students and workers of san francisco public schools and for pushing the san francisco unified school district to be a good and fair employer. the board of education were -- wishes her much health and happiness thru our retirement. >> before you come on up, we have some formalities. i do not know if you wanted to speak on behalf of the fdiu. >> could we ask that all of our names be added to the resolution? >> you will have a separate time, karen, if you want to -- we have to vote on this still.

>> good evening, superintendent, carlos garcia, and commissioners. it is my great honor to be here so that you could give karen this wonderful commendation. she has been a mentor to me and has taught me about being an activist and a fighter in this union. that is what i am, a fighter. i got that from karen. it takes a lot to do the work of a chapter president. people do not say thank you. they do not look to you and say you are ok. in the end, it is what is in your heart. i know that is a passion of karen's.

when you are doing what is right for the people, you do not have a life. it is what is right for the folks. it is with that that i bring up miss karen bishop. [applause] >> i wanted to interrupt. i am dennis. many decades ago, about 13 or 14 superintendents' ago, karen and i started off at a junior high school together. karen came straight over from high school where she worked as a library tech. we have been working together since that time in all of the things we have done together in the school district. whether you want to blame the middle school for it, the water that runs under the school, or

whether it is just some shared interest? she has been active in sciu since it only had four digits in its number. it was a great pleasure. i want to get out of the way so that she can call karen to the microphone and take her picture. >> not yet. any comments for the board? yes, no? yes, no? >> i have one comment. i would like to add to this. karen bishop is so well respected in the district. those of us on the other side of the bargaining table, i can speak for all of us that she represented her members very well. she is a very, very fine person and we wish her the best. [applause]

>> i wanted to thank you for all of your years of service. you have been an amazing public servant. i remember being deathly afraid of view. i think that is what you wanted, which is great. i know what a softy you are, too. that is why your members love you. you will be deeply missed. you will be telling her from your home in retirement what she needs to do and what she should not do. if there are no further comments, let's do a roll call, please. >> yes. commissioner fewer: yes. commissioner maufas: yes. commissioner murase: yes. commissioner norton: yes. commissioner wynns: yes.

vice-president yee: yes. president mendoza: yes. >> it is unanimous. president mendoza: if we could add at them as members of this.

>> superintendent garcia, president mendoza and the board of education commissioners, i have always told people i have been in school my whole life because i went to the school district, graduated, went to community college and then started working at the middle school. i have always been in schools. i always felt that it was a honor to work in schools.

schools and do what you call a good works. they not only prepared children, they do not just educate them, but they prepare them to be responsible adults in this society. it was always an honor to be a small part of that. then i accidentally got a calling to be in the union. the reason i want my sisters and brothers to stand here with me is from the time i got involved, i knew it was not an i thing, it was a we thing. my involvement in the union was always for the members. they were the workers that were being buried giving. they were not only doing their jobs. the reasons they stayed working in the school district when they

had opportunities to go somewhere else is because they care about the children. in a lot of respects, these are their children. usually when i stand before the board, i am asking for something. to ask for recognition of the members, to inform you about problems we are having, i never stood here for karen. as i am doing that today, i get to say thank you. thank you for my career. [applause] >> thank you copp, karen. our next item -- i need a motion and a second. in combination of the 100th anniversary of the jean parker

elementary school. i need a motion and a second. thank you. reading of the resolution. >> i would like to yield to a jean parker graduate. >> thank you, commissioner. it has spent over half a century since i went there. what did it look like? we are at september, 2011, marks 100 years of jean parker elementary school educating our children. this was the per san francisco school to pioneer kindergarten programs. jean parker school is one of the most -- oldest continually

operating elementary schools in separate cisco. it has been recognized for outstanding academic achievement. it is a majority of low-income students and english language learners. jean parker elementary school demonstrates that people can succeed academically and defied demographics. jean parker elementary school continues to honor the example of its namesake through its ongoing efforts to enrich and delight the children. the seven francisco school district congratulates at jean parker elementary school -- san

francisco school district congratulates jean parker elementary school as it recognizes the excellent services over the years to its many students and alumni in the city and county of santa cisco. >> i do not have any public -- county of san francisco. >> i do not have any public speakers lined up. if it is ok with the authors, i would like to at the board members. >> we integrated the parts of the old building into the new one. thank you all for the work that you do.

>> thank you. vice-president yee: i was going to say, i went to jean parker. i was also working in the community when we had to tear down the old school and rebuild a new one. this is a great example of how to staff over a two-year period to create the design. as commissioner wynn pointed out, keeping some of the old parts of the past to integrate into the new building. the partnership that has with the community is a model to me as to how a school can work with a community to create the

environment for students to learn at their best. congratulations, jean parker. commissioner maufas: i wanted to congratulate the jean parker community. there will be a centennial in the evening from 6:00 until 8:00 p.m. but those of you who went to the school, it is going to be a wonderful celebration and a wonderful example of the great things that are happening in the district. >> i would be remiss bank i did not mention my -- if i did not mention my aunt, who passed,

but work that jean parker. i will send a message to her and hopefully she will be there in spirit. commissioner fewer: yes. commissioner maufas: yes. commissioner murase: aye. commissioner norton: yes. commissioner wynns: yes. president mendoza: yes. thank you. we would like to have the commissioners present this to the principal at jean parker and any parents or community members that would like to join us. would you like to say a few words?

>> on behalf of the jean parker school community, thank you very much. >> i am a parent of jean parker. i am also an educator in the san francisco unified school district. i want to take this opportunity as a parent and as an educator to thank her personally from the bottom of my heart. she has created a great community. putting together this celebration has made me feel more lucky. it made me realize what a great community i have become a part of. my neighbors who are 80 years old, they are graduates of jean

parker. she has done an amazing job of making it a wonderful place to learn and making me proud to be a parent at jean parker. my name is allison collins. [applause] >> thank you to all of the honorees. item d, the student gallaudet's -- delegate's report. >> i would like to welcome our to welcomedelegate. she was just put in yesterday. >> i am finishing my last year at the high school. to start off with our retreat that we have, we had a joint

retreat with the student advisory council three weekends ago. we had some great workshops that we did with diversity training and orientation into the student advisory council. we did soeme great team building. i had a great time getting to know the commission and i am excited to work with them. >> last thursday, the supervisor council helped recruit students to the youth-led mayoral candidate forum. the candidates there were john avalos, and david chiu, david

and caesar. >> yesterday, we had our student advisory council camden the elections. the results were that our president is michelle from gal lego. our vice president is jackie. our public relations officer is sidney from isa. our chairman is richard. >> this is the last part. now that we have finished our camden elections, -- cab cabinet elections, we can start

actual business. >> thank you both and welcome. the next item is item e, the council report. >> good eveinning, commissioners and superintendents. i am on a parent advisory council. i have two kids in elementary school in the district and i am currently the chair. >> i am the member of the indian education program advisory committee. i have two children in the district. i am new to the pack. i am speaking.

this report addresses the process for setting priorities for work, fiscal year, and some questions that remain from last year. the first meeting was on august 30. the deputy superintendent attended the meeting and gave a brief update. he informed us that the board will be having a retreat this weekend to define the priorities for the school year. we are eager to learn what you decide to focus on. we know as we set the priorities and goals for next year, -- our next meeting will be held on tuesday, september 28. we hope to hear about your priorities than. as part of your process to

decide our priority process, we look for data in the new unified school district as far as achievements on new tests. we have improved from 4500 community members that hart participated in surveys and forearms over the past five years. we have to consider the resources that are needed to work on all issues. this is a small group of parents and volunteers. several issues that we have been working on in the past that are really important to parents that we will be continuing to work on it is monitoring the implementation of the parent engagement plan to make sure that there are a time lines, deadlines, accountability measures for meetings at a district level. the second, advocating to make

sure that the districts set high levels and holds teachers and administrators accountable for student learning. especially at closing the achievement gap. third, providing parent perspectives and recommendations for all advisory councils and trustees staff about plans to align the district managed after-school programs so that there is a collaborative effort that extends access to high-quality programs. >> we also have some questions and concerns. since we had our first meeting, for those of us who were on the pack last year and put many hours into talking to parents about the feeder system and working with this bank going to

recommendations, we are disheartened by what happened. we feel like parents were somehow forgotten. hundreds of parents came out in the spring to talk about their concerns about the proposed feeder pattern. you say thanks and there is very little in consideration for the summer. you did not see very many parents. they already put their time in and were already on vacation. to come back and take a look at what happened was really hard on us for who was there last year. we feel like we are not even sure what the pack is here for if we are not making an impact on some of the decision making

that we are doing. looking at the new data, we know that there are a lot of good things happening in this district. many of the pack members come from schools where not even the majority of the kids are proficient. they come from schools were more than 50% of the kids are not proficient. it is sad. there are children, looking at the test scores still, those proficient in math, up 55.6% from second to to 11th grade. those are our children. we are the parents of those children. we have a lot of work to do i

had a boss. those who are on the pack are trying to find solutions. we are not just complainers. we are willing to work. as i started school this year with my children, i heard complaints and complaints from parents saying, what happened? we have bigger questions. we have the questions that we constantly asked. we want you to know that these are not rhetorical questions. we want answers. they are in our report. what are the concrete implementations of time lines? so that it is a quality middle

school initiative. i had a parent come to me and say, now that the peter thing is done, are they going to shove this all in? we would like to know what that timeline is and what is going to happen in this initiative. we live like a detailed initiative from the report of middle schools. when is that going to be available for parents? what is the district plan to evaluate and potentially change feeder patterns that do not work. patterns that might be affected by changing enrollment patterns in elementary schools that concentrate underperforming students in the same middle schools. it is very difficult to tell somebody that is a parent that has a child at an underperforming schools to say that you must go to this other underperforming school if they

are willing to put effort in. as a parent, many of you here are parents, how would you feel not having a choice of sending your child to an underperforming school? how will these parents learn about the changes in this quality middle school initiative? when will this information be available in a parent-friendly format about the new process. i know you cannot give be the answers right now. we would like to get real answers to these questions. they are in your report. the pack would like to know that we are making a difference. there is a lot of concern from parents. we are here to remind you that

we are still here. >> based on the priorities that we agree on, the pack's next meeting, we will develop action plans for each issue and we will give an update. in addition to working on specific issues, which planned to work with commissioners' individually to talk with each of you in depth aboutto know whg about. if we involve the leaders and let the community know you are involved, it is going to make a difference, and it is going to fill that gap of this trust, and they are going to feel like there is action. we also want to welcome you to

attend meetings to learn more about our work answer is issues for everyone, and the meetings are posted on our website in english, spanish, and chinese. we do have a few open seats currently, and we are doing out reached for parents and excepting applications 3. applications are available in english, spanish, and chinese on our website. and park's i want to thank you -- >> i want to thank you. i am really glad you joined. i would like to talk to you and hope we can talk about