STEM K-8 PTA

Voter-Approved Education Levies Support Seattle Students

(This article in its entirety can be found at https://www.seattleschools.org/about/levy/) 

There is a gap between what the state funds for K-12 education and what Seattle students need. Every three years, Seattle Public Schools asks voters to renew the Educational Programs and Operations Levy (EP&O), which is a local education property tax.

School construction is primarily funded by local voter-approved capital levies. Capital levies are also the primary funding source for technology used by students, teachers, school staff, and administrators, and for district operations. Capital levies are local education property taxes. Every three years, the district asks voters to approve renewal of one of the six-year capital levies.

The money Seattle Public Schools collects from local, voter-approved education levies stays in Seattle. We use these funds to provide the quality of education that our students and families expect, and to ensure our students have safe, welcoming schools that support student success.

View the Levy Presentation to understand how funds are used, and go to https://www.seattleschools.org/about/levy/ for more information. 

Key Dates Coming Up

• Wednesday, Nov. 3: Expected date for Board Action on placing levies on the ballot
• Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022: Election Day — Seattle voters make decision on levies; ballots due by 8 p.m.

All students who were photographed on October 12 have photos available for viewing and ordering through the Class Act Portraits website.

Check your email inbox, spam or junk folder for an email from info@classactportraits.com with a link directly to your student’s photos. 

If you don’t see an email, you may go to orders.classactportraits.com, click Order Recent Pictures and enter your unique passcode:  STEM followed by the Student ID# (no spaces and no zeroes at the beginning). Example: STEM234567.

You can view the photos, choose backgrounds and order prints on the website.

• City of Seattle – Safe Routes to School http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/srts 

• SCPTSA flowchart of reaching the community and 10/18 impact 

• Topic: SCPTSA Monthly General Membership Meeting 

• Kids & Carpooling Poster 

• EXAMPLE of Transportation Survey  (MSFT Office)

• EXAMPLE of Transportation Survey (Google Office)

  • Transportation Connection form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1wMb7Tseq4XY8DzOyDVYUaatPl-Nz_FciZW3UrGE1xAc/prefill

  • Transportation Connection Results form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1vYP5odWvbgjYjIFF5Ey9SrKyb_t7WDMEW1K1e7cqriA/edit?usp=sharing

1. They are cutting routes using the racial equity analysis tool, and are currently cutting routes at Tier 4 schools. Most schools are Tier 4. This means that routes for tier 1, 2, and 3 schools will be prioritized, and should be continued.  For more information on the Equity tier model and methodology, please see this link, scroll to slides 32-38. https://www.seattleschools.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/20201209_Agenda_Packet-Posted-20201209.pdf

2. Out of the number of drivers that they anticipate WILL show up for work on Monday, half of them will be used for routes for students who have transportation written into their IEP.

3. They are trying to keep drivers for the buses for students who have transportation in their IEP as their same drivers. However, for general education, drivers will in many cases be driving new routes. Drivers will be practicing new routes this weekend, but weekend traffic patterns and weekday are different. So there is benefit to weekend practice but it is not perfect.

4. If a family cannot get their student to school they should reach out to their principal so that they can access funds to make sure that students can get to school.  

5. They are actively looking for more solutions, including the use of passenger vans. While the district has a sufficient number of buses, you need different qualifications for driving buses than you need for driving a passenger van.  

6. As they bring back routes they will be using a racial equity analysis too.  They will bring back routes as they get drivers.  It takes about 4 weeks for a person to complete training to be able to drive a bus.