School Board Meeting April 29, 2020

Just please hold comments while SPS-TV takes us live.

After a five second pause I will call us to order.

OK.

This is President DeWolf.

I am now calling the April 29th 2020 regular board meeting to order at 1 o'clock on Wednesday April 29th 2020. We live and go to school in a city that is the ancestral homeland to the Duwamish people Muckleshoot Nation and Suquamish Nation.

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

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

So Tansi Okimaw P'isim Mitisi Nikason Welcome.

My traditional Korean name is Young Buffalo Leader.

Thank you all.

Ms. Colson-Jones I'm going to ask you to start with the roll call please.

Director Harris here.

Director Hersey here.

Director Mack here.

Director Rankin here.

Director Rivera-Smith.

I'm here.

Director DeWolf.

I'm here as well.

Thank you Miss Wilson-Jones.

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

This meeting is being held electronically consistent with the governor's March 24th 2020 proclamation prohibiting meetings such as this one from being held in person And I'll note that members of the public may also be joining us via phone or online streaming.

I will not be asking members of the public to identify themselves but thank you to those of us to those of you for joining us.

As stated on the agenda there will not be a public comment opportunity today per the board's March 11th 2020 vote to waive relevant provisions of board policy 1430 and board procedure 1430BP as well as board resolution 2019 slash 20 dash 29. Public comments are always invited by email to the board at school board at sales schools dot org by fax and by mail as stated on the agenda.

And we absolutely do still welcome all public comment.

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

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

I am now going to turn it over to.

Superintendent Juneau for her comments.

OK well thank you and good to virtually see everybody.

I guess I Ellie when we get to the next slide I'll just tell you next slide.

So I just want to.

Start by saying I had the opportunity to pop into a fifth grade classroom today and it was really awesome.

Mr. Barnes fifth grade class was engaged in a science lesson.

They had all taken individual nature walks and collected data about different things and they were all engaged with looking at other data sites and comparing what they saw and what they heard.

to wind, to what the weather was like, time of day.

They were still really engaged with each other.

As the video went in and out, they teased each other on sounding like aliens and all that kind of stuff.

And so I guess it was just really nice for me to actually see and observe that learning is happening.

That was just one example I know of one teacher in one classroom but I do miss the days of being able to pop into schools and sort of see good things happening in the classrooms and so that was just really nice.

And so I just wanted to let people know that at least in this instance great things were going on and teaching and learning was indeed happening.

And so next slide please.

I can do it I guess.

Never mind.

As always I just want to ground today's superintendent comments in our strategic plan.

We continue to build these new systems using the theory of action of this plan centering on students and families furthest from educational justice specifically African-American boys young men and their families.

Next slide.

In alignment with our strategic plan the following principles guided development of the new grading practice and reflect our unwavering commitment to advancing racial equity and SPS.

I just want to thank the board for voting for this.

These were the principles that we grounded it in was to ensure that the negative impact of these school closures on students especially students furthest from educational justice is minimized.

That we wanted to keep students engaged in learning and keep educators engaged in teaching.

We wanted to make sure that we were engaging families as partners in supporting their students.

And of course meet the state's requirement to make a good faith effort in providing meaningful high school credit earning opportunities and provide space for flexibility and individualized plans to ensure equitable outcomes and promote common expectations across all schools.

And give with our strategic plan we made sure we centered our Black boys and young men in this process.

I'm really proud of this work and really want to thank the CAI team for doing really deep work across departments and making sure that all voices were included as much as possible for the engagement that went on and for really making sure that our strategic plan was lived out in this process.

and others across the nation and across Washington State are now modeling their efforts on it.

And so we again leaders a leading district in this effort.

So thank you again everybody.

Next slide.

So this I'm just really wanted to take a few minutes to highlight some of the great work that staff across the district have been doing since our closure.

Next slide.

In alignment with Seattle Excellence we've been deploying computers to students furthest from educational justice for the past month.

We started with seniors to ensure they meet the requirements to be ready for college career and community.

And then we next deployed to high school students and this week we are starting to hand out computers to middle school students furthest from educational justice.

There are great stories pouring in from all across the city just about our our ability to be able to make this happen.

And I do want to just again thank Amazon.

We are delivering computers to elementary students as a result of their really generous donation.

And you can see in the left picture there the joy that our teachers are bringing to their students.

This is a preschool student enjoying a read aloud with her teacher.

The other two pictures are from our laptop deployment sites and you can't see it but each employee is smiling behind those masks.

Next slide please.

Here are some of the other COVID essential staff.

The top left picture shows the learning packet team sorting hundreds of thousands of papers to get out to schools on Mondays.

The bus delivery system that we have are delivering meals to families in the Aki Kurose Middle School service area.

You'll see.

a couple other familiar characters on that picture.

The nutrition staff is serving over 4,000 meals per day and this team on the bottom is at Meany Middle School.

This health care worker at Seattle Cancer Care Alliance models one of the 100 3D printed masks that the makerspace at Nathan Hale High School has made.

And so that is just really.

Again shows how caring our schools are and how we're being great partners with the community and the frontline workers across our city.

And we're just really fortunate to have so many wonderful people in our community.

We truly are stronger together and I am still convinced that we will come out of this situation stronger.

And I'm so thankful to be leading these efforts with you my board.

And I just need to make sure that we are reminding everybody to be safe and wash your hands.

And with that President DeWolf I hand it back over.

Thank you.

Thank you Superintendent Juneau.

Really really grateful for that update and certainly if anything I appreciate the highlight of our students.

Stories have been coming out over the last couple of weeks of SPS students rising to the challenge and I'm really proud and grateful to be a part of the district as well.

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

So may I have a motion for the consent agenda.

I move approval of the consent agenda.

I second the motion.

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

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

Hearing none.

All those in favor of the consent agenda signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Those opposed.

Okay.

The consent agenda has passed unanimously.

And now we will move to the action items on today's agenda.

As we move through these items and later the introduction items I will first call on committee chairs for items that move through committee.

Then I'll call on the remaining directors alphabetically for questions and comments.

So we will now move to Action Item Number 1. Authorizing Board Resolution Number 2019 slash 20-33 to suspend state and local graduation requirements and suspending provisions of board policy number 2415 high school graduation requirements.

May I have a motion for this item.

This is Director Hampson.

I move that the school board authorize the attached board resolution and temporarily suspend identified provisions of board policy number 2415 high school graduation requirements for high school seniors during the COVID-19 school closure.

Immediate action is in the best interest of the district.

I second the motion.

Thank you directors.

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

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

This this topic was discussed however by the Curriculum and Instruction Policy Committee but the board action report came has come straight through to the board given the time sensitive nature.

So we'll begin with a briefing from Chief Academic Officer Dr. Diane DeBacker.

Thank you President DeWolf and members of the board.

As reflected in the motion the purpose of this BAR is to authorize the resolution number 2019 slash 20 dash 33 to suspend state and local graduation requirements and suspend provisions of board policy number 2415 the high school graduation requirements.

As we shared at last week's C&I committee meeting we have had a few overarching goals that have guided us as we've worked through this.

With the first being keeping seniors engaged in learning and planning.

And second help those seniors graduate and continue with their post-secondary plans as they intended.

As is noted in the BAR we focus first on students furthest from educational justice as evidenced by the racial equity analysis.

We've also sought to engage a number of stakeholders in these meetings.

We've informed students and families of the potential waivers.

In early April we started consulting with a number of school district and even level colleagues at this time so that we could approach the waivers in the best manner possible.

We're grateful for the collaboration between Dr. Mia Williams team and Dr. Keisha Scarlett's team to help us with outreach and engagement to seniors and their families especially using our community based organizations and others that are really have their their finger on the pulse of these communities.

Our tries to be very a very complex topic.

It includes information on what is in House Bill 2965. It includes what's in the rules that the State Board of Education developed to implement House Bill 2965. It is complex in that it talks about the district's application to the state with respect to House Bill 2965. And it details the resolution that's also in front of you today.

In addition given the complexity of the number of types of requirements our seniors need to meet we would draw your attention and hope you've had a chance to look at the summary chart that's on pages 4 and 5 of the BAR and it kind of gives you an idea of all of the different type of scenarios that we tried to play through.

as we were considering each student's situation.

We are asking for action or intro and action on the same day because we believe that time is of the essence here.

We need to launch this process as soon as possible.

As you have heard before and read in the BAR this is an individual student waiver process.

We have about four thousand.

in Seattle Public Schools and so it's really going through every student's transcript meeting with the students making sure that they know what options that they have with the waivers and also if we combine that with the grading policy that you passed last week.

We do appreciate the support from the Curriculum and Instruction Committee that met last week.

We give gratitude also to the Executive Committee for allowing this to be both introed and actioned hopefully in the same meeting.

I will give credit where credit is due certainly here and that's to Dr. Caleb Perkins and his college and career college and career readiness team.

And Dr. Perkins is on the line and can help respond to any questions you have.

With that President DeWolf I will stand for questions.

Thank you.

Okay.

So I'm going to call on directors to ask questions and provide comments on the item up for discussion.

Thank you again Chief Academic Officer Dr. Dan DeBacker.

I'm going to start with Hampson Director Hampson and then we'll move down the line in alphabetic order.

So Director Hampson I'll kick it over to you for first questions and comments.

I'm going to pass for now and ask that you come back around to me.

Thank you.

Okay.

Director Harris.

I'm good.

Thank you.

Thank you Director Harris.

Director Hersey.

I'm good as well.

Thank you.

Okay.

Director Mack.

Thank you.

I have I believe three different questions.

For clarification so we've in this board action we have the resolution that we're adopting as well as the temporarily suspending board policy or the provisions in board policy 24 15 which are attached and those provisions that are suspended are stricken through.

My first question is about the language of the motion and concern around whether or not it just it says temporarily suspend but there's no end date stated.

And I I'd like clarity and maybe it's from Mr. Narver on without an end date in the motion then When does the policy come back in full force?

I'm actually going to give Ronald Boy.

This is Greg Narver, Chief Legal Counsel.

Ronald Boy is on the call.

He is the member of the legal team that worked most directly on this resolution.

So I'm going to graciously give him the first opportunity to respond to that question.

Hi, Ronald Boy here.

You refer to the resolution that is being passed.

It indicates in the last be it further resolved that the board is indicating that the resolution expires in tandem with WAC 180-111 which is July 31st 2020 and the 4th of the resolution sunsets on that day.

Thank you for that.

I did see that in the in the resolution but I'm not seeing how that ties to the board policy end date.

The policy attachment is indicated for reference it's not approval so it's referencing the sections that the resolution places a waiver upon so that it is clear to the board and the public and our staff the specific portions of the policy that that will be waived during this time period.

But the actual policy is not being impacted.

It's just the resolution is waiving those portions for the time period.

Okay great.

I appreciate that clarification.

So we're adopting the resolution.

We're not actually suspending the way the policy and that it has an end date of July 31st 2020.

Yes that's correct.

Even though the information also says that you know potential other closures.

It actually does have an end date.

So I just I wanted to get that into the record and clarified.

So thank you for that.

The other piece that the resolution talks about and is a little I think it maybe is useful for our knowledge here about juniors and the class of 2021. This policy does not as I read it apply to any other class other than the current seniors.

So if students that are in the other grades were looking at incompletes they wanted to waive credits from this semester they they currently do not have that opportunity through this action.

Is that correct.

That is correct.

The the emergency rules that were put into place by the State Board of Education applied to students of the class of 2020 and earlier.

The actions of this state did not apply to a future class and I would hope that the the The steps that OSPI has been put into place for grading on for this semester will will help with any potential issues that may arise for future classes.

But I would also expect that if there is a an issue that that comes up that you know this COVID situation is an evolving situation and it may be that that we have future state action that would address future classes.

But at this point it's just the address of 2020 and earlier.

Okay great.

I appreciate that clarification that this process will not provide the same opportunities to the class of 2021 which is actually the first class that has a 24 credit requirement.

And this semester has likely to be a massive impact on them.

So I think we just need to stay aware that we are likely going to need to in the future adopt something to support those students and that this action isn't actually covering that.

Thank you.

My last question is.

Related to the I.B.

provision that's being waived I'm just kind of a little confused as to why it's specifically being waived from the policy.

The language in the policy about I.B.

is I guess I kind of just don't understand why I.B.

is called out so specifically and then why we're waiving the provisions of the IB graduation requirements.

I know that Caleb can speak to this.

We had a discussion about it and after the discussion it it definitely made sense.

I'll let Caleb respond.

Thank you.

Hello this is Caleb Perkins.

Director Mack I don't have much more to offer just we were We wanted to make sure that the the same flexibility for seniors who were in IB programs was available to them.

We did work with that.

So that's why those things were were crossed out.

It was just meant to be consistent so they would also have access to the same.

And for clarity on that they also

A student that's in the IB program gets an IB certificate or an IB.

What exactly do they get along with their high school graduation certificate.

What they're usually trying to get is an IB diploma.

That's OK.

So the name is the diploma.

So if they waive credits.

Are they waiving their ability to get the IB diploma as well or does this enable them to waive credits and still earn that diploma.

I believe it's the latter.

And I I am looking through past conversations about this detail just to make sure I have that right.

So if I believe it is the latter but I will need to confirm.

Okay it's fine with me if we can move on to other directors questions if you want to circle back on that.

That that concludes my current questions.

Thank you.

Thank you Director Mack.

Great questions.

Director Rankin.

Thanks.

I I don't have questions.

I just wanted to say thank you to Dr. DeBacker and to Caleb Perkins for being really quick and responsive to get this together and for anticipating what the needs of our students are going to be.

I know they have a lot of information included in the BAR about numbers and who's impacted.

And so I just want to thank them for being super thorough and bringing it to we agreed in committee last week that you know to make sure that seniors understand that the support is there for them and we want to get them over the finish line of graduation as they had been planning before this.

That speed was of the essence to get this up and running so that we can make that make that happen.

So thank you.

Thank you Director Rankin.

Director Rivera-Smith.

Hi thank you.

I had a couple of questions here just for some clarification.

I'm trying to figure out so let's start with the top page 1. The the this waiver is for it says students in the graduating class of 2020 or earlier.

Can you can somebody clarify what that means to be or earlier.

Are we talking about people who would have graduated prior to 2020. Or I just want to clarify what that means.

Hello this is Chief DeBacker and yes this would be what we would consider a fifth year senior.

Who would still be graduating though in 2020 but they're not considered the class of 2020. Is that what that means.

Right.

They they would be considered the class of 2020. They hadn't finished during their first four years but they were continuing on and were on track to graduate this year.

Great.

Thank you.

Okay.

Second question is on page 2. There I think this was the secondish paragraph.

End of the second paragraph.

Summer term is included in the school year and students may waive planned summer credit recovery courses if the summer term is canceled due to COVID-19.

I'm kind of confused because please I don't know is there really a chance summer term will be canceled because even spring wasn't canceled so much we just weren't in the buildings.

Is there a chance we will not have any summer term because I I think it's you know it's I know maybe it's mincing words but I want to make sure there's not some fear out there that we won't have an opportunity in the summer for recovery courses or a summer session.

Director Rivera-Smith if I may.

Director DeWolf is okay if I chime in.

And that's Dr. — Absolutely.

Absolutely.

I'm sorry.

Yes this is.

Absolutely.

Caleb Perkins.

That's the language it's my understanding that's the language from the State Board of Education wording.

They're referring to the school closure.

So if they're effectively if there's an inability for a student to participate in summer school to the fullest extent as just as is happening with school closure now then they would be eligible to waive that.

It's if we return to summer school as usual then they would not be able to waive it.

That is my understanding of what the state board is allowing us to do with summer.

Does that help.

Yeah I think so.

But if that could be clarified somewhere.

I don't I mean I don't know if there's a chance for that at this point.

But because again I.

I think he's clarified it.

I think it's okay.

Okay yeah like I said my concern was just over the term summer term canceled because again that's I don't know anyways I just wanted to I don't want parents to walk away with a lack of clarity on the opportunities that will be available this summer as well.

But let me see.

Okay.

So I think I have them when I'm scrolling through my my documents here.

There it is.

I had a question come through.

Scrolled away from me.

I think it's in the resolution.

Oh gosh.

My computer's being funky and skipping ahead on me.

Why don't you come back to me.

I'm going to keep digging.

My my pages are jumping around.

I will.

I'll.

I'll.

I'm going to call on Director Mack she had another question so I'll come right back to you.

So Director Mack I'll let you jump in with another question.

Director DeWolf this is Director Hampson.

I just had one question I was had asked you to come back around to me so I can go ahead.

Yeah go ahead.

I was either you or Director Mack but if you're ready I'll let you go and Director Mack will go after you and then Director Rivera-Smith.

Yeah I just wanted to I appreciate the attention in the Board Action Report to The cons associated with providing the waivers I think it's incredibly important that we do this and I really appreciate everyone's willingness thus far to support bringing this as quickly as possible to intro in action so that we can provide some some sense of assurance to our seniors.

But I did appreciate the note about the cons which are possibly starting off their next endeavor behind.

And I just wondered if you could elaborate on that a little bit.

Dr. DeBacker.

The the intention will be that they as the counselors work with each of those individual seniors and go over all of the options that they have in front of them.

Our our our push will be that for especially for students who are going on on to post-secondary education they need to continue their studies through the end of the semester to the extent possible just so they aren't behind.

And so that will that will be one of the things that our counselors will visit seniors about because they will have some options in front of them and we will encourage them to stay engaged in learning so that they are are not behind as they move on to their post-secondary which in Seattle Public Schools that's about 80 percent of our students.

And I would hope this is Director Hampson again that we would also be sure to reach out to at least state schools and other networked institutions to confer with them about the prospective needs that our students might have coming in the door.

It's not an uncommon.

resource for institutions of of higher ed to provide to particularly those students furthest from educational justice to try to ensure their success and the extent to which we can advocate for that I think would be critical to the further success of of this BAR.

Thank you.

Can I. This is Director Rankin.

Can I add something to that.

I just wanted to sort of echo the question from Director Hampson and just say that I appreciate the inclusion of that in this policy because I think it is important to remember for all of our students that you know we we the royal we the state whoever require certain things of them to graduate but that it's really incumbent upon them to leave high school with what you know whatever they think is coming next.

You know we we want to ease the burden on them to allow them to meet those requirements but that also we're still it's still our obligation to provide all of the resources necessary for the students to have the skills and information that they want and need and not just you know check their boxes.

So I really appreciate that that that point is included so that when students are thinking about through their options there they have a moment to reflect on like oh well I can just waive that.

You know do they really want to do that or do they have the ability at this point to say well I could waive that but I really wanted to you know explore X in this course and I'm really going to make sure that I get that done before graduation or before June.

So just thank you for for flagging that and I hope that our our counselors and educators will will help

support that point as well.

Thank you Director Rankin.

I'm going to turn it over to Director Mack now.

Yes thank you.

I apologize for not catching the previous call but I appreciate the Director Hampson jumping in and asking that.

My question my second my fourth question I guess that kind of was pinged because of Director Rivera-Smith's question around summer school.

As I read through this I'm actually a little confused and need a little clarification.

This these waivers only apply to our current seniors.

So do we actually have any.

current seniors that would have been attaining their diploma for 2021 utilizing summer school credits.

Director DeWolf this is Caleb Perkins.

Is it okay if I respond.

Yes there are seniors that were planning to graduate by the end of August.

That's traditionally a group that we have in our in our senior cohorts.

So per House Bill 2965 if seniors had a plan in place to either graduate at the end of the semester by meeting credit requirements or they needed the summer the state board has allowed both of those groups to be able to be eligible for the waivers.

But again, the assumption is that they're graduating in August and therefore still part of the class of 2020.

I think that timeline is actually helpful to clarify.

This resolution states the end of July, but we're actually impacting and providing waivers to students that would have been graduating or are planning to graduate in August.

And therefore, summer school does and waiving credits for summer school that would have been completed during summer school becomes an issue if if needed.

So my follow up question is just to get some clarification either from you Dr. Perkins or someone else about what the current planning that the district has around summer school.

Superintendent Juneau in her her Facebook Live presentation yesterday said that we will be holding summer school.

But I'm I wonder if that that message needs some clarification because what summer school typically is for Seattle Public Schools is limited.

It's not summer schools open and available to 54000 students.

So I'm.

I'd like to get a little bit of clarification about what our expectation is in running the summer school program.

How many students is it still primarily dedicated towards students that need to complete their high school credits.

What are the confines of our expectation around summer school.

Director Mack this is Superintendent Juneau and We just had a conversation at cabinet level today about the future of summer school and what's it look like and there's a lot of planning that's going on and our plan really is to have a very much more robust summer school than we have in the past.

Right now you know perhaps a mix of different type of things that are going on but we can definitely provide once that becomes a little more refined some information to the board about summer school but.

Right now we are planning for summer school we're planning for more students to be engaged in summer school across the spectrum.

Well thank you for that clarification.

I think it's helpful to know that we're planning for that.

I'm as a corollary to that I'm curious to know how we're planning to fund it since we don't typically run school during the summer.

That's that's another question.

Thank you for that.

But I think that I mean it's going to be a good conversation because.

We know that summer school is going to be really a necessary factor for continuous learning for our students.

That there's going to have to be some acceleration and some interventions that happen during the summer and so we are working also with JoLynn to figure out the funding of that as well.

Thank you.

Appreciate the clarification.

I don't have any other further questions.

Thank you President DeWolf.

Thank you Director Mack.

Okay I'm going to return it back to Director Rivera-Smith to get a couple of questions up.

No actually yeah so they were actually pretty covered there.

I was going to be about the about the opportunity for students to decline the waiver and if how that would be explored with them and I know it's in it's in the BAR there so it's kind of giving an example of pros and cons.

So I just wanted to just have that assurance that there is a process for them to waive it because for some students it would be beneficial for them to take the courses and gain the instruction and knowledge.

I just wanted to get a little more clarification on that but everyone's questions pretty much covered that so I'm good.

Thank you.

Thank you Director Rivera-Smith.

And I have no questions at this time as well.

But I just wanted to again thank Chief Academic Officer Dr. Diane DeBacker.

and Dr. Perkins for all of your work on this and for really getting this over to us in a really quick turnaround.

So I appreciate your efforts and was really grateful that you were able to chat with the C&I committee this week too.

So given that that is the end of the discussion I'm going to call on Ms. Wilson-Jones for the vote.

Director Mack aye Director Rankin.

Sorry I couldn't find my my the right screen.

Aye.

Director Rivera-Smith aye Director Hampson aye Director Harris aye Director Rankin aye

Director DeWolf aye.

This motion has passed unanimously.

Thank you.

Okay.

Thank you for that.

We will now move to action item number two BTA III approval of budget transfer from BTA III program contingency and award construction contract K5118 bid number B012 038 to Good News Group Inc. for the Adams Elementary School Fire Sprinkler Upgrades Project.

This came to the operations committee on March 24th for approval.

May I have a motion for this item.

This is Director Hampson.

I move that this school board number one approve the transfer in the amount of one million twenty six thousand six hundred and eighty eight dollars from the BTA III program contingency to the Adams Elementary School Fire Sprinkler sprinkler upgrades project budget and number two authorize the superintendent to execute construction contract K5118 with Good News Group Inc. in the amount of $1,121,950 including base bid plus Washington State sales tax with any minor additions deletions and modifications deemed necessary by the superintendent and to take any necessary actions to implement the contract.

Thank you Director.

Okay so the item has been moved by Director Hampson and seconded by Director Harris.

This item has been updated since introduction so Chief Operations Officer Fred Podesta could you please brief us on the update.

Hello.

The updates were merely some words inserted into the equity analysis that were just typographical errors.

There haven't been any substantive changes to the the Board Action Report.

Okay.

Thank you Chief Podesta.

So now I'm going to call on directors for any comments or questions before we move to the vote.

So I'll start with our Operations Committee Chair Director Mack and then move alphabetically from there.

So Director Mack over to you.

Yes thank you.

I don't have any questions on this appreciate the work as always and the importance of having fire safety sprinkler systems that work in our buildings is incredibly important and glad we're taking this opportunity to move this forward.

Thank you Director Mack.

Next up is Director Hampson.

No questions for me.

Thank you.

Thank you Director Hampson.

Director Harris.

Over to you.

I'm good.

Thank you.

Thank you Director Harris.

Next up is Director Hersey.

None for me.

Thank you.

Next up is Director Rankin.

Nope.

We covered this pretty well in committee so thanks.

Awesome.

Thank you Director Rankin.

Director Rivera-Smith.

Yeah I do want a quick question just as I think this was covered in committee but I was I would like to be reminded to have clarification again of how the project doubled in size that brought us from the cost of it to what was budgeted.

I guess I already talked about the reason but I'm trying to remember and just get clarification for that.

Hello this is Fred Podesta Chief Operations Officer.

original estimate this is a BTA 3 project so the original construction cost estimates were from 2014 so there's been significant inflation since then.

It's also the project was re-scoped to increase the reach of the system and also to Conceal more of the piping the original design had a lot of exposed pipe in the building that was deemed you know not an optimal design.

So the scope has increased to enclose more of the system than would have been done otherwise.

Wonderful.

Thank you for that.

No further questions.

Thank you.

And I have no questions on this item but Thank you again for joining us Chief Podesta.

So I am going to ask Ms. Wilson-Jones for the roll call vote.

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

This motion has passed unanimously.

Thank you Ms. Wilson-Jones.

Okay now we will move.

Introduction Item portion of today's agenda.

So we'll move to Introduction Item Number 1 High School Chemistry B instructional materials adoption.

This came through the Curriculum and Instruction Committee on April 21st for approval.

Director DeBacker I believe you'll be briefing us.

Actually Director DeWolf this is Chief Counsel Greg Narver speaking.

We have been having an attorney client series of communications between me and Dr. DeBacker and her team.

And I believe we are going to be withdrawing this item for introduction today.

Because of the privileged nature of this, I'm not going to discuss the reasons now, but there is some additional work that needs to be done.

Dr. DeBacker, is that correct, that that's the decision that's been made?

Yes Diane DeBacker here.

That is the decision that's been made.

We believe it's in the best interest for the school district at this time.

And I apologize to the Curriculum and Instruction Committee that you did not know about this in advance.

It is something that came to knowledge just within the last hour.

And my apologies to President DeWolf as well.

Thank you Dr. DeBacker and thank you Chief Counsel Narver.

Given that news this item is being withdrawn from today's agenda so we can move to Introduction Item Number 2. My only curiosity is do you have a sense on timing Dr. DeBacker.

Yes.

Timing is we would if we can get it back in front of the Curriculum Instruction Committee and and others we would like to at the next board meeting.

OK.

And Chief Chief Narver is there anything we need to do procedurally here or for the record on withdrawing this.

I don't believe so.

I think we have a clear record that it's not being introduced today and Dr. DeBacker has laid out the next steps which will be to take it back to the committee.

I don't believe any further actions required by the board.

Thank you.

Appreciate your counsel.

Okay.

President DeWolf this is Director Rankin.

Can I ask a question.

Hello Rankin.

Hi.

As long as I can answer it.

What.

As long as I can answer yes.

No I'm I'm just wondering or suggesting I guess or asking if there is a need to to move more.

Having it come before C&I.

Because I know that the timeline I don't know what the issue is obviously but the timeline was a bit of an issue in terms of what students can access this semester.

So if there is a need to have an additional call of C&I committee or something like that I guess Dr. DeBacker please let like let's talk about it.

See if we can help move it along.

Yes yes we can talk about it.

It's it's it's something I think that will be easily rectified.

Okay great.

Thanks.

Awesome.

Thank you Director Rankin and thank you Chief DeBacker and Craig Narver.

So giving that we will move on to Introduction Item Number 2. Approval of new board policy number 3423 Parent Guardian Administration of Marijuana for Medical Purposes.

and amending existing board policy number 5201 drug-free schools community and workplace.

And this came to the operations committee on April 8th for approval.

So now I'm going to ask senior council senior excuse me Senior General Counsel Roland Boy to provide a brief briefing to those.

Thank you.

Thank you Director DeWolf.

Last year's legislative session a new law was passed which provided the opportunity for minors who suffer from a terminal or debilitating medical condition to and who possess a recognition card to have their parent or guardian who's indicated on their recognition card to provide medical marijuana infused products to them on a school setting.

So on school property or on a school field trip on a school field on a school bus and things like that.

And as part of the new law that was passed it requires that school boards develop a policy to provide this carve out of our of our anti-drug policy for the school district.

And this policy is in response to that law and it provides the opportunity for a situation where if we do have a student that's suffering from a terminal or debilitating medical condition whose doctor has determined that they could benefit from a marijuana infused product that it does allow for the opportunity parent or guardian to come onto school property provide that product to the student.

And then after the the the student has been given the product the parent is required to remove the marijuana infused product from school property.

So the only time that the marijuana infused product will be on school property is at the time of providing it to the student.

And it's taken off after that.

With this situation no school staff will be involved in handling the marijuana infused product.

It but the policy allows for the parent or guardian to come onto property or on a school bus or at a sporting event or a field trip and provide it to a student.

Are there any questions.

Thank you Senior Council Senior General Counsel Ronald Boy.

I am going to call on directors in the order of alphabetical order but I will start with Director Mack who is our Operations Committee Chair.

So Director Mack over to you first.

Yes.

Thank you.

We had very robust discussion about this in committee and cross-referenced with other policies that We needed to ensure we're not being impacted by this change and that the appropriate updates were being taken and the appropriate policies and procedures et cetera.

And grateful for the work that was done and the comprehensive nature of it.

Look forward to moving forward.

Thank you.

Director Mack can I just a clarifying question while you're still on is can you share a little bit background why this came forward for approval as compared to consideration.

Because of the robust nature of the discussion and the you know it's a state requirement that we develop a policy around it.

And we very thoroughly checked to see whether or not our other policies around medication on school grounds etc. were impacted.

And we felt confident that we've addressed the state law appropriately and cross-reference with our existing policies robustly.

There there there weren't any remaining consideration questions from committee members.

Does that answer your question.

That's helpful.

Yes.

I think just especially as this is intro I want to make sure we have as much on the record around.

the background so I appreciate that.

I will now move it over to Director Hampson.

The only question that I would have is is this the extent of what state law allows in terms of the parent access I mean the parent having to bring it and then remove it.

Is that limited by state law or is that result out of Seattle Public Schools policy development.

Yes the the state law is very prescriptive in the way that this is handled on in a school setting.

So the what you're seeing in the policy is a mirror of the requirements that are set forth by the law and we don't have the opportunity to to make it less restrictive than what it is.

Okay thank you.

That's all for me.

Thank you Director Hampson.

All right now I'll move to Director Harris.

No questions but a comment.

I never thought that I would live long enough to see medical marijuana be a compliant issue for our schools.

I'm done.

Thank you Director Harris.

All right Director Hersey you're next.

No questions for me.

Thank you.

Next up is Director Rankin.

Nope I don't have any questions.

We did have a lot of opportunity to talk about this in committee and pretty as Director Mack said pretty thorough.

discussion so.

Do you have any highlights to share from that for for our public.

Yeah I mean the main the main thing that we asked is sort of related to what Director Harris just mentioned or sorry sorry Director Hampson about the parents bringing it on and that led to some other questions about our our other policies for for medication and Basically that the distinction is you know you need a medical marijuana card but it's not it doesn't come from a pharmacy.

And so it's not expected that a school nurse would be handling medical marijuana.

And and also about the the fact that medical marijuana and then anti-drug policies And then anti-drug policies medical marijuana or marijuana itself floats overlaps between the two.

It's a bit of a Venn diagram situation set to in order to assure ensure access to a student who has the documented need for it.

But to basically we can't ask school staff to administer something that contains a substance that's not supposed to be on campus in other forms.

So that was sort of the extent of the conversation was what makes this medication different from other medications.

And that's pretty much where it fell is that it's sort of its own entity in terms of medication.

Which of course goes into a whole legacy and history of stigma and and substance and all kinds of stuff.

But that was what we settled on was that basically the state is the state is allowing for students to have access to it but restricting who can handle it.

And so our policy reflects is consistent with that.

Thank you very much Director Rankin.

Okay.

Director Rivera-Smith up next.

Yes thank you.

Yeah I was also at the operations committee meeting and this was discussed.

For clarification I do not sit on the operations committee but I do attend their meetings and I do the other committees that I'm not on.

But I it was definitely a pretty lengthy discussion we had about this BAR.

Started with meeting the addition of the policy number it was referring to which I see has been added now.

It is board policy 5201. Thank you.

for having that added.

We also talked about just you know again like Director Rankin mentioned this is to comply with the new state law and only parents can bring and administer.

I asked if there was a possibility for a backup parent to be listed in case the primary administering parent could not be available for that if there was an opportunity to have a backup listed and that sounds like currently cannot be done because that is not part of the state law.

So we couldn't allow for that right now.

I asked if they were required to show their card each time they came in to administer and that has that will be part of procedure.

I sounded like they don't have to show it each time they're coming in but there is going to be a tracking system in place because those cards do expire every six months.

So we wouldn't want to assume that somebody's card is still valid when it in fact has expired.

So there's going to be a tracking system in place so that we can know if that is current.

And I also asked if teachers or staff were going to be getting the same kind of allowance to use medical marijuana on campus and that is not currently in this in the state law right now.

So that's not what Ronald Boy said that was not in the works at this time but we may be looking into that.

Anyway that was what I have down for that meetings discussion and just definitely had a lot of thought and discussion going to it.

So I have no further questions.

Thank you.

President DeWolf if I could just also say this is Director Mack I really appreciate the thoroughness and engagement of all of the board directors in asking all the questions and also in particular with Ms. Rivera-Smith having such thorough notes.

Appreciate bringing and Director Rankin's also adding to the conversation.

So thank you everyone for helping us Dot the I's and cross the T's.

Thank you Director Mack.

My questions.

Senior General Counsel Ronald Boy is one is around the BAR.

There wasn't any an equity analysis done.

So I'm wondering if that can be done between now and the.

adoption and my curiosity is did we not do it because it's just aligning with state law.

That's my question.

Yeah I would I would be happy to do that and we can I can get that done this week and have it added to the BAR for Board Act.

And yeah that's that's correct because it is a legal compliance issue it wasn't done but but happy to address it.

The other thing I wanted to just make sure was completely clear that in addition to this approving a policy there is also an edit to policy 5201 which I failed to mention originally which provides a carve out to drug-free schools community and workplace to allow for this to take place.

And I think on that point.

Is is this new policy 3423 administration of marijuana for medical purposes.

Is this the policy that we have that we utilize in collaboration with WSSDA.

Yes we started with the WSSDA model and we changed it to.

I think more reflect our our style of policy and provide a little bit more clarity from their wording.

But it is basically the foundation is the WSSDA model.

Okay.

Okay.

The only other thing I had and this is maybe just a little bit nitpicky but I feel like the student benefit section or maybe it's even in the research I would imagine that there's I know it's it's obviously to be in alignment with state law but I would imagine that there's more compelling student benefit.

So if you felt like you could in the in the time between then and the adoption I think having equity analysis and a really strong student benefit just to again I know it's in alignment with state law but to also clarify that we affirm it as a as a as a tool that students and families need to ensure they're able to participate in a high quality public education.

Yeah yeah happy to make those additions.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay.

Next seeing no more questions unless any other directors have any more questions about this topic.

I want to make sure we certainly can have any more that come up.

Okay hearing none.

We will now move to introduction item number three.

BEX V award contract P1721 for construction project management services to CBRE.

Hearing for the local Lincoln High School Phase 2 project committee on April 8th for approval.

Mr. Podesta I believe you'll be briefing us.

Yes hello.

Chief Operations Officer Fred Podesta.

This board action authorizes execution of a contract for construction project management services lead firm to oversee the overall project at Lincoln High School.

The construction management services approximately one point four million dollar contract and the overall project is budgeted approximately twenty nine million dollars.

Directors I'm sure will recall that we opened Lincoln High School last fall and Most of the work was done on the main building.

This project allows for seismic improvements to be completed at the east buildings on campus which were constructed in 1959. It also creates improvements and renovations to spaces for career and technical education.

The theater the Performing Arts Center and the gymnasium.

It's a fairly straightforward project and it's a continuation of work that has gone on over the last several years.

And that concludes my comments.

Thank you Chief Podesta.

Okay so now we will move to directors for questions and comments.

We'll start with Director Mack who is the Operations Committee Chair.

Thank you President DeWolf.

I think that Mr. Podesta's briefing was relatively complete.

I just want to I think add for context that this Phase 2 portion of the project is in effect a change from what was originally proposed to raise those buildings and that was seem to be too expensive and challenging and so those existing buildings are are being provided the seismic upgrades that are necessary necessary for student safety as well as the other modifications that are being made to make them usable and that these spaces are not only present and available to the high school students at at Lincoln but They serve as the primary auditorium for many of the middle schools and other elementary schools in the region that do not have actual auditorium space.

So I'm looking forward to this project going forward and supporting both the safety of the building for students and and accessibility for the other programs listed as well as CTE etc.

Thank you.

Thank you Director Mack.

Okay now we'll start alphabetically with the remaining directors.

So we'll start with Director Hampson.

No questions from me.

Thank you very much.

Thank you Director Hampson.

Next will be Director Harris.

I'm good.

Thank you.

Thank you Director Harris.

Next up is Director Hersey.

Known for many.

Thanks.

Next up is Director Rankin.

No I don't have questions but I wanted to highlight something that was discussed when this came through the Operations Committee which is in addition to what Director Mack was talking about with the having the theater auditorium space available for other schools in the area that don't have that space.

That's something that we discussed was or something that I would like to look into further is the to me very exciting possibility of a new theater arts space and how as in all industries technology in theater arts in lighting and sound and All of those things changes very quickly and the exciting possibility for our students and potential CTE opportunity that we have here that I would really like us to look at more as the project goes forward.

That's it.

Thank you Director Rankin.

Okay next we'll move to Director Rivera-Smith.

Hi yeah I'll echo what Director Rankin just mentioned that we did discuss the potential for using utilizing that improved space for CTE courses which you know this would be I think would be awesome.

I at the Lincoln High School does offer a theater tech class which will surely utilize that.

My son actually just took that class this last semester and really enjoyed it and having that and having those improvements will definitely add to that experience and it would be great to.

Spread that experience around to other students in other schools if we can get a CTE program in that facility.

There is CTE classes part of that wing is other CTE classes that are there.

I'm trying to remember what they're for if they're for food or medical.

I'm not positive but anytime we have an opportunity to expand that program I'm always up for conversations on that.

So looking forward to having that with Director Rankin and anyone else.

I'm not seeing much else was discussed at that aside from those possibilities at that meeting but that pretty much covers it.

Thank you.

No further questions.

Thank you Director DeWolf and Director Smith.

Okay.

And I have no questions at this time for this item as well.

So we will now move on to the final introduction item for today.

Introduction Item Number 4 excuse me BEX IV award construction contract P5139 to Wayne's Roofing Inc. for the West Seattle High School roof replacement project.

This came to the operations committee on April 8th for approval.

Mr. Podesta I believe you'll also be briefing us again on this one.

Yes this project is a roof replacement for West Seattle High School.

The existing roof was installed in 2000 in 2001. And there have been spot repairs to the roof in 2017. The tile roof at the building is part of the building's landmark status.

So this is, you know, a fairly broad area and somewhat complex project for a roof project, but we expect it to go.

Since the repairs were made just a few Years ago in isolated areas we think we have a pretty good understanding of the roof conditions and the roof systems in place so we're expecting this to be a fairly straightforward piece of work.

Understood.

Thank you Chief Podesta.

Now we will move to questions and comments from directors and again we'll start with our Operations Committee Chair Director Mack.

No comments at this time.

Just grateful that this project is moving forward.

Wonderful.

Okay.

Next up is Director Hampson.

Nothing from me.

Thank you.

Thank you Director Hampson.

Next up is Director Harris.

I'm good.

Thank you.

Awesome.

And next up we'll have Director Hersey.

None from me.

Thank you.

Director Rankin.

No I'm excited to see this move forward.

I remember a few years ago a student guest on the dais from West Seattle High School talking about putting buckets in the hallways to catch rainwater.

So it's great that this is going to move forward.

Thank you Director Rankin and thank you for the institutional memory.

Next up is Director Rivera-Smith.

Sorry I couldn't I couldn't get it unmuted.

No.

This is this is this is exciting to get done obviously.

The apparently from a discussion we learned that the it's a 15 year lifespan for this type of roof which went in in 2001 so time to replace that and get our kids a nice dry roof.

Thank you very much.

That's all for me.

Director DeWolf are you on mute.

That's so funny.

There I was just all the way starting my next section.

Thank you.

It is now 2 17 p.m.

So we will now move to the board comments section of the agenda.

Again we'll move alphabetically.

Given that we have.

Just encourage you to keep it brief but we do have until 3 and the only other thing I was going to say is we we will be breaking into an executive session at the conclusion of this regular meeting and we will go into executive session and then after that is done we will come back to the regular board meeting and adjourn.

So at this time we'll start with board comments and we'll begin with Director Hampson.

Hi thank you.

I want to use my time today to talk about my support for a letter to and an action and effort with our state governor that was started by One America to support our undocumented families throughout Washington state.

We definitely have a large number of students in Seattle Public Schools that either themselves are undocumented or or their parents are undocumented.

And I think it's it's really we have seen over and over again the effort on the part of our administration federally to remove any potential support during this COVID crisis.

These families and I know I've gotten numerous reports from.

families in South Park all the way up to North Seattle where students are families are worried they're in need of services and supports and are and sometimes even refusing the tech support that we're offering because of concerns with the impact that that might have on their discoverability.

And so I'm grateful to we we don't.

I had explored with Chief Legal Counsel Narver the possibility of bringing a resolution forward and were that a possibility I would have liked to have done that with my fellow board members to show support as it is under our current guidance and OPMA requirements it is not either essential or I forget or routine and as such I want to indicate my own support for that letter which I will just say can be found on the One America website and would encourage others to take a look at that.

There is a letter that folks can sign as an individual and which I will be doing myself and Just want to raise the topic to elevate the need for support for undocumented families and students when our other systems are failing them and the specific requests from the for the governor are for fiscal support that would be provided through our partner CBO's many of whom we work with very closely here in Seattle to support our students.

And that's all from me at this time.

Thank you.

Thank you Director Hampson.

Thank you for for elevating that.

So I'm going to now turn it over to Director Harris.

Well Director Hampson you've got my signature and support in a big way as well as SPTSA President Manuela Sly I couldn't agree more.

And you don't want me to get started about the person residing in the White House.

With respect to.

My updates I am reading along and reaching out along with the rest of you all.

I will try to figure out how to use Zoom or team contacts to have a community meeting and big props to Director Rivera-Smith who has already done so and I'll be calling you for technical assistance.

But frankly most of what I can tell our constituents is what we've been putting out there on a daily basis.

These are extraordinary and unique times and I don't like it but it's where we're at and we need to stay safe and I miss y'all very much.

Thank you.

Thank you Director Harris.

Next up is Director Hersey.

Thank you.

As we settle in with.

online learning.

Most of us giving full knowledge that there are many of our families in our district who have not been able to access technology or Internet.

I just want to say a huge thank you to all of our district staff whether it be at the cabinet level or our education partners in the classroom and SEA.

This is. an incredibly difficult lift as I say you know from my perspective as a teacher not only providing tech support to families on a regular basis but also figuring out how do we how do we get our kids to the end of the year right.

So just you know recentering our focus when times get difficult and the advocacy is thick that we are in a place to where we have great privilege in the sense that We still have the opportunity to make change and to provide in times like these when you know we really have the responsibility to rise to the challenge.

So just a huge thank you to everybody in our district and across King County for everything that they've been doing.

I do want to highlight specifically our partners in the Somali community and the East African community.

who are really struggling during this time not only with language barriers but also access.

I've received a number of calls and e-mails from those partners around students who we definitely identify as furthest away from educational justice still.

struggling to figure out what is the solution to receiving a computer or what is the solution for Internet and how can the district you know be a partner in that.

And we are doing those things.

I don't want to discredit that in the least.

But now turning our attention to filling the cracks and identifying those individuals and families and students and children in our various communities that are still feeling unstable.

So.

really digging in and trying to bring as many people into this this new normal as possible.

So I know that we are working toward a couple of community calls with various affinity groups and various ethnic-based organizations.

And I just want to you know throw that out there.

As those things get scheduled they will be promoted heavily.

And if you are on the call and you know of a family that needs support in any way shape or form please do not hesitate to ask or reach out to your principal your educator even your board director.

We're here to help.

And thank you.

Look forward to seeing you all again soon.

Thank you Director Hersey.

Next up is Director Mack.

Yes thank you.

I think I'll first take the opportunity to give a little bit of update for fellow board members as well as the general public around the work that's been going on in the operations committee.

As you can see from the agenda items we today we have been continuing to work.

We also had.

Our last meeting on the 27th a couple days ago yes a couple days ago where we reviewed the schematic designs for the Phase 2 part of Magnolia as well as Coe Elementary and got a written update from staff as well as verbal presentation around the planning that's going on for the start of school for next year.

in light of the current environment and situation and appreciate staff bringing those those updates to us to discuss and so that we can know that we are looking at the different potential variabilities and that staff is considering to make plans around how to manage potential solutions.

for the start of school and at the same time we're continuing to do the work that needs to be done in order to open school in September.

Our next operating operations committee meeting will be on May 14th but prior to that we actually have three different board work sessions that will be full board work sessions.

On May 5th the semi-annual capital programs annual report and the annual enrollment report and capacity evaluation work session.

On May 6th the student and community workforce agreement.

And then on May 7th we have the student assignment transition plan and boundaries conversations.

I'll note that because of the current situation The CM the capacity enrollment and facilities master planning advisory committee has been delayed and the community conversations around potential boundary changes and student assignment impacts have not been as robust because of the current environment.

But we'll be talking at that point to see where there are some potential issues that we may need to address.

And the CM is we're hoping to go ahead and launch and launch virtually.

We're making plans to do that.

My understanding is that the BEX BTA oversight committee meetings are also going to continue but in a virtual method.

May 8th is their next.

meeting so over the next few weeks we actually have quite a bit of work going on related to operations.

I'll also note that the impact of the bridge closure the West Seattle bridge closure on transportation is being evaluated by staff and considered because obviously if we open in the fall buses are going to be impacted by that and staff is working on those issues and seeing what we need to do to plan to be effective.

From a personal standpoint from my my comments tonight I just I just want to say to everyone that as a parent experiencing this balancing act and transition to remote learning I share frustrations as well as accolades to student to educators and building leaders on pulling all of these things together that need to get pulled together in order to provide the support and services to our students.

And you know I appreciate that we're we're We're continuing to work through all of those issues and I want I do believe that district staff and our educators as we are working through what works what doesn't work and you know maybe where there's gaps in technology etc. that that we are we're going to continue make improvements over time.

One of the issues that's been brought to my attention that I know you know needs some assistance is you know the challenge we have around what's available on our district laptops in terms of apps and programs and so forth and whether or not educators are suggesting apps and other programs that aren't accessible.

And I know that that issue has been raised with staff and we have policies around those things and that we'll be continuing to work on making sure that all of these things are accessible to students as they should be.

And I really appreciate Director Hersey talking about filling in the cracks because you know we need to continue to focus on I'm doing so.

figuring out where where we need to make improvements to support students.

And I appreciate all of our staff the district level and at the buildings continuing to do our best to provide educational services to our students during this time and continuing to improve.

Thank you.

That concludes my comments.

Thank you Director Mack.

Director Rivera-Smith.

He's skipping me.

I was even ready to unmute.

I was going to say I think I Director Rankin I'm sorry Director Rankin.

I don't really care.

I don't care about that order.

Please go.

Sorry.

I'll call you.

Okay.

So this is Director Rankin.

And I I just I guess as a general comment I'm sure like everybody else out there the longer this goes you know some things are getting easier and some things are getting harder and some days are good and some days are bad.

And all that we can do is the best that we can do.

So I guess for like transparency and Solidarity.

I want to share that yesterday was that yesterday.

I can't remember what day it was.

We had the opportunity as a board to attend a webinar.

We were supposed to have a conference the COSBOC conference Coalition of Schools Educating Boys of Color.

We were going to have the opportunity to participate in a three-day long conference in person that of course was canceled because of COVID but we did have the opportunity to attend a webinar.

And and that was really great.

It was oversubscribed very rightly so because it was really good content and good presentation.

And so there was a moment of limbo where we weren't sure if if I got you know the Zoom the Zoom link and I wasn't or Teams link and I wasn't sure if I was going to be let in or not.

And some anyway somehow during all of that this is the for for solidarity part I completely missed one of my kids.

math online calls with his math teacher just completely completely totally forgot about it.

And it's it's gonna be OK.

I wish that I had not forgotten but like all that we can do is the best that we can do.

So I just wanted to share that that just give yourself grace and forgiveness and and we're all just we're all just doing what what we can to get To the next point.

So I want to also share my support for the letter that Director Hampson brought up for our undocumented families and community members.

It's it's just super important.

I mean it it's really it's frustrating and yet understandable.

that fear of disclosing documentation status would is keeping families and kids from accessing services.

So I really really hope that we can all support that and and make sure that families have what they need right now.

As a broader statement and direct connected to what Director Hersey was talking about you know our staff from the school you know school staff building leaders district staff the amount of work that has happened in the last six weeks to turn around from being an in-person in-building system to a remote system is really astonishing.

And I just want to keep making sure that you know newspaper articles are going to focus on what's not happening or what maybe didn't happen as quickly as people wanted it to.

And the questions that are going to come up and the emails that we get are going to be about things that are not happening or that people are not seeing.

But I just want to highlight the incredible amount of things that are happening and a lot of questions that we tend to get are sort of will sometimes be accompanied by the statement well I'm not asking for me but I'm worried about the families who X Y Z. And a lot of times in the history of this district past and recent the answer has been like oh it looks like nobody thought about that.

Let's let's see about it.

What I have noticed in the current crisis is that when we have families who are relatively well taken care of and have what they need when they say we're not asking for me I'm asking for X Y Z families there is actually a tremendous amount of work and attention being dedicated to our families furthest from educational justice.

Not to say it's perfect not to say everybody has what they need but you know I've gotten a lot of questions about language access and you know services for students experiencing homelessness.

And it's from people who are not part of that population.

And and so and they say well I just haven't heard about it.

We haven't heard about it because you don't need that service.

So you're not the first person to be alerted that it is happening.

So I appreciate really appreciate concern and people reaching out to ask about those things.

But I also just want to kind of state that you know students that are covered by McKinney-Vento students that have our highest highest the 600 students that have our highest social emotional behavioral health needs have been individually contacted.

And you know there's so many limitations right now is what can actually happen remotely.

But I'm really proud to know and be part of part of the work and be able to have the conversations and want to just elevate that in a time of crisis when Things are happening so quickly.

You know just doing a thing is hard enough but doing a thing and then also broadcasting it or announcing it is is extra work that's not happening right now.

So I just I just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the extraordinary amount of behind the scenes sort of things that are happening and I hope that we can elevate some of that work more going forward.

Just like the really awesome nutrition services video that came out last week I think.

It was really great.

It just showed all of this sort of seemingly invisible work that's happening that there's just a ton of that so.

And then the in terms of Internet access food access health housing all of these things we take care of at the school level.

I just want to highlight the need for you know other government entities for us to advocate to and receive the support of and join in solidarity with and support of our families in having those things.

It's great that SPS is providing hotspots.

SPS is connecting with and is trying to connect families and internet providers with low cost services.

It is awesome that we are doing that.

And the responsibility to ensure equitable access to things like That goes so far beyond just the school system that I'm kind of I guess making the public call for everybody in our communities to step up and demand that these things become more equitable and available.

I want to say thank you to members of the NAACP Youth Council.

We got a bunch of really great thoughtful detailed emails to the board before this meeting that just helped remind us to center ourselves in terms of you know accessibility is one thing but we also need our our content and our teaching right now online to be engaging and to be relevant to our students.

And also the importance that they stated about wanting to really make communication with their teachers easier and communication with each other which goes back to what Director Mack was saying about the different apps.

There's some this district supported District supported devices can't all you know see videos on YouTube or some other things which and I know YouTube is a big kind of Internet safety issue but I'm hoping that we can keep figuring out ways to make all of this learning and content more accessible and to make make it easier for kids to connect with each other.

Special education services and support are supposed to be going on starting this week so I'd really like to hear from families how that's going and if they've heard from their teachers.

And then lastly I want to give a special shout out to well all of our educators but in particular right now our librarians who are just going above and beyond trying to connect with students and keep them engaged in reading and have conversations with them over group chats about what they're reading.

What's exciting to them.

And honestly in the case of my the the librarian at my kid's school having a 45-minute online library lunch where fourth and fifth graders literally just told her what they were doing what they were reading what they ate and she just listened to all of it and told them how great it was and how much she missed them.

And it's just hugely impactful and really speaks to the values of our district and the things that are important right now.

So thank you SPS librarians especially Ms.

Leland.

That's it for me.

Thank you Director Rankin.

Okay.

Now officially over to my colleague Director Rivera-Smith.

Thank you very much.

I'll start.

I want to start by inviting Director Harris your Most welcome to join me for my upcoming Zoom meeting.

I would love to have you there.

Everybody it is this Saturday 1 to 3 p.m.

on Zoom.

The link is available on the SPS calendar.

If anyone wants to join I can have I guess up to two more directors and without having a quorum.

So let me know if you want to be there.

I also wanted to speak in support of the creation of relief funds to support our undocumented families and students.

As Director Hampson spoke of that is The fear of discovery and removal is a very real fear in our communities.

And as the petition states undocumented immigrants are uniquely at risk.

Undocumented immigrants and their families were completely excluded from the two trillion dollar relief package Congress passed last month and aren't eligible for unemployment insurance even though providing economic stability to all workers is essential to ending this public health crisis.

So again I hope that my fellow board members will all join in on signing onto that petition.

And I will be posting the URL to my my director Facebook page which speaking of which in my effort to be as transparent and accessible to families as possible I have been using that page to recap my thoughts share what my activities are what meetings I'm holding what meetings I'm going to.

And that is on Facebook.

You can do search for me Lisa Rivera-Smith director.

Last week I followed up my affirmative vote at our April 20th special board meeting regarding high school grading with a really long post to my to that page.

I didn't actually expect it to be that long but I'm not going to read it.

Don't worry.

According to Facebook it's a 12 minute read.

So not going to do that here.

But I do want to touch on just some points of it.

Mostly the beginning and the end.

And that would be to state that when I was campaigning for school board I tried to be very honest with people and often told them that when I'm on the board You might not always agree with how I vote but I will always want you to at least know why I voted that way.

So I followed that up with a very long exposition about how the BAR made its way to our board and about my comments at the meeting and concerns and what was shared there.

And as everybody knows the that temporary A's or incompletes policy was approved and I ended the piece by saying If there's one thing we heard a lot of on Monday it was that nothing's perfect which is hard to argue with.

It sounds like something any reasonable person would say and even the pragmatic side of me wants to just drop my shoulders and give a slow but I threw out my crutches a long time ago.

The fact is the acceptance of imperfection should not equal acceptance that our students deserve a less than perfect system.

I don't think.

We need to downplay our decisions by saying that by comparison they're as imperfect as everything else.

The choices I'll make as a board member aren't likely to get any easier but I will stand by them knowing that their imperfections aren't consolations but chances to rise to the challenge.

So I'll continue to post thoughts on on activities of the board and my activities specifically.

I don't want to ever speak for anybody else.

Any of my other board members you will have your own pages to do that and I hope you do and I will be continuing to.

I also want to echo appreciation for our teachers and families who you know I don't think any either group is more stressed than the other.

It's pretty equal.

Many of our parents are teachers many of our teachers are parents and we got to remember that because it's it's hard to step back and remove yourself from a situation and I wish I remember that.

You don't know other people's struggles like we we know ours but we don't actually know everyone else's struggles.

So sometimes we need to remember that and realize that there are there there are things we can't you know we can't assume but we're all doing our best.

We can we can assume that our teachers are there for our students to and doing what they can.

I thank you for everybody who was sharing grace and sharing patience.

I you know I'm trying to do that.

I also have two students in the system and they have a total of 12 teachers.

So I'm right there too.

But we are we are working hard as a district to provide the best educational opportunities and activities we can.

And again thank you to all of our educators and our central office staff and board members for all the outreach that has been done and will continue to be done through this process.

I have no further comments.

I have just a few comments today and then we can move into our executive session.

The first one I have is after the A and incomplete policy came through and or even while it was in development we had a number of emails come in not necessarily a lot or a ton but there were there were a handful of emails that have come in prior and then since we made the decision.

And I think there were a good many of them that that the sentiment that I was reading in the email was something of you know if most of our kids are being served right now then you know we need to keep moving we need to keep doing everything because the majority is being served.

And I think what we have been relentless and unapologetic in our commitment to is not leaving any kids behind and especially not during this time.

And so I'm really grateful for the work of the district.

and our A and incomplete policy because I truly believe that does not leave any kids behind.

And I'm really proud of us using our racial equity lens.

I also want to at least endorse or affirm or however I can let you know that I am absolutely interested in being a part of the letter that you mentioned Director Hampson so thank you for bringing that up.

However we can be helpful please let me know.

I think another point that just came up from Director Hersey and I just really want to underscore it is that I don't think a lot of us probably on this call or even if there's anybody listening understand the true gravity of what kids and families who are saying no to technology because they fear for their life or ICE are going through.

And I think it would be a really important exercise to really ground ourselves in the stories and experiences of our students and families furthest from edge.

educational justice and to realize the the difficult choices that some families are having to make when having to weigh their safety and their education.

And so it's just really important for us to make sure we're grounding in our students and families from educational justice to make sure our decisions are being true to our values.

I also think.

I was really grateful for Director Rankin's comment about our Internet and our Wi-Fi.

I think that is definitely an issue bigger than the school district and I would call on all of our partners at this city the county and the state government level to be really creative over the course of the next few months and the next legislative session to to really figure out a way that we can get equitable and broadband Internet access across this whole state so no one is is denied Having that the Internet is an important tool not only for education but also for families and jobs.

And so I think that there's a real compelling case to make now that we've seen the inequities inequities of the system and that really no students should all students should have Wi-Fi as well as their families especially during the academic school year.

And so be calling on those leaders to really be creative.

And then lastly I just want to end with a letter.

Director Hampson Superintendent Juneau and myself wrote a letter to our tribal partners including the chair of the Muckleshoot and Squamish Nations Jason Elkins and letter enforcement and so I want to read that letter today and just end with that and then we can move into our executive session.

And I'm just going to read it in the frame of the letter being sent first to the Honorable Chairman Leonard Forsman.

Dear Honorable Chairperson Leonard Gorsman.

Thank you for your tremendous leadership during this health crisis.

Taking care of your citizens and your communities taking care of your citizens and community during this pandemic is a weighty responsibility that requires consideration of so many complex issues while ensuring your people stay safe.

We appreciate all that you are doing to help Indian country emerge from this crisis stronger and more resilient than ever.

As Indigenous leaders of the state's largest school district we recognize the critical importance of making connections and working together with our tribal nations during this time.

We also to continue to center our decision making on our students of color furthest from educational justice including Native students.

We realize the importance of our ancestral memory and tribal traditions as we navigate this situation.

We know that our organization as guests to the traditional lands on which we are guests must continue to build upon the values history and contemporary experience of the Coast Salish people.

Since COVID-19 first impacted our region Seattle Public Schools immediately began working to create new systems responses and practices that could support our most vulnerable and still serve all 53,000 students.

We created 26 meal sites across the city.

Meal delivery by bus.

18 childcare sites.

Laptop and device distribution.

Mental health resources and launched remote learning.

As part of our remote learning educational service our district put together many resources for our students including educational video lessons ranging from five minutes to half an hour on topics such as English language arts math physical education science music art since time.

would be honored to provide these lessons video lesson resources to you to your educational organization for your for use in your community.

We all we all we can also work with your education department to provide access to our packets that align to these video lessons that can be printed for home use by your families.

Additionally in the coming weeks we'll be hosting a Q&A with our partners at the Seattle Indian Health Board centering youth and young adult health concerns during this crisis.

provide a link to that event when it becomes available.

Please let us know if you have other ideas for how we can be good partners to you during this time.

Be safe and be well with great respect.

Zachary DeWolf Chandra Hampson and Denise Juneau.

With that I am going to move us into executive session.

So the board is now immediately recessing the regular board meeting into executive session to discuss with legal counsel representing the agency litigation or potential potential litigation to which the agency the governing body or a member acting in an official capacity is or is likely to become a party when public knowledge regarding the discussion is likely to result in an adverse legal or financial consequence to the agency per RCW 42.30.1101I with a session scheduled for 30 minutes.

with an anticipated end time of 325 p.m.

Directors will be leaving this remote meeting now for the duration of the executive session.

I will return to this remote meeting with with enough directors for a quorum to make announcements should the executive session run past the scheduled end time and to adjourn the regular board meeting at the conclusion of the executive session.

So directors.

You have been provided separate call-in and Teams information for our executive session.

Please leave this regular meeting now and join me in the remote meeting for the executive session.

Thank you all.

session to discuss with legal counsel representing the agency litigation or potential litigation to which the agency the governing body or a member acting in an official capacity is or is likely to become a party when public knowledge regarding the discussion is likely to result in an adverse legal or financial consequence to the agency was originally scheduled for approximately 30 minutes.

We are running long and the session is now expected to go an additional 15 minutes with an anticipated end time of 342 minutes.

P M. Thank you.

Okay so I see we have Director Rivera-Smith Director Mack Director Hampson and that is good enough for us.

So I will.

The board has recessed out of executive session and the regular board meeting is now reconvened at 343 p.m.

and there being no further business to come before the board the regular board meeting is now adjourned at 344 p.m.

Thank you all.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Bye.

Bye.

Thank you.