Liza Rankin

Thank you everybody for your patience.

I will call the board meeting to order in just a moment while we allow SPS TV to begin broadcasting.

SPEAKER_23

They're just calling the meeting to order.

Liza Rankin

For those of us joining us by phone, please remain muted until we reach the testimony period and your name is called.

Where's Ellie?

This is President Rankin I am now calling the April 25th 2024 board meeting regular board meeting to order at 425 p.m.

and this meeting is being recorded.

We would like to acknowledge that we are on ancestral lands and traditional territories of the Puget Sound Coast Salish people.

This is our first regular board meeting with our newly appointed directors.

I want to welcome Director Misrahi up to the dais.

Director Clark had a previously scheduled obligation tonight but we very much look forward to having her join us up here as well very soon.

Miss Wilson-Jones the roll call please.

Director Muthuswamy.

Ayush Muthuswamy

Present.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

Director Briggs.

Present.

Director Hersey.

Here.

Director Mizrahi.

Joe Mizrahi

Here.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

Vice President Sarju.

Here.

Director Top.

Here.

President Rankin.

Liza Rankin

Here.

Thank you.

I will now turn it over to Superintendent Jones for comments.

Brent Jones

Welcome, everyone, and good evening.

Thank you, President Rankin and board members.

I want to take a moment to share a tremendous experience I had last week.

It was my privilege to attend a surprise event hosted by Amazon's feature engineer program.

We witnessed seven of our remarkable SPS students receive a $40,000 investment in their future, and it was truly exhilarating.

I think we may actually have one of those or two of those in the house today.

It's a testament to those students' hard work, and dedication as well as the support they receive from incredible individuals and communities in their lives.

Being part of this system that surrounds these exceptional students and bearing witness to their success was an honor and a reminder of what we're all here for.

Also on the same day I had the opportunity to attend an open house at Memorial Stadium.

There we took part in a gallery walk that gave us a glimpse into the rich history of the stadium.

I'm excited that we get to carry on its proud history.

The plans for renovation will allow the space to continue to serve our community for years to come while we still prioritize, I want to repeat that, we still prioritize the benefit for SPS students.

We're looking forward to more opportunities to engage with the community about this in the months to come.

uh...

we're going to talk about curriculum adoptions tonight and as we get into the agenda i'm particularly excited about the curriculum options that are slated for introduction the adoption of these materials is a critical part of creating a system of well resourced schools and meeting our strategic plan goals they ensure that all students have excellent excellent access to standards aligned instruction Also, I want to just note that we have a challenge in front of us regarding some of our graduation dates.

And I think some of the folks are here to speak to that.

We happen to have a holy day called the Eid coming up in June.

We don't know which day that's going to be yet, but we want to make sure that we're expressing clarity that we want to have flexibility so that we make sure that we can honor our families and give them the opportunity to celebrate that holiday or that event in an appropriate way.

And so we're looking at the best options.

We're looking forward to hearing your comments today about your expectations regarding that.

So without further ado, back to you, President Rankin.

Liza Rankin

Thank you.

I will now go to Director Muthuswamy for comments if you have them.

Ayush Muthuswamy

Thank you President Rankin.

I just have a few short comments.

I want to formally congratulate our two new board directors.

It's truly amazing to have you both here.

I think we've had four different iterations of this board throughout the last year so looking forward to some stability especially as we go into this time we have to make some really tough decisions in the next few months.

And I also just really quick had a request.

I think we have.

one or two more board meetings that aren't on Wednesday's regular board meetings in the rest of this calendar year.

For those meetings if we could push public testimony to later in the meeting I think that would make it more accessible to students and staff.

It's really tough getting here right after school at 4 15 for board meetings especially as a student if you're taking public transit in rush hour traffic.

So pushing those I think later in the meeting would make it more accessible to the students and staff.

That's all.

Liza Rankin

Thank you.

I had definitely not thought about that, that on Wednesdays it's early release.

And so allowing that time.

So I will confer with staff and see what we can do about that.

Thank you for that suggestion.

So we're now on the board comments section of the agenda as a brief legislative note.

There is a it's extremely brief but as we've talked about a lot of these issues but there's an end of session informational item from me as the legislative liaison.

It's posted with notes informational items at the end of the agenda.

We're not going to.

go into it but it's just a quick overview of what of our priorities were acted on and where we made gains this legislative session.

And then I included you know many links to resources for folks around understanding why things are the way they are at this point in time in terms of funding in Washington State and the history of the McCleary decision, some other resources and also some stories from around the state of We're the largest district in the state, but we're not alone in our challenges that we're facing.

So some other articles just as a sort of painting a broader picture of what's happening in Washington State with education funding.

So plenty of reading for anyone who wants to do it is included there.

And I have some more comments and discussion on our engagement process, but I'll hold those until, I'll defer those to after our business our business agenda.

Are there any other liaison reports at this time?

OK.

And let's see.

Okay it is it's 4 31. So we can according to the agenda head into our public testimony board procedure 14 30 BP provides the rules for testimony and I ask that the speakers are respectful of these rules.

Some important parts of the procedure in summary are that testimony will be taken from individuals called from the list and if applicable the waiting list which are included on the agenda posting on the board website.

Only those who are called by name should unmute their phones or step towards the podium and only one person should speak at a time.

Listed speakers may cede their time to another person when the listed speaker's name is called, but the total amount of time allowed will not exceed two minutes for the combined number of speakers speaking on one slot.

The time will not be restarted after the new speaker begins, and the new speaker will not be called again later if they are on the testimony list or waiting list.

Those who do not wish to have their time ceded may decline and retain their place later on the list.

The majority of the speaker's time should be spent on the topic you have indicated you'll be speaking on.

And lastly, the board expects the same standard of civility for those participating in public comment as we expect of ourselves.

And as board president, it is my responsibility to interrupt any speaker who fails to observe the standard of civility required by board procedure 1430BP.

And anyone who does not, comply with guidelines or who otherwise substantially disrupts operation of the meeting may be asked to leave.

Staff please read off the testimony speakers.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

Good afternoon for our speakers today.

Just a few quick notes to help this go smoothly.

Please introduce yourself when you come to the podium.

I'm going to do my best to call speakers up, but please do correct my pronunciations and feel free to reintroduce yourself to the board.

If you are joining us remotely, please press star six to unmute on the conference call line and also unmute on your device.

And then finally, there's just going to be one revision in our testimony list to address a technical issue.

But everyone who is on our current testimony list, I will indeed call your name.

So the first speaker today is Amy Mohamed.

SPEAKER_33

Hello.

Michelle Sarju

Hello.

SPEAKER_33

Hello my name is Aini Mohammed and I'm a senior at Cleveland High School.

I have been a part of starting the continuing student driven effort to change Cleveland's graduation date.

The date coincides with the Islamic holiday Eid Al Adha.

While I am personally affected by this conflict I am motivated by the drive to achieve fairness for my peers, many of whom would be forced to choose between celebrating either a major life milestone or an important religious holiday.

I started this effort by first informing Cleveland's principal Mr. Lamb in October at the beginning of the school year.

Due to the persistence of me and a few other students, he finally sat down and had a meeting with us in January where he said he would meet with district leadership to discuss this issue.

This is when my peers and I began a campaign to bring awareness to the issue and started a petition that gained well over 200 responses from members of the Cleveland community and surrounding high schools in support of the date change.

Despite we had provided the data from the petition to the district only to receive numerous different excuses about why the date wouldn't be changed.

We've been told there's different scheduling issues and there's a state law preventing it.

Despite me and other students pointing out that the date has been changed in the past, we have seen no attempt at resolving this issue by our principal and the district, which we attempted to do by contacting our district representative, Director Brandon Hersey.

The only response we received was him thanking us for bringing it to attention, and he would alert senior staff who could address it.

We started a small email campaign which had no result.

The lack of awareness on this issue by members of the Seattle Public School boards show your lack of support for members of the Muslim community.

We demand that you begin to condemn the Islamophobia within Seattle Public Schools and provide reasonable accommodation for religious practices by changing the date.

Thank you.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

The next speaker is Layla Ismail who will be followed by Susan Hersey.

SPEAKER_41

Hi my name is Laila Ismail.

Liza Rankin

If someone online is unmuted please.

Oh did you mute them.

Thank you.

Sorry go ahead.

SPEAKER_41

My name is Laila Ismail and I'm a senior at Cleveland STEM high school.

To start I will read a statement from an esteemed member of our community Akram Bwemi the Map Seattle Imam.

In the name of Allah, the most gracious and the most merciful, esteemed members of the Seattle Public Schools Board, I am writing to you today on behalf of the Muslim community to express our deep concern about the scheduling of high school graduations, coinciding with a major Islamic holiday.

This overlap places Muslim students in a challenging position, forcing them to choose between celebrating a significant religious holiday with their families and attending a milestone event like high school graduation.

Eid al-Adha is one of the two most important holidays in Islam.

It commemorates the willingness of Prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to Allah and the mercy that Allah showed by providing a ram in his place.

It is a time for prayer, reflection, sacrifice, and gathering with family and friends.

For Muslim students and their families, Eid al-Adha is a day they dedicate to worship, community, and family gatherings.

It is a time when they strengthen their bonds with loved ones and participate in communal prayers.

By scheduling graduation on this day, we are asking Muslim students to make unfair choices that no other student would have to make.

We kindly request that you consider rescheduling graduation ceremonies out of respect to accommodate the religious observances of Muslim students.

This would not only be an act of respect towards the diversity of your student body but also a reaffirmation of the values and inclusion of inclusion and equality that our educational institutions are built upon.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

Akram Bouaimi, MAPS Seattle Imam.

To reintroduce myself my name is Leila Ismail and I'm a senior at Cleveland High School.

I'm a proud SPS student and I have been for almost 10 years.

And I remember feeling outraged when I heard about SPS scheduling Rainier Beaches graduation on Eid in 2022 and Franklin's in 2023. Why did a school district one which prided itself on its inclusivity purposefully exclude many of its community.

But then again the school board did the right thing.

Listen to their family listen to their community and change a date.

Here we stand again for the third year in a row.

I hope this time our lessons and testimonies reach your ears.

Scheduling the graduation on Eid purposefully ostracizes SPS Muslim students, families, and staff.

Because the school calendars are made a year in advance, you knew that Eid would be on the 17th, and still you all failed the Garfield, Cleveland, and Center School Muslim communities by not considering the implications of scheduling our graduations on this holy day.

There is no excuse for ignoring our calls and ask for transparency which has spanned back to October when we first brought this issue up.

Sadly this is not the only way that SPS discriminates against black and Muslim families.

At Cleveland my school black Muslim students are scrutinized through the lack of care towards our religion and trust at school.

For a Cleveland student to pray, we must fill out permission slips to pray twice a day for 10 minutes.

This policy is not instituted for other reasons to leave class, like going to the bathroom or the library.

It is only applied to prayer.

This discrimination alienates Muslim students of color, causing us to jump through hurdles for our religious right to pray.

Secondly while in prayer a member of our admin stands over us further asserting their lack of trust in us.

My question is why don't you trust us.

Is it that is there is there a religion that scares you or the color of our skin.

Islamophobia is present at SPS in all levels.

My hope is by the end of today you will take action to address our concerns and discrimination that we face at school and throughout the district.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

The next speaker is Susan Hirsi.

SPEAKER_04

Hi, my name is Susan Hersey and I'm a senior at Cleveland High School.

To start this off, I would like to tell you what Eid looks like for most Muslims and what it looks like for my family.

Eid is celebrated by Muslims in many ways.

One thing all Muslims do is attend Eid prayer in the morning, then meet up with family and friends to celebrate after the prayer.

Some Muslim families may go on a trip to celebrate Eid, and that includes my family.

My family goes on a trip to celebrate Eid to see relatives who don't live in Seattle.

Since graduation is the same day, As Eid, I would be forced to choose between a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend my high school graduation and seeing my relatives that I only see once or twice a year.

One thing that is very important to Muslims on Eid is spending quality time with family.

By the board members choosing to make graduation on Eid day you are causing Muslim students to either pick between the biggest holiday for Muslims and a once in a lifetime high school graduation.

We cannot be in two places at once.

Unless the unless the school board has a magical machine that makes that happen we demand that they change the graduation date.

Thank you so much.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

The next speaker is Christy Duong followed by Sophia Elias and then Alma Lorraine Bone.

SPEAKER_29

I am Christy a sophomore and a member of the Washington NAACP Youth Council.

I'm here to fight for the budgeting of ethnic studies.

As an Asian-American student ethnic studies is more than representation.

It is our truth and root of our communities of color.

If there's no budget for ethnic studies for me and other students of color, there's a possibility of never even experiencing this.

If you claim to be fighting for racial justice in your positions, you need to be fighting for ethnic studies.

Ethnic studies is our healing, our truth, and our lives.

Ethnic studies is proven to benefit all students.

This is what students want and need.

Marginalized students should be the priority.

No ethnic studies means no justice for BIPOC students.

SPEAKER_30

The NAACP Youth Council has been fighting for ethnic studies since 2017 and we should not be still fighting about this to this day.

The fact that program managers are having no budget for this shows how you feel about racial equity and this can change.

our students need ethnic studies ethnic studies is needed in all of our communities because this is our lives being taught in schools and this is our way to decolonize our curriculum this is our way to represent students this is our way to implement racial equity in our schools and if ethnic studies is not within the budget plans then that shows how you feel about BIPOC students and if you know that that isn't how you feel then Definitely we need budgeting for ethnic studies and we need ethnic studies in our schools because right now in our country there are people with backlash and pushback on teaching about students of color teaching about our history teaching about our truth and it should not be happening.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

The next speaker is Sophia Illyes.

SPEAKER_05

Hello my name is Sophia Elias.

I'm a junior at Franklin High School.

Similar to the students who just voiced their concerns I've been a student in Seattle Public Schools since kindergarten.

I'd like to preface that I am grateful to be in a position where I can advocate for the overlooked Muslim students of SBS.

Despite not graduating this year, I feel for my Muslim peers who are.

Having to choose between their religious obligation and graduation ceremony because their scholarly milestone they've been anticipating for 13 years was haphazardly scheduled on Eid day is not something I will sit back from and watch.

Personally there have been many instances in which I as a Muslim student in Seattle Public Schools felt marginalized.

One that particularly stuck with me is when a staff member at my school stopped me in the hallway at the beginning of the school year claiming that I have been out of class for too long under the guise of prayer when in reality I had just finished hanging up flyers for mock trial tryouts.

I am, in the interest of time, I will leave it at that example.

But that interaction opened my eyes and displayed the blatant ignorance held when it came to Muslim students in SPS.

If I were to address the plethora of issues we face as Muslim students, we'd be here for days.

But for now, we demand Islamophobia within our district be recognized and our religious practices are adequately accommodated for.

Thank you.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

The next speaker is Alma Lorraine Bone followed by Alicia Ginsburg.

Do we have Alma in the room or online.

Going to move to the next speaker Alicia Ginsburg.

Oh, is this Alma online?

Hi.

SPEAKER_27

This is Alicia.

Hello.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

Oh, sorry.

We've got multiple people.

We're going to go back to Alma, and then we will hear from Alicia next.

SPEAKER_27

I'm trying to unmute here.

Okay.

Good afternoon.

My name is Alma Lorraine Bone Constable, and I stand in support of Principal Anitra Pinchpat Jones, who has been unfairly and unjustly maligned at previous board meetings.

We both belong to the Seattle chapter of Jack and Jill of America, an African American organization which in part seeks to make a difference for all children.

I have worked with Anitra on various programs.

She has always been kind, considerate, respectful, and fun.

I especially love her commitment to social justice.

She has consistently fought for marginalized communities, has a clear vision, and passion for creating more equitable society.

And it must be a kind, loving, inclusive society as well.

When there's a problem, Anitra picks up her toolbox, sets out to fix it, all while teaching you to solve the similar problem next time.

Principal Pinchback-Jones' ability to rally young people to achieve their best is amazing, as recognized by the winning of the Oscars of Teaching, the Milken Award in 2018. Anitra meets her students where they are, and just between you and I, that's not always the same place where their parents think they are.

And that's fine.

That's really a good thing.

It brings out the best in a child.

Those of us who are fortunate enough to have exceptional principals and teachers remember our educators saw us differently than our parents.

And that difference inspired our growth.

Anitra has the imagination, skill, and love to bring it out in all of our kids.

Anitra has a way of making her students feel safe welcome and cared for so that they can put down the stuff from outside world and really concentrate on achieving their goals and their education.

A child's self-esteem is equally important to them going out in the world and achieve the things they wish to achieve.

So I definitely always will support Principal Anitra Pinpat Jones.

Thank you for your time.

And if I have any time left I secede it to Shannon who speaks later on.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

ELLIE WILSON- Time has been exhausted so we'll move on to our next speaker Alicia Ginsburg.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

ELLIE WILSON- Alicia Ginsburg.

SPEAKER_25

Alicia Ginsburg.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

I am going to mute somebody else and Alicia I see the hand raised but if you can press star six to unmute on the conference call line.

Let's see here.

I think it may be corrected.

Can you hear me now.

We can hear you.

SPEAKER_19

Thank you for the patience.

There was a mute issue.

And thank you for all of your work on behalf of all students at Seattle Public Schools.

I deeply appreciate your efforts and I know that we all share a commitment to equitable outcomes for all students.

I also know that budget shortfalls are extremely difficult and you're facing a lot of challenges.

I'm Alicia Ginsberg a parent to two kids at Daniel Bagley Elementary School.

I'm here to ask for a correction in a data anomaly in our enrollment projection.

And in my second year on our BLT, and have played many other roles that have me familiar with our enrollment patterns staffing and constraints.

Our projection for next year is 298 which below 300 means we will be lose key staff members including a teacher and we will be a full classroom short of teachers next year.

I know schools have to be staffed based on the students in the buildings and that we use historical trends to project the challenges that Daniel Bagley's historical trend includes The year we closed the Montessori Choice Program, which I was part of the steering committee on, in the name of equity for students furthest from educational justice, which was the right decision, the challenge of that event is being extrapolated forward in our projection, even though it can't occur again and is inconsistent with our enrollment.

It's setting up our current students, which our population includes even more students furthest from educational justice, to be under-resourced for the next year.

So I'm asking for reconsideration and to omit that data anomaly so that we can still use a model for the projection, but that our leaders are applying a human sense check and then doing the correction that will allow our students to get the staffing that they need to thrive.

Thank you very much.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

The next speaker is Council Member James W. Lovell.

SPEAKER_07

Hi, can you hear me?

Ellie Wilson-Jones

Yes, we can hear you.

SPEAKER_07

Thank you.

Hi, my name is James Lovell.

I'm a council member with the City of SeaTac.

Today I'm speaking on behalf of the work I've done for the last 20 years and along with many, many other folks to support multilingual learners in Seattle Public Schools.

Seattle Public Schools has a duty to equitably serve newly arrived young people with high quality evidence based educational programs.

And this is not currently happening.

What we're doing in Seattle Public Schools currently is producing inequitable and unacceptable results for high school students who receive multilingual services.

It's unacceptable to not have a research based anti-racist consistent and easily understandable plan for serving our newly arrived immigrants and refugees at the high school level for all of Seattle schools.

In particular, I'd like to address challenges at the Seattle World School.

It is the only school in the district that uses a high-quality, evidence-based instructional model to holistically address the unique needs to newcomer students.

SPS must demonstrate a commitment to equity by protecting services for newcomer students and adequately resourcing the Seattle World School program, including an equitable process for enrolling students in this unique program.

Closing the Seattle World School will go against the Castaneda ruling, where it is our duty to provide bilingual education programs based on sound educational theory, implemented effectively with resources for personnel, instructional materials and space, and proven effective in overcoming language barriers and handicaps.

I'm speaking today because we know there are challenging budget times coming ahead.

We face these all the time.

I appreciate the incredible work it takes to be a school board member and the hard work it takes to run a large school district like Seattle Public Schools.

today though i'm asking that we prioritize equity for our multi-language learners as we challenge these facing times face these challenging times apologies um in the coming days weeks and months as we look at our budget over the next several years we have an opportunity to sustain high quality education and make generational progress for our multilingual learners in seattle public schools thank you all for your time i look forward to hearing back soon

Ellie Wilson-Jones

The next speaker is Azara Jimenez-Guerra and then Azara will be followed by Crystal Lee and then Siang Duong-Dala.

SPEAKER_16

Hello, my name is Isaura Jimenez Guerra.

I use they, them pronouns.

I'm coming to you here today as a former student of SPS, a community member, and an ethnic studies educator.

I am really here to stand in solidarity with our Muslim students and families in their call to change the date and make sure that our graduation celebration never happens on Eid again.

I firmly believe that our schools are not waiting rooms for the real world.

Every day young people are navigating systems and people in positions of power that show them what is valued and devalued by our systems.

And every day young people are working to collectively address the issues that most impact them.

The last time that Cleveland students were here, they poured their hearts out in their fight for ethnic studies.

Today we're here listening to more young people raise the important call for ethnic studies.

They continue to name over and over again the ways in which the district's neglect has created the conditions in which they feel devalued and unheard.

When students demand a fully funded ethnic studies program and the district to prioritize these things, it's not disconnected from this call to change the graduation date.

This failure to center the needs of black and brown young people will continue to surface if our district leadership is unwilling to reconsider its priorities.

We know that the district has various policies, whether it's like the racial equity analysis tool, policies around like respecting religious freedom, all of these different things that are at play.

And yet we know that we as a district would never schedule an important event such as graduation during a Christian holiday or a patriotic holiday, right?

And so really need to ask why this is happening, why one of the most important holidays for the Muslim community is not taken into account when scheduling our graduation.

We have to name it for what it is, which is Islamophobia and anti blackness.

Unless we're able to name it for what it is, then our district will continue to misuse or not really even center the policies that you say are supposed to advance racial equity, specifically for black and brown students and families.

We're really here asking y'all to practice putting your policies into practice.

What would it look like to model that for us and to show young people that you actually care about honoring all of their identities and not just their identity as a student?

Ellie Wilson-Jones

The next speaker is Crystal Lee.

SPEAKER_08

SPEAKER 3 Hi my name is Crystal Lee.

I'm also a teacher at Cleveland STEM High School and I'm ceding my time to Salsabila Abu.

SPEAKER_28

Good evening everyone.

My name is Silsabila Abu and I'm a senior at Garfield High School.

This year Garfield's graduation day is on June 17 and it is on and Idil Adha does fall on that day.

I've brought this up to teachers and the admins at my schools to the principals and even some of the directors here.

This wasn't just a one time talk I reached out to people multiple times and got left with I'll reach back to you.

All the responses I've gotten were not satisfactory and never have I gotten a direct response on how the district will handle this issue.

When I asked Superintendent Jones, you said that accommodations were already considered because there wasn't any graduation ceremonies on June 19th, but that is not true.

The reason there aren't any ceremonies that day is because of the federal holiday, Juneteenth.

The topic of why some religion holidays are included in our breaks and some aren't is another issue.

This time as I'm up here I don't want to hear we'll reach back to you or we'll talk about it when you are the ones making this decision.

I want action to be done.

We want graduation day of both schools to be changed so that it doesn't fall on an Islamic holiday.

Not only that but we want transparency on the options that the board will consider with changing the date as a primary goal.

To end my time up here, I have to note that this is me asking for change, not just for this year's graduation.

I want it so that in the future when Eid does fall on the graduation season, which it will, there is no worry that Muslim students and their families will have to choose between attending a graduation ceremony and following their yearly traditions.

I hope that after this, there is something in place that will prevent from this issue happening again.

Thank you.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

The next sorry the next speaker is Yang Duan Dalla.

Good afternoon.

I'd like to cede my time to Alvaro.

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

Hello my name is Alvaro Gayton.

I am a father of Leilani Seattle World School students.

I was thinking about to say something else, but this place is mainly focused in complaints, and I have a lot of them.

For me right now, I am amazed about how in this place we are talking about civil rights that were already written in the Constitution.

Then when I came here, I have a dream.

you know, same as the Martin Luther King, you know, which is our county, then that makes me attractive to be here.

My daughter was born here.

She was sent back to Mexico to live with her mother, raised there, and came back just in last September.

She's enrolled in the Seattle Water School.

She's senior, and she's willing to go to the university.

But right now in the Seattle Water School, compared with the other schools, I can see that it's behind, it's a little bit less, with less budget with another ones, the installations of all the mobility are, you know, old and probably it needs more improvements.

The budget there, I think, is very low.

The teachers are wonderful.

They teach in a lot of languages, and they are doing the best with what they have.

Recently, my daughter had a panic attack.

She was referred to the hospital, and she was well-decared because the teachers know what to do, you know?

Then...

Basically I'm here to demand a little bit more budget for that school, keep that school open and I hope the county can open more school like that because they personalized the education for anyone and it's included.

Okay, thank you.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

The next speaker is McKenna Gaudient and then Francis Lin and then Maria Guadalupe Ramirez.

SPEAKER_01

SPEAKER 2 Hello my name is McKenna Gadiant I'm a special ed teacher at Cleveland High School and I cede my time to Earl Lee.

SPEAKER_40

SPEAKER 3 Hello everyone my name is Earl Lee and I'm a first generation Vietnamese American and currently in my second year as a ninth grade humanities teacher at Cleveland High School.

I have lived in South Seattle in MLK in the MLK apartments my whole life right next to Holly Park and I went to Kimball Elementary Mercer Middle School and Franklin High School.

My favorite memories growing up was hanging out with my friends, riding our bikes through Holly, playing at Othello Park, and finishing the day going home to one of our friend's house to have some food.

My mom always had French fries ready with a side of ketchup.

From a very young age, I learned that even if my friends' families all had cultural differences, our parents, especially our moms, treated us all like her own children.

This is one of the many reasons why I became a teacher, the dream of giving students who look like me and grew up like me opportunities in schools that we wish we had.

Seattle Public Schools' strategic plan is to improve academic and life outcomes for students of color by disrupting the legacies of racism in the educational system.

How can we sit here and act like we're doing our jobs when students, teachers, and community leaders are all taking time out of their days to request a simple change?

Is SPS really devoted to its plan if we can't even deliver the change without a whole hearing?

This defensive response has shown how the structures within SPS would rather protect their own power rather than collectively raising ideas that uplift the very students we promised to support.

This power hoarding has a rippling effect on everyone, including the students.

We educators who are teaching our students to change these oppressive systems can't even solve this tiny problem.

The individualism needs to be addressed.

We need to cooperate and focus on the values that we preach.

I can't change the gentrification that is happening to the communities I once loved, But as a teacher I can stand here in front of you all and do my part in asking you to listen to the communities it represents and supports our students.

They're asking for a change in graduation dates that support their culture and beliefs.

So how can we sit here and turn a blind eye when Seattle Public Schools strategic plan states supporting students of color who are the furthest away from educational justice beginning with African-American boys and teens.

We can't say This in good faith if we can't even acknowledge the institutional and structural racism that is that this barrier is creating.

This district is literally saying you who adhere to Islam are not as important as those dates we booked three months ago.

Thank you.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

ELLIE WILSON- The next speaker is Frances Lin.

Frances Lin.

SPEAKER_39

Hi, my name is Francis Lin.

I'm a teacher at Cleveland High School.

I'm here to read a letter on behalf of Udab Abdullahi Jarano, who is the Imam at the Umar ibn Hattab Islamic Center, also known as the OBK Islamic Center.

Dear Dr. Brent Jones, I hope this letter finds you in good health and high spirits.

As the Imam of the OBK Islamic Center, I request your kind consideration and support in accommodating the religious observance of Eid al-Adha for your Muslim students and their families within the Seattle School District.

Eid al-Adha, also known as the festival of sacrifice, is one of Muslims' two most important religious holidays.

This auspicious occasion holds deep meaning and plays an integral role in the lives of Muslim individuals and families.

It is crucial to provide an environment that respects and values the religious practices of all of our students.

By accommodating the observance of Eid al-Adha, we can foster an inclusive and supportive atmosphere that embraces diversity and religious freedom.

During Eid al-Adha, Muslim families gather for worship, community prayers, and festive celebrations.

It is a time for reflection, gratitude, and unity within the Muslim community.

we kindly request that the following accommodations be considered to enable our Muslim students and their families to participate in this religious observance fully.

One, hold graduation ceremonies and major school events on days other than Eid holiday, which will be celebrated by many Muslim students this year on June 17th, 2024. Two, excused absences.

Allow Muslim students to have excused absences on the days of Eid al-Adha and additional days required for travel or religious activities associated with the celebration.

Three, flexible scheduling.

Provide flexibility in scheduling tests, exams, and other important activities during the days surrounding Eid al-Adha.

Four, awareness and inclusion.

Promote awareness and understanding of Eid al-Adha among students, staff, and wider school community through the cultural and educational activities such as presentations, discussions, or displays.

By accommodating these requests, you demonstrate your commitment to fostering an inclusive learning environment and promote cultural understanding and respect amongst all students.

We, the Muslim community, acknowledge and appreciate Seattle Schools District's efforts to prioritize diversity and inclusion within our schools.

Your ongoing support in recognizing and respecting the religious observances of Eid al-Adha would strengthen the bond between the school district and the Muslim community.

I kindly request an opportunity to discuss this matter further and explore the best ways to accommodate the needs of our Muslim students and their families during Eid al-Aha.

There is some contact information available on the hard copies of this letter that have been provided.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

We appreciate your support in making Eid al-Aha a meaningful and inclusive experience for our Muslim students and their families.

Thank you.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

Next the next speaker is Maria Guadalupe Ramirez.

Maria will be followed by Mimi Santos and then Anna Leslie.

Maria it looks like you're unmuted so if you're able to unmute on your device we should be able to hear you.

I believe that speaker just left the call, so we're going to move on to Mimi Santos.

Is this Mimi?

Hi, yes, this is she.

Excellent.

We can hear you in the room.

SPEAKER_25

All right thank you.

Hello my name is Mimi Santos.

I am one of the youth services co-directors at El Centro de la Raza and we have been working with Seattle Public Schools in a number of ways for many years and it is important for Seattle Public Schools to equitably serve newly arrived young people with high quality evidence based educational programs.

and continuing to invest in schools already doing this work like Seattle World School.

We have worked alongside Seattle World School for many years, most recently through our youth job readiness program.

And Seattle Public Schools must demonstrate a commitment to equity by protecting services for newcomer students and adequately resourcing the Seattle World School program, including an equitable process in enrolling students in this unique program.

We have seen and heard about the difficulties our newcomer students have faced and just like, in understanding the systems and understanding how to register.

And so being able to create the resources to help them through that.

The work that Seattle World School has done has been, it has been great to be able to witness all of the work that Seattle World School has done.

Last year, a scholar who in any other school would fly under the radar got into a young leadership program in Chicago and was encouraged to apply by like Seattle World School staff.

And since the staff helped with resume and some of the application.

And like Seattle World School, as an example, also equips newcomer students with skills that are second nature to many, but to the students who are coming in, it's brand new, such as like understanding the transportation system, which opens many doors for the youth.

Also having in-school clinic services, offering adequate counseling.

Seattle World School also encourages these scholars to focus have experiences outside the normal work and schooling, such as bouldering.

They've created, last year there was like a bouldering club, and it was really great to be able to see these students who normally don't get these experiences to be able to experience it for the first time.

Having resources such as the Seattle World School is so important for the community and is something that we should work on making more accessible to everybody.

Thank you all so much for your time.

Thank you.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

I'm going to go back to Maria Guadalupe Ramirez because it looks like they have rejoined the call.

Maria are you online.

SPEAKER_17

Yes I am.

Can you hear me.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

Yes we can.

SPEAKER_17

Oh, wonderful.

Thank you, everybody.

Thank you for your time.

My comments today relate to the budget.

For some context, I was a member of the Eliminating Achievement Gap Action Committee formed 25 years ago in June.

And in that group, we identified recommendations to close the achievement gap.

And so I'm disappointed that I have to come here today to say that I believe it is morally unacceptable to to not have a research-based anti-racist consistent and easily understandable plan for serving our newly arrived immigrants and refugees at the high school level for all of Seattle Public Schools.

What you are doing in Seattle Public Schools currently is producing inequitable and unacceptable results for high school students who receive multilingual services.

Currently all high school students who receive multilingual services are 2.3 times more likely to be way off track towards graduation.

Additionally, when comparing graduation rates in Seattle Public Schools, 67.8% of students who receive multilingual services are graduating in four years compared to 90% of students who do not receive multilingual services.

Urgent changes are needed.

One, change the SPS online enrollment system to empower immigrant and refugee families to easily learn about their options for schools including Seattle World School from the moment they register in easy to understand ways to develop a system wide plan for serving newly arrived high school immigrants and refugee students.

That is based on community voice and empowerment best practices and consistently implemented in all Seattle Public Schools.

And three launch an ALE option within Seattle World School that is completely designed to meet the changing needs of students receiving multilingual services who need to work and attend school.

Muslim students matter.

Thank you.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

ELLIE WILSON- The next speaker is Anna Leslie.

Anna will be followed by Joe Donahoe and then Samantha Fogg.

Anna Leslie I'm not seeing the number on the phone call please press star 6 if you're there.

I'm going to move to the next speaker Joe Donahoe.

Is Joe in the room.

Joe online.

I'm going to move to the next speaker Samantha Fogg.

Samantha Fogg

We can hear you.

SPEAKER 3 My name is Samantha Fogg.

I am co-president of Seattle Council PTSA.

As we work to create a system of well-resourced schools we need something we do not currently have.

We need a system that centers the student.

Our students are the only ones for whom participating in this system is not a choice.

Their participation is required by law.

While some of our families have the option of private school or home school or moving to a different district Many of our families have no choice but neighborhood school whether or not that school is a safe space.

At this point we have been through one round of budget cuts.

We are preparing to hear about our next round of budget cuts and articles have been written about how hard things are.

It is our expectation that there is already no room in our budget to pay anyone who does not know their why.

We have a number of people who need support in the how specifically in the how to implement inclusion how to support newcomers how to navigate conflict and how to support each other.

As we look forward to learning about what our system of well-resourced schools will be we will be listening not for the performative language but for the mechanics of how this will be done for clarity around how our principals will be supported how our teachers will be supported and most critically how our students will be supported.

We are asking that when you tell us about our system of well-resourced schools You start by centering our children by describing the diversity within our community of learners and that everything clearly be brought back and centered on how our students will be experiencing our system.

Thank you.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

I see that Joe Donahoe is on the line now so Joe if you want to unmute we can take your testimony next.

You'll need to press star six to unmute on the line.

SPEAKER_36

Hi this is Joe Donahoe and I would like to cede my time to Timoney Keegan.

SPEAKER_38

My name is Timoney Keegan.

I'm a black studies educator at Cleveland High School and I've been in the district for four years now.

I'm here to support our Muslim students and families.

It may be that there's a certain way things have been done but that doesn't mean it can't or shouldn't change moving forward.

It may also be that it's hard to adjust the schedule for graduation.

But as I tell my students hard things are worth doing and lots of times the hardest things are the most important to do.

The bottom line is that this was an oversight and should never have happened in the first place.

It's always the right time to do the right thing and the right thing in this instance is to really hear what students and families are saying and have been saying to you and act upon this essential request to change the graduation date.

These students and families have been through a lot these past four years at Cleveland High School.

They have worked hard.

They have seen turnover in leadership every single year and they deserve right now to be focusing on enjoying their final days of high school and working on developing their plans for celebration not coordinating these logistics.

Please do the right thing and change the date of graduation.

And again don't let this happen again.

Thank you.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

The next speaker is Jen Kakuna.

Hello.

We can hear you Jen.

SPEAKER_26

Hi.

Hi.

My name is Jen Kekwuna.

I'm a staff member at Cleveland High School and I am reading a letter written by another former teacher here Talin Bulale.

Dear school board members I'm addressing you today as a member of our school community but also as a fellow Muslim staff.

I wish to bring to your attention a matter of profound significance to many within our community.

The need to consider changing the high school graduation date to accommodate the observance of Eid al Adha.

It is imperative that we foster an environment of inclusivity and respect one that honors and recognizes the religious practices of all individuals Eid al-Adha holds deep religious and cultural importance for Muslims, symbolizing a time of celebration, communal prayers, and familial bonds.

In light of this, I firmly stand in solidarity with my Muslim students and staff in advocating for the adjustment of the high school graduation date to avoid any conflicts with Eid.

This adjustment would not only underscore our commitment to diversity and inclusion, but also uphold the fundamental principles of religious freedom and accommodation.

I'm confident that through transparent communication and collaborative efforts, we can arrive at a solution that serves the best interests of all students.

Each voice within our community holds value and it is imperative that we listen attentively and address the concerns brought forth.

In conclusion I reiterate my unwavering support for our Muslim students and staff members as they navigate through this pivotal moment in their lives.

Let us collectively cultivate an educational environment where every student feels valued respected and empowered to excel both academically and spiritually.

Thank you.

Talin Bulale.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

The next speaker is Chris Jackins.

We're addressing a technical issue that impacted the order of today's list.

SPEAKER_37

My name is Chris Jackins Box 8 4 0 6 3 Seattle 9 8 1 2 4. Wonderful job everybody testifying today.

Thank you very much.

On the adoption of math instructional materials two points number one question is it a discovery approach rather than direct instruction.

Number two it does not include physical books.

I oppose this adoption.

On the one point three million dollar change order on the Rainier Beach High School project three points number one the project is already 10 million dollars over budget.

Number two the report references enhanced emergency notification including for DHH, deaf and hard of hearing but consultation did not list the DHH community.

Number three the report did not reference the February TOPS meeting with the DHH and blind communities.

On the highly capable cohort HCC program I formally request that a board member submit a motion to delay dissolution of the HCC program by at least a year and have a vote in public board discussion on the motion at the May 8th board meeting.

On school board duties three points.

Number one the board needs to exercise its full legal role to directly deal with district issues rather than limiting itself to making policy and hiring the superintendent.

Number two state law RCW 28 A 4 0 0 3 0 0 1 A states that the board is responsible for employing and discharging all certificated and classified employees.

Number three RCW 28A 400306 states that the superintendent shall quote carry out all orders the board of directors made at any regular or special meeting unquote.

In terms of the scheduling of board testimony there was some suggestion that it's only going to be allowed by electronic means rather than phone calls.

That doesn't work for everyone.

Thank you very much.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

I'll go back now just to see if our speaker from earlier Anna or Anna Leslie have you joined the conference call line or are you in the room.

Okay then we have one spot on the waitlist.

We will go to Enrico Enrico Abadesco.

Enrico in the room or online.

Enrico if you're online if you could press star 6 it will unmute.

SPEAKER_18

Hello.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

We can hear you.

SPEAKER_18

Hello my name is Enrique Obradesco from Cleveland High School.

I cede my time to Mina Nguyen from the NAACP Youth Council.

SPEAKER_35

I've been wrestling with my ethnicity ever since I developed the concept of race.

Always wondering why in the few elementary history lessons Asians were included in, we were painted as compliant.

I didn't know where my Vietnamese yet American identity laid in this whitewashed history I learned at school.

Only through self research and a helpful teacher who incorporated ethnic studies into her ninth grade history class I found myself in my people's part in history.

My name is Mina Huynh a Garfield High School sophomore and a treasurer of the Washington NAACP Youth Council.

And unfortunately my experience is the exception which is why I demand for a fully funded ethnic studies.

Garfield's singular ethnic studies U.S. history class has already proven to show positive effects on students.

With 85% of students of color taking ethnic studies feeling more represented in the class, and 81% of all students taking ethnic studies saying they would take another.

In the next school year, enrollment for Garfield's ethnic studies U.S. history and AP U.S. history is evenly split, both classes having 173 students enrolled.

Unsurprisingly, 73% of students in ethnic studies will be people of color compared to only 35% in AP US history.

Why remove funding for a class that already serves an underserved community?

Ethnic studies is drowning in choppy waters and as of the next year there will be no operational funds for it.

In ethnic studies U.S. history teacher Miss Felpo tells me that she feels unsupported as the curriculum is solely developed by a few teachers with no oversight or compensation from the district leaving a lot of history missing.

Fully funding ethnic studies means proper oversight guidelines compensation BIPOC teachers and richer learning opportunities like public speakers and field trips.

With this ethnic studies could reach its full potential spreading its positive effects across the whole district.

History is often taught in a black and white way, but is truly enveloped with many complexities and nuances.

Ethnic studies is the only way to teach and acknowledge all of history's sides to promote solidarity to work towards a more just future.

Mandating a fully funded ethnic studies would heal my inner child, my peers, and even the future generations to come.

Thank you.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

I need to correct something.

So if we reach 35 testimony sign-ups, then it actually creates five additional spots.

So there are additional speakers that we will call today.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

I want to check back with Enrico to see if you would have intended to cede your time if you had known that there was an additional spot available.

SPEAKER_18

Because we need to take testimony.

Yes, I would have intended to cede my time to a student.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

Thank you, Enrico.

And we just heard from Mina.

Is that correct?

OK then we will go to Anya Sousa-Ponce.

SPEAKER_20

Hi everyone my name is Anya Sousa-Ponce I use she her pronouns.

I'm a senior in Seattle Public Schools and I'm the president of the Washington State NAACP Youth Council.

We want to start by acknowledging our support for the Cleveland students demands changing the Cleveland graduation date to ensure all students are able to celebrate this momentous occasion of graduation without having to sacrifice important cultural and religious traditions.

I'm currently in a virtual Arabic SPS class.

I learned so much in this class, from reading to writing to speaking to listening to Arabic and learning about Arab culture.

But the funds that make this class available to SPS students will not be available starting next year.

This class, which has provided me personally with so much knowledge of cultures not my own and is a form of connection for many students to their cultures, will no longer be available.

There are currently three thousand seven hundred students in Seattle Public Schools taking these ethnic studies courses not including black studies.

Three thousand seven hundred students.

We recognize that it is not that there is an active budget cut to this class and ethnic studies classes like it but rather a lack of funds provided to keep these programs going.

But we ask all of you to please consider the impact that these classes have on all students.

We no longer have to see ourselves represented solely through our relationship to trauma in our classes catered to white students, white sciences, white literature, white history.

We at the NAACP ask for the continuation of SPS ethnic studies courses for the benefit of all our students of color.

No money for ethnic studies is no justice for BIPOC students.

Thank you.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

The next speaker is Sherrilyn Crowther.

Sherrilyn Crowther.

Sherrilyn will be followed by William Sousa-Ponce.

SPEAKER_17

SPEAKER 6 Hi I'm Sherrilyn Crowther pronouns are she her.

I'm the co-president of the Seattle Special Education PTSA.

We have a challenge getting enrollment projections for students with IEPs that meet actual enrollment when the school year starts.

We didn't get it right last year.

The key is how we can leverage changing enrollment figures to ensure adequate staffing for classrooms.

We can't afford a repeat of last year because it took so long to fix them.

These delays can be incredibly disruptive to a student's learning and emotional well-being.

Imagine a student who relies on a qualified paraprofessional trying to navigate the school day without or one who needs consistency and has to deal with substitute teachers for weeks or even months.

Last fall families in similar situations took their complaints to OSPI.

Because the 24-25 school funding allocation the purple book comes out before enrollment closes how it translates to staffing isn't always clear.

It used to be June adjustments would help.

They're gone in the current CBA but the need for adjusted projections remains.

There's the option of the special education relief committee as long as there's clear communication across the district.

President Rankin raised the enrollment questions at the last board meeting.

How can we ensure teachers and paraeducators are there for students with disabilities come September 6th?

We need the district, the union, and school leaders to work together.

Maybe we revisit June adjustments or make clear how the relief committee can help with enrollment projections.

Families cannot directly impact projections, but we can advocate for a better system.

Together, let's ensure every student with a disability has qualified support from day one.

Plus, pro-ethnic studies.

Plus, Eid and graduation.

Support Eid.

Thank you.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

Our next speaker is William Sousa-Ponte.

William will be followed by as did Timoney already have time ceded to them Timoney Keegan have we heard from them.

Somebody able to confirm if we we did.

OK.

So following William will be Sabrina Burr.

SPEAKER_34

My name is William Sousa Ponce.

I'm with the NAACP Youth Council.

When I was a freshman, my history teacher showed us a documentary on the Aztec.

The video was horribly racist, it was blatantly wrong, and also really gross.

And it called the great city of Tenochtitlan, the city that my ancestors built, with indoor plumbing, irrigation systems, complex government and trade systems, and a thriving people.

The documentary called it an orgy of death.

And my teacher saw no problems with this.

And he defended these instances whenever I expressed concern.

And he refused to acknowledge the blame racism.

And one time when he ran out of arguments, he even brought in another white male teacher to back him up against me, a 14-year-old Mexican kid.

And we don't see ourselves in school.

Students of color don't see themselves reflected in class.

We only see ourselves through this traumatic relationship to whiteness.

We need ethnic studies in schools.

We need to be able to see ourselves.

We need more funding for ethnic studies.

I'll cede the rest of my time to the next NYC speaker.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

We're going to go then to Sabrina Burr next speaker.

SPEAKER_06

How are the children.

Tonight the children are speaking.

We've missed some marks not one year not two years but these beautiful students should not be here tonight.

School board testimonies should not be at 430 not because it's one day in early release because years and years ago advocates like me probably some of these students Rita Green in the room I know we fought for 530 because of the inequity of 430 and I don't know how it slipped back but let's talk about how are the children.

The decisions you make impact them impacts families.

I also want to ask out of all the students who are graduating from Seattle Public Schools does every last one of them have a plan for their future.

Is their high school and beyond plan complete.

Our seventh and eighth graders do they even know what a high school and beyond plan is.

Do our parents know.

I'm going to keep coming back and ask you how are the children.

Every decision you make every policy you make every directive you make every partnership you have with senior leadership leadership.

You should look at how is it impacting the children.

Then you should ask how is it impacting their families because their children aren't in silos.

We are in partnerships with families.

We are in partnerships with children.

Like it was said today they have to be here.

None of us have to be here.

But state law says to children We are builders of foundations.

Let's make them strong.

Let's make sure when they leave here not only their parents dreams but the dreams that they have for their future that they have the tools they have the emotional literacy they have the financial literacy to soar through life over and over again to be proud graduates of Seattle Public Schools because they gave them what they need.

Because you didn't give me what I needed and you didn't give my daughter what she needed.

And we know that the first knife that went into my brother whose murdered chest came from this institution.

Our community is not well our district is not well and it's because the children aren't well.

And the answer is each one of us in the room.

Let's make sure every last one of our children are well.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

The next speaker is Gain Sanchez.

Is Gain Sanchez here.

Is Gain Sanchez in the room having trouble.

I'm going to move to the next speaker then.

Our final spot is Candace Dungan.

Is Candace here.

SPEAKER_19

Hey I'm Candace Dungan and I cede my time to Mr. Calvin Rivers.

SPEAKER_23

I stand before you today with a plea rooted in authenticity transparency and the spirit of collaboration.

I come as a representative of the Rainier Beach High School PTSA echoing the concerns of parents from marginalized communities.

We find ourselves confronted with a veil of secrecy and inequity that surrounds Rainier Beach High School.

Our call to action is simple yet profound.

We seek the assistance of the esteemed members of the school board in piercing this veil.

At the heart of our request lies a quest for truth and fairness.

We sought the data regarding the implementation of the IB for All program data, crucial for understanding its impact to our students, yet our inquiries have been met with ambiguity and contradiction.

consider this.

We received data that 88% of African American males at Rainier Beach High School are participating in the IB for All program.

However, a deeper examination reveals the stark reality of these participants.

A staggering 68% are failing in the program, leaving only a mere 20% to succeed.

This dissonance raises a fundamental question.

Why are participation rates touted as a measure of success when the passing rate tells the drastically different story.

Another pressing concern lies in the timeline surrounding the IB for proposal.

The PTSA received proposal mere 48 hours before it was due to the school board with a notable emphasis on the preliminary nature.

We communicate to school administrators that this time frame did not afford it adequate opportunity for thorough review and dissemination to our parents in the community.

Despite our reservations, reassurance was provided that this was merely a proposal subject to changes in the future.

However, as you and I both understand, once a proposal is submitted without genuine community feedback, it often sails through the approval process.

It becomes adopted as the board level without further scrutiny.

our request for inclusion in the development of program stems from a desire to ensure its sensitivity to our diverse community however our hopes were dashed when we were denied participation in the process altogether what's more concerning is discovery of reading materials in the classroom that expose students of color to dramatic and pornographic content While it's been explained that the author of this material is a person of color, as a community we firmly believe that the appropriateness of this content should not hinge solely on the identity of its creator.

Regardless of the author's background, the material remains deeply inappropriate and risks subjecting children from marginalized communities to further trauma.

Lastly, we also asked to participate in the budgetary process.

However, we not only were we denied the opportunity to do that, but we brought to the attention to administrators that there were line items that did not identify how or when the inefficiencies of the program were going to be addressed in the budget itself.

So we are appealing to the school board for their assistance in breaking through this barrier and reshaping the narrative that parents and children from marginalized communities are indifferent to decisions made about education.

We must act swiftly because those intent on preserving the current state of affairs are advancing rapidly to push for their agenda.

Thank you very much.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

That was the 25th and final speaker for tonight.

Liza Rankin

Okay that concludes our public testimony for the meeting.

Thank you everyone.

The public testimony format doesn't allow for two way conversation but I do want to acknowledge and the efforts that it takes to be here to speak before us and thank you for for that.

I am going to suggest we take a pause so that we can actually go and.

to take a moment and engage with folks who are still here if they would like to follow up, if you would like to follow up with anything.

Let us come back in 12 minutes, 5.50.

All right, folks, we're past time to get back.

We have a quorum up here so we can continue, but we are eagerly awaiting the return to the dais of Director Sarju and Superintendent Jones.

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

May I have a motion for the consent agenda.

Michelle Sarju

I move the approval of the consent agenda.

Evan Briggs

I second the motion.

Liza Rankin

Approval of the consent agenda has been moved by Vice President Sarju and seconded by Director Briggs.

I would pause here to ask for removals.

I have them today.

I am going to remove item 1 from the consent agenda.

The minutes from our recent meetings.

This allows Director Mizrahi to abstain from voting on minutes for meetings he was not part of the board for and and still vote on the rest of the items.

Yeah, he doesn't wanna prove minutes he wasn't here for, that makes sense.

And then I'm gonna also remove item five.

Is it six or five?

It's five up here, because I think I removed.

Item five.

Oh, it's...

Ellie Wilson-Jones

Item 5 was removed from the agenda.

So please disregard the slide at the moment.

Liza Rankin

Oh OK screen.

So the item I'm removing is approved as approval of enterprise print services contract with the Pacific office automation item 6. Are there any other items that anyone would like to remove for any reason.

Great seeing none.

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

Michelle Sarju

I move for the approval of the consent agenda as amended.

Second.

Liza Rankin

Thank you.

Approval of the consent agenda as amended has been moved by Vice President Sarju and seconded by Director Briggs.

All those in favor of approval of the consent agenda as amended please signify by saying aye aye aye aye aye.

Any opposed.

Abstentions this the consent agenda has as amended has passed unanimously.

Thank you.

We will go now to the first item removed which are the minutes of the March 21st 2024 board special meeting March 27th special meeting April 3rd special meeting April 3rd regular meeting and April 4th special meeting.

May I please have a motion to approve this item.

I move for approval.

I second.

Motion to approve item previous item 1 from the consent agenda has been moved by Vice President Sarju and seconded by Director Briggs.

Are there any.

The minutes yeah.

Oh yes I'm the one that pulled it for Director Mizrahi so assuming there are no questions all those in.

Oh no I'm sorry since it's an action now I need to go to Miss Wilson-Jones for the roll call please.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

Director Hersey Director Mizrahi Vice President Sarju aye Director Top aye Director Briggs aye and President Rankin aye.

This motion has been approved with a vote of 5 yes and 0 no and 1 abstention.

Liza Rankin

Joe's first vote.

All right.

Thank you.

The next item is the previous item 6. May I please have a motion for the.

Oh yes.

May I please have a motion for the approval of this item.

Michelle Sarju

I move for the approval of the stated item.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

For this one I believe we do need the formal motion.

Liza Rankin

Oh we do.

Michelle Sarju

I move that this I move that the school board authorize the superintendent to execute an enterprise print services contract with Pacific Office Automation for a period of five years June 2024 through July 20 29 estimated at.

I'm hoping my math five million three hundred and seventy five thousand.

Is that correct.

Yeah.

OK.

I'm just making sure that I'm reading this right.

Plus taxes.

After the initial five years the terms of the contract provide Seattle Public Schools with the option for four one year extensions which would include June 29, 2029 through June no July 2029 through June 2023 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.

Liza Rankin

I second the motion.

Thank you.

And the reason I pulled this was not any issue or questions about the item was again to allow for a director to make an abstention and still vote on the rest of the consent agenda.

So unless anyone has new questions I will ask for the roll call please on this item.

Oh wait I didn't say this has been moved by Vice President Sarju and seconded by Director Briggs.

The roll call please.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

Director Mizrahi.

SPEAKER_37

Aye.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

Vice President Sarju.

Aye.

Director Top.

Abstain.

Director Briggs.

Aye.

Director Hersey.

Brandon Hersey

Aye.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

That was an aye and President Rankin.

Aye.

This motion has passed with a vote of 5 yes 0 no and 1 abstention.

All right.

Liza Rankin

Thank you everybody.

We are moving out to introduction items.

We have two curriculum adoptions for introduction.

I will read those two titles now and then invite staff to present these items to us together as the policy and process that governs the reason for it coming before us are the same.

So we have the adoption of a grade six through eight English language arts instructional materials and adoption of algebra one geometry and algebra two instructional materials.

Thank you.

Caleb Perkins

Good evening.

Thank you very much for the opportunity to talk about these two critical adoptions.

My name is Caleb Perkins.

I'm the executive director for college and career readiness.

I'm here on behalf of the academics team and who will be joining us probably pretty shortly will be Kathleen Vasquez of our English language arts team who has been working heroically as is Alyssa Farmer from our math team on these adoptions that we bring before you.

We are so grateful and excited for the opportunity to bring these two bars together for a number of reasons but two main ones.

The last formal 6 8 ELA districtwide adoption was in 1998 and the last formal districtwide adoption in algebra geometry and algebra 2 was 2008. To say these adoptions are overdue would be a dramatic understatement and we are so grateful that the board consistently over the last several years has done the work to approve new curricula in K-5 math K-10 science K-5 ELA and even Spanish.

Now we're going to add these two areas or at least have the opportunity to do so we're grateful for that.

Another main reason I just want to point out that recently President Rankin shared with us a council of great cities schools document that pointed out that district construction materials should reflect the district's values and we believe the two selections we're bringing for you inquiry by design for six eight ELA and illustrative math for algebra geometry and algebra 2 aligned to our values our values for racial equity and improved instruction and overall connect to what Dr. Jones was talking about earlier about a vision of a well resourced school system.

So with that context I would like to go into the two questions that you all were oriented to at your last week's board work session.

The two main questions that boards have to answer when it comes to instructional materials adoptions.

First did we follow the required process per state guidelines as well as board policy.

And two does this recommended resource align to state standards.

As these bars clearly illustrate, the answer is emphatically yes to both.

And I'd like to take just a moment to give you some orientation on those pieces, starting first with the process.

For those who are not familiar with the detailed multi-stepped process that goes into instructional materials adoption, it is probably more complicated than how a bill becomes a law.

And just to kind of quickly summarize what that is, there's four main stages.

First, the adoption committee develops criteria.

Second, they evaluate initial responses from an RFP.

Third, we field test the finalists.

We reevaluate those finalists as the fourth step and throughout that we have community engagement and stakeholder outreach.

The adoption committee is the key group.

It is a diverse group includes parents educators school leaders with a variety of expertise and backgrounds representing all aspects of Seattle Public Schools and with expertise including in areas for students serving students with IEPs and multilingual learners.

The ELA adoption committee had 16 members across those various groups and the algebra geometry and algebra two committee had 25 members.

There's policies that guide that ultimately is one of the roles of the board to ensure that we're following policy 2015 most specifically around materials adoptions but also 0 0 1 0 about our instructional philosophy and 0 0 3 0 about racial equity.

I also want to highlight in the bar the key role of the field test.

If we go with an analogy, it's like the test driving of a car.

A car might look like the right one for you, but until you actually test drive it, you don't actually know.

That's what the field test is, actually using the materials with students, and we learned a great deal.

It was particularly critical with the ELA.

where we had 13 staff thanks to all those staff members from various middle and K-8 schools who helped us determine that inquiry by design was the clear choice and for math the same process that revealed that illustrative math was the right.

We're so grateful for all the educators who were involved.

And overall I know the board is, you all are experts on engagement and I wanted to share there's just been many many opportunities for engagement.

At least three different opportunities in ELA for our community and our staff and our parents to provide input for algebra geometry and algebra two.

We also had public reviews, needs assessments including those for students.

We prioritized engaging with educators since it had been so long since we've done a formal adoption in these areas.

And we even have all these resources.

We did not put them all in the bar but if you would like to see all of the documentation we put them on our Web site so that you can review those.

Finally I just in terms of the question you have to answer did we follow the process.

We have an instructional materials committee who reviewed the process followed by these two groups and they have affirmed on May 25th sorry that on March 25th that we followed all the processes.

I want to pivot briefly to the what and the why.

Why are we so excited about the two selections, inquiry by design for 680LA and illustrative math for Algebra Geometry and Algebra II?

Not only are they aligned to standards, which is one of your roles to determine or to affirm but they're also designed to really improve teaching and learning and help us meet our strategic plan goals particularly as it relates to racial equity in the case of ELA we see that the need for this in our SBA data and inquiry by design is exciting because it was rated highest in terms of culturally responsive in terms of instructional supports for staff in terms of multiple ways for students to engage in the materials as well as an inquiry based approach that really speaks to what we hear from our students.

They want students to be this they want their voice to be the center of the classroom and this inquiry based approach is in response to that.

The field testers most notably affirm that in their unanimous vote for this specific resource inquiry by design.

Moving to illustrative math and algebra geometry and algebra 2 also clearly aligned to standard but also rated most highly on content instructional supports cultural responsiveness and supports for diverse learners.

As we read in the latest college and career readiness memo we see some of the highest failure rates unfortunately in algebra geometry and algebra 2 particularly for our students of color.

We need this improved resource and we're grateful for the opportunity to ask for your vote and your support on that.

For both adoptions that is one question that's come up recently including in public testimony is the digital nature of this adoption.

And I want to share why we're excited about that as well.

First to be clear it's a digital portal that has a wealth of resources.

This does not mean students need to be on a computer all aspects of their ELA and math classrooms.

There'll be plenty of print materials plenty of opportunities to engage with students outside of computer piece but it is a digital portal and one of the reasons one of the things we learned certainly during the pandemic is that having continuous access to our resource wherever we are is critical.

It's also something that we learned with science in particular during the pandemic.

it's also the norm across educational settings we see it in our post-secondary institutions as well as uh...

other districts and schools across the area where where digital resources are the norm we believe it's gonna help us with inclusion our inclusionary efforts with resources like speech to text At the same time, we do want to note we will have hard copy materials for those students who need it, particularly students with IEPs and 504s that specify it.

We'll continue to evaluate how well students engage with these resources and continue to make adjustments over the time.

And ultimately, this digital resource enables us to use available tech levy funding at a time when, of course, resources are challenged.

Finally in terms of next steps I'll just share with you that this bar is asking for your approval for over three point eight million dollars for inquiry by design to support improved six eight ELA instruction over the next nine years which includes professional development which we're excited to begin upon approval and for algebra geometry and algebra two similarly it's asking for approval of over a little over three point five million dollars also for a nine year cycle and also with professional development.

In conclusion I just want to say again we're very thankful grateful and excited to be able to bring this to you and with that we'll take your questions and I'll also lean on my colleagues who are here to help address this as well.

Liza Rankin

Director Hersey.

Brandon Hersey

Thank you.

Can you talk a little bit about the considerations in relation to our seventh grade numeracy goal and how we're confident that this particular curriculum selection is going to help us achieve that more readily.

Caleb Perkins

I'm going to turn to Alyssa to share a little bit more.

She's so involved with the seventh grade math school but absolutely the specifics the success that we're looking to achieve in middle school math will directly connect to the courses they take in algebra which many students of course take in eighth grade and algebra and geometry and algebra too.

Brandon Hersey

Absolutely.

Thank you.

Caleb Perkins

Good evening.

So this curriculum will be for algebra geometry and algebra 2 which are courses that most kids take after seventh grade.

So I think actually it's probably even better aligned to meeting our college and career readiness goal.

But I think the idea that we have now an aligned curriculum at K-8 and now we're going to have a solid curriculum that feed that our K-8 feeds into will create a strong and coherent math experience for students across the district

Brandon Hersey

On the back end I'm realizing that I phrased that a little bit outside of what I was trying to understand what I'm trying to understand is and you answer that for the most part but I still have I think it would be beneficial to see like could you talk a little bit about directly like as our students are taking this after our seventh grade goal like what is the connection and the considerations to build upon the learning that they've got to make sure that it's a like you said a consistent trajectory in their math education.

Caleb Perkins

That's a great question because this is a different curriculum than what we have at K-8 but it's very well they're both very well aligned to standard.

They both are built using best instructional practice.

They use the same kinds of for example visual models like bar diagrams that we'll see in K-8.

You'll see that also.

And I think because our standards are so strong a lot of that vocabulary will be consistent across K-12 because there are those terms are defined for us in our standards.

Liza Rankin

DIRECTOR HARRIS Any other questions from directors.

And as a reminder this is introduction so we can still simmer on it for another couple of weeks and have questions ask if we need to.

Director Muthuswamy go ahead.

Ayush Muthuswamy

Can I ask why this is happening now after 20 or 15 years based on for math or English.

Does the district have a rotational process to revisit curriculum after 10 years after 15 years or is there some like process that kicks in after state law makes a change requiring us to update our curriculum.

Because I feel like this has been a really really long time.

Caleb Perkins

I think I can only agree with the spirit of your question.

This has been too long and there are some there's some background in the bar about some of the pieces.

We do want to praise the many heroic local efforts at each school to address 6 8 ELA in the interim.

And there were pieces you know it wasn't as if educators weren't very working very hard to provide instructional materials.

But there is no good answer and we're grateful for this current leadership and the current board to really make sure that we have the funding and the mandate to take care of this.

But it is long overdue.

Ayush Muthuswamy

The follow up then is there a plan in place to implement some sort of procedure to revisit curriculum after a set amount of time that you're looking towards to make sure that we don't sit in the same spot 20 years later with this curriculum.

Caleb Perkins

That echoes one of your fellow directors questions as well that came to us.

So I will share that.

There have been past efforts that I think we need to re-energize.

We have what we call our red yellow green chart that where we track all of the adoptions in terms of how long it's been typically around a seven to nine year window is about the maximum amount of time and the fact that the state standards get updated in this case ELA and math were updated in 2013 that certainly should trigger a new curricular adoption.

So how do we formalize that and make that more of a system rather than something that can not be addressed for a little while as clearly in these two cases.

That's a question I think we we need to wrestle with.

Liza Rankin

And I add to add something to that.

So when Director Hersey and I Director Hersey does have like two months on me.

But when we first joined the board just a whisper before the pandemic started.

we had a lot of the same questions and one of the opportunities that we were able to utilize with the pandemic and additional funding resources was to say hey this is something curriculum is something like Socks you kind of have to have them but also you're sort of like I almost have a hole in this heel but I don't quite have a hole in this heel and actually the bathroom sink is leaking and that is a higher you know instead of getting new socks this month let's fix the bathroom sink.

And I know Director Hersey and I and other directors pointed out that for an educational institution allowing curriculum adoption to be a place for for budget reduction is really a bleak place to be and it's not like that.

That is that's that's the whole reason we're here is for education.

And so for an educate for an educational institution to have I guess I mean really I'll take ownership as we are the board now but we are also the board before us and the ownership of the board is that they approved we approved budgets that allowed curriculum not to be prioritized and we heard from our students that if you know when the budget goes away the resource goes away during the pandemic that kind of came into more forefront partly because of the folks on the board and staff also saying hey this has been put off for a really long time is this important to you and we were like oh actually it's very important to us having a little bit of flexibility in some opportunity with covid funding to provide some continuity and instruction with with math but we do have its required board policy for curriculum adoption And we also have governance policies that we have complete control over.

And so as we're developing our next strategic plan as we're developing as we develop any of our direction on behalf of our community to the superintendent.

As our staff tells us that high quality instructional materials and aligned content across our system is a priority.

We as a board need to be responsive to that and ensure that that our budget and our policy reflect a commitment to maintaining updated materials.

So the short answer is because the board approved budgets without it.

Caleb Perkins

If I with permission President Rankin.

Liza Rankin

Please.

Caleb Perkins

Just with two additional points I do want to say this board recently has stepped up a number of times and actually to address this in a number of areas K-10 science K-8 math.

And I also want to point out one hopeful point which is that now we're one to one.

We could take advantage of tech levy dollars that are available and that is going to be one of the main plans going forward to ensure we're not in this kind of lag like we are here.

Liza Rankin

And also that the budget situation of now feels very immediate and feels desperate but it's it's not new.

It's been going on for a long time and I think curriculum has quietly taken the brunt of previous cuts because it's less immediate than you know your first grade teacher or whatnot.

So I think we're in a moment now where you know we've got to refocus and reshift our the resources that we have to to make sure we do things like maintain schedule of curriculum.

Director Hersey.

Brandon Hersey

Yes so on that line you actually just mentioned that there are two questions that I have the first one being that love the creative thinking around utilizing tech levy dollars.

I would love to know and just for you know folks who might be listening what is the tech component and what will that look like for students and families in terms of their access to it.

Like could you give us just a quick synopsis of what that that could be.

And then the second part is how do we know that the 3.8 million that we're spending on this and could you tell us the improvements over what we were doing before specifically and how from your vantage point adopting this curriculum is going to be more beneficial for our students.

Caleb Perkins

obviously uh...

big questions but in terms of the that what is the digital component look like and so this board recently approved the k five envision math curriculum as an example also a digital portal once again i just want to stress it means that there's continuous access whether a student has to stay home or is in school again we learned a lot during the pandemic there's always going to be access to the resources that students need and in that way it has a huge advantage over a hard copy material.

That said, we know that students engage in all sorts of ways during classrooms.

They're still going to have printouts of things.

They're still going to be able to talk to their classmates.

They're not going to be necessarily glued to a particular computer throughout their math lesson.

That isn't the vision.

So I want to be clear.

It's mainly a digital portal, which enables us to do all sorts of things, not only the access, but to use the tech levy pieces.

If you wanted more specificity on exactly what a lesson would look like, I'd call up Kathleen and Alyssa.

But I want to underscore that there's clear advantages.

And I think if you want to look, you don't have to look any further than the K10 science adoption that we did, which was to add a lot of discussion at the time.

But ultimately especially when the pandemic hit and we we were trying to figure out how to stay on the same page having a common curriculum a common resource that could be accessed anywhere enabled teachers and students and parents and families to be able to stay connected and up to date on what was going far better frankly than most other subject areas at the time.

And that's what I see is one key component with the digital component.

within those resources in terms of what schools currently have and what these resources provide.

That's where I speak back to the field test and the rigorous analysis that the adoption committee and others did and really studying how this works with students.

So in the case of inquiry by design as I said that unanimous approval from the field testers saying this is this is going to be good for students.

We've seen how this interacts across a number of classrooms and schools and it's and it's going to be beneficial to say the least.

Liza Rankin

I'm connected to that.

I'm I'm turning I'm turning old before our eyes.

I'm always harping on my 14 year old about his his eyesight.

Stop looking at your phone stop looking at your thing.

But so I appreciate the clarification that we're not talking about you know teaching by computer.

This is a resource portal.

With the resource portal, is access to multiple languages, interpretation, especially design instruction for students with disabilities, does that become more accessible in a digital format?

I mean, I know that there's a lot of labor costs associated with producing those resources which may not be that different online as opposed to print but is that are those types of resources more available to us for more languages for more needs in this package or do we have to still add add those things on.

Caleb Perkins

The I mean for each of those pieces that you're referring to in terms of accessibility universal design there's there are a lot more accessible.

I think I'd need to share the kind of breakdown of exactly what's available but certainly translation text to speech things like that of course are going to be a lot easier through a digital platform.

And again I just want to point out a common platform will also make it easier to do all sorts of things in terms of collaborating and connecting across schools.

Liza Rankin

Any other Director Briggs.

Evan Briggs

I'm just curious if as part of your analysis did you did that involve talking to excuse me other districts that maybe have similar demographics to ours who are already using this curriculum and what their experience has been.

Is that a thing.

Like are there other districts using this curriculum that we could get a review from.

I guess is the question.

Yeah, like a Yelp review.

Caleb Perkins

Well I think there's if you look through the bar and again if there's many many different kinds of reviews including national reviews there's a group called Ed Reports that does a thorough analysis of various options to ensure standards alignment to ensure the cultural responsiveness.

So in that sense yes I don't believe we went to specific districts to study other districts but again those conversations happened across the adoption committee in terms of looking at the experience.

I think what most powerful though of course is our own educators experiences in our own classrooms.

Liza Rankin

Any other questions.

And a reminder that we do have you know some more time before we're asked to approve this to if anything bubbles up.

There is a Web page with lots of other documents.

Oh and the Web page yeah.

All right.

Thank you very much.

OK.

Those were our only introduction items.

So now we're going to I'm going to circle us back to our technically board comments and we're going to talk about board engagement follow up on what we have been talking about and I committed to doing some work with staff and then coming back and updating.

And so I see.

sent this in writing to you.

We don't have materials this is just going to be me talking to you.

I sent in writing earlier today kind of a summary of my understanding of what we are so far in alignment on and I have confirmed with staff about the support that's available to us as a board.

So back up for a second.

We are.

Our districts current strategic plan is going to sunset and so it's up to us as the board to provide direction to the superintendent under which to create the next strategic plan.

The strategic plan.

The words are right in the title.

It's the plan for strategies and the strategies are those that the superintendent believes will support progress on and achievement of the goals of the board and the goals of the board are our responsibility to set based on the vision and the values of the community that we represent and the community that we represent is the whole city of Seattle.

We together serve as representatives of our whole community and direction that the seven of us give as a body to the superintendent is the will of the community and is legally binding direction to the superintendent.

This of course is under federal federal law has requirements state law has requirements.

We don't redefine what education is but we give direction about priorities and are responsible for reporting back out to community how how our children are doing how our district is doing and providing services.

And so we have the opportunity to do something that in my experience over the last 10 years as a parent 10 plus years as a parent and board member.

hasn't been done in the way that we're going to do it which is official standalone board engagement which is it's it is actually what our job is is to engage with our community about the vision and values that they have to ensure that we are providing adequate representation of what Our whole community whether they have kids at all whether they have kids in Seattle Public Schools our whole community and their vision and values for what the school system should provide for all of our children is is is held by us and that's how we provide direction.

So let me see.

So I wanted, I know I've talked one-on-one with, I haven't had a chance to talk to the student directors yet, but I've talked one-on-one to confirm what we've already talked about in meetings to just check for understanding, make sure that we're all still aligned.

The email that I sent today is a summary, but basically what I'm looking for today is, Just another touch point on this process to make sure that I am still acting on all of our behalf as to what we've agreed to do together as a body and see if there are any questions or if I've totally misunderstood anything or So basically the board is going to launch a process over the next two months.

It would be great if we had been able to start this sooner and have you know more time to do it.

The quality I think of what we do won't be compromised but the timeline will be compressed.

And I'm really grateful that everybody up here has expressed their support for prioritizing making time over the next two months to take this up so that we can get our drafts so that we can provide our direction to the superintendent on behalf of our community.

So basically we will be spending May and June engaging with the broader community in a variety of ways to receive input on what their vision and values are so that we can develop our next set of goals and guardrails.

We will launch a survey with the support of staff that will be open to anybody any individual in Seattle to share their thoughts and we will ask for some brief demographic information so we know who we're hearing from.

That will be something that will be accessible to to anybody who wants to participate in that way.

We will also be reaching out to targeted groups community groups represent folks who represent groups that may not be as likely to be heard in the form of a survey.

And and those who we specifically want to center on on hearing their values.

And then the question I have for you all is we are tight on time and I am challenging us to do at least 20 and aim I'm aiming for 30 engagements in pairs which means one or two a week may not get there but that's OK.

I'm hoping we get to at least 20. There you go.

So if we do one or two a week in pairs and we all have different schedules different levels of flexibility but there are there will be seven of us plus our student members.

So I feel confident that we can find a way to accommodate going in pairs to a number of things.

My question for you all is I don't want.

I do want to also give.

an opportunity for a so those those outreach meetings will be where we go to the community the group.

How many or do we want to give an opportunity to say come come to us.

Anybody come to us.

We could do Seattle Council PTSA has offered to support us with a virtual version which will be great so that there's a number of different ways people could be involved.

But my question for you all is.

Who do we need to hear from.

I put this in the email to who do we need to hear from to feel we are authentically representing the community.

That's just who are the stakeholders.

SPS family students and staff actually in a city the size of Seattle and with as few children as there are in Seattle.

That's actually a small proportion of our overall constituency when we talk about representing the community.

So there's also.

business retired folks labor faith communities higher education all kinds of different people that make up our constituency in Seattle.

So who do we need to answer this right now but who who do we need to hear from to feel confident that we have heard from the community that we need to hear from to do this.

And then what groups specifically represent or serve those communities that we could reach out to for the outreach sessions.

And then.

the questions that we'll ask will be the same for everybody because we're gathering you know our aim is to have the information that we need to be able to develop the goals and guardrails so the questions got some draft questions here that I would like your Thumbs up thumbs down questions additions whatever on my recommendation is that we have the online survey ask five questions.

How should we be able to describe a graduate of Seattle Public Schools.

What knowledge and skills do our students need to have to be successful after completing high school.

That is our what should students know and be able to do a question.

What does educational equity mean to you and how should it be measured.

What is something that's working well and should continue.

What is something that's not working and should be stopped.

And then what is something you are willing to commit to that would support the success of our students in Seattle Public Schools.

I suggest that we have those be the survey questions And then Director Hersey and I did sort of a test run engagement with our partners at Alliance for Education with their board.

And based on that we think that for the in-person engagements focusing on the first two questions will be where we should go with that, because there will be more discussion.

So having the five questions on the survey allows a space for folks to make the what's working, what's not comment, and for us to gather that.

But in the in-person discussion, what we really want to focus on is what is your vision?

What should students know and be able to do?

And how do we do that equitably according to the values of our community.

So do those questions capture what we have talked about so far and seem aligned with Well do you all feel those questions will gather the information that we need to determine the goals and guardrails.

Is there anything missing.

Is it too much.

Yeah.

Director Sarju.

Michelle Sarju

If we're talking.

Well first of all the question number one is actually two questions.

It's not a good idea to ask have a number one and then ask two questions because it's actually two questions.

And the one thing I I think we.

We need to ensure is that if these questions get translated into another language does it make sense.

So I would ask that that be.

investigated and ensured that it's not a just a verbatim you know como se llama kind of thing that it actually makes sense to the to the to the person who speaks a different language.

Liza Rankin

Anybody else.

Ayush Muthuswamy

Yes.

Not on the questions I think the questions are fine.

I guess just what other engagements strategies are being proposed to engage with students specifically beyond the survey and then outside like community engagement sessions.

Is there something that's in the works.

Liza Rankin

Well that may be an opportunity for our student members to think about specifically you we all together as representatives of our broader community and you specifically as representatives of students.

I would love to incorporate into that what you all think would specifically reach students.

I also in our targeted outreach think you know we've identified students obviously as a constituent group and then organizations to reach out to you know there's a number of different student organizations so it could be to kind of to two parter included in that.

Gina Topp

I think the questions make sense to me.

I appreciate the let's not have two questions in one.

I would say I appreciate the targeted outreach but I also think we need to have an all call for folks to come as well.

Liza Rankin

Oh that was a question I started to ask and then I derailed myself to another question which was we had talked at some point about having a anybody and everybody north and south.

Do we have time to do two.

We could do one all call here.

We do have the commitment to have the online one that would be open to whoever Seattle Council PTSA invites which those are generally open to the public.

And for if we did a come to us meeting I would hope that as many like for the outreach it would be in pairs.

For us going into community would be in pairs for the for the all call I would hope that as many directors as were available could come you know everybody if possible.

So what do directors think about one versus two in a school here.

I'm open to that.

Gina Topp

I think making it as accessible as possible to people is great.

I think that we are also on a truncated timeline so I think I'm looking more towards Dr. Jones and seeing what the resources are and how that fits into this truncated timeline.

And I think whatever kind of works out between those two things would be acceptable but I think as accessible and for folk to make it as accessible as possible for folks is obviously I think an interest for everyone.

Liza Rankin

So we basically have the universal being the survey and the potentially universal being an online opportunity.

And then we have the in-person targeted, so we're looking for an in-person universal.

I think it would be great to do two, but I know that's a big lift to actually host those and get interpreters and have all that stuff.

But I would defer to you all what you think is possible.

Brent Jones

Yes, so I'm going around the block and come back really quickly.

You all's goal is to have engagement so that you can get to information that's going to inform you about the goals and guardrails.

And President Rankin and her design was wise in talking about going out to communities instead of necessarily asking communities to come here being the primary way that we will go to people in terms of authentic engagement.

Uh, to the extent that that yields you what you need.

Um, I'd say you can stop there.

However, if you want to have an all call as well to, to compliment that compliment that we can support you all in doing that.

But I think the, in president rank, can you correct me if I'm wrong?

You, your, your desire is to put the emphasis on the going out to the community organizations that you all target from, from your various, uh, constituent groups.

And so as I'm thinking about a director with Swanee, uh, you all have, student groups that are probably already contained that folks can go out to meet with them where they are instead of calling them into a space.

And so if the ratio is 90% going out and 10% coming back to an all call, we can set that up.

But if it's more than one or two large sessions, I think we'll be strapped for time.

No, no, we don't want more than that to, to, to, to stand that up.

It just depends on how much emphasis you want to put on the coming to session.

Joe Mizrahi

Yeah I would just say that I mean as inclusive as we are attempting to be with the groups that we reach out to it seems important to do at least one all call to make sure that if there's anyone who we're missing that they have at least some opportunity to join.

Liza Rankin

I guess really I mean I would prefer two.

And I know that that's twice as much work as one for the staff that we're asking for us to support us.

So I guess we don't have to 100% know now, but maybe just think about return on investment of time and our ask of staff to support us on this if we can get by with one or if we feel really strongly about two.

And if we feel really strongly about two, I know staff will support us.

Brent Jones

Yeah, we absolutely will.

And we have muscle memory.

We've done this before.

So we can stand it up.

So whatever the board's desire is.

Liza Rankin

OK, great.

Joe Mizrahi

One other comment on the question.

Please.

I think the five or five and a half questions are the right ones.

Oh, is it?

Yeah, I'm just far away from me.

Yeah.

My question is about the first two being the ones that we're focusing on in the meetings.

I really like the framing of the something that's working something that's not.

And I feel like in these meetings people like to talk about their own experiences and we want to hear about folks experiences so want to make sure that within the first two questions we're making sure there's space for people to share like how they've interacted with with the school system.

Liza Rankin

So the reason that I would lean towards not doing that is because our obligation is to the whole community not just the families that are served by SPS.

And it is very easy for us to get pulled into conversations about individual scenarios or about operational things that are not what we're trying to get, which is not to say that it's not important and we shouldn't hear it, but what we want to come out of this is understanding the priorities of the whole community for its children, not a list of customer service issues.

But that's also why I wanted to have it in the survey, so that it's a valve for that.

My concern would be that we would very easily get away from talking about vision and values in an engagement session.

But that's...

I don't know if anybody else has anything to...

We also because so because this is something that the board hasn't done as a full body before people are very used to engaging with board directors about individual concerns.

And that's not, that's listening to community members, but individual, representing every single individual concern and demanding that the superintendent address them is not, has not been a super effective way to, it is why we are where we are.

as a as a district when well whose job is this then and and how who am I supposed to talk about this and I and I have to tell you because you're my board member and nobody from the district is listening or you know X Y Z and we can't address that.

If we're basically every time and I think this is getting a little bit away from what you were saying Joe so putting putting all of this on you but every time an individual board director takes time to address a singular parent or complaint we're actually robbing our whole system of the capacity to make systemic change.

It is very, very easy for us to be like, oh, I know who you're supposed to talk to about that.

I can fix that.

I can figure that out.

I've done it a million times.

And every time I do it, it might feel good.

Like, ha, I got that person figuring out open enrollment, and yay me.

Well, that was time I wasn't spending looking at our policy to go, wait, why is this?

what's missing in our direction that allowed this gap to happen and will allow it to continue to happen if I don't, if we as a board don't clarify our direction to the superintendent.

So we're really, putting ourselves out there and in a short amount of time.

It's a tall order.

I believe that we can do it.

And for us to come out with what we need in order to set the goals and guardrails we need to make sure that we're not that we are really focused on what does the community expect for all of our children.

Which is why the questions are phrased the way they are.

And this is a new this is a new muscle for us as a board.

It's a new muscle and a new way we're asking for our community to relate with the board and with the school district.

And hopefully it will yield positive results based on the framework we've adopted and research on best practices and engagement.

I think also there's room for if when we do outreach, if we say, hey, do you have a half an hour to give us?

If somebody says, yeah, you guys can come for half an hour, focus on the top two questions.

If someone says, we really want you to come for two hours, then there's probably time to get to the fullest.

Brandon and my experience was that we had a half an hour which we thought was going to be good and we got into this actually really great conversation, but just about the first question.

And then we were like, oh, sorry, we have to go.

So I mean, this isn't set in stone.

This is why we're having this conversation.

So as you kind of marinate it over the next few days, continue to let me know.

But that's the reasoning, at least, of why it is where it is right now.

Gina Topp

I think so I think you know as our collective role as the board is to set that vision and values and those two first two questions get at that but also I feel very strongly that as a board we are also supposed to help way find for our constituents.

And I think those middle two questions get at kind of how we better way find for our constituents.

And so I think that those are important questions to ask and hear from communities.

So making sure that you know as we do these engagements even if we don't get to all the questions we have an opportunity to say you know here here here here's kind of the the survey where you can enter in responses to these further questions.

And I particularly like question 5 because you know this is a system where we all must work together to make change.

And that emphasizes that that it's not just the school board it's not just the superintendent it's not just the educators and staff but all of us as a community have to you know be you facing the same direction and walking in lockstep to make change for our children.

Liza Rankin

And staff is going to create not only the website with the survey but also a QR code.

So as we're on engagements we can leave behind something with a QR code and say you know if you have if you have more to add feel free to you know just because you participate in an engagement session doesn't mean you can't put more in the survey if you want.

We might want to add on the survey to a question of if if if it's a person who participated in an engagement or not.

Director Briggs.

Evan Briggs

Yeah I just wanted to add piggyback on what Gina was saying about question 5 which I agree is a great question and I wonder if there's a way for us to word it so that it expands how people are thinking about the thing that they could commit to that doesn't necessarily have to be like I'm going to volunteer in a classroom.

It could be like I'm going to change my my mindset about my attitude towards or whatever you know like it could really just be that simple.

It could be like a really basic.

commitment that you make to like instead I'm going to focus on the things that are working and try to amplify those.

You know what I mean.

So I don't know if there's a way we could word that question to make it clear that it doesn't have to be a commitment of time or resources.

It could be a commitment of just an internal perspective shift around how we all come together and support this district.

Liza Rankin

I think that's great and I would love any suggestions to make it more pointed in that direction.

Any other questions about that?

All right.

Well if this if this all all feels aligned with what we all thought we were already talking about and agreeing to I will continue to finalize with staff our and oh we will also create a toolkit for a speech to take so that we were hitting the same talking points asking asking the same questions kind of speaking with the same message.

Director Hersey has offered to to help with the script template and Director Topp has offered to help with the message that goes out by email asking people to participate.

So if there are any other technical pieces like that I might.

pin a person to help but we also have support of staff with this with this effort.

And thank you because this is a sort of it sort of suddenly came upon us after a legislative session and board appointments that oh my gosh next year is just around the corner and you know our kids can't wait for us to have the perfect timeline.

We just got to do it.

So thank you to everybody for responding.

All right.

And are there any other board comments before I move us to our next item.

Go to the order of reports.

So time use evaluation and self-evaluation.

For those of you more recently joining us on the board, we adopted a couple of years of framework of governance.

That's policy governance.

And part of the best practices outlined in that and also just generally organizational best practices of any kind is self-evaluation.

We are the representatives of the community and the only opportunity for feedback really is if you run for reelection whether or not people vote for you.

So in order to make sure that we're doing a good job and that the community can see how we're doing on their behalf we should be engaging in regular self-evaluation.

We have been doing which we did a training on together at some point and then Brandon I don't know if you can remember when that was but we did do a training on it and I then didn't quite get to implementation.

So again in the theme of not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good we're going to we're going to just start it back up again.

And I'm going to walk us through a if you can.

Does everybody have access to opening materials for the meeting in front of them to see the governance framework handbook as in meeting materials.

So in meeting materials we have a governance manual and board quarterly self-evaluation template.

We have a document that we have used for time use evaluation and then we have past year or so of time use evaluations.

So the time use evaluation we have been doing on a regular basis so we haven't taken the opportunity yet to look back and see what kind of progress we may or may not have made.

So if everyone could let's see open up the time use evaluation document.

And just to set expectation I know sorry a lot of times that the board time self evaluation is like a two minute item and this is we're actually working through it.

So time use evaluation guidance.

Mine's coming up blank.

I don't know if that's an Internet.

Yes.

Mine's not.

It seems like we're all having trouble accessing.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

There's a way to put it up on the...

Can you refresh your browser?

Maybe.

Ellie Wilson-Jones

There was an error in the link that has been corrected.

Oh, okay.

Liza Rankin

Great, thank you.

There we go.

All right.

Are you guys finding it?

The second one time use evaluation completing a board time use evaluation so that the time use evaluation happens more iteratively every every month we look back at our total public meeting minutes for the previous month and then the self evaluation is quarterly and then we're going to We're going to start today with a new baseline for quarter zero and then we're going to put this into the agenda doing a quarterly evaluation.

And so we know our baseline today might be a little funky we might not know the answers to all of the questions but we're just going to do it to give ourselves a baseline because you know it's important to for us to start from somewhere and also in terms of modeling for our students completing a time use evaluation and a self self self evaluation is not about judging ourselves or criticizing ourselves for not doing better.

It's about looking at what we've done, where we are now, thinking about where we want to go, and then figuring out how we're going to get there together.

So this is in no way intended to be a, you guys get an F, or we get an F on whatever, or we get a needs improvement on whatever.

It's just a, here's where we are right now, and based on where we want to go, how can we support each other in getting there?

So I'm not going to read this whole thing, but I would encourage everyone who hasn't yet read it to do so.

But basically what we have learned over the last few years, and we've made a tremendous amount of changes to practices under President Hersey's – I was going to say reign.

That's not the – And we still have more to go to change our system to one that's truly centered on meeting the needs of our students and focusing on their outcomes.

So what we learned when we first started doing this was that the board spent a lot of time together doing things that had nothing to do with students.

And one of my favorite examples from another district, because it doesn't make me feel quite so bad, is I was...

doing time use evaluation as part of a study that goes into much more detail than our time use evaluation but part of a national study and so I watched board meetings from a bunch of other districts across the country and I watched one nine hour board meeting where students were not mentioned a single time.

They talked about birds which are great but they talked about all kinds of operational stuff.

They had all kinds of you know pause to.

They had a ton of staff.

I don't know if staff are required to attend the meetings but I was just like oh my gosh the currency of.

limited time that board directors have together to do the work and the currency of the staff time to support and be present.

I was just like oh my gosh that's so many resources that are not going at all towards ensuring that the district is teaching students.

So that's kind of the extreme example.

But it was really eye opening for us to go through an agenda evaluation and see how much time we were spending on things that felt like something but actually weren't connected to our goals.

So the target is to that we can't spend all of our time in a meeting talking just about student outcomes because there are also other required things that we must do in our oversight of the school district.

But our aim is for 50 percent.

I think the best we've gotten and Brandon you did the time use evaluation for January and February was that 25 percent 35 percent.

Yeah that's the best we've gotten.

We usually hover somewhere around 15 percent over a month.

I just did the time use evaluation for March and it was zero student outcomes focused minutes and a lot of I mean there were some you know there's always some anomalies of different things going on and we had you know Like technically the the session to the forum the candidate forum is something that we wouldn't typically do.

But since it's a public meeting hosted by the board of the full board it counts towards the public meeting minutes for the month.

So that's a chunk of time that is in the other category that obviously we're not suggesting we don't do that.

But you know it's it's.

has been really helpful for for us to really hold ourselves accountable to what we're doing with our time and what our role really is.

So that is the time use evaluation.

Director Topp has agreed Right now we have a process where one director is assigned per month, and we have a form that goes to the office.

Everybody kind of has their own way of filling it out.

It's not super user-friendly, and then when I had to bug the board office to give to dig out the past months for us to look at.

Director Topp has agreed to take on the logistical pieces of making completing a time use evaluation and having it and working with board office staff to have it in a way that's more immediately accessible to us.

So that The let's see.

So yes.

So I'm you know we don't need to sit here and read through this all together but Ellie could you please put up the the March time you said I was just talking about.

So we have this worksheet for time use evaluation that basically breaks down everything into things that are related to student outcomes and things that are not the way that I.

I kind of use the.

If we bring it up.

Oh OK sorry.

I could hear something happening.

We do have the template evaluation from the governance handbook and what I usually do is look at the minutes from the meeting and the minutes will say you know, when it was called to order and when it was adjourned.

And then you can get the total number of minutes.

And then I subtract out if there was a break.

Those don't count.

And public testimony actually is time for the public.

So we don't count those those minutes in the total and then closed sessions or executive sessions that the public doesn't have access to are recorded here but they don't go into the total of public meeting minutes.

And I don't expect anybody who this is new for to remember all of this just trying to orient us.

So the.

Oh, no, why does it say zeros?

Oh, no, it says zeros because we didn't do those things.

Yes, there's more numbers below.

Can you scroll all the way to my weird notes at the bottom?

Oh, are they not on here?

OK never mind.

When I submit it I have all kinds of at the bottom of the Excel spreadsheet things for each meeting and then I put them in there.

But it's it's not super graceful and takes a little longer than probably it should.

So.

But the idea is that we will be able to.

see every month how much time we spent on student outcomes and engagement and other things the previous month at a glance and then annually or or quarterly you know look at them together and see how we made progress or not and then talk about if we want to make changes.

So that's going to be our ongoing thing that we will all continue to do and continue to have that once a month.

Somebody, well Gina figured that out.

But once a month have in self evaluation we will keep a running log of our time use.

Then the quarterly part if you go to the other The top item under board self evaluation student outcomes focus governance manual and board quarterly self evaluation template.

What I would really like for us to do as our last thing tonight is set our baseline.

baseline number.

So if you scroll to, basically this handbook is a tool in the framework that we have adopted to support us in focusing our time, focusing our work, doing our job for improving student outcomes.

And it has in it some breakdown of different, I guess, areas of competency, we could call them.

and what shows whether we are or aren't focused on student outcomes.

So the, where is the quarterly sheet?

We're gonna start now is going to be our first, where is it?

Our first or our redo of a quarter.

zero.

There we go.

It's in the at the end is continuous improvement evaluation has.

Yeah.

So we're it says quarter zero is the first time the board is using it.

We have used this before but we're going to this is going to be our new our new zero so that we will get a calendar to do this for the next two years.

So what we're going to do on the scoring sheet is we're going to go through each of these one two three four six areas of board competencies if you can see them and and we're going to score ourselves.

And again this is not about judgment and it's also It's OK if we don't think like, oh, I don't have the training in this.

I don't know why.

Let's just go for it.

Let's just go for it.

It'll give us a baseline.

And we'll just do better.

We'll keep doing better.

So the first bucket there is vision and goals.

And you should be able to see it in the manual there.

which would it be helpful for everybody.

I know we've all had various versions at different times but is this something that folks would like to have printed in front of them at every board meeting.

I think part of the orientation handbook for the newer board directors have it in there.

Yeah we could we should redo it.

So.

So we're going to go we're going to look at vision and goals and there's there's a number.

On each one.

So like the vision and goals section where you see the red yellow green blue under vision and goals.

Do you see this.

Okay.

So and anybody interrupt me at any time if you have something to add or if I'm not making any sense because I've looked at this a million times.

Vision and goals.

So the way that this tool works is there's the red is not focused on student outcomes and the blue is mastering and then in between we have yellow and green and if Any of the following are, so if there's three things in one box, well, they have to all be true for us to give ourselves the score in the next thing.

So for not focus on student, we have adopted goals.

We have adopted goals.

We have consistently I think demonstrated the ability to distinguish between inputs outputs and outcomes which you all are more involved in.

We have not hosted opportunities to listen to the vision of the community during the previous 36 month period.

As a board.

Or have we.

Oh yes we did one sorry that was board authorized.

Yes.

I was gonna say we're about to start but yeah no we did it.

OK.

So.

So then moving to the yellow column in terms of vision and goals we have adopted in collaboration with the superintendent goals.

We have those currently.

We have adopted only SMART goals that include a specific measure population starting point ending point starting date and ending date.

We have adopted no fewer than one and no more than five goals.

The superintendent has adopted interim goals.

The status of the interim goals are able to be updated multiple times during each school year and the board the board publicly posted the goals for public comment prior to adoption.

Yes yes we would have done that.

So that moves us into the green.

Our goals.

Yes.

Good good job guys so far.

The board's goals all pertain to student to desired student outcomes.

Yes.

In addition to the goal ending points the board has adopted annual targets.

Goal ending points for each year leading up to the ending date.

We have goal we have targets for each year.

Interim goals pertain to student outputs or outcomes not inputs or adult outputs.

There's in the glossary is what that is, but basically related to the what's something that's not working, what's something that is working conversation.

We as adults tend very easily to focus on inputs.

Well, I think you should have this.

I think we need to do this.

That person should do that.

Those are about inputs, and what we want is to focus on outcomes.

The board included students parents staff and community members in the goal development process.

Those goals were pulled from strategic planning that was a heavy lift of community engagement led by then director of partnership something Dr. Jones.

I can't remember.

Anyway.

All board goals last from three to five years.

Yes.

All interim goals last from one to three years.

Yes.

The goals and interim goals which will challenge the organization and will require change in adult behaviors.

Dr. Jones do you think that is true.

All right.

And then if we.

I'm just gonna.

I can skim and you all can skim.

I feel confident in saying we are not at mastering but we are at meeting.

Brandon Hersey

I have a question.

So this is riveting but may I make a suggestion that especially maybe those of us who have been here for a second take one of these categories each read through it.

And then make a suggestion so that we don't have to read through each.

Yeah.

No, I, yeah, absolutely.

Liza Rankin

I didn't want to do that for the whole thing, but for the first, yes.

Brandon Hersey

Just wanted to make sure.

Liza Rankin

But, um, a hundred percent.

Do you want to do the next one?

Oh wait so sorry.

Brandon Hersey

My suggestion is that we would take five minutes.

We would each volunteer to take one.

Liza Rankin

Got it.

Brandon Hersey

Read through it.

Come back with a score and we can justify it if you want to.

But I think that would probably be quicker.

Liza Rankin

Let's do it.

Does does the score of 25 the meeting student outcomes focus.

Brandon Hersey

Yes.

Why.

Michelle Sarju

Because I need to be able to see the chart.

Brandon Hersey

Well it's got the number at the top right there.

So you would just look at it and determine which sector we fall in and then that would give you the score.

I volunteer to take number two.

OK.

Liza Rankin

So we've done vision and goals.

Brandon will take values and guardrails.

Who wants to take monitoring and accountability.

Communication and collaboration.

Unity and trust.

All right.

And continuous improvement.

Joe not to put you on the spot I can come over there and tag team with you if you want.

OK.

So let's take five or 10 minutes to do that.

And spoiler alert for anybody watching board meetings are meetings done in public but they're not meetings to perform for the public.

They're actually meetings for us to do our work and the only time that we get to do this.

So if this is not the most riveting thing you've watched you know I apologize.

This is this is real life and us doing the work that we need to do to improve our practice and improve outcomes for students.

All right.

So let's take a few minutes to do these and somebody somebody signal when when we're ready and we'll come back and talk about them.

Perfect.

725, unless anyone needs more time.

Ready it's going to be a little painful I think.

But again I want to be really clear.

Brandon Hersey

There you go.

Liza Rankin

I was going to add to that say we're not doing this to judge ourselves or to beat ourselves up for not.

We're just acknowledging where we are and thinking about where where we where we want to go.

There you go.

So let's see for vision and goals.

We have a 25. It says 23 20. Oh it is 23 24. Oh my gosh.

I'm like that's.

No that's right now.

All right.

Values and guardrails.

Brandon Hersey

Actually it would be a good thing.

good thing as you go through to say which one transferred us down a level so that we can know what the transfer is.

But if you look at values, did that make sense?

I can say it again if I need to.

Monitoring and accountability is mine, right?

Am I tripping?

Liza Rankin

Oh, wait.

I thought you were doing values and guardrails.

Brandon Hersey

I'm sorry.

I was helping Michelle.

That's right.

I have values and guardrails.

Ours was actually...

We are approaching for this one if I'm not mistaken.

Liza Rankin

So you have five.

Brandon Hersey

Yep.

Be a five.

And the reason that I moved this over is that because I couldn't say confidently that all boards guardrails last for three to five years all interim guardrails last for one to three years.

So.

Liza Rankin

I think that's fair.

And we've we've we've established the goal monitoring process.

I don't think we haven't gotten as clear on the guardrail monitoring process.

I feel like that's fair.

Brandon Hersey

Yeah absolutely.

And I will also say just for folks these are not designed for us to do well on them right now.

We've only been doing this for like 20 minutes and so it would be disingenuous to assume that we were meeting in most of these areas.

Liza Rankin

All right.

Anybody have any disagreement on a 5 for that.

Monitoring and accountability.

Evan Briggs

I'm going to I'm going to go with approaching which gives us 10 points.

Are you being generous or is that an actual.

Brandon Hersey

Monitoring its goals though.

That's the specific.

Yeah exactly but we haven't spent 10 percent of our time doing that.

OK.

Liza Rankin

But also invest the board invest no less than 10 percent of its total board authorized public meeting minutes monitoring its goals over what period.

Yeah.

Previous month or over the previous.

Yeah.

Because we got higher than 10 percent in January and February.

Brandon Hersey

I guess that's fair.

Evan Briggs

Yeah I guess I was thinking of it like sort of average over a several month span.

Liza Rankin

So again that's actually a good question for me to ask.

Yeah.

But it'd be good to know like over what period of time like I'm assuming this is since the last quarterly evaluation.

Yeah.

So but for the last quarter.

Where did Dr. Meyer come in.

Yeah OK yeah.

So that's a 10 for that.

Oh it's already up there.

Communication and collaboration.

Michelle Sarju

We're in the approaching category.

So we get one point.

OK.

Liza Rankin

Wait the first one on meeting student outcomes focus on that is there are no more than four board authorized public meetings per month and none less more than three hours.

Michelle Sarju

Right.

But we don't.

That's not.

Liza Rankin

I know that's what I'm just I'm just saying that that's.

Michelle Sarju

That X is it out the second part that we don't have more than four but we all they're too long.

Can I make more than three hours now.

Brandon Hersey

Can I bring back an old suggestion that I got skewered for a while ago.

If we could get a timer and it doesn't necessarily have to be one for questions because that's what I got scared for but if we could get a three hour timer clock that is right next to that television that would be really helpful for us to put into context how long we have been here in turn in comparison to where we are in our meeting.

Liza Rankin

Or would it be helpful to have some time.

Well we do.

Where's the agenda.

We do have time.

Michelle Sarju

No she we need a visual representation.

OK.

Liza Rankin

It's going to bring back ADHD ADHD childhood trauma.

It's OK.

Of of Liza.

Can you do this for 10 minutes.

I'm going to set a timer.

OK.

No I think it would be even if it wasn't a countdown clock a clock many of what time it is.

So that was which was that communication collaboration unity interest.

Gina Topp

So I have unity and trust and we are at zero right now.

I think that I'm not sure we meet all the points in 0 specifically adopted policies the established board operating procedures and then there are a few in the approaching student outcomes category that we don't currently meet.

So we are currently at a 0.

Liza Rankin

That's yeah.

And the the board has not adopted policies that established board operating procedures as the work that we'll pick back up from the policy committee because it's it's true and we have noticed that part of the board governing policies is setting our expectations for ourselves which allows us to trust each other because we know we're trying to meet the same expectations and their expectations that we have all agreed to.

And we don't have that right now and it makes it tricky tricky for how are we how are we supposed to do this.

Do I need to tell you.

Do I need to tell that person.

So all right.

That you need to trust.

Continuous improvement.

Joe Mizrahi

DIRECTOR DEWOLF- Well in my vast board experience.

I found, well now I advocated for a half point here, but apparently half points are not allowed.

But no we're somewhere between 0 and 1 so I think that puts us at 0 because we're not meeting the one of the things that President Rankin pointed out is that maybe this was something that happened pre-COVID but the board has provided time during regularly scheduled board authorized public meetings to recognize the accomplishments of its students and staff regarding progress toward goals and interim goals is not something that we're doing.

The last one the continuous improvement.

Yeah.

Liza Rankin

Yeah and why and one of the things that we haven't done that in the revised template agendas that we have talked about we add back in but during COVID we lost the celebration recognition that there used to be at the beginning of every board meeting and that's something that I think would be really great to bring back to spend a minute recognizing the the great work and accomplishments and community that we have and also to start our meetings centered on this is what we're doing here.

Joe Mizrahi

But to our credit the zero is all about not doing self evaluations which we're doing right now.

So kind of crushing that.

Liza Rankin

There we go.

All right.

So that is our baseline score.

Evan Briggs

President Rankin, Dr. Jones and I were just discussing this and I think we need to be really clear even if, we can't make assumptions about what our end goal is here.

So I think we need to state what our end goal is here.

Is our end goal that we are in mastering, we master each and every one of these categories?

Is that what we're doing here?

Or is it something else like we're trying to master some of them but we'd be happy enough to be at green for some of them.

Like what is what is our end game.

And let's like state our intention very clearly so that we all know where we're headed.

Director Hersey.

Brandon Hersey

I think that that is a really brilliant aspect of this to bring up for a couple of reasons because if we try to do all of these things and improve in all these areas the one area where we're approaching is going to suffer because you can't do that many things.

So my headcanon would be to select one of them that we want to be meeting by the time we come back at this and continue to maintain the one where we are meeting.

Everything else we'll try it but we have a priority goal that we are focusing on for this next session and I would argue that it should be the one about time use in terms of making sure that our meetings are less than three hours long.

Liza Rankin

And that they focus on student outcomes.

Yes.

Oh my gosh I just what I was going to say just completely left me.

Oh something again that was developed by President Hersey and we have somehow lost track of it is that our implementation timeline.

So.

We have we can I think need to bring and you and I have talked about this bring it back see what's still relevant and what's not on it and recalibrate a timeline of different pieces of governance that were identified already so that we're not suddenly like We're going to master everything but that we have a time.

So ideally and again nothing is ideal but were we to have already adopted all of these best practices and have this be our regular cadence we would start the January of every year not with the process of appointing two board seats but with the setting of the board's goals for the year.

So that would be sort of a.

an opportunity to have a discussion in a retreat about you know looking at our last evaluation and setting goals for ourselves.

So I think having those targets and a timeline is a really good idea.

And also I don't know right in this.

I just decided that we had already agreed to do this.

And if I let myself put this off until we could figure everything out perfectly, I would be letting us down by not just being like, let's just do it where we're at.

And it's a continuous improvement.

And it's not perfect.

It's not the point to be perfect.

So I don't have the total solid answer to that, but it's also not, it's, I mean.

Evan Briggs

Well, I think it's just something that we need to collectively figure out.

Yeah.

And it doesn't have to happen right this second, but we should figure it out soon and then just be really clear with each other about what we're striving for.

Liza Rankin

So since we've already.

Brandon Hersey

Retreat.

Liza Rankin

Oh yeah.

Well we're going to do a retreat.

Oh that actually thank you for reminding me.

We're going to do a retreat end of June beginning of July.

It is mostly going to be to focus on the goal and guardrail development from the feedback that we receive.

But as soon as possible if folks could respond to Julia about what dates were available so we can get that on people's calendars so that we can make sure that everybody can be there.

And then we can also something that also disappeared during Covid was I think typically the board used to have quarterly retreats.

So we can talk about if quarterly makes sense if we want to put that back into our calendar.

I think that we definitely need.

some of that focus time together especially as we're implementing these new practices.

And not only is it going to help us but you know my hope and what we've all talked about as we've undertaken this is that we are also setting up future boards to not.

have to start from scratch all the time to have systems and structures in place to help keep the board focused on the work of the board and and be able to revise and amend policies to provide direction as vision values change or priorities change, whatever.

But to have the structure for, have the framework for effective governance in place in a way that's not what we're doing right now, which is we're gonna do engagement and we're also gonna do obligation and we're also gonna do, you know having all these pieces so um so yeah so we've got our baseline uh i let's see gina has committed to helping us improve in the time use part that will give us better clear um consistent thing to look at how we're spending our time.

I will also take a look back at our agendas and see I mean it's a lot of stuff that's adding time our work work sessions and things like this conversation which hopefully won't have to be ongoing as we're making shifts and implementing things.

This is kind of our only chance to talk about it.

Although, well, yeah, anyway.

I will focus on the, well, let me ask you this.

Is there one of these areas that seems like right now something that's a higher priority that we want to look at improving first, or do we want to see what comes out of kind of rebooting the implementation timeline?

Oh time use.

Which one.

Communication and collaboration.

I think that's a good one to focus on.

The board will lead transparently and include stakeholders in the pursuit of the goals.

That goes along with the engagement that we're doing right now too.

Thanks guys for doing that.

And we'll we'll figure out a cadence to do it.

We'll figure out a process to do this quarterly.

This is I just was like let's just do it.

So thank you all very much.

Oh.

Now is the time I get to say I think is there anything else I'm required to say.

There being no further business to come before the board the regular board meeting is now adjourned at 7 38 p.m.

which is just about three hours.

Can we start at 4 30 7 30. That's three hours.

It is not three hours.