2023-01-24 PPS School Board Regular Meeting

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District Portland Public Schools
Date 2023-01-24
Time 18:00:00
Venue PESC Auditorium
Meeting Type regular
Directors Present missing
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Event 1: Board of Education Regular Meeting - 1/24/2023

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very good good evening everybody thank you for being here tonight we are going to get started I'm sorry we're a few minutes late but we really appreciate everybody being here um tonight so this board meeting of the board of education for January 24th 2023 is called to order and before we begin uh I just want to give a quick Round of Applause we're going to do one now we're going to do an after you play to the Sellwood Middle School Advanced band and uh we are going to have an opportunity to hear them play uh again in just a few minutes um so let me go through just some opening uh contextual uh stuff 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 also being streamed live on PPS TV services website and on Channel 28 it will be replayed throughout the next two weeks please check the district website for replay times and as I mentioned good evening everyone thanks for being here tonight um just a few reminders we do ask that everyone attending the meeting tonight whether it's members of the public staff and ourselves board members treat each other with respect um this is something I actually think Portland is really really good at um we're excited that you've taken time out of your day to get involved in the school district whether you're here to testify whether you're here just to observe the proceedings whether you're here to play for us our ability to engage with one another civilly I think makes our community stronger if you do wish to display signs or banners which we actually love please remain back in the auditorium foyer behind the seating area and just make sure you're not blocking anyone's view of the proceedings and for safety reasons we do need to keep the walkways and aisles clear and I appreciate everyone trying your hardest to keep the walkways and aisles clear and in general we just appreciate if we can all be mindful of the others in the room and remember that we are setting an example tonight for our community's children with that I'm super excited as a former Band Geek uh throughout my entire uh PPS career um I'm hoping someone puts me on the triangle tonight uh superintendent would you like to introduce the next item I was in the school orchestra uh good evening uh chair Scott and directors uh tonight we're so pleased uh to have here tonight the saw Wood Middle School Advanced band along with their teacher Mr Gabriel Patterson as you know part of our Visual and Performing Arts master plan is to continue growing and expanding supporting our school programs so that every student has the opportunity to access music instruction before heading into high school so I'd love to ask Mr Patterson if you'd like to introduce the piece we'll be uh they'll be performing this evening thanks so much superintendent Guerrero uh I'm Gabrielle Patterson this is the Sellwood Middle School Advanced band we're super excited to have the opportunity to perform for you we're gonna play a piece called Appalachian morning by Robert Sheldon [Applause] [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] foreign
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[Music] foreign [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Applause] thank you thank you yes fantastic well that just became the highlight of my day thank you so much to Sellwood students for being here with us this evening thank you for sharing a little music with us uh since we're talking the Arts I also want to talk about the visual arts uh programming in our schools in partnership with the Portland Art Museum PPS Visual Arts Educators and students study the museums visiting exhibition which featured the art of Frida Kahlo Diego Rivera and Mexican modernism the exhibit explored Mexican modernism movement and took a closer look at the role that art artists and their supporters played in the emergence of national identity and creative Spirit after the Mexican Revolution ended in 1920. so our Visual Arts teachers walked students through the exhibition themes of land home and family through the traditional Mexican game of Loteria students all across the district created their own Lotteria art pieces for those of you that may know it's sort of the Mexican cultural version of bingo students created their own lateria art pieces to be displayed in one large collaborative Exhibition at the Museum the lesson plan associated with these activities which I think you have a copy of is Rich with an exploration of personal identity specific standout pieces from the exhibition were chosen to create the official PPS Loteria deck in front of you directors so we wanted to recognize that January is board member appreciation month so thank you to our Visual Arts teachers and students we hope you enjoy this gift to recognize your volunteer service with your families and friends for many years to come so there you have it thank you and I'm not sure if everyone from the so Advantage left but I actually am a so would graduate and so for all the solo students out there you one day too can sacrifice 50 of your free time in high school and sit on the board like me so and also it's just amazing and I saw actually I don't know if she's still here but Hadley if you're out there somewhere I used to babysit you and you were when you were in elementary school I don't know if you remember but it's kind of it's so amazing to see the students that you grew up with like doing stuff like this and when I get to sit up here so it was amazing and I really appreciated everything um and you guys making the time to do that so thank you um seems pretty clear that band is a pathway to sitting up here on the desk so yes anyway thanks again no that was really fantastic um next up is our board leadership vote board policy 1.20.1010p provides that the board show elect one of its members as board chair and one of its members is board Vice chair at the first regular meetings in January and July as it is our process for board members to be considered for a leadership position uh board members and members elect must notify the current board share by December 1st if they'd like to declare their intent to run for a leadership position at the December 13th meeting Vice chair Hollens
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declared his interest in continuing in his position of board Vice chair I declared my interest in continuing as board chair no other board members expressed interest in the other positions so it'll be interesting to see if we have any opposition during the vote uh we will begin with the election of the board chair do you have a motion in a second to adopt resolution 6638 so moved we're all excited about this let's go director green next to motion director to pass seconds the adoption resolution 6638 is there any board discussion I want to say thank you to Andrew for being willing to continue to serve and I think uh Julia Amy Michelle and I have all served a share we know how hard it is and so appreciate your willingness to serve the board in this way and really appreciate the way you've LED with compassion and a sense of being willing to listen um during your time so I'm looking forward to many many good things and you solving all problems for PBS in the next six months set the bar low yeah any um public comment Ms Bradshaw no the board will now vote on resolution 6638 election of uh chair Scott it's so weird to read as board chairperson all in favor please indicate by saying yes yes yes please indicate by saying no any abstentions and sorry student representative McMahon yes resolution 6638 is approved by a vote of 7-0 with student representative McMahon voting yes do I have a motion a second to adopt resolution 6639 election of Vice chair Holland says board Vice chairs second uh director constant moves and director green seconds and the adoption resolution 6639 any board discussion and I'm gonna say Gary I so appreciate you encouraging us to use our voices and to ask critical questions now you're not gonna be able to get me to shut up Miss Bradshaw is there any public comment non-resolution 639 all those in favor please indicate by saying yes yes yes yes yes all opposed please indicate by saying no are there any abstentions representative McMahon yes resolution 6639 is approved by voter 7-0 with student representative McMahon of voting yes all right thank you for that and now we will move on to the consent agenda so we will now vote on the consent agenda um board members are there any items that you would like to pull from the tonight's consent agenda well we wouldn't we would need to be subject to a vote so all right do we have a motion and a second to adopt the consent agenda ocean so director green moves and uh uh chair Scott seconds the adoption the consent agenda any board discussion on the consent agenda uh I just want to say thank you to our two new members of the proposed members of the bond accountability committee and also point out to my fellow board members in the public that we have a couple of other members there retiring going off so we do need we could use up to four more members of the bond accountability committee so really critical function critical role was great to meet Ryan he came to our last facilities and operations committee meeting he'll be great so uh everybody please keep that in mind and think of some good candidates great uh Ms Bradshaw I believe there is public comments director constant is there a way for folks if they do are interested in things like serving on the Vol Bond accountability committee what should someone who's sitting out there saying I want to be more involved what steps should they take I would say reach out to our fabulous board manager Roseanne Powell uh go to the board page on our website and she can provide with people with the charter for the bond accountability committee that says what they do and with the steps to apply I believe there is public comment on the consent agenda yes Robert Foster great welcome uh if you could just state your name and spell your last name and you will have three minutes all right thanks for being here my name is Bob Foster f-o-s-t-e-r I'm a PPS special education bus driver thank you for the opportunity to speak with the board for a second time it's my understanding that you will be voting to approve funding for a new electronic fence proposal for the PPS transportation bus yards prior to your voting I wanted to give a current update to the latest bus yard conditions first I would like to thank transportation management for taking our concerns seriously following our presentation in October and starting to deal with our concerns the following steps were taken one management hired a new security service that monitors the properties between the hours of 6 pm to 6 a.m I believe there has been better visibility to their presence and overall doing a much better job two management started looking into
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better fencing and gating options that includes an electronic deterrent it's a better Safeguard the bus yards and assets unfortunately though as the months have passed the same problems highlighted in October still exist along with a new one catalytic converter theft although better is still occurring fuel theft and fuel tank damage is still occurring as well as fuel card theft from the buses bus ransacking is still occurring as mentioned in October this would equate to your offices being violated this is very unsettling as you start your day unfortunately the new problem that has started is uh as bus drivers personal cars are now being vandalized these incidents have occurred in broad daylight since the yards are wide open from 6 a.m to 6 p.m this unfortunately has created insurance and repair expenses to be absorbed by the affected PPS bus driver as well as possibly losing use of their vehicles while being repaired this may also affect the driver's personal insurance rates to increase as a result of filing a claim some of this damage that's happened or smashed windows they're ransacking their cars also and the worst one that that I know of is some of this truck got their whole steering column damaged as they were I think they were trying to seal the whole truck so they were trying to get into the ignition since personal cars have been vandalized Transportation has resorted to having some folks on light duty perform drive-by patrols throughout the day to self-police The Yards as I mentioned in my October presentation security is not in any PPS Transportation employees job description and although all who perform this duty is told not to engage anyone it still creates the possibility of a dangerous confrontation with all that being said the reason for my being here tonight on behalf of the PPS bus drivers is to encourage you all to vote to vote Yes To The Electoral fence installation this would go a long way to resolving many of our issues that occur during off hours this solution has already been installed for a student our bus contractor's yard with great success their vandalism incidence rate has pretty much gone down to zero a yes vote tonight will hopefully get the fence installed within the next 60 days the fence though does not solve all our problems until an electronic gate component can be secured during all hours during all hours is included will most vandalism and personal safety concerns be alleviated management has advised that this is their next priority and have already made progress by clearing zoning issues that existed and have begun the process of lining up a gate contractor with any luck these Gates can also be ordered and installed within the same 60-day window thank you for your time and helping us in our efforts to create a safer workplace as well as protecting the district assets and I will say that uh the gates are really a big piece of this whole puzzle because the even though the electronic fence will have electronic capability on the fence on the gates at night with the with the yards being open all day long this vandalism the people's cars and everything has just escalated right so thank you thanks for your testimony thank you I appreciate you being here [Applause] so the board will now vote on resolutions 6635-6637 and 6640 all in favor please indicate by saying yes yes all opposed please indicate by saying no student representative McMahon yes are there any extensions the consent agenda is approved by a vote of seven to zero with student representative McMahon voting yes that's a good time [Applause] oh so I just wanted to call out on the consent agenda the uh travel piece that we had voted for we have two teams traveling out and they are very fun that we use for travel expenses so I just want to make sure I highlighted that um superintendent or we can also wait until after the um testimony after public comment so um why don't we go ahead I think you have um some things to say about the Japanese immersion program sure why don't why don't we uh chair Scott if I could speak to the topic of off-campus field trips I know that there's been a lot of communication uh and advocacy receive
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from members of the Mount Tabor Japanese immersion program Community regarding this year's research residency trip uh would like to give with uh with your permission I'd like to ask assistant superintendent Margaret Calvert to offer an update and some clarity she's been working on this issue and knows it best so I wanted to give her a moment to speak on this topic good evening chair Scott and directors superintendent Guerrero student representative McMahon um thank you for the opportunity um to share some updates with you earlier this month uh following winter break we um some of our District staff including area senior director Kristen McCloskey and myself met with staff and the principals from both Mount well actually from three schools Mount Tabor Hosford and Harriet Tubman Middle School to look at some of their overseas learning opportunities we went back through and and and and had discussions about um uh the administrative directors out at the administrative directives outlined for off-campus and foreign field trips with the teams uh we also asked for a series of additional pieces of information so we looked at Logistics and the possibility of Shifting dates so that they could align or be adjacent to Spring Break and or the end of the school year we also looked at specific grade level standards that are addressed during the study as well as the grade grade level standards that would be addressed at the school sites well the students were gone um in addition we asked that there were specific steps to be taken to ensure continuity of learning for all students in the eighth grade and all of the schools and that there would be connections for students making the trip so that there would be a continuity both for the students that are on the trip and the students that were remaining on campus ultimately we also looked at um steps to ensure the continuity as I said of the curriculum that for the entire eighth grade class after refueling reviewing the sponsor responses from the schools and going back and forth with them um we gave them the approval to actually plan the trips and we're in the midst of doing uh the final review with all the logistics they're part of that those trips so we're into the details of um chaperones background checks flight itineraries and the actual uh processes that we're doing so as we're going back and forth we're working out with risk management so we did the academic look with the teams and up front we talked we looked through a number of things and then we also went back and said uh as we go through and look at it with risk management right now so it's in we're in final review we're hoping to bring forth the Mount Tabor trip for the February 7th agenda so you should be getting the details of that shortly um I think that the commitments from all parties involved the students excuse me the staff and the principals and then our central office staff was to really look at the the uh any overseas trips right and how what what are the um the what's the alignment and that there's a commitment really to look at some to bring the trips into alignment with administrative directives which does include looking at the length of the trips and how many days school or missed so there's a commitment to go back and really look and at the um the meaning of the the field trip and and the in the directive Around The Limited five school days um and thinking about what does that look like the current trip we recognize where we were in the planning of it um where the where the students were but the commitment is moving forward to bring the trips closer to alignment with that administrative director did they move the dates some of the dates have been moved for a variety of reasons um and some of it's just travel right so we the the this there was a shift for one of the trips from the original dates but um the length of them are fairly could measure it like the length in and of themselves we could not adjust and we couldn't get them to fit closer to um uh like I said to like spring break or closer to the end of the school year for this current year so we looked at things like um you know end of grading periods um uh long weekends things like that that would would um be less disruptive to the number of days of school
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because this is the restart of the program after several years of not having the program or is there something else that made it unique I mean so I know during coven the trips didn't happen to re get back in a system so that yes we're they're getting feedback quickly and yes so I would say that what we've experienced coming out of covet is there are not many International trips right so this is the first year that we really have seen a significant number of international field trips they're complicated trips to plan and to review and those take time and and sort of coordination and conversation um so we're trying to get our processes aligned and kind of get back into speed so that was that's part of what happened in the review um and I would say that just as we went back through and looked at some there's some slight changes to the administrative directive over time and the and the policy itself that we just need to make sure everything is trued up right and that is that our actions are reflecting what's intended in those administrative directives and policies I have a quick question because I know some of the emails that I've seen he was talking about the the duration so are we talking about having them go to the whole 10 days that they're asking for are we talking about just the five days so there that both of the um the trips and the final phases are they're nine or there are nine or attended school days so on the next appointment we're going to be looking to approve the either nine or ten days yeah okay and the details there's a lot of D but some of the some of the pieces uh around flights and details and and some of some of those pieces are what we've been working through um and then I think um the Iowa I don't have it in front of me so I think that the the actual final piece for uh the Mount Tabor trip should be ready tomorrow um for a final review then I'll sit down with risk management and do that and hopefully get that ready for the board packet on the seventh thank you thanks for the update okay we are now going to turn to student in public comment um before we begin let me just review a few of the guidelines for public comment uh again I just want to thank you for being here attending the meeting providing your comments it really does inform us and helps us do our work better so we look forward to hearing your thoughts Reflections and concerns our Board office may follow up on any board related issues that are raiser in public testimony and we do 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 you can email them to public comment all one word at pps.net that's public comment at pps.net and please make sure when you begin your comment that you clearly State and spell your last name uh you'll have three minutes to speak and you'll hear the Bell go off after three minutes at which point we would appreciate if you could conclude your comments Miss Bradshaw I know we have some folks signed up for student and public comment let's start with our students all right Nikki hinelski foreign welcome thanks for being here hello my name is Nikki hannelsey h-a-n-o-l-s-y I'm in eighth grade at Mount Tabor middle school and I am in the Japanese immersion program I understand that you will be discussing the Japanese research residency at the next school board meeting on Fridays on February 7th and I wanted to give you some things to think about I hear that you're worried about how we will be keeping up with our work while in another country that is a fair thing to worry about but what you don't understand is we will be doing all the things we are doing in America just in Japan in Japanese during the Japan research residency we will be doing research studies conducting interviews and analyzing data which we will present in English and in Japanese at the end of the school year doing the work in Japanese is even more difficult than in English so that means it has greater educational value in Japan we would learn all the same things we learned here like math reading science social studies and even more things such as money conversion yenda dollars and time management saying how we are expected to get ourselves to the train station at a certain time we didn't uh we needed to know how long it would take to get there and how long we have to spare and Hiroshima we would learn world history such as World War II history so now you see that this is not a trip it is actually just one long assignment that just so happens to take place in another country in Japan we can use canvas to help keep track of our work here and any and all work that is incomplete will be made up when we get back we learned during Virtual School how to keep up with our work even when we weren't in a classroom I think this residency will help prepare us all for high school Success as you know over the last few years there have been a lot of terrible hate crimes against Asian and Asian Americans you might not know this but from the
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start of the pandemic to August 2021 there were over 9 000 hate crimes and incidents of racial discrimination against Asians Asian hate is still on the rise in the U.S and going to work in Japan would help us Bridge the gaps between the US and Japan the same goes for the Mandarin and Vietnamese research residencies thank you for your time and I hope that you can see just what this research residency means to us please approve our research residency on the February 7th school board meeting thank you [Applause] Quinn Marco hello my name is Quinn Marco m-a-r-c-o-u-x um I'm an 8th grader at Mount Tabor Middle School I'm in the Japanese immersion program which has been amazing for me as I've been able to learn a language that I would otherwise not know a big part of the program is understanding that Japanese culture and language I'm here to tell you about how the research residency has many benefits and in my opinion it has more upsides than drawbacks the research residency is not and will never be just a trip the research residency offers experiencing the culture and language that we learn in the classroom day by day for nine years me and my classmates have been studying the Japanese language and culture without experiencing it in the flesh our teachers try so hard to teach us about Japan however there's a certain point where to where to grasp a deeper connection to the culture and language you have to go there and make those connections friends and lifelong memories some people say that the trip would be detrimental to our learning however I think that there are so many amazing educational experiences during the trip that goes beyond what we could ever experience in the classroom and frankly what we could experience inside of the USA in Japan we go to school and experience Japanese school we also go to Temples castles and other historical sites these places are so incredible and add so much to our educational Journey from my for my classmates in my perspective we have been looking forward to this trip through elementary and middle school as many of us Marvel at the opportunity of going to Japan and visiting our sister schools who used to come to us to the U.S every year but it was haltered when the pandemic hit I hope that you can see the educational benefits of the research residency and I hope that you will approve our research presidency on the February 7th meeting I also want to thank the the board um uh for bringing this topic up thank you for being here Rachelle Davis hi my name is Rachelle Davis d-a-v-i-s and I'm a seventh grader at aqua green middle school and a former student of peninsula elementary school thank you for the for your time this evening I have a lot of things I need to talk about today they but they all fall into one category Equity awkley a school in the north does not get the building it needs or the resources I do not have a lot of time so here we go you are building a center for black Excellence but what are you doing for black kids and other minorities can't you fund excellence in our current buildings can you find us where we're already at my first point is our Portables I know some of you have seen them word is they were to be condemned but they are still there and falling apart they are unsafe my principal Julie Ryerson has done all that she can do changing her parents schedule and getting some attention in December after I complained aqua green was rushed into reopening when it was not ready for students almost a decade later we still have holes in walls and Floors leaks falling ceiling tiles heat issues and vandalism Lincoln has new Portables that are not being used why can't they replace ours we have a history of rats and have been evacuated twice due to carbon dioxide levels we are still in the auditorium for health class drama has been moved to the cafeteria there is no there is not a lot of adequate safe space for learning as a Haitian immigrant I walk into these spaces and do not feel like I am seen we have two new bypoc PE slash Health teachers who are expected to teach in these unhealthy Portables and they probably do not feel welcome or viled either are they going to leave too without a permanent classroom the 8th graders do not even have a PE teacher I play pil basketball and I get to see a
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lot of schools in PBS it is my perception that why kids get better schools the schools not in the city have cleaner buildings without vandalism no cracks in the ground and are nice and shiny they are better taken care of I have a I have hurt I have had heard from a teacher that some classes have not been mopped since August if aqua green is going to host basketball games in in the community we need to repave the outdoor courts and make lines and then one indoor court is also in bad condition I toured around a high school board member a couple weeks ago he mentioned this high schools being remodeled were in better shape than my school kids like me deserve better we are not getting the best learning experience administrations and teachers have left and will continue to leave I have to ask why why do the good teachers keep leaving like most of the sixth grade teachers last year I feel like there is a reason maybe they see the school and black kids thinking we need we deserve to be treated better teachers and students are shutting down what is a responsibility to us thank you okay thank you thank you Kim can you please make sure copy of your written testimony can you leave that with us so we can all get a copy please thank you thanks we have Iris McKeever um welcome hi my name is Iris McKeever m-c-k-e-v-e-r um and this is my friend Ursula and we're both in sixth grade at creative science school for the past two years we have been nervous about our school moving uh last year we had the choice to go to a different middle school or stay with CSS I decided to stay with CSS because I love our community and school and I have been with CSS since kindergarten with our move we might lose some of our CSS teachers and staff if we lose them our school won't be the same our staff is what makes our school what it is I worry that there is not enough room for all of us um I worry that our learning space could look uh will what it will look like I heard Bridger had classes in the gym and pee outside if that happens to us it will affect our learning when will we know the full details of the move who is in charge of the move and who should we contact thank you thank you thank you Melinda Dixon welcome hi my name is Melinda Dixon d-i-x-o-n and I'm here to advocate for AP Computer Science classes for all Portland Public High School students um I think it's just you know sort of obvious that there's such a great job opportunity out there I work for a tech company doing training in curriculum design um so I see it firsthand just all the wonderful opportunities that are out there years ago I was an engineering student and I was lucky enough to have a coding class in high school and I saw my friends really struggle with our coding classes in college and they weren't so hard for me um I know kids today that study Engineering also need to be able to be ready for that and of course computer science is just an excellent opportunity for all thank you Veronica green okay my name is Veronica green g-r-e-e-n I am a PPS parent and the lunch lady at creative science School I want everyone to know that CSS never asked to be moved and we've certainly never wanted to displace any staff students or any community in fact we've been excited to make new friendships with the Bridger families and staff when Harrison Park needed a building to house their K-5 we stood back and quietly deported supported that decision for them to move into our building the only thing we told the southeast
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guiding Coalition we wanted was for our entire Community to stay together somehow though our community is now being seen as the enemy in this almost as if we're plotting a hostile takeover of Bridger PPS seems to be pitting communities against each other with this manufactured crisis we desperately need guidance and Clarity but nobody knows what's going on communication regarding staffing has been an absolute joke when we ask questions PPS says it's an HR issue but when we ask HR they don't have a clear answer either when I asked who was hr's boss I was told it was a superintendent but he's very hard to get to um and why hasn't anyone been assigned to make this a smooth transition a smooth transition for Bridger families that we care about and our families if all of this isn't bad enough there's the issue of the building for your capacity is 510 we have 420 creative science students and we know of a minimum of 115 Bridger students that will stay but likely that number is going to be higher why are we going to be over capacity yet there are buildings in the district that are under capacity now is the time for us to fight for our community not just teachers but SEIU and pfsp members as well as a school Community we've been through so many traumas over the last few years on top of the trauma of a global pandemic we need each other there's a reason that there is always a wait list for creative science and that reason is because for 36 years our program has worked many of our CSS students were not successful at their neighborhood schools and have found great success and love in our community they have found a family and a safe space there is a constant narrative coming from PPS about enrollment enrollment is so low families are leaving well why is this happening this mess is a perfect example PPS doesn't Foster Community within their schools or amongst their employees and it's a really bad look PPS created this train wreck and it seems that they are just watching us Crash and Burn well it's time that PBS admits that this is a disaster takes responsibility and implements action to make this right for both communities and I personally am tired of management saying that change is hard or it'll be fine it always works out this change is unnecessary and not working every single staff member at CSS and yes even the lunch lady custodians office staff and parents have created something special within our community why in the world would PPS want to break that up do the right thing and allow all CSS staff to make the move with our kids do the right thing and give us more FTE to help make this transition work and also so we can include the Bridger staff better yet give us our own building thank you Sam Wilcox welcome thank you hello and good evening my name is Sam Wilcox w-i-l-c-o-x and I'm the parent of a sixth grader at creative science school and a former member of the southeast guiding Coalition thank you for taking some time to listen to my public comments tonight on transparency accountability Staffing after school care and overcrowding as they relate to the implementation of enrollment balancing of outer Southeast Portland schools first it has become abundantly clear that information has been inconsistently shared with the school communities involved we would like one set of data and facts commuted universally to all of the involved communities this transparency will allow School communities to focus on actual implementation instead of myriad fact-finding missions and multi-platform inform information sharing roadblocks second we would like to know who is in charge of the implementation of these School moves and program changes for the rest of the process going forward when we have asked for a point of contact in the last few months we have heard a variety of answers including Human Resources Dr o Dr Franco and you the school board we ask that moving forward you place someone in charge who has the time and authority to answer questions this accountability will cut down on the weak responses we are getting from the parties who I just mentioned as they will no longer be able to pass the buck claim ignorance or get back to us third as it relates to myself and my particular School Community creative science school it has become clear that PPS intends to treat css's move to Bridger as a merge rather than a move as
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such the staff are being assigned based on a combined seniority list we asked for an increase of FTE for next year for support staff for both communities front office staff EAS Food Service staff counselors and other support staff have huge roles in student sense of belonging both communities deserve to have that this leads to my fourth topic of after school care we would like to see these programs moving with the current schools to keep communities as whole as possible during pps's implementation of enrollment balancing for example move CSS current program to Bridger Bridgers to lent and Harrison parks to clerk finally as less of requests and more of a series of questions we are also quite concerned about Bridger being overcrowded next year what is the plan for that have any additional Portables been ordered is the holiday campus going to be used utilized and lastly will somebody be sharing with this information and when again thanks for your time tonight and I appreciate the opportunity Jeb Beatty hi my name is Jeff Beatty b-e-a-t-t-y and I'm here before you as a parent of a sixth and a third grader at creative science School I'm also a Monte Villa resident that's lived two blocks from Bridger for the last 18 years and I'm also speaking with the perspective of someone whose mother passionately taught Elementary School for 35 years so I'm here tonight because after more than two years of surveys a guiding Coalition flow analytics virtual and in-person meetings there's still a tremendous amount of uncertainty as to how this upcoming school year is going to work for the affected CSS and Bridger schools and by extension other affected School communities we've received nothing more than vague reactionary answers from the district and have watched individual PPS administrators pass off answers to our question to anyone else that is not available to answer them the most basic examples are clarification of the details of the CSS move to the Bridger building enrollment numbers and class sizes and Staffing details this process of misinformation has led staff PTA and communities to decipher details complex contracts and planning needs these best guesses or interpretations of complex information buried between our two schools because they were not explained to us by the district whether intentional or not this has led to hurt feelings communities at odds with one another and for me personally feeling disconnected from my own neighbors because we are receiving vastly different information from our schools about next year so the big question is who is in charge who is in charge who is leading this massive move who is the person in charge of explaining how these changes are going to affect our communities families and students who is in charge of outlining in writing what to expect so we can make the best choices for our families promises were made to our community that seem to be dissolving trust is also dissolving and at the end of the day we just want to send our children to school knowing what to expect this is way way more complicated than it needs to be why is that I ask you put a project manager in charge provide the same information to both communities that is factual and accurate so we can avoid problems and unite our schools and our communities answer the hard questions what happens to the newly combined School of students from both communities if we don't fit into the Bridger building what is the plan will there be more ftes to staff support positions so students from both schools recognize faces a person in charge could answer these questions if they couldn't they could take them to the accountable PPS people above them to problem solve at CSS we are compassionate Community Builders and courageous problem solvers that is why I'm here tonight asking these questions and demanding answers now our students deserve it the Bridger students deserve it all of the students affected by this all of the staff all of the families deserve answers we want answers it's time to stop deflecting the questions we are asking so who is in charge
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thank you for your time thank you Ryan Healey enjoy that uh my name is Ryan Healey h-e-a-l-y um I'm an electrician here in the maintenance department uh and I started my career in facilities maintenance almost 30 years ago uh worked at Pacific Northwest College of Art and uh Portland Community College then I spent about 10 years in the private sector making some money and now I'm back in the public sector in facilities thank you for your service yeah thanks um yeah and so one thing I've learned over the years is that when when maintenance when maintenance departments are working well they're invisible you don't know that they're there you don't know what they're doing because they're doing their job and it's tempting to think because you don't see what's going on uh that that means that maybe there's nothing going on or maybe we don't need to worry about it uh maybe there's too much uh effort or um uh time or money being spent on this um but uh when you neglect uh the maintenance of your facilities then you start to see Things Fall Apart um it's also tempting at that point to say well maybe maintenance isn't doing their job well I would say it's the other way around if you if if you don't see what's going on that's when maintenance is doing their job when you do see problems that means something else is wrong so uh the the one thing I wanted you to uh to understand is that the skills that you learn on the job uh when you work somewhere for a long period of time uh though those are invaluable skills uh and particularly in um a system like this where you have buildings that stay in use for over a hundred years you have um components parts that are hard to find that aren't made anymore outside workers can't be efficient they can't locate these parts they don't know how to troubleshoot the issues they don't have the benefit of working alongside people who've been solving these problems for a long time and they don't have relationships with the school staff with the people within the system and we often end up being called into correct issues from outside workers uh so protecting your investment it's always going to be cheaper than repairing something that fails at the moment that you need it we spend as much time I would say in new schools as we do in old schools building a new school doesn't doesn't solve the problem of needing maintenance and I think that currently the district is at risk of falling behind in caring for its facilities this problem is only going to get more expensive when there are catastrophic failures risk to safety property disruption of Education to students and higher cost to the taxpayers demand for skilled workers is rising it's only going to get harder to find people to do this work and it's only going to get more expensive to hire people from the outside to do this work uh so I'm urging the district to not neglect this important piece of the system and to place the value that it deserves on the the people within the maintenance department within this system uh at Portland Public Schools thanks for your time Mr Healy thank you Mr Healy for being here today and I just I just want to note um you've made a really compelling case about the work that you and your colleagues do and how important it is it's also work that is often classified as administrative or non-classroom expense but I think you've made a really compelling case about how it does support our kids it does support our classrooms and supports our schools we're going into a really tough budget year but one of the things that you will continue to hear me say throughout that entire budget process is this artificial division between sort of school costs and Central admin or administrative costs or you know service costs it really is a false thing everything the school district is doing is in should be in support of our students and our job as a board is to look and say are there things that are are less important in which case we'll need to de-prioritize those but I just want to stress that I
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really appreciate your testimony and I'll probably refer back to it throughout our budget process so thanks for being here tonight Ms Bradshaw yes we have um the next person is virtual Cody Michelle Haas hi there my name is Cody Hawes h-a-w-s um I have two Scholars at Bridger K5 and a Pre-K candle at Vestal who will be attending uh creative Sciences at Bridger next year um I want to address some issues regarding the upcoming move slash merger of creative science school and Bridger that we as parents field aboard need to address immediately to salvage any positive transition for the two communities and get things started on the right foot first off as we've heard tonight there's a lack of clarity and communication from PPS around the upcoming transition which has caused great deal of confusion and frustration for both schools we need a direct and Swift explanation from PPS and the board about whether this is considered a move or a merger and then what that explicitly means in terms of Staffing decisions and collaborations between our two schools the most important consideration is how to best meet the needs of all students from both schools while keeping the needs of historically underserved students centered eliminating language that implies the Bridger neighborhood program is closing or no longer exists is helpful the neighborhood students still exist and will be at Bridger for example and more inclusive language would be css's joining Bridger transition planning needs to occur with intentionality and include parent staff and administration from both schools and focus on understanding the uniqueness of each community and how to represent that in planning for next year please honor each school's strengths rather than frame the relocation as bringing something better to Bridger take this as a mutual learning opportunity between two communities um we want PPS to commit to creative science at Bridger having three neighborhood classes per grade through K through five for the 2023-24 school year with the current class sizes at both schools this seems critical and the only way to keep class sizes reasonable this would also allow for the majority of bridger's neighborhood teachers to stay on next year and be trained in the constructivist model while having more manageable numbers in their newly mixed classes sorry um the Bridger Community has been through a lot and is one of the schools most impacted by the rebalancing process while we welcome CSS to the building and we're ready to adopt their model it's crucial that our neighborhood students have some consistency next year to ease their transition specifically we would like to have familiar faces for them in the school staff that knows the school's history and understands the needs of our particular student population there should be familiar staff member in the front office and ideally support staff and some specialist teachers that they already know um we want PPS to help figure out how to return to a K-8 with three Elementary strands next year and how that will work in the building lastly there must be a deep analysis of the number of students attending Bridger and how much space the school has as it stands Bridger is crowded based on community estimations we are concerned there will be need to be more space for CSS k-380 Bridger Bridgers K8 just left the school and kindergarten was be able to was able to return because of that move thank you for your time thank you that concludes general public comment great um thank you everyone for your comments tonight really appreciate it um next up for public testimony actually we have our president of the Portland Association of teachers uh president Angela benia thank you for being with your with us here tonight and welcome the comments [Music] all right um so as always uh oh happy New Year hello um I want to start with Kudos so kudos to uh Patty Christensen in the Cub office um and the ptsas and administrators at Harriet Tubman regular school and Scott School who've supported us as we've been reserving spaces at their sites for Community listening sessions we have another two listening sessions happening this Friday Friday morning and Friday evening at wrigler and Scott so we're just really excited that we have been able to collaborate to have space for our communities to come together
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um so I just have a few comments first on the Southeast guiding Coalition right um I just want to first take a moment to remind uh the board about the dissent uh sent in by 17 members of the southeast guiding Coalition when the report was finalized they said the southeast guiding Coalition was given an incomplete toolkit to do the job excuse me set before us leaving us to create a proposal that forces more upheaval on the most vulnerable students and upholds precisely the inequities in our educational system we have been tasked with repairing the rationale behind excluding inner South East schools from the southeast guiding Coalition process was stated as limiting the scope so as to reduce the negative impacts of change during the pandemic but as members of the segc and the broader Community have repeatedly pointed out that decision only limits change for a select group of southeast Portland Students while increasing the likelihood that those involved in the current process will also face further changes down the road how does limiting change for the highest SES students in the best performing schools while placing the burden of balance on the lowest SES students in poorer performing School tools meet the equity goals set forth both in the segc charge and the district's resj policy we have yet to hear a rationale for this prioritization we request that PPS and the board either extend the segc process and include inner Southeast schools to in our work or have educational leaders give a full rationale that illustrates how the decision to exclude the most privileged students from this enrollment balancing process aligns with their own resj policy and as we reach the final steps of this work I worry that PPS management has not taken those words to heart um what I've heard from families and Educators at lent Marysville Bridger and creative science including those who've testified today is that these decisions continue to cause harm so as Pat president I signed a letter of agreement that I believed would allow Educators at lent and Bridger to follow their students and in our contract it states that if a new school is built and at least 40 percent of the new school population comes from a specific school then the Educators would be added to the staff list and they would be chosen based on seniority we rushed to sign this Loa before winter break so we can give Educators time to process and understand their options and I take responsibility that I misunderstood those numbers and thought the schools were just one or two percent below 40 so I wanted to make sure that they would be able to follow their students as I've explained to ppshr staff families Educators um that I believe that I made a mistake in signing that Loa and that I would like to uh rework that language with educator input but that has been refused by PPS so that is part of why we have all received over 150 emails who are inboxes um but I've only received a handful of replies from PPS management I also think about the families that are not sending emails I met with Bridger Educators and uh have been in communication and email with their PTA leaders and they are unsure about the future they do not know what what is next and how to best advocate for their Community they describe feeling like they've lost everything and their school is closing right so you know I think about the families at Bridger who are unable to speak out who don't have access or the opportunity or the language to speak up the Educators who are too overwhelmed or feel too beaten down to speak up and I wonder how we can provide clear and consistent information for Bridger CSS Marysville Harrison Park lent what is the plan right when will they know what to expect because there's been a lot of information put out but I don't think it's been centralized in a way that's easy for families and communities to digest um so I just really hope that we can find a solution that can support all communities and make sure that they feel heard especially knowing that 17 members of the Coalition felt like this was a flawed process next I want to talk about health and safety we live in a city in a country that's been impacted by gun violence the conversation has moved from talking about safety and safety at our schools to talking about bringing back sros and that binary of do we bring them back or not and I want to make sure that I share some thoughts and concerns around the
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health and safety of students and staff when I read about Abby's Werner being shot by a first grader a six-year-old in the chest my heart broke as more information came out I received emails and text messages from Educators with links to the news articles reports from colleagues say that she asked for help one newspaper explained that the child quote the child who was known to throw furniture and other objects in the classroom once wrote a note to a teacher in which he told her he hated her and wanted to set her on fire to kill her and this educator saw the signs and reached out for help her building administrator said to drop it another time the student managed to block a teacher and other students from leaving their classroom by barricading the doors they were only freed after the teacher banged on the door and a colleague across the hall managed to get it open a student was then put on a plan where his family escorted him to school every day this is a plan that relies heavily on families to move their lives around to support their child and that plan was not followed the day of the shooting too many Educators in our district have reached out because they relate to teacher Abby's experience just short of being shot in their classrooms and this is not to demonize or criminalize our students this is to bring to light that the need our students have to bring to light how ignored our Educators feel and how fatal that choice to ignore us can be we need more we need more mental health support more interventions around Behavior we need the public our program administrators and this board to believe us when we say something is not right this kiddo needs help we need the personnel to ensure the burden doesn't just land on the overworked and overwhelmed families so when we talk about safety we can't ignore the unsafe conditions currently in our schools we have buildings with unregulated temperatures mold and rodent droppings we have schools where external with where the external doors don't fully close blinds that don't work doors that do not lock from the inside we have students we have schools where educators are being regularly punched kicked and threatened we have schools where Educators raise concerns to their building administrators and District administrators about student needs and the principals have no way to help now the district has implemented a new Behavior Matrix with less accountability less support and administrator discretion over who should be taken seriously when we are threatened when we are bargaining about student support and safety through article 9 this is what we're talking about age is not a reason to Discount our lived experiences it's not okay to ignore these concerns you need to believe us believe us over the administrators over management believe us because our lives are the ones on the line the lives of our students are the ones on the line so when we talk about safety we also can't ignore the unsafe conditions currently um excuse me outside of our schools right we know that this is not a issue that is limited to school buildings we have to keep the context of our world outside of our school walls in mind we have gun violence increasing in our city for years now schools are just a microcosm of that greater Society of course schools are impacted by gun violence our city is plagued by gun violence and we really do at Pat appreciate how communicative and Swift PBS has been in responding to these incidents of gun violence in our community PBS administrators Multnomah County workers Pat social workers counselors and Educators have been deployed to support students and staff after each incident but what I know is that the answer to gun violence happening in our schools is not to harden our schools with sros and metal detectors but instead to soften our schools by providing the care and compassion and opportunities that our students need to find alternatives to guns and violence we soften our schools by providing proactive consistent and school-based mental health supports we soften our schools by providing time and space for educators and students to connect and develop real genuine relationships we soften our schools by creating real restorative practices that hold our community members accountable and help them develop the problem-solving tools that they need to survive our world because we're in the business of building up little humans and we have to make sure that our schools are a place where students can feel safe and connected learning will happen when students see themselves as Scholars not potential perpetrators as musicians and artists as problem solvers and activists and journalists we know that the PPS Vision aligns with these beliefs and we look forward to making that Vision a reality lastly I want to ask the board to reconsider converting April 11th into a district-wide implicit bias Training Day you've heard me come to this body
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multiple times to discuss the language we bargained in 2020 about providing Educators anti-racism implicit bias and culturally responsive practices training since then we've heard a lot of comments from PBS management and members of this board calling our Educators racists saying that these educators are the reason why the district has disciplined data that shows our bipoc students are disproportionately impacted yet when we bargain language to be better Educators that language is not acted upon until we threaten to write a grievance this school year PBS management is finally engaging with us around that work and for that we are very grateful so when I was told that HR would go to the board to propose April 11th as a district-wide implicit bias training day I was ecstatic you know finally but this excitement was erased when we were informed that the board did not approve the conversion of that student date to a Training Day I understand how important student learning is a teacher and I also know that we're over the number of days instructionally that we need to meet those state standards and I'm just having a really hard time reconciling the fact that we have this harsh language said at board work sessions where one of our board members said quote when you have a cancer you got to get rid of the cancer you don't try to talk to the cancer you don't try to do professional development around the cancer you get rid of it are we yeah direct you can direct it to me correct because I said that yes so thank you board member Holland said when you have a cancer you got to get rid of the cancer in the context around that too yes of course so here's the context they were talking about the disproportionate number of referrals that Educators were writing for students of color what I try to explain to educators that wasn't sorry that was a disproportionate number [Music] of yes okay Lydia in our referral system absolutely there's also one thing that we have been bringing up several times and inconsistency in the develop in the Gathering of data when over years as Educators our administrators have told us don't write a referral for that that's not referable don't worry about that so there is a lack of congruence between what we know is right and what we're told to do in buildings and also the understanding that referrals are not punishment referrals are notification of an issue of a need of a concern so we document it so we can provide that student support so my question really is are we the cancer with the educator shortage that exists are we saying that diminishing that staff instead of training our staff is the is the answer so as an educator my experience tells me let me ask that question yes please so this is coming from a historical piece a historical context when you have teachers where they you have counselors where they're saying well you're not going to go to college that's a cancer because you shouldn't say that to no child and no youth absolutely that goes to teachers who put hands on the students which they shouldn't have that's a cancer so let's be clear what we're talking about I'm not talking about all teachers I'm talking about the teachers that we know that should not be in schools we know that some of the kids know who those teachers are so let's not BS around you know we're looking at the stuff we're talking about the teachers that you know I know that maybe that should not be there when you have teachers using the n-word in class we talk about those type of teachers think thank you for clarifying so I think what's important to point out and I appreciate your clarification is that there are processes and systems outlined in our collective bargaining agreement to remove those Educators from the classroom and what we have found at Pat is that those processes are often not followed by our administrators they if you collect the data I can tell you we have had Educators removed from buildings very quickly unfortunately how quickly is that because as a as a parent if something happens to my child I want to know how that process how long that process takes so for instance if I had a child who was going to a Portland Public Schools teacher put their hands on my child we went through the process and it the teacher was still there and every time my daughter went past his class the trauma kept going and I know and I know we followed the process and the process did not benefit the child so once again I asked you how long is that process to where our kids do not have to endure the harm every single day absolutely that's awful and that should not happen to any student no student should be afraid at school that their educator is going to put hands on them that should not happen again my question is how long is the process yeah I'm I'm pulling up our contract so I appreciate that I appreciate your patience so the process is not outlined by certain days exclusively right so there is first the let me pull
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up these pages on our contract so I appreciate your patience here we go so that's under article 23 in our contract when it talks about educator rights and just cause and it talks about discipline and non-renewal and it discusses that an investigation takes place and that a determination shall be issued within 30 calendar days of the conclusion of the investigation so make sure I understand so trauma happens to my child and there's no determination on how long the election investigation is supposed to take well that's up to the administration and then after that it's still another 30 days that some quote that happened to the teacher or to this to the educator after that point so how long is my child is supposed to endure that harm every day until something happens that is a really great question for District administration because we don't remove staff from buildings the investigation is not done hold on the investigation is not done by Pat the investigation is not done by Educators the investigation is done by the district and so when the district is doing the investigation they then [Applause] talk to all the folks investigate gather the data they go from that investigation make a determination and then they have 30 days to implement that determination so that is up to the district I don't control that timeline so so in the contract as it states that for instance if something like that happened administrator or the district office can immediately get rid of that teacher the I think article goes on to talk about the process for appeals and arbitration which is what happens in every single one of those cases I will continue to look through that for the appeals information we definitely want to make sure that everyone has the right to appeal a determination because as there are some folks who need to be disciplined there are also some folks who have experienced harm as Educators right so I can look those numbers up and make sure that gets to you but the reality is that when harm is done and it violates our students rights it violates our oath and our code of ethics as Educators it's the district's responsibility to hold us accountable and I think it's important to hold Educators accountable I also know that just like in my classroom I have to teach people and I teach students so that I can hold them accountable because the expectation is that if we want you to be anti-racist and you came and just got hired I know that our programs developing educators are not teaching that our educator training programs are not teaching us culturally competent practices they're not teaching us implicit bias training right and so when we put that in our contract we came here saying you're we agree this is a need and we need to make sure that we're training our our staff so students are no longer harmed and so we look forward to having time to have that happen and we are happy that this process is starting but it is still it has yet to happen so when we talk about students being harmed every day how many students were harmed between 2020 when we bargained that language and it was agreed upon and 2023 January 24th 2023 where that still hasn't been implemented I mean I think it's really important as Pat leader at president I have to represent all of our members and I am going to push to make sure that we get what we need to make sure that our Educators can serve all of our students is that 100 but as a board member I responsible for our kids and our youth and that's who I'm trying to make sure that we are here for absolutely I understand the teachers and I love the teachers that they're great they're great teachers but I think and I'm glad you agree with me when we started talking about accountability because just like with our kids we try to keep accountable we need to make sure every single person that our educator that our kids come in contact with needs to be held accountable to yeah I mean I appreciate you and you're in alignment with that yeah absolutely and that's why I wanted to bring this conversation in this quote because I was very concerned to hear that and read that and think man I mean I've been in situations where I've had students who you know black boys who were suspended their last day of kindergarten which is what um and then not receiving support year after year after year they get to me fourth grade I'd be the teacher writing all those referrals because I'm trying to document the need to ensure that we can provide the services so I think it's also really important to think about the
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Nuance in our schools right like the raw number of a bunch of referrals from an educator doesn't necessarily mean that that educator has a bias against certain type of student or group or or race it could be that that's the last educator that actually has something left in the tank to try to document everything that that student has done so that they can get the help that they need oh I agree so that so that means we need to look at the Educators that pass that kid up to that fourth grade right that's accountability stuff I'm talking about so I think as we're looking at in the negotiations that that accountability has to start somewhere and if it's getting to that fourth grade teacher that means that kindergarten teacher first grade teacher second grade teacher that teacher had that kid had we need to be looking at them then and I've had those conversations with those with the Educators because I'll get those next that next year kids and I'm like we think that's where that level of training is important because you hear those Educators say Well they're doing their best or there's the the soft racism right the like it's the low word expectations racism and that's why we need that training because on the face it doesn't seem that bad it's like oh I'm being kind but racism isn't about kind or or mean it's about harm it's about continued systemic and how me as a member of this system and perpetuating that harm right so when we talk about these referrals and we talk about how do we make a better educational system that's actually going to serve all of our students of color the question is how do we ensure that our educators are prepared to do that as well because they're the ones there every single day putting our lives on the line for our kids and I think it's really important that we make sure that we're providing those supports right because Dr Ross Green talks about how we do you know kids do well if they can right kids do well if they can no one wakes up and says I want to have a bad day today and if they're not doing well there's a barrier or lagging skill and I expand that to all humans humans do well if they can if they can't there's a barrier there's a lagging skill and as an educator and as part of an education system my purpose and my goal is to help reduce those barriers support those skills in development so that we can get to that place where every little human big human is able to do their best in this world and I think that that's really vital um I would say that one of the things I was actually going to say to you at the end of your comments today was a little bit of an apology that I do think we missed the mark Andrew and I had this conversation later that night we missed the mark a little bit in our work session on discipline because we did not talk about teacher safety and we did not talk about like I think about what happened at Cleveland and it's a very complicated issue so I think we talked about some really real frustrations and and things that we have lived and seen in schools around um behavior of Educators that is problematic and also we know that there are people like teacher Abby who are crying out for help we have students who are struggling and need more supports and so how do we handle all of that in a really smart way I was at the Cleveland PTA meeting and there were some really awful things said about our children um like who decided that it was okay for gang members to go to school and I think we need to continue to hold as the Forefront that all of our students are worth education all of our students deserve to be educated um and so how do we have this broad conversation about those kinds of ideas that can infect all of us into behaving in ways that do cause increased harm and so I think we need we do need to look at school safety we need to look at discipline data and we need to find a way forward together between the board and Pat and I know that I often get frustrated because I feel like um no one's taking responsibility and accountability sometimes it feels like the board or the district will say well it's Educators in the classroom every day they're the ones that aren't delivering the student achievement they're the ones over referring and then I feel like the union will say well it's the board the board's the one that's or the district's the one not investigating the problem teacher in a timely fashion the board's the one that's not giving us enough support but if we're always so busy blaming each other for the problems we're not working together and so I I don't know how to heal the sort of toxic culture we have in this District but I would really like us to find a way forward because at the end of the day all of us pointing fingers blaming each other and showing up with fear and anger all we are doing is harming our children absolutely I'd like us to move forward absolutely I really appreciate um that director Lowry and I I ask all the time you know is the way that we're operating effective you know we all want to be effective and I just want to appreciate her for saying that I think that's true yeah I absolutely blaming doesn't help find a solution and I think it's also it's important to remember that we're in that work every day and then the goal all of us and the goal isn't to try to find someone to blame but try to find a way forward so that we can solve these
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problems um and you know there is something to be said about personal responsibility right like we all carry that baggage in and we need to make sure that we're checking that baggage at the door so we can best serve our kids um while still staying human so we can connect and relate to them so I look forward to the work that we're going to be doing during bargaining talking about these issues and finding ways that we can support our students and our Educators and providing better outcomes for our students so that they can feel safe and supported and cared for at our schools president thank you for being here today yeah thank you thank you for the engagement appreciate it with your permission chair if that concludes public comment I know that members of our CSS Community uh and Bridger I just want to express I really appreciate hearing their testimony this evening and um uh we knew the implementation of all the dramatic changes in southeast guiding Coalition would be challenging some implementation aspects have gone smoother more positively but clearly not all the details have been worked out and we're experiencing challenges but what I heard loud and clear is a desire for clarity and for more comprehensive communication there's a whole team of Staff working on different aspects of this and certainly we owe you that including the questions that are still outstanding but we should all be on the same page about that so I was going to initially offer sort of an initial response from members of Staff but also it might be more I'll defer to you chair um no I appreciate that superintendent I guess I would I would say just I mean it's your time again thanks for folks coming to testify it sounds like there has been some communication in the community it sounds like there's there's going to be more um um so I oh sorry I thought so I would just say I think that the community has asked some really specific questions and if we can address those tonight and give some concrete like response I think what what I'm hearing from all the emails is just this this fear and this lack of trust and I think if we take some ownership and say we hear you and here are some things we have in place I I think that would be helpful for me as a board member to sleep better tonight um if if that's a possibility superintendent I think the best thing would be to know who it is who's going to be on the staff who's the point just given the Claire's transition the deputy superintendents who led the process until she retired to know exactly who that is and the communicate you know having one point of decision making and information because it I know that staff was closely listening like I was there were some specific questions and we'll try to address those where we can and the reality is that there's staff across a lot of departments who own some piece of this and ultimately I'm accountable and in charge so we don't have a deputy for operations so we'll do our best to make sure that um uh we create an opportunity to inform the communities involved here great I think last up in terms of testimonies tonight we have the Portland Federation of school professionals uh uh and I believe President Batten is here this evening at least thank you for being here I hope your ankle or foot is okay annoying I don't have time for this um I have a short prepared statement but before I read it I just want to add to the fact that this evening is just so timely you had people from the transportation department and you voted on getting fencing for them and the vandalism over there on my way to the school board meeting I had a member call me and he works at the Clarendon Pre-K Center and his catalytic converter had been stolen while he was parked in the school lot today and sadly I had to tell him that automobiles aren't covered and then when I listen to everyone following president Bonilla is she's a hard act to follow and I think of some of the things she brought up in uh we too have been hearing about the southeast guiding Coalition and have been meeting with our staff at the different schools one of the things she mentioned that I think we do need to acknowledge is that
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the entity known as Bridger is closing those people have a real sense of grief and loss and while there are some great plans coming forward and and I um wish it all a good transition it is a loss for this community to have their little neighborhood School gone and the staff there is so worried their biggest concern is the transition of the little ones and making sure that they feel welcome and so I think that's an area we all need to really focus on so that being said I will start with my little statement during the course of this school year other District union leaders and I have come forward at least monthly to share the plights of those we represent they are your employees as they do their very best to support and teach students returning from the pandemic of the last two years everyone who works at this District contributes to the success of a student in some manner teaching supporting students with high needs keeping buildings safe clean and heated our cafeteria workers fill their tummies with warm food and our bus drivers carefully transport the most fragile of our students but we are wary we are disheartened and we are in despair Staffing crisis continues and I fear it will worsen in pfsp we happily work with HR and other departments to welcome and provide resources to our newly hired employees it's a delight to meet them and to make them feel welcome sadly by the time we get our next monthly new hire departure report many of those have already left and those who remain then experience additional exhaustion and overwork please make the employees of PPS a priority we are loyal we are hard-working we are big-hearted people we work on the front lines and in the background to give our students your students the best education we can with the resources we are given pay our members a living wage working one job should be enough let our working parents have family time in the evening their children are your children too Make Your Mark as leadership of PPS provide the most safe well-staffed and maintained schools nationally we have a lot of catching up to do with the rest of the country set a new standard raise the bar be the example show care and compassion compassion for our current students and set the standard high for those students to come give employees strength and hope by providing learning environments conducive to Student Success pay student facing staff and support staff respectful wages lift the expectations of families show them success thank you foreign Scott I'm sprinting rare additional question that I was part of the questions we're answering about the southeast guiding Coalition tonight twice it was said that Bridger was closed and the resolution that we adopted did not close Bridger and there was no school closure report which is required by our policy so this question of was it emerge was it a move but it we clearly the board did not I mean we talked about it at the time but the board did not vote to close Bridger which is part of I think why there is ongoing um questions and confusions about how the staffings work but we we did not clothes and I think I asked at the time and even a couple weeks ago it wasn't that one school is being closed so I I think just in the communication clarifying that because um that seems to be um the impression but that's not what we actually voted for that's true director brim Edwards I I've never understood it as a closure of one school community in this case okay we're gonna move on um absolutely so we're going to move on this expression says something different to be addressed but the board resolution did not close a school there's a whole process that you have to go through that our policy requires when we actually close a school next up is our student Representatives report student representative McMahon
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never quite as full as when it started um but that's okay um I'm still here so I just wanted to talk about a couple of um visits that I've gotten to do and I'm so happy that the oclays didn't actually stayed because you were one of the three students that showed me and Parker my Deputy student representative around dockley green um it was a great time if you want to see pictures they're on our Instagram I would love it if you go check it out um but I just want to mirror what was already said okley is in very bad condition in the building and both me and Parker were surprised by what we saw I think ultimately as we move into legislative session again like we don't have the money for everything that this District needs and there's no two ways about that I mean Andrew has said time and time again and I even remember last year saying you know harm mitigation right like we never will have enough money and it's where can we make the smart Investments moving forward but I think now is more clear than ever as need increases and the money from our state does not that it needs to come from somewhere because the need is so desperate and so I think that's something that our community really needs to bring to the state level because that's where we're going to get the money and I think that as much as we put all this effort into coming to us I think that's so great and it's so important but also we need to show that same effort when we go to the state because they're the people who can give us the additional money that we need in order to pursue projects like improving awkley green and I mean I think you guys I don't know if you've gotten the opportunity I was actually invited by a teacher for Mockley green at couple board meetings well a long time ago at this point um to come and see and I think it is it's shocking and it really is and I think what she was saying in comparison with other schools like there is this desperate need and that's something that needs to be shown to the people who have the money or have the purse and can give us the resources that we need um additionally last week last two weeks ago oh dear it's finals week people I don't know um I visited Lincoln right now we're in the midst of um people signing up for our student Summit this is a really great opportunity for students to get involved at the district level we'll have District leaders there Jonathan Garcia will be there we'll have like a lot of really important staff members um at the central office who you can talk to we've even had some board members say that they'll come and be part of our panel discussion which hey guys if you want to come that we'd love to have you um so I really appreciate the board members that have made the time for that uh so if you're interested please reach out to your ASB at your high school and if you're a middle schooler please reach out to me directly we unfortunately just don't have enough spaces to invite every school or every student in the district but if you're really interested I would love to have students from middle schools represented my email personally and yeah and my supervisor is on the board page so feel free to contact us um and for those watching tonight whether you're a teacher whether you're a parent if this is something that your student would be interested in attending please reach out to us we'd love to try to figure out a way for younger students to be able to make it um and finally I just want to talk about obviously a shooting happened to Cleveland and I was able to address that in my last student report however since then there was another shooting in front of Franklin um unfortunately also a student bus a basketball game including the Cleveland team was playing at the time and it's just and Lincoln yes thank you um and so it is just so hard for all communities that are impacted by it and I just want to kind of continue what I said before but and I really like to see how you know a lot of our partners both at the state level and the local level are really coming forward to highlight the issue of safety but as um president Muni was just talking about it's not a question a binary question of you know do we need sros or not which I think unfortunately something that it's boiled down to boil down to certainly in the media um but it's a it's a broader question I know we're making Investments and I really appreciate the work that Guadalupe and that Jonathan and specifically have reached out to me in particular in terms of helping how do we really make sure that students are not getting their voice lost and I just want to put out a big kudos to The District staff and who have been really um Vigilant about ensuring that students aren't forgotten um but that as these conversations go forward and as it rolls into a bigger issue as we do face this pervasive issue of gun violence in our our city and our state and in this country that it's looked at as the like broader issue that it is and also how it impacts all individuals like parents community members you know the past traumas that it can affect and certainly to how it can affect teachers who are so many times put in a position where you're just immediately the caregiver of your students and you don't necessarily get the time to process the things that happen to you individually um also I'm I'm so I'm hoping that everyone is still functioning hopefully
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better than me during this finals week so good luck to all the students out there who are in the midst of it It's Tricky it's terrifying I know that I've got a couple of grades that are hanging on by a thread um so I look forward to it hopefully all the successes that our students will face during this um unfortunately brutal time for students but also that you are taking the time to rest and if possible which I know it's not always um and I wish you good luck on your finals or whether that's just sitting in your classrooms because you're done with them so thanks thanks and we wish you good luck I'm gonna need it so that's a great Segway uh into the rest of our board meeting and I did note that we were scheduled to get out of here by eight and I want to say that student representative Maine was very excited because it's finals week and she said can you promise me we'll get out of here by 8 and I said yes well we have 11 minutes so I don't think we're gonna make eight but I'm gonna encourage board members to go quickly as quickly as we need please um through the next few items next upper board committee and Conference reports you are not compelled but of course it is if there's something to report uh it would be interesting to do so and I will not go down the list I will just open it up if anybody has anything relevant they want to share interview s meeting tomorrow at one and we're going to be following up on the convenient that we had last week with the city county sheriff multiple stakeholders on gun violence and student safety among other things and checking in on our legislative agenda in the beginning since this session is underway thank you and actually I'll just I was going to wait until the committee reports are done but I'll just I'll I will segue just to um um I think everyone saw the meeting we had with local jurisdictions and just to give a little bit of an update we are going to talk again you're going to talk at your committee tomorrow about how to follow up on some of those things but um you know we did bring together lots of different resources from the city the county the District Attorney's Office the U.S attorney was there um and you know it was a really good and Frank conversation and even some information that was not related to schools was you know sort of shared in terms of like oh that's an interesting program that our staff should follow up on the the immediate things that came out of it for me were making sure that we've got all the systems in place to connect you know connect to the city and county in you know with our at-risk youth so you know our teachers our students our teachers are our administrators are often the ones who and this came up earlier in the testimony are often the ones who can identify at risk youth how do we make sure and a lot of that already is happening but how can we make sure that those systems are formalized um really um coordinating summer programming again we did Summer programming the city has some summer programs the county has some summer programs how do we pull all those things together to make sure that we're coordinating and again hitting the youth that are most impacted that are most at risk and then really just having uh uh well actually I said you know close connection between School staff and some of the Multnomah County programs so the city programs and the Multnomah County programs identify those at-risk youth those were the really short-term things there are some longer term conversations that I think you know we're going to need to have as well but it was uh it was a short conversation but I think a really a really powerful one and hopefully sets the tone for for continued cooperation moving forward may I ask because I wasn't at the meeting if I'm sorry that sounds really loud um if there's any attention to preventative I mean so the programming is really great it's after the fact is there any talk about what we can do earlier on in terms of literacy wrapping around kids so we're not putting our efforts into the programming whether we're preventing um this type of violence yeah no and that issue came up a lot about you know Upstream is obviously um um you know much more effective and and I think that got to primarily some of the county programs that are really geared at that as well as our school district obviously we provide a ton of those wraparound services so but yes that that was definitely came up um and and and you know I mean you know the predictably at the press conference it was about school resource officers and I think we're really trying to change the public conversation that's not unimportant it's a conversation we should have it's a conversation we are having we're having focus groups with our students with our families other stakeholders we're going to talk about whether that's something to do but it is just one component and and I think your point um is that there are so many other things that are potentially going to be much more effective and and if we can broaden that Community conversation to talk about all the interventions I think we'll be we'll be better off and to that end I really appreciate the staff for taking a really broad engagement approach and really listening to students and you know this affects everybody so I really appreciate the intention around the focus groups and hearing from all stakeholders terms of prevention just to Andrew's point about coordination you know we have data that shows that um with our
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summer programming last year we had like no no incidents of students who had been involved in summer programming uh subsequently involved in community violence likewise the city has data that shows that from some of their Investments last summer so it's about activities but it's also job training they're gonna they're investing in more things like that so we really need to make sure that we're connected because there are quite a lot of resources being brought to bear on the issue now we just need to connect the dots a little better any other committee updates or reports for the board policy committee meeting on Thursday it's virtual because we are giving up our meeting space to support our building leaders and some work they're doing here at the pesc so I love that we have that technology okay before we move on to the calendar um director green did you have any thing you wanted to share I do thank you so um last I believe was last week in our facilities and operations meeting I made a statement followed by an action about domestic violence and an association with Roosevelt High School and treatment and when I made that statement and that reaction um I wasn't thinking to the trauma that that could possibly cause for someone else it came to my attention that that that that did happen and my intention cannot be negated by the impact that it was caused so I'm not going to try to justify it I simply have to say I am extremely um sorry I don't want to say I apologize because what are you apologizing for and then go ahead and get to it say you're sorry so I want to say that I'm extremely sorry for the the trauma that my words and action or both may have caused and it is my intention to not cause trauma to to anyone and I have to learn from the mistakes that I've made and so as I move forward I have to think about how my actions might cause someone else trauma and is it worth is it worth it and the answer is obviously no because it's never okay to call someone trauma uncomfortability is one thing trauma is something completely different and so for that I am extremely sorry and I promise that I will do better I can't say that I'm never going to do it again I'm just saying that I will get better and I did it publicly and so I I needed to make the apology publicly because as a as a person that represents the community you can't do it in the back you know do it in the public and then say I'm sorry in the background if you did it outside you get it outside you get it where you gave it that's what I was taught and so I'm sorry I could all learn from you thanks director green next item on our agenda tonight is for us to approve the 2324 school year calendar uh this is one of the most anticipated votes this year for students families and staff even in my own household they're like why are you approving the calendar that's for real the conversation that's happening um we had an opportunity to review the draft in our last work session earlier this month during that work session we asked staff to indicate on the front of the school district calendar major religious and cultural holidays in order to avoid scheduling school-wide thank you director room Edwards for that suggestion um to avoid scheduling school-wide or sponsored efforts on major religious uh holidays and cultural events this includes the scheduling of PPS sponsored events such as field trips back to school nights Etc and staff has included the message on the calendar with that do we have a motion and a second to adopt resolution 6634 motion second director Holland's moves director green seconds and is there is there any board discussion just got one thing really quickly I said it at our work session but I'll say it again since I won't be here um it was relayed to me in that work session when we first looked at this that no students were directly addressed or like asked about the schedule just something that I think we could potentially try to implement next year even if it's something that you want to kick to DSC which is a great way to engage students that we can still do in a timely manner so I make that suggestion and I hope that's something that we can take on next year when doing this process just a short short comment I do want to thank Steph for supporting the students who and the policy committee for supporting the students who came last year and asked us to have our calendar be more reflective of the diverse the diversity within our school system and I think this calendar this year is a great start I've you know
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in all my 50 years of PBS I've never seen the calendar that starts to reflect really the diversity within our and the diversity of the celebrations and the cultures within our school system so I think that's great um I also would ask that we just consider it a first step because there was um that there's other things that we need to consider and I say I think of course First Step it'll be great to see how it gets implemented um what sort of supports we need to give just to school communities administrators central office of all those people who schedule things um so that we can avoid um putting School activity important school activities at the same time we have really important Community or family celebrations um but I think this is a great first start so thanks to everybody and and really to the students um who um and other and other community members who have raised this issue over the years that we need to update the calendar to reflect our community better thank you any other board discussion Ms Bradshaw is there any public comment the board will now vote on resolution 6634 to approve the 2324 School District calendar all those in favor please indicate by saying yes yes yes I'll opposed please indicate by saying no student representative McMahon yes are there any abstentions I guess all right resolution 6634 is approved by a vote of five to zero with student representative McMahon voting yes thanks everybody um next up we have first reading of a policy revision and a policy rescission revision recision director Lowry would you like to introduce the vision rescission item yes I'm sure you've all uh read the memos that came along with these policies so this anti-racist policy basically yes refer them twice that's anti-rate because we didn't do them last time because we were long this anti-racist policy basically just includes volunteers and our partner organizations in in the work and that is uh revision from some State language so that's the first one and then the there's no vote on that and then the recision is around presentations by citizens and employees and again that just doesn't fit our current practices of how we engage with our employees and the public great thank you director Lowry so the policy is proposed to be revised and rescinded respectively we'll be posted on the board website and the public comment period is a minimum of 21 days contact information for public comment will be posted with the policy and the board expects to hold the second reading of these revised policies on March 7th 2023. next also policies we have a second reading and approval of a revision of the compulsory enrollment age and grade level and entrance policy 4.10.020p and yes this policy we discussed at the last meeting director brim Edwards and you had asked about any public comment and so we were we sent out public comment we didn't receive a great deal on this and there wasn't a lot um the the biggest cohort or our tag families that are concerned that this um age change will affect those most precocious of Learners um I think what the thing we discussed in policy committee was the um inequitable application of this and those students that took advantage of it um so uh the policy committee recommended sending it to the board for approval excellent uh do we have a motion and second to adopt resolution 6630 to as I said adopt the revised compulsory enrollment motion [Music] resolution 6633 uh is there any board discussion about those policies I'm making a motion to to um put up the correct one yes uh any board discussion okay Ms Bradshaw is there any public comment s there is not can I request that you know who yes sorry director green moved and director Holland seconded thank you and no public comment and I'm sorry I went so quickly director matters did you have more discussion report this um but I just want to raise the issue of um there's just in the staff report there's discussion about um who has access to pre-k programs and who doesn't um but we we don't actually have that much information and we don't have information about who has access to full day high quality preschool and um as and I'm speaking as somebody whose birthday is September 5th who who went to kindergarten as as a four-year-old um but it went on because I went early but because I don't know number three I was I was well behaved though at that age
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um but the issue of um some of the staff report talks about that this because we don't we don't know that every student has access to high quality um full day preschool and the staff report talks a lot about it's the reason why we're one of the reasons we're getting away getting rid of it is because middle class white families use that and I would just say I there are going to be cases in which um I think we should be careful that just because middle class white people use it doesn't mean that's something you should get rid of but maybe it might be that we want to make sure that everybody has access to it um so I just I felt somewhat uncomfortable with um you know the logic of like we don't we don't need to have this option because there's you know there's now going to be more full day preschool um but that actually isn't true yet so I I just want to hold that because I know people there was people who like hey we have a different set of circumstances um and we've had this process but that people can petition in and I don't think people petitioned in for bad reasons um and we also because there isn't full day high quality preschool available to everybody that it sometimes this is an option again I'm going to support the policy but I was somewhat concerned about some of the rationale for like here's what we're getting rid of it because I don't think this is clear-cut as um the the rationales that were presented great any additional board comment okay the board will now vote on resolution 6633 resolution to adopt revised compulsory enrollment age and grade level at entrance all of those in favor please indicate by saying yes yes yes I'll post please indicate by saying no student representative McMahon yes are there any abstentions resolution 6633 is a pro approved by a vote of seven to zero with student representative McMahon voting yes next we're voting on a second reading or approval of rescissions of the following policies um 3.40.030p on school demonstrations uh little I little i 3.30.037 p solicitations of community campaigns do you have a motion Resolute motion and a second to adopt resolution 6628 second uh director Holland's moves and director to pass seconds is there any more discussion is Bradshaw is there any public comment no and again I would just say that as the policy committee brought these forward these are again things that aren't in um aren't in our practice anymore until they're outdated policies that don't follow how we do business we're just cleaning up the books yep appreciate that the board will now vote on resolution 6628 to resin board policies all those in favor please indicate by saying yes yes yes please indicate by saying no I forgot to vote Yes [Laughter] it's finals week you mean it's okay student representative McMahon please indicate your votes are there any abstentions resolution 6628 is approved by a vote of seven to zero with student representative McMahon voting yes are there any other items or business for the board tonight 806 it's representative McMahon the next regular meeting in the world will be held on February 7th and we are


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