idea of using an outside person for special education. we talked about the el dorado but they felt it wasn't an issue for this particular petition. president mendoza: i need a reading of the recommendations by mary richards. >> thank you, president mendoza. good evening, commissioners and deputy superintendent. my name is mary richards, executive director in the lead division with the focus on charter schools. with the indulgence of the board and i spoke commissioner fewer, i would like to present at this time -- we were going to merge the budget report with the final recommendation. so prior to the final recommendation and the amended language that i'm going to ask to be read into the record, i would like to present the findings for the budget portion of the petition. in front of you, i have the next

three items on this agenda, so i have given you color-coded pacts. the first to packets. the first is for review in regards to the budget and financial section is the blue colored packet in front of you -- roorned your paperwork. i would like to open -- nancy is typically the staff reviewer that oversees all the petition reviews in the financial budget section. she is not here tonight, but i'm prepared to present her report. in our matrix for review, she found no may -- major deficiencies. one area needed clarification. and one comment around teacher salaries. as is customary, i responded back or gave the comments to the

petitioner group and got sufficient responses in each of those areas. and if the board would like to further discuss the teacher salaries, i know i do have a representative, c.f.o. from vision schools, judy hill, here to represent any kind of discussion or statements. in regards to that. and i will give you for the record, the information that i received in regards to the financial audit -- i'm sorry. president mendoza: there's a lot of folks in this room and having a side conversation with your neighbor it starts to pick up and we can't hear the presentation, so if you would like to have a conversation, if you wouldn't mind stepping out or otherwise, keep your voice very low, because it carries and it's very difficult. >> in regards to the first portion of the matrix in the financial audit section, there

was an insufficiency around the qualifications of the independent auditor and that was an insergs of additional language. as -- insergs of additional language. insertion of additional language. they submitted their qualifications are included on a certified public accountant's directory service for k-12 local agency audits. so they are registered to do this type of review. the second area that needed clarification was with regards to legal fees and it was -- there was an assumption that there was a budgeted amount underneath in their section -- in their support office fees and that was clarified and in fact, in that total amount, there is $20,000 set aside for legal

fees. and as i said before, if there needs to be further dialogue between the board and the c.f.o. of the in vision schools based on their salary, their salary is commensurate with ours and looking at planning assumptions for years moving forward. so there are incremental raises that don't exactly match ours. and that is conclusion of my budget report, unless deputy superintendent lee who i know was also in conversation with nancy has anything to add and i'm getting a no and i don't think he needs to add anything. president mendoza: i have quite a few public speakers to speak on this item. so if i call your name, would you please step up to the mic. antonio, carina, marco, keiko,

menrage, naream, sherry, matty, aaron, lisa. and that's it. >> president mendoza, i'm wondering because i have a feeling that the public comment is for the general petition renewal for the final vote, would it be appropriate for me to read the amended language of the resolution at this point? president mendoza: sure. it would be good to know what we're voting on. >> so your white packet, the cover and the second page of that is the amended language of the resolution that i'll read it into the record. superintendent's recommendation

regarding city arts and technology high school, number 112-22 sp 1, authorization to grant the renewal petition for city arts and technology high school. whereas san francisco unified school district is a charter authorizer for city arts and technology high school which is set to expire on june 30, 2011 and whereas pursuant to the education code, the petitioner submitted on january 31, 2011, to the district, a charter renewal petition for the renewal of the charter school's petition, and, and i'm going to skip down to the bottom section, the edited sections, the district superintendent district staff completed the review of the renewal petition and issued a report and recommendation to the board of education regarding the review of the renewal petition on march 22, 2011. therefore, be it resolved that the board of education of the

san francisco unified school district shall grant the renewal petition subject to the requirements set forth by law. and the second sheet attached to that are the fact sheets that i sent to board members prior to this meeting. president mendoza: thank you. so, just for time sake, i have over 60 speakers and we have quite a few items. i'm going to ask that you come up for a minute and speak on behalf of c.a.t. and state your name and state your peace. >> i'm karina cast teea. before c.a.t., i struggled with poor grades. my school had large classes where i do not get much attention from the teachers and weren't pushing me as much. i eventually became uninterested

in the work environment in fairfield, so when i moved to c.a.t. there was a whole different environment. there was block struggling and where we had longer classes and a lot of help from our peers and teachers. and the school is very community-based. we can get help fl anybody in the school including staff and peers. and the teachers, they understood us more and pushing us a lot more at c.a.t. these classes were also very small, so the teachers were able to get around to each student. and we had our advisories and economic seminars to help us out. we also have our project-based learning environment where each assignment that we have comes together to make a project and it pushes us to do our work more

because every project is not complete without each assignment. and these projects lead into our exhibitions where we present our units to parents and family and friends. for example, revolution speech, where we have to choose a mexican leader in history. we have to research him and show the downfalls and positive aspects but convince the audience that he was a great leader in the mexico and get him into the revolutionary hall of fame. since i have been -- president mendoza: can i ask you to wrap up? >> i have gotten my grades up and became a leader. and i am where i want to be right now. in the future, i look at myself

as being a u.c. and i will be opening a business. thank you. president mendoza: thank you. [applause] >> i'm a senior at city arts and tech. this year was my year to go through the college admissions process and without the help of the c.a.t. staff, my family and i wouldn't be able to get through the process successfully. they helped with the financial aid aspect and college applications and i have gotten into five of the schools. they helped me narrow down what schools i wanted to go to and so far, it has paid off with one college at the top of our list. without the college counselor, i wouldn't have heard of the college. it is a small school in oregon. and they help the students and

have small class sizes and something i'm looking forward to in my future. something that prepared me for the college experience is the graduation portfolio, which every senior has to present their final semester at c.a.t. thr portfolio is made up of tasks that we do in every single class and present it to a panel and the point of this presentation is to prove to the panel that you are prepared to go to college. so that is just one thing that c.a.t. has done for me in my four years. president mendoza: thank you, and congratulations. [applause] >> good evening everyone. i'm representing my three kids from c.a.t. one is actually in c.a.t.. she has been in c.a.t. for all

the school years. she learned a lot from c.a.t. especially, she was a shy student when she started c.a.t. and is in university and i really appreciate all the teacher support and the crouge and presentations and c.a.t. is very helpful. i love to have my students being in c.a.t. thank you so much. [applause] >> [speaking spanish]

>> my son is a junior. he was a very shy student and thank you for the classes and the teachers. my son is doing better in the school. [speaking spanish] >> my son was at a high school in daly city and now in this san francisco school and i can see the difference. [speaking spanish]

>> thank you to the teachers, to the principal and the counselors. he didn't want to finish school, but now he is focused and focused ongoing to a college. [speaking spanish] >> thanks for the support. he learned to focus and concentrate on what he was doing and being more academic oriented. and thank you to his staff. [speaking spanish]

>> so i really support my teachers because they have supported me. and i would much appreciate it if all of you will give us a grant. [applause] president mendoza: could i get your name, please. >> margaret grand. >> good evening. i'm jessica files and second year learning specialist at city arts and tech high school. i support students who struggle academically and implement their education plan. i choose to work at c.a.t. because i'm inspired by a community of educators that is committed and willing to support

students who sometimes struggle the most in a full inclusion environment. i meet with teachers weekly to discuss how best to support students. we do this by reaccommodations and modifications, lesson plans, i.e.p. goals. we have an open dial owing with students and work together to discuss what we can do to make them successful. i'm continually impressed by how teachers will dialogue, take feedback, modify a lesson, try a new strategy and work to improve their practice in order to ensure that the students succeed. we look at objectives. we look at what's needed for the course and do what we need in order to make it a good match for their learning style. thank you. [applause] >> good evening. my name is kay. my son is an 11th grader attending c.a.t. high school.

i would like to share my personal views on what makes c.a.t. stand out from other schools, both public and independent. first of all, the school has a clear mission. sending every single student to college. regardless of any obstacles, social or academic. both students and their families are constantly reminded of this. i think this gives parents and students a common ground and common purpose in working together and provide the clear understanding as to what they should expect from their four-year c.a.t. high school experience. curriculum is zeroed on achieving this goal and many milestones are set with all information shared regularly with parents and families. lastly, but most importantly, this model is really working and

you can see it in numbers. it's not just an inspirational message, it's a working model. please support this charter. the renewal is imperative to public high school education in san francisco at large. [applause] >> good evening to all.