concerned because i thought i was going to have to deal again with a battle with a new teacher. [speaking foreign language] >> but when the teacher talk to me, he was able to calm me. everything i knew about my kid and everything about my kid, my teacher -- this teacher was able to tell me about it. something no one had ever done here. [speaking foreign language] >> my son has therapy at school. this year was the first time

that i could be at peace with my kids being there, because i knew there would be speeches -- teachers and she would get what he needed. [speaking foreign language] >> thank you. >> i hope the teacher can combat just come back to the school so he can provide the help he has been providing to the kids in the fourth grade. to kids like my child with special needs. i hope that we can all be a better school, better teachers and a better community and we can work together. at that is what we need to do to move ahead. thank you. [applause]

>> good evening. my name is mark. i am part of three children in the public school. tonight i come to talk about these teachers in particular. he shares a lot of things with my son's cloth -- class. what i saw, you did an amazing job and he made connection with the family is. regardless of gender, races or, you know, people with disabilities. and i need this kind of professional in my school. because too much politics going

on inside the school. i am the president in my school. still, i tried to learn a lot of things, and i see a lot of bureaucracy and politics. that is why this happens earlier. you don't want to work today, tomorrow we might go into that. that is why we need to put everything in front of our children. please, can you do me a favour, for this teacher in particular to come back to the school and give them a chance to get a job. thank you very much. [applause] >> i'm sorry. i have a pocket.

we are getting bored with that. thank you. >> thank you. you can pass it on. next speaker, please. thank you superintendent and board of education commissioners for allowing public comment. i am here before you to ask for your investigation and reevaluation of the evaluation process of the review. the last time i was here in this boardroom i stood before 12 panelists in may 2013. this is how i began my presentation. both parties agreed that the perspective of the evaluation is to assess teacher performance to maintain and improve the education quality in the district. this is met with mutual respect,

shared knowledge and trust between the parties and evaluation. at that time the u.s. as set -- the u.s.f. president said you were the first president to receive more than one fourth and exceed standards for the teaching profession. i believe in the system because -- >> i'm sorry. can you tell me your name? >> my name is lisa and lee. i believe in the system because, perhaps because i successfully exited the bar as demonstrating high performance levels on the cft p. it states that teachers can only participate in part one and they made a exception for me to be on par twice because i was told someone up there likes you. and yet i was repeatedly given these improvements or -- as unsatisfactory by my principal despite 11 years of teaching at the same grade level which became a california distinguished school in 2014. and other person up there said,

for some reason, you do well when you are being evaluated by your coach but not evaluated by your principal. you have been a part twice. we can't keep doing that, it's expensive. a year after, they issued a 90 day dismissal. i'm asking for your investigation for the reevaluation of the process. principal assigned evaluations under penalty of perjury under teacher may seek another pair of eyes with a professional advocate. during jury duty, instruction, everyone is bias. we must avoid subjectivity and be objective. everyone in life is open to some possible doubt, where the real or imaginary. you get the picture. by the way, do you know why that i know might principal wasn't accountable to the process? because he never said congratulations on passing it. thank you. >> next speaker, please.

>> hello. thank you to the san francisco school board and dr matthews for the opportunity to speak tonight. my name is margaret riaz and i am a teacher in san francisco and i am an employee. i am here to officially request that the partners act in compliance with the education code form and evaluation committee. there is a need for staff members to have a committee to appeal when an employee believes that the evaluation process is being abused. the current grievance process is not serving the product -- the purpose. i can assure you the person makes rulings on grievances the director of labour relations and to the party director and a person in hr that i don't even know were all involved and blind cced during my 2016-2017 evaluation process. how can labour relations make a ruling on an evaluation grievance if she herself were

part of the evaluation? i am here to appeal to the board to allow staff members to have an outside labour advocate who is not part of the sfusd partnership. be a part of the evaluation process if that staff member chooses. i'm here to appeal to the board to make it mandatory for evaluators and administrators to sign evaluations under penalty of perjury. i also request that all administrators attend training and the board has been aware since december 262017 that told you that various groups are being evaluated differently. you have a never refuted that data or the e-mail or the whistleblower at letter. furthermore, the current code -- cochair as published successful notes from the playground where he makes multiple -- multiple references to female teachers and makes direct comments about women's age, years of teaching and body size, had

not-so-subtle, not so subtly implies these women have the ability to perform the classroom requirements are impeded by their age, years of service and body size. i hope the board will begin to demand that administrators model fair and honest inclusive practices, and i hope you will see that an evaluation committee is not only part of the law but also needed to. thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> hi my name is alison collins. i want to speak about charters in general. as we see tonight. this is becoming more of a regular profit. charters are coming into the district and their demanding space in our schools. while we have been learning about charters, what i have been learning is that they are taking public dollars but they're not doing the same things our schools are doing. do not held in the same requirements. i have learned that charters are

not required to offer free and reduced lunch. they don't have to report the students that are pushed out of their schools. they don't serve many of them, many of them don't serve newcomers, students with special needs, or homeless students. they don't have too high or credentialed teachers, and in many cases, they don't follow due process laws. for example,, in the bay area, there is data that shows 60% of students between their fifth grade year and their eighth grade year leave. that is 60% attrition rates. based on their own data they have a two-time higher suspension rate for black and brown students and a zero% expulsion rate. that makes no sense. and yet they refused to provide the district with data, explaining who their students are that are leaving their schools whether they are students to have learning needs or they are students with disabilities, or newcomers. i am standing up here to ask,

there is much more. i know the district is constrained by state law, but there is much more we can do as a district to hold all charters accountable or at least make it visible, the differences. we also know that not all charters operate this way. some charters have union and some make an effort to make it for special needs students. that is very opaque for many families. they believe that they are going to a public school and they may not know they are not guaranteed things they're getting. i encourage you to author legislation that will make that more visible for the community. thank you. >> next speaker, please. >> hello. thank you to the board of education for being here for so long. i wanted to thank you guys for the mission education centre. we did have a rally and a big fight to keep them out of mission education centre and keep the space for the newcomer

students. i want to thank the board members for helping to make that happen just happen and listening to parents. i want to honour you guys because i know you are listening to parents by the vote you just past. i want to also mention, i'm sure you have received the democratic county committee resolution on charger accountability. i am hoping you guys will consider passing something similar. the latino democratic has signed off on that yesterday. the mission democratic has signed off on it. and we also signed off on it. you should be getting those letters as well. i stand here before you as a proud public school graduates. there was a lot of controversy about people not being part of the community. i want to say, i graduate admission high. my husband works for the school district. my daughter graduated from independent studies, and my son works at philip burton, and he

graduated from john o'connell. my other son graduated from lincoln and i graduated from mission high school. we are here today because at the end of the board meeting you will be honouring my mother who passed away on may 20th and they wanted to thank you guys for doing that. she was somebody who was an advocate, as you see her daughter is and my family is all here today. they support all of these rallies that they do and it is something that they do like what a native san franciscan does. i don't want to let other people come to you guys and talk to people not being part of the community, because we are all part of the community and we stand in solidarity with all the schools that are facing gentrification. thank you. >> thank you. >> there were three -- >> my card. >> right.

okay. there were also three others. joanne abernathy, josh davidson, and rafael picasso. are any of you here? go ahead, please. >> and steve seltzer. i think that this issue of charter schools is it destroying education in san francisco and california. the school board is spending all of their time talking about charter schools. they're not talking about how to build the public schools. that is what is happening in every school district in california. the charter school chains are coming in and they are spending time on charter schools. which ones? overloading charter schools in poor african, american and latino communities. they are resegregating the schools. what is going on here in san francisco, is ethnic cleansing. the african-american community is being driven out of san francisco. they want to build condos. the region -- reasons a lot of students can't come to school is they are sick. they are sick from the shipyard. they have been poisoned. they are 50% asthma in the

community. that is one of the big reasons that kids don't show up in school and we have to deal with a health crisis that we are in. it is a healthcare emergency. that is something that the city is refusing to respond to. amy who it's with the county of san francisco are saying people are getting sick. because of stress. not because of real environmental problems. she has paid for... this issue of corruption, and you laugh about the city. it is a corrupt city. you covered up the fact that people were saying that is that -- that claims are being falsified. where is a charter school being caught in? malcolm x. who is supporting that? and then here tonight, talking about, you know, social justice.

and then you talk about putting a charter school at malcolm x academy? that is not social justice. that is attacking the african-american community, in my view. the question of bullying. you talk about social justice. there is an epidemic of bullying against city employees and teachers and staff. that is a health issue. this is not addressing that. is part of the bullying that is going on. it is a secret program. we are spending a million dollars in the last parcel tax on the part program. it has to be terminated and exposed. it is a correct cloak -- program bullying that teachers in the city of kent -- san francisco. >> that closes public comments. section g. we have three items on the first one. it is a motion, item one i need

a motion and a second on the word of contract for the purchase of strategically sorest mail delivery services between the district and revolution to superintendent. you have stephanie. >> yes. tonight, we are reading the item in making a presentation.

>> good evening superintendents and commissioners. the recommended action for this item is approval and award of the contract for student attrition -- nutrition services to purchase so tragically sourced and prepared meals from revolution foods for an amount not to exceed $12,971,685. i have a presentation to share and i can launch right into that if that is okay. student nutrition services division is to be a student centred equitable and financially stable food ecosystem that provides dignified meal experiences and engages all students in eating fresh food. that is what we are striving for. our goals are to build a strong school food culture and create

dignified built environments and nourished students with good food. every day we are focused on that. nourishing students with quality food. while at the same time innovating to strengthen s.f.u. slowly food ecosystem. we know that we are working on both fronts every day. over the last number of years, since 2012, we've seen a 20% increase in the number of meals served annually. 641,000 more meals and we were serving -- down we were serving in 2012. a majority of the meals, the majority of the increase is, you can see, with the expansion of summary meals and the rollout of suffered after supper programs and the expansion into breakfast. lunch is going down a bit. that is an area of focus. and another presentation we shared and discussed that with the board. a majority of the meals served

are purchased as prepared meals. eighty-five%. fifteen% of the meals are prepared by staff. and the contract with revolution foods, which we entered into in 2012, december 2012, it was a five-year contract with an opportunity for annual renewal. it expired with a maximum amount, not to exceed june 2018. for extensions. so we entered into a request for qualifications and pricing proposal for prepared meals and delivery services. we engaged in that process because we wanted to seek an opportunity to seek an award to the vendor whose proposal is the highest quality and the best value for sfusd. the proposal incorporated the good food policy, purchasing

policy, the wellness policy and the nutrition guidelines and the vision of the future dining experience, in order to help us determine what would constitute a response. they were released on october 30th, and november 8th was a deadline for question. november 13th we had a preproposal conference and we had taste testing is on december 12th and the 13th. on the proposals were due on december 28. the process for determining the best value score included looking at a number of different aspects. there were different qualification points. we evaluated the proposal based on the per meal delivery price and the total number of qualification points. therefore offer different points. one was the level of the vendor's overall commitment to the good food purchasing plan,

the other was the result of the community tasting panel. the third was experience and approach to the required services, both of the firm on the proposed team, in the fourth was the overall responsiveness to the requirements set forth in the rfq p. so the process was a team of evaluators first scored the qualification categories before even opening the enclosed bid form fee schedule. the best value score was determined by a formula where we took the total bid price per day and divided it by the qualifying points resulting in a unitech -- unified measure that came up with the best value score. the vendor with the lowest best value score was the lowest responsible bidder -- bitter. we received three proposals. one from revolution foods and one from elp which is a tribe

venture which was comprised of different companies. all vendors put forward a great effort and a high level of commitment to the vision of high nutrition standards. revolution foods was deemed the lowest responsible bidder with the best value score. i believe, in the board, they had a breakdown of the different categories gain the different attachments. the per meal prices under the new contract will be less than the per meal prices that we are paying today. in addition, revolution foods committed to meet all of the requirements to qualify as a level three good food purchaser. this is the highest level of commitment under the most recent

good food purchasing standards. just to share a bit about that, it was something that was sponsored by, and many of the commissioners here tonight, and the board unanimously adopted the purchasing program, and directed us to incorporate it into every request for proposals in contract. we did that. there are five different metrics. the values-based framework, that encourages large institutions to direct their buying power to core values. those are local economies, environmental sustainability, value to work for us, animal welfare and nutrition. this was a signature piece. i will try to talk about revolution foods. they work, in terms of being asked, about how they innovate and how they gather feedback from students in determining what meals they are ready to provide. they meet regularly with principles and staff to solicit

these back. they do taste test and focus groups and nutrition events to collect data on student preferences. they are very proactive about meeting with students to hear direct feedback including, and from the school food's advisory fellows. this graph is an illustration of the different processes that they go through to create kid inspired, chef crafted meals. and i know the evening is late, i won't go into detail on this, but it was to illustrate the commitment to the process of continuous improvement in terms of the quality and appeal of food. all new menu items are taste tested by staff and students. last year, this year the chef consulted with over 300 students in focus groups and surveys, and revolution foods plan school menus monthly.

revolution foods is committed to introducing two updated or new menu items per month. this is all in recognition of the fact there is a need for continuous improvement and we are constantly working to improve the meals that we make available to our students. [please standby for captioner switch]

>> welcome, mr. duffy. >> i'm bevan duffy. i'm a parent of a public school child who's been in our public

school system for seven years, and i want to thank miss marshall for letting us speak. i thought i had good relations on the school board, but none of you are smiling to see me tonight, so i'll just thank miss casco, who i have great admiration for. in my involvement in public schools, i've been very student focused. i'm not a great athlete, but i coached soccer fore two seasons. i read in the classroom every week when my child was a fifth grader, and for three school years, i volunteered every week in sensory motor. so i see kids, and i think the presentation -- and i have the utmost respect and admiration for miss o'keefe. i've got to say that the lack

of participation and the waste of food in our school is very concerning to me. and i would like to suggest and, you know, the data was described as saying there has been a reduction at lunch. and that's the most important time. i mean, kids come into school. they may or may not eat in the morning. that midday meal is hugely important. so i would say to you -- and my understanding is that e.l.p. came significantly higher in terms of taste. and i would say if there are creative ways to look at involving the competitor in this with maybe five or ten of the lowest participating schools in the district, why not give someone else an opportunity to come into the schools where students are not eating the meals that are placed before them and try something different? 'cause i can tell you, the bottom line is, this is a great presentation, but when you

stand in the lunch room, and you see how many kids are not eating and what their reaction is, i'm just telling you -- and there are a lot of people behind me. and i couldn't not make lunch for my kid because i knew my kid wouldn't eat anything that day. so i'm just asking to -- you know, there are things that seem unusual. i mean, this was a process that was done in the fall. we're in the middle of june, and it's coming here, so it's been delayed for quite sometime. i guess you're looking at a shorter contract which may be good and creates some incentive, but let's be creative. let's look at the schools that are struggling the most in terms of providing a nutritional foundation for our kids and try something different. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> good evening. my name is miss shackson.

every day we nourish our opportunities with quality lives that enables them to thrive inside and outside of the classroom, and we innovate to strengthen san francisco unified school district eco system. [inaudible] >> this is what is served at my kid's school. he's a seven-year-old, first grader. is this what they serve you? >> yes. >> how does this taste? [inaudible] >>. >> so he just said that this food is not tasty. it clearly is not healthy. this is what it looks like, and these kids are given these fruits and vegetables, brown and rotten, rotten, spoiled

milk on a daily basis. my kids rides the bus to his school to and from 45 minutes every day. my husband or i am waiting for my kid with food. after school, he's tired. he has no energy because he hasn't eaten, and this has gone on for the majority of the year. you guys need to make should changes and make -- some changes and make them now because if this goes on any longer, it's not fair. it's not right, and it's not fair, and our kids are suffering, period. >> what school did you say your son goes to? >> rooftop, rooftop, one of the best schools in san francisco, but this is what they're served, okay? [applause] >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> hi. my name is shabeka thomas. i'm also an alumni of san francisco unified school district. that was my nephew, but i have a lot of cousins involved in

the san francisco unified school district. i graduated. my point is the lunch for the kids is horrible. they don't eat it. the smell of it, that's -- that's your sense, you smell first before you even touch it, so if the smell is bad, what makes you think the kid going to eat it? and i think just take that into consideration when you're deciding healthy because there's healthy food that smell good, there is he healthy food that look good. when you're deciding on putting food into the schools for the kids, please, you smell it, you try it, and then serve it to our babies. [applause] >> yes, my name is vanessa jackson, and my problem is i work for the sheriff's department. did you look at that food?

did you guys see the picture of that food? i want you guys to see this. >> yeah, turn it around. >> here's what it looks like. he don't even want to look at it. he done pass -- he don't even want to look at it. he done pass -- look. that's not even recyclable food. i mean, seriously. i work -- i work at prisons, and that food looks exactly -- my granddaughter brought some carrots home that i think they maybe made in a chemist's lab. they couldn't burn it. you don't want them coming with cheetos and salami and cheese. the man just passed it right on

down. he don't even want to look at it. that's ridiculous for kids. when i was growing up, for .50, we got the butter cookies, the p popsicles, the tater tots. you making these kids eat stuff, i don't know what you talking about, the healthy foods, that's not healthy. i don't know. where's your pictures at. i'm from the hood. i know the difference between right and wrong, you didn't even come with no food. you didn't come with nothing for nobody to see nothing, smell nothing, taste nothing. you playing games with these people's lives. you know what i'm saying? this is just ridiculous. just because they say it's in the pipeline, don't sell them

the food before they get there. that makes no sense to me. you can look at me, but you know you trying to play games. these people ain't playing with you. we've been here since 6:00 until 10:00 for this, 6:00 until 10:00, and trying to get bribed with pizza and ice water, no thank you. no thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> hi. my name is mavis williams, and first of all, if that's the food that's coming from revolution, i say no to revolution. now, when i was going to school, we had lunches -- i mean, we couldn't wait until lunchtime. but now, my grand kids and my friend's grandchildren, none of those kids eat that food. it's disgusting. when you open it up, the bread is stale, the meat is discolored, the fruit is brown,

the milk is spoiled or outdated. what are those kids supposed to do? they can't function without a healthy meals. we send them to school with breakfast, but by lunchtime, that food is burned off, and they need food so their brain can function properly so they can get through their day and get their education the way it's meant to be. now with -- with the food that they're serving, i wouldn't even feed that to my dog. i've seen it, i've smelled it, but i darn sure wasn't going to taste it. so you need to -- to -- if that's the food that they're serving, then, you don't need to renew them, you need to get someone else to take care of this food. feed them something good, hot, healthy, and proper. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> hi. my name is kimberly cane. i'm from the bayview. i would like to say, this food

that you're feeding my grand baby, you know, i hear early in the morning, mom, i don't want to eat that. that food nasty. the milk, that's hot. i said really? it's not that bad. i went up to the school one day with my daughter and looked at that food. i said that is ridiculous. i he had is no-- said if you g would want to get some of that school lunch and try it and see if them kids is lying. it's bad. it don't make no sense. you want to know why the kids was cutting up in school? they ain't got nothing to eat, they ain't got no nutrition. >> hi. my name is vanessa white, and the food is ridiculous. they need to go back to the old fashioned way when i was going up.

the food was freshly cooked. the food was fresh, and it was good, the whole works. and it was fresh food every day. they'd fix it from the time we -- from the time 12:00 get there, lunchtime was ready. [inaudible] >> yep, on the premises. and they have a line, and it was good. [applause] >> hello. my name is stephanie leyvas. i worked this past year with healthy choices america, and i worked within the wellness center, and i can tell you that i would literally bring stuff from my own house to feed the students. a lot of the students would come in in the morning to have breakfast, they would come in after lunch to continue to ask for snacks because they wouldn't eat the school food because it was really disgusting. i'm going to share this with

you. and i -- i understand that you are here representing your company, but i'd like to show you what it really looks like, and i do see that you state here that you guys -- that san francisco staff does taste the food, but i highly doubt it. because it -- that if you notice the pictures, i notice you're trying to write down notes, but if you notice the pictures, there's two colors on that meat. it's gray and pink, so i just want to ask, like, if you were at a restaurant, would you really, like, pay for that, first of all? second of all, would you even eat it? i'm sure that anyone would return that food right away, as soon as you see it. [inaudible] >> oh, yeah, they have one. so basically, our -- we're wasting -- or spending money,

the city's tax dollars, on this food that the kids are not eating, and we're just wasting a lot of the food is thrown out, which is really sad. there's so many students and families not only within the united states, but outside of the united states that are hungry, and they need -- they want -- they need the food, and unfortunately, we're just wasting money and time on the food. thank you. >> thank you. i'm sorry. could you tell me your name again, please. >> stephanie leyvas. >> and just to be clear, miss o'keefe, is our staff, she's not revolution's staff. she's our staff. >> ken archer. when i heard about this review of this contract, it was inconceivable to me that we would move forward -- >> i'm sorry. if we could be respectful of the current speaker, thank you.

>> it was inconceivable to me that we would move forward with the same vendor. i mean, can -- what does this say to this vendor? can we really expect that revolution is going to improve? what we're essentially telling revolution is what they've provided for the last five years is acceptable going forward, and we need an admission from the board and from the staff that this is not acceptable. it's amazing that they were even allowed to bid on this contract. what we are telling students on free and reduced-price lunch and sf unified is they do not matter. when they come into school, at my school the lunchtime program is -- it's an embarrassing spectacle for my city, because the only students who have this food are the students who are poor, who are on free and reduced-price lunch. and so one of the things that

i've been sort of senseitized too is when we have poor students who are forced to self-identify as things that happen through the school address being poor. and this is one of those times. and it's really hard not to suspect that that is actually one of the things that is driving this decision is that we don't want kids who are not on free and reduced price lunch to opt into having this food because that would increase the number of meals that are served which would increase our costs, and it seems like keeping those costs low is the primary driver. it is embarrassing, and it is -- to talk about this as being a dignified meal experience? i mean, if you just come to rooftop's lunch, and you -- it is not dignified at all. it's insulting to these poor kids. any way, that's all i have to say. >> thank you. [applause] >> thank you. next speaker, please.

>> hi. my name is gail hart, and i used to work for the unified school district as a lunch room worker in 2000 to 2011. and the kids are -- if they want an apple, but they are required to get the whole lunch, and they will go and just put the lunch right in the garbage, just straight in the garbage and literally, i used to drag garbage bags of food. so this is a lot of money wasted, where you can try to partner up with the culinary school or something and make the meals on-site like it used to be, because it is a lot of money wasted. i mean, these kids are active because of hunger. you know, they not focusing because of hunger, and the majority of the low-income

communities have the worst part of the fruit and vegetables. so it -- if they are doing the testing, you need to have the real parents and the real kids where the food are being wasted in the majority areas and really try to just focus on getting this food right and really fresh on-site. [applause] >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> my name is mark. this is montel. >> my name's montel. >> my name is gary. >> and i go to the rooftop school. >> i go to booker t.

washington. >> i go to mission wharf academy. >> and booker t. washington. >> i feel that my school is -- it is nasty, and no one likes it at our school. people doesn't go up there, and they get home lunch if -- the day they don't like the food there. the food tastes like dog -- dog food, and i think it's disgusting, and all my friends that never goes up there, because they don't want the food. >> at my school, the food is -- tastes fake, and it doesn't taste real, and the first time i ever tried the food, i really

threw up. it tastes like yucky food. >> garbage. >> okay. do you have something to say, montel? >> i go to my after school, and the food that they give us is, like, horrible, and, like, it makes my stomach hurt. and then, like, when -- sometimes, when i'm just sitting with my friends, we just talk about how disgusting it is and that we don't like it. [applause] >> so my name is lakesha howard, and i am a parent to montel. i attends booker t. washington community service center. i also worked for booker t. washington for 18 years, so i am very familiar with the revolution food. they complain about it all the time.

they may take the apple, they may take the carrots, but they get the same thing every week. i do see they're trying to introduce two new foods every month. i just want to know where is the kids input into the meals that they're preparing for the kids and who's tasting the meals because they turn it down. i want to know who's doing the data or the research in regards to who's throwing away the food, so how do you know if they're really eating the food. they're calculating them through the line, they're dropping it in the box, and it's counted fore. it's counted because they're dropping it into a box, but it's not saying who actually ate the food. you're not supposed to take it off-site, but you're not supposed to. when they're saying oh, i'm taking it home, that's because they don't have feed or they're trying to take it home because they want a snack or maybe the apple and the carrots, whatever

the case may be, but they can't even take it home because it's not good. so my thing is if we can get healthier alternatives and have the kids' input, even in child development, have you to listen to it to build relationships and things like that, you have to have the kids input. smoothies, culanary school, something with the kids input so they can eat it and not throw it away. thank you. >> hi. my name is shirai, and i go to rooftop, and i've been there from k through 8. and i think revolution food is a waste of time. like, nobody eats it at our school, and everyone just -- everyone just goes through the line and never eats, and then, it's, like, a waste of food because everyone just throws it

away. and lots of kids just end up not eating, going out -- going throughout the day with no food because it's so nasty. and they refuse to eat the processed food. and i -- for me, if i don't eat all day, i can't concentrate -- concentrate right in school, so i feel like we need a new lunch system or something that can help us eat better. [applause] >> hi. my name is andrea phillips, and i attended rooftop school, but now, i attend f.s.a., and the difference that i saw between these two schools is that rooftop, it was -- the school was disgusting, and i didn't like the food, but at the school i am at right now, the food is cooked on-site, and it was very good, and you have an option to have a hot meal or you have an option to choose a

sandwich or a drink or fruit. and i am here to standup for children who don't eat revolution food because it looks nasty, smells nasty, and every time i smell or look at it, i want to throw up. something has to change. children can't leave on an empty stomach. thank you. [applause] >> hello, commissioners. my name is geraldine anderson. i stand with all parents concerned about the district's lunch program. in our schools and at home, we teach and learn about healthy eating habits, yet the district's menudoesn't align with food leaving children hungry. i think the district should rethink the menu, create a parent survey to be redistributed before school starts in the fall, confirming food preferences and/or ideas for breakfast and lunch and/or a big breakfast day once a month or once a week to

encourage early bird attendance, less tardiness, and more parent and community engagement in these events, invest in a dietitian, these ideas should be thoughtfully considered and implemented for the start of the 2018 school year. [applause] >> hi. my name is jessica fontenaeu, and my children attend rooftop. and i am here because several months ago my son came home and -- well, all of my kids, they're always complaining about the food line. so like the average parent, you give them tough love, and say eat it any way. you have no other can choice because i can't afford to go out and buy lunch for you every day. so when my son did, he said mom, i have something for you. he goes into his backpack, and

he pulls this out, and he said you eat it. and i said, i ain't eating that. so what i'm saying is this: i really feel like it's connected to the achievement gap, because a hungry child is not receive the education. they're hungry, they're irritated, they're frustrated. how can a child learn feeling hungry? kids aren't eating food at school because it doesn't taste good. scratch cooking with variety and diverse taste profiles is really key, not from frozen or secondhand. kids and their tastes should be the number one driver, so how about having kids highly involved in the selection process. she mentioned 300? how many schools do we have in the district? school food should really be

driven by the community, not the staff. please only extend this contract to revolution for a year, and begin a more, much more transparent process next year. revolution hasn't earned the right to continue to serve the city's kids, given its poor performance. let's start over with more of an open mind and consider new opportunities to serve better food to our children. they are spending and wasting city dollars, tax dollars on food that children are not eating, food that is being wasted. this money can be used for reus resources for schools that suffer from the achievement gap. revolution is getting paid billions and billions of dollars for unhealthy food that is being thrown away.

children cannot perform in class because they're hungry, and there are no other options. their families are low-income and poor. i have witnessed a whole program with their head down and refusing to eat the food as it gets thrown in the garbage. thank you. [applause] >> all right. thank you. all right. thank you, commissioners. commissioner sanchez and commissioner haney. >> thank you, miss o'keefe, do you have any response to the public comments? >> thank you, commissioner sanchez. i appreciate the opportunity. i'd like to thank all the families for coming out this evening to share their perspective.

we serve over 30,000 meals a day, and over 20,000 students a day are eating our school meals, and there are many different perspectives about that, and students from all different socioeconomic levels are eating our foods. i appreciate the perspective from rooftop today. there was a strong showing, and i will commit to following up with what's happening at rooftop -- >> okay. i'm sorry. so we're not going to have this kind of an engagement, so please allow her to answer or 1307bd respond to the comments. >> i agree with what i heard. i agree. school meals are incredible important to our students health and well-being and their academic out comes, and we're completely committed to that. and the vision and the goals and the mission that we're facing in the presentation, that's our northstar. that's what we're striving for. it's a massive undertaking to

transform school meals while providing school meals, and we're completely committed to that. so the importance of it, i couldn't agree here, and they are the values that are driving our work. there are -- there were questions about -- there were questions about so many things. i would love to be able to respond to all of them, but i can't. but i appreciate hearing their perspectives. i don't disagree with them at all that school meals are incredibly important, and we need to do more to make the meals more appealing to our schools. just acknowledge we heard from one students tonight and have a group of parents, and that there are over 20,000 students who are eating our school meals every day and have a variety of different experiences with those meals. >> one of the comments tonight that i heard is that the food's inedible and nasty.

when the contract was signed for revolution foods around seven years ago in the middle of the year, it was night and day. prior to revolution foods, the students were throwing away all their food every day, and it was a big complaint throughout the district, and that was one of the reasons why the district moved to revolution food. i always tell the story about the first day of school after winter break when i was monitoring fourth and fifth grade lunch, and one of the fifth graders asked me why the cafeteria was so quiet. and i said why, and he said because we're eating. but over time, after that, the quality of the food was diminishing. i personally didn't have the experience about warm milk or bad fruit or vegetables. that was consistently good all the way up until i left last year, but the quality of the main meal had diminished, and kids were throwing out their food. that's the story of cleveland, and that's the story of other

schools that i heard from other principals, as well. i think we need to address the quality of the food, we need to know that our kids are being nourished, and if not, we need to address it on a systemic basis. but it's a big issue, and i think we need to look at whether revolution food can meet the needs of our district. >> commissioner haney, vice president cooke, and then, commissioner walton. >> thank you, to everybody who came out tonight. i have a couple comments and questions. the first is when did we start contracting with revolution foods? >> it was in january of 2013, the board passed the resolution in 2012, december of 2012. >> so one concern, and i

expressed this in the budget committee, as well, we had an increase of 10% in the number of meals served annually, that's mostly in breakfast, where we've expanded our breakfast in the classroom program. we've seen a pretty devastating drop in the number of lunches that are being consumed. and i think that when we brought on revolution foods, the understanding -- 'cause we actually going to pay more than we were prior at the time was that we were going to makeup for that in part by having more students eat lunch, and it actually looks like we have about a 350,000 meals drop in the number of lunches that are being consumed. so my concern is i realize that, you know, they're doing taste tests and this's all these different ways it sounds like they're saying that they're doing a good job, but if we look at the actual out comes and the number of