To consider when voting
Primary elections for the Sequim School Board are approaching.
From a Washington State School Director’s Association (WSSDA) publication: “School boards are the link between public schools and the communities they serve. As publicly elected officials and members of their local communities, school directors are uniquely positioned to:
“Create a community-wide, shared vision and set goals for improving student achievement.”
“Provide responsible school district governance by:
“Ensuring the board is accountable and open to the public, including seeking divergent perspectives in its decision making process.”
“Adopting policies based on well-researched practices … ”
In April, our school board voted to realign our elementary schools despite clear disapproval of the majority of teachers and hundreds of families. Did they create a community-wide shared vision? Nope!
Did they survey families or teachers to get divergent perspectives before approving the superintendent’s plan? Nope! They made a premature decision and were unwilling to be flexible when the community spoke out against it.
Did they base their votes on well-researched practices? Nope. There are no current studies that support the new configuration. A significant body of research indicates that systemic school transitions have a negative impact on students’ academic and social development.
Notably, Snohomish School District is moving away from this model after 30 years of using it for two of its nine elementary schools.
I urge our Sequim community to vote out the incumbent board members in the primary election. Our schools need leaders who are willing to listen to teachers and parents.
Alyssum Purkey
Sequim
Time for change on school board
On April 10, the Sequim School Board voted to reconfigure our elementary schools so Greywolf is K-2 and Helen Haller is 3-5.
Many parents and teachers had shown up at budget forums and board meetings to express opposition to the plan. Unsurprisingly, they felt sidelined.
A week later, teachers reported about 300 elementary students were kept home from school to express their parents’ disapproval; other families sent their children to school wearing red as a sign of protest.
Outside the administrative building, parents protested in the early morning, high school students staged a walkout during their second period, and teachers joined parents after school for another protest with more than 200 people.
The board was unmoved, so parents and teachers set up numerous meetings with them. They sent countless emails and texts. The board wouldn’t budge.
At every board meeting since then, the community has continued to express opposition to the plan. At one meeting, a teacher read a letter from 70 Greywolf and Helen Haller educators asking the board to delay or drop the plan. The board did not reply to their letter.
Longer bus rides, increased fuel costs, split siblings, an additional school transition for all students, research showing school transitions inhibit academic progress, and the dire importance of stability for students after COVID disruptions: The overwhelming majority of parents and teachers agree that any benefit of reconfiguring is negligible compared to these considerations.
We don’t understand why the board doesn’t care what we think. Please help us vote them out.
Lara Updike
Sequim
