Seattle Schools Superintendent Denise Juneau has started tackling her long to-do list for her first six months at the district. One of her biggest goals is improving community engagement.
"I recently met with all the principals in the city. I thought that was really powerful," Juneau said.
In fact, she is launching a listening and learning tour, detailed in her lengthy entry plan she's laid out for her first year at Seattle Public Schools.
Juneau said those meetings will include monthly get-togethers with Mayor Jenny Durkan.
"I think it was a co-decision that we should keep in touch," said Juneau. "She's a newish mayor. I'm a brand new superintendent."
Juneau believes in a strong partnership with city leaders, tweeting a couple of photos with the mayor and council member Debora Juarez from a basketball game this spring.
The superintendent applauds the mayor's new $600 million education levy the city is sending to voters in November, and claims she is not concerned about it competing with the district's two levies up for a vote in 2019.
"Versus what the school is going to be asking for, for buildings and operations, two very distinct levies," she said. "We need both and we're counting on the voters to follow through and make sure we're supporting public education throughout the city."
Juneau is clear about her number one priority.
"When I came to Seattle and interviewed through that process, across the board, from every audience I talked to, that was number one on their mind of closing the opportunity gap," said Juneau. "Seattle actually does pretty well as far as scoring well, they're a national leader, sometimes it may not feel like that. But they are a high-ranking urban district in the county. The problem is that we have this gap between races."
To accomplish that, she'll rely on plenty of community feedback.
"It's been my mantra," said Juneau. "We're not here to build a higher wall, we're here to build a longer table. And we want voices at the table to inform us so we can best move forward."
