Rainy Day Recess

In this student-reported episode, Garfield High School sophomore Rafael Brewer takes us inside the Quincy Jones Performing Arts Center, a space used for theater, music, assemblies, and community events. He shares the importance of the theater, how long-standing maintenance issues have impacted student learning, and the challenges of getting repairs addressed by Seattle Public Schools. You can get...

In this final Big 3 Briefing of the 2025 legislative session, we walk through where things landed for education funding in Washington state. We cover what passed around special education, MSOC, and transportation, break down key budget numbers, and reflect on the progress made—and the gaps that remain. It’s our wrap-up of the session, and a look ahead to what comes next. - Megan Larkin & Chris...

In this episode of Rainy Day Recess , we take a closer look at the Seattle Public Schools April 23 school board meeting, with the major focus on the Enrollment Planning presentation given at the end of the 6-hour meeting. Here is the result of our attempts to decipher meaning. For excellent background, you’ll want to watch this video episode by Dawson Nichols - Waitlists in Seattle . See our Show...

This is a VIDEO . This episode explores the questions surrounding school waitlists in Seattle Public Schools — particularly for option schools — including how they’re handled, why they often don’t move, and what the impacts are for students and families. Thanks for the many contributions from educators, students, and community members. including: Liza Rankin Shraddha Shirude Janeal Maurera Jessica...

Podcast Co-hosts Christie and Jasmine discuss the April 9th, 2025 school board meeting where the board reviewed proposals from executive search firms and started the process of choosing who will help them hire the next superintendent.  See our extensive Show Notes . Donate on Patreon . Support the show Contact us at hello@rainydayrecess.org . Rainy Day Recess music by Lester Mayo, logo by Cheryl J...

As budget negotiations reach their final phase, we recap where the Big 3 bills—special education, transportation, and MSOC—stand and what’s still on the table. We also reflect on the highs, lows, and hard lessons of the past 12 weeks, and talk about what advocacy looks like when progress comes one rung at a time. If you’re feeling frustrated or burned out, this one’s for you. See our extensive Sho...

We shine the community spotlight on the Southeast Seattle Schools Fundraising Alliance (SESSFA) and their annual Move-a-Thon — a creative fundraising event that supports 17 public schools in Southeast Seattle. Guest Heather Hart explains how the Move-a-Thon got started, what it looks like at different schools, and the unique equity-based model used to distribute the funds raised. You’ll hear how M...

Debbie Carlsen introduces "Learning Together," a free training series for prospective school board director candidates. Debbie shares her experience as a former candidate and explains how Champions for Educational Empowerment created this program to help potential board members understand both campaign strategies and board responsibilities. The series covers district organizations, board...

Budget Land Last week was action-packed with House and Senate budgets dropping last Monday as we were preparing our Week 11 episode. Since then, both budgets have been heard and exec’d out of their fiscal committees, and the Senate budget bill SB 5167 was passed off the Senate and passed off the House floor as this episode was being prepared for publication. The House introduced a “striking amendm...

Seattle's school board kicked off the superintendent search process on March 25th following Dr. Brent Jones' announced departure, authorizing President Gina Topp to begin seeking proposals from search firms under an ambitious timeline targeting a September appointment. Board members expressed hesitancy over the rapid pace, with Directors Sarju, Rankin, and Hersey advocating for an interi...

Bill Land We update listeners on our two remaining education funding bills - SB 5192 for Materials, Supplies, and Operating Costs and SB 5263 for Special Education). These bills have now had a hearing and are waiting for a vote in the House Appropriations committee. We highlight powerful testimony including Bellevue School District's announcement that they'll face "binding condition...

We continue our series introducing candidates running for Seattle School Board in 2025. In this episode, we're joined by Landon Labosky, who is running for the District 5 seat currently held by Michelle Sarju. Labosky discusses his background working with young people, his views on school board governance, collaboration with city and county agencies, addressing operational issues, and his app...

The district's sudden reversal on Highly Capable programming was the big news at the March 12 school board meeting, with strong commitments from Dr Torres-Morales for a definitive plan by April 1. Testimony also covered option school waitlists and the possible loss of the SPS LGBTQ+ program coordinator. Progress monitoring on career readiness, and an update on the upcoming strategic plan were...

Will our education bills survive the House Appropriations committee? Senate bills 5192 (MSOC) and 5263 (Special Education) survived the Senate with enough umph to still be worth our advocacy. But now face the committee that previously slashed a $600 per student increase to just $5.55. We reveal which representatives hold the red pens, how to make your voice heard (e.g. sign in pro! ) at the crucia...

In this week’s Rainy Day Recess , we talk about the legislator town halls that are coming up in the next few weeks and how to advocate at them. We are halfway through the legislature’s 105-day session, and we can show support for what we want to see change in the Big 3 bills by showing up and pushing the legislators to fund our schools. We give you some examples of ways to push the legislators to...

We kick off our series introducing candidates running for the Seattle School Board in 2025. The primary election is in August, and the general election follows in November. In this first episode, we’re joined by Sarah Clark, who was appointed to the board for Director District 2 in April 2024. She is now running to retain her seat for the remaining two years of the term. - Christie Robertson and J...

In this Rainy Day Rundown, we explore key developments in Seattle Public Schools and the role of community engagement in decision-making: SPS Racial Equity Departments – We follow up on our breaking news segment from February 28 , regarding the removal and return of key web pages raises questions about transparency. Board Engagement Meeting on the Budget (Feb 26) – Community members push for a mor...

In this week's episode of Rainy Day Recess , we track the latest developments in the fight for education funding in Washington state—and it's been a rough week. Two transportation funding bills have officially died, leaving advocates scrambling for a budget proviso to secure critical funding for students with high transportation needs.  Special education funding also took a major hit, as...

--- WE ARE TRACKING UPDATES TO THIS STORY IN OUR SHOW NOTES --- Two major departments dedicated to racial equity have disappeared from the SPS website —Department of Racial Equity Advancement (DREA) and African American Male Achievement (AAMA). Note: This is a developing story  See our Show Notes Support the show Contact us at hello@rainydayrecess.org . Rainy Day Recess music by Lester Mayo, logo...

In week 7 of our Big 3 Briefing series, we provide updates on the legislative process for the Big 3 education funding priorities: special education, pupil transportation, and materials, supplies, and operating costs (MSOC). All of the Big 3 bills survived the policy cutoff, and some of them look on track to make it through the fiscal cutoff this Friday - the MSOC and special education bills are al...

Rainy Day Rundown is your update on the latest happenings related to Seattle Public Schools. In this episode, we examine what systemic neglect looks like: 🔹 Restraint & Isolation – For the third year in a row, testimony reveals heartbreaking stories of students being restrained, isolated, and ignored by lawmakers. 🔹 Students Caught in the Crossfire – A shooting at the Bridges and Interagency...

See our Show Notes In Week 6 of the 2025 Washington State legislative session, we delve into the status of the Big 3 funding priorities for public education: special education, pupil transportation, and MSOC (materials, supplies, and operating costs). With the first policy cutoff approaching on February 21st, any bill not passed out of its policy committee by then will be considered dead for the y...

We are now in Week 5 of the 2025 Washington State legislative session, continuing our deep dive into the Big 3 priorities—transportation, special education, and MSOC (materials, supplies, and operating costs). Megan Larkin guides us through the latest updates, legislative deadlines, and advocacy actions needed to push these crucial bills forward. This week’s theme: “It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”...

Rainy Day Rundown is your weekly update on the latest happenings related to Seattle Public Schools.  In this episode: Special School Board Meeting: The School Board listens to public testimony on the proposed Goals and Guardrails  before discussing, amending, and adopting the new Goals and Guardrails for 2025-2030. National Assessment of Educational Progress : We mention the recently released  res...

It’s week 4 of the 2025 legislative session in Washington State. Megan Larkin is helping us follow the education bills related to the Big 3 priorities embraced by major education advocacy organizations across Washington.  See our Show Notes TRANSPORTATION BILLS: SB 5187 - Wellman HB 1579 - Nance  MSOC (Materials, Supplies, Operating Costs) BILLS: SB 5192 - Nobles HB 1338 - Berg SPECIAL EDUCATION B...