started before then. we're reaching out to the different communities. a lot of parents feel that there is no good communication with the district, and, for example, a lot of parents find out that their child is bailing when they have the first conference, and that is the first month in the school year. so we wanted to have improved communications. we are working with teachers directly to improve their ways of communicating with families, allowing teachers to of a little bit more time to prepare for those conferences. also, parents really do not know what to ask or expect when they go to a conference. there are a lot of schools that prepare families.

for example, marshall, we had our first kind of preparation for the parents, what to expect at their conferences, but this is my first time ever experiencing back, and i think it was helpful, but a lot of times, you do not know what to ask. for example, my daughter had a test during kindergarten note, and i did not know about that test until another grade. copies with things that i probably could have helped her out, and this year, she had another test, the district reading assessment. i really do not know what the "dra" stands for, but it was really explain it to me during the conference, and when i asked for the resources that were available for her, basically, it was not very much.

those were some of the issues that we were asking for. we were talking about having maybe a checklist for parents this is specifically each grade. it would help parents to know what to expect and how to help out to improve their children's -- overall, to improve their -- i do not know what the word is i am looking for, but just to support their kids of a bit more with a bit more knowledge. thank you. >> good evening, commissioners. ruth. last night, i was at the ad hoc committee and was going to give a little update on the pac's intention, and commissioners asked that i come tonight.

basically, the pac, we have told you that we have set priorities for this year, and redesigning the middle school is one of our top priorities. we are very excited about the opportunity to have these conversations, because for us, it is not just looking at one big question, but it is looking at the question of how students get assigned to middle school and what the elementary school to middle school pathway is, and there are bigger questions about what works and what does not work for middle school students in our city. we are seeing how deeply issues connect with a lot of initiatives happening in the district right now, including the superintendent's own school initiative. this is addressing improving dramatically how we provide special education services to

the students that need them, changes in transportation, questions about how we serve english lerner students, and how we strengthen our dual immersion programs and are pathways and those in the bilingual programs or those who have not been any kind of language program at all, how after-school programs -- is this still working? ok. how after school programs serve middle school students, issues about restorative justice and school climate and how all of that word in middle school, and looking at how students in middle school are prepared to meet the new graduation requirements, so all of those things are connected. that is the redesign process, in we are really excited about thinking about how to of conversations about those topics and to share the information across the departments who are working on those, so we're in the process

of what kind of community engagement we can conduct around these issues. we have to look at the time line and what information we want to make sure we bring to families and to give useful information from those conversations to help district staff in shaping what you're doing. we also think it is a really great opportunity to make sure that student voices are a part of this process, that teachers' voices are a part of this process, with parents and also community providers, because there are so many community organizations that work with youths. we are really in the process now about talking what our capacity is, what our roles could be. we are already talking with many community partners that we have been talking with in the past few years about community engagement about what we collectively can bring to this. we have been talking about our ideas and the people managing

this whole process. right now, it actually feels very positive, and we know we are kind of "whoo, whoo," but actually, for members of the pac on the working team, it seems like the first time in years we've been able to plan thoughtfully and be able to bring information back in a timely to staff before things are expected to be implemented, so that is also very positive. and we think of the next report to the board is going to be in december. we will have a lot more specific information as to what we think our goals and objectives are and a more concrete plan forward. president kim: are there any questions? commissioner norton? commissioner norton: 84 your

report, and i wanted to know if we could get an update on the redesign. i am getting a fair number of questions on that, and times seems a little short. i would like an update for that. president buskim: that seems appropriate. any other questions or comments? all right, seeing none, thank you very much. commissioner maufas runs -- commissioner maufas: that is ok. i wanted to comment on something that is much needed, just something for parents to understand what tests are going to be given at what grade levels and what the discrepancies may be, a simple explanation of the acronyms and

what they mean, as some of these tests are new and developed over time, and that is in the student handbook, but, actually, that should be in the parent package. i am very glad that that was brought forward. it is common information that i think parents need to know about what that is going to be and what the acronym is. thank you. president kim: thank you. our next regular board meeting will be on tuesday, december 14, as is tradition, we will not be having a board meeting the week of thanksgiving, but board committees will still continue to meet a schedule of this month. the next item is item f. i have one. dennis kellie. i have one.

mr. kelly, or ms. plack. no? ok. then we move on to item g, which is a consent calendar. can i have a motion and a second? items from the superintendent. >> we would like to withdraw o some items, on pages 88. and we have two corrections. the first is to some consent calendar items on page 94. the funding level remains the same, but we need to change the

funding source to include a contribution from title 2-a, and that $44,000 is a certain number. and the other remains the same. we also have a correction to another consent calendar item. on page 70. the second line needs to be changed in the request for action to 21 orth $60,590. -- $261,590.

in in terms of the bid, 4 on point construction, their bid needs to be changed -- for on- point construction. there is another change. alpha bay builders, that changes to $350,000, and the recommendations, the second line should be changed to $197,000 plus. those are our two corrections. president kim: 80. about the withdrawal or the corrections? -- thank you.

go ahead. commissioner norton: can someone explain to us how this happened? for the w items? [laughter] >> bostick that was made for those of those who would understand this, it was how they based the construction, and the language was only written for the bass bid, so when you took two or three alternates, you took the bass bid and recalculated it -- written for the base bid, so when you took two or three alternates, you took wthe base bid and

recalculated it. it will shortly after the scented to esther. it did not change one thing, but it changed the amounts. commissioner norton: they made this mistake on all of them? >> yes. just a mistake. commissioner norton: thank you. president kim: any items for first reading by the board? and the speaker card -- any items to be severed? commissioner wynns? commissioner wynns: yes, i have a couple. my comments will be related to

those in k. i am just withdrawing two as a point of example, and then we can talk about the process. president kim: ok. any others? all right. mr. kelly, we will come back to item f. >> ok, and congratulations on your apparent electoral victory. [applause] the one issue is that this is a transfer of funds from uniforms and other things to create a 0.375 fte t-10 paraprofessional, so the question we really have is, does this take a five-hour paraprofessional and raise his or her time to eight hours?

a 4-hour to a 7, or is this creating a new position that is only three hours? it is significant, because if it were the latter, then there is a problem because no one is supposed to be hired for less than four hours, and it is not clear what is being done there. as you know, we are particularly sensitive to what happens to the nt-10 aides. we believe the additional hour that has been taken from them needs to be restored to them. we see some t-10's getting some hours during afterhours, and we appreciate that, but this raises the question about what is going on with this. they view. president kim: is there a staff member who can direct this directly with mr. kelly --

discuss this directly with them? that would be great. this next one was already moved and seconded on october 26. it is the reproval it -- was the approval of an article. the particular subset was article two. may we have a committee report from commissioner norton who chaired this committee? >> yes, this is actually a change item. find the change. is very small. we are just simply changing the ability in the board agenda, according to the rolls. present -- according to the rules. president kim: did you approve

this? could we have a reading by someone or the designee? >> madam chair, i would like to have one change. p-20. this is the modification of one section in the following manner. section10.1 -- section 10.1 reads a certain way. this would add the following language. alternatively, the board president would be after the business begins as deemed appropriate, and a temporary order can be agreed to in advance by the president and superintended for an individual meeting or for a specified period of time. the remainder of this remains as previously written. president kim: i do not have any

public speakers for this item. are there any public speakers? seeing none, members from the board? roll call, please. secretary: [reading roll] six ayes. president kim: the next item is item number i, board member proposals, which there are none, and item j, requests to speak regarding general matters, and i have no public speakers. are there any public comments? seeing none, we move on to item k, the advisory committee reports and appointments to the advisory committees, and we have

won tonight, and i would like to call up our staff, chris and cathy. -- in we have -- and we have one. >> good evening, commissioners. tonight, we have a presentation from our community advisory committee. we have two cochairs and two students presenting, so that is the bulk of our presentation, and they have filed a report to the superintendent based on their role as conduits to and from the community, to go out to the community, and inform the community about the impact and gather information and feedback from the community in terms of what they see as impactful and the priorities moving forward, and they put these base recommendations on the findings and put them in their report, which you have before you come

to the superintendent, and they are ready to present to you tonight. >> good evening. commissioners, my name is -- i am the parents of twin girls in seventh grade at hoover middle school. i am the co-chair of the community advisory committee, the public education in richmond fund -- education enrichment fund. >> good evening. i am a product of san francisco and co-chair of the committee. present -- president kim: could

we have -- >> i am a student at george washington. >> my name is -- and i am a student. >> president kim, i believe there other members of the committee in the audience. if you could recognize them, i would appreciate it. president kim: a recognized those in the audience. -- i recognize those. >> we appreciate the opportunity to report to you and present to your annual report to the superintendent. i am joined by other members of our community, and they will rise to be recognized. [laughter] [applause]

i want to also acknowledge and recognize our school district staff people out. cathy, who was here just a minute ago, who does a great job of supporting our work. [applause] and we have walter, who is our program evaluator. [applause] both have provided a tremendous support to our committee, made up of parents, community members, school district principleals. prop h, the enrichment funds, was approved by the majority of voters in san francisco. our school district -- some

resources. these funds in which the 55,000 students at every grade level, every public school in san francisco -- these funds enrich the 55,000 students. together, feedback from the community on the importance of funding public education in richmond funds. with this resolution, we are presenting their annual report to the superintendent. to prepare this report, we held a series of community forums in 2010, where we heard voices about how the programs enrich the lives of all of our students. we have some students to share the effect on their lives, and

the community advisory committee was very impressed and moved by their stories, so i would like to begin to introduce mr. smith, who will speak about the wellness program. >> good evening. as you all know, a name is- -- smith. i live in the haight ashbury with my older brother, my sister-in-law, my little sister, which is pretty korea, because she is a freshman at washington, and a little nephew, and the new edition to i am a, a two months old, a niece -- which is pretty court -- cool. because she is a freshman in washington, and a little nephew, and the new addition to our family, two months old, a niece.

i told the nurse that it was not received very well in class, so being the nice lady that she is, she made a couple of calls, in my own insurance situation was a little complicated, and she made some phone calls and cleared up for me. after a couple of weeks, she made me an eye appointment, and my brother was busy, so she was able to come with me, and we really got to know each other. it was really cool, and she told me that i was a good speaker and that i would be good for one program, and she introduced me to someone, and he helped me a lot with presentation and public speaking and not being a teacher

but as it year, going into the classes and teaching the kids, -- but being -- not being a teacher but being a peer. in my laboratory partner melissa graduated last year. -- and my laboratory partner. at first, it was in the awkward because we had students and adults. me, i was thinking, what can i possibly teach them that they do not already know? there was the awkward feeling that we had earlier. that was good when it became an powering -- became empowering.

i want to go to college. any college that excess me is a good college to me, but if i did have a choice, i do want to go to the university of miami -- any college that accepts me is a good college. my second choice is east carolina state. i know someone always talks about the school. -- who always talks about that school. also, football fever for my school. that is even a more important reason. but without a wellness program at george washington school, the outreach program, there would not be me speaking to kids about important topics, you know? none of this would be possible without the wellness, so i would

just keep in mind that oliver students vote -- value the wellness in our school. some have over 2000 kids, and we need our wellness, and we appreciate it, so they q4 letting me speak. [applause] -- so thank you for letting me speak. [applause] >> i would like to introduce william, who was speaking about the professional program -- who will speak about a professional program. >> my name is william, and i attend prep just a few blocks from here. i am currently a sophomore. all of the lsp's in san

francisco. i just want to talk a little bit about my life before. i used to be involved in gangs. my life before was like a puzzle that i did not know how to make. i was confused in every point of my life. i have a lot of problems. i am not an open person. i am still not an open person. i never had anybody to talk to before i met her. in middle school, i just wanted to drop out of school because i did not feel that i belonged, and all of my friends, that is what they taught me, and i really did not have anyone to talk to before. my life, like, changed dramatically, because it was not a short process. it was a long process in being here. i