>> a good evening, superintendent and commissioners. middle school children at the civic center secondary school. i am here to speak on behalf of middle school children to ask the board members to give them more space to teach them well. i believe these children deserve a better place to learn and become successful. thank you. [applause] >> my name is margarita. parents advocating for parents

and students in schools. i am also on the staff of the secondary. i have a petition signed by students and staff. we request more classrooms. where to the students don't? -- do the students go? they come to the civic center secondary schools. the civic center should be a great place with adequate space where they feel at home. they feel like a real school, not a dumb one. where are the resources for the students? i believe the foundation of a successful student is starting from a good environment. thank you.

>> my name is pastor charles smith. i am not on your list. had it not now had to sign into be on a list. >> excuse me? what are you speaking on? >> on mlk. >> can you hold off? there are other people in front of you. >> can i put my name on the list? >> ok. get a card and give it to them. >> parents, community, superintendent, and board members, i am here speaking for the civic center. all students deserve and should have a better environment and

classroom. but especially our young people that already have difficulty. youth are at risk. they deserve adequate rooms. the staff needs to be able to teach and do their job well. our students, parents of san francisco that pay for the school district to have this for their young people. we are asking for rooms so that they can adequately be taught properly and so they can thrive like other young people. like one of the individual spoke earlier, the civic center seems to be a dumping ground for our city. that is not right. these students are set up. please look at it. they need 20 room so they can teach these young people and the staff can do their job well.

[applause] president yee: delfino, leisha, jose, leslie clark, martin pasquez, vanessa. are you with the other group? ok. come up to the microphone. you have a minute each.

go ahead and press a button. >> as a school or social worker, i applied and was hired and was hired as the school coordinator. i learned it would only declassified position. i tried to find ways to work with the circumstances and requested information on what it would look like for me. i was given papers and still have not heard back on my request. my understanding is that a large part is to figure out how to eliminate excess a roadblocks around school transformation and to create a piece of work that is necessary. the whole point is to be innovative and create a zone and

that removes boundaries to do stock differently. i believe he can do this differently -- we can do this differently. >> i am a teacher and a coach. the nasa has been an amazing contribution to the committee -- vanessa has been an amazing contribution to the committee. her experience and commitment to the mission district speaks for itself. she has become part of that family. we have had external partnerships come to the school. on mlk day we have the center for national music center and last friday despite everything

going on, consultants came in and helped renew the school to do some things we needed to get done. it was amazing. she made our school welcoming to those who are in and out. she recruits 18 schools to come and visit our school for a potential ninth graders. she is constantly digging deeper to get to know the students. i would like to say we have 17 teachers going out this year. in the seven years i have been here, i have never seen one person reach as many kids as vanessa past. [applause] -- has. [applause] >> i am the ptsa treasure. and i want to support vanessa.

she has done a great job. john o'connell is going through its third year of transformation and she has done a great job. i do not believe that o'connell can afford for her to leave at this time where they need to continue to improve and progressed the way they have done. -- progress the way they have done sure yet she is a great person. -- done. she is a great person. i do not know many staff members that will buy groceries and cook for kids and do these great things. everyone at o'connell lobster. i do not think we should mess with success. we should continue to move forward.

>> [speaking spanish] >> uno momento. [laughter] >> [speaking spanish] >> i am here to support vanessa. we have received great support from her. we would like to have more

support for her because she has not only worked with the students but also with the parents and that is the kind of support we need to continue. >> i am the family liaison at o'connell high school. all of us working here are committed to the academic progress of the children. i would like to add to the voice of my colleagues and the families i served that the consolidation of vanessa is a huge blow to the community. her knowledge of this field and those we serve should not be seen as easily replaceable by should be commended and respected. her work in implementing strategies has produced positive buzz within the staff, faculty, and local media. to cut her work short due to

consolidation makes o'connell's pact difficult. losing someone who has demonstrated time and time her commitment serves no one. i ask you please look into this matter. thank you. >> hello, my name is leslie clark and i teach at john o'connell high school. oc has been struggling with many issues, not the least of which has been staff turnover. every time we get going, and a person -- important person gets the ax. vanessa has been there for only tw zero years. i am not going to go over all that she has done to read she is a vital and important person at

a john o'connell. whether they are aware of her numerous achievements or not. the district has informed us she will not be able to continue this work next year because she is overqualified. this is something that can be changed. exceptions are remained all of the time. do not make us start over. she has brought an incredible network of relationships to our school, energy, and connection with our students that we desperately need. [applause] >> i am an educator and coordinator at john o'connell high school. i just want to say that the nasa has been supportive of me -- vanessa has been supportive of me. she has connected to the

community, the teachers, all of the staff and families at the school. she has done some great community building with martin luther king today. people mater day recently. -- matter day recently. i think it is a step backward to let her go. it will be a waste of all of the energy she has put into it. we have to find a way to keep her going here. thank you. president yee: john templeton, reginald brown, take two minutes. >> one of the reasons why there are such disparities in the achievement gap is the failure of the district to connect

african-american students with local history. a good way to springboard into the next year, we are doing a series on african americans in the golden gate bridge that ties into the anniversary. students will be able to see some of the important changes going on during those three years as the bridge was been built. many of those changes resonate to the state. there is also opportunity in the directive on monday for professional development tied around a gentleman named doctor robert gordon. anytime you use a laser pen, you are relying the patents he did. on june 14, we have professional development.

it will teach how to replicate his success. he was a national merit scholar, the was the first black to get a ph.d. in applied science from stanford. if he was able to do that, we need to look at what were the factors that helped him to be successful. this professional development on june 14 will look at the successes and characteristics of african-americans so that we can make sure our students are prepared for the demanding field available for them in the city. thanks. [inaudible] president yee: two minutes. >> eyes forward, everybody. a check i learned when i was a teacher. -- a trick i learned when i was

a teacher. i had a nightmare that my son was going to a school that was replete with problems academically at the lowest point it could be. as problems with a child molesters hanging around the school. has problems with being tracked in the school, that is to say, some of the kids a are on track to be for failure. also, a school replete with corporal punishment, which was in the news. i could go on and on. when i woke up from my nightmare, i tried to call somebody. i tried to call this school

board, the aclu, i tried to call the national lawyers guild, my ex-wife. all of the above did not answer the phone. so i am here right now to let you know i am trying to get my son out of this school because i know how the system works. it is part of the education we are not getting. this school is part of the system that make sure -- let me put it this way, the guy who they made a movie about to, the pursuit of happiness. chris gardner. he is a stockbroker now. horatio alger story. now he has at the top of the game in the stockbroker industry. i asked him, what happens if everybody has a job and is gainfully employed?

he said i refuse to answer that question to. the truth of the matter is, and he knows the answer. many people are being trapped to be on the bottom. most of them are black, latino, my son is not going to be one of those people. i am here to lobby for the other black folks, for people, and the like to have to go through this situation. -- who have to go through this situation? president yee: pastor charles smith. >> mr. president, mr. superintending, my name is sophie stockholm and i appreciate being able to talk tonight about substitute teachers. i have spent nine years in public schools with teachers --

in the past 12 months, at least keep it below -- two substitute teachers took a child away to safety. this incident was reported. my child was denied five full days of education because no substitute came to school that day. in the past few months, twice a substitute supported -- reported for work three hours late. there was no substitute available to take my oldest son's class after the parent was hospitalized. yet my oldest son who did not speak one word of english -- he

only spoke chinese to their amusement and entertainment. yet we parents except to the decision of school enrollment and class assignment. all of the children are unable to give us a teacher for the day, denying us the right to check if they should take care of our children. as a parent, i am not even asking for quality but i expect legal babysitting for my eight children on campus which means a legal ratio of adults per student. as a parent, i respectfully request you conduct a survey of the district and have a list of

substitute teachers to lead out people who are not worth your paycheck and are a liability and a threat to our children. thank you for your time. tell me how i can help you. >> after pastor smith will be rev. roland gordon and maurice edwards. press the button. >> my name is pastor charles smith in the bayview. i was called to date to come out to a -- today to come out to a

press conference. i was shocked. there was a gentleman removed from a school in the marine and placed in charge of mlk. this particular gentleman, after reading the press conference and reading the witnesses about it can statements, i come to find out this man is a child abuser. how can a child abuser run a school? i do not understand it. not only does he run the school, we pay this person to run the school. something is very wrong here. i was totally shocked at reading this information concerning a child abuser in the school, the top man of a child abuser. it is way out of line. if you had a chance to read this press conference, the paper work, i could not believe it. i am totally appalled. how many others closes is going

on in? why are our kids not getting a proper education instead of being abused by those in charge? >> sir, you have made some serious allegations. i will tell you, first of all, whatever information you have, i should clarify we do not -- anybody who is tired and needs to be fingerprinted. sir, i listened to you, give me the same courtesy. anybody can make an allegation. we will follow up but i will tell you this school district would never allow anyone who has a record of what you said to run anything or even to work in the district. we will follow-up on that.

>> is it on? ok. superintending, members of the board, and thank you for this opportunity. i just got back from a trip and then about two weeks ago i was visiting my homeland american samoa. i got back, getting into things and then i fanned out across the street from the there has been some changes. i am concerned because the changes affected the pacific islanders. we have one bilingual staff that has been there forever and she was let go. i have -- i am not clear on why but i attended a rally and there were some real concerns. i am concerned. being a chief from the samoan

people, i represent them. i want to make sure they get hurt. we cannot have the kids go to that school and not have somebody they can relate to. we will have a big problem. i monitor my everyday job working on those buses. we encounter a lot of kids as they did on the 54, of the nine, or the eight express. if we do not have a polynesian people there, we are going to have a problem. i am concerned that in all of your studies and your background histories on people that this was not taken into consideration to your did you know the problem school districts have. we have all worked on it together. as other people said, everybody whether it is african-american, latino, asian, every group and

not represented is at a disadvantage. i am asking the board to reconsider that order to look into it. we do not have that many pacific islanders looking at the schools. at martin luther king, the population is big. you are surrounded by public housing. that is where most of them do well to read if we do not address it, they will be on the streets and they will be causing other type of money we do not need. we only make up 1.5% of the total population in the city and county. almost 10% of the juvenile population to syria that is alarming. population -- population. that is alarming.

this is not just about one group. this is about all. being the chief, i have to air that with you. i have sat down at the table with you, superintendent. i appreciate the support you have given us. i look forward to continue to work with you to make sure that the people get represented. please reconsider that. if we do not have anyone to go to -- we are going to be in trouble. i have a problem and i need your help. please consider and losses to all of you. -- blesses to all of you. >> my name is sandy thomson. i wanted to have a word before i

leave because my son has something else to say. we have had a rough time at martin luther king for the year. this year. my son started school. i still do not have all of the answers i needed from the school and the administrators. i have not heard anything back. i am going to be working on the next year even though i am trying to transfer my son. i have not heard anything about his bullying or his safety. i have not heard anything. i wanted to stress my point that i know at the end of the school year they need more support at martin luther king. the council is they got rid of, and they need to bring them back because they was the best thing because they did more where it then the administrators. they need to get rid of the administrators because they are not doing anything.

they are standing back getting a paycheck. i feel that is unfair to the counselors. the security has been hurt. i have been up there. i got kicked off the premises while i was there. i was asked not to come back. i was not allowed back on the premises when the officer i called to the school, they told me i should come back. as long as i was a concerned parent i could come back source are going back up there and i was asked to leave by the administrator, by the principal. i told her that i am up here as a concerned parent because my son had got hurt and you are not doing anything about it. my son is upset. he wants to say something before we get out of here.