2023-05-04 PPS School Board Work Session

District	Portland Public Schools
Date	2023-05-04
Time	18:00:00
Venue	PESC Auditorium
Meeting Type	work
Directors Present	missing

Documents / Media

Transcripts

Event 1: 2023-05-04 Board of Education Budget Work Session

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because best one yeah man what's up foreign thank you Hospital s
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don't worry foreign everybody foreign foreign [Music] foreign [Music]
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um Vietnam is um foreign pick detectives foreign foreign [Music] foreign
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foreign you know [Music] is okay foreign foreign foreign it's like yeah
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foreign foreign foreign everything okay thank you [Music] foreign yes is thank you
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hey everybody I don't know if you can
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hear me through this but I just want to
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let you know that the board is still in
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the executive session they're trying to
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wrap up and get down here thank you for waiting um Let me let the tech know the board is wrapping up their executive session they're trying to get down here as soon as possible so that thank you for waiting thank you come here guys this is good so that's why we are waiting welcome everybody we're going to get started in just a couple minutes when folks come down we've had two meetings already today and I apologize we're running about 20 minutes late but you can keep talking probably about two minutes anything about it kill me
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thank you foreign foreign thank you very much thank you very much
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okay we now have a quorum thank you director Hollins all right so this board work session and budget hearing of the board of education for May 4th 2023 um is called to order all items being considered this evening are posted on the PPS website under the board in meetings tabs this meeting is being streamed live on PPS TV services website and on Channel 28 and it will be replayed throughout the next two weeks you can check the district website for replay times um we I know we have a number of people who made an interpretation tonight we did um ask for um at least Spanish language interpreters to be here tonight and my understanding is they may not have made it yet and if I'm mistaken about that if there is the Spanish language interpreters that are supposed to be here if you could stand up but I don't believe that's the case so we are working really hard to make sure that we find a Spanish language interpreter for this evening we will continue working on that as we get this meeting underway um just wanted to let you know that that that is something we will be doing um as we move forward um with that we are now convened as the budget committee and the purpose of tonight is to hear public comment on the proposed budget and to have an opportunity to ask questions and request further clarification on the proposed budget before we move on to public comment I've asked superintendent Guerrero to share a high-level overview of his budget proposal for the 2023-24 school year superintendent sure and I think we I have just a few slides for you directors good evening just a high level overview I think we've spent the last number of meetings providing contacts staff walk through highlights of my budget proposal so I'm going to jump in as I'm going to start and not wait for the slides in the interest of time but first let me say Buenas is [Music] tonight so as part of our annual budget development processing calendar at U of now received my proposed budget for the 23-24 school year for your consideration into volumes this past week you were able to hear highlights of what's contained within part of our our process is to provide opportunities to continue hearing your directors and the community's input and feedback we're working towards a couple of key dates at this point an approved budget vote hopefully on May 23rd with an adopted Budget on June 13th those are the dates where backward mapping from tonight just going to touch on a few highlights and objectives that the budget proposal aims to accomplish of course as you've heard previously the key challenge which PPS and other Oregon districts are faced with is how to develop a balanced budget that addresses the Myriad of student needs amid escalating operational costs within the resource constraints that we have on May 17th that's a key date we're expecting a May revision to be published by the state which with continued stakeholder advocacy thank you those of you out there who are advocating we hope to observe increases in the state's School fund for public education in Oregon we want to be optimistic about that that there will be at least another increment of investment hopefully that we can expect to receive it would help to alleviate some of the financial pressure that we're feeling and permit us to invest more deeply in a few critical areas I'll recap the areas we are presently prioritizing and I also want to make mention of a couple of areas where we still hope to also invest the district's budget as it gets further refined as plans get further developed anticipating a potential additional increment of Revenue so jumping to the next slide you've heard over the last couple of months directors details related to some of the key variables that impact both our revenues and expenditures next slide please enrollment continues to decline here and across Oregon we've talked about that you've seen the numbers our state revenue is pegged to that enrollment state revenue isn't keeping up with the escalating costs of operating our schools you've heard us describe that and at the same time our students needs continue to grow we feel a real urgency to prioritizing supports to our students very real academic and non-academic needs we believe we've been able to implement strategies to help address many of these needs by maximizing and centering our students with our Student Success act dollars with the help of pandemic relief
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funds they've certainly been helpful but these are one-time resources in many cases they'll be ending soon and districts everywhere are facing a rather perilous fiscal cliff so I think board members and Community are aware of these factors despite these constraints I think you have in front of you a comprehensive balanced package of proposed Investments that build on the school system's positive momentum IT addresses key priorities we've identified as a district it keeps our eye on the prize which is building the organizational capacity we require to ensure students are making progress towards the board's goals for increased achievement outcomes especially for our most underserved School students uh as I shared with you up front in my budget message I think we're at an inflection point we have as a school system a vision a plan the goals uh that we're starting to observe indicators of success so you know our challenge is to be efficient and how we integrate how we align how we leverage all of the available Revenue sources to keep building on those shared successes directors have heard about an array of academic and social emotional supports we've instituted more recently just to name a few you've heard about the high dosage tutoring expanded credit recovery options instructional Specialists supporting our students we've described the increased mental Behavioral Health Services The increased School counseling school-based social workers psychologists substance abuse support and in addition one feature moving forward is the evolution of our professional learning Service delivery model as a school system so that it's more responsive to the input and The observed needs of our school communities that includes a shift from having a set of centrally managed teachers on special assignment to a model where every elementary middle and K to Aid school has a full-time instructional coach to support Educators directly to help Drive School Improvement efforts every High performing District that's interested in improving outcomes for students has to ensure it invests in the capacity building of its Workforce this increased investment We Believe will provide more schools with the ability to better serve and support Educators students and the implementation of new curriculum and shared best practices we've also heard that many school communities didn't have the purchasing power or the discretionary resources to identify specific strategies at the campus level so in response we've added another feature we've identified that every site will receive a school Improvement Grant of at least a hundred thousand dollars already we're observing that schools are electing to invest in additional staff Partnerships and other targeted efforts to narrow opportunity gaps with these allocated Monies so this budget proposal aims to sustain our investments in teaching and learning Excellence will continue to support our instructional framework continue to adopt robust standards aligned to new curricula we'll continue to offer a variety of professional learning opportunities to our Educators and school leaders we don't want to lose any momentum that's all covered in the budget message in far greater detail in the budget itself just wanted to provide that context at high level framing to continue clarifying what this budget proposal seeks to accomplish one of the areas we regularly hear our stakeholders voice as an important priority is one that promotes the ability of our Educators to better meet the personalized needs of each of our students and that's striving to maintain an ideal class size so despite an enrollment drop of close to 4 000 students this proposed budget maintains a positive staff to student ratio by investing teachers I'm going to invite Dr Renard Adams to speak just a little bit about our steps to ensure that PPS continues to have one of the best class sizes among Oregon's largest districts last year we invested as ceremonies to keep class sizes low next year even as we take steps to align classroom Staffing to our student actual student population we're still anticipating keeping class sizes our class size levels given the resources available as ideal as possible so there's also been some recent questions from Community just want to you know address those this evening as well regarding class size ratios at the secondary level so Dr Adams is going to clarify those here next next Slide the next slide please can I have the next next slide please I don't know who's driving I don't either there we go thank you so much um good evening again directors um during our last meeting we shared with board directors that 98 of our elementary school home rooms are projected to be below our class size maximums and that our average class size at the elementary school level was projected to be 22.6 we also showed um as we have done in the past a histogram that showed the counts of all the various class sizes so you can see what
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the actual experience is like on the ground since that time we know that there's been conversation and discourse regarding secondary class sizes unlike elementary schools where we staff and allocate staff based on homeroom teachers in middle and high schools we staff using teacher to student ratios those ratios are noted on the slide before you at the middle school level we provide a base staff out allocation of up to five teachers depending on the size of the school and the status of the school whether it's Title One or in some level of improvement and then we use student teacher ratios of between 22 to 1 and 27 to 1 to staff to school depending on size at the high school level we have a base allocation of between five and nine teacher FTE depending on again the size of the school and the status and then our student to teacher ratios that we then flesh out the rest of the Staffing range between 23.4 to 1 to 26.8 to 1. class important to note that class sizes at the secondary level are complex as they are the result of course offerings student interests and where specific courses are placed in a schedule which often depends on the theory of action that the school as determined by the principal and their ilt their instructional leadership team an example of that is where to place Singletons or how you put together common planning times for teachers who are teaching like content and so we wanted to just share this information because we haven't shared it publicly in the past and we know there's been some conversation on our secondary class sizes as well superintendent thank you Dr Adams and next slide I have a quick question sure can you explain what base is there sure so it's called a stepwise function that means that instead of starting with no staff we give you one FTE to five FTE and then use the ratio based on the number of students projected into the building to add the additional FTE that the Stu that the school has actually allocated and are those teachers are that they're teachers okay we have different ratios for administrators counselors all the other various staff these are just teachers you're welcome so directors you've heard staff uh provide an overview on some of the key aspects of the budget proposal we're all anxious to hear an updated state revenue forecasts on the 17th and a final budget from the legislature and Governor uh before I turn it over to you I just want to make mention of a couple additional areas in development for directors to keep in mind as the budget continues to get refined and finalized there are areas that I know are important to our school communities they're important to me as superintendent I think they're important to directors as well that one of those areas is Middle School supports I think as we've all observed our students in the Middle grades in particularly are being challenged in this post-pandemic environment not only is there a critical need for additional academic supports but we've also witnessed a real need to address School climate and students social emotional needs so this budget continues you know proposes to continue to include significant Investments which we've been increasing year over year to support middle school Success that that includes things like modifying the Staffing formula and the way that they're distributed we've increased more middle schools moving to a seven period day to expand the experience for our students that'll be 10 of 15 schools in the coming year we've continued to dedicate Sia funding to increase counseling at all middle schools we've added social workers at designated schools and Title 1 schools as well we've added AP resources to provide seven schools to make sure that they had funding beyond the formula for for administrative capacity and we made investments in a restorative justice coordinators at nine middle schools that's going to be continuing that's kicked off so there's been some some great progress there however we believe if there's room if rooms should arrive to do more we have a responsibility to to do so if we can so in addition to the new full-time instructional coaches and the school Improvement Grants that each of our middle grade schools is going to be receiving we're going to start integrating some of those Middle School redesign efforts that we've been excited to launch into the that includes a focus on integrating a broad expansion of advisory to help provide dedicated regular time and space for social emotional learning for example to occur in our middle school so we're excited for the team multi-department-wise to continue working on developing a plan there's a lot more details we'd love to speak to the board about as appropriate and include our administrators on some of the suggestions they've made there's a second area I want to make sure and and point out so so we can bookmark it and that's in school safety uh We've we've we've all spent if we go to the next slide we've we've spent significant time on this subject this year tragically we've put a lot of significant attention both locally and nationally
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with our youth I know we all share a commitment that our students should feel safe in their learning environments that's families should feel confident in the systems we use to keep their students safe we've done now months of stakeholder engagement I want to thank the many students Educators School leaders campus security staff board members and others for their participation in a series of focus groups from those insights input and expressed concerns have emerged some action steps that we can take to create and be responsive to the desire for more positive learning environments for both our students and our employees so I don't want to ruin the punch line but in the coming Tuesday you're going to hear that set of recommendations and you'll be seeing those materials momentarily you should be receiving those so we'll be discussing those with the school board and the broader Community this coming Tuesday with these there will need to come a level of investment that you know we'll need to think about how we preserve to make sure we can integrate that into our District budget for the coming school year as well to support some of the elements that have been lifted up or identified to help improve school safety so I think you'll be pleased to hear some of the elements that are in there that we heard loud and clear I'll cue you in on on just one you know additional campus security agents in our middle schools you know is something we heard loud and clear for example so each of these ingredients are going to have a cost some are going to be time and effort but I think they're going to be important overall that we support so I just want to keep that in mind as as we hear any increased or improved forecasts that those are two two areas that I I know that are important to to all of us so and then just lastly I I think the proposed budget you know represents I think a comprehensive and coherent set of Investments and activities that will keep our school system moving forward of course there's always room to fine-tune and continue getting two-way feedback but I think we're in route to accomplishing a lot of shared goals so for tonight in the coming weeks we look forward to hearing any further feedback or questions that directors or members of the community may have so with that thank you great thank you superintendent so just um so the board understands and the public as well um tonight this is a a budget hearing and so what we're going to do is we're going to actually start with public testimony after and I believe right now we have about 20 people roughly signed up at two minutes per piece so we're going to try and take all of those folks but I want to make sure we break by 7 30 and at that point we're going to come back for board questions um and comments and other other things that we may want to talk about as a board um and and and then to the extent there are other people who sign up we will try and come back and hear them at the end of the process tonight as well um okay great so if everybody can hear that so our board manager saying we do have a Spanish language interpreter online and Roseanne how will people access the online interpreter but people who need that interpreter can they also log on virtually or is it going to be so people can testify it got so when people are testifying in Spanish The Interpreter will help us great thank you very much for for finding that I'm sorry that for the inconvenience um with that we are going to move chair but but I guess [Music] there's a hand in it yeah right it's a really important you know and that's why I'm frustrated that The Interpreter we needed to have tonight is not here um yeah but I mean it needs to be real time um thank you I'm gonna I'm gonna take a two-minute break and we're going to discuss this
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for just a second so we'll be right back thank you foreign people this is please okay
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foreign between me foreign okay thank you for the pause great we'll bring the meeting back to order and and thank you for flagging the issue and I just want to say I'm on behalf of the district my apologies that we didn't have an interpreter here due to simultaneous interpretation um I believe we have an interpreter online and we're going to bring her in on zoom and she will do simultaneous not simultaneous she will do whatever the opposite of simultaneous is when people come up to testify we'll ask you to just pause every 20 to 30 seconds um and so that that the interpretation can happen and then continue again um I think that's been explained by Guadalupe do you want to explain it again in Spanish [Music] interpretation Services por favor thank you and the most important thing tonight is to hear from the public so I will also ask my fellow board members this the testimony will take a little bit longer as a result so our board conversation will probably be truncated a little bit um as as a result but I think it we want to make sure we hear testimony on both sides so with that I'm hoping that this works um Cara do you want to call people up two at a time sure Christopher tula and Jacqueline Luna and as we go into testimony everyone will have two minutes with the interpretation obviously we're going to be um that's going to be twice the two minutes and so it's going to be a little bit difficult to time I would just ask you to try and keep your comments focused and the more the the quicker we can get through individuals the more people we can hear from in the room so with that we're going to go ahead and do a test I think we have Lydia online and I think we can hear her foreign anos cancer programming restaurants families good afternoon members of the board thank you for listening to my story with well I do not have children in the last 20 years I have seen the impact that this program has had on our families Unico foreign
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is a unique program it creates an environment of community where children can identify with being in a space where there are people like them who speak like them in a skull in a school setting families having these kinds of programs in schools creates a welcoming environment and takes away fear for many families desucos I know many families in the community whose children have finished high school and have gone on to the university I have seen changes for parents and how they educate their children and the Consciousness how conscious they are when they are knowing that they are the first teacher of their child is this program helps parents know not to feel scared to approach the school to ask questions about how their children are doing how their grades are going what they are learning and to talk with their teachers about their education um [Music] is offers a lot of tools for parents to support their learning at home some of the examples are they learn how to support their child and how to teach their child colors numbers let letters routines and songs is the impact is not just on our families but also for our school teachers knowing that they're our children are entering School better prepared participants is when children enter school they are better prepared to follow routines they have better understanding of colors of numbers and it's really important for this kind of program to continue from Early Childhood it makes a great impact on the family we need these funds to continue to support our children and our families to continue forward thank you board thank you [Applause] we've been superintendent member of the board my name is Christopher tula and I go to Belmont Middle School I'm 13 years old and I'm in second grade I participate in the social program that Latino Network offers at my school sold as a student aggravation for leadership I come and thank you for allowing Latino Network to be our at our school the soil program has helped us in many ways we meet during lunch and they always bring bring good food the soil program bring us together we all we are a big group of Latino students many of us have no return since elementary the school programs mentors pause for just a second because if we're going to do the translation sorry I just need to are you you're not doing translation for it no I just want to make sure Lydia has a
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chance before you get too far in Lydia were you able to hear that my trans [Music] can start again I apologize if that was unclear yes please okay sorry could you just yeah start start again and pause every 20 to 30 seconds would be great good evening superintendents and members of the board my name is Christopher tula and I go to Beaumont Middle School I'm 13 years old and I'm in seventh grade onions I participate in the assault program that Latino Network offers at my school so as a student organizing for leadership I come to thank you for allowing Latino Network to be our school the soil program has helped us in many ways for me during lunch and they always bring great food because um the soil program brings us together we've been we are a big group of Latino students many of us have known each other since elementary in the soil program we have many mentors like Joseph Aaron and Miss Anna who care about us and want to help us we need more people like them to be our role models foreign and I wish for the program to stay at my school for many years so other students can enjoy it too is thank you Borneo director for finding programs I sold at PPS gracias for Testimony [Applause] Isabel Johnson and Amy Miner thank you again for being here and just again if you could pause every 20 to 30 seconds for translation we'd appreciate it why do we have a however it goes either one can start yep and I'm sorry can you hear me at the mic or yes okay apologize uh thank you very much for the opportunity to speak tonight my name is Isabelle Johnson are we doing the standard Isabel j-o-h-n-s-o-n um and I'm a parent at Glencoe Elementary I think I've met most everybody at the board thank you I really appreciate the opportunity to speak tonight and I I did have one question if I'll try and make it super brief um and actually if you could just pause we'll do the translation sorry I know it's hard to remember but yeah okay uh when as women Johnson um and I just want to say uh sorry I wish I could translate for myself unfortunately I grew up in Canada and learned French and yep um I was just wondering if we do get more funding from the state which I know is very iffy how much comes to PPS I'm tried to work out the numbers I was just curious is that something that is an easy answer um do we have an easy yeah so again a very high level number um roughly eight percent and we get it over two years is that right okay okay thank you
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um and I guess sorry let me translate that um um so I just the two things um so when the budget email came out and and I do understand the constraints I started reading it and I felt immediately a lot of feelings about it because although it's touting the 22.6 per class um when your child is going to a class of 30 plus it's not that comforting um Portland [Music] and I understand the need to paint I think a Rosy picture on what feels like not enough funding for anyone but I wish we would hear more and I know that the district is doing things that we probably can't see but what is being done to increase our funding because what it feels like is everything is just cut cut cut um scholar [Music] and then I'm apologize this would be a little disjointed my last point is when I finished reading the budget email I felt really sad in that I felt like there was a real dig at the Portland Association of teachers and I am sure that that wasn't the intention but I just as somebody who sees my son's teachers they're working so hard and I just often feel like our teachers aren't getting the respect that they need and deserve um [Music] [Music] I'm sorry can you repeat again that uh PPS is not um giving teachers it was it the support or the I would say either would work I think I I ad-libbed a little bit of that with the translation I'm sorry I've I went a little off script so I'm not sure I could actually exactly repeat it okay that's okay whatever's close enough knowledge is and I don't think for most of I don't think what teachers are asking for is unreasonable I think it is reasonable to be paid an amount that allows you to live in the city you're teaching in I think it's reasonable to be paid for all the hours that you work and I think it's completely reasonable to have class sizes that allow you to connect with all your students can you please repeat that last part the last sentence adolescence was I think it is completely reasonable to have class sizes that allow you to connect with all your students estudiantes and lastly perhaps we can't get there this year but I really hope someday we do sooner rather than later thank you
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is hacer okay um gracias thank you okay all right thank you very much for the opportunity to speak tonight my name is Amy Miner m-i-n-e-r and I'm a third grade teacher to many amazing students at the online learning academy as well as a Portland taxpayer muy buenas noches is the opinions that I'm about to express are solely my own I'd like to start by thanking the board for asking the difficult questions particularly director Brim tonight I'm joining you to ask more questions and I hope that the highly qualified management staff can begin to answer these questions and hopefully make some changes [Music] most immediately I'm here today to ask the board to support reconsidering allocating funds in the proposed budget for the continuation of the online learning academy in 2023-24 and Beyond is my first question is why I'm wondering why Portland Public Schools the state's largest school district not able to run a fiscally viable online school in 2023 smaller neighboring districts have been running successful online schools for several years that have average or less than average cost per student is um so for Mexico thank you next I'm wondering um I know that enrollment has been an issue and I'm wondering why enrollment information about the online learning academy was not made more readily available for the past two years we know it was not appearing on the website or in other options for families except in a limited context with a specification that students must have a medical exemption to attend [Music] [Music] um I'm sorry can you say the last part half of the sentence of the last part that is not readily available that was not readily available oh that with the specification that students must have a medical exemption to attend ah yes thank you of course there was an expected reduction in enrollment as the pandemic evaded but smaller districts are still running online schools with double the enrollment of Ola it's clear there's not a lack of demand in fact we enrolled 40 students in January the week before we were told we were closing and I can understand oh I'll let you sorry it's hard to remember that's okay and I'm really sorry my my internet broke down for a little bit at the beginning of your sentence can you please repeat that I'm really sorry it's okay um I said of course there was a reduction in enrollment as the covid pandemic evaded however smaller districts are still running online schools would double the enrollment of Ola uh uh [Music] um
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clear there's not a lack of demand because we enrolled more than 40 students in the last week of January uh did you think okay no um noise I can understand the concern that students attending online school might take away from enrollment at Brick and Mortar schools however these are students that are leaving the district and at the end okay I I got um [Music] I'm sorry I'm trying to find the word um and and the end okay um es uh presentes I'm going to try and wrap this up quickly in case you don't know who these students are these are some of our most vulnerable students with autism ADHD anxiety cancer I had as I taught a student who was blind last year families experiencing instability was a lot yeah um in in in catholicus there is no super um so I'm being really liberal at the timer but if yeah if you could wrap up thank you okay last lessons the online learning academy has been able to provide an environment where these students can thrive and I'm just going to ask why we're throwing away the investment we've already made in the online learning academy when we could be moving forward with an online option um Academia [Music] thank you thank you very much gracias [Applause] Christy split and Alejandra Cuesta Monroy foreign great thank you so I'm going to continue being pretty liberal with the timer we do have it set for four minutes so just with the translation and I just want to make sure we can hear from everybody's in the room tonight but with that thank you for being here hi everybody thanks for the opportunity to talk to you guys um uh for my kids uh first one five five years old and my son two years old they are part of the program juntos aprendemos and the other one on the Cinco onions um uh thanks for the program that's been for years and uh when I have my kids I heard about this program and it's very interesting how teachers teach
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my kids how uh to write the numbers colors shapes and they even taught the parents taught us as parents how to treat and how to teach our kids since they start saying the words um uh con classes in this program every Thursday at 3 30 as soon as I get home coming back from work my daughter are ready and having the paper with colors to they have a program uh teaching the ABC or numbers so it goes in sequence like today we got the letter uh e and it was interesting and and then they thought they taught us as parents how we could help our kids with the ABC unless um yes [Music] please consider the found to continue this program it helps the kids to have a great future for better in Portland OR Oregon so please consider the found to continue this program thank you very much Gracia members of the board for the record Christy split hayhurst elementary school thank you for your service and for inviting us to this listening session on next year's budget is first let's go lucky first I know that declining enrollment is a real challenge I'm trying to do this as fast as I can so let's get back here um and I but at hayhurst we have flat enrollment but last year we still lost two teachers um is did you say two teachers yes maestros that's the impact has been especially felt at the kindergarten level where we have 25 kids in each of our kindergarten classrooms we don't qualify for an additional Aid nor a third classroom questions kinder next year we'll lose half of a school
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counselor who specifically worked with that kindergarten class with those high class sizes and um I know that our school is not alone and having flat enrollment and losing staff and I just want to ask that you prioritize keeping class sizes as low as you can taking good care of our kids teachers and Families in the schools when you make the tough decisions you have to make for the year ahead all right internet um can you repeat that last sentence please I can't I'm sure you did a great job summarizing it I'm going to say one last sentence and get out of here and let the rest of the Lil Latino Network folks have as much time as they can today my last sentence is I'm not allowed to come here without reminding you that every school with two social emotional skills classrooms should have a district funded full-time second administrator we do not and I will leave it at that thank you [Applause] um [Music] foreign thanks for testifying [Applause] Miri Zelda Mendoza Claudia Karat and Deja foreign thank you welcome feel free to start okay um hello my name is Mira seldom Mendoza I'm a junior in Jefferson High School I participate in the program Mecha and early escalera and I've been in these programs for about three years and currently am a president for Mecha buenas noches my name is [Music] these programs have impacted me a ton because back in middle school I've never felt like I've had a program that was there for me personally neither one that made me feel connected to my school when I got to Jefferson I was able to participate in Metro and early escalera and meet many people with the same type of backgrounds as me um [Music] um personality um students in a programmer can you say the last part again please when I got to Jefferson I was able to participate in Metro and early escalera um
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I met many people with the same type of background as me and I could relate to them it made me feel comfortable in the type of school space I was in mainly because of this program ikonos estudiantes um I'm really sorry I lost that last part and that you connected this program makes me feel safe and it makes me feel like I can have a place to go to when needed yes especially when I'm having a tough problem I'm glad to even sorry yes um I'm glad to even be in this program especially since it has taught me a lot about my culture ways we've shared our culture but also other cultures in my school was by having an assembly mainly showing off our culture's clothing and what they represent or mean to us significant it was very fun and nice because it gave us a chance to share our meanings behind everything we think is important to us and or meaningful and that should be shared around us um [Music] and I'm sorry I can't translate meaningful um and on the um I'm sorry all done Escuela Gracia while also participating in early escalera I was taught many things about my health and just certain things that I didn't fully know of I'm glad to have gotten the opportunity to get taught those things mainly because it taught me a lot about stuff that I probably would have never learned opportunity in conclusion both of these programs are great for me and my community it teaches us many things we should know but it also gives us a safe environment to be at where we can all relate to each other thank you for your time in conclusion um is is this program as a um my name is Toba and I'm a member of Seoul a Latino run club for Latin American students at West Sylvan and various other middle schools escuelas since Portland has a small Latin footprint the Seoul Club has been working to provide a space for La Latinos and build a positive self-image by using funding for field trips in order to expose us to powerful Latinos or inviting guest speakers to build
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connections with our roots uh importances this is in order to spark Independence and kids to and to enhance cultural identity and uh grow other culture their Community built around Seoul is [Music] um food has also connected us more than words have we've we've learned so much more than with uh so much more without being forced to Define cultural norms and traditions with words palabras for food acts as a form of symbolism by representing taste and techniques developed by various countries at Seoul Club because we have eaten out together as a community represents uh foreign thank you for listening and please reconsider funding this program I've enjoyed this program and be sad if the future students of this program were given less important opportunities that I've been given by kratna the head of Seoul at West Sylvan is thank you board members thank you we have Mia Mariana and Brianna coming up to speak together and then Alberto Plata welcome thanks for being here tonight superintendent [Music] are Mia Flores Martinez Brianna Martinez Marina Ibrahim we participate in support in this whole program that Latino Network offers at my school once a week we come to thank you for allowing Latino Network programs to be offered at Robert gray middle school [Music] and Robert Gray [Music] we enjoy pardon being so because it helps us to be comfortable to have other students like our us as Latino students Escola how however we also enjoy having activities together with friends teachers and family relatives we enjoy eating together and sharing our experiences as Latino students experiences Latinos as well we love to have Hispanic guests like Mario who is a Mexican artist and filters from yeah this is
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we also enjoy help helping Latin and Hispanic and students to achieve their goals at school in Escuela we love to have um new Latin and Hispanic students into our clubs [Music] for us as students we enjoy being part of the Robert Gray community we want to thank krattner for being a good Mentor I hear that many Latino students don't graduate for important Public Schools Seoul has helped us not to be one of those students Portland Public Schools no Linda but when I came to Robert Greene middle school I felt lonely helpless and depressed because to the school I used to go in in Beaverton School District I used I used to be with a lot of Hispanic students who were just like me and to talk to but with the help you guys allowing to funding to Seoul uh I finally had to meet people who were like me and and kratna to support me in in this school good night good night Robert gray um thank you board directors are representing the Latino community and thank you for superintendent for allowing soul and Portland Public Schools thank you for your time [Music] Portland Public Schools thank you welcome thanks for being here hi um good evening superintendo members of this Board of Education my name is Alberto Plata and I haven't worked for the for over four years now as the instructor of the escalator program at Benson High School um my name is [Music] I came to thank you and show my appreciation for online Latino Network programs we offer at PPS schools throughout the years I also come to ask you that you continue to support organizations in programs like escalera yeah um I believe the programs provided by Latino such as escalera hold value and importance to those who participate in them because of the program's positive impact and on their lives and [Music] uh I'm sorry Alberto can you repeat that yeah um escalera holds value and importance to those who participate and then because of the program's positive impact on their lives um ES for those who do not know the escalator program helps support 11 and tough graders in high school but offering a culturally specific curriculum focusing on five main components Community Building academic success College and Career exploration culture and identity and Leadership but we do much more
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[Music] escalera same foca and Cinco secciones is can you repeat again the uh Community Building you want to sell five yes okay uh Community Building academic success College and Career exploration culture and identity and Leadership uh uh [Music] identification cultural Isco uh but we do much more we support students through one-on-one case management where we focus on their academics and issues that prevent them from being successful at school um we support teachers counselors School admins and School staff in general to have a better streamlining of communication with the students and parents who participate in the program I Los estudiantes thanks to the racial equity and social justice initiative not only have we had the privilege to support students but we have been able to grant them experiences such as field trips in college campus business these opportunities go a long way for the participants since those events are put on through a cultural lens and led by staff and students who look like them the the academ is the following is a little story I have to share with all of you I remember back in graduation season of 2019 when I first came into this position a senior who was added to my Kessler was not going to graduate and the help from his counselor alone was not going to be enough to support this student properly um I came in and showed him the possibilities he had After High School I continued supporting him until the end of the school year it went and wet intentional actions and welcoming and encouraging and a encouraging environment the student felt confident in his abilities to work hard and make graduation possible [Music] um this student still sees me as a mentor and that is the impact we have on students lives getting students to the graduation Finish Line as a group effort Benson many of those students who needed that additional support and extra encouragement would have not graduated on time Tiempo reductions to the racial equity and social justice initiative will have a tangible impact on the way we do our work across three of our departments um those three departments are advocacy educational access programs in early childhood but more importantly it would negatively negatively affect our students parents and community
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[Music] um uh personal and address sections organization um Alberto can you say that last part again yes advocacy educational access programs in early childhood but more importantly it will negatively affect our students parents and community families thank you for Board of Directors for representing the Latino community and thank you superintendent for online programs such as escalera the escalator program in Portland Public Schools [Applause] [Laughter] Gideon Sandoval Laura Peraza welcome thanks for being here hello okay um good evening good good sorry um good evening board of directors my name is Gideon Sandoval and I go to hospital Middle School I participate in the Seoul program that Latino Network offers at my school once a week [Music] is I come to thank you for allowing Latino Network to come to my school and teach me and other classmates about latinx culture and allowing me to be able to connect a fellow latinx students Latinos I enjoy being a part of Seoul because I get to go on fun field trips like ice queen field trip we went on and we get to do fun activities like yesterday we got to play game of Jeopardy but it was like it's like it was like cultural trivia program is [Music] for me as a student I enjoy I enjoy being part of the hostage community I would like to thank kratna for being a good Mentor I hear that many let Latino students graduate from Portland Public Schools and I'm glad that Seoul has helped me not to be one of those students ellios thank you Board of Directors for representing the Latino community and thank you superintendent for allowing soul and Portland Public Schools thank you for your time hello board of directors my name is Amir velasius Castillo I'm from Hosford middle school and I'm a part of the Seoul program Latino Network provides buenas noches Amir Velasquez is I enjoy being part of Seoul wait I enjoy being part of Seoul we all get an hour to embrace our culture together and be together as Latinos um such as connect connecting with our culture that connect with our cultures such as food music and learning about other places lugares
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if Soul wasn't available then I might have not been able to meet people that I can relate to and share experiences with especially from being a school that has a majority of white students in I thank you for funding programs like Seoul season is thank you my name is good evening everyone my name is Laura Peraza thank you for allowing me to express and advocate for what I hope to share tonight foreign has been very beneficial to me as a person but also for my family programa I know now about the importance of being involved in my child's education to ensure school Success and to give them the best opportunities in life my children have also benefited with benefited from this program is High School for example my kids now are interested in Reading they do their homework they understand routines they understand rules and more importantly I'm preparing them to graduate from high school thanks to juntos beneficios is foreign has given me is leadership how to advocate for the needs of my family how to advocate for the needs of my community and in schools for my kids I now know how important it is to have good relationships with the administration and Personnel at my children's school and with my child's teacher to be able to support them in their education Linda thank you so much for giving me the opportunity for allowing the opportunity to hear me I hope you have a lovely night so care before you called the next people um thank you again our goal tonight is to listen to everybody who's here we've gotten through about 12 people my understanding is we have about 15 more and I think we've gone through every school that has you know had someone here from that school tonight so again we're here if you want to testify if someone from your school has already said what you came to say you can also feel free to say I agree with that person and then we can move on so I'm just letting you know we're going to keep going through testimony say again yes Lydia did you catch all that what I just said you're sorry um [Music] [Music]
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also do we have virtual testimony at Tdap we do not nobody called on that um no the we had a few and they ended up showing up in person oh okay thanks I just want to know I and I I apologize in advance at 8 15 I have to switch to Virtual because I I thought we were going to be on eight so um but I'll switch to Virtual and still listen thank you great thanks Cara go ahead oh and Lydia I'm sorry I missed that yeah just uh the director brim Edwards needs to leave at 8 15 tonight but we'll switch to Virtual and listen to the testimony in linear Lourdes zorita ortets and Effie Greenhouse great house do you want to read another name or sorry should I start in yeah go ahead thank you I am Effie greathouse I am not speaking on air quality tonight except to say thank you for the good news on air quality this week Greenhouse [Music] I'm here to speak about hayhurst elementary Equity is something we really value at hayhurst because we are a tight-knit community but we are also a very socio-economically diverse community [Music] I'm sorry can you say the second part uh but we are also a very socio-economically diverse community [Music] is social economic we are in a Southwest neighborhood we have some families with high incomes we have a lot of Working Families and many of those Working hayhurst Families live in the jewel of southwest Portland Stevens Creek Crossing our wonderful low-income housing built about 10 years ago [Music] and then uh Southwest and on the um uh I um we have also had homeless families at hair Hurst you've asked PPS teachers throughout the district to serve homeless kids now PPS teachers have asked the district to step up and serve homeless kids too [Music] um they've asked the district to step up and serve all of our kids with fixes in the bargaining Vision that we really need to consider and talk out [Music] um I'm sorry can you say that second part again with fixes in the bargaining Vision we really need to consider and talk out and give it removed [Music] um
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please keep your commitments to the meetings you've agreed to with our teachers um if there needs to be Cuts they should not be happening to school staff needed by students such as hayhurst counselor um we also have Latino kids at hayhurst who will be at Robert gray next year and need the soul program s [Music] where are they going again Robert gray when I eat uh Robert gray Le skola rubber gray and donde banana neces thank you thank you [Applause] Hannah Forest Amir Velasquez great thank you welcome hello board members my name is Hannah Ferris I go to West Sylvan and I participate in the soul program that West Sylvan offers I have come to thank you for Seoul hola buenas noches I enjoy being part of Seoul because it is a way for me to connect with other Latino students in a predominantly white community in the club we have had many opportunities to learn about Hispanic culture me gustas is uh for example Teatro Milagro one of the only theaters that performs plays only made by Latinos I look forward to the club every week because I get to learn more about my culture and where I came from foreign has taught us a lot about Latino history and traditions because Latinos are underrepresented in schools uh what is uh I want to thank her and thank you board members uh for representing the Latino community and thank you for your time for um tempo thank you [Applause] Uriel Sanchez David Contreras welcome good evening my name is Uriel Sanchez Perez and I go to Beaumont Middle School I'm in the seventh grade I'm here because I want you to know how important is for us Latino students to have so a program at our school s [Music] staff from Latino Network come to our school every Thursday to offer sword
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the soul program has helped us in many ways and bring many opportunities our school does not offer we get to see videos about kids who like who look like us Miss Anna read us a book we all really liked it's called Alma and how she got her name now we are working on writing our own book about how we got our name we also have the opportunity to practice respect kindness and how to work out problems for example is [Music] can you repeat the last part about writing a book about yourselves we also have the opportunity to practice respect kindness and how we go and how to work out problems um uh I'm sorry respect kindness no problems ah thank you um Persona uh um um crossover conflictos gracias superintendent the soul program brings us together with good energy and the staff encourage us to spread it among among others ours the students who are in Seoul program really enjoy being there we always look forward to Thursdays to meet I wish for the program to stay at my school for many years so other students can enjoy it too is [Music] please do not cut the money that pays for the food and field trips we get from the soul program s thank you Board of Directors for funding the program like Seoul at PBS thank you very much foreign good evening uh I'm gonna make my testimony short and sweet to give more time for our students and our staff members that work directly with our students my name is sorry my name is David Contreras Machado and I represent Latino Network um Latino Network it's imperative that you continue to fund our programs not only just in Latino network but many like it is you've heard many stories today regarding the impact that we've had with these students and our families foreign but there are many more than you haven't heard yeah I own muchos and Los quinoa the continued struggle that our community faces is representation in our schools um [Music] we not only offer tools to support our students and our families to graduate high school but we give them the ability
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to express themselves and see themselves succeed in our community and in post-secondary studies uh in high school I'm sorry I didn't get that last part uh you could just say high school graduation rates uh um our story doesn't end here and if you choose to change the funding or limit the funding that we have it can drastically affect our community and that is something that all of us hear fear and why are we why we're here to speak on it foreign our community trusts you to make the right decision and we're here to voice our concerns and make sure that you do make the right decision is thank you much for your time and I can't wait to hear more stories from our students and staff um thank you Claudia karate Cham loose looser racia Espinosa is good evening superintendent and members of the Board of Education um my name is Claudia karatacia I facilitate the escalera program that Latino Network offers at Alliance High School serving both Meek and Canton campuses my name is high school in Los campuses Canton Alliance is an alternative high school serving students ages 14 to 21. similar to the program escalera it offers a chance to develop personal skills to help students meet the challenges of graduating high school and prepare them for College and Career options services um estudientes um Alliance students are one of the most marginalized students who traditionally aren't as successful at other high schools due to the nature of alliance's unique needs of the students we have tailored the escalera program escuelas [Music] Alliance is Alliance has provided more intensive check-ins with students and families exceeding the expected hours of case management required by our current grants permitting students to connect with me on the on completing their goals that they have set forth I have also created rapport with parents and Guardians where they continuously reach out for support um escalera and Alliance is the um
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metas [Music] understand [Music] um we have become integral to the community by collaborating with staff teachers and other Community Partners and events and the escalera students also created the latinx leadership affinity group at Alliance um Community Partners and eventos and master creations I want to share a quick story of my first ever student enrolled in the program before aging out he aimed to earn a high school diploma not a GED this was a personal goal that he had set for himself his journey was not easy and there were many obstacles he had overcome to meet the goal before turning 21. so he put in the work he would arrive at school after he finished a 10-hour shift to meet with me at 4 pm until they close the doors at the school I created a safe space for the student to contact me whenever he needed to work on assignments he didn't communicate with any other staff member so we rallied behind him fast forward graduation day he had turned 21. I was on the phone with him emailing His science teacher and the VP we're all rooting for him where he submitted his last assignment and he was able to walk for graduation hours later GED um so is um [Music] foreign I think we all share the same vision for our students and families therefore listening to what they need from their education and how reducing funds from the racial equity and social justice budget will create a detrimental impact culturally specific programs such as escalera are vital to creating a sense of belonging among schools and a space to discover their future thank you familias is um futuro [Music] [Music] thank you good evening my name is Diana Marcela cuartos and I am a family engagement specialist at McDaniel high school and Benson High School with the program calledes who is a support for parents to navigate the school and also for college readiness my name is
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and I'm going to speak on behalf of one of my participants lucrecia Espinoza who can be here tonight because he's taking care of her children but she she has something to share with you representation is my name is Espinoza and my my all my children go to Benson Polytechnic I am a participant in the college program offered by Latino Network and my son is participant at the earliest Calera so I look at Espinoza I mean escalera I wanted to say thank you for per meeting to Latino Network to be at the school I I had an old I have an older song that also went to Benson Polytechnic and just graduating in 2022 and he wasn't thinking about going to college he was just ready to finish high school and go out and find a job um in in to work in any place like anything that could pay uh some wage per hour but thanks to uh to the old information of the programs and to they took they took us to Portland State University to the whole family to take to get to know the school and to get familiar with with with college information families I enjoy the college by this program a lot because there is a lot of information and also activities and they also help us to create Community to share to express ourselves to express ourselves in our self in our own language and to share experience that help us to navigate different the our our struggles and different necessities as a mother I I like to be part of Benson community and I enjoy being part of my son my children being part of PPS community and I'm thankful to Diana Marcela Cortes for being a good Community partner um I know that many students many Latino students don't graduate or don't foresee a university and thanks to the programs College all the support they provide to the entire family our children are now engaged with education and my son is actually going to Portland State University um Portland State University thank you Board of Directors for representing the latinx community and thank you superintendent for primitive program for permitting programs like Paris in Portland Public Schools thank you for your time is Espinoza thank you thank you Cara how many more do we have seven seven more so I just want to let folks know our translator unfortunately had a personal emergency that she had to to get off line for so we no longer have our online translator so I'm going to ask whether there are either members of the community or PPS staff or the superintendent who may be able to help us continue the translation as we go through our last um seven folks so
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Cara you want to go ahead and read the next couple of names and everyone yes everyone who's been Translating that I really appreciate it thank you that's been excellent Lopez Melissa McCoy yeah nope gracias [Music] my name is Melissa Melissa McCoy and I am I am director of Education programs with latino Network and Latino Network and I'll also keep it short to give time for other folks to speak hablar I just wanted to share that this work is very personal I am a graduate of Portland Public Schools de Portland Public Schools I have students who will be attending Portland Public Schools my own children [Music] Portland Public School and these programs such as Early Childhood la programas temprano um escalera early escalera Colegio de Padres Sol we're not around when I was in school and I needed them la programas de Nosotros in Latino Network and so I ask you please to consider keeping our programs because they are impactful and they matter to our students and our families foreign thank you thank you [Applause] Paris lady Lopez Camacho Maite Garcia [Applause] connections okay Elisa Prieto Aussie Bill Castillo [Applause] thank you welcome good evening superintendent and members of this Board of Education my name is Maite Garcia Gonzalez and I go to Benson Polytechnic High School my name is High School I participate in escalera which is one of the programs that Latino Network offers in PBS Uno de los programas de Latino Network I come to thank you and show my appreciation for allowing Latino Network programs to be offered at our schools programs such as connections which is a program that I am part of currently okay [Music] um I enjoy being part of the escalera program because they have helped me a lot both academically and emotionally this is helping me maintain good grades while also being mindful of my mental health
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besides that they provided financial assistance for me and my family during the hard times through the pandemic apart I am very grateful for the support they have provided throughout this time that I've been in high school for me as a student I enjoy being part of the Latino Network Community with the escalera program I want to thank Alberto Plata in my previous early escalera instructor as well for being good mentors [Music] what was the last place I've been good pictures I hear that more than 50 percent of Latino students don't graduate from Portland Public Schools and the Scalera has helped me a lot not to be one of those students thank you Board of Directors for representing the Latino community and thank you superintendent for allowing the escalera program in Portland Public Schools Portland thank you very much [Applause] hi good evening my name is and I'm a student at Benson Polytechnic High School my name is high school I have grown up in Latino Network my mom is actually a teacher there she's right here that is my mom Mildred um Latino network is my mom has I've always participated in it I started and my mom was a volunteer at first and now he's working there um I I think it's a really important program first of all it helped me juntos helped me like really know who I was and I started it's between the ages of three to six I'm pretty sure and now I'm an assistant teacher at a different program but I see that it's a little difficult teaching that age group but it's really important because it's their fundamental steps and that's when they're learning who they really are important is okay um and now I am in Benson and I participate in early escalera because I'm a sophomore and that has also helped me really know who I was and really guided me into leadership roles I'm running for junior president at Benson Polytechnic [Applause] um [Music] opportunities I think it's really important to keep these programs in schools like high schools middle schools and even elementary schools because it's really important to have education at a very young age because then the younger you are the more quicker you learn and the easier it is to learn when you're at a young age is so thank you for listening to me
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thank you [Applause] Castillo Margaret peoples and if neither of them are here that's everybody okay anybody else who was signed up to testify oh great okay thank you welcome all right um hello my name is and it is a great honor and deep gratitude that I address you all today to share the profound impact that Latino network has had on my life hola my name is [Music] um as a young girl I was fortunate enough to be introduced to this remarkable organization and it has been instrumental in helping me achieve my academic goals and realize my full potential is is um through Latino Network I have been empowered to pursue my aspirations with confidence and determination the network has provided me with the most important resources guidance and support which have enabled me to overcome obstacles and succeed in my academic Pursuit Latino network is [Music] determination is [Music] [Music] program has been instrumental in setting the foundation for my academic success from a young age throughout this program I learned how the importance of education and develop developing a lifelong love of learning program is the lsac program has also been instrumental in helping me get civically engaged and make a positive impact in my community this program has provided me with the opportunity to work on important Innovative and develop leadership skills is finally in my last year of high school Sunday from creciendo jontos and Lupe Campos from Early Education have helped me figure out our the college application process and FAFSA as a first generation student who got a full tuition scholarship to my dream College [Applause] [Music] [Music] applications suenos scholarship that I found through Alberto Plata from escalera program at Benson has been critical in helping me um pay for my necessary expenses in college the scholarship would will allow me to focus on my studies and pursue my aspirations without the stress of financial hardship s
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[Music] um in conclusion I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Latino Network and the programs which have been indispensable in helping me achieve my great uh my goals and realize my full potential I am honored to be a part of this incredible organization and I look forward to continuing to work alongside my fellow members to build a bright future for all students thank you in conclusion Latino network is gracias [Music] [Music] [Music] could you please repeat your name for me later thank you do you want me to sell it sure hi d-i-a-m-i-l-i and then t-u-z space b-o-j-o-r-q-u-e-z thank you uh good evening board members it's a pleasure to meet you and thank you for your time my name is Maria Ramirez I work with families at Benson Polytechnic um when I started this me um my program is which provides parents with support navigating the school system mediation between teachers counselors and administration is Administration [Music] also my program provides educational workshops with with additional resources that support parents to ease the burdens of day-to-day life and give more time to their children's education and extracurriculums um [Music] um curriculums is the in in the time I've been at Latino Network which has been pretty short um I have seen how dedicated passionate and supportive staff members have been with each student and parent in reaching that one goal we which is educational access Hijos [Music] [Music] [Music] with this I want to present to you Cindy she will be speaking on behalf of her mother that could not be her Nelson TUS and she just wanted to give her testimony on how Colegio de Padres has helped her in with her and the programs with her students my name is High School my name is and I'm the mother of Cindy and Wilmer I was as a attend Benson High School your participation program s
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is [Music] I participated program offered by Latino Network and my two children participate in the earliest cholera program all my family have benefited a lot from this program for the comprehensive information that is provided to us such as mental health sessions physical health um Workshop workshops for parents counseling helping us and helping us to contact organization putting us in contact with organizations and advocacy to help our children to graduate from high school and go to college and also understanding the expenses and like helping us to with grants like getting grants assistance Alberto Plata [Applause] okay currently my my older my older daughter helps you healthy tooth is going to Warner Pacific University she was Benson graduate and my Iha Cindy and my daughter Cindy here presented is going to PSU this year as a result of the all the support mentorship and um like constant lies to support that they have received from their escalera Mentor Alberto Plata and all their collaborators foreign [Music] [Applause] is a very important program that exists thanks to the financial support that it received from you all please continue with these programs that are a huge support for our youth and they are the future of this country education I want to say thank you for supporting economically programs like this that bring like educate support and motivate our youth to keep going with their education thank you so much for thank you everybody who makes this possible and who to support Latino network escaleria connections and so to continue at the schools you wanna close with this and gracias message [Music] thank you Board of Directors for representing the Latino Community thank you superintendent for support our youth our Latino youth who has the goal to finish to go to college and achieve their dreams that us aspiring couldn't feed and couldn't achieve for lack of resources infinite thank you for your time
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could you also spell that the last name the the last one you just read just I didn't want to spell it okay okay so that I wasn't sure yeah thank you cara was there anybody else okay I don't think so that was a an amazingly impactful way to finish so yeah thank you thank you everybody for being here tonight for your testimony um we just greatly appreciate your time and your time and sharing with us what's important to you in our school community so thank you very much foreign [Music] we're going to continue with our meeting you're welcome to stay you're welcome to leave it's been a long night [Laughter] um thank you again uh what I'm going to propose directors and I know we've still got folks online um it's nine o'clock we started at four um we have a budget work session next Tuesday what I'm going to propose is that we spend just a couple of minutes not long um not a time for speeches but a time for any really key questions that board members may have about the budget and one of the other things we asked last time is that if you are contemplating any amendments now would be a good time to surface those so that other board members are aware of them the superintendent and his team can also sort of be aware of them and work with you on what that might look like as we go towards budget approval later this month on the 23rd so with that um I'll get to the folks online in a second maybe director constant did you have anything to start with or sorry I didn't mean to put you on the spot it looked like you had something to say but maybe not okay thanks sorry about that um Dr Adams is still here which is good because his first question is for you oh me Steph feel free to move up um so one of my questions was around the proposal that we have from our uh middle school principals looking for extra support for uh restorative justice campus security uh climate Specialists or all of the above and so one thing I was curious about is [Music] um we have with our uh and uh Dr Adams I don't expect you to necessarily answer this question now but just commit it somewhere for future reference um so we have committed these a hundred thousand dollars in discretionary funds most it looks like most of that has already been allocated we had something in tonight's package showing us how our schools have allocated that so I'm [Music] I'm curious about um whether or not some of our middle schools have already chosen to use those funds those Esser funds for some of these roles and if so I'd like to see that by by Middle School see what the Delta is and then we've heard a couple of times I think it's the cat's kind of out of the bag that we're going to get a proposal next week that is going to include campus security officers which is one of the positions that our middle school principals were looking for so I'd be curious as to whether we can have a conversation about uh allocating for one of these other two positions that our middle school principals are anyway just to sort of see the state of the landscape in our middle schools with regard to those three um positions that they requested and then also with the allocation of the campus security officers I would be I mean prospective I guess I'd be curious as to whether there's any discretion on that like if a principal feels like they really could use a climate specialist instead of that will there be any flexibility with that allocation maybe we'll have that conversation when we talk about Safety and Security next week so uh just as a flag for a budget amendment I am really interested in providing some more support in these stabilizing functions in our middle schools but first I want to know really what the landscape looks like in
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terms of what's already funded from other sources sure thank you for that I do want to mention to so board directors have it in the back of their minds the total proposal that the middle school principals put together to fund 27 positions would on the high end cost 3.6 million dollars so that's the total cost and as you discuss position flexibility all positions don't cost the same amount right so there may not necessarily depending on how it's budgeted there may not necessarily be flexibility there's a um a differential and cost um when you think about you know a qualified mental health professional versus RJ coordinator versus a campus safety associate so that's something else that we'll just have to keep in mind and we'll figure out how we can show you some of that next week okay that would be great um and then another question I had that's kind of in the same category of swaps or potential swaps but with the the allocation of of Esser funds for instructional coaches in each of our schools um uh does this I think this means that some of these type of positions like restorative justice uh coordinators or climate specialists will be going away because those had been funded with Esser funds differently at different schools does that make sense John Franco I think you might be the I didn't I didn't phrase that particularly elegantly but um so so that what it might Tran what I'm interested in learning about is whether it translates to a loss of some of these yes we'll be prepared to answer those questions next week and along with piggybacking and what Dr Adams said we'll we'll give you um the directors a kind of a state of where we're at now in terms of we're prepared and ready to talk about what is currently offered and what we're doing with middle schools and then projecting you know moving forward uh support for middle schools okay next year okay so I think directors heard me earlier talk about everybody in the audience right now has been working on well what is that package of support look like for our Middle grades and so we definitely want to make sure that there's you know some consistent pieces you know elements and then there's also to your point some some possible discretion to customize it to the school level needs so I I think we'll be prepared to talk more about you know what what that can look like moving forward okay uh thank you and then uh just especially following all of that incredible testimony that we had tonight um for me it's hard to parse out in the budget um exactly what the Delta is in our resj partnership funding from this in this budget year relative to last year so I would like someone to help me do that and I know that um you know we've we're gonna have uh I saw in tonight's materials that some of our school-based decisions are allocating money to resj Partnerships that's how they're using some of their flexible funds but just uh in terms of our central office Partnerships um I would like to see you know do we have Cuts what does it mean how where do I find it because it's not it's not readily clear to me my my understanding um from conversations with Chief dagadillo is that we are working on a volume three of the budget book that will be a department level look where we could track that but we can certainly pull together some information but when would we have that I don't have an estimate yet yeah I know um I don't have that at the tip of my finger but I can check in we can get that information we can certainly aim to try to provide at least a high level year-over-year Delta uh and this is one of those important areas and part of what's difficult here is we don't have the full Financial picture and so we're hoping that there's some later revenue streams that help bolster areas where we had to make some tough decisions because there are competing priorities you've heard class size you've heard support staff you want on staff we have our valued partners and providers you know something has to give and so there were reductions uh in a number of especially centrally managed areas uh and so that that's the conversation we need to to have there are trade-offs um wait I had one more thing which is this is the skunk at the picnic thing which I signaled in one of our earlier meetings which is um I think it's really clear that we're going to have to have conversations about enrollment balancing and
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potentially even consolidations and so to me the responsible thing to do is to set aside a little money in the budget to staff that effort moving forward and also to the signal to the public that we're not just kicking the can down the road but that we're going to you know identify a plan for starting to look at that because um you know institutional inefficiencies are not good for kids it means that we're not spending our money in the most effective ways and um that's what we need to look at and particularly at our you know most under enrolled schools so even though I'm asking for this budget ask and you know I should be responsible for for identifying what that looks like I would like to invite the superintendent to bring forward some kind of a plan with some kind of a budget number that says this is how we this is the commitment we'll make to addressing this problem or this issue within next year and this is how many FTE will dedicate to it so that we we can show the community that we're going to have this tough conversation and we're going to do it in a responsible way and we're not going to just steal the Staffing from other responsibilities to do it yeah well I appreciate the chair sort of reiterating again if there's a strand of work or initiative that we want to kick off or body of work that you know is overdue to look at we've thinned out the central office so it would be important to dedicate some resources for example in this case a project management team to start to scope out a timeline and what does this look like we have a couple of examples of efforts we've gone you know most recently in the Southeast and you've seen how much time and effort that takes and it just can't be a piece of everybody's time we we to do it meaningfully there's a lot of Engagement a lot of data work and even with consultants in the past uh you're right we then we have to make a decision to earmark Monies to take on that work at some point next year um I just want to go back to that first conversation about budget volume three um you know it's just this notion of tracking where we are relative to where we have been like to me that's how I wrap my head around the budget and it's really hard to to figure out in here other than looking on a school by school level at Staffing I mean that's that's easy but in terms of initiatives programs you know things like you know special programs like coach to classroom I can't just go look for that in here or you know any of those type of supports so if anybody has any tips about how to how to track a particular programmatic Investments that we have had and that some of us might care a lot about continuing or getting rid of you know I don't know how to find that by stream so I think that's all I got right now thank you um thank you for that one one quick question um superintendent on the slide earlier you said part of the Middle School supports in your proposed budget include seven periods for every middle school and that's not currently the case right the summer on seven and some are not can I ask a assistant super Calvert so it is an expansion into additional schools being able to incorporate a seven period day five of seven for for our staff but you know in an effort to expand experience at the middle school level uh it's just another increment of enhancement and in more of our communities first of all good evening sorry about that um yes we've been working on um a path to uh building out to seven period days across the system as a one of our mechanisms to provide additional support and whatnot for students in the Middle grades we last year we were able to expand through to three additional schools we have one additional school that will be able to do that with this current year and that will bring our total to 10 of the 15 middle schools okay so this budget expands it but not to every school it will not just every school okay thank you for that answer um and director Johnson to your point about sort of looking at that long-term plan I think it really is an important question I wonder if we're at the point of of a of of needing to dedicate staff and resources or at the point of just beginning to think about what a plan would be and the reason I just say that is not that I'm trying to kick it down the road but it is a it's a multi-year effort that will culminate I think in some consolidations in the future but um my question is just sort of where are we in that process and what does it look like but I sort of I believe we need to
03h 40m 00s
start it sooner rather than later director Hollins thank you um thanks for everybody for staying I know it's a long long day I'll just have a few few things um on our Echo um director constant was saying about the tracking you know and I mentioned this at the last one um you know for us to really be efficient you know we have to know where we was at you know where we're at now and where we're looking to go and one thing that I haven't really seen is that where we have been as far as um you know from the budget last year compared to the budget this year what programs are working what programs are not what programs we want to add money to what programs we should take from um it just seemed like this budget here is just based on the amount of money we're receiving and working with those in the within those confinements um talking about the Middle School piece you know I would love to see um with the Middle School um rollout looks like one of the things that I've been talking so a few teachers this week and Middle School teachers and some principals this week and one of the things they were bringing up was you know they were looking you know outside of the emotional um social emotional learning supports um and the mental health supports were full sets of programs at schools you know we're talking about like full Cadre of Athletics for boys and girls music programs dramas journalism yearbook wood shop dance economics things like that um one of the things that was mentioned to me is a lot of times when you have a full array of options in the Middle School it helped decreases some of that social social emotional learning and mental health issues and so I would be loved to see what that looks like when you guys present that I think next on Tuesday as well [Music] um so I think that's that's pretty it for me um that's it okay thank you thanks um let's go online I see director brim Edwards has your hand up okay I'm gonna switch just a minute here near me yes I think so great um so I had I had some questions last week um about the savings and freeze that were pretty substantial that were made for the end of last year uh last fiscal year and whether those got carried forward and I understand their questions aren't um the answers aren't ready yet so I'd love to see that and the other questions I asked the last meeting um uh building on and the issue that I raised last meeting and that director constant raised um definitely want to see what what the package might look like for and and really customize for what the individual schools needs for the middle schools and um it sounds like I appreciate uh superintendent Guerrero um you're looking at some ads through the security task force um some schools already have campus safety Associates so what what are what is it that each individual School needs just given um the diversity of the schools this existing staff and resources they have um what what is the thing that is going to provide the greatest level of assistance next year that's will be interested in I'm also interested in well I know the letter came from um middle school principals um we still have k-8s so um I don't want to lose sight of the sixth seventh and 8th graders who um are not in the traditional middle schools and so I I'm also going to be looking to what there's fewer of them now but looking uh for what how we're going to support them as well because those students and staff have needs as well that uh are just part of um that what's happening with that sixth seventh and eighth grade cohort uh so I want to see what the superintendent is proposing and how we might really make sure that each school gets the types of supports it needs um also this is a question for uh next meeting that I'd like to have
03h 45m 00s
answered I think it's relatively easy to to get but the um the schools that have two SES classrooms I was raised tonight with case or payhurst I know uh Mary's Marysville has to um and I think the rest of the almost all the rest of the schools that have two SES classrooms are all on the east side um so I'd like to see how we're Staffing them because I know that those classrooms um are most successful in the schools are most successful when they have two administrators so I'd like to know how those schools are staffed and then um the southeast guiding Coalition if we have it sounded like last time I asked about the 10ft that principals have been asked to submit um the requests and I'm interested in um where those supports are and other schools getting the schools especially the ones that are most heavily impacted are they getting what they need in in this year's budget still hearing a lot from the communities in terms of implementation the types of supports they need to have a successful transition next year and um so I want to talk for a moment about the conversation to look at closing or consolidating um low enrollment schools and I'm just gonna say if the conversation starts this year I would ask the district be very explicit that the southeast schools that just went through a very traumatic two-year process and are still in transition that they not be part of some new process because they just went through a three-year process and that they'd not be you know I'm sure it would be very traumatizing to go through more because literally some school communities it's been two and a half years of uncertainty and and and Trauma and you know I'm not knowing how their students are going to be supported next year so I I just if we move ahead with that I think we need to be really explicit with the Southeast Community that we're gonna um every effort's gonna be made to have a smooth transition next year in in all the changes that got rolled out um before we overlay yet another new process because they um feel like they've been experimented on over the last 15 years and they're ready for some stability and support from the district so that would be my only um sort of caveat about because I've been through a lot of conversations and um about consolidations and what to do when we have change enrollment um so I'm not afraid of the conversation but I also believe that the southeast schools and outer Southeast have gone through a lot already and we're not we're not we haven't yet successfully implemented that process that we started three years ago great and that's it thank you very much I actually have a question for remembrance um the use of the SG scgc set aside was updated in the last enrollment program balancing letter that you received from Dr Franco so I'm curious as to and there hasn't been any other FTE allocated since that letter so I'm curious as to what you might actually be asking for so I think Alyssa came in between um last meeting so I asked about this at last the last meeting I believe or the meeting before and the response was that at the meeting was that we you know principals had been asked what they needed so is there been an update that has here's how we distributed it since then yeah yes I sent an update on my second uh so it was just it just went out and I could elaborate more more at our next meeting but in terms of specifics so of the 10 you know as a group we met about requests and 2.85 FTE were were just were allocated of that 10. we're going to wait a little bit longer before we meet again so that we can get a little bit better in terms of projections and just get closer towards you know next year but it's going to be a rolling process we'll we'll I'm sure um have some pieces over the summer as well so we are we are um immersed in that process and and so that was just the first installment that we went ahead and did so I'm here as I'm looking at the um email right now so two so I guess Mike so my question is about the 10 so um director brim Edwards sorry I just I'd prefer not to get too I really just
03h 50m 00s
want to get a question it's almost 9 30 it's not been here forever is this something we can deal with offline or do we need to talk let me just let me just ask the question I don't need an answer is so there's 10 2.8 got allocated um is that all the uh you're not answered is that all that was allocated and then what's the timeline for the allocation of the rest and I don't need an answer now thank you thank you um director to pass anything for tonight oh yeah I just um really appreciate the people that came and testified tonight I have a couple questions um just want to say I'm very supportive of my social emotional learning and particularly the Middle School supports I'd love to have a um really good response to the letter sent out by middle school principals I'd be really curious to hear how the prep student excellence uh project uh assist in the social emotional learning and how we're gonna um what it looks like for implementation um would love to know more about the school-based instructional coaches as well I am curious about how we will be updated on the use of the one-time site-based Improvement Grants if we're uh if we're if we can request an update or or just sharing out about how those monies will be used um I don't want to lose sight of the benefit of the Arts because I think they're really important especially for communities of color and low income communities to learn about culture and knowing cultured seeing poetry spoken word dance and and reading music is a skill I'd love to see implemented throughout our district district but basically it's around the middle school supports and how that one time those one-time funds will be used I'm really curious to know a little bit more about how we talk about school consolidations and would Advocate very strongly um to apply a strong Equity lens so we're not impacting lower income schools that don't show up to advocate for themselves and I think that's it for tonight thanks great thank you uh director Lowry anything for tonight yeah as we talk about Middle School supports I'm curious how we're using the um learnings we had from our session I think is it ERS ESR I get Esser and that uh um strategic Finance firm confused um you think I'd have been on the board long enough to get all the acronyms straight but apparently not so um I'm wondering how you know they talked about the cost when we offer a lot of one-off electives and how that intersects with some of the ways we're looking at what are those Key Middle School supports and how do we strategically deploy electives and those social emotional pieces we know that students need while also looking at the realities of our budget um the other piece from that that I thought was really interesting is um looking at you know we looked at where were there kind of efficacy gaps and that we saw that new teachers um weren't necessarily achieving at a lower rate others and so how do we what are we looking at as far as supports for veteran teachers and as we're looking at professional development um sort of in alignment with our board goals how are we investing in our people especially given the results we got from um at work session that night so those are some things I'm curious about is how we're implementing some of those learnings at this time great thank you um yeah the only thing a lot of good stuff being covered there I would just say on the on the Middle School proposal I it sounds really good I think middle schools need support I also think the budget includes a lot already and for me the question is the trade-off and it's just 3.6 million dollars I I'm just I think you know it's it's not a matter of whether it would be good I think it would be great the question is is where that would be coming from and and what the impact would be on on student learning elsewhere and so you know that's just and that's the question I'm going to have for everything right is um is those questions of of where are we taking funds from and what's the impact of that so search constant I just I also wanted a flag that we haven't really had the conversation about our reserves and maybe that's because as a board we're collectively acquiescing that we're in line with what the superintendent's proposal is but I actually have heard some differing perspectives about where we should be so I I would feel more comfortable if maybe next time we have an opportunity to just hear from everybody on where the superintendent's proposal is on that and if we're in line with it okay I agree Amy our director can't say am I meant to say that as well I would like us to have a conversation about our reserves and um just where we are and if we're what are the ramifications of spending down I I just want to ask oh sorry go ahead direct you to pass you yeah me too I mean I think in the executive summary it says five to ten percent and I'd like to have a more detailed conversation about that what that looks like to spend down to five versus seven versus ten so and I just want to make sure I want to make sure we're being really clear I've heard three board members say they want to have a
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conversation about reserves but not which direction you might want to go so just as a reminder the superintendent's proposed budget spends down to about five so is the conversation we're having whether that's too much and we need to make some some reductions in other places to get the reserves higher or is the conversation about going below five percent I think it just starts are we a lot are we collectively aligned or do we need to have more conversation about it about I just want to be we're at the point now where the proposed budget that staff need to know which direction the board's leaning so I've heard three board members say they want to have the conversation but not which direction you might be leaning i i would support I mean I I would not support going below five percent I think we need to talk about what that does to like our bond rating and um other potential Financial hits that we might take if we spend down that low I mean I think I feel like we are in such a deficit budget this year and our kids need so much that that I'm willing to roll the dice on the reserves a little bit but I am concerned I would really like us to be at 10 or even higher but I understand that's not real this year um but I I just want us to be clear about what are again what are the trade-offs to saying yes to that five percent that's where I would be I think in the executive summary it says the proposed Reserves at 43 million are maintain a minimum reserve of between five and ten percent so I I mean to me that sounds like a range and I'd like to know what the trade-offs are at the 10 level versus five percent and would would also not support going below five percent because that feels real dicey great thank you I think that helps well of course we'll have more clear numbers in just a couple weeks so we can have a more exact conversation uh if it's the board's direction to see a higher rate of Reserve or fund balance uh I've just taken a few pages of notes and most of those were all ads so if we need to take just as lengthy a list of all the things we're gonna eliminate or reduce to increase the inbound it's just the trade-off conversation so we just need to be prepared to go the other direction and also we're not going to have a meeting between the release of the revised revenue forecast and our adoption budgeted and our approval right correct on the 24th which is not to say we can't have a substantive conversation then but there's nothing in between well so this and just a reminder from a pro I know you all know this you've been Veterans of the process but just so you know I mean this happens every year we get these revised forecasts we always have to improve a budget with that uncertain knowledge and then we can come back for an adopted budget once we have more certainty there is an opportunity there to make changes as well so I just have one question oh yeah sorry go ahead Gary go ahead I just have one I just have one question so you mentioned you know when we are making a recommendation um and we have to know what where we're getting it from are you expecting us to come with those suggestions or like how did that process work so if I say you know what you know I want to do this am I to come up with that discussion as far as where that money come from or is that staff figure out where that could come it's a great question one of the reasons why I asked and again I'm just one board member um but for amendments to come forward today is now now staff can be thinking about they can cost that out and and yeah be thinking about potential trade-offs I mean I think that the difficult thing is the superintendent has put together a budget that he believes balances needs and resources and limitations and I think so it's not that it's incumbent on each one of us to identify very specifically but it isn't coming on us to say yeah this is a higher priority for me than maybe another area of the budget and then I think we should expect the superintendent's team to say okay this is the impact we think that change might have so it might impact student achievement in a way it might Impact Staff support might impact other things um which is actually the way the conversation is supposed to happen he's the budget officer and we're the budget committee and so he proposes his budget and we decide whether you know we got it all right or if we want to make some tweaks and that's where so I know so in answer your question no I don't think we should be expected to come up with the technical amendments but I do think we need to be giving direction in terms of of where we might want to look but again I want more member so okay so I guess I will make my work I'll assuming my recommendations in and then you guys do what y'all do that works a little more here means a little less somewhere else as long as we're clear about that always a zero-sum game in budgeting everyone's looking for a win-win there's no win-win in budgeting um anything else superintendent before we close uh no I just appreciate uh the time tonight uh you heard a little bit more uh tonight was an important opportunity here from Community you know particularly one of our partner organizations that that showed up today to offer testimony and you know there'll be more opportunities keep the questions
04h 00m 00s
coming we're keeping our running log and uh responses are being worked on by the team who's all here tonight and has been thinking about this on a daily basis uh we have a lot of homework you've given us just in year round around the Deus around follow-up some of that information's already being collated and synthesized for you we sort of anticipated a couple of these areas that would be predicted topics of interest to you so just appreciate the input tonight yeah great and thank you to staff for being here Scott yes sorry I was going to speak before Gary didn't defer to him um so on the on the reserves I'd really like to get the answer to the questions I asked the last meeting about the all the savings and FTE like positions that weren't filled that the hiring freeze or whether those are permanent or not because um to me that will that will have an impact on my thinking about um the amount of you know like how much new spend do we have um or renewed spend and how much we're like permanent reduction so I wanna I wanna know that and then the other question I want to have answered next week is the number of FTE that's been set aside the whole back again I don't need to know it now but I'd like to know it next week great thank you thanks to staff for being here it was a later night than we expected to really appreciate your time

Sources

PPS Board of Education, BoardBook Public View, https://meetings.boardbook.org/Public/Organization/915 (accessed: 2024-04-27T22:47:08.866461Z)
PPS Communications, "Board of Education" (YouTube playlist), https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8CC942A46270A16E (accessed: 2023-10-10T04:10:04.879786Z)
PPS Board of Education, PPS Board of Education - Full Board Meetings (YouTube playlist), https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLk0IYRijyKDW0GVGkV4xIiOAc-j4KVdFh (accessed: 2023-10-11T05:43:28.081119Z)

2023-05-04 PPS School Board Work Session

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Event 1: 2023-05-04 Board of Education Budget Work Session

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