14 named to key school panel

Retired Boeing and Microsoft executives, education-finance specialists and nonprofit managers lead a list of 14 people Seattle Schools Superintendent Raj Manhas named yesterday to a committee charged with crafting a sustainable financial plan.

Manhas selected them from nearly 250 applicants, screening for top brains in finance, management, leadership, marketing and K-12 education who have a strong interest in Seattle Public Schools. The committee's leaders are Trish Millines Dziko, a T.T. Minor Elementary parent and executive director of Technology Access Foundation; and John Warner, retired senior vice president and chief administrative officer at Boeing, parent of two Seattle Public Schools graduates and past president of Partnership for Learning, a statewide nonprofit education-reform group.

In May, Manhas announced he would create the community advisory committee after abandoning a proposal to close 10 schools that was designed to shield classrooms from future budget cuts.

Manhas' proposal faced a groundswell of criticism from the public and politicians, including Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and King County Executive Ron Sims. Manhas' administration, which got board approval this week of a $453 million budget for 2005-06, projects shortfalls of at least $14 million in subsequent years without major restructuring.

The committee has a number of faces new to district efforts, including a few people who helped organize opposition to Manhas' school-closure plan. It doesn't include representatives of some interest groups, such as parents of highly capable or special-education students, or the NAACP. But while some found that troubling, others were thrilled with the committee's makeup.

"It's probably an all-star team," said Lisa Macfarlane, president of the League of Education Voters and past president of Schools First, Seattle's school-levy committee. "There's a lot of passion there, there's a lot of experience. I think that group can get something accomplished."

The committee's charge, in essence, is to find politically palatable ways for the district to thrive academically and survive financially. The group's recommendations are due by Dec. 15; its meetings, all of which will be public, haven't been scheduled.

"I was humbled by this list of people," Manhas said yesterday. "Yes, we went through some difficult times with budgets and [talk of] closing schools, but I feel this [committee] will energize the city."

The committee's recommendations could include elements of Manhas' earlier proposal — building closures, neighborhood-school assignments and limits on transportation.

"It's going to be a challenge, there is no doubt about that," said Dziko, who fought the proposed closure of schools, including T.T. Minor, where her oldest daughter was in kindergarten.

"But if every time something was hard and we turned our backs to it, we just wouldn't get anything done."

Her goal, she said, is to keep the focus on what's best for kids: "I think if you're given an opportunity to make change, then you should just do it, so here I am."

Manhas said he wants the committee to look at the district's finances "with fresh eyes and a different perspective."

The committee still includes plenty of establishment voices from the Seattle Council PTSA, business community and teachers union.

James Kelly, president and chief executive of the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, said although the committee has many good members, he wished it were bigger, so that it could include more stakeholders.

District officials note that at least six of the 14 members are ethnic minorities — two are African American, two Asian and two Latino. About half the committee members are current or former Seattle Public Schools parents.

Sanjay Bhatt: 206-464-3103 or sbhatt@seattletimes.com