School Board Work Session - November 9, 2020

meeting to order in a moment.

Could we please hold comments while SPS-TV takes us live.

After a 5-second pause I will call us to order.

And for clarification this is Director Hersey.

All right.

This is Director Hersey and I am now calling the board special meeting to order at 6 p.m.

For the record I will call the roll.

Director Hampson.

Director Harris.

Present.

Director Mack.

Director Rankin.

I just having a hard time finding the unmute button.

Yes I'm here.

Thank you.

No worries.

You got it.

Thank you.

And I also heard Director Rankin respond.

Director Rivera-Smith.

Director Rivera-Smith.

Director DeWolf.

Present.

Thank you.

Let's move back around really quickly.

Director Hampson.

Director Rivera-Smith.

All right.

Seeing as we have a quorum we will go ahead and proceed.

The superintendent is also present tonight.

This meeting is being held remotely consistent with the governor's proclamation prohibiting meetings such as this one from being held in person.

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

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

There will not be public comment excuse me there will not be a public comment opportunity.

Staff will be working to administer the meeting and may be muting participants to address feedback and ensure that we can hear from directors and staff.

Today's work session is on the development of the anti-racism policy.

We will begin with a presentation from Seattle Public Schools Department of Racial Equity.

We will then hear from the SEA Center for Racial Equity and the Seattle Council PTSA.

I will hand it over now to Director of Racial Equity Advancement Manal Al-ansi to begin the work session.

Thank you so much Director Hersey.

I just wanted to come by and do a report out on where we are with our engagement and our partnership with Seattle Council PTSA.

So our most recent development was a trend analysis that we had encompassing the last year of engagement that was led by the Equity Partnerships and Engagement Division and It was engagement as you all know from previous presentations that were centered on Black Indigenous and Brown students and families.

This trend analysis breaks down our organizational design our service model which is focusing on our interaction dynamics with students our ecosystem of opportunity which was emphasizing our interaction dynamics with community members and lastly It identifies our community community members priorities across various parts of our system and our practices.

So we developed that trend analysis to ensure that the most recent draft of Policy 0040 would be in alignment.

So we do have an updated version of Policy 0040 not only in response to the trend analysis I just described but also to the initial feedback that we've been getting from Seattle Council PTSA.

Since our October 14th Executive Committee meeting our Equity Partnerships and Engagement Division including myself specifically has met with Seattle Council PTSA to discuss a new like new developments around Policy 0040 and presenting a draft that has feedback from their most recent engagements.

That the meetings included just Friday November 6th and we're also planning to meet tomorrow.

We offered to pay a consultant who was also a community member and a parent to support Seattle Council PTSA in compiling their engagement data from the last few weeks and developing a trend analysis as well to ensure that the Seattle Council PTSA feedback would be embedded into the final draft in a meaningful way as well.

And that's along with any merging or individual feedback from the leadership of Seattle Council PTSA that arises from these meetings that we have planned.

So the current president president of Seattle Council PTSA Manuela Sly and the former president Sabrina Burr agreed that supporting engagement in that way would be a helpful next step.

So that's something we're definitely planning to do and planning to secure.

I do believe that we can hold the same timeline the same timeline that we originally proposed but we would need to get the data and engagement feedback that Seattle Council PTSA has collected over the last few weeks.

submitted to the consultant probably within this week.

And then we as an SPS and Seattle Council PTSA team we can use our time tomorrow as long as we use it very strategically and very centered on the critical insights that they have compiled over the last few weeks particularly on the insights gained from Black Indigenous and Brown students and families.

We should be okay to present you all with the final draft.

And every each one of us has has explicitly expressed readiness to partner and just finish strong.

And that is how it is going thus far.

I don't know if there are any questions Director Hersey or if you would like me to Pass it on.

You're fine.

Yeah we'll run through a quick cycle of directors and we will begin backwards with Director Rivera-Smith.

Thank you.

Can you actually circle back to me.

Yeah I'd be more than happy to.

Director Rankin.

Can you come back to me too.

Absolutely.

Sorry.

Director Mack.

Still looking for that mute button.

All right we'll come back to Director Mack.

Director Harris.

Oh I'm sorry I was I I was mute.

Oh sorry.

No you're good.

You're good.

Let's double back.

Okay.

Director Mack the floor is yours.

Okay thank you.

Technology.

I don't think I have any questions at this time.

What I think I just heard and understood is that there's been collaborative work going on.

to come up with the current draft that's in front of us today and that there's more work to be done to kind of work through that.

But at this point are we then going to move into kind of going through the existing pieces in the policy or what are the next steps in the conversation here is what I'm kind of curious about.

Director Hersey do I have time to respond right now or shall I wait until all of the questions.

No you no you may go ahead and respond right now.

Thank you for clarifying.

Okay.

Yeah.

So our next steps are to work together.

Seattle Council PTSA has developed a draft that they were conducting engagement around and over the last few weeks have a significant amount of engagement data from the people that their organization is accountable to.

And so they were going to share that data with us.

We hired a consultant who again is a community member and a parent who's coming in through that lens and is looking at the older draft the pro-Black and pro-Indigenous post C0040 as well as the newer draft of Policy 0040 developed by Seattle Council PTSA and the community that they serve.

And from those two drafts we're hoping to come up with some sort of a a merged draft or a third draft that encompasses all the bits and pieces that represent the folks that are who both Seattle Council PTSA is accountable to as well as Seattle Public Schools.

And we would present that to to you.

I think there may I'm not positive if if if there is an official change in the timeline but the original timeline that we presented it would have been at next month's executive committee meeting.

And so just to clarify and thank you for that.

Are we as a board is your hope and expectation for us to provide input tonight and that's what we're going to be moving into after this first round of comments or.

Okay great.

Thank you.

Oh I'm sorry I was saying as in originally that was the that was the ask of which is probably what you're reflecting on.

Tonight I think we were asked to come back to give more of an update on what our how our partnership's going with Seattle Council PTSA as well as where we are in the development and with of 0040 and what our next steps are.

But we would really like a work session where we could bring that draft in and actually have you all give critical feedback because we we do want it to be something that we all the board and the staff and our community members and Seattle Council PTSA can be proud of.

Great.

Thank you.

All right.

Let's keep it rolling to Director Harris.

Given what I just heard it sounds like y'all feel like there's a need for an additional work session in addition to this one tonight.

And my personal request would be a pictograph that talks about where this has been with dates on it.

It frankly feels a bit like macrame to me.

And if we do an additional work session Does that mean we're looking at January instead of December.

I am truly confused.

Thank you.

So.

Okay.

Director Harris how would you like that response.

Are you are you are you looking for a response on the graphic or are you looking for a response on the potential work session.

Do you hear that question for you Director Harris.

I am looking for both a graphic and an answer as to whether we're moving this forward to January to accommodate the request for a work session or whether or not that's a premature question at this point.

Director Hersey this is Director DeWolf.

Please.

I can provide a little I can provide a little context.

Tonight was to get an update on all of the engagement and so I actually presume we will get a ton of information from our third presenters who have done tons and tons of engagement over the last month.

The request that came in was for us to move the introduction to December and and have the vote in January.

That that came through to Director Hampson and myself on Friday from I believe it was staff but I don't know where it came from necessarily but that was a request to to give us more time for the crosswalk.

So tonight was about community engagement and there will be an additional opportunity to crosswalk the different versions if you will.

Thank you Director Hampson.

I would imagine so.

And like I said the direct the request that I again heard so I don't I didn't make it but was to also have an external facilitator there to help us in that process.

So there is an additional opportunity for us to come and engage with the actual policy.

Tonight was to get an update on what's taken place.

What's the engagement been like.

What's the things you're hearing.

And I imagine we'll get a ton of that information as we move through.

Thank you Director DeWolf for also I forgot to mention that we did have an external facilitator at our meeting on Friday and we will also tomorrow.

The request didn't come from staff.

I actually just caught wind of it.

That's why I wasn't sure if if it was for sure being postponed.

Again I because of where we are with things I I think we may actually still be able to make the original deadline.

But because the request didn't come from our division I don't want to speak on that yet.

But it wasn't communicated to me that there was going to be a request for an extension.

In terms of the pictograph I think that's a great idea and I can have that for you Director Harris.

If Miss Wilson-Jones is on the line maybe she could help provide some clarity.

I apologize Director Al-ansi I thought it came from staff but if not then I'm certainly.

No worries.

Hi Director DeWolf this is Ellie Wilson-Jones Director of Policy and Board Relations.

The request to delay is also something not I was not aware of until receiving the email from Director Hampson today.

Okay.

Do we need any more discussion on this point before we move on.

Okay.

Yeah.

Sorry it's Director Rankin.

Please.

Thank you.

I this maybe sort of goes along with what Director Harris was saying but I am also confused about the well yes I'm interested in hearing more about about the engagement as we go forward today.

But in general I'm confused about which versions of the policy are being looked at to crosswalk.

There was a mention of an older policy and a Seattle Council policy but I also know that there was a policy you know from like a year ago or something.

So I'm just where all of those which which are we going to talk now or I can maybe comb through my emails to about which versions we are actually talking about when we're talking about creating one policy.

Because I mean originally this came It came out of work with community.

So that's obviously engagement.

And then I know staff has been doing a lot of engagement and Seattle Council has been doing kind of renewed engagement.

So I guess I'm I'm looking for a little bit of clarity on how the pieces are all going to come together to create one policy.

That's a great question.

I'm happy to share Director Rankin.

So the policy that was moved forward from the Executive Committee is A version.

That is the one that we need to kind of centralize as the one to to work on and modify.

There is there was something sent from staff that was their version of it.

I also want to just make clear that the one that came to the board through the Executive Committee there was a ton of engagement with Seattle Council PTSA.

So I think what.

What comes next is the crosswalk between whatever staff has done and any updates to the current version that is being discussed.

Sorry about my dog.

So there's the version that we we talked about in an executive committee to move forward and then there's the one from the staff.

So whatever staff has how if they've modified it or updated it since then and then the version that we have as a board.

And whatever version we have as a board will likely need an additional round of engagement taking the feedback from Seattle Council PTSA.

And when we come back for another work session between now and when we formally introduce this again the request did not come from me.

There was a hope that had to have a crosswalk between that.

Again tonight is about engagement.

I'm happy to talk offline about the crosswalk.

Okay and Director Rankin if you'd also.

Yeah I actually as someone that's been working very closely with the development it hasn't quite been been that.

So I I think it's important for me to just name that a year ago about a year ago Seattle Council PTSA and it was working with NAACP Youth Council a few of the board members on developing a draft and that was handed over to EPE and then from EPE we've done a year of engagement that's been evolving that document in response to community engagement.

And so the one that was titled the Pro-Black and Pro-Indigenous Policy 0040 the one that we have been presenting and talking to you all about over the year is the one I'm referring to in terms of the quote unquote staff one.

And the only bit that I wanted to kind of clarify is the policy that was developed by Seattle Council PTSA that they're doing engagement around.

It was a draft that that was built upon a version from a year ago and now We are working together to make sure that version that was presented to your board about a month ago is embedded or that community voice is embedded in it and Seattle Council PTSA is working really hard right now to make sure that it is.

But I didn't want to give the false impression that the the version that was presented to the board was after engagement.

Seattle Council PTSA is currently working really hard to do engagement around that version.

But I just it was important to clarify.

So.

No that's helpful.

That makes that makes sense because I was thinking is there like a third version somewhere out there.

Not yet.

But we're working in partnership.

I appreciate it.

Thank you.

We'll have a third version soon.

All right.

Thank you.

Yep.

Absolutely.

Director Rivera-Smith.

No you're good.

Thank you.

So yes I want to just get some clarification if I can because it sounds oh hey I would really like to know who who requested the delay.

I think it's kind of important to know that because if nobody did then there's no request but it came from somewhere so I think we do need to identify where that came from.

I don't know how what the best means is to do that.

Was it an email.

Who was the email from or it just seems weird to have that moving there's timeline without even knowing where it was originating.

So my first question and I'll wait for an answer I guess.

Director Rivera-Smith I don't have clarity.

I did not ask for it.

So we have to we can move on from that one and I'll get something to do offline.

I don't have the answer for you.

That's all right.

Yeah.

And then it sounded like Director DeWolf you were saying that there is a board version as well or was that were you just meaning we'll we'll create a board version from.

What I mean is when we approved it out of executive committee there was a BAR and a policy draft.

That's what is that's what is on the record.

Additionally to folks like Director Al-ansi has an additional version.

So there's two two.

So whatever engagement that the Seattle Council PTSA has done extensively over the last month we will bring that into the board version and then we will crosswalk whatever is with the Director Al-ansi version and the revised board executive community approved version.

Does that make sense.

Yes.

Yes.

And that one was the Seattle Council PTSA version or the community driven.

So yes.

Yes.

But it came through the board so now it's ours.

Yes.

Yeah I just want to I don't want there to be confusion regarding because we have I had the same confusion at first when I saw we had 0040 and I thought well isn't that the same as this other one.

So I community might be getting confused on this and I wanted to just clarify that.

So thank you for helping with that.

I will say that I'm I'm I'm I'm really thankful that it sounds like the EPE department and council are working together to to have facilitated kind of a meeting of minds with the two versions to create some sort of possible third.

I think that both sides have have so much to offer for this and I've done so much work I I can't even quantify that but I feel like if there was a way to to put two great pieces together and make something better I really do look forward to seeing that.

I will pass for now.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So I see that we've got President Manuela Slye's hand up and I just want to recognize her really quickly before we move on to the next portion of our agenda.

President Slye your you have the floor.

Thank you Director Hersey.

If I can offer some clarity I want to say that we have both you know SPS staff and community work really hard on this policy.

So the commonality here is that we are working in collaboration.

There's no longer one or the other draft.

We're working to come up with a third product that we're working together.

So there's no the title is Anti-Racism Policy.

Right now we're working on coming to to how do you say an agreement of how we're moving forward.

We're very confident and hopeful that we can come in front of you with a policy that we are all proud of not only Seattle Council but also the staff and the community that has been providing their stories.

and their feedback.

So at this point I don't want to confuse anyone and then we will have an opportunity to present to you.

I just want to make sure that you understand that we are coming here together in solidarity because this is a work that we all need to be together.

We're also very lucky to have a student participating tonight and we will be hearing from her as well.

Thank you.

Thank you President Slye.

Okay.

So in the interest of time we're going to continue on with our agenda.

We will now hear from SEA Center for Racial excuse me.

Yes we will now hear from the SEA Center for Racial Equity and I will hand it over to Director Marquita Princeton to begin the presentation.

Marquita are you with us.

Director Hersey.

I want to let everybody know that Director Prinzing is not here tonight with us.

She's actually engaging with educators tonight.

Unfortunately the session that we had scheduled the night before the election was not successful.

There was a lot going on for everyone.

We were all focusing on the nations you know issues so we understand the educators were very invested in trying to get ready for an election that will affect us and our students and our families.

So we had to reschedule for tonight.

So Director Prinsing is co-hosting that along with Seattle Council PTSA leadership.

So she is not here but she will be able to join afterwards if we're still working on this.

I just want to mention that the support from Center for Racial Equity has been crucial as as an organism or organization that is a partner between Seattle Council PTSA as well as Seattle Public Schools.

So she is not here but she will be debriefed when we're done with our with our meeting if she's not able to join on time.

Thank you so much for that.

Director DeWolf I saw that you're unmuted.

Okay.

Sorry.

No worries.

Okay.

So we will continue on with our agenda.

We will now hear from Seattle Council PTSA and I will hand it over to President Manuela Slye to begin the presentation.

President Slye the floor is yours.

Thank you very much and I want to start by saying that this is an honor and a privilege to be here tonight.

I happen to be the President of Seattle Council PTSA right now but this work is beyond my time and my expertise and my passion.

This is the work of a whole entire community and also the the school board the SPS staff as well as everybody that has being touched by this policy.

So in front of you you have a short presentation that I put together.

I want to start also by saying that we have done extensive anti-racism work beyond our school district.

I want to share once again that we're very proud of the collaboration that we have done with Washington State PTA to create a resolution that was recently passed entitled Dismantling Systemic and Institutional Racism.

So again we're honored to be the holders of stories of our students and communities when dealing with racism in our system.

It's been a journey for me as president as but also for everyone that has collaborated with the work that we have done.

We have hundreds of hours put into this not only listening to community but also putting together the the listening sessions and also working on summaries and working on integrating the feedback that we have received from a lot of the community groups that are directly affected by this pandemic.

terrible pandemic that we're going through.

Ms. Wilson-Jones can you go to the next one.

So how we got here.

It's been years of work.

Started out in 2012 the policy 0030 was a result of collaboration between again district community and stakeholders.

It was imperative to include the word racial on the policy title and I will let Sabrina Burr to expand on this if she's able to.

I know that she's on the call but I don't know if she's able to unmute herself right now.

Sabrina are you there.

You hear me.

Yes go ahead.

Okay.

We just wanted to to backtrack because both policy 0030 and 0040 We believe our companion documents and when we worked on policy 0030 the ERAC community it took 4 months to get the word racial in it.

There was a lot of pushback and we know now that that policy was adopted by the board in 2012 and still does not have the procedure Even though Dr. Jones did do some incredible work of uplifting it to get it into practice it is a part of the finance committee and guides a lot of our work.

The fact that it doesn't address racism is is is why it didn't do what we hoped for it to do.

And so because it's not this policy 0040 the anti-racist policy is very very critical for our students and for our community.

And so I'll go ahead and stop there.

Thank you Sabrina.

One thing that I want to point out also a big catalyst was in 2016 after the presidential election Seattle Council PTSA identified an increased number of incidents of racism and discrimination in our buildings.

We went out to community we supported the school communities dealing with incidents.

We met with school building leaders and we continue to bring these concerns to district staff to discuss and find ways to support and respond to increased number of incidents in our buildings.

Next please.

So part of the work that we have done Not only with this policy but even preceding this policy back in February 2019 we came together.

We put this student caregiver response with the 9 points that are in front of you.

And we shared that with both DREA as well as the Office of Student Civil Rights.

So the first one is trying to well the whole Nine points were directed to our communities and our families.

And the first one is when did the accident happen.

The incident sorry the incident happened.

What specifically happened during the incident.

We're talking about racial racist incidents in schools.

Who was involved in the incident.

Who witnessed the incident if anyone.

And then also asking community or families parents do you have any written or other documentation from the incidents.

Number 6 what if any was the response at school so far.

Number 7 are there concerns about the incidents that you want worked out at school at the school building level.

Number 8 what actions resolutions would I like to see happen as a person experiencing an incident of racism.

And then Number 9 what supportive services do I need for my student.

So this is just goes to show you the amount of work that needed to happen and how we got to this point because we realized that we didn't really have a protocol or a system or a way to deal with this incident.

So we felt as council after listening to the number of occurrences in our buildings that there had to be a way to deal with these incidents.

We could no longer just go and do triage work with our communities because there were it was just overwhelming.

We we got inundated.

Some of the incidents made it to the media.

Some others made it to the ears of building leaders.

Some others made it to the ears of SPS staff.

Many did not did not and have not made it there.

And I want to also talk about the difficulty for immigrant communities that many times are scared of coming out and bringing this up to anyone because of the fear of being retaliated against.

There's a real fear about any of this making it so difficult for parents and students when they are undocumented and when they can be traced back.

and be seriously affected by their their concerns being out there.

Next please.

So now I want to focus and I think we can talk more about you know the The partnership that we have entered with SPS staff that we are very grateful for because we acknowledge and we recognize that we need to do this together.

This is a lot of work that has been very enlightening for many of us knowing that we are again holders of stories but at the same time we need to partner and collaborate with the system to be able to bring change.

So the engagement series that we have conducted and the feedback that we have shared with SPS staff as well as the school board with the summaries of the engagement are part of the record.

They were just finished.

We still have a couple of the summaries pending.

One of them is obviously the one that is happening right now with the educators.

Again conducted by Seattle Seattle Council PTSA and the collaboration of Center for Racial Equity.

So one of the common themes that we saw is the the desire for a simple and accessible language into the policy.

People want to make sure that the policy talks to them.

That is digestible.

That is understandable by by the people that are directly affected.

Also people want clear procedures and metrics for implementation with consequences for failure.

We see a lot of times that there's stories and issues just like the one that was recently made public at Thornton Creek and how you know this family went through so such a long journey to finally find justice by getting a settlement and some of the training that was part of the settlement to to help with the racism in the school.

Also a policy that identifies honors and protects different groups experiencing racism in the school system.

We realize that different groups experiencing in a different way.

We are aware of the historic context of the Black and Indigenous students and families in our system.

We are a large district very diverse district that has different groups that again experienced racism in a very particular way.

There was also strong desire for restorative justice.

Also the need for welcoming and respectful school cultures that encompass everyone in our schools not only students and families but also educators.

We also have heard from community that they want equitable access to advanced learning opportunities.

A few people expressed confusion about who has the power to effect effect change.

When we talk about racism we are not only talking about incidents of racism in schools but also the systemic racism that affects our communities from access to highly capable cohorts to advanced learning to opportunities to the disparity in in the school culture when it comes to student reprimands and disciplinary action.

The other thing that I want to end with is the recurring thread around better translation services and language support.

Many families when we met with ELL families or families that are in the receiving special education services identify that it is very difficult to navigate the system or even be able to report any incidents when language is a barrier.

So that was a very common and very clear point that we heard throughout our engagement series.

Next one please.

So while we're looking ahead I just wanted to say that communities across the district have collaborated their stories.

In fact their their pain and their tears their time and talent for a policy that reflects their needs of a strong policy and the demands of a procedure to hold the system accountable.

So we're talking about not only the policy the policy is a guide.

but also the procedure that will make sure and ensure that our students are safe when they come to school.

That they can come confidently and not only right now as we all know we're not in buildings but we know that the racism continues even in the remote learning atmosphere.

We received a lot of feedback and we have a lot of quotes from from families and from educators from students But one that really I really believe that encompasses a lot of the feeling that our communities have is the objective needs to be about equal dignity for all and equity for those most unrepresented and furthest from justice.

Educational justice also families are going through difficulty right now because of the economic situations that they have found themselves with the pandemic that we're going through.

And so that's all I have.

I just want it to be succinct.

We are now ready for your questions or comments.

Thank you.

So thank you.

Hi.

Sorry Sabrina — All the participants on the call.

Go ahead.

Who's there.

Oh my bad Director Hersey.

My bad.

No worries no worries at all.

I'm just the student that was supposed to speak from the Youth Council and I just wasn't sure when I was supposed to do that and I thought I heard someone say my name but I could be wrong about that and I can always wait.

No no no not yet.

But no.

So let me back up.

Yes this is the opportunity for you to speak.

Before we hear from you though I still see that President Slye has her hand up.

So President Slye if you want to give your last comment and then we'll move on to our student speaker.

It was actually from before.

Sorry I didn't lower my hand.

Thank you.

No worries.

No worries.

Okay.

So Anissa if you are prepared we would love to hear from you now.

Yes.

Thank you.

Sorry about my brash interruption.

I apologize for that.

I've never spoken at a board work session.

So.

I'm used to the the the school board meeting format.

But anyway for those of you that don't know me hello.

My name is Anissa Roydod.

I am a graduate of Ballard High School.

I'm a member of the NAACP Youth Council and I'm here to provide a little bit of student perspective about policy 0040 and just the process of getting this policy to what it is now.

And I just want to acknowledge Manuel I talked a lot about different people's stories and the stories of community coming into play here.

I just want to acknowledge that I am one student.

I am a non-Indigenous and non-Black person of color at that.

But I'm really honored to represent Youth Voice today and provide some perspective as a student who has been with Policy 0040 from the beginning or from close to the beginning.

I reviewed this policy in 2019 with the NAACP Youth Council and also with the Student Advisory Board and have reviewed iteration upon iteration of it most recently.

I participated in the Youth Town Hall with the NAACP Youth Council for the most recent draft like I said of 0040. And I've seen the document develop into what it is now something that has used more and more intentional language and become clearer and clearer in its asks and also developing just more tangible ways for anti-racism to manifest as action in Seattle Public Schools.

I know something I've experienced and something that I've heard from a lot of my peers is that there's a discrepancy between the rhetoric of the district and its action.

And just as an example with policy 0030 it espouses a lot of really great things about anti-racism and transforming or and moving SPS in an anti-racist direction.

But what policy 0040 would do is actually give some teeth to that other policy and talk more intentionally about how we'll actually transform SPS to get there while like recognizing the past harms that's been done and you know basing the direction of the policy on that.

And again like Manuel said we're a united front here and the youth are like really supportive of this policy and this is something that we urgently need in our schools because it has a real impact on people's lives.

And right now racism and anti-Blackness have a real negative impact on and other forms of oppression on many of our students.

And that's just not an okay thing.

But at the same time like balancing the urgency that this policy needs to get done I do want to acknowledge that it needs to be done right.

And we've had a lot of policies come out of the district that You know like with 0030 we have to go back with this policy and others to give action to that one.

That I think it's good that so much community feedback has been incorporated in that it seems like the district and Seattle Council PTSA are really like taking their time.

Moving fast and slow you know to make this the best policy that it can be for our students family and community.

So yeah thank you so much for having me today.

Again I'm really honored to be here represented.

Please let me know if you had any questions about what I said during the feedback process.

Thank you so much Anissa.

Okay.

So we will now move on to director questions.

We will be going in alphabetical order.

Directors if you have any questions now would be the time to ask for President Slye or our student speaker Anissa.

So let's go ahead and get started.

I see I see that Sabrina Burr has her hand up and she would like to speak before we go to the school board directors.

Thank you.

Thank you for that catch.

Ms.

Burr the floor is yours.

OK.

I just wanted to address a couple of things where there was some confusion.

before the board members had some confusion on the document.

Actually we are working with two consultants.

The district brought in a certain amount of people.

We brought in a certain amount of people.

The consultant that we had gave us a number that if we went over we would not be able to fluid be fluid hear all the voices and get the work done.

We were at the end of our call where we were just starting to move and we extended our call out last Friday another hour.

All of us have homework and we're going to be going back.

I just want to be clear on who Seattle Council brought to the table.

We brought two parents from our African-American family call.

One is a professional who is a family parent of Seattle Public Schools.

but also does equity and family engagement as her day job.

And we brought in one student voice.

We brought in Anissa Roydad because Anissa has been in this work since Dr. Petrosa was sharing it with the NAACP Youth Council.

And we also brought in another parent who has been a strong leader who's also a parent leader for the cooperative grant of NAACP and Seattle Council for the Trauma-Informed Restorative Practice.

There is 3 documents.

When we were talking and collaborating we found out that the district had hired somebody to look at their document.

There came a 3rd document.

On that call we agreed that we would look at that third document and tomorrow we're going to be going back and giving our feedback.

In addition what that what came with that document was all of the feedback and the notes that we got from all of the community sessions that we had.

The Native is still going to be presented and the teacher one is happening tonight.

I do also want to talk about the timeline and the timeline difference.

When we talked about it when we were in collaboration last Friday many felt like that that wasn't enough time.

We are starting another document that we all like the content of and we're willing to build on.

But we have and I don't know how many work sessions The district has maybe all of theirs is incorporated.

But as you guys will see or as you know we've done like 10 or 12 listening sessions and we are trying to make sure the voices and the needs of those communities are there.

Some of what's there needs to be a policy but we didn't want this rushed.

So it was it was I was one of the persons to express what was on that call.

because the 18th is coming really quick and this is a policy that we want to make sure that we get it right.

And so we can meet a deadline or we can get it right.

And so we do not feel that if we go with the current guideline that all voices truly can be heard and we can do a collaborative thing.

One of the things I do want to mention when we were in the African-American family session we had a mother telling her story.

Another mother stopped her.

She said I know who that teacher is.

My daughter had her 17 years ago.

That is something powerful because that is happening over and over again.

And I say that because we have to stop that.

We have to stop decades of kids having trauma from teachers who either need to be retrained or repurposed to another profession.

And so I hope that those comments help to clear up some things for the board.

The district has a consultant we're all excited about that's brilliant you know amazing and fire.

We're working with Erin Jones who the district has worked with who's been a strong facilitator and a way to bring us together.

It is our hope that we will have more sessions other than the one that we have tomorrow that all voices are heard and that we all come to the table and give our best work so that everybody who this impacts so broadly She's a document that is followed by a procedure I mean procedures that we all can feel proud of and help to do what we've been trying to do for so many years and transform the district in a way that honors everyone.

The district has a heavy heavy energy that I I can't even I can't even imagine how people work and do the amazing work they do up under.

This is an opportunity to shift that for all of us.

And so I think that that was very important for me to say and I hope my comments answered some questions.

Thank you.

That certainly provides a really helpful level of clarity.

Sabrina thank you for that.

All right.

With that being said we will actually I see Miss Al-ansi's hand up.

So Director Al-ansi would you like to add to the conversation.

Yes.

Thank you so much.

I just wanted to amplify what Sabrina was just saying.

But I also want to highlight a concern.

While while she is right I do remember a few months ago when we were talking about our timeline And Dr. Scarlett and I presented a timeline for December saying the same thing that Sabrina's saying that you know our goal is not just to get it done it's to get it done right.

I think I may have said that verbatim.

There was a bit of a harmful narrative that was developed around whether or not we were taking the work seriously or cared about the work and the people that we're serving.

Hence Seattle Council PTSA being called to take over our engagement process.

And in like we are working together and it's all love and we are doing a great job together now.

But I do want to protect these women of color from that same narrative.

Yes Sabrina's right.

Considering the insertion of 12 new engagements within a few few weeks after an entire year of engagement you know the Seattle Council PTSA deserves a bit of time to kind of flesh out their data and be thoughtful in in making sure it's embedded in a meaningful way.

But I know what happened when Dr. Scarlett and I asked for I think an extension from November November to December.

And so I do want us to either just note it as a point of reflection before agreeing to extend because I also want to make sure Manuela and Sabrina as women of color are protected.

from any harmful narrative around this work being extended.

Although I do agree with with Sabrina's note about the goal is to get it done right.

Thank you Director Al-ansi.

So again currently I see two hands up.

I see President Slye and Vice President Burr.

Are those intentional hands.

Would you like to speak.

Just clarifying before I call on you.

Thank you Director Hersey.

That was me from before.

Sorry I will make sure to lower my hand.

All right.

Thank you.

I just want to say thank you to Director Al-ansi for elevating that critique.

We definitely need to make sure especially as we are having conversations around this anti-racist policy that we are holding our communities and the women specifically Black and Brown women who are doing this work at this moment.

We we definitely want to hold them up and do all that we can to ensure that as we break ground on a policy like this that we are doing so in a unified way and we take opportunity to reflect on how we can create better safer spaces especially for our staff members and our community partners who who are engaging in this difficult work.

I just want to be the first to say thank you to all of the women specifically again Black and Brown women who yet again are delivering for our communities.

And we need to do more to make sure that we are creating safe spaces for them.

So that being said we are going to go through our directors alphabetically starting with Director DeWolf.

Do you have any questions at this time.

Thank you so much Director Hersey.

I have questions for print men.

President Slye and maybe Sabrina.

So can you just share with us the just go through the communities that you did engagement with over the last month.

We'd love to hear kind of just the list of who you reached out to and engaged with over the course last last month or so.

Thank you President DeWolf.

I can tell you that the again engagement has been wide We have not only engaged with communities of color but also with those communities that are receiving special education services with the intersonality intersectionality of being a person or a student of color in our system.

We also did extensive work with using different ways so it was not only through Zoom meetings we actually went in an in-person meeting with the Indigenous Mexican community down in South Seattle.

We had to meet them where they were at.

Many of them also share with us that their students had not been able to connect to remote learning so Because of that we went in-person to their site and we were very fortunate also to have Director Rivera-Smith attend the session.

There was you know the conversation around anti-racism work but also you know just a regular very difficult journey to get their kids set up with remote learning.

We also I was able to go on the radio Spanish-speaking radio I believe two or three weeks ago where actually one of the couple of teachers from the International Middle School from the Dual Language Immersion Program were able to connect to the radio show.

And they did actually give the students the task or the or the homework to reflect and write about racism incidents in in their daily lives for their families outside the school setting.

And also another thing that we're very proud of is that we were able to make a presentation for the Spanish-speaking community through our partnership with King County Public Health where I was able to do a presentation for the Spanish-speaking community.

So it's been a really long journey very intense and I just feel very honored to have been able to step into those spaces and also myself as a person of color that do not belong to many of the spaces where I went into to be able to listen to their stories and to hold a space for those communities as well.

Thank you.

Serena you have anything to add.

And I also want to notice that Marquita Prinsing was able to join our meeting after she was done with her engagement with educators tonight.

Thank you Manuela.

And I know Markita — Can you guys hear me.

Jumping.

Yes we can.

Okay.

So I just want to add on to Manuela before we give Markita her time.

We did a engagement for the Somali community.

We did a community engagement for the Black community the Native community.

We did a I watched NAACP Youth Council spend eight hours on their pre-work.

to do a session for our students and we they also opened it up to they opened it up to BIPOC students and anti-racist students and I think that that was important.

We did one for the Latinx.

We did one for the intersectionality of race and disability.

That was done in three different languages.

We did one for the Pacific Islanders.

Tonight Marquita did the one for our educators and then we did one for our PTA leadership coalition convening and we did one for CBO's as well.

So I think that kind of covers it in addition that was in addition to what Manuela said.

So thank you.

Thank you so much.

I'm happy to cede my time to Marquita to give us an update on her work.

I appreciate that and I'm going to try not to spend because I know that you've all done so much work and obviously it's 7. What I have to say is that the group that I was with was 30 educators.

I mean I can tell you my stories.

of my one-on-ones with educators and just how they're suffering and particularly those of color and particularly those that love our babies of color.

But tonight well the questions were how do we how do we systematically do something different.

How do we address these issues.

And our educators they're fighting for our kids and it's I would say at the end of the day I think one of the big stories is just where is there a space for an educator to say that something's not working right for our babies specifically.

Like where do they go when they see something that is affecting our children.

I have a personal story about my experience when I was in the classroom and I had nowhere to go.

So.

It's you know it's in the works though.

I don't know at some point I'm sure there's going to be some sort of report or some sort of share out.

But just as far as my report out to y'all is just to say that I think that's probably the biggest issue that I deal with in my own position and in my own experience and then today's conversation and former students who have actually reached back out to me because they're in trauma because our system failed them.

So.

The question is where in our system do people say these things so that they are addressed.

And no one knows.

And I know that from also our staff because our staff consults with me as well.

And so thank you for the time.

I'm sorry I'm late but yeah I was with them.

So there you go.

Thank you Ms. Prinzing.

Always great to hear the experiences of our educators.

I'm so thankful that you were able to join us and share that that perspective is absolutely critical as we move forward with these conversations.

So that being said we are going to continue to move through directors and Ms. Prinzing if would it be all right if we feel if we pass some questions to you as well.

see where we are in the process.

Okay fantastic.

So I believe the next in our line is Director Hampson.

Are you available at this moment.

Okay.

We will keep pushing and I will be happy to circle back.

Next up we have Director Harris.

Deep gratitude for coming together and working your backsides off to expand the input.

I.

cannot thank you enough.

And that's to SPTSA.

That's to SEA Racial Equity.

Marquita.

That's to our staff.

My preference is that we take the time to do this right.

I am absolutely committed to doing this work and being extraordinarily proud of it.

and to being a national leader.

And I well appreciate we've had bumps along the way and miscommunication and all of that.

But it seems to me that we have turned a corner and that we are listening to each other with all of the right with all of the right openness to come to this table.

And I I'm impressed.

by the elasticity and the graciousness that folks that might disagree on process but do not disagree on the actual goal.

And I think this is frankly a really proud moment We're all the folks who have their fingerprints on this.

And I think it will live long beyond all of us.

Again huge gratitude.

Thank you.

Thank you Director Harris.

We'll continue on with Director Mack.

Hi.

Thank you.

Can you hear me okay.

Got airpods in.

Okay good.

I really appreciate Director Harris's words and I'm a little I don't know the word that's coming to me is verklempt because what I'm hearing is a coming together of a bunch of different voices to bring this policy to bear that is so important and necessary.

And the working together and I'm incredibly impressed and I'm really excited about that.

And I'm glad that we're here tonight to to talk about it and learn about the engagement.

I had the opportunity to read through the summaries that were provided of the community engagement and the specific points that were coming out.

of each of those.

And one of the repeated issues is what Marquita just kind of touched upon is like how do we address this.

How how does someone raise it and have it be heard and have it be changed.

And I personally hear that very loud and clear and I think that we need to take really strong steps to ensure that There's a safe place to raise the issues as well as have them handled appropriately because there's too many times that these things are staying in the dark.

And we need to daylight and you know forgive me here I hope I'm not overstepping but we need to protect our babies.

That's our responsibility in the school district.

And I appreciate that this policy 0040 is going to help drive some other policies I think that are related to other topics that might not fall in but they will this this work is going to drive some really important policy and procedure change.

And I'm deeply grateful for all of you coming to the table and continuing to work on it and I'm continuing to listen and You know I hope that I'm I'm hearing and interpreting and supporting your work and our work appropriately.

So I look forward to the next draft and I look forward to the continued conversation.

And just a big gratitude to all the volunteers in Seattle Council and community members and folks that just keep keep putting their time in and effort.

And I just I agree it sounds like you know we want to get it right.

Delaying that is it's fine when we get it right.

We don't want to do something that's not quite there.

So thank you so much.

Thank you for the conversation tonight and bringing this all up and continuing the work together.

Thank you.

Thank you Director Mack.

Director Rankin.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Super super grateful for the many folks who have been working and continue continue to make this a priority.

And I am I am really glad to hear about the collaboration and agree that we need to get it get it right.

The kind of questions slash concerns that I have are around intersectionality that it is important that this policy you know include students who students of color students who have have or may experience racism that it needs to include.

those students with disabilities those students with it needs to include protections for students with in terms of gender identity sexuality language you know all of these things.

But what I'm I guess want to make sure is really clear is that it is an anti-racism policy that it that including that intersectionality doesn't kind of kitchen sink it.

And and so you know I'm really excited to to read the the collaborative version that that comes together and just hope that there's a way to you know acknowledge other other marginalized identities that intersect with race but to make sure that this is really really really about race because we do have other policies and other procedures for you know harassment intimidation and bullying and protections for students with disabilities and not to say that those are problems that are solved but That what we what we don't have and what you know keeps coming up is what Marquita said about you know where do you go.

Who do you talk to.

And in a lot of times you know having been in the in the community at the sort of beginnings of the emergence of the need for this or the recognition of the need for this policy is you have to Right right now any issue is is totally dependent on adults first even recognizing that yes this was an incident of racism.

And what I'm so grateful for I'm looking forward to for our students and our communities is that this policy will mean that whether or not harm is even recognized we'll no longer hopefully not have to be reliant on whether or not you're fortunate enough to be in a building with adults who are willing to identify and name racism because a lot of stuff is racist and just doesn't you know is brushed off as well that's just kids teasing each other or oh they didn't mean that or they didn't understand what they were saying.

And so you know my.

fervent hope is that this policy will make it so that's not up to chance anymore that it becomes a district value.

And but with that the really really important components beyond getting the policy right because we can we can make the words say the right things.

We can craft you know phrasing and and and citations and everything to make a really good policy but if the procedure isn't as robust and thorough and if training and accountability do not come along with that then it is going to just be you know good words on paper.

So I know that there's a lot of work to be done still around you know getting adults to acknowledge racism.

And then also where to report and who Who who's responsible is hugely important both for for kids and for teachers.

Who do you go to.

Who do you tell.

What do you do if that person tries to to minimize it blow it off or doesn't or don't they don't know how to handle it appropriately.

And I've seen this and experienced this with people and you know friends and and kids in my community where you know something really messed up.

happen and people didn't know what to do.

So but I think that this is just a huge huge first step in bringing it to the surface and saying you know we are going to all work on this.

But beyond the policy I am looking forward to I guess seeing how we all are going to hold ourselves accountable to make it a reality for what students and teachers experience in and families inside of our our buildings.

Because it it has to go beyond beyond the words on the on the paper.

But I'm just super grateful for everyone's dedication.

And I think that's all for me.

Thank you.

Thank you Director Rankin.

Director Rivera-Smith.

Thank you.

I want to start by thanking Anissa our student who joined us tonight.

So impressed that you've been with this work for so long.

Thank you for that.

Thank you for the dedication and for being there to represent your student your fellow students.

I hope that we can do you proud and do all of our students proud with this as it reaches its final steps.

I thank you also to Emanuela for inviting me out to the Indigenous Mexican Community Meeting.

I was so grateful to be there and to hear their stories and see how powerful the Seattle Council PTSA engagement has been.

I appreciate that.

And also thank you for sending our board the statement from Seattle Special Education PTSA regarding the anti — the ableism that they want to see interwoven to whatever degree we can do that.

And in that same vein of thought you know I'm I'm wondering how we you know honor all the intersectionalities that come into play with racism like gender identity and just the other you know just to go along with the ableism.

And I but at the same time how do we do that without as Director Rankin said kitchen sinking it because we don't want to detract that this is an anti-racism policy and want to keep that strong and centered while also you know just making sure we acknowledge that there are many intersectionalities at play there in many of these.

and many of the harms and traumas that our students are facing.

So but I trust that that's part of your conversations as you're going to be having together.

Our Equity Partnership and Engagement Department along with Seattle Council PTSA as you work together.

I'm I'm so happy that you guys are doing the work together.

And I again like that's part of what I I trust is going to be looked at as you build this out.

I'm.

I feel like I had one more statement but I definitely appreciate that there's going to be or sounds like we're going to have one more work session.

And if we are as well I do support that and support doing this right and taking the time necessary to do that.

So definitely I'm up.

I definitely support that going into this.

And yeah.

Thank you.

I think that's all I had for tonight.

But again just such appreciation for everybody who's been part of this process.

Thank you Director Rivera-Smith.

We're going to loop back to Director DeWolf and then we will move toward adjourning.

Thank you Director Hersey.

My question was do we still have Aneesa our student on.

can't actually see on the screen.

Yes.

Hi.

Oh hi Anissa.

Well this is both for you and Manuela.

This question is just around you know what would you like to see next from the board.

Manuela Sabrina or Anissa.

This may just be a moment where we need a little wait time.

All the educators on the phone I can see are shaking their heads.

So that's a big question.

So take as much time as you need.

I hear that Ms. Burr is speaking.

Yeah.

Yes you're on air.

Since you've been running the meeting I don't think that we've heard.

Yeah I plan.

Yeah I'm on my way in.

Toward the end.

Toward the end just giving deference to the folks who aren't running the meeting.

We will get to me.

All right.

I hear Ms.

— I would like to let Ms. Prinsing speak before me.

I would like to give her the floor since she's had less time.

Most definitely.

Ms. Prinsing.

I appreciate it but you know well first off you can hear in the background that I have a child who is not happy and I'm Mama.

If you can ask the question one more time but I also really want to make sure that Aneesa has all the space that they need to respond.

But if you can ask the question one more time then I can weigh in.

Yes thank you.

My question was what do you expect for next steps from the board.

Great.

So well same thing I already said from the beginning is What is the political power the position that we have to create some sort of part of our system.

And I can't even tell you who I think it needs to be you know land on like what who where it is in our system.

But we need a way because people have stories to tell.

And I've spent five years filtering stories and that is not my job.

I'm not in grievance.

I am not in contract work.

I'm not in any of those things but I'm the one that people come to.

And so we have there's stories to tell in our system and usually it's because they've gone through SDA and they've gone through SPS and then they leave.

So.

I've been part of the strategic planning system the process right.

I know educators that literally have left our educators of color that literally have left our district because they can't be protected here.

I've sat in meetings where people have been investigated for nothing.

With I it's I got stories to tell.

So what's the next step for the board is to consider Where in our system is there space to create a way for people to share these stories.

Because when they can't what they do is they duck their head.

They go into their classroom.

They you know save our babies but then they drown.

So I would want our board to consider where is the next space in our system to create a way for people to share these stories.

And then you know if there is an actual thing to do about it.

Cool.

But just not cool.

Actually no.

Not cool.

It's necessary.

But that's the first step.

That that's the first step.

Just we need a space.

Because otherwise people are leaving.

We have.

Amazing bringing in of educators of color at this point thanks to some of the educators that are on this call.

Kendrick who goes by KO is one of them who has brought in amazing educators of color.

But they're not retained because they get to a point and they have no place to share.

Director DeWolf this is Manal Al-ansi.

I wasn't invited to chime in with the other presenters but I do have a few things that I would love to see from the board if you don't mind me sharing a few.

So one would be if we are going to have another work session it would be great if EPE could participate in the development of the agenda.

Just so we're a bit more in the loop and we can come prepared for an actual work session where we receive critical feedback from the board and the other stakeholders on the call and other presenters even.

Second I would say if we could agree as in alignment with our targeted universalism strategy to center Black and Indigenous people in our discussions and analysis around developing this anti-racist policy.

So to come into our next work session through that lens and developing our analysis and strategy through that lens.

And then lastly that if we are going to have another work session that it isn't quite as structured as an update like today was but actually an opportunity for us to receive again critical feedback from the board so we know what aspects you all are in support of what you would want more information around and other feedback or insights you may you may have to offer.

We're really interested in in hearing back from you all around this this next draft.

So that would be my ask to the board.

Thank you.

I will just quickly jump in here.

Thank you so much.

Sorry.

I'm so sorry.

I was going to call I was going to call on you next Anissa.

Sorry.

Thank you.

I just want to say thank you for the question and Markita for giving me space.

I'm really glad that both you and Manal shared because I second what both of you said.

And I'm honestly not sure how well-equipped I am to ask like to give specific directives to the board just because sometimes as a student and someone who is not really like able to see into how the district is structured and like what gets done where.

I'm not entirely sure sometimes like what the board's power is versus the superintendent versus the cabinet versus districts versus schools and like how all those things work together to actually get a policy implemented.

But one thing that does come to mind is just giving everyone who's been doing this work the time and space to keep doing it.

So like extending that deadline and coming back to another work session with what Manal asked for.

asked for with specifics to that work session and just continuing to follow the discretion of the people who are like in community getting feedback know this work best who are Black and Indigenous and have those life experiences and especially like you were saying Director Hersey letting the Black and Brown women who have always been doing this work kind of take charge and like really listen listen to their voices.

Ms. Burr.

Thank you so much.

Sabrina did you still.

Yes.

I think I'm here.

Yes.

I I I want to I want to echo what's said.

But I think you know for the board this is this is this is There's a lot of pain in our district and it just didn't just come about when I was a parent leader in a school that I spent 10 years from.

I literally spent time just giving teachers a break or incompetent hearing their stories being being that person.

I was the one who when kids were discriminated against having to talk to 10 different people in order to to get what what happened.

And more importantly when I stepped up as Seattle Council PTSA president I I I I I I I want to call it because at the end of those two years I was in trauma from all that I have heard all that I had to hear.

And unfortunately and fortunately some of the principals that are no longer here are no longer here because I had PTA's bring their stories to our superintendent meeting because some of the things were so egregious.

There's still some egregious things going on and I do understand due process.

This policy really has to make it so that you guys hear things when they're on fire.

And I my hope is that this policy will help to create spaces create places of restorative justice.

We talk about restorative justice but one thing I really want you to know when I listen to the youth tell their stories when I hear the Cleveland High School students they say yeah this happened but after this happened these things happened because they are a school that have restorative justice.

I truly believe that every building every space should have a quiet space to where people can just be and have zen.

But Marquita is right.

Until we kind of eradicate the cancers and people hold all of this within them and I feel it in buildings but I feel it the most in John Stanford.

We have to find places for gracious space for people to be restored.

to be renewed.

I remember when my daughter asked Chris Regzal what do you do for the adults for their emotional social emotional literacy before they stand up in front of us.

And so what our educators are experiencing and feeling that is bleeding into our students and into our classroom.

And what I.

want from the board is support and to make sure that this policy is not just something that's a policy and a procedure that we sign that sits flat.

I need dollars and actions to go to do the work to help cure the hurt.

And some of that has to come from the board directive.

Because if this is just something that's great on paper sounds good but nobody's uplifting it.

No one's requiring people to have training.

If it doesn't bleed over to our collective bargaining agreement to hold the the contracts that we have accountable those are some things that really have to happen.

And I see that at the board level.

You know this has to not just be SPS.

It has to be when we do our collective bargaining that the contents of this is there not only in that but even on our construction sites and our procurement.

And so I really hope that we can find and the board will support a policy that goes from the classrooms to the construction site and everything in between.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I believe that was all of our representatives that Director DeWolf called out.

And before we adjourn I would just like to share my comments.

So immediately the first word that comes to mind is gratitude for very specific folks on this call.

Right.

So as we've seen nationally specifically in the past week but what we've known for centuries is and what we've seen time and time again are the Black and Brown women who lift up this work.

And let's just all take a moment and pause to look through the coalition that has been gathered here today.

We have Dr. Keisha Scarlett.

and Director Al-ansi who are experts in this work not just by the sheer fact that they are walking through it but in their curriculum knowledge of pedagogy connection with the greater national education community.

I am just in awe every time I get to share space with them and there are no words that could that could express how much I've learned personally from just sharing space.

And then we have President Manuela Slye.

We have Vice President Sabrina Burr and Director Chandra Hampson who from the very beginning came directly from community and were able to identify this very pressing need for a policy like this in our system.

through no means of payment through no means of self-gratification worked tirelessly with district staff to come to an idea and an understanding that this is this is very clearly a missing piece of the puzzle for for realizing the true intent of policy 0030. And then last but certainly not least Ms. Prinsing and all of the educators and representatives from our labor partners who are on the ground every single day who have the most direct relationship with our students and yet come to us in various spaces time and time again looking for answers and putting their hands up to be a part of the conversation.

Because as educators that's what we do.

We we don't just identify problems we also we also want to take charge and be a part of the solutions because we know what is best for our kids.

And who after long tireless days of teaching still come and spend their evenings with us well into the evening hours.

So Marquita thank you.

I say all that to say this.

As we move forward with whatever this policy final form looks like.

I hope that we can take pause and just appreciate the fact that in a district with a female superintendent a female vice president of the school board women of color at at so many places that are changing the narrative and the trajectory of the educational outcomes for our students.

We need to do everything in our power as a system to protect this process and to make sure that it is one that we all come out on the other side more whole and excited about what we were able to put together.

When I think about the very real and present need for this policy and what that means for our students I believe strongly that This is a moment where this is going to define what the next decade two decades for our school district is going to look like.

So as we have these conversations and as we continue to build understanding between the various parts of our system I hope that we can all continue to take breath and to really acknowledge the gravity of this moment and the work that is before us.

And to keep our our intents and our minds focused on this work because that is what is going to deliver for our students.

That is what is going to change the educational experiences of our babies in these classrooms.

And all of us in this system who are trying to navigate it despite its very broken parts And it's very very present racism.

And so in in final thought again to all of the Black and Brown women who have made this work possible from the bottom of my heart I thank you and I am very excited to see where this policy lands and how it evolves from here.

And however I as an individual board director or we as a collective body we can be more supportive We can lean in.

We can lean out.

Please do not hesitate to be very frank open and honest with us.

So that being said if there is no further business we are going to move toward adjourning.

I'm going to I'm going to look for other hands.

Anything from any other directors before we move forward.

Okay.

That was a beautiful way to wrap it up.

Thank you for that Director Hersey.

Really appreciate you.

Thank you.

My pleasure.

Yes Ms. Princeton.

I have a quick question.

Yes please.

How often are you able I mean you're all at COVID time so you're not like in the ability to be in a classroom anymore.

But I would imagine there are educators who are more than happy to have you sit in.

So I guess this is this not really a question.

What I would like what would make me happy is if there would be an opportunity.

I mean it takes a little bit of work and you're going to like find the educator and you know like it's going to take a little bit of work for all y'all on the board.

But if it's possible for you to sit into a classroom and then once you sit into a classroom after the session and it doesn't matter what grade that you're able to then ask the educator what that experience was like for them and how they had to prepare or how they like you know dealt with everything afterwards.

And so that would be another ask that I have for you if you're not already doing that.

Thank you.

Definitely something to consider.

So thank you.

I would as an educator myself we always love having guests in the classroom.

So if the time allows we would love obviously for everyone to just sit in and be a part.

Okay.

That being said we let me pull up these notes here.

Okay.

So seeing no questions from directors and there is no further business on the agenda.

The meeting stands adjourned at 741 p.m.

Thank you.

I hope you all have a wonderful evening.

Thank you Director Hersey.