here, this one, i see that in different areas you are working on different aspects within that area. for example, in early learning, i see that your goals are really around a structural goals of the department and how do we build a new infrastructure to meet the goals. and then i am looking at college and career readiness, and i see that the goals are around implementation and actually prepping students to take the a.p.g. what i don't see there, and perhaps it should be not in this plan, but sort of the thing like the safety nets that we are working on. like is there an emphasis on -- i know we have the goal --

every child in the first ninth great class. i see in the plan there is a lot of emphasis on the ninth grade class. i am wondering about the safety net for those students. because there will still be some that won't be ready, quite frankly. what is going to happen for those students, and what do we have in place for that? we implement college readiness programs, and i am looking at them, and i feel like something is missing here about sort of, again, the counseling at our own high schools and middle schools. how do we prepare our counselors now to help prepare our students to be ready? is what happens with the

training around that -- maybe that is written in somewhere. anyway, some are those are just the first brief comments i have on this. thanks. >> thank you. commissioner wynns? >> thank you. i appreciate this. i can't read -- i need a magnifying glass to read that. i am looking at it carefully because i am trying to see how specific it is. so as soon as possible, you are going to tell us how to get access to that without killing ourselves, right? i am interested in what -- i appreciate the communication emphasis because what i had thought for a long time is that we have not been very good in developing a simple -- and i don't mean simplistic, but

accessible message for people. i want to know how we and the public can check on our progress. so i am interested in in whether the website plans that you have referenced here are going to have a way to see -- and i see that you do have some places -- actually just a page in the back. i see on page 17 that sort of says -- it doesn't say these are done. i'm hoping it isn't just going to say done when it is done. i understand it is not, but i want to know what the benchmarks are and how we can check on them, and i want the public to be able to know that. even though i found this a little simplistic -- not for us, but in other places. there are many school districts that have used this kind of a planning mechanism where in particular parents, teachers

can say here is our goal. they mostly used measurable test score data, but i am going to say we have a goal related to engagement in outside activities for students. our goal is we have a certain percentage by such and surf date, and here is how we are doing on that. i hope that, as we have talked about, that as time goes by, we will be narrowing that down. in other words, we will be able to say this year we are going to concentrate on these things. we are doing ok in these areas, but we want to increase the trajectory here. here is our specific goal. i would like to know what those specific goals are once we get them and to be able to communicate to people because we actually have the data and information how we are doing on meeting these goals. if you can -- i don't know if you have anything to say about

that, and it is ok if you don't -- actually, i guess i'm just saying that i hope in our next update we will have closer to that and will be able to talk about benchmarks and knowing how we are doing in various areas. >> thank you. i think commissioner fewer and commissioner wynns actually make very good points. keep in mind that this is a very broad overview of the entire process. each one of these initiatives has a very detailed project plan with very measurable goals and objectives. what we have talked about is the next time around is take one or two of them and do a deep dive so that we are actually looking at what those measurable objectives look like and what they are like. >> thank you. any other commissioners? commissioner, yee? >> i just want to thank staff for actually putting this together in terms of conceptualizing in terms of how

to better communicate these issues. i love the way you have weebd -- weefed -- our district's priorities. the 13 things you put on this particular page. i like the way it was framed. it includes all of our priorities just about in there. and i am assuming that as we move along not so much the monthly report, but the buy monthly report, that we -- the bye monthly report, that we will get a better handle in terms of what you are doing. every time we talk to a staff member about any of these projects or any of these components, i realize that

there are so many moving parts and that it is hard to capture everything when i have a 30-minute discussion with a staff member. then i realize that as i speak to a staff member, there is a lot more collaboration or breaking down of silos within our district. in the past i would say i didn't see that. one department would just do their own thing, and they would plan something around english language learners, and then another department would plan something around english language learners. everybody was doing something different, and i would say how do you put these things ago. the basic answer many years ago was we don't. i am really happy with what i am seeing in terms of the work that is being done, but i think

this would also help me a lot in -- a lot in getting a better idea of what is going on. thank you. >> thank you. any or comments or questions? seeing none, thank you both. we appreciate the update. our next item is the france african-american historical society and the kinsey collection. i want to thank our guests tonight for being so patient. this was a big board meeting, as you saw, and we really do appreciate your coming out and sharing with us the wonderful collection that both commissioner maufas and i were able to see a little bit of at the kick-off at city hall. so welcome, and we appreciate you being here. >> press the button.

>> great. thank you very much. commissioners and superintendent. i am al williams, president of the board of the african-american historical and cultural society. the best place to start is to express my admiration for all of you, the work you are doing here and your perseverance and your ability to maintain a high level of energy and enthusiasm as the meeting goes on. i was waning back there. i have gone through the presentation three or four times now in different versions. i am delighted to be high with you. the san francisco african-american historical and cultural society was founded back in 1955. it was founded for the purpose of providing a forum or vehicle

to educate the general public in the african-american culture with the history of african-americans, with an emphasis on the city and county of san francisco. other than -- over that period of time we have had a good relationship with the district. a couple of years ago we worked a curriculum person, and we had a joint history reading program. the teachers met on occasions and read books on cultures. we are very excited about that relationship and look forward to continuing it. we have a short video on the kinsey collection, an interview that was done we would like to show that would give you -- hopefully it will work and give you a little bit of background and insight into what the kinsey collection is all about.

>> there we go. why is it not going? >> well, maybe we should just go ahead without it. >> ok. [laughter] >> we will just all have too come down and see it for ourselves. >> and in fact, that is the

bottom line. what we are really here about -- and tying into the presentation that was just made about the work that you all are doing, and the question was posed when you talk about closing the achievement gap, and one of the primary questions is are the kids ready from different stages and as they move through? bernard kinsey and his wife, shirley, who pulled this collection together, residents of southern california, have a very extensive collection of historic materials and artifacts that go back to the 1600's. they document the presence of africans and people of african decent in new york america from 1604, coming forward to current events. one of the things bernard likes to say in his presentations, he does a talk about what they didn't teach you in school. what he talks about is the history that was not presented in school.

this exhibit brings forth a loot of information -- a lot of information that is not currently available. the kinsey collection has been added to the crick column of the state of florida, a portion of it, to helpful fill the requirements in their multicultural education programs. when we ask the questions are our students ready, we believe that a fundamental part of their readiness is to have a clear sense of themselves and the world around them. that has to start early. we think that while we had a very successful presentation of the kinsey exhibit and adults coming to our gallery at the african-american art and culture complex, what we really want to achieve over the next couple of months is to work out a relationship with the district to get students to come in and observe this and to go through the program.

we have guided tours of the exhibit. i had a conversation with -- ok. [inaudible] >> ok, now. >> i didn't mean that. >> i think it is thinking. >> as it is thinking, i had a conversation -- as we were trying to develop some resources to support the exhibit, i had a conversation with a gentleman, an engineer, and said to him we need some

sponsorship. we need some help to cover the costs of bringing this exhibit in. he said to me i don't want to give you any money to support something that i don't know where the money is going. i said well, what would you give us money to do. he said well, if you had a program going where you went to the school district, and you could work out relationships with the district to bring groups of students in, and you would provide them lunch, and as they came to the district, then i would be willing to support -- to threes -- to at least -- let's just let it go. >> i mean can we stop it? we will just stop it. let's just turn it off and let it go. >> ok, sorry. >> no problem. thank you. in any event, his point to me

was he would be willing to provide some funds to support a classroom of students coming in to spend the day on a field trip, and he recognized that to some degree the district is limited in its resources. he said he would be willing to help find other people in his industry who would provide resources to do that. commissioner maufas and i were talking about this, and i said to her, who do i need to talk to in the district? what do we need to do to build the relationship to work with the district? you provide the students and the connection for us. we have the exhibit. we will help develop some resources to help bring students in. it's a win-win all the way around. that is fundamentally what we wanted to come and present today. we wanted to show you what the product is because we think it is very exciting and get you excited, and we would love to have you all come and see it as well. fundamentally as well, we are focused on trying to get some

of the kids in from some of the schools. we will have the exhibit through the end of april. so we only have it for a couple of months. this is really a rare opportunity. the kinsey collection, the main collection is on exhibit at the smithsonian, where it will be until may. we have a subset of that collection. we have items in our collection in our exhibit that are not at the smithsonian. so if you went to the smithsonian, you still wouldn't see a lot of the things we have here. we have tied the exhibit here into the theme for black history month, which is blacks in the civil war. so you have in your materials there the cards we handed out. the card you have is an actual poster that was recruiting african-americans for the union army in the civil war. we also have an example of an african-american who served in the confederacy, which is also a part of the exhibit you have there. it is a broad-ranging exhibit

of african-american art and historic documents that span one of the key elements of the exhibit of the kinsey, and they had trouble leaving it with us, is a schedule of slaves that was part of a family that filed for bankruptcy, and they had to document. it was so big, a listing of 500 slaves that were being put on the market for sale. it is the original document. so we have documents there. it is a copy of brown versus the board of education signed by all the justices of the supreme court. it is a way of making it real for all of us.

opening comments. commissioner maufas: thank you. i appreciate the board listening. over my shoulder, indeed the desmond it seems quite interested -- dee dee desmond seemed quite interested. maybe some folks listening and watching participate. as i visited the collection, my breath was caught. i cannot begin to tell you.

there are often times when i look at my own history to reflect. to see a tangible on paper and see it is in our history books, but to really understand that folks with african history mixed with other folks and came to america. it was not always in servitude. with that awareness, i am so much more renewed, and why do it. in my own family lineage, i am supposed to be here doing this right now. talking with the folks i have talked to come on purpose, because they need to know they

can't have that awareness -- i feel i am late to the game. young people need to get that understanding as quickly as possible. you do not have to read it in a history book that is bound. you can actually see something that really is rare for an individual to look at. it is in the smithsonian, one of our national archives that is renowned all over the world, and how grateful i am to the kinseys for even keeping track and keeping the flame. they have taken up that task for many generations beyond them. i encourage all of you to bring your family and friends. i brought a friend, and we were

both in retched. she is from latino heritage. she saw some pieces there that were meaningful to her. the more i know about myself, the more i am interested in other cultures and how we blend to come together to create societies. are not always in servitude or in service of others. we are building and have been building a dynamic community as folks of african descent. thank you so much for coming. i know there are people in the room want to speak with you. president mendoza: vice president yee, and then commissioner fewer. vice president yee: hanks for coming. -- thanks for coming.

one of the things people understand from any culture is how important it is to connect to the past. whenever i meet an indian, they will always talk about their past before the talk about the present. there will spend a lot of time talking about the past. what has happened in our society is that people here get disconnected. i am hoping that one of the things that you mentioned -- i wanted to get your attention,

because i wanted to make an observation. maybe things could be worked out. there are some people willing to support this effort. you mentioned lunches. if i had any say so in this, if you had people that would be supporting this, i would tell them the school would provide the lunches, unless you want to provide a banquet or something. what is missing for us is that we are so in debt, so poor here, that we cannot provide buses for our kids to go to a lot of field trips. schools line up to get one bus a year for their kids. that may be wrong, but this is from when i talk to teachers and

ask them why they don't go there. they can never get a hold of a bus. we only have so many per school. if somehow we could find a way for the kids of felton street to be able to get there, i think that would be a lot more helpful in terms of getting more kids to be there. from my own experience, whether i was a teacher there -- we see the same thing every year. >> maybe i'm is characterized or was not clear what the offer was. the offer was to provide resources for a field trip, including the lunch.

that was only part of it. they come for the day. it is a whole package. vice president yee: with the bus, you are not going to see as many as you would like. commissioner fewer: thank you for coming and telling us about this. i think this is a fabulous opportunity for all san franciscans to see this history. for our listeners at home, would you mind giving the exact location, hours of operation, and is there a cost? i think this is a wonderful thing for families to come to and spend an afternoon looking at this together. if you would not mind giving

this information for listeners at home. >> certainly, commissioner. thanks, commissioner maufas. you were going to remind me to do that stuff. you are on the same wavelength. hours of operation are tuesday through saturday from 1:00 to 5:00. that said, we can for groups of people who want to come in -- we can make special arrangements to have access at other hours. the location is 762 fulton street. we are in the african and american art and culture complex, on the second floor. as far as commission is concerned, the exhibit is open to the public. we do ask for donations, but it is free to the public. there is no set free -- set fee to come in. president mendoza: any other comments? commissioner norton: thank you

for the presentation, and thanks for coming to let us know about this. my question is for staff. if there is a teacher or principal, or somebody connected with the school tonight who would like to take advantage of this offer, who should the contact? >> we will figure out a way to give all schools and opportunity, and to have a little bit of a conversation in terms of how much -- be careful what you ask for. free is an awfully nice price for our teachers. we would like to work out a

process quickly, because we are running out of time. president mendoza: thank you very much. i just wanted to thank you for coming. i have a seventh grade son. this past weekend, we were in the car listening to the commentary on our first african- american that attended ole miss. it is 100 years later, and we are accepting the first and african-american into a public college. 100 years is a long time before we are starting to see changes. it was one of those moments where he was listening very intently. it was a commentary on the riots and the way the guards took over. it was really startling for him to hear that activity. i think it will allow him