• Time to sharpen those pencils—school begins next week! Remember: The first day back, Sept. 6, runs according to the modified Wednesday bell schedule. Please double check to make sure you know when your students’ school day begins and ends.
  • The District website has all of your back-to-school information: elementary and middle/high school lunch menus (updated next week), the 2006-07 school calendar, current news, school contact information and driving directions, and more.
  • Superintendent Janet Barry is excited to lay the foundation for a cultural shift this school year that focuses on every student reaching her or his potential.
  • Check the online events calendar to determine when your school is hosting its curriculum night in September or October.

 

• You have the opportunity to directly influence significant decisions that will shape local education for years to come. Apply to fill the vacancy on the Issaquah School Board—or encourage a community leader whom you know would look out for the interests of students. Candidates must be from Director District 3 on the Sammamish Plateau. More information—including an application packet and a map of Director Districts—is online or available at the Administration Building, 565 N.W. Holly St.

 

• The Issaquah School Board last week hired Iowa-based Ray & Associates, Inc., to conduct a national superintendent search to find a successor to Dr. Janet Barry, who will retire at the end of the 2006-07 school year. Board members were impressed with Ray & Associates’ comprehensive procedure to include community input. The Board scheduled a first meeting with Ray & Associates to outline the search process on Wednesday, Sept. 20, time to be determined, at the Administration Building, 565 N.W. Holly St.

 

• Did you know that the Issaquah School District ranked 268^th out of 296 state districts in per-pupil funding in 2005? Or that the state pays teachers in Everett more than teachers in Issaquah—just because the state grandfathered Everett salaries into the funding system at a higher rate for not particular reason? Our schools will not be able to continue to offer the current level of programs and class sizes if the education funding system does not change soon.

 

One potential source of relief is Washington Learns, a gubernatorial initiative examining the state’s education finance system. The commission will present a draft of its final report—which may drive key decisions in the Legislature—the first week of September. The public is invited to give feedback on the report at local hearings:

o       OLYMPIA, Capital Campus House, Hearing Rooms A & B, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Sept. 12.

o       SEATTLE, South Seattle Community College, Olympic Hall, 1-5 p.m., Sept. 14.

 

Members of the District’s PTSA, School Board, teachers union, and administration plan to attend; please contact leaders of these groups if you would like to join their effort.