About Bryant

Resources: How to Get Involved

Lily Chan

We know many of you are very interested in working to ensure Bryant and all schools around our state continue to exist and have the resources needed to ensure our children receive excellent public-school education. To that end, the Bryant PTSA will be providing updates and information on ways to engage in the SPS well-resourced school plans, levies, and state efforts to increase K-12 education funding. We hope you find this information helpful!

SCHOOL CLOSURES:

Recent information:

School closures: On October 24th, Superintendent Jones announced that his preliminary recommendation to the SPS board will be to consolidate the below schools:

  • Northwest Region: Closing – North Beach Elementary Consolidating with Viewlands Elementary at Viewlands
  • Northeast Region: Closing – Sacajawea Elementary Consolidating with John Rogers Elementary at John Rogers
  • Central Region: Closing – Stevens Elementary Consolidating with Montlake Elementary at Montlake
  • Southwest Region: Closing – Sanislo Elementary Consolidating with Highland Park Elementary at Highland Park

A district-wide information session will take place on Thursday, Nov. 14, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. For more information on the Superintendent’s proposal please go here.

How you can help:

We know that many SPS parents, including those at Bryant, continue to fight school closures. Please find below a few resources that may help you engage in these efforts:

  • E-mailing elected representatives is always a good idea. Continue sending messages to Superintendent Jones, and the SPS board.
  • Use Let’s Talk.
  • If you want to attend rallies in opposition to school closures, and sign on to petitions/letters, etc., one resource is All Together for Seattle Schools, a parent advocacy group. If you are interested in receiving their newsletters, or are looking for communication materials, you can find a link to their website here.
    • If you oppose the Northeast school closure, one upcoming rally is on October 30, 2024 from 7:30-8:00am at Sacajawea Elementary.

SPS LEVIES

Seattle Public Schools relies on voter-approved levies to fill the gap between what it receives from state and federal sources and what is needed to fully support students, staff, and schools.

There are currently recommendations for the renewal of the Educational Programs & Operations (EP&O) Levy and Building Excellence (BEX VI) Capital Levy, which are expected to go before voters on Feb. 11, 2025.

On November 19, 2024 the Board will be voting on resolutions to place levies on the February 2025 ballot. During the next few months SPS will be holding information sessions on the levies, the first one will take place online on November 7, from 6:30-7:30pm. Go here for more information about the levies and upcoming information sessions.

STATE FUNDING FOR SCHOOLS

Recent information:

Closing five or even twenty-one schools does not adequately address SPS’ almost $100M shortfall. According to the WA. Superintendent of Public Instruction:

  • Washington currently underfunds K-12 education by around $4 billion per year.
  • The share of the budget dedicated to K-12 education in WA. has shrunk from 50% in 2019, to only 43% today.
  • While the national average for education investment is 3.6% of the GDP, WA only invests 3.1% of the GDP.
  • WA. is behind high performing states in per-pupil spending. For example, WA. spends $17,000, while Mass. Spends $21,000. 

    SPS, PTSAs and parent advocacy groups are all advocating for increased state funding for K-12 education.

How you can help:

  • E-mail Governor Inslee’s office to ask him to increase K-12 education funding in the governor’s proposed 2025-2027 biennium operating budget by including Superintendent Reykdal’s budget requests. One way to do that is through the fundsps link here.
    • There is a limited window to do this as the Governor’s proposed budget comes out before legislative session.
  • Reach out to your lawmakers and ask them to invest in our children’s education. One way to do that is through fundsps.com links – found here.
    • Remember: Sending a template is great, but adding in personal information is even better.
    • Remember: Try to stay focused on one issue – increased funding, do not address multiple issues in one e-mail.
  • Ask a lawmaker for a meeting or organize a lawmaker meeting with a group of Bryant parents.
  • Inform people about the impact of I-2109 and I-2117 on education. The WA. State PTA Board of Directors voted at its June meeting to oppose these initiatives. For more information go here.
  • Sign up for Washington PTA’s action alerts here to stay appraised of what is happening during session.
  • Subscribe to the Seattle Council PTSA newsletter here for advocacy updates.
  • Join the Bryant advocacy group by e-mailing: ptsaexec@bryantschool.org.

Volunteer Opportunities at Bryant: We Need You!

Lily Chan

A key part of what makes Bryant such an amazing school is the strong tradition of parent and community support. Throughout the year, there will be a variety of volunteer opportunities for those looking to get involved with the school – with opportunities available across a wide range of interests and time commitments. If you are interested in being on the email list for upcoming volunteer needs, please fill out our volunteer interest form. Contact volunteer@bryantschool.org if you have questions or new ideas for this year!

A Message Regarding Proposed School Closures

Wacarra Yeomans

Dear Bryant Community,

By now, you have likely seen Seattle Public Schools’ two proposals for the future of our elementary schools. While Bryant will remain open, both proposals would result  in significant changes to our current boundary — resulting in the loss of nearly one-third of currently enrolled families.  We are devastated by these proposals and are determined to fight to keep our community together.

The Bryant PTSA is here to support the community — and it will take all of us to prevent this change. At Thursday’s PTSA meeting, we established a new Advocacy team which will help spearhead and organize our efforts at the local and district level.

There will be more updates and information to come, but in the meantime, we wanted to share some ways that you can advocate for our school right now.

1. Use the Let’s Talk Tool

We have been encouraged to use the Let’s Talk Tool on the district’s Well-Resourced Schools Online Hub. This tool is being tracked and responses are being collected by the district, making it one of the best ways we can begin our push-back today.

Here’s how you can use the tool:

  • Go to: https://www.k12insight.com/Lets-Talk/embed.aspx?L=PZ5K78N4B9LT
  • Click the “Boundaries and Student Assignments (WRS)” button
  • Make sure the subject line starts with “Bryant”
  • In your response, please be specific about how these proposed boundary changes will impact you, your student(s), and the Bryant community.

We have a window of opportunity now to generate as many responses as we can and show the district that Bryant is united against these boundary changes. Please submit your response as soon as you can and share this channel with other families, friends, and community members.

2. Contact District Officials and School Board Members.  Send feedback to:

3. Get Involved

Please consider lending your time and your talents to our Advocacy team. The louder we are, the more chance  we stand of convincing the district to reverse course. If you’re interested in learning more or want to discuss how you can help, email us at ptsaexec@bryantschool.org.  We stand together with you and will do everything we can to keep our amazing community together. Please share this information with anyone who may not be on the Weekly email distribution list and don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions.

Sincerely,

Matt Hunt and Marika VanderSmith
Bryant PTSA Co-Presidents

2024-25 Bryant Directory – Take the survey by October 4th to be included!

Lily Chan

Stay connected to Bryant friends with the Bryant Directory. This year, the directory will again be available virtually via a password-protected document.

To be included in the Bryant Directory, scan the QR code or use the link below to complete the survey. Thanks for responding by October 4th!

If you have questions or need to edit information in the directory, please reach out to us at: bryantdirectory@gmail.com

Thank you!

Bryant Directory Team

https://bit.ly/bryantdirectory2024

Nutrition Assistance Available for Summer

Haiyen Tang
Nutrition Assistance Available for Summer
 
In the American Rescue Plan, passed in March 2021, Congress extended the Pandemic-EBT program to include the summer months. Through P-EBT, eligible school children receive temporary emergency nutrition benefits loaded on EBT cards that are used to purchase food. The program will provide money on a new or existing EBT card to help fill the summer meals gap left by the inability to access meals during the summer.