussions, and if the Renton Reporter will not look at both sides, then hopefully the news agencies of Seattle will.

I further hope, that by publishing this letter, people around the state will begin to look more closely at where our tax dollars are going, and what decisions are being made by our elected officials when we are not paying attention. It is time to send a clear message, that we are paying attention.

I thank you for your time,

Donald K Jensen

The Renton School District superintendent, Mary Alice Heuschel, will make about $200,000 plus about $20,000 in annuity next year. The three-year contract is good through June 30, 2013. See below for the whole contract.

The district made $4.3 million in cuts to its budget this year. Heuschel participated in a voluntary pay reduction program, which saved $40,000 to keep another employee.

Here is the contract breakdown:
Salary: $178,634
Bonus: $10,000
Car expenses: $800 monthly ($9,600)
Annuity: $20,000
Sick leave: 12 days
Paid vacation: 26 days (with the option to cash out 3 days a year)

Supt.+Contract+2010-2013