A message from the Superintendent

Nov. 8, 2011

Good afternoon,

I'm writing today to keep you up-to-date on our work around capacity management. As you know, we are experiencing considerable enrollment growth.

I am pleased that more families are choosing Seattle Public Schools, but with growth come challenges. Capacity management is a priority this year, and I want to make sure you are all aware of our efforts to create short-, intermediate- and long-term plans to ensure all students have a safe environment in which to receive a quality education.
 
A Facilities and Capacity Management Advisory Committee (FACMAC) has been established. This volunteer group of community members represents all regions of the city and has diverse interests in various programs. Technical experts and school representatives are also part of the committee, which will make recommendations directly to me. The FACMAC is working with staff to identify and help address the short-, intermediate- and long-term facilities challenges. As its first task, the group is focusing on our capacity issues for the 2012-13 school year.

The SPS Capacity Management web page is being updated and we will be posting working documents and information the committee is receiving so it will also be available to you at this link.

To gather as much feedback as possible, Seattle Public Schools will hold three additional community engagement meetings around the proposed capacity management plan:

• Monday, Nov. 28 at Denny International Middle School, 6-7:30 p.m. in the library

• Tuesday, Nov. 29 at Eckstein Middle School, 6-7:30 p.m. in the library

• Thursday, Dec. 1 at Washington Middle School, 6-7:30 p.m. in the library

We will go to the School Board for approval of our Capacity Management plan in January. We hope to move the date for Open Enrollment up this year and will let you know as soon as those dates have been finalized. This means we have to make decisions as rapidly as possible using capacity management strategies that maximize instructional opportunities while minimizing boundary adjustments, the use of portables and any disruptions to our educational community.
 
Thank you for all that you do for our schools and students.

Sincerely,

Susan

 

Susan Enfield, Ed.D.
Interim Superintendent
Seattle Public Schools