Seattle Public Schools Board Meeting - November 03, 2021

Director Rivera-Smith I see you're on the line.

Director Hersey.

Thank you.

This is President Hampson.

I am now calling the November 3rd 2021 regular board meeting to order at 4 18 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 Ms. Wilson-Jones the roll call please.

Director DeWolf.

Did I just miss an announcement.

Is he on his way.

Sorry.

Yes he's on his way.

Director Dury.

Here.

Director Harris.

Vice President Hersey.

Here.

Director Rankin.

Here.

Director Rivera-Smith.

Present.

And President Hampson.

Here.

We are holding today's meeting in a hybrid format with directors staff and members of the public here in person with remote access also available through SPS TV by broadcast and streaming on YouTube and by phone consistent with the governor's proclamation on open public meetings.

For those joining by phone please remain muted until we reach the testimony period and your name is called.

I will now turn it over to Superintendent Dr. Brent Jones for his comments.

Thank you, President Hampson and board members.

Our students have been back in the classroom for two months, and we saw and experienced a lot of joy and a lot of positive energy in those early weeks among our students, our educators, and our SPS families.

Since September 1, we've also seen that many students and staff are experiencing a sense of just being overwhelmed, anxiety, fatigue.

And we recognize the return to school this year is a big change from remote learning.

Our health and safety practices have changed, but our expectations for high quality learning has not.

We are coordinating school social work, mental health supports, and services across the district to cultivate and support a safe and welcoming environment.

And we're in the early stages of collecting data on how well students are learning and that we're going to use these to determine where instructional support and acceleration is needed.

For our youngest learners, we have now completed the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills, also known as DIBLS.

It's a screener that will help us support our youngest readers' development and ultimately our third grade reading goals.

So we're gathering additional data on many of these students with the measure of academic progress through November.

Then students in fourth through twelfth grade are finishing up the fall Smarter Balance Assessment.

We'll have those results in February which will give us additional data on how students are doing in math and language arts.

These are a few of the data points that we'll be collecting this year as we focus on student outcomes and adapt our systems and practices to improve their educational experience.

I'm brief today in my comments but that'll conclude my superintendent comments.

Thank you.

Thank you Dr. Jones.

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

May I have a motion for the consent agenda.

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.

Hearing and seeing none.

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

Opposed.

The consent agenda has passed unanimously.

We have now come to the Board Committee Reports section of the agenda.

We'll briefly hear now from the chairs of each of the board's four committees.

I don't believe any of the committees have met since our last board meeting.

However please feel free to provide any updates or notes about coming meetings.

We'll start with Director Hersey and the Audit and Finance Committee.

Thank you.

You are correct.

We have not met since our last board meeting but we did have a very productive work session concerning our budget.

If I'm not mistaken our next meeting for our budget work session will be November or 7th I believe.

I could be wrong if I am please correct me.

But it will be coming up quickly.

So thank you very much.

I look forward to the next time we get to chat.

And Director DeWolf is not here yet to provide an update on the Operations Committee which I believe meets tomorrow at 8 a.m.

And he can provide any specific updates he would like to provide in his Director comments.

And now to the Student Services Curriculum and Instruction Committee.

Director Rankin.

Thank you.

Yeah we'll be meeting next week for the November Student Services Curriculum and Instruction Committee meeting.

Items of note include an update from TAF at Washington Middle School.

And our standing agenda items include Ethnic Studies and Black Studies since time immemorial.

The K-5 math adoption update and the usual work plan and other discussions.

Knock on wood there's nothing there's nothing big and dramatic.

And just a clarification the budget work session coming up is on the 10th of November.

And for executive committee of which I am chair as president of the board we will meet next on November 10th and are in the process of finalizing the agenda for that meeting and that will be posted I believe on Friday.

Thank you.

Now to everybody's favorite part of the board meeting where I ask directors to provide their comments in advance of public testimony because it is not yet 5 o'clock.

And either that or we take a break.

Would any directors like to provide their comments board comments at this time as opposed to at the end of the meeting.

Okay we will then move to how about we move to intro items then.

There's no disagreement with that option.

So we will move ahead on the agenda to the introduction items.

Okay.

Introduction Item Number 1 is Approval of the 2022 State Legislative Agenda.

Vice President Hersey I believe you will be briefing us.

Yes absolutely I will.

So before I begin a couple of quick words of thanks to both Julia and JoLynn in pulling this together as well as Kirkmeade in scheduling a number of community meetings for this effort to really get substantial feedback on what our community our students families and so on what they want to see in terms of our advocacy at the state level for things that we need in our classrooms and in our buildings and I'm just really excited.

So I just wanted to be clear moving into some talking points that the legislative agenda addresses for areas.

stable and equitable funding and operations supporting student well-being supporting excuse me supporting student learning and capital and facilities.

The agenda was developed working with staff and community partners to identify district needs to provide high quality instruction and services to students and families and live into Seattle excellence.

Community partners emphasized the importance of culturally responsive mental health and social emotional supports reliable transportation and full funding for special education.

Community partners also highlighted the need for more family engagement support and language access services now reflected as a priority in the student well-being section as well as the importance of ethnic studies black studies and American Indian studies reflected in the supporting student learning.

Almost 30 organizations were reached out to and almost 20 meetings conducted with partner organizations reflective of the diverse communities in SPS in adherence to our guardrail on community engagement.

Okay let me see if there's anything else we need to mention.

The agenda itself supports strategies that will further our progress.

toward our goals and guardrails through a focus on culturally responsive well-being and academic supports for students.

The short session and ambitious agenda.

We are in a short session and this is an ambitious agenda but it is important to show the legislature what our values are and what our system needs.

So at this time we are happy to take any questions.

If directors have any questions I believe we have Julia and JoLynn here with us to support.

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much Vice President Hersey.

I will go first to Director Dury for any questions comments concerns.

Yeah thanks.

I just wanted to say that I really appreciate the community engagement that was that happened in this.

I'm curious as to what some of those community groups we did engagement engage with who they were.

And then.

Okay try again.

And then just want to say that I really appreciate that these align with our goals and guardrails that we've been focused on and really help promote that focus on our students and their achievement in our district.

I'm happy to take that Julia.

I can't see you at the podium but if you are prepared to answer that question please feel free.

I think she'd love you to go ahead.

She's not yet at the podium.

Fantastic.

Okay.

We asked a number of organizations some of which being the Student Leadership Council in the Office of African-American Male Achievement.

King County Equity Now.

East African Community Services.

Lake City Collective.

Southeast Seattle Education Coalition.

Seattle Council PTSA.

Special Education PTSA.

Open Doors for Multicultural Families.

Communities in Schools.

WABLOC and many others just to name a few.

Okay it sounds like Director Dury is satisfied.

We'll go now to Director Harris.

Director Rivera-Smith.

Thank you.

Can you hear me okay.

Yes we can.

Thanks.

I'm wondering just to like break it down.

What does this mean.

So we adopt every year we adopt our legislative agenda.

What is that what now happens with this.

What can we see happening through the year with what we're doing here.

Absolutely.

That's a great question.

So what will happen is it is my intent to share this document with our labor partners at both SEA and PASS.

And then we will move this forward for a vote next legislative meeting.

And then after that we essentially turn it into a one-page document.

And our lobbyist Cliff Traceman advocates for us based on what we have laid out in the legislature.

So most of our legislatures will receive a physical copy if we have physical advocacy allowed at the legislature during session this year.

And we will you know the expectation is that if you are having conversations with legislators especially in your own personal networks that you advocate for what is proposed on the legislative agenda.

So this should give you a pretty good starting point in terms of conversations.

And yeah this is just a really strong piece of work that just highlights everything that we need to see in our classrooms from the legislature.

Awesome.

So will we after those discussions with our partner you spoke of.

And those one-pagers are created.

Is that a pager per topic like 1 2 and 3 or is it a single pager.

Either way will the board be getting copies of those as well.

Yes.

So you will get a copy of it.

It is a single pager.

And the reason that we do that is because if it is more than one page it often will not get read past the first page.

So yes you will receive any document regarding the legislative agenda as a board director in its entirety.

Thank you.

No other questions.

Thank you for your questions.

They were very good ones.

Director Rankin.

No I'll just say thanks for your work on this.

And I also am really pleased that you know we've had a lot of legislative conversations with various other you know with the Board Director Association and we participated in the Council of Great Cities Schools Conference with other urban school districts from around the country.

And there seems to be a real consensus around what's important to us as a board.

and what is important to our community and also communities around the country and around the state just based on what we're hearing from other leaders.

So hopefully we can get a lot of folks engaged for some really really good advocacy this upcoming session with our legislature.

Thank you for your comments.

Director Harris go ahead.

I have a couple of questions specifically Is it possible and I know we need legal guidance on some of this to find advocates in our community to work with folks like the League of Women Voters and the King County Central Committee and the different and various legislative districts to put this legislative agenda forth as a resolution in each of our City of Seattle legislative districts and I will volunteer to help organize that with appropriate legal guardrails.

On my own time and my own dime and General Counsel Terber is nodding his head up and down for you, Brandon, who is not seeing that.

Thank you.

For that clarification.

Okay my thanks to you Director Hersey for doing this work in a good way and making sure that community voice is represented in our legislative agenda.

I believe it's the best this year that it has been in that respect and it is incredibly important.

So my gratitude for and your role in making sure that that that that happened and for the opportunity to have this be as inclusive a process as possible.

Thank you for that and I sincerely appreciate it.

I truly live to serve but honestly all of the thanks really should go to staff on this one.

Their organization and outreach to community was unmatched and I really hope that we can use that level of engagement that they displayed with this process with other processes moving forward.

Thank you to the board office to Julie Worth in particular.

And by the way congratulations Director Hersey on your resounding victory yesterday in which you have signed up to serve again for four years.

Okay moving along.

We will now move to Introduction Item Number 2. Approval of the 2021-22 Superintendent Evaluation Documents.

As the sponsor of this item I will provide the briefing.

In this first phase of Student Outcomes Focused Governance the Superintendent Evaluation is going to be based on a combination or what has been proposed is that it will be based on a combination of student and a combination of student and then student outcomes focused governance implementation metrics.

Third grade reading safe and welcoming schools which will sound familiar from prior evaluations.

Student outcomes focus governance performance monitoring development aligning district and staff strategies and deliverables with goals and guardrails.

The safe and welcoming schools targets will need to be set at a later date once the November school climate survey data is available for our baseline.

The third grade reading goal targets are from Seattle Excellence the strategic plan as a reminder and are ambitious particularly given the context and learning impacts of COVID.

But we feel the superintendent feels agrees that it is important to maintain our high expectations for the system and for himself the superintendent.

The other metrics are intended to assess the successful transition of the district to student outcomes focused governance.

over the course of the year.

This tool will guide quarterly conversations with the superintendent and be used for the final evaluation at the end of the 21-22 school year.

I'll now go to directors for comments questions and concerns starting with Director Hersey.

No comments or questions from me.

Thank you.

Director Dury.

I just wanted to clarify the blanks on the percentages and stuff are to be filled in by whom and when.

You want to answer.

Oh by when.

I don't know if we have an exact date.

They we will.

Do you want to speak to that Julia what the estimated time will be.

I don't know how long it's going to take to process the survey data and then come up with appropriate metrics from that.

My assumption is by the end of the year but Julia will correct me.

Only because it's hard to accomplish a goal that you don't know what it is.

So the school climate survey is being administered in November and then typically data collection would take about 30 days and then an additional couple of weeks to get the data cleaned up and the metrics actually designed.

And so President Hampson your estimate of by the end of the year is is on point.

And then the board will need to take additional action to approve those targets and that is indicated in the BAR as well.

End of calendar year.

Okay we'll go now to Director Harris.

You sure about that Leslie.

Director Rivera-Smith.

Hi.

Thank you.

I think I have a similar question.

It's the last time.

How does this play out with the evaluations.

Just so the public understands where where they will or won't see this happening.

It's I know it's described in the BAR.

Here we go.

Can you go Julia.

Director Rivera-Smith are you when you reference the evaluations are you talking about staff evaluations how this cascades or was that a different question that you're asking.

I meant the sorry thank you.

I meant the evaluations of the superintendent of your of you because I know a lot of these are done in I believe I recall correctly with the last superintendent they're done in an executive session.

So the public doesn't necessarily see us.

kind of going through the process there.

I think they are then approved in public but I'm just I for my memory and just for everyone else's information I'm just asking how it all happens through the year.

So I'd like for Director Warren to kind of just talk talk through what that process will look like please.

So Director Rivera-Smith you are correct in staying consistent with previous years process for the superintendent evaluation there will be quarterly executive sessions that allow the board and superintendent to discuss progress towards the goals and targets set by the board.

And then the evaluation will be finalized at a public meeting prior to the end of the 21-22 year.

And I would just note in addition Director Rivera-Smith that the same The development of the goals the interim goals and guardrails and the performance monitoring calendar is something that we will do publicly once a month.

And so those things will actually be discussed in real time with the superintendent presenting.

So there's effectively that's part of the benefit of having a student outcomes focused governance framework is a more regular form of evaluation of the superintendent and the progress in the district.

So those aspects of it that are represented by that we will talk about every month.

But yes the specific evaluation will happen in closed session or executive session I should say.

And then the final evaluation will be introduced and approved at board meeting.

Thank you for that.

And then also to ask so I know we haven't there's a lot of kind of TBD of this evaluation criteria.

I'm wondering just to know what we should be looking towards as far as our goals and guardrails are concerned.

Are we going to be is there somewhere in there where we are evaluating strictly to the superintendent's performance in regards to like the guardrail specifically because those don't have those aren't as as smart goals as the goals are.

The guardrails are more of you can do anything but these things.

How are we going to evaluate on those, if at all?

So that's what the progress monitoring what I called it performance monitoring I meant progress monitoring portion of Student Outcomes Focus Governance is and we will begin that monthly.

We have our first training in doing that work on the 18th.

We have some is that correct Julia.

We have so those and those many of those metrics are in development because Seattle Public Schools hasn't historically had interim metrics and so the development of interim goals and guardrails rolls up into the overall goals and guardrails.

And this is the first year of utilizing and development of a full set suite of metrics under those SMART goals and those guardrails.

So that work will begin very within the month.

And it will continue to evolve.

But it will be the end of this next year before we see a fully complete student outcomes focused government's progress monitoring framework.

And then starting next year we would be using that in its full scope again each month.

But by then we should be pretty practiced at the monthly progress monitoring.

Does that make sense.

I think it does and I definitely look forward to the training and not anymore.

Sorry.

You saying something.

You saying something.

Oh I was just saying Julia might have another less obtuse way of discuss of explaining it.

Go ahead Julia.

So I would just add to what you said President Hampson in that the the superintendent evaluation for this year is a transitional evaluation while we get a full year of implementation of the goals and guardrails.

development of the interim goals and guardrails and that is what will be the focus of the next year superintendent evaluation.

So best practice under Student Outcomes Focused Governance is to have a full year of implementation before you're evaluating the superintendent on all of the goals and guardrails and interim goals and guardrails.

We won't have a full year of that implementation yet so this evaluation is a structured as a bit of a hybrid of the student outcomes that we have data for and can use as well as the implementation and alignment of the system to student outcomes focused governance.

And what we're doing here is specific to Dr. Jones' contract correct because obviously we're going to have another new superintendent in a year and we'll have to do this again.

Yes.

So part of the part of the evaluation of the superintendent me this year is going to be around the development and the construction of the goals and guardrails and the measures.

And so that is part of to simplify it that's really what you all as board members will be evaluating me on is how well I develop this along with with my team.

So that will be the gifting forward to the next superintendent.

Thank you everybody for all your information.

I have no other questions.

And last but not least Director Rankin.

No questions.

Okay.

Thank you very much.

We'll move to the next introduction item.

This is approval of Resolution 2021-22-11 Certification of Excess Levies and Calculation of General Fund Levy Rollback for 2022. Assistant Superintendent for Business and Finance JoLynn Berge I believe you'll be briefing us.

Hello JoLynn.

Good evening Directors.

So this BAR is required by law to collect levy funding.

So all approved levies are included in that both capital and operations in the next calendar year.

So annually the state requires our board to certify to the county the estimated taxes to be collected for SPS and to calculate the general fund operations levy rollback for 2022. The levy rollback impacts the operation levy only.

The operations or EP&O levy is based on two factors.

What the voters approve and what the state certifies based on our enrollment and our legislative authority to collect.

So when legislative authority is less than what the voters approved were required to recertify or roll back our levy collection amount to the amount allowed by law.

We do build into capacity into our operations levy to allow for higher collections if enrollment increases or if the legislature increases our authority.

So this is an annual process for SPS and other districts typically and it allows us to collect the maximum allowed levy funds for the next calendar year.

So again this BAR is brought forward annually to the board.

That concludes my remarks.

I'm happy to take questions.

Thank you Assistant Superintendent Berge.

I will move first for questions to Director Hersey.

No questions for me at this time.

Director Dury.

No questions thanks.

Director Harris.

Director Rivera-Smith.

No questions.

Thank you.

Director Rankin.

And no questions from me either.

Thank you so very much.

We now move to Introduction Item Number 4. Authorization to execute a contract with an executive search firm to conduct a superintendent search.

As a sponsor of as the sponsor of this item I'll provide the briefing.

Request for proposals seeking executive search firm proposals was.

A request for proposals seeking executive search firm proposals was issued on October 7th 2021 and we received four proposals.

The next the board met on Monday this this week to review those proposals and determined that our next step will be to invite two finalists who scored the highest and Director's preliminary scoring to interview with the board.

The interviews are planned to be held during a board special meeting Wednesday November 10th.

Following the interviews the board will meet again in a public meeting to discuss the proposals and will then take action during the November 17th regular board meeting to select a search firm.

Director Hersey do you have any questions comments or concerns on the item.

I do not.

Thank you.

Director Dury.

Director Harris.

Could you add to your layout of that that board members sent questions into the board office so that these two firms are asked the same questions.

Yes questions were due at 4 p.m.

this afternoon.

Thank you Director Harris.

Director Rivera-Smith.

Yeah one question.

Are these interviews going to be public meetings or executive closed sessions.

They are public sessions.

And it looks like they've already we have a date in mind for that already.

Wednesday November 10th.

There you go.

They will happen after our budget work session.

And they're going to be virtual.

Correct or in person.

They're going to be in person.

Awesome.

Cool.

Well looking forward to any other questions.

Thanks.

Director Harris.

The board will be in person.

Will the RFP presenters be virtual.

No they will be in person.

Thank you.

That's what I meant.

So okay everyone's in person.

Yes obviously if you need to be virtual as a board member that option is available to you as it is at the moment.

But our interviewees will be in person with us.

Thank you.

Welcome Director DeWolf.

Director Rankin did you have any questions.

Okay.

And unless Director DeWolf DeWolf has late-breaking questions about the.

Then we will move along.

Nope that is the last introduction item.

So one last call for comments board comments before we take a brief break.

Director Harris.

Not to put.

Director DeWolf on the spot but did he want to address the Ops Committee.

Oh right.

Did you have a report from the Operations Committee.

I know the meetings I announced that the meeting was tomorrow morning at 8 a.m.

but I didn't know if you wanted to report on anything prior.

That's the only other item.

Thank you.

Thank you Director Harris.

Always a good assist from Director Harris.

So thank you for that.

Tomorrow is our next operations committee and as you can tell we've been very busy.

The BTA V levy is obviously a huge bit of our work right now.

We'll be getting to that later.

The only thing will be a new board action report tomorrow we'll be discussing is the emergency contract amendments for food and this is through our nutrition services.

But generally you could you could consider tomorrow's meeting fairly light.

We will be talking about the Clean Energy Task Force update.

We'll also be getting an update on the Student Assignment Transition Plan.

as well as an update on the BTA V levy.

And so those are kind of some of the biggest items.

But again that meets at 8 a.m.

tomorrow.

Information is on the website and please call in and we'd love to have you.

Unfortunately there's not public comment but happy to have folks there.

Okay if there are no directors that would like to make their public comments.

We can recess for a short break and come back at 5 p.m.

for public testimony.

Okay we will take a short recess and.

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 today from those individuals called from our public testimony list and if applicable the waiting list.

which are included on today's agenda posting on the school board website.

Only those who are called by name should unmute their phones or step forward to the podium 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 evening as there is only one speaking slot per person.

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

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

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

Thank you President Hampson.

The first speaker on today's list actually sorry before I get to that those who are joining quick quick logistical note if you are here in person when I call your name please step up to the podium and then you can begin your testimony.

A timer will sound when your time is up.

Those on the phone please press star-6 to unmute yourself on the conference call line once you hear your name and also make sure you're unmuted on your the device that you're calling from.

So the first speaker on today's list is Kiyomi King.

Hi.

I'm a student from Ballard High School.

And first I wanted to talk about our students' request for urinal dividers at our school.

Boys have a lack of urinal dividers in all of the Ballard men's restrooms leaving students feel a lack of privacy.

Second of all I wanted to talk about the start of the school year's emphasis on the culture of care mentioned by SPS.

We feel this is not apparent in schools as we are returning from COVID-19 and students are still struggling and we need a transparent message from SPS on how that emphasis is being applied to students.

And switching topics but sexual assault is a concern of many students at Ballard this year so I wanted to ask How do we make students feel safer and trust their administration and teachers with their issues and security.

My school has thought of making pamphlets about sexual assaults as well as forums and partnering with athletic programs which we think could be effective but we wanted increased health class education possibly being a longer unit surrounding consent teaching students what kind of behavior is okay and not okay from other students.

And we wanted to know how overall is SPS education and trainings on dealing with incidents.

Has there been any updated training surrounding assault and harassment and what does that particularly look like.

And we'd also like a clearly laid out timeline process on how schools should handle cases of sexual assault so we can inform our students.

And that is about it.

And we'd also like

Thank you Kiyomi and I'm just going to take some privilege here and respond to thank you for your testimony.

And I just can't tell you how much I appreciate somebody coming to talk about urinal dividers that demonstrate how much you care about your fellow students.

And you're incredibly brave to come up here and or to call in and make sure that we know about something that might seem incidental but is incredibly important.

And with respect to your comments about sexual assault I would like to fulfill every question that you raised around sexual assault.

I am planning to meet with students on the matters of sexual assault in in our policies in the coming weeks and would love it if you and any of your fellow students would join me.

I have other students that have demonstrated interest and I'm working with some of our our staff on prospective policies and I would like for you all to be part of that laying out that timeline.

as well.

So I hope that you'll consider getting in touch with me via email and we can continue that conversation.

And again many many thanks for bringing these critical issues to our school board.

It's something we care deeply about.

Would any other directors like to respond to her if so.

We don't have our student speakers at the time so.

I will ditto all of your comments President Hampson and suggest that reaching out to Erin Romalich of our staff who is beyond extraordinary and getting a layout of what we have now and what we've done in the last few years because they have been strengthened.

Are they what they need to be.

Not even close but she can learn you up and I'll bet she'd be thrilled to do so.

Thank you.

Okay take it back Ms. Wilson-Jones.

The next speaker is Lauren Sepp.

Lauren Sepp.

Is that Lauren.

I guess I'm no longer muted.

Thank you for allowing me to speak.

I'm calling in to speak about restoration of school bus routes 646 and 647 for McDonald Elementary.

The the hardship that not having a bus is putting on my family and families like mine in the neighborhood is is immense.

We It's not so much the mornings right.

It's it's what it's the during work hours.

Almost everybody that I know and ourselves are dual income families that work and that need two incomes to be able to afford a relatively expensive part of the city.

And to make things work we are sort of co-opping a really unsafe situation with our children to get them to their after-school care.

You know there isn't capacity in in the on-site after-school care to care for every child that needs it.

And so therefore working parents need the busing to get the children to the after-school care both to keep the children safe because having to uneducated or non-expert parents in child care shuttling 30 to 40 children a mile each day when they act out and they run out into the street or want to run away.

That's just not safe and we're not trained to deal with it.

And I think we would all really regret if anything had happened to one of one of the children.

And let's just say it's getting there are moments that have made it kind of seem like we're close there to that.

And that's just really isn't acceptable for my children or really any child's safety.

And that's all the time I need.

The next speaker on today's list is Mikhail Henry Eaton.

Mikhail Henry Eaton.

Is Mikhail not here in person kind of in person.

He can't join by phone.

We'll move to the next speaker and Clayton do you want to see if you can pass on the correct call-in details.

The next speaker on today's list is Scott Davis.

Scott Davis.

We'll move to the next speaker and quickly if you want to see if you can tap on the prep column.

The next speaker on today's list is Scott Davis.

Please mute your phones unless and your computers unless you are Scott Davis.

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

Scott Davis.

Moving to the next speaker Chris Jackins.

My name is Chris Jackins.

Box 84063 Seattle 98124. On Resolution 2021-22-12 this action would pick newly elected board directors to represent the district at a conference before the election results are certified.

Please vote no.

On the amendment and repeal of some 20 board policies.

Six points.

Number one some board members hope that getting rid of policies and reports will free up board time for more important things.

Number two the report should not be dropped.

They are useful reference documents for both the board and the public.

Number three for example policy 6882 should retain an inventory of school properties.

Number four the board president lamented a perceived lack of useful data on student students and gaps.

Number five for decades the district published an annual report called Data Profile District Summary.

I am holding one in my hand to show you what it looks like.

It was dropped a few years ago.

Some of that data is online but it is not the same as having a reference book.

Number six the board and students need physical books not more computer screens.

Please vote no.

On the BTA V capital levy two points.

Number one the board seems to hope that talking only about solar panels will obscure the levy's environmental impacts including loss of trees loss of playground space replacing grass fields with artificial turf and destroying Duwamish tribal history.

Number two the overemphasis on technology and screen time harms students.

Please vote no.

Thank you very much.

The next speaker is Dylan Robinson-Ordonez.

Hello.

For the record my name is Dylan Ordonez.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak today.

Board members.

Dylan Robinson-Ordonez.

Board members staff those in the room and those watching remotely.

I'm here today as a resident of.

My name is Dylan Ordonez.

proud spouse of a Seattle Public Schools teacher and most importantly as a father of twin boys who will begin kindergarten next year to speak in support of board action for authorizing the resolution that will send the VTA levy to the February ballot.

The SPS board and SPS staff have worked countless hours on crafting a levy package that includes meeting meaningful and important needs of students now and into the future while focusing on building safety security and accessibility.

The process to build this kind of policy proposal is quite an undertaking and I want to congratulate and thank you on bringing forward this sound proposal for the voters to consider.

Also as a lifelong soccer player and runner I'm pleased and encouraged to see that funding to replace Memorial Stadium is included in this levy proposal.

While I've been a resident only been a resident of Seattle since 2008 I understand the significance of this venue at the foot of the Space Needle.

As a kid my family would come visit Seattle to watch the ends of the kingdom explore and have fun as tourists particularly at Seattle Center.

I have fond memories of the campus and I'm excited to see how we can harness the true potential of that space for future generations centering youth and equity in the process.

So again thank you Dr. Jones board and staff for your thoughtful and thorough process in developing the BTA levy proposal being considered today.

I encourage your support.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Sung Yang.

Good evening.

I'm Sung Yang and I'm here to represent the Seattle Center Foundation of which I'm a board member and also a broad representative and diverse coalition of organizations such as the Seattle Building Trades Unions the Positive Coaching Alliance the Residency the Seattle Sports Commission the Seattle Music Commission the Uptown Arts and Culture Coalition.

Musician Musicians Association of Seattle to just name a few.

And I'm here to speak regarding the proposed BTA levy.

So first I just want to thank you the school board and the leadership team for advancing a thoughtful community-focused plan in developing the upcoming BTA V levy that is focused on building safety security and accessibility with a with an understanding of how building conditions and applications of technology can serve students' educational needs.

I also want to thank and applaud your decision to include funding to replace Memorial Stadium in this levy plan.

We believe a modernized Memorial Stadium can be a central hub for youth sports and other programming and also a strong link to community partnerships to help activate Memorial Stadium in ways that promote equity diversity inclusion and access while also promoting safety and accessibility for SPS events and community uses.

I also want to thank you again and Superintendent Jones and the dedicated staff who have acted upon this once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform this facility.

And finally I want to thank you for supporting our students during these tough times and giving us all more hope And if you could see me behind my mask I would be projecting nothing but smiles at all of you right now.

So thank you very much.

The next speaker is Melissa Palethorpe.

Melissa Palethorpe.

Melissa it looks like you may be unmuted.

There we go.

Is that better.

Yes.

Sorry.

Hi I'm Melissa Pailthorpe.

I'm sorry I couldn't be there in person this evening.

But speaking on behalf of Schools First the citizen-led effort to get out the vote in support of our school levies.

Also as a proud parent of three SPS students and a former student myself when levies didn't pass.

I'm motivated to be here this evening in support of both our EP&O and BTA V replacement levies.

I think as the speaker said before us these levies are absolutely critical and supplemental support to educating our kids in safe and appropriate buildings and providing the supports they need to be successful.

I'm always impressed with the careful consideration and the multiple and extensive processes that go into developing these levies and this year's resolutions I think reflect that.

I'd like to add my support too in support of the nominations made for the committees to prepare the voters pamphlet statements.

I think that demonstrates broad civic support for our levies and look forward to you voting these out so we can get on with making sure that voters know what they'll be voting on and encouraging their support of the levies.

Thank you very much.

The next speaker is Lee Sweden.

Lee Sweden.

Is this Lee.

I'm a Seattle Public Schools alum and current community member in North Seattle.

calling tonight because I'm have some concern with the electricity provided by Seattle City Light and also in support of Director DeWolf's Clean Energy Amendment.

I think this amendment is super important to our community and to our planet because Seattle City Light's electricity while renewable does not honor stated SPS priorities of environmental justice equity sustainability or climate resilience.

Its dams oppress Indigenous people of the Skagit Valley including the Skagit Upper Skagit and the Soxwattle tribes.

And they also hurt ecosystems and critical species including endangered salmon and orca populations.

And The BTA V levy and the Clean Energy Resolution in particular have really admirable priorities that I appreciate and I think that the kind of work that the that Director DeWolf's amendment and the Clean Energy Project that would ensue would be a great opportunity to get some more ethical sources of renewable energy And to yeah do good things for our planet.

So thank you so much.

Really appreciate all the work you do.

The next speaker is Jake Ewert.

Jake Ewert.

Hi my name is Jake Ewert.

I'm a board member for Schools First the volunteer organization that campaigns for the Seattle Public School levy every 3 years.

I'm also a parent of 2 soon to be 3 Seattle Public School children.

I'm here speaking in support of both levies that are on your agenda tonight.

Thanks to the board and the leadership team for the work in developing them.

I've been working with Schools First for a number of years now.

Always impressed with the work that's done to put these levies together.

This year's no different.

I've been out in my capacity with Schools First speaking to a lot of PTA organizations already this year often following district presentations where your folks are previewing for PTA organizations the probable contents of these levies.

There's a lot of enthusiasm for them.

We think they're well put together and I urge you to support them here tonight.

I look forward to working with Schools First to convince our fellow Seattleites to vote yes on those levies once you put them on the ballot.

So please support them tonight.

Thanks for your time.

The next speaker is Alexa Fay.

Alexa Fay.

Hi my name's Alexa.

I'm a registered nurse and graduate of Seattle Public Schools calling in to support the Clean Energy Project proposed in Seattle schools.

This funding would provide an opportunity for SPS to be a leader in sustainability and foster resilience.

As a nurse I know that children are especially vulnerable to the effects of air pollution and heat waves as their bodies and organs are still developing.

This means that we need sustainable solutions For both our students as the climate crisis intensifies both to keep them safe from climate disasters and to prevent future harm from pollution.

By investing in infrastructure that can store energy SPS can also build climate resilience in neighborhoods across Seattle.

When the power goes out like it did this summer schools with clean energy can serve as essential community hubs cooling centers and emergency shelter.

It's also important to note that our transition away from fossil fuels will save us money.

with research estimating that in the U.S. 280 million dollars is spent annually to address climate-related health costs.

And this includes things that kids will face every year such as asthma heat stroke dehydration.

By transitioning to clean energy now we will be ensuring a healthy and safe SPS community for both our students and their parents family members and community members.

SPS can be a leader in sustainability and also create a place for community and resilience.

Thank you so much.

The next speaker is Dave McCall.

Dave McCall of McColl.

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

Not seeing that number listed.

So moving to Neil Anderson.

Neil Anderson.

My name is Neil Anderson and I'm here in support of funding clean energy projects in the 2022 school levy.

As someone who teaches middle school students about climate change I worry about how it impacts them to learn about the dire situation that they're about to inherit and then to look around their school and see no indication that any progress is being made.

Imagine being a young person who's just found out that their future is in jeopardy because of the choices that we're making today.

And then realizing that the school that's teaching you this is part of the problem.

Knowing that the bus you take every day to get there runs on diesel.

Finding out that your classrooms are heated by burning natural gas.

And watching as all the wasted food in the cafeteria is dumped into the garbage where it will decompose in landfills.

This all sends the message to the students that while they're being told that the climate effects will be severe and felt mostly by their generation the adults around them don't care enough to change any of these things that are making it worse.

Have any chance of getting climate change under control we need to be funding clean energy projects across our entire society.

But it's especially important to have these in our public schools so that students can see the tangible progress is being made and that talk about the need for urgent climate action isn't just empty words.

They need to know that the place that's preparing them for the future cares enough about them to help safeguard it.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Jess Wallach.

Jess.

Is this on.

Yeah.

Great.

Thanks and good evening school board members.

My name is Jess Wallach and I'm an organizer with 350 Seattle.

I'm here tonight representing our 10,000 members in Seattle and King County in support of clean energy investments and the 2022 school levy.

As y'all know our world leaders are gathered at COP 26 this week talking about what we're going to do to avert global climate catastrophe.

We're hearing promises on a timeline of 2050. That is far too late.

If we want a healthy future for our children we need to be making investments in clean energy across every part of our society as the previous speaker said.

And that starts right here with Seattle Public Schools.

Y'all have the power to lead Seattle's clean energy transition.

We can't wait till 2050. We can't wait till the next levy.

It's time to act now.

I'll give the rest of my time to my colleagues from the Building Trades.

Good afternoon Directors Keith Weir with IBEW Local 46. Trustee for the Seattle Benton State Washington Building Trades Councils.

As you've heard from many people, we are obviously in full support of the BTA V levies and the energy improvements and the upgrades to any of that, right?

Building trades jobs forever have been not only blue collar jobs, but at least for IBW, the insides of our collars have always been green.

We've always been about efficiency and energy, right?

Getting more bang for your buck.

I, for one, as a parent, don't want to leave a a planet in peril to my children.

And as a working person and part of the Building Traits Coalition along with my brothers and sisters in the UAE and laborers and everybody else we're going to do our part to ensure that our kids go to safe schools that are built well and will stand the test of time and do so and be efficient.

Thank you.

The next speaker on today's list is Kristen Hoffman.

Kristen Hoffman.

Good evening.

My name is Kristen Hoffman and I'm the parent of a student who attends McDonald International Elementary and goes to Boys and Girls Club every day of the week.

I am here to implore you to reinstate the 646 and 647 buses to and from McDonald Elementary immediately.

My daughter has only had reliable bus transportation to Boys and Girls Club for two out of the nine weeks she's been in school.

I know there's a bus driver shortage but you've had nine weeks of school and additional weeks prior to school starting to figure out an alternate plan yet there is no plan.

McDonald has roughly 30 families with approximately 40 kids that attend Boys and Girls Club.

When parents learned we would lose our busing on October 18th Our PTA and parents coordinated to get our kids from school to the club.

In less than a week's time we formed a walking parent bus of three parent volunteers each day to walk the kids a mile from school to the club.

These working parents are spending 15 hours per week to go to school pick up the kids walk them to the club and then return to their work.

If parents can figure out in less than a week how to solve a transportation problem you can too.

You have a transportation department.

That's what they're there to do.

Solve transportation issues.

I do not want my child to continue to walk in this rainy weather as she's been arriving to the club with water-soaked pants and wet feet that she has to endure for several hours until she's picked up.

She's going to get sick with this continued weather exposure because she cannot dry out or warm up.

She needs a vehicle to transport her.

Please implement a vehicular transportation plan to and from McDonald for the 646 and 647 bus service now.

Thank you for your time.

The next speaker is Kristina Schor.

Kristina Schor.

Kristina please press star-6 if you are on the line.

Christina Schor plus star 6 if you're on the line.

Okay moving to our next speaker.

Brian McNeil.

Brian.

Oh hi.

Oh is that Christina.

Oh sorry this is.

Yes I'm sorry.

Please go ahead Christina.

Okay thank you so much.

Thank you.

Hi.

My name is Christina Schor and I'm a Seattle Public School parent.

And I'm calling to support funding of the 2022 levy to invest funding in clean energy and make progress towards the Clean Schools Resolution.

As a parent I try to build up my kids' resilience and hope in the face of the climate crisis.

And I believe that passing this levy will show students we're committed to creating a better future for them and show them the importance of prioritizing clean energy.

I really appreciated the middle school teacher who spoke earlier who talked about how we really can't teach our children about the horrors of the climate crisis while failing to act on clean energy in the places where we have the power to do so and especially in their schools where where they are every day where they study every day.

And I believe that passing this levy will help create a healthier place for people to learn with cleaner air both in and outside the school and also create healthier and safer communities around the school.

I was a community college instructor for many years and I also really believe in the power of community and technical colleges to help people train for good jobs.

And I think that investing in clean energy for schools will also have the effect of creating better clean energy jobs and safe and sustainable jobs for members of our community.

There are many things that terrify me about the climate crisis but I'm also hopeful that we can create a more resilient and community-centered world based on our values.

And I truly believe the SPS can be a leader in clean energy and sustainability and I'm excited about funding this levy and moving forward with that.

Thank you so much.

The next speaker is Brian McNeil.

Brian McNeil.

Better Clean Energy.

Hi my name is Brian McNeil and I am the father of a student at McDonald Elementary.

And like some other parents who've spoken before me I would like to emphasize the safety and wellness concerns presented by the end of bus transportation between McDonald and the Wallingford Boys and Girls Club and indeed between the schools across the Seattle Public Schools and after-school care.

Working parents like us need reliable transportation for our children to get them between school and their after-school care.

There's often no substitute for this.

We've been very lucky to be able to staff a volunteer program but as other parents have discussed there are some really some very real concerns with that.

So from the board we would ask that this be emphasized that buses between schools and aftercare be emphasized and prioritized and also that the status of the process for reinstating this bus service be publicized.

The Seattle Schools website does not have any updates since it was announced that this service would be ending.

So please prioritize the reinstatement of this service as well as updates on that process.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Sabrina Burr.

Sabrina Burr.

Go ahead Sabrina.

Can you hear me.

We can hear you.

Yes.

Thank you.

Good evening.

Thank you.

My name is Sabrina Burr.

I'm a parent of a Cleveland High School student and I this year serve as the Family and Community Engagement Healing Centered Engagement and Anti-Racist Work for Seattle Council PTSA.

I want to start off by reading a paragraph from the National PTA Statement on Family Engagement.

PTA recognizes the research which demonstrates when families are engaged student achieve more regardless of socioeconomic status ethnic racial background or parent or gardening guardian's education level.

The most accurate accurate predictor of student achievement in school is not income or social status.

Family engagement is essential for a positive emotional and social development cultural growth academic achievement for every child.

I say that and I want to talk about the adoption of the board resolution 2021-2213 urging Washington State Board of Health to make sure that they do their work that they need to do to make COVID-19 vaccination a part of vaccinations for students once it's fully approved.

I.

read the family engagement statement because I really want to thank our school board directors who have been in community around this relate around this resolution and what I have heard from community.

Our family engagement needs to mirror what these school board directors have had community give feedback on.

Your engagement was very authentic.

I led the one for the African-American and the Black community and we felt heard.

And so many in that group came from the medical profession.

I heard from my Somali sisters that they felt heard for the first time and I was privileged enough to sit in on our youth.

Our youth felt heard.

And so how we engage has to be two-way communication.

It has to be authentic.

And our school board directors who have been engaged engaging they've gotten it.

And so we as a district need to mirror what that is.

It's really about relationship.

It's really about our community being heard.

And more importantly it's about hearing what our community says and putting it a part of policy and practice.

And so we can do better when it comes to family engagement.

It's a number one indicator of student success.

And I look forward to partnering with the district.

But right now I want to thank our school board directors.

for awesome engagement.

We need more of that.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Rich Vogt.

Rich Vogt.

Can you hear me.

We can hear you Rich.

Can you hear me now.

Yes we can hear you.

Okay great.

My name's Rich Vogt.

I live right across the street from Hamilton Middle School.

I'm sure that what isn't being taught in schools today is that greenhouse gases are not sentient beings.

Greenhouse gases don't think and they don't have feelings.

So you cannot expect him to be persuaded to wait for the next levy for whatever reasons you have personally for waiting instead of adopting the Wolf the Wolf Amendment.

What is taught is that greenhouse gases only follow the laws of physics and chemistry and will simply continue to warm the climate.

And the more greenhouse gases that are emitted the warmer the climate will become.

The warming is gaining momentum as warming causes more warming as frozen tundra releases previously trapped greenhouse gases.

Here's an example of momentum.

Envision yourself in front of a parked truck on a hill and then the parking brake fails.

It's possible to still stop the truck with a large rock in front of one of the wheels but if the truck can roll for a mile downhill you will just become a roadkill if you're in the middle of the road with a rock in your hand.

The climate cannot wait three years for you to fund clean energy expenses.

The clean energy amendment may feel rushed as a last minute addition to the levy.

I have no idea what the consequences are to creating the levy package if a late amendment is added but I want you to weigh the consequences of waiting three years before implementing more clean energy projects versus the hassle of more work in dealing with a late amendment.

And then choose adding a clean energy amendment to the levy.

Thank you.

The next speaker is Will Hayes.

Will Hayes.

Will Hayes.

Please press star-6 if you are on the line.

Not seeing that phone number.

I'm going to go back to the top to those who we missed on our first round since folks had trouble calling in.

Mikhail Henry Eaton.

Mikhail Henry Eaton are you on the line.

Please press star-6.

Hello.

I am Mikhail Eaton.

I am a student at Lincoln High School And I'm here to testify about the 2022 levy and clean energy.

A lot of what I would say has probably already been said but this is important so here goes nothing.

One of the best ways to lead as I have always been taught is by example.

And in a lot of areas the school system here has done that extremely well.

And here we have another opportunity to do it on possibly the most important issue of all time.

And that would have a powerful impact on the students who dedicate a large portion of their lives to fighting off the climate crisis in whatever ways they can.

That is all.

Next.

The next speaker is Scott Davis.

Scott Davis.

Hello everyone.

Thank you for your time today.

I am coming to speak regarding the resolution to urge the State Board of Health to mandate the vaccine for Seattle Public Schools the specifically the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.

I would urge the board to consider not putting this resolution forward and not mandating the vaccine.

And instead of sharing my own views, I'm going to take my time to share things from the FDA committee members who recently chose to move this a step forward.

But my main message is that the mandate will not- Excuse me, can you keep your mask on your nose?

Yeah, it just fogs up my glasses and then I get anxious.

Thank you.

My the mandate that could potentially happen would not increase access in any way and may create strife and unnecessary risk for students.

I'd like the board to consider also that antibody tests are available and are an effective way to prove antibody presence and immunity in children.

But now, so I just like to look at what the FDA members said, because although the vote was 17 to 0, they themselves were taking a lot of considerations into account that I don't feel is in the language and spirit of the resolution.

So, Data from Pfizer showed that the vaccine had a 90.7% efficacy rate in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 in a clinical trial.

Still, many advisory committee members expressed concern about limited safety data turning repeatedly to the risk of myocarditis.

Dr. James E.K. Hildreth, the President and Chief Executive of Meharry Medical College, said that since many children between the age of 5 and 11 may already have some immunity after contracting the virus, the need to vaccinate broadly in that age group may be less urgent.

Dr. Hildreth also bemoaned the fact that the Pfizer's pediatric trial included few children from minority groups who are at greater risk of bad outcomes for COVID-19.

Dr. Paul Offit, a panel member who heads the Vaccine Education Center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, said it was nerve-wracking to make public health decisions for affecting millions of children based on studies involving such a few thousand participants.

About, sorry.

Michael G. Carrillo, an official at the NIH who abstained from the vote, said the government embracing a one-size-fits-all approach.

I think for many children who have experienced COVID already, they're probably more than adequately protected.

I think the case for high-risk children is very different.

Dr. H. Cody Meissner, a panelist and chief of the Pediatric Infectious Disease Division at Tufts Children's Hospital, said he feared that state-level mandates would follow too quickly before sufficient safety data could be gathered.

And others questioned how well the government tracks adverse side effects, despite assurances that any worrisome patterns would be detected.

This can all be found in October 26 article of The New York Times, a respectable news organization.

the respectable people helping guide us through this decision and I hope we take their caution into account.

The next speaker calling again Dave McCall.

Dave McCall.

Is that Dave.

Good evening.

I'm a parent of two children who currently attend Seattle Public Schools.

I'm calling to support the clean energy amendment to the levy package and I'm really inspired by all the other the SPS students and teachers who are stepping up to support this amendment.

My oldest kid is in 4th grade and is naturally fascinated by electric cars and solar panels and wind turbines.

I'm sure they're not the only kid who's curious about these and Maybe a little confused about why fossil fuel energy is so hard to get away from when we have cleaner alternatives.

I was trying to come up with an explanation that my kid would understand and I ended up saying something like hey big changes are hard and people don't want to do hard things.

Which makes sense but it also sounds kind of pathetic given that climate change is here now and the kids know this.

Which is why I'm relieved that SPS issued a clean schools resolution earlier this year.

And I saw in that resolution there was a 2027 deadline by which the entire district needs to run on 100 percent zero-carbon electricity.

So this clean energy amendment would be critical in helping to meet that deadline.

So I'd like to thank the school board in advance for voting in favor of that clean energy amendment.

And thanks for listening.

The next speaker calling again Will Hayes.

One more try.

Will Hayes.

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

Okay moving to today's waitlist.

Lisa Lisa Seberson.

Can you hear.

We can hear you Lisa.

Hi can you hear me.

Yes we can hear you.

Thank you.

My name is Lisa Severson and I'm a parent to a kindergartner and a third grader at McDonald Elementary.

Our family relies on bus service for transportation of our children to their after-school program.

My husband works as a teacher and I'm a healthcare provider.

We both work at in-person jobs and as such we're not available to transport our children after school.

This is the main reason we have them in after-school care.

This really feels like an undue burden that's been placed on parents on top of the past 20 months of a very big burden of childcare.

Now that our children are finally back in full-time school we're burdened with their transportation getting to and from school or their after-school programs.

This has contributed to uncertainty for students and they desperately need some consistency and security at this point.

Please consider reinstating the bus route 646 and 647 for McDonald McDonald International School.

Thank you.

That was today's final speaker.

Thank you Ms. Wilson-Jones.

And directors I would like to with your permission move directly to item number action item number apologies Number 4 in order to allow for full participation in that item.

So we will go first to Item Number 4 on the action item list.

This is Buildings Technology and Academics slash Athletics BTA V Capital Levy Program and authorizing Resolution 2021-22-7.

This came through operations on October 8 for approval.

May I have a motion for this item.

Absolutely.

I move that 1 that the school board adopt Resolution 2021-22-7 placing a 6-year capital levy on the February A 2022 special election ballot for voter approval to fund buildings technology and academics slash athletics BTA V capital levy program.

And 2 that the school board appoint the individuals named in Section 4A below to committees to prepare statements for King County's voters pamphlet advocating for approval and for rejection of the BTA V capital levy.

And 3 that the school board approve the scoring and relative rankings of proposed projects as attached to the board action report.

Second.

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

This item has been updated since introduction so I will first call on staff to speak to the updates before we move into any amendments and director discussion.

Good evening Directors Fred Podesta Assistant Superintendent for Operations.

I believe the staff revisions really are a correction on the project list rephrasing the characterization of Memorial Stadium project which had renovate as the active verb and replace that with the word replace.

Otherwise the baseline proposal was as was introduced last week.

Thank you Mr. Podesta.

There is one amendment being offered to this item.

Director DeWolf could you please move Amendment Number 1.

Thank you President Hampson.

I move tonight that the school board approve Amendment 1 to the Board Action Report titled Buildings Technology and Academics Slash Athletics otherwise known as BTA V Capital Levy Program and Authorizing Resolution 2021-22-7 which A Substitutes proposed substitute resolution number 2021-22-7 as attached to this amendment and substitutes the proposed substitute BTA V project summary list as also attached to this amendment.

To the extent the substituted resolution and project summary list conflict with the information presented in the underlying board action report and attachments the substitute resolution and project summary list attached to this amendment shall control.

Immediate action is in the best interests of the district.

Is there a second for Amendment Number 1. Second.

Okay this has been moved by Director DeWolf and seconded by Director Rivera-Smith.

We will go first to Director DeWolf for comments on the amendment and then go to remaining directors for any comments or questions on the amendment and the underlying item before we move to the votes on the amendment and then the underlying item.

Thank you President Hampson.

And thank you board directors for allowing me to present an amendment to you as I shared with you two weeks ago at our regular school board meeting.

I want to first name a couple of things follow on a few swords as they say in analogy land.

I want to just name a couple of the big elephants in the room here.

So I think the first thing I want to acknowledge is that this is a last minute 11th hour amendment.

And so for that to my directors I sincerely apologize for that.

I also recognize and acknowledge that this is atypical and not the best process.

So to my board directors to Superintendent Jones to our staff Mr. Podesta I apologize for that.

I want to also acknowledge that our staff have worked tirelessly since January when when we produced our what I thought were some really exciting guiding principles that we've developed with community and staff and students.

I want to just name that it is.

It could be seen as disrespectful towards your time and your commitment to this work and so I do apologize to our community and our staff.

And then the last thing I'll just mention is that outside of all that and I'm a part of the process this does not set a good precedent and I do apologize for that.

It is important that we do our work efficiently in the time that it was allotted and so I apologize for all of that.

So.

Counting all those digs against me and what I've shared with you in this amendment today I just want to name that I own them.

I apologize to my current and future board directors for what I've been putting you through.

But I want to just mention something that I heard from some of our young people.

We need to act like the house is on fire because it actually is.

So I'm going to actually read a poem.

We had a speaker today his name was Dave McCall.

He has a young person.

He was a third grader last year.

He wrote a poem called The Fossil Fuel Battle and it's very short.

I know you'll maybe let me entertain this.

I like reading stuff from our students so there's only four paragraphs here.

It's it's very wonderful and then I'll move on and quit yammering to you.

Sing it the second time through.

Well I'm going to have to get Joe Swayze there who's on our list.

So this is by Tavon McCall it's called The Fossil Fuel Battle.

What are fossil fuels.

They are dead animals that we burn to run engines and heat homes.

They won't last forever.

However, renewable energy does last forever.

In this report, Tavon McCall will tell you about how renewable energy is better than fossil fuels.

First, we understand where renewable energy comes from.

Volcanoes and geysers are places where energy from the earth escapes.

This energy can heat buildings.

Also, solar panels use the light of the sun to make electricity.

Renewables have been more expensive than fossil fuels in the past.

However, renewable energy sources can't be used up.

Energy from wind, the earth, and solar power can be used to heat buildings and generate electricity.

Even when you burn biofuel, it doesn't make pollution.

Renewable energy can help us prepare for the end of fossil fuels.

They are important because burning fossil fuels makes pollution.

Switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy would be a smart decision.

I share this because, as I shared with you at the top of my comments, I recognize that everything I've done in this process for the amendment is maybe not appropriate unfair and I apologize for all of that.

But the day after we approved the BTA V levy up to the board the community students young people reached out to me in every way they could.

Email.

Text.

Even on Instagram.

I don't know how that happened but they did.

And their call was clear.

we needed to do something now today because our house is on fire.

This amendment is proposing to increase an existing line item for unspecified clean energy projects in order to prioritize clean energy as part of upgrading existing buildings and I know I personally support many of what has been shared from our community and our audience today and I certainly hope that prioritizes solar.

I'm happy to take questions.

Much of it is in the amendment and I hope we can move forward together.

So thank you.

Okay and we will go first to Director Hersey for comments and questions and concerns on the amendment and or the underlying item.

Thank you very much.

No real comments or concerns for the amendment but I will what I will say is Thank you for all of what you shared Director DeWolf.

And I think that while there is some opportunity for us as board directors to be more efficient here I think really what this paints a picture of is that our process in general has presented an opportunity for us to work more closely with our labor partners who I know have been critical in supporting this measure.

I've had the pleasure of having a few conversations about this specifically and it's been expressed that there are partners that are in our system that don't fully understand and appreciate our process and that's 100 percent on us.

So I think that this is less about the individual perceived perhaps shortcomings of one director and more so about our need as an organization to make this process more accessible especially so that we can walk hand-in-hand with our labor partners moving forward to a very real and very present need which is making sure that we reach our goals by 2027. Other than that I look forward to voting on this amendment.

I think that it is critical that we move forward with this and I am ready to turn it over to the next director.

Thank you Director Hersey.

Director Dury.

I don't actually usually take up a lot of time in comments but I might take up a little bit so I'm going to take all the chips I've left on the table before.

As one of the speakers said today just now we really have to weigh the consequences of adding a late amendment to the consequences of climate change.

And I'm curious as I consider that the things I am considering is what does happen what can potentially happen to a late amendment to a levy.

In addition this summer my son came up to me crying one night and asked me if he was going to live his whole life because he wasn't sure there was going to be a planet.

My son's 10. I am ill-equipped as a parent.

and how to deal with that situation.

I'm ill-equipped as a human and how to consider that I brought life onto this planet that has to wonder whether or not their entire life is going to be able to be fulfilled.

So those are the things that are processing through my head.

In addition I was visiting Nova High School recently and one of the students asked me point blank with words that I will leave out.

Why it is that they have to clean up the mess that we leave.

So I do want to consider carefully the risks that we have in front of us both in adding an amendment and in whether or not there's going to be a planet for the students we serve for the entirety of their life.

Thank you Director Dury.

We'll go now to Director Hersey.

I mean sorry Director Harris.

First of all Director DeWolf thank you for your words of humility.

Much appreciated.

Policy is sometimes messy and it takes weighing what are the risks and the benefits and Director Dury You said it brilliantly better than I could ever say it.

I'm in favor of an amendment to make this happen and to walk or talk and money talks and priorities talk and just like with BEX where we stopped and we talked about equity and we upset some people by that.

But it's damned important that when we sit up here we do the very best we can with what we have and oftentimes that's not enough in terms of enough time enough staff to do things like Director Hersey is talking about.

Have better communication and more often communication with our labor partners not just the ones that work in our schools and our One point however meant billion dollar operation because we live in the same city and we're educating their future members.

And and in addition to BTA we want to talk about.

We did.

Director Rivera-Smith we're having technical difficulties.

Please pause in that moment in your thoughts.

Okay please continue Director Rivera-Smith.

You're good to go Director Rivera-Smith.

Okay I hear ya I hear ya.

Yeah okay I'll just cut to the chase.

I I I think that as much as as we held those meetings we had lots of community input.

I think that we also this isn't the new this isn't a new thing we're hearing.

We've been even then when we did those meetings we were hearing from public who wanted us to invest more in clean energy and Clearly we've received many emails in the last few weeks but even before that we were already receiving them.

I feel very confident that this is something that our community is very passionate about.

I appreciate Director Rivera bringing it forward so that we have this opportunity to to walk the talk and see to it that our Clean Energy Task Force which is about to start meeting has the money available in these first few years as they map out the plan to get SPS where we need to be to 100 percent clean and renewable energy that we are honoring their work with funding to put to use for that.

So thank you all for considering this and for for for doing it your your your intention and I appreciate your comments everyone shared so far.

I know we all are passionate about fulfilling that promise we made in the Clean Energy Resolution.

So I hope that we can pass this amendment.

Thank you.

Director Rankin.

Thank you.

Yeah I'll echo the comments of appreciation and Director DeWolf I know how much this is your your heart's work and that if situations had allowed you to bring this forward sooner that you would have.

And but I appreciate the the acknowledgement of the last 11th hour addition as it were.

I was nervous about amendments that I you know I take some time to process things and but over the last couple of days I did have the opportunity to speak with several staff members and and and legal and I do feel really confident that this this amendment is not something new that's out of the blue.

It's it's.

very much in line with things that have been supported by community and that are in line with our values as a board.

and the work that our district is already doing.

And and so yeah it's not it's not a suddenly new thing.

It's an increase of an of an already existing line item and it reinforces our commitment and our priorities as outlined in our clean energy resolution and supports the work of our labor partners and the student community workforce agreement which is so awesome.

And like Director Dury I have I have two kids and my 7th grader in particular is very passionate about climate science and particularly the effect on marine life.

And so I would be very proud to be able to tell him that we voted for protections and taking some responsibility as we can as a school district in that end.

One question that I have is what when and how.

Well I guess what capacity is there in this or is there any to add like an educational component for our students with this this sort of distinction to to help help help raise their awareness and help them understand you know how how energy in their own school buildings works and and just kind of empower them and also let them know about you know their future as as inhabitants of the earth but also about different careers and how things work and all that kind of good stuff.

I'm going to take a quick quick snap at it and then I know Fred could probably fill in some of the gaps but I just want to say that's a really great question and I think I want to just highlight a couple of key things that this board has already done.

When we approved the science curriculum there was a lot around climate in that curriculum.

Additionally I think this board has already shared our values around climate curriculum and that was part of that Clean Energy Resolution.

And I know Director Rivera-Smith can talk at length passionately about the green teams in our schools and I will say I am continued to be humbled by our resource conservation team here at this school who does presentations at schools.

who does all this stuff at schools to share some of the great work that we're doing in our schools and I imagine this would be another part of what they'd be able to share in some really meaningful way particularly if it's at their school or if you take a field trip to another school that's maybe nearby.

So anything else to add to that Fred.

I would only add that the work of the task force envisions educational components and how the task force recommendations will affect curriculum and kind of co-design how our capital projects that we see them as learning opportunities.

We have done demonstration projects involving solar that have been similar to that.

We've done that for surface water management and other green projects in schools.

So I think that would be very well aligned with how the projects get implemented and then if this gets weaved into as it will into new building modernizations and new constructions you know that often ends up with a very rich relationship with the school community including students.

So I I think that is kind of baked into the way we're trying to do our work and particularly in this field.

Great.

Thank you.

Director Harris you had a quick comment.

Two really quick comments with respect to education.

Arbor Heights Elementary School was built on the premise of the interaction between their green issues and environmental science.

And it's beautiful.

If you haven't been there go see it.

The second thing is is that this is absolutely a through line of legislation that was passed by previous boards.

Kay Smith-Blum sponsored it.

There was a green resolution before the green resolution.

And again talked about climate warming etc.

So this this is absolutely not last minute.

This is not new news.

Thank you.

Okay.

And just a brief comment before we go to the vote on the amendment.

I appreciate you Director DeWolf and all that you have brought to this board and we will talk about that more during your last meeting with us.

I also appreciate the willingness of everyone involved to hear from community and to make these adjustments given that it is an incredibly difficult task to ask staff to confidently bring forward legislation that goes to the voters that has had the level of fiscal and legal review that we can feel confident about.

And so I want to extend my gratitude to staff for supporting Director DeWolf and bringing this forward late-breaking.

It's it's a bit of get your homework turned in on time and if if something comes up and you can't do it then you got to also learn how to advocate for yourself to get an extension.

And those are equally valuable qualities that all of our students.

need to learn.

I didn't ask for an extension until I was in grad school and I wish I had learned that earlier.

So thank you for asking for an extension and thank you to our staff for working with you to do that.

And let's now go to a vote on the amendment please.

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

This motion is passed unanimously.

And if there's no further comments questions concerns can we move for an amendment on the underlying action.

Absolutely.

I move approval.

Yep.

Sorry we have.

Oh yeah go ahead Director Hersey.

Thank you.

All right.

I move approval for the underlying board action report titled Buildings Technology and Academics Slash Athletics.

BTA V Capital Levy Program and authorizing Resolution 2021-22-7 as amended by Amendment 1.

Second.

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

Do directors have any final comments or questions on the underlying item as amended amended.

Can't say that word.

Before we move to the final vote.

Okay.

Let's do the roll call.

Director Harris.

Vice President Hersey.

Aye.

And just a heads up.

I cannot hear Director Harris's microphone.

Director Rankin.

Aye.

Director Rivera-Smith aye Director DeWolf aye Director Dury aye President Hampson aye.

This motion has passed unanimously.

And if I could just take a moment of privilege and Thank Director Hersey for leading us in some work who along with staff who has also been tirelessly working on trying to work with the city to waive our stormwater fees.

And given the work that I know we are doing in conjunction with all of you in community and that has been done as Director Harris said we have many resolutions and policies that need to be coordinated.

We also have a natural resources policy that I don't think most folks know about.

Those things need to be consolidated and cleaned up and we need to be working all together to make sure that we can make those.

We didn't get any traction with in the budget this year with City Council and it would be great if we could go in concert together to work on that and highlight the tremendous work that is being done by our labor partners and our staff in making sure that we are moving in a good direction for a better planet.

Okay with that we are actually going to now move to the other levy item on the agenda which I believe is Action Item Number 3. Approval of Resolution Number 2021-22-2 Replacement for Educational Programs and Operations Levy.

This came through Audit and Finance on October 11th and is presented here for approval was was recommended for approval.

May I have a motion for this item.

Director Rivera-Smith can you make the motion please.

I was not sent the talking points but I can pull up the BAR.

Let me actually have.

Go ahead Director Rankin.

Action Item Number 3. Page 6.

I move that the Seattle School Board accept the proposed replacement for Educational Programs and Operations Levy and adopt Resolution 2021-22-2 which places a three-year levy totaling $646.8 million in the February 8th 2022 ballot.

as attached to the board action report and that the school board appoint the individuals named in Section 4A below to committees to prepare statements for the King County voters pamphlet advocating for approval and for rejection of the educational programs and operation levy.

Second.

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

And we will now go to staff for presentation to Associate Superintendent Berge.

Just one small update.

So the version that got posted for action does not have the names listed in it for the committees.

The intro one did.

So we just need to make that correction.

So it's just the wrong version got posted for action.

The correct version of the BAR was posted for introduction with the people named in it for the PRO committee.

No other comments.

I think you can still.

Okay we'll go.

Director Hersey has left us.

We will go next to Director Dury.

Any comments questions or concerns.

Nothing.

Director DeWolf.

No questions.

Director Harris.

Can't do what we do without passing this levy.

It's just as simple as that and we need to do that.

Thank you.

Director Rivera-Smith.

Ditto Director Harris's comments.

I have no questions.

Thank you.

Director Rankin.

Same.

We can't do what we do without this because of the way that we receive funding from the state and because of the needs of our students.

And so in order to continue serving our students and maintaining our staffing we need this money.

Okay and no questions from me.

Ms. Wilson-Jones will you call for the vote.

And just to confirm my apologies I didn't get it recorded but we got a second on the motion.

Yeah the second was from Director Rivera-Smith.

The motion was from Director Rankin.

Thank you very much.

Director Rivera-Smith aye Director DeWolf aye Director Dury aye Vice President Hersey did you say you'd left.

Yes that's correct.

Director Rankin.

Aye.

And President Hampson.

Aye.

This motion has passed unanimously.

And we will now take a four minute recess to do some signatures so that this paperwork can be submitted to the election board.

Is that correct.

We'll return at 630. If directors could please recess into the conference room for signatures.

Will I be signing electronically then or what should I do.

Yes you will.

Okay.

Thank you.

Okay I think we can come back to order now.

632 and we will move now to Action Item Number 1 Adoption of School Board Resolution Number 2021-22-3 urging the Washington State Board of Health to add the COVID-19 vaccination to the list of immunizations that students must receive before attending school once fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration and recommended by the State Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices.

May I have a motion for this item.

I move that school board adopt board resolution number 2021-22-13 as attached to the board action report.

Second.

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

This item has been updated since introduction and I will speak to that.

The no take my hat off.

All right.

There's no hat rack in the board office just in case anybody was wondering.

Wanted to get smashed.

That's true.

Thank you for interrupting me mid-sentence.

Okay.

So since this item was introduced in a board work session we have since had a board-led engagement with particular focus on communities that are most disproportionately impacted by the COVID disease and also with some more general meetings.

This is not meant to be.

Incredibly comprehensive but the board's attempt as you heard Sabrina Burr speak to in the comments to do our own outreach which is limited in its capacity but within our existing networks to get a sense of of the impact that such a resolution might have on said communities in a whole host of of manners.

And I think what I'd like to do because almost all of our directors participated in these sessions and so I because I am presenting this and had lots of opportunity to put reflections from our community sessions into the resolution as revisions.

I want to give other directors an opportunity to reflect on their participation and make sure that that is heard and then we can have some further discussion on this.

So I'm going to go first to Director Rivera-Smith who accompanied me to the Latinx Community Session with Public Health.

Seattle and King County Public Health that was held entirely in Spanish with translators for those of us not speaking English.

And also I believe attended our session with the Families of Color Seattle.

Director Rivera-Smith would you like to speak on the resolution and the updates since that time.

And also many thanks to you for helping me get the updates into the document as I was doing recess duty at Hawthorne Elementary at the at the time which I'll talk about later.

It was super fun.

But so thank you for for carrying that ball over the over the into the end zone.

I don't know why I try to do sports analogies I'm really bad at.

I'm also the goal.

I don't think that's what it's called.

I'm sorry.

Go ahead Lisa.

Thank you.

No thank you.

And yes and thank you for for making sure that we did have those community engagements scheduled.

because those were so important and and so insightful.

At the Latinx community meeting along with yourself and the we had some medical professionals there to answer questions definitely heard you know a mixed bag.

People who were concerned and people who were really interested in learning more because there was an interest in in you know for the safety of their children finding out more about what the vaccine really means and what our mandate really means or what a mandate if we had one would mean.

And I think that hearing them there and in the families of color also and I also attended the special ed families with Director Rankin and we definitely heard the concerns the very real concerns of families who who while they understand that there is a vaccine that it's If it's out there if it's released which it is now it's been approved for emergency use that it's something that the medical professionals believe is safe for children you know to the extent that they've been able to study it.

But of course the question comes down to you know who should tell parents that they their children need to do it need to get it to attend school.

And so I think everyone appreciated the spirit of what we were trying to do with this resolution.

But of course wanted to know is there a necessity.

Was there a was there a you know and infringing on their ability to make those decisions themselves.

And I think that since then I appreciate the amendments so the changes that you have made to the resolution that do include more background as to why specifically we would be asking for this.

We'd ask the state board to consider.

And I think that was a substantial change there.

I don't know if people will notice it but.

It has the language has changed.

I don't have it on the screen.

I don't know.

Let me see if I'm on the wrong button.

There we go.

That's not the resolution but anyhow it says we're asking the state board to to basically to evaluate this the vaccine.

I think before the language was more to add it to the list of required vaccines and now it's It's a bit softer in that but it's still making the point that we want the state board of health to know that we are very serious about having this be considered because we are very serious about getting ourselves out of the you know the jobs of medical professionals and all the work that we're we are devoting time and resources to with them all with the tracing contact tracing and quarantining and the extra work our educators are having to do every day at schools to keep the social distance to the greatest extent possible and to the outdoor lunches which I help out my child my son's school with three days a week.

And I I know that that's it's it was it was novel at first and now we'd love to get inside.

So I'll have to say that.

The community meetings were definitely so productive and so insightful and I appreciate everybody who came out for all those meetings and the directors who came out too.

Most especially to the medical professionals who were there to help make sense of things for people and help us as directors learn more about it too.

So again I hope that everybody had a chance to see the latest updates to the resolution.

that were put out today.

It was a team effort.

Thank you LE2 for helping us there.

And I look forward to hearing your questions and comments on this.

Okay we'll go now to Director Dury.

Yeah I just wanted to like as a reflection I think it was a really great opportunity here from a medical professional that was on the call and have the opportunity for parents to ask the questions that they have.

And on the call that I was on The medical professional on the call also has students in SPS and was able to speak to their personal concerns as a parent as well and I think that that provided a lot of context for folks including myself.

And so I appreciated that.

And just the opportunity to hear from the community about what the questions and concerns and hopes are in getting all of this sorted out.

So I appreciated that.

Thank you.

And thank you Director Hampson for coordinating all of that.

All of your schedules.

Yes.

Director Harris.

That's at best.

I appreciated the panel that I attended and listening to some of the deeply felt heartfelt fear from certain communities and from folks having the courage to push back about disproportionality of children being sent home with one sniffle.

Treated differently which is not at all what we aspire to.

But I guess the big issue for me is that as school board directors we owe our students family staff communication.

But we're not medical professionals and we're practicing out of scope without transferring the burden where it belongs.

I am very concerned about the level and the deep tenets of fears of certain communities and how we address that.

And I hope that as we pass this resolution and we deal with the State Board of Health we ask them for their help breaking down that fear.

Thank you.

Director Rankin.

Thank you.

And thanks again President Hampson for organizing on on pretty short order the opportunity for us to hear from community members and have so many groups have the opportunity to to let us know what was going on.

I was able to attend the NAACP session and the Seattle Special Education PTSA session.

SPS families and staff and students of color.

And it it was a.

a really great really just really great kind of collaborative conversations.

I think that a lot of the folks in some of these meetings don't have the opportunity to engage with school board directors very much and And, you know, they wanted to hear from us as well as us hearing from them.

And something that people that I walked away hearing was even if, you know, we kind of ran the spectrum of folks who were definitely wanted a mandate and definitely wanted their kids and everybody else's kids vaccinated.

and had more fear or need of an exemption or whatever and all along that sort of spectrum of viewpoint or situation what I heard was as Sabrina Burr said in testimony was how much people appreciated knowing that they their concerns were understood.

And I think you know a lot of times we ask for feedback and it kind of goes one way into some you know data collection thing or spreadsheet and people don't necessarily get that affirmation back that they were not just heard but understood which I think was really important.

And that's something I think is critical about as we discuss this resolution the the reminder or making sure that we're super super duper clear that We are a board of education not a board of health.

And in our capacity as overseeing education we're asking health entities to do their part in determining what's best for the public health circumstances within our schools so that we can focus on education as opposed to education plus all these levels of mitigation.

And so I I'm so glad that we had the opportunity to do that engagement and I hope that there will be more so that people really really understand that we're not asking to to jump any kind of a process or demanding a certain thing for us but saying Our capacity is as an educational system and you know we we want to serve students the best that we can.

We are serving students in-person in a pandemic.

And in order to do our our duty to the best of our ability we we we require that everyone else does too so that we can get back to the business of teaching.

And if a mandate is what will get us there then then that's what we want to see happen but that determination should be made by the appropriate entities.

And something that connected this to the The levy process is the the real need that we have to just demystify for people where different decisions are made and how things happen.

There's so many different entities that make decisions.

So it's it's really an important distinction that this is a resolution by the board not a policy by the district and that it still meets with and conforms to the state requirements and and all of these other things.

So and the more that we get to talk to members of the public about that the more that we can help their understanding of you know how they really can participate in the democratic process that governs our public schools.

So yeah I'm appreciative of the work that has gone into this and that will continue.

Director DeWolf.

My only comment is that the amount of work that went into this process by actual board directors and doing community engagement and outreach and being in community with folks and having these conversations is commendable and I just appreciate all the directors for spending their time doing that because that was a little bit outside of our normal scope and so I appreciate you going the extra mile.

And I know our community appreciates that as well.

So that's it.

Thank you.

So I want to highlight a number of things that we learned from families and also extend my gratitude to the families that the caregivers the students that spoke to us.

They're so exhausted and with with everything as are all of our staff but so when they come out go out of their stream and scope of their day to spend time with us to to share their story that was truly the most impactful part of this was having the opportunity to share space with community and hold everyone's stories in a good way without judgment without stigmatization to talk about the full spectrum of the impact of this disease and how it is that we're mitigating it in our school system and more broadly.

And the biggest learning that we had is that there there aren't forums like that to have those discussions to hear one another.

It was They were not contentious.

They were not political.

We had sort of some attempts on some of the calls for some politicization but it was very much rejected by the group in favor of hearing one another's stories.

And I can't think of a better lesson for us to model for our children.

And It was it really hit home the extent to which families and students made very clear that they are not getting the information that they need.

I want to there's an event tomorrow that's actually co-sponsored by the National PTA along with a number of historically Black colleges.

BlackDoctors.org the American Indian Physicians Association National Hispanic Medical Doctors or Medical Professionals Association.

It's quite a who's who of organizations representing people of color and specifically representing our students furthest from educational justice and those most impacted.

And that's tomorrow at 7 p.m.

Eastern Time.

And I'm I'm going to ask staff if there's any way that we can help promote that or forward that on our our Facebook page because it's the type of thing or our Twitter however we can help get that out there.

We heard loud and clear that that those types of conversations those types of forums are exactly what families need because they're not getting enough of the information from the right sources.

to be able to have those effective conversations in their homes and their communities and their families to get to a place that they're comfortable with relative to whether they choose to vaccinate or not.

And that will become I think that's a mantra we all need to kind of hold up and make sure that we are creating spaces for those conversations to happen.

I don't want these to be the end of our conversations with families about this because it was so phenomenal.

I spent three hours on Friday night with the Somali community talking about their concerns and I know that our district does some work with the Somali Health Board.

But when you look at what's coming out from State Department of Health County City there is not the level of information that there needs to be for the communities that are are being most impacted and yet also have every reason to be the most distrustful of the medical system and of the school system.

And getting to a place where we can build up some trust will take time and it will take patience.

Also notable was that the children's experience and the students experience I hesitate to call them children at times because they seem more mature than all of us is decidedly different than ours.

And what whether Seattle is the most anxious city in the country or not and it definitely is they were concerned about very different things than adults.

But that was that was abundantly clear.

The ways in which we are anxious they are resilient and the ways in which we are we are resilient more most likely because we're adults they are concerned.

And the thing that they are that a couple of things we heard very clearly was that they felt that the school district does have a role to play in providing neutral information from credible messengers that will help them have conversations with their families to get past the conspiratorial information and the non-factual information to come to a better place as families.

They weren't They didn't seem to have as much of the feeling of stigmatization.

These were older kids representing themselves as opposed to parents representing younger children.

I think that does make a difference.

But they were very clear about wanting to have more information to be able to walk through have these discussions with their families at home.

They are however as Dr. Jones stated at the outset they are overwhelmed and fatigued.

And one student said very clearly I don't know why all the adults keep pretending that we're going to go back to 2019. That is never going to happen.

And so they're kind of trying to load up all of this work on them as if we're going to go back to normalcy.

And they don't see that happening.

And that means they're braver than we are.

And yet what they're hearing from us is a lack of acknowledgement about that a lack of acknowledgement of what they have been through what they are going through and what the future may or may not hold.

And they want to hear that from us.

They want us to acknowledge what has happened.

The thing that we heard from families similarly had to do with the amount of information again from credible messengers.

And you know we have clarified that this is not about us mandating the vaccine.

This is about us establishing what our role as a school district is in this crisis and asking the State Board of Health to in.

Thank you Director Harris.

from the peanut gallery to do their their job and to do it expediently because to the extent that they wait we are stuck in a position of providing public health.

And we heard very clearly from families as to the disparities with which students of color are sent home for sniffles.

where parents can't get off work or are missing work and missing income opportunities because they're being sent home and we have inherent racism and disproportionality in students of color particularly Black students being sent home for the sniffles or sent home for for a cough.

And that's problematic for them.

And and then also as we know having higher proportionality of quarantines and cases in our geographically higher proportion of students of color and families of color geographic areas.

So those are all very very real things.

And then we also talked a lot about we had the benefit of a school nurse on the phone and we talked with our larger community group which was tremendously represented diverse which and again so grateful to the folks who showed up for that.

And I got distracted because I started thinking about Edwin and his cilantro and I will get back to that but.

So one of the things that I wanted to bring up we you know we talked and we've passed along a lot of information that was asked to be passed along that we were asked to pass along.

If with vaccine clinics coming up and I don't know if we can if we have any final no we do.

Okay so I'm going to ask Carrie Campbell to come up in a minute and provide some information about the clinics that we are doing.

It was it ran the game up from well are you going to help and provide clinic yes we are going to provide provide clinics.

At the same time we heard very clearly that the exemption process is not necessarily easy or understood, and yet with the exception of measles, mumps, and rubella, we do have exemptions for vaccines, whether philosophical, religious, or medical.

And we heard from a nurse that their role is, in fact, to provide non-judgmental, non-stigmatized, unquestioned receipt and support for the completion of exemption paperwork.

And it makes me a bit nervous that the entire system for immunization compliance falls on our school nurses, only nine of which are funded by the state.

But that's the reality.

And in 2019 some of you might remember that the district did a phenomenal push through the school nurses to get our students to I don't know if anybody remembers the date Concie or somebody else that not the date the percentage of vaccination compliance that we got to.

But it was extremely high.

And that's for a lot of other really dangerous diseases diseases that are particularly dangerous for children.

So one of the things I want Carrie to come and tell us about the clinics but I want us to consider the timing.

We did not expect when we brought this resolution forward and it ended up on action for today that it would happen to coincide with the day after the 5 to 11 vaccines were coming.

We wanted to make sure that we did make this statement and I still feel very strongly about this resolution.

I support it wholeheartedly.

We've made important changes and that are reflective of where the community is coming from but I'm a little worried about the timing because of not wanting it to be seen as coupled with that we are making this vote and then it will be perceived as that it that we're making a mandate which we're not and that then these clinics which are intended to reduce barriers and create access are then a requirement and we don't want to harm our relationship with community in any way.

So that's something I would like directors to consider on whether we go ahead and vote on this now or we potentially table it until after the clinics have have gotten up and running.

Director I mean Associate Superintendent.

Assistant Superintendent.

I'm sorry Assistant Deputy Superintendent Campbell.

I just wanted to quick add that the Black Coalition Against COVID event that you talked about is on.

Thank you.

The SPS social I saw on Twitter and Facebook.

Thank you.

A couple days ago and I just checked it and it's still there.

So that's where you can find that.

Good evening.

Can you hear me okay through the mask.

Terry Campbell Deputy.

Maybe if you bend down.

Assistant.

I'll just take it off.

That's what you get for being tall.

I know.

Assistant Deputy Superintendent.

I apologize for my look.

I was actually at Lowell Elementary supporting lunches and transportation this afternoon.

Does that make you feel better.

Yes it does.

So as mentioned these vaccine clinics have been planned for many many weeks before the board resolution came forward or was under development.

Our the CDC approved the Pfizer vaccination yesterday for 5 to 11-year-olds.

We will begin the vaccine clinics for regional on November 13th and school-based will begin on November 8th.

So I'm available to answer questions that the board may have at this time.

Director Rankin.

The school-based versus the regional are the regional in the same locations that we've had the the flu shot clinics and and are they open to anybody in the community.

So not necessarily the same locations.

All the locations are posted on the website as of today.

They are open to anyone.

I would say that the district's stance has been to really provide vaccine clinics for families that have the most barriers.

So our school-based clinics are Tier 1 through 3 schools or schools that have more than 500 elementary-age students.

And then the regional clinics are a draw for everyone else who may not have a school-based clinic.

And my other question is can adults who are not yet vaccinated or who are eligible for a booster be vaccinated or is it restricted to 5 to 11 year olds.

For the regional clinics I believe that that is true that a parent if they're not yet vaccinated can attend and also get a shot and I will double check on the school-based clinic.

All of our parents guardians will be invited to any vaccination appointment with their child.

Thank you.

Thank you for that.

Any other questions Director Rivera-Smith or anyone.

Director Harris.

Could you follow up on the last thread of your comments about whether or not tabling to avoid confusion with the mandate and given the fact that SPS is so often misquoted in the press.

Particular bugaboo of mine.

Long held.

Assistant Deputy Campbell does it make sense to you as the staff member that's kind of coordinating some of this that we table this for a couple of weeks so that it doesn't get conjoined and messed up.

And given your background in communications I'm asking for input from our staff professionals.

Ultimately that is the decision of the board.

I don't feel.

Yeah so the question I know this is really important to the board the resolution and so I think moving it forward whether it's tonight or later is up to you.

If we think that there is risk I would delay the resolution and move forward with the vaccination clinics.

But ultimately that is up to the board.

President Hampson did did I hear you suggesting that moving this to the next legislation legislative meeting made more sense.

I think it could.

I wanted to present that option to folks.

I know that we feel pretty strongly about the statement that we're making to the state and that that is very much what this is about.

That they start their process and that we make clear who we are and what we do.

And and that this is the the well there's one other important part to that as well that I want to point out.

Other goal in this is to make sure that we're talking to I believe a mandate is down the road and that whether we say anything or not and this gives us the opportunity to speak with our community about it over a much longer period of time and understand where our gaps are and in terms of how we're operating within this bizarre system.

So yeah but that that is.

Would you entertain a motion to table this until the next legislative meeting.

Yes I would.

I so move and I don't believe it's debatable is it Mr. Narver.

Second.

Thank you.

Any other comments or questions.

Superintendent Jones I don't want to pressure you to speak on the matter.

This is decidedly a board action but I also want to make it open to staff who might want to speak including in particular yourself.

Thank you Director Hampson.

As Carrie just mentioned it's a board decision.

However I would actually go live with it now.

if it were up to me.

We can clarify our intent.

But if this is that important I think we we endeavor to make it crystal clear about what our intentions are.

I apologize.

I couldn't hear Legal Counsel Narver say was it was the notion at table debatable or not.

I mean do teams couldn't hear.

Go ahead Director Rivera-Smith.

So I would be in support of tabling because again for the reasons already stated and then many of you might have already seen we received an email from the Asian-Pacific Directors Coalition regarding a concern that there was perhaps a lack of engagement with Asian-Pacific Islanders.

And I think that's worth having a chance.

We just came in like during the meeting so I don't know if anyone's had a chance to read it and I probably shouldn't have been reading it yet but that's good to know about as we do keep considering this.

Just to read that and think about if there is more engagement we can do.

I know that we did a lot and I absolutely don't want to diminish that whatsoever but there could perhaps be an opportunity in a table you know this to to see if there was any gaps.

Thank you.

Well and I want to be clear I did see that email and I want to I'm happy to reach out to them.

I appreciate their their email.

And I certainly as I said it wasn't meant to be exclusive.

We were heavily focused on Black and Latino communities as those that were most impacted and have the lowest vaccination rates in particular knowing that that's where we needed to focus our attention.

But that doesn't preclude that engagement.

And my primary goal personally in this would be to circle back with in particular with the Black and the Somali communities and let them reflect on what what we've presented how we've amended the resolution to see if they see their their stories appropriately reflected in our statements with respect to the whereas clauses.

So but I also I'm very torn so I'm it's it's our vote and our discussion I don't want to belabor it too much but.

And I didn't mean excuse me.

I don't think that is on.

There's a switch.

If the motion is to postpone consideration until the next legislative meeting a time certain it's actually a motion to postpone not table.

It is a debatable motion but it would be better if you phrased it that way so there's clarity as to exactly what the board is voting to do.

So it would be motion to postpone action until the next legislative meeting.

And I'm sorry about the feedback.

I'm going to renew my motion to postpone until the next legislative meeting.

And I appreciate your input Superintendent Jones but I want the headline to read we're listening we're engaging and we're taking it really seriously as opposed to Last night on November 3rd the Seattle School District mandated blah blah blah blah blah and they opened up their clinics at the same time.

And and I admit to being extraordinarily cynical about how things are reported out in the media.

And I don't want to take that risk.

This is too important if we're going out for another round and expanding our community engagement and feedback.

Thank you.

So I think my request if I'm to support the motion to postpone until the next legislative session would be that other directors take time.

I don't care the scale or the size of the group but that you take time to take this resolution and talk within your and whether it's just through your regular sessions.

and other but in particular focus on communities most impacted which are also our students for there's some educational justice and get their reflections on this.

We do have one translated into Spanish that'll need to be updated.

We have I believe we have one translated translated into Somali maybe.

If if we need another language let's find out now and get that translated.

I do think that we want to get it translated regardless.

That that's another thing that was very clear.

It was apparent to me that there's a lack of I most folks don't know that the age of consent for vaccines is 18 and that's very different than every other area of health in Washington State.

And this is a conversation we're going to be having again very soon when we look at this sex ed policy that we need to adopt.

So there are extremely important conversations that are tied together and I do believe that the way in which we communicate with our families on this is critical.

These are such delicate matters and we do not want to be inserting ourselves between families and their students.

And so if we have that commitment from directors I'll expect to be invited to one of your sessions.

Should I second that.

Can I second that.

Sure.

I second that.

Okay.

Any other debate on the motion to table to a legislative I mean postpone to the next legislative session.

I'm also conflicted but I think because there's not a legal timeline or any impact that this has as as is the case with some of the things that we have to pass that I'm really eager to make sure that this is very very clear to community about what it means.

And so as much as I as important as I think it is and with respect to what the superintendent said I think two weeks might serve us more than it could

Okay so let's go ahead and call for the vote on that.

Calling roll on the motion to postpone the resolution to the November 17th Regular Board Meeting which was moved by Director Harris and seconded by Director DeWolf.

Director Rankin.

Director Rivera-Smith aye Director DeWolf aye Director Dury aye Director Harris aye President Hampson aye.

This motion is passed unanimously.

Thank you everyone.

And we look forward to getting more information about the clinics and helping to support getting the word out about those.

So Item Number 2 we Amendment to Board Policy Numbers 10-10, 12-40, 13-10, 20-19, 21-90, 22-00, 22-55, 31-23, 31-30, 32-08, 42-60, 5-000, 6-000, 60-30, 65-30, 68-01, 68-82, and 69-00 Repeal of Board Policies A02.00F21.00H13.00 and Number 6535 Amendment to the Information Technology Advisory Committee Charge and Repeal of the Capacity Enrollment and Facilities Master Planning Advisory Committee Charter.

This came through the Executive Committee on October 13th and was presented for approval.

May I have a motion for this item.

I move that the school board Amend and rename Board Policy Number 1010 Oversight and Progress Monitoring.

Amend Board Policy Numbers 1240 Committees 1310 Policy Adoption and Suspension Creation of Manuals and Superintendent Procedures.

2090 District Educational Research and Program Evaluation.

2190 Highly Capable Services.

2200 Equitable Access to Programs and Services.

2,255 Alternative Learning Experience Schools and or Programs.

3,123 Withdrawal Prior to Graduation.

3,140 Student Assignment and Enrollment.

3,208 Sexual Harassment.

4,260 Use of School Facilities.

5,000 Recruitment and Selection of Staff.

6,000 Program Planning Budget Preparation Adoption and Implementation.

Financial Reports 6530 Insurance 6801 Capital Assets Theft Sensitive Assets 6882 Rental Lease and Sale of Real Property and 6900 Facilities Planning and this must be spelled I'm sorry and amend the Information Technology Advisory Committee charge as attached to the Board Action Report.

I further move that the school board repeal Board Policies A02.00 Performance Management F21.00 Specific Areas of Involvement Reserved to the District Superintendent slash Board or their designee H13.00 Capacity Management and Number 6535 Student Insurance and repeal the Capacity Enrollment Facilities Master Plan Advisory Committee Charter.

Second.

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

This item has been updated since introduction.

One substantive update has been made since introduction.

This is to Board Policy Number 2200 Equitable Access to Programs and Services.

During our discussion at introduction Director Rivera-Smith had a question about language proposed to be eliminated that requires staff to document in writing the relevant factors considered.

And basis for programmatic or service changes the revised version of Policy 2200 now included in this BAR retains that requirement for staff to document this information in writing.

Additionally a small correction has been made to language in the purpose section of the BAR.

And now we'll go to directors for any comments or questions before we move to the vote.

Director DeWolf.

I just want to say thank you for this work and also thank you Director Rivera-Smith and I can't be here today but I understand you had a productive session with President Hampson and I appreciate the commitment to this work from both of you.

I don't have any questions.

I'm looking forward to this and really excited to continue following along the pathway of our student outcomes focused governance model and practice.

Thank you Director DeWolf.

Director Dury.

My mic doesn't want me to talk so I'm good.

Thanks.

Director Harris.

I intend to vote no on this for reasons that I thought were very clear at the intro and I will not belabor the point but I did hear this referred to as the monster bar in quotes.

Thank you.

Yes.

Rawr to that.

Okay.

Director Rivera-Smith.

Thank you.

Yeah it's a mouthful right.

I mean there's somebody tying the motion because that was it's a lot.

And I think.

Smith.

You you cut out.

Are you talking.

Lisa.

Okay let's go to Director Rankin while we wait for Director Rivera-Smith to come back.

Thank you.

I'm trying trying not to complicate my thoughts around this too much but if you've watched watched it before.

A challenge.

This really kind of supports something I said earlier and a lot of things I've been thinking about.

over the past couple of weeks about the need to demystify the work of the board and and how our school districts are governed.

And I think that making these changes is a step towards that.

Just the fact that it's called the monster bar because it looks like it's scary because it has a lot of numbers is a little bit is interesting because a lot of the changes are very minor and There's a you know they're all together not because it's a wholesale change of how public education in Seattle works but because it's small changes to make our work better.

And I also want to just I know there's concerns about the annual reporting and oh if it's something that's you know legally mandated by the state why wouldn't we report it.

We don't the the the changes are not to end reporting.

The changes are to remove the requirement that there is a separate presentation annually to the board.

And it's my belief that what our community wants is better access the demystification and easier to find information when they want it and if then and that it's relevant to them.

And some of These things as was noted by a speaker earlier that you you know a decade ago you used to be able to find such and such a report online or maybe not online but you used to be able to get those reports.

And and I would argue that because so many things have been channeled towards annual reports to the board that has made it less likely that those will be available in any other fashion.

And so my hope and expectation is that by removing the sort of theatrical is not really fair but kind of surface presentational report to the board up on the dais for those annual reports that we will actually make it my so I'm saying I guess now to staff my expectation is that what happens next is that in keeping with our expectations of our sole employee the superintendent his charge from the board and his his charge to his his staff is that we cut away some of the procedural stuff and and get to the really meaningful work and and make it so that information can not be used by the few people who know how to access it to work the system and get what they personally want out of it but that it can become a tool for access for the broader community to understand how it is the school district operates and how we make the decisions that we make.

And as I said at intro if that turns out not to be the case and these things are too hard to find The next board or somebody else can bring all of these back if they want.

The policies are living documents that are supposed to reflect the will of the board as they represent the community of the people of Seattle Public Schools.

And so Yeah.

Anything we can do to make it more confusing or less confusing less confusing more straightforward in order for people to find what they need and for us to report as required information to the public not to the board For the you know it's not for us.

It's for the public.

And we're here to represent the public.

And so it doesn't need to be presented to us.

It needs to be presented to you.

Do we have Director Rivera-Smith back.

Lisa.

Can you hear me.

Yep.

Okay awesome.

Sorry I got dropped.

I apologize.

I don't know exactly where I got dropped but I think I just kept talking.

But I think I was saying that this is it's it's a substantially looking BAR because it has a bunch of policies and and repeals on it.

And I think that that optically you know it is it is a little bit worrisome when you look at it in that context.

But but I as people who are the last listening to and at the last board meeting I I had a chance to kind of go through where I saw some areas of question and I really appreciate that we had the time Director Hampson and I along with some staff to dig into that a little more.

And I think you know I think it was a very productive session.

We had kind of saw more of where we align and where we differ.

And I I appreciate Director Rankin's comments that yes this is a living document and if we find later that we need something to come back we can put it back.

And if we have an area that we see is lacking where transparency has has left the building and it's not getting anywhere and parents can't find it online or in other places where it should be that we can make those changes then to bring it in.

I I think a lot of this is we have to step back and and you know get the big picture view I know we're trying to have there with this with all these changes is to get to our student outcomes focused governance model and what that means about our focus and our time spent.

And I think that even as a board member you know I'm still learning about what that's going to look like.

And I think for as much as I don't understand of it the public understands even less.

So.

for people who are trying to look and understand or people who aren't because they don't know how to look.

You know it's going to take a lot of educating I think to have people understand that this you know doesn't have to be as scary as it looks and that it really is.

You know change is hard and we even had a speaker today say change is change is hard change is scary.

But you know I know that we have the best intentions here to truly focus on student outcomes and that This board is taking this pathway and again as said board members will definitely bring their own their own hopes and energies to that and we'll see where it goes.

But I I'm I'm going to support this today.

While clearly I voiced many questions last time again that I appreciate the time to talk about it and go through it.

I appreciate the pieces that were put back in.

regarding that documentation.

And I know that's just one small piece of many many policies here.

But but again some of these changes are very tiny and I think again the optics were that maybe all of these were getting totally written and they weren't.

So thank you for everybody's hearing out last time and this time too.

And I hope that we can as this rolls out more just up our communications about up our our you know bringing kind of light to what we're doing so that it is just digestible and understandable by our parents and stakeholders.

Thank you.

Okay I think we can call for the vote.

Did I skip you.

Director Rankin.

Aye.

Director Rivera-Smith aye Director DeWolf aye Director Dury aye Director Harris president Hampson aye.

This motion has passed by a vote of 5 yes to 1 no.

Thank you Ellie and Julia for all of your work on this.

And that takes us to board comments.

I will go first to you Director DeWolf.

I feel like I've talked a lot so I don't have much to say but I do congratulate our newly elected what I'm presuming by their outstanding show in the polls or the results.

even if it's not official but I do congratulate them and look forward to seeing how this board operates with some new voices new faces new experiences and so yeah it's kind of I feel like I have senioritis but I've talked a lot today so thank you.

You stole my congratulations.

But way to go folks.

And we look forward to seeing you up here and getting to know you and finding out what your priorities are and making magic happen for our students.

There was a couple of pieces of testimony today that distressed me.

There was testimony from one of the parents that said something to the effect and I'm paraphrasing not quoting.

We parents figured it out.

What the heck's wrong with you on busing to their after-school child care.

I've in my old age opened three child cares and proud of it.

and understand the need for quality child care before and after school and see that helping that is part of our mission but it is not in fact our mission.

And I'm having trouble with folks equating that with 50,000 students and a nationwide and particularly local Bus driver shortage.

And if folks know me and have listened in the past about bus driving excuse me bus transportation and where we focus it that's a big big deal.

It has equity concerns.

It has huge monetary concerns.

The STARS reimbursement formula is upside down and inside out with respect to the state.

But I would suggest that Boys and Girls Club the YMCA other providers of child care in the past and I'm talking decades here when I was at Western Washington University at the YMCA I drove a 15-passenger than I drove a bus with a really high seat cushion so I could see out.

But King County offloads buses not buses but vans on a regular basis.

We were talking to some of our labor partners over here saying well why don't you guys buy some vans.

They can supply the drivers if they get an intermediate license.

And they can shuttle if we're only talking a mile or two miles away.

It's been done before.

But please don't come in here and disrespect our staff frankly and disrespect us that one school limited transportation to hugely important child care and the concepts that People are unable to make a living.

We have just gone through damn near two years of everybody being unable to make a living because they've got their kids at home.

And that's hammered our economy.

It's one of the reasons that nationally Congress and Build Back Better is talking about things like childcare.

Believe in it with my heart of hearts and I've walked my talk and I'm proud of it.

But please don't come in here and suggest somehow we don't give a darn because that's just not true.

And I find that really offensive quite frankly and I'm not afraid to say it.

So let's get creative.

Let's leverage all that brilliance and get these folks some vans in the interim.

Lease them.

Buy them.

Help them.

But but to come in here and suggest that We're not trying our hardest is just absolutely offensive to me and it's offensive to this board and it's offensive to our very hardworking staff.

And with that I'll be quiet because I'm not trusting myself all that much.

Next piece.

Almost.

I went to a funeral today in a wake and it was extraordinary and it was bunch of folks that went to school together 40 years ago.

And outside the church were folks that hadn't seen each other in 30 and 40 years.

And there was love in the air and howling laughter and pointing and laughing.

And the irony is is that this gentleman was injured in a bad motor vehicle accident 40 years ago and has been in nursing care since.

But his buddies were there today.

And those are the kind of relationships we want to foster in the Seattle Public Schools because if we don't take care of each other and our planet we got nothing.

Thank you.

Oh I'm sorry I went out of order.

I didn't mean to startle you.

Go ahead.

Okay.

Oh gosh.

Okay.

I have so many different things that are connected to that.

Trying to make trying to connect some dots here.

Regarding what Director Harris said about transportation.

My mom also started an after-school program for for working moms.

It started out as a cooperative of.

Mons in the early 80s who were working and there weren't after-school programs.

And it started with them rotating shifts and eventually the principal at Laurelhurst Elementary and Seattle Public Schools gave them a portable.

And she said she remembers very clearly the day they got a phone to the portable and they felt very legit.

And then eventually they were able to hire somebody who is now a preschool teacher at Sacajawea was my after school person to make it a real a real program that families could participate in.

So there's a bigger conversation to be had here about working families and child care and the hours that school happens.

And so I don't want to go into that too much but You know it's we want to do what's best for our students and families and that involves thinking about how they get to school and where they go after school.

But we're definitely not funded for it and it's definitely not our our charge.

So there's a bigger conversation about bell times and access to space and how how it is and why it is that kids have to go from one location to another to be taken care of by members of their community while their while their parents are at work.

And it's a it's it's a real thing and it's a big deal.

And it's very very stressful for families especially when there's a change to figure out what happens now.

I do know that our budget or our transportation department is working really hard to support schools.

A certain some number of routes have come back already.

And that's all being done keeping our students furthest from educational justice at the center of those decisions and trying to mitigate as much as possible.

And also in supporting families and coordinating carpools and other things.

So along with that where that connect why I accidentally said budget is because I'm thinking about transportation budget and what can we do now.

I want to make sure that.

While we don't want to expect that families will be able to maintain unsustainable temporary solutions that they've come up with I do want us to make sure that we're paying attention to where especially as I know that Hunter and his team are thinking about transportation service standards and how to provide transportation more equitably that if we uncover ways to provide transportation for more students that come from some of these community solutions or that come from doing a school pool with Metro or those other things that we need to make sure that we keep take note of those and don't keep asking individual schools to come up with solutions to systemic problems.

That also goes to individual schools demanding their bus route gets returned.

in the context of a system-wide change in service and making sure that we're serving the students who are the most in need.

It doesn't mean that there aren't other students that are also in need but when we operate as a system which we have to do and which we want to do that's why we're in public schools and not charter or private schools.

That is how we think about our school community and the broader community and every impact Everything has an impact on another school.

You can't you can't make a decision in a vacuum.

Which leads me to special education staffing shifts.

And I mentioned at last board board meeting that those conversations are underway.

And if anybody read the Emerald it was discussed there and in between then and now there was a well rally that makes it very very clear that the way the current way that special education staffing is distributed isn't working for students or for educators.

And so and then within that when we have historically allowed one school or one community to complete their case individually and be responded to and allowed you know maintenance of certain staffing or potentially overstaffing at one place because they managed to be the loudest.

That's not okay.

And that's not thinking about the system and how we take care of each other.

Whether we have less resources than we need or whether we have more.

And when so when we have special education that labels students by the room they attend it takes away their it takes away our service to them through their individual education plan and it bases it we end up structuring serving students around the needs of adults instead of around the needs of students.

And as we saw yesterday demonstrated by people outside it's also not working for the adults.

So we've got to think think about the system.

Congratulations to our newly elected although not yet certified folks.

Unlike the other elections in the City of Seattle the results I will take as a very firm endorsement of the work that's happening in Seattle Public Schools.

There was I mean Director Hersey is an incumbent and received like over 97 percent of the vote and that was in stark contrast to incumbent positions in other places in the city and the county where People are tired and frustrated and looking for something different.

And they did not turn to available alternatives when it came to the school board.

We assuming that everyone who was in the lead last night will be appointed or be take oath of office.

We will have a school board where 5 out of 7 members are people of color.

We will have a school board that represents people with disabilities and who parent students with disabilities.

We will have a school board that has members that represent the immigration the experience of an immigrant.

We will have multilingual school board members.

We have parents of current students.

Parents of former students.

Parents who were students themselves.

We will have guardians of foster children.

We will have former educators.

We will have board members who have experienced housing insecurity and homelessness.

We will have board members who are homeowners and who are renters and who are union members or have been union members who have another job who who don't work.

And I just.

Don't work outside the home.

I just wanted to.

I leave my house as much as I can.

I just wanted to really like I know that the election results today have been disappointing to devastating to obvious to everything in between.

And it's a little bit funny that the government entity that people probably pay the least attention to will be the most representative of the people that we serve of any other body.

And I think that's really important.

And And also, I think, a real clear demonstration that even though some people voted for an abolitionist, some people voted for a Republican, some people voted for this and that, a lot of those people still voted for Brandon Hersey.

And so and and you know the other members that will that will add to the richness of experience and representation of our board.

And so to sum up I'm I'm excited to continue this work and excited to have that representation and also thinking about ways to make access to understanding and going back to my my favorite word of the day of demystifying bring more people into the process so that they understand that this is such a democratically represented process that we we follow we have to follow guidelines set by the federal government by the state and then we don't do operational things that we leave to our our superintendent and staff but that the decisions we make about what's important to us is all based on the public electing us to represent their vision and values as these decisions are made within the requirements of these other entities.

And the more we can bring people into that and and demystify it the more powerful it will be and then the more we'll represent the needs of the people that we serve.

So I'm excited.

I'm just going to thank the staff and the children of Hawthorne Elementary for allowing me to participate in their school day today.

And if any of you all are signing up for those jobs I can tell you that you will be competing heavily for me for any Wednesday at Hawthorne Elementary when they're serving up tamales or selling their tamale sales.

I guess anybody can pre-order probably and go down there.

It's a fundraiser for the.

That was just my bonus at the end of the day but I just want to thank Donna from the office and the principal Sondra Scott assistant principal who I think is Elizabeth Flavors is that who the AP is do you know.

And then Ezel Ray special education teacher who welcomed me with open arms and I was out on that playground for I don't know three hours or something and it was a phenomenal part of my day and then I got I shoved delicious tamales into my face on my way home.

Approving various amendments to bars and whatnot.

So if you haven't taken advantage of the opportunity to serve by volunteering to take one of those thank you so much.

Dina Morris for making Chief of Staff Dina Morris for making sure that board members got the opportunity to do that.

It has been wonderful.

And Principal Scott who's been there for 14 years gave me a tour of that beautiful little school and it couldn't have made me happier and I think makes me better at doing this job.

So thanks everyone.

As there's no further business on the agenda we are adjourned at 747 p.m.

Please get home safely.

Oh hi.

Hi.

I didn't do my prompts.

I'm sorry.

I didn't want to interrupt you.

So okay we're not adjourned.

Go ahead.

Well is it over.

Did you adjourn.

Go ahead if you can.

Go ahead.

I know I feel like I shouldn't say too well.

I wanted to follow up on the busing comments that have been shared because those are those are parents from my district and I I can't argue with much of what Director Harris said because she said it so well and so powerfully and I I but I also don't want to diminish the experience of those parents and the hardship that they are facing there.

I I I know that Boys and Girls Clubs does supply bus vans of their own little small buses of their own so I'm not sure why Their their Boys and Girls Club is not doing such a thing but I would hope that maybe they can put some energy into that also asking if their Boys and Girls Club could do their own van and busing because I know that other schools have that for their Boys and Girls Club students.

So because we are looking we would look at all options just as as is encouraged here by the directors for us to look at all options.

You know I hate that we're having to put that on parents but that's that is where we're at right.

I mean we are in a very difficult situation with our bus and transportation.

So while I appreciate hearing and knowing about where those hardships are definitely want us to keep an eye on on the what it means as Director Rankin said what how one's floor does affect another and that these decisions we understand are being made to serve the most need.

So I do agree though with the parents who we just want transparency in that.

We just want to understand because I think if that is communicated well that parents are willing to understand that those sacrifices are for our greater SPS community.

And I wouldn't I wouldn't I wouldn't you know expect anything less.

I wouldn't think that.

I don't want us to assume that we can't say that we're using that equity lens because we're afraid that they're not that they're going to balk at it.

I think these are very they're it McDonald's is itself a very diverse school and their parents are also you know fighting for that equity.

in their school and beyond.

So I just hope we can be more transparent not just with the school but with all the schools in which this is a hardship going on with the busing to help them understand why decisions are made and what those decisions are and the process they're in.

Because again transparency I think we need to trust.

And I hope that we can keep doing that and keep improving on that in our district.

Thank you to our student speakers tonight who came to I think Was it Mikhail who spoke passionately in support of the clean energy well clean energy funding so it worked.

You I think you definitely helped convince a lot of our board members of the importance there.

So thank you.

Students because I always so valued.

Also Kiyomi from Ballard.

I appreciate Dr. Hampson's plans on following up on all those questions.

It was really good questions you asked.

And I would I would love to be in part of those meetings Director Hampson mentioned coming forward that are coming up regarding this topic of sexual sexual harassment and behaviors and consent.

So anyhow I guess I'll stop there.

We had other speakers and they were all appreciated.

I will have a community meeting coming up soon.

Haven't scheduled it yet but otherwise that is all for me tonight.

Thank you all for giving me a chance to speak.

Thank you Director Rivera-Smith and apologies again and this actually you know I just wanted to quickly note We are actually losing one of our incumbents that I'm wishing that we weren't losing because I very much have enjoyed serving with Director Dury and I'm going to be very sorry to see you go.

So just a point of clarification.

But we know where she lives and we know her value so we'll be tapping her for other things right.

Yes because we like to exhaust people.

Okay so all that being said we are adjourned at 752. Thank you all very much.

Please get home safely.