see everybody in february. >> thank you very much. >> thank you, everyone. january, is now called to order. roll call please. >> thank you. [roll call]

thank you. >> all right. thank you. thank you all for being here tonight. section a, general information, there's accessibility information for the public and teleconference information. there's none tonight. we have section b, approval of board minutes. we need a motion and a second. >> so moved >> second. >> any corrections? okay. seeing none, roll call. >> the board meeting minutes of january 14. speaker cards are necessary if you wish to address the board of education. an individual can complete a

speaker card prior to the item being called and present it to our executive assistant, to my right. members of the public have two minutes to address the board and or the time set by myself. importantly, according to board rules and procedures, speaker cards will not be accepted for an item already before the board. item number 2, superintendent's report. >> thank you, president cook. good evening, everyone. great to see you all out tonight. tomorrow is the seventh annual san francisco unified school district career pathways showcase. families, staff and students are invited to come out and celebrate the students of our district's career pathways. gives you the opportunity to check out student projects and learn how career pathways is preparing young talent to thrive in san francisco's workforce. career pathways addresses barriers so students have access to career exploration, practice and mastery of technical skills and early college course work.

in partnership with over 500 community and industry partners, we serve over 3700 students each year. from culinary to biotech, all 43 pathway programs cultivate critical thinking, technical literacy, public speaking and leadership skills. the showcase is from 5 to 7 at the palace hotel at 2 new montgomery street. all are welcome. the san francisco unified school district is developing a new student assignment system for elementary schools, and we want to hear from you. thank you to everyone who attended our first community workshop on january 16 at willie brown middle school. there are still 11 community workshops over the next month for you to give input that will help our district develop a new policy that better meets the needs of san francisco unified school district children and their families. food, childcare and interpretation is provided. the next community workshop is tomorrow from 5:30 to 8:00 at

support for families of children with disabilities, 1663 mission street, suite 700. go to our website, sfusd.edu/student assignment, and there you will be able to rsvp and get a full list of dates and locations for our community workshops. the superintendent's 21st cenchrea century -- century awards. we are now accepting applications. i encourage seniors to apply. it will be granted to six seniors who exemplify a strength in a characterrist of our profile. they will be honored at an event this spring. the scholarship is available to all students who, regardless of citizenship status, the deadline to apply is friday, february 28. go to san francisco -- sorry, go to sfusd.edu to learn more and

apply. and talk to your school counselor or principal if you have questions. this friday is thank a mentor day. and i want to express my gratitude each and every school district staff member and community member who takes the time to serve as mentors for our students. here in san francisco there are several great community organizations that recruit, train and support mentors who support our city's youth. we even have a mentoring program run by our district that is comprised mostly though not exclusively of san francisco unified school district employees who commit to mentoring a student. right now, around 700 district students are matched are mentors through our mentoring for success program. last week we honored ten outstanding mentors in an event sponsored by linked in. students say having a mentor helps them do better in school, makes them feel safe, makes them feel like they have someone they can depend on. thank you to every adult who goes above and beyond in service

of our students. although san francisco unified celebrates black history 365 days a year, 366 in a leap year, february is officially the month dedicated to honoring the contributions of african-americans in this country. from assemblies and schoolwide celebrations to classroom lessons and activities, films and videos, there are many ways to celebrate and learn about the contributions of african-americans. i'll be joining a read-in at carver elementary school this monday. we are gathering resources that will be made available to schools. i encourage staff and families to work with your school sites to ensure plan celebrations are planned and visible in the school. finally, on behalf of the san francisco unified school district, i want to wish everyone a healthy and prosperous year of the rat. [speaking chinese] and that concludes my

announcements. >> thank you for that. all right. we go to student delegate report. >> thank you. last night, the city received a presentation from parents for public schools. we provide student feedback providing last year's school climate survey and other input regarding support, climate and culture. our goal is to work on these issues, exploring new possibilities for resolutions and projects. we would like to thank miranda and teresa for their presentation and providing our student leaders the engagement opportunity to provide some focus group feedback. superintendents 21st century award provides a scholarship providing students for funding support for college. our goal is to circulate this

opportunity with the district student bodies to apply for this opportunity to highlight the superintendent's graduate profile area. we would like to thank superintendent matthews for continuing to make this opportunity available for sfusd students. and lara for once again bringing this award to their attention. lastly, our annual youth summit is approaching. this event hosted by the sac will bring our school sites together. we will have workshops, speakers, food and entertainment. our youth will be held on march 20 at the fort mason center. our goal is to inspire students to become student leaders, not just in their schools but in their communities. we would like to thank everyone who reached out to us regarding their support and student voice and offering to host a workshop at our summit. our next meeting will be held on february 10 at 5:00 p.m. in room 11 in the i lab. the scc is a public council, and

anyone is welcome to attend. if you would like to attend, make a presentation or would like a copy of our agenda, contact our supervisor mr. salvador. thank you. >> thank you. next item is a recognitions and resolutions of commendation. superintendent matthews. >> thank you, president sanchez. tonight, we have three recognitions. the first is a recognition of the lowell high school volleyball team. that will be followed by two rave award, araphia wards are when we recognize all of our valuable employees. beginning with the lowell high school volleyball team. tonight we are recognizing the lowell high school girls volleyball team. on november 23, 2019, the lowell cardinals became the first academic athletic association program to win a state volleyball championship. [applause]

the cardinals defeated number two seeded south pass de in a high school in four closely contested set. the cardinals have previously been tested in semi finals where they fell behind two sets to one to the number one seeded sacred heart prep, and it looked like their season might be coming to a close but the cardinals found the strength and the courage and wisdom and focus to rally for an amazing comeback and win and go to the state championship. and that helped them bring home the title to san francisco. we are also proud of their accomplishments. congratulations to coach kelly, assistant coach josh and the entire lowell squad for its fantastic championship season. congratulations, ladies. [applause] so what we would like to do is

bring forward coach kelly sung to say a few words. and then what we will do is have the team come forward into the well, and we'll take a picture with the team. coach sung. [off mic] >> hi, everyone. i was not prepared to speak tonight. didn't know that was going to happen. so just wanted to thank the lowell girl volleyball team for all the hard work you put in this season. i know that halfway through season, it gets really tough, having practice two hours a day, every day or five days a week. but i'm glad that you guys stuck through it and trusted the process. and i hope you guys enjoy it.

it's not every day you get to win a state title. i don't know if you recognize how special this is. so take it in, joy it and hopefully next season you guys can do it again. [laughter] [applause] >> commissioner lam? >> i just wanted to extend my congratulations to the entire team. i've known some of the players since you were all probably five years old. and it is such a joy to see your accomplishmens and your hard work and your grit and resilience that i know i've been following the team all season. and again, you are a model and example to girls' sports programming in general not only in the district but really an opportunity to really shine, the importance of girls' sports and sportsmanship for -- not throughout the state only but also the country. so congratulations. i'm very proud of you.

[applause] >> i'm going to ask the team to come forward now and come into the well with the coaches and board members. and we would like to get a picture of our championship team. [applause]

[applause] i want to also congratulate the girls team from lowell and recognize your hard work this past season in volleyball. and also i would like to say to the general public that i've said this at the last -- we've been winning a lot of championships in this district over the last three or four years. before that it was contradicts, we were not winning anything.

and it's not because of the work of this board or -- [laughter] -- or it didn't come about just because we were up here. it's because of all the hard work you did and the support of your teachers and coaches ask your families. but also there's a little thing called the public education enrichment fund that passed in 2004, which finally got the district to invest in its sports. slam which is sports libraries arts and music had been subtracted from schools because of prop 13. and with slam, we were able to reinvest in our sports. and now those funds, those resources and your hard work is paying off. and i've proposed that we actually attempt to make replicas of the trophies our teams are winning and put them in our lobby, because we are so proud of the work you are doing. and we want to brag. so, again, thank you very much. you probably don't want to stay

for the whole meeting. if you want to leave now or after the rave awards, we'll let you go. but, again, congratulations. superintendent matthews, next item. >> thank you, president sanchez. thank you. [applause] homework time. valuable employees rave awards. once a month we have the opportunity to recognize, we take the opportunity to recognize some of our valuable employees. we have two tonight. the first rave distinguished service award will be awarded to julia smith who was a teacher at rooftop, and this will be presented by her principal. we ask her to come forward.

>> it is with great pleasure and an honor as the principal of this school to announce this month's rave distinguished service award recipient, ms. julia smith. ms. smith wears so many hats at our school. she is a dedicated teacher of 12 years and is also a parent at our school for ten years. in addition to teaching, ms. smith is a dedicated member of our school site council, the instructional leadership team and african-american parent group. she was nominated by a colleague who had the following to say: ," ms. smith is someone who works hardenedlessly without saying much about it. i've never seen a person so genuinely dedicated to the success of each of her kids in the classroom. she connects with her students in her classroom, hands out handwritten notes to every kid

with a quick pick me up. one parent even said it goes right above my child's bed and stays with them every single day. i can attest they all share this sentiment. she floods the room with loving demeanor, excellence, and she's a really good singer. ms. smith is an inspiration to me. every student in sfusd deserves to have a teacher like ms. smith who is outstanding. every principal deserves a teacher and community member like julia smith. thank you for gifting us with your many talents and for your enduring belief that each and every child deserves a quality education. i love you, i'm so proud of you, and i think this day couldn't have come any earlier. and please don't leave our school. stay ten more years. [applause]

>> okay. for the at all person. thank you thank you for the kind words and recognition. it means a lot after 23 years with the school district. hard to believe that when i was 22 i was trustedd with my own classroom and 20 children to teach to read. so anyway, after all this time, it's really an honor to be recognized, and it's been, well, it was a lifelong dream to be a teacher. and so every day i feel lucky to get to work with amazing colleagues and teach amazing children who oftentimes teach me more than i'm teaching them. so anyway. thank you very much. [applause]

thank you. thank you. [applause] >> our next rave award winner is day, she is a librarian. and this will be presented to her from principal maurice harvard. [applause]

>> good evening. it is truly a pleasure to present this distinguished faculty member and mover and shaker in the civic center community. kay had been part of the district for a number of years. and so i know better than to try to -- she'll say that if she wants to say that. [laughter] but every day, she brings life to our community. every day she brings hopes and dreams to students and families. she is the core of what happens at civic center and has been the core of every school she has been at. she is truly a person that steps forward. and as i say, makes dreams come true. makes dreams come true for

teachers, makes possibilities really real for students. and there are no boundaries that she will not undertake to do for students and community. i'm just going to mention one. and i don't know if this one is legal. so i'm going to put this out. [laughter] all right. so there you go. we have a chicken coop already. but soon we will have chickens. and they are not to consume. but they are comfort animals and science possibilities. the eggs, we will eat. but the chickens we won't. but kay helped to reach the

dream that that could be possible, and that that could be possible in the city. and trusted students who aren't necessarily trusted sometimes to be responsible and to do the right thing, because she has faith in young people. and faith in teachers. so i am proud to bring this distinguished faculty member, because she touches every student at our school to the podium and recognize her for her distinguished service at civic center and many other sites throughout san francisco. [applause] >> two minutes, huh? first, i want to say thank you to mr. harper. every day he comes up with new ways to positively impact the

students that we work with. we already have a lot of great ideas, and then every day he's coming up by example and by sharing with us different things that we can do to work with the students that we have that are really delightful. so i'm a librarian, so you know i had to bring books. yesterday was the y.m.a. awards. 20 different awards for k-12 books. this is the very first year they had american indian titles getting awards as a separate group. [applause] so they had honor books and then award winner for picture book, elementary and high school. this is the middle schoolbook. it's a story, in 1957, of the termination of tribes, done by

the federal government. the tribes no longer existed. when they announced the ward, they not only announced the title and author, but each author in parentheses it included the nation they came from, which was really a wonderful touch. the other book, and if you have librarians, you already know, kwame alexander and nelson. this book is the caldecott winner this year, which is the highest award for a picture book. but you know alexander and nelson can't stop there. it's a newberry honor book. and it's the coretta scott king winer for illustrator. so he started a poem when his daughter was born. and it's a poem and then illustrations about many things, about the history and the culture of undefeated people. okay. that's enough.

i could have brought more but i'm not going to bring more. i wanted to say a couple things, and i'm glad he brought this up. i'm a librarian, so i have never seen the value of testing. i've never seen how it makes kids smarter or more interesting or clever or creative. and i also work with young teachers that have to pass -- have to pass some tests in order to be qualified to teach. and i'm like, who is making money on this? i would like to see the money that goes into all the testing first of all, there's wonderful scholarships. why have six? why not have 60 or more? and the other thing is i would like to see they have art and lie prayers at every school. why not? full time music, theater drama, and visual arts at every school. [applause]

at least one full time librarian at every school. [applause] because if they bring a full-time librarian at the school, you probably would have heard about these. i want to say one last thing. a book is a gift you can open again and again. thank you. [cheering] [applause] thank you.

>> i took everything she said to heart. [laughter] i'm with her 100 percent. kay is a hero of mine. okay. section c, public comment on nonagendized items. this is the protocol for public comment. please note public comment is an opportunity for the board to hear from the community on matters within the board's jurisdiction. we ask that you refrain from using employees and students names. if you have a complaint about a district employee, you may submit it to the employee supervisor in accordance with district policy. as a reminder, board rules and california law don't allow us to respond to comments or attempt to answer questions during the public comment time. if appropriate, the superintendent will ask that staff follow up with the speakers.

section d is advisory committee reports and appointments. we have a report from the migrant education program. [off mic] oh, sorry. i'm sorry. there's something missing from the agenda. that's why. so there are before you do this, we will do that, which is the three comments or public comments. so if i call your name, you have two minutes each. dr. gordon. megan calusa and pete. you have two minutes each, those three people, and then we will go to the migrant ed program.

so the three people that i just called. >> my name is dr. gordon. i'm a board certified family medicine physician who has worked in california for 40 years. it's no secret the navy contaminated treasure island with nuclear radiation for decades. based on the extent of the radiation contamination already discovered, the entire island must be assumed to be contaminated. the world has long known about the dangers of radiation. some examples are death and cancer from nuclear bombs exploding in hiroshima, growth defects born to babies who were given x-rays when pregnant, the high rate of cancer in nuclear

plant workers, the death from the nuclear explosion in cher nobodily. radiation causes genetic mutations, defects and cancers. radiation is dangerous to life, especially to children and pregnant women who are much more sensitive to radiation damage. since 1980, the incidence of cancer in children has been increasing at 3 percent every year in the united states. the center for disease control, cdc, documents a steady rise in childhood leukemia and brain cancer from 1999 through 2010. our children do not need more radiation in their environments. the bulletin of the atomic scientist reported that in 2014, ronald, chief of the state public health department's emergency restoration of waste management section, has escalated his agency's campaign to make the navy come clean

about its radioactive past. quote, there has been no credible effort made to gather evidence to determine whether those radioactive materials were present or not. a precautionary approach to our children's health and wellbeing must be as follows. we must absolutely be certain that the entire island, every square foot, is free of all contamination, that testing must be done by an independent and reputable organization with transparent public results, until then, no schools for children should be built on treasure island. thank you. [applause] >> i would prefer to speak on h which i put on my card. my name was called for open public comment but i would prefer to speak on h. thank you.

>> steve. >> my name is steve. i'm with united public workers for action. i think everyone here may have seen in the san francisco chronicle it had a story last week about a lawsuit of families and parents and others who at treasure island, they were contaminated. treasure island used to be a u.s. navy testing area. a lot of radioactive material was shred throughout the island, it's still there. and there's a charter school that is trying to get established at the old treasure island elementary school. and they are applying to treasure island development authority. we believe that we should not put the children in harm at that elementary school. the children were getting sick because of the contaminants.

i think that children deserve a safe place to be in the school. and unfortunately, children have been already contaminated by being at treasure island. so we are asking the school board to reject any additional charter. there is another charter already at treasure island. and one of the problems is under prop 39, charter schools are deregular nateed as far as the field -- deregulated, which requires they be compliant. that means charter school kids have less protection as to where schools are going to be. and we believe that that area has to be investigated. families and children have been there have suffered. and most of them are african-american, latino, have suffered for decades. and they were told that there was aid yo active material there. so they were put there, a lot of poor people and poor

working-class people were put there without being told it was a danger. additionally, workers who are working there in the program, the youth corps program have been contaminated. and they were not informed it was a dump site. so we think you need to take this seriously, and you should reject any charter on treasure island. thank you. [applause] >> thank you for public comment. sorry about that delay. please introduce yourself for the record.

>> [speaking spanish] >> [speaking spanish] [applause] >> good evening or i should say yes, good evening my name is teresa and i'm here with my colleague, my name is lisa

garcia, i'm a mother of two. and i'm here along with her representing the migrant student program. and we have some families that just stood up that are also part of this program. >> good evening. my name is brenda. i work with the migrant education program. i am the high school mentor. but a jack-of-all-trades. we are awe small team but very powerful. we want to support the student, the families and every day is very different, but we are excited to share our program with each and every one of you. >> [speaking spanish]

>> so basically, we are here to talk about the migrant education program. and this started back in the time of cesar shaves, during the late '60s when there was research done to look at the needs of migrant students. and they realized there was a huge need. so they needed to provide resources to support these students and their families. >> [speaking spanish]

>> the mission and purpose of the program is advocacy and outreach, including health and wellness, academic support and enrichment during the school year and summer, family development, support in the transition for high school students to post-secondary education and employment as well as professional development for the migrant education program staff. >> [speaking spanish]

>> in order to qualify, a child has to be between the ages of three, up to 22 that has not graduated high school or they are the child of either a parent or a legal guardian who is a migrant worker who works either in the fields, on farms or in the fishing industry. >> [speaking spanish]

>> that child and their family must have either moved in the last 36 months to obtain either seasonal, temporary or temporary employment in agriculture or fishing, and they've moved from one school district to another. >> [speaking spanish] >> basically, this is the application that parents have to fill out and then staff determines whether they qualify

or not. sometimes they don't necessarily qualify if they don't meet all the requirements. >> [speaking spanish] >> [speaking spanish] >> the services we provide for

families, one is early education, and that includes workshops for parents, pre-k instruction at home and summer school. >> [speaking spanish] >> the next service that they provide is for k through eighth grade, and that includes academic intervention, enrichment, opportunities, they are provided with summer school, and there's monitoring on how they are doing with their classes and their grades. >> [speaking spanish]

>> and then services for fourth through 12th grade include counseling, monitoring their academic progress and behavior, there's also field trips, educational field trips, help with taking classes to help students gain confidence and become school leaders, there's workshop on workshops on college and career readiness, but also motivating them. and there are workshops for professional development and financial aid, and depending if students need additional services, those are also evaluated. >> [speaking spanish]

>> and the program also provides services for students between the ages of 14 and 22, depending on their specific situation, they are provided with information and connected to agencies that can help with their specific needs, whether those be community or educational agencies. >> [speaking spanish]

>> and this next slide shows some additional services that are really important, including social services and physical and mental health services. and these are really important for the wellbeing of a student so that they can learn and develop. and these are typically provided along with another organization.

>> the other service that's provided is parent support. they are provided with facilitating advisory committees. we also try to motivate their continued participation in the program, they are provided with leadership workshops and support in academic skills. >> [speaking spanish]

>> the other service that's provided is identifying students that are having difficulties and helping them with what's required for them to remain in school and with social services. >> [speaking spanish]

>> this next slide shows two pictures of some parent workshops that were done. and these discuss the process and the steps that students need to take in order to be able to apply for college and scholarships. and as you can see, there's parents and several students at these. >> [speaking spanish] -

- >> so these next two on the left-hand side is a summer school program that is students participate in each year. and that's at mission science. on the right-hand side is a workshop for parents. it's one of several classes offered to parents. >> [speaking spanish] -

>> some of the successes we've had at the migrant education program have been that our students receive regular academic intervention during the regular school year and summer, and they also receive mentoring or counseling. >> [speaking spanish] - [please stand b

pleases [speaking spanish] . [speaking spanish]

>> translator: and we've also received other good news which is that the program has received more money, so that they are able to help out more families and students and be able to have a great staff to continue doing that. [speaking spanish] >> translator: there is also more counseling for parents.

[speaking spanish] >> translator: and also there has been continued programs, home-based programs for small children and we've continued collaborating with access and equity teams. [speaking spanish]

. >> translator: and among the challenges and priorities for our programs, one of the main challenges is language, a lot of our families don't speak english or the school staff may not be

spanish-speaking and that's a huge barrier because they're unable to communicate important situations to the school. some of our families go to the school and may not feel very comfortable. they don't understand the culture, especially because they're newcomers, some of them, and sometimes the schools don't necessarily understand their culture as well. [speaking spanish]

>> translator: another challenge that we have is that some of our -- especially newcomer families might be homeless either because they're newcomers or they're trying to get out of a dangerous living situation and

they may end up staying in shelters or find somewhere they can be with their children. some of them have lost their jobs or aren't working, so they need help in being able to pay rent and feed their children and find a safe place to live. and it's complicated because sometimes some of our families don't speak spanish or they may not even write, and so it becomes complicated for them to ask for services because they often their languages are not understood. [speaking spanish]

>> translator: and another really important thing that really worries us is making sure that the program has enough money, enough funds to continue supporting families, especially in the emotional aspects. a lot of times this keeps students from being able to learn and to advance. and their families also won't

feel comfortable. so the emotional support is really important so that we continue supporting them and also to continue helping parents learn english and care for their children. [speaking spanish] >> thank you for the presentation. there is no public speakers on this item, so i'll open it up to commissioners. >> thank you for the presentation. i wanted to ask, how students qualify for -- >> if you see in the packet, there is a breakdown of students. >> 165. -- 155. >> oh, there it is. thank you.

and i'm going to study this. thank you. [laughter] >> i'm curious if we've seen any trends with our migrant student population over the last couple of years? >> it's harder to qualify families, so it's harder to find the families among the school district, but they do exist, they are there and we work diligently with our parent liaisons in order to identify the families. the secretaries are also a really good source because they

know the families from the get-go, so we try to make those relationships at the beginning and throughout the whole year in order to find the families. our families usually travel during the summer to do the migratory work. the children do not do the work, but the families do. >> i'd like this add. hello, everybody. i'm supporting this team and the parents. one trend that really is obvious to us, more so now than ever before, is the trauma that students and families have incurred over crossing the border, being separated at times, reunited, moving, coming back. so that is probably one of the most egregious ones that we see, that is really difficult for our team to support. and so for that, we're seeking additional funds. we did write a grant recently for another project but we're

looking to write an additional grant to bring on an m.f.t. to help us with the students and the families. >> very good. yes. thank you. my son is mexican. and italian. but um -- we can talk about it later. [laughter] but thank you. i was curious, so i'm a social worker and i do crisis work and i did just see a client who was part of this population. and the issues around trauma and, you know, the transition coming from -- where folks are coming from is very brutal. and you know, i just think it doesn't really get the attention

it needs, right? so like some of these kids are like, you know, they're very young. we're talking about elementary school kids. i'm saying this because we do need more social, emotional, mental health services in this area. so one of my questions that i have to look at the sheet first, was what does the community liaison do for the program? i know there is 2.5 full-time staff. what is their hand in -- >> we connect with the families. we connect the families to cbos, we try to connect them to social workers, try to put a face to the person. have them really communicate and get involved in the schools. it takes hand-holding in the beginning because they're very intimidated. they're walking into a brand new country, don't know the language, don't know the system,

don't know how it works. what we do is really connect them to cbos, these ladies back here are really connected in the community. tav been part of this -- they've been part of the program for over 20 years. it's amazing to work with them because they're really connected. we try to at least hand-hold in the beginning and motivate them to can for help and where to go to ask for help. we bring them downtown, to the schools, to the social workers, to the parent liaisons to meet the principal to put a face to the person. >> thank you. and then what has been your experience with linking families with services? is it a struggle? are we actually able to connect families and students to social workers, services? >> we are successful. we are very successful in connecting them. if it does not happen at the school site, we connect them outsourced cbos.

often times it's the language barrier because maybe the social worker does not speak spanish so we need to find a translator on campus. initially, it's first getting over the fear, the barrier. once they realize that, they get going. >> i'm happy. you sound confident about it. that's a good thing. >> i also work -- i'm the part-time, but i work full-time at general hospital. so i connect my families to the services at general. and i make sure they're being served. >> thank you, i appreciate that. then my last follow-up. can we talk about -- it's like we're trying to get a m.f.t. on board? >> right. >> is that an m.f.t. contracted? internal? can you talk about what that position is going to do? >> we're excited about this because we had a former liaison

who worked for us and she got her events degree and became an m.f.t. and now she has a private practice. before she was like brenda and grew up and became an m.f.t. we're excited to contract with her, because she knows the families and it's her specialty to work with families and children in the school district. >> thank you, appreciate the work. >> ms. lam: sorry, one additional follow-up around the reunification of families. i feel it's important as a district we understand the experiences that our students and families are facing and the deep trauma and healing that has to occur. and i understand about the importance of keeping our families safe and confidential, and at the same time, i think it's critical that we shed more

light in that visibility around the reunification of our families and really beyond this district as a city and county. like what is the work that is needed to ensure that we are providing the best supports for our students and families. so i'd like to hear either as a follow-up, or any initial thoughts around how we ensure that we, again, have more visibility to the experience of reunification. >> listening to the families. i mean, they walk in through these doors. we want them to feel welcome. we want them to feel heard. so it's important to find someone at the front of the door that welcomes them and they feel welcome initially. our job is really to do that. to really reassure them that the system they're walking into is a system that is supportive, accepting and a system that is attempting to understand even a slight sliver of what they've been through, because we're all

very fortunate to be sitting here and have the positions we all have. and the opportunities that we have. these families come from nothing. they're coming from nothing and they're coming into a country with nothing. so really understanding and taking our position with stride and really trying to understand them is really, really important. we take our job, every day is different. every day we walk into the office not knowing what kind of situation we'll be facing. what type of family will be -- we'll be helping be fed or clothed. so it's really something we strive to do and bring light to. when we present to the board and you all and go into a school district or a school, we try to bring these stories forward. >> vice president sanchez: [speaking spanish]

i think what i really want to share -- i have a few questions, but really just you exude how important it is to build relationships with your families and the success of your program is in part because of that, i'm sure. so i just feel like we can replicate this and use it as a model and guide to ensure that we continue to put people first. and keep those relationships intact. so you know, a question that i had is how are families made aware of this program so they have access to the services? i know you mentioned earlier a lot of it has to do with trust. so do you have a set way of sharing that information? or is it through the different circles that you have? >> well, it's -- so in order to

create that trust, we really let them know they're welcome into the safe space. our office is basically a little house, with a little kitchen for the little babies to play in. they're fully welcomed. and i'm also going to have my worker speak about this. >> hello. i'm the recruiter. i'm here for 22 years. it's hard. i have to visit every school, every store, to provide all the brochures. i talk with the principals. mark knows me well. and secretaries and parent liaisons. i try to give the flyer everywhere, everywhere. i've tried to go different schools, charters, private,

public, to find families but now it's hard because the federal program is closing. it's closing. i can do the recruitment. before everything family qualified, now the families have to work right here in the united states. but the immigration laws is very rude with the families. and that's the story. yes, every day is different. >> vice president sanchez: thank you. did you find there is capacity in your program that all the spaces aren't filled for that reason? >> we have space for whomever can qualify. we welcome every single family. unfortunately, because of the lack of migratory mom movement because of the fear of getting

ice in these places, they're not traveling. and that means they're losing extra money they could be getting. right? but we welcome each and every student that can qualify. our doors will never be closed. our program will never have a cap. >> vice president sanchez: i would love to know how to share this with the families i'm close to and even my organization that i believe is one of the cbos you work with to spread that. >> we love to present. we're not afraid for presentation. we show up with flyers and enthusiasm. we'll be there. >> vice president sanchez: do you have a list of the cbos that you work with? >> yes. >> vice president sanchez: if you can share that. >> thank you again for the presentation. one question. how does your organization or m.e.p. intersects with e.p.c.? >> that's great question.

e.p.c. is the first center that our families visit. and so we host training for e.p.c. employees to help them understand their program, help them understand the qualifications. we give out the flyer. every year they have -- e.p.c. has tons of flyers for the families. sometimes there are families that qualify that come out of e.p.c. because we have a good connection with them and we try to train them in the program. our program has been going through changes because of the federal law, so every time we come in, we may come in with a twist, but we always try to hold trainings for them to be the most up to date for the program so our families are aware we exist. >> out of the 165 students in the program, how many are coming through the screening process would you say? >> very little. very few. most of them are coming from the leg work of the team.

of the lists of the newcomer list, we call all the newcomer families. on the phone, one on one. bianca does a great job getting the lists. if you look for the families, they're there. >> if you had to hazard a guess, how many more students would you say are out there? >> i would say -- >> that would qualify if they knew of the process? >> a lot of them. they have friends that are part of the school district, but they're afraid. they don't even want the secretary to know they work in the field, let alone, their children's friends to know. so it's become really difficult because it's the stigma they're afraid of. >> thank you. >> thank you very much for your time. [applause] oh, i'm sorry.

my bad. >> [speaking spanish] [speaking spanish] .

>> we're in mission high school, 101. >> i had a feeling, yeah. >> you probably have seen a lot of students come in through the doors. >> our office is on the first floor. >> there you go, teas where they are. -- that's where they are. we're a very attractive all the. we ask you to come visit our home. it's more than an office. thank you. [applause]