It is a little past 4 15. Welcome to the May 15 2019 Seattle School Board legislative meeting.
As we begin the board would like to recognize and honor the first peoples of the Puget Sound territories by acknowledging that we are on the land of the coastal Salish tribes.
We'd also like to welcome Gabby Ms. Mella who's joining us on the dais this evening from Franklin High School.
Go Quakers.
Ms. Ms. Ms. Ms. Mella will have a chance to give comments later in the evening.
Welcome.
Roll call please.
We are having some technical difficulties that we're working through.
Please give us your patience.
Director Burke here.
Announce yourselves people please.
Director Patu here.
Director Geary here.
Director Mack here.
Director Pinkham here.
Director Harris here and Director DeWolf had a conflict engagement this evening.
If you choose to please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.
Next up on your published agenda is the John Rogers Elementary Choir.
However like many Seattleites this afternoon they are stuck in traffic.
So Madam Superintendent the floor is yours.
We are we are swapping and doing the best we can given our limitations.
Thank you.
I'm sorry I'm not the John Rogers Elementary choir.
I cannot sing but I am glad we're all here.
I do have a few things if I can find them.
I just want to begin to by thanking the curriculum and instruction leadership particularly Mary Margaret and the science coaches Dr. Kinoshita and Ms. Toner.
They have shepherded a 100 plus hour process over the last year to bring these science adoption recommendations to the board today for introduction.
This team of educators and community members has shown dedication to both the process outlined at by and board policy as well as ensuring our students receive a world class rigorous science education that is aligned to the new science standards.
I realize this work has been difficult.
And I'm humbled by their work and want to extend my gratitude to them.
I know they've kept our students at the forefront of this ethically conducted process and just want to thank them publicly for that.
So starting out, just so you know, you can either call me your honor or doctor now that I have an honorary doctorate from the University of Montana.
Last weekend, this is me and President Bodnar.
So really excited about that trip.
That was fun.
I like to ask for my own applause.
This kindergarten at Concord International Elementary was writing about her party.
They were doing persuasive essays about different types of parties.
My favorite was the cotton candy party.
The whole class was writing about the party they wanted to have.
And the good news is I got invited to everyone's party made me happy.
This is one of our amazing SEL teachers.
She was sharing how proud she was of her students work at Gatewood Elementary.
Students shared all the wonders at Genesee Hill.
These fifth graders did not miss any of the highlights.
I had students waiting on every corner as I turned the corners in the hallways to showcase some of the work that was going on.
And while I was there I discovered the PE teacher at Genesee Hill was a female Olympic basketball player back in the 80s.
So we told her if we ever take on the city in basketball she's on my team.
These young scholars at Franklin High and our student should be in this picture as well.
They asked very thoughtful questions to Chief Best and I when we were there visiting with them.
They asked about the school to prison pipeline.
They asked why Seattle Police placed a watchtower in their neighborhood.
Very powerful conversations and every time I'm in.
community with the young people in this district.
I'm always inspired and awed by the attention they're paying to justice and to the things that they feel that they need to advocate for and raise their voices.
So I want to thank them for that.
JJ and Danny showed me around Lawton Elementary.
These fourth graders are very proud of the art and the community being built at their school.
It was a lot of fun that they was picking out books for summer reading at the library.
So that was nice to see.
This is Tegan you may have heard earlier in the year.
She was a fan of corny jokes and she learned that I was a fan of corny jokes so she wrote and mailed me a card with a joke in it a few months ago and so I finally got to visit her school at Coe Elementary got to meet her in person and she came armed with a book of jokes.
So watch out for future Juneau Journal.
Anika and I shared bird stories at Catherine Blaine K-8.
She was monitoring quail eggs for a science experiment she was doing.
I shared about my observations of Francis the crow.
If you have not following my Twitter feed, there is an American crow that has made a nest outside my office window.
And so we are chronicling her.
the goings on.
And so she and her partner, who we've dubbed Frank, keep a close eye from the seagulls outside the window.
There are now nestlings in the nest, and so we're keeping a close eye and making sure that things go okay.
But I also wished Annika's well on her quail eggs hatching.
Josephine was leading her peers in a sight word lesson.
This was on teacher appreciation day our teacher appreciation week.
So it was really fun to see this class totally engaged in reading activities.
It was a big class.
There were all kinds of groups going on.
But Josephine was leading her peers in a sight word lesson and this was a kindergarten class and it was really amazing.
There were groups throughout the room being led by the kindergartners.
The teachers were engaged in FMP testing and all of the students were engaged in reading activities.
Staff Concord International Elementary with Principal Sansalone and they also had a visit from Good Donut that day.
I would like to congratulate him on becoming the official principal and thank him for serving as interim this year.
He's proven himself to be a great leader of that school and has been installed as the principal for next year and so thank you.
And I know great things will continue under his leadership.
At Gatewood Elementary Principal Hogg and A.P.
Kaplan showed me around.
Both are newish to the school and they are creating a strong data driven student focused culture and that is a top priority from them.
It was very clear.
Principal and school leadership at Genesee Hill are invested in legacies.
While I was there they had a student who's Grandmother was the superintendent of Seattle Public Schools and so they're talk of principal of that school and so they were talking a lot about the legacies of Genesee Hill Elementary their ancestors and what how they helped shape the community that they now go to school in.
As part of teacher appreciation week the staff at Lawton enjoyed a delicious lunch provided by their PTSA.
It looked and smelled so good.
I thought we were invited but it was just for a picture.
Just saying principal Dino and I are posing in front of the Keith Herring like art display that the fourth grade class did every fourth grader in their school.
These are all over the school building there.
Every fourth grade is represented and they're hung throughout the school.
So it's pretty cool.
Principal Turner and I are in front of the majestic Franz Coe Elementary and if you have not seen this building you should check it out at the front of it really does look like the Supreme Court with the pillars and it's very cool and she's really so appreciative of this great space and the use they're making of it.
It's very beautiful building.
Principal Lodaj and I discussed his family engagement work this year.
He will say goodbye to about 150 students and families as they transition into the summer.
While he will miss these students they will get to be the first group in the newly soon to be reopened Magnolia Elementary School.
This is a room full of early childhood partners at the Rainier Community Center.
There isn't a day that goes by in this job when I don't realize how fortunate our district is and that our students are so lucky to have so many people in their corner helping them succeed with about 280 school partners and in every space I'm in and the support that we have and the cheering on and the cheering section that we have.
It's really phenomenal.
Chief Best showed me around her world.
This facility is actually within blocks of here which we were surprised to find out houses a variety of vehicles.
I got to see like the bomb car and the SWAT car and all that kind of stuff.
But this four legged friend is one of the bomb sniffing officers and she showed us how she did her job is very impressive.
I did a soft launch and ask of my new friends at the Rotary Club.
I shared our I shared our strategic plan.
I shared our plans for summer reading launch and how and asked them you know about kinds of the service work that they're doing and how they might be able to partner with us in that in our efforts.
This is President Cindy.
She's president of the Rotary Club and John Bridge, of course.
John's been really helpful at getting me in front of all kinds of different groups that want to support our students.
And we're so lucky to have him in our corner.
I also met again with Licton Springs K-8 families and staff.
It's my third meeting with the community just talking about different things about their school their identity their data their space and I know that the overcrowding and sharing space at Robert Eagle Staff Middle School has been challenging and I'm really appreciative of the principal often and her Her ability to keep the family staff and students focused on what matters most and that is improving school climate and student learning.
This school will continue to define itself and become stronger as a result of this hard work.
And thank you Director Burke for coming out for that meeting.
Thank you to the Seattle Schools Foundation for this wonderful scholarship event.
And thank you President Harris and Director Pinkham for attending this event.
Again just hearing the stories of the students who received this scholarship was really powerful and just proved their persistence in their pursuit of excellence.
And I wish all of them the very very best on their journeys.
This concludes my remarks.
Thank you President Harris.
Thank you.
I believe the John Rogers choir has arrived.
So if board members would sit in the front row we can enjoy the entertainment for the evening.
Thank you.
Hello.
Thank you for the opportunity to sing today.
We really appreciate it.
We're a little school from northeast Seattle.
We've had to bus a long way to get here and we're very thankful to be here.
Our school focus for the month is gratitude so we're grateful.
to our audience.
We're grateful to our PTA for the bus that provided us the chance to get here and our T-shirts.
And we'd like to share three pieces of music that bring us joy and share our heritage from our choirs of our.
members have the same heritage as these songs that we chose.
So we would like to start with a song from Russia called The Birch Tree where we are thanking the birch for its contribution to musical instruments and we're going to sing about the balalaika traditional Russian string instrument that we're going to make out of the birch tree.
♪ See the lovely birch in the meadow ♪ ♪ Curly leaves all dancing when the wind blows ♪ ♪ Lully, lull when the wind blows ♪ ♪ Lully, lull when the wind blows ♪ ♪ Oh, my little tree, I knew branches ♪ For as they stood up with flutes, I need three branches.
Lully, lull, three branches.
Lully, lull, three branches.
From another branch I will make now.
♪ I will make a tingling balalaika ♪ ♪ Lulilu balalaika ♪ ♪ Lulilu balalaika ♪ ♪ When I'm in a new balalaika ♪ ♪ I will think of you, my lovely birch tree ♪ Lully, lully, lovely red string.
Lully, lully, lovely red string.
Thank you.
Can I have our Glockenspiel players take a bow.
These students Joey Maya and Violet have come to our club during our school day to practice those parts.
So thank you.
Let's let them back in.
Let's see if I can.
Okay.
So our next song is a folk song from Vietnam.
It's called Qua Cao Kieu Bay.
And we're singing it in Vietnamese but the meaning of it is a young man who meets a woman and he gives her some of his possessions a coat and some other things and then a ring.
But when his parents ask where those possessions are disappearing he keeps telling them that the wind on the bridge blew them away.
So this translates to the wind on the bridge and we have.
We are the children of the land We are the children of the land
Zang-a-yi-a-kwa-goo Ting-ting-ting-zo-bay Ting-ting-ting-zo-bay Aiyia, ayiyia, ayiyia, ayiyia
Songhaiya huasho Ting ting ting, go away Ting ting ting, go away
We are the children of the land.
We are the children of the land.
We are the children of the land.
We are the children of the land.
We are the children of the land.
Thank you.
And we would like to finish with lift every voice and sing the African-American National Anthem.
♪ Lift every voice and sing ♪ ♪ Till earth and heaven ring ♪ ♪ Ring with the harmonies of liberty ♪ ♪ Let our rejoicing rise high as the listening skies ♪ ♪ Let it resound loud as the rolling sea ♪ Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us.
Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us.
Facing the rising sun of our new day begun, let us march on till victory is won.
You join me.
Whoa.
Hot spot indeed.
There you go.
Can you introduce yourself.
How long you've been teaching.
How long you've been teaching with Seattle Public Schools and at John Rogers.
And then we're going to hand the microphone off to you all.
Introduce yourselves.
Tell us which grade you're on and then pass her down if you would.
OK.
Thank you.
Thank you.
My name is Stephanie Trenier and I've been at John Rogers for nine years now and in the Seattle School District for nine years.
So this has been my home school and it's been a wonderful school.
I'm very glad to be part of it.
It's very supportive of the arts.
My name is Liam and I'm in fourth grade.
My name is Giselle Williams and I am in fourth grade.
My name is Sari and I'm also in 4th grade.
My name is Abubakar and I'm in 4th grade.
My name is Billy and I'm in 4th grade.
My name is Maya and I'm in 4th grade.
My name is Jayva and I'm in 4th grade.
My name is Bethel and I'm in 4th grade.
My name is Elizabeth and I'm in 4th grade.
My name is Hazel and I'm in 3rd grade.
My name is Violet and I'm in 4th grade.
My name is Will and I'm also in 4th grade.
My name is Aurelia and I'm in fourth grade.
My name is Joey and I'm in third grade.
My name is Amari and I'm in third grade.
My name is Phoebe and I'm in third grade.
My name is Sanai and I'm in third grade.
My name is Angelina and I'm in third grade.
My name is Victoria and I'm in grade three.
My name is Rose and I'm in third grade.
My name is Annie and I'm in third grade.
My name is Mahia and I'm in third grade.
OK.
You all need to wave to the camera.
And then tomorrow.
The camera is right up there.
And tomorrow you send the YouTube link to grandparents cousins aunts and uncles because y'all should be very very proud.
Thanks again.
Thanks for coming and seeing us.
Okay, great.
OK we are up for board committee reports.
Who would like to go first.
Director Geary C&I and legislative please.
Thank you so much.
OK on C&I our next meeting will be May 21st 2019 at 4 30. Our agenda is yet another really packed one I think towards the end of the year we end up really putting in a lot trying to get a lot of work done so that things are ready to roll in the next year.
So for board action reports we'll be approving students rights and responsibilities or are considering moving to full board students rights and responsibilities power school licenses maintenance and support the career and technical education annual report along with the CTE tech purchases request.
Policy 32 32 which is the parent and student rights in administration of surveys analysis or evaluations for those who are interested in that topic.
And then 2022 is one that I think will be of great interest to a lot of people which is the electronic learning.
It's teed up with a lot of discussion built into it in that.
We did a lot of community engagement around electronic and learning and what it means to have electronic devices in our schools.
And there was a lot of input and differing.
No surprise in this district.
So if you're interested in that issue please take a look at what's online and always feel free to provide us your feedback.
What's that.
Sorry just for clarification our committee materials aren't typically posted.
The agenda is but then like the community would have to request from the board office to get a copy.
OK.
Thank you.
But they could also attend the meeting they can attend if they wanted to hear the discussion and they can ask and or it's also noticed that if it's passed out of committee.
At that point it will come to the board for introduction and then the next meeting after that potential potentially up for vote.
So I'm just queuing it up so people are aware that it is coming down the line if they're interested in that issue.
The policies that will be up for discussion but not necessarily to be passed through at that point for the board is 2 1 8 5 physical education the annual review which I believe is part of superintendent procedure.
One question that I've asked to be included in the discussion is the intersection around adaptive PE and are unified because our unified services tend to come under athletics whereas adaptive PE.
PE comes under physical education and while there seems to be a lot of opportunity for intersection between adaptive and unified.
I don't know if we've structured that properly in our district so I'm hoping in the context of that report we can see what we can do to make sure that there is the intersection.
intersecting discussions that should be happening there.
And then we also have the CSIP annual approval the continuous school improvement plans which come up every year and are always great for good discussion about the district's.
The CSIP ends up being now the district's ability to guide our individual buildings in their work and then it's the document around which the BLTs and the individual buildings can discuss what it is they hope for their building or their school to achieve the weaknesses the strengths the focuses and it's an opportunity for the district to provide some guidance in that which is I think a really helpful thing.
We will be looking.
We're going to continue to look at 2015 which is the curriculum adoption policy which seems particularly relevant tonight because we're going to be doing a lot of discussion about adoption policy or curriculum adoption.
And.
I can't say how much I appreciate now that we're really slowing down that work because the process that we've gone through now has been very difficult on our district.
And so to the extent that we can shore up.
The policy.
So that it and the procedures such that it will help.
Guide us through a smoother process.
I think that's really important work and one that I will take very very seriously and hopefully as we work on that we will be going out for the appropriate amount of input.
And then up finally is 2024 which is up for approval today.
And then but it's on the consent agenda and we'll be talking a little bit more about that because I've heard a lot from families around special education.
And so I just want to assure them that we are listening to them and so there'll be a little bit more discussion about that.
As for legislative I'm going to defer.
I know that there's been the passing of 15 99 which now because of the sweeping changes around alternative paths for graduation we're going to have to be looking at a lot of our policies to see if there's going to be adjustments made even some that we're looking at tonight.
We anticipate there will be adjustments but that is all I have to report on that.
Director Mack do you want to add more on that.
Yeah just that the 1599 I think is potentially has is far reaching it will impact some of our policies.
I mean one of the things is that happened is that the the science exam is no longer required as a graduation requirement.
So delinking that has happened.
And so I look forward to fully understanding the ramifications.
I think everyone is trying to understand how it's going to play out and it will impact our graduation requirements and credits and so forth.
So thanks for mentioning that.
Thank you.
Director Mack chair of Ops and also legislative liaison.
And we already did the legislative liaison.
I don't have a family and ed FEPP levy oversight update.
We did that last time.
Next meeting's in a couple of weeks.
Ops committee.
I think the first thing that I actually want to say that I'm super excited about is we had our superintendent evaluation conversation yesterday and on there is something related to doing analysis around capacity and enrollment.
And I'm just super excited about that being a focus because it's something we've been talking about a lot and we do.
We're working hard on and I just want to say thank you for the continued focus on that.
Recently I'm sorry I'm not remembering the date we held a session the semi-annual capital projects update as well as.
enrollment and capacity analysis related to one of our policies.
That was a really good long work session.
Those materials are posted.
There's a lot of good data if you're interested in diving into the numbers of wait lists building capacity those sorts of things.
Our meeting for Ops is tomorrow next door 430 open agendas posted.
And as I mentioned earlier you can access all the materials by calling the board office and it's this big.
So it's like 300 pages.
It's big.
And so we have a packed agenda but maybe not as packed as C&I.
We are talking always about the work plan kind of making sure we're planning forward.
We are we'll be talking about our milk contract because every year we have to approve our milk contract is important.
Summer food program.
There's a number of building related items on there.
Webster Daniel Bagley Cascade parent partnership a lot of buildings are getting updated and we're going to do policy discussion around a number of policies and these are going to come they're not they're not coming in the form of a bar that we're going to be moving really quickly they're coming with kind of draft policy language so that we can have a robust conversation about those policies before we try to move them quickly forward.
So one of them is policy 69 0 0 which is facilities master planning and super excited we have a draft because we're going to also be planning to maintain our 6901 which is levy planning which previously incorporated a lot of facilities planning policy but disentangling those two I think will be really helpful.
We're gonna be talking about the district notification of juvenile offenders which is 31 43. It's a WSSDA model policy as well as 4500 another WSSDA model unmanned aircraft systems and model aircraft.
There's some things we need to put into place around that and surveillance cameras is 66 1 0 for special attention items.
We're going to be getting the annual report on policy 42 60 which is facilities activities and rental rates what's going on in all of our buildings that we're renting out as well as an update around our facility joint use agreements with the city.
Those are coming due for renewal sometime soon and we'll get an update about what that where that's at what the process is et cetera as well as an update on the use of our playground development funds.
Folks may remember that there's additional dollars that have been focused on developing our playgrounds especially in some of our higher needs schools.
The last two things is we're going to be talking about the proposal for the enrollment capacity and facilities planning advisory committee.
And lastly we just added this so it's new is having a quick update on the technology plan as it relates to what is the implementation plan around technology for the district related to the BEX lobbies going forward.
So that sets the stage that plan kind of sets the stage for what we do in the future.
So we're going to get a quick update on that tomorrow as well.
And I think that's it.
Looking forward to it.
Director Pinkham chair of Audit and Finance please.
Good evening.
Our audit and finance next meeting is coming up this Monday May 20th 4 3 6 30 and encourage people if you're interested to please stop by and listen to the discussion that goes on with A&F.
You know most discussion we go have there is about being in compliance that we're making sure we're not dotting all our i's and lowercase j's.
Items of discussion at this upcoming audit and finance.
Got 11 bars and Clover Codd will be helping us with the meeting as our chief financial officer is taking a much needed vacation.
So Clover thank you for covering.
And.
Most of what's on the bar is related to SPED but we do this on Head Start grant applications that come for discussion sign language interpreter vendors.
A special designed instruction which is a tutoring services and other education services.
One bar that I found interesting is early support for infants and toddlers.
I'm looking for more information on that as well as that comes up because as we're looking at infant support before we're K through 12 then pre K through 12 where does now infants fit into the scope of our work.
So it'd be interesting to see what that all entails.
Continuing our work with the University of Washington EEU is on the item for a BAR the Newland Center for Children.
Again there's more SPED therapeutic day treatment Seattle Children's Hospital private school proportional share that deals with how much money we do get for SPED and how much we also need to make sure that our private schools get their share as well.
McGilvra PTA grant is going to be coming forward as a BAR.
And.
Probably I don't know how much needed I don't know how old our replacement vehicles are.
Time to start replacing some of the vehicles we have in our fleet so that will be coming forward.
Informational items coming up.
For this next meeting.
Renewal.
Employment agreement with an amendment and we'll be working with.
An old boy on that.
Informational item.
I got some contracts as seen in 250K.
And starting the conversation on.
Policy 5253 which is about maintaining staff and student boundaries.
Is coming forward as informational item and.
We'll hope look forward to the.
How that proceeds.
Some grand inventory for us that you know I think definitely help with Director Geary making sure that we're considering all grants that our schools are getting is now becoming a regular item on A&F.
After that shortly after our May 20th meeting we'll have our quarterly audit A&F meeting on June 2nd.
So watch out for that one as well.
And then following those.
Our June and August meetings.
And also just want to announce that I do continue to have my monthly meetings with Andrew Medina.
The next meeting I'll have with him will be on Thursday and that's more private meetings as we update see how things are going within our district.
And that's what I have for A&F.
Qeˀciyéẁyéẁ.
OK an executive committee.
We continue to work on board superintendent slash staff communications.
We're working through it.
We're having rich thoughtful conversations using examples of how would I what would I have done differently etc. and weaving that in.
We have not had an official exec committee meeting since the last one that we reported on two weeks ago the next one.
is a week from tomorrow May 23rd and we hope that our friends and valued colleagues at SEA will be joining us so that we can have lovely conversations that are not necessarily collective bargaining related so that we can have thoughtful conversation what's on their horizon what's on ours so we can tee those up.
Y'all are welcome.
It's a public meeting.
Also wanted to say something about the lack of materials for the committee meeting agendas.
Nobody up here or on staff is trying to be non-transparent but as folks will recall we are under a federal court consent order probably one of the most stringent in the United States of America and other legislative bodies in terms of having all of our materials uploaded on the web have to be ADA compliant.
Additionally.
We have very narrow bandwidth in terms of staff and money to do that.
However the board staff that we do have is most helpful if you call them up and ask them for the materials one by one they will get them to you probably within a couple of hours if not the same date.
They're extraordinarily elegant about it and.
A I wish we had more money to do those interpretations and translations and B I wish we had more money that we could do more community outreach and more staff for the board because quite frankly we are running them into the ground.
And with that Gabby you're up.
Ms. Mesmela serves as the ASB vice president of Franklin High School.
In addition to the traditional school activities ASB's coordinate across the city.
Gabby was instrumental in coordinating Franklin High School's Keep the South End Safe campaign and student led action last year in the horrific and sad aftermath of losing student Ryan DeLaCruz.
Her passion for our school in the south end of Seattle is unrivaled as is her dedication to Franklin High School and the surrounding communities.
Your comments please tell us what we need to know.
Tell us what you want us to know and tell us a little bit about where you're going.
OK.
I first want to say thank you guys for allowing me to sit up here with you.
And I also want to say thank you for helping us or providing us new windows and doors at Franklin during the summer.
It's a key necessity to better our environment school and we greatly appreciate it.
If someone were to ask me what Franklin meant to me I would tell you that it was my home.
While spending the last four years of my life here I've come to terms that I wouldn't want to spend my high school years anywhere else.
Franklin is a place where we turn our trauma into celebrations where equality is practiced and preached.
Where aspired leaders are constantly pushing past the barriers.
It is a place where all hope is given.
Growing up in the south end of Seattle it's easy to lose grip of aspirations and dreams and confine them based off of the reality that hits majority of minorities.
We're told to dream big and reach for the stars but at the same time we're given these restrictions of stereotypes that hold us back.
But at Franklin.
But at Franklin we're free from all the stereotypes and we have people in our corner who actually want to see us succeed.
Some highlights I want to mention are that national our national mock trial team is currently in Athens Georgia defending their title.
We have ultimate Frisbee players playing for national teams and professionally while still in school.
And for years we've had our annual power justice freedom but particularly this year it was 100 percent student driven.
I could go on about how amazingly unique Franklin is but as great as I can make it sound there are also many things holding us back from being better.
One thing I would like to mention is that Franklin is the only south end school or south end high school that doesn't have access to procurement cards.
Our leadership and ASB teams and advisors are often spending our own money or having to go through the processes of PO's which is very stressful for our students and our advisors and we know that Cleveland came earlier in the year and mentioned that they didn't have access to these cards but since requested they got it and as well as Rainier Beach.
So we're just asking if if it's possible if we could get those as well.
And then.
Another thing I want to mention tonight is the inability to hold events or fundraisers when working with the rules of the 609. As the current ASB vice president my team and I often find it difficult having to follow all the rules and regulations that are given.
And as much as respect as we do as we.
As much respect we give for the 609 and you guys for the rules.
We just want to find a common ground so that everybody can you know have the events and do what we want to do.
And then.
Yeah that's really all I have.
And then a little bit about me is that I've actually just got accepted into the Academy of Rising Educators.
Yeah.
So.
I will be.
Continuing my education next year through you guys which I'm super thankful for.
And.
Yeah.
That's about it.
Thank you.
Do any board directors have some questions.
For Gabby.
Comments.
Other than.
I am so thrilled you made my day.
Thank you for that.
Rising.
Academy.
Director Mack.
Well I just I appreciate that you brought.
Questions to us I'm not sure where the procurement card.
Issue goes to to staff.
Director.
Mr. Nielsen's raising his hand so we'll.
You'll get connected.
So thank you for bringing that issue.
And I just I also want to say.
I just want to say thank you for.
Mentioning the importance of the buildings and the windows and I'm glad that's made you happy because it's so important.
It's I mean being warm and dry and safe in your buildings is so important.
And so thank you and congratulations.
Director Burke please.
I also want to congratulate you and ask in in as far as education what is your what is your passion what age group or what focus area.
I think my main priority going into this was kind of giving back to my community.
It wasn't necessarily working with certain type of people or with a certain type of like education area.
It was kind of just me wanting to give back because I know how much everybody in the Franklin community has given for me or has done for me so I just want to be able to add on to that.
That's wonderful.
Thank you.
And I really appreciate your range of comments as Director Mack mentioned the facilities collaboration with district and our systems and our labor partners and finding a way to really center students in that conversation.
And so thanks for bringing that up.
Superintendent Juneau you betcha.
Thank you and.
Thank you for all your student advocacy and rising up and making sure that you're giving voice to the right values that your school holds and for being a leader.
You know you were in the circle with us with Chief Best and I you're doing the right things and so I just want to thank you for raising your voice.
I want to thank you for being a part of the Academy for Rising Educators and for being a strong black woman in that movement and making sure that we are going to be really happy to welcome you back as an educator in this district.
So thank you.
It's a whole new definition of paying it forward.
Thank you very much.
OK.
We have come to the consent agenda may have a motion for the consent agenda please.
I move passage of the move approval of the consent agenda.
I second the motion.
OK so we've come to the consent agenda.
It's been moved and seconded.
Do directors have any items they would like to remove from the consent agenda.
I have one and that would be to correct and amend the minutes of the April 23rd I believe work session.
Other directors have items I'd like to remove from the consent agenda.
Director Geary.
Amendment to board policy 2024 online learning.
And that's what number on the consent.
Thank you ma'am.
Any others that would like to be removed and addressed in action items.
Director Mack please.
I think that the corresponding similar 24 20 I think acknowledging the.
Is that item number six on the consent agenda ma'am.
Yes the fact that these numbers are so close 2024 and 24 28 it's really hard to keep track.
Number five number six and the minutes have been removed from the consent agenda.
The consent agenda as amended.
Those in favor signify by saying aye.
Aye.
Aye.
Those opposed.
Consent agenda has been passed.
We will move.
those three items to action items.
Now we come to director reports and I would ask my colleagues to save their comments for science adoption until we get to that introduction item.
Who would like to give their board comments first.
Don't all yell at once.
Director Burke then Director Geary
Thank you.
So with your permission, on the science, I had some general comments that I did want to share, and then the specific ones.
But I will try to be cognizant of time.
So to begin, thanks everyone for coming.
And it's been a busy, month so far and last month as well for staff and board and community a couple of things that that have been in my recent history.
I had the pleasure of doing a tour of the fair start culinary program.
They're providing our students with a really amazing low barrier opportunities.
that integrate learning building community.
They operate a culinary basically an entire system preparation serving cash handling and so they provide training and experiences for our for our students at interagency and some of our Nova students and.
The their impacts on graduation rates and retention rates and attendance rates for those students is really powerful.
So I I encourage my colleagues to to to take that tour if you can.
I want to commend Superintendent Juneau for her passion and support her thoughtful leadership around Licton Springs and that community.
I think the multiple visits that she's made and the focus on that work it really speaks to how your values are aligned and trying to.
bring that community to a place where they feel heard and their students get both the social emotional supports that they've historically valued and spoken about but also the student growth and academic outcomes that I think everybody here is aspiring for.
So publicly I want to commend you for that.
I had a community meeting.
A couple of weeks ago the topics that came up were of course science.
We had some high school teachers and adoption committee members present had rich thoughtful conversation about that.
We had some folks from Washington Middle School and their ask for us as a board and specifically for the district is to really support their school.
with positive action district facilitation as they work through budget staffing and CSIP development and leadership transition.
We got an at the meeting we also got an update on our dual language immersion programs.
We had a community member that has been really active in helping those out.
An update on what's going on at Lincoln High School with the Spanish and especially the Japanese program which had previously been a little bit at risk based on enrollment.
And I think through the the support and enthusiasm of the community around it it sounds like they have a viable cohort for that which is really exciting.
So just as a tee up around.
One more thing.
I had this supreme pleasure earlier today to visit Denny International Middle School.
I see some of the folks that I met at school at Denny in the audience.
And so I want to put a special thank you to Anastasia Sanchez and Principal Jeff Clark.
We're taking time out of their day where really they need to be running the school and managing students to talk to me about my concerns about their their successes and some of the amazing things going on there.
I got to visit three classrooms a sixth seventh and eighth and see what they've done with that program.
So that was really neat.
And thank you publicly for that.
So the general comments I want to make around the science adoption is just that that there's there are there's three separate bars and I'll hold the comments for the specific bars when they come up.
But I feel like there's a lot of passion and some misunders — misinformation swirling around the history of the adoption process and the discussion among the community and the board.
So you know we're going to be going in.
We're already in this polarized environment so I guess I'm just going to ask that folks practice being civil.
listening to understand and then my expectation is also that as professionals you know we engage in thoughtful dialogue and I'll be candid that I don't believe that that is using district email groups as political.
vehicles I don't think that's necessarily an appropriate use of resources.
So I am open to hearing conversation and really excited about the conversations I've had.
They've been super powerful they shape my understanding of our classroom needs and our future aspirations.
But I also know enough about the industry and science of data analytics to be wary and recognize the draw of the education market.
I know how it's a million a billion dollar market multi-billion dollar market and it can really make our kids and our teachers look like acquisition targets.
That is on my mind.
as a director publishers and education technology organizations are deliberate strategic and they're very good at messaging to get their feet in the doors and get their products and software licenses into school districts.
So this includes free samples pilots professional development seminar seminars testimonials awards media exposure third party rankings.
The list goes on and on.
There are a lot of strategies that publishers can use to get their material out in front of all of us as consumers.
And I think we have to be cognizant of that.
We also have to be cognizant of those that don't have.
that exposure to do that there's a huge range of high quality materials.
But as a board director I see it as one of my fundamental responsibilities to be aware of that to challenge that and put educating our kids and financial stability of the district first and foremost.
So I'm just as a board director I'm not willing to be the board director that hands our kids our youngest learners over to a third party to be profiled.
And so recognize that's not always the the the the experience but we just have to be really aware of the market and how technology is coming into play here.
Thank you.
Director Geary next up.
So most of my comments because most of the contact that I've had with the public the last couple of weeks have been around either the adoption or the.
24 20 because of the visits to my community meeting.
I do want to acknowledge that the shooting that happened in the central district that killed the 19 year old.
That was a Sandpoint family and that there are members of the Sandpoint community who have been devastated by it.
And so to the extent that people want to help support that I can put you in touch with the names of people who are doing the work.
I don't take credit for doing that work personally but I do acknowledge that that community has been harmed and that they are devastated by it.
And I think that it's worth us realizing that that happens and that there is a family in our schools that is in crisis.
So I do acknowledge that.
I don't know if we want to take time now for general comments but I guess since we have started I can do that now or we can do it later.
What would you prefer.
President.
It's 5 15. We need to start public testimony.
We have a 45. person waitlist and that's after taking 25 slots for public testimony.
So to the extent that we can make our comments short so we can get there on time and then we'll roll into the other.
Well as as the chair of curriculum instruction I just think starting this with some gratitude.
Is really important.
And so that's what I've prepared to do.
So I wanted to give thanks for all the people who have raised their voice in this adoption.
Process.
I want to give thank you to our board.
Because for many many years.
Curriculum was not put in the hands of our teachers and our schools.
And that was not accounted for in our funding.
And so that this board has made very hard decisions not always even agreed upon by the teachers to do that work.
I thank you for that because I truly believe it is a matter of equity that we make sure our teachers have the tools that are necessary.
And to the public I thank you for continuing to provide us with your questions and cause us to have to really think about the work that we're doing and to test our own assumptions to the teachers who have come to testify and provide us e-mails.
About the importance of this adoption to them in their classroom so that they can have the opportunity to provide their students with aligned instruction.
That's really important too.
To our superintendent who has overseen the adoption process and has allowed the board incredible access to staff to answer the thousands of questions and inquiries that we have brought.
That has been a tremendous lift.
They've had to redirect much work.
Continuously answering the same questions over because they come and they need to be looked at again.
And so it has been a huge lift for everybody.
To the science staff and Mary Margaret Welsh who also have worked tirelessly to bring aligned curriculum to all of our schools since the passage of NGSS in 2011. It has been that long.
That we have gone without aligned curriculum.
For our teachers.
And they have worked to bring alignment to bring adoption to get into the hands of our teachers by hook and crook perhaps.
Looking at the way to do it because at the end of the day those teachers need the tools to teach their students and especially in the classes and the schools that have the highest rotation in their schools of the teachers and have the least amount of the fiscal resources available from the parents to supplement.
So thank you.
Thank you for caring so much and understanding how important that is.
I'm going to give thanks to our former superintendent Larry Nyland who actually approved the waivers that are in conflict but were so necessary.
To make sure.
That those teachers had materials when the school board.
Would not get them in their hands.
So that is an important thing.
And even to.
The publishers who provide things for free.
When they find out that that is what is necessary because schools have nothing.
So I'll give a thanks to that too.
I am thankful.
We have private partners out there.
That are willing to donate in order to make sure that our most vulnerable students.
Have aligned curriculum.
I'm going to go out on a limb.
Call me crazy.
I'm going to thank them too.
And to our research and evaluation team.
Who did their absolute best to keep up with all of.
The.
Public crunching of numbers and analysis and to try to explain to us and the public.
What.
Statistically reliable information we should be relying on in terms of looking at the outcomes being produced and even telling us that sometimes we can't get there yet because we haven't had it long enough.
But that's not a reason to keep delaying.
Getting aligned curriculum.
To our legal team I thank you as well.
Because again.
Every time a conflict of interest or a policy violation or a legal violation was brought up.
They would once again have to go through and analyze it.
To let us know.
That yes indeed our adoption committee.
Had followed policy.
And that our district was on task and in compliance with the law.
To our field testers who brought their professional teaching expert me expertise to the adoption committee for their consideration for taking the time for disrupting what they do for having to ignore some of the adaptations they've made.
To the curriculum and go back to the.
The very raw data and do that work with our kids in order that we have a fair comparison.
And to our adoption committee I thank you who took countless of hours to engage in a process that not all that not only ask them to review science curriculum but to center their work around the racial equity in accordance with policy 0 0 3 0. That lives at the heart of our district now.
And it must be part of every single inquiry.
That is what our policy requires.
We must do that.
And to all of our staff everyone and for the for the countless of hours they've spent for us to get to this moment where we actually have an opportunity.
To adopt a line curriculum for our students.
It has been such a dearth and I will say it was that failure over all those years that allowed the waivers.
So to the extent that.
Anybody.
Looks upon that suspiciously.
I would say that that was a.
Problem that the district created for itself.
When you leave a gaping chasm.
Then somebody is going to fill it and it must be filled if we're going to get our kids across it.
So.
I have faith and I trust in what has been done by our our adoption committee.
And having worked on the strategic plan committee I know that it's not a rubric necessarily.
It is conversations.
It is looking at things it is listening to one another.
It is considering all the factors that every single member of that committee brings.
to the conversation in making your vote as to what you think is going to be best.
And having listened to you and having read many of the e-mails I truly believe that you have centered your work around our students farthest from educational justice.
So I thank you profoundly and deeply for that.
So as we go forward let's show respect for one another.
Let's honor all the work that has been done and truly know that I appreciate I know the members of this board appreciate all the hard work that has gone in to where we are right now.
Let's take a stretch break and be back here at 530 to start public testimony on time.
Thank you.
you.