001Oh okay welcome everyone and let's begin today's a meeting and hear public testimony on non-agenda items testimony on non-agenda items is limited to a maximum of 15 minutes per topic each speaker will have up to two minutes to address the board and please remember that no deferral of time is allowed we have today William tall Wayne Walker Tory verano fernando lopez and we have citizen and colin pierce when you begin speaking the the green light will appear and the yellow when you have one minute remaining and when the red light comes on wrap up your final comment you can thank you I'm concerned about union members abusing their position within San Diego Unified to access children and therefore parents children and parents are not represented with all the issues and I found this information about
002collective bargaining and California Public Schools and it states that appeals sent out to parents through students is something that can be considered an unfair labor practice it's just like having our police officers start knocking on our doors and asking us to lobby City Hall we wouldn't expect that and I think that's an abuse of their power some of the issues that need to be reviewed our vibha vibha was being paid seventy-five thousand dollars a month and demanded 3.5 million dollars more and it got two point six million dollars this is in a lawsuit that vibha did against a San Diego Unified employee and it states in the court record what kind of money were paying vibha seventy-five thousand dollars a month for 12 months that would pay for a lot of things for our children
003I remember when the teachers went on strike and the that put our children in and there were parents that said our children are going to go to school and when our children were there and they were having to cross the picket line we had teachers yelling at them don't do this don't do this and our kids were so frustrated and so upset our children shouldn't be pawns for adult issues the bargaining needs to take place at the table with the superintendent's bargaining team and not involve the children they don't understand all the issues they don't understand the situation of teachers not working a full day they work six and a half hours instead of eight eight hours a day they don't want to have evaluations there are a lot of issues in this contract that
004need to be looked at and I really hope that union members a stop abusing their positions as public servants by using that power to access people to support their union demands you can come up in no specific order but just state your name for the record thank you my name is Colin pious and I'm speaking today as the co-chair of the San Diego Chapter of glisan the gay lesbian straight education network I'm prompted to speak to you today by the recent bullying incident that was captured on video and Most High School of a student who was perceived to be LGBT I'm not here to speak about that particular incident but rather to talk about our organization our organizations incredibly frustrating experience of trying to partner with this the sunny Unified School District of the last
005four and a half years to create safer schools for LGBT students students who are perceived to be LGBT students students with same-sex parents listen together with many other community partners have worked the last four and a half years on the Safe Schools task force we met back here four and a half years ago in October of 2010 one of the most encouraging and exciting occasions for class in San Diego was to be here when the school board passed a resolution that indicated it was fully aware of the hostile climate faced by LGBT students those perceived to be LGBT students in schools and you committed to make a difference I was also encouraged that you're in alignment with glistens extensive experience that has shown that four key elements are needed to create safer schools gay straight
006alliance clubs a comprehensive anti-bullying policy that enumerates LGBT students as one of the protected groups LGBT inclusive curriculum and training of educators to create more supportive educators on campus unfortunately I'm here to let you know that the ability of the district to convert these good intentions and I know you have good intentions I know several of you personally and I've met with you for countless hours on this topic unfortunately you failed to put these concrete into concrete actions and those actions have ranged from slow to inadequate I will share our experience but I would ask you to direct the superintendent to report back to you with specific details of what have actually been accomplished to date in this area despite the countless hours of task force meetings of community members who all have day jobs
007and have given up a lot of their own time to try and move forward on this issue while the school board did pass an anti-bullying policy and the task force helped to dis to implement to create and implement anti-bullying procedures there has been unfortunately a complete failure to to roll those procedures out to the schools and for the staff within the school district to be aware of and to know what's included in those procedures our experience is certainly that when we're in meetings with with school educators and counselors and we asked them whether they're aware of these procedures very rarely are they aware of the procedures or what's in them there's also there was the fair Education Act in January 2012 it's three years ago that that law said that sent that California schools were
008mandated to include the contributions of LGBT community members into the history and social studies classes and to date that has not occurred with inside a unified school district it's still in the discussion stage in terms of training of educators whilst the task force came up with the plan to trained educators the district hasn't rolled that out and is and is doing a poor job of training educators within just in the district what do you do I'm not an expert on running a school district but I do run a successful business and my experience is that if you want to accomplish things you need to track them you need to set specific goals you need to develop an action plan and you need to allocate resources unfortunately most of those things have not occurred in this
009area thank you the bake sale approach that the district has been using to date has to stop you need to actually allocate a budget you need to allocate headcount and you need to start tracking the train strippers thank you very much and we're going to direct your very important comments to our superintendent to follow up thank you very very much good evening my name is Terry verano and I am here as president of PFLAG San Diego County PFLAG is the nation's largest support and education agency offering services to parents families friends and allies of lesbian gay bisexual and transgender people we have over two hundred thirty members in san diego county i'm also the mother of two sons one of whom is a we learn at our monthly PFLAG meetings throughout San Diego County that
010as parents our biggest fear is how our children are going to be treated in society in the United States once it is known that they are lgb or T we fear that they will be singled out for abuse and harassment simply for being who they are when they're school-aged we worry about how they will be treated by students and adults at their school campus when they are not under our supervision when we saw the video of the attack on a student at North High School who was perceived to be gay we were appalled that could have been any of our children when the TV news reported that the family of this youth had previously complained to the school about harassment and had not felt that their concerns were addressed and that the school and district
011were slow to respond to the violence after it occurred we were furious PFLAG members want to know what trainings are in place on all of our district campuses to educate everyone on campus about the risks are LGBT youth face many youth are also students of color with diverse backgrounds when anyone on any campus it's not made to feel safe the entire school climate is dangerous for every student regardless of race religion ethnicity sexual orientation or gender identity PFLAG will continue to address the board of education until at long last the anti-bullying policy it's fully implemented and enforced by the San Diego Unified School District to ensure protections for all of our children thank you thank you good evening board members and staff my name is built all again from city farmers nursery I decided to
012give you a little hand out of our nursery and the reason being is that we have a lot of afterschool programs and a lot of field trip start nursery and I was wondering if and if you've been there and if not you should take the chance to come we offer a lot to the schools and I know you're very much in support of having gardeners every school being part of their programs have a likely to see that not only that but I would like to come and visit when we do have field trips a lot of the head start programs come as well you know the one thing i do miss and i don't know where it went but i miss the partners in education we were partners in cage occation with many of school
013and i remember they had a they have something at sea world once here just as a thank you it was a really fun thing to have and we want to be supportive of all the schools right now we're working on a small project to form a non-profit side of city farmers because i can't help them all right now but I'm willing and wanting to help as many as we can so thank you for supporting the programs in the schools in the gardens and all the part of education that it is I think you bring such a great job at listening to us and doing what we need to have done and do welcome to come to visit City farmer someday thank you hello to the board to the superintendent my name is Fernando his wife
014at lopez jr i'm the director of operations at san diego pride and i also come to you as a person who as a young gay man was bullied before I even came out of the closet I know what it's like to come before teachers who turn a blind eye I know what it's like to stare in the face of a safety monitor as I'm being harassed when that safety monitor says I don't see anything I know what it's like to go to a principle that tells me that if I wasn't gay this wouldn't happen to me and that it was my own fault for causing a disruption to the educational environment because of my sexual orientation and that was my perceived sexual orientation that was before I had come out of the closet and unfortunately
015I also know what it's like to make an attempt on my own life and thankfully I'm still standing here today in 2010 the rash of publicized suicides that struck the nation because as a direct result of bullying and harassment because of sexual orientation and gender identity there was not a new phenomenon but an ongoing epidemic in our nation's schools and at that time this school district made a commitment to end that type of bullying harassment they made a plan this state recognized the suicide of seth walsh and created a b9 to prevent more suicides from happening in this type of harassment this school board has a responsibility to do more than it has and i know i am looking at the face of supporters I know I am and so all I ask is that
016you do more the tools are there the community is here to support you our organizations are here to support you the plans are in place and the time for implementation is not tomorrow it's four years ago thank you my name is Wayne Walker and I'm retired elementary school teacher and I have been a member of the task force Safe Schools task force for since almost the very beginning one thing I would like to acknowledge is that when Cindy Marten came on as the superintendent of schools I was highly impressed with what the interest that she showed the questions that she asked but I think all of us become aware how very difficult the situation is to try and implement the program I think this situation that came up at Maura's High School where a student
017was beaten that as alleged it was a gay person reminds us how serious this is and I questioned that how many times is this actually happening or simple similar things happening today in our schools so what I've done is I've typed up about ten questions that I would like to give to the board members and really challenged them to look at and make sure that they're aware of the process has gone on there I think there has been a lot that's a cheap and achieved but also there is a lot more to happen and things that need to be implement but I think being on this committee I realize it is a very difficult task to try and implement this but it is so very important so at this time I would like to be
018able to give the questions to the board members and I have my email address here if you'd like to you know email me and ask me any additional questions I'd be happy to talk with you thank you this completes the non-agenda public testimony thank you for taking the time to speak to the board and superintendent today we appreciate your comments and please know that your input helps us to better serve all of our students so thank you very much at this time I would like to establish a quorum I think all board members are present if we can stand for the Pledge of Allegiance put your right hand over your heart ready begin isn't it wonderful to hear that the young students voices in the background that's what it's all about so thank you I
019would like to welcome everyone present today and those watching the broadcast and call the March third 2015 meeting to order with all board members present if you wish to address the board today and your name is not already on our blue speaker list you there are opportunities right now to go to either entrance and fill out a blue form and submit it to our board action officer to my right share award speakers on agenda items will be called to speak during the discussion of the agenda item once the discussion has begun I no additional public speaker request will be accepted and by board by law 1025 public testimony on agenda items is limited to a maximum of 20 minutes and that allows for 10 minutes per opposing viewpoint and so may I have an a
020motion to adopt agenda and I have a second all right let's go so um we're moving on to be one and that would all move item e1 okay motion okay thank you and so key learn leadership academy charter school action on renewal of the Charter petition and special education agreement Superintendent Martin Thank You Susan Parkes is going to join us up here to present this item good evening item e1 is an action item for the renewal of the Keeler leadership academy charter school it is a k-8 charter school the academic governance and operations and financial summaries are provided from the staff review which is a multi department effort I believe there are speakers here from the school as well staff is recommending a full five-year term approval beginning july first 2015 ending june thirtieth 2020
021along with an approval of a special education agreement with switch summarizes that keeler is an independent le a member of the El Dorado County safa and staff is of course here to answer any questions as well thank you and we'll we'll proceed with our speakers today so on e 1 we have samantha martinez baarish Martinez Jose Contreras manuel gonzalez Nicole doubter e cambia Torres tarita starting and Buddy young you can speak in any border please state your name first and you will have a total of see good afternoon board members my name is samantha martinez i'm a former student ikea leadership academy i promoted in june of 2014 i'm currently a freshman at olympian high school at the age of 10 i moved to the united states really afraid because i did not speak any
022English my parents found this cool just across the street from my house and I started school that same September I keeler the teachers care for you as if you were part of their family they pay attention to every student individually and find their strengths and weaknesses of course my weakness was not speaking English I began this amazing program right when I started school it was the eld program it stands for English language development in this program the coordinator helps you and teaches you English while also helping you understand your classes and keeps you on track with all your other classmates I reclassified in less than three years this was such a huge achievement achievement and thanks to the program and the support of my family and teachers I was able to take advanced classes in
023my third year of middle school these clouds were an amazing opportunity and now that I'm in high school I'm able to take advanced classes and keep up with all the juniors and seniors and maintain and above average GPA killer was my second home and the base of my success it's such a wonderful school where everyone is a family and every student is taught in a whale in a way that will help them beyond high school in college every student that attends this height this school is lucky even though it might take them a while to realize it just like it took me thank you good afternoon board members my name is Bruce Martinez i'm currently a tenth grade arlington high school all right five years ago to san diego california from what a lot of
024mexico when my mom was looking for a school she was looking for a middle school middle school that have respect for students education and Leadership all the things of killer had I attended Kelly with our previous knowledge of English a lot of help from my teachers and my period especially from the LD program and the teacher mysteries i graduated from EOD in three years some without the help from the teachers i don't have been able to graduate in three years and be ready for high school after mention up without the quality of the math science and math department I want to be encouraged to be an aeronautical engineer taking geometry an eighth grade help me to be in Advanced Placement math classes and to be ahead of other students the reach values of respect and
025enthusiasm achievement citizenship in her work tell me to be where I am today I take him out in the football field every game I have two young siblings one in elementary in one in middle school although their schools in sea water district my family and I believe that killer que la offers offers his passion for the kids and the digit thank you have a great thank you good evening board members my name is Jessica chairs I am in second grade I have been at que la since kindergarten what I enjoy most about Kelly is that the school has a Montessori program the Montessori program is really cool because we get to learn in a different way we get to learn about animals and plants I get to use the golden beets to help you learn
026math I like working with the short be friend because it helps me subtract really large numbers and thousands I want to learn more about using the large bead frame to add and subtract even larger numbers when I was in kindergarten being good at math helped me become the valedictorian for my kindergarten class our school also has count character counts one of the pillars is being respectful and that is what I practiced a lot at school and at home it has helped me become a but a better leader I practice the pillars every day because the more you practice something the better you become kayla is special because of the teachers and the staff my teacher miss Fletcher works really hard to make learning fun she teaches me the Montessori way that makes it easier to
027learn and that's why our school is so awesome and needs to be there for more kids good job good evening my name is Rodrigo Gonzalez i live at seven 105 Lisbon Street in the community the Keeler ship leader Academy is establishing itself in my neighborhood as a valuable community-based school I have experienced they're welcoming parent engagement and the way they encourage their educators so deeply involved to be deeply involved in their instructional practice as a biologist with a student in their kindergarten I wanted to encourage his class to understand life sciences through hands-on experiences I've witnessed the way the school sparks and supports community interest in such activities as creating a vegetable vegetable garden and having numerous classroom pets including five monarch caterpillars that the class is fostering until they can be released to the
028wild as butterflies the enthusiasm of those supporting the school's life science projects is well-founded we absolutely need to have more students excited about science and learning we as parents have been encouraged to participate in the learning process of our children and have been pushed to create a higher learning educational experience within our homes not only an hour and the school I want to encourage the bond the board to support and enable the school's quest of academic achievement as we continued to take steps to develop community engagement and parent leadership thank good evening board members and Superintendent Martin my name is Nicole dougherty and I am the primary academic director serving grades kindergarten through five my work at Calais began as a teacher back in 2005 when kaylee reopened as a charter we're currently in our
029third year as a case school and I would have to say one of our most unique aspects about our primary school is our growing Montessori program at this time we are the only public Montessori School in southeast San Diego and I can confidently tell you that our students have benefited from this type of highly differentiated method of teaching and learning that's typically offered in the private sector so and because of this the interest in our Montessori program has greatly increased and we strive to offer a well-rounded curriculum so that our students develop independence and leadership skills needed for success so my address too will be short this evening due to time but I leave you with one final thought our mission at que la is to create student leaders who value quality education and embrace
030their role as contributing members of our diverse community so by renewing our charter for five additional years we will continue to carry out this mission and make it a reality for hundreds of more students thank you very much thank you good evening I would first like to thank the San Diego Unified board members and the charter Office for your continued support I'm tersha Sartain the KLA secondary academic director I began working at Keeler middle school as a classroom teacher 16 years ago I was part of the charter conversion process ten years ago I live breathe and dream k la I love the work that we do at que la and I believe that the KLA way works because of our existence as a charter school our care our leadership team executive director mr chrisman que
031la primary academic director mrs. Doherty and myself along with many other parents and staff members have been here at que la from the beginning we all hold the mission of que la dearly to our heart we know we are held to high stakes expectations daily and we push one another to continue to always do better as a charter school we've been able to be flexible and creative in order to design a comprehensive social emotional and academic program that is custom fit for the students we specifically serve we have a proactive counseling team a dean of students who upholds our state-of-the-art restorative justice program a special education department that includes mental health intervention support and all our teachers designed data-driven inquiry based instruction that universally meets the needs of all of our students as a result
032of all of this we have a safe nurturing culture of learning que la kids are real world learners koa kids are happy koa kids are safe and Kayla kids are learned our leaders ten years ago you gave us a grand opportunity to serve the great needs of the Keeler community and to create student leaders and for that I would like to thank you for the best 10 years of my life as an educator on behalf of the entire que la community I ask for at least five more years thank you good evening my name is cambia Taurus and I've been part of the Kelly family for eight years I was a seventh grade math teacher and currently I'm the Dean of Students Kaylee falls the restore approach known as restorative justice we're sort of justice
033for most values and principles that encourage students and staff members to listen and to speak to one another in ways that validate the experiences and needs of everyone within the kelley school community when a student is not made good choice in the classroom he or she be asked to complete a think sheet or a tsp on one side the reflection sheet the student explains what happens lists any questions here she may have about the instant or conflicts and writes down will make things right again on the other side of the reflection sheet the teacher is staff member rights on the facts what will make things right again and the next steps for moving forward the teacher and the student meet together have a mediation and the set discuss steps from moving forward to repair relationship
034the restorative justice program promotes students teachers and staff members this helps students become engaged in learning and the teachers in continuing weary and teaching thank you very much thank good evening I want to thank the board first seeing us in here in SN I wanted out of respect for everyone's time I'll be succinct Ted brief given my name is buddy young my brand new teacher at KOA kea Leadership Academy and in my prior experiences in education I've learned that keeler really provides a model of instruction where students and teachers are given the opportunity to grow and become better leaders better teachers better people and better community members I really really looking forward to opportunity to continue growing with this team that I hon and at the school that I'm at so thank you very much
035thank you okay so thank you for your presentation board members are there any questions or comments is it the school a few years ago their third and continuing to a very good job okay thank you for your presentation I just want to call out that I was particularly impressed with the restorative justice the mental health supports on campus and the mention of supportive and safe learning environment and the fact that you make sure that the curriculum is relevant which we know engages students so thank you for that for those pieces if there are no further questions or comments can we please vote that passes unanimously seeing there's no objection so let's move on to e 2 i'd like to move item e 2 for approval can I have a motion second thank you this is
036part Thank You item e 2 is an action item for the renewal of the charter petition of America's finest charter school it's a charter school serving grades K through eight we know that the initial Charter was granted for a three-year term a one-year extension was granted ending june thirtieth of 2015 staff is recommending a full five-year renewal beginning july first 2015 and ending june thirtieth 2020 America's finest charter school has applied to become an independent le a member of El Dorado and or desert mountain sulfa and as soon as that membership application is received in processed we will update the board for a special education agreement to memorialize their status with respect to special education thank you and I understand there are speakers on this item in no particular order Kimberly pal sir magali calls
037calls rudd she loved Whaley Christina Stevens Steve girling lena be gang and miles durfee you have a total of ten minutes and and we love hearing from the students and if we could hear from them first that would be greatly appreciated hi my name is Kimberly Pulver I'm the kindergarten teacher at America's finest charter school and we have some of our kindergarten students first grade in second grade they prepared a champ for you and then we're going to recite our school motto good evening my name is chillin wale and since the sixth grade people thought of me as the type of kid you not want your kids around the teachers at another school are not helping me and it was making my behavior worse then I came to America's finest charter school and I had
038a rough start but mrs. perry encourages me to do well as he wants to see me become someone important in life so that I got my act together and my grades went up all right now I'm one of the good students at America's finest charter school this was possible because I afcs teachers want every student to succeed for example in the mornings before school students to the extra help with homework and reading the after-school programs are fun but also teach you things that you need to know students like to stay after school be part of the programs some of the programs i participated in our guitar suing sewing and soccer we had our first soccer game at toronto park last friday it was amazing to see so many teachers doing some families sharing from him
039we won 42 afcs is a small school but we are a very close family every staff member expects the best from each student in no time my parents don't worry about me anymore because I'm not misbehaving at school not that I can do much I can spend my time doing fun things and having more freedom I've grown so much at this close I'm I see you to renew America's harness charter school for another five years I want other students to have the same opportunity to change as I have thank you for your time thank you excuse me can I have this young man come back up for one one moment can you share your name again and I want to know what you dream about doing when you grow up my name is Chaim employee
040and when I grew up I want to be auto repair I don't that's one of the things many things that you want to do I don't know all right that's what I wanted to thank you yeah dead kitchen my name is Lena me gay and I'm a paired at America's finest charter school my son is in eighth grade I just want to share with you that my son has had a very successful eighth grade year we've had a rough two years the last couple of years the first one at a very large public school middle school where he was sent home after school and at night the school did not contact me and he was attacked on the street and then of course I pulled him out and we tried us a smaller middle school
041and he got hurt at school and the school did not feel like it was important to call me so of course your has to find a new school but we found America's finest charter school and this year for the first time after three years we have had a very positive experience and I'm very happy to say that my son is now improving in all areas and he aspires to become an engineer and I hope that you extend America's finest charter school it feels like a family there I can come to the school anytime I want that I deal with the principal any day at least I can go to the teacher morning noon after school if I have a concern I'm very happy my son is at the school I hope you will extend the
042extension thank you thank you good evening my name is magali coaster I teach 7 and 8th grade mathematics and science are America's finest charter school a little background on myself i came to the united states when i was 10 years old from peru i have learning disabilities and i have a child with autism i teach our Americans finance charter school because it reflects the school that I grew up with in in spite of all those challenges I have two bachelor's degrees one is in architecture the other one is in civil engineering graduated with honors in addition to that I hold a master's in education I am here to request a renewal of America's finest charter school our school is relentless to create opportunities for all students to achieve their personal best here are three main
043areas we target to produce this first on America's finest charter school we create a supportive learning environment where students feel safe physically and emotionally we have a clear understanding that this will allow students to focus on learning second this to the students curriculum and instruction are aligned with common core standards last summer I attended a class where this concept was reinforced at the university of california teachers are our school are encouraged to learn as much as possible our math curriculum is marked by in-depth focus of each topic the curriculum integrates rigorous classroom reasoning extended classroom time is the bonus devoted to practice and reflect through extensive problem sets in high expectations for mastery for each student third teachers and students progress are regularly monitor which gives us information to make changes so all students master
044common core standards because of these reasons I urge you to renew America's finest charter school for another five years thank you for your attention thank you good evening my name is Christina Stevens and i am the board president of America's finest charter school I have been a part of the school since it opened its doors and I have had the unique opportunity to be both a board member and a parent of one of its previous students I have watched this school go through challenging times and I have seen it come through those struggles stronger and better equipped to handle any situation that may come its way I can confidently tell you that we are now financially sound and operating efficiently I would also like to focus on our education I asked my son what made
045America's finest charter school so unique and he told me that he received more individualized attention from his teachers the teachers taught to his ability and he never felt like he was just one of many students in a big classroom he also loved that he was able to help and teach his peers at America's finest charter school we believe everyone has the capacity to teach and learn from each other we meet children where they are and I am so proud to be a part of this school I am asking the board to please grant us a five-year renewal our parents and students are committed to America's finest charter school and need the security that a five-year renewal brings the five-year renewal will also allow us to create stronger partnerships within our community which benefit our students
046lastly we have students on waiting lists that would like to come to America's finest charter school a five-year renewal will aid us in negotiations to find a permanent school where our school can grow please give us five years so that we can reach more families thank you for your consideration good evening and Steve girl a retired teacher from mr. visors school Castle Park Middle School I hope everything's going well there I got a phone call from a former assistant principal assistant superintendent about a year ago and they asked me if I would meet miss Perry the principal to be their math coach and so I have been there with the school America's finest for the last year and what we've tried to do is to bring those those teachers together along with the students and
047I'm actually in the classroom I am NOT just there as an advisor I'm in the classroom with the teachers and all of these teachers have bought into the program and we're currently working with Eureka which is the common core that we're working with right now and the teachers have really bought into it and so what we're doing is we're trying to build those third fourth fifth and sixth graders so that they don't hit the math while at the high school level okay when they get to algebra geometry second year of algebra math analysis hopefully calc they are not going to hit the wall and so hope at this point in time that's where we're trying to move these students and I think we've been pretty successful okay I do want to say I think we
048are the school is moving and wherever we're going to be planted next year I think we'll be able to bloom thank you thank you for your presentation regarding facility's staff was mindful that there were some questions in that area America's finest charter school has applied through the district's prop 39 process and I believe has accepted the district's preliminary proposal and ongoing and continued receipt of the final proposal is part of the timeline that continues in the late spring the school is currently located at a private site which is located in the Hoover cluster we have correspondent with the school yesterday and confirm that they are also in a parallel effort working with the private real estate agent to secure if possible outside of the prop 39 process a private facility on their own because the
049time line runs in spring either scenario is possible for the school come fall can someone speak to any specific areas that you're looking to relocate hi I'm Jan Perry the director hello everyone we have been looking basically in the areas around the college area we have actually I'm going to visit a site on Thursday we've been looking at you know down the hill in mission valley we were looking at balboa park we almost had a site there but all of our parents are going to go with us wherever we go and really we only have a few parents that walk to the school so we will be you know bringing transportation for anyone that cannot get to the school but all of our parents are coming with us most of our so we're not wherever
050we go we're going to have a full school and we'll recruit you know anyone else that we need to but we're not concerned about you know where we go at this point alright thank you okay so just one comment is that you know we always love to hear the students our future speak and as often as possible one thing that really excites us is to hear about what students dream and imagine themselves doing in the future so so young people dream big okay so I'm if there are no further questions or comments will go ahead and vote okay congratulations I'm moving on to e moving on to e3 I'd like to move item III have a motion second okay perfect III is Coleman tech charter school action on miss Carter thank you Coleman tech charter
051high school serves grades nine through 12 it is located on a private site the public hearing was scaled on februari third tables 1 and 2 and following provide an overview of the school's academics governance operations and finances one notable change on table 5 is that the school has elected a chair for the board Robert visor and a vice chair Charles parsi and the school has been in communication with the district with these updates because we wanted a current board roster for our board's consideration in fort for the renewal staff is recommending a full renewal for the five-year term along with a special education agreement which reflects that Coleman is a school of the district for special education purposes at this time thank you and I understand we have speakers here today and i would like
052to call Sylvia Rodriguez Tyler Aston jason s Kiera Nick Gazzara Garza I'm sorry Nick Garza a kile home Aaron yonks Bob Sanchez Kristen Reynolds and Nicole bob or way honey and also have David I can't read the last the letters in the last name and I'll i see a gb and that's all what is it Gloria okay all right so come in a note in any order you like state your name you have a total of ten minutes for this item and you can figure out how you like to present and we strongly encourage students to speak first hello hi I'm a parent of common tech my name is Sylvia Rodriguez I'm the mother of Bob Sanchez he's a story from common to all my kids attend to come and take my old one she's
053already a mess a college she graduate for calming and my son is a senior his radiance is going to talk to you okay and we expecting it to graduate this year so for me or for us calm and check has been a like a second chance for us we became from a different school environment way where they tell you now we cannot do this weekend I do that way we came to comment at the beginning I was a little afraid what to expect from the school from the teachings from everybody but with the time in the first thing that I notice is like when you get inside the school the friendly environment that they have like you can feel welcome to come i go to school every time I want the principal is Nicole she
054told me that you're welcome to come here and I want to talk a specific about the special education department there are being like a great support for my son not only for myself for all the kids but my son is being grown with the school it occurs with a great support teachers they really care for the education in only dedication they prepare them for life they teach it together the skills and the tools that they need for real life so right now my son is working he's 20 gay he's trying to be a Marine so the school is already working on that they they had like a wonderful wonderful people wonderful staff everybody even the lady that works in the front edge is really nice and friendly I feel welcome to come to school in
055they always answer all my questions my concerns even the cleaning lady so nice everybody I love the school i love the teachers in olin and all i'm asking you guys is to giving the renew that they need I think we do more schools like coma they really prepare the students with a great program in the curriculum for each student so I wouldn't say thank you and thank you good evening board of directors and superintendent Marin I'm a former student of CTC HS and my name is Kristin Reynolds I was part of the second graduating class of 2014 my freshman year I went to Mission Bay High School and I didn't do so well I thought that not going to school and stuff was the cool thing to do so my mom decided to pull me
056out and we were driving by on aero drive and we saw a big sign that says now enrolling ninth through twelfth grade so my mom decided to have was walk in and that was the best stopping luck decision my mother has ever made over the three years i spent there it became my home and I grew close to the staff and students Coleman has so many classes and electives to offer that it's perfect because you know that you're going to have the class outfits year once it needs no matter what it is due to culinary arts stuff for the Marines and stuff like that one of the things that most students a parent ask is about our sports do we have a lot of sports do you have high school games do you have prom
057well comon all four sports and I will not so into sports so I wasn't really excited about that but however the staff talked me into playing basketball and I played it for two years and i felt absolutely in love prom who can say that they have a prom picture with every single class made in it I can oh it was so awesome walking in being able to know everyone's face and being able everyone to compliment you and everyone so happy to see you and I've also danced with dr. aha that's pretty awesome so one of the things that stands out to me really wants to stop due to our math teacher I was able to understand precalculus and get 102 percent Dunamis Lowenstein I was able to understand English i'm also applying for grants right
058now and call and I've been receiving them this is there I've had the pleasure of meeting all this teachers this year they're kind of different than last year and they're all amazing as well the teachers understand their you get one-on-one learning you get the chance to code a help desk after school before school whenever it fits for you if you work you're able to leave an hour early so you can go to work and still get the access that you need to school and even though i'm only at mesa right now I'm two years away from being accepted into sdsu with an associate's degree in women's studies and I'm two more years from a master's in women's studies in a minor in psychology which is one step closer to my dream of counseling women and
059children in need and I couldn't have done this without Coleman without having a wonderful staff and amazing classmates wishing you every step of the way and I think Coleman for that and as I always say once a liar always a lion thank you I just would add you need to be proud of Mesa College not only am a scholar the masik at San Diego Mesa College right I'm proud of you thank you hello Board of Education miss foster miss Martin my name is Jason is gay I am here today to speak forth my sentiments about my current school Coleman tech charter high school I ask you on behalf of the students of the school for a five-year charter renewal in the years I've spent here I've experienced life in a new light Coleman Tech is
060not an ordinary school it offers advanced curriculums and a foundation for brighter futures it's different from other schools but is it is different in its own way it defies convention for the art of exhilaration in intelligence small as it may be it is bigger heart than other schools it dares to be a place where the brains become the Brawn years of my past our blemish with an anxiety and uncertainty my first year at Coleman was a dip into the unknown an experience to behold enjoyment entangled with comprehension would best describe my years for I've never been in such a phenomenal atmosphere although the school may not have many students they mix it up with spirited teachers in a way the poorest are often the richest in the form of diversity in life I was able
061to learn subjects faster and more efficient with this closer relationship between the students and the teachers orchestras of creativity echo throughout the building ideas and transit there's a passion present and with personalized schedules I've learned to speak with fluidity and ideas concrete at ctc HS my ambition of graduating at the end of my junior year could be fulfilled adding to the foundation of my future my life is now masking the blemishes of the past would sincerity and proficiency colors blossom to the rhythm of prosperity as the lives of others intertwined with mine a performance of grace and energy within the school cultivate the education of intellectuals I a person anxious and hesitant would never have been able to speak in such a crowd yet with my attendant that attendance at sita of ctc HS i
062have discovered a new found courage to live more freely and without compromise under the guidance of teachers like mr. Nelson burger miss lo and so many others I've discovered charm and amusement in education it is a school where the staff and students are a family I walk among others in the labyrinth of life I venture with the packing I can probably call my friends this school is a place where the underdogs come to be I began in confusion anxiety hidden behind a facade of confidence not one year later I am a mask Liske and hopeful never will I forget the memories made big or small all I've altered my life for the better thanks to Coleman I have started the outline of my life as the architecture of life become more complex the school continues
063unfazed I plead for the continued existence of Coleman tech charter high school I long for others to experience life in a different light just as I had thank you for your time thank you wow that was poetry okay and you are you a current student or you're all right wonderful I'd like to start off by saying it's nice to finally meet all of you dear members of San Diego Unified Board of Education my name is Aaron young and I'm a junior at colma tech that is graduating a year early the question you may want to know is why CT CHF for my school of choice I come from a military background and Irish family I did plan to go to college after I graduated high school but it seems that in listing and the military
064is a better choice for myself I can do this I can say we moved around a lot from my experiences and every school I've attended everyone is just another number Board of Education I am NOT a number i am a student with in common tech meant for glory studies I chose CT CHS because of various reasons the building architecture my initial welcome its amount of students and that I was graciously greeted by others I found the school through a girl who does not attend here anymore this is by far the absolute best school I've ever gone to you know why I think it's the best because you can show up any show up any of the days of the week and almost always catch me with a smile on my face other times I'm stuck
065in one of those boring classes and we all know how that goes my personal experience from being here can top any other school I've been to buy at least 100 times over I've made lots of friends and more friends that I've ever had at your typical school I came from West View High School in poway and there are very few people there who pushed me in the right direction other than those people the school is one I can recommend to anyone I've bonded for my teacher such as miss Vance talkin in this Harbor I think that being the teachers friend is really important in a student's learning experience for example a new student or a new or strife student can approach the teacher for help or advice easier now from maybe ten schools I've been
066to in my entire life CTC HS is an awesome family oriented friendly safe environment for your child to learn and a great place for a teacher to perform her duties my social skills rose dramatically and I went from making grades like epson DS to having A's and B's due to how the teachers use interesting techniques and because they go out of their way to help us my mom was hesitant to let me come here because I'm autistic and that she didn't think the school is the best fit for me my last report card she got she she told me son I think this is the best school you have ever gone to I am very proud of you to look down at my grades at see myself succeeding is an unexplainable happiness because I've never
067done this well the advantages of the stuff and school give the advantage of staff and school give us like smaller reduce class sizes help help desk and fund meaningful projects help us learn better and develop skills that will better us for the future whether be college military or jobs teachers here are awesome and very helpful and wants to see X succeed this is an amazing school please renew our five-year Charter and make our dreams become reality or there will be nearly 300 letdown students forced to go to an unsuitable school thank you so so so where were you just have one more okay perfect so we're going to have one more speak which is ru student yeah great one question what are you doing after high school and you're graduating a year early alright so
068in what are you doing after high school all right okay thank you members of the San Diego Unified School District Board of Education I take this moment to greet and thank you for your time I am a student of Coleman tart Coleman tech charter high school I my name is Kyle and on this day I have an agenda that I hope to achieve I now make a plea in a requisition to you I ask of you renew the Charter for my school Coleman Coleman tech charter high school is not just another school by any means I've attended that school since the second semester of my freshman year I am now more wise and attentive than any school years prior to my attendance at Coleman tech I now stand proud and triumphant in the face of
069defeat I no longer ask if the work can be completed I know ask when can this work be completed freshman year at serra high school was a memorable one not in a good aspect and JROTC is what i remember most from my time there public schools are not a perfect fit for all i like i like many suffer from severe anxiety found and found that public schools did not offered proper assistance for my issues this is why Coleman Tech is a priority to me on a personal level the staff and students alike welcomed me with open arms and I have excelled in the offered learning environment in the face of absolute necessity when something doesn't work you find a solution Coleman tech charter high school was the perfect solution for me alas I have the
070courage to stand before you and request that my school try to be renewed I thank you in my school for your time and above all listening thank you questions or comments it yeah I want to want to commend students for your excellent presentations I have met with administrators I've spoken with teachers met with students I did the visitation absolutely love to school and look forward to renew all of your charter I think that kind of sums it up and says it all can we please vote okay I'm moving on to e4 I'll move vitami for do I have a motion second let me a second alright so next we're going to have McGill charter school action on renewal of charter petition and special education agreement miss parks thank you McGill charter school currently serves grades
071K through 3 as part of its charter renewal the school is seeking to expand to grades K through 5 staff is recommending approval of the rural of the charter school as well as a special education agreement that reflects its membership at eldorado charter selfi staff does note that is part of the renewal recommendation McGill has been it has been communicated that McGill would be required to provide the district with documentation confirming that its current site has been inspected by the city and compliance with applicable local building codes for occupancy with the upper grade levels as well as the maximum capacity for this site the staff has developed a charter facility confirmation form which will be signed by the McGill board president to affirm this change of facility prior to serving students of these grade levels
072this September otherwise staff does recommend approval for a five-year term July first 2015 ending june thirtieth 2020 and i understand their speakers here today to address you absolutely we have Leslie Mondragon Brian cuevas Gabriela Hernandez I'm Arthur Soriano Martha white and so be that went this i hope i pronounced every everyone's name correctly and while you're getting ready on vice president dr. Evans and myself did visit and feel free to make any comments on that visit if if you if you like that was a joke it's anyway anyway you could start in any order and of course we love the children good evening good evening board members my name is less IAM wanted are gone I wouldn't and I am in third grade I would like him ago to go up to fourth and fifth
073because all my friends are there McGill is a fun place to be a because one of the incredible things about muko is a program name due to the court it teaches us to keep our bodies healthy and strong my girls a small school but it is good to have it small because staff can keep an eye on us therefore when I grow up I want to become a principal and I can get start preparing a motto lastly I think Miguel gives us tasty lunch is like bean and cheese burritos and chicken nuggets in my personal opinion I think my guess would go up to fourth and fifth because my dad has to drop me and my brother to a different school and my brother at this school in it and it's harder for my dad
074to put me on another school and Mike and my brother at this school so that's why I think like I should go up to fourth of it are you are you the oldest and so then he can if he's still there then he can keep an eye on you too huh you can stay together you don't mind that right okay I'm particularly excited about you becoming a principal to all right good evening board members my name is brain service in diameter tree I would let my go to go to fourth and fifth because I feel comfortable in my school my teacher miss Fletcher shows us how to use many numbers to make addition and subtraction easier we also have a computer program that teaches us math the name of the program is Alex it teaches
075us by helping us practice estimation multiplication division and measurement where guns pairs me to be a teacher and then a principal because when you re teaching usual students are to learn math and literature last I think we go we'll make my dreams come true thank you good evening McGill schooling success I feel it's truly that focused on success acknowledging the child as a whole person many services at the school assists with the children and different areas so they go over character building social and emotional needs speech therapy physical physical education program as was stated before they used to the core program and before and after school which are able to help the students with reading learning and homework just to name a few of the programs but being a single mom in the United States
076Navy it helps me to know that my child is attending McGill school of success to know that it's such a small family environment I'm abled the time that I am a way to focus more on the mission of serving the country and defending the needs of the nation I'm nervous the with us also with a small classroom environment it's able the students have more of an opportunity to get more one-on-one attention if needed and the teacher can spend more time with them just alone with the school year I've been able to attend three seminars and trainings which was able to provide me information on the new Common Core Standards and also to provide me tools and resources of how to prepare myself and my family for success and excelling and for my daughter to be
077able to attend college at McGill Schouler says there is a complete open door policy so there's been times I've just had to probably at the most wait about five minutes to be able to speak to either the teacher the principal staff members and all of my needs have always been met in a timely fashion emails have been answered in all questions and concerns have been taken care of also I feel that this is the best place that I've had my child and the experience that not only she have had but the experience that I've had as well just to know that learning and I am my child's first teacher that I do have a very valuable and important role in her life and in the community and so this school year I've also volunteered over
078150 hours alone just at the school so if you could please just consider and give us another five years and also extend it out to the fifth grade thank you and have a good evening thank you and I feel compelled just to congratulate you on your advocacy as a parent and of course serving our great nation thank you good evening everyone my name is God gavi Amanda Soriano Daniela's mom she's a third grade student at McGill school success I have a pretty long history with McGill school starting with my 20 year old nephew for other nieces and nephews and my 15 year old son who all have been students at McGill I love and appreciate the staff at this school for all they've done for the kids in my family but the reason why I
079wanted to speak with you guys tonight is because I find it very important that fourth and fifth grade be extended to McGill primarily primarily because I believe it will impact our children to start all over at another school for only two years when some have been there since kindergarten I think it will disturb the whole atmosphere or their whole atmosphere I'm sorry having to readjust to it at a new school new friends new curriculum new staff I must stress the importance of keeping these children at the same school so it's time for junior high I believe it will only be beneficial to their emotional well-being and important before their future thank you for your time thank you hello my name is Arthur Soriano and I'm the husband I'm the dad so Miguel school success has
080been extending my daughter she's learned all the academics to school programs the maps the different websites the list goes on but most important she learned how to be in pathetic you know empathy that school who works with all these kids in a major way as you know we got generations of kids that have been part of the school and every day she's on me like is the school grade gonna get extended to the fifth that's the only place she wants to be miss delia she had for three years she's like a second mom and now she has mitch Fletcher and she's she's exciting to the ecstatic she's working with them steer high and family orientated and me and my wife happened to work with at-risk kids in the community of City Heights so I know
081a lot of stories broken homes a lot where these kids have been and all the struggles that they've been bouncing from system to system and my wish I wish they had a school like that growing up as kids so this is an amazing school amazing teachers amazing principal and I would love for the grades to be extended and to get extended for the five years thank you thank you good evening board members my name is so by that point this and i'm the proud principal of mcgill school of success first of all I'd like to ask the parents and supporters that are here for Michael to please down thank you so much for coming parents I'm here to plead with you to have our charter renewal be extended to the next five years and to
082have our charter go all the way up to fifth grade we have rigorous academic instruction continuous professional development constant student monitoring for success and if there's any changes that we needed to be made we make them we have the program you to the core character education and endless activities and programs for parents to be able to participate as volunteers and sessions elements white mention to make sure that we bring our parents with us and their children's academic career I thank you and I hope that it passes thank you good evening thank you any questions or comments yeah I just I want to thank the folks here from from McGill school I just wanted to say I had the privilege of actually getting to know Bill McGill a little bit and I hope that the students
083get to know a little bit about his history in the contribution that he made to our community he did two really important things he did a lot of great things in his life but two are really important things that stand out one is he was chancellor at UCSD in the early years of UCSD and at the time the folks at UCSD sort of considered themselves off on their own you know this into this research institution up in la jolla not very connected actually to the San Diego community and bill worked very hard at getting UCSD more connected to San Diego so a lot of the things that we see in place now and sort of Chancellor Coast laws efforts at Lincoln High School and other contributions in our community health clinics out in the community
084was really the vision of Bill McGill and and and I think a lot of us take pride at UCSD grad under the superintendence at UCSD grad we take pride in the fact that UCSD now on one of the most important aspects of the school is its connection to the community but that's something that bill McGill really helped to help to create and then the second thing that he did was at a time early in the early to mid 90s when a lot of people viewed the fact that San Diego is a border community as a problem for San Diego and people were sort of had political rhetoric and were and were making making hay and trying to to create a sense of fear and anxiety that the that our place is a border community you
085know was a disadvantage for San Diego bill founded an organization called San Diego dialogue which established a cross-border relationship between a lot of between government and business and nonprofits and university is on both sides of the border and I think out of that period came a recognition that one of the greatest strengths that we have as a community is the fact that we're actually that were the largest border crossing any place in the world and so even today when we see investments and things like by literacy and and an IB program you know that we have in our school district I think it stems from a notion of what what a great strength it is in our community to be connected on both sides of the border so quite a legacy you know that that
086the bill McGill carries in our community and I appreciate it and I and I hope again that his story is something that you know it's kind of put into the curriculum a little bit you know so that the students learn and can it can be proud of thank you very much and i'll digress a little bit just to say that it really is a privilege to work with collaboratively with a board that really gets it and superintendent that gets it so I just have to say that after after your comments and also say that we're fortunate that one of the founding members of McGill is also the former board president of San Diego Unified as well and also the first african-american elected to office in the city of San Diego and that would be none
087other than Reverend George Walker Smith and so that significant I have to also say that the proposal that you've put forth is worthy and really honors the work of McGill and Reverend George Walker Smith so thank you for that and that said yes I think these are really relevant comments about the history of mr. McGill and also Reverend Smith and also met the current board chair of the school too who is carrying on the work but also visiting and seeing the teachers and their enthusiasm in the classroom and I just how everything was so integrated I remember one just the physical education the growing a garden and character education were all all blended into one it was a very enthusiastic group so so there's a great rich history and there's a lot continuing to go
088on there that's really great work so congratulations I would also like to acknowledge chunkies presence here at the last meeting and I was thrilled to see him here hopeful he hope he as well and I had that kind of leadership in on that board look forward to it three new love your charter I guess I'll just throw this in there and your board president who I I learned as a civil engineer i'm pretty sure that the requirements with that the facilities code and all that it will be handled a very confident of that but thank you and I think we're ready to vote I think it's me real cliffhanger congratulations so we're going to adjourn for upstairs closed session we have now adjourned thank you for coming bye bye