In December, 253 Bryant Elementary parents and caregivers formally signed on to a Bryant PTSA letter to School Board Director Chandra Hampson regarding outstanding SPS funding this year for our school In the letter, we urged School Board Director Hampson to advocate to Seattle Public Schools (SPS) to ensure Bryant elementary school receives staff funding in accordance with the current enrollment level at the school this year. This includes funding the librarian position fully along with additional specialist teacher funding. The letter highlights the impacts from funding cuts on the school, including reducing student library checkouts in half this year. Additionally, in the letter, we requested information on how SPS plans to address projected budget shortfalls. We urged that to address the shortfall, SPS does not make cuts to critical staff and services that impact school operations and student-teacher ratios.
In addition to sending School Board Director Hampson the letter, we also invited her to a community forum to discuss the issue and we currently await her answer. In the meantime, over the month of January, SPS and the School Board begin drafting next year’s school budgets so it will be an important time for families to be engaged and active in this decision process. Please stay tuned for further advocacy updates!