Hattendorf

Ramona Hattendorf

Pronouns: She/Her

Director District 2

Video Statement

Statement of Interest

Candidates were asked to submit a letter of interest describing why they wish to serve and should be selected for appointment.

Dear Directors of the Seattle Public Schools School Board,
My name is Ramona Hattendorf, and I am a longtime advocate for students and families. I work in education, housing, and social services spaces and help people identify – and advocate – for changes that will make their lives better.

I wish to serve on the school board to help our community embrace diversity and become more inclusive. Every child deserves to feel belonging and membership.

We have a moral and legal obligation to ensure schools work for all students. That involves resources. But at a more fundamental level, it requires us to understand how and why students are marginalized. Then letting go of things that aren’t working and pivoting to what does.
I have been on a journey for nearly 20 years exploring how students and families experience schools and the consequences that has for all of us. I have been a local and regional leader and have worked for years at the state level on education and human services policy.
As a parent volunteer, I started out digging into things like enrichment funding, class size, recess, and lunchtime. I moved onto attendance boundaries, learning standards, and access to certain curriculum.

I led, trained, and mentored other parents. I served as president of the Seattle Council PTSA, then worked as the policy and government relations lead for the state PTA.
Today I direct public policy and civic engagement for The Arc of King County, working with individuals and families with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). The marginalization of the IDD community is extreme, and my policy work today deeper.

When I first shifted from parent activism into working on policy, I dove into things like social and emotional learning, multi-tiered systems of support, and competency-based education. I served on state committees for early learning, career and technical education, and teacher and principal evaluations. I helped pass legislation to redefine basic education, notify parents when restraint and isolation was used.

As a volunteer, I continued to help groups working in family engagement host community conversations, conferences, and training opportunities. More and more, I focused on supporting individuals and families facing deep systemic barriers.

Today, I asking to be selected because I think I can help. My kids are adults now, and I have a broad perspective to offer. As a parent and community leader, I lived through school closures, budget cuts, collective bargaining – and all the advocacy and communication to families that entailed.
I also want to serve because I have skills to ensure our school communities feel supported, heard, and connected.

Resume / Summary of Related Experience

Tell us about your experience, including any Board or other leadership experience.

Related Professional Experience:

Director of Public Policy & Civic Engagement The Arc of King County, July 2016 to present.

I promote and protect the rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Policy areas include early learning; K-12 education; and health and human services, including long-term care and housing. I support civic engagement; teach leadership courses; and educate people about policies and issues that affect people with disabilities. I also serve on various coalitions. Highlights: I created the Inclusion Academy to promote inclusive early learning and disability equity.

Policy and Government Instructor, Parent Leadership Training Institute, a partnership of the WA Family Engagement Trust and Everett Community College. Duties: Helped pilot the Washington arm of this national program supporting parents’ leadership development and civic involvement. Graduates are highly diverse – with many immigrants from South American and Africa.

Government Relations Coordinator, Washington State PTA. 2010-2013. Duties: Lobbying, legislative analysis, issue education and civic engagement. Helped members develop a legislative platform and advocate for Washington students. I represented the association in various work groups, including the Teacher and Principal Evaluation Project, which set up our state evaluation systems for educators.

Seattle Council PTSA President. This one was a volunteer gig – but it was full-time. Highlights included mentoring parent leaders from across the city; hosting community workshops; getting the levy passed; and working closely with school board members and district staff on initiatives to improve student learning. There was a lot of change and much conflict to navigate: School closures, new contracts, a new teacher evaluation system, and a new way of budgeting.

I have also worked in marketing communications for non-profits in the human services sector. My first career was in journalism. I worked in editing and news design at papers large and small across the US, including Idaho, California, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Illinois. I graduated from the University of Southern California with BA in journalism and emphasis in international relations.

I have lived in Seattle for 21 years and have 2 adult children. Both attended preschool at the local community center are graduates of Lawton Elementary, McClure Middle School, and Ballard High School. I live with my husband in the Magnolia neighborhood.

Policy Leadership Experience:

24 Credit Task Force, Seattle Public Schools. 2015
WA Joint Task Force, Career Education Opportunities (governor appointee). 2013-14
WA Teacher and Principal Evaluation Project. 2011-13
Ready and Successful Schools. 2013

Community Leadership Experience:

Board member – Washington Family and Community Engagement Trust. 2016-2018
Vice president – Community & Parents for Public Schools of Seattle. 2014-2016
President, Seattle Council PTSA (2009-2010)
Parents Advisory Committee, Office of the Education Ombuds. 2009-2012
Schools First (board that runs the levy campaign), 2009-2010
Chair, education subcommittee, Seattle Complete Count (Census)
Basic Education Funding Reform Committee, Washington State PTA. 2008-2009
Building Leadership Team and board member of Lawton Elementary PTA (various roles). 2006-2009

Application questions

What is your connection to the Director District 2 or 4 community, schools, families, and students? How do you foresee growing or expanding on those connections and relationships in your role as a School Board Director?

I have lived in the Magnolia area of Seattle for 21 years. My children attended preschool at the local community center, Lawton Elementary (District 2), McClure Middle School, (District 4), and Ballard High School (District 2). I was an uber volunteer when they were young, spending several days on campus volunteering in class, producing the PTA newsletter, and collaborating with staff on the building leadership team. Things shifted for me when my oldest hit 3rd grade. That’s when I started to see kids get left behind. Staff were amazing, parents were supportive, this was a positive school community. But it wasn’t working for some. It felt deeply personal: I knew these kids; had been with them since kindergarten. Some since preschool. I started trying to understand school experiences. From the local PTA and building leadership team, I graduated to running levies and leading the Seattle Council PTSA. That is when my education really started. I met people from across the city and learned about their experiences. I dug into the discrepancy in fund-raising, course offerings, and tutoring. The range in how welcome (or not) parents were at different schools. The power different people had (or didn’t) and how that affected student experience. My time as a Magnolia school mom was when a case (brought by Magnolia parents) was winding its way up to the US Supreme Court that would later dismantle our school busing programs and desegregation efforts. It was also when boundaries were being redrawn and parents were lobbying against each other for preferred high schools. Schools were closed. There was a lot of privilege voiced. And that privilege affected the district and its decisions. I cherish my time as an uber volunteer. When I went off into district and then state work, I was so thankful to the moms and dads who pitched in to make my children’s experiences special. The teachers who stood out. I deeply believe in family engagement and community connection to schools, and their impact student learning. I want each of the school communities in District 2 to feel supported, heard and connected. And by community, I mean students, staff, families, and the broader community. This means fostering dialogue. Checking in on people. Sharing meaningful information; and being able to bring meaningful information back to the larger board. But I also see Seattle Public Schools as a whole. Everything is interconnected. We need to design and resource so every student feels they belong and can thrive. That means raising up the quiet voices or finding the ignored ones. It means understanding the spectrum of experience and need, both in the area I live in and across the city. In my work, I listen when people share. I work with some of the most marginalized individuals and families in King County, and each story brings me perspective and insight. I also dive into data, which tells its own story. What are kids saying in the school climate survey? Who is being segregated? Who is being disciplined? Who is being removed or asked to leave? Who is being celebrated, and who is being left behind? I see this continuing in my role as a school board member.

What is your understanding of the role and responsibilities of a School Board Director and the Seattle School Board? How do you foresee working with your fellow Directors, the Superintendent, staff, and the public?

Role & Responsibilities:

We must understand how students experience school. And not just students who are successful. We must ensure schools are responsive and meet student need, and that we aren’t relying on students to adapt. We must ensure student rights are upheld, as well as the rights of staff and families. We must understand legal parameters of what school policy and collective bargaining agreements can and cannot do. When we identify shortcomings in policies and agreements, we need to consult with partners to improve them. We don’t get into daily practice, but we do hold the superintendent and their staff accountable for ensuring strategies and practices are working and that civil right protections are honored.

We may delegate some of these duties to the superintendent and their staff, but it remains the board’s legal responsibility to ensure:

Criteria and an evaluation process are established for staff and programs.
Staff and resource allocations support the needs of all learners, with specific attention to high need schools and classrooms.
Public money is being used effectively, in compliance with the law.
The community can access information about policies, staffing and resources.
Instructional hours are set for students to acquire a quality education, not going below the state minimum.
Upon complaint by parents or guardians of students, teaching materials must be evaluated in a public hearing.
Curriculum standards are consistent with state law, rules, and policies.
The district complies with federal laws and rules. Ultimately, we are accountable to the community for the operation of the district.

Working with Each Other and the Public:

Board members must honor and respect each other and strive to work collaboratively. When there is disagreement, we should assume good intentions and lean in to learn more. When working with the superintendent or hearing from staff, we need to respect their autonomy, while providing governance and ensuring accountability through board action and oversight. When working with the public, we need to ensure they have opportunities to share insight and reflection and convey that we hear what they are saying. We need to be open and transparent. We need to make sure they have access to information in a timely manner. It is not our role to intervene on behalf of individuals, but we can refer people to resources and should do our best to explain how the school district works and affirm their right to engage in civics. The public has a right to influence public policy, including policy related to its public schools. The board plays an important role in ensuring that happens in a collaborative fashion.

Describe the areas of strength you bring to collaboration and building positive working relationships with fellow Board directors.

I have a great deal of experience working in public governance structures through my professional and volunteer efforts. I have also been on both sides of a board: partnering with but also overseeing an executive director, and being a senior employee who at times interacts with the board, but reports to an executive director. I have a deep understanding of educational policy and how governance works at the school, district, and state level. I have a deep understanding of how the state funds schools and the role of collective bargaining. I have been a parent of Seattle Public School students and I have mentored parent and community leaders. I am committed to ensuring our public schools work for all students. I center on marginalized students and families. I not only value students’ civil rights, I know their civil rights. I understand topics like special education services; the Americans with Disabilities Act, Title II; and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. I understand disproportionality in discipline and segregated settings that affect Black students, in particular. I offer perspective. I have seen the very good, and the deeply troubling. I have seen ideas cycle through. I lived through turbulence and conflict related to Seattle schools. I have been around long enough to understand there is ALWAYS something more to learn, and that when I do, I may need to re-evaluate a position. Mostly, though, I care. I care about what others on the board have to say, what their perspective is and experience. We can’t be a responsive school district if we aren’t responsive to each other. We can’t expect our students to feel belonging and membership if we don’t create that space for ourselves.

Please give an example of how you have addressed conflict and overcame it to build alignment as a member of a group decision-making body.

I work in public policy and advocacy and deal with conflict constantly. People can (and often do) have the same goal, with very different ideas of how to get there. I also support individuals and families who have deeply disturbing experiences and who need to see practices change – now. That means pushing through conflict to get to resolution. My advice to others, and what I try to adhere to: Understand the stages of change. Your response and actions need to vary depending on what stage others are in. When acting as a decision-making body (and not on your own) you need to make sure your colleagues are in the same place.

As a group, you need to move through the stages.

Precontemplation. Are people denying that there is a problem?
Contemplation. Do people recognize there is a problem, but aren’t yet ready to make a change? Do they agree that the benefits of change outweigh the risks of staying the same?
Preparation. Are they actively creating a plan, and do they have the support needed to do so?
Action. Are they implementing the plan, and do they have support to do so?
Maintenance. Are they monitoring the change and do they have strategies to address emerging issues?

In my experience, people spend a lot of time voicing that there is a problem and trying to get others to agree something needs to be done. Then they rush preparation and they fail to get buy-in. This is where communication, trust, and partnership are essential, not just within the decision-making group, but with the partners that group is going to rely on to make the change. An example of this would be work on teacher and principal evaluations. It was a deeply divisive concept around 2009. To convince others there needed to be change, people shared “bad teacher” stories. It was demoralizing for many, especially given the context of budget cuts and possible layoffs. The saving grace was this was a concern that teachers themselves were discussing. Only when enough teachers and community members reached the contemplation stage could preparation happen. The state decided on a pilot and leaned into the expertise and perspectives of teachers. They also added principals and required them to do a parallel pilot. Pilot districts were given an option to test out and design different approaches. A committee oversaw the process, and ultimately decided on which evaluation systems would be used. It wasn’t without its bumps. Some pilot sites put a lot of effort into building something unique, only to have state decision-makers reject it. But ultimately, there was preparation, action, and monitoring. The concept of needing to have meaningful evaluations became accepted. This occurred during my time leading the Seattle Council PTSA and then working for the Washington State PTA. While I was a volunteer leader, I was supporting community members who wanted this change and worked to educate PTA leaders about the topic. I was meeting with union leaders to learn about their work underway. The council voted to support the effort, and we moved on to educating legislators about the council’s position and work underway in Seattle. Legislators also needed to be ready for the preparation stage. They were essential for its funding and implementation. Then I went to work for the state PTA, and I was appointed to the Teacher and Principal Evaluation Pilot (TPEP) committee overseeing the work. I was the person who communicated with families about what steps were being taken, and who, in turn, shared with other TPEP members perspectives from the community. I was able to participate in planning and rollout and see the impact of partnership. This is one area where the education community is ahead of other activists. Because of the role of the union and collective bargaining, a lot of effort must go into the preparation and action stages. Unions understand the role and importance of consensus building.

School Board Policy No, 0030, Ensuring Educational and Racial Equity, includes the following commitment:

The Seattle School Board is committed to the success of every student in each of our schools and to achieving our mission of ensuring that all students graduate ready for college, career and life. We believe that the responsibility for student success is broadly shared by District Staff, administrators, instructors, communities and families. We are focused on closing the opportunity gap and creating learning communities that provide support and academic enrichment programs for all students. Additionally, we believe that it is the right of every student to have an equitable educational experience within the Seattle Public School District.

What does this statement mean to you?

We are in this together, and we all have our roles and responsibilities. Some kids aren’t thriving, and we need to find out why. If it is because of how we structure and resource schools, or the capacity of staff, then we need to make changes. We need to be responsive to where students are and provide tiered support. To the very best of our ability, we will get students what they need, when they need it.

The Seattle School Board has set three goals for student outcomes with accompanying metrics that serve as broader indicators of the school system’s performance. Provide your insights into how setting goals and monitoring progress influences student success.

I do a lot of program evaluation in my job. It is a requirement when you contract with the government to provide public services. Setting goals and monitoring outcomes is step 1. To be effective, you (or staff) need to identify your strategies and tactics and identify metrics that will help you gauge how well they are working. Then, you need to be willing and able to adjust based on what you learn. You also need to be able to ensure staff have the capacity to do what is asked of them. It is also critical to include a variety of indicators to get as comprehensive an understanding as possible of student and staff experience and growth. For instance, school climate survey data. Family and staff feedback. LRE data for students using special education services. Disciplinary data. Just looking at test scores in a couple of areas will not give you the information you need to guide the kind of transformative work the district is engaging in.

Please share your knowledge and/or thoughts on an ongoing educational issue that is a high priority for you. How do you see the Board’s role in this issue?

Inclusive education is my top priority. As a resident of Seattle, I am deeply saddened that my local school district does not have a presence in the work underway across the state. I worry about the message this sends to families, and the especially the students. I worry that staff and families don’t understand the research behind inclusive practices. Or the legal foundation for inclusion. Inclusive education benefits everyone. It is about being responsive, anticipating diversity and delegating resources appropriately. It supports diversity of all kinds – not just disabilities. I worry about the greater community and what they don’t know about inclusive education. When deciding whether to apply for this position, I kept going back to a statement by the editorial board of a local paper in its candidate endorsements. It noted one candidate was focused on special education and remarked that supporting students with disabilities was a state issue, not a local one. How students with disabilities are supported is absolutely a local issue. Inclusive education means anticipating diversity, planning for it, building it into your schedules and budgets. It is implementation – and it is local. The federal government dictates the legal requirements. The state provides technical assistance. Local decisions make it happen. And it takes advocacy, communication, and consensus building because not everyone agrees that all students matter. Once identified for special education services, Black students are most likely to be put into segregated settings. And once segregated, they experience more discipline and lost learning time. They lose access to subject matter and enrichment opportunities that other students get. I see inclusive education as foundational to the goals of the district.

Are we creating and resourcing an infrastructure designed for students to thrive in? • What strategies are we using, and are they effective?

How do our policies, budgets, and collective bargaining agreements support the implementation of these strategies?
How can we best support our staff?
What information do we need to share with the community?
How can we engage students, staff, families and the greater community in making sure all students feel a sense of belonging? And all students have an equal opportunity to participate and benefit?

The board can communicate its values to the community and work with staff to set up metrics that answer these questions. That then will help inform staffing and budgeting decisions and policy review.