Seattle School Board Meeting November 1, 2017 Part 1

2017 regular Seattle school board meeting.

I'd also like to welcome our student representative from Middle College High School Mr. Trent Randall.

Let's hear it for Trent.

He will have an opportunity to provide comments regarding his school later in the meeting.

And so for now we're going to go to the roll call.

I understand that director Blanford is on his way.

Ms. Shek the roll call please.

Director Burke.

Here.

Director Geary.

Here.

Director Harris.

Here.

Director Patu.

Here.

Director Pinkham.

Present.

Director Peters.

Here.

All right.

Everyone please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance.

To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

So I understand that there is a motion to amend tonight's agenda.

May I hear that motion?

Yes I moved to amend the agenda to allow a five minute presentation from the Urban Native Education Alliance to let them the school board and district know what they're doing to help with the retention of our American Indian Native students.

I second the motion.

Would anybody like to discuss this motion.

OK.

OK.

Then seeing none may we have a vote.

All in favor of amending the agenda thusly say aye.

Aye.

All opposed.

Hearing none the amendment will be adjusted accordingly.

So I will now turn the microphone over to Superintendent Nyland for tonight's recognitions.

Thank you.

We'll start with Native American Heritage Month.

Throughout the month we are Indian education program director has been working on what we call identity safety making materials available to schools so that they can recognize and honor the heritage of our Native American students and peoples in our area.

We do serve fifteen hundred native students throughout the district and they represent many tribes.

We also work with many groups throughout the community.

I had the opportunity recently to be present at the Chief Seattle Club event and they've been instrumental in getting homeless grant for us to help with some of our students.

Gail Morris our native education department manager will be reporting to us at the next meeting November 15th and a formal report at the December meeting.

Our staff provides a variety of services in terms of assisting teachers in preparing to teach the since time immemorial curriculum.

providing tutoring services to students, coaching for teachers in the classroom and a variety of other services for our students.

The programs developed by the department will become part of our model for consideration as we develop ethnic studies for our ethnic studies program throughout the district.

We've had some great success with the program at Chief Self and at Denny.

At this time I would read a proclamation and then I think Scott was working on having UNEA be a good time to have them make their presentation.

proclamation whereas Washington is home to 29 federally recognized tribes with treaty rights reserved in Washington and we have members and descendants of tribes from all over the country who also reside in the state of Washington.

Whereas Native American contributions and values have helped shape the social political environmental and economic fabric of the state while also enhancing freedom prosperity and cultural diversity.

Whereas state law mandates the teaching of tribal history, culture and government in common schools which will contribute greatly to improving school history, curriculum and enhances the awareness for a better cultural understanding.

Whereas the state of Washington is committed to strengthening the government to government relationships with tribal nations and continues to work with tribal governments on issues of mutual concern for the betterment of all.

Whereas the state of Washington has designated the Friday immediately following the fourth Thursday in November as a state legal and school holiday known as Native American Heritage Day.

Whereas Washington joins with other states across the nation in celebrating Native American Heritage Month.

honoring the unique heritage of this continent's first people and reaffirming the commitment to respect each tribe's sovereignty and cultural identity.

Therefore November 2017 is hereby proclaimed as Native American Heritage Month.

Urge all people in our state to commemorate with appropriate programs and activities and to celebrate November 24th 2017 as Native American Heritage Day.

So is now a good time or do you want to.

Yeah I do have the UNEA representatives here if they can come up and share what they're doing for our native students.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you Scott Pinkham and the board for asking us to come and share a little bit about what we're doing with UNEA.

My name is Sarah Sense Wilson.

I'm Ogallala.

My family is from Pine Ridge and I grew up out here in Seattle.

And along with me is if you want to introduce yourself.

Local last stop place of the fire I am named my colonized name is Tom Spear.

I'm a member of the chief Seattle's Duwamish tribe of Indians.

I'm retired from the tribal government and I support UNEA as an active volunteer and elder.

So I was asked to share a little bit about what UNEA does in terms of supporting our native learners and so I didn't necessarily bring a whole profile to share with you all but I can summarize some of the work.

UNEA is a 501 nonprofit and we are a grassroots volunteer native led organization.

Currently we're the only organization in Seattle Washington that really deals with specifically serving Native youth in education and we do that through supporting our Native students academics through tutoring and mentorship and also integrating cultural values and we do a lot of project based activities in after school setting.

So we originated at the Wilson Pacific School and we relocated when that building was demolished to the welcoming arms of Nathan Hale High School where we do want to acknowledge the principal of that school and also Jolene Grimes for providing us that space to hold our program.

And so we were there for three years and then now we've relocated back to our original site and that's at the Robert Eagle Staff School.

And we want to also acknowledge Marnie Campbell for her making that a somewhat seamless process.

And we are now I believe officially legally partners with the Seattle Public Schools.

So what we bring to the table is a lot.

Over the years we are nearly a 10 year organization and we have volunteered or like I was estimating this the other day about 3000 hours worth of volunteer work to the Seattle Public Schools through the tutoring and the mentorship work that we do with our kids.

And that's that's a tremendous effort in terms of volunteer manpower from a population that really struggles in poverty and in a lot of other negative statistics.

So even our families that have a hard time they they put in volunteer support for for our kids.

And so we do We also have a mentorship project which we just started where this is now our third year.

So the mentorship project is really a highlight of Clear Sky and it's interesting because I was told by some different community members that all mentorship does not work with our native kids.

It doesn't work because no one can stick with it.

Well I'm here to let you guys know that our mentorship project is an amazing success.

Our kids bond.

They form tight bonds you know with these adult and peer mentors and those relationships are ongoing and lasting and enduring and they're beautiful and they really help support the emotional spiritual physical mental you know growth of our kids that struggle in the Seattle Public Schools with identity with academics with behavior issues.

And so it's really it's a powerful thing to witness our kids making those strong connections that again you know are ongoing.

And so we have this year or last year.

Let me just go back to the data because I know that we live in a data centric society we had we served 68 native youth and that there was 35, 35 of those were from native Seattle public school families.

So that's a fairly significant number of Seattle Public School kids that we are working with on a regular basis throughout the school year.

And and recently just as another highlight is that we we received a donation from the King County.

What was his name?

Oh Rod Dembowski he donated we received a donation of a van which you know as a lot of you know you know our our communities really spread throughout Seattle and so now we have a van to help reach those some of those kids that don't have transportation and We also just received two fairly large grants from the Best Start for Kids and again that's more long term grants the three years which is tremendous for us because that gives us more even more kind of stability to build on.

So we just are really excited about where we're going where we've been and how bright that future looks in terms of you know really digging deeper into supporting our kids throughout the district.

And we do believe you know that as leadership sitting up there that you guys understand the importance of having a native focused high school.

And I know that throughout the years many of you have been sitting on this board for a while have heard us heard our voice.

You know there's a there's about 40 people out there right now who took time off of work and who came down and and show are showing their support for this effort and So I just wanted to emphasize that that is our goal.

That is what we will continue to advocate for.

We believe in that.

We know that it's worked in the past and we will just continue to come down.

It might be another 10 years.

I don't know.

I hope not.

But you know we're here to stay and we will continue that message as long as we need to.

Do you want to.

We know the statistics they may not be this year's statistics but we got them right from the school district Web site.

Native American kids First Nations kids in Seattle are the lowest having success in graduating from high school.

We our kids test substantially lower in reading writing arithmetic mathematics.

We have a higher placement in special education which is open to question that's another matter.

And we have the highest level of disciplinary infraction disciplinary punishment.

Now.

If everything's working so good for Native American kids why are we getting such lousy scores as evidenced by the district's own statistics.

So we come here asking you humbly respectfully to consider what we're asking for the restoration of a proven model.

Indian Heritage High School and we're not asking for something that's never been tried or tested.

We have the history and statistics especially the 10 years that Robert Eagle Staff Dr. Eagle Staff was the principal of success for Native students and we'd like to see it restored and replaced and funded and empowered so that these kids will have a better chance at life because judging by the district statistics they're not winning.

Thank you.

So I just wanted to thank you all again for allowing us this time.

I really appreciate it.

We didn't expect it.

I wasn't necessarily prepared for this type of presentation.

And so we look forward to having our our families come in and share their voice as well.

And I just want to also share that you know we kind of taken a little different approach in terms of you know gathering a collection of parent voice to validate and to affirm what our message.

And I know that there's been a little bit of conflict and differences amongst the parent advisory committee and different leadership and I just want to say that you know that there is a large majority the vast majority of native families that we work with and that we've done outreach for that support a native focused high school and that they would enroll their kids in a native focus high school.

So thank you so much for this time.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Tonight we want to recognize community communities in schools as one of our premier partners.

They are one of the premier groups working in dropout prevention.

They operate throughout the state of Washington for the last 20 years have many affiliates across the state and they work with us in 10 of our schools.

So I'd like to invite James Bush to come and talk a little bit more about what they do and give us the opportunity to recognize the good work that communities and schools does for Seattle students.

Good evening and thank you Dr. Nolan and the board members for the opportunity to recognize another one of our outstanding partners communities and schools.

Communities and schools is the largest dropout prevention organization in the state dedicated to keeping kids in school and helping them to succeed serving over one and a half million students nationwide.

Communities and schools has operated in Washington for over 20 years and has 12 affiliates affiliates school districts across the state.

In Seattle Public Schools they currently serve 10 schools in West Seattle and Southeast Seattle offering Tier 1 Tier 2 and Tier 3 supports to over 5000 students.

Communities in school serves a diverse group of SPS students over three quarters of them are students of color.

42 percent are African-American 22 percent are Hispanic 11 percent are Asian American or Pacific Islander 8 percent white and 4 percent Native American or Alaskan native.

Tonight I please welcome Gary Swearingen board president Ruel Allende executive director Jill Graves or Jill Leahy associate director and Julia Janko to provide a little bit more information about the program.

Thank you.

Hello I'm Gary Swearengin the board president.

I just want to thank you and Seattle Public Schools for this honor.

We have a special partnership with Seattle Public Schools as both the community based organization and we're actually integrated into the schools and into this very building.

We deeply appreciate our long relationship.

But I want also want to thank the people who actually make this happen as our wonderful staff.

You'll see Reggie Dillard's work here and in a few minutes and right now I'll turn it over to Jill and Julia who can tell you a little bit about what we do.

Thank you.

Hi everyone.

I'm Jill Leahy.

I'm one of the program directors here with communities and schools.

Just to give you a quick overview of what we do.

Like James said we are partnered with 10 of Seattle Public Schools.

and serving primarily southeast and southwest Seattle.

The Rainier Beach feeder pattern as well as the Chief South feeder pattern.

We put site coordinators into the schools full time and they work with about 10 percent of the student population at school.

So anywhere from 25 students to about 89 students on their caseload and we partner with AmeriCorps members as well as MSWs to provide one on one case management and support.

We also provide Tier 1 services and Tier 2 services which I'll let Julia speak a little bit about.

But we just want to thank everyone for our partnership.

We have the ability and lucky enough to actually have our leadership team get to sit here in this building on the third floor.

So if you're ever up there feel free to say hi.

We're always there.

And we look forward to continuing partnering.

It's been a it's been a great opportunity for us and we really love the schools that we're in.

So we look forward to continuing expanding.

And thank you.

So I'll let Julia talk a little bit more about her work.

Hi everyone I'm Julia.

I am a program coordinator for communities and schools as well as a site coordinator which means I work at one of our elementary schools down on the southeast side.

Like Jill mentioned a lot of the power in the work that we do is the fact that we're a nonprofit working within the public schools and working with the school district.

which means that when I'm at Van Asselt elementary school doing site coordination we have an office there we have a team there that's there all day to support students and across our 10 schools the work that we do is really core to the community.

So it's going to look a little bit different depending on where we're at.

So at Van Asselt we provide after school programming and partner with Art with Heart which does social emotional learning programs.

You'll meet Reggie soon and some of the awesome kids at Dearborn Park that he works with.

He provides after school programming and helps coordinate programming there.

We are McKinney-Vento liaisons for homeless students.

We send food backpacks home and partner with local food banks.

So we wear many hats but the power in that is that by being directly in the schools and being directly in our communities we can really serve the needs of all of our students which is going to vary a lot across a really broad spectrum.

So thank you so much for your time.

Thank you for this recognition.

We're really looking forward to continuing this partnership and working with Seattle Public Schools.

Hi again I'm Ruel executive director of communities and schools in Seattle and I just want to publicly thank Seattle Public Schools as a former graduate of Franklin High School.

I've been able to do full circle coming back into doing this community work and its partnerships with the community that lets students and families and communities really succeed.

So thank you for this full circle moment for me to come up here formally as a student long long time ago but now as an executive director doing this type of work.

Thanks.

All right.

Thank you very much for being here.

And don't go too far away just yet.

After we do this next presentation we'll want to invite you up to do a photo with with the board.

The next recognition that we want to do is for the Society of Health and Physical Educators SHAPE who have recognized two of our teachers as teachers of the year Michelle Lafayette and Tony Bader.

And so I'd like to invite Lori Dunn to come talk about cool things that have been happening.

Good evening.

I'm very honored at this evening to be able to share with you and celebrate the Society of Health and Physical Education from Washington State Elementary State Physical Education Teacher of the Year Michelle or Shelly Lafayette.

I've known Shelly for over 10 years from her teaching physical education in Seattle Public Schools and hiring her as a demonstration elementary physical education teacher and I now have the opportunity to share with you her greatness and just how lucky our students staff and community are in Seattle Public Schools.

Shelly is a Washington educated educator.

She is a graduate of Western Washington University and is a nationally board certified teacher of physical education.

Shelly has experience as an elementary general education teacher a reading specialist a technology lead teacher adapted physical education specialist and best of all an elementary physical education specialist which she is currently teaching at Highland Park here in the Seattle Public Schools and how lucky we are.

At the beginning of our year our welcome back physical education workshop I shared an article find your marigold and the one essential rule for new teachers.

I shared this article with all of our 150 plus physical education specialists in Seattle Public Schools.

This article was just not for new teachers to our profession but create learning for all educators in our system.

The gist of the article of the marigold effect.

If you plant a marigold and you plant it beside most any garden vegetable that vegetable will grow big strong healthy protected and encouraged by its marigold.

I've witnessed many things but marigolds help gardens grow just like great teachers help our profession grow.

I've witnessed the greatness over these years watching Shelly be a miracle for her students staff and community.

I'm honored to work with Shelly.

Please join me in congratulating Shelly Lafayette the 2017 Washington State Shape America Elementary Physical Education Teacher of the Year.

I'm going to invite Shelly up to the podium.

Thank you.

I am a native of Seattle.

This is my 20th year in the district.

Took me about 10 years to find my place in PE but I'm very lucky to be able to work with an incredible staff.

Gail and Lori are so inspirational and so helpful to me in every way.

But I do my best work when I watch others and I see what they're doing and I just sort of make it my own.

So this award really goes to everyone in the district everyone outside the district that I've worked with that has helped inspire what I do.

Thank you.

And that wonderful article each one of you have a copy of with some marigold seeds.

I'm very honored this evening to also share and celebrate with you the Shape Washington adapted physical education teacher of the year award for Antoinette or Tony Bader another Seattle Public Schools educator.

I've known Tony for over 10 years for her teaching consulting adapted physical education in Seattle Public Schools and then hiring her as a Seattle demonstration adapted physical education teacher.

We surround ourselves with greatness.

and now have the opportunity to share Tony's greatness highlighting how lucky our students, staff and community are.

Tony is a graduate of State University of New York at Cortland with a master's degree in adapted physical education from the University of Wisconsin La Crosse and has a nationally board certified in adapted physical education.

Tony has also earned her Washington State residency principal certification Tony has experience as an elementary physical education specialist a head teacher a curriculum facilitator a principal intern a leader at Shape Washington and Shape America.

But I believe best of all Tony is one of our Seattle Public Schools adapted physical education specialist.

I've witnessed Tony's passion for equity and access for all students and watched her learning grow and expectations and delivery.

I've watched Tony witness or I witnessed Tony advocate for what is right for all students.

I've witnessed Tony be the first person to go and support and consult with teachers when they need help or when they request it.

I've witnessed Tony working with community partners to sustain and improve delivery.

I've witnessed Tony working with legislators and other school boards to improve credentialing systems.

In my opinion Tony is another Marigold in our profession.

Wyeth Jesse our Seattle Public Schools chief of students supports quoted Tony is a leader within community of Seattle and serves as a model for other educators through her direct services and advocacy for students with disabilities.

Her core belief in health and fitness for all students has influenced mindsets and technical support technical skills of physical fitness and special educators in all 104 schools in Seattle.

Please join me in congratulating Tony Bader the 2017 Washington adapted physical education teacher of the year.

I'd like to invite Tony up to the podium.

Thank you.

I am honored to receive this award but feel it is a representation of the people and programs I work with as we advocate for all students to lead a healthy and active lifestyle.

I'm really fortunate to have the people who surround me that support me professionally and personally.

I'd like to thank Wyeth Jesse, Trish Campbell and the special ed department for their support.

Lori Dunn Gail See and my colleagues in physical education and my wife Alex who has to deal with everything else.

I want to give you a couple of examples of how this award is our award not just my award.

Right now we are piloting a unified physical education in three middle schools Eckstein Jams and Mercer.

So for example I was at Exine earlier this week and I had a parent of a student with disability come up to me and tell me about how she brought her child to school and for her birthday and the locker was fully decorated by the PE partners.

This was authentic and it was done with no prompting of adults and the mom was just in tears of how touchy she was of this relationship that was built because of this class.

At JAMS I was just there yesterday and that teacher is doing a phenomenal job putting together some student leadership.

Their eighth grade PE partners were telling me yesterday about how her students the students with disabilities are showing skills and active engagement more than they ever have when they were included in gen ed PE.

At Mercer with those students with that are highly impacted the PE teacher there is making routines and a physical education program where students are thriving.

This along with our community partners our Pocock Rowing doing ERGs in all of our middle school now is going to be working with an adapted curriculum and adapted equipment.

Every third through fifth grade student with our Let's Go program are going to get pedestrian and bike safety and in collaboration with Cascade and Outdoors for All have adapted curriculum and adapted cycles.

We have Pacific Northwest Ballet who now is training in collaboration with Seattle Public Schools all of their staff to be working with their students with disabilities.

This is just some examples of how our collaboration and it's our award for what we're doing here in Seattle Public Schools making it a model program for the rest of the nation.

And with your continued support and collaboration we can continue to have a profound impact on all of our students.

Thank you.

All right.

I'd like to invite the board to come down and we'll start with our PE awardees and we'll take a photo with you and then we'll do the communities and schools photo.

And then I would ask the board to then join the audience because we have a wonderful performance coming up right after this from Dearborn Park International Elementary School and our guest student Trent Randall please join the board for the picture and for the audience.

You're one of us tonight.

where um yeah Thank you.

One, two, three.

One more.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I would invite any of you to support me through the program.

It's a really great .

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Take any chair in the front row.

Hello, good afternoon.

My name is Angela Tranthian.

We are the dance troupe from Dearborn Park International School.

Today we are going to share a few of our multicultural dances with you.

These include the French Can Can, American Hip Hop, the Mexican La Respa, and the Ethiopian Olanizo.

Please enjoy.

Thank you.

Thank you.

New York City.

so so so We'll be right back.

Thank you.

so Thank you.

Good job.

is is Si quieres tú bailar la raspa como yo, me tienes que seguir al derecho y al revés.

La raspa yo bailé, al derecho y al revés, si quieres tú bailar, empieza a mover los pies.

Thank you.

Let's go.

Let's go.

Oh, Thank you.

Thank you.

So forget about it.

just name and what grade you're in and then pass it on to the next student and we'll see if we can do this up and down the rows.

My name is and I'm in fourth grade.

My name is and I'm in fourth grade I mean third grade.

My name is and I'm in fifth grade.

My name is and I'm in fourth grade.

My name is and I'm in second grade.

My name is and I'm in first grade.

My name is and I'm in third grade.

My name is and I'm in third grade.

My name is and I'm in second grade.

My name is and I'm in third grade.

My name is and I'm in third grade.

My name is and I'm in third grade.

My name is and I'm in third grade.

My name is and I'm in third grade.

My name is Amina, I'm in third grade.

My name is Maddie and I'm in third grade.

My name is Tien and I'm in third grade.

My name is Vivian and I'm in third grade.

My name is Ella and I'm in third grade.

My name is Shelly, I'm in third grade.

My name is Isabella and I'm in second grade.

My name is Emma and I'm in third grade.

My name's Olivia and I'm in third grade.

My name is Emma and I'm in third grade.

My name is and I'm in first grade.

My name is I'm in first, second, third grade.

My name is and I'm in first grade.

My name is Isabella and I'm in second grade.

My name is and I'm in second grade.

My name is and I'm in second grade.

My name is Diana.

My grade is fourth grade.

My name is England and I'm in fourth grade.

My name is Lillian and I am in fourth grade.

My name is Vivian and I'm in fourth grade.

My name is Angela and I'm in fourth grade.

My name is Gabby and I'm in fourth grade.

My name is Frankie and I'm in third grade.

My name is Macy and I'm in third grade.

My name is Caitlin and I'm in third grade.

My name is Jayden and I'm in fifth grade.

My name is Nia and I'm in fifth grade.

My name is Maryama and I'm in fifth grade.

My name is Yvonne and I'm in fifth grade.

My name is Vivian and I'm in fifth grade.

My name is Marissa and I'm in fifth grade.

My name is Rianna and I'm in fifth grade.

My name is Rudy and I'm in fifth grade.

My name is Malaya and I'm in fifth grade.

My name is Adrian and I'm in kindergarten.

My name is Lyons and I'm in kindergarten.

My name is Darnell and I'm in fifth grade.

My name is Demetria and I'm in fifth grade.

My name is Christopher and I'm in fifth grade.

My name is Tim and I'm in fifth grade.

My name is Marcel and I'm in fifth grade.

My name is Anthony and I'm in fourth grade.

My name is Tariq and I'm in fourth grade.

My name is Diego and I'm in fifth grade.

My name is Virgil and I'm in fifth grade.

My name is Cash and I'm in fifth grade.

My name is Haywan and I'm in fifth grade.

My name is Faven and I'm in fourth grade.

Thank you very much.

Thank you also to your teachers, your dance instructors, your principal, and the parents who will support you.

It's been wonderful having you this evening.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

My goodness.

It doesn't get better than that.

You get to follow that.

Oh, yes.

All right.

So I want to welcome everybody back up to the dais and I will now hand the microphone over to Superintendent Nyland for his comments this evening.

Hard act to follow however.

Wow what an amazing performance.

I wish I had that energy.

I want to do an update on several items happening around the district particularly around our smart goals and the activities underway.

We do have at the back table a handout with regard to superintendent and staff school visits and community engagement highlights.

Smart goal number one or strategic planning goal number one is about educational excellence and equity and the school board has continued to keep the focus on these goals over the last four years.

Energy continues.

Special appreciation for all the coordination to get all the students here and get them safely back home.

Identity safety is one of the terms that we talk about a lot.

We have 54000 students and they come from 155 countries speak 150 languages have a lot of diversity record represented across the district and we want each one of those students to come to school feeling welcomed and have a sense of belonging with their identity with their ethnicity with their race.

I mentioned earlier that as part of Native American Heritage Month that work is underway and there's a lot of materials posted on the website for our faculty.

I would also like to call out the fact that during November we'll be phasing in the use of K-5 gender book kits.

We estimate that about 10 to 12 percent of our students identify as gay lesbian bisexual transgender.

Teachers actually the school board had a presentation recently by some of the parents and the students talking about some of what they have experienced in schools and wanting that same sense of welcome and belonging for their students.

So we have had a task force working to provide materials for teachers when they have students in their class and they want to make sure that those students are welcomed and recognized.

So we'll be piloting those materials in 10 schools over the next several months.

We do have an ethnic studies task force that has been working and they have made recommendations to us.

This is another aspect of our work that will support identity safety.

We do have emerging research from Stanford on work that's been done in San Francisco.

saying that when students have an ethnic studies course that helps them better identify and bring their sense of belonging to school with them that attendance goes up GPA goes up and behavior improves.

We will be responding to the recommendations from the ethnic studies task force and trying to figure out how we can as quickly as possible begin to pilot materials in our schools.

We're challenged by the fact that shockingly and unfortunately this is an emerging area where there is not a lot of materials available.

So we're surveying the materials that have been self generated by teachers across the district.

and trying to find what we can about what's happening elsewhere around the country.

So we do know that San Francisco has coursework.

They're not quite ready to share that with us yet.

We do know that Oakland has curriculum.

I think we have some I don't know what the right word would be that we have borrowed to use at Aki and some other places in the district.

So we're actively working with that task force and we'll continue to work with a group of our educators to find materials that we can begin to pilot in our school and then expand over the coming years.

The school board has set aside funding to begin that work.

We did have on October 13th we had our first EOG eliminating opportunity gap institute.

We sold out.

We had available space for about 300 of our teachers and really appreciate the work that Keisha Scarlett did in partnership with SEA and a lot of district staff to make an awesome day possible.

Thank you to Director Geary and Director Blanford for participating in that event.

Our racial equity action teams will continue to expand.

We're expecting a drum roll and an envelope.

I don't think we quite.

I don't have the envelope so I believe that we have picked the additional 10 schools but we'll have to wait a little bit longer for the drum roll.

Goal 2 is about improving systems and the continued work on the budget.

The Supreme Court did hear testimony on McCleary.

I thought sure they would give us more than an hour and I watched from wherever I was in the world that evening.

And the Supreme Court allowed one hour and four minutes.

Maybe they started late I don't know but they certainly didn't give any extra time.

And it was a little hard to read the tea leaves.

The Supreme Court was expressing a fair degree of skepticism both for the news lawsuit saying what exactly would a solution look like.

And I have to agree there was not a lot of specifics there.

It was basically more.

And then they had a lot of questions for the state saying exactly when would they fulfill their promise recognizing that although they have something adopted it's not adopted in a timely way.

Our analysis continues to show that we do have a little bit of a bump in our funding while we get to collect the levy and some of the new state funding and then as the levy goes away we actually get less money in some of the out years.

So we continue to be concerned about whether they really have fully funded compensation special education and ELL.

Goal three is our school family community engagement.

State of the district is scheduled for November 14th at West Seattle High School from 5 to 7 p.m.

We'll talk about some of the progress that we've made over the last year and over the last several years.

We'll have some opportunities for student voice and celebrating some of the progress that we have made.

We have monthly meetings with many of our partners.

We met this in the last week with the Seattle Council of PTSA and many of our staff had questions about special education and about 24 credits which I'll talk about in just a moment.

And then we also met just recently with SEA again to talk about the 24 credits and what that might begin to look like.

We're up against a deadline for figuring out how to implement state law with regard to 24 credits.

And in regard to family engagement we've been working a lot through the task force last year that director Harris worked with Carrie Campbell on and encouraged by the climate survey results that shows an increase of 14 percent in one of those categories and double digit improvements in I think all six or seven of the questions with regard to community engagement.

Good news.

Discover U is a week each October where we try to get faculty and everybody else to wear their college gear and remind students the importance of college and also the time when we try to get students signed up for promise scholarships that the state offers.

We do have the annual lesbian gay bisexual transgender families dinner is held tomorrow night from 6 to 8 p.m.

at Meany Middle School.

Several members of the school board will be there and all of our SPS students families and staff are welcome to attend.

The Council of Great City Schools conference was I was going to say last week the week before last in Cleveland.

Director Geary and I had the opportunity to share some of our EOG work with other leaders across the nation.

Brent Jones and Eric Anderson also presented on our data and how we've discovered that having an adult at school that cares about you is really an essential part of our eliminating the opportunity gap.

Both of those sessions were well received.

Our website refresh feedback.

We've been doing an online survey getting more feedback and more suggestions how we continue to tweak and improve our website.

Majority are saying that they do find the website useful.

And let's see asking if they're able to find what they're looking for on the Web site.

The response rate went up by 8 percent.

So again the tweaks seem to be helping.

Topics of community interest advanced learning engagement kind of back to our community and family engagement goal.

One of that's why am I saying this right.

As part of our community and family engagement goal we were we are intending to implement a series of thought exchange opportunities to use and online tool to hear from more voices in the community.

So we still have a lot of work to do in terms of person to person communications but we wanted to augment that with other ways that would make it easier for families to participate.

So on the person to person side we had staff hosting home language meetings in Chinese Spanish Vietnamese and Somali.

On the online participation we had eighteen hundred family members students and staff who provided forty nine hundred unique comments and then it's an iterative process and so after you get all those ideas out there then participants are invited to go back in and say hmm I really like my idea and I'm going to vote for it or wow I didn't think of that.

I like that other idea and I'll vote for that one.

So there were things that we learned from that kind of online conversation.

Recommendations will be shared at the November 2nd operations committee.

We do have I think we've been in the news a few times with regard to the potential for bus service disruption.

We contract for our bus service and our contractor is in employee bargaining with their drivers.

So we've been meeting with them daily.

Peggy McEvoy sends out an update each day in terms of how we're doing and letting parents know that for the most part our bus transportation continues to be on schedule.

There's a little bit more absenteeism than there might be typically but generally speaking our transportation continues.

So we continue to plan at the district level.

We certainly are hopeful that the process works itself out and that they reach a settlement in terms of their contracting discussions.

And we certainly hope that we'll continue to be able to operate as planned.

24 credits I mentioned is heating up.

So our timeline is that in January we have to have loaded into the computer the schedules so that we can begin to invite students and parents to pick schedules for the start of the 2018 school year.

So all of our very interesting academic conversations for the last two years are coming to a head in terms of how exactly are we going to implement more opportunities for students this coming year.

The requirement for students went into place this year and school board policy has been changed to say that our ninth graders will have to earn 24 credits.

And since we only offer them 24 opportunities That means that there is small no margin for error.

And we do know that although we work hard at it 18 percent of our ninth graders do not pass a class or more during their ninth grade year.

So that means that they go into 10th grade with a credit short and without changing our schedule they don't have an opportunity to make that up.

Actually they do but it's not convenient at summer school or online learning.

So we've been talking with SEA about that.

We've been talking with PASS about that.

We are basically zeroing in on what Cleveland does which is a eight period day.

alternating four periods per not an eight period day it's an eight period schedule with four periods per day.

And then Nathan Hale has a modified schedule where they provide seven credit earning opportunities for ninth graders and they would like to do that for 10th grade.

So.

We're exploring those options and trying to land on some parameters that schools by November 16th so that schools could begin to have conversations about what a model would look like for their school so that we can load it into the computer by January middle of January.

And then finally we have started a series of open houses with regard to the student assignment plan and boundaries.

We've held three of those five open houses.

Thank you to those who have attended and we'll continue to work through that process.

working toward new high school boundaries that would be implemented in 2019. But we also know that families would like to know that information as students move through the feeder patterns and figure kind of work backwards from where they would be assigned for high school.

So more information on school visits and opportunities to engage her on the back table and that concludes.

Oh I have one more.

I wrote it in here it wasn't in the printed version.

The urban collaborative is a.

a group of school districts urban school districts nationwide.

They came are came I don't know what the right tense of that is did come are here currently today at the Olympic Hotel and Fairmont and They came primarily to find out what Seattle and Tacoma have been doing in regard to special education.

So many of our staff were there.

Wyeth had the opportunity to do presentations Tacoma was there giving presentations.

and I had the opportunity to welcome them here to Seattle and talk a little bit about the good work that our special education staff have been doing.

That concludes my remarks.

Thank you Dr. Nyland.

So normally we would have our student comments at this time followed by the consent agenda but because we have reached 530 that is when we begin our public comments.

So we will defer our comments from our guest Trent Randall until after the public comments.

One advantage of that is if you want to respond to anything that you heard in the public comments you can do that at that time as well.

So I will now welcome all the members of the community who have come to speak this evening.

Let's see.

I would also.

Oh OK.

All right I would also like to invite our internal auditor Andrew Medina from the Office of Internal Audit to the podium to present his annual report to the board and that will be followed by public testimony.

Okay I'm going to reverse that.

We will do that after public testimony.

So now we have reached 530 beyond we will go on to public testimony.

The rules for public testimony are on the screen and I would ask that speakers be respectful of these rules.

I would note that the board does not take public comments on items related to personnel or individually named staff.

I would also like to note that each speaker has a two minute speaking time.

When two minutes have ended please conclude your remarks.

Ms. Shek will read off the names of the testimony speakers.

Thank you.

If you have any documents to share with the board members at this time please bring them up to me.

First up for public testimony we have Ella Polk followed by Sarah Sense Wilson and Chris Jackins.

All right.

Hello.

My name is Ella Polk and I'm the student government representative for the Ida B Wells constituent of Middle College High School.

I'd also like to formally welcome anyone on the board to visit any of our sites to observe both our community and our classes.

All right.

I would like to say that it is time to stop the stigma of alternate alternative education.

When I told my friends that I was moving to an alternative learning environment they laughed at me and told me that I would start failing my classes in a room full of slackers and that I would be back to the comprehensive school in a month.

On the contrary I flourish in a new and smaller environment.

The fact that it is expected that every single student is supposed to fit in the box is unrealistic at best especially since lots of students require unique support the teachers with over 100 to 150 students are unable to supply.

I grew out of the traditional comprehensive school.

I'll be honest I was unequivocally miserable.

I found it impossible to learn in a tiny classroom with 40 students and only 20 textbooks to go around.

Sometimes a student didn't even have a desk.

In my last year of comprehensive school I was that student in my first period class.

I had a chair and a table but I was by myself in a group of file cabinets.

I just want to say furthermore that I'm not a lazy student and nor am I a slacker.

I've always cared about my education and I've always had exemplary grades.

However something I never really had was the support and resources.

So last year in 10th grade the monster that I would call my migraines reared its head.

It was impossible to keep up with my work when every other night I had to lay down in the dark.

I had doctor's notes and recommendations and it still took six months for my 504 plan to be approved.

By then my grades were shot.

My straight A's had turned to a feeble strand of B's C's and a single D.

After I received the 504 plan however my grades eventually reached back up as I attempted to fix the damage.

All I needed was the support from the school in the district and I'm hoping that in the future that students needs can be met faster and quicker to help their education.

I eventually went to my counselor to say that I needed a change and that I was having one of the worst school years of my life.

So she directed me to middle college attending middle college was the best decision of my life.

I'm no longer coming home stressed from all the work and memorization I'm required to do.

Instead I'm coming home excited and exhausted from complex thinking and writing.

I do more daily schoolwork in the alternative learning school than I ever did in regular comprehensive learning and yet my stress levels are down and my grades are up.

It's time to stop the alternative education stigma.

It's time to stop the notion that alternative school is packed with students that never cared and it's time to let students know that they have other opportunities and to support students and to give the support they need to flourish in any education environment they choose.

Thank you.

Thank you.

AJ, come over on this side.

Hello.

My name is Sarah Wilson Ogallala Sioux UNEA chair and volunteer community volunteer.

I'd like to start by praising the staff for their efforts and dedication to reaching some native learners.

We're here tonight to advocate for the restoration of Indian Heritage native focus option high school.

The district data continues to reflect a real crisis with native education.

A native focus with indigenous pedagogy is a viable solution to reaching a large number of students currently failed by the mainstream education system.

A native focus high school would support, nurture and foster healthy cultural identity tribalism while providing a robust rigorous academic experience.

The vast majority of parents and youth stand in full support of this proposal.

We've collected many statements and testimony from native parents and organizations in full support of a native heritage focused high school.

Programs and organizations such as United Indians, the Washington Indian Civil Rights Commission, the Washington Indian Service Commission, Seattle Canoes, Red Eagle Soaring and many more.

These leaders, educators, parents and community members recognize and see the value in lending support for the benefit of our native learners and non-native learners.

We invite you all as leaders of Seattle Public School to initiate a motion to pursue our proposal and thereby moving in the direction of reversing the negative trend we see reflected in the data and the real life experiences of our youth.

This is an opportunity to stand on the right side of history.

Please support this.

And I would definitely support this movement in order for more students to not fail and to be able to be successful and help their families and themselves grow into productive adults of this country.

My name is A.J.

Oguara and I'm 19 years old.

I stand for restoration of the Indian Heritage High School.

Thank you.

Next up for public testimony we have Chris Jackins followed by Carol Simmons and Karen Elliott.

My name is Chris Jackins box 8 4 0 6 3 Seattle 9 8 1 2 4. Please reopen Indian Heritage High School.

Also please deal with unhealthy fumes at the new Eagle Staff in Licton Springs buildings.

On policy 41 40 collaborative governance two points.

Number one oversight is a functional reserve to the board.

It should not be given away.

Number two I helped bring a successful lawsuit against the school board action that would have allowed certain schools to waive any board policy.

The court found that certain activities are specifically reserved to the board.

On grants software and partnerships seven points.

Number one the district seems to doubt its own talents.

Number two the district says it lacks career counselors so it buys software instead.

Number three to fix problems it seeks private grants and outside programs.

Number four at a recent special education PTSA meeting parents were basically told to fix problem schools themselves.

Number five other parents who felt trapped in problem schools by the student assignment plan were told that the parents should fix those schools.

Number six the district can solve problems.

I recently asked for a document an administrator lined it up.

I used the lobby phone to call upstairs and secure the document voila.

Number seven soon after the lobby phone was removed.

The receptionist said too many people had been calling 9 1 1. I told this to an administrator who was walking by.

The administrator said huh.

The phone is still gone.

Thank you.

Thank all of you.

Good work.

Good evening.

With reference to action item 1 please extend the policy to include the prohibition of harassment intimidation and bullying of our native students educational opportunities.

Seattle Public Schools data shows an ongoing failure in its ability to educate native learners.

Data also shows that performance improves with culturally relevant curriculum and an environment that values the learner's culture.

The performance of native students improved when Indian Heritage High School existed.

The district allowed the school to fail.

As a board you were not responsible for that discriminatory action but you are responsible for not rectifying that injustice.

You have supported a race initiative an equity lens professional development ethnic studies a program that includes a native focus school and you named a building after a native leader.

These are all important steps to begin the equitable treatment to right the injustice caused by the district action that will provide success for native learners.

Now support the promise made to the native community to resurrect Indian Heritage High School with sufficient resources.

By doing this you will make a visible statement of your sincerity.

in achieving success for native learners.

You have listened and learned.

Now it is time to act.

Thank you.

Karen.

Karen Elliott.

Blaine Parse.

Taylor Stahl.

After Taylor Stahl we will have Amy Bryan Vicky Pinkham and Aiden Carroll.

Hello.

My name is Taylor Stahl.

I spoke at your last meeting to advocate for sibling grandfathering and continuation of transportation for grandfathered students in the Whittier Loyal Heights boundary change.

Today I'm here to focus specifically on the criticality of sibling grandfathering to the families impacted by this boundary change and share the personal impact to my family and your students that this will cause.

My story and the story of my family however is only one of many.

I'm the father of an enrolled Whittier student and one post change student.

With the change there's a significant chance that our youngest will not be admitted to Whittier via school choice and will be forced to attend Loyal Heights.

Our daughters are best friends.

They've attended the same school together for their entire lives.

They are each other's support system and rely on each other to navigate the challenges that they encounter every day.

Since our oldest daughter began attending the big school Whittier our youngest has eagerly anticipated the day when she too would graduate and become a Whittier Wildcat.

She is already a part of the Whittier community attending events supporting the school through activities and meeting future friends and teachers.

How do I explain to a four year old that simply because she happens to be scheduled to start kindergarten a year after an arbitrary boundary change takes place she will never have that chance.

And for our oldest daughter a current Whittier student this will force our family into the difficult situation of pulling her out of Whittier.

How will I explain to her that because her sister wasn't admitted to Whittier and her two working parents cannot accommodate having two children at different schools that she'll have to abandon the only school she's ever known and move to Loyal Heights a school where she knows no one and has no connection to the school community.

Again I ask you to adhere to your final guiding principle.

Be responsive to family input provide for 100 percent sibling grandfathering for enrolled families and continuation of transportation.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Hello my name is Amy Bryan.

I am the legislative representative for Whittier PTA.

I'm here tonight as Taylor was to represent the 23 younger siblings who are going to be forced in the same situation that Taylor's family will be.

We I face a lot of questions about equity and how how does how does the board make a decision like this to make an amendment or to support this instance when so many schools across the district are facing the same circumstance.

And so tonight I'm here to advocate that as you make an amendment to support transportation and to support sibling grandfathering that it's a good faith investment and a better district wide policy for family pathways that when a family joins a school and they invest in that community in so many different ways from the time a kid is on the playground in their stroller to climbing on the play structure to attending the school events to jogging in the jog-a-thon next to their older sibling.

They are a wildcat too at Whittier.

And it is so hard to see these working families and these special ed families being forced into this situation.

And I know that there are costs involved but I ask the district staff as well to reevaluate these policies.

We see buses pull up to Whittier every day half full.

So if it's going to cost more money to send these students to Whittier on a bus let us help you solve that problem.

I can't imagine that it's not possible.

I would also like to add that I've attended so many meetings in the past few weeks and this policy affects high school families and middle school families across the district.

So I will just end with that final support family pathways and start this year with Whittier and Adams families too.

Thank you.

Thank you.

OK, ready?

OK.

Our indigenous students have continued to experience high dropout rates and lower graduation rates.

You've heard this time and time again for the past 40 years This has been an issue but nobody seems to be listening.

So we're here again today to tell the district that we want a native focus school.

We want Indian heritage back.

We have statistics that you guys have provided for us.

We have information to To let everybody know that you guys are failing Seattle Public Schools are failing our native students.

We had a daughter.

My husband and I had a daughter in the Seattle Public Schools who wanted to commit suicide in ninth grade.

She went on to be on the president's list at her college.

She's made the president's list and the dean's list straight A student.

But while here at the Seattle Public Schools she wanted to commit suicide.

You guys are failing our students tremendously.

And I cannot even reiterate that enough because Licton Springs is on the path also to being shut down or wiped away by pushing them out further and further.

You're also also the welcome signs that are at Denny Middle School and Chief Sealth.

They include the Tlingit and Nimiipuu languages in welcoming our students.

You welcome international students but you have students here from different nations that are not even being acknowledged and that's unfortunate.

Hi David Hill.

I live in Seattle school district area but I send my children to private schools because of the failures of Seattle Public Schools.

I wanted to speak briefly on just the history my sister attended Indian Heritage High School.

We actually I'm from a tribe I'm Klamath from Oregon and we moved back to Oregon for my high school years.

But Indian Heritage saved my sister's life.

She went on.

She won the Native American award at the University of Washington.

She graduated summa cum laude from the University of Colorado Law School.

She practiced law for 17 years 11 of those years for our tribe and now does administrative work and none of that would be possible without Indian Heritage.

Before Indian Heritage High School the statistics were abysmal.

They climbed and especially under the tenure of Bob Eagle staff were very successful and they have declined since but most precipitously since the eradication of Indian Heritage High School.

So we ask that you bring Indian Heritage back.

It's something that's really necessary to our community and please consider it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up for public testimony we have Aiden Carroll followed by Tomoyuki Olson and Eric Blumenhagen.

Hi.

I cede my time to Amy Olive.

Hi my name is Amy Olive.

I'm Colville.

I'm also alumni of Indian Heritage class of 97. Sorry if I get emotional but.

heritage, saved my family's life.

Coming from a reservation to a big city, having people that supported us and loved us and treated us like our family.

One of them was Bob Eagle Staff.

He stepped up in being a father figure.

When I lost my dad, who was the closest person to me, So being able to have a native focused school for these kids that have nobody would mean a lot to them and help them graduate and succeed more in the school district.

My daughter attended Seattle School District a couple of years ago and she struggled.

They wanted to put her in special ed but now she's at a tribal school and excelled greatly and she she's getting awards.

for her academics.

I'm very proud of her.

That's why I feel that having a native focus school is very important for our children.

And this is my mom.

Hello everybody.

Thank you for giving us this time.

I just want to support the restoration of Indian heritage because it did mean a lot to all of us and I just appreciate if you guys would consider having it.

We have shiitake and a part of the pack with the chusta and I'm very proud to sit on air and shiitake has done a lot for my grand my grandchildren and I think we just want an expansion of that so our children will be able to be To be able to be proud of their heritage, to have that time to be able to talk and be able to interact with their own people and learn just like what they were doing outside today, learning to drum, learning to sing, learning to go with their cultures and I think everybody's been identified in the schools but the Native American people.

about their language and their talent they have and I would really like to see them excel in that also not only in education but our culture is being lost so that's one thing I would really like I'd appreciate that to have in our schools and if Robert Eagle staff could be restored and that could happen there that would be great because I think the community would get behind it and that way we can advocate to all these flags here that have the tribal and we can ask them they need to come and take care of our children too just like they do on a reservation.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Tomoyuki.

Hello.

My name's Tom Olson.

My story is similar to Taylor's who spoke earlier.

I'm a father to a daughter as a second grader at Whittier Elementary and I have an incoming kindergarten kindergarten for the 2018 2019 school year.

I wanted to talk here today about the 2013 2020 growth boundaries plan how it affects the people and the families for the planned changes for next year.

I've written a few emails to the school board and school board and just wanted to talk about some of the points there I don't have to go over all of it or read it verbatim but You know it's really about having siblings in two different schools.

You know there's going to be some issues and maybe some socioeconomic problems with talking with your children and just the community in general.

And then also kind of the timing of the policy.

You know if if if the younger daughter isn't grandfathered in as assembly sibling.

We have to as parents come up with a choice on what to do.

So if not accepted we'll have to transition to Loyal Heights and potentially look at options for after school care.

And from what I've understood on how the process goes for next year that could be anywhere from one to four weeks lead time ahead of the start of the school year.

And as parents with a little bit of experience in seeking child care this can present both a major logistical and economical impact to the parents such as if you plan for the worst and hope for the best we could be foregoing nonrefundable fees and trying to secure child care.

So you know I just want to paint a little picture for you.

It's like being evicted from a home.

You love the home.

You love the people in the area in the community but you can't live there.

That's a little bit of what it feels like for the families living in that area.

So what I ask the school board members is to not look at children as statistics or shaded color in a map.

I wanted to look at them as the future of our community and for our city.

So I would implore you to take action on this plan and work up to try and come up with creative solutions that leave a better legacy than your predecessors when they devised this plan so far in the past.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up for public testimony we have Eric Blumenhagen followed by Eliza Rankin and Sam McKagan.

Hello my name is Eric Blumhagen and thank you for the opportunity to speak with you tonight.

As you know I have a lot to say about student assignment plan.

First of all let's all recognize that our high schools have an upper limit on enrollment.

If an enrollment doesn't work with those schools you're going to end up with staffing adjustments in the fall.

For example Garfield was predicted this spring to have 1900 students.

Today Garfield is 100 percent full chock-a-block full with around 1800 students.

If you staff for 1900 next year you'll be disappointed again in October.

You need to manage wait lists to move students from Garfield and Ballard in particular.

If students want to move from those schools you should roll out the red carpet for them.

That will save staffing adjustments later.

Second at the last student assignment plan work session staff told you that the updates were not policy changes.

This is absolutely untrue.

Staff told you last spring that staffing capacity was not rooted in policy or procedure it was practice including it in the student assignment plan is a change in policy.

Finally if you set choice based on staffing capacity from February numbers with a target enrollment exact to the student you are eliminating waitlist movement because the system is too rigid.

Instead if you set a range of enrollment for schools you can move many more students off of the waitlist.

This is a better choice because you can move hundreds of high school students off the wait list if you allow enrollments at individual schools to change by 20 to 30 students.

This doesn't change the overall cost of the district.

This doesn't remove have to remove teachers from schools.

It just gives students the schools they want to be at.

And finally once we see the next proposal from staff I'm sure I'll have a lot more to say.

Thank you for your time and your service.

Thank you.

I'm a parent at Wedgwood of two kids and I'm here today with my friend Sam reading a letter from a parent at Lowell.

Dear man's and madams and sirs I live in North Seattle and I have a blind third grade daughter who gets bused 40 minutes each way to Lowell Elementary for the vision impaired district MAGA program in houses.

Lowell was recently featured in a KUOW report.

The problems of the story highlights have been causing very real barriers to learning for its students.

With as much as 30 percent of Lowell's student population counting as homeless, 67 percent of the student body qualify for free or reduced lunch as well as over 60 percent of our students being people of color.

Lowell does not have the access to resources that other Seattle public schools.

Those with affluent and white populations can provide to supplement the lack of adequate Washington state school funding.

Additionally Lowell has several special education programs and is also the magnet school for the medically fragile.

All of which to say Lowell is a high need school with high levels of trauma and limited access to resources.

I know that one of the ways to address these issues in a manner that might bring about change is to sign up to speak at a school board meeting.

But the way things are structured around this ensures that only parents of resources and means can easily attend.

The meetings are scheduled at 4 15 p.m.

on a weekday or four hours long are located south of downtown and have no child care.

For a person who works a typical job attending is not possible.

For a person with transportation issues depending on where they live in the city getting to the John Stanford Center is a challenge.

For a parent who used to watch their child after school attending the meetings is also out of the question.

Seattle schools has equity problems and we all know that there are vast differences between schools in terms of access to resources and quality of programming.

It's easy to blame the state underfunding but there are ways that our district makes it worse.

Limited access for parental participation.

Please consider letting people participate in school board meetings via Skype and commenting that way or other conferencing platforms.

Concentration of traumatized populations into few schools with already highly stressed populations.

Sending large numbers of homeless kids to schools already known to have populations with economic and social status problems serves to unnecessarily burden an already overstressed population.

This is arguably institutionalized racism perpetuated by our district.

In SPS the affluent and largely white schools stay well funded and populated by those with access by those by only those with access to resources and low incidence of trauma while the schools with high populations of color and low access to resources received large numbers of homeless kids carrying high levels of trauma.

Please conclude your remarks.

Don't create a concentration of need and trauma that overwhelms any one school's ability to administer them.

Same goes for special education programs.

Stop clustering them in underfunded schools with overstressed populations.

The concentration of need trauma and special attention serves to overwhelm staff that is already overtaxed.

Thank you.

And I'll be continuing the same letter.

Excuse me are you also on the list?

Yes I'm Sam McKagan I'm the next person on the list.

If you could introduce yourselves as well that would be really helpful.

Oh yeah sorry.

Thank you very much.

So I'm Sam McKagan I'm a parent at Leschi and I am helping Eliza read the same letter from Kelly who could not be here for the reasons explained.

Okay so another issue is another way that SPSD makes it worse is incentivizing scarce substitute teachers to only choose choice assignments.

So I understand we have a severe sub shortage so any one sub can get a variety of offers in terms of available gigs.

Lowell is a difficult assignment so understandably If a sub has choices they'll choose a less difficult job i.e. a richer, whiter, less traumatized school over a school like Lowell.

Just this week my daughter's teacher was out, one of five teacher absences in one day and there was no sub for her class.

So her second, third grade class was split into two other second grade classes.

So she was put in a class that wasn't at her grade level and the setup disrupted the learning of three classes because there was no sub willing to take the job.

This is further institutional racism and economic classism.

If the district is going to park a large amount of traumatized and needy kids at one school please consider incentivizing subs to accept jobs at schools like Lowell by paying them a higher stipend for the day or placing one or more permanent subs at Lowell.

There is a much higher rate of absenteeism among teachers at high stress schools like Lowell.

Our schools like ours have structures need to have structures in place that recognize this fact fact and take the brunt of the burden off the children's opportunity to learn.

Another problem is allowing for continued disproportionate levels of resources among schools in this in the same district with lack of state funding supplemental school funding falls on the shoulders of each school's PTSA and families.

The disparity in funds raised by different schools in the district is staggering.

Lowell's PTSA managed to raise only about 20K and McGillivray can pull in as much as 400K.

So please consider allocating a smallish percentage of the PTSA funding halls from schools that make over a set amount into a pot that evenly distributes the funds among schools that fall into the high need category.

This is a long letter.

I know.

Thank you so much for your time.

As mentioned I'd like to come speak in a designated two minute spot at one of your meetings but currently the barrier to doing so is altogether too high.

I welcome your response.

Kelly Newton.

Thank you.

Next up for public testimony we have Chandler Charles followed by Devin Bruckner and Brian Terry.

Hi, my name is Chandler.

I'd like to cede my time to Tom Spear.

Thank you Chandler.

I'm Tom Spear member of the Duwamish tribe direct descendant of Chief Seattle and his daughter from his first family Princess Angeline.

Want to talk about the children the Native American children First Nations children Alaska Native children of this district because I believe they have a birthright as human beings as citizens of this country to a quality education not just push them through punish them and ship them out but a quality education that any family would want regardless of ethnic origin or economic status.

I believe the kids also have under federal law and tribal law the right to a quality education and I don't believe this district is delivering on its obligations to these children.

So that was a point that can't be emphasized enough because the kids are suffering while we do nothing.

I'd like to cede my time to Joanne.

Oh Crystal come up.

Hi my name's Krista Hanley I'm a concerned community member and a parent of a child at Licton Springs.

I'm also a white person.

My son is white and I want to speak up for native education equity in native education.

I want the school board to make native education a priority in the city establish a native heritage high school or a continuation of Licton Springs K through 8 and make it a K through 12. According to my research Robert Eagle Staff himself supported a native focus K through 8. And I'd like to hand the mic to Joanne's student.

My name is Joanne Sayers and I want a native focused school because so I can feel like welcome in a place and like we're surrounded by people that like look like me and like so like and I want native like I want like people to like teach me more about my culture like in school.

And so therefore I want a native focused school high school and yeah.

Hi dad.

Thank you.

Devin Bruckner.

Hi I'm Devin Bruckner my son is in HCC and I'm the leader of the racial equity in HCC group.

Directors superintendent you're aware of the racial disproportionality in advanced learning.

I've heard you talk about it.

I've watched staff work hard to address it but the changes to date are small.

Small changes to address a big problem.

New district data just came out.

I hope to see real improvements due to your staff's hard work but I didn't.

The improvements were tiny.

At this rate we won't see meaningful shifts in decades.

Bigger change is needed.

I respectfully ask you where is your leadership on this issue.

Nearly 20 percent of students are designated as advanced learners in HCC.

That's one fifth of our district and it's overwhelmingly white.

Our district isn't.

What are you doing about it.

I suggest you ask staff to bring you a plan that will result in dramatic improvements in this disproportionality and give them the resources to develop this plan.

Yes resources are scarce but closing the opportunity gap is our priority and this is 20 percent of our district.

Yes other districts have this problem too but our disproportionality is worse and others are doing more and finding greater success.

They're revamping their identification process and service model.

North Shore approved universal testing for first to eighth grade students every year and switched from the Cogat to the Najiri test believed to be less biased.

Federal Way test all students in second grade and their program generally matches their district demographics.

I could go on.

There are steps we can take that we're not doing.

For example state law says we should consider a student's experience environment and potential.

This means not weighing test scores so heavily which can be a proxy for privilege and trying to adjust for bias considering average scores at a child's school and using local norms.

We are in a box.

We without your leadership and resources from you we can't get out of this box.

We're leaving a small well intentioned group of staff to make changes at the margins.

Those changes will not get us where we need to go.

An out of the box idea not vetted with my team it's mine.

Maybe we need to start from scratch and develop a new identification process and service model.

Grandfathering current students learn from other districts and launch a program that works better in the future.

leaders please ask your staff to bring you a plan that will result in dramatic improvements in this proportionality and give them resources to do it.

Thank you.

I respect and appreciate your service.

Thank you.

Good evening.

I'm Brian Terry.

In our schools a white student is 20 times more likely than a black student to be identified as highly capable.

Thanks to universal testing we now know that this is because the identification process itself has an alarming racial bias.

If we were to test 600 if we were to test a typical sample of 600 white second graders more than 80 of them would be identified as highly capable.

But when we tested 600 black second graders at underprivileged schools only six of them were identified.

Only six.

This 13 to 1 racial bias leads to highly segregated classrooms and perpetuates the lie that white students are more capable and more deserving than black students.

This is institutional racism.

When asked district staff complained that they cannot unbiased the process because the service model is designed to meet the needs of the privileged students and does not meet the needs of highly capable underprivileged students.

Tonight I have two questions for board members.

First do you support an advanced learning program that is so heavily biased toward finding and serving white students at the expense of their black peers.

And second if you do not then when will you demand that the district unbiased both the service model and the identification process.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up for public testimony we have Joseph Edward Mitchell followed by Frank Aragon and Julie Popper.

I'm going to cede my time to my friend Robert here.

Thank you.

I think our community is not as underprivileged as our European visitors.

When our Iroquois nations the Haudenosaunee from the New York area first met with Ben Franklin they brought gifts for the women.

Where were the women they asked.

Your women would not be standing there if it wasn't for our women.

For our women holding their place in our societies.

It's just sad because of the racism they haven't given us the Indian people or the black people credit for our contributions to this nation.

That's why your little white kids feel privileged and so all knowledgeable.

They're not.

They're underprivileged themselves.

They're underprivileged because your institutions Do not credit give proper credit whether it be to the creator or the black people or the Indian people.

University of Washington Seattle school district should be privileged to have a black person or Indian person there.

It should be their privilege to learn from a different way of thinking because this way of thinking created a president Donald Trump.

That's proof of it.

My people honor the earth.

We honor our women.

Marlon Brando, who had a place in the econs of the movies, I think some of you might remember when he was given the Academy Award, he gifted his time to a native woman to speak so we could be heard.

But all of those white racist Hollywood people, they felt, how do you say it, encroached upon in their little safe neighborhood where they could look at each other as white people.

You know, this is our country.

Do you know my little Indian girl, that little girl that spoke cannot walk in any suburban community and see a person of our kind because we were exterminated.

That's the history.

Marlon Brando said him as a white person, European, American is underprivileged because he hasn't been privileged to be taught the correct history of how this country was stolen and cheated away from our Indian people.

Not only the land was stolen and treated but concepts, government concepts, concepts for our women concepts of justice.

If our Indian kids do not learn what contributions we made shame on this education system.

Those little white kids are not so fortunate.

They're unfortunate.

OK.

Get it right guys please.

That's all.

Anybody else.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Frank.

Thank you very much.

My name is Frank Eragon.

I'm with OCA, Asian Pacific American Advocates, Greater Seattle chapter.

Hello Sue.

Don't cut me off now.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak as an ally to the native community in their fight for a native focused alternative option high school that serves native and non-native learners.

I will strongly remind you that native students have the highest dropout rate of any ethnic group in the country reported to be as high as 45 percent.

We also have some of the lowest academic achievement levels as measured by mainstream standardized tests.

lower rates of school attendance and lowest rate of participation in post-secondary education of any minority group.

The attrition rate at the post-secondary level is well over 70 percent.

The question posed before us are we to accept that native students can't learn and achieve that this is their reality.

The answer should be a resounding no.

These students aren't to be blamed for their failings but the educational system that was charged with teaching them and that to us is at a local level the Seattle Public Schools.

The Seattle Public Schools must accept the blame for the academic failures of native students.

The way they educate native students must be altered and a huge step forward is establishing and fully funding a native focused alternative high school option.

And I want to see some of my time to

I don't like it offered.

I want a native school because teachers don't acknowledge us and we want to be acknowledged and they don't think we're here.

That's it.

All right.

Let's hear it.

Thank you.

Julie Popper.

Hi I'm Julie Popper.

First as the parent of a school bus rider I must comment on my disappointment at the school board's lack of leadership around the first student bus drivers need for affordable health care.

These drivers deserve the same health insurance that everyone else at SPS gets.

The board needs to use its leadership to hold first student accountable.

The issue is ultimately the board's responsibility.

Second equity in HCC.

A year ago I was preparing to take my child to the screener test for HCC.

I googled COGAT and found a link to the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt website that is the corporation that makes the test.

A sample question I found on that website was revealing.

It said which of the following does not belong.

Imagine it.

A photo of a harp a piano a flute and a violin.

I'm white middle class and of a culture that knows these instruments.

But what about other children not of my culture race or class.

The piano doesn't have visible strings.

Would they know that's a stringed instrument.

Would a Somali refugee family know what those pictures are.

Would a low income family know what those pictures are.

When the test is racist the results are predictable.

We can translate recruitment materials we can reach out to community groups have teachers identify students whatever.

As long as we're recruiting students to take a test that has implicit bias we are going to move.

We are not going to move the needle on the cohorts inclusiveness.

The test will continue to identify more white children as highly capable.

The test is set up to do that.

This is where the board's leadership comes in.

It's time to scrap the current process and look at models from other districts where they've had success building inclusive cohorts.

We need to start over rather than tearing one barrier down only to find the next.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Karen Elliott.

Blaine Parse.

Sabrina Burr James Wagar Katie McVickers.

This concludes the list for public testimony this evening.

Thank you all for coming out this evening.

Okay I'm now going to reintroduce our guest student who is Trent Randall from the Ida B. Wells Middle College High School at the University of Washington.

He would like people to know that he is a gifted poet, has a willingness to learn, is capable of critically thinking through a situation, and is thrilled to be representing the I.W.

Wells School for Social Justice here today.

He hopes that this is the start of a career in front of the microphone for him.

So welcome again to Trent Randall.

All right.

Thank you.

It is an honor to be a part of the IWO school for social justice.

When I walk into the school I feel humbled but the willingness of the people here to make everyone feel comfortable and accepted puts me at ease every time and lets me know that I'm welcomed here happily at any time except after hours.

The school has academics normally found in any comprehensive school like the standard curriculum and structure of the common classroom as well as interesting and valuable additions like social and emotional learning topics and things that are going on in the real world of politics and the larger government that comes about naturally in our inspirational and thoughtful classroom discussions.

The IWO school is a welcoming community for all those who experience it.

The students staff and all involved members of the school also carry themselves with a certain stature or certain aplomb.

The school has an abundance of care towards new students and I witnessed that firsthand when I was brought into the school in March of this year.

It was a very social and friendly environment and the school still prides itself on being that way to this very day.

The humor is also something I would like to make note of since there usually isn't very much of it in a noble comprehensive classroom but at the Ida B. Wells school not only am I laughing sometimes uncontrollably but there is learning that happens while we're doing so with my classmates.

Obviously doing schoolwork is the main priority but being able to enjoy your time at school is just as important in my opinion and it's a great thing to see.

To me having the supportive backbone like the one that is present inside the IWL school is an integral part of having success in the school system and later in life.

Thank you very much.

So I now will open up the mic to various board directors and see if anybody would like to make any comments this evening.

Anything you've already had planned to speak about or a response to anything we heard tonight.

Director Pinkham.

Thank you and good evening to all the speakers here today.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and perspectives and your vision about what we need to do as a Seattle school district to improve for all students not just a certain population not just a certain group or demographic but for all students.

I would do want to comment about the Indian Heritage High School and.

This is just one option that we're seeing that is a need for students that are coming here and it's not I don't see it just as just for native students as Robert was saying it's for other students as well.

They need to learn about the history of this country of this land in particular to see what truly happened here.

And the tests that are yes they are biased as shared by one of the commenters that it is focused on a certain demographic or people is usually the white majority that you're looking at that have some privilege that is there and privilege as far as economics jobs that they can identify those things you know it's a good demonstration that if someone saw something like those instruments a harp would they really know what's in a piano if they've never seen those kind of things.

There's other Kogat pictures that I've seen that they showed kids here which one doesn't belong.

But when a kid doesn't think in the three dimensional sometimes that's hard for them to see or what they can understand there.

So we need to address these issues.

Are there better tests to place our students in advanced learning.

I believe there are.

I recall one time looking at a SAT exam and the sample question of the day was about the natives came to this country via the land bridge you know and then it had going on then it asked some questions about what do you think about you know this story, what is it supporting, what does it talk about and it gave some options and I wrote to the SAT and said where's option E where it says we didn't cross the land bridge we were always here.

That it doesn't allow for that.

You know so it comes from one perspective about how the country was populated.

Excuse me.

So that's how sometimes this can be a bias where we're challenging students from certain backgrounds like they're not worthy.

They're less than and but they are worthy.

They have something to give to each and every one of us.

Excuse me now again getting kind of emotional here.

Collect myself a bit.

So that's what we're asking for for Indian Heritage High School is a way for everyone to learn.

It's a learning moment always in our system that what we lost once and some people argue about they say oh it wasn't that successful Indian Heritage but if it graduate even one student that wouldn't graduate someplace else it was successful.

You know the students that we lose are terrible if we lose just one and if Robert Eagle Staff allowed one student to graduate that was a success.

And there are stories where yes the 100 percent of the graduates went on to college secondary education not 100 percent of them graduated but 100 percent that did went on to a higher education that is a success.

And that's something I think we can instill at Indian Heritage if it's reestablished but at all schools that respond to a student's needs not just their academic needs but their social and cultural needs as well.

Right now with the system it is more predominantly a white majority as far as who we're testing who we're grading for and we need to recognize the diversity of this country.

It's a beautiful country.

It's not a melting pot anymore.

It's a stew.

It's a salad.

We need to appreciate everything that we have you know that we don't be get lost in this melting pot.

No we need to stand out say this is what we want.

This is what we deserve.

And as pointed out.

The federal government signed treaties with the tribes.

It's a federal responsibility as well to provide education for our youth and we want to include everyone.

Those that don't know about native education those who know about black history Asian history all the histories that are out here.

We need to learn.

So that's why the ethnic studies we're moving forward with that.

I would like to also support again not only the reestablishment of the inherited high school but.

requiring all our high school graduates to have at least some kind of diversity credit when they graduate when they move on from here and that that class be taught by a teacher that's certified with the diversity certification.

So it's not just a curriculum that's tossed at them because then they still have that bias that they'll take that curriculum on.

I got to teach it because I'm told to.

and they're giving me this assignment to do and I'll teach it from my perspective but we need to educate our instructors as well, educate our administrators, educate our staff that just requiring something isn't enough we need to make sure that they're trained to do it correctly.

I want to thank Trent for coming up here and sharing your perspectives and stories and that Middle College, Ida B. Wells, the social justice school I don't see it as an alternative school.

It's an option for students that aren't succeeding in the traditional schools that we need to change.

They're finding their place and strengths at another school.

And that's again what we're asking for.

Let students go out you know find where their strengths are at and pursue those.

I also want to acknowledge the Native American Heritage Month.

The community and schools thank you for what you provided for us students here and our educators shape and the recognition for Michelle Lafayette and Tony was it Bader excuse me if I get the names wrong.

Shitake at Chief Sealth, yes, again, Hichisita, you're doing a great job, but we need to expand it.

It's good that what's going on at Chief Sealth and at Denny, but we need it at more schools.

And we need a bigger staff, I think, for our Hichisita program.

Gail, Boo, a rich UD the job that you're doing is great but it's just for students for employees we need to expand the services that they have because they're actually getting more students coming to them not just native heritage students but students that feel a connection to their culture you know how can you help these students out and they're doing the best that they can with the resources the limited resources that they have.

My next community meeting will be November 18th at Broadview library from 4 to 5 30. Please come out and support or not just support but to share your needs and concerns because I was lonely at my last one because I was the only one there.

So please turn out and share your thoughts as I mentioned before.

I feel like I'm rambling now so Sue are you going to buzz me or cut me off.

But thank you.

Yeah I've been a little generous tonight so why would I not be with my colleague.

All right.

Who else would like to speak.

Director Blanford.

I'll start off by thanking the Dearborn Park dancers who gave the most incredible performance I think I've seen since I've been on the board.

I noted the fact that the room was a lot warmer after they finished their performance and I don't I'm not saying that facetiously I believe the room was truly the temperature in the room was truly warmer.

They were very inspiring and very energetic and we could we could light a couple cities I think from the energy that was generated in the room.

Trent just left but I wanted to thank him for sharing his perspective on his school very eloquently and to all the people who testified in one way or another we are grateful for your testimony.

It helps to inform the decisions that we have to make.

I also want to thank the folks at communities and schools and the Washington State PE teachers of the year Shelly LaFayette and Tony Bader for achieving that type of recognition that is inspiring and it lets us know that our teachers doing great things in schools.

We're grateful for that.

Superintendent Nyland mentioned the fact that the EOG Institute was held a couple of weeks ago and I had the honor to speak and introduce Dr. D'Angelo and what I took from the entire day being there and getting a chance to talk to many of our teachers and administrators and a few folks from the community is it is great to finally have this type of work that is ongoing and to see the type of response and the number of people who are engaged in that work.

It gives us hope that we will be able to make progress on our unfortunate and large gaps in achievement between our students of color and our white students.

I believe really strongly and it was the work that I did when I was in school was around trying to understand how school districts can close their gaps.

And it had a lot to do with building relationships with identifying the structures and barriers and obstacles that are keeping kids from performing at high levels and then figuring out ways to address those directly.

And what I saw in the EOG Institute was exactly that.

teachers hungry to do the work to change their practice to figure out new ways to engage with students that they may not be exactly like and to be laser focused on improving achievement so that all students can achieve at high levels.

I was really thrilled to see the levels of engagement and involvement from all of the teachers and school staff that were there.

And it's my hope that this will be something that will repeat year after year after year after year until one day we actually don't have a opportunity gap in Seattle Public Schools.

That's something to aspire towards.

And then finally I normally close my remarks by sharing when my community meetings are going to be held.

Unfortunately or fortunately in some cases I held my last community meeting on Saturday and so there are aspects of the community meetings that I'm definitely going to miss because I get a chance to talk with people who care very deeply about their child's education and the education of the community at large.

We get to banter back and forth about proposals and policies and research and all kinds of things.

And so I'm going to miss that very greatly.

But I'm sure whoever will be taking my place on the board will take up that responsibility and run with it.

So I'm excited to have some Saturdays free for a while.

So thank you.

Director Patu.

First of all I would like to acknowledge this is native month and really appreciate them coming out and speaking to us about their culture and how important it is for them to be able to have a school that's going to teach their students and their children about who they are and what they are.

I think it's very important that we do have a school that actually that teaches the native culture so their kids can continue on to be able to grow in their culture and be able to recognize what makes them who they are.

I say that with the fact that I too came from a culture where I realized that if I was not able to receive the help that I need in order for me to move forward as a native immigrant person that came out of the country without knowing how to speak English I would never be able to be where I am today so it's very important that we teach our kids about our culture and how important it is because that's what makes who we are and it gives us an opportunity to know what is it that we're all about and how much we have to share with others about who we are and where we come from.

And also like to acknowledge the Really I want to say thank you so much to the Dearborn International School for such an amazing performance.

Never seen so many talented and they seem like they really enjoy what they're doing.

It really uplifted my spirit and it was so motivated and exciting.

I want to say thank you to the Dearborn staff who brought the performance here tonight.

Job well done.

I want to also acknowledge I want to say thank you to Trent from Ida B. Wells Middle College.

I appreciate him talking about his school and what is it that he felt is important and how that really motivated him to be where he is today.

So thank you for sharing that with us.

I would also like to congratulate Communities in School.

for their honor today and all the work that they do on behalf of our students and also would like to also congratulate the PE, the physical PE teachers of the year Michelle Lafayette and Tony Badger.

Thank you for all the work that you do for all our students.

It is it was it was very motivating for me all last week because I actually had a chance to visit five of my schools and one other thing that I decided to do this year is visit my schools and actually get an opportunity to go into all the classes and sit and observe the various classes so I can actually watch teachers in action and watch students in terms of their learning process and I find it to be very amazing.

I actually got a chance to visit Cleveland I visit Hawthorne, I visit Kimball, Beacon Hill and Mercerville Middle School.

It was actually a very intense week for me because it was exciting to be able to have the opportunity to go to each one of these schools and be able to just to stand back and watch kids in action and while I was doing my visit What an amazing thing that I was actually observing was every student in those classes that I actually attended and sat back and watched were engaging not only in the activities they were doing but just watching them learning and able to really get themselves involved in the things that they were doing.

So I was really very pleased to see all the different actions that were going on in each one of these schools.

So and the reason why I decided that I wanted to go and visit all my school this year and observe what's going on because sometimes when you're in when you have community meetings communities will come and tell you well they're not doing anything in those schools.

So for me as a board director I want to be you know be able to go down to the schools and actually be able to watch our kids engaging in the learning and that was an exciting thing for me this week and also last week was actually watching kids become involved in their classes and what they were doing.

So hopefully you know I know that a lot of the board directors are doing that also but I think for me that was the highlight for my week is actually going to all my schools at least five of them and be able to be engaged in the classes and just sit back and watch and amaze all the students in the work that they do.

So I want to say to those schools congratulations to the principals and all the teachers in those schools that actually I was able to go to last week and be able to sit back and enjoy why the students are learning.

I also want to say thank you to to some of the parents that that met with me this week about the concerns that they have in the Somali community.

And to really it was kind of really kind of sad because what some of these parents were saying was that they feel unwelcome in the schools that they attend and also what they were saying is that most of their students are always in the office when they go down and observe in the school what's going on and that was very not a very good news when we were discussing it and so one of the things that I have asked them is that I will definitely go to each one of the schools and be more assertive in terms of actually talking about if the parents actually are feeling unwanted and they feel their kids are not learning in those schools then we definitely have to look at and see what do we need to do as a school.

and staff within that school to make those kids more welcome.

And this is actually something that according to the Somali community that I met with this week was it's an ongoing thing.

So hopefully that if kids are feeling unwanted and also parents are feeling that they feel like they're not being looked upon within their individual schools I think that we as a district must find out exactly why these parents are feeling that way and also why are the kids are not learning as we think that there should be learning.

So hopefully that we can be able to look at that and see what we can do together so we can be able to make these parents feel welcome and also making sure that every one of those students are not in the office instead they should be in the classroom learning like the parents have actually have requested.

So I don't have any community meetings because my community meetings are at the end of the month and hopefully at the next board meeting I'll be able to announce my community meeting.

Thank you.

Director Burke.

I'd like to start out by thanking our guests Trent Randall from Ida B. Wells Middle College and our student testimony from Ms. Polk as well.

They represented their institution well and somehow if this message gets back to Trent you do well with a microphone.

I think it's a it's a good pursuit to follow up on.

The our guests from UNEA it was great to hear the work that's being done in support of the students the hours that are being put in and not just the time but the relationships and the focus that's being put towards that.

So thank you for bringing that to the board and thank you to the UNEA team for sharing that.

The communities and schools the leadership that shared with us how that partnership has developed and what are some of the pieces.

I think it's another example of a successful partnership and collaboration that that we do as a district with our community based organization.

So grateful to hear about that.

There's there's so many of them that it's hard to keep track of and it's just absolutely wonderful.

On the subject of absolutely wonderful the Dearborn Park students all I can say is wow.

The they did light up the room their energy and if you notice if you're watching them they were they were all smiling they were having so much fun.

It was absolutely contagious so that that made my day as well.

Getting into some of the topics I thank all the people who take their time to bring testimony to us and one of the questions the topics that came up in testimony I'd like to put in a request to staff to possibly follow up in a future Friday memo.

The question around permanent subs at high needs schools is one that that feels relevant to me and if that's something where staff could provide a little bit of an analysis on what type of schools that might apply to what would be the impact or ramifications of having permanent subs there or if that practice is already in place.

I think that would be really informative and could be a way to help some of those schools reduce disruptions.

Another thing that happened in the last week or so I was part of a group of people that gave an interview in conjunction with the Port of Seattle around internships for and our high demand career pathway work essentially aligning our our high school work with careers.

And so I wanted to let folks know that that is posted on The Seattle Times.

And I want to put out a big shout out to the Seattle Public Schools communication team because they they did some great help a couple of late hours things.

So I'm really grateful for their their support on that and really helping us put our best foot forward.

And there's a joke in there.

Also a thank you to some of the staff in teaching and learning Michael Talley, Kyle Kinoshita, Cashel Toner and Anna Box math program manager they took some time with me this week to talk about math which is one of my my topics of passion.

and specifically around some of the work we're doing to prepare our students for success in algebra by eighth grade because that's one of the the essentially the trend benders or high success factors for our students.

So that we got to talk a little bit more about what are the key milestones.

How do procedural fluencies weigh into that and trying to find the balance which historically had been kind of math wars but it was really I thought a valuable conversation.

I'm excited to hear about the work that's happening.

So I wanted to publicly share my gratitude with them for that work.

I had a community meeting last Saturday on October 28th and I want to apologize for those that didn't know about it.

It was posted on my director page but not on the calendar.

And by the time I noticed that it was Saturday morning so I wasn't able to make a correction so I apologize if folks missed it that that month.

It was a little bit lightly loaded but we still had some folks and the I heard some more from the Whittier families and it's always a pleasure to have them come out and helped me better understand what that issue is and what's the history around it.

And I wanted to also share as part of that you know my colleagues and staff heard the testimony around that.

There are two asks that I have moving forward and one of them is around the student assignment plan work that's underway right now and that is that the student assignment plan does include grandfathering for students in areas 127 128 I believe but does not explicitly include transportation and that was something that was discussed as an addition.

I would like to ask staff to include that.

And I'm willing to do that as an amendment if it doesn't fit into our normal process.

That's the first ask and then the second ask is as we look forward next year to how we combine the student assignment plan and the transition plan into sort of the coherent vision for what student assignment looks like.

that we do try to try to hit the hit the reset button a little bit and let's try to figure out what it would take to do family grandfathering you know because it's not sibling grandfathering it is family grandfathering it's providing an education for families at schools.

And I say that knowing that that isn't an easy ask because it's it makes planning really really challenging.

But I just wanted to make sure that that's part of our part of our conversation is we're having that and that we don't automatically rule it out because we haven't done it historically but that we look at it as a value add that we can provide our families and not just for Whittier families or you you know Adams families but district wide.

If it's something that we're going to do we have to figure out Nice.

Careful with the microphone.

But it's something that we can really institutionalize.

On the student assignment plan I had the pleasure of attending two of the student assignment plan meetings one at Eckstein and one at Ballard High School.

Those meetings have a new format they're more of a town hall kind of a discussion go around to the tables and talk to people type of format.

And I got mixed messages on that some folks were discouraged that they didn't have a clear message of this is what we're doing and other folks were really positive about the structure and that allowed them to talk to folks in smaller groups and they didn't feel like the the conversation was as structured or monopolized either from district presentations or from you know a small number of public commenters because of limited time.

So I guess I'd like to suggest that that become part of our regular structure but not in its entirety and that we figure out how to tie that together with a clear message where we can tell people thank you for coming.

This is what we're here to do.

This is what we know.

And then a structure where people can mingle around and interface.

The other question that came up from my community engagement was around the dual language pathway to Lincoln and it became clear to me or I was notified that currently Ingram is recommended to be the dual language or the international dual language immersion pathway school as compared to Lincoln High School.

And that's something that feels when I look geographically and I look at our neighborhood model it feels like it's potentially at odds with that.

And so I'd like to understand a little bit more what are the pros and cons of that in the future.

Last point in terms of hot topics Naviance as a high school and beyond planning tool.

I've had some community bring concerns to my attention about student data privacy which is a topic that we're We all hold near and dear to our heart and so I think that's an ongoing conversation between board staff and our DOTS experts on how do we maintain the student privacy.

How do we communicate with families that truly want to opt out of the system.

What are the benefits that it provides to our students but ultimately how do we protect that student data.

Upcoming meetings for me I have my next community meeting is December 9th Fremont library from 1 to 2 30 p.m.

And I'm thrilled and announced before the meeting that director Harris and I are co-hosting this Saturday November 4th for CTE educators Capitol Hill Public Library from 4 to 5 30 p.m.

And this is something that I we're going to try to do a little bit more of and do regular meetings for educators because well they make this they make this happen.

So we haven't identified what the next theme would be but some of the ideas are MTSS language ELA adoption potential math adoption, differentiation.

So we've kicked around several different ideas but I think there's probably going to be a meeting scheduled in January for that and we'll announce that upcoming.

So to close I don't want to be super cheesy here or set a weird tone but unfortunately I'm going to be in Japan for a business trip at the next meeting.

And after the next meeting our board makeup is certain to change.

And so I'm not going to have a chance at our next meeting to thank my colleagues for the amazing process that they've shared with me.

So I just wanted to touch base on it now publicly because I feel that This this last two years or my first two years on the board I have grown hugely as an individual and I have the utmost respect for every single person that sits behind this dais and the reasons why they choose to do it.

The heart and soul that they bring to this work and the messaging they put around it the hard work they do and I feel that I You know regardless of what anybody feels about how the school board is working having watched school boards for a decade.

This is an amazing group of people to every individual and I'm just thrilled about that.

So for my neighbor Director Blanford what what I what I'm extracting from from working with you is is the relentless commitment to equity.

Fiscal responsibility.

A great appreciation for your depth in educational research and referring to it.

And my number one take home is I now believe the words theory of action actually mean something.

which means we should only do something if there's a darn good reason.

So what is our theory of action.

What are we doing.

Why are we doing it.

What is our evidence of results.

It's from this guy.

So thank you for that.

For President Peters you're relentless and deep rooted journalist that we can't make go away even if we wanted to.

champion of collaboration and community outreach.

And one of the things that that I still remember is when I first started on the board and I don't remember what the topic was we were talking about voting and you had said always vote your heart.

And so I remember that and I'll continue to remember that and I thank you for that.

So I just wanted to close with that that I'm hugely grateful to both of you for the experience and I know the city will thank you but I wanted to do it publicly as well.

Thank you for those words.

Director Geary.

I thank you everybody for your testimony tonight.

There's just a lot to cover and my colleagues have done such a great job with that.

I'm going to keep them try and keep them brief though.

That's not what I'm known for I don't think.

I'm going to start with the Dearborn Elementary dancers because I think it's all going to kind of start and end with them in that I can't even think about it without getting weepy because that to me is like the most beautiful expression of what public education offers in terms of a group of kids all ages all different abilities coming together to express in all different ways with joy and I look at every one of them and I just feel so I can't even talk about it.

I feel so heavy the responsibility to make sure that they go out as adults in this world and that they have been maintained that joy and that love of learning and that appreciation for themselves and for other cultures and so I did go to the Council of Great City Schools and heard Bill Gates talk.

He was one of the speakers and he talked his greatest frustration in all of his experiments with education is that he can't take it to scale.

Right.

He's not found the way to take education to scale.

as if kids were Model Ts and we're putting them through a factory line.

That they're made of the exact same resources and that we're supposed to just have one formula that's going to make them ready for a Microsoft world.

And it was just dumbfounding to me I think was dumbfounding because he's talking to a room full of people who are dedicated to urban education who know that that isn't the way to go.

And it was it was really dumbfounding because those are the people who are investing great amounts of money in hopes to change how we teach our kids.

When I think we've seen today so many examples of how we teach kids.

We teach kids through the Ida B. Wells School for Social Justice where those kids come and say big high schools weren't for me.

I needed a place to express my joy and get back into learning and really find my place.

We've seen and thank you to the UNEA who've come and said we need a special formula model for our kids.

And right now I will be honest is my way to go because the idea of only having kids funnel into one place as opposed to making that joy available throughout our district to many of our kids and having these kids share their culture and get to share in other people's cultures.

I'm still I'm still wary of that.

I'll be honest.

And so we'll have to talk more but making sure that they have a place where they are safe to learn and learn about themselves and share what they learn about themselves with others.

I think that's that is my job.

And so I will continue in that conversation.

And I think about how we've all kind of over the last few weeks been exposed to the me too online and these voices coming out saying these things happened to me and we're changing.

I mean it is changing.

Everybody's starting to get this idea that their story their individual value is not to be seen through one predominant lens and that when they speak they have every right to be heard.

And it's great.

It's great to have our Native Americans here during this time of year come out and challenge our perception our national story perception about what it means to be an American.

What our history is.

I think it's so exciting.

I think it's exciting that all these voices are finding their power and forcing the institutions that teach them that run this government to change.

So please keep showing up.

Keep trying to convince us and I will keep looking at our student assignment plan to make sure That kids have opportunities for all kinds of education the education that they need where they live within their community surrounded by their neighbors.

I will do that.

I promise you that.

So that's enough for now.

I will have continued to hold my Tuesday coffees from 8 to 9 30 at Zoka on Blakely.

More and more people have been showing up.

I did have a gentleman show up and talk to me about Naviance and how it's going to be really really important.

that we make sure that we are protecting the privacy of our children and your family's stories as we engage and interface with these big pieces of software that we're not allowing our stories to be mined for somebody else's data pools.

Anyway so those are the kinds of conversations you can have at the coffee or you can come to my more formal community meeting and that's Saturday November 18th from 1 to 2 30 at Magnuson Park solid ground Phyllis Gutierrez Kenny room and like Director Pinkham nobody showed up purposefully to my meeting last time but because I was there at solid ground A young mother was there with her three kids waiting to talk to a friend and she was the Seattle Public Schools mother.

And so I invited her in and she sat down with me and I don't think she would have sat down with me if it had been you know filled with a bunch of people coming with their issue about boundaries and about things.

But for me it was one of the best community meetings because I got to talk to somebody who wouldn't normally show up and I got to hear her perspective about Seattle schools.

So we all need to take a moment to just appreciate when just one quiet voice shows up and that we've been given the opportunity to hear them.

So thank you everybody.

Thank you.

Dr Harris.

Welcome and thank you.

We learn so very very much from folks that show up and get counted.

We also learn so very much from your emails and from your phone calls and when you arrange meetings with us and show up at the community meetings keep it coming.

We.

We learn we sift we discuss we balance we try our best.

Meetings.

Director Burke mentioned the Saturday meeting at the Capitol Hill library so we can speak to educators about career and technical education.

And I look forward to this.

I think this will be a good way to brainstorm together and to raise the bar and leverage.

November 18th Delridge library 3 p.m.

And now you have a 100 percent chance of getting lasagna because I didn't have enough time due to other commitments on the 50 50 and it's worth coming for.

Our last community meeting was rich very well attended and full of fear and frustration.

about the student assignment plan about pathways for high schools.

What will happen to my students.

And and I appreciate that fear.

I also appreciate that we have over 53000 students to take care of and that they can't all be district six issues.

They can't all be highly capable cohort issues.

They can't be all one interest group issues and that it requires us to balance and and feed back the different levers in the system and how complicated those puzzle pieces are.

because they are extraordinarily complicated and they all come with a price tag quite frankly.

And we have a duty to have a balanced budget in this era of McCleary and the lack of funding.

So when we do something new we necessarily take something away.

And it's it's awfully difficult to say no.

Let me assure you.

I also want to give some thank yous.

I want to say thank you to assistant superintendent of operations Peggy McEvoy who ran to the ball about the extraordinarily dangerous intersection in West Seattle at Alki Elementary School.

We gave her the heads up.

She leaned in she leaned in hard and together with council member Lisa Herbold DOT stood up and listened and reinstituted the lights prior to somebody being killed.

Now the fact that we suggested at the community meeting that we copied general counsel and the risk manager might have had a little something to do with it.

But if it saves a life I'm fine with that.

And I appreciate that sort of nimbleness.

Thank you to Flip Herndon and Richard Best who showed up at Boren K through 8 and instead of being booed off the stage as we were June 1. We had a pretty extraordinary meeting and we reiterated that pre-K 8 Boren would not be moved.

That's that's their school and that makes a very very big difference to a community that started a school from scratch.

Is it is it going to cost some headaches as far as where we put other schools in terms of temporary housing.

Yes it is.

But but it was a huge lift and hugely appreciated.

Pat Sander who always responds to the emails that we get from young people with questions.

It's like clockwork.

Ten minutes later I see another email go back out to that person with with a welcoming warm attitude.

Yes I'm here.

I'll help you.

Call me.

Erin Bennett who puts up with no end of crazy from this board of directors and hugely appreciate the heavy lift that she's been doing for the bidding process for the superintendent search.

This is one of those people that doesn't get nearly enough credit but that works way way too hard.

Middle College High School and Trent I'm a well-known advocate of middle college high school.

I'm a well-known advocate of alternative learning and I could not be more pleased with the traction that middle college has made back from some fairly painful days.

I still want a middle college campus in southwest Seattle and I'm looking at you Associate Superintendent Talley.

We're not done with this yet.

We are not.

Also want an opportunity to brag on someone and who's going to be coming up next to present and that's the internal auditor another one of these people that work very very hard and does not get nearly enough credit.

This gentleman also went to the Council of Great City Schools as the lead author of a national paper that was extraordinarily well received and it's on our Web site and I encourage you to read it.

Internal auditors are the checks and balances to good governance here and way to go.

Thank you very much.

Frustrations.

Hearing a lot of chatter from the community that the open house scenario can result in different staff members giving people different answers and a lack of consistency.

And that's that's a sad thing.

I understand why we're doing it this way but again as director Burke spoke of I'd like to see a balanced or a different approach and I don't know if we can do that for the next two coming up or not.

I'm frustrated by the disconnectedness if you will if that's even in fact a word of the student assignment plan and the pathways and the pathways include dual immersion language includes highly capable.

It includes advanced learning and the boundaries with a new high school opening.

I have to say I was frustrated and more than a little astonished to read on social media that Ingram has been chosen as the dual language immersion pathway according to a director of a program and as a board member.

Please appreciate that sometimes you all have better information than we do and that's very frustrating.

So if there is a way we can knit together or macrame this so that it's a smoother process because every piece of this process affects the other and it feels very disjointed and we owe our families clarity and trust.

And in that bucket if you will is clarity and trust on special education pathways and programs and service placement.

We still hear a great deal from the community that they feel their special ed kids are being used to balance capacity and that's that's a terrible thing to me if folks feel that way.

We either need to do a much better job of explaining the process or we need to build in more flexibility into our system and because our system is so tight and so rigid.

I don't know how we do it but we've got to have some more room in there for flexibility and reactions.

Again it is my honor.

It is my pleasure and I cannot thank the folks enough for engaging with us and learning us up.

OK.

Well we actually have to take a break shortly.

So unfortunately we're going to have to delay our report from our internal auditor until we come back from our break.

So the board's going to take a 10 minute break and come back at 7 24 and then after our auditor's report and I will make my final comments.

Our meeting is a little bit different tonight.

We had a very wonderful performance at the beginning and then we had some other recognitions.

And so the schedule is not quite how we normally run it.

But thank you for your patience and we will be back in 10 minutes.

Thank you.