Renton gets in the head of local legislators

December 8, 2004 - School Board members, Superintendent Dolores Gibbons and other Renton School District administrators today met with state lawmakers to discuss education needs in the district and throughout Washington. The meeting, held at Hazelwood Elementary School, was designed to ensure education was on the forefront of the minds of legislators as they prepared to head back to work in Olympia.

Legislators in attendance were state representatives Judy Clibborn and Fred Jarrett.

Highlights of the meeting included presentations on how hard students, teachers and staff were working to meet federal requirements under the No Child Left Behind Act, as well as meeting state demands for improvements on the WASL and other education reform measures. Also on the agenda were conversations about staff development, school funding and the needs of students in special education and English as a second language programs. Hazelwood principal Mary Ford presented the group with her School Improvement Plan and offered insights into the how teachers throughout the district teach character-building principles and values along with reading, writing and mathematics.

Representative Jarrett, whose wife works as a school psychologist in the Mukilteo School District and daughter is an elementary school teacher, is a member of the House education committee and welcomes the opportunity for ongoing conversations between the school district, his office and other lawmakers in Olympia. Superintendent Gibbons offered a proposal to use the state's K-20 network system to host real-time, on-line meetings to ensure state legislators hear from constituents and local leaders in education, city government, commerce and the medicine. Rep. Jarrett said he would spearhead the communication events on his end, saying he thought other legislators might not take the time needed to learn about what goes on in schools and would welcome such an opportunity.