School Board Meeting - September 23, 2020

Any final comments while SPS-TV takes us live.

After a brief pause I will call us to order.

Tansi Okimaw Pii-Sim Nitisi Nikason.

Hello this is Director DeWolf.

Thank you for being here.

I am now calling the September 23rd 2020 regular board meeting to order at 3 p.m.

on Wednesday September 23rd 2020. To begin we live and go to school in a city that is the ancestral homeland to the Muckleshoot Nation the Suquamish Nation and the Duwamish people.

We acknowledge them as custodians of this land since time immemorial.

As guests and in many of our cases as settlers on this land we extend our deepest gratitude and respect to their ancestors and elders past present and future.

Miss Wilson-Jones please roll call.

Director Hampson here.

Director Harris.

Director Harris.

Looks like not yet.

Director Hersey here.

Director Mack here.

Director Rankin here.

Director Rivera-Smith.

Present.

Director DeWolf.

Here.

Superintendent Juneau is also joining us for today's meeting and additional staff will be briefing the board as we move through the agenda.

As we begin today's meeting I would also like to welcome Giselle Masmela who is joining us as the student representative from Franklin High School today.

You'll be interested to hear that.

Yeah we are excited to resume our schedule of student representatives and we'll be hearing from Giselle later in the meeting.

We've also returned to leading off public testimony with high school students students and we'll hear from Savannah Blackwell from Franklin High School during our testimony period today as well.

Just some final housekeeping.

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

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

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

Staff may be muting participants to address feedback and ensure we can hear directors and staff.

I will now turn it over to Superintendent Juneau for her comments before we move to the students comments.

Superintendent Juneau.

Yes.

Thank you President DeWolf and welcome.

Thanks everybody for being here again.

I just want to be brief and share some of the amazing work our teams are doing during this dual pandemic to better serve our African-American boys and teens and other students furthest from educational justice.

This past week we got great news from the Academy for Rising Educators.

As you know that is one of our career pathways in Seattle Public Schools.

and also one of our recruitment strategies for our strategic plan priority of increasing our educators of color in our system.

Through the hard work happening in Human Resources with the Academy for Rising Educators we have 82 POC candidates in the Academy for Rising Educators.

Of those 82 82 percent of that are Seattle-born.

43 are African-American.

And of those 43 32 are African-American males 24 Asians 12 Latinx 3 Native.

And so we are building a teaching force that truly reflects our students.

And so I want you know it's a slow process but it is one that will pay off in the end.

So just super proud of that work.

Also want to congratulate all those who fought and won to ensure that we can build a brand new Rainier Beach High School.

As announced last week the current building will not be landmarked which means the Rainier Beach community gets a building that will be modern and representative of that community.

A large team from Seattle Public Schools attended the Kingmakers Collaborative Meeting.

You know that we have been part of that for a few years now and I believe that Director Hersey attended that as well and so I'm excited to watch this effort grow in Seattle Public Schools.

And then remember TAF and all of that conversation that happened what seems like a lifetime ago.

Well I'm happy to report that TAF has launched successfully at Washington Middle School and they are now wanting to discuss additional partnerships at the feeder schools so that students are ready for the STEM by TAF model when they get to Washington Middle School.

And we all know that there are so many challenges in a remote setting.

But we also know good things can still happen as a result of the of us being remote and the fact that we are not in brick-and-mortar and don't have those barriers.

One good thing and that this is super exciting that we were able to pull off was opening our Sikachib classes at Chief Sealth International High School and Nathan Hale High School to Native students from our high schools across the city.

So our registrars and our counselors and Gail Morris and her team are engaged in making sure that our Native students have access to the Sakachi classes and programs at those schools.

So that's super exciting.

You also know that our nutrition services staff have been rock stars throughout these past few months.

Last Friday we served 24,000 meals to families.

That is a record for one day service.

And so 24,000 that's Very significant.

Just want to really again thank Director Smith and his team for making sure that the basic needs of our students and families are getting met across the city.

We continue to gain partners that want to see Seattle Public Schools succeed.

One of our very kind partners is providing teachers a monitor a computer monitor to help them work from home.

These will be provided to teachers will not be SPS devices.

But of course our DOTS team has helped to manage this opportunity for our educators.

So again just a big shout out to our DOTS team.

Dr. Scarlett Dr. Williams and Principal Fauntleroy have worked their magic yet again.

They worked with the Harvard Graduate School of Education School Leadership Collaborative to provide an opportunity for 16 Seattle Public Schools Black School leaders to participate in that program this year.

It's a great leadership opportunity a great retention strategy.

And so I can't wait to watch this cadre of amazing leaders learn and grow.

I know that our access numbers are those who are logging in have been in the news.

And just a reminder that when I announced those numbers at the at the last meeting in order to be transparent it was the first week of school.

And now that we've been in remote learning for a while and our bugs continue to be worked out our numbers are a little better.

Overall 91.8 percent of currently enrolled SPS students have accessed at least one online portal.

So they have access Teams Schoology or Seesaw between September 4th and September 18th.

Our preliminary data for elementary students show that 86.3 percent have logged in at least once to one of those platforms.

98.1 percent of middle schools with 94.7 percent of American African-American males logging on.

96.1 percent of our high school students with 92.8 percent of our African-American males logging on at least once.

This is all preliminary data that we will continue to scrub and analyze.

We have seen increases in the percentage of students logging into each of those portals every day since school started.

Teams usage in particular has roughly doubled increasing from 42.4 percent to 85.1 percent from the start to the end of this time period.

So things continue to roll.

Our educators continue to reach out to those students who may not have accessed those portals yet to find out what kind of supports might be necessary.

And Chief Berge will give an update on enrollment at the budget session next week.

I just want to end my remarks by.

Just saying that there's still a lot of good work going on that it's recognized and that there you know our system is benefiting from all the hours that people are putting in.

And I just want to thank all of the educators across our system for the enormous efforts they're giving to serve our students to our families for supporting our work and for providing a learning space for our scholars to access learning in your homes.

to the DOTS team for making the impossible possible.

They have answered thousands of calls tech tickets and handled customers at the tech centers across the city.

I want to thank our school leaders for doing whatever it takes to support your educators so they can support students and families.

And of course I want to thank our partners for stepping in and filling each gap that is presented during this dual pandemic.

I am really forever grateful to each of you and it's truly my honor to serve in partnership with all of you.

So thank you President DeWolf and directors.

Thank you Superintendent Juneau.

Okay again I would like to welcome Giselle Masmela.

Giselle is a senior at Franklin High School.

She is a member of the Franklin High School ASB and is the captain of the Franklin Volleyball Team.

She's currently serving as the Franklin High School.

She's currently serving the Franklin High School student body tirelessly and capably and we thank you so much for being here Giselle.

I'll turn it over to you for your comments.

Thank you.

I'm excited to be here and represent Franklin High School.

I know during this time of remote learning it has been a struggle amongst everyone in the district.

For example students find it hard to get back into a routine.

Hard to stay at their laptop screen for five hours.

Hard to contact their teachers and even hard to pick up materials.

Not to mention the limitations that Microsoft Teams has created a different disadvantage in online classroom environments.

The problems are stacking up but I hope that in the near future we can find the solutions to these problems and I believe it starts with just being available and supportive for each and every student.

Outside of school there are problems for students that have been ongoing.

One example is fighting racism.

When the Black Lives Matter movement arose to its ultimate high back in May and June it was a wake-up call for everyone to act now.

Franklin held the United for Black Lives demonstration on June 6th to support to show our support.

During the process of planning this event it was a struggle due to some choice of words that were not approved by our admin at first and then the district due to its controversy.

But in the end Superintendent Juneau I saw you show up and come through so I thank you for that because in the end we saw the unity and we saw and felt the movement.

This was one of the moments where I felt extremely proud to be a Quaker.

Because since I was a freshman I've noticed that there has always been a priority in uplifting every single student and their many self-identifying differences.

Our faculty has always pushed us to use our voices spread love and fight for change together.

I value these lessons that have been taught to me at Franklin and I will take them with me wherever I go.

Today I hope I can bring some attention towards equity within the school district and to ensure it if and when we open schools back up.

Sanitation and other COVID-related materials need to be equitably distributed.

Social distancing and masks need to be strictly enforced at all schools.

Other resources need to be available online for courses that require shared materials.

And just compassion in the transition because everyone is facing this pandemic in different ways and I believe that we can get through it all together.

And that's all I have to say.

Giselle thank you so so so much for being here.

Thank you so much for your words and thank you for your perspective.

Really really grateful to have you here too.

Any directors have just any burning questions or any anything for Giselle here before I move to the consent agenda.

Okay Giselle and like I mentioned please stick with us.

We have 32 items on our agenda.

We love your student perspective as we move through those.

And I'll be and I'll be kind of looking for you if you raise your hand in the teams.

And so thank you for being here.

And we'll and we'll move forward.

Okay.

We have now reached the consent portion of today's agenda.

May I have a motion for this item please.

This is Director Hampson.

I move approval of the consent agenda.

Director Harris second.

Thank you Director Harris.

Approval of the consent agenda has been moved by Director Hampson and seconded by Director Harris.

Do directors have any items they would like to remove from the consent agenda.

This is Director Rivera-Smith.

I do have some items I would like to remove.

I would like to remove the September 3rd work session minutes and the September 10th work session minutes.

May I have a revised motion for the consent agenda as amended please.

Yes you may.

I move approval of the consent agenda as amended.

I second as amended.

Approval of the consent agenda as amended has been moved by Director Hampson and seconded by Director Harris.

All those in favor of the motion as amended signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

All those opposed.

Okay this item has passed unanimously.

Given that we are just right at the time we'll come back to the consent items after public testimony.

We have now reached the public testimony portion of the agenda and it is and we will be taking public testimony by teleconference today as stated on the agenda.

So for any speakers watching through SPS-TV please call in now to ensure you're on the phone line when your name is called.

Board Procedure 1430BP provides the rule for rules for testimony and I ask that speakers are respectful of these rules.

I will summarize some important parts of this procedure.

First testimony will be taken today from those individuals called from our public testimony list and if applicable the waiting list which are included on today's agenda posting on the school board website.

And only those who are called by name should unmute their phones and only one person should speak at a time.

Speakers from a list may cede their time to another person when the listed speaker's name is called.

The total amount of time allowed will not exceed two minutes for the combined number of speakers and time will not be restarted after the new speaker begins.

In order to maximize opportunities for others to address the board each speaker is allowed only one speaking slot per meeting.

If a speaker cedes time to a later speaker on the testimony list or waiting list the person to whom was seated excuse me the person to whom time was seated will not be recalled to provide testimony again later in the meeting.

There is only one speaking slot per person.

Those do not who do not wish to have time seated to them may decline and retain their place on the testimony or wait list.

Finally the majority of the speaker's time should be spent on a topic they have indicated they wish to speak about.

And Ms. Wilson-Jones will read off the testimony speakers.

Thank you Director DeWolf.

A quick logistical note.

Speakers please remain muted until your name is called to provide testimony.

When your name is called please be sure you have unmuted on the device you are calling from and also press star-6 to unmute yourself on the conference call line.

Each speaker will have a two-minute speaking time and a chime will sound when your time is exhausted and the next speaker will then be called.

First on the public testimony list today is Savannah Blackwell.

Hi my name.

Good afternoon.

My name is Savannah Blackwell and I am a proud senior at Franklin High School.

I come representing Principals Cabinet the Theater Department BSU and much more.

I am very excited and honored to be with you all tonight.

I'll be speaking I'll begin speaking on the incredible community we fostered at Franklin.

As of late specifically the Black and Brown students I can say that the admin at Franklin have been extremely intentional with the messages they're sending out.

They continue to drive home a culture of love equity and respect and have been candid in acknowledging the attack that is on Black and Brown people all over this country.

I have already seen the ways the students have implemented those traits even in the virtual world.

I've been very appreciative of my community for all of the grace that has been extended to others around them and the creative ways we've found to support each other.

With this I have also noticed the places equity and resources in our community fall short.

Because of the way the world is right now and the adaptations necessary for our school many students in our community need more to continue the learning.

I would like to see more direct communication and support to our school including the student representatives.

As a school in the South End and with a high number as a school in the South End with a high number of low income families and families of color We don't always find the necessary resources accessible.

We would also appreciate some form of recognition for the work we've done.

For example our staff is currently participating in an ethnic studies training course and being proactive with the anti-racist work we stand by.

Having some acknowledgement and appreciation for this work on a district level would mean a lot and encourage schools surrounding.

And finally as a senior this year is especially challenging in regards to post especially in regards to post-high school preparation.

Franklin works hard to connect students with community-based organizations to help us with college and or career planning.

However these services are supplemented through Franklin.

We would like to see district-wide partnerships in support of our seniors.

I believe these programs that every senior in our space takes advantage of should not only be a benefit for us but students across the district.

This could happen with your support and action.

Thank you for having me.

I look forward to the future.

Thank you Savannah.

Yeah.

Next.

Next for public testimony is Dani Edwards.

Okay.

Hi.

My name is Dani.

I'm a senior at Ballard High School.

I use they them pronouns and I'm here to talk about Microsoft Teams specifically display names.

So this district has blocked our abilities to change our display names on Teams.

Danny is not my legal name.

It is a much more gender-neutral name that I've been using since 7th grade and now this year everyone can see my legal name and everyone who didn't know me already is accidentally calling me it and makes me very uncomfortable.

Trans and non-binary students deserve privacy in regards to their dead name and in fact the Gender Non-Discrimination and Affirmative Action Transgender and Gender-Expansive Student Rights and Supports document signed by our superintendent March 5th 2020 clearly states students have the right to be addressed by the name and pronoun that corresponds to their gender identity consistently asserted at school.

Not being able to change our display names in Microsoft Teams or in general is a direct contradiction to this policy.

I have emailed and called the Student Gender and Name Designations Office several times over the course of a week with no response.

I sent in a Let's Talk form to the superintendent's office describing the issue and I got a response from someone in customer service.

It's been a week and a half and they told me several several times that they're still having issues connecting with their tech team.

I ask that you make changes accordingly so that students can change their names as needed in Microsoft Teams accounts.

Not only just with trans and non-binary students but people have nicknames.

in general that they prefer to be called.

And it's really annoying to have to correct people every class period because that's what I've been having to do.

But it is clear that there is some kind of system in place to amend these issues but the system is broken.

It shouldn't take weeks to get a response.

Just saying that's nothing been nothing has been done.

I don't think anyone in the district is doing anything intentionally to negatively affect trans and non-binary students.

But even with no malintent students like me are suffering the consequences.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next is Chris Jackins.

My name is Chris Jackins Box 84063 Seattle 98124. On the Highly Capable Program Plan.

Three points.

Number one the board report states that this is a rector retroactive approval.

What does this mean.

Has the district process technically violated the law.

Number two at the September 9th board meeting the board approved funds for computers.

That vote was termed a transparency vote.

The funds had been spent on contracts that the board had not approved.

Did the district technically violate the law in that case.

Number three please publicly discuss how things are going with the Technology Access Foundation at Washington Middle School with some details.

On the disposal and recycling contract students are not physically attending school.

There should be some large savings instead of an extension of the current contract.

Please vote no.

On the Superintendent Task Force for the reopening plan and remote learning.

Two points.

Number one please include a requirement that task force meetings will be open to the public.

When the strategic plan was developed the Superintendent did not allow the public to attend the meeting.

Number two I did not see any discussion of outdoor learning in the board report.

On the amendments to policy.

2015 selection and adoption of instructional materials.

Two points the policy states that the school board must approve the membership of the Instructional Materials Committee.

It would be clearer to state must vote to approve.

Number two in the recent adoption of science materials the district refused to provide physical textbooks.

Would physical textbooks help in the current remote learning situation.

Thank.

Thank you.

Next for public testimony is Manuela Slye.

Manuela Slye.

Hello everyone.

Good afternoon.

My name is Manuela Slye Seattle Council PTSA President.

First of all my gratitude to all our educators across the district.

Teachers have gone above and beyond supporting students learning how to navigate remote learning.

They have also worked really hard to connect to students at the human level despite the limitations of this virtual world.

and despite the difficulties many students face with device and internet connectivity issues.

Today I want to request SPS to truly honor the time and talent of parents and students willing to volunteer in the task force for the reopening plan and remote learning model.

The BAR indicates that there will be 20 members appointed by the superintendent's office.

A minimum of one third of the members will be parents of students furthest from educational justice.

My request is clear.

Please make sure parent and student voice is valued and heard.

Our communities are in dire need to be heard and supported to make remote learning work for our children.

We're not checkboxes.

We're here to truly collaborate.

Regarding family engagement as a follow-up on yesterday's work session I want to reiterate our Council's excitement to be in collaboration with anyone truly invested in advising advancing this important work from teachers to union leaders to principals to chiefs.

We really need everyone to make this a priority.

But family engagement must be based on trust.

So we really need to make to take a step back and start there.

We have sat in enough meetings and presentations of family engagement yet our families and students continue to be missing from the table continue to struggle to connect to learning and continue to feel unheard.

It is hard to come to the party when trust has not been cultivated.

Last year's President of the Council I have the following request for information that we can use to work with our units our PTAs and buildings so they can at the same time work with administrators and advocate for students that are not currently accounted for.

We want 100 percent of participation from students.

So we want numbers broken down by school.

Students that have not received a device from SPS.

Students that have not confirmed that they have adequate internet.

Students that have not logged and students that have not logged in every single day.

Thank you very much for your time.

Thank you.

Next is Charles Ellis.

Charles Ellis.

Hello.

Thank you for your time.

My name is Charles Ellis and I'm a parent of a kindergartner and a third grader at Lowell Elementary School as well as having been a PTA member board member and volunteer there for the past two years.

And I'm here today to speak in support of the proposal to fund the remainder of the cost of creating a school-based health center at Lowell.

As a volunteer and member of both PTA and the Lowell community I've seen firsthand both the strength and resilience of the Lowell community and the challenges faced by students at Lowell.

So I support the creation of a school-based health center to support the students and families in the Lowell community.

For those who may not know Lowell Elementary School is located in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle that has a large catchment area that includes downtown Belltown South Lake Union and parts of the International District and is the assigned elementary school for all downtown homeless shelters.

Because our community includes many students who are transitional homeless or from families that are experiencing trauma.

as well as serving students that have medically fragile conditions.

It's really important that our students and their families have healthcare and services support especially when consistent access to those are can be challenging due to them not having housing security.

A school-based health center would help the Lowell community be better served in the needs not only of the school students' staff but also of students' families.

Now we have support from the Capitol Hill Eco-District working in partnership with Odessa Brown Children's Clinic and County Doctor or Country Doctor Community Health Center to make this clinic a reality at Lowell.

And so I would ask you today to add your support for that.

We know that students do better when they and their caregivers have robust support systems.

Helping the students isn't always enough especially when their families are in need or trauma.

If we can support all the students at Lowell We can help create better opportunities and outcomes for them.

Thank you very much and I yield the rest of my time.

Next for public testimony is Akilah Jimerson.

Akilah Jimerson.

Hi my name is Akilah Jimerson.

I work with Capitol Hill Housing the Eagle District with through Capitol Hill.

I am the project manager for Lowell School-Based Health Center And I am testimony today is for supporting the rest of the funding for the school-based health center capital build-out.

Seeing the challenges and knowing the challenges that Lowell face with having a high population of homeless families medical tragically students I feel like the school-based health center be a great benefit for the Lowell community.

It would not only support the students but also the staff having the school-based health center there.

And it would be a game-changer to create healthy sustainable living for families that are experiencing trauma and the lack of resources in their life.

So by having a school-based health center can only it could not just only decrease attendance you know attendance for students You know help families that have no transportation to be able to receive medical care as with no charge.

I think this would be a great thing for the families at low.

So please support the funding for the capital build-out for low.

Thank you.

Next for testimony is Emily Cherkin.

Emily Cherkin.

Good afternoon.

My name is Emily Turkin.

Looking at the speaker list today and from social media posts the last few days it's clear I'm not the only parent concerned about the remote learning experience so far.

The district's all-online approach to remote learning is not sustainable.

Remote learning does not have to mean all screen-based.

Research continually shows the learning benefits of reading on paper versus a screen and handwriting on paper versus a keyboard.

The district's all-screen strategy has led to rampant frustration for families and is negatively impacting the educational experience for our kids.

who are screen saturated and burned out and it's not even October.

This is not a teacher issue.

It is a district leadership problem.

Here are three examples.

My son's school says they're only able to provide one textbook for his six classes.

If we were in buildings right now would he still have only one textbook for six different subjects.

Many students in the district now have laptops at home but no physical books for independent reading.

Yet school libraries around the city are full of books and empty of children.

If lunches and laptops can be distributed why not books and printed learning materials.

One 9th grader shared with me a list of 18 different apps and sites he's required to use to do remote learning including using his own personal smartphone.

Please describe how you're protecting children's privacy rights and explain why it is acceptable for some teachers to require students to utilize personal smartphones as learning tools.

How is this equitable.

Finally please address these issues.

The bar for reopening schools makes no mention of the October or the excuse me the outdoor learning option that was previously discussed.

What is the current status of that proposal and why is there no mention of it here.

Second at the board meeting two weeks ago a director asked for a demographics report on who was logging in successfully to remote learning and how these numbers varied between schools.

Where is that report and what were the findings.

I understand these are difficult and unprecedented precedented times.

I know our teachers are working hard.

Please center children in your decision making.

Thank you.

Hi this is Trina Saldana.

My comments are brief.

I just wanted to mention that I really appreciate all the hard work everyone is doing and the leadership I do and I'm here to advocate for those furthest from justice.

I'm a parent of a Garfield 10th grader and fortunately for him he has a mom who who has the means and the time to give him attention.

So I'm here to speak.

on behalf of those who might not be able to join this meeting and advocate for their children.

My message is to please keep pushing and widening that circle to include people in the opening task force and and also widening the circle so that when we do get the tutors which I am very much behind we get to those students that are furthest from justice.

And I want to know what what goals what measurable ways in terms of contacting those families and those children who are furthest from justice so they get access to these tutors.

Because it's great that we'll have tutors but then we need to connect that that effort to the students that need that kind of support.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next is Marisa Cabral.

Marisa Cabral.

Hello to the school board.

So I've read the Durkin report that just came out on the state of Internet for All in Seattle.

It represents a survey that as it says in the document is skewed because it over-represents white and not very poor families.

And yet despite of the skew we read in the report that there are still 16 percent of students without adequate internet service that's more than one in six students and 11 percent have no internet at all.

I think this means that the outreach from schools to families has been incredibly insufficient or ineffective because schools do have the tech available I believe hotspots to give out and also can guide families on how to get Comcast service.

at discounted or free rates for those who qualify.

Yet Seattle Public Schools does have policies for family engagement namely policies number 4110 and 4129 but for some reason schools are either not trying hard enough or trying but not succeeding.

Marisa I believe that we just lost you from the line.

Moving on to Robin Schwartz.

Robin Schwartz is next up for testimony.

Hello.

Can you hear me.

Oh is that Marisa.

Yes.

I got disconnected.

Marisa you still have about 30 seconds in your testimony.

Okay.

And can they hear me.

Yes.

Okay so so we've heard from parents in schools across Seattle that their school principal does not know which families are still in need of tech services and Internet access in particular.

So so I think it is clear to everyone I hope that this is a public education emergency.

Therefore I would like to suggest that the school board declares a public education emergency.

And consistent with that that the school board instructs Superintendent Juneau to A make available the resources necessary and B establish accountability measures for school principals so that principals are made accountable for conducting outreach to all families.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Please continue.

Thank you.

Next is Robin Schwartz.

Robyn Schwartz you may need to press star-6 to unmute.

Is Robyn Schwartz on the line.

Moving to the next on the list is Brian Terry.

Brian Terry.

Brian you may need to press star-6 if you're there.

Go ahead.

Can you hear me.

Yes.

Great.

Hi this is Brian Ferry.

The highly capable plan on the agenda today is inequitable by its own admission.

Please do not approve it.

Equitable identification has been our goal for many years and yet we continue to fall short.

District staff told me that they know which Black and Brown students are highly capable.

However they do not believe that these students can keep up in the classroom with their privileged peers.

Identifying them as highly capable would risk disrupting the mostly White students in the program today.

Putting White students first is the barrier to equitable identification.

Please do not approve an unequitable highly capable plan.

On the topic of equity I would like to ask that you prioritize getting all of our students online.

15 percent of students are unable to participate in online learning.

That is more than 7000 students who are still waiting for our help.

As a tech liaison for Seattle Council PTSA I continue to hear from these families and their teachers.

They are desperate for our help but do not know where to turn.

Please find and engage with the families and teachers of these students.

Listen to their needs and make it a priority to get all of our students online as soon as possible.

Thank you.

Next for testimony is Robin Amidon.

Robin Amidon.

Robin Amidon.

Yes go ahead Robin.

Hello this is Robin Amidon.

Thank you for receiving my comments this evening.

I represent the Low Income Housing Institute and I'd just like to make everyone aware of a proposed affordable mixed-use development that we hope to build at 7544 Martin Luther King Way South with a groundbreaking scheduled for November of 2021. It will deliver 152 affordable units and quite a few of them as many as 58 units will be sized to 2 and 3 bedrooms to respond to the need for family-sized housing.

The project will also include a wonderful 6-classroom preschool run by the Refugee Women's Alliance.

It'll be a Seattle preschool program program such that for lower income households the preschool tuition will be free.

So I look forward to receiving any questions you might have in the future about the project.

We just wanted to let the wonderful school board know about the proposed development.

We imagine that there will be roughly about 70 students generated from families living there in the future.

So thanks so much.

I can be reached at Lehigh at any time Low Income Housing Institute.

Thank you for your attention.

Thank you Robin.

Next is Alexandra Olins.

Alexandra Olins.

Can you hear me.

Yes.

Hi.

Thank you very much.

My name is Alexandra Olins and I'm the mother of a 6th grader at Madison Middle School.

His name is Natasha Kamen.

I very much appreciate the school board passing the unanimous resolution encouraging outdoor learning at the August 12th special meeting.

The opportunity to get outdoor learning pilots up and running at the K-12 the K-2nd 6th and 9th grade levels is fantastic.

However without guidance from the district on what can safely be done at the schools no school can get a pilot up and running.

The evidence is clear that there are psychological physical emotional and academic benefits to kids being together and outside I would say now more than ever.

So my normally boisterous 6th grader Montage now spends the vast majority of his school days silent slumped on a pillow staring into a screen.

This is not healthy nor sustainable.

Learning is based on relationships.

Kids learn best when they can form relationships with their teachers when they know each other and their peers.

If a middle school wanted to start an outdoor learning pilot perhaps during the Wednesday morning advisory period administration has no way to start without guidance from the district.

If parents want to work to get a pilot started they are told nothing can happen without clear guidance from the district.

Maybe the district thinks there's no interest but I'm here to say that there is interest in outdoor learning.

We can't get so comfortable with remote learning that we forget about the harm that it is causing our kids.

I'll echo what Emily said earlier.

Kids are harmed by staring into screens all day long.

They are harmed by not being together.

We have a chicken and an egg problem right now.

The schools won't start the pilots because the district hasn't given them health and safety guidance.

The district seems to think the health and safety guidance isn't necessary.

I'm here or that they don't want to do it right now.

We're not ready.

I know everyone's working hard.

I know everyone's maxed out.

The teachers are doing a good job.

But we have got to get kids together and outside it can be done.

safely even in this time.

We need it now more than ever.

So I'm urgently asking the district to issue health and safety guidelines so that the school administration knows what they need to do to get the pilots going.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next is Maria Teresa Zurbano.

Maria Teresa Zurbano.

Maria if you're on the line you may need to press star-6 to unmute.

Hello.

Is that Maria.

No this is Ariana.

I'm on the wait list but I noticed one person didn't show up so I wanted to know whether I may get to speak or not.

We are still we are still moving through the list and it is likely that we will reach you.

Is Maria on the line.

Moving on then to the next on the testimony list.

Sabrina Burr.

Can you hear me.

We can.

Go ahead Sebrena.

Okay.

Just a second.

My name is Sebrena Burr a Cleveland High School parent and the Seattle Council PTSA strategic advisor.

I'm here today to say a few words about family engagement in the superintendent evaluation that was posted on the September 9th school board agenda.

We must reimagine family engagement and back with that.

from the needs of our students family networks educators and the communities we serve.

We must stop doing this work from the top down.

All our efforts must be to adjust master where we are now.

Effective remote learning.

We are getting too top-heavy on John Sanford adding costly chief physicians in the middle of a pandemic while we are preparing to lay off and not repurpose critical staff.

Could it be that what is obvious to everyone even our youth and what I publicly said six months into this insanity.

Superintendent Juneau does not have the skills for the ask of what it takes to run the largest school district in Seattle effectively collaboratively.

Why are we top-heavy.

We are in a technology crisis because Superintendent took away our chief of information technology and downgraded the position.

More than we need a Chief of Staff or a Chief of African-American Achievement we need a Chief of Information Technology.

Our Native Education Manager is doing amazing work hitting all the marks.

Engagement.

Curriculum.

Family support.

Community engagement.

This work is not being recognized or elevated.

Why.

Where is her promotion.

She's still a manager.

On the superintendent evaluation I disagree.

Communication and marketing proficient.

No.

Partially proficient.

Community partnership and alignment proficient.

No.

Partially efficient.

Continuous school improvement.

Partially proficient was correct.

And for family engagement and satisfactory you got that right.

So again with parents community hat on I say put the families first.

Put the children and families first.

Stop the insanity and remove Denise Juneau.

With cameras in our home we must.

do better.

We must protect the lives of our kids.

This is not personal.

This is about putting the kids first.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Hello.

This is Maria Teresa.

I had tech problems.

Director DeWolf this is the name that I called earlier.

Would you like to step back to Maria Teresa.

Yeah let's go back.

Yes.

Go ahead Maria.

Oh hi.

So I'm the Race and Equity Chair for the Seattle Council PTSA.

And I found that there was a program for all students that are eligible for free and reduced lunch to receive $399 for you know EBT cards.

And I think that that is essential for all students to have that benefit for the families.

That's $399 per student which is you can imagine a lot of money for a lot of these families that need it.

And so this food insecurity should be at one of the top priorities of the school district.

And they I would recommend they should use their their resources to remind students and families of this immediately the next time this rolls around.

And that's all I wanted to say.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next is Jessica Gasparini.

Jessica Gasparini.

Jessica if you're on the line you need to press star-6 so that we can hear you.

Moving down to the next speaker Jeannie Hsu.

Jeannie Hsu.

Hi my name is Jeannie Hsu and I live on Capitol Hill in Seattle.

I worked in the Seattle schools as a school psychologist and teacher from 1977 to 2014. I am representing the Washington chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America today.

We have emailed two letters to you on August 10th and September 21st this year.

With a sense of urgency we are asking the Superintendent and Seattle School Board to help educate the district community about the life-saving importance of secure firearm storage.

Ideally defined as unloaded and locked separately from ammunition particularly as students are learning remotely at home.

With COVID-19's increased gun purchases by first-time owners the dangers of unsecured guns are heightened.

Suicide with easy access to a lethal weapon becomes an even greater possibility and statistics from Harborview and Everytown indicate teenagers of color Native American Black and Asian are at high risk.

In addition unintentional shootings by children who find unsecured loaded firearms in homes are an additional worry and preventable tragedy.

Alerting parents to these potential dangers through district communication channels would definitely provide a public service to our students and their families.

A number of public school districts across the country including Los Angeles Denver and Phoenix have sent out communication to parents about safe gun storage.

We are asking the district to post links to besmartforkids.org or the King County Public Health website on gun violence for parents and community members and to send home related materials to district families.

Moms Demand Action and Everytown for Gun Safety are available to help as needed.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you.

Next is Joelle Hammerstad.

Joelle Hammerstad.

Joelle you need to press star-6 if you are on the line.

Moving to our next speaker.

Kate Shuler.

Kate Shuler.

Go ahead is this Kate.

Yes this is Kate.

Go ahead.

Hi I'm Kate Shuler and I'm a reading interventionist and levy coordinator at John Muir Elementary in Southeast Seattle.

And I'm also the proud parent of a new kindergartner at that school.

As you know our school is one of the 13 schools of promise as selected by the district.

And our focus as well as the focus of the entire district is of course ensuring equitable access and closing the opportunity gap and providing excellence in education for every student.

As we all know there are unacceptable gaps between our White students and our students of color which the district claims to have as their main and paramount focus.

However the mandate that all schools use Teams as their platform for delivering remote instruction goes directly against this mission mission.

This is something that no one would know unless they were in the classroom teaching.

And so I'm sure it doesn't seem like a big deal but the features of Teams are preventing our students from learning.

You cannot do small groups in Teams because they have not worked out the kinks in their breakout rooms.

So we are unable to efficiently pull our kids for small groups.

I teach reading groups.

I cannot pull kindergartners for reading groups in a breakout room.

Instead they have to manage many links.

This doesn't work for young children who are at home learning by themselves.

There's also Teams does not have a spotlighting feature which makes the teacher the main big focus of the screen.

That's something that Zoom has and Teams does not have.

They say they're working on it.

But this means that kids have to find their teacher among the many tiles instead of seeing a big picture of their teacher.

It also interferes with the teacher and the student's ability to create a safe learning environment as we cannot turn off the chat function in Teams and the chat continues once the meeting has ended.

So once our classroom meetings have ended students can still chat even though there are no teachers monitoring that space.

Finally it impedes our ability to assess students and we cannot hold kids one-on-one.

This is the program through which all of our instruction is delivered.

If we know that assessment.

Thank you.

Please conclude your.

Differentiation and welcoming environments are what make a difference in closing these gaps.

We have to choose a different platform.

Thank you.

Next is Catherine Seaver.

Catherine Seaver.

Catherine please press star-6 if you are on the line.

I hope you can hear me now.

We can.

Yes go ahead Catherine.

Great.

Hi I'm Kelsen Seaver.

I am the mother of a third grader and a kindergartner at John Muir Elementary where Kate Shuler is also from.

I am also on the PTA there.

I want to preface my comments by just expressing my deep gratitude to all of the educators and staff who are working so tremendously hard to make this work.

We're going above and beyond to teach and connect with families and kids as humans in this really hard time.

I'm calling because I'm very concerned about this requirement to use Microsoft Teams.

My background is as an Educational Technology Coordinator.

And as I'm watching this sitting next to my kindergartner and I've just lost my job as a result of the pandemic so I have the time right now to be there sitting with him but I am aware of the limits.

So many families do not have the ability to do this and to walk through this experience of using Teams.

As Kate said there's no ability for kids to really see their teachers.

It's just nine tiles.

You can't see the whole class.

You only see nine.

And then for kids to even be able to see their teacher in a large way I have to pin pin that image and it's only possible because I can use my computer or the laptop or iPad.

And it's so it just it just means it's very difficult to engage and for kids who are trying to deal with this on their own.

I just wish we had a piece of software that would work smoothly and I know Zoom could provide that option.

I also am seeing just in the same way no ability to deal with teams with small groups and that the parent the teachers cannot sort of accommodate and differentiate their teaching which are such key important ways of meeting the needs of all the students in our school.

So I just I wanted to echo Kate's comments and just try to ask the district to make changes to this decision to support The needs of all our kids especially those furthest from educational justice so they get the kind of customized and focused attention of their teachers.

We're trying so hard and need every piece of technology to talk to work as best we can.

We can do better.

Thank you.

I yield my time.

The final speaker on today's testimony list is Ariana Ghez-Farrell.

Arianna are you on the on the line.

Hi can you hear me.

Yes.

Great.

Hi.

I am a mom of a new kindergartner at Coe Elementary.

I also want to first express my gratitude to all the amazing dedicated teachers and our amazing principal at Coe for their exceptional work and devotion at this time.

I was calling in specifically to comment on the fact that Seattle Public Schools has not yet issued a plan for when and what conditions will trigger a shift to in-person learning for our youngest learners.

And this is not acceptable.

Private schools including preschools have clear plans in place and have clear indicators of what triggers what triggers a move into in-person hybrid learning plan.

Namely something like for one example a rate of less than 75 cases per 100,000 per 2-week period of for COVID case count.

While clearly this is a complicated task for the public school system it can't come as a surprise to anyone.

And there needs to be an ability for the public school system it seems to me to be able to toggle between in-person learning and remote learning for the foreseeable future.

Our kids will fall behind and we need creative thinking and all hands on deck to solve this.

Private schools are bringing kids back and already have kindergartners back in person for learning and other elementary school kids are being brought back in person now due to these lower COVID levels.

If it takes the public school system two more months to come up with a plan we'll lose two months of an opportunity for in-person learning while virus levels are low.

And this can this could make an enormous difference particularly for our youngest learners.

My son who just entered kindergarten or kindergarten he doesn't know what it means to be in school.

He has never met any of his classmates in person and like all other new kindergartners it's impossible for him to connect with them over the computer or to really understand what school is.

There's so much verbal emphasis on social justice but it seems to me that the true social justice is to bring kids physically into school.

And so far this is possible to implement safely.

Further there are many parents.

Please conclude your remarks.

Okay.

There are many parents who I'm concerned will defect from the public school system as a result.

And these are people like families who may have resources to go to private school who we want to maintain in our community and who invest heavily in the public school system.

So I just wanted to urge us to make this a big priority.

Thanks very much.

Thank you.

That was the final speaker on today's list.

Thank you Ms. Wilson-Jones and thank you to our speakers who participated in today's public testimony for the meeting.

Greatly appreciate you.

At this time we'll now move to items that were removed from the consent agenda.

So for the items removed from the consent agenda may I have a motion for item excuse me item the September 3rd and the September 9th.

I move this is Director Hampson I move approval for the meeting minutes from the September 3rd 2020 work session and September 9th 2020 regular board meeting.

Second the motion.

And this was moved this was moved by Director Hampson and seconded by Director Harris.

Director Rivera-Smith I know that you pulled these items so wanted to let you go first since this was your items that you pulled.

Thank you very much.

My I pulled the items I'm concerned with the incredible brevity of them that I don't feel reflects the full conversations we had both evenings.

One meeting was just a minute over two hours one was almost two hours and yet these are both just one page minutes.

And I know that recently the executive committee did take up meeting minute format as a special attention item in order to try to get more standardization amongst our minute taking.

But I do fear that it has resulted possibly in not really reflecting a lot of substance that I think is important to have.

I know that I specifically at the September 10th meeting there were several For lack of a better word action items or commitments made by staff that are not at all reflected in those minutes and I only know these because I took pretty copious notes and I even sent out an email to the full board following that work session to highlight some of those commitments for staff and board members.

So again there were just several things and that alone going back to the September 3rd one even though I haven't really dissected that yet I do know already that it does not mention at all the discussion on community alignment initiative in which Chief Counsel Narver did mention some updates to policy that would need to be made and some commitments to providing language for the board.

Again there were just so many things in both of these that I fear aren't reflected and it's it's an issue of transparency to me.

Somebody who was not at that meeting could never look at these minutes and know what was said and discussed and therefore is at a lack of power in our district as far as affecting those things.

So I don't know really what the solution is as far as I pull in them and maybe I can speak I don't know who took these minutes either I'm not completely I think at the bottom it just says provided by office staff.

I don't know specifically who that is who I could speak to on this to see what we can I don't know add to these specific minutes and that just tackles these two because this this is going to you know the following work sessions will have maybe the same issues.

So again this is possibly just something maybe to bring back to Executive Committee and speak about again a vote at that meeting on September sorry on June 10th is when it was at the Executive Committee.

There was no motion or movement made it was a special attention item to provide guidance.

I don't know if that process is still going on or if that was sort of supposed to be that the end of that.

Any kind of any if any if President DeWolf if you have any any information on that that Again my concern is the incredible brevity of the minutes and the lack of lack of transparency.

Thank you.

Thank you Director Rivera-Smith.

We actually do need a new motion.

I apologize.

Apparently we it was 9 September 3rd and September 10th not September 9th.

Greg do we need to do anything to amend the motion.

Yes you can have that amended motion just to bring the two sets of minutes back before the committee or sorry before the board and then we can talk further about the board's options with respect to addressing the concerns raised by Director Rivera-Smith.

Okay so do I have a motion to amend this item with September 10th work session.

It was moved by Director Harris.

Do I have a second.

Does anybody have a second.

I'll second.

Thank you.

First first Director Rivera-Smith I appreciate you pulling this.

I will also just encourage you prior to these meetings to just let me know if this is the issue and we can obviously talk about this offline.

The point of these meeting minutes is that they're they're they're fairly supposed to be straight fairly straightforward as I understand.

That was a discussion.

We we did have that discussion last in June trying to kind of formalize and bring our notes into consistency across the committees was the big was the big push.

I I don't see the same.

Anyway I'll leave I'll leave it to directors for questions or comments and we'll move to directors starting with Director Hampson.

Yeah I think this is what is the something that we discussed moving to so as to remove The judgment of the note-taker in terms of describing discussions.

We do have other our board meetings are filmed and there were constantly situations where things were being interpreted or stated in ways that were not that were really subject to interpretation.

And so rather than put the staff in the position of having to defend those those interpretations.

We went to the things that are that are pretty consistently used which is in many other board minutes which is the action items.

And then the recorded version serves as the more detailed information that's provided.

I will say I agree that the recording is immensely helpful.

Some of these work questions.

I'm sorry.

Director Harris.

Thank you.

I think these two minutes have overcompensated from our conversation in June.

I've also been watching minutes with action item next step being produced out of staff and much appreciate that.

It's important for transparency to have more information and I agree that putting staff in the pinch point to make judgments is is not okay but there's got to be a happy medium here and and this doesn't do it.

Thank you.

Thank you Director Hersey.

I don't have any comments.

Thank you.

Thank you Director Mack.

Yeah I share the concerns around kind of the overcompensation of not having more information in the minutes.

I understand the challenge that is trying to be addressed here but I share the concern that is being raised here and I I would appreciate moving more towards additional information for transparency for the public.

Thank you.

Director Rankin.

I what when we were talking back in June I guess about this it was I thought kind of agreed upon that if there was something that individuals wanted particularly to be in the minutes that we should note that.

So this might be just a good reminder to ourselves if you know there is something that we feel is an action point as opposed to opinion or judgment that maybe We can also take some of the responsibility of saying you know I'd like that reflected in the minutes or you know did we note that commitment whatever kind of thing.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Just a hard mindset to do in the moment but yeah.

Absolutely.

And my only comment will just be that we are a living breathing organization.

Everything we do is iterative.

So if this isn't feeling like it's landing and I heard the word overcompensating.

We can revisit that.

So we'll continue to revisit that and we can bring that back to the Executive Committee.

So with that Ms. Wilson-Jones roll call please.

May I make a final just clarification I think is good to make here.

Regular board meetings are in fact video audio recorded.

The problem is our work sessions are not.

There's no recording anywhere to go back and and and and document that commitments were made by staff and I'm not saying staff isn't reliable and going to make make sure they follow through but there is no nowhere in record to show those commitments or asks by board.

So that is my biggest concern with these specific minutes here.

But again I look forward to the conversation.

Thank you.

Okay so all those in favor of the motion as amended for the 9-3 and 9-10 work sessions.

Just for clarification those two sessions were recorded.

All those in favor of these.

Director DeWolf.

Director DeWolf.

We do need to do a roll call on this motion because it was pulled from consent.

So I'm happy to call that.

Yes correct.

There's my talking point.

Thank you.

Miss Wilson-Jones.

Can I ask for clarification too.

Does a yes vote mean we're approving them as stands and a no would mean we would like corrections on them or additions.

A yes vote means you're approving them as written.

A no vote means you're not approving them as written.

The another option would be the president could recognize a motion to pull these from the agenda and refer it back to committee for further work.

If these aren't approved.

You know the work session happened so we'd have to figure out how the the minutes are going to be worked on at that point.

But the motion before the board at this point is to approve the minutes as written.

All right.

I could ask President DeWolf if you would if you would be if I could I request that you do just I guess pull them so we can talk about them later.

I know we don't take much too much time here.

And if if that is with that that would be okay with you.

Let's move forward on the vote.

I would I think we have an open motion I think.

That's my only concern.

Right Greg.

There's a motion pending right now to approve them as written.

Correct.

Ms. Wilson-Jones roll call please.

Director Hersey.

Abstain.

Director Mack.

No.

Director Rankin.

Wait I'm a little bit confused about what the options are.

I mean it's yes as as written as minutes as they are and no to to not approve them and.

What happens if they're not approved.

Ms. Wilson-Jones or Greg.

Yeah the the president could recognize a motion to refer the minutes back to committee for further work at that point.

They you know they something has to be done with them.

Like I said the work session occurred and we are required to have minutes of every meeting that has occurred.

So minutes do need at some point to be generated and that are approved.

Greg do I have the power now to just pull them.

We're going through an exercise here and it's just it's just taking up a lot of time.

Can we pull these and bring them back.

You can ask for a motion to pull them from the agenda and refer them back to committee that the board could then vote.

Director Rivera-Smith.

Okay.

This has been moved by Director Harris and seconded by Director Hampson.

All those in favor of pulling these and bringing them back to committee.

You need a roll call.

Ms. Wilson-Jones roll call.

Director Mack.

Director Rankin aye Director Rivera-Smith aye Director Hampson aye Director Harris aye Director Hersey aye Director DeWolf aye.

This motion has passed unanimously.

Thank you.

And just just just encourage Director Rivera-Smith for future just let me know of these ahead of time because we did spend about 13 minutes on this and I would have been happy to talk and pull it off.

Okay so now we'll move to the action items on today's agenda and after these four items we will then move into a recess so I can give directors a bio break.

So our first action item is Today is motion to introduce and approve a memorandum of understanding between the Seattle School District Number One District and Seattle Education Association SEA.

This came to the executive committee on September 16th for approval.

May I have a motion for this item please.

Director Hampson Director Harris.

So moved.

Sorry I wasn't unmuted.

Second.

Thank you.

Talking to myself.

This item has been moved by Director Harris and seconded by Director Hampson.

This item is on the agenda for introduction and action today.

Chief Human Resources Officer Dr. Clover Codd I believe you will be briefing us before directors comments and questions.

So to you.

Yes good afternoon everybody.

Clover Codd Chief Human Resource Officer.

I am honored to be here today presenting to you this memorandum of understanding between Seattle Public Schools and the Seattle Education Association.

We are joined here today with Jennifer Motter the president of the Seattle Education Association.

And before I begin the overview of the MOU I'd like to turn it over to Jennifer for her comments.

Hello.

Thank you.

Can you hear me.

Yes.

All right.

So thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak with you today.

My name is Jennifer Modder and I do proudly serve as President of Seattle Education Association.

Before speaking about the details of the MOU I would like to talk about the enormous lift and hard work that went into the MOU from SEA SPS the board and really the entire community.

I counted up the days our SEA team spent bargaining this summer and it was around 40 days.

which includes both days at the bargaining table and days when we were meeting on our own.

In other words it was 8 full work weeks of bargaining for our team and that does not include all of the work done before the end of last school year before I took office.

Thankfully bargaining was over the summer when most of our team was not otherwise occupied with serving our students.

Our team consisted of approximately 20 core members and approximately 50 additional subcommittee members.

It was an enormous amount of time and effort to accomplish the MOU and that was just the SEA side.

I'm sure the SPS side was equally busy.

I would also like to point out that the reason it took all summer was because it was an extremely difficult task.

Yes there were disagreements which took time to resolve but what took the longest was just the complexity of the task before us.

And to be clear The difficulty was and continues to be how to safely and equitably serve our students and families in the middle of this pandemic while also facing the ongoing and much greater pandemic of systemic racism and while dealing with chronic underfunding of our schools and chronic underfunding of housing and the other basic needs of our community.

I am very proud of all the hard work that went into the MOU but I also don't want to sugarcoat the situation by acting like everything is rosy.

We know the heavy burden that is being carried right now by our educators and by our students and families.

The MOU and the community agreements are 48 pages long and cover lots of important details.

What really matters is how the MOU is implemented downtown and in our schools.

We have spent the past few weeks working with our members as well as with administrators and community partners so that everyone can understand the details and intent of the MOU.

On one hand there are some bright spots and many schools have done an amazing job so far getting students and families connected and engaged.

And there are things we are learning about remote education and family engagement that we will be carrying forward after the COVID pandemic to serve our students better.

On the other hand we also know that there are way too many students and families who are not connected or engaged either because of Internet and technology issues scheduling issues or simply because remote education just doesn't work for them.

We also have educators who are simply struggling.

to have reliable high-speed Internet and who need hotspots or other ways to connect.

I say all of this because it is critical that we not lose sight of the big picture.

We are all struggling and I would say that morale amongst our educators is probably the lowest I've ever seen it because so many are just exhausted and frustrated.

I'm going to pivot a bit.

I would like to say that I'm thankful and relieved that our COVID transmission rates are finally going down.

However I would also like to caution that as we look at public health data We need to disaggregate the data to see how different communities are being affected.

We cannot overlook that our Black and Brown families are being the most impacted by the COVID pandemic and systemic racism and I believe their safety and their voices and needs have to be at the center of any future plans.

Furthermore I also want to state how critical it is that we continue to really focus on improving our remote education model and getting it as established as possible.

We know that many families will choose to continue remote education no matter what we offer in terms of in-person We also know that remote education will continue to be important to fall back on in any hybrid model if cases increase again.

All that to say I would like to just provide some caution about any rush to return to in-person instruction.

We know that any return to in-person will be extremely complex to figure out.

It will again require an enormous lift from our SEA bargaining team members who will need to take time away from their classrooms and duties when they are already overwhelmed.

I know it will weigh heavily on all of our members and really our entire community all of whom will be rightfully concerned about whether in-person services can be done safely and equitably and not cause more disruption and harm than good.

With that I return it over to Clover Codd.

Thank you Jennifer.

Really great to e-meet you.

And Dr. Codd I hate to jump in here.

I need to actually roll back a couple of moments here and do a formal motion.

So I'm going to ask Director Hampson and Director Harris to redo our motion just so we're doing it formally for the minutes and then I'll return it back to you.

Sorry for the interruption.

Thank you for your grace.

This is Director Hampson.

I move that the school board approve the MOU Memorandum of Understanding as attached to this board action report and authorize the superintendent to take the steps necessary to implement each district responsibility detailed in the agreement.

Immediate action is in the best interest of the district.

Second the motion.

Thank you all.

Dr. Codd I'll turn it back over to you.

Okay.

Thank you.

So I do want to start by thanking both of the bargaining teams from both the district and the association.

We did begin bargaining in June and facing unprecedented circumstances and way more unknowns than there are knowns.

I want to thank my colleagues on a cabinet level and the superintendent and the board for your support and partnership throughout this bargaining process.

It has been intense.

The enormity and the responsibility of being an educator at this moment in time weighs heavy on all of us.

Despite that our teams continue to work tirelessly implementing this MOU that we expect you to approve this afternoon.

Our goal when we bargained was to figure out how to put in place the proper health and safety standards as well as re-envision how our school district would implement a completely new remote model of education.

All the while trying to balance the needs of the students and families that we serve and the needs of the adults in our system.

who provide the public education to over 54,000 students.

We did this on a compressed timeline with multiple moving parts and constantly changing information.

Not only were we facing the biggest health crisis of our time we witnessed several unrest from the pain of the deep-seated racism within our society that many of our students families and staff face every day.

Amidst all of that we came together.

and drafted 48 pages of commitments to one another and in support of our students and families.

This MOU provides for provisions covering the following areas.

Health and safety protocols.

Provisions for professional development for educators.

Technology equipment and support for educators.

Support for social emotional learning.

Educator expectations.

Provisions for in-person services when with for students with special needs.

accommodations and leaves a revised school year calendar and reopen our language should the school board choose a different model of education in the 2021 school year.

Each of our proposals were written with racial equity as a cornerstone of our decision making and both the district and the union wanted this MOU to advance supports for students of color furthest from educational justice because we knew that likely these are the very students who might be affected most by these pandemics.

The fiscal impact of this MOU is 2.7 million dollars and is outlined on page 2 of the board action report.

I am extremely proud of the work our teams did and I'm proud of what's included in this MOU and ask for your vote today.

And with that I'll open it up for questions.

Thank you Dr. Codd.

Okay.

We will start with Director Cummins with questions beginning with Director Hampson.

Thank you.

I think it's important for listeners to understand exactly why it was that we needed to do this MOU.

I think it's it's hard for folks to keep up with the various types of quote unquote bargaining.

And if you could please provide a brief explanation as to why it was so important that the district and SEA come to the table to create this MOU what the precipitating factor was.

Sure I'll try.

So typically in the state of Washington we must bargain with our labor partners wages hours and working conditions.

Those are mandatory subjects of bargaining.

When we moved from our brick and mortar kind of model of education to a remote model of education It changed the working conditions for our educators.

There are over 5,000 members represented by Seattle Education Associated Association each with different roles responsibilities and those expectations are outlined in our current collective bargaining agreement.

But when we change the model of education it changes those working conditions.

We also have to take into account the health and safety of the members who are needing to provide any on-site services for students or families.

And so this was a unique moment in time where we had to not re-bargain a collective bargaining agreement but put in place a memorandum of understanding so that we were really clear on the working conditions and expectations around health and safety during this remote model.

And can you as a follow-on to that point to when there might need to be a coming back together around MOU when if when and if working conditions change yet again.

Yes.

So we did put some re-opener language into this memorandum of understanding should the school board Make a determination or vote to approve a different model of education different from what we where we are right now is in a remote model.

So should the school board vote to approve a phased in-person or some some form of hybrid approach we will need to come back together with SEA to negotiate any changed impacts of that decision to their working conditions.

Thank you.

And then I would just state for clarity and get your confirmation that the re quote unquote reopening template and resolution that was passed by the board on August 12th includes provisions for outdoor education in a manner that is consistent with the MOU.

So what you put in the resolution does not mandate that educators provide outdoor education per se.

It provides for a pilot for for people who choose to do that to be able to go through a process to offer that.

So we are not mandating that SEA members per se provide outdoor education.

If we were to mandate that we would need to bargain the impacts.

But my understanding is that.

We are not mandating that.

It is a pilot for people who opt into that model and therefore it would be done through a site-based process if you will.

Okay.

Thank you.

And then also I just wanted to add for clarification that I think one thing that that I would like to see going for we don't often have the opportunity for board to do be heavily involved in a bargaining process multiple times in a very short period short fiscal or academic window.

And that I think going forward we want to make sure that there's a clear process for how prior to SEA and district staff going into a bargaining environment that there is a clear set of expectations so that then once that you come out the other end as we did late in August that there is it's consistent with what the board has recommended going in into that bargaining with.

And I think I hope that we can work together SEA the district and the board to take a look at what that might process that process might look like in the future as there are other MOU instances in our future I believe.

So thank you all for all of your hard work on this.

I know it was a difficult process and we're I will be supporting today.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Director Harris.

I will echo the gratitude expressed on my colleague Director Hampson.

I will echo the extraordinarily hard work that was put in by all parties to this MOU.

I will highlight the fact that we increased professional development.

And most importantly we paid for professional development.

And I'd like to see us triple or double that at a minimum.

I am confused about the answer on outdoor education.

Pilot projects sound lovely but again the devil's in the details.

Are we suggesting that if represented staff SEA represented staff want to do a pilot project that we don't come back to the table to negotiate the working conditions.

I'm truly confused because I've I've always found the safety issues to be paramount with SEA.

And I also see I agree that building base et cetera et cetera is fine and good but Are we going to then start treating all 104 schools differently as an entity of their own.

I'm truly confused here.

So I I don't know if I'll be able to answer your question to your liking Director Harris but here's what I can say.

I have been assured by the board that the board resolution that discusses outdoor education is not a mandate for our educators to have to be providing outdoor education instruction.

That it is an opt-in model for educators who choose.

And I believe and I'm not as involved in the outdoor school the models and what that process looks like that I've not been involved in that.

What I did commit to is that there would be nothing in this MOU that would prevent educators from opting into that model.

But I've been it's been very clear from the beginning that this MOU and any others I mean if we were to mandate that model of education yes I would be back at the table bargaining a separate MOU around outdoor education if we are mandating it.

So we we often have processes in our schools that allow for pilots that allow for individual educators to work with principals and school communities.

to implement new and innovative ways of doing education.

And my understanding is that is what is in the board resolution is it is that type of a model is an opt-in model not a mandated model.

Thank you.

Director Hersey.

The first thing I would just like to say is again thanking the huge lift that getting this MOU off the ground over the summer was.

Speaking directly with staff alongside Director Rankin I know where we began and where we ended up and the critical amount of work that we had.

So having been very close to this project or rather this MOU I don't have any additional questions but I would just like to again say thank you to all of the educators that gave up as President Moderator said 40 days of their summer.

I mean this was a huge lift and I could not imagine having you know been in these situations before the amount of time that you know not only for staff from the district side but also from SEA that has gone into this.

There's really just no words for how big of a lift this is.

So again from the bottom of my heart I thank you for all the work that has gone into this and I will pass.

Thank you.

Director Mack.

Yes thank you.

I echo the gratitude because this is a massive massive lift in an unprecedented environment and I appreciate President Moder's words of recognition to the incredibly incredibly incredibly difficult job that our educators are doing in this remote environment and that the hours and transitioning to this environment is is really really challenging.

And you know the amount of screen time the uptake of technology the glitchiness between the different programs that don't work with each other the challenges with students dropping off the you know all of this is it's it's just a really really tough environment for everyone.

And I really appreciate the educators that are every single one that I've come across and interacted with are are trying working so very hard to do their very best to make it simple and accessible and and reaching students.

I think in particular the family engagement aspect that was built into the schedule I'm not sure if that's actually technically in the MOU but I do believe that that is a helpful function.

The one thing I wanted clarification on was whether or not the MOU supports Educators utilizing their classroom spaces as teaching stations if they want to go into the building and teach from there is that allowed at this point.

And then at at at do we have a sense of how many educators are are accessing that and feeling like that's a benefit to them.

So sorry if you did not hear me.

The answer is yes.

They people do have the opportunity and ability to go into their school buildings and work from their classroom spaces.

I do not know how many number of people are accessing that at this time.

It's probably something we could figure out given the fact that all staff need to do the electronic attestation before they go into a building.

So it probably wouldn't be hard to get that data.

But the answer to your original question is yes.

Thank you.

That's all for me for now.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Director Rankin.

Thank you.

No just again echoing what other directors have said about you know the time and energy that went into this and thoughtfulness.

And I also wanted to point out for anyone who may be listening that you know the idea behind the different agreements and different learning environments is there's a lot of when it's safe and what's safe.

And really we need to shift our thinking to what how do we mitigate risk and how do we weigh.

There's risks involved in everything and there's nothing that's 100 percent safe.

So when thinking about 100 or when thinking about in-person learning of any kind the the driving force is really what is how do we mitigate risk and weigh risk between keeping kids at home versus the the health risk of being in person.

So and that's for for educators and for for families that as soon as we have more people interacting with each other in more spaces that increases the risk for all of us.

So yeah just saying that there's nothing that's that's 100 percent safe.

However being outdoors is about 20 times less risky.

than being indoors.

And just to follow up with what Director Harris was asking about I wanted to just confirm that as Director Hersey said he and I were the board liaisons during the bargaining process and we made it very clear and I know that it was a priority to everyone to make sure that the opt-in outdoor possibilities would not need to be rebargained and because it's often not mandated that doesn't mean that there aren't any health and safety regulations and that's actually to what some of our public testimony speakers were talking about.

What kind of the holdup is on moving forward in there is because we need from the district clear and this is this is indicated in the resolution a clear set of guidelines and procedures that anybody who wants to do a pilot would need to follow.

So it's not a do a pilot go outside whatever.

But it is you know that there there you know we know based on public health guidelines what kind of the recommendations are for for people in groups of people in outdoor spaces.

There's been camps happening all summer.

There's child care now.

That information exists.

It's not hard and fast though so we do need the district to come up with the set of guidelines of what's required and what will be provided by the district in terms of PPE and any kind of other guidelines.

Just like there's an attestation right now we would expect that anyone participating in a pilot would need to do that same thing.

So so it's it's it's already as Dr. Codd said There's nothing in the MOU that would be that would need to be renegotiated to have those things happen.

Likewise special education services.

It was a priority and has been a priority since engagement teams in June that when needed and it's again a mitigation of risk.

Students there are some students that no matter how many different resources or how many different things we try remotely they've got to have some in-person instruction and support in accordance with their IEP.

But that is all and that that doesn't have to be renegotiated but it is a mitigation of risk that has to be weighed.

And I just.

Yeah appreciate that that as all is in there and know that there's still more thought for all of us to do around it and make sure that that everyone is protected and comfortable and I just really appreciate everyone coming together around all of those things.

And that is more than enough for me.

Director Rivera-Smith.

Thank you.

I want to just draw attention because we did have some public speakers today talk about Teams and we've definitely received many emails from people in regards to their concerns and the tools there that in this MOU it does specifically outline that that staff will use district provider supported platforms.

And I think a lot of this goes back to this MOU because We've had some people teachers been referred to it when they have a question saying look at the MOU and it isn't specific about Teams or Zoom.

So but it does specifically say that the the platforms we provide need to be accessible.

This MOU specifically says that and some have not been in certain ways.

So I just I think my only point here is to draw attention that that we because it's not specific in this MOU anyways we should make it clear to the teachers who are having the large-scale difficulties with teams that they can still utilize Zoom.

It is still in our system and our so it is I don't know if that constitutes supported or approved but it is definitely an option that I just I wish would be clearer with staff because again ZMU does not forbid it.

The use of Zoom itself.

I want to just be clear with with family and staff on that issue.

Thank you.

questions at this time.

I thank you President Moderator and Dr. Clover Codd and our board representatives for the work on this over the summer.

Truly truly appreciate your work.

With that we can move Ms. Wilson-Jones to the roll call vote.

Director Mack Director Mack aye sorry aye Director Rankin aye Director Rivera-Smith

Director Hampson aye Director Harris aye Director Hersey aye Director DeWolf aye.

This motion has passed unanimously.

Thank you Ms. Wilson-Jones.

Thank you Dr. Codd and President Matter.

Thank you.

To action item number 2 this is approval of a student and community workforce agreement.

This came through the Executive Committee on September 16th for approval.

May I have a motion for this item please.

This is Director Hampson.

I move that the school board authorize the board president and superintendent to execute the student community workforce agreement that is attached to this board action report with any minor additions deletions and modifications deemed necessary by the superintendent.

and to take any necessary actions to implement the Student Community Workforce Agreement.

Immediate action is in the best interest of the district.

Second the motion.

Thank you.

This item has been moved by Director Hampson and seconded by Director Harris.

This item is on the agenda today for introduction and action and we are bringing this forward today for approval.

And so I'll just give a little bit of background on this and Also as we run through questions and comments from directors I'll I know that Chief Legal Counsel Greg Narver and Chief Operations Officer Fred Podesta are also available for questions.

If if I could just give a brief bit of history here.

I know that Director Harris can remember this very well.

In about 2018 we were discussing this for a very long time.

and began discussions late 2018 started working with Director Mack on a task force and utilizing that process.

And over the course of the last end of last year and a little bit of beginning of this year we the task force was spun up and honestly it was such an incredible task force I was so grateful to be a part of witnessing just these people working hard for the district.

And we really toiled over every single question concern idea and point that was raised around bringing a student and community workforce agreement to Seattle Public Schools.

And before I move to directors comments or questions I will just say that for me this is such an exciting opportunity for the district to really operationalize our values particularly when in alignment with our strategic plan.

But I think overall in the direction we're moving which is to be an anti-racist organization I'm really really excited about the ways in which this addresses equity by taking our public capital investments and prioritizing a workforce that represents students their fam — students' families Black Indigenous POC and women in our construction careers for these incredible family wage jobs.

I'm just so excited for the ways that this is continuing to invest in our communities.

It is a strong signal of economic justice and racial justice and I'm so proud to be a part of this moment.

With that I want to move to directors for any comments or questions before I move to the vote.

And we will start we'll go backwards this time we'll begin with Director Rivera-Smith.

You may be muted Director Rivera-Smith.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry I'm having problems.

Can you hear me now.

Yes we can.

Thank you.

Yes no I we've definitely discussed this at length and I very look forward to this.

No no questions or comments.

Thank you.

Director Rankin.

No just thank you to everyone who worked to bring this forward and President DeWolf especially.

Congratulations.

And I'm excited to see this move into reality.

Thank you Director Rankin.

Director Mack.

Yeah I'm also very excited about this.

I did want I was wondering if staff could speak a little bit to the investment and support around students that we're going to be making in the district around supporting the education of the students to engage in these opportunities.

Can staff give a little bit of overview of how that's expected to be supported by the district and and is there an additional budget allocated for that support.

Hello this is Fred Podesta Chief Operations Officer.

I will start and perhaps ask One of my colleagues if they want to say add anything on the curriculum front.

We have just begun discussions with the new organization to see how a pre-apprenticeship program could be integrated with the curriculum that the district already offers.

So at this point I don't believe there have been large financial additions needed to support because we do offer a CTA program that supports the construction trades.

We want to turn this and develop the program into something that could lead to pre-apprenticeship so Seattle Public Schools graduates could get directly into the apprentice pipeline on our construction projects.

And so at this time I don't think a budget has been identified.

And of course this is a challenge in the remote learning environment to implement this year.

So this is still in the development mode and I don't know if Diane DeBacker or one of my other colleagues might want to add a little bit more detail.

Thank you Fred.

This is Diane DeBacker Chief Academic Officer and we are We in our career and tech ed pathways we are exploring this option and we've been in conversation about the pre-apprenticeship program.

Director Mack there's no fiscal amount that we put on that at this time.

But as soon as we're ready to go with this.

Thank you.

I appreciate just adding that information in and I also want to.

recognize our former board director Rick Burke who supported the very beginning of this process to ensure that the title of this agreement included students and that that's you know the first and foremost focus of the effort.

And so I just want to recognize him and appreciate all of the work that has gone into this.

Thank you.

Thank you Director Mack.

Yes.

Great great call out and I hope his ears are burning.

And he is mentioned in the BAR as well.

Director Hersey.

No questions or comments.

Just a proud day to be union.

Thank you for all your work and especially your leadership on this Director DeWolf.

Thank you Director Hersey.

Director Harris.

Well Director Mack stole my comments about former Director Burke so I'll echo those.

But I'd like to add a number of other folks to the gratitude list if I might.

Facilitator Nancy Lox for the task force.

The port.

The county.

The city of Seattle.

They worked really hard on this task force and it was a long time coming but I'm pleased that we're doing it right.

I would suggest that there is no free lunch and as the BEX V advisory committee said in a letter to us that was taken entirely out of context and you will be receiving another letter as a board member that we're unaware of all of the work sessions that we had done to address these issues and to hear from folks that were not thrilled with this resolution like the AGC the Association of General Contractors.

You know it may increase our costs on our levy bill but if it provides a pathway to family wage jobs and if in fact we are willing to walk or talk then it's a resounding yes for me.

And additionally huge thanks to Monty Anderson Dale Bright and the Building Trades Council As Director excuse me President DeWolf said this is two years in the making.

Painful.

Too slow for some of our case.

But we're here now and I will vote a resounding yes.

Thank you.

Thank you Director Harris.

Director Hampson.

No questions.

Just congratulations to you and everyone that has helped shepherd this into our hands on this day and I can't wait to support.

Thank you.

And I'll just end with really just thank you all for your comments.

Really great things that you've elevated today.

And also just to make sure that we're really giving thanks and gratitude to the task force members.

They toiled with a ton of these questions and concerns and ideas that came from community and our board and what was coming from other contractors and unions and they really toiled over this work and I really really appreciate the work that they put in.

So thank you to the folks from our Student and Community Workforce Agreement Task Force for meeting on your days off.

Spending a lot of time on this topic.

And also thank you too to Chief Podesta as well as Richard Best and Nancy Locke and for the support from Superintendent Juneau.

I am so excited to be a part of this this moment and I know if directors on this call maybe don't sense it because we're not in the same room.

I want you to just feel proud.

This is a this feels like a transformational moment for Seattle Public Schools and I hope you're proud to be part of it today.

So with that Miss Wilson-Jones roll call please.

Director Rankin aye Director Rivera-Smith.

A huge big aye.

Director Hampson aye Director Harris the biggest aye Director Hersey arguably the bigger aye Director Mack aye Director DeWolf a very soft aye but yes.

This motion has passed unanimously.

Thank you.

Okay well let's move to our next item.

We certainly have a lot today.

We'll move to item action item number three.

This is approval of annual highly capable program plan for the 2019-2020 school year.

This came to the Curriculum and Instruction Policy Committee on September 15th for approval.

May I have a motion for this item please.

Hi.

May I have a motion for this item please.

Sorry.

Reading again without.

Here we go.

This is Director Hampson.

I move that the board approve the Highly Capable Program Plan as attached to the Board Action Report for submission to OSPI for school year 2019 to 2020 to support Highly Capable Services and the district's gifted eligibility identification process and that the school board authorize the superintendent to apply for the allocation of funds from OSPI.

Immediate action is in the best interest of the district.

I second the motion.

Thank you.

This item is removed by Director Hampson and seconded by Director Harris.

This item is on the agenda for introduction and action today.

So Chief of Student Support Services Dr. Concie Pedroza I believe you will be briefing us today.

Yes hi.

Thank you so much.

Good evening.

I'm also here along with Program Manager for Advanced Learning Dini Berry to present this board action to approve the Seattle Public Schools Highly Capable Program Plan which must be approved every year per the WAC 392-170-025.

Plan approval is necessary for accessing funds allocated by the Office of the Superintendent for Public Instruction for Highly Capable Services.

This plan honors the work of the Advanced Learning Department which is aligned to the state guidelines as well as many of the volunteers who gave up their time for the Advanced Learning Task Force and then current the current highly capable Racial Equity Advisory Committee which started anti-racist training at the beginning of their convening and will continue that work throughout this year.

Advanced Learning Updates are submitted to the C&I committee by by monthly and the submission of this plan is a necessary requirement.

for the state funds to continue our district goals.

And it is a format prescribed by OSPI.

And just to share we have been in communication with OSPI about this late plan submittal.

They are aware of that and have granted us the time to get the plan to them pending board approval.

Okay.

Thank you Dr. Pedroza.

Anything else.

Okay I'll take that as a no and we will start with our C&I Policy Committee Chair Director Rankin and we'll move through alphabetically.

Thank you.

Yeah just to reiterate what Dr. Pedroza just said this is a more of a look back and confirmation of what was provided in accordance with state law and and not any alterations or changes or anything for the future.

I did want to note though an eagle-eyed constituent emailed me this afternoon that he noticed a mistake in in the BAR in the student benefit section 0.8 that somehow the Asian demographic has been dropped.

So it says demographically within the 4,682 students referred and assessed approximately 6.2 identified as African-American 6.3 percent identified as Hispanic and less than 1 percent identified as Asian slash Pacific Islander slash Native American.

And I think somehow we missed Asian-American category on its own and it got lumped in with Pacific Islander and Native American and it and thus the the total number of students of the percentage breakdown does not does not give us 100 percent.

It sounds like we need to update that section.

So sorry about that.

I'm pulling it.

And Greg can you clarify what we would need to do with this type of issue that was elevated.

First if the correct percentage is available now there could just be a motion to amend to substitute that and at this point if it needs to be fixed later let's start with that.

See if Ms. Berry has the numbers available.

I'm taking a look right now.

What's our backup if we can't assure that they're accurate.

I think the the board can still approve the plan with a note to for the so that the record is clear that we'll go back and make a current make this this sounds like just a typographical error something got omitted during editing as opposed to a substantive change to the the underlying facts supporting the the report.

I think this is something that can be cleaned up later but it's important to get the assuming that the board is on is supportive of approving the plan it's important to get that done because of course there's funding related to that.

We just will want to clear up any typo that was made in the BAR so that we have a clear record.

Yeah I apologize for not giving you a warning.

I only got the notification myself right as the meeting was starting.

So sorry to.

I would rather make sure I've got accurate numbers.

I'm sorry.

If we can.

Yep.

So it would be my recommendation that we move ahead and then we would amend provide the make the notations.

Yeah we can we can note that in the minutes afterwards yes.

Okay and I think part of it too given that it's just in the BAR correct Liza.

Or is it in the actual docket.

Okay well given that it's in the BAR I think we can take and heed Greg's advice around clarifying that we need to fix that in the BAR but still moving forward.

Yes that's fine with me.

I just want to make sure we have that correct in the in the final you know in the in the record of the document.

Absolutely.

Thank you.

Next up is Director Hampson.

Just to confirm for the record that this is yes I think it's been stated but that this is for last year this is retroactive.

that we are providing this.

So these are monies that were already spent.

Correct.

That's correct.

Okay.

Yeah.

No further questions.

Thank you.

Director Harris.

Yes I'm wondering are the minutes of these task force that were referred to published on the website.

Yes they are.

Outstanding.

Glad to hear it.

Thank you.

No further questions.

This is compliant particularly correct.

Sorry.

Yes absolutely yes.

Thank you.

Apologies Director Harris Director Hersey.

No questions from me.

Thank you for the work.

Director Mack.

Yeah hi I don't have any substantive questions.

I do.

Also I found another typo.

That on the last paragraph and this might be where some of the public comment came from related to the retroactive.

In the last paragraph on the first page of the BAR it says this is a retroactive approval and is the allocation for the 2019-2021 school year and I think it should say 2019-2020 school year.

It does in all the other places but.

that 1 should be a 0. So if we can just have a Scribner's error to correct that I think that might clarify some of the confusion.

And other than that no questions.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Director Rivera-Smith.

Well I my question is only about the BAR which I don't know if that's if that's substantive because we're not it's more about the actual document.

But in the BAR under the I think it's the section about well sorry I lost it already.

It's I believe it's in the equity analysis.

It mentions that the the advancement task force is doing monthly meetings but the advancement task force isn't meeting anymore at all.

I thought it's been disbanded and it's not

Correct.

They were replaced by the Highly Capable Racial Equity Services Advisory Committee.

Both of those teams met monthly.

Okay well it says that they do meet monthly so I don't know if that matters at all.

I mean that's I think this is an error because this was written a while back right.

This was written.

Yes that's correct.

So yeah that's the only thing I see.

Otherwise otherwise yeah no I understand this is very retroactive.

So no further questions.

Thank you.

Thank you.

And no no questions for me.

So with that can we just get clarification that we can move forward and we can get these corrections made to the BAR appropriately.

Yes.

These types of Scrivener errors we can correct afterwards but the board can go ahead and vote on approval of the of the plan.

I'm sorry of the report.

Ms. Wilson-Jones roll call please.

Director Rivera-Smith aye Director Hampson abstain Director Harris aye Director Hersey abstain Director Mack aye Director Rankin aye Director DeWolf

Aye.

Motion is passed with a vote of 5 yes to 0 no to 2 abstentions.

Thank you Miss Wilson-Jones.

Okay next we'll move to Action Item Number 4. Approval to Renew Refuse Dispusal excuse me Refuse Disposal and Mixed Waste Recycling Collection Services.

Bid number B01753 with Recology Cleanscapes, Inc.

This came to the Operations Committee on September 10th for approval.

May I have a motion for this item please.

It's coming.

I move that the school board authorize the superintendent to execute the renewal of a contract with Recology Cleanscapes Inc. covering the period of October 1st 2020 to July 20 sorry July 31st 2021 in the amount of eight hundred and forty one thousand $3.18 plus Washington State sales tax for the refuse disposal and mixed waste recycling collection with any minor additions deletions and modifications deemed necessary by the superintendent to implement the contract.

Immediate action is in the best interest of the district.

Second the motion.

Thank you Director Hampson for moving this and second this item has been moved by Director Hampson and seconded by Director Harris.

Thank you directors.

This item is on the agenda for introduction and action today.

So Chief Operations Officer Fred Podesta I believe you'll be briefing us.

Yes thank you.

This action authorizes a 10-month extension to our Solid Waste and Recycling Contract Contract Recology Cleanscapes provides waste disposal and recycling services to all district buildings.

This contract has been in place since 2018 and has served us well.

It's also since this question the contract amount is built around a our normal operations but the contract is actively managed by facility operations staff and was The services were reconfigured in the spring when school buildings were closed and there were fewer occupants in the buildings.

We are as you know feeding students and conducting many operations across the district.

So we still have a need for waste disposal services.

but at a reduced level since we don't have nearly as many students in the building and the level of service has been refined yet again to be scheduled for most school buildings every other week.

And we will continue to actively manage this but we do need these services.

We do have enough plenty of things going on in school buildings and are producing recyclables and solid waste.

And I'll be happy to take any questions.

OK.

Thank you Chief Podesta.

We will now move to comments and questions from directors beginning with our Operations Committee Chair Director Mack.

Yes thank you Mr. Podesta for the intro.

Can you share a bit more information because we talked about this in operations about the actual cost savings that is being realized now because our resource conservation team is actively managing these these bins and the service levels to be appropriate so that you know the waste that's being produced is being is being managed but we're not overpaying for service that we don't need.

I think she said something that something around I don't remember the numbers that were provided.

There was a 40 40 percent savings or something.

I don't know if you have.

Yeah.

The monthly charges are approximately 55 percent reduced over what they were in February of 2020. And when we when school buildings were closed in March we went to as-needed service with you know kind of on-call type service which is a bit more expensive on a per-unit basis.

But we were still things were pretty fluid then.

We've had a bit more experience and are keeping an eye on on getting scheduled service at appropriate intervals.

So now the buildings are roughly 42-43 percent of what they were.

We are increasing the amount of activity in buildings slowly so we'll we'll have to keep doing this there are certainly of course for our contractors fixed costs so it's not perfectly proportional to the amount of of solid waste they take but it's a significantly lower cost than what the full contract amount would be.

But we do want to be prepared to have whatever level of service we need.

Yeah so for clarification for the public and the questions in testimony were about whether or not we are approving a contract which is and paying this amount.

We are aware we are authorizing this amount but it's not.

And at this time we are we are not expecting to be having to pay the full amount of the contract because we have actually reduced service.

Yes.

Okay great.

Thank you.

So appreciate that conversation and the clarity and also that the.

the work that the resource conservation team does both for sustainability but also for good fiscal management.

And I look forward to any other questions from directors.

Thank you Director Mack.

Okay we'll move first to Director Hampson.

No questions.

Thank you very much.

Thank you Director Harris.

So Chief Podesta and Officer Mack is this a renewal of a contract taking into account COVID and the diminished services or did this go out for an RFP.

This is a renewal of our existing contract.

And how long does this contract last and does it have a renewal period attached to it.

This.

This renewal is through July 31st of next year.

I think we are still evaluating our sourcing strategy following.

I do think we have the ability to amend it further.

This but we'll kind of monitor and evaluate conditions and also you know are mindful of the costs in this world and the effectiveness of this organization to handle particularly recycled project products.

But so we we don't have a firm decision of what we're going to do after July 31st.

We will keep monitoring and and make a sourcing decision later this year.

Perfect.

I would only ask that this come to us in enough time so it's not intro and action.

All of the action items tonight are intro and action.

I understand why they are.

But but certainly we appreciate early and often.

Thank you.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Duly noted.

Thank you Director Harris.

Director Hersey.

None from me.

We excess excuse me we discussed this extensively at Ops.

Thanks.

Director Rankin.

Same comment as Director Hersey.

Thank you.

Director Rivera-Smith.

Likewise this was covered.

Thank you.

No questions.

Thank you.

And no questions for me.

Thank you for your work on this.

And also so excited to see Rena part of this work.

Huge fan of her and the work she's doing the resource conservation team.

Miss Wilson-Jones with that roll call please.

Director Hampson aye Director Harris aye Director Hersey aye Director Mack aye Director Rankin aye Director Rivera-Smith aye Director DeWolf aye.

This motion has passed unanimously.

Okay directors.

I told I offered to give a bio break here.

If folks are still interested we were just about to jump into introduction items.

It is we have about 28 items ahead of us.

Would you all concur with taking a 10-minute recess

Yes please.

Yes please.

Okay.

So Miss Wilson-Jones we will recess for 10 minutes and return at 522 p.m.

Thank you everybody for your great work so far.

And as we're returning from break we will start on the next section of today's meeting the introduction items.

And so we will now move to Introduction Item Number 1. This is the Superintendent Task Force for Reopening for the Reopening Plan and Remote Learning.

This came to the Executive Committee on September 16th for consideration.

Chief of Staff Sherri Kokx I believe you'll be briefing us.

Thank you President DeWolf and good afternoon Directors.

Sherri Kokx Chief of Staff and I'm here to introduce the BAR for the Superintendent's Task Force for Reopening Plan and Remote Learning.

Substitute Resolution 2020-21-4 directed Superintendent Juneau to launch this task force.

As stated in the resolution the purpose of this task force is to monitor the progress implementation and efficacy of the reopening plan and remote learning model.

Some quick background information here.

The vision for remote learning as defined in our remote learning playbook states that we are focused on racially equitable and culturally relevant remote learning systems and strategies that supports educators to meet the individual learning needs interests and goals and are responsive to family and community priorities interests concerns knowledge and resources.

This plan has 5 design principles and they are located on page 2 of this board action report.

This task force is planned to operate from October 2020 through June of 2021 and will be comprised of students family members educators SPS staff and community members who will develop and identify key performance indicators to evaluate student learning and student and family engagement and overall satisfaction with the remote learning.

There are some examples of the KPIs listed on page 4 and 5 of the task force charter that is attached to today's BAR.

The work of this group is a form of action-based research and will provide real-time data and feedback so that we can make mid-course mid-year course corrections to enhance our model and learning for students.

The task force will engage in a process that is aligned with Seattle Excellence and adhere to the theory of action and center on outcomes for Black boys and teens as well as their families.

We will partner with external researchers at the University of Washington College of Education to enact a robust multi-pronged process monitoring plan.

To date we have launched the website that includes the application and the application itself will close on Wednesday October 7th.

Messages have been posted in School Beat and to the SPS social media.

The message has been translated to send to families via email and text message.

The team has already recorded and translated robocall messages in the top six language that will go out tomorrow.

We are also doing very targeted outreach as called for in Seattle Excellence.

The team has already talked with the Office of African-American Male Achievement.

Our family engagement and in particular they have spoken with Salim who is a community organizer for our Amharic and Tungria-speaking community.

We have spoken with the SPS family support workers and are sending applications to the family support workers throughout the district to share with families.

We have talked with the McKinney-Vento staff and district liaisons will reach out directly to McKinney-Vento families.

Tyra Williams one of our housing partners teams will be reaching out to all of the housing partners that is located on a list that I'm happy to share with directors.

Along with that work we are meeting with ITAC on Monday to learn more about that committee's work and what advice they may have for this task force.

We have met with the Special Education Department and are emailing communications to our special our families with special education students particularly those that attended the affinity group meetings and included in the next special education communication to families.

The Communication Department is also supporting us with the help of Braxton Kellogg and Emily Knits Ritter.

We are committed to ensuring that this work is aligned to all the work streams that are operating in this remote learning stance.

And as of today we already have over 50 applicants.

I want to take a quick second to address whether or not these meetings are open to the public.

And per 4110 Superintendent Procedure task force meetings are in fact open to the public unless there is sensitive materials which could close the meeting down.

They are not required to be open but the intent is that these meetings will be open to the public to come and sit and listen.

However the only people that can participate are those that will be selected by the task force or as an official task force member.

And with that Director DeWolf I am ready for questions.

Thank you Ms. Cox.

Okay.

Well I will begin with my two questions as the Executive Committee Chair and then we'll move through alphabetically.

My first one is I'm noticing the document around membership.

I see where is it at now.

Just a comment that came up from community.

20 members appointed by the superintendent or superintendent-designee.

A third will be parents.

One one curiosity as I have is I don't see any board even as ex-officio folks to to participate.

I would be interested in that for one.

The other thing is I noticed that the dollar amount was $150,000 when it came through committee.

I think that's probably why we put it through consideration because of the dollar amount and it's been reduced to $100,000.

So if you could just share what costs or expenses changed.

Thank you Director DeWolf for the questions.

As far as what expenses have changed truthfully no expenses have changed.

The $150,000 dollar mark on the first bar was rounded up for additional expenses.

The cost is simply for our facilitator at this point and his expenses are not to exceed $100,000.

And truthfully I believe he will come in more at around $80,000.

And then as far as the question around the board typically board members do not sit on task force task forces.

However they are welcome to attend any or all of the meetings.

Okay.

I appreciate your answers.

I still have my concerns.

I will move to Director Hampson.

I appreciate that this is moving forward.

One of the concerns I wonder if you discussed putting this together was that the very families or parent and student representatives we need to hear from the most are the least likely to be able to have capacity because of what their experience is with remote learning right now and how you're mitigating that.

Your sorry Director Hampson your question is how are we mitigating to try to ensure that we get families that we most want to hear from on the task force when they are particularly stressed at this time.

Right.

Like it's already they're already committed to trying to support their students or as students to do support themselves or others in their household.

How how are they going to have have time to to do this.

I cannot answer the question of how they will have time to do this.

I can tell you that we are intentionally reaching out and inviting them to the table through the groups that I had mentioned like the Office of African-American Male Achievement and you know through our family support workers and McKinney-Vento staff.

So I don't I cannot answer if they will have time.

I also know that we will be soliciting feedback from families multiple times throughout the school year with the help of our research and evaluation team and with an intentional focus on those families as well.

So even if they are not able to participate in the task force itself they will be providing information back to the task force based on their experiences.

Okay my second question is the there were two task force pieces of the reopening resolution.

One was for one was the superintendent task force as presented here and the other was the board task force.

I don't think there's been any discussion between staff and board about how that comes together.

I think there's a lot of questions about how facilitators are used for these kinds of events and How was the decision made to go with an outside facilitator whereas our we actually didn't even have board office support to do to create the BAR and the because of not having staff capacity to create the BAR and the the charter for the for the board task force.

Because it's concerns we're setting quite a standard here of external not not that we don't have a qualified individual coming forward to do this work but that any task force is going to require a significant expense of an outside facilitator.

Thank you Director Hampson.

So it has been a very standard practice that our task forces are often run by outside facilitators and that is simply due to staff's capacity to lift and support the work of a task force.

And then so this task force is being set up to be pretty aggressive in the timelines and in the amount of time that the facilitators will need to gather information and turn it around in a very quick manner.

And so based on that information the superintendent authorized the hiring of Zip 3 Salim to support this work.

And so that's being paid for out of the superintendent's office.

That is correct.

Okay.

And so given the limitations of our budget as a board what would the how would the board go about doing something similar for our task force.

The board would need to review the board budget with Miss Wilson-Jones to and then Zachary President DeWolf would make a decision if that is how the board wanted to spend its money.

So.

Do you know the relative difference between those two budgets.

I do not know the relative difference in the two budgets off the top of my head.

But you're the doesn't the board office report to you.

That is correct.

But Ms.

Wilson-Jones manages the board office budget.

Okay I'm just saying that this is we're setting up quite a dichotomy here between board ability to create its own task force versus the superintendent task force.

And I think we really need to be clear about that particularly when we're expending taxpayer and critical dollars.

And I know for example that the CM task force is paid for by Ops and so I don't you know there's there's some inequity here in terms of how this work is getting done.

Thanks.

That's all my questions.

Thank you.

Director Harris.

Yeah and and let me take the segue from Director Hampson.

When we say assume and typically I get really really nervous.

And I guess part of my concern and question is what and and not to be sarcastic here but advise and consent.

are are the terms that I'm thinking about now like the Senate with the Supreme Court.

Has there been any advice and consent or collaboration with the board in setting up this structure or is it just being presented to us as a fait accompli.

Because I recall a time when there was no board member on the strategic plan committee and I'm very proud of the fact that I fought to get Jill Geary a board member on the strategic plan committee.

I also recall a time when I spent two years of my life as the co-chair of the Community Engagement Task Force.

And decidedly a great many of those things have never come to pass and it's very sad to me.

So the board budget is woeful and lacking and And I'm concerned about the lack of collaboration here.

Can you address that please Ms.

Kokx.

Thank you Director Harris.

Yes I can certainly address that question.

The question so I believe that Ms. Delinda Wiley has sent out invites to board directors for two-by-twos and if she hasn't she is in the process of it where the task force leads will sit down with directors to have a conversation to ensure that the charter as it is drafted is hitting the mark and then they will also be seeking your input on what types of data points you think are pertinent and will help that group move ahead in determining the key performance indicators that we will use throughout the school year.

And it and as we know everything during this crisis one thing we know for certain is that everything is subject to change.

And so the intent of the task force leads will be to communicate with board directors in that type of a setting.

And then we will also Director Harris be bringing back reports per the resolution's directions to the superintendent and the school board on a frequent basis.

Okay.

And earlier when you addressed this issue you said you would be happy to share the list.

Could you please do so to all the board directors.

To share the list of the housing partners.

That's the list I was referring to and yes I'm happy to send the list of housing partners that Tyra Williams is reaching out to to invite to the task force.

Much appreciated.

Thank you.

You're very welcome.

Thank you.

Director Hersey.

Hey yeah.

So I don't really have any questions.

Just a quick comment.

I think that it really needs to be elevated considering the amount of community lift that went into organizing our resolution to reopen schools especially concerning outdoor learning and affinity schools and the work that goes into that.

And then when you cross-apply that and look at the differences that exist in terms of spending tens of thousands of dollars on a consultant from the superintendent's office versus the abysmal budget that really is the board office budget in comparison.

to a resolution that really came and grew and was elevated and widely supported by community you can see how our concern as elected officials in the utilization of tax dollars is really at the should be at the at the center of everybody's thinking as we consider this as we consider this item.

I find it very egregious to think that We are not putting resources by any stretch of the imagination into a really a community feat in terms of lifting up very clearly what our families are expecting of us in terms of returning to school.

Yet we really do stand to re-traumatize a lot of families as we've been told time and time again asking repeatedly for our families that experience the most trauma at the hands of our school district to return to the table to tell us more and more about what they think when they've already clearly done that through the resolution that we passed earlier this earlier this season.

So my comment here is that this to me seems like a huge misstep in terms of where we should be allocating our resources and how do we ask and represent community in this fashion.

And I'm having some really grave concerns at this intersection concerning this item.

Thank you.

Thank you Director Hersey.

I didn't hear a question there.

As stated it was a statement at the beginning.

Thank you.

Director Mack.

The acknowledgement that there there seems to be a different standard at which the support is being provided for the board's task force creation at this point.

Understanding that we have limited resources time etc.

I do I do also I share that concern that's being stated.

And also I see that there's an attempt to be really inclusive here in terms of building this task force with a lot of our standard strategies for doing so.

And I think the comment from Director Hersey is is important to heed in terms of I guess kind of where the task force starts with what question or what information and I and recognizing The starting point of the question and what recommendations they're looking to provide that may not be very eloquently stated but I those are my only thoughts and comments at this time.

I don't have any specific recommendations.

The other I guess the one other thing is about having a board representative a connection to the board in this process I would recommend that there be some sort of function.

May not be a seated member on the task force but I would recommend that there be some sort of clause of in the charter of a liaison position so that that that work can be done effectively with the board the liaison with this task force.

And I don't know exactly what that looks like but I trust staff can come up with a way to integrate that into the charter.

My recommendation.

Great.

Based on the recommendation from both you and Director DeWolf we will add I will go back to the language that may have been in the strategic plan work that Director Harris referenced and see if there's some good language that we can pull to have to make sure that there is a board consultant or a liaison.

Thank you for that.

And then Director Mack I think you may have asked the question about what question is the task force set to answer.

And as spelled out in the resolution the primary function of them is to monitor progress implementation and efficacy of the reopening plan and remote learning model.

And that's the direct language from the resolution itself.

Okay.

Thank you.

Director Rankin.

about you know how how how this task force is actionable and and not another admiring problem kind of discussion thing.

So I'm curious about how or if how we've thought about or if we haven't how we could.

tie the work of this task force to some sort of you know goals or deliverables to the board or a certain reporting reporting out aspect at different time various times and also how this task force you know which is directed to focus on you know the efficacy of the remote learning model and the reopening plan which is more academic and learning focused I think.

How this task force will work with the task force designated in the MOU that is SEA and SPS members that are more focused on the health and safety data and kind of analyzing that.

So how do we how are we ensuring that those two groups connect and support each other in making various recommendations or assessments that encompass both the academic side and the health and safety side.

Director Rankin thank you for bringing that up.

I do not I do not have anything that references the working group in the SCA SPS MOU but I can certainly add it to the list.

before this item goes to action just as we have called out specifically what ITAC is doing.

So I will work with Dr. Codd to take a look at the MOU and see how that can play how that communication can happen as well.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Thank you.

Director Rivera-Smith.

Thank you.

I think all my questions have been covered pretty well there.

Definitely wanted to emphasize the collaboration between this task force and the other task force or notably the one in the MOU so that we don't lose time.

Going back and forth with that early collaboration is going to help us move quicker and faster which I know everybody wants to see happen.

I think my one question is about this task force being set to go through June 2021. And I'm just I'm wondering just maybe you can belay our fears but is that implying that we'll be in remote learning until then because we don't we haven't said that we don't know that we are trying to hopefully get back to in-person.

But I fear that that sets sets up for you know the expectation will be in through June.

Thank you Director Rivera-Smith.

I cannot predict how long we will remain in a remote learning stance although I do not predict that we will return to a fully 30-person classroom in-person instruction by the end of the school year.

I could I hope I'm wrong on that.

And so we do know that even if we were to return to a hybrid part of that hybrid does rely on a remote learning stance and so this task force is set to run through the course of the school year.

I also think there can be some important learnings from this task force about how to utilize our technology resources.

For example we may be able to recognize that we can accelerate learning when we use what's called the flipped classroom based on the fact that all of our students will now have a device at hand.

Thank you for that information.

No other questions.

Thank you.

And I just want to highlight too before we move on Sherri.

Liza mentioned a reporting.

I don't remember seeing it in the task force document but I'm sure if it could go to C&I.

I don't know how you feel about that Director Rankin as a as an update at your community meetings.

I don't know if that's.

I think that would be appropriate.

Yeah.

Okay.

President DeWolf.

Oh yes Director Harris.

Thank you.

Ms. Kok just mentioned a term that I think bears a great deal of illustrative shout out and that's the concept of flipped classroom.

While we've been talking about online learning we have not been talking about flipped classroom.

And if we could figure out a way Friday memos cheat sheets one-pagers website whatever.

If we could talk about what that means according to us because it's different all over the country I'm very grateful.

I think our families and community would be as well.

Thank you.

Director Harris I'd be happy to provide a brief explanation of at least how I perceive and I'll work with Dr. DeBacker and Chief Pedroza and Chief Jesse as well to make sure we're all in alignment on what that means to us as SPS.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Okay next we'll move to Introduction Item Number 2. This is Amending Policy Numbers 1010 Board Oversight of Management and 1240 Committees.

This came through Executive Committee on September 16th for approval.

This board action report comes forward from the Executive Committee so I'll provide a little bit of background on proposed policy changes and I want to also just offer and elevate our board office staff who does truly Yamen's work and I don't know how Ellie does it but thank her for all of the work she put into synthesizing this collaborating and bringing this together.

So thank you Miss Wilson-Jones.

The board identified Board Policy 1240 as needing revisions at excuse me in our board goals for this year in order to provide clarity for directors and staff about which topics are overseen by which committees.

Board Policy 1010 also has language regarding committees so the two policies are being brought forward together to consolidate that information in 1240. The Executive Committee began discussion on these policies in June and at that time reviewed proposed revisions to 1010 including a change to the language about the operations data dashboard to coincide with a new dashboard we approved in the spring.

The committee also began discussing discussion in June about which topics should be assigned to which committees and identified areas where we wanted to have more discussion.

Staff collected feedback feedback from committee chairs.

Thank you Directors Rankin and Mack for all of your work and other directors about where they felt topics should be assigned.

And then we removed we reviewed this information in August and made remaining determinations before finalizing this BAR in September.

So in addition to more clearly stating which topics would fall under which committee the proposed revisions to Board Policy 1240 would remain rename the Curriculum and Instruction Policy Committee with it becoming the Student Services Curriculum and Instruction Committee to better align with the committee scope.

1240 would also be revised to clarify the process for assignment of topics to committees and for the executive committee's review of committee work plans to ensure alignment with the strategic plan and coordination across committees.

Again I just want to elevate really really grateful for Directors Mack and Directors Rankin for just really rich discussion.

And again Miss Wilson-Jones for your help on on bringing this forward.

We had a really great discussion at our executive committee last week on the 16th and so open to questions and comments.

Again if if if I can't specifically answer it Ms. Wilson-Jones did a lot of synthesizing and gathering that information too and she will provide some insights.

So I'll begin first with Director Hampson.

Thank you.

And I just want to echo that this was a lot of work.

to try to provide some clarity in a pretty ambiguous situation.

I think it's a we have not the best structure and this was a really earnest and probably tiresome bit of work to to put some some more clear structure around it.

So I'm I very much support where we landed.

I know that it took into consideration a lot of different perspectives.

And I think it's I think it's about as good as we're going to get on this.

We at one point I had proposed an addition to one of these relative to one of to 1010 relative to the organizational chart and we're going to look at that in a different policy so that that hasn't died but it's just moved on to another another policy revision.

But I think from the standpoint of the work that was put into this to provide that clarity Both for staff and for board I think that this is where we need to be and I really appreciate all the work.

So no questions and and look forward to hearing other board members questions.

Thank you.

Director Harris.

I'd like to pass and be picked up at the end of the discussion please.

Thank you.

I can do that Director Harris.

Director Hersey.

I don't have any questions at this time.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Director Mack.

I have to admit that I haven't had a chance to get all the way through all of the revisions and I was not in attendance at the last discussion of this.

And so at this point I mean I expressed some concerns in the previous executive committee discussion about ensuring that the alignment of our committees makes sense in alignment with the district structure and I'm not sure exactly where some of the topic areas landed or how how that all played out until I actually review through the entire document.

So I apologize that I'm not actually fully up to speed.

I may have additional questions or concerns that I'll I'll I'll raise at a different time.

But I appreciate the introduction at this point.

And I'll circle back.

Thank you.

Thank you Director Mack.

And Miss Wilson-Jones if you want to provide like a kind of a high level just background about some of the changes if that makes sense here.

Or again Director Mack we can also talk talk offline between now and action.

But Miss Wilson-Jones if you wanted to provide anything.

I would be happy to talk offline with you Director Mack about sort of where specifically different topics landed.

There was — I think that actually might be helpful.

I'm sorry to interrupt but I think it might be helpful for the public and the rest of our board members to understand like the overview of that.

If it's simple enough to provide that overview.

If there's a lot of shifting going on that's a pretty big change.

If it's just not that — I didn't put her on the spot.

If she's prepared.

I didn't ask her to speak so I just want to be thoughtful.

Yeah let me let me take a try at it.

And I think it's just a greater differentiation about where various topics would go whereas under the prior version of the policy it was left really ambiguous and we had a lot of inconsistency in where topics would land and maybe the same topic might be divided and considered by the two different committees even at the same time.

So moving into 1240 the the language about which committees provide which sort of areas of oversight from 1010 has been sort of backed out of that policy and then moved and condensed into 1240 hearing direction from directors that you wanted it all in one place and enhanced sort of clarity and more concise language.

And so in 1240 then The executive committee would be more clearly charged with making recommendations with respect to equity partnerships and engagement public affairs African-American male achievement coordination on legal issues collective bargaining agreements and the academic calendar.

Not that it was really a substantive change it's more just a clarification and speaking to some topics that were not previously called out specifically.

Then under the Audit and Finance Committee that committee would be charged with making recommendations with respect to business and finance budget development contracting accounting cash handling at schools risk management procurement internal audit and human resources including a number of specific topics.

So again not really intending to have a shift in practice.

For the Operations Committee It would be operations nutrition services transportation capital projects and planning facilities sustainability enrollment planning admissions boundaries athletics safety and safety and security that relates primarily to property as well as general infrastructure for technology.

And those two topics safety and security and technology would also sort of have a relationship with the Student Services Curriculum and Instruction Committee which would make recommendations with respect to curriculum assessment instruction research and evaluation schools and continuous improvement coordinated school health special education safety security and relations with law enforcement except those that are the purview of the Operations Committee highly capable services English learners student-focused technology and general technology plans policies and technology strategies except with respect to the infrastructure and levy planning overseen by the Ops Committee and then the FEPP levy and waiver requests for school days.

So just kind of focusing on the topics that are assigned to each that's sort of the quickest summary.

Thank you Miss Wilson-Jones.

Director Mack are you okay if I move to Director Rankin or.

Yeah that's fine.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Director Rankin.

No I don't have any questions.

I guess I'll just share you know the the the appreciation for the time and thoughtfulness that went into this.

And you know in particular Director Mack and I discussed where different policies are you know sit in in ways sit in both of our committees at different times.

And and What we sort of came to was to further synthesize what Ellie just said was that kind of direct student experience and engagement and interaction with students would be C&I and district-wide operational you know property and building-based physical things and processes would be would be in operations.

And then the other thing I don't know if people caught that Ellie mentioned was considering a change to the curriculum and instruction policy committee name to include students.

So because I mean personally curriculum and instruction particularly the instruction part is about you know how how do we deliver curriculum and how are students prepared to receive curriculum and you know how are we how are individuals within our system building relationships that are conducive to learning and all these kind of things.

The Student Student Services Curriculum and Instruction Committee sort of emerged as something that you know doesn't cover everything but kind of makes sense and based on you know working with direct direct services like English language learner supports special education.

All of those things make sense in as sort of in the student-based and teaching and learning sort of world.

So hopefully that makes sense for people and it felt it felt right to us in terms of also a shift as a district in terms of you know our safety and security conversations that you know that's about more than property.

It's about how we interact with students and how students feel and are seen and accepted as individuals and how we respond to behavior and all these kinds of things that really need to move into the student space.

So I'm looking forward to continuing and I hope that helped clarify things for anybody listening and not just made it more confusing.

But yeah.

Thank you Director Rankin.

Director Rivera-Smith.

No questions or comments.

Thank you.

Thank you Director Harris.

Thank you.

I don't object to these changes but but what I get stuck on and I have been for a very very long time is you've got 7 board directors.

We can't keep up with everything.

And our minutes come out a month later.

So how is it that we can and we bought a program a couple of years ago.

It didn't work.

We we nuked the contract appropriately so how is it that we can keep each other updated on all of these issues that we're all responsible for.

I well appreciate the divide and conquer of our committee and I also appreciate the idea that SharePoint is is the silver bullet or nirvana for us but but we're not able to keep up with all the committees if the minutes come in 30 minutes later and it's not so much an issue to me of where things are parked or placed for action but it's about communicating the rich and thoughtful conversations that have happened in those committee meetings.

We've got a disconnect there that we really have to fix.

So we're all on the same page.

And also so that we can address things like miscommunication that causes so much trouble.

Thank you.

Thank you Director Harris.

Okay we will move to action excuse me Introduction Item Number 3. This is Seattle Public Schools Personal Services Contracts PSC for the City of Seattle's Parks and Recreation Department.

This came to the Audit and Finance Committee on September 14th for consideration.

Chief Financial Officer JoLynn Berge I believe you'll be briefing us and then we'll begin with directors comments and questions.

Hi yes.

Thank you President DeWolf.

So just for clarification this BAR along with the next three would approve contracts to provide Families Education Preschool and Promise Levy funded activities.

These contract contractors would be delivering student support tutoring and enrichment services for school year 2021. Schools do select which approved contracts to work with and that is outlined in the FPPP grant agreement.

All contractors do have to go through an RFP process for selection.

So I'll go over all they're separate.

They were before they were all together and board asked us to separate those.

So the first one is the contract with the City of Seattle for just over $909,000.

Parks and Rec provides after-school break camps and extended year academic and enrichment programs at various schools.

Each amount listed in the contract reflects the cost of the program lead at each school and the staffing cost to serve the number of students throughout the school.

So for example Aki will have one manager who will oversee park staff needed to serve the 800 students in their program.

Their $300,000 contract amount will cover hourly costs for the staff members and the supplies for the students.

Let me see what else here.

We had 2 questions come from A&F.

And we have clarified and expanded the bars to talk about COVID activities from the city and to clarify the staffing levels.

The other item that goes over all 4 is we were asked to provide the data sharing agreements.

We have learned that those are still in process and are not yet completed so we're unable to provide them at this time.

That would conclude my remarks.

Thank you.

Chief Berge so now I will turn it over to Director Hampson who is our Audit and Finance Committee Chair.

Yes thank you.

This is I think a helpful way to have these presented.

These are related to the Families and Education Preschool Promise Levy.

They are are determined at the site level but rather than having each of these approved Individually we're looking at them as an aggregate which I think is really helpful for a better understanding of the relationship that we have with the particular contractors that are providing services to buildings as a result of the levy funding.

So that's kind of what I would say about that.

They each are distinct entities that provide a certain set of services very different from from each other.

in support of our school buildings and we're grateful that we have these opportunities.

And I think that's all I would say.

It's I think it's a good way for us to be able to look at it from a from an economic commitment standpoint.

Can I just add that this set of contracts I think has been coming since about 2015. Just wanted to put that out for.

Thanks JoLynn.

Yeah.

Thank you JoLynn.

Okay.

Thanks Director Hampson.

Director Harris.

So I'm confused.

Are we dealing with just number three or are we dealing with all three or four of these at one time.

So so just number three I gave some background that would cover all four but the specific questions about park and rec I talked specifically about their activities.

Okay I appreciate that very much and I will renew my concerns about the way that the city treats the Seattle Public School District.

Generally with the 25 percent hold back we are their bank and we don't get that 25 percent despite the fact that we've met the metric every year.

And I think it's what 1.8 million dollars that will be recommitted elsewhere.

even though that the voters passed this in the levy.

I know this is just about Parks and Rec but it is also very much about the way the City of Seattle DEEL Parks and Rec treats the Seattle Public Schools.

And if we had the kind of administrative staff ratio would be in a heck of a lot better position.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Director Hersey.

No burning questions for me.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Director Mack.

I appreciate the questions that were asked in committee and that the answers were provided here.

The data sharing agreements actually caused me some concern because I know they like to the city likes to have a lot of data and there's privacy concerns around that.

Will those data sharing agreements be finalized before we're expected to adopt this.

That's not my understanding Director Mack.

We won't have the data sharing agreements finalized.

Correct.

Correct.

That's not yes.

My understanding is that they would not be completed before action.

That's concerning to me.

Do we know what the debate is around those Is it a is it a staff capacity issue with completing them or is it that there's some fundamental disagreements about how to share or what not to share.

I'm not sure.

I'll have to check in with James Bush's department and just check in on that.

I would like to advocate that those should be completed before we're asked to approve these contracts.

Thank you.

Sorry Director Mack are you are you done.

Yeah I'm sorry.

Yes that was it.

I just I would like to advocate that those be completed before we're asked to approve this.

Thank you.

Understood.

Thank you.

Director Rankin.

I don't have any questions right now.

Thank you.

Director Rivera-Smith.

Thank you.

Just following up on for when this was in the Finance Committee I did ask at the time about the data sharing agreements for each of these schools to which I believe Michael Stone said he would provide for the for the BAR.

I could be mistaken I have to go back.

My notes actually don't clarify very much what the response from him was but he did respond to it to my concern about data sharing.

So I was under the impression we would have that in time for action.

I don't know if Michael Stone's here.

He's not.

He you know we have status.

Some have not put their application in.

Some are working through the approval process.

So I what I recall was that he would check in on where they were at and if they were available we would attach them.

They're not completed though yet.

So we can ask about that.

Thank you because I am I am equally concerned about those as Director Mack.

Another clarification we asked for for this BAR was to clarify that when people look at this and see that it's $300,000 out of school it's not for that one you know it says in here 1 C CLC site coordinator is $300,000 it's not.

That's actually for the whole the whole program at that school which probably helps people feel better about it.

That was one clarification we asked for in the BAR.

I don't see if that was added or not but I just wanted to reassure people that we aren't in fact paying one person $300K for something.

At least not that person.

Thank you.

Thanks.

Yep.

And I think I think that the city has part of this process where the data share agreement as well.

So I'm not I'm not sure we can control the whole thing but I will definitely ask.

be super clear about I'm not sure that we're running the whole thing.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you Director Rivera-Smith.

Thank you Chief Berge.

And I don't have any questions for you at this time.

Thank you.

Okay so next we'll move to Introduction Item Number 4 Seattle Public Schools SPS Personal Services Contract PSC for City of Year of Seattle.

This came through the Audit and Finance Committee on September 14th for approval.

Chief Berge I believe you'll be briefing us.

Yes thank you.

So City of Year of Seattle will support academic and enrichment activities before after and through an extended year school support at the schools extended year support at the schools that are listed in the BAR.

They there were a couple of things that we were asked for in Audit and Finance.

We were asked to expand in the background for specific COVID-related activities which we've done.

We've talked about the data sharing that was kind of overarching for all 4 agreements.

We have added information on staff diversity in the racial equity section and we fixed a wrong check box to it appeared wrong when it was coming through in different versions.

So we have appropriately checked the box to indicate why this is coming to the board.

That would conclude my remarks.

Thank you Chief Berge.

Okay Director Hampson as our Audit and Finance Committee Chair I'll have you go first.

Yeah I don't have as I said in the my introductory remarks on the prior contract.

These are aggregated amounts for for locally made decisions at the building level and the same applies for this and appreciate all the clarifications and requests for additional information and the provision of those.

Don't have anything to add besides that.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Director Harris.

Very much appreciative of the amendments made and the responsiveness to the questions that were asked at A&F especially with respect to the staff distribution disaggregation of of who are providing these services.

Much appreciated.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you Director Harris.

Director Hersey.

Similar appreciation.

No additional questions or comments.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Director Mack.

No questions.

Thank you.

Okay thanks.

Director Rankin.

Nothing from me.

Thank you.

Director Rivera-Smith.

No questions.

Thank you.

Okay thank you.

And I have no questions for you at this time.

Thank you for your work on this.

The next item is Introduction Item Number 5 Seattle Public Schools SPS Personal Service Services Contracts PSC with University Tutors for Seattle Schools UTSS.

This came to the Audit and Finance Committee on September 14th for consideration.

Chief Berge I believe you'll be briefing us again.

I am.

So.

This contract is to provide tutoring services at the schools that are listed in the BAR.

We were asked for information at A&F we were asked to add information on staff diversity for this contract which we have added to the equity section of this BAR.

And that would conclude my remarks.

Thank you very much Chief Berge.

Okay.

Director Hampson Audit and Finance Committee Chair.

I'll have you go first.

Yeah thanks.

No questions.

Just a repeat from the prior comments on the other contracts.

Thank you.

Director Harris.

Appreciate the staff diversity add-in.

It does not say amended however on the agenda I'm looking at and wonder if that would be appropriate.

Thank you.

Director Harris I believe some we got in before it was posted and we were waiting for others and at And when we got the later stuff in it had to be redlined.

Is that what you're asking.

I'm just asking how it's listed on the agenda that it's been amended since it came from A&F to include the staff diversity question that y'all have answered.

Okay.

Well I I I imagine it doesn't Greg do you think it It requires some action.

Director DeWolf I apologize.

I attended to a family matter for a second.

I'm not aware of what the question is.

I apologize.

Just trying to understand if if there was a change made from the committee to now is that mean that this is coming to us as amended or is this coming to us just redlined or revised.

And this is Ellie.

I can also speak to the practices for how we reflect updates on the agenda if that's helpful.

Sure.

The notations on the agenda reflect updates that are made from the initial posting of this school board agenda.

So between Friday's posting and today's board meeting the updates that happened between committee and the board meeting are not reflected on the posted board agenda.

Okay.

Any further clarification needed.

Director Harris.

No I'm good.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Director Hersey.

No questions for me.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Director Mack.

No questions.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Director Rankin.

I'm good.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Director Rivera-Smith.