men and women the right type of equipment be. because if they had the right type of equipment, they would be able to save some better lives. on my tour of that cliff side, which is pretty amazing how dangerous those cliffs are, and how rough that water is out there, i noticed, not less than, this is about 11:00 o'clock this morning, not less than four people that were literally sitting on the edges of those cliffs with their legs hanging over, taking pictures. i mean these people were future victims. there's no question about it. i was just there for a minute or two and i saw at least four people. it just goes to show how we probably need some better education along those coasts and i know that earlier this year i proposed a task force to the mayors office prior -- prior to apparently passing away, i will reoppose that because i think it is important that people stay as far away from those cliffs as possible. as beautiful as it is, so dangerous and i could easily see

one of those people falling from one of those cliffs, 200 feet into the water and i could see why we have so many calls out there, chief, and why this marine unit is something we need to pay attention to. so that being said, thank you for allowing me these three minutes and i will leave now. >> thank you. it was actually three minutes. that's ok. [laughter] any other commissioners wish to speak and make a report? any other commissioners? no? seeing none, madam secretary, we should call the next item. >> item six. agenda for next and future fire commission meetings. >> is there any public comment on this item? seeing none, public comment is closed. commissioners? maureen, wine don't you start by reading what is on the list -- why don't you start by reading what is on the list.

>> we have an update from the airport division, and then i believe the chie chief mention e wanted to get a budget item. >> that should be on the next meeting. >> that's all we have so far. >> is that it? >> yep. >> commissioners? do you want to add something to a future commission. >> commissioner veronese: we have the peer support thing and i will distribute it to us this week to the rest of the commissioners. >> to the rest of the commissioners, right. anybody else? all right. >> item seven. adjournment. >> president cleaveland: seeing -- any public comment on this? >> seeing none, public comment is closed. commissioners, what's your pleasure? [laughter]

>> good morning, everyone and thank you for coming my name is rosy form treasurer of the united states and the form of empowerment 2020. >> yeah. >> empowerment 2020 is an initiative to durnl encourage a million women we 2020 to go in leaders positions it is request quality day and the one hundred year of the 19 amendment that give woman the right to vote joining me on stage a margo the ceo of ma tell. >> (clapping.) >> 74 percent have been girls

in middle school express interest in office only girls are expressing an interest in computer science 50 percent less graduating are for girls than thirty years ago i've spent 8 years of the treasurer of the united states to have a portrait on the photo in our public engagement process there were one hundred of women overlooked in the history of our country many tops will be discussed and empowerment 2020 conference everything there empowering young women and girls to be the future leader to encourage women to get into stem education and getting into nasa and google and making sure that they are part of tech economy. >> the second part of empowerment 2020 is women money

and power to put women in so and so positions for the corporate fleet and elected office the third part of empowerment 2020 are the conferences their action oriented women have flatlined at 20 percent on that percentage one and 20 percent women a in congress that is stagnated if we get up to thirty percent fabulous 80 percent would be amazing that conversation is equality will be something we're used to as pair the culture i'd like to that that will be done in 2020 but if >> good evening, everyone. it's may 22, tuesday. thank you for joining us for our regular board meeting for san francisco board of education unified school district. roll call. [roll call]

>> if you would, please, join me for our pledge of allegiance. [pledge of allegiance] >> president mendoza-mcdonnell: thank you. section a, accessibility for the public. section b, item 1 is approval of board minutes of the regular meeting of may 8, 2018, and may 15, 2018. could i get a motion and a second, please? thank you. any corrections? seeing none. roll call vote, please. [roll call vote]

>> clerk: six ayes. >> president mendoza-mcdonnell: speaker cards for regular agenda and closed session are necessary. if you wish to address the board of education, an individual card can be complete -- an individual can complete a speaker card prior to the item being called. it looks like this and you can find them in the foyer, right before you enter the boardroom. and please present it to estherc casco. speaker cards will not be taken if a matter is all right before the board. superintendent's report. dr. matthews. >> thank you, president mendoza. good evening. the third week of may is classified school employees week. i would like to take a moment to

remember our classified employees that do everything from making sure our students are well fed to classrooms are operating smoothly and assisting our teachers. they're an essential part of the san francisco school team and make a difference in the lives of our students. let's give them a round of applause. [applause] last thursday i had the pleasure of joining the sfusd board of education and the spark, sf public schools board of directors in honoring the six recipients of the 2018 superintendents 21st century awa award. the six graduating seniors reflect the graduate program in their own, unique way, jason ing of balboa, tatiana jasper, who is ready to be her best, marvin

zita, and melina diaz of lincoln, who is ready to create. the third annual award ceremony was held at google san francisco's office, sponsored by google and spark san francisco. yes, you can give them a round of applause. they're doing great work. [applause] our district welcome day picnic is coming up on sunday, june 3. come out and meet with other sfusd families, incoming kinder gard gardeners, graduating students and school supporters. we welcome you all. we provide the space. you invite your school community, bring games and your food. bring a blanket. it's a free event. the picnic is at a park recently renovated and behind bryant

elementary school at 2641 25th street. it's between portrero and san bruno. there is a grassy area and play structure. street parking only. rsvp by may 31, next thursday, on our website. again, sfusd welcome day picnic is sunday, june 3, 12:00 to 3:00. i'm looking forward to our upcoming graduations for the class of 2018. nearly 4,000 graduating seniors will put on caps and gowns. i'd like to congratulate each and every one of them on this accomplishment and all of the elementary and middle school students that will be promoted to the next grade level as well. again, congratulations to our graduates. as you know, we're approaching election day on june 5 and many voters are completing ballots by

mail. the san francisco ballot includes proposition g. this is the living wage and educators act. it's a parcel tax to raise approximately $50 million a year the great majority of the funds would be used to increase salaries of teachers, para educators and other school employees. some funding would be used to expand digital learning programs, recruit and retain teachers and provide additional support to our underserved schools and students. i cannot say how to vote on this or any other ballot measure, i want to encourage all san francisco voters to exercise their democratic right to vote in this election and every election, yes, vote. [laughter] finally, as a reminder, all san francisco unified school district schools and offices including the enrollment center will be closed on monday, may 28, for memorial day.

president mendoza, that ends my remarks. >> president mendoza-mcdonnell: great, thank you, superintendent. item 3, our student kell ghat. ms. min and mr. ang. >> an update to meatless monday, that we're planning to gather and get student input. we plan to have a task force and will probably be going forward with this next year. >> we've reached a conclusion of our student delegate elections that were district-wide for this year. we have tallied the votes and we have a winner. this -- the delegate that will sit on the board next year, elected by the student to the sfusd is clarisse areno, representing lowell high school. [applause] >> president mendoza-mcdonnell: is she here? >> she is not, but we'll plan to introduce her at the next board meeting. that's not all.

we've elected two interim -- our interim president and interim student delegate. galahade my and alexandra marshal. [applause] >> for our heart drive, we'll be donating end of year toys for homeless youth. we would like to continue our support for homeless and in transition sfusd youth. we would like to thank everyone that participated in our homeless drive. without your help, donation of these products would not be possible. >> we're also applications for the s.a.c. next year. we're student-led council that plans to represent the voice of all sfusd students here on the

board. if you would like to be a part of the s.a.c., contact us for an application and we'll be more than happy to welcome you. vine >> and the s.a.c. will be vigorously working this summer on projects, so please stop by and say hello. we're a public and anyone is welcome to attend. if you would like any more information, contact our salazar bar. >> president mendoza-mcdonnell: item 4 is recognitions and resolutions of commendation. superintendent matthews? >> this evening we'll be welcoming the lowell girls varsity basketball team. [applause] along with their coaches, max masani. katie and laura, quite a week for you, too, you are being honored with the team this evening and then friday, the

team will be honored by the mayor and then saturday, you two have a birthday. [laughter] i know that because i just put your card in the mail. for the first time in school history, the girls' basketball team won the 2018 norcal division 5 championship defeating durham 48-31. woo! [applause] congratulations to the team and coaches for their accomplishment and i would like to call up our principal up to say a few words. and then you can introduce the coaches. >> members of the board, superintendent matthews, thank you for recognizing the lowell varsity basketball team for winning the northern california cif championship and making it to the state finals at the new arena in sacramento. that was the bomb. [laughter] as principal of lowell high school and president of the california interscholastic

federation, i can say that this team represented lowell and san francisco unified with dignity and honor. thank you, ladies. i would like to introduce our first-year rookie head coach -- making it to the state finals his first year, that's an accomplishment, and katie and laura, his assistant coaches. [applause] >> first i'd like to thank the board of education and superintendent matthews for celebrating our accomplishments and opportunity to speak opening this stage. i'm grateful that we had such a fun season, but i think we also want to thank, number one, the parents, right, who are there for us the entire time, the driving, the practices, our staff, our faculty, our administration, principal ishibashi, our athletic

director, robert ray, aaa, commissioner, don collins, alumni and the entire city of san francisco. thank you for all your support. and, lastly, i want to thank the players. it was a bumpy ride sometimes, but you guys were the finest representation for our school, our district and our city that we could have hoped for. so thank you for that. [applause] and our two captains, sam and joanne, also had a couple of words that they want to say. [applause] >> hello, everyone. i'm joanne. >> i'm samantha. and you're co-captains of the lowell girls varsity basketball team. first off, on behalf of the entire team, we would like to thank the board for recognizing our achievements. nothing would have been possible without the support from our society and community. lowell and the school district

have provided a tremendous amount of support for our team >> it was a once in a lifetime situation to play and we'll each keep the memories the rest of our lives. although we may not have accomplished all we have wanted, we're proud of the norcal title we hold and we're hoping that the team's battle next year will be even stronger. let it be the start of many victories and, again, thank you for your support. [applause] >> president mendoza-mcdonnell: all right. we have certificates for each and every one of you from the board of education to congratulate you for your wonderful accomplishment. and i wanted to see if any board members have any comments to the girls.

>> what a way to end the school year. we've had a lot of athletic success. we want to congratulate you on a job well done, for all of your work on the basketball court. continue to shine and thank you so much for working so hard. >> as lowell alum, i could not be prouder. thank you, girls, for working so hard not just for the year but over the years and congratulations to the seniors in particular. >> as a basketball manager, when i walked in, i was like, hey, i know them. [laughter] being able to see them off court and on court, it's amazing. and a wonderful opportunity that i got to know every one of the players and i'm very proud of their achievements.

>> president mendoza-mcdonnell: thank you. so we're extremely proud of you. thank you, also, for your championship shirts. for someone that lives in a household with three lowell graduates, we'll see who gets it. i am -- we're just really proud of you and i know that the mayor will be honoring you on friday as well. keep taking it in. it's really great stuff. you really have demonstrated leadership and teamwork and so congratulations to all of you. we look forward to seeing you again next year. let's give it up to our lowell girls basketball champions. [applause] thank you. our next item is item 5, recognizing all valuable employees, our rave awards. dr. matthews. and if you -- if you would like to leave, lowell basketball team, this is probably a good time to do that, because i know you are still in school and probably have a lot to do. we'll give you a moment to move

out. congratulations, again. [applause] >> we have two rave award winners this evening. one is a team. we'll start with that one. the first rave distinge -- distinguished winner, i ask principal hammond to come forward and introduce. >> good evening, dr. matthews, san francisco board of education, members of our community. i'm jason hannan, principal, native san franciscan, born and

raised, and graduate of lincoln. have to represent my mustang pride. i'm here to assist in honoring the phenomenal team of educators who comprise the special education department. i would like to name them individually, unless that is your purview. i would like to have you rise and join me up front. i would like to start off with special education department chair, ms. erin hartfield. if you would join me. round of applause. [applause] we also have mr. travis porter here in the building, ladies and gentlemen. round of applause. [applause] and also joining us is ms. michelle wong here in the building. [applause] i just want to say a few quick words. i'm an educator by trade as

well. i used to work at a continuation high school here in san francisco. i taught math, science and health education, as part of special day class as well as a co-taught program. the special education field itself in particular our department has stood in the vanguard for leading for equity in our school and different rimth for a long time. we've been in the vanguard of 2025 before it existed, because we strove to put a spin on education. and i'm referring to strengths, preferences, interests and needs. those of you that are familiar with the individuals with disabilities education improvement act of 2004 are aware that when you plan for transitions for students with special needs, you must consider students' strengths, preferences, interests and needs. and that to me is about blended learning. that to me is about tailoring

education to each and every child at the core mission of our work here at san francisco unified. with all that being spun -- said, i would like to invite dr. matthews here to go ahead and cast us off. i want to thank you, all, for the recognition. those of you in the trenches, know what it's like. and those that do not, i encourage you to come check us out and get in partnership with your community. we could sure use your help. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. >> have a great evening. >> thank you. >> thank you. appreciate you.

>> our second award winner this evening is the resource specialist teacher at gordon j. law and i'm asking gloria choi, principal, to come forward and present our award winner. >> good evening, board members, and dr. matthews. i'm gloria choi, principal. and i want to present tammy, outstanding special education teacher that helps out graciously in so many other ways. and i nominated her tonight because she is hardworking and passionate about what she does, day in and day out. tammy puts the needs of students, families, and teachers before her own and goes above and beyond what is expected

every single time. she's humble, positive and uplifting to everyone. she is a superstar. it's my greatest pleasure and honor as a principal for the five special service award to tammy yan. [applause] >> thank you. >> congratulations. >> congratulations. >> thank you. thank you so much. thank you for all you do. [applause]

>> president mendoza-mcdonnell: thank you very much and congratulations. special b item 6 is advisory committee reports and appointment to advisory committees by board members. dr. matthews -- oh, we'll be doing our report on local control accountability plan recommendations from parent advisory council, district english learners advisory committee, african-american parent advisory council, apac, and council for special education. dr. matthews, would you like to introduce this item, please? >> yes, this evening we call them the coordinator of the parent advisory council, georgia williams brett to introduce this item and introduce the team. >> is there a power point? >> yes.

good evening, commissioners. good evening, superintendent. good evening, student delegates. i'm alita fisher, chair of the community advisory committee and here speaking on behalf of georgia. first of all, i would like to thank everyone for allowing us to present our advisory committee joint recommendations to the board. we really wanted to thank the work of the l-cap task force and l-cap stake holder engagement. there have been meetings that have happened at school sites and community partners throughout the past couple of months. we as advisory committees are very grateful to be included as part of the engagement process and the feedback process. so the parents at the table in front of you will be providing our recommendations. and we'd also like to thank cyrus quan, who is the -- who is working with the s.a.c. to

gather student feedback. he's done student surveys. he will be presenting a similar finding of recommendations in june. we also wanted to acknowledge and recognize that these recommendations involve a whole lot of hard work. and we have a lot of big asks. and the five years in which the stake holder engagement process and this l-cap process has been move forward, we've seen a lot of progress and we really appreciate that the district recognizes that there is more work to be done is really helping to fully resource this project and program. without further ado, i will turn it over to our parent members. thank you. >> good evening. i'm maryann matata.

and i'm a proud member. >> good evening. i'm julia martin. and i'm a proud member of the community advisory committee for special education. >> good evening. my name is hope williams and i'm a proud member of the apac. >> good evening. my name is joanne breslin, proud chair of the p.a.c. >> tonight we're going to share with you who we heard from in our summary in our conovversatis for 2018. we had 24 conversations that included 350 stake holders and over the last five years, we've engaged 1,900 stake holders and we've heard from them and this year we have some new themes. first, we wanted to start with the fact that participants shared examples of what is working, including literacy skills, interventions, second step as a social-emotional curriculum and use of practices

where implemented. sfusd must leverage existing services and systems to support foster youth, students expelled and those involved with the juvenile justice system. we've also heard about access to tutoring and academic support services that must be expanded to the focal population. regarding accountability goal 2.3, a recommendation tied to specific goals in the l-cap, we want to share some best practices, the recommendation of sharing best practices. we want to highlight practices that are working. identify formal mechanism to capture practices and encourage sites to incorporate fees and their balances score cards. for example, chronic absenteeism was reduced by 50% by increasing calls, offering incentives, celebrating success, holding attendance conferences, and intentionally building relationships. in marina middle school,

classified 58 out of 193 students of english learners by monitoring students' progress after assessments, including l-pac. analyzing data, grouping students accordingly and focusing on specific areas of need. >> also looking at accountability, goal 3.2 and 3.3, a recommendation is building strong relationships. using dual-capacity framework to provide training, tools, and support, to build community and strengthen relationships. one of our parents shared, "it's not an achievement gap for our black students. it's a love gap." if we're going to continue to talk about building and raising global citizens, then we need to look at how we're leveraging and implementing and coordinating existing services. we're a very rich district,

however, we're not looking at opportunities on how we could integrate between communities. our parents are ready to have those difficult conversations. >> also, in any relationship, the first step is building transparency. trust, in looking at how we're building trust among the district, we need to look at how the district is being transparent with our stake holders. our stake holders would like clear and concrete action steps. how are you making these decisio decisions? how are you looking at how you are allocating services, keeping in mind that we're dealing with real lives, real people, and that our students' success is our families' success. we really need to -- when you are looking at when you are making cuts, when you are making budget decisions, that you are looking at the image of people ranger than the numbers.

our families keep saying, they're asking -- the district asks us what we need and we tell them, but they -- we don't see changes. and our families haven't seen changes or improved results for african-american students, english learners, our foster youth, or other focused populations the first step that could build this transparency and really look at building trust is really naming and addressing the racism and discrimination that exists in our practices and our policies. >> next up, we'll talk about student achievement goal 1.12. and i want to first call out that may is national foster care awareness month. and as we look at some key data

here in san francisco, 49% of sfusd youth in foster care are chronically absent. 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, 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 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 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 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 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 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. 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 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. 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 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. 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 come on up. and as soon as ms. casco is ready. we'll get started. [reading names] [reading names]

[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. 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 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 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. 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. 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 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]

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 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 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 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 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