areas until the 2012-2013 school year. and a process for middle school students for the 2011-2012 school year. specifically, the board of education approved the following. new tennis areas are shown in the attached appendix to this resolution. school feeder patterns. for the -- number three, for the 2011, 2012 school year, the

board approves the following method for students. students will not receive an initial assignment for middle school. they will need to apply by a deadline established by the superintendent. the choice process will give preference to applicant the in middle school years, those transitioning from fifth to sixth, in the following order. students that are enrolled in for the request of attendance. those that reside in census tracks and three, all other students. students not assigned to a choice school, will be assigned to the middle school closest to where they live with openings. for some the preferences will be

modified, the first priority is for transfers as required by no child left behind, to go to the lowest performing students for program schools and apply with any aapplicable 0 state or federal requirements. the preferences listed in the previous paragraph will apply after the priorities. once the board of education approves the middle school feeder patterns and the attendance areas, the method for allocating seats will be governed by policy 51 -- p 5101. this allocates the methods for allocating seats for middle school students outlined in p 5101. >> thank you. at this time, so actually this meeting was televised. it was clarified. that means it is up on our website as well. i have three public speakers signed up for this item.

so you can come up and line up. i have peter cohen. gordon lee. and chin pang. two minutes each. please come and line up now, if i called your name. >> okay. good evening members of the school board, my name is peter cohen. i -- i have a -- a friendly suggestion on the attendance areas for the elementary schools. i have talked with staff abou >> good evening, c incoming kinder garters and looking at the recruiting strategies are. my concern is that the bunedries wherever they are around the city are hard boundaries. just anywhere you draw a line, it is a hard line. no matter how clean you --

cleanly you try to cut it, i think the situation is that we might have families on either side of a street or happen to be literally a block away who have very intact relationships -- relationships at a committee level that are moved in different directions. that may be for total gee gravek distribution. what i suggest is a buffer around the hard edges that allow families outside of the area who are choosing what they think of as a local school to have a priority over families at large throughout the city. this is not in preference to c tip or the depositsly populated areas. this would be the -- densely populated areas. this is would be the lowest preference. if a family lives on the other side of the street, the system sees them no different than someone who lives literally across the city. i'm sure there's a philosophical

reason. the idea and the spirit of the local schools is to give families that are that close to the attendance area boundaries a chance to stay close to the communities that they see as their own. that's my one suggestion. otherwise i think it is a neat system. thanks. >> thank you, mr. coyen. >> i guess our other two speakers are not here. so i will close public comment on this item. we did go through a year and a half of public comment. all right, at this time, comments from the board and superintendent. >> okay. >> okay. >> for permission. >> so i did have a couple of questions for you, miss o'keefe. the first being about the -- the middle school -- specifically the delay in the feeder patterns for middle school. i know originally you had not lapped to do a particular

outreach plan for middle school for the coming year. and i wanted to -- to see whether those plans had changed now that we're going to essentially open -- well, to a all-city choice process for middle school. thank you. the educational placement center is revisiting everything for the middle schools, wanting to make sure that we do a good job of getting information to families. revisiting everything from even the enrollment fares instead of the kindergarten fashe fare is going to be a full enrollment fair. >> i want to ask you if you'll have a sense to release new feeder patterns for the following year at middle school enrollment? >> as the superintendent mentioned in his opening remarks, it is actually one of his priorities and one of the staff's priorities for the year. our goal is to -- before the end

of the school year have completed that work and be able to share information with the board and the public. >> so before school lets out in the end of mays what you're thinking. the board would have voted on adopting the new feeder participates. st that your plan? >> is that your plan? >> i'm looking at the superintendent who seems to be saying yes. >> there's no way for me to say that the board would have voted it. we will have it presented to the board. >> i'm trying to. i have got questions from the community. i think because we -- after we did a little bit of public engagement around the original draft plan, people are -- people want to make sure that we do this earlier. next year. so it sounds like that's our plan, so that is good. my last question is whether -- i continue to get questions -- as you know, i have been sending them to you. i continue to get questions and suggestions about how could you move this boundary line here and

why is this part not included in that area. i know we're going to vote on the attendance areas tonight. we're locking them down for fall 2011 enrollment. how do you envision the process of -- of adjusting -- teavendance area boundaries in future years going and what kind of time frame do you imagine for that? >> thank you. we always said that we wanted the boundaries to be dynamic. we didn't wanting to back to a state where we came from, with 30 years and no changes. we want to put together a protocol that is transparent and that criteria for valley yachting -- veatiating requests. and a time frame for people to submit suggestions -- sgses. we hope-to-that in place by jan or february, if there are changes to the attendance areas, we would present those to the board by the end of this school

year so people would know before the enrollment cycle for next year. >> thank you. commissioner yee and winn. >> i just wanted -- i wanted to thank the staff for putting all of this together and particularly -- having this substitute motion, not -- not just the, the postponing the middle school piece. that needs more thought to be put behind it. just looking at the adjustments you have made from a few weeks ago, with the boundarys to what we see today, i want -- if people haven't seen it yet, people have to realize that any -- any time you make a -- some suggestion to change the boundaries for one school, it impacts other schools. you have to make adjustments. it is not that easy of a thing to do. so, the fact that you -- you did this, looks like 10 schools was

amazing that you're able to manage that. so i just want to compliment you and the other people that worked on this. >> yes. the things that both commissioners speaking before me brought up were things i wanted to comment on. i -- we need to -- i need to know because the public needs to know and -- in a public process a lot more about our specific plans for the -- for the actual implementation of the process this year. and that means the kinds of nature and -- proposed changes both from last year, which a lot of people still think because that's all, the only context they have and also from our original proposal this year, for the attendance fair and other kinds of outreach and how we propose. i think the outreach around the process has been excellent. but now we're going to be faced with -- with people who have not

been the -- thanknie, maybe hundreds of thousands of people aware of the -- of the process having to use the -- a process they understand even less than those new to the system have understood in previous years. whatever they have heard or even are -- our own ability to administer something we have been doing the same way for a long, long time is going to be entirely new. so i am -- i -- i think we -- that information about how the process is going to change and go forward has to be our next big push to make sure that we manage the -- the rollout and work related to that kind of information. through the committee but also the board, and just information to us and information that goes to the public, i'm hoping and trusting that we are going to have the same kind of a dynamic

feedback process. so that we can -- we can -- because now we have done and i anticipating its passage, i want to commend not only the staff and the public who are involved in this but the board for you know, this is sticking with what has been a very long, difficult but serious process i think. that's really important i think to the community. also i wanted to mention the -- the adjustments been made to the boundaries. i think they have been very sensible. that -- that -- i think most people presume that -- public agency, maybe san francisco unified school district more than any others but the government in general is not able to be sensible. so i think that -- we have -- we have had the ability to listen and to hear what were -- were reasonable proposals. we, i think the the public needs to be commented because there

were very few. we hate these boundaries differently. and i think that -- a few years ago we would have gotten more of that and we might have anticipated that there was -- there would still be some of that still lurking out there. that's not been the truth. people are very open to the process, 20 change -- to changing it and seeing how it works. here's where we think adjustments will be sensible. i think the william speaker speaks to the fact that the other -- the one speaker speaks to the fact that this be anandable process, which is good. that's the second thing. the other thing is about making changes in the future. i want us to continue to focus on and tell everybody and -- believe ourselves and work on making this -- this a process that is dynamic as you said. that we can make adjustments in the future.

everybody needs to realize that that monitoring what happens the first year, basically seeing if it works the way we believe it will and the way the experts believe it will and the way we trust it is going to work and the public is trusting that too. which i so appreciate that we need to -- i am anticipating that not only the boundaries which may need adjustments and just for reminder -- i agree and have agreed with the superintendent, i think it is important for the board to adopt these boundaries now which have not been changed in decades. however, actually the administration and the policy has been given the ability to make adjustments to the boundaries in the future. it shouldn't have to be a difficult public process but -- response to what actually happens and how we could make it work better for people. that's after all the main goal here. we also need to continue to focus on and be clear that the

process is meant to be dynamic and not to be a decked long we have to start next year planning -- decade long, next year we start making changes. it is something that we will modify as we go along. the goal of making it accessible and work and to meet our goals that we have in every area, notably, first and foremost about with student achievement and opportunity but also about diversity and accessibility to people and other issues. so, i -- i want us to just keep that in mind and believe in that that we're putting in place a process that we can improve as it goes along, that we have a -- a particular obligation to pay attention to the first year and see how it works. think about -- and interact with the public and get lots of feedback and input and talk about how it works, how we can make it work and how we can pay attention to our obligation to make this a model of continuous

improvement. lastly, i want to say something about the feeder patterns about middle school. i think this is a big area of trust. we are -- which is mutual. we all have to trust that we could keep up this -- this quality and level of commitment to this process and -- to -- to learn and to look at what we propose this year or thought about this year and what has to happen as we go forward this year and in the future about that. for me and i think for everybody that has been involved in this at all, that's the thing we're most nervous about because we -- because we are -- we are doing this in a phased in manner because we weren't sure how it would work. we need other things we don't have, program, negotiation and so on, things to meet the goals.

we have a particular obligation to pay attention to what happens this year with the middle schools and how it might be related. i think we had an opportunity that we wouldn't have otherwise to think differently about the feeder patterns and the process related to that, because we're going to have the first year of implementation of this new attendance area and process for the elementary schools. i think that is an opportunity that may be very good for us. so, i'm prepared and -- anxious to keep on working on that. i'm really happy that we're here. it has been a really long time coming. again, my thanks to the staff for the extraordinary work. >> thank you. vice president mendoza. vice president mendoza: i wanted to thank you all. i remember where we were a year and a half ago, with the post-it things and i want to remind folks with the value of data and how we have been able to use that to look at where our kids are going and what is happening at the various schools. i'm also really excited to see

the number of schools in the areas where families actually are really happy to go to whatever that school is. we're going to continue to increase those schools and -- it is interesting to be out in the community and people talking about, what took you so long? so, the community is an extremely supportive and verbal and vocal and i hope that we have come up with a very balanced process and assignment program here. so, i'm looking forward to seeing how it rolls out. do i feel confident that we will be able to do weeks as we expect to -- to have to do after the first year or two and --, i'm very supportive of the work that you have all done. look forward to seeing how this rolls out. any other comments?

i want to thank the staff for the work they put in it and the time they spent to outreach to partners. there's no way we could have got the data that we were able to collect about our district which has been helpful, not just in student assignment but variety of other issues we want to talk on. i want to thank our parents who really participated with us through this process. i know our ad hoc student assignment committee began in december. we have chaired this committee and spent a lot of time with o crorks la. and our -- orla and our staff croo the pack and other groups who helped cert us in doing outreach. this is not ending. we continually are hitting different timelines. this will continue. i imagine the committee will complaint on after this. we need to -- will continue on

after this. we need to monitor and see if the outcomes are what the board hoped would come out of this process, which is in large part, that we want to nare row the achievement gap and -- narrow the achievement gap and support what we're doing in the classrooms. >> i would be remiss if i didn't do a shout out to orla for doing a fabulous job with us. thank you. >> thank you. thank you, board. i want to do a a shout out because i was never working alone, to dar leap limb at the placement center and to all of the staff in the educational placement center who have been incredibly helpful with the work in the process. and i think the board and everybody will be happy to know that we also need to thank the lapgoff research for all of the work they did in getting here. we need to thank foundations in

the city and the department of education for funding the work so that we were able to do it. i'm pleased to say that -- there are staff in the educational placement center and in the i.t. department who now have the ability to use this g.i.f. mapping technology and will -- will we now have the internal capacity to monitor and maintain this moving forward? which is a great thing. thank you for your support. it is a pleasure working on this. >> thank you. roll call, please. >> yes. career yes. fewer yes mofaz yes. mendoza yes. norton yes. winns yes. yee yes. kim yes. six ayes. >> all right. item i. it is board members proposals. there's none tonight.

now we're at item j which is general public comment. i have several speakers already that have already signed up. so please line up when you hear your name. we will give two minutes per public speaker. i have emily gibson, john breath han. dianaers quibal. and diane. nancy. and patricia. jonathan ramirez. tavita. vanessa. van cedrick williams.

>> linda plaque and dennis kelly. you may begin in any order. if you could introduce yourself and your name and then two minutes. miss wilson will keep time. a reminder, two minutes is not long, if you didn't get to cover your point, if you're the next speaker, you could cover a different point from the first one. >> good evening. members of the board and the community here tonight. i like to ask the members to please stand. my name is emily gibson. i'm speaking on behalf of the school where i have been fortunate enough to teach fifth frayed in the mission district. 85% of our students receive a free or federal reduced lunch. we also had many years, almost a decade of c.s.t. scores over 800.

a 150 of 10 rating in the similar schools index and graduates that are students at cal davis and yes, even harvard. we have just cut the budget because of a 12 student drop in enrollment. the problem is we have nothing left to cut other than a reading recovery program which is the key to the school's success. without it we could not maintain standards orr test scores. wile -- while other schools get money to bring up test scores, we have been working on per pupil funds and not much else. it means a small change in the budget has devastating consequences to the entire school. when we asked assistant superintendent if 35,000 from the district might be used to save the literacy program. she suggested instead we get more creative with grant writing or ask parents to contribute even more. not only did my school community

find this answer unacceptable but also insulting. we already fund raise and write grants all year to fund our visual arts pranl. mr. gars yeah, my community is very poor. i would be ashamed to ask our working class parents to support the teachers on top of everything else they do. i ask why it wouldn't be in the district's pest with interests to ep had the program that brings success to the mission. it seems to make financial sense to maintain a succeeding school rather than spend hundreds of thousands in other schools. >> you could also -- you could also submit anything you have written. and hand it off to anyone else as well. [applause] >> thank you. i'm john. i'm the resource specialist at

mass canny elementary. thank you for hearing us. as miss gibson said, there's nothing left to cut. it is going to impact the reading recovery program, dropping it by .4 which will directly effect four to six direct students and more stupets they work with in groups. this is not a cost effective solution for the distribute. this will actually -- i have three different study that is look at the effectiveness of reading reefer, the cost effectiveness and also its effectiveness of a program of remediation. reading recovery hazz a -- has a 12 to 20 week program and costs $125 per student to $250 per student and the cost of the other programs that -- that would result without reading recovery, special ed costs anywhere from 18 to 40,000 dollars per student, over to try

and remediate those -- those needs that were not med by -- met by reading recovery. all of these are more expensive. this is one of the reasons that the school is successful and one of our vetting processes for finding stune -- students who actually truly need special needs -- support -- students that are not successful in their exit from reading recovery are often identified as having special education needs in the school. our school exceeds the national average with its reading recovery program. it is a a bilingual program. pannish and english. it is meeting equity. one of the major goals of the district. and -- during my spen your here, eight years in the -- my tenure here, not a single exit student from reading recovery has become a special education student. this is a powerful message and

it is -- it goes -- it will save the district approximately $100,000. if we fund this. now. [applause] good evening. my name is paul la, i'm a -- a mother of a second grade student that attends this school. tonight i wanted to speak to you because i wanted you to know that we the parents feel that this is completely unacceptable to take away 46,000 -- $46,600 from the budget. this is an excellent school. our students do their best. it reflects in their test scores. although, a -- i know test scores aren't everything. our students always do well and achieve over state standards. even the students -- who english is a second language -- our students excel because of the great teachers in our reading

recovery program. if you take away our teachers, or the reading recovery program, you're ultimately taking our children's foundation from under them. this school has done a fantastic job for many years now. it is not acceptable to do this to our children. it is almost like our students are being punished for excelling. right now, we did not qualify for the stimulus that president obama is giving -- is giving to school that is are prime ministering -- performing poorly. it was suggested when the assistant superintendent visited us that we should apply for grants or have our parents raise money. we the parents already fund our dance, music, and arts program by donating our own money and also amying for grants and other donations. doing so takes us all year long. it is not realistic to tell us that we need to raise more money for our schools when thre