Advocacy for Sacajawea, Oct 2024

Dear Sacajawea Families,

We hope this message finds you well. As you know, we issued a survey asking for your input on issues related to the well-resourced school initiative, which has put Sacajawea at risk of closing. At a special member meeting on October 6th, our team presented the results of the survey, and based on those, we aligned on areas in which our community would like to focus advocacy efforts.

Our community voted to advocate for two vital initiatives:

• Keeping Sacajawea Elementary open

• Rebuilding our beloved school

At our PTA board meeting on Tuesday, October 15th, we explained the BEX Levy on the February 2025 ballot and what it means for Sacajawea’s future. Given how much work the district and our school leadership and community have already done to rebuild the school, we intend to advocate for Sacajawea to remain on the BEX Levy list.

There are a few upcoming meetings that our team is closely following as those will determine our future next steps, which include:

• Week of October 21st: The district will release a list of 0-5 school closures. This list will kick off hearings at each school listed to be held by November 20th

• November 19th: School Board votes on BEX levy language

• December 14th OR January 16th: School board votes on a final list of schools to close

Actions you can take to ensure your voice is heard.

• Ask SPS to include the Sacajawea rebuild on the BEX VI Levy

• Ask SPS to show integrity and complete the build they already spent $4M planning

• Invite the Superintendent and School Board Directors to visit Sacajawea (none of them have visited before)

How do I take these actions?

• Copy and paste this general template (feel free to edit!) and email it to the people below.

• Ask for Sacajawea to be placed back on the BEX VI Levy using the levy feedback form.

Who to email?

• Capitol Levy Team: rsasencio@seattleschools.org, rlbest@seattleschools.org

• Seattle City Council Cathy Moore: Cathy.Moore@seattle.gov

• 46th District Washington State Delegate Gerry Pollet: gerry.pollet@leg.wa.gov

• 46th District Washington State Delegate Javier Valdez: javier.valdez@leg.wa.gov

• 46th District Washington State Delegate Darya Farivar: darya.farivar@leg.wa.gov

• Governor candidate Bob Ferguson (lives in Maple Leaf): press@bobferguson.com

• Schools First, a nonprofit that supports the marketing of SPS levies: https://seattleschoolsfirst.org/contact-us/

• Seattle School Board: https://ujoin.co/campaigns/3253/actions/public?action_id=4246 (copy/paste letter above)

• Director 1 - Liza Rankin: liza.rankin@seattleschools.org

• Director 2 - Sarah Clark: sarah.clark@seattleschools.org

• Director 3 - Evan Briggs: Evan.Briggs@seattleschools.org

• Director 4 - Joe Mizrahi: joseph.mizrahi@seattleschools.org

• Director 5 - Michelle Sarju: mrsarju@seattleschools.org

• Director 6 - Gina Topp: Gina.Topp@seattleschools.org

• Director 7 - Brandon Hersey: brandon.hersey@seattleschools.org

• Superintendent Brent Jones: 206-252-0167

If you have any questions or thoughts, email us at advocacy@sacpta.org. We’d love to hear from you. And if you’re passionate about advocating for these important issues, let us know!

Together, we can make a difference!

Thank you for being such an integral part of our community.

Warm regards,

Jane Tunks Demel & Annie Becker
PTA Advocacy Co-Chairs