2017-05-09 PPS School Board Regular Meeting, Public Hearing

District	Portland Public Schools
Date	2017-05-09
Time	missing
Venue	missing
Meeting Type	regular, town-hall
Directors Present	missing

Documents / Media

Transcripts

Event 1: Board of Education - Regular Meeting - May 9, 2017

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welcome everybody every item we vote on this evening has been posted by state law and we're going to do a few recognitions this first is Benton and a little bit about a house that was built Curtis you want to start us off yes thank you guys for having us my name is Curtis Wilson jr. and I'm the principal of a Benton Polytechnic high school and what I'd like to do is introduce a couple of my instructors who have been working on the Vincent house on Skidmore and Mallory for the past few years and basically I'm going to turn it over to these guys let them talk about the house and then we have some students we're going to speak on the house as well because they're the ones that have been putting in all the work so I'm going to turn it over right now to Luke hostage and then he's going to talk to some students as well so I'm mr. Hotchkiss thank you well good evening I'm not sure what I supposed to face forward or back but my name is Lucas I graduated from Benson in the year 2000 and my co-teach with and so just I just want to be real quick and say that if you want to hear more about the house and the program that you can come to an open house that we're hosting for current and former students this coming Saturday it's at 1:30 northeast Skidmore from noon to 4:00 just a casual pop by for couple minutes see what the our students have done the amazing work that they've created and you know maybe have a hot dog or hamburger or something so Simon maybe you could talk about what you've done in our program here what it's meant to you yeah so at you know through the construction program I'm a junior Saima Chris well at Benson and so over the past couple years in construction I've been working on the house they hold on for a quick second when we get the lights down so we can see this thing Rosanne there a way we can get the lights yeah okay go ahead all right so yeah I've been on in the construction program for the last two years and so I've been doing more of the finished work on the house so you know we've painted the interior we've done interior carpentry finished carpentry we did all the cabinetry we pretty much build the entire house ourselves we don't plumb it because that really needs to work but other than that it's pretty much all us so most recently um we laid sod on the yard that was a hard day thank you very hard that grass is a lot heavier than most people think but yeah so we just been doing a lot of the finished stuff and are hoping to be able to start the next house next year assuming we get the permits on the next Lots solidified and yeah so you could you could like our page on Facebook also add basement at construction so just see more photos alright thank you you guys want to come up for a picture with the board yeah okay let's do it [Applause] and uh what are you asking for now help pay for the next house yeah no doesn't get all right so Mike thanks Tom so I mean I'm here I'm here cuz I'm on the school board sometimes I'm sick I'm I want to welcome Lincoln's environmental justice class with students the teachers the parents and tonight we're going to acknowledge their great work can all the students just that are in the class that are here raise their hand okay great so the class was so I'll just give you a quick overview and then they're going to take over so the class was created right after the climate justice education resolution that we passed last year and the class has been an incubator or as I like to say a hotbed of climate activism for the Lincoln community in the broader
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community I added that talking point I said they were doing collaboration with environmental nonprofits like 350 Portland and neighbors for clean air they advocate for clean air and clean climate and clean air policies at the city and state level for example Portland's first in the nation zoning ban on future fossil fuel infrastructure in March they collaborated with the world affairs council on their 10 the world Youth Forum where they presented multiple workshops in April they were featured in yes magazine in an article called Portland Public Schools first to put climate justice in classrooms it's a great article and most recently the class one-third rise in the McConkey foundations national eco-challenge for its commitment to climate justice activism over the school year so we're gonna have the students do show a short video and then we're going to have CLA Itza who was the personal Andy a slam poet champion from Roosevelt do a Pullman poem on climate justice all in 11 minutes or less well thank you so much for having us and first of all thank you so much for your support of climate justice education in people in public schools specifically to Mike Rosen you've been a huge part of that so thank you so much it also specifically for the climate resolution which passed actually just almost a year ago actually and I testified in favor of that last year and I remember saying that the kind of letters the kind of literacy with the minimum requirement for my generation success and after taking this class I realized that that doesn't just mean scientific literacy or scientific knowledge it means social justice education as well so there's a lot of work to be done but that resolution is an amazing way to begin that process and Lincoln's environmental justice and sustainability class is just one of the forms that that resolution can take I'm also on the climate justice committee for Portland Public Schools so I've seen several examples of the way that resolution can take take shape and that includes some of the things that we've done this year we've done lots of speaking events with a marshalese poet Kathy general Kitchener and there's upcoming workshops for teachers on climate justice and so much more so thank you for supporting that and but so in closing I would say keep this resolution close to your heart in your budget because this is not just the work of one class in one year it's the beginning of something incredibly powerful so thank you so much thank you hi I'm also a senior and I wanted to talk to you guys a little bit about some of the projects that our class has been getting involved with for example we have a lot of different groups that we split off into of ways that we could communicate activism into our own community the group that I was a part of was an educational outreach group and we went into three different elementary schools and taught 6 different classes a total of about 160 students some basic climate education we had them do little art projects and they were featured at an art show that we called artivism that I'll talk about in a second but that was one of the most empowering things for all of us as a class to be able to band together and create a curriculum that we could teach to younger students and see the passion that they were developing and then the artivism group created an environmental art show all by themselves and put it on at Lincoln with the help of some of the faculty and they got ten art classes at Lincoln involved and that was about 60 students in total and received over 90 pieces of art and showcased it it was really wonderful and then another student group worked on carve a carbon audit and collected responses from about 350 students just to figure out ways that we can make Lincoln more green and we can keep pushing and those were just ideas that US Lincoln students predominantly a senior junior class created but I just want to thank you for pushing this resolution and ideally we could push into other schools because imagine how cool the ideas are going to be when there's more of us hi I'm highly also senior and so our vision for the documentary that we are going to show was to capture our accomplishments this year as a class and to highlight student activism for to set an example for other schools we hope to show the power of student voices and inspire people to connect with their communities our activism extended outside of the Lincoln community to the city of Portland and the state of Oregon in November we went to City Hall numerous times to advocate for fossil fuel infrastructure restrictions
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I read personal testimony at the hearing and it was empowering as a young person to be involved in a first of time policy in the nation later in the year we went to Salem to advocate for clean air legislation against these little engines and had the opportunity to speak with legislators and the governor here in our documentary documentary you will see footage of these events and more projects led by students all right lights camera action [Music] advocacy on this issue has been with this powerful voices emergency we had the hearing before a couple ninth-inning drum Sunnyside environment school gave the best testimony in theater so please continue kocha to it that your presence on this issue because you're going to own this problem through your whole budget if you don't get it right in every part of your lives that we delay I believe is the American people have client hatred and fear and I know that a lot of us feel hopeless right now because our nation can take a huge step backwards in our efforts to adjust address climate I know that I certainly found desperate useless and scares until I remember [Music] the air Governor Brown beat down time for some students at Sunnyside environmental we care so much about seen air for everyone we know that you do too please use your pilot to protect our well-being so that we can have the same opportunity so you and many others had growing up we love organ so much we want to be in a role model we want to be a role model to the rest of the country we are counting on our elected officials to take action we kids can't do the love this is standing up for us in all future generations Excel Excel Lilly basically we have the idea trying to pull together in a way by having fun everyone connected with and we decide the part we have been getting all system of school submitted artwork that is directly related feature and also receive on our iPod type crisis and basically our we're the Education Group and we have made our own curriculums on climate change and environmental justice and we've been going to this great classroom around the district at brandman for smart Jaqueline naturally Ainsworth and we home teaching fifth graders about the impacts of climate change of what environmental justice is and what they can do okay we are doing a greenhouse gas analysis of our school which looks at the scope one scope to have three emissions which is like the natural gas burn dealing tricity used and the emissions associated with our daily activities of the school recently got involved news project was you can sort of establish why how our school has been turning to the environmental impact and things that we can do in our local community to make an impact on climate change and sort of lead by example for other schools across across the nation and to set a bar that we should expect
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or supposed to meet as well [Music] [Music] [Applause] me [Music] [Applause] [Applause] thank you all right hello my name is yella Etha and I'm a senior from Roosevelt High School disappea a weeks ago we were able to have traffic general Kitchener come to our school and speak on climate change not only does she speak about climate change but she talked about a Pacific Islander youth nowadays and it was just such a blessing I used that word blessing it's such a big term but as a young Pacific Islander woman I have never in classrooms where I just gets me so emotional but I have never learned about climate change in any of my classroom science history and the effect has on the Pacific Islands my people are having to evacuate their homes these islands are generations before I have found because of this issue and not many know about this about how it really affects my people and um this piece that I wrote about was inspired by Kathy I also do poetry but just being able to hear her and in this workshop really influenced me to write a piece about climate change and so present to Nova oh yeah she stands in the ocean taking in her surroundings reminiscing of this island she calls home all that remains is the feeling of emptiness the water rising to her ankles she remembers those nights waking up to her home flooded yet again learning there is nowhere on this island to escape the flood the next morning she makes her daily offerings into the ocean whispering are you a friend or a foe please spare us some more time I'll climb to the highest peak with my people on my back if that is what it takes to find peace the water rises to her knees she remembers those days picking bananas guavas and passion soothe the roots of these fruits now weakened or to the time she would watch mama out in the ocean with a bucket of fish in her left and experian her right calling out daughter come see the ocean has been good to me so the day she would watch mama carry an empty bucket of fish in her left while wiping her tears with her right crying out daughter the ocean is angry with me no mama she reassures the ocean is not angry with you or me it is though something talks into the sea not preserving these sacred waters like generations before us have protected those that eyes are blinded by contamination and greed because the white man does not believe he does not care that climate change exists that we are paying the price the water rises to her hips she retrieves those memories of those hours practicing with the other girls in the village those movements back tell stories as her hips way to the Swift beats her hands gracefully tracing her aura pooling in the mana of her ancestors while the coconut oil on her skin glistens like the Sun reflecting against the ocean the water rises beneath her breath she is losing herself into the sea at that memory of watching the angry waters disrupting the dead their bones coming out of their graves already lost to the sea the water rises to her shoulders she imagines the faces of her people if they are told you need leave the pain in their hearts the tears falling down cheeks as they were wonder where we go the water rises to her head she is ready to surrender into the sea yet she hears the chants of her people from afar screaming we will not go we will stay we will plant our feet into the earth she to work on her feet into the earth she is staying on this island thank you thank you my name is Tucker Holston I'm only a senior at Lincoln
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High School in the environmental justice class so the work that Cathy Jenelle kitchener has done in our classes and our environmental justice and sustainability class at Lincoln are only two examples of the work being done in the district to advance climate justice education and we would just like to take this time to thank you because not many other places in the country right now would be able to pass such a bold agreement to get such a necessary education into our schools and we recognize that that's extremely unfortunate because climate change is the most important issue that we are going to face in our generation and that humanity has ever faced and to not have like sufficient science education and sufficient education about environmental justice and all the risks posed by climate change and what we need to do about it that's just like tantamount to decades ago students just not learning about the Cold War while it's going on it's just absolutely ridiculous it's the issue of our time and we just like to thank you once again thank you to the board for helping to make PBS a national leader in climate justice education we hope that PBS continues in this direction and like furthers these goals and that it spreads to other districts across the country thank you has it exist in closing I want to acknowledge the teachers that have guided these brilliant students Tim Swinehart Malay and building love you guys can we do a picture with these guys you guys want to do [Applause] all right next is the Chapman Public Works mural project restoration and pamela Vanderhoff want to tell us a little bit about yes hi Pamela vander waals I'm the principal at Chapman elementary school and I am here just to introduce Rosie Platt and Nina Olson and honor them for the amazing work that they did I'm at the mural at our school and I'm going to let them talk more about that hello thank you for this recognition my name is Rosie Platt I am the project coordinator for the Chapman wood marquetry conservation project I was also the PTA president at the time that this project started and I my main role was to seek funding for the projects so as you can see we raised over 32,000 dollars to allow for the conservation of this project through grants and community donations so this project really was was powerful to see our community go from having no knowledge of this piece of artwork to fully understanding the cultural and historic significance so I'm going to introduce Amina Olsen who will talk more about the conservation project the artist Jamie Gorham was a diminutive woman with an immense challenge and she was a very unique product of her time and place and an under-recognized Oregon women art woman artist she had multiple ties to Portland Public Schools having executed 14 murals during the New Deal era and she also later taught at Washington High School the medium that she used for this particular mural was wood marquetry which is a technique which involves piecing together of wood veneers with variation in grain and color to create an image yet 80 years of accumulated wear and tear had seriously compromised the condition of the mural the principal threat being the instability of the wood veneer which had become unglued in many places as you can see in this slide there was also significant vandalism that had taken its toll on the delicate surface so in June of 2016 the panels were removed and transferred to student to the studio
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or treatment which involved the consolidation and repair of the wood veneer the cleaning and removal of an opaque polyurethane coating and restoration of vandalism to bring visual unity back to the mural and the results were very dramatic I have a series of detail shots that just show before and after left is before on the right is after that make you appreciate the improvements to visual legibility and how you were able to see the glowing figural effects of the wood veneer after treatment two interpretive panels were also designed to provide information about the wood marquetry the wood species that were used the WPA ami Gorham and also where ELL students might find her work for example at the Portland Art Museum or Timberline Lodge Rosie and the Chapman PTA organized a public unveiling of the mural that was held last December and it was great because we had in attendance not only art historians and historic preservation people but also actual descendants of Abram herself and of course the Chapman families and community the mural has been recognized as a highly unique made in Oregon artwork and in fact later this month I will be presenting the project paper at the AIC or the American Institute for the conservation of historic artworks meeting in Chicago just a few weeks ago the project was honored with an Oregon Heritage Commission Excellence Award as an exemplary model for future preservation projects Portland Public Schools has an extraordinary collection of cultural heritage during the New Deal mm Public Schools was second only to Timberline Lodge and receiving art commissions for the entire region six which as you can see was Alaska Washington Oregon Idaho and Montana so quite an incredible fortune to have received Seattle schools doesn't have anything like this it is unique and a true treasure the WPA era was a period of a very intense cultural innovation with profound and lasting influence on the arts in Oregon some PBS works are hidden in plain sight like the mural this mural by Eric LeMay dat Abernathy elementary school that is now the focus of a new collaborative effort between heritage conservation group and Abernathy PTA which is just now in its nascent fundraising fundraising stage the ambitious project seeks to recover what is essentially a lost work of art that was covered with wall paint in the 1950s Eric Lee made what is known best known to date for his carved work at Timberline Lodge but the Abernathy mural was always his masterwork which was known exclusively through these archival photographs until 2007 the mural is composed as a linear chronological frieze which goes around the room and illustrates the history of Oregon so here's the very beginning curving around with Lewis and Clark other famous Oregon historic figures and ending with more recent history in 2007 the location the mural was identified and exploratory testing was conducted to determine the condition of the mural underneath six layers of paint which is actually quite good and something of a miracle that nothing happened to it because nobody really knew it was there and however the project was left suspended at that stage in ten years ago so we are hoping now in the next year to raise funds and so that we'll be able to initiate a treatment in the summer of 2018 oh I won't take any further time I just wanted to point out some other amazing artwork that is in your collection that's now being addressed as well and we hope that Portland Public Schools will continue to be excellent stewards of your collection thank you very much all right let's get a picture in its first a question in a picture cuz you're more aware it said Amy Gorham had port Keene that's crap I'm gonna your left most of them there are a few that have been lost there was an owl that was at Lincoln High School and another piece that was at Irving Tunis lost but for the most part was I think was a swan at Irvington but for the most part most of them are surviving although mostly in very compromised condition because of the same sort of issues that are occurring to all of her works that tomorrow I'm going up to Timberline Lodge to do an assessment of the two pieces that are in their collection that
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are also suffering some of the same sort of Aging issues several years ago they supposedly did a audit of all the artwork is that so available I believe there have been a number of them done and I think in as I said in 2007 when I did that work Doug Capps at the time asked myself and Jeannie Allen to sort of revisit some of the areas because there's information as to which schools were recipients of WPA commissions and so we tried to identify those when you were assembling your Magellan study in anticipation of upgrades so there is something of an inventory but not complete and many pieces that are still we don't really know what happened to them we have a couple of CS prices upstairs yes beautiful absolutely absolutely wonderful and all of the CS prices at the beach school that are and quite amazing again it's quite an incredible collection thank you very much for your work come on up okay the nutritional services we want to recognize tonight as well and I'd like to invite Jamison Holtz Portland Parks and Recreation to say a few words along with some others thank you good evening my name is DJ great choice for uni and I'm the senior director for nutrition services and I'd like to turn this presentation over to Whitney allistic she's the assistant director for nutrition services and she oversees a summer program so this is very appropriate okay great thank you so Portland Parks and Recreation has been a long-standing partner with Portland Public Schools specifically with the nutrition services department for well over 20 years and we want to take the moment to recognize this and their ability to provide much-needed access to food and nutrition to our community's children specifically during the summer hunger does not take a break even though school might and so in response the USDA offers a program for us to host where we can provide free meals to all children ages 1 to 18 in our at-risk communities without the partnership that we've had with Portland Parks and Rec many of our families and children would be in desperate need of food and children and teens across our County would not have safe places to play our parks bring a sense of community and when we're able to share a meal together it connects us even further Portland Parks and Rec make it possible for us to feed over 5,000 children every day and each year this number grows because of their advocacy and support and partnership Jameson Holt who is our playgrounds manager soul playgrounds manager has been an exceptional audition for the past four years and I'm talking about for the county not just for our for our district his passion for food and for children is just undeniable literally just made a connection with officer Williams at the front door to expand his mentorship and collaboration just to kind of showcase how passionate he is about what he does most notably this year he also applied for an Oregon Department of Education grant to expand our offerings and this will allow us to go to ten more sites through his mobile playground program so in addition to the 22 already established parks throughout our community and he runs every day this year June 20th through August 25th providing that gap between the end of school until the beginning of the next school year and out of the 72 sites that we host meals through it's because of his 22 parks that last year we were able to serve almost a hundred thousand meals
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to our students across the county again we're greatly appreciative of this partnership it is there's no financial ties to this this is just an in-kind collaboration that happens every year and so we'd like to recognize that the ongoing successful relationship that benefits our students directly and assures that there are well-fed ready to play learn and achieve their best every day and so I would offer to the board and to our superintendent an opportunity to see this in action starting June 20th to come out to any of our parks we'd love to host you to see the food to see our kids in a really fun environment thank you thanks Whitney and aside from just being such an incredibly necessary program it's really nice to see the degree of partnerships not only locally yeah Portland Parks and Rec couldn't do it without Portland Public Schools so thank you whoa all right we're going to take a quick picture 212 [Applause] all right Susan we have any student testimony we do we have seven our first two speakers Fred Gresham and Veronica Greene nice painting um good afternoon my name is Freddy Gresham and I am Eau de boi Chippewa Turtle Mountain bands and you should not by descent quite a mouthful I'm here as a student representative of my beloved school maiya early college Academy I am a junior I could talk for hours on why our program should be thriving and funded but because of time I'll be brief I have been through three different high schools in one year two public schools and one online school I was sexually assaulted by an alumni at Roosevelt High School which made me spiral out of control I was not offered resources because the school was so large and counselors were more focused on sports and scholarships than students and their mental health high school felt like an institution I had no one-on-one relationships with teachers being at school was scary and hard because they had core classes with my abuser and he never got in trouble I was dropped from Roosevelt because of violence and truancy doing online school made me even more depressed so my mom thought I should transfer to grant it was bigger than Roosevelt and I had transferred three-quarters out of the year I was bullied and forget having one-on-one relationships with the teachers because most of the teachers didn't even know my name after being there for three and a half months I started doing drugs and skipping and eventually started running away from home my relationship with school was ruined because I had no adult advocates or help maiya has saved my life I am now part of conversations my voice is heard more than my name is remembered my hobbies and my interest and my feelings are remembered I feel at home I dropped out of high school my freshman year and now I am fully on track to graduate I have met my best friends at nya people I will remember forever I have met my phenomenal boyfriend and for once in my whole life I feel comfortable in my skin and my culture I hope you decide to keep funding schools like Nia at the highest level possible so that more Native youth and youth of color has the same opportunity as I did Nia is my family thank you thank you my name is ronica green I'm from the Klamath tribes and a junior at nay is early a college Academy may have saved my life the early G caught it the early college Academy saved my life two years ago I never would have imagined myself doing what I'm doing today I started high starting high school I was one of the only queer students of color I was lonely and had no support whatsoever I stopped going and felt and fell into a deep dark pit of depression I transferred to two other schools after that was basically the same outcome the ECA has opened my eyes to a world of college opportunities and visits which is where I got the flitter I got the footer' edge and Southern Oregon
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University just like two weeks ago we went there and we performed and okay anyways I came with one credit as a sophomore and I'm a junior and I am now on track to graduate I never thought I would be hitting on time but I guess I am at the ECA when I have a bad day I always have someone to talk to you which is more than all the other schools could say like for real Mei is my home away from home I honestly don't know where I would be without it and I would encourage you to keep funding the ECA at the highest level possible so people like me can have a place to be supported thanks for coming [Applause] next we have ty Clayton and Hanna dress--i Kelsey Weibull and Payton Gibbs wait Adam well thank you good evening school board directors superintendent McKean my name is Vivian Scott I'm the director for youth programs at Southeast works in the doll family youth education and Career Development Center one of the programs of your multiple pathways to graduation department thank you for the opportunity to present some of our students experiences at Southeast works we understand this is budget season and appreciate the difficult considerations and decisions you face regarding your decisions the impact that your decisions have on the educational programs in our community thank you for your service hopefully the recent announcement of co-chairs proposals may produce fewer reductions than previously anticipated looking forward to the new every student succeeds act we see the possibility for the district to increase flexibility and responsiveness to student needs we are heartened by the intent to involve all stakeholders educators students families and community organizations we're committed to Oregon's vision to ensure each and every student has access to completing high school and to facilitating authentic partnerships between schools and community organizations I'm very pleased to present Kelsie Weibull Peyton Gibbs and Quinn Adams hi I'm kelcie and every student's or everybody seeks a safe place in times of struggle for some people that's Church some people that's a shelter but for me and my peers that place with southeast work youth program in 2016 I dropped out of high school the way the system was set up made it feel like a mental prison with my depression growing and my discovery of another path for education I dropped out a month after dropping out and struggling to learn the subjects to pass the tests my family and I actually got evicted from our home due to foreclosure with nowhere to go my parents and I struggled to keep jobs that could barely get us by we bounced back and forth from really unsafe and depressing living situations affording food let alone paying for where we were staying at the time was all impossible it was Antilles a hard card you know thing to go through but then I discovered the southeastward C's program after an orientation and a couple months of tutoring I began the cohort and during this time I opened my heart to friendship and put trust in my teachers I came to school and had access to delicious meals twice a day a comfortable and caring atmosphere and the most efficient classes I've ever been in I learned so much about how to do math and things from our history and intriguing aspects in science and how to form essays with grammar the teachers staff and counselors never made me feel unwelcome and they never made me feel anything but at home and loved which I really needed at the time the monthly bus passes made it possible for me to get to school and work and the weekly attendance incentive checks up to 50 dollars my peers and I earned were a lifesaver literally um then finally the GED tests were upon me and with the help of my instructors I pass each test the program paid $30 for each of the four tests which was 152 dollars in which this day I'm so very thankful for and basically without this program I would be in a really bad place right now and this is the best thing that's ever happened to me now I'm at Mount Hood Community College pursuing a degree in natural resources technologies and everything
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Southeast works off working my peers is really appreciated my name is Payton Gibbs I have been in Southeast work since March 14th 2017 and my short time there I very quickly become involved with staff and peers and I've never had that opportunity before at any other school it is business as usual they did not take the time to know you and it feels like most did not care you have to go to the school counselor to even start thinking about expressing your feelings the point is that South East works as a safe zone it is a safe zone literally in the sense that you feel physically safe and more importantly you feel emotionally safe to be there both with staff and peers the staff asks you how you're doing everyday and multiple times a day because they care they want to see you succeed and move forward with your life they support you in any way that they can one example is our Thursday community meeting this is the time when we sit down as a whole and discuss upcoming events for the community and it gives us a chance to bond together it is a place to be vulnerable and sincere about things that are happening and have happened in our lives and to reflect on that with others in addition to discomfort and maybe because of it I personally feel I've learned more school content in my time here than have learned in all of my Hospital years put together yesterday I took my social studies practice test and got 182 out of 200 evidence that I will be earning college credit when I take the official exam I build this as proof that the southeast Works team is very functional and helpful to the community and should not have many cut from the program thank you and I'm Quinn Adams I'm actually a graduate from southeast works starting next fall term at Portland State University on a full-ride scholarship and when I came to South East works I had was a five time high school dropout I dealt a lot with bullying during high school and had given up on anything especially College I was specifically struggling a lot with bullying due to the fact that I'm transgender and I came into Southeast works not really expecting a lot but was met with just this overwhelming sense of community and love there was never a day where I was ignored if I was having a bad day anybody every staff member that is in the building is more than willing to listen they would feed me if I didn't have food at home and I was after the short time I was there given the opportunity the entire time working at my own pace to take my tests one of which I did get college credit for the other ones I was tested at a college ready place giving me my availability to get a scholarship I was given job help I was given resources that I never thought I'd have available and I was given a home more than anything else I was given a family thank you so thank you very much for your time this evening and I have a few things that I would like to leave with Karen that she can distribute to you thank you very much for coming everybody all right it's Houston public comment we have three okay Margaret Baumgartner and Shannon Winningham you thank you good evening my name is
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Shannon Winningham and I'm here tonight to give testimony as both an educator and a parent my son Luca Ken steno elementary in Southeast Portland Dunaway is slated to lose some key staff positions in light of the impending budget cuts our assistant principal Dave Snider part-time special education teacher Holly Ingram and our part-time counselor Kate Mallory as a mom of a boy who was all boy Dave Snyder has made a personal connection with my son Luke out on the playground he's helped Luke and other boys use positive problem-solving creating a safer atmosphere at her school Dunaway has no male classroom teachers and mr. Snyder provides a visible and available male role model and education for hundreds of boys at our school he also provides the teachers with discipline support and problem-solving so that learning can move forward in the classroom when issues arise without the support of mr. Snyder educational minutes would be lost and students would not have a positive present male role model in addition for the past several months my son Luke has been a part of a social skills group led by our part-time counselor Kate Mallory the group is called the worry wizards and they meet weekly to focus on skills to help cope with anxiety arising problem went among our children Luke struggles with worry in relation to natural disasters such as earthquakes things that are out of our control jade has been instrumental in providing social emotional support to Luke we cannot afford to escaped Maori Dave Snider and Holly Ingram as an educator a parent and a taxpayer it worries me to see that not only is our school falling apart physically on the outside with a leaky roof and peeling paint but I also feel like things are falling apart a little bit on the inside please as you head into the budget please look for cuts elsewhere as parents at Donna Way cannot fill the gaps that these positions will leave large elementary schools like Dunaway need assistant principals and need to retain staff and fragile positions such as special education and counseling we're creating a personal relationship built on trust and knowing the child's history is important it's a return on your investment worth taking thank you for listening to my concerns regarding staffing cuts I hope that you can reevaluate and find other areas to cut as these people play a key role in providing a positive safe nurturing environment for our children thank you hi I'm Margaret Baumgartner I'm a here today as a concerned parent from Dunaway elementary school I have two children one as a kindergartner one's a 2nd grader and this is my first year at Dunaway one of the big concerns I have just in the short time that I've been at Dunaway is just seeing you know how involved our assistant principal is and just assuring the daily safety of our children our kids are allowed to be dropped off at our elementary school every day at 8:30 a.m. that they can be dropped off in the school yard or they can go into the cafeteria there they arrive from buses or from parents dropping them off sometimes you know there's just a parent driving by and letting the kid out and off they go David the eyes and the ears on that schoolyard every morning and with over 500 children at our school I have a real concern about the possibility of him not being there for originally the budget allowed for schools over 500 students to keep their assistant principal but it with the 2017 2018 budget it would require that we have over 600 students over 500 students still seems like an awful lot of kids to me to assure safety not to mention how he supports both the students themselves out on the playground and in the classroom and also provides a you know the kids with support both for vulnerable students and
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behavioral needs so that the principal can support the staff and be there to help with their growth and development as well I just think it's real important to make sure that we have you know where are our teachers are stretched very thin the class numbers are up and I just want us to make sure that we are not taking away you know the people that are the eyes and they eat and they ears on the playground throughout the school making sure that small problems don't turn into bigger problems for all of our kids thank you lastly we have Michael Bryce that's it okay thank you will now vote on the business agenda for members anything you'd like to pull from that agenda this Susan is are there any changes no okay do I have a motion to adopt the business agenda I can't move I director and executive directors constant any public comment Azusa you know all right all those in favor please indicate by saying yes yes any abstentions business agenda is proved by a vote of 7-0 with student reps and Bradley not here the next regular meeting the board will be held May 23rd 2017 this meeting is

Event 2: PPS Board Budget Hearing, May 9, 2017

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in here for a few guidelines by order fire marshal all Isles must be kept clear all signs need to be kept below chin level so not block the view behind you restrooms are located next to the elevators we have set aside an hour this evening so please limit your comments to two minutes I actually want to start there was a group gathered outside we're regarding the there we go the SROs and schools I think they wanted to say a few things so if you want to come up yeah yeah yeah and just you guys will each have two minutes or two in it okay good afternoon my name is Kelly Quinn Ward testified before I'm a junior in high school and I'm a member of prone soon Action Network which is the group here today I will be introducing our police out of school campaign and covering some of the issues we have with school resource officers although I I know you want to limit us to two minutes our testimony isn't too long but we make over time limits we would appreciate if you refrain from interrupting we have reached out to all of the board members before and then multiple district officials but gone very few responses and so far have only been able to meet with one person so this is our only chance to get this message across so we'd appreciate if you'd listened so police do not belong in schools many of us have seen have seen the video of a young female student being taken from a desk and slammed on the ground by a cop we've read about an eight year-old autistic child who was handcuffed to a chair for over an hour and sent to jail for throwing a fit in school we've heard news of kids being dragged out of schools and handcuffs for simple class disruptions we've watched Nesser o taser and choke a fourteen-year-old special needs student for no clear reason this is the culture cops create while extreme incidents like this may be rare and PBS hostility and intimidation remained prevalent just seeing a fully uniformed armed officer in the halls evokes a sense of fear to many the police are an institution of oppression and violence PBS states that all students have a right to feel safe and included at school so they can fit so that they can thrive academically and socially but much of the student body especially students of color low-income students neurodivergent students and lgbtq+ students have their sense of safety stolen from them by the presence of police in our schools how our marginalized students supposed to thrive academically while living under the constant fear of being arrested he came in here dated or even saw life during protests many members of our groups and other PBF student activists have been tackled hit arrested shoved pepper sprayed threatened tear gas and shot with projectile moving by police yes including some of PBS's s arrows and other youth service officers it is near impossible to walk into school the next morning after protests and feel safe knowing your SRL and their co-workers assaulted you we understand that you believe SROs fulfill an essential role of security and relationship building but the majority of Keithley s high school students couldn't even tell you the name of their SRO let alone recall any sort of positive interaction they've had with them however chances are they could tell you they could tell you about since I know who have been arrested in school or let you know how uncomfortable having a gun on school campus makes them rather than protect students ethros criminalize them serving as a bridge between schools and the criminal justice system schools must become sanctuaries free from traumatizing interactions with law enforcement while the Portland Police Bureau claims that in-school arrests are rare we see we see them occur far too frequently any number of arrests is too many being taken out of class and putting handcuffs in front of your peers for a minor offense is not acceptable this is a blatant manifestation of the school to Prison Pipeline it is an embarrassing traumatizing and unnecessary practice we know quite a few students who have been arrested and never returned to school arrest of any students on school campus and let they pose a severe threat to immediate threat to safety must end in the rare event of a school shooter or some other act of extreme violence
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having an officer present might make sense but this is not a justification to have an armed cost agent could you wrap it wrap it up particularly sorry we're going to continue again we have reached out to you all the times we're not let into the board meeting to begin with because of shock so we feel that it's our right to testify in front of this board right now yeah there are other people we understand but I mean we also don't have any other opportunity you have to give us two more minutes okay I mean I would like you to wrap up and then the next speaker would have two minutes okay okay but this is not a justification to have an armed cop station schools ethros are only present a portion of the time and studies show that a single officer is unlikely to be able to prevent or stop an attack in PPS the SRO program appears have no public accountability or oversight no data information is readily available currently PBS has a retired cop serving a security director making it unlikely that essa' roads will be held accountable having ops like the Cleveland death row who assaulted a black woman serving our schools is terrifying and should be an embarrassment for the sister SRO serve no vital purpose in the district that cannot be filled by unarmed security and counselor support behavioral issues should be met with a positive intervention and restorative practices rather than arrest and police involvement placing an armed officer in every high school it sends a message to students that they are a threat that needs to be suppressed we do not feel protected by a thorough instead they instill fear in us disrupting the educational environment if you hear about creating schools where all students are able to feel safe you must and the regular presence of our employees in PBS schools how to recent handed forms every board candidate president said that he would support removing armed police we hope that you get behind this initiative - thank you action networks demand and explaining what we see as an alternative as far as we hope we have shown you today that SROs are an unnecessary and harmful part of CPS however we want more than just the removal of cops from our schools it's time PBS resyncs their approach to discipline and behavioral issues altogether we understand that the current budget cuts are severe and may only get worse but this needs to be made a priority in more than just writing additionally many of our recommendations utilize already available resources without requiring additional funding our eight demands are as follows one immediately stop arresting students in school unless they pose an imminent danger to themselves or others as previously stated in school arrests inflict lasting trauma students for the school to Prison Pipeline pipeline and create an environment of fear it is cruel and unnecessary students should never be handcuffed adorn arrested in school unless expose an imminent threat that cannot be addressed without the use of restraint to immediately disarm asuras schools should be gun-free zones if police are truly engaging with school communities and problem-solving there is no need for them to carry a gun the presence of this sort of weapon is what is supposed to be in it in what is supposed to be an educational environment is alarming we all know that there are too many trigger-happy cops what's to prevent an SRO from pulling out their gun or using it in the event of a fight or conflict between students no student or staff member should have to consider the possibility is being shot while in school we are asking the SROs be disarmed the beginning of the 2017-18 school year train security and counselors to handle situations which require intervention and/or discipline most it's not all schools have unarmed security staff security should be more than capable of handling situations like fights or threats without police we ask that you train school security and culturally responsive and restorative approaches and ensure that they're developing relationships with the school community in incidents of reporting sexual assault and other crimes counselors should serve as a resource to students fraud as rather than SRS we would also like to see counselors take a more active role in advocating for students during decisions of discipline for and zero-tolerance policies in and lower and lower exclusionary disciplinary rates while PPS has made strides in the lowering the total amount of exclusionary discipline further progress is necessary zero tolerance policies are relic of the tough-on-crime era that has no place in a district that claims to prioritize equity it's time to raise the district if any discipline guidelines that call for a minimum punishment every case should be reviewed on an individual basis suspension or expulsion should be avoided unless absolutely necessary five create and follow through on a plan for closing the racial disparities in discipline PPS has stated that closing these racial disparities is a priority yet we have been unable to find a plan to do this it is unacceptable that in this last school year a black high school student was 4.5 more times likely than a white student to be suspended or expelled we ask that you develop a
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comprehensive five year approach to ending the gap in discipline with measurable metrics implement restorative practices in every school and develops student mediation programs in certain schools PPS has made attempts to implement restorative programs but these efforts often fade and do not receive the necessary support to succeed we are asking that in each school a staff member or group of staff be assigned to oversee restorative conflict mediation programs CPS should take inspiration from districts that have developed student facilitated restorative processes this is a cost-effective and equitable way to approach discipline and issues within the school environment 7 remove school resource officers from all the CPS by the beginning of the 2018-19 school year we understand the ethros have been part of PBS from for decades and removing them is not something that can happen overnight so we're asking that you engage in a collaborative process with Portland police community members and students to phase in school cops out of the 2018-19 school year eight limit the amount that police are called into schools to extreme cases police should only enter schools in rare instances of violence or outside threats to student safety we ask that a protocol in relationship between school administrations and the nearest police precinct be developed to minimize the harm caused when these officers do have to enter schools thank you for listening to us - today our advocacy will not end here and if these demands are not met you can expect for their action we hope that our message came across clearly police do not belong in schools please reach out to us through email if you would be willing to meet and discuss this issue thank you very much alright well we'll be sending additional testimony to you that we were not able to get across and we thank you thank you preciate that alright we have interpreters with us tonight I'd like to invite them up so they can introduce themselves okay Susan can you want to call them first - sure and Caffery and Petra Prost RIT okay uh thank you I guess you didn't hear but yeah yeah so this is a budget hearing and everybody has two minutes appreciate you being here all and it's very important to us to hear you tonight thank you good evening my name is Anja Forry and I'm on the board for peace in schools as an advocate I'm asking you to keep this vital program in our high schools I've been a psychotherapist for over thirty years and before that a high school teacher our three children have gone to Portland Public Schools so I speak as an advocate for the peace and schools program from experience both professionally and personally mindfulness practice is evidence-based it has shown to improve executive functioning memory and a sense of well-being through the peace in schools program high school students are taught a language where they learn to explore their lives but with a mindfulness perspective this language is non-judgmental and very compassionate for both self and others in such a safe atmosphere students feel supported by each other and could better face life's challenges furthermore students who have taken this class report that they study better retain more knowledge and feel better about themselves than others principals counselors teachers and students overwhelmingly support this program because of its value and effectiveness hence more high schools want the piece and program in their schools in addition to being effective this non profit program has helped keep kids in school improve their learning and other subjects and helped to raise self-esteem we need the peace in Schools program in our public high schools more than ever these days please retain this vital program that serves hundreds of students who benefit each year from being in this class thank you thank you Amy Lee and
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Nia Williamson you would be called next after them all right welcome okay hello my name is Nia Williamson I'm currently a sophomore at Cleveland High School and as a native an Asian American woman I am here to help represent both communities and support of passing the ethnic studies bill into law I would first like to thank the board for passing the ethnic studies film resolution last May and ask that they keep it as a priority I am here to support funding for ethnic studies teacher training and materials for next year's courses that will embed ethnic studies into social studies classes this is important to me because even though I am fully aware of the historic contributions that my communities have had to this country we are invisible on the textbooks we talk about discrimination and racism but we don't even know the history of it all they don't teach us about the Asians that came to this country and risk their lives every day to build that railroad only to get tossed aside after it was built and told that the only jobs we could have for laundry services restaurant workers and merchants we don't learn about the mass genocide that happened to the indigenous people that were already living here instead we saw a great Thanksgiving a day where they were all supposedly friends that sat together at a table and shared recipes how can we expect ourselves to progress forward when we still have children rejecting people's identities because you can't be native they're all gone my communities needs have been pushed aside for too long we need to know that someone cares enough to educate students on the precious history of our people we can't take another act of disregard we want communities of color to feel pride in their identities for future generations to know the contributions that their ancestors have had on this country that is why I stand here today asking for support from the board to fully fund this implementation thank you thank you thank you hi my name is Amy I am a junior at Franklin High School and I don't know if you guys remember me but I am one of the older Ally members who were there when this campaign was created I have seen us grow I've seen a struggle I have seen a succeed we started out as a bunch of high school but now we have become something more we are not just a bunch of high schoolers that meet in a small room on Wednesdays we are a group of community members working together to create change for the future change that will not keep us separate by race gender or the money that we make but will unite us as people we have one common goal and that is to be given the right to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness we created this ethnic studies campaign as a step forward to that goal to give students the opportunity to not only learn about their own culture but about others to learn about the struggles that others had to face but most importantly to unite us especially during this time so I am asking all of you to think back to when we met each and every one of you two when we sat in this very room occupying the space so that you would notice and remember us to when we had that kick-ass campaign launch party with all the food and community members together to when we were chanting and screaming outside - when we came in in the very in one last time as a big group waiting for the final click there was a moment of silence right before it was passed and the room erupted with cheer when we finally took a step forward to unity I want to thank you for the support that you have given us through our campaign and hope that you will make ethnic studies a top priority because we work so hard on me not just allies and our coalition with other youth groups but also you all too we all had you all had the final say and allowing us to the opportunity to move forward with this meant so much I hope to one day visit my high school when I'm older and see this ethnic studies still be there and remember this remember the moment that it got passed in this very moment when you will all create this budget in support and funding of the implementation of ethnic studies I'll see all those students engaged excited to learn and you United for our goal all because of us
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thank you thank you Jessica you and Robert Benton welcome hi go ahead yeah nothing you don't know you guys I'm paint but almost nearly a year goes in front you guys testifying on why I want it xxx we pass and the reasons I'm changed accept the circumstances out it's more important now than ever to have a curriculum that unifies every side of the country it's because there's so many attacks on Muslim folks POC women in as a problem public school district who stresses that we are an inclusive community we must have a curriculum that reflects that so another reason I'm here today aside from telling you why I want this to be passed or budget allocated whatever is also holy you guys accountable I met with a lot of you guys individually with a lie and I want you guys to remember the time that we passed this a year ago when you guys said that you do support this and the budgeting is where we see where all where where you stand on this so I really hope you guys will allocate enough funding to make sure this curriculum is implemented well and not just as a checkmark on a list I really didn't prepare anything today came straight from AP exams so forgive me but I just want to echo everything that my peers said and just remind you that we are still here and we are watching thank you thank you thank you camera Rubin and allene terpstra [Applause] hello i'm melina setup strap and i am an exchange student from the netherlands I'm speaking for mindful studies I am attending mindful studies at medicine high school the reasons why one of the reasons that I choose met and mindful studies is that we don't have that course in the Netherlands what I noticed is that it's really helpful to deal with stress sometimes I add a lot of stress in the Netherlands and sometimes I still have stress here but I learned how to deal with the stress and take a moment for yourself and to answer your brain it's also really helpful for sports for example I'm doing golf and like if you are having a bad job then it's like first then I thought oh no you know and then I could get really angry but now I learned how to deal with it and count to ten and then go go for something what I noticed is like in the life before I came here so what I already said is I had much more stress and now I have I learned how to deal with it and give it a place something what I also learned here is that what I explored here is an environment of care something would have found out is another point that I would like to make is that a class isn't all about stress and dealing with stress I also learned about myself and who I am for example I can recognize and disidentify negative self self access to unconditional love recognized scoping next mechanisms and why we have coping mechanisms so I also can make better and healthier decisions after after dealing with a coping so I would like you up I would like you to ask please don't cut the fundings for freezing schools it's really helpful for now but also for your future Thank You Christine BEM Rose and Jeffrey cronic thank you came to the time to hear from the community Freddie's listening session my name is Christine BEM Rose and I am a speech-language pathologist here in the school district my 20 years of experience working with children adolescents and families I'm here today to testify on behalf of the translation interpretation staff who have been unassigned from their positions our tea
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is staffs on the front lines of community engagement directly interacting with families and PPS colleagues on a daily basis there seems to be an impression among district decision-makers that the work of the tea is fat can be eliminated replaced by translation software or outsourced to agencies only a view that represents a shallow understanding of the complexities and competencies required to be the interpreters of our educational system our tea is colleagues have developed a deep knowledge of the school systems which allows them to better explain terms such as dibbles or s back for easy CBM the account they can explain standard versus modified or why developmental milestones are central components of special education evaluations they inform parents of due process rights give context to the concepts of special education eligibility and the services and supports available for educational needs this educational jargon can be baffling to understand and navigate for speakers of standard American English who have experience in our educational system it's a communication minefield for our community members without English as a first language as a speech-language pathologist working with children and families my tias colleagues have been invaluable in educating and supporting me in my practice as a monolingual English speaker I rely on the linguistic expertise and cultural perspectives of the TAF interpreters to ensure that I conduct my work in a culturally responsive manner unfortunately PBS has a history of civil rights complaints and citations from federal and state authorities with regards to them our multicultural families I believe that the tea is interpreters are an essential resource in correcting these practices the relationships they have developed and the knowledge of the local community is a critical component of the trust families developed with our schools in discussing the unassigned of T is interpreters I have only heard families and staff express high praise for their work and professionalism it is rare that any employee of PBS remains on the scale in these times and yet our key is staff who work in every building in this district are universally highly regarded this is a time when multilingual and multicultural families are increasingly vulnerable and that is why this is a time to support and enhance the work of portland public school staff for effective and professional experts that directly impact the opportunities to access and improve equity in our educational system please preserve and support the CIS interpreters roles in improving the PBS outcomes for our students in our family residents and for a number of years I've supported peace in schools and it's mindful studies classes and the Portland schools both financially and to volunteer service I've come to appreciate the needs that it addresses among students in the Portland schools I'm hopeful that in making the hard choices and programs that you will be funding this year you'll consider the benefits of mindful studies courses adolescence is not easy as we all understand and likely the period of transition to adult life is more challenging than ever perspective self-awareness discernment valuable tools they promote focus understanding and thoughtful choices in their absence the opposite is true I'm going to purloin someone else's quote and finish by saying that our first duty to students is to make them happy if we have not made themselves we will have wronged them no other good that they may get can make up for that thank you for your time [Applause] gulia PD and Ola Hasan welcome go ahead my name is Julia PD and I'm an ESL teacher and PPF I'm here today to ask you to intervene in the decision to unassign all six representatives with the translation interpretation services or pif the communications consultant to unassigned these people a contractor herself made the decision without knowing what these people do or what a huge loss their absence would represent for the family students and staff of PPF she also may not have known our history in 2008 PPS was investigated by the office for civil rights for failing to provide information in an effective manner to the parents of LEP students getting rid of these employees will increase the likelihood of another such complaint from what I understand you've been told that getting rid of the T is representatives will save the district money and that contract interpreters will do a better job this is decidedly not the case in addition to the translation of all kinds of district and
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school documents these valuable employees translate for IEP meetings discipline hearings and other legal meetings of a sensitive nature they also respond to calls on the language line which allows the ESL parents and students the opportunity to contact someone who speaks their language in PPS whenever they have a question or concern in addition they advocate for and support our ESL students and their families teachers and parents alike know and trust these people given their knowledge skills and most importantly their carefully cultivated relationships with families how can this district imagine that they would be replaceable as for the notion that contract interpreters will do a better job just two weeks ago a colleague in my building told me she had come out of the worst I am eating she had ever attended the meeting was a disaster because of the contracted interpreter sent by t is to begin with the interpreter was 15 minutes late as the meeting finally got underway it came clear that the interpreter was unable to accurately convey what was being said because he didn't know the necessary terminology no was he familiar with PPS procedures or protocol the parent who knew enough English to know that crucial information was being left out was understandably frustrated and upset the same week I heard about an IEP meeting at another school they fell apart due to a different incompetent contracted interpreter is this a scenario that you want to continue repeating for our ESL families where is the commitment to equity it is up to you the board to step in and correct this terrible mistake and return the TI s representatives to their rightful position you've just received a letter today that is signed by over 50 PPS teachers school psychologists speech pathologists and special ed teachers I hope you take the time to read it next we have ties Luanne's and null Jackson no well Bossier my name is noel jackson i'm a proud parent of a current junior at Grant High School we've lived in the grant neighborhood for 16 years and I would like you to look around the room and see you know our support from our grant students let me first say thank you for the work that you do we understand the appreciate budget cuts are difficult I realize that you may not have direct influence or control over individual programs at our schools but I would like to bring the issue of program inequity to your attention Lincoln High School offers six world languages franklin v wilson v cleveland for grant will be reduced to two next year we have an enrollment of 1,500 kids world language is non elective it is a core requirement for graduation why would a core graduation requirements be put on the cutting block does that seem right to you in our world today why is grant reducing the opportunity to expand our world knowledge by in limiting eliminating a world language option please don't let this happen we please know that we aren't looking for Spanish Japanese immersion or French we want Spanish Japanese immersion and French don't let grant to minish the importance of providing language options by forcing students to choose between Spanish or Japanese isn't the phrase thanks global act local more important than ever in our current world climate by cutting French really all you're doing is reallocating French FTE to the remaining languages how is that cutting the budget it's difficult not to feel that there is a priority against language options at our school don't we want our students to learn about other cultures and perspectives around the world to become truly global citizens students have various reasons as to their language choices and overall do better in classes that they have chosen themselves why force them to take a language they have no interest in it is our understanding that the Japanese immersion program currently housed at Grant is taking money from our consolidated budget I think it's widely understood that the immersion programs are district-wide and provide programming for students all over PBS really it can be housed in any school for that reason we feel that the immersion program should be paid for by the general fund using our local neighborhood school dollars for students outside grant boundaries feel counterproductive to the needs of our local students about one-third of our English vocabulary has been borrowed from French as a result studies have shown that students who have studied
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French earn higher score at standardized tests please urge principal Campbell to keep our French program thank you thank you thank you for giving me the opportunity to be here my name is Sheila I am family engagement specialist with their family and community engagement services program at the amiran and jeopardy community organization I work with a 39 family Vietnamese family at Harrison Park Jason Lee vessel and Rose Wayne highs K through 8 schools the work I do strengthen the relationship between schools and families i provide culturally and linguistically liquid clay appropriate educational opportunities through regular group activities in parent group meetings we discuss parent as a teacher's life at school how to check the student homework and school attendance I provide in-home tutors for families experience extremely barrier newcomer families pre literate families and single-parent households more than eighty percent of my 30 night Vietnamese families report better understanding of school to her and home to school communications over 80 percent of them report increased learning at home without the faces program this family would have nobody to have them please support the faces program thank you thank you you ask a woman if we're different from grant and step back down if she would could use yeah I misunderstood something that you said I think and I wanted to get it straight you there's there's now there's three languages correct and Japanese one is the Japanese immersion program is there then a separate Japanese language I think kids can take separately then out attitude Liam right and providing sugar I don't know what the enrollment is down to two and the day did your did you get anything in the mail or where they said why they were doing this no that's part of the problem we have okay okay yeah I know you've read my show our contact information is on the the letters you're welcome on thank you very much next we have Shiloh George and Jackie Murphy clam I'm not getting in Michele Oh George my name is Shiloh George I'm southern Cheyenne Arapahoe as well as Irish and Scottish I'm the parent involvement advocate at the Native American Youth and Family Center so I introduced myself in Shinagawa which is a trade language used on these lands Lee's multi-millions for generations they would like to acknowledge that we're all guests here on Manama Tualatin calop alia and Malala lands how you Massey I want to give you many thanks for continuing to recognize and fund our culturally specific family engagement programming services I enjoy serving the parents in our community and helping them navigate Portland Public Schools as well as working on string cleaning themselves and their families every Tuesday night which is tonight those nights we have a parent gathering where parents meet to support each other and explore a variety of topics last week a parent told me and the group of that since she started attending our gatherings her attitude toward her family and her work has greatly improved in January one of the parents that I work with asked me to step in and assist her in her daughter's classroom with the teacher and the curriculum and I did that I provided some native-american specific curriculum to that teacher and the parent told me that her daughter really appreciated having our culture represented in the schools we really want to thank you for continuing to support those services and I also want to encourage you to continue funding services to the early college Academy and Nia which is currently slated to be some of the budget to be taken away from
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2008 to 2010 I was a culture arts teacher at the Academy and I can tell you from firsthand experience how important it is to have culturally specific high school for our youth the intensive supports and individualized attention is imperative to our students to be engaged and successful in their learning thank you very much Katie Odell and Marissa child's welcome i'm arisia not Katie I'm here I'm a my name is Maria childs I'm a parent at Winterhaven and I'm here about the reducing the funding for equity and inclusion and I think now is you know I came to a meeting last week and I heard some parents and others addressed the board about the equity funding and you know I was surprised to hear what some schools have even as today I'm always surprised to hear what some pool tab and what others don't my now is clearly not the time to be reducing funding for equity and inclusion now is the time to increase the funding for equity inclusion but I can also understand of those who spoke a couple weeks ago about the ineffectiveness and why it should be cut but I get that I get that response I think it's really important now to increase the funding to improve and enhance what is there we have a Tosa at our school which I never see I have seen the Tosa for the Cleveland cluster and she was incredibly helpful but when I have to come to my school every year with an issue that has occurred at the school for my child feeling other from me feeling gathered at the school this should not be treated as a one-off this should be a broader approach to how to address the problem there are systemic issues that exist within PPS and reducing the funding for equity and inclusion is not going to be the way to resolve it when a parent calls and asks about attending the hearing today and is told by staff with the district make sure you send an articulate parent of color clearly you've got a problem this is not these are not one-off issues these are systemic issues when the school district is is hit with a million-dollar lawsuit these are clearly not one-off issues these are broader issues that need to be addressed on a broader scale my well I guess that's a thank you hello I'm Katie O'Dell Youth Services Director for Multnomah County Library I've had the opportunity to work with Portland Public Schools for the past two decades in fact I began my work here as the library boosted its services in response to PBS cutting funding to their media specialists and teacher librarians in 1997 and unfortunately here we are again anyone who's experienced a vibrant school library knows it is the true heart of a student community a place where knowledgeable media specialists and dedicated aides connect young people to information resources and literature that is essential to their development it's the place where kids and teens can collaborate on research and projects or find solace and comfort in a quiet safe space now more than ever school media specialists are essential in the electronic age as our own feeds are full of fake news and internet hoaxes it is the role of teacher librarians to ensure students learn the skills of digital literacy so they can soundly judge the validity of information they are seeking in these times being able to find use and evaluate information is crucial if it's challenging for us as adults imagine what it's like navigating as a young person but you do not need to be swayed by my personal passion for libraries look to the research look to the data the fate of student success is directly tied to that of school library staffing reduced staffing also means further harm to students beyond test scores because of reduced collaboration time with partners like Montana County Library if those of us at organizations who are in classrooms every single day of the year who support students don't have our live wire our teacher librarian who have adequate time to assess needs and actually schedule the details around literacy and research presentation services we simply can't get to the students finding one's place in the world is always a challenge tonight you
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can listen and make a difference in thousands of lives by investing in proven outcomes school libraries and as your partner Multnomah County Library we'll be there every step of the way thank you next we have Alice Nayak and Chi Chi welcome no okay hi I'm thanks for having us all here tonight so we can talk I feel the need to let you know how I'm feelings I'm really worried about the kids of color and pts we need more equity training for our staff and students that is more action oriented I'll tell you a little bit about myself on Alice Nayak I have two kids in PBS one in Winter Haven and one in Cleveland high school we've been in PBS forever and have been fairly you know doing okay my daughter's been at Winter Haven for eight years and the last several years has been very difficult for her as a student of color in majority white school her experience has been very isolating when she objected to racial slurs that were directed at her by boys in her class nothing changed she is a very brave brave person and went through all the proper channels she first talked to the voice directly no change went to the teachers and heard I can't do anything about it if it didn't happen in my classroom and so nothing changed she went to a principal nothing changed and that is very very disturbing for a twelve-year-old girl to have to deal with she is very resilient though and she planned some equity training on her own for her classmates she did talks on microaggressions and other racial issues she went to the lower grades at the request of other parents to discuss what it felt like growing up as a person of color in a primarily white school she planned an assembly with her brother and the Cleveland Alliance for racial equity along the way she didn't receive much help from her her school a child really shouldn't be responsible for this kind of training for the whole rest of her school on racial equity she filled the void that was obviously there and teachers have not been able to adequately help her they don't have the expertise to deal with this difficult situation Julie Palmer who was the equity Tosa at PBS high schools has been a very welcome change and she has helped greatly I just like to say that and courageous conversations has been great for teachers to talk but it isn't very action-oriented and I'm very concerned about the lack of action and TPS and I'm concerned about the safety of students as we talk to adults talk about conversations our students of color are not protected please please increase equity funding and training for our PBS school thank you my name is Chi Clayton and I am a senior at Wilton High School and I'm here to talk about how I feel the importance of mindful studies well the importance to me as a student who's been in it since the first class I ever had growing up my parents divorced when I was six and I was always their emotional supporter and so I always felt guilty needing help of my own being that I didn't have a place to be heard in my own house going to mindful studies in my sophomore year was monumentally important for me I had a place where I could be heard where I knew people cared and a place I can feel safe especially with the chaos of two parents dealing with emotional trauma of their own where I could not I had to support them a young a young child at the time and I think being through what I had been through I could be angry confused and lost I could be not even here to talk to you about everything I may not have had the tools to deal with everything I've been through abuses from my peers abuses for romantic partners and mindful studies came along sophomore year and I feel like it didn't save me but it gave me the tools of which I could save myself you know after being in it for three years I've taken it over and over again because I feel like it's something that you need to do over and over again so that it's just a part of your life constantly it's I've absorbed it into my being into my soul and I feel like I'm a better person for it and I look around every class at all the people who I think maybe it saved them as well and you know I am graduating but I would like to continue being a part of this program as much as possible because I feel like it's important that everyone has this opportunity and it's available
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to everyone who needs it because I definitely needed it and I think that many people with the writing stress levels of teams my friends people I don't know to be able to deal with that stress so thank you thank you very much next we have Hao Yun and Otto Snell - signal tower you can gain go around yourself ken Cochran my name mm long they require TV a bulky totally shafted idea and South channel separately onion V including from T is general 19,000 I divide our serial on come on good evening everyone my name is housing recently I have her on TV a newspaper that pps2 system you cut gif service therefore I'm be here today to express our feeling and control more importantly look up who have allah or to push afghan for the king's optical onion rings don't get to talk with an IQ moment april a coronary Tom soon um help me my talk alcohol he took my place have stopped a console program to the 2008 the if I don't think I'm so completely so the ending of area it'll all agree to make waves yet apocalypta a total at Hampton every time I have him a meeting in public school I often see an interpreter who is very good in social life and becoming community meet that person named Quinn winds throughout the school year every time I have question or concern about a document a letter that I received from school that make me cannot understand because of my limited English I often call special from Liza reserved for people who limited English speaker like me to speak with her which is her name is Krugman two topics and Afghan forces to turbulence Afghan long for yoga Hotel gameplay yet mega-hot converting unknown Egypt our 30 pounders and sample from General Motors Concordia don't get much in kokkonen doing very gallant of yo yo Tommy una cage until now Camilla cameo you Clinton's and sound of my Yahoo is angora hotel a duplicate or of neva Coco get the other compounds of number we know that PPS of West reporter Karen who have limited English and care about our Vietnamese community so I believe that PPS needs to keep our professional interpreters of it who is specialized in school system who understand more about our culture and any notion of can even indicated I took a charge and I give the alternate agenda dr. hydrating and beautiful new donor and yeah James official commentating tourism talk Monday and all are getting no good Manila by Tony being document simple call Dakota logically Kingdom yo you can cut it on sever talk of the moment no tumba communicator Connery to me if a PPS can provide that services it means very meaningful for us because it helped earth and help our community to better help our children in school and also more successful in life in general [Music] system Kiowa Comanche geography thank you very much for listening and conscience I'm very appreciated thank you [Applause] good evening so I'm Otto Schell I'm with the Oregon PTA I spent a lot of time in Salem I've also spent a lot of time like many of you come into these kinds of meetings these meetings remind me of the amazing work that we do or kids in schools all over the state and what's so challenging is we're talking about cuts in a good in a good economy so I'm bringing a little bit of hope and a challenge for you and for our folks in the audience it's important what they're doing tonight to come and tell their stories but it's
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much more important that you focus on Salem so we have Oregon PTA as part of a group of Education coalition partners supporting the work that's called Oregon rising org and last time I was here I was reminded that Oregon it's Oregon - rising dot o-r-g and you can take out your phone right now in the audience and dial that up and you can see at the top of the page there's a take action budget hour button rather and what this is is a project that was created in a conversation with over 11,000 people across the state and what what they found when they talked to parents and community members and school board members and superintendents and all the folks who are involved in that work is we want a well-rounded education we want real class size that meets the needs of kids when all the things that you're hearing about in these budget meetings so how are we going to change that well right now there's a conversation in Salem and it involves creating energy around creating revenue we've had 20-some years of avoiding funding schools and k12 has really been the one that bore the brunt there are two things going on and if you go to Oregon - rising dot o-r-g and if I don't say it three or four times tonight I'll be remiss you can take action right now to send a message to your legislature and their even our suggested text how you can do that if we all do this it will change the conference in Salem it will result in revenue and revenue means fewer or no cuts all right say it one more time yes thank you so it's Oregon - rising dot o-r-g and it was created by the School Boards Administration Oh SBA the Oregon School Board Association the Confederation of school board administrators and the Oregon Education Association thank you thank you Thank You Otto for all your work next we have Jennifer Samuels and Susan Carson [Applause] hi everyone my name is Susan Carson and my son is a second grader at Bo's weigh Heights in fact I have to get over there by 6:30 for his music concert tonight he received special education services that allow him to be included with his peers in the general education classroom so I first I want to thank the board for your hard work you've been doing to craft a budget under what we know are very difficult circumstances I'm here tonight to urge you to keep adequate funding for special education services in the forefront as you continue this process specifically I'd like to address the decision to eliminate the special education family and community liaison position as a cost-saving measure I'm so disappointed in this decision I believe it's short-sighted counterproductive and sends a demoralizing message to already struggling families the special education Family and Community Liaison provides family training refers families to community resources works together with PPF staff and families to repair damaged relationships and even attends IEP meetings in person the liaison works to empower students with disabilities and their families and gives them a voice when they're unable to advocate for themselves our current family and community liaison is Noel TSK who I first met over four years ago when she was director of the parent training institute at fact since then she'd given she's given me and my husband and many of my fellow parents valuable advice as we've navigated that sometimes bumpy road through Portland Public Schools there's no one I trust more to provide accurate information about my child's rights and I would not be the advocate for my child today that I am that I am today without Noelle Sisk when someone I know experiences a challenge related to special education the first person I think of and the person that I refer them to is Noelle during lean budget times there are always difficult decisions to make about what programs and positions to cut I understand that but you also make decisions about what things are too valuable to cut I believe the special education Family and Community is one such position please do what you can to restore funding for this position show us that you really are committed to inclusion and to restoring our trust in the PPS board and administration thank you so much thank you [Applause] I'm Jennifer Daniels I'm here to speak tonight on behalf of the PPS k3 read together initiative since the fall of
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2014 the read together initiative has brought together the district five priority and focus school serving primarily low-income students and students of color and six nonprofit and community partners including the black parent initiative Children's Book Bank Multnomah County library reading results the shadow project and smart my colleagues are here also all of these groups work together to make improvements towards third-grade reading outcomes for PBS case PBS third graders ultimately making improvements toward high school graduation rates we provide a coordinated suite of cost-effective wraparound services designed to support each school in building a culture of literacy the services are aligned with PBS's equity based balanced literacy initiative support PBS as literacy and equity goals and aim to empower students to read in school after school and at home last year PBS is data and evaluation team concluded that the students served at our read together schools made games and reading at statistically significant higher rates than compared to like students at similar schools the read together initiative is among the painful cuts slated for next year for 2017-18 the initiative would cost PPS about 250,000 dollars and the nonprofit and community partners leveraged another three hundred and thirty thousand dollars in direct services volunteer hours and learning materials directly into the school's we serve principal Newsome at our partner school Rosa Parks shared that losing the read together initiative will be devastating to her students and school community I'd like to share who will benefit from reinstating the read together initiative next year students at all five schools would participate in six thousand 30-minute reading intervention sessions 3,500 30-minute sessions reading with adults 231 hours of one-on-one and small group support and goal-setting 28000 audio book pages 20 they would receive 21 thousand books to bring home and keep including over 400 culturally specific titles parents would have 11 black and biracial cultural literacy nights workshops and fairs teachers have PD and schools have 8 to 10 family and community events so I passed around a handout that I'd like to submit we have several other letters of support coming and I urge you to consider maintaining to read together initiative thank you next we have Kevin Jean scale and Scott kleiner well kind of busy I'm sort of Kevin today did you tell so I'm Gabby Riley I work at zgf architects as a designer and I'm also an officer on the board of directors for the Portland Workforce Alliance vgf is more than 100 companies volunteering for Portland Public Schools through our nonprofit we host a number of career days every year and many of our employees visit campuses and talk with students about careers in architecture and design and also it looks like we have one here today one of our newer employees he came to zgs a career day about a decade ago when he was in high school and now he works at our ggf any volunteers and this year we had students from 8 different pcs high schools at our career day as EGS downtown we had Alliance Benson Cleveland Franklin Grant Jefferson Lincoln and Wilson one hundred percent rated the experience as excellent or good a number of these students decided to join the ACE mentorship program which is staffed by PWA and has good college scholarship we understand you guys are big district and it's hard to navigate and our role is to work as a bridge between our role at PWS is to work as a bridge between your high schools and employers like zgf we think cutting our funding by more than a half as the central office has proposed will weaken that bridge and end up costing you and money volunteers and ultimately the students thank you so much for supporting high school students through our nonprofit we ask that you look for ways to maintain funding and we hope to maintain and strengthen our 12 year partnership with Portland Public Schools thank you Thank You Abby I'm Scott Steiner I work at widen Kennedy and I'm the past board president for the Portland Workforce Alliance sitting here listening to all
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the constituents that are affected by this year's budget is really astonishing I respect the challenge ahead of you is we're trying to figure out what to do with this multi-million dollar budget um I'm not actually sure I could tell you what's in my wallet right now so a lot of respect for what's in front of you I'm here to ask the school board to reconsider the central offices proposal to cut our funding by more than half as well we feel this would have a serious negative impact on our partnership with the district and on our ability to serve the reason that we're all here the students I have a third grader and her sewing a second grader and a fifth grader right now so I've personal interest as well last year you voted invest one hundred and thirteen thousand dollars in PWA as a part of the strategy to expand tte classes and help more students see real life relevance in their education thank you for that here are some stats to illustrate how that investment has paid off we've helped provide more than fifty fifty five hundred career related learning experiences for high school students across the entire district two-thirds of those experiences have been at students have been for students at high poverty campuses with significant numbers of historically underserved students we have leveraged hundreds of thousands of dollars in financial and in-kind support for PPS there are four person staff our board of directors on more than 1,100 volunteers I personally see the value in this work when my co-workers at Wyden Kennedy volunteer at high schools and talking classes or when they host a career day at our office it would be much harder for us to support your schools and students without PWA as an intermediary we ask that you continue investment in PWA as part of a cost-effective holistic way to improve career and college readiness and graduation rates for all students thanks so much for your time thank you [Applause] lastly we have Angela Jarvis Holland [Applause] good evening I know what difficult work there is for you to do and I thank you for the time and attention that you give I'm here to talk about special education which is an extremely complicated conversation sometimes and my plea this evening is to try and seek an assurance that you're going to take a little more time and dig a little more deeply because I really don't think there's an understanding of the funding complexities the choices have already been made that have impacted the decisions that have been forced on the special education department and the alternatives that there might be and for you to do your due diligence you need more information amongst the cuts that are being proposed our community and family coordinator seven floater parent educators eight therapeutic intervention coaches and the opening of two new segregated classrooms that will take twenty kindergarten students in a complete reversal of the direction that your work was moving these proposed actions undermined your mission and the reverse important work as well as violate the right to fate in the least restrictive environment for students with disabilities and/or of color we urge the board and leadership of PPS to uphold the law and rights of our children by funding resources and supports necessary to meet the real needs of children on IPs they already face the same issues of the cuts in general ed they already face the issues of P not being available or libraries being cut so we're not asking for a special pleading we're talking about people with multiple issues impacting their lives within these cuts I really feel that we are saying you do not have the right to be disabled and educated in PPS and I think that that really needs to be considered strongly obviously in two minutes I can't address the list of things here but creating segregated classrooms is not the answer and they're aimed at kindergarten I don't want PPS to take away the right to be long for a student just entering the school district funding cannot be a reason to take away people's rights and my son Daniel has addressed this board before and he's left a couple of business cards that I'm going to pass along to you he's seeking your support for supported education for all children and my advocacy today joins with the advocacy than many other voices here because disabilities is the one area that touches every life every kind of income every race all situations in life so I speak on behalf I hope of all of those voices and I know that I bring my white privilige but I want at school districts that's listening and attending
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to the basic rights and human dignity of all of our children alright so if you need money to sign up for this budget hearing that has not spoken to maybe arrive late come on down hello hi my name's Ryder and thank you hi my name is Liza Thank You help we got to party people it's good and my name's Joe follow Oh my name is D'Andre he helped out fat baby five headed school thank you no English Arabic English not watching and is called my bestie scott and amy is a help him be - machi people thank you on regard this held at Valley English and I know English this one my name is loss hello thanks for having us my name is Olaf Hassan I'm family engagement is specialist with the family and the community engagement service program at the earth would you put the mic closer to you so we can hear you exact okay my name is Olaf Hudson I'm a family engagement specialist with the Family and Community Engagement Service Program as the immigrant and refugee community organization we would like to thank you for continuing the fun and so that's all will like to say thankful thank you very thank you [Applause] alright anybody else that came to touch testify on the budget appreciate everybody's input our board is going to have a work session to deal with all these challenging issues here May 17th and we hope to get to a point where we pass our budget on on May 23rd so please stay in touch appreciate everybody being here and with that the Budget Committee now is adjourned you want to take a break okay let's take four minutes and then come back we'll

Sources

PPS Board of Education, Archive 2016-2017, https://www.pps.net/Page/10970 (accessed: 2022-03-24T00:57:51.375732Z)
PPS Communications, "Board of Education" (YouTube playlist), https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8CC942A46270A16E (accessed: 2023-10-10T04:10:04.879786Z)

2017-05-09 PPS School Board Regular Meeting, Public Hearing

Documents / Media

Notices/Agendas

Materials

Minutes

Transcripts

Event 1: Board of Education - Regular Meeting - May 9, 2017

Event 2: PPS Board Budget Hearing, May 9, 2017

Sources