001e I'm now calling this May 15 2024 special board meeting center of the city Schools board uh meeting to order if you would all please rise for the Pledge of Allegiance thank you all right so we are now going to move on to public comment on agenda items only um if you have a public comment please complete a blue card get it turned in and the only item on the agenda today is item B1 um uh strategic priorities review do we have any public comments there will be no other time to comment you have three minutes good evening my name is Margie Brady long and I'm a teacher in the district and our current priorities span so much that it's impossible to tell what we think is the most important and with our limited funding
002and in general our limited resources it would be fantastic if we were more focused and not so Broad in my humble opinion so I implore you to thin your um your amazing ideals to the things that are the most important so that we all know this is the direction we're headed and then we can be clear about the road post to our Improvement thank you thank you Margie is there anyone else okay no one else so we will now move oops we will now move on to our discussion action items and that will be item B1 strategic priorities review I'll hand it over to superintendent trell thank you president Medina members of the board those who are with us in person and online tonight we bring forward um an anticipation of the potential review uh
003and rision of our strategic priorities as the board knows and the community may know uh these priorities were revised back in 2019 and they technically sunset uh this year in 2024 so we are trying to start early to be able to navigate um the interest of the board in reviewing and potentially revising these strategic priorities and I would like to W welcome Dr B Jones who will be our facilitator tonight for this process and with that I will hand it over to Dr Jones welcome thank you and good evening um wonderful to be here as we begin I want to tell you a little about me so you can see how I fit into this process today I am a parent of two children in Santa Rosa city schools and I live with my family
004in this community I was also a teacher for many years starting as a kindergarten teacher in East paloo with a prominently Spanish-speaking group of children at which time I did not speak Spanish as a result of my desire to be the best teacher I could be for them I learned some pretty decent Spanish I have taught in the public and private schools not only in California but also in Massachusetts Alabama and North Carolina I have a dual PhD in anthropology and educational policy and have worked as an Institutional researcher and Dean at a college I am a woman of color and the focus of my work has been on equity in terms of my most recent work with teachers I have taught in the school of education at SSU and also created the equity courses
005at sco until recently I was the director of equity in the rinken Valley School District today I am here above all because you lead the schools my children attend and I care deeply about this community and about the success of our district as probably the most diverse Board of Trustees in our County with an unwavering commitment to equity the work of identifying and communicating your priorities is of critical importance especially now I thank you for trusting me to work with you to you on this process I'm prepared I've prepared a presentation with some activity and reflection pieces after the presentation we can decide on next steps and to continue the conversation thank you give me a moment here see I might need a little bit of technical assistance it's stop perfect perfect thank you all
006right so to get us started I have a grounding video um this is one of one of us um we have here a restorative justice practitioner uh in the Piner high school and um I was at a presentation that he gave a couple of weekends ago for our Pomo nation and um I asked his permission to tape this and to share it with you this evening able to help our community you know and I get to do other things I get to go speak at different uh tribal events um we just did one up in Bear River uh the power of change the power of change is a big thing we all have our history we all have our setback we all have our addictions or something that we were holding on to but when
007you change when you have that power to be able to know that something good and better can happen that's when it happens but we're always holding on sometimes you got to let that go sometimes you got to move forward sometimes you got to move on from that hurt and that feeling that emotion and it's an important and things like this today you know the dancing the the healing of the dance the medicine of the dance is a good thing and we need it us native people need it and we got to continue it we got to continue it together and if we don't then it doesn't exist but that's what we're working for so how do you respond personally to change really thinking about that thinking that change is always happening for some of us
008at some times it's scary it's exciting these are all feelings that energize us um can cause us pause can cause us to not hear or see one another um can cause harm so we want to think about all of the aspects of change and here I'm going to just share some possible adjectives how does change look for our community John F Kennedy shared with us change is the law of life and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future so some adjectives on how change looks diverse dynamic evident gradual incremental pervasive responsive systemic transformative and varied is there anything that we should add to this list if so speak it out loud intimidating intimidating to say scary SC scary tense tense transparent others all right thank you welcome
009how does change welcome I want to say one more welcome that change is welcome feels welcoming feels embracing right feels possible thank you how does change feel Thea shared with us every great dream begins with a dreamer always remember you have within you the strength the patience and the passion to reach the Stars to change the world so some feelings associated with change anxiety inducing challenge chenging collaborative disruptive empowering energizing frustrating hopeful reflective and uncertain is there anything that we want to add here encouraging encouraging and transformative transformative powerful love it all right can I say tense again you may and I was thinking uh uncomfortable but also exciting yeah exciting and tense it's all of these things and it's not necessarily one after the other they can be all at the same time I
010think you are going to say something I always like to think of change in video game terms where it's you know leveling up you're going through something and growing and gaining all that knowledge of what you went through to be bigger or better or stronger or more intuitive so just that that leveling up that is available through change yeah definitely change can feel like wisdom so for our students what should or must or does change mean for our community for our students Barack Obama shared with us this idea that change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time we are the ones we've been waiting for we are the change that we seek so to review our strategic goals I'd like for us to um keep in the circle
011some some questions some considerations which priorities resonate with you and why do any Stand Out above others or as more timely and important do any stand out as less urgent or relevant and how do we monitor or measure these particular goals these aren't necessarily quantifiably measurable some of them might be qualif qualifying how we look how we think how we know other people are thinking about our strategic goals is also a measure right one of the things that um I noticed that you do that is really unique and special is that each board agenda has a tracking system where you have highlighted your seven priorities and tracked which ones um a particular presentation is addressing you might want to at some future date quantify that information are you um having presentations on on Priority One
012and not on priority six so it's a it's a really wonderful Visual and a quick way just to take a the pulse of your community other ways that you can measure include of course CPAs lcap bpis what others other data sources that are external to the district and in the community might be the stop it app Town Halls youth panels I see most of you out in the community I know that you are listening to our youth who are speaking out at panels on youth panels um what are they saying conversations afterwards can be data can be sources of information how are the goals messaged and seen in the daily actions at our schools I think teacher Marie was alluding to this how do I live these priorities strategic priorities they're due for an update
013I want to honor the space the time the commitment the love the care the courage that a group in 2019 that some of you may have been a participant in that group took to come up with this beautiful list because as we reflect on this list revise this list revamp this list we needn't do so in a way that is dismissive of their work we can honor their work and at the same time hold space for the new possibilities so modeling that for our students right revisions REITs always possibilities for change so what resonates for you what feels relevant now will that feel relevant in 5 years from now do we revise do we do we want to rank and prioritize do we want to minimize these are things for us to be thinking about
014this evening while we're doing this keeping our Center on our students so with that in mind um I went out and um asked our students middle schoolers in our community to share with me their voices to share with me what resonated for them in our goals in our priorities and in doing that when I was having them read these out loud I said oh my gosh I should capture this and and so I I asked him I said do you think and I explained what I was doing and I was talking to big people and these people make the big decision about the schools and they were really intrigued by the way um I I suspect that they might want to come and and participate at some future date but um I asked their parents
015would it also be okay with you if I recorded this and um I got seven people's permission and so these are our middle schoolers and um as they're reading I want you to listen to their voices I want you to listen for the pauses in their voices where they may have unintentionally changed a [Music] word they're living what they're saying how did they change it to maybe make it feel more real for them life ready Learners srcs supports students to embrace their identities and claim their own agency in order to navigate diverse complex and constantly changing environments by developing the following Capac capacities literacy inquiry investigation collaboration creativity communication problem solving critical thinking empathy civic participation and cultural Consciousness from what they read I want you to um take the highlighter that I put up
016there and think about three words that stand out most for you there's a highlighter up in the front and on the second page of your handout you can just highlight the words an eye contact will let me know that I can move on look at that I've still got it so we're going to repeat this activity for the next six okay whole person Sr CS Rec recognizes our responsibility to develop and care for the whole person so that each is mentally emotionally and physically healthy we commit to policies practices and relationships that help ensure each person is safe engaged supported and challenged thank you for that eye contact look at that I'm going to move to the next one high quality staff srcs values and supports great growth-minded professionals we commit to provide collaborative highquality
017professional development to staff members so that they can successfully educate and support students srcs commits to fairly compensating staff workers okay sure all right next one teaching and learning environment and resources srcs will provide safe and clean schools we will provide flexible learning environments that are conducive conducive to teach and learn srcs and commit to supporting teachers with current tools and training to support pedagogical pedagogical leadership and information Innovation Innovation srcs believes in building a staff that reflects that students will serve and I wanted share with you that this young man recorded this three times and I asked him which one he wanted you to hear he selected this one and I asked him why and he said because conducive I don't know what that means and pedagogical is a weird word and I said
018I'll be sure to relay that information to you so when we're thinking about messaging who are our Messengers are these words that [Music] are common in our vernacular they're common in my vernacular Dr Jones right but do my kids know what conducive means pedagogical are there other words for those things possibly right you get where I'm going next one equity and Excellence srcs grounds our work in a deep understanding of students identities in the historical and cultural context in which we in which we all operate srcs will remove barriers and create structures that provide opportunities to further personal and AC academic Student Success srcs believes in student centered differentiated practices leading to Equitable teaching and learning I think there was a little bit of intentionality between changing the word believes from believes that student centered
019he changed it to believes in student centered that's deep yeah goodby all right I'm going to move to the next one two more left so family engagement and Community Partnership family engagement and Community Partnerships srcs understands the value of engaging our students families in our larger Community srcs commits to providing its resources and educational opportunities to families equitably and developing lasting Partnerships with our community to deepen and expand Student Success and this young lady does know what Equity means but equitably was a different word for her when I explained it she says oh that's like equity and I said yes so she knew she said that in her class they were talking about this of course I leaned in and said what were you talking about all right and our final one sustainable funding srcs
020believes that the chronic underfunding of public education in California is unex acceptable and undermines the health of our community the current funding levels limit student outcomes and staff compensation the srcs board commits to working with our community to create additional funding opportunities and to being consistent and fierce Advocates to full and fair funding from the state of California this young man should probably go tell Tony Thurman what we think so as you're finishing up are there any words that you'd like to add in the far right column is some space for words that you'd like to add next we're going to see what our students selected their three words creativity problem solving critical thinking emotionally relationships supported high quality professional devel velopment committed supporting leadership identities historical cultural commits opportunities success underfunding [Music] compensation opportunities
021was mentioned twice we have a total of 20 but opport opportunities was mentioned twice that's the 21 what I want to invite you to do now is to look at the ones that you've highlighted and to look at what our students selected and where you have a commonality if you could Circle those so I've given you a colored pencil and if you can Circle those e y so when you're done superintendent trunell is going to help us by listing Upon Our um poster board the ones that are circled and then she's going to hang those up behind you so for Life ready Learners um critical thinking we can just go down the down the row and if you don't have any just say none well it's cultural Consciousness but cultural um I also put cultural
022Consciousness and critical thinking uh critical thinking cultural consciousness problem solving and are there any that were missing that we wanted to add agency say it again agency agency mean these are the ones that are on the right or that we highlighted so um just on the right hand side if there's any wording that you feel is missing from this message that you want to see added so agency was not missing I think agency is important agency perfect so we can add agency and let's go ahead and go to number two develop you uh one just one repeat it uh Jeremy repeat it for back relationships relationships emotionally emotionally and relationships as well relationships I also had relationships great and are there any missing that we need to add okay how's this feeling for you okay
023let's move to the next one professional development and support students yes compens compensation compensation um I also put compensating and uh the word up there was success I did successfully educates I don't know if that was the same section to add the word success the the students listed success and I had successfully educate highlighted here so I don't know if that's the same one successfully educate yep let's put those success successfully educate I didn't have any circled but I wanted to add the word trust trust good I wanted to add uh value value value any others okay let's move to number four teaching and learning and environment and resources none okay um supporting supporting um the word the students put up there was leadership and I had highlighted the whole concept pedagogical leadership and Innovation
024leadership okay so will highlight leadership and um pedagogical and Innovation is that what you said I just kind of the whole fine kind of that whole phrase resonates for you it was it was one concept to me mhm okay all right I've got it marked on my paper just with brackets around it president um I just put pedagogical leadership Innovation thank you and want to maybe move over it I wanted to add colorful beautiful artistic creative colorful beautiful artistic and creative I have to say I see that environment now with those words I I can see it also had supporting supporting and are there others that we've missed that we want to add um I know you joined us a few moments late don't feel any pressure but if you have anything that you would
025like to add uh feel free to okay so let's move to number five priority number five provide opportunities provide opportunities equity and excellence Yes actually all three of mine were there hey so um I'll pick one um cultural that cultural cultural you can also add all three that were there well students identities historical and cultural context say that one more time I'm sorry students identity students identity got it in the historical and cultural context historical and cultural context thank you mine we um also identities student identities and uh provide opportunities as well did you say ethnicities identities identities and provide opportunities the top one great thank you so I think things to add here um balancing balancing the buzzword of equity with the way kids talk um I think it's just anti-racist anti-racist and instead
026of kind of historical and cultural this is again Equity buzzword but structural and institutional structural and institutional kind of like not just the way things are but why they are the way things are yeah you have any that you'd like to add cired opportun oh we can't hear you that well opportunities opportunities thank you opportunities as well okay and any that we'd like to add um I I really like the removing barriers and creating structures both it's kind of like a tie one goes with the other removing barriers and creating structures so right before we take that one away we want oh is there no space okay remove barriers and create structures good good okay let's move to number six then did you have any none none success success I had none I didn't have
027any cir going okay then okay that also might be telling right yeah I have to think about that one I'm going to put a big pen there so right now we just have success family engagement and Community Partnership are there any words missing I can share the ones I highlighted say that one more time I can sure the ones I highlighted but you're not missing I think what's missing is relation like relationship relationship being in relation being in circle inclusion inclusion relationship inclusion and president would you like to see any that you highlighted just is claim those as missing I highlighted families community and Partnerships but I think it's all tied to like relationship and Partnerships I think is really important okay right the partnership piece belonging partnership and belonging great colorful and there were
028several words that we've used a couple of times and thank you I see that you put the check marks by those so those will definitely be ones that we want to see Incorporated um and then number seven we have our sustainable funding I have underfunding and opportunities underfunding and opportunities one more check for underfunding to Anna one more check next to underfunding another but I extended it to Chronic underfunding I I uh didn't Circle underfunding because I didn't highlight it but I put an underline under unacceptable but it was unacceptable tied to the underfunding I'll say underfunding acceptable exactly so I have chronic I have unacceptable I have underfunding highlighted with two check marks other important words that we include here so I also have under funding but um opportunities and I think you have
029that there too yeah opportunities [Music] mhm do you feel like that might be connected to to California just thinking about our [Music] funding process as an opportunity okay are there words that we need to add I like talking about Fierce advocacy Fierce advocacy yeah I highlighted Fierce [Music] Advocates and maybe some of the students um don't understand what that word means right it doesn't mean that we can't use the language but how are we investing time then in ensuring that they understand that language right what does it mean to be an advocate what what does advocacy look like I think it'd be a beautiful process to investigate how to involve them as students in that advocacy how to show them the way of the amount of hours and effort that someone like director Flores puts
030into appoc casing fiercely for funding within our state how can they be part of that process what can ignite that passion at a young age so they carry it with them and are a part of the process early right right youth uh Ambassador aspects right what's already going on at some of our school sites that we need to highlight and celebrate All opportunities there so um if there isn't anything else to add I just want to have those up my plan is to sit with this information mle it over and to come up with some draft language that is inclusive of what we have up here okay oh you're not miked so oh sorry sorry about that thank you oh thank you very much so the the added words have the mark the cross next
031to them thank you it's great okay I mean really okay so when we're thinking about care when we're thinking about respect when we're thinking about language we're usually thinking through our lens what this word means to us to our community to our experiences and when we're thinking about the community as a whole we know that often times our understandings are different and so I wanted to capture some of the variation in some of the common words that we use like care what does that look like does it look different in different communities does it act different does it feel different right and when we're talking cross community are we ensuring that what we mean by the word is what they're hearing from the word so n noddings back in 1984 brought this concept of care
032into the educational environment she really started saying what while we're teaching kids need to know more than the facts they need to know that we're present they need to know that we care she started this work and what happened is it took off and it's it's kind of created its own life for us at this point but I wanted to start with that Nexus where the the word originat from in in the context of Education with n noddings and um thinking about care in the white Community does that look different does that feel different I know as a biracial person oftentimes I am talking in two different communities with my white mother and with my black father and sometimes these communities are using the same language but have very different understandings and meanings behind it
033so I just want to bring this to our attention as we're thinking about new language is it diverse does it have a shared cross-cultural understanding if not how do we give that to it how do we ensure that it does so n nodding said caring to me is simply kind in action and this is a teacher who is going to describe caring right very passionate what I want you to do while you're watching this is on the final page you have a lot of space to write down phrases things that are said in the and these in these videos they don't necessarily resonate with you but they stand out for some reason and after we've gone through this process I'm going to ask each of you to share one of the phrases and why you
034selected that one and I'll start with myself just to give an example okay so this one is six minutes the rest of them are shorter than that um four to three minutes all right it's 4:00 a.m. I've struggled for the last hour to fall back asleep but I can't yet again I'm tossing and turning unable to shut down my brain why because I'm stressed I'm stressed about my students I'm so stressed that the only thing I can think to do is to take my thoughts and write them down tonight and vow to myself myself that tomorrow I'm going to tell students the truth the real truth I've been needing to say this is what students really need to [Music] hear first you need to know that I care about you in fact I may care
035about you more than you care about yourself and I care about you more than your grades and your test scores more than your GPA and your SATs more than the state required benchmark minimum that tells me how much I'm supposed to care I care about you as a person and because I care I need to be honest with you do I have your permission to be honest both in what I say and how I say it here's the thing teachers lose sleep because of you every week but before I tell you why there's something you need to understand about school you see academic learning is not the main event of school it never has been and it probably never will be yes algebra essay writing the judicial process Spanish all are important all can change
036your life they are events but they are not the main [Music] event the main event of school is dealing with the harshness of Life learning how to deal with adversity learning how to deal with harshness as simple as a forgotten Locker combination to obnoxious peers to gossip to being doubted by others to doubting yourself and still through all of it pushing to be the best version of yourself no matter what the main event of school is Conquering adversity it is your resilience and conquering the main event adversity that truly prepares you for Life After School Because mark my words school is not the last time you will face great difficulty yes you will have moments more beautiful than you can imagine but you will also confront tragedy frustration fear and doubt in the years to
037[Music] come you shouldn't be worried about the fact that you will face great adversities you should be worried because you are setting yourself up to fail at overcoming them here's the reason reason why teachers lose sleep because of you every single week you are failing the main event of school you are quitting and you may not think you are quitting but you are because quitting wears many masks for some of you quitting looks like throwing the day away and not even picking up a pencil to try to write a sentence or a fraction because you think you can't or it doesn't matter or it's not worth it but it is what you write is not the main event the fact that you choose to take charge of your own doubt your own weakness your own
038boredom in order to write when you get challenged that is the main event some of you quit by skipping class on a free education a privilege that was paid for bled for died for by millions of people who came before you being punctual is not the main event the main event is delaying your Temptation and investing in your own intelligence understanding that sometimes short-term pain leads to long-term gain and that great people make great sacrifices for a greater good for others you quit by throwing disrespect at adults who ask you to go to class bowing to Authority is not the main event the main event is learning how to problem solve maturely not letting your judgment be tainted by the stains of emotion it's having great intact when every fiber of your being wants to
039hit or scream or run away I see some of you quit by not taking opportunities chances after chances after chances to pass a class the main event is not having some letter some number tell you that you are worthy the main event is pulling your crap together and making hard choices and hard sacrifices even when it seems impossible possible it's finding hope in the Hopeless courage in the chasm guts in the grave what you need to see is that every time you take the easy way out you are building a habit of quitting and it will destroy your future and annihilate your happiness if you let it our society couldn't care less for quitters life will leave you sad depressed and poor if you can't en courage up and learn how to deal with hardship
040you are either the muscle or the dirt you either take resistance and grow stronger or you erode in the wind so know this right now as long as you are in my life I'm not going to let quitting be easy for you I'm going to challenge you confront you push you coach you you can whine you can throw a tantrum you can Stomp and scream and swear and guess what tomorrow I'll be right here smiling and patient waiting for you to give you a fresh start because you are worth it so do yourself a favor courage up no more excuses no more justifications no blaming no quitting lift your head up rip the cords out of your ears grab the freaking pencil and let's do this [Music] courage up courage up right there's a lot
041in this example of care that is about the individual that is about the bootstraps right the phrase the quotation from noddings caring to me we want to see now some different examples of care in different communities um we've got four additional communities and in no way am I suggesting that that is is it but um I did think it was important to show the variation as well as to try and highlight communities that we have here in Santa Rosa okay so in the black Community Care children Lisa delpit excuse me Lisa delpit in 1995 wrote a book called other people's children and took this concept of care and applied it to the black community and she said children will not care how much you know until they know how much you care you care about
042them right so this is taking it to a different place this is a relational understanding of care that says I'll courage up when I know it's safe I'll courage up when I feel you have my back right so let's watch this video and see the guidance counselors um brief but spectacular three minutes on care as a guidance counselor at Garrett Middle School in Cobb County Georgia John en wosu Works to equip his students with the tools to succeed in and out of the classroom tonight he gives us his brief but spectacular take on advocating for equity in the school system I'm a school counselor at a middle school I have a ton of students who um who who enter into the school system behind From Slavery onto Jim Crow onto um redlining and the GI
043Bill only being given to certain groups and not others and then if you fast for than now we have mass incarceration we have the waren drugs that's you know disproportionately impact other communities and instead of kind of looking at that storyline leading up to now we kind of just say sometimes that they just don't have it or those kids can't behave or those kids um don't have people who care about them and I think it's so much deeper and more complex than that you can't just talk about school in school because people show up sometimes they didn't eat or sometimes they got into an argument with their parents before they get to school and that's impacting how they perform in the classroom so we're trying to have a conversation about grades but now this person
044is talking about oh I don't get along with my brother or sister or I had an issue with my friend if you look at the data you see situations where some groups end up doing better than others and it's a lot of times at least in part because people of color or people from other marginalized groups have to go through some of the same issues of proving that they belong in the space there are teachers who identify things in black children that they don't and white children who are exhibiting the same behaviors these are the same teachers who are writing referrals that lead to some students getting in trouble for things that others do not I've had challenging conversations with the principal in the building um but then I've also work to be in a
045position where I can come up with suggestions or bring people in who can come up with suggestions that can create that change and I try to sit on committees and work in groups where policy is created what I found is that when we talk about implicit bias We compare that to things that we intentionally do versus things that we've been automatically conditioned to do and we can create some dissonance to PE to where people can really begin to question whether or not the things that they say they want to do are in line with the things they're actually doing and then after we kind of dig into implicit bias um I bring up the explicit stuff because the part that is often left out is the critical race theory part the part about the fact
046that our country was built on racism and the the fact that that stuff still exists today and is perpetuated in really interesting ways it's like a social faux PA to bring this stuff up people look uncomfortable people start visiting a little bit when you bring this stuff up the biggest thing is acknowledging there's a problem and especially if you're a white person it's okay to be uncomfortable we're all consuming these stereotypes and attitudes about race and you're not a terrible person for having experienced that my name is John oket wansu Jr and this is my brief but spect take on advocating for equity in the school system and it is a valuable take alen Angela Valenzuela um in 1999 took this concept and did an ethno ethnography in Texas and said what does this look
047like in my community in my Latino Community what does care look like and she said without care education loses its Soul it's reason for being so with our first example we see there's an individual piece to it the the personal the second we start to see and notice a a relational piece with another here we see an extension of that relation to be inclusive of the community subtractive schooling is an amazing book um and I think it's as applicable today in 2024 as it was in 1999 so let's go ahead and see a little video um there's a person in here that some of you might know when you watch this video okay racial disparity and academic achievement remains one of the leading problems in American Education both at the K through 12 and the
048college level a number of studies show greater diversity in the teach teaching profession can address some of those concerns haris reason has a look at a teacher training program that's aiming to increase diversity in the classroom and improve results all the way through college it's the latest story in our special series on rethinking college and part of our regular education segment making the grade actually class are we subtracting time or adding timeing for adding time Francisco Martinez will earn his teaching certificate this month but the 26-year-old teacher to be wants to be more to his students my goal is to be a good role model Martinez who was born in the US to Immigrant parents says that his own teachers in school were overwhelmingly white he hopes his background will resonate with Elementary School students
049in Fresno California where the district's enrollment is 67% Hispanic I feel like I can relate a lot to the students some of the experiences they're going through I've seen myself and I guess in a sense I can have kind of provide another ear or another person to rely on Martinez may be right I'm Gonna Keep My welcome short because I Cassandra Herring heads an alliance that helps prepare teachers for diverse student classrooms we know from research that having a teacher of color um actually can move student achievement um it actually can help keep kids in school and persist uh to college according to the National Center for Education statistics more than half of all public school students are either racial or ethnic minorities and that number is only rising at the same time 80% of
050their teachers are white experts in higher education are trying to fix that Gap we need to make sure that every single Ed prep program is training every single teacher candidate to bring about student achievement gains for all Learners while minority students have made gains in recent years an achievement Gap still exists between the races according to the US Department of Education in some grades the Gap in Reading and math achievement between whites and their Hispanic and black classmates remains in the double digits I'm so excited that we are here today for the spring convening herrings alliance called Branch Ed launched a new initiative with colleges across the country to improve teacher preparation programs when we go into our classrooms capture what you see and hear teachers saying and doing this month the alliance met in
051Fresno at vanga elementary school observe student teacher candidates from California State University Fresno including Francisco Martinez's class how many of us thought that was false ra your hand observers used a rubric to assess the role of diversity in teaching and learning by looking through the lens of that tool it gives Educators these faculty the opportunity to reflect back on what they're doing on their own campuses when we come back from our observations we want to process the information and then go deeper with it and one observation came from Nik Williams an assistant professor from Carolina St University there was one black female student in the classroom she did not participate in Sharing out I didn't hear that girl's voice in the classroom holistically at all there's research that supports this marginalization of black females particularly
052as it relates to math and it struck me that as a teacher you think about how can you be more inclusive how can you dispel myths how can you um um support this uh disproportionate representation does teaching need to change as our demographics and as our country changes I think it does I think the race blind colorblind language blind culture blind uh educational system of the past is failing us it's obsolete because our classrooms are becoming so diverse to not equip teachers to know how to really leverage that diversity in a positive way to move forward student achievement is only going to increase the achievement Gap a shift toward what's called culturally responsive teaching or cultural proficiency is gaining traction among Educators what are our attributes that we're measuring an attribute is a better served
053students of color teachers create conversation about inequities and cultural relevance the time she got on what on the bus on the bus everybody say on the bus on the bus Francisco Martinez uses Spanish references in his lesson plans for example uh there was one math lesson I led once we were working with distances so I said so and so wants to go get an orchata beverage how long does so and so have to walk to get that beverage before I could finish a sentence so many kids were saying oh I've had orchata I've had orchata orchata is great while California State University at Fresno has been successful at recruiting many minority teacher candidates enrolling African-American males is still a challenge let's see Hands let's see hands what's different about it we do need to improve
054on how we uh recruit African-American males I think Nationwide that should be at the Forefront of of the discussion most of our students naturally blend into Laura Alo is the dean of the school of education at the University [Music] major and so the work we do in the kreman school is to make sure that all of our Educators come out fully prepared to work she recently visited local black churches to try and attract more African amans toward a teaching career I think it's it's time to reach out to this particular Community to see if there maybe I could spark some interest it's not only the presence of a teacher of color it's the lens it's the mindset of coming with these you know just really valuable assets what does 1 hour and 30 minutes represent
055ultimately cultivating great teachers is likely to be the best recruiting tool of all most teachers if you ask a teacher why do you become become a teacher they're why is because they had a teacher one teacher that inspired them that encouraged them to be the best they could be and push them right now for the PBS NewsHour I'm har sason in Fresno [Music] California so we've seen three videos we have two more I want to offer you an opportunity to stand up move your bodies a little bit this is what I would do in class because that's a lot so if you need to take a a wiggle break for a minute please do so e e e all right let's continue so here um also just acknowledging that this is the month of Celebration
056um thank you president Medina for that reminder that this is a an important month um to honor and celebrate and learn um and embrace our AI Community um this isn't a newer book for me um it's not a new book but it's a newer book for me I want to acknowledge that this is a weak area an area for me to practice my own growth I was so moved by Helen Zia's insightful examination of the complexities of the API community that um I honestly felt a bit embarrassed that here I have all of the pieces of paper that a university can provide and yet here's this community where I I I know very little so um I like to be straight up this is not an area where I feel I've done enough of my
057own work and I'm owning that in a public setting that I want to grow so um yeah Helen Zia [Music] though said our Asian-American Community deserves to be seen heard and valued in all of its complexities education is a vital tool in empowering individuals within this diverse Community but it must be sensitive to cultural nuances and historical experience es to truly support and uplift every student so I said to myself I got this I'll go ahead and pull some M right some Vietnamese Filipino right because if we disaggregate the information those populations tend to hover in the same area of academic underachievement as black students and Latino students so I said I got this and I didn't this gentleman is Korean and the intersections that he's going to share are pretty powerful so let's watch
058this what am I going to do when they tell me you have to go and they Shi me to South Korea and I'm there standing there and I don't know what to do Adam crapser spent his 40th birthday in court fighting to stay in the only country he knows and listen to my voice I'm an American I've been here my whole life I don't know anything else Adam and his sister came to the US from South Korea when he was 3 years old they were later abandoned by their adoptive parents separated into foster care and sent on two very different paths his sister was adopted by a family and got her citizenship Adam says he ended up with abuse of foster parents who neglected to finalize his naturalization he ended up living on the streets
059stealing to survive you know ask yourself at as a teenager you know what are you going to do if you need a place to live you know what are you going to do when you wake up in a park and you're wet every day decades later crapser is a husband and a father with another baby on the way when he tried to update his legal status a couple of years ago his earlier criminal history raised a R flag for immigration authorities now he could be deported to South Korea he doesn't speak Korean and doesn't think he'd survive I won't make it if you send me so you're send sentencing me to death for crimes I've already done hard time for in 2000 Congress passed a bill making all International adoptees automatic US citizens but the
060law was not made retroactive that leaves scores of other adoptees at the risk of deportation this case is compelling for so many reasons the the child citizenship act should be amended to include kids who were over 18 in 2001 when it was enacted Senator Jeff Merkley supports crapser fight to stay in the US and is taking action on Capitol Hill he and another Senator are proposing a standalone Bill to extend US citizenship to all International adoptees for crapser the stakes couldn't be higher whatever they want me to do I'll do it you know but I need to stay here for my family like it's imperative this man is no longer with us I want to take a moment and honor his words his life he was deported there's a long an hourlong video that um
061I would encourage you all to see at some point um he went he was forced to go to Korea where he didn't speak the language he got lost he had he he he gave it his best he was there and he was alone and he did take his life and I wan to I want for us to hold him in our conscience as we're doing this work I want us to think about his young children who are amongst us right they are children in the classroom Who The Stereotype would have us say you're going to do great in math you don't need our help you got this but behind those stereotypes what do we know some of these students in the aapi community are invisible and are having to live up to a stereo type
062that for some of us seems positive but in fact does it erase and deny and so while we're thinking about care and we're thinking about relation and we're thinking about communal are we thinking about Collective okay what do our teachers know about the child citizenship act I'll be straight up what did I know about the child citizenship act my own privilege with my us documentation doesn't mean I have to know how many of us don't have to know but need to know so just a second of Silence thank you the last video car in the Native American Community wona luk there are a lot of books out there about Native Americans to help Native [Music] Americans but being sure that they're by Native Americans not so many so luk is intentional right probably one of
063the most famous Native Americans um but how can we uplift our Pomo people here so that they can be future authors writing about Santa Rosa and their experiences in our strategic priorities how can we hold space for our future authors true education is not about assimilation it's about empowerment it's about creating spaces where indigenous youth can learn and Thrive drawing from their own cultural Traditions languages and ways of knowing education should honor the wisdom of our ancestors while preparing our youth to be leaders who can navigate the challenges of today and tomorrow with strength and resiliency 1999 uh what you need is your notebooks and in the reading material those of you who participate in your sort of ceremonial practices religious practices back home right when you are participating in these things do they speak
064English no they don't speak English right how does that make you feel in those settings the main thing that brought me here to Naka was the movement that was happening around this school I I I don't want to use safe space but like safe space if I were to describe Naka to someone who has no idea what the school is or the name or I would just say a safe place for natives the Native American Community Academy um also known as Naka is situated in albu in New Mexico Naka is a school for indigenous youth that has more of an indigenized curriculum it's a school founded on community and culture and respects I'm from the peblo of hus up north and I'm from the P of coach and San Felipe I'm a junior here at
065Naka so my first year at Naka was last year my freshman year I really did not know what to expect but right away I gained a sense of community just made me feel like I had a sense of home at school I'm half breed I'm a mut as some elementary students would call me I got bullied a lot about you know being native or being white going into Naka it was it was different uh the first year wasn't too different I still got bullied pretty heavily for being white and then uh the teachers helped me out a lot next question what is one issue that sort of just makes you angry could be anything I think it's important for students to have access to teachers who share their knowledge and innately understand the the cultural
066and the social issues that they go through I belong somewhere when somebody gives me the opportunity to explain fully what my feelings are first without trying to talk over or explain to me what my feelings are I feel like I've grown like to respect my culture and community and traditions more I'm just grateful that I'm allowed to express my cultural identity at this school community means to be like with each other and to be able to talk with each other laugh with each other cuz that's how it is in heus for me wherever you go you hear the sound of laughter and it just makes you feel at home having the support of everyone and being given wonderful opportunities just to speak and share our stories help me feel a little bit more connected and
067confident in Who I Am the school supports me doesn't restrict my curriculum they allow me to be creative is there any time in your speaking to people where you felt like you were misunderstood but also just interacting with the community here there's so much laughter here that you get and that just feeds me every day right and then we get to eat together like a family we sing together we talk together that that's what of makes me come back consistently to to work I was very disconnected for the longest time in my life I was I super against being native I hated everyone I constantly got on fights looking back on it now I kind of realized how sad and alone I was and Naka was kind of a reason why I'm able to to
068stand proud and say I am native my name is Remy thonis my name is Bryant rone my name is Nea Anderson my name is Maka kakito my name is Arlan John and this is my brief but spectacular take on creating a culture of belonging culture of belongings someone mentioned that yeah so I want to ask you all not to put you on the spot but were there any phrases that stood out to you um either as something that resonated for you was true of you your culture or felt just the opposite maybe hit you wrong didn't resonate with you yes de la to I care about you more than you may care about yourself say that one more time I care about you more than you may care about yourself so I care about you
069may maybe more than you care about yourself and why did that resonate for you or not whichever not sure so it resonated for me me just for the understanding of what a lot of children underprivileged children are dealing with in our active current everyday 220 2024 Society in our school systems that that resonated with me because it's something that I went through in my life so having teachers adults mentors administrators that care about these students more than they understand what care truly means for themselves believing in them and trusting them lifting them up so just it really struck a personal chord for my journey and how important it is of why I'm sitting in this seat to do this work because of all the students that still need that today thank you we're also going
070to try and keep our com to 3 minutes and that was amazing that was so under 3 minutes so um just wanted to say that because I forgot to but uh if we can try and keep them to three minutes um thank you others TR L Cruz um I really resonated with that kind of the the relationship between dissonance and discomfort so like it's super uncomfortable to hear dissonance all the time right and that's what people of color inside of systems are constantly feeling and to have that black counsel really kind of highlight like so when we raise the dissonance is when the discomfort is created but like that recognition and that just hit in all the right ways is like that dissonance that hypocrisy um the using all the words and then not doing
071the things or using the words and having them mean something completely and totally opposite like that that hurts your ears right um as someone with Integrity um and as you know as a person of color in this world watching the harm that's created every day and caused right um and then to have that come back at you as like you are making me uncomfortable um that that just that hit thank you thank you you that I hads trusty Sheffield that dissonance piece yeah trying my best to keep it under three um no vir you know um Dr J we we met a couple weeks ago and you had brought up um n ndings at the time and I when I was in graduate school I done a um a study on um No Child Left
072Behind and looking at examining the word care and what that means in different communities particularly what it means in the education and the school Community because we have to have all of this care means more because there's so much more at stake than it does in the general population um and your and my discussion um sort of centered around being in a community where folks do feel uncomfortable having necessary conversations and I it was in a couple of these but I think it was in the um it was with the school counselor John um you know who who said it it's okay to be uncomfortable when we live in a community I think the the One Clip had um 80% of teachers are white um it's higher than that in somoma County um definitely but
073it's okay to be uncomfortable when you're coming from care and you have to open yourself up to um to to see the other side to see all of this to see the other perspectives to see culture to understand that community means something different um you care means something different in in different communities and communities within the education World School communities is encompasses everything three minutes and next I have uh trusty florus thank you where's the timer all right there it is I see it now all right so I I don't know how to put this into words but um you know one of the words that I mentioned here earlier today was agency right how do we encourage our students to build that self-reliance that agency um living in a you know predominantly white culture
074right you you see video number one uh where um there there is a lot of good intent and you know I mean it was heartfelt you know I you know I felt it um just you know put that into context right with the rest of the videos that were about communial and re relational building right uh to build that agency uh in instead of me telling you how to do this right making sure that students are aware that this is you know this is a community and this is how you become part of the community right um you know it's it's diametrically you know different uh points of views right uh that I think it's important to take into account uh that the vast majority of our students are students of color right and having
075that background that re relational sort of building um might be kind of subversive sort of thinking you know and and in White America right so um because we're so entrenched into the idea of making sure that you know we tell you what to do and how to do it uh instead of letting individuals grow um by being there and and helping them build that sort of agency um I have 50 seconds left and then the other thing I want to say is that in video number two the import of implicit bias the discussion about being able to be uncomfortable and being okay in terms of being uncomfortable because the discussion about implicit bias is difficult to do especially in a in in a profession that is predominantly white right uh wherein our students are predominantly
076you know students of color so how do we engage that conversation to to ensure that you know we have an open set of relationship in terms of this discussing those the ability to feel uncomfortable right and I'm not saying that one is better than the other I'm just saying that we come from different you know um places four seconds okay I'll shut up now JY MCN thank you I'll share a couple words that I bristled at um the first was resilient um I think I I I bristled at that because maybe maybe we shouldn't be teaching our students to be resilient maybe we should be taking care of them so that they don't have to be resilient and I know to some extent that might be semantic in the way you're saying the word care
077is semantic for different groups maybe that speaker meant resilient in a different way than I'm rejecting on him but that was my reaction to it um and then the other one was achievement Gap and that one stands out to me as something that you know even though in the video they were talking about it in context um and even if we are talking about it in context sometimes the person listening doesn't hear the context all they hear is the phrase achievement Gap and then that can place blame on the group experiencing that Gap rather than the context that created it so I don't know another term that I've heard before is education debt um I don't know if that would be more accurate um or if there are other terms that have that are even
078more recent um but yeah those were my thoughts thank you now me I'm going to try to be fast and short because I'm going to be all over the place um following up on the uh caring more than than the student cares about themselves to me um I thought about the fact that maybe how they express how they care for themselves is different in the sense that um they don't realize how being in engaged is a different form of caring for themselves that has that uh that's that short pain for the long gain that's what they said um I really like this idea of not letting quitting be easy as the district um caring by making it difficult for them to quit um there was this idea of challenging and pushing students which takes me
079to this idea that I always always feel that our students are capable of so much more and there's this um Lowered Expectations of them that I often feel that's even tied to this like achievement Gap that simultaneously to me I see is sometimes like the self-fulfilling prophecy like we're you know we're we're not going to achieve we don't achieve so we're already expected to to be at a lower level um the second video I was so into it that I didn't write anything down but critical race Theory I thought was essential um in the third video the idea of Role Models um cultural responsive teaching was important I watched it yesterday and I reached out the LA Alo and I'm like I saw you in the video she's like ah I know so much about
080this we we'll talk later um there was the the idea of privilege in terms of priv of citizenship and I think how important that concept is not just in terms of immigration but just privilege in so many different levels um that I think it's important to recognize and acknowledge in terms of how we develop policy and how we try to do things um the students talking about um access to teachers that share their knowledge um respecting culture being able to express your identity all those things were really important um but feeling at home being able to share our stories those were things that stood out um that I the one student that said that in reflecting seeing that he was sadurn alone in terms of how he expressed some that really stood out um but
081I think you you talked about the culture of belonging and I think how do we create that culture um those are all the things that kind of really stood out and the idea of conquering adversity being kind of the main event and thank you thank you you want to speak do you want to speak or so thank you thank you for sharing your heart thank you for speaking your courage Your Truth let's get this into those words no let's get this into the living breathing of our words care I summarized the five books and wrote this as articulated by educational Scholars noddings delpit Valena Zia luk embodies a critical aspect of educational practice and ethical decision making noddings emphasizes care as a dynamic and reciprocal relationship urging Educators to attentively address the diverse needs of
082their students delut underscores the import importance of culturally responsive teaching advocating for educators to create inclusive learning environments that honor students cultural identities and experiences Valenzuela extends this perspective by highlighting the collective responsibility of schools and communities to address systemic inequalities and promote social justice Z emphasizes the multifaceted complexities an importance of visibility luk reminds us caring spaces are relational and culturally inclusive thus care and education encompasses nurturing inclusive relationships nurturing inclusive relationships culturally responsive practices and collaborative efforts to ensure every student's well-being and academic success so a lot a lot going on here a lot of passion a lot of care a lot of um a lot of truth I stuck in with education I wasn't going to be an educator at all I had no interest um I stuck in it because I
083saw the inequities I saw the in IES I saw that the kids in East Palo AO did not have the same experience in kindergarten that I had had and I wanted to be sure that they got something better that they got my best when I look back at what my best was at 23 years old and now that I'm 25 right um you know I thought lining up and I mean I'm embarrassed to say this but I have to say it and I say this to my classes when I'm teaching I thought lining up with your hands behind your back and walking down the line that split the cement meant I was doing a good job that my kids were quiet all the way to the bathroom right that stood up against the wall didn't
084poke each [Music] other and guess what my principal did too because I started as a substitute teacher I started on an emergency teaching credential I was invited back because I was so darn good at keeping those kids quiet right and I look back and I think wow every single one of my kids could read by the end of kindergarten every one of my kids I had visited their homes by the end of that year but I did that because one day I was so proud of the way I was teaching I invited my dad to my classroom and my dad owned a barbecue restaurant in town and had gone to 8th grade and that's when he stopped he was born in 19 20s okay older grew up in Tennessee and you know what he said
085after watching me who was in I thought I was doing a good job he said baby that looks a lot like my own schooling where we weren't allowed to talk where we were afraid of our teacher my God I hadn't even seen that that's what I was doing I was elevating the wrong message to these babies that if you're quiet that if you're dutiful that if you do as I say not as I do right that this grit this tough love was going to turn their worlds around right I had so many assumptions about their families that they needed to work harder that they needed to show up at night for you know back to school I had all of those and my dad saying that to me I was like whoa and that's when
086I invested the time and I went and I entertained a different type of care one that I knew because that was my dad but when I had not I had learned out of myself in learning to be a good teacher I had I had taken that out of me and I had denied me to my students I want us to think about loving on our teachers as we're doing this work as well how many of our teachers believe in their heart of hearts what I just shared and just need that you know hey you want to speak I I was just in my mind trying to understand like believing that you're doing right but the system has taught you what right is but right isn't necessarily right and so you might actually be doing harm
087that idea that's it that's it and and you don't even know it and that hurts right and I think that um you all invited me to be this person because you knew I was going to get up here and do something a little different right um I do this because I believe so much in the power of our teachers in the power of our system to do better right I keep saying better I want to be here to help in any way shape or form that I can but I have to own that that was me and I had learned that that was right and for some of the kids maybe it was right who knows but it wasn't right for all of them and so [Music] um yeah this was this was me schooling
088often asks children to be something or someone other than who they really are it asked them to use language other than the one they come to school with it asked them to dismiss their community in cultural knowledge it erases the things that the students hold dear we want to be additive I love what mcnali had to share there were some pieces there that were about what can we do differently what's the language how can we still have that piece of care that you started us with right how can we have agency how can we make sure that that's part of the curriculum how can we see care and the complexities so that this message is a thing of the past yeah next steps respect I I asked and encouraged us all to hold space for
089respecting the process the time the people the love the passion that went into the development and as we're doing that to think about care to think about care is nurturing inclusive relationships culturally responsive practice collaborative effort and how do you know and monitor and message this how will you know it how will you see it how will you identify it Patty Patty knows it Patty identifies it Patty messages it Patty's the bomb Patty's a crossing guard in Yukaya and I'm going to go to her street at 7:30 in the morning one day and chill with Patty because Patty lives our truth our care she lives it she shows it and what I bring this up I bring Patty to our Consciousness because I believe that Our Patties want to be the messengers of our priorities
090if we write our priorities in a way that is what you all just shared they'll roll off people's tongues we right Dr Jones shouldn't be the messenger I shouldn't be the only one who can recite our goals we want to make sure that Patty recites our goals why because in this video you're going to see a woman with a pink scarf around her neck she doesn't know me she doesn't care about me but she knows Patty and she lives in the community and she's going to see on her ballot something about you know parcel taxes and if we do this right Patty is going to be our best messenger for pink scarf lady we're not going to be the one saying you need to pass the parcel tax because look at the budget right but
091because she sees Patty every morning and Patty says good morning she trusts Patty so if Patty says this is a good idea and this supports our goals in these ways she's going to say oh yeah that's what we want to make sure we do with our with our goals that they resonate that they are real that they don't use high futin language that nobody understands right inclusive so let's watch [Music] Patty what gets me out of bed every morning is the thought of not being there saying hello to everybody it doesn't matter if it's cold hot wind rain you still show up for work and and you perform your job to the best of your building and be happy doing it morning my name is Patty da I'm a crossing guard at Frank Zeke Elementary
092after the first time I substitute I called my son and say you know honey I think I want to do this Crossing C it's great exercise and the people are great children are great and it felt great sweet my daily schedule as a crossing guard begins at 7 a.m. basically I da my jacket grab my sign gloves on and I head straight out to the corner we start the day with great smile positive attitude and it just reflects on everybody it's great great start to the morning I look forward to it every morning it's just like your cardio beats joining the gym the intersection of bush and low gap that's my intersection it is so important to have a crossing guard at the location I'm at now now it is really hectic and busy there
093so having me there assures the safety of the children Crossing not only the children but pedestrians and cars alike sometimes nice nice out here huh yeah it is very nice it's going to be a great day beautiful you too thank you my duties I feel are um as important as the teachers during school hours but as a Crossing card I see the children before and after school and I follow up on how their day is it's just as important because I really do follow up on them have a great day and again we're leaving school and I yell see you tomorrow I mean it be here tomorrow cuz I'm going to be here tomorrow and they yell back see you tomorrow I'm hardly gone I I would not miss work because I said I'll be
094here tomorrow I always know that they're happy to see me and that's that piece of mind I think I help the parents with I can't tell you how that feels feel so good that you can make an impact on someone's day like that this is a place to be at you know if you are considering a position as a crossing guard first and foremost is your relationship to the children and the people and I think that makes a big big impact on how you perform your duties everyone here is just so supportive of it they're so happy they they make me feel so appreciated and loved and valued for what you're doing out there is just a great way to start the day and I I I look forward to ite school crossing G relationships
095supportive appreciated loved valued right how many patties are out there at low where is she low gap in Bush right we've got this we've got this you all um may not be old enough to remember but when I was growing up we didn't have a whole lot of books in our house okay we had no books in our house um but we had a lot of love and we had a lot of care and one of the ways that my family showed that was we would sit down and watch like Jeopardy and game shows together and right about 9:00 which was my bedtime cheers would come on so never really actually saw a full segment of Cheers when I was growing up but I used to see and hear the song that started Che and
096I'll tell you that still is my truth I want to be where everybody knows my name I want to be where people are all the same I want to go to those places and I believe that when we think about this night and we hold and embrace those truths we will have a simplified version that Patty as well as our students will be able to message and celebrate so before we open this up to whatever y'all want to do next I want to close with cheers making your way in the world today takes everything you've got taking a break from all your worries sure would help a lot wouldn't you like to get away all those nights when you've got no life lights the check is in the mail and your little angel hung the
097cat up by its tail and your third fiance didn't [Music] show sometimes sorry you w to go that's what it was about to say um where everybody knows your name where they're always glad you came right you want to be where people see troubles are all the same you want to be where everybody knows your name let's see if it'll show the rest so thank you thank you I think um my first question is just just so we're kind of understanding what is uh I think you mentioned like this is all going to be kind of put together and brought back and some f proposal just kind of want to understand that next step um can I just share a reflection first um I'm trying to hold uh keep myself together because when we started
098this presentation and thank you Dr Jones I don't think we've ever heard or I will speak for myself each of our priorities through the voice of a of a child it just hits really differently and I feel like some of it becomes irrelevant to what our kids really need right and and we have to express things in a way that also makes sense as adults but if we are student centered then we need to be using terms that our students understand because if we're talking about every person in our uh system knowing and connecting we have to understand the language that we use and each of the uh interpersonal stories that we heard afterwards reinforces that when we say that we're building relationships what do we mean by that because we've also been blasted for
099encouraging and continuing to encourage that to the point that it becomes numb word but I would challenge that unless we understand every child's background what they were dealing with before they came to school what they're about to go to after school what is worrying them if we don't know those things and we still have the audacity to name call in a classroom this is not a profession for you I'm saying this because as we navigate the potential of revision of our goals of our priorities we have to think through the lens of how do these words manifest into our work we often say what we put in is what we get out and so if our if our goals are so robust that we can't even make the connections or really understand what the priorities
100are then we will be all over the place and while I also kind of live in an all over the place sort of mindset because we have to do a lot of things all at the same time the Optics of that right don't necessarily make those connections so part of our next steps uh first was to just really set the stage and thank you Dr Jones for doing that getting some initial thinking from the board on what words resonate with us what are some things that seem to be missing right and I think honestly this needs to marinate this needs to marinate we don't have many participants today but this is recorded I think we should actually send this recording out so that that more of our community is able to watch it and digest
101it as well and I know the board has a time frame to to continue doing this work through the beginning part of fall so I think part of the question tonight is I guess the first obvious question is do you want to keep the priorities the way that they are written honoring fully the work that happened before right not discrediting that in any way but do you want to go ahead and approve them as is for another five years and is does five years make sense we've gotten into a Cadence of that right do you want to continue to explore these priorities and do some additional Workshop or study sessions to drill down even further a big important part of this work um that we must do I feel is the metrics how are we
102measuring progress of of the priorities right we've done that Loosely through making connections on our board agendas and we will take time to do some work um to tally if you will uh how often have each of the priorities been connected to an agenda item which is which is a which is a connection to the board's uh board's work and direction right to to the superintendent and to District staff um so that's there are a few questions in that um and I'll hand it back to you president Medina thank you superintendent jell um well first off I open for the board uh J L wow Dr Jones thank you what beauty um the thing that resonates most with me is the heart and as I speak to the heart something that I would also like
103to continue to marinate with us as we go through this process is some things I heard tonight move on from the pain hurt and damage move forward together to adequately do that is to speak in a language that all understand these priorities are not written for us they're not written for for the highest educated in the room they are being written for those in the process of education and our students should understand what words we're using and why we're using them so it's not to prove who's got the highest education in the room and the strongest vocabulary but it's what resonates the most what's going to encourage the most positive steps so now it shouldn't be status quo it should be changed and something that I've been working on over the past few months that
104I really think deserves a moment in this conversation is why are we are taking these steps while we are putting this work in is we use our hearts and we don't vilify others in this conversation to prove our point there will be no vilifying of behavior races Community nobody's looking for a bad guy in this conversation we are all looking for ways to heal and grow so do not take any indication and say this is what's wrong here's some guilt here some shame here some blame bad you what how how are we using these conversations to grow and learn and lead by example for the rest of our srcs community of what we truly wish to embody and how we wish to move forward thank you tror uh TR L Cruz uh thank you so
105much for bringing um what it really looks like to Center equity in a giant picture conversation um we talk about it a lot like what does it mean to Center Equity what does it mean to have that be right in the middle of what it is that we do we talk about that as boarded a lot and I really want to thank you superintendent Chanel for your leadership um in making sure that this was the conversation that we had tonight as we set our priorities um because that is really walking our talk um and I'm really grateful for the way that that came to us tonight um I just want to say that yes absolutely it is time to rewrite these I think this was like my first meeting on this board was writing these
106in 2019 um and when I when I think about what we've learned together and how much um and how much has changed in our community as well as what our experiences together as a board you know have been those folks who wrote that those words then and how different this board looks and feels now um it's it is really time to to rewrite them um I so I definitely want to continue workshopping these um and think that it's a really good um way to also have this carved out time I really love the special board meetings it's worth the extra meeting or two to really be able to focus and have conversations that um we desperately need to have together um so would love to do that one of the things that we did at
107the office of equity um because essentially what we're doing is we're also educating ourselves and our community in the ways in which we use words and what the words mean right so it's a way of really kind of addressing the dissonance that can happen um I think it's really critical for us to you know even with the simplest words to Define them um and so I would really recommend that you know as we think about our values or the words that we want to use as we set these new priorities to also make sure that we have a conversation about the ways in which we Define them um um and that we can continue kind of holding ourselves and our larger Community accountable to what the words mean when we say them um and then
108so I I kind of would would appreciate even maybe kind of like pulling out a little bit bigger to saying like what are the words the values right the definitions of those words and or the values and then to set those priorities um and then I just want to also call in that it is an equity practice to do this work with Community um and so even if it is a small working group of students um of Staff of parents um who want to kind of lean in on this with us um Dr Jones I just love the way that children's voices were in your work tonight and that is so critical right that always comes to this board so differently and so much more powerfully when the the folks that were working for right
109here in the middle of the room um uh and the metrics conversation absolutely um Equity requires accountability there isn't one without the other um and so if we're truly centering it then we're also holding ourselves accountable to it there's a lot of great tools that have been developed across the country um around how to set metric and then kind of report out keep that transparency going um and keep the focus on on you know doing doing the stuff that we say we want to do so thank you thank you thank you thank you trust L Cruz uh other board members uh trusty Sheffield just a couple of things and and complete agreement alrea we it's been five years um and you came on as we were already in the process of looking at what board
110priorities and um are so um I I am all in favor I love the um the student voices and um and framing things in their voice um I appreciate you um Dr Jones for giving us a lens to approach um this task of um evaluating reassessing tooling workshopping our priorities um a lot has happened since 2019 a lot has happened in the world a lot has happened in this country and and I think that there um there are um there kind of an Awakening I kind of think that that's where we're at right now as a community um I do hope that as we move forward in whatever process we choose to do that we we invite the community to be present to participate um but with a real emphasis on the student voices the
111student Community as being a part of the process we have a lot of good intentions I think that this prior our existing um um board strategy priority rainbow um there was a lot of thought put into that as well and a lot of good intentions um but things change and perspectives change and um and we could look at it through a new lens thank you trusty Sheffield trusty Flores first of all Dr Jones thank you so much for this very beautiful and touching you know presentation with love and intentionality um I just want to say thank you um you know during our pre meetings I mentioned that um back in 2018 2019 as a member of the community I remember going to one of these uh events where you know the school district was collecting
112information from community members right so I attended one that I was for Spanish speaking you know uh community members and one of my suggestion was that we needed to make our language accessible reasonable understandable and measurable right um and I just want to say thank you because um you know as we grow it it tells me that you know we are moving towards a place where we are becoming you know more Student Center and putting those voices and uh perspective uh with intentionality right um to me that as a school counselor that that that just that just you know that that just means the world to me um I also did share that you know I thought our seven priorities were a little bit confusing um and um not I mean there were well written
113and with good intentions right uh but when you ask uh when you ask folks you know you know what those priorities are you know I would be very surprised to know that you know you would be very surprised to know that pretty much no one actually knows what those priorities are uh and if we are going to have priorities set by the district it should be a Common Language it should be something that we we all know it should be something that you're right that Patty should be able to to say in in in in a you know you know 25 second you know elevator pitch right it needs to be accessible to everyone in the community uh not just those you know few folks that are here pretty much you know um you know
114twice twice a month you know for three to four hours um yeah so uh I'm with the rest of the board members that I I think it's time to revamp um the uh the priorities into a more succinct you know more relational um view so thank you Mr mnal did you want to say anything or okay um superintend Scot I was gonna ask for a couple questions but I think um she mentioned the timeline um I think in in my head um I liked the idea if we could have something done where we could kind of like roll it out and present it to to the school community at back to school nights in September but that might be too soon we might not be able to do that right depends on how this process
115goes but when she mentioned the timeline I think she was kind of alluding to that um so I just wanted to make sure that the board knew where that came from um yeah I think this is what we have now is definitely too much you know when when I got on to the board this was early on in the beginning of me serving on the board and I remember it was just us trying to pack so many things into already existing categories and I think we added this priority seven at the end cuz like oh yeah we need money uh let's do something about um um meeting the these needs um but but yeah it doesn't it's not I want to say user friendly um I liked the slide that you had about keeping things
116student centered um I think keeping that as the focus to me is is really important as we watched the videos one of the thoughts um that the ideas that came out was the idea of students being able to be themselves and I thought of the idea of like what is srcs and like from a student perspective like srcs is me um how can can can like our priorities kind of reflect that is what I was thinking in my head um I did want to ask uh superintendent forel in terms of as we move forward things that I would like to know um in terms of metrics um if maybe we could have like a list or an understanding of what are the things that we already have access to measure like what metrics can we
117already um measure in some form or another um and having that list might help us understand maybe what what we don't have access to that we may want to measure as we move forward um I like um what trusty Sheffield said about like student input and Community input I think that's really important um one of the things that I've really been um thinking about um being important is an idea of kind of like what the superintendent has of like a council of sorts of advisors um idea of like the president's Council of advisers but students students from all the schools and I think right now thinking about students going through elections in other schools like how can we engage those students to um provide input to us um I my engagement started in school as
118a student and I feel that those student voices are really important and I think when you create effective mechanisms for them to share their voices they'll make them heard um if if if they see that you care and you really listen um they'll engage and so I want to make sure that we create those opportunities as we heard a lot earlier um let's see what else did I write um I I think Justus talked about accountability um and I think this idea of like five years maybe being too long like how do we create maybe um points of accountability somehow within the metrics at some point it's something that that I want to make sure that we kind of take into consideration um and and I was thinking that it'd be cool well I don't
119know about cool but good if maybe as we move on to the next step if maybe we all just um take time to look through these and just think to ourselves how did we do in all of these like how do we feel about that just to contemplate those thoughts and the idea of looking at that came to me from the idea of like let's not look back um because I think it's important to look back sometimes and see how we failed the the point about the color blind ex everything blind system failing um made me think of that that sometimes we have to learn from our failures and we can't learn from them if we if we ignore them so we got to look at where we failed so we could understand how we
120could uh improve so these are all just random thoughts of Omar Medina that have come in this uh in this process um and and the other thing that I was going to ask is um maybe for the the next couple days we could just like get all this stuff typed out and sent to the board members so that we could be able to review it without having to rewatch the video you know when first off thank you for your kind words um I appreciate them and um metrics is a way of involving the community so if I may just offer an idea which is having your words be brief but impactful in their execution so um just entertain this for a second with me um here we go so taking for instance nurturing inclusive relationships
121and asking going back to the community and saying what does that look like and doing almost an environmental scan that says what is that look like for a teacher in the lower grades in the Middle grades in the high school what does that look like for our students what does it look like for our yard duties what does it look like for our crossing guards but almost asking them for the measures and the me metcs of how one in that environment would understand nurturing inclusive relationships um is a way of involving the community in a substantive part of the process because if they are only involved in the language and the word smithing then we're still losing sight of what does this look like how does this feel in your day in day out experiences
122so um there's um a process called the inquiry cycle cycle of inquiry and it kind of talks about you know trying something observing trying something coming back and observing it and then reporting out you know and so having fewer words but having them able to mean more if am I making sense in that regard I think another beautiful way to think about that Dr joneson to all of us is these priorities are great the list of priorities is great but the priorities will only hold True Value if we actively actionably prioritize them and they should be the priority of the whole Community not just us as a board not just as our Educators not just for our students but for our family our community members these should be a priority for the community as a
123whole and we should be able to be a leading by example of why we are prioritized and show that we are prioritizing them um and they're not just a list that looks good at a meeting um but that is something that we take to heart and we expect our families to take to heart and that's where the impact will come from that's where the engagement will come from that's where the strides for our students will come from is where everybody's involved yeah yeah something like care you know just taking care what does care look like to the middle schooler you know less bullying what does that care look like for the kindergarten or more sharing what does it look like for the high schooler I don't know but you know what I mean what does
124it look like for the teacher what does it look like for the principal toward the teacher what what what is and being able to simplify the language um but allowing it to hold truths that are diverse and are relevant to the individuals um it's it's a little more nuanced but the metrics then have a through line a continuity with with the actual people who were asking to use the language I think I don't know I'm just thinking a lot here is that eventually once we collectively come up with this I think the idea of following up and looking at everything we do and seeing how is it aligned with those priorities and it takes me back to Margie's comments earlier the idea of like how do we really prioritize and maybe especially thinking in the
125context of like Cuts how do we cut what's not part of these priorities or isn't aligned with those priorities in terms of the difficult decisions that we have to make ahead any I nothing else you I think um for for the final next steps is after this meeting I will work with um the board president and the board vice president to talk about calendaring and obviously with Dr Jones um so that we can continue these discussions uh we are moving into June and July so we have to talk about availability of time and space and calendars to be able to discuss this and and not lose the momentum M um also how do we gather additional individuals so that we are bringing in that voice and having those individuals a part of the a part
126of the work thank you super and thank you Dr Jones greatly appreciate your work and the different staff from my last experience to get this work started I'm happy to take these and type them because then I can mle it over and meet with y'all say that one more time sorry Logistics um if you're wanting to type them up that's wonderful thank you and then send them to me and I'll send them to the board thank you absolutely any any last remarks board members if not thank you and meeting adjourned