First, please let's recognize that we are on Coast Salish land.
Also, if we could have a moment of silence for the victims of the recent domestic terrorist violence.
Thank you.
This is a board special meeting.
It is a public meeting.
It is being face stream live and it's also being videoed for Channel 26. We will hear from nine candidates who have applied to serve on the school board in the seat formerly held by Director Betty Patu.
One other candidate, Patricia Cheadle, was not able to attend tonight.
Additionally, two candidates have asked to withdraw their names from consideration for the appointment.
Thank you very much to the candidates for putting yourself forward and for spending the time and to open yourself up to this extraordinary opportunity.
We really appreciate it.
The information already submitted by the candidates is posted on the Seattle Public Schools website on the opening screen and there are links there to the candidates web pages.
We are trying our darndest to make this as transparent and open a process as possibly can be done.
Our apologies that we did not have child care.
We're doing the best that we can during summer breaks, during vacations, and trying to make sure that we have your remaining six directors on board to hear from everyone at the same time.
Former Director Patu served 10 years as the District 7 School Board Director until stepping down from the board effective July 1. Her long service to students and families of this district, and particularly in the southeast portion of our fair city, has certainly inspired many, and we are excited to see so many applicants express interest in serving on this board.
We want to thank Rainier Beach High School for hosting us.
We appreciate all that Principal Smith and the school staff have done in preparation for this event tonight.
And thank you to the District 7 students and families.
We appreciate the help we've received and the input from community.
And a special shout out to CSEC, Erin Okuno, the Seattle Council of PTSA who held a forum last week which was beyond.
It was absolutely terrific and it helps us make decisions.
Thank you as well to our staff who have been doing well above and beyond duty, in particular Ellie Wilson-Jones.
She is amazing.
I feel like I need a red phone with her.
Leslie, we didn't think of this.
Leslie, unintended consequences.
She holds us up and that's in addition to all the other work she does and with a vacancy in the board office.
And we cannot thank her enough.
Additionally, Superintendent Juneau is here tonight.
Would you wave please, Madam?
Sherry Cox, Special Advisor to the Superintendent, just waved.
Keisha Scarlett, Chief.
And I want other folks, oh, Mia Williams, the brand new, awesome Chief of African American Male Advancement.
Formally of Aki Kurose middle school fame who has lifted up so very very many folks.
It can be done.
It has been done and it will be done.
Thank you.
Could folks from the staff of Seattle Public Schools please raise their hands.
Okay, guys, above and beyond.
And please know that these folks have been working in the Senior Leadership Institute, SLI, all week with our principals.
our senior staff, and our assistant principals, and I can tell you from my heart, I've been lucky enough to attend some of this, what we saw today and what we saw earlier this week is far different than what we saw four years ago.
This is hands-on.
This is not snoozer material.
This is not sit and get.
This is inspirational to lift up folks, and I am proud and I am very thankful.
So before we begin, I want to highlight the next steps.
On August 12th, we'll have a work session from 4.30 to 5.30 for the directors to discuss the logistics of the appointment process.
And it's a little messy, quite frankly, but it's very, very collaborative.
And we as a board like each other, and it's a good thing because we spend a great deal of time together.
And we all have a collective sense of humor, and we need it.
This is a public meeting, it'll be at the board conference room at the John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence.
On August 21st, we'll hold another board special meeting to select the three finalist candidates from this extraordinary panel, and that's going to be extraordinarily difficult.
On September 11, we'll hold a second District 7 candidate forum right here, Rainier Beach High School, in the Performing Arts Center from 6 to 9. During this forum, the three finalists will be invited to answer questions from the community.
We'll line folks up, and it's fair game, and it'll be fascinating, and it'll be tough on the candidates.
Finally on September 18 the board will vote on the appointment for the District 7 seat during the regular school board meeting which begins at 415 at the John Stanford Center for Educational Excellence Francis Penrose auditorium where we hold our regular legislative meetings and that will be on Channel 26 live streaming.
After that vote the applicant will be immediately sworn in.
So the three finalists.
in order to prepare themselves for that legislative meeting and to represent District 7 and in fact the entirety of the Seattle public school system will need to be prepared and ready to roll and make fiduciary choices that come with this sometimes overwhelming job.
Last.
It is my distinct pleasure, come on, to introduce to you Ron Sims, our moderator tonight.
Ron is a former deputy secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development and prior to his appointment to HUD he served for 12 years as the elected county executive.
He is an active civic volunteer and we thank him for joining us tonight to moderate.
We needed to bring in the big guns to do this right.
And Ron is from this neighborhood.
He has watched the Seattle schools.
He has watched us.
Inside out, upside down, advocated for us, been to Olympia with us in the past, and you're coming back with us come January, right?
Yes, indeed.
Yes, you are.
Okay, input to the directors.
You can provide us with input by filling out a comment card that'll be on the stage and by the doors, and those comment cards should be dropped in the box on your way out.
And also, we have a link to the website front-facing page to write us.
It's included in tonight's agenda and online feedback can be provided until August 13th at 5 p.m.
It is my pleasure to turn this over to you, kind sir.
Thank you.
I want to thank President Harris and One of the joys of being back in Seattle is that you get to see people who are exceptional and superb public servants.
And President Harris is an exceptional and superb public servant.
And earlier this evening, we were celebrating school board member who is former school board member Betty Patu, who also is a superb and exceptional public servant.
Tonight's forum will begin with each candidate being given an opportunity to provide a two-minute opening statement.
We will then move into questions with each candidate receiving a turn to respond to the questions.
These questions were developed by the board during an open public meeting held Monday.
Up to nine questions will be asked as time allows.
We will not be taking additional questions from the audience tonight given the time constraints and the number of candidates.
Because the questions were pre-identified during a public meeting, and to ensure the questions being asked are clear to all candidates, copies of the questions have been provided tonight to each candidate.
Candidates have been seated based upon a random drawing held during Monday's public meeting, and the order in which the candidates speak will rotate each time a question is asked.
Responses are limited to one minute.
to each question.
Responses are limited to one minute for each question.
I say that with emphasis, being out of an environment where we like to ask questions and give speeches.
The time will be signaled tonight with red, yellow, and green, excuse me, once we conclude with questions, each candidate will be given one minute to provide a closing statement.
Time will be signaled tonight with red, yellow, and green lights.
The lights will begin green.
Once the light turns yellow, you have 30 seconds remaining.
When the light is red, you have no more time.
Staff seated in the audience will also be indicating time with coordinating cards since the light is small.
Please conclude your response promptly when your time is exhausted for fairness as we have a very tight program this evening.
You do not need to use all of your time if you prefer to answer more briefly.
Beginning now with opening statements, you have two minutes.
Candidate Rose.
First I want to thank you all for being here tonight.
My name is Sophia Voss and I am a proud candidate for District 7 school board seat.
I have worked in Southeast Seattle Seattle Public Schools for the past 10 years as well as schools across the district alongside superintendents teachers principals families and students.
I know firsthand from my own educational experience and my family's that schools can either replace of community and belonging or they can be a place that perpetuates structural racism and inequity.
And too often, we know that the color of your skin dictates which experience you might have.
While I have experience in schools and in organizational leadership, I am rooted in equity.
As recently as this past week, we have heard stories out of our own district of ways in which inequity has been perpetuated in our schools and the experiences that black students face in our district.
I am the mother of a black child who will be entering Seattle Preschool Program at Van Asselt Elementary, our neighborhood school, next year.
I know there are amazing educators there, including my child's dad, who's a fourth grade teacher.
And I know that policy is imperative and is long lasting and we need to focus on that.
And I also know from the past 10 years of working in schools that adults are and always will be an X factor and the X factor when it comes to a student's experience.
In a state where 89% of our educators are white, we must all be rooted in equity.
I hold a belief that is universal that our families and our students are powerful and that we must include them at the table when we are making decisions.
We must include them in raising up the issues that are important to them and also include them when we think about solutions to those issues.
That cannot happen in a closed door with a small group of people.
It has to happen with our communities each and every single day.
If I were the director of District 7, I promise to be a leader that honors and engages our families in not only raising issues, but creating solutions together.
Thank you.
Good evening.
I'm going to try my best not to blow your ears out.
My name is Brandon Hersey like the candy bar without the second H just in case you were wondering how to spell that.
And I have the proud honor of leading a second grade classroom in the Federal Way Public School District.
I am a proud union member and a proud District 7 resident and I work on the front lines of the opportunity gap trying to narrow it in the interest of not only the students furthest away from educational justice but all students who have been marginalized in our society especially in Seattle Public Schools.
I work directly with Troop 008, Washington State's only African-American scout troop, and almost all of my scouts attend District 7 schools.
And I work closely with them, not only on their schoolwork, but also out on the trail.
And you know, I've learned some things from them.
Our students are yearning.
They are yearning for educators that look like them.
They are yearning for a curriculum that reflects their lived experiences and most importantly they are yearning for opportunity so that they can make the choice to live work and thrive in the community where they grew up and not be pushed out by our city's crippling economic inequities and housing crisis.
Yes.
Thank you.
And we are here tonight to discuss not only how we can make Seattle Public Schools a better place for kids but specifically how we can make Seattle Public Schools a better place for those furthest away from educational justice.
And I am looking forward and I take it as an honor to work with every single one of you in this audience tonight because together We will accomplish this goal and we will make sure that we have an advocate and a board director that will stand up on behalf of our district's most marginalized students.
Thank you for being here tonight and thank you for your time.
Candidate Han.
Thank you Mr. Sims and thank you all for being here tonight.
It's incredible to be around so many people who are passionate about our District 7 schools.
My name is Jason Hahn.
I've lived here in the Rainier Valley with my family for more than a decade.
I have a rising kindergartner it's very exciting and a third grader at John Muir Elementary School.
I'm active in our PTA and I served on the building leadership team at John Muir for the past two years.
I'm seeking to be your representative on the school board because I think we can do better.
And I think that the time for incremental change is over.
We need to do more to build a school system rather than a system of schools.
A school system that values each and every one of our children.
Our schools can close the opportunity gap.
We can prepare each of our graduating seniors for the world beyond our doors.
And we can ensure that all of our teachers and staff have the tools and the resources they need to do their jobs well and educate our young scholars.
While we're doing this, we must directly confront the racism that's present in our educational system and its effects on our schools.
I am a white man and I know I have benefited from the privilege that accrues to me because of that.
I'm also a person who believes deeply deeply that we need to dismantle white supremacy so that all of our children can reach their potential.
And that is why we need to implement ethnic studies now and hire teachers who look like our amazing students.
That's why we need to strengthen our strategic plan so it fully embraces those who are furthest from educational justice.
Here in District 7 we are blessed with the diversity of communities from many backgrounds and speaking many languages.
I pledge to you that I will fight for each of your children just as hard as I fight for my own and I will be open to you whenever you need help from your school system and in whatever language you may speak.
Working together we can build a school system that reflects our values here in District 7. our values of racial justice, of acceptance, and of educational excellence.
I commit to doing that in community with each and every one of you.
Thank you.
Candidate Rocky.
Yes good evening.
I am Barbara Rocky and I too.
This is so many other of my candidates next to me fellow candidates.
I'm here in honor of being able to represent District 7 and also the community and most importantly our students.
I come to you today as a community member.
Not only do I live in District 7, I also work in District 7. I've had the privilege of being in Rainier Beach High School, as well as other schools throughout this area.
And one of the biggest and most challenging aspects of my day-to-day as a parent, but also as a PTSA president, but also as someone who works in the community, day in and day out, I interface with students.
And to me, this is what this evening is about.
I come here not for anything else or anything less.
Knowing that we have an equity issue.
We have an access issue.
We have an engagement issue in our community.
We have an issue where our parents and families don't feel connected.
And you know what?
That is our biggest challenge.
And within those challenges, we know that our children cannot succeed.
And our children haven't succeeded.
And so I come to you this evening with everything on the table to figure out how we can work together, but also listen to our students and empower them in this work.
Because all of us can sit at the table and be there and make quote unquote decisions on behalf But there is no greater power than having our students and our families be at the forefront of this work.
We know the inequities.
We know the fact of the outcomes.
We know poverty.
We know homelessness.
We know the fact of the matter is that our young men of color are not making it.
And when we look at our papers and our local news, and we see that our children, black and brown young men, are struggling, and I ask you tonight to lean in Lean in to me, lean in to listen, to figure out how you can support me as well as I supporting you in this work.
This doesn't end tonight for me.
It doesn't.
I didn't start this journey in terms of this last few months.
I started this journey when I was a young lady.
A young girl in public schools.
I'm a product and I'm a proud product of Seattle not Seattle Public Schools but public schools in general.
And I ask you tonight to join me as we fight for our students.
We fight for them like we've never fought before because the world is big and they have to go beyond Seattle.
They have to go beyond here.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Welcome everybody who's here tonight.
I just want to let you know first and foremost that your feed me and I appreciate being here with the community.
Many people who I've worked to get worked with in community to make sure that Seattle Public Schools is held accountable for all of our students.
I am here today as a product of Seattle Public Schools.
My children attend Seattle Public Schools Dearborn Park Elementary International School Mercer Middle School and I have a daughter who graduated from Garfield High School.
So it is my pleasure to be here.
I'm looking for your support.
First and foremost because we've done the work together already.
There's a person in the audience I want to shout out.
Flora who was when I started kindergarten at Dearborn Park said to me there's this peer leader program in Seattle Public Schools you need to get involved.
So because of her I'm a result of being up here today.
Thank you Flora.
I also.
I also want to share that as well as being a product of Seattle Public Schools and having children and seeing particularly black boys you enter into kindergarten or the K through 12 system really understanding how that plays out really understanding that I energize children who love to learn come into a system that is historically institutionally racist and how that plays out on our children.
So as a parent I've experienced it but instead of running away from that.
I decided to get involved and say, how do we partner to improve this system?
How do we dismantle this system?
So that's why I'm here.
So in getting involved, I not only participate and be involved in my school to help improve the positive climate in the school, create welcoming environments for the school but also convene community events that bring district level policy to the community so that all families can understand what do we need to do and how do we work in partnership to improve the outcomes for our students.
In addition to that I've participated on family partnership advisory to the superintendent over the years.
I participate as a member of the African-American male scholars advisory.
I participated on the.
Strategic Plan Steering Committee.
So I've done the work for at least six years plus and know what it means to be in the district understand the policies understand the culture in there and understand the dynamics of what it takes.
So I'm here to say I have the lived experience.
I believe in accountability to community but I also have prepared myself educationally and my lived experience to say that I'm the best candidate for this opportunity and I appreciate your support.
Thank you.
Candidate Salisbury.
Salisbury.
All right.
Give it up for my fellow bulldog right to the right of me here.
My name is Shikundi Salisbury that is Shikundi Salisbury and I am looking forward to being the District 7 representative here on the school board.
I am a product of Seattle Public Schools.
I went to Garfield High School.
I went to Summit K-12 I went to Leschi So I am a product of the schools my kids go to school.
My daughter went to Garfield High School and my son goes to school across the street at South Shore Elementary where he is maintaining a 3.94 GPA and I'm very proud of him.
I attended Elizabeth City State University where I have a degree in computer science.
So I know about STEM and I lead a STEM lifestyle.
I have 22 years in this district.
I live on the corner of 42nd and Warsaw.
And I also have 22 years of service to this district.
I was the former President of the Board at Southeast Youth and Family Services.
I am a current PCO in my neighborhood where I doorbell and make sure that my community gets out to vote.
I served as our, this district's representative, the 37th district to the Washington State Democratic Convention.
and Wenatchee.
So I'm engaged.
But on a school level, I'm a founder of a organization called 100 Black Parents, where I create, well, I didn't create, but I maintain the ninth grade report card conference at Garfield High School.
And that is something where I go above and beyond and engage students who are not my own, not even close to my own son, OK?
And that's what I feel like I bring to the table, is I have a history of serving other people's children and maintaining a massive commitment to this community through my service, and service is a lifestyle.
OK, so Shikundi Salisbury, and we're going to get into it tonight.
Candidate Foster.
Hi, my name is Dion Foster and I'm a candidate for District 7. First, thank you all so much for being here.
It's such an honor to be here on this stage with so many folks from the community who I respect and adore and I think are just strong leaders, each in our own individual right.
I want to talk a little bit about why I am a candidate to represent our district and our community.
And it comes down to me to both family and community.
I am doing this for people like my mom, who was an educator and a paraeducator for 14 years and struggled to pay the bills and keep the lights on.
I got my first job when I was 16 to be able to support our household.
Teachers deserve better than that.
They deserve fair pay, especially in this city with the rising cost of living.
I'm doing this for people like my older brother, who was physically disabled and in a wheelchair, and I watched the struggle that he had in school with inclusion, both getting transportation services, adequate education in the classroom, tracking of IEPs, and that struggle.
I'm doing it for the families in this district that share those experiences and those struggles.
I'm doing it for people like myself who got into a lot of trouble in school growing up and was in school suspension, out of school suspension, a lot of disciplinary actions, absences.
I remember getting that letter when I almost didn't graduate because I wasn't going to school enough.
And now I'm here with a master's degree in front of you all as a candidate for the school board.
And I know that's possible for our students, right?
And I'm here for kids like my son.
I'm a parent.
My son is at Kimball Elementary School.
And he is this amazing, bright, biracial black boy who's identified as having the potential to, he's reading above his level and a number of other things.
But we don't actually have services where he can both be taught at his level and also be in a community of people that look like him right now.
And I think that's a challenge that we need to face together as a district.
And so I see all of these things happening both in my family and our community.
And I'm seeking this position because I want to address that collectively with you.
Thank you.
Candidate Van Arcken.
Hi my name is Julie Van Arcken.
I just came from the retirement party for Director Betty Patu and I was just thinking about the first time I met her back in 2013. My neighbors had just learned that the district planned to disproportionately displace children of color from our neighborhood school.
We were really concerned about that.
We went door to door.
We talked to other neighbors about it and a group of us agreed to go to Betty's community meeting to talk to her about it.
And I'll never forget.
She said this is wrong and I'm not going to let them do this to our kids.
I'll never forget that sense of conviction.
It's the same conviction I've brought to my six years of district work including serving as Southeast Director for the Seattle Council PTSA.
I'm a multiracial mom, a neighborhood and district advocate, the daughter of immigrants, and a committed special education advocate.
And that identity informs all of the work that I do.
Because of who I am, and because of the work I've done for Southeast Kids, Director Patu has both endorsed me and offered to mentor me in this role.
Though I could never fill her shoes, I promise to make her proud.
Thank you.
Candidate Hairston.
Good evening.
My name is Romanita Hairston, and I'm a candidate for the District 7 board position.
And I just want to say how thankful I am for all of you who are participating in the room, who are either watching now or will watch later.
And to all of those who are sitting here as esteemed candidates along with me, I'm grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the process and look forward to the next steps.
I want to say a few things.
One, I think we're at a critical moment when we think about education as we think about things like closing the achievement gap, aligning our funding to the priorities that we want to achieve in the strategic plan, to thinking about how we actually graduate students who are ready to compete, not just in our local market, but in global markets.
We have a number of things in front of us that we need to achieve.
And in order to achieve them, it's going to take the combined efforts of all of those who are currently working in the district, all of us who are currently on the stage, those who we have not activated yet as a part of the process to really achieve the kinds of outcomes that we'd like to see.
As I think about that critical moment, for me this is a personal moment.
It's a moment that I've thought about for a long time to ask, how can I take the experience that I've got and contribute that to the kinds of outcomes we want to see?
I'm a 30-year resident of the community.
My family's business was a major part of the revitalization of Columbia City.
I've graduated two students from Franklin High School, one four years ago, who was the student president, and then another just last year.
And I have a daughter who's currently at Mercer Middle School.
But I couldn't enumerate.
I see you over there.
I couldn't enumerate in the time that we've got the skills that I believe I can bring, but what I want to encourage you all to do before I make more comments is you can find out a lot about me at romanitahairston.com at the bottom of my page.
You'll see not only my answers to the questionnaire, but you'll see the full bio that is offered there on me.
You'll see links to my other experience that I think are relevant that help you to get a sense of me, even more so what you'll see is a place where you can contact me.
What I offer to every member of the community is if you're interested in talking to me about education and your viewpoint, this is an opportunity for you to learn more about me and what I want to do is learn more about you and what matters.
Board members come to represent the community, to bring vision and to share about the opportunity for what we can do in the future.
And what I want to do is represent the community well.
I'm motivated to serve.
I've served for over 30 years, 25 of them working on education.
You can see my results.
You can see the things I've talked about as an operational leader, as a thought leader, as a policy leader in these areas by just researching who I am.
But if you want to ask me personal questions, send that email or call that personal number that's on my site, and I'm happy to be responsive.
Thank you.
Moving on to the questions, remember you will have one minute to answer each question.
So I've had the opportunities to brief two different presidents.
I had the opportunity to have briefings with President Clinton and President Obama.
People said, what did you do in those briefings?
One, you were concise.
Two, you were thorough.
And three, you were brief.
The first question is, given the strategic plan's focus on predictable and consistent operational systems, which of the district's operational systems do you think we should focus on and why?
For example, transportation, nutritional services, and buildings.
In order for this question I'll call on each of the candidates.
I'll call on candidate Hersey first.
Thank you.
I believe that we should be focusing on nutritional services.
As a teacher, I eat lunch with my students in my classroom at least twice a week during the year.
And I got to tell you, sometimes it's tough.
If you haven't seen school lunch in recent years you really should enter a cafeteria sit down with a student and have a meal.
Because what I need you to know is that nutritional justice is the same thing as educational and racial justice for so many of our students especially in District 7 who depend on schools as their main source of nutrition.
We have to get this right.
And I believe that we can do this by implementing a lot of the same from scratch farm to school and edible education programs as we've seen in partner communities such as Skagit and the San Juans.
Research shows during the Obama era done by the Brookings Institute that schools that participate in such programs see an increase in almost four percentile points on standardized testing when kids have access to healthy nutritious food that also tastes good.
And for students who are on free and reduced lunch those advantages are even greater.
Raising almost 6 to 7 percentile points.
Please conclude.
Excuse me.
Please conclude.
Thank you.
No you can conclude but it's.
We're good.
Okay.
Candidate Han.
Thank you Mr. Sims.
I would choose to focus on our buildings and that choice is fairly personal for me.
At John Muir Elementary School we've had a failing HVAC system for a while and we were bringing this up with district staff and we were told that you know we looked at our computers and everything is fine there.
And it finally culminated, and you may have seen this in the paper, in a flood of pink liquid through our cafeteria, where we had kindergartners walking out, basically evacuated, through HVAC fluid.
And this was the fault of a failure in preventative maintenance.
It was a fault of not listening to parents and staff.
And then when this did happen, we organized.
We started inundating the school board with, thank you, with a lot of emails.
And we did get that fixed overnight.
And then we were told, well, you know, this is great.
We're going to turn off the system so that your young scholars in summer school will not have air conditioning during the summer.
And so we launched another wave of advocacy, and we got air conditioners for our scholars.
We need to concentrate on ensuring that our buildings are safe and that they are appropriate for our young scholars.
Thank you.
Candidate Rocky.
Yes, I too chose to focus on our operational systems of our buildings.
And I think as our students prepare to go back to school, this is a place where we really, really need to figure out to make sure that our students are welcome into their school, that their teachers are ready and our buildings are fully staffed.
Every class, no matter if it's language arts, if it's mathematics, if it's anything from PE or even Spanish, that there are teachers who are ready and willing to teach our students.
Secondly, also the cleanliness of our buildings are important.
Students learn best when they take pride in where they go to school.
If you have a student who walks in and there is no representation of feeling excited about learning, that is a problem.
The other thing is our security.
that students need to feel safe that they know that they spend so much time in school.
There should be no question no doubt that there is school safety always.
And the other aspect that we need to focus on is our customer service within our buildings.
Our front office staff is always key and engaging with our families and our students and helping them navigate the school and answer any questions that they may have.
Thank you.
Thank you.
You know just about every challenge or issue that's happening in Seattle Public Schools is felt and concentrated down here in District 7 in our South Seattle schools.
We have the most free reduced lunch schools.
We have the most students of color.
So every aspect from our buildings to nutrition to all those issues.
But what I would want to focus on is in the building and school leadership with regard to our CSIP plans.
That's continuous student improvement plans.
I would want to see that.
The principals align their goals at the school and their practices and their resources with the strategic plan because our budget is so limited.
We need alignment.
We need our alignments to be focused on the target of the goals of strategic of the strategic plan because as a board member that is one of my top priorities.
I have to make sure that the strategic plan is successful and because I was on the steering committee and agree with the strategic plan that is my number one focus.
Oftentimes we see these CSIP plans.
They don't call into the goals in terms of family engagement.
They don't call into the goals of the buildings but I would like to see those CSIP plans instituted and that can happen from the school leadership and from the board level to be a directive around that work.
So if that is aligned and then we can get family engagement and family voice at the table to say how do we want to do this.
How do we want to focus on nutrition.
Please summarize.
Thank you.
Candidate Salisbury.
Yeah, I concur with him isia all of the worries and the tragedies that are on that are aligned with our district district 7 they all come down on us because of our opportunity gap and the number of people of color in our district and So, but if I had to focus on one, which I've been asked, I'd like to talk about nutrition.
It's very, I do agree with the other candidate that affected malnourished and undernourished and underfed students really can't concentrate.
And if you volunteered, if you've been in the classroom, if you've actually been to lunch and sat down, It's a real issue and what we need to do is, like I said, I would focus on that, is making sure that we have nutritional meals that serve the students who need them most.
Everyone is not able to bring a lunch to school and it is very important that our students are able to be well fed and be able to concentrate.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Candidate Foster.
Thank you.
I'd also like to focus on nutritional services.
I really appreciate this question.
As somebody who's been on EBT and food stamps and used Fresh Bucks, I think that the issue of food access is really close to home for me.
Earlier this year I had the opportunity to sit down with some students from a I'm going to talk a little bit more about that in a minute.
We know that most of the students that eat lunch at school are students who are on free and reduced lunch, and I think we need to look at options to expand those services, including the community eligibility provision that makes it easier for students to access those services.
I also think that it's important to look at scratch cooking options that's inextricably tied to our buildings, because we actually need to make sure that we have adequate spaces to do that preparation in order to deliver that program.
Thank you.
Candidate Van Arcken.
I would focus on the student assignment plan because it affects everything else that happens at school.
School staff are funded through something called a weighted staffing standard, which means that funding is dependent on the number of students who are expected to attend that school.
And in my experience, the loss of that funding is one of the most chaotic things that can happen at a school.
For schools like Dearborn Park which offers dual language immersion they need a certain number of staff to even just run the program.
So if they lose staff it doesn't just mean more crowded classrooms.
It jeopardizes the entire curriculum at the school.
So that's why I would focus on making sure that the right number of students are assigned to each school.
Thank you.
I'm going to maybe be the outlier and not pick one.
I think the challenge of governing is actually figuring out how to balance these priorities and make progress across multiple areas.
I agree with my esteemed colleagues here that nutrition has an impact on education, but being in a building that's dilapidated also creates for an environment that's not conducive to learning.
Not just for students but also for the educators that have to deliver that education every day.
It communicates a value that we have to care about and certainly student assignment is important to the notion of how we think about funding.
I think the challenge of governing though at the school board level is around how do we make decisions that help to trickle down and empower the buildings where a number of these decisions are decided.
We need great policy that helps to ensure that student assignment is fair and leads to appropriate funding, but we also need to equip all of those individuals inside of buildings who lead the facilities committees, which I've actually met with some of those internal building groups, to ensure they've got the resources they need to make the right kinds of financial decisions as they govern the dollars that have been put into their hands.
And as I think about the challenge when we talk about what needs to happen with nutritional services we've got to partner with the community and how do we help empower schools to work more effectively with community groups parents and others to provide greater nutritional options to students not just for in the classroom but outside.
Thank you.
Candidate Rose.
The issue that I would choose to focus on is transportation.
What sounds like a single issue has a trickle down effect on a lot of our students.
One of the things I do in my organization is we greet students at the door when they come in and when students are tardy we help send them to class.
And when we think about transportation in Seattle Public Schools we have to think broadly about it because we have one company which is First Student that takes the cheapest bid that Seattle Public Schools offers and Because of the cost of real estate in Seattle the bus bins where literally the buses park During the day are not actually in within city limits And what that means is that our buses are driving from outside of city limits into Seattle they get caught in traffic they're late to pick up students, students are late to school, and every minute of in-seat time matters.
We know that attendance is an indicator that if students are falling behind with tardies, with absences, that that has a detrimental effect on their ability to finish graduation on time.
And so for me, when we think about transportation, it would be pushing the superintendent and our operations folks to think about what is the plan for making sure that we have a transportation system that works for all of our students to get them to school on time.
What are your comments and concerns about special education delivery in the Seattle Public Schools.
Candidate Han.
Thank you Mr. Sims.
This is an incredibly personal question for me.
I'm the father of a second grader who's in special education who is repeatedly restrained and isolated and suspended because the school just simply can't deal effectively with his disability.
And that's just not my story it's the story of children across our district because we know that most of the children who are isolated and restrained and when I say isolated I mean put in an isolation room are children in special education and that's unfair and that's unjust and no child should be treated like that.
In addition to that my other concern is with the adversarial nature of the special education process.
You know what we've encountered and which is also true in general in Seattle and Washington state is a push to move children into the most restrictive setting possible.
And it was only when we resorted to lawyers and that's I mean to fight for our child, that we're able to stop that and push back on that.
So we need to make this process much less adversarial.
We need to allow our parents to record the IAP meetings, and we need to make sure that they have family advocates in those meetings.
Thank you.
Yes, and for me this question is both personal as well as professional.
I will say my engagement with special education departments in the Southeast community of schools has been inspiring and challenging at the same time.
Seeing case managers work tirelessly with students across teams to make sure that IEP needs are met, specific learning goals are met, and yet their accommodations are also built into that.
The other difficulty that I see in terms of goal alignment and parents being able to work with teachers and understanding what an IEP is and understanding that the barriers and the challenges and that no two students are the same and having parents being able to advocate for their children and having a running knowledge of what an IEP is.
And I think at times sometimes the support in one school may look very different to what it is for another school.
So if we're looking at our special education departments we really need to look for alignment across our district because I'm telling you in the southeast Southeast part of our district.
It really is a challenge that you should not have to go into one school and feel that one specific special ed program is operating better and services are being administered than another school.
Thank you.
Candidate Smith.
Thank you.
I too have a personal story with the special education department.
I do have a child with an IEP similar to what you've read in the Seattle Times with regard to dyslexia and Seattle Public Schools having a delayed response and with regard to the evaluation of dyslexia and also having limited services around.
addressing that issue, it really sets children up for failure.
And having a black son in particular, it is imperative that he is at standard and grade level when we think about the determinant of reading at grade level being a determinant if you make it through the school-to-prison pipeline, if you're funneled in that direction.
So this is extremely personal for me.
I want to just say that I that's a challenge and a concern as a person who's had meetings and they just give you this thick book of your rights but don't even explain the rights to you don't even explain to you what the process is around special education.
I have to actually go outside of Seattle Public Schools to get resources and support.
I've seen and met families who've had great services and feel like they're getting great support from the school whereas there's others who do not.
And this is across the district.
So what I would want to see as a board member with my colleagues and team would to first and foremost update the website to share where the resources are to add resources on the website of where you can go outside outside of the district to get some support.
Thank you.
Thank you.
If any of you want to know why I'm pushing so hard, there are nine questions and nine speakers.
That's 81 questions or responses.
So I'm just kind of pushing a little harder.
Candidate Salisbury.
They're all fine candidates.
I'm not picking on anybody.
I'm just letting you know why I'm doing what I'm doing.
Candidate Salisbury, please.
Thank you.
I too am concerned about making sure that there is the correct education around the IEP plans for parents.
One of the things I'd like to see is more parent support and engagement, and I'd like to see a parent academy.
if you will, support academy where we can really do more education, immersive education for parents who have children with special needs.
The other thing is I'd like to really see special education for those that truly need special education.
In many buildings, special education has become a dumping ground for folks that might have behavioral issues that truly do not need special education but really need other resources in their life.
And so I'd like to see the resources in the building for those young people so they are not pushed into that track and that the folks that really need special education can get those services.
I delivered special education camps at Camp Long during the summer where I was the director.
And so I've worked extensively with those families on off school time.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Candidate Foster.
First, I think it's important to acknowledge the diversity within special education, whether that are students that have ambulatory disabilities, whether that's neurodiverse students, and to say that the solutions look different depending on who the student is.
I think it's also important to acknowledge there are special education students who are twice exceptional and in special education also deserve and should be in advanced learning programs.
Having said that, one thing I want to raise up is actually a story from a family from District 7 that happened earlier this year, where because, as Sophia has touched on earlier, the district has a contract with one provider, this provider wasn't available for a field trip, and this family whose student was in a wheelchair was left behind.
The student woke up in the morning, thought they were going to go out and have a great day with their friends, and they couldn't because our transportation services contract did not allow the flexibility to make sure that that student's needs were met for that day.
This is something that I believe we need to work on as a district in our contracts.
I also think that the state level cap that we have on special education funding is arbitrary and harmful and that's something as a school board member that I would also work to adjust.
Candidate Van Arcken.
Like I said before I'm a committed special education advocate.
I've been endorsed by multiple presidents of the special education PTSA.
Last week I served on the hiring committee for a special education staff member and last time I testified in front of the board it was on behalf of our autistic kids.
My driving principle as I think about special education is inclusion to the greatest extent possible from preschool to high school in the classroom and on field trips.
Inclusion will benefit not just the children receiving services but the children who get to interact with them as well.
Neurodiversity is a huge benefit to our society and our students need to learn how to collaborate with people who learn and think differently than they do.
Candidate Hairston.
I want to first just state my commitment to students after having walked with multiple families through processes of trying to develop plans to work through the system.
I really do agree with all of the candidates who suggested that we need better resources to help parents understand how to navigate the system.
And I believe some of those resources are in the community.
I don't believe those resources are only managed at the level that they are governed, but they are about the ways that we create policies that extend the impact of the building beyond the building.
I've been an advocate, an ally, and a partner to parents who otherwise might not have had it.
And while I would love to believe that in extending funding, which we need to do, in having values for inclusion which we need to do that we could get it all done.
I think the reality is that we can't because of the diversity that we see in the kinds of students that we need to deal with and the kinds of issues we need to address.
I believe a great gap is having great trauma informed services.
I think one of the reasons we see so many students who are challenged with discipline problems is because we don't have enough trauma informed services in the district.
And I think if we work to bring all of those things together we can see greater outcomes.
Thank you.
Candidate Rose.
Yeah this issue has affected me personally.
I have a nephew who because of a medical condition is in a wheelchair and I had to watch my brother and his family grapple with moving from Rainier Beach to Issaquah because the Seattle Public School systems couldn't meet the need of their child.
So there are three things that I really think when I think about special education.
One if you look at vacancies in Seattle Public Schools many of them are in special education.
So we need educators who are certified and trained to work with our special education students our students in special education.
The second is that, as mentioned before, black and brown students and ELL students are overrepresented in our special education system, and often it's because of behavior issues or showing up to school in a way that goes against dominant culture that they are then labeled as needing to be in special education, so we need to rethink that system.
The third thing, and this is something that was brought to me by a student, I have the pleasure of working on the superintendent student advisory board, and actually one of our students is here tonight, Angelina, who goes to Rainier Beach, hey.
One of the things that they worked on as a student advisory board is the stigma that can come with being in special education for students, and thinking about not wanting to identify themselves as in special education and not having the language to talk about what that means.
So we also need to be asking our students who are involved in special education, what does that mean for them, and then acting accordingly.
Thank you.
Candidate Hersey.
Thank you.
And I totally agree with all of the policy proposals that were suggested and as a teacher I can confirm that all of those things are happening because I see it play out in my classroom every single day.
But one thing that we haven't mentioned is funding.
Special education is grossly underfunded and not only in Seattle but in our region.
And in order to fix that.
We as board directors don't have a magic wand that we can wave and create more funding.
We have to go to Olympia and fight for it and I've got experience doing just that.
I've been endorsed by Senator Bob Hasegawa and Senator Joe Nguyen who are excited to work with me and my future colleagues potentially in securing the funding we need.
But as mentioned on this stage earlier we also have to make better use of the resources that we do have by stopping the tracking of black and brown boys especially into special education programs and that has to end now.
We can get this done if we work together and we need your voice as community members to make sure that when we secure that funding that we get this right because you are the experts on our kids.
The third question is, tell us about the impact of curriculum and instructional materials on student success.
You each have one minute to respond.
Candidate Rocky.
Yes you know this is my work day to day.
I work for a nonprofit in Seattle and a lot of our students who we work with are students who are in foster care who have been in care.
And I think first and foremost when if we're believing and we want to ensure high high student achievement for students of color and black males and my organization definitely works with students of color and specifically making black males a priority.
and those who are furthest from educational justice.
We must invest in a curriculum where students can identify in cultural ways in which they learn history, language, mathematically, arts, and community.
And the fact that that content is rich and it's also comprehensive.
And we need to allow students to have a voice in that part of the curriculum and not a curricula that doesn't meet the specific needs of our students and also puts our teachers at a disadvantage in which they have to go finding supplemental materials in order to make accommodations for the way to make sure that all of our students are learning in an equitable way.
And I just think that if we don't do something in terms of sticking with the curricula or curriculum over time for consistency.
Every single time starting over does not give our students what they need because in order to see if something's working we have to spend time with them.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Candidate Smith.
Thank you.
I want to finger snaps and hand claps to our current board for instituting supporting the time in memorial curriculum that's coming to the district as well as supporting ethnic studies that's coming to the district.
This type of curriculum and materials are so vital.
Our students need to see themselves as contributors to our world.
And there is so much history and information out there that we have to usually find out in the community to supplement Our child self-concept our students self-concept to find themselves that oftentimes is not in Seattle Public Schools.
The history so often our students get turned off from the curriculum get turned off from learning because they do not see their selves they only see one prototype of who are leaders who are the inventors who are the creators and that is just false.
So when we have some curriculum and instruction materials that are sharing that we all have contributed, some of us have lead and developed that curriculum, it's going to make a big change in terms of their self-concept and wanting to learn.
But I also want to say it doesn't have to just be ethnic studies.
It can be part of the math curriculum.
It can be part of the literacy.
And it can be part of the arts, because we are cultivators of all that.
Thank you.
Candidate Salisbury.
Yeah, I'd like to echo what Amaija said about culturally relevant materials.
Ethnic studies is very important and I'd like to see that extended across all of the bodies of study.
One of the things that's very important to me is making sure that my son and people that look like me are represented and the materials and the curriculum.
I'm also, it's very important in this day and age to have up to date and relevant material that speaks to the totality of those involved.
You know, my son loves to use his phone to Google things.
And so in this day and age, it's not okay to leave things out.
Right?
It's very important.
And so I think, again, it's important for our students to see themselves represented and not just in an ethnic studies type of way about those types of issues.
Like, for example, race relations, things that are related to race relations.
I'm talking about across the spectrum.
And that's what I'd like to see.
Excuse me.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Candidate Foster.
Thank you.
I agree with much of what's said.
I'm really excited about supporting ethnic studies.
We know that when students see themselves in material, they're more likely to engage and be able to be present.
We know how important that is.
It's been shown to have impacts on truancy.
It's been shown to have impacts on student performance.
I'm really excited about that.
I'm excited about Since Time Immemorial.
Another thing that hasn't been talked about yet that I want to speak to as a queer person is the K5 gender book kit that the district did.
Right?
Thank you.
It's important for all of our students to see themselves in curriculum and to see themselves at an early age.
It's also important for people to learn to appreciate gender diversity and sexual diversity from an early age.
And it's critical for that to be happening in our schools and in our communities.
The last thing I want to say is that I also want to talk a little bit about instructional time.
There's also research that talks about the first generation college students and that first generation, I was talking to somebody in the audience about this right before we started.
First generation college students are often relying on their schools and educators in order to get guidance and services on FAFSA and forms that help you be college ready.
I also want to look at the use of advisory time for high school students so that we can actually standardize some of those practices that are happening on the side right now and make them part of the path, not something you have to go off the beaten path to find out.
Thank you.
Candidate Van Arcken.
The International Baccalaureate program here at Rainier Beach is an example of how curriculum can affect student success.
The program is internationally known for its challenge and its rigor, and it's been part of this school's success story with its rising attendance and graduation rates.
What I really like about the program, which was created by the community for the community, is that all students are encouraged to take at least one IB class.
Because when we set high expectations for our students our students meet them.
I've already had about a million conversations with former IB coordinator Colin Pierce about this program and I want to work to stabilize the funding of the IB program here at Rainier Beach so our teachers don't have to spend so much time on grant seeking and compliance and instead they can focus on teaching our kids.
Candidate Hairston.
I think one of the things to think about around curriculum and instructional materials, I think it's important for them to be culturally competent, to be culturally responsive.
I think we stop short, though, if the testing that's aligned to them doesn't change to be as culturally responsive.
Yes.
So I want to take a perspective on this question to maybe offer from my experience, not just locally and regionally, but nationally and globally with education.
About 10 years of research would suggest that a focus on curriculum and instruction is extremely important, but there's a reality that qualified teachers actually make the biggest difference.
And one of the challenges that we've got within almost every level of education, yes, we can snap again.
And almost every level of education, not just here but around the country, is making sure that kids in the district, and particularly in ours, have the level of instruction that helps to ensure that the materials, when culturally responsive, when supportive to students who are highly advanced or students who are really struggling, that you combine that trifecta of things to create a holistic view.
Access to resources, qualified instruction, and testing that is culturally responsive.
When you can bring those three things together, you can really then focus on the future of learning and what we want to do for students.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Candidate Booth.
Rigorous research curriculum should be a baseline that teachers can work from.
So teachers need the resources available to them to take that curriculum and make it what students need, dependent on their classroom context.
Ethnic Studies is a great example of one area where students need to be able to see themselves in the curriculum.
On our Student Advisory Board, students named Ethnic Studies as an issue area for them precisely because they do not see themselves in their current curriculum.
Today, when we got to present to our district leaders the proposals our students had, I heard from a Native student and a Black student speak about the only ways they hear about their history is in the context of genocide and slavery.
And it ignores hundreds of years of rich history that these folks have contributed over the years.
And so, when we think about the ways that inclusion shows up in our curriculum, we have to think about language and we have to think about who is centered in those curriculums.
Like Dion mentioned another area that our students have risen up and said this matters in our sexual health curriculum.
And is there inclusive language in there where students can see themselves that it's not binary that is not limited to the gender beliefs that dominant culture holds but really represents our students in true ways.
So we have to focus on whether students are seeing themselves in our curriculums across all the curriculums we use in our schools.
Thank you.
Candidate Hersey.
As a teacher I spent many of my summers not only writing but rewriting and rewriting and rewriting curriculum to be more culturally responsive.
It's no secret as you've heard from all of the other candidates that we need an ethnic studies curriculum but also we need curriculum that reflects the true lived experiences of all of our students at every level of instruction but it cannot stop at curriculum alone.
We also need more educators of color to deliver that curriculum in a meaningful way for our students.
That is a paramount goal that I will work with our fellow board directors to address but it doesn't stop there.
We have to make sure that not only our curriculum not only educators of color but also our instructional materials in the classroom in the library and at every phase.
reflect our students and I have to admit again resources are scarce but there are ways that we can work not only with community partners nonprofits companies and other stakeholders in order to get this done because we can not only focus on curriculum we have to take it a step further and implement racial and equitable justice at every phase of instruction.
Thank you.
Our curriculum is incredibly important.
At John Muir, where my kids go, we are one of the pilot sites for ethnic studies in an elementary school.
And I know that as a parent and for my son, it's been incredible as we've learned the real history of people's stories and the history of their heroism and their contributions to our country.
I think another place I'd like to go with ethnic studies as a part of our curriculum is I had an interesting conversation with Tracy Castor Gills who's the head of ethnic studies at SPS and she was talking about how at the high school level they'll start and maybe even before they'll start talking about whiteness and what that means especially with white students.
I think as a white man who's you know only unfortunately recently come to terms with the history of our country I can't think of anything more important especially in this day and age when we are dealing with domestic white terrorism, that we counter-program this, especially with our young men, to ensure that they understand the true history of our country and that they're not radicalized.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Given the aspirational language of the strategic plan and budget limits, How will you manage stakeholder priorities and requests?
Again, given the aspirational language of the strategic plan and budget limits, how will you manage stakeholder priorities and requests?
You will each have one minute to respond.
Candidate Smith.
Thank you.
I just want to highlight that the strategic plan focuses on our students furthest from educational justice, but starting with our African-American males.
So when I think about our stakeholder priorities, I want to ensure that our stakeholders understand the target that we're working at.
The targeted universalism, that means that we have to, who are we seeking first, how are we working faster, and how do we go deeper into the resources or into whatever problematic elements that we need to make sure that the strategic planning is successful.
I also want to say that of all the richness here at this table, and for all the candidates who said that they're going to do this work regardless, I'm looking for them to be an advisory be an advisor to me.
There are many stakeholders in the community right now doing the work at the school on the ground level.
I'm looking to them to work alongside me to do this work.
This is not me by myself going out and say how are you doing.
I've already been out there figuring out and learning how are you doing.
East African communities Latinx communities Asian-American communities.
And I need your leadership.
I need your support to make sure that the stakeholders and our issues are at the table and we have to work in solidarity.
It's not about one person or the other person but at the end of the day how are we going to work to fix this problem of who is furthest from educational justice.
Thank you.
Candidate Salisbury.
You know, when I'm talking to stakeholders and managing the priorities and requests, I think that we'll look at each and every decision through the lens of funding and the lens of the strategic plan, right?
And what we need to do is when we talk to stakeholders, and I'm sure that I will get many calls, I was looking at each decision and how does that reflect the plan.
We need to look and make sure that it's the things in the plan are not just you know just not just not talk.
We need to hold each other accountable.
And so in places where we are doing what we said we're going to do then we'll look to others outside of the community nonprofits community partners even individuals in the community who can bring other items to the table to fill that gap.
But we'll never have the budget that we need to do what we need to do.
So it's important for us to be able to embrace community partners, people that are doing the work and that are currently not funded or funded, but holding them accountable.
And that's where I'll be when it comes to managing stakeholder priorities and requests.
Thank you.
Candidate Foster.
First let me say that the goals in the strategic plan can't be aspirational.
We have to meet those goals or we are failing our children.
So as a board member first and foremost my focus is going to be in reaching those goals.
I don't believe that we can say that all students can succeed if our black students can't succeed.
What I promise to you is the first question I will ask myself when we make policy decisions, when we make budget decisions.
Budgets are moral documents.
And I will ask myself always, how is this decision going to impact black students?
How is this decision going to impact native students?
How is this decision going to impact students with disabilities?
These are the questions that I will ask for every decision I make as a board member.
And it's only when we do that every single time that we can get to the goals in the strategic plan.
That means looking at our budget.
That means looking at our operational priorities.
That means looking at the weighted student standard.
That means looking at the rollout of our technology plan.
That means looking at who gets to make up our outreach boards and our committees.
And I will ask myself this question every time.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Candidate Van Arcken.
So full disclosure, I myself have been a very demanding citizen stakeholder.
And what's always helped me is transparency and fairness in decision making.
For instance, our school lost a staff member at the start of last year, and my daughter's class went from 22 students to 29 students overnight.
And even though I was really disappointed I was OK with it because I knew how staff funding worked and it seemed fair.
When what I think parents are less OK with is when decisions don't seem fair like when we disproportionately displace children of color from their neighborhood schools.
And it's those unfair decisions that I would prioritize fixing with parents.
Thank you.
Candidate Hairston.
Thank you.
I want to speak to a couple things about the question because I think it speaks to the strategic plan, and I believe the strategic plan guides the way we think about fiscal planning, but it also speaks to the ability to have appropriate fiscal control and planning.
And so I just want to speak to bringing 30 years of experience working in multi-million dollar and billion dollar organizations to the place of saying, I think I bring the kind of experience working at this level of budget and fiscal operations to do the kinds of work under the hood that have to do with not just understanding the priorities, but actually thinking about how do we manage our fiscal responsibilities in such a way that we deliver on outcomes from building efficiencies in the process, to being good at fiscal reporting, to understanding how to ultimately dig into the documents and be data-driven, and then thinking about this question of, thank you, how do we look at that and how do we prioritize?
And there's a few things for me.
One, it's having a listening post.
I think the community meetings that Dr. Patu has done are great and need to be continued.
I also think we need to create new listening posts and new ways for marginalized groups to get involved.
And finally, I think we need to report out and communicate back on the decisions that are made in transparent ways that show the priorities that we're aligning to.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Candidate Booth.
Yeah, so the first thing I have to remember as a candidate is that it's not about me, it's about the community I'm representing.
And because of that, it's about creating space for those communities to give us feedback on what's working and what isn't.
CSEC has done surveys with families around the ways in which they like to be engaged.
And families have told us the ways that they like to do that.
It's not through emails, and it's not through asking them to come down to the district office.
It's through home visits, it's through flyers, it's through calls, and it's through meeting people in their communities and allowing them access to the processes and where decisions are being made.
Secondly when we talk about targeted universalism we have to talk about it and back it up with funding and that has to be the lens through which we make all of our decisions.
Because of that I'll always be asking a question of who does this policy resource or priority impact.
Does it serve those that are furthest from educational justice.
Who is involved in naming this as a priority.
Is it those from dominant culture or is it those that are actually being impacted by the policy that they're naming.
Who matters in this situation and it's constantly asking those questions with any issue that is brought to me as a school board director.
Thank you.
Candidate Hersey.
Thank you.
As a former policy fellow in the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services under the Obama administration, I've had years of experience not only developing social safety debt policy for our country's most marginalized families, but also managing incredibly complex budgets.
And especially, as you can imagine, working with people across the political aisle is incredibly difficult.
So what we have to do is or what I plan to do is to take that experience and bring it to the school board as well.
What we have to remember is not only do we need to ask ourselves the questions how does this affect our most marginalized students.
How does this affect black and brown students.
How does this affect LGBTQ students.
How does this affect bilingual students.
How does this affect the most.
underserved students in our community.
But how does this also play into our greater system of trying to develop a complete system of educational equity and justice.
Right.
We have to make sure that whenever we are taking a look at a policy we have to ask ourselves not only how this affects our students who are furthest away from educational justice but how does this fit into our greater system as a whole as well.
Thank you.
Candidate Hahn.
Thank you.
I think one of my chief concerns with the question is the word aspirational.
As we said earlier, this can't be aspirational.
This has to be what we do do.
And I think we can strengthen our strategic plan to very clearly state what we are going to do and when we're going to do it by.
As we assign resources against the strategic plan, I'll always be asking, will this advance the needs of our students who are furthest from educational justice?
And do they and their parents agree.
And how have you checked with them to ensure that that's the case.
We need to have more parent involvement in our schools and I want to ensure that our parents of students who are furthest from educational justice are the ones who are driving this change.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Candidate Rocky.
I concur with everything that my fellow candidates have shared.
I think the other thing is the tough part of this work.
We know that there's a budget deficit.
We know the things that are not great.
We know that.
When it comes to coming back to the table and to the community, When you gather something and the community has high expectations, as you should, as should students, and you want what you want, and we all want you to have what you want.
But I think it's our most incredible and daunting task in this is knowing that we are trying, we are trying to work collaboratively across district to meet the needs of all of our students.
And so I think we have to recognize the vulnerability of this work because it's huge.
And to come to you and be honest and transparent as a candidate to say I'm sorry this isn't working out.
We need to create other objectives.
What do you have.
How can you work with me.
Although we know this thing that we shared or ideas that we had initially aren't working.
Now we have to work as a team to figure out how to do this work and to meet the goals of the strategic plan, and certainly our students who are furthest from educational justice.
We can't just look at it that this is a cakewalk.
It's not.
It really isn't.
So it's tough work ahead.
Thank you.
We're now going to pause briefly for a 10-minute break.
To the candidates and audience members, we will resume the fifth question promptly after the break.
So please be seated back here at 730. Thank you.