Seattle Public Schools
Committee on January 17 for approval.
Approval of this item would adopt board goals and objectives for self-development in 2019 per board policy 18 10 annual goals and objectives.
Now we have some talking points on this because Ellie our board manager even though she did the yeoman's work to do this isn't going to present.
So.
Jill you want to lead us off and I'll fill in please.
I would say it was the yo woman's work.
Thank you for all your work.
To hold ourselves accountable.
We too have goals and per board policy 18 10 the board adopts the goals for itself each year.
The executive committee when I was a part of the executive committee worked on the identification of goals And these were discussed throughout the fall and then presented to the full board during a work session on December 12th.
During the December work session directors offered refinements which have been incorporated into this BAR.
The proposed board goals are based on based on the feedback shared by the directors and consensus reached during the work session.
Three board goals were advanced by the executive committee as follows.
First the board will engage in racial equity training during this school year.
I think the cost and scope of that training were alluded to by Director Harris earlier and this will take you know this is a budget item for the board.
Second the board will work to improve board collaboration and governance.
This will include review and discussion of our policies that speak to the role of the board board officers and committees.
And again we have already scheduled a retreat where we will work on this.
And third the board will hold two work sessions off site as a pilot during the 2019 calendar year.
I think this is in particular a point that is exciting for the directors because at least I know during the time when I was running for board with Director Harris and Director Pinkham and Director Burke I think we all talked about how good it would be for our district if we brought our board meetings to the various geographic areas so people could have access to the magic.
The board adopts the BAR presented adopts these goals and will allow us to move into implementation phase so that we can ensure we achieve these goals before the board's next scheduled evaluation in November.
Again this is one of those places where we achieve consensus.
It took us too long because our plates are very very full and with respect to holding work sessions off site given The screaming success of the listening tours I would suggest to all that our staff is eminently capable of making that happen and we don't have to be fancy but we need to meet folks where they are.
And especially with first through fourth Southlander via DOOM etc.
It's even more and more important to get out in the community see and be seen and listen.
OK.
Number two.
Approval of courses with new content is defined by superintendent procedure 2026. This came before C&I January 15th for.
Approval.
Approval of this item would approve the courses including Native American language competency courses as attached to the board action report and consider any world language competency courses proposed after this board action report to be quote revised content end quote.
As defined by superintendent procedure 2026 Dr. Kinoshita please.
Good evening.
Kyle Kinoshita executive director curriculum assessment instruction and as President Harris pointed out we are presenting a BAR with many new courses in terms of excuse me the world language courses there are 16 total and we're proud to present that six of those courses are Native American languages.
There is also two advanced math courses, a foundational social studies course, and a new CT health course, which is part of a health science pathway that is being created.
And as you pointed out one of the proposals in the BAR is to allow us to you know present language courses as revised content instead of new content meaning that the chief academic officer could approve them.
And that's because they're not necessarily new curriculum other than the language.
And there are very similar ways that they're assessed.
So in any case I would end by saying that the adding of these language courses is a I think major asset to equity because it expands opportunity for multilingual students who are often underserved.
gives them an opportunity to give get them two world language high school credits which are also required for college entrance in four year colleges and in that way expands opportunity.
So I'll take any questions.
Director Pinkham then Director Mack.
Is it it's five native languages right now.
You said six or.
Well I thought I counted six.
I you know could go back and count them over again.
Yeah.
You know what I see.
Nez Perce being one Lakota being two Haida being three Diné now being four and then the Lushootseed being five.
Was there another one that I'm missing.
If you give me half a second I might take a look.
I mean if you consider Maya K'iche' indigenous you could call it that probably but I don't think it is within the bucket you're thinking of.
I only counted five as well.
OK.
You're correct.
This was a little bit hard to page through.
Yeah that's correct.
Sorry.
OK.
But thank you for pursuing this and also adding the language that if others come up through superintendent procedure we can offer them because I have.
Asked around and there are other people that speak native languages are coming forward.
Hey I know someone that might be able to help with that.
One of them being the Ojibwe language.
So we hope to see definitely add more native languages to this.
Qeˀciyéẁyéẁ Qeˀciyéẁyéẁ means thank you in Espers.
I'm very excited for the addition of these languages and these courses.
My question is around that I think the fourth the four or four so the four courses that are not the language courses that are in addition to our existing course catalog.
My question is around the typical scope and sequence and what these credits apply to.
And it's not transparent to me and the information provided where they fit in a scope and sequence of meeting standards or you know gaining the number and the appropriate types of credits to graduate from high school.
So I'm wondering where if there's a.
a crosswalk somewhere or where that information lies.
Did you.
Did you have a question about a particular course or did you mean all four of them.
My question is in general around these courses and all the courses in our catalog.
Those courses are by themselves they're a course but they're typically part of a scope and sequence of some you know there's a math scope and sequence there's a science scope and sequence there's humanities there's you know is that mapped out somewhere is there a crosswalk for all of our entire course catalog of where courses fit in and what they apply to.
So I need a humanities credit you can take these six things.
I'm wondering where because here is just a long list and so I don't know how that crosses over into the scope and sequence or which you know what these courses actually apply to in terms of you know required credits.
I can speak to for example one of the math courses which is the advanced calculus course that's listed and that came about because as If a student takes algebra in sixth grade by the time they go through the math course sequence there are no more courses to take.
You know as a senior unless they actually access running start and then you know which might be difficult for the schedule.
We would also lose a little bit of FTE.
So the idea there was to provide an opportunity for a senior class to actually take a course here in our Seattle Public Schools.
Director Geary.
I raised a different look at the same concern.
While these are in a catalog and it's my understanding from the conversation because we did have a pretty good conversation around this is that just because it's in the catalog doesn't necessarily mean it will be offered.
And so it would be up to the principal of the building to determine where it fits in to the sequence of courses available to their students.
The point that I raised is that according to the policy under which these came.
2026 it says that we are obligated to provide courses from K through 12 in alignment with the standards.
And so that when I see something like calculus 3 it raises a couple of flags for me when we are creating a new bar by which parents start striving earlier to get to so that kids are in.
Algebra that starts becoming what they think is the normal scope and sequence that they need to put their kids towards and they may be foregoing other opportunities with that drive.
And while that may seem good, you can talk to somebody who works at the UW, perhaps, like Director Pinkham, and find out that, who also sits on my committee, and find out that that's almost like a red herring, because even if the kids take that course, they really have to do it all over again, and so they may have foregone an opportunity for breadth, And it doesn't really save them the time perhaps that they thought they were going to gain.
I'm also concerned that it then creates a push within the school to not offer because there's only limited rooms teachers you know.
So then it becomes dedicated to something that is outside the K-12.
Standards.
So I have some concerns about our continuing to build up.
It sounds good.
It looks good on paper it seems elite.
But what are we sacrificing and what are our kids sacrificing in order to get to this new height.
It's just a question I don't answer it.
I appreciate your comments and thoughts Director Geary a lot because I think that's one of the challenges of of just having a long laundry list of courses but not as much clarification of what kind of the appropriate scope and sequences and what those courses are that that we are you know consistently going to offer and provide that breadth of.
So I guess I'm advocating that we do the work to actually map that so that we know and have some consistency across our course catalog.
Other questions comments concerns Director Pinkham since you've been called out.
Since my name was mentioned here.
Yeah.
I brought this up in the C&I meeting.
Calc 3. Again there's.
Good and bad.
One being that if our students are seeing that acceleration Rick Burke brought that are we trying to accelerate our students versus trying to advance them can become a risk.
So I'm going to try for Calc 3 and quickly zoom through Algebra 1 Algebra 2 boom OK now I'm in calculus by my sophomore year Calc 2 by my junior year.
And then if we don't have a Calc 3 they're taking something else their senior year because they ran out of math.
And then for us at the for universities that if a student want to go to one that needs calculus they usually end up.
Oh guys it's been a year since I had calculus and where do I start out again.
So that's where it's kind of good that we at least maybe have that option on the table that they could fill in that gap.
But then there is a drawback are they now trying to strive for that Calc 3 as fast as they can and they're not developing the skills that they truly need.
So yeah that they're.
Good and bad for this side.
But right now with the situation that I see this kind of filling the gap that we may need for those students that are going to probably get in calc 2 in a sense by their junior year and having something they can keep their calc skills and algebra skills.
Note that students algebra is where you really suffer the most when he gets to college because you forget those skills.
But thanks.
Appreciate this.
And Dr. DeBacker you're you're listening.
You you you hear where we're going and I'm sure you'll hear more.
Superintendent Juneau please.
I know we had talked about fiscal note on this and so this is sort of I know we're starting conversations around this and I'm in no way advocating that this should not pass but I'm starting to pose questions as these come forward to you because even though it says that there's no cost or a neutral cost I believe even a competency assessment a competency assessment would cost money.
And so just know that those are the conversations I'm starting to have with staff before they get here and build a more robust fiscal note so you guys can have more information as they as they come forward.
And so that was our first conversation about this.
So there will be more of that as it comes forward.
And it will make us all better.
Thank you.
OK.
Number four BTA IV award contract number K 5 1 0 5 bid number B 1 0 8 1 9 2 acts You set construction Inc.
for the relocation.
President Harris I apologize you're actually on number three.
I think you skipped three for that.
I appreciate it.
Let's go with number three approval of post-consumer food waste compost collection services contract bid number B 0 9 8 1 2 to be awarded to Cedar Grove composting came before Ops January 10 for approval approval of this item.
would authorize superintendent to execute a contract with Cedar Grove composting covering the period from March 1 2019 to December 31 2020 in the amount of two hundred forty two thousand one hundred sixty four dollars thirty five cents.
In the form of the draft agreement dated March 1 2019 and attached to the school board action report with any minor additions deletions and modifications deemed necessary by the superintendent and to take any necessary actions to implement the contract.
Deputy Nielsen dial it up.
Quick like a bunny.
Stephen Nielsen, deputy superintendent.
So what this does is this collects all of our food waste from our schools and turns it into compost.
We're working with Cedar Grove.
You will notice that The amount of this contract is two hundred and forty two thousand one hundred and sixty four thirty five.
That is less than 250. There is good news in all of this.
When we introduced this to Ops — Director Harris — Your comment about 250 meaning board approval required.
Context.
Director Pinkham — Board approval is required for two hundred and fifty thousand dollars or more.
We were anticipating that the bid would come in higher which is why it was introduced to operations.
As you can see it did not.
And that is because our participation in the program and the volume that we have in the city incentives lowered our cost of recycling, putting food waste into somewhere other than a landfill.
So we are recommending that you approve this.
Comments questions concerns Director DeWolf.
I was just going to say thank you for the work on this and I'm really grateful that we found a way to save some money in spite of it all.
So thanks for making that work.
It's something good to celebrate in a small way.
So yes.
Director Mack.
My previous life was waste reduction recycling so it's very exciting to have these sorts of things coming in front of me.
I just wanted to note that when it came to Ops we didn't have the service details in here on the list of like what the services are so I appreciate that that's added.
A question that kind of comes to my mind is that I know this the staff that works on this isn't here to respond to so maybe it's something we can just follow up on or maybe you do have the answer but I'm curious to know What the feedback loop is on checking to kind of ensure that the size of the service is appropriate not too much so we're not paying too much like we don't have a bin that is way too large that we're not using or that there's not too much contamination that I'm wondering what the monitoring process is to kind of make sure that this is the appropriate service level.
Bruce Gowra, Director of Facilities.
So our check and balance is the custodial staff who works with our resource conservation team to make sure we're right sized.
And thanks for the beautiful podium by the way.
And please take our thanks back to your staff.
Yeah they're pretty good.
It's gorgeous.
Director Pinkham.
So how does this differ from what the city does with food and waste composting.
It really doesn't.
And we are now at every school because we're mandated to be by the city.
So it's it's mirroring the city's program.
So then who picks up the our school's garbage.
Is it not the city or.
No we have our own.
Our own garbage.
We do not.
Yeah actually our trash and.
Recycle contract.
We pay a lower rate than the city than the city.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And boy it would be great if we can get these.
Hey have some students catch a ride with the help with their transportation or whatever we can do.
They're all right.
Let's go.
We have methane buses next please.
Yeah.
They are struggling to hire drivers as well.
And deep discounts on compost for our gardens.
Director Mack.
I do want to also note that actually one of the aspects of this program and the education that the resource conservation folks work on and that the city has supported like the signage that we have is city supported and so forth.
So there's there's a lot of continuity but the other aspect is a lot of schools have set up green teams and so the students have the opportunity to kind of learn how to compost and recycle appropriately and it's so it's a and volunteer their time and.
So I just want to give a shout out to the volunteer green team team the volunteer parents that tend to support coordinating those students to do that as well as the students that do it.
So.
And the staff that runs it.
Absolutely.
Our shared savings program pays for a lot of those green teams.
So it's a one to one.
We win again.
It's it's it's on the same spreadsheet.
Very cool.
Thank you.
And can I get a name for the garbage collection if it's cheaper.
Maybe I'll switch.
OK.
Number four BTA IV award contract K 5 1 0 5 bid number B 1 0 8 1 9 to Aksu Set Construction Inc. for the relocation and set up a portable classrooms at multiple school sites came before Ops January 10 for consideration approval of this item would provide authorization for the superintendent to enter into a construction contract.
And the amount to three hundred nineteen thousand eight hundred twenty one dollars including unit prices plus Washington State sales tax for the relocation and set up a portable classrooms at multiple school sites.
Take it away.
Superintendent — Deputy Nielsen.
Stephen Nielsen Deputy Superintendent.
This is introduced as a earlier action item than we have done in the past in order to move portables as needed in a more timely fashion.
You often have difficulties with transportation etc. on these.
This is for moving portables only.
We already own the portables.
It's estimated we may need as many as 10 to address capacity needs in various buildings.
And this allows us to do so at an average cost of somewhere between 32 and 38000 per portable.
The city only allows us to move one portable per night.
So there's a lot involved and etc. to have this happen.
And so we are asking for your approval.
And perhaps our new COO can help us with that.
Perhaps he can.
He knows where all the bodies are buried down at City Hall.
And I want to say again last year I asked to be on one of those portable crews.
Because to me it is fascinating how we move things around this town.
So I'm putting my bid in again.
It's a matter of public record.
Number five BTA IV award construction contract K 5 1 0 4 bid number B 1 2 8 4 1 2 blank for the Franklin High School window and door replacement project came before Ops January 10 for consideration.
Approval of this item would provide authorization for the superintendent to enter into a contract construction contract and the amount of blank range of five million to five million point five million dollars.
including base bid Washington State sales tax for the Franklin High School window and door replacement project.
Take it away please.
Deputy Stephen Nielsen Franklin High School was constructed in 1912. It was remodeled sans changing the windows in 1990. Therefore the windows are from 1912. It is a cold drafty building and this would authorize replacement of those windows and many exterior doors.
This is an actually addresses a first round of contracts where.
The forms were not filled out correctly.
So we wanted to ensure that the process met all requirements of public bidding and providing a clean acceptance on our part.
So that is why the numbers are not filled in although I believe we're quite close to knowing what the real number is and you can see the range there somewhere around five million.
Director Harris.
Questions comments concerns.
Director Geary please.
So this is a little bit for Chief Patesta but when I believe I attended this Ops Committee and when I reviewed the language in the bar I found it confusing and it goes back to something that I've asked for which I want to see when we do these big projects.
I want a little historical.
context for them so that we and the public will know when was the last time we replaced the windows we replaced the roof.
And during that conversation it was made clear to me that the windows in question are original windows that we're replacing.
But the language in that historical piece doesn't make that clear.
And that was to be cleared up and it is not cleared up.
It still says that there was a remodel a major modernization in 1990 and it still says that there was additional work done and I believe 2002 or somewhere around there.
But it doesn't reference the fact that what we are replacing are the original windows and so it would lead one to believe that we are replacing that windows have only last since 1990. And I think people would expect windows to last longer given the amounts of money that we spend on them.
So it's just an additional clarification that I'd like to see in the BAR before it becomes a final piece of our history.
And then for future reference keep an eye to that because that I think that helps the public understand you know where where and how we are spending our money.
Director Harris — Chief Podesta can we get those red lines before action.
Thank you sir.
OK.
And on that happy note.
We are adjourned at 8 17 p.m.
Thanks all for being here.
It's an honor.
It's a privilege.
We're doing good work and a whole lot of it is really hard.
Yeah.
you you