bathroom with a friend and that friend was sweetly questioning why she was using the girl's bathroom and my child, because of her time at creative arts charter has been able to advocate for herself in bathroom choice. they jumped in not so much to support my kid, but the other child who is learning about bathroom choice and how children identify in their hearts and not in their bodies and their gender. so i also want to give a shutout to sfusd and the guidelines for teachers for lgbtq and gender diversity and how wonderful that has been for all kids. i appreciate charter that has adopted those in full -- adapted those in full partnership with sfusd. thank you for advocating for all kids in san francisco. happy birthday, commissioner collins. >> cheryl lee.

if you hear your name, please make your way to the podium. [reading of names] good evening, i'm xo executive director of the united administrator of san francisco. i come before you tonight to speak on behalf of principals. one of their tasks is to facilitate school change, especially those with underachieving african-american and latino students. they bear a huge responsibility. they gladly accept that

responsibility, but are often met with barriers within their school communities that hinder them from achieving that goal. often these barriers result in conflict within a school community. the most conflicts occur, it is imperative that a school community work together to resolve the issues. in the past couple of years, there has been increased theme judged and vilified in the court of public opinion with all the facts werenpresented. as a school board, we hope that there is an objective investigation. we respectfully request that principals be afforded that opportunity to tell their story. most would welcome the opportunity to have an open and honest conversation with you and showcase what is working in their school. shadow a principal for a day or a week so you can see what they do every day.

our members are hard-working, dedicated professionals committed to doing what is best for the school community. we invite you to visit our schools to see the innovative programs and practices principals are leading to address the needs of students and families. it's ironic i noticed on the district web page last month, there was a picture of dr. martin luther king, jr. with a caption, building social justice and kindness. this is a tenet that should be exercised not only for students, but teachers and principals. in closing we ask you to view each situation with objectivity, open-mindedness, kindness and respect. thank you. >> hello. i'm a product of sfusd.

i'm here with the support of a few students, a few parents, including my own parents. and i'm just here to get clarity as to why i was terminated from my position last school year. i was never given a reason. i can only guess it has to do with some sort of breach of policy, so i want to understand that a little bit more. no one has spoken to me, although i've reached out quite a few times. i have dedicated my entire adult life to youth work. i've been doing this since i was a teenager. i volunteered over a thousand hours at my former elementary school. so this is in my heart, this is my passion, that is what i love to do. and for the past nine months i've been processing this and i'm tapped into the community

and the efforts of the sfusd. i've had a chance to sit in the meetings of the alliance of black school educators. i've attended a couple of board meetings and i had the pleasure of attending yesterday's partnership network meeting where i was introduced to an amazing initiative to support young african-american students. i just don't that i it's possible when there are cases where young black educators are being treated like garbage. i think president collins said it the best, we're here for kids, so we need to find equitable solutions to problems, problems that have to do with restorative justice to best support our community.

i'm in the same body, looking for answers to questions. my main question is, i don't know if it's part of your policy. i haven't read the whole thing, but when it is okay to receive information from an outside entity and dismiss two african-american males who have dedicated their adult life. i've also had -- dedicated my adult life to working with kids in the city and other cities. summer programs. i've been a tutor. i've been after-school program. i've worked with schools during the day. when is it okay to dismiss those two african-americans based on information you got from an outside entity without doing any

research, without talking to anybody who was involved in the situation? and that's my question. thank you. >> hi, my name is forest page. two years ago i was an 8th grader in middle school. these two were counselors for me since 2013 when i was in 4th grade. they were probably the most favorite counselors in the whole school. they were the counselors that every kid wanted to play basketball with and get help with homework from. they have been great mentors at

my middle school and they've very important to many kids in middle school for support and to keep kids out of trouble. they dedicated many of their own hours to run sports programs with us on just -- yeah, just run sports programs. they always wanted the best for every kid, and i'm sure they wanted the best for every kid at the other schools they worked for after they were let go. so i would like to know why you let them go without any explanation? thank you. >> hi. i'm ryan, sophomore lowell high school. i've known both men since i was

in 3rd grade and i cannot express how much love and respect i have for them as human beings. i can only name a handful of people who have been greater or more influential in my life, what it meant to be tough, teaching me lay-ups in basketball, i cannot express how much these two changed my life. they've only wanted the best for kids, helping them to develop to be the best kids they can. they're always going the extra mile to help as many as they can, because that's the people they are deep down. oooh. laugh. i speak for the hundreds of kids they've mentored, talked, helped bring up, laugh with. they're great people and deserve to know why they were let go.

and, yeah, so i was wondering how can you let people go who have done so much for the community and meant so much to the kids? if you would just give them clarity, that would be great. thank you. >> hi, my name is dawn. i'm a parent of a student at clare lowen at all. i'm here to speak on behalf of these two men who have been the best thing about school for my son. they helped him through hard times. extremely professional. just amazing human beings, so i

hope they get clarification on why they were terminated. none of us understood why that happened. we'd like to know. i know one has gone on to be a family advocate and i can just imagine he'd be the best that sfusd has had. >> president cook: [reading of names.

>> i've been counselled by ter quinn and sampson since 6th grade. i went to claire lilienthal. they were probably the biggest mentors in my life. they were huge support to many students at claire lilienthal, no matter gender or race. they created free sports programs such as flag football, soccer and basketball programs. they scheduled and coordinated a 13-game basketball season providing uniforms and practice four days a week. that program was also free of cost. we went undefeated for the season. how can you -- how can one fire such a pivotal counselor with no justification? doesn't make sense.

we have to look at the young men and women they've helped. these two have gone out of pocket, shown up to sporting events for kids, visited families. for them to be let go, it doesn't make sense. i don't get why we have to come here just to figure out why we can't get an explanation. they were let go a year ago and yet we're here, we don't have an answer for that. as an african-american who just started working for the district, it's not good to see this.

we have to have parents write e-mails. i hope you guys do better going forward with this. thank you. >> hello. my name is marcus. and i've known tarquin and sampson since 5th grade. and i come from like the best neighborhood in the bayview. and i used to go to a lot of sporting events with tarquin and he used to help me get home after school. because i used to help him. he used to help me stay off the streets. and help me with my homework a lot, help me to pass so i can run track in the 8th grade. it's been a positive role model.

when i think of tarquin and sampson, i think of positive things. when he told me that he got fired from his job, i was shocked because i never thought that would ever happen. i recently went to a military camp last year in july. and tarquin was my mentor all five months until december. and he helped me a lot when i was down and he gave me a lot of coping skills on how i can be a better person in society. >> good evening. i'm a parent of marcus. i have known tarquin since my son was in the 5th grade. he's been a great mentor. he's a great asset to our

community, especially being of color, kids need that support. i don't understand why he was let go of his job with no explanation. that is discrimination. he has just been great all the way around. he used to go to all the meetings i had with my child, when my child was having issues. very supportive. carries himself respectfully and very professional. just -- just a great guy that everybody looks up to, all the children. i don't understand why he was let go. he was there for my child through everything that he's been through and now he's in the 11th grade and i don't understand why he was let go. i mean, like i cried when i found this out. it was just -- i couldn't stop thinking about it. why -- i don't understand why he was let go. no explanation. i want him to get his job back. he's a great, great leader in

our community and we need more leader like him. thank you very much. >> hi, i'm a parent from claire lilienthal. i'm here to support tarquin and sampson. i think the whole community was surprised when they were departing before the end of last semester. right as they had started a basketball team for the middle schoolers and they were disappointed when the team ended after a week. tarquin is the only reason i let my son go on an outdoor ed trip. i didn't trust any of the teachers, but when i heard that tarquin was going, i felt safe with my son going.

tarquin and sampson have attended family functions, where they helped out with the kids, 8th grade graduation party. that was on their own. they weren't paid. none of the other teachers that were invited showed up. they came to funerals for the kids in our class whose parents died. they're great people and i can't understand why they would be let go. it would be nice to know why. thank you. >> hi. my name is dennis page. i have two children that went through tarquin and sampson's tutelage. lucky enough to work with him. what a lot of people here are talking about, it's obvious, they're great people, trustworthy, but more so, i think specifically for my boys, they prepared them for being

outside in a sense. taking them on the bus. some of those soft skills you don't learn in school. eyes on the back of your head. what to really look out for. i think ryan pointed out what it means to be a little tough. you're not learning that in school. but you need that here. i trusted him with my boys. other teachers, i'm not so sure. inside the classroom, yes, but outside the school, no. as you look at the kids that are underprivileged in our school district, tarquin and sampson were able to represent them. another point not made, they were able to bridge that divide. so you have a diverse mix in our public school system, privileged, unprivileged. when you have some teachers like this that can bridge that divide so that each side can see where they're coming from, that is gold.

you can't get there. you don't get that by teaching, you get that from experience. it's a great loss they're not there anymore. it just kind of aches my heart to hear they're not there. i hope we get clarity, resolution. and hopefully change. and that they're back in the school district. thank you. >> president cook: [reading of names] this is my first school board meeting which means this topic is important to me. i met tarquin and sampson at claire lilienthal.

tarquin and sampson were always kind and considerate to my oldest son who was shy. but they encouraged him to keep active and was a positive force in his life. they were my younger son's coaches. tarquin is an excellent old-school coach, meaning, have respect, represent yourself, work hard. my younger son is a student and is confused why tarquin and sampson are no longer there. i am confused, too. they're remarkable coaches. i wish sfusd had 100 tarquins and sampson. they should be hired back and commended and at the least a proper explanation to their dismissal should be given to them and the community they

supported. our after-school programs and youth athletics are so important to working parents and the students. when we have proactive supportive youth counselors, we should hold onto them, support them, thank them, and not let them go for bureaucratic regions that do not fit in with the busy times we live in now. to speak to their character, young youth counselors, well they bought me flowers and a card for mother's day. to thank me for having such a nice child. this is who these young men are. their parents raised them right. >> the head of h.r. will, if you walk outside, they'll meet you outside to speak to you privately.

as soon as you can, go outside and he'll meet you out there. >> continue with public comment. julia martin. linda parker pinnington. dr. norris. alex jones. greg pinnington. pamela tate roger. ms. robinson. >> good evening. so my name is linda parker and my son is a junior at the school

of arts. and my job is to provide a little context for the people that are going to be speaking after me. and for the situation that we're in at soda right now. which we think is not -- although we're here in response to a specific incident, we don't feel it's an isolated incident. we feel it's a reflection of what is systemic conditions of racism in sfusd and it's interesting we're here tonight, based on everything that has come before us, which i think it's all interconnected. and you have a copy of the letter in front of you that we sent to dr. matthews yesterday morning. and so we're going to walk you through that in terms of context and what our requests are and personal testimonials of the conditions there. three weeks ago the head of soda's vocal department following a 4-month investigation by the school district which found she had

violated the nondiscrimination policy had her employment contract terminated. this decision resulted in the immediate dismissal from her role and triggered verbal and written retaliation by soda vocal students against two african-american students, who were believed to have bought the complaint and testified in the investigation. one african-american student was aggressively confronted by a white student in the hallway. this same student was accused of having gotten the teacher fired for no reason. the teacher waged a campaign saying she had been wrongfully terminated and seeking letters of support. so these are the following things that happened. i'm going to leave it there.

>> good evening. i'm a parent of a senior at societia. and also an alumna who graduated two years ago. my daughter is an activist, has a full ride scholarship to boston university. she was one of the students who helped to organize the board of ed event that several of you candidates were there. she helped to organize that. she is an advocate for equity in the district. and it is very important to her and because of that, she has made it public and so she became a target of racist attacks by not just students, but also parents who claim she was lying

when she claimed discrimination. and that is untenable. she has made equity, it's very important to her. it's very important to us. it's very important to our family and to our community. and she believes in it. and so one of the reasons why i'm here is because i want her to walk away from the school district understanding that the goals, equity goals of the school district are real. and that means that the work needs to be done from the central office in support of students that have been victims of discrimination and families that have been traumatized as a result of hostile racism in our district and in our community. thank you. >> hi. my name is alex jones.

i'm alumni of sfusd. i graduated from the school of art. i came back and is now the coordinator of outreach. i do a number of things, one of them is working on equipment for the school of the arts. so i just wanted to bring up the conversation with a staff member this morning when i got to campus. we were talking about some of the results about the auditions this year, which i can't disclose the specific numbers, but it was discussed the fact that we have put in a lot of time and energy and resources into trying to change our demographic structure at the sota, yet we're still finding in many cases, that groups of color are not showing up to auditions when they have applied. and despite our efforts to shift this, it persists.

so what came out of the conversation was a little, you know, bit of wisdom, which is that any system that is attempting -- that has racial equity issues and disparities that puts resources into those issues and sees no significant result is inherently racist. that being said, i think that it's important -- you're going to hear a lot about how to change this particular issue in this isolated event, that is not really isolated. but i would encourage you to consider the implication of racism on creativity in the school, and the district as a whole, it's important to throw as many resources into this as possible. both because it's right and also because it's smart. >> my name is greg.

i'm a parent student at ruth sota. we're recommending that they pay for the additional resources to support the students and families at ruth in dealing with this turbulent, emotional situation caused by the termination of this teacher. it's not fair for a school to use its limited sources. handling something like this, which nobody in our country can handle, let alone on a micro level like this, to pay for the services needed to address this, for african-american students and other colors, we'd like to

get help. we're requesting professionally facilitated meeting that includes superintendent matthews and the staff of office of inclusion and equity with the members of the student body and their families to discuss the ongoing racism that students encounter at ruth asawa sota and to find a path going forward for transforming our school. i noticed that bill, cappen hagen's name was mentioned up here. he was at the event where all the parents got together. and it was a lions den. not for the faint of heart. so what we're requesting could be a template for situations like this going forward as well. thank you.

>> i am the parent of a senior at ruth asawa sota. we would like to -- further recommend that sfusd create a series of one or two-day conference for students, teacher and staff to look at racism. the lack of privilege for some and lack of privilege for others. we'd like to explore cultural humility as a best practice when working with others in an educational setting and implicit bias that occurs in our classrooms. our children are constantly under attack with micro aggressions that are not being addressed and it's so subtle, half the time people don't even realize they're committing them. we further recommend that

students who attack and bully others must be counselled immediately, along with their parents. there must be consequences for this behavior. students are going to be students. but we must really, if we're saying we have a zero tolerance policy, we need to make sure it is a zero tolerance policy. the words that we hear in the district stance when we say things like the difference between hate speech and hate crime, it's a very, very thin line. and it causes irreparable harm and these students have been harmed. all parents need a better understanding of the sfusd's policies on confidentiality and zero tolerance. this is paramount. parents and teachers need to receive training and support on how to reinforce an anti-racist culture for the students as well as the faculty and staff at school. it is a jungle and we need help.

>> good evening, commissioners. my name is julia martin, first chair of the advisory committee for special education. i'm here tonight as a parent of a student at ruth asawa school of the arts. i have a sophomore at the school. the events that folks are speaking about tonight is something that really hit home for our family. ever since my son started attending this school, he has been experiencing and hearing and seeing all of these things that have been brought up tonight. it was not a surprise when we heard some of the things that had happened. as a parent who participate in inclusive meetings with other parents, we hear comments made to students, comments made to

parents that are discriminatory and racist. you know, we have seen the school really step up. we've been privileged to have cultural humility workshops led at the school, but those are voluntary. and a small percentage of parents show up. so are the people showing up at those meetings that really need to be there? or are they already open to looking at cultural humility? we need to look at as a district how to bring the ideas we talk about here in these rooms into reality for our students, so that they're not having a deal with micro aggression all the time. so they're feeling safe in their classroom. because unfortunately even though you may have people in administration talking about things, you may have great classes going on, if the environment at that school is still not supportive of all students, it's still a dangerous environment and we need to do

more and the school is asking for your help. thank you. >> good evening. i sit on the leadership team of the african-american parent -- >> i gave you a ride one day. >> one day. i got you. sorry, i'll get my giggles out. today, we stand in solidarity with sota and every other space in our district where african-american students are discriminated against and pushed out. year after year, aapac has come to the board of education informing you of the racism and discrimination and hostile environment that our kids and families have to navigate.

it's not enough to address the issues at the site, with no accountability being held in place. this is -- this is a systemic issue and a responsibility to address this issue -- this racism and oppress faced by students of color and students with special education services, belongs to everyone. we need to make this a priority and address it now. and be sure that our families are included at the table. i also do not have a chance to put in a comment card for the cap report, but outside of saying that it's a pleasure working with them, i also wanted to add as a family with a child who has iep, not only is she facing the racial discrimination as a black girl, but also a black girl with iep. and the mismanagement is real, the understaffing is real and

the number of those not compliant is real. we have a lot of work do. -- to do. >> miss robinson -- thank you. thank you for your service to the district. [reading of names]

>> i have one here from river of life that doesn't have a name on it. newly elected deputy superintendent, on behalf of aapac and the part of the leadership team, would like to wish everyone a happy black history month. the aapac is extremely happy with the board's support of black history month celebration within our schools. while we're happy with the increase in number of schools celebrating black history month, over the past few years, we would like the board's support in demanding that all schools acknowledge and celebrate black history and that tools are

>> good evening. i am the pastor of river of life, which is located at 1430 sunnyvale. it is a place where many of our young people attend vicitation

valley elementary and many of the people we minister to, the young people we minister to attend there as well. i'm here because i want to make sure if there is a vote taken to consider the principals' contract that -- that contract is renewed and her position is established as very important to our community. just being part of this meeting today, it's clear that this impact is treatment. our black young people, whether they be teachers or students are experiencing discrimination. and i've witnessed it myself. i saw in the principal's office as viz valley, the carpet where the kids filled the principal's

office. that is the black kids. and the waiting area filled with black kids who should have been in class, but instead were kicked out because of acting up or whatever. this is common. that there is so little tolerance for our children. in previous years -- i'm sorry, my understanding is that this year, under the current principal's administration, numbers are up, and i understand that, despite the allegations that have been levied against her, nobody visited the school, nobody visited her. real investigation has not occurred. so if she's terminated, it must be political and of course we all know who are at our forum when you spoke of equity and fairness and racial justice. these things do matter and we will remember when it comes reelection time.

>> good afternoon. i'm here on behalf of principal scott vicitation valley middle school. i went and took the paper so he can be at school because he tells me, mom, i can't be late for school. the school he went to last year, he didn't want to go to school. since he's been at vicitation valley, he wants to be at school. i said, lord in the name of -- let me know, should i spring

this on her now or has she been going through this? my mother's moto is don't leave me in the blind. i gave it to her and she said, yes, i heard somewhat of that. she tried not to cry, but she teared up. she said i don't have any support. i've tried to speak to these people. she had a meeting. two officers came. she invited all those teachers, all the parents. i guess it might have been about eight of us in the room. she had all her facts and figures that was on the paper she said she wrongly did. she came with black and white, laid it down there. plenty of them for everyone to see. everyone they alleged was false. the only issue there and i've been hearing it here, with every school, there may be bullying. that's been when i was a child. by the grace of god on the 22nd

i'll be 58 years old and by the way, happy birthday. i just want to let you know, she needs a fair hearing. her contract needs to be renewed. she is doing great things there. and i am there to help her. i volunteer there every day to make sure we have a thing -- we have it turned around. please consider doing what is right about mrs. scott. thank you. thank you, i'll be brief. again, happy birthday. and congratulations. i've had the opportunity of interacting at the middle school as a resource school officer i work. i've had the opportunity to interact with several principals in the bayview district. i've also had the opportunity to

interact with the same principal that ms. scott, that ms. shirley is mentioning. and i'd like to briefly talk about that. so i have to respond to the school for something that was confidential, it was sensitive, it was a with a child. i have to say that what i experienced -- again, i've experienced a lot of principals in that capacity with someone who was competent, someone who showed compassion for the youth that we're dealing with and it was something that was very serious. i can't say what it was, but someone that was knowledgeable about the procedures regarding sfusd and sfpd and we were able to handle this efficiently to get this child the services he needed for his safety. shortly after that, not from her, but from an outside source, i heard there may be peril due to the way that other parents

feel. and i just want to make sure that it was her, that my experience with her, and i think i'm qualified because i've worked with several other administrators, was that she knew what she was doing and was good for the school. thank you. >> my name is diane. i'm an employee at vicitation valley. i'm a mother. ms. scott has served vicitation valley for over a year and a half. she's been very focused and driven for all kids, not one group. a lot of the teachers over there, it's teachers that are scared to speak out on what is going on. my thing, i want to know what is your core value, because ms.

scott has proven she holds core values. ms. scott is not a bully at all. she is being attacked because of holding teachers and staff accountable for what is going on in her district. this is the first principal i've dealt with and i've been working in the district, my kids have been -- i've been in the district for 20 years. this is the first principal i see that puts the kids first and it's a god send, but as a parent watching her every day in and out, i don't understand why we can't have more principals like this that hold the teachers accountable. you guys hold her accountable for certain things. and i feel like she's a very good role model. you don't see any teachers bending over to tie kids' shoes. ms. scott does that. she wipes nose. she does not have enough staffing to support a lot of the

stuff that is going on. she's not respected as a principal. the teachers do not follow her lead over as viz valley. i'm nervous, but i feel like as a parent, i would put my kid over there next year if she's there, but i feel like she should be there because first and foremost, she put the kids first. it's not one group. it's multiple kids. if we're a diverse school, we need to show diversity right now. because it's not. we always go for one set of kids over at viz valley. and it's not -- i feel like our system right now, we're more segregated than anything in our district and it's not fair to our african-american and latino kids. we need ms. scott. that's my main thing. that's why i'm here. [applause]

>> [reading of names] she's not here. okay, so that concludes the general public comment. we're going to go back to the earlier portion of our agenda. do we have any appointments to advisory committees by board members? commissioner? >> vice president sanchez: yes, i'm appointing doris chen for lakeshore elementary. >> president cook: okay. we're going to -- >> i have an appointment. i'm appointing jenny sang to the peace cap. >> president cook: anyone else?

okay. so we're going to move item h. discussion of other educational issues, dr. matthews? >> superintendent matthews: that evening we'll have a presentation on the my brothers and sister keeper collaborative and presenting tonight will be executive director of the human rights commission, mr. davis. good evening. thank you for this time. i did have young people here earlier from the council, but i told them they could go home. i also want to take this time to acknowledge the last time i was here, theo miller was sitting with me. unfortunately, his father passed

this week, so he is out of town with his family. so just want to acknowledge him and the work he's been doing. he initially started the work and leading the effort, so he is sorry he couldn't be here with us tonight. really grateful, thank you, president cook for the invitation and the opportunity to present. i will try to move quickly through. the three things that i really want to highlight and i hope we will -- a lot of what has been said tonight, i do think if the commissioners and the district would leverage the work of the mbsk, we could be a lot of support. with the youth specifically, they've been at some of the schools. we'll talk about equity ambassador, they've been leading workshops and training and facilitating discussions around racism and discrimination.

we could be in the better partnership. working with our partners, road map mission to peace. working with black to the future. phoenix project, those are focused culturally and led by the different cultural groups, but they've asked for us to do more work in partnership with the district, in partnership with the police department and a lot of different agencies so they can hear directly from community. then also want to recognize and elevate the pork we've been doing around opportunities for all and working in partnership with the mayor's office. have been grateful, thank you, superintendent, for making the connection between eric rice and cte. we're hopeful and looks like we'll have a great partnership and that is already building out between the school district, workforce development and the mayor's new initiative.

what we really want to see us build on, the equity ambassador right now, we're in the third year at rooftop middle school. we went there initially because after the presidential election a few years back, there were increases in racial bias and the way that young people were treating each other. we went in there three years and one of the highlights of this work i think is to watch a young lady who is now in 8th grade who started that three years ago. just to see her talking about micro aggression and leading workshops with other students and taking the lead in that, is transformative, not just for r her, but the school. mary richards and her staff has been amazing. i think figuring out how to do more of that student-led work and to do that -- i know i

reached out to you before, president cook, about work at wallenberg and challenges we had with that, but where young people were taking the lead and doing that. we want do more of this work with the district. the collaborative culture which is again trying to build on the work pitch that the superintendent has laid out. the speaker series. we've talked with our different partners about having folks come in and lead workshops and conversations. the community wants do that in partnership and with these different lenses around gender identity or racial equity or even just demographics, things we've had, where we do have kids that are bused in from other neighborhoods and how they're seen just based on their neighborhood and not who they are. so there is the request to do more of that. the community engagement workshops where we've done that over the last few years.

we have had the partners we're working with ask for more of that and we would love to do more of that in partnership with the district and not in isolation. opportunities for all, i think that has been one of the best successes in terms of the partnership with the my brothers and sisters initiative. and with the district. there was hesitation about the career fair because we wanted to expedite it. the school district in the end was amazing, they brought in buses and young people. we saw over 900 kids that day, 493 of the students registered and signed up with us and we've been building on that partnership and we could not have done it without the collaboration. grateful to continue working with black star. the program, the first year, there were seven young people that after they finished black star came and got the paid intern ships and worked during

the summer. thanks year, they came back as well as another 30 students in the program. and this year we're looking at having 75 students who are paid before they do the black star stem program, 75 of those students would be paid for internships, so we want to continue to leverage that. black family day has bun one of the core -- been one of the bore partnerships. next month we'll do latino family day and we're working with partnership in collaborative to host one of those. the goal is to have a p.i. family day by the end of the year. we're grateful for that. i mentioned the youth council and the equity ambassador this year. i know some of you who are currently newly appointed had the opportunity to engage with the youth council at a forum that they organized and that

they facilitated the questions and answers at the african-american art and culture complex. again, that was their leadership. i loved watching them and telling people to stick to the question at hand. so again we were grateful to see the leadership develop and would love to think about how to do more partnering with the district around those types of opportunities. i mentioned earlier the equity ambassador program. so depth over coverage. the main thing i would say -- i heard this mentioned with the cac. i think one of the things we need to do a better job of, which mr. miller would want me to mention is the data collection and how we share information. for instance, we're three years in with black star. we can tell you how many of those people came back each year, we cannot tell you what the impact of the summer program is on their school year.

one of the challenges for me is if we're doing this program, if they're doing the academic portion and doing this other portion which is is supposed to incentivize them doing the academic portion, if there is no improvement in the academics, that means we need to do something right? what does it mean to be paying attention and following them in the school year? that is something i would love to do more with. i know that newly appointed superintendent, we talked about the literacy piece. again the challenge for me, i appreciate you're all willing to spend money and go out and find partnerships, but we actually, through the my brothers and sisters keeper initiative have a literacy program that we wouldn't charge you, that are working with families and after school and summer providers as well as the school. we would love to be more engaged in that programming and think about how we can partner,

because we're really focused on not pushing a program, but actually pushing an initiative that supports families and young people and getting to what that looks like to create it specifically for them, versus having them fit into a mold. i know some of you may have heard about the summit that is happening next week in oakland with the obama foundation. i will say one of the challenges has been that it is a national summit that is happening locally. and they want to make sure it's a national summit that is happening locally, which means we do not have the capacity to put all the people we would like to have in the space there. one of the things i stressed, want people to be participating with my brothers and sisters keeper initiative because they're committed to that and not because they want to be associated with the obama foundation. if people didn't know this was happening or coming until it was announced, then that means that youve