90392 instead of-90391. we would like to delete pages 165 and 166, which duplicate page 29. k29 will now be on pages 164 and 167. president yee: any items removed for first reading by the board? any items severed by the board or superintendent for discussion? seeing none, let's move on. ok, vice president norton. vice president norton: i had my light on. k32, on page 172.

what i wanted to ask is a question of the rules committee, so i do not need staff to state to address this. president yee: the roll-call vote will take place. let us move on to item h. the first would be 125-hsp1, to grant or deny the petition for kipp high school, moved and seconded on may 8. a report from the budget committee? commissioner mendoza: there were a couple of issues that were clarified by the kipp community and we move this forward with a positive recommendation. president yee: is there a report from the curriculum committee

for this particular item? >> i believe we reported on that at a previous meeting. we gave it a positive recommendation. president yee: thank you. commissioner wynns: can i ask that the budget committee report be reported on? commissioner mendoza: it was 2 ayes and 1 nay. >> you have before you the superintendent fifth proposal, which is a recommendation regarding the kipp bay area high school petition, authorization to grant. pursuant to california education code section 47605, the school submitted a petition to the

charterer high-school to beat district on april 20, 2012. whereas the district to comply with all timelines for review and action, as required by law, and the board of education should consider the level of public support, and show review the petition, including supporting documentation -- the board of education show be guided by the intent of the california legislature that charter schools are and should become an integral part of the california educational system, and their establishment should be encouraged. whereas the district superintendent and district staff will issue a report to the board of education regarding the review of the petition. the board of vacation showed grant the petition, subject to

the requirements set forth by law. president yee: some public speakers have signed up for this. is there anybody against this that signed up for this? there are about 20 of you that it seems like have signed up. i know we had extensive discussion at the committee meeting level. i would like to give this group about -- not about. no more than 15 minutes. you can do it anyway you want. self monitor. if you finish before 15 minutes, we would appreciate that. >> good evening. my name is caroline gifford, and i and the principle of the potential -- principal of the potential kipp high school in

san francisco. i would like to thank the many students, parents, and teachers who are here to show their support, and the impact kipp has had a on their lives. i began teaching in washington, d.c., and ninth grade, at a school that taught disadvantaged students. i recently taught in east san jose. this past year, i served on the administrative team, where the focus has been working specifically with our struggling ninth graders to improve academic performance and grade level culture. i believe, as many of you have stated before, that many of our students deserve the opportunity to get to and through college. my vision is to work with you to create a rigorous college preparatory in parliament, where

students are engaged in rigorous, meaningful, relevant content. since january, i have had the opportunity to spend time with the amazing middle school students at the tip schools in san francisco, who are likely to be members of the founding class of a new high school. i look forward to getting to know these students and families even better. i look forward to working with you so we can effectively close of our achievement gap. i hope you will vote to improve our charter, so we can enable the dreams and aspirations of our students and families. thank you.

>> approximately nine or 10 years ago, i came in contact with the kipp organization, because at that time there were a lot of challenges as far as education within the bayview and other areas. with the distinguished record that had been produced in that area, it has been tremendous. i talked with parents and students, and i have come tonight and heard so many great things that i felt like sharing this. that is one of my main loves and concerns, is my children. that is the main reason i am

here tonight, to beg and to encourage the board to pass this. that are very encouraging, but they need a high school. they are doing a great job. tonight, i would encourage you to pass the revolution to institute this. i believe the tears are falling on all of the board members. but you very much. >> my name is ashley. i currently attend burnett college.

none of my amazing opportunities would have been possible without the guidance of kipp. it is the foundation of my education. with its core values, it prepares its students for the community at large. throughout my journey, i commit to 40 below hours every day, dealing with long school hours. the bill did i know that this would train me for what was to come. i was able to ground myself as a student. i found a home and a place i can go back to any time, whether i need help or just want to visit. the teachers were extremely dedicated to their students, because the always looked out for them, no matter what time or day. that also gave up their cell phone numbers. students were able to call the

teachers for homer top or personal issues that were facing outside of school. there were devoted to teaching students, but also helping to guide future leaders. i knew i could count on my teacher for heartfelt advice. she and the other teachers have the students the best interests at heart, causing them to go above and beyond what was expected. i am finding what sparked my interest. my passion for writing has convinced me to consider english as a possible major. my experiences have shaped my

future goals tremendously. it helps me to further explore these subjects, and find new ones. i am able to fine tune these ideas and make them into possible majors that i will study for the rest of my college career. while i am not sure what i want to do when i come out of college, i will be involved in writing. it would have been ideal to continue my journey to college with them, because i know they provide more than academic support. it is a way of coming full circle for the students, while having the resources, guidance, and educational foundation that will get them to the goal i have been dreaming for eight years and more. when we chat about going to college in middle school, it becomes more real in high

school, because students are working directly toward those aspirations. i know from personal experience that kipp will push students above and beyond the ordinary, because their future depends on it. it challenges students to the point where it almost seems impossible, until they prove themselves wrong, making it worth it in the end. for these reasons and many more, i strongly encourage the san francisco unified school district to create a high school so these opportunities are available to everyone beyond eighth grade. it is a chance that will only make the educational system better in san francisco, while truly providing for the needs of the students. please support this petition. thank you. >> to us, this is the

opportunity to get the best education. them will enjoy a safe place, and have teachers committed to teaching all the students with enthusiasm. mccaul has turned into a great student with the desire to put her best efforts forward, and the best of all is she really enjoys her school, her teachers, and classmates. she has received attention, understanding, and respect. all her teachers care about her as a person. they encouraged her to continue to learn. she has warned us of the importance of getting ready for college. before she came here, nicole was never enthusiastic about doing her homework. we used to have to sit next to her to get it done she does it

herself -- to get it done. on june 14, she has finished her a summer reading. she loves to read now. she is surrounded by classmates who are doing the same thing to a encourage each other. the school has created a community where they encourage each other to love learning. before we knew about the possibility of kipp high school, we were searching for high schools that would match the high level of academics like kipp. when kipp high school came to our family, we absolutely knew nicole needed to finish at this level. while we were surging, we found good options. but now that we know about this

high school, the search is over. we know the new school would continue this great work, and will give mccaul all the opportunities to reach her goals. please give us the opportunity, so that nicole and the other kids continue their path to success. thank you. >> good evening. i am the board chair of the seven kipp bay area schools. we believe education is essential in achieving social justice. we also share a drive to close the achievement gap, so every student in san francisco can achieve his or her own potential. i assure you that we have the

determination and resources to create a high performing high school to join our high performing middle schools already in san francisco. we have a strong track record of serving students in san francisco for the past nine years. there was a record of academic performance, creek to buy our students and their teachers working together. our founding class just completed high school, and 85% are enrolled in college, more than double the enrollment rate for low income communities across the country. we are trying to create more of these opportunities, and i hope you will pass this proposal for a new high school in san francisco. >> i have been a member of kipp

for three years. i have enjoyed them because of things like our music classes and helping us get into programs in high schools. now, i go to a program called first graduate, which helps us go to college. what i like about kipp is we spend more time learning than other schools. we have a lot of sports, but to play with the team, we have to do a lot. it has helped me with a structure to get through college. now, they can do high-school as well. the new high school is going to be so helpful for all of us. what i am most excited about is that it is not going to be like a normal school. some of our teachers want the high school to be different than any other school, by including more technology.

the school will let us express ourselves more. the high school would be bright, and i am really hoping it will happen. thank you for listening, and please vote yes. president yee: 2 more minutes. >> i will try to be concise. my name is kevin davenport. i went to kipp middle school and will be headed to harvard university in fall 2012, full scholarship. i am so proud of myself. my family is so proud. through kipp, i learned how to take it to the next step. students need more to make the

success in the educational world. i am now a scholar. i never thought that would happen. i am so proud to say i am part of kipp, and now interning for kipp. they're teaching me how to work in this world. i could not be more proud of myself and the people i work with. please support this high school. president yee: think you. i think we will end it there. thank you very much. are there any comments from the board? commissioner murase: i had a

chance to review all the materials. i know it has gone to several committees. i know the folks were very responsible to some of the concerns expressed in committee, including 2008 retention issues. they focused on it like a laser beam and were able to increase it from 86% to 92%. i feel like there is quite a responsiveness on the part of the administrators. i had the opportunity to visit. what i saw was really engage students. there was not a single kid in the corner sleeping are doing other things. really excited about learning. i will be supporting this application. i think one of the lessons from

this charterers "is that it in georgia a lot of community support and generosity of our community. it tells us what it really costs to educate a young person, which is wholly inadequate, the funding we are giving from the state. commissioner mendoza: i want to thank everybody that came out, particularly the students. it is always good for us to hear what your experience has been. as a bayview resident, is also really important for us to see the work being done in our communities. i really want to thank kipp for staying in our communities. often, schools do not do that. you have been consistent in

promoting our low income communities and communities of color. that has been an important value that many of us hold. i have always been really impressed with the work that our kipp schools in san francisco have done. you have always been very respectful with your relationship with san francisco unified school district. your middle schools have performed quite well. i am really happy to see you are the second highest performing little school in our district. both of your schools are california distinguished schools, which is something we always honored in any of our schools that are in our district. i also wanted to know that i will be supporting this application. i think a lot of the work we have done, the deep

conversations around equity, have to do with continuity. our students may come from challenging communities or are in homes with single parents. they come into these communities, and they go back out. you either sink or you swim when you come from a kipp school, because the same support is not there in a larger comprehensive high school. i am not saying you cannot go to a comprehensive high school, but knowing that there is a similar

continuous place that will provide the same kind of care and continuity for our students is really important. my current in turn is say kipp-- is a kipp student, now at mission high school. i was asking him last week the best part of being in kipp a cademy. he is extremely outgoing and very touchy. often, i have to ask him to let me do my work. but he wants to know what i am up to. he is always asking me lots of questions. i think that is a foundation that kipp builds for him. he is at mission high school, doing wonderfully. what he misses is the big difference, and a lot of attention and being in a much more -- i do not want to call it

a disciplined environment, but it is a different kind of care that happens, which i would like to see go forward, not only in your academy, but for kids coming from other schools. i just want to thank you for all the work you have put into this. for me, the part that is really important is that you continue to serve our community, that you stick to the commitment you have made over the last several years, which i think you have honored wonderfully. and that we continue a strong and respect for relationship over the coming years. i look forward to visiting a high school. you absolutely have my support on this. thank you. [applause] vice president norton: this has been hard for me, mainly because, at least in the short

term, i know we are looking at an overall demographic decline in the number of high school students in san francisco. that is going to create more competition for all high schools for students. i am very worried that a new kipp high school is going to have a detrimental effect on schools like thurgood marshall, that are working really hard to offer a robust and engaging program to our students. they really need to keep enrollment in order to do that. at the same time, i have come down on the side of supporting the petition, mainly because i do not think that fear of competition is really the reason to turn down a petition. it clearly has committed to support. kipp is an institution that

clearly has a lot of support. it does great things. i have visited and unimpressed. i appreciated the team being very open to listening to some of the concerns i raised about the petition and the moment concerns. i know they do not actually worry as much. i think they made a case that there will not be this kind of competition for students that i am concerned about. i hope there is room enough and options enough for everybody. at the end of the day, there was not a reason to vote against the petition. the school is clearly working for a lot of kids. the icing on the cake was meeting ashley, who is going to graduate from my alma mater in three years. class of 1998, class of 2015. that was special for me.

i am happy to support the petition. commissioner wynns: i will not be supporting this chart to this evening. i have to say that i am disappointed in the recommendation from the staff, because it does not have any analysis of the high school enrollment projections. a few years ago, in another high school charger -- san francisco has a disproportionate number of high-school charters, compared to any other district in the country. we have had, i think, predatory high school development. our high schools have been doing quite well, particularly on a completely un-level playing field. a couple of times ago, when a high-school charterer came in

front of us, i propose an amendment, saying that if the board voted to approve this charter, they would vote to close a comprehensive high school. as the school was built up, we knew the in a moment would go down. we ought to say that if you are for this, you are for closing commission or thurgood marshall, because that is the effect. the playing field is not level, particularly in what has been characterized by many as the corporate reform agenda, which i agree with. frankly, if all the donors to kipp would show me that they were giving at least the same amount of money either to publicly manage schools or to campaign for taxes to raise money for public education, i might be open to the idea that might be open to the idea that this is not a predatory