OK we've got 10 minutes before public testimony and if no objection I would like to move forward to D1 approval of the 2019 20 transportation service standards.
This came before Ops December 6th for.
Consideration approval of this item would set the transportation service standards for the upcoming school year determining where and when the district provides transportation for students who from staff will be.
Please do sir.
And if you can also give us a quick update on our bus crises it would be much appreciated.
Folks want to know.
Is that working there.
Good afternoon Stephen Nielsen deputy superintendent.
So this is an annual approval for the board to look at transportation service standards.
The standards that we have in front of you are fairly similar to what we are doing this year.
There are only a couple of minor changes.
And they are represented in the board action report on page 11 and 12. The net change for us overall just because of students moving from Queen Anne and John Marshall as the construction is finished up.
It actually saves us two bus runs for next year which is a perfect segue into how are things going for this year.
We continue to have a driver shortage.
I will get the number wrong today but I because I don't remember the exact number I recall that it's somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 some drivers that were short today.
And to that end we have been working diligently with first student and as mentioned in the last legislative meeting with Durham to backfill on routes.
As mentioned also in the last meeting the first student management has told us that they believe they will be fully staffed for drivers and backup drivers by the end of January.
They're bringing drivers in from Alaska and other areas in the country.
And they appreciate the difficulties.
That said I don't think anyone would believe that what we're doing right now is in the best interest of students and we are certainly putting as much pressure on our contractors we can to fully staff all of our needed bus routes.
Director Mack this was discussed at Ops.
Can you give us a rundown please.
Yeah there's not a ton of changes so that the two items that are sunsetting is number one and two South Lake students receiving ORCA cards regardless of eligibility standards.
That's because they get ORCA cards through the city program.
Is that correct.
And interagency students that's number one and two that are being sunsetted.
Okay.
And the changes to Queen Anne Elementary going back to Queen Anne Elementary as opposed to being at the John Marshall building.
One question was raised later in the meeting though that Bagley is actually going to be temporarily at John Marshall and was wondering if that's now included here to have the same kind of accommodation that is typically met because they're they're quite a ways from there.
Yes Director Mack that is correct.
Bagley will have two buses providing transportation to John Marshall.
OK and is that what page is that on I didn't catch that.
It's noted in the final page on the bar and I don't have a page number in front of me it's a table that talks about the 2019 20 transportation service standards appendix B and it mentions Bagley having two bus routes.
So that impacts all the students.
Well most of the students that is there a walk zone that's set up for John Marshall that some students won't be getting transportation.
I do not know the answer to that.
We'll find out.
OK because I mean it is relatively close but it's still it would be helpful to be clear for families if all of the students at Bagley are going to have transportation or if there are still some folks that are expected to walk even though it's a different school.
We'll follow that and Friday notes.
And those are the major changes there.
So there wasn't.
Yeah.
So pretty much everything else is static from today.
Thank you.
Excuse me.
Thank you.
Director Geary please.
This may not be entirely the appropriate bar under which to raise this issue but I don't know when else to and I'm going to apologize in advance because I thought I'd sent an email out to forewarn you but because I changed my password it somehow got stuck.
So I don't expect an answer now but I want to raise the issue because I'm not sure when else we would raise it and I am now with a new bus rider a middle schooler.
I am once again experiencing the same thing that I have experienced with my prior bus riders and that is that when students are on our buses they are not necessarily they don't necessarily feel safe that the conduct and behavior on buses is not always what we would hope or expect.
It is the end of the day and sometimes kids are not holding it together any longer.
And we have bus drivers who are necessarily dealing with very challenging roads in really horrible weather construction everywhere and we can't we certainly can't expect them to be keeping a close eye on the kids on the bus.
And so I guess I wanted to take the opportunity to at least raise the issue and ask the question of how do when and how do we teach our students to ride the bus.
How do we refresh them on the conduct that we expect them to engage in when they're on the bus.
And how do we hold ourselves accountable for making sure that we are protecting our students and our employees in a situation that I think under a lot of contracts would be seen as very challenging.
So obviously this is a really big issue but it's not one in the course of my time here that I've really heard us talk about and address.
And yet I find that the harassment and intimidation and bullying that goes on buses is unacceptable.
It traumatizes the kids who have to witness it even if they're not experiencing it.
And in some ways it affects some of our most vulnerable kids in that those that have the hardest times controlling their behaviors become the easiest targets for the kids to incite bad behaviors out of them.
So it's not even necessarily that the right kids are being addressed or that all the right kids are being addressed in that situation.
So I hope.
At some point I can get some feedback on how we're addressing this really serious issue about safety for our kids.
And if not in our transportation standards where and then how do we hold ourselves accountable if it's embedded just in a general behavior thing because it's a really special environment.
So I apologize again that you don't have anybody here to help talk about it.
That wasn't my intent.
So I'm not putting you on the spot.
That's fine.
We will follow up on that and I do know that at the macro level we do have training at the school levels handled by principals and their staff to teach students how to ride the bus and how to act appropriately.
That said in a perfect world everyone adults children and everyone in between would behave as we all should.
So there's always effort to work there to make an improvement.
We will find out and provide that again in Friday memo.
Director DeWolf.
Yes thank you President Harris.
One of the questions I had was on under the list of eligibility and number four is about option schools.
Do you know how much we're spending on transportation for option schools.
And I know that maybe I don't have an answer now but maybe in the Friday memo I'm just curious.
Seems like those students choose to go to those schools and so I wonder if that's a place that we're.
Providing an additional resource that maybe we could use for schools that don't have resources.
I don't know just as a curiosity around how much we're spending I'd love to know that by the Friday memo.
We will renew our that statement to you.
I know that JoLynn had that amount in a PowerPoint in the budget.
I believe it was the most recent.
And we thoroughly killed it because it was an equity issue of folks that couldn't afford or have their parents or guardians drive them to the option school.
So it would be a barrier of equal access.
OK.
I'd still like to have a number.
Thank you.
We'll follow up.
Thank you.
OK.
We are at 530. Well done folks.
Public testimony.
OK this one's really important folks.
Please don't make me rule you out of order.
I will in fact do so and I don't want to do so because we believe in the First Amendment and we believe in hearing what you have to say.
One person speaks at a time.
This is board policy 14 30 and corresponding board procedure 14 30. One person speaks at a time.
Comments get addressed to the board.
Please adhere to the time limit which is two minutes.
You get a 30 second yellow warning to wrap your comments up.
We have interpreters here tonight.
You'll get more time obviously.
The focus of the comments should be on the issues and solutions.
The majority of the speaker's time must be spent on the topic he or she has indicated they wish to speak about.
No racial slurs personal insults ridicule or threats will be allowed.
No comments regarding personnel matters and all signs brought are subject to the same ground rules.
We will announce three folks at a time.
So if you can stand by and get in line we can roll through this and respect everyone's time.
And let me just say how much we appreciate folks coming here to speak with us.
Thank you.
Please read the first three names.
up for public testimony we have Chris Jackins followed by Denise Diskin and then Linda Peters.
My name is Chris Jackins box 8 4 0 6 3 Seattle 9 8 1 2 4 on the creative advantage arts partnership with the city of Seattle.
Six points.
Number one section number three of the MOU notes a total sum of three hundred and thirty four thousand dollars.
It also references the same sum as one hundred thousand dollars.
Number two section 2.5 notes that reports are due in August 2018 but the MOU is set to run from December 2018 to August 2019. Number three the MOU notes that the city may withhold compensation.
Number four the MOU requires public notices to acknowledge sponsors.
What is the Seattle Foundation and does this requirement comply with board policy on commercial advertising.
Number five the district is required to waive immunity and limits on damages.
Number six the district may only select artists from the city's arts partner roster.
Is the district allowed to discriminate in hiring and contracting in this way.
On the five hundred and forty seven thousand dollar agreement on payday issues the agreement covers current district employees.
Does the district plan to compensate past employees on Magnolia Elementary boundary changes.
The board should publicly discuss the racial effects of the boundary action.
On the one point five million dollars in added costs at the Ingram project change order number two is not attached to the board report.
The report also states that the district would drop a three hundred and twenty three thousand dollar quote non-essential design feature unquote.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Hi there.
My name is Denise Diskin I'm the parent of a fifth grader at Licton Springs K-8.
I want to thank you all for your service and also acknowledge that we are on Coast Salish land and express my gratitude for that.
I'm addressing the impacts of enrollment decisions for Robert Eagle Staff Middle School on the Licton Springs K-8 community and issues with the use of space in the building with respect to capital projects such as adding portables.
I've provided you all with a packet looks like this.
And it's was put together as a collaborative collaborative effort by the Licton Springs K-8 school community.
It represents a great deal of research listening to you all and to the district staff and time and effort on the part of our community.
So I hope you'll review it.
I'm addressing introduction items 2 4 and 9. We in the Licton Springs community need immediate solutions for issues with the use of space within the building.
We very much appreciate the district's decision and your advocacy and delaying any decisions about our school community for to the following year.
We're very appreciative of that.
But unfortunately things are are not particularly tenable the way that they exist right now.
Page 6 of the packet I provided has.
A summary of some of the most salient issues which include inequitable shared spaces for example domination of the computer and tech lab by the Eagle Staff community and the fact that Licton Springs has to request access from Robert Eagle Staff in order to use space within the building for things like community meetings and the Eagle Staff.
My understanding is that Eagle Staff has veto power over our use of common shared space.
None of this is about individual personalities individual staff.
It's a difficult situation and I think everyone appreciates that.
I don't know what the beep means but if I'm going over time please tell me.
It also.
I'm sorry.
You are.
OK well I will wrap up and say that page 7 includes immediate capacity solutions.
What we need now is your assistance in creating equitable conflict resolution procedures and firm procedures for how we use space so that the school community can be successful in the coming year.
I don't need to tell you that these kids are precious and that this has an impact on test scores along with many other things that impact all of these kids.
And we hope that you will review our thoughts and take them seriously.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
After Linda Peters we have Liberty Rothbaum followed by Dina Russo and Bethany Cooper.
This is on.
Can you hear me.
Hi my name is Linda Peters and I am a proud third grade teacher in the contemporary program at Graham Hill Elementary and I'm really glad to see you and thank you for listening to us.
I am just the like.
of an elephant of people who've been working together for three years to try to talk about this systemic problem that is existing in our school.
We have an issue and it is an issue of institutional racism and we have an opportunity today and it's a really great opportunity for us to take a step towards just dismantling this system that has caused such a deep and hard division in our school.
Every day I wake up and I get the honor and privilege to work with some of the best kids in the world.
And I know that across the aisle my Montessori components you know compatriots feel the same.
Our motto for our school is one school serving all.
And it doesn't get to feel that way.
By the action of just removing Graham Hill Elementary as a choice for Montessori you have the opportunity for us to be able to live up to our promise.
And I know that the road is long and you're going to hear from a lot of different people about a lot of different things.
But the better the hurt for our children against the benefit of what would happen if we all pulled together is too great.
We need to do this now and we need to do this this year.
And I just beseech you that you will listen to us.
We are speaking with one voice.
Thank you.
I cede my time to Ayanna Jones.
Hi I'm Ayanna Jones I am 10 years old and I am in the fifth grade.
I have been in Montessori since kindergarten and.
Well.
I feel like something's missing with the program.
I feel like.
It should be not two programs but just one.
I'm not saying that it should be just Montessori but I feel like there's like just too many.
There's a lot of white people in one classroom and there's only like three people of color in my classroom and I don't always get to be friends with those people.
And I feel like a lot of other people in the future should be able to have a chance to be able to have more likeliness to be able to be friends with more people of color.
And I also feel like People of color should be more spread out in the classrooms.
But then again it should also be not just the white people crowded in one classroom but also just multi race or multi race people in all classrooms.
Thank you.
Have a good day.
Thank you.
My name is Dina Russo.
I'm the proud principal of Graham Hill Elementary School.
I want to start by thanking Ayanna Jones for her bravery tonight.
She.
We I don't know if you heard Miss Peters talk about the timeline but this is our third year of working on this problem of practice.
And we've done a lot of research in small groups in language groups in whole community meetings.
And but what I want to share with you right now are a few more quotes from some of our children that and through the course of the night you're going to hear from other people.
about what other families feel when when they leave our school and how they feel and what this impact is from having a program within a school.
It is hurtful.
It is harmful.
It is not OK.
And as a principal it's my job to make sure that the children in my building feel safe.
and are learning every day and what we found through these interviews is that they don't feel that.
And 80 percent of my population are children of color.
They are coming from historically underserved communities.
And so I'm here to share some more of their voices and you'll hear from me again later.
But I want to I want you to hear a few of their quotes.
I noticed that contemporary class has a lot more colored skin than Montessori and I feel more comfortable than in a Montessori class.
This was a student whose first language is Laotian and an African-American student said there's more whites in Montessori.
The whites are smarter.
And the last quote I'll share is Montessori teachers probably pick them out.
You know which ones they take to learn because they learn more.
So the students are leaving believing that they are less than and that they are less smart than just across the hall.
And I want you to hear that because that is not OK in our district.
And I know you guys are here because you you know that that's not OK.
So thank you for your time tonight.
Next up we have Bethany Cooper followed by Amanda Oten and then O'Hara Jimenez.
And I cede my time to Renee Jones.
My name is Renee Jones.
I am in fact the mother of that amazing articulate 10 year old as well as this 9 year old here.
Both of my kids have gone to Graham Hill Elementary since kindergarten.
And when I went to this school I The reality is is having to choose between an education that I know will work for my kids in the Montessori program and them being around kids that look like them.
And that's a really hard decision to make.
I feel like.
There's so much that you can take from being around people that look like you.
There's so much.
When we moved to this area right before my oldest daughter started kindergarten she was in a classroom full of a lot of white kids and she used to come home every day and tell me how ugly she looked and how her hair was not Soft is what she used to say and being around kids that look like her our entire apartment complex is full of kids of color.
Right.
We have lots of we have a rich community and it isn't just not reflective in our community in the Montessori program.
There's definitely a very very clear divide.
And so if there's something that we can do to change that we want to change that.
So thank you very much.
Thank you.
Amanda.
I'd like to cede my time to Ellen Klayman.
Good evening my name is Ellen Clayman I was a teacher at Graham Hill Elementary for nine years until this past June.
And from the time I first started at Graham Hill I felt deeply troubled by the segregation at the school.
There were essentially opposite demographics in the contemporary program versus the Montessori program and really all the staff saw that and the children saw it as well.
So I've been a member of the equity team before I left Graham Hill and this issue is still very dear to my heart.
So that's why I'm here.
What I want to urge the board to do is to accept that Graham Hill become one school with one program and that we become the neighborhood school that really we are and that that wouldn't be a big change.
Montessori and contemporary teachers teach the same social emotional curriculum.
They teach the same reading and writing curriculum.
They teach the same math curriculum.
So really becoming one program a neighborhood school is not a big change.
We are we need to be a become a neighborhood school.
I mean continue to be a neighborhood school that's deeply committed to high quality academic education and social emotional learning and to nurturing enhancing our entire diverse school community.
So please allow Graham Hill to be that.
We don't need a special program at Graham Hill.
Maybe at some point.
The community will come together and decide to really investigate what would be a program a special program that would really serve the best needs of our diverse community of learners.
Well that's going to take some careful thinking and preparation and that deserves that time.
So please let Graham Hill become one school one program a fine neighborhood school.
Thank you.
We get all the people from Graham Hill to stand up to show how many people are here tonight.
Thank you.
My name's O'Hara Jimenez I'm a co-president of the Graham Hill PTA and I'm actually going to read you an email that I wrote to the equity team preparing for this meeting.
This cannot be about Montessori.
This is not the fault of Montessori parents.
This system of allowing parents and guardians to actively segregate their children was set up by and is perpetuated but perpetuated by Seattle Public Schools.
This issue is bigger than Graham Hill and honestly it's bigger than Seattle.
People all over the country are either actively or passively contributing to and being actively actively affected by the self segregation of public schools.
School board members will say they support option schools and choice programs because every child learns differently and parents should have a choice about what school environment their child is in.
This is a tough stance to question but here's my crack at it.
There's a similar longstanding debate about tap water.
Healthy clean tap water is supposed to be a civic right.
When a dominant portion of the population begins to choose to purchase their water instead of drinking public water that population then stops caring if the tap water is healthy.
They stop paying attention and stop demanding safety in the public water system.
The population that does not have the means to purchase water or even know that the water is potentially unhealthy is then left with an unhealthy public water system.
They will then be subject to a lesser than status in regard to their ability to secure healthy water for their family.
While there still is water in every home it is not equal.
Seattle Public Schools is failing our city when we focus on praising and perpetuating option schools HCC and choice programs over raising the bar for every school and in turn every child in our city.
PTAs have been left to fill in gaps gaps that are then widened and perpetuated by the presence and or complete lack of PTAs.
Graham Hill is my family's neighborhood school.
We opted into Montessori.
As both a parent and the PTA president there is nothing I want more for Graham Hill than for us to become one school with one goal.
Healthy happy strong and capable students.
Thank you.
Up next we have Sarah Dietz followed by Trey Bowman and then Erica Cox.
I cede my time to Marion Fink.
Hi my name is Marion Fink and I am a teacher at Graham Hill Elementary.
I've been there for seven years and I'd like to speak on behalf of the staff and I'd like to read a letter that we've all signed.
With the onset of policy number 0 0 3 0 the data collected by Graham Hill's race and equity team and the observations of staff and families the Graham Hill community realized that the school needed to change and respond to the significant segregation that existed within the school.
To this end we are requested requesting to be removed from the policy that identifies Graham Hill as a Montessori choice program in order for staff and community partners to collaboratively plan design and implement one program for all students by the school year 2021. Our students will continue to be negatively impacted by the segregation in our building as long as we are a part of this policy.
We must integrate our school immediately.
Removing us from the option list is a way for the school board to publicly recognized to publicly recognize that Graham Hill is a segregated school and endorse a decision to desegregate.
The goal of the programmatic redesign of Graham Hill is to offset practices and traditions that perpetuate inequitable opportunities and outcomes for all students at Graham Hill.
The great diversity of students and families who are part of our school community will be proportionally represented in all classrooms.
All students will benefit greatly from learning in classrooms that are as diverse as our entire community.
And I have pages of staff signatures.
and hopes that you will hear us.
Thank you.
Hi my name is Trey Baumann and I'm a second and third grade Montessori teacher at Graham Hill Elementary School.
And you got the privilege and opportunity of hearing a former student of mine speak tonight.
For three years that I've been at this school, I've watched as students of color enter my classroom on the first day of school.
And I've watched as they look around the classroom searching for people that look like them, that share their culture, that share their ethnicity, that share some aspect of identity with them.
And as the year progresses, I've watched as those students slowly realize that those students aren't there.
And I've seen their confidence, their self-esteem, and eventually their academic performance in the classroom be impacted by the lack of affinity groups.
Luckily, through the work of the equity team at Graham Hill, we've slowly started to shift some students between the two programs.
So I've also seen, in the last year, The difference that it has made for a Somali girl to walk into a classroom and see another student with a job for a black girl to come into a classroom and see girls girls who look like her and see the benefit that that has for those students.
I hope you've heard my community loud and proud already tonight.
But in case you haven't this equity team with over six teachers on it.
By our calculations has worked over 200 hours in the last school year alone to come up with this plan to work with our community and to do what's right.
I'm asking you from the bottom of my heart to support us to be a partner with us and to do what's right for our school and our community.
Thank you.
Good evening my name is Erica Cox.
I'm a parent at Graham Hill Elementary.
My family lives in the sewer park neighborhood of Seattle and I have seven year old twins Novella and Hunter that attend Graham Hill.
One is in Montessori and one is in contemporary.
And I'm here tonight to ask you to support this request by Mr. Rousseau our principal who you heard from already other parents teachers to end this segregation at our school segregation that is persisting along racial lines.
I've witnessed in my own home the disparities that the current situation at Graham Hill is causing and the harm that it's causing particularly to my daughter as she perceives Differences between the experience she's having at school and the experience that her brother is having in the Montessori program.
And I want to say that some of that actually comes from my daughter overhearing other parents that she's described to me as white parents who say out loud in the hallways as they're dropping their kids off Montessori is better.
This is better.
My kids in the better program.
And I have to contend with her questions about that when she comes home each day.
My children have been at Graham Hill for three years.
And as you've heard from some other folks we and other families and our principal and staff and teachers have worked to try to remedy this situation in any other way that we can.
And I'm now convinced that the only solution is for us to move to one program.
I also just want to say that if other families want to come families outside of our catchment area want to come to Graham Hill and let's be honest if white families want to come to our school they should just want to come to our school not create this little bubble for their children in our school.
So please support us our principal our teachers and most importantly our children in taking this step toward moving toward one program.
Thank you.
Next up we have Joey Gray followed by Paul Tibbles Riley and then Arlene Williams.
Hi there.
Thanks a lot for hearing us tonight.
I'm Joey Gray and I'm first going to acknowledge the Coast Salish peoples who have taken care of this land since time immemorial.
My family has been here since the 1920s and I'm Okanagan Metis and some European American background as well.
So as a mixed person I've had the experience of watching friends from many communities raise their kids and observe the conversations.
I don't have kids myself but observe the conversations they have and and the parents in the native community have are forced to talk about displacement all the time.
And so I have a story to tell you.
Well meanwhile my more privileged friends kids have stability in their lives in their school in their programs and their location.
In 1998 I was working as a systems computer systems consultant implementing big computer systems in my I was tasked with the community service for our company and I chose to help the school district wire up a school for the Internet and I chose Wilson Pacific because I knew the native kids were there and formed a coalition with the school district the parents and our company to do that in one day.
And I I heard at first the school district told me oh don't don't do that school here do this other school because they're going to be moved in within two years.
That was 1998. These families and these kids have been told that they're going to move for two generations now and that's a constant that it's systemic racism.
And I want to put it on the record that this is what these families have to spend their time on the logistics of a new school the logistics of a new program.
So I'm specifically not on opining on the location of any particular program.
I want you to dismantle the systemic racism and the digital divide that's created with the lack of stability for under already well-known underserved population.
Thank you.
Hi my name is Paul Tibbles Riley.
I'm a kindergarten teacher at Graham Hill Elementary.
I want to thank all of you for taking the problem of segregation very seriously at Graham Hill and listening to us tonight.
Our equity team has been working for on this problem for two and a half years.
In that time we've met with families as a whole as well as individual language groups including Amromo Amharic Somali Vietnamese Tagalog and Spanish.
In this time we've collected a series of quotes including your packet on page 4. as well as parent letters of support on page 19. I'll read a few highlights for you now.
A Montessori family said when you walk into Graham Hill there's this thought of a racially inclusive space but it's actually pretty segregated.
I would love to see the segregation reduced.
An Oromo speaking family said I noticed all the white kids in one class.
I did not know why and I did not know who to ask.
A Somali speaking family said I saw just all the white students in a separate class.
I always wondered in my heart are the white kids getting a better education.
A Vietnamese speaking family said my son asked am I stupid.
Is that why I'm not in the other program.
A Tagalog speaking family said we believe the one program will address the racial inequities in our school.
A contemporary and Montessori family said this kind of segregation at our school is potentially damaging to all of our kids both academically and emotionally.
Finally a Spanish speaking family said my dream is that there is no segregation in our school.
My desire is only one program at Graham Hill.
We know that there is over 60 years of research that confirms what our families have said.
Segregation is harmful for our kids.
We also know that same research tells us that integration is immensely beneficial for our students.
We ask given that the commitment of Seattle schools and the school board to bridge the opportunity gap.
We ask you join us in starting by voting yes and starting to integrate our school.
Thank you.
Hello my name's Arlene Williams.
I'm one of the PTA executive board members and I'm going to present a letter that you have in your packet on behalf of myself Maria Haso Trujillo one of the co-presidents who is an ELL parent.
O'Hara Jimenez Claudia Mata Morphine another of the co-vice president who is also an ELL parent myself Irene Kelleher and Beth Klein.
Dear school board the Graham Hill community is prepared to take on a huge problem in our school.
We hope to stop perpetuating systemic segregation that occurs by having two programs housed in the same building.
It creates a lesser than and a privileged access dynamic in our school.
As a PTA board combined of parents with students in both programs we are committed to the long term process and the hard work this requires.
We are on about step four of nine steps.
We believe we are not eliminating a choice program but growing one program that will include our diverse community.
Our desire is to step our desire for this step of the process is to remove the gate kicking mechanism that allows family to choose one of two tracks at Graham Hill perpetuating segregation and limiting access.
We want to appear on the Seattle Public Schools choice form once as Graham Hill Elementary rather than Graham Hill Elementary Contemporary and Graham Hill Elementary Montessori.
This will allow us to move forward as one school.
The next step is for the diverse Graham Hill community to collaborate on what one program will look like.
with the help of professional organizers and the leadership of our teachers and administrators.
After that this decision is made then we can implement the one program we hope to be a model of making the table longer.
Thank you Superintendent Juneau for that term and making rigorous learning at all levels to close.
I'm sorry closing the achievement gap.
Thank you for the equity taking on equity issues is time sensitive.
We need you Superintendent Juneau and school board leadership we need your leadership and support along with invaluable community partners for this to be successful.
We as a PTA executive board are committed to this process and urge you to join us as a community of teachers parents and students.
We will continue to work together as we strive for equitable education at Graham Hill Elementary.
And as a personal note I just want to thank you all for your hard work.
I'm really proud of you as a school board.
Thank you.
Next up is Jacqueline Medina followed by Brian Terry and then Rita Green.
Jacklyn.
Ryan.
Good evening.
In our school today a white student is 20 times more likely than a black student to be identified as highly capable.
This leads to highly segregated classrooms that send a clear message to all of our students.
White students are more capable and more deserving.
There are simple solutions to this problem.
First unbiased identification process by considering the impact of a student's circumstances on their test scores as mandated by the WAC.
Then unbiased service model by using differentiated instruction to serve a much greater diversity of academic needs and finally Never place a self-contained highly capable classroom in a neighborhood school when doing so would reinforce negative racial stereotypes.
These changes have all been successfully implemented by neighboring districts dramatically increasing equity in their programs.
Our path to equity is clear but there is a catch.
Today's service model excludes almost all underprivileged students.
Some families believe that the homogenous classrooms that this creates are a fundamental requirement to delivering the academic rigor that their students need.
If we hope to overcome a 20 to 1 racial inequity we must first acknowledge that doing so will be disruptive to those families who benefit from the inequity.
We must make it clear that eliminating inequity and racism from our program is required by law and is not up for debate.
We can then begin a new dialogue with these families.
How do we best meet your students needs in a diverse classroom.
Thank you.
Rita Green is not able to be here.
I am Sabrina Burr and I'm going to speak on behalf of her the words that she would be able to say if she was medically able to be here.
The district has a 50 million dollar shortfall and a special assistant to the superintendent position was recreated which 6 or 67 percent of nine demotions were recently made were black and Asian.
where black and Asian staff members were demoted to fund this appropriated inappropriately created position that is held by a white person.
The board of directors should be investigating the legality of this position.
First it is our understanding that nothing goes to the superintendent without going through this position.
If the superintendent is not paying for this position out of her own salary this means we are paying for more of this position superintendent's position than what we budgeted for.
We did not sign up for this and we do not have the funding to pay for this or do we to a position with the same leadership and decision making authority of the superintendent should have went through the same vetting process as the superintendent.
The community students and families were not involved in the process which should be a violation of the school board as the school board directors you should be screening and interviewing this position as well.
Number three family engagement is not being honored and the superintendent is operating under a hands off policy as such she is violating district policies.
Black and marginalized communities are being ignored.
Her native heritage was used to get the job but as she is walking in acting and treating staff family and communities as less than as such we are demanding a monthly meeting held with the superintendent said similar to Seattle Council PTA with black and marginalized communities starting in February the beginning of the second semester.
Again I implore you to investigate the special assistant to the superintendent.
Thank you.
Next up is Rena Mateja Walker Burr followed by Beth Kelly and then Walina Adams.
I cede my time to Walina Adams.
My name is Walina Adams a part of the cohort with Alexander August Lewis.
I will be speaking on behalf of her.
My name is Alexander August Lewis.
I'm a parent who participates in the culturally responsive family engagement group would like I would like to express my concern about the recent district demotions.
I'm compelled to speak on the demotion of executive director of organizational development and equity to executive director equity and engagement.
I would like to understand the decision for the demotion of this brilliant effective African-American leader.
I met her during a family engagement presentation.
I've never met her personally but it is clear to me she is committed to serve the community.
I was impressed by her ability to effectively convey a comprehensive view of the Seattle Public Schools structure.
Her knowledge was extensive and she spoke with ease clarity and presence.
Her presentation was amazing.
She took the time to educate her audience with clarity.
This simple gesture allowed parents to feel respected included and valued.
She restored a hope that once was stripped from me through the repeated assaults my student and I experienced from this educational system.
She discussed her goals of alignment with the district goals and federal funding and was currently working on accountability tool to assess how equity is being integrated and measured.
It is clear to me that the superintendents attempted to hack away major infrastructures which move race and equity work forward in order to support an alternative agenda.
The superintendent has strategically replaced and demoted many prominent minority in positions in order to appease white fragility.
This leader is an educator that was born and raised in Seattle and a jewel in her community.
She went through the trenches.
She exemplifies encouragement and motivation that we offer to our students continue to strive to get your education.
It will pay off.
She exemplified this.
and continues to show us the commitment and hard work in its path.
She recently obtained her Ph.D.
I am appalled at the actions of the superintendent.
This demotion was not justified and sends a clear message to the African-American community.
The district still does not value us.
Black lives matters especially in our in regards to our children.
Thank you.
Hi there my name is Beth Kelly and I'm a parent of a Maple first grader but I'm actually here to provide testimony for my neighbor tonight who couldn't be here.
His name is Andres Ortiz.
My name is Andres Ortiz.
I'm the parent of a toddler with a second child due early next year.
We live on Beacon Hill on the wrong side of the street for the proposed 2020 Maple Elementary attendance area.
My children are not yet school age but I bought my home less than a mile from Maple Elementary in part because I want to walk my daughters to school on their first day and whenever weather permits.
I was extremely disappointed therefore to learn that this opportunity for connection with my children might be taken away from me before I ever get to use it.
Sending them to Van Asselt will mean putting them on a bus or in the back seat of a car where attention is divided and conversation is difficult.
I understand that there is no option that will please everyone but families in the walk zone should receive the highest priority when redrawing attendance maps.
Seattle has become a difficult place to raise children.
The cost of living has outpaced income games for most requiring both parents to work in order to make ends meet.
That means we are unable to be there for our children as much as we would like.
A 15 minute walk every morning would mean so much for our relationship and for their physical and emotional development.
At a time when our city is investing in safe routes to encourage walking and biking to school breaking up the walk zone sends exactly the wrong message.
Please reconsider this plan.
Thank you.
Next up is Emma Fedor followed by Amina Adams.
My name is Emma Fedor and I'm a senior at Ballard High School and member of the NAACP Youth Coalition at Roosevelt High School.
There have been reports of a student coming to school on Halloween wearing a KKK mask of white students calling students of color the N word of a teacher verbally abusing a student with a speech impediment.
There was no administrative intervention in these cases.
These examples are among a myriad of other instances of racism and discrimination that students have told me about in Seattle Public Schools and it is unacceptable.
As recently as Monday a teacher of color at Ballard High School had two white male students in her third period that were joking around and being sarcastic when referring to the issue of mass incarceration and oppression of black people in America.
These students use their right to free speech as an excuse for their behavior.
However a distinction must be made between free speech and speech that diminishes already oppressed groups or else that right will be eroded for those that need it the most.
Citing point E of ensuring educational and racial equity policy the district shall ensure that each school creates a welcoming culture and inclusive environment that reflects and supports the diversity of the school district student population their families and communities.
Where is the welcoming culture and inclusive environment at Roosevelt.
It is my understanding that the district's behavioral health department has developed restorative justice practices including community circles that would build trust and mitigate toxic school environments.
How are these resources being used.
I propose a formal adoption of restorative restorative justice as a district policy while maintaining a transparent timeline of the work being done to achieve this.
What is happening at Roosevelt and Ballard and high schools across the district is egregious and traditional methods of discipline disproportionately target students of color.
Furthermore disciplinary actions such as detention or suspension as punishment for racist racist actions do nothing to teach compassion and understanding to such students who are hopefully acting out of ignorance rather than hatred.
In short the NAACP Youth Coalition demands the Seattle Public Schools protects its students of color from racism by ensuring that students invest or that schools investigate when youth of color file complaints and by implementing restorative justice.
Thank you.
Thank you Amina Adams Celia Chan
Hello everyone.
My name is Cece Chan.
I'm a senior and the NAACP Youth Coalition's representative for Nathan Hill High School.
I'm here to testify on the behalf and support of a former Roosevelt student who was transferred recently due to racist and horrific events involving teachers and students.
I'll also talk about the need for ethnic studies and staff training on issues of race and equity.
At Roosevelt there's been incidents like a teacher verbally abusing a student with severe stuttering problem inappropriate and racist comments made by the same teacher teacher who stated you want to be that black to a white student who was referring to wanting to be like his African-American friend a white student wearing a KKK mask for Halloween and white students calling students to color the N word with the hard ER.
This is unacceptable.
I believe that Seattle schools need to realize that the absence of proper education of other cultures have left students of color to feel unsafe harassed misunderstood and attacked in their own community.
As an Asian-American who's attended Seattle North End schools my whole life I've recognized how the absence of teachers of color books of authors of color and ethnic studies have left me as an expert on the white man's history but an outsider to my own culture.
The way the curriculum is set up now makes it seem like Seattle schools only consist of white students.
Why is my Chinese culture only the dynasty the Chinese railroad workers and a racist comic book called American born Chinese.
My classmates classmates laugh but to me the stereotypes portrayed in the book are real.
I've had classmates make fun of my eyes ask if I've eaten dog and tell me that I've only achieved in school because I was Asian.
Your students especially your students of color have lost their beautiful roots and history to a whitewashed curriculum.
We've let our students think that their cultures don't matter enough to be taught in the class.
We've let students think grow up sorry grow up uneducated about other cultures to then treat students of colors with disrespect and harassment.
We've let teachers racist comments slide in the hope of learning from their mistakes and that's enough is enough.
We need to have mandatory staff and teacher meetings about issues on race and equity.
This means.
Acquiring race and equity teams at all schools requiring culturally culturally responsive teaching practices and encouraging students to design and lead lessons.
I care about my school and I care about my peers.
So I leave you with this.
There's nothing wrong with making mistakes but there's becomes injustice when that mistake happens over and over again.
So I ask you school board how many times are you going to let your students burn for you to recognize their scars.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Also why did you cut off my.
This beautiful woman back here you cut her off when she went over time but you didn't cut off any other people.
I think that's kind of crazy.
But anyways thank you.
That was our 20th speaker.
This concludes the sign up list for public testimony this evening.
Thank you.
OK would any directors like to reflect on the testimony that we've heard.
I'm sorry sir.
We have reached the maximum number of folks under board policy.
Excuse me sir.
We have rules.
You need to follow them sir.
You will not be allowed to testify.
Should you should you continue.
We will have security.
We will have security remove you just like the Seattle City Council has a restraining order against you.
You need to follow the rules sir.
Excuse me.
You are interrupting the meeting.
You need to leave now.
Security please escort him out of the room.
Thank you.
OK.
Let's have board comments and reflections on what we have heard.
Who would like to go first.
Director Geary thank you.
I'm so appreciative of all the voices that have come out tonight to speak on behalf of a school district that can serve all of its kids in the appropriate way and that will acknowledge that every student has the ability and right to have an education presented to them that maximizes all of their abilities and appreciates their culture and welcomes that and sees the strength of it not only from the perspective of the child of color gaining something but truly that they bring so much.
All these cultures together bring something to every room and to every person.
And that if we could get the value of that into all of our classrooms so many of these things would just go away.
But we have to really keep working.
And you guys have come out today and just said that over and over and over on behalf of your relative in your different communities.
And I it is just so humbling and I am so thankful I wouldn't have believed it if you could hear the meetings that we've sat through over the last three years and the the the voices that were able to coalesce and exert their power brought very different messages than the messages today.
And so there is change happening and keep coming.
And thank you so much.
I just I am humbled and happy to serve you.
DeWolf please.
Thank you so much.
I just want to thank you so much to Ayanna and all of our students who spoke today.
You are our ultimate and primary.
User customer.
So thank you for coming out.
I just wanted to kind of mention around some language that we use.
I think that we often and I know that Superintendent Juneau has talked about this a lot around the word historically underserved but I think it's important that we do recognize that historically is the pattern.
But these are students who are currently underserved so it's OK to just call them underserved.
The second thing I want to say is these are not achievement gaps.
I don't think it's fair for us to judge anybody any culture any community any race or any ethnicity that somehow one person's achievement is measured and there's a difference.
These are actually opportunity gaps.
Every person and every student has the opportunity to achieve greatness.
The last thing I will say is I hope that we do refrain from using any ableist language.
I've heard the word crazy about four times tonight.
So please refrain from that as well.
Thank you.
Others that would like to speak.
Director Patu and then Director Burke.
I also want to Director Patu has ceded her time to me.
We're going to tag off.
You don't get double time.
Won't happen.
I want to thank everyone for coming out and sharing your passion your your commitment to serving our students all of our students not just your students but their friends the students they don't know the students that you've never even met.
I think that we here.
in our role from a wide range of families we hear from you know from families with privilege a lot of families with privilege and we hear from families that are struggling against the institutional barriers that the system has created for them.
And the that's been really I would say stark when we look at our systems and we hear from.
The the gap in understanding between the families of privilege and the families that didn't bring that privilege along how how.
essentially how much of an understanding gap there is between those families.
And I think that that's a gap that is closing and is closing in over time.
Obviously not fast enough but it's something that I've been watching from the time I was before before the time I was on the school board and in the last three years since being on the school board.
Hearing these conversations learning myself and seeing the interaction between different families around identifying these systems and dismantling these systems.
So I just want to really thank the folks for their bravery and for coming out and sharing because that's when these voices get elevated.
That's the thing that opens people's eyes.
So I I really appreciate that.
Director Patu please.
I just want to say thank you to all the students who actually were very brave to come and share this with us.
I really had not had any idea that this was actually going on.
I mean I had some ideas but not realizing that.
It was still ongoing which is really a very sad thing.
That is the whole reason why I came on this board because it was something that I went through when I was actually working through the district.
But to actually looking at 2018 and that still happens when we all you know when our students should be able to go to school and be treated just like anyone else get the opportunity to have the best education that we can actually be able to provide them.
And as a school board director I will not sit here and stand for any of our kids to be treated that way.
They deserve to be treated just like any other students white student that we have in schools because we're here because we want the best education for all our kids no matter what color they are.
So it's it's it's really you know for me tonight it's.
It's bad news and also very disappointed that this is still happening in Seattle Public Schools.
This is 2018 and I cannot sit here and think that everything is fine and dandy because it's not.
Hearing what's happening from all our students that testified tonight.
I am very sad and embarrassed that I as a school board director allowed this to happen to our students apologize and hopefully that we do a better job of serving every student no matter what color or what ethnic group that they come from that we they all deserve an excellent education no matter what.
So hopefully as a board director do a better job of actually looking at what's happening throughout our schools that every student when they walk into that building should be treated with respect and love and be able to say that you know you can learn no matter what what color you are.
So for those students who actually testify tonight I apologize that hopefully that tonight things will move in a different direction that we'll be able to provide the support that you need in order for you to get the equity that you need or what is it that you expect from Seattle Public Schools.
Thank you for coming tonight and have the courage to come tonight and let us know because unless you come and tell us we don't learn everything or hear everything as we're hoping that we can.
But I thank you for being brave and being able to say hey we expect the best that we can for ourselves and that we as school board director should make sure that every child and every student in Seattle Public School receive that excellent education.
Thank you.
Director Mack.
I had the wonderful opportunity to visit with Graham Hill yesterday and I was really appreciative of hearing directly and having a really great conversation and understanding and I really appreciate having that opportunity as well as some of the other folks that have testified tonight we've also met and I I hope you all know how How deeply we on the school board take this issue and are concerned about dismantling the institutional racism but also making sure that we don't have the overt racism and overt basic bullying going on in our schools.
That is that here I've been hearing stories and it has me deeply concerned.
And I know that we are working on strategies to support those systems and I appreciate you coming here and telling the stories and I want you to know how distressed I am that we continue to hear these stories and we need to do better systemically in our buildings of creating a culture of love and respect and removing this whole this otherness and better than worse than.
So thank you for coming and speaking out about it.
Thank you for taking the bold steps of.
I'm asking for changes to make meaningful changes and most importantly thank you for coming together in your school communities together and all of the differences that you have in your communities to to advocate for your entire community to be together for every child in Seattle Public Schools.
I ditto everything that was said and I just appreciate you coming and look forward to having more in-depth conversations around some of these specific things that are on the agenda in a little bit.
Director Pinkham.
A big thank you to everyone that's here tonight and Graham Hill elementary community showing the example of what happens when everyone gets together and teachers hear the administrative staff and students and talk about we see something going on in our school that's inequitable.
We don't feel welcome here for some of the students we feel there's some definitely segregation going on and just our school building itself.
So thank you for coming up and sharing your voice and saying you know we have a solution.
We know how we can come over this and.
Those that were in the Montessori program you notice that as well saying yes there is something.
So again it was a joint effort that you did.
Thank you very much for doing that.
Thank you for coming together because sometimes what we'll hear will just be bits and parts of the story.
But when you come and share your stories we know it's coming definitely from the heart is coming from your experience.
So Qeˀciyéẁyéẁ thank you for that.
For students when you do see and hear about racism and unfortunately hear about what's happened at Roosevelt and other schools.
I hope you can empower other students to be able to start standing up for that.
Don't let it go by and don't let it go too long to where someone has to say oh it's he said she said address the issue as much as you can then and there and hopefully we can get down to our staff if it's our staff that needs some more additional training to be sensitive to those issues.
Let's make sure our staff get that so they can address those issues right then and there and not have to worry about.
going and going through the process because my daughter went through that as well.
It went through the process and unfortunately by the time they said we're going to make a decision they said oh it's too late for us to do anything now because that issue passed months and months ago.
So it's sad to hear that it's still happening.
Let's move forward and make sure we get these issues addressed immediately before it becomes something oh yeah that happened too long ago.
It doesn't matter anymore.
It still matters no matter how long ago it is.
Stand up for what you believe in and be strong.
Qeˀciyéẁyéẁ.
Director Burke go ahead.
This is actually a question or a request of staff as far as making our community feel welcome here.
I'm not sure whether this is board or staff.
But it's really awkward for somebody putting themselves out there on the podium in front of us and it would be really great if we had a microphone stand that didn't droop and sag and fall apart.
So that's a request that by the next time our community comes to the podium that we can at least offer them a microphone stand that will stay put.
Last but not least I'm.
Personally devastated by the testimony we've heard tonight.
Excuse me.
I am angry that I have not heard a number of these stories that have ostensibly been reported.
Obviously we have broken systems.
Now do I appreciate that there are three Tangents are three different versions of every story.
But when I hear some of the things that I've heard this evening having taken an oath along with my colleagues who work extraordinarily hard at the expense of their jobs at the expense of their family time This is a system that has become abundantly clear that needs more transparency.
Now when we're talking about students and we're talking about staff there are extraordinary legal parameters with respect to how issues are addressed who is named what the continuum is.
But this board took an oath and and needs to know these things before students are testifying in front of us.
So obviously we have some significant work to do.
They say that recognizing problems is the first step to solving them.
We don't have time to mess around on this.
Our students educations are happening now.
We're in an extraordinarily competitive city.
You deserve better.
We can and must do better and we are in the midst of great change.
We have a new superintendent on the other hand We are working hard on things like race and equity committees in our schools and adding cohorts student voice.
There are some very good things going on and I and I don't want to discount that.
And I also don't want to.
polarized this in the sense of it's all right and all wrong.
It's a continuum and it's fluid and it's broke both systemically it's broke and economically it is broke.
We do not have money to throw at extraordinarily difficult problems.
So keep coming here.
Keep telling us your truth.
Keep giving us your suggestions.
We are truly listening.
We are truly working hard and we can and must do better.
And if you.
I'm sorry I can't take questions.
I wish the heck that I could.
Believe you me would be here all night and then some.
We're trying.
We'll continue to try.
We can and must do better.
Thank you very much for coming out.
We're going to take a 10 minute break now.
Thank you.