ms. wynns. commissioner wynns: aye. ms. mr.ee. vice president yee: aye. ms. mendoza. president mendoza: aye. >> we'd -- president mendoza: we'd like to invite mr. martin up to accept your commendation and say a few words. >> i don't want to stand in the way of commissioner mendoza, having the shortest meeting ever, but i do want to thank the board, leading this station at this time, which is not only the 70th anniversary a great time to think about the role the station has played in the community but also what had been a challenging time for the station, obviously people around this community in so many ways, i want to thank the board for your support and thank you for your work as liaison and the superintendent for his support, it has meant a lot to us to know that the district wants to continue supporting this station as a community resource. with a visionary educators who began the station in 1941 when believe me, no one was listening to fm radio they didn't know what was going to happen in the future. we're in a time of changing technology that will be at least as

ms. wynns. here. mr. yee. >> here, he's here. >> ms. mendoza. president mendoza: here. and ms. tom. here. >> join me for the pledge of allegiance. item a, approval of the board minutes, we have none. item be, presentations to the board of education by the superintendent. superintendent, welcome back. >> for those of us who -- superintendent garcia: for those of us who stayed around -- no, that's not true. i was gone, but we got a lot done. starting the school year today, last week, we've been looking at a lot of training, professional development going on in the schools, it's fabulous. it's great to see the entire district talking about special education, talking about how kids learn to read, how kids do math, how we can improve in those areas. i don't know, i kind of feel like a kid going back to their first day of school all over again. it's exciting time. so i want to thank all our administrators, teachers, staff, everybody who works in this wonderful school district. i welcome you back. i know the teachers start technically on friday. we'll have a lot of different things going o

ms. wynns. those in favor say aye. ms. mendoza. those in favor say aye. >> six ayes. president mendoza: item i, board member's proposals, none tonight. item j a request to speak regarding general matters. i have a list of folks who wanted to speak. come on up as your name is called. r.t. choice. jerry, we're going to hold you. pam rah rouse, elaine meriwether, sharon kennedy, elizabeth conley, chantae rogers, betty robinson harris, and alyssa, do you want to speak at this point? ok, come up. >> my name is archie choice. i live here in san francisco for about 50 years and i've been having a problem with you -- your lottery system for placing kids in schools from junior high, elementary, and it just seems like it's not a fair system and doesn't seem like it's really effective, relying on somebody to wait on a lottery system. it's like going to the store and buying a ticket to see if you're going to win some money for your kid to get an education. i filled out a form and it had six different schools for my kid to pick to go to. i filled out three. you didn't give him any

i sent an email to ms. wynns because the last time i was here, someone asked her to get my name so she replied with a generic email back to you, well, as many of you in your neighborhood are experiencing the same thing.i would like to n my neighborhood would be able to attend a school so far away. i responded in a heartfelt e- mail explaining many things. one thing was why was i given such of generic response to my medical appeals. i feel like a faceless number, and i am coming to prove i am not. it is upsetting. i feel like no one is listening. we are trying to put people on this or that, and some families are being shut out of the system, and i do not know what to do. i just feel the people who have gone through the rounds, that have already gotten a chance of selection, i am going against them because they did not do the. i hope you will consider it his term next year when you devise a new system, and because this is not working. thank you >> item k is appointments by board members. >> i want to thank linda, m

ms. wynns? >> aye on august 16, and abstain on july 19 and august 2. >> thank you. mr. yee? >> aye. >> ms. mendoza. ms. fan and ms. tom aren't in the room. ok. thank you. >> so let's move on to item b, which is the presentations to the board of education superintendent's report. superintendent garcia? >> good evening. it's really exciting to start another school year, a rip roaring opening of the school year again. i want to congratulate all the administrators, teachers, staff, and parents of all our great schools for a smooth opening of schools last week. i also want to thank our facilities department for ensuring that our schools's moves that took place during the summer were really efficient and also what a great job they did in cleaning up our schools and getting them ready to open up for a brand-new school year. on the first day of school, i had the privilege of visiting several schools and i have to say, wow, what a difference our facilities bonds have made. that the public here in san francisco has passed in 2003 and 2006. if you look at our facilities, really knocks y