Seattle Schools Board Meeting Sept 14, 2022

Good afternoon.

We will be calling the board meeting to order in a moment and SPS-TV will begin broadcasting.

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

This is Vice President Hampson.

I'm now calling the September 4th 2022 Regular Board Meeting to order at 422 p.m.

This meeting is being recorded.

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

Ms. Blissland-Jones the roll call please.

Vice President Hampson.

Here.

Director Harris.

I do not believe we have Director Harris yet.

Director Rankin.

Here.

Director Rivera-Smith.

Present.

Director Sardieu.

President.

Director Song-Moritz.

Present.

And President Hersey is unable to join us.

And then also Director Yuen.

Go ahead and try it one more time to make sure it's working.

Here.

There you go.

I'd like to welcome school board student member Jenna Yuen to tonight's meeting.

On August 31st, I was honored to witness the oath of office for the inaugural class of school board student members.

Student member Student members Jenna Yuan I'm sorry Yuan Luna Cron-Baron and Narissa Hassan will join us for regular board meetings on a rotation throughout the school year.

During these meetings we'll be addressing the student members as directors.

Thank you for joining us Director Yuan on the first day of school.

We welcomed students back throughout the district today and before I pass it to Superintendent Jones for comment I want to thank our educators and additional district staff for your efforts to prepare for the start of the school year and reach a tentative agreement.

Thank you to our students and families for your patience.

It was exciting to welcome you back today for the start of a great school year.

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

Thank you Vice President Hampson and board members.

It's really good to be here today.

I'd like to open by recognizing National Hispanic Heritage Month which begins tomorrow.

This designation calls on us to recognize the rich culture and resilience of the Hispanic and Latinx people.

Hispanic heritage contributes to the strength of our schools and our school community and we see it every day in every aspect of our district.

Represented by our students and staff and even right here on our school board with Director Rivera-Smith.

This school board in fact represents the diversity of our district.

But it hasn't been it hasn't always been that way.

It was 1975 when Miss Dorothy Hollingsworth my friend broke ground as the first Black woman to be elected to our school board.

She was a volunteer a social worker and an activist.

She was a civic leader who helped shape Head Start Sesame Street and urban planning.

But it was her impact on public education that stands out.

Dorothy Hollingsworth passed this summer at the age of, get ready, 101. And I want us to pause a moment to acknowledge the force for good that she was on our school board.

As we transition to the next part of my report, I'd like to say that we did something amazing this week.

It brings me great joy to congratulate our educators, the school board, my staff, all of our partners who've worked so hard to reach a tentative labor agreement.

I want to acknowledge our educators.

We know that you're on the front lines.

We know your work in the classroom is more demanding than ever.

I personally am grateful to you.

And to our families, you all have felt the greatest impact during this bargaining process.

Thank you for your patience.

Thank you for advocating for the best conditions and outcomes for our students.

At the district we're also very thrilled to be back in business and the moral imperative of educating our students and supporting our schools.

This school board has tasked me with leading a system that will improve academic outcomes for all students and that guides everything I do.

Finally a huge thank you to many volunteers.

The City of Seattle staff families PTSA's SPS staff who volunteered hours to ensure families had access to lunches child care while we waited for the start of school.

And to the district operations team who made sure that all transportation eligible students had safe on-time arrivals at schools.

Kitchens were ready to feed hungry young people.

And our schools were safe clean and ready to roll for opening day.

And to all of you who made our community safe and welcoming today thank you.

We are vibrant.

We are sturdy and we are united.

Appreciate it.

Thank you Superintendent Jones.

I would like to again welcome School Board Student Member Jenna Yuan to the meeting tonight.

Director Yuen began her senior year today at Franklin High School and will be serving on the board's Operations Committee.

Our student members have the opportunity to provide comments as we begin each meeting and like other directors I also welcome our student members to ask questions and provide input as we move through the remainder of the meeting agenda.

I will now turn it over to Director Yuen for her comments.

Thank you Vice President Hampson.

Good late afternoon to everyone.

This is student board member Jenna Yuan and to introduce myself again I use she her pronouns and I'm a senior at Franklin High School.

I want to start off by saying how glad I am to finally be back in school.

I learned that school is starting through SPS's Instagram post and I remember opening the comments and seeing students say things like finally and about time.

So not only me.

But many students are really glad that school has started.

And a major reason I've been hearing for this enthusiasm is that students don't want any more makeup days than there already are.

And I totally agree.

Overall my first day of school went pretty well and I hope that all students had a warm welcoming and delightful first day of school as well.

Moving on.

One of the other student members, Luna, attended her first audit and finance committee meeting on Tuesday, and she said that it went well.

I will be attending my first operations committee meeting next Monday, and I'm really looking forward to that.

And Nasira will be attending her first student services and curriculum.

committee meeting next Tuesday and she is actually going to be attending the next regular board meeting.

So she will probably give an update on how her meeting went.

One more thing that the student members want to announce is that we'll be creating our own newsletter to send out.

We are still planning how it will run exactly but we are hopeful that it will turn out to be a great method for updating students and getting student input throughout the district.

I'm really excited to be here today on behalf of all the students in our district.

Luna Nasira and I are looking forward to working with all of the wonderful Board of Directors and Superintendent Jones to make this a wonderful school year.

That concludes my student comment.

Thank you for listening.

Thank you so very much Director Yuen and again it's an absolute pleasure to have you here.

We look forward to your active participation.

Okay.

As it is 4.31 we have now reached the public testimony portion of the agenda.

We will be taking public testimony by phone and in person as stated on the agenda.

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

I will summarize some important parts of this procedure.

First, testimony will be taken today from those individuals called from our public testimony list and, if applicable, the wait list.

which are included on today's agenda posting on the school board website.

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

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

The total amount of time allowed will not exceed two minutes for the combined number of speakers.

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

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

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

Finally, the board expects the same standard of civility for those participating in public comment as the board expects of itself.

Ms. Koo will read off the testimony speakers.

Thank you, Vice President Hanson.

A quick logistical note, speakers joining us via phone, please remain muted until your name is called to provide testimony.

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

Each speaker will have a two minute speaking time.

You will hear a beep when your time is exhausted and the next speaker will be called.

The first speaker on the list is Simran Parmar.

Simran Parmar.

If you're on the line, please press star 6 to unmute.

Moving on the next person on the list is Chris Jackins.

name is Chris Jackins, Box 84063, Seattle 98124. On the construction projects at Alki, John Rogers, and Montlake, three points.

Number one, at Montlake, the playground will shrink to half its current size.

At John Rogers, it will shrink by a third.

At Alki, the project is way too large for the site.

Number two, It's not too late to save familiar city history and to dial back wayward project impacts at schools like Montlake, John Rogers, Alki, Madison, and Rainier Beach.

Number three, school district capital construction levies always include an expectation and explicit authority for the school board to provide oversight and alter how funds are spent to assure that school projects make sense.

Please vote no.

On the agreement for the joint use of facilities with the City Parks Department.

More points.

Number one, the livability of the city is being degraded by wayward school construction projects and overuse of public school sites.

Number two, public school playgrounds and fields are shrinking and natural grass fields are being paved over by synthetic turf.

Number three, the increasing intensity of use of these open spaces is pushing out informal use and imposing double duty impacts on neighbors from noise, tall lights, and parking.

Number four, familiar history is being bulldozed, including school buildings and Native American cultural resources.

Please vote no.

Thank you very much.

The next speaker on the list is Samantha Fogg.

Samantha Fogg.

Directors can you please check your mics.

Hi this is Samantha Fogg and I am co-president of Seattle Council PTSA.

My pronouns are she her.

And I will start with the caveat that I have tried to write this testimony so many times today and it has I have gotten too angry.

So I I apologize and this is unscripted.

Civil rights of students civil rights of people should not be bargained.

They should not be negotiated.

Civil rights of our children should not be discussed behind closed doors without our students and our families.

Civil rights are not negotiable.

They don't belong.

in a bargain.

The rhetoric and narrative that spilled forth over social media and in the press included offensive and coded racist and ableist language.

Special needs.

Burden.

Scary.

These things.

Our students can't see them.

This is not how we treat the students in our care.

This is not what we need to do to move forward with special education and inclusion.

We are better than this.

We are becoming better than this.

Civil rights are not negotiable.

And therefore, no matter what is in this bargain, I expect to see us move forward toward inclusion.

towards best practices for every child.

Yesterday and today I have received calls and messages from parents who are scared to send their kids to school.

Will their child come home whole in body and soul.

Will the language and rhetoric that was in the press and on social media be something that is dumped upon their child at school.

Will accommodations be ready.

Our families shouldn't worry about the first day of school.

They should know.

They should know that they are welcomed.

That they are wanted.

That they are not a burden.

They are not too hard.

They are not too difficult.

Because we know that Washington ranks around 44th in the country for inclusion and that means that most of the rest of the country has figured this out and I know that we have smart people here who can do this right.

And I look forward to partnering with you, to working with you, to doing this better, to doing this right, because civil rights are not negotiable.

And this whole thing, we need to do better, we can do better, and I look forward to partnering with you.

because we need to do better by every single child.

Those ratios, our data shows that the ratios and the programming models which were put forward with absolutely the best intent ended up having an impact that was both racist and ableist.

And I hope that they are pulled out.

But whether they're in the bargain or not, We can do better.

We owe our students better because this is not a negotiable topic and we will get better.

And I truly believe that our teachers that our staff and that our families all want what is best for all of our kids and we can stop the bickering and get to work.

We can do this.

And I expect it from all of us.

All of us.

And I look forward to future partnership.

Thank you.

The next speaker on the list is Jennifer Alsdorf.

Jennifer Alsdorf.

Jennifer, if you're on the line, please press star six to unmute.

The next speaker on the list is Laura Marie Rivera.

Laura Marie Rivera.

Hi.

Can you.

We can hear you.

Hi this is Laura Marie Rivera and I too am angry.

I'm here to remind you that Seattle Public Schools is failing our special education students.

If you look at the history of special education you will see that Washington State wrote the book or perhaps I should say wrote the legislation.

Please remember this.

The national laws are based on the work of a few pioneering Seattle families that were advocating for their children.

We were the first in the nation and now we're almost last.

What has happened.

Inclusive education is something that we've been hearing a lot about these past few weeks but it takes work it takes time it takes talent and it takes understanding.

And yes Seattle Public Schools has shown that we do not have that understanding.

All throughout these very significant labor negotiations SPS has consistently placed special education squarely under the bus when they know that this strike was about so much more.

How can we say that we're working toward a more equitable system or fighting for those students furthest from educational justice when we consistently turn our backs on students with disabilities.

And it's not even accidental.

SPS is actively excluding children with disabilities.

How is this best practices and why is this okay.

After all of the talk about creating a more inclusive system they never even gave a thought to the differently abled students.

We need an effective system that can identify and then help the students that need help.

This is not only about having counselors and mental health experts in schools.

We absolutely must help the families access the care that their children need.

Children are being miscategorized and under- or over-served according to their supposed diagnosis.

And even once children have their legitimate diagnosis as was the case with my child SDS is withholding services.

I'll say it again.

Seattle Public Schools decided to exclude my students and likely many many other students just like mine.

This inequitable system is not serving our students and it will definitely not serve our society.

Please do better.

There we go.

Wish me luck buddy.

The next speaker on the list is Robert Cruikshank.

Robert Cruikshank.

Robert, if you're on the line, please press star 6 to unmute.

The next speaker on the list is Michelle Rayford, Michelle Rayford.

Michelle, if you're on the line, please press star 6 to unmute.

The next speaker on the list is Melissa Spiker.

Robert Crookshank is here.

Robert if if you're ready to speak.

Go ahead.

Thank you.

Sorry for any misconfusion there.

My name is Robert Crookshank.

I'm a parent of I have three students in Seattle Public Schools in my household and I'm here to talk about labor relations.

Obviously the right to form a union is a recognized universal human right is in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.

It is crucial that this right be respected.

Too often in our society, it's not.

We can look at Amazon and Starbucks as great examples of how big corporations mistreat their workers and fight hard against unionization.

We should never see such tactics at a public school district that has democratically elected leadership, but we do.

And in fact, we've seen it for years.

There was a strike in 2012. There was a strike in 2015. There is nearly a strike in 2018 and there is one in 2022. I don't fault educators for this.

They are doing what is their right to fight for their needs and for students and families.

Something is very deeply wrong at Seattle Public Schools with its labor relations along with a lot of other things.

I think it is urgent for the school board to investigate and fix labor relations in the city so that we never have a strike again.

that the school district administration knows they cannot expect to force concessions from educators by pushing them into a strike that we solve bargaining before school begins like most other districts nearby do even those with financial problems.

There's so many ways in which this district is mismanaged.

It's hurting our students.

It's hurting our ability to get more money out of Olympia.

It needs to be fixed and labor relations is an excellent way to start.

Let's work together as a community to address inclusion.

and special education and other needs.

Everyone wants that.

There are solutions here that we can find if we avoid treating this as a way to break teachers and bust their union.

Thank you.

The next speaker on the list is Melissa Spiker.

Melissa Spiker.

Melissa if you're on the line please press star 6 to unmute.

Hello.

Yes I'm on the line.

Okay go ahead.

Hi.

My testimony today is representative of my experience as an engaged parent to an autistic 6th grader not as a board member of the Seattle Special Education PTSA.

I feel there is a missing voice in the current conversations about inclusive education within Seattle Public Schools.

as I'm hard pressed to find instances of leadership lifting their voices to share their vision of what inclusive instruction looks like for our educators and students.

I'm also hard pressed to find instances of leadership expressing their commitment to the philosophy and strategies required to move towards an inclusive education model.

I have to ask what do drilled down details matter if leadership hasn't committed to embark on this journey.

It is the absence of leadership vision and commitment these past couple of weeks that obscured my family's view on inclusive education.

Educators and families came to the table to co-create the framework needed to support this shift but the district saw little value in this testimony and ultimately led to the withholding of labor as a bargaining chip to get what students need to thrive.

As a member of my student's IEP team and an advocate for accommodations and services it has become obvious that policies exist but the resources do not.

And so when schools aren't capable of proactively responding to a student's learning differences families are likely to see segregated provisions as a preferable alternative to ensure their students receive appropriate considerations and accommodations.

Without embedded support within the general education setting an inclusive model will fail.

and without heeding to the testimony and assessment of those providing the services the model will fail.

It will fail a subset of vulnerable students and leave them in greater peril than they are in today.

And it will fail to protect our educators' mental well-being while trying to attain unattail unattainable performance metrics and student ratios.

As previously stated by the Superintendent one-size-fits-all doesn't work with families.

We have unique and special needs.

As our educators have tried to communicate this bargaining session, they too are unique and deserve to have not just the needs of the students met, but also their own.

So I have two questions for leadership.

If not now, when?

And if not you, then who?

Thank you.

The next speaker on the list is Sherilyn Crowther.

Sherilyn Crowther.

Should I get this okay.

Hi I'm Cheryl Lynn Crowther.

Pronouns are she her and I am the President of the Seattle Special Education Parent Teacher Student Association.

I spoke at the last board meeting two weeks ago.

I said our system is not broken.

That it's working as designed.

That it was designed to exclude many students.

I asked us all including parents like me to recognize this problem.

as the first step to making the necessary changes.

Now we are two weeks later and we have seen the system in full force.

But what a different start of the school year we would have all experienced if inclusive education was a familiar term.

If we shared a vision about a model of education that benefits all students, proven by more than 250 studies globally.

I believe everyone here understands the power of inclusive education.

I also know what I've seen online and what Sam Fogg is referring to that there are parties in every single group of our community that don't understand that putting someone like my son in the classroom is a possibility that's going to benefit all of us.

And now I'm completely off script.

I also wish Seattle had utilized state financial and technical support through the Inclusional Practices Professional Development Project People need to see what the vision is.

We can create the vision in how we talk.

We can also have pilot programs.

We can make it clear to people what is achievable.

We can reduce the anxiety and the unknown that creates this fear and is starting to breed hate.

I also ask the district to regularly call, email, Text.

Survey.

Ask.

Listen.

Meet with families and communities to understand our concerns our worries and our hopes.

And I will also say that Seattle Special Education PTSA is here to help.

Thank you.

And thanks Sam.

The next speaker on the list is Robin Reid.

Robin Reid.

I'm 8th grader and a Roosevelt 10th grader.

They started school today but it was a full week after the scheduled start and frankly Superintendent Jones your congratulatory tone about this rubs me the wrong way.

It's unacceptable that SPS wasn't able to work out this contract without a strike.

I lay the blame for this delay at the feet of Seattle Public Schools and you and the board of directors.

It's unacceptable that SPS tried to use this contract to implement an inclusion model that wasn't yet defined and had no staff or family input.

It feels like you don't care about students and families.

It's unacceptable that on the Friday before the first day of school SPS canceled a bargaining session eight minutes before it was scheduled to start and the next day they didn't even show up.

It feels like you don't care about students and families.

It's unacceptable that SPS weaponized their communication with parents to cast blame on teachers and educators for school closures rather than accepting responsibility.

It feels like you don't care about students and families.

It's completely unacceptable that it took five days an entire week of school closure to get to an agreement that appears in many ways just to maintain the status quo for schools and students.

It feels like you don't care about students and families.

And where was the school board in this.

We heard repeatedly that although parents don't have a seat at the bargaining table we're represented by our elected board of directors.

Yet with the exception of Director Song-Maras and Director Rivera-Smith who have engaged with families on social media.

I've seen no engagement.

No listening sessions or meetings.

No reply to my emails.

No curiosity about what families are experiencing or what their wishes and hopes are for the new contract.

I do not feel represented by this board.

If you're not listening to families and students what are you doing.

Today's consent agenda contains 16 items including approval of multiple million dollar plus contracts.

No discussion.

Do you believe that we elected you to rubber stamp the business of the district and funnel increasing power to the district.

That's not what I voted for.

This teaching strike has laid bare some of the biggest problems the district faces.

Now is not the time for the board to retreat into an echo chamber.

Instead please listen to students and families and communities.

Engage with us.

We want a better district and we need you on this journey or we need to replace you.

Thank you.

The next speaker on the list is Douglas Glazer.

Douglas Glazer.

Douglas, if you're on the line, please press star six to unmute.

The next speaker on the list is Sabrina Burr.

Sabrina Burr.

Sabrina if you're on the line please press star-6 to unmute.

Can you hear me.

Yes we can hear you.

Go ahead.

Thank you.

My name is Sabrina Burr and I'm so glad that I'm saying I'm a former Seattle Public School parent.

There is nothing more important on this globe other than Mother Earth than our children.

And there is no profession that is more important than that of a teacher.

The soul of America is first in our K-12 education system.

And right now my soul is hurting.

This is like a bad marriage.

The finger pointing the blame and the shame and the false narrative have to stop.

We have to raise the vibrational energy.

We can't stay on fear doubt shame and blame.

And remember when you point your finger at somebody there's one pointing back at you.

What are you doing with that one.

I beg Seattle Public Schools and SBA to come together just like any two responsible parents would be doing.

if they were going through a hard part in their marriage.

All of us are affected by what is going on and it has to change.

Love and gratitude are the highest vibration.

And when you in your mind start rejecting all of those negative feelings and spewing it out on other people, guess what?

A light opens up.

Our children are watching us.

They feel it.

They know it.

We say we care about kids.

We say we care about teachers and classrooms.

Well our actions show opposite.

Seattle Public Schools you have to do a better job of telling your story.

You're not telling your story and what happens is other people tell your story for you and they're getting it wrong.

What I know about the work going on in inclusion in Seattle Public Schools.

If everybody knew what I knew we half of this negative energy would be gone.

And for everybody out there who rallied so beautiful behind our teachers raise your energy and follow me to Olympia to get Olympia to do their dang gone job.

Because what I haven't heard is that most of our budget A lot of our budget goes to backfield where Olympia doesn't pay for special education.

There is no quick fix but we won't get there on shame, bane, doubt and all this negative.

Please I'm begging everyone for the love of our children for the love of our future.

Stop all the negative energy.

Raise yourself to love vibration.

When you don't understand something ask somebody.

Let's do better.

Let's do better by each other.

Because when you drag one person down, other people go down with them.

This is too toxic.

COVID has done so much on our mind, body, and spirit.

And you just changing at least the energy of gratitude would do some amazing things.

So let's get to work and let's do things in a positive way, in a partnership, and stop shaming and blaming.

SEA and Seattle Public Schools let's get it together and if you need counseling get it.

But for the next two years we have this leadership in SEA and I don't know what's going to happen in SPF but we need you to get along.

We need you to at least vibrate on the energy of gratitude for the love of our children.

I beg you.

The next speaker on the list is Caitlin Huertas.

Caitlin Huertas.

The next speaker on the list is Kelsey McGrath.

Kelsey McGrath.

The next speaker on the list is Arthur Doros.

Arthur Doros.

Hello, Arthur Doris, Montlake.

I want to share from an email that you might have seen among the multitudes that you get, especially lately.

This was written by a Montlake couple with young children and exemplifies neighborhood sentiments.

I have seen and heard overwhelmingly.

It was September 7th subject.

Please reconsider the Montlake school project size.

We care deeply that the Mount Lake School continues to be the centerpiece of the neighborhood and provides a supportive and diverse learning environment for Seattle's children.

We are strongly in favor of a project to renovate the school particularly if it provides an opportunity for children from around the city to participate in Mount Lake's unique educational experience.

However we are concerned that the proposed municipal code departures will hinder the educational environment and experience that Mount Lake School provides to Seattle children.

Simply put, the building departure proposals point to an attempt to squeeze in a school that is far too large and a lot that is far too small.

This is a neighborhood school that exists in a wonderful partnership with a family-friendly community.

We ask that you consider revising down the new school's capacity to 300 to 350 students, which would nearly double rather than triple the capacity relative to current student enrollment.

Plans do not appear to be justified by a demand for increased enrollment in classroom space.

Montlake schools currently 25 percent about 25 percent under enrolled.

This project also does not appear to include a clear plan to grow the student body and faculty in a sustainable way.

It appears that we are building an oversized school simply because we can and not because we need to.

There is no doubt that Seattle Public Schools students would benefit from a Montlake school renovation and a proportional and appropriate expansion.

But we hope that the school board will consider doing so in a more sustainable realistic and harmonious way.

This is my note to that email.

There are some exciting ideas toward a school that will best serve students staff communities and the district.

We look forward to working together with you.

Thank you.

And this concludes today's testimony.

Ms. Koo, did we get everybody on the list?

I can go back and check those who may have missed their turn.

Just yeah, go back one time through, please.

The first is Simran Parmar.

Simran Parmar.

Simran, if you're on the line, please press star six to unmute.

Next is Jennifer Alsdorf.

Jennifer Alsdorf, if you're on the line, please press star six to unmute.

Next is Douglas Glazer.

Douglas Glazer, if you're on the line, please press star six to unmute.

Next is Michelle Rayford.

Michelle Rayford.

Next is Caitlin Huertas.

Caitlin Huertas.

And last is Kelsey McGrath.

Kelsey McGrath if you're on the line please press star six to unmute.

This concludes today's testimony.

Thank you Ms. Coombe.

That concludes our public testimony for the meeting.

Thank you for your comments.

Before we move on I'll note that board directors are not obligated to respond to questions or challenges made during the public comment period and director's silence will not be deemed to signal agreement or endorsement of the remarks offered tonight.

We have now come to the Board Committee Reports section of the agenda.

We'll briefly hear now from the chairs of each of the four boards for committees.

Let's see.

President Hersey is not here for Executive Committee.

I don't believe we've met.

Let's start with Operations Committee.

Director Rivera-Smith.

Hello.

Hi.

So we have not had a meeting since our last board meeting.

I gave a report then.

We do have our next operations committee meeting is on Monday is coming Monday at 430 p.m.

I cannot get online so I can't look at the agenda.

I'm waiting for login pass Wi-Fi password.

But I know our meeting is coming this coming Monday at 430. Open to the public and the agenda can be found online.

Director Rankin for Student Services Curriculum and Instruction.

Thank you.

We also haven't met.

We're meeting on Tuesday next week.

We have a fairly short agenda of things to come through our committee.

And just for a note for anyone who is interested in the process of looking at increasing inclusive and culturally responsive practices.

You can find minutes of that committee meeting online over the past year and also search through previous public board meetings here and you can even watch video and connect back to progress on that as happened in public.

Thank you.

Okay and we had an audit internal audit meeting quarterly audit meeting yesterday and we went through the internal audit update as to progress on a host of projects through the internal audit system that is various types of audits and the progress on those audits.

And the we are trying to get that particular document which is actually quite instructive ADA accessible so that we can put that online so that folks can see all prior audits are available.

But there is a prioritization of audits that can be found in the work plan which is available on the internal audit page on the school board website or on the state of public schools and then within that the school board or not the school board website the internal audit web page.

But we would also like to get that up there.

So look look forward to that if anybody wants that we're happy to email that to you.

And then we looked at the talked about the ethics calls that have come in and reviewed those and then looked at the response from Seattle Public Schools to prior audits.

And that material can also be made available The there was a brief update from related to the Culinary Services Corrective Action Plan.

Upcoming audits just to note include our audit response includes response in December to from staff on the Transportation Services audit which was done in 2019. And we have a student prioritization for a student safety audit.

that is currently planned in a internal and external communications audit, which has already begun.

So there's some really good work going on there.

The next meeting is October 17th.

Sorry, the quarterly audit meeting is December 5th.

The next, we did not meet again for the audit and finance committee, just a separate meeting, a monthly meeting.

But that next meeting is September 19th.

And then for the Executive Committee, we have not met again since we met here.

We last met on August 24th, and we will meet again on September 21st, which is next week.

Those meetings are always at 8 a.m.

on Wednesdays.

Did I miss any committee reports?

I just did.

I think I just did.

Director Harris.

Yeah I was looking at do you want to.

Okay there we have a representative to the Families in Education and Seattle Promise Families Education Preschool Promise Levy.

Director Sommaritz, if you'd like to give any update to that.

Sure.

The FEC committee has organized a number of field trips for its committee members over the course of the summer.

I had the pleasure of visiting Majorana Elementary School and seeing in action the preschool program there.

And actually this morning, I had the pleasure of visiting Seattle Community Colleges and welcoming our newest cohort of Promise Scholars.

These are students who have just graduated from Seattle Public Schools, and the city has very generously funded their education at Seattle Community Colleges.

And I was thoroughly impressed with the orientation.

This is a really big leap for these students coming from high school, going into a college environment.

They had four student panelists who gave really wonderful words of advice.

And I had a fantastic conversation with the committee about the strategies to the retention strategists have to keep these students engaged and supported throughout their journey and hopefully get them ready for the next step of their journey.

So thank you to the FEPP committee for organizing those field trips.

Thank you Director Sommeritz and thank you City of Seattle and their I believe his title is Director Dwayne Chappell for his leadership and partnership.

I keep forgetting to note we have for quite some time had an open position in our on our Audit and Finance Committee for a public advisor.

We have two spaces that are where the public is able to serve on that committee.

People who have specific expertise in audit and in finance or individually or separately or together.

And so that we have not received any applications for that.

We have filled one of those spots and that person has been serving, he's in his second year and has been a fantastic addition.

Somebody with a great expertise in audit background.

We are still seeking another individual to serve in that capacity.

The job description is on the Audit and Finance Committee site.

I'll just briefly read the school board seeks subject matter experts from the community for the school board's Audit and Finance Committee.

The Audit and Finance Committee provides oversight of the financial and human resource matters and budget development process of the district and supervises the Office of Internal Audit.

Public advisors will support the committee's work to oversee district finances ensure transparency and make recommendations with respect to the district's financial human resource and internal control systems as well as ensuring implementation of SPS School Board Policy Number 0030 ensuring educational and racial equity.

So just an add for someone who might like to apply.

Okay we've now reached the consent portion of today's agenda and I have a motion for the consent agenda.

So moved.

And approval of the consent agenda has been moved by Director Rivera-Smith and seconded by Director Song-Moritz.

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

Can you use your mic.

Go ahead.

Vice President Hampson I would like to remove item number 16 the joint use of facilities with City of Seattle.

I am.

looking for where the updates and modifications were made from introduction.

Thank you.

Okay.

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

I move approval of the consent agenda as amended.

Approval of the consent agenda as amended has been moved by Director Rivera-Smith and seconded by Director Song-Moritz.

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Opposed.

The consent agenda has passed unanimously as amended.

And I will now call for a motion for item number 16. The approval of the 2022-27 Agreement for the Joint Use of Facilities with the City of Seattle Parks and Recreation Division.

May I have a motion for this item.

I move that this full board authorize the Superintendent to execute the JUA with SPR as attached to this board action report with any minor additions deletions and modifications deemed necessary by the Superintendent to implement the agreement.

Thank you.

And just for clarification JUA stands for Joint Use Agreement and SPR stands for Seattle Parks and Recreation.

I will now turn it over to Director Harris to provide.

Oh I'm sorry.

Second.

Let's thank you.

I will now turn it over to Director Harris.

Thank you.

I see Assistant Superintendent Fred Podesta at the podium and my question was when I remove this what are the changes from introduction please kind sir.

Thank you.

Thank you Director Harris.

There was one minor change which one of your colleagues Director Rivera-Smith pointed out that we had an inconsistency in the document between the base document on page 9 said refer to Appendix E1 about scheduling field requests for Interbay Stadium, Mount Lake School or Mount Lake Field and South Park.

And then that same corresponding appendix only talked about Interbay Stadium.

And that was just an error.

Montlake and South Park should not have been included in the section.

And so striking those two schools, that was the change to the document.

If I might, please.

There was some conversation at introduction about amending or addressing the division of responsibilities between parks and schools with adjoining land.

And I think that that may well have referred to our issue of a homeless camp at Broadview Thompson, if I recall.

Was that discussed, addressed, and how do we mediate any of those ticklish, complex problems?

It's been discussed with staff and with the public official who leads the Parks Department.

And we recognize that there's existing city code.

There are many city policies that also prohibit those types of uses in city parks.

And that, you know, hasn't necessarily completely mitigated the issue.

So we really didn't think that this document was a place because what we were looking for was parity in terms of practice that the city should treat our properties under this agreement the same way they treat their own properties.

And then there's plenty of policy and law describing how their property should be treated, and that's not happening either.

So we just decided this.

We didn't really want to encumber that issue into this document, but we are having discussions.

We did ultimately In the issues that we did have both at Meany Middle School and Broadview Thompson K-8, we ultimately did get all the support we needed from the Parks Department.

I grant that it was more difficult in the case of Broadview Thompson than we would have liked it to be.

So I think we do have a good working relationship.

I think it's a very thorny issue that we ultimately decided discretion was a better part of valor and not to get That all bogged down into this particular instrument.

Appreciate that.

Then what should the board's expectations be the taxpayers the families in the city be in terms of an ETA of lessons learned in a 360 and perhaps addressing that issue head on as opposed to looking the other direction.

You know I will continue to talk to the park superintendent and the mayor's office about, you know, again, we're dealing with a different administration who is approaching these issues a bit differently and how we can plug into some of those.

I'm not sure I can give you a timeline exactly, given that it's two governments that need to work together.

I'd be happy to give updates to this to the board or the operations committee on a regular schedule, and I can certainly commit to that.

I think I'd want our partners to weigh in on what they think a reasonable timeline would be.

So that then would go on the work plan for the Ops Committee for regular updates.

Is that correct?

Well, I will leave it to the chair of the Ops Committee to decide what should be in the work plan.

But I'd certainly be willing to provide that information however the board would like to get it.

Thank you so very much.

Thank you.

Do we need to adjourn into the work session or just move down there.

I'm sorry.

Any other comments questions or concerns.

Please call for the vote.

And I can also answer your next question which is that the work session is included as part of this agenda.

So you'll simply give us a moment to get you over at the tables and then you can move into that.

But calling the vote on consent agenda item 16. Director Harris.

Director Rankin.

Aye.

Director Rivera-Smith.

Aye.

Director Sarju.

Aye.

Director Song-Moritz.

Aye.

And Vice President Hampson.

Aye.

This motion has passed unanimously.

And before we move down there I did want to make sure to express that during correct me if I'm wrong during their next executive Committee meeting we will be receiving the first look at the Board Action Report for Director Redistricting with Draft Maps.

So please take a look.

Pay attention to that.

Let community members who may be interested know if they want to listen in to.

And again that's on the 24th.

Is that correct.

It is on the 21st and because I didn't include this in my note too I'll also add that director redistricting does not impact where people go to school.

It is not about school boundaries.

It is not about school boundaries and it's the 21st at 8 a.m.

Okay we can move to the work session now.

Thank you.

Can we take a five-minute bio break while we get organized?

Everybody ready.

Okay let's go through some.

I will try to refrain from talking about the sound systems that other districts have that I covet.

But as a reminder we believe these work best when they stay in the stands.

And when you're not talking turn them off so we can limit the feedback.

I was about to say back feed and that is not it.

So before I turn this over to you Superintendent Jones is a bit awkward with you at the end there but I guess we're all on that screen.

So I'm just going to turn this over and ask folks to Use this as an opportunity to educate and inform ourselves about the contents of the tentative agreement.

My understanding is it's in many different well tentative agreements right that are in many different parts.

We do not have the full contents available to us at this time and we want to use this opportunity again to ask objective informative informing questions There are still votes to be taken by Seattle Education Association.

We will eventually have to vote on this as well.

So this is our opportunity at this stage to get better informed as to where we are and keep things moving forward so our kids can stay in school.

And with that we'll pass it over to you Superintendent Jones.

Thank you Vice President Hampson.

So the arc of, with your permission, the arc of what we want to do in this half hour session is to present the key points to you as board members so you have familiarity with the nature of the agreement.

We want to present this without opinion.

Don't worry about it.

These are all teachers, so they know how to present facts.

There's still a process, as Vice President Hapsen mentioned, for ratification and for your vote.

So I think it'd be prudent for us to not present this with opinion or judgment, but really just really an opportunity to give you all clarity on what we are attempting to do.

So I recommend that we proceed with four presentations.

Dr. Pritchett will give us an overview of the of the TAs and the nature of the agreement, and then each section around multilingual special education and inclusion, and then the economic piece around wages and salary will be the four presentations that we have.

And so Sarah will start Then we'll go with Rocky, Concie, and then Rob.

Before we start, Superintendent Jones, did you all want to do questions after each section and then move on or do you want to do questions all at once?

I'm asking staff.

Oh, yes.

We'd like to present all four sections and then have clarifying questions at the end if you don't mind.

So take notes by section.

Thank you.

So without further ado Dr. Pritchett.

Good evening Dr. Sarah Pritchett Interim Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources.

I'm going to give you tonight a high-level summary of our tentative agreement with the Seattle Education Association.

This agreement would provide all SEA-represented educators increases in wages with a 7 percent salary Increase inclusive of IPD in the first year followed by a guarantee at least 4 percent raise in 23-24 and a guarantee of at least a 3 percent raise in 24-25.

Additionally this agreement provides our classified staff with a one-time incentive of $1,500 in the 20-22-23 school year.

This agreement also includes support for educators and buildings including adding an additional .5 social worker at comprehensive middle, high schools, and K-8s.

We'll be adding five certificated nurses in the 2023-24 school year.

Lowered counselor-to-student ratio at our highest need secondary schools from one counselor for every 375 students to one counselor for every 350 students.

It would lower the staff-to-student ratio for speech language specialists to one specialist for every 46 students this year and then one specialist for every 44 students in the following two years.

This agreement would add an additional race and equity Advancement Specialist position in the 2023-24 school year.

Additionally this agreement offers incentives for continued learning.

It increases clock hour training incentive bonuses for paraeducators.

It would add an additional day of district-directed professional development and training.

This agreement would provide schools with an increase in funding for extra time for building-based office professionals to support work associated with the operation of the school building.

$50,000 in a one-time library fund to support our highest needs schools.

Additional funding equivalent to $9 per student of dedicated library funding at each school to purchase library materials and collections.

adds an additional access excuse me adds access to additional paid extra time up to $2,000 for each building-based family support worker to work with and support students and families each year for the life of the contract.

Continue building-based safety team stipends for $2,000 per year at each school building.

In addition This agreement addresses some systemic changes including the addition of mediation services available to staff to resolve disputes prior to continuing in a formal grievance process.

Additionally all substitute educators would be provided pay for mandatory safety trainings as well as de-escalation training in addition to access to all other district training and professional development.

I'm going to turn it over to Dr. Pedroza and Dr. Torres to follow up with highlights and changes to multilingual and special education.

Thank you so much, Dr. Pritchett.

This is Dr. Ricardo Torres.

I'm going to be writing some high-level highlights regarding the special education tentative agreement.

So, I'm going to start with additional staffing will be added to the resource continuum pathway that will occur at different points throughout the agreement at different levels.

Access services for students with moderate to intensive needs will merge with social-emotional learning services starting in the 23-24 school year.

And that new service will be called Extended Resource.

In general, students receiving instruction in the Extended Resource program is to develop social-emotional skills and social understanding.

And this will allow for our students to have more of their time spent in the general educational classroom for their full range of support needs.

All students receiving special education services will have access to general education's curricular materials and instruction.

Additional professional development for all 5,000 plus educators and central office educators to support instructional practices in serving student needs and individual learning needs, including support for universal design for learning training and scheduling at the building level.

Flexible staffing to allow school level teams to determine how to best use their staff to service student needs.

Central office supports for scheduling to maximize inclusion in general education classes to the greatest extent possible.

A recommitment to the joint special education task force with members from the Seattle Education Association special education central office staff and family representatives to plan for a transition to more inclusive practices throughout the system and also to begin work on looking at the use of a workload calculator.

Additionally, two school categories that provide different special ed service models will sunset in 23-24.

The idea of us having satellite in schools and elementary setting providing resource services will sunset.

And additionally, continuum schools guarantee students participation in services.

The idea of satellite and continuum schools will sunset in 23-24.

I'm going to pass it to Dr. Pedroza.

Thank you, Dr. Torres.

This is Dr. Concie Pedroza, Associate Superintendent.

And I'm just going to give two highlights for multilingual services.

And and what I want to share is that this is actually very exciting that the addition of a one-time incentive payment for teachers earning or holding an English language or dual language endorsements within the lifetime of the contract.

and a newly created joint task force for the dual language multilingual students for two years.

And they will meet quarterly to discuss and continue to discuss issues around bilingual services and continue to review dual language implementation throughout the district.

And I will pass this to Deputy Gannon.

Beth.

Thank you, Dr. Pedroza.

Good evening, Directors.

Rob Gannon, Deputy Superintendent.

I will try to give some high level overview of the financial implications of the tentative agreement.

I will say at the outset of my remarks, we have been working throughout the pendency of the tentative agreement throughout the negotiations.

to understand the various components of each proposal whether presented by the Educators Union or presented by SPS.

We managed a very fluid situation by trying to cost proposals throughout and then there was a lot of activity at the very end as we tried to bring everything together.

I offer that in part to say we do not have materials to present to you this evening with some of these figures because they're still in a state of analysis and we're trying to put them together in a way that is verifiable and ready to present to the board formally.

So if you'll indulge me, I'll give you some figures and try to answer questions as necessary.

The first figure that I would like to share with you is that the rough estimate for the overall cost of the agreement over three years is approximately $228 million.

That breaks down in different figures for each year, just over $50 million in the first year, $78.5 million in the second year, and nearly $99 million in the third year.

The costs are balanced over the years as best we can, leveraging a number of funding sources or available funds within our budget.

And there are also different implementation timelines and different figures that are impacted in each year.

So there is not a direct linear growth year over year, but that accounts for some of the variation.

The first year of our agreement impacts the current fiscal year.

The costs of that of the first year total approximately $11.7 million above general fund allocation.

But at the same time, we have figured out ways within our resources by shifting dollars, tapping into planned contingency funds and using ESSER funds as available.

to say that the current fiscal year should be balanced.

So even though we will see approximately $11.7 million of additional cost above the general fund, we believe that in this current year we have, this current fiscal year, we have the means to resolve that without any additional, without any programmatic cuts or significant adjustments to existing services.

I'll return to that in just a second.

The second year cost is about $32.7 million above our general fund allocation.

And the third year, just fiscal year 24-25, is just shy of approximately $47 million above our general fund allocation.

I'd like to put those figures in some longer term context.

And again, to simplify, the current fiscal year, we have found the resources within our budget that we think that we can have still a balanced budget for the year without any immediate impact to programs.

In year two, 22, excuse me, 2023-24, we would anticipate a shortfall in the neighborhood of about $47.5 million.

In arriving at that figure, however, I want to note that there are still a number of uncertainties that we won't have a clearer grasp on until later in this calendar year, sometime in October.

That is, we'll need to understand what our enrollment will look like, what our ending fund balance for the recently closed fiscal year will be, and importantly, we will need to consider is it appropriate to tap our economic stabilization fund to help balance the 23-24 budget.

So the figure I state of 47.5 million initially presumes that we would use that one-time fund if we did not, then that figure would grow by some $39 million.

So, from roughly $47.5 million to $46.5, or excuse me, math is not going to work here, $92.5 million or $91.5 million, something in that range.

Again, I'm not Indicating one way or another whether we should use the Economic Stabilization Fund, it will be something that this board has to consider and we as a district have to consider as we begin to frame the next year's budget.

However, for sake of argument, if we presume that we do use the Economic Stabilization Fund, which is a one-time fund, it doesn't automatically renew, going into the third year of this agreement, we would not be able to tap into that resource.

And our initial projection for the out-year shortfall totals $139 million.

So I'm just going to recap briefly.

For 22-23, the current fiscal year, we believe we have an approach to keep our budget balanced.

In the second year of the agreement, 23-24, were we to tap into a number of funds, including the Economic Stabilization Fund, face a $47.5 million shortfall in the third year 24-25 without the Economic Stabilization Fund, be facing right now a projected shortfall of $139 million.

I have mentioned that we are using our ESSER dollars as effectively as we possibly can.

Some of the ways that we are balancing the current fiscal year are using ESSER dollars and bringing those expenses into the bringing expenses from the current year against those ESSER dollars.

We had planned to reserve some of our ESSER funds for anticipated shortfalls in our budget specifically in transportation and potentially in an enrollment shortfall.

So we still have some ESSER dollars reserved for that.

But in order to balance the current year budget we now have fewer ESSER dollars reserved to absorb potential or anticipated shortfalls in our transportation costs as well as the potential of enrollment shortfalls.

We have moved some expenses directly to ESSER and we believe that it is an appropriate expenditure.

Some examples of that include the the one-time bonuses for potentially for parapros and SEOPs employees.

Some of our special ed costs that we anticipate incurring.

And the social workers that we will be adding to comprehensive middle and high schools.

Those are appropriate expenditures under ESSER and we are making full use of those dollars.

So again, that is a very preliminary overview of where we sit in the fiscal impact of this tentative agreement.

If it is ultimately ratified by the Education Association, and if it comes before this board and is approved, that is our initial analysis, but we'll bring forward more refined analysis when the BAR is presented to the board.

With that, I will turn it back to Dr. Jones.

be happy to take questions as they as they arise from the board.

Sorry as President Hampson please entertain questions from the board.

Okay let's well we heard them all at once like let's take them in categories so that we can get through as many of the directors

Can I ask a brief procedural question before we get to questions related to this?

Okay.

This is going, okay, so let's assuming, what are our other, okay, I'm trying to stay with informational questions about what's being presented.

What is the trajectory for this item and timing and when other concerns or questions that may not have to do with exactly what's being presented?

When would we have those questions?

Would that be at introduction?

And then is, you know, typically there's introduction and action for a TA.

Is that going to happen this time as well?

It was trying to contextualize.

Yes, my projection is that we would have an intro and action either at the next board meeting after ratification by SEA or we have a special meeting if we want to do that quicker than that.

But that's typically how we've done it in the past.

OK, so let's start with The compensation questions.

Do we have any questions for Dr. Pritchett in particular on compensation.

Director Rankin.

You don't have to tell me now but I would like to know how how many people that's all covers.

How many certs.

How many classifies.

If you don't know now that's okay.

But I'm interested in that information.

We can get you the exact number.

You mean existing employees that this impacts.

Okay.

I have one question.

Did you have a question on any of the director summaries.

Go ahead.

How does this progress relative to other districts in terms of compensation.

Comparable higher lower.

This would put us in a comparable space with other districts in the surrounding area.

Go ahead Director Rivera-Smith.

I'm wondering so this is a 7 percent 4 and 3. This is really IPD plus something correct.

Can you break that down.

Director Rivera-Smith yes in the first year 7% represents IPD plus 1.5%.

In the second year, the language of the agreement, I believe, reads 4% or IPD, whichever is greater.

Current figure from the state for IPD in the second year is 2.0.

In the third year of the agreement, The language reads similarly IP or 3 percent or IPD, whichever is greater.

And if I recall correctly, IPD in the third year is forecasted at 1.9 percent.

If we could just quickly.

So anybody who's listening understands what IPD stands for and what it represents.

And why they're two separate items, because I think it's important for folks to understand what gets reimbursed and what doesn't.

Thank you President or Vice President Hampson.

IPD officially stands for Implicit Price Deflator.

I would say it's more colloquially understood as a cost of living adjustment.

So when we use IPD it is a state driven figure.

It is used consistently throughout the state of Washington.

And that is all we get reimbursed for.

So when we say IPD plus something that's reimburse plus general fund, essentially, or how is that out of us?

I think the short answer is yes.

The state provides us the funding for IPD.

However, it's important to recall that the district has made many choices over the years, and we compensate our employees differently.

and we have certain positions that we have added that aren't accounted for in the state model.

So were we to rough out IPD as allocated by the state and distributed evenly across all of our employees, our equivalent effect of IPD would be about 3.6%.

So, or stated more simply, we receive about 3.6% of, well, we receive 3.6 percent of the 5.5 that is identified as IPD.

We do not receive a full allocation from the state to cover all of our costs associated with employees.

Thank you.

I had a quick question about the the 0.5 social workers at each middle K-8 and high school, is that correct?

Yes.

That's regardless of demographics?

Correct.

So it's the same amount for every school?

It is.

But you had, no, Vivian, you had another question?

Thank you.

I have questions around ESSER and the Economic Stabilization Fund, which we also know as the Rainy Day Fund.

So I'll start with Sorry, sorry.

Yeah, let me.

We went off track.

I wanted to do this in segments.

So we're still going to go through special education and then we'll get to the fiscal part.

Oh, okay.

I thought we were talking.

Okay.

Got it.

Okay.

Your question was about ESSERs though.

Is there a compensation question?

It's related because the question about ESSER was, when is the date that we need to spend the ESSER money?

Because I was surprised to learn that we are using ESSER money for social workers, which are ideally ongoing positions.

But there should be a final date for when we need to spend that money.

Let's hold that while Rob.

figures that out and go through the special education questions.

Okay.

Who has questions about the special education or multilingual component?

I didn't get a briefing on that, but.

I have a question about the section that's actually before that.

You mean compensation?

No.

Well, I guess so.

One time incentive payments slash professional development.

Yeah.

Including that.

Okay.

One day of district directed professional development training.

that is in this section because it's compensated and it wouldn't have been previously or what does that mean.

That means that we would we would actually use one of the days that we already get and we would make one of those days a district-directed day.

So it's adding on well it's not adding on a day it's changing one of the days that we already get to a district-directed day.

One of the days of Tri-Days?

Okay.

So this doesn't impact early release days.

That's not included in that.

That's different.

Okay.

Thanks.

Okay.

Moving on to special education.

Any questions?

Go ahead.

She raised her hand.

Thank you.

We have heard an enormous amount about the task force.

We've heard it from all sectors and stakeholders.

And there appears to be some extraordinary miscommunication and misunderstanding about the task force, who was on it, whether or not The recommendations should have been released whether or not the recommendations were fully vetted and what impact that has on our concept of air quotes inclusion.

And I'm wondering when we will be able to see on our website translated into languages and in fifth or sixth grade language, not educrat, bureaucraties, multi-syllable doctorate degree words for our communities, parents, students, and taxpayers.

Thank you.

So just to clarify, is the ask when the recommendations from this past year's special education task force will be made public onto the website.

Is that the question?

That's the question, but background because I believe there is huge misunderstanding as to why it hasn't been released and what effect it has on the TA.

So I just want to clarify for the public what the purpose of joint task force are, because I did list and shared about a joint new joint task force for multilingual and dual language.

So just for the public to understand that a joint task force under a bargaining agreement, the CBA is not a superintendent or a school board task force as recognized through our policies and procedures.

This task force is actually under the guidance of the collective bargaining agreement with a joint interest in developing recommendations for future bargains.

That is the purpose of the task force.

The task force as listed in the special education task force, CBA, recommends that they are members from the Seattle Education Association appointed by their leadership teams and special in this case special education staff.

And we also include principals part of this task force.

And in this last bargain we agreed that family members community members should also be so we have it listed as five parent representative representatives of family members who have children with IEPs on that task force.

And so in order to publish anything we have to have joint agreement by SEA and Seattle Public Schools to jointly release those task force.

We can go back and we can ask SEA if they are willing to put those on our website.

We can ask that question.

One thing we did change.

So when one thing we changed for the EL I mean the multilingual and the dual language one is that there is going to be a report.

It is not written in there that it'll be a published report on the website.

But again, if that is the request of the board to do this in a timely manner, we will have a report at the end of the year.

We can make sure to ask SEA at the end of the year for both task force if we jointly agree to post those those bargaining discussions or interests at the joint task force recommendations on the website.

So I can, that is an ask.

We can ask.

But at this time, it is not written in the CBA, but that is publishable document yet.

So, but I will ask.

I'll put it in the notes desk.

But I just want to share the difference between a joint task force under the labor agreement versus a district community task force.

The words are confusing.

Thanks.

And just to clarify really quickly this board cannot is not taking action at this time on anything so there is no board ask because one single request is not an action make.

If we want to make that a formal ask we would need to do it from the dais.

So just for clarity that any of us asking for that here is just in the air.

Go ahead Director Rankin.

I do have a lot of feelings and opinions and I'm going to really try to save those and just ask about what's here in front of us.

Resource continuum and extended resource.

So to me extended resource implies that there's resource and extended resource.

So when you say resource continuum, what's that referring to?

Resource continuum, as it's written in the agreement, would be similar to what the resource service model is currently.

It's just renamed the resource continuum.

So why is it called a continuum if it doesn't?

Why isn't?

starting to get into opinion.

I find that a little confusing because it seems like that would include the students now being designated in the extended resource pathway.

And if it doesn't I just I'm not seeing what makes it a continuum I guess.

So that's kind of confusing and I want to make sure it's really clear about who that applies to especially if it still includes ratios.

Does it still include ratios or how is that working.

Yeah, the resource continuum at this time would still include ratios.

Okay.

The...

And those ratios are based on what?

In the ratios that were chosen.

Some of it was based on current contract language and then some of it was also to include the ability to get more inclusion into those spaces.

But beyond that I can't talk too much more about it because we're not at a ratified agreement at this time.

Right.

Okay.

Thank you.

But it sounds like there's not a factor in there to determine actual services needed by students.

It's by number of students.

Can you answer that?

I can't answer that at this time.

Yeah.

All students receiving special education services have access to general education teachers, curricular materials and instruction.

Anybody who has a child in special education might think, well, that's weird.

Why didn't they before?

So my question is that that being highlighted here, Does that mean that it's in the bargain that has been agreed to that general education teachers will be providing those materials to support students who receive services by providing them to the IAs and special education teachers?

Is that the agreement?

Without going too far into the actual agreement, that is the intent at the high level is what you're referring to, yes.

Thank you.

And then I mean, I still have I have a lot of questions about the flexible staffing, but I assume that's going to be more detailed than we can talk about right now.

The recommitment to the joint special education task force.

Is that does that mean that that's another bargaining task force as described by Dr. Pedroza?

That is correct.

Since it's part of the collective bargaining agreement, it becomes a bargaining task force.

OK, so what I want to be super duper clear on is that if it's a bargaining task force intended to advise future bargains that is about the needs of adults.

So outside of this I'm assuming and hoping and going to insist that there's additional advisory and other things that does include families and can be made public that is about our system as a whole.

And I just want to make sure that having this there doesn't supersede that.

Sorry, and I'll just share that that is our commitment as well, is to have a superintendent advisory committee as an external group with community members under, and we're using the Special Education Advisory Committee, re-envisioning that work.

We need to partner with certain teams.

We have people we've talked to, but it'll be under the guidance and under the policy under Superintendent Ray Jones.

And those will be

public and the focus of their work will be about improving outcomes for students.

Yeah, all of the agenda, just like we do for the Highly Capable Advisory Group, all the agenda, the notes and the minutes will be published on a website.

And this will include not only parents, educators, principal, also advocacy groups and some groups that offer disability justice as well.

So that's the intent of that.

And with the focus on I'll just add culturally responsive inclusionary practices.

And so that is the that is the goal.

Okay great.

And then my one other question about that is that this is related to what Director Harris asked about recommendations being made public.

Since it is a joint task force between labor partner and district and the intent is to kind of pre-determine, pre-navigate some collaboration around things that might be bargained in the future.

What is the commitment, if any, to adhere to that once bargaining begins on either side, on either party?

Because you know what I'm asking.

So, 1 of the things about, um, I can't get too far into the details because it is a bargaining task force.

However, it is very clear that in those in a bargaining task force, but will come forward as a set of recommendations.

And based off of those sets of recommendations, that's where, um, and SPS.

can take some of the information and use it in their bargain.

So the intent is to come forward with recommendations, and then each side at the table can determine which pieces of it they're looking to move, essentially.

So even though those recommendations have been agreed to by both parties as part of the work of the task force when they produce the recommendations, it doesn't necessarily mean that they have to be adhered to in bargaining, even though the intent is to work on things to prepare for bargaining?

Yeah, that is correct.

Director Rivera-Smith and then to Director Harris.

And I hope this is the right time for this one.

I have a question about the two school categories that will sunset.

And I'm wondering the satellite schools and the continuum schools does this mean that those schools or students will be absorbed by all other schools.

Like the sunset is something else taking up on being absorbed.

So essentially, when we talk about continuum and satellite schools, the difference currently in the contract and the way that it has operated is it depended on the number of program models each school had, whether they were considered a continuum or a satellite school.

In the tentative agreement, without getting into too many details, there was a move to have the staffing more stabilized across the district and hence no longer a need to have those designations of a continuum or a satellite school.

And then bigger picture when we're thinking about the move towards inclusion the more we can get some of those labels away that are unnecessary that is a win for everybody.

Thank you.

Director Harris I see your hand Director Rankin.

Thank you.

I've heard from a number of folks that have backgrounds in this.

Is it possible that the task force agreed to report out three times a year to the public in the current CBO?

Not the one we just negotiated.

The one that we just finished.

So that that's a dichotomy I'm having trouble equating.

So and I know it's hard to remember there's so many education At the Education Committee, there was reports just sharing out some of the work that was a task force work that was happening.

If you look through the agendas, there were line items.

And we did that through the committee work and the special education updates at various times throughout the year.

So.

An SPS administration line that is reporting out to the public.

Is that what you're telling us?

So if you're asking, I know what you're I know you're asking.

That's what we did the report out.

Like I said before, like I mentioned earlier, any final report has to be agreed upon by the by the task force.

I get what you're asking.

Can you clarify quickly what you're talking about in terms of three times there?

What was your question about?

I've been told.

by people that have a great deal of depth, background and history, that the task force would report to the public at least three times a year.

And what the follow up question, given what you've just told us is, does SPS administration consider that public transparency by going through SSC&I committee?

Those are public meetings?

And so I don't.

Accessible?

Transparent?

Well, they're accessible because they're online.

They're video.

I mean, they're recorded.

The memos are published.

All the memos are published.

So we have we have shared out to the committee at various times throughout the year updates from the task force that we felt we could update at those times.

Thank you.

OK, I have a question about the whether or not the there was any expertise outside of SEA or SPS that was thought to be included in that task force.

Meaning a neutral subject matter expert in the process of changing a from a segregated system to an inclusion system.

I remind that it is a bargaining task force, so I can't go into too many details, but what I can share is that the composition is dictated by the Collective Bargaining Agreement, because it's actually written and codified in language.

However, I can share that the team did engage in research as we were doing this, and so we did have a research set that was used as part of developing the recommendations.

They weren't just merely based off of anybody within SPS's or SEA's thinking without looking at those things.

Now I'm talking about going forward the makeup of the of the task force in the TA if that would include if that's part of the makeup because you went through the makeup of parents and SPS.

Not at this time.

Okay.

Director Rankin.

Somewhat related to that and then also related to the sunsetting of the two programs the So it's a sorry to go to perseverate on this.

It's a bargaining task force like the board.

Those of us right here are the representatives of the vision and the values of the community.

And the superintendent operationalize operate operationalizes.

those things as we provide education as required by law, basically.

So to me, a bargaining task force is important for adults to consider the impact that our operations and our desired priorities are going to have on the adults.

But it shouldn't be where instruction is designed because it's a bargaining task force with a labor union.

And so that's where I think there might be some confusion is that talking about moving towards inclusion did not come out of nowhere and it did not only happen in this bargaining task force in a way that wasn't public.

We can go back three years to public meetings to where we stated this is a priority.

Work was happening.

Progress was made.

Updates were brought.

So I just want to be really clear that the bargaining task forces are very critical so that implementation isn't done in a way that doesn't consider the impact on the adults because the adults are the ones providing these things.

So we do we have to have those conversations.

Those are critical conversations and a critical role of the union.

But when it's a I just want to make sure we don't get into designing what the district is providing.

Does that make sense.

And that's where I think there's maybe some confusion.

And that also kind of goes along with the sunsetting of the programs.

I'm not 100 percent clear on why that would be.

bargained because does it impact people's positions or does it because it seems to me like it impacts more allowing it.

Am I understanding correctly that by sunsetting those models and labels more students would be allowed to attend their neighborhood school because they won't be told oh we don't have that program here because it's a program that we made up and we only have it some places.

Instead they will be able to have services at their school.

So this seems to be a bigger impact to student assignment and enrollment.

rather than labor.

So is that just in there as just like we agree those are going to go away and might impact your program title or I'm just worried about.

Are there going to be restrictions having that in a labor agreement to being able to let students go to their neighborhood school?

Or is this that mechanism?

I'm a little bit confused.

Sorry, that's why my question is kind of confusing.

I'll start by saying that the reason that it needs to be bargained is it is part of the current agreement.

And so if it's that we want to get that removed, it is a conversation we would have to have with the SEA.

And if you think about it from a higher level, It is part of the steps necessary to get us to more inclusive modeling as a district to get rid of those labels so that we can start getting kids into their neighborhood schools more.

Oh, yeah, I want them going.

Let's be really clear.

That's not my question, but yeah.

OK, so.

This doesn't restrict assigning and assigning work, and that's OK.

OK, OK.

Go ahead, Director Rivera-Smith.

I have a question and I'm not asking this because I think it's supposed to be there, but I want to know is there a definition for inclusion in the CBA in this negotiated contract?

No.

But I will share that all of the members of the bargaining team on both sides have a copy of 0010 and they received it from our team in the session and everyone is clear that 0010 is the policy forthcoming for the work that we continue to endeavor.

So I will share that.

They have a copy of that.

I remember on that team has it.

Okay.

So any informational, educational, clarifying questions about what we're talking about?

Director Yuan.

Do you have any questions.

Not to put you on the spot but to give you the opportunity.

Okay.

So any questions on the I'm just letting commentary filter out of my mind.

Any commentary on the fiscal package.

Director Harris.

Did I say commentary.

I meant any questions.

What did I say.

No commentary please.

Any questions.

You are no fun anymore.

Okay.

I think these go to Deputy Superintendent Gannon and Superintendent Jones or whomever is best capable to answer.

It has been said by ever so many folks We are sitting on a pile of ESSER funds.

Sitting on a pile of economic stabilization rainy day funds.

And somehow we have hidden slush funds that we are going to be balancing the budget with.

And I'd like to know where that printing press is for the money.

That's a question.

I'd like to know You talked some about decreased enrollment.

We don't have a clue what our decreased enrollment is this year until the October 1st count.

Is that correct.

If our enrollment shrinks as much as it has in the last few years how does that impact your calculations and your projections.

And last, how is it that we are going to deal with these years two and three out year deficits if in fact we don't have a printing press in the basement and we're not sitting on a pile of slush funds that we're misusing and we're not all corrupt?

Thank you.

I'll respond, no printing press.

I'm not sure we even have a basement, do we?

If not, I was not shown that on the tour.

I do want Deputy Gannon to respond to our utilization of ESSER funds, but we do not, let me be clear, we do not have an extra set of funds that we are not accessing or utilizing, that's come and gone a long time ago.

We are at the limit in terms of utilization of extra funds, and we are even to the point where we are probably stretched beyond the capacity currently.

But Robert, if you talk about our capacity that we've used in ESSER to date, that'd be great.

And just to confirm, we don't have a printing press, so we wish we did.

It would be necessary for the out years to continue your concern.

The ESSER funds are fully accounted for, and I can't do justice verbally to how all of the funds are being expended, but we could either submit that to the board for their consideration and follow up in either the Executive Committee or the Audit and Finance Committee.

And ultimately, when we bring forward a tentative agreement, presuming that the union ratifies the agreement, we can explain how ESSER funds are being deployed against this particular agreement.

There is a full accounting, and we're happy to share that, but without the benefit of projecting it on the board I fear I would lose everybody very quickly.

I'm also happy to set up individual meetings with any of the directors who would like to see how our ESSER funds are being expended.

Quick follow up if I might please very quickly.

At what point can we break down the two hundred and ninety page line item budget into a one or two page communication tool to our public, to our legislators, and all the other folks who don't apparently trust us, and how soon can we get that out?

But, Director Harris, we can certainly, we are working on that.

I think, as I've mentioned to you in other sessions, that that is in development.

This is our first public discussion about that, but we are working on a simplified version of our current financial status that is suitable to share to a public and have that available prior to the introduction of this item again, were it to be ratified by the education union.

Secondly, regardless of how SEA acts on the proposed tentative agreement in October, we will be framing out the budget challenges that we'll face in development this year.

We'll be speaking specifically to the use of ESSER funds, what the Economic Stabilization Fund, what impact it could or could not have future shortfalls.

And at that point, also have a better handle, better understanding on the enrollment projection and what direct impact it has on your budgets.

That is all information that in many ways is desperately needs to be put into a public understanding so that when we engage beginning in October fully understanding the challenge that we as a district face.

Director Summers I believe you're up next.

Thank you.

Just for the public's benefit, I did actually request that the details around how we were planning to spend the ESSER money in the 2022-23 school year be posted to our current budget page, and it was immediately posted.

So I encourage people to have a look there.

I know we're not supposed to make requests because we're not taking action, but I think it would be helpful to know what aspects of that ESSER and have been shifted.

What's not, what are we no longer spending money on to cover the cost, for example, of our social workers?

And during this course of this meeting, I looked it up quickly.

The money has to be spent by September of 2024. So I'm curious what our expectations going forward are to cover the cost of those positions on an ongoing basis.

So my question is around the Economic Stabilization Fund, which sometimes we call the Rainy Day Fund.

So it sounds like in your review that we would spend the entirety of the thirty nine million dollars in the twenty three, twenty four school year.

Did I get that right?

To cover our deficit.

Yes, that's generally what I said, but with the caveat that it would require board action to deplete the fund below a prescribed threshold.

So it would deplete the fund with board approval in the 23-24 school year.

And then in the 24-25 school year, we would have no rainy day fund to rely on to cover our deficit.

And we would have to have a plan to repay it as well.

Yes, so both of those are correct.

OK, great.

I just want to make sure that we're all on the same page.

what the fiscal implications in the out years will be for us.

Thank you.

Director Sangmarit if I could just amend one of your statements.

It is true that we are projecting the use of ESSER funds for social worker positions.

We also do not have an ongoing funding source beyond those years and so those costs are currently reflected in those shortfalls.

perhaps opportunity to solicit the state to consider different funding models.

But right now, we do not have an out-of-year plan for those positions.

Director Sumritz, is the page 18 of the presentation to the board with the ESSER's breakdown, is that the page you were talking about on the budget page?

Because it is there.

What I was referring to was on the SDS website on the current budget page, there is a link to the ESSER spending plan as of May 30. What is spent as of May 31st, 2022?

And I was just looking for it and not seeing it.

I can send you a link, but I just want to know.

I mean, I'm on the page, so I was wondering just for anybody who wants to look at it.

If I may, just for the benefit of Director Sondra's question, The use of ESSER funds is also now, well, how we have expended ESSER funds in the recently closed fiscal year now is part of our year-end closing process.

So we're literally, the accounting staff continues to identify what is an appropriate use of current ESSER funds and how much of a balance would be available coming year.

So between May I'm sorry whatever date you stated and today those figures will shift slightly.

That's what we're working to update so that we can present to the board a current picture of our ESSER expenditure and what is available in time under that legislation.

Okay.

In the meantime there's one on page 8 of the June 22nd 18 of the June 22nd 2022 board presentation.

If folks want to look at that very extensive Detail.

Okay.

Who is next.

Director Rankin.

Yeah I was.

I have sent to some people who have asked me by email that that same page which I think is the page that's linked to that again has been discussed in public and is documented.

It's not always super easy to find but the board requested you know a couple times and received, as we have this document, that we have a separate conversation or a separate presentation within the budget about understanding ESSER dollars.

If Here's my question.

If, because we are making decisions now for potential future people that are not, well, some people will still be here, but well, who knows?

If a future board does not want to deplete the rainy day fund, which I recall the Rainy Day Fund being very useful when COVID hit because we were able to upgrade ventilation and filtration really fast before other districts were who didn't have that while everyone was waiting for ESSER dollars.

So I'm just going to just say that real quick one more time.

We immediately were able to use that money to upgrade filtration and ventilation in our buildings in the summer and fall of 2020 immediately before ESSER dollars became available.

and other districts were not able to do that.

If something else like that were to happen in the future and then by state law and board policy we have to replenish the rainy day fund which is why it looked like you know why is that amount going back up when we have all these things to spend on.

It's because we're required by law to do that in the event that there's a big emergency like there was in spring of 2020. So if a future board decides not to use that money or depletes it and then doesn't replace it.

The implications of not having funds to cover is layoffs cuts like we're so 85.5 percent of our current budget goes to salaries which it should because people are our most important asset.

They're the only you know that our staff and teachers are are what makes Seattle Public Schools Seattle Public Schools what enables us to provide education.

If there's no funds there, I mean, if we bankrupt, if a future board decides to bankrupt the district, the state takes over, I assume, because we can't spend money we don't have.

It's state law that we have a balanced budget.

Do you have a question?

I do.

I got way into opinion.

So my question, I just guess I want clarification, because right now on paper, Assuming it's ratified as is by membership we the board will be asked to approve a contract that exceeds our budget.

Is that I mean we will be asked to approve a contract that's more money than we think we can spend.

I think you have the information.

You have to give a question about the information and that's we'll have that conversation when that's before us.

Okay.

Because I don't know that anything further can be discussed about it at this time.

I have a specific question.

Did you have a.

Go ahead Director Rivera-Smith.

It doesn't say so on anything we've seen right here.

Are there any openers.

Reopeners built into the constitutive agreement.

A re-opener, which would mean something that would cause us or where everyone agrees to come back to the table to reconsider in the future.

But you can or sometimes built into the contract because things aren't settled.

So there's one piece in there that discusses that over the life of the contract, we're going to be working on the workload calculator.

And if at such time, there is a determination between SPS and SCA that we would like to make a move on that, that would trigger an open bargain so that we would be able to implement that.

But that is captured in the tentative agreement, that part I feel okay sharing.

But yeah, that would be the only one that I know of.

So I didn't know if somebody else had their hand up over there.

I, so one way that, well, I would let, do you have percentages in front of you?

For these numbers?

Generally speaking, I don't have a lot of percentages, no.

I mean, I may be able to answer the question, but I.

I can, I mean, do the math in my head.

I would love to have those as well when we discuss this at intro.

I think it without percentages, we don't have any context.

We are operating budget is 1.2 million at this time.

1.3, 1.4.

Billion, but yes.

I mean, billion.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

That's what I meant.

That's the one we only have.

Got a couple thousand students.

Yes, I'm sorry, 1.2 billion.

Yeah, I just took off a zero, you know, no big deal.

I took off three zeros.

Thank you.

See, I can't see the math in my head.

I need the percentages.

So the percent of the budget that these are, the extent of the implications are large.

So that would be helpful to have when looking at the scale of things, particularly as a look at the growth of the budget over time.

We might we're shrinking a bit possibly, but I don't know, costs are always we have inflation.

And so did you want to say something?

Because I have that's a request.

I have a specific question.

Vice President Hampson, I don't have percentages articulated in the documents in front of me.

For the fiscal year 2023-24, we expect revenue of about $1.046 billion.

We're projecting expenditures of $1.14 billion.

The larger figure of our overall budget accounts for other things, including capital expenditure for the year.

However, in response to your request, when we bring this information forward, we will show an expression of percentages and we will show growth or decline over years in various spending categories.

Okay.

So I want to get, I just want some clarification on the math for the, in 2023-24, we're looking at an excess over, overspend of 47.5 million projected before assuming that we use the entirety of the rainy day fund.

And that's assuming we don't add to the rainy day fund this year.

Is that correct or do we have?

That's correct.

The figure you cite 47.5 million makes a planning assumption that we would have used the full $39 million in the Economic Stabilization Fund.

So that's, I think, in part answer to your question.

In the current fiscal year, because there are no necessary adjustments to the Economic Stabilization Fund, residual funds, any ending fund balance would be carried forward into the subsequent fiscal year to offset projected shortfall.

In 23-24, we currently have a rough placeholder of $30 million that is helping to offset the shortfall, and it is included in that final figure of a shortfall of $47.5 million.

So, to state it more simply, We anticipate a resource gap in 23-24 of about $93.8 million.

We project a ending fund balance, a positive against that shortfall of roughly $30 million.

In addition, we would use the economic stabilization fund, $9 million.

As we did in the current fiscal year.

I'm sorry, you said, my original understanding was that We would be ending that year with an overspend of $47.5 billion.

Correct.

So.

And then buy that down.

I mean, including the the Economic Stabilization Fund, right?

That's correct.

I will I will share this document with the board just as soon as I can have some of the numbers verified and it will make it slightly more clear.

OK, I'm just looking back at my notes and I have with so sorry, I have with stabilization.

That's thirty nine million.

Which is the stabilization fund is currently thirty nine million dollars.

Oh, that's how much it is, OK.

And then in the subsequent year.

It's an overspend of forty seven million with the total projected ending deficit of $139 million?

The 24-25 fiscal year, right now, yes, has a projected shortfall of $139 million.

Because we had already projected a shortfall for that year.

That's correct.

We had already projected...

I just want to clarify that.

We were already in a place of deficit spending in the out years, meaning years beyond the current one for which we're budgeting on our current path.

And now we've added to that.

That's correct.

We would add approximately.

And we figured out how to cover it in the first year, but in the subsequent years, it's also pushed everything up a year meaning we're going to hit that those deficits sooner.

And as far as we know there's not a major we didn't get any indication from the state that there's a willingness to come in and try to help us pay our teachers so that they're number one and our staff so that their compensation is number one in the state in the most expensive place but then also meet the needs for students through the rest of our operations.

Okay.

Director Harris.

Thank you.

Quick question.

One number that I have not heard and I believe it's a numerator is how many students are we basing this these projections on.

Director Harris, I'll have to get that exact number for you.

I don't want to misstate it.

It is.

I don't want to misstate it, but it is in the neighborhood of 47,500, I believe.

Okay.

Would you agree that that is a critical piece of information for everyone?

Us, the public, SEA, every darn person in this city?

I certainly wouldn't disagree with that.

How about that?

Works for me.

Thank you, sir.

I did want to get back to Dr. Pritchett has the number of employees that are covered by the compensation package.

So our total number and it'll be slightly off because we don't have numbers exact numbers for substitutes but we have a total of 5,586 SEA members and that breaks down into 3,886 Certificated 1,384 care professionals, 316 office professionals.

It will be a slightly higher number of actual people because those are the actual full-time positions that we're counting.

And so there are some folks that are half-time, so the actual number of people would be slightly higher.

So that that is FTE just like it is in the enrollment stuff.

Okay.

Yes.

Okay.

Any other questions.

Back to you Superintendent Jones.

So as we normally do, bringing a TA to close, we start to compile all of the TAs and then we represent it in a fully bound collective bargaining agreement.

That effort takes weeks, months, but what we'll present to you is in a bar around the summary of the agreement.

And so that would be the next step.

And we'll be working on that with the assumption that there'll be a TA, that there'll be a ratification by SEA.

So we'll start that work.

And if in the event that it doesn't happen, we will still continue to work on bringing that binder, if you will, of TAs and ultimately the new 22-23-26 collective bargaining agreement.

So that's the process we're projecting to bring it to the September 28th board meeting for intro and action.

So I wanted to just be clear on what we believe and what we're projecting are the next steps.

Director Rankin do you have a question.

Yes I do thank you.

Sorry so you said that the BAR will be a summary Not the full document.

It will not be the full document.

But it's going to be more than this right.

Oh absolutely.

Absolutely.

Okay so that's the 28th.

So between now and then if we have questions I guess do we know when they're voting.

Director Rankin we do not know when they're voting.

I'm just wondering how best to proceed with other questions that I have when it comes to actually.

Superintendent Johnson.

So can I any time between now and then or do you want.

Let me work with President Hersey around how would how would be best to collect information and present it to you all.

That's OK with you.

Yeah.

And then dare I even ask us what happens if it's not ratified by membership.

Liza.

OK.

We the only thing left on the agenda is board comments so if you're willing to unless someone has comments that they would like to make then I can say that I saw a bumper sticker on the way in here.

This is my one and only board comment that says every moment is an opportunity for transformation and love.

Can it also be an opportunity to remind everyone that this year's legislative session is a budget session at the state legislature?

Is that your board comment?

Yeah, my board comment as the legislative liaison for the school board is that a lot of the issues that have come up in the last couple of weeks are not new issues.

In 2014, Yeah, so this is my board comment.

In 2014, voters passed a ballot initiative to reduce class sizes.

Reduce class size, increase staffing for students all across Washington.

Part of that stipulation was that it would be halfway funded in the 2015-2017 biennium and the rest of the way by 2019 and that has still not been funded.

Why don't we have counselors?

Why don't we have this?

Why doesn't every school have a nurse?

It's because the state doesn't pay for it.

And the state is how we are funded.

And so that passed.

by the voters of Washington state still hasn't been funded.

We addressed some of that last legislative session.

We got some enrollment stabilization from the state, but that was just for, that's gone.

And some adjustments to physical, social, and emotional health for students in the form of nurses, counselors, social workers, and psychologists.

Those improvements were really great for the state of Washington.

They still fund less than the level that we in SPS fund those positions up, commensurate with those increases.

We also, the board approved in our budget, continuing to increase those positions, I think some of which may have been reflected in what we were just talking about, but It still doesn't meet the level of need that our students and our staff have.

And that's on the state and also our special education multiplier.

Anybody who wants to know more about that I'm very happy to talk about it a lot.

But I just have to say remember that it is a state legislative budget year which means they are planning how to spend money for the next two years and they still have not made good on a commitment to voters that voters approved in 2014.

We're the prototypical model.

Okay did you have comments Director Rivera-Smith.

Okay.

And regardless every day we show up here and in spite of any how well we may or may not be resourced do our very best to create the conditions that allow students to succeed and find their joy and realize their potential.

So thank you all for your service and with that we stand adjourned at 648 p.m.

Thank you.