SEATTLE — Today marks 100 days of the new Seattle Public Schools Superintendent being on the job.
Superintendent Ben Shuldiner tells us that the massive budget deficit, safety, and curriculum remain top priorities.
He also made a point to visit all 106 schools in the district in the first 100 days.
“I think this district, for a long time, has not had a strong voice or vision, so our educators, rightfully so, had to do their own thing because there wasn’t a vision,” Shuldiner said. “The truth is, do we have things to work on, absolutely.”
In his first 100 days, Shuldiner is focusing on three main concerns:
1: The budget — SPS is battling a massive funding gap of $100 million.
“When I got here, it’s about a 100 million in the hole. The first year, I want to get down to 50 million in the hole, then the next year get to zero, then refund our balance after that.”
2: Safety — During Shuldiner’s first week, two students were shot and killed near Rainier Beach High School.
“Some of the students have asked me for weapons detectors, they’ve asked me for single points of entry, and for ID cards. These are all things we are looking at.”
He stressed that safety doesn’t start or stop with the campuses.
“The school district can control the building, but three blocks outside of that, we don’t have jurisdiction; we need to have really good relationships with the police department and with Metro, and that is what we are doing.”
3: Updating the curriculum.
“The priority is always how do we move students towards success.”
He says this is only the beginning of what he hopes to accomplish for the Seattle School District.
“I’m looking forward to next year, this year isn’t over, we have all sorts of things to go.”
Shuldiner says everything is on the table when it comes to fixing the budget, but said right now, there are no immediate plans to close schools to save money.
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