with the microsoft security solution as it related with the certifications they have and the fact they have clients if not as high or higher security requirements than the city does. it gives us a level of comfort that it gives us with solutions that we can rely on a security standpoint. again, back to the partnership, i know the outage is seen as a negative thing. we know we have a partner when we need to deal with security incidents, when we have questions about security, we have a trusted partner that has a record of being proactive and we can rely on them to work with us. >> it's designed from the ground up with security and privacy needs of our customers. as john mentioned, we're provisioning for, you know, health organizations, financial organizations. you know, i think of glaxosmithkline and jpmorgan chase and those that have stringent security issues.

again, microsoft has programs in terms of the government security program where we proactively share security information with our governments around the united states here. so it is paramount to us. it's a piller of our organization in terms of a poor competency, of all of design of our products. and we have decades of experience of helping customers around the globe with the highest needs of security and privacy. >> ok. back to the phones, then. more questions. >> hi. is this going to allow to you reduce head count with i.t.? >> it will allow us to have better service given the fact that our head count is recusing in the city. san francisco, i'm sure like seattle and other cities, experiences a head count

reduction every fiscal year that i've been here for the three years i've been here. i haven't associated any head count to this project. really what we're trying to do is continuing to provide good, if not better services than we provided before. given the fact we had fewer staff every year to do it. so, again, the department of technology, i'm happy to say this year we've met our 20% reduction target from the mayor's office without proposing a single position reduction. so from our standpoint the budget challenge can be met in several different ways. met in reduction of employee head count to personnel costs and also met through reducing operating costs, licensing agreements, hardware costs. and what in talking about i.d.c., from my perspective, my employees are my most valuable asset i have in my department and i'm reluctant to reduce them when i have other opportunities to reduce money

and improve service. we improved the service, we saved the city money and preserved what i think is the core of a good i.t. work force here in the city at the same time. >> and if i may add more broadly from the microsoft perspective. typically what we see is the opportunity to redeploy those resources to work on what i call the higher order mission of government which is about better servicing citizens in terms of working on line of business solutions where those core competencies really come from government, right? to be able to offload some of the delivery and storage elements associated with email in this case, now government employees can focus on some of the higher order mission line of business solutions that are really going to benefit citizens in the city. >> thank you. >> more questions or are we at the end of the question period? we've worn everyone out with

the questions. all right. well, we want to thank everybody today. i know you've taken your valuable time. if you have any more questions, feel free to get in touch with us. i know gail and i and the other folks are available to talk about any other questions you have in more detail. so, again, thank you for your time and thank you all for coming today. >> thank you, everyone. engage i once we saw their outline and questions, we thought it would be more logical to begin with the staff recommendations and the staff presentations, then go to the p.p.s. p.a.c. presentation so that then we can take public comment and engage in discussion. ms. o'keefe, if you want to

begin. thank you. >> first and foremost, i really want to take this opportunity to thank parents for public choice diligently with us to do all this work. and i want to qualify a few things that i'm going to say, but before that, i want to thank them because, you know, they did

do a lot of input session. they went out there and did a lot of great work for us in cooperation with us. that's really a hard item to do. and we want to thank -- that was a great partnership. i also think that from what i've seen out there, sometimes here in our beautiful city when we get input from different groupings, it doesn't always mean that input means that it goes one way or goes to the other way. it just simply means we take it into consideration in making the best recommendation we can. and sometimes that means that we don't follow everything that every group wants us to do. that's the reality of things. we try to tweak things as we work with groups because they give us a lot of insights and great ideas. but that doesn't mean it will always change radically. the board has experienced throughout the years, having advisory groups, and sometimes we go with the recommendation,

sometimes we don't. that's just how it works. but i'm saying that because i want to keep my remarks to really talk about why we're bringing forward the recommendation that some people might disagree with. and i guess -- you know, i remember the saying that says if you continue to do what you've always done, you'll always get what you always got. and that's something i take very seriously, because unfortunately, we can't expect a different outcome if we continue to do the same old things. and to make decisions that are different than what we're accustomed to. sometimes it's a little bit misunderstood, and sometimes, quite frankly, people don't like it. but this evening as we look at the complexity of the issues that we've been working on, i know -- you know, i'm a parent. i know what it's like to have my kids go to a school. i understand completely how parents feel out there because

they want their kids to attend a quality school. i want the same thing for all the children in san francisco. but my job is to strategically develop systems that will correct current problems, and also prepare us for a better future. in addition to the immediate concerns that our current system is failing to address in terms of student success, we are also looking at things out in the horizon that we need to be prepared to address and not wait until they become really huge problems for us. this is proacting rather than always reacting to issues. and those are the concerns for us. and so our proposal, what we're bringing forward, what i've asked staff to work on and bring forward are kind of long-range visions of where we are now, taking into consideration where we are. but also talking about where is it that we want to get to someday, and to be thinking about what's good for all our students and not just for some students.

our whole strategic plan was based upon that, about addressing the needs of all students in san francisco. we are committed to making sure all our schools are quality schools. in fact, our recommendation is not a hasty quick fix. it's the long-range fix. it's going to take us years to get there and we're going to build the capacity to get there so we're not coming with you saying you adopt this and by next year everything will be fixed. no. this is a very strategic way of looking at it and looking at how we're going to fix it in the long run. tonight my staff and i will share with you our recommendations and why we think that it is a good idea to have a k-8 feeder pattern. we'll suggest many of the suggestions raised throughout the entire community. we hope to raise as many. in some cases, we're just going to agree to disagree, and that's

ok. i think that's what makes our city a great place, that we're all able -- and when we started this process, we said whatever system we've come up with wasn't going to be perfect. it was going to be a system that for the moment would be our best thinking look at the issues that are coming our way, dealing with growth, dealing with a lot of different issues. but we also felt that we need to start moving forward. and what we're recommending is to start moving forward, and as we move along in this process, we are going to work on improving the middle schools. we are going to work on improving our entire systems. this plan gives us the capacity and the time to be able to build on that. but at least it's a vision that someday we ought to have a different type of feeder system that we currently have, a little bit more predictability. and quite frankly, an

opportunity to give all children a chance to be successful, which in the past, they have not been put in that situation. so i've asked staff to do some heavy lifting. what, two years now we've been on this issue? and so we bring our recommendation forward, and i'd like to begin the presentation. >> thank you. >> thank you very much, superintendent garcia. before i begin, i want to acknowledge some of the team members. it's actually been a very large multi-department district team that's been working on this initiative. and tonight some co-presenters are christina wong, who is the special assistant to the superintendent. kevin chavez, who's language supervisor with english learner support services. darlene limb, the educational director of the placement center. julie pong. and richard koranz will also be

sharing some information tonight. i also want to thank yong lee. this is the tale presenting tonight. it's actually multiple departments that have been work ing on this. i also want to thank the parent advisory council and the parents for public schools for all the work that they've done in partnering with us to gather feedback from the community. so we can, as the superintendent said, have an understanding of what the feedback is and make modifications to our proposals based on that. and they are modifications. and as we go through our presentation tonight, we will highlight the areas where we've modified based on the feedback and we'll also highlight areas that there might be a divergence in perspective, but there's some shared belief. a lot of shared belief around the work that we're doing here.

and so tonight's agenda, we will go through our staff presentation and then the parent advisory council and parents republic schools will present and have a discussion with the board and there will be public comment. our objectives tonight in addition to the board having more discussion with p.a.c. and p.p.s. are to build an understanding of how the feeders support the board's policy goals that are outlined in p-5101. so there are two handouts that should be available for the public and the board. one is a copy of the power point conversation that we're going to go through. the second is a copy of the board policy p-5101. that's actually the original policy that was unanimously approved by the board in march 2009 and it's a redline version because we've submitted some changes to the policy. and indeed there's even been some changes between first and

second readings. so the top right corner says it's a substitute motion. i think technically that's incredibility. it's an amendment. and we will as a staff make sure we incorporate any other meaments that need -- amendments that need to be included beforee board has an opportunity to give us specific feedback on the recommendations that we are presenting tonight. we have heard from multiple stakeholders, the board and staff reviewed the reports. staff were present at all community forums this year. we also heard from parents and community members through other avenues, not least of which are parents that visit the educational placement center every day. we also had extensive conversations with the middle

school principals. we hear that it is important for parents to have choice. and to have quality schools. we hear concerns about the fact that not every middle school is currency -- currently one that they would send their job and to. they want feeders for better articulation and a small production will set of schools. we heard from l.a. -- many elementary families. we have also heard a lot of questions, and in our presentation tonight, we will highlight some of the key questions we have heard. we have been asked how the proposed feeder patterns achieve the goals for student assignment. we will spend a lot of time discussing that. we hear the parents don't understand the relationship

between quality schools and feeders. and of the bill leaders are committed to equity. and that is difficult to understand how the middle school choice will promote equity. we have also heard questions about how the district can afford to expand language programs. we'll address that. we're hoping the presentation will adequately address all of these presentations. we're happy to come back to the board with additional information if it is not covered in tonight's presentation. we want to acknowledge that parents play a key role in staff considerations. it is not the only important consideration, but it is key. district staff have been elemental and implementing engagement efforts around

student assignment effort. we're really grateful for the partnership and what it allows us to do. in addition to attending all meetings, parent comments were viewed in numerous ways by staff. survey responses and revealing how the final report. we listened to parents representatives and we believe that they are well briefed on what they are reporting. what to focus on why staff is recommending feeder patterns. we believe this is the most educationally sound direction to go. first, we want to review the main goals of the policy that the board approved last march. we agree with the key findings6. parents want all schools to be

quality schools. this was reflected in the policy for student assignment. the text on this is directly lifted from the policy. the theory of action that is directly lifted from the policy reflects exactly what they have been telling us and what parents have been telling the district for years. that is if there is a student assignment system that supports other initiatives, they are designed to create in support diverse enrollments, if a human capital allocation system insures instructional leadership, a strong and effective program that meets the needs of students with any school. and focusing on responsible

instruction and strategies for integrated learning environments. an equitable distribution of resources and quality neighborhood schools. and then we can reverse the trend of racial isolation. and we can provide equitable access to the range of opportunities. we can provide transparency at every stage of the process. these efforts will dramatically accelerate the achievements of those less academically successful. on may 24, they outlined a series of suggestions about what the board could do. and those suggestions are reflected in the action that i have just reviewed. we agree wholeheartedly with the

suggestions. at the same time, we respectfully disagree with the suggestion that we should do these have instead of building the feeders. we recommend doing them in tandem. we believe building an infrastructure increases the opportunity to strategically and cost effectively build strong and effective middle schools that will accelerate achievement for all students. tonight, we recommend distant assignment system for middle school. our less -- our last presentation focused on that. we agreed that student assignment alone will accomplish very little. the action item before the board tonight that as part of this policy is about changes to the infrastructure of student assignment that will help the quality schools everywhere. we will focus on the student

assignment peace because that is what we're asking the board to take action on. one key question raised is how they meet a priority goals for student assignment. a cut would be helpful for us all to review what the goals listed in the policy for student assignment are. in the presentation will go into greater debt and illustrate how the infrastructure shift will help us achieve these goals. one of the goals is to facilitate student diversity in the parameters of current law. another isoçd work with district initiatives to avoid isolation of underserved students. the third is to support the strategic limited resources and quality schools in every neighborhood. the fourth is to provide equitable access to the range of the opportunities.

creating robust enrollment at all schools. to be simple and easy to understand and provide transparency at every stage of the assignment process. offer families a degree of predictability. minimize the degree that families must invest. prevent the cost effective use -- implement and sustained over time. these are the policy goals of the the board unanimously approved for student assignment in march 2009 after years of debate, discussion, review of data. the next part of the presentation will illustrate the proposal to create the feeder infrastructure. i am now going to cost to

christina who will present the next portion of the presentation. >> in regards to facilitating student diversity, we have heard that they are very concerned that the patterns themselves don't seem to achieve the goals for student assignment with particular concern a student from the east side of the city would be blocked from gaining admission to the higher performing schools on the west side. the next couple of slides will show you the demographic data of the students that are currently enrolled. this shows where students enrolled in the middle school in october of 2010 lived. for the next slide, and this matter shows where all children attending the elementary schools will ft. these are the k-four students.

these are the fifth grade. the children live all over the city. elementary enrollment data does not suggest that students will be blocked from gaining a mission. this is just the example of one particular middle school. all of the other matters will be posted on the web. this is very contingent of the enrollment at the elementary school level. as long as the progress minimizes diversity, the schools will be the verse. we're looking at the ethnic data in october of 2010. it is difficult to predict what will happen over the coming years since we expect to see enormous changes. diversity at that level will determine the diversity at the middle schools.

this data was compiled using 2010 data and promoting currently enrolled students to create a theoretical picture of what enrollment would look like if elementary enrollment stayed on course. there is an increase of african- american students by 6%. and also led to the students by 2%. if we further look at, based on the current enrollment of the feeders look at achievement disparities, currently there is a disparity between achievement levels of incoming sixth graders. based on current enrollment, feeders narrow the range of values across schools. we expect a change. but if we were to look at the current scores as a percentage as well, you would see that the

range narrows. for the next slide, it will support diversity created in elementary schools. but we also expect enrollment to change. there will be the first annual report of the student assignment system published in january of 2010. -- 2012. the next set of slides is actually in line with the fourth goal of the policy insuring that we provide equitable access to the range of opportunities offered by students. this map shows where the middle school students live. and the fact that where they live doesn't match up with where the schools are located. as you can see, the circles indicate that the five largest

middle school buildings are on the west and north side of the city. the largest concentrations of students live in the southeast side of the city. the current concerns are that there is a mismatch between where students live and of families do not have the same opportunity to participate in the process. not all students can get assigned to the school of their choice. we are going to experience a 33% growth in middle school enrollment. if we look at this growth, the middle school enrollment will increase by 33%. a lot of this is based on the early 2000 housing growth. and the inevitable significant increase in enrolment over the

long term. these projections were developed over 500 simulations based on historical patterns. the report was issued in 2010 and is posted on the web page. in looking at the next slide, as you can see here, we have more middle school capacity than students. by 2015, we will be operating at more than 100% of current building capacity. there is a gap between enrollment forecast and the current capacity. to prepare, we need to revisit how facilities are used. we will need to open by 2015 and take a close look at locations and how to maximize our existing mill school space. the last slide providing equitable access, he take a look

at this particular chart. 86% entering sixth graders received one of their choices and 14% cannot get assigned to a school that they chose. this graph shows the joys of march in 2011 has a green color. the families that not get one of their choices to the closest school was the yellow color. as enrollment grows over the years, students will be getting assignment offers the schools that are currently under and roll. it shows where surplus building capacity currently exists. this particular year, every sixth grade student got a middle school offered the applied. some don't have a middle school assignment because they are not happy