Re: “Seattle schools should give families reasons to stay” (March 2, Opinion):
The op-ed authors precisely painting the numerous ways in which Seattle Public Colleges has mismanaged enrollment.
What’s painfully clear is that SPS lacks the elemental understanding of how you can appeal to households and develop enrollment. As an alternative, it has mastered driving away households by threatening to shut as much as 21 faculties (together with its hottest applications), limiting selection and never permitting waitlists to maneuver. Dad and mom are voting with their toes and enrolling their youngsters elsewhere. SPS is dropping cash because of this. It’s time to vary course.
Listed here are some methods SPS ought to put into place: enroll college students at their household’s most popular college; alter the projected enrollment of a college to accommodate curiosity; launch a advertising marketing campaign to advertise SPS and its distinctive applications to each incoming kindergarten household; help all faculties with enrollment excursions; and align college selection assignments to be similtaneously non-public college admissions.
SPS should present it’s dedicated to enrolling each household and could be sensible to honor dad and mom’ requests to assist maintain and enhance our public faculties for years to come back.
Julie Schneider, Seattle
