School Board Meeting January 22, 2020 part 3 mpg

Turn to the dais.

Next up for public testimony we will have Milan Mizbahi followed by Christine Tang and Chia Wang.

Hello.

Oh OK it's on.

Sorry.

OK.

One one moment.

I just need to reconvene us from recess.

There you go.

Thank you.

Hello.

My name is Milad Mesbahi and I'm a student at Ingraham High School.

How does education look today.

Is it used to enhance our understanding of reality or to push certain agendas and ideas forward.

We as a society have placed value and trust within our public education system to foster critical thinking and teach students various areas of knowledge that prepare them for future careers and endeavors they may pursue.

But this is not occurring.

Instead we see a Eurocentric narrative being continuously pushed and the flourishment of a curriculum that is centered around the success of white and privileged students.

Students of color are thus left with a limited understanding of themselves and their identities.

You all you all however can change this ethnic studies serves as a counter narrative that is actively anti-racist and will serve as a curriculum that will combat the microaggressions and stereotypes that have blossomed from the apathy and ignorance of our current education system.

Throughout my educational experience I've seen the discrepancies that exist within Seattle Public Schools.

Finding inspiration and learning is one of the most important things when it comes to student growth.

Yet students of color rarely learn about the figures and the stories of their cultures or ethnic groups that allow them to see themselves in history.

Because of our current curriculum we see blatant racism in our classrooms both in both in structure and thought.

Segregation within our schools where students of color feel like our education system doesn't value their learning.

and a colonized curriculum that ignores the indigeneity of people and knowledge.

Some people look at ethnic studies and describe it as a multiculturalist education that serves no purpose with the acquisition of actual knowledge.

This could not be farther from the truth however.

Ethnic studies is not a standalone high school course that simply studies specific ethnic groups or an act of inclusivity but is a holistic narrative of our world and history that serves to reverse the social and intellectual pitfalls that were created and perpetuated by a current education system.

I challenge you all to reflect on your roles as school board directors and the responsibility you have in incorporating ethnic studies throughout K through 12 education.

If you truly value the growth and knowledge of students and society.

Thank you.

Christine Ting.

Good evening.

I support ethnic studies in SPS.

I also support Amendment 1 to the board action report.

It is extremely inequitable to deny the students in Central Seattle and the South End access to a cohort pathway.

This is Seattle's most diverse cohort where the majority 53 percent of students are students of color.

This amendment would not take anything away from the high cap families in the south end and central Seattle.

It would open a gate instead to an opportunity they currently do not have without this amendment.

It's an option not a mandate.

I'm not here to uphold the status quo for too long.

The district process of accessing high cap services has been the equivalent of a secret handshake for those in the know discriminating against students who are black and brown English language learners Low income and twice exceptional.

Those children who are gifted and have learning disabilities or other disabilities who are neurodivergent or differently wired.

The advanced learning learning task force recommendations address all these inequities and call for advanced learning opportunities in every school as well as immediate action once student needs are identified.

But you have to identify them.

Advanced learning services.

are required for gifted kids because gifted kids are not better, they're not superior.

They simply present differences in the way they learn, the speed at which they acquire information and retain information, the social-emotional support they need.

I'm appalled at the erasure of gifted and black black and POC students from the policy discussions.

Your discussions have centered white students and how their families circumvent and take advantage of the system.

I want you to center the black and brown gifted students and what they need in SPS.

Have you asked their parents what they need.

Those black and brown students were tested in despite despite biases implicit and explicit.

Despite bias testing.

Despite the barriers.

I wanted to center those two black and brown students who are now in ESL classrooms.

You're eating into everybody else's time.

Those classrooms where they do they do not get access to academic instruction.

Next up we have Chia Wang followed by Hugh Kim and then Chris Jackins.

Chia.

Chia.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Please.

It eats into everybody else's public comment time that they've signed up for.

Thank you.

We have heard you.

This is disrespectful to other people's public comment time.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I have two points and a request.

The first point is that the HC cohort while flawed in many ways as indicated by some of our signs is a highly successful academic program.

The students at Garfield consistently lead the city in academic metrics and go on to some of the best colleges in the country.

At a time when the U.S. is having trouble competing academically on the world stage.

I don't want us to forget that Seattle Public Schools through the HC cohort provides an education that ranks among the best in the country.

My second point though is that just because HCC parents don't want to see the cohort disbanded does not mean that we are against TAF.

TAF looks like a great program but we are being asked to take a leap of faith in the name of equity.

And while that may be the noble thing to do we worry about our children and we are concerned that the district is disregarding the recommendations of the advanced learning task force.

I know that the perception is that HC families are sitting on mountains of privilege but for the most part what that translates into on a day-to-day basis is two parents working full-time struggling with our mortgages trying to educate our children in a challenging world.

Yes we have options and opportunities but not as many as the school board seems to assume that we have especially at this late date.

The school board is prioritizing the needs of underserved students and that is as it should be.

My request is that you approach this issue with some flexibility and some empathy for the HC students who are also in your charge.

We appreciate that Amendment 1 may provide an option but the geographic distance is a hardship.

My request is that the 6th grade cohort allow be allowed to remain at WMS during a transition period while we digest the recommendations of the task force and we get used to TAF and TAF gets used to us.

After all there will still be 7th and 8th grade HC cohorts at WMS.

Any decision about the middle school HC cohort should be made across the entire district after the task force recommendations have been considered.

Thank you very much.

For all public schools uplifting the struggling students of color should be a priority but serving the needs of those who are advanced should be equally as important.

Public education as a democratic entity has an obligation to address the needs of all families black white Asian Latinx and native people of color.

SPS's plan to disrupt the court model in the South end by mixing them in general classes will have a negative impact.

Struggling students are SPS's top priority which means their needs will be the focus and attention of teachers in classrooms which will stunt the growth of advanced students.

In a rush to level the field for those who are underprivileged the SPS is ignoring the children who are working hard to excel.

There is no plan no direction for children in HCC South End.

It's like you're telling these kids look you have rich white parents even if you're not rich or white just deal with it.

That is not justice in education that goes against the purpose of a public education institution.

Allow our south end cohorts to stay together.

Vote yes on Amendment 1.

Thank you.

After Chris Jackins we will have Brian Terry followed by Sarah Jones and then John Persak.

My name is Chris Jackins Box 8 4 0 6 3 Seattle 9 8 1 2 4 on the joint operating agreement between Seattle Public Schools and Technology Access Foundation TAF.

Seven points.

Number one Washington Middle School will be co-managed by the district and TAF.

Number two some members of the school board have claimed that the TAF program will technically not be a charter school.

This dodges the issue.

Number three what is being proposed is to have a private company operate a public school.

Number four board members are elected to help oversee the operations of public schools.

Number five please consider the following amendment TAF and Seattle Public Schools will not accept funding of the Washington Middle School TAF project from donors who contributed more than one thousand dollars to the state charter school initiative.

Number six I am including a list of seven areas in which the TAF proposal appears to violate state law.

Number seven instead of TAF please reopen the African-American Academy and Indian Heritage High School.

Please vote no.

On school board oversight four points.

Number one when adopting curricula state law requires the board approve the members of the Instructional Materials Committee the IMC.

Number two at a court hearing last week The district's outside attorney got the judge to make a finding that the word approval means tacit approval that the board vote that no board vote is required on IMC members.

Number three the same word approval is also used in the same statute with regard to curricula.

Number four your attorneys have thereby apparently established that no board vote is required on curricula.

You can all go on vacation.

Please insist that your attorneys appeal this court finding.

For decades the board allowed three minutes per person for public testimony.

This board allows only two minutes.

Thank you.

Good evening.

In Brown Brown versus the Board of Education Chief Justice Earl Warren warned that serving black students in racially segregated classrooms generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their hearts and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone.

The reverse has also been well documented.

Desegregation provides significant benefit to underprivileged students.

It is estimated that spending 12 years in integrated classrooms is enough to completely overcome the black white educational attainment gap.

And yet at many of our pathway schools we continue to place mostly white highly capable classrooms next to mostly black neighborhood classrooms.

Martin Luther King Jr. spoke about the difficulty of desegregation in his letter from a Birmingham jail.

I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was well-timed in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation.

For years now, I have heard the word wait.

It rings in the ear of every black person with piercing familiarity.

This wait has almost always meant never.

We must come to see with one of our distinguished jurists that justice too long delayed is justice denied.

Please find a way to serve our highly capable students without racial segregation.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Hello I'm Sarah Jones.

I'm a female minority and I'm a graduate of the advanced placement program also known as a highly capable cohort at Washington Middle School.

I'm here today to tell you the program changed my life.

Prior to APP I grew up with a single mother in a low income household.

I was a student who was unintentionally disruptive with mediocre grades.

In class I would finish my work early sit bored and talk to other students.

When I was nine my mother married and we moved to the Seattle Public School District.

One of the best things that happened to me.

I had an awesome teacher Sherry who recognized that I was in fact not a mediocre student.

I was bored and needed to be challenged in an environment that went at the speed of my brain.

She recommended to my parents that I test for APP.

In sixth grade, I entered APP at Washington, where I was finally challenged and fully engaged.

I became a straight-A student who learned about her own brilliance for the first time.

My parents did not graduate from college, but I went on to earn a graduate degree on full scholarship from University of Michigan.

I have founded a startup, been honored in Puget Sound Business Journal's 40 Under 40, and now run an innovation team at a Fortune 50 aerospace company.

I am a black woman leader in tech and I'm a proud product of the Seattle Public Schools.

I am proud of the exemplary education I received through the HCC model.

I would not be where I am today without it.

I'm not alone.

Many of my minority colleagues have gone on to be doctors, authors, lawyers, musicians, and more.

It breaks my heart to hear that little boys and girls like I was, whose brains work differently, may not get the opportunity to learn in an environment that's right for them and will help them realize their brilliance.

I urge you to keep the HCC model and work let's work together to fix the issues with access access and to ensure all teachers have the opportunity and that we train more teachers.

I say all children have the opportunity and we train more teachers to be like Sherry's who can recognize highly capable students when they show up differently.

Thank you.

After John Persak we will have Fatumata Sacco followed by Dion Malatesta and then Joanna Cullen.

Honorable board members and superintendent.

Over the past several months I'm hearing that this district's administration does not understand neurodiversity.

and wishes to publicly demonize highly capable children.

This is a form of institutionalized child abuse.

Manufactured brilliance is a terminology that is fundamentally anti-science and an alternative fact.

I was in Olympia today to support Senate Bill 6282. The legislation does not call for IEPs for gifted children.

Please stop misleading the public on this and stop pitting special ed parents against other parents.

You wish to dismantle highly capable learning without a plan without a destination.

Do not mislead the public into believing that neighborhood schools are equipped to pick up the slack.

We all know the truth.

You don't need to press pause.

You need to press reset on this.

Thank you for your attention.

Thank you.

Hello.

Good evening.

My name is Fatou Marta and I'm here to support Amendment 1. I think it would make make more sense to add more HCC pathways in the south and central areas of Seattle where there are more students of color and who has been disqualified to access advanced learning services and HCC for many years.

Why am I talking about that.

I'm a parent who have been navigating the testing system for many years for my current 9 and 8 graders before realizing that.

Being an ESL being an immigrant or lacking resources can automatically disqualify you from these advanced learning programs.

English is my fourth language.

And when I came to America I already spoke it though because we had English at school and I tried to support my kids at home for many years before sending them to public schools.

Why did I do that?

I did it because I believed in a democratic society introduced to me through books and media at school and at college back in my home country.

I believed in an equitable educational system that would recognize its students strength potential and challenges and meet their needs at any level.

Providing more advanced learning opportunities for students of color is the first step to educational justice.

This is possible by introducing the opportunities from preschool to elementary and to middle school.

How can we do that.

I think we could do that by providing tools to teachers to communicate better to parents resources that are available for the children whether they're brown black or white.

I might be wrong but I have witnessed frustration and discouragement many times in parents whose students are denied access to an equitable education whether it's in the classroom in the athletic field or elsewhere in their learning journeys.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening.

As it is fairly clear that the TAF SPS joint operating agreement will be approved tonight and this will push for the dismantling of the highly capable cohort.

I ask that you spend some time educating yourselves about the needs and challenges of cognitively atypical and twice exceptional children and the real documented risks of not providing them with an appropriate learning environment.

Note that when I say you I am not talking just about the board but anyone with decision making power in Seattle Public Schools.

Please also educate yourselves on how these risks are magnified for black and brown cognitively atypical children.

The children that have been ignored for decades in Seattle Public Schools and the children you are purporting to help by dismantling the cohort.

The work of Dr. Joy Lawson Davis Dr. Donna Ford Dr. Tarek Grantham and other scholars of color who understand the needs of cognitively atypical children of color is important reading as you reimagine how cognitively atypical children will be served and identified in Seattle Public Schools.

The process of bringing TAF to Washington Middle School did not have to be so contentious.

If the district had chosen to recognize that cognitively atypical kids have real needs and challenges as a result of their atypicality and honored the real fears and concerns of families instead of denigrating them.

Perhaps we could have had a more productive and healing discussion around meeting the needs of all students equitably instead of pitting communities against each other and ignoring those at the intersections.

By using rhetoric such as manufactured brilliance and opportunity hoarding you have helped create an environment where is it OK for an adult to attack a student in this room and fill view of the dais.

Given that my time is almost up I want to say lastly please vote for the Black Lives Matter resolution and I urge you to move faster to implement the demands of the Black Lives Matter at school movement.

Your work is just beginning.

There is healing to be done as well as delivering on your promises.

Thank you.

Thank you.

After Joanna Cullen we'll have Gian Nicolo Rosario followed by Emily Wheeler and Dustin Wunderlich.

Hi.

I'm Joanna Cullen and I'm a member of the community and I'm mainly here to speak about my concerns about the anger and frustration in the community when process does not seem to be.

Followed.

I watched the hearing today on.

62 82 and.

I think it is about process process is supposed to empower us to know how to engage with our government agencies our elected officials and so so much of this process has been backed up.

turned around not not very clear and not transparent.

And of course then people become angry and frustrated and seem to be set against each other.

And somebody said you cannot be set against each other unless you're already against each other.

I do not believe that that is true in my community.

that we can come together if a process is followed.

And I would like this new board to really consider carefully the process by which they transition students of any ability or any program to a new program.

And this has not been followed.

I also notice that even tonight in the consent agenda the approval of a purchase for TAF was approved before this before it's before the actual TAF is voted to be accepted.

That's I mean that doesn't seem like an approval process.

I can't believe I haven't used up all my time.

There are so many issues here but I'm not here to say how these services should be delivered but a transit a recognition of the need.

Thank you.

Thank you Joanna.

And just to clarify there was not anything on the consent agenda.

It was a student and staff technology purchase for BEX IV schools.

So thank you.

Next.

Hello my name is Gian.

I graduated.

First I'd like right from your beach first I'd like to thank our school board members for the resolution which declares that black students matter and encourage our teachers to participate in the national black lives matter at school week.

I also appreciate that the resolution acknowledges the historical injustice towards our black and brown students.

But today that injustice continues in our education system.

For example mandating ethnic studies is one of our is one of the demands of the movement.

Yet our school district does not explicitly name ethnic studies in our strategic plan.

Another example of this injustice is the amendment being considered tonight which would continue segregation in our schools.

The amendment uses language such as self-contained cohort.

Our students deserve to have the same access to opportunities and our students deserve to learn together in the same classroom.

So with that I urge our school board members not to support this amendment and I urge our district to explicitly name ethnic studies in our strategic plan and make ethnic studies a priority.

This is my closing remark.

During our first weeks during the first weeks at Seattle Public Schools you invited students and discussed things about our schools and they asked you what services do students deserve that some students don't.

So now I ask the same for our board members and I ask you to reflect tonight before voting on the amendment.

Thank you.

Thank you.

It's great to see you back here.

Hi Emily Wheeler here to talk a little bit about Washington Middle School as many of us have.

Washington Middle School is essentially a Title 1 school and a special needs school.

It's been a blended school for many years and it's been a blended school that hasn't had enough funding.

Many of the core classes have over 40 kids.

Forty kids.

This is eight beyond what is allowed by the teacher contract.

We've been told this is fine.

They just pay the teachers more.

The teachers are frustrated.

This is why Washington Middle School does not do as well as it could because it is underfunded.

And now the district has found money to pay TAF when you haven't been able to find the money for years to pay the teachers to get the class sizes down.

It's Title 1 school.

We have special needs.

We have two groups that work together that play together that do well together.

But the classes are too big and now you can find money for TAF.

This makes no sense.

TAF should go to a different school where you guys think about it a little bit more.

Bring it into HCC as you've heard.

Are you listening to the black and brown families that are up here telling you this is the pathway.

This is where their kids go.

You guys are not serving the minority community you're not serving the South End.

Bringing TAF in and pretending that this is going to be OK is not going to work.

My son currently right now the kids I don't know if you know art gym music history.

Those are all blended classrooms right now at Washington Middle School.

The kids are in classes together and they get to know each other.

They are in different classes when it comes to math and English and science.

And what's frustrating so the school's two thirds one third.

So you've got for example the history class is 15 kids Gen Ed kids and 25 kids HC kids.

Yes that adds up to 40 kids.

You can imagine it's frustrating for the teacher.

But this is such an imbalance and you're just continuing this imbalance by bringing in TAF.

So I'd like to ask you why suddenly do you have the money.

You haven't had the money for years.

You need to fix this.

Please conclude your remarks.

Thank you.

Next up we have Dustin Wunderlich and then Yvonne Hubbard.

Hello I'm Dustin Wunderlich director of communications for the University of Washington College of Education reading a letter on behalf of Mia Tuan Dean of the college.

Dear board members as dean of the University of Washington College of Education I can attest to the impact of TAF and its efforts over 20 plus years to realize social change and educational equity for low income communities and communities of color in our region.

I urge you to support partnering with TAF to further advance this collective work for our young people.

TAF Academy successes achieve both local and national recognition for enlisting students as active participants in their own education ensuring each student has the knowledge and experience to use STEM as a tool for positive social change starting in their own community.

TAF is dedicated cultivating strong partnerships with students and families as well as with districts higher education and business to provide career connected learning experiences.

The UW College of Education and TAF have been long term partners in creating educational opportunities for underserved communities.

To name one example UW and TAF partnered on a multi-year NSF grant to design and study curriculum that engages culturally and linguistically diverse middle and high school students in the investigation of real world contemporary STEM topics.

This work illustrates TAF Academy's success in preparing students to thrive in a rigorous and relevant learning environment rooted in project based learning practices.

Exactly the kind of preparation that is essential for today's college and career bound students.

TAF shares Seattle Public Schools commitment to ensuring every child achieves to their highest level and graduates ready ready for college career and life.

By joining together we can make greater progress toward educational justice for those communities who have for too long been furthest from it.

Sincerely Mia Tuan Dean University of Washington College of Education.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Yvonne.

Hello again.

This will be my third time talking and I hope that you guys can hear me and hear us behind me because I'm here and I'm hearing these kids are asking for ethnic studies.

Why are we begging for ethnic studies.

Why.

There's so many whys about the district but I also I would love to tell you my daughter's story but I only have a minute and 37 seconds left but I can shortly tell you that before my child was in.

HCC her teacher continuously told me she was autistic and that she wasn't as smart as she was.

We donated books to the classroom that she had already read.

I was told she couldn't read them.

My daughter's been doing multiplication since she was 3. I was told that wasn't true and I really would like.

I really would like us to stop telling each other and believing that like black children can't be gifted because it's harmful.

It's harmful.

There's so many of.

I just want to say if we would test more children especially ones that you feel have behavioral problems you probably would find that they are gifted.

I support the amendment because that means that some of the children and it's not enough.

There needs to be more of us.

There needs to be better representation.

Everyone who gets up and talks and says HCC is broken they're correct.

Every all of these children here asking for a quality education.

They are correct.

All of the kids deserve that.

My child.

Deserves it.

And.

And I hope you hear us this time.

I hope you hear that we do exist and that disbanding the cohort in the south end when there is a plan for the north end.

I wouldn't be standing up here talking if you guys had a plan to do multi tiered learning like you say.

I went to a CSEC meeting that said there was a plan.

But this plan isn't happening in the south and it's going to happen in the north and how come our children don't get this option to have like a prepared system.

If you don't have teacher training you cannot teach to low students and high students.

Thank you.

Please conclude your remarks.

All children should be at standard at least.

So don't let them get to middle school before you try to make changes.

And you know what.

Please don't walk away when we're talking.

There is you know there's so many of us who don't get to have a voice.

And when we go over time it cuts into every other person's time.

Thank you.

Please conclude your remarks.

Yes.

But my point is is that this the system is broken.

You need to do something about it and you need to stop walking away from us when we're trying to talk to you.

You're welcome.

This concludes the sign up list for public testimony this evening.

That concludes our public testimony for the meeting.

Thank you to all who have attended and shared your testimony tonight.

While we are not able to respond individually to each speaker who has joined us I do want to share gratitude for you taking your time to be here to address the board.

So I'm going to move us to the consent the items pulled from consent.

So we'll now move on to those items that were removed from the consent agenda.

So.

The agenda item was number 4 BTA IV approval of capacity management actions for the 2020-21 school year.

This I'm going to ask the VP to make a motion.

I move approval of BTA IV approval of capacity management actions for the 2020 to 21 school year.

And the motion.

I'm going to ask our ops committee chair to what was the recommendation and this was for approval.

Correct.

Yeah this item came through for approval.

It's been updated updated since introduction because there was a typo on the dollar amounts.

And the reason that I pulled it was because It was corrected in two places but not in the third place in the fiscal.

So I'm going to turn it over to Chief Podesta if you have would love you to share about the revisions or any new info since introduction.

No this was Chief Operations Officer Fred Podesta.

Just one one moment.

If folks are still continuing conversation I just if I can encourage you to please go into the lobby.

I want to make sure we get through the business portion of this meeting and get home people home at a reasonable hour.

So OK Chief Podesta thank you.

This was discussed comprehensively in committee and also at introduction.

There was a an error in the motion.

The amount was didn't match the exhibits once the numbers were refined there was a hundred thousand dollar difference.

As Director Mack points out that was corrected in the motion.

It also needs to be corrected.

in the fiscal portion of the BAR.

My understanding from our legal counsel is that no amendment needs to be made.

The motion is correct.

We can correct the other citation administratively and the exhibits are correct.

Does that satisfy the kind of concern from raising it out of the consent.

Yes.

That's the only concern I just want to make sure that that typo was corrected.

Thank you for calling that out.

Do any directors have any other questions or comments.

OK.

Seeing none.

Will Ms. Shek roll call please.

Director Harris aye Director Hersey aye Director Mack aye Director Rankin aye Director Hampson aye Director Rivera-Smith aye Director DeWolf aye this motion is passed unanimously.

Thank you.

I do want to call out one.

I'd heard a couple of our students from the NAACP Youth Coalition I just want to.

something our February 5th agenda excuse me our February 5th regularly scheduled legislative meeting which this is here every other Wednesday is actually not going to be taking place until February 26 because we don't have any items to bring up from committees because of the snow.

So we are postponing and the next meeting won't be till the 26th so be right after the I think it's the midwinter break.

Thank you.

So I just want to clarify if you show up on the 5th.

I don't want you to feel bad that there's nobody here but we will be here on the 26th for a regularly scheduled.

It should be updated on the website.

And again that's because we had snow days and we had no committee meetings really in December or January.

So there's not a lot of new stuff and so I do apologize but I want to make sure you knew that because you mentioned that.

Of course.

OK so now we have come to the board comment section of the agenda.

I'm going to ask again just given the obviously they're really packed action item agenda.

If we could just keep these two comments that are kind of relevant to anything you need to announce or anything that's kind of burning critical needs.

And then if there's any of the comments that pertain to the relevant agenda item just to reserve those for that that portion.

So Director Rankin.

I'm going to keep my comments pretty short.

I feel like the last two weeks since the last board meeting of just like.

flown by I can barely remember what I have to reflect on.

But I did want to say that one of the highlights of the last couple of weeks besides having six puppies at my house is was six because one got adopted.

Attending the annual MLK Day at Garfield High School where I was very privileged to attend the workshop led by.

many of the youth that are here right now.

The NAACP Youth Council and introduce myself to ones that maybe I hadn't met before.

And what the main well the main takeaway that I got was.

First of all how incredibly brave and forward our high school students are.

I mean I'm stammering up here right now and I'm 41 and I'm not getting really my my thoughts across very well.

But but the main thing I ask them you know what as our what a school board we could do to support them.

And the thing that I heard.

was to include students more.

One student noted that there's we have someone sitting here on the end of the dais but it's a little bit performative is not quite the right word but it's great to give them that recognition and a chance to share but it's not very integrated into the rest of what our policy looks like or getting you know giving student voice or student insight into how the process happens.

So I heard.

the desire to be included when there are opportunities for input.

And that makes a lot of sense to me since every decision that we make is for and about them.

So I'm definitely interested if any of you are interested in curriculum and instruction I chair that committee and I would be more than happy to have your perspective and your presence in some of those conversations.

And.

It was a great it was a great day.

I really enjoyed being there with my fellow directors and my sons and my husband and and that's that's pretty much it.

Thanks.

Thanks Director Rankin Director Hersey.

Also had a great time at the MLK event over at Garfield High School.

I think that when I think about the second graders that I teach every day I hope they are just as active and just as engaged as the young people that we see sitting in front of us.

They are repeatedly here telling us the truth about their experience and we have so much to learn from them and so much right to do by them.

And I am so looking forward to continuing to partner with them to figure out how do we solve some of these issues that we're talking about.

How do we incorporate the demands of the Black Lives Matter at school movement into actual concrete policy.

So.

You have a supporter in me and I know so many other of our colleagues at this dais around figuring this out.

But y'all are going to be a crucial part so that we not only do this but we do it right.

And let's have continued conversations about what that looks like.

I did also want to mention that our de-escalation training and community event that was previously Scheduled got interrupted by the snow.

It has officially been rescheduled and I want to take this opportunity to invite you all.

It is going to be on February 24th.

It's a Monday same time same place 630 at New Holly.

I hope that you can attend and I look forward to seeing many of you there hopefully.

Community meetings are coming up and I will save the rest of my comments for the appropriate legislation.

Thank you Director Hersey.

Other directors.

Director Harris.

Again heartfelt thanks for being here for telling your truths for standing up getting counted for the probably thousands of emails.

Most of them extraordinarily thoughtful.

Some of them not so much.

Read them all.

Can't respond to them all.

But please know that this director and I believe my colleagues read every darn one of them.

Community meetings this Saturday 3 to 5 January 24. Delridge library.

Aye aye aye.

February 15 3 to 5 West Seattle branch library March 21 3 to 5 High Point branch library.

We're back in the lasagna rotation.

You've got a 33 and a third chance.

Also I have office hours Wednesdays at 7 a.m.

Please contact the board office if you would like that opportunity and my phone number is on the website and I'm known to buy coffee and other libations if you'd like to get together.

Saturday I unfortunately was not able to come to the MLK Day and March and workshops but I did make it down here to the school enrollment fair where alternative schools and notice that I use the word alternative not option.

I will go to my grave not using the word option.

That's a watered down term.

And if you know me and have known me very long you know that is one of my highest Advocacy issues and probably one of my highest pain points because we are not working with widgets we are working with students and alternative learning is critical because our students are not widgets.

Are some alternative learnings more expensive.

Yes.

And then I go back to my tried and true line with Chief Financial Officer JoLynn Berge and her extraordinarily capable staff and say where on the spreadsheet do lives that get saved get counted.

In any event this room was packed and rocking and it was critically important.

And four years ago we started doing these.

presentations and every year it's gotten better and it made me very proud of our district.

And please spread the word with student enrollment coming up that we do in fact have choices and that folks need to avail themselves to those choices and lottery systems.

It is not a cut and paste education.

I'm just going to put this right out here.

We had folks testifying in Olympia and because of the legalities of testimony in front of legislative bodies they had to testify I am a school director.

I am a superintendent but I am here testifying personally my desire.

And you all may disagree with me.

Lord knows that disagreements can be very constructive and healthy.

But in the future when bills like this pop up that are critically important I'd prefer that we called an emergency board meeting and passed a resolution so that we do in fact have the authority of our elected offices behind our testimony.

And that would also assist us on intra board communication as well.

And I so hope and you know I'm going home to watch TVW tonight that the words unfunded mandate came up often.

It is a real bear to be sitting up here having bills passed every which way but loose some of them very good.

Some of them well intentioned but poorly written.

But when they don't come with money again I call fake news.

Huge thank you to the Green Lake Dragons.

Coquiva that was moving beyond.

And to our students who show up and testify and are frustrated and disappointed with us.

You have right to be.

You have absolute right to be.

Ethnic studies is going way too slow.

It is not well funded and we have to change that.

And should we not be able to carve out the funds and the program.

with the assistance of staff then I submit to you all here at the dais we need to pass board resolutions and line item budget and make it happen.

And I don't like saying that because it sounds non collaborative but three years is a long time to wait and we've had some significant missteps getting here.

We've made progress.

Are we doing enough.

No.

Are we going deep enough.

No.

Are we going fast enough.

No no and no and to put history in perspective and not to equate it.

Please recall that this is the 45th anniversary of the decision in Roe v. Wade and that last week Virginia finally passed the equal rights amendment.

Most of my old life I've been waiting for to happen.

We can't continue doing business this way.

It doesn't work.

Thank you.

Thank you Director Harris.

Other directors.

Director Hampson.

Apologies for the false start on my prior comments which is good that the director will stop me because I didn't get a chance to do my interject in my official introduction.

And that will now officially be translated I hope on this version because I have provided that language.

I greet you all.

My name is Hnuka Draidiga in Ho-Chunk and Chandra Hampson in English.

So I was expounding about Turtle and Coyote and Skunk.

Turtle asked Skunk to show his powers when he got into the canoe with them and his powers were so strong, if you know what Skunk's powers are, that he knocked him clean out of the canoe.

That made my week that was otherwise it has been a difficult one in terms of getting really passionate e-mails from folks.

I did spend some time I've spent much of the last couple of weeks working on getting to know TAF better.

I did a tour with with TAF at Saheli and TAF offices.

We'll talk more about that when we get to that that action item.

I as I said I have a doodle poll that I have first as a way to center the the voices of black indigenous families of color have sent out to those communities to there's something like 200 potential meeting times.

You suggest the location I come to you.

And I'm engaging with community in that way and I've had seven people sign up so far and had a number of those meetings already had the opportunity to be interviewed by along with Superintendent Juneau and Director DeWolf by two native students from the Shekachib program at Nathan Hale which was incredibly inspiring.

and really grateful to hear from them how much that that class means to them.

Was able to attend the MLK celebration at Mount Zion put on by Seattle Colleges which was incredibly inspiring that such a historic was the first time I'd had the opportunity to to be in that historic place and experience that historic community and was really honored to be able to witness that and be part of it.

Had a good conversation with PE teacher this week around class size caps and plan to be looking more into that.

Got to see some of the new food items that we got to taste roll out into some elementary schools and heard really positive feedback from in particular one of the preschool about how well that food is being received.

So maybe some of the kids that I volunteer with can start eating lunch again.

And then I did want to note that I heard I'm hearing loud and clear all these messages about ethnic studies and I'm particularly focused on the the national Black Lives Matter focus on black studies in particular.

And I want to talk more about that with the NAACP Youth Coalition and I appreciate your presence here appreciate you staying here.

I know it's a lot of time.

I'm very familiar as you may have heard earlier with the difficulties of rolling out curriculum into buildings that is intended to authentically represent a community as is the case with Since Time Immemorial.

We have a lot of work to do.

even once we do get the curriculum.

So I hope that with Since Time Immemorial that we are paving the way for but we need to work harder and push harder and I'm in that that work with you.

I think most of the rest I will leave for later.

Oh I did want to note I do not know I'm very interested in this idea of having to reauthorize the Black Lives Matter resolution every year I believe we will check in with with our legal minds but I believe that because it's a resolution that it's only annual authorization and so that means we need to talk more about what does that look like in policy.

That probably plays into the anti-racist organization policy that I believe will be coming through next month.

And I think some of you had a chance to review that so we can talk about maybe that where there's some interplay there.

Thank you Director Hampson.

Director Mack.

Good evening.

I want to give a huge thank you to the staff that stayed up all hours of the night.

to deal with the snow event up at 3 a.m.

having meetings to plan whether or not we call a two hour delay or whether or not we cancel school and I I really appreciate the work that went into that.

So thank you.

And I also noticed that there really wasn't a lot of late buses or accidents and students were safe.

And so thank you.

for all of that work especially the middle of the night work that was required.

Also I I appreciate as always all of the folks that come down to testify and write in as Director Harris said and I know Director Hampson has said before too.

We get a flood of emails reading everything and incorporating it in my thinking and appreciate that you take the time because I know that it takes time and your voices matter so thank you for coming on all the different topics and all the perspective that you're bringing.

I especially want to mention and thank Lucia and Adam from the center school talking specifically about that school's budget and the challenges that it's facing in terms of not having the mental health counselors having to pick between some of the arts classes and AP classes etc. and that.

I'm looking forward to more robust conversations in our WSS and our planning for the budget for next year to ensure that our schools have sufficient budget to provide the robust offerings that our students deserve.

And I do not.

Unfortunately I don't have anything scheduled for community meetings.

We're talking about doing community meetings together between Director Rankin Who is new to Ops Committee.

Welcome.

And Director.

Why is my brain just blank.

Hersey thank you.

I just you're sitting here and my brain my brain just blank for a second.

Director Hersey we're talking about having some joint meetings together.

We don't have this scheduled yet but looking forward to those happening soon.

And that's all.

Thanks.

Thanks Director Mack.

Director Rivera-Smith.

Hi thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening.

I also want to say thank you to our Green Lake students who were here earlier.

Nothing warms a heart like seeing our students embody that value of helping others.

And it's one of my schools in my district so I look forward to visiting them as soon as I get the chance.

I had the pleasure of visiting with Robert Eagle Staff last week sat down with Principal Campbell there and had a really great time there really learned a lot about what she's working on there and really respect the work she's doing as far as restorative justice practices and culturally responsive teaching.

She gave me a book.

culturally responsive teaching and the brain which I look forward to digging into.

And I'm working on meetings at Sacajawea McDonald John Stanford and interagency which isn't in my district but very close and I'm very interested in seeing what they what's happening at that school.

I also have a community meeting coming up.

Community meeting coming up in just 10 days on Saturday February 1st 3 to 5 p.m.

at Green Lake Library.

Sorry about that.

So that's it's open to everybody not just District 2 residents.

I look forward to seeing you there.

In other news I have finally received my new district phone.

It's beautiful.

I know like all the 6th graders have.

And I it's a flip phone.

I think it's beautiful.

I know Director Hersey went for the iPhone.

Well you know this thing's tough.

So I love it.

I chose it.

I want it.

And I hope you can call me on it.

The number is also on my new business cards.

I have cards officially.

I'm the last one to the show there but I have them now.

It has my district phone number on it and also has my URL to for my meet me page.

to schedule meetings with me.

You go to this website you'll see my you'll see my calendar that I see and you'll see when I am either sleeping eating or doing nothing else.

So please make appointments with me.

I would love to come to where you are.

Like I said please visit that.

And that's also I don't know if it's on the website yet.

It's basically doodle dot com slash director Rivera hyphen Smith.

Pretty easy to remember or come grab a card from me if you want.

But either way I look forward to using that to be out in the community and meet with you at your leisure.

Thank you for that.

Also I've been I began working along with Director DeWolf here on a couple of items we are reviewing and expanding Our green goals our district's green goals because we want to build upon that and build upon the energy from all of our students and families around you know making us making a livable planet for us.

Also are working on working on the issue that came up a few months back about.

Students being able to miss school for civic engagement activities because there is definitely a belief in some of us that that's something you should be able to do and have an excused absence for that.

And we want to make that happen.

So we are working along with the district staff to see what we can what we can do there.

So.

More more coming soon.

Yeah.

We haven't forgotten about that and that's really important to us.

So that is also again like other directors have said here tonight.

Thank you so much to everybody who emails.

There's a lot of them a lot of emails really passionate really thoughtful emails.

I'm sorry we don't we can't get back to all of them.

And just so you understand we are not allowed to reply all if we get an email from somebody that creates like an unofficial meeting which we can't do so.

Sometimes it's hard to know if you got an answer or not.

Sometimes it might feel like someone's better suited for that so we leave it and we wait but we never really know if you got a reply.

So don't don't feel bad pinging us again because it's probably that we just didn't have a coordination going on and didn't know who was reaching out who was responding.

Because it kills me that some people out there aren't getting responses because I none of us want you to feel like your email goes into a void and it goes into just the abyss.

So again feel free to reach out and thank you to everybody who comes out and gives testimony at these meetings.

It's not easy.

I know it's not easy to sit up there or here and to talk and to speak eloquently.

It takes a lot of guts.

And I want you to also.

Please remember to respect all of our speakers.

We're not all going to agree.

I kind of have my own personal policy that I'm going to clap for everybody whether or not I agree with you because I appreciate and respect that you've come up to speak to us.

And I just want to know that everyone out there is being respected by the audience also and being so we keep it a safe space.

We definitely want everybody to feel that they are wanted and accepted when they come up to speak with us.

Thank you for that.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you Director Rivera-Smith and I'll be quick to Tansi Okimaw Pisinitisi Nikason.

Just again thank you.

My name is Young Buffalo Leader in my traditional Cree language and so thank you for being here.

I just want to share some really exciting news and certainly some deep and profound gratitude that I have for both our facilitator Nancy Locke SPS staff like Chief Podesta Richard Best as well as teachers and community members.

for continuing to engage and participate on the student and community workforce agreement task force.

Today this morning I was up early for our final meeting to prepare recommendations that we'll be presenting to the board.

We've been working on that for over the past four months we're really excited about kind of this commit.

Taking our commitment to equity and our strategic plan and thinking about ways that we can operationalize it in other parts of our work particularly in our workforce development and our CTE programs here at Seattle Public Schools.

So like I said on March 18th we will be presenting the recommendations to the board.

And I know certainly I think Chief Podesta would.

Probably be OK having a one on one or just if you have any more questions that certainly don't feel answered.

I just want to also thank I know Angelina is in the audience so thank you.

You were at our meeting last.

Last Saturday and we'll be actually at the student advisory meeting again on the 1st of February to share the recommendations and to get feedback again to again we're really moved by the participation last time and so we're really looking forward to presenting what we have.

I think it's a really good product and I think it's certainly something you're going to be proud of.

So thank you for making that work.

I went to Meany Middle School to visit with the ASB club and the drama the drama department the drama class I guess last before our last meeting.

And so one of the things I heard at the ASB Class which was filled with 6th 7th 8th graders.

They said they wanted more LGBTQ history in our schools and so this Tuesday I met with Lisa Love who is our health and LGBTQ education manager and so we're we're trying to get creative and so we'll have probably something to report in the coming months.

But really really grateful that.

It's really helpful if students are speaking and telling us what they want as opposed to feeling like we're kind of driving things and so hopeful it would be really responsive to their needs.

And again also Seattle grateful to Seattle MLK organizing coalition as well as directors Rankin and Hersey for honoring and observing MLK Junior's life and legacy this week at Monday's annual MLK rally and march at Garfield High School.

And I know that it's been a little bit.

time since it has passed but the incredible work that our nurses and our health folks did in our district to make sure that we had all of our kids vaccinated per state law and I think it was a heroic effort.

And so one of the things I'm going to hopefully starting to be instituting in our executive sessions is to write some thank you notes and so I have the list of all of our nurses here there's less than probably 75 and was hoping we could just sign thank you cards for our nurses.

And then lastly today is my birthday and I want to actually dedicate particularly my mom calls me every birthday really early when I'm still sleeping.

So I'm actually going to read a poem.

This is from the Šǝqačib program and if you were here early you heard Gail Morris the native education program manager.

Šǝqačib classroom produces a book each year of poetry from our native students and so I'm going to read a poem it's called My Mom and this is to my mom and.

And we'll go from there.

I see a beautiful smile blooming.

Let me just back up.

This is by Elizabeth Hayes who is Lakota Sioux.

It's called my mom.

I see a beautiful smile blooming to life across her features.

I hear her reassuring words coaxing me to be happy.

I feel her warmth spread across my body as she gives me a hug and kiss goodnight.

I smell the sweet smell of her perfume lingering in the room reminding me that she was that she was here.

I taste every home cooked meal she's made bursting in my mouth.

My mom raises me up and without her I would be nothing.

So thank you.

And again thank you.

I want to I know we have a ton of work to do tonight so I want to just ask directors if you need a health break if you will or if you would like to go right into our action items.

I know we're if we did like a 10 minute biology break and however else you need to handle it yourself.

We'll be back in 10 minutes recess.