E48 - Janis White - D5 Seattle School Board Candidate

[00:00:03] Christie Robertson: Welcome to Rainy Day Recess, where we study and discuss Seattle Public Schools. This is our 2025 Seattle School Board candidate series. For each conversation, we start with a lightning round, then ask two minute questions on the role of the school board in leadership and governance, and what is the real impact these candidates believe the school board can have on Seattle Public Schools.

Today we're releasing interviews with all six of the District 5 candidates. District 5 is roughly east Seattle. Earlier this week, we released our interviews with D2 and D4 school board candidates, and we'll cover D7 after the primary. Transcripts are available at rainydayrecess.org.

This episode is our interview with Janis White. Be sure to listen to our interviews with Allycea Weil, Julissa Sanchez, Landon Labosky, Vivian Song, and Vivian Van Gelder, which are also in your feed. We'll give you a quick preview of those interviews at the end of this episode. 

[00:01:09] Interview start

[00:01:09] Christie Robertson: So hello listeners. I'm Christie Robertson,

[00:01:12] Cherylynne Crowther: I'm Cherylynne Crowther.

[00:01:13] Christie Robertson: And today we are here with Janis White. Janis, thank you for running for School Board, and welcome to Rainy Day Recess.

[00:01:22] Janis White: Thanks so much for having me.

[00:01:24] Lightning Round

[00:01:24] Christie Robertson: So we are gonna start with a lightning round, which is meant to help listeners get to know you quickly. We'll ask a mix of quick answer and yes, no questions. Keep your answers brief. 

What are your name and pronouns?

[00:01:36] Janis White: Janis White. She/her.

[00:01:39] Christie Robertson: And how do you describe, quote, what you do?

[00:01:42] Janis White: I'm a lawyer and a mom.

[00:01:46] Christie Robertson: Which director district are you running for, and what neighborhoods does it encompass?

[00:01:51] Janis White: I am running in District 5, which includes the Central area, part of the International District, Leschi, Madrona, Capitol Hill, Madison Valley, Madison Park, Montlake, and Eastlake.

[00:02:04] Cherylynne Crowther: This is Cherylynne. Now we'll do some background questions. Answer yes or no where possible, and add a short explanation if something needs context. 

Have you attended a school board meeting? 

[00:02:16] Janis White: Many times. 

[00:02:17] Cherylynne Crowther: Have you testified at a board meeting?

[00:02:19] Janis White: Many times, including last Wednesday.

[00:02:23] Cherylynne Crowther: Have you testified in the state legislature?

[00:02:25] Janis White: Also many times.

[00:02:27] Cherylynne Crowther: Now, where did you go to school as a child?

[00:02:30] Janis White: I went to public school in kindergarten through 12th grade in Great Neck, New York.

[00:02:36] Cherylynne Crowther: Do you have or have you had kids in Seattle Public schools?

[00:02:40] Janis White: Yes. I have three kids who went to Seattle Public Schools from kindergarten through 12th grade. One of them graduated in 2019, and two of them graduated in 2023.

[00:02:53] Cherylynne Crowther: Have you worked in education?

[00:02:55] Janis White: No.

[00:02:57] Cherylynne Crowther: Have you been in a union? 

[00:02:59] Janis White: No. 

[00:03:01] Cherylynne Crowther: Have you been on a board

[00:03:02] Janis White: Yes. 

[00:03:04] Cherylynne Crowther: And have you ever worked with a large budget?

[00:03:06] Janis White: Yes. I was president of the board of Ken Haven Music School, which was then a summer music school in Vermont and is starting a fall semester for the first time this fall.

[00:03:16] Christie Robertson: Great. And now we'll do some quick takes. Who is an educational leader you admire?

[00:03:23] Janis White: Vivian Gussin Paley. She was my kindergarten teacher who went on to write 13 books on early education based on her work in Great Neck Public Schools and at the University of Chicago laboratory schools. And she received a MacArthur Fellowship, which is often called a genius grant. She was opposed to an academic emphasis in kindergarten.

[00:03:47] Christie Robertson: Who is a school board director you're looking forward to working with?

[00:03:51] Janis White: All of them, because I believe that to be effective on the school board, you need to have collaborative relationships with all of your colleagues.

[00:03:59] Christie Robertson: What's one education policy you strongly support?

[00:04:04] Janis White: I strongly support inclusive classrooms, in which students with disabilities learn alongside their non-disabled peers to the greatest extent possible.

[00:04:14] Christie Robertson: And do you see the school board role more as a trustee with a duty to the institution or as an elected representative role that's accountable to voters?

[00:04:23] Janis White: Neither. School board directors, I think, are responsible to our students and to the public at large, and need to make decisions that promote a sense of belonging and shared healthy community, recognizing our diversity in support of public education. We need the whole community's support and participation, whether or not they have children, as the future of our society depends on how well we as a community educate our children.

[00:04:51] Christie Robertson: And what's one thing that you'd change about the school board immediately?

[00:04:55] Janis White: I would bring back standing committees, but most urgently bring back a budget and finance committee.

[00:05:01] Cherylynne Crowther: And this is Cherylynne. Lastly, what is one lightning round question you would add for other candidates? 

[00:05:06] Janis White: I would add “What is one education policy you do not support?”

[00:05:12] Cherylynne Crowther: And what's your answer to that question?

[00:05:14] Janis White: I don't support over-reliance on standardized testing, because I believe it can lead to a narrow focus of teaching to the test. It doesn't capture a complete assessment of student abilities. It perpetuates inequalities, and it can cause stress and anxiety for students.

[00:05:31] Main interview questions

[00:05:31] Christie Robertson: Awesome. So now let's move into the main interview questions. These questions focus on institutional change and the role of the board. You'll have up to two minutes to answer each one, but don't feel like you have to use all the time.

Ready to start?

[00:05:46] Janis White: I'm ready.

[00:05:47] Christie Robertson: All right.

[00:05:49] Cherylynne Crowther: Okay, the first question. What does a school board director actually do?

[00:05:55] Janis White: So a lot of people don't realize it, but we have a law in Washington that defines the responsibilities of school board directors. And as a lawyer, that's where I start to answer the question. And that law is actually a lot broader than many people realize. We often hear people say that school board directors can only do three things: write and adopt policies, hire and evaluate the superintendent, and approve the budget. 

And those three things are important to be sure, but I don't think they tell the whole story. Starting with the state law, it says that the school board, whether or not acting through its administrative staff, is accountable for the proper operation of the district. Not the superintendent; the school board is accountable for the proper operation of the district. That doesn't mean that the school board should get involved in day-to-day management, but to me that means that, in addition to writing and adopting policies, the school board must have processes in place to be able to know whether the district is operating as intended by its policies.

What processes? 

• Regular reporting to the school board about the work of specific departments and what results are being obtained. 
• Regular reporting about cross department initiatives to make progress on the board's vision for the district. 
• Visits to schools, meeting with staff, administrators, and families to learn about what's going well and what their concerns are. 
• Holding community meetings to share perspectives and listen to community concerns. 
• Meeting with community organizations that are involved with schools and youth. 

And if the school board learns that there's a disconnect between what the district says it's doing and what is being experienced in schools, the school board needs to bring that disconnect into focus, call for staff to respond and address whether the disconnect can be resolved through policy change or whether it's something the superintendent needs to prioritize.

In order to serve our students, I don't think the school board can say that it's not part of the job to review operations. To me, that is a critical part of what makes a school board effective in meeting student needs.

[00:07:52] Christie Robertson: What should the board focus on most when it comes to finding the next superintendent? 

[00:07:58] Janis White: After being involved in the district for almost 20 years, there are two underlying issues I've heard over and over. One is that the district does not communicate well to stakeholders, and the other is that there's what some people call a toxic culture. I think that making real progress in our schools will require finding a new superintendent with a proven track record of implementing direct, clear communication standards across a large organization.

Also, finding someone who has had experience in addressing problematic culture issues. Because culture issues infect the entire organization and make it very difficult to meet goals. A new superintendent needs to identify the conduct leading community members to describe the culture as toxic and be willing to insist that the conduct stop.

At one of the community meetings I attended, I heard a parent say that we need a superintendent with a curiosity mindset, and that really resonated with me. One of the things I've experienced as a parent advocate over the years is a lack of curiosity from district staff about how to make change happen.

I'll use the work of increasing inclusive practices for students with disabilities as an example. We hear language from the school board and district staff that inclusion is a goal. Yet despite community advocacy suggesting that the district take advantage of state funded technical assistance from national experts at the UW's Haring Center, staff insisted that they could make the changes needed on their own. Other districts in the state that took advantage of that support are now far ahead of us in implementing the structural changes at both the district and school levels to achieve more inclusive practices. 

Finally, given our budget challenges and increased financial pressure that is likely to come from the federal government, the superintendent must be able to identify and address the structural issues causing the budget deficits, as well as fiscal efficiencies that don't have a negative impact on the core educational mission. I think it's essential to prioritize this skillset, given the fiscal reality we have to operate in.

[00:10:01] Cherylynne Crowther: Now, what do you think is the right balance between centralized control or school-based decision making?

[00:10:08] Janis White: As a parent, I experienced the tail end of the John Stanford era emphasis on site-based management and the efforts starting with Maria Goodloe-Johnson as superintendent to move SPS to a centralized system. 

I chose for my first child to attend one of the district's alternative schools because it offered alternative pedagogical approaches and a focus on social justice running through the curriculum that resonated with our family. The school clearly felt different from other schools we visited, and I deeply appreciated that the district offered it and other alternative programs. I served on the site council there, including as president. Site councils, unlike PTAs, were designed by policy to make school-based decisions about the management and operation of the school.

I also appreciate the need for centralized decisions and oversight over some aspects of the school system so that it actually functions as a school system, and so that we are ensuring that there's equitable access to alternatives within the system. 

It's not an either or situation to me, but it's a question of finding the right balance. Too much centralization discourages community engagement and participation in their schools and leads to discontent with direction of the schools. But for a healthy system, we do need standards, expectations, and oversight. 

What's an example? Again, I'll talk about inclusive practices. At a district level, we should have a clear vision that we want our schools to offer inclusive educational opportunities for students of all abilities to the maximum extent possible. District staff can then offer technical assistance like training in Universal Design for Learning or structural assistance in designing school schedules to assist individual schools that may be at different points in the journey towards full inclusion. But individual schools would not be able to decide that they don't believe disabled students should be included in general education classrooms.

I believe that the process of finding the right balance between centralization and site-based management would also build community support for all of our schools.

[00:12:11] Christie Robertson: What should the board do if the district isn't meeting its goals for students?

[00:12:17] Janis White: I can't answer this question without first thinking about the goals themselves, because I hear a lot of questions in the community about the goals. The school board and the district have said that in adopting goals, they were following a framework known as Targeted Universalism. Except they weren't. 

In Targeted Universalism, you set a universal goal for all students in the system, and then you adopt targeted strategies for different groups of students in the system who might need different approaches or interventions to meet the universal goal. So for example, a universal goal would be that all third grade students are reading at or above grade level. Then you might identify groups of students based on demographics, or ability, or other factors who are having difficulty meeting the goal, and work on developing a plan to help that group of students succeed. 

One of the benefits of a Targeted Universalism approach is that it encourages broad community support with the goal of helping all students get what they need to meet the goal, and directs resources where they are most needed. Instead, we've had a goal for one group of students, and the theory has been that if this group can experience improvement, the benefit will extend to all students. But the problem with that as an approach is that the group chosen may need different types of support than other groups of students. 

I believe that Targeted Universalism works. If we apply it correctly. I'm aware that in January the school board passed new goals that more closely align with Targeted Universalism. Except I can't find the final versions of those goals on the district website, which is frustrating. 

In terms of progress monitoring on the goals, I appreciate the attention to data that instituting a progress monitoring system has encouraged. I think the school board needs to be able to ask more probing questions when goals are not being met, and that the restriction on the types of questions they're allowed to ask is counterproductive. 

I also think that the school board needs to express concern if results are poor but staff are resistant to thinking outside the box or making strategic changes. Asking questions like, "Have you considered?" Or "Given these disappointing results, who will you consult, and what changes will you consider?" should be encouraged by the board. 

[00:14:24] Cherylynne Crowther: What should the board do when the district isn't meeting community expectations?

[00:14:30] Janis White: We've seen some examples in the last year where large numbers of community members have shown up at school board meetings to ask the board to stop certain district practices or decisions. Things like the school closure plan, enrollment practices, whether advanced learning is actually available in neighborhood schools.

To me, that's a symptom of a failure of effective communication and community engagement, because community members are turning to the school board as a last resort for relief for problems that should have been identified earlier and addressed. 

But it's also an indication that the school board is not as aware as it needs to be about how the community is actually experiencing the school system. This relates to what I said earlier about the need for the board to understand when there's a disconnect between rhetoric and actual experience. 

The board has adopted guardrails that are supposed to help them assess whether community expectations for our schools are being met. I'm not sure I like the way the guardrails have been written so far. They're generally written negatively. In other words, "The superintendent will NOT allow [some specific type of behavior] to happen." I find that kind of wording can be confusing to people and it's usually better to state affirmatively what you want to see rather than what you don't want to see. 

Staff are working now on interim metrics that will be used for progress monitoring of the guardrails. I think these are generally useful, but shouldn't be the only way we measure whether the guardrails are being implemented. For example, if there's a guardrail that says "we will not allow inequitable access to educational opportunities to any student," but families come forward and testify that their students who require significant special education support are not allowed to attend an HCC cohort school, I'd argue that's a violation of the guardrail and something that should be discussed by the board. This is the way in which the board can respond and address issues brought to their attention via public testimony.

[00:16:27] Christie Robertson: Thanks, Janis. And the last question is kind of a wrap up: What's something you want voters to take away about your approach to being a school board director?

[00:16:37] Janis White: Thanks. I've put three kids through our public school system from kindergarten through 12th grade. I've been involved in issues at the district level for close to 20 years, attending school board meetings, testifying at school board meetings, and attending community meetings. 

As a lawyer who's been in practice for more than 40 years, I know how to analyze information and ask questions to make sure I have all the information I need to make decisions.

I'm not running for school board because I have any other political ambitions. I care about making sure that our school district meets the needs of all students, including the most vulnerable, who are often overlooked. 

I also understand the need for collaboration and respect among stakeholders in the system in order to make progress. When I was president of the Seattle Special Education PTSA, the organization had no relationship with the teacher's union, the Seattle Education Association. I reached out to the union to start a dialogue, recognizing that it's sometimes hard to navigate that relationship. Families of kids with disabilities are sometimes frustrated with educators and vice versa, and those issues are not easy to talk about. But I also recognized that we needed to be able to talk to improve outcomes for our students. 

If elected, I will work tirelessly to serve the community. I will do my best to enable community members to be heard and have a role in solving problems so that together we can build the best public school system possible to serve all of our children and help prepare them for their futures.

[00:18:16] Christie Robertson: Thank you so much, Janis White. We really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with us and with Seattle voters. Good luck with your campaign.

[00:18:26] Janis White: Thanks so much.

[00:18:28] Preview of other D5 candidates

[00:18:29] Christie Robertson: Be sure to listen to our interviews with the other five D5 candidates. 

Allycea Weil: 

[00:18:36] Allycea Weil: A lot of the time, people will look at a resume of a candidate and say, like, "Oh, do you have policy expertise?" I know how to read a report and write and craft things as well, even without that policy background. And honestly, the result of those with that background hasn't been very good. As a common person, as a gig worker, as someone who is from the population, it's just hard to see wealthy, resourced people trying to make an effective policy for us. Time and time again, it just seems to fail. And I think we know what we need. 

[00:19:14] Christie Robertson: Julissa Sanchez:

[00:19:16] Julissa Sanchez: I am shoulder to shoulder, elbow to elbow with my community. I'm not here for my agenda or my voice; I am a leader that likes to pass around the mic and the megaphone. My leading is definitely going to be with the voice and experiences of students, and most importantly underserved students. And right now, my approach is really going to be very protective of undocumented students, English learners, and young people who are in special education programs and really listen to, like, what do they need? Because they are the experts of their lives and of their solutions. Young people are so wise. And we as adults sometimes forget that. 

[00:20:08] Christie Robertson: Landon Labosky:

[00:20:09] Landon Labosky: The school board needs to be able to understand the complex issues happening at the district level and really dig into the policy issues happening with funding, dig into the operational issues that are happening with transportation and, like, insurance at schools, or keeping the lights on at schools. But then on the flip side, we need to be including parents and community members more. And you need to be able to take that information and communicate it effectively to reach a wide audience. 

[00:20:39] Christie Robertson: Vivian Song: 

[00:20:41] Vivian Song: So there are five or six things that are listed in the state law: 

• Hire and evaluate the superintendent
• Set the vision for the district
• Adopt policies
• Oversee the budget, and 
• Serve as community representatives. 

I think what has been really missing in the last few years is the serving as community representatives. I think it's been really interesting that the district has been trying to push forward on really large changes and been met with community resistance. I think that is a reflection of the fact that the district hasn't brought community along in those decisions. 

[00:21:21] Christie Robertson: And Vivian Van Gelder: 

[00:21:22] Vivian Van Gelder: I think the shortcomings of the progress monitoring system that the board has set up right now are kind of a reflection of the lack of capacity inside our central office to actually engage in meaningful organizational change and restructuring, which is what we desperately need. Progress monitoring is not a bad idea in itself, but that kind of model can only work when the initial conditions for it exists. And that means that you need a central administration that can actually be responsive to what the board is asking of it. And we don't have that right now. When we don't have the conditions for accountability, it can't really work. 

[00:21:55] Christie Robertson: Ballots will be mailed Friday, July 18th, and primary ballots are due by Tuesday, August 5th. As always, stay curious, stay cozy, and thanks for listening to Rainy Day Recess.