>> the regular meeting of the board of education of the san francisco unified school district for august 24, 2021 is now called to order. roll call, please. >> clerk: thank you. [roll call]

>> clerk: thank you very much, and welcome. >> welcome, everyone, to tonight's meeting. i want to welcome this year's student delegates who are here for their first meeting, reminding us why we are here. we are excited to continue the work we are doing regarding in-person learning and student safety. i have been hearing from a lot of families and have been having thoughtful conversations about ways we can ensure safety while learning and decrease the amount of interrupted

instructions. we hear your concerns. we are listening to parents, and staff, and students and want to ensure we deliver the highest forms of safety while learning for everyone. a resolution regarding covid is forthcoming. >> thank you, president lopez. i just want to say that as we know, there's been a lot of intense pressure to balance the needing of getting kids back to school and also trying to ensure adequate safety measures, and it's sometimes difficult to balance all of that at once. we will be getting air purefiers in classrooms. next, there are other issues we must continue to focus on and prioritize so we can remain in school and continue this recovery. at many times during this year, it's felt like whack-a-mole,

but we need to continue. implementation of our particular district safety plan regarding air purefiers is just one part of a larger role. what parents need is a comprehensive written road map concerning indoor air quality, support for students around covid, and learning options for students who cannot attend school because of covid issues. our intent is to heighten the focus and specifically key collaborations that we need to take with time frames. once the plan is posted, i look

forward to hearing from community members about your feedback and input so that together we can create a road map to ensure that each and every student in sfusd has a learning road map. thank you. >> thank you. and with that, our meeting will begin. item a, general information. b, land acknowledgement. we, the san francisco unified school district acknowledge that we are on the homeland of the ancestral ramaytush ohlone who have never ceded, lost, nor forgotten their responsibilities as the care cakers of this place -- caretakers of this place. as guests, we recognize that we benefit from living and working

on their traditional homeland. item 2, approval of board minutes. there's no approval today. item 3, superintendent's report. >> thank you, president lopez. good evening, everyone. great to have you with us. one of my most joyful moments in recent memory is the joy in welcoming students back on this first day of school, this year especially. the laughter, the excitement of young scholars echoed through the streets of san francisco. this is a moment to celebrate. we also know that students are coming into this school year with a lot of unknowns. every single child entering our schools is arriving ready to be

welcomed. what an immense and humbling honor we have some exceeding their expectations. over the summer, the san francisco unified school district staff worked together to create lesson plans and resources to create launching the year with the threat of shared common principles across common areas and grade levels. we aim to provide coherence so students can feel safe, valued, and celebrated as we return to in-person learning. we are asking students and teachers to identify students' strengths and have students self-report on goal setting and progress and have students

identify how we can help them reach those goals. no matter what subject your child is learning, whether math, science, art, or health, relationship building will be enhanced in their lessons. ask them about it at the end of their school day. during the 2021 school year, the san francisco unified school district reached the families of more than 47,000 students through family wellness check-in. in addition, our district supported student mental health through social emotional learning activities, provided meal drop offs, provided a hub for students to being assess support services and resources, provided virtual student support sessions, and offered phone interpretation services to connect with families whose

primary language is not english. given the success of these efforts during the pandemic, the san francisco unified school district staff will continue to support students with such programs, and we will continue to use family wellness check ins to build strong relationships with students and families. on saturday, september 18, at 1:00 p.m., sfmta's youth transportation advisory board will host a youth town hall both virtually and in person. the youth town hall will cover a range of transportation related topics that cover youth and their communities. [inaudible] to submit their art for inclusion in sfmta's first budget guide. art pieces should reflect the

young artist transportation experience. for example, depicting a favorite stop, transit line, or destination. art submissions are due by 11:59 p.m. on thursday, september 16. and finally, every thursday, families who have included their e-mail address in parent view will receive the parent announcement bulletin, an e-mail summary of all public website announcements posted in the last week. learn how to update your topic information in parent view. interested community members can also sign up to receive the family announcement bulletin. the first issue of the family announcement bulletin will be sent -- or was sent on august 12. thank you, president lopez, thank you, board members. that ends my announcements for this evening. >> great. thank you. item 4 is our student

delegates' report, and as mentioned earlier, we want to give a special welcome to our new student delegates and notice this evening our dais as a symbol and reminder to us all to keep our students at the center. welcome. >> thank you, president lopez. to start off our s.a.c. business discussion, we will begin with a status update as we recruit new representatives to serve on the student advisory council for the 2021-22 school year. we currently have the next s.a.c. meeting scheduled for thursday, august 30, on zoom and expect around 30 representatives to be in attendance. >> we are still looking for representatives from several high schools. students, if you are interested, please apply. serving on the s.a.c. is a great way to get involved in

your community and represent your fellow students. if you know of anyone that would be a great fit, please recommend them. thank you, president lopez and board members. that concludes our report. >> okay. thank you. and if there's any other comments or remarks that you want to make or share about the school that you go to, now is your opportunity to do so. >> i can start. my name is agnes. i will be one of the two student delegates this year, and i attend mission high school as a senior. >> good evening. my name is johanna lamb. i attend [inaudible] high school, and i will be the other student delegate for the 2021-22 school year. thank you. >> okay.

item 5, recognitions and resolutions of commendation. there are none. item 6, recognizing all valuable employees, our rave awards. superintendent matthews? >> thank you, president lopez. tonight, we have two rave awards. our service award and our rave special service award. our first award winner works at san francisco public montessori award, and presenting the award will be lindsay keener. >> thank you. good evening, superintendent matthews, board, and personnel. this evening, it is my great pleasure and honor to announce this month's rave distinguished service award recipient, marilyn dunn.

marilyn is an outstanding secretary who has worked with sfusd for 24 years, and who i have had the pleasure of working with for the past eight years at san francisco public montessori. she was nominated for a few reasons, but some of them are she always puts students and families first, and she's always a team player, going above and beyond her duties to make sure the school runs smoothly, which means working well past her eight-hour workday. during the pandemic, she rallied to check out laptops, she delivered supplies to families when needed, she assisted with the family wellness checks and whatever else needed to be done to

support our community and to make sure they had what they needed to be successful during such a challenging time. marilyn has a strong work ethic, and she works tirelessly to take care of necessary paperwork, enroll students, greet new students and families, and pays great attention to the smallest of details. she also found herself giving out ice packs and bandages to students, taking temperatures, calling families of sick children, and giving encouragement to students who may be having a bad day. having a good sense of human is important to marilyn, so she would always make sure to find human in the day so we both could enjoy a good belly laugh once in a while, changing up our attitudes even in the most challenging of times. marilyn, i congratulate you and thank you for all that you do for s.f. public montessori, our

students, and families. i am so grateful our paths crossed eight years, and it has been a pleasure getting to know you. thank you. >> so i'm honored to receive the distinguished service award, and i would like to thank dr. matthews and the board of education members? additionally, i would like to appreciate lindsay keener, who is the catalyst for my rave nomination which lead to this distinguished service award. her words were gracious, respectful, and kind. it's been a pleasure to work for you for eight years. [applause] >> thank you, miss dunn, and thank you for all the work you're doing for the young people of san francisco

unified. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> our next special service award is a teacher at glen park elementary school. this is nicolle philip, and the presenter will be liz czar, who is the principal at glen park. >> good evening, commissioners, superintendent matthews, and gathered guests. my name is liz czar, and i'm the principal at glen park elementary school. it's my honor to introduce nicolle phillips to all of you. mrs. phillips teaches first grade at glen park school and has been in that position for the last five years of her six-year teaching career so far. mrs. phillips teaches that

every [inaudible] of our sfusd mission statements. she holded high expectations for each and every one of her students and provides support that they can meet those expectations. nicolle was nominated for two rave awards last year mrs. phillips is one-third of the first grade team, and i know she enjoys collaborating to bring out the best in students. i join you all in celebrating nicolle phillips this evening and look forward to celebrating her commitment to and expertise with our young people for years

to come. congratulations, mrs. nicolle phillips. >> good evening, everyone. thank you, miss czar, for those kind words. i truly appreciate it, and it's been a pleasure working with you for the past five years, and i'm also honored to accept this award today. it truly means a lot to me. it's been a pleasure serving the glen park community, and i'm so proud to be an sfusd educator. thank you again, and i look forward to continuing to serve all of my students. thank you so much. [applause] >> thank you, principal czar and miss phillips, for all the work you do in making leert better, ensuring that all students have the support that

they need. . >> section c, discussion of other educational issues. i'm going to call on superintendent matthews to address this item. >> thank you. this is the update on the superintendent search, and our presenter will be danielle howell. >> thank you, superintendent matthews and commissioners. so the first step in our process is to issue a request for proposals for qualified

executive search firm services. so search firm will help us with various tasks in your search for a new superintendent. so they will run your qualifications process, they will hopefully put together a community engagement project action! for you to approve and review. we issued a press release, and we have invited approximately 15 firms to submit proposals. next slide. so just the key dates, what's coming up for you to keep in mind. i already mentioned we distributed it yesterday. vendor questions or firm questions will be due on september 6. this will be an opportunity for

them to answer clarifying questions. we will then publish them all to members of the public as well as firms we know that are applying. we'll publish that on september 20, and then, on your october 12 board meeting or possibly for, the board will interview selected firms and make a decision, and then, our hope is to have a contract finalized by october 26 so that you can begin working with the firm to select the new superintendent. so with that, i'll ask if there are any questions. >> great. before we do that, let's check for any public comment on this item. >> operator: thank you, president lopez. please raise your hand if you care to speak to the superintendent search program this evening.

i'm seeing three hands, president lopez, right now. thank you. yong yu lee. >> i'm here. [speaking native language]

>> operator: thank you. translation -- after you translate this, can i have both spanish and chinese state that this public comment is only for the superintendent search, but you can go ahead and translate what she said high level and then make that announcement for the remainder, please. >> interpreter: okay. hi. my name is yong yu lee, and i am a single parent, and i live in single occupancy room. my kids, they ride the bus every day, and i am worried about the sanitation and the bus, and also, the bus is really crowded, and sometimes it's really difficult to even get into the bus.

and i wonder if sfusd can communicate with muni to increase buses, especially for bus line 36 and bus line 35. and i wonder if there is anything going on, for example like testing and hand sanitizer because my kids are not even 12 yet. okay. i'm going to go ahead and translate what you said in chinese. [speaking cantonese language]

[end of translation]. >> interpreter: thank you. >> operator: thank you. can we do that in spanish, please? [speaking spanish language] >> operator: thank you. hello, lawrence? >> hello, superintendent matthews, president lopez, and fellow commissioners. thank you for introducing the effort to find the new superintendents. i think it's very important to choose a new superintendent for the next few years, and i want to emphasize the need to get new feedback from the parents and community to go with all the choices that the commissioners will have to take in selecting candidates. what's most important from my

view is the several things that can be increased. there are things that have been going pretty well with regards to equity and communications, but areas of improvement for the next superintendent include transparency, accountability, and fiscal responsibility. so please consider these items as well as everything else that you do when you look for this new superintendent. thank you. >> operator: thank you. beth? >> hi. my name is beth kelley, and i just want to make a brief comment about the r.f.p. or r.f.q. so there is a heavy emphasis on the equity, but what it lacks is an intentional [inaudible]

because this is the direction that the district is headed in. with the most recent enrollment drop, the age funding is going to decrease probably by $70 million or $80 million, and we are hurdling towards a fiscal cliff, and the fact that the r.f.p. doesn't reflect at all any of the fiscal situation of the district is very important. >> operator: president lopez, that concludes public comment. >> thank you. and any comment from our student delegates or commissioners? seeing -- oh, commissioner lam?

>> maybe we can talk briefly about that overall process and related to not only the public comment but with this r.f.q. out, what are the next steps at a board that we're going to embark on? >> so the r.f.q., it may such on that slightly, but the purpose will assays a search firm, and it will be

[inaudible] we'll bring them to the board meeting where you'll have an opportunity to ask the finalist -- it'll depend on how many you select, but you'll have an opportunity to meet them and ask questions and then debate and decide which firm you'd like to select for the search. >> thank you. thank you for that clarification. >> and i did have one also clarifying question for the public. can we share where there will be a place for parents to weigh-in, just understanding this will be the first part of the process? >> sure. well, any member of the public can go to the website to review the r.f.q. and then, in terms of participation, the primary point of participation in the search firm, not the superintendent, because that's something different, but the

firms will come and present their proposals, and the public will be able to hear that and ask questions in public comment. >> okay. thank you. so just want to be clear, that first meeting will be an opportunity for the public to comment on that search firm we land on, and then, there will be many other opportunities for parents to convene depending on what the search firm is guided by. thank you. >> okay. if there are no further questions, we'll move onto section d. this is public comment on nonagenda items, so any items that are not on today's agenda can come up at this time. item one is protocol for public comment. please note that 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 employee and student names. if you have a complaint about a

district employee, you may submit it to the employee's supervisor in accordance with district policy. as a reminder, board rules and california law do not allow us to answer public questions during the public comment time. if appropriate, the board president will ask the staff to follow up with speakers. number two are comments by sfusd students. we will hear from sfusd students who wish to speak on any matter. you will have up to one minute to speak for 15 minutes. students may also speak at any other public comment time, and can our translation clarify for the public what this item is. >> operator: translation, can you repeat that the next 15 minutes is for student public comment on any item they wish to speak to?

it's for the next 15 minutes, and it's only for students. [speaking spanish language] [speaking cantonese language] >> operator: thank you. any students wishing to speak at this time, please raise your hand now. seeing none, president lopez. >> okay. and just a reminder, if

students do wish to speak, they can continue to do that throughout the meeting. item 3, comments from general public. >> operator: translation, can you please state that it's general public comment now for anyone wishing to speak to any item. [speaking spanish language] [speaking cantonese language] >> operator: thank you. there are 17 hands up, president lopez. >> okay. so we'll do a minute each, but if translations are required, of course, they can have more time. >> operator: thank you.

hello, beth? >> yes, this is beth kelley again. i just want to note today's agenda is what's missing from it, which is a discussion on how sfusd is planning on fixing the structural deficit, in spite of the even greater loss of students than expected and even greater loss of lcfs funding. it's very important for this board not to lose the forest for the trees, and so i hope that in future board meetings, we see this larger picture of how to actually resolve issues so that we can have equity in our system. thank you. >> thank you.

. >> operator: hello, lawrence? >> thank you. i'll also bring up an item of importance that's also missing, and i also want to echo beth kelley's statements that the lack of attention to the budget is noticeable. but the advisory committee reports and appointments, item e, is blank. i've learned that august is when committee appointments happen. as you know, there have been several parents working years and years and years for overtime, which means there's a lot of time for parents to get involved. it's really something that people have noticed and people are trying to get onto committees, but they're being ignored. so especially the newer commissioners, please pay attention to this and address

it. thank you. >> operator: thank you. hello, jan. >> hello, yes. my name is jan jin, and i am an employee of the sfusd in the d.o.t. department. i'm also president of local 21, which is the union of all of our i.t. professionals. i want to make sure that there's adequate ventilation and air purifiers. i know where i work at civic center, they told us not to plug in any heaters because it

would just blow the circuit, so i don't know what's going to happen when we go back. especially with what's happening, i'm strongly appealing to the sfusd to -- >> operator: thank you. >> and we stand in solidarity with all of our brother unions. thank you. >> operator: thank you. hello, michael? [inaudible] >> operator: my apologies, michael. go ahead. >> am i unmuted now? >> yes, you are. go ahead. >> thank you.

good evening, president gabriella lopez, commissioners, and superintendent lopez. i'm michael [inaudible] president of united educators of san francisco. we are uniquely situated in the educational matrix of sfusd. we are forward facing to the public and directly responsible for implementing board policies and directives at the school site. we take resolutions and policies designed to address equity and social justice, we take suggestions from social office and translate them into applications and variables at each learning site. 'as a new president of uasf, i

hope to increase transparency between uasf, the school district, and the president. >> operator: hello, tom? >> hi, can you hear me? >> operator: you're a little low. if you could speak up? >> hi. first, i'm a special educator in the district, and it's great to be back. [inaudible] i think that that could have been rolled out a lot better. i've had buses that have been

late 30 minutes, 40 minutes, which is a big concern because we have students that are loping or running away from the bus, so if we could address that because that's a big concern. i had one day where some kids were left on the bus because the driver couldn't figure out the ipad for an hour. it shouldn't be about the money, it should be about the students and safety first. thank you. >> operator: thank you. hello, sarah?

[inaudible]. >> operator: thank you. hello, chris? >> hi. can you hear me? >> operator: yes. >> chris plat, teacher at washington high school. first, i'd like to echo the

serious transportation concerns that was mentioned by an earlier commenter? that is unsafe and needs to be corrected as soon as possible. [inaudible] and wild fires force windows to be closed and limit access to outdoor spaces. at wash, we had two general notifications about covid exposure in just the first five days of schools. few rooms have access to air purifiers, and when we had smoke advisories just the second day of school, we were stuck between choosing to open windows because of covid or closing windows because of

smoke. [inaudible] thank you. >> operator: thank you. hello. cecelia? >> yes, hi. thank you for your time this evening. i am a teacher librarian at a district in the mission where students have not yet had a chance to be vaccinated, and i share my colleagues' concerns about students health and safety, particularly as a person who sees a high volume of students. i see up to 500 students a week, and i don't have proper ventilation in the library as most of my colleagues are mentioning. it's going to become an equity issue. it's going to come down to schools that have money to buy proper ventilation for their schools, and it's going to

cause other schools to be waiting for the ventilation systems that we need in order to protect ourselves, our families, and/or students. please join with our union members in having a timeline to provide proper ventilation for the safety of all students and testing. thank you. >> operator: thank you. hello, bernice? >> thank you for the opportunity to speak. i'm a parent at buena vista horace mann, and so before

covid, we complained about the lack of ventilation. the district did nothing. we complained about the lack of safety. the district did nothing. this morning, at 9:40 a.m., i was told to come collect my child who was exposed to covid based on the close contact of another child. 22 children and one teacher are in a classroom with very poor air circulation. my child's eczema is horrific. he's going to have to go back to the doctor. but more importantly, the school has been told that you, the people at 555 franklin and everyone sitting around the table, are going to respond and

do something. it's 18 months. nothing has happened. all the teachers and staff that have spoken, we have been waiting for you to do something. please do something. >> operator: thank you. okay. a.s.l. interpreters, we do have a request for interpretation. i'm going to pin the video to janay cobbs. >> interpreter: okay. hello. hi there. i am a teacher of the deaf at cesar chavez school, and i would like to comment on several of the deaf programs in the district. you may recall there is a state

law regarding deaf students and their teachers. we don't have access to a proper curriculum, sign language pathways, and various other tools that would support students through pre-k to high school. some consideration needs to be given to creating some sort of magnet or pathway program to supporting our deaf and hard of hearing students. language and communication access, community identity are all pieces of our 21 century equity destiny for our students that currently is not being addressed. this is so important to be addressed s recognized, and programmed to be built and developed to support these students. thank you. >> operator: thank you.

hello, joan? >> i am joan [inaudible], executive director, for united educators of san francisco. uasf members have reached out to us with concerns that they have about managing covid cases at their site. our members have indicated that this process takes many hours into the evening and cases extend into the weekend in order to complete. i'm here to request the district collaborate with the city to secure support from the city's disaster service workers at the covid command center as they have been trained to ensure that the covid measures

are appropriate and sufficient. please support school administrators and staff in this reasonable request. thank you. >> operator: thank you. hello, cecelia? >> i spoke. thank you very much for your time. >> operator: oh, thank you. hello, megan? >> hi. my name is megan colusa, and i'm behavior analyst working at schools across the district. i'm here urging the district to strengthen the school sites

[inaudible] as an itinerant staff, schools don't have enough information about me, what i do at my job, to inform me if i've been exposed. we need a uniform way to track exposure that takes the onus off of school staff so they can do their job of supporting our students every day to learn. we need regular testing at all sites for all students in our community. i'll be getting tested regularly, and i hope that districts follow this lead. thank you. >> operator: thank you. hello, gregory? >> i just want to mention that a lot of elementary schools have their start times moved

from 7:40 to 8:50, and this is done without any input to the community. people chose these schools based on their times, and the district went and changed this with no feedback from parents whatsoever. how are families supposed to handle that in the morning? was this even considered? i don't know, and it's so infuriating that you would do this to families. that's all. thank you. >> operator: thank you. >> hi. i'd like to speak about

institutional trust during a pandemic. -- which i have to say no equitable policy is ever based on the most complaining, and what would that complaint be? the air is smokey? that is too late. that is unacceptable. i trust our teachers and our schools, but they have been

given too much. thank you. >> operator: thank you. supriya? >> hi. thank you for taking my call. this is supriya ray calling. i'm hoping if the district hasn't already done so, it can conduct a survey of outdoor space at the schools throughout the district so we can actually identify for each school how much space they have and what that space is like. i would ask request that the results of such a space be posted so that we can recognize them at schools.

we should be making use of every tool that we have to ensure that students stay in school and thrive in a healthy environment. thank you. >> operator: thank you. hello, kate? >> hi, thanks so much. i have two kids at rooftop [inaudible] and yesterday, we got a call asking that the baby be picked up because supposedly, the definition was given that they had close exposure to a child that had covid on friday morning. not friday afternoon, friday morning. my understanding was all the windows were opened, all the kids were in separate seats, and all the kids were masks, and yet, i have two children

who are home for eight, possibly ten days. i think there's different information on that. i think the sfusd's definition of close contact is not in synch with the department of public health, and that this should be looked at very closely unless we want to be under a constant rolling quarantine, which i can tell you from the experience just today is just like returning to a nightmare. i can't work, i haven't been able to work all day. and i guess that's the buzzer, but i want to know what's going to happen? either we need testing on the site, and we need it all the time, or we need a plan to know what's going to happen. >> clerk: thank you. that was the buzzer. >> okay.

we've gone through 20 minutes of public comment, and i'll allow ten more minutes of public comment at one minute each. >> operator: thank you, president lopez. shupin. >> hello. good evening. i speak chinese. >> operator: okay. [speaking cantonese language]

>> interpreter: hi. my name is susan -- go ahead. >> interpreter: i got it. sorry. excuse me a second. let me get it correct. hi, everyone. i'm shufin. my child is six years old, so she is not at the vaccine time, so she's going to on-line, so now, we are back to school. there's a huge risk because at john jay, you can apply for

on-line students, but i don't know if they'll be approved. i hope they can be approved for align -- on-line so less students will be at schools, and also, there needs to be portable air cleaners and sprays to wipe out. according to what i know, a lot of schools don't have that. also, it's fire season right now, so he with need to have air cleaners -- so we need to have air cleaners when the fire department says it's not safe. thank you, everyone. >> operator: thank you. hello. sophie? >> hi, can you hear me? >> operator: yes. >> thanks. hi, i'm a mom. first, i just wanted to say thanks to commissioner collins for her statements about

safety. i feel like the guidelines for this year were done under the guise of the pandemic being over. just as an example, l.a. unified found 3200 cases before they even opened school. we're not doing any cases at all. i heard the mayor on t.v. last week saying they're testing for cases. you guys are always talking about centering our students.

i'm begging you, please, when you do surveillance testing, please mandate vaccines for kids now that it's been authorized. thank you. >> operator: thank you. >> thanks so much. appreciate it. thanks. >> operator: hello, meredith? >> thank you, president lopez, for allowing more time. i want to congratulate san francisco unified school district for getting through the first small week. it's been no small feat, so congreats to everyone at the district for getting all of those kids back in person and into the on-line program. i want to -- congrats to everyone at the district for getting all of those kids back in person and not into the on-line program.

this is a great moment of everyone working together and listening, and sfusd parents are looking forward to what we can combine district expertise, parent input, and funding. just think about how many more times we can do this together. thank you for listening to families. >> operator: thank you. again, forgive me if i mispronounce. yong fen? sorry. i just unmuted you. yong fen? >> hello. i speak chinese. >> operator: okay. >> hello? [speaking cantonese language]

>> interpreter: hi. i am yong fen. i am from chinatown's single room occupancy. my name is at yuha school right now. my most worry for child going to school is that the school's cleaning procedure isn't doing enough, increasing the risk of my child.

hope the school district can have some staff to communicate with single-room occupancy families, to communicate more with them, and have some more cleaning for the schools. thank you. >> thank you. hello, brandy? >> hi. can you hear me? >> operator: yes. >> yes, thank you. i'm a parent. -- at citrella elementary school. this is our third wildfire season -- >> operator: apologies. you can start again.

>> hi, can you hear me? >> operator: yes. >> hi. i'm brandy, a parent at sutra elementary school. i want to make sure we get air filters in asap given the wild fires. this is something that should have happened a while ago. commissioner collins, i remember you pushing for this in 2020 at a joint sfusd board of ed-board of supervisors meeting. i'm sorry that your comments fell on deaf ears, and i remember being one of the only parents in public comment that supported you. i also want to see a plan of how air purifiers are

distributed throughout the district? i'd love to see a plan who's getting those purifiers first so we're seeing equity? i just ask again that you please prioritize our schools that have the greatest need when it comes to giving out air purifiers. thank you. >> operator: thank you. hello, alita? >> hello. first of all, thanks everyone who has worked so hard to enter this school year strong. on behalf of the community advisory committee for special education, we appreciate the collaboration we've had in past years and look forward to increased collaboration this year, as well. as a matter of fact, our first meeting is coming up this thursday, 6:00, via zoom, and we invite all commissioners and all audience members, as well, to join us. more information can be found on the c.a.c.s website.

please register and join us. we'll be getting [inaudible] from the district, and we look forward to working together and advocating for success for all of our students this year, particularly concerning ventilation, transportation, and right now in particular, what are we doing to make sure that our kids' behavioral needs are met as they return to the classroom for the first time in over a year? thank you. >> operator: thank you. hello, marine. >> oh, hello. i'm maureen, and i'm an seiu 1021 clerk, and i'm asking you for all of our nurses --

currently, nurses handle all of the tracking and communication to parents and also all of the administration of medications. i am c.p.r. certified, epipen certified, and i keep all the medication and paperwork. currently, i'm being asked to do the communications to the families. please give all school nurses to alleviate the stress this is causing a clerk. my colleagues feel the same. thank you for listening and for your continued support. >> operator: thank you. hello, alison? >> hi. my name is alison. i'm a middle school parent. i'm really amazed that there

isn't a new standing item to give the community an update on covid and the status of the response in the district? our families are receiving these positive notification letters every single day? my child's school has received three notifications already? parents and families are scared, we're confused, and we need to know what dr. matthews and your team and the d.p.h. are going to do to keep our kids and our teachers and the staff healthy in our buildings when the district leaders have stripped us of most of our other options. thank you. >> operator: thank you. hello, jova? >> hi. ad i've come to november gait the last few weeks, i just want to say that safety and ventilation is the top

priority, but i'd like to ask as we're navigating this together, that we do not forget that students are going to school as we speak, and they also need access to a robust education program, and if we could focus on that, i would be grateful, and i'd love to hear about recovery in the next week or two in the district. thank you so much. >> operator: thank you. and president lopez, i believe that is the time allotted. >> okay. thank you to the public for

coming out and speaking, and we will continue to have these public comments in the various board members. section e, advisory committee reports and appointments. there are no appointments. are there any comments by board members? and i believe that someone has to mute on zoom. >> i'll find it. >> thanks, president lopez. i would like to appoint la toya pritchard to the peef c.a.c.,

and to everyone who has put themselves out there to do this work. appreciate it. >> okay. we're just doing appointments right now. i just wanted to know where the outstanding appointments are. that's all. miss casco, can you support with that? . >> clerk: yes, i can. commissioners, i sent that to you about two months ago, but i'll resend it. thank you. >> if we can make it available to the public, there might be people who want to reach out for us. >> yeah, and for the community's understanding, a lot of board members get three or four appointments, so it's good to reach out to those board members who still have

appointments, as commissioner collins was suggesting. thank you. >> great. thank you. item f is the consent calendar. item 1, can i get a motion and a second? >> so moved. >> second. >> thank you. and we'll do public comment on consent items. if you can check for us, judson. >> operator: thank you. yes. please raise your hands if you have any comment on the consent calendar, and translation, can you repeat that in spanish and chinese, as well. [speaking spanish language]

[speaking cantonese language] >> interpreter: thank you. >> operator: looks like we have four hands right now. >> do a minute each. >> operator: thank you. yun may? >> hello. can you hear me? >> yes. >> operator: yes, we can hear you. >> i need a translator, the chinese. [speaking cantonese language]

>> hi. my name is chong lee. i live in a single occupancy room with two girls. they're both under 12 years old, and [inaudible] some teachers they can take their days out, but the students

cannot take their day off or they lose their space in school. and also, there's no public transportation on the school bus, and that's what i'm worried about. thank you. >> operator: thank you. hello, edward? >> hello? >> operator: hello. go ahead. >> hello. this is edward centrisco here. it is a great concern that our children cannot wearing masks on-line. you know, because it still can be transmitted. i'm just wondering what is the policy for on-line courses?

what are the policies on that, and what are you guys going to do to curb the edge of this virus? >> operator: thank you for your comments. >> mr. steele, maybe you want to add what item they're speaking to? >> operator: sure. hello, greg, can you let us know what item you're speaking to? >> hi. i'm speaking on item 2. we've been talking about ventilation since last fall.

at last week's board comments, there was a lot of comments, in response last friday, the district [inaudible] accepted a no-bid contract on hepa filters, and the district managed to get that no-bid contract on this agenda in nine minutes. i'm not joking. ventilation's always important, but why a rush basis for this contract in nine minutes? what happened last week? well, i'll tell you. the recall effort, 6,000 signatures, is what happened. if this was about the kids, it would have been handled last year. if this was about the kids, we wouldn't be patting ourselves on the back, spending $3

million today. if i can have one more second, i thank you, mr. steele. it's also not prop a money. i'll take that up next week. >> operator: thank you. >> thank you. >> operator: hello, sarah? >> hello, is that me? >> operator: yes. would you like to speak to speak on the consent calendar? >> yeah, my question was about something i said earlier. >> operator: no, this was only to consent. >> yeah, i wasn't trying to say it again. >> operator: okay.

monique? >> oh, thank you so much. quickly, i think this would be 52 or 53 or 54, i'm not sure, but for middle schools that are currently under construction, can we find a way to amend the contracts and actually put hefa filters into these existing bids if we're updating our school buildings? i think we should make them as modern as possible and hepa is the best way -- or not hepa, hvac? so if we're in the middle of construction, i just feel like and i think the teachers and the principals want to know, like, how can that be incorporated? and on top of that, we need

more crossing guards. okay. thank you. >> operator: thank you. hello, rory? >> hello. i'd like to speak to item number 52. first, i'd like to thank commissioner collins for bringing this up in december 2020 and speaking with it. i want to tell you about my friend who's in hayward. she's a teacher, and they have filters. they have an hvac system updated. they have cleaning desks after every class, and they have testing for covid, lots of it. really, what mitigates this is covid. they have quarantine after a kid tests positive. she's sick right now, teacher, very sick, and her and her daughter have covid, and her

grandson. even though -- >> -- we need to provide students and staff with the best ventilation that we can

provide. i applaud the district's decision to purchase air purifiers and ask that you expedite the purchase and distribution of these air purifiers to school sites before we need to start closing windows due to fire and inclement weather. thank you. >> operator: thank you. hello, rebecca? >> hi. this is rebecca fedorco, and i am a special education teacher. i believe i'm speaking to item 51, the early literacy support block grant literacy action plans and budget. this many is going to be --

money is going to be used to train teachers effectively on literacy, and on a day when i see a bunch of [inaudible] material delivered to my school, i'm really happy some schools are getting materials that actually work to teach students how to read. even though i'm seeing a bunch of materials come into my school that's ineffective and not helping students, especially the ones that i work with, especially that are english second language learners. but i just wanted to highlight this, and i wanted to make sure that money happens. thank you. >> operator: thank you. and president lopez, that concludes public comment. >> okay. thank you for that. any items withdrawn or corrected by the superintendent? >> none this evening. >> any items removed for first reading by the board?

seeing none, any items severed by the board? commissioner collins? >> i just wanted to sever item 52 so that we can have a little further discussion on that. >> okay. item 52, approval for facilities department to purchase portable air purifiers for schools and administrative sites from wesco distribution. thank you for noting that, miss casco. >> clerk: you're welcome. >> roll call vote, miss casco. [roll call]

>> clerk: thank you. that's seven ayes. >> section g, discussion and vote on consent calendar items severed for separate consideration. that was item 52. >> yeah, i just wanted to ask -- i'm going to support this, and i'm very happy that we're moving forward to get air purification filters, but there was a lot of great discussion that occurred in the building and grounds meeting yesterday as it relates to how we're prioritizing distribution, when people can expect the air filters, and then also, commissioner bogus brought up some really good questions that parents also e-mailed me about. they said they appreciated your comments on how we're going to make sure they're maintained,

and also, how we're going to staff that, and also, how we're going to monitor air quality. like, which is another purchase, but just in general, with this purchase, we also heard that in public comment, and i wanted to see if that had any feedback on how they're going to make that decision making process transparent, you know, or if other board members wants to weigh-in on how that decision making happens. >> and if i could clarify, just to be clear around our questions so that the appropriate staff can come and answer or follow up. >> so for those questions, i'd ask for our chief of facilities to begin answering the question that you had? >> hi, commissioners. i'm happy to answer the

questions that you have with the information that i have. in terms of the distribution and the order of distribution, welcome feedback from the board as well as others on priority. we are working on a distribution plan that we certainly intend to share with the superintendent and the assistant superintendent for feedback, and if the board would like to see that plan as it evolves, happy to provide that information either at a future meeting or as part of an position request and just provide that as briefing materials and see what kinds of comments we get back. overall, two guiding priorities on our level, and there are dozens of schools that fit into both of these.

one is equity, thinking about the parts of the city that have struggled with justice issues and air quality overall, and i think secondly, trying to focus first on being as efficient as possible where we know that their electrical system was recently upgraded. it provides it across the industry, distributed country the city. i'm working with my team, as i said, to establish a more specific prioritization plan and roll out, and we'll hopefully have that in about 1.5 weeks because we do need that because we hope that by placing, if the board approves this item tonight, that we'll

place an order tomorrow, and hopefully we can begin some distribution in about two weeks. and that will occur, again, on a rolling date as we are able to fill up our warehouse and distribute the filters according to our school sites. >> sorry. i just wanted to note and be clear about at least to identify the deadline of distribution. so it sounds like we'll be able to -- if we vote on them, schools will be able to receive them in two weeks. is there a final date that schools will be able to get them, and also, clarity around who will be receiving them first. i think you spoke about that earlier, but if we could identify that for this meeting, that would be helpful for the public. >> so commissioner, i don't have a deadline because a lot

of the plan will be depending on what our supplier can provide, how much supply we have in the warehouse or if we can think about having deliveries dropped off at school sites and also our delivery capacity and deployment capacity. all of those issues, we are developing a more refined work plan in the next few days, so our goal is to do it as quickly as possible, but at this time, i do not have a timeline that i can say that this will when it will be completes. we are also serving our central office administrators building to continue to prepare them

for, you know, full return of administrative staff, and so both of those work plans are happening simultaneousy, and they do affect each other. so that's what i can do is outline the factors that are shaping our activity. also, specifically in terms of specific sites, i don't have a prioritized list right now that says sites 1 through 20 because we are considering a lot of different things in terms of both needs and of the site, the size of the site, how many classrooms are there, as well as our knowledge of their current interesting system. so i do hope to also be able to provide that shortly and would like -- happy to share that with the board in, again, also

a week, 1.5 years. >> commissioner collins, can you remind me, sorry. you had a multipart question. so i've done my best to answer the question about distribution -- >> i'm actually services commissioner bogus' question, which is actually if we have a plan for maintaining them once they're there. i'm hearing that folks are saying that sometimes filters need to be replaced rapidly, so what's the overall -- when will we see an overall plan for how we're going to maintain them and service them as necessary? >> yeah, absolutely. so once we arrive -- so first off, the air cleaners that have been deployed for covid presentation, we do have a plan, some of those are going

to be in place before the spring. we have a number of in-place contractors for on-site ventilation -- on call contractors for on-site ventilation. as we build out our plan, we should also be able to build out an estimate and kind of a calendar and we'll be able to share that with the board of education.

>> i just wanted to add my gratitude for this rapid movement on this issue. i know a number of us were asking about it last week. just wanted to clarify on the priority around distribution. i heard you say one was around equity issues and higher need or higher covid rates, for example, and i just wanted to make sure that that was the first priority. there was a comment earlier about buena vista horace mann, the needs facility upgrade, and i wouldn't want to see a facility like that decline, so i wanted to raise that in terms of feeling like the equity issue -- there's a real disparity in terms of covid

rates in the city now, so prioritizing in the places that need it most, in my view, is most important. >> thank you, commissioner. [inaudible]. >> i'm having trouble actually hearing. i feel like i thought i heard commissioner bogus ask a question, but i lost it. can you repeat it? >> did you want to respond to commissioner alexander's point? >> i'm sorry. i thought commissioner alexander was asking how the other members felt. >> no, i wasn't asking for a

response unless you want to answer it. thank you. >> okay. thank you. >> so my concern is really about is this enough money, is this enough -- i'm just curious how much this is providing us, and i'm interesting around nonclassroom spaces that might have students, that might have other staff, also spaces inside buildings where c.b.o.s are going to be providing before care, after care, if they're going to be running all day while care is happening or just kind of through the school day. and also, i guess i'm interested in the actual devices? do they tell us when they need to be replaced or

malfunctioning? i didn't see any information about the devices and kind of their functionality in the material, so i'm kind of interested in those two points. one about coverage and the other about the specific devices that are going to be employed in our schools a little bit more so than our administrative buildings. >> great. thank you, commissioner. in terms of our coverage, this request tonight is a first request -- or i should say second request. we had an initial request that went to purchase the 700 p.u.c.s for covid. tonight will allow us to make progress as quickly as poblg as we have resources to get portable air cleaners out to school sites, but we do expect

there will be a subsequent request for additional funding for more portable air cleaners. for us to accurately gauge what's needed, we need that information to shape our middle school, high school, and elementary school preparation, so we don't have window inventories, for example. that work is going on right now. also, we do have, though, a pretty good list of not just classrooms but also larger multioccupancy spaces, like libraries, our of main offices of school buildings, and look for us to be able to return to the board with a subsequent request, saying this is what's

needed to entirely equip the district. we felt it was important to get this underway as soon as possible and move with all haste, knowing the resources that we'd have, that this would allow us to have subsequent progress, but it does not allow our cover our full anticipated needs. >> can i ask a follow-up on that question before you move ahead? >> yes. >> so i think just to clarify, this 3,000 or the schools, 4,000-plus, this is based on what we've been able to access. [please stand by]

level here and try not to get into too much of the detail. the portable air cleaners are hepa filters and they have sufficient power and capacity to be able to cover 1500 square feet. and so we'll absolutely be able to handle your typical sfusd classroom condition. and i think we're also looking for units energy efficient on

the lower end of the power draw we see in these units and we have selected units that are sturdy, the casing of the body itself can withstand the kind of normal bumps that are going to happen in a classroom environment. and we're looking for and have selected portable air cleaners that require as infrequent filter replacement where the filters are durable enough to be able to be deployed for a while before needing replacement. i'm going to stop there. those are some of the high level summaries. i actually don't remember, there are portable air cleaner units that sometimes there's a light that goes on to tell you if the filter needs the be replaced and

i don't remember right now if the units we're buying have that feature. but we are collecting and managing a data base of all of these filters. not only the portable air cleaners but also the filters upgraded as part of the mechanical ventilation systems. and we have and continue to add to a comprehensive inventory that has the type of filter and the date installed so we can schedule and stay on top of replacement. for the filters we have installed in mechanical ventilation systems, we have committed to a six month psychle the that is part of the work that the on call mechanical contractor is helping us with. >> will there be a maintenance log to track when filters are replaced or machines are serviced so folks can monitor those things as well?

>> commissioner, it was not our intention to attach to each unit. those things tend to go missing but rather have this data base that folks can request and get updates to the extent they're interested in that information. >> would that be the principal requesting that kind of information and sharing it with the school's public or someone else who would be responsible for being on top of that? >> i don't think they're responsible for it. it is made available to them so they can communicate with their own stakeholders. we are going to maintain that data base and able to provide those reports if folks are interested. but it will be our responsibility to report out on that for the district, the extent that we're meeting the replacement cycles. >> so students or parents and staff should individually request out for their sites if they want the information?

>> i think starting with the principal is the best way to go. the principal and superintendents can reach out to me and we can provide the information to distribute it. i think that's the most effective way to make sure most people within a school community can have access to the

information. >> i'd like to do a roll call vote on item 52. >> (roll call vote) thank you. that's seven ayes. >> section i, special order of business. item 1, exemption from the application of the city of san francisco zoning ordinances for the mission bay school project. may i hear a motion and a second? >> so moved. >> second. >> presenting on this item will

be chief of facilities. >> commissioners, the item before you tonight is around the exemption from the application of the city of san francisco zoning ordinances for the mission bay school project and our recommendation is the board approve a resolution pursuant to the code that the ordinances are inapplicable to the proposed use of property for the mission bay school. commissioners, there's some information provided here as part of the background of the item, just to provide a little more context -- san francisco unified school district of course is a state agency fundamentally. as such, we are also a state agency and as a school district, allowed to use our properties,

our properties that will become ours like mission bay. if we are building facilities intended for educational purposes and align with basically providing school, we are exempt from local zoning ordinances but we do need to make a resolution essentially asserting that finding. the reason we're doing that for mission bay, we are, again, completing the design process and in a title transfer conversation with the city and county and scsf and the format and requirement of eir has to discuss the applicable regulatory rules that apply to us around land use. so for this purpose, we want to be able to reference the eir

past the resolution and are invoking our ability to pursue, to apply with state guidance and rules around the way schools are built and local residential building codes. that is the background on this particular item. it does require i believe a four or five vote and our general council can also be available to help answer questions on this. >> thank you. before we do that, can we check for public speakers? >> thank you president lopez. please raise your hand if you care to speak on this item. translation, please repeat that in chinese and spanish,

exclusive to this item. thank you. thank you. please raise your hand if you care to speak to this item. seeing none. >> thank you. any questions or comments from student delegates or board members? commissioner boggess? >> i think i understand but i would love if we could get a

little clarity of what benefits this provides us and kind of what would be the harm caused by us having to follow local zoning restrictions. >> so commissioner and i also welcome general counsel jumping in on this conversation as well. the idea here is to prevent unnecessary conflicts between the two different sets of requirements between what the state requires of us and then what local code might require. this is unusual for sfusd. our schools are old and we have owned all our properties for a really long time. this is not a natural or frequent kind of resolution that we need to pursue. but to give you by way of example, the types of conflicts

that may not exist here in san francisco around this project but maybe more generally, you could have an instance where a school was building a school and local elected land use politics mature face in amendments to the zoning code that in some way interfered or restricted the ability of a school district to carry out its vision for what a functional school should look like on a property. that is not what is happening here. i want to emphasize that. these are the types of conflicts that this legislation and statute exists to prevent. and so, locally that might be things like setbacks from the street. it could be height restrictions, right? you could have a zoning code

that says you can't build over 11 feet or single story features. those are the types of potential conflicts that could exist if this statute was not clear in place. >> we don't have assessment of specific things this school project would actually be in conflict. it is more of a precaution of things that could potentially be there but we don't have a specific set of things we are already aware of. >> not that i'm already aware of. you know, in the spirit of collaboration, in our current design for the mission bay school has, for example, voluntarily taken up a lot of the -- if not all the suggestions that have been made by ocii around the design of the school. but it is allowed -- it does

protect, we have zoning code today and three months from now, six months from now, there's a while before we actually build this project and it not only protects us for right now but it protects us in the future. 20 years from now if we wanted to change something about the school footprint, still have the school there but maybe needed to alter the footprint of the building and there will be different charges in both bodies, you don't know what could happen. having this resolution will protect us from future conflicts as well. >> just to follow up with one more question. is there any state zoning policy that is like locally specific that isn't -- that we wouldn't be under at the state that would have any negative impacts on

safety or things of that nature in relationship -- i don't actually know but is there any like earthquake type protection things that are local that this would exempt -- not that we couldn't opt in but as far as monitoring or tracking the aspects or those safety parameters covered in a different place. >> you know, commissioner, i am not fluent in where all of these different mandates precisely exist within the code. for example, sfusd as a school building, but i am familiar with the requirements. school buildings are a much higher level of safety than residential buildings.

how we map where that requirement comes from and whether or not this statute protects us in some way is a question i would pose to counsel. >> i'm not going to pretend to be an expert in local zoning code, but every school building in the state of california has to comply with the field act, which is the very, very high standard mentioned for earthquake safety. i would be very surprised if even our local zoning ordinances even in san francisco, earthquake proned san francisco, i would be very surprised if our local ordinances set a higher standard than the field act. the intent is every school building should be safe and ready to operate as an emergency operation center in the event of a natural disaster. so they are intended to withstand -- they're held to the highest building standard

there is. we would have to comply with the field act as well as requirements put forth by the department of state architecture. >> thank you. we'll do a roll call vote on special order 1. >> (roll call vote) that's seven ayes. >> item 2.

emergency declaration for fungal remediation at the mcateer school of the arts, sota. >> so moved. >> second. >> presenting this item will once again be our chief of facilities. >> commissioners, here's another one for tonight. the subject of this special order is our request for an emergency recommendation approve the work at mcateer campus. commissioners, it is unfortunate that in early august it was brought to our attention that there was mold infessations at

the gym building at the school of the arts and academy campus, the mcateer campus. we have deployed teams to assess the situation. because it is necessary to act with -- to remediate this health issue and resume in person learning as quickly as possible using those classrooms, we are requesting an emergency resolution to enter into a contract to continue the remediation of that particular building. we expect that it will take about four to six weeks the complete the work. in the interim, we have worked with the site to try to provide basically tents and help think

through alternate arrangements for the classrooms but our highest priority is to get the work completed as quickly as possible to resume classroom instruction in the rooms in that building. >> can we check for public comment? >> please raise your hand if you care to speak to item 2. please repeat in spanish and chinese as well.

>> i saw this item on the agenda this morning. i absolutely think like these kind of things need to -- they need to be remediated immediately. thank you commissioner. you have so much on your plate. i don't know how you do it all. you have so much going on. but thank you. i do hope that other buildings that are equally kind of not great are looked at. i know that building in particular, we toured it, it was disgusting. but i hope the other buildings i have toured are equally looked at. thank you.

>> thank you. that concludes public comment. >> any comments from board members or student delegates? commissioner collins and then commissioner boggess. >> i think my question was really centered on the other sites and what kind of assessment we have done since identifying the issue at this site to make sure it's not happening at other sites. i guess what i'm worried about, us doing this emergency act for this individual school site while there are other school sites with similar issues. when we ideally do it all at once and have one process. if you could talk to the thinking around that and what we know about what is happening at the other sites and what are

processes to check to make sure we don't have this in our schools. >> it's a great question and i think we are challenged by the fact that mold itself can be something of an invisible issue. for a while and really do rely on the eyes on experience of the site and people also again to the extent of custodians and others in the building on an every day basis that we ask them to keep an eye out for these issues and report them as they are discovered and site leadership. i would need to check with my team to see if we are conducting a routine prospective screening of our sites. and this instance because our sites have been this particular

building was not in use during shelter in place, it seems like there was unusually high humidity in the rooms that combined with the lack of use really created this problem. so, i'm happy to consult with my team and get back to you with a more detailed answer about the extent to which we do any kind of proactive testing or monitoring. in this case, it is an emergency, the condition of the mcateer building. we just want to move forward as quickly as possible. i think one of the things we need to talk about, candidly, i will say that, the theme of my summer and really the past 6-8 months have been procurement. so many of the issues that we're

running into over and over again are because we have not as a division, although i suspect other divisions suffer or challenged similarly. we have not built up the tools we need to allow us to kind of respond, maybe not -- this is an actual emergency issue but when they surface, maybe a lower level of intensity, we have a broader set of tools available to us to be deployed quickly. i think this and several other use, it would be to our benefit to have a pool of contractors who have been prequalified and we can call on in these kind of circumstances. i think that's a good topic for a future buildings and ground committee. >> i would like to have additional maintenance staff and

figuring out a robust team for maintenance for all of the sites we have for covid and regular maintenance and repair issues and as a whole. thank you very much. >> i will not disagree with that. >> i just wanted to make sure we are following our own board rules and procedures and i'm remembering that student delegates have the honor of speaking and voting first to help advise our votes. i wanted to confirm that -- just to confirm that. i want to make sure -- i do listen when they vote and their votes don't count officially but they do inform our votes.

>> (roll call vote) six ayes. thank you. >> i'm sorry, are you counting commissioner moliga as present or absent at the moment? the reason i ask, this particular item requires a unanimous vote. if he's present, we need to

record his vote. >> okay. he is present. >> if we could pause to come back and record his vote. >> we have been in this situation because of the 4/5 requirement and trying to do the math. we just settled had to be unanimous? >> every statute is different and for an emergency resolution, it requires a unanimous vote of all members present. but for example, your previous item required a different vote. so i believe that one was an exact five commissioners. that was a different government code. >> we'll do the roll call again -- when he returns. >> thank you.

>> presenting this item will be acting chief of labor relations. >> good evening commissioners. the recommended action for this item, the board ratifies on the memorandum of understanding.

>> please raise your hand if you care to speak to item 3, tentative agreement on the addendum with labor partners. please repeat in spanish and chinese. >> seeing two hands. >> hello. i'm the president of local 21 here at the sfusd.

i strongly hope that with these resolutions are understandings between us and labor understand -- or ratified. we have worked maybe six months on this. i think it's really important and it's not just -- it's not just from local 21, but also uaa, ue and all that. i strongly recommend that this gets passed. we worked on it for such a long, long time. thank you. >> thank you. hello megan. >> hi. i'm a behavior analyst in the

school district. i just wanted to say how proud i am that we got all of this updating to our safety mou done before schools open. and that we have some really important points in this that update the safety for our school sites that impact our staff, students and whole community. i look forward to the district and our unions continuing the work to improve safety and health policies and procedures at our school sites moving forward. there's a lot of work to be done. thank you. >> thank you. that concludes public comment. >> any questions or comments from board members or student delegates? seeing none, a roll call vote on special order 3.

>> (roll call vote) seven ayes. >> we'll go back to special order 2 to repeat the vote. >> thank you. (roll call vote)

unanimous. thank you. >> thank you. sections j and k. no items. section l, proposals for immediate action and suspension of the rules. item 1, may i hear a motion and second. >> so moved. >> second. >> this is board policy 6102.6 roll call on suspension. >> (roll call vote) seven ayes. i forgot to start with the

delegates. thank you. >> thank you. now may i hear a motion and second for formal introduction. >> so moved. >> second. >> reading the resolution into the record. >> good afternoon commissioners. we are asking this evening that you adopt and accept the amendments to our independent study board resolution. the resolution changes would be to expand the criteria for students who can access independent studies to include those in quarantine during covid-19 or for covid-19 and those students awaiting to know if they have been accepted into the online learning program options. the criteria for those waiting would be through september 7th, however all the other changes would be through the rest of the school year. >> can we check for public

comment on this item? >> yes. please raise your hand if you care to speak to the independent study item on suspension of rules. please repeat in spanish and chinese. >> hi everyone. advocacy chair for advisory committee for special education. i'm grateful for the district's

hard work around expanding programs for students but on behalf of special education services i want to make a couple of really important clarifications. one, many times throughout this pandemic, both the state and federal governments have confirmed that the district's obligation to provide space has not been waived. it was defined in a student's iep has to be provided. secondarily, the law, specifically defines lre with the use of supplementle aids and

services. >> i want to remind the board this short term independent study would be under the super vision of the student's regularly assigned teacher, asking our educators to take on yet another new path, which is when students are quarantining. whichever students are in the class are quarantining, they have to figure out how to service those students and those just returning to in person learning for a long time. i hope and pray the district has a plan to ensure we are supporting our educators so they stay in our district and provide quality education for students who deserve it. thank you. >> thank you. hello, chris? >> hi, i'm special education teacher at washington high school.

i want to echo what megan just said. this is going to be an additional load on the regular educators who work with these students both general and special ed and it is going to be more than just your standard this student has the flu and needs to be out for a couple of extra days, give them extra work. it needs to be more than that. and your communication around this independent study program needs to be better because a lot of families have expected that they are going to get something very, very similar to what distance learning was last school year and it's not. and also your communication about the job postings for positions with this independent study program needs to be a lot clearer. there are people who are interested in this because they are uncomfortable being physically in person and be able to fill these positions but they haven't heard about them. i have had people ask me as a

union building rep, how do i do it and i've had to find links for them myself because the district hasn't found it in their ability to send the links out. >> thank you. hello, rebecca. >> can you hear me? >> yes. >> i'm a special ed teacher. i would like to echo the concerns. i am so tired of hearing in special ed and in the school district we are building the plane as we are flying it. like, it's got to become unacceptable at some point for me to hear that from every person that is in charge of me. i have had to do so much heavy lifting this last week and a half with my students and the way the program has been

implemented has put me in a really crappy position as an educator to have to sit there and explain to parents that the quality of the online program is not going to be up to the standards and i can not say in good faith that their child will get the education they deserve. i'm just tired of doing this. >> hi, good evening. i am a parent and my child has an iep and is high risk with his health and i'm concerned because

i don't understand why the options of having like half week learning and half online learning wasn't still offered this school year, especially with the delta variant. there was all summer to start planning more structured education and more structured types of learning for the students and, you know, he's concerned himself, his class size is 30 children, which is already large in itself and he even asked his teacher yesterday if he could sit away from the other students and his teacher told him he was sorry but there was no room to do that because the classroom is completely crowded. >> that concludes public comment. >> thank you. any questions or comments by

board members or student delegates? student delegate lam. >> where can students view or see the standards or expectations for the quality of learning if they are participating in the independent study program? >> we're in the process of updating our website. i just want to be clear, this resolution is inclusive of multiple things as you probably heard from public comment. one is online learning program option and that website is being developed so families and students can have more clarity around the expectations and in the process of planning orientation. both the website and the orientation are places where they can get more information. in terms of short term study,

there's a contractor to participate and it includes information about the course or independent study. as you heard, the assignments are assigned by the teacher, there's opportunities for differences but there's a minimum number of hours students need to complete to be counted for attendance and we have updated our website to include assignments and tasks by grade level that students could access now if they're not in person and we know our educators can access and use as they facilitate. those are the different places you might find resources around the independent study and building the website for the options and students and staff members. >> i'm just -- i know we're kind of in a situation and

that's -- my understanding is that we had very limiting legislation at the beginning of the year that restricted our ability to offer online learning and that shift shifted mid summer and a lot of districts are responding accordingly. i'm hearing in different districts, there's a heightened demand because of delta variant. districts are trying to respond but didn't have optimal level of time -- i don't really know what i'm voting on. i'm looking at a list of kind of policies but as an educator, i don't know what it really looks like. i'm hearing from families, i know we're developing this as we go and i don't want to hold up progress but i would like to ask my colleagues if they understand what we're specifically voting on because i do have concerns

about approving a policy and then moving along when it's our charge as commissioners to understand how we're supporting student learning, that's our highest charge. and especially for the most vulnerable students. i don't think we have covered these in board meetings and haven't had committee meetings for specifics. >> i think for me -- i guess i would love to check with staff to confirm this. it seems like a lot of this is us having to update our internal policies to match what the state has done and a lot of this is just to kind of clean that effort up, which i think is both good and a little bit problematic for people who really want to assess the effectiveness of what we're doing and the intention behind it. i would offer to bring this up

in some format the curriculum meeting to see what it actually looks like as we implement this and monitor and engage feedback from families and students about their experience. just kind of understanding the fact that i don't fully understand how all of these things are going to be implemented in a way that is equitable and understanding it seems like there's urgency to get compliance with the new law and try to balance both of those. offering up to have committee time to dive deeper and assess everything that's covered here and other things related. >> thank you commissioner boggess. i appreciate your comments about bringing this forward to the curriculum and instruction committee to follow up around how are we implementing this

online program which we know is very limited and at this point, probably less than 1% of our total student population. i also just want to agree that tonight it is about updating our administrative policies so that we can rollout this independent study and knowing that with the delta variant, there's increased demand. i think another exploration i like to have in the committee is around how will we encourage families around the options around returning to in person. i know that certainly that is allowable but really then how does that -- part of that continuum of learning to be able to say when a family or when a child says this may be the next step for me to return to in

person and frankly the delta variant is going to quickly change and we're going to see that in the coming weeks as well as we know increase vaccinations production and availability for under 12 is also in arm's reach. not soon enough but in the coming months. >> i spoke with staff earlier today. i was thinking my role on the rules committee around this. and that's the explanation i got. this really does conform with the requirements of sd-130, the new law for independent study. i think it would be great to take it up at curriculum committee. the majority of the language here is basically my understanding mirrors the law and staff can correct me on

that. i think it's a good question. >> might i ask, i want to make sure we are in compliance and moving forward so we can continue to make this option available to families, but i really appreciated what commissioner boggess said about policy is not just about -- you said in the past, it's not just about compliance. it is ways we articulate our values and i would love the opportunity to dig in and look at the actual programs and then see how they can be reflected in updated policy. so specifically around how families, how we expect the district to reach out to families and share their experiences with the program and reach out to educators to make sure this is as successful as possible. >> totally. to be honest, my reaction upon reading this language was to me, this is sort of not what independent study is about.

there's a real emphasis on performance and sort of regulating things as opposed to like creating options which to me is what independent study is really about. really this language is pretty much mirroring state law. maybe this is a case where we need to have a deeper discussion around kind of the program, maybe a little separate from the policy we have to kind of conform to. i don't know if that makes sense. >> i think i just want to understand, are we hoping to take it to the curriculum committee to have a deeper discussion and do we have the ability to do that? >> i'm not suggesting that we hold up the vote. i just wanted to initiate a conversation so we could vote on this tonight and move forward, but also we would have a commitment to the public that we're going to have these deeper discussions around instruction and learning and with the open,

maybe it would inform policies that we may want to add or adjust language or add policies so we can hold ours the a higher standard more than just compliance. the highest values we have for kids to learn. >> i agree with that. i just wanted to make sure and i do want to note commissioner boggess, i think there are a couple of items come together the curriculum committee. roll call vote on special order 3. >> (roll call vote)

>> board members report. item 1 report from recent committee meetings. there was a building and grounds committee held yesterday. vice president moliga. >> we had our buildings and grounds meeting last night. it was a very productive meeting. we discussed three items last night. we went over in depth about the air purifiers we're getting ready to purchase and put in our schools. we talked about transportation.

continue to provide transportation students with special education. the last item we covered assessment planning. we're coming into our 2022 bond next year. we're going into a robust planning mode right now and so we're going to be seeing that item within buildings and grounds without the next year until november 2022. >> item 2 board delegates -- none tonight. item 3, all other reports by board members. there are none tonight. item 4, calendar of committee meetings. we'll have a rules policy

legislation meeting monday august 30th at 5:00 p.m. does any member want to announce an upcoming committee meeting? yes. >> so next wednesday september 1st, we have our budget and business services. our much anticipated committee meeting at 4:00 p.m. >> i have an update. >> let's go back to item 2 board delegates to membership organizations. >> so, csba is preparing guidelines and just to support board members across the state in terms of like attending meetings again in person. a lot of it is around safety and making sure there's protocols and trainings for school board members across the state to be able to feel safe and return back to in person meetings.

those are coming up and there should be -- commissioners should be seeing those soon. >> great. thank you. section n. other informational items. posted in the agenda, the updates on the arts equity plan refresh, the corrected district wide calendar 2021-22 school year and letter regarding retention and recruitment incentives for special education para educators. section o, memorial adjournment. i call on superintendent matthews. >> i would like to adjourn this meeting in the memory of heath carsarus. he was born in los angeles,

california and graduated from preptory college. he graduated from san francisco state. he started his 24 year education career in the san francisco unified school district as a classroom teacher at edison school. he served as principle for five years at lafayette elementary and was an assistant principal at star king elementary and took the helm of new tradition during distance learning and soared as a leader for that community. we'll remember his sunny disposition and pursuit to serve each and every particularly students with special needs.

he leaves to cherish his memory, his wife, his four daughters, his mother and all of us. i ask that we take a moment to remember the memory of heath. thank you all. >> thank you. section p closed section.

before we go into closed section, i call for any speakers to the closed session items in the agenda. there will be a total of five minutes for speakers. >> translation, can we please repeat that closed session five minutes for public comment. hello, monique? >> thank you again. i feel like i keep speaking tonight and at the same time, i don't have enough time. so one of the things i did want to say about the closed session, can you please review how you

award the contracts for the different building and labor -- i don't know what they are. it feels like they're going to other states and not coming to san francisco and i think that our people of -- >> i'm sorry. this is not on the closed session agenda for the evening. >> isn't that -- isn't that what the labor negotiators are about? >> the labor negotiations item is to brief the board on matters we're currently bargaining and intend to bargain with existing labor unions. >> my apologies. or is that -- >> i don't know. i just feel like i hear constantly from principals and other people in government that

we are not -- they're not sure how our labor agreements are made and we're outsourcing. can we try to source to san francisco and to people of color and to the black and brown community? i think that is so important. it's kind of a no-brainer. thank you. >> thank you. hello, rory? >> i want to remind everybody that uesf doesn't have a contract with sfusd at this point. it expired and we need a contract. >> hello tara. tara?

chanel? >> hi. i'm a parent and i was really worried because of internet. i just want to say i appreciate the support received from san francisco and art curriculum and that district is working with our principals the develop outdoor classrooms for arts and i was worried about the mold part and i like to thank dawn. i really appreciate that for

item i-2. >> i'm sorry but this public comment time is only for the closed session items. >> i apologize. like i said, i have been in and out of internet. i'm confused of the next item and what needs to be discussed. >> no problem. thank you. >> my apologies but i'm happy that i addressed that. thank you so much. >> thank you. that concludes public comment. >> all right. i recess the regular board meeting in order for the board to go into closed session.

>> i am president sophie maxwell. madam secretary, will you call the roll, please. [roll call] >> clerk: okay. madam president, you have four members at this time. you have a quorum. due to the