001All right, thank you everyone for being here tonight. Are we ready to get started? Cara, are we ready? Awesome, thank you. All right, this public regular meeting of the Board of Education for April 14th, 2026 is called to order. All items being considered this evening are posted on the PPS website under the Board and Meetings tab. This meeting is also being streamed live on PPS YouTube page and will be replayed on Channel 28. Good evening and welcome. Thank you all for being here and taking your time out of your day to care about public education. Uh just a couple um housekeeping Again, very glad we have so many community members here. Uh some housekeeping issues or reminders. Just be safe. Make sure we keep the stairs and aisles clear. In case, if you brought a
002sign, we just ask that you hold it before below chin level so people behind you can see. Um we also have a Spanish interpreter here this evening. If I can ask our Spanish interpreter to come up and introduce yourself in Spanish so people know where to find you in the room. All right, first uh item on the agenda is our Superintendent Report. I will hand this over to Superintendent Armstrong. Thank you so much and I think we are ready to go. Excellent. Well, good evening and as always look forward to bringing you a report from around the district. Uh first, it is National Assistant Principals Week and so just want to take a moment and acknowledge all of the work that our assistant and associate principals do across the system to lift learning and student
003experiences. So, we can acknowledge that, I would appreciate that. Maybe two claps. There you go. Something like that. I appreciate that. It also is Arab American Heritage Month, and so that is something that we are celebrating this month and just wanted to take an opportunity to lift that up. There is a theme that is established for this year, and it is many voices, one community. And that definitely reflects what we strive for every day at PPS. Also, want to take the opportunity to lift up that we have had our land use approved. We are in our final phase of design, and a reminder that the groundbreaking ceremony will be on May 29th. So, we're just a month and a half away. That's super exciting. Equally exciting is the lighting at Grant Bowl has begun, and
004we anticipate that completion date for the middle of May. And we are excited that that is scheduled to reduce the impacts on our athletic program. So, super excited about that. Yes, two claps. I know, listen, I'm trying to give y'all some good news. We're going to get to cuz we got lots of news happening. So, let me just highlight some good ones. Another good piece of news is we're always lifting up our legacies at PPS, and you've probably heard that Jefferson Dancers are the program is celebrating 50 years. And so super exciting to lift up Steve Gonzalez, the artistic director of the Jefferson Dancers. He performed with the Jefferson Dancers for 3 years from '83 to '86 and became the artistic director in 1999. And so it's been 27 years. There's activities happening this week.
005So tune in. There's a calendar of events on our website and just super excited about those amazing dancers out there and what we can certainly look forward to in the future. And here's another flyer to show those dates, the 16th through the 18th and they will definitely shine. So it opens this Thursday and the program will have classical ballet, African dance, contemporary dance and and much, much more woven throughout the program. Now you also know that we also like to bring a segment uh called the principal seat. And so I'm excited to feature this month's principal. We're just going to reload that to make sure we capture sound. My name is Alna Velasquez and I am the principal at Jason Lee Elementary. I feel the responsibility every day to remove barrier fears so that people
006can do their best work. Good morning. Good morning, Ben. I try to facilitate opportunities for them to really focus in on what's most important, which is our students' uh well-being and their learning each and every day. One of the most important things that I've learned is that what we believe about children matters. If we think that what what they bring to school is a barrier for our work, that's really going to have an impact. If instead we look at them as as they're the possibilities and the potential that they bring, it changes the whole outcome. We have to believe that we are enough, that we have enough resources to have an impact. If we focus on what we can do instead of the forces outside our school that are uh you know, that are out
007of our control, then we can make a difference. Let's think about the 6 hours that we have, that we own, that we can control. And I think maximizing that time, really giving the child all the love and courage and potential and opportunities to succeed makes the difference. It has to be about what we can do. Collaboration is my most important value. It means that um that we work together, that we get ideas from one another, that we are open to learning from one another. When we are excited and invested in our work and we have someone else who shares that excitement and that investment, that's where it really uh we can take off. There are so many committed teachers, teachers who really want the best for kids. So, we start with our values, you know,
008what do we want to see? Where do we want to take our students? And then we begin to really think about the the challenges that we face and figure out different creative ways of of getting at them. We have been fortunate to have seen our academic data growing, our attendance data is growing, our data is improving as well. I think it helps to feed our our energy to continue to observe our systems and continue to see where there are gaps, where there might be students falling through the cracks, to really look at it as an entire system and and make it sustainable. Um and I think that uh all the indicators right now are in a good place and so we get encouragement from that, right? We see that our state assessment is up, we
009see that our um district uh assessments are also pointing in the right direction. It feels good and I I think it's all to the work that our team is doing. So let's congratulate to Alma Velasquez. It's a proud principal at Jason Lee Elementary. So the last thing I'll say is that if you follow us on social media, you will be reminded that the heart of Portland will be tomorrow opening at 6:30. Doors open a little bit early. It's a huge crowd, so get there early and you would also see that tomorrow is our Readers on the Rise district event on for our Lifting Literacy campaign. So, thank you for listening. Thank you. Next up, we have our student representative report. Hand it over to student representative for Tualatin. Yes, so for today's report, I'm going
010to be reading public comment from a Roosevelt student who was supposed to be here tonight, but unfortunately could not. My name is Lily Martinez. I am a student at Roosevelt High School and I'm having Ian Mortada read this on my behalf because unfortunately I am working tonight and cannot attend. As you all know, the district is firing teachers to accommodate the reduced budget this year. Roosevelt is one of the schools most affected by this and is losing more FTE than any school in the district. There are various reasons, but the main reason is that our schools, PPS schools, and schools all over the state of Oregon are not funded equitably or adequately by our state legislature. I am here today to tell you that we can change that. Use your voice, email your legislator legislator
011and representatives. Even talk to other parents with similar concerns. The revenue debt revenue deficit isn't only affecting our schools, but also parts of our city and state. As a student in a school that has struggled constantly to fund sports, extracurricular activities, and anything that has required a large amount of money, dealing with funding disparities has always felt important. I am a student representative on the parent advisory committee trying to advocate for students who don't have the privilege of attending a school with generational wealth. Last year, the committee, which consists of parents from every high school cluster in the district, generously donated $1 million to students across the board. While the money was supposed to be divided between our highest need schools under the previous policy, a compromise was made to use the money to create
012a district-wide foundation. The first year of the PAC was a tremendous success. They were able to use the money to fund high-impact tutoring programs, food pantries, and strategic investing. All that they were able to achieve was because of the donations they received. This year, the schools are looking at a $50 million budget cut. More than ever, donations to the district-wide fund are paramount to ensuring the possible the best possible education for students across PPS. Any possible donation to the fund would be graciously appreciated and extremely helpful. The current funding issues we are undergoing have nothing to do with the foundation reform that occurred 2 years ago with a 1-year grace period. PPS and other districts' funding problems have to do with Oregon's broken tax system and the failure of our legislators prioritize public education. I
013wrote this tonight to tell you to do what you can to fix the system. Attending a school like Roosevelt, I have gotten used to expecting less opportunities. Throughout my time here, I have had many amazing teachers, some of whom recently lost their jobs due to budget cuts. Not only does this affect the teachers who lost their jobs, but also other teachers who now have to juggle with even larger class sizes and teach multiple different curriculums, which cuts down on their ability to help students. While there are numerous ways to mold the system into something that can better serve the community, bringing back the foundations isn't one of them. Out of all the top 10 schools to lose the most FTE, only one, I.D. Wells, is a school with a foundation. Blaming the foundation is just
014avoiding the real problem of the shortcomings of the Oregon system and legislators. Now is the time to carefully revisit your legislature and tell and make sure they are the people that will advocate for your child to have better education. Please get involved to demonstrate for your children their civic right to advocate for their education and to fight for the PPS staff who have also been affected. Uh, and that's all they had. Um, and I think that's all I've got for the report tonight. Uh, next meeting I will have a report on who the next student representative is. So, stay tuned for that. Well, exciting. Thank you, student representative Retorto. Right, next on the agenda we have public comment. As many of you noticed, we have a new public comment system. We are trying to expand
015uh, not only the number of public comments that we get, but also the equity of access. And uh, just kind of reminder, when we we have uh, we allocated around 30 minutes for public comment. Uh, when the number of slots are filled, the slots are filled through a lottery system to again try and ensure uh, an as equitable system as possible. Uh, therefore, we do have a wait list. If you are on the wait list, you may also request to be rolled over to the next meeting. Uh, we are having these 30-minute public comments for both our meetings per month, so that's two times a month, which is quadruple what we used to have. Um so, we're hoping this new system works. Um just also reminder to fit as many people as possible, we did
016reduce the limit uh uh the time limit to about 2 minutes. Um if we have a meeting, it doesn't look like today, but if we don't have uh completely filled up, we can expand that to 3 minutes. So, that that's our new system that we're working with. All right. Um also want to note uh that looking at the list of public comments, we do notice that a few people have signed up about a certain personnel matter in the district. I want to kindly ask that um if you are commenting about a person uh personnel in this district, uh two things. One is a reminder, the board actually is not involved in personnel decisions in the district. This is not part of our purview. Um it is part of the superintendent's purview. So, if you do
017have if you did come here uh to talk about a person specific person um employee of the district, we kindly ask you to direct that to the superintendent's office. We also have two area supervisors up there in the corner that can also uh take your uh issue uh or thing that you want to talk about. Uh they can they will report that to both the superintendent and they can also report that to the board. So, it's not going to disappear in limbo, we will get it. Um and that that's an alt other alt alternative. However, you still want to continue to provide your testimony, we do ask just out of respect to please not name the school or the position that the person is any way to identify them, just to maintain respect because our
018the board is purview to the topic that you sign up for, we as a board know who you're talking about. But just for the public, um in terms of, you know, the public sphere, this is going out on YouTube, we ask that you, you know, please kindly keep that person's identity private. Again, we do know who you're talking about. And you can also you're also welcome to email um us, the board, the superintendent, or the area supervisors, um the specific issues that you do want to raise if you do not get a chance to testify or you wanted to uh name certain things that you didn't feel comfortable naming in public. So, that if that's clear, that is our ask today that we we kindly be uh respectful and just yeah. Uh and then I
019will move on to kind of our or I will move on to our uh expectations for and guidelines for our public comment. Uh you do have 2 minutes. When you're up on the the dais, you'll have a light. Um when the yellow light shines, that means you have 30 seconds to finish up your comment. And when the red light uh lights up, that means uh you're done. If you're online, there's usually a timer. Another reminder, board members here, we are here to listen to your public comment and listen intently, and we are not here to engage in conversation. For those who are testifying, if the board office may follow up on certain board-related issues that are raised during public testimony. Uh we also if you are a PPS staff person who is giving public comment
020today, we will kindly remind you that you may not provide testimony about student that could violate confidentiality protections under FERPA. This includes testimony using information that could identify students, especially their school community, by use of direct or indirect linkages such as school, grade, special education, or other status. Also, for materials that you would like the board to receive such as handouts and pictures, etc. Um please don't come up to the dais. You may hand them over to uh Ms. Bradshaw over there and will who will distribute them to us. In order for the board to conduct its business, we also ask board members to please refrain from calling out interrupting speakers or otherwise disrupting the meeting. We appreciate your cooperation in this and uh maintaining a very respectful and educational uh setting for all of
021us. Um I feel like that was probably the longest uh intro to any public comment I've ever given. So, I'm going to end it with this. If there are additional items and I already said this, but uh that you would like us to receive that you didn't get a chance to perhaps finish your testimony or whatnot, you may email that to uh the website [email protected]. When you begin your public comment, please clearly state your name, spell your last name. Again, 2 minutes. Yellow light, 30 seconds. We will call Let's call three people at a time and you may go ahead and begin uh testimony the moment you feel comfortable and and go. A little little trick here is if you start speaking before the green light got goes on, you get a little bonus seconds.
022So, um yeah. Uh Ms. Bradshaw, could you call the first three? Yes. Lovely Castillo Bohorquez Chelsea Waiter Joe McFerrin Okay, you may begin when you're ready. Great. can start. Good evening members of the board and Dr. Armstrong. My name is Chelsea Wiater, w i a t e r, and I'm speaking today as a Portland Public Schools parent, an alum, a former employee, and as a professional with 16 years of experience in institutional asset management and 10 years serving on non-profit boards in fundraising and donor engagement. And I'm here to request a pragmatic shift in the enforcement of board policy 7.10.020-P restricting local school foundations. In my professional life, I help institutions plan for their employees future. What this policy is doing right now with local foundations is the financial equivalent of forcing a worker to
023retire today when their 401K was only opened yesterday. I believe we all share emphatic support for the intent for the Fund for PPS to decouple our students' success from the neighborhood that they live in and from that capacity to fundraise. But in the worlds of investment management and non-profit fundraising, we must measure success by impact and not by intent. And unfortunately, the current impact of this policy is creating a funding gap. By dismantling local support systems for the before the Fund for PPS has the scale to replace them, we've breached our fiduciary responsibility to our children and inadvertently compounded the current fiscal crisis our schools are facing. I'm asking the board to institute a pause on this harmful policy. Let's allow the local school foundations to fund staff positions while the Fund for PPS reach
024is its established fundraising benchmarks. I'm asking that you see the local foundations for what they could be, a critical relief valve at the time that our district needs it the most. When a local foundation funds a staff position, they effectively free up district resources. Every dollar raised locally is a dollar served saved in the general fund that can be reallocated directly to the most vulnerable children in schools. Let's grant ourselves this lifeline that will allow the district to concentrate its now limited resources exclusively where the needs are the highest. We can't control the state's budget, but we can control this. Allow the local school foundations to align our impact with our intent to best serve our vulnerable populations. Thank you. Thank you. Um Hello, my name is Lovely Castillo Bohorquez, c a s t i
025l l o. I'm a student at Benson Polytechnic High School who has participated in and I'm currently in a program funded by the Racial Equity and Social Justice Initiative. I participated in the program Juntos Aprendemos from ages 3 to 5. I have wonderful memories that have impacted my life. I remember learning my colors, the numbers, how to write my name, and having security to advocate for myself. This program also allowed me to have my parents with me while it was going on. That helped my transition into kindergarten as I began to understand that school is a safe place for me and that I didn't have anything to worry about. Being comfortable allowed me to understand what was actually being taught to me, which in the long run helped me academically. I am now a participant
026in Early Escalera, a program for 9th and 10th graders. Being a freshman, the transition into high school was overwhelming. Early Escalera provides a mentor for every student and we frequently check in to see how school is going, if anything is bothering us, or if we need a little support. These check-ins have made me feel seen and it's nice knowing there's someone I can rely on at school. During our meetings, we also learn about social emotional learning, discuss our GPAs, have new experiences, and develop leadership skills. Escalera is a program for 11th and 12th graders and both my siblings have participated. It helped them find a university that fits their needs. My older brother is in his third year at Oregon State University with a major in mechanical engineering, a focus in energy and fluid systems,
027and a minor in Japanese language and culture. My sister is in her first year at Bates College, located in Lewiston, Maine. I'm very proud of how far my siblings have come, and they're my biggest inspiration. Their achievements have been made possible thanks to support from programs funded by the Racial Equity and Social Justice Initiative. Please fully fund the RESJ partnership. Okay. Thank you. That's not fair. Follow. Great job, by the way. Good evening, Chair Wong, Vice Chair DePass, and members of the PPS Board and Superintendent Dr. Armstrong. My name is Joe McFerrin II. M C F E R R I N. I serve as president and CEO of POIC, which is a home of the Rosemary Anderson prep schools. I want to begin by acknowledging that, uh, as a board, as a superintendent, that you
028are facing some very difficult decisions under real constraints, and I recognize the weight and the complexity of balancing the district's needs during this time. I want to briefly frame my comments around outcomes, efficiency, and alignment with the district goals. POIC and PPS have partnered since the late 1980s to serve students who are disproportionately impacted by poverty, disengagement, and interrupted educational pathways. Through this partnership, POIC has leveraged public, private, and philanthropic funding streams to expand the district's capacity to serve these students. Rosemary Anderson Prep and our community-based alternative schools partners are specifically designed to re-engage students who are at risk of not graduating. In recent years, these programs have contributed to measurable improvements in student retention and graduation outcomes within PPS. From a fiscal perspective, CBOs represent a high return investment. We bring students back into
029the system, students who would otherwise generate no enrollment-based funding, and we do so at a lower per student cost while supplementing services uh with external resources. And so in in conclusion, I would say sustaining and strengthening these partnerships is both an educational and physical fiscal imperative. Thank you. Thank you. Ms. Brasch, can you call the next three? Laura Stepp, Elizabeth De Jesus Lopez, Miranda Morales. Again, you may begin once you sit down if you want to steal a few extra seconds. Keep it moving then. Hi. Is this on? It's working. Um my name is Laura Stepp, S T E P P. I'm here today wearing three hats. I'm a parent of two PPS alumni. I'm also an alum. Um I'm also here as the chief HR officer of Shere ID, it's a local Portland tech
030company, and also as a board member for POIC, which is the home of Rosemary Anderson Prep. You just heard about it. Um I spent the last 16 years or so in executive suites, and I know exactly uh what it looks like when the numbers demand hard decisions to ensure an organization survives and then thrives. Um, right-sizing is more than difficult. I've done it many times. In my view, it was it's been overdue for the district, so I understand the need. I know that it requires the kind of leadership that prioritizes long-term outcomes over short-term comfort and it takes a lot of heart, so I empathize with you all with this task. As you look at the data to make your choices, I urge you to focus on the workforce of the future, to hire the
031talent Portland needs. Our schools have to be agile and modern. We cannot afford a one-size-fits-all model. We need diverse engaged students who have been given a reason to stay in school and who can fill a diverse set of human capital needs in our community. This brings me to my ask. As you make these cuts and tough decisions, please protect the budget neutral support for community-based alternative schools like Rosemary Anderson, Chapman, and other alternative schools. From a business perspective, this is a high-yield investment with a zero net additional cost to the district. Here's the ROI I believe we provide. Student retention, we catch the kids that are most at risk of dropping out, providing the wraparound services that traditional schools can't provide, and we fundraise to also provide those additional resources ourselves. Graduation rates, we turn
032potential dropouts into graduates and directly improve the district's performance metrics. And lastly, fiscal efficiency. A third of our students are on IEPs because we keep them in the system, that associated funding stays within the district. Supporting alternative education options within the the district isn't just a moral choice, it's a fiscally positive strategy for my perspective. By doing so, you're keeping vulnerable kids in the system and transforming them into the productive taxpayers of the future that we need in the city. Um, please use the right sizing moment to lean into what works, keep our kids in school, keep funding in the district, keep our future workforce intact. Okay, thank you. Good evening, everybody. My name is Elizabeth de Jesus Lopez. I am a I am a parent. I am a worker at PPS. I'm right here
033asking to keep up the program funded by racial equity and social justice initiative. This go This will be the third year me and my daughter are part of a um Juntos Aprendemos program. And I would like to mention that this is not just a program that helps kids, but also helps uh parents. They learn how to talk in Spanish, uh interact in Spanish with other friends, and learn how the colors, the reading, everything is in Spanish, and that's what I love about this program because it keeps my kid up practicing and learning about their cultures. They do a lot of different activities for them. And the most important thing for me it was um able to have the transition before she start kindergarten preschool. Um because we she was really attached to me, and I
034didn't want her to be crying all the time that I dropped her off at school. I want her to be ready and have fun her first day at school. I don't want it to be sad and all emotional about it. I just want to make sure that we keep this programs because it's really important for our community for our culture to uh pass our tradition for our kids, and not just uh be at home playing video games or doing things that is not going to help them in the future. My daughter is in kindergarten right now and she does a big package of homework and she's asking for more and more. She's ready to start learning her math, her multiplications and I'm so excited to see that angry that she has about learning. And her
035favorite part is a graduation when she dance, she get she receive her diploma and we all get to eat different type of fruit fruits, vegetables and parents foods. I would like you to ask you to fully fund this program because it's an amazing program. Thank you. Hi, dear superintendent and board members. My name is Miranda Morales, m o r a l e s. I am one of three sole coordinators of 12 schools throughout the res j contract. Um, I just want to say thank you for allowing our program to go on for so long. Um, a big focus is leadership, advocacy and having a cultural belonging for our middle schoolers. Um, throughout my two years of working as a sole coordinator, I've been able to see students create a space that feels safe and inclusive
036for them. They've been able to implement practices that highlight their identity and cultures as well as learning how to advocate for themselves and their communities. PPI should continue to support the community with these programs because when students have spaces where they can be their authentic selves and are able to share their lived experiences, they're able to see other perspectives and form ideas that challenge them, their communities, and the systems in place. This helps create accountability and new leaders in spaces where they might not see folks who look like them. When we talk about inclusion and diversity, that includes investing in our future leaders, no matter what age or what background they come from. I've seen firsthand how students have taken ideas and perspectives learned from SOUL and have used them in their high school journeys.
037Something that comes to mind are previous SOUL students planning and implementing walkouts for community change at McDaniel, Roosevelt, and even in some of the middle schools. Having programs like SOUL means investing in future change makers. With all that being said, please continue to invest in these programs and our future leaders. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Is Rochelle the next week? Sherry Pollard Jesse Courtney Jennifer Stetson Good evening. My name is Sherry Pollard, p o l l a r d. I am the parent of a current fifth grader at fifth grader at our local elementary school in Forest Heights. I'm here tonight to address serious concerns regarding the conduct, judgment, and leadership of the current principal at our school. The broader impact on the school is actually staggering. During this principal's tenure, enrollment at our school
038has declined 19 and 1/2%. If you're here tonight in support of these concerns and the families affected, I respectfully ask you to stand with me now. I filed a formal complaint in November of 2015 regarding multiple student safety incidents, including one razor blade incident and two separate gun incidents. I had to request a response after nearly 3 months of silence. I have had to keep asking the district for answers. Other parents have experienced the same pattern and it deepens mistrust within the community. How the principal handled my daughter during the razor blade investigation left her uncomfortable and afraid to be alone with him, and she was the victim. Most concerning, I personally reported one of the gun threats to the principal at 7:15 a.m. And yet the student was still allowed into the classroom at
039the start of that school day before the safety assessment was completed. I'm asking the board directly, is that district protocol? I asked the district the same question multiple times and didn't not get a direct response until 10:59 this morning, only after they learned that I would be speaking tonight. The district claims procedures were followed, but its own records reflect the timeline that I just described. That response asked families to accept the district's conclusion without clear answers, accountability, or transparency. I'm asking this board to require transparent review, written clarification of the safety protocols used, meaningful corrective action, and assurance that no child or family will face retaliation. In closing, this is what should concern every member of this board. Our children do not feel comfortable with this person. Our children are afraid of this person. They
040don't feel safe, and they don't want to be in the same room alone with him. Thank you for your time. Yeah, thank you. If I could just ask again if we can try to refrain from naming the school or the the position and the way to identify the personnel. Um it'd be good. Again, we have the information of how you you when you signed up, we have that information, so we know who you're talking about. So, you don't necessarily have to mention the the person or the school or position. So, thank you. Good evening. My name is Jess Courtney, c o u r t n e y, and my daughter has a has been a PPS student since kindergarten, and I've been a PPS employee since 2023. I'm here tonight to document a concerning pattern
041of failure in leadership, communication, and student protection. In 2024, when my daughter was overwhelmed and crying, she was approached by the principal and told, "That's not the cry of someone who's upset." and compared her to the boy who cried wolf. She was 9 years old. In September of 2025, she was subjected to explicit verbal sexual harassment by a classmate. She reported it appropriately to school staff. However, we, her parents, were not notified. We learned about the incident only because she came home and told us herself. When we addressed our concerns, the responses were delayed, unclear, and inconsistent with Title IX requirements. And then the burden of protection was placed on our daughter, the victim, rather than the offending student. On one occasion, without notifying us, she was removed from her own classroom to keep the
042students separated. When we asked whether or not the district Title IX office had been informed of the decision, we were informed that they had not. When we asked the administration to explain the escalation process, we were told they needed to look into the next steps, but no one followed up. And I want to be very clear about the impact of this. During the Title IX meeting, in the presence of her teacher, the school counselor, and the principal, our daughter stated that she does not feel like he is a safe person. These are not isolated incidents. They reflect a pattern of leadership that fails to protect students, communicate with families, and uphold a level of accountability that this community expects and deserves. We're requesting a formal board review in the handling of these incidents, as well
043as review of parent notification protocols. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. Hi, my name is Jen s t e n s o n. I'm a lifelong PPS stakeholder. I grew up in the Linton Cornelius Pass area off Highway 30. My dad was a truck driver, my mom worked odd jobs. They met at what is now Ida B. Wells. I'm a product of Skyline, West Sylvan, Lincoln, and now I'm an Ainsworth parent. I'm here tonight representing a growing coalition of parents from Abernathy, Richmond, Forest Park, Duniway, Laurel, and Laurelhurst. We share a singular urgent concern. We want the fund for PPS to succeed, but we are asking for a temporary pause on the foundation ruling because right now we cannot outrun our problems in Portland. We are facing a convergence of economic failures,
044job loss, record inflation, and a cost of living crisis that is hollowing out our city. Our problems are moving faster than our ability to adapt. There are deep, valid debates on the history of foundations. I'm not here to relitigate any of those. Foundations are our problem. I'm here to talk about revenue and survival. A pause is the only thing the board can do that costs the district $0, but puts critical resources back into our schools in the short run. In a state of emergency, we cannot afford to leave any source of revenue off the table. Our house is on fire, and we are here to protect kids, our most valuable asset, not a policy. When a problem feels too large or abstract, people disengage. They don't see how their $5 or $10 help a $50
045deficit, so they stop giving. We are seeing this play out in the current PPS funding. The PPS fund has not had enough time to build and connect and make the level of impact our schools desperately need. Some might suggest that letting these local funds cycle out is a necessary transition, but a classroom is not a laboratory, and our kids are not test subjects. To starve the system today in hopes of a better policy tomorrow is a strategy that incurs a civic debt our students can never repay. A pause By pausing this ruling, you re-engage the community. You give parents a way to see the immediate of their contribution on their child's classroom and they will find ways to give. Pausing a strategy that isn't yet meeting its target isn't a sign of weakness or a
046failure. It's a show of strength and leadership. It provides that the It proves that the board can look at the facts and pivot when the situation demands it. Thank you. Thank you. Sorry, just a pause one sec. I've got one more uh rule that we had for this new system. Uh we saw that a couple people had requested an interpreter. If you do have an interpreter, you are allowed double time to give time for you to speak and also the interpreter to interpret. So that I just want to make sure I remind everybody for people who require interpreter service, you have double the time. Okay. Next three, when you're ready. Yes. Um we have two left in person and two virtual. Great, thank you. >> Contreras and Molly Gabris. Sorry. Uh my name is David
047Contreras Machado. I'm actually going to be giving my time to one of our sole students, uh a participating part of the Latino Network programs. I'm just here for support. Okay, you may begin when ready. Oh, sorry. I thought you were going. I apologize. Uh my name is Molly Gabris, g a b r i s. And um I am here speaking with you tonight because I'm concerned about the process the district has used to propose and finalize cuts resulting from the budget shortfall. I understand that it's incredibly difficult to make these decisions, but I want to ensure that the district and the district US the districts overseers are following defined procedures and yeah, I want you to ensure that the cuts are taking into account community feedback and pursuing the most equitable solution for all students.
048My purpose here tonight is to ask you for help to ensure that as overseers when cuts are proposed you take into the account all community feedback before decisions are made, remove leaders with any biases and fully consider and present multiple options with detailed and data-driven analysis for each choice. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. Hello. My name is Andres Tanner t a n n e r I'm a student at Harriet Tubman Middle School in a program funded by um the Racial Equity and Social Justice Initiative. Um When I first just got to middle school I was exposed to a lot of people. Some really nice and some a little bit racist. Um when I got to school it was a great experience to be able to be around um fellow Latinx people
049and made me proud of my culture and who I am. So I ask you please fully fund the RESJ partnerships. Thank you. THANK YOU. >> ELIZABETH AUXIER? YOU MAY BEGIN WHEN READY. I can start. I don't know. My name is Elizabeth Auxier. Um, good evening to the members of the board and Dr. Armstrong. Oh, A U X I E R. I'm a PPS parent with a kindergartner, second grader, and fourth grader, and I volunteer in the classroom each week in my daughter's kindergarten class. I'm here to ask you to support a temporary pause on current foundation funding restrictions. Spending time in the classroom, you see very quickly how much support is needed for the youngest kids in our school. At the kindergarten levels especially, kids are learning how to read, how to focus, and how
050to be part of a classroom. That takes time, attention, and multiple multiple adults in the room. And right now, what I'm seeing is that schools are trying to fill those gaps however they can, including relying on more parents to help with basic classroom support. Parents are always going to show up where they can, but they are not a substitute for trained teachers and educational assistants. This year already feels like such a bare-bones staffing. I can't imagine what it will look like or feel like with even more reduced staffing next year. There's no fat left to trim. I understand the goal of building a stronger district-wide funding model, but that system isn't fully in place yet. A pause is a simple, practical step. It gives schools the ability to maintain the support students need right now.
051While the long-term solution is still being built, please support a pox. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Good evening, directors and Dr. Armstrong. My name's Andrea Gall, g a l l, she/her pronouns, and I'm a PPS parent. To absorb necessary cuts, our elementary school is proposing to cut two teachers from the English program and none from the dual immersion program. Uneven enrollment and class size thresholds were cited as the reason for this decision. I'm not here tonight to ask that there are no cuts. I know that's not a fiscal reality, but I am asking that the way that cuts are absorbed within our school is data-driven, community-informed, and thoughtful. Looking into publicly available enrollment data invites any reasonable person to ask questions. Does 49% enrollment in the English program versus 51% in the DLI
052program indicate uneven enrollment? Does this 2% enrollment difference warrant the English program taking 100% of the cuts? Does cutting over $300,000 of staffing to the program that has more than double the poverty rate and with 40% of students identifying as BIPOC reflect our values? The English program has a 57% higher rate of students with IEP. Displacing the burden of these cuts on our most vulnerable students seem reasonable. Does formally unassigning teaching staff from the English program prior to informing families of any program changes sound like authentic community engagement? The English program class sizes have routinely exceeded 30 students, reaching as high as 35, with the DLI program never exceeding 30 students a single time in the 16 years of available data. What we're experiencing here is a deep disparity in how we allocate resources within
053a single school, creating a disparate impact. I'm requesting that the board intervene. The data show that the current proposal at our school is lopsided, inequitable, and short-sighted. Please don't let 49% of our students take 100% of the cuts. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Ms. Bracha, does that conclude our public testimony? All right. Thank you. Again, I want to thank everyone who took their time out of the day to present your feedback and forms our work and is invaluable. So, thank you again. Right. Next up, we have uh space for our time. We have our union partners who we always are happy to hear from. Okie doke. Hello. Um just waiting on this computer to log in. Do the thing. Thank you for your patience. Okay. There we go. Great. Good evening. Um my name is
054Angela Bonilla. You she they pronouns. I'm the president of the Portland Association of Teachers. Thank you for the community continued commitment and time to listen to us as union representatives. I'd like to share a few notes and then we'll allow one of our building reps to share about their experience at their school currently. Um this past Saturday, I went to the engagement session at Kellogg Middle School about the right-sizing conversation um that I know you all will will discuss and eventually vote on a resolution describing the process for that work. As As educator, whenever I want students to meaningfully engage in a conversation, I know that I have to give them a schema or background information that they need to give informed opinions. At the engagement session, it was clear that we were not going
055to get that background information we needed to give clear guidance on how we would like to discuss the possibility of school closures, redrawing boundaries, or school consolidation. The questions I I I The question I hope that we can raise, instead of having a debate about which school should be closed or consolidated, is this: How can we equitably distribute the limited resources of this district across our schools and our students? How do we ensure that our decisions are based on data from spreadsheets and lived experience experiences, but are not swayed by the loudest and most privileged voices in the room? I would have loved to have had more time to talk in small groups about our priorities. I would have loved to discuss what steps the district is taking to funnel resources from central office, where
056in the 25-26 school year, the number of staff between, but not including our principals and our superintendent, totaled about 207 FTE, while at least with at least five layers of management. I would have loved to hear that the district has committed to creating a work group that includes union staff and building staff that advises on issues we need resolved through this process. I would have loved to hear about how we can strengthen enrollment by encouraging um the social housing that's being proposed by our city within our catchment. I would have loved to see that the district has intended to, or at least completed, an equity audit that keeps the original question in mind: How can we equitably distribute the limited resources of this district across our schools and students? I know much of this is
057coming before the board tonight, and I firmly believe that we need to give the PPS community the facts at every step of the process, including redrawing all of our boundaries district-wide before considering closing our schools. I'm excited to finally discuss how to equitably distribute these limited resources, and I believe that the chronic redrawing of boundaries in this in piecemeal ways where strongly organized communities can demand and win exclusion from that process has put us in that position in this position. And the lack of a comprehensive plan for distributing the seats accepted at our focus programs so no one school loses all their student population because a lottery-based focus school is seated nearby. I mean, these are the types of considerations that I think an equity audit can help us discuss, um, especially because we have
058a complex, robust, and diverse school offering, um, and and populations. And I hope that we not only work to build a better future for our students, but we also focus on supporting our students and our workers now. There are issues our schools face that cost very little or nothing to solve and that would do a lot more to grow great schools than closing and consolidating our sites. The way to solve these issues is by listening to and believing our workers and families when they say, "Hey, something isn't working." Many of our deepest-seated issues, um, that we need resolved at our sites have to do with administer administrator accountability. For example, educators are evaluated or observed at least twice a year, and that often can lead to a a plan of support so that if we're
059struggling, our principals can support us in developing as educators. But at this point, I don't I don't believe our our principals have a similar system as far as I know. We want to solve problems at the lowest level, usually at our schools through collaboration and communication. Unfortunately, those calls often go unanswered or are answered with retaliation by the very administrators we need held accountable. That's That's you end up with several public comment slots filled with communities speaking to their experiences at a school or votes of no confidence from workers um that go unheard. I have a union representative here who will share a little bit more about how deeply these issues impact our schools and communities. Thank you, Angela, for having me speak. Um hello to the board and to Dr. Armstrong. My name is
060Kayla Mora, m o r a. I'm a fifth-grade teacher at Forest Park Elementary as well as the PAT head union rep for educators at my school. I'm here tonight to speak about ongoing concerns regarding administrative leadership and school climate at Forest Park Elementary. Speaking publicly like this is not something I've ever done before and it's not something I take lightly. However, after 4 years of attempting to address these issues through internal channels, our community feels our concerns have not been meaningfully addressed. Over time, the administrator at Forest Park Elementary has shown a pattern of ineffective communication, inconsistent decision-making, and failures to follow established safety and professional protocols. Thank you. These issues have escalated to the point where many educators in our building live in constant stress and chaos on a daily basis. There are several
061staff members here tonight in support. There are also those who are not because they are genuinely afraid of retaliation. The fact that educators are afraid to speak publicly about conditions in their own workplace should be deeply concerning to all of us. I have personally been a witness to and have experienced a multitude of situations in which protocols and professionalism were not followed. One situation last year involved a threat connected to gun violence and many of us were left without clear communication or leadership. In situations like that, educators rely on administration to provide clarity, direction, and reassurance. Instead, many staff members, including myself, felt unsupported and uncertain about how the situation was being handled. The The already has access to significant information about what's happening at my school. Our successful school survey among staff is has
062declined over multiple years under the current leadership. Concerns have been raised with the district on several occasions, including formal complaints. The union also is aware of the administrator of the concerns and has also made the district aware on several occasions. At the same time, our school has experienced some of the highest enrollment rates. Over the past 4 years, we've lost roughly 65 students. Families are leaving and staff morale is very, very low. I'm not here to attack individuals. However, it is clear that the current situation is not sustainable for our students, families, or staff. Something needs to change and it needs to change immediately and drastically. My question is, why are teachers held to such high standards and asked to do more and more and more when we're not asking our administrators and our leadership
063to do the same thing? Tonight, I'm asking the school board and specifically Dr. Armstrong to take these concerns seriously and to look closely at what's happening in my community. I'm also submitting documentation that outlines many of the issues staff have raised over the past several years, as well as statements from staff members about their personal experiences. Our community, my community, deserves a school environment where students feel safe, educators feel supported, and leadership builds trust rather than eroding it. Thank you for your time and your attention to staff and student well-being. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, thank you. Okay. All right. Thank you again for um your public comment. And uh yeah, we are now on the next part of our agenda tonight, which is the resolution to direct the superintendent to begin a right-sizing process
064for Portland Public Schools. Uh this resolution, uh which I am introducing along with uh Director Split, uh is Resolution 7296. And, the reason we created this resolution, this was a actually a long process. It actually started 3 weeks ago after our or 4 weeks ago after our meeting where the board stated their priorities on the next steps or committing to this next step. So, the just kind of quick little summary about why uh this resolution is important for this this moment. Uh number one, the board has never really officially voted on this direction. We've given direction, but we never had a chance to actually officially vote on on on something to give clear direction. We've also heard feedback from district leadership and staff that having clear direction from the board is is very important as
065well as helps uh direct the work and and commits and creates accountability for getting the work done on time. Uh number two, having this resolution also commits us to a timeline. As we learned from our previous uh information sessions and and looking at other districts, one of the things I was considered best practice in consolidation processes is that a timeline about 7 to 12 months is is considered best practice. I mean, more kind of prolongs anxiety among families and things like that. Again, lesson learned from our SEGC process, which lasted 2 plus years, and one of the biggest feedback we got from our families was this is a really long time to provide or to give us uncertainty to live through uncertainty. Um committing us to a timeline also uh uh accountability for getting things
066done on time. Uh lastly, and this is the reason why I asked Director Split to to uh co-introduce this is that one of the most important things, and also one of the pitfalls that uh I experienced in doing SUGS was that when certain areas or schools are excluded from right-sizing process, it leads to inequitable outcomes. And the this clearly makes a bold statement that all schools, all programs are going to be considered, will be considered uh during this right-sizing process. So, just kind of quickly outline um you know, again, this was uh this this resolution is created through a three-four-week process, where um goals were identified from uh me as well as Dr. Armstrong, Superintendent Armstrong, uh some staff and leadership uh with multiple iterations where we collaborated trying to figure out and making sure
067that language didn't have any unintended consequences, also feedback from staff, you know, as we're directing staff to do this work, it's important to get the input from our staff who are who are uh charged with doing this work. And this what we figure out was the best uh processes uh this is only one the first of many, probably a couple resolutions. This is just starting us off on the process, step one of what is it, phase three of Growing Great Schools. Um and then finally at the end of this, I I sent this over to Director Split for final approval, and I don't know if you want to say anything about it before I move on to one more point I want to make. Okay, so I'll say something and Oh, he wants He wants
068the last word. Okay. Um No, I can make my point, and then you can have the last word. >> You're fine, you're fine. I don't need the last word at all. Um I guess I'll just say um that my We've talked in the past about um having sort of multiple resolutions along the way in this process, um and this is one that's meant to sort of kick things off um, and really set us up for what kind of we're already doing even though the resolution a little bit follows what's already been started. Um, I am excited to have the next resolution be one that gives direction to staff on sort of the criteria for evaluation and for other pieces um, of the puzzle that I think are necessary for us to set in a resolution
069in order to provide staff clarity. It's really important to me that we have the public engagement that we're doing now um, that will then inform that next resolution and that this one is kind of meant, my understanding of it to just sort of kick things off and provide sort of board support for what's happening now um, to demonstrate that we're all committed to this process. So, that's my intention with this and I just want to set the clear expectation that I hope that we have an a next resolution that gets more into the details. Um, some of which I think colleagues on the board are planning on introducing into this particular piece um, and I look forward to that conversation but just want to make it clear that I think um, much of what I'm
070seeing there are the kind of things that if we hear from community that we should include in that next next step resolution following this initial public engagement. Um, I think that's all that I'll say for now but if we do have discussion of the of amendments or whatever, I hope I can talk again. Exactly, right. >> Yes, and my closing statement was just kind of repeating what you said. We are planning on another resolution uh, titled the guiding principles which is something that Director Splitt uh, has specifically mentioned as a very important step as well. After um, you know, we are only one of I think four now public engagement sessions uh, of the way through and so yes, that's that's the I just want to lay out clear that's the kind of big overarching
071plan. And now I'm going to hand it over to Superintendent Armstrong if you would like to speak more about this resolution before we start discussion. Yes, I was saying no, but yes, only to say that um we appreciate you all coming together as a collective and providing a firm direction in where it is that uh you all would like to go and what you like to see because your clarity helps us move helps me move through the work with efficiency and effectiveness. So, thank you for your time and diligence on that and I look forward to your discussion. Thank you. Um before we start discussion, uh do I have a motion and a second to adopt resolution 7296 resolution to direct the superintendent to begin a right-sizing process for Portland Public Schools? So moved. Second.
072>> Director DePass move Sorry, Vice Chair DePass moves and Director Chase Miller seconds. Uh let's start with public comment. Ms. Basha, do we have public any public comment signed up? >> We do. We have one person in person and one online. Okay. I'm going to be listening while I go try to figure out why my Wi-Fi is not working. So, I'm just apologizing to whoever's coming up. It's not just me. Okay. Well, never mind then. I will just continue to not have access to any documents. Thank you. But, I'm sorry, Ms. Basha, did you say that public comment was in person or online? We have one of each. Okay, one of each. Thank you. Yeah. I'll call Leslie Bannan. >> I I assume you remember the guidelines from earlier, but because this is a specific
073item that we are voting on, you have 3 minutes uh to for your public comment. So, thank you. Good evening. My name is Leslie Brown, B R O W N. I'm a PTA president at Lee Elementary, and I've also taught in Portland Public Schools for over a decade. I want to begin by acknowledging the difficult work ahead of you. I understand that the district is facing hard decisions about school closures. As you move through this process, I urge you to keep the North Star clearly in sight. The board has spoken about finding a guiding principle for these decision decisions. If the North Star is grounded in equity, the principle that resources and support and opportunities are distributed to achieve equal outcomes, then this must lead you unwaveringly. No matter how loudly certain voices advocate or
074how much pressure surrounds this process. That is why families from several Title 1 school communities have begun organizing together, and I want to acknowledge the irony in this. In Portland Public Schools, communities with more resources have often had the ability to organize quickly and loudly when their schools are threatened. Our coalition is forming because we want to ensure that families who have historically had less power in these conversations are heard just as clearly. But the truth is, we should not have to compete to be the loudest voice in the room. Many of the schools appearing on the list of lower enrollment are Title 1 schools that serve students and families who rely deeply on their neighborhood schools, not only for education, but for stability and connection. Schools like Lee are hub communities. At Lee, families
075access a weekly food pantry, students participate in free after-school enrichment programs through our Sun School, multi-generational, multi-cultural family gatherings for events like Lunar New Year celebration and Black Brilliance Night. 18 languages are spoken at our students' homes. Many families' first connection with the school through our Head Start classroom before kindergarten even begins. These details may be specific to Lee, but they are not unique to Lee. Across our district, Title 1 schools serve as anchors for their communities in similar ways, providing support networks, relationships, and opportunities that extend far beyond the classroom. Closing schools like Lee would not simply remove students from one building to another. When school closures require the most vulnerable students to travel farther from their neighborhood schools and fragment deep-seated trusting relationships, we must ask whether this is truly equitable. Increasing distance
076and broken trust can create real barriers for families and can impact attendance, something we know the district is cares deeply about. Our coalition is coming together because we want to ensure that communities that rely most on their neighborhood schools are heard in this process, and we are hoping our united voice can do that. We also recognize that some communities have more time, resources, and organizational organizational capacity to advocate more loudly. But equity requires looking beyond whose voices are the loudest. Before closing any Title 1 schools, we ask that the district looks deeply at the systemic structures that may contribute to lower enrollment in these communities. And if closures must happen, we ask that the burden be placed on burden be placed on Title 1 and historically marginalized school communities be heavily weighted in the decision-making.
077Our request to you is simple. Let Title 1 Let Let equity truly be your North Star, guiding your process steadily and consistently when the pressures are loud around you. Protect Title 1 school communities whenever possible and ensure that students who rely mostly on their neighborhood schools are the last to bear the burden of closures. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Can I just clarify? I appreciate I know we don't often comment right after public comment, but I heard a list and I I just want to be clear that that you all haven't received a list and and I know that I've heard in different communities that people see the low-enrolled schools and assume that they're automatically on the list and what I've been sharing in community is that it isn't just enrollment. It's about
078that school's capacity and that you all intend on looking at that. So, I just want to reassure folks out there that there's no preliminary draft, proposed, or even the formation of a draft draft draft of a list and that that work will begin later this spring. Thank you for that. Now, I don't have to say that. Because I was going to comment, too. Um do we have an the online person is >> Yes, Marwa Camel. Um what happened? Uh-oh. Okay. Marwa, you have to click accept. There you go. Hello. Can you hear me? Yes. Great. Dear Superintendent and board members, my name is Marwa Camel. That's k a m e l. I'm a parent of three students at BPS. I want to speak directly to your role in oversight and ensuring that right-sizing decisions are
079both equitable and grounded and grounded in sound analysis. I recognize that Portland Public Schools is facing a roughly 50 million structural deficit driven primarily by declining enrollment, rising costs, and the expiration of one-time funding. Families understand that difficult decisions are required. But structural deficits require structural solutions, not just reconfiguration of classrooms without a clearly communicated framework. At our school, families are being asked to accept blended classrooms concentrated in one track. Yet, there has been no clear explanation of how this configuration was selected over the viable over other viable options. This is not simply a communication gap. It raises a more fundamental concern whether the current plan reflects a fully evaluated data-driven decision or a constrained solution presented as the only path forward. Equity is being cited as justification, but equity is not a label. It's
080a methodology. Strong systems do not choose between equity and excellence. They design for both. When one group student with one group of students is asked to absorb disproportionate structural change, the burden of proof must be higher, not lower. And that standard has not been met in a way that is visible to families. Enrollment decline is not just about fewer children. It's about fewer families choosing PPS. If confidence erodes, enrollment will continue to decline compounding the problem. Our school is a legacy legacy school in a strong neighborhood. It should be positioned to attract and retain families, not create uncertainty around foundational instruction, especially for first and second graders. I have submitted more detailed comments in writing, including recommendations on strengthening enrollment, program design, and community engagement. And I respectfully ask the board to ensure that decisions
081are supported by a transparent transparent analytical framework that equity is applied as a measurable process, and that right-sizing is paired with a strategy to rebuild trust and stabilize enrollment. Thank you for your time and oversight, and looking forward to hearing from you soon. Thank you. All right. Now, with that, we will now begin board discussion. I forgot who I left off with the last time, so we'll just start with Director Well, I'm not don't usually go first. Um do you This is just process. Do you read it first? Uh do you want me to I can go over it really quick. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, let me do that. Oh, I'm sorry. Um yeah, let me let me go over the yeah, process question. So, let me just kind of go over the resolution uh really
082quick so that we have it if if you can please um also note that there is a revised version and that is the current version that we are proposing. Yeah, and then that that's the amendment and this is the actual one. That's the amendment. The amendment is a draft. >> The one with green is the actual one. All right, so the resolution 7296 uh the recitals to summarize it just it says that whereas Portland Public Schools is well committed to well-resourced schools that is a goal uh and that has equal access all students have equal access to robust and high-quality educational experiences. Uh whereas the students assignment to neighborhood head school policy 4.10 etc. Uh directs the superintendent to regularly monitor monitor enrollment program demand and demographic trends. Uh also states that because of steady
083declining enrollment for the past 5 years it and is forecast to continue uh at the our at the same time our facilities are aging and costs have increased. Uh this also stresses the importance of this process and then next to ensure that well-resourced sustainable schools and equal access to opportunities for all schools in the district uh the res- resolution reads as follows. A, all districts and school programs will be included in this process. Um B, an advisory committee of stakeholders including union representatives, principals, and staff will provide input and guidance to the superintendent. C, the district will involve community in virtual and in-person meetings and conversations to help inform the process, right-sizing options, and implementation of potential changes. D, the board will receive regular updates on the process. And E, implementation of the board-approved changes
084will be initiated no later than the 2027-2028 school year and will be completed within a 3-year period. And this is the time deadline that provides a time accountability for this the Growing Great Schools process. The It also recommends that the district is committed to ensuring that families, communities, students are at the forefront of this decisions being made. So, therefore, we are now directing the superintendent to begin this phase of the Growing Great Schools right-sizing process. That's suffice? Did you want to read the resolutions? Yes, the Yeah, so to read the resolution, the Board of Directors directs the superintendent to launch the district-wide right-sizing process within the Growing Great Schools district-wide process to consider schools and program consolidations, boundary adjustments, special program changes, and grade reconfigurations. Again, to just reiterate, this is a first of a
085few resolutions along this process. And this one is to make sure that we are Like I said before, to give the board an official vote to commit towards beginning this process or phase three of the Growing Great Schools process. All right. Thank you. So, um I'm sorry, Chair Wong. Did you want to put that on the table, that particular resolution on the table? I thought this was the one. It was in motion. Motion and a second. But I just want to make clear it's the revised version you put on the table. I just wanted to say that clearly. Thank you. I'm I'm sorry if that was clear before. Yes, I assume it was clear, but let me just rephrase for those who have motion second. Was it clear or is it clear that the revised
086version is the one that we are motioning a second put on table? Yes. Thank you. All right, Director Lefort. Is this the part where I move to amend? Or do we just discuss? It's up to you. Okay. Um I would like to move to amend the resolution. Do you want Do you want me to walk through? Yes. Okay, great. Do you have a copy? So, um You make a motion and then someone has to second. So, I'm I'm going to move to amend. Thank you. And can you name the So, there's uploaded is resolution 7296. Um Hold on, where is the title as? In board books. It says the direct It's called proposed amendment. Thank you. And do we have a second? Yes. Thank you. Um so, this was drafted by Director Inkles and myself.
087Um and as written, the resolution initiates what will likely be an emotionally charged process. I think as we're already we're already seeing without capturing guardrails that we've already discussed. Um So, the intent here is to simply reflect and formalize the high-level conversations and commitments that we've made in prior meetings and memorialize the information that we received. Sorry, I can't talk today. Memorialize the information we've received in staff presentations. So, that way our PPS families feel confident that we will have a responsive, transparent process from the outset, which we've actually already started. Uh we started last weekend. Um and it also leaves space for the board to develop and adopt guiding principles as the process moves forward. Um We struck D B only because we haven't had a conversation about an advisory committee or a work
088group. I didn't quite understand what the goal of the I mean, I kind of do, but my initial concern, cuz there were a couple of different versions of this that um it would be a group of those who had a financial interest in the outcome. I wasn't sure what the what I'm guess I'm asking, like what's what's the goal of that advisory committee? Is it an advisory committee? Is it a task force? Cuz they both have, you know, legal ramifications. I'll have uh Director Smith answer that question. >> I want to answer it. Um I think that um I understand your point about there being a financial stake in the outcome of anybody who works in the district of the conversation, but I think the idea is that we want to have a space, and
089it's actually something that Angela Bonilla just suggested that we do, and I don't even know she knew that we were doing it or thinking about doing it. Um but cuz I think she was saying she wished we were. Um but I think the idea is that we have in the past had decisions come to the board without having that sort of staff um vetting, and then that then we are kind of forced into a position where we're making a decision where maybe staff are coming to us in the moment of making a decision to say that they weren't consulted. And I think this is sort of matching that past experience up and saying that we need to have that conversation happen, and then an advisory committee can help us ensure that that actually does happen.
090One thing I'll note, and maybe this is like a little in the weeds, um Sharon I'm or What am I supposed to call you? Gosh. Tonkray. So, um uh but I I my understanding too is like the top is kind of like this is this is what's happening, and then the bottom is like our resolution. So, I think for what it's worth, this is us to me this is staff saying we're going to do this so that we make sure that we have that process to get staff input in a dedicated space where they can weigh in. Um the listening sessions we certainly have staff, and staff are certainly welcome to be there, but I think at least my experience was it was overwhelmingly parents and families, and it might not feel as comfortable for
091staff to just take part in those listening sessions in the same way as a community member. So, to me it just makes a lot of sense to have a staff a district staff-led conversation per what Angela Benitez was saying earlier to make sure that we actually like do have that meaningful input. So, is this a staff committee? Like is this all employees, like union representatives, principals, and staff? So, no community members fam- or families, cuz that was originally on there. Well, this is I'm talking about what's on this revised version. Um and then what I will say is then you also see that there's the result of this process like ensuring students, families, and community are at the forefront, involve the community in virtual and in-person meetings. So, it's not superseding community in any way.
092It's additive. It's saying we're going to do that community process, the district will involve the community in virtual and in-person meetings and conversations. So, that's still happening. This is on also, not instead of or in lieu of or more importantly and or anything. Does that help at all? At least that's my interpretation or how I feel about it as somebody who helped put this Good night. Oh, yeah, and I think it might help to add some background to this cuz this is again one of the processes of the iterative and when we get staff feedback and and um leadership help also to revise it. One the reason the original version that was crossed off and thank you for some I heard some actually taking um Director Lafore your feedback and and changing the wording because
093uh being more specific uh was why I revised this. So, one of the one of the kind of issues that we came about the original we won't it originally listed students cuz we wanted a space for employees you know, teachers being represented by the union, principals, etc. and staff other staff and we want a place for students. However, we did have a staffer that um specifically s- during this process that when it when under review with staff say that it it it would be very difficult to actually commit so you like you can't commit students to do this. We can ask them to do it. So, it doesn't mean that we're not going to ask students and I think we totally can, but the thing is we can't require them to. And so, that was
094one of the reasons why it changed the community members, which I think was what caused some of that concern about hey, is this going to be look like another SCGC? And so, that's why that community members was then struck because we know it wasn't supposed to be community it was just another way to say hey, we're trying to try to get some student input. And so, I think the the outcome that came out of that is that we still want student input. We just need to look for another way to do that. And that's something I'm probably going to talk to uh student representative Retorto about how to create that process. So, that that's the background behind why these wordings got changed so many times. But thank you Director Splitt. I had a comment too.
095Um that >> wait? Oh, I'm sorry. >> in order. Yeah, yeah. Thank you. Um one thing I want to um that is not in here and maybe I need to come back to this that I meant to include um under section E the result of this process will include I wanted to change that to may because with will it sounds like it's a foregone conclusion that we're going to do this and we haven't you know, we don't know what's going to happen. So, um I do believe that we should strike will and change it to may. Uh section uh E. This process The result of this process will include school and program closures. Switching that to may. Can I say one thing? Because No. um part of the Sorry. >> sorry. I'm I'm not chairing
096the meeting. >> for me to just go in order? Well, because I think that Unless you're answering a question. Um we I mean I just want to say that some of this was drafted before the green came out and I I just wanted to say that the green looks good to me in the community advisory or the um Anyway, I just want to say that because it's very different than the email I sent through saying I was going to make an amendment to strike and then anyway, I just wanted to say that. Thank you. Thank you for the clarification. Okay, and then so moving on to the resolution itself um the board of directors directs the superintendent to launch the district-wide right-sizing process within the Growing Great Schools district-wide process um to consider school and
097program consolidations, boundary adjustments, special program changes, and grade reconfigurations. We added subject to the following and uh and again, this is to kind of memorialize the conversations that we've had and to provide, you know, a framework for um the decisions and leaves the space to establish our guiding principles, which I know you know, after our discussions like took that into account and try not to be too prescriptive. Um so uh the first one is the superintendent shall present to the board for approval clear decision-making criteria prior to developing proposed scenarios. So, this just establishes that we'll be approving criteria before scenarios are developed um which is foundational to a fair and transparent process. Um not something to be figured out, you know, after work is underway. Um, B, equity impact that each scenario will include
098a standardized equity impact analysis assessing effects on student access, opportunities, and outcomes with specific attention to historically underserved students. I know we all believe this. We've talked about it again. This just gets it in writing, makes sure that this analysis is built in from the start. Um, community engagement, which we've already started. Um, the superintendent shall publish a structured community engagement plan with multiple phases aligned to key decision points including opportunities for input before and after draft scenarios are developed. Engagement shall include accessible meetings, language access, and public posting of materials and summaries of feedback. And this just establishes the expectation that we'll have this structure, which again, we've already started this. Just want to memorialize it. Structured, accessible, ongoing, grounded in our stated priorities of transparency, accessibility, and responsiveness to community voice. Um, timeline
099that we'll have a detailed timeline, one that we've already seen. Um, but that we'll have a timeline with key milestones that include analysis, scenario development, community engagement, presentation of recommendations um, aligned with the operational feasibility. Um, This just ensures that ensures that it's structured. And financial transparency, this is something I've been hearing about a lot out in the in the field. Um, that all proposals will include clearly stated assumptions, one-time implementation costs, um, and ongoing financial impacts and shall be made public prior to board action. Um, I know one of the things I'm starting to hear a lot is like, oh, you know, closing schools doesn't really save any money. I don't know that. I haven't seen any numbers. We haven't seen any numbers. Is it true? Is it not true? I think that just
100establishing that we will be looking at that from the outset is important because it is something I hear every day. Um, and then policy alignment. The provisions above do not supersede existing board policies governing school closures, program changes, and boundary adjustments and are not intended to alter the provisions herein. Um thank you, Sharon, for that language. Um I wanted to make sure that that was in here, so if there are any policy conflicts that this doesn't supersede uh supersede any of our board policy. So, that's it. Thank you. Um just as a reminder, we are now currently discussing the amendment, which is the one in red. So, we will go this way. I'm I'm sorry, student representative, but you get to have the last word. Come on. At least in round one. Um So, let's
101go ahead, Director Chase Miller. I mean, I don't have an issue with anything in the amendment, but um to Director Split's point earlier, I think that it makes sense to get through the community engagement, and then put together something that's reflective of what we've heard from the community. Um and I don't think that we're far enough along in the process for us to do that right now. I would rather see us pass the original resolution, get this process started, get through engagement sessions, and then take what we heard, and bring them back, and put some solid guardrails in place that are reflective of what we what we heard from the community. All right. Thank you. Um I do want to thank you, Director LaPorte, for the the changes. I think it it reads a lot
102better. I like it a lot more. Um I kind of want to repeat the same thing. I actually would want to propose something slightly different cuz one of the one of the reasons I'm a little bit um feel a little rushed. I'm just going to be honest because when when the original resolution is passed, it I mean, it went through 3 4 weeks of getting staff review, and multiple iterations before we finally put it out. And I feel like this needs it, too. And not because I don't disagree. I actually like a lot of the stuff that's put in. I think it needs to be longer actually in the in the next resolution. So for example, when we do define our our guiding principles, this is the stuff that needs to go into the guiding
103principles. So and and and I think we also just in terms of like trust with the public need to also wait till we are done with at least the first phase of our public engagement session. Cuz one of the one of the issues at Kellogg and I want to thank everybody who came out. Your input was very valuable and really well heard. But in the and in the table that was with for the first part uh a few of the parents pointed out the fact that, you know, hey, we are a district of almost 50% students of color, families of color. Yet at Kellogg it was if you saw in the beginning polls, 97% white. So we haven't heard from we only we only done a first number one of four possible or four sorry,
104four planned engagement sessions. And so if we write up the start of a guiding principle before we hear from everyone, it I'm I'm worried about the message saying that we're not listening to them, the people who we haven't heard from yet. And so that's why I'm actually because I I I do like how you started this. And also I want to make sure that we do follow best practices. And one best practice is usually is when we write resolutions, we have it vetted with staff. I know that you started this process uh but I think it started this week um because one of the one of the things in terms of writing resolutions and directing staff work is that because they're the ones doing the work, um we should get their input. And so I'm
105actually I don't know how to best do this, but I'm going to tell you what I want to do and you can tell me if you like it or not. Uh I actually want to move to have the amendments um to be considered in the next resolution for grant uh, our guiding principles. I don't know if that is Exactly. I'm going to ask, uh, Sharon Toncray if this is something that is appropriate. Well, if I'm I'm tracking what you wanted your motion is actually to So, I I guess I can phrase it two ways. I can either motion to have the amendment be, uh, part of the next resolution, which is the guiding principles, or I can move to postpone the amendment. And I think my personal desire is that I like what's in here.
106Um, I think it needs its own resolution. So, procedurally, we still have a motion on the table that probably needs to be resolved and then you have you would have another alternative motion. So, I don't want I understand where you're going, but procedurally you want to do the motion. >> cleaner that way. Thank you. All right, so then I am done. We'll move to, uh, Vice Chair DePass. Um, thank you. Um, so I've already heard, um, some of the concerns I had. Um, specifically, I want to, um, I I do want to I would like to keep the language in, uh, D B regarding an advisory committee of stakeholders. I think it does say it says community stakeholders, and I know from doing engagement processes in public, um, entities for Metro in the city of
107Portland that the people that are the closest to the issue, you want to be, um, close to the problem-solving. And so, I like the additional layer of oversight there. Um, also I agree that, um, if we're looking at the resolution and the additions with the amendment, I think those are, um, are best presented after we have completed our listening sessions. Um, I I wasn't at the Kellogg, um, thing, but I I'm it strikes me that we still need to do more listening, and I believe we've just added or will be adding Northeast Portland, which doesn't mean that more people of color will come, but that we do want to be intentional about hearing from all of our communities. Again, because we keep hearing about the equity outcomes that we all um want. So, um Yeah,
108I I And I think the staff review is a great idea because staff will be carrying out the work. Um >> Director Smith. Oh, thanks. Sorry. Uh yeah, thank you for bringing this forward. Like I I it's I don't I everything in it I generally agree with. Um I actually feel pretty strongly about keeping D B the advisory committee um because to me it ensures that we hear from staff, and I think that's vitally important. Um I also just want to say I wouldn't mind changing the results of this process may include. That sounds reasonable to me. Um I think that I might get a little bit on a soapbox that I have, but I feel that um we have laws in this state that make it hard for us to communicate together as a
109group. We can only communicate here. Um we can also communicate in committee. Um House Bill 4177 is on the governor's desk. She's issued notice of potentially vetoing it, which is a bummer because it would allow us the ability to have more conversations that wouldn't necessarily violate transparency, but might just help us all to be a little bit more on the loop about like agendas and what's coming and what the plan is. Because right now, if we were to have a conversation between say you and me on an agenda, we might be violating a committee quorum just like that. So, it just creates this really hard dynamic for us to communicate, and then you all have to watch us try to get on the same page up here here all the time. Um I think the
110solution for that, especially if the law is not going to change, is working on things like this in committee. And I understand that this was something that was happening toward today when committees weren't necessarily meeting at the right time to get that done or to move that process that way. But I do just want to put it out there that I think using committees as a place where we can get folks on the same page will help us to get on the same page together by the time we get here and avoid this thing posted for a board meeting and then we're going to have to talk about it and have amendments and things like that come up last minute cuz that's when the thing posted and it just makes it really, I think, harder
111for us to work together collaboratively, which I think when we do collaborate, we're often in the same place. So, I think saying all of that, um, where I fall on this is I wouldn't mind at all adding that word change of may if the group agreed to it. Um, I do think that the pieces that are on here, I think would make a great start to that resolution about decision-making, um, or decision criteria. And I want to see an equity impact and I want to see community engagement and I want to see a timeline and financial transparency and policy alignment. I just feel like the goal of this resolution is literally to just launch the district rights wide right-sizing process with our blessing and giving that blessing and then taking it from here. Um, I
112also want worry a little bit about the language here is to launch and then it says subject to the following and I'm concerned that the way that it reads to me is that to launch it, we have to do all these things first. And I actually think we need to launch it and then do all these things if that makes sense. So, um, just a quick note on semantics that caught me up a little bit when I read this. When did I see it this morning? Last night? Whatever that was. Um, and so, again, don't have a problem with any of it. I think we should use it as if if we don't pass the amendment here, then I would just say this becomes I don't think that we need a motion really unless it
113would feel better for the authors, but I would just feel comfortable saying let's use this as the start of that next resolution that then also incorporates the input from community and that we have some sort of process ideally in a committee or else we do a work session on it and then it comes up the next time or something like that where we're not working it out up here when the same time we're going to vote for it, but we like have a chance to work it out or at least some of us to work out a proposal that we're making to the rest of the group um in another setting. Thank you for listening to Thank you. Dr. Englesmith. Thank you. So this for me at least all started because the only rendition I
114had seen was the one that included community members, families, and staff in the advi- enrollment committee. And because I have seen and been told that day of amendments are not taken kindly by the committee or by the board, I sent an email to everyone saying I plan on moving to strike big D little B because to me the idea of an enrollment committee or advisory committee or simply a committee of families and community members in order to be equitable at least attempt to be, I imagine suddenly a committee of at least 80 parents because you couldn't have one school not represented. The idea of of a committee of 80 people getting anything done was impossible to me, but really one parent per school isn't really enough cuz one parent can't speak for that school and
115who's choosing which parent it is. It should be the school cuz they know who the parents are. And so my concern was that it's not going to go anywhere and people are going to feel left out and we want to engage our community. There is since then the new green language that I referred to and I am completely okay with that because I do think that our union partners absolutely should be involved in this. And if there is an advisory enrollment committee, whatever it's called, that includes them being at the table to talk about this. Uh principals, they're in the schools, they know their schools and staff, that's great. So, the proposed amendment that Director LeFort wrote, it was it's great and then sent to me because I had said I had issues with parts
116of this. Um was the time the timing of it was all kind of wonky. Um That said, we have already launched our right-sizing process. We've already had one engagement session, listening session. We have another two already in the books. Uh and then it sounds like there is at least one or two more happening. Um I'm sure others perhaps had reached out and said we need to have one in north or northeast. I certainly reached out to Dr. Armstrong after hearing from parents and families and staff and everybody at Kellogg that Kellogg is a long way from Right? Ida B. Wells in in rush hour is a long way from north northeast. And so I had reached out and I'm sure others had and said we need to have something in north and northeast. So I
117I'm grateful that the district heard that. That said, I'm go saying a long thing of saying we don't actually need a resolution today to start a right-sizing process. We have already started it. Dr. Armstrong and her team already have dates on the they're already having meetings, people already talking about it, we're already engaging. So to suggest that we need to have two resolutions, frankly one is because we've got it written today and the other one is because it got written last minute and we want to look at it more and put it through staff. Why don't we just do it all in one two weeks from now or a month from now. We don't We don't delay anything. We don't disrupt anything that the district's doing. If we don't vote and give our blessing today
118on a resolution, um So, I'm just I'm not sure why we wouldn't just say, "Hey, we like what's going on. Let's blast the dates out. Make sure more people come." And then a month from now at the next time or even a work session, we just vote on something that includes all the language that people are already liking. Um So, that's one of my thoughts. The other reason that I think it's really important that we get things memorialized, which we're hearing both by our board and our community members and our union partners in a resolution as soon as possible and perhaps the only resolution that we pass right now is because this resolution, um that's on the table, the the green, the not director's Fortnight's one, but the other one. They talk about a timeline
119of initiating this no later than 27 28 and then completing within a three-year period. And so, I I sort of laid this out for myself. And so, that's 27 28 28 29 29 30 30 31 is when this would all be completed. Uh we could have an entirely different board because in 2027, there's an election. By 2029, there's another election. By the end of this 2031, there could be two new boards. And so, the one thing that I have heard time and time again from the SEGC process is that things weren't memorialized. And so, now parents are scrambling to find any hint of something under a different administration, under a different board, that they remember hearing somewhere that didn't get memorialized. And so, it is our duty when we hear things to make sure that
120a parent, a staff member, a family, a student, a high schooler maybe doing a project doesn't have to remember was that on April 14th, 2025 or was it April 10th, 2024 and then watch a 6-hour board meeting and fast forward to try to find that snippet that they're trying to rely on when they're saying, "Hey, you said you promised that you were going to do an equity impact for each scenario and that you're going to show us." Um and so I guess this is a very long-winded way of saying if we like all of what and I'm not going to take any credit for this. You wrote all this. It's great. If we like what Director LaFort has put in the proposed amendment that she and I are bringing, then why do we not just
121take everything off the table, run everything through staff, and then come back with a process These are not There's nothing in here that wouldn't prevent us from having our North Star put down or other guiding I I don't know. Like we want kids to be able to walk to school. That's That's going to be something that comes out in this process. So I don't know why we don't just That would be my That would be my suggestion. Are you asking a question >> to Dr. Armstrong. Yes. Why do we need to have a resolution today? Oh, I don't. I I wouldn't necessarily say that it's time-bound for today. I would just say um overall it it's helpful to have direction, to have the information uh where the board is as a collective and as um
122Director Chair Wong opened up saying that, you know, as a we've had lots of conversation about it, but I don't know as a collective there's been action taken as a group to say, "Like here's our our direction moving forward." Um as everyone is trying to like find their way in this this conversation across the communities and cities to to figure out what's happening. Lots of interest um all over the place. And so, it's helpful at some point, sooner than later, to have an anchoring document that speaks to your direction and that's a guiding document for me and my team. Can I also answer a little bit of your question because it sounded like a question? Um we also again, when the to expand upon that, I think typically what happens during when the start of
123right-sizing processes is that you get a lot of pushback. And so, when we have a document that the board has voted on and committed to, it helps reduce that pushback or at least negative effects of pushback. Like for example, uh during the SESGC process, the reason why I have DA, all districts and schools must be included, was because of there was a lot of vocal pushback, especially from areas with a lot of privilege, and those areas got excluded from the process because the board caved. So, it not only um and then because that it resulted in just a lot of reshuffling already of a lot of already dangerously under-enrolled schools. And so, having this commitment doesn't it it allows leadership to hold staff accountable in terms of deadlines cuz if there is pushback, we're going
124to get pushback. It also holds us accountable because maybe one of us are going to get cold feet because we heard a lot from one community and in order to be equitable, we do have to consider the whole picture, and this is why um you know, I'm a very strong proponent of DA. So, that's a part of your answer. It's also, like was mentioned before, to avoid the pitfalls of the previous um Actually, you answered this own question. I think you pointed out that the process of like SESGC, DEBRAC, one of the biggest issues was that there was a lot of wavering in terms of direction, and that that really prolonged and caused a lot of problems. So, if I don't know if that helps answer your question. Not really. I mean it does. I
125appreciate the thought, but it doesn't really because everything that's in the amendment is in the green version. So, it's it's not like well because there's all these other things that I think are really important to have in there. So, it's not like our proposed amendment is saying we don't want to have DA all school just all district and programs be included. That's in there. It's just sort of expanding on and putting in writing and memorializing frankly a lot of the things that we have said that we want to see an equity impact. We want to have a community engagement. We want a timeline. We want Well, maybe not everybody wants the the No, I think everyone does want the financial transparency and the fiscal impacts. So, I just want to highlight that you want DA.
126We want DA. Like nobody doesn't want DA. And it sounds like everybody wants DB even with the new green. So, Can Great. Thank you. >> out of order as the as the author? For to answer a question cuz Um to clarify. Clarify, yes, thank you. Yes, you may clarify. Thank you. Um so, I just wanted to First of all, I'm glad that uh the response I'm hearing up here is positive cuz this was supposed to reflect everyone's point of view and the conversations that we've had up here. So, I feel good It feels good that it feels good to you. Um and I just wanted to point out that in A, under the decision criteria and analysis, this was specifically written to allow um space for us to develop the guiding principles that we've talked
127about, which I would think would come out of the community engagement process, which we've started. So, I would just point out that this is a very um broad framework for what we're doing now with the runway for the next resolution, which would be the guiding principles, which would come out of I would assume this first these first few rounds of community engagement. These you know, the meeting we just had, the few we I think we have three coming up, um and anything else that we decide to do in between. I know that some of us are meeting with our PTAs, um and talking to parents outside of this group. So, that was the intent. Um it So, I envision another resolution, but that would be the goal of the resolution. Guiding principles born out of
128the community engagement that we're initiating in this one. Okay. Thank you for the clarification. Uh let's move on to Director Sullivan. Well, a lot has been said. Um I definitely agree with the May there. That's easy. Um I like everything in the the whole what you added. What I guess you both had. Um I'm wondering I mean, why do we have to We have to postpone voting on this second amendment, the redline amendment, because why? We don't We don't have to. Oh, I mean, it it's up to us if we want to. You're asking me a question, right? So, okay. Let me answer your question. The reason is because um I just want to follow the main reason again, like I said before, I like the content of the amendment. Yeah. But, it's just to
129continue best practices, which is that when you propose a resolution. And in this case, because there's a lot of a lot of things said in the red part, that it should be it should be it should be run through staff and vetted by legal and all these things and and also having time for other board members also to have input. I know that or or unless it came from staff, and which is a different thing. So, but the the whole point is that it I think it just needs more time to cook. So, we could just bring it back in 2 weeks. Exactly. Right. I mean, I'm just I'm just going to state my opinion. I am not against any of this. I think it just we just need to run it through staff. >>
130that's what I propose then that we bring it back in 2 weeks. Okay. >> And with the red line. The whole thing. Yeah, the whole thing. And that we we don't necessarily have to vote on the short one. Because 2 weeks isn't very long. Or or do you think we need to have the uh other resolution just so we have it in hand. If because the red I'm cuz you're asking me the questions so I'm going to >> asking you. Um because the red resolution the amendment Sorry, I'm going to call it the amendment from now on. The amendment is additive. Mhm. I don't think it hurts to vote on the original resolution today. And then just say we will get the longer one vetted and brought in 2 weeks. Yeah, we can do that.
131Yeah. Okay, that's what I suggest. Great. Thank you. All right, student representative Machado. Thank you for your patience. All right, this is this is very fun. So, again, support the the May instead of well, I would absolutely like to see a scenario where no schools are cut. So, definitely support that. Um Uh I do support the the green uh or the original uh the revised version of B uh of the DB. Um I think that that makes uh a lot of sense. Um now onto the resolution. Um I agree with uh Director Englesman here that I feel like, you know, we have already started this process. And so, if it's, you know, I do think it would make sense to pick up this entire policy, you know, and move it. We can look at in
132the that would allow this amendment to also get its its approval. We can then tack tack the guiding principles into into into that policy. Um I think that would make a lot of sense. Um Also, I I also I do like what's in here what's in this this amendment. Um and I do think it that if we are going to vote on on this policy today, um that I would I would I would vote yes on this amendment because I do think that um that at least the large majority of the stuff in here does um act like the kind of things you would see on a launch on a platform, you know, um and and there is still a lot of room for guiding principles. Um but a lot of this stuff does seem
133it it does seem like things that that go in a in a policy like this um in terms of again like what so what you would say when you were starting starting a process like this. Um But yeah, other than that, just a lot of procedural questions. So, I will likely vote yes on whatever uh ends up coming forward. Great. Thank you. All right. So, um let's go ahead and Can the text go back Do you want to go back? >> I would like to Okay, let's go back around again. Director of the Fort. Um appreciate everyone's feedback. Uh for me, uh this is uh such a significant process. I don't feel comfortable voting yes without the framework in the end because it is it is how when I first read it, I was like
134it kind of like and when I got to the end. And um again, wanted to memorialize the conversations that we've already had. It should feel familiar. Like I'm glad you all are reading it and feeling like well, I could be like I kind of agree with this and I've heard it all before. That's exactly how it should feel. So, um I was hoping it was an easy yes, and I'm not necessarily hearing a compelling reason not to move it with the amendment. Um and then have a separate process for our guiding principles. Like I said, it's born out of a community engagement process that is outlined in our um in the amended resolution. Um as far as DB goes, I'm comfortable with it, too, as long as like we clarify like it was just a
135little unclear as like who's on it, what's it for, like what is it a work group, task force, advisory committee? I think we may need to decide. Um because they are different things within, you know, a governance system. Um So, yeah, I'm open to I'm open to putting that back in. So. Thank you, Director Chase Miller. We We keep talking about memorializing the process. And to my way of thinking, memorializing the process um means I mean the initial resolution is where we are right now. Well, the point we've come to, what we've agreed to as a board, and it is serving as that anchor to kind of mark this moment and the work going forward. Um I think whether the amendments the amended pieces are added as an amendment to the initial resolution or as
136a separate resolution, um I I don't know if I have a strong opinion about that either way, but I still do have a strong opinion that I want to hear from more community before I commit to what is here. Not because I have a problem with it, but because I think that we haven't heard broadly from community, and other other parts of the community have have things to add to this. And if we're really trying to be reflective of the voices in our community, all the voices in our community, um I think it makes sense to move forward, bring back what we've heard, see what additions we might make to the amended language based on that, and move forward either either amending the initial resolution, but I think probably having a second resolution that is
137reflective of uh community voice and how we're integrating that into the work. Um I don't I don't think it's a big deal to have another resolution. I think there will be many resolutions that are part of this process, and back to the point about memorializing stuff, they will be reflective of where we are in the process um when when we vote to adopt them. Thank you. Um I also have the same Again, I think this is a start. I think that and sorry, I'm talking about the amendment. I think it's a start. I think I also want to share the same feelings that I want to make sure that we hear from all of our engagement sessions first before we compile the list. I think this is the start of the list. And then I'll
138I'll make this quick. The third is, you know, reading through this third three, four, five times, there are still some lines um in here that I'm a little bit worried about some unintended consequences. And so that's why I I really want more time to kind of have this vetted and just let it cook a little bit longer. Thank you. Dr. uh Vice Chair DePape. Uh yes, thank you. So, I mean, I I would be in favor of um taking a vote on the initial resolution with the revision to DB um just as a kind of symbolic and practical way of moving forward together as a board. I'm concerned about the timing of um bringing something back on the 28th because our last engagement session is on the 27th, and so we're asking staff to stay
139up all night or whenever they would complete it after the 27th, um which doesn't sound practical or reasonable um request of an employee. Um, I'm also concerned about reading through it and um wanting to stay close to my own values and I like I don't like when I hear people say I think we all agree cuz a lot of times I my voice isn't reflected, but I think that what we've heard about this process is we do want to hear from community members. We want to hear from people that we haven't heard from and we rather than memorializing our own um values we we have said that we would be intentional about listening to others and so to me the resolution that has these A through E uh A through F um considerations, I feel
140really needs to be done after we've heard what we've heard and after we've heard from those communities that are um historically have been uh harmed by processes just like this. Thank you, Director Split. Thanks. I don't think I need to talk again, but I do have a question and I don't Can we like raise hands? Is that allowed? Um, who would like to see E changed to may? I Okay. So, whatever happens after this conversation before we do whatever may come next depending on the outcome of this conversation, we need to do that. Thank you. Can I ask about that though? I hear the may. I the the monumental left does not necessarily need to result in a school closure, right? I guess I just wonder because on there it's listing all the things. It's
141program consolidation, closures, like and or I think to give some wiggle room. So, the may would suggest that we could go through all of this work and all of the resources and it result in nothing? I just I want to be sure that that's where how you all are feeling about this, which is great cuz it'll help me and the team manage our expectations. Since I'm the one who just brought it up and and like the change, I think if the list included some more things, then I would be fine with it saying will. But to me, because it's school and program closures and or consolidations, like what if in the end we just decide we're going to do a bunch of boundary changes and some middle school changes, do those count as a K-8
142moves to a middle school, does that count as a consolidation? So I think to me I think a program change. I think that's how we count it. I would just wonder >> a program change. So if it were to say like school and program closures, changes and or consolidations >> and add boundaries. I'm just Sure, like if the but I think by saying may, we're kind of saying like listen everybody, let's be real, this is this is what we're talking about here. But I heard actually I feel like I might have heard from let's say five people on Saturday being like, are we sure we have to close schools? And I think just that's why I think the may is there. Like I feel I see the look on your face and I understand >>
143anxiousness because it's a lot I think I I've had one-on-one conversations with each of you about the toll that this would take. And I would say that as we go through these engagements, if there's something where you want a longer runway or maybe not yet sure about it, it would be great time to bring that up now cuz as you all know, we have a lot of big things ahead of us. Um and so I am happy to move at your will. I just I want to know what that will is. And also I think that's reasonable to expect that at the end of the result, one of the things could be boundary changes. And I just wonder, is that just adding a couple of words to E? Um but still having strong language that
144as a result of all of this work, something will happen. Mhm. Yeah. >> Just I get I get what you're saying. I totally get what you're putting down and I I think it's just the like we're guaranteed going to close a school just strikes me as like Oh, yeah. Yeah, a little strong. Yeah. All right. Lots of people want to talk sorry now. You know, after that response, how many people want to lower their hands? Okay. What? Any boundaries, yeah. Yeah, we we can I mean, when we get um to that part, we can have someone motion to change that language at that part. But let let's kind of get through We we have the amendments on the table. I want to get through this discussion first. So, let uh um Director Engleson. Thank you.
145The reason that I asked to come back around was because it struck me that the reason that we would vote on this, the green, and not the red, is because the red hasn't had time to sort of go through the process. And that is setting up sort of a a process that I think is problematic because as Director Splitt has so aptly put, we can't talk about it in advance. And so, I think a problem, and I have frankly seen a number of times where um a resolution has come forward and there's been amendments because we can't do them in advance. And they don't pass for various reasons, but often I hear we didn't hear about it in time or there wasn't a chance to vet it or all these things. And so, if we
146truly do want to have chances to vet it, I think either all resolutions go through policy as someone said, so that there's a chance to or excuse me, committee. I meant committee. Um all resolutions go through a committee, so there is a chance to talk it through and everybody can be involved in the process because simply saying because we had no opportunity to make amendments before Monday because these were given to us the original was given to us I don't know Thursday Friday and then it's the weekend and we've been told not to email things in the weekends. Um and so suddenly it's like we can't Well, to to staff. We're yeah, we have been told definitely not to send emails to May I just jump in cuz I know that staff was mentioned. Um
147the only thing that I think that we would need and we have our legal counsel here is to know that it it is like legally sound or the wording is appropriate to meet >> think and the director of the board did send it to the legal counsel. So if there's no concerns on the legal, I mean staff is happy to accept whatever a resolution that you all vote on. I think my whole point is that if we are not going with red even though we all kind of like it simply because red didn't have enough time to be thought about and looked at, then I think there's a problem with the way that we're doing resolutions because it's not giving everybody an opportunity to have amendments, everyone think about them and so maybe we want
148to set up a procedure where a resolution's brought to the table like it is today, amendments are brought to the table, everything's talked about and then we all go home and think about it and it's put on the agenda the next time because that precludes what I see happening today and have seen in the past where the original amendment excuse me, the original resolution is what's voted through because it's what was written by one or two people in time. Um so that's all I that's all I have. I just wanted to say like I think we have a problem with given the constraints we have with the public meeting laws, I think we have a problem with how we are doing resolutions cuz they're simply not giving an opportunity for amendments and enough process through
149those amendments cuz they're sometimes they're great like like this. Thank you. Director Sullivan. Well, I'm kind of where I was before. I I would vote on it. I'd be happy to voting the whole thing in today. And especially when I just heard we don't have to go to staff. We um it's legal. We're okay. I could vote on the whole thing today. And did we decide we do want May? But we could add but we could add um uh possible boundary changes. Um Yeah. I don't know what you're going to put forth to vote on. If you put if you make changes on this and put it forward to vote, I will vote on it. If you put the whole thing forward, I will vote yes on both. So, I'm there. Thank you. >> Um
150and I I think we're probably I don't think what else what else are we going to come up with if with more engagement. There's so much there. And if there is, we can add something. So, I don't see why we have to wait. Thank you. All right. Student Representative Retardo. Yeah, I just like to say again, I agree with completely with what Director Anglesman said. Um I have the same concerns about the amendment process um because it seems like just like I just noticed it a few times this year. It seems like a little a little bit of a similar thing has played out. Um and and so yes, I would I would support um if we were going to vote on this today, I would uh I would only support it in you know,
151in the case that we um that this amendment is attached um or I would support just moving the entire resolution um to a uh to a different meeting. Um and that's all. Thank you. Um since this is I just want to a clarifying point since this the resolution that I'm presenting. Um the original resolution was uploaded a week ago. And so there was time, but the amendments were uploaded yesterday at 5:00 p.m. And so that that's kind of the big difference in terms of process. Um all right, so right now we we have the amendments on the table. And so we are going to be voting on whether to add the amendments onto the resolution. Is that clear? However, I did hear that some people wanted to not do striking DB. We need to just
152vote on the amendment, I think. Right? Yeah. So let's let's vote on the amendment and we can change DB later if we want. Right. Uh >> wrong? Yeah. I I you you have one or two thing two choices. You can either vote on the amendment as is or you can have somebody else make a motion to amend the boundary change language if that's what you want to do. It might be simpler if if that is a technical correction you want to make. >> I was thinking that DB we would if someone wants to make a motion to not amend DB they could do it now. And then whether this passes or not, then we vote on the boundary because the boundary is on both. I mean, sorry. The the D E is the same on
153both. So my suggestion just for clarity, if if you vote on this and it passes, then you're going to need to amend again to fix the boundary language. I just want to call that the the language in E. All right. Is Does anybody want to move and make a motion to change either DB or DE? I would make a motion to in the proposed amendment by Director LaPorte to adopt what I'm referring to is the green language into DB on the proposed amendment. Do I have a second? I'll second. Great. We don't need discussion. We can just vote on that now, right? All right. Uh how many Uh please say or sorry, all in favor of adding the green version of DB into the amendment, vote yes. Yes. Yes. Opposed? Abstentions? Student representative Retardo? Yes.
154Sorry. Sorry. One abstention. Thank you. Uh we have um Oh gosh, this is a hard count. Uh six Yeah. Six yes, zero zero no, one abstention, and student representative Retardo voting yes. We have another motion. Yes, I would also move to um where is it? Under the resolution. Oh no, it's here. Sorry. It's in E. I would um move to add the language after the words program closures, comma consolidations, or boundary changes. Second. Um is there any discussion on that? I just want to ask if Dr. Armstrong if you Superintendent Armstrong if you have any more considerations or thoughts, considerations, worries about adding just boundary? So just so I'm clear, it's so basically the result of this process will include school and program closures and or consolidations and or boundary changes. Is that I think
155what she read was program closures, consolidations, or boundary changes. Got it. Okay. As soon as you add a third thing, the and or suddenly says there will be school closures and yeah, it gets all crazy. Uh all in favor, please indicate by saying yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. All opposed? Abstentions? Me? Student Representative Retardo? Yes. Thank you. The uh, change to with adding the word boundaries has been approved by vote of six to zero to one with Student Representative voting yes. All right, we will now vote >> I'm sorry to interrupt, but can I clarify who seconded both of those um, um, last amendments? And I did not hear who said no on the last one. So, I just need Nobody said no. Oh, I I abstained. Oh, okay. Thank you. Director Alford seconded
156my first motion and Director Sullivan seconded my second motion. >> Thank you very much. Thank you. Uh, we will now vote on whether to add the amendments to the resolution. All in favor please indicate by saying yes. Yes. Yes. No. We haven't gone there yet. Uh, sorry. Let's do that over here. Please all in favor please indicate by saying yes. Yes. Yes. All opposed? No. No. Um, abstentions? Student Representative Retardo? Yes. Thank you. The amendment did not uh, was not approved by a vote of three to four with Student Representative Retardo voting yes. Uh, now we have the original resolution on the table. However, since we voted on the amendment, those wording changes did not get moved to this, correct? Right. That's what I was worried about. So, may I make a motion? Thank you.
157Okay. Uh, may I move that the green one, sorry, resolution number 7296, I'm getting punchy. Um, E B adjusted to read the result of this process will include school and program closures, consolidations, or boundary changes. If that way change it to may. No. We did not change it to may. We changed it to will, but then we expanded the list to include things that we all think are more likely to >> Oh, because it's an or or or. You could leave it at may. >> could. Mhm. Okay. Because we I don't believe we will have the votes to make it may. Well, we change I'm just trying to match what we just did, which was the result of this process will include school and program closures, consolidations, or boundary changes. >> Consolidations. Okay. >> Do
158I have a second? >> Cuz it's not a for sure. Yeah, yeah. And do I have a second? I'll second. >> I'll second. Sorry. Thank you. We have Director Split moves and Director Engleson seconds, correct? All right. Um No other motions, correct? All right. >> already on the table, right? Do we vote on that motion or are you having >> Someone was talking about may. >> Yeah, I'll move it. Why not? We may as well vote on that instead of like conversation about we don't have the votes. I'll move to change the language to may. If we vote on it doesn't pass, then are we going to revote on will? Yeah. All right, we have to revote on will. That's If it doesn't pass, it is will. It is will. Um all right, we have
159Director Engleson moves to change in under E will to may. Do I have a second? Second. Thank you, Director Sullivan seconds. We will now vote on the proposed amendment to change will to may under E capital E. All those in favor, please indicate by saying yes. Yes. >> Yes. All those opposed? No. >> No. Abstentions? Student representative Retorto? No. I did not hear uh Director Sullivan's vote. 5 to 2. Thank you. Uh 5 the Right. 5 to 2. Okay, so it did not pass by 5 to 2. Correct. Thank you. And student representative Retorto voting. Can you repeat your vote again? I got distracted. No. Thank you. No. All right. Uh We'll now vote on the original resolution as amended. With the words boundary changes. >> With the words boundary changes added. Wait, do we
160Do we know? We didn't vote on that yet. Yeah, we did not vote on that yet. Yes. Yeah, so do we have anybody who wants to add the word boundary to E? Oh, that's on the table. Sorry. Thank you. All right, let's vote on adding boundary. So, it shall you shall read The result of this process will include school and program closures and or consolidations or boundary. Or sorry. I'm sorry. I'll do it again. Thank you. The results of this process will include school and program closures, consolidations, or boundary changes. Thank you. Cuz as soon as you have the and or there, I think with that many you all of a sudden are guaranteeing all of them except for the last one. 100% agreed. All right, we'll be now voting on uh the addition of
161boundaries. Uh all those in favor, please indicate by saying yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. All those opposed? Abstentions? Me. Uh student representative Retorto? Yes. Thank you. Uh the addition of boundaries has passed by a vote of 6 to 0 with one abstention and student representative Retorto voting yes. Thank you. Now, we will vote on the resolution 7296 as amended. Uh all those in favor of resolution 7296 as amended, please indicate by saying yes. Yes. Yes. >> Yes. All those opposed? No. No. Abstentions? Student representative Retardo? No. Thank you. Resolution 7296 is passes with a vote of 5 to 2 with rep represent student representative Retardo voting no. Thank you. I'm worried I'm going to forget. Can I say something really quick? >> Yeah, go for it. Can we please Can I you know later we're going
162to have the like future agenda thing? On the 28th when we meet, can we have the a topic of picking not voting on a next resolution, but talking about what the next resolution will look like? Thank you. I just want to forget to bring it up later. Great. And then I would also love to talk on that note about like who writes these? Um Process. Yeah, I mean Yep, agreed. Okay, so So plus just I think it informational about how resolutions are created and introduced. Correct? Informational, by that I mean a discussion. Discussion, okay, discussion. by the district just for us to converse about it. And I mean if we like some of this language, then I don't want to see someone else taking a stab at what Director Board spent a bunch of time
163doing. Agreed. Thank you. Added. Um let's How about let's take a um 5-minute break. We will reconvene at 8 32. Thank you. Uh I think so. Oh yeah, now I hear my voice. Thank you. Um Director Slate? Yeah, I just wanted to say to the pause parents that are in the room. We will continue to take that long to talk about all sorts of things. And so we want you to know that we see you and we promise that we will think of you and imagine that you're still here when we get to that agenda item so that you can go home to your families. Thank you. I think they're enjoying. Yeah. Hopefully she she know you can stay if you want but we just don't want you to feel like you need to. All
164right, next up we have the calendar for the regular uh board meetings for the 2026-27 school year. Every spring the board adopts regular meeting schedule to ensure transparency, consistency, and accessibility for our community. The proposed calendar changes uh sorry, schedules regular board meetings to begin at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesdays here at the Dr. Matthew Prophet Education Center. The calendar has been aligned with the district's academic calendar to extend to the extent possible taking into account major breaks, holidays, and key dates in the school year. Uh you'll note one exception, the November 4th meeting is scheduled on a Wednesday due to election day. Um I also want to note in case you haven't missed it, there have been a couple changes. Uh thank you Director uh um Englesman for proposing this. One of the changes is
165to move the first meeting after winter break a week later so staff doesn't have to work over winter break. That's very much appreciated. I don't know if you want to talk about the others. Um and the other change was also moving the December 1st to the 8th. Sorry, um my thing's still loading. It was 1st to the 8th. December uh first meeting to the 8th. Um that will be back-to-back meeting which can be stressful to staff so I just want to make a note to remind let's let's take it easy on staff that week. I don't think anything's going to be going on then anyway. Sorry, I'm just kidding. I'm sorry. I was going to say don't never say never. That's the hope. That is kind of when we approve the new consolidation. So I
166just so you know. Can you imagine coming back from break and having that one day after we get back? No. So good call, thank you. Those changes were taken account. Um let's have put this on the table. Do I have a motion and second to adopt resolution 7290 calendar of regular board meeting school year 2026-27? So moved. Second. Thank you. Director Anglesman moves and Director Split seconds. Oh, sorry. Thank you. Director Sullivan moves and Director Split seconds. Is there any public comment on the calendar? No. Thank you. Uh board discussions? I I just want to say thank you. I um I in my one-on-one with Dr. Armstrong, I brought this up too because it was really important for me, especially given the magnitude of what I expect will be that early December meeting. Um that
167not only for the board members who are trying to review all the materials, which was hard last year. Um but for the families and community members who are going to be waiting for things to get posted and if they're posted on the Tuesday or Wednesday and then it's Thanksgiving holiday and then the Friday and people have kids home. It I want I was just really thinking about the community members for whom there might be some big changes in wanting to be able to do this not during a holiday week. So I'm really grateful to the district to staff for being willing to do back-to-back meetings so I could propose this change. Um I I to publicly say that. Yes, and I I think I also want to add that I think staff greatly appreciate your
168proposal of moving that January 5th meeting to the 12th so that they don't have to work over winter break. So, thank you for that as well. We didn't have one this year right after we got back. Yeah, cuz last year I proposed exactly the same thing. Oh, cuz I was kind of taken I was like, "Oh my god, we had this big break and now it's you know." Um where are we? Oh, yeah. So, uh if there's no more board discussion, we can go ahead and vote on the calendar. Uh the board will now vote on resolution 7290 calendar of regular board meeting school year 2026-27. All in favor, please indicate by saying yes. Yes. Yes. Oppose, abstentions, student representative for Toro. Yes. Thank you. Resolution 7290 is approved by vote of 7 to 0
169with student representative Retorto unofficially voting yes. Thank you. Uh next up we have the second reading of public contract rules. Uh this is the second we had the first reading of proposed changes on the March 10th board meeting and draft changes were open to public comment for a minimum of 21 days. Uh by voting on the approved revision proposals, this will remove the duplicative I should Do you want me to let you introduce this? I'm sorry. I I just have a comment, but go ahead. I'll finish reading. Yeah. Uh this the revision proposal will remove the duplicative amendment reporting requirement since we already approved amendments of 125% or more over the initial contract amount. This will also bring the offer of judgment rule into alignment so that the limits match board policy 8.60.21-P, which allows
170the superintendent settle up to 75,000 without extra reporting. Let's put this on the table. Do I have a motion and a second to adopt resolution 7291? Resolution to amend the district's public contracting rules. So moved. Dr. Chase Miller moves. I'll second. Uh Vice Chair to pass seconds. Thank you. Is there any public comment? No. Okay. And then uh I have a question. Let me Okay. I'll give it a Did you have anything you want to say and then I'll bring it up? >> to I wanted to address a question I received um about some Oh, go ahead. Go ahead. Oh, cuz I Is it board Is it comment? Thank you. So, I got a I got a question about um a a a lot of text that was removed out of uh this policy on
171uh there's extra credit if you know what pages they're on. It uh they're on pages uh 95, 124, and 183 and 184. So, this was a 186-page uh document to read through. I hope everybody enjoyed it. That language is redundant and it's um struck from the policy because it appears in other places and it's redundant. I think the question um the answer I gave you was because it didn't align with the uh the it didn't align with the Oregon Revised Statutes and it's actually the language is redundant, so it's being taken out. Doesn't change anything substantively. Okay. >> Dr. Salvi. It was an awful lot taken out and I just with nothing in its place. It's It's already what's in its place is there and so anything that has a red line through it on
172pages 95, 124, 183, and 184 is redundant and appears elsewhere in the document. >> In the document. But you'd have to read it to see it. Yeah. I did and I don't see where where does this This is a question, right? >> elsewhere in the >> Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. It's okay. So, I I didn't mean to interrupt. Go ahead. No, I'm just wondering where it where it appears elsewhere cuz I do have it marked on 95 and 183. Where is it in the document? Making these appearances duplicative. Can you respond, Attorney Gray? I didn't want to jump in. Yeah. It's actually I don't believe it's explicitly stated in the document. It was a law change and that was what the policy was amended at the time and it didn't take out this language. This
173is superseded by the legal standards now. So the legal standards would be what the state allows? Is that Is that what you're referring to? Yes. Okay. >> requires, I think is how I would say it. So the state requires what? Let me get the staff memo out. I'm sorry. This is going to be I hang on. I'm sorry. I don't have the whole thing the all 10 pages up. Let me let me say it this way. The law changed several years ago. The policy was amended. This is redundant language to what the law requires and I'd have to go back to the staff memo to find out exactly what it says. I'm sorry. So the law requires that I'm talking out of order. We have a new system. Right. Thank you. Um Well, I think
174we're starting with uh Director Chase Melnick. I don't have anything. Thank you. Um I also don't have anything either. I kind of took my time over the 21-day period to read it all slowly and I don't didn't retain anything. So Uh Director uh Vice Chair DePass. Um no, just that it sounds like we need to follow up with Director LaPorte on Is it Do you want the like revised statute or what would be helpful for you? Yes. Okay. I can follow up with that for you and send that to you by email what the statute is and where the change was that predated the current change. Okay. More good reading. Thank you. Director Split? I'm good. Director Engstrom? Thank you. So, something that I brought up at the policy committee meeting when we talked about
175this and I don't think you were there. I think some another lawyer was there and I'm still struggling to fully understand and so I'm hoping you can help me get all the way to it today. And I should open this up again. Um a concern I brought up then and I still have now is that in that red line that talks about uh Hold on. Page I'm going to go to page 95 cuz I remember that that was it. That's the first one that comes up. >> so yeah. So reporting requirements for a I know I I did I I did ask this in the policy committee and I might have an answer might have shown up in my inbox and I didn't see it. So, I'm going to ask it again today. Can I
176catch up to where you are? So, I'm reading the language page 95. >> 95. It's the red line that's struck because of the change in the law. Yeah, right. The concern I had at the policy committee and the concern I have still today is that if we as a board adopt a 500,000 let's say yeah, say 500,000 cuz it's a number is right in front of me. $500,000 and we've it's gone through board approval. This was a question I asked. If that contract needs amending by let's say 10% that never comes back to the board. Cuz it's just 50K. Okay, so if we approve a $1 million contract and a 10% increase comes back that's a 100,000 $100,000. That never comes back before the board. There's no that never right? Cuz there's no requirement that
177any amendment of any amount, even if it's a $60 million contract and a 10% increase is 60 600,000. Like, we're never going to see anything, any amendment to any contract anymore, right? Because once we approve it, it doesn't matter how much it's amended by. No. Okay. >> That was the change in the law. So, it's what you will see is everything 125% or more. And it's I think the conversation at the policy committee, I think I was there and so was uh um senior counsel Courtney Nage. It's the It's the ones between 100 and 124% that you won't necessarily see as amendment. >> Regardless of the amount of that Right. >> Okay. And it's it's a percentage of whatever the underlying contract was. And then I think you asked for information and that's what we
178did follow up with you was the list of the contracts you would have a sense of what they were, the ones that were between 100 and 124. The ones that are 125 or more comes back to the board. Gotcha. >> Okay. Thank you for helping me remember this. Okay, so I still remain concerned that there's seems like a crack in the policy and the ORS that talks about 125. I remain concerned about amendments that are 101 to 124% over what we initially approve. Because that could be a significant amount of money and it could be over the the 150 that has to come in front of us, but we would never see it regardless of the number because it's between 1 and 1% >> 124% increase. And a 24% increase of a contract, whether it's
179a $30 contract or a $300 million contract, is a significant quarter increase to what we originally approved. And so, the idea that a contract could be amended 24% increase, aka 1/4 increase, without us ever knowing about it remains a concern of mine. And so, I would like to see in our policy something that says any any board any contract amendment is is in front of us. I don't know. I don't know how to phrase it because I'm still having trouble articulating it, but the idea that any contract can be amended because it could be just amended perpetually by 20% and we'd never see it. You know, you see what I'm saying? >> I wanted to I wanted to just point out I was just looking back at our meeting um I'm looking at board book
180for March 31st where we voted in a number of um amendments on contracts um as part of our expenditures. They were on the consent agenda and you can see here and I'm trying to do the math quickly. This is definitely under We just we amended millions of dollars of I don't know if you noticed that in in our expenditures. So, I'm wondering if it would be solved by having a report of anything through purchasing that could be Do we have to discuss it or could we just be it could be shared with us? Um especially because we have so much We have a lot We have We have good reason to do that cuz we have a lot of money going through the district, but is that a report that we could um request? Um
181I don't know on a regular cadence cadence. I don't know if it's a quarterly or monthly, you know, what How much burden do we want to put on people to to to do those 100 to 124%? Is Chief Morrison, do you want to weigh in on that? And while she's walking down here, if I could clarify, I didn't mean to interrupt you. I apologize. It can't be amended perpetually. It can only be amended for a total of 24%. So, you can't keep adding it up. Purchasing and contracting will flag that and then have it come back to you. So, it's what 24% and the the proposal the language here doesn't change what currently exists. You're you would be making an amendment, an additional reporting or requirement that doesn't exist, that's not affected by this amendment
182one way or the other. I just want to clarify those two things. Hello, yes, and we can add to our monthly financial report. You know that we're getting in that cadence now, so we can provide some level of um procurement reporting. Probably need to work with someone to get some parameters around what would be most useful, but that is something that we can provide. Great. That would solve for me. Great, thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. >> Problem solved. Director Sullivan. Yeah, that answers my question. Thank you. Student Representative Retorto. Yeah, I didn't read this cuz I have school, so I'll be abstaining from the vote. Thank you. No one called on you. How about that? Uh Director Lefort. I think you answered my question, so at 125% it always comes back to the board
183for approval and you can't perpetually amend it for lower amounts like 10%, 15%. Okay, yeah, that those are my concerns. >> it through, yes. >> And I did pull the staff minimum out. I think it was from the the February it was dated February 9th from the policy committee meeting in February that outlines this as well. So, yeah. >> Thank you. I'm sorry I didn't get there quickly enough. >> No, I only got there because I talked to you about this yesterday. See the ORS in there? Um that was helpful. All right, thank you. Yes, it's listed, yes. ORS 279A B and C. Oh, the whole thing. Got A, B, and C. So, there isn't actually that's that's just a a chapter. 279 A is a chapter. There isn't an actual statute for the 125.
184>> That covers um public uh purchasing and contracting. >> Yeah. I'm still looking and I think Director LaPorte probably is still looking for the actual statute that was changed the law was changed about 125. Oh my goodness. Yeah, that's out of my wheelhouse. >> Yeah. It's not out of your wheelhouse. No. It is not in my head at the moment, but it is not out of my wheelhouse and we will follow up. Yes. Um I just have a quick question. I think if I remember from policy committee this mostly or all these changes follow what's considered recommendations from I forgot what it was called the government procurement association or whatnot, correct? >> Yes, that's what they were and that's what these changes are with the exception of the um offer of judgment rule which is
185a staff request recommendation. Got it. Thank you. That's what I thought. All right, if is there any more board discussion? You don't need to We're not waiting on anything, correct? All right. Um let's go ahead and vote. The board will now vote on resolution 7291 resolution to amend the district's public contracting rules. All in favor, please indicate by saying yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Opposed? Thank you. Uh resolution 7291 is approved by a vote of 720 with That's it. All right, next on our agenda is uh we are receiving an update from the Portland Clean Energy Fund Grant. I'll hand this over to Superintendent Armstrong. Absolutely, thank you. We're excited to provide you with an update on our work with the Portland Clean Energy Fund. This is an exciting opportunity to share how we're leveraging community
186supported resources to invest in our schools, our students, and our climate goals. These funds will support energy efficient upgrades and green school yards improvements across a number of our schools. And so, I just want to note that this revenue grant is on the consent agenda, which you'll be approving later on this evening. And so, to walk us through this, we have Chief of Staff Deborah Kifouri and team. Good evening, directors. Deborah Kifouri, Chief of Staff, and I'm here tonight to share exciting news regarding our climate initiatives. And I'm joined by Senior Director of RISE, Joanna Evenson. I also want to give a a big shout-out to Kat Davis, the Climate Justice Court Manager, and also to Robin Feroe, Director of Strategic Strategic Partnerships, who really ushered this through a um laborious process, shall we say.
187Um since there's a detailed memo from Dr. Franco included in your board books, I'm just going to hit on a few highlights. This is the second Portland Clean Energy Energy Fund, also known affectionately as PCEF, grant awarded to PPS. Our first grant received in 2020 was awarded to PPS as part of the PCEF Climate Investment Plan. This award included $19 million to fund student-led climate initiatives and physical improvements for projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enhance climate resiliency. If you're interested, an update on the status of these funds will be provided at the FIO Committee at the April 21st meeting. So, tonight we announce an additional PCEF grant. The Multnomah Education Service District, also known as MESD, will serve as the fiscal agent for the PSEF Collaborating for Climate Action Grant Award. This funding
188is dedicated to energy efficiency upgrades and green schoolyard projects across Portland schools. PPS applied for and won this competitive grant in collaboration with MESD and four other school districts. The total award is $70 million approximately with PPS's share totaling approximately $25.5 million. I'm sure you all will agree with me that this investment represents a significant opportunity to provide much-needed improvements to our schools. Thank you and we are happy to answer any questions that you may have. Or you can just talk and Yeah, if you have questions you can come and clap and say "Woohoo!" We're going to do such a great job on this so that we can get more PSEF funds cuz we need it. Thank you. I I just want to apologize. I think if we had this presentation about 2 hours ago,
189we'd be like That's You know what? Pooping nothing. >> That's why I didn't go through the slide deck. I figured you have it. You know, you It is 9:00 p.m. >> The questions of how did we do such a great job? Well, we did a great job. Thank you. >> Yeah, thank you and thank staff. Thank you. Thank you. about it. We'll keep it quick though. Um so we we got the grant in hand. We're going to We're not going to knock it out of the ballpark. Um what sort of process should we expect going forward on actually getting projects done on the ground? And if it's all in the memo, you can just say It's in the memo. >> may not all be in the memo, but it is it is laborious. Um we
190have to create proposals then they are reviewed then they are approved. Then we are funded. Then we have to do the work and then reconcile the work. So, that's each chunk of work. So, it will take time. We will use the entire duration of the grant to get the work done. There's also pretty strict uh reporting requirements for P-CEP funds. So, Correct. >> there'll be regularly reports back to the fund. And if you're not familiar with the fund, I just encourage anybody here that's curious to look up the website and look at the climate investment plan. Look at the communities that um it targets in the focal groups and um it's a really great thing that our community supports and it's great that they're supporting PPS. Yeah, and there's a lot of good things we
191can do with it, but everything does need to align with what the the P-CEP um guidelines are. Is Is this part of the I know there was something where uh students would think of a project and then is that where the money money's coming from for their project? Yes, that's a P-CEP was our first P-CEP grant that we got even without applying. They just gave it to us. And then this is the second tranche of funding that was a competitive grant that we went into with MESD as the fiscal sponsor. >> Yeah, and part of that was I think they were having trouble getting the money to pay the teachers that were the uh more supporting them students, but that worked out finally, right? Yes, it did. Okay. That sounded like great projects. Um you
192will soon, I hope, have a briefing on how the year ended with those um student led projects. And actually, thank you. There is a Oh, I was going to write this down. Cat, when is it? >> there's Cat. Um uh April 23rd. The event next The Yes, you've all been invited next week, April 23rd, to the student showcase where you will get to see all the amazing um student led initiatives. And I know that our own uh superintendent will be there giving a rousing speech to all of our students and families. And to celebrate wins, 100% of the 37 eligible schools all submitted proposals. There you go. Yay. Thank you. >> it's at OMSI. And it's at OMSI on April 23rd at 5:30. Thank you. I think someone gave me homework to say something at
193that and I'm a little nervous. Um PCSF rocks. Yeah, love OMSI. >> That's off. Just putting it on the record. Nobody should put it toward things that aren't climate related. Where are we next? I think you can Chief Morrison can stay comfortable because we are moving into our budget training, right? Um I'll but I'll hand this over to Superintendent Armstrong. Yep, thank you. It's just a very important opportunity to ground ourselves in the fundamentals of our budget development and approval process, especially as we prepare for the work ahead in the coming months. And so I'll turn it over to Chief Morrison to kick it off. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for your time. I'm going to uh first the slides that we are going to be looking at tonight. I'm going to go kind
194of quickly through the ones that should look very familiar to you. Cara, are we going to Excellent. So, um last year we provided um budget training to our community budget review committee members in a virtual session. And uh in retrospect, we never offered that to the board. So, especially with our new electeds, want to make sure that you guys have the same like level set that we share with the community when it comes to process. Again, I'm going to move fairly quickly for the sake of time through the slides that should be familiar. So, our agenda tonight really talking about the why grounded in local budget law, our the budget process, a little bit about the technical components of our book, and how that reads and how it's it's shared with you and the community,
195and then budget calendar and activities. So, local budget law dictates all of the publications and the cycle that we have because we are publicly funded and the local budget law is administered by the Department of Revenue. They establish a standard procedures for all publicly funded agencies. They outline our programs and fiscal policies, and they require us to provide estimates of both revenue and expenditures in very specific formats and publications that we do in a very specific timeline. Definitely encourage citizen involvement to make sure that folks know what their resources are being used for. And then the ability to control the spending of public funds. And so, the budget document we have it's it's a financial plan just like you would develop for your home. It's for a one-year period July 1st through June 30th. It's
196all based on good faith estimates of both revenue and expenditures. So, again, anchoring back to that, um, if the numbers change, that's because actual data has overwritten our, um, projected information. And so, we're going to provide you with those updates. Um, so it does, at times, feel like a moving target. Um, it's the budget is the basis for appropriations at the major fund and function level. And so, there is a chart of accounts that's prescribed to us through the Oregon Department of Education that is used by all school districts in Oregon. And so, that's when our financial data is reported to the state, they can see statewide how much was spent on instruction, how much was spent on support services, and the different objects or activities that we do within the budget. All right. You
197have seen this on our budget engagement, so we'll keep moving. A reminder, our budget principles. We did invite CBRC members to view this meeting in person or online or recorded so that they would get access to the same level of training. Our improvement plan goals. And so, this is the part that I really wanted to center us on tonight is the development rules and processes. We've talked a lot about rules in budget development, all of those inputs that come through you, through the community, to the superintendent, who then administers the budget. >> This slide is super text heavy and I'm sorry about that. I tried to put a chart on there just to liven it up a little bit, but this is really the the critical steps to our budget development. We have staff that
198are focused just on providing estimates based on the newest information as it's coming in all the time, whether it's our experience, the activities that we're spending our money on, or the changes um kind of external changes that influence our um revenue. A surplus or deficit is identified. Um we're currently in a deficit mode. I think everyone's well aware of that. Um and then leadership is engaged. So I I work with Dr. Armstrong and the chiefs to see appropriate next steps for how to close a budget gap. Um we go ahead and start sharing the information with the community at large. We begin our preliminary staffing per our negotiated agreement timelines, which is earlier than when we proposed the the higher-level budget document to you, knowing that we are making changes within those higher-level appropriation um
199amounts that we have determined. Our community engagement um includes CBRC and the TSCC hearing. And then eventually you will vote to approve and adopt the budget. We haven't had that not happen. It is um going to be um a challenging season, but I am confident that we will do that as well. We have to adopt a budget prior to July 1st, so that we have authorization to spend dollars. All right, budget assumptions. So just getting this out in front of everyone, um everything is built on assumptions, and those are estimates based on the most recent information that we have available, which does change over time. On the revenue side, we have our fund balance, which we've estimated we will begin the next year with because we end the year at a certain amount. So, those
200things have to be true. Our local revenue, property taxes, um, all of those things are moving targets. Our state sources are a little bit more stable once we're in the second year of a biennium, but in the legislative long session, that can be really challenging to pin down as well. And then our other, um, general fund incomes are interest earnings, fees, and indirect rates, which is an overhead percentage that we are authorized to charge to grants. On the expenditure side, we have our contingency, which is really what we are targeting for an end fund balance, um, but that we budget it as contingency. And then you'll see those expenditures broken out in two separate ways, totaling the same amount. One is by function. Again, that's categorically a requirement of the Oregon Department of Education and
201local budget law. And then by object, which is those that more granular, um, salaries, associated payroll costs, services, supplies. Sorry for the lag. Uh, the budget book components, you guys, um, who have done this process before are probably well familiar with. We have two volumes. Um, our first volume is really what is required to meet our, um, it's it's an award-winning, um, best practices document in terms of the information it's that it contains and the order that it's presented. So, from the executive summary to the organizational section, talks a lot about our our goals to uh so that anybody who had doesn't know PPS at all could pick up this book and have a really good idea about where our resources come from and how we spend them. Volume two is optional, um but it's
202uh really pretty vital part of the review for this com- community. There's a a school summary um page, there's a heat map of estimates uh cost per students, and some school comparisons, and then a page-by-page individual school report that has a a ton of information. So, we will have those available for you prior to the budget being proposed. And those links go to our current year document. If you want something to look at um that basically will use the same format and it'll just be updated for 26-27. And this is a little bit more granular. Not going to go into that. Um our budget calendar and activities, again, um there's been a slight change. We'll have a meeting on May 12th, and then um a budget committee again on May 13th. That was a change
203to our calendar. I think we have a resolution later tonight that um has that change um for you guys to approve. Okay. What this slide? Yeah. Last year we had a budget listening session, and I'm not sure I'm seeing that on here. We have a budget hearing. Um It's just not on the table. Not on this table. Okay, great. That's great. It is May 13th on this table. And that's what I was saying is okay, I see the committee meeting the committee meeting took me by surprise. Okay, instead of listening session. Okay, great. Thank you. Yep. Thank you for the clarification. I just want to point us all back to our custom interactive engagement tool that we shared before. Hopefully the link is working for everyone and I hope that you are able to forward
204that and share. Um, I feel that um, information in the community so that people really have a clear idea of proportionality as we move through this big um, chunk of budget reductions. I think this is this is really going to raise understanding. All right, and I do want to thank folks who have reached out to me for kind of some one-to-one interactive sessions. I'm a resource to you. I want to make sure that you're feeling grounded in the information that we're sharing and in our next steps because I know folks are looking to you as key communicators and being able to answer questions. So, thank you and I'm open to more of that. Can I ask a quick question? Uh, should we go and order freaking for questions? I think I'm first, but I'm going
205to I'm I'm good. So, uh, vice chair to pass? Yeah, thank you. I had a couple of questions. Um, one is about the fund balance and I'm concerned about, you know, increasing that over time. Is um, asking the superintendent as well, is there I'm wondering process-wise if we could take a vote to increase that contingency. Um, I know right now it's kind of at the floor. We we to to go down to 5%. Um when can we start building that back up? Maybe not this year, but in maybe in '27, '28? Um that's one of my questions. The other one was about whether the Texas Hold 'em is is it shareable? It is. Okay, great. Yeah, I think that our goal is to have some sort of savings so that we can respond to emergencies
206and I think bit by bit I think is our goal. I think you all can change thresholds, whatever works for you all as a board, but I do know that Michelle and I are definitely like-minded in being more conservative with spending and budgeting so that we can prepare for or be prepared when emergencies happen. Mhm. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you. >> Thank you for that question. It is a really challenging thing to do while we're facing a budget deficit, so I I'm hoping that we can do some course correcting over the next couple of years. I just have Well, I have two questions. Neither of them are like exactly germane to everything you talked about, but um one of the things you mentioned were that that there's like agreed upon timelines with labor for I'm
207not even sure. There's like a word for it where like you get your assignment for next year or whatever and like sometimes you get found out find out that you aren't assigned like for teachers with less seniority or whatever. Um when is that process playing out? Do we know yet? Cuz I imagine when that happens we'll hear hear about it. It's it's currently happening. We're preparing for it now for notices to go out. Okay. The other thing is um I'm always curious the percent of our budget that goes to cover PERS costs. Do we know and I've heard estimates, but I'm curious if you feel like you know more now. >> Yeah, out of an $868 million budget this year, about $110 million are going is going to purse. Thank you. I appreciate you. Thanks.
208Thank you. I'm good. I have I thank you for the one-on-one date we have coming up so I can ask questions. Yeah. Yeah, um same here. You've answered a lot of my questions one-on-one. I appreciate it. And are you hoping you do that purse um uh thing that you do soon? I would really like to give you the purse presentation. Very soon. You want to do it, I know. We never have time. I'd really like to look at it. Um yeah, just a quick question. First of all, thank you for the budget one-on-one. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Um for the budget book components, uh volume one and volume two, volume two is optional, but I feel like it's probably the one of the most cited documents um within the PPS community. When it says that means
209it's legally optional, right? But we're going to do it because I It's it's a budget. >> That is correct. I have seen the I make sure we do it cuz I love that document. Okay. No questions, but I'm emailing you right now to set up a time for us to talk about the budget. Thank you. Great. Um thank you for the presentation. Um we'll be in communication about when to schedule the purse. Go ahead. Actually, it's a question of you because you have mentioned maybe it's different but that unassigning thing I've heard you mention before that we're not aligned with other districts so it sometimes makes it hard for teachers. Is that the same thing? Uh it's slightly different. So one uh um the has to do with the uh union contract the agreement contract
210in terms of uh when people are unassigned and then there's an internal round where people can apply and traditionally because that process often takes longer than most districts that new job postings don't happen until later in the year compared to other districts. Thank you. >> And so like often times um other again in a normal year not these crazy budget cut years but often times other districts will post their jobs in February but PPS won't be until like April. But that has somewhat been alleviated I think recently with some changes in in the last contract. Um but it it's still I think we are still a little later in but again it's a been like crazy budget so I don't think we have anything normal to compare in the last like two three years. Um
211to answer your question? Okay. Is there anything else? Um thank you. Like I said I'll I'll reach out about scheduling that that wonderful purse presentation. >> All right next up is the uh board meeting conference support. Um before we go to the reports um I want to propose a change in practice. One of the one of the awesome things about No, let me rephrase that. I think it's awesome that we included our public comment time. Uh especially to twice a month. The downside of that is that it does kind of squeeze our um agenda and our end time and I'm sure everyone here would love to not be here till like 11:00 p.m. So, I am proposing that in starting next board meeting that uh committee and conference reports uh be written up and uploaded
212into BoardBooks for us to read. And then you do not have to, unless you want to, mention highlights during the board meeting. So, does that work? Yeah. I see lots of nods. Thank you. And if you want to do that today and say, "Hey, I just I'll just email this to the rest of you." Um or no, because it does have to be If you want upload to the next um board meeting and don't want to give that presentation today, that is also totally okay with me as well. Does that sound good? Yeah. >> Um I think because we we we do want it to be on the public record, so we want to upload it onto BoardBooks. So, but if you if you're I want to propose that if if you're comfortable doing that
213and you don't want to present tonight, that you could upload to BoardBooks for next meeting in 2 weeks. But if you want to if you were prepared to give something tonight, I'd totally give it give it tonight. I love that um you're thinking about efficiency cuz that'll be important as we move forward. So, I'm going to choose to upload my report. Thank you, Dr. Ford. I love this idea and I just wanted to share a hot tip. Um I asked Roseanne a couple months ago when I was getting ready to prepare one of my reports to She was able to have the transcript of the meeting downloaded, so instead of watching the meeting back over and stop start stop start stop start, um I could just look at the transcript and just easily find what
214I was looking for. So, I was just going to suggest that if Roseanne would be so inclined to do that, it was extremely helpful um to just crank through it. So, I just wanted to share that. Thank you. Another tool in the arsenal. Thank you. If you like, yes. Yeah. Unless there's any Unless you feel like there's something that need to be said today. I don't Mine is so fast that I'm just going to give it. Um the Bond Accountability Committee hasn't had a regular meeting between the last time I gave a presentation and now, but the group did meet to literally go through the charter and decide on recommendations for their charter revisions. Um they will be adopting those, I believe at the next meeting, and then we'll get We then get them from
215there. So, just know that that's coming down the pipeline. Thanks. That was shorter than typing it up and posting it. >> And I I do just want to say one thing on my report, um and this is for Virginia. Um we haven't finalized our May 7th meeting, but I think you're coming, right? You're planning to Okay. Thank you. I would just like to say very quickly that I love that idea in the interest of current and future student representatives who have school the next morning. So, that is very helpful, especially so that more student reps can stay through the end of the meeting, especially into, you know, that other business, cuz sometimes stuff comes up there. Yes, thank you. And also student representatives may want to also propose things for the future meeting. And I
216think I heard you say that if we wanted to I obviously I'm not a committee chair right now, but if we wanted to give a hot update quickly, we still have that opportunity, okay? Exactly, right. I leave it up to the board chairs to do or sorry, the committee chairs to do do what they want. It's just another way to kind of make it more efficient, yeah. Or if you want to upload it and just give like the highlight. Highlight that. Yeah. Thank you. Um with that, let's go ahead and move on to our consent agenda. So, now we are considering our consent agenda. Board members, if there's any item in the consent agenda you would like like pull for a separate discussion, please indicate that now. Uh Ms. Bradshaw, are there any changes to
217consent agenda? Yes. Resolution Let me actually just let me double-check. I'm sorry, I wasn't ready for that. I should have been. It was a 7294 was um withdrawn earlier today. 7294? >> non-board book. It was the dismissible dismissal of a contracted educator. All right, let's see it. Okay, thank you. Um do I have have a motion and a second to adopt the consent agenda as amended? I'll move. Thank you. Director Englesman moves. Second. Thank you. Director LeFort seconds the adoption consent agenda. Is there any public comment on the consent agenda? No. Thank you. Any board discussion on the consent agenda? No, just an appreciation for staff because in that little column on the far right on our um there where we can check whether there's a minority-owned business or a woman-owned business, I noticed that
218there were some women-owned businesses and want to say it would be great if there were some also some minority-owned businesses. So, it's a um um an increase in participation and I love that. So, thank you. All right, thank you. Uh the board will now vote on resolutions 7292, 7293, 7295, and 7297. All in favor, please indicate by saying yes. Yes. >> Yes. Yes. Opposed? Abstentions? Student direct representative Retorto? Yes. Thank you. The consent agenda as amended is approved by a vote of 7-0 with student representative Retorto unofficially voting yes. Thank you. Uh next up we have the next step in future board meeting topics. Board members, if there's any items you would like to um discuss or have on a future topic, please indicate that now. Can we just What do we need to do
219to uh make sure the ones we talked about before are good to go? Do we just They They're done or we're good or do we need to do something? >> I said that's on the agenda, yeah. Which ones are you Uh Let's just double check which ones are you referring to. >> session conversation on the looking at Virginia, the red version of the resolution from before to take that and start building that based on public input into our next resolution, not voting on that resolution at that meeting, but discussing it. Okay. And then we also talked about adding the talking about the process. Yes, I added that. resolutions >> resolutions, thank you. Okay, I didn't know if we needed to do more than just have you say yes, so >> the the question is then
220for the red version, the amendments proposal, which committee would be willing to take that into discussion? Would it be policy or F I'm thinking policy or TLE? Woah, wait. I thought we were just talking about putting it on the work session agenda. >> Oh, put it on the work session. Well, because it's so like committee of the whole. Yeah. Got it. Okay. It's almost done. Yes, I'll look into putting on the work session. Um Director Sullivan? Yeah. Um I would like to request an agenda item for for board meeting. I would like the board to have an open discussion about putting a pause on foundation policy 7.20.010-P, which restricts local foundations and establishes a district-wide foundation. Due to the immediacy of the policies of the policies implementation, the district-wide foundation was not given enough time
221and resources to create a fund comparable to what was raised by local foundations. Although the fund has now hired a competent and enthusiastic director who is making inroads into establishing the fund that was imagined by the policy, he needs time to get it funded and operating at the level needed to support our school. We are facing budget constraints for the next few years. A temporary pause on the amendment would allow school foundations to raise money, some of which will be allocated to the fund as in the past, and will help it grow into the fund imagined by its supporters. Remember that this year's successful tutoring program in many schools was funded with foundation dollars. Although the policy change was made to support equity, it is important that we look at intent versus impact. The intent
222of the rule change was to make things more equitable. Instead, it has negatively impacted all students. We had put too much hope in the legislature and and not enough work into establishing a new fund base. We are a new board facing a new reality, a harder reality than what we were facing when this change was made. We need to back up and take a fresh look at what is what is possible to support our current situation. I want to quote from an email that I received today, which expresses this situation perfectly. Parents want to help, but they need to see that their contributions will make a real difference. Right now, that trust is not there. A pause is not about going backward. It is about preventing further loss while a stronger, more effective transition plan
223is developed. Without action, we risk losing both funding and community engagement. With a thoughtful transition, we can rebuild both. I encourage you to vote to engage in a discussion about a possible pause at our next board meeting. And I understand that if three of us want it brought up for an agenda item, we can do that. So, I hope there are three people who want to do that. Yes. I think well, let's let's have some time to discuss any questions first and then we'll >> Okay. we'll go and see take a vote on how many people want to do that that's agenda. And I'll also do that the same for the other um recommendations as well. Okay. Thank you. Um Well, let since let's just start with this one cuz it's the most recent. We're
224talking about foundations is do we do you want Let me ask the board, do you want to go in a row again or do you want to just have it popcorn and talk about it? Are we I don't know that I want to have a conversation about whether I just want to put this on like to decide whether to put this on a future agenda rather than have a conversation right now about it. >> that was my understanding as well. This is your request is to put it on the on the on next agenda. >> agenda because I think we need to get it Yeah. if we're going to do it, we need to do it soon. And we have a process for putting things on the agenda that considers all the other things. So,
225if there's room on the agenda Yeah. Um Does anybody Who would like discuss discussion Let me just clarify. You uh you're asking for a discussion on pausing the foundation policy to be put on the next agenda. Yes. Thank you. Not a resolution, but discussion. A discussion at the next meeting. Got it. Yeah, and possibly a resolution could come from that discussion, but mainly a discussion to see where we are. Okay. I have a question about the timing. Is it Is it Does it have to happen by the end of this year, or is there some urgency? I feel that if we want >> million budget deficit. >> there are a lot of people who are start have their fundraising times right now. And if they know they're raising for a foundation, they're going to raise
226a whole lot more money, which will put a whole lot more money into the fund, because a percentage of what they raise goes into the fund. So, as far as getting um more money, I think the sooner the better. Um I should have I should have a question, or maybe a clarification. I would I just wanted to make sure that um that members uh from because the the fund for PPS has you know has a board, I I believe, and then also the director. Uh I would you know I just wanted to make sure that they were uh that they that they presented during this, because uh I would not feel comfortable voting uh voting on this any sort of way without you know the I would not you know vote yes on this. Uh
227I mean, I don't I don't like it to begin with, but there's there's a chance I I would be convinced if people on on the board and if the director said, "This is what needs to happen." in no uncertain words. So, I just wanted to make sure that that was that that was out there for next meeting. >> Yeah, and and the leader of the fund for PPS will be in part of that discussion, and he knows I'm presenting this tonight. >> director is actually here. Oh, there he is. Hi. Talking about you. So, I don't know if you want And by the way, I just gave money to the fund for PPS and wrote all sorts of letters to David Friends. So, this doesn't mean we don't keep supporting the fund for PPS. Yeah.
228All right, let's go ahead take a vote. How many people would like the foundation discussion to be on the next or hopefully the next agenda or future agenda or as soon as possible. I do. One, two, and three. Okay. All right, it is on All right, let's go down the list or backwards actually. Um Let's take a I guess let's just do hands. How many people want to have the a work session on the red version the amendments for the uh resolution the I don't even know what to call it. The growing great schools resolution part two. Okay, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7. It's funny. >> I would say yes once our community engagement's done for this phase three. In other words, that wraps up on the 27th. That's my caveat as well.
229Okay. >> I think our next meeting is on the 28th. On the 28th? Right, but it if if if we wrap up our community engagement on the 27th, then you need as a person that used to compile this stuff, uh you need a a little bit of time a few days for staff to take in what's been heard and put it in a digest it. So, I would say maybe not on the 28th, but as soon as possible afterwards to allow staff to compile the everything that wrapped up on the 27th. So, then just to be clear, we would then have like a month before we would then vote on the second resolution. As long as people are comfortable with that, I guess. I just want to make sure that the voices that we hear
230from the community these additional engagements that we're making an intentional uh go to are that we're able to incorporate that feedback in a way that's digestible for the board. Yeah, I get what you're putting out. >> to have just a one-day turnaround. So, actually the evening the engagement's happening on the evening of Monday evening on the 27th, our board meets on the 28th. It just doesn't allow enough time to even make the table or do the administrative work. I was just imagining we would be having that initial discussion and then we would be moving toward the next board meeting to like adopt something. Are you suggesting we wait till that second board meeting and then the third one to adopt something? >> allow the work to actually be completed and in a in a form
231that's um digestible for all of us. The the the soonest board meeting after the 27th April 27th when the last engagement session is finished up would be May 12th. So, 2 weeks. What if we received that feels like a long time away. What if we receive the information as we go? I mean, we already had one. We have one on Monday. Can we get synthesized feedback along the way? I mean, we're there. Um but can we I don't know why we can't get feedback along the way. I I don't know the work plans of staff, so I would not feel comfortable like directing them to give us something a day after our engagement um ends. And it does feel like a long way, but it's really like two meetings. It's it's a month. I don't
232I feel like we could get started in 2 weeks with the information we have. I mean, we could probably >> it's a month. You're right. get started, but if we want to include information that we receive at the last engagement, that that data has to be analyzed and then we have to have the time with it to think about whether there's anything there that we want to incorporate into this just as we'll have to do that with the data from the other sessions. And I don't think that a day gives us enough time. I also think I mean, a month is like so fast. It's just And and then I think by doing I mean we can still work on incorporating data from other sessions along the way, but one day turnaround won't give us
233time to incorporate anything meaningfully from the last session. I'll just say this like statistically the chances are that we will already have our curve, right? We'll already have heard from uh we'll we'll be able to identify themes that come out in the in the data. But if we're doing intentional outreach in North Portland, Northeast Portland, whatever that means, we're going to do it because it's easier for people get to, then we want to actually be intentional about not speeding through the work, but actually doing I would rather have it done well than fast. That's just me. Yeah. >> And I I used to compile these data, and so I I you can you can get a whole spreadsheet of data, and you can analyze it all day for 8 hours, and you can in that
2348 hours you can pull out themes, you can pull out things that you didn't hear very much, you can you can graph it out, but it but that I I couldn't guarantee that if we if we close up our process on the 27th, we would have that analysis on the 28th. It would be it feel it feel like it'd be rushing stuff rather than giving them an extra 2 weeks to do an excellent job rather than a rushed job. How about And I and I Yeah. That that leads into another question about we heard that there's a best practices for the work that is around 7 months, so I I know that I'm contradicting myself, um but I'd rather have the analysis done correctly, so we're we're we're operating on correct assumptions in what we've
235actually heard. Um and and that's just going to take I think a few more weeks. I'm the one Can I add >> Go ahead. Something real quick. I'll be fast. Um as someone from North Portland, um and and representing the families of North Portland in in this work, um I think we are very used to hearing the district talk about equity and hearing boards talk about equity and then not actually practicing equity. So, if we say that equity is a concern and we're going to North and Northeast Portland because we want to hear from those families and that's important um to ensure an equitable outcome, then we have to take the time to analyze what we get from those communities and to incorporate it into this work in a meaningful way and in a way
236that is um on par with the way that other communities' contributions are being heard and considered and cared for. Um and we will not arrive at an equitable outcome if we prioritize speed over doing the work well. Um I don't think a month is a long time in a 7-to-12-month process um especially when we have the stated goal of equity and that's actually like it all comes back to my initial issue with passing this tonight is taking the time um to ensure that equity is not just being written down on a piece of paper, but is actually being performed in a way that um shows due respect to the families and students of North and Northeast Portland. Great. Yeah, I don't have any problem with everything you just said. I totally agree. Um my suggestion
237might be I was actually thinking like it'd be nice to talk about it while it's fresh on our minds. So, what if instead of having the discussion on the resolution language, we at least have like a space where we can kind of talk about our own takeaways from that experience. So, while it's all fresh on our mind, we can discuss. That's what I was thinking. Cuz I do have issues with recency in my brain. So, like if we discuss it after like right then, I think that would be great for uh like fresh discussion, but then we can make it like a three-meeting timeline instead of delaying and doing a two-meeting, but just we'll just have an open discussion about what we've heard, and then the next time we come, we'll talk about the resolution,
238and then hopefully the next time we can adopt something. Does that sound like a reasonable compromise to people? >> discussing and iterating and adding along the way. Like, I don't think the work has to stop tonight, and we don't pick it up for another month. Like, I think it should be an ongoing process. Yeah. And we don't even have to ask staff to prep anything. It's just like our chance to show up and just be like, "Hey, like what?" Just talk amongst ourselves about what we were hearing or what questions we might have for staff before that next meeting comes. Does that sound reasonable to people? Yeah, so just a clarifying question. Is this for the first resolution or the second? First resolution passed. Okay, so this isn't about amending the first one. This is
239on the second one. Okay, the only thing I would say to the second one is um so though that direction and those guiding principles will allow us to be able to start digging into what schools are rising to the top and be able to get into discussion about what the movement or what some recommendations could look like. So, um and I and I don't I think we're going to continue to have a series of engagements over the next 5 months. This initial one um was specifically for building out the guiding principles. So, I guess if you all are saying, you know, let's have that through this month, and then we'll be ready to build guiding principles in May, that sounds great. Anything longer than that is going to delay our ability to get out there
240and start analyzing and and recommending if if that's helpful to know. I wanted to add one more thing about that um analysis, and that's pivot tables. So, that allows us to look at what we've heard, the themes by whatever demographics we choose, whether that be geography, race, gender, school community. And I think that important is that analysis is is really important in this process. We want to know if we're hearing from specific geographic school communities, you know, what the themes that that are emerging. And And I don't know, pivot tables take a long time for me. And who are not hearing from? I looked at I looked at a schedule just to get back to your question. So, I What I just attempted to lay out was on April 28th, we just talk about like
241our reflections, ask questions we have based on those reflections. No staff needs to prepare any sort of anything as far as I'm concerned, just us having a chance to chat amongst ourselves, cuz we can only do that in public. Yay, which is fine. I mean, transparency is good, but just that's our chance. And then, the 12th of May, we would iterate on a resolution. And the 26th of May, we would be ready to adopt something. That's our guiding principles based on community input. That would be by May 26th. Does that feel right? Okay. Does it >> feel a little long? Cuz that you wouldn't have guiding principles till the end of May. It does seem long, but because there's only three meetings between now and then, I don't know any other way that we could
242get that to happen sooner unless there were more board meetings. So. Can I Can I Can I go? So, I guess I think I'm I'm having problems um cuz this red Director LaFort amendment doesn't necessarily feel like And maybe I'm thinking that our guiding principles are going to be even more narrow than what is proposed here. This feels like to me um like a first step towards developing our guiding principles. They involve community engagement. The superintendent shall publish a structured community engagement plan. That's not a guiding principle. That's how we get to our guiding principles cuz we have a community engagement program. >> Exactly. And then Right. >> the published dates. Exactly. So that's what I'm saying like these No, I get all that. That's what I'm saying these don't seem like guiding They don't
243all seem like guiding principles to me. Um they seem like guardrails and a structure to our process. And so I foresee another resolution that is what our guiding principles are cuz we haven't figured those out yet. We all have some ideas. We've heard community some you know email things and say things and but those feel like they're going to be even narrower and more specific and exact than this. This feels like the recipe and then we're going to make a cake. Um That's exactly what it's supposed to be. It's a framework on which everything else hangs and I can already see the conversation is already by the time we get to this. Yeah. >> have our timelines. We don't have a framework. We We're not We have timelines already. I'm so confused. We just We
244already have the time timelines. We don't. We have five minutes >> We have decks. Right. And then from that we build our guiding principles. So do you want more process after these initial ones to set the guiding process principles? >> The reason for the amendment was to clarify the process. And I I said this earlier that it gave the runway to develop the guiding principles through the community engagement. So you wanted I'm sorry I have to steal this. You wanted between now and the end of May the equity impact for every possible scenario that we're not even going to have till November. >> it's referring to This is the resolution is for the whole process. It's for growing great schools. Like these are the things that we would want to see at the end. This
245is 99% of what we've already discussed. Just puts it in a resolution, so the public knows what we're doing. They're not watching every board meeting and reading every document. Um so what we have passed is a resolution saying we're just going to start this process that doesn't speak to in detail the community engagement, to timelines, to equity. It doesn't speak to any of this stuff. So we need something I mean, there are no guiding principles. Is it boundaries? Is it you know, is it walkable? You know, all the things we talked about. So you So can we agree that that guardrails and guiding principles are two different things? So I don't think we need to treat them I mean we don't need to treat them as the same thing. I think the work of guiding
246principles and guardrails can be moving forward on parallel tracks at the same time. Um I think that they both need like community engagement, but the the dates that we're adding, um Dr. Armstrong, are do those follow the same um plan as the initial three engagement sessions? Like are they are they intended to fill the same purpose or are they doing a different aspect of the work? It's the same purpose, although I heard from the team about some adjustments that needed to be made, heard from some of you, and so um it'll feel and look different, but the the objective will be the same over the next I think there's four a total of four left. Correct. Yeah, so. I wonder about um if we have another draft going over resolution that directly addresses guiding principles
247that we can be building on and adding to as engagement sessions continue to occur. Um so that by the time we get the data for the last one, we'll just be adding to something that is mostly already baked. Um and then this one I mean I think I think it's similar. We get to the end of that last engagement process or whatever event. It's late. And we decide if there's anything that needs to be added or if this is fully cooked and is ready to just be voted on. Yeah, I I like that because we all agreed we liked these. Um it's not going to change with someone um and with one more session, but we might find another one that we think was important. So yeah, I totally agree with you. What what if
248what if if you if you if you everyone's comfortable with this what if we had a resolution that is the framework that I'm happy to take this and we and we could we could even run that through that at our next meeting if we wanted to have our framework feedback, you know, however I get it up early so that when you take a look at it we have a framework and then our guiding principles are separate. Versus so we're we're still moving forward versus waiting. Well, how would everybody feel about that? I I thought we wanted to hear from community members before we we don't want to bake anything into the >> just a framework. It's literally >> want to hear our community? I mean, this is going to be community-wide impact. So, it's that
249chicken egg. Yes, but those are the guiding principles. Um I think we just need to make a decision. Yeah, go to bed. >> I I would I would like to put this on Do we have three who would like would like to put this on and then we can talk about it more later? On May 12th? >> sure. Or April 28th? I mean, we can we can make a time in every session to talk about it. So, how about we do that? I mean, which is kind of what Director Slayton Director Chase Miller were suggesting. So, let's just make time every session to talk about it. I think the point that I didn't do a good job of making is that everything that's in here was said by community members on Saturday and I and
250it's been said in our emails and it's been said in phone calls and it's been said here. Um and if there's something that's not um decision criteria, equity, impact-related, community engagement, timeline, or financial transparency, or policy, or alignment-related, if there's a a b c d e f if there's a seventh that comes up, this feels like a lot. If there's a random seventh out there, we can always add it, but I I think that a lot of what we're going to hear is going to fall under these six and so it just kicks off the framework for this and um is separate than the guiding principles. And if we get to the December If we get to the April 27th north or northeast and there's something that is outside of this framework, we could add
251it later. But this is a really I think a really important framework and so I would like to talk about it sooner while we're developing our guiding principles. That's why I've just And for sake of timing, I'm just saying can we just make put this on the next agenda? We could run it through staff, we could run it, you know, Dr. Armstrong can look at it more, legal can look at it more, there's more time than being posted yesterday with less time. I How about this? I will create some time next board meeting to have the continue this discussion. I think there's kind of wide disagreement about the direction, the purpose, the value, and what. And so, I think that kind of needs to be baked out. Um one one thing I'm really concerned I
252I just want to add my two cents is that I'm afraid a little bit about the tail wagging the dog because um I mean, we have the district staff who have done tons of research about best practices, consulted with other districts about how to do this work, and things like that. I'm worried that like, you know, as when it comes to the board, you know, we're we're kind of the, you know, the top, but also the last stop. And then, if we decide like, "Hey, we're going to uh determine this process, it may go against kind of the natural progression that that the the staff members that have already been working for on this for, you know, months and months, uh would done a lot of work, and kind of throw a wrench in their
253process. So, I think I think it's it's I think it's really important to kind of hear what the process is already kind of building out first, and then we adjust in terms of how to best support that work in order to get the best outcome in terms of equity and and our guiding principles. So, I I I just the it That's my two cents on this. So, but I think that what I am hearing is that there's a lot of disagreement on this. So, to satisfy everyone, I will set up some time in the next agenda board meeting to have this discussion. Does that sound like a decent compromise for for the moment? It does, and I also just want to put out on the table that when we listen to one community at a
254first stab at community engagement, and we base everything on that. That that is not producing an equitable outcome and that's very performative. Um we already know who is in the room and we already know we're trying to be intentional about hearing from people in North Portland. Um even though, you know, and and so anyway, I just want to say that I I am really strongly um opposed to building a a framework based on hearing from our first community engagement which will look different from the second one because we're taking what we heard and we're making some changes. I I want to wait until we're finished hearing from all of the public. Thank you. I think for the sake of time I just I want to conclude discussion. How many people are uh wanting time on
255the April 28th meeting to have continuing discussion on this process. So, more than three, there we go. All right, April 28th. Uh next one is uh PERS. Again, this is something that um Chief Morrison will have to produce so there I can't demand timeline, but how many people would like to have the PERS com- Okay, more than on a future agenda. We have enough. Okay, plenty. Great. And then last one uh resolutions, discussions about them and informational process. Thank you. How many people want that on a future agenda? Okay, thank you. Um just about resolutions. Discussions about resolutions etc. Great. I think I have we have a full meeting soon. Okay, go ahead. We're not done. Um I wanted to discuss so after our Division 22 presentation last fall I requested more information about the
256senior schedules. I know you guys have heard me bring this up multiple times. Um after noticing that about a third of our seniors are fully scheduled. So, I know some some probably understand what that means, but just so you know, we've got eight periods in a day. Fully scheduled means that you have, you know, eight periods and one of those can be a study hall. So, it means you're in you're in you're in school all day. So, 2/3 of our seniors are not fully scheduled. And um staff provided a breakdown that's in our um our board question tracker that shows by school how many um students are taking eight periods inclusive of a study hall, seven periods, six periods, five periods, and um it's a lot, but what it doesn't show is uh what the
257exemptions are. So, the state approved exemptions are um things like, you know, on track to graduate, um internships, um you know, work work you know, work-based learning things. There's a very specific list. Um my concern after looking back on like four years of this data is that we've created a system that is not only encouraging reduced schedules for our seniors, but it's relying on them financially uh to keep the price basically of our high school education down because we can't afford the teachers. Like, if we were to actually tell majority of our seniors, you need to take eight periods a day, these are, you know, your minimum instructional requirements, that we wouldn't be able to afford it. Um and it's a particular concern to me. It already was, but especially now as we're heading into
258budget season cuz that initial pass at the budget, if you click through in the budget document, has half of the $50 million coming out of our high schools. And a lot of it already is. So, it makes me nervous. And if it was affecting just a small number of students, I wouldn't raise it, but we're talking about the majority of our seniors. And I feel like it's something we need visibility on like, what what are the reasons we're exempting students from we don't know. So, I'm hoping that you guys are open to that that that discussion. There's a lot of students coming to school a period late, leaving a period early, and we have no visibility as to as to why. I'm open to it. Does Well, I okay. So, let's see Is there any
259other questions about Let me just I'll just summarize this division 2020 senior schedule. Yeah, and take a look at take a look at the tracker. You'll You'll see what I'm talking about. It's a great document the staff put together. Uh it's exactly what I was looking for, and it's also broken down by um DLL um sped versus non-sped, so you can see of those students how many are sped students that are getting a full day versus, you know, how many non-sped students, and you can see, you know, if there's any I haven't gone that deep in it, but you can see if there's any patterns. I'd rather see it on a TLA agenda, just because I'm trying to figure out how we can have use our committees better, and it seems like a good space
260for that conversation, personally, but I'll Ditto. I agree. Would you open to that? Okay, great. Let's do it. Okay, so it's on the TLA agenda. Director or potentially uh Director Engleson. Yes, I have one last thing. I will try to be brief. I should have brought it up last time when we were voting on the furlough days, but I think we all got an email from somebody about Earthstock, which I didn't know about. Um however, I've learned about it, and it falls on May 1st, and so I was doing some researching right now, which is why it seemed so unprofessional when my phone started talking, cuz I was trying to find the social media post I saw this week about the fact that because Earthstock, which as I understand it, is I think the email
261called it a prom for our sped students, it falls on May 1st, and then the social media post that I saw said kids can still go but they have to have a an adult to go with them and so if kids don't have an adult who could bring them they no longer have that opportunity because they're not in school. Um and so I I I guess I'm just hoping that we can figure out a way. It sounds like Earth stock it happens at Crystal Ballroom. It incorporates a lot of different counties and school districts even Washington Vancouver comes. It's a big deal for kids and PPS special students now perhaps are not all going to be able to go. Um it's a vital community celebration over 800 guests. Kids apparently get their nails done. They
262get their hair done. They really feel proud and then I was reading on Earth stock's website about it all started when a kid who was wheelchair bound and didn't feel like he could participate in his dances went and like had the time of his life. Um and so I guess I just wanted to I figure out a way that we can help kids who are now I brought it up before we had this come up and I was reassured that we would make sure that these kids could go. So I see him coming up but I would like to make sure that that >> Yeah. I brought it up as well last in our last meeting. >> Yeah. I just didn't bring it up at a public meeting but I brought it up behind the
263behind closed doors and heard that we would we would be doing all we could to make sure that those kids could still go. So Um yeah. Excuse me. No. Good evening. Um yes, we are working with our staff um on creating opportunities for students to participate. It's some of what you brought up related to how the the the dance is is formed is um it's a little more specific and and and it and and addresses the needs of a population of students. It's not all special education. Um and it's an amazing important event uh for our community and we are working hard to provide um access. Uh it it's technically difficult to figure out a solution for it because many of our kids are dependent on specific staff because of the needs of the students
264and the staff that are trained to provide and support for those needs. And so, we're in conversation with the labor partners and with um and specifically our staff to see how to enable it to happen. And so, we're hoping to have that solved here pretty soon. Some of the communication has come directly from this event. And um they are, of course, reaching out to families and just saying, "Hey, regardless of what happens, you you we can still host." Um which we appreciate that they're doing that, but we're still working on making it accessible. So, there was a post on social today that showed communication. I believe it was from PPS to uh the family of one of these parents that that said that it's not happening. I um I can tell you that I have
265not sent out communication to anybody in this district that said it is not happening, and it would have come from me. So, I'm not entirely sure where that or how that occurred. Um I did see a post from one of our family members who I work closely with, who was just concerned in relationship to us being able to support it because it is a furlough day, and our staff are not required to work, which is where the difficulty that it comes into when when I need somebody who has specific training related to the support of a student. Um and so, anyway, we're working through those issues to ensure that kids have the opportunity to go. Thank you. Can I um propose that maybe in instead of like an agenda item, this could be like an
266email update? So, when there is an update, that get an email about the current status or what's happening, things like that. Does that sound just for the sake of efficiency? Yeah, that sounds great. And then if there is no email update by the 28th that we would just assume it'll be a verbal update on the 28th at the meeting so that so that we get something. Yeah. Can I ask who hosts it? Like who's It's a it's it's not a school district any school district organized event. It's a it's a private group of of folks who have put it together and how it became named or stuck I'm not sure. Thanks. Can I just say one more thing? I was getting emailed back and forth by somebody who was speaking with authority and works at
267the district that was saying there's no way someone can be paid on a furlough day. And I they wouldn't and I had heard that no they could be paid on a furlough day that you guys were thinking about how to work it out working with labor partners cuz that was what I was told by I don't even know who I talked to about it. I brought it up like to somebody. Anyway, so I think there's also and the person was like willfully telling me I was wrong. So I'm just thinking there's also maybe some people that like have a certain belief that do work at the district that might be the district staff same person even that was telling me there was no way that it could work. So. Yeah, I Just just saying that
268person somewhere works here and No, I could be the same person who's posting. So. I appreciate that. I I think that our our senior director special education Dr. Charles has been in communication with our staff and our building leaders about where we're at in this right now and but I but but thank you so that we can help to help folks understand that we're still working on creating a solution. So. All right. How many people would like the email update and or verbal update by the 28th? Okay, that's enough. Great. Got it. Is there anything else? Right. Uh with that, this meeting is adjourned. Thank you all for being here.