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Building Leadership Team

Washington Middle School Building Leadership Team (BLT)

The Washington Middle School Building Leadership Team (BLT) is a group consisting of WMS teachers, support staff, administration, parents, community partners and students. The BLT has 4 areas of focus for Washington Middle School:

2022-23 BLT Meeting Agendas and Minutes

BLT meetings are held at 7:40-8:40 a.m. on Microsoft Teams.

Links will be sent out 1 day before meeting. For links to BLT meetings please email rmwashington@seattleschools.org

Goals: To promote highly engaged classrooms and start the necessary work to close the academic gap at Washington Middle School

January 11, 2023 (make up from Jan. 4, 2023)

Members in attendance:

  • Manriquez (temp admin lead)
  • Prestis
  • Hartley
  • Harris
  • Ahmed
  • Mason
  • Martinson

Others in attendance:

  • Hesse
  • Kent
January 11 Agenda and Minutes
  • 7:40-7:50 Opening / Connections
    • Positives from coming back from Winter Break:
      • Orchestra is killing it!
      • Donors Choose projects funded for the library
      • Incentives for completing entry tasks
      • Celebrating Crum’s class’s IXL growth
      • Seeing community
  • 8-8:10 Revisit Norms
    • Norms approved by BLT membership
  • 8:10-8:20 BLT Roles and Elect BLT Chair
    • BLT Chair (Harris) will work with Katrina.
  • 8:20-8:40 Review Bylaws including Bylaw Membership; Review and Suggest Edits
    • Adding agenda distribution timeline
    • Communication Plan updates
    • Constituents based on departments of members
      • Crum/Man with Math
      • ELL part of Humanities
      • Pan/Frazier communicate with counselors/IAs
      • Baker to join BLT as community rep and communicate with community organizations (CIS, TAF, etc.)
    • Changing bylaw about IC members not being voting member of BLT? No more than 25% of BLT is IC voting member
  • 8:40-8:45 Closing
Other topics/decisions
  • Keep minutes on SharePoint
    • BLT and all staff will need to be taught how to use and access
  • Prestis will develop email blurb for constituents
  • Admin to make recommendation for parent/guardian rep and ask PTSA for their rep
  • ASB still figuring out their situation, but Kirby may recommend a rep for this year
  • Manriquez will ask Kirby to recommend 7th grade ASB rep for BLT
  • Another meeting before scheduled February meeting
Next meetings

Quick interim meeting (1/20 at 8:15 a.m.):

  • DMM
  • Basics of Budget

For next regular meeting (2/1 at 7:40 a.m.):

  • Decision Making Matrix review (quick)
  • General Calendar
  • Concerns about master schedule and balancing class numbers (6 period day? Humanities separate to ELA and SS?)

December 7, 2022

Members in attendance:

  • Pan
  • Prestis
  • Hartley
  • Martinson
  • Hesse
  • Manriquez
  • Mason

Others in attendance:

  • Kent

Discussed:

  1. Priorities and Responsibilities of BLT
    1. Budget discussion and voting on admin proposal (February)
    2. Planning PD for next year’s Purple Wednesdays
    3. School Improvement Plan (Everything else stems from goals in the SIP)
  2. Review Bylaws
    1. Next meeting discuss/vote on further changes
    2. Add to norms:
      1. “Meetings have an agenda, time/place Set date/time/place/agenda 24 hours ahead of time
      2. Supporting decision once a decision is made
    3. Membership and structure
      1. Current language says “5 elected SEA-represented staff”
        1. Add language “at least 5”
      2. Current language says “one of the five elected seats will be designated for and voted upon by classified SEA-represented staff.”
        1. Should we keep language limiting vote to classified staff? Should we change the language to allow for all SEA members to vote for classified staff?
      3. Should there be a limit to SEA members?
      4. We need a SAEOP member if we continue to be over seven SEA members
      5. No language around departments being represented
        1. Who do we represent from the staff on BLT?
    4. Need parent representatives
      1. PTSA already recommended one parent, we can recommend another
    5. Need community partner representative
    6. Need ASB president and ASB rep
    7. Need BLT Chair
  3. Sending email the week prior to BLT meetings asking for agenda items and informing staff of the agenda so they may attend if interested (who?)
  4. Public storage of meeting notes/minutes
  5. Sharing why each member was interested in joining BLT
    1. Hartley – inner workings of the school system, budget
    2. Mason – represent Special Ed interests, budget
    3. Manriquez – listening, help make decisions for next year
    4. Martinson – encouraged by department, advocating for Humanities and literacy
    5. Harris – represent library, helping facilitate
    6. Hesse – listening to needs and concerns
    7. Pan – listening to goals for next year, working as a team to reach goals
    8. Prestis – good with money/numbers, focus on goals especially around literacy
  6. Advisory Committee – change in schedule
  7. Could change time of meetings to be more accessible to parents/students
  8. Homework: Read the by-laws by next meeting

Next Meeting: January 4, 2023 in the Library at 7:35