https://www.julieletchner.com/passing-notes daily 0.75 2026-09-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69f40a3659d26c11f2d4ed38/b3d51aa6-2b41-447b-9da6-5a760d4aa633/passing-notes-desktop-header.png https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69f40a3659d26c11f2d4ed38/7b17ca99-e5fd-4296-99f2-e75573c9374b/passing-notes-mobile-header.png https://www.julieletchner.com/passing-notes/before-closures-what-happens-to-families monthly 0.5 2026-09-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69f40a3659d26c11f2d4ed38/fa5bd09b-3c3f-4598-ad74-fada54622b9f/jane-addams-catchment-zone.png Passing Notes - Before Closures: What Happens to Families? - Make it stand out SPS elementary school boundaries in the Northeast corner of Seattle. When closing a school like Sacajawea, rezoning is a requirement for long-term regional stability. A merger of the Sacajawea and John Rogers zones, as SPS proposed in 2024, makes no sense. There is not a single address in Sacajawea’s geo zone for whom John Rogers is the closest school for elementary services. For families like mine, John Rogers is farther away than four other schools offering K-5 services! https://www.julieletchner.com/passing-notes/before-closures-what-happens-to-the-buildings monthly 0.5 2026-09-10 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69f40a3659d26c11f2d4ed38/b460b4b5-4b77-4047-930a-ec7e2968926f/viewlands-closed.jpg Passing Notes - Before Closures: What Happens to the Buildings? - Make it stand out The old Viewlands Elementary during its closed years. [Photo is from to the My Ballard blog.] https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69f40a3659d26c11f2d4ed38/862f0fe6-a5ba-49fa-acdd-a949cb0308ae/sac-playgrounds-locked.png Passing Notes - Before Closures: What Happens to the Buildings? - Make it stand out Photos of the playgrounds at Sacajawea Elementary locked against public access. The photos were taken on weekends and evenings when the areas should have been accessible to the public. This is not a long term future I want for any Seattle neighborhood. [Photos by Julie] https://www.julieletchner.com/passing-notes/before-closures-where-is-the-improved-resourcing monthly 0.5 2026-09-11 https://www.julieletchner.com/passing-notes/before-closures-what-are-the-savings monthly 0.5 2026-09-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69f40a3659d26c11f2d4ed38/ed86055a-89cb-4537-aae6-45e7ba714995/2026-27-budget-staff.png Passing Notes - Before Closures: What are the Savings? - Make it stand out A graphic from the 2026-27 SPS budget. Labor costs (salaries and benefits) account for 81.3% of the $1.34 billion budget. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69f40a3659d26c11f2d4ed38/c046d132-fced-4d09-af7f-1dc2db7f3e90/board-merger-slide-june-13.png Passing Notes - Before Closures: What are the Savings? - Make it stand out An SPS slide from a June 2026 board meeting. The district estimates savings of $1 million to $2.5 million per school closure (merger). Without understanding how the district arrived at these numbers, it’s difficult to trust in their accuracy. https://www.julieletchner.com/passing-notes/before-closures-show-the-work monthly 0.5 2026-09-10 https://www.julieletchner.com/passing-notes/mapping-our-community-power-and-leverage monthly 0.5 2026-08-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69f40a3659d26c11f2d4ed38/b537cbd4-1847-44ff-a5a9-4a1c8b95dd75/smith-campaign-site-school-closures.webp Passing Notes - Mapping our Community Power and Leverage - Make it stand out A screenshot of Director Smith’s campaign website from 2025, in which she outlines her position on school closures. The site, smithforschools.org, has since been taken down. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69f40a3659d26c11f2d4ed38/096d1297-bda0-4e6d-bfef-57c875f5a599/lavallee-campaign-closures.webp Passing Notes - Mapping our Community Power and Leverage - Make it stand out A screenshot of Director LaVallee’s campaign website from the 2025 election, in which she outlines her position on school closures. https://www.julieletchner.com/passing-notes/things-to-consider-if-sac-must-close monthly 0.5 2026-08-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69f40a3659d26c11f2d4ed38/30c98ef4-acef-48b6-a8a6-1625946e4a21/sac-playgrounds-locked.webp Passing Notes - Things to Consider if Sacajawea Must Close - Make it stand out Photos of the Sacajawea playgrounds locked against public access. Photos were taken on weekends and evenings in June 2026, when neither the school nor the on-site Boys & Girls club were in operation. This is not a long-term future I want for our neighborhood. https://www.julieletchner.com/passing-notes/what-has-changed-since-the-2024-fight-to-save-sac monthly 0.5 2026-08-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69f40a3659d26c11f2d4ed38/0f8f12ca-62a6-4c58-9a42-e24ff03fb02a/2024-closure-schools-in-decline.webp Passing Notes - What has Changed Since the 2024 Fight to Save Sacajawea - Make it stand out Enrollment histories for the four schools that faced concrete closure plans in 2024. All of them have lost a disproportionate number of students compared to the average district enrollment declines since 2024. https://www.julieletchner.com/passing-notes/why-a-sac-closure-proposal-seems-likely-this-fall monthly 0.5 2026-08-30 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69f40a3659d26c11f2d4ed38/c76b7711-1b6e-42fb-914b-84b619ba37bb/board-merger-slide-june-13.webp Passing Notes - Why a Sacajawea Closure Proposal Seems Likely This Fall - Make it stand out Slide from a board/superintendent work session on June 13, 2026, estimating the financial savings from hypothetical future school mergers. https://www.julieletchner.com/passing-notes/preparing-for-a-possible-sac-closure-announcement monthly 0.5 2026-08-30 https://www.julieletchner.com/passing-notes/excerpts-over-excellence-part-4-whats-next monthly 0.5 2026-08-24 https://www.julieletchner.com/passing-notes/excerpts-over-excellence-part-3-how-we-got-here monthly 0.5 2026-08-24 https://www.julieletchner.com/passing-notes/excerpts-over-excellence-part-2-prioritizing-standardization-over-learning monthly 0.5 2026-08-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69f40a3659d26c11f2d4ed38/af6b79df-5536-409d-bf2d-1f5338fda244/what-is-difficult.png Passing Notes - Excerpts over Excellence, Part 2: Prioritizing Standardization over Learning - Make it stand out “What is difficult?” is a vague question asked repeatedly in the IBD curriculum. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69f40a3659d26c11f2d4ed38/7ec4ecea-eb6b-455d-8967-97e62a42cd02/re-say-poem-sentences.png Passing Notes - Excerpts over Excellence, Part 2: Prioritizing Standardization over Learning - Make it stand out Snapshot of an IBD teacher’s manual (sixth grade, poetry) using “re-say” instead of “restate” and incorrectly indicating that poems are written in sentences. https://www.julieletchner.com/passing-notes/excerpts-over-excellence-part-1-the-curriculum monthly 0.5 2026-08-24 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69f40a3659d26c11f2d4ed38/c2b38a28-994e-4110-bbad-7d2dd2f69ccd/IBD-teachers-manual.png Passing Notes - Excerpts Over Excellence, Part 1: The Curriculum - Make it stand out The IBD teacher manual suggests that teachers ask students to write lists titled, “What Boys Are Like,” and, “What Girls Are Like.” https://www.julieletchner.com/passing-notes/excerpts-over-excellence-full-books-at-sps monthly 0.5 2026-08-24 https://www.julieletchner.com/passing-notes/saferwatch-raises-privacy-concerns monthly 0.5 2026-08-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69f40a3659d26c11f2d4ed38/215ed747-a1f1-4c3f-87e1-d2e12eaf2f8d/saferwatch-installation-manual.png Passing Notes - Saferwatch Raises Privacy Concerns, Invites Intrusive Surveillance at SPS - Make it stand out Screen shot of the SPS+SaferWatch installation manual encouraging users to allow SaferWatch constant access to their location. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69f40a3659d26c11f2d4ed38/bd139e48-f03f-4d08-854a-55bb35bfc831/saferwatch-poster.png Passing Notes - Saferwatch Raises Privacy Concerns, Invites Intrusive Surveillance at SPS - Make it stand out An SPS+SaferWatch poster in the hallway at Jane Addams Middle School. https://www.julieletchner.com/passing-notes/ice-protections-on-sps-campuses monthly 0.5 2026-08-25 https://www.julieletchner.com/subscribe daily 0.75 2026-09-02 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69f40a3659d26c11f2d4ed38/fb02a05f-cb36-4829-bb30-6005fc2fe558/passing-notes-email-header.png https://www.julieletchner.com/home daily 1.0 2026-05-09 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69f40a3659d26c11f2d4ed38/db702913-075e-4ac1-80d3-afb27276dac3/julie.jpeg https://www.julieletchner.com/about daily 0.75 2026-06-01 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69f40a3659d26c11f2d4ed38/d1b14050-ac50-4102-bfd5-b3e1305d0799/IMG_7512.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69f40a3659d26c11f2d4ed38/4ad15614-0007-427e-a1a5-e8be0c478a18/IMG_8319.jpg https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/69f40a3659d26c11f2d4ed38/b90ea079-647a-43ee-b807-ea2485287876/letchner.jpg