tv Government Access Programming SFGTV June 1, 2018 1:00am-2:01am PDT
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chronically absent 7th, 8th, and 9th graders only have a 17% to 24% chance of graduating. it's really important to identify strategic interventions to reduce this chronic absenteeism. sfusd increases funding to support tutorial services and leverages existing site-based systems that we already have in place to help transitioning -- students that are transitioning between placements. our next recommendation is in records to professional development and it is specifically linked to achievement goals 1.8, 1.10, 1.26, and 3.16. professional development is needed across all levels. consistent training for principals, teachers, coaches,
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and staff, implicit bias, full implementation of the safe and supportive schools resolution and expanding trauma-informed practices in all schools, are some areas that we wanted to highlight. we also wanted to highlight ability and awareness training for all staff. and i would like to read the following quote from a parent of a child who is receiving special ed receiver advi services in sf. "my son has invisibility disabilities, you don't see his issues. he has been called lazy. and he's been called stupid." continuing on with professional development and overall staff accountability. we need to design a tool to help identify the implementation of the key areas. this tool must be attached to their balance scorecard and
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current stage of implementation should be indicated as well as a goal for improvement and actions, so that all families have an opportunity to see what's happening at the school. >> the next recommendation is based on student achievement goals 1.4 and it is also tied to l-cap accountability goals 3.1-3.5 and access to instruction. i would like to emphasize that we need to perfect e.l.d. curriculum and provide adequate materials to english learners. i would like to quote one of our parents of english learner students. "e.l.d. is not working. we need a strong curriculum. we need to support our e.l.s so they're ready to reclassify." we also need to ensure that qualified and credentialed
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substitute teachers are provided when the staff are absent. in accordance to this, we need to make sure that teacher interns are appropriately mentored, trained, and supported, in the pathway to teaching program. i would like to emphasize this by quoting another parent that says, "teacher was gone for almost a whole year and my child's class had to be split throughout the day in several classes including a lower grade." lastly, we need to provide equitable access to tutoring and academically robust after school and summer programs. as you can see on the slides, consistent recommendations were
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made even last year and similar recommendations were made again this year. although we realize efforts have been made, but the fact that this recommendation is ever made consistent speaks to the fact that we need to connect the dots and provide better transparency. we have some key questions and concerns about the priorities and budget. although we don't have time to read all the questions, we chose specific questions that speak to us and mine is that, given the multiple external factors affecting educational outcomes of our focal populations, how are we maximizing or increasing social and emotional support available in sfusd. >> and would i like to ask, what recourse do students and families have when they
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experience racism and/or discrimination? how are those experiences being tracked, monitored and forming development in schools, departments, and special office? >> we appreciate that you have identified pitch schools, but whatcom hencive support will you extend to non-pitch-identified schools to prioritize african-american student achievement? >> and, lastly, we would like to ask, how are we prioritizing access to career pathways and internships for all students attending our court and county schools, including hillside. we look forward to your answers. >> on behalf of the many stake holders in sfusd that share their efforts and concerns, we
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appreciate it. we'll share with schools and community groups, meet with smart and await responses from the board of education and sfusd members. thank you very much and good night. >> good try. >> all right. thank you, very much for this great presentation and your commitment and the time and energy that you spent in pulling this all together for us. we really appreciate it. let's see, public comment on this -- i don't need to do that.
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questions, comments? commissioner murase. >> commissioner murase: i would like to thank all the advisory committees that came together. this is one of the best examples of outreach and lots of conversation and your leadership to really work together. this is really valuable to us as members of the board and the district leadership. so i really want to thank you genuinely. i had the opportunity to attend the draft l-cap workshop on wednesday, may 16. and i want to thank all the staff that came out. there was really quite a big representation of staff from all departments, families who came out, and representatives from all of the committees. and i thought it was a really great way to get additional feedback in terms of some of the high-level issue areas that we're grappling with. i felt like the time wasn't long enough, so maybe next time a saturday -- i know on a weeknight, it's hard to go much
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later than that. but i felt that people were just getting started in terms of some of the key issues like attendance or social-emotional learning, but it was really fantastic way to get feedback and, again, i want to thank each and every one of the parent leaders, family leaders, who helped to bring these recommendations forward. thank you. >> president mendoza-mcdonnell: thank you. commissioner walton? >> vice-president walton: i definitely echo commissioner murase's sentiments on appreciating you all coming together to bring this and present this information and recommendations. i think that the one thing that we need to do as a district that i haven't seen and hopefully we're very intentional moving forward is about really addressing the next steps in terms of responses from the board of education and leaders from the district. i think we need some real, true forum to take feedback and have a conversation and give back to you about the recommendation.
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so i will be ebbing witch -- i will be checking in with the superintendent and vice president and president. we do take these things into consideration. i don't know that we adequately respond to you so you know what is happening, so we'll work on making sure that is communicated effectively and we have that conversation. thank you. >> president mendoza-mcdonnell: commissioner haney. >> commissioner haney: i want to thank all the hard work that went into this. i'm always impressed by the number of people that we're able to reach and the full bredth of the process that we take around this. and i agree with commissioner walton. i think that it would be great to see a response to all of these questions that were shared with the board and also shared with the community. i think that sometimes the questions can be put out there and if we don't get a response
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and we want to make sure it's fully integrated into our next steps. also really want to appreciate the piece around sharing best practices and highlighting some of the best practices. i think sometimes we can talk about everything that, you know, should be happening or isn't happening, or all the problems, and then we miss looking at where we've had some successes. because a lot of what we would like to see is where things are working. we want to see those replicated and see those spread, and see those shared. so i hope that we can -- as we move forward with some of the recommendations, you know, see more of that. and have your help, really identifying in a set of different ways, where you like what's happening and how we can elevate those and replicate those across the district. again, thank you for your work and look forward to continuing this conversation in the process. >> president mendoza-mcdonnell: any other comments? seeing none, you are off the hook.
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thank you so much. we appreciate it. >> thank you. [applause] next item is item 6.2. any appointments by board members? seeing none. section c, consent calendar. i need a motion and second. >> so moved. >> second. >> president mendoza-mcdonnell: thank you. public comment on consent items. i have quite a few folks on one of our m.o.u.s. there are -- i'm going to modify this. we usually don't do full -- we don't do long -- i'm going to modify this because this is an item that we've heard before and so i will call your name. we're going to do a total of 10 minutes on public comment. so when i call your name, please
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[reading names] >> president mendoza-mcdonnell: these are different. and ted niece. okay. so, again, this is a consent item. we have a total of 10 minutes, ms. casco. and you may begin -- and please state your name. thank you. you have a total of 10 minutes. so just say what you need to say and move on. >> good evening. my name is lori barrett. i've been a teacher at redding elementary school for 30 years, all at the same time. and just like everyone holding a sign, i support arab youth.
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i've been serving the redding arab community for almost 30 years and i dearly love my arab families and support the children and their families. my concern is not supporting arab youth. i'm all for learning language, cultural history. it's the extreme speech of the leadership of aroc. when i read on-line, going to the primary source, which we teach our children to do, when i heard her saying on line, bringing down israel will really benefit everyone in the world and everyone in society, that is -- goes far beyond criticizing a government. that's scary language, which is hatred and is wrong for a school district to have leadership of an organization who speaks like that. i hope you will find a way to
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support arab youth with a more inclusive organization at a time when both anti-semitism and islama-phobia are on the rise. we should not engage with a group that pits the two religious minorities against each other. thank you. >> president mendoza-mcdonnell: thank you for that. are there others -- i want to just give the time accordingly. are there others that are not for or against but are on the side of the last speaker? i want to give appropriate time. if you are coming up to speak, that is not specifically around the support for the m.o.u., which is an item we've already
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heard. i will give m.o.u. folks that have spoken in previous meetings a full 10 minutes. if there are others speaking that are not on that same vein, would you please come forward and i will give you each 1 minute to speak. if i give 10 minutes for the entire arac and we have somebody that was against it, for example, they could stay up there for 10 minutes. so i'm trying to -- i'm trying to not allow that to happen. if you are not in support of the m.o.u., please come up and speak now and i will give you each 1 minute and we'll have the others speak on the m.o.u., okay? come on up. thank you. and please state your name. >> yes, i did, thank you, for the reminder. i'm raul avila, parent at redding elementary school. i've been at redding for six years now. i have three beautiful children that attended redding.
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i really don't know arac. i just found out about them when this whole arab program was coming to our school or there was a -- doing some research to see if our school would be a good fit for the arabic program. i was wondering where this came about. i heard this organization called araq. so i went ahead and did some research and i looked into them to see who they were because i had never, ever heard of them before. by doing an internet search, i did find some youtube videos that i did hear members -- actually one particular member saying some hateful things. like i said, i think i sent you an email, but i don't think or feel that there should be an organization that speaks hateful things that will be part of our district. thank you. >> president mendoza-mcdonnell: thank you. next speaker, please. >> this will take 20 seconds.
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i'm john purink, gastroenterologist at kaiser permanente for 20 years. i support the arabic language and cultural program. arac should not be involved. it has a political agenda this is a quote from the executive director, "as long as you continue to be on the side of zionism, i'm going to hate you." it's hate speech. they should not be involved in the education of our youth. >> my name is grace quan. i'm a long-time teacher at redding school. i'm also a mother. i have three children, who are the product of good upbringing and the sfusd. they also all three went to lowell. i've always taught my students as well as my own children to be
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respectful of all people a and viewpoints. that's why a political organization as divisive and polarizing as arac does not belong in the schools. we cannot tolerate hate speech or anything that leads to division in the schools. thank you. >> good evening, commissioners, superintendent, staff. i'm linda plack. i'm a member of the san francisco labor council, jcrc assembly, member of the executive board of the united educators of san francisco. but tonight, i speak as an individual. i am very much against the m.o.u. [please stand by]
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that they are professing is harmful to us. we're supportive of the programming for arab and muslim children, but we do not think the school district should be in partnership with this organization. thank you. >> this is my daughter's yearbook. there are two kids here, fatima and noah, she's wearing this
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beautiful head scarf and her friend noah who are jewish. and it's middle school. they get along well. they like to play basketball. it would be a shame if they went to high school just to learn -- it would be a shame if fatima learns to hate because -- hate noah because maybe he's a zionist. it's extreme hate speech. and i want you to know that we stand against, firmly against bigotry and hatred. thank you very much. >> can i just before the next group of folks who come up to speak. so, kelly walsh and julie
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roberts, you are on the -- ok. so i did not call your names. so if you can put ten minutes on the clock. we're going to hear the next group on this. come up and state your name, please. >> hi, my name is ellen. i'm jewish. i'm speaking tonight on behalf jewish voice for peace. and i'm here representing hundreds of thousands of jews who are both critical of israel and critical of zionism. and so i think it's pretty clear that the jewish community relations council cannot claim to speak for all jews, including all civic minded jews in the bay area. let's be really clear on one thing. judaism and israel, judaism and
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zionism is not one and the same thing. i'm a proud jew. i believe in fighting anti-semitism and fighting islamophobia. and i am treated by people from the jewish community relations council the same way a roc is treated because i dare to criticize israel and zionism. to say a roc an organization. i feel strongly about this, because the jewish relations council is one of the main jewish organizations shutting out hundreds of thousands of jews across the united states. thousands of jews in the bay area. who speak out against israeli, palestinians, the occupation, the dispossession and who dare
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to criticize zionism as the be all and end all for jews. it is unconscionable to our members that a jewish institution which claims it supports plurality and is against islamophobia would work to discredit arock and block it. we see this as act of islamophobia and raiseism. this is the arab resourcing organizing center which many of us have come to know through their work, through attending programs. this is the organization in san
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francisco that can provide arab culturally relevant programming for arab youth. this organization can provide the mentorship that can help arab youth in our school district. let's talk about the specifics of san francisco. i can assure you that the arab community looks to aroc for a multitude of services including mentoring their youth. so i encourage you to renew aroc's m.o.u. so they can continue to provide culturally relevant education of students. who dare to express their criticism of israel and zionism. we are jews, too. and for the jewish community
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relations council to act like they're speaking on behalf of all jews is wrong. thank you. >> just a reminder, there are about 12 speakers and you've got 10 minutes. so monitor yourselves accordingly. you can do it however you want, but just a reminder. you now have six minutes left. >> peace and love, i'm one of the staffers islamic. to deny aroc from supporting arab students and muslim students is to say that the legitimacy and the trust that aroc has within the muslim community and arab community is not of concern or value to the city or the school district. it is to actually reinforce the imperial practice of speaking for a community that has the means and infrastructure, the
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capacity and power to speak for itself. i urge you to do what its representative of the arab and muslim student needs and urge you to listen to the voices of the community and not those who do not represent, do not serve and do not have our people's humanity and dreams in consideration. peace. >> hi, i'm here representing quinton. 30 years ago i participated in queer organizations, when we asked the school board to create a district-wide program to support lgbtq students and yes, there were people in the community that came out and vilified communities united against violence and all the other groups at the time going into the school on behalf of queer youth. we said and the school board said, it is important to us that we have community organizations from our communities to participate with the school district to develop and implement the relevant
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programming. our experience as queers informed the decisions including the harvey milk democratic club to support the board resolution to develop an arab language pathway that included the involvement of aroc. aroc for many years has been going into the schools to support arab students and as part of that work has been supporting lgbtq students of all ethnicities. we commend the district for bring this m.o.u. to the board and we strongly urge the board to adopt it. i'm jewish, but this is not an issue but jews and arabs. this is how they'll support the students in sfusd. >> hello, i'm a member of aroc program. we would like to thank you for putting our m.o.u. on your
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agenda. as aroc, we provide a space for arab youth among community that speak the tongue and don't. we empower students, fearless, united, social justice and diversity driven. for three years, the m.o.u. hasn't been passed. during these years aroc gained allies who supported youth. and await the day the m.o.u. is passed. we look forward to you vote in favor of the m.o.u. and us to put our attention back to doing our work. we're excited to have aroc back in our schools to further celebrate and preserve arab culture in these difficult times. thank you to aroc leaders and all partner organizations for having our back over the years. thank you board of ed for giving us the attention we deserve. >> my name is julie. i'm a parent at redding and here
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with other parents and teachers and representing folks from parents from redding who were not able to come out, many fasting for ramadan. i didn't just find out about aroc yesterday, i've known them for years, because as a parent of a child to speaks vietnamese, i'm been excited about the fact that they were -- i've seen how important it is to have strong community partners. through the survey process, there was a couple of times there was not a community partner, or there was a community partner, but not quite the right and the survey was a handful. when aroc or oka partnered with the district to get input, there were hundreds of responses. i want to speak on behalf of folks who would like to see the
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arab language program at redding successful. i think it's key to have a strong partner and aroc has been that partner over many years. i have not seen them bring up hate speech. i have seen them advocate for our students here in the district and i encourage the district to approve their m.o.u., thank you. >> my name is robert. i'm also a 30 year veteran teacher at mission high school. and last week, or two weeks ago, our principal sent a statement in support of aroc and i'm personally offended that each time i go up here, i have to say that i'm jewish in order to establish credibility around this issue. people all over the world are opposed to some of the things that israel is doing. just look at what happened in gaza recently. look at the massacre of palestinians. just like around south africa,
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where apartheid was condemned widely around the world, but not here. the same thing has happened with israeli policies. and you can be jewish, you can be a human right advocate, you can be a progressive and you can take a stand against zionism. i've come up here four or five times and said all the great work they do in the schools. i've seen them get my students into college. i've seen them take arab students who are floundering and put them on the right path. i've seen kids who are struggling for their identity, support and sustenance, get support from aroc. [bell ringing] the people that are bringing the politics in and the hate, the hate i heard in this room, just came from the jcrc, toward aroc. and i think it's about time. we want to keep coming back here every single week. it's about time to let them do
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their work in the schools with our students and let our students flourish with their guidance and help. >> thank you. that's all the time we have on this item. >> we waited three years, you guys will be fine. >> we're going to vote. >> one more youth. >> i'll let the youth go. >> being a part of -- i'm a freshman in high school and being arab youth in sfusd is more important than what they have to say. because this affects me more than them. i've always needed aroc and i feel like it can help other arab youth and i think you're doing the wrong thing if you don't pass this. we've waited three years. >> so, going on any items withdrawn or corrected by the
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superintendent? >> yes, mr. steel will now talk. >> change ending date of service from 6-6-2017 to 6-6-2018. >> any items removed for first reading for the board? seeing none, any for discussion and vote tonight? seeing none. what's that? sorry. roll call on the consent calendar. >> thank you. ms. min? mr. ong? yes. mr. haney yes. ms. norton. yes, except no on number 11, the first item.
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>> the first m.o.u. under 11, thank you very much. mr. sanchez? >> yes. >> mr. calton? >> yes and on consent agenda item 12, m.o.u. 9 and 10, with regard to the m.o.u. between district and young developer i want to disclose i'm the director and will recuse myself on the vote of these m.o.u.s to avoid clils. >> thank you. conflict of interest. thank you. ms. mendoza-mcdonnell. >> yes. >> thank you very much, that's consent. section d is -- [cheers and applause] thank you. we had no item severed so
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section e is proposals for action. we have several board policies for adoption. if i hear no objection from the board, i'd like to take one vote on all of them? seeing no objection, word policy 1312.3, universal complaint procedure, board policy hazardous substances, board policy 5111 admissions and bored policy 5117, district attendance. 5111.1, district residency was removed from the item and returned to the rules committee for additional discussion and staff report. board policy 5113.1, chronic absence and truesy. and 5112, district attendance review board. we moved and seconded this at a prior board meeting. superintendent?
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>> this evening, we're asking that the board approve all of the policies with a vote. >> thank you. i have one public speaker on this item, josh davidson. >> hi there. as of two weeks ago, finally have the title of chef, which i've been trying to get for nine years now. so thank you to all the folks that made that possible. so, i'm speaking on item 3514, there is a decimal i don't remember -- .1, thank you. represents the material workers, called asbestos workers. and we used to have 15 of these folks doing safety training, remediation and materials
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management. we now have three people and two of them are imminently slated for retirement. so in the latest round of discussions about funding allocation, we've presented a proposal to your leadership to develop a training program, because we find that the very specialized needs of the school district make it hard to hire from outside for this kind of work. so when you confer with leadership about implementing this board policy, we hope you mention to them it's important we have advocate staff. we have 141 facilities and one person cannot possibly do all that work. thanks. >> good, thank you very much, josh and congratulations on your new title. any comments by the board? ok. seeing none, roll call vote. ms. min? yes. mr. ong?
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>> yes. mr. cook? yes. mr. haney? dr. murase? and ms. mendoza-mcdonnell? yes. >> we have another resolution, resolution number 184.in support so far a formal process of remaining. commissioners sanchez, cook and haney, could i get a report of the meeting from may 15. vice president cook? >> mr. cook: during the committee of the whole meeting, we had -- we asked questions about the process of the resolution and gave staff suggestion on how to go about creating the committee, potential members, that could support it. and encouraging not to hire consultants to oversee the
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process. we trust the doctor's leadership to find the right person. >> thank you. can we get a reading by commissioner sanchez, cook and haney? >> in support of a formal process in the renaming of san francisco unified district schools, they've been enduring pride to the residents of city and county of san francisco and where families are invested and dedicated to the schools which they attend, work at or send their children, as well as to all schools at large making our network an integral part of the social fabric and making our big city more accessible and embracing of our diverse community. and the renaming of the schools is the result of school communities petitioning the sf
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board of education, citing to have them accurately reflect our values, and add voice to those in the community who have been underserved, and the focus of concerted efforts to deny life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. where efforts to rename schools for the intentions above, have understandably won counter opposition for a host of reasons, not least of them the attachment of a school name to a beloved institutional and because the name of the school is related to the cultural identity of current and former students. and whereas within at least the last three decades, sfusd with the advocacy and support of the community renamed a long list of schools. i won't do all of them here.
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but rosa parks was renamed. caesar chavez. harvey milk. willie brown. phillip burton. june jordan. to name a few. whereas of note, illustrative of the need to reflect upon the appropriateness of those who have been honored with the school in their names. san francisco elementary school attended predominantly any african-american students was renamed in 1994 due to a compelling, sustained effort by the african-american school community and its allies who called to attention that drake was a slave trader. and historical past and the appropriateness of cultural icons that is being debated across the country, notably the
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confederate flag and the statues and names revered in public schools and many communities are blazing a path toward an approach of addressing historic wrongs. the city of new orleans removed the robert e. lee and other confederate statues in may of 2017. san francisco removed a monument that shows a native american man sitting at the feet of a mexican monk. >> therefore, be it resolved that the san francisco board of education finds it necessary to engage the community in public school names, relevance and appropriateness of names of historical figures who oppressed women, inhibited societal progress or whose actions led to
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genocide or who otherwise significantly diminished the opportunities of those among us to the life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. said process shall be led by a blue ribbon panel who shall be put by the superintendent of schools, no later than the 2018-19 school year. be it further resolved that the panel shall offer findings and recommendations to the san francisco board of education regarding the renaming of sfusd schools. at which time the advising panel shall be dissolved. school communities interested in undergoing process of changing a school name unrelated to the reasons referenced in this
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resolution, reference -- >> we have several speakers to signed up for this. when i call your name, please come up to the podium. sheila. robert. paloma. or michele. melanie. jacqueline. >> good evening, board membership. my name is paloma flores, i direct your indian education program here in the district. i'm happy to be here. i'm speaking tonight in support of the resolution to rename schools simply on the basis that it's about time.
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our city is being the city that creates change rippling through this nation, has an opportunity to critically look at and examine the spaces that we learn from, our children, our teachers, learn from. and how those spaces by the name it has so much more to say about the culture of the schools. and this year, in time, in 2018, we collectively have a responsibility to represent our city, our district and our schools in the best way to ensure safety, to ensure strength. to ensure all children in those schools have a sense of belonging. so again, i'm speaking tonight in support of creating a policy to critically look at the
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schools as the board member had mentioned, that have been named by individuals whose choices in their life are not the most positive. and those effects are still impacting children who go through those schools. as a california indian, first nations, i am happy to be part of the school district that looks critically at how we're representing our city. beautiful city that is san francisco. thank you. >> good evening, i'm the alumni representative for the indian, i graduated from high school in 2016. i'm here to encourage the board to pass this resolution in support of the process of renaming schools.
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i wasn't through san francisco unified school district. i'm in my second year of college now. i think this is a phenomenal opportunity for the school district to really support students in their education. i don't think people often realize how much the names of these places affect these students. but as paloma said, colonization is still affecting us today and renaming these schools would be a big step in supporting these students in the future. i really, really want to encourage the board to support this resolution. thank you. >> good evening, ladies and gentlemen, of the board. i'm speaking on behalf of our native community. sorry, i'm emotional. some of the names of these
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schools, they impact our native people in a negative way. and i feel that we should make a change and step in the right direction to rename some of the schools. also, with the mural at washington high school, i'm speaking as -- i'm so nervous, oh, my gosh -- i'm speaking as a person in our native community, when we see these things, it traumatizes us a little bit more. we have -- oh, gosh, i can't think -- it traumatizes us in a way that was done a long time ago, so it's happening all over again when we see these things. i feel strongly we should make a change so that children who come to the schools will learn in a
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good way, about positive role models instead of the ones that impacted our lives in a way back in the early 1800s when they had these -- when they had these things that go through california. i am a california native. when i seen the statue that had the -- had the -- i'm sorry, it's really rough. when i seen that statue of the native that was stood over by the padre and the settler, it was traumatizing. i didn't know that statue was here and it really upset me. i think we should make a change to change the names of the schools and the murals and the statues. thank you. >> hello, my name is robert martin, i'm member of the
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cherokee nation of oklahoma. i want to encourage the school board to abandon the racist images toward native people. it's upsetting and traumatizing and derogatory to have this image portrayed on a daily basis that our native youth is faced with every day. this would be no worse than if a person of adolph hitler was placed in a jewish community, would be a constant reminder of the genocidal policies of this country. and the board would have a chance to make a positive change and ching things for the better for -- change things for the better for generations to come. thank you. >> good evening, commissioners, my name is michele. i'm a parent and community leader. i want to thank you, commissioners, who brought this
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up to create a resolution. i'm in support of this. i feel it's so important for our youth to feel good about where they go to get their education. it should reflect more of what our communities are about, what our students are about, and they shouldn't have to go to school and have this internal battle about where they're at, where their learning is taking place and what so-called leader their school is named after. i appreciate you taking the time to look at this and i ask that you involve community representatives to be part of this discussion. so we can look at the names and again, just empower our students the best we can. from the name of their school to everything else that is inside of that school, that building they spent most of their day in. i just am here in support of that. and really feel it is important. i know there is a lot of things
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we need to work on in our schools, but this is an important issue. and it is important for our youth to feel good and empowered where they go and where they get their learning from and i appreciate the board of ed and the school district in bringing this issue up. and taking the time to look it over and i 100% support this. thank you. >> thank you very much. public comment is closed. any comments from the board or the superintendent? >> so, based on my view of this resolution, the ssc would be very interested to see the results of the blue ribbon panel when they come back. i hope we can get the students involved if renaming is going to
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take place and students should be involved in anything that affects their school at this level and students would be happy to be part of the renaming as well. >> thank you. commissioner haney. >> mr. haney: i want to thank commissioner cook and sanchez for your leadership in this. i think this can be understandably a very challenging issue and one that certainly sparks very strong opinions and a lot of passion. and i think it's a testament to the way you all wrote this resolution, that there hasn't been a huge amount of backlash to this. people understand that we have to think about this in a very intentional systematic thoughtful way. and i think that's what we laid out here with this resolution. i had the opportunity to go to
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last week, the celebration for 50 years of ethnic studies. and you know, at that event, we talked a lot about how important it is to have all of our communities reflected in our schools. and that's how we actually represent the truth. of our past, present and future. we've done so much work in our school district to make sure we're telling the truth and reflecting our diversity in our curriculum and i think it would be a shame if we kept out of that conversation the names that are on our buildings. we're celebrating, we're elevating people with our school names, we're remembering them, and it's critical that we do that in a way that reflects our history in a full way. we have tremendous diversity in san francisco. we have tremendous diversity in our schools, it's just a fact that is not reflected in our school names.
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we focused on some offense the ones in the resolution. i did a little bit of research. we have just four schools that have names that are connected to the chinese community in our district out of 137. and just two that are connected to the latino community. and those are our two biggest school demographics. we have a problem we need to solve. we should be reflecting diversity, heroes, lgbtq, women, this is not about erasing history, this is about telling the truth and making sure all of our kids see themselves in our schools. last thing i want to say, we have made a commitment to safe school environments, where students can walk in, we want you to feel valued, seen. the fact that we still have names and murals that we know are doing the exact opposite of
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that, for entire school communities, i think is a huge problem. and if we are only willing to listen to the people who are concerned that they're going to be losing an attachment to a name, which is important, and we'll hear that, but not willing to listen to the people who are the young people, the children, the families who are offended every day, when they walk into our school doors, i think that's a huge mistake and it's betraying the commitment we put up to social justice and to safe and supportive school environments. this is the right way to do it. i hope the commission can do this and put forward not just some important schools to think about, but a process. we're not going to rename 50 schools overnight or anything like that. we need to make sure we do this in a very thoughtful way, because ten years from now, we're going to want to be able to say, we made real progress.
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just as we have with ethnic studies in making sure our communities, heroes and diversity and our support i've commitment are reflected on the school names. >> president walton: i want to thank commissioner sanchez and commissioner cook for bringing this forward. we've had conversations about the right way to do this and having a process in place for renaming schools or facilities. things that are offensive in our schools is very important. we also understand this may be controversial, but doing the right thing sometimes brings about controversy, so we're more concerned about getting this right and doing something that is going to lead to a future where our young folks understand how supportive their school district of their culture and of
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how we also, our understanding of the things that happened in the past that may affect people for generations and even centuries to come. so i want to thank our commissioners for that. this process is going to definitely bring some good conversation. probably some deep conversation. but again, to do the right thing sometimes, it takes controversy to make that happen. fully supportive of this resolution and looking forward to the education that comes along with it as we move forward. thank you. >> dr. murase: thank you, i wanted to recognize ms. flores and the people who came forward from the first nations to really speak about the resolution. really appreciate your engagement with the process. i want to thank the authors for bring this forward. i want to thank commissioner haney who took a lot of beating
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