Once again, I'm writing as the parent of a public-school student.
At 3:14 pm, I got an email from Seattle Public Schools detailing my daughter's schedule this week.
"Back to School Housekeeping Notes," it says. Then:
1. The first day of school will be Thursday – September 17th
Then:
2. Metro Passes mailed home to students will be honored by Metro on Sept 17th even though the date on the pass is listed as Sept 9th.
Then:
3. Counseling Office Hours for WEDNESDAY – Sept 16th
The Counseling Office Staff will not be available in the AM but will open their doors at Noon and will see students from Noon until 2:30 PM on a first come – first serve basis. Questions? 206-252-3895
And finally:
4. Student Schedules – Please remember to take a photo of your schedule or make a copy of it in your binder for the first day of school. We will not be passing out new copies of schedules.***
You must attend the classes listed on your schedule. Schedule adjustments will be done by priority – starting with students who do not have a schedule or students who are missing class periods. If you have a hole in your schedule please come to the Counseling Office during that specific period only. You will be asked to sign in to see your counselor.
***The district has thus far failed to send a schedule to our home, so this will be a problem for our daughter. Is anyone else dealing with this problem? Ugh!
Wow! There must be an agreement! I thought. I called the district's public information officer, Stacy Howard.
But no.
Nothing has changed since this morning's news that a tentative deal has been proposed by the district but not signed by the teachers.
And yet, there's new news coming directly to parents from the school district that says school will be in session on Thursday, and that there's a schedule students need to bring along with them when they show up, and that counselors will be keeping office hours the day before that, and all of this without even a hint that a strike and negotiations are ongoing, let alone the fact that the deal to get school restarted has not yet been SIGNED?
Stacy Howard and I did not have a pleasant conversation.
"Yes, of course they still have to vote tomorrow," Howard said. "The bargaining team of both came to this tentative agreement, so it's just them going back to their teams and saying 'Yay! We got what we wanted!'"
Of course, "worst-case scenario, they vote no," she said. "Historically, in many districts where they don't even strike, they continue to work when they renegotiate."
But there is a strike.
"But yes, we'll start Thursday," Howard said. "It just so happens that SEA has not Tweeted that yet, so everybody's mad at us again. You guys—the media—you're getting all over us, saying we're jumping the gun."
But why would you say school is on for sure when the teachers have not yet agreed to be inside their classrooms teaching?
"There are some things confidential in the embargo," Howard said.
But isn't the embargoed information invalid if the teachers vote no?
"Yes," Howard said.
Why are you sending out information to parents that says there's a definite schedule when it's no more definite than it was this morning?
"We have to help parents prepare," Howard said.
"This does not help me prepare!" I said. I did raise my voice. I am not proud of that, Stacy Howard, but I am out of patience.
"I've worked in media before, and people are passing around your article from this morning and I understand that it was an opinion piece, but you in the media have to build bridges and not just burn them, so with all due respect, I have not ever worked with you before, and that's all I can say right now to you," Howard said.
And then she was off.
I think Stacy Howard is on her last nerve, too.
I would try like hell to get the union on the phone, except that it feels obvious that even if negotiators are going back to their members saying, "Yay! We got what we wanted!," they will still need to pay their members the basic respect of not pressuring them into voting one way or another.
The school district is not paying that same basic respect, as far as I can tell. And, Stacy Howard, this really isn't about you and me and building bridges. It's about being clear and upfront about what's going on so that students and parents do not lose their minds.
Or you tell me, readers.
Are you confused?
