the school board, when we passed the graduation requirements, we also have a commitment to the students to see them through the four years to graduate successfully. i just wanted to mention to our listeners at home that we are offering a large offering of summer school through our after- school funding of elementary and middle school students. when you think about high-school is where our void is. i want to mention that these are the fall semester grades. when we see that a student has a d in the fall semester, they could raise their grades higher. if we are anticipating that these all grades are a good indication of the students that will probably receive a d or f

in the spinring semester. we may need to take into account that there may be more students that receives f's. math is sequential in nature. they may be receiving an f for the spring semester. this is a good indication that this is a great need. this is our first class that we are trying to graduate in four years a-g qualified. our board has been -- we will find out what the state of the state funding is.

is it just a matter of money for the district? you brought up avalos and other class work such as biology, which is a very typical class that a ninth grader might take as a requirement for two years of laboratory science. many eighth graders take the course and they are not successful. this is their introduction to a highly rigorous science course. our ninth graders, many of them come in not prepared. they can do any sort of labora tory science preparation. >> they are among our highest. our biology numbers overall is 355 students, or 14%.

the aspect breakdown, the numbers are even higher, the percentage of failures. >> thank you. director mendoza. commissioner maufasmendoza: i jt wanted to share as an advocate who has expressed very strong concerns about this particular area and a day later we met with the chancellor and the president at the city college. some of the work we are going to be doing together with the school district and in collaboration is looking to see how we can serve this very targeted group of students who are doing better at night great. we are looking at two options. one would be to have the ninth grade come to the sites that the

school district would have open anyway. the second option was provided by the president and the chancellor but the opportunity to be on campus. we would hire our own high school teachers, but we would have an opportunity to be on campus. we would be working through those options. those services would be going specifically to our ninth graders who are performing with d's and f's. >> are there any other colleagues? thank you kamala doctor -- you, doctor. we will open in up for public comment. i have three cards in front of me.

>> the speakers will have three minutes. >> hi, members of the board of education and the board of supervisors. i just wanted to do a quick introduction to what we were doing. we had three members who wanted to speak to this issue. we have many members that have ran here from schools to make it here before the meeting is over. before we speak, we just want to say thank you so much for prioritizing a hearing about this issue today. we are extremely grateful that

you responded in a quick fashion to our concerns. i just wanted to it knowledge that we really appreciate that and we just wanted to in knowledge that we appreciate the mayor meeting with us on tuesday. >> the supervisor -- he is quick to speak in spanish and then i will read his testimony. >> [speaking spanish]

>> good afternoon, my name is marco santiago.

we believe that all students should have an opportunity to get a good education, no matter what education they live in. not everybody in our society believes that all students can be successful. most white students have high expectations and opportunities. most black and latino students get low expectations and few opportunities. we believe that the graduation requirement is the most critical promise that the city needs to make to the next generation. we need to talk to you about how this promise as falling short. me and others from the high schools and the elementary have come to city hall to give you an update on their campaign for education equity. >> my name is jennifer sanchez.

i go to downtown high school. summer school is important because we need to graduate. sometimes students may take longer. sometimes students are dealing with tons of issues that distract us from being successful. we need our city to believe in it us. our city leaders have been with us. you can offer the first class of the new graduation requirement a chance to recover credits before their 10th straight year. with more budget cuts, students are being set up for failure. our city leaders were helping those that will receive a d or f. we will get students back on track and close the opportunity

gap. thank you for your support. >> i have the privilege and pleasure to be the campaign lead for coleman advocate. the members behind me have been aware of this issue since january, when we normally would have asked about how the ninth graders have been doing. we have watched this seriously. we wanted a major partner to push for this graduation requirement. we do know that budget cuts are coming. we do know that we have sustained a lot of cuts. our city made a promise that we would like to work together to stay on track to graduate our students college and career ready. we would appreciate any help you could give to us to secure funding for summer school. these ninth graders can get the

opportunity to get back on track before they go into their tent great year. we know what education research says. we know how critical this is. summer school is not our only concern. we are concerned about what it means the next year when we will be experiencing a potential budget cuts. what will happen to our 10th graders who are our current ninth graders and our eighth graders will be next year's ninth graders. we want to come back to select committee and have a conversation about what it will look like to put better supports in place so that weekend be proactive and put some types of support in place for next year. we will have two years of classes that will have to meet the new graduation requirement. we asked two things. the first is to help figure out

ways between san francisco and san francisco unified school district. we can invest in summer schools for this summer. i wanted to highlight the difference of what coleman was asking for. in our system come a d does represent a passing grade. when students go to apply to college, colleges do not accept d's as passing grades. i wanted to highlight that. we would like to be able to come back next months to one of the select committees and talk about our recommendations for students support and talk about how a city services can be aligned to create a stronger system so that we can be more proactive and prevent students from failing. thank you so much for your time.

we appreciate hearing your response. >> thank you. thank you for coming. my question to you, your request asked for a subsequent meeting and to create a partnership about what you think would be the appropriate support services. do you happen to have a draft of some of those ideas? anybody who could see the draft would be able to formulate on the city side how they could potentially supports such requests. we could have a much more robust conversation around that when the meeting gets scheduled. >> you will see a yellow paper. we will be spending the rest of this month to finish this. >> thank you.

>> we are going to be going through an extensive process to go down to san jose unified school district and talk to education experts to identify what students supports are considered quality when it come t sito a-g. we are waiting to do more research. what we do more research, we would be glad to report it to you all. >> thank you. >> are there any other members of the public who would like to make a comment? at this time, public comment will be closed. is there one more comment? >> [inaudible] >> sure. ok, i need you to announce that

all mic so that people at home know what is going on. >> people want to do eight unitsclap with the -- do a unity clap with the city leaders. marco santiago is going to lead us. [clapping and cheering] >> thank you. on that note, colleagues, and do you have any other comments, questions? thanks again c comeolem --

thanks again, coleman, for coming out. i ask for a motion to continue. call the chair. thank you. so moved. do we have any additional business? thank you very much. we are adjourned. >> welcome to the board of education regular meeting.

thank you for joining us this evening. roll call? >> [rollc all] -- [roll call] president mendoza: if you would like, join us for the pledge of allegiance. [pledge of allegiance] thank you. the approval of the board minutes, there is no approval tonight. the presentation on the superintendent's reports.

>> last week we were forced to make ugly decisions that none of us enjoy. the potential layoff notices of over 400 of our employees. this is something that everyone on this board and in the community thinks is got awful. something that we should never have to do. even with that, we have to go through some of that because an order for us to request a portion of the city's rainy day fund, part of the requirement is that we have to demonstrate a need. this has given us more to demonstrate in terms of need but all the cuts they are bringing our way. i wanted to know that today, our mayor did introduce that they are going to move forward to give the school district the rainy day fund which i think is fabulous. we want to thank the board of

supervisors, everyone in our family that maybe we have a state that doesn't care enough about its young people and their future, but it is great to have a city that does stand up for kids. we really want to thank them. as all of you know, you have been following it very closely about the governor trying to put the tax extension measure on the june ballot india's having a difficult time. i want to remind everyone that it is a long-range solution. it is easy to complain, but it is hard to come up with solutions that solve problems.

all we need is a couple -- the legislative analyst's office was asked to provide options for balancing the state budget. here are some of their suggestions. eliminate class size reduction for k-three. and requiring entering kindergarten students to be five years old. this will be $66 a unit to save 170 million. we will save another $270 million. nelson mandela once said that education is the most important weapon.

i hope you join me in leading the outbreak in saying that this is unacceptable in this state. for those that don't support their future, they are more blind than any blind person on the planet. we need to start standing up to these people and saying it is unacceptable. if we don't act, shame on us. we are going to hear people blame each other. there is nobody here to blame. there are only some folks the control our budget. that is our legislature. let's not divide and conquer ourselves. let's say to sacramento, support our governor with a plan and say that we have to do with and we have to do it now. president mendoza: thank you,

superintendent. >> i was at the coalition meeting today, so if i could say a few words. tomorrow was the sort of dropped dead day. we decided that next monday would be the drop date for june 7. there has also been discussion about having the election on a subsequent birthday. it would be ok for the budget. the reason i am saying this, don't despair if nothing happens tomorrow.

and the work that the superintendent of just referred to. it is not over until it's over. it implied i have been telling illegal -- [unintelligible] the education community, we need to not have people with theoretical cuts. we need to send a message that we are concerned about this regardless of our party affiliation and of our involvement for politics that this is something that is do-or-

die for us. >> we are here today because in the spirit of what commissioner wynns said, and what the superintendent said, tomorrow there will be a press conference. united educators, united administrators, ifpte. coleman advocates have also been invited. there will be a press conference, we hope that legislators will hear the press

conference. >> we are glad that he is sending someone. we have a resolution of commendation for action we need a motion in a second. this is the week of the school administrator. >> we are passionate, lifelong learners devoted to public education.

with many education leadership posts, other school district leaders -- there are assistant principals in the child development program managers. and that's providing quality service for students excess is paramount to the profession, as most school administrators are on hand, the average teacher has been serving for more than a decade. they effectively and efficiently lead public education and improve student achievement. offering with management systems, across the nation, public schools employ if your managers that most public and private sector industries including transportation, food service, manufacturing, publishing, and public

administrations. whereas they depend [unintelligible] community members, board trustees, community and faith based organizations, elected officials, staff resources in school success. research shows great schools are led by great principles. the first full week of march is the week of the school administrator. and as the future of california 's public education system depends on the leadership.

and the san francisco unified school district, all school leaders have the contributions they make for successful student achievement. president mendoza: i see the president of the administrator'' unions. >> i have the rare honor, this is my twelfth time doing this. i will present the winners of the region five association of california school administrators award that is given to various administrators for outstanding work from the san francisco and san mateo

administrative units. we will be presenting the ones from san francisco, so at this time, i would like to ask miss patricia to come up and help me present these awards to the following individuals. >> the high school principal from burton high school. [applause] middle school principal richar d kerchey. [applause] elementary school principal from new traditions. new traditions. [applause]