By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

West Seattle/South Park school-board director Gina Topp observed when we walked into the basement meeting room at West Seattle Library last night that there might be more media people in attendance at her community-conversation meeting than constituents. But the initial single-digit attendance – not counting the multiple TV crews – grew as more people trickled in.

The regional media was looking for reaction to what had happened just an hour earlier – the full School Board had officially voted to both accept superintendent Dr. Brent Jones‘s withdrawal of his school-closure recommendations, and to withdraw the direction that had led to his recommendations, while clarifying that this all doesn’t mean they’ll never consider closures again. (The motion, voted on remotely, passed unanimously.)

Topp began her gathering by inviting everyone to introduce themselves, while noting she recognized many of them from her previous community-conversation meetings – even Maryanne Wood, Topp’s opponent in last year’s election for the board position.

Some of the attendees were Sanislo Elementary supporters who, while relieved the possible closure of their school is off the table for next school year, wanted to know about the “next steps” to address the district’s nine-digit budget shortfall. (Other school connections mentioned by attendees included Alki Elementary, Pathfinder K-8, West Seattle High School – “we’re a bit overenrolled,” that parent noted – and Chief Sealth International High School.)

After introductions, Topp opened the floor to questions/comments. A Sanislo advocate noted that while last week’s board meeting – precursor to the closure-plan cancellation – was welcome, they were concerned about the lack of written materials regarding what was in the update Jones was planning to deliver before instead announcing he was considering withdrawing the closure recommendations. Topp said she wasn’t sure; the parent said it’s still relevant, because Dr. Jones is still in charge of what happens next. Topp said the next board meeting should bring information on other areas from which budget cuts could be made. They’re also expecting longer-term budget stabilization info by next June. “We still have a LOT of work to do – where this $100 million is going to come from – plus a loan we took from ourselves … that we have to pay. … Over the years we’ve taken the low-hanging fruit (regarding cuts) … ” Topp said she had been willing to consider school closures if they could have factored into long-term stabilization.

A Sanislo advocate mentioned a parent’s online analysis saying the closures wouldn’t have saved nearly as much as suggested. She said that there are several other parents/writers who had suggestions for alternatives to closing schools.

“Sounds like a perfect member of the (future) task force!” exclaimed Topp, who agreed “there’s so much knowledge in our community, and innovation … how do we take that information and use it?” She then explained that the task force referred to something that the board sought to create as part of the school-closure plan; there was a lot of discussion about whether that would go on. She said that in December they’ll need to “add language” to ensure that a task force regarding the budget – not just possible closures – is created.

Another parent suggested that Sanislo had been “negatively impacted” by the large schools built/renovated in West Seattle – Arbor Heights and Genesee Hill, for example – over the past decade without much consideration as to how that would affect enrollment at schools like Sanislo. She pointed out the little school’s strengths, like its environmental-learning program. And possibilities, like a Montessori program. She suggested that big schools “don’t work for every kid.”

Topp said she ‘understood the concept of bigger schools” but feels “we did a disservice to our commmunity … going through this process,” so she wants to learn from it for “better decisions” in the future.

An Alki Elementary parent then brought up the potential three-bell schedule, saying it’s back on the agenda but “no one’s talking about it,” and saying some of the possible schedules – like schools with a 9:30 am start – would not work for some families/students.” Topp agreed that the three-bell schedule is indeed being explored as part of budget considerations.

Next parent said one frustration was that the now-scrapped closure plan including Sanislo “was the only (plan) presented to everybody. … It feels like there were no alternatives presented to the community, we just had to fight school closures.” She talked about a school (not in West Seattle) that had to move “four times” and lost much of its population. “I don’t think it was good for the community.”

Manuela Slye, who’s on the Seattle Council PTSA, said the process had underscored the importance of engagement – and that not everyone has access to standard aspects of the process, like social-media discussion or news articles. The information is often not provided in languages other than English. She said authentic, inclusive engagement is vital, as is having information provided in amply accessible ways.

Topp had words of praise for Sanislo’s recent community-organized outdoor meeting (WSB coverage here) – with interpretation, child care, snacks, “It was an example of a really well-done community meeting.” She also offered more regret that “if we had started by saying ‘we have a $100 million budget deficit, so how do we solve that?’ we’d be in a different place right now.”

Another attendee: As the district figures out how to address the budget deficit, where will the information come from? How will the community be informed? Topp said those questions are yet to be answered.

Another attendee noted that school-board meetings’ important info seems to all be stuffed into the “consent agenda.” Further discussing how the board works, Topp then tried to explain “student-outcome-focused government,” which the board is supposed to be embracing, saying it had to do with goals and direction, rather than micromanaging – it’s important “that we are trying to achieve the same thing,” she said. She added that no one on the board is against SOFG as far as she knows.

Another attendee thought the now-scrapped school-closure plan was a result of everything going awry in a “very strange sequence of events” resulting in “the school board running in fear” once there was a community uprising against the plan. “The school board never seemed to be corrupt,” he observed.

“Just dysfunctional,” another person added quietly.

Another attendee agreed that some parents might not understand how the board works, or is supposed to.

“That’s the case for a lot of things about parenting,” observed another attendee.

Yet another attendee agreed that there’s a lot of confusion, different groups speaking out, “and it’s just kind of hard to have facts that people can digest in a really understandable way.”

What people are asking for is more information, distilled Topp. And engagement.

A Sanislo advocate amplified that by recalling that back when there were just rumors of possible closures, “we didn’t even know there’d be a way to fight it. … There was a lack of information about it.” Topp agreed that there needed to be a way “to harness all the information.”

A school employee observed that there’s a big question about who gets to be heard during “engagement” – and again recalled the Sanislo playground meeting, which sought to reach out to everyone.” She also had a point that Slye had made, that the diverse community wasn’t necessarily reflected in PTSA groups, for example.

Topp said it was imperative to be intentional about how you “set up” conversations and moments.

A Sanislo advocate said she had promised to bring a school librarian’s perspective, after hearing that all librarians would be cut to halftime positions – “you can’t even manage en elementary school library on halftime,” and listed all the ways that the librarian she was quoting strives to help their students – beyond “just” helping with reading. Well-funded library programs help turn out kids who are more poised for success,, she noted.

Topp noted she has memories of most of her school librarians from her days as a student. But she brought the discussion back around to money, reminding attendees, “none of this is going to be easy … so how do we make decisions with the best information possible?” She recalled a recent meeting with school board directors from around the state, saying so many of them are also grappling with budgeting.

A Sanislo parent said she’s “deeply disappointed” that the school-funding situation has been going downhill for 30 years and hasn’t been fully fixed yet. She and another speaker agreed that state leaders have failed them. “They shouldn’t keep their job” if they can’t properly fund education,” the other attendee declared. “It’s not the Legislature, it’s very specific people IN the Legislature who have let us down.”

Many other levels of government are hurting financially too, others pointed out. The Legislature has “tools in their toolbox” to fix their own financial situation, though, Topp observed.

“Preventive maintenance” would work better than “fire-drill mode,” Sanislo dad Ken observed. “If you can get ahead of as many problems as possible …” then you’ll make progress. That goes for knowing how to be involved, finding the information, disseminating it … How do we get ahead of problems rather than responding to them all the time? … This is a human system – we made it – we can deal with it.”

“I am concerned that the school district has lost the trust of the community,” one of the Sanislo advocates declared.

Topp agreed and said the district must work on rebuilding that trust.

A school employee said the district should acknowledge that, and ask for feedback. That led to praise for Topp for having community-conversation meetings – something other directors aren’t doing. The school board’s unpaid status came up at that point – “what other job are you in charge of a $1 billion budget and unpaid?” asked Topp.

One more comment from Sanislo parent Ken – he said he was frustrated at the district’s meeting there to hear some district reps say that Sanislo wasn’t how a school was meant to look. “It’s about the people,” he said, not the physical surroundings. Also, regarding the meeting format itself: “It wasn’t authentic engagement – it was them going through a script,” observed another Sanislo advocate.

At that point, Topp had to wrap up because the library was closing. She’ll have another meeting in December; we’ll announce the date and time as soon as we get word.