I thought it was me.
All right, thank you.
All right, so the executive session is now recessed at 6.30 p.m.
and the board, the board's recessed out of executive session is now reconvening the special meeting of the board in the auditorium.
We will now move to the action portion of the agenda.
So if I could ask Director Peasley to read the motion.
I move that the Board of Directors approve board resolution number 2015 slash 16 dash 5 and find that immediate adoption of this resolution is in the best interest of the district.
I second the motion.
All right.
And so why don't we turn to our general counsel and ask for an overview of the key points.
Please.
Good evening, John Cerqui, acting general counsel.
What you have before you is a board action report that attaches a resolution.
And in the resolution contains some items that staff are asking that the school board approve this evening.
And I'll go over those eight items.
The first one is a general statement giving the superintendent authorization to protect the best interests of the district in the event that there is a strike tomorrow.
The second one allows for the superintendent to close schools in the event there is a strike tomorrow so notice can be sent out to families for the duration of the strike.
The third bullet is to limit access to school facilities.
If school facilities do need to be closed it highlights allowing parents and students to come on campus for athletic activities but if there are other activities that need to be reviewed it gives Dr. Nyland the authority to look at that.
It allows for the hiring of temporary employees in an event that is necessary.
Hopefully that's not the case, but if that's needed to secure our facility, that's item number four.
Item number five is the authorization of legal action.
The Seattle Education Association is on strike.
Dr. Nyland has the authority to determine when and at what time legal action should be taken to look at what jurisprudence and what legal actions can happen to get SEA back into the classrooms to serve our students.
Six is continued bargaining.
It's a resolution asking that we continue to bargain.
I know our teens have been bargaining very late into the evening on both sides.
So this is a continued request by the school board that we continue those bargaining efforts.
Seven is a suspension of board meetings that there is a regular scheduled session tomorrow night and that staff is asking that that be postponed and that the board president reinstate it once the strike is over.
That way we can all focus on getting bargaining and going to the table with the items that we need to get this resolved.
And eight is a general statement just asking that we have the tools to implement this resolution.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Are there any questions from directors at this point?
I will say that we did have an opportunity to discuss the legal matters in executive session so I'll turn to Director Peasley.
I would like either the superintendent or John Cerqui to comment on why this resolution is in the best interest of the district.
We are asking that the resolution be adopted now so that we can protect district assets, that we can assure that legal matters be implemented if it's needed to get students and teachers back together in the classrooms and that the delay is not long.
It is my understanding that at one of the school districts, Marysville legal action wasn't taken and teachers were out on strike for 40 plus days.
Currently, Pasco is in the middle of a strike and a court order has been issued by the judge there requiring teachers to go back to school.
So we believe that it is important to get students and families back in the classroom with our teachers as soon as possible while we continue to negotiate.
So we do believe that it's important to adopt the resolution.
So the intention then is to continue to negotiate in hopes of reaching a resolution before legal action is taken.
Can you, am I correct in that?
Absolutely.
I know our bargaining team and Dr. Nyland want to have a resolution with the Seattle Education Association and legal would not be our first option.
It's just an option that we want to preserve in the event that it is needed.
Other questions from directors?
Director McLaren.
So as I understand the history you recounted in the Marysville strike about 12 years ago the board refrained they did not.
approve a resolution to take legal action and that strike went on for more than 40 days and I also understand that the last strike in Seattle in 1985 had the same situation where the board refrained from a resolution to go to court about it and that strike went on for about a month.
That's the information that I have heard from the outside counsel and so therefore it appears that by agreeing to go ahead and resolve to go to court we may be able to create a venue for us to come to resolution.
So I guess that's more of a comment than a question.
While I'm commenting, I do want to go on and say that I am devastated at the thought that we are not going to start school tomorrow.
And I am totally focused on the hope that our teams are going to resolve this within a day or two.
Thank you.
Other questions from directors?
Director Peters.
While we are talking about the context of strikes and the history isn't it also true though that recently in the district of Pasco the teachers voted to go on strike and then an injunction was issued and they recently voted to not heed the injunction.
So and so they continue to be on strike.
So is it not true that an injunction does not necessarily stop a strike?
The comments you made are correct.
And I'm not sure what the next order would be from a judge finding that teachers are not complying with the order of the court.
Let the speaker speak please.
Could you repeat that?
So there may be subsequent legal orders issued from that Superior Court judge related to the matter directing teachers back with potential sanctions or fines.
I don't know yet what that judge will issue in that matter.
Thank you.
Other questions from directors?
All right are there any other comments that any individual director might want to make?
I'll have a couple of comments that I will add.
Director Peters.
Well it is my fervent hope that a fair and reasonable agreement can still and soon be reached.
That is respectful of our educators and professionals and mindful of our district's resources.
There are many important components to this resolution that I do support but I do not believe that item number five is necessary and that is the authorization of legal action.
So I cannot support this action.
Other comments from directors?
Alright I'm not seeing others raise their hand I'll add a few comments in general.
I'll start by saying that everyone in Seattle Public Schools wants a timely start to school.
And the teams, both teams have been working very long hours working around the clock over the last what four days giving up their holiday weekend to try to reach an agreement.
It is our number one priority that we get this agreement reached and the issues that the teams are facing are absolutely challenging.
The board wants an agreement that works for both sides, both sides.
We're continuing, we're committed to continuing the negotiations.
The action that you're seeing here is a mitigating action that if or when a strike occurs that the superintendent has the authority to do the things he needs to do to ensure that the business and legal requirements and realities associated with the strike are addressed.
I will again emphasize this is our number one priority.
I would just say in closing, this is a textbook case of what results from a profoundly broken K-12 funding model in Washington State.
This is a losing combination of insufficient funds and a deep over reliance on local levies and our school district and our employees it leaves us unable to meet the obligations that we have to educate our students.
So after six years of cuts and loss of spending power it's time that our state legislature addresses this and gets it fixed in alignment with what they've been mandated under the McCleary lawsuit.
Thank you.
So with that, I believe we are to the point that we can call the roll.
Director Blanford.
Aye.
Director Martin-Morris.
Aye.
Director McLaren.
Aye.
Director Patu.
Abstain.
Director Peasley.
Aye.
Director Peters.
No.
Director Carr aye This motion has passed by a vote of 5 1 1 thank you all right, so With that we will call this meeting adjourned at it looks like 6 40 p.m.
Thank you, and the board will need to recess to closed session now
so