>> good evening, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us for our regular meeting of the board of education, tuesday, september 27, 2011. the meeting is now called to order. roll call, please. >> ms. fewer? ms. maufas, dr. marawsy, ms. wynns, ms.men doza, ms. thomas, thank you. >> if you'd like, please join me for the pledge of allegiance. [pledge of allegiance] thank you.

item a is the approval of the board minutes of the regular meeting on september 13. i need a motion and a second. >> so moved. >> any corrections? >> i have one. allison collins name is spelled with one l. >> with those changes, roll call, please. [roll call vote was taken] president mendoza: item b is the presentation to the board from the superintendent. superintendent garcia? superintendent garcia: thank you. it's been a little warm here since the air conditioner hasn't worked all day. if everybody seems shiny, it's probably due to that. anyway, i wanted to point out that -- and it's hot before the meeting, so, anyway.

i want the public to know that this -- on september 18, which was a gorgeous, beautiful day, kind of like today, we had a board retreat with the executive team and it was really to sit around and talk about what our priorities would be for this year as a board for the district. and i'm proud to say that we really narrowed it down to three major priorities -- creating a strong and structural core for college and career ready graduates, implementing supports and interventions for students and building a high performing school focused central office, one that exists to serve the customer, the school sites. however, probably the most important of all of these is the first priority of students, that, in order to have equity and access to the core curriculum, you need great core curriculum and great teachers, great support, to build the scaffolding for students to be successful and as we look at

implementing a-through-g requirement, we're looking at implementing standards throughout the year so students have a chance from preschool through high school, everybody will know what will be covered, when it's going to be covered and what your child and student ought to know as they go through every grade in our beautiful school district so i think this is going to be great work. we're all excited about it. imagine having an entire school district just focused on curriculum. that's something that i think is really exciting for all of us. in addition to that, it doesn't mean that all the 13 other things we've been working on disappear. no, all of those have been embedded into these three things and they're things we'll continue working on that i think are important but what ought to be leading the school district is really the curriculum of what kids are learning and how they're learning to make sure that everybody at every school is learning the same things and mastering the same things so that there's true equity throughout the school district. i'm happy to say that the retreat went great. we had honest discussions and i think those are the types of

things that really take a school district like ours from good to great and i commend the board for actively being involved and everybody participating. i thought it was very good for all of us. i also wanted to give you an update on the t-dap, the whooping cough vaccine. we have 96% of our students so far. it's actually one of the highest rates in the state so we're doing really well. we're still pursuing, like good moms and dads, making sure the 4% get theirs in. we don't want anybody missing school but we have a host of people to thank for all their work -- the department of public health,t-dap task force members and the administrators and schools, everybody that nagged the kids to make sure everybody got their shots because we didn't want them to miss school. when you think of everybody's work, it really paid off and we couldn't have done it without our partners. i wanted to send out kudos out there.

last board meeting we honored karen bishop, one of our own, president of our local union here, representing our classified employees and today in the city they honored her. today is karen bishop day so kudos go out to her. and i want you to know that later on this evening we have a great presentation. we're going to talk a little bit about facilities and it's kind of interesting. this last week, you know, several board members, myself, we attended two hundredth anniversaries, schools, including glen park and last week, cleveland elementary school had their hundredth anniversary. tomorrow, jean parker is having their 100th anniversary and george washington high school is celebrating their 75th anniversary and we'll honor them this evening and when you look at that and you look at the presentation that will take place later on in the meeting about our facilities. david golden will update us on

our facilities and when you have schools over 100 years old and you look at the work put into them to make sure kids feel valued when a walk into a school that's nice and clean, shiny, and looks marvelous. i think it's a tribute to this community of san francisco stepping forward and caring so much about their children. and on another note, tomorrow, we're -- board member wynns and myself will be going to sacramento because it's time to start speaking up about prop 98 passed by the voters and we are basically demanding that the legislature, we hold their feet to the fire and they follow the constitution of the state of california that says that we get that kind of funding so i want to thank everybody for their support and let's have a great meeting. thanks. president mendoza: thank you, superintendent. item c is recognition and resolutions of commendation. superintendent, the rave awards this evening?

superintendent garcia: they're not my rave awards but our rave awards and sometimes we're so big and there's so many unsung heroes out there, people who do great things, random kinds of acts of kindness every day and work so hard to make this a great place for our students. this gives us an opportunity to celebrate them and this evening we have two people that will be recognized and the first person is going to be presented by assistant superintendent from the mission zone, lupe -- i'll handle this one. the next rave award will be presented by andrea hellinski, program administrator in support services department. come on up. >> hi, i'm andy hellinski. i'm a program administrator with student support services and it

is an honor tonight to recognize shawndra ray. she is the school social worker, a.k.a. learning support professional at glen park elementary school and just a little tidbit. glen park receives a halftime l.s.p. through the public education enrichment fund. yay. and the school site council at glen park has seen such value in shawndra's work that they have funded the additional half of her time so she is half funded by the school site to provide support services, she's that valued by the staff. i spoke this morning with marian grady, the principal at glen park, and she said that shawndra is responsible and reliable, she's the person that teachers and that she turns to immediately when a student is struggling with behavior or social/emotional issues. they said that she provides support to teachers to implement

classroom interventions and strategies to support student success, and they said most importantly, she has an amazing rapport with every single student at glen park elementary and they see her as another caring adult they can go to any time they need additional support. so shawndra, congratulations, and thank you for all that you do. [applause] >> thank you so much. >> congratulations. >> thank you very much. >> say a few words? >> just a few. so, thank you, everyone. one of the things that i needed to point out immediately is that i am not unique. every single l.s.p. shares this award with me and that's learning support professional and that's what i do.

as does all the hard working office staff and i'd like to thank student support services for hiring me in november 2007. thanks, andy. andy interviewed me for the position so i owe her and i'd also couldn't do this without marian grady and the staff at glen park and the students who i learn from every single day, i learn something new about myself, about them, and about what my job is. so thank you very much. [applause] superintendent garcia: next i'd like to call on guadelupe herrero. >> good evening, commissioners. i have the privilege of naming zack rollins from the bena vista horace mann school who was nominated by a colleague. he's a modest gentleman. i'm here to accept on his

behalf. zack, many of you may know, i know our superintendent can speak to, has been ever present in the horace mann community for 20 years or more. he's an individual in the school community who really represents the spirit of, in particular, the student body there, who looks to him as a role model, who always demonstrates a genuine sense of care, is there first thing in the morning when students pull up on their skateboards and is the last one there, oftentimes playing basketball and providing support to many of our students even after their school experience continues. so when you think of that school community, folks often think of zack rollins as someone who always goes above and beyond in making sure that students' needs come first. he's a cherished colleague amongst his peers and he really

deserves this award. zack rollins. [applause] superintendent garcia: i've known zack, when i was the principal at horace mann. but zack was there before i got there, so i would imagine zack's been there about 25 years and i have to tell you, as a principal there, he made my job so easy. the reason why we -- one of the reasons why we did wonderful things and i see daisy santos and margaret shoo, they were all there at the same time and we all know zack, and deborah, also, we all have the privilege of being together around horace mann and when you see the work zack has done. you want to know anything going on in the school, go ask zack. you want to know, before any fights break out, before any issues occur, high already knows about it and he's taking care of

business. he's an exemplary employee and i have to tell you, when i was signing this certificate, i was choked up because i think back -- and i know zack won't be here tonight. you know, he's one of those people who just doesn't want to take credit, but it's great that a district like ours is honoring an individual who's just put it out there for kids all the time, has saved, i think, literally thousands of kids throughout the years at horace mann and i'm sure he'll continue for many more years because he's younger than i am so i want to salute him and thank zack for doing a wonderful job for so many kids and so many teachers throughout his time in san francisco and keep going. thank you. >> i'll pass along your thoughts. >> vice president yee? vice president yee: i just met zack when i was out visiting baena vista horace mann recently

and i didn't meet him -- i actually observed what he was doing. and he had so much respect from the kids and he really was just into the kids and i finally asked another staff member this, who's that guy? is he, like, a.p. or something? no, he's been here forever and he was just a great person to meet and what you just -- how you described him is exactly what i saw in that brief moment. president mendoza: wonderful. thank you, superintendent. the next item on the academy of art summer scholarship program we'll hold and preside at at another board meeting. unfortunately, dr. stephens and ms. rotman will not be able to join us so we want to honor them and we'll do it on another agenda. we now have one action item. i need a motion and second in recognition and celebration of george washington high school's diamond jubilee, 75 years of

excellent public education in the city and county of san francisco which has been introduced by commissioner marawse and myself. the commissioner was kind enough to allow me to read the resolution of a washington alum. commissioner murase: because you're wearing the sweatshirt. president mendoza: this in recognition and celebration of george washington high school's diamond jubilee. whereas, george washington high school first opened and served students august 25, 1936, and has had a storied and distinguished 75-year history including recognition as one of the nation's finest high schools in the march 1958 readers digest article entitled "three cheers for george washington high" and whereas george washington high school built on one of the city's highest hills enjoying an unparalleled view of the golden

gate bridge, designed by famed architect pfluger and includes work by a host of noted artists including muralist victor arnatof, gordon lando, sculptor sergeant johnson and added in 1974, dewy crumpler, talented student muralists have added to the school's walls for many years since and whereas george washington high school offers a full range of high schools for all students from dance placement where the school consistently ranks in top 1% of offering in the nation, college preparatory, career and businesses classes and graduation and college acceptance rates are consistently near 100%, and whereas george washington high school has always made available to its students, all manner of extracurricular and athletic opportunities and seen its students excel in these areas exemplified during the 2010-2011 school year as the first public

high school in san francisco to earn three varsity championships in one season -- football, baseball and basketball, and over the years, has seen students achieve national prominence in forensics 13 different years and whereas george washington high school is open to all families in san francisco and has always been a model community for the city's ethic diversity and whereas george washington high school alumni has served and are currently serving in the country in the military, in science, the arts, public service, technology and education. alumni enjoy the opportunity -- and whereas george washington honors its alumni by inducting into the hall of merit when includes among its members johnny mathis, lee meriwether, gillman luis, politician phillip burton, nfl hall-of-famer ollie madson, lesbian pioneer, dell martin, danny glover, and betty

hong. the board of education of the studs san francisco unified school district celebrates the diamond jubilee, dedicated to the building of character in the city's young people and wishes to extend george washington high school community composed of students, faculty, staff, alumni and supporters, many many more years of success. congratulations, george washington high school. [applause] and i believe we are going to have our assistant superintendent of high schools, janet schultz, accept this on bralve of -- behalf of the boarf education. and i know we have sandy fewer who was the p.t.a. president for a long time at george washington high school. commissioner fewer: i believe i

have some of that stuff in my basement. i am a proud graduate of george washington high school as is my husband, as is my daughter, colleen, and so i always would like to ditto on commissioner wynns' request to have all our names put on it. i was p.t.a. president there for many years and i'm very familiar with that school and i would like to add a distinguished teacher, carl oche, who is a gifted teacher in our district, also is a hall of merit recipient for the george washington alumni association and we wish them many, many years of success. president mendoza: commissioner yee? vice president yee: ditto on putting my name on there, except that i'm reluctant. i wish -- i really wish washington didn't exist 75 years ago and maybe 25 years ago. if it had been built 25 years ago, my basketball team would

have won the championship. they beat us! president mendoza: commissioner murase? commissioner murase: i wanted to congratulate the community and make a couple of announcements related to their celebration. friday, october 14, at 2:00 p.m., retired faculty and staff are invited to retired teachers' luncheon. on friday, october 14, there is a 66th annual game, football. friday october 14, 5:30, a bell game party at the janet pommerony center and on saturday, october 15, at 3:00, there's a public walking tour of art on washington and later there will be a gala celebration and it's an event bright event and you can find information at the washington high school alumni association web site.

president mendoza: i want to give my heartfelt thanks to washington high school, also. as an army brat, i went to four different high schools, my last four years of schooling before going on to college and we lived on the practice -- presidio so i ended up going to washington because of where we were located and i came in a couple of months after cool had started and it was one of the most welcoming communities that i'd ever been in and probably one of the best times i had during high school so i have a lot of fond memories there and wonderful times and i hope and encourage all of our alum for washington high to participate in the events coming up. it would be great to see everyone out divhoog they're doing. go eagles. president mendoza: commissioner murase, would you do the honors?

[roll call was taken and the motion passed unanimously] [inaudible] >> i feel a little guilty picking up an award that i have nothing to do with. on behalf of george washington high school, i will certainly pass on the kind words and recognize the great work they've done and look forward to seeing commissioners and all the alumni at the multitude of events they have planned for this year f