president yee: the regular meeting of the san francisco school board for april 24, 2012, is called to order. please read the roll. clerk: [reading roll] thank you. president yee: please join me in the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. ok, let's go to item eight.

-- a.

this is for. [no audio] this is right. thank you. if i hear no objection from the board, i would like to take this out of order, a special order of business for services of the district superintendent.

[no audio] to serve as superintendent of schools, providing for a three- year term. >> thank carlos garcia for his outstanding leadership. the members appreciate it throughout the time they have been here, and we have to say that we are very pleased that richard will be the next superintendent because we have seen it, our members have seen his commitment in vision and

implementation of the strategic plan, the value than those contained, and we have seen him operate on those values, and we are glad he is brought in as the next superintendent. commissioner: superintended garcia, we wish you well in your next journey, and we appreciate your keeping the outstanding leadership by appointing richard as the next superintendent. you have appointed an outstanding leader with proven leadership committed to the core common standards and with a passion for education for all children. congratulations to you. next superintendent, and we look forward to working with you. thank you and have a good night.

[applause] president yee: many comments for the board, where superintendent? commissioner prove -- commissioner? [no audio]

>> this is his first superintendent. since richard has come in, he has devoted himself to the work, and he certainly has been put in the hot seat. he certainly has had some challenges coming into a district. he has moved his family. from arizona to come to california. his two beautiful daughters are in our public -- [no audio] look forward to serving with you in a leadership role and a larger leadership role.

i will be supporting your contract. president yee: commissioner wynns? [no audio] commissioner wynns: however, i want to say that we are making a good choice here. i am grateful to carlos for bringing richard here. this was one of the few times -- [no audio] and so, it is a really good idea that we do that sometime.

that we continue to operate, a commitment to the work we have started and that we have built on and that we have done for decades is important to us, and there is a history. not only should you be happy about long tenure as superintendent sees -- superintendencies. my experience is is that is a good thing. in addition to that, we have always said in the time i have been on the board whenever we needed to make a change, we do not want to start over.

and people say they are going to fix the school district. we should not be interested with that. it is not that it does not need to be improved. it is that we need people who understand, this is a job that is never done. we need people to understand that this is a matter. i am very happy that richard has agreed to stay with us, and for our whole community, that we are making a move that is in the name of continuity and continuing the work that we are doing, thank you very much. president yee: commissioner

norton? vice president norton: i want to echo the comments of my colleagues. since you have been here, we are continuing to implement a strategic plan completed before you got here. you took it on as your own. and you have brought it to new heights in your tenure as deputy, and i am happy to support the recommendation and continue to work with you, and i think that the fact that you've been so involved up until now with implementing the strategic plan, it will allow you. my main fear is that we would

waste time, and we have not done that. we have redoubled their efforts, and i am pleased to start this new chapter. president yee: commissioner murase? commissioner murase: i want to thank the superintendent and my colleagues for the long discussion. and we have an agenda of many areas to still address. for example, the achievement gap, but i look forward to supporting you in the process. we look forward to go out in the community and conduct the listening tours to get feedback from folks about what is most in their mind. president yee: commissioner fewer? commissioner fewer: thank you,

president yee. i want to thank carlos, who is still here until july 4. yes. actually, i want to thank you, but i think i am really going to thank you closer to when your end date is, but at this point, i would like to think richard for choosing san francisco and the san francisco unified school district. i think we can achieve great things for our san francisco unified school district. i think you have the courage and the leadership to do what is right for our children. , and you also expertise and knowledge to get to our strategic goals. and i want to really think his family for supporting in this decision. this is not going to be an easy job.

and a lot, may become distracted moment at dinner time. and i hope that richard will be with us for a long time, and we'll forward to being with them after july 4. -- we live forward to being with him. richard, i wish you much luck and success in this job. thank you very much. president yee: commissioner maufas? commissioner maufas: i am going to talk to you later, as commissioner fewer said, as that will be more appropriate time to congratulate you, as i will do, for your time here at the san francisco unified school

district, but i will make my comments to superintendents' carranza. -- superintendent carranza. some colleagues that are no longer with us. this sort of speaks to what is happening in the country around education and at the decision table when it comes to education. meeting their guidance and mentorship. but what i told myself, and i put a note in myself for my blackberry, if i could go back to it, and i did it on the way coming back to san francisco, knowing that this vote was imminent, and to tell you that i am with you as long as i sit at this table.

and you have been there for a lot of the time i have been here, so you have seen me. i encourage myself and you to face them head on. i have seen year pretty much, you have been right there with me. -- i have seen here that, pretty much, you have been right here with me. i will speak my condition when it is necessary -- i will speak my conviction. and not apologize. so i want you to know that i will be supporting our contract, but i will be incredibly authentic when i speak to you about my concerns, my praises, so i wanted to let you know this year in front -- in front of these witnesses.

president yee: ok. i want to say that the most important job for this body, the board of education is to agree to hire the most person -- the person we want to. that is the most important decision we can make. i was so happy to come up with a conclusion that for the last several years, ever since superintendent garcia has come into the district, we have been real focused on what we wanted to do about helping our school districts, closing that achievement gap, to get us

there. at the same time, we know there is a lot of work to do. we did not want somebody coming in that did not understand what we were doing. we did not want someone to come in and try to take us down another path. we would have wasted another year, and the kids could not afford this. we could not do that to them. within our school district, we have found a superintendent to continue what we have been working on for the last years.

it is a tough decision, a tough discussion. we've debated, very intentional. we wanted the best for our students, and tonight, we are going to make a decision to see what is going to be the best for our students. and i want to assure we will be acknowledged. the deputy superintendent carranza's family is here, and we should just take a vote. i am going to be supporting him. >> i do not know. i do not want to jinx the vote. i should charge the board for a finders fee, i think. [laughter] but, realistically, i think it

is so exciting for me as a superintendent. i've been a principal at many schools, and one of the hardest things after you leave is what happens after you have worked so hard to create such a beautiful dream, and it can become somewhat nightmares, and it is tough enough to make a decision to retire, but i tell you what made my decision really easy was getting some with richards caliber that can step in, not having to waste a lot of time, and there is always thinking from the perspective of a teacher. and if you look at some of the best school districts in the country, they have one thing in common. they have some continuity,

succession planning, it is you cannot change systems. the work is ongoing. it never ends. it is great to get young whippersnappers like richard that can be your 410 to 15 years to really make a difference. -- to be here for 10 to 15 years to really make a difference. do think that someone is energetic and young and can come in to take it to the next level, we have done such a great work, but as al jolson said, you have not seen anything yet. we expect -- to take off of the charts. we have build a base, and he can take it from there. i am happy the board is ready to take this vote, and i will shut up, because the most important thing is to get this guy on. thank you. president yee: all right, let's do it. clerk: ms. fewer., ms. maufas,

ms. mendoza, ms. nortaon, ms wynns, mr. yee. that is unanimous. [cheers and applause] president yee: incoming superintendent carranza, you have the floor. incoming superintendent

carranza: i think this will be the last time i will have this. i want to thank you for this honor, and i want to thank the gentleman who has been a mentor to me, because my father is no longer here, like a second father, superintendent garcia, who has absolutely demonstrated that you lead by being a servant leader, and how you lead. our superintendent has started this. and leading into the future. and i'd probably say that i spent one decade in the classroom, teaching young minds and helping to shape the world that they view. as a superintendent principal and now as a superintendent in

the future, it will be the focus of a teacher. how do you shape and help provide opportunities? in many instances, a world that we do not even know what it is going to look like in the future. that is what is wonderful about this opportunity in san francisco. san francisco never settles for the status quo. i would like to take this moment to say some words to the teachers i had. my parents are no longer with me. [speaking spanish] to my earliest parents, early as

teachers, parents, who are no longer with me, my father was a journeyman sheet metal worker in arizona, a proud member of local 763. my mother was a hair dresser, and i want to thank them for showing me how to work, how not to be afraid of pork and out to be respectful. i want to thank my father for those times when i was not sure i wanted to finish college, he took me with him to work, on routes in tucson, ariz., where it was 112 degrees -- on roofs in tucson, ariz., where it was 112 degrees, and he would say to me, "mijo, i never want you to work like this. work with your head." so i want to thank him, and i want to thank my family. the best teachers that my children have had have been in

san francisco. i am so proud to say the we are not only san franciscans, but we are parents of san francisco unified school children. my twin brother, ruben, he is my twin brother, and it is true. for being who you are and making daddy proud, even though i am hardly home, i am always thinking of you, and last and certainly not least, to my wife, estella, who takes care of the home, so i began did it my efforts to working alongside all of those teachers and parents and support staff and principles and everyone who makes of san francisco unified. thank you for your support. with that, i will only say i am

extremely happy, extremely proud, extremely humbled by this this evening, and you may not have a superintendent, incoming superintendent that has been a superintendent before, but i guarantee you you will not have a harder working brand new superintendent. thank you. [applause] [no audio] president yee: ok. let's go to item it b, a presentation to the board, the superintendent's report. superintendent garcia? superintendent garcia: while i am still superintendent, and you are my deputy, richard, i am going to order you to go home and be with your family this

evening. go and enjoy the moment. you will have plenty of opportunities to sit up here. go have fun with your family. deputy superintendent carranza: i will say thank you. superintendent garcia: a lot of people out here will say that not knowing what is coming is always scary in a school district. that old saying, the better the devil you know, but i think people will be out there dancing because richard is a likable and a great guy, and speaking of dancing, i think i should mention that the san francisco young dancer event that is taking place this week, that will be april 28, the san francisco young dancers event at lincoln high school. i think it is from 1:00 p.m. until 4:00 p.m. this coming saturday, and, in fact, president yee, i believe you

have something to say about this event. do you not? president yee: i do. and it is not even a wig dance competition, because you are going to be one of the judges there. i would really like to share my thoughts on this quickly. we started this program last year. it is a great program. we had four schools participating to the end of last year, and 300 people came and saw them compete and be part of a showcase, and so this year, we actually increased it by 39%. 12 elementary schools are involved. this week alone, they are doing the semifinals before they get to the event, and the first time i found out, it semifinal was ts afternoon. you should have seen them, they were so cute. i wanted to take the opportunity for a few minutes to show what

we did last year. we have a four-minute clip. you will be really proud of the kids involved. susan? ♪ >> the program is to introduce social dancing to fourth and fifth graders, so they know what it takes to be applicable. many students have not been exposed to dancing. it was a 10-week program where we introduced the five dances to the students. many of the students rt