July 9, 2020 Special Newberg School Board Meeting

001logistical technical details I think we've got it so since we've got uh all our board members here we'll go ahead and get started call to order this special board meeting of Newburgh School District 29j so I think tonight we've got obviously a pretty um simple straightforward agenda I'd like to open with just a brief time for board comments if any board members feel called to speak and then we'll go into public comments would any board members like to speak Randy I can do my statement now if you know but it's small so if somebody else wants to go they can go ahead okay with recent events unfolding I have been hearing from you my constituents and fellow Newburgh Dundee people that you would like a broader explanation of my no vote on the Newberg school

002boards 2004 anti-racism resolution as many of you may know due to technical issues during the vote I was unable to comment on my decision during the July 23rd board meeting today I would like to just explain the decision I made as a public servant I have committed the majority of my life to working with and supporting Youth and our community as a coach Mentor Newberg School District employee volunteer and now is part of the Newburgh School Board in my 20 years of Public Service in the Newburgh school district and more than 30 years of direct interaction with thousands of Youth in the Newberg Community I have prided myself on ensuring the importance safety and development of all individuals regardless of race gender age or background I have always lived my life this way will continue

003to do so as long as I live and expect the same for my community my voting against this resolution has been perceived by many as a denial of racism's existence or an outright condoning of racism we're all too quick to draw that conclusion a vote against this anti-racism resolution means you must be racist or condone racism I consider this reflexive reaction one of the main issues we face today in our country the breakdown of our ability to have objective nuanced and open-minded discussions about critical and highly complex issues is a major downfall of our current society and in my opinion the primary reason for the polarization of our country at this time stating a non-popular dissenting or Divergent opinion in our society today is no small matter it will likely result in hate-filled responses character

004attacks censorship or even violence this is a sad reality and it's happened we have the freedom to speech by enable right We are failing to remember that the Right comes with a responsibility to listen and to try to understand if all we do is preach and speak at each other and no one is on the other side to listen or try to understand then what is the point we have to consciously and proactively want to and encourage rational discussion between opposing viewpoints as well as honest self-reflection and the challenge of our own viewpoints and biases myself included most especially when considering such high gravity issues as that of racism if we don't if we cancel if we blindly renounce if we attack character and not content then our world will nose dive into extremes and

005polarization by voting against this resolution I am in no way condoning racism or diminishing this impact on certain communities but rather my disagreement with the approach methods and messages this resolution sends to our community I also disagree with the viability of the resolution to affect meaningful change in our community and the Assumption of the resolution that we are not already committed to these goals in our community this seems to be a gesture without any verifiable action planner Solutions while our country like every other country has a checkered past we have made some incredible and unprecedented strides towards combat in many issues of Oppression and inequality but I also believe that we have plenty more work to do and likely we always will however I believe that much of the currently promoted ideology around racism and

006race relations is rooted in a very narrow and unnuanced understanding of what is obviously a very complex and emotionally loaded topic the current public debate around race relations is not one that I think is being had in a constructive way they're a bevy of nuanced thoughts that are not being heard in general detract from some of the very difficult conversations that we must have with this in mind I am continuing to listen and to learn from other perspectives I fully believe in the intent of this resolution was coming from a good place and with a benevolent intent they intent to put a stop to the wrongs and ills that racism and bigotry have caused and are still causing in our country but I believe the approach and rationale is misguided where I differ in My

007Views are first I believe the anti-racism movement reduces all issues to race and will lead to polarization not progress two how do we go about addressing and combating issue of racism especially as they apply to political policy and three the pervasiveness of systemic nature of racism in our society and the Newberg Community today Newburgh School District already has five policies JB jbb Dash AC jfcf-a-r-gba that deal directly with students staff and parents these policies have been reviewed within the past year and in them there is coverage for any wrongdoing in our Newberg School Community non-discrimination racism bias hate speech and the mistreatment is explicitly addressed in our policies this leads me to believe that this latest resolution is less about combating racism and more about adopting and being influenced by current cultural anti-racism ideologies rather

008than addressing the specific issues and possible solutions as they pertain to our community Newburgh Dundee if not then why is it necessary to create an additional resolution on top of the existing policies that clearly State the same Clauses and condemnations of discrimination based on race as a coach volunteer and School staff member hate speech discrimination and racism have always been antithetical to my world view and everyday interactions with youth and individuals in our community as I believe they have also been for our school district and education system at large if these policies have already been in place in our school district then why are we now just attempting to tackle these issues stated in this resolution where were we all at on May 24th at what time or in what specific instances has our School

009District employees or students not stood up and punished overlooked or excuse Grievous instances of racism whatever racially motivated issues in our community have happened in the past or even recently may not be as brightly illuminated as they are today due to the national attention on the issue but I cannot believe there was no fight or Justice for these issues in the past I believe it is because our community employees and our students are already on board with this they have been for a long time racism is wrong but this is not about non-discrimination anymore this is about our society and our policy makers being influenced by the national organizations like black black lives matter movement and their pushed to not only be Against Racism but to be anti-racist these ideologies claim that America and its

010citizens are inherently racist perspectives that claim if we are not actively anti-racist in a way Arabic default racist I refuse this mindset the anti-racism movement is reducing all human relations to a rudimentary correlation of skin color and equality the inequality and outcome therefore must be solely attributed to race in this view racism can no longer just be understood as the belief that Solomon is in fear based on race rather racism must be defined as the belief that any difference is an outcome must be assigned directly to racism thus any system that ends with different outcomes must be racist this is dangerous misguided precedent that I will not stand for I stand for and believe in equality and opportunity but equality of outcome is not possible to guarantee in seeking it only results in reduction of

011groups to individual characteristics and factors and not paying attention to the holistic nature of our society the multitude of factors at play in any individual's lives and human nature absolutist thinking of this kind can only lead us to extremes and further oppressing not suppressing it the lsba caucus of color also made a real resolution along with the osba stated in their resolution statements that they were in solidarity with a black lives matter organization our board followed the osba as we nearly always do on educational matters while the intent is Noble we must ask if doing the popular thing is in our long-term best interest some of the wording and much of the theme that Newberg School District used to frame its own resolution was from these resolutions to be clear this resolution has direct ties

012and influence from the black lives matter organization to me all black lives matter they always have but these three simple lower case words have been co-opted by the organization I think it's critical this distinction is made the black lives matter organization stands for much more than simple slogan they have titled themselves after and is not the same as just believing black lives matter the popular Viewpoint in our society has become that if you don't side with believe in or support the black lives matter organization then you don't believe that black lives matter and by proxy are racist or condone racism so by default we have to also accept the additional ideology baggage of black lives matter organization this is false reasoning I also vitaminantly disagree with with much of what the black lives matter organization

013stands for and is promoting in our community this does not make me oblivious to the multitude of issues faced by minority communities in this country I personally am very concerned about racial inequality but I care about finding actual solutions to specific and clearly defined issues in our community and our country as a whole I believe that black lives matter organization and similar like influenced ideologies are either willfully trying to undermine finding solutions to racism in our country or ignorant to the fact that their methods are actually damaging in my first action at the Newberg School Board my first thing I did was take the oath of office as did my fellow board members in this oath I solemnly swear to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America and all its laws I solemnly

014sword uphold the constitution of the state of Oregon and all its laws I solemnly short uphold the policies and rules of the Newberg School District I take these vows very seriously and will honor them to protect every person no matter what but the black lives matter organization amongst other identical movements has led to charge and to our society that flies in the face of our Constitution and the values that this country was founded on the values that are the only thing standing between systems of Oppression and freedom and equality for all our people in our society but these values our constitution is being renounced not only by the black lives matter organization but the strong undercurrents at the root of the organization their belief tear down the system tear down our country it's a Beacon

015of Hope the black lives matter organization States in their own words and their handbook this is what they promote believe in a Marxist socialistic form of government we actually do have ideological frame myself and Alicia in particular were trained organizers we are trained marxists this is from Patrice Kohler's co-founder of the black lives matter organization if you read my statement full you'll have video sources to all these things I'm not making this up this is the this is what's on their handbook on their video sources when their leaders say burn it down they mean taking down our democracy our Constitution and our current form of government and they will not stop until they get what they want this is their agenda and their goal and they are succeeding today in many places especially in the

016minds and hearts of people who think this is about George Floyd and justice for people of color make it clear what happened to George Floyd was wrong and Justice needs to happen peacefully this movement is taken advantage of Mr Floyd's tragic death to advance their agenda black lives do matter absolutely but we must distinguish between the true statement and the organization that uses this statement as a title to master true nefarious intent the black lives matter organization believes that in their own words that they want to disrupt Western prescribed nuclear family structure requirement in the United States of America why because the strength of the individual in a solid nuclear family unit undermines Marx's socialistic movement because these ideologies rely on all citizens to be reliant on the government not themselves strong individuals and families

017are antithetical to socialism because Marxist socialist government's success depends on central control of indoctrination and morality which is not possible with the nuclear family intact further time and again the primary factor that leads to Poverty higher crime rates and poor quality of life are fatherless and broken homes if the goal is to lift minorities out of systems of Oppression why is the primary driving force behind race relations in our society today the black lives matter organization promoting disruption of such a fundamental value the black lives matter organization believes and they want to dismantle and defund the police of the United States of America our police are not perfect and never have been reforms are needed and we have to do better but our laws in the 800 000 police officers that serve our country and

018protect us like no other country in the world are and should be respected I support police reform that is done wisely peacefully and respectfully and I believe the majority of police officers who do this amazing and demanding job would agree for the police officers murdered during these so-called peaceful protest to the over 700 who've been hospitalized with serious injuries all the way to concussions and Counting who have been injured and to to the rest who are waiting for our country to stop this incredible disrespect they're being shown I say thank you for protecting our country our communities and my family every day to all the police everywhere the black lives matter organization wants to seek a Marxist socialistic form of government we need to wake up and see what's really there but just as is

019concerning is the fact that they are actively trying to undermine our current values and actively working towards policies that will actually harm not help minorities whether this is intentional or not we can talk in another day unfortunately there are many in our society today who do not see this as a bad thing and in fact encourage it and while black lives matter may not speak to everyone in broader movement I cannot in good faith stand behind a movement whose leaders espouse such radical positions and the reordering of American society many in our society today also believe the values of this great country we live in are founded on lies racism and oppression they fail to understand the Constitution and the founding documents were not Declarations of successes or claims of a job well done but

020rather ideas that we have still are and should always continue to strive towards they were Declarations of what this country can be not what it is there are ideals that we will never live up to but should never stop trying I cannot sit back idly while our youths are indoctrinated with ideas that our country is inherently evil I cannot sit back and accept that racism is part of our DNA that has been widely claimed recently the idea that racism is fundamental to our people in either our DNA or as a virus is one of the most damaging ideas I can think of and will and has certainly set back our relation race relations the only natural conclusion to such statements is that we the vast majority of people in our country are inherently racist and

021without cure how does that solve anything how can anyone look at the progress of this country and believe such things again we are not perfect we have a long ways to go the answer is is there a solution here or just for their division the resolution also outwardly assumes a systematic racism and the Newberg community We As Americans who love this country need to stand up and say no more not just for the sake of our country but for the sake of actually finding real solutions to the problems of racism and discrimination in our country if we want to solve a problem then we first must accurately and specifically understand the truth and nature of the problem by reducing the world view and values in our country to being fundamentally racist we are settling setting

022the stage for the destruction of a nation that was and it is a pioneering force in human rights and Justice the only natural drawn out conclusion to sex extremes to raise not only the structure but the foundation itself if you think about this happening should scare us all to the Core are we genuinely deciding to slide into a belief that there's nothing good or nothing just about this country that we have to tear the system down that is why I voted no on this Newberg School District resolution to further this Movement by using anti-racism as their voice racism is real and needs to be tackled the I took the oath of office that gave me no choice to follow this movement I will never apologize for defending the United States of America and the constitution

023of our nation if I see or hear racism I will stand with you and fight it every time but I will not allow myself my friends my family and Community to be deemed gracious by default you should not either I truly if you truly care that for others no matter who they are you will treat others well every time you will stop hating those who disagree with you you will engage in healthy discussions and dialogue that seek positive change and aim to help all people no matter their race their gender or their age you should love this United States of America and all the wonderful freedoms we enjoy we should respect Americans who came before us and fought to make this country great they had flaws and they didn't always do what we think is

024right they have been may have been completely wrong at times however they had lived in a different time and place things were vastly different than today instead of damning their missteps how about we also celebrate their foresight in progress we have a 2020 lens to hindsight that they did not have let's learn from them good and bad not to repeat their mistakes and upon build upon the good I'll close with this John F Kennedy said ask not what your country can do for you but what can you do for your country the time is now to take that to heart the United States needs you and I to step up with honor and Civility and bring this country together not tear it apart we must heal one person at a time and quickly we must

025stop the violence and the hate we must stop seeing each other through lenses of color and race and seek the heart of the person this will not be easy there have been many wrongs we again have to be better than those wrongs and today move forward we move forward with every single encounter with every single person we meet we must work hard to take care of our United States of America because this country has given us so much and can give us so much more we must remember to not forget all the blessings we have to those of you who have spoken harsh words directed at me let's move past words of hate and move towards words of healing and seeking to serve others and not ourselves God bless the United States of America and

026all the people in it sincerely Dave Brown laughs all right thank you Dave are there any other board members who would like to make comments at this time yes uh I just want to thank all the attendees that we have today on this call I know that Zoom isn't the most fun way of attending so I appreciate um everybody that's here to speak on this matter yeah anyone else um I'll go um Dave I I I thought that was amazing um I agree with 90 of what you said you know I backed this resolution um but I I recognize that there are are genuine problems in the not the movement per se but certainly the black lives matter organization you know I I wasn't uh bsing the other night when I said I wanted to

027listen to a lot of voices and I have been listening to a lot of voices and it's not what I uh have been hearing uh comports very well with what you said and it is disturbing and I don't think that uh the United States is an equal country do we have problems do we have problems around race absolutely um and we need to work to fix those problems but we couldn't throw the baby out with the bath water um there's a lot of great about this country and our community and I want to apologize to you if I had known um you had the reservations about the resolution I would have never moved it to a vote without trying to get them addressed um and I'm really sorry for what I perceive to be an

028online mob that has rushed to hang a clan robe on you when you are absolutely undeserving of it and I want to apologize for that and that is what I have to say thank you all right anyone else yeah I just wanted to share you know I didn't actually have to vote share why I voted for it so I wanted to take this opportunity to share with folks you know why I did vote for it excuse me you know in the early 90s I heard an interview with Chuck D where he said that turning on a light switch can be a racist Act and at the time I I didn't understand it I didn't understand it to the point where it made me angry and it took me a long time to really understand what

029he was saying that the intent of the action really isn't The crucial element in a lot in a lot of times you know sort of the overt things that you know that that intent is clear it's the effect and the effect of participating in that system without challenging it took me a long time to understand and I voted for this because I believe it's important to challenge systems that support uh inequality and racism and I stand by my vote to pledge myself and try and guide the district towards working towards uh resolving those inequalities Rebecca Iran do you have anything to say or anything to add yes um I voted for the resolution because I felt that we needed to speak to the times we the the the nation had just gone through this tragic

030situation with George Floyd and and our people our our constituents who are asking for something and yes we have the policies but a resolution is is a reaffirmative referment refirming what we we want to fight for and um I didn't see anything about black lives matter in the document and I'm I'm sorry that that um I appreciate Dave's comments now I wish he had had been open with the board before that before the meeting on the 23rd so we could have worked through these issues because we have to be open to one another on these issues so that we represent the entire City or constituents and um but and I appreciate all the people who who shared their personal stories and their their input um I I just ask that they stay involved with us

031because this we're we're doing it on behalf of of the constituents we aren't above the constituents we were voted in and we we are here to serve the students and the families of Dundee and Newburgh thank you thank you Rebecca Ron would you like any time are you okay right now at least I can't hear you can you hear me if I do this yes okay okay uh I do want to say a couple things first of all I want to explain why I wasn't at the meeting last week last time uh because I just learned that day that I'd lost my job at George Fox and I hadn't been able to reach my my adult children during the day so I needed to be at home so they could hear from me rather an

032assistant for the great time when it happened I did send to the book meeting a statement of my support for the resolution I wished we could have amended it to take out the first paragraph which I thought made the resolution sound like an immediate response to current news when the when our what we need to work on is a long-term situation uh I also thought the first paragraph Was poorly written but I said I would support it even if there was no Amendment and I do I still do I really appreciate Dave Brown's uh statement uh I don't think it was a good idea not to get this out as soon as possible because I think it would have helped a lot for people to at least understand where he's coming from and um I

033agree with most of what he said I certainly agree with uh most of what he said about what how to take our American Heritage with its mixture of promise and failure um to try to try to try to uh emphasize both the promise emphasize all the good things that are in that heritage in particular uh you know in my view the American experiment has always been sort of defined around the promise based on the emotion of a decoration of tennis and all of us are created equal and all have equal and inalienable rights to the life liberty of the pursuit of happiness which to me defines what America has promised to be about and has consistently failed to me um I also understand Dave David Knight has ongoing conversations in board meetings about this it's

034all on record someplace uh the idea that we can't guarantee a quality of outcome I understand that that is uh fundamental because we all have different strengths and weaknesses and we're all distributed along a bill curve in any of those areas and so the people that are really good at things will always be better other than the people who aren't the fundamental problem Dave and I don't see how you've addressed it in your comments is that those bell curves are not the same a white versus bell curve in terms of school performances consistently better on average so the white population than it is of our minority populations and it's not because minority people work less hard or less capable it's because our system has systematically kept them from having an equal place on the starting

035line that starting line actually starts a little before school starts but school is our main public entity are means an institution in our society that could have an effect on bringing those those bell curves of achievement into alignment and until that's not that until that happens then we will not be able to treat all students equally and still treat them justly so uh that is why I would support the wording of the amendment I'm not a giant fan of black lives matter and I know there's lots of stuff in their agenda that I would not support but at this point uh that's equivalent I don't think I have uh the luxury of facing my decisions on the wording in the in the resolution especially after the first paragraph I came back wholeheartedly uh and I

036think we need to do it um I agree that we already have many Provisions in our policies that are just aren't intended to address some of these issues but so far they have been persistent we have made essentially no no lasting progress in dealing with that gaps and achievement in my eight years on the board and so another attempt to upgrade our efforts on this is essential and I think this resolution provides us a framework to do that that's why I supported it thank you one more thing Brandy I need to move from being in my car because I arrive home during this statement and I'd like to move to a place where I can actually not be good okay it'll take me a couple minutes so I don't know Bob has Bob's taking over

037the signage Duty okay so I'm going to deal with a transition without any break but if I disappear for a second I'll be back okay could you meet yourself oh you need to beat myself yeah thank you I'll try maybe Greg can you meet me Luke's our Guru tonight you gotcha okay got it thank you Lou we're wrong whoever did that um I just have a really quick statement um you know it's really clear that we're in a time of great um anxiety and sadness and grief and tonight there are people in our community that we know are grieving and I encourage us all to hold our neighbors and our friends and our families in our hearts during this time of upheaval and change and please offer Grace and be kind to yourself and to

038others okay with that we'll move into our public comment time of the meeting I'm going to just read kind of a brief statement for all of our participants just so they kind of know the guidelines for their comments the Newberg School Board invites and encourages citizens attendance and involvement in our board meetings the board encourages citizens to share ideas opinions raise questions and concerns or offer compliments thank you to everyone who has submitted a request to speak tonight and to those who sent in comments prior to this meeting in order to conduct a timely meeting we ask that you limit your comments to three minutes and request to speak during the meeting are not accepted at this time when I call you please state your name your relationship to the district place a residence and

039a subject that you will address the board may choose not to address your request if the topic is outside of the scope of board governance and we ask that you remember that Oregon law prohibits us from discussing specific employees or their job performance and I also ask that your comments focus on board actions and refrain from personal attacks on board members thank you for taking this time to be here with us tonight as a board the comments we hear help guide us in our decisions and help educate us as leaders in the community so thank you and let's get started okay let's open we've got actually um we might have more than one student in attendance I'm not sure but I know that this is a student Janae are you ready and Luke are you

040ready yeah I'm ready and I think what will happen for those is they'll be temporarily disconnected and then reconnected as a panelist where they can talk so we'll try that for the first one here great today I see you I don't know if you can control your mute and video or if that's Luke's area okay I got it there you are hello welcome go ahead whenever you're ready CV middle school and I'm kind of confused um still why on director Dave Brown didn't vote Yes on the anti-racism resolution I feel like that is kind of wrong I feel like all people are equal and deserve to be treated as such I have a older brother and sister-in-law who are black after George Floyd's death they went to one or two of the rallies and they

041were peacefully standing in the crowd of protesters and they were tear gassed and shot at at one point my sister had someone who stood in front of her to save her from being hurt and if that kind of racial actions and feelings are out here in our communities we all have to help the people who are being hurt you can't just say I'm neutral because because that is siding With the Enemy or the people of race and white supremacy all of us deserve a just safe and loving education and if Mr Brown is going to continue to vote no on the anti-racism resolution I don't feel like he should be on the board I don't want someone who doesn't stand up for all students controlling my education and my peers education what he is doing

042is wrong and I feel like he should be removed from the board for that it is not a right to be on the board it is a privilege and responsibility if he is not going to use that responsibility or privilege for the good of all the students then I don't feel like he should have it at all as they say in the musical Hamilton history has its eyes on you thank you thank you thank you Janae I hope you can stay with us for our meeting but if not I'm glad you're able to come um okay David are you ready I am thank you so much so my name is David hymas and I am the assistant principal at Edwards elementary and let's see here have a prepared statement here dear members of the Newburgh

043School District board thank you very much for allowing me the opportunity to speak with you today it is a fixed emotions that I am here today I have felt the range of emotions prior to today I have been angry I have been sad I have been confused but through it all I have been hurting for our marginalized community when one of our board members voted no on an anti-racist resolution that was passed at our last board meeting it felt like a slap in the face while marginalized community unfortunately I could just I could not I could see that that member was having some technical difficulties and he was not able to know and we were not able to know why he voted no that technical difficulty aggravated the situation however I'm not sure what could

044be said that would justify a no vote on that resolution our job as Educators is to educate everything we do not listen to if we do not listen to our students how can we be doing our job correctly Abraham Kennedy states that a definition of someone who is anti-racist is one who supports an anti-racist policy through their actions or expressing an anti-racist idea he also states that someone who is racist supports racist policies through their actions or inactions or expressing a racist idea now I do not want you to misconstrue misconstrue the point that I am trying to make I am not calling anyone a racist what I would like for everyone to understand is that through a no vote that member was accepting of assist of the systemic racist practices that are embedded in

045our educational system whether that was his intention or not I have not I have gone back and forth on what I would like to see the outcome be from this at points during my anger I felt like this member stepping down was the only option however through a lots of introspection and prayer I have come to the conclusion that I would also fail as an educator if I did not give him a chance to educate himself on how to be anti-racist I hope I was hired due to my reputation of always standing for Equitable outcomes for our students and not for my good looks so I would like to extend those Equitable outcomes to not just students but also to this board member a couple of other Educators and I will be reading the book

046How To Be anti-racist by Abraham Kennedy therefore I would like to extend an invitation to the whole board to partake on this book study I would be happy to facilitate this book study for you we would start the frame we would start with the framework and laid the groundwork at the we could start the framework and lay the groundwork at our at your board retreat if you wanted to I could lead you through some Equity protocols that will be useful to have courageous conversations with if we do not educate ourselves then we will always revert back to what we know it is also very important to have a growth mindset in education I believe that everyone should assume best Temptation intentions and obviously this board member would not be here if he did not care

047about students the board members what do you say thank you for your time thank you David there's so much to say to each and every person who makes comments but that's not the role of this so we will be following up with each board or with each um person who's making comments tonight okay Judy Brown are you ready yes there she is yeah I only saw one Judy on the list so I'm assuming that's Judy Brown Judy right now you're muted and we can't see you let's give her a minute here just the technical maneuvering required there you are we see you but we don't hear you just working on foreign do you think it would be easier to come back if people are having technical problems or is it better from your end to

048let them yeah it'd be fine to come back to people if we want to um I'm wondering if it's also a good idea to let people know kind of Who's On Deck who's coming down the line so they can be prepared for it that's a great idea so after Judy we have Isaac so yeah um I will go ahead and pull up um Isaac okay I don't believe I've seen the list but I see a phone number that matches so I will um allow that phone number to talk and we'll see if that works and Judy will come back Isaac are you there yes perfect all right go ahead hi my name is awesome huh I will be speaking on behalf of my brother Isaac Saha who wasn't able to join in today we will

049we live at 9 18 South River Street I will talk about the importance of fairness I will be a fourth grader at Crater in a few months I am a Mexican-American boy saying to for supporting all students all students need to be treated with kindness and fairness it's not fair when students are treated differently because of their skin color where they're from or what they wear all students matter thank you for listening foreign thank you I missed what was your first name since you're Isaac's brother what was your first name hello hello are you there yeah what was your first name he said hello Brandy oh my gosh I'm sorry that's my mistake thank you thank you for coming tonight and thank you for speaking so eloquently on behalf of your brother well done okay

050should we try Judy again is it gonna work yep there you go okay so I go ahead and start okay I'm Judy Brown I'm an educator here in the school district I'm a sixth grade teacher I have lived in this community for approximately 12 and a half years as my phone goes down I've been given the opportunity to read a letter from a mother and she would like me to go ahead and read this letter so I'm going to read this letter to all of the board members and again thank you for your time uh this is from Lisa writing she has a uh student who graduated last year attends Willamette University while social media and certain news outlets have continually boasted the surgeons of racial divides and Notions of racial tensions in all communities

051is present I have to ask myself many questions on how to respond as a parent and active Community member I've kept quiet too long and therefore feel a responsibility to raise my voice at the most recent resolution and board statements again this is from Lisa question and I believe just to add that all the board members have this in their inbox question that many parents have had that that affects our Community Education what is going to be taught to our children or what has been taught to our children additional questions are why was this additional resolution even necessary it is our understanding that the Oregon Department of Education already has multiple policies fostering equality and Excellence for every learner regardless of ethnicity I can't say right economic status gender sexual orientation gender identity disability and

052expert Etc there are several keywords in your resolution statement that has that as a community member and parent that I'm equally concerned with including quote the district will work to be actively anti-racism anti-racist and dismantle systematic racism in our schools and Empower people of color by a thorough review of policies practices and District cultural norms the district affirms the value and importance of culturally responsive pedagogy and instructional practices and of curriculum that represents the diversity of community and quote the statement that contains quote Empower people of color quote as Educators is your job to educate not promote social news Trends is in these statements that you are creating additional Comfort confrontation is not a black student Asian student Spanish student white student girl student Voice team they are students and Learners when you stop placing

053a racial divide on the type of student you will be able to start re-educating people and doing their job there's more to this letter that she would like me to read but it won't take way much way too much time but as at the very end there are a couple of statements that I would like to make about my son's education oops or lack of as at Newberg High School my son was a student at Newburgh High School graduating in 2019 and he is attending you know Willamette University if I made this that my son is white yes sorry I don't want to cut you off but we're at time so I'll just give you a little bit of time to just wrap it up I I didn't get the notice all right yeah yeah

054so she goes on to talk about her son and of course the recent Facebook news about one of our board members and so um if you would take some time to read that that would be powerful because I think um as a community member and as a parent she shared this and um she has some really good information and I I hope all the board members and I think the administrators would like to see it too because maybe it would Empower and move our district forward thank you thank you Judy you're welcome sorry about that I hate to have to cut people off and it's like that's okay I didn't see any of the paper so yeah sure yeah thanks for coming tonight um and I also didn't give the next person the the heads

055up so um next up is shally and then after Charlie will be Bryce and I I see it I think a Shea on the list who I'm assuming might be the same person so I'll promote them okay Shay sorry there's an L on here Shay Shaylee hi you guys hi my name is thank you um I wanted to say I grew up in this area I honestly moved away when I was 19 to get away from the subtle but loud racial bias here so no matter what anyone wants to say it's very prevalent in today's society here um which is why we teach children especially about the oppression of a huge group of people in today's society and how that pertains to them on a day-to-day basis not only so that my niece and her

056future cousins can go to school comfortably but so that all minorities that enter the school have an equal opportunity to succeed I say equal because growing up in this area going to school here is like being told your whole life you can have the piece of the pie but never even get to sit at the table hope you understand just because it's not happening to you doesn't mean it's not happening and Dave Brown and the people who agree with him I really want you to listen and realize that your life you've been living you've been seeing it through white eyes so please listen and come with empathy and understanding to poc's struggle in this community thank you Sean um okay next up We Have Bryce and after Bryce will be Amy Nelson hello good evening

057everyone can you hear me yep go ahead um yeah my name is Bryce Coffield I work at George Fox I serve as the um associate director of our Intercultural Resource Center um yeah it's an honor to be here with you all um I I did have some thoughts coming to this earlier and I found myself um in a space to to respond to what I'm hearing and more importantly feeling and I do so uh with much trepidation like if you're gonna see my legs it's shaking because I know of the dominant narratives around the angry black man and Trust I try real hard not to be the angry black man um and there have been multiple comments this evening um that have elicited deep not only anger but pain and fear and I've lived here

058for three years coming from La so as you might imagine it was a little bit of a shock but I was told there are good people here right you and your family will be safe here and I want to reflect on a few things that um lead me to feel not safe here right um there were Brian I don't know you I'm gonna and hope you feel I'm not coming for you as your person but um when you you use language um that elicited that elicits um images right of of the clan and The Noose and saying that folks who are who are honestly trying to um understand the why behind decisions that are being made um lead me to believe that you maybe don't fully understand or maybe folks don't fully understand um the

059clan and white supremacy in the history of not only this state um but the nation and as someone again who does this work at George Fox believes we believe that that there was a lot of work that still needs to be done um consistently I'm hearing folks talk about racism within a purely interpersonal context meaning we stand against hate speech we stand against interpersonal forms of violence we stand against anyone who would personally discriminate right and as Ron had alluded to earlier racism is more than just interpersonal right it exists in our systems hence why having an initiative that would speak to dismantling destruction and destructing deconstructing systems that results in what we are seeing is the racial discrepancies um in success outcomes for our students in our school district that's what what we're talking

060about right folks using the n-word is deeply painful folks flying the Confederate flag in around Newburgh is deeply painful but when we look at why our students of color are doing poorly in our schools we need to ask ourselves can this maybe be more than just an n-word or Confederate flag what is it that's built into our policies sorry 30 seconds all right well it's built into our policies what's built into the narratives of our minds that tell us well is the problem more with students and communities and culture or is the the problem with policies right so how can we begin to point to policies to address these racial disparities because that's ultimately what we need I think what our students are asking for thank you thank you Bryce I know it's hard and

061it's a weird format to get up and speak and it's a passionate subject so I appreciate you coming out thank you for your time um okay next up we have Amy Nelson and after that we will have Merrell hi um can you hear can everyone hear me yes go ahead hi my name is Amy Nelson I live in Newburgh and I'm a mother and um first off I'd like to thank all of the members who did vote to approve the very important anti-racism statement I'm proud to live in a school district that is committed to anti-racism and dismantling systemic racism I'm going to be reading a statement um so I may not be looking at the camera but I would like to share some data and some questions for the board to consider that may

062help to begin the long work towards creating Equity within our district I recognize that these questions will not be answered today and that systemic change will take time and Collective effort according to the Department of Education civil rights report in 2015 20.4 of our student body in the district with classified as Hispanic yet only 7.6 percent of the students enrolled in gifted and talented programs were Hispanic I'd like us all to think about why are Hispanic students so underrepresented and gifted and talented programs what barriers are they facing and what can we all do to improve these numbers in 2015 Hispanic students made up 32.5 percent of in-school suspensions 29.1 percent of out-of-school suspensions 33.3 percent of expulsions and 60 percent of referrals to law enforcement and remember they were only 20 percent of the

063student body population why are Hispanic students disproportionately suspended expelled and referred to law enforcement where can early intervention methods be applied to reduce these numbers how can we better support our Hispanic students in 2015 black students made up 1.4 percent of the student body but 33.3 percent of non-disabled students receiving out of school suspensions were black females and 20 percent were black males in the 2013-14 school year 1.4 percent of the student body was black students yet 20 of in-school suspensions were black students and 5.1 percent of out-of-school suspensions were black students these numbers are highly disproportionate and show that we are failing our black students the 2017-2018 state report card 20 of the student body is Hispanic yet only four percent of teachers are Hispanic what can we do to recruit and hire more

064teachers of color data from the national assessment of educational progress shows that all students benefit by learning from teachers of color however the impact is especially significant for students of color who have higher test scores are more likely to graduate high school and more likely to succeed in college when they have had teachers of color those teachers serve as role models and support their attachment to school and learning students with racially diverse teachers also have fewer unexcused absences and are less likely to be chronically absent so I recognize that a lot of the data that I have shared is five years old and it possibly does not reflect the current situation however I couldn't find after a very thorough Google search no data regarding academic Equity equity and disciplinary actions how can we hold ourselves

065accountable accountable to being an anti-racistic District if we do not have accurate data to reflect upon I recognize my time is up thank you for your work to to create a safe space for all students in our community thank you Amy all right next we have Meryl and then we will have a comment from Liz after Merrell I did promote Merrell the panelist there we go thank you Bobby doing a great job on time and apparently yep now we can hear you hear me let's see start video no video let's see let's try it the video worked Sorry video come on you can do it oh there it goes there we go okay cool all right um hello everybody I'm a mother with two young children here in Newburgh I live in 2505 Redwood Court

066I'm here in Newburgh um our eldest attends Naval Rush Elementary School and our youngest will be starting kindergarten this year theoretically uh I believe the unrest we're seeing across the country is the result of systemic and institutional racism embedded in many of our departments and institutions including our education system I greatly appreciate the recent board resolution but the repetition and cycle repeating shows that we need to make broad changes in order to address these issues statements are a good first step and I applaud this um but we need to but change is necessary to prevent these atrocities from happening and to address the institutions that continue to maintain systems of racism and discrimination I think we can all agree on the importance of schools and education providing the basis of learning and understanding but I

067think we can also agree that there's a lot of work that's needed around decolonizing our curriculum the diversity in our staff as well as our school policies and disciplinary actions I would like to see the school district Implement restorative justice practices in our schools including training for staff and teachers in order to help teachers handle situations in a restorative way while also maintaining the classroom and protecting other students we know that Newberg is predominantly white yet students of color have higher rates of discipline last November and Zeal to director of special programs presented to the board saying that the Newberg School District reports Behavior incidents by race higher for bypoc than for white students especially when you consider district-wide demographics for example latinx students make up 21 of the student population but also make up

06836 percent of the total Behavior incidents put another way white students make up 72 percent of the population yet only make up 0.35 percent of the behavior incidents this is from the 1819 school year to put it more bluntly the show's discrimination and implicit bias in action and the need for change in disciplinary policies to help address this I'd like to see Dei training requirements for our board staff teachers as well as yearly Refreshers I have a lot of other suggestions but let's just skip ahead I believe the Board needs to use equity as a lens for every action and decision made and that we need a system and framework that can handle the complexities of the situation while also addressing the problems embedded in our school system I'd like to see our school curriculum

069decolonize students need to see themselves in the curriculum white students need to see how bipoc contributed to history I'd like to see the district prioritize hiring a more diverse staff Newburgh teachers are 92 percent white as well as hiring more support staff we are an unprecedented and extremely challenging times during this pandemic there is a lot of pressure on the school districts while also less resources but I hope that we can use this time of change and unrest to reprioritize and reimagine our school districts and education to be actively anti-racist thank you for your time and dedication to our community to this District the staff and the youth thank you Meryl yeah thank you okay we have uh Liz up and next after Liz we have Beth um and then after um Liz and Beth

070we have Lynn Holt but I don't see Lynn Holt on the list currently so rinhole if you are there if you could rename yourself so we can find you and um we can get you in the queue that way okay can you hear me great my name is Liz fodge and I'm a dual language fourth grade teacher at Edwards Elementary and as the only Bilingual School in our district we serve a higher percentage of students of color than the other elementary schools and you may think that with our increased diversity that Edwards would be something of a safe haven for our marginalized students in our community but I witness racism and microaggressions against students of color virtually every day in my building in large part coming from well-meaning White Educators like myself and in three

071my three years at Edwards I have consistently seen the bar lowered for my Latino students I hear others speak of them with pity instead of pride and it has been well documented that when students when teachers have lower expectations for students those students are less likely to be successful in school less likely to finish high school or to attend a four-year University we are living in a time we're having good intentions as an educator simply isn't going to cut it we owe it to our students and to ourselves to examine our own prejudices and begin the painful work of unlearning the racist lessons that we have internalized as a community and as a country I am grateful for the board for beginning this conversation within our district and I would like to see increased diversity

072within our faculty and staff as well as professional developments centered around dismantling systemic racism in every Newberg School our students are watching and waiting to see how we will respond let's not continue to fail them thank you thank you Liz thank you um okay so after this we have Beth and after Beth hopefully Lynn if you're out there if not then we have um gray after Beth perfect hi can you hear me yeah go ahead okay great I'm Beth Woolsey I'm a Newberg Public School parent I've had three kids go through uh schools in Newburgh and I have two more kids still in Newberg Public Schools uh this is my statement the first time I realized I may not have a full understanding of present-day racism I was sitting in church in a small group

073on the topic I expected it to be like every other historical lesson I'd had that racism is bad but it used to be worse and that it's our ongoing duty to stand up against blatant racism when we see it what I didn't expect was to learn about pockets I didn't expect that the black man next to me who was my age with kids who are peers of mine raising them in the same church and the same Newburg I am was going to reveal how differently the world works for him than the way it works for me a white woman that night as we said in pews my friend shared that when he goes to the store the same Fred Meyer where I shop he never puts his hands in his pockets he conscientiously makes sure

074it's clear that he's not holding a weapon or stealing merchandise and he conscientiously had to teach his son the same rule that's literally a basic safety measure for families of color that was in 2008 my son adopted from Guatemala was nine years old then I went home and cried because I realized for the first time I was going to have to teach him an alternative set of rules an unjust inequitable way of Behaving to keep him safe that broke my heart my son moved on from elementary to Middle School here in the Berg where he was called a and a beamer regularly in the halls and the locker room and then of course he grew large and man-shaped and at age 17 he was described in a local Facebook group as dangerous and Shifty and

075probably going to attack her Rob a nice family going for a walk do you know what my son was doing when he was described that way he was walking the dog our golden retriever Zoe and he allowed the kids and the family to pet her when they asked they approached him then when they walked on down the path he walked the same direction behind them the way he was already going but they were positive he was following to hurt them I had to explain to the nice families of Newberg that my son is into Danger it wasn't the first time he was treated as an inherent danger due to the color of his skin and we know it won't be the last it's a sadly normal story kids of color handle things like that every

076day kids of color have to follow rules about pockets and as a mother of two white teenage Sons as well I can tell you my children of color are treated differently than my white boys there's no question that racism exists in our community and it exists even though it's so often invisible to white folks it exists in our schools and in our embedded by us and in our curriculum but it doesn't have to an anti-racism resolution shouldn't be a radical idea nor should it be controversial I applaud the Newberg public school board for approving the anti-racism resolution it's critically important to our kids and to all of us to see our leadership take a clear and firm stand against racism our community deserves to have our board representation unanimously United against racial bigotry and discrimination

077as a member of Dave Brown's District in Newburgh I implore him to rescind his no vote take up the proactive cause of anti-racism and especially to listen to people of color who are telling us the opposite of what Dave's statement said which is the best person I have just like five words okay which is that this resolution statement is important foreign Let's see we just got a message from Lynn oh that's from you Luke sorry never mind um okay can we go in with Greg is he right there oh different computer maybe that's okay uh after grade we will have Jen Graham okay go ahead Greg oh hold on hold on two computers it's still too much okay uh sorry I'll move to another room Greg Woolsey Newburg parent I am speaking regarding resolution 20

0782004. go ahead and get settled the opening statement tonight has sent one black Newburgh high school graduate into a panic attack severe enough you will not be speaking in his allotted time slot I did not realize until your recent resolution that Newburgh schools did not have an explicit requirement or process for analyzing tracking and improving both policy and curriculum with respect to cultural and racial bias thank you for resolving to do so in public and in writing as a parent of kids with a wide range of skin tones putting some in the minority in our district and some requiring special assistance through their educational Journeys I can say from personal experience in year 14 of 19 with children in Newburgh schools that I've experienced directly both the district's capacity for continuous review and Improvement in

079some areas and complete lack of any process policy or standards in others one of our kids is both Latin genetic ancestry and experiences significant intellectual disabilities that required IEP Services throughout his career there were bumps in the road but every time we knew who to talk to what our rights were what the school's responsibilities were and how to convene meetings to review and adjust plans as things evolved that same child as a middle schooler was once the target of demeaning overtly racist statements from a teacher in class in front of other students and had no support sure individual staff and administrators agreed the action was completely wrong but there was no District Avenue for addressing this there should be IEPs are backed by detailed state and federal statutes addressing racism should have a similarly detailed

080process and should not require that level of statutory requirement to get there with this resolution you the board of directors are empowering and requiring the district to work out with enough Clarity and detail ways this type of issue could be addressed in the future thank you this fills a gap and meets a need similarly I thank you for your commitment to thoughtful engagement of culture and history to help right the wrongs of my own education that focused so much on specifically white European ancestry that I didn't know until adulthood how much History Science art and culture was left out teaching our kids to think to see things in context hard questions and all is our best shot at preparing them to engage the World After High School identifying the blinders that limit that preparation is

081a communal and ongoing task now about the facts stated as impetus for this resolution the only disagreements there would be with the personal stories and verbs as all the nouns are just names of people events and Concepts all concrete and well defined dismissing personal accounts of racism and fear I don't even need to editorialize about so it won't be that and the verbs care and safety for our students are also are also clear and unambiguous that leaves only the only objections that I can see are one reading into it words that are not actually there or an implicit or explicit desire to maintain the unequal unfair and racially biased status quo as the only reasons that I can see to oppose this resolution based on its context thank you thank you great okay next up

082we have Jen and after Jen will be Lori Albright foreign are you ready here can you hear me yes go ahead whenever you're ready okay all right uh I'm a parent and a Community member as well as a substitute teacher in the district and I support the Newburgh School District's statement of anti-racism it's so important that all students are equally treated with dignity and value those who have been marginalized need to know that we're making efforts to make these changes because they're valued members of our community and I personally have committed to listening learning and making changes thank you thanks for the work that you're doing thank you Jen okay next is Lori and after Lori will be uh Gabe and yet Lori oh maybe we can hear you okay great all right my name

083is Lori Albright I live on Shayla Mountain I've lived in this community 46 years and I've taught in Newburgh School District over a quarter century I have two sons who went K through 12 in Newbridge School District I have been educated in Oregon's untold story curriculum which looks at historical ways that our state has racially discriminated against countless individuals I have been on the Oregon Historical Society curriculum team for their recent exhibits I marched from Selma to Montgomery with a National Park Service as one of two leaders from Oregon asked to come and walk side by side with another individual for over 50 miles and we'd switch individuals looking for how we are going to work personally to stop racism and Injustice in our country which regardless um board member Brown of which political system

084you want to say it is a systemic problem in every community in our country and um my suggestion to the board is that we need to take off our hats our thinking caps of how we've thought already this is the hat that I wore for that March from Selma to Montgomery in the footsteps of civil rights activists with young people and teachers and from around the country and around neighboring countries we need to change our thinking caps because it's our responsibility as leaders in this community to do every single thing we can to help teach about microaggressions which are not little which change lives with alluding to Nazis alluding to slavery sayings phrases like a spade is a spade these are hurtful historically damaging parts of our curriculum that we need to change and we

085need to educate our teachers our coaches our administrators our aides our bus drivers on how to be inclusive of all if we are going to stand up and say that pledge for liberty and justice for all then we have to mean it and we have to be willing to say we don't know everything that's why I took off my hat it has to be each and every one of us our leader from the national parks service told us to talk with each other as we were walking those 50 miles and say to your neighbor what is your Selma what is your one thing that you are going to take on personally to make this Community this world a better place culturally by stopping racism I have witnessed in this school district teachers mispronouncing names of

086students who have been in this district for 12 13 years because they were hard to pronounce of students of color leaving um out parts of curriculum because it was unpleasant to teach and poo pooing the microaggression awareness trainings available um so I would really encourage each of you to get into our school and for our district to have microaggressionist awareness training by Diamond Law they're amazing and I ask each of you what is your Selma what are you going to do for the people in Newburgh to make our school district a safe place affirming all okay thank you thank you Lori that was your time thank you for sharing your experiences okay next up we've got Gabe and after Gabe we will have Rochelle look can everyone hear me yep go ahead good evening my

087name is Gabe Caruso and I spent the entirety of my pre-college education in the Newburgh School District few weeks ago I sent you all an open letter to Dave Brown in which I showed extreme distaste for Dave's lone dissenting vote in the anti-racism resolution since the vote Scholars and parents of color in his district have had to live with the assumption that the representative is against dismantling racism Dave chose to say that he would not speak on the matter until the next board meeting citing that public officials do not speak on social media this is blatantly false the president of the United States tweets Ad nauseam members of Congress use Facebook and Instagram on a daily basis to keep their constituents informed to say that you aren't allowed to discuss actions online it's just not

088true you're an elected official and you're responsible for your actions it's your job to communicate what is happening at board meetings with the people you represent especially your own actions you are Community representative if you're truly unwilling to use a public platform to educate your constituents of what you are doing I question your commitment to your community because of your silence I've grappled with what you could have been trying to protect with your no boat and in all of my assessments all I can find is a logic rooted in white supremacy now Brian and Dave white supremacy doesn't always come in the form of KKK Garvin symbols this country was founded and built on white supremacy when America was in its infancy it manufactured wealth simply by having an unpaid labor force white Americans were

089able to create generational wealth by completely dehumanizing black humans for their entire lives multiple generations of black and brown Americans lived and died without ever having a moment of true Freedom when slavery was ended black Americans lived under Jim Crow laws and were continually treated like second-class citizens for centuries in this country lynching was a spectacle often being accompanied by carnivals and festivals after the Civil Rights era black and brown Americans continue today to be victims of redlining gentrification and discriminatory hiring practices one in three black boys growing up today will spend time in prison it has been said in regards to Colin Kaepernick's kneeling that racism is so American that protesting against racism is seen as protesting against America I need you to understand that racism comes in many forms and it is not

090up to people of color to take your hand and educate you on the matter there are hundreds of books and documentaries that speak on the subject at length but it is up to you to read and watch them you and I have undeniable white privilege and while you may feel that your upbringing is full of struggle and hardships you still had white privilege all that means is that your struggles uh and hardships were not because of your race for many people in the Newberg Community their hardships are directly tied to their race if you're looking for local proof I invite you to look up the article printed in the Newberg graphic on June 29th titled Newburgh man shares experiences with racism discrimination I don't know how many riots and protests will need to take place

091in the world for you to understand that people of color are literally dying because of these systems of Oppression it is no longer enough to be not racist you must be actively anti-racist we live in a racist Society born of a racist beginning we live with racist loss racist senators and have a racist president there are relics of racism in every aspect of American culture there's something called the Paradox of Tolerance which asserts the following for a society to be tolerant of All Peoples races Creeds genders and orientations they must be intolerant towards one thing intolerance if they are tolerant of intolerance the intolerance will grow stronger for example in 2017 Donald Trump spoke of neo-nazis and the protesters saying there are very fine people on both sides just three years later last Sunday Donald

092Trump tweeted out a video of one of his supporters chanting white power this is why anti-racist policies and actions are necessary white silence is compliance white silence is violence thank you Gabe okay next up is Rochelle and after Rochelle will have Kailyn Kailyn foreign my name is Rochelle Staley and I am a current youth pastor and adoption social worker in the city of Newburgh now that the Newberg school board has passed an anti-racism policy I'm requesting an action step by school officials I am asking that the Confederate flag and other symbols of hate like Nazi swastikas not be allowed on school property this year at Newburgh schools both parents and students have displayed large Confederate flags flying from vehicles on school grounds during school pickups and drop-offs this does not communicate that our schools are

093a safe place for students of color when students do not feel safe their ability to learn is greatly hindered but the board please unanimously agree these symbols of racism are inappropriate on Newburgh School properties and will be addressed by school officials thank you okay we've got Kailyn and then we will have uh Kareem after that I'm mute start video yep hi there can you hear me great my name is Caitlin Kent I live at 1419 Creekside Court here in Newburgh and I'm a substitute teacher in the district um and I was going to comment tonight just simply saying that I support the resolution um I was really hardened to see it uh but I I guess sitting here tonight I had an additional small comment I want to make which is just on that word

094anti-racist or anti-racism um and I really think that this word is probably a growing Edge in our community I didn't start off with the political orientation uh that I'd probably uh that I have um I I started off uh with very different beliefs about race and about privilege um when I first became uh you know politically thoughtful uh and I think you know terms like anti-racism when they some people encounter them there's still a lot of question about what that means um and if it's it's going across a boundary and it probably is um but it's a boundary that for me in my life um my life has been better uh living in an anti-racist way and it's not something that I've done from even my early student days um some of it came from

095learning uh from history a lot of it came from um friends of color uh but you know a ton of it just came from moving to more diverse neighborhoods uh but really you know each time I grew a little bit I would Pat myself on the back for being like you know more thoughtful full more worldly more aware but it was becoming a teacher at Waldo Middle School in Salem where I taught for two years uh where it really did actually start to mean something and I I learned it was anti-racism is a um it's a process of lifelong learning and uh so for anyone who's like listening in tonight or for the board who feels like unfamiliar or uncomfortable with the terp I just want a heart and like it's not a boogie man

096uh it feels really great it's part of my morality and just being a person because it's it's just a commitment I make every day to um changing how I think how I teach um how I perceive situations and just always listening for different perspectives so thank you thank you for sharing okay we have Kareem and after Kareem we will have Heidi can't see you or hear you you yet cream foreign because he could not be here um I grew up in this County I went to school here honestly looking back at my childhood um through the Newberg School District I can see how much my interactions had been affected by my race I can't go back and change my life but I can let you know today how much those negative interactions affected me how

097they shaped me into my adult life how I've had to grow and heal from them to become a man I am today and speaking on my own behalf I grew up in this County as well and I love to always remind people like I I assume that no one would willingly dehumanize another human being unfortunately even I myself as a person of color as a gay man I still find myself dehumanizing people that I have been taught due to humanize this is something that has been bred to us there's something that we have to unlearn it's something that I had to I learn it takes time and I understand that it's hard because I know how hard we have worked to become good people to support our neighbor to become good Christians if that is

098your case but we do have to realize that this has been a problem for years this is how has what been taught to us through our media through our schools I um I know that I spent some time the other day Weeping just crying on the floor because there's very little times in my life that I am not reminded of how black I am and it is very hard for me to imagine trying to bring kids into this life that looked like me especially in this beautiful area that I live where no one else looks like me and no one else is believing the struggles that I'm telling them I'm having so if you could once again I'm asking if you Dave Brown specifically and those who support your decision to not support this anti-racism

099um thing for the schools um I really really ask you just to really spend some time asking your fellow pocs if you don't know anyone message me I know you can message my brother-in-law Kareem and say McDonald my sister Shaylee Stacy McDonald find us we will talk to you when we can try to educate yourself because my life my children's lives depend on it thank you thank you and I didn't catch your name because it just says Kareem still oh okay well thank you um okay Heidi and after that we will have Stephanie hi hi Heidi go ahead my name is Heidi Pander and I'm a mom and have had three children go through the Newburgh public school system two of those children are white and one is black my daughter who is Black is

100sweet well-behaved kind and considerate kid she's a good student a great athlete and a good friend she tends to assume the best of people she meets but she has experienced both blatant and subtle racism at school and most of those experiences of racism for her have come from the adults in her schools the teachers and staff I could spend more time than I have here today sharing those experiences with you but I'd like to encourage you to consider an action step I urge you because I asked my daughter what does she want me to say she said I want to be included in the conversation so my encouragement to you is to include students of color in your collaboration process on next steps I encourage you to seek out and listen to uplift the voices

101of your black students and other students of color and their families in your conversations I encourage you to partner with those students to examine and problem solve the discriminary discriminatory systems practices and policies in our school I encourage you to create space and provide the resources necessary for teachers and other staff to do the internal work of becoming conscious and reflective of their internal biases and how that affects their interactions with students of color require bias training of all employees all employees not just teachers I have lots more to add but this would be a great start along with the other suggestions we've heard here tonight and I want to address uh the idea of racism it's already been addressed but I'm going off script here and saying that it doesn't really matter if you

102um don't think that you're racist we all are we all have biases we all have prejudices and I I think it's up to us to um be humble enough as people to lead with humility instead of Pride and saying that we're not racist um it's up to us to lead with humility and to acknowledge that we might not know everything and that we have a lot to learn that's it thank you thank you okay now we have uh Stephanie and after Stephanie will be Amanda hi somebody we can oh there you go perfect sorry Hi um my name is Stephanie Nally I'm entering my ninth year of teaching Elementary School I live and I teach here in Newburgh um I I love teaching and I love interacting with all my students on a daily basis

103I wanted to attend tonight's meeting to listen to what our community wanted to share and what the community needs are as a teacher in this District on June 23rd you know the newborn School Board of Directors approved and anti-racist resolution this resolution commits our district leaders all staff and students to be anti-racist in any form I applaud our district for moving forward and sharing with our community especially our minorities that we are committed to all now that we've adopted adopted this resolution we must continue to see what changes can be done within our district I believe the first step would involve professional development and training for all staff certified and classified on being anti-racist this would educate the people who work closest with our children I also believe that we are in dire need of

104a social studies curriculum that teaches current events but is also diverse and Equitable if we want to dismantle racism it starts with our children's education I am hopeful that as we move forward we can also have more diversity within our staff so that it represents all of our students this will help all students see themselves in a professional setting and prepare our students to work in an increasingly diverse Society I want to thank you for the work that's being put in place and I'm really looking forward to the positive changes that are happening within our district thank you thank you Stephanie um okay now we have Amanda and after Amanda will be Chelsea there you are can we hear you okay all right I think all right go ahead are we good okay all right

105I uh my name is Amanda Lam and I am the parent of a Newburgh high school student and an elementary schooler as well as a children's librarian here in Newburgh our household and my profession as a whole has been striving to actively work Against Racism we feel it is not enough to acknowledge racism in our communities but to actively work against it for our family this has been a multi-year journey with much more work to come for instance we try and make at least three quarters of the books the kids read include a person of color as the protagonist especially those written by authors of color this includes happy everyday stories as well as the difficult or historical ones that way they can have a better window and to lived experiences that are different depending

106on the individual daily pleasure reading like this has made conversations about racism with the kids and with ourselves much easier because there is context and empathy we've also had some hard conversations about racism in our own Community both the overt and the nuanced we've had to reconcile the ways in which we ourselves support some of these instances with our silence or our participation our family is now able to see the world and our community in ways that we did not before both the joy and the areas that need our work and United Support before we had relationships with people of color but they may not have felt comfortable sharing their stories with us now that we are learning and listening we are hearing more from these friends and loved ones about the ways in which

107Newberg can do better we hope to call others into this work because so much more is possible as a team we're heartened to read both the school board's resolution condemning racism and committing to being an anti-racist School District as well as the emails that I received from both Brandi and Rebecca these emails acknowledge that this work is just beginning and that the board is passionate about addressing racism in our system and creating systemic change the first action items listed in Brandy's email were also encouraging conducting listening sessions with our communities of color board training and bias and anti-racism and adopting an equity lens that will serve as a tool as we continue our work around policy and governance I am in full support of these items and would also love to see work on curriculum

108reform to include human narrative like oral histories and other primary sources that represent voices who aren't always heard from especially in history texts I'd like to close by Express expressing my gratitude to our board for passing this resolution as well as to those board members who responded to my emails to provide context and clarity thank you for your time thank you Amanda okay next up we have Chelsea and then uh Megan okay we can see you can we hear you there you go go ahead tell us um my name is Chelsea Oaks um I live in Newburgh on College Street I grew up here and I attended public school in Newark Public School District um for my whole school career and I currently am um the owner and operator of an acupuncture clinic in herbal

109medicine shop where I Mentor young people and I just wanted to thank you for encouraging the community to speak and I wanted to speak up in support of the anti-racist statement issued by the district and I think it opens the door to an ongoing and long overdue culture shift in our local community um for hundreds of years communities of color have been speaking consistently and steadily on the need for a significant systemic and individual change yet this has gone deeply unsupported and at worst actively silenced by dominant white culture it's well past time that the voices of color be centered and followed um I found an article that I thought was great on a website called teaching tolerance it's a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center this article was published on June 30th by

110Elizabeth kleinrock and she is an anti-racist educator and I thought she brought up some really great points for school districts who were developing um anti-racist statements and directives and she said while there is urgency in anti-bias and anti-racist work urgency cannot be prioritized over relationships or centering the voices and opinions of bipoc community members standards and skills can always be retaught but School culture is too important to get wrong um she suggests beginning with an honest evaluation of current practices remember that celebrating diversity diversity or multi multiculturalism is not the same as anti-racism or dismantling white supremacy how will we ensure that anti-racism is not just a box to check and that no one is able to opt out how will people of color be centered in this work how will they be supported in

111this work and how are we working to create long-lasting change in this community um I am uh happy to be part of this conversation I'm happy to continue to be part of this conversation as another Community leader and I thank you for opening this forum up to the public thank you Chelsea sorry I'm just finishing up note there okay thank you um okay last uh statement we have tonight is from Megan Hi Megan go ahead whenever you're ready all right my name is Megan Rogers zonecki I live on East 4th Street near Edwards school and I have three children in the Newberg Public Schools my youngest son is just 11 but as with most young black men he has experienced racism many times in his young life at school and in the larger community I

112have asked teachers and administrators for anti-racism curriculum several times over the past few years but there has not been much energy behind the idea until now and I'm eagerly awaiting information about the practical ways in which this recent commitment will be implemented I also want to emphasize the importance of our children seeing that school leaders are all committed to this it is incredibly difficult for my son to feel safe and supported at school especially during this volatile time in our country and we know that children who do not feel safe and supported have a hard time learning as a follow-up to this resolution I hope that every educator and District leader will take careful time to communicate their support and enthusiastically Embrace curriculum and activities that will further this effort if they cannot fully support

113an anti-racist program they should not be entrusted with leadership in our school district thank you thank you Megan Luke did I miss anybody should we is Lynn here at all you know I've looked through a couple times and I've not seen Lynn and I've not gotten a message as to which name might be Linds okay there's um a statement in the Q a how should I get that from there so that it can be a part of the minutes do you know just so it's part of I can copy and paste that and send it to you okay Randy the other thing too is when you were asking for shali and Shay's book I don't know if it's the same person or foreign because I see on the list of attendees somebody but I don't

114know Shay are you still there let me see um if you're asking about the name of the person who spoke whose name we didn't get um I got that emailed to me thank you I want to thank everybody who came out tonight I think we had a really I appreciate that we had people from lots of different areas and experiences represented and I think that as individuals we all have a lot to think about and digest and this is like I've said in the many emails this is our first step and it's only a first step and there will be more to come but again I appreciate everybody taking time out of their lives to help us on this endeavor okay okay I'll call the meeting adjourning at 7 44. thank you everyone have a

115good night