2022-09-20 PPS School Board Regular Meeting

From SunshinePPS Wiki
District Portland Public Schools
Date 2022-09-20
Time 18:00:00
Venue BESC Auditorium
Meeting Type regular
Directors Present missing
Load video
YouTube


Documents / Media

Notices/Agendas

Materials

Minutes

Transcripts

Event 1: PPS Board of Education Regular Meeting - 9/20/2022

00h 00m 00s
education for September 20 2022 is called to order for tonight's meeting any item that will be voted on has been posted on the PPS website under the board of meetings tab the meeting is now being live streamed on PPS TV services website and on Channel 28 and it will be replayed throughout the next two weeks and you can check the district website for replay times um good evening everybody thank you all for being here this evening unfortunately student representative McMahon is not feeling well so she is watching virtually but will not be joining us tonight um so before we get started just I want to share a few reminders um we ask that everyone attending this meeting tonight members of the public staff and board members treat each other with respect we're excited that you've taken time out of your day to get involved in our school district whether to testify or just to observe we agree to listen to your words and experiences even though we may not always agree with your recommendations in return we ask you not to interfere with our responsibility to conduct the business of PPS even though you may not always agree with our decisions our ability to do this civilly is what I believe makes our community stronger if you wish to display Signs and Banners please remain in the auditorium foyer back behind the seating area and please try not to block any other attendees view of the proceedings and for safety reasons we also need to keep all walkways and aisles clear and in general we would just appreciate if everyone again members of the public staff and board members be mindful of others in the room and remember that we are setting the example for our community's children tonight our first item tonight is to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month in Portland Public Schools a superintendent Guerrero can you please introduce this item it's good evening directors uh thank you chair Scott last week we began the month-long celebration that is known as Hispanic Heritage Month with hundreds of students and family members in fact joining the annual El grito event which takes place annually across the street here at the Moda Center this is the largest celebration to kick off the month in the Northwest during Hispanic heritage celebrating the histories cultures and contributions of uh families whose Heritage comes from Mexico the Caribbean and very essential and South American countries I have asked mayor for Steger our director of communications and language access services to share some other opportunities for our students to be celebrated this month thank you hello everybody my name is Marissa Sagar um and today I'm here to talk about a Hispanic Heritage Month as the superintendent Guerrero mentioned we have a number of events that will take place across the district some of them in our schools and some of them a specific at the district level so we're going to be sharing more of those news with all of you but for today I'm going to be reading the resolution in Spanish for all of you Portland considerandos celebrities and [Music] community distrito Linguistics versus [Music]
00h 05m 00s
Portland is fundamentals systems contributions foreign [Music] [Music] foreign thank you um do I have a motion and second to adopt resolution 6574 resolution in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month in Portland Public Schools director to pass uh moves and director Lowry seconds um is there any board discussion on this resolution just that it's really fun to see all the activities going on in our schools and the different ways that each of our school communities celebrates so so all month long it's fun to get out there and see what what's going on and there's some great highlights on our social media of some of our students and folks that are really great is that what you're going to say superintendent beat you to it that and just a couple of appreciations uh first of all to Lara media who hosted hundreds of our students who took field trips last week to participate in the cultural events and then secondly to the consul general of Mexico who every year invites me to make remarks just before he takes the stage to do his commemorative eligrito to the thousands that were there this past Thursday evening Miss Bradshaw is there any public comment no the board will now vote on resolution um 6574 all in favor please indicate by saying yes yes yes all opposed please indicate by saying no are there any absentions resolution resolution 6574 is approved by a vote of seven to zero okay moving on uh we're now going to vote on the consent agenda board members if there are any items you'd like to pull for discussion we'll set those aside for discussion and vote at the end of the meeting um Ms Bradshaw are there any changes to the consent agenda no and board members are there any items you'd like to pull from the consent agenda do I have a motion and second to adopt the consent agenda I'll make a motion second director green makes a motion director constant seconds um and any board discussion read any public comment no excellent the board will now vote on resolutions actually actually yes sorry I got ahead of myself we do great any public comments we have Chris Reiser welcome and if you could just state your name and as I think you know we'll have a three minute timer uh Chris Reiser he him pronouns um I actually signed up to speak on the consent agenda because uh I thought maybe this had been removed in the
00h 10m 00s
interim but there was a line item regarding the leadership academy and the reason that I was calling to speak on that is because I put in a request for a document that they had produced called the equity review as part of an 8.2 million dollar Wallace Grant foundation for the Equitable principal pipeline or something to that effect and the reason that I wanted to speak on the record is because until today at 103 PM I was denied access to that document and actually Liz you might be familiar with the fact that you were reviewing that document to see if it could be released to the public and I thought that was really interesting because at first I just asked for the person who invited me to speak in that forum for the document after the group who had interviewed us let us know that the document would be sent to you by the end of March and so in early April I record tested it the response I got was thank you but we're still reviewing the document and I said okay so that's a no let's foia it because it is a public document and this is a public Institution I was put through the runaround hey we've got a we've got to vet this we've got to vet this we'll get back to you in 15 days finally I emailed after I don't know how many business days but it was longer than 15 since I had last heard from the public records officer and then um he said I'm no I'm sorry the document does exist it doesn't need to be redacted we just have to run it by legal to see if it's uh if we can release this to the public I don't know about y'all but that's a little shady to me um and so I just got the document at 103 didn't realize until I checked my email sitting in that seat over there so I just want to encourage this body to seek greater transparency around issues of equity in this District I also think it might have something to do with the timing like tonight there's going to be a major vote on something that really hasn't received a lot of um public discussion there's been precisely one meeting related to that and um so I'll speak to that later but um yeah that was really concerning to me that a simple document that didn't need redactions actually took months to get to me and it wasn't until I told the public records officer that I was sending these emails to the Press and now I have the document so that was pretty cool um the other thing that I wanted to speak which is actually on the expenditure contracts there's a group that you have called vocovision LLC doing business as Blazer Works beginning tomorrow through the um June 30th 2023 and you are using this organization to provide temporary special education staff in hard to fill positions 729 thousand and six hundred dollars well I happen to know that you guys somebody making a spreadsheet decision decided that they were going to take a para educator that was serving students in our um can I continue just complete you can just finish up quickly I will so um we had a para educator working for um three years in our communication Behavior program that students who identify with traits on the Asperger's autism spectrum one of whom actually smashed their head into a window um last year Mr Riser and um so somebody said you're gonna move from that program over to Woodlawn and um then they quit and then they took another para educator who was working working in our Learning Center and move them into the other group and so they're thinking about quitting and now the third para educator who gets their breaks from the second para educator is thinking about quitting because they're not getting their breaks now but you guys are about to have 79 appreciate it [Applause] Ms Bradshaw is there any additional public comment no okay okay the board will now vote on resolution 6575-36580 uh all in favor please indicate by saying yes yes yes yes uh all opposed please indicate by saying no Great Are there any abstentions the consent agenda is approved by a vote of seven to zero and now uh moving on to student in public comment um before we begin let me just quickly review the guidelines for public comment first the board thank you for taking time to attend the meeting providing your comments to us uh it does your public input informs and improves our work and we look forward to hearing your thoughts Reflections and concerns as I mentioned earlier our responsibility as a board is to actively listen and to um that end I would ask each of us to give our full attention to the people in front of us our Board office may follow up on board related issues raised during public testimony we request the complaints about individual employees be directed to the superintendent's office as a Personnel matter if you have any additional materials or items you'd like to provide to the Border superintendent we ask that you email them to public
00h 15m 00s
comment all one word pps.net again public comment pps.net when you begin your comments um uh please clearly state your name and spell your last name and you'll have three minutes to speak you'll hear a sound after three minutes which means it's time to quickly conclude your comments this is Bradshaw do we have anyone signed up for I know we do so who's signed up for Public Health Elizabeth Kimbrough laureline shamden din laughs welcome so good evening tonight you will hear a president oh I'm going to give you my name and spell it my name is lurlene and I'm going to spell first l-u-r-l-e-n-e shamsudin s-h-a-m-s-u-d hyphen capital d i n so thank you for giving me that opportunity so tonight you'll hear a presentation from Oregon Alliance of black school Educators World Arts foundation and former Portland Public School board members who have compiled compelling evidence to support a very special request but first I have a story of my own in enhancing this request I'm a parent a grandparent and a product of Portland Public Schools I'm a therapist a manager a former State commissioner and currently the staff to orapsi and I tell you this because I want you to know my commitment to my community I'm also a former employee of Portland Public Schools having worked 10 years as coordinator of the Sabin demonstration School a two classroom School within a school an initiative of the black united front the National Alliance of black school educators and Dr Matthew prophet and their goal was to increase achievement for black children the same and demonstration School met the goal of increasing student achievement by taking what we already know as best practice High expectations clear expectations strong leadership safe and clean environments intermittent Rewards and ongoing evaluation for improved outcomes in small class sizes students were taught the scientific method of inquiry they studied their own interest within the scope and sequence utilizing new technology they were the first elementary students to have full access to computers and that was in 1986. they went into the community for field Explorations they had mentors models including star mentors such as Dr Ernest Hartzog City commissioners Business Leaders like Charles Bedford and our former mayor Bud Clark the students worked cooperatively and collaboratively to achieve their goals and they excelled according to the research's researchers and evaluators for the Saban demonstration School the late Dr Walt Hathaway and the very much alive Mr Michael chappie Grice their achievement levels were twice the district level of their fourth and fifth grade peers in language arts social studies math and science these young people are now in their early 40s and doing amazing work in their respective fields I have two seconds or absi wholeheartedly endorses the renaming and portability of the central Administrative Office the besc and will support efforts in partnership with Portland Public Schools thank you so much thank you for your testimony thank you Linda Harris it's been a while good evening borch here Scott and other board members my name is Linda Harris and I am a former assistant superintendent for
00h 20m 00s
Portland Public Schools I support the name redesignation for the District central Administrative Office to honor Dr Matthew prophet an extraordinary man in naming a building in honor of a person both the person's achievement and the essence of who that person was and what he or she stood for is given due consideration Matthew Prophet was a man of integrity Brilliance fortitude he was fair-minded goal focused a Visionary a strong negotiator Dr Prophet always viewed programs through the lens of equity believed in the educability of all students and he helped developed an educational infrastructure that advanced the achievement of all Portland Public School students he was smart enough to Envision Excellence wise enough to secure support for it and courageous enough to move forward with Comprehensive plans and we know the positive outcomes some of us remember Dr prophet's collaborative management style his retentive memory his positive working relationships and the respectful way that he treated all people he created a very favorable image of the school district and the position of the superintendency sometimes people walk into our lives with a commitment to do good and we see them as active contributors in creating a Beloved Community by renaming this building in Dr prophet's memory future Generations will know that there once was a man who believed in students who Stood Beside Educators in support of them a man who brought about meaningful and significant changes to their life circumstances Dr Matthew W profit Jr helped shape future generations and for this we are eternally grateful thank you thank you thank you Matthew Prophet Jr um hello I'm here on behalf of my sister Michelle my brother Tony and my mother Freddie who's passed and I want to thank the board and superintendent could Adderall for uh taking the time to consider this proposal I also want to thank the Oregon Alliance of black school Educators uh the Portland opportunities industrialization Center and the world Art Foundation I want to thank Lilian for her kind words Kenneth Berry Dr Harriet Adler Renee Anderson Ernie and Marilyn Hartzog and Stephen Griffith as well for their support um my dad always spoke with pride and love of the Portland Public Schools the 10 years he was the superintendent when I would come up to visit he would always take us on drives and seen countless schools he was always uh very proud of the on-site professionals the teachers the secretaries the custodians the principals the counselors and their contributions to the kids and the central staff as well he was proud of the organizational and community support the family support for the students he was dedicated to all of the students of Portland um in particular he wants to set systems of support for students of color for students that were economically disadvantaged and for students that did not have English as a first language and he fell in love with Portland Portland's people and upon his retirement he remained in Portland for 25 years so on behalf of my extended family his seven grandchildren I want to thank you for taking all of this into consideration and uh considering the renaming uh thank you very much thank you so much for being here [Applause] Michael chappie Grace welcome thank you good evening board chair Scott board members
00h 25m 00s
I superintendent and the elders who I consulted before I came to the microphone I named particularly Dr Daryl Milner great resource to our community and I brought a little phrase from him to say you know if you want to have success come to the microphone be sober be brief and be seated I'm already seated so I'll just go I could give you a personal account the way in which I related to Dr prophet and particularly what I borrowed from him and learned from him as it relates to leadership and it helped me along the way I had privilege to serve as president of the Oregon Alliance of black school Educators and to chair uh the National Alliance of black Square Traders convention when it came to Portland in 1989 and then went on uh thanks to Gus Hawkins and became president of the Federal Council on educating black children and it was um Gus Hawkins impetus that brought this booklet to publication uh in Portland and reflected the values of uh of the National Council and rather than refer to my own words I would like to just read to you verbatim Dr profit's introduction to that star book the tragedy of school failure whether the school dropout or The underprepared Graduate touches us all its consequences include loss of esteem and loss of opportunity for the student for society the cost and hard dollars is staggering a life crime or a long stay on welfare rules do not automatically follow School failure but countless studies indicate that they are common consequences extensive research has shown us the warning signs that indicate students special needs the blueprint which is this blueprint for Portland was grounded in the blueprint for Action which was a national model the vision of action and commitment begins and ends with our belief that all children can learn and that everyone in the community has an important role to play in ensuring that they succeed and that's the stakeholder model the Portland Public School System traditionally has been a pioneering and opening doors of educational opportunity to its disadvantaged students by rising to meet the Monumental challenge we now face we will reaffirm our faith in our students and one another and in our educational system the work that led to this document began in 1988 when a district-wide steering committee of students and parents and stakeholders follow the blueprint for action and its own tailored model for built blueprint for action but just as the tree is defined in part by the forest in which it lives the material before and after the actions suggestion is important as well it provides the background and information and solid suggestions for creating action plans and assessing our efforts that's commitment no plan is effective if its recommendations are ignored if it's various components fail to mesh or if it's potential beneficiaries are not served this document designed as a tool is the tool to be used I urge you to join me in taking up this Implement of Hope and progress you profit and he was a big fan of Gus Hawkins who is the author of the title one law H.R five and I know my time is up so I'm thanking you for hearing this idea and this proposal and he left us with a quotation from Ron Edmonds that we can whenever and wherever we choose successfully teach all children whose education is of interest to us we already know more than we need in order to do that whether we do it or not must finally depend on how we feel about the fact that we haven't so far thank you very much foreign Jenny Gap and Claire Wilson they each have a spot but are coming up together thank you for coming welcome uh hi my name is Claire Wilson w-i-l-s-o-n good evening members of the board when you know better do better what a great quote for Maya Angelou I think you would all agree since it was the exact quote that was used throughout our mandatory curriculum training this summer but the thing is these words that have light to them that are a beacon become nothing more than smoke and mirrors when we are simply considering the Optics and by that I mean The Observers outside of PPS it could possibly look like this District was actually trying to do better for its students and Educators however this is an illusion
00h 30m 00s
I wish I were here speaking today to commend the district for heeding the call of one of the most important poets and activists we've seen in this lifetime instead I am here to ask why you choose to dishonor these six very simple but powerful words if in your slide Decks that these trainings your guiding quote was when you know better work in opposition to it or when you know better act as if you didn't I could at least be grateful for the honesty because honestly that's what's going on here our community the peninsula community staff students and our PTA sent you email after email and worked through the summer to send you signed petitions pegging you pleading with you to add back our fourth grade classroom we provided you with projections of class sizes that we are now seeing with no response from anyone at the district level we were forced to blend our fourth and fifth grade classrooms and now a month into school a month spent learning about each other and how to move forward as a community you're separating us it feels like the air is being sucked out of the room all over again my fourth grade students last year were confused and upset as was I they didn't want to combine classes and they didn't want me unassigned from our community in fact some of them asked if they could use their own personal allowance to save my position this should not be their way to carry as Educators we see firsthand the reality behind your illusion sure kids are resilient but to a point and beyond that point it's just trauma and you well you see numbers on a page how easy it is to dehumanize people when you reduce them to a number I consider myself lucky because I was able to rejoin Peninsula as a first grade teacher this year but that came at a price it had a Rippling effect on everyone involved I transferred from my placement at another school which left them in a position where they had to scramble to find a quick replacement days before school started I felt terrible I felt guilty but I had to remind myself that I didn't choose this nor did I want any of this to happen in the first place the decision was made for me as it was for so many other educators as for my colleagues who spent their Summers reworking their year-long plans to accommodate for teaching fourth and fifth grade standards simultaneously now have to again rework their year-long plans among other things after this year has already begun and they're not the only ones this late change affects our specialist teachers and our office staff too and most importantly our families most of which have the simple ask of stability for their kids this was avoidable you knew better and you should have done better thank you [Applause] welcome thank you good evening board members superintendent my name is Jenny Gap and I'm the teacher librarian at Peninsula Elementary School I've been a school librarian for 18 years 11 of those have been on North Emerald Avenue I filed written public comment last spring concerning the way FTE is doled out each year I'm now here in person to address Staffing methods and to implore leadership to re-examine how it is calculated and when it is finalized for the following school year to begin with I would like to know how non-student-facing positions including ptosis are not cut before Elementary classroom teachers do you ask yourself what is least disruptive to Student Learning I am here to say that adding back cut positions half a quarter into the new school year is about as disruptive as you can get it is in fact disrupted to the entire learning community if the budget is in need of austerity measures how can you afford to add back positions once student bodies become less imaginary is it it is backwards and it is wrong if it's beyond your control if it's because of ode rules and state statutes and bienniums and tax collection timelines then tell us furthermore telling us doesn't mean leaving it in the minutes of a committee or posted in hour three on YouTube come to our staff meeting and explain it Zoom if you must instead of a culture of control and compliance how about we Foster one that considers social emotional impacts on students considers workload on educators if my principal fires me I want it to be in person not in an email not on page 132 of the district's Financial Guidebook if you truly want to build trust and want your employees to understand the whys and why Nots of FTE allotment then teach us that is to say seeing you in our building more often accepting an invitation to a school staff meeting would best help us understand after schedules had already been made and bonds had already been formed is it
00h 35m 00s
any wonder that one of our fifth grade students stated in a recent class Circle I'm just so confused about why they waited until now me too kid me too as a specialist in my building I must now redo seating charts amend my laminated library cards re-upload class lists into subscription software redo lesson plans and reschedule other teachers who were using time that have been vacated in the schedule by the loss of FTE when February 2023 rolls around I'm going to have a harder time believing District leadership when they say we just don't have the funds we're trying to prevent next year's cuts from being even worse what obnoxious red tape is preventing us from telling a fifth grader Mr Parker will be your teacher this year and meaning it you have allies in your school buildings not enemies the Peninsula Community is ready to tell their stories at whatever level of government so decision makers fully understand the impacts of an Antiquated and oppressive methodology for Staffing schools thank you for considering thank you Ms Bradshaw that concludes general public did we want to ask if the student had arrived I think it was Elizabeth Kimbrough it was yes still no Elizabeth great so um thank you very much for those comments next up are um I believe we're going to hear from our Portland Association of teachers and president Bonilla she's virtual so give me a second absolutely we're gonna whisk her into the room hello hello welcome thank you I am sorry uh that I couldn't be there in person but I'm happy that I get to speak with y'all tonight so thanks for having me um I as always want to start off with our Kudos so first I want to give a kudos to um the PPS leadership at our instructional practices Council meetings as well as our contract Administration meetings um so the instructional practices Council for those who don't know is IPC and that's where PPS and Pat come together to discuss um instruction professional development other high level initiatives and that's where we ensure that educator voice professional educator voice is at the Forefront of those decisions and contract Administration is where we discuss kind of these widespread issues across the districts that that are you know possible violations of our contract but where we get to try to solve those problems before we have to escalate it to another venue and I just want to appreciate the district for their work we had our first meetings this week for both of those uh teams and folks were very collaborative uh welcoming engaged and and there were some issues we were able to resolve right away so I just want to give that Kudos and be and show my gratitude for that so thank you um I have a few things to uh discuss so the first is I just want to Echo what we've already heard about the renaming of besc to uh honor Dr Matthew profit um in the past I've spoken actually in front of the ESC about the racist history of um bsc's namesake uh superintendent Blanchard um he'd done a lot of harm to our black community here in Portland he and the school board had uh put the burden of integration on the backs of our black and African-American students bussing them around the community and closing down schools as well as funneling students out of the catchment for Jefferson High School which is one of our most diverse um and has one of our highest African-American black populations and that's a lot of harm and I think you know there's a lot that we need to do in various uh spaces and various policies to try to undo that harm and at least pause ourselves and stop ourselves from perpetuating that harm but I think one huge step is to ensure that our district building is named after someone at PPS who valued our communities all of our communities and valued our students and wanted to make sure that we were serving
00h 40m 00s
every single student in our classes so I just wanted to uh state that Pat stands in support of the Oregon Alliance of black school Educators and their petition to rename BSC after Dr Matthew profit the other piece I just wanted to speak to was the uh I'd be remiss if I didn't mention I've gotten a lot of emails from Educators about having uh contracted covid already this year during the first three weeks of school and what they're finding is that as they are trying to recover from covid and trying to Cobble together lesson plans while sick that they are being charged their sick leave before in order to be paid while not being at work and luckily for our Portland Educators under Pat we have that provision in our contract that says that if we have to quarantine or isolate due to a public Authority health authority saying we need to so for example the CDC says we must isolate for five days if we test positive that should not be charged against our sick leave but what we know is that our Union siblings don't all have that provision in their contract and so we are really pushing for the board and the district to ensure that every person who works in our district who is in contact with students and is in our build buildings is able to take time without worry of pay and whether they will be paid or not so that they can get better and ensure that they're not bringing illness into our communities and into our schools you know we already know that we have quite the Staffing issue in all of our sites across multiple multiple um positions and we want to make sure that our all of our staff our Educators our custodians our nutrition workers our bus drivers all have the opportunity to stay home and still be paid when they are sick so they can return when they are well um and then the last piece I want to talk is talk to you all about is around enrollment and FTE so FTE for those who don't know is um an acronym for full-time employment and it's kind of how we calculate one full-time employee um we really would love for the school board to direct the district to share how additional FTE is going to be allocated to different sites we've already heard from Educators um you know just now from Peninsula talking about how they are now finally getting the FTE they need to have the appropriate class sizes for their students and halfway through the first term is really impactful for our kiddos you know you spend the first three weeks building Community with your kids and and setting routines and setting systems and that's exactly the point when the district sends that FTE to your building and so now those students have to redo that work right and so um we would like to know more about what the district's plan is to send those FTE to schools um how that's being calculated and when that's being decided um I know I'm sure most of you heard about the issues with Glencoe um they had three they had two third grade classes that hit the 33 student in Mark um and those community members received a letter saying that they were going to um they had two options they were going to either move a fourth grade teacher down to third grade to have smaller class sizes in third grade or they were going to create a blend um once they were given that notice and this is not something we made up or that a rumor that Educators spread there was a letter that was sent to families right the community members got onto Twitter and started advocating right like we were told that we were going to get that third section once our students hit this threshold that the district themselves created um and they you know they pushed for what they knew the district said was going to be their plan and in the middle of Educators separating their classes and reconfiguring sections they were told to stop that work because the district was now going to provide the FTE so I just want to make it very very clear Pat supports Equitable Staffing formulas we support processes and systems that help us bring a lens of equity um and helps us expose how those lived experiences that our kids have impact their ability to learn in schools and those kinds of formulas also help us provide fair and Equitable access to education you know I tell my students all the time just because I have glasses doesn't mean everybody in this classroom gets classes right Fair doesn't mean the
00h 45m 00s
same fair means everyone gets what they need to learn so I know that PBS is working to make up for the Lost opportunities that are historically underserved students have had in this District um and they are trying to ensure we're trying to ensure that those inequitable practices end now however I think Pat is very firm in the belief that withholding support from and resources from other students and communities is not the path to equity all kids deserve great Public Schools all kids deserve small class sizes and I understand that Oregon as a state has not fully funded education to the Quality education model I know that there are steps between you know what the district can do and what the state provides them the funds to do and I know that we often get told you know we have limited resources and we need to invest in our priorities however as I've stated in the past PPS added over 340 full-time employment SES right this year and they cut 87 classroom positions so you can find that in the budget book it's under the FTE by major function and employee type on my printed version that's page 269 but I still don't know where are those ftes they're not in the classroom because those positions were cut some positions are being returned but as the educator from Peninsula stated earlier sometimes it's too little too late those Educators have already left either that school or the district and we don't want to create an issue where an educator uses their one transfer to go back to the community that they were a part of and leaves the school that they just got hired at needing more support right but we create that issue when we cut positions we then later add so I think it's really important and I think it's it's worthwhile to make sure that we are evaluating where these FTE are going especially when it's that many and it's you know I'm having a hard time just you know saying whether these are important positions or not because everyone I talk to whether it's central office or a classroom are saying they don't have the staff they need to do the work that needs to get done so you know we're lucky what we hoped would happen has happened students are coming back right we're getting more students in classes than the district has projected in some state in some circumstances we knew that those kids would be coming back and that there were just you know things that happen at schools that we know some kids are not here yet they're going to come back their parents had to move all those kinds of situations um but like we heard from our Educators it can be really it's harmful to students we're creating trauma when we tell a student that this is your teacher connect with them create a bond build that relationship that's going to help your educator better serve you but actually wait you have a new teacher now we want our our students to trust us we want our students especially those who've experienced trauma which is a lot of our students because of kovid because of the losses they've experienced through coven we want them to feel secure and safe in our schools and one way to do that is to plan on providing FTE to our schools in the spring and not in the fall and I understand that there is that recalculation in the fall we try to figure out how many students we actually have but it's a cyclical thing right if I know that this school is overburdened understaffed the class sizes are large and I have the option to send them somewhere else that parent might take that option but if they know that that class and those that school is going to have small class sizes they're more likely to send their kids to their neighborhood School and so again my ask is that PPA that the school board direct PPS leadership to be transparent around how these ftes are being reallocated to schools this fall and that we have a better plan for how we ensure those ftes are given to schools in a timely manner so students know who they're coming back to I've worked at enough SEI excuse me CSI schools where kids have literally told me I don't have to listen to you because you're probably not going to be here you guys never come back and that's heartbreaking as a new person in a building saying I want to be part of this community that kids don't even trust that I'll be there next year I don't want other students to have that experience I don't want any students to have that experience so we need to ensure that we have stability in our schools and part of that is knowing and when and how to allocate that FTE the other part
00h 50m 00s
is following the part of our contract that analyzes High turnover schools that works to stabilize those schools so that our students and our and our communities get high quality public education because their educators are there and when they leave we check to see why then we fix it so that other Educators don't come and leave the district so um I just again want to thank all of you all for giving me the time to speak I hope we can find a way to think about how we share those resources where we ensure that we're not you know robbing Paul to pay Peter but we're saying Hey how do we make sure everyone gets what they need how do we make sure that we are providing fair and Equitable access to education thank you thank you appreciate your testimony thank you president Bonilla okay um moving on to board committee and Conference reports um I'm going to give people a little opportunity to give an update I just wanted to loop back um if you haven't sort of seen the email or those in the public who didn't know we had a retreat a board retreat last Saturday and had a lot of conversation about our committees um and one of the things that I think is a group we discussed was making sure that our committees all have deliverables with deadlines and due dates for those what I asked in an email I sent late last night is that in advance of our October 4th board meeting which is our next board meeting if each committee chair could just make sure you have developed that list of deliverables with due dates and share that with the board and I think during our committee updates at the next meeting we'll just see if there's any feedback from board members any concerns or questions about the timeline or the agenda you have and I think I would really hope we all take to heart I think what we heard um from uh Senator uh um AJ and and other board coaches around really being focused about our work and trying to make sure that we keep it focused on student achievement and really pursuing our board goals so with that I'll just say are there any updates um from a committee perspective at today's meeting just a quick update I had meant to meet with our senior auditor this afternoon and didn't make it I wasn't able to make it um she'll be providing what we'll be working on our next agenda and we'll be meeting quarterly and I will provide an update of the October 4th meeting she'll be updating us on the audits that are underway I just have one that's um just as the liaison to The Climate crisis committee that we approve the community members they had their organizing meeting um just to better understand what their their charge was and um just food for thought for board members one of the questions they had was what would be the most effective way for um the board to hear from them as they do their work this year they have an annual report but given us the first year if there's some particular way board members are interested so just put that out there they also had a bunch of questions um related to the district's plan and also the Benson project may I ask about that committee is are they going to have a dashboard or how will they will they have some kind of a dashboard to start tracking inputs it sounds like they'll have the district dashboard of the implementation so they're just they're not doing the implementing or the operational work they're monitoring the district's Implement implementation so my assumption is they would be using the districts uh they'd grab a dashboard of that would mirror whatever the district's implementation plan is thank you we're bumping that thank you very much um next up on our agenda we'll be voting on an agreement to collaborate with the center for black Excellence to advance black student Excellence at Portland Public Schools in July of 2020 um the Portland Public School Board unanimously approved resolution 6150 and in that resolution the board included in the proposed 2020 Bond the modernization of Jefferson High School and the development of a community inspired Center for black student Excellence a hub for culturally specific Partnerships to advance black student achievement in PPS by supporting black students families and educators that November the voters of Portland approved the 2020 General obligation bond with an overwhelming 75 approval making way for the first phase of design and planning of investments in Albino facilities and designated intentional investment in the black community that is co-created and co-led by the community itself I'm very excited to ask superintendent Guerrero to introduce this next item thank you chair Scott um I do think this represents uh another important milestone for our school system tonight the school board is considering a vote on a resolution that will approve an agreement to collaborate with the center for black Excellence to
00h 55m 00s
advance black student Excellence here at PPS this board and Administration has long been clear and transparent about the impact of racism and historical under investment in black students and predominantly black serving schools at PPS and how much that has led to widening achievement gaps over time here in our district much of this as we know has long been reinforced by racist cultural narratives beliefs and Norms however I think tonight represents one of those significant points at PPS where we can move from talking about the issues to taking yet another concrete action tonight we take an important step towards establishing the center for black student Excellence creating a vision for black student Excellence at PPS will require all of us to be actively involved PPS looks forward to connecting with and being inspired by our black students families Educators and black LED Community organizations to do a few things Advance a culture of black Excellence unify and Elevate the black educational experience and improve outcomes for black students families and educators the values and work to be done much of which is detailed in the corporate cooperation agreement and the accompanying resolution represent this Focus as superintendent I'm particularly excited for the work ahead tapping into the collective wisdom of our black community in partnership with the center for black Excellence which is a collective representation with organizations like self-enhancement Incorporated better known as SEI poic Kairos PDX Albina Head Start the albino Vision Trust and PPS I'm heartened that they see PPS as a key partner and that they continue to be at the table alongside us as we seek to create a counter narrative especially given the district's unfortunate and historic track record with serving and supporting black students so we're embarking on this journey together our community has committed to becoming more Equitable and just we're grateful for that and the path to that goal goes through this new and Innovative Endeavor like the center for black student Excellence so I'm excited to see what the center will do to support our curricular and instructional Focus how we support our and engage our students and families and how we recruit black Educators staff volunteers and strengthen their capacity so before I turn it back to directors for discussion I want to acknowledge a couple of people I want to thank Deputy superintendent Dr Charles Proctor who could be with us this evening for serving as our executive sponsor and helping to guide this work internally I also would be remiss if I didn't thank Camille Ida devbo our Innovation student Studio man manager who has been coordinating with the center for black Excellence steering committee to launch a community design and engagement process starting next month so directors I hope you're as excited as I am about the work ahead this is yet another opportunity to get clear with a plan for how we together will better educate Portland's black children so I'm optimistic about what we we can accomplish together thank you in advance for supporting this work thank you thank you superintendent Guerrero in order to open this up for discussion and testimony do I have a motion and a second to adopt resolution 6581 approving agreement to collaborate with the center for black Excellence to which to advance black student Excellence support on public schools motion second director Holland's moves and I think directors to pass in green tied for a second I was hoping you'd count you heard him as well you're quiet down there well I was just trying to make sure that I didn't jump in front of director Hollands on this one because so uh I get I will open it up for any board discussion yeah we do have some public comment which we can we can move to um and then anybody want to say any words before the comments I do um as I look through this and I'm looking at point B about how Albina was once thriving and creative I'm testimony I was I was there for a large part of it my grandparents lived right down the street from Dean's barber shop and beauty shop and I saw the greatness of that Community we did all of our shopping there my my parents also grandparents emigrated from Panama also right to Williams Avenue neither side of neither grandparents had cars we walked everywhere did all our shopping so I love that not only is this a plan for moving forward but that there's a vision created a visual about what this looks like what the potential is here the amazing potential of the people that are right here that are raised here and the people that will grow that come from here as well so I'm really excited to support this and and I'll just make a comment um it's a little bit off the cuff I I think what's what I'm most excited about is that this is really um this really is co-creation and collaboration and it's a new way of of doing things and I know when we talked about this as part of the bond you know that was a key value um that we heard from the community and
01h 00m 00s
I think the the board reflected in that and and I think that's what we're seeing come to life here today with this agreement um one of the things that's been really bothering me is back when we had our our budget here and in front of the tax supervising and Conservation Commission um Cascade policy Institute came and testified and testified explicitly against this Center for black student excellence and and at the time I I just it it bothered me and I can't really let it go and and I think the reason it bothers me is twofold um I'm used to Cascade policy Institute you know testifying against a lot of government things but the fact that they they call this one thing out as somehow an inappropriate Bond expenditure um just had some underlying tone that that I found very offensive and and I think that you know there is we're going to spend these Bond dollars appropriately we always do this is what we have Bond Council for and I think the idea that we can't spend Bond dollars to do something like increase black student achievement um is is crazy and and I think we need to call that out and and it's offensive and and I mean we spend Bond dollars on all kinds of things and again it has to be on Capital we know that we're gonna we're gonna put all those safeguards in place and move forward really positively I think the other thing that really um sort of bothered me but but turning a little more positively focused is this is a new way of doing business and it's a way that government should be doing business and the idea of not just saying we know what's best for your community and we're going to come in and impose it but instead saying we're going to help gather the resources and come to your community and say what do you need what is going to be most effective um and and and what can we do to help and and that's why I'm just really excited about the agreement in front of us and and I think this this governing um this this governance model um I I really am optimistic it's going to lead to that so think it's a super exciting day any other comments before we get the public testimony we can come back around for a final round from board members I think I'll come back around after public comment because I want to I want to make sure that you know people have a chance to and don't feel like I've already made up my mind [Laughter] well I've made up my mind but I let's hear from the public comment as well so um Ms Bradshaw I believe we have some public comment tonight we do Maya Overton here but here welcome thank you for having me um so actually I was going to be up here with my other people but I guess it will just be me I'm Bahia Overton b-a-h-i-a-o-v-e-r-t-o-n [Music] um I BPI was left off that list but we are included in this effort I'm a member of the steering committee for the center for black Excellence one of the things that I do really appreciate that chair Scott said was that this is a new way of doing business VPS has long um I won't say intentionally nefariously injured our children in our community but that is the reputation that is the experience that we've all had and lip service lots and lots of good intentions and consistent negative outcomes on the part of our children and our families so the idea that we are being commun co-collaborate co-collaborators in this process co-designers in this process is very encouraging to us it is historic opportunity um as a the CEO for black parent initiative really representing the community voice in this process and and really understanding what it means to be Community centered in co-creating because um people often think that they know what's best for us and then they kick us and complain how we limp in this community that's been my experience right when I speak about the needs in our community I never use disparaging language because we are an amazing Community we're beautiful we're creative we're expansive we're promising we're not disadvantaged underserved marginalized every negative um attribution you can put to our children into why they haven't thrived under this system has always been on the burden of our community members and so I'm very excited to be able to step up as a co-collaborator and co-designer to say that we have everything that we need to thrive we need barriers to be removed we need the historical policies that have consistently disadvantaged our Educators have consistently barred our parents from having a say you know we are now this is the precipice of something that could be life-changing for future generations and so I'm very excited that we have this opportunity but there is a need for Swift and consistent accountability on both parts and if our voice is silenced it will become evident in the outcomes right so I just wanted to testify on behalf of our community the beautiful brilliant amazing
01h 05m 00s
um community and to think about the way that we can I would say beam light and love to our community our Educators our schools our teachers our uh doctors even offices they do not light up when they see our children they do not get excited when they see our parents that cultural shift has to also happen with policy shifts with new buildings being erected those things have to shift and that can only happen when the communities at the table to design it am I talking too fast it's like okay because I get I geek out on this I'm so upset um so really I want to talk about the oh it's over but I'll just say this I want to remember and remind everyone here that we have everything that we need we have everything that we need there's nothing deficient about us we just need the opportunity to use our voice to design what's best for us thank you [Applause] Elaine Harrison welcome Ms Harrison good evening my name is Elaine Harrison it is a pleasure to be in front of you this evening I like Bahia thought that she was going to be up here with me so she could hold my hand and I could hold her hand and Tony said I think we're going separately and I rolled my eyes at him like come on okay okay thank you so oh thank you so for over 55 years albino Head Start has been in this community serving this community we have stood for excellence over those 25 55 years I am new to this committee I've been here since January but not new to the community I've been with Albany Head Start for almost 40 years okay if so in that time I could say that we have implemented many programs and things to make sure our parents and our children succeed Alabama Head Start serves a majority of African-American children for the last last year program year we served 50 of African-American children 36 percent of Hispanic latino children um nine percent White and the other one's a mixture of native and Asian so majority of our families not children are bipop children so with that we can say that we have had successful relationships and projects with Portland Public School and a couple of them I want to mention is a mandarin program that you're well aware of that is a national model now too of excellence and how we take children as young as two years old and partnering with Portland Public School to bring these children to where they're speaking Mandarin and their families are speaking it too and they can go through I think they almost up to high school now pretty close and another program we do with you guys too is uh we were with the parents I want to get this right with a teen parent program coordinator for a teen parents in all the schools the most vulnerable population I think out there is teen parents and give them the opportunity to become great parents Excel and go on to school go to work go to college gosh yes anybody could ask for that and in the partnership we do that with you guys so those are good two good models that I can mention right off the top and how much time do I have okay I can so I'm here tonight to talk about the relationship we're trying to start with you guys for this this new project this center of excellence and I'm so excited about this because I've been teaching and being in the community for many years and I want to see a place where children and parents and Community can go and be proud of it from prenatal birth all the way up to college so that's my time that's my signal I hope you support this project of this relationship it can be and it will be a
01h 10m 00s
national model thank you thank you so much Chris Fraser Chris reisers r-i-s-e-r first I want to begin by saying many of you I know I know of you even if we haven't met personally and I love what you do individually and collectively for this community however I have some concerns um I'm concerned about data collection on our black and brown babies I'm concerned about what private organizations might get access to academic data attendance data Health Services mental health services and I'm concerned about how that technology is planned to be fed into artificial intelligence and the building of smart cities and actually locking out people of color and manipulating them into an artificial world this is happening with children in Ethiopia 5 million children in Ethiopia have been put on a blockchain where they're given a digital identification that will follow them into their economic life and what they want to do is have a national ID for these 5 million Ethiopian children this is called cardano blockchain c-a-r-d-a-n-o blockchain blockchain those are two words that are familiar to the African Community and I wonder about what the Privacy protections are in terms of information sharing of highly sensitive data especially given that the PPS vision imagines a world in 2030 where the lines between virtual and real local and global robots and humans blur this is Page 44. and it says toward the end that this has led to a need local and online learning hubs that respond to this rapid learning Evolution cater to adults wanting to learn new discrete skills and knowledge quickly to make themselves more successful in this ever-shifting work environment where we are being taught to adapt to the needs of machines as opposed to machines adapting to our needs this is Page 44 of the PPS vision this is how our system envisions the world of learning in the future that using clever Badges and making a built environment where you can just scan a QR code now I'm at the library now you have a library achievement and then your employer can look at that information and they can look at your behavioral information and they can look at your attendance data and so I want to say we need to get out of the way of the black community and let we need to break those barriers 100 but I want all of you to please be mindful of who you are partnering with and what they want to do with our black babies thank you Tony Hopson oh wow welcome good evening how y'all doing we're good good good good good I'm I'm great I'm great uh first of all the enthusiasm up here for this is is wonderful I don't know that we need to be here trying to sell you because it sounds like this is all this is all this is all good uh so appreciate that fact appreciate having had many conversations with with some of you already about this uh the collaboration the connectivity is has really been been great also excited about the fact that uh the constituents out there actually voted for this and they voted for this with the center for black Excellence being a part of it that's a that's a good thing now being a person that's been involved with this
01h 15m 00s
for a very long time we know that Jefferson probably should have been the first or second School rebuilt not one of the last skills to be rebuilt but better late than never so we ready to roll on with that so uh here we are with this historic opportunity to do something really big you know something great and actually something potentially transformational for our community and for this District as well but it does start with this with this vote tonight around shared governance and it was good to hear you talk about the fact that this is a new and different way of doing business because that's the way that we see it you know uh equal safe for our community around what excellent black Excellence actually means what our community feels about black excellence and what it actually looks like our community and how we feel about black excellence and how it is created we having the opportunity to share that along with you so historically Portland Public School does not have a great record with making huge differences within our black community that that's a fact the most successful efforts in the district improving graduation rates student achievement college going was done in partnership with many of our black organizations had a few examples already one I would share with you the most successful uh was really at Jefferson High School where Jefferson leadership and teachers with the support and services of self-enhancement Inc turned to law achieving school around to a high achieving School 54 graduation rate to a 93 graduation rate for black students not actually Excellence but it's at least headed in the right direction so we now have the opportunity to do that for black students throughout the entire Jefferson cluster and hopefully we can move this to service all black kids in Portland Public Schools with the same kind of effort so the shared governance model provides the partnership to bring you the board's best efforts along with our community's best efforts to assure that all black students can experience their best efforts towards Excellence we all are excited about this this is a new day and this effort along with other efforts that are happening in our community I too think that this could end up being a model so not something that we have to dream about but something that could realistically become our reality so much love we appreciate you thank you so much Bradshaw any of the testimony that concludes this topic um with that let's open it up to board comments all right I think I'll comment now with after listening to everyone this was a tough one I'm lying this was probably one of the easiest decisions that that I was gonna make this evening the the only thing that that concerns me is that um that any of us would think that we as a black community don't know what it takes to to make our community better I think there's not a soul in this building that that would not recognize that the the power in this room the the wisdom in this room the years of experience in this room and that there's nobody in this room that would ever sit back and allow something um intentionally negative to happen to our kids and not think about it like we're not thinking about the the world that our kids growing up in this this world where the algorithms on their phones are being sent to them by somewhere way overseas where they want our kids to think they're doing stupid things and acting a fool is the the way to go and the way to become while they're sitting in their spaces teaching their kids that you know if you want to do the right thing you want to be the right thing then you you know you have to become it and so there's no part of me that doesn't think that the people in this room don't recognize that and aren't prepared to to do something to fight against that with every fiber of their being that they have spent a lifetime for for most of the people in this room ensuring that young people that they get a better opportunity that they get the opportunity to be who they truly want to become I spent many years working with with Mr Leary and got to see the countless kids that he's impacted Miss Renee and how she took kids that you know didn't really like to read and wasn't even in the reading and then had these kids writing journals and they that's like they didn't even realize that they could write that well
01h 20m 00s
and and to think that the individuals in this room wouldn't be considerate of these things is to me that's that's quite alarming and something that I wanted to make sure that we put on the record that that I don't believe that there's a soul in this building that is not aware of the um the giant that's out there in technology that is trying to absorb our children faster than than we can and we're not actively working to to push against that and if they happen to make money in the process then so be it because White America has made money off the backs of us for a long time why shouldn't the people that actually build up our communities and the people that actually pour into our kids why shouldn't they make money to offer something that they're probably going to give back to their communities and give give back to their kids so if they make a dollar in the process then so be it I'm happy for you because then you show our kids that if you actually do something that's better for your community and it makes your community better then you can actually get paid doing that and you don't have to be a fool to make money so I'm happy for if you make money I pray that you do I make I pray that you make more money than you know what to do with because if you get the money I know that you'll bring it back to the community so please do whatever you got to do to make as much money as you possibly can so that they see black people making money in the process of making things better because there is a correlation between I can make things better and I can get paid doing it versus I'ma throw an Xbox in the pool and then make a video about it do some dumb stuff like that and so thank you for for everything um that you are doing I am wholeheartedly in support of this and I want to see it done and I don't know who the activist was that says anything that you do for us without us you do to us PPS has been in the practice of doing a lot of stuff to us they've been saying they do it for us but they've been doing it to us and the way the reason that we know that is because you're always you've been sitting around telling me I know what's best for you I know what you need and if you're gonna this is gonna be so much better for you you're going to love it you're going it's going to be great for you and it turned out to be not so great now we're actually in the process where we're saying you know what we messed up and we're gonna do it differently and so instead of us telling you what what's best for you we're going to listen to you tell us and then we're going to put our money where our mouth is because let's just face it the money that we put in here is nothing more than seed money for what they're trying to do it really isn't going to get the job done we're just a seed in the bucket and so let's not act like we're doing something fantastic we're doing the bare minimum if you really look at it we should be looking at all of our dollars that we've got and saying where we can spend more and how do we work this because I believe it's going to be bigger than just Jefferson it has to be because there's some amazing kids over in the Roosevelt cluster so I'm tired of y'all leaving Roosevelt out like Roosevelt don't matter I'm we go there's enough of this already we got to start thinking about Roosevelt and George too so stop it already but no I'm excited about this and I'm wholeheartedly going this um support it and so I'm gonna stop talking because that's the other thing they finna censor me they told me I only got 10 minutes to talk I'm done we weren't timing you tonight director brim Edwards director Greene um very supportive and I go back to like before the bond where the community shared a vision of um what albina's future could be and what black student Excellence could be and there's lots of different pieces to it and PPS as part of it um and you know critically in the bond we put the money in for the Jefferson modernization and for the center for black student excellence and at the time um just a sort of reference uh director Scott's comments that there was the question of well like what is it and really pushing on the board to be more definitive and we told the voters it was going to be co-created and I don't know that I'm trying to think in my in my memory whether where we ever as a community said we're not going to say what it is but we're going to co-create it with the community and the voters just approved it um so those two really critical pieces and then um another piece um to this that is all part of the the bigger puzzle is the um the the work that happened over the last two years um on the freeway caps um and the money to rebuild Tubman and that's going to be just another piece
01h 25m 00s
that I'll fit all fits together and at all whether it was the bond or the conversations with um ODOT and the state around rebuilding Tubman about rebuilding spaces where um in Albina for economic empowerment through the um the IFI project um that was all led by um our partners in the community and PBS was there supporting it but really driven by our partners in the community or the black community and black leaders and um and all along the way our community came came with us and I'm from pps's standpoint um part of the beauty of this is it's not just the capital piece of it but it also aligns with our board goals and the direction that the district and our our school leaders and our school communities are also heading and when the proposal for shared governance came up it was it was a novel concept and the question is is PPS you know willing to give up some of its power and its control over the future and the shape of it and tonight's vote is an indication that we're ready to do that and ready to partner and be be in this together so I I really want to thank the community leaders who pushed this vision and brought it here tonight because the the idea for it and the vision and sort of the muscling it through really came from the community so I'm a big yes thank you director Edwards anything director Lobby I'm just really excited about this and I wanted to apologize to our two speakers um we used to have folks come down together but then because of kovid we stopped calling people in pairs but y'all are always welcome to come to the mic together if you want to because I know this can kind of be a weird setting so I'm glad you were able to do that but I'm especially thinking about albino Head Start and the incredible Legacy and that partnership and flourishing more with this it's just it's phenomenal and I hope that we continue to co-create with all sorts of Partners as we continue to do our work because I think um all of what the public commentator said about knowing what's right for the community and living into that together that's going to be how we transform Portland I just want to thank you all for coming out tonight when I think about like the years of commitment to our our black children that's in this room right now like absolute dedication it's it's pretty mind-blowing so thank you and thank you for still paying attention and caring and we do have an extraordinary opportunity right now we have it with Jefferson High School and the money committed from the bond we have it with the center for black excellence and how we're gonna as a community decide that we want to prioritize efforts with with that opportunity so it's it is a new day in a way because we we have set Our intention and we have some resources to make it happen and um I I want to thank everybody who worked on the details of this agreement because even though I think there was pretty unanimous agreement about where we wanted to go it was a little tricky figuring out how we were going to get there and so thank you to those who really put in the the work and the heart and also the flexibility and the willingness to compromise and and and share power it's really important so um it's good to see all of you here and thank you very much thank you I've already said um that I loved that the vision was explained in that point B of what was here and going past Nostalgia into what can be what the future holds especially for our kids really grateful to the community and those of you have known for you know decades and seeing these faces that were all aging together beautifully and I'm really really excited to see what happens on the ground with the tremendous amount of investment that we're putting in Jefferson High School we're putting into the center for black student Excellence moving Tubman and I hope I'm around in 10 or 20 years to see the impact of all these all of these um these Investments the board will now vote on resolution 6581 resolution approving agreement to collaborate with the center for black
01h 30m 00s
Excellence to advance black student Excellence at Portland Public Schools all in favor please indicate by saying yes yes yes yes yes yes all opposed please indicate by saying no are there any abstentions resolution 6581 is approved by a vote of seven to zero congratulations [Applause] chair Scott I know I don't get a vote but yes thank you superintendent you're the one who has to make sure this Vision Works so thank you thank you everybody uh moving on um to our next item a Life and Legacy of Dr Matthew profit um this past June Dr Matthew profit former superintendent of Portland Public Schools passed away Dr profit made many contributions to the city and to the district tonight we have a request to honor him with a presentation on his life and Legacy we have former PPS principal Kevin Bacon here tonight who's the president of the Oregon Alliance of black school educators welcome Mr bacon and if you could please introduce your colleagues who will be presenting with you tonight as well welcome thank you welcome everybody yes I'm Kobe free as of okay [Music] good evening board chair Scott board members superintendent Guerrero my name is Kevin Bacon I'm the president of the non-profit that has been referenced a number of times tonight the Oregon Alliance of black school Educators or abz for short seated beside me is Dr Harriet Adair former PPS Deputy superintendent and holder of many positions during her tenure of 40 plus years of exemplary Service Department Public Schools much of which was babysitting me [Laughter] [Applause] yes my principal [Music] [Laughter] we are here this evening representing our board our members and over 200 signatures from the community at large in support of our request or absay was founded in 1975 by Dr Ernest hartsog the National Alliance of black school Educators was founded in 1973. our alliance is one of over 35 Affiliates across the country and globe there are over 800 Educators that identify as black of African descent across Oregon and that is without counting higher education in cities like Legrand Pendleton Bend Ashland Medford Eugene Albany Salem up and down the coast and of course the Portland metro area black educators are in our schools teaching coaching counseling children of all racial and cultural backgrounds or Aseem Mission our mission is to celebrate support and Inspire or as the Educators to provide the best educational experiences and outcomes for all students while leading the way on best practices for black students it's an honor to be the newest president of war absy and follow the long line of incredible credible Educators that were president before me Dr Ernest Hartzog Dr Charles Hobson Dr Winona Lowe Mr Nathan Jones senior miss Patricia Bradley Mr Ken Berry Mr Leroy Patton Ms Lily champsa Den Mr Michael chappie Grace Dr Kayla Boyer and Ms Liz Cason Taylor it is their legacy that energizes me and their support that guides me or absy has always been on the front line supporting students and educators of African descent and my first year of teaching in 1986 for Portland Public Schools or Abby was there for me and symbolized hope and possibility an organization deep with my people working at all levels of the industry starting at the top with an African-American superintendent of Portland Public Schools Dr Matthew prophet and an African-American assistant superintendent Dr Ernest Hartzog please understand that to a young 24 year old fresh out of college I saw Endless Possibilities to my career and knew that a safety net was there if I
01h 35m 00s
stumbled Dr Matthew Prophet set a bar for me and others of all Races to strive for professionally and personally now I yield my time to Dr Adair and then there'll be a short video followed by statements from former PPS board members Steve Griffith Stephen cafori and Mr Bill Scott promise not to tell all your business [Laughter] I wanted to start by saying thank you very much for having us here I had no idea what else was on the agenda but I've definitely be enjoyed being surrounded by ex colleagues I wasn't the deputies who were retired as an assistant superintendent in this District after 47 years and I'm also thank you and I'm also a product of Portland Public Schools I went to Vestal grade school and what was then Madison High School so I know Portland from years back not born here and so it's very important to me what happens in this world that has been my world for so many years and I'm so glad to see all my colleagues I want you all to be back there I know you've got my back especially my sweet loving husband up there Ken Adair who worked at PCC and I hope I get this letter right let me start the Oregon Alliance of black school Educators or absi which is the state affiliate of the National Alliance of black school Educators nabsy joined by several others some of which are present in this audience this evening or appeared in the video that you're about to see or whose names are on the petition or letters forwarded earlier to the school board are we're all here to propose and strongly Advocate that the Portland Public Schools central office be renamed to honor Dr Matthew Prophet as the Dr Matthew profit Education Service Center Dr Prophet was the superintendent of Portland Public Schools from 1982 to 1992 it is Undisputed that Dr profit's decade of leadership empowered constituencies inside and outside Portland Public Schools boundaries for those on the board who are the listing audience who for a variety of reasons maybe not even being born at that point in time might not have been actively engaged in the schools during his tenure so allow me to take an opportunity to relate the nature of the times Dr profits tenure spanned the ear when issues brought forward in a 1983 report entitled report on the United States national Commission on excellence in education a nation not just us a nation at risk the imperative for educational reform this document had generated widespread contentions that the American schools were failing a majority of the state's educational gender States education agendas including Oregon's were fraught with demands for a flood of local state and federal educational reform movements every aspect of the educational World seemed to be ensnared in crisis or in Conflict be it Union issues funding levels desegregation immigration pushback disproportionate levels of sustained academic achievement across all groups employment injustices lagging teacher recruitment and retention or Waning constituency support let me digress to say that I sort of heard some of that today all in varying degrees were present in Portland as well across the city of roses heightened tensions were exacerbated by the firing and unexpected demise of the previous Portland Public School Superintendent there were also perceived inequities in local and state school funding looming staffs layoffs unresolved community and teacher Union conflicts student and staff desegregation integration strategy disputes and irrefutable disparate rates of educational success in schools with student populations that were predominantly low income and are students of color the Dropout rates were 15.7 percent for Native Americans 14 for Latinos 12.4 percent for African Americans 8.8 percent for European Americans and 4.1 percent for Asian Americans bringing the district's average to a 9.1 dropout rate the district struggled to dispel the plethora of local and Nation at risk challenges Mark the beginning of Dr profit's superintendency during his decade with Portland Public Schools test scores across the district ascended as did the public support confidence and involvement in District initiatives and programs his leadership energized the success rates of students and District staff elevated PPS is standing in and outside the state and garnered multi-faceted constituency support from Portland's diverse communities
01h 40m 00s
also from the diverse parent advocacy groups legislators teacher unions fellow superintendents and corporate and Civic leaders as well under Dr prophet's leadership all Portland Students made remarkable academic progress African Americans achieved 65 percent Improvement in mathematics and 43 percent Improvement in Reading Latino students also achieve similar gains the percentage of African-American high school graduates choosing to enter higher education post High School rolls from 49 in 1987 to 80 percent in 1991. and Portland's dropout rate was among the lowest in the nation for urban school districts he was able to accept and separate people from their actions differ or consent and consistently maintain a balanced inclusive perspective on issues working with and across pps's diverse constituencies he was able to Garner the wide-ranging support needed to successfully achieve a plethora of constructive outcomes many of which endure today no matter if he personally agreed or disagreed he listened and consistently responded in ways that evidenced and openness to implementation of diverse views and approaches not his own to quote the co-chair of the citizens advisory committee that had participated in hiring Dr profit throughout Dr prophet's tenure the full cow remained on implementation of inclusive Solutions no matter the agenda Dr profit consistently was able to generate and Implement strategies that achieved success for all factions as opposed to being in a constant debate with with various constituents despite the multiplicity of what could often be discordant constituencies all knew their concerns and ideas would be respectfully heard across all of his decision-making processes everybody always felt heard Dr Prophet delivered on his assurances too stabilize the district's funding sources prior to implementation of new priorities and or major changes that he established feedback loops and would always make sure community-based problem-solving forms would be held to gather input from a diverse amount of the constituents diversify he would raise and officially recognize achievement across all student and staff demographics he would Implement organizational improvements and eeo-focused diversification and advancement across all employee groups he would address and diversify school choice options he would immediately address and provide feedback on constituent and staff concerns he did not bring in a new multi-level administrative team instead he openly negotiated the retention diversification skill enhancement and advancement of existing staff across all of the district's organizational levels and employment groups he made us all better Dr Prophet was known to frequently publicly acknowledge a plethora of students employee achievements and or this is so true and or to take time to stop by a classroom office or district office to commend someone and the reason I'm smiling is because he inevitably was on supposed to be somewhere else instead of doing that as a result Improvement career elevation job satisfaction recognitions and success permeated every level of this organization during Dr prophet's tenure with Portland Public Schools test scores across the District of Senate as did the public support confidence and involvement in District initiatives and programs his diligent leadership energetically refreshed the insights and success rates of students and employees at all levels across the organization he elevated Portland Public Schools standing locally in and outside the state and garnered multi-fashioned constituency support from Portland's diverse communities and parent advocacy groups legislators teacher unions fellow superintendents and corporate and Civic leaders as well to sum it up Dr profit brought Equanimity to turbulent times he openly considered and addressed voices and concerns he assumed leadership of existing struggles Workforce and structure and in quotes raised the rate and level of achievement successes and satisfaction across every constituency inside and outside of the district the impactful and sustained accomplishments I have mentioned are a few among a wealth of reasons the organ alliance with black school Educators joined by among others including the not limited to Oregon state legislator Senator Lou Fredericks who by the way was employed here at that time Dr John Anthony past president of Portland Community College former state state senator super state senator Margaret Carter
01h 45m 00s
former Portland Public School superintendent Carol Smith Jan Coulter the Oregon representative for the educational policy fellowship program Dr Kimberly mateer president of the chapter Portland chapter of the links Incorporated Linda Harris president of the white rose educational fund and past president of the links past president of of other organizations as well as Steve Griffins who was the past PPS board member and Dr George Russell retired superintendent from the Eugene District 4J all of them contacted me to make sure that I included you that you know that their voices were part of this and they all decisively endorse and respectively request Dr Matthew profit become the designated name change for Portland Public Schools Education Service Center [Applause] [Music] [Applause] could we the video but this time please we'll get its heat up here um yeah [Laughter] [Music] just a privilege and a great pleasure for me personally to be a part of of this remembrance and of Dr Matthew Prophet I am uh Dr Ernest Herzog and uh I am impacted personally by uh Dr Matthew prophet who first uh when they first arrived in Portland Oregon he established himself as a well-prepared decision maker it was an excellent uh person in terms of budgetary and finance and his memory was such that he won the uh he won the respect of the board identity board but his senior staff as well within two months of his arrival Matt visited every school in the district and once he visited the uh the school or got a name of his principal he never forgot that name and he could recall 100 of the time [Music]
01h 50m 00s
thank you mad Prophet walked into my house with Freddie right behind him sitting on the floor of my living room with 12 Irvington Elementary School fifth graders fifth graders came every Wednesday to meet in his stories from adults about being adults the superintendent when we Lieutenant Colonel combat veteran walked in I offered him a chair he saw the bowl of popcorn on the floor in the middle of the ten-year-olds and sat down on the floor with them Freddie sat in the chair with a knowing smile on her face I had to refill the popcorn bowl minutes later I don't think the children or Dr Prophet noticed they were too involved in the conversation while he was officially the leader of the Portland schools he made it clear that he was serving the children and families of Portland Legacy is the first word that comes to mind for me when I think next is grateful I feel grateful and blessed to have known him be encouraged by him and watched him move our world to a better place his legacy looked at the past used what skills and resources he had to address the wrongs of that past especially the history of racial discrimination was determined to chart a path for a better future whether he was physically here with us or not I think part of his energy was fueled by popcorn a good deal in the spirit came from encouraging the Curiosity of children [Music] Carol Smith retired educator I'm honored to be joining with all of you in this tribute to Dr Matthew prophet Matt was a dear friend and mentor and inspiration to me as he was to so many of us I got first got to know him back in the early 80s when he was superintendent and I was the executive director of an alternative school and working on my administrative credential and I called him to ask if I could Shadow him for a day uh thinking it would be a long shot but he was who I wanted to learn from and he responded quickly and was extremely generous with his time and I spent the day with him and he told me stories about his life and career took me through how he organized himself how he made decisions talked about who he called when he had to make a tough decision and would call people he would agree with him and others who would challenge him just to check himself we went to meetings and it was a superintendent size day so early morning till well into the evening but I learned a lot and had just a great time with him and um he we kept in touch throughout his superintendency and he was great advocate for the students I worked with and for my program so then many years later when I became superintendent he was one of the first people to call and congratulate me with a very heartfelt congratulations and we had regular breakfast throughout the nine years that I was superintendent and I cherished those conversations it was wonderful to get that kind of time with Matt I would say Matt had a lasting impact on education in Portland in the state of Oregon and in the country and um he was a highly influential Mentor for a huge number of Educators and I consider myself very fortunate to be among them um Matt thank you I love you I'll miss you for our final speaker of what is now the evening we'd like to bring out someone who's doing a lot of good things for education in our community in fact he's our leader the superintendent of Portland Public Schools Dr Matthew Crawford thank you very much I would like to end my brief comments by reciting to you a poem that my mother taught me 54 years ago when I was three years old it's a poem that I live by all my life it's a poem I know that many others have lived by all their lives and through all the trials and tribulation that my mother had all the trials and tribulations that my father had all the trials and tribulations of two uncles that were lynched in Mississippi where I grew up and all that they had and all the trials and tribulations of the crosses that were burned in my father's yard when he ran for mayor of Oklahoma Mississippi I still say to you that whoever it was that saved when the score
01h 55m 00s
is 21-3 you don't have to give up and I say to you that the time has come that we've got to stop crying about ourselves we can't help ourselves and if you will live by a belief that what happens to you is not nearly as important as what happens within you you can come back even though the score is 21-3 and we can help ourselves the poem was written by William Ernest Henley it's entitled Invictus and I remember it I think from my mother taught it to me when I was three years old and it goes like this out of the night that covers me black as a pit from pole to pole I thank whatever Gods may be for my unconquerable soul and in the Phil clutch of circumstance I have not once in our crowd aloud for under the budgeting of chance my head is bloody but unbowed Beyond this place of Wrath and tears wounds but the horrors of the shade and yet the Menace of the years finds and shall find me unafraid and the last verse goes thusly it matters not how straight the gate uh chart with punishment the scroll I am the master of my fate I am the captain of my soul and I know Martin Luther King believes that all of his life thank you thank you thank you [Music] [Applause] I think at this time the former board members uh Mr Scott kafuri and Griffith are with us and so we should let them have the period you guys got greatness in this room welcome everyone good evening school board members my name is Stephen Griffith and between 1987 and 1995 I sat where you sit now it's a pleasure and honor to be here it's a pleasure because I feel I am in the Hall of Education and it's an honor because I am speaking about Matthew prophet it is a privilege to talk about that man I heard about him before I came on the school board and he was already high in my estimation and he's one of the few people who upon greater knowledge over the course of eight years my estimate and opinion of him continued to rise and rise and rise very few people on close inspection oh Merit that kind of an assessment he was to me a man for all seasons for the inside of the classroom for the school board meeting for the community when people get charged about their children and their tax money the business he had it all and he could adjust himself to every audience and speak to them he was a man I think of Good Will and I want to separate that between the good and the will he was a man of good he saw the good in people he encouraged that and he reminded me of this phrase from Martin Luther King the explosive power of good by just being a good person and seeing the good in people he made everyone and everything better he was also a man of will you ever well I don't have anything more to say look at that state that recitation of Invictus if you don't believe that man was passionate for his entire life that every child shall learn there is no such person no matter how straight the gate know how charged the scroll I am the master of my fate I am the captain of my soul that was Matthew prophet uh as a result he did extraordinary things he United the community of Portland he really
02h 00m 00s
United Portland he increased the and stabilized the funding of schools and he oversaw the learning gains in all students would that any school board could say one of those three things as part of their legacy and that was Matt's Legacy he was a model superintendent he was arguably the best superintendent in the United States of America New York wanted him Los Angeles wanted him Chicago wanted him Cleveland wanted him Houston wanted him and he said no I want to stay here in Portland he was the Damian Lillard of his time [Applause] he was loyal to this place and this place should be loyal to and honor him it's the fashion these days to name public buildings while people are still in office I think that's suspect you never know why whether you're cuddling up to power or not Matthew prophets not in office he's not even alive it's now 30 years for historians to take the measure of this man and hear from those of us who worked with him and I think it would be fair to say that he was in a league of his own as superintendent of schools here I am joined here tonight by two other persons who also served on the board with Matthew Prophet Stephen cofury and Bill Scott and I yield the rest of my time to them thank you Mr chair Mr superintendent members of the board it's a great pleasure to be here tonight it's really strange to be on other side of the diocese spent a lot of hours in this room a lot of hours with Matthew prophet you're going to you have heard and you will hear more plotted for what a great man he was I don't need to add to that I simply want to say what an honor it was to be a member of the school board for what was universally viewed as the best school district in the United States of America and Matthew Prophet was largely responsible for making that happen he was but he was not just a great man he was a great friend we all loved that guy and we enjoyed spending time with them this is not just a hero and with a grid spot sky in back of him as Tom McCall uh famously said he was a great human being that we loved read you a list of names Martin Luther King Jr Rosa Parks Harvey Milk Cesar Chavez Ida B Wells what do these people have in common they're all Great American Heroes they all have institutions or schools or streets named after them here in Portland none of them ever visited Portland even knew we existed it's time that we take one of our own Heroes and name this this building after one of our great Heroes Matthew Prophet thank you thank you hmm good evening chair Scott members of the board superintendent Herrera I'm Bill Scott I served on the board from 1979 through 1987. so I experienced the last year of Robert blancher's superintendency and the first five years of Matthew Prophets my first board meeting was the first one held in this building the building was later I think appropriately named for Dr Blanchard since he initiated and brought the project of the building to fruition centralizing and modernizing many services his tenure was also marked by important and Innovative commitment to standards-based evaluation and by confronting the challenges of shrinking student population and lots of other accomplishments but by the time I joined the board all those issues were eclipsed by the community's righteous demand for
02h 05m 00s
Rachel's racial Justice moving away from dispersing black children around the district and toward a focus on the quality of their education there was a big turnover on the board and a pretty messy transition the board finally came together to chart a vision and Define the kind of leader required to move forward miraculously we found him in Matthew prophet Dr Prophet quickly mastered the ways of the district and the community he took input from every quarter and was willing to try just about any approach to see if it worked his pragmatic Hands-On style he knew everybody in the district he knew every school in the district he knew the community moved us towards the district's goals adding many teachers and administrators of color injecting neglected history into the curriculum and and really making progress on the closing the achievement gap which frankly because of the evaluation system um that Dr Blanchard spearheaded was the first time that people really could quantify the achievement Gap or new really new the uh kind of had the kind of numbers that are Universal now Matt profit personified the goals that you have set for the district today and so I wholeheartedly support the proposal to honor his tenure and and to celebrate This Magnificent human being thank you very much and really appreciate everybody being here appreciate the video um superintendo Guerrero did you have anything to say at this point if this is the appropriate moment to do so uh directors I I know uh you're aware we have board policy you would expect us to observe and related administrative directives around the renaming of facilities and we've seen a couple of uh uh pretty groundbreaking processes extended processes led by students and our school leaders for for two of our Comprehensive High Schools but the policy and the administrative directive also has a section on non-school facilities and the language there is much more streamlined and I think this evening we've heard a pretty compelling request a lot of compelling testimony I feel like I've missed out on the opportunity to work with Dr profit and folks like Dr Adair and others um um but what I can say is um I'll be directing my team to review this request uh in an expedited fashion uh and take some immediate next steps uh in collaboration and partnership with uh starting with uh president bacon of arabsi the profit family and others to bring forth to you a supportive recommendation that honors its Legacy here at the Portland Public Schools [Music] so I think it's fair to wrap up this by saying more more to come and I think more to come quickly so thank you everybody for being here tonight and for for again for the video and the presentation really appreciate it cheers Scott I just have to do something just say thank you to everyone but also I've only presented a couple times and always forgot to k-e-v-i-n-b-a-c-o-n Kevin Bacon that's in the record now too right Kevin Bacon was here and they might not know if it was me or the actor but Kevin Bacon's in the building and on the record if I can still uh I just want to thank you thank or absi for your leadership in bringing this forward and really putting a fine point on the ask and I think what the superintendent was alluding to is that the process for us to move on this might not be as time consuming or as convoluted as it sometimes can be so um personally I look forward to doing anything I can to further this respect point of personal privilege Dr profit was a um very dear revered figure in my household in a very dear lifelong friend to my father who um admired him more than just about anyone in our whole galaxy and he um
02h 10m 00s
this is deeply meaningful to me so however I can forward this I am at your service thank you thank you okay sorry I'm inspired by director constem um because I was there uh director Scott during the messiness before um Dr profit got here and it wasn't a good place for our city and in the 10 years that Dr profit was here um I went to college went to another city but chose to come back to Portland because of what Dr profit had built here because it was the place in the United States where the promise of public education with diverse um leadership um was flourishing and a lot of people really believed in PPS and and the promise and I think this is you know who who you honor says something about your institution and um I this seems just like earlier this evening uh late incoming but um really important and you can still Walk The Halls of PBS of people who've been around for a long time maybe not 47 years like Dr Adair um but who talk about Dr profit walking into a school building and knowing every person starting with the most important people that he met which was the SEC the secretary the custodians this the school staff um and um you you don't get that by not being a person of integrity and a leader that people believe in and want to follow so I'm delighted to hear superintendent Guerrero that you're going to move but do haste thank you again we're going to move on to our last oh absolutely our drawings so quick quick story I had about uh Dr Prophet I was in school I was in Middle School at the time and I remember him coming into the school I didn't know who this guy was and the first thing that was told to me that he's the boss and we'll be seeing that you know gave me that inspiration that oh black people can't be bosses right and so um that is kind of my first right but that was kind of my first um forward seeing you know a black man in a position of power and it gave me that option that oh we can do this and so I'm glad you said what you said because um I was literally in the when you sent the email the first email about Mr Dr Prophet um so I've been getting writing a resolution to rename the BSC in honor of him and so with of course with the support right yeah right I got you I got you um but I am very supportive of that happening hopefully we can bring something that resolution to the colleagues sooner rather than later we can't make a resolution from the diocese can we uh list can we do that because I'm ready to vote we have that Authority is there anybody at this table that does not I I'm not gonna say no I'm concerned about the one that will but that's just me so Liz how do we go about how do we go about uh bringing a resolution from the diet point of question um I'm actually not familiar with our board policy we do have a board policy on on renaming I know it affects schools I'm just what it says in this regard it's the board I'm sorry go ahead director of remembrance the board sole discretion she said is the board so discretion sometimes we got to speak into the mic when we know certain stuff see there's a time to be quiet and then there's a time to not when you know certain stuff that you don't it's the board's Soul discretion so so do we just how do we say it how do we how do we so you have a policy that you've enacted about how this process is all the pieces and parts of renaming various programs parts of buildings full building school buildings and on school buildings that is a board directive to itself that you can override at your will from the Deus um that is your choice I think there's also some benefit of having a little bit of process which is to fortify and formalize uh the the selection but this is entirely that that's not a substantive comment that's a process
02h 15m 00s
comment um the lawyers are Keen to to give but you have this is your choice and your Authority well if we don't have any disagreements I don't think actually though I just want to be clear about my question it wasn't I knew the board had authority to do this I'm I'm curious what the policy entails because if to the extent we waive the policy that's all I want to have a sense of what are we waving in that and I'm sorry the policy sets out the authority I'm going mostly from memory I've looked at the policy yeah I do too but it's several pages long it was just revised by the board in about 2018 as I recall it talks about um the criteria for picking names why it's important the fiscal impact of the assessment of changing names the ad that accompanies it talks about a process that frankly is largely geared towards school buildings not non-school buildings about engaging the community in understanding the history the background the impact so it's it's a thoughtful process and policy it's more processed probably in the ad than you need because this is not a school building with a school community and Traditional School alumni and some of the constituents that are named that are consulted in that process um but there is a process that's that's set forth I think could be streamlined but again this is the board's decision here tonight about how to proceed so I think maybe I'll put the question to the board I mean I think I think the the so I mean I'm you're not here in any opposition up here I don't think you're going to get any opposition I think the question is do we go ahead and introduce a resolution tonight which is relatively easy to do or do we bring a resolution back in three weeks time right at our next board meeting um you know to to do with that I it feels like that is really the you know I would just say the board recognizes that renaming existing facilities or amending existing names is a serious considered decision and should not be made in haste that's in our own policy I think we should go ahead and do it but yeah help draft that language um I would just say um this discussion has been underway for quite a while in in the community um there's also a um clause about um well there's also a statement that is ultimately the board sold discretion one of the things we could do tonight maybe to satisfy um director Scott's um interest is a sense a sense of the sense of particular okay you can the board um to support the drafting of a resolution to bring back to the board on a date a date certain for the renaming or it looks like director Hollins just wants to go now the other thing the policy says is that we need to look at the fiscal impact of making a name change so I just am curious it doesn't seem to me like changing from to profit would have a substantial Financial impact but do we know what that might look like I mean I don't think that would stop us from doing it but it would be good to know what that would be signage and letterhead yeah and if we're going to make it in three weeks why can't we make it letterhead Vice chair Hollins uh you're recognized so I just like to make a motion to rename uh the BSC to the doctor Matthew profit education center second third Education Service Center Education Center Education Services great we have a motion in a second to rename the besc as the Dr Matthew profit Education Service Center we're going to go to board discussion in a second but um Mr Garcia thank you chair thank you chair Scott I also uh appreciate this conversation I do want to know that last year we did uh this board pass an agreement a first write-off first of right offer on this building and so I want to make sure that we're clear in the language and I would encourage you to consider that we would name any PPS headquarters after Mr Dr profit so just wanted to make sure that that was in the conversation and just to save the obvious point because the headquarters could be anywhere in the next hundred years absolutely you want to make a friendly amendment to your to your resolution this point number two just a second yeah go ahead director Holland so it does make amendment that the name will stick with the headquarters wherever it is great so um and I believe Liz that's just a friendly member we don't need to say yeah that's consistent with the original one um I'm going to open it up for board discussion I'm going to start which I
02h 20m 00s
don't I try not to do is share but since director Holland is already telling Matthew Prophet stories uh I will absolutely strongly support this I was also in school at the time I graduated from from Wilson at the time in 1991. um and and I'll say two things um I got a world-class education at Portland Public Schools and and I think you have to give credit to the superintendent of the time for that education um I did meet him and the time that I specifically remember um would have been uh it was my my senior year when uh we at Wilson the the green machine under the direction of of Greg McKelvey won the national Jazz Championship Greg took a bunch of white kids from the southwest side and taught us how to play jazz which is a really big feat I got to tell you um and after that Dr Prophet came to the school and we were able to play for him and I just remember his presence because of course you heard the name as a student and and sort of seeing him and having that opportunity and and I just remember um the reverence that the people at you know at the school had for him that when he showed up there was just uh there was just an immense amount of respect so I did not know him personally but that was my own experience and um this is a pretty exciting resolution with that we'll open it up to other comments okay I want to add one more little story which uh doctor dare you can probably you could probably fill in the details but when I ran for the school board in uh 2015 I went up and met with him and sat with him for about four hours probably and he went through his boxes of materials mostly what he talked about was what a sacred responsibility it is to be in a decision-making position that affects so many children and he really impressed that upon me but he also went through these materials that essentially he wrote in ethnic studies curriculum he created his own series of profiles about black leaders and like put them together in pamphlets do you remember what I'm talking about he and I forget what it was called and it was maybe it wasn't huge it was maybe 12 or 15 profiles that he put together himself and distributed to the schools to make sure that to children had an opportunity to learn about about black leaders that were included in their curriculum and it was just one of the the many beautiful things he went through from his tenure so thank you later with me says you know I really miss Dr profit he made me know it mattered I mattered he was a great man this is completely unsolicited the people you never think about and I believe I probably could we could have filled this room if we didn't know we're gonna have this testimony with a bunch of people who were not all principals like some of these great people I'm surrounded with good to see you guys by the way you all had I mean these people are just phenomenal these people in this room and I just want to say that I am so in heartened by this all the hard effort this group has put into trying to get this thing just right never did I don't think we thought we'd come up with you guys actually making a decision today yeah it seems like you got it right yeah I I just want to thank Dr director Hollins because I was over here texting with Liz like how do I make a motion tonight and I took no for an answer I took wait for an answer and I'm so glad you didn't because this is clearly the right thing to do so I'm excited to be able to support this motion tonight director brim Edwards I wasn't going to say something but um and I'm sorry but I I want to go back to uh and director Hollins and my former co-chair lolenza Poe said something he said you know don't waste this moment and uh director green I'm really glad um you're not wasting a moment because we've got lots of other lots of work to do and we should just do this because it's the right thing to do tonight director Greene okay sounds like we're being asked to call the question um without any further discussion uh all those in favor of the resolution to rename the besc the Dr Matthew profit Education Service Center along with any future PPS headquarters all those in favor say yes yes yes yes [Applause] all those opposed any abstentions
02h 25m 00s
thank you [Applause] come up for a picture Roseanne is asking everybody uh to come up to the front to do a picture so we can do a picture all together up here in front of the Deus [Music] [Music] I'm married [Music] oh my God thank you [Music] thank you [Music] I'm in tears okay I'm trying to get a picture where are we supposedly [Music] can everybody come front to take a picture please [Music] if you want to be in the picture come down front all right if you want to be in the picture come down front
02h 30m 00s
thank you to make it look like outside thank you [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] all right we do have one more item on tonight's agenda so if the PPS board could please return to the time we gotta we gotta vote on it within three weeks it should be it should be quick thank you and no noberto Norberto Delgadillo all right now Roberto we're gonna end in a party right after you're speaking too so we we have one more item yeah on tonight's agenda and so it is a tough act to follow all right yeah we have one we have one more thing to do so we're gonna finish up our very last agenda item thank you everybody this is going to be a total buzz kill as we talk about the budget calendar this makes you feel good superintendent Guerrero would you please introduce this next quick topic yes uh I apologize we had no way of planning ahead for some cake and punch this evening um let's go ahead I do recognize the board is also interested and has asked for and our CFO is here to talk about uh a proposed budget calendar we'd love to get your input and ideas about so Roberto Delgado yeah ah good evening it's a tough act to follow isn't it definitely not you know that's amazing exciting just inspirational and and so uh there are still other non-exciting routine things to discuss but um love that and and really presenting the the board calendar is an annual process that we go through to kind of uh provide an opportunity around the blueprint of Engagement to not only get a chance to engage the board prepare staff but also meet some of our statutory regulatory requirements that we need to adhere to
02h 35m 00s
when we uh go through our budget adoption process and really for today there's no vote not asking uh the board to vote really to get some feedback and then we'd be coming back uh two weeks from now at our next uh board meeting for formal uh approval of the calendar and I think one thing to note is that it's that fine balance between the The Gauntlet that is approving the budget meeting certain regulatory requirements once the budget's uh proposed and then working towards the adopted but one of the few things to point out is that for this budget uh we are doing more of an intentional engagement up front with the board as well so thinking about a feedback from last year creating those opportunities to really engage the board into more direct work sessions but also you know last year we also had ad hoc work sections and conversations so right it's his General blueprint but it does give at least staff a chance to prepare and work towards that so I'll pause there and just hear for feedback and comments great so our work the budget calendar as as Chief wadia noted um was in is in our work packet um any question and and again uh we're not voting tonight discussion questions tonight we're coming back on October 11th to adopt it uh which is Again part of our budget process is adopting the calendar and to be clear I think you might have just said this the calendar can change so we adopted that's something that that local budget Law requires but we can make changes as we go along it is not a binding calendar in that way nor do we need to adopt changes to it it's just to give a sense of an outline so without any questions from board members about the calendar as proposed I don't have any questions but I had just a comment that I wanted to thank you and your team for putting together um you know a proactive approach um at least it feels more proactive than the previous few years and it looks like we've got you know eight opportunities to learn and engage in work sessions and so I just wanted to thank you for this this is really helpful thank you I I noticed that we had quite a lot of misinformation tonight around our staffing formulas and how fat Staffing is assigned and Staffing that comes at the beginning of the year because of having to actually we we only get paid for students who are actually in seats so um and some of the confusion that that causes in school so I would really hope as part of our budget calendar that we have it at some of those work sessions are really clear I mean I know we have the clear understanding of our staffing formula we see it in your emails to us I know we've talked about it in this room before but to really help communicate that to us so we can be better ambassadors when we're talking with our public about those kinds of things around Staffing because that seems to be a really hot button topic for folks and there's a lot of misinformation out there about the process and it would be uh similar to similar to last year one of the proactive things we did we put out a budget 101 video and had some budget 101 sessions just as the public early on and so as we get more feedback and get a sense of like hey these are Hot Topics or things that we want to get ahead of we think about that October through November time frame like how are we intentionally engaging the public and and add some some insight and Clarity around that it's director Lowry because um you know there's no such thing as too much transparency and we can be clear about how our staffing formulas work and then still there's a lot of misunderstanding in the community that does a real disservice um so I'm all for that and to see a budget meeting before the end of the calendar year is pretty amazing so look forward to that and I think last year we did feel a little rushed and so aside from you and your department putting together this calendar I will look to our board chair to make sure that when we're having budget items as part of our regular meetings that we're really devoting enough time to get what we need out of them because I know that wasn't very satisfying for most of us last year when we would get pretty pretty crunched up with that and go late into the night and we want to really give it the attention that it's due so I'm interested in of course because of the committee that I'm on the alternative and Charter Schools the the leveling out how we're going to work with the alternative schools the charter schools as far as like leveling um so that they can be on a more um equalized system versus the the sporadic up and down so that they're not out trying to chase students and they can actually focus on the actual the classroom time to see time so I'm I'm very interested in um making sure that we talk about that and have a plan or that is discussed about the alternative schools okay any other comments yes
02h 40m 00s
and In fairness to um our CFO I had a conversation beforehand that um I would be interested in seeing if we could extend the time period between the introduction or the proposed budget and our approval because it's left it's less than four weeks and just the ability for the community and unless we're going to get the budget actually the actual budget documents weeks before to be able to go through them I think it was about 400 Pages last year and ask questions and have you all to have the time to turn things around um less than four weeks seems um like it would be very hard to have a transparent detailed discussion and um so that's that's one thing just extending that also we have a work session in February and I don't know if that's married with the Staffing um when the Staffing prior to the Staffing going out to schools but I do think that is going to be an important discussion I think last year and during the budget conversation um this the Staffing guide was the Staffing guide that uh Dr Adam Scotland he arrived and um I do think because of the conversations and it will depend whether we're in a Cuts in a Cuts budget or um you know what's happening about the level of scrutiny and the interest in the Staffing but anytime there's a reduction in Staffing I think we need to be absolutely clear like how the decisions are going to be made um and also the just FTE trade-offs versus classroom versus outside the classroom so that we make those decisions and you know intentionally but that we have that because that happens so far in advance of the the actual budget process and it is the majority actually of the budget um I'd also note just that giving the timing that if we potentially have a levy um that um just to be cognizant of like what kind of budget conversation we're having right in the middle of a potential um also conversation with voters about the levy if we decided to go in May and I don't know whether that's good or bad it's just it will be an environmental piece of the environmental factors if we're in a cuts and then we're also asking or um we're doing something different in Staffing than we've done in the past and how that fits with our Levy and just thinking through that and again I don't I don't quite know what how how it fits but just it'll be part of the context in India please go ahead I I just uh Echo what as far as like uh it's it's our our high level blueprint things may change depending on the circumstances but some of the key things that are taken into account for this uh sequencing is thinking about um the integrated Grant guidance at the state so there's this effort to align certain funding to be more strategic so there's some specific steps that we're putting in place to engage the public and in addition to come to the board in February with a right now it's February but some it's due to Ode in March so kind of like working towards that that's one key thing the other key thing is the facing out of the federal Esser dollars we're going to be having some conversations around what does that look like so prepping for that and then the third thing is the biennium budget and I think that we are going to be in a situation where we're going to have to be thinking from a contingency perspective which may involve a levy and kind of thinking about what are the conversation and and in the most basic term what are the packages that we put together and consider and so really thinking um about how do we start these conversations sooner in our process so that when we get to April 25th that proposed budget hopefully a lot of it is things that we've already talked to and we have a good sense of what this budget represents and thereafter it's hopefully we have information from the state maybe some fine-tuning refining but it's essentially we're all kind we all have this um I say blueprint but it's like steps that we want to take towards having the budget adopted in June so I think and I guess director for matters to your question um there's a trade-off we talked about this last year and to the extent that we asked for the superintendent's proposed budget earlier um there will be less accurate information and already I mean you're talking about the unknowns of you know we won't we won't know what state school funding is by you know late April um there's the levy conversation going on um you know there may be other factors as well so I I guess I I would sort of
02h 45m 00s
ask you one what what if four weeks is not enough time what is enough time and two are we as a board okay if if we do ask to push back the proposed budget getting a proposed budget that is that will that will need substantial revisions to it so so for instance I just want to be clear to the extent we say superintendent we'd like your proposed budget two weeks earlier than that four weeks other than that that budget will be less accurate which means that I think there could also be more could be a little more chaotic as we go through the process as as we're constantly sort of updating forecasts and other things that we know yeah I mean five weeks say this is just if it's less than four weeks and I'm just thinking they turn around for the community and I don't know what like the I think last year we maybe got the actual budget documents the week before yeah it gives us a little a little bit of time to go go through it and thoughtfully um consider it so it may also depend on when we'd actually get a copy of the budget versus like the big pres big presentation um and it also will depend perhaps again because Staffing is really the majority of the of the budget um a lot of those at least the the outlines of that will be happen in in the spring so it should be fewer fewer pieces at this end so it a little bit depends on what kind of information we get up up to then yeah so if I'm hearing you right I think so uh uh which I agree with the the more the more we know about the structure and outline prior to the formal proposed budget the more comfortable will be once we get it and and I and I think I don't want to put words in your mouth that the more transparent we are with the public throughout those conversations so for instance in February really being clear about the Staffing model right and what that means and really I mean I want to be clear you said if we're Cuts budget we're in a Cuts budget we know that um the Esser dollars are going away we used significant amounts of one-time funding to fund teachers this year so we told the community that last year I don't think they hurt us but we told them and we'll need to continue telling them all year long all ready to keep the Staffing that we have we used one-time dollars that will not be there again barring the state legislature coming through with you know a qem level of funding or some other you know some other bailouts so but I think what what I'm hearing is the more we can be clear with the community about that um the the the you know the the more we can bring everyone along in the conversation I think the other important point is that our budget grows every year simply because our staffing costs increase because of cost of living and other really important things and so even if we didn't have the Esser dollars going away we would be in a cut budget because we don't know that the state is going to increase that money by the what five percent we need over what we got this year to just maintain what we have so I think it's pretty clear we're going to be in the cut budget again next year I would just say last year we were going to catch budget in classrooms but we actually added FTE overall and I think I mean those are just the conversations we're going to need to have of what the type of Investments and where they're going to be made and so that we we all in agreement and we know that when we're voting on on the budget and being strategic and also be informed by the work the superintendent is doing with the suit and staff with the Strategic plan and I think that's you know the the whole philosophy around how we were using the bulk of those one-time monies was in capacity building rather than in the classroom to try to mitigate some of the cuts that we knew were coming so it's that making that really clear to the public about why we may have seen growth in certain sectors and really really being clear I know we we talked about it but again helping people to really understand and internalize the the choices we made around how we use the one-time dollars for capacity building important yes I just want to just remind colleague that this is not the budget conversation this is just the calendar conversation first so I just want to kind of focus on that because it's uh nine o'clock but I do want to ask a question around the cbrc I see here we are going to be appointing the committee on the 11th I just want to know how that alignment is through the rest of the calendar yeah so right now um I'll just add also we have I think about 34 applicants for cbrc which is amazing compared to where we were last year I think was four so that yeah so I talked to Jordan too for helping make that happen huge shout out to Jordan on my team they uh Vision how to get out there engage and so all full-on uh engagement and in so many mediums so we are in it so and then is there is there a tick tock
02h 50m 00s
recruitment video or I did propose that but that was turned down I wonder why uh but it's on the plants yes uh and really thinking about now we do have 34 applications to review and come to for the cbrc uh Review Committee um and so that October 11th right now it's tentative I know there's still some feedback to get on like will there be enough time to vet through the 34 applications but from an overall sequencing perspective it does align as so if we can have of the board can point the committee in October we would kick off in November around the same time frame that we would have like uh before or after our first budget work session looping them in and then carrying eventually cbrc will create their own meeting schedule but it would overlap just in time as we get into the meat of the budget conversations after the the winter break great thank you very much any further questions about the budget Calendar please feel free to forward them to the superintendent and chief Delgadillo with that uh is there any other business at this time before we adjourn I said uh earlier mistakenly that our next meeting was on October 4th it is not our next meeting is on October 11th and so that committee assignment uh we can actually if you could have that material you know to your colleagues by October 4th which is a week before our next meeting which is on October 11th


Sources

Retrieved from "https://wiki.sunshinepps.org/index.php?title=2022-09-20_PPS_School_Board_Regular_Meeting&oldid=10337"
Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Center for Transparent Analysis and Policy
Powered by MediaWiki
Powered by Semantic MediaWiki