Seattle School Board Meeting - March 10, 2021

now calling the March 10th 2021 Regular Board Meeting to order at 330 p.m.

This meeting is being recorded.

We would like to acknowledge that we are on the ancestral lands and traditional territories of the Puget Sound Coast Salish people.

Ms. Wilson-Jones the roll call please.

Director DeWolf.

Present.

Director Harris.

Director Harris.

It doesn't look like she's on the line yet.

Director Hersey.

Here.

Director Rankin.

Here.

Director Rivera-Smith.

Director Rivera-Smith.

Present.

And Director Hampson.

Here.

Do we have Director Harris yet.

President Hampson it sounds like all directors except for Director Harris are here.

Okay thank you.

Superintendent Juneau is also joining us for today's meeting and additional staff will be briefing the board as we move through the agenda.

As we begin this meeting I would also like to welcome Fatima Garcia who is joining us as the student representative from Cleveland High School.

We will be hearing from Fatima later in the meeting as well as fellow Cleveland High School student Mia Dabney who will be leading off our testimony list.

This meeting is being held remotely consistent with the governor's proclamation and open on open public meetings.

The public is being provided remote access today by phone and through SPS-TV by broadcast and streaming on YouTube.

To facilitate this meeting I will ask all participants to ensure you are muted when you are not speaking.

Staff may be muting participants to address feedback and ensure we can hear directors and staff.

I will now turn it over to Superintendent Juneau for her comments.

Thank you and good afternoon everybody.

Thank you President Hampson.

In today's comments I just want to acknowledge that tomorrow March 11th was the last day that students in Seattle Public Schools were receiving in-person instruction.

And at that time I for one took in-person instruction for granted.

And after being in a remote learning stance for one full year I'm constantly reminded of the important role that public education plays in the lives of students families and the community as a whole.

And I really just look forward to the day that our schools are again bustling with sounds of students and staff.

In the meantime teams across the district that have been working hard to get schools and staff ready for the return to in-person instruction for our students in the special education intensive pathways and pre-K have been really rising to the challenge.

As you know we are working in partnership with our labor partner SEA to finalize an MOU.

The plan is that some students in the special education intensive pathways and our pre-K students will return to in-person school on March 29th and those staff affiliated with those students will return on March 22nd.

I do want to give a shout out to Dr. Codd Dr. Pedroza and Chief Berge and the rest of the bargaining team as they continue to work long hours in service of our students.

They continue to be at the table even as we speak with SEA so that we can start returning to schools.

And if people are interested in our in-person plans including our health and safety protocols our top 10 list of things families need to know videos on mask wearing and so so much more.

It is all on our website.

We'll continue to roll information out as it gets developed.

And I just really also want to thank our communication team who are working in overdrive to produce so much content and make sure our families stay informed.

During our retreat last weekend Chief Podesta made note of something I thought was pretty significant that there are leaders emerging every day at the John Stanford Center.

And that's true.

We see it all the time.

We have so many staff stepping up to do big things and small things that really are making a difference.

And although we're in the midst of navigating a global pandemic our staff have been keeping their ever-shifting work going.

Teams continue to collaborate so our strategic plan focus is not lost and so much is being lifted on a daily basis.

I'm just really thankful for our staff never losing sight of what's important.

and doing everything they can in service of families and students.

Small Cabinet and I would like to give a special shout out to the following staff.

Fred Griffin Chris Dillon Stu Laramore.

They led preparing our buildings including all those HVAC checks and established the cleaning protocols.

Mike Wells and Benjamin Coulter from Safety and Security stepped up time and time again to help with walkthroughs They were delivering supplies last time I was at John Stanford.

Putting up signs in schools and all the things that had to take place.

Hunter Maltese Ellen Reyes and first student brought back yellow bus transportation and developed all kinds of routes for students.

The special education and early learning staff they've worked so hard at collaboration and coordinating throughout this uncertain time.

Even down to making individual calls to families so they understood what was actually happening.

The Contingency Planning Team who had to uplift things so quickly and pivot their work streams in preparation for this week.

Audrey Kearns.

Devin Cabanilla.

Antoinette Harrison.

My Marcell Hauser.

Rivkah Burstyn-Stern.

And Natalie Williams.

And again thanks to our Athletics Department for lifting up the Metro League on February 22nd.

It's really great to see kids out there playing sports and being happy about it.

Our preschool team who created preschool activities and lessons for our youngest learners.

Thank you Tisha Crumley Sharon Geary and Angie Swartz.

Preschool operations Michelle Flannell and Pam Goldfein.

Cashelle Toner for her leadership charge for remote learning and planning for return returning in-person.

Heather Brown.

Our pre-K return to in-person and remote instruction and operations and pre-K K-start of school date shifts in support of families impacted by Rosh Hashanah.

Thank you to the teams who did school walkthroughs this week including Richard Stout Fernando Luna and Trina Sterk who supported the labor and industry visits that went really well.

Mary Sue Heffernan Mae Carlson John McDonough and Jill Eckert for their work in health and safety and helping with case tracking and PPE distribution.

Pat Sander and Carrie Nicholson.

Mary Wong.

Shawna Adleman and Sharon Mieta for their help with re-entry and safety protocols.

Our elementary directors of schools for walking through and preparing those 42 school sites this week.

And as always the risk of giving gratitude and shout outs is that we will miss someone and we miss so many.

But the ones I mentioned are representative of all of our staff.

Please know that all district staff are working hard to ensure schools and staff are ready for students for to return for in-person instruction and people can continue to stay informed of our progress by checking out our website.

And just thank you.

Grateful to be here and grateful for all of you.

Thanks so much.

Okay again I would like to welcome Cleveland High School student Fatima Garcia.

Fatima is a senior at Cleveland High Cleveland STEM High School.

Fatima am I saying your name correctly.

Yes that's correct.

Okay thank you.

Fatima has been in ASB since freshman year and is now the ASB president.

Fatima is also the student representative on Cleveland High School's building leadership team.

I will turn it over to you now Fatima for your comments.

Thank you.

So first I want to say that I'm excited to be here and represent Cleveland High School.

As we all know it's been almost a year since we went into lockdown in a virtual setting of learning which has been a challenging experience for all of us.

Some challenges that students have faced and are continuing to go through is adapting to a more relaxed and independent environment.

I say this because virtual learning is the complete opposite of having an everyday in-person schedule that high schoolers have done for more or less 12 years.

And we're doing it in the comfort of our homes which in itself is hard.

Students face the limitations of doing learning through Teams and the technological aspects that students and families face.

But online learning has been hard on all of us.

Admin teachers students and families and I thank all of the teachers staff and administrators at Cleveland for the relentless hours they spend planning academics and events for events for extra support for students which I'm sure all schools are doing.

Being on Cleveland's BLT has allowed me to see the extra efforts that are being made and want to be made for all of our students' success in virtual learning.

The pandemic has affected everyone differently and with doing online learning there are many responsibilities that students have gained.

As we continue doing online learning it's important to create resources for students' mental health needs.

I know at Cleveland we have restorative justice advisory.

Students can schedule meetings with counselors as well.

And also as a student creating a strong school community is important in using the tools that we have like social media to the fullest.

As a senior it's been hard doing college applications on my own but our counselors have done drop-in sessions for FAFSA and WAFSA help.

Virtual alumni student panels and resources and opportunities that are always being sent through email which has made planning for post-high school education easier.

As plans begin to be made for next school year whether it's online or in-person making sure there are resources created so that the transition can be smooth and all students have the tools for success.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

And please feel free to speak up at any point during our sessions if you have any comments or questions.

Okay we've now reached the consent portion of today's agenda.

May I have a motion for the consent agenda.

Yes I move for approval of the consent agenda.

This has been moved by Director Hersey sorry approval of the consent agenda has been moved by Director Hersey and seconded by Director Rivera-Smith.

Do directors have any items they would like to remove from the consent agenda.

Seeing none.

All those in favor of the consent agenda signify by saying aye.

Those opposed.

The consent agenda has passed unanimously.

Let's see we've now reached the public testimony not quite to 345. So we're going to be taking public testimony Let me actually use these next three minutes.

Would any directors like to give their committee reports while we in order to get us past that 345 mark to begin our public testimony.

Yeah I can go ahead and give our committee report.

Go ahead Director DeWolf.

Sorry Director Hersey.

Mine is just to say our operations committee meeting is tomorrow.

We have a bunch of board action reports related to BEX V construction projects as well as an elevator maintenance bar.

One for our fresh food and vegetable program and then one to rename the Southwest Athletic Complex to the Mino-Kantu Southwest Athletic Complex.

And that's our our our schedule is packed tomorrow with construction bars.

So it is it is just that if people want to attend.

The quick committee report for the Audit and Finance Committee is at our next meeting is on March the 15th.

And this past week we had the pleasure of interviewing three candidates for our public advisor role and just wanted to extend a huge thank you to all of those candidates who applied.

And we are excited about moving forward and notifying folks soon.

So thank you very much.

We'll see you next week.

Okay.

Any other directors want to.

Yeah.

I can give mine pretty brief since we also are in the cycle where the next Student Services Curriculum and Instruction meeting is next week on Tuesday at 430. And we'll have an update on the isolation and restraint policy among some other things.

We had an Ethics Studies work session Was that just last week.

Time is time is moving in very bizarre ways right now.

And that for folks who weren't able to join that that that'll be that wasn't a one and done kind of thing.

We'll have more parts as that work progresses and and staffing around that comes together.

So that's exciting.

And we'll be receiving more updates on that also to committee.

Although I don't I don't think next week.

But yeah.

We're trying to keep focused on on this the stuff that needs to happen now going towards the plan for that's due to the state in June and then in planning for fall too.

That's pretty much it.

Tuesday at 430. Okay.

And the Executive Committee Oh I'm sorry let me just note that Director Harris joined us at 332 p.m.

And Executive Committee meets similarly to the other committees.

Hasn't met since we last met so we meet next week on the 17th.

We will be discussing a number of planning topics including our process for approach to planning for next year.

And I don't know that there's anything else particularly notable on the agenda.

That certainly is plenty.

We meet at 8 a.m.

Okay.

President Hampson can I add one more thing.

Yes.

Thank you.

I just I was going to mention it in board comments but it actually is more appropriate right now in committee comments Some exciting news on the Outdoor and Community Schools Task Force.

We have finalized selection for that task force and it's really exciting.

A lot of great partners and educators and community members and 58 percent of the final task force applicants identify as BIPOC Black and Indigenous People of Color.

And 64 percent of these applicants that were selected identify as Seattle residents of central or south and southwest city areas.

And I just wanted to highlight that as just a really exciting and kind of validation of the commitment that we have in this work of centering students of color and making this an initiative that benefits all of the students of Seattle.

with a specific focus on those from Educational Justice.

So just wanted to share that and there will be more updated on the website.

You said Southwest.

Did you mean Southeast.

South South slash Southwest.

Oh okay.

Okay.

We will now next go to public testimony.

We'll be taking public testimony by teleconference today as stated on the agenda.

For any speakers watching through SPS-TV please call in now to ensure you are on the phone line when your name is called.

Board Procedure 1430BP provides the rules for testimony and I ask that speakers are respectful of these rules.

I will summarize some important parts of this procedure now.

First testimony will be taken today from those individuals called from our public testimony list and if applicable the waiting list which are included on today's agenda posting on the school board website.

Only those who are called by name should unmute their phones and only one person should speak at a time.

Speakers from the list may cede their time to another person when the list speaker's name is called.

The total amount exceed two minutes for the combined number of speakers and time will not be restate restarted after the new speaker speaker begins.

In order to maximize opportunities for others to address the board each speaker is allowed only one speaking slot per meeting.

A speaker cedes time to a later speaker on the testimony list or waiting list.

Person to whom time was ceded will not be called to provide testimony again later in the meeting as there is only one speaking slot per person.

Those who do not wish to have time ceded to them may decline and retain their place on the testimony or wait list.

Finally the majority of the speaker's time should be spent on the topic they have indicated they wish to speak about.

Ms. Wilson-Jones will read off the testimony speakers.

Thank you President Hampson.

Speakers please remain muted until your name is called to provide testimony.

When your name is called please be sure that you have unmuted on the device you're calling from and also press star-6 to unmute yourself on the conference call line.

Each speaker will have a two-minute speaking time and a chime will sound when your time is exhausted.

Then the first speaker on today's testimony list is Mia Dabney.

Okay can you guys hear me.

Yes we can.

Great.

Hello.

My name is Mia Dabney and I'm a junior at Cleveland High School.

I'm here to speak on Policy 1250 and the importance of restorative justice.

I have said this before and I will say it again.

We cannot have conversations about youth without youth involved in those conversations.

Our education and our future can't be determined without us.

There is a quote by Angeli by Angela Davis that is incorporated into the policy.

Walls turn sideways are bridges.

By pass by passing policy 1250 we can create a safe bridge between educators specifically the school board and students.

At Cleveland at Cleveland students teachers and families have access to restorative justice circles to address issues.

We have two fully trained and dedicated circle leaders to support our community.

We have the circle we have the circles when one of the leaders take on the specific issue.

Then they meet with each party to hear both perspectives and hear what each person needs to know to feel like trust and respect is restored.

Restorative justice is important because it helps people understand the harm in their actions, but it also helps students and adults learn about each other's perspectives to build a better understanding of others.

These circles are so important because it helps youth learn to have empathy and be possibility thinkers to be able to have fuller connections with others.

My hope for SPS is that we implement restorative justice practices and circle leaders into all schools to better support students.

Thank you so much.

Ms. Wilson-Jones.

The next speaker is Eric Anthony Sousa-Ponce.

Hi my name is Eric Anthony Souza-Fonsen.

I use he him pronouns and I am a senior at Ballard High School.

At Ballard High School I am the co-president of Students and Teachers Against Racism and I am also a representative of the NAACP Youth Council.

I'm testifying today on behalf of policy 1250 which is to get Black and Brown youth on the school board.

I'm going to start off with some statistical information here.

In the state of Washington Black and Brown youth make up 47 percent of the students in the state.

That means that nearly half of the students in the state of Washington are students of color.

Meanwhile 89 percent of the teachers in the state of Washington are White.

That means that only 1 in every 10 teachers is a teacher of color.

The school board represents all students and teachers and seeks to make the best environment possible for everyone.

But the only consistent input from Black and Brown youth who make up half of the students in the state come from outside organizations such as the NAACP Youth Council who I am presenting for today.

It would be much more beneficial for all parties involved if the students of color could have a more active and consistent voice in the school board to help make these difficult decisions that will have a drastic impact on us.

This is why we need Black and Brown youth on the school board.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Leah Scott.

Leah Scott.

Hi everyone.

My name is Leah Scott and I'm a senior at Roosevelt High School.

I'm also the student president of North Seattle College via Running Start.

I'll be advocating for the passing of policy to 1250 which will allow students on the school board When I think of all the reasons this policy should be passed two main things come to mind.

First and first involving us looking at the current situation that we are in.

Students teachers administrative leaders are all stuck in this online work environment.

From my perspective as a student meeting meetings are filled with cameras off muted and barely chatting.

We need to be innovative and bold with how we engage our students in the classroom especially in these uncertain times.

Having a student perspective in the room where real change happens in our school district is essential and allows us to make a school district that is heavily catered to what students want and need which is how it should be.

By doing so we can hear more students speak about what really needs to change in our classrooms in order to make an online learning environment that is engaging and inclusive.

Only students truly understand the impact and the weight decisions that are made by school board members which is why they need to be in these discussions about waiving graduation requirements or allocating resources across the school district.

Another big part of this is that Seattle Public Schools in general could do better including youth voice and decision making.

We need to create a district that is not that is willing to not just make decisions for the youth but with the youth.

And implementing this policy is a big step towards that goal.

I would also like to add that this policy is one that was created not only by students but in partnership with Zachary DeWolf and Ronald Boy.

We went to every single school board member individually and got feedback from them.

This policy is one that symbolizes the beautiful partnership between students and adults.

I believe as a community we should recognize that beauty and honor it by passing this policy.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Ms. Wilson-Jones.

Next is Chris Jackin.

Chris Jackins.

My name is Chris Jackins.

Box 84063 Seattle 98124. On school board student members.

The students will be chosen by the board.

No elections.

The dictators of Myanmar would probably love this plan.

Please vote no.

On BTA V capital levy.

Don't remove trees.

Don't shrink playgrounds.

Don't bulldoze grass playfields.

Provide books not just software.

Otherwise vote no.

On renaming Northgate Elementary four points.

Number one the district wants to bulldoze Northgate shrink its playground and then rename it for a famous person.

The district has applied this cynical strategy before.

Number two the district idiotically sold the original Martin Luther King Jr.

Elementary and tried to cover it up by renaming Brighton Elementary as Martin Luther King Jr.

Number three the district idiotically bulldozed the landmarked Wilson Pacific site and evicted its Native American programs.

It tried to cover it up by renaming the site for a Native American principal.

Number four the district idiotically lost track of its own history with respect to Sharpless School.

The district tried to cover it up by renaming the site for an Asian-American teacher.

Please vote no on the Northgate name change.

On the three million dollar Cleveland Forest easement Two points.

Number one trees will be removed to install a trail and a parking lot and for any other reason King County decides.

The report does not reference a public hearing.

Number two the district should not be selling off long-term assets.

Please vote no.

On COVID-19 safety it seems like board voting on actions to return to in-person instruction should be done at in-person board meetings.

Thank you.

Thank you Ms. Wilson-Jones.

Next is Sean Alice Hubbard.

Sean Alice Hubbard.

My name is Sean Hubbard.

I'm a neighbor and graduate of Northgate Elementary School.

Most of what I have to say is in the letters I recently submitted to you.

As you see in the signed letter other graduates and neighbors have joined me in asking that our school's Northgate name be retained.

We should have been included in the discussion.

We would like to keep our Northgate name period.

This is an argument for something and not against a particular name.

For you to change our argument into anything other than that is to use a form of silencing.

The Northgate name that is so dispensable to you carries significant meaning to us.

We have Northgate pride.

Sadly that pride is lacking within the school walls today so much so that the school's own staff would prefer the bulldozer and a new name for a clean slate.

If you want to change the school be the change and teach the change.

A new facade or a new name won't do that.

Change needs to come from within.

James Baldwin has your admiration.

Now his family is due your respect.

You say you attempted to contact them but the Baldwin family is notorious for saying no to any usage rights and the fact that you had planned to proceed without their permission is not right.

I asked them because they are owed this common courtesy.

As you will read in the documents this is their reply.

With regard to the school and naming it after Mr. Baldwin we have received similar requests in the past and have respectfully declined.

Respectfully declined is their very polite way of saying no.

Please show your respect to James Baldwin and his family by not naming our school or any school after him.

There are many more meaningful ways to honor him.

Teach the children his words.

the ideas behind them and how to live as principals.

And we ask you to keep our keep our school but make it better and keep the Northgate name but make it proud again.

Thank you.

Ms. Wilson-Jones.

Next is Scott Mayer.

Scott Mayer.

Scott Mayer if you are on the line you need to press star-6 to unmute.

Scott Mayer.

Go ahead Scott.

Thank you very much.

My name's Scott Mayer.

I just recently became aware of the plans for renaming Northgate Elementary School and I'm It seems like a misguided renaming that goes, sorry for not being more articulate about this, but it's stage five.

Because one of the primary reasons that they say they want to rename it is because it had, over the years, gotten a bad reputation.

That's how they, it's put in what I read as the support letters.

And as a neighbor, I never thought that, that I think it has, it has, it addresses a population of first generation Americans.

And so they have a difficult challenge.

And I've always thought that from the outside that it seemed like they do a very good job.

So they already decided they were going to remove, demolish the building, which for all the neighbors, And all the students that have gone there, it's essentially it's quite a price to pay that essentially saying your school was bad.

And so we're getting rid of it.

So that's all their memories.

OK, that was so they're building a new school, giving a new name, and essentially completely completing the pretending like that never happened, as I understand it.

And it seems that's quite a collateral damage that they're doing to all the residents up to this point.

They've gone to that for students.

They've gone to it there and their parents.

If you think back on your, that's how you reflect on your school, it's probably with pride.

I think the best Northgate school, it would accomplish a lot rather than completely eliminate its history.

Thank you Ms. Wilson-Jones.

Next is Emily Cherkin.

Emily Cherkin.

My name is Emily Cherkin.

Tomorrow marks one year that thousands of children have been learning remotely in Seattle.

I am astonished that after a year this body has been unable to figure out a viable solution to get children back in person in some capacity.

Focusing on issues like renaming schools or clean energy resolutions 40 years from now is like being on the Titanic and deciding to change the tablecloths in the dining room.

I'm disgusted by the lack of leadership in this district.

You ask teachers to return to the classrooms which I support with CDC measures safely implemented but how convenient for you to continue to meet remotely.

If these meetings were held in person frustrated constituents would fill the room and you would be forced to face them.

The district asks for feedback on a new website but has not yet surveyed families of 2 through 12th graders about parents' intent to send kids back.

For the fall I presume since I have no confidence that these children will be returning to classrooms before then.

How are families supposed to plan for this.

Outdoor learning in a city like Seattle should be a no-brainer.

Yet teachers teachers teachers who apply to be on the outdoor education committee in October only recently were informed that community committee members were not yet determined.

This is appalling.

Your outdoor learning resolution in August has still not established a functioning committee in March seven months later.

I have testified now three times in the past six months about my concerns relating to FERPA.

On January 21st I sent a letter requesting a copy of my son's education records pursuant to FERPA including but not limited to Google Classroom and Schoology.

On January 28th District Council responded saying they do not consider the records defined below to be education records.

Please help me understand.

How are these not considered educational records when there are these are providers contracted by the school to provide educational services.

I replied on February 1st with this very question and have yet to receive a response so I am putting it here on the record.

Until I hear otherwise I can only assume the district is in violation of FERPA.

Thank you.

Ms. Wilson-Jones.

Next is Dr. Fiona Goodchild.

Dr. Fiona Goodchild.

Hello, my name is Fiona Goodchild.

I've been an educator for almost 50 years and I have practical experience as a high school teacher, community college instructor, and a program director.

And I've worked extensively with middle and high school teachers to make changes that engaged all students and prepared them for success in high school math and science courses.

This project, the Science Partnership for School Innovation, worked well to improve student performance in Central California.

And was one of the reasons I received a Presidential Award for Excellence in Mentoring Science Engineering and Math.

That was in 2002. So I have experience with the value of education for students from disadvantaged families and I'm astonished that the Seattle School Board is finding is failing these very students by closing schools.

The impacts I will now discuss were documented in an article by Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times on February 25th.

Closing schools widens the economic and racial gap as underserved students fall further behind.

Many have essentially disappeared as they no longer log in for classes.

Some have no Internet access or the support needed to help them complete online assignments.

Dropouts are increasing.

And this will mean a lack of educated workers in this community for years to come.

And right now I do not have the time to talk about the family despair and destruction that these schools closed schools are causing.

Of course private schools are open to offer more advantage to the privileged and even cash-strapped parochial schools are providing personal contact.

Why not Seattle Public Schools.

You're failing to prioritize students and need to reopen schools as soon as possible.

Thank you.

Ms. Wilson-Jones.

Next is Todd Sawicki.

Todd Sawicki.

Todd Sawicki.

Todd if you're on the line you need to press star-6 to unmute.

Moving to the next speaker Robin Reid.

Robin Reid.

Hello my name is Robin Reed.

I am the parent of a 6th grader.

I am asking the board and the district to lay out a timeline for bringing back all students to in-person instruction at least part-time this year.

A return this year would let students begin learning how to function in a greatly altered school environment.

It would allow teachers families and administrators to identify the systems that work and those that need improvement over the summer.

It would provide an invaluable jumpstart on the hard work that we will all need to do to return to in-person classes rather than pushing all that off and having students back in September who haven't been in the school building in 18 months.

Most importantly it would begin to give our kids a glimpse of normalcy again.

The chance to see friends.

The chance to make friends.

The chance to learn from a teacher in person.

The chance to socialize and play and receive services in a setting expressly designed for them.

the chance to as much as possible be normal kids again.

I come to you as a parent of a 6th grader who really struggled at Eckstein Middle School this year.

Online school for him was work stress and a demand for focus for hours every day with absolutely none of the interaction spontaneity or fun of in-person school.

Despite his efforts ours and his teachers it has been a disaster.

I sincerely worry that he will never want to learn again.

We withdrew him from Seattle Public Schools two weeks ago.

And we're not alone.

Just since September over 400 students in kindergarten through 12th grade have left Seattle Public Schools.

The highest percentage has been students in 6th grade and 9th grade.

The transition years.

We can start bringing students back in person safely now just like every large school district in America.

Why would we possibly wait another six months to get our kids back to a setting where they can see and interact with each other.

We owe it to them to do it as soon as we possibly safely can.

And if that means just a few weeks this year that's still vastly better than not even trying.

Thank you.

Ms. Wilson-Jones.

Next is Anne Goodchild.

Anne Goodchild.

Can you hear me.

Yes.

Great.

I'd like to ask that you work with a greater sense of urgency and transparency regarding the return of students to classrooms so as to address the multiple educational and public health crises created by a year of online instruction.

I'd like to call your attention to a letter written this week on behalf of the Washington Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics to Governor Inslee and I quote, children are suffering and in many cases the harm may be irreparable.

for developing kindergartners or adolescents who attempt suicide.

For many Washington children keeping them out of school any longer will result in gaps to their educational attainment which they may not be able to overcome in their lifetime.

Schools provide essential time for children to be together to socialize and to develop emotionally as well as food for hungry children and support for struggling families.

We now have a public health crisis secondary to keeping kids out of school.

Emergency rooms are overflowing with children and teens in mental health crises and tragically pediatric ICUs are serving suicidal adolescents in unprecedented numbers.

All these profound losses and risks can be mitigated or even overcome if we simply get kids safely back to school as quickly and as frequently as possible.

Again that was an excerpt from a letter written on behalf of the Washington Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics to Governor Inslee.

They offered to help with training within just two weeks.

This week you again delayed a date for in-person instruction for preschool and intensive service pathways to March 29th and can provide families with no expectations for when any other students will return to the classroom.

As a parent of two Seattle Public Schools high school students I have no idea what the timeline is for decision making or what the fall will look like for my children.

I have no idea when you will tell me what to expect.

You repeatedly claim to be working in the best interest of students and your mission statement maintains that you are committed to ensuring equitable access closing the opportunity gaps and excellence in education for every student.

Yet every day you fail to bring students back you are exacerbating the very inequities you were elected to address.

Thank you.

Ms. Wilson-Jones.

Next is Anya Sousa-Ponce.

Hi my name is Anya Suza Ponce.

My pronouns are she her.

I'm a freshman at Ballard High School and I work with the NAACP Youth Council.

Ballard my school recently conducted an internal survey of the entire staff and student body and found that only 13.6 percent of students and staff of color at Ballard felt the school and administration is doing an adequate job of intervening in instances of racial abuse at the school.

Now if only 13.6 percent of students and staff of color feel safe at our school and if as Director Anthony said earlier if only 1 out of 10 students in Washington is a sorry if only 1 out of 10 teachers in Washington is a person of color than the 86.4 percent of students at Ballard who do not feel that our school leadership makes a safe environment for people of color a priority.

That 86.4 percent of students of color need a direct connection to the school board meeting or school board who does want to prioritize our safety.

The board has already shown this is a matter of importance with policy 0030 and hopefully you'll be able to take it a step further with 0040 later this year.

But the piece that is missing there is going to be student representation which is what policy 1250 addresses.

Nothing about us without us.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Ms. Wilson-Jones.

Next is Anne Hennessey.

Anne Hennessey.

Can you hear me.

Yes.

Yes.

Okay.

Yes my name is Anne Hennessey and I am speaking today about reopening schools.

I have actually sent this in an email both to the school board and to the and to SEA have not received a response but would like to read this here.

I'm the parent of a third grader in this district with a 5-year-old ready to start kindergarten in the fall.

I support public education.

I support unions and the right to collective bargaining.

I'm writing to express my extreme frustration with the inaction lack of urgency and ability to find agreement between the union and the school district.

Like many parents I stood behind the push to get educators and SPS employees vaccinated even ahead of other essential workers like my own daycare provider who had never closed her doors during this pandemic.

It was the right thing to do for our community as a whole.

To see day after day no sign of compromise and very minimal movement is infuriating.

You claim to have the best interests of our children in mind but every week of remote school I see more and more children literally disappear from my child's class.

I see my own child losing interest in school flipping in subjects where she had once been strong and the amount of engagement with our school community decline each week.

When I learned in August that Seattle Public Schools would begin this year remote I was overwhelmed.

It was hard in the spring and I believed however that this was the right choice.

We had no vaccines.

limited PPE failed leadership at the national level and a lack of data for how COVID spread in schools.

Through fall with cases spiking even though it was hard I supported staying the course.

But we are now in a place where we have a vaccine.

We are getting our educators vaccinated.

We have the lowest case levels of nearly anywhere else in the country and we know how to protect ourselves and others and we have data to prove it.

Every other facet of our society has taken steps to move forward and it's time for us to get our kids back into the classroom.

I'm not asking anyone to be forced back who doesn't want to go and I'm not asking that building buildings reopen in full immediately and go back to normal immediately.

I'm not asking you to cut corners on any of the safety measures recommended by the CDC.

I'm pleading that you get together and look past biases and find common ground just as we teach our kids to do.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Ms. Wilson-Jones.

Returning to Todd Sawicki.

Todd Sawicki are you on the line now.

Todd if you're on the line you need to press star-6 to unmute.

President Hampson that was our final speaker on today's list.

Thank you Ms. Wilson-Jones.

Okay we now move to the action items on today's agenda.

We will move now to Action Item Number 1. A motion to adopt Board Policy Number 1250 School Board Student Members and amend Board Policy Number 1240 Committees.

May I have a motion for this item.

Absolutely.

The ever-pressing mute button.

Excuse me.

I move that the school board adopt Board Policy Number 1250 School Board Student Members and amend Policy Number 1240 Committees as attached to the Board Action Report.

Second.

This item has been moved by Director Hersey and seconded by Director Rivera-Smith.

Now to directors for any comments questions or concerns on the item before we move to the votes.

And I will start with Director Harris Director Hersey as one of the leads on the one of the sponsoring leads on the item and Executive Committee member and Vice Chair.

Absolutely.

Thank you.

I am just again I have sung the praises of the youth that have worked on this policy pretty thoroughly.

They continue to excel.

Many of the same youth are helping us.

facilitate and think through our forum to find our next board colleague to succeed Director Mack.

And I think that that just shows the undying commitment that these youth have to not only engaging with our system but also stepping up and leading it when they have the opportunity to do so.

So what I would just say is I am incredibly excited to move forward.

I think that this is long overdue.

And I will turn it over to the next director but very excited and very very hopeful that this passes tonight.

You're still on mute President Hampson.

Thank you.

I'm going to now go to the bottom of the order to hear from Director DeWolf.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you so much President Hampson and thank you for that quick grounding in context Vice President Hersey.

I do want to just make sure just to really highlight the incredible work of the NAACP Youth Council and Leah and Mia and all the other youth because this really actually felt like a wonderful example of our students and our boards and the adults coming together to create something meaningful that will hopefully have an impact for many generations to come.

And I also want to just really reiterate that any comparisons to this by our community to Myanmar are offensive and shameful.

And I am so proud to stand by this work and this collaboration between the students and the board.

But that's unfortunately the level of discourse we're dealing with.

But I actually just see this policy and the work that's been done over the course of the last few months as really positive.

As you can see in the policy we're looking for three students to support our operations audit and finance and student services curriculum and instruction policy committees.

And you know as we talk about on the board a lot much of the work takes place in committees before that the BAR's or the or the resolutions move up to the full board.

And so I'm really really excited and eager to see The types of conversations and the analysis that will come by including student voices in the decision making and consideration process.

I also just want to give a special shout out not only to Vice President Hersey for his help and support and work on this but also to our senior legal senior general counsel Ronald Boy who really did begalman's work on this dedicating many time many evenings and off hours and just a ton of time creating this thing.

in the best interest of our students because at the end of the day that is who we're here for.

I think the one question we had last time is about procedure and so you know the procedure will come after this.

We look forward to building that out and supporting that process.

But I think today the best thing we can do is move this forward.

We're not the first district in the state to do this.

In fact we're well behind the first.

It's been done all over the state where there's student reps on board.

And so I'm just really excited for this district the largest district in the state to move forward on this policy.

So thank you for letting us bring this forward.

Thank you.

Director Rankin.

Director Rankin.

Sorry.

Yeah.

Yep.

Can you hear me.

Yes.

Okay.

Sorry.

Anyway doesn't matter.

I do not have any questions.

I am really grateful to the work of my colleagues and of the students especially.

And in connection with what Director DeWolf mentioned you know the not having students vote you know there there is a process that we followed that will be open to all students of the I think it's juniors and seniors to apply and a transparent process about how the students are selected and the student members are non-voting members.

They're not serving as undemocratic representatives in any way.

They are.

are here to give their voice and and I believe very fairly as has been thoughtfully described and worked on by students themselves and Director Hersey and others.

And apparently I'm cutting out.

I'm sorry I'm going to I'll try to fix it but I'm done.

I don't know if you could hear me at all.

Okay Director Rivera-Smith.

Thank you.

Also likewise very excited about this moving forward.

I really enjoyed my conversation with the Youth Council.

Like I mentioned they did a meeting with each board member to share their plan and their vision.

And it was exciting to see how how much thought they put into it and how much intentionality is behind it.

having you know I know I know like as people mentioned we're not the first by any means there's a lot of districts in our state who have done these.

Most only have one or two but we are by far the biggest district so I mean therefore it does make sense to have more members.

I I'm sorry I missed last meeting we had this for intro so I know there was probably more questions and answers then too.

One of my questions was regarding I don't know if this was covered but regarding the onboarding of the members the new the student members I know that they'll be orientation with the superintendent board director and then they'll have a person a board director as their sort of mentor.

I'm wondering are we going to be offering them any other trainings opportunities and maybe I don't know I think WSSDA might offer some.

And will we make those opportunities available to them by way of registration.

Or again if we're going if we have any plans to do any of our own.

Director Rivera-Smith I'm happy to answer that from what I can share.

My best guess is that that's probably a conversation best suited for the procedure.

So I think if you want to save that up and send that to Ronald as as he likely is leading procedure development.

But that's a great question.

I think we not only want kind of the onboarding here If there are potential opportunities for student leadership growth and development I think that should absolutely be part of that for sure.

Great.

And then the same I was related to that is we talked about and it was spoken about compensation and and previously in committee we talked about compensation and reimbursement and I'm wondering if they will have opportunities sort of like we do for like mileage reimbursement when we are in-person again getting to meetings things like that of that nature.

or whatever other costs they might have to incur in this role.

Yes this was a conversation that came up last time.

I think the what we'd probably lean towards is credit earning opportunities at this point.

I don't think we have developed any deeper conversations around financial compensation but that has a conversation that we had with the youth.

But again I think that those would be best for the procedure.

Yeah no again that's I know it's forthcoming.

So thank you for all your work Director DeWolf and Director Hersey on this and of course Ronald Boy very exciting.

No further questions.

Okay thank you.

Director Harris.

First of all I'm very much in favor of this resolution and will be voting for it.

I have a few concerns about the mechanics of how this will all work.

But given the fact that this has such extraordinary support we'll work it out.

And I would look to Executive Director Caleb Perkins and Chief Keisha Scarlett Dr. Keisha Scarlett to make sure that these students get credit.

And if we need to change bars to make sure that they do in favor of doing that as well well before they come on board.

Without us and the extraordinary testimony that we've heard shows us that we can only be stronger and better with these additional voices.

And I would add to the chorus about the uncivil remarks that were made comparing this to Myanmar.

That is well beyond well beyond the appropriate civil discourse in this meeting especially and most especially when we're speaking about our students for which we are all here.

Thank you.

Okay.

And that just leaves me.

I I will just reiterate I think this is an incredible opportunity to both develop leadership and connectivity to governance in our students but also to improve the quality of our decision-making by having student voice not just at the at the board level but at the committee level.

And I was encouraged to find out that the Council of Great City Schools has some incredible resources specifically related to to student board members and so I can connect folks with with those resources so we can be putting this together with best practices and making sure that we're onboarding in a way that is both efficient and and well-supported and not overburdensome to staff.

So with that I will ask Ms. Wilson-Jones to call for the vote.

Director Rankin.

Director Rivera-Smith aye Director DeWolf aye Director Harris aye Director Hersey aye Director Hampson aye.

This motion is passed unanimously.

And we will now move to Action Item Number 2. Approval of Guiding Principles for the I'm sorry Approval of Guiding Principles for the Buildings Technology and Academic Slash Athletics BTA V Capital Levy.

May I have a motion for this item.

Absolutely.

I move that the board approve the Guiding Principles for the BTA V Capital Levy as attached to this board action report.

Second.

This item has been moved by Vice President Hersey and seconded by Director Rivera-Smith.

Now to directors for any comments or questions before we move to the vote.

And I will start with the Chair of Operations Director DeWolf.

Thank you President Hampson.

We don't have any updates from introduction but I do want to just as I have a second here to be on the record just want to give my extreme gratitude not only to you Board Directors and staff for the initial development of this.

But then also to our colleagues and partners at Seattle Education Association Seattle Council PTSA Principals Association of Seattle Schools and the NAACP NAACP Youth Council for their support and collaboration on this as well.

What you see today is the result of those conversations and I'm really really excited and proud where we landed on our principles.

This is a really great practice we started at BEX V. I'm excited to see this through and I know that our capital projects team will be really grateful to have this to guide and shape their discussions in the development of BTA V levy.

Thank you.

Apologies for the delay.

And we will now go to Director Hersey.

Yep.

I have no questions or comments.

Ready to move forward.

Director Harris.

No questions.

Thanks so much.

Director Rivera-Smith.

No questions.

Sorry let me turn on my camera there.

No questions.

Gratitude for all the work done on this.

Director DeWolf working with the students to bring in the touches of results we're looking for.

So yeah just gratitude.

No questions.

Thank you.

Director Rankin.

Okay I know I got I was cutting out before I guess so I switched devices.

Can you hear me.

Yes.

Okay if it gets choppy again I'll turn off my video.

I do what.

It's a bit choppy again.

Okay I'm going to turn off my video.

Can you hear me.

Yes.

Okay.

I. No I mean I've we've talked about this in committee and in introduction and I'm super grateful again to Director DeWolf and to staff for pushing this back a little bit to get to get input and feedback from various constituent groups.

One thing I will say as a reminder to folks is that this will be coming before Seattle voters in February of next year I believe.

Somebody correct me if that's wrong please.

On special ballot.

It's a six-year cycle.

And it's in addition to the how how important the guiding principles are and the considerations that are being made as we get towards that going on to the ballot.

Something that is weighing pretty heavily on me and that I would encourage folks to just think about related to this is the context in which we will be asking Seattle voters to approve this and related related to what's happening with with COVID.

And we as during that and serving students and a lot of this is going to I think I think hinge on how people are feeling about Seattle Public Schools in February And this is a big project that funds six years of capital improvements.

You know their their technology needs.

A lot of really critical needs to keep our district going and serving students.

And so I just kind of wanted to put that out there that it's it's within the context of what happens in the next few months that people will be considering whether or not to approve this and the guiding principles.

Thank you Director Rankin.

Director that's it.

Okay.

I don't have any questions.

Thanks again for all the engagement that you did on this.

I think it was I'm really grateful you were able to do it all things considered and make some significant changes.

So with that Ms. Wilson-Jones if you can please call for the vote.

Director Rivera-Smith.

Director DeWolf aye Director Harris aye Director Hersey aye Director Rankin aye Director Hampson aye.

This motion is passed unanimously.

Thank you.

We will now move to Action Item Number 3. Approval to rename Northgate Elementary School to James Baldwin Elementary School.

May I have a motion for this item.

I. Absolutely.

One moment.

Talking points have escaped me.

There we go.

I move that the school board authorize the change of the name Northgate Elementary School to James Baldwin Elementary School.

This change will take effect when the new building is completed estimated in 2022 to 2023.

This motion this item has been moved by Director Hersey and seconded by Director Rivera-Smith.

This item has been updated since introduction.

Chief of Operations Officer Chief Operations Officer Fred Podesta I believe you will be briefing us on the update.

Thank you President Hampson.

As was discussed at introduction there was consideration of the name Elementary School versus James Baldwin Academy and the Board Action Report has been amended to change the proposed name to be Northgate Elementary School not Northgate Academy.

Other other than that the action before you is the same as was introduced.

Okay.

And then Director DeWolf may I call on Director Chief Chief Counsel Narver to brief us on.

Yes.

Okay.

Chief Narver can you brief us on the issues that were that arose related to trademark infringement?

Well, yes, this letter apparently from the Baldwin family obviously just came to our attention this afternoon, but we haven't had an opportunity to review it.

I want to be careful about for privilege reasons not giving a lot of detailed legal analysis here but we have looked at applicable federal and state law and I will say here that we do not believe there is any clear basis in either statute or case law either under federal or state law that would prohibit the district from approving this name change for one of our public schools.

Thank you Chief Narver.

And now I'll go to Director DeWolf Chief of the Operations Committee.

Thank you so much President Hampson.

I wanted to just offer Guillermo Carvajal and if and if DeeDee Fontenoy our principal of this school and then Guillermo Carvajal who is our family support worker if you wanted to just share any final thoughts before we move to the vote on this I would love to hear just any any final remarks if you're willing.

Do you hear me.

Yes we can.

Yes.

Well thank you very much for putting this to a vote.

I'm really happy that it is put on the board and it's always up to you guys and the the school board and our community at large that can make the decisions and we are grateful to at least hearing this out.

At the beginning of the process of looking at changing the school name, I did go forward and communicated with James Bowen's school in New York City.

And they said that because it was a few years back, they didn't have any information for me how to contact the family to ask them for permission or for their blessing, or their blessing, their permission for going ahead with this.

And we never were able to get in touch.

And then I went ahead.

and try to look at some of the information through the internet contacts for the Bowen estate.

And that I emailed a gentleman that was in contact with them.

And he said he was going to put forward my email asking for their blessing.

And that didn't go through.

And then I went through the American Academy of Libraries.

And because they had also contact with the state.

And they tried several times to communicate with the family and they were not very successful with it.

And I was kind of disappointed because I was very happy about and proud to have worked so hard with the community to make something so so crucial and important for our community as naming the school James Baldwin.

So I really wanted a blessing but after several months of trying I just had to give up.

But I'm still going forward and I hope that that the community support and the school board support this.

And thank you.

Yes I would like to echo that.

We we pretty early on I would say in August had tried to multiple ways to contact the family.

And I think that's even in the report that we wrote that we we did attempt several times and just had never heard back.

And my understanding is that the family manages his literary rights, but not anything else.

So I would tend to agree that we will be okay.

I hope that they will care about it.

I hope to invite them to come at the groundbreaking and everything.

That would be awesome.

But I do think we can still move forward.

with this auspicious occasion.

And I would like to say that the one thing that really moved me when we were having a meeting about it, and we did talk to people who didn't necessarily agree with our choice and took that into consideration, but the overwhelming feeling was a positive.

They, yes, we should absolutely do this.

But one of my staff members who identifies as as a person of color and queer as well.

She was just almost in tears and said, I just can't imagine what an amazing feeling it will be to walk into a building that is named after a person that's like me.

And that's the feeling we want to have at Northgate.

We live in so many buildings that are not named for people like us.

And this is something that that is that's people like us and our kids can see themselves in James Baldwin and we're really really proud to have the opportunity to rename the school after him.

Thank you so much Principal Fonteroy.

Thank you Guillermo.

I truly truly appreciate the work that you put into this because this is outside of your normal normal scope of work and normal tasks.

So you know truly appreciate what it took to to community organize around this.

And I just want to double down on what what is really important here is that this was a community effort.

And you know what we know on the school board is sometimes we we we move to decisions.

Not everybody's happy or excited but we need to move and make the best decisions on behalf of our students and our school communities.

And so I just want to highlight some of the groups that not only did you do a great community engagement process but you did also speak to community.

You spoke to Hallard Lake Community Club the North Seattle Church Somos Mujeres.

Arity Credit Union.

Meseo Church.

You have bilingual community engagement.

You spoke to current families.

You spoke to former families.

And you spoke to community members.

So to say that somehow this process you know left voices out is is just it's just not fair and it's not accurate and I don't want to have that be on the record.

And the last thing I will say is this.

We are not in the business of building schools of the past that retain views of certain mountains or protect nostalgia.

We must be focused on the future and what is best for our students.

And as you shared Principal Fonterray about that story from one of your educators who feels seen just by this small adjustment.

Those are the types of stories that really make this work critical and important.

And I'm looking forward to supporting this today.

Thank you for your incredible work.

I can assure you this board knows what it's like to put in a ton of work and so I just am grateful that you did this on behalf of your school community and going to be a really bright spot on the district.

So thank you so much.

Okay and now we'll go to Director starting with Director Hersey for comments and questions.

I just want to appreciate all of the immense work that's gone into making this current moment possible.

I think that as we step into you know for many of us or for many folks in our community over the past year there's been a racial awakening or a reckoning or whatever the operative word might be.

But what we know as Black folks is that education and representation have been central to the experiences especially as we repeatedly send our babies to these racist institutions that are schools right.

These race these buildings that have been created with so much trauma that is baked into the walls and that principals like Ms. Fauntleroy have been working to create spaces that are representative, that combat all of that trauma that has been built into the buildings that we call schools, right?

So with this opportunity to name a school after one of the most prolific writers within our history, As an educator and as a Black man I find this as an opportunity that very seldom comes for us to do what I believe strongly is the right thing and give the opportunity for this school to not lose any legacy but to continue to create a legacy at the heart of which is really to serve students.

And with this change I believe strongly that we are stepping and leading our district into a direction to where we are not only targeting our young Black men boys our entire communities through a sense of targeted universalism only on paper and through policy but we also need to do that within the monuments and the titles that we give the physical establishments that exist within our system.

And that is the approach that it's going to take to undo the legacies of racism that are not only present in places like Seattle but across our state and across our country.

So I think that this is a bold move.

I think that it's long overdue and again I'm just incredibly thankful for all of the work and the leadership from many of the folks who are on this call right now who are who have made this moment possible and are excited to move forward.

Thank you.

Okay.

Director Harris.

I will be voting for this.

The leadership that has been displayed by Principal Fauntleroy not just at this school but at several others in her career is exemplary.

I am distressed frankly that members of the community waited until the last minute to send their negative regards and have to say that too little too late for this director's vote.

And and I'm distressed by the tone and tenor of same.

We got to move forward.

We have to move forward.

and model what we want to see.

And this name change is exactly that.

Thank you so much.

Director Rivera-Smith.

Thank you.

Yeah I echo everything Oli said and I think this is an amazing effort by the community to to come together for the engagement to make this decision.

And regarding the emails we have received recently I see it as kind of two different concerns.

Some people are concerned about just the rebuilding of the building you know to get all together.

And likewise I think it's it's not about disrespecting the past.

This is about keeping our eye on the future.

and what is best for the students still coming and still coming for that building.

I I we you know we can't make our decisions on just saving everything from the past because sometimes it's not a good fit for what we need now and that school definitely is not.

So I'm glad that we've made the decision to rebuild that school.

I do you know emphasize with or empathize with the community who are feeling the loss and that's Change change is scary for everybody but it is necessary.

And regarding the letter this email that came I'm wondering can I ask I don't know who's I'm asking whoever can give me the answer.

Is this that we haven't verified it's a it's a valid or haven't verified it's authenticity I guess of the letter that supposedly comes from the Baldwin estate or family.

I'm not I just want to get clarity on where we are with that.

So I we have not.

I don't know if Director DeWolf do you want to respond to that.

I mean I can tell you that it could very well be there's some names that seem relevant but we don't we don't know with 100 percent certainty that that specific letter came from from our state.

Yeah that's that's all we have.

But I do want us to be consistent.

I feel like if we're going to name schools after people we we do reach out to the families and connect.

And so I'm not trying again I'm all for naming this James Baldwin Elementary no doubt.

I just do want to know that we are you know that we are doing that we are asking or making sure the families or the estates or whoever we should be asking for you know for lack of a better word permission to use the name that we're doing next.

I understand we do that with the other schools we name And even with, you know, the, the junior resolution we had, we definitely need to talk to the family before you use a person's name for something.

So again, this is not a hesitancy to use this name.

I really want us to, I want to just make sure that we are consistent and thoughtful in that so that we can, and I, so I don't know what this means.

I mean, I, I don't want to, again, I'm not trying to squash this whatsoever.

I'm wondering though if that's something we want to give more time to to make sure we do connect with whoever we should be connecting on that.

The school's not renamed and it's here.

So I'm just wondering.

Can I have a response.

Yeah just as a quick response the procedure actually says this.

If the building is named after a local person a good faith effort must be demonstrated to contact and seek input from the relatives.

That's all it says.

Okay.

doesn't say anything else but you got to do your due diligence.

So I think we can we can trust our our legal support that this is an okay thing to do.

And I'm I'll stand by that.

And I just want to know that you know we're being thoughtful.

And again I this is a really hard position to be in because I I don't I I again fully support this.

I'm trying to think of what this means

Your sound's cutting out a little bit Director Rivera-Smith.

I've said my piece.

Thank you.

Okay.

Okay so Director Rankin.

Thanks.

Yeah I'm going to since I'm having connectivity issues still I'm going to keep my video off so that I'm not cutting out.

I I wanted to you're making a face Chandra can you hear me.

I'm not making a face that's just my regular face.

I just wanted to make you were kind of looking like so I thought maybe it was cutting out again.

I'm just listening.

Sorry.

I I wanted to just note that the email that we were forwarded today from the estate and a piece of it was read in testimony.

I wanted to give a little bit of the context of the rest of what we got in that message which is That you know it does say that they've respectfully declined in the past.

It also says that the estate is in the midst of a restructuring and we have suspended requests and permission for Mr. Baldwin's work at this point.

And that their main concern that they highlight is that if the organization moves forward with the use of the name James Baldwin that they do not want his image or likeness to be used in connection with promoting the school.

So I think that's that's important that they were not necessarily saying you know don't use the name but but that image or likeness was their primary concern which I think is a fair concern and something that can you know still be looked into and doesn't doesn't prevent the this name change today in honor of Mr. Baldwin.

So I will just say.

Director Rankin just just kind of give a quick context that we are basing this on an alleged correspondence.

So I just want to be really clear that we are basing it off of what we presume is correspondence from the estate.

We do not have confirmation on that.

So I just want to set the context.

Okay.

Well yes and.

That either way it's it's using his likeness that's the concern.

So I think I still think either way the name is I think we're good above board.

I will also say you know that in things like this as as somebody who who has has written to us and emailed us has said that She she acknowledged that making everybody happy in a decision like this is really hard and and that people want to be heard.

And so I just want to acknowledge that that being heard is really important and it doesn't mean that everybody gets their way but it means that you know everybody's input is heard and valued.

And so I just want to say thank you to all of the neighbors and everybody who has written us.

even if it is not in support of this because you're our neighbors and you're part of the community.

And and also we have also gotten so much so many words of support from within the walls of the Northgate School that you know I really believe this is in the best interest of the school and meets with the wishes of the community as a whole.

And and so I will continue to support this and continue to look forward to working with Principal Deedy and and Guillermo in supporting their school going through this transition.

And I also wanted to add that something that Director Rivera-Smith said which is that you know taking the old building down doesn't mean erasing the past.

And that you know as a former attendee of Laurelhurst Elementary another old building in Seattle Public School System you know it would be would be would be a little bit of a hurt for me to know if that building was coming down.

At the same time that you know the Northgate building it is not it does it no longer serves its students as well as it used to.

Every time it rains I have a friend that works that has worked there in the past that sends me a picture of the water feature when it rains and water to regulate just all kinds of things that make it so that I just want to make clear it's not an erasure of the past but it's an opportunity we have an opportunity to build better to build better and move forward for our students in the community.

And I feel really confident that they will continue to be good neighbors and we want to continue to hear your concerns.

Thank you.

Go ahead.

If I could just add one more thing too.

I want to just underscore one thing that Director Rankin said which is an appreciation for all of our neighbors whether they're in support of this or not.

And I'll just read you a quote one of my favorite from James Baldwin actually and it says I love America more than any other country in the world.

And exactly for this reason I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.

Now this this country has a strong connection to discourse and dissent.

So to just underline what Director Rankin said yes we always appreciate all perspectives.

They're all worthy and they're all valued and they're all taken into consideration as we make our decisions.

And so just offer that up as as thanking them and still really excited to support this.

Thank you Director DeWolf.

So that goes to me then.

And I will just say that so that we can move on and vote on this.

I feel comfortable with despite the quote unquote recent development that we're in a good place.

We can look to potentially do outreach further with the estate as needed.

with respect to any quotes or likeness and would refrain from doing that if we thought that was at all going to be problematic.

But when I think about the the nature of the meaning of naming something like a building particularly in an educational setting I think it's incredibly important to look to the future generations that will experience this building And then either in elementary to maybe understand a little bit about who he was but then later in life to be able to look back and have that recognition of oh that was you know my school was named after this incredible just brilliant.

I struggled to even figure out what to call him because he represented such an intellect.

And one that I wasn't exposed to until much later in life.

And so for me if the the the fact that then the impact is that more students and more people in in our community are exposed to who this incredible person was and the impact that he had.

And I and I will you know then I think it's it's it's a really powerful thing and that is what naming is about.

And I'm so grateful to the community for for making this happen because he is such an important figure in America, in American history.

And the I was I am grateful for the criticism that comes through from our neighbors, as others said, even in opposition, because in this instance, it gave me the opportunity to look at some of the criticisms that came forward from the Catholic community that he was perceived that he was, quote unquote, anti Catholic.

And instead, what I found was this deep body of thought about the incredibly positive impact he had on the church by virtue of challenging their racist practices and beliefs.

And I didn't that was a learning for me.

And so I was able to benefit simply from having somebody say oh he had said things that were anti-Catholic but in fact he had deep relationships within the Catholic community and was in communication with them about those practices.

And as somebody who's seen Catholic missions be such a mixed part of the history of this country, what I saw were folks in very deep thought about that, what they need to do internally within their own theology and their own practices to be accountable to somebody like him.

And that says so much about the kind of human that he was, that even with those with whom he disagreed, vehemently that he's remained in conversation with them and they're honestly at this point in time there has no better there's no better model for all of us because we are things are so tense and we are in such difficult times and that we have to be able to stay at the table and in deep disagreement with one another.

So so I'm grateful for that.

And with that I will turn it over to Ms. Ellie Wilson-Jones to call for the vote.

Director DeWolf aye Director Harris aye Director Hersey aye Director Rankin aye Director Rivera-Smith aye Director Hampson aye.

This motion is passed unanimously.

Congratulations Northgate.

Thank you guys.

We're so very happy.

I really really appreciate it.

Thanks for being here today.

Thank you.

And we will invite you to the celebration to.

Please do.

Please do.

We will move now to Action Item Number 4 Cleveland High School Memorial Forest Conservation Easement Agreement with King County and Memorandum of Understanding with the Cleveland High School Alumni Association.

May I have a motion for this item.

I move that the school board authorize the superintendent to execute a conservation easement purchase and sale agreement with King County and to execute a memorandum of understanding between the Seattle Public Schools and Cleveland High School Alumni Association in the form of draft agreements attached to the BAR.

With any minor additions deletions and modifications deemed necessary by the superintendent and take all necessary actions to implement these agreements.

This item has been moved by Vice President Hersey and seconded by Director Rivera-Smith.

Now to directors for any comments or questions before we move to the vote.

Starting with Director DeWolf Chair of Operations Committee.

Thank you President Hampson.

We talked at length about this and so I wanted to provide an opportunity for just to name what has been updated.

There is an additional document attached to this which is the Cleveland High School Alumni Association newsletter excerpt that speaks about this.

So please see that as attached to the very end of this document.

But overall I just want to clarify for our audience that this is a win-win-win for King County and their conservation goals which supports addressing the climate crisis.

It retains Cleveland High School Alumni Association's connection and we keep the land for the purpose of memorializing those students from World War II who are connected to Cleveland High School.

And the district also gains roughly 3.7 million dollars I think.

So for us we see this as a win-win-win where all parties truly did come together on a common agreement that will be beneficial to all of them.

And so I'm so excited to see this come through particularly as somebody who works in the environmental world.

And I just wanted to quickly share not only did the Cleveland High School Alumni Association support this but the other partners that supported this were the American Legion the Veterans of Foreign Wars Daughters of the American Revolution American Ex-Prisoners of War the National Association of Black Veterans Sons of Union Vets Marine Corps League and the World War II Museum just to name a few.

So I want to just thank our operations staff for keeping your hearts and minds open to ideas and this one came through and so we're really excited to see this win win win tonight.

So I'll turn it back over to you.

Thank you.

I'll start from the bottom of the order.

Director Rankin.

I have no No further questions or comments.

Thanks to everyone especially from the Alumni Association.

As as Director DeWolf said it's a win-win-win and I'm excited to vote to vote yes.

Director Rivera-Smith.

Thank you.

Likewise no questions or comments just gratitude for everybody who's worked towards this.

I can't wait to have our field trip out there someday and see the see the forest ourselves.

Thank you.

No other questions or comments.

Director Harris.

As a proud alumni of Cleveland and a recipient of the alumni newsletter I was thrilled to see that piece come out in the newsletter yesterday.

This truly is a win-win-win and with respect to the public comment Ironically given the comments that the school district would mess it up now it can never be messed up.

This is under King County's control with our assent and is there for our students to enjoy.

Thank you.

Director Hersey.

Excited to move forward.

Thank you.

No no questions for me.

Just thank you so much for this collaboration and glad to see that it came all came together as quickly as it did.

So and with that Ms. Wilson-Jones will you please call for the vote.

Director DeWolf aye Director Harris aye Director Hersey aye Director Rankin Director Rivera-Smith aye Director Hampson aye.

This motion has passed unanimously.

Okay.

At an early 5 o 8 p.m.

we've now come to the board comments section of the agenda.

We'll go first to Director Hersey as Chair of the Audit and Finance Committee for an announcement of completed internal audit and then we will go into general board comments.

So Director Hersey after you've read the announcement you can go ahead into your board comments.

And I will double back in just a moment.

Should we go to the first comment while I locate the document.

Sure.

Okay great.

Thank you.

I mean technically it's you but so I will go on to Director Harris.

Thank you.

I appreciate reading everyone's emails and please to us both begging to open school And also to keep them closed until certain issues are met.

And I will after having been less than happy with our Governor Inslee and our OSPI State Superintendent Reykdal for not lifting up our teachers and school staff to a higher level of vaccine availability.

will now in fact thank them publicly.

And I also would like to thank the mayor for opening up new vaccination sites so that we can get our teachers and school staff in as soon as possible for the safety of everyone.

Big thanks to my colleagues and especially President Hampson and our facilitator for the board retreat on Saturday.

I thought it was exceptionally well done.

And thanks for staff that showed up.

There were conversations and there was great listening to be had.

I I'm very grateful for that.

I am also very cognizant of the pain and the anxiety and the fear The folks are suffering from being under the worldwide pandemic lockdown since a year ago.

And what a year it's been.

But but please know that I do and I believe every one of my colleagues does review every email and takes them to heart and and puts them in the the mixmaster if you will of additional information that we get and that we take it ever so very seriously.

There is not enough time in the day to answer them all.

But know that you are in fact being heard.

And I will call out to the West Seattle High School community that is advocating for in-person graduations in June.

I'm on your side but there's a whole lot of details to be worked out but hopefully we can do something creative and socially distant and hopefully we don't have an uptick in COVID cases in the different variants so that we can keep the graduates of Seattle Public Schools and their families safe.

Again good listening and it's an honor and a privilege and I thank you very much.

Okay.

Director Rivera-Smith.

Thank you.

Good evening everyone.

I think it's evening now.

Thank you for joining us tonight.

I want to start by giving thanks to our chiefs and our staff who prepared and presented today.

And every day every meeting we are given hundreds and hundreds of pages of documents that do not just spontaneously appear.

I know they're the result of hours and hours of research and compiling in collaboration with other departments and other staff.

And I want you to know that you are seen and you're appreciated.

Thank you for all that work every day.

My gratitude also goes out to our four very very brave District 4 residents who have submitted applications.

to be considered for the seat vacated by Director Eden Mack.

In alphabetical order they are Erin Dury Mark Perry Lisa Marie Rivera and Eric Sousa.

Just in applying you have taken an incredible step towards service and we look forward to hearing from you and learning more about you and your passions your areas of interest later this month at the forum.

As mentioned by other directors we have received many many many emails about return to in-person learning.

And honestly it's on both sides.

Some say we're moving too fast and some say we're moving too slow.

But they all have excellent I mean really there's some points that everyone has really good points and really good reasons for wanting us to slow down or speed up.

And I you know one quote that stuck out to me and then I know all my directors have seen these.

It says to we teach our children to work through their problems.

To not give up when things get hard and to look past biases and find common ground and work together where we disagree.

And and you're absolutely right those the points you've shared that that's true and I I genuinely believe that our staff and the bargaining team and the SEA the teachers union bargaining team are working towards that tirelessly.

They we all want.

The same thing we want what's best for students and get them safely in schools.

We get them learning in person as needed and getting their services in person.

So I know it takes it's a lot of faith and trust that that's happening but it is.

So you know we get again you know we get a lot of emails right now and it's sometimes it's hard to you know be called failures and incompetent and lots of things in all caps.

But please know that we hear you and I know this isn't what you want to hear but I want to thank you.

Thank you to all the parents who have written in and all the parents and caregivers.

We hear your calls for desperation for returning your students.

Definitely as Superintendent Juneau said tomorrow marks one year since we closed the schools.

And for my family that year is actually today because even just even as a board member I didn't know when schools were closed and so a year ago today I kept my kids home.

And because just out of concern for the safety of them and our family at home.

And one of them never went back.

My daughter was a senior last year and never got to go back and have that final last couple months.

So I absolutely feel your pain and empathize with that.

And we're doing what we can.

We are, you know, it is People want to compare us to other districts and there's really no way to do that.

It really is apples to oranges because even large districts every district is not I'm not saying Seattle's special but we are unique.

Every district is.

By your schools the age of your schools by your transportation by the populations you serve the topography of your city that affects transportation.

Everything is unique to every district.

So we are.

who we are and we it's taken the steps it's taken.

We have the stakeholders we have to engage with and work very very hard to bring our students in.

We have not lost sight of all the grades.

We are doing what we can to see how we are able to get everybody in safely and when we can get them in safely.

Thank you.

Thank you for your emails for your suggestions for your even for your anger.

Thank you for everything that you are putting in this because I know it's hard.

Trust me I know it's hard.

I think that's all.

That's all I want to share.

Again if you I'm sorry not again but I will be having hopefully a community meeting this month.

I've had one every month but I've been a board member and you can look out for that posted to the district website soon.

Thank you.

Okay.

Director Rankin.

I'm going to try my video.

Is it choppy still.

Should I turn a video off.

Or can you hear me.

Okay.

Thanks.

Okay.

I a lot of a lot of mixed feelings this week.

I think we've probably all gone through times during this past year that feel very hopeful very desperate very and all you know all and everything in between.

And I had real mixed emotions at the joint press release by the district and the union.

I was equal parts relieved and and devastated honestly.

So relieved that both sides have made a commitment and come together around meeting students' needs.

And and you know touring buildings together and seeing this health and protocols that our staff has been working so hard.

The tangible progress and that you know we are prepared operationally.

The the the feeling of devastation was for families with students who receive intensive special education services.

And I I know how that for as I've said in other other meetings that you know there have been challenges this year for everyone but of course you know it's not a level playing field and those challenges have been more more acute and more impactful for some families than for others.

And so having to delay in-person services for special education families was a blow for me.

I you know ultimately I think it is beneficial and so I'm grateful that the decision was made and the joint statement was made because I think the more that we can be in alignment and the more as district and and SEA and the more comfort and preparedness that educators feel going into buildings the better they will be able to provide the services and care and connection that we depend on them and love them so much for for doing for our students.

But I there's some sort of you know scattered talk that you know the only reason buildings are opening this year is because of pushy affluent White parents.

And I just kind of want to I want to push back on that and encourage folks to look at the direction that we gave as a board to the district in August and again in December and again this was that this month.

The most recent one a couple of weeks ago was with with and we made it the most clear in this most recent resolution the very clear tiering and priority of where we need to go first and who we need to design around and who in our community is is is is suffering the most.

And so I just I want to say that students in the special education intensive service service pathways are disproportionately when compared to the rest of our district they are disproportionately students of color especially Black and Native students.

And that when SPS polled families for who would want to come back the original plan March 11th who would want to come back for in-person services in the general education pre-K through 1 category there was a overrepresentation of White families compared to families of color who said that they would like their students to return.

That that discrepancy did not exist in special education intensive service pathways the way that it did in general education.

So I really want to caution people against saying that it's only affluent White families and it's only only this and only that because the students who are really who we are prioritizing and the students who are furthest from educational justice are students of color with disabilities.

So I just really want to make that crystal clear.

And in going forward too that as we return and bargain more the return of more students that it's still very focused on those who are it still is very focused on equity and who has the highest number of need.

and how we can keep numbers in buildings low which is which is you know the other side of balancing to mitigate for COVID spread.

So thank you to everybody who is working so hard.

I know that we're all doing everything and all the things and more things than we ever thought we were doing for our own kids and for our communities and for other people's kids.

And somehow honestly I have to say That you know aside from a few all-caps emails as Director Rivera-Smith said that for the most part individuals on all sides of the bargaining table and in all all area of stakeholder and community member in Seattle Public Schools I have not encountered anyone who is not still as upbeat as they can be and thinking about our students on an individual basis and really just like nobody has given up.

Nobody is giving up.

And I just thank you everybody for that because I know how tired we all are.

And I will just I will end with that.

Okay I'm going to go back up to Director Hersey and then we'll go back down to Director DeWolf.

So in response to the announcement of our earlier mention board procedure 6550BP Internal Audit requires an announcement of completed internal audits.

As the Audit and Finance Committee Chair I am announcing that at the March 2nd quarterly Audit and Finance Committee meeting the Office of Internal Audit presented three follow-up audit reports.

segregation of duties related to disbursements, segregation of duties related to human resources, and status of prior capital findings and recommendations.

All findings and recommendations are discussed at Public Audit and Finance Committee meeting, and the completed reports are available online at the Office of Internal Audit's public web page.

Click on Department and Services under the Directory tab, then click on Internal Audit.

Okay so as for my director comments I will keep them fairly short.

Let me get my camera on.

Okay fantastic.

So yeah.

Thank you so much to everybody who was able to join for public comment today and those of you who are listening at home.

This is a tough week for me especially just because as many of you know I'm an educator down in Federal Way.

And we are preparing to reopen our building to CAM first graders in the next few days.

And so with that last week we said goodbye to our students who we had been working with for the entirety of the year because even for second grade depending on whether a family elected to stay remote or to return to the physical school There was no way that we would have been able to manage keeping everyone in the same classroom.

So when you really realize and take a moment to appreciate everything that comes with the process of reopening those those withdrawals that this process will take on people are not insignificant.

There have been even even though online learning environments In no way can be compared to what we get when we spend time with one another in physical space.

The the amount of work and effort and just sheer time and commitment that our educators and so many other folks throughout our system have put into cultivating really beautiful classrooms virtually.

Those are all things that we are going to have to take into consideration as this transition begins.

And so what I would just urge you to do if you are a parent listening at home is take a moment and sit down with your child and have a conversation about change and have a conversation about how how this this insane time that we are all living through is impacting them.

And as we get closer and closer to return to some sense of normalcy This is not going to be an insignificant transition and I'm seeing it on the faces of my second graders in real time.

So please take that opportunity and talk with your kids about how things are going to look very different over the next few weeks as things begin to reopen and more of us get vaccinated and the CDC releases less and less strenuous guidance.

What I will say is that as an educator and seeing The work that our district is putting in with our labor partner the Seattle Education Association I'm very hopeful.

And I know that for many families out there knowing that we are going to have to wait even just a few weeks longer is is wholly untenable but.

In the in this grand scheme of ensuring that we can reopen our buildings in partnership and in genuine collaboration with our education association it's going to set us up better on what will be a very long and arduous recovery process to to get us to where we can say okay we have taken we have taken everything that we've learned from this pandemic and we are now applying supports to help our students achieve a place of understanding where they can say okay now I can exhale.

And that's going to take years.

So making sure that this first initial step that we put forward is one that is on the basis founded in collaboration and mutual understanding is critical.

And the time that it takes is the time that it takes.

And so as we move forward just know that the investments that we are making right now to make sure that we are getting in a contract that is fair and equitable and solid not only for our educators but for our students and our system as a whole we are going to benefit from exponentially as we start to have greater conversations about what reopening our entire system looks like.

So again we cannot rush this process because we have to do it right.

Thank you for everyone again who has spent time with us.

I hope you and your families are well and I will see you next time.

We can pass it on to the next director.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Director DeWolf.

Thank you President Hampson.

I'll keep my remarks brief tonight but I just wanted to again lift up my hands to the NAACP Youth Council for the incredible work and the opportunity to work together over the course of the last few months on a student rep policy which the board approved today.

So thank you to that for that.

And I hope our our young folks and our students are listening tonight because this is a huge deal.

I'm very excited about this development.

I also want to just kind of tag on a little bit to Vice President Hersey to also just say that you know What is really important is that at the end of the day our educators are doing incredible work and you know this this experience of them advocating to ensure that our buildings are safe to return is a minor issue.

In comparison to the incredible work that they've done over the course of this whole pandemic basically shifting their understanding and their approach and how they teach.

And so I don't want any of that to get lost in these conversations because I think it's really easy to focus on attention right now.

But the attention is actually where the good work is is happening and people are coming to terms and finding the places where there's agreement and we can able so we are able to move forward together collectively with each other's best interests at heart.

So I just want to make sure that folks and particularly in our community really recognizes that teachers at the end of the day have been doing incredible work.

They do incredible work and I want to I don't want us to lose sight of that.

And before you know the only last thing I'll just mention today is just end with a quote from James Baldwin as we were able to approve the name change of Northgate.

The paradox of education is precisely this.

That as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated.

I think if we can raise and educate our young people to examine their own understanding of the world and and the society in which they're being educated is an incredible thing and I would be really proud if our students took the lead and the model of James Baldwin in that approach.

Thank you President Hampson.

Thank you.

So just quickly we had a nice walk in The Arboretum for my weekly walk in the park with Director Hampson or walk in the park with Chandra whichever you prefer.

Thursdays at 11 a.m.

This Thursday will be at the Center for Urban Horticulture and it's on my Facebook page and you can message there or text and we usually wait about 5 minutes and then 5 to 10 minutes and start walking.

So send me a message if you're planning to join us.

Particularly as the weather gets better.

It's a really good time to get out masked and socially distanced and have these conversations and do some things that are healthy for us as well.

So so practicing what I preach and the things that I that I try to tell my kids that they have to get out of the house and get some light and some light on their on their eyes and fresh air in their in their noses and be moving.

And thank you to everybody that came out last week because it was a it lifted my spirits as well and I appreciate being able to have those conversations in person in a different environment.

Pretty major week and I have tremendous gratitude for everyone that is in bargaining.

I can't emphasize enough.

how difficult that process is.

You know we have one of the we're top three in terms of pro-union strong union laws in the state.

And I think you know that's something that and that Seattle's pretty proud of.

I think it's a makes for really strange bedfellows in the midst of a pandemic.

And so to have colleagues and people who have worked together in all manner of relationship throughout their their time in the district.

Sitting across from each other and debating over some really fine details relative to how we operate in workspaces in the during this pandemic is it is a tough lift.

And I'm grateful to the collaboration that that they have shown this week and I'm hopeful and I am had the opportunity to call parents directly today to talk to them to apologize for the delay from the 11th to the 29th.

And those are families specifically the ones that I spoke with that are whose students are in intensive service pathways.

And those are very hard conversations.

Very enlightening conversations.

And any time I have one of those conversations And I so appreciate each of those families taking time to speak with me and tell me about their child and their their family and their experiences and what's important to them.

And it helps me it helps inform me in every case and in each case there is a tremendous amount of understanding paired with just incredible amount of sadness and frustration.

And I don't think that you know we are in a place where we truly just have to hold those things at the same time and keep moving forward and hope that as I experienced when I dropped my my kids off at their first softball practice after having to shut down my own team's softball activities a year ago I felt a sense of of hope that we are coming out of this.

You know a year ago having practiced for Gotten all of our practices in and about to get to our first games and then had to had to shut it all down.

And that was you know it's not the same as Director Hersey's experiences having been with his students all year long.

But but you know when you when you work with kids and you're ready to see them go out and really put in their best effort it's it's tragic when that doesn't happen.

and just to see some of those same kids out there.

I don't get to coach but they've I'm grateful to shout out to Mike Walker and Eric Knudsen for keeping the league the softball league going and providing coaching for those for those teams so that that my girls and others can be out there in the sunshine and and doing some healthy activities.

We definitely have more tough days ahead.

And but I do hope that this is an upward trajectory that we have in fact turned a corner.

And with the incredible amount of frustration I hope that we the thing that I ask for families to consider with all of that is you know that we all just take that time to hold both of those things at the same time that while there has been loss There's also been growth.

I heard that from the families that I spoke to that that whose students are in intensive service pathways that they've focused on the growth that they've been able to have together as a family even where there has been significant regression and loss.

And and so that you talk about those things with your children as well that the changes ahead and you talk about the loss and the growth of the new things the growth and the new things that they've learned.

And then and then to let us know what we need to know for them to let their teachers know and their their their parents and and for for you all to let us know the things that we need to know about your students as we start to build out this next year.

We have a massive schedule ahead of us to make that happen and a lot of transitions.

And I hope that we can work to improve our communications.

I think that's sort of for me been the theme of the week all along the way is where we have fallen down from the standpoint of communication.

And we we definitely need to do much much better.

And so that's kind of what I'm going to be in addition to our best practices at the board level and introducing some of those things to the community with much greater focus in our planning that we can collaborate together on significantly better more streamlined and clear communication.

And with that if I didn't miss anything or anyone there be no further business to come before the board.

The regular board meeting is now adjourned at 539 p.m.

Pįnagigi.

Thanks everyone.