Seattle School Board Meeting September 9, 2021

at 415 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 Dury.

Here.

Director Harris.

Present.

Vice President Hersey.

Here.

Director Rankin.

Here.

Director Rivera-Smith.

Present.

And President Hampson.

Here.

This meeting is being excuse me Superintendent Jones is also joining us for today's meeting and additional staff will be briefing us as we move through the agenda.

This meeting is being held remotely consistent with the Governor's Proclamation on Open Public Meetings.

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

And just a note that our what I hope will be a brief return to remote board meetings so that our security and other staff at Central Office could better focus their attention during this month on the reopening of our schools and rather than have them focused on any potential disruptions at John Stanford We've thought it best to play it safe and conservative and allow them to have all of their attention on our school buildings as our children started up at school this week.

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 Jones for his comments.

Thank you President Hampson.

Board members.

180 days is in full flight.

We started school last week.

Really pleased with that.

Had the opportunity to visit many many schools and have tremendous amount of gratitude to our school leaders our educators our staff.

They've stepped up and have been tremendously responsive in the midst of this crisis.

We were all disappointed that we wanted to start school without the Delta variant in our presence but it's here and our staff again have shown up tremendously.

Really special shout out.

I had a chance to go to the contract tracing center here with the school nurses and it's quite an operation.

The professionalism the attention attentiveness to detail is unparalleled and unsurpassed.

So I just want to make sure that our nurses who are tremendously overworked and underappreciated are acknowledged for what they've done over this last this last week and last year.

Want to switch over to enrollment.

Unfortunately we're down about 2.4 percent from our projections.

That means we're at total headcount we're a little less than 5,200 52,000 students while this figure isn't stable.

It's likely to go down a little bit further.

We'll continue to monitor this.

We'll keep you informed around what those numbers are.

As you know to the public this impacts our budget and our ability to do the things that we want to do.

So we're going to make sure that we're reaching out to families and trying to make sure if they have any barriers or roadblocks to enrollment that we make sure that we clear those for them.

Another challenge that we have is transportation.

Transportation continues to be a challenge.

We've been down approximately 10 percent in terms of the drivers that we need.

We this week we've had a great opportunity to increase our numbers of drivers.

We've provided incentives.

We've provided more reaching out.

We've recruited.

And so we're we're up a little bit with from the numbers that we had but we still are deficient.

This is a regional problem.

It's actually a national problem.

But we're doing our part to really try to mitigate some of the.

some of the challenges it's presenting to families and schools.

Virtual options.

We've heard many requests for virtual options so we're trying to really consider what we can do to expand that opportunity to families.

We're looking at how we can manage our space.

How we can extend the capacity.

What we can do to recruit to make sure that we have maybe a slight amount more of virtual options available to folks.

As we prepare to be responsive to Delta and all the things that it's putting challenges in front of us we have to recognize that.

So we've been working on a what we're calling a business continuity plan.

We have a draft of that business continuity plan together that we're we're utilizing again our our expertise from King County Public Health and other folks to inform that plan.

But just want the board to know and the public to know We are working on a continuity plan in case we have more challenges in front of us and we and it looks like it may be the case.

So just wanted to hit on a few things regarding where we are.

Again want to don't want to lose focus on teaching and learning.

Again we're focused on literacy math college and career readiness.

But we're also trying to do everything we can in terms of making a safe and healthy environment for our students.

But we can do both things and I have a solid team across the district that's helping me and us to achieve those goals.

So thank you board for your support.

And back to you President Hampson.

Thank you and all of your staff tremendously Superintendent Jones.

And I know some of us had the opportunity to get out and see how things are shaping up in schools this week and we'll have an opportunity to discuss that.

in our comments but I know it was an exciting week even if a trying one in many ways but for for families and kids and staff alike.

So I'm excited to hear from folks about that.

And thank you for that update and information.

Okay.

We have now reached the consent portion of today's agenda.

May I have a motion for the consent agenda.

Yes absolutely.

Let me just get my bearings here.

I move for approval of the consent agenda.

Second.

Approval of the consent agenda has been moved by Vice President Hersey and seconded by Director Rivera-Smith.

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

Director Harris here.

I would like to remove Item number 4 rename and amend policy number 3246 restraint isolation and other uses of physical intervention.

Thank you.

Okay.

Thank you Director Harris.

And you may now lower your hand.

Anyone else.

Okay.

May I have a revised motion for the consent agenda as amended.

Yeah I move approval of the consent agenda as amended.

Second.

Approval of the consent agenda as amended has been moved by Vice President Hersey and seconded by Director Rivera-Smith.

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

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Opposed.

The consent agenda has passed unanimously.

Okay and I will now accept a motion for Item Number 4. Rename and Amend Board Policy Number 3246 Restraint Isolation and Other Uses of Physical Intervention.

I move that the Seattle School Board rename and amend School Board Policy Number 3246 as attached to the School Board Action Report.

Second.

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

Director Harris can I call on you for your comments questions and concerns.

You certainly may.

And I well appreciate the extraordinarily hard work that's been done for over a year on this issue.

It is however an issue that touches so very very many folks.

And I was hoping that we could have Director Pedroza and her team address the changes from when it came up both in work session and in introduction.

Thank you.

Associate Superintendent Dr. Concie Pedroza are you available to respond to Director Harris's request.

Yes I'm here.

Okay the floor is yours.

Okay so yes all of the changes that were put in place were incorporated into the document.

I just want to make sure that I have all my notes properly case here.

But everything that was noted from the last meeting was included and changed in the document.

Not every item but some of the technical pieces that were addressed some of the language pieces were addressed.

We insisted that that happen and we made those technical changes and then uploaded it onto the system.

We worked to the very last minute.

to get those changes into place.

I will also add that we actually have already slated October 8th for the first training day before we've identified I think about 30 30 schools.

The team met today actually the trainers met today and they are in the 4th planning for the training for October session.

And so I just wanted to let you know that we did address and take care of some of those technical changes that were made Some of the requests that were made in terms of some of the changes are actually procedural and we did make some of those changes as well as as as to the request.

So if I can just share just a little bit from our notes.

Just want to make sure I have everything here that we have added.

We did the reporting requirements.

We also made some tweaks to the processing of the incidences the annual reporting.

We made sure that we incorporated the information that that our representative sent related to imminent harm.

So we added that language in there as well.

So but the majority of the changes and the requests that were there were made.

So I don't have the full list.

There's quite a number of them but we did make those changes and we have plans to move ahead with training regardless of where we stand.

I want to make sure that Erin Romanek.

Erin are you on the line.

I am.

I am here.

Great.

Can you address any specific technical changes that we made from the from when we went to intro to action.

Yes absolutely.

Erin Romanek Student Support Services Supervisor with Coordinated School Health.

Three of I can speak to specifically the three changes from when we were at intro two weeks ago to this evening.

And the one was brought up regarding we had had used the word isolation in the policy in reference to using I believe it's the 4th paragraph down.

It was under no circumstances will techniques be used.

Oh I'm sorry in the 5th paragraph down where it talks about using de-escalation techniques and we had inserted isolation when we're banning that as a practice.

So we removed that from policy.

I want to say Director Rivera-Smith that might have been your comments and conversation that we had about that.

In addition I think there was a number of conversations regarding the reporting requirements timelines for families.

And so we added a sentence in as well.

This is more in procedure.

And the fact that when we notify parents so I think it's on page 6 and it's letter G and it talks about the efforts to be made either by the end of the school day.

And I know there was concern here definitely before the beginning of the next school day because I think the worry that surfaced during our conversation was that if a child came back in the next day and families hadn't known.

So we added that piece.

And then the other piece the third one that we added in is going to be in Section L. And I think Director Dury this might have been yours and it was number 5. It was a reference to the anti-retaliation policy and procedure for staff who come forward with reporting any violations in good faith.

And so those were 3 specific changes we made from intro.

to today based on your feedback that we got that evening.

Are there additional questions.

Do Director Harris does that answer your questions.

It does answer my questions and I'm extremely grateful for taking this time to go over it because it impacts so very very many folks.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Do any other directors have comments questions or concerns they'd like to raise at this time.

Okay.

Hearing none.

Ms. Wilson-Jones can we please call for the vote.

Vice President Hersey.

Proudly aye.

Director Rankin.

Yes proudly and gratefully aye.

Director Rivera-Smith aye Director DeWolf aye.

Congratulations.

Director Dury aye Director Harris.

Thank you.

Aye.

President Hampson.

Very gratefully aye.

Congratulations everyone and thank you so very much.

Thank you all for all of your work over this last year and a half and we're excited to do the implementation.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Very grateful to be part of it.

Thank you.

Okay.

We have now reached the board committee report section of the agenda.

We'll hear briefly now from the chairs of the committees that have met since our last meeting and or those chairs that would like to promote their next meeting.

So starting.

with Director Hersey.

Absolutely.

So we have not had the opportunity to meet since we last met as a full board but we do have two meetings coming up on the 13th.

Bright and early at 7 a.m.

we have the Audit and Finance Standard Committee meeting and then on the 14th we have the Audit and Finance Quarterly meeting where we'll be going over some updates from our auditing office.

So if you are interested and would like to wake up at the crack of dawn with us and talk about audit and finance for the district we would be more than happy to have you virtually.

And that is all that I have for now and look forward to updating everyone when we have those 2 meetings next week.

Thank you.

And Director DeWolf.

Thank you President Hampson.

We did have our operations committee meeting this morning actually.

So thank you to the public folks that joined us and to thank you Directors Rivera-Smith and Rankin for being there as always.

The big topic of discussion for today with board action reports was a board action report for the North Queen Anne School.

We need to do some improvements.

This is from the BEX V levy.

And so this is where Cascade Parent Partnership is located.

And there's a number of improvements that are being being made so we sent that to the board for approval so we'll be seeing that our next calendar or our next regular board meeting.

And then the other thing we discussed were we talked about the student assignment transition plan.

There's not going to be any boundary changes for the 2022-2023 year but there's going to be some minor changes to the SATP BAR that will be coming through routed at the end of December.

So folks be on the lookout for that.

And the last thing we talked about was transportation service standards.

As you know a couple weeks ago we we approved the current transportation service standards and one of the things we all elevated was more equity student-focused and to really reimagine what it looks like when to think about transportation service standards being both meaningful equitable fair and also making sure we're doing the things we are legally obligated to do.

So that will be coming through also probably end of December early January and so two pretty exciting things and so we'll keep you posted through Operations Committee and as always you can join us on the excuse me the second Thursday of each month at 8 a.m.

Okay.

Director Rankin.

Thank you.

Yeah we haven't met but we do have an SSC&I committee meeting next week.

And we had a really packed meeting in August.

So this is a little more a little leaner looking.

Not as many bars.

And we'll be getting some good updates on Ethnic Studies and Black Studies.

Start talking about the K-5 math adoption curriculum adoption process.

Those are probably the main things we're talking about.

A new new policy around security that comes from a new newly passed state law that that I'm looking forward to talking about and how that can support or be integrated into some of the conversations we've already been having in our in our policies on safety and security for students and centering that on student well-being.

Oh and we're going to talk about we're going to have an outdoor task force update as well preview discussion before we bring that to the full board later this month.

Okay and again that was for Student Services Curriculum and Instruction aka SSC&I.

So for Executive Committee we meet next next week.

We have just finalized the agenda for that or in the process of finalizing and so that should be posted soon.

That's at 8 a.m.

on the 15th of September.

And among other things we'll be talking about the Student Outcomes Focused Governance progress as well as Superintendent permanent Superintendent hiring process.

We'll be talking with our consultant who is supporting us in getting community input on the RFP which is to select the firm that will support us in working doing community engagement and outreach to getting candidates for that process.

And just important reminder about that meeting again at 8 a.m.

on the 15th.

is that that is where we set the agendas for the subsequent board meetings.

And so if for our legislative meetings which are these meetings.

So if you're interested in what's coming up the starting point is the Executive Committee the month before.

So with that as it is prior to 5 o'clock We I will ask if to keep the meeting going if we can go to directors and their board comments.

And one of the things I would like to ask directors to take this time to do as we don't really have another forum for it.

Many of us had the opportunity to to attend the Harvard University and Council of Great City Schools Virtual School Board and Superintendent Professional Development Program.

earlier this summer in July and would just ask directors as you give your comments to please report back on any learnings or impacts that that training had on you and your your work as as a board director.

So I will ask for volunteers to give your board comments at this time.

President Hampson I can I can give comment.

Thank you for volunteering.

Director DeWolf.

Thanks President Hampson.

Good evening everyone.

Thanks.

Really excited to see Policy 3246 move through today.

Just thank you to directors for your willingness to lean in and thank you especially to Directors Rankin and Vice President Hersey for your incredible work on shepherding that through over the course of the last year and a half.

Been very hard work and I know it was.

Long long time coming.

So appreciate your your energy and keeping that moving forward.

And thank you Dr. Conte-Pedroza as well and all the folks on that team.

I wanted to mention that you know last feels like last year but it really wasn't Director Rivera-Smith it was just in February.

We approved the 100 percent clean energy resolution.

Really proud moment for us here at this at the district and on the board.

And I wanted to just share that tomorrow be on the lookout for the opening of the application for the Clean Energy Task Force and that will help with planning the implementation and and really how the whole the board and the district are going to respond to that resolution between now and 2040. So those are those should be up tomorrow.

Please keep a lookout.

I know that people on an email list you'll probably get notified as well.

But we definitely need volunteers folks both enthusiastic about this work who are connected to this work who care about students and who care about our futures.

Please be on the lookout for that.

Be really great to have some some good voices across the district on that task force.

Besides that just wanted to say welcome and congratulations to our kindergartners for starting school today.

I know we have folks on the board here who got to take their kiddos to kindergarten.

And so just welcome to our kindergartners.

and hope we can continue to stay safe and healthy.

And to if I could just do one final pitch I will say that my family is currently enduring personal experience with COVID with COVID and it's really hard.

And I really wish and hope and encourage all of all folks 12 and over to please get vaccinated to protect yourselves to protect your families to protect your friends to protect your neighbors.

and to protect your community and your school community.

So please get vaccinated if you can.

I know that there's many reasons why we have our feelings about it but please do encourage you to do that.

And so I'll leave it at that.

Thank you so much President Hampson.

Okay who will go next.

Director Hersey go ahead.

Thank you President Hampson and thank you everyone for a wonderful first week of school.

Congratulations to the class of 2034 who started kindergarten today.

It's really quite an interesting thing to realize that we begin at such a young age right now and the seeds that we are planting in these very moments we will we will see flourish in a little bit more than a decade.

So I'm very excited for the start of kindergarten in a very different time.

I had the pleasure of visiting quite a few schools last week with President Hampson and Superintendent Jones.

And largely there were some first-day jitters.

Certainly that.

But also the resounding impression that I received is that our educators and our students are just excited to be back together again in classrooms.

It is not lost on me that we have a lot of details to continue to figure out especially in terms of our class sizes testing and many other pieces that are going to help keep our children safe so that we can continue learning in person as much as possible.

So we're looking forward to figuring out solutions to those very big and very present problems.

What I would also just like to say is thank you to our educators for the immense amount of work and the incredible lift that it has been returning to your physical classrooms again after after summer break.

There is no word that can sum up the amount of gratitude that I have and that I know that our students and their families have for the work that y'all have been putting in tirelessly not only for the past couple of years during this pandemic but for your entire careers.

So for those of you out there who needed a thank you today and maybe have not heard it please take this.

from me as I offer it humbly.

I see you I feel for you and I am always going to be in your corner.

The last thing that I would like to say is as we have meetings coming up next week for the Audit and Finance Committee I hope that folks will join us.

Those are going to be especially the meeting Tuesday morning is going to be incredibly important.

And I look forward to getting back into our normal rotation for our D7 equity meetings that are taking place on Tuesdays at around 630. If you are a D7 parent and you would like to come and share in some community and some real-time problem solving we would be more than happy to have you.

You can either reach out to me or O'Hara Jimenez or Ayan Elmi who are representatives from Seattle Council PTSA who are facilitating those meetings for us.

They give a ton of time to that group and I am very thankful for their leadership.

So yeah.

Thank you.

Welcome to our kindergartners.

Welcome again to all of our students and educators back to school.

And thank you for all the hard work especially from our educators and especially senior staff as we figure out how to keep our kids in classrooms for as long as possible and keep them safe.

And you know just an immense amount of gratitude for everyone who is rolling up their sleeves and really getting to it.

So thank you.

Thank you Vice President Hersey.

Director Dury I see you have your hand up.

Yeah thanks.

I just want to say welcome back to to everyone students teachers staff parents everyone.

I know it's with mixed emotions that students and families are returning to buildings and virtual options and you know as we navigate yet another time of uncertainty and with the COVID and the Delta I just wanted to to say thanks to everybody for showing up with our best selves as much as we can.

I also wanted to thank the teachers and staff for being the leaders and doing that and being present for our students as they return to the buildings too.

And then just one note.

I wanted to say thanks to everybody who does come to the board meetings and participate to have your voice heard through public comment or in emails to the board staff or to the board members either as a collective or individually.

And and let you know that we we do hear you and and we're grateful for your comments and and your thoughts on policy and what we're doing and the work that we're doing.

And that sometimes if you don't see your comment reflected in the policy it might be because it's a procedural thing that is coming with that is forthcoming with the procedure or that is a staff something for the staff to be doing.

And so it may you may see it coming forward in a different way but I do want you to know that we read it and we hear we hear what you're saying and we take it seriously.

So thank you and I'll close there.

Okay who will go next.

I'll go ahead and give my comments next since I'm not hearing from Directors Rankin Harris or Rivera-Smith.

And I apologize if there's any background noise there's a large truck outside.

One of the major downsides of going remote definitely not my preference and I'm anxious for us to get back in person and hope we can do that as soon as possible at the beginning of October.

But as much as it may not appear board meetings particularly board meetings that are hybrid take a tremendous amount of staff support and at times when board meetings have become flashpoints for disagreements about things such as mask wearing we've had to add some extra extra security to make sure that those who attend are able to feel safe and that folks are wearing their masks.

And that's that's just as extra staff to to manage.

look forward to getting back in person very very soon.

I certainly enjoyed our one one full board meeting we had in person with with directors.

I want to reiterate things that my fellow directors have said.

Please please get vaccinated.

Please encourage others to get vaccinated.

This is a community that is habituated to less than forthright conversation at times and I think it's it could not be more clear that we can't afford to be shy about this.

And not only do folks need to be getting vaccinated and and I saw in our visits to schools I saw many students and staff encouraging and demanding of their fellow students and staff to get their masks on appropriately.

And and that's something that we all need to work on.

Not just getting it over the face and the in the mouth.

I mean the nose and the mouth but actually pinching on the nose.

And I was just I could not be more pleased at how enthusiastically the children were taking to the masks at all the schools that Director Hersey and I visited and we each also visited some additional schools.

And these kids are so amazingly resilient and adaptive and are doing really well and are even doing really well with the mask and bite and mask and drink.

It's incredibly impressive.

They do better than than all of us adults in making that that adjustment.

So share how to mask with with people in your community.

Encourage them to get vaccinated.

It's a very very hard conversation and yet too many of us have seen the dire consequences.

And yet we know how incredibly important it is that all of our students were able to start school next week and I mean last week and I just cannot express enough how incredibly grateful and amazed I am at how buildings and families and students and teachers were able to come together to create really positive environments in our school communities.

It is it's it's a difficult thing for any one individual knowing what's at stake and knowing that there's a risk that we've never had to deal with before in in going to school.

And yet what I witnessed was first of all administrators that were happy to see us happy to to receive our support.

Teaching staff that were happy to see us.

Students that were happy to see their teachers that were happy to see administrators.

There was just an amazing sense of even even if tense because of how the context in which we're having to do it just a tremendous gratitude at being back in the space of learning.

It was just super exciting.

And I feel incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to witness it because I know we are for the most part our families are not able to go in and see that.

It is possible to to volunteer in schools.

We have allowed for that but it just depends on how much whether or not staff can manage volunteers you know and make that work.

But so having had that opportunity I just want to want to share that what I saw was amazing.

I saw incredible dedication to safety and making sure that that kids were were staying safe to the extent that we can.

You know we we have our our our senior staff all the way down are on it.

I don't think there's been a single issue that that I have seen or that somebody has raised that they're not already thinking about and have the wheels turning to try to figure out as you heard from Superintendent Jones how we might get to a better place.

There's a much more adaptive kind of mentality than I think we had last year and it really gives me a great deal of confidence.

So I'm grateful to everyone again for that.

And welcome kindergartners.

I wanted to go out today but I did not want to give anybody even a tiniest bit of additional stress or distraction while those kindergartners are being welcomed in.

Anybody who's taken their child to kindergarten knows that it's a tremendously emotional moment and kind of a sacred moment.

And so I hope that that those were good moments and I look forward to getting back into buildings next week and revisiting some places that I went this past week.

And then and getting to some some new places whether virtually or in-person depending on what folks are comfortable with.

It's a it's a mix.

I'm I'm willing to be adaptable to any school invitation.

I will gladly accept either virtual or in-person to come visit and talk.

It was wonderful to be with Superintendent Jones in these spaces as well.

And I think just underlying the fact that we are working so hard to operate as a team in this environment it's incumbent upon all of us to behave as adults in that way and demonstrate to kids that that's what we need to do in these very difficult times.

So I don't think y'all want me to talk again for eight more minutes but if there are other directors that would like to make comments at this time.

I guess I'll just say real fast.

I usually like to save my comments till after public testimony so that I can try to respond somewhat to what I'm hearing.

But I will just go ahead and and let's and follow up with everybody about kindergarten.

I did take my youngest one to kindergarten this morning and it's I still want to cry.

It's it's it's you know it's a big deal although you know 12 13 grades later you barely remember it when you're sending them.

I had one graduate last year so I'm on both ends of it and it's it's a lot and I I appreciate all the work.

I was there helping out today for lunch and I admire all our educators and teachers administrators who are there guiding little hands and little bodies and making it work and it is something to behold.

So I appreciate other board members got out to see the schools and I'm And thank you parents for for trusting us with your students that it's not we don't take it for granted one bit.

And we're working every day to make a safe welcoming environment for all of our students.

So I might say more later but I just want to throw it in right now.

We have time.

Thank you.

Thank you for sharing your personal kindergarten experience Director Rivera-Smith.

That's super special.

Okay either of the other directors want to make any comments before we take a really quick.

Director Harris is ready to go.

Sure.

Much appreciate.

And I echo and exponentiate the thankful and gratitude comments from my colleagues regarding staff educators bus drivers building custodians everybody up and around.

this enormous district and all 104 schools.

These challenges are truly immense.

But I have to say that I am actually very proud of our ability to open schools on time under really significant circumstances.

As you all know we're underfunded.

McCleary is fake news.

And some of the edicts that come down from the state and otherwise Do not come with finances.

So it has to come from somewhere.

And certainly the ESSER dollars are hugely appropriate and appreciated but we don't have enough money to pay bus drivers which I believe every one of my colleagues wants to be able to pay plus the benefits that we want to be able to pay.

It is truly not possible.

And and at some point I'd like to get a group together to talk about the bills that have come through the legislature in the last five years.

All or most of which are really terrific bills but didn't come with funding.

And I know it sounds unbelievable but a district of our size with as much money as we have over 1.2 billion dollars that we're crying poverty but it's absolutely the truth.

I encourage you to go on the website.

Look at the gold book.

Look at the purple book.

Our district without question is one of the most transparent about our finances in the entirety of this country.

And and I'm proud of that and I'm proud of our staff that works triply hard to make that the case.

Do I appreciate the fear the abject white-knuckle fear of sending your students to school with Delta virus.

I absolutely do.

And I also appreciate Superintendent Jones comments about Plan B. Folks are working very hard round-the-clock about Plan B. If we are delivered More bad news in terms of the Delta variant expanding or Lord knows what else variant is coming our way.

I do believe that we have plans in place.

Would I like to see them sooner rather than later.

No question about it.

No question about it.

On the other hand again the devil's in the details.

And until we know what we're going to be hit with we don't know what the proposed solutions are.

But in 104 schools you have dedicated staff absolutely dedicated to teaching your children and to keeping them safe.

And with respect to the social-emotional consequences of this last 18 months I believe we're taking that very seriously and I believe that Mental health is a hell of a lot more important than SBAC scores and and I'm pleased to see the sensitivity to that presently.

I hope to have a Zoom meeting.

If I can't have one in person the libraries are not open yet for meetings but I may have to twist an arm or two to see if I can't have an in-person six feet apart meeting at Denny or Chief Sealth International High School in the very near future because like others I hugely appreciated our last legislative meeting where we got to meet in person and there is a whole lot of communication that is not conveyed here on Teams Zoom or whatever it is that we're using and and and that's a tragedy.

So call me write me.

Thank you.

Thank you Director Harris.

That leaves let's see you Director Rankin.

Did you want to go now before or wait till the end.

If we're going to start testimony right at 5 I'll wait.

Did you say you wanted to take a pause.

No I was only going to take a pause if we didn't hit 5 o'clock.

I'm going to talk for more than 2 minutes.

Well you can talk for more than 2 minutes and we'll start right after 5. We just can't start before 5.

Yeah I can.

I have a couple of things that I want to note that I've been thinking a lot about.

This week is was Labor Day and is also Rosh Hashanah which is Jewish the Jewish New Year.

So Shana Tovah to all out there who observe.

I have been thinking a lot about how grateful I am for people who have labored before us and fought for the protections that we have and the work hours that we have.

And this pandemic if it hasn't taught us anything else has taught us even more how much we still as a society are relying on a lot of unpaid labor and a lot of invisible labor and we still have a lot more to fight for.

Particularly I'm thinking about the overlaps of education child care and health care.

I know that a lot of families really want a remote option that doesn't require that they leave their school.

And I completely understand that desire and I know staff is working on some different solutions.

But the common the reflection here or the connection here to Labor Day is we've got really really really high housing costs in Seattle and a whole bunch of other non-labor friendly sort of living scenarios.

And so there's a huge staffing shortage.

Even with ESSER dollars and all this other funding we literally don't have people to hire.

And we have we don't have people who can afford to live here in jobs that are connected to caregiving.

And even though education is not child care It is the place for our younger kids where they are spending a big chunk of their day.

And so it's not separate from child care and we all undervalue traditional you know what has traditionally been women's caregiving work.

That extends to health care workers as well.

We have this huge we're headed towards I feel like just a big big burnout.

And some of it I think is because We so wanted this year to sort of feel more like back to normal and we're finding ourselves needing to still have a lot of flexibility.

And that remote option that people want is really only an option if you have care for your child during the day.

And so for a lot of our families even if there was a remote option it's not something that they can take advantage of if they don't have a place for their child to be safely during the day if they need adult supervision.

That's just a reality.

something that we still have a long way to go in our society.

And I know everybody is been pushing pushing pushing pushing and we really wanted this fall to be sort of a sense of relief and it's just more things that are pushing and that we all have to fight for and can fight for together.

I'm getting a little bit philosophical because the Jewish New Year Between now and Yom Kippur is a time of great reflection where you think back on your actions of the past year and doing better for the for the coming year.

And fall always feels to me like a very appropriate time for New Year makes more sense to me than December to January because we are you know the sun is setting earlier.

We're preparing ourselves to come back together.

Regroup.

Rest.

Refresh.

Restore ourselves and build up our resiliency to burst forth in the spring.

with new growth and beauty.

And so I'm getting a little bit whatever but that's sort of what the the convergence of Labor Day and Rosh Hashanah have been meaning to me in the last few days.

And so I'm thinking about a lot that I'm really grateful for but I'm also thinking about a lot that we have to keep fighting for.

And above all else think about how much what seems right for one of us individually may not actually make sense for the whole community.

and how we balance those things and those needs and those realities.

Because as much as we would love to take those ESSER dollars and provide a whole bunch of different models of education there's not the people out there to staff it as quickly as we want to.

Same with in-school testing.

Ramping up in-school testing would requires ramping up of staff that have to be hired and trained and all of those things.

And people can't afford to live in the city.

I don't really know what my point is but that's just sort of my reflections.

So happy Labor Day and thank you to all who fought for what we have now and continue the fight.

And Shana Tova and happy first day of kindergarten.

And happy a lot of people are harvesting their gardens right now so happy happy harvest happy fall.

And we will just keep on going and try to do what you can to protect yourself for the winter and the spring ahead because we're going to have more change and more uncertainty.

But we can we can do it.

We can do it.

Thank you Director Rankin.

We will now go to public testimony.

We will 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.

First testimony will be taken 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 listed speaker's name is called.

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

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

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

The 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 waitlist.

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 you have unmuted on the device you are calling from and also press star-6 to unmute yourself on the conference line.

Each speaker will have a 2-minute speaking time and a chime will sound when your time is exhausted.

The first speaker on today's list is Chris Jackins.

My name is Chris Jackins.

Box 84063 Seattle 98124 on the Alder Academy and Board Policy 3246. Two points.

Number one the action will approve $3.8 million to construct facilities where the district will operate a public school for school-age persons confined to juvenile detention with King County having possession of the property.

Number two why does King County get to own the district finance facilities and does this arrangement overruled Board Policy 3246 on restraint and isolation.

On the.

Is one of his colleagues.

Chris Jenkins I think we had a technical issue.

If you could press star-6 to unmute again and you can resume your testimony.

I did stop the time.

Chris Jackins.

Yes.

Could you go ahead.

Or did you finish your testimony.

I think we had a technical issue.

Mr. Jackins we only heard you until something about.

I'm back again.

I got muted and I'm unmuted.

Okay.

Go ahead.

All right.

Thank you.

On the Facility Master Plan Update Board Policy 6900 requires a cost analysis which is not included.

Please vote no.

On the Rainier Beach Value Engineering Report the report contradicts the BEX V EIS which specified renovation not demolition and replacement.

Please vote no.

On the 1.1 million dollar Central Kitchen Renovations having school levies cover the cost violates the promise of a previous school board.

Please vote no.

On the board agenda two points.

Number one 12 of the 13 action items today are packed into the consent agenda which the board deliberately votes on prior to allowing public comment.

Number two the public was allowed to provide in-person testimony at the August 25th meeting but not at today's meeting.

I appreciate the board president providing an explanation.

Also both remote and in-person board meetings have been lacking the flag salute which is required by state law.

My high school graduation lacked a flag.

The audience did a flag salute anyway.

So can the board.

Thank you.

Next on the testimony list is Jennifer Matter.

Jennifer Matter.

Good afternoon.

My name is Jennifer Matter and I proudly serve as President of the Seattle Education Association that represents over 6,000 educators in Seattle Public Schools.

like to speak about the need to support the mental health of educators.

Our members are under enormous stress right now and it is taking a toll.

In the board policy for workforce secondary traumatic stress it makes clear that supporting the mental health of educators is a critical component to sustaining an effective workforce reducing staff turnover and improving student outcomes.

As President of SEA I know that one of the most effective ways to support the mental health of our educators is to listen to them and get them some input and control over their working conditions.

In our collective bargaining agreement we have clear language that says schools must use their site-based decision-making process to determine what is acceptable practice and workload for employees around using district technology tools to engage and communicate with parents.

This site-based decision-making process is critical to ensure that educators have a voice in determining reasonable expectations.

So it's deeply upsetting when the district disregards our CBA and educators voice and instead issues a top-down mandate with threats of insubordination.

If educators cannot count on the district to honor our CBA then what assurances do we have that the district will honor all the health and safety requirements we just negotiated.

This uncertainty is only adding to the stress of your employees.

We appreciate your kind words and thank you.

What we would appreciate even more is having our CBA honored around site-based decision-making process and educator expectations.

Jennifer I believe you may have gotten muted inadvertently.

Were you finished with your testimony.

Hi.

Yes.

So I was just saying if changes need to be made for consistency we should do those through bargaining but the first priority should be meeting the numerous health and safety needs of our school community.

Thank you.

Next on today's testimony list UT Hawkins.

UT Hawkins.

Hello.

SPS School Board and community.

My name is UT Hawkins and I currently serve as Seattle Education Association's Vice President and I'd like to speak to the wellness of our educators and school communities.

District leadership is putting energy into a poorly considered and weak equity measure around student technology and family access.

The current mandate is being imposed on educators after SPS leadership has continuously ignored educator engagement opportunities in both the bargaining process and responding to schools' collective voices around upholding our current contract language and allowing building leadership teams to do decision-making processes that create the strongest engagement with families and create authentic opportunities to understand how to best serve and meet those communication needs.

within the classroom.

The district energies to enforce this mandate have been met with threats of insubordination and discipline which creates no welcome back for a teacher.

Educators are the ones who put in the professional investments last year to have the necessary conversations among students and families to provide many ways for which authentic and responsive engagement could happen across the classroom regardless of whether or not you're physically in a classroom together in person or remote This mandate adds insult to the stress that is that is entirely counterintuitive to wellness this year.

SPS is wasting my or is wasting staff energies as they insist in micromanaging what educators are already committed to doing.

And this is insult to injury in the fact that being handed a detailed FAQ about how to upload online materials isn't being handed to you when what you're asking for is updated COVID responses to quarantine so that you can inform families of what is going on around their children's health and safety especially in cases of emergency.

We need people to start.

We need our district to start responding to us as educators and engaging with us.

Thank you.

Next is Janice White.

Janice White.

Thank you.

You have already approved Policy 3246 and congratulated yourselves and district staff for all the hard work for producing a policy that makes some of the changes needed to protect students.

But the first thing you should have done is apologized to the children in your care who have been wrongfully harmed by these horrible practices for years without the school board or the administration taking action to stop them.

I have been coming to the school board at least once a year since 2015 to speak up on behalf of this group of students who are some of the most vulnerable children in our schools.

Do you know how difficult it is as a parent to come forward publicly and say my kid is one of those kids the ones who behave erratically who throw things hit kick run away.

Most of us with those kids want to hide.

We are embarrassed.

We are isolated because our children seem out of control.

But I never believed that my autistic kid wanted to be that kid.

I knew there was something wrong with how he was being treated at school that caused him to be that kid.

So as hard as it was I came here year after year pleading for change.

Pleading for someone to listen and help my son and his classmates especially those who cannot speak for themselves and whose families are not able to come forward.

Every year when staff reported to the school board about the number of restraints and isolations I and other parents came and asked for the same thing.

Individualized help for the children being subjected to these practices.

Help for the schools where it was happening the most.

and adoption of an evidence-based behavioral framework that will drastically reduce restraint and isolation by preventing the behaviors that lead adults to feel they have no choice but to restrain or isolate a child.

Some of those changes are in the revised policy but not all.

And all of those changes are long overdue and needed if you're really going to change the racist and ableist cultures in our schools that allow our children to be harmed.

I will continue to implore you to do the rest of the work.

Thank you.

Next is Dana Delmonte-Townsend.

Dana Delmonte-Townsend.

Hello.

I'm a parent and I am speaking on behalf of several families at Rockville Elementary.

We have two primary concerns about equity in COVID safety.

The current lunch plan at Rockville is for students to be seated 3 across an 8-foot long table indoors and unmasked.

We have repeatedly asked Rockville's administration for outdoor lunches.

We have made no progress with our admin despite offers from the district to cover the cost of a tent and having a large pool of vax and vetted volunteers ready to take outdoor lunch shifts to ensure our teachers get a break and our students can eat with minimal risk.

We are calling for a district-wide mandate to provide outdoor lunches instead of leaving it up to individual school leadership because that is not working for our school community.

Without a district mandate unvaccinated the unvaccinated student body of Rockville Elementary and other Title 1 schools in our area are being put at a preventable and greater risk of COVID exposure than other more affluent schools in our area.

Director Harris and other board members what are you going to do about the inequitable risk mitigation at this and other Title 1 schools in your district.

What are you going to do about this.

Our second concern is the district approval of classroom seating.

Students are seated in the classroom at what appears to be about 18 inches apart with two students at a 3-foot long table.

Air doesn't just travel in a city.

Please mute your mute your phone if you're not speaking.

Sorry go ahead and resume your testimony.

I'm continuing.

Air doesn't just travel in a straight line.

That is not how air works.

Pretending it does is putting our students at greater risk for COVID illness.

Our students know that's not how air works.

We know that teachers and staff are working tirelessly and that they are in short supply as well as space and furniture.

But this is unacceptable and it is putting vulnerable unvaccinated children at risk of getting COVID.

We ask that the district revisit classroom seating plans to ensure that children are seated three feet apart in the classroom.

Again Director Harris what are you going to do to address these concerns and equity in COVID risk mitigation in your school board district.

We will be following up.

until reasonable actions are taken.

Thank you.

Next on the list is Anne Sheeran.

Anne Sheeran.

Sorry go ahead Anne.

Yes we can hear you.

Yeah thank you.

My concern is about Policy 3246. The concern is that it lacks a clear statement about how the district plans to prevent student behaviors that lead adults to believe that they have no choice but to restrain and isolate.

Your own data that shows that most students who are victimized by these harmful practices are students with disabilities.

Therefore they should automatically place prevention professional development and prevention and intervention at the center of Policy 3246. This is special education.

101. We see it repeatedly in Seattle schools without tools to prevent problem behaviors from happening in the first place with kids who have disabilities.

Staff and administration fall back on reactionary and very conservative measures against our students with disabilities.

Your own data shows this therefore how can policy 3246 be silent on the matter of prevention.

It's not even mentioned.

It makes no sense.

It is like selling a car without wheels.

Tell us why have you agreed to this.

Staff and administration need tools to prevent problem behaviors not only to respond after they've occurred.

I secondly convey that including prevention mandates in policy 3246 is required.

It's a child protection requirement because staff and administration will typically not seek training or guidance in prevention or allow prevention training into a student's IEP unless it is mandated through OSPI the Office for Civil Rights or a due process filing.

What a heavy lift for our families.

This is the status quo that Policy 3246 because of its silence on prevention is reinforcing.

If not in Policy 3246 Where when and how will you finally take this matter in hand.

Thank you.

Next is Sabrina Burr.

Sabrina Burr.

Hello.

Go ahead Sabrina.

Some demographics for PTE for 2021-22.

African-Americans 8 percent.

Males 55 percent.

Females 45 percent.

African-American Black 16 percent.

Low income 38 percent.

White 43 percent.

And our Native American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders are only 1 percent.

Who are we serving and why are we not partnering with families.

There is an equity issue in CTE participation.

Most families of these students we identify as our focus do not even know what CT is.

And where are partners like Porter Seattle who have a hard time partnering with Seattle Public Schools for internship or did they finally stop asking.

I appreciate the work that we have that where we have come and a lot of work has gone into this but we will never get to where we need to go without including families.

I realize this is the 2000 series policy that covers instructions.

I get it.

This is another example of why family and healing centered engagement and anti-racism must be a through thread in all we do as a braid.

We will never create the outcomes we desire in silos and not authentic openings to access to trajectory changing career and financial opportunities.

Thank you for the work on Policy 3246. and renaming it for restraint isolation and other uses of physical crisis intervention.

As the person who was sent the video that sparked the road to where we are today this helps that indelible print from my brain from this experience.

Our students are with us 180 days and maybe 6 hours a day.

But our children are with their families 365 days and our children learn in every aspect and experience in life.

Information to authentic partnerships and family is imperative.

If student outcomes is our focus we must intentionally and strategically include families and partners who support them in everything we do.

Thank you.

Next is Laura Marie Rivera.

Laura Marie Rivera.

Hi.

If this last year has taught us anything it's that options and flexibility are key.

And if we're going to achieve any sense of equity we have got to listen to our community.

We have students that are unable to attend in-person school for health and mental health reasons and we have some that have found success in the online realm that has eluded them in the traditional classroom.

We need to take a good look at our schools and figure out how we can make them as safe as possible for students and staff.

Teachers cannot do their best work if they're constantly worried about their health and the health of their loved ones.

And we simply cannot ask them to do two full-time jobs.

Online teaching is a full-time job and in-person teaching is a full-time job.

While I personally know teachers that have successfully done them both simultaneously this past year just as parents have been asked to work full-time and care for their children full-time.

It is not equitable and it is just not cool to saddle them with that additional burden which brings us back to that goal of flexibility.

Our district was one of the first in the country to say that we would offer an online option for those that need it.

Even as other districts opted against it I was especially proud that we were leading in this online arena.

It was not made clear to the public why the online option for grades 6 to 12 was being removed but I think it is clear that that was a mistake.

That lack of inclusion was especially difficult for the 6th graders that are not yet eligible for the vaccine.

Cases are on the rise in Seattle and all over.

We've got.

But I think it is clear that that was a mistake.

Hello.

Hi.

It's playing back a recording in the middle of my thing.

Sorry the cases are on the rise.

We've got questions about safety.

Families are asking for the air quality reports and specifically why we didn't do the testing with breathing bodies in the room before school started.

Caregivers are struggling to find out if they can keep their kids home for safety but maintain their enrollment.

The inequities are glaring and the misinformation is staggering.

And just this morning I was informed that my high schooler had a COVID exposure but they didn't tell me which class it was and they didn't even tell me which child it was.

My teens are vaccinated but my 6-year-olds are not.

We need to know that our students will be safe in the classroom and we need to have the flexibility to keep them home.

Please reinstate the online option for all grades and make sure that the students will be able to resume their studies at their regular schools when the time comes.

Thank you.

Next is Maki Park.

Maki Park.

Maki Park.

Hello.

Yes we can hear you.

Hi.

Can you hear me.

Is this Maki Park.

Yes.

Please correct my pronunciation.

Thanks.

You can go ahead.

We can hear you.

Great.

Good afternoon and thank you for the opportunity to speak today.

I am a parent and co-president of the PTA at Dearborn Park International School.

And I'm here to speak today on behalf of over 300 parents who signed a petition asking for weekly COVID screening tests at our school and on behalf of over 1,000 parents who signed a petition asking for all students to be able to eat lunch outdoors in an effort to keep our students and staff safe this year.

As of today we have yet to receive any response on either of these petitions from any district leaders which is extremely disappointing.

Our families want to have confidence that our district is doing everything in its power to keep our kids and community safe.

And this lack of communication is not contributing to that confidence.

We know that weekly testing is a feasible strategy with state and federal support being provided to make this possible.

And we've seen weekly testing already be implemented at major urban districts including Los Angeles Unified and Detroit Public Schools.

Regular testing is also a cornerstone of the COVID safety plan for schools released by the White House today.

Weekly testing and outdoor lunches are sound policies with scientific backing from public health experts.

We know that disparate health outcomes mean that many of our students furthest from educational justice are at disproportionate risk of poor outcomes from contracting COVID.

And we are asking you to use all strategies on the table to prevent harm to children and families.

Furthermore as others have stated while these policies are crucial to protect those children who are in school realistic remote options for all who need it are also necessary to ensure that we're providing an equitable and accessible education to all including those for whom the risk calculation is simply too high to enter school buildings at this time due to underlying health and other reasons.

We are asking you to please act with the urgency that this situation demands.

Thank you for your time.

Next is Harold Baker.

Harold Baker.

Hello.

I was moved to speak today after having mine and my family's concern regarding in-person learning minimizes anxiety and mocked as not as important as other current global events.

We have reached out for over a month to this board the school district the superintendent's office along with OSPI regarding our concerns around in-person learning along with the lack of a remote option for concerned families to no avail.

Our appeals elicited not one response from a member on this board the school district or the chief of student support.

We also reached out to public health regarding our concerns around in-person learning and the lack of a surveillance testing program and received a thoughtful thoughtful response letting us know that public health stands ready to help any district that asks.

So why haven't we asked.

In the push for in-person learning why haven't we taken every step available to us to keep children safe.

Why didn't we plan for an environment like the one we find ourselves in today.

There has been a tremendous amount of federal funding committed to making schools as safe as possible including surveillance testing which is a very important layer in the layer of protections.

Throughout this process the lack of planning has shown itself and it feels like the lessons of the past weren't learned.

There was no survey sent to families asking them if they preferred virtual or.

It felt like the district has tried to bully families into showing up in-person by making the virtual offering a small pilot program.

Locating the program in an inaccessible part of town.

And at the time telling families they lose their spot in their school.

Also implying repeatedly that OSPI requiring an in-person learning option prevented the Seattle School District from providing a virtual option.

The situation we find ourselves in currently as a school community could have been avoided if this body really listened when BIPOC families spoke of the safety felt and the thriving in a virtual environment.

If we learned the lesson of flexibility and provided options to families that meet their needs.

Support our teachers and staff and don't see them as a part of the problem.

This is a problem.

This is not a problem for them to fix.

This is something that falls squarely on this board as our voice and representatives along with the school district as current district policy is getting in the way.

We value the community that being in-person provides and in providing to those students who are in-person but it is being denied to those families who refuse to ignore that we are in a pandemic.

Thank you.

Next is Laurel Taylor.

Laurel Taylor.

Laurel Taylor.

If you're on the line Laurel you need to press star-6.

Oh you may have just unmuted.

Are you there Laurel.

Can you hear me.

Yes we can.

Okay.

Hello my name is Laurel Taylor and I am the parent of a 4th grader and a 9th grader in Seattle Public Schools.

I'm testifying today to urge the school board to offer a remote option to all families until vaccination is available to children under 12. Some of you may know my name because I have been one of the people mobilizing parents to act collectively to share our worries and needs with the district.

I don't want an individual solution to an institutional problem.

I desperately want solutions that will serve all families and I am willing to work for those solutions.

We have been looking forward to both of our kids going back to their neighborhood schools in person this year.

In June and July this seemed reasonable.

Since cases were down and we hoped it would only be a little while before emergency approval was granted for kids 5 and up to be vaccinated.

And yet as we got closer to August and the situation on the ground started to worsen these dreams of kids in classes and parents in the office started to seem inadvisable.

I realized that I couldn't bear to send my unvaccinated 4th grader into a potentially full classroom with fewer safeguards than in the spring not to mention the danger zone that is lunch.

While I'm truly delighted that all students are offered free breakfast and lunch this year it does seem a bit ironic that this starts at a time when eating and drinking are some of the most dangerous things we can do in community with one another.

We have kept our daughter at home knowing we might be kicked out of the district for doing so.

We do not want to leave our neighborhood school and we do not want to leave the district.

What we want is a chance for her to learn at home until she is fully vaccinated.

At which point we are ready for her to join her peers in person again.

The risk to her at that point won't be zero but it will be an acceptable risk because her chances of serious illness and or long-haul COVID will be greatly reduced.

I'm asking the district to make this possible not just for my family but for all families who want it.

Yes it is complicated expensive and fraught with obstacles.

that all families deserve to have an option that allows them to align their values and their actions.

In our case that means a temporary remote option that safeguards our place in our existing school.

Thank you.

Next is Sam Farzino.

Sam Farzino.

Sam it looks like you are unmuted but we cannot hear you.

Can you make sure I'm muted on your device.

Oh we can hear you now.

Yep.

All right.

Thank you.

My name is Sam Farrazano and thank you for the opportunity to speak today.

I'm the founder and operator and co-owner of Equinox Studios down in the Georgetown neighborhood of Seattle and been doing community development in Georgetown for more than 20 years.

and have founded with partners in the community here Georgetown Community Development Authority in an effort to create new affordable housing development in our neighborhood due to the need for affordable housing for folks that live and work in the neighborhood and as an anti-displacement measure and to build community down here.

And would like to introduce the project to the school board and invite you to give input on how to make this successful for our future residents.

The proposed development is approximately 175 homes apartment homes including studios one two and three bedroom and live work units.

100 percent of the apartments will be considered affordable housing and are for households earning no more than 60 percent of the area median income which suits a lot of folks that work in this neighborhood.

Additionally the building will have about 5,800 square feet of commercial community serving commercial space to enhance our neighborhood amenities.

Things that we need and and desperately need to thrive in this neighborhood.

The building will have a central ground floor courtyard and pedestrian access to the alley and overall part of a larger development vision that we have for the neighborhood to to help people stay in the neighborhood and thrive.

This is Phase 1 of Georgetown Community Development's kind of multiple development projects and it's being submitted for Seattle Office of Housing and Department of Commerce Housing Trust Fund funding this month.

So Georgetown Community Development Authority hopes that the school district will be involved in input into the project with us and hope that since our community these buildings will serve that you will be making sure we're successful there.

Please feel free to contact myself or Georgetown Community Development at any time.

We'll we'll submit information in the notes.

The project permit process number is 005969-21PA.

Thank you very much for the opportunity and hope to work with you in the future.

Have a great day.

Next is Nathan White.

Nathan White.

Good evening.

Can you hear me.

Yes we can.

Great.

I'm Nathan White.

I'm the father of two Seattle Public School students one in eighth grade one in second and I'm testifying today out of extreme frustration with Seattle Public Schools and the choice my family has been forced to make.

I want to be very clear though I'm not frustrated with my children's schools with their teachers with the administration at those schools.

I dearly love our neighborhood choice and charter schools and I desperately want my kids to be there.

with their friends learning with the wonderful caring teachers and administrators that work there.

But we do not feel it is safe for them to be there in person at this time and I know we're among many families that feel this way.

We all know that the Delta variant is causing case counts to rise that it is more contagious that it seems to have a greater impact on the unvaccinated among us including our younger kids.

I also know that my family has great privilege in being able to make a choice to keep my kids home at this time.

We can manage to get our kids enrolled in a virtual school and help them stay engaged and learning until my youngest is vaccinated and we feel it is safe to return in person.

I also truly believe that our making this choice helps everyone at our neighborhood schools by putting fewer kids in the classroom and lunchroom and hopefully lessening COVID spread.

That said I know that the absences are themselves causing disruption at our neighborhood schools and that gives me pause.

But it also begs the question why am I forced to do this on my own for my family.

What about the others that feel as I do but who are not in a position to make the choice that I've made.

Why is SPS pushing in-person learning as the only option with fewer safeguards in place than last spring.

I know the governor mandated that in-person learning be available for all.

To my reading interested students is what it says.

Available for all not mandated as the only option as near as I can tell.

I also know that a virtual option as poorly advertised and limited as it is was made available for a very limited population of students.

But shouldn't we be looking out for the greater good here.

Isn't it better and safer for all involved students and staff to offer both in-person and virtual options for all students.

Isn't it better to keep kids in the district with their neighborhood or choice schools rather than leaving as my family is in the process of doing only to return once our youngest is vaccinated.

That turmoil is only going to make things harder on the district on our teachers and administrators.

Yes setting up a temporary remote option is complicated expensive.

and hard but it can be managed.

It can be done and it's not too late to make that call and I urge you to do so.

Not just for my family but for all the SPS families who feel like they are caught in this no-win situation.

Thank you.

Next is Sarah Spardella.

Sarah Spardella.

Hello.

Bojo.

There have been many discussions within the Seattle Public School District regarding how to best serve those furthest from educational justice.

I represent two low-income Indigenous disabled middle school children.

I'm one of the families impacted directly by those discussions about educational justice.

When given the opportunity to provide equitable education by offering a remote option which would allow immune-compromised children like mine to safely access education Seattle Public Schools abandoned us.

We've been told if our children's lives are that important to un-enroll leave Seattle Public Schools and our school community pursue education elsewhere.

The disabled community spent decades fighting for laws to enforce a simple fact.

We are part of our communities and we simply cannot be ignored or forced out in the name of convenience.

I carry the same message my Indigenous ancestors have carried many times before me.

The same message the disabled community has carried for decades.

We exist.

The Seattle Public School policies need to mirror their vision bringing those furthest from educational justice back to equity.

Remote schooling for families like mine is not only possible it is necessary.

We are discussing the lives of our children and therefore our future.

The school district needs to honor their commitment of doing what's best for those children and for some including mine it means an SPS remote option.

Miigwetch.

Thank you.

Next is Rebecca Vo.

Rebecca Vo.

Rebecca Vo if you're on the line please press star-6 to unmute.

Moving to the next speaker.

Jennifer R. Allen.

Oh is that Rebecca.

Did I hear Rebecca.

Hi can you hear me.

This is Rebecca Vo.

Go ahead Rebecca.

Thanks.

Sorry about that.

I want to start by thanking the board for all that you do.

It's a tough job at the best of times and this pandemic has not been the best of times for any of us.

I'm here today to reiterate what many speakers have already said.

I would like to see a remote option for all kids especially middle and high schoolers at this point.

We need weekly COVID screening in our schools to be proactive for students and staff And we absolutely 100 percent need a mandate for outdoor eating across the district.

I'm the parent of two kids in Seattle Public Schools.

I've been an SPS parent since 2010. I have a junior at Ingram and I have an unvaccinated 6th grader at Hazel Wolf who does not turn 12 for another 6 months and who has an IEP.

And just to add some sort of personal flavor to this we've had a lot of talk about why this is unsafe Due to underlying respiratory conditions and past medical history even though I'm vaccinated I'm at extremely high risk of COVID complications.

So for me and my family this is a very visceral decision that we've had to make and we agonized over whether to pull our kids out but we did not want to do that and put them in a remote option that was not within the district within their schools because we have history within those schools and relationships and support especially for my unvaccinated 6th grader who also has an IEP.

You are putting us in a position where we're sending our kids to school, but the layers that you have talked about and that King County Public Health has talked about, they're not sufficient.

They're necessary layers of protection, but they're insufficient.

We need more of them.

We need weekly testing.

We need a remote option for all families who need that.

And you need to ask us what we want.

You haven't asked us since the spring when rates were lower.

We didn't have the Delta variant.

And everybody pretty much my with parents of kids under 12 thought we'd have a vaccine for them by now.

So do what needs to be done.

Show the leadership.

Make sure people can eat outdoors and get that screening program up and running.

I know it's hard.

I know it's tough to get staffing but we need it.

And one final thing.

I very much appreciate having all of my kids' assignments online.

We need this consistently across the district so that families can support kids and kids know what needs to be done when.

Thank you.

Next is Jennifer Allen.

Jennifer R. Allen.

Jennifer R. Allen.

Jennifer R. Allen if you will.

Hello.

Can you hear me.

We can.

Yes.

Oh great.

Okay.

Hello and thank you to the board.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak today.

My name's Jenny Allen and I'm the parent of a 4th grader.

I'm also a full-time employee and working full-time.

I'm here today.

I wasn't expecting to be here or to speak.

I don't have anything prepared but I'm here to join the chorus of voices before me asking for a fully remote option I'm really grateful to the district for what they did for us and how they partnered with us throughout the pandemic up until this point.

I feel like they kept us home safe 100 percent.

I understand there were complications and it wasn't perfect for every family but we stayed safe and we had no child deaths as far as I know.

In the spring we've pivoted to hybrid learning and again there were issues and complications but we made it work generally as a community and we kept our children safe.

I was really excited to send my fourth grader back to school this week.

I really needed him to go back to school so I could be working full time and he was excited.

And so we sent him back on the first day September 1st.

He had a great day.

He was placed at one of those two theater tables only three feet long so he was definitely under three feet of distance.

We asked him about his second day and how his second day went at school and he let us know that his seatmate was absent and no one else was in the class but just his seatmate.

The third morning Friday morning we were out the door ready to go and it was 830 a.m.

when we received an email from our school's administrators saying that there had been a confirmed case of COVID in the classroom and all people who held close contact had already been contacted by the contact tracing team.

And I thought and I paused and I thought huh it's 830 and his student was absent.

His seatmate was absent.

I wonder if they've already contacted everybody.

Okay.

Well actually I think I'm going to keep them home in an abundance of caution which I did.

We did not receive a call from the contact tracing team until 1130 that morning when indeed it was confirmed that my student was the close contact with the student with the confirmed case.

We were told we were he was going to need to quarantine for 14 days and we prepared to do that and went through all the emotional scare of having a close contact the first we've had in our family.

since COVID began.

Strangely or not strangely but unusually the quarantine was lifted the next day because of apparently a negative test.

But all of this has led us to feel that we don't feel safe going back.

We are sad to consider any other option.

We really want to keep him in Seattle Public Schools at his neighborhood school but we recognize the systems and are overwhelmed that our contact tracing teams are overwhelmed not their fault they need more staff.

And we need to recognize that we have a growing crisis and we need to be ready to pivot and we are ready to pivot with Seattle Public Schools when they're ready to go and offer a remote or a hybrid option to our kids.

Thank you very much.

Next we have one person not able to join us so next is Lauren Hipp.

Lauren Hipp.

Can you hear me.

We can Lauren.

Okay.

Thanks for having me here today.

My name is Lauren Hipp and I'm a mom to a second grader in Southeast Seattle and two future Seattle Public School students.

I've been in conversation with many other BIPOC families like mine across the district and have called and emailed the district with concerns over the last couple of months with essentially no response.

This really erodes trust at a time when we need that the most.

with a population of entirely too young to be vaccinated students at a time in the pandemic with a surge of infections and a more transmissible variant and waning protection from the first round of vaccines.

STF needs to institute more COVID mitigation layers than ever before.

Families need to see several things.

First a universal plan for outdoor lunch.

The science on this is clear.

Indoor unmasked situations pose risk especially to those who are not yet able to be vaccinated.

Schools need to have resources tailored to their context to make this happen for all students.

Second regular testing to catch infections before they reach the classrooms.

This will decrease the need to quarantine potentially large numbers of students and families which we know the economic fallout from those quarantines disproportionately impacts Black Brown and low-income families.

Third there are some families who need in-person school.

And there are some families who need a flexible virtual option that does not require them to commit to a full year or unenroll from their homeschool.

Allowing a better more flexible virtual option decreases the number of kids in the school and ultimately makes it safer for the students who need to be there in person.

A failure to do these things across the district constitutes educational injustice and negligence for the safety of our children.

Finally families need open and honest communication and not slogans and evasive communication tactics.

The town halls and the lack of response to family calls and e-mails arose the trust that we have with the district.

We need and deserve to have our questions and concerns taken seriously and addressed with care.

Thank you for your service.

I know we are all here to ensure that our kids are safe loved and learning.

Let's work together and get this right.

Thank you for your time.

Next is Stephanie Kuthamparambil Nishar.

Stephanie Kuthamparambil Nishar.

Hi this is Stephanie.

Great attempt at my last name.

I appreciate that.

You did good.

So I am a parent of a 3rd grader in Seattle Public Schools attending Hazel Wolf and I also have another daughter who will be a kindergartner next year.

I just want to concur basically with Laurel Rebecca Nathan Lauren and Jennifer on all the COVID safety measures and express my concern.

Specifically I am immunocompromised.

I have leukemia and it is a very serious matter if I were to be exposed to COVID-19.

Personally my family has lived in quarantine for basically a year and I thought numbers looked good in June July therefore did not sign up for virtual school.

On top of that I thought it would be very disruptive to my daughter who's already going through a very unstable family situation due to a divorce to have her change her schools her friends her teachers everything all at the same time.

So I kept her enrolled in school.

And then the numbers go up at which point I become very concerned and agonized over my options.

There were not formal defined processes for getting an exception or accessing remote learning.

or hybrid model and I feel like this should be available to everyone but especially to those who are immunocompromised where it could literally cost them their lives.

Any exposure for my child is exposure for me.

On top of that my child is as yet unvaccinated.

She will definitely be in line to get vaccinated as soon as it's available but that is not going to be for some time.

I truly feel that we need formal exceptions and define processes that allow families to keep themselves safe but still continue their education.

It's too much stress and instability in an already difficult time.

I want to say thank you to the district admissions people who I reached out to who have attempted to help me in spite of a lack of information and options available to them and structure they've basically been winging it.

our school's teachers from last year who did such an awesome job and worked basically double time to provide the remote option.

I realize that this is a huge sacrifice to them but we still for our health's sake and to save lives need this remote learning option available.

Thank you for your time.

Next is Frances Coppa.

Frances Coppa.

Can everybody hear me.

Yes we can.

Oh thanks.

Good afternoon everyone.

Thank you all for your hard work to get this school year started and your advocacy for in-person learning coupled with stringent health and safety standards.

I'm a parent for two students at Viewlands Elementary.

Our school is experiencing detrimental staffing losses.

In the spring we lost two certificated classroom teachers and one instructional assistant due to reduced enrollment.

Now in the fall we're facing the likely loss of two more classroom teachers half-time specialist FTE and office staff.

Our school community is already in the midst of an enormous upheaval as we've been relocated to John Marshall for two years while Viewlands is rebuilt.

These reductions impact health and safety.

Our kids have larger class sizes than with additional certificate certificated staff.

We're already in a building that doesn't afford 3-foot distancing.

We can't have outdoor lunches are an option and we have extra exposure riding the bus to a location far from our home.

I recognize the whole district has experienced hardship due to the pandemic.

Please consider that Viewlands is even more impacted.

With temporary relocation comes decreased enrollment.

There used to be a policy at SPS to preserve staffing at a school relocated temporarily because it's inevitable that enrollment goes down.

In addition Viewlands just reopened 10 years ago.

Anyone who has led a school knows that it takes time to foster community and build a cohesive staff.

Imagine losing five staff members in one year.

This guts our school community impedes continuous learning and our goals to improve education rigorously and equitably and it creates so much extra work when our school should be able to focus on transitioning back to in-person during a pandemic and relocating buildings.

SPS policy of fall staffing reductions are incredibly disruptive exponentially for students furthest from educational justice who thrive from consistency and strong relationships.

Regardless of the issue I'm addressing I ask that you all look into the frequency and impacts of fall staffing reductions in the future.

It's something that's happened at Viewlands every year I've been there and it is detrimental to schools.

Please consider preserving Viewlands Elementary staffing as it was slated June 2021. Let our school thrive in a new location for two years with a new principal and still navigating a pandemic.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration.

The 20th speaker on today's list is Sarah Burns.

Sarah Burns.

Sarah Burns.

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

One more check.

Sarah Burns.

Okay moving to the next speaker.

Kyle Capizzi.

Kyle Capizzi.

Hello.

Go ahead Kyle.

I'm Kyle Capizzi parent of an incoming 3rd grader at Tops K. Go Palpins.

I'd like to remind the board of Director Hampson's opening comments in August acknowledging the anxiety staff parents and students may be feeling when returning to school under COVID and myriad stressors at home and across the globe.

One way that anxiety is reduced is through truly transparent communication on policies specifically related to health and safety.

Key in this communication is differentiation of policies implemented and tested rather than planned.

Please let me share the experience that led me to keep my son out of the classroom until now.

I want to first recognize each local school administration is doing their best with the facility and layout set up for them that as noted by other presenters does not provide the claimed social distancing in the classroom or true evidence of indoor air quality.

My son's teacher and Principal Swenter provided all information they had about building safety in a timely fashion.

The responsibility for my trepidation lies squarely on district administration failing to provide in a timely fashion requested material given evidence of the actual indoor air quality my son who is obviously ineligible for vaccination would experience.

Further local safety committee members who I was told may release this information rather than the district are still being trained in the second week students are in the classroom.

It was not until I called Director of Facility Operations Frank Griffin repeatedly that I was able to confirm the actual requirement before checking off air quality on the school scorecard.

I'm still waiting for the actual report showing detail and was informed follow-up testing is being done in the classroom now rather than with people preferably vaccinated before students returned.

Finally citing privacy concerns administration refused to provide parents the percentage of staff that are actually fully vaccinated while leading on a vaccine mandate that is not enforced until October 18th.

My son returns to school tomorrow because I'm concerned about him losing his spot in a choice school and because finally someone was able to give me some assurance that the indoor air quality is relatively safe.

Thank you.

President Hampson that was the 20th and final speaker for today.

Thank you Ms. Wilson-Jones.

Just one moment please.

Okay I'll now hand the meeting over to Vice President Hersey to chair for the action item on today's agenda.

Thank you President Hampson.

Let me just give my camera a second to catch up.

Okay.

All right.

The last business action item on today's agenda is Action Item Number 1. Motion to take action pursuant to District Policy 5207 and Superintendent Procedure 5207-SP based on conclusions in a Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors amended and final investigation report.

I am going to be delivering the motion for this item.

Give me a moment to make sure that it is big enough so that I can see and read it accurately.

Okay.

The motion for this item is to take action pursuant with District Policy 5207 and Superintendent Procedure 5207-SP based on conclusions in the Seattle Public Schools Board amended and final investigation report.

On August 19th 2021 the school board received the Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors amended and final investigation report prepared by MFR Law Group relating to complaints lodged by two district employees regarding Directors Hampson and DeWolf.

The investigation report concludes that Directors Hampson and DeWolf violated District Policy 5207 Prohibition of Harassment Intimidation and Bullying or HIP.

in some of their interactions with the complainants.

Superintendent Procedure 5207-SP outlines certain actions that the district may take when there is a finding of HIB conduct related to a district employee but the procedure does not directly address what the school board must or should do when there is a finding of HIB conduct by a school board director.

Given the language in the procedure 5207-SP regarding prompt equitable and remedial action Following the HIB conduct however the school board will consider whether to take action to ensure that Directors Hampson and DeWolf and all school board directors understand that Policy 5207 applies to directors when interacting with district employees or volunteers and when or and when on district property or participating in district-sponsored events and that the directors will comply with the provisions of Policy 5207. I will now read the motion.

I move that the school board take the following action with respect to the conclusions of the Seattle Public Schools Board of Directors amended and final investigation report as prepared by MFR Law Group.

1. Provide a copy of the policy 5207 and procedure 5207-SP to Directors Hampson and DeWolf.

2. Instruct Directors Hampson and DeWolf that they are required to comply with Policy 5207 and Procedure 5207-SP and request that they review the policy and procedure and direct any questions regarding to its provisions to district staff.

And 3. Request that district staff provide training on Policy 5207 and Procedure 5207-SP to all new school board directors prior to or as soon as practical excuse me practicable after commencement of board service and provide ongoing training regarding policy 5207 to school board directors as needed.

And I further move that the school board waive the provision of policy number 1420 for posting the district's website at least three days in advance of the board meetings.

Do I have a second.

Second.

Okay.

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

Well excuse me let me say that one more time.

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

Now to directors for any comments or questions on this item before we move to a vote.

If you have a comment or a question on this item my colleagues please raise your hand now and I will call you in the order that you appear.

Okay I see Director Leslie Harris the floor is yours.

This is personally a very painful time for me as a board director and as a member of the community of directors and staff at the John Stanford Center and indeed the whole SPS team.

will be abstaining from this BAR because I've been advised by council that my concerns for transparency accountability and next steps are inappropriate at this time.

I wish I could say more.

I hope to work towards a new policy that is more specific to the issues herein so that we do not continue harming good people with the same results no matter the intent.

And with that I'll stop so that I don't incur personal liability.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for those comments Director Harris.

Do we have any other board directors that would like to share comments at this time.

Director Rivera-Smith the floor is now yours.

Thank you.

I want to begin by being very clear about who I'm addressing in my comments because I think that we often share really deep meaningful thoughts and comments but the ambiguity of who we're specifically speaking to sometimes changes the whole meaning of what we're saying.

So my comments tonight.

are for my fellow board members.

So when I say we I don't mean our district our whole communities or even our SPS leaders as a whole.

If I use we I mean the 7 of us board members.

And I guess what I want to say is what are we doing.

We say that we're going to center Black students and yet here we are with two of our members haven't been found have violated the HIB policy and have harassed intimidated and bullied people from Black students communities and people from which they come.

And for some time now you know I have generally hoped for and yet equally feared the opportunity for us to have to sit here and have this brave hopefully fearless and honest conversation about how we treat Not just our fellow board members but our district staff administrators and even our community members.

But most importantly to talk about it in relation to how it affects our work for students.

Because policy number 207 doesn't just outline behaviors that aren't allowed it speaks about them specifically in regards to our work environment and about harassment intimidation and bullying in the workplace.

And I think we can all agree that our workplace has expanded in time of COVID and it now goes beyond our buildings and it's our workplaces in our homes on our phones and in any number of virtual and online platforms and tools that we use.

So for as poorly written as some might argue 5207 is especially for this purpose here tonight its purpose is to ensure that we are all able to work in an environment that is free of harassment intimidation and bullying.

And by saying these words tonight I am being the brave person I have not always been.

I have come into our literal and expanded workplaces sometimes feeling the chilling effects of emails or text messages or phone calls that I don't think any of us want others to be privy to.

And those have kept me from being as brave as the two women who wrote us on September 18th, 2020. to share their experiences with us.

And in that letter I heard from 2 billion Black women that work within our district.

A district that I know ardently strives to be a safe welcoming and anti-racist institution.

And I heard them speak of treatment that they did not just want us as their leaders to be aware of but also to act upon.

And as we sit here tonight to do that I feel like well I will approve this motion.

I'm I'm I'm going to vote yes on it.

I do feel that we could that we should do more.

And I have two recommendations and I know these aren't part of the motion I just want to take this opportunity to state them.

And I the first of which I would like us to follow the recommendations of the aforementioned letter itself because in that letter to which our response was to launch this investigation.

There were very specific actions recommended which I would like to see our board take up.

And in fact I'm truly trying to live those recommendations in this very moment by following the advice of one of them is to call in our colleagues in the spirit of learning growth progress and enlightenment around there being our blind spots.

None of us None of myself none of us are done in our journeys to being better people better allies and better leaders.

I truly believe that it's what we all want and I truly believe that it's what our communities deserve.

Culture starts at the top.

And I know we can make our students and communities proud.

Second I would like us to develop kind of as Director Harris was speaking to an harassment intimidation and bullying policy specific to our school board because the current one is specifically for staff-to-staff interactions and behaviors and as I understand it both policy 5207 and procedure 5207 do not give us the directions we we need to take to tackle the instances specifically like these.

I would like us to see us create a policy that does.

So I'm going to just end on something that I read recently is about having these hard conversations that we need to have more of and that we want to model for our schools and our communities and that is one of those things is to remember that showing up imperfectly is better than not showing up at all.

And avoiding the hard conversations ensures comfort.

Creating confronting them invites growth.

So which which do you value more.

And I hope that we value growth in everything we do and especially in our leadership in this district.

Thank you.

Thank you for those comments Director Rivera-Smith.

Before we move on to the vote does any other director have anything that they would like to share.

Any comments.

I I sorry I have a lot of background noise.

I want to be clear about what the item is about and the findings related to the item and try to and I'm going to try to stick stick to that.

And I concur with Director Harris's comments about you know needing to continually refine how how our policies guide behavior.

And and also to Director Rivera-Smith's point model model what we want to see.

And I think that that's really the most evident in our policies.

So we want to make sure that our policies are reflective of what we want to see which is the whole point of them and and how it applies to us as well.

And I sorry I've got a the I Want to mention it's not directly in this item but it is part of public record that the findings of the investigation did not determine that there was racial discrimination but that there was harassment.

So I just wanted to kind of say that on the record not to clearly that's important and serious.

And also I just want to be a little bit more clear about what we're talking about.

And so can I just ask for clarification The motion is to take the action as described in your reading of the item is that right Director Hersey.

And then will we have a receipt of the conclusion of that or how do we close this up or is this is the vote the is this motion the encapsulation of any anything that the board needs to do officially.

My understanding is no.

There there are a number in my understanding there are a number of ways that our response to this can be augmented but for the purposes of being congruent with the processes necessary to move forward.

to in that respect this is this is a part of that process.

Does that answer your question.

I think so.

Okay.

Yeah.

Okay.

Is that the end of your comment.

Yeah.

No I guess I'll just add one other thing that in the onboarding for new directors you know we do get this full a complement of all the different policies and of course they're also available online.

But I think it is important that for an effective board everyone does start off with the same expectations of conduct.

And so I think that's a great addition to this is to ensure that that that's really in built into the culture of how the board works and how and how we operate as a district.

So just to say that.

Thank you Director Rankin.

Are there any other comments from board directors.

Any other comments.

Okay.

I will just end by saying I agree that we need more descriptive and clear policies to give us direction in instances when this happens.

I think that this is very much so an opportunity for the board to really dig in and not only hold ourselves accountable but ensure that we are positioning our future colleagues to have the tools necessary to be responsive to matters such as this as they come up.

And it's unfortunate that we don't.

So I think from my perspective we are ready to push forward.

and to make sure that you know we are doing the hard work of making sure that the policies that we that we pass and the policies that we utilize to govern our district are sound and give us the opportunity to have more clarity when we need to take action in situations like this.

With that being said I will hand it over to Miss Wilson-Jones for the vote.

So Miss Wilson-Jones if you are prepared please proceed with the roll call.

Director Rankin aye Director Rivera-Smith aye Director DeWolf Director DeWolf Director Dury aye Director Harris abstain Vice President Hersey aye President Hampson.

Abstain.

This motion has passed by a vote of 4 yes with 3 abstentions.

Okay.

I will now hand the meeting back over to President Hampson.

Okay.

We've now reached the official board comments section of the agenda.

So I think Director Everyone has spoken.

Director Rivera-Smith you said you had something additional to say.

Yeah well I wanted to respond to testimony as much as I can.

There was a lot.

We had a full full slate today.

So I I I try to take some notes but again I'm sorry if I can't respond to each individual person who spoke but I will try to hit on a few points that I heard and some of those of all asked for at the top I guess.

With well first of all Mr. Jackins had a lot of questions about items that we'd already done the consent agenda and we'd already approved so it was sort of after the fact that we had his commentary and I will just say that I know that our use of the consent agenda has has gotten some emails to us about how much we put on it and I don't fully disagree with how much we put on it.

I understand why we're doing that.

I do though.

I will continue to advocate for having the concept agenda happen after public testimony so that we can hear our community out when they have comments on items that are there.

I appreciate Jennifer Madder UD Hopkins coming in tonight to give voice to our staff who are under the enormous amount of stress right now as and during the school year as always any school year is hard and right now We are putting some directives on them that are very important to our families but also things that we want to make sure they have they have they feel they have a stake in and ownership over those decisions.

I hear you on that.

I hope that there is a way for our district to work with work with the teachers union to come to agreements on what those directives look like just because you know speaking for families we do appreciate having the content that has been asked for online.

And I hope that there's a way we can make that happen.

To Janice White you are always a strong advocate.

I'm glad you're happy with our policy update 3246. I know there's always more to do just like Anne also mentioned and I do hope that we can explore that outside of this policy.

I feel like this policy did a good job staying specific to those instances it's speaking to restraint and other types of restraints and what you speak to is super important.

And I do hope that our district and I will advocate that we do find ways to put those into procedure or other policies because you're absolutely correct.

How we get to the point of restraint and isolation is as important as knowing what to do when we're there.

So thank you for your continued advocacy there.

Again lots of people about remote school and weekly testing and outdoor lunch.

And you know what I I agree with all of that.

I think I I'm happy to see so many schools that have been able to do out lunch outdoor lunch I'm sorry and hopefully we can find ways to empower others to do that.

I would love to see us do weekly testing and have that ability.

I know that our funding model is not the same as California's where they've been able to enact that.

OSPI did not give us some of the relief that we were hoping to get.

Our whole harmless of enrollment.

So California has a lot more support going on for them there and maybe there's ways to get there.

I do understand that we're working towards finding exploring what we can do in that respect but clearly it's everything is is a huge undertaking right now as we just get our kids going again.

But thank you for again you know thank you for coming out.

Everybody who did come out to speak on the scenes about remote having full remote for everybody.

That would be a dream.

I think that would be amazing if we could do it.

We don't have enough staff as I understand.

I mean we get to we have to dedicate staff to in-person for because the overwhelming majority of families want in-person and are doing in-person and we don't have enough people to then like like somebody mentioned doing remote and in-person are two different jobs and two full-time jobs.

And we can't have them can't have teachers doing both.

So having the staff on hand to do both and we had I don't remember over a dozen maybe two dozen I forget how many classrooms had no teachers the first day of school this year.

We have that every year but we are having a struggle with staffing.

So making that happen is more than just wanting it.

It's actually operationalizing and doing all of that.

Having a new school isn't just teachers it's admins it's specialists.

It's everything that goes with that.

I know asking for more patience is a big ask right now.

But we we are as a district as to my understanding doing what we can to explore those options.

And your your advocacy does mean something.

I really apologize when people say they never get responses.

I'm probably a week and a half two weeks behind on my e-mails and I'm really sorry.

There's a lot a lot going on.

We don't have staff of our own or secretaries to be able to do that.

And I want to give authentic responses when I can.

person Harold Baker I think said he didn't get a response from anybody on the board.

I don't think I have an email from you.

I actually checked real fast I wanted to see.

So if you're in District 2 please email me directly.

I don't know which district you're in but I don't see every email from you unfortunately.

So to everybody asking about like different safeguards why are we having less of them.

The attestations those daily attestations they weren't very reliable actually.

I mean it made people feel maybe a little protected that everybody was doing them but but People could say whatever they wanted sometimes and on those and it really wasn't having the effect above just us doing those call outs and those emails and those reminders to keep your kids home if they're sick.

So for the most part I am confident with the safeguards and layers we have in place.

We're going to see how it plays out.

We have building teams that are looking at this even for for everything that we're doing and we are taking in all the feedback we can.

Thank you for your patience and your trying and I encourage our district to give the resources where it needs to be so that people can get the responses they need.

And it's not a perfect show right now by any means but you know what there's some amazing things happening already in our classrooms.

So thank you thank you for the people who are making that happen for the parents who are who are even keeping your kids home if that's your choice we're never going to tell you not to do what's best for your kid.

And we're going to lose enrollment dollars but that's just what's going to happen and we're going to make it work because we want every family to do what they need to do and what is best for them.

And we will try to do our best to make to make it so that you can keep your students in our district.

Just please know we are doing everything we can right now and we'll continue to find new ways to do that.

So I will end right there.

Thank you.

Okay.

There being no further business to come before the board.

The regular meeting is now adjourned at 620. Yes.

I've got my hand up to give follow-up comments if I might please.

Okay.

This is Director Harris.

Just for fee this we're not going to do a two two instance two board comment section so this will be the last time we let folks go twice.

Go ahead.

Thank you so much.

I have just a few bullet points.

I hugely appreciate SCA President Matter and Vice President Hawkins coming forth and testifying in public testimony.

I think that's a good thing and good transparency too.

I look forward to hearing about club sports unified sports Soon we've been hearing about it but we haven't seen it.

And three please know that everybody at Seattle Public Schools has the best interest in mind for your students' safety and please keep us posted.

And know as well that school board members if the president speaks for the school board And the superintendent speaks for the district.

And we've got some pragmatic issues to deal with with respect to getting responses to the hundreds of emails that we get on a weekly basis.

We're not ignoring you.

As Director Dury said earlier I believe in my heart that every school board member reads every email.

But it's how and when we respond that is delicate and problematic and we'll put it on our agenda to work through it.

We are seeing it.

We are listening and I believe our staff is as well.

And I wish you the very best for this school district year and that we keep Everyone safe.

That is the number one issue.

Thank you so much.

Director Rankin your hand is up.

Yeah I just to go back to the comments about the isolation and restraint I just want to state very very clearly to families whose students have been impacted by the failure to look into this policy in the past.

If you have not gotten an apology if you have not gotten acknowledgement of what your child experienced I would like to offer it to you now and just say I'm so sorry that that happened to your child.

It shouldn't have happened.

And my dearest hope and the reason this came forward and that we addressed it is so that it won't continue to happen.

And that doesn't doesn't change what may have happened in the past but I really really hope that we will all stay focused on it and ensure that it doesn't continue to happen into the future.

And also that we know that the policy isn't the end all and be all and this is really the beginning of ensuring better for our students.

And the policy is not the end of the work.

The policy is how we want to see ourselves move forward.

So thank you for your advocacy for everyone that came before us.

And isolation is not allowed under any circumstances and we will continue to work on doing everything we can to prevent children from being punished for behavior for things that they're trying to tell us they need.

And I just wanted to say that so I'm deeply deeply so sorry for anyone who's been at the receiving end of of the previous practices and I truly hope and believe that we're going to change them going forward.

Okay.

There be no further business to come before the board.

The regular board meeting is now adjourned at 628 p.m.

Thanks all.