SPEAKER_17

Good afternoon, everyone.

SPEAKER_13

The board meeting will be called to order in a moment and SPS will begin broadcasting.

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

This is President Rankin.

I am now calling the August 28th, 2024 regular board meeting to order at 419 p.m.

This meeting is being recorded.

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

Ms. Wilson-Jones, the roll call please.

SPEAKER_17

Director Briggs.

SPEAKER_10

Present.

SPEAKER_17

Director Clark.

Present.

SPEAKER_18

Director Hersey.

SPEAKER_02

Here.

SPEAKER_18

Director Mizrahi.

SPEAKER_02

Present.

SPEAKER_18

Vice President Sarju.

SPEAKER_02

Present.

SPEAKER_18

Director Top.

SPEAKER_14

Here.

SPEAKER_18

And President Rankin.

Here.

SPEAKER_13

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

Thank you.

SPEAKER_07

Thank you, President Rankin, board members, and those in attendance today.

In just one week, we'll be welcoming our students back for a brand new school year, and we couldn't be more excited.

Our top priority is to provide exceptional learning experiences from day one, ensuring each student has a chance to thrive.

This summer, we focused our efforts on equipping our administrators and educators with the best training to ensure they can continue to deliver high-quality, effective instruction.

We know that when students grasp concepts early, they are more likely to retain and apply that knowledge throughout the year.

I'm pleased to report our indicator suggests we are ready for a great year.

Our buses are ready to roll.

Our schools are preparing to open their doors.

We are fortunate and thankful to our community's investment in our public educators and our staffing.

We are in very good shape.

We also understand a safe and welcoming environment is essential for learning.

That's why we've partnered with Mayor Harrell to introduce a three-part strategy to enhance safety in and around our schools.

The school-based measures are that we are increasing staffing and improving our infrastructure.

Our community-based measures is that we are rolling out violence prevention programs.

And with our law enforcement collaboration, we are strengthening our ties with law enforcement to better protect our schools.

The details of our safety strategy can be found on our website.

We've also been talking about well-resourced schools, and as we look ahead, we're committed to building a system of well-resourced schools that meets the diverse needs of our students.

This is a critical conversation, and we're grateful for the support and engagement from our families and communities.

Here's a brief update on how we got here.

Seattle Public Schools has seen a decline in enrollment over the years, with our current student population, about half it was in 1980. Despite this, we still operate nearly the same number of school buildings.

Over the past seven years alone, our enrollment has dropped by 4,000 students.

This decline has left many of our elementary schools with fewer than 300 students.

Smaller schools often lack vital resources, such as full-time nurses, assistant principals, and teachers for art, music, and PE.

OUR DISTRICT HAS FACED SIGNIFICANT BUDGET CHALLENGES WITH DEFICITS TOTALING OVER 200 MILLION IN RECENT YEARS.

FOR THE UPCOMING YEAR, WE'RE LOOKING AT ANOTHER SUBSTANTIAL DEFICIT OF APPROXIMATELY 100 MILLION.

WE'VE REACHED A POINT WHERE IT'S NO LONGER POSSIBLE TO CLOSE THESE GAPS WITHOUT MAKING SIGNIFICANT CUTS TO ALREADY UNDER RESOURCE SCHOOLS.

To ensure the long-term health of our school system, our board adopted a fiscal stabilization plan last December, and this plan supports the development of well-resourced schools, which unfortunately requires some school consolidations.

In May, the board asked me to return with preliminary recommendations on how we can design a system that is the right size with the right programs and the right resources to fuel student success for generations to come.

We believe that every student deserves to attend a well-resourced school, a place where pre-kindergarten programs give children a strong start.

Special education services are accessible in their neighborhood schools.

Art, music, and PE are part of the regular curriculum.

Grade-level teachers can collaborate to ensure every student's needs are met.

Staffing and resources are stable so students have consistency with caring adults they know and love.

Reducing the footprint of our elementary schools will help us achieve two goals, creating better learning environments for students and balancing our budget.

For instance, consolidating schools not only saves money by reducing fixed operational costs, but it also means more teachers per grade level, which increases collaboration and helps teachers better understand and support their students.

It also saves money by reducing fixed costs associated with operating a school.

Talk about the timeline here.

This summer, our team has been hard at work prepping different scenarios to right-size our schools and ensure they're equipped with the resources necessary for student success.

When deciding which schools will remain open, we're considering several factors.

one, the number of schools in each geographic area, two, the physical conditions of each building, and whether the buildings are designed to accommodate all students, including those in special education, receiving special education services, and pre-kindergarten programs.

Our goal is not to target schools for closure, but rather to identify and develop a system of buildings that align with current and projected enrollment.

We estimate that creating a system of well-resourced schools will save our district approximately $30 million of our $100 million deficit.

While this may seem like a small portion, relatively speaking, it's crucial because this deficit compounds over time if it's unaddressed.

And this will threaten our long-term stability of our schools.

Maintaining the status quo is simply not an option.

Without these changes, we risk further cuts to essential services, which could lead to larger class sizes, limited preschool options, and reductions in programs like athletics and music.

Moving forward, during the week of September 9th, we'll be launching a new well-resourced schools hub on our website.

This hub will provide a detailed analysis of our current portfolio of elementary school buildings and offer insights into what these changes might mean for you and your families.

We want to be there alongside of you with every step of the way, helping you to understand and navigate these changes.

We will also be connecting with families throughout September and into early October to host opportunities to gather feedback, answer questions, and continue to refine our plans.

We'll present another update to our board on September 18th with a preliminary recommendation expected in October.

Site-based hearings will follow this preliminary recommendation, and then the board will then introduce and take formal action in the following months.

President Rankin, this is my interpretation of the action to date.

And as we look forward, I would like to ensure that the board is understanding that I'm not misinterpreting the action that the board took on my part.

So in closing, we know this is a challenging time, but we believe that together we can navigate these changes to build a brighter future for our students.

So thank you.

Back to you, President Rankin.

SPEAKER_13

Any directors have questions for the superintendent on what we just heard?

Director Topp?

SPEAKER_14

Just a lot of dates thrown out so September 9 the well resource school hub goes up.

Yes, between the between September and October there will be community engagement on the information provided and the preliminary recommendation from the district will come in our October meeting that that's correct.

OK, perfect.

Thank you.

And then, sorry, on our September 18th meeting, we'll get an update, essentially, of how the engagement's going and where things are at.

SPEAKER_07

Yes, you will.

SPEAKER_14

OK, thank you.

That clears up any questions I have.

Thank you, Dr. Jones.

SPEAKER_09

Vice President Sarju.

I didn't hear community engagement.

I thought I heard something else, like hearings.

SPEAKER_07

Yes, so we'll be connecting with families throughout September into early October to host opportunity to gather their feedback and answer questions and that will help us continue to refine our plans.

SPEAKER_13

All right.

SPEAKER_07

THANK YOU.

SPEAKER_13

THANK YOU.

WE HAVE NOW COME TO THE BOARD COMMENTS SECTION ON THE AGENDA.

YES, BOARD COMMENTS.

WE ARE EXCITED TO WELCOME OUR STUDENTS BACK TO SCHOOL NEXT WEEK AND JUST HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO WELCOME OUR NEW STUDENT MEMBERS FOR THE SCHOOL YEAR WITH AN OATH OF OFFICE CEREMONY RIGHT BEFORE THIS MEETING.

AS WE KICK OFF THE SCHOOL YEAR, THANK YOU TO ALL THOSE JOINING YOU TONIGHT FOR OUR FIRST REGULAR BOARD MEETING OF THE 2024-25 SCHOOL YEAR.

REGULAR BOARD MEETINGS ARE BUSINESS MEETINGS OF THE BOARD WHERE WE TAKE OFFICIAL ACTIONS ON ITEMS AS REQUIRED BY OUR POLICIES AND STATE LAW.

AS JUST A RESET, REFRESHER, WE HOLD BOARD MEETINGS IN PUBLIC.

But they are meetings of the board to do the business of the board.

There's something called the Open Public Meetings Act that means that we cannot and do not make any decisions without being in front of the public.

We're not allowed to meet in groups that would impact action taken by the board and public.

JUST SAYING THAT TO SORT OF RESET US IN REMEMBERING THAT THERE ARE TIMES WHEN IT SEEMS LIKE SOME THINGS ARE HAPPENING VERY QUICKLY, SOME THINGS MAYBE DON'T SEEM TO HAPPEN AS QUICKLY AS THEY COULD, AND IT'S BECAUSE WE LITERALLY CANNOT AND DO NOT MAKE ANY DECISIONS AS A BOARD THAT ARE NOT HERE IN FRONT OF THE ENTIRE PUBLIC.

AND SO PART OF THAT also is taking public testimony, which is, again, something that is required by all governing bodies to offer the public an opportunity to make comments on items that the board or governing body will be voting on.

Testimony period is that opportunity for the public to share their thoughts.

It's not engagement.

It's not dialogue between the board and the public.

And this isn't unique to the school board.

This is if you do testimony at city council, testimony at the legislature, same thing.

So we invite the public to take this time to share thoughts with you.

The board does not respond to statements, take questions, or engage in a discussion of back and forth during this time.

This is time that is provided to the public to share your thoughts.

um we do look forward to partnership this year with continuing to engage in meaningful ways that are much more satisfying for us and likely you than two minutes at the podium although of course the opportunity will remain available this spring and summer of last year our board completed several months of community engagement in preparation for the next strategic plan of the district.

As the elected body, we are representatives of the entire Seattle community and what it expects for children.

Not just to be responsive to those who are directly engaged in our system, we're responsible for the vision and values of the students of Seattle on behalf of the entire Seattle community.

So based on that, we need to, as a board, determine the vision and values of the community we represent to create goals to direct the superintendent for the ways that we all, excuse me, expect our district to provide education to children.

So to do that, we held three open public meetings.

Two were in person and noticed as regular board meetings, one in the north end, one in the south end.

One was online that was also open to any member of the public.

And then in addition to that, we held 20-something public smaller engagements throughout the city to hear feedback on vision and values from representatives all across our community.

Our meeting tomorrow is a retreat of the board to come together, look at all of the, what we heard from all of those different spaces and community, and from that, TEASE OUT OR EVALUATE FOR OUR COMMUNITY'S HIGHEST PRIORITIES FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS.

AND SO THAT IS LIKE A FIVE-HOUR MEETING.

SO YOU'RE CERTAINLY WELCOME TO WATCH IT.

BUT YOU ARE ALSO ENCOURAGED TO JUST FOLLOW UP FOR UPDATES AND THINGS THAT WE'LL PROVIDE IN REGULAR MEETINGS AND IN MINUTES.

YOU CERTAINLY DO NOT HAVE TO WATCH A FIVE-HOUR MEETING.

SO THAT IS What I have for now, I can go to other directors for liaison reports if we have them, or we can go to public testimony and hold those.

Yeah.

All right.

Do you want to?

SPEAKER_14

Give my very quick update.

I have a community meeting on September 25th at 6 PM at West Seattle Library.

This will be after the hub is up, so I look forward to hearing comments on well research schools or anything really a time for me to hear from my community what's going on and where they're at.

So please come.

It will be posted on the school board website here shortly.

SPEAKER_13

All right.

We will go now to public testimony and we'll come back if other directors have comments.

All right, board procedure 1430BP provides the rules for testimony, and I ask that speakers are respectful of these rules.

A summary of some important parts of this procedure are that testimony will be taken today from those individuals called from the public testimony list, and if applicable, the waiting list.

And by applicable, I mean as described in our policy.

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.

Listed speakers 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 list if they have already spoken.

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

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

I have the right to and will interrupt any speaker who fails to observe the standard of civility required by the procedure.

But I hate doing that, so please.

Keep an eye on that time and limit yourself to two minutes so we can get through and hear from everyone who has signed up.

Thank you.

Staff will now read from the testimony list.

SPEAKER_18

Good afternoon.

Before we kick off, just a few additional announcements.

If you are on the phone, you'll be allowed to unmute here momentarily.

And you'll need to press star six when your name is called to unmute on the conference call line.

Please also make sure to unmute on your device.

When you are called to testify, please do reintroduce yourself.

I will endeavor to but fail to pronounce everyone's name correctly today.

Also, when you see the red light flashing in the podium, if you're here in person or you hear multiple beeps, that indicates that your time has already been exhausted.

So the first speaker on today's testimony list is Haley Getro.

Haley or Hallie?

I'm gonna check and see if we have Hallie remotely.

You should be able to unmute now if you're online.

I think we may have lost that caller, so we will go to the next speaker and come back around.

The next speaker is Mei Ling Joa-Ricard,

SPEAKER_16

Hi, good afternoon.

My name is Mayling Joa-Ricard, and I am here on behalf of Dual Language Immersion.

My family is actually Chinese and Dominican.

I grew up in the Dominican Republic, and now I live here in Seattle.

My dad grew up in New York City, and he lost his Chinese language, but he was able to maintain Spanish, and now I'm raising my two girls here in Seattle.

And I am so blessed and thankful for these programs that offer dual language programming because we are able to maintain our language and our culture is celebrated.

And I am also able to give back to the community by offering what I know.

I also believe that this is a way to restore justice in the United States.

There has been, historically, it has been horrible what has been done to communities by telling them that they cannot speak their home languages.

So I really believe that our state, Washington state, can become a beacon of light, offering these programs and supporting communities in their culture and their heritage.

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_18

The next speaker is Sabrina Burr.

SPEAKER_25

Hello.

SPEAKER_18

We can hear you.

SPEAKER_20

My name is Sabrina Burr, and I wear many hats.

So I want to be clear on the hat that I'm wearing.

As a mother, as an aunt, and as a community member, How are the children?

September 4th, we start school.

I hope they all have a sense of belonging.

But when I read the past contract and the language that is still in there from the last contract that gives principals the authority to investigate themselves, it's troubling.

And I wonder how many lawsuits come from this.

The organization is not set up for this.

And if you vote on this, please know that you are voting against the moral and fiduciary responsibility that you have.

We do not support principles.

We have a culture of taking fires at going up and a culture of asking questions and not knowing it's not being good.

So what happens is families are harmed, especially in a district with so much intergenerational trauma.

Your enrollment is down.

Last year, I worked with a family, multigenerational trauma, with a principal right now that said, says that kids need to be their free and natural self as they're climbing fences and hitting adults, denying them the ability to learn self-regulation.

I can go on and on.

When I was Seattle Council PTSA president, two principals had to go and they were gone.

One principal, I wrote to Dr. Nyland because of what was going on and they quit.

They were like a thief of the night.

District leaders came in and their office was packed up.

The most important hire is that of principals.

If we cannot respect the students, the teacher, and the families in the community that we are in, then bad things happen.

We read it in the newspaper, all the lawsuits happen.

And what it does is it doesn't protect principals.

I understand why this was in here and how principals were getting...

things that weren't true and affecting their career.

This is not the way.

I come from Nordstrom, so the open-door policy that at 20 I could go and talk to John Nordstrom about our general manager, and we could come with common understandings to get solutions.

Please do not vote with this clause on page 27 tonight, because if you do, You are going to put kids in grave harm, and you are going to put principals in hard situations.

Seattle Public Schools is not set up for this, and I am begging you to make sure that this part of the contract is amended.

Thank you.

SPEAKER_18

The next speaker is Chris Jackins.

And it looks like Haley or Hallie may be back on the line.

So I will go to you after Chris Jackins.

SPEAKER_33

My name is Chris Jackins box 8 4 0 6 3 Seattle 9 8 1 2 4. On the personnel report under separations the report lists deputy superintendent of academics Art Jarvis Native American education program manager Gail Morris and longtime director of grants and strategic partnerships Michael Stone.

I wish to thank each of them for their service to the district.

On the Alki Elementary construction project, seven points.

Number one, the board previously approved an amount not to exceed $53 million.

Today's action would increase that amount by $10 million.

Number two, the district states that this increase in cost is due to several factors including quote, Delay of the project and project revisions to address regulatory requirements, unquote.

Number three, the district states the project will increase the building's capacity to 500 K-5 students.

This is at a time when the district says it has an overcapacity of K-5 space and wants to close schools.

This is a mega school project meant to close other schools.

Number four, the district states that, quote, construction was delayed due to appeals regarding the number of parking spaces, unquote.

Number five, the original design had zero parking spaces including zero ADA spaces.

This is what the city rejected.

Number six, the district's contractors should be liable for a faulty design and the board failed in its oversight.

Number seven, board approval of the action would constitute negligence, grounds for recall from office.

Please vote no.

Please do not close schools.

Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_18

Going back to our first speaker on the list, Hailey Gautreaux.

If you're online, if you could press star six to unmute.

Hello, can you hear me now?

We can hear you.

Great.

I will be ceding my time to Sam Gutierrez.

The time is going.

If there's somebody who would like to speak in this time who's had the time ceded to them, they would need to unmute or approach the podium.

Hi, this is Sam Gutierrez.

Can you hear me?

Yes, we can hear you.

Hello.

SPEAKER_22

We can hear you.

Okay, perfect.

Thank you.

So, Sam Gutierrez, born and raised Mexican.

I have a second and a fourth grader at John Stanford International School.

I'm here to ask that you protect access to DLI programs across the district as you address SPS's budget deficit.

My daughter did kindergarten at our neighborhood school in Ballard, and while it was a lovely school, her Spanish quickly started vanishing because speaking with me around her classmates signaled her out as different.

We're not a wealthy family, so we cannot afford private bilingual school.

For first grade, she was offered a spot at JSIS, and the change was immediate.

Half of her day is in Spanish.

She has peers from other Latin American countries, and her school has yearly events that celebrate elements of her culture.

Her Spanish flourished, and her confidence grew.

Her brother followed soon after, and they can now hold conversations with my parents and my grandmother.

DLI helped preserve our language and culture.

SPSS DLI is a matter of equity.

So imagine my surprise when I learned that few among our authorities actively championed this program.

Last spring, I asked how they might be affected during the upcoming shuffle to stabilize their district and found the DLI was somewhat of an afterthought.

I have talked with other Native and heritage speakers, and we are worried that DLI is going to go away to save money despite this fact.

DLI programs bring restorative justice to those who were not taught their own mother tongue because their parents were afraid that not assimilating would draw discrimination to their kids.

They have been proven to help close achievement gaps for multilingual and English learners, a historically underserved group in the United States.

They are in line with the Washington superintendent's goal of expanding dual language, eliminating successful, well-established ELI programs directly contradicts the state direction.

They teach multicultural awareness from experience, not theory.

You learn to appreciate a different culture by sharing dinner with your best friend's Japanese family instead of by reading about it.

Amidst the decline in enrollment, demand for these programs is high and access is limited.

At JSIS, for the second year in a row, we have wait lists for all grades, wait lists that we know include Native and heritage speakers.

Despite the fact that we have open seats, kids aren't being moved off the wait list.

SPS is directly failing their equity goal here.

The option school model is the only way some Native and heritage speakers who do not live in neighborhood schools that offer daylight programs can access these essential programs.

I'll add to this point that I would be very careful to not push for segregation.

Now, we know that there is no escaping difficult decisions ahead of us, and you can understand that the decisions SPS makes about our DLI schools will send our community a message in how you see our culture.

So we just ask that you support equity across the district by protecting access to DLI programming that honors the cultural heritage of so many in SPS.

Thank you.

SPEAKER_18

The next speaker is Sheila Appi, who will be followed by Jose Estrada, and then Christina Enteleria.

Is Sheila here on the line?

Sheila, if you're on the line, you need to press star six to unmute.

Oh, it looks like we can hear you.

SPEAKER_25

Hi.

Hi.

My name is Sheila.

I wanted to testify about a school choice item personal to my child.

I am here to address the unresolved issues regarding my child's placement in the EEO preschool program.

On February 29, 2024, I submitted an application for my child's IVAC.

I received immediate confirmation of the receipt.

Despite this, I have faced significant delays and a lack of communication from Seattle Public Schools concerning Levi's treatment.

In early April and late May, I followed up by phone.

On June 18th, I was connected with Kim Tran.

Despite providing proof of my time of vacation, my flight couldn't be located and my place in the wait list.

A month passed without communication despite my Pull out your phone and email.

I also contacted the superintendent's office and the special education department because my child is a special needs child.

But I haven't received any satisfactory resolution from that time.

When I finally was able to speak with someone recently, the assistance provider was not helpful consistently.

I received contradictory statements.

For example, they were working on the issue.

It's not the area of responsibility of the peer person, but then they would get back to me.

And with the school year starting in just a few days, I have not been able to receive resolution of my issue.

However, it was last yesterday that I got an email saying that My child could not be placed where I had decided, even though throughout the communication I was meant to understand that there was an error at SPS and that they were going to resolve it and be able to place my child.

But the email that was received was very final.

It seems all the decisions that they made were made without engaging me from the different parties involved.

And I understand that it is a policy to involve the family or the person that has a disability or the proxy, the parent, in making the decision.

I choose this program because it is appropriate for my son who is autistic.

with the school year starting just in a few days.

And after months of waiting and promises of a favorable resolution, the timing of this response is particularly concerning.

I am left with no alternative to make necessary arrangements.

I will ask the school board to review the situation and consider a resolution that aligns with the initial request.

Levi's needs and our family expectations should be taken into account.

We seek a fair and timely resolution to ensure that Levi's fits in the program that meets our original choice.

Thank you so much for your attention to this matter.

SPEAKER_18

The next speaker is Jose Estrada.

Jose, it looks like you're unmuted on the conference call line, so we should be able to hear you if you speak.

SPEAKER_06

Oh, can you hear me now?

SPEAKER_18

Yes, we can hear you.

SPEAKER_06

Great, thank you.

My name is Jose Estrada.

I am a Nicaraguan-born immigrant living in North Seattle.

I am a father to a beautiful five-year-old girl who is about to start her school journey at the Spanish Immersion Kindergarten Program at John Stanford International School.

And we live outside of the geo zone for the school.

So my daughter was admitted into the program through one of the spots which are set aside for heritage speakers.

I'd like to take...

some of your time today to advocate for the option school dual language immersion programs available through SPS.

They are wonderful.

As a mixed race family in North Seattle, it can be a real challenge to expose my daughter to her Nicaraguan and Hispanic heritage.

And the public dual language immersion program has given my family access to a type of education that would otherwise be completely out of reach to a family of our means.

In addition to exposing my daughter to the Spanish language, this program has connected us to a network of other families of wide cultural and socioeconomic diversity, many of whom share our circumstances.

It's really important for me and my wife, for my daughter, to be exposed to Spanish and to have it, more importantly, normalized in her school community.

For us, this opens a door for her to connect to a special part of her heritage and share it with others in the community who would otherwise not be exposed to it either.

As a Nicaraguan-born former refugee, I've worked really hard to give my daughter a better life than I had at her age.

And for me, having access to a public option with a language immersion program has been a complete game-changer for Even in the short week where my daughter attended Jumpstart at the school campus, she's already started showing more interest and curiosity in her Hispanic roots.

So all this to say, I would like to ask you to consider two things.

If you could please consider increasing the set-aside at the DLI option schools to give more access to heritage and native speakers like me outside of the jail zone.

And also, please consider stories like mine and my daughter when voting on the future of our public elementary schools, especially the future of our public option DLI schools.

Thank you.

SPEAKER_18

The next speaker is Christina Teoria.

Christina, if you press star six, oh, looks like you have.

SPEAKER_24

Good afternoon.

My name is Christina Deliria.

I'm a native Spanish speaker that benefited from attending a dual-language immersion school.

And as consideration into the ongoing discussion on well-resourced schools, I'm here to express my strong support for the DLI programs in Seattle Public Schools.

As we strive to attract new families and retain students who will leave the system if their preferred programs are eliminated, dual-language immersion programs offer a compelling solution to increase enrollment.

For my family and many others, dual language immersion programs are the draw to SPS.

They offer unique educational opportunities that many parents actively seek out.

You have to look no further than the wait list of the schools that offer DLI education over non-DLI schools in the same neighborhoods.

By expanding these programs, we can attract new families to our school district and provide a compelling reason for current families to stay.

Other districts have successfully reversed dropping enrollment by expanding these programs.

This is especially important in a city like Seattle, where families have numerous educational options.

DLI programs do not cost more to operate.

They are a valuable asset, and they have a proven record of academic achievement.

I urge the school board to not only continue supporting, but consider expanding DLI programs, ensuring that all students have the opportunity to benefit from this enriching educational experience.

Thank you for listening.

SPEAKER_18

The next speaker is Nicole Salisbury who will be followed by Jackson Lum.

Hi, I'm Nicole Salisbury and I cede my time to Rebecca Sanchez.

SPEAKER_01

Hello, my name is Rebecca Sanchez and my son will start third grade next week at John Stanford International School.

I'm here this evening to ask you to protect and support dual language immersion programming as you consider options to address the budget crisis.

I was born and raised in Santiago de Chile.

We moved with my family to Seattle five years ago when our son was not yet three.

As soon as he began preschool, we observed with awe how fast he incorporated English, but our concerns about him losing his mother language emerged as well.

A time came when he could not speak a whole sentence in Spanish.

When we first arrived, we assumed sometimes when meeting other members of the Hispanic and Latino community that we could communicate in Spanish.

But we learned quickly how assimilation has made it so that whole generations of immigrants raised in the US have lost their linguistic heritage.

So when we learn about the existence of DLI programs like John Stanford, we felt deeply embraced by the city.

And I must say, belonging does not come easy for immigrants.

Especially when many families like ours live from a single income.

My husband has a specialized worker visa and I have a spouse visa that does not allow me to work.

Between that situation and how the cost of life has skyrocketed, we simply can't afford a private school.

Our son has thrived in his school, where he can learn and share his mother language and culture with others.

And not just that, our differences are celebrating within a diverse and multicultural community.

I know many families in the Latino community that haven't been able to access DLI programs, and many families that didn't even know this option existed.

And the numbers of Spanish speakers in the state and the country are rising, so I ask you, what is SBS intending to do about that?

If enrollments have dropped and this is part of the cost for the budget crisis, maybe a way to increase enrollments would be reinforcing programs like this.

and facilitating the access, especially for native speakers.

It is a matter of social justice, of protecting children's cultural identities, and a matter of preparation for our youth for a future where we will live in even closer contact with other peoples and cultures because globalization is an ongoing reality that is not turning back.

Thank you very much.

The next speaker is Jackson Lum.

SPEAKER_12

My name is Jackson Lum, and I'm proud to say that I'm an immigrant from Malaysia.

Good afternoon.

I speak four languages.

Growing up in Malaysia, I attended the public school that is dual language everywhere, where classroom sizes range from 35 to 40 students.

Imagine this, attending school in 90 degree heat with humidity so thick you can almost touch it.

No air conditioning to provide relief, but we persevered and it was those challenging conditions that I first understood the power of language and education.

I'm here today to share reasons for retaining dual language education.

My grandma spoke only Cantonese, selling cigarettes, fruits, and drinks from a small, sweltering stall outside a movie theater outside.

We rose above those humble beginnings.

It is the reason that a grandson can dream of and ultimately achieve a better life.

Dual language education gave me the freedom to come to the United States where I could further my education, live openly as a gay man, and build a wonderful family.

Without it, I might still be in a country where my identity would be oppressed, where even the prime minister who was once prosecuted and jailed simply because his political opponents alleged he had relationships with a man.

Dual language serves a vital purpose.

The state superintendent has a vision to expand it and I believe dual language is the superpower for Seattle Public Schools.

Why would we want to weaken our superpower?

It attracts enrollment to the district and can bring in students who require fewer resources and allowing the district to allocate more where it's needed.

In closing, dual language can and should be implemented in neighborhood schools and everywhere.

It has a very successful model in Dearborn, Beacon Hill, and Concord.

It can be as cost-effective as well.

So I strongly encourage you to, urge you to retain and expand these programs.

Thank you, .

SPEAKER_18

The next speaker is Maria Trinidad-Ilanas Zubieta, Is Maria in the room or online?

Maria?

Not here?

OK.

Going to the next speaker, Alicia Drucker.

SPEAKER_21

Hello?

SPEAKER_18

We can hear you.

SPEAKER_21

This is Alicia Drucker.

I cede my time to Maricela Hernandez.

She will be giving her testimony in Spanish and will send a translation by email later.

SPEAKER_18

Are they online?

Alicia, is the person that you seated time to remote or in the room?

SPEAKER_21

I'm not sure if she was going to be in the room today.

SPEAKER_18

We're not able to hear them in the room.

And the time does run the way seating works.

So if you wanted to provide testimony instead.

SPEAKER_21

Okay, I will go ahead and do so.

Hi, I'm Alicia Drucker.

I live in Fremont.

I have a rising sixth grader heading to Hamilton and a rising fourth grader at John Stanford International School.

Multilingual education is very important for my family.

We recently spent two years in Spain, returning one year ago.

Our children attended local school in Spain with full Spanish immersion and are completely fluent.

I was deeply concerned that they would quickly lose their Spanish in Seattle.

We applied for spots for my son and daughter to attend John Stanford last year, and my daughter was offered a spot and flourished in the DLI environment.

JSIS provides a vital continuation for my daughter's Spanish cultural competency, which she wouldn't be able to access without DLI and public schools.

Dual language immersion promotes cultural awareness broadly within the community and allows her language to be expanded, shared, and preserved.

Children in dual language programs develop greater understanding of global and social issues, as well as valuing different perspectives.

My daughter has conversations with her classmates about how current events affect families with different backgrounds, which expands her level of empathy and understanding.

She shared her experiences living in Spain while learning about other families' experiences living in their countries of origin.

She's been able to connect with other kids and their cultures due to her bilingualism.

DLI promotes diverse perspectives and multiculturalism in our schools, elements of education that are crucial to preparing students for college, career, and life.

THIS IS A PROGRAM WE SHOULD EXPAND AND REINFORCE.

THANK YOU.

SPEAKER_18

THE NEXT SPEAKER IS JUAN GARCIA.

SPEAKER_03

HI, MY NAME IS JUAN GARCIA.

I'M ORIGINALLY FROM PERU.

I HAVE TWO DAUGHTERS THAT ARE ATTENDING MCDONALD'S.

ONE IS GOING TO FIRST GRADE AND THE OTHER ONE IS TAKING THE GARDEN.

I'M HERE TO ADVOCATE.

for the continuation of the program.

Of the dual language immersion program.

This is important to me because I want my daughters to be bilingual like I am and have the opportunity to communicate in Spanish with my family and other like Spanish speaking people.

We've always told our daughters that being bilingual is their superpower.

My family lives in Peru, and when we visit or they come to visit, I enjoy my kids talking to them in Spanish.

And it's such a gift that they can do that and be able to keep their culture and their heritage.

This is a part of their culture, and the DLI is an essential part of helping them preserve that culture and the heritage.

Thank you.

SPEAKER_18

The next speaker is Laura Violante.

Following Laura will be Cynthia Prentice.

SPEAKER_29

My name is Laura Violante and I cede my spot to Dorian Gorski.

SPEAKER_05

Hi, everyone.

Thanks for taking some time to listen to us here and hear our thoughts here.

I'm Dorian Gorski.

I'm a proud father of an 11-year-old, trilingual Mexican-Japanese-American boy.

He's a recent graduate of John Stanford, and he's moving on to Hamilton.

I'm here to express support for the DLI program.

To do that, I need to tell you a bit about my history.

I'm a child of the 80s and at that time it was a very common misconception that it was a bad thing to teach your child multiple languages.

So my parents made the unfortunate decision not to teach me Japanese.

And I guess the thought at the time was it was confusion or it was un-American, but we now know that's incorrect.

Research indicates students in these programs often develop superior levels of problem solving skills, display higher creativity, and typically meet or exceed the academic performance of their non-immersion peers.

Proof's in the pudding.

Look at the data.

You'll see these kids consistently are some of the top performers in the district.

As a child of the 80s, growing up Asian was sometimes a bit of a liability.

I recall one day bringing onigiri to school.

And if you don't know what that is, it's a little Japanese rice snack packed into a triangle and wrapped in seaweed.

It's delicious.

Well, there I was in school and a group of boys come and they see me eating it and they proceed to bully and tease and say it's gross.

And it was just a really sad moment.

From that day forward, I did not bring onigiri to school.

Fast forward to today, I got to witness the polar opposite scenario.

I got to see kids bring all sorts of unique foods who aren't grossed out but excited and envious to see someone eating onigiri for lunch.

They're excited to share the foods of their cultures and their language.

I'm so thankful to be part of this option language school program that we were able to right the wrongs of the past.

We couldn't afford to live in Wallingford and we're one of the lucky ones who managed to get in through the option program.

From my experience, the district should not remotely be considering ending this program or the language program, instead should be considering expanding it.

Not just for Japanese and Spanish, but for multiple languages in our bright and vibrant city.

Embracing multiple cultures is as American as it gets.

I'm proud of the city for having this program, and it would be extremely shameful to see it end.

Thank you.

SPEAKER_18

The next speaker is Cynthia Prentice.

After Cynthia will be Athena Batista.

SPEAKER_17

Thank you.

I'm Cynthia Prentice, and I cede my time to Katie Knaife.

SPEAKER_23

Thank you, Cynthia.

Directors of the Seattle Public School Board, thank you for your hard work and commitment to our schools and for the opportunity to speak to you today.

My name is Katie Nave and I'm the parent of two SPS students in the dual language immersion program at McDonald International School.

My kids are biracial, dual language heritage speakers, their father an immigrant from South America.

We are outside of the geo zone, so we participate in McDonald as an option school for heritage speakers.

I'm here today to speak to you about the importance of dual language immersion, DLI, education in Seattle, and ask the board to consider not only continuing to support these programs, but to expand them.

SPS has committed to dual language education.

The evidence supporting this commitment is clear.

According to the U.S.

Department of Education, multilingualism provides educational, cognitive, sociocultural, and economic benefits.

And the research is compelling.

Students who participate in dual language education academically outperform their monolingual peers and develop a stronger sense of identity, empathy, value of differences, and adaptability to diverse cultural contexts.

There are 110 public schools in the state of Washington with dual language programs, yet only nine are in SPS, far too few for one of the most diverse school districts in the state, where 86% of students are non-English language learners.

The bottom line is that SPS's dual language students and their schools are thriving, as you heard today.

Take McDonald, for example.

Over half of our students are non-white and 84% are non-English learners.

Our students score twice as high on average on all standards compared to the average SPS student.

And expenditure per pupil at McDonald is lower on average than other SPS schools.

We are 100 students plus over capacity and we currently have a wait list of 85 families trying to get in.

In summary, we love this program and there's great demand for it in our collective community.

Personally, DLI gives my children the gift of learning and appreciating the language and culture of their family, building their identity as Hispanic Americans, celebrating multiculturalism and building empathy for those who look or speak differently from them.

And when we visit Columbia, they can communicate with their grandparents and their extended community in their native tongue.

So I ask, why would we risk losing this?

Why wouldn't we want this for more students in SPS?

Please consider the value of the DLI program as you make tough decisions about the future of our school district.

Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_18

The next speaker is Athena Batista, followed by Andrea Rangel, and then John Rito.

SPEAKER_27

Hi, my name is Athena Bautista and I'm ceding my spot to Peachy Aquino.

SPEAKER_30

Good afternoon.

First, I'd like to thank the board for the opportunity to speak today.

My name is Pichi Anokino, and I'm a parent of an incoming third grade student in Japanese class at the John Stanford International School.

I am here today as a parent of a biracial child to share the benefits of DLI programs and why SPS needs to preserve and strengthen these programs, not only for the benefit of local families and those maintaining cultural heritage, but also for immigrant families like mine who don't fit neatly into either of this category.

And as you may all know, more than half of the global population speaks more than two languages.

And there are numerous studies that have demonstrated the cognitive benefits of bilingualism, including enhanced attention control, problem-solving skills, and flexible thinking.

And I could go on and on and on.

But the benefits of DLI extend beyond academics.

Schools like JSIS actively promote cultural diversity, and in my child's case, for example, in his class, parents are invited to share books or stories or even traditional foods from their origin countries, allowing kids to experience and appreciate different cultural perspectives.

As an immigrant parent from the Philippines, I was really pleased to know about the DLI program when I moved here in Seattle about eight years ago.

Living in a predominantly white community, I cannot overstate the importance of diversity for families like mine.

And I believe I speak for many immigrant parents when I say that while we want our children to thrive in American culture and language, We also are concerned that they may lose their cultural heritage and racial identity in the process, something that we've witnessed in our community.

And choosing JSIS for my son was more than just about the LI program.

It was about its diverse student body.

It's important for me to see my child learn alongside children who look like him with parents who look like me.

For immigrant families, DLI programs are not about getting ahead.

They're about ensuring that our children don't lose their racial and cultural identities as they navigate life in America.

For a city like Seattle, which prides itself on being progressive and inclusive, maintaining DLI school is an asset, not a liability.

It provides an opportunity to demonstrate the city and the district's commitment to diversity.

And I strongly urge the board to support DLI schools to ensure that our children, especially those from immigrant backgrounds, thrive in a multilingual and multicultural environment.

Thank you for your time.

SPEAKER_18

The next speaker is Andrea Rangel.

Andrea Rangel.

Andrea, if you press star six, we should be able to hear you.

SPEAKER_26

Hi, my name is Andrea Rangel, and I cede my time to Candice Rosavsky.

SPEAKER_18

Andrea, is the person that you ceded time to remote?

We are not able to hear them in the room.

And the time does run, so if you wish to provide testimony, you could.

SPEAKER_26

I thought they were there.

Oh, OK, good.

SPEAKER_18

Can you hear me?

Yes, we can hear you.

SPEAKER_27

Great thanks.

My name is Doctor Candice Rosovsky.

I'm a product of the Seattle Public Schools, a graduate of Ingram, earned an MET in teaching and a doctorate in education from the University of Washington.

I have spent my lifetime, and I'm currently retired, teaching students how to teach and and eventually working at universities around the country on issues of women, gender, access to higher education, and directed to university women's centers.

As a volunteer, since I retired, whatever that means, I've been working with first-gen non-native newcomers, non-native English-speaking newcomers, and...

most recently with a family from a Latin American country that came here as political asylees to escape the violence, which has been really destroying their country and personally affecting them.

Their experience, I live in the same house where they're being housed now, but this is the third iteration for them.

They were in a shelter.

They were in a home where they were for one week in a dual language school in the north end of Seattle.

That placement didn't work out.

They went back to sleeping under a table at the church and then eventually came to us.

We have been working with them in terms of all the social services, but in particular with the 7- and 11-year-old who were assigned to an elementary school in West Seattle that effectively had no way, despite being well attended and kind, they were just totally unprepared for them.

Eventually, the kids stopped going to school because not just that they were bored, but as they said, they only let me play sports.

But when they get together to talk or to do lessons, they asked me to sit alone and do math problems.

And the 11-year-old daughter, who was in fifth grade, was also effectively isolated from her classmates and told to do Duolingo.

um after a parent-child intervention they were placed with the one teacher in the school not one of theirs uh one hour a week um no one thought that no parents no other students invited they were there for about two months invited them home invited them over made real connections with them it was an um and no one thought um that and no one gave them any information or me and i was working with them all the way through this um were given information about dual language schools they were also not told that because they qualified for mckinney-vento earlier on in the first school that they still qualified for it uh This year, the boy was again assigned to the same school in second grade, and the girl was assigned to Madison Middle School that I am told by a staff member has not a great deal of MLL support and she will be thrust into an entirely white English-speaking program.

I have tried as her advocate to get information all summer that would help us transfer.

And again, it's vacation.

Pretty much nobody was answering the phone.

I understand that both Concord and Denny have space for the children.

I have since in the last few weeks talked with the Denny Middle School dual language immersion program teacher who has fully supported the girls enrollment there as have has another certified dual language teacher to date.

The girl's request was denied.

SPEAKER_13

Ma'am, since you had your time ceded to you, I don't know if we have your information, but I would like to ask staff to follow up with you since this is a specific case.

We're going to go to the next speaker, but could you please email the board office your contact information so that they can make sure that this is addressed by the appropriate personnel?

SPEAKER_27

Yes, may I also, may I make two more sentences?

Yes.

Sorry.

Okay, denying their request to be admitted to Denny and Concord is inequitable and it's not in the best interest both in the short and long term.

I concur with other speakers that dual language programs should be expanded so that all of the students who are in such situations can have access to programs designed to meet their needs their unique needs and help them thrive socially emotionally psychologically and academically the next speaker is john rito john rito after john will be ben gettenstein and then colin colleen corby

SPEAKER_31

Hi, good evening board.

My name is John Rito and I currently have three children enrolled at Dearborn Park Elementary in Beacon Hill.

They're part of the Spanish program.

It's a DLI school.

I'm here today to give and speak for my community, my school, and my family in the continuing support of the dual language programs in the Seattle Public Schools.

I strongly believe it will drive enrollment like it has for our family.

Our family considers ourselves extremely lucky to be able to send our kids to a school like Dearborn Park.

It's an ideal and fully realized success story in cultural diversity.

From the potlucks they have, the school dance programs, after school, multicultural events, it's absolutely an incredible school.

It grows from there.

It draws in the most passionate and caring people who we know.

They all share the same similar values.

And let's be honest, the DLI program is what's the driving force behind a lot of the community at the school.

There's a clear difference in quality in the community at that school versus other schools that we've had and other children in the past.

It's a real thing.

It's really working.

It's not just actions.

It's not just a mission statement or a value statement.

It's actually something out there in the real world that we're participating in and our family is getting a lot of benefit from.

Our children are who they are because of the program.

It's not just math and science and reading.

It's all cultural.

It's all tolerance, understanding.

It's part of who they are.

It's part of their identity now, how they experience the world and their enthusiasm for it.

And how important is this?

Well, we live in West Seattle.

Dearborn Park is in We were missing a bridge for a couple of years.

It's an hour door to door, two times a day, five days a week.

So we never once ever questioned whether or not we should be going to the school.

It's absolutely part of who we are as a family.

Never crossed our mind never to keep going there.

And again, the DLI program is really what drives this.

So it drives enrollment, it really kind of engages us.

We have a lot of options, our family does.

We're very fortunate to be able to send our kids to a variety of different schools with a lot of different options.

We choose Dearborn Park, we choose the Seattle Public School District because it's so important to us that these programs exist.

And then we ask that you continue to support these programs now and in the future and you allow them to grow and mature.

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_18

The next speaker is Ben and then Colleen and then Valentina Aldinante.

SPEAKER_29

Thank you very much.

My name is Colleen Corbyn.

I see my China patty.

Was that me?

SPEAKER_18

We'll go to you and Ben can wait till go next if that works.

Sorry, we had a little switch.

SPEAKER_00

I'll go.

I'll go.

Actually, before I start, I do want to thank Dorian for sharing his story about the Onigiri.

As a kid, I experienced the same thing.

I'm very grateful that through the DLA programs, our kids don't have to live with the same traumas we do.

So thank you for sharing.

Hi, my name is Patty Liu.

I'm the parent of two incredible kids, a third grader at Dearborn Park International, and an incoming kindergartner who is still on the wait list.

I'm also an employee at King County.

I'm with the Solid Waste Division.

That's garbage, recycling, and compost, not poop.

That's a common misconception.

So I come here today as a public servant to other public servants to advocate for the district's dual language immersion programs.

My parents immigrated to the United States from Taiwan in their early 20s.

When my older brother was born, their pediatrician, a supposed expert in children, told my parents that speaking Mandarin to my brother would affect his ability to learn English and hinder his academics.

So this, as any Asian knows, strikes at the deepest fear of many Asian parents.

So my mom and dad limited their Mandarin around my brother and later to me.

As an adult, I grieve this loss of culture.

It's just another example of Western society stripping away the richness of diversity.

But instead of Native American boarding schools, it's now passed under the guise of medical expertise.

When I became a parent, I was delighted to learn of the district's dual language immersion programs.

Dearborn Park International is only less than two miles away from my house, and they offered a Mandarin language track, which was great.

When my eldest was accepted into Dearborn Park through school choice, it felt like winning the freaking lottery.

The dual language programs are a form of restorative justice to me and my family.

to help right the wrongs of the past, to not only accept other cultures, but to celebrate them and to center them.

Hearing my children speak Mandarin to their grandparents has been such a healing gift.

And now that the experts have finally caught up and agree that multilingual education builds more robust minds and primes children for academic success, I ask the district to make the decision that is best for our children and preserve and grow our dual language programs.

Thank you.

SPEAKER_18

The next speaker is Ben Gittinstein.

SPEAKER_32

Hi, everyone.

My name is Ben Gittinstein.

Though I'm about to be critical of this board's actions, I want to start by thanking you all for your public service.

I'm an SPS parent here to speak on behalf of other SPS parents who are deeply worried about the future of our schools.

In the budget you will review later today, the projected deficit will rise by 43% over the next four years.

If every cost-saving measure outlined on page 21 of that budget were maximally successful, which has never happened in the history of budgets, we would continue to face deficits in 2027 and beyond.

We are at an inflection point, and the only remedy is a radically new approach built on a broader coalition.

I urge you, as the leaders and stewards of our public education system, to change course now.

You are losing the faith and trust of the public who support funds your levies and powers our advocacy in Olympia.

This board is failing the families of the district in four distinct and deeply disturbing ways.

First, this board embarked on a rushed and improper school closure process.

This process has been flawed from the beginning, it was introduced and acted on in the same meeting, is not supported by the public, is built on faulty and all too frequently changing assumptions, and has been mismanaged from the beginning.

Second, the board has repeatedly failed to provide transparency and community engagement on decisions critical to the well-being of the district.

Third, the board has abdicated its oversight role in clear violation of their oath of office, any reasonable definition of which includes actively overseeing cost overruns and investigating operational failures.

Fourth, and most glaringly, the board has not taken enough action to keep our students safe and has, while we removed SROs, we have not replaced them with a clear alternative.

I urge you to press pause on your current strategy to reengage your community and to move in a new direction.

SPEAKER_18

The next speaker is Valentina Aldonade.

Valentina, you'll need to press star six on the conference line.

Valentina, it looks like it's still muted.

If you wanna press star six one more time, see if that works.

I am going to go to the first speaker on our wait list, but then I will come back to you, Valentina, because I can see that you are trying on the line.

The next speaker will be Erin Combs.

SPEAKER_11

Hi, I know I'm the last one, so I will be cognizant of my two minutes.

I am a parent of a second grader in SPS.

I also am a volunteer with All Together for Seattle Schools, which is a grassroots group of parents from across the city who jointly oppose the district's mass school closure plan.

This plan is not only unpopular, and it is, but it is also ineffective and also misguided.

The school board, um, has presented minimal, if any evidence that the plan will result in positive outcomes for students.

On the contrary, the district is ignoring data that points to the long-term harm that this plan will cause five examples.

Number one.

school closures will not solve the budget deficit.

Data from other large cities has shown that comparable school closures only saved an average of $17.5 million per year, not the 30 that Superintendent Jones cited in his opening statements.

And that is an even smaller fraction of the city's $98 million deficit that we currently are facing.

Number two, no equity analysis has been presented, and there is evidence from other cities, again, that school closures actually further inequities.

Number three, school closures will negatively impact students.

Again, looking at data from other cities, consistently shown that school closures are linked to worsened student outcomes, and Seattle has not shown how we will avoid those outcomes here.

Number four, the school board has not engaged in meaningful dialogue with students and teachers.

These two minutes I don't believe is sufficient, or parents to truly understand the effects that the closure will have in practice.

Simply put, school closures are not the solution to the crises that SPS faces.

In closing, it is deeply distressing to me as a parent that the school board is seriously pursuing a plan that will be devastating for thousands of students and their families.

From the most privileged families in the cities all the way to those that are the furthest from educational justice, school closures will severely and negatively impact every student in the city.

It is as if the school board is taking the city in a snow globe and shaking it up and seeing where the pieces are going to fall.

It is reckless, it is irresponsible, and it is damaging.

Our students deserve better, our city deserves better, and frankly, Seattle needs to do better.

Thank you for your time.

SPEAKER_18

The next speaker, going back to Valentina Aldonate to see if you're able to unmute.

If you're listening in, please press star six now.

We see you're unmuted.

SPEAKER_26

Hello, everyone.

My name is Valentina Aguinate.

I was born and raised in Santiago, Chile and have been living in Seattle for the last eight years.

As a native Spanish speaker, And as an SPS parent, I am excited to advocate for our Spanish immersion program.

Back in Chile, I had the opportunity to attend a school with an English immersion program, and I can confidently say it was life-changing.

At home, older members of my family don't speak English, so it's crucial for me to ensure that my children not only communicate effectively, but also maintain their connection with their relatives.

Learning a second language from an early age enhances cognitive ability, improves problem-solving skills, and increases multitasking and cognitive flexibility.

The challenge of switching between languages strengthens overall brain function.

Additionally, research shows that bilingual students often outperform their monolingual peers in various academic areas.

Language is not just a tool for communication.

It helps us understand diverse cultures, build meaningful relationships, and open doors to numerous opportunities.

Our community has benefited greatly from DLI schools, which are highly popular and attract many students each year.

These programs connect us with other families in similar situations and help us build a supportive network.

This is fundamental for families like ours living abroad and having to build new connections.

We are deeply grateful for the benefits that DLI schools provide our children.

That is why I'm here today, not only to demonstrate the importance of representation, but also to advocate for the expansion of the DLI program.

This program brings significant advantages to many children in our district, and I urge you to not only retain it, but also extend it to more families like ours.

In conclusion, D-Lite programs do not cost our district more.

They are efficient, highly successful, and in high demand.

The true cost would be the lifetime impact on our children if these programs were not available.

Thank you for your attention and support.

SPEAKER_18

President Rankin, that was the 20th and final speaker for tonight.

SPEAKER_13

Thank you.

I have two more things, and then I know at least Vice President Sarju has director comments.

What I would like to do is get through that, see if any other directors have anything, take a break, and then come back for our business items.

So thank you, everybody, for coming.

I would like to ask staff to, one of the, Sheila Oppie, who I hope we have her contact information.

That was a very specific instance that I would like somebody to, okay.

Staff is on and contacting her.

Thank you.

And then hopefully the person who was talking had time seated to, so we may not have her information, we'll reach out to board so we can get that specific instance addressed to the right staff.

More generally, we, as I said in my earlier comments, we just did a considerable engagement effort and heard across the boards in all kinds of different communities how important dual language and access to learning a second language to multilingual education is to our entire Seattle community.

So I just wanted to, you'll hear, we'll be talking more about that as we review our feedback data that we received through those engagements.

But you can see in the materials that have been posted already for tomorrow's retreat ACCESS TO MULTILINGUAL LEARNING IS A HIGH PRIORITY FOR ALL OF THE WHOLE SEATTLE COMMUNITY.

SO JUST SAYING, I KNOW THAT WITH TALK ABOUT SCHOOLS AND TALK ABOUT PROGRAMS, IT CAN BE REALLY CONFUSING AS TO WHAT CONVERSATION IS BEING HAD WHEN.

AND THAT A BUILDING IS NOT THE SAME NECESSARILY AS WHAT'S BEING PROVIDED IN IT.

SO I JUST WANTED TO POINT THAT OUT THAT WE HAVE HEARD AS A BODY HOW IMPORTANT multilingual learning is to our entire Seattle community.

And so as you're watching us go through the process and participating in the process with us of developing our next strategic plan, I feel pretty confident in saying that that issue is going to continue to be one that is a high priority for us to address in the next strategic plan.

So just to share that.

That we've got a great group here that's passionate about it, but also that as we went to all these different groups, it was a constant thing that came up.

Again, regarding some engagement things, I want to just, and this is turning out to be my favorite thing to do, is find old studies and reports that have recommendations that have come to the board and read aloud.

So just for a moment here, just as a reminder for ourselves to ground us in what our job is here, and for folks who may be listening or watching right now, a school board is a governing body whose members are individually without authority.

All authority resides in actions taken by the body as a whole.

Organized as a governing body with an appointed chief executive officer, to my right here, a board...

A board's primary responsibilities is recruiting and selecting the most highly qualified chief executive officer, the superintendent, to manage and lead the school district, and undertaking selected actions to direct the management by the CEO.

These actions include establishing a policy framework, ensuring the effectiveness of plans, goals, and expectations for the district, ensuring an effectively functioning top management team, and providing overall direction, monitoring, and accountability for principal management areas.

THIS MODEL, WHICH IS DIRECTED IN STATE LAW, IS DIFFERENT FROM THAT OF A LEGISLATIVE BODY, WHICH IS LITERALLY A LEGISLATURE OR LIKE A CITY COUNCIL.

IN A LEGISLATIVE BODY, EACH MEMBER REPRESENTS A PARTICULAR DISTRICT OR GROUP OF CONSTITUENTS AND POLICY IS DEVELOPED BY REACHING CONSENSUS AMONG DIFFERENT INTERESTS.

WHILE A SCHOOL BOARD HAS BOTH OVERALL LEGISLATIVE AND EXECUTIVE RESPONSIBILITIES, THE GOVERNING BODY MODEL IS THE DEFINING CONCEPT.

This is from 1990, by the way.

Another piece of recommendation here that was made is that no comprehensive policy has been developed for handling long-term enrollment decline.

The decline of recent years has not been accompanied by commensurate reductions in number of schools, staff, or dollars.

The board has been unwilling to close schools and unwilling to lay off staff and has proceeded without realistic perspective on controlling costs.

This problem is not a new one.

So it wasn't new in 1990 and it's not new today.

The decline in students and the need for commensurate cost containment have existed for a number of years.

Moreover, the board has been subject to public pressure not to reduce services.

Nonetheless, it is fundamentally the board's responsibility to effectively allocate scarce resources even in times of decline.

And this also noted that in Seattle at the time, the board was functioning essentially as a group of individual decision makers, each representing his or her own district and constituents.

And the reason I bring this up is because it's not just in 1990, but also in 2006, IN 2018, MANY OTHER TIMES IT HAS BEEN POINTED OUT TO THE SCHOOL BOARD OF SEATTLE THAT BEHAVING IN RESPONSE TO THE SPECIFIC INTEREST OF INDIVIDUAL GROUPS AND ALLOWING OURSELVES TO FORGET THAT WE'RE ACTUALLY ALL TOGETHER FOR SEATTLE STUDENTS has caused harm and exacerbated the situation over and over and over and put us where we are today.

Enrollment has declined from 53,380 in 2017 to 49,226 in 2023, which is a drop of over 4,000 students.

Meanwhile, between 2016 and 2019, the district expanded, opening new buildings for option and highly capable cohort schools and reopening some existing buildings, all of which added over 5,800 new seats all north of the Ship Canal, all as enrollment was projected to decline.

So we have hard decisions to make.

We have decisions that have not been not presented before.

And we have decisions that have been made harder by the fact that people were unwilling to make them in the past.

And we have run out of one-time funding.

There's no levy funding coming to save us.

There's no, like the state, if we were to go into binding conditions, if we refuse to make significant changes to the way this district operates and serve children, What we would get would be direction from the state to close schools, reduce programs, cut staff, and have no say over it.

So this is the very hard time where you have a board right now.

It's not really, for better or for worse, being popular is actually not our goal.

Doing the right thing for children is our goal.

SPEAKER_09

THIS IS GOING TO SEEM LIKE LIZA AND I PLANNED THIS, BUT WE DID NOT.

So I need to give a warning that there's going to be one cuss word in a quote because my friend used a cuss word.

You have to bleep yourself or you'll get an FCC violation.

Okay, then I'll just abbreviate the word.

Oh, Lord, we don't want no FCC violations here.

Okay, y'all will get the meaning with the letter.

But I just wanted to let people know that.

So this afternoon...

And despite that there was cake back there, it's like, man, they're just, Liza ruined it for me, the cake ruined it for me.

But I'm gonna ask my fellow board directors to bake a cake with me.

But before I do that, I'm gonna share a brief story to help frame this ask.

Years ago, I had a friend who was engaged in a seven plus year battle with breast cancer.

She ultimately won, and I miss her.

One evening, I'm at her house for an event.

In the kitchen, there's a full spread of food, including the most exquisite desserts I have ever tasted.

I asked, how is it that she's baking, given her situation?

Before every chemo appointment, she baked for her care team.

She told me, Michelle, when life gives you lemons, you bake a chocolate cake and let the bees wonder how you did it.

Before us, we have a bowl of lemons, which includes a very large budget deficit.

tough decisions that none of us, and I mean not a single one of these seven board members, are excited about making.

And we have very, very serious structural issues in this district that need to be solved, just to name a few.

What I'm asking my fellow board directors is to take this bowl of lemons that we've been given, which Liza just read from the report, I don't know how it is.

I had a baby in 1990. You do the math.

34 years later, it's still the same.

He's not.

But the rest of this situation is exactly the same that it was in 1990. I'm asking us to take this bowl of lemons and bake the best possible cake we can for the kids in our district.

Well, okay, I thought my computer died.

We have very hard decisions ahead of us.

Our job is to focus on outcomes for students, which includes making tough decisions.

So will you bake this cake with me?

Because our kids are depending on it.

SPEAKER_13

Do any directors have any other comments?

All right.

It is now 5.45.

Can we take 10?

SPEAKER_99

5?

SPEAKER_13

OK.

We're going to take a five minute break.

When we come back, we will do our business items and I think a budget review.

We'll be back at 5.50.

I MOVE FOR APPROVAL OF THE CONSENT AGENDA.

I SECOND.

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

Do directors have any items to be removed from consent agenda?

Seeing none all those in favor of the consent agenda please signify by saying aye.

Aye.

SPEAKER_09

Aye.

SPEAKER_13

Did you?

Aye.

No.

Oh, Joe, you're just in time.

Approval of the consent agenda.

Nobody has pulled anything.

We have six, sorry, aye.

Six ayes on the table.

Aye.

Aye.

All right.

The consent, approval of the consent agenda has passed unanimously.

We are now moving on to the action item on today's agenda, which is approval of the 2024-2027 Collective Bargaining Agreement between Seattle Public Schools and the Principal Association of Seattle Schools.

May I please have a motion to consider this item?

Sorry, a motion for this item.

SPEAKER_09

I move for approval of this item.

I second.

Let me just take a moment and thank my colleague Miss Ellie for keeping us moving as we should.

I move that the school board approves the 2024 through 2027 collective bargaining agreement between Seattle Public Schools and the Principals Association of Seattle Public Schools and authorized the superintendent on behalf of the board of directors to execute the agreement in the form attached to the school board action report with any minor additions, deletions, and modifications deemed necessary by the superintendent and to take any necessary actions to implement the terms of this agreement.

Immediate action is in best interest of the district.

SPEAKER_13

I second.

All right.

This item is before us today for introduction and action.

So I see staff approaching the podium.

Please introduce.

SPEAKER_28

Good evening.

My name is Dr. Sarah Pritchett Goodman.

Not quite officially yet, but officially on the 11th of August.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I'll pull the mic up a little bit so you can hear me a little better.

As you stated, this CBA is for three years.

It would be starting July of this year and expiring June 30th of 2027. We worked collaboratively with past members and I want to just take a moment to appreciate their hard work in understanding where we are financially as a district and willing to work with us hard to get to a place where we are at a three year agreement with only IPD an increase of IPD over those three years each year.

And that is equivalent to a COLA raise for three years.

So appreciative of that we were also able to get through a number of things common interest and also removal of language that wasn't appropriate or wasn't accurate anymore didn't accurately reflect our practices we were able to clean up leave language reduce the number of days that are being cashed out for vacation also clarify again rules around leave around personal leave and things of that nature.

And we've been able to clarify or continue with professional development funds for past members clean up on the job injury language so that it is reflective of other labor partners as well.

And then we were able to clarify some of the evaluation language that had inconsistencies and there were also a number of things that we were able to the language that we were able to clean up and I will stop there and just open it up for questions.

SPEAKER_13

I do have a question, and I will start by apologies for not sending it in advance.

It's something that had come to my mind on a number of occasions, and I failed to submit that to you ahead of time, which then would appear in informational items as an answer, as is our practice.

So apologies for not getting that to you.

I still have the question though, so I'm going to ask it, which is, regarding the process of investigation that overlaps with some issues that we had come before us at the end of last school year, along with some recommendations of procedure, specifically the Rainer view evaluation.

So my question is that as staff considers and implements the recommendations about elevating different complaints and investigations and how that goes.

If it impacts what is currently in this agreement, would we have the ability to or would staff have the ability to reopen the agreement and examine that language before 2027?

Does my question make sense?

SPEAKER_28

Kind of.

We certainly can reopen an agreement at any time with parties to talk about process or procedure.

I think that there are some open language that would allow us to implement some of our recommendations and may not necessarily need to renegotiate.

I think that there are some...

Misinterpretations around how we handle complaints and so at a different time I'd love to have an opportunity to talk through that so that we have a solid understanding of what.

What we actually mean when we're talking about I think that there was an allusion to people investigating themselves and that really isn't how that.

It's actually meant for people to be able to address complaints first with the person that they're having the complaint with similar to if we had parents or somebody come in to talk with say you know Mrs. Smith is you know I'm upset with whatever and we ask the person have you talked to the teacher yet.

And so that's a little bit of what was referenced earlier.

in that we would like for people to be able to talk with the principal if it's appropriate.

That language is also in there if it is appropriate.

So we certainly can address and look at any complaint process procedures and work through those and are more than happy to work with PASS as an organization to change or modify language as necessary.

SPEAKER_13

It sounds like, if I may just briefly rephrase, Superintendent, that as we, and I know the board is looking at its own process and procedures, and that we, I would say, have identified the need to clarify complaint processes and how they are handled.

As we...

are in the process of doing that to ensure that everybody involved knows how to go to have things resolved.

If it does have implications we'll be able to address them so that any new recommendations could be implemented immediately.

Because I mean I would like to approve this I understand it's important for us to have an agreement with our principals.

I don't want to potentially lock us into anything that may prevent us from making changes in practice at the district level that we know will support students and having families have concerns addressed.

SPEAKER_07

Yes, President Rankin, I believe there is mutual interest in having efficient, effective processes for investigations and or complaints that come before or with or about principals.

I think that's been something that we've been talking constructively with PASS about over the last year or so in the context of some of these some of these more complex issues that we've been dealing with over the last year.

And so I believe we're all interested, meaning all SPS pass around having a process that solves things at the lowest level when it starts to emerge.

and brings it all the way to closure and completion.

Going through with these situations over this last year really daylighted maybe some gaps in how we understand how we move through complex issues.

Who are the players involved with trying to bring reconciliation restoration.

But we've learned a lot over the last year and I just want to take my hat off to pass because they've been very open for how we would go about doing this in the future.

And I think we have latitude within the collective bargaining agreement as it's written right now to address it and bring some more clarity around what does that actually mean in practice.

Dr. Pritchett is that your your assessment as well.

SPEAKER_28

That's accurate and I also want to make sure that we are also protecting the rights of all of our employees on due process and I think that those were some of the issues that we had were also around due process and the ability for any employee to be able to be represented be able to address complaints as they come in and when we skip past some of the due process.

sometimes we violate their rights as well.

So we just want to make sure that whatever process we do ensures that we're keeping to due process rights for all employees.

That's helpful.

SPEAKER_13

Thank you both.

You're welcome.

Any other questions from directors?

Director Hersey?

SPEAKER_08

Yeah, just for my own clarity, can you articulate to me if like do all of the complaints or if a complaint were to be like issued against a particular principal, do every single, or rather, does every single complaint go to that principal, or is there a hierarchy, or are there any instances where a complaint would not go to that principal, depending on the nature of the complaint?

SPEAKER_28

It would depend upon the nature of the complaints.

Not all complaints go back to the principal.

I think that there is language.

So if you were to go back to that page and look at the actual full paragraph that talks about it, talks about complaints or problems going to the principal as a first step, also talks about going to the supervisor.

It also talks about senior leadership making a decision.

So if I get a complaint as a senior leader or as a board member, there's a point in time where you actually need to make a decision on whether it is appropriate for that complaint to go back to the principal.

So we are counting on the adults, the senior leaders.

Or others who get complaints about principles to actually make a determination on whether that is appropriate or not.

Right.

It does not negate the complaint if you don't first bring it to the principal.

Right.

There may be other times where we say you actually do need to bring this one to the principal because it is a complaint about the principle.

master schedule or something that's that's in there within their purview right and those are the types of things that we're talking about but if somebody was um i'm not sure just sure there was someone that was doing something inappropriate with children you know there's things that are that are obvious and then there are also things and we certainly as hr consults with many people around what to do next So if there's ever an occasion where a senior leader or, for that matter, a board member receives a complaint, we certainly are there for a consult to talk about what would be the most appropriate way to handle whatever the issue is.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah, no, and that makes perfect sense to me.

The only reason that I ask that question is that it seems like there could be some clarity on the procedural and on our part and maybe, you know, in some way trying to see if there's some distinction that could be forward-facing to the person who's issuing the complaint.

Like, I don't know what that would look like.

The ultimate thing there, though, is I think – there's likely something that we could do on the senior level to provide some reassurance to people who are like bringing these complaints forward that in extreme cases or cases where it could be tense.

And because ultimately when it boils down to, I get it from both sides.

A, we want people to be handling their business like adults.

And B, we know that within our system, especially in schools, adult issues can very quickly be waged against a child.

And I'm sure that there's probably some pathway forward that we could explore to try to circumvent that as much as possible.

So yeah, that's all I'm really interested in.

Thanks.

SPEAKER_07

Just one technical thing that's really important, I believe, that we just need to acknowledge.

Lots of times complaints are handled, but I think the loop doesn't get closed from a communication perspective.

And sometimes it's not to the satisfaction of different parties, but I think one of the areas where we can probably tie up a little bit is just the closure piece, getting back to, THE COMPLAINT AND THEN MAYBE OTHER PEOPLE FEEL THEY ARE ALSO PARTY TO IT.

JUST THAT CLOSURE PIECE IS WHERE I THINK WE SEE WHERE WE COLLECTIVELY STRUGGLE A LITTLE BIT.

SO I THINK THAT'S AN AREA WE CAN WORK ON.

I THINK THE COMPLAINTS ARE HANDLED PRETTY FREQUENTLY, PRETTY OFTEN.

I DON'T THINK MANY OF THEM SLIP THROUGH.

AND A LOT OF THEM ARE ADDRESSED ALL THE WAY TO COMPLETION AND CLOSURE.

SOMETIMES WE DON'T TIE THAT LOOP.

SO I THINK THAT'S A PIECE THAT WE CAN COLLECTIVELY WORK ON.

SPEAKER_13

Any other questions.

Director Topp.

SPEAKER_14

I think it's less of a question and more of a comment.

I appreciate Director Hersey's comments and I think a lot of what we see we and we also see here from public comment is the need to address some of the issues we saw in the Rainier View audit.

And how do we make sure that we implement some of those great opportunities that they they led us to have how we can better communicate with folks who have complaints but also to address them and provide clarity.

SPEAKER_08

that I would say to that is there might be some folks out there who might not know that it's going directly to the principal.

And I think at least having some of that information on the front end would probably inform how good people go about leveraging those complaints.

SPEAKER_13

I think the key here is clarity and consistency, and just that everyone has access to the same information and understanding.

And we're getting pretty far afield from the actual item.

But thank you.

Do any directors have anything that you need to address before we vote on this item to approve this contract?

SPEAKER_02

Oh, Director, I'm sorry.

That's a very technical question.

I was looking at the pay schedule, and it looks like it shows step 11, 12, 13, but I didn't see steps 1 through 10. Is that because there was no change to it, or does the pay schedule start at step 11?

SPEAKER_28

I'd have to actually look back.

What page are you on?

SPEAKER_02

Page 44. Says page 44 of 29 which can't be right.

SPEAKER_28

So if you're on page 44 of 29 then you're probably looking at our previous the red line version of the contract so that you which may not show you everything.

That's one of the appendix from the previous contract.

And so there is a new past salary schedule that will be made and that will reflect the pay scale for IPD for this year.

SPEAKER_02

Got it.

But it's a 13-step scale, but it just wasn't showing step one through 10, is that right?

SPEAKER_28

I believe so.

And I can respond back to you as well.

We'll respond back to the board, sorry.

SPEAKER_13

Any other questions?

Seeing none, Ms. Wilson-Jones, the roll call, please.

SPEAKER_17

Director Clark.

SPEAKER_15

It's approval of the contract.

I know.

I forgot my language.

Yay?

Yes.

Aye.

Aye.

SPEAKER_18

Director Hersey?

SPEAKER_09

Aye.

SPEAKER_18

Director Mizrahi?

SPEAKER_09

Aye.

SPEAKER_18

Vice President Sarju?

SPEAKER_09

No.

SPEAKER_18

Director Topp?

SPEAKER_14

Aye.

SPEAKER_18

Director Briggs?

SPEAKER_10

No.

SPEAKER_18

President Rankin?

SPEAKER_13

Aye.

SPEAKER_18

This motion has passed with a vote of five to two.

SPEAKER_13

Thank you.

Moving on to, let's see, that was our only action item, right?

Yes.

We will now move to the introduction items on today's agenda.

The first of which is the scoring and ranking method for selecting schools for building excellence, BEX VI capital levy.

Approval of this item would approve the proposed scoring and ranking method for selecting schools and projects for the levy, the vote of which will go before voters next year.

SPEAKER_04

Thank you President Rankin I'm Richard Best I'm the executive director of capital projects planning and facilities operations and I'd also like to just introduce my colleagues sitting in the back of the room there Becky Ascensio who is the K-12 planning manager for Seattle Public Schools and has really spent a significant amount of her time and her staff's time preparing the BEC-6.

capital levy.

And so Ellie can I ask you to go to the next slide please?

And in uh...

considering the scoring and the ranking of back six projects i want to note that the work that capital planning does is guided by board policy sixty nine oh one which is capital levy planning and in there in that uh...

policy are really nine principles of which i would really like to highlight three and first and foremost is the board policy 0030 educational and racial equity is a driving consideration in our weighted staffing criteria.

You'll see that as we present the weighted staffing criteria later tonight.

Then second guiding principle is that we align with the district mission, vision and strategic plan.

And then the third guiding principle that Becky and I spend a lot of time in conversation is capital projects shall be planned to meet districts educational needs in the short in the intermediate and in the long term.

And what does that mean.

Well that means educational elementary specifications middle school specifications high school specifications need to be able to address today's educational program.

But we also need to think about the flexibility in our facility that we're constructing so that we can address tomorrow's.

educational program as well.

Technology 30 years ago was not a significant part of education.

Today it is a driving portion of education.

So that's just one change that I've seen over the course of my career.

So I spend a lot of time thinking about what does that look like for the educational program.

But I also spend a lot of time thinking about what does that look like for asset preservation.

And then what does that look like for asset restoration?

And so those are just three of the nine principles that I wanted to highlight in Board Policy 6901 that we do look at and take very seriously.

into great consideration.

Second item I want to highlight is the board six, the BECC six board guiding principles that were approved in October of 2023. Six criteria were established, five of them we are recommending that you score, and that's school equity index, health, safety, security, and building condition, the learning environment, accessibility, and facility planning.

And then there's one that we are setting up as a separate category, and that is environmental sustainability.

And I'll get to why we're setting up environmental sustainability just a little bit later in this presentation.

Next slide, Julia.

So the proposed scoring and ranking methods include weighting scores to reflect the board's priorities.

And I'll note that this effort began really with our BEX V capital levy back in 2018. We have not uh...

diverted significantly from the board uh...

criteria that was established back for the backs five capital levy or for from the scoring criteria that was established uh...

for the backs five capital levy and again when we look at this uh...

recommendation all speak to both backs five capital levy scoring percentages what the new category is the new category is accessibility and the scoring that we're recommending for accessibility.

And then the equity index as well.

I will note that technology is evaluated separately by the Department of Technology Services, and it's reviewed with the Information Technology Advisory Committee.

And then as I've mentioned previously, environmental sustainability was not scored for construction projects because it is a separate category.

and I want to highlight there are some regulatory changes, but I also want to highlight some board resolutions that we took into consideration as we scored, or as we looked at projects.

The first is the climate pledge resolution that this board passed in 2006. Second is the green resolution that this board passed in 2012. And the third is the clean energy resolution that this board passed in 2019. And the clean energy resolution really directed facilities, capital, transportation to develop a pathway forward in which we were fossil free by the year 2040. And so our project recommendations are heavily weighted to being fossil free by the year 2040, consistent with your resolution.

But then I'll also note that there are some regulatory changes on the horizon as well.

The state of Washington has passed the clean building performance standards.

In 2027 we will have to meet the energy use index that the state of Washington has identified for schools that are greater than 200,000 square feet and actually I could say public facilities greater than 200,000 square feet because it is for all public facilities and then In 2028, for facilities greater than 100,000 square feet.

2029, for facilities greater than 50,000 square feet.

and in 2030 for facilities greater than 20,000 square feet.

So this has had a significant impact upon our thinking because there's a fiscal penalty for noncompliance.

And so that fiscal penalty will hit the general fund further exacerbating our general fund expenditures.

City of Seattle has also passed what they call a building emissions performance standard.

So this is addressing carbon emissions, which Seattle Public Schools has been at the forefront of really our nation in addressing carbon emissions through installation of geothermal wells on our projects, I think.

with schools that opened in 2023 we now have 19 schools in which we utilize geothermal wells in lieu of power but again we're looking at having to eliminate the use of fossil fuels for as a fuel source for our school facilities, and this is a measure the City of Seattle has passed.

They do allow a portfolio approach, unlike the state of Washington.

We're well positioned for the portfolio approach, but they too have fiscal penalties for non-conformance, and again, those fiscal penalties will hit the general fund.

Next slide, please, Julia.

So in our recommendation for scoring, we're recommending that health, safety, security, and building condition be combined.

Previously, these were two categories.

Health and safety and security is one category in the BEX V capital levy.

Building condition is another category.

Each were scored at 16.75.

We're recommending combine those into one category and score that at 30%.

Learning environments.

This was scored in the BEX V capital levy at 16.75%.

We're recommending we score this at 16%.

Accessibility is a new category that we have added.

This is path of travel from parking lot all the way into the building.

out to portables, we're recommending this be scored at 5%.

I'll also note that we now utilize an ADA consultant on all of our BEX V projects to make sure that we are addressing the Americans with Disabilities Act requirements.

And then facilities planning, looking at future trends for capacity, future trends for enrollment growth, making sure we're able to address those future trends.

I think this board is very aware that last year we had two demographic consultants prepare analysis.

While there were subtle differences, the overall projections I would say were the same for Seattle Public Schools through 2032. We're looking at that data and scoring that at 16%.

That was scored at 16.75% in the BEX V capital levy.

And then the equities index, which we have left the same at 33%.

So the sum total of those categories I'll note that we did normalize the scores on a scale of one to five using min-max normalization procedure that's standard in statistical analysis.

And so our capital planning staff implemented that effort.

Next slide, Julia.

So this will help us with the building improvements, renovations, and replacements to support the district schools for well-resourced schools, learning environments.

We will note that the decisions that this board makes about well-resourced schools will impact the final BEX VI capital levy list.

Major construction projects will be assessed and ranked.

per the criteria that has been presented, unless modified by the board.

Scoring and ranking, we will provide a list of projects and how they scored.

And then if a project is recommended to be removed or added to the list, other projects may shift up and down the list as well.

So with that, I'll open it up to questions from the school board.

SPEAKER_13

Thank you.

And a reminder that this is introduction tonight.

And so at the next regular board meeting, it will be for action.

So if you don't have all your questions come to mind right now, you still have some time to check in with staff.

So does anyone have questions now, though, as this item is being introduced?

Vice President Sarju.

SPEAKER_09

I just had a clarification.

You mentioned the word security when you were combining, I think, the three different areas.

SPEAKER_04

Safety and security and building condition, we're looking at combining into one category.

SPEAKER_09

I'm just curious what, can you give me an example?

SPEAKER_04

Security systems, our safety systems, security systems in our buildings would be intercom, AI phones, door and window intrusion alarms, security cameras, things of that nature.

SPEAKER_09

Thank you.

SPEAKER_13

Director Topp.

SPEAKER_14

Sure.

Two questions.

The first one is in your scoring where where does the outdoor slash playground space fall into the categories that building condition.

SPEAKER_04

That would be building condition.

SPEAKER_14

Perfect.

SPEAKER_04

And I will note also Director Topp that Um, we have made that a priority.

Um, since, um, I'm going to say, um, director Harris, um, arriving on the board, that was an inequity that we recognize in capital projects and planning, um, in conversations with director Harris and that some schools had beautiful playgrounds, um, and some schools that did not.

And those schools that did not generally, um, relied in more economically distressed areas of, of, uh, um the city of seattle and so consequently we have a 15-year playground plan in which every school in k-5 or k-8 is on a playground replacement cycle perfect and it will not be a pta funded i was going to add that yes and it's funded through the levy not not based on individual community ability to fundraise correct

SPEAKER_14

I appreciate that I know that I use the playgrounds as just essentially parks for my kids a lot of the times too so I think they're integral to the community.

Can you provide just a second question is provide just a little bit of background or reasoning why you combine the building condition and the health safety and security categories.

SPEAKER_04

I think they are intrinsically linked.

A lot of those are on looking at building systems.

I will say that we are going to be making a recommendation for a significant amount of safety improvements within the BEC-6 capital levy related to intercom throughout the year.

all of our schools implementing intercom improvements and then also security camera improvements as well.

But a lot of those safety and security measures were building systems.

We have criteria that an outside third party consultant has provided us on our building systems and safety systems and so it seemed more that they should be linked rather than broken apart.

SPEAKER_14

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_13

Any other questions on this item?

All right, thank you, Mr. Best.

Let's see, our next introduction item is amendment to board policy number 2190, highly capable services.

Approval of this item would amend board policy number 2190, highly capable services as attached to the board action report.

This is my item, I guess, so I'll introduce it.

So as it states in the board action report, I think.

Oh, I see something happening on the screen.

No, not related to this.

OK.

So this item is before us to amend the policy to specify the board's direction to the superintendent that part of the annual report to OSP.

Sorry, back up.

THERE'S AN ANNUAL REPORT REQUIRED TO OSPI TO AFFIRM THAT SCHOOL DISTRICTS ARE PROVIDING HIGHLY CAPABLE SERVICES TO IDENTIFY STUDENTS, THAT THEY'RE IDENTIFYING AND PROVIDING THE SERVICE AS REQUIRED BY STATE LAW.

THERE'S A FORM THAT OSPI REQUIRES THAT'S A SERIES OF CHECKBOXES.

ONCE OSPI GETS THAT FORM FROM THE DISTRICT, THEY SAY, OKAY, GREAT, AND THEY SEND THE DISTRICTS money for providing those services.

For me, and I know many other directors, receiving a copy of what is being sent to OSPI is not sufficient for our understanding of how these services are actually being provided.

So the change to this policy would require that annually for this approval we would also the board also needs to be provided with a description of what is reported in the form that goes to OSPI so that the board has an understanding of what it is we're actually approving and that the the public also has the opportunity to annually see that and understand what the expectation is across the district.

So the change in policy is, in my opinion, bringing it in line with what I believe the intent of the legislative direction is and just providing an additional level of transparency and clarity for the board upon approval of the item.

So we approved in the consent agenda the 23-24 plan.

That item, as you I'm sure noticed because nobody pulled it, was amended to include the information that I'm talking about now, the description.

And so if we approve this change to policy, that level of information would be provided annually to us for the item approval going forward.

And I would be happy to answer any questions if I can.

Director Tuck.

SPEAKER_14

I'll just ask all the questions.

So I want to just, I think we have a week to work on it because I want to clarify, we talk about you interchangeably here use the word program and services.

And I think that we want to make sure that we classify this as services, correct?

SPEAKER_13

It's a little bit, it's in state, the state interchanges them also, what they consider a program and what is a service.

I don't know if, well, we actually have between, I mean, this is introduction now, we have actually a whole other month to...

Make sure that's aligned.

In the state language, my interpretation, anyway, is that the service is how the student receives it, and the program is what's established in this.

Like, the district would say, this is our program.

And then through the program, the service is provided.

It's a little, I mean...

Is the, I guess the question is just looking for consistency of language?

We can definitely check that.

And I can also reach out to OSPI and ask.

SPEAKER_14

Well, I think that it's important specifically as we look at our well-resourced schools plan because we're talking about a difference between services that we provide and programs in our schools.

So making sure that we're real clear here what the difference is and how we're talking about them.

SPEAKER_13

Thank you.

Any other questions.

Director picks.

SPEAKER_10

So I'm just looking at this part here in order to better communicate the work of the advanced learning department and the highly capable program offered by Seattle Public Schools.

This action would require an additional report be provided to the board as an informational item.

So do we.

Do we have that additional informational item here?

SPEAKER_13

So for the one we just approved, that additional information was added to the actual item.

SPEAKER_10

OK.

SPEAKER_13

And that was for last year?

Yeah.

OK.

And the reason it's the additional report and staff, please correct me if I'm wrong, is because the OSPI timeline for when they require the form sometimes shifts.

It could be any time between, like, February and April, I think.

So they will sometimes make updates to the form.

So...

What the intent is, and I hope is clear, is that we expect the information.

The form is actually not what the board is interested in.

The board is interested in the information about how we're meeting the needs of students.

And so depending on the timing of the OSPI form, I am personally agnostic as to whether that comes together at the same time as the form or if it's, you know, we have this for you in January and the OSPI plan is being approved in March.

Okay.

Did I, is that accurate?

SPEAKER_10

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yes.

So I guess what I'm wondering now is at what point will we actually find out what is going on with Highly Capable?

Like when will we get that information about the plan going forward?

SPEAKER_13

I guess, what do you mean by that?

I'm starting to hate the word plan.

So a report of how students were served last year is attached to the item that we just received.

So are you asking when we'll get that same information for this year?

SPEAKER_10

Yeah.

So basically, if we're phasing out the cohort program, if that's going away, what is going in its place?

And what is the timeline for that?

What is that going to look like?

How is it going to be implemented?

When are we going to get that information?

I get that this is just like a formality, a checkbox thing that we have to do for OSPI, but I think there's still a lot of questions around what is the future of highly capable in Seattle Public Schools.

SPEAKER_13

Are you asking for the longer term strategy?

Yeah.

That's a staff question.

SPEAKER_10

Oh, yeah.

OK.

I mean, I'm not expecting you to answer that necessarily.

But it feels weird to be talking about this but then not acknowledge that we don't actually have any information about where Where we're going with highly capable, which I feel like has been a lingering question for some time now Like for quite a while, so it feels like past time to know What's going on with that?

That's all not and I know that's not on you.

SPEAKER_13

I'm just Because we're talking about it my intent with this is that we receive annual information Yeah OK.

It's a somewhat separate, like that's still a good question, but for the purposes of this item and what could be addressed in this policy, the reason I am asking the board to consider this is so that annually we get what is outlined in the WAC, Washington Administrative Code, which is the number of students the district expects to serve, the methods used for identification, how the service is being provided, what professional development there is, instead of what we've had before, which is just that, like...

Yes, there's professional development.

Yes, there's, you know.

Right, right.

So in terms of the longer term academic strategy, that would still be a question.

But my hope is that this policy means that every year we and the public have access to a description of the intent for that year.

Got it.

Dr. Jones.

SPEAKER_07

So I think what's a solution here is by x date, we'll get a report every year.

And I think Director Topp's distinction between program and services is relevant here in that how we administer highly capable services is is important and that's the programmatic aspect.

But did our students receive the service that we are mandated to provide is more of a compliance piece.

And so if the board is interested in understanding kind of the how we're providing it, What is the plan for service delivery?

That's one model.

And then the other piece is, did you do what you were supposed to do in terms of compliance by providing those students who are qualified for highly capable service, did they receive those services?

Both of those can be written up, and I just think the need here is to say, annually, by the month of August, every year, there will be a report to confirm services were provided, and this is how they were provided through programmatic means.

Would you think that would be satisfactory?

SPEAKER_10

THESE ARE SO TRICKY.

I THINK WHAT I'M GETTING AT IS GOING FORWARD, HOW WILL WE EVEN KNOW IF THE SERVICES ARE BEING DELIVERED IF WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THE SERVICES ARE?

SO THAT'S REALLY MY PLAIN AND SIMPLE QUESTION.

SPEAKER_13

I WOULD, IF I MAY, SUGGEST because I'm going to do this myself too, is to look again at, I think we should relate our questions to the information that was provided for the one that we just received that does designate what the training is, what the different models of service are.

And if we want to drill down on that, then we can figure out how to ask that.

Does that help?

Because we should also be seeing, in our role as oversight, building CSIPs now are required.

to have in them how they're providing the service since it is meant to be provided to any child who is identified.

And so we should have this policy change means district, tell us how you're getting this money from OSPI.

What did you do to meet this requirement so that we can understand what has been put into place?

And then the CSIP should tell us at a school basis did it happen?

Or if there's choices that are being given by staff, which one did they implement?

SPEAKER_14

President Rankin, I'm wondering if we could, in a future date, set a work session on just highly capable.

Because looking, if I did my math correctly, one third of our students, or 34% essentially, are either advanced learning or highly capable.

And that's a large proportion of students that we need.

SPEAKER_13

It's like Lake Wobegon.

SPEAKER_14

So if that is the case, I know that I approved today the information on the training that is being provided along with that a lot of the information is in the CSIPs, but I would love a further breakdown and just dive into some of the questions and the information provided.

So making this a work session here in the future, I think it would be ideal to be able to answer some of these questions and to learn more about The strategies that will be used to support students in advanced learning and highly capable in the different schools I'm hearing the need

SPEAKER_13

for us to, especially with a number of new to this work directors, for us to have a foundational understanding of the program and services and how it works into the whole complement, in addition to this policy providing additional transparency for what's submitted to OSPI for funding.

Yes?

SPEAKER_07

May I triple down on that?

There are three main services that we are mandated to provide.

ELL, what we call it, ML here, special education services, and highly capable services.

I would submit that we would report on all three of those to ensure that you all have an accounting of what we're doing as we go forward.

And so we are right now developing a pathway for bringing this information to you on a routine basis.

And so if this board is interested in that, we can also tee up information on those essential services that were mandated to provide.

SPEAKER_08

Can I quadruple down on that?

Seeing how it impacts our goals would also, or receiving that presentation in the context of our goals, I think would be appropriate.

SPEAKER_99

100%.

SPEAKER_13

Thank you for that.

SPEAKER_10

AND I ALSO JUST WANT TO NAME THAT I DON'T THINK THAT THE PARENT COMMUNITY UNDERSTANDS WHAT'S HAPPENING WITH HIGHLY CAPABLE SERVICES.

SO I DON'T THINK, I MEAN, I HEAR THAT A LOT.

ESPECIALLY, YOU KNOW, HAVING A COHORT SCHOOL IN MY DISTRICT, PEOPLE, IT IS VERY UNCLEAR TO PARENTS WHEN THAT GOES AWAY WHAT IS REPLACING IT.

I don't think that's been communicated in a way that I've never seen any communication about it, I guess.

So I think that's an important piece of this as well.

SPEAKER_13

All right.

As the sponsor of this item, if anybody has suggestions, questions, amendments between now and action, please let me know.

OK.

That's that for business items.

We now have a, we'll be moving to the tables down there for a review of last year's budget development process.

Please take your mics with you.

SPEAKER_99

I'm losing the brief party, but it's limiting the session you're about to have.

SPEAKER_07

Test.

OK.

SPEAKER_13

Do I have my talking, I don't even know if I have my talking points with me.

We're now having a review of this, what is in front of us, the budget process for last year.

Dr. Buttleman has joined us.

And so I will hand it off to Dr. Jones or Dr. Buttleman, whichever of you is kicking us off here.

SPEAKER_07

yeah i'll start off and hand over to dr buttleman uh this is uh study session one if you recall we've had the as we refer the snake and that was several sessions of uh orienting the board getting feedback from the board around our budget and so this is uh session number one of the next uh session of a next set of sessions to really show you what we're trying to do for 2024-25.

And so with that said, there's two objectives today is to review the and assess the 2024-25 budget development process, like your feedback on that.

And then we want to provide the foundation for the budget development process for 25-26.

And so we're kind of closing the books on the 24-25 process and then opening the books on the 25-26.

So the agenda is, one, we'll recap the budget for 24-25, lessons learned, and then we'll talk about our proposed goals and principles.

We'll do a 25-26 preview and a proposed timeline, and then we'll summarize and talk about next steps.

With that said, I'll walk through the budget highlights for 24-25, and then I'll hand it over to Dr. Buttleman.

Next two slides, please.

One more.

So in 24-25, we adopted, Seattle Public Schools adopted a general fund operating budget of $1.25 billion.

And part of this effort where we maintain strategic plan investments, making sure that we're focusing on our academic goals, making sure those are fully funded.

We kept all schools open for the 24-25 school year.

We've had ongoing reductions of more than $90 million over the last two years.

uh...

and then in twenty four twenty five that the key budget changes uh...

that we've got to really balance our budget worse central office staffing and expense reductions school staffing allocation reductions uh...

non-rep represented staff compensation reductions and then we had other one-time solutions and then we have uh...

as we talked about earlier convenience fees before voluntary athletic fiat implementation And to round it out, we had a short-term inter-fund loan of $27.5 million to balance the budget.

So Dr. Bodeman is going to take us through some expenditures, and he'll carry the balance of this presentation.

Here, try this one.

SPEAKER_34

Next slide, please.

Thank you again for kicking off budget season with this one of 10 work sessions that we're planning.

We just actually submitted the budget formally to OSPI yesterday.

So the budget team got an afternoon off to prepare for this next season.

So it never stops.

Well, focusing on the budget.

We got lunch period, how's that?

So just a little context setting because this year there's a lot of variables that are gonna be in play around well-resourced schools, a full legislative session, bargaining of two of the major labor contracts, some other variables, so just wanted to make sure everybody was set on where we stand from the last year and going into the next year's process.

As Dr. Jones said, So at 1.25 billion, the majority, large majority is in teaching activities and teaching support.

So around 75% in those activities.

We can go to the next slide.

And as you all know, about 83, 85% is in staffing costs.

So salaries, wages, benefits of the staff who serve the Seattle Public Schools.

So that is something that is important to keep in mind as the reduction planning goes forward for next year.

And then the next slide.

Another piece of context where the funding comes from.

You'll see the state funds approximately two-thirds of that $1.3 billion because the $27.5 million loan is the other portion of that for next year.

And then the levy, which is due in February, is about 16% of the total.

So two significant parts of the revenue resource equation have some significant opportunity this coming year.

I want to spend a little time on this next slide.

So this is sort of what we gleaned from the administration for some of the things that the board liked or wanted more of or less of in the next year's budget process.

So want some feedback here if you want to give it.

Loud and clear, continue to highlight whatever connections are to the strategic plan as additions or reductions are being made to the budget.

Be clear about that is something we heard loud and clear.

Regular review of financial information.

Maintain that context if things change.

or if there's information that comes forward that has some utility in making decisions around the budget, make sure that information is cleanly conveyed to the board.

The staff found good utility in the resolution Practice that started the last few years, getting direction from the board, not in the details, but sort of general direction on how to approach the budget decisions.

Good utility of that has happened, so want to continue that.

Clarifying the timing of board decisions, there were some questions around early spring, around how the board does or does not weigh in on some of the school staffing allocation model decisions, so want to get ahead of that this year if things are changing.

Looking at Director Topp, I think you raised the question.

I think you were sitting over there when you raised the question.

I want to be ahead of that and clarify when those things are coming forward and how the board wants to interact with those.

Related to that board interest in the weighted staffing standards model and if changes are going to happen with that in reaction to a change in the well-resourced schools model, I want to make sure the board has adequate opportunity to weigh in on that as appropriate.

I think Director Sargi was good about a couple times reminding us, well, are we just discussing this or are we deciding something here today?

So I want to be clear about that as we're moving forward in the budget discussion.

Because again, there's all these variables that are going to happen next year.

And so the more we can sort of be on the same page when things are coming for decision, I think it'll be better off for the families that utilize Seattle Public Schools.

And then continue to be transparent and clear information.

I think the district has been very good for a long time in providing lots of information, and I think we want to continue to improve the clarity of that information so it's more digestible for people that aren't me, that aren't doing this for a living, but are trying to do their best to participate in the process.

Those are some of the things that I and others sort of took away from the discussions that we had at this table last year.

Did we miss anything?

Did we misrepresent anything?

SPEAKER_13

Is this an okay time to pause for?

SPEAKER_34

Absolutely.

This is, question slide is next.

Mine's giving feedback.

I'll turn it off.

SPEAKER_13

All right.

Director Hersey.

SPEAKER_08

All right, check.

Mine is like mad loud, which I appreciate.

So if we could turn that down, just I don't know.

OK, so the big thing for me is that I see that it's like pseudo captured in the first one.

What I really want to see is not necessarily a highlight to the connections to the strategic plan, but an unavoidable and inextricable link to our goals.

And specifically like broken out like, how is this money being spent toward our math goal?

How is this being spent toward our literacy goal?

How is this being spent toward college and career readiness?

The other piece that I think is really missing here is like the storytelling aspect of how this is impacting students.

I think that it's like, I love these, right?

But I've also been here for half of a decade at this point.

And so what I can also know is that community, right?

It's when you put it like that, it's kind of ridiculous.

community is looking at this and they're like, okay, these are a lot of numbers, but I'm not really sure how this impacts my child, right?

And I would also REALLY LIKE TO SEE, ESPECIALLY AS WE ARE GOING INTO WHAT IS LIKELY GOING TO BE A VERY DIFFERENT YEAR, WHAT BUDGET ALLOCATIONS ARE GOING TO BE IMPACTING, LIKE HOW ARE THOSE DOLLARS FOLLOWING STUDENTS THAT COULD POTENTIALLY BE IMPACTED BY CLOSURES AND HOW ARE THOSE DOLLARS LIKE BEING DISTRIBUTED BY PORTION OF THE CITY?

DOES THAT MAKE SENSE?

Lit.

Okay.

So those would all be, I would say the first thing is not really a nice to have.

It would be like, I would not want to go into another session if I don't have clarity around how our money is flowing through our goals and making it to students.

The other pieces about like geographical breakdown, those things are new that I'm asking for.

So I would understand if it's going to take some time to implement, but those are really important things to me.

SPEAKER_13

I have a couple things.

Do I need to, before I go?

All right.

Plus one to Brandon's first comment about, you know, I would almost rather see zero-based budgeting where instead of trying to tie strings to the strategic plan, actually the whole function of how the budget is implemented should be in service of nothing else other than to meet the needs of our students.

So increasing, decreasing by light item.

I want to see wholesale operational.

We're looking for major behavior change on the part of this whole system.

And I want to be able to see how things do or don't support the level of educational access and achievement in our students that we expect.

Tied to that with the regular review of financial information, I would like to see progress in aligning our reporting more with state financial codes in terms of revenue and expenses.

Every program has a number that I know is somewhere in the balance of this building.

But I think we need that additional level of transparency about where our money is actually going.

Title I dollars should be a direct line to how they are spent on the students who qualify for that additional support.

Special education dollars should be a direct line to how they actually go to provide services for students who receive special education services.

Right now we have a lot of...

money going into pots and I would actually like to see quite like a higher level of detail of revenue versus expense.

using those state codes, and in particularly with title dollars.

Title I, Title VI, Title II, Title IV, those are intended to, from the federal government, intended to address the needs of students that have certain traits and qualifications.

And I don't believe I have seen that clarity before about meeting the goals of the students who are identified and we need to be able to see not just oh we have this title one money that now becomes part of our general fund but actually these dollars are providing additional service to the students who are eligible for them same with like title six students native students we should be able to say benefit from Title VI dollars intended for them through this program, this service, whatever the expenditure is.

In terms of clarifying the timing of board decisions, I think that's important and also ties directly to our governance manual.

WHICH IS IF WE PROVIDE STRONGER DIRECTION UP FRONT, WE WOULD THEN EXPECT THAT WHAT IS PRESENTED TO US IN A BUDGET WOULD BE, YOU WOULDN'T HAVE TO ASK US DO YOU THINK THIS IS OKAY.

YOU CAN SAY HERE'S HOW WE HAVE ARRIVED AT THIS RECOMMENDATION BECAUSE IT ALIGNS WITH PRIORITIES THAT YOU HAVE ALREADY SAID YOU HAVE.

And then the weighted staffing standards, in some ways I care a lot about that, in some ways I don't care at all.

Because that is a technical distribution number.

What I do care about a lot is I personally believe that we cannot make progress on our goals under the current weighted staffing standards.

I believe that the current method of distributing funds and allocating based on a number of students is a barrier to addressing equity gaps.

And so my interest in the weighted staffing standards is not in getting into the model with you, but in understanding that the allocation of staff and resources is directly connected to meeting the needs of students.

That's it.

Director Hersey.

SPEAKER_08

One other thing that came to mind, just in small part to kind of paint a picture of what I'm expecting.

I think we're really at an opportune time, given that we have some retroactive data from last year and being able to look at, OK, we have our budget, we have our goals.

Now we've talked a lot about strategic abandonment, right?

And not even necessarily orienting the conversation to that particular piece.

But I think that it is possible, and you tell me if it's not, to really take a look at like, okay, we are investing in X, Y, and Z strategies to get to X, Y, and Z goal or aspect of our goal, right?

To be able to see last year how much we spent on X And this year, how much we spent on X tied directly to what the actual outcome is in that goal line will help us give y'all better direction about where we want to see money go.

I think it will also help the public see, yo, we have been spending this much money on X.

We are arguing that we should increase this funding or leave it alone.

based on are we getting an outcome that aligns with our goals specifically for our students?

I think that's just the type of conversation that a lot of us are hungry for and will provide a lot of, I would say, context for the decisions that we're making, especially as we're moving into some very difficult times financially.

SPEAKER_14

Yeah I will just say I really appreciate how the budget process went last time minus a few tweaks here and there.

I thought you kept the directors well informed.

It kept the public well informed.

We got a lot of information.

It seemed very very transparent process to me so I appreciate that and I appreciate us setting up the same sort of structure this coming year.

The one very tiny thing that I have is from our past budget, our 24, 25 highlights was the voluntary athletic fleet fee implementation.

Now I think that sports are critical to students and access to sports allows kids to stay interested and excited about going to school.

At least it did for me.

So I want to, or I will be looking for to make sure that access or the number of students participating IN SPORTS HAS NOT DECREASED SINCE WE HAVE PUT IN THE VOLUNTARY ATHLETIC FEES FOR OUR STUDENTS.

SPEAKER_13

ACTUALLY, ONE OTHER THING, AND APPRECIATE WHAT DIRECTOR TOPP SAID ABOUT THE PROCESS THAT GAVE US ACCESS TO INFORMATION ITERATIVELY, AND IT DID GIVE INFORMATION TO THE PUBLIC IN AS MUCH AS THEY CAN WATCH OUR MEETINGS.

MY REQUEST OR ACTUALLY URGING WOULD BE THAT There is also a different presentation of budget information that is specifically for the public.

I don't know what that looks like.

That wouldn't be our job to determine.

But I think that it would greatly benefit the district and our community to have the opportunity to engage directly with staff.

Not to say, well, the board said this, but what do you guys think?

Do you want to argue about it?

But for that clarity and to understand how it impacts their kids.

TO UNDERSTAND HOW THEIR ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES ARE PROTECTING THESE ASSETS.

I THINK OBVIOUSLY HAVING THE PUBLIC HAVE ACCESS TO THIS IS REALLY VALUABLE AND I THINK THAT WE REQUIRE A DIFFERENT LEVEL OF INFORMATION AS THE PEOPLE WHO ARE the fiduciary have hold the fiduciary responsibility and that the public's engagement with it and information need still exists and it should be met in a different way so i would like to see a level of direct community engagement or customer engagement from staff on the budget would be a change

SPEAKER_07

Generally, I embrace all that and I think this team will be responsive to that.

One of the things I'm thinking about when we talk about budgets, budget is an articulation of your priorities.

And with that in mind, I'm believing that if we have third grade reading, seventh grade math, college and career readiness as our key goals.

Not only would you see Dr. Buttleman up here presenting, but perhaps some conversation with those who are leading those initiatives to be talking about how they're accessing those resources for service delivery.

And so I'm thinking if this board would like to have that level of connectivity to actually the implementation of these strategies in the context of budget, that might be an additional feature that we could provide.

SPEAKER_13

I think to some extent that would come through in progress monitoring, but particularly adding the fiscal impact would be, I mean, when we talk about the strategies that are being implemented, monitoring their effectiveness, part of that would be recommendations to the board that we no longer invest in X, that we invest more in Y.

So I wonder if we can tie that to the progress monitoring.

or tie the progress monitoring into, yeah, I think we're probably saying the same thing.

SPEAKER_10

I think that that's important and I know that came up in past progress monitoring where it was unclear to us like which strategies were, the fact that we didn't know which strategies were working or not made it hard to know where to allocate resources.

So I do think that should be something that's discussed in progress monitoring.

That then can be reprised in a budget conversation because I think it sounds like maybe information overload if we tried to do it all at one time.

But if we talked about it in the context of progress monitoring and then could be reminded of this is what we said in the progress monitoring in the context of a budget conversation, that could be really helpful.

SPEAKER_13

All right.

SPEAKER_34

Thank you for all of that.

SPEAKER_13

Please proceed.

SPEAKER_34

You mentioned zero-based budgeting, and I had a colleague in the district office here before the meetings there.

We did zero-based budgeting this year because we've already started meeting with people about the 25-6 budget and what their needs are and how they tie to...

the current strategic plan.

So just trying to anticipate some of that stuff a little earlier.

Not all the way to zero-based budgeting, but trying to clean out the things that need to be strategically abandoned earlier before they sort of have traction going forward into the 25, six years.

So some of that's happening.

SPEAKER_13

Yeah, I think that one of the key takeaways from that 1990 report is that our worst enemy is like, well, that's the way we've always done it.

SPEAKER_07

Right.

All right.

Ellie, if you can go on to the next slide.

One more, please.

So these were our budget development goals and principles.

You all have seen these multiple times.

We were purposeful in bringing these up each time we have a session.

And so I want to just ask a very clarifying question.

Any changes to the budget development goals and principles for 25-26?

Go on to the next slide, please, Ellie.

And then come back to this one.

All right, toggle back.

Thank you.

SPEAKER_13

Director Hersey.

SPEAKER_08

Yeah.

So just going back to the progress monitoring piece, we oftentimes see somewhere on that document, like, unless significant change is x, we are not likely to hit that goal.

The only thing that I would say is let us know what the significant change that you suggest is. because it's one thing to say like oh unless we just change something then we don't have an action item so I think part of what I want to see is like some clear direction that y'all have done the work to look into it and say okay unless y'all do X or Y then we're not gonna see progress in that particular goal and that would be really helpful so that we can do X or Y

SPEAKER_07

Excuse me.

President Hersey.

President Rankin.

SPEAKER_13

Everybody's a doctor.

SPEAKER_07

President Emeritus.

President Emeritus Hersey.

Your comments and requests was in context of new goals or...

SPEAKER_08

Yeah, so just in terms of the budgeting process, because I see them as really linked, right?

And so just to be super clear, the part that I'm looking at is be clear on the challenges and opportunities.

And so I think that there is a clear, and y'all correct me if I'm wrong, because this might be my own head cannon.

But when we have received progress monitoring reports, oftentimes it says, like I mentioned, unless there are significant changes, we're unlikely to hit the goal.

We can't say that without also looking at the budget and knowing what those changes could be.

And so having a very, A, clear link between the two, and B, clarity on what y'all think those changes should be would help us give you better direction and context to the budget.

Is that clear?

That's clear.

SPEAKER_07

So double down on this fourth goal and principle.

SPEAKER_99

100%.

SPEAKER_07

100%.

With specificity.

Yes.

SPEAKER_13

Yeah, I would say the budget development goals and principles for the 24-25 budget are to achieve the goals and remain within the guardrails.

Director Topp.

Oh, okay, sorry.

SPEAKER_07

So this isn't the speak now, forever hold your peace opportunity.

So if there are other goals and principles that we want to stand up, let's make that happen.

And we can be formative along the way.

Okay, next slide, please.

Dr. Bodeman, back to you, sir.

SPEAKER_34

So the next slide, please, Ellie.

So a quick preview of what the 25-26 year is going to look like.

I don't know about you all, but whenever I'm doing a project, I like to sort of get all the puzzle pieces on the table and look at them for a little bit before I start to put them together.

And so today is getting the puzzle pieces on the table, seeing if you've got any other puzzle pieces that you want to interject there.

And then in subsequent meetings, we'll start putting together those pieces to put that puzzle together.

The next slide is just a quick snapshot of what the future deficits would look like if we don't do anything.

So if nothing were to change in the Seattle Public Schools financial situation for 25-6, we'd end the year with a $94 million deficit, and it would grow over time.

So this is nothing happens, nothing changes.

This is the problem.

That's not, I hope, what the plan is.

Director Taft?

SPEAKER_14

Generally speaking, I know this is not an easy question to ask, sir.

What is our average underspend each year?

SPEAKER_34

That's not an easy question.

In the years that are most recent, the average underspend, the range has been between $10 and $30 million for the last five years.

And there's some COVID impacts in there that...

are making that less useful information.

But there will likely be some underspend this year from lapped salaries and things, which will help, at least for one year, to offset some of that.

this year for 24, 25. I believe that was $32 million that was that one time carry forward.

There will be a number when we end this year that will not be zero.

It won't be $94 million either, but there will be something that will contribute to that for that short term.

SPEAKER_07

Thank you.

And Kurt, that comes from FTE underspend.

Yeah, so.

Typically.

SPEAKER_34

When the superintendent fires me, my salary lapses for a while.

That money is part of that $30 million that's accumulating over time.

Somebody quits, that sort of things.

We don't spend all our supply money in the payroll department.

That all sort of contributes to that.

SPEAKER_13

Two things I wanted to say.

So one of the decisions that we made to balance the budget for this coming school year is to spend down the Ready Day Fund.

So years past, there may have been a, we can put off this hard decision, or we can extend this timeline, or we can do it because there's us or money because there's a rainy day.

We're out of it.

We're out of all those things.

Other thing, again, refer back to my favorite book, that 1990 report.

It's a hot read.

That another thing that was true then that is true now is even if we were to implement every single recommendation and make every modification we could, due to the chronic underfunding by our state legislature, we would still be looking at a deficit.

SPEAKER_34

Yes.

And I've got, this is a good place to, I guess, insert that.

You approved the PASS contract today, and you noticed in the fiscal note there was a cost to the district of, I think it's 600 and something thousand dollars.

Every labor group that we have, nonrepresented and represented, on average, the state funds about a little more than half of that IPD.

So the state says, here's 2% for IPT.

They're only funding about a little more than 1% of that 2%, if that's the example.

And so that's part of that structural problem.

SPEAKER_13

And the prototypical school funding model that is how the state allocates funds to districts is from 2009. We are trying to meet the needs of 2024 and 25 with a formula that was created in 2009 and just inflation alone.

I mean, we, you know, yeah, I was going to say it wasn't, it didn't actually, you know, that, that formula by design provides nine nurses to Seattle public schools.

SPEAKER_34

Right.

SPEAKER_13

So that formula.

SPEAKER_34

Five security officers.

SPEAKER_13

Right.

And so when we talk about full funding too, that formula has been fully funded.

That formula is completely inadequate.

SPEAKER_34

So President Rankin and I did not rehearse this, but the next slide is to that point.

This is the state version of that.

So per student funding is going down for the state of Washington public school system.

So...

If you look at the line in the middle, in 2018-19, per student funding across the state was $12,525, and now it's $11,588, about $1,000 less, adjusted for inflation.

SPEAKER_13

Adjusted for inflation.

So the dollar amount has gone up.

The value of those dollars is such that the actual value of what's being allocated to provide for public education in Washington state is less than it used to be.

SPEAKER_34

Which brings us to the next topic, the legislature and the legislative agenda.

So soon finalizing legislative agendas, the session convenes January 13th, scheduled to adjourn April 27th.

which is after all the school staffing process happens.

And so that will be a challenge this year because of the closeness of the margins where there is no more buffer with the rainy day fund and some other things.

So the Seattle Public Schools has to make some decisions before that session has adjourned around staffing and other things.

So that's one of the pieces that we're going to have to work through over the course of the next few months.

And then it's a 105-day full session.

And the next slide is just a summary of the three major areas that are, I think there's some coalescing of the superintendents around across the state.

I can let Dr. Jones speak to that if you'd like, but special education, materials, supplies, and operating costs at the school districts, and then transportation.

The current request for all those is in the billion dollar range that WASA is putting forward.

SPEAKER_07

And essentially, this is mutual interest of most of the superintendents.

However, as we looked at the inflationary piece, this doesn't exactly address that.

And so these are things that we are confident that will be considered by the legislature.

But there's probably a list of 20 things that we need to be pursuing.

So please.

SPEAKER_13

And so WASA is the Washington Association of School Administrators.

There's also WASDA, Washington State School Directors Association, which we are all members of, and I am on the board.

And then there's WASBO, which is the Washington Association of School Business Officers.

Those three entities are the statewide...

NON-REPRESENTED.

SO WEA OBVIOUSLY IS A HUGE STATEWIDE BODY.

THAT'S A UNION.

THESE OTHER ORGANIZATIONS ARE NOT UNIONS.

BUT WE DO ANNUALLY HAVE A JOINT LEGISLATIVE CONFERENCE, WHICH LAST YEAR I THINK I WAS THE ONLY ONE FROM SPS TO GO.

SO I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE MORE OF US TO GO.

conversation amongst various representatives from those groups with shared interests.

These are likely to also be in the top three for WASDA and other groups.

Special education and transportation are the two areas of largest deficit for districts across the state.

MSOC is on here because it's the most, it also includes insurance.

And our insurance costs in SPS, for example, have increased from, I think, $4 million pre-pandemic to over $7 million now.

That's just a small example of something that's a required cost that has expanded without additional, there's not additional value for that for students.

It's just the same thing.

It just is more expensive.

So these three things are likely to be what WASDA and other entities organize around because they're the largest sources of the deficit.

I have to take this opportunity, though, to say that without increasing progressive revenue and without addressing the underlying prototypical school funding model, these will still never be adequate to meet the educational needs in Washington state.

My understanding in discussing with people from other districts and with legislators, addressing the prototypical funding model is a big lift that people are not interested in.

But we have to be really clear that even this is not a long-term fix.

Because inflation is going to continue.

Student needs are going to continue to change.

And the problem is we inequitably and unamply like the state's revenue stream for education will never be adequate because of our regressive tax structure.

And while addressing these in terms of gaps is significant and meaningful, it still cannot make up for the fact that the underlying formula is also flawed and inadequate.

So yes on these, let's do it.

This also is still somewhat of an immediate, it's addressing a crisis and not so much addressing the chronic underfunding and undervaluing of education and kids in Washington state, by our state.

Yes, plus one to that, the whole country.

Oh, and we've got a federal legislature who continues to propose reducing their allocations.

SPEAKER_34

To that point, Seattle, this is not, we're not the only district in this situation.

It was just brought to my attention yesterday by Superintendent Reykdal that OSPI has created a binding conditions website.

There are five districts in binding conditions now, so if you want to learn more about that, and what some of the communications are.

So this is not unique to Seattle.

SPEAKER_13

Can I just, the alarm to be raised by five districts going into binding conditions, which is what it means when OSPI comes in and takes over your books and says, here's how you need to eliminate costs.

Marysville could actually be dissolved as a school district because they went into binding conditions.

OSPI said, we've looked at your books.

Here's the cuts you need to make.

They didn't make them.

So there's no, well, you guys tried.

We're going to come in with millions of dollars and bail you out.

No.

One of the outcomes is that district is chopped up, and the schools become parts of neighboring districts, and Marysville School District no longer exists.

That has only happened once in the last 30 years.

Binding conditions is something that one or two districts go into every few years.

Five in one year is alarming.

that the response is a website for binding conditions instead of calling a special session and addressing the fact that districts have been sounding this alarm and that last year we asked for a temporary increased levy authority for districts and then increased LEA funding from the state to say, we know that you don't have the money.

Allow us to use our own money.

to keep this ship afloat and increase levy assistance for school districts that can't raise large amounts of dollars.

That didn't even get, I mean, I wasn't laughed at when I suggested that.

And I actually had a letter that multiple districts across the state signed asking for that.

It didn't even get a hearing.

So we've got a website for what to do when you're in binding conditions.

instead of the acknowledgment by the state that this is not unique.

It's not mismanagement.

It's a huge problem that's going to impact over a million kids.

And we got a website instead of a solution.

Then we get to sit here for free and make impossible, horrible decisions that nobody wants to make.

SPEAKER_34

We can go to the next slide.

Director Sarju said he'd speed this along, so I'm trying.

So what the next three months look like.

Today, trying to provide some foundational information.

You'll notice the change in language on September 18th.

Instead of a fiscal stabilization plan resolution, it's an educational program resolution, which is in congruence with the new policy number 0060 that was passed last summer, fall.

So anticipating doing that in September.

SPEAKER_13

So we've given direction and policy that if there is a significant surplus OR SIGNIFICANT DEFICIT FROM THE PREVIOUS BUDGET THAT AN ADDITIONAL LEVEL OF APPROVAL BY THE BOARD IS REQUIRED IN STAFF COMING TO US AND EXPLAINING HOW THEY'RE APPROACHING A SIGNIFICANT CHANGE IN THE BUDGET TO KIND OF GIVE US ADDITIONAL, LIKE, HEADS UP, YOU KNOW, THIS IS REALLY DIFFERENT FROM LAST YEAR IN THESE WAYS SO THAT WHEN WE GET TO THE END OF THE YEAR WE'RE NOT GOING, WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, WHERE DID THAT That came out of nowhere, you know.

So that's what, and it's an educational program resolution that's consistent with what other districts across the country call it.

And it's so that we understand if there's significant changes ahead of time, what they might be.

SPEAKER_08

President Rankin, you are absolutely cooking.

I love all of the information that you're giving us.

SPEAKER_13

You want to go home?

SPEAKER_08

I'm sorry.

We got a presentation.

And it's just like I feel like I want to hear everything you have to say.

And there's probably a more appropriate venue than this particular instance because it is critically important.

And I think it should be given the prime time space that it deserves.

SPEAKER_13

I'll zip it.

I appreciate the gentle redirection.

I honestly do.

SPEAKER_34

I think we touched on this a bit already.

So many of the fairly significant variables that will be happening over the next year.

decisions around well-resourced schools, enrollment, development of the new strategic plan to drive the budget decisions, the big legislative session, two of the main labor partner agreements are expiring, the Seattle Public Schools levy is up for vote in February, and then the city families education preschool and promise levy is up for vote in November, and that is a big supplemental source of funding for Seattle Public Schools.

And the other there is if there are other things that folks are thinking about that should be considered at that level.

We can go to the next slide.

This you've seen before, just sort of a highlight of the first thing that's coming up around decisions around well-resourced schools and the projected savings with the change in the number of school systems and operational savings versus trying to achieve or collect those savings from changes within the existing system of schools.

Things such as increasing class sizes, reducing assistant principals, things like that, or operational costs with less buildings.

So this is not new information, but just wanted to share that that's something that's coming to a head more quickly than some of those other items.

Next slide.

And then here.

SPEAKER_13

Sorry, really quick question.

So just that, because I'm recognizing that this is a graphic we've seen before, but this is, but you, it's specifically spelled out for 25, 26. Yes.

Okay.

Yeah, the numbers have been updated.

Here's more terrible choices that could be made.

SPEAKER_34

Yeah.

And here's the comprehensive list of terrible choices.

SPEAKER_14

So the green decision point though it has FTE positions as well.

Can we get the same sort of data and information there.

SPEAKER_34

Yes.

SPEAKER_14

Hello?

There we go.

Just the green, these are FTE positions as well.

So just getting the same information we have on the red and the green space.

Yeah.

So we can compare.

Yes.

SPEAKER_34

Understood.

So here's a list of the tools or alternatives to be considered.

This list adds up to $99 million.

Of course, it's not all going to happen.

There's ranges for each of them, but just sort of a first attempt at trying to outline what those ranges could be.

So first one, for example, is if the transition to a system will resource schools from the previous slide could save up to $29.7 million in operational costs.

Transitioning to three bell times could save between nine and $11 million.

There's some dependencies there on the number of schools, of course.

Restructuring the administration of some of the non-comprehensive high schools could save some funding, combining some of the administrative staff functions and other things.

School programs such as, and this is not a proposal, but things such as the International Baccalaureate Program, the University of Washington-Haring Program, some of those things.

Our school programs that are within that $10 million that could be saved if all of that were just changed in some way.

Number five is just sort of an example of if everybody was reduced in terms of salary, what the savings would be by percentage.

Central office reductions, there's been significant work on that over the last few years, but there's some more that could be done, of course, with some changes of priorities of the district, so estimating there between zero and $5 million.

Implementing a fee that's not voluntary, the estimate there could be up to $2 million.

And then the other side of the equation on the previous slide, the staffing reductions that were contemplated on that, somewhere between zero and $31 million.

Part of the exercise going forward over the next few months will be to bring more detail on that information.

And then I think what's the time?

Go for it.

SPEAKER_14

I'm good.

Or not.

This is just looking at these things as we talk about state underfunding and the very difficult, hard, awful decisions that are in front of us.

SPEAKER_34

So next, did you have something?

SPEAKER_08

Yeah, just Director Rankin, going back to that prime time allocation piece, I think what I am seeing a need for, not saying that it's going to yield anything, because doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result, you know the rest.

We have not done a coordinated full-board press in terms of lobbying before.

And so I'm wondering, from your vantage point, does it make sense for the seven of us, and we can call it a public meeting if we want to, go show up at a couple of offices and just at least make this very clear that this is a problem that is not going to be solved by...

just showing people what receivership looks like on a website.

So I'm just wondering, do you think that that would be a useful venture on our part?

SPEAKER_13

The state certainly does not want SPS.

SPEAKER_08

I don't care what they want.

SPEAKER_13

I think that we definitely need to talk about that somewhere.

In our B meeting, we have our monthly regular meetings.

We are still calendaring the second meeting.

Legislative session is definitely something we need to talk about this fall.

I would love to get into that more in a public conversation.

Seattle, and I've said this before, and people don't necessarily love it because they're like, well, I'll just go.

Seattle comes with a whole lot of baggage in Olympia.

There have been a lot of historical decisions that have meant that other districts are pissed because when Seattle has or hasn't done something, the rest of this, like, the legislature will create some new restriction or requirement based on something that just happened in Seattle that now everybody has to follow.

And it pisses people off.

So our, I believe personally, and what I have experienced too, given the gains that we made in special education funding the last long session, best strategy is to work in collaboration with other boards across the state.

SPEAKER_08

Totally get that.

Yeah, okay.

Let's find a better way to talk about it.

Yeah.

SPEAKER_34

Couple of timelines to note today.

The first one is just the budget development timeline.

You saw a version of this last year.

This contemplates 10 meetings of the budget discussions over that period of time.

And then the next one is a timeline of sorts.

So mentioned earlier, the policies 0060 and 0061 were introduced last year with the direction for the superintendent to begin the process of creating alignment with these policies and provide a general implementation timeline by August of 2024. which is now.

And so the third bullet point, the second bullet point all the way to the left, the discussion here is in an effort to minimize the disruption to schools in light of the fact that a number of the items outlined in that policy 0060 are dependent on the new strategic plan.

the implementation of decisions around a system of already sourced schools.

It is recommended that the full implementation start with the 25-26 year when some of those issues are more resolved.

And it is anticipated that full implementation will take more than one year.

And there are a few specific items in that policy around the staffing standards model or whatever it would be called in the future.

more equitable access, lowering the dependence on PTA and other external funding to make it more equitable across the system.

So all of that is interdependent on the strategic plan and some of the decisions around the number of school buildings that will continue.

This is saying we need to make sure all that context isn't taken into account as implementation of policy 0060 goes forward.

So just want to be responsive to the request for a timeline update.

And I think we're near.

Any concerns of either of those?

SPEAKER_13

I have a quick question about the sneak.

Before last year, it was typical that there would be like three or four several hours long budget work sessions to debatable effect.

At first glance, I'm like, that's a lot of budget meetings.

I understand why we did it last year.

But now, what I want to reflect is this is more frequent, timely, meaningful updates Yeah, more frequent rather than the sit down for two hours and go through a ton of.

SPEAKER_34

That's the idea here, yes.

More timely, more frequent.

SPEAKER_13

I mean, I feel like this cadence is helpful.

SPEAKER_08

I get that.

And we very rarely stick to the time.

So let's not fool ourselves into thinking that like, oh, we're going to chop these three long meetings into like 10 short ones and just give them the time that's appropriate.

Because I know that a lot of folks will be frustrated if we say it's going to be an hour and we hear till the chickens come home.

So.

SPEAKER_13

I'm hearing the need to be more realistic about the amount of time we allocate and set appropriate expectations.

SPEAKER_08

Good ears on you, President Rankin.

SPEAKER_13

Got it.

SPEAKER_34

All right, I think we're near the end.

SPEAKER_13

Any other questions?

SPEAKER_34

Just to summarize some areas of focus for the coming years, the wealth resource schools, transition, special education, improve funding through the prototypical model, the major labor contracts, and then continue to search for efficiencies and reductions that are furthest away from kids.

That's it.

Next slide.

SPEAKER_13

Does it just?

Provided.

Already provided.

So thank you very much.

Rather than move us back up there to adjourn, let's just stay here very briefly.

Thank you to Directors Topp and Ms. Rahi for doing time use evaluations, which are attached.

I would like to request that somebody volunteer to do time use evaluation for August and September and even actually ask that maybe somebody take on the responsibility of making sure that somebody does time use.

SPEAKER_08

I'll do it for October and November.

SPEAKER_13

Okay.

That's on record.

Who can do it August, September?

Because it's a...

You don't have to...

Well, I'm going to actually...

I will help Director Briggs do it.

SPEAKER_08

Thank you.

SPEAKER_13

Well, I would be willing if I have a partner.

And I have a couple ideas about ways we can improve efficiency.

Yeah.

SPEAKER_08

OK.

SPEAKER_13

So Director Briggs will do August, September.

Director Hersey will do October, November.

Thank you very much.

There being no further business on the agenda, this meeting stands adjourned at 7.44 PM.

Tomorrow we have a board retreat.