he did great things with a challenge to enter city school and he has written a book recently, "kids first" and there is a great strategic stuff that may not apply but may help us systemically. i would invite you to look at that. if you have a chance. thank you. > we are not sure if you were going to backup -- call us back up. >> [inaudible] why don't you make your comments now but will offer that to the board members, if they want to have dialogues with the representatives you brought to

light, we can do that. >> it is partly because for the last several weeks, i have been obsessing over reading the transcripts of the forms, the ones i was at and the ones i was not at. and obsessing over the wording of the reports and our preparation for the report tonight. i am incredibly honored and joyful to have the folks on they pac and pps that worked on the project. most of them had to get their kids and leave to do homework. i was -- i am obsessing with on the first slide of the presentation on community forums. there is a sentence that says, common theme, vietor patterns is a good concept. that is a simplistic way of saying something that was discussed that was complex. a lot of people did not think

the feeder patterns were a good concept but the this, but that and there is this big question and problem. it is kind of disappointing to see that if you did not know the complications, and you just read that, that is a different statement then what our conclusion to that was. i feel like i have had to call that out. during the public comment, you heard a huge range of statements which we heard during the conversations we had. it is complicated. we recognize that. i cannot say that i look forward to the next months of conversation but i bet it will be interesting. it will -- i will be there for that. thank you. >> thank you. a want to thank everyone for their comments, thoughtful and will provoke debate. i am going to do something which

otherwise would not do and i will wait until the end which is our practice. i want to say this one thing because it is kind of -- i have changed my mind, to tell you the truth. i want to say that i believe -- i agree with one of the comments that was made. we threw in this ideal, what have middle school feeder patterns after months of discussion and debate about the policy related to elementary school and for me, the reason i supported that was because we said it would be a way to have more diversity without using race. i had the idea we would be sending people are encouraging them to go someplace different. that is not what i see on this map. i do understand that a lot of that has to do with capacity which i do not think we took

into account last year. one of the things we found is we have all kinds of seats and kids from the east side. i'd want to say because this maybe something that no one well imagine before we have the discussion. i am disinclined to support a feeder pattern. i would not vote for the recommendation that we have before us tonight if it were before us tonight. we will talk about some of the other reasons that have made me change my mind. sorry for the change of the usual practice. now if members would like to say something. [applause] commissioner maufas. commissioner mendoza has the clarification. commissioner mendoza: there was a question that was asked about

keeping the current process for middle schools the way that is. was that ever ask? >> e -- ever asked? >> yes. commissioner mendoza: staff presented and do we think that will meet the goals? and the desire to meet the language pathways. people give feedback about feeder patterns and we said the next question we asked people, we came -- are there other options for students in middle school that would do a better job of reaching those goals?

that is how we framed it. what would you rather have? are there other options? we heard many different kinds of options which we tried to synthesize in our report. we recognize the challenge of the incoming student population and the desire to plan more coherently and the desire to expand capacity for language needs. we heard from people a lot of different ideas about how to do that. i am trying to be careful about what we have agreed are our talking points. it was more about -- it sounds like it was more about this is what we think could change but not necessarily, let's not change anything and keep it the way it is because we like to apply to any school. the parental choice sounds like that came out strongly but how does that happen if you are feeding?

i was curious if that was picked out. >> we tried hard in facilitating conversations not to say, this is what we think? we said how do you report -- this is what they are responding and how do you respond? >>we did not ask for choice. a couple of things in the first couple of forums, it was not presented to the community. later on it was. that slide said there were options presented to the community as we have now. what a full figure would look like. that slide was in some of the

forums but not all the forms. not that that was prompted or anything. there was a little bit of a different how people heard the options were slightly different later on. i do not know if that gets to your question. president sanchez: commissioner maufas. commissioner maufas: in my time sitting here looking at this word, comparing it -- the figure pattern in word against the map, putting those together. when you see the map and imagine life, how that would be like, and i did not go to the transportation and how long it would take for students to get

across estimate and i and practicality, what i think that looks like. i did have changes. 111 changes. that was what i thought would be practical, but it does not take into consideration all the things that we know statistically and all the data that we have been presented with four my time, three or four years in listening and hearing that data first before we got to these patterns. i think part of the push back from the community is that they did not have all that information. they did not listen to years of data given to them that we have that got us started on this process and led us to the way

this looks. i think that is a factor, and it is difficult to look at it now and see that while all that information, years of data and what we know of human behavior of -- all them chiming in and talking to us. even board members who are no longer with us. having that discussion and getting to this. my personal assessment and changes speaks to the incredible complexity -- this is one of the most complex things i have participated in in my life and hearing years of information and trying to figure out something that will go forward for years when i am no longer in this seat and watching those families -- i will be one of those families

that have a granddaughter, participating in the prospect and say how it works. i want to be conscientious about working in this process and i have to express disappointment in hearing the community saying no feeder patterns. after all those years of saying we need predictability, i want to have a sense of where they will go through the years, what france would make and we will move on to middle school and high school will be older. they may have different friends and they want to expand their horizons and do something different. after hearing that for years to hear this pushed back and i know -- this push back and the

groups of people you talk to are not reflective of the years of the requests. i'm not refuting what you are saying. i hear you, and i hear the community input, but it flies in the face of what i have heard for so many years, i years, and then to stop those years of research based on months from folks who are incredibly articulate. primarily articulate and participatory in the process, but for years and years and years of feedback from folks who have lived that and got all the way through, and said this is what is wrong with my child education.

if i could have it to do over again, i would say, by the way, in kindergarten, can you make it predictable? i would like to have known instead of having to guess every single step of the way. which was the thing we heard the loudest overtime, and if you have a child in i think close to middle school age, you have to have heard that in your time so far, not just in this new iteration of the assignment process. those are two thought patterns, one based on what i see here. this is based on years and years of information, not just a new board of education deciding that we need a new feature pattern -- feeder pattern. it is based on more than that overarching thought pattern.

i have attended some of the committee conversations, and was concerned, but i really listened. i know cindy had a separate conversation with chinese- speaking families. that was a constant from our conversation also. i heard a lot of anger. i also heard a lot of folks to participate regularly in the process. but did not know if i noticed somebody new to the process that everyone of those conversations. in other conversations i did attend, it was almost the same folks that just tend to be very engaged in education. you said you did some targeting for folks who did not participate. i would like to hear more about that. the u.n. to those people who have not been able to do that. i would like to hear what that

has been like. their particular feedback is important to me. i can talk about that with you all. i really struggled with the idea that this generation of parents says no to feeder patterns, no to -- it sounded like a want a feeder pattern when it serves my purposes. i want a feeder pattern that works for my family so i can put my kid in kindergarten with the kids i like to be with or want to associate with, and we will all move on together. i want to take my neighborhood and then go to the next school altogether, and then in high school -- by that time, all of us may feel differently about each other. that is what i saw.

active participation. there were nuances to it, but overall that is what i observed. i am not saying that is wrong. but that is what i observed. it does not surprise me. i am disappointed that the report -- it is reflective of what i saw as well. those cannot serve what i want for my kids. don't do it. i am expressing disappointment. it is just troubling. it sends a statement to continue what we have, which we know is not working for so many families. the combination of the patterns -- of feeder pattern with

quality and middle schools -- we wish we could do quality middle schools first, and then choose the feeder pattern. we are doing this simultaneously because time does not allow us to wait. it does not allow us to wait. i am for us moving on several different tracks on all of these different issues at the same time. we must. to think we would have money later on to do one after the other just -- we do not have time. children are growing and learning. i do nothing anyone wants to wait until we get this together and then do it. i think we have to move in parallel. some things may move a little bit faster, but hopefully the quality middle schools does come through as commissioner fewer:s -- as feeder patterns get

implemented. i appreciate the report. i appreciate the time. i know if i went and i was tired and you all were so engaged and so encouraging to get that information from those families -- i am blown away by the tenacity and a continuous, ongoing effort out there in our world, and encouraged. that is also what i saw. i want to congratulate you because that effort was monumental, and you managed to do it and bring something to us. i struggled with the report. i am not going to live. but to get to all that information -- congratulations, and thank you so very much. those are my comments. chairperson wynns: thank you. i just want to say we are not

engaging in a dialogue. anyone is welcome to talk to anybody here. commissioner murase: i really do want to thank the pac and pps. the good news is people care. the good news is people came out. they stated their preferences. we are very thankful for that level of engagement. i think there is a difference of opinion in whether the feeder pattern is a strategy for quality middle schools. i think the people who are opposed are not necessarily seeing the result in quality middle schools, but for those supporting it is a strategy. i personally believe it is instructed to form -- for quality middle schools because it articulates our language instruction. we spend millions of dollars offering korean, japanese, cantonese, spanish in elementary grades. what happens in middle school?

it is very hodgepodge. in the case of japanese, we have basic japanese at one middle school, and one semester at another middle school. after two schools have been training k-five kids in japanese. and very problematic in middle schools. i received many e-mail petition letters opposing the feeder patterns. we do need to consider questions -- cases like the alvarado parent who spoke earlier. her foetor plan would -- feeder pattern would assign her daughter to school without honor classes or bandar orchestra. what about a kid assigned to a school that clearly does not have the things they would like? my second question is to explore the constructive suggestion we

heard earlier from stacey bartlett about those kinds of ideas. i think we need as many ideas as we can. clearly, there is a need for equality middle school in the southeast sector. we should spend more time to think about how to make that happen instead of picking out isolated neighborhoods to assign across town. i do like this iteration of the plan because it is a gradual process. i recognize that the very big difference is these families who are in kindergarten now suddenly are realizing that possibly the middle school choices are not what they were when they first signed up. i think we need to our knowledge that. -- acknowledge that. the implications are different depending on when you enroll. i do have a couple of questions about the pattern itself.

rosa parks and clarendon are not contiguous to presidio, but there is existing staff who teach japanese. clearly, there is curriculum reasoning for assigning those families to presidio. my question is about lakeshore. is there a curricular reason? some of these neighborhoods, it is not clear why there would be assigned to a particular middle school. i think the really curious fact is monroe is assigned to hoover but is in the neighborhood of deadman. that seems crazy. deadman is done good enough for monroe's students? is it the language issue? that helps me understand the reason one non-contiguous areas are assigned to a particular middle school. in the end, i think this

proposal is a solution for our language students. in the previous presentation, i received some angry e-mails about privileging language students over others. it amounts to 30% of the students at a middle school. it is not 50% or 60% at most of the middle schools. the other alternative, if we continue with the rental choice -- i think there still needs to be a remedy for those families who have pursued language for six years. do they get a preference for the middle school offering language? is that fair? i think we need to consider all these different options. i do support the direction in which the proposal is going. commissioner norton:q want to thank you all for the

work on this. you do this work so well. i am really very appreciative of all the volunteer efforts. i am really struggling with this. every time i think about it, i get more confused and less sure of how i feel about the whole thing. i appreciate the recommendation based on what you heard that you are saying do not go with feeders right now. but i do not think it is realistic to say the conversation about quality middle schools can be completely dissociated from the conversation about student assignment. i would love to start talking about student assignment, frankly. i think they are interrelated to

some degree. i heard some and a common to appear tonight say, "why can't you focus on making the schools could -- good?" part of this is a numbers game. part of having the things we all want for our children is that schools have to have ample enrollment to support those things. until we can figure out -- a poll strategy is great to a point, but you cannot have that strategy until you have the programs. you can't have the programs until you have the kids. i am more confused than when i started talking, actually. [laughter] i feel like we're going -- i think we are going in a good direction. i don't think we're there yet. i think that if i had to make a

decision tonight i would say -- i would not be ready to make a definitive decree about fetor patterns for the coming year. you could do some proof of context for the families who do not believe that we can pull this off. that is an idea, facing this in over a long time. really doing some demonstration projects for some proof of concept, to show we are serious. the trust issue is a big one here. if families don't believe we are moving in the right direction, they are not want to take the leap of faith we need them to take to fill the enrollment in order to build the program. that is kind of where i am.

vice president yee: i am thinking. i really want to thank pps and pac for what you had to go through. some people are so passionate about their opinions that they forget you are not really part of the school district, officially. they were yelling at them. but the fact is we are moving in a direction, or could be moving in a direction, where we are asking for changes.

the e-mails that i have been getting -- they are not 100% one way or another. there is a mixture of people responding to the theater system. usually, people right e-mails -- write e-mails when they want somebody -- one something rather than when they are agreeing with somebody. compliments are hard to come by. i agree with the commissioner and that through the six or seven years i have been on the school board one of the things many people have said is they want predictability. in fact, we started this whole discussion about the enrollment process and a feeder pattern as

a way to provide some predictability. most of us thought that could be a good idea to explore. i think that is where it came from. it was not a question about diversity and a "and everything else, but the predictability peace -- about diversity and equality and everything else, but the predictability piece was the essential one. where it will change things. six months prior to last year, we return to move into a new process for kindergarten