School Board Meeting May 29, 2019 Part 2

Can we quiet the room down.

If you have sidebar conversations please take them out to the lobby.

We have a very very full public testimony agenda this evening in accordance with board policy 14 30 and corresponding board procedure 14 30. These are the game rules for this evening.

One person speaks at a time.

Comments should be addressed to the board.

Please adhere to the time limit on testimony.

When you have 30 seconds left the yellow light will flash for you so you can start wrapping up when the red light shines.

Please finish your sentence.

The focus of the comments should be on the issues and solutions.

The majority of your time should be spent on the topic that you signed up for to speak about no racial slurs personal insults ridicule or threats will be allowed.

No comments regarding personnel matters and all signs brought to the meetings are also subject to these ground rules.

We have a lot to learn from each other and if you could call the next three speakers much appreciate if you're two or three please line up behind the speaker so we can accommodate all of our speakers and listen and learn this evening.

Thanks so very much.

First up this list please.

Thank you.

First up for public testimony we have Mario Felipe Beamonte followed by Exxon Franklin and then Gabby Masmela.

All right.

Good afternoon members of the school board.

My name is Mario Felipe Beamonte and I am a 10th grader at Nathan Hale High School.

Thank you all for taking the time today to learn a little bit about what goes on inside the Seattle Public High Schools.

At Nathan Hale High School, we pride ourselves on being a project-based learning school.

There is a big focus on student ideas and student voice in the curriculum of the school.

Teachers at Nathan Hale go in-depth on important issues and teach students how to use their minds well.

This year, we took project-based learning a step farther by having two student-led, student-inspired, and student-enacted all-day teaching events.

In early April, our event centered on a topic that has taken the attention of so many young people, climate change.

The event was led by two seniors in collaboration with many other student groups.

First through an assembly and then 32 workshops held throughout the day students were able to learn about a wide range of issues affecting our climate from species that will soon be extinct to the dangers that pipelines and coal have on the future of our world.

And and and how all of us students can get involved in order to make positive change.

Students were able to learn from their peers teachers within the school and experts on climate related topics.

A few weeks later, in the end of April, all of us students got another powerful learning experience.

Starting in November, those of us in the school's leadership class started planning unity in the community, a day focused around teaching everyone about different aspects of our community, planning the day to countless hours, conversations with many experts, and lots of planning to ensure that the day would be successful.

The day followed a similar structure to that of climate day.

Students throughout the school and outside experts came in to teach about topics ranging from Islamophobia and LGBTQ plus rights to how to become a leader in the school and community.

Students were able to learn about issues that they may have not been familiar with before.

The day both brought our school together as a community and helped everyone to be more tolerant and accepting of one another.

Both of these events provided Nathan Hale High School with the opportunity to learn about important issues.

It also gave students the opportunity to have choice and voice in what they learned.

I believe that students found these days to be meaningful learning experiences and we hope to continue powerful learning experiences such as these long into the future at Nathan Hale High School.

Thank you again for taking a little bit of time to learn about Nathan Hale High School.

Zeon Franklin.

Gabby Masmela.

After Gabby we will have Tiffany Robinson followed by Emily Elaskey and then Christine Benito.

Good evening.

My name is Gabby Masmela and I am a senior at Franklin High School.

As the sitting ASB vice president I was asked by my school to speak on behalf of adopting new science curriculum for all students at all grades in Seattle.

So not only am I up here so that you could hear my voice but so that you could hear the concerns and needs of majority of my student body and their families.

As you may recall I was present a few weeks ago sitting amongst you all.

I talked about how great Franklin was.

But one thing I failed to mention was how hard working our staff was.

Over the years I've gotten the chance to have met many different teachers but the ones who truly care and the ones trying to make a difference in my education.

Are the same teachers that are doing this science curriculum.

Those same teachers inspired me to further my education through Academy of Rising Educators and become a teacher.

By choosing this path for my future I can only hope to be as great as a teacher as they are.

Adopting the new recommended K through 12 science curriculum would not only be beneficial for my peers and teachers but it would be benefiting the following generations that go through Franklin and all throughout the district.

By choosing not to adopt the new science curriculum, not only are you disregarding all of the hard work your staff, community, and my student peers have put into these three adoption recommendations, but you're taking away opportunity and experience from your students and myself as a future educator.

As the world is constantly changing we must change the ways of our curriculum so that it can match our day to day life and bridge together our learning in class with what we experience outside of class.

I'm here today not only in representation of myself but to be the voice of my younger sisters and my little cousins because their education matters what they learn and how engaged they are matters when they are forced to learn materials that is not up to date with their world.

You aren't taking into consideration their potential to be great and their ability to learn and want to learn.

They want to learn about things that they see and experience in their community and by adopting the new recommended recommended science curriculum you will be giving these students that opportunity.

Thank you.

Awful short.

Hello my name is Tiffany Robinson I'm a science teacher at Nathan Hale.

I just want to encourage you to move forward with the adoption of the science curriculum.

I was lucky enough to have an innate sense of love for science and didn't rely on.

the science education that I received in high school.

If I did rely on the science education in high school I feel I probably would not have gone into science.

So I'm asking you to consider adopting curriculum that will help people students like me who look like me.

Develop a love of science by doing science by seeing themselves in science not relying on their teacher to help them develop those skills but to see themselves in the field of science.

It is imperative that we have curriculum that does that for all of our students not just some of our students.

So please make it possible that my student.

is going to have the opportunity to move into science because she can see herself in it and because she has developed the love of science and not required that love of science within her.

Thank you.

I cede my time to Hiromi.

Hi good evening.

My name is Hiromi Pingree and I have been teaching at the John Stanford International School for 17 years.

First of all I would like to express sincere gratitude for your your work and dedication in addition to your own job you work long hours for the hopes and dreams of 54,000 students without much compensation.

That is a heavy responsibility.

Your decision carry consequences that affect these students.

When this body overturned the math curriculum adoption committee's decision and adopted math in focus in 2014, it made a huge impact on about 2,000 students who attend the international schools because the publisher of math in focus prohibited the emergent teachers to translate their materials.

We, the emergent teachers, teach math in Spanish, Chinese, or Japanese.

How could we teach math if we cannot teach in target languages?

After all, the...

That this damaged opportunities of these students.

You may say it is only 2000 students.

But if we care about equity we care about the well-being of all students.

In the end math in focus curriculum did not work across the board has since created more chaos and more work for teachers and all of this could have been avoidable.

This is a part of this body's legacy.

I am a member of this year's science adoption committee partially because I wanted us to.

Avoid this.

Mess.

But.

More than just students international school.

I am excited that the district is committed to adopt a science curriculum.

With.

Racial equity in mind.

Our students have to learn science so that they can survive in.

Constantly changing science scientific and technological advances.

It is not equitable that some students who do not go to schools with the extra resources and access to more advanced science curriculum.

And stuck with mediocre science curriculums when this problem.

Is avoidable.

So please urge.

Think about not overturning science committee's decision.

Thank you for listening.

After Christine Benita we will have Kim Dinh followed by Trent Comer and then Philip Bell.

I cede my position.

Hi.

My name is Meryl Pohl.

I'm a national board certified teacher in my eighth year teaching sixth grade science at Mercer.

I often have the job of teaching students science for the first time in their academic careers.

At the start of each school year my colleagues and I struggle to bring students of various science backgrounds up to speed.

The unfortunate reality of our south end schools is that students are coming in with even less access to science resources than in other areas of the district.

The adoption of a K-12 NGSS aligned curriculum would provide students.

Across the district access to science education earlier and more consistently.

This would be a huge step in district wide equitable practices.

As data shows that consistent exposure to science education at a younger age increases the interest in pursuing careers in STEM especially for students of color and girls.

The aligned K12 adoption would ensure this early consistency and future opportunities for all of our students.

Most importantly for students who would not have had access without a science materials adoption.

Amplify has provided my students with authentic engagement in science and engineering practices.

That prepare them for high school level courses as well as confidence in their science abilities.

A K-12 adoption means that all of our students will have high quality science education.

In elementary school which means they'll be ready to start middle school with increased rigor in science instruction.

Increasing the rigor from the start will prepare all of our students for high school college and careers.

Thanks.

Hi my name is Kim Dinh.

I started working at Chief Sealth International High School in 2010. I'd like to highlight the impact of the decision you will be making tonight.

In 2010 the high school science curriculum adoption did not get approved and teachers felt betrayed.

The time and effort spent by teachers and students and community members was completely wasted.

This is why we are in the situation we are today.

The resistance to common science curricula is because there are still teachers unable to trust the district and trust each other to trust that we have the wisdom experience and education that prepares us for the classroom and that this district respects our profession.

Respect teachers in this decision and the 65 and more hours we each spent evaluating the curricula and the data.

Frankly I feel more respected by the stranger thanking me for teaching children than I do by the way some questioners of the adoption process have treated my colleagues and me.

But look there's a bright side.

The teachers behind me are at the table.

We are demanding curricular support and are willing to forgive.

and rebuild a unified and equitable science program.

But we will not forget.

If this current adoption is not approved how many of us will be willing.

And ready to trust the district again.

In two years.

Six years.

We cannot wait another 10 years for teachers to forget that they were burned.

30 years without a science adoption is unacceptable.

Learn from the mistakes we made in the past.

Do not let this vicious cycle of mistrust happen to middle and elementary school teachers now.

All of our 53000 children need excellent materials.

With this K-12 adoption we will build a strong foundation and elementary school continue to encourage our children to see themselves in science in middle school and prepare them for college and career in high school.

It takes an entire K-12 program for our children to have the opportunities they deserve.

Thank you.

Hello, my name is Trent Comer and I teach fourth grade science and math at Roxhill in southwest Seattle.

I'm on the science adoption committee and I field tested the HMH curriculum with my two classes that include 42 students.

I'm also a parent with a first grade daughter at Roxhill and a seventh grader at McClure.

I signed up for this committee over a year ago for the sole reason of representing the students I serve.

Knowing from my experience in and out of the classroom that my students are underrepresented at the table of science.

I don't understand why I have to stand here now on behalf of students all across Seattle after over 80 adults spent a year going through a rigorous adoption process which resulted in a clear winner.

A process that was the most efficient and comprehensive I have ever been involved in and run by the most intelligent and capable women I have ever worked with.

i'm fortunate to have been a part of this process this process began with eleven candidates and was narrowed to two h m h and amplify amplify one i enjoyed teaching h m h during rocks hills field test and was disappointed when it wasn't selected this indicated to me that amplifies a better curriculum that's why it won in the limited time i get to teach social studies i teach about democracy i teach my students the importance of voting in fairness of one voice one vote we all work for these students and the adult should be able to accept the results of the committee's vote my kids need new science now students at rocks hill don't have the luxury of hundred thousand dollar p t a budgets don't have the luxury of charter buses for all day field trips to mount rainier we need relevant science now and in the classroom Equity does not happen within the amount of screen time a curriculum contains.

All curriculums incorporate screen time.

I know because I field tested HMH.

Equity happens when democracy is honored.

Equity happens when educators across Seattle are able to teach updated and relevant science.

After Phillip Bell we will have Chris Jackins followed by Karen Britt and then Jackie Wilson.

Thank you for this opportunity and for your service on the board.

I'm Philip Bell.

I'm faculty in the College of Education at the University of Washington.

I've been there for 21 years.

I've been working to improve K-12 science education for about 25. I was honored to serve on the High School Curriculum Adoption Committee.

It was a systematic, rigorous, transparent process focused on equity aligned to the vision that's unfolding across many parts of this country.

tied to the new vision.

I served on the National Academy of Sciences committee that authored the vision document that was the blueprint for the science standards that Washington State adopted that we currently are implementing.

I was the lead author of the equity chapter within that volume.

I'm also the proud parent of two daughters making their way up through Seattle Public Schools.

I'm so grateful every day my wife and I to the teachers and staff at Thornton Creek Eckstein Hazel Wolf and Hale for the work that they have done for our family.

I signed up tonight because I'm really quite worried about how this particular conversation has been unfolding.

Schools are a leading way in which our.

individuals in our society get sorted into their futures.

Therefore, trying to figure out the equalizing opportunities that actually promote meaningful learning for all youth that we serve actually becomes the vital focus of what we do here together.

Instructional materials matter greatly in that regard.

From an equity perspective, here are some images of how that shows up.

Imagine a new elementary school teacher just trying to get a handle on the teaching of science along with all the other subjects that are now on his or her table.

A shared curriculum becomes a coherent entry point for that work.

Imagine a high school teacher taking on the task of teaching outside of their area of specialization because that's what the community needs next year and having that entry point into a curriculum and a network of collaborators that do equity centered work implementing that curriculum becomes another set of resources.

Imagine a student who has not had a systematic set of learning opportunities to identify with science to see how it relates to their personal interests their possible futures the history of their community and how it thrives how it relates to issues of society.

These opportunities to actually create meaningful learning experiences where kids figure out phenomena and learn how to develop solutions in response to real problems is central to the vision.

And those were the materials that were selected by the committee.

So I urge you to select those particular materials.

Thank you.

My name is Chris Jackins.

Box 8 4 0 6 3 Seattle 9 8 1 2 4. On fleet vehicles in the contract for Sandpoint and Laurelhurst.

These items are proposed for both intro and action.

Please delay action.

On the Webster construction contract three points.

Number one the original price guarantee by the contractor was eighteen point one million dollars.

In 2018 the price guarantee increased to twenty three point nine million dollars.

Now the board is being asked to approve a price guarantee of twenty six point two million dollars.

Number two this is a scam not a guaranteed price.

Number three please vote no.

Drop the adult size gym and restore playground space.

On the McGilvra PTA grant.

Two points.

Number one the grant would pay to hire extra staff including one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for a math specialist.

Are these typical salaries.

Number two private funds cross a line when they are used to hire staff.

On the contracts for roofing at the African-American Academy and Olympic View.

Were there any bids by small women owned or minority owned companies.

On the science materials adoption.

Three points.

Number one there are no physical textbooks in the adoption.

Number two publishing companies are finding that they make more profit by licensing online products.

This is a commercial decision.

Number three please include physical textbooks as a supplement.

Thank you.

Hi my name is Karen Britt and I am finishing my 27th year teaching in Seattle Public Schools.

Thank you.

I've taught mainly kindergarten.

They finally let me teach first grade so I'm at Fairmont Park doing that.

I feel proud of myself.

I have brought as a veteran teacher my common sense and my reasonable voice to ask you to please vote and push forward and amplify in the in the elementary schools this year.

I am a member of the committee.

I joined because I know our children need a strong science education elementary school.

And I know because I've been doing it long enough that I'm not doing a very good job.

I'm teaching an old kit.

It's labor intensive.

It.

It's to the point I have so much on my plate with all the subjects that I teach that if it takes me more than 10 minutes to set up and 10 minutes to break down I'm going to modify it.

I'm going to just demonstrate it or I'm going to have to eliminate it.

And I am not alone.

So the science department recognizes that.

And so they created a committee which I'm on to try to find a user friendly standards aligned curriculum that everyone will teach everyone will use so all the kids will get it in Seattle.

So we spent an hour or not an hour.

We spent an entire year meticulously going through and looking at different curriculums and amplify was the one that we recommended.

I was fortunate enough it wasn't planned this way but I actually field tested amplify in my first grade classroom and.

It was a breath of fresh air.

I had everything at my fingertips I needed.

I had books.

I had little video clips to show things that I couldn't show in real life.

I had manipulatives for games.

We built models.

I had.

Everything provided for me.

Except carrots.

Please vote for amplify.

Thank you.

After Jackie Wilson we will have A.J.

Katsaroff followed by Anastasia Sanchez and then Kim Shigenaka.

I'm stating my time to my colleague.

Hello.

I'm Ben Oster.

I'm the principal at STEM K8.

I want to start by thanking you all for serving.

I know it is a thankful thankless job especially in times like this and that you all do not do it for money.

I'm here to talk about the science adoption, and I want to start off by establishing a context that I think is particularly important now, because we are living in a time in which our survival is really dependent, and the survival of our children and our children's children is really dependent on taking a knowledge-based approach to understanding how human activity impacts the world, and how changes will both make that better and worse.

And in that time, it's really important that our kids have access for all of the things that have been told to high quality science instructional materials.

Another really key part of the time we live in is that science and the scientific process is constantly under assault.

When there is a political means or desire that does not match the outcome people want, the experiments and research are excised, defunded.

The truths are declared false, and stories are made up that usually involve personal attacks that detract us from the validity of verified truths and process.

And as an institution that is really rooting ourselves and knowledge, I think it's really important that we take a stand and say, we're going to follow those facts.

And the year-long process involved 3,800 hours and 62 teachers and a broad number of community members to the end and really get to the bottom of what our kids needs.

Because not everybody is depending upon you.

But there are absolutely communities whose students are furthest from educational justice, who have not had a new set of science curriculum in 24 years.

If we think about that, Gary Payton and the Sonics were winning and we were putting our hope for the Seahawks and Rick Meyer.

A lot has changed since then, especially when we think about the impacts of technology and scientific knowledge and the sensors and processes by which we bring kids to discover and explore their world.

So I just really urge you to take the time to get to the bottom of the facts and the adoption and make a choice that's gonna benefit all of our children.

Thank you.

I cede my time to Annie Patu.

Thank you for listening.

Thank you for your service.

I am here today.

Because I care about our our students I care about science because my daughter who's a 7th grader at Aki Kurose wants to go into this field as a career and I am not sure that our that we're preparing our students for her to have an excellent career in science.

I got an opportunity to go to Mercer to further investigate what this Amplify curriculum was all about.

And I watched students engaged.

I watched students talk to each other using language like phenomena.

And this is a storyline.

Just engage in the curriculum using the laptops as a tool.

This is important not just for my kid but for all the kids that don't have access to these materials.

So I'm asking that you vote yes for this adoption.

Not just and that we need to stop looking from behind or watching from behind and lead from the front.

And let's do that tonight and vote yes for this science adoption.

Thank you.

I am Anastasia Sanchez Denny science department head and language acquisition specialist.

I'm supposed to stand here and talk to you about why we need amplify to provide equitable education that serves our marginalized and linguistically diverse students.

And yet I'm taken back.

By the fact that although there are claims that this is important.

I still need to impress upon you that the weight of your decision will determine if some students have a future in science or not.

Today you get to decide if I go back to a classroom to explain to my students why the curriculum that empowered them.

And made them feel like they could be scientists and engineers was not selected for them.

And their younger siblings.

Look at the schools that have continued to show up to these meetings.

It is no coincidence that these are these schools also represent a large majority of underserved communities.

If the school board is truly dedicated to closing the opportunity gap.

They will listen to these schools.

Because not only do these schools have the most to overcome.

But ever since the district identified closing the opportunity gap as their number one priority.

These schools have closed the gap.

The most with the help of amplify.

Amplify has allowed us to do this because it is NGSS aligned.

K through 8. It has a storyline that is aligned.

Only amplify provides a cohesive storyline that is easy for students to follow which allows students to focus on the content that reflects relevant.

And real science.

Mr. Pinkham.

Amplify is the first camp curriculum in all my years of teaching that can seamlessly weave in the experiences and contributions of Native people.

In STEM.

We can make science Native again.

Mr. Burke thank you for visiting Denny.

As you saw amplify serves all students in our shared future.

Miss Harris.

As a longtime parent of West Seattle Elementary School boys and educator of hundreds and hundreds of West Seattle and South Park students.

I can tell you that your district.

Will be one of the district's most impacted by this adoption.

The students in your district have spoken.

They have spoken to the success of the curriculum through statements like this makes me feel like I can be a scientist.

Don't fail the students in your district by taking this away from them.

Your decision is an act of justice or injustice.

This will be your legacy.

Choose wisely.

After Kim Shigenaka we will have David Parker followed by Jen Fox and then Melissa Westbrook.

I cede my time to Zach.

I'm Zach Whalen.

I'm here speaking to you today in favor of the recommendation of science adoptions as a North End parent with students at Viewlands Elementary and Whitman Middle School.

I'm also here as a South End teacher in my 13th year at Asa Mercer International.

Thirteen years ago Mercer was not international by designation.

We were not a school of distinction yet and we were not yet a high performing high poverty school.

Yes I'm using growth mindset language because we are right in the middle of a very difficult transition.

The NGSS are Washington State science standards.

They are very challenging to students and teachers alike.

It is also very difficult as a parent with kids through this transition.

We all want what is best for kids.

Progress is change and change is difficult.

Like many school successful schools we circled up the wagon years ago and dug into the standards and made the necessary changes.

We became experts of not just teaching but of writing curriculum.

We grew our scores from less than 30% to nearly 90% passing the state assessment.

Since we accomplished this in the most diverse zip code of the nation, we had lots of eyes looking to us.

Most of you have been through my classroom, some of you more than once.

Our success was due to strong collaboration strong teaching practices and strong belief that kids can succeed in science.

The importance of professional judgment and good teaching practices in implementing any curriculum successfully cannot be underestimated.

The challenge of transitioning to 21st century science teaching practices and standards after two decades of using the same materials and methods is significant.

Some are simply resistant to the change or struggle to implement new ways of teaching.

However, no one should be sitting kids in front of a computer while watching from their desk.

This is bad teaching.

Unfortunately, some teachers choose not to participate in collaboration to improve their practice and optimize the materials they use.

These teachers have shortchanged their student science education and misled the families and the larger community.

To judge the effectiveness of amplify based on the opinions of a small group of teachers that have simply opted out of developing their practice effectively is tragic.

Therefore funding for ongoing professional development and common high quality curriculum is critical.

I urge you to accept these adoptions.

0 0 3 0 cannot be ignored.

Traditionally our south end families move schools within the district more than our normal stable north end families.

The old curriculum kit rotation is not equitable for these families.

that are not as economically stable.

I ask you on behalf of all SPS middle school students to approve the adoption of a standards aligned quality curriculum for 6 to 8.

I cede my time to Maureen Moe.

Hello, thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak.

My name is Maureen Munn, and I'm a retired science educator from the UW Department of Genome Sciences.

I serve on the High School Science Adoption Committee.

I've been doing some research on how NGS-aligned, NGSS-aligned instruction may influence success in undergraduate STEM courses.

What I've learned is that undergraduate science teaching has evolved in recent years to more closely parallel the three-dimensional learning of the NDSS and has moved away from lecture-based teaching of facts.

Undergraduate courses are being taught in ways that reflect other aspects of Seattle's mission for science teaching as well.

Two national publications address these revisions.

In 2012, the report was published called Engage to Excel, Producing One Million Additional College Graduates with Degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics.

This document discusses ways to retain students in STEM fields, especially in the first two years of undergraduate studies by making courses more interesting and engaging for groups that are underrepresented in STEM fields.

This parallels Seattle's efforts to provide science education that is inclusive for all students and helps them to envision themselves in science as scientists.

A second report is called was called is called vision and change in undergraduate biology education a call to action.

This document strips down what should be taught in biology to five core concepts for undergraduate courses that are very analogous to the disciplinary core ideas of NGSS for life sciences.

And it also has six core competencies and disciplinary practices analogous to the practices of scientists and engineering.

The vision and change recommendations have been integrated into core undergraduate biology courses at UW.

My readings have convinced me that Mary Margaret Welsh, her teacher collaborators and the adoption committees are making well-founded decisions to prepare students for undergraduate STEM courses and STEM careers.

Thank you very much.

David Parker.

I'll be ceding my time to Otto from South and some students from Aki.

Hi my name is Xavier Clark I'm from Aki Kurose Middle School.

I strongly believe that we should keep Amplify in Seattle Public Schools community students work better with Amplify and it keeps students interested in learning such as learning about traits mutations and populations.

I was very interested in group discussions were amazing I feel that I would lose interest and become less interested without Amplify in my class.

Please keep Amplify in Seattle Public Schools.

Hello I am Otto Lloydhammer.

I'm not from Aki but I'm a freshman at Chief Sealth.

Not only has technology given us a visual representation to see what we are learning but it also helps us understand what can't be shown in regular labs.

Although labs have engaged my classmates a little more than regular computer technology labs.

some of these computer technology labs haven't been able, or regular labs, my mistake, haven't been able to explain what the computer technology labs have been able to explain, such as nuclear bonding.

Through my experience in chemistry, I've seen that people in my class, myself included, have not been distracted or felt not understanding the subject, but it has rather engaged and made us understand the things that couldn't be explained through the regular labs.

Although there is still a stigma surrounded by technology, I at least have only seen engagement and understanding when technology has come to mind.

Thank you.

I'm Hawa Ismail a student at Aki Kurose Middle School and I've been in Seattle Public Schools for a long time.

When we first started Amplify I personally felt glad because the system in elementary school was not fit for the modern child like me.

The best part about Amplify was that it was story based and it provided lots of simulations where I could understand it through visual learning.

And the old system was definitely not like that.

I say we should keep Amplify.

My name is Kendall Allison.

I'm from Aki Kurose and I think we should keep Amplify because some people are visual learners and when we have sims to learn with we it's a lot easier for people to learn things.

And we aren't always on Amplify and we only use it for like important experiments.

And I learned a lot different type or I learned different types of lights and.

the dangers of certain light and the effects of certain lights.

There are certain lights due to certain objects.

For example UV light exposure to UV light can cause materials to change.

And we learned about that on Amplify and with real life labs where we use different different types of flashlights on different materials.

I believe we should keep Amplify for future generations.

Thank you.

Next up for public testimony we have Melissa Westbrook followed by Danielle Bermack and then Alicia Taylor and Eric Blumenhagen.

I hope this group will be accorded the extra time that all the other groups have been accorded.

I cede my time to Sarah Sense-Wilson.

Urban Native Education Alliance opposes the adoption of amplify five points one computer based learning is not conducive or culturally responsive to Native American learners to amplify disadvantages low income and Native American students with limited technology literacy and access to technology.

Three amplify is fiscally irresponsible gamble costs estimates anywhere from 10 million to 30 million.

No equity toolkit was applied to our knowledge.

Five pilot data demonstrates poor outcomes for south end schools and low income students widening the achievement gap.

We recommend streaming those funds towards Indian education ethnic studies curriculum and Licton Springs school.

The district is currently dismantling Licton Springs School undoing the good work of previous board members.

You dishonor them.

You dishonor our community and you dishonor the name and legacy of Robert Eagle Staff.

The district has graduated from playground bully to street thug inciting fear distress and re-traumatizing a historically disadvantaged population.

Do what's right.

Listen to our community and most importantly listen to our youth.

Hello my name is Che San I'm an artist and I'm also the curator for the Seattle Asian Art Museum.

I've been a longtime educator before I got this position.

I help these students think about what an education what native education looks like and why it's important to them.

And I also oppose this and I'm going to explain some of my reasonings.

So the president Leslie Harris you said that you know you want to try new things to see if they work and this fundamentally indicates a lack of understanding of the problem and impact decisions being made.

So I agree that it's a gross misuse of money and our culture and traditions have taught us already what works and we're not given the respect the understanding the resources and the institutions support to give our students children our community the chance to be educated and culturally relevant competent and community supported way.

When there's not enough for everyone or to meet everyone's need priorities and budgeting allow us to look over and see what's best for the whole.

And we really need ethnic studies native curriculum much more so than experimental science curriculums that further burden underfunded schools.

Teachers support this because the short term solution for being overworked and underfunded in exchange for exacerbating an ongoing educational gap.

Folks who speak the need for this curriculum are mistakenly appropriating science as a vehicle for equity but there is no systemic oppression against science.

In fact quite the opposite in our tech driven city.

So to those who do this stop appropriating our struggles to forge your own agenda.

Real equity work would be addressing the greatest inequities which is by no small margin the oppressed and underserved state of black brown indigenous communities and their children and their students.

Someone mentioned that students in Seattle haven't had new science curriculum 25 years but Seattle Public Schools has never had district wide ethnic studies in its entire racist history.

In contrast to this newly under newly developed uncertain tech based curriculum ethnic studies is proven to be support safer enriching and community supported learning environments that have a cascade of positive effects when you empower young people with relevant education.

The educational achievement gap only exists because of the systemic racism and these policies that continue to perpetuate inequities present in our schools.

Students don't need a standard science curriculum that furthers our growing dependency need for computers and technology even if it helps overburden teachers or entertains bored students.

Good computers may be better teachers than bad teachers but young people don't always understand what they need on a systemic citywide level.

They need ethnic studies and native education before they need more more science and more tech.

Students of color underserved students.

Those the bottom of the achievement gap need better people around them.

They need better funded schools and teachers and they need to read more books and have more engaging hands on learning experiences that matter to them their history and their communities.

Thank you very much for listening.

Thank you.

Burke.

I cede my time.

My name is Sophia Jethen I'm the science teacher at Licton Springs K-8 school.

I'm advocating for amplify science because I believe it is a curriculum that promotes higher level scientific thinking skills and undoubtedly engages many students.

Culturally responsive teaching involves activating students knowledge and embedding things students care about into the curriculum.

and amplifies seventh grade rock transformations unit.

I saw that activation happen in my classroom.

There is a reading in the unit about a rock formation in Montana which some call Devil's Tower.

As we are reading the article one of my students who identifies as a member of the Lakota tribe said hey I've heard that story before about this rock and I asked him to share what he knows with the class.

I even emailed his mother as well to see if we could get the indigenous oral tradition version of it.

The article mentions that the name of the formation was mistranslated by the white explorer who quote discovered it with amplify providing the stimulus we were able to have a discussion about the oppressive power dynamic of white colonialists and reinforce the importance of preserving native heritage and honoring native oral tradition.

This is just one example, but in my class this year, we have discussions about what it means to be on food stamps, have access to good quality food, energy resources in African countries, gene editing and tidal flooding, and so much more.

Through simulations and readings and hands-on experiences, we've created pods to be dropped from the air to provide supplies.

for people in remote areas debated blood doping ethics created nutrition bars for patients and developed tsunami warning systems.

And it is Amplify that has served as a stimulus for these higher level discussions which have been engaging for all my students and especially my students of color.

In a previous meeting a school board member commented that they were uncertain of the pedagogy pedagogical theory behind amplify best practice of science pedagogy is phenomena based instruction.

This is what the research says and this is what amplify provides the infrastructure for looking at a natural phenomena and being able to justify it by gaining understanding.

of scientific principles.

Is it perfect?

No because no curriculum is perfect but it provides science teachers across the district with a base to build upon which previously did not exist and incorporate more hands on opportunities and incorporating more social justice issues as well.

And most importantly engages my students hearts and minds.

Thank you.

After Alicia Taylor we have Eric Blumenhagen followed by Carol Simmons.

I cede my time.

First thank you for your hard work and dedication to the education of Seattle's next generation.

I am.

My name is Mark Hollins.

I'm a Ph.D. biochemist and I've spent the last four years working in education technology at the university level.

I have two kids one's going to elementary school next year and one's moving to middle school.

So this is something that I deeply care about and identify with as a scientist and as an educator and as a parent.

As you cast your votes today please consider that digital skills are in high demand in Seattle.

Training our children to be digitally fluent is the uttermost importance for our modern economy.

Simple skills that we take for granted like moving a mouse navigating through menus or even just typing.

are essential for success.

For kids that don't have computers at home school may be the only time these students gain those digital skills that are so important.

From your own strategic plan we must prioritize the interests of students furthest from educational justice.

Standardized testing requires the use of computers.

My fifth grader who has access to computers at home still types away his essay for the SBAC and it takes him forever.

Studies show computer quizzes and other computer simulations help prepare students for testing.

The automated scoring also allows instant feedback for teachers and this gives educators a personalized or differentiated approach to instruction with all levels within the classroom.

This could be supplements for the HC kids to expand their knowledge or skills or alternatively it could be to provide a shifting of the lesson plan so that those students who are struggling with a particular concept have a little bit more time.

Please vote yes for the elementary high school and middle school committee recommendations.

Seattle Public Schools must commit to providing digital resources including classroom computers that will help eliminate the opportunity gap to ensure access for every student in this district.

You lead the way.

After Carol Simmons we have Sophia Nguyen followed by Yolanda Jones and then Brian Bushwitz.

My name is Dr. Carol Simmons.

I am a member of Urban Native Educational Alliance Elders Advisory Council.

Seattle Public Schools continue to erase Native American culture.

Native voices were not heard in the development of the strategic plan and many are not allowed to be heard tonight.

Rather than adopting amplify correct the deplorable data for native students in academics discipline and disproportionality placement in special education classes provide sufficient instructional space at Licton Springs Native Focus School while restoring Indian Heritage High School.

Prioritize professional development in ethnic studies rather than in a machine driven curriculum.

Do not adopt this curriculum without certainty that it includes all learning styles eliminates race based disparity and will not push native students further from educational justice.

There is ample educational research which insists that especially for underserved learners the most important element is the establishment of trust between the teacher and the learner.

A machine driven curriculum does not does little to establish trust.

I would cede my time to Mrs. Ortega.

I have.

Hello my name is Yesenia.

My child attends Licton Springs Elementary.

I have concerns about the three adopt three options that were given because all options will negatively impact the growth of Licton Springs schools.

School do not.

Truncate.

Or relocate Licton Springs.

This is important for the land based learning and environmental and social justice work.

Please stop the push out.

Our.

Please stop the push out.

Our community and help our children learn about their culture and history.

We.

We are still here and we matter.

Stop the push out.

Speaker 2. Sophia Nguyen.

Speaker 3. Hi.

My name is Sophia.

Hi my name is Sophia Nguyen and I served on the high school science curriculum adoption committee and I'm also a student at Franklin High School.

The adoption aligned science materials is an equity issue because the material we have now for high school science is drastically different.

Same goes for middle school and elementary.

These inequitable curriculums leave students of color feeling excluded from the science fields thus not interested in fulfilling a future with science.

Inequitable science curriculum support the systematic racism in American society and widens the gap of opportunity between the students of color and white students.

The adoption of aligned science materials worked hard to address this equity issue and represent all students in the diverse Seattle Public Schools District.

Students of color make up over 50 percent of SPS and if we continue with the same curriculum it would mean we are teaching less than half of the students.

I worked on the high school adoption committee along with many others and I can tell you that we along with six middle school community Six to eight committees have spent countless hours thinking about which curriculum would be best for all students of SPS.

I have heard the concerns about the digitally based amplify science and I but I know that it is what is best for my peers and the younger students.

I believe that this curriculum is best in terms of preparing them for the future and feeling comfortable and engaged in class.

This is not a careless decision.

Exposure to technology in schools even at a young age will help them in the future when they use similar technology in colleges and various careers.

Because students might not have the same technology at home we shouldn't be doing a curriculum based on technology.

So the students without access to technology at home will forever not have access.

As a member of this community and a student of Seattle South Seattle Public Schools I want you to act on this.

adoption to ensure equitable opportunities for all students.

All Seattle public students should have the opportunity to develop an interest in science as well as many other topics and be represented in their own education.

So I urge you to adopt this new equitable curricula for K through 12 recommended by all three science adoption committees for all students.

Thank you.

Hello my name is Yolanda Jones and you've heard from me a number of times now.

So I'm mostly going to keep it brief.

But I stand here as a black woman and a science teacher to say that I am disappointed to hear that if the message that is getting out to our community is that it is a choice between ethnic studies and equitable science education I'm disappointed.

That's not the choice that we are looking at today.

What we are looking at is putting equitable science education in front of every single student in Seattle Public Schools.

We also want ethnic studies.

Again I stand here as a black woman.

I want ethnic studies in front of every single student in Seattle Public Schools.

I also want equitable science education for my kids.

Like my colleague another black teacher in Seattle Public Schools I was lucky enough to find an innate love of science and also as I've talked about have certain privileges coming in to the school system.

But our kids do not all have that.

We all know that our students don't all have that and we need to privilege the underprivileged.

We do need to put technology in front of our students because, like my student already eloquently said, not putting technology in front of students that also don't have access to technology when they're at home is doubly disadvantaging them.

So when they come into my classroom and they're 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 years old and don't have baseline technology skills and know how to navigate them to navigate science, We've done something wrong.

So I am urging you.

Give every student.

Each student in this district equitable science opportunities.

And yes.

Also that's an also and and ethnic studies.

Thank you.

After Brian Bushwitz we will have Jordan Frost followed by Nahum Alamahu.

Hello my name is Brian Buckwitz and I am a biology faculty member and I would like to speak in support of the adoption by ceding my time to Franklin High School students.

Hello my name is Amirah Dunlap and I am a student at Franklin High School.

I'm here to speak in favor of the science curriculum adoptions.

As a black female I'm here to represent my peers and community and how our current science curriculum does not support us seeing ourselves as scientists or even people who are capable of doing science in school.

In order to change this we need curriculum that helps students like me feel like they can do and learn science that me and my friends can choose to be scientists doctors or whatever else we want to be.

This means high quality inclusive science materials starting in elementary school.

This district has made me quote has made closing the opportunity gap for black students one of its highest priorities.

And part of this is our success in core classes like science.

However the curriculum being taught in our schools and all older are all older than I am.

So we have a lot of evidence that are not successful at achieving this mission.

At Franklin we are always thinking about social justice and working towards a more equitable school and community.

I am.

I experienced this.

I experienced this is some of my science classes when we got to units with sorry I experienced this is some of my science classes when we got to start units with phenomenon phenomenon that were interesting to me as a student and I get to work to explain what is happening with my peers.

I think that my peers would be more successful in school especially science if they had more of these experiences.

I'm urging you to choose new science curriculum that is aligned to phenomenon and a storyline.

A student that teaches a curriculum that teaches kids and the new way to learn science and will work towards closing the opportunity gap for students like myself talking to my two friends who were on the high school committee.

I know these teams worked hard and considered the experience of students of color and their recommendations.

Please work to close the opportunity gap adopt a new science curriculum recommended by this committee by this committee.

Thank you.

I cede my time to Katie Carusel.

Hi, I'm Katie Carusel and I have the privilege to teach science at Denny.

I'm here today to discuss how adults have poisoned the adoption process and are trying to deny all children quality science.

They have done this through the blog and its spread of misinformation in an attempt to derail the adoption.

While the blog claims to understand the science adoption, the author has never visited a classroom to see Amplify in use.

And despite Mary Margaret Welch reaching out face to face to offer an opportunity for a dialogue, has never spoken with any science staff about the details of the curriculum.

Repeatedly, accusations have been made about Amplify in an attempt to derail this process and to plant seeds of doubt in your minds as you approach this final decision.

Then, the blog began attacking my colleague, Mary Margaret Welch.

The blog accused her of receiving significant compensation from Amplify, despite there being no evidence to support this accusation.

There has been no retraction or correction.

A real journalist does research.

A real journalist comes to classrooms to learn, interviews teachers, interviews students, asks real university professors.

I was fortunate to experience a real journalist and was happy to tell my story because I have seen the power of good science for youth who have traditionally been marginalized.

In response to the Seattle Times article published Monday the blog raised concerns that had already been addressed including the number of schools using Amplify the cost of Amplify and the source of laptops for schools.

And apparently the blog brought forward concerns to the board as though research had been done.

It had not.

These acts of curating controversies in an attempt to sow seeds of doubt is unconscionable and is the reason I stand before you today.

It follows a strategy seen so often in our natural national politics.

The real controversy here is that 53000 students may be negatively affected in order to feed the egos and aspirations of a small group of people.

Please disregard the conspiracies and approve the recommendation of the adoption committees.

Thank you.

Nahum.

Nahum.

James Momsen, Emily Churkin,

Good evening.

My name is Emily Cherkin I'm a Seattle Public Schools parent.

I have a master's in education curriculum instruction and 15 years of teaching experience.

I'm a consultant for families and schools seeking balance with screens and a member of the national screens and schools working group through the campaign for a commercial free childhood.

I am in opposition.

I hear the concern.

Here are the two things that still remain for me.

There does not currently exist a policy on the use of technology in Seattle Public Schools.

As a parent educator and consultant I believe technology can be a useful tool.

However the implementation of amplify sets a dangerous precedent for future curriculum adoption in regards to screen use in classrooms.

Going forward even if only 10 percent of each new curricular adoption is screen based.

How many hours does that up to add up to in a week.

If we have no district guiding principles as to what constitutes enough screen time how can we make an intentional decision here.

In the absence of such policy you are putting the responsibility of developing this approach and managing the fallout on the backs of underpaid and overworked teachers.

My second concern is that while tech will be a part of our kids future other critical skills must be in place first.

Recent headlines tout the importance of problem solving resilience and empathy as future skills for future success.

Skills that cannot be taught solely on a screen.

Today's kids already spend an average of six to eight hours per day on screens outside of school time.

Ample research shows that excessive screen use has multiple negative health effects.

I ask you to pull amplify from consideration until more evidence based data can be gathered and the district can develop guiding principles as to the appropriate use of technology in our classrooms.

On May 15th one director expressed concern about the board being the board that hands kids over to an ed tech company.

Please do not be the board that outsources our students to a company whose interests are driven by dollars and data not education and learning.

Thank you.

This concludes public testimony this evening.

Thank you.

I'm sorry you missed your time.

I called twice.

This concludes public testimony this evening.

Thank you.

OK we now move to director reports.

Who would like to go first.

That would be Director DeWolf please.

Thank you sir.

Thank you President Harris.

First as a citizen of the Chippewa Cree Nation of Rockyville Montana I want to also recognize that we are on stolen indigenous land.

I'm honored to live serve and work here in these Coast Salish territories in the traditional land of the Muckleshoot the Suquamish and the Duwamish excuse me the Duwamish.

I also wanted to formally and publicly publicly apologize for my absence at our last two regular board meetings.

I snuck away to Montana to say goodbye to my grandmother and she is our matriarch and it is at the end of her life.

And I'm telling you this story because it was during this visit that my uncle hosted a sweat for us to pray for my grandmother and I received my Cree name which is Basin Gainigamote which means young buffalo leader.

And so I just want to send my love to my grandmother.

To Brent Jones I want to say I am deeply saddened about your departure and you have been an incredible and critical racial justice and racial equity partner in our work here at SPS.

So I hope we can remain in good touch.

Thank you to you for being here today.

I'm really grateful to Hamani for sitting with us throughout our time today.

We have an important decision today before us and I'm hopeful that my colleagues will finally vote to bring more educational equity to our district and trust our teachers and students especially our teachers and students of color who who we are saying and we are aligned with in our strategic plan.

We cannot afford empty promises empty gratitude or broken trust with our community any longer.

We've we've already done this with math.

We've had a broken experience before with math and our school system deserves a science adoption.

And I ask all of you tonight as you think to look at the students at the back of this room holding those signs as you tell them your vote.

These are the students that we are centering in our strategic plan.

What I like to do at board meetings is share a poem so I'm going to read a poem from Shekachib's young folks and this book is called Stand Up.

They produce this every year it's poetry and this is from a young young student of ours named Christian Lanfrancisco he's Chippewa.

It's called I got you.

You got me.

Stand for what stands for you.

I stand for what stands back.

You got my back.

I got yours.

And I'm on my own to be real.

But when you're by my side you're my brother.

Ride or die.

If you know me I love unconditional meaning I would give you a sweater from the start.

Stand for what stands for you.

I stand for what stands back.

I got you.

You got me.

And for our students particularly furthest from educational justice as it pertains to the science curriculum adoption they're asking.

I got you.

You got me.

I think we have to honor that.

The things that I'm tracking outside of the science curriculum adoption which I will be very honest is an abundance of emails.

So thank you all for your advocacy.

We are in the process of looking at Washington Middle School leadership.

We're following that closely as well as any boundary conversations that come with that.

We have a tech plan coming up and I'm really excited to for the work that John Krull did on that.

If you don't know policy 2015 if you want to nerd out about it.

Policy 2 1 0 2 0 1 5 excuse me is the policy that will create the runway for ethnic studies.

We're working on that so I ask you to please continue to advocate your board that's sitting up here to make sure we follow through on the promise to finish 2015 so we can get you the graduation requirement of ethnic studies which is not far off.

I'm grateful to President Harris for agreeing to bring CWA forward at our next executive committee meeting and I also look forward to our next board retreat this weekend.

But I also just want to make sure to be very clear about something.

You have heard us loud and clear with our unanimous vote on our strategic plan to send our students of color particularly those furthest from educational justice and the students of color and the teachers of color are telling us that this is what they need.

The choice shouldn't be very easy.

In my work at all home our our theory of action is to center the people most affected by the issue into the solution.

You are telling us what you need.

It is up to us to listen and I hope we do that tonight.

Thank you all for being here.

Who would like to go next.

Director Burke.

Good evening everybody.

Thank you for joining us and thank you for sharing your truths as well.

This is obviously an issue of passion around many many different aspects.

So I'm grateful for all the feedback that I've gotten as well.

Looking back over the last couple of weeks I've been fairly heavily involved in my actual day job including a trip to China which was it's always interesting and exciting but has limited the amount of.

Board level support I can do.

I have not yet sent a community meeting I'm looking for a date out in July for one more meeting pre summer.

Once I get that figured out I'll get a schedule posted earlier today.

I had the pleasure and opportunity to work with Superintendent Juneau on the language of one of our policies around board superintendent relationship.

This is a.

policy 16 20 and associated board procedure.

We've done some work on that as a full board and we're working on a draft to bring to the executive committee we're aspiring to bring that to the June 12th executive committee so I will be communicating with directors individually around that.

Just want to give everybody a heads up.

And then another heads up.

There's an event tomorrow which is actually related to some of the comments that have come up here.

It's a technology in schools understanding this generation workshop at the living computers formerly museum but now living computers and directors have been invited to that.

I'm hoping to be able to attend that to hear a discussion of.

You know the full picture.

Obviously there's an inherent draw of technology that I feel myself and I see with my kids and I see in our schools as well.

And we need to understand the the risks and costs that offset that as well.

So then just as a lead into science which we'll discuss as part of the issue I just want to highlight last year a couple of things were brought to the board's attention.

And so one was a nearly complete initiative restructuring high school science courses and the other was a large number of schools that had approved waivers for amplify science.

So this is what this was years of work that had been undertaken in these areas that hadn't been where the board of directors had not been informed or involved.

And I think that's one of the things one of the trust areas that everyone is trying to to reach.

a satisfactory place on is how that work has created to amazingness in our schools which I got to observe when I visited Denny and at that time the curriculum instruction committee which I was chairing we advised a formal instruction materials adoption process because that would be the way to bring.

This past work which had been done you know as as kind of district level or school level initiatives but not system level.

It was ways to bring it into policy compliance and into public oversight.

And so I think that's just a good frame for today that we're poised to vote on the results from that work which I think has brought.

a lot of the conversation into the public eye.

So I'm grateful for the staff that have worked on it.

The members of the committee and the board as well for the extensive research that has been done.

Thank you.

Next up is appears to be Director Pinkham.

Thank you sir.

No.

Qeˀciyéẁyéẁ and Táˀc kulé-wit.

This curriculum adoption is definitely on everyone's mind here and we are seeing a lot of stories and people sharing their experiences with it and what's going on and then I but myself I can't ignore I know some people say there's some other voices I hear that may be minority voices but there's still voices that need to be heard and they're expressing their concerns with the curriculum as well.

You know yes we have a strong.

People there say yes we should adopt it and I appreciate Anastasia saying you found ways to include a Native perspective in this and.

I'd like to talk to you more about that.

How can we make sure that our students aren't being left behind because the technology in this part does concern me a bit and hopefully we'll get those my questions addressed when they're brought forward.

But I just want to acknowledge that.

I can't ignore those small voices.

I still need to make sure that they're being heard and not being drowned out and that they are being lifted up as well.

They're not going to be left behind but we're going to include them as well as well whichever decision we opt to take.

We need new science curriculum definitely.

You know 25 years ago.

Right now I know when I was working with my daughter she is bringing home photocopies of photocopies of photocopies of science material to the point that it was hard to read.

But then.

I still want to see us be able to have that physical hands on that someone can be able to take home and say here's something I have.

I can't log on to the computer I can't go to the library after school because it's crowded.

What alternatives are we going to provide for this.

So those kind of questions I still need to get answered.

All right.

I'm looking at right now I've been flipping through this article Unfolding Futures Indigenous Ways of Knowing for the 21st Century by Phil Deloria, Sonali Loy, Maya, Brian McKinley-Jones, Brayboy, Mark Trahant, Lauren Gilgoloin, excuse me, Douglas Meaden and a friend of ours Ned Blackhawk.

Just I want to read the last paragraph of this article that they wrote.

We can imagine a future when the United States and the citizens commit to grappling with fundamental questions.

What does it mean to live on Indian land.

What does it mean that Indian people are still here.

Moral legal ethical and social issues and debates tumble out of those questions.

But he's also imagined a nation and citizenry strong enough to engage with these questions strong enough to respect Native nations as inherent sovereigns strong enough to confront the mythologies and stereotypes that sustain the sense of national and white privilege and entitlement to everything that has been built on Indian land.

If we can imagine that then we can also imagine a nation and citizenry strong enough to face up to its history the intertwined scent of enslavement and the legacies of immigration exclusion and racism.

We can imagine a nation strong enough to grapple with the very definitions of citizenry.

Who is included.

Who is excluded.

Why when and how.

We can imagine an inclusive nation bold enough to build a future on a complicated and painful past.

In this task one could do no worse than look to American Indian nations and Native institutions for inspirations and ideas.

You know so we do have some other resources out there.

If we can find the curriculum to align and include Native perspectives I'd be full of support of this curriculum adoption.

So again those are questions I want to see answered.

And I do need to make sure that I get to say that those voices are heard and I'm going to make sure they rise to the top.

or not rise to the top but with the top.

So again close that equity gap and appreciate the students that are here to share their perspectives and I do not see this as a choice between science adoption and ethnic studies.

You know I too want both to go forward and not to leave one or see one be more important than the other.

All right.

I want to thank Kimani for sticking around here to share and listen to the perspectives that have been sold.

Thank you.

Shared.

Thank you to the Seattle Skills Center for their presentation to Gail Morris and to Tom Spears who helped or for me helped getting that Lushootseed language southern Lushootseed language now a banner that's going to hang at this school and hopefully future buildings not just international schools but all Seattle schools.

Congratulations to Brent Jones if he's still here for all you've done and best of luck in your future.

And don't lose touch with it with us.

Myself I don't have any community meetings planned but I will try to get one on.

For the month of June and hopefully maybe one early July.

But.

Yes I got questions still for this adoption process that I hope to get addressed when the presentations are made.

Qeˀciyéẁyéẁ Thank you.

Director Patu please.

This is really a very important decision to make because science is actually very important.

And I know when I was going through high school science was one of my least subject that I wanted to actually to be interested in because I always felt that science was a little bit more difficult than the other subject matters.

But when you actually get into science, it becomes very interesting.

And there's so much in science that are unknown and really becomes to the point where you really can get off into it if you really engross yourself.

Of course, a few years later, after graduating from school, I realized how important science is.

There's still a lot to learn and I think that it's a way to actually to know what's happening in our world that really makes this a very important subject.

When I was in high school I hated science but then I realized afterwards that it's an area that we would need to learn more about.

So I believe that science today is a lot more interesting than it was in my days.

There's a lot more to see, and there's more hands-on, and people are more in tune to what's happening with the various ways of how science can take you to a certain direction.

So I believe that it's very important to really to have the best science that we can to provide to our students because this is a changing world that we're in and unless they realize the changes that are taking place they'll be left behind.

So that's why for me science is very very important.

And the more we can put into to make this area more meaningful to our students.

the more they can learn about what this world is all about because that's what science is.

So I believe that that as we look at this material and really take it to heart that it's something that our students need.

And then hopefully I had I actually had a chance to look at the material and it's a lot more extensive than in my days.

And there's so much in there to learn and so much to get into.

So I'm hoping that.

We can get approved this this tonight and move it forward.

Director Geary.

Thank you.

Again thank you to everybody coming.

I've said at the last few meetings but the amount of students that we've had here to testify and come before the board just continues to tell me that overall Seattle Public Schools is doing something right because you feel you have a voice.

You feel there's a place to come and exercise it.

I want to give just a super heartfelt thanks to Brent Jones and his service here.

I'm just going to be I'm so sad that he won't be here with us anymore.

He's been such a friend an educator to me around so much of this work.

I have to say that my course on the board my heart has changed around all the issues related to education and who it's made available to and its purpose and what is the meaning of public education.

for all students as opposed to any one family's ability to push forward access to their own student.

I definitely come from a world where it's looking out for your own student and pushing them forward to as many opportunities as possible.

And I realize now that that has perpetuated a somewhat unhealthy if not completely sick society.

So and I would say long conversations with Dr. Jones and talking about those issues have moved me forward and I think has moved this district forward in a lot of ways.

So I will just look forward to maintaining that relationship but just know his work has been so important to us all.

Thank you to the skill center.

I was taking pictures of one of the things they had up there which is Sakura an ad and my niece's name is Sakura.

So I was happy to be able to take pictures of that and I will share them with her because they were so precious.

I had the honor of attending the Washington State School Directors Association equity from the boardroom to the classroom conference in SeaTac it's a district wide or a statewide conference for school board members.

And I have to say it was the first time I went to a WASDA room it was so overwhelmingly white that I was stunned coming from a district of great diversity.

And this room was filled with far more people of color.

And that is good for our state.

So I report that to you.

People that were really interested in the topic hearing from small districts making big steps in terms of reaching out to families getting them involved in education and doing the little things not money things but the little things of visiting the families whose language is not.

English isn't their first language or just making sure that there is a fund to pay for the things that their family need to get get their kids to school.

And that's happening all over our state.

And that's a change in just the three years that I have sat on this board.

That is a big change.

So I share that with you.

I see Lisa Chick here and I'm going to thank her and the Alliance for Ed at the luncheon.

They celebrated three of our principals who have been doing the hard work.

Trina Sterk, Anita Pinchback-Jones and Chris Carter.

And then I had the great pleasure of going and visiting Mercer Middle School to look at some science classrooms where Principal Carter was and he was just so excited to host Director Patu and I and show us around.

I saw Emily Alasky is here.

She was one of the teachers that hosted us and in a classroom of students who were predominantly of color.

These kids were so excited to participate in conversations around.

science and they were engaging with each other.

And Director Patu and I had a chance afterwards to talk to them and some of the girls and these girls were like interrupting each other talking all over each other to tell us how excited they were about science.

And I believe it was Director Patu who said so what happens when you see kids that aren't engaged in science.

And they looked really puzzled and they said well It doesn't really happen for very long because everybody's participating and so eventually everybody, that's just the cool thing to do.

You're not going to sit out of the conversation.

And they escorted us to the next room where we got to see kids having a conference around science.

A bunch of students were sitting at the table talking like scientists and other students were standing around them taking notes about their conversation.

Trying to determine what the climate the greatest impacts on climate from now to the carboniferous era have been.

I mean crazy stuff.

These are middle schoolers.

It was exciting.

It was great.

So I have to say that's how I've been spending my time trying to get around.

Also had the chance to visit Aki Kurose Middle School and I saw teacher Joe Camacho here with his students.

So thank you for bringing them out and not only teaching them science but teaching them to use their voices to advocate for themselves.

And even in that class the kids were definitely engaged and wanted to participate in their science and he was engaged.

But I'm going to tell you something the difference maybe between Ms. Zalasky's class and Mr. Camacho's class.

He's a newer teacher.

And a newer teacher needs, he came up to us afterwards and he said, I was a skeptic about Amplify, but I'm not anymore.

Because as a new teacher, I need a common base in order to talk to my fellow peers and help myself to learn how to become a better teacher for this population of kids.

And so I'm a convert.

We're not using it word for word lesson for lesson.

We're using it as a base and we're changing it to meet the needs of our kids.

And what I'll say to my fellow directors is we have to remember we're not just giving our teachers science PD.

We've spent a lot of time during the summer during SLI during their days off teaching them how to be culturally responsive teachers.

So this is just a tool.

They're not going to use it in a vacuum.

They're going to take all the other lessons that they have been hearing about, all the other work that they are also very excited to do, and put this together.

But they are begging us for the tools.

It is my job to make sure that my district can provide a basic education.

I looked up the law on these things.

A basic education is defined as some of the essential academic being providing essential academic learning requirements.

Those are defined by our superintendent.

Our superintendent has chosen NGSS and that was in a collaborative and NGSS was delivered developed on a collaborative effort on the part of the National Research Council the National Science Teachers Association and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

These are not people who do not care about education.

They are not people who necessarily are in it for the money.

So that is where NGSS comes from.

It is our job as directors to make sure that we are providing you with the tools that can bring our students to the state standards that our superintendent of public instruction has chosen.

That is how I meet my duty as a director and how I support you the people who are going out to teach our students.

So that is how I look at it.

That is how personally all the other things there's many other issues that have been raised.

But that wasn't for our adoption committee to consider.

Our adoption committee considered our policy and took in the bids that came in properly from all the different companies that make money.

Yes that are big business.

Yes but they came through our bidding process and our adoption committee did all the work necessary to vet it.

And they followed our policy the director's policy in doing that work.

So now it's my job as a director to honor the policies that we gave to the committee to follow and say thank you for following our policy.

We see now maybe there are policies that need to change for next time.

There are things we need to tighten up around digital learning and you'll be asked to maybe tweak this curriculum in the future around our future policies.

Maybe some of them will address screen time how many pieces of technology should be in a classroom and you will have to amend the curriculum to follow our policy.

But right now we need to follow our policy and honor the work of the adoption committee.

So thank you everybody for all that work.

Director Mack.

Good evening.

It's been a busy couple months couple weeks.

I have experienced some personal loss recently that's kind of impacted me and I just want to put that out to the world to remember that folks are dealing with lots of different things.

And I know that there was a number of shootings over the last couple of days in our city that have probably impacted our families.

So I just want to bring that up and have folks remember and be sensitive around where people are at and what they're focused on.

I haven't been able to schedule community meetings unfortunately we've been so busy with all of this work and tonight we have a very important decision to make and I am so grateful for all of the work and passion and it's very exciting to see folks get behind something they think is going to be really great.

I have some remaining concerns around budget.

and our fiduciary responsibility to the district the whole to the taxpayers to all of us the state the state does not fund our materials our MSOP allocation per student is I think something along the lines of twelve dollars a student doing the math on all of the adoptions tonight.

We have I think it's well over 30 40 dollars per student and that's not including all of the PD.

So those dollars have to come from somewhere and those are where my questions lie about where are we going to how are we going to pay for this because the question of.

Do we actually have to cut librarians next year.

What do we end up having to cut when we decide to fund something.

So the decision that we're making tonight is is it's critical and I really want us to have new materials for our students and I'm as I've said before I have a degree in environmental studies and I strongly believe in it.

I think something.

It's far past time and I remain concerned about our budgetary restrictions and look forward to having the conversation on that point when we get into the discussion on science.

And I'm not going to ramble on much longer because we have 20 some odd intro items after we go through the next few action items.

So thank you all for coming tonight and.

Appreciate your input and your passion and your work on behalf of all Seattle Public School students.

OK I'm up.

Again it's an honor and a privilege to be up here.

It's an honor and a privilege to work with such great colleagues and to work with such extraordinary staff and it is humbling to see how hard and how how hard folks work and how passionately they care.

No question about it.

Huge respect.

I am looking forward to our next race and equity training this Saturday.

The first one was extraordinary and huge thanks to Dr. Jones Pedroza and Scarlett on that.

And it can't be a one and done.

We need to continue doing that and I encourage folks to take advantage of that which is offered.

It's pretty impressive.

My next community meetings are Saturday June 15 3 to 5 Southwest Library.

And yes I've come to number three without lasagna so there's definitely going to be lasagna.

Come on down.

The schedule has been to say the least jam packed.

The next meeting would be on July 20 3 to 5 at the Delridge library and that's actually take that back.

I believe that's at the West Seattle library.

Double check that.

I believe it's on 42nd Avenue Southwest in the admiral district.

And then you're back to 1 and 3 on lasagna.

And thank you to Director Pinkham for joining us in May and and everyone else that joined us.

They are rich and thoughtful conversations.

We have folks that disagree passionately but do so agreeably and elegantly and it's it's a great way to get information as well as public testimony and your e-mails and Lord knows we have received a whole lot of e-mails and that's a good thing because we need your help in making these decisions.

Big congrats to some of our sports teams I believe Garfield girls softball hit it out of the park.

How's that for a pun.

You like that.

It's hard to turn out cheese cheesy jokes.

Superintendent Juneau a couple of other things we've been doing lately.

I had an opportunity as did Superintendent Juneau and Director Geary and Director Mack to attend the segregation symposium that was put on at Garfield.

And it was extraordinary.

They had student voice a variety of input and very thoughtful.

And when we talk about 53000 students when we talk about historical redlining when we talk about capital budgets it's hugely important and it's something we need to recognize and whether or not we are doing a good job of.

Getting the word out to our least served communities about what options are available to them.

And I mean that both in terms of option schools in terms of different programs and we need to talk about cause and effect.

If we're not doing our job to get the word out then shame on us.

Because it doesn't have to be that way.

And if folks who have been in this city for a very long time recall busing we lost 30 thousand students white flight suburbs etc.

So obviously there's got to be a better way.

But it's something that we've got to recognize and Director DeWolf what is your phrase from Mr. Rogers.

If it's manageable it's manageable.

There you go.

I'm looking forward to Friday.

There is a LGBTQ flag raising ceremony in the morning.

We did this last year and thank you to the leadership of Director DeWolf and Lisa Love and other folks in this building to help make that happen.

And then in the evening.

going to the Monroe Correction Center with Directors Geary and DeWolf for the Black Prisoners Caucus with Nova Principal Mark Perry.

Both of those are iffy for me because my life as a litigation paralegal has taken on impending trial and all that that entails our team and I'm going to say it out loud because I'm just so darn proud of our team and I'm proud of this family.

Tommy Lay.

Was shot in the back twice.

June 14th 2017 the day he was going to graduate from Career Link Academy.

At South Seattle College.

Our little firm has put in.

pretty close to a half million dollars in costs and we're all in and it's really an honor to be able to represent these folks.

So if my team calls me I'm skipping out on y'all and I hope you understand.

And I have to say that the support that colleagues here in the building have been is it's extraordinary because it's hard and hugely important work.

And the work we all do is hugely important.

And I want to honor that no matter what the outcome of votes are tonight.

Whatever vote happens it's not a vote of disrespect.

No how no way.

And I rarely rarely speak for the entirety of the board but I will say that with with alacrity and and with a clear conscience.

Just a moment please.

OK.

Thank you.

Thank you to Kalia.

I hope that she's still here.

I was looking forward to some of her pushback questions because she's she's passionate and it's a beautiful thing to watch to hear our student voices.

Last At the same time as looking forward to our graduations saying goodbye to some of the really extraordinary people in this building.

Dr. Brent Jones.

What a great fellow.

What a gentle fellow to help you find your way and to learn you up and coach you.

It's a gift and we have been very lucky to have him.

We've got other folks leaving as well in the near future.

We've got Deputy Superintendent Stephen Nielsen.

We've got executive director Dr. Kyle Kinoshita and director Pegi McEvoy.

Change is good.

They deserve to have a life after this place.

Understand that but we will miss them.

through and through and I'm getting excited about some of the successors and the opportunities to rearrange systems so that we move forward and do better.

So that's good stuff.

Let's take a five minute stretch.

Excuse me please.

Director Mack.

A correction.

Yeah.

I just I realized I forgot two things or I got it.

I got a text and got.

Corrected I want to actually make this correction now that the MSOC amount for curriculum and textbook is actually one hundred forty five dollars per student.

So want to make sure that I didn't have that incorrect in the record.

It's important to have my numbers correct and I had gotten them incorrect earlier and that was thank you for sending me that.

And one of the things you can count on as a board member is being corrected.

And we accept and appreciate that.

And the yes and the importance of you know I appreciate the staff.

support on answering questions and getting back with data as quickly as possible.

The other thing I forgot to mention was that I did take a visit to Cascade Parent Partnership last week and that was a really great experience to see how that school is serving an incredibly diverse population of students and with diverse learning needs and so forth.

So I just wanted to give a shout out to the principal there and and mention that as well.

Director Geary.

Thank you.

President Harris for mentioning the trip to the Monroe prison and the black men's education caucus.

And I hope you can make it because you are the president and it's our chance to take our strategic plan back to them because when director DeWolf and I first visited them I think probably several over a year ago now.

That was I think we brought that work back with us in terms of them asking to be heard and to be recognized and seen in the educational environment.

And so it's going to be a real honor to take back our strategic plan to them and show them that they were heard.

And I hope that you can be there as the president of that work and say this is what we've done and we're going to make good on it.

And I'll do my best to be there.

I think I've shared with some of you all that I've started my legal career working for the inmates of the state of Washington for a few years and every time you hear those doors closed behind you it is beyond profound.

It gives a whole definition of privilege that is sticks with you forever.

Let's take a five minute stretch break if we could please.

Thank you.