School Board Meeting October 16, 2019 Part 2

Turn to the dais please.

Only if he does so.

Thank you.

Good point.

OK.

We are back in order folks.

We do have Director Burke who has.

Landed and he wishes to say hello and then we're going to rock and roll and get public testimony started.

Director Burke.

OK.

Terrific.

OK we've come to board comments and as you know There are two minute speaking times when you have 30 seconds left you will get a yellow light if you could start winding down when it comes to a red light.

Please conclude your sentence and thoughts and that's that's in order to be fair to everyone.

Please respect all the good folks in the room and please address your comments to issues.

Please address them to constructive criticisms and give us your ideas.

We very much appreciate your help in doing this very difficult work and we will read the folks three at a time.

And when you hear your name if you could line up and we can make this a really elegant orderly transition.

And because we have.

Well over 25 18 folks on the list.

We will have 25 speakers this evening and we much appreciate you taking the time and the passion to come down and help us help our 53000 students.

Could you read the first three names please.

Thank you so much.

First up for public testimony we have Lila Padfield followed by Bryn Igawa and Rina Mateja Walker-Burke.

Hello I'm Lila Padfield and I come from Middle College at Seattle University and I'd like to talk about it a little bit.

Middle College has made a big difference in my life.

I've been homeschooled since second grade.

My other two siblings were also homeschooled.

So most of my days were spent with my whole family.

I have been to social homeschooling events and parent partnerships before but never to a traditional school.

Despite that I found my transition to middle college pretty seamless.

There are two teachers who welcome me like I was their own child.

The school challenges me academically every day.

I am thriving there because I have teachers that I can talk to without feeling rushed and peers that love and respect me the way I am and have high expectations for themselves and want to learn just like me.

Middle College may not offer as many resources as many large public schools but since there are only 20 of us students we don't have to deal with a lot of drama.

Middle College was an amazing idea and a great resource for kids like me.

I look forward to seeing it grow in the future.

Thank you very much.

I go to Maple and I think that you should that the people that already go to Maple should have the choice to stay or not.

Thank you.

And my name is Sarah Igawa I'm the parent of this kindergartner and a second grader at Maple and Maple is an amazing diverse school that's very overcrowded.

I believe the best boundary change scenario is scenario G and you'll be hearing about those tonight because it displaces the fewest students of color the fewest neighborhoods and the fewest students in the walk zone.

Yes I'm in support of a scenario that would affect my family and that would cause us to move schools because I believe it's the best for all students.

As you can see my daughter loves her school.

She's been talking about going there for two years since her brother started and I'm asking that the board would provide full grandfathering for my family and our other community members here who are going to be affected by this boundary change.

It's the least disruptive to families and it allows for a gradual decrease in enrollment at Maple which is supportive for the admin and the staff instead of a bunch of staff members also being displaced.

This process has been full of anxiety for the Maple community.

Families are worried about where their kids will be and if they'll be forced out of their school.

While we're told that grandfathering almost always happens this provides little reassurance for families.

If the board plans to provide full grandfathering except in the case of a new school opening.

I believe this should be district policy because it would make boundary changes a less stressful process both for school communities and for the district staff.

Thank you.

Thank you.

After Rina we will have Shadra Sudhirun followed by Bruce Jackson and Kaitlyn Kamali Jenkins.

I'm a little unprepared because I couldn't write my speech.

I'm going to speak from the heart.

So today I'll be talking about ethnic studies and I think ethnic studies is so important especially with the strategic plan ethnic studies ties in so much to the strategic plan and it's not.

It's not just like a curriculum it's like for life.

So you're going to need ethnic studies in order to navigate through life because you get to figure out other people's cultures and the way that other people like live their life so that when you get into the real world you don't have a lot of these biases that a lot of people have and it gets rid a lot of biases in school and it makes it more comfortable because I have talked to other teachers of color and they said that they would feel more comfortable teaching if they were able to teach ethnic studies rather than following the curriculum that they follow.

So I just ask you to accept 215 so that you're able to get ethnic studies because it's very important.

And please make it our graduation requirement because there are some ethnic studies classes now but they're in the morning early so that the kids that have to get jobs to provide for the other families cannot take it or after school.

So a lot of the athletes that still think ethnic studies is important.

can not take it because they have either games or they have to go to practice.

So it makes it where people the school can say oh well we have ethnic studies but nobody's taking the classes because it's like they can't take it because they're either providing for their family or they're doing something that they love.

And I don't think they should have to give up something that they love or give up providing for their family to do something that should be mandatory for everybody.

Thank you.

Good evening.

My name is Shraddha Sharude.

I'm a math teacher at high school math teacher at Seattle Public Schools.

And as a teacher in the American public school system I am a social worker a counselor a nurse a mom.

And in addition to all of that I'm a teacher of color.

Oftentimes that means that I'm the one liaison between my students of color's lives at home and the public school system that they are trying to navigate.

This this evening that is what I want to talk about being an educator educator of color.

It's a really hard job.

Let me tell you a little bit about what I do every single week and I hope that it will give you some insight about why we need ethnic studies staff educator burnout is real and everybody knows about it.

It's about five years for most teachers for an educator of color.

It's three.

Here's some insight into possibly why this is my second year teaching in the public school system and I'm leading it like it's my 10th because I have to.

There's no staff to support me so I have to support myself and others who don't feel like they have the capacity to do so.

I am a full time teacher.

I'm a full time person of color.

I'm a center for racial equity coach.

I'm on the ethnic studies advisory board.

I'm the lead of the racial equity team at my school.

I'm currently making ethnic studies curriculum.

I am currently representing the district when it comes to ethnic studies math as a math teacher teaching ethnic studies in my class.

I'm being asked to lead PDs around the district for racial equity work and ethnic studies and I'm also giving feedback to the other racial equity trainings that I'm not a part of leading.

All of these things require time outside of my classroom teaching and prep and I'm paid about twenty five hundred dollars a year for all of this work that I do.

If we had an ethnic studies staff we would be able to support our educators of color and our students of color by providing professional development curriculum resources and a reasonable workload.

And most important is trust that the district wants educators of color to make it here.

Hi my name is Bruce Jackson I teach at Aki Kurose Middle School.

My wife and I have raised three children and when those children were young I read to them every night.

Initially I read Dr. Seuss and fairy tales I read books on princesses and cowboys presidents and politicians animals and mythical creatures but nothing about themselves.

So they just assume.

They saw pictures and they assumed and they saw.

They looked and they saw that all their heroes, all their fantasies, all their fairytale creatures were white.

I didn't know it at the time, but I was preparing them to be black in America.

I was preparing them to be ignored, to be that slave in history, that slave who was freed by Martin Luther King and the disjointed tale from our master narrative.

I was preparing them to be stepped on by history, to never be heard because there was no voice to hear.

A year ago the ethnic studies advisory team started looking at the CCC and Seattle Public Schools was as guilty as this as I was.

We were disturbed by what we saw.

98 percent of the authors in the curriculum were white.

When students were exposed to subjects from other ethnic groups those authors or those books were white.

We searched and we searched.

And many of our favorite books, classic books, books I've read to my own children is part of this disturbing trend.

The author of The Snowy Day, Ezra Jack Keats, is white.

Amazing Grace, a story about a black girl who loves baseball, was written by a white author.

The biography of Sonia Sotomayor, our first Hispanic Supreme Court justice, was written by a white author.

Hundreds and hundreds of books, almost all of them written by white authors.

Where was our voice?

Where was any other voice?

I speak.

I've heard my voice before, but not in school.

Not in the voices that I've used to shape my children's minds, our children's minds.

Not in the voices we use to shape our future.

After Caitlyn Jenkins we'll have Devin Shaw followed by Sabrina Sly and then Sabrina Burr.

Hi my name is Caitlin Kamalee Jenkins or my kiddos know me as Miss Jenkins.

I'm a grade 2 3 ELA teacher and ethnic studies teachers at Leschi Elementary just right over here at the CD.

And I'm here to speak in support of passing 2015. So passing policy 2015 allows the district to adopt the frameworks without going through some bidding process with corporate text textbook companies.

Passing 2015 opens the door for every educator to be able to teach ethnic studies which is vital to our schools and to our kiddos.

The strategic plan talks about developing high quality instruction and instruction and learning experiences while also developing a culturally responsive classroom and ethnic studies can do and has done just this in a lot of the classrooms.

But we need support.

Today my kiddos wrote about why they think you the Seattle School Board should support ethnic studies by adding more funding so we teachers don't have to buy our own materials.

And also we would like your support in mandating ethnic studies in all classrooms because my kiddos can't be here now because they're little ones.

I'll read just a few of their thoughts.

So one of my kids talked about how they think that everyone should learn about different people of color and that we should learn about what community actually means.

Another one said because if we didn't have ethnic studies we would not learn about black history.

Another one said because we usually learn about Martin Luther King only but there are so many other black people to learn about.

It is good to learn about people who changed the world and learn about the community.

Another one said because I think that it is important to learn about people who are of different races and cultures than you.

And then another one said so teachers don't have to pay the money and the school board needs to.

Passing 2015 will not only support ethnic studies but allow us to adopt the curriculum.

And I also urge you to help us by getting more staff members into the ethnic studies department so my kiddos can feel empowered educated and engaged like your strategic plan states.

Thank you.

My name is Devin Shaw.

I'm a middle school math teacher up in North Seattle and Seattle Public School District obviously adopting 2015 is extremely important not just for ethnic studies in general but in ethnic study ethnic studies as a framework for everything that we teach ethnic studies is not teaching that math is racist.

Ethnic studies is teaching that math came from many different places.

And that when we have a system that has a curriculum that is built by the people who who create our racist tests that doesn't help our students of color think they're important.

Ethnic Studies teaches our students of color that it is important that they know that algebra came from the Middle East and Africa, that Fibonacci didn't create the Fibonacci sequence first, it was actually found in India first.

To know that these things and all these ideas came from so many different countries, so many different people, so many different cultures, that builds them up and tells them that they're important and that their cultures are important and that it wasn't all just white people that created everything.

This is everybody that created it and that gives them the thought process that they have the ability to do it.

That they know they can do it and that they're important in that aspect and that we're teaching the truth in everything, the truth in social studies, the truth in language arts, that we don't need to just be English speakers.

We can be English speakers and Spanish speakers and just be ourselves from wherever we come from and still be able to communicate with each other, but also feel that we're all important and build this society stronger than it ever could be or ever has been.

And that's the importance of ethnic studies and what it actually teaches is how important we are and where everything else came from.

Thank you.

Hello my name is Sabrina Slye.

I am a part of the superintendent student advisory board and I don't understand why we haven't implemented ethnic studies in the Seattle Public School system.

A big part of making sure that all students feel welcome and properly served is having them see themselves and their people represented in a positive light.

Expanding on the knowledge that is put out will lead to more determined and motivated students.

Learning about.

people of all races cultures and religions that have made positive impacts on our society back then and today makes everyone feel acknowledged and accom — and appreciated.

Please fund ethnic studies and staff.

I now cede the rest of my time to Nayeli Guerrero who will be and her daughter will be interpreting for her.

Could you double the time please that's left because of the interpretation.

Thank you.

Reset.

My name is Nelly Garrow.

My oldest daughter attended Concord for six years.

We were never told there was an opportunity to qualify for a highly cable.

Now my younger daughter is in first grade.

Ahora mi hija está en primer grado y no quiero que pierda su oportunidad.

Nuestra presidenta del PTA envió una carta a ustedes porque queremos que la comunidad de Concord tenga este programa en nuestro barrio.

Now my younger daughter is in first grade and I don't want her to miss out.

Our PTA president has sent a letter to the board because Conger community wants highly capable services in our neighborhood.

I want to make clear it is important for us for our kids to go.

To go to school in their community.

We don't want a cohort that is a model that segregates and divides.

We want advanced education to be something for everyone.

But we want to know what is the plan for Concord to have high quality education for our children.

Thank you.

After Sabrina Burr we will have Chris Jackins followed by Alex Zimmerman and Elizabeth Ebersole.

Sabrina.

Chris Jackins.

My name is Chris Jackins box 8 4 0 6 3 Seattle 9 8 1 2 4 on amending board policy 2015 selection adoption of instructional materials three points.

Number one state law requires that the board approve the members of the instructional materials committee or IMC.

Number two please keep the formation of the IMC directly in school board policy rather than delegating it to the superintendent.

Number three moving details out of board policy and into superintendent procedure removes transparency and accountability.

Superintendent procedures can be changed without notice to the public.

School board policy can only be changed by the board and a public process.

Please vote no.

On the collective bargaining agreement with SEA six points.

Number one the board already approved the contract salary increases while the contract language was still being prepared.

Number two the summary of the agreement states that there will be quote mandatory professional development for building administrators regarding hiring educators of color unquote.

Number three this sounds like a condition imposed on separate employees of the principals bargaining unit.

Number four the board report cited a new cost for this school year of twenty seven point nine million dollars but seemed to cite a revenue source for only eleven point three million dollars.

Number five the contract is over 1000 pages long is listed for both introduction and action at the same meeting.

Number six please give yourselves and the public more time.

Please vote no.

Thank you.

My name is Alex Zimmerman and I want to speak about Seattle fascism and the system that will be changed around the whole state of Washington.

Seattle fascism is very unique.

It's not knowledge in human history.

Is this fascism exists for my understanding.

Director Harris — Excuse me sir are you speaking directly to one of the items on the agenda.

Director Pinkham — Ma'am when you stop and interrupt me it's a totally.

This is exactly what is I ask.

You stop and interrupt me because you're doing this for a special reason.

It's violation open public meeting.

You're doing it every time.

Seattle fascists very unique and don't have analogy.

I come today speak about this and not only because it's reflect old state Washington illegistrative right now and I explain to you why I want talking about this every day.

But as I come this talking about racism racism racism in racism.

My question very simple.

You brainwash these people.

They talking about racism and elect.

Democrat for 30 years and for last six year election of six colored people.

My question to this brainwashed pardon idiot.

Why do you elect same people what is cannot for 30 years stop in racism.

Huh.

Who can answer me?

When you talking about racism change council.

This is what we need doing right now.

We change council maybe we stop on racism forever.

Is exactly what is I want talking.

And stop interrupt me because what is you doing is simple trick and you acting not legally.

So right now I speak to everybody stop racism and first what is we need doing is change democratic mafia who controls the city for 30 years.

Stand up America.

Stand up everybody who wants to stop racism.

It's a key to everything.

After Elizabeth Ebersole we will have Sabrina Burr followed by Xing Yu and then Anna Howell.

First of all thank you for your service.

I'm here to begin a conversation about SPS weighted staffing standards as they apply to elementary school counselors.

I'd like to hear your thoughts when the time comes.

The current SPS strategic plan focuses on ending inequitable practices in order to achieve educational justice for those furthest removed from it.

Two of the greatest challenges we face is meeting a basic standard for school staffing and building a sense of community among our schools.

Elementary schools who don't meet the qualification standards for school counselor FTE allocation see themselves at odds with a district that doesn't allocate FTE for a role that they believe is necessary for a healthy functional school environment.

Right now each school takes what they are given by the district in terms of FTE.

Then those schools that are able make unilateral decisions about additional staffing using funding that they acquire from their PTAs which have become de facto single school nonprofit fundraising machines far from their mission of advocacy.

Last year 26 elementary schools were allocated FTE for a school counselor 19 elementary schools were not allocated any school counselor FTE and so use PTA funding to pay for it.

Sadly 17 elementary schools that have low to mid range populations of students who meet the school district's need qualifications but don't have access to large amounts of PTA fundraising dollars did not and likely still do not have school counselors.

The introduction to the strategic plan reads realizing educational justice will take all of us from the bus stop to the boardroom.

This can't happen if we are missing critical links along the way.

It can't happen if educational justice means what we should consider the baseline rather than beyond the baseline based on higher need.

School counselor FTE for every elementary school should be the baseline.

You probably already know all this.

What I'm wondering is how can we make it so that everyone gets what they need the right way.

Not through the well intentioned but deeply unethical practice of using PTA funds to make up for WSS snafus.

I welcome your thoughts.

I know we can solve this problem together.

Sabrina.

Sabrina Burke.

Ain't I a woman.

A salute to black women and black girl magic.

That's where I started my morning with the media.

A room that lets you feel the power and the energy and the contributions of black women then and now.

I spent my morning in prayer and meditation on you and on fear versus love.

Last night at a community circle we sat in circle with Director Hersey over the hatred and dehumanization of District 7 candidate our community Queen Emijah Smith.

White supremacy is alive and with lynching of our character and unethical practices by many of you sworn to make decisions for educational equity for children you serve.

Black women have been and are the strength of this country.

Yet their neighbor cannot call the police to see if a neighbor is OK without being shot in their own home.

When will you see us?

We built this country and white economics wealth for free.

Black families that have that you try to pit one against the other.

Education economics is an economic cesspool for hatred.

It has to stop.

All black families are the most endangered undervalued unprotected families in this country.

What was done to a measure at the hands of you and racist blogger Melissa Westbrook and Rick Burke's wife.

It is criminal.

Director Mack.

Is it true that you had hands in this.

Two years ago Director Mack duped Carrie Campbell on sending out a verbal call for HCC families for a live school board right before it went.

Director Harris you want to represent us but when you disrespected our black community and our youth you canceled a circle.

And please let me go because my heart is strong and I need to say these words.

You went to a cocktail party, but you never reached out to our youth.

You have an electronics idea for two years.

There was supposed to be community engagement.

What is the equity in this?

With amazing family engagement leaders, why are we rushing this policy and making sure that we don't engage all families?

What about policies on watches, electronics, screen time, internet safety, generational divide?

Why would you not take this opportunity in a new strategic plan in hand to engage all Seattle Public School families to understand the true impact.

All of you have read Melissa Westbrook's blog and you can see what technology can do.

It is a birth defect of our family it is racism and we can use it to pull us together as a Seattle Public School family.

Mary Anne Williams says there are only two emotions fear and love.

Your fear does not let you see our black families.

Your fear does not let you see us as black women as the sustainers the nurturers of this country.

Even your ancestors' babies were nursed by our ancestors, giving life to you today.

We gave life to the destroyers of our children and our grandchildren.

And to this day, here you stand, look close in the mirror, have a deep conversation with your God.

Do you really love in your heart our children?

Do you recognize beloved blackness, black excellence, and excellence in black families?

The black male child is not whole without his family.

Last week.

The depths of Director Burke's deep-rooted negative beliefs about our community came out.

And before you go and start to have him look at the mirror, please look at the mirror yourself.

White people, do not hug us with your guilt-sucking our life energy.

Every day, America does that already.

If your intentions are not good, please stay away.

We feel it.

The souls of our ancestors help us to feel it.

The spirit of our children and families that you fight so hard to kill, consciously or unconsciously feel it.

We not only want the best for our children.

We want the best for your children.

Side by side our children are dying.

Hatred and fear is killing both yours and mine.

Director Geary thank you for the love and standing in truth.

But it is fear and ignorance not love that is guiding too many of these board members.

All of you adopted a strategic plan bold in language evaluated in light normative white normatives and cultural standards.

And low bar.

Why is ethnic studies not a part of this plan.

Do you know.

You will not.

Create the conditions.

For the truth.

Of her story or history.

To emotions.

Fear and love.

I choose love.

And under and until you.

Have it.

Love for black women.

You cannot make decisions for the best of our children.

Period.

Next up for public testimony we have Elizabeth Ebersole followed by Xing Yu and then Anna Howell.

Xing Ying.

Good evening everyone.

My name is Ying Xu.

I'm here to talk about the boundary change for the South Seattle area.

The elementary school in that area.

Me and the people standing behind me who are supporting scenario G.

G as in the letter green and we're supporting this for the following reasons.

First a few school is being impacted in this scenario.

Only three elementary schools.

are impacted in this scenario versus six and five in the other two scenarios.

And second is few student got impacted in this scenario.

Only 189 is impacted in this scenario versus close to 400 students in either of the other two scenarios.

And even more important, among those students being impacted, 78 of them in the scenario G are the students whose first language is not English versus the other two scenarios.

There are 160 students in the other two scenarios whose native language is not English are being impacted.

And also, as far as I know, not all Chinese families in that area have been informed about this boundary change, either because their kids are too young or they're just being born.

And if they are informed about this, they might not all agree to this change.

And from another perspective, my daughter is going to Kimball at a kindergarten level.

And she has many friends that she knew since preschool.

And they all go to Kimball.

And all of them, they are told, you guys will still be part of the Kimball community after we have a new building in 2023. So before that, Kimball actually does not need to reduce their enrollment at all.

So given, and as we love the Kimbo community and we want to stay there, so please consider all the above and the people standing behind me and the families that we are representing here.

If we must change the school boundary, let's go with the one with the least impact.

Thank you.

Anna Howell after Anna we will have Rebecca Aldridge followed by Chung Nhi and then Martin Cortez.

Good evening Seattle Public Schools board and staff.

My name is Anna Howell I'm a Seattle — closer into the mic we've got two folks remotely tonight.

Thank you.

Sorry but I just lost time.

Good evening.

Good evening Seattle Public Schools board and staff.

My name is Anna Howell.

I'm a Seattle Public Schools employee of 13 years and a mother of two Maple students one in fourth and one in first grade.

And I'm here also to speak about the boundary changes.

In 2009 Seattle Public Schools board made a commitment to go back to the neighborhood schools model from the choice plan.

Within the last 10 years neighborhoods and families have invested in building relationships with their school communities from teachers admin support staff.

I understand that populations change and that some schools are more impacted than others.

But my concern is that in the three maps presented Georgetown is the only neighborhood who is being moved away from their neighborhood school.

At the meeting last Thursday it was mentioned by a Seattle Public Schools employees that the reason Georgetown was being moved to Rising Star that is about two and a half to three miles away.

was because the neighborhood already receives bus service.

And just wondering is does that mean that Seattle Public Schools is going away from their neighborhood policy.

And as a teacher at the district I know the importance that is placed on building community and relationship with kids.

Many of our families don't have access to personal transportation forcing them on buses that would take them away from their school community after school programs.

that are vital for enrichment and aftercare for working parents and tutoring.

A neighborhood study presented in 2013 that the transportation route between Georgetown and Rising Star is unsafe and lacks pedestrian busing sidewalks etc.

So please lastly I would like to say that this process was decided and population changes but please consider grandfathering all students to their current schools regardless of the final decision of the boards.

Families have spent years building relationships.

There are students with IEPs enrolled in ELL and SEL students.

Please recognize these kids are kids not numbers.

Students need consistency trust and stability to be successful in school.

I hope that the families you listen to families of Georgetown.

Yes to grandfathering and yes to Georgetown at Maple.

Thank you.

Hello.

My name is Rebecca Aldrich.

I'm a Georgetown resident and a parent of two Seattle Public School students.

Before my children started going to school I thought I knew my neighborhood.

When my kids started taking the bus that vision changed.

There are families in Georgetown trying to make a life work in the long term stay motels on East Marginal.

Some who despite the McKinney-Vento Act still struggle to make it to and from school.

There are families from different class backgrounds different cultures and races.

There are ELL caregivers who try to communicate through apps because they want to know why is the bus late.

They are our neighbors and community members and they deserve the dignity of your full consideration.

Please ask yourselves how is moving them to a school that is farthest away from them and difficult to access equitable.

A school community is not built solely during school hours and equitable education means attending after school events having access to after school enrichment opportunities and making sure caregivers have quick and accessible route to school if their child is sick or hurt.

Moving Georgetown families from Maple to Rising Star would double the time a caregiver would have to travel if they use the bus or walk.

Right now for most any point in our small neighborhood families can access Maple Elementary in 10 minutes using one bus and a five minute walk downhill.

The bus stop needed to get to Rising Star is up to a 20 minute walk for it for an adult from the furthest point in Georgetown where children live.

If a child is tired or a caregiver has difficulty walking there is an option to take two buses making the travel time up to 40 minutes with the transfer.

This barrier to an equitable education is one of the unintended consequences of moving Georgetown from Maple.

Please don't make the southeast boundary decision based on the person you see before you.

Make it for the families of color and the families experiencing the effects of homelessness and poverty in Georgetown, living the intersection of environmental racism, transportation injustice, limited access to affordable and nutritious food, and close proximity to the city's highest concentration of level three sex offenders.

Map F gives all children affected by the boundary changes access to the vital resources they need to thrive.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

I'd like to yield my slot to my friend Natalie Walton Anderson.

Good evening.

My name is Natalie Walton Anderson and I'm gonna start by saying I'm a proud strong black woman and I'm outraged by what's going on with Seattle Public Schools.

with regard to the student assignment transition plan.

I have three children at the Seattle Public Schools.

The first one is my oldest is standing next to me.

He's been a part of the HCC program since he was in second grade and he is currently at Madison Public Schools.

I have two other children that have tested into the HCC program.

My baby who is in first grade.

is not able to be served at his neighborhood school.

And what I was told by the district is he would have to be bused an hour and a half to Thurgood Marshall and an hour and a half home in order to be served.

He's currently at Fairmount Park which was identified as an HCC school.

But because of the district you chose not to staff teachers for the first grade level.

My son comes home telling me I taught other kids to read in school today.

I'm teaching other kids to do math.

And while that is a necessary thing and a good learning opportunity for him it is not what is he's not being served.

His needs are not being served.

I'm here because I know that the district is trying to dismantle the HCC cohort in the name of racial equity and that is not what you're doing.

What this district has done is continually hold up barriers for why people cannot even get to the HCC testing or advanced learning testing.

You've increased the amount of dates and times that people have to go to and you haven't developed a plan at all to offer testing in the schools where the students actually are where you might be able to capture more of the black and brown children that could benefit from this program.

I'm worried that the real effect of eliminating the HCC cohort reduce the overall access to acceleration and advanced learning and making the inequities in our current Seattle Public School system even worse than they are right now.

The district was asked two years ago to to for you to make a plan first on how to access those students and be able to access advanced classes in their neighborhood school.

You were also directed to implement specific equitable identification practices to reduce racial disparities.

You have not done this work and instead what you're going to do is just kill the program.

And so and by trying to make things equal all you're doing is making them equally bad.

I am asking Seattle Public Schools to do three things and you as the board who represent us must do these three things.

First figure out a way to allow everybody to equally access highly capable services including universal testing and multiple pathways for students.

The second thing is you must develop district wide standards for highly capable offerings in neighborhood schools and plan and pilot those methods first before actually eliminating services.

And three you should maintain the cohort for highly capable learners.

So like my son here can continue to get the education that he needs to possibly go to a historically black college like Morehouse.

I am asking the district to really think about what you're doing and what you're where you're targeting.

You are targeting the south end schools the schools where black and brown children are in terms of eliminating that first.

What you're doing is not making things equitable at all and you are forgetting about the students who are struggling to find ways to be to to basically realize their potential in terms of advanced learning and highly capable cohort.

Thank you.

After Martin Cortez we will have Emily Churkin followed by Blaine Parse and then Robert McAbee.

Hello board.

How's it going.

I'm here for you know I'm here to ask you to consider map F in regards to the Maple School boundary scenario.

But there's sort of three parts of that.

One is gratitude.

I'd like to express my gratitude to I'd like you to think about diving deeper into the data that I'm sure you'll use to make your reasonable decisions and then three To listen to those who can't speak or that aren't as loud as maybe others So thank you.

This is my daughter.

Thank you very much.

I know there's a significant number of board leaving or departing and I don't know if I'll get to say it again but you guys are awesome.

You do a lot.

You're public servants and I appreciate you.

So thank you for your service.

Also welcome to Mr. Hershey.

Great to have you on board.

So thank you very much.

You guys are tireless and you do really important work and I appreciate you being there to make these difficult decisions.

So in regard to diving deeper.

I hope you'd consider all kinds of data one one piece of data one number is 13. That's the number of years fewer that people in Georgetown live compared to people let's say in Ravenna.

So that's that's a number and that's just due to the extraordinary environmental impact that is a part of the environmental injustices of our neighborhood.

There's another.

Way I'd like you to dive deeper and it's by thinking about those students farthest away from educational justice.

There's a big difference between underrepresented and overrepresented minorities and I don't hear the underrepresented minority voices in this conversation.

I feel like I'm the first one.

So listen to us.

That's why I'm here basically I'm here for my daughter.

She's Latinx.

I moved here for a better future for her.

It feels a little bit like she's got this great thing now she's going to get pulled out.

It feels a little bit like educational deportation.

And when I think of my five month old and how we're going to separate Maple from him it feels like restricting access it kind of feels like building a wall.

So please consider MAPF.

Build a bigger school.

Let the new board decide.

Thank you.

Good evening my name is Emily Cherkin and I'm an SPS parent.

I have a master's in education 15 years of teaching experience and I'm a screen time consultant.

I'm a member of two national working groups addressing screen time challenges.

I've appeared in The New York Times on Good Morning America The Today Show and Australian National Television and I'm writing a book about the impact of screens on schools families and kids.

It's not an exaggeration to say that this work is my life's passion and I'm happy to spend time with any board member seeking to better understand these issues.

That being said I'm here tonight to express my support for the revisions being made to board policy number 22 2022. While I literally could talk about this for hours tonight I want to focus on three key facts myths and facts that are rooted in evidence based research.

Myth number one allowing the use of smartphones during the school day promotes student academic success.

Fact in reality research shows that personal digital devices serve as a major distraction not just to the children using it but to the students around them.

Studies show that when personal digital devices are banned test scores go up and distractions go down and low achieving and at risk students gain the most.

Myth number two a harmful digital divide exists because low income students don't have the same access to technology as high income students.

Fact studies show that low income students now have about the same access to technology as higher income students and it hasn't helped close income and racial achievement disparities.

In reality the true truly harmful digital divide is the one describing the greater entertainment screen and phone use of low income and students of color as compared with higher income and white students.

Myth number three children can self-manage their own devices.

Fact in reality children are not small adults in terms of brain development the prefrontal cortex the part of our brain responsible for executive function skills like emotion regulation time management planning and prioritizing does not fully develop until we're well into our mid or late 20s.

It is a fallacy to expect children to be able to self-manage their screen use developmentally.

They cannot.

And a way for the day policy on personal digital devices in K-8 schools is best for learning and best for all children and that's why I support the proposed revisions to 2022. Thank you.

Blaine.

Hello school board members.

My name is Blaine Parse.

I'm a parent of a fourth grader at Licton Springs K-8.

I've been part of the program for roughly six years and I've had two students go through the program and continue on to high school.

I have one 10th grader and one senior this year.

I want to take this opportunity to thank you for introducing this item for the student assignment plan in hopes to giving Licton Springs a permanent home and remaining a K-8.

For the past six years I've been part of the process continuous meetings and again we thank you for all that.

Just a couple of things that we hope to keep our community together as we're a diverse community.

We have families that struggle with homelessness lack of transportation.

Those are things that we really want our the school board to help us keep our community together with the transition of the move the transportation a geo zone.

The walk zone boundaries just we just wish to continue working with you guys through this transition.

Thank you.

Thank you.

After Robert McAbee we'll have Matthew Pearsall followed by Tuesday Chambers and Allie McKay.

My name is Robert McAbee I'm a first grade teacher at Licton Springs K through 8 and I'll just tell you two things I saw today that show we really need to move our program to the Webster building.

We share a building with Robert Eagle Staff which is a middle school and right now Robert Eagle Staff has portables around the building and they don't have any more room.

They have diggers who are digging out a hill.

to make room for portables so we they don't have enough space.

Now imagine a seventh grade class for Licton Springs K through 8. It's not taught in the classroom it's taught in a space between two classes next to a hallway.

So we don't have enough space so we are impacted by a lack of space and I would support us moving to the Webster building and I'd like to cede the rest of my time to Parker.

Thank you board members for your time and thoughtfulness in hearing us today.

My name is Parker.

I'm a second grader at Licton Springs K-8.

We share a building with Robert Eagle Staff Middle School and it isn't very nice.

When my classes in our library students from Eagle Staff can be heard.

talking to friends because our library has no walls and no door.

When we have P.E.

we can't always use our gym and have to move to a different smaller room for P.E.

It would be awesome if we can have our own building.

Thank you for listening and thank Thank you Superintendent Juneau for giving us a chance for this space.

Hello my name is Matt Pearsall and I'd like to speak about the proposed Southeast elementary boundary changes.

I'm a resident of Georgetown and a parent of two kids who will be starting school soon.

The decisions you make will directly affect my family but my children enjoy significant racial economic and educational privilege.

So I ask that you place the needs of other children who are not not as lucky as mine first.

I deeply appreciate Seattle Public Schools commitment to support students of color who are furthest away from educational justice.

And I think this boundary question provides you with an opportunity to transform those words into action.

Last October I was actively involved in the fight to keep Georgetown children from moving to Rising Star.

However over the course of the year I came to recognize that my opposition was influenced by unconscious racial bias.

So I decided to set aside hearsay and deeply flawed grade school scores and speak with educators and families from both Maple and Rising Star and to visit both schools.

I walked away impressed with each school and confident that my children will have a positive educational experience wherever they go.

I don't know which of the three proposals that you'll be considering is the most equitable but I trust that based on the data collected by the district staff and the community work group you do.

So long as your decision on which plan to move forward with is grounded in the district's commitment to equity I will support whatever plan you choose.

And I'm genuinely hopeful that if you make clear how the decision furthers educational justice you'll find greater support for your decision among my peers than you might might expect.

Lastly I just want to say how much I look forward to enrolling my children in their neighborhood school whether that's Maple or Rising Star.

and seeing them follow in the footsteps of their father grandfather great grandmother aunt and cousins Seattle Public School graduates.

Thank you very much for taking the time to hear my testimony.

I appreciate it.

Hi there.

My name is Tuesday Chambers.

I am the Ballard High School librarian and just recently I was named the Washington State Teacher Librarian of the Year.

So thank you.

Thank you.

I am honored because I'm here.

Oh thank you.

Super thank you.

I'm honored because I am here because I'm representing my my students my passionate students my colleagues my inspiring colleagues who I believe could and should be here and if they were in fact supported in the ways I know we can.

So I like to call 2019 the bad dream of being cut as a secondary librarian and having that never be the case again.

Knowing that moving forward how important librarians are to instruction and the success of all of our students.

I know that I want all libraries librarians funded.

And I don't think anybody in this room doesn't but I know that's hard.

So today I'm going to talk about one small solution that might actually help move the needle and help us move and get success for students in terms of access to resources.

We have a partnership with Seattle Public Libraries which is incredible.

It's amazing.

and all secondary students have access to it.

If they have access to electronics the SPL partnership we have is because it is a digital resource.

That means no fines.

All secondary students can have audio books e-books they can have movies and music and I could go on forever.

But they don't have access to that if they can't actually access it.

So they need that.

We also should be seeing this same kind of access to elementary students.

We have third fourth fifth graders that could be having these same resources available to them on a weekly basis because they see their librarians.

Hopefully.

If they're full time weekly.

So this is an opportunity especially for our students who as we both know do not have the funding they need for their libraries.

They can actually leverage the partnership they have with Seattle Public Libraries and we can get those books in kids hands like that.

Why wouldn't we.

After Ali McKay, we will have Kevin Byers and Madeline Stabley.

Hello my name is Allie McKay.

I'm mom of a second and fourth grader at Seattle Public Schools and the Seattle chapter lead for a national organization called integrated schools.

I'm here to speak about two things.

First is I support boundary changes that reduce racial and economic segregation in Southeast Seattle.

But those decisions must center the voices of those who are furthest from educational justice.

We must particularly also consider reducing displacement and the effects of gentrification on our schools which can be very harmful.

I had the opportunity to see Nicole Hanna Jones speak today at the Bellwether housing luncheon and I'm going to quote her because I think it's relevant.

She said segregation was created to hoard resources for some and deny resources for others.

She has also said that schools are segregated because white people want them that way.

I don't want them that way.

And I hope you don't either.

On that topic.

I also strongly support the recent staff recommendations regarding advanced learning and the highly capable cohort.

And I'm going to cede the rest of my time to Yolanda Barajas who will be speaking with a translator.

Double the time remaining for the translation.

Thank you.

Yolanda Barajas.

Good afternoon.

My name is Yolanda Barajas.

Vengo del área de White Center.

I come from the White Center area.

Tengo tres hijos.

I have three children.

Uno en Chief Sealth.

One in Chief Sealth.

Otro en Denny and Highland Park.

Another one in Denny and Highland Park.

En los años que mis hijos llevan en la escuela.

In the years my kids have been in school.

Nunca he escuchado del programa de educación avanzada.

I have not heard about advanced learning.

Y sería muy bueno que mis hijos tengan en sus propias escuelas.

It would be good that my kids have this program in their own schools.

Ese programa que es educación avanzada.

That program would be advanced learning.

Besides my kids it would benefit other students.

It would also be a great opportunity for them.

Thank you.

I'm Kevin Byers and I'm going to cede my time to Yvette Cortez.

Good afternoon.

Thank you board members for being here.

Appreciate your time.

I'm Yvette Cortez.

I am Latina.

I am a mother to Maple children.

I'm also a Georgetown mom.

I'm speaking up as a person of color because this conversation has not been driven by people like me.

My life's work has been dedicated to shrinking the equity gap and shorten the distance between the distance students have to travel for equity not just in education but also in technology.

And now here my children are having to fight to shrink the distance for equity in education as a whole.

My children are farther away from educational justice than most.

Considering another map other than F would send send them even further.

Who is going to fight for my children's right to equitable education.

That's where you come in members of the board.

Shrink the distance my children have to overcome for a quality education for equity in education.

Shrink that gap.

and consider MAPF.

Thank you.

Hi good evening.

My name is Madeline Stavely and I'm going to cede my time to Jaylen Weil.

Thank you board members for your time and being good listeners.

My name is Jalen.

I'm a fourth grader at Licton Springs K-8.

Our superintendent thinks we should move to Webster building to have our own space.

I think that's kind of her because sharing with Robert Eagle Staff.

School is not fun.

They have a lot of students I don't know.

And that makes me nervous.

If.

If we move.

We can.

You.

Can you please make sure my friends and I have buses.

That would be very nice.

Also the other middle schoolers have a technology lab with 3D printers and the VR.

I think all schools should have this because it's fair.

Thank you for your time.

This concludes the public testimony sign up for this evening.

OK.

Board members that have already spoken have an opportunity to address public testimony if they choose.

But let's put Director Mack and Director Burke for director comments.

Let's take the mute off for them.

Which of you would like to go first.

Director Burke or Director Mack.

I'm happy to start.

Am I. Can you hear me.

Yes.

Can we ever.

OK.

Floor is yours sir.

So I'm going to keep comments short because I I apologize again for not being there.

I'm actually on the side of the road on a freeway in Baltimore.

And so I I absolutely want to open with an acknowledgement and an apology.

When I signed on to the call was when Director Hersey was discussing the conversation that was had at Curriculum Instruction Committee.

And I want to open by acknowledging my impact and and putting out a heartfelt apology for that.

For those who weren't there.

The scenario was that I had asked anyone present with a show of hands to indicate whether they provided support for their kid outside of school hours through tutoring or help with homework.

And as expected our community is passionate about education and there were a lot of hands in the room.

I followed that up by emphasizing that that level of support was what we needed to provide our students farthest from educational justice.

And the intent behind that was we need inspired instruction in our classrooms and we need it for all of our students.

But the.

The way that.

That was.

Spoken.

And the impact that it had was completely contrary.

And I really think.

Some members of the community and staff.

That have helped me understand how that impact was.

Was interpreted and that really.

My request to show how people support their kids.

Turning that into.

What what felt like a.

You know a deficit conversation.

And.

really diminishing the effort that families provide was a really painful experience for those families.

And to know that I'm still grappling with that, how I got to that language.

I'm going to continue to have conversations with community, with directors.

And I really appreciate the candor that people have shared that with me because that's been part of my growth as a director.

is learning to understand the impact of my words.

And I absolutely wanted to lead with that and know that I came off of that meeting and some of the conversations that I had after that meeting in a very reflective place that I hope will help me be a better listener and a better leader.

The other comments that I want to share.

I had a community meeting last weekend.

And.

The topics were.

Very pertinent to what we're going what are being discussed today.

Advanced learning and highly capable.

Dual language immersion.

Southeast boundaries.

Even the Pledge of Allegiance.

And.

There were.

Several folks.

Concerned around the messaging from the superintendent.

And so I wanted to and that was a meeting which was attended also by Director DeWolf.

So I hope that he will also speak his feelings on that meeting because I've I've been in a lot of meetings in the north and the north end and there's a lot of families that are passionate about their advanced learning and they're highly capable and their their programs which are are often programs of privilege.

And what I heard from these families was, felt like a really healthy place for collaboration where they wanted to support the work, but didn't understand how.

They just saw that they were being sort of sidelined from the conversation, and they didn't know how to help move the mission forward.

So I just wanted to come back to My aspirations for how we as as board directors and how our superintendent has.

As the chief culture officer for the district.

Leads this work.

And.

That.

We find a way to do it from.

A place of collaboration.

You know we were we were very intentional about hiring a superintendent.

That was strong.

And that would be able to.

Make the changes that needed to be made.

And.

My ask is that we continue to do that and that she continues to do that.

Through influence and through collaboration.

Rather than through authority.

And power.

And that.

We.

Demonstrate how Seattle can.

Truly change the narrative around education.

So I came out of it.

Hopeful in that way coming out of my my community meeting.

I will.

Defer other comments around issues to when we're actually talking about the issues.

But then I want to.

Around advanced learning specifically because I know that is.

A very.

Potentially contentious.

Topic.

That is also a place where.

I think if we do it well we set the stage for the.

For the country.

And.

The when I think about collaboration.

We as a board.

Got together unanimously.

And.

Created a resolution.

And that resolution and the following work created a task force.

that had a very intentional charge.

What's interesting is that that task force is very much like our city.

Divided around.

What we're going to do how how to.

Equitably provided advanced learning.

How to deliver services across the district.

But honestly that task force was selected to be representative of the exact elements of the city that.

That.

that provide all these perspectives.

So it's not surprising.

That.

They may have differences of opinion.

And my belief is that because of the way they were formulated.

And because of the trust that they've built in each other over the last year and a half.

That for them to reach a conclusion.

And bring together those differences.

They are the bellwether they are the leaders that can help bring.

Us as a district also through.

To a shared solution.

So.

I know that there's a lot of feelings around how we move forward.

My ask is that we give the task force space to do their work, support them in that, help them facilitate to a common goal, and then that we honor that goal and build on it as we look at different implementation strategies.

In closing I just want to emphasize I have one more community meeting on November 9th.

This will be the last meeting of my term and I'm happy to meet and talk about issues.

I'm happy to meet and reminisce.

This is at Greenwood Library November 9th from 3 to 5 p.m.

And again I'm really grateful for people who have shared their time and their passion with us during public comments and also during my community meetings.

Thank you very much.

Thank you Director Burke.

Director Mack are you ready.

Yes.

Hi.

Good evening.

I'm also going to.

Comment.

Short.

We have a really full agenda in front of us where we'll be.

Talking about a good number of the issues that have been discussed in public testimony and.

Thank you to everyone for coming out and bringing your thoughts and.

I want to echo the thought around collaboration and and listening to.

All of the different perspectives.

And.

Having the focus of our strategic plan in mind.

And.

Working hard to sort out the how.

Of how we're going to move forward together.

With these shared goals in mind.

I am.

In New York at the moment on a study session.

Visiting.

Some of the schools here in New York.

That are.

That are maritime focused and small schools and.

It's really interesting time to be examining and learning from.

What's going on in their school system and how they are addressing issues of segregation.

In particular some of the.

The assignment strategies that they've been using their implicit bias.

Trainings and.

The folks that are on this study session with me it's been a really great conversation learning about some things to keep in mind in our district.

Especially.

One of the things that I really learned.

Was.

You know the.

English language learner communities.

That you know their feeling of a lack of access to advanced learning that they want more.

And that that is really critical that we we find ways to.

Support that.

And.

So with that.

I've got a lot of.

A lot to think about from.

The last couple of days of tours and learning here that I'll be sharing.

More with the board and.

I have a community meeting on Saturday.

11 o'clock at the Magnolia library.

It's actually only an hour long.

Unfortunately that's the only time that I could get.

Happy to.

See people there.

Also again always I do.

Read every email that comes in I just don't have a chance to respond.

And.

Looking forward to the rest of the agenda tonight.

Thank you.

OK.

I'm going to keep mine very very short because I'm going to take up some space on some of these other agenda items.

My next community meeting November 16th which could potentially be my last will be 3 to 5 at the Delridge library.

And we're back to the 1 in 3 chance of lasagna.

And you're more than welcome.

And they're robust conversations and I understand Director DeWolf is going to be joining me and one more director is more than welcome to attend.

And again we cover a range of topics at various degrees of passion and much like sitting here sometimes it's pretty painful to hear what we hear.

But it's extraordinarily important that we don't just hear but that we truly listen.

And this this is truly an honor and a privilege to listen to absorb to be mentored to be coached even if sometimes it's painful.

And and there you have it.

I was privileged.

to attend the Southwest Youth and Family Services Gala instead of the Alliance Gala because it was closer to home and frankly it was more my style a little less.

It's the word I want to say elegant perhaps and I so appreciate the assistance that the alliance gives us.

But I live in West Seattle I live in Delridge and the Southwest Youth and Family Services nonprofit has done mind blowingly good work with a Highline school district other folks in need working on school to prison pipeline etc.

And I'm pleased to tell you that they raised one hundred and thirty thousand dollars from an extraordinarily diverse community.

And we used to have a really great partnership with Southwest Youth and Family Services and we still do some work with interagency.

But I committed leaving the gala to buy breakfast at the Salvadorian with the good folks at Southwest Youth and Family Services for Superintendent Juneau.

for CAO DeBacker and any of the other senior leadership that want to show up because there is a partnership magic to be made there.

And when you get good people in the room you get leverage and I'm all about leverage and.

Again it is an honor and a privilege to sit on this dais with such good people.

Now the floor is open to any of the directors that would like to speak to what they heard in public testimony.

Seeing none.

We move into action items and with the consent of my colleagues I'd like to go through Action item C 1 amending the board policy 2 0 1 5 go through item 2 the collective bargaining agreement and then take a 15 minute break for folks to address bio needs get some food and then we're going to keep rolling through a number of intro items after that.

Do I see consensus.

Just the two and.

We can go through three I don't see that as being very controversial it certainly is just a.

If that's what my colleagues would like we will take the break between action and consent.

I bow to you.

C action item 1 amending board policy number 2015 selection and adoption of instructional materials and board policy 2 0 2 0 waiver of basic instructional materials came before C&I September 10 for consideration.

Motion please.

I move that the school board amend policy number 2 0 1 5 selection and adoption of instruction materials and board policy number 2 0 2 0 waiver of basic instruction materials as attached to the board action report.

I second the motion.

I see CAO DeBacker at the podium take it away.

Good evening.

Thank you very much.

President Harris and board members as you know the revision to policy 2015 has been a long time coming.

To begin my remarks I would like to give recognition to the people who have made this possible.

Dr. Kyle Kenosha.

He did the heavy lifting on this prior to his retirement Ronald Boy was also involved in that.

And then currently we have Dr. Caleb Perkins who has has inherited this and also with Emily Harrison and others on his team.

So I think that recognition is very important.

The recommendation that you have in front of you tonight will allow us to more easily and transparently Adopt a curriculum that is not from a commercial product or a vendor.

It'll allow us to do stuff like not stuff like but it will allow us to to implement curriculum such as since time immemorial such as ethnic studies and such as anything else that comes down the road in the future.

As I've mentioned here before I do believe that this is the way that we will start doing curriculum across this district and across the United States where we will have more curriculum that is produced by the people who do the work.

The teachers who are on the front lines who know what it's all about.

So with that I will just say that of all of the questions that were asked at introduction a few weeks ago we have made those changes.

You'll have see you'll see those reflected in the updated BAR and with that I will stand for questions.

Comments questions concerns Director DeWolf.

Thanks President Harris.

I just wanted to share another bit of gratitude to you but to the folks working on this I know got to meet last January about this policy so I know it's been a long time coming and particularly what I've been telling folks in my community and constituents is that this is the vehicle in order for us to get to ethnic studies so I'm really grateful today that we're able to move forward on this because.

This is this is that one final kind of brick in the walkway I guess if you will to get us to where we need to go.

So I really appreciate all the hard work on this and thank you for the hearing us last time and making those revisions.

So I'm really excited about moving this forward.

Director Burke Director Mack comments questions concerns.

Director Burke first Director Mack second.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Two questions.

One of them they're both related but following up an e-mail conversation that I had with Sianda Backer.

There's been some questions around from the community around understanding the difference between extended core instructional materials versus supplementary instructional materials.

And you provided an extremely elegant and concise distinction between them and a couple of examples.

So that's question one, if you could share that with the public and the board.

And then question two, I know there's a lot of interest on the board and from the public around what an ethnic studies adoption could look like.

Could you provide kind of an elevator speech of how that an ethnic studies adoption would fit into this policy as approved?

Yes I'd be happy to answer both of those questions.

As mentioned at introduction two weeks ago as we think about the three different levels of instructional materials that we talk about core instructional materials are ones that you would typically think of like a science textbook or a math textbook.

It's ones that we have are very used to using extended core instructional materials are examples such as STI since time immemorial.

and ethnic studies so they extend what we have approved via the core instructional materials they fill in the gaps of where the approved core materials do not meet the expectations or what we need in the particular district.

Both of those two items are board approval.

They require board approval.

I think that's a big distinction to keep in mind.

The third area of instructional materials we refer to as supplementary instructional materials.

Those are materials that require approval of the principal.

Maybe the principal would ask them whether they approve it here either through my office or maybe through the superintendent's office.

But those are truly supplemental and the example that I used a couple of weeks ago was a voter's guide.

So we all probably received a voter's guide the last couple of weeks in our mailboxes.

That could be used as a supplementary material in a class where they're talking about civics.

Director Burke does that answer your first question.

Thank you almost.

There is there is another element of it that I think was a really important distinction that the core and the extended core materials are a shall be used and the supplementary instructional materials are a can be used whereas they would be centrally approved But not centrally mandated.

Whereas the core instruction materials are centrally approved and centrally.

Expected to be used at all of our schools.

That is correct.

Director Burke is it time for Director Mack then.

I had one more question.

I'm sorry.

I will answer about.

If 2015 is approved tonight we will immediately begin.

The process for taking ethnic studies through an approval process so that will begin with approval from the board from the curriculum instruction committee to begin the process.

It will then allow us to work with the IMC and yes the IMC is approved by the board so we will look at who is on the current IMC instructional materials or materials committee then an advisory council will be set up to work through or the adoption committee will be set up excuse me to work through that.

We will then begin reviewing different resources that we want to use.

We know that within ethnic studies the resources have been developed many of them from some of the people that you heard from tonight.

So we'll look at those materials that have been developed we'll be able to.

Evaluate those using a rubric that is approved and then it will take on a very similar process that you've seen with either science or that you've seen in this packet tonight with the Spanish adoption for grades 6 through 12. We expect that process to take the rest of this school year to have it to this board in the spring to begin professional development in the summer.

And then to have it in classrooms in whatever manner that we deem appropriate during the approval process.

I'm going to break in and ask questions because money talks how much money and how many bodies are we going to put towards this ethnic studies adoption.

If we pass this policy now towards the adoption process.

Yes ma'am.

The adoption process will obviously need the guidance of the IMC.

It will need the guidance of the adoption committee it will need the guidance from the office that I have a curriculum assessment instruction.

It will obviously need Tracy Castro Gill to shepherd that through and then as Superintendent Juneau talked about in her opening remarks she has approved the hiring of a consultant or a contractor to help us with that.

Because it is a tedious process.

You've seen it before.

You've seen it with math.

You've seen it with science.

It takes more than one person to get this done.

So right now we need to concentrate on the adoption and then as we as a board hopefully approves whatever is brought forth to them next spring then we look at how do we staff that up.

Director Burke are your questions answered sir.

Thank you so much.

Director Mack the floor is yours.

Yes.

Hello.

It was raised in public testimony the question of board approval of the IMC members and I just wanted to get clarification on that point.

You just mentioned the approval of the IMC.

But is it in the language that the board approves the members and then if so.

Is that going to be coming forward as a board action in the future.

In the past I think it was just coming to committee and it was an announcement.

So are we going to be doing the full IMC member approval process as board action going forward.

And is that clarified in the policy.

Thank you for that distinction Director Mack.

The IMC committee members would come through the C&I committee and that would then be the approval that we would need to seek as as a representative of the board.

So it would not come before this full board but it would come before the committee and if the committee approved it.

Clarifying though that the approval of the IMC is supposed to be a board approved action.

So I'm a little confused on how the committee does that without the full board.

Chief Narver would you like to come to the podium.

Well he's looking at that I can also point you to page 5 that may also help him as he's trying to get oriented to it.

On page 5 it says that the IMC will then determine a recommendation.

The superintendent will provide the recommendation of the IMC to the school board.

I don't think I'm actually getting that correct in my reading of this so.

OK.

And I will also refer back to I mean before your approval of 2015 does not prevent us from moving forward with this I will double check on how we've done it in the past and how it is intended to be done here.

But we we want to make sure that the IMC is is set up appropriately and properly.

As we know we have run into that before where there's been questions about that.

And that is the first step in the process.

I. Director Mack.

Yeah I'm having I'm having a little bit of a difficult time hearing completely so I'm not sure that I got clarification.

It sounded like Mr. Narver said that.

Chief Narver is coming to the podium.

Hang tight.

OK great.

I read the wrong part.

But it does say the school board approves the membership of the IMC.

That's in the.

So the language does say school board approved as the IMC member.

That's a BAR.

Yes it does.

OK.

So then.

So then.

Would it be correct to assume that that would be coming forward as a school board action for the full board and not just through the C&I in the future.

I think that's a yes.

We're making a record.

You got your record.

Do you have other questions comments concerns.

Thank you.

I just.

Thank you appreciate it.

I have a couple.

Anybody else.

I don't want to cut off anyone.

There's been some talk and we heard some public testimony this evening about the difference between policy and procedure.

And in the past it could be argued not with anyone present here.

The procedures may have been less than transparent and may have been abused the privilege.

Did you hear the concerns that came up during public testimony.

Can you address any of those.

I'm sure you've heard some of those concerns in the e-mails the plethora of e-mails that we receive.

I yes I did hear the concerns during public testimony and I heard concerns during the science adoption.

And so I guess because I have lived through that and still bear those scars.

It's my assurance that we will follow 2015 as approved hopefully tonight the way it should be.

Director Geary please.

this on this point we were very well two points I'd like to say with regard to the ICM it was IMC the the fact that it is now coming to the full board I think is a correction that had been missed in the prior policy that there seemed to be I believe my recollection is there was a conflict between the statute and the policy and by having it come now to the full board for approval that.

Fixed that inconsistency and answered that problem.

Now with regard to the procedures I want to just I talked about this in intro but I'll say it again.

What we did with this is really went down to a bare bones outline of what the policy was going to be and what the procedures were.

We did a crosswalk to make sure that we understood that there were no holes and that the procedures were aligning with that which the board thought should be in policy.

We double checked that by going back to different members in the curriculum and instruction staffing with who had done different adoptions to make sure that it aligned with what they had done specifically with Kathleen Vasquez in the language arts adoption because that had seemed to be a very successful adoption.

So we made sure that we lined up.

policy with the procedure with practice so that it would all align and that we wouldn't find that within the.

curriculum and instruction staff they were used to doing it one way in conflict with the procedure in conflict with the policy.

So that was very intentional.

We went back.

We remapped it out.

We crosswalked everything so that those pieces would be transparent.

And that was something that Director Burke and I worked with staff on for many many months many iterations doing doing that work just to answer that question.

And it's a delicate balance.

Every day it's a delicate balance and we share and hopefully collaborate in meeting it.

Any other comments questions concerns roll call please.

Director Burke aye Director Mack aye Director DeWolf yes.

Director Geary aye Director Hersey aye Director Pinkham aye Director Harris aye this motion is passed unanimously.

I cannot tell you how excited I am about what this allows us to do and.

If we do ethnic studies as well as I think we will then I want to license our curriculum and put Pearson out of business.

There is your money pot.

Number two approval of the 2019-2022 collective bargaining agreements between Seattle Public Schools and the Seattle Education Association certificated non-supervisory employees paraprofessional staff and Seattle Association of Educational Office professionals this came before October Executive Committee October 10 for approval.

Motion please.

I move that the school board approve.

The 2019 2022 collective bargain agreement agreements for the SCA certified certificated non-supervisory employees the paraprofessional staff and the Seattle Association of Educational Office Personnel and authorized the superintendent on behalf of the board of directors to execute the agreements in the form attached to the school board action report with any minor additions deletions and modifications deemed necessary by the superintendent.

and to take any necessary action to implement the terms of these agreements.

Immediate approval is in the best interest of the district.

I second the motion.

I see H.R.

Chief Dr. Clover Codd at the podium perhaps Cheryl Moore Anderson can join you.

Please.

Well then we're just going to call you out.

She's retiring and we love her and we need to say thank

So let's hope you approve it.

So you have before you the full red line version sort of underlined and crossed out new underlined and for the three year 2019 through 2020 to a collective bargaining agreement between the Seattle Education Association and Seattle Public Schools.

The most substantive topics include as they are outlined in the BAR wage increases expanded joint efforts on training staff on racial equity literacy and disproportionality hiring and retaining educators of color taking steps to revise employee safety security and responsibilities to reduce the school to prison pipeline impacts on our students.

and developing student work student and work calendars to address inclusive calendaring practices for cultural observations and religious holidays.

I will open it up to questions if you have any at this time.

I.

Yes.

OK.

Members of the dais and on the phone have been briefed substantially in closed sessions.

Director DeWolf please.

I don't necessarily want to belabor that part of it just yet.

I do want to just make sure to.

At least I also share some gratitude for Cheryl.

I think that we would not be here in in even one tenth of one tenth of a percent.

And so I'm so grateful for your work.

This was probably the heaviest lift I've witnessed here at Seattle Public Schools getting us in a three year contract.

So thank you for that work.

And I also just want to share something a little bit personal which is that you know I recently I'm taking some time off from work and one of the things about our jobs is that we often It often becomes our identity.

And so I'm looking forward to getting to know you Cheryl as not this person here because this is not who you are and really just see the cool things that you're going to do to make this world a better place in your own way in that way.

So thank you for all you've done and just thank you for really delivering this over the finish line.

I am really grateful for the work that's gone on in this and thank you for making sure to put equity and our teachers first.

Directors Burke and Mack do you have any comments questions concerns.

No comments.

Just thank you everyone.

Same here.

No comments.

Thank you.

Director Geary please.

I would also like to say thank you to Cheryl on this.

Interest based.

Was something that we all heard a lot about.

And I think in.

Taking the time to create the teams to explore the interests of our.

staff and our district we saw that really foundationally we shared so many interests and that really allowed us to solidify around the equity work in ways that I don't think would have been possible.

Because when though when the conversations started centering around the interests we saw that we really did want outcomes for our kids.

And I guess what was so remarkable about that is it started it started really solidifying us even as against outside influences that wanted to go back to traditionally traditional bargaining tactics.

But we found that those interests were so strong and so did the core of our district that they held us together and they are holding us together in this work and they will continue to hold us together.

And so I say that because we have to focus on those interests even outside of.

our unit and we now have to figure out ways to engage in interest based collaboration to bring along our parents our families are all the people who are on the outside that haven't had the opportunity to participate in those really in-depth meaningful conversations.

But it started with you.

So thank you so much for that.

We all have so much to owe.

Roll call please.

Director Mack I'm sorry.

I apologize I did not see you sir.

Roll call please.

Director Mack aye Director Burke aye Director DeWolf aye Director Geary aye Director Hersey a proud aye Director Pinkham aye Director Harris aye this motion is passed unanimously.

Action item number three approval of the renewed agreement with King County to purchase Orca business passport products through Metro King County Metro Transportation came before Ops October 3 for approval.

Motion please.

I move that the school board authorize the superintendent to execute a contract with King County.

for student ORCA cards in the amount of one million seven hundred three thousand two hundred forty eight dollars and fifty six cents in the form of the agreement attached and presented to the school board with any minor additions deletions and modifications deemed necessary by the superintendent and to take any necessary actions to implement the contract.

Immediate action is in the best interest of the district.

I second the motion.

It's questions concerns from my colleagues.

How can you be against.

Orca cards.

That other people are paying for.

Roll call please.

And that we've already passed out so it would be really embarrassing now.

Picky picky picky.

If you're against it you gotta go collect it.

Roll call please.

Director Burke.

Director Burke aye Director Mack aye Director Hersey aye Director Geary aye Director DeWolf aye Director Pinkham aye Director Harris aye and a big shout out to our students at Rainier Beach High School who helped make this happen and to our partners at the city of Seattle.

Thank you very much.

We will.

We will be at rest for 15 minutes.

and be back here at 7 35.

you you