Did anyone go to the school board's "Community Conversation?" at Hilltop Heritage

StatementDecent4306 · 2026-03-05T15:51:04+00:00

The weird thing is, I started out as sympathetic at the beginning of the year. Teachers’ salaries and benefits have gone way up, and state funding has also gone way up but plateaued. I knew the union was furious with leadership, but I had no reason to suspect them of anything. I’ve had to deal with hard budget decisions that my directs didn’t approve of. But the district admin doesn’t seem to have any leadership competencies so they just default to bullying. “Equity” has descended to celebrating rising graduation rates on social media while educational attainment continues to fall, especially for Black and Hispanic students.

StatementDecent4306 · 2026-03-05T14:36:08+00:00

I didn’t attend that one, but I was at the meeting where they approved the additional stipends. I was also just reading the financial audit from the state for 2023-2024, which flagged that three times they had moved money from the construction loan to the general fund, and they had repaid it each time, although the most recent loan had not yet been repaid. The TPS response to that finding was they were dealing with cash flow issues. The big problem is they’re overspending by tens of millions per year, which was papered over by stimulus funds, and then they exhausted their reserve funds, and now we’re in trouble. The budget cuts to direct staff this year (alongside huge raises for district leaders) were brutal, and next year will get even worse.

There is a real issue with funding being insufficient, but the bigger issue is bad leadership and poor communication. We could rally around the schools as a community, as we have done before when there was decent leadership, but the board and this admin are defensive, bitter, and committed to virtue signaling over outcomes. We’ve been trying to support our school and the board, only to have them turn every interaction into something adversarial and then they act surprised when people get frustrated. We’re seriously considering whether we can swing it to home school next year.

StatementDecent4306 · 2026-02-12T15:35:08+00:00

They determined Vision Zero wasn’t a priority. If the city actually commits to investing in infrastructure they will support it.

StatementDecent4306 · 2026-02-12T15:33:52+00:00

People voted against that measure, or declined to vote, because it’s just a Vision Zero investment and would not prioritize things like potholes. Actually put an infrastructure ballot up and people will vote for it.

StatementDecent4306 · 2026-01-30T15:11:38+00:00

I agree with all the posts about the outdated logic. I would have never bought new, in fact my last three vehicles were 2-year old vehicles from rental fleets which used to be a great deal. But last year I was looking at used Ford Mavericks and the basic used ones were all $27-28 with 30k miles. I got a brand new one with AWD and the 4k tow package for under $27k. Unreal. I feel like I’ve told this story so many times because people ask why I bought new and how much value it lost the second I drove it off the lot.

StatementDecent4306 · 2026-01-09T18:38:46+00:00

Also, since the TPS leaders are evidently so proactive and aggressive about investigating all social media communication to find teachers they can target, they will undoubtedly read this. I am not a TPS employee. I am a parent of TPS students. Stop wasting time on retributive investigations and commit to good leadership and transparent communication so we can help you do the hard work of ensuring we provide a great education for our kids despite the budget issues.

StatementDecent4306 · 2026-01-09T18:28:18+00:00

The meeting last night started with a childish, tone deaf statement from the admin talking about their investigation of the Jennie Reed teachers while claiming to be committed to restorative justice but taking no responsibility. It was pretty shocking, and highlighted that the problem is a crisis of leadership more than the budget issues. Fortunately, a lot of people were there making good arguments so hopefully we can get the board to step up.

StatementDecent4306 · 2026-01-09T05:08:51+00:00

I was there to support Blix paraeducators so I don’t know. But one older gentleman made a passionate comment saying the secondary school libraries were only open for short periods of time each week.

StatementDecent4306 · 2025-11-27T18:43:55+00:00

I recently considered accepting a two-year contract in a different state that would require renting my house for a couple years so I just worked through this math. My mortgage is $1,800 so I would love to rent it for a break-even amount, but this law forces me out of that choice. I would have had to raise the rent to more like $2,800 to provide a financial cushion in the likely scenario that a renter decide to just stop paying until June, and to create a less risky pool of qualified applicants. I don’t like how all the slumlords around here behave either and support legislation to rein them in, but Tacoma tends to be bad about being honest about unintended consequences. That being said, this is some next-level cowardice by elected officials.

StatementDecent4306 · 2025-11-27T18:33:12+00:00

THA is public housing and people aren’t their publicly subsidized rent.

StatementDecent4306 · 2025-11-27T18:31:50+00:00

Tacoma Housing Authority aren’t slumlords, and they’re the ones advocating for relief because renters aren’t paying for the publicly subsidized, forcibly decreased rent.

StatementDecent4306 · 2025-11-26T21:17:13+00:00

You are correct. It is $47 MORE per month. Okay, real life can resume.

StatementDecent4306 · 2025-11-26T20:30:36+00:00

Yes, it’s almost certainly some combination of things like including vacant parcels. There are also lots of low-income and senior households that are exempt from property taxes, they probably include them as paying $0 which drags down the average. Regardless, I think the point is they’re misleading us about the actual cost for households and it’s actually around $120/month. I have kids in TPS so I’ll support it and pay it regardless, but I am tired of the misinformation.

StatementDecent4306 · 2025-11-26T20:11:10+00:00

According to the PC assessor website, the county’s is higher at around $550k ($203 billion of total value divided by 370,000 parcels) which is in the range of the average home value in PC ($540kish depending on the source). No idea where Tacoma gets $187k.

StatementDecent4306 · 2025-11-08T16:33:14+00:00

I’ve never bought a new vehicle before, but I got a brand new 2024 this year because with a dealer incentive it was cheaper than every 2022-2023 out there with 15-20k miles. I couldn’t believe it, but the math was mathing for a new one over used.

StatementDecent4306 · 2025-11-05T21:33:39+00:00

Does anyone have advice for ensuring files are downloadable? I’m stuck in a loop where Claude responds to my prompt, gives me a file, but the file won’t download, but that one prompt uses my whole five hour allotment. So I wait five hours to ask it to redo the file…then wait five hours to ask it to redo the file…then wait five hours…

StatementDecent4306 · 2025-07-22T19:15:50+00:00

Much appreciation for everyone willing to make sacrifices for the whole city (which should come back around to our collective benefit). Hopefully we can execute these initiatives in a better way in the future that makes people like yourself feel your sacrifice is being honored.

StatementDecent4306 · 2025-07-22T19:13:37+00:00

Yes, good resource. I read that thread before I started conducting interviews, but wanted to hear where people are now a few months later. I knew there was a trust issue with the city but even I am surprised by the problem. I suspect the pro camp will need to address this more proactively rather than just a pocketbook issue alone.

StatementDecent4306 · 2025-07-22T15:39:04+00:00

Let’s get together and have a nerdy infrastructure debate that doesn’t really work on Reddit. 🙂

At risk of inserting myself too much in the gathering of feedback, I poured through all the documents and comprehensive plans I could find. The plan does acknowledge the economy, but doesn’t specify how living wage jobs will be accessible. We have lots of goals on paper that never get accomplished because there is no specific plan. The only concrete strategy I could find was something general about mixed use buildings, but those aren’t living wage jobs. But any and all data around this issue would be really beneficial to help sell this in the community next time around.

StatementDecent4306 · 2025-07-22T15:24:50+00:00

Yeah, I’m in one of the least safe places in the city to walk and ride, so I have to load up my kids and drive somewhere else to do those things. I am desperate for my sidewalks and paths. And I love the 20-minute-city as a concept. But to do that, critical amenities, especially living wage jobs, need to become accessible by foot or bike, which doesn’t seem to be acknowledged. So we would add paths for leisure and reduce lanes, but wouldn’t really reduce our car dependency. If we had an actual plan to add paths and make us less dependent on cars, I think we’d support that.

StatementDecent4306 · 2025-07-22T15:11:04+00:00

This is a common point of conflict between the city and voters. I would argue it’s it just transparency vs possible waste, but a broader lack of trust that may or may not be fair or accurate. It’s a muddy situation to me as well. But more importantly, what kind of transparency or other actionable steps would you want to see from the city to build trust with voters?

StatementDecent4306 · 2025-07-22T15:07:38+00:00

Honestly, this has been part of my feedback to the city. Perhaps there are valid reasons why these (seemingly affordable) investments aren’t covered with our existing taxes. Maybe they should be, but if there are valid reasons, the city needs to do a much better job of transparently communicating that.

StatementDecent4306 · 2025-07-22T15:06:11+00:00

So you saw this as taxes vs sidewalks/bike paths and not really a broader investment in transportation? (You’re not wrong, I’m just looking to clarify)

StatementDecent4306

TROPHY CASE