on behalf of the school district, we want to thank you for everything you have done. [laughter] doing my duty. >> no, i just wanted to echo president mendoza's comments. my daughter went through the summer program ages ago. there has been quite a different sense she attended the summer programs which was about 15 years ago. at the time, i did not get a sense of that, many of our students took advantage of that opportunity. she was one of the very few from the school district. i am so delighted to see the turnaround in this is still

being able to draw from throughout the nation and to be inclusive of having more of our local students take advantage of this situation. it makes me so happy, because i know what a great program it is, and the opportunity for these students to get exposed to the quality, the caliber of professionals that are teaching these glasses. >> and you pay for everything. the kids show up in the supply store and they have a bad already waiting for them with everything they need, hundreds of thousands of dollars of materials. they walked out without having to pay a dime. we have something for you and we would like for you to share your thoughts.

>> thank you so much, president mendoza and janet for the accolades. in 1929, my grandfather started the school, a family run school. my father ran it after world war two when he graduated from stanford. a brown graduate of berkeley high. i took over in 1992. it has always been the university's desire and a belief system to support public education. that is what makes this country great and the state of

california greyhound and our city. there are so many opportunities, we look around and we see the new clothes are coming out, new cars, movies, the silver were that we eat with has all been touched by the hands of an artist's. we go to supermarkets and we see packaging that has all been touched by the hands of an artist, the cars that we drive. the zionism everywhere, art is everywhere. there is a huge opportunity for young people that want to pursue and have a passion to pursue the art that they can have a job and career doing something with tools like a pencil and a pen. we are happy and proud to be able to partner with san francisco unified.

i wish my grandfather were here. my dad is 86, i just called and told him. i say that we will be honored for this. it has been a pleasure to work with janet and you, and of the straw that we can make our partnership, the better it is for the students of san francisco and the city as a whole. i am happy to be part of it and happy that i can do a little bit to make a difference. thank you again. [applause] president mendoza: the next is a distinguished service award. >> wheel of like to ask how principle -- ask principle mark alvarado to present the first distinguished award. >> is my pleasure to introduce

romero. i met him at john o'connell, he is one of the graduates from there. come by and between going to school at o'connell as was working there, i think we are 20 + years. probably one of the most phenomenal math teachers i have had the opportunity to see because he is able to connect with students in a way that grabs them and engages them in math, which is very difficult to do. he has moved and taken a new position as a teacher on special assignment and is bringing the classroom knowledge to building out the 21 program, an emerging program.

it is a pleasure and honor to introduce him. [applause] >> of like to thank you for this award, which keeps that passion for me is the kids and the co- workers over the years. they have that same passion. i would like to thank you very much for this. [applause] president mendoza: we have a special service award. >> will live like to invite the principal from garfield elementary school to tell us about the special service award

recipient. >> good evening. i am very excited to present to you a person who made my first year as being a principal last year one of the -- i think one of the easiest transitions to make. it is always hard at a new site doing new things, and there are some many details. so quickly, things get lost in the details. things get quickly lost in translation also, coming from a central place. the person who really has been my savior through this whole thing has been that the most amazing person, anything from a random fire alarm at lunchtime

and i will have to threaten the fire department to eat the lunch food, dealing with parents that all of a sudden want to know, you have the most bizarre things come through your doors. to have someone who's so passionately and compassionately treats everyone with respect and dignity and has been so amazingly supportive. no matter what i am feeling or thinking, she is so intuitive and she consents, this is where we are going to go, or don't forget this. that is what made my first year as a principal helping bull and easy to do. if she isn't there. it is a harder job because i don't know how i could do it. she is one of the fea few wordse

may just say thank you. [applause] >> thank you. thank you so much, anna. it is my pleasure to work with her and give me the opportunity to serve the school. thank you. >> just in case i forgot that, she is the school secretary and the most amazing one that we have. >> everything you described had 18 rolls.

congratulations. the student delegates report. >> who have had to student advisory council meetings since the last board of education meeting. on october 12, peter from the use came to present to us on the use of code data from the spring of 2011. he had a packet for every school that had data for our school and everyone else in the district who filled out the survey as well. and also, he came to recruit the advisory council members. and yesterday, our meeting of october 24, we met with

associate superintendent and discussed the revisions on the bathroom policy. >> to add on to what joyce said, we have six committees that will work on joint with the yc. the youth justice issues, the school district curriculum, student support, emigration, and youth employment. october 18, we attended the board meeting to continue the support, nine members attended and to spoke as public comment. >president mendoza: we have pac members here?

>> good evening, president and commissioners. i am a member of the parent advisory council. please excuse me, this is my first time presenting. before you is the report. i hope everyone got a copy of it. i wanted to go over some of the issues that the members had discussed.

and during the presentation that the deputy superintendent gave, there were a lot of questions that came about that members had a. we just wanted to go over the first three. the difference between -- how is the core curriculum -- and what is the difference between the assessment and test? the other is if this is being used to support improve teaching. and how does this information shared with the parents to help them understand what their child's success is. as a somewhat parents, it is difficult when you think your

child is doing really well and find out she has an f in a subject. one of the things that i would like as a parent and a community member is to have a lot of these teachers are really engage in this community. it has been very challenging at times because there is not a lot of parent involvement in this community. and it's still needs to be shared with them. and however that is, those are one of the questions that i had as a parent. and then the council had that

question. and it goes to strengthening communication between the district and the parents of young people in the district. so those are kind of like the main issues that we wanted the district to know where the commissioners. and just going through the next steps, the members are working hard on some of the project, to get to know more about the practices being implemented. and just having just more

efforts as far as the district of being more open and communicating with hte pac and -- the pac and the parents in the district. thank you. president mendoza: commissioners, any questions? commissioner fewer. commissioner fewer: so patsy, thanks for your presentation in your report. she is an old friend of the san francisco unified school district. you bring up a really good point that although there wasn't a lot of parent involvement, there was not a lack of apparent concern. we hear this continually when we

go out into the community, but they're very concerned about how their children are progressing and about how our procedures worked. we have a somewhat difficult system to an advocate. i hope that you will be actively engaged when we have the parent engagement plan rolling out, because the community group is part of the target parent group. we'll get better translation services and doing greater outreach to the community. i think i heard one estimate that 60% of the students are being raised by grandparents. yet to our reach to the caretakers. commissioner murase: a this

wanted to point out that -- i just wanted to point out that president mendoza and i were at a presentation. there is a directory of after- school programs. i am not sure it is the most family friendly directory, it would be great to get some feedback from the pac. i will make sure you did that before you leave tonight. commissioner maufas: i have a question about when the next pac meeting is. >> the next meeting will be on tuesday, november 15. and we meet in this building, but usually in the cafeteria on the third floor. >> thank you for your report.

president mendoza: public comment on consent items, i don't have any speaker cards. this is a reminder that in accordance with the policy, and individual wishing to address the board on the agenda item can call the board office by 4:30 on the day of the meeting or by completing a speaker card prior to the item being called. cards being turned been the same time an item as discussed will not be accepted. i need a motion in the second on the consent calendar. any items withdrawn or corrected? no itens. -- items. items removed for first reading? items severed for discussion? roll call -- i do this every

single time. it'll take place under section o. items for approval, there are none. item j is regarding general matters. which of several speakers that have turned and cards. what i call your name, come on up. [rreading names]

>> a good evening, ladies and gentlemen. i am the executive vice president ahead -- it is my pleasure to invite all of you to an educational conference that we are putting on this weekend. the educational conference is open to parents and community members as well as all members. we have a distinguished group of presenters at the conference. rachel norton of the board of ed will be a panelist. we think that people will be interested. we have a presentation from the masons on the raising a reader

program that they have just rolled out. they will be talking about the other schools where they will be presenting their little red bags for the students to take home. and books that they will get every week to read. we would really love the parents to come and hear about the program. the keynote speaker will be a man by the name of david kerp. he has written extensively about children and how children can succeed in life. what we as a community need to do to make that success possible. he has written a book called kids first, and the first 175 participants that register will get a copy of this excellent book. he will be presenting to the entire conference. we will have other presenters

about preschool education, understanding the child's mind and the brain. he'll have programs about common core standards. it'll be a very full day, but the programs are excellent. we invite the community to come. please reregister. and you are all welcome. please be there at john o'connell high school this saturday from 9:00 until 2:30. president mendoza: if you are going to have a side conversation, please take it outside. it is difficult for us to hear the speakers when you are having conversations in the audience. please keep them to a minimum or take them outside. >> i just wanted to let you know that for the things going on the outside of the school

world and all that, the serious concerns that have to do with occupy wall street, the unfortunate actions in oakland today, as i was getting here, the police shooting rubber bullets and spring people with teargas. we want you to know that because of the -- we are in support of the occupy wall street effort. we have people in various meetings. when we talk about social justice within the school district, we think this is one of the first areas where we need to talk about social justice. this matter is hitting at the whole concept of poverty and the separation between what people have and what people need. what we talk about, we are now faced with a conundrum, and

mathematical conundrum that while we are one, we are also the 99. we are concerned about this, we are involved in this, and we hope that the other members of the education community will look favorably along the occupied movement and the others that are trying to a breve equity into the society around the money that has flown to the top and gotten away from all of the other folks. >> i have been coming back here every two weeks to ask the same questions. because i still have not gotten any answer to any of my questions. my questions are very simple, but the impact of a lot of students and a lot of families.

my first question is, i like to know why the board came up with the lottery system that sends students far away from their home. what is the logic in the system? i like the board to share with me whether you participate in this program, to show me that you strongly believe in this system. president mendoza said her children participate in the system, they did not receive special treatment. i am glad to hear that, and i would like to know the details. where they are truly going to school. i would like to ask one of you to invite me to come over to

meet with you and to explain to me what are the benefits of the lottery system. >> my name is frances evans, i have a daughter that attends paul revere, and i am here because there were some problems at the school with the principle. miss simmons. on the eighteenth of this month, mr. simmons slapped my daughter in her face. my daughter came home very upset. i filed a police report and i do have the police report. mrs. simmons is racist to the

afro-americans and latinos. i had numerous words with her. >> madame chair, i don't believe it is proper for a person to identify. >> we were just checking that. i want to caution all of the speakers that slander for any of these staff members is inappropriate. if you would like to make your comments as general as possible, don't use names, personnel. >> please forgive me. i'm hoping paul revere can be a better school and the principal there can show a little more consideration with the students as far as the parents. things she has done two her

parents and brutalize their children. i am just a concerned parent, and i want to see something better in the school. >> [speaking spanish] [inaudible conversations] >> good evening,