Board of Education Retreat: March 8, 2024

001e hello building so we're something good morning everyone we are here at elero high school for the board educational Retreat leading anti-racist School District presented to us by Dr relle Rogers ard we will start with our opening procedures today is March 8th 2024 we're going to start with a call of order and pledge of it's her volume okay Dr HST go ahead with the pledge let's you want them to seat oh hold on ready begin I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you Dr H Kurt Gonzalez hoyy would you mind doing the land acknowledgement please yes of course but do we want to figure out fix it first I think

002that that got turn I see try this mute me should I mute they can't hear everyone give us one second we're g to try to fix the audio all right let's try oh maybe and just unmute for you all right so we're going to do the land acknowledgement we recognize that we are presently on the lands of the chenar and alone peoples and acknowledge them as the first in of the land we currently occupy thank you thank you we are now going to go to the labor and body recognition I acknowledge that the burden of the environmental exploitation and systemic Injustice fall upon the labor of black and brown bodies and the building of this country and its institutions I remember that black and brown people were born and died working this land against their

003will for Generations I also acknowledge the continued contribution of the labor of survivors over the centuries to today of all immigrant labor including voluntary invol voluntary trafficked forced and undocumented peoples in the building of what we now what we refer to as the United States the author of that statement was Dr Michelle Rogers Ard Dr Hurst will you please do roll call absolutely president Smith FS good morning everyone present clerk Gonzalez Hoy present truste Christian uh good morning pres truste reckler is absent truste Philip is absent thank you so much now everyone we're going to go to public comment this meeting will provide public comment opportunities on agenda and non-agenda items in person through and through the Zoom app and by telephone public comment will occur at the beginning of the meeting public comment will

004last for one hour the time allotted for each speaker is two minutes if you are attending the meeting in person you will need to submit a request to address the board form to indicate your desire to speak on an agenda item if partip ating via Zoom you will need to raise your hand by clicking the appropriate icon in the Zoom app or by pressing star n if accessing the meeting by phone no yielding of time or substitution of speakers permitted due to the brown act board members cannot discuss items that are not on the agenda and do not usually respond to items presented in public comment staff do we have any public comment thank you so very much board we are now moving to agenda item A7 agenda review and adoption board are there any

005changes to the agenda seeing none the agenda is adopted we are going to have our we're moving to item B1 anti-racism training everyone thank you so much and I hope that you enjoy this Retreat I am complete e fires that have to be put out absolutely there's conversations that have to be had and we are in that position that we have done it for so long especially those of us who have been in in positions of in positionality for decades at multiple districts doing multiple things yeah but it's this um it's this kind of arrogance that if I'm not doing the if I'm not behaving the way you want me to behave then I'm disrespecting you instead of you must be so professional that you're able to do a couple of things at once because

006it's not like after that the person was like sorry can you repeat it I wasn't paying attention or I didn't hear it or so that's one example for me okay I'm complete okay I have a couple of examples to share with you and I do agree that um we should name it so what I've um tried to to do especially recently is really name inconsistencies so a clear example was I had a an email from an individual and they were attacking a staff member M um and it was really about a protocol that we call secure mode and um what this individual was saying is that hey Dr hurse why are we using this term or why is Communications using this term I've never really heard this before this really needs to be explained so

007I did my research and I really went back to this individual and I said actually we've been using this term for more than a year and the previous communication director used this term secure mode so I really had to present like the evidence so that was one and just kind of naming the inconsistency another clear example was I got an email from an individual that stated hey Dr H there's a very serious problem with anti-Semitism in wccusd what steps are you taking to correct it these are your employees so um very demanding accusatory uh attacking U Manner and um what I did is I just responded just kind of naming it and I just responded I appreciate you sending this to me please know and understand that I have a desire to address every wrong

008thing in the district however the tone of your email implies an expectation that I am immedi medely aware of all issues this issue and that I have an immediate response I wish that you would have said something like I know that you and your team are working hard on many things however I want to bring this issue to your attention can you please keep me informed on steps you and your team are taking to address this thank you for your time and your attention to this matter so I do believe in naming it um and I will say as well I I have to take a step back whenever I'm being attacked because it doesn't feel good so I I try to take a step back I try to reflect and then I try to

009name it perfect examples first of all nobody wants to be attacked walking down the street going okay can you please attack me right no one wants that and no one deserves that no one deserves that so we must absolutely name the behavior what I love about your second example was a reframe which I believe we would do in classrooms right we would say to the child well when you said that to me I didn't appreciate that I would have loved it if you could have said this like that's how we reframe and we need to reframe for adults in your example um director smithf what I thought was interesting you said something very interesting the person said he what was they not paying can you say that something about attention so the person was like

010hey stop what you're doing and pay attention to what I'm saying it was a public commenter okaying a so in that moment and they were speaking to all the board members or maybe one no they were speaking to one person okay in that moment what I really want is that person to say I'm wondering what that looks like for you I would like the board to not defend and say I was paying attention I was also doing this all this stuff has to happen because when someone's angry they don't really care about that so I would tell me what paying attention looks like to you tell me what tell me what that looks like then after they say that well you know because you were talking and I was talking and then when they say

011that you say tell me what this feels like for you because what it feels like for me is so tell me what this feels like for you right well I want I want you to when I'm talking I want you to pay attention to me I've heard you say that three times but tell me what that looks like can you give me some examples of what that looks like I'm I'm in inquiry but I'm not defending because my entire job is to sit here while you come to public coment I mean it's like yeah not do this every two weeks or whatever like that's my entire job but I'm not going to defend because the attack there's a difference in someone saying I really would love to be heard and if you could please stop

012what you're doing so that I can be heard while I'm here that would make that's that's a request stop what you're doing pay attention to me you not listen to me those are attack right and what we must do for adults as well as young people right is model the behavior that we want to see it's really hard and people are upset I get it people are upset things happen in board meetings you know I grew up in Oakland so you know I've had you know really we had really really rough board meetings but I also just want to say that just because you're board members doesn't mean you have to be attacked that's not like when you signed up to be a board member it was like part of your job description is to

013be attacked because people don't know how to act that's not necessary and I just want to say because I know people are listening no adult in our in system should be attacked right it's not just board members if we're going to move towards anti-racism we must seek the humanity in each other and what I'm saying by that means I don't have to agree with you your politics don't have to be my politics your candidate doesn't have to be my candidate you may not like me you may not like what I do what I say but I am going to treat you with respect even in that dislike because is that not what we want for our young people right so we must model that and we must also remind people how to treat us yes

014make on the fact that people know what they do for reason how truly feel in heart yes and they expressed it in a way you know I don't like yes and I particularly don't care for you yes yes so you know people Express that in so many ways and then and then they teach it to their children yes and the kids and everybody you know the kids mou I mean kids get it from the parents absolutely so you know for any just say for example any for for any teacher to M I call it pit yes which is a pit and connected to all the students in gr yes and showing every student that they have purpose um since I've been teaching over like over since teaching over there you know before I start I

015let every kid know every student know they have a purpose that you somebody and and and by connecting to the students letting them know that you can achieve your goals you know yes um with teachers some teachers get in there and and they have their way of doing things yes but they don't Embrace their students no no I definitely hear you I definitely hear you to your earlier point though I understand you know I'm a certain age I understand that everyone's not gonna like me you know I'm I'm in AC choir taste I get that and you have a right to not like me and I may not like you either I mean but you know like we don't like that's fine you don't have to like me my race my gender my sexual orientation

016like none of that requires I and let me let me do it this way I don't have to like you in order to treat you as a human I don't have to agree with you I can disagree with Humanity I can disagree with respect I can say as an adult wow I don't particularly care for your kind with respect though I can say that and so what I am what I am I want to be clear is we as board members as leaders of the school district must say to the adults in this in this ecosystem we don't have to like each other and we don't have to agree but we must treat each other with decency humanity and respect yes and that's all we're asking yes and then we can and then I I

017argue that once you treat someone with decency humanity and respect I can hear your side even if I disagree and then we can agree to disagree the issue is when people um particularly people who have used to being in power when those people feel like their power is being unseated yes then they respond with what Carol Anderson calls white rage and so Carol Anderson says white rage shows itself in a variety of ways the entire movement to be an anti-racist school district is going to be responded to with white rage yes I don't have time to go through that book but the premise of the book is white rage has shown itself in a variety of different ways both really really big ways so gener six was wide rage um burning of crosses is white

018rage those are big things but the more subtler um areas of white rage are dehumanization disrespect um a u ignoring of authority uh all of those things are white r vouchers all of the how dare you um and what we have to do is say this feels like white rage well that may not have been your in your intent although I would argue sometimes it is intent but whether or not it was an intent is irrelevant here's the impact of that and I need to know if we can have this conversation with Humanity decency and respect and if not yeah I can no longer engage at this level yeah yeah yes this is a really helpful conversation and I think that I would love to hear your thoughts on like how important and how beneficial

019is it like I understand we're doing this because we have to start reinforcing that we're an anti-racist uh system understand that in order to do so we need start pushing back on things that we see and here but there are situations especially at board meetings that happen yeah I tend to ignore them to move forward and I do that all the time and I think that I'm starting to be more con more more thoughtful that I'm doing that purposely and it doesn't feel good but at the same time like part of me is like let's just move forward and I'm not saying that I'm in that right so I would love to learn from you like how important is it for us like let's say that a vote happens and and like let's say that

020people of color were United on that vote and I'm not saying that's happening here but I'm saying like that let's let's use an example yes how important is it to stop and say I believe this was done because of race as an issue right or like like is that even important to like because it will probably lead to disc discomfort it will lead to disagreements it will lead to drama right what because we hear that a lot like oh you guys are just causing drama right like how important is it in those moments or is it more important that we pick our battles and we specifically choose what moments we want to push back on anti-racist Behavior yeah um I want to make sure I'm understanding the question so sometimes there's a vote yeah the

021vote results in a push back against a specific racist policy right and then who is calling it a who is saying that then that was um I want to make sure I'm understand sorry yeah I I think like in situations where like for example we are basing a decision because we understand race is part of it yes right and like we have to take a stance because race is part of it yes but then like let's say like the people of color move forward forward and the Public's not able to hear or see that like race is part of it too because there's so much like behind the scenes too about it right like how important is it that we call out things like that or like whenever something is said but the public doesn't

022really know like the impact and background of that comment right but it's race it's embedded in race and race issue yeah yeah how do we respond to White rage how do we respond to White rage when that rage comes in especially number three and four that you said dehumanization you guys are acting like buffoons when it comes in disrespect I know that you did this because you're all black and brown that's why you made this decision we need to diversify the board because it has too many black and brown people and they're destroying our community what when ignoring Authority ma'am your time is up you the clock is ran out you need to sit down I'm going to keep talking let them speak they have a First Amendment right to speak but we have procedures

023and protocols to how we do public comment how do we respond to White rage in the moment and we all have our personal ways of doing it so clerk Gonzalez Hoy was very vulnerable and said I kind of like to just push past so we can keep moving I personally dig deeper in yes right like my heels didn't just because then I become Frozen in the like let's let's go you want to go let's go and then we have other people that have other ways of dealing with it how do we as a collective board right have strategies that we all agree on to combat white rage that then makes all of us grow to be the best version of ourselves maybe I don't have to dig in all the way because I have four

024or five other people who are saying we're pushing this together yeah maybe trusty CLT Gonzalez soy doesn't have to ignore because we all have the same voice yeah so or but I think to your point like we need to find that middle ground and that's what I'm curious to hear from you Dr because I think that like I am also ingrained in ignoring because that's what I've done my whole life whenever anything is racist towards me yes like I have pushed to being like I laugh about it I ignore it I like even join at the joke right that's been my safety mechanism to do so um since I came to this country and I think that I have learned not to call it out right and I think that to some extent like I

025don't think that we need to potentially like respond and fight every fight so like how do we find that midle the balance because I've colored purple it my all life you know my all my life I had to fight so how do we how do we find this balance in I actually think you and I make a good leadership team because of our personal experiences that we bring to the table but how do we yeah make it tangible yeah um so let me just say I am not the expert on white rage right um because I am always not shocked but disappointed at the ways in which people at the dominant cast continue to use their privilege in ways that other folks just would never so it continues to special Olympic is getting ready to

026get started I'm sorry perfect perfect break be back at [Music] 105 and the door's lock thank you no this is what's most important yeah have turn that way no no the other way there you it's unmuted is unmuted yes okay thank you everyone we're back from our break please forgive us for it uh a longer time than we had posted um Dr Roger sard thank you so much we are ready when you are man cool thank you so as I was thinking about the question the question was how can we come together as a boy and I think that we're going to get there um given what we have to do today I'm going to hold that question only because I think as we continue looking at the work that we have to do we're

027going to grow to it the short answer is we have to trust each other we have to decide how we want to show up as a board and we have to work together to hold each other accountable towards that that's the short answer okay the longer answer is I think that as you do more work together as a board you'll start to to build some of those what I call the musculature so that you'll know uh oh uh uh director SM PO is about to go in so we better have her paw so that we can take it because otherwise we'll be here forever in those types of things like I think we'll be able to work on that but I want to come back to that as we do a couple more Retreats it's

028really about being able to know each other and to build and also want to be really transparent and say I'm aware that two of our board members are missing and it's really hard to come together as an entire board this is the second Retreat I've done the same two board members were missing the last time and organizationally um it is difficult to move forward as a unit when two people are consistently absent and we need to address it so I want to make sure that I spoke that into record okay um I've I've jumped around on my deck because I think that conversation I have is really important but um and so I've cut some things out but what I do want to do to address some of the things that you were dealing with

029when last we met I talked about the four levels of racism and where you are let me just say here at the school board level you're trying to impact institutional racism right this is what happens within your institution you would love to be able to solve racism structurally which would mean all the school districts but I think we have enough to deal with with just what Contra Casta so as a school board your life should be here okay the problem is what I'm hearing is that there's a lot of this there's a lot of personal interpersonal attacks I think one of the ways that you're going to be able to respond to your constituency is to say here's what this work is our role is to look at discriminatory treatment policies and practices within the

030organization with the information that we have in front of us which cannot always be shared uhuh so it's interesting as a board right so people are like I heard I know you don't like this I don't blah blah blah blah blah but they don't always have the information so maybe one thing and I'm sure you guys all say this so I'm not saying you don't I'm just saying one way is to say our one of our roles is to look at discriminatory treatment policies and practices within this organization and we have more information to which you are not pretty I know we say I can't discuss it or I can't or I know the backend I think j u sorry director Smith you said something like there's a backend thing of stuff like I think

031we just say we have more information you are not privy to the information for legal reason reasons I understand that you are responding based upon what you've heard what you thought what you blah blah blah but here's our role and I wanna I kind of want us all to be on message that this is our role when we're addressing because as we talk about being an anti-racist District we need to be able to talk about we're addressing this personal beliefs this went back to what we were talking about earlier right like I could believe that you feel a certain way or I feel like that's personal not my business and but the interpersonal what we cannot do is have this type of interpersonal piece because what we are doing here as a board is we're

032trying to do this and I think that's really important to say to our constituents right so we want to continue to let people know this is our role right and then when we talk about anti-racist this is why we Define right it's unlearning and relearning so what I find happens is that people are clear when we say anti-racism they're unclear what exactly is race that's going back to like old school Training 101 knowing what race is and is not race is not cultural I'm just gonna say it again race is not cultural race is the defining way that we determ we in this country determine the cast system determine the hierarchy based upon skin color that's race it is not based on cultural socioeconomic cultural pieces it can have an impact there but in this

033country the way that we determine the rank of people in this world the way that we subdivide people in this country is by race and race is an artificial construct developed by skin color in order to push against that then we need to name actively name Challenge and work on disrupting and dismantling whiteness which is the way in which um all systems in this country have been developed and I was going to play a video we'll do that next time but there every system in this country country has been developed with the presumption of the superiority of white people and the way that you can look at that is you can look at every system and go oh how was this developed right government banking education a housing uh uh lending um literally every system

034built in this country was built with the on the notion of the superiority of white folks therefore to push against that is to name whiteness white supremacy white supremacy culture while fighting to dismantle and disrupt those things that's the work of anti-racism it's unlearning and relearning and it's really really hard and it's developed to wear you out it's embedded it's embed into the system into the system into every system and it's developed to wear you out the fatigue that you feel at the end of a board meeting is purposeful right and that's why we either sometimes we make our jokes ourselves sometimes we let it roll off our backs because it's it's unbelievably hard and I want to also say for those white folks who have chosen to be I don't use the word allies

035I don't use the word confli I use co-conspirator because we need folks who are going to get in trouble with us it's also hard because they often are fighting against their own communities their own families um and they also have to uh unlearn and relearn so I'm not just saying that for folks of color this is what this is what your job is this right here and looking at how we are unlearning and relearning and naming whiteness so when we when we go into development of a board statement yeah one of the key things that needs to be in there is what you just said this is our job yes and I'm gonna probably at 11 I'm gonna get there okay we're on our way okay here we go so for me remember because some

036people are like well I don't like anti-racism I like Equity I don't like anti-racism I want Justice listen you can't get to anti-racism encompasses all of these things I can't get to equity without Justice and I can't get to Justice and belonging without like all of these are gears they all moved together to create this notion pushing against anti-racism I I can't belong unless you see my race right so I'm not going to go join a country club I can legally but I won't belong there unless we're shifting those practices okay I'm not gonna we gotta go so can somebody read this for me one either allows racial inequities to preserve as a racist or confronts racial inequities as an anti-racist there is no in between safe safe space of not racist the claim of

037not racist neutrality is a Mass for racism Kendy is like yo you can't just be in the middle and as a board this is so critically important because again I just want to go back to your role right Your Role is to interrogate these and to disrupt these within the institution that's your role as a board level it's not the teacher's role it's your role and so it is keny says there's no middle ground there's no safe space Sorry where you just get to be like I'm gon be right here this is the racist step and this is anti-racist Step but this feels comfortable I'm gonna be right here in the middle Kendy says there's no such thing as that one is either allowing racial inequities to persevere as a racis because you're allowing it

038or you're confronting it as an anti-racist that's it there's only two options as a board either addressing racial Pro um policies and trying to disrupt them or you're allowing them to continue because you hold the power of [Music] policy when we say I'm not racist it's a a Mas for racism it's neutral it's neutral I'm a good person I'm not racist no but you're actually not doing anything to stop racism either it's like you sitting back eating popcorn and you watching you're like you know what um this looks like it's bad let me go um let me go uh do some money send some money about it but I'm not gonna do anything yeah we're watching we're watching it happen or um I've actually heard it um that you're on a moving walkway you know

039when you go to the airport I just got back from New Orleans so you're on this walkway and the walkway is just you're just letting things happen you know how some people walk on the walkway and some people pause right on the walkway but Beverly Daniel Tatum says the only way that you're going to interrupt racism is absolutely to walk in the opposite direction so the question is where are you on the moving walkway it's going like this are you allowing it are you watching it like oh that looks bad or are you actually doing something to disrupt for sure for sure so since we talked about this I took the break I took the liberty of taking the break to have a learning moment so um I didn't want you to think that I

040made this up this is Carol Anderson's well-received book a winner of all kind of awards the unspoken truth of our racial divide white rage the first time I read this carol Anderson is an auntie I was like Auntie is bringing truth and so here's her quote the trigger for white rage inevitably is black advancement it's not the mere presence of black people that's the problem rather it is Blackness with ambition with drive with purpose with aspirations and with demands for full and equal citizenship the trigger for white rage is black ambition Drive purpose and aspiration you have a majority black board yes whether one member is with you or not right you have a black superintendent yes you have a black HR Director yes you have a black um CFO CBO CAO and director of

041communication the trigger for white rage is black ambition driv and purpose I see your hand I want to let that Marin because that's hard to you know you got to let that kind of sit it's not the presence of black people that's the trigger for white rage carola Anderson says it's when you have black people with ambition Drive purpose aspirations I would argue you got all that I would also argue you're gonna have to figure out what your strategy is we can no longer be surprised yes yeah yes go ahead I stopped you before I just want to let it kind of yes I I would just kind of just you know just go back in history of this District going way back it it was like that you know cuz that boy back then

042way back then was all white uhuh was all white wife and saw the superintendent everybody uhuh and they controlled everything of The Narrative of everything was going on in this District so um you know when I look back my my my my father my mom came through this District was known as the Richmond Unified School District oh and um so you look at that back from the the 40s the 50s right in there and so Richmond this city Richmond was a segregated City M and elero you definitely didn't have no black people living in Elo right back during that time and so so the the makeup of this area see now see a lot of stuff was was covered up but all the the the the the the behaviors was still there yes and we

043just covered up yes and I think Trump released it I need yes sir yeah but it's been here absolutely yeah yeah so you you're doing to repeat history if you don't understand history so I appreciate that because you're doomed to repeat it what I wanted to do is a lot of you had talked about yes a lot of you had talked about what is happening recently and how you deal with it and I brought up Carol Anderson and I need you to understand that this is well documented and read the book don't read the book but create a strategy for what you know is going to come yes I'm only laughing because I was just kind of looking over at CL I was for president as well I will say that I did start the

044reading late okay so I will admit that but I have started the reading and I just wanted to make that connection with what you were saying with white rage Y and I was reading here just about the percentage of African-American teachers before Brown versus what yes and there's this um sentence in here that talks about um before Brown 35 to 50% of the teaching force was black yeah and then once Brown versus Board of Education came into play That's when white rage well and you saw these policies yes being implemented including lure procedures that really took away the black force you must know your history listen the reason I suggested that book for you and first of all how much do you love patina love okay yes but um she does a masterful job of

045connecting the policy with the impact yes of the policy and then she gives you a story yes of someone who was a student at that time masterful um and I'm about to get to that so I'm G get but I just while you're at that browny board of education has been given to us at as the Savior but we don't talk about the unintentional intentional pieces around that right and here's just a quick example principles 90% of black principles lost their jobs immediately yes as a result yes another impact when did special needs start yeah Special Needs and special ed began after Brown V board B yes when black children went to school with white teachers yes there was no special ed before that and as a result of that black children were seen as

046unruly discipline problems having learning deficiencies same black children that black teachers felt like we could teach in the community suddenly these children need something else don't and so we put them away guess what else we do when we put people away we put them in prisons yeah so it is a removal of the children who won't or don't fit in the boxes into a specialized need and then that becomes a whole thing that follows them yes TR so there's so much there that's why I was like this board has got to rep punish for tratment we're getting to it I'm gonna have to go faster okay so listen I talked about policy and procedures this is what you're this is what you're supposed to do ki says there's no such thing as a non-racist or

047race neutral policy every policy in every institution in every community and every nation is producing or sustaining racial inequity or Equity between racial groups period dot I gave that to you last time this is your role the role of the school board is to interrogate and disrupt racist policies period That's the role if you're trying to move towards an anti-racist District if you remember there's no neutrality you're either allowing racist policies to continue or you're interrupting and disrupting and interrogating racist policies there is no neutrality I would argue this is your role this is your job right right and so because you know that this is your job we plan strategically for white rage okay I'm going to skip this here's punish for dreaming but let me just go back to this because this is

048your role I keep the okay because this is your role it's imperative that you get together as a group and I must say also with your missing board members and have this conversation the role is not to um contrary to popular Your Role is not to manage the staff that's not your role you hire somebody and that person manages staff that's not the role of any board even in nonprofits that board is supposed to work with the the the head person the CEO whatever and then they advise sometimes but they don't manage we need to know our role right we all up at somebody's business why they doing that that's not right that's not your role yeah so with the other two board members that are missing how do we do this in close session

049or how do we do this I'm not sure when the six of you get together and it is imperative that you have this conversation when you get together if it's closed if it's open if I don't know I don't know why they're not here and I don't know why they're allowed to not be here but what I know is you got to get clear on your role when I take a job the first thing I do is lay out my deliverables what is it you are holding me responsible for doing and then I move to those deliverables right everybody has a job everybody understands that that's what we do who gets in a job and then like I don't know what my role is but I think it's gonna be this we got to be

050clear right so I don't know the answer to when but I know this is the conversation that must be had for sure all right I'm gonna move I'm gonna move quickly so I asked you to rep punish for dreaming buta love is awesome I also think you can look if you're not like into reading whole book I encourage you to look on YouTube she's got tons and tons of stuff she wrote this last year her previous text is we want to do more than survive which was for teachers this is now for people who are doing board uh doing policy it covers four Decades of educational re forign policy which is critical for all of you you need to know about Brown B board a nation at risk um No Child Left Behind you need

051to understand that I think sometimes as board members not you guys just in General we don't understand policy and then we get into board leadership but we don't understand let me be clear we don't understand educational policy how did we get here so incredibly important and I love that she again as I said she toggles between this policy review and then these personal stories so you see the impact of the policy on young people and then she ends with recommendations for improvement which I'm going to tell you is going to be like oh my gosh I don't know if we can get but that's at least she offers that okay so here's a couple of quotes that I just want to give you anti Blackness the steadfast refusal to see black people as fully human

052manifes in the belief that black people need fixing due to inherent negative quality so she makes the argument that policy board educational policy because that's what she's talking about here is a result of the need to fix particularly black students that's that special ed that I talked about it is like I don't think there's something there's something apparently wrong with Michelle she needs to be fixed let me make a policy right and that's what that happens here's another one white supremacy and capitalism work in unison even in education it's beyond a pipeline of corruption it's a deliberate massive intentional and profitable mechanism for the educational death of black children she makes a really strong argument that prior to Brown B Board of Education there was a middle class there were a group of very very

053well-educated folks educating their own children after Brown V Board of Education she makes the argument that there have been continual policies all meant to design what she calls the educational death of black children and certainly meant to um determine that black children were not as smart us right because we understand the difference when we talk about gaps in testing everything is about white children and everybody else here that's what testing is about right we understand that when we talk about oh what are our test scores it's how do they get as high as these folks right here which are white children and so for her she makes this argument that this is deliberative this is deliberate it's massive it's intentional and it's profitable and so those of us who are still in public Ed have

054to understand policy and you guys are bored you got to understand it it's so incredibly necessary so I figur that you probably hadn't done a lot of the reading so I want to just give you this quick thing I would love the next time I meet with you that you have covered chapters like three through six but really really quickly she says the tone she tells the story of zakiya who was a young woman called zuk who was playing playing basketball and her troubles um as she um was matriculating through school that she saw that as a cautionary tale and tried not to do saying she meaning the author batina love but it's interesting because the way in which Zakia was treated um was very indicative of how several other folks were treated in public

055schools then um chapter one talks about Brown V board the notion of white flight and black children plac in classrooms with white teaches and then chapter 2 right after this y'all right after black children are placed in classrooms suddenly they're at risk and I heard that over the years at risk absolutely because the nation at risk report came out right here this is all right so all right I'm yelling but it's like because it's when she's I was like oh my gosh and not only I heard it but I remember I'm a certain age I remember the 70s when everything was at risk because this nation at risk report came out you've got to see these connections right so uh that's a quick overview of chapters uh one and two if you get that far

056when next I meet with you okay but I would love for you to get to chapter six okay all right last uh crime reform and education reform merged yes so this is what happens first a brown V board lose our black schools integration horrible for black children white flight We're not gonna go to school with these black children so then they go to suburbs and create their own schools right and so then we're left with those who choose to work in you know public schools and then suddenly black children are at risk and then suddenly we need to create these things to deal with at risk and then while we're at risk there's this notion of criminal behavior and so um particularly Bush and others were like we're gonna be hard on crime we gotta

057be hard on crime we're I'm the president that's hard on crime and you still hear that now that's why this is so crazy you still hear that now as we're going in a presidential election but anyway so the crime that our nation talked about merged with education reform because who was doing the [Music] crime all right so crime reform education reform merged and then that's where we created the achievement Gap right which was another way to say we'll never be as smart as white kids and it's because of crime so we need to manage this group of children to stop them from doing the crime that we see them doing but we never ever talked about really the other types of crime that was already happening and this is why we refer to education as

058this carceral education experience and that's why we talk about school to prison pipeline because crime and education merged and this is all in policy right so I was going to ask you which quote resonates we don't have time to do that however um I want to pause here I'm asking you to read punished for dreaming I'm gonna ask our teachers that I worked with to read this lovely book that just came up by Tiffany juwel which is entitled everything I need to learn about racism I learned in school and so I'm looking for things that are going to speak it speaks to school experience and when you read that after reading or reading punish for dreaming it's terrifying and so what Tiffany juel does is she includes like the diff different layer from this so

059batina says here's policy here's an example and Tiffany says here are the people I grew up with here are their stories and she has a wide range of folks folks of color telling their stories microaggressions macroaggressions and the ways that school was horrible for them and I bet if we think that and if we had time if we were not in public and if we were somewhere else and we were walking through a wooded area I bet we all have examples of stories where schools could have been would have been or were damaging spaces for us and so we have a moral imperative to advocate for those who don't have a voice through policy to not continue to allow our schools to be spaces of form my mom did the very best she could she

060sent me to Elementary which back then and now is seen as a very very white school in Oakland it's an elementary school in the hills of Oakland and we just happen to live in that area really really far down from everybody else though like on the outskirts like as far away as we could get from the school mom is like you're gonna go to this school and I have photos I have my memories but I decided recently to look back at those photos and to see me as the little chocolate chip in the snow and I remember harm we didn't call it harm then right I just went home I was like Mommy how come how come they said I was this how come they said I was that how come they said I look

061like this how come they said my skin was ugly how come how come how come baby don't worry about it you know my mother is a woman of Faith so she was like God's got you you go ahead and do what you need to do be strong how come I had to be strong at seven like how come I couldn't just be a kid right and couldn't just enjoy being at school like everybody else when they asked me how come your hair isn't in a ponytail how come you can't write it was a lot of harm that I didn't know that I internalized until I got old enough to study and understand the internalization well imagine I then got good at school I figured out what they were looking for and I figured out how

062to play the game and so then I started to do well because I figured it out but for many students who don't figure it out your role is to create space so they don't have to figure it out wow wow wow feel I'm gonna get I'm gonna get Dr H okay yeah as you were talking talking I was just thinking about uh just a couple of my experiences I'm much older than from my bosses here so I have different experiences um I remember when there were busing black kids to the white school I was part of the integration my wife even though with the same age she has a different experience than I had because I was part of the military family she stayed in the South born and raised in the South but I

063remember living in Greenville South Carolina getting on the bus and we were going to tangle wood which was all white schools so were integrated and I remember being let off the bus and going to the class and it was lunchtime and they made all the black kids wait in the line all the white kids got to First mhm I remember this clearly I didn't understand it but I remember staying in line with the black kids and then once all the white kids ate they were allowed to leave and then we got our trades the black kids went to the line set a table by ourselves and ate lunch and I didn't understand it then and I remember when I was reading earlier today the introduction and um I was thinking wow this is me how

064she talked about um I can't remember through my K12 experience one adult one teacher saying that I could be someone that I could do something even when I went to the counselor's office it was really about like a lower track you could do if it wasn't for my mom and my dad that put into me until I could do and do anything if it was left for educational system so there there was definitely and my wife is my wife's experience she actually remembers doing integration that not only did she have that experience of standing in black line but she also as the colored little do so even when they were integrating she could still not drink out of certain water fountain yeah I I see um uh the cast system Isabelle wierson talks about the

065eight elements of cast one of which is this necess um this notion of Purity and how there has to be this separation so that we can keep this pure yeah for certain people we see that in water fountains we see that in lunchrooms we see that in lines sections right that that's part of our c system and what's powerful for me is your your experience of mine seemed very similar because if it had not been for my mom i' also been like that's not that's not who you are but for every one of me I saw so many who didn't have that at home or also couldn't figure it out um and were tracked to yeah the death of educational death of of other children I'm going to get you then I haven't forgotten you

066either yeah I mean first thank you for sharing yes I'm sorry I'm supposed to say that um I think that um it's always really good for me to hear that especially because I have never know to live life this right and education so I love hearing those stories can be so thank you um I think that I read U Miss educated miseducated by [Music] Brandon Pie about it and um when I read that it actually triggered a lot of memories for me my exp of coming into the US system when I move to the United States and you guys know my story men but like when I moved to United States I moved to this white town in San Diego inz which the very well um and because I didn't speak much English the district

067didn't really have systems to support like so they put me into special edit which remind a little bit of what you were Shing earlier um and it really took me you know 15 years to rationalize how that affected me uh because you know I was never I truly didn't need the tools that are given to someone during special program right or or you know like especially because I was put into which is like wow kids with like high right I think like what that did to me someone I he was never like an student but like I was like a be student that was very social in Mexico um but but like what that did to me and how like like that that experience painted my life for the next decade right um and and

068so I think like both few experience you Shar like really remind me a little bit of that and um I constantly forget we being affected by these different experiences absolutely and the Immigrant experience particularly this notion of you don't speak one language so that automatically means that you are not as intelligent it's so dehumanizing and so demoralizing um and I thank you for sharing that because I wasn't aware of that but I definitely have really serious stories U particularly of two friends of mine who were immigrants to this country whose parents were like Physicians or at some level in their home country and as they came here the lack of speaking English became the pce that made someone else in the dominant cast feel like oh this person is not as it's that lack of

069humanity again and because the S the resources weren't in that particular School District there was an automatic let me move you over here let me not find out let me not get someone who can interpret but rather let me make an assumption right which is what happens when the Dominic ass says you are othered but you're to I think that I constantly use the excuse of like when I say it in my story I'm like oh they didn't have the resources but like I'm giving them an out by saying they didn't have the resources right like they have the resources very wide District right and like we even have with the lack of res we say we have we have the resources to potentially provide supports and I think they chose yes and through policy

070yes to not provide research yes and priority you were not a priority and I think that it's funny that in this country when we do the cast of color Yes we also do the cast of language if I speak Italian in English I'm brilliant if I speak German in English I'm brilliant if I speak this and this I'm but if I speak Spanish yes and English then I'm othered or I'm not as value or it's not as amazing to be bilingual if Spanish is part of the bilingualism right but if Italian or German or French or but because those are from the history right and don't get me start history lessons but when this country was founded in colonial Virginia yes there was a notion of who we were was part of our cultural if

071you spoke Italian like if you were from Italy right if you're from Italy I speak Italian right if you're from France I speak French but all of those folks had a skin tone right that was lumped into what we call White yes and the first time you see white in policy is after Bacon's Rebellion yes when black folks white folks indigenous folks all were like we're going to fight against the elite and the elite said oh we're not going to have this and that's where divide and conquer first pain how do we move those people away from from mixing with particularly indigenous and and African who were um not yet enslaved right and what happened was we then created this notion of white and so Italian German French has a skin tone yes yes that

072was put in this category over here and that's why those languages are not seen as valuable as Spanish because to your point that also comes with a different skin tone this is Insidious stuff right and I could go on and on I have a lot of lot of things around it I know we have limited time but when we really want to talk about I I think I mentioned to you Dr HSE I haven't really had the conversation with anyone in wccusd about where whiteness came from and how whiteness happened because it's triggering yes and it requires time and safety but when we're ready to have that training yes yes it is necessary to understand exactly what we're against um and it's and it's much much deeper than one person getting angry it's also interesting

073because my experience my experience versus you guys experience is geographical I grew up in raised born and raised in the South born and reared in Alabama so when I'm walking to school I'm walking past trees that I know my ancestors hung from so my understanding of who I am and who I had to be and where I was the street lights coming on for us was more than just an antidote it was a safety proster knowing how to drive through a town and what town to go through and make sure you have enough gas to get through that town because you could not stop was a way of preserving your life so these are lessons that I had to learn at six seven eight years old you don't walk anywhere by yourself because you may

074not come home you don't go certain we had certain routes that we could trick- or treat because if you go up that street and you knock on that door you're going to be met with a shotgun and that person would get off from shooting you they they shoot you you di you invaded their property you take very seriously signs that say no trespassing because what they mean is you better not be black and come on my property so my experience coming here was having to learn your racism because your racism in California is very microaggressive your racism in California is very tailored with economics in zip code and they had to learn that you all white supremacist policy is not run by white people that was very different for me than growing up in the

075South with the bull Connors and the understanding of the KKK and Martin Luther King day was also David Duke day in school so you knew that that was going to be a a day that fights were going to break out you just knew it right so coming here and read coming here and learning racism and relearning that racism looks different but has the same impact has been a very opening experience for me I'm complete there's so the beauty in this in the sharing of our stories and the understanding of the ways in which dominant culture has an impact on our schools is critically important for us as board members and how we model this for our leadership for our principles for our schools can really make the difference in understanding but I also want to

076say that for those who deny resist who are saying that yeah that was then but it's not now it's also about us making the connection to what we see happening in our schools every day right and that's why the student Summit was so incredibly powerful and to continue to have student Summits where we have our children today saying yeah I don't I can't I know which teacher to go to I know where can go I know what I can say today right and so I think we have to share our stories but then for the people who don't believe them we've got to get the word out of that our students are like no no this the day this this very moment yeah so what I want to do thank you so much and I

077never have enough time with you I feel like every time I come I never have enough time I'm going to allow you to do some work now okay um I have been asked to prepare four statements that school boards are working with two are school boards that I've personally worked with to help them craft and two are others that I know I'm not going to tell you wish to um and they are in no particular order so I don't want you to think that but I have made a copy for each of you I also put it on the deck and what I want you to do is I don't think you will have a chance to word Smith this to death okay but I do think you'll have an opportunity to look at all

078four of them and at least be like I like this piece I like this piece I don't like this piece I want to put this together I think that you'll be able to do that so what I would suggest is that you take a moment to read through each one of them and maybe mark it up with a pen and be like Circle or highlight or this is the part I like or whatever um so four statements uh choose one and then I would suggest not to Wordsmith it today but when you come back together you're GNA take time to word Smith but just try to get close to the elements the ones you want I'm not going to read these to you because they're in front of you what I will say is I've

079changed all of them to say wccusd so I feel like it's coming from you all right so statement one is long statement two is much much shorter statement three where is statement three yeah it's it's in the middle of long and short I love myself all right and the statement for is like this is what we got right and so I think it's necessary that you see those I'm going to give you it's 11 almost 11:20 I'm gonna give you until 1135 and then let's start having this conversation it's not gonna finish today oh yes I was gonna ask is any way that we can put together like an affirmation you know based on this and based on everything you know like for even us as a board and the schools um will say each

080morning and how we value each other um you know kind of worded in a way you know I can definitely work on that yeah because I think that affirmation means a lot because it's you saying it every day you know because I have I have like I have a personal Miss I get up every morning I say but m is religious no no I hear you I can work on that yeah I can definitely work on that okay yeah I can definitely put that together cool all right we will come back in 15 see what you like about these I'm not gonna tell you which ones I get wa e didn't know how to e you okay e what was that that thing three or four times I think that we could actually develop one

081oh sorry go ahead you're still okay sorry I was talking and you're still working go ahead and still work I'm that bad student in the room yeah that when I'm finish like everybody I need to look I I know saw 11:30 but I feel like if you guys are done I'm happy to I conversation e oh for oh okay [Music] you h pleas okay what I'd love to do is have a conversation about where we let me get my pH well we can go ahead he's just taking a little walk around because of his okay what was looking good there parts of all me and I hated hearts of sun I love it I love it yeah yeah I love it um can we start with the number one yeah so I absolutely love the

082first paragraph I absolutely love the second paragraph and those are the two that I really love in number one the first paragraph and the second paragraph I really love in number one um can we pause for a moment yeah yeah the number one yeah yeah that's oh yeah because I don't have it like yeah yeah it made it easier to read I had to fit it on a voice so we'll just move away from this so so um let's just go up to policies yeah and how about I like about it what you liked about one and two I think paragraph one the West Contra Casta School District Board of Education is committed to the work of anti-racism love the word committed to carry wccusd education into the future we recognize that we must continually

083renew and reflect on the roots of racism and develop new ideas to meet the times racism explicit or implicit stands in direct conflict to the fundamental principles of WCC USC education I like alliteration so all the C's in there I thought was good I like that it was very this is what we have to do this is if then if we do this then this is going to happen this is what we are charged to do it was a recognizing of this is what we know this is the current reality that we're in this is what we have to do to move past that and it's a continual thing it's not just going to happen with this board the board after us still be continuing this work and then the second one unjust ideas and

084policies and the racial inequity they produce have shaped us our schools and our society we're naming it and we are not running from what it is we know this and we're saying it and then we're saying it's our responsibility as a board to identify and dismantle racist ideas and inequitable policies in O in ourselves and across the district I like these two statements because any principal Any teacher any parent can point to I'm coming to you because this didn't happen this is not happening at my school site this is not happening with my child and you said that this is the policy and this is what you believe to be true so then I expect you to do something about it I want something that people in the furthest part away from us can point

085to and says but that's what you told me you were going to do because it keeps us accountable and that's why I like paragraph one in paragraph two of statement number one I'm complete um yeah I can I mean I think that's the part I like the most was the second the second paragraph the second sentence Oh it's just so direct about what we want to do right um and I actually liked one word that I kind of saw within a lot of the rest but I like that it's stated the word accountability the last I didn't particularly like the but I like that they purposely say and I don't even like that sentence so I just circle the wear accountability because I feel like that sometimes is kind of like a like it's not

086as direct of what we talk what we think about ability per se um but I like that they call out like we are going to like it reminds me of like the um uh the third one which is my favorite okay because I think that in that one they whoever wrote they are trying to take personal accountability of their work and the work of others right so then that's why I like that word because I feel like we do have to have it of like it's our responsibility and we are we need to just we need to hold the system accountable each other accountable well than I love that what about you Dr haris how do you feel about number one number one certainly I put that the how um I put committed as well

087in circle that because it starts off with a strong statement on what committed to then follows up with you know the how to carry this out we must and that's action so action that the board is going to take I love it and then it went into what we will not tolerate so racism explicitly imp Place stand in direct conflict so I really like that first paragraph and then the second paragraph I like as well because it goes into our responsibility responsibility in the Bo and share some history as well um and I also highlighted uh well put an underline under accountability I really like that that term what I wish they would have done more of is describe how the board will hold each other account because I've shared this with board as well

088even when it comes to the governor this handbook we have we spent a lot of time a couple of years on that document but what it's lacking is here's how we're going to hold each other I see that's super good feedback and when we do we get nothing but push back right so we hold each other accountable to your point of what do you do to the two members who aren't here right how does this board hold them accountable this is really we continue to move past with the understanding if there's push back well you didn't show up you wouldn't here to give your feedback and your input and to have this conversation this is where we have the conversation so when this statement comes to the board for a vote it can't be a

089whole lot of less rework it we've already worked it so if you don't agree with it then your vote should be no but this is where the work happens this is what we're doing now so to me that was one of the things that is a way of holding each other accountable is we don't go back and relitigate Y the work is done here unus so maybe yeah maybe putting that in this is such a good feedback for me I mean for all the districts this is really helpful so far uh what we have is that one and number one paragraphs one and two say that we can move forward and then we have a question of accountability and how that how that looks what about Schoolboard statement two anybody like that I love both

090paragraphs and statement two but that was just me I love both paragraphs and statement too but I am a history and and English teacher this understood number two was the thought-provoking one that says let's fight let's these are really good feedback for me like I feel like the second one like I could hear you the second funny we will do better I've heard you say that I like underlined it and I like that they recognize the problem like they specifically CL out that we have a problem right with like fancy wor um and then the first one I like that they specifically call out African-American children right which we try not to do because you know there always wor about inclusivity absolutely all that and I think that things that I have I learned in

091the first session of about the importance of calling down is that instead of trying to like put the bar at white children like it's the bar should be about like how do we support you know African-American students specifically where the most marginalized and I think that if we don't call it out then we're not doing service to what we're trying to ultimately achieve um so anyways that's I think the two parts that I like were like there recognition of it and then also of both African-American children and the problem that we're trying to fight but I still feel felt like number two was missing certain pieces for me absolutely like I feel like it was the start of a really good statement they just left I feel like number three was like great that's what

092I was missing right like almost like them together pulling a little bit of both of it together what I that's why that that it's like this so we can uh cut P absolutely to our to our pleasure and I can send them to you so you can literally face Dr I I bet I know what you're I know what you're gonna say they left out what they gonna do about it right yeah so I already know I I agree with both of you but it just feels like it's missing something we are uniquely positioned to ship these outcomes yeah how we gonna do that great right so what I put down here is it doesn't describe the actual work so on line here as we said go so that's on cba's website that's something that

093I've seen before interesting what I thought was powerful is in your slid you talked about the role of the school board is to interrogate RAC policy so I would think that that needs to Beed and then I'm big on how are we G we do yeah what are we gonna do and how are we GNA know that we've done it right this is one from us school that has majority like 87% African-American children so they definitely they definitely you know it been weird if they hadn't said that yeah yeah yeah but I do like when it says we are uniquely positioned because currently we are uniquely position to make changes because we have two it's funny because when people think something is nasty is really good so when the email came out and said you

094have a mostly minor board thank you sir thank you we do and we represent what our district looks like well that's what I was going to say the way that you hit that is so what's the what's the demographic of the district and we're trying to be representative of that that it doesn't have to be you know it doesn't have to be it doesn't have to be what they intended it to be yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah but yet if we can't shift things well then when will it shift it didn't shift for 400 years and then 200 years of education and then it hasn't shifted then so sir changing it to what you wanted is that Trope of make it great again for you the fear is that we're making it great for everybody

095with the intentionality of starting with the most marginalized the most harmed the most disregarded and disrespected that's where your fear again if you always are expected to have 100% And we give you 98 you feel oppressed and you're not so I think that that's the part that if we can keep uniquely positioned it holds us to that level of accountability yeah because that unique position may not always be retained and the more that we push the system the more likely it's not going to be because they're going to push back part I'm complete I'm just giving all kind of feedback this is amazing and feel free to jump in on any of these what about Schoolboard statement number three this one was my favorite oh good I mean okay and I was hoping yeah I

096was hoping that you would and I felt like you did obviously I mean I I like it was the history in it right that's what I know I mean I like the incorporation and the acknowledgement of the history right I liked I felt like this whole um statement had very active language of like what it's going to occur like I really like that second sentence on the first paragraph We will support anti-racist policies programs and practices calling it out um um I really liked the first sentence on the second paragraph really how like it calls out them as individuals and as board members right because being anti-racist shouldn't just be about me sitting on the diet right right like especially if I hit in that position it's not like we just like oh I'm leaving

097the seat so I'm not a board member right like um we got to continue to do that even if we're not at a board meeting um because we also have a huge effect outside of the board absolutely right when we go to Six schools so um and I I like the acknowledgement of that girl I thought that's really powerful I think to your point we have board members who are bobbleheads on the board but then there's spoons outside and they just to Stir It Up and then they the old adage throw the rod P the hand right so I think that it is good that we strive to uncover unconscious biases and practices anti-racism as individuals and as board members I thought that was very powerful I liked the first paragraph in number three and

098I like the second paragraph of number three I actually lik all of number three um number three I think was very IMM it was Malcolm and Martin right it was very this is the system and this is how we work inside the system but we're consciously working in the system to disband and dismantle and to recognize and to call out and to it was very action oriented this is what we're doing so I thought that was powerful I'm complete I I really like the degree as well I like the language sh shared as well commits to anti-racism and it goes right into like the definition as well active effort to identify um what I really like in paragraph number two is what you were sharing about sort of your journey from M the United States

099and it talked about persisting persisting through discomfort and for me that's an for the board that we have to have like these uncomfortable conversations so putting in writing let the public know that there's going to be some uncomfortable conversations in the future we're going to challenge everything can I just say number four was my Malcolm I love number four I would just say everything about it is great leaving Market publish it fronted like I love number four I love number four because it says we denounce racism bullying discrimination white supremacy hate racial inequality in any form within our school Community you can't call a kid a monkey you can't say that I own you and these are things that I've heard in elementary schools you can't sit here and weaponized language we are not tolerating

100that we denounce that we do not accept that and then it says furthermore wccusd will not tolerate the values the structures and behaviors that perpetuate this system yeah that to me anybody can point to my child got called a monkey they didn't the child who called my child a monkey had zero discipline to it but you told me in your language that you will not tolerate the values and instructions behaviors that perpetuate racism not doing anything about a child that called my child a monkey is going directly against what you said that you stood for as a parent I could point to that as a student I can point to that and then it says each member of our school board individually and collectively is responsible for creating and nurturing an anti-racist learning environment same

101thing I can point to that you are not doing your job in dividually or collectively because there's racialized harm I would love to see that word somewhere in here that phrase somewhere in here racialized harm right the terror that our black children go through at sights because it's Terror that they go through the the anxiety that's built when you have to sit in the class and you're afraid someone's going to touch your hair or rip off your haib or do something or say something nasty that because you speak in a second language m that's what our children are going through absolutely having to sit in a history class knowing that if you're talking about slavery you gonna be called on every day and twice on Sunday absolutely and just to add to what you saying

102um um you know when I was here you know as safety staff tears used to storm out of class and the word I used to hear oh she's racist man she's racist Christian she's racist she she she said this and did that and I heard that all through my you know duration of working here at this site at this s and uh and every week was something that a kid was storming out of class oh she's racist wow and so it just to add to you I I'm I'm taking some notes what did you say you would love to see at it phrase racialized harm okay something about the Terror that actually happens speaking to the terror that our children have to sit through because it's Terror it's when we always talk about social emotional

103but we don't name that part of that is the terrorism that happens through weaponized language and they show the movie Roots and they did that here they showed the movie Roots and so imagine being a black being glass and Roots being shown well the unsafe environment that's created through a lack of cultural competency the unsafe environment that's created through the lack of giving kids language to express how they feel the lack of providing policy and words that parents can point to that we can then hold people in the system accountable to yeah I think that our job as the governance team is to provide the polic policy the procedures and the language to hold everyone accountability is protective policy to hold everyone accountable and then to go to whomever we have to go to and

104whatever comes in that and whatever backlash comes and says but yes you don't have to work here but if you choose to work here this is what working here looks like I think it starts with when we hire um so it's it's both um and I have a lot of ideas you know I have ideas about how we socialize current people but also when we hire there has to be something around this is what we're moving towards and this is what we're looking for and this is how we act right I'm gonna move us what I have is one paragraphs one and two on one I just make one one I know you thought that uh three uh four didn't say anything about how I already know right that but also I just want to

105add to what you were saying ma'am I think we can move from you know this conversation and where I have statement for the you're not yes you know unless it's a policy if it's not if it's in the government standard I'm not going to necessarily be so that would be my only thing and then how do we socialize oh yes well yeah I've got lots of ideas about how we socialize it but I want to move back if it's policy if it's policy they can be C yes okay just I I was like maybe did I I want to make sure I heard that so number one we're looking at paragraphs one and two love them number two we like some things on two because it's a statement but can in the interest of trying

106to narrow can we say that we like three better than two or no I like three better than two but I do like the sentence we are uniquely positioned to shift these outcome okay we are uniquely so that last sentence there on two so if we added that s and somebody liked we will do better do are we just like sound okay so if we add we are uniquely position to three yeah is there something we don't like about three I'm just trying to help us narrow I mean maybe this is just me please push back on this I don't think we may necessarily need um well no never mind go ahead yeah that's what I was I think the the history the historical paragraph the third paragraph Yes I was thinking the same I

107think that I don't mind it I don't mind it don't mind it but we don't have to have it I like it we don't have to have it but people call me Petty Lael so there's parts of it that I would have just kept it just because but we don't have to have it right so what I'm hearing is that paragraph three which of course is all about the history is maybe not necessary so I'm gonna put question mark question mark question mark on that all right but so for two we we we're done with two I think so cool and so so far we have two paragraphs on one and at least two the first two paragraphs on three yes yes okay and then we're going to add where uniquely positioned to Shi these

108outcomes so for four is there anything we want to keep from four I like four but I can use four in my closing comments I'll just see this is great but I like four but if no one else has a feeling to move towards anything in four I mean do you feel like what's been said in three also has been said in four it does cover it it just covers it covers it with a different way of saying it but I'm okay because I think that the overall picture is cap is captured can I say I would love to see the second paragraphing four be added onto the second paragraphing three take it I like it because this one is also about individuality right and that's I think what's missing for me on the second

109okay I like it so what I have so far three is obviously one of the ones that we really like and so I'm happy about that so um first two paragraphs of three we're gonna add uniquely a position and then we're going to take this last paragraph from four because it says individually and collectively and you know what that's really good feedback I I look at that and I'm like uhhuh we are we are yeah each member individually because you know yes I'm just going to say that so we can add that so what do you want to do we got rid of two good good way that we're going to do that we're only going to take this one from four what do we want to do about these first two paragraphs of one

110do you want me to send that to you with three so you can look at it can you blend can you can you blend everything that we agreed upon yeah I was going to send that to you into one doc one document that we can then look at and that would be the point to where we words Smith or accept true because right now we've already said that we like each part of these and then with your uh ability to be such a good word Smith blending those I'm not going to blend them for y'all that we blend them you I'm going to blend them you words Wordsmith and accept because I want you to really feel like this is from you okay but I'll blend them you'll have this tonight okay the question is

111when you going to do this so can we do it do we have to word Smith with each other in person or can we word Smith we can't do a j oh because the bronic we can't work so we have to word Smith in person um or in a committee gets referred to a full board so I was thinking of the governance committee but again that's not I mean we are kind of sending the structure potentially to two board members then bring us a final goal so we could send it to government or we do when I was meeting probably the earliest would be April that's the problem yeah that's that to me that is the problem like how do we I don't want us like my mind was like March 20th we're voting so

112because the reason why is because we have to move ahead of the principles ahead of our immersive schools ahead of our um evental sites and teachers because if we don't go in front yeah then because people have already said that they they're like well we're not going to do anything until the board does it right how are we going to feel protected if the board's not going to have something so that's my only concern is there is an urgency behind this so how do we is there space in Open Session to take what we have that we're the Blended does Open Session mean people can come and talk to you yes because done on the agenda would you suggest that not happen yes to not do it an open session so is there a it

113can't be close session so then it has to be because we have to vote on it in Open Session but but you can vote on it if it's complete right so can we that's so well maybe my my suggestion is that you send it to the governor's committee and the Blended one that we're going to get and then we chose schedule governance committee meeting before the next board meeting or even before the agenda gets before who's on the governance committee J oh okay so you so what I'm hearing is you send us the Blended version you'll have that tonight we have a governance committee meeting and then we can bring the draft to the rest and then we bring the draft the 20th and then there's a vote so it be under an action item

114yes yes so now we have a timeline and you're with us on the governance yeah I will send that tonight so you can start looking at it and nothing stops you from listening to the coordinat when we have a governance meeting you can log in and listen to okay yeah that I love listen there's nothing I like better than getting stuff done there's one thing that's on my mind on my mention like I keep thinking about how I feel reelection is the biggest enemy of progress and things like this and I don't know how to move past that and I would love for us to have a conversation with are we talking about you guys reelection or you talking about our presidential election well well sure because that's the yes yeah absolutely that's the yes

115that that can halt everything I feel like people make certain decisions based on how is it going to affect my reelection which is very real right like of course we want people to get reelected especially but I feel like and I'm not talking about people before election this time right but but I'm talking about like any board member was in this position constantly think to that about that I think unless you're just not running right or something um so how do we move past that because I think that maybe in this board and I've seen in previous boards people are political yeah right to satisfy voters right of course doesn't always translate to right policies correct policies right so abely and we've had we've had that composition too as a governance team like maybe we

116shouldn't touched that yet because it's going to create problems right yeah I think it goes back to our role yeah I think we have to get really clear and that's why the policy is going to be so important here's what our role is yes whether whether your constit Love It Or Not the role of the board is to interrogate and disrupt racist policies and if the people in the if the constituency is like I don't like the way you're doing that that's fine and this is the role of this forward yeah and then strategically plan for the removal so that you can already have a plan in place so if they're like well the way to to shift that is when it's time to for um director Smith fos to be reelected if they're going

117to run someone against her then you strategically plan for that early what are we going to do to develop whatever it is that you need to develop Partnerships or whatever to plan for that because I think what happens is we always are playing defense yeah but these are the same tools they've been using since times began so let's play offense yeah we got to be strategic yeah we got to be strategic for our superintendent right like it's this is real and this is what happens in districts I am working with the district that you're aware of where they moved the superintendent they brought in an interim who was really trying to do the work but she's interim so she's limited and then they flip the board right in the middle of all the work she

118was doing and now she's looking for a job because they have chosen the board has chosen not to continue this work I think one of the things that we have learned through our Equity audit that is when we become peoplehey and not policy heavy we always fail because people leave people die people move on people people change people are people so if this board can show by modeling the policy is heavy the policy can create the Traditions just like the policies that are in now you're trying to unroot those policies and they've been here forever but we are trying to unre them and replace them and we hope that people who come in will tend that Garden but we also want to plant things that are uh do have to have a lot of water

119yeah right because we know the environment so they plant those California succulents or whatever because we know they don't get a lot of water we got to have rooted policy that doesn't have to have a majority blocking branding board to still be able to make an impact in the betterment of students and understand that folks will come and upprove those boxes right and so it is imperative that I'm almost saying I'm not saying it but I'm almost saying move quickly yes while you can yeah move quickly to control what you can understanding that three years from now yeah systems move to suff always we we did have the csba delegate oh we need to do that real quick I gotta go okay I'm sorry you're G that's okay we can't do okay so I can

120do it for we I can put it on the next meeting okay you'll put it so are we still live thank you everyone so much we are adjourning this meeting at 12 o' we want to thank Dr Rogers ard we look forward to our next Retreat and our continual work on making wccusd an anti-racist District thank you very much everyone have a great afternoon we are done 12:05 thank you thank you