mr. yee? and mrs. tom? i pledge allegiance to the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

>> the special school facilities tax, with the greatest district in california, and the teacher's act that led to $2 billion in critical support to our schools. mr. helman was in the every child a-- can learn foundation. we can't forget his annual three-day event.

a dedicated concert for students to enjoy and celebrate bluegrass music. to quote him in an interview with forbes magazine, what does move me is the philanthropic stuff. giving does move me. part of it is selfish and it is fun to be appreciated. it goes without saying that hsi is gracious contributions to public education have made it grow by encouraging participation, throughout the city and beyond. we will always remember him with respect and admiration. we express condolences to the

helman family, but celebrate the contributions he's given. warren, you will be deeply missed. i am surprised i got through that. the special order of business. do any board members want to say anything? >> we had the chance to maek ke remarks about warren, whe nwe passed the resolution of the renaming of speedway meadow to helman hollow. he knew about that. he was a friend and we'll miss

him, personally. he was a unique philanthropist. they should learn he gave because he saw need. he always said to us, "what do you need?" thsi iis is different.

>> before we have -- i would like to take this point of personal privilege, to thank

everyone for your support during my term as the president of the board of education. students and families and teachers -- and community partners. we all work hard to make public education our priority, to be successful. and although the state budget extremely difficult to adequately provide all that our children deserve, i want to highlight many of our accomplishments. this made me proud to serve as your president. we started with the newly- appointed mayor, and now, officially elected. merely is an education advocate. we're happy to have a city leader who supports public education. we have a new program in the mission with one of the step, and provided 12,000 free monthly meeting passes.

we held the first fresco day for 3500 public high school students to visit across the city -- and renamed burnett child development center, after the district's first african- american female principle. the state superintendent had a plan for the schools -- and we have the honor of being part of the transition team. we adopted this for the middle school assignments, working closely to work with those ninth and 10th graders to get -- who did not get through their class as. the annual enrollment showcase of every sentence is go public school was another success. we opened a solar-powered facility, at john o'connell high

school. we successfully passed proposition day, a $531 million bond, to upgrade the 140 million san francisco schools. -- 140 cents francisco schools. we were -- we received a great news that we had the -- we celebrated 75 and 100 year anniversaries for cleveland and marina. and we tried to support the occupy san francisco movement. we received a $3 million grant, from the core collector -- core curriculum, and another successful retreat where we tackled the most pressing issues and we addressed our own

budget, committing to the continued work together for our students and families. i want to personally thank each and every one of my colleagues on the board, including our student delegates. and to susan vesester and debbie for keeping us on track, and carlos, for giving our kids what they deserve and leading the school district with confidence, commitment, nad and a great sense of humor. and a big thank-you to the hard- working staff. you each got the message, we don't have time to waste. we need leaders with passion to help move the needle.

i just want to thank you for trusting us to represent you and allow me to serve as the president of the san francisco board of education. thank you. [applause] at this time i would like to open up the election of officers. and as a reminder, a second vote is not needed for nomination. and it is not permitted to vote for yourself. you will be voting by name and if there is more than one nomination, you'll be voting by name if there is more than one nomination. i declare nominations are now open, for the office of the board of education for the year

2012. commissioner? >> i would like to nominate norman yee. >> he has been nominated. are there any other nominations. seeing none, i declare nominations are close. commissioner norman yee has been nominated. ms. casco? >> i move that we elect commissioner yee without a vote. >> sure. unless everyone would like to vote. >> seconded. >> by acclaimation, we would like to -- put forward the nomination. and if there is no objection,

-- i would like to say that norman yee has been elected to the board of education presidency for the year 2012. i feel better. i declare the nominations are now open for the office of vice president of the board of education. and are there any nominations? >> i nominate rachel norton. >> are there any other nominations for vice president? i declare that the nominations are closed, and that racial norton has been nominated for vice president.

>> i move that we elect commissioner norton vice- president by acclamation. >> let's do a voice vote. will you announced the vote -- the votes given? >> thank you. >> no. >> no. >> ms. maufas? >> no. >> ms. mendoza? >> no. >> ms. norton? >> no. >> ms. wynn? >> that is five votes for rachel norton. >> rachel norton has been elected vice president of the board of education for 2012. [applause] >> at this time, i will relinquish my crown and move

over to where rachel sits. president yee will continue. thank you for allowing me to serve you. [applause]

>> okay. let's get started. first thing i wayt to say is i appreciate the leadership of commissioner mendoza, over the last three years, as the president in 2010 and the president last year. i hope to accomplish half of the things that you have rattled off. if i were able to do that, we have to give you a lot of credit for holding us together, in particularly in the tough budget year, when we had to make the hard decisions. it is not always easy to have a

lot of people were together for a budget that has to work for everyone. i appreciate all of your leadership, to be able to duplicate the qualities that you have brought to us. thank you very much. the best thing i could do, as commissioner mendoza stepped away, her gift to all of us, you probably cannot see this postcard, this is a little boardwalk where three people are at the edge of the border, holding a surfboard. board meeting, in hawaiian. maybe we could pretend we are in hawaii. we have a lot of business today. the first thing on the agenda, and congratulations to

commissioner norton. i will need your help. there is a new face around this stage, here. that maybe you noticed and you wonder, who the heck is that guy over there? i want to introduce him. i am sure he'd be introduced anyway. he is the new attorney, legal councel for the school district. maribel was going to lead and we were going to hire a new person. don davis, give him a hand. [applause] >> ok. first official business. the approval of board minutes. is there a motion for the business for 2013 -- 2012?

-- 2011? is there any correction? the role call? ms. fewers? ms. mendoza? dr. maurasi? ms. norton? ms. wynn? mr. yee? seven ayes. ->> presentation to the board of education, superintendent report? >> first, i want to thank -- to congratulate the new officers, and i can tell you that everyone is excited with working with both of you this coming year. and i want to thank -- i am it ready for that meeting in hawaii. i want to thank her for making

it fun this year, and we are really working hard, and i think that this was a really good team effort. the entire board is to be commended for working together. we do not pull any punches, but what is really exciting is how well we came in as professionals, working for the benefit of children. and i know in a political town, this is tough to do, but you made me proud to serve as your supervisor. i want to start the meeting, not to bomb everyone out, but i want to let you know that i am going to keep my remarks brief. i want you to know that when you look at what governor brown has proposed, things could have been worse. i want to tell you that things are worse.

taking deeper cuts into the school systems across the state, it is really derailing all of the hard work that all of us have put into developing all of these great things. this is what everyone is it -- this is the effect everyone is having in our schools. the outlook really does not look very good. in fact, this looks very bad. with the proposed budget there is no cost of living adjustment. what this does is it keeps putting us further and further behind. later on in the agenda we have proposals out there, with different things and when you look at this, what california is doing, we have all of us practiced cannibalism. we are practicing what we cut and we fight among each other. we fight among each other instead of saying that we are

the problem. the problem is in sacramento. we have another round of layoffs, and we have all played this tune many times and this is not getting better. this budget, it could even get worse. it begins with the notion that in november, a ballot initiative will go and if this will pass, this may change but all that this does is maintained the status quo. it does not take it further, and helpless to closer to where we were a few years ago. just think about this. we knew that we were going to have a significant deficit in the next couple of years but this proposal puts the district somewhere between -- on top of the deficit we were looking at, we are looking at 15-28 million

more in the deficit. you get to the place where i hope that there are good math teachers here, because how do you make things like this work? i just want to encourage everyone, that the legislative session is going. we all should be outraged because enough is enough. we will be put in a position where we are forced to name our poison. i do not like this position and i don't think anyone in the state of california should just be excepting of this. it is unacceptable to keep constantly cutting, because we are 49th in the country with expenditures per person. and this is not getting any better. when we start this long process, and it is a long process, to give thanks lips to our employees this year is terrible. but we have to be less than

honest to tell you that this is where we are headed. just think, if something happens in november most school districts in california can plan that way. but how do we plan what we do not know? the only plan that we can plan for is the worst-case scenario. having said that, we will make it through this because the only bright side of all of this terrible situation, we see the economy slowly improving. we will probably be winning that limbo competition, but sooner or later, we have to raise the bar and start demanding more for our children. with that, i know that is tough but i want to welcome back all of the students -- and we are already starting the second

semester. i know that, especially as -- especially as you get older, you appreciate life more, a little bit older -- i know that life is too short. everyone in this district needs to make this year better than last year and make everything humanly possible to make certain that all of the students are ready for college or their careers by the time they graduate. this is a great school district, in terms of student achievement. we have all of the large, urban districts. nobody comes close. we will keep moving in spite of all of those challenges. i want to wish everyone a happy new year. we are going to make it through this but we have to stand united, and we have to make some tough cuts. so be careful -- these new

officers will have to roll up their sleeves. i think if we stand together as a community, we will make it through those tough times. thank you very much and have a wonderful year. [applause] >> i wanted to acknowledge a former colleague, who was on the school board not long ago. former commissioner dan kelly. [applause] moving on to the next item, recognition and resolution of commendations, we have three of them tonight and we will start with the executive board of the district english learner's advisory committee. superintendent garcia? >> we would like to call on kevin chavez to make the presentation.

>> that evening, commissioners. i have the honor of supporting the work being done with the lerner advisory committee -- and it is great pleasure we come together today to recognize the accomplishments of an incredibly dedicated group of parents. this team has worked diligently to inform and enhance the work that is being done to support our english language learners and their families. they have facilitated the general meetings, conducted needs assessments, and delivered annual reports and recommendations to the school board. each representative has become an empowered member of the community and foster's apparent leadership at the district level. with the help of my colleagues,

we would like to honor them with a certificate of recognition for their service. >> if i could see -- jackson flores. [applause] susan patel. [applause] uni tang [applause] yeah.

visa tseng. [applause] edwin yun. [applause] peggy liu. [applause] miriam lopez. [applause] lucia luna. [applause] gloria