2017-09-25 PPS School Board Public Hearing

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District Portland Public Schools
Date 2017-09-25
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Event 1: Board Listening Session - Middle School Process 9/25/17

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good evening good evening everybody good evening everybody thank you thank you for coming I would like to call this listening session for September 25th 2017 to order and thank you all for being here the board has set aside an hour and a half this evening to hear your comments in the proposal to open two new Middle School's at Harriet Tubman and Rose Bay Heights staff members in the auditorium have public comments sign-up sheets that you should complete and turn at the Secretary's desk since there are many wish testify I'm requesting you please limit your comments to two minutes and since we're starting a little bit late we will go instead of going till 7:30 we'll go to 7:45 public feedback is very important to us additional public comment will be accepted at future listening sessions in October the board will take everything into consideration before voting on the middle school proposal we have three board members who are and our student rep who are traveling this is being video recorded and they'll have access to all your comments in addition to any of the written comments that are submitted will be forwarded to all the board members we have interpreters with us tonight and I'd like to invite them up at this time to introduce themselves and indicate where they will be located in the room child care is also available interpreter in espanol de estar Sentara el fondo Simon is a Sita gracias thirty arrows KP report says the winners diet is periodic table emotionality and body so markedly additional little Caillou Callie can was it someone funny well to tell the homies and yoshio Tommy Tommy yeah nothing big no Robin keep inclined come on thank you I'm next going to introduce the chair of the enrollment and transfer committee Scott Bailey and he's gonna have a short introduction and then I'm gonna share some of our instructions for public comment and then we'll get going for the evening so director Bailey great thanks Julia a thank you all for coming out here this is great a couple of things just to remind you why you know how did we get into this mess again what we're trying to do here is address two historic inequities about ten years ago PBS shifted a number of schools in primarily in north northeast but also Southeast Portland from k5 and middle schools to K eights and it was actually immediately almost apparent that things weren't working very well in a lot of those K eights so we're trying to undo that now and that's it you know getting the genie back in the bottle is never as easy as letting the genie out secondly we haven't had a ongoing program for adjusting our boundaries to ensure that every school has a robust population that fits the size of the school building and plus we've got all these school buildings that are of different shapes and sizes and different locations and we'll move so that's a challenge as well so we're also so I wish and I've been involved with deep rack before I was elected to the board and advocating around this issue for seven years now I wish we are at a district wide balancing where we were redrawing all boundaries we are not there right now and it is what it is but what we can do right now is do whatever we can to make sure that we have two middle schools open up in September and I'm personally determined to see that I think that's true of our entire board it's important to note that these who's who's involved in this move the two middle schools what it's twelve thirteen hundred total enrollment the k5 s that we're recreating that's
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thirty-six hundred kids something like that we're talking about roughly 5,000 children moving making shifts so that they get a better education 5,000 children that's that's more than 10% of our entire district so I think we should keep that in mind that you know that's that's where we're going here and we're trying to do that the best way possible and that's a challenge so we asked staff to put together a proposal they put together a proposal that try to balance a lot of things that we asked them to do and now what we've been asking people to do is to come help us make that the best possible proposal for all children in the district realizing that within this area there are constraints it's a system if you push here you plop out here that their ramifications and it's all well and good to say don't do this but recognize that if we don't do this it has implication for the rest of the system and they gave me a bunch of talking points but I think I've talked enough so let's coming up two more listening sessions one October 2nd at Madison High School one October 5th at Sabin currently k-8 so invite you to keep coming keep listening keep helping us make this a better proposal going forward it's a real challenge and there's equity issues all over the map on this so I think I'll stop there and let's let's time's a-wastin let's get moving Julie is gonna do rules of the road Thank You director Bailey so our responsibilities aboard lies in actively listening and reflecting your thoughts and opinions of others the board will not respond to any comments or questions at this time but we will follow up on various issues that are raised tonight guidelines for public input emphasize respect to consideration when referring to board members staff and other presenters you have a total of two minutes to share your comments please begin by stating your name and spelling your last name for the record and I apologize in advance because three minutes is usually our standard length and I know a lot of people time it right to the the second so we apologize we just want to hear from as many people as possible tonight if you have something longer you want to say please send it to us by by email and we'll read it during the first minute of your testimony a green light will appear when you have one minute remaining a yellow light will go on and when your time is up the red light will go on and a buzzer will sound will respectfully ask that you conclude your comments at that time we really appreciate your input and thank you everyone for coming tonight with that miss Hewson do you want to start the Brandon and again we're going the school community by school community rotation like we did at Madison a couple of weeks ago cherubim Edwards directors for the record I'm Kimberly Branham pran a.m. I'm the executive director of prosper Portland which is formerly known as the Portland Development Commission prosper Portland and Portland Public Schools have a long history of collaboration and today we share a joint commitment to advancing racial equity and doing excellent work each of our organizations success is deeply impacted by the others prosper Portland's work to build a more equitable economy will not be achievable without a strong system of local public schools that serve all children and the dynamic employees and entrepreneurs that you develop similarly our schools need the engaged employers strong communities and families and a healthy local economy so as an institutional partner I am here to applaud you for your ongoing work efforts to put racial equity at the forefront as you make key decisions like those you are considering this evening moreover as the head of an organization that has historically played a role in gentrifying communities sometimes intentionally other times unintentionally I'm here to let you know that we stand with you as you grapple with how to overcome the legacy of practices and policies that have led to inequitable outcomes today at prosper Portland the central question that we ask ourselves is who benefits and who
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would be burdened by any decision that we make so accordingly alongside with the Portland housing Bureau we have developed a strategy in North and Northeast Portland that prioritizes people of color and specifically African Americans in our programming and investments there in the last year a hundred percent of the grant resources invested have gone to people of color or organizations that are culturally responsive but supporting a thriving inclusive community with diverse families in North eat northeast and those who will be returning because of the preference policy will require all of us as institutions to act in concert to listen to community voices and with the racial equity lens so we we're here really to encourage you yeah we're here to encourage you to keep Kairos in Humboldt and to ensure that african-american families who have had displacement faced displacement have an opportunity to attend cultural ERISA supportive schools such as voice see Elliot Kairos and Jefferson and Tubman thank you Edwards directors my name is Danny Ledesma and my last name is Ellie Dez MA I'm the interim executive director of the coalition of communities of color we are an alliance of over 18 culturally specific community-based organizations representing communities of color we work on collective racial justice efforts to improve outcomes for communities of color through policy analysis and advocacy community-based participatory research and leadership development in communities of color and on behalf of the Coalition I'm here today to thank you for taking the time and for listening but also to urge you to continue to partner with Kairos PDX in their current location at the Humboldt School for our members and for our organization this is an equity issue as you all know the Humboldt school is the location is important and we can't take that out of context as director of Branum will tell you and as our folks at the city now is that this location is in the heart of where our city has seen some of the worst displacement african-americans in north and northeast an interstate corridor have reduced their population has been reduced by over 4,000 members of the community since 2000 to 2014 and over the last three years we know that that's only been exacerbated by high rents by homeownership prices and current economic climate therein and the real estate conditions that are happening and so while this may seem very overwhelming to you there is you do have some power in the situation you are the current landlords at the cut at the Humboldt school and you can make your decisions using an equity lens and we ask you to think about the opportunities that Kairos PDX brings to the students that they're serving is there predominantly african-american students and as you well know there's a significant opportunity gap for african-american students at PPS we would want you to not look at Kairos or the organization as as any other type of partner but to really look through an equity lens and consider continue your partnership with them at that location next we have Leif Olson and Thomas Lanham hello I'm late Wilson Oh LS een from XS Academy I'm in seventh grade and access is home to 350 students but at Rose City Park with Beverly Cleary it does not have room to grow but there's more children who need access and there's a great learning community where students who need Advanced Learning can learn together thank you good evening my name is Thomas Lanham la and and Oh first I want to speak about the process and then I want to speak about leadership your stay staff unveiled the current plan a plan that impacts tens of thousands of people in Portland two weeks ago and they're saying you must make a final decision in the next three weeks that's
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five weeks and it's not reasonable it's not good public process not a single not a single preschool family in my neighborhood and these are families with no grandfathering and therefore immediately impacted by the changes being proposed received any notice none of them had any opportunity to help develop the proposal or voice concerns until now when it seems this is a fully baked and on a fast track so you have violated your own board directives around the process second leadership the only thing about this proposal that seems to be sure that the board seems to be sure about is that we're going to do it again soon so why aren't we doing it now in the first place and taking a step back why are we not hearing about a vision to uplift all of our schools with a real equity lever a staffing model that focuses on needs and outcomes other than head counts I assume it's because it would cost more money so look at this room we've got red shirts we've got green shirts I've got parents pitted against each other and for what for higher enrollment figures that apparently drive the funding model why aren't we looking at solutions that everyone here can rally behind there are hundreds of people sitting behind me who would gret gladly knock on doors and sign ballot measures and get the word out for more funding and Portlanders have shown time and time again that if you ask they will dig into their pockets the Multnomah County high tax in 2003 director briam Edwards I know you know about that because you were a leader in that at that time measure ninety seven and twenty six failed statewide but it passed handsomely here in Multnomah County the arts tax the children's allow these school bonds fort lenders have really never said no to the schools so it takes great courage to sit on the school board and you were all to be commended for it but what we're asking for now is a real change and real leadership and this current plan is neither thank you miss you said before you before you call up the next speakers this is a notice for the parents who have their children in childcare if you don't want your kids to have pizza please go upstairs because I have a feeling they're about ready to be served pizza but I was asked to make that announcement so if that's an issue for any of your children that are upstairs please go upstairs sorry our next two speakers are Brett Horner and Brian Steelman good evening and thank you my name is Brett Horner the last name is hor in ER I'm here as a parent of an 8th grader at Beaumont middle school and a son who will be entering kindergarten in just a few years we appreciate what you're attempting to do here we believe every child should have a robust middle school experience and that is a key goal in this we want every child to have that experience we agree with the goals and principles that you have set forth in your documents but are concerned that two factors have been left out one is Geographic common sense and safety if this proposal is not modified our son and others in his neighborhood instead of walking or biking a half mile to their middle school will be going three miles away to a new middle school and have to cross at least five busy streets unless bust or driven Fremont 15 MLK Vancouver and Russell which is also designated as a pbot designated freight route so Street crossings are one safety issue but we and others in our neighborhood are concerned about another even more critical health and safety issue at the Tubman location and that is its proximity to interstate 5 the Tubman campus is about 48 feet from the freeway pavement and will be even closer when ODOT widens the stretch of i-5 here there are documented health issues with freeway proximity with harmful even more harmful effects for children California has banned schools closer than 500 feet to a freeway and so we would like assurances from Portland Public Schools that operating a school at Tubman will be a healthy school and how freeway and freeway expansion impacts will be addressed this should be a concern of all students being planned to be sent to Tubman regardless of elementary feeder school perhaps there is a better location for up to 1200 middle schoolers
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please provide this health data and please let us continue to attend Beaumont middle school we are very happy with Beaumont and we consider at our community school thank you hello my name is Bryan Steelman St MA and I am gonna be short and sweet here my family is very excited about the reopening of Tubman as a middle school for our future middle schooler who's an urban 10 2nd grader and for all the students that will be going to Tubman we feel like there is a lot of opportunity in this change and we hope that that PBS brings their a-game on making this change happen I've met the principal for Tubman Natasha Butler and she's clearly bringing spirit and focus to this new opportunity for all of us I've heard some parents expressed frustration about their kids crossing busy streets to get to tell you in my opinion this is an incredibly weak argument as a reason to not open Tubman is a middle school as it does not take equity or the big picture of the greater good into account I do think that the city of Portland can do things to the crosswalks that make MLK safer to cross scene crosswalks in other parts of the city that are that have lights and whatnot and I hope that PBS affects those change which will benefit everyone but crossing a busy street cannot be seen as a reason for not opening a school or keeping our students from engaging an incredible opportunity that Tubman can provide I would also ask that the prep preference policy continues and increases I also want to mention the Cairo should undoubtedly stay at Humboldt I have a business I have a business that supports Kairos I have it I have seen what goes on there and the spirit and it deserves and needs a long-term and stable home and it should be a humble there's no doubt about it I would recommend to the board that this is a very easy decision if you're looking at it through humanity and equity lens rather than just logistics next we have Lisa Moran and Shamika own I guess we'll go out of turn Shamika Owens last name Owens Oh w ENS and I actually come well I'm the new PTA president at dr. Martin Luther King k-8 formerly known as King because we do plan to reclaim the legacy of dr. Martin Luther King and I have a list of talking points because we try to pool the entire community before we knew that there were going to be more talking sessions we literally went Facebook website everything tried to pull folks who he knew could not be here so I'm gonna riddle off some submissions from other parents and try to get as much in as possible and if I have times and I'll put it into sense we need both I'm okay junior and Tubman to have feeder patterns and boundaries that create a pockets of appropriately sized schools that will result in rolls robust enrollment and in turn full programming our kids need appropriate programming now and the changes should not be delayed kids in our cluster at under enrolled k-8 have waited long enough for equitable programming and decide for another parent also explained that she had a child who was in the third grade being promised this middle school and now they're in the seventh grade so if it doesn't happen it's never gonna happen for them grandfathering cannot be allowed to prevent equitable programming to be established for 2018-19 school year there needs to be a plan to deal with the reality that enrollment may increase slowly we can can't delay opening middle school any longer it's not fair or equitable for the community equality is as identified as priority for PPS and is in in vulnerable communities where it has experienced decades of institutional racism that may not have large parent based organizations or mobilization it should be PPS and the board's priority to ensure schools such as and okay are sustainable and viable in the future when they start making the before they start making these changes the board should not be making decisions based on percentages of parents at meetings oh who can yell the loudest
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if a school does not have dozens and hundreds of parents presenting at meetings the board should be the voice for those underrepresented so in addition oh can I ask you to one more sentence then you can submit the rest of the comments and we'll vote them if can do thank you and please have folks come to Tubman all right me too save it for our next session yes I was given this position my name is gentle Shah GE nte Shah for the record PPS board members I would like to thank each of you for dedicating your time and service to our students and families I'm a mother of two beautiful equally intelligent girls my daughter Chloe a first grader one of 125 leaders at Kairos PDX before attending Kairos she attended a private school when evening during our drive home she curiously asked me mommy are you black it's daddy white so what am i she was three years old my husband and I realized then that it was vital for us to find a school here in Portland that not only challenged Chloe academically but also one that practices equality for all and celebrates diversity among its staff and students we found Kairos our school's sole purpose is to change the narrative in partnership with Kairos PDX PPS board members are assisting us in doing just that to keep Kairos in the historical humble Elementary School will be an undeniable charge forward to educate equality to educational eco equity for all PBS students and understand bluntly to dismiss Kairos from humbled without an alternative home will perpetuate PBS dark narrative of educational inequality undermine and reject Kairos work and community value displace and fail our piece PBS students and families and ultimately forfeit your opportunity to restore the albino community that has been pillaged by racism and gentrification in closing I responded to my daughter with her truth she is like she is white she is important and she is learned please make your commitment to educational and quality quality consistent for all PPS students regardless of his or her race or socioeconomic status if not now when next we have Jenn Morrissey and Meghan Newell Ching hi my name is Jennifer Morrissey mor Riss UI I'm a parent of three in Northeast Portland and immigration attorney serving communities in the immigrant population including dreamers so in my view this proposal doesn't reflect the core principles of process and transparency that are so valued by Portlanders when I hear board members saying this is a done deal this is gonna happen I wonder why we've been invited here to speak this process contravenes board policy and administrative directors which are designed to provide consistency and transparency in establishing stable and workable school boundaries this is an urban planning issues and I am perplexed why the board is not using professional urban planners who have robust modeling systems that to my knowledge PPS does not have your current proposal leaves so many communities unhappy that they are attempting to crowdsource solutions for you online this is not a recipe for success I believe that the public will respond enthusiastically to a recommendation that covers the east side with a data-driven approach our children are not numbers to be shuffled as part of a temporary fix they deserve your most concerted effort this is not it [Applause] my name is Megan Newell Ching it's NE wel L - CH ing I'm a parent of two children at Martin Luther King junior elementary and k-8 currently and also a leader in our PTA there so I also have some comments that I will read from parents and other folks from the school community that were submitted if the proposed boundary show goes through the full impact won't be realized for five or six more years do you have a plan to support a robust pre-k through five program at Martin Luther King jr. and in
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the meantime will the staffing model shift to account for the fact that our Mandarin program and English only side have separate staffing needs and cannot be staffed based on a headcount how can we together work to improve walkability across Martin Luther King jr. for families on either side traveling to Tubman we hope to see a robust Tubman I too am a parent who's very excited for the middle school at Tubman I want my kids to go there and I want it to be a great school for all of our students is there a long-term facilities plan for Harriet Tubman to address the environmental and educational concerns of the facility in its current state including a roof finally I'm here and that just does a member of my school community but as a member of the Portland community and I would echo some of the statements from other parents and community members saying I encourage you to to make these decisions with the equity lens I I I want all of our schools to thrive that's the most important thing for me and for my children is that we live in a community where there's a robust educational option for every student next we have Martha ruddle and Angela overfilled mm-hmm hi my name is Martha rattle the last name is spelled ru TT le I'm the mother of a student at access Academy and to clarify for everyone here because I know everyone might not be familiar with us we are not a charter school like village Trillium or Emerson to name a few we're not a focus school like creative science winter haven or da Vinci and we're a special program of the School of the District created to meet the needs of students who are not being served by their current schools students qualify for access by scoring in the 99th percentile and nationally normed standardized tests and by providing clear evidence that their current school placement isn't meeting their needs mm-hmm I sought out access for my daughter when her neighborhood schools stated that they could not meet her academic needs our students are no more special and do not have greater gifts than other students however they do learn at rates and levels that most schools cannot accommodate that is why access exists to provide these students with the education they need access serves the entire school district from st. John's to Skyline to Multnomah because we are not a neighborhood school we do not lay claim to a particular building at this time we are co-located at Rose City Park with parts of the Beverly Cleary community but as a program that serves all of PBS we are continuing to advocate as we have been for years for a building that is centrally located a central location is essential for our students and families many of whom rely on PBS buses some students already travel more than an hour each way we are asking the district once again to provide our program with a central location so that we can be as accessible as possible to as many PBS families as possible we are also continuing to advocate for room to admit more students to our program this enrollment balancing process has been going on for years and many of us have followed it closely the whole time we understand what an intricate process it is how an adjustment to one school building as director Bailey mentioned impacts so many others and we also know that every year students are wait-listed for access these children have demonstrated that their needs are not being met in their current schools and they deserve to be able to attend to the very school that was created to meet their needs hi my name is Angela poor fell that's qu ER f as in Frank eld thank you all very much for the time that you're taking to consider our voices during this challenging process I know it's incredibly time consuming and that there will never be an outcome that will make every single person happy as a resident of the Boise Elliott neighborhood for the past 12 years I have watched rampant gentrification changed the fabric of my community which of course has all worked was already a hotbed of racial discord long before I moved in I'm thrilled to know that the district is leading with equity as one of its guiding principles and that you're here to help try to correct some historic inequities I am 100% in support of open tubman as a middle middle school not because I'm hoping that we can make up for damages done in the past but because I firmly believe that the only way to end racism and promote equity for all is to address the early learning of all of our children and to provide the same access to quality programs for everyone regardless of which neighborhood you live in however there is one portion of the proposal that is in front of you right
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now that is in complete contradiction to this goal that is moving the Cairo's Elementary out of humble Elementary School Kairos is currently located there and is also a school that unlike other proposed uses for the school would be a feeder school for the Tubman middle school today I'm here to stand with Kairos PDX and ask that you please amend the staff proposal to allow Kairos to at Humboldt as the white parent of a child in this neighborhood I can honestly tell you that the reasons you outlined for opening Tubman as a middle school are precisely why we chose Kairos has our neighborhood school at Kairos the community educated community of educators leaders parents and children are all living and breathing what everyone in this room says we are looking to do in just its fourth year of operations Kairos is creating a space that reinforces our belief that public schools are vital to the ecosystem of the educational landscape and they are demonstrating that this notion can lead to equitable outcomes by building better services and better people thank you next we have Kris Gwynn and Michelle Connacht north ah Thank You PPS board members my name is Chris Guin the third gwyneth spelled G UI in the third and I am a 52 year-old lifetime resident of North North East Portland and also a business owner of two businesses on MLK Jr Boulevard one is called dwell Realty and the other is right next door elevated coffee so I want to talk a little bit about the proposed displacement of Cairo school Kyle's has always been that's the port of my business and family by merits of money and time tomorrow to say was recently selected to the Board of Directors and look forward to being involved with the school at this point from inside looking out perspective so it's clear that support the mission to the school and its quest to close the racial achievement gap among african-american students and providing a wholesome and positive atmosphere for our children when I heard that Carlos would occupied they've been an abandoned home old school last year I thought to myself this seemed like a perfect location and based on its proximity to the previous location it felt like the humble Elementary and it's historic ties to what was once a very vibrant black community we all know that recent history of the location in 2012 Humboldt was allowed to what I consider died on the vine and closed due to lack of interest and neglect of many of the new families that moved into the neighborhood that what it once been a school that served a predominantly black student body once closed many children of color became dispersed and displaced and Tokai Rose came to call it home again and in my opinion that Carlos and humble create a union that was once lost due to the force of the dedication in North Northeast Portland and we now have a grand opportunity in my opinion to resurrect was part of Portland's history that was lost it seemed like displacing our students and families from area that once again would equate he had another black I administer to the black community some are portraying the upcoming Board's decision in this outcome as the car was first accessed Academy thing but not the way car was fuses understanding the access community members are not in full accord that's my understanding and Humboldt would serve the needs of both their needs in both locations and size so I heard some times some people would say then they were patsies okay it's all be cool I'll be quick here so some possible solution is to make sure every effort is made to find a home for access to stop looking for Humboldt as a quick fix to the pop to the problem and look into other opportunities for where Kairos I'm sorry where access Academy may be able to join with another school I appreciate you for indulging me in my time here and keep humble Kairos at home oh hi my name is Michele Kunak North last name is K you and EC - n o R th first I don't envy the task in front of you and I support any efforts that you can make to provide quality education to all of our children but I'm here today to comment on how this information is being shared with the community and to implore you to do better I understand that parents of
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current students have received regular information about the proposals and process but I'm here to speak about the experience of those of us who do not I'm here as a mother of two future PPS students I'm also here as a well educated incredibly fortunate English speaking career bureaucrat I've worked in government for over a decade I can understand government jargon acronyms I'm very familiar with bureaucratic websites and not only was I not notified about these changes which maybe is reasonable but I'm unable to find any information about these boundary changes both what has been proposed or what is approved on your website I live in Beverly Cleary and I recently heard a rumor that boundary changes were being considered it took me about an hour searching and searching across the website to finally find this in for me on a relatively dense multi proposal page with the downloadable report Rose way heights and Tubman middle schools it's on page 36 of 45 pages maybe there's an easier way to find this I couldn't come across it so as I mentioned I'm a parent of two young children one of every eight households in Portland has a child under six think about that that's at least one of every family on your block these families are not hearing about this process through their local school the changes you're considering now will impact them whether they know it or not as it will my family we all deserve accessible clear and up-to-date information about these changes and if I can't find it I can't imagine how you can expect or let alone guarantee that future PBS families across Portland can have any voice in this process thank you next we have Heather pani and Jim Holstein hi thank you for being here my name is Heather penny and I'm a parent of a two and a six-year-old with one child and PPS prior to a few weeks ago I hadn't been paying attention to boundary change issues because my child was in an unaffected school that was performing well I like mini Portlanders didn't know about the struggles PPS is up against with low funds and space constraints I learned by a flyer on my door that we are in a tiny group of three or four families per year that will be moved to new schools we already started in grade school so our daughter can finish in place but would then transfer away from over ninety percent of her classmates into a new middle school in high school along with being concerned about having to support a pure community in place of the sensitive age I'm concerned about our two-parent working family holding it all together with inability to walk to middle school and schools farther away from our workplaces and less support from families who have known our kids since kindergarten I'm also acutely aware of the problems that need fixing and have seen many parents speak up for what is best for their kids sadly it seems like parents had become pitted against each other for school space adequate student numbers keeping neighborhoods together and safe school buildings we all want the best for our kids and the proposed plant needs continued work there are a number of issues that should be worked through including access who will lack space for growth Kairos who will lose space for a successful program and kids who are slivered off from their cohorts at various stages in their education in addition our teachers are showing up wanting contracts and smaller class sizes so they don't seem too thrilled either with the status quo I suggest that we quickly do a few and meet emergency measures to solve the most urgent problems while trying to negatively impact a few of students then we should take our time over the next year with our new superintendent to involve the larger community and come up with a more permanent fix we need to involve parents of kids who are not immediately impacted and the community at large to for an appropriate tax and funding solution that can actually solve these problems we should involve community partners like the Concordia and Fabienne example we should move over those years please thank you and community mentors we need to realize that a one-size solution won't work for all our kids are worth it let's take the time to do this right and give our kids the education they deserve thank you hello my name is Jim Holstein h o L ste I am I have an eighth grader Rosalie Heights and a fifth grader at Jason Lane I was going to talk about my kids experience to
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highlight the disparity between K eights and middle schools but I think that's self-evident at this point and I don't really want to talk that long so I'll get to my main points now that the district is poised to convert our schools to K eights and middle schools and things are getting down to the details a lot of difficult decisions need to be made which will impact a lot of kids and families and no not everyone is going to be happy about it what I want to stress is that doing nothing and maintaining the status quo is more harmful than any other decision you end up making thousands of kids in the past 10 years have had a substandard middle school experience and thousands more will follow in their footsteps if the district does not go through with the conversion next year some ideas for resolving the lingering questions of what to do with access Kairos and DLI programs include less than ideal options such as colocation split feeders split programs building moves making changes that you know will be temporary suspending grandfathering but none of those options is worse than continuing as we are there are still more K eights in the rest of the district that need to be converted the board needs to just make the decisions needed for Roseau a heights and Tubman no matter how imperfect so that the convergence can happen next fall as planned and you can move on to opening middle schools for the rest of the districts under sir students Thank You max Margolis and Eduardo bell ovens aren hi my name is max Margolis ma are gol I had planned for three minutes that got to you so I want to thank the board for organizing this listening session I'm a 5 foot 10 Jewish man with freckles I was born in Glasgow Scotland to to heterosexual Jewish American citizens I grew up in Pittsburgh where my elementary middle and high school high schools were composed of mostly black and Jewish people I was insecure about having freckles wearing patches on my pants my mom's chain-smoking and my sisters dressing me up as a woman as a Jewish man I could provide you with an endless list of my problems I feel compelled to tell you this because throughout my daughter's four years in PPS the administration has been in a curious not courageous conversation about race class equity with seemingly no regard for education in your quest to understand diversity social justice and gender identity you've lost sight of the prize which is getting all of our children in the race to pursue knowledge I'll spare you the details of my daughter leaving Vestal off of 82nd and going to Rose Way Heights and as suffice it to say it was a very positive change and all kids in our community deserve that change transforming roadway Heights into middle school could finally provide our community with access to a quality middle school however this boundary change will only succeed if PBS is truly courageous talking about race gender identity religion or inequality is normal and healthy but it's not courageous being courageous is finding your own voice in a world that is only interested in your boundary your demographic your money your sexuality or your religion being courageous means making a decision sticking to it and dealing with there were consequences being courageous is taking responsibility for hypocrisy and owning your mistakes we're all here because there's been a lack of courage and abundance of hypocrisy you and I just want to end with a quote from a WB Dubois that really hammers home the importance of education it has always have an element of danger and revolution of dissatisfaction and discontent nevertheless we men strive to no PPS students should be discontent they should be dissatisfied and there are 47 thousand of them waiting for danger and revolution begging you to please educate them thank you hello my name is Eduardo and I will spend my two minutes a spell in my last name so be it Lau NC a ra n I want to thank you for your service and dedication to the education of the children in this beautiful and diverse
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City before everything I'm sorry if I speak with a big accent my English isn't perfect I don't have the chance that my daughter has to study in a bilingual immersion school she's nine and she's perfectly willing well right now thank you I am here no for tell you what kind of change we need but for tells you and everybody behind me how fantastic is my community because I hear the people talking they don't want to be in my school and I don't understand why I drove I Drive ten minutes 15 minutes a day for bring my key to the school if she want to take a bike we need to take 45 minutes for going back to our school Scott is not my school on my neighborhood we choose this school because we want my kid have the diversity and another language in if she want to walk we need to go one hour if my car tonestar we take the bus and what that is life that right we know that it will not be easy for everybody but we need to make sacrifice for half our grade and the lingual education for our kid several times in these five years we talked to Ron you know to go to the other is cool and say Oh God because we have if we are in front of a big problems because it's a myths of equity in Portland Public Schools and my school is very affected by that now we are in front of a great opportunity to have some equity not only for my kid but for all these kids so please be courageous and do it because we really deserve it my you cannot imagine how great is for my family and my kid to be with people to all horizons we have people from Somalia from Russia from Vietnam you know my heating plate please yes yes that is fantastic so please go ahead and do it next we have Sabrina flame oh and Donna Maxie hi my name is Sabrina flame-o the last name is f as in Frank I noticed someone else did that to you lamo II I'm the principal at Vestal and I have some prepared statements but I'm I'm emotionally torn by what I'm hearing I think that the main message that I have is this process that we use and I include myself in weeks I'm a principal in this district relies on parents coming out at 6 and 7 o'clock at night when they really should be home with their kids to advocate for their individual school and it sets our communities against each other it's upsetting it's upsetting to me as a principal that was at a school that was able to have a lot of parents show up to be told you've got to get people to come to this meeting and I don't think that's the way that we make the best decisions for our kids I don't think it's a fair burden to put on our families I don't mind as the principal advocating for my individual school and looking at our whole district but I really just challenge how equitable our decisions can be made if we are putting the burdens on families the other piece that I just want to add really quickly about vestal is vestal is an amazing amazing place this is my first year there it is a very diverse just it's beautiful it's a beautiful place and just because the numbers are really small right now I'm really hopeful that our board makes the decisions based on some other things besides numbers and guarantees that our school community will be firm and solid regardless of numbers the last thing I'm we're worried about this thing going off the last thing is I just can't advocate enough for our middle school students we have 22 seventh graders that's a really unfair uh neck wa tub all set up for disaster they get one seventh grade year their seventh grade year is with 21 other peers so they can't wait we can't wait to make that decision to get them into a middle school good evening my name is Donna Maxie emex
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EUI I have a vested interest in Humboldt school as well as Rose City Park and at Tubman eye my brother was in Humboldt school's first kindergarten class and by 4th 5th grade was being bussed over to I can't even remember the name of the school in Madison district and spent three hours a day being bused I taught at Rose City Park school and I also have taught at Humboldt school I'm a retired teacher from the school district now this is my first time to testify so this is very important to me what I'm about to say to you I also have an investment in Tubman because I was in the first grade what of the first grade first first grade class there so I have a great history with the schools here in Portland as I like to say I was educated at the best ghetto schools here in Portland and I would like to address some of the issues that Kairos is coming up against from a historical point of view I appreciate the testimony from prosper Portland I think it's very important that they try to rectify the damage that has been done to african-american families in Portland and one of the things that was very damaging I've I was part of the damage that was done we lost our home our church our community and my father's business so when people talk about damage and and things I understand that I think that Portland Public Schools needs to keep its promise for equity and as you see I gave you a brochure I wrote a program called race talk so I know a little bit about that and I would like to make sure that Portland Public Schools keeps its promise to the african-american community to educate his children too and prosper Portland god bless them is trying to get back into doing something that is right because PDC didn't I know I'm almost done and I would like to make sure that process that Kairos gets to stay at Humboldt and that Portland for once keeps its promise to the african-american community thank you next we have Paul Hoffman and Tricia curl good Eve my name is Paul Hoffman h o FF ma n or think for the opportunity to speak this evening and I come as a parent with a child in the neighborhood program it's Scott Elementary as an advocate for our school and for future Scotties whose parents are members of the congregation that I passed her first I want to applaud you for the work that you've put forward in the current proposal I believe it's a step in the right direction toward more equitable schools in North Northeast Portland Public Schools specifically those in the Madison cluster or however I'm concerned it doesn't go far enough each week I volunteer my daughter's first grade class it's a beautiful picture of ethnic and socio-economic diversity however it's the only section available in the neighborhood program the class is practically full the teacher has no assistance to balance the load of the needs of the students for them to succeed academically and this is the case across all of the grade levels for the neighborhood program at Scott I'm excited for the future students of Scott having to neighborhood sections but our current students need and deserve two sections now here's a couple of clarifying questions I'd like to be addressed in from the current proposal is the provision of to neighborhoods sections only for the fall of 2018 kindergarten class or providing those sections across all grade levels starting in the fall of 2018 current Portland public school policy allows students to stay and complete the highest grades at school how will this policy affect the ability to provide to neighborhood schools to neighborhood sections across all grade levels at Scott and other schools in our cluster how does opening Rose City Park at 100% building utilization fit into the right size school goal while leaving other schools in the cluster underutilized and under enrolled how does Rose City Park using with only 12% underserved students fit into the goal of strengthening diversity and improving demographic parity while schools like Scott maintain numbers north of 40% undeserving unjust underserved schools there's ancient proverb I'll close with this that says raise a child the way that they should go and they won't depart from it even as they grow old what this promises is that what we teach our children now and how we raise them to see the world is
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exactly how they will see it as an adult we have the opportunity as parents and you have the opportunities as partners with us in informing these children to shape their future in beautiful ways we can raise children who can adapt and change embrace diversity in all its forms and embrace difficulty growth rate opportunity and those children can change the world or we can raise children who live and embrace the status quo which leave our world as it is one path is easy and one path is difficult one path is truly progressive while the other simply continues to live in the illusion of being progressive so I don't mean to cut people off it's just we have a lot of people on to make sure that suddenly not being disrespectful I just want to make sure that we have let everybody understand we can speak so thank you for everybody for trying to be attentive to the two minutes thank you my name is Tricia curls see URL I've come tonight just to speak I am torn and conflicted with this as well we are in the Beverly Cleary neighborhood of Rose City Park and I do not I support middle schools being developed and I do not support the displacement of Kairos as well where I am concerned as seeing my neighborhood who has my children I have a seven-year-old and incoming kindergartner and a number of friends who are preschool students who don't know about these meetings going on as well which has been stated I am concerned as to where our neighborhood will fall we are happy at beverly cleary many people are happy where they are we are also willing to change but we I am hearing some things that are very concerning I would love to have a neighborhood school as other people do our neighborhood school is walkable and builds community we like our community and we want to build a strong community and I would like to ask that you are transparent as to what you are doing I have many friends and families that are in Access and I would ask that you I hate don't want to be pity to get acts against access as a family but please find a home also that allows them to have a place that does not displace Kairos and does not displace us from our neighborhood school if we are allowed to return to Rho city park which was closed and why we were put into Everly Cleary eight years or so ago I also asked that this would like to comment on this rushed plan in the state of the ro City Park building in general being a dangerous environment for our children which we are fighting over as well as families I think that's it but please be transparent in letting us know where our children will be and consider that we would like our community school back I guess my last point is that children are being bused into access and then you'll take our neighborhood and bus us to schools farther out I don't see that as a viable solution financially next we have Nick matthan and Galen gamble my name is Galen gamble GA mble and I'm a vestal parent and the PTA president I like to thank the chair of Bram Edwards and the board members for the opportunity to speak this evening under the care proposal vessel student body would be reduced to 260 students which is not sustainable we're asking the district boundaries to be equitable and support all students we're also asking for an appropriate middle school for our students unfortunately many of our families couldn't attend this tonight's meeting vessel PTA circulated a petition that parents have signed on to and I will pass to the board again we appreciate your consideration and hope that you find Vestals per interest at heart good evening my name is Nick matheran ma th ER n I am a parent of a 1st and 4th grader at Martin Luther King jr. Elementary School earth K through 8 school for the moment I want to also thank you for the tremendous amount of time that you and countless volunteers have spent over the past several years to work on this process clearly while it has not been a perfect process it is one that has certainly been the recipient of many many hours of many people's time and love and I certainly can appreciate that I also want to say that I'm both
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very grateful and and also a bit frightened about the opportunity that is in front of me and my family grateful because while my children are at King and we appreciate very much the King community unfortunately as we've been a part of that community for a few years we've seen that the middle school opportunity that the students there have is not an equitable one and is not one that will prepare them for high school so I'm very grateful for the opportunity to be able to send my children to a robust well enrolled and in a very Arsene middle school that has high standards however I'm also afraid because I know that the education that my children are receiving at King will not have them on equal footing with the other children in Tubman cluster and so I want to ask the board to as you're making this decision about our school and the larger cluster and the district wide to understand that there will be some decisions you'll need to make here that will go outside of simply funding this on a per pupil allotment and understand that there are some schools that are going to need additional resources in order for their students to enter on an equal footing as learners as they come into these new municipal environments so thank you very much mark Holloway and Heather Kent good evening my name is Mark Holloway H o ll OWA Y Thank You chairman Matt birds and board members I represent Social Venture Partners we're a business and philanthropy organization here in the community and I'm here to advocate for the stability of Cairo's PDX I've said here with you a couple of times for their charter renewal and for the original charter approval of Kairos and class the Charter approval was approved unanimously and we were here in support of that as well unfortunately what puts Kairos at risk is is the instability of their location and often it said that charter school kids are different kids but we know that those kids are PPS kids their outcomes are your outcomes they will go on to a middle school to high school and the successes they're having a Kairos that we're seeing at Kairos that you approved at Kairos are gonna are gonna reap rewards down the line but we know in in people's lives if they don't have the very basic need of housing they can't get to higher level higher level items in their life so if we don't get to the very basic needs of housing for Kairos they're never gonna be able to get to the next levels of success that we know that they can achieve that you've invested in them achieving I had a family of a mom and three girls move in with my partner and I a few years ago because they didn't have housing and those girls found stability and one of them has gone gone on to found her own nonprofit that serves people on the margins she's gone on to Harvard University and she's running at 19 years old for City Council that never would have happened with an incensed unstable family and I asked like you that you have the opportunity to to give Kairo stability in their home and to help those kids have even greater success it is an equity issue a lot of people are firming around the word equity right now right now but equity is about investing more on people who have had traditionally less and we know that Cairo's kids have had have been underserved and had less opportunity than others and it's your it's your decision to make now about how to invest more deeply in those successes and keep Kairos where they are I highly award Heather Nelson Kent ne LS o n K ent from access Academy and I'm here as a parent of students at access as Portland Public School parents can we continuously find ourselves waging these pitched battles with each other fighting over scraps despite being in an economically stable and growing City we're in that situation again now is the question of which students to house in Humboldt school a small building in north Northeast Portland hangs in the balance the public dialogue over this particular building has seemed to pit two school communities against each other and we wonder what is to be gained by the district or our larger community and creating an either/or scenario for these two thriving schools we are advocating for a building as parents at access Academy we're not advocating to move to Humboldt we are advocating for a building that meets the needs of our unique population especially after
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living without a stable home or long-term plan for many years but it since the district began its work to reconfigure boundaries access parents have advocated for a stable building assignment one of the is relatively centrally located with room to serve the students who need it we don't believe achieving this for access should come at the expense of another community we're looking to the district leadership and staff and other leaders around the city to work creatively together to find a way to support both of these thriving and much-needed schools thank you andrew green and Kara Bader hello I'm Andrew ream I pronounce it being I spell it be e n thank you friends at the board for your commitment to all of our kids in a very difficult process I have a kid ready to start school and when this process is all done I have no idea if I'll be able to take him to the school just down the hill a couple blocks from my house but after attending these sessions I really don't want to talk about my kid because I've realized through these sessions that the problems with this proposal are bigger and affect the broader East Side community as a whole my new friends at Kairos are screaming Vestal is adrift without a sustainable population to keep it going Vernon is completely skipped in this process access is shoving out another school Rose City is full before it even opens and in case you didn't know it was possible because I didn't it's possible to make Savin and Alameda even less diverse than they are today by restricting the boundaries as this proposal does right now mizmor you talked about it in the previous session where you said that the problem with historical grandfathering was something we regretted in doing in the west side it's going to be an issue on the east side as well after you made those comments I've just canvassed my neighborhood 80% of the people in the broadened catchment area will not be going to the new school because the grandfathering as proposed in this proposal you will not get the catchment numbers that are proposed in this as it's means which means the lines are not getting the students in the places where we proposed in this model so the data is suspect behind it I get it this is a draft I'm just asking that we take the time to revisit this draft and fix these errors in the meantime open these middle schools it makes all the sense in the world make sure they're safe of course please that gives you the time to balance the feeder population make sure your data is accurate that you're using accurate information to inform this and most importantly and we haven't talked about this it gives parents the time to adjust their lives towards this thank you hi my name is Kara Bader it's BA D er I want to thank you very much for hearing our comments and taking the time tonight I don't envy your task at all I come before you tonight as a mother and a concerned citizen and a recent grad from PSU zmp a program where the opportunity to look at Kairos and so I speak on behalf of Kairos the reason I chose Kairos for my capstone program is because they are doing something truly unique they are the only school in Portland that serves 25% or more african-american students that are meeting or exceeding the national averages for core competency testing and I wanted to know why I wanted to see what Kairos does that isn't being done in other schools in the last name is more commented that Kairos it's unprecedented to have a charter school have a long term commitment or a building and I understand that I'm precedented may seem risky and people's point of view on charter schools or kind of up in the air but I think it's important to look at what they're doing and look at if they're having success Kairos Kairos was started by five African American women who were mothers who knew that Oregon and Portland are not serving the unique needs of children of color and as mothers they decided that they needed to start a school to better serve their children and it's working they bring a very
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unique combination of culturally responsive learning and compassionate learning to all the children they serve part one of the tenets of their program is to have a safe space for these kids reliably day after day to come and pack whatever they need to unpack physically or emotionally and learn and it's working so I just ask you to in the lens of equity ask yourself if this was an affluent predominantly white school with this be so easy to offer up can you wrap it through thank you next we have Roz Willoughby and Steve de Monte hi my name is Roz Willoughby WI ll Oh ugh be why I'm here as a parent of a first grader at vestal and I have two other young children that will hopefully be attending there shortly after my concern today is hoping that the middle schools open most definitely but just like other I'm echoing what has been said earlier that if we don't change our boundaries that Stowell be underserved because we'll be under capacity by a hundred and we'll lose the programs that have been so amazing in my first graders and as our family our experience at vestal these community dinners that we do every month are quite a thing if you haven't been you should definitely come join us after eating we get to break up into groups and I believe there's five different languages that we have interpreters for and we really get to come together as a community which is something you don't get to do just dropping your kids off before and after school the diversity that we've experienced so far at vestal is been such a gift and I would hate to lose that the direction it seems that Vesta would be going if the boundaries don't change is to closure and that would just be a really really sad thing so thanks for listening next we have Eddy Zam Barsky and Deanna jewel down hey there Eddy ocean borsky SZ am bo r sk i i've been volunteering at Kairos for the last year thank you for your time i want to start with a quote from PB s spokesperson dave northfield the district understands that this looks strange for a district emphasizing equity and closing the achievement gap and paris has been successful we hope that Kairos is successful wherever they are we understand the implications of gentrification saying you understand something is not the same as understanding something it is clear that the district does not understand that gentrification is but one of the many ways that white supremacy and white power continue to shape the contours of our city and our country words are important having well articulated equity plans are important but merely hoping that Kairos is successful is an insult to suggest their success has no relationship to where they are located it's doubly important schools are our most cherished sites of community to remove Kairos from humble would be yet another instance of the city of Portland tearing at the heart of the city's black community addressing Portland's long history of targeted violence and casual indifference towards the city's black community will take far more than words it will take actions the use of power to push back against white supremacy in all of its ugly formations and echoes and for the city to prioritize the perspectives of those most impacted along the way what looks but what looked strange is often just that strange this is not a matter of well intentions being misperceived this is a matter of PPS not reckoning with the strange violence that our country and city are founded on a violence that says some are less human due to the color of their skin please recognize what you do not understand listen to those who do and I'm really not talking about me listen to the other people I strongly implore that the board take a stance against content the continued displacement dissing armen and devaluation of black and brown people's in our city and beyond
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recognize and alleviate the deep irony of your proposal replacing Kairos a crucial source of access for children of color and low-income students with access a student for high achievers who have a clear path ahead of them for success give Kairos the loss of her home it deserves in the heart of the community it serves with such compassion care and excellence thank you very much [Applause] my name is Lisa Moreira mor e IRA I have two sons one is a future PPS kid starting kindergarten next year and one is a current PPS kid my older son attended a neighborhood school for kindergarten and first grade and is now a fourth grader at Kairos PDX public charter school I understand it's that charter part that may lead some of you to believe that Kairos ought to be displaced from the Humboldt school building I recently had a very brief conversation with mr. Bailey in which he said that every kid's needs should be meant public school that there shouldn't be a need for public for charter schools in PPS I actually agree with that statement and I wish it were true I wish that my son could have been treated without racial bias in his neighborhood school I wish my concerns as the parent of a black student had been taken seriously in his neighborhood school I wish he had seen support for teachers of color there I wish his social emotional and cultural needs had been considered there I wish he felt like he belong there I wish I felt like he was going to thrive there thankfully Kairos was an option for him and it's going to need to be an option until these systemic barriers are truly absolute in all our neighborhood schools until kids who aren't thriving in their neighborhood school environments are considered with compassion and belief and action I want to remind you that Kairos exists isn't out as an option for these kids because you unanimously agreed with its purpose and necessity for which I am deeply grateful to you and that your racial equity plan states the district shall provide every student with equitable access to high-quality and culturally relevant instruction curriculum support facilities and other educational resources even when this means differentiating resources to meet this goal I ask you to consider what displacing yet again a program designed for cut for educating and barclays underserved population will mean to this community next we have Margaret Hinshaw and Jessi Irvine ceramic i sat down first hi I'm Robert Henshaw h i n sh aw thank you for hearing our testimonies I'm here tonight to speak in favor of keeping Kairos at the Humboldt school I've been a supporter of Cairo since its inception as a member of their advisory board I'm a supporter of educational equity and support services for at-risk youth I'm on the board of directors for P OIC rosemary Anderson and new avenues for youth Kairos pdx has a mission to end the prolific racial achievement gap of Portland's underserved young students of color and are successfully doing so in measurable and sustainable ways the dad has been shared with you in written testimony as you know the program's goal is to set the root of inequity and weed and weed it out get to the root and weeded out Portland public school has stated goals are on equity and excellence both of which are being accomplished by Kairos Kairos currently serves 150 primarily black Portland public school students with these proven excellent results we also have established strong and meaningful relationships with the families that we serve through the family connections program if allowed to stay at Humboldt Kairos students would feed directly into Tubman creating a pipeline of students for color to continue their education in the community displacing Kairos by giving the Humboldt space to access continues a history of displacing students and families of color Kairos is a strong and meaningful mission for excellence and equity and currently in the right location to meet the needs of their students and they're doing so with great success Kairos is a successful model of narrowing Portland Public Schools pearlitic racial achievement gap we need Kairos and we need your support of Kairos and these students by allowing them to continue to thrive at Humboldt
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school location equity is a choice and equity requires action thank you excuse me before you speak I just want to ask the group is there anybody who has their children upstairs in childcare who has not yet spoken if you could you raise your hand if so Miss Susan I'm gonna ask after you speak for the two parents because the people providing childcare need to go so after the speaker that anybody who has children still upstairs you get to go next so that because our childcare good evening I'm Jessie urban ceramic i RV i and ii and ceramic is SRA and EK i'm a teacher at Kairos PDX I just began my second year with the school and we've heard many voices tonight advocating for Kairo staying at the Humboldt Building and if that speaks volumes to the way that we've mobilized and come out here tonight and it's not just about the humble building it's about the neighborhood that we're in in the routes that we've already established we just began our second year and I can't tell you it I've been a teacher it's my seventh classroom that I just started I started with incredible ease and a great sense of optimism the students in my classroom are brilliant they're very capable and they are very connected to the community around the humble building they know where Jefferson High School is we play kickball there last year they get excited every time we walked to the North Portland Library they know how to build a map from our school to other neighborhood locations our tiles hang in the garden we eat vegetables from the garden that have already grown in our time there we've established roots the greatest weapon of oppression one of the great weapons of oppression is displacement displacing Kairos can be labeled simply as a lack of a legal agreement but I would say that we are morally obligated to keep Kairos in the neighborhood that it's in I think that we are morally obligated to start now because we had in the years path to continue to invest in this community it's a powerful beautiful and brilliant community and I really urge you if you haven't walked those hallways please come please walk those hallways see the new life that we've breathe into a building that was sat vacant in a really important neighborhood and see the way that our kids are connected to the community that surrounds that building talk to our students talk to the teachers talk to our staff who are invested their time thank you [Applause] my name is Molly Frank's s are a and KS and I speak as a white parent of a mixed-race Kyra's kindergartner and as a long-term supporter of purlins Public Schools efforts to promote racial equity through courageous conversations whether we look at history or we look at current events we have a serious problem with racism and with white supremacy from Charlottesville where a white person ran over people with a car to fight to preserve symbols of slavery to last year in Gresham where another white person intentionally killed a black man with his car following an argument we need to be taking white supremacy seriously these incidents don't come out of nowhere in fact they're part of a long history that is very connected to our current situation at Portland Public Schools and I appreciate that various people have been talking about this history they may be familiar to you and I think many white people in Portland are unaware of it I want us to keep it in our consciousness as we are making these key decisions state laws making it illegal for black people to settle in Oregon we're on the books until 1926 when world war ii made manufacturers desperate for laborers african americans were grudgingly invited to move here however bankers and civic leaders conspired to confine them to the red light area of North and Northeast Portland called Albina in spite of blatant hostility and discrimination African Americans created a thriving community in Albina and Humboldt school was built in the Albina neighborhood during this time sadly decades of civil civic disinvestment in this neighborhood schools families and businesses followed I appreciate it Donna Maxie's comments about that her personal story about that following a pattern of City Planning that decimated black communities across the country albino was torn apart by the construction of i-5 and the raising of hundreds of houses and businesses to build Memorial Coliseum in emanuel hospital since then black families have been pushed out by white families moving in like many schools serving primarily
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black students Humboldt was deemed a failing school and PBS closed it in 2012 we all benefit from a school system that serves all students well and data clearly show that our current system serves white students best and is egregiously failing black students now we are being offered a gift in an opportunity we have the opportunity to follow the leadership of people of color till this into the voices of black families until the learn from the wisdom of african-american educators about what works for black kids I urge you to keep Kairos at humble hi my name is Bill Beamer de Amer I am the partner of Molly Franks we have a kindergartener Kairos Kairos is it's an incredible school community the energy there the mission the family involvement when we think about when we look at indicators of successful students family involvement is one of the most important things Kairos is an incredible model and it's something that a year ago our child is biracial my family I'm originally from the east coast from Washington DC grew up in a very different environment but I had incredible supports it's difficult when you are a person of color especially a young person of color data shows that children at a very young age before kindergarten start to identify race and color in categories last year our daughter said she wanted to be white and I asked her why why she wanted to identify his wife and she said because everyone else is Kairos gives her a place that affirms her I've seen this change in her I've seen this growth in development this is an opportunity all families with school-aged children want to have schools in their neighborhoods that support them we want to live in those places we live in in in the area where we have a school that is so incredible I am so fortunate to have that school there and to have it there at this point in her education I know that work with equity is difficult when I first moved here I worked at the African American Health coalition then I worked at Multnomah County Health and starting up the health equity initiative and I was in the county chambers when the coalition of communities of color presented their report in 2009 it showed that the disparities and inequities here were the worst in the region and that's when the effort for equity came into play all you need to do is support Kairos this is an incredible model PPS can learn from this we can make this better please keep Kairos at humble are there anybody is there anybody else here with children upstairs that needs to testify from a school that hasn't has otherwise already had its voice represented if not we'll go back to the other order and I guess I'm gonna ask the board members are we okay to stay until 8:00 and there it's past that we have three three more we have okay sorry I didn't know there was a we have four more speakers for more speakers um are they from schools I right yep and represented Kairos I'll tell you what I'm gonna I'm gonna suggest that since there was a previously scheduled meeting that were supposed to be at 7:30 that director Baylor Bailey and more go had their meeting dr. Rosen and I will listen to the remaining four people who are signed up to testify and just as a reminder since this is videotaped everyone will have access to it and also feel free to send us your comments by email make my one clarification yes please I just wanted to clarify something I led off saying and one person said it sounds like this thing is a done deal the only done deal for me is to middle
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schools everything else we're listening we're trying different scenarios so the done deal the middle schools next fall right yes Jane [Applause] so our next two speakers are Chelsea Bunch and Jane Ames good evening my name is Chelsea Bunch last name be you in as a nancy CH I have a kindergartener currently at Kairos elementary allowing Kairos to remain at Humboldt school is a matter of equity I'm an african-american woman who was born and raised right here in North Portland my parents the late Geoffrey Brooks and Donna Brooks were also raised right here in Portland my two african-american boys will be raised here too over the years it has pained me to see my neighborhood once diverse quickly gentrify and become the new hip place to be in a neighborhood that is quickly changing all around me and in a city and state where the achievement gap for kids of color is grim at best Kairos PDX Learning Academy has been a gift to us it has been equally important that a school that is actively and successfully working to close the achievement gap for kids of color has staff and teachers who reflect my children and who nurtured my whole child and is literally located around the corner in my community Kairos is located in a school building that has suffered immense gentrification and lack of investment both in the physical community and in communities of color how can you all in good conscience be so ready to displace PBS kids most of whom are from this very community and the majority of whom are of color you have to understand that I like many of their parents have had anxiety about where to send my child and how they would begin their educational journey we didn't want to send our babies to school where they were not reflected in the staff teachers and curriculum we didn't want to send them to schools that have disproportionately high discipline rates for kids of color we didn't want to send them to schools that weren't getting solid educational outcomes for kids of color and we wanted our babies to attend schools in their community Kairos allows us to have the best of everything a school that is focused on delivering excellent as equitable education to underserved and full of potential not at-risk children their families and their communities and a school located in a community where most have been displaced why would you actively undermine equity work taking place that is having impact this displacement is unacceptable and incongruent with equity work and we will not tolerate actions that appear to be racist at its core one last thing allowing Kairos to remain at humble is a matter of moral and equitable responsibility and is a commitment to begin to all that undo all that has happened in my community let's not continue to displace kids of color let's not just talk about standing for equity for kids of color let's walk in it Kairos is important to rebuilding about Albina community and it's important to the reopening and a reimagining of Tubman my Kairos kit is a Portland public school child Jane Eames a mes I am going to hand you my written statement I don't need to take the full two minutes my main points are that basically they've been said more eloquently than I would say them we have an issue that is an issue in this country and it's an issue in our community and that is that that an entire population of students have far too many who do not achieve well succeed have good sense of self and thrive and that's what every one of us wants as a parent so it is that's why I think that that making an exception for this charter school is so important because there it isn't a school that does that started because of some interesting nuggets somebody wanted to try was tackling what we in our communities throughout the country but certainly here measurably so have not done well so we need to step up support them and one good way to support them is to keep them at Humboldt we need to be behind them this is a good way so but my written comments are here thank you [Applause]
01h 40m 00s
our last two speakers are theis Okumura and gent a saw this is me I got four minutes fortunately not just kidding I used to try that too either my name is Tai e so camera okay am ura and I have had an ongoing relationship with the community and the school at Humboldt my two children who are now in their 40s both attended all the way through fifth grade when we were able to get grades 3 4 & 5 added back after the community had been broken apart and scattered throughout the greater metropolitan area I was then in 1983 hired to be the counselor at Humboldt school and set up the original counseling program before it fell into place in the district mandates even though the school was very much in need of support it's not so much the location or the name of the school it's the fact that it's a part of a community that has been underserved disrespected and not following the guidelines of equity inclusion and accepting diversity as a university instructor at Portland State in the Graduate School of Education I found it very important to include this in every course that I taught its lifelong involvement if the families can't get to the school how can they be involved in the school please keep Kairos at the Humboldt site and maybe even give it a new name thank you [Applause] so that that concludes the public testimony tonight as director Bailey said just really quickly I want to thank everybody for coming out it's been a long night I encourage you to stay on for the D Brack meeting which is immediately following and I just want to in addition to all of the parents and community members who appeared I was pleased to see prosper Portland and Social Venture Partners come tonight and testify and I hope that is a harbinger of their greater engagement with Portland Public Schools and their growing interest in supporting all of our schools throughout the district many of the Madison school families and students are dealing with the same kinds of issues that have historically hit the elbe in a neighborhood I'm hoping that those organizations will pay attention to to those families as well and I look forward to the district to collaborating with those with those organizations going forward DeRozan did you have a couple of things a couple of you commented about the difficulty of connecting with Portland Public Schools when you don't have kids in the district but you've have pre-k kids coming that's a good point and at some point it would be great to meet with some of you and try to figure out this systemic way to increase that communication second point is one of the one of the questions we ask when we're thinking about equity is whose voice wasn't here there was nobody here from the Vietnamese do a language immersion program which does not have a permanent home that is part of this equation so again when we're thinking about how all
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this fits together there's a bunch of moving parts and that's a good question we're just trying to is there anybody from CIPA here Harry what why don't we I think we're going to have to explore that and find out so it's mine there's do you want to share it at all what the communication plan was or or how we can notify people at future meetings we sent emails to every school that families at every school that is involved and we follow those up with robo calls I think the text messages might have been a separate thing but that's definitely something that we can think about doing for the next time for the meetings that are coming up in October we have printed postcards that are being mailed to every residence that are in that entire map area that's been affected because we understand that problem of people who aren't connected with PBS school is not getting notified it's an expensive and time-consuming prospect but they will be getting postcards within days that will notify them of the meetings coming up and so but that was problematic not notifying parents with kids that aren't at PBS yet great thank you and we appreciate all the work that you've done to help support this thank you with that we're going to conclude the meeting don't forget there's this listening


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