Seattle Public Schools

Seattle Public Schools starts phone-notification system

The first calls started 5:30 a.m. Monday to let Seattle families know that schools would open late due to the cold and snow.

Some families got a second — then a third — call on their cellphones. They arrived at work to find messages there, too.

Seattle Public Schools used its new phone-notification system for the first time Monday, and it's fair to say some families felt very informed about the late school-start times.

The district didn't start calling until 6 a.m. Tuesday because on Monday, many parents said 5:30 a.m. was too early, said district spokesman David Tucker.

On Tuesday, the district also decided that if there's another late-start day Wednesday, it will just call home numbers, not all the numbers that families list as emergency contacts.

District spokesman David Tucker acknowledged that there's been a "variety of opinions" about the new system, but he said most of the responses have been positive.

Not all families have access to the Internet, he said, where they can look up whether school will be delayed or closed. And many are glad to get a call from the district so they don't have to search for the information on radio or TV.

Many elementary-school principals also reported that fewer students showed up to school two hours early because they didn't get the word, Tucker said.

The new system, he said, was funded out of an emergency-management grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Parents can request that a phone number not be called for weather delays or closures, he said, but then that number wouldn't be called in emergencies either.

School Board

The Board of Directors for Seattle Public Schools is an elected body representing seven geographical regions, known as Districts, within the City of Seattle. The length of the term is four years. Board meetings are generally held twice monthly. For the 2008-09 school year, board meetings are scheduled the second and fourth Wednesday of the month; all others are on the first and third Wednesdays of each month, at 6:00 p.m., with some exceptions

Current school board members

	DIRECTOR	GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRICT	TERM EXPIRES	NOTES
	Peter Maier	I	2011
	Sherry Carr	II	2011
	Harium Martin-Morris	III	2011
	Michael DeBell	IV	2009
	Mary Bass	V	2009
	Steve Sundquist	VI	2011
	Cheryl Chow	VII	2009	current Board president

History

In 1919 there were 64 grammar schools, 6 high schools, 2 parental schools (comparable to today's youth detention centers), a school for the deaf, and 9 "special schools... for pupils who do not progress normally in regular classes."^[9][10]

In the early 20th century, Seattle Public Schools were "exemplary"^[11] under the leadership (1901–1922) of superintendent Frank B. Cooper and a series of "civic-minded progressives" who served on the Seattle school board.