We must note that @viviansong.bsky.social, despite being only woman of color on the board, twice elected to the board, won most votes of any director in 2025, has yet to be elected to a board officer position. For a district that claims to make racial equity a priority, this is unacceptable.

NEW: @robertcruickshank.com and @janedemel.bsky.social recap last week's board meeting, including officer elections, public testimony about ICE raids, small changes to rules about cops in schools, and big updates about the SPS budget and enrollment policy. Read all about it:

NEW: At Wednesday's board meeting Director Liza Rankin claimed SPS is "not doing SOFG." That's not true. Student Outcomes Focused Governance remains deeply embedded in board and district practice. We've got the details:

She doesn’t like what she calls the “free market of parent choice” determining school size which you can also call “community getting the options they say they require”

been floating the idea that SDOT should be responsible for contributing to busing costs when the busing is a result of unsafe crossings that SDOT hasn't yet fixed to make it possible for kids to walk to school within the school walk zones. Anyone heard of anything like this in another district?

This is a genuinely major revelation, and huge credit to @viviansong.bsky.social for catching it. SPS cited the need to repay this loan as a justification for proposing to close 21 schools in 2024. But that loan wasn't needed at all!

This particular slide from Seattle Public Schools admins drives me nuts. Many of us are aware that it is wrong to compare a government budget to a family budget. Especially since SPS can go out and attract more students, helping bring in more dollars and address this problem.

This is @janedemel.bsky.social taking over live posting of the Seattle School Board meeting from the fabulous @thebethocracy.bsky.social

This is @janedemel.bsky.social and starting at 6:30 I will be live posting the Seattle Times online webinar interviewing the three newly elected Seattle School Board directors: Vivian Song, Jen LaVallee, and Kathleen Smith.

SPS 2nd graders did not have their education interrupted by a pandemic. We should be investing more resources at all schools for evidence-based early intervention. How about using that $1B levy voters just passed on our public school kids? Our public school kids deserve it.

Just 57% of SPS 2nd graders are meeting standard in reading. Only 57% of 6th graders are meeting standard in math. “Staff did not provide hypotheses about what is driving this trend but said they were looking into it.”

NEW: Wednesday's school board meeting was a big one! New board directors were sworn in, and were immediately told SPS students are far behind on math and reading. Article by @thebethocracy.bsky.social and Julie Letchner:

NEW: Some SPS-related reading for the upcoming holiday weekend, including the new Superintendent's contract, more legal action against SPS for neglecting student safety, and concerns about SPS denying special education services.

"Suspicious, student board director Josephine Mangelsen, a high schooler, stated flat-out during Q&A: 'I know for a fact that the main use of AI at my school so far has been cheating.'" Read more about SPS's presentation on AI and cellphones at last week's board meeting:

Great recap and new resource!! Ridiculous IMO, however, that directors pointed out "if a [web]site was blocked by SPS it was probably blocked for a reason." Who vets this?! We use @kagi.com to avoid Google AI slop and it is blocked by SPS (or, at least, was blocked on my kid's SPS iPad last spring)

NEW: @thebethocracy.bsky.social and Julie Letchner recap this week's school board meeting:

First of many SPS School Board recaps to come! Publilshed on @thebulletinsea.org, a new source for SPS news. thebulletinsea.org/issue-5-nove...

Should Seattle Public Schools allow students to use GenAI? Or adopt an “away for the day” cellphone policy? SPS parent @emilycherkin.bsky.social takes a look and asks the key questions district leaders must answer about technology in the classroom:

NEW: @emilycherkin.bsky.social lays out the key questions families should insist Seattle Public Schools answer about AI in the classroom, cell phones, and technology more broadly.

SPS is still considering closing schools and engaging in sweeping austerity cuts as part of its budget, despite strong community opposition. Our report:

NEW: Julie Letchner writes about SPS interim superintendent Fred Podesta and assistant superintendent Kurt Buttleman's public presentation earlier this week on enrollment and budget:

The real lesson these kids are learning is how to bypass restrictions and technical controls. I say this as an infosec professional and from experience as a former child.

Props to Director Briggs for being skeptical about this AI business. This is just a classic neoliberal subcontracting/marketing ploy to create dependency on AI in children - it is not education

wait this is just teaching. this was just my job as a teacher. you don’t need a computer for this.

The only people with any AI sense in the room are the teens themselves, but the adults are pooh-poohing them

GOOD. This teacher doesn’t want to use it or teach it either.

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Here we go, this is @janedemel.bsky.social taking over the live thread from the Seattle School Board meeting from here.

SPS Board Meeting plan for tonight: I have to pick up big kid at 4:15pm so might be a tad late. I will skeet until some time between 6 and 7. @janedemel.bsky.social will take over for a bit on the @thebulletinsea.org account while I get a break. Trying to make it a bit more tenable!

Just found out about this conversation between @joemiz.bsky.social and @houseourneighbors.bsky.social about the enrollment study the state funded and the connection between housing and Seattle Public Schools. Happening Dec 9, 2025 @ 12:00 PM. EXCITED! Register here: zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Welcome to The Bulletin! We're an is an independent publication covering Seattle Public Schools launched in November 2025 by progressive SPS parents. You can subscribe here -- all articles are free! thebulletinsea.org We'll also do some live coverage here on Bluesky of SPS board meetings.