From:

To:
Cc:
Subject:
Date:

Sebring, Linda
Ferguson, Laurel L
Boy, Ronald D
RE: PTA parents group requests enrollment data
Tuesday, June 09, 2015 2:31:21 PM

Major concern with this is once we give it to her she will want us to train her on how to use it. It is not static data, it is a system.
From: Ferguson, Laurel L
Sent: Tuesday, June 09, 2015 12:54 PM
To: Gotsch, Kenneth C
Cc: Thorpe, Leah H; Sebring, Linda; Boy, Ronald D
Subject: RE: PTA parents group requests enrollment data

Hi Ken,
I just spoke to Ronald about this. Even though this is considered a database, because its in an excel spreadsheet, it exists in a releasable format. We dont see any
exemptions that might apply to allow us to withhold this record. Please let us know if you have any questions about this.
Thanks!

Laurel Ferguson
Legal Assistant/Public Records Officer
Office of General Counsel
Seattle Public Schools
Tel: (206) 252-0117
llferguson@seattleschools.org
From: Gotsch, Kenneth C
Sent: Tuesday, June 09, 2015 9:17 AM
To: Ferguson, Laurel L
Cc: Thorpe, Leah H; Sebring, Linda
Subject: Re: PTA parents group requests enrollment data

I would not send the WSS model to the public records requestor.
Sent from my iPad
On Jun 4, 2015, at 2:31 PM, Ferguson, Laurel L <llferguson@seattleschools.org> wrote:
Ken,
I just spoke to Linda and I think we got things cleared up. Thank you both so much for your help with this!

Laurel Ferguson
Legal Assistant/Public Records Officer
Office of General Counsel
Seattle Public Schools
Tel: (206) 252-0117
llferguson@seattleschools.org
From: Gotsch, Kenneth C
Sent: Thursday, June 04, 2015 2:20 PM
To: Ferguson, Laurel L
Cc: Thorpe, Leah H; Sebring, Linda
Subject: Re: PTA parents group requests enrollment data

Linda,
Please confirm for Laurel that The documents provided are "native".
Ken
Sent from my iPhone
On Jun 4, 2015, at 11:54 AM, Ferguson, Laurel L <llferguson@seattleschools.org> wrote:
Hey Ken,
Just checking in to see if youve had a chance to speak with Linda, or if I should contact her directly. Let me know so we can hopefully wrap this up!
Thanks,

Laurel Ferguson
Legal Assistant/Public Records Officer
Office of General Counsel
Seattle Public Schools
Tel: (206) 252-0117
llferguson@seattleschools.org
From: Gotsch, Kenneth C
Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2015 3:48 PM

To: Ferguson, Laurel L; Thorpe, Leah H

Subject: RE: PTA parents group requests enrollment data

Laurel,
Linda Sebring is not back today for me to get an answer. She is back tomorrow morning. Sorry for delay.
Ken
From: Ferguson, Laurel L
Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2015 1:58 PM
To: Thorpe, Leah H
Cc: Gotsch, Kenneth C
Subject: RE: PTA parents group requests enrollment data

That would be great. Thanks, Leah!

Laurel Ferguson
Legal Assistant/Public Records Officer
Office of General Counsel
Seattle Public Schools
Tel: (206) 252-0117
llferguson@seattleschools.org
From: Thorpe, Leah H
Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2015 1:56 PM
To: Ferguson, Laurel L
Cc: Gotsch, Kenneth C
Subject: RE: PTA parents group requests enrollment data

Hi Laurel
He is headed to board prep now. Can I have him call you around 3:30?
Thanks
Leah
From: Ferguson, Laurel L
Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2015 1:55 PM
To: Gotsch, Kenneth C
Cc: Thorpe, Leah H
Subject: RE: PTA parents group requests enrollment data

Hey Ken,
Do you have time to chat about this today?

Laurel Ferguson
Legal Assistant/Public Records Officer
Office of General Counsel
Seattle Public Schools
Tel: (206) 252-0117
llferguson@seattleschools.org
From: Gotsch, Kenneth C
Sent: Tuesday, June 02, 2015 10:21 AM
To: Ferguson, Laurel L
Cc: Thorpe, Leah H
Subject: Re: PTA parents group requests enrollment data

Both Linda and I have been out of the office. Can we tackle first thing Wednesday morning?
Sent from my iPhone
On Jun 2, 2015, at 10:17 AM, Ferguson, Laurel L <llferguson@seattleschools.org> wrote:
Hi Ken,
Just checking in to see if you had a chance to speak with Linda and determine what the native format was for the documents
provided. I think you were also looking into whether additional information could be provided in an excel format, similar to what
Annette used to provide. Any word on these issues?
Additionally, can you confirm if the WSS data Cecilia is looking for (15-16 WSS used to derive school budgets) is included in the
purple book? Or does that information still need to be provided? Let me know!
Thanks,

Laurel Ferguson
Legal Assistant/Public Records Officer
Office of General Counsel
Seattle Public Schools
Tel: (206) 252-0117
llferguson@seattleschools.org

From: Gotsch, Kenneth C

Sent: Friday, May 29, 2015 2:31 PM
To: Ferguson, Laurel L
Cc: Coe, Jacque A
Subject: FW: PTA parents group requests enrollment data

FYI Updated information as requested.

From: Bonneville, Sara L
Sent: Friday, May 29, 2015 2:25 PM
To: Gotsch, Kenneth C
Subject: RE: PTA parents group requests enrollment data

Ken to confirm.
The Schools Budget Allocations for the Recommended Budget (or the purple book) that were posted on the web-site today are based
on the final version for the recommended budget, that was locked on 5/15 or there abouts.
I finished compiling the three separate pages for each school and building the PDF file last night (5/28/) around 7:00 pm, and they
were posted this morning by Cheryl Klinker.
Let me know if I can answer any further questions.
SLB
From: Gotsch, Kenneth C
Sent: Friday, May 29, 2015 1:37 PM
To: Ferguson, Laurel L
Cc: Coe, Jacque A; Bonneville, Sara L; Sebring, Linda
Subject: RE: PTA parents group requests enrollment data

Dear Laurel,
As we discussed, I believe the data from Budget Manager Sara Bonneville was just complied and made available to schools either
yesterday or today. It looks to me that the report is in a word document format. I will confirm with Sara when she gets back from
lunch.
Sincerely,
Ken Gotsch

From: Ferguson, Laurel L

Sent: Friday, May 29, 2015 1:16 PM
To: Gotsch, Kenneth C
Cc: Coe, Jacque A
Subject: FW: PTA parents group requests enrollment data

Ken,
Can you assist me in answering Cecilias questions?

Laurel Ferguson
Legal Assistant/Public Records Officer
Office of General Counsel
Seattle Public Schools
Tel: (206) 252-0117
llferguson@seattleschools.org
From: C McCormick [mailto:cpvmac@hotmail.com]
Sent: Friday, May 29, 2015 1:14 PM
To: Ferguson, Laurel L
Cc: Coe, Jacque A; Gotsch, Kenneth C; Kroon, Brent R; emercer@drizzle.com
Subject: RE: PTA parents group requests enrollment data

Thank you Laurel for this "early" release. Can you confirm that this is the information release to schools on February 25th?
In past years I have received this information in Excel or csv format. Can you provide the native format file as soon as
possible.
Thank you in advance
Cecilia

From: llferguson@seattleschools.org
To: cpvmac@hotmail.com
CC: jacoe@seattleschools.org; kcgotsch@seattleschools.org; brkroon@seattleschools.org
Subject: RE: PTA parents group requests enrollment data
Date: Fri, 29 May 2015 20:05:20 +0000

Hi Cecilia,
Good news! The information required for the budget portion of your request has been compiled and is ready today! Please find
attached a copy of the school allocations and enrollment data (the purple book). This information will also be available on the
Budget webpage. Staff is still working on the remainder of your request, and we anticipate providing all additional records by the
original response date of Thursday, June 4th , if not sooner. Please let me know if you have any questions!
Thanks,

Laurel Ferguson
Legal Assistant/Public Records Officer
Office of General Counsel
Seattle Public Schools
Tel: (206) 252-0117
llferguson@seattleschools.org
From: Public Records Request
Sent: Wednesday, May 06, 2015 12:16 PM
To: 'C McCormick'
Subject: RE: PTA parents group requests enrollment data

Hi Cecilia,
Im not entirely sure myself how this ended up in my office, but here we are. - Since we will be providing records, it does sound like
this is technically a public records request.
Anyway: the Budget department has informed that they are incredibly busy reconciling the budget and assembling the Budget Book.
They anticipate early June being the soonest they can get the budget portion of this request to me. Enrollment has informed me that
they are on a similar timeline, and think they can get everything together by the end of the month. In order to allow for a reasonable
timeframe for all departments involved, I anticipate providing records by Thursday, June 4th , if not sooner (definitely sooner if
possible!). Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thanks!

Laurel Ferguson
Legal Assistant/Public Records Officer
Office of General Counsel
Seattle Public Schools
Tel: (206) 252-0117
llferguson@seattleschools.org
From: C McCormick [mailto:cpvmac@hotmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, May 05, 2015 9:38 AM
To: Ferguson, Laurel L
Subject: FW: PTA parents group requests enrollment data

Hi Laurel,
District staff has had this request since 4/23/15. Somewhere along the way someone unilaterally decided a Public Records
Request had to be submitted. Of course I disagree; I see nothing in policy or procedure that requires a PRR for every time
information is provided to a parent group.
Please let me know when this information can be expected.
Thanks alot
Cecilia
From: cpvmac@hotmail.com
To: legchair@scptsa.org; kcgotsch@seattleschools.org; jacoe@seattleschools.org
CC: brkroon@seattleschools.org; lhthorpe@seattleschools.org; llnyland@seattleschools.org; llferguson@seattleschools.org
Subject: RE: PTA parents group requests enrollment data
Date: Wed, 29 Apr 2015 15:26:25 -0700
Thanks Eden.
I'm appreciative that the Public Records Officer has begun working on this request today, more than one week after our
meeting with the Superintendent. It is my hope that the data will be provided as soon as possible, given this late notice.
The request is not complex in the least. I am interested in who determined a public records request was required.
The information will help parents better understand and then engage in their schools' budget discussions.
Thank you in advance.
Cecilia McCormick
206-595-2366

> From: Legchair@scptsa.org

> To: kcgotsch@seattleschools.org; jacoe@seattleschools.org
> CC: brkroon@seattleschools.org; lhthorpe@seattleschools.org; cpvmac@hotmail.com; llnyland@seattleschools.org
> Subject: Re: PTA parents group requests enrollment data
> Date: Wed, 29 Apr 2015 22:01:28 +0000
>
> HI Ken,
>
> Thanks for responding to Cecelia, and I'm a bit confused why a FIOA request would be required for this information. (I'm
looping in Jacque here because she was at the meeting with Dr. Nyland where this was discussed.)
>
> I am certain that there is a good reason, but I'm a bit confused. I too thought that this information was always in the
past posted to the website, so why isn't it available this year?
>
> Here is some of it for this year and prior years: http://www.seattleschools.org/modules/cms/pages.phtml?
sessionid=&pageid=282322
>
> Per the budget process, Initial School Allocations are available and on-line by Feb 25, 2105. As such, base line enrollment
information is public at that point. That is all stated here: http://seattleschools.org/modules/cms/pages.phtml?
sessionid=&pageid=214085
>
> We are past open enrollment so theoretically the enrollment numbers and allocations are now adjusted.
>
> Is it possible that she isn't asking for the right document or information or that it is spread out through a bunch of places
that is difficult for staff to pull together? Or is staff still working on it and it won't be available for some time for some
reason? Or maybe the documents on which this information reside are full of private student info that needs to be redacted?
>
> I honestly don't recall the original impetus for Cecelia's request, but I do recall that this was discussed at our regular
SCPTSA -- Dr. Nyland meeting last week, and it didn't sound like there should be any difficulty. In the budget presentation
on March 25th Dr. Nyland's opening statements are about improving engagement:
>
>
http://www.seattleschools.org/modules/groups/homepagefiles/cms/1583136/File/Departmental%20Content/school%20board/1415%20agendas/032515agenda/20150325_presentation_Budget_WS.pdf
>
> It seems to me that it is impossible to improve engagement without basic information. When the information becomes
scarce or exceedingly difficult to access, then rumor and innuendo take over. Additionally when families have to jump
through substantial hoops to try to get information that is available and "pubic," it is damaging to trust and our working
relationships. And from a personal perspective if feels very dismissive.
>
> Isn't an FIOA request is substantially more time consuming (and costly) than simply providing the information, but maybe
the request was too complicated?
>
> Any insight you can lend would be helpful,
>
> Eden Mack, Advocacy/Legislative chair
> Seattle Council of Parent, Teacher and Student Associations
> http://scptsa.org/advocacy/
> 206-240-6648
>
> ________________________________________
> From: Gotsch, Kenneth C <kcgotsch@seattleschools.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, April 29, 2015 12:55 PM
> To: Cecelia McCormick
> Cc: Kroon, Brent R; SCPTSA Leg. Chair, Eden Mack; Nyland, Larry L; Thorpe, Leah H
> Subject: Re: PTA parents group requests enrollment data
>
> Dear Cecilia,
>
> I learned yesterday that this information request needs to go through the District's FOIA officer. Leah, can you help me
get Cecilia's request properly forwarded and processed to legal? (L. Ferguson?)
>
> I thought this data was readily available on the district's public website.
>
> Flip Herndon and Brent Kroon have your request.
>
> I should have helped initiate this step on day one. My apology for the delay.
>
> Ken Gotsch

>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Apr 28, 2015, at 5:29 PM, C McCormick <cpvmac@hotmail.com<mailto:cpvmac@hotmail.com>> wrote:
>
> Hi Ken,
>
> I apologize for the second email. I'll just say that there are many parents interested in: a) their school's enrollment; and
b) their school's budget.
>
> I would greatly appreciate at least a date when this information could be expected.
>
> Thank you very much,
> Cecilia McCormick
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: cpvmac@hotmail.com<mailto:cpvmac@hotmail.com>
> To: kcgotsch@seattleschools.org<mailto:kcgotsch@seattleschools.org>
> CC: brkroon@seattleschools.org<mailto:brkroon@seattleschools.org>; legchair@scptsa.org<mailto:legchair@scptsa.org>
> Subject: RE: PTA parents group requests enrollment data
> Date: Tue, 28 Apr 2015 11:30:54 -0700
>
> Good morning Ken. I was hoping you would have an update on Brent's progress. Will the information be available soon?
>
> Thanks for your help,
> Cecilia
> 206-595-2366
>
> ________________________________
> From: kcgotsch@seattleschools.org<mailto:kcgotsch@seattleschools.org>
> To: cpvmac@hotmail.com<mailto:cpvmac@hotmail.com>
> CC: brkroon@seattleschools.org<mailto:brkroon@seattleschools.org>
> Subject: RE: PTA parents group requests enrollment data
> Date: Thu, 23 Apr 2015 21:23:57 +0000
>
>
> Dear Cecilia,
>
>
>
> Got it. Ill ask Brent to pull together for you whats available.
>
>
>
> Ken
>
>
>
>
>
> From: C McCormick [mailto:cpvmac@hotmail.com]
> Sent: Thursday, April 23, 2015 1:44 PM
> To: Gotsch, Kenneth C
> Subject: PTA parents group requests enrollment data
>
>
>
> Hi Ken,
>
> I'm happy to clarify the data we're looking for, and will provide examples where possible. Provision in Excel or csv form
would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Current and projected classrooms by school including special programs
> Projected enrollment by grade including special programs (see attached file)
> School budgets as presented in former Purple(?) Book with computation of FTE and PCP based on enrollment, AAFTE and
WSS
> Current 2015-16 WSS used to derive school budgets
>
> Please include all schools/buildings including Old Van Asselt and other similar buildings. I will share this with Eden and

the rest of the SCPTSA Board.

>
> Thanks very much,
>
> Cecilia McCormick
> 206-595-2366
>
>
> > From: kcgotsch@seattleschools.org<mailto:kcgotsch@seattleschools.org>
> > To: cpvmac@hotmail.com<mailto:cpvmac@hotmail.com>
> > Subject: Fwd: Automatic reply: PTA parents group requests enrollment data
> > Date: Wed, 22 Apr 2015 23:32:03 +0000
>>
> > If you can help me define your data request, I'll make sure I go over it with Brent tomorrow morning.
>>
> > Ken
>>
> > Sent from my iPad
>>
> > Begin forwarded message:
>>
> > From: "Kroon, Brent R"
<brkroon@seattleschools.org<mailto:brkroon@seattleschools.org<mailto:brkroon@seattleschools.org%3cmailto:brkroon@seattleschools.org
>>>
> > Date: April 22, 2015 at 4:30:28 PM PDT
> > To: "Gotsch, Kenneth C"
<kcgotsch@seattleschools.org<mailto:kcgotsch@seattleschools.org<mailto:kcgotsch@seattleschools.org%3cmailto:kcgotsch@seattleschools.org
>>>
> > Subject: Automatic reply: PTA parents group requests enrollment data
>>
> > I am out of the office for the rest of the afternoon ,Wed, April 22. I will be back tomorrow morning 4/23 at 9:30
>>
> > Thanks,
> > Brent Kroon