OK let's get this party started again.
Gentlemen gentlemen OK.
We have reached 530 public testimony.
The rules for public testimony are on the screen and I ask that speakers be respectful of these rules.
I would note that the board does not take public comments on items related to personnel or individually named staff.
The majority of the speaker's time must be spent on the topic he or she has indicated they wish to speak about.
I'd also like to note that each speaker has two minutes of speaking time when the two minutes have ended.
Please conclude your remarks you will get a yellow light warning when you have 30 seconds left.
If a speaker goes over the two minute time and does not immediately conclude their remarks I will rule you out of order and we will turn off your microphone.
Please don't make me do that.
All signs brought to the meetings are subject to these same ground rules.
Please announce the first three public speakers.
Thank you.
First up for public testimony we have Andrew Cornell followed by Chris Jackins and then Martin Cortez.
Good evening school board leaders.
My name is Andrew Cornell and I'm a senior at Cleveland STEM high school.
I currently hold many leadership roles within the Cleveland community such as serving as a senior class president Filipino club president and the Cleveland publications yearbook content manager.
Serving on Cleveland's associated student body we experienced the ups and downs of fundraising.
Numerous students and staff would like to use credit and debit cards.
And even though now we have a payment software called school pay to complete transact card transactions it is an inconvenience when we have to manually type out card information.
This not only impacts students in fundraising but each high school fiscal specialist.
We
With Cleveland being a STEM school we should have a technology like square readers where we can swipe cards and collect information easier.
Using a square reader for card transactions increases efficiency.
When we fundraise with costly items like spirit apparel we ask students to pay in cash or check which can be a burden.
They are walking around with large amounts of money which can be a safety issue.
Most students and parents don't care around cash anymore.
Kids are more independent and have access to debit cards.
Not having a card reader on site is a privacy issue because as I mentioned earlier we type out information such as their card number credit card verification numbers and addresses.
Manually typing out card information is not only a time constraint for the person to buy the product but also discourages sales because the amount of time it takes to process.
No one wants to wait in line at a store.
I urge you to consider adding a square reader system to our schools.
I encourage a district to keep up with technology by adding card readers for our purchasing needs.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
My name is Chris Jackins box 8 4 0 6 3 Seattle 9 8 1 2 4 on the Olympic Hills project.
Four points.
Number one thank you for amending the report to reference questions I raised about impacts on Hamlin Creek.
However the amended report does not say what actually happened.
Number two the district's original environmental review did not mention Hamlin Creek.
The public had to bring an appeal to get the district to consider the issue.
The public after doing that.
Number three if this February 2019 capital levy were to pass a similar lack of environmental review can be expected.
Number four the board and the public deserve a report on the actual impacts.
Please vote no.
On the minutes of the November 14th board meeting four points.
Number one one board member made reference to the strategic plan steering committee noting that committee conversations were to quote remain in the room unquote.
Number two district staff confirmed that the public is not allowed to attend these meetings.
Number three it will be interesting if the committee working in secret helps create a new plan that emphasize the importance of importance of transparency and public involvement.
Number four excluding the public from these meetings is a mistake and may be illegal.
Please fix this.
On the district educational research work plan two points.
Number one please add the data profile district summary annual report to the list of reports to be published.
Number two the information currently posted online is not as accessible or as transparent to the public.
Thank you.
After Martin Cortez we will have Rebecca Aldridge followed by John Persak and Andres Ortiz.
Hello board good evening.
Hope you're all doing great.
So earlier this year I had the opportunity to fight for my daughter's educational future.
She's a 7 year old of color living in Georgetown and here I am fighting for her.
You know what the best part I think is that I learned a lot from you all and I want to just take two minutes just to express gratitude from all that I've learned and shared.
I won't be enough time, though.
Two minutes isn't enough time.
Director Pinkham, not here, but I appreciate your efforts to engage us on the topic of transportation.
I think you see the impact that a boundary change would have on Georgetown from a transportation and safety perspective, so thank you.
Director Burke, you showed up to Concord Elementary on the listening and learning tour.
I thought it was very supportive of you to be there.
And I felt like the board is really standing behind Superintendent Juneau.
Thank you for helping me understand just a little bit more about the school board policies and how it operates.
Thank you Superintendent Juneau.
It was great to have you at Concord as well.
I feel like you really connected with the community and there I sensed a sort of positive and hopeful energy in the cafeteria during your visit.
So thank you for sharing your time and your story with us.
Director DeWolf.
Recently, during one of your follow-up comments on the Maple Boundary scenarios, you brought up environmental racism as it impacted Georgetown.
Environmental racism, I had never heard that term before, and I Googled the topic on my own and learned more.
And in the words of millennials, you made me more woke.
So, thank you.
Thank you for that wokeness.
You were also at the Lasagna Fest in West Seattle.
Thank you for being there.
President Director Harris, thank you so much for your leadership on the board.
I get the sense that you really have your head on your shoulders and that you focus on data to make decisions.
From my point of view, you seem committed to establishing a new legacy of equity-based decision-making for the board, and I'm looking forward to a community-focused visit to Georgetown to gather more first-hand data.
Director Mack, thank you so much for all the time and share that you've given me.
I feel like I've learned a lot from you, probably the most from you these past few months.
You've been very engaged and I really appreciate your sensitivity and your drive for clarity and your constructive thinking throughout this entire process.
Thank you to most of the board members.
Thank you and please keep Georgetown at Maple.
Thank you.
Hello my name is Rebecca Aldrich.
I'm a Maple parent and Georgetown resident and I'm here today to speak to you again about the impacts of moving part of the Georgetown neighborhood away from the Maple Elementary.
As a privileged white woman I am able to be here without much hardship.
And although many of the words and concepts being used during the meetings I have attended are new to me I have the advantage of generations before me speaking and understanding English.
But some of my neighbors do not.
I cannot speak for them but I can be here to ask that they have the opportunity to be included in this conversation.
All the official communication from the Seattle School District that has been sent to families affected by the boundary change proposal have been in English only.
Thankfully in Area 73, ELL families have been contacted by their community members who are dual language speakers who have encouraged them to speak up and are now informed about the issue.
The ELL families of Georgetown do not have that advantage.
Because of Georgetown size and location residents are isolated from larger communities as well as living in an environmental justice region.
Less access to public transportation and lower socioeconomic status.
If Georgetown is moved farther away to attend school that isolation will increase.
Please remember that if you move Georgetown from Maple ELL families will be affected.
They deserve the choice to be part of this conversation.
They deserve to have their voices listened to and heard.
I know that the overcrowding at Maple is critical but please consider the very real and positive impact that waiting and having a nuanced inclusive conversation could have for our communities school district city and ultimately our kids who are watching and learning from our actions.
Thank you.
Good evening directors.
My name is John Persak I'm also a Georgetown parent with a we have a son at Maple.
Appreciate the time that you've given to this issue and I appreciate your service.
As was mentioned earlier I know that you know serving in this role is a very thankless job but there's definitely a lot of us who do appreciate and recognize your work.
So thank you.
We did provide a letter to you signed by 28 parents in Georgetown.
There's hard copies available.
We also emailed that and fortunately you know that's another way in which we can communicate a lot of the nuance that can't be put forward here at these short meetings so appreciate your attention to that.
You know policy issues are not a very exciting thing.
They don't make the evening news and they don't even make great Facebook posts but you have at least 30 parents out of Georgetown who are ready to roll up their sleeves and get to work on some of this stuff and really have a deep and rewarding discussion about what's fair for the Southeast.
So I hope that you'll give us a chance and give us an opportunity this next year to sit down and really put our heads together and come up with some long term solutions for that.
Again thank you and look forward to the future.
Thanks.
After Andres Ortiz we will have Brian Terry followed by Ryan Seaslack and then Khadro Farah.
John.
Or Andres.
Brian.
In our schools today a white student is 20 times more likely than a black student to be identified as highly capable.
This results in highly segregated classrooms.
Imagine the experience of black students at Thurgood Marshall and Washington.
Every day they sit in mostly black classrooms immediately next to mostly white classrooms.
Students in the mostly white classrooms are referred to as highly capable.
The message is clear.
White students are more capable and more deserving.
This is institutional racism.
For centuries white people in America have benefited at the expense of black exclusion.
This must end today right here right now.
Racial exclusion is illegal and has no place in our schools.
Let us work together for a brighter and more colorful future for all of our students.
We can begin by making a clear commitment to ourselves to our community and to the advanced learning task force.
Next year we will update our advanced learning program to comply with state law and district policy.
This means that we must unbiased the identification process serve students from all backgrounds proportionally and equitably and stop the propagation of negative racial stereotypes.
Doing this will send a new message.
All of you are capable and deserving.
Thank you.
Good evening.
My name is Ryan Seaslack.
I'm the parent of a daughter of my daughter at Lawton Elementary in Magnolia.
I want to address the Magnolia proposed boundaries this evening.
One of the things that is most that we most value in Magnolia for the three years we've lived there is the sense of community.
It's a very strong community and that's supported by the communities in the schools.
As I look at the the proposed boundaries for 2019 in the introduction of Magnolia Elementary.
One of the things that you see is that the boundaries are in fact splitting the splitting the the Magnolia community.
into stable single family homes and rental properties.
And that's important because of the reliance of the schools on the PTA.
So I was able to get I worked with the enrollment planning department to get to do an analysis of the data which you have in front of you as well as a write up and a map sort of showing how we could look at this differently.
And what it showed is that the.
The transition to the new schools is in fact going to increase the number of rentals in Magnolia by up to 19 percent.
The reason that's important is that we are so dependent upon that PTA financial and volunteer involvement that it will drastically damage and put the students at Magnolia at a disadvantage because they don't have that PTA support.
In addition, there is an element, although Magnolia is one of the wealthier communities in Seattle, when you split the difference between single family homes and rentals, you do create an element of socioeconomic segregation in the community.
So you will have Blaine that will be very high income on the bluff, you will have Magnolia that will have pretty much all of the apartments, and Lawton which will be mixed.
So what I'm requesting today is to challenge the enrollment planning group to take another look at it.
Thanks for your time.
Next up for public testimony we have Qadro Farah followed by Halima Hussain and then Carol Cheyenne.
My name is Qadro Farah.
My name is Kadro Farah.
Thank you all.
I'm talking about my children's experience at Washington Middle School.
We have several concerns in our school.
Yeah so I have a seventh grader and you know my child I involved in his education I go to his school and he told me you know every time I tell him you need to improve your grades he told me it doesn't matter whether I have E or A I will always in them classes.
So when I ask him what do you mean dumb classes he told me you know we we have different classes.
Well some classes I go or go to white kids go to the smart classes and we go to dumb class.
So even if I have A on all my subjects I would still go to dumb classes where all you know students with colors and students with accents go go to that class dumb classes.
So I. Yeah so I went to the school principal and talked about this when I asked her she told me it's the school district policy I cannot I cannot do anything about it.
So if you want to change or if you want to complain go to the board and you know tell your complaint that whatever your complaint is I cannot make changes here.
So if you guys are the policy makers what can you please explain to me why my son feels you know he is you know less valued than the other kids when I encourage him to do his best and I encourage him like he is any other child he's the same as any other child he feels you know he's you know less less valued at the school and he doesn't like to go to the school anymore.
Yeah, so my son was born here.
He has never been into any other country, but he feels like he's a foreigner and he's being segregated.
Yeah so I was expecting the school will make him much better and more you know bright but the school is actually killing him.
He's you know he's you know his desire to be a great person.
Yeah so the system you know is changing my kid to be you know less valuable than than the other children.
Yeah thank you so much for listening and I hope you guys will make some changes.
My name is Halima Hussain.
My name is Halima Hussain.
And I am a parent at Washington Middle School.
I have three kids that go to Washington Middle School.
I have one in seventh grade one in eighth one in sixth grade.
My child was you know performing well before he comes to that school.
So now he told me that he is at the average or even below average.
And he told me when I asked him why he told me it doesn't matter whether I perform well or not it's going to be the same the class that I go is too easy for me.
So before he used to work hard when he comes home read more do you know math and do some schoolwork at home but now he doesn't even care to do work at home.
So when I asked him he said you know it's not I don't have any desire for school now.
So my child now he doesn't have a desire for school anymore and I'm afraid he might get involved in some other activities that he's not supposed to be because his desire for education has been decreased by the school system.
I would like to say that I am very happy to be here today.
I am very happy to be here today.
I am very happy to be here today.
I am very happy to be here today.
I am very happy to be here today.
I am very happy to be here today.
So I was expecting education system in our city would be fair, but I feel the education system in our city is not fair.
One day I come to the PTA meeting and I found out some students get testing where my children never get that opportunity.
to take the test and you know join the program that the other students go.
When I asked they told me the information is available at the school district website in every language and I checked that and I couldn't find Somali language on advanced learning.
So advanced learning pages only for people, English-speaking people.
So it's discrimination that, you know, I did not get that information.
If I knew there was a testing in Somalia on the webpage, I could have found out and take my child to that testing.
And also some parents told me that they received letters from school that there's some kind of testing, special testing, and I have never get that.
So I'm requesting fair education for all children.
Thank you so much.
After Carol we will have Kevin Byers followed by Judith Longquiff and then Clyde Merriweather.
Hi my name is Carol Shane.
I'm a parent of two children at Whitman Middle School.
I'm here to talk to you about security in their building.
Built in 1959 Whitman Middle School was being considered for replacement by the BEX levy.
Despite having its conditions ranked among the five worst schools in the district we will not be receiving a much needed replacement.
With the levy asked this year being increased our parents need to know that their kids are going to be getting what they need to be safe.
After the alarming events of November 16th in which three Seattle middle schools received security threats within minutes of one another it became quite apparent that our students deserve an upgrade to the building to ensure that their safety that to ensure that they are safe in every situation.
We the parents at Whitman Middle School have three asks.
We know that we're not getting a new school anytime soon but we deserve to know that our children's safety is a priority.
One we need an exterior gate.
We have a number of classrooms that are on the first level of the school.
They're only accessible from outside.
So the students actually leave the school building and then have to come back in.
So those buildings are those rooms are not secured.
We ask that this pathway be secured.
Two we would like an updated intercom system.
Both the hardware and software must be replaced for the 2019 2020 school year.
Students in the gym in the band room and outside at lunch did not hear the message that the school was going into a lockdown.
It was several minutes before they were aware of what was going on and were able to secure themselves.
I am thankful that this was only a mock threat that this was not a real safety issue.
By the time these students learned of the lockdown it could have been too late had it been something else.
An upgrade to the system would also allow for multiple bell tones enabling the administration to communicate with staff and students non-verbally.
Third we would love to see the key the school re-keyed.
At present our administrator and security personnel have key rings with about 20 keys on them.
This makes any swift action in a stressful situation nearly impossible.
Standard protocol is that the new builds have possibly two master keys and an interior and exterior.
So I ask you to please prioritize our students safety and security new intercom rekeyed doors and securable classrooms.
Please make sure that that these above all else that our students are safe and that these improvements are ready to go for September 2019. Thank you.
Good evening.
My name is Judith Lonquist.
I'm a taxpayer the mother of a graduate of the Seattle Public Schools and a civil rights attorney here in Chicago in Seattle.
I over the years I've been dismayed to observe what I what appears to be disparate treatment of racial minorities in this school district.
And I speak to the personnel report as being an example of race discrimination practiced by the district against its native against its African-American administrators.
Therefore I request that you table the personnel report.
that you assign an independent non — school employee investigator to look into this systemic pattern of race discrimination against administrators who are of color.
I think you urgently need to do this because it's a problem.
It's a problem for you and it's a problem for the community.
Thank you.
My name is Clyde Merriweather.
I am a product of the school district.
I'm born and raised here in Seattle.
I'm piggybacking off of what you just heard.
I know we can't talk about the specifics as it relates to personnel but I can talk about the process.
The investigation as far as I've been able to track down was inadequate and we're asking for a thorough investigation that takes all factors into consideration including the effective records of the African-American men and the low performance accusers that had them.
The question I have is how can such an enormous decision of systemic racism, if you will, to get rid of two African-American performers be made without a thorough investigation and why is it being done in such a short time?
I came to the last meeting that was dealing with this issue.
Superintendent did not attend and the next thing I know it was a bygone decision.
Race matters.
We want the board to evaluate through a race and social justice lens where the superintendent has considered the devastating effects on a community that you can't possibly know that much about because you haven't been here that long.
This will be detrimental to the community as a whole.
I thank you for the moment.
Kevin.
After Kevin we'll have Emijah Smith.
Hello.
My name is Kevin.
I'm a Georgetown resident and a Maple parent.
I have a kindergarten.
I have a first grader and another child that hopefully starts kindergarten tomorrow.
I want to take the next year.
I want to take the time today to talk to you about communication in regards to the Maple boundary.
You heard from my fellow neighbors about communication.
A lot of that we initiated and I'm asking you that you initiate more with us.
especially in the future.
The 2013 decision gave families involved seven years to prepare and research choice schools.
This new change only gives Georgetown three months, all while spending countless hours organizing and attending these board meetings to make sure our voices are heard.
This lack of communication has been taxing on our families in Georgetown.
This new boundary cuts our neighborhood in half and includes massive industrial areas.
It seems to me the school board does not truly understand the nuances or demographics of our neighborhood.
I've asked for clarification on this and we've invited members of the school board on a walking tour of the neighborhood to help you better understand it.
That has been denied.
As I look at the board's guiding principles for boundary changes the board is to ground their decisions and data.
This new boundary would send less kids out of Maple.
The board is to maximize walkability.
All the kids affected by this change currently that all the kids affected currently can walk to Maple.
This new the new boundary is unfeasible for them to walk to Van Asselt.
The board is to minimize disruptions by aligning new boundaries.
Implementing this change next year would cause two years of boundary changes at Van Asselt.
Seems pretty unfair to that school.
The board is to be responsive to family input.
Here we are.
We're engaging.
We ask you that you keep engaging with us and do not implement the new boundary change.
Thank you.
Hello.
Good evening.
My name is Emijah Smith and I'm here to speak about racial equity particularly our policy here at the school district 0 0 3 0. In addition to racism discrimination and safety in our schools.
First and foremost want to say that our racial equity policy clearly states about recruitment employment training and retention of our African-American male staff.
And with regard to that personnel.
situation that's not being discussed in details the community would like to know what procedures have are in place and what procedures have been used with regard to retaining African-American males that are being looked at or decided to be let go from the district.
I do believe I've been working.
I mean I'm a parent in the district I have kids in the district I'm a product of the district.
I sit on the strategic planning steering committee.
I sit on the African-American male advisory committee.
I'm a parent that's really engaged I'm a vice president of the Seattle Council PTSA.
I've been here on the family school partnerships committees.
I've watched the district for a number of years.
I do know that racial equity is important to our school community overall across race and I want to see that we are committed committed to this policy.
So these questions here is what policies are in place again and what procedures were used in that incident because the community wants to know what's best for our kids because it makes a difference that our students see and see people who look like them in the classroom as well as the staff.
And in addition to that our country discrimination is on the rise in general.
So there's things happening in our schools all the time particularly against African-American students being called the N-word and being treated very poorly and we're calling on the district.
We're demanding on the district to recognize and be acknowledged that these incidents are happening to reconcile it.
Do something about it at the school building level as well as the district level.
Restore the families.
Have a restoration process and then report the process if it's reported to the district so we can know what's happening.
How often is this happening.
Put something on the family school levies or the surveys excuse me not the levy but the school surveys and ask families how are they experiencing these situations.
And we have asked with regard to the Seattle Council PTSA if Superintendent Juneau would actually make an acknowledgement to the community that this is not something that we accept here at Seattle Public Schools.
It is unacceptable.
Thank you.
This concludes the sign up list for public testimony this evening.
Thank you.
OK we have reached board comments.
Who would like to go first.
Don't all stand and yell at once.
Director Geary please.
Thank you.
Thank you as always for everybody who takes the time to come and speak to us.
It's it's important and it's important that we hear it but it's important that our district hears it as well.
And the transparency around our actions I am hearing concern and comment more and more and that is disheartening to me because I know for so many years since I have been on this board it has been a focus of this board to make sure that we feel connected to the public that we feel connected to the staff And that we all go through this with some commonalities in terms of what we are hearing how we are processing it that we are able to hear your comments and be able to see the people that we know will help you with it here in the room with us.
And that has changed.
And I don't know if that's a change for the better.
So I acknowledge that change to our African-American community.
I acknowledge that we need to be mindful of the cultural differences between the different groups that work within our district and that we have heard that within this building that they have raised our employees have raised that concern to us.
And I don't know exactly at this point how that is being addressed but it does need to be addressed because we can't have a policy that says teachers are supposed to do the work if we're not making sure that that work is filtering all the way down through our system.
to our African and black families who have come to let us know that their children are losing interest in education because our teachers are not looking at them with an expectation that they are smart and that they can learn and that they belong in a classroom with challenging work.
I apologize to you.
That breaks my heart.
That breaks my heart.
It really does.
So I apologize to you but thank you for coming and letting us know because to the extent it breaks my heart I'm sure it is far more painful for you to see the light in your children's eyes go out around education.
Because you know you are here in this country and you believe that education is what will allow them to access the great things that you see available in this country.
And hopefully it's why you came here in the first place.
So my apologies and we will keep working at it.
And I hear you because I hear that in our buildings.
I hear of instances where.
Children are engaging in behaviors between one another and those behaviors are not being reported by teachers to principals and up through the system so that we can have an honest accounting of what's happening.
It happens according to my children.
on the playgrounds.
It happens in the buses.
They are still hearing it.
It is still a problem.
We cannot fool ourselves to think that this hasn't that this is being addressed on our our school yard level.
It is it is not being fully and appropriately addressed and we need to keep working at that.
And yes we need.
Not only a system which people can address it.
We must require that that be reported just as we must require that the actions under our policy 0 0 3 0 they aren't a choice.
They are mandated and they are mandated through the entire administration and.
To the extent that we're engaged in a steering committee and that I have been asked not to talk about what is said I think that is fair to the extent that I'm comfortable sharing what I say but it would be improper for me to share anything that somebody else said for they should be able to speak for themselves and I would hate to be an inaccurate reporter of what was being said.
and beyond whether or not the public should be invited.
I wasn't in charge of that decision personally so I will I will let that one stand.
But I do feel comfortable in not reporting out what other people share because they are under the belief that it is not to be shared and it would be disrespectful for me or any of us to do otherwise.
So all that said there's so much work to be done and I appreciate everybody coming.
Now to switch gears a little bit.
Did appreciate Gail Morris and the Seattle Council PTSA putting on a since time immemorial training.
I listened in as did directors Burke and Mack.
And that was great but it was also great to hear how many parents and staff members were in attendance as well.
And I hope that we can repeat that it was a two hour training of what is normally a six hour training.
And I frankly would like to be have access to the six hour training still because that's really good work.
I had to leave a little early from the training to go to.
City Hall where Bryant Elementary was acknowledged for its 100 years and they were calling it the Bricentennial.
And so please know that December 3rd 2018 for hereafter will be known as Bricentennial Day.
in the memoirs of the Seattle City Council.
I continue to hold my meetings on Tuesday most Tuesday mornings at Zoka Cafe in Northeast Seattle from 8 to 9 30. I have a conflict next Tuesday.
So take a look.
I'm probably going to be back at it on the 19th of December if you want to join me.
And I usually post on Facebook.
So check that morning to make sure that I am indeed going because you never know when a child will thwart my attendance.
So thank you again for everybody for coming.
Next up director DeWolf.
Thank you President Harris.
First as a citizen of the Chippewa Cree Nation of Rockville Montana I want to recognize that we are on stolen indigenous land.
I am honored to live work and serve here in the Coast Salish territories in the city of Chief Sealth who is a descendant of the Suquamish the Muckleshoot and the Duwamish.
I first just want to thank both Andrew from Cleveland for being a student speaker tonight and coming to share his experience and his feedback about our school district and Cleveland High School.
Thank you especially to our Washington Middle School parents Khadro Farah and Halima Hussain.
Thank you so much for meeting me last month at the Washington Middle School parent and community meeting but also most especially thank you for your supreme care and love you have for your kid and their education.
It really is very heartwarming.
Your kid is strong your kid is smart and we are so grateful that you choose to allow them to be a part of the Seattle Public Schools.
I just wanted to also reflect one of our speakers Ryan Seeslack.
Honestly I was offended.
I think the the inference that including and diversifying our housing stock particularly multifamily housing somehow has a negative impact on school environments is complete bull.
And I disagree with that wholly.
So I just want to be very clear about that renters and folks in multifamily housing are just as valuable and important and care just as much about their schools and it will improve and have a positive impact on your school community.
I want to just say thank you to Principal Talbot from Lowell Elementary was able to was really grateful to go out and visit Lowell Elementary met with some special education educators as well as some teachers and students in the third grade mostly just for allowing me to kind of visit and nerd out about some of their daily activities that day and super excited to hear all the things that they're doing to prepare kiddos for the next step to middle school.
Wanted to also share kind of a really exciting moment I had last week was really really grateful to visit the Shikachib classroom at Chief Sealth High School and wanted to share a really quick story.
Back in July I shared a story from one of our Shikachib Each year they put together a publication of poetry from the Chukachi students and I just on a whim had read the poetry that read the book and I found a poem I wanted to read here on the dais and it was a poem by one of our native students his name is Chris and Chris has been a part of the Chukachi program since freshman year.
And in freshman year when Chris came to the Shikachi program he had his face down on his desk he had his hood tightly wound around his face you could only see a small bit of his face and through the incredible work of inclusive classroom cultural inclusivity and a teacher that sees and values their students.
Chris is is now a writer and was published last year in that book.
And at the request of his teacher Ms. Boo this year she asked him to read his poem at the Native Assembly at Chief Sealth International High School.
And at first Chris was very nervous and said no way I'm not going to do that.
I don't think you don't think I could do that right.
So she asked if he could if she could show him a video and she pulled him over to the computers inside the Shikachi classroom at Chief Sealth International High School.
shared a video from our school board meeting of myself reading the poem and was in that moment that Booth said that he started to sit up more straight and he said I can do this and he was able to read his poem at the Native Assembly at Chief Sealth International High School.
His sister gave him a really beautiful Pendleton jacket.
And as he zipped that Pendleton jacket up his his honor his pride and his courage kind of filled up and he was able to read his his poem at the assembly at the end at the end of that poem it says we are native.
And he said forever.
And it was just this really powerful moment.
And I think that often we don't get a chance to have an impact on students directly from the board.
And so it was a really really touching moment and certainly will be memorable for as long as I can remember.
And just to just to remind those kids particularly our native students and a lot of our other students are marginalized and feel left out.
You are strong and you are smart and we believe in you.
Finally I wanted to thank Dr. Pritchett and Principal Cross from Seattle World School for having me out for a visit this week.
Really excited to hear about the progress they're making at the school and also just just hearing some really incredible stories about the inclusive environment that we have at Seattle World School.
And then also wanted to share a book recommendation.
Often when I go out and visit schools I meet with the principals and just get to know the principals and one of the questions I asked was if Principal Cross had any book recommendations and there's a book called Seed Folks and he shared a particular chapter chapter 4 about Gonzalo and his father that moved here from Guatemala.
And I think I don't I don't have the chapter here but it's a story about folks in a community who have.
A community garden and that community garden has built community and togetherness and it's a really great story.
Was really grateful today to sit at our first title 9 task force meeting and we'll continue to look forward to those.
And also want to kind of spend a moment with a point of privilege here and my day job at all home in collaboration with an organization as well called building changes and.
With a substantial investment by the Pearl Jam home shows efforts today we actually launched a one million dollar centralized diversion flex financial assistance fund to help families and individuals who are who are and can identify creative solutions to their crisis of homelessness and that fund is live for families and individuals across the county and really excited that that resource is out there.
So we'll hopefully connect our McKinney-Vento folks to that resource.
And then the last thing is really just looking forward to tomorrow's Ops meeting.
We're going to continue to elevate and have the really awesome conversations around community workforce agreements.
So thank you.
Director Harris.
I will endeavor to be brief.
I feel like we've spent a lot of airtime here talking about things.
So to start I'm going to start and end with this.
I have a community meeting scheduled for this weekend.
I am unfortunately not going to be able to make that meeting.
So I guess it's an ask to staff to amend the calendar and an apology to the community.
I have a work trip that I was trying to Tetris in and was not able to so I'm going to be out of town for that weekend.
Looking back over the last week or two had some really great conversations.
I met with principal Metz principal Metzger of Lincoln High School.
We talked about the progress she's making building out the team her team and the programs.
And we also talked about different ideas on how to achieve success in the dual language immersion Japanese program pathway which you know you all have heard about previously.
We had a work session on November 27th from the the city on the family education preschool and promise levy.
And one of the questions that I had asked at that meeting you may recall was what is the scope of the Seattle promise.
So students graduating from Seattle Public Schools have an opportunity to earn 13th 14th year credits through Seattle colleges.
And my question is what is the scope of that.
Is it just for an AA degree or what types of programs.
And so I just wanted to share I did get feedback from the city and from the colleges that it includes not just the the campuses and the classes that might come to people's mind initially but also the vocational programs that they offer.
Seattle Vocational Institute Seattle Maritime Academy.
There's a wood technology program.
And and the Georgetown campus at South Seattle where there's a lot of facilities around the trade.
So it's amazing opportunities to connect this this our pathways to the Seattle promise using these these mechanisms.
So I was really excited to hear that.
I think there's still a lot of work to do but I wanted to share that out.
I want to share kudos to my colleagues and to staff around the board retreat.
I think we had a really rich conversation around the strategic plan.
You never know going into a strategic plan discussion whether it's going to be a lot of hot air and a waste of time or if it's going to feel like a really productive conversation.
This one felt like a really productive conversation and was a full public meeting.
I'm actually a little sad that we didn't have more people coming.
I know that we did have.
Some some really rich conversations that I would have would have liked for more people to be part of.
I joined the since time immemorial and culture appropriation training with Director Mack and Director Geary remotely.
And that was really really great.
But it was very much focused on the cultural appropriation work and didn't get nearly as deep as I would have liked to around the since time immemorial curriculum it was more about implementation progress which was super informative and it just reaffirmed to me how important it is that we as a board hold true to that resolve and adopt that program formally put the commitment behind it as a as an entire board.
We had a what I thought felt like a very very healthy meeting this earlier this week at Licton Springs K-8 and I really want to commend Superintendent Juneau on her messaging her candor her her sort of warm demand or persona.
The the meeting was structured as you know as a circle and the families and the superintendent were able to have a dialogue I believe She had three questions queued up.
And during the time, we got to one of them.
But everybody got a chance to share their stories.
It wasn't time bound.
And at the end of it I think there were a lot of families that really that I felt a lot of gratitude towards the superintendent as far as how she had structured it and holding her accountable here.
She also committed to a follow up meeting to focus on OK we've heard.
What's what makes this school amazing for your family.
The next question is what makes it amazing for your students academic experience and growth and what does that look like and what what does it mean to each person.
We don't want our kids to just be test scores but we also have test scores.
And so somewhere in there is finding that place.
And I think that was the next conversation so I'm really thrilled about how that went.
And and then today earlier today I had a attended a workshop at the manufacturing and from it in manufacturing industrial council the MIC and I learned about Mohammed a Rainier Beach student who from the core plus program who just recently got a job at Boeing and is now pursuing his FAA certificate at as an airframe mechanic.
I forwarded that notice out to you.
You all one student but.
One student at a time and every story is amazing.
I also had an opportunity to take the podium there and shared an update on the CTE work we're doing also on our budget situation and our upcoming levy and got to hear the beginning of a presentation from Frank Blethen publisher of Seattle Times who was talking about their their project homeless feature and some of the things behind that and so I think We had conversations more to more to be had.
You didn't get to watch that one but maybe in the future we'll charge charge admission we can have some tickets.
No it was.
I really I really appreciated hearing the work behind.
the journalism around the education lab around the transportation lab around the project homeless work and kind of how the how the the paper is you know the Seattle Times has structured some of these community funded things and ultimately what they were trying to achieve in their goals.
To close I'm going to close with what I opened with.
Apologies again my community meeting is is not going to be held.
And actually I'm sorry I'm not quite closing I had two more things I wanted to touch on.
Maple community thank you.
I know.
Sorry.
Maple community thank you for coming out again.
Yeah.
I I'm a I'm a supporter of of taking a little bit more of a thoughtful look at this.
I think the the your your your message is clear and thank you for continuing to share it around the the Washington Middle School families.
I also want to apologize for for how how our system is not serving your students in a way that.
that it should.
And I just want to reemphasize our commitment to reforming transforming improving our advanced learning program and also our multi tiered systems of support so that students that are in an environment that is they don't feel as challenging are not.
locked into that.
We don't want people to be racially typed.
We don't want people to be academically blocked.
We need portability.
We need that fluidity in our systems so that students can excel.
Students can find their challenges and they can rise to them.
So thank you for bringing that to our attention.
Next up Director Patu.
I want to say thank you to all who have come and share your comments about what is happening in your individual school communities.
It is always great to hear good news but it's also wonderful to hear bad news.
So we as board directors can make positive changes.
I believe that that we're not perfect.
But I realize that being on this board gives me the opportunity to make changes that sometimes we overlook.
So it's really for me it's it's a great opportunity when a school calls me or a parent calls me and tells me what's going on in their schools because.
My job being on the board is making sure that we provide the best opportunities and education for your child who actually who district I'm in charge of.
So I'm really hoping that as parents and community feel that there's things going on in their schools that they are not very happy with.
I'm very open.
You know I'm.
Available whenever you need time to call and let me know what's going on.
I'm always happy and available to be part of your meeting or conversation.
I have a community meeting at the end of every month which is usually is on Saturday December 29th at 9 a.m.
at Rock on Tour in Southeast Seattle in Seward Park and would love to hear from you and see you.
I know Saturdays are not days that anybody want comes to meeting but.
It's the only day that actually I'm available.
So thank you and thanks for coming.
Thank you.
Director Mack you're up.
Good evening.
I will try to be short.
Yeah.
So actually the way that I'll be short is that I want to echo I want to echo the comments of Director Geary DeWolf and Director Burke in particular around Washington Middle School comments and thank you for coming.
I share the same concerns and see that we need to be moving the work forward and I'm hopeful that we can get some of those fundamental changes made soon.
I have a meeting next week Saturday at 11 o'clock to 1 Queen Anne.
This week Saturday December 8th.
Queen Anne library.
Today I got a volunteer at Hamilton Middle School for Staff Appreciation Day serving soup.
And what was really interesting to see was how much the teachers really really really appreciated having soup served.
And so I want to just honor all of the volunteers that do things in our schools because we talk about funding a lot but we don't talk about the manpower and the people that go in and do really meaningful things for our students and staff and soup day apparently is one of the favorite days of the teachers at Hamilton.
So it was great to be a part of that today.
And from Maple the Maple comments I really appreciate you all coming together and engaging.
I also want to be clear that currently there is no proposal to make the boundary changes this year.
The Ops meeting is happening tomorrow.
The way the process works is that for something for a boundary change for 2019 to be moved through the process it would need to be coming before Ops tomorrow and it's not on the agenda.
The discussion at the work session was that because of the complexity of the challenges and the need for increased community engagement.
There was consensus among staff and the board to to do that community engagement robustly and look at the changes for the following school year.
So just so you know where we're at in the process there.
That's that's where we're at.
There's no immediate changes expected unless something radical changes but I don't expect my fellow directors to to do something radical in that regard.
For Whitman the Whitman comment around the safety and security.
First of all I want to express my solemn sadness around this the fear that happened on that day for multiple schools that the this issue of safety and security in our schools is one that I take very very seriously.
And I appreciate raising the level of our knowledge about the issues at Whitman and what improvements could be made in the BEX V levy package.
There are some dollars for safety and security that are identified.
I can't.
say and I can't see specifically whether or not those are the specific items that you had listed.
But I'm going to follow up and find out what is included in that package if BEX V passes.
If it doesn't pass but if it passes there are dollars in there for safety and security for a lot of schools and there's definitely a fire alarm system.
I saw that for Whitman.
So thank you for raising it to the fore and we'll be following back up to get clarity on what's actually in the package.
And.
I also just want to mention that I had the opportunity to speak to the Ballard High School Foundation last night they asked me to come and speak and while it's you know continues to be distressing to me that we have so many different organizations that are having to do fundraising to fill the gaps.
What was really heartwarming and inspiring for me was that one of the programs that they help fund is the gains program which helps make sure that every student that needs additional support moving through to graduation gets it.
So they have a targeted program to.
have cohorts at each grade level to make sure folks are on track for graduation and they're getting their their needs met and the individualized attention.
And I think that's a really critical program to help our students get to college career and life.
And with that I'll stop rambling.
You can come talk to me on Saturday.
Thanks.
Thank you.
Director Pinkham.
Thank you for coming and good evening.
Sorry I was late.
I had a business at the University of Washington I couldn't get away from until 5 p.m.
but glad to be here.
And thank you all that have came.
We just hired you as a mentor for our student speaker earlier who wants to be a chemical engineer at the University of Washington.
Yeah I noticed you have a new mentee.
Print the officer things yet correctly either.
No that didn't change.
But.
We had.
Thank you for your patience.
For.
Brian Terry.
Thank you for your comments that you keep coming here and sharing with us and bringing now families with you and I know it's difficult for families where.
Maybe you feel like you can't get the message across for some reason if it maybe it is your English is your second language or English could be even be your third your fourth language you know how many different languages that are spoke.
And so it has come here and communicating your thoughts and ideas can be challenging.
But thank you for coming out here and sharing your words because unless we start hearing those change can't happen.
So Brian continue the work that you do and bringing these people forward bring more students hopefully they'll see you on TV and other people start coming forward.
Yes we need to start making sure our voices are heard and this board up here we're listening and there is change that we have to do somehow to make sure we're identifying all students for advanced learning for highly capable and Assuring that we see the talents in everyone and that they get recognized.
Maple community again you know thanks for coming out.
Eden did mention that right now we don't see any plans coming forward yet for a while but I'm asking for more information as well.
What the impacts may be for those with limited transportation because if you do get moved to the school and if you have events at the school it's going to be difficult for families to get there.
So there's more than just.
was being you know what we have to look deeper at issues and make sure we're accommodating as best we can and taking our capacity challenges into consideration as well as that it isn't just cut and dry do it this way.
We've got to make sure we consider all possibilities.
For the Whitman needs you know it's.
Unfortunate that we have to find out when there was a lockdown that we had some shortcomings.
You know so maybe what is being done that we are making sure drills are being done occasionally so we see these shortcomings when it's just a drill versus when there's an actual lockdown or need that our children need to be safe.
So if there's something we need to step up there to make sure all our buildings have the proper communications and systems and still so when something does happen we're assured that our students will be taken care of in a speedy manner.
So thanks for again bringing these issues up so we know that they need to be addressed.
Want to remind people that the Urban Native Education Alliance does still have programs on Tuesdays and Thursdays out of Robert Eagle Staff Middle School.
Appreciate that issues that are going on with Licton Springs Robert Eagle Staff are still at the forefront and that no decisions hopefully be made yet but it's still being talked we're engaging with the community more than every voice is heard.
So I'm still hearing some grumblings from Licton Springs they feel like their voice isn't heard.
But glad that Superintendent Juneau has been out there to let them know that we are listening and we're still taking comments so people make sure you share your comments as much as possible.
I also would like to acknowledge in one of our presentations we got to see a chart of Native American graduation rates.
And to see that it's above 70 percent for 2017 18. That's a fantastic achievement when we're usually below 50 percent.
But I don't mean to be a devil's advocate but I'd still like to see that end number.
What was that number based upon.
What was the end.
You know it'd be great if it was 150 students in 140 years 35 graduated.
But then if maybe the end was really small.
And just one student is 10 percent.
That's you know we still got it.
I still have those kind of questions but I'm glad to see that you know those numbers and that the changes that have been happening with our native education program is starting to make a difference.
Hopefully we're starting to see those the progress.
It doesn't mean I don't support still reestablishing American heritage high school but good to see that we're seeing progress being made there.
And if I can.
Have Michael Tolley come up and share some news about native languages and how just a little progress that we've made so far.
Michael Tolley, Chief Academic Officer.
Yes, we've been in communications with our Native Education Program Manager, Gail Morris, as well as our language lead, who is Michelle Aoki.
and have determined that there are about between five to seven native languages that we will be able to move forward on creating course code so that competency based assessments can be administered to determine if the student can receive credit for those competencies.
Thank you.
And I appreciate that we're able to do that.
One of the languages happens to be the Nez Perce language because I just learned that recently someone that taught the language has relocated to this area and I just found her email messages and I got to connect with Michael Tolley so and other languages of Lushootseed and their different dialects north and south.
I think we're also looking at the Diné language as one of those because we have expertise at the University of Washington and then the Lakota because one of our community members is proficient in the Lakota language and.
Good job Seattle schools and thank you Michael Tolley thank you Gail Morris for what you're doing to make our native voices.
I can say that now native languages visible here in the Seattle school district.
November 17th was my last community meeting.
President Harris was able to join me so again appreciate her being there and.
And she brought donuts as well.
So that was good.
We met and what we had Licton Springs there plus Whitman's parents there and it was great to see the conversation going on for Licton Springs talking about the needs that they have and then Whitman was able to say hey let us know maybe our group can help you out.
So make sure when you do have this community of meetings announced by our directors attend because you never know what connections you're going to make with other families that are out there they can help one another.
So right now that's my comments.
Other than Zachary is a fantastic Pictionary player.
Qeˀciyéẁyéẁ Thank you.
OK that was inside baseball.
That's not fair to the viewing public.
Pictionary educational terms were the icebreaker for the retreat.
And some of us are not very skilled drawers I might add and we're not naming names.
OK.
Last hopefully not least I bet cleanup after my comments we're going to take a 15 minute break.
We're going to go through our two action items.
We have no intro items and then we are going to go into closed session for an employee appeal.
Can I propose that we go through the action items and break after.
I see consensus.
There you go.
OK.
See I am a reasonable person.
Who knew.
My upcoming community meetings December 22nd 2018 at the Southwest District Library 3 to 5. It's a Saturday January 19th 3 to 5 at the Delridge library.
Potentially February 16 3 to 5 at the High Point library.
We are back on the lasagna schedule.
You've got a one in three chance and it's good lasagna.
Again thank you for the hard work everybody here does.
Thank you for coming down here and telling us your truths.
We hear you.
I wish that we could give you instant answers.
We can't do that.
And should we give you instant answers I suspect they would be wrong.
Please know that the walking tour was not denied.
It was delayed.
It was a communication difficulty and it was also an issue of making sure that all the communities felt respected and heard.
The fact that we are putting this off for a year is to have robust and frankly different community engagement.
We need to do things better.
We will do things better.
I talked a little bit about that delicate balance business from the retreat and the communications information.
We board directors get to walk the high wire between being branded as those evil micromanagers getting down into the weeds and that's not our job or role.
On the other hand when constituents come to us with valid concerns we need to stand up and get counted and fight like.
the folks that you elected us to be asking questions getting answers.
That's part and parcel of our job.
A lot of things we don't get to talk about e.g. personnel issues.
In my other life as many of you all know I have spent 35 years as a litigation paralegal and it would not be prudent to step outside of our lane there and we have to trust the system and we have to ask those questions that affect people's careers in a fashion that is respectful to the process.
And it's really darn difficult for me with my big mouth and questioning mind.
to be respectful of that process and and to tread lightly on that high wire.
Please do be assured we are hearing you loud and clear.
Thank you to council member Sally Bagshaw who has announced she will not be running for reelection.
So let the games begin for next year.
Met with.
Superintendent Juneau Deputy Superintendent Stephen Nielsen and myself.
We talked about school cameras safe walks to school.
I understand that there's some work going on with respect to Sacajawea and making sure that we don't have to call every time it goes below 30 to get that street sanded.
And.
We can keep our our young people safe.
We also talked some more about the memorandum of understanding for capital projects etc.
It was a good meeting.
It was a fun meeting.
And again it really is a privilege to be able to carry water for the district with old friends in a different capacity and also to wander around the city and brag on our new superintendent.
It's it's a good time and having her meet and understand who does what in this city is an investment and I appreciate her willingness to put her running shoes on and go anywhere at any time.
You're a good sport.
Thank you.
Couple of things in terms of advanced learning and the testimony that we hear I left.
this building a week ago feeling more hope for the non-branding of our children and for figuring out ways that our unique needs get met.
I truly hate the terms highly capable.
I truly hate the terms gifted.
I truly hate the terms advanced learning because each of our students has gifts I appreciate some of them are in statute but the polarization that accompanies these conversations is frankly quite disgusting to me.
And for the first time in the 15 years I've been sitting in the cheap seats out here watching listening learning I felt real hope and I've heard some of that feedback from other folks.
We have to do a better job.
We have to do it with a looming budget deficit and that's that's going to be a neat hat trick at best.
But I think the folks up on this dais and the folks on the perimeter of the room understand that this is a huge priority and we also have to build in and you'll see in one of the action items this evening.
The evaluation of pilot projects.
Does it work.
Does it not work.
What are the course corrections.
What are the replication opportunities.
It's a long time coming but it's been promised and it's part and parcel of policy.
I also want to call Chief Academic Officer Michael Tolley up to the box please.
I'm not going to blindside you.
I'm going to say thank you.
You'll be leaving us at the end of the year.
You have had a lengthy career you have seen a great deal of change.
You and I don't necessarily agree philosophically but please know how much respect I have for you and how much I appreciate your hard work.
And on that note I say we give him a standing O folks.
Thank you.
I appreciate that.
Thank you.
OK.
Consensus was that we keep rolling here straight through to the action items.
Number one approval and rename policy number 2 0 9 0 program evaluation and assessment to district educational research and program evaluation and approval of the 2018 19 district educational research and program evaluation work plan.
This came before C&I November 6 for.
For approval.
Motion please kind sir.
I move that the board amend and rename board policy number 20 90 district educational research and program evaluation and that the board approve the 2018 19 district educational research and program evaluation work plan as attached to the board action report.
Second.
There is a second.
You are so busted.
I second that.
OK.
Here we go.
Comments questions concerns from my colleagues.
We had a fairly robust conversation about this at intro.
Director Mack please.
I just want to say again for the record that I'm really grateful for the work on this and the refinement and I have full support for it.
Thank you.
Other questions comments concerns from my colleagues.
Seeing none roll call please.
Director Burke aye Director DeWolf aye Director Geary aye Director Mack aye Director Patu aye Director Pinkham aye Director Harris aye.
This motion is passed unanimously.
Action item number two approval of contract S.S.
1 1 8 2 2 2018 19 bus transportation services came before Ops November 1 for approval.
Motion please.
I move that the school board authorize the superintendent to execute contract SS 1 1 8 2 2 for school bus transportation services for 2018 19 with Durham School Services Durham Incorporated in the form of the contract agreement as an attached to the school board action report with any minor additions deletions and modifications deemed necessary by the superintendent and to take any necessary actions to implement the contract.
I second the motion.
And I double dog triple dog dare my colleagues to speak against this motion.
Yeah.
See I got another year you can beat me up on.
Comments questions concerns.
Deputy Nielsen for the record you want to talk a little bit about how this came about.
Short and sweet.
So Stephen Nielsen deputy superintendent.
Good evening.
This came about because our contractor was not able to meet all of its run requirements based on a bus driver shortage which we have noted multiple times and worth doing so again that is a national problem.
We were able to.
Obtain the services of Durham Transportation Company from Tacoma to backfill some of those last routes.
This contract will remain in effect and operational until we are able to fill all the routes with the regular first student drivers.
We had a discussion with first student last Friday.
They believe that will happen by the end of January.
Questions comments concerns from my colleagues.
Seeing none roll call please.
Director Pinkham aye Director Patu aye Director Mack aye Director DeWolf aye Director Burke aye Director Geary aye Director Harris aye.
This motion is passed unanimously.
OK.
This meeting is adjourned at 6 55. We will be going into closed session for an employee appeal.
Happy and very very safe holidays everyone.
No, let's just...