2025-11-04 Board of Education Regular Meeting

001All right. Now we can get started. Right. All right. This public regular meeting of the board of education for November 4th, 2025 is called to order. All items being considered this evening are posted on PPS website under the board and meetings tab. This meeting is being streamed live on PPS TV services website and on channel 28 will be replayed for the next two weeks. Uh please check the district website for replay times. Good evening. Welcome. Thank you all for being here and taking your time out of your day to care about public education. So very appreciated. Uh just a few housekeeping reminders. Um just make sure that if you have signs or banners, just kind of keep it below your chin level so the people behind you can see. Um make sure the aisles and

002stuff are clear, so keep them safe and also just be generally mindful and respectful of everyone else in the room. Thank you. Right. Tonight we have kind of a a lot of big things to that are happening. We're going to be voting on a revised comprehensive plan for IDW Wells, uh, Barnett High School, uh, acknowledge National Native American Heritage Month, and also adopt a budget calendar. Um, but before we kind of move on to our regular agenda, I just want to take a moment to recognize something pretty cool. Um, I want to proud to announce that Superintendent Armstrong was nominated this year for OES's Superintendent of the Year award. This is a statewide [applause] it's a statewide honor recognizing outstanding leadership in in Oregon public education. Uh Dr. Armstrong's nomination really speaks volumes to the

003amount of hard work and care that you really put in the district. I know this is a very difficult job. It's a huge district. It's a big ship to turn around and uh you're working on it and we we see that every day. um your your vision, your leadership uh is just evident from well at least from my point of view and hopefully everyone else. Uh this award the one of the criterias for or sorry many some of the criterias for this award emphasize leadership uh for learning, strong communication, professionalism and community involvement. I believe Dr. Armstrong exemplifies all of those. And uh thank you. And I just want to say congratulations. And I think we as a board got you something. >> Hope you like flowers. >> Yellow flower goes with your blue. >>

004Thank you. So congratulations on the nomination. [applause] >> All right. I just I want to thank you. I'm really proud of you for the nomination and I just want to um share something that a superintendent in Texas shared with me one time that u it's a very difficult job uh but your uh worst day as a superintendent might be some students best hope. >> Thank you. What a great way to end that. Yeah. Thank you, Dr. Armstrong. All right. Next on um we'll begin by acknowledging National Native American Heritage Month in Portland Public Schools. Superintendent Armstrong, could you take take this away? >> Thank you, Chair Wong. I appreciate that. What a surprise. So, I'm honored to bring forth the resolution proclaiming November as National Native American Indian Heritage Month in Portland Public Schools. It's

005important for our students to see their histories and cultures reflected in what they learn and that all students develop a deeper understanding of the land and the people who came before us. To share more about this important work, I'd like to invite Dr. Kamedra Jefferson, senior director of funded programs, and Emily St. Martin, student success advocate with the Office of Indian Education to speak on this resolution. Welcome. >> Good evening board members, super superintendent Armstrong and student representative. My name is Dr. Kimedra Jefferson and I serve as the senior director of funded programs for Portland public schools and proudly supporting the Indian education program. This evening, it is my honor to introduce Emily St. Martin, student success advocate for the Office of Indian Education. Emily will be sharing their personal story as we recognize and

006celebrate Native American Heritage Month. Through this recognition, we reaffirm our district's commitment to honoring the histories, cultures, and contributions of Native people and to ensure that our native students, families, and communities are seen, valued, and supported across our schools. Please join me in welcoming Emily St. heart. Good evening, board members, Superintendent Armstrong, student representative, and community members. My name is Emily St. Martin. I serve as a student success advocate for the Portland Public Schools Department of Education. It's especially meaningful to be before you today because this district rests on the homelands of my people, the Cowitz Indian Tribe of Southwest Washington and the Chinook Indian tribe who have lived in the Portland area since time immemorial, yet are still not recognized by our federal government. Recognizing November as Native American Heritage Month is more than

007a symbolic gesture. It's an affirmation that Native people are present, active, and valued members of our community. As a former PPS native student, I often felt invisible. I know that many of our native students still feel invisible. This resolution represents visibility, belonging, and acknowledgement within a system that hasn't always seen our students. It tells our native youth, families, community, and ancestors that they are valued and respected, that their cultures, languages, and stories have a rightful place in our classrooms and our community. For native families, this recognition honors the generations who have carried their identity, language, and tradition through centuries of adversity. Our people have endured f federal policies of assimilation, displacement, and eraser, yet have continued to fight for our inherent sovereignty, representation, and the right to self-determination. Within school systems, Native students and families

008have faced barriers that sought to silence their culture and history. Recognizing November as Native American Heritage Month is a reminder of how far we've come and how far we still have to go. It reaffirms that our partnerships with schools must go beyond academics. They are about uplifting identity, pride, and belonging, helping young people grow confident in who they are and where they come from. As just one member of our rich, diverse Portland native community, I want to thank you for taking this step. It is also essential to recognize that this is just one step towards including and honoring our Native American students, families, and communities. Visibility matters. Representation matters. When our students see their cultures, histories, and languages reflected in classrooms, artwork on school walls, curriculum materials, and leadership positions, they thrive. Our students deserve

009to see tribal speakers in classrooms, tribal flags flown in our schools, and inclusion of native voices in decision-making spaces. This resolution should inspire each of you to engage in ongoing learning and relationship building. And it should foster respect among us for the people whose lands we stand upon today. Thank you. [applause] [cheering] >> [applause] >> And before you you read the resolution, Chair Wong, I just I know that last week we had a work session when we talked about our OSAS results. And I just wanted to put in the space for third grade reading. We had substantial growth, 20% um growth in reading for Native American students. In math, we had growth 2% and then in fifth grade we had substantial growth with six or sorry um just about nine% of our native students meeting

010eighth grade readiness. So in two of those three board goals, our Native American students met and I wanted to make sure I put that in the space. >> That's excellent. >> Thank you for highlighting that. And also thank you Emily for that um wonderful presentation you gave. Uh do I have a motion and a second to adopt resolution 7206 resolution proclaiming the celebration of national native American her Indian heritage month in Portland public schools. >> So moved pass moves director split seconds. Any board discussion >> any public comment Paul? All right. The board will now vote on resolution 7206, resolution proclaiming the celebration of National Native American Indian Heritage Month in Portland Public Schools. All in favor, please indicate by saying yes. >> Yes, nos. Abstensions. Student Representative RTO. >> Yes. >> Thank you. Resolution

0117206 is approved by a vote of 7 to 0 with student representative RTO unofficially voting yes. Awesome. Thanks. Enjoyed that. [applause] Um, next up we have the superintendent report. >> Go ahead, take it away. >> Excellent. >> Yes, we are loading in the screen. Thank you. Can you hear me? Okay. Yep. Good. >> Excellent. Well, I wanted to start off the month of November with some celebrations, but before I get to that, I wanted to talk about our pan our plan, our path to robust enrollment for Jefferson High School. And I just wanted to just pause and and just stress a couple of points as I know that I and you all have received a lot of emails um with feedback and we encourage the feedback to continue to come in as this is our

012engagement series and that's exactly what we want. I did want to bring up um a point though. So if we get to the third slide. Thank you. One of the things that I've heard a lot about back one please is the academic programming. And so I just wanted to lift up for the board that I know prior to um starting this off, we were thinking that we would bring those academic pieces later in the winter, perhaps early spring, but we have pivoted and we are looking at bringing out the options and making sure that they're published before the board vote in January. And I just wanted you all to know that. And one of the things that I think I wanted to explain because I was putting on my my hat as a as a

013previous high school principal and thinking about, you know, what it means to plan a schedule for students who aren't yet there. And so I wanted to use an example of calculus, if you will. So many students when you think of like you know those um rigorous pathways in math, oftentimes high schools have calculus AB and calculus BC. And to start on that track, it's like the algebra, geometry, algebra 2, pre-calc, then calculus, and calculus BC. In order to get to those rigorous courses, it's important to understand at the middle school level what students are expressing interest in and how they're planning. So, every high school across Portland, and I would say probably across the US, build schedules that are based on students interests. So for us, we thought it would be um inappropriate to say,

014"Hey, we're going to offer AP environmental science um when we could have a body of students who's interested in AP um human geography or um some other AP course. But what we are able to do is get a list of potential courses that we'll make sure that we have to accompany the information set or the engagement that you all will have as we get into December and before the board vote. And I will still have the disclaimer that when our middle school students are getting to the point to enter high school and do some forecasting and scheduling, it's going to be really important to understand their pathway and hear from them. So, I just wanted to take a minute in the superintendent's report to talk about um how we're making that adjustment due to the

015overwhelming feedback we're hearing that if we're going to consider these options, we want to see potential academic programming alongside it. So, we are going to respond to that. So, that is um what I wanted to start off with. But now, let's talk about some celebrations. So, the very first one is I want to talk about this week is National School Psychology Week. And so please take the opportunity to celebrate our school psychologists this week as they are doing um very important work and uh heavy lifting. The next uh celebration I want to lift up is that it is National Family Engagement Month. And you all know that we have been doing a ton of engagement on a lot of things, more things to come, but we are so very uh proud of the work that's

016happening when it comes to engaging our families and want to continue to be partners. The next celebration is about attendance and so I have a short video to to play for you all. Well, while we're waiting for that to reload and then um get back up so we can play sound, let's applaud those uh celebrations that we've had, right? Our school psychologists, [applause] family engagement work, and attendance. How about that? We need our our kiddos in school to learn and um to be celebrated. >> I see a lot of high schoolers out there. I hope you guys are all attending all of your classes. >> Yes. We appreciate your attendance here and in school every day. >> Uh post pandemic, we've seen a drop in attendance nationwide and includes here in PPS. And so it

017has to be just a foundational piece of the work we're doing is to have kids at school every day. In the same time frame year to year, we're up about 2%. So schools have really prioritized communicating about attendance and the reason why it matters to families. That includes in newsletters and individual phone calls if they see something happening. Um, but also just making sure that they're lifting it up. Our long-term goal by 2028 is to have 82% of our students who have good or acceptable attendance. That's a 15% increase from last year. Currently, we're at about 75% of our overall students have good or acceptable attendance. Studies show that if students are have good or acceptable attendance, they're more likely to be on grade level, to graduate, to have different life outcomes. And so, similar

018to like literacy, we just got to make sure kids are at school. We had two PPS teachers named best in state and we are excited about that. We had our Grant High School art teacher, Miss Tinszel. [applause] Yes. Named the Oregon Art Educator of the Year by the Oregon Art Education Association. And we also had Jessica Lyman, teacher of the year award from the Confederation of Oregon for language teachers, honoring the excellence. So, super excited. Two claps. There we go. All right. Okay. Multiple claps. I love it. That's okay. Peninsula Elementary School had a counselor named Best in State. So, Miss Kuransza, we are excited to celebrate you. Yes. [applause] And then another award that we're excited to announce is that Cleveland High School won the 2025 Mass Timber competition. It's all about building sustainable

019schools and the design won an award. It's not even yet ready to walk into. Yes. [applause] Let's go Cleveland. And then PIL, I want to celebrate a couple of teams out there. Um, the Roosevelt Rough Riders, um, is the, uh, first football PIL championship in 30 years [applause] in Lincoln High School. PIL cross country boys and girls champions. Let's give it up for Lincoln. >> [applause] >> So, as you all know, every month I talk about legacies being made at PPS, and one um individual we want to lift up is Anime, and we know that he was a Benson grad and donated shoes to the senior class last year, as well as a $25,000 um dollar scholarship. Just also want to put out in case you didn't know that uh there is a shoe that

020honors the North Portland Library where um he spent a lot of his time while in school. And so just want to give it up for one of our legacies. [applause] And you know I like to end showing a clip on literacy. And so this uh month's one minute clip is ready to go. I think we're going to try it out. >> [music] >> Circulation in Portland public schools is up 15% this year over the same time period last year. It's a big deal because it means that students [music] are spending more time accessing the books in our collections, which means they're probably spending more time reading and engaging in those [music] important literacy practices. to see an increase like this knowing that we are staffed um you know some [music] schools only two days a

021week and we're still seeing this growth uh says that [music] there really is a a desire and an interest and a need to to read to improve literacy to improve skills for for lifelong [music] success and success in school. It really is important to be practicing reading and and these numbers show [music] us that that's that's happening. >> Yeah. Again, we're also hearing with cell phones put away at the secondary level. We have more students in hallways and in the library reading and so we are excited about that. As always, you can follow our journey on the socials and just our um reminder of together we rise. That concludes my report. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Arshaw. Uh, next up we have student representative RTO. >> Thank you. I feel like my [clears throat]

022mic's a little quiet today. Um, so, uh, notably last week, uh, no, two weeks ago, uh, we had our first, uh, district student council meeting. You saw, uh, I think a picture of that in the superintendence report, uh, during the, uh, face, um, uh, awareness stuff. Um, so, uh, I think it went pretty great. Um, we've got a lot of new new members. I think only a few returners, so mostly new faces. Um, I've gotten a lot of interest in being on board committees this year. And I've definitely done some uh some campaigning. So, I think I've got uh a student interested in every single committee except for facilities. I'm very sorry, Virginia. I'm No, I I I've got some people in mind. All right. I I will get you a student representative. Um but

023right now uh but we have them for every other committee. I think we have like four people interested in policy committee. So there's might be need to be a little bit of selection process there. Um but overall some some very great interest um in being on committees um and doing uh in being more active in our roles as student representatives. Um so uh so that's definitely been great. We we've got a lot of uh great conversations coming up at our next meeting which is going to be before the next regular board meeting on the 18th. Um we're definitely going to be talking about I think uh Jefferson Rising. Um and also some other stuff uh like around like elections and bylaw review. So a whole bunch of a whole bunch of fun stuff happening there.

024Uh and that's all I've got for you today. >> Awesome. Thank you student rep rardo. All >> [applause] >> right. Next up, we have uh general public comment. Uh first, we'll start off with our student public comments. Uh before we begin, there are some rules. Um so, first off, we want to thank you for being here and taking your time out of your day. Uh your public comments are important to us. They help improve and inform our work. Um the board office may follow up on board related issues raised during public testimony. We request that complaints about individual employees be directed to the superintendent's office as a personnel matter. I also want to remind PPS staff who are giving public comment that they may not provide testimony about students that could violate confidentiality protections under

025FURup. This includes testimony using information that could identify students especially in their school community by use of direct or indirect link linkages such as school grade, special education or other status. Uh for materials you would like the board to receive, handouts, pictures, etc. Please do not come straight up to dish. Just hand them over to Miss Powell who will then distribute them to us. If you have any additional materials or items that you would like to provide to the board or superintendent, we ask that you email them to public comment all one word at pps.net. Uh make sure you begin your comments. Uh when you begin your comments that you clearly state your name and spell your last name. You'll have three minutes to speak. A you'll hear a sound after three minutes which means

026it's time to wrap up your comments. So when the red light goes off, usually that's about 30 seconds to to finish up. All right, let's start off with our students. U Miss Powell, who do we have signed up? We have Jack Kar Karachi Davis Cle Hannah come up. [applause] You may choose whatever you want to go in. Uh say your name and then the timer will start. The green light will show. >> Uh red red light means you got 30 seconds to finish up. So would you like me to spell my last name? >> Sure. Yes. >> Okay. So I'm Jack Kasi and my last name spelled C O R A CCI and uh I'm here to talk about boys volleyball. So through the last couple weeks, me and my close friends across the volleyball

027community have struggled to grapple with the fact that we might not have a season. So, I mean, I've been playing volleyball for the last four years of my life, and I'm here because the boys volleyball community like deserves the world. I mean, volleyball has changed me drastically and the way I approach my life. Um, my boys at Cleveland mean everything to me and I would do anything to play with them again. And so, that's why I'm here. I want to talk about why boys volleyball is important to hundreds of high schoolers across PPS. Um, in the last couple weeks, I've started conversations with my peers and my coaches on why the sport is so important and, you know, many different and interesting perspectives have been brought up. So, I want to start with the fact

028that this sport has an existing community that is extraordinary. I mean, they're all here right now. So, [laughter] um, from from the moment I began playing this sport, I felt welcomed and many of my friends across the district had the same experience. Um, this community accepts you and brings you closer to people, whether that be our counterparts in the girls community. Um, or boys from other schools. Uh, I know that our Cleveland boys have built close relationships with so many people that they never would have met without this community. Um, one of the boys on my team brought up that he would have never got so immersed in not just the volleyball community, but the school's community. Now he goes to the games, he wears the colors, you know, he's proud of the school that

029he goes to. Um, you know, another important factor that was brought up is that, you know, volleyball can help students with their academics. Some students have trouble getting to class on time or paying attention. And volleyball, you know, provides that extra push to do what is needed academically to be able to play it. And I think this is important because academics come before sports, no matter the sport. And I think boys volleyball pushes people to be better, which is really one of the core components of what the sport stands for. Um, another important point is that volleyball can be an escape. A lot of people, especially high schoolers, struggle with mental health issues. Um and specifically men's mental health gets uh downplayed even though it's an important issue. I mean personally I've experienced such issues

030and the like amazing and wonderful community provides an escape from all the bad things going on in your life whatever they may be. You know it's hard to explain how important the sport and community is to so many people across PPS. But it's really not just about us right now. I mean, there are so many kids that will try volleyball and fall in love just like I did. And to strip that opportunity away from them is like disheartening. It's it's it's hard to think about. You know, all we want to do is play. So, you know, let us play. [applause] >> Thank you. ALL >> [applause] [applause] >> RIGHT, WHENEVER YOU'RE READY. >> HELLO, my name is Davis Alle. I am currently a sophomore at Idw Wells High School. Um, today my main focus is

031to bring attention to the funding regarding high school volleyball and why it is important to me as well as so many other students in the PPS district. Um, during my freshman year with IW Wells, I played on the volleyball team, and it was one of the highlights of my year. During the spring season, I was not only able to play a high school sport, but also connect with upper classmen and peers, just as he said, that I never talked to. Traveling to different schools, warming up on different courts, playing a new team every week. That was an experience that I was lucky to have. I'm pushing to have funding approved this year because many of the seniors who have played before or have not will not get the experience their last season in high school

032due to these restrictions. Men's volleyball is the first sport to be sanctioned by the OSA in over 45 years and I strongly believe that we should not stop this opportunity for the students in schools all around PPS including mine. From 2023, Oregon had 25 teams with around 350 players. And in just two years, we now have 68 teams with a thousand players and high school athletes. [applause and cheering] >> Now, think about the number of players we would gain in PPS, the largest school district we're able to get funded. Whether students do this as a second sport or as their only one, it gives kids who are not able to play club volleyball due to the high cost an opportunity to play a sport that they love. Not only that, men's volleyball is in high

033demand with low cost because of the existing girls volleyball program, but not only that, it has equity and access, which provides athletic opportunity for many boys who are under reppresented in team sports. My main goal for this speech was not to demand anything, but to ask that you consider helping fund men's volleyball for the spring 2026 season. Not just for me and my teammates, but the hundreds of athletes all over PPS. Thank you for your time. [applause] >> [applause] >> Thank you both. >> And next >> next we have Antonio Lawyer. I'm sorry >> that's law. I actually I'm sorry I'm I jump I have I jumped ahead. We have sorry Hannah Ferris and McKenna Kelsall. [applause] >> [applause] >> Hey, thank you for being here today. Um, you may start whenever you're ready. Go

034ahead. >> Awesome. >> Okay. Um, my name is McKenna Kelsall. Um, my last name is spelled K L S A L L and I'm a senior at Lincoln High School. I'm also part of the students for peace club at Lincoln High School with henna and um we uh as concerned students urged the Portland public schools board to support teachers in teaching about Palestine in order to encourage a truly accurate and inclusive curriculum. Uh we are an IB school um at least Lincoln and there are also um other schools across PPS that have AP or IB classes and one of the primary parts of this is to have a curriculum that's global. Um and we believe that students deserve a full understanding of both historical and current events. Um and Palestine is a very important thing

035to be taught about um not only in light of uh current events but also just in general um as a part of world history. And we request that the district provides resources, training, and space in the curriculum for educators to teach about Palestine in an unbiased, factual, and thoughtful way because education should never silence the truth. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Great. Thank you. >> Thank you, McKenna. I'm Henna. H A N A Ferris. F A R E S. Um, thank you board members for being here. Um, when you look at me, what do you see? A regular high school girl. My name is Henna Ferris, and before the war, that was all I was. a good student and a leader in my community. But after october 7th started, being Palestinian changed my world. I

036was no longer me. I was a terrorist, anti-Semitic, and somehow a part of Hamas. Today, I want to speak about the discrimination that Palestinian students like me have faced. Discrimination that has made me feel silenced, unsafe, and excluded in a place where I believed was welcome for everyone. We have organized peaceful student strikes with support from Jewish and other community members across the district to fight for education and to stop censorship. Instead of listening, the response was to send a police car to control the students peacefully protesting outside. I believe this district protected everyone and created a safe environment where all students were treated with dignity and respect. But from my experience, Palestinians are being excluded from this promise. Even though we were ignored, I felt empowered. During our strike, an older man came up

037to us and told us he was a part of the Black Panthers. He said, "I've done my part, and now it's time to do yours." That gave me hope, even though when I felt like I was unheard. However, I believe someone was watching because the reaction to the height of our activism was a policy requiring all political speech displays to be taken down. This policy appeared neutral but was clearly only applied to Palestinian flags and signs. While other political symbols supporting pride and Black Lives Matters movements, you name it, were left untouched. I thought it was just my school, but after talking to students, I realized it was across the district. I felt like this was a direct attempt to silence Palestinian voices. Why is it only that selective identities are allowed to be displayed?

038I felt invisible. There was no place for me in a school that wouldn't even allow me to display the flag of my country. When I approached my principal, she told me the decision was out of her hands and made by the district. I didn't stay silent. I sent our petition. I spoke in front of hundreds of students. But nothing changed. Unfortunately, the discrimination was not just at a district level. It came from students, too. One student spread false rumors that I was anti-Semitic, trying to turn my friends, including my Jewish friend Lily, against me. He made me feel isolated and unsafe at school. And when I tried to confide in a teacher, he encouraged me to report it, but I didn't feel safe. After seeing a pattern of Palestinian voices being silenced and dismissed, I

039didn't trust that the system would protect me. Could I finish my thought? >> Yes, you have 30 seconds. >> Um um um I was afraid and that instead of helping the district would just label me as a problem. Um, that experience showed me how harmful silence can be. When school avoid teaching about honestly about Palestine, misinformation fills the gap. I often saw students in big groups discussing the war, repeating whatever they saw on social media, which a lot of which was true, not true, or one-sided. Education should challenge hate, not encourage it. What I'm asking for is simple and fair. Educate students honestly about Palestine. acknowledge the suffering my people have faced and the thousands of children killed and the Palestinian students and families that are here in this district and remove all the political

040speech policy that has been used to selectively suppress Palestinian activism. That policy was never neutral and it's time for it to go. The district has rep built a reputation for being inclusive and I believed in that vision and I still do. But Palestinians deserve to be a part of that promise too. I'm not here to ask for sympathy. I'm here because I care about my community. I've organized, educated, and spoken out because I believe this district can and should be better. I want a future where Palestinian students feel seen, supported, and respected, not silenced. I'm not asking you because we are victims, but because we are part of this community. Because we are students that belong here and deserve the same dignity and respect as everyone else. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you.

041[applause] [applause] >> Thank you both of you for both taking your time, your public comment. Also, I know it takes real courage to share your personal truth. So, thank you. Yeah, just before we move on to adult public comment, um I wanted to have an opportunity to respond um to both groups of speakers. And first, just the bravery, um I appreciate you two coming into the microphone and I will um make sure that I have someone from my office reach out to you to follow up to hear more about your concerns. Uh we want our students, all of our students to be safe and feel like they're in an environment where they can be. So, so we'll follow up. And then for boys volleyball, I have my senior director of um I'm sorry, senior chief

042of operations, uh John Franco, to come forward and just share a little bit more. I know that this has been a hot topic in the um mailbox. Thank you, Dr. Franco. >> You're welcome. You guys hear me? Okay. So, first, uh John Franco, senior chief of operations. So, first of all, I just want to say I really appreciate uh the comment anytime we can hear from students. It's very impactful and very powerful. Um I think it's important though that we that I provide a little bit of context and I did share some of that context with the school board in a memo and I just want to make sure I I I just want to reiterate this is in regards to boys volleyball. This is absolutely not a question of want. Okay? If we had

043a finite amount of money, we would absolutely without a doubt do this. But there is a reason that out of the 279 OSA schools that over 200 of them have chosen not to pursue boys volleyball at this point in time. The reality is that we are looking down a $50 million deficit. Um, and so when we are thinking about adding programs, boys volleyball for example, it would cost roughly 238,000 to just add varsity. If we were to talk about adding freshman JV and varsity, which is what we do for all the other sports, it would cost around $350,000. Okay? And also when we are looking at like we don't just want to add a sport and then potentially cut it the next year, right? And so that those are the things those are the decisions

044that we have absolutely we have to look for. Now Marshall Haskins who's our senior director uh of athletics and I supervise him uh his operating budget is roughly 8 million um but his true operating cost for athletics is around 9.5. So that means he has to fund raise athletically around $1.5 million in order to do the athletic programs that we have currently. Okay. And we can also anticipate that through OSAA. Lacrosse is has is something that has been talked about through OSA in terms of getting sanctioned. Also, uh flag football, girls flag football is another sport that we know is going to be a request coming down the pike. So these are all things that we have to consider in in in a case of immense budget reduction where we have to think about. Okay.

045And so I just want to make sure that that there's this necessary context that this is no I mean I was a high school principal as a teacher. I was a coach for a very long time. I know the importance of athletics in the achievement of our kids and this is not a question I want. If we could do it we absolutely would. But we have to be fiscally responsible and we cannot start a program if we cannot continue it. Okay. We are also saying that this does not mean our schools uh cannot continue with club. Okay. Club of volleyball means that they're not they're not affiliated with PPS or PIL. It's how they've always operated up to this point. Um uh lacrosse is a club. We have various other teams that are clubs. There's

046>> Dr. Franco, May. Sorry, I just want to jump in really quickly. >> May I ask, so I heard you say for volleyball that it's able to continue as a club sport as the way it has been. So, does that mean they're able to compete with other teams? >> Correct. Other club teams. >> Well, I'm telling you right now, that's absolutely the case. Can um >> I can ask a really quick question here. Um so we have budget cuts next year and it looks like from the memo that even PIL is looking down another $450 to $750,000 cut. >> Correct. >> Um and then my question is this. I know that under OSA A rules, individual teams are not allowed to fundra for those individual teams, right? Is for districtwide. But if it is club

047team, >> they are allowed to fund raise for the correct >> club team is not we do not uh they're not affiliated with uh PPS. >> So are they able to function the way that they functioned last year and the year before? Correct. And all of those things. >> Correct. the the piece around uh and I will say this is that and I don't know in terms of the misinformation that has been and so I think there's a a general clarity piece in terms of information that we'll get cleared up here and so I'm hearing the pieces in terms of what I'm hearing and so we'll make sure we'll get that cleared up. Um but we want our kids to be able to play the sports that they've been playing. We just cannot PPS cannot

048fund it because it's OSA sanctioned. And when it's OSA sanctioned, that means we have to pay for coaches, we have to pay for transportation, we have to pay for uniforms, we have to pay for officials, we have to pay for game workers, we have to pay for game security, and we have to pay for program startup costs. So those are distinct funds that clubs would not that we would not support if they were in clubs, right? And so, um, again, just providing some of the context. I I know this has been really difficult. I've been getting the emails as well, and I and I feel for our kids. No question about it. And like I said, it's not a question at all of do we want to do this? Of course, we want to do

049it. It's is it fiscally responsible at this point in time to be able to offer it. So I think what we can do moving forward is maybe if we can just send a letter to principles to get out to their student body to be really clear on um the club aspect and that it is continuing as usual and not yet as a PIL sanctioned but that doesn't change what they're able to do from what they did in previous years. Correct. >> Correct. >> Okay. So we'll we'll get that out schools and then the schools can communicate to the student body. >> Yes. Thank you, Dr. Franco. I'd like to very quickly very very quickly add something about this funding piece because this is the case with so so many things that come before this board.

050Again, as Dr. Franco has said, this is not a matter of if we want to. We very much wish that wish that we could, but with so many things, it's like we're staring down again a potential $50 million budget cut this year, you know, and it was 40 million last year, you know, and and these cuts are showing no signs of stopping. It's like we are not in a adding cycle. You know, as much as as we wish we could be adding programs, we just can't at this time. Um now, if you would like to change that, um I I will say I would encourage all of you very very very heavily to email your state representatives. Um for I believe that that Cleveland itself is in House District 42. Um and your local representative

051is Rob NS. Uh no, Rob Nos. Um, and your senator is uh is Kathleen Taylor. Now, there's there's some more. I'm sure more more of you are outside of this district, but please find out who your state representative is and senator and email them and tell them that that your that our school can't our schools can't fund the things that you want for your children that your children deserve. And so, again, the the funding issue is that is going to be at the core of really any of of 90% of asks that are made before this board. And so again, I heavily heavily heavily encourage you guys to uh to get involved and take these complaints all the way up the chain because uh because some of these things are just um you know kind

052of kind of above where we are. Uh also definitely I would encourage all of you to look into uh Oregon measures five and 50. Um they deal uh a awful lot uh with how our with how our schools and our school district is funded. So again, that's another great place to look for for advocacy um for the funding side like that's that is how we will get something like boys volleyball in PPS. So that's that's what I have to say on the matter. >> Thank you, Director Lefort. >> Um yeah, so I just did I wanted some clarification, but it sounds like it's coming about the what I'm reading in the memo is that um if a sport is sanctioned by OSAA PPS will treat it as if it is. So, I'm trying to understand

053if that's the case and the memo says that we would pay for it if it is, why we're also saying at the same time you can go have a club sport and pay for it yourselves. Like, it's a little contradictory in the memo. So, I'm I'm confused >> because a club sport is not affiliated with PPS, >> right? But the memo says that once OSAA sanctions it, PPS has to treat it like any other sport >> if we opt in. >> If you opt in, okay, that's not in here. Okay, so that's an important clarification. Um, I was under the impression that they couldn't play as a club sport once it was sanctioned by OSAA as well. So, I'll look forward to that clarification. Um, and if so, PPS I'm looking at the memo, it

054says that we have a long-standing policy against allowing teams to fundra for their sports. Is that correct? >> Correct. >> So, even if these teams and these families, students wanted to fund raise, we wouldn't allow them to. Correct. And the reason is this is because we have we what we don't want to create is inequity in the system because I think we know that we have schools that probably have the the base the the a certain uh funding supports to be able to raise the amount of money to offer uh just through fundraising. And we know we have schools that potentially wouldn't be able to do that. And so to say that one school then uh could offer volleyball and another school couldn't just by strictly fundraising creates an equity in the system. >> Right.

055I would be looking at this as like a a a district-wide sport, not school by school if we were to. >> So if that were the case like Yes. if that were the case, like if I could get the high school principles and we could all agree and they we could get a campaign going and then this is what it is and >> for whatever reason, I I just think it'd be very difficult at this point in time. >> It's not ideal, but it could it could happen >> opportunity to bring some information back just so that we don't want to make sure we're not, >> you know, uh that what we say we we have some some backing and some more information. So, if you >> and I'll follow up. I'll make sure that

056uh our folks here get some clarity in regards to >> question if if that were possible. Is it too late for the spring of 2026 cuz this is not a lot of money. >> I'd have to follow up. >> Yeah. I mean we have this as much travel and professional development. It's just not [applause] >> I just want to clarify next steps. So the next steps is that for families and students to find out about how this works, you're sending an email to the principles who will then share it out >> in terms of what it means to be a club sport, how to operate and >> they they know it's a that they know how to operate club sports like it's not affiliated. Club sports are entirely separate, right? So club sports is their

057own entity. So that's that principles aren't involved, nobody's involved. What the clarification is is that yes, they can operate as a club sport. >> Thank you. All right, we need to move on. >> And very quickly, if you have any questions on funding, please email me. My email is public. It's on the board website. I will respond to all of you if you have any questions about funding stuff. >> Thank you. Next up, we have we have adult or adult comments, correct? >> Yes, we do. >> Adult comments, >> grown-up comments. Uh >> we have Jocelyn Haley Campir, John Dwire, Antonio Lawyer, and Michelle Adlong. Great. Thank you for your patience. Um, just quick reminder, say your name, spell your last name. Uh, three minutes after you say your name. Red light means you have

05830 seconds to finish up. And thank you for being here today. Hello, my name is Jocelyn Cambier. C A M B I E R. I am a first grade parent at uh Rose City Park in the VDLI program. Dr. Armstrong. I'm here today to address the issues with the first grade VDLI class at Rose City Park. Families have been advocating for a second teacher for 6 months. In June, we had 32 students committed to return with one student on the wait list, bringing us to 33. At that point, we should have been assigned a second teacher. We have watched as classes at nearby schools have received additional teachers with fewer students. We've recently been informed by the district that the first grade will not add any new students and that this is the only VDLI

059class that is closed to enrollment or transfer. Capping the first grade is killing the program at the root. By saying we cannot add students, PPS is ensuring that this class of kids will fail and PPS will fail to meet the needs of newly arriving Vietnamese children to the program. We know that DI is less effective with one teacher and we know the benefits of the two-teer model. We have heard your message about serious budget constraints. While we would have loved to add another teacher to our FTE staff, the district is telling us it is not possible at this point. However, the students, teachers, and parents desperately need immediate change. We believe there is a creative way to get the teaching staff the students need without costing PPS additional money. We need your help to put

060this plan into action. We have the FTE and the classroom space we need at our school. Why does our school have a climate specialist but not a first grade teacher which is required to run the VDLI program as designed? Efficient use of FTE would be adequately staffing the classrooms of our youngest learners before providing additional support positions. Currently, this class is using all available educational assistance in the school. Two dedicated teachers would provide consistency to this class and free up those educators to support the rest of the school. The students are already familiar with this teacher, making it an easy transition for what has been a very turbulent year. We need you to understand that the current system of support is not working. A full-time climate specialist is nice to have, but it's not needed

061at this time. What we need is a first grade teacher who can teach to ELA standards and keep Rose City Park on track with its school continuous improvement plan. We are not going to stop advocating for this problem until it is solved. We are asking for your help because our school and district leaders are new in their roles and are lacking basic information about the dual language program and how it functions. We need you to move this FTE into the position that is desperately needed at our school now. Please help us. And we've heard all of your budget concerns. We get it. We're ready to advocate. But please, just we don't want to spend more money now. We just need to move one FTE around. please. >> Great. Thank you. [applause] >> Whenever you're ready.

062>> All right. My name is Antonio Lawler. Last name is spelled L A W L E R. I know it's a tough one. Um, hi. My name is Antonio Lawler and I represent myself as a community member in the Hollywood area and also as a concerned parent. First off, I want to thank all the board members, the student rep, and doc Dr. Armstrong for being here today. I also want to note that I'm grateful for the support I have in order to be here representing myself and parents in my community that aren't able to be here tonight. My kid is slated to go to kindergarten at Beverly Clearary next year, whose century old buildings, as I'm sure you're aware, receive the worst seismic ratings, not only out of group, not only out of the group

063of schools in the most recent assessment, but on the whole scale. That's a 9.9 out of 10. [snorts] It seems like the more I dig into the topic of Beverly Clearary's seismic integrity, the bleeer the outlook it is is. In a PPS assessment done in 2012, Beverly Clearary was rated the second worst. And now 13 years later, first worst since the major issues weren't addressed. What's going on here? What's it going to take? If it's not having the worst seismic ratings, not once, but twice, what is it? PPS's track record has me feeling backed into a corner since there are so few opportunities to talk at you guys. With that said, I want to get something out of the way. I recognize you all are inheriting a lot of angry and scared energy regarding this

064topic. I'm aware that you are not the same board members that made these previous decisions, but you are the ones that currently have the power to influence what directly relates to the safety of our kids, faculty, and community members that happen to be on site if an earthquake hits. Personally, I have never put this much pressure on anything in my life, and I'm trying to do so respectfully. Uh, sorry. It goes against who I am to push so hard on people who are volunteering their time, but it also goes against who I am as mom to try to not and protect these babies. I'm reaching [snorts] out in my into my community in any way I can think of, speaking to my neighborhood association from which you should have received a letter from, and writing

065articles exposing what's going on, which I hope are all resulting in folks reaching out to you. The community is finding it unacceptable and unfair to ask parents to gamble with their kids' lives by sending them to a school that has the worst seismic rating twice. I started coming to PPS meetings in September. These meetings have such a range of emotions from touching to frustrating. I sit here listening to deserving people being honored or hear folks talk about field trips, farmers markets, and sports lights, but can't help but feel a little bit jealous that the others aren't talking about. And that's this is the trigger warning. the potential of their kids being crushed to death to death. [clears throat] You may have noticed there are no cute little kids with shirts and signs here for our

066cause because we can't bear to bring them. The subject matter is too morbid since we are discussing the potential of their bodies being crushed by their school buildings and them being injured or dying. It's hard to say and I know it's hard to hear. Can I please just tell you my asks? >> 30 seconds. >> All right. My ask to the board. Transparency with the seismic for the formula and clarity on who is responsible for outcomes. Opportunity for a forum with the file committees or the PPS board at the very least with a representative from the parent side of things. I think we know who they are. The be that Beverly Clearary is one of the first two schools fixed in the summer 27 due the fact that they have been passed over before. You

067can use Beverly Clearary to verify your for verify your formula. If it ranks first to be fixed, then you're on the right path. [snorts] Recognize that more people want to send their kids to Beverly Clearary but are scared. And lastly, get started. you have the dedicated funds, get that grant amp in, ID the schools, and start planning. Thank you so much for your time. >> Thank you. [applause] >> Great. You may begin when you're ready. >> Okay. Hello, I'm Michelle Adlong. That's M I C H E L L E A D L O N G. and I am the parent of two young kids, including a son at Maplewood Elementary, who will attend Jackson Middle School. I'm deeply concerned about earthquake safety in our schools, including Jackson. And though seismic isn't on tonight's agenda, it's

068something that I think about every day now, and I really don't want to be thinking about it every day. Um, so first of all, thank you for dedicating some bond funding toward this issue. That has given me a lot of hope. At over 700 students, Jackson is the district's largest middle school. And yet, per the Holmes report, Jackson has the second highest building risk score at 9.8 out of 10, second to Beverly Clearary. And another Jackson building is also in the top 10. It's scary stuff. And by far the hardest part about coming tonight was that I couldn't tell my son why I'm here. How am I how am I supposed to explain to a 5-year-old that he may not always be safe at school? I try to tell him everything, but how do I

069say that in middle school he will have to gamble with his life just to be educated? Oh, and by the way, that his best friend who goes to Ricky had to do that today. So, here is my vision. Someday soon, no child in Portland will walk into a school building that will collapse in an earthquake. To get there, I ask that we systematically tackle each building with the greatest risk buildings coming first. I ask that we don't stop at incremental steps that leave buildings unsafe yet still occupied. And you know what? I think we could use seismic retrofits as a selling point to future PPS families. Before I enrolled my child, I did think about this and I've since learned a lot more. But knowing that a school is safer than an alternative, I think

070parents would weigh that. Eventually, my kids will attend IDB Wells and I'm excited for its modernization. That said, please continue to find cost efficiencies that would in the high school projects or the athletics projects because frankly life safety comes first. I think life safety should always come first. Even one more full building retrofit one year sooner could save lives. I didn't tell my son why I came here tonight, but someday I hope I can. I hope to be saying these words. Yes, an earthquake is coming, but we acted. We are prepared and you're safe at school. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Hi. Uh my name is John Dwire, DW. Uh and I'm speaking on behalf of Safe Structures PPS. I'm also the parent of two kids at Beverly Clearary School. Tonight, I want

071to talk to the board and tell you why you must provide strong oversight on PPS's use of seismic bond funds. The reason is simple. PPS has a track record of not fixing the most dangerous schools despite having the funding to do so. Let me give you the numbers. Of the 20 elementary and middle schools identified as having the worst seismic performance in the 2012 report, only two have received major seismic upgrades. But of the next 70 schools, lower risk buildings, six have received major seismic work paid for by seismic funds in the 2012, 2017, and 2020 bonds. Three of those were even given a good expected seismic performance rating in 2012. Think about that. We spent bond money earmarked for seismic safety on schools expected to perform well in an earthquake while ignoring the high-risisk

072ones. I see this at my own kids' school. As part of the 2012 bond, Beverly Clearary received incremental seismic upgrades in 2018. What this meant in practice was that PPS replaced the roof over the 40-year-old safer structure, safer part of the building, and strengthened it. This was counted as a seismic improvement and was paid for with seismic funds, but the roof needed replacing anyway, and nothing was done to strengthen the 100-year-old, much more risky structure. The 2020 bond was especially egregious. In that bond, $17.2 $2 million was set aside for seismic upgrades. But as WMAT Week reported, two of the three schools that received seismic upgrades were the 37th and 66th riskiest schools. Both of these schools were already undergoing capital improvement projects, suggesting seismic money was being used as a slush fund to pay

073for projects that had already been planned. The pattern continues today. The last facilities meeting, OSM announced four lowhanging fruit seismic projects. Sounds great, except none are for schools in the top 20 riskiest schools, and one is at Marshall, which is only in temporary use. Here's what keeps me up at night. We've known which schools are the most dangerous since the 1990s. We've passed four bonds worth billions of dollars, and we've only fully upgraded two of the 20th 20iest highest risk elementary and middle schools. Thousands of kids are in these buildings every day, and they are likely to collapse in an earthquake. I understand maintenance funding is limited, but we don't use fire safety money to fix leaky pikes pipes and we can't use seismic money for deferred maintenance. This is life safety funding and it

074needs to be treated that way. So, I'm asking you PPS board members to hold PPS and OSM accountable based on this track record. Be critical. Ask hard questions about the prioritization formula. Make sure this time is different. The board has the opportunity to do this differently, to finally protect kids at the schools that we've known to be at risk of catastrophic collapse in the event of an earthquake, and to establish a plan for future school boards can follow for years to come. Do this right and thousands of families will finally be able to send their kids to school without this fear. Thank you. [applause] Thank you. SP, is that it for public comment? All right. Again, thank you for being here and taking your time out of your date. >> Thank you. >> Uh, next

075up we have Do we have any union partners signed up for comment? Nope. I'm being told no. Correct. All right. All right. Next up, we have our board committee reports. Uh, shall we start off? I'll just go in alphabetical order. Let's go with audit committee. >> Okay. I told Eddie this would be long and he doesn't like long reports, but you'll have to put up with it. As chair of the audit committee, I would like to provide the board with an overview of the October 16th audit committee meeting as well as a preview for the November 6th audit committee meeting which is coming up in two days. I want to start my committee report this time by reminding everyone that oversight and support for the work of the office of internal performance audit is really

076the work of the full board being facilitated through the audit committee. As you know, other than the superintendent, the board only has one other employee, and that is our internal auditor. As the chair of the audit committee, I am responsible for reporting the work of the audit committee to the full board. It's getting harder and harder to keep my report brief and also share all that is discussed at our meetings. So, I want to remind each board member that our internal auditor welcomes regular check-ins when you want more information. The October 16th meeting of the October of the audit committee was our first meeting for the 2526 school year and we had a lot to talk about. In addition to the full audit committee in attendance, we had the chair of the board, director Wong

077in listening in and director Lefort who is the chair of the facilities committee was joining virtually. Our meeting began with a discussion of audit committee membership. The audit committee differs from our other board committees in that we have two community members who serve as exeicio members of our committee. One of the documents posted for the meeting is the white paper on internal auditing in big city schools issued by the council of great city schools. In that document, there's a section that describes the audit committee's roles, responsibilities, and membership and details the value of having community members serve on the audit committee. And I think all of us that were there note really noted how important those community members were. I'm proud to mention that our very own internal auditor Janice Hansen was one of the

078several audit leaders from across the country who participated in the task force responsible for the development of the white paper. For anyone who would like to understand the value of internal auditing as school districts, I hope you take a few minutes to read through that white paper. Okay, our next topic was PPS's external auditors and the role of the audit committee in providing oversight of that work. For this discussion, we focused on the external auditors who audit the district's financial statements and compliance with federal grant requirements, referred to as the ACFR and the single audit, as well as the external auditors who provide our annual bond performance audits. Most of this conversation revolved around the audit committee roles in following up on the 43 outstanding recommendations that have been made by our external bond performance

079bond performance auditors. The audit committee's charter states the audit committee will review all performance audits done by external auditors and make recommendations to the full board and management about reporting, monitoring, and corrective action plans. With that, the audit committee voted to recommend to the full board and management that the followup on the outstanding bond audit recommendations be taken up in the committees identified by our internal auditor. And this is an example of why we'd do it that way. One of the outstanding recommendations is for the board to revisit the equity in public purchasing and contracting policy to clarify and define the board's vision, goals, and commitment to business equity. The followup on this recommendation really needs to be done in our policy committee and not our audit committee. There's similar recommendations that are much better

080followed up in the facilities committee instead of the audit committee. The audit committee will be following up with the chairs of each of the other committees to discuss the progress on the recommendations. This coordination is going to be very important this year in making meaningful progress on the implementation of the 43 outstanding recommendations. Really hoping to cut those down. Our CFO, Chief Morrison, brought to our attention that there are a variety of audits or program evaluations or reviews that are performed by both internal and external entities that the audit committee has not discussed in the past. For example, the Oregon Department of Education commonly evaluates compliance with state requirements. Programs like summer school are evaluated by internal departments at PPS. Chief Morrison stated that she is working on creating a deposiary depository of all of

081those reports. She will share more information about this work as we progress through the year. This information is important as do we do not want to duplicate work. Next, we went over the audit committee's work plan and proposed meeting agendas meeting agendas for the 2526 school year. For this discussion, our internal auditor created a proposed meeting agenda for each of the audit committee meetings for the 2526 school year. Of course, there will be adjustments throughout the year, mainly because we need to coordinate with the schedules of external auditors. Next on the agenda, we reviewed and discussed new audit topics. And this was a lot more fun, this part. Um these topics are for the office of internal performance audits audit plan. In this discussion, we narrowed down the list of topic ideas that board members

082had sent in from 8 to three. Janice was looking for no more than four, but we found out that really three were at the top of the list, so she's just going to research those. These audit topics are teacher leaves and substitute protocols. Second one is student performance measures and the last one is support for principles. Our internal auditor will research these topics and meet with the superintendent and the superintendent's leadership team to get their input on what the scope of an audit around these three topics would entail. The audit committee will discuss all that information and then refer two of those topic those audit topics to the full board for approval. This discussion is currently on the agenda for the December 4th audit meeting. These audits will be completed during the 2627 school year.

083The audits being worked on in the current year were approved in previous years by previous boards. As you may have guessed, the discussion around new audit topics took a little more time than anticipated. So our internal auditor did not go into the detailed presentation on the overview of the office of internal performance audit and OIPA's annual report for the 2425 school year that was posted for the audit committee. This report is posted in board book so you can look at that. Um, lastly, I was happy to report that all of the audit audit committee web pages as well as the PPS audit reports web page had all been updated. Good news. But unfortunately, since that meeting, PPS went live with our new and improved website, which inadvertently broke some of the links. Janice let me

084know that she is working on getting everything fixed if it may take a while because she has to learn the system. I will be sure to let everyone know when they have been updated. Our next audit committee is this Thursday, November 6th. We'll start at 4:30 instead of our typical 500 p.m. start time because many of us want to go to another meeting at Sunnyside at 6. We are going to spend most of that time talking about the status of the implementation of outstanding contracts audit recommendations a lot. Last week at the end of our last [clears throat] board work session meeting, I drew the board's attention to the memo that was posted in the board book under supplemental resources. The audit committee has asked Dr. Adams to go over that memo with us because

085it relates to the implementation of the audit recommendations. And that concludes my report. >> If you don't leave anything up for the imagination, it doesn't incentivize people to go to the meeting. Well, you you shouldn't have to go to the meeting. >> Oh, I enjoy going to the meeting. >> I know. That's why we have committees. >> All right. Next up, we have Fio Director Leford. >> I don't have an update because my meeting was moved from this week to next week. So, I am off the hook this week. >> Sorry. [laughter] >> All right. Um, TLE >> also off the hook. We haven't had a meeting since my last report. Not like November isn't busy or anything. Um, yeah, that's what happens when you have three board meetings in four weeks, right? All right.

086And then so we have two conferences. Either do you want to go first? >> Um, I'll go. So I attended the CAS CABsby CABZY conference took place in California and I was grateful to be part of Portland's presentation on the center for black student excellence. Uh when it was my turn to present, I focused on the story behind the story, the history of black education in Portland, especially in the Albina neighborhoods um of King Sabin, you know, Concordia, kind of all these Albina um communities and neighborhoods. Um, I talked about where those communities came from, what was taken from them through displacement, how the population demographics shifted, how gentrification and even the conversation about desegregation that happened in 1982 in Portland um, kind of reshaped both the neighborhood and the schools. Um, it wasn't just

087about policy. It was literally about people, about families, generations of students whose experiences are still shaping the work that we're doing today and kind of the legacy of that uh of those displacements. And then Nicole Watson, of course, came in and brought us to the present moment where she talked about what we're doing now to repair the foundation, the current efforts that are underway, the progress that we're seeing, and how the board is considering and thinking about the future of the Center for Black Student Excellence. Together, we tried to draw a clear line from where we started to where we're trying to go because you can't build a future without honoring the past and you can't uh honor the past without committing to real change. Um during the conference, I attended two really engaging sessions.

088The first one was a creative endeavor career focused program uh housed in a small school district uh south and east of Los Angeles where students are trained to step directly into the film industry. In just one hour, our our group of about 11 people uh produced a short film that I'm happy to share with anybody that's interested. Uh complete with a producer, which was me, uh a director, actors, a set designer, camera, sound crew, and a script writer. And I mean, they showed us what could be done in an hour and and showed us that this can happen with their students. they have a couple of star uh people in the movie industry as a result of this training and it keeps um students focused and it was a really powerful example of how schools

089can build pathways into a major you know kind of a regional industry by letting students learn through doing very popular program and the second session focused on a math intervention that I was so excited about it's a tool called um nextgen math we were able to log into the platform and review student learning data and I just um there as a non-educator and so I I kept uh asking questions but I couldn't come up with the verbiage. I didn't know the words to ask but they were um very kind with me. They um they helped me through and we were able to review student learning data and quickly see where a student had missed a key concept in math and map back to the lesson and even the day that the information was presented. And

090this carried through from elementary all the way through high school. So if some high school student wasn't getting a concept they could map back to 9th grade, 8th grade, 7th and all the way back until the foundational piece was identified. Um so they the identification was the exact lesson or foundational school that was missed and then it um provides worksheets that help students get up to par quickly. um instead of uh reteing an entire unit, educators could focus on a specific gap and then kind of rebuild from there. And I'm a huge math fan, I think, you know, if I've been with you on the board. And I I know how critical it it is, but I also know a lot of people don't love it the way that I do. So discovering this intervention

091was really energizing, and I was like the only one that was like, there's this math thing um throughout the whole conference. Um it impressed me that the tool doesn't just help students, I mean help educators, it also helps students and also administrators that can kind of pinpoint um hot spots within their buildings to understand if the educators and instructors themselves might need coaching on a particular foundational concept. >> Thank you. I like that. Um Director Chase Miller. So, I attended the Council for Great City Schools conference uh in Philadelphia and that was really a gathering of superintendent and district staff and board members from urban school districts across the country. Uh the districts represented uh were the largest districts in the country. Um so in terms of Oregon, uh Portland is the largest and that

092is talked about a lot. uh we did have different problems than districts in other parts of the state due to our size, but uh in a place like the Council for Great City Schools, Portland is one of the smaller districts represented. Uh so it was really interesting to hear how districts that are two and three times our size, well how they get anything done actually. um [snorts] but how they're approaching um some of the problems that we face ourselves um from school consolidations and enrollment challenges to the problems posed by the federal government and um current changes in uh federal education policy. Um it was reassuring to learn that we are all in the same boat and facing the same challenges and that districts across across the country are finding innovative and forwardthinking solutions to

093these problems despite the fact that they are also dealing with shrinking budgets and declining enrollment. So I attended um a session on special education. I attended a session on enrollment. I attended a session that was specific to the impacts of current federal legislation and what that means for public schools. Um, and I attended a session on equity and um, what it means to practice educational equity in the current climate and how other districts are approaching that challenge. um which I'm happy to report is with a lot of courage and integrity and commitment to do the right thing for kids uh regardless of um what's what's happening in the department of education or what's not happening. Um I also attended a session on continuous improvement plans and was really excited to be able to see our

094own Joanna Tobin uh present on Portland's continuous improvement plan. uh she did a great job and it was awesome to see the work that we're doing in Portland to close achievement and opportunity gaps reflected uh on a national scale and um see how it it measures up against what other districts are doing. Um it was nice to see our district celebrated in that way and Joanna did a great job presenting. Uh I was also able to stay for the board meeting which was really really cool. It was like like imagine this das but uh much bigger and like a full circle and uh it was made up of board members and superintendent from AC across the country. And so, uh, the conversation was really focused on what the council as a whole, uh, can do

095in a really challenging moment for public education to strengthen our schools and our systems and continue to do the vital work that we do as school districts um when kind of the the foundations of that work are under assault. So, um, some heavy topics and, um, you know, really addressing kind of the the scariness of the moment that we're in, but I found there also to be a lot of hope and optimism in that space. And um it's always just really reassuring to know that, you know, you're not the only ones confronted with these challenges and they're great brains that are hard at work thinking of policy solutions and workarounds and um just being really innovative in their approaches. >> Thank you. Great report, >> Chair Wong. Um the bond accountability committee has met since

096the last meeting. I don't know if we can add that to the agenda, but I'm happy to speak with an update on that. >> Yeah, absolutely. >> Thanks. >> Um, and thanks. It was really great to hear about your trips. Um, so I'll keep it snappy. The BAC met uh this is the bond accountability committee met last week um on the 29th and we now have a new chair, Greg D. Lorettto and just want to give public shout out to Cara Toronto who led that work for about four years it sounds like for her service and leadership. She also um reached out to meet with me to welcome back having a board leazison and that was a really helpful conversation. I also just want to connect director Sullivan's remarks about the bond audit and the

097work in the bond accountability committee. Um I've asked that at our next meeting I be allowed or able to bring up the bond audit items that um that the audits committee suggests are best the purview of the BAC. And I'll make sure that I also check in with our facilities committee because there's kind of a few that are kind of directed at us together um to think about so we can figure out how we want to approach that so the um BAC can um move forward and considering the ones that we want the BAC to to work on checking off the box. And then also they're planning um on updating their charter to reflect 2025 um bond the 2025 bond just just the year in general but no the bond. And while they're updating that

098charter there was a suggestion in the um bond audit regarding their charter. So I thought it might be helpful for us to also have a conversation about their charter. Ideally short I mean I don't want it to be a huge deal but I think it would be an opportunity for us to check off that box on the audit. um to say that we um make sure that what they're doing to change their charter reflects what um the bond audits have suggested they do with their charter. And also just a good opportunity for us all to take a second with their charter so that we all know know it better and can better understand how the facilities committee and the BAC um operate um in tandem. So did I say facilities? I feel like I said

099the wrong thing. I like to do that. But anyway, um the idea of just making sure we all have a second to sit with what they do um during that process where they're updating theirs. I don't want to get in their way or slow them down on their process. Just give us a chance to look at it and make sure that we feel like we can check that box for the audit piece. Um most of the meeting was spent talking about a new reporting format that automates um reporting which everybody was really excited about, but also people I think were seeing some things they wished were there. So there was a lot of conversation about that. I'm pointing at Sarah who led that discussion. um and how that new reporting can be optimized to meet

100the needs of the BAC so that they feel that they can um meet their obligations under their current and likely future charter which likely won't change dramatically. Um I'm really excited that the board is reconnecting with the BAC. It's something we talked a lot about during the bond campaign and I know we want to have integrity when we say we're going to do something. We're going to do it. So, I'm happy to be the person making that happen and um look forward to reporting back next quarter after their next meeting, but probably talking about the charter between now and then. And I've also told Rosanne, so she's got the whole thing already on the radar for the board leadership team. Thanks. >> Okay. I was just going to ask about that about scheduling and on

101the agenda and stuff. So, it's all >> Rosanne and I have had a conversation about it, so she's she knows what you guys need to know. And did you want to talk about it at the audit committee as well before? >> We could. Sure, >> we could. Yeah. >> Okay. >> Thank you. That was very thorough. Yeah. >> And also, if there's any other things that the bond audit committee wants to also schedule with the full board, let me know or the audit committee. Thank you. Uh I don't know about you guys, that was very enlightening. ready to call it a day. Just kidding. But we're not there yet. So >> this IDB Wells future parent would like to move on to the next item. Thank you. >> Uh our next item which is that's

102the next item on the agenda. Our IDB Wells comprehensive plan and I'll hand it over to Dr. Arshant to introduce it. >> Thank you. So tonight we are bringing forward an important milestone in the planning and design of the IDW Wells High School modernization project. You know that our team has been working really hard and we are excited to bring this forward and so I'm going to turn it over to interim senior director Sarah Norman to share the plan before your vote. Sarah. >> Yes. Thank you. Uh good evening. Uh thank you Dr. Armstrong directors, staff, students, and community. We are excited to bring this comprehensive plan before the board um for IDB Wells uh for board resolution. Uh this plan is going to be something that you've seen all seen before. This is the

103plan we presented in the FIOC meeting um a month ago. Um the project team and the consultants have worked tirelessly to navigate schedule key community components and cost to bring this modernization to fruition. I would like to introduce Donna >> Bazio because I knew because I knew I was going to say it wrong. Um who will be leading the presentation and just give me one second so I can start it or projecting it. >> Good evening. My name is Donna Bazio. I'm the senior project manager for the IDB Wells project. Thank you so much for this opportunity to bring it to you tonight. Um, as you know, we're here with a revised comprehensive plan for your review. And we will be starting with a site overview. >> Hold on one second. >> No problem. >>

104Sorry, I had to give permission to share. >> Yes, I'll just put it up the robo rating. gave us a print out so that we can look a little more closely at some of the slides for those of us with middle-aged eyes. Thank you. Which I think might be all of us here >> except for student representative >> to yourself. >> Oh, don't doubt me. [laughter] >> You're good to go. >> Okay. Uh so here we have the IDB Wells site. Um it's a beautiful 26 acre site. Many of you, I believe, are familiar with this and we're really looking forward to a wonderful project on this site. The entire team is excited about this. Where the baseball field is on the east side there, that's about where the existing building sits, where students and

105staff will remain while we do the construction on the new building that's shown there in the middle of the site, the big white block there. Um, the constraints on the site include that community pool kind of in the middle owned and managed by Portland Parks and Wreck along with a pretty significant slope from the right side down to the left side from the east to the west about 60 ft drop in elevation down there towards Ricky Elementary is on the left or the west side with a drive that goes through the two properties. [snorts] We also have some work on that softball field north of Ricky Elementary. Um, and then all of the fields will be, uh, renewed and new and everything's going to be beautiful. So, um, the parking, we often get that question

106there. We're going to have approximately the same number of parking spaces. Looking a little closer at the building here, the building is essentially divided into quadrants. The performing arts is there on the front northeast side. If you're coming from the uh Vermont Street that is our main entrance, there is a current parking lot to the southeast. That parking lot will be a lot uh bigger. [snorts] The athletics is represented in yellow and is uh back there towards where the track and field is. The track and field is in its current location um but does get upgrades. The south bar we call it is that academic section. So that's with administration right in the front by the entry. and then all of the classroom spaces and those stack up three to four stories. When you come

107in from the east, we're taking advantage of the topography and stepping down the hillside. So that left side is um essentially like a daylight basement and opens up on the bottom there. So that commons on the left side is actually two stories. It's going to be a beautiful space. A lot of glass and beautiful views to the west. >> And the daylight basement is so southwest Portland, too. Right. Okay. So, here we have the main level on the left, the main entrance where you come in at that main entry. The pink is the admin section there at the front. Uh the the blue and pink are different uh administrative and educational spaces. And the very front arrow coming right there off Vermont Street, that is the separate entrance for the health center. So, the health

108center would be right there in the front with a separate entrance. We also have a a back door, if you will, a secondary entrance to the um performing arts in purple and the athletics uh in yellow. So, the main gym is there in the big block in the north. And then there's also an auxiliary gym. The auxiliary gym is on that main level. The main gym actually steps down is actually on the lower level. So on the right you see the lower level and you see that daylight ba basement previously mentioned. So that main gym is there to the north. Uh right to the east of that is the locker rooms. You see the [clears throat] excuse me uh there's mat room and and then we have some of the back of house spaces there

109in the gray. uh some storage for custodial um the kitchen and so forth. So the loading zone is off Vermont. This, like I said, this is a sloped site, so a lot of that is hidden with a retaining wall. [snorts] Um and then of course we'll be disguising it with a lot of nice landscaping as well. Second and third floors look very much alike. Uh the core has the elevators there right in the middle that service all the floors. Um bathrooms they're essentially in the core in the middle. Some flex spaces on the edges and all the blue represent the different classrooms. Um going ahead, we of course followed the school uh board framework, the high school framework given to us by the board. And so we are right at about the target of 295,000

110gross square ft. Uh the ED specification is 281,000 square ft. We were up as high as approximately 311. So when we went into the cost study um we looked at different ways to bring that back down and um and we are at that target of 295. You can see on the next slide the uh the framework again represented um the dark green block on the right is IDB Wells. The blue in the middle is a comparison to Lincoln High School which is where the 295,000 square foot number came from. The the bar on the left is the educational specifications. the categories along the bottom. Core program, fine and performing arts, that's of course your choir, band, auditorium for 500. Uh the PE and athletics represents that main gym and auxiliary gym. And then we have

111educational support and community programs. So you can see where those kind of line up. Overall project schedule. Um you can see where we have now uh we are in the design and um and then beginning some of the steps towards land use and permits. We will be beginning construction at the very end of 2026. So you won't see anything going up there until 2026 winter. Um and then really as 2027 gets going, you'll see construction really starting to happen for two years. Again, students and staff will be in the existing building. Um, and we will be moving in the summer of 2029. Then we will finish the rest of the site work um demoing the building and finishing that baseball field, tennis courts, the parking lot that was on the east side, and um all

112the other remaining details. And that will take a year. So, we'll be completely finished by the fall of 2030. school start. >> Can you show where there'll be where the current school is because I couldn't see it? >> Yes. Hold on one second. I'll go back. >> Go. Can you >> I've got to go back all the way to the >> And if you want you could I want to talk about >> the farmers market on this slide too if that's okay. >> Sure. Yeah. >> But let's >> Yes, absolutely. The far the farmers market is on Sundays and currently it's in the north end of what I will call the Ricky Elementary School parking lot. So um in between where you see the softball field and the track and field, that area is the

113current farmers market. Right here >> to the north here where my mouse is is where the current farmers market takes place. And what will what we've negotiated with the farmers market and the city. Still some details to be worked out is for the farmers market to actually move south um below the kind of turnaround circle here. And so the Hillsdale farmers market will be in this location during the construction. I'm sorry my mouse is it's delayed on the uh the overview. Uh but anyway um that is where the farmers market will be located throughout the duration of the modernization. So, it was really a great partnership with the city and PPS to negotiate that with the Hillsdale Farmers Market. We heard the community. We responded and really tried to make a a solution uh viable

114for all parties. There will be I mean again some some minimal uh coordination throughout construction as there always is, but um we're excited about this opportunity for the community. >> Thanks. So, I just wanted since it's been resolved, we haven't talked about it at the board and I thought it'd be helpful visual for people to see the parking lot for Ricky was going to be open the whole time. So, just shifting to the far just shifting the farmers market to a parking lot that would have been open anyway and was right next door um was a relatively easy fix. Just took a while to make that easy happen as these things go. So, thank you everybody who made that happen. >> Thank you for your patience on that. >> Um and then I don't want

115to lose track because I interrupted on Director Sullivan's question. The current school is essentially where that baseball field and the tennis courts are now. >> Where my where my mouse is, if you can see it, the school sits right here. >> This is where the existing school sits >> and that's why that's why it can stay open [clears throat] because there's so much space there. >> And that side is the bottom of the hill, right? >> It's the top of the hill. I was going to say it roll it rolls towards Ricky if that makes sense. the the elevator. >> I made a I made a helpful drawing for she didn't ask for it, but I did make a topograph drawing if anybody would like to see it of essentially what's happening. The current school

116is up top. New one will be in the middle with that daylight basement. And then here's where like Ricky is over here. >> This is >> on the left side. Yes, >> left is west. >> East is right. Short vowels, long vowels. [laughter] >> Do do you guys want to keep this and use it for future? Yes. >> [laughter] >> Thank you. >> We appreciate you doing that for us. >> Did I see that? The is the theater three stories? >> No, it does. The top of the roof does poke up beyond where they cut those floors. >> It's a full fly. So, they have that. So, they have that popup. >> Yep. Very cool. >> So, Wells will have construction while the kids are right next to it. Yes. Just like Jefferson. Correct. >>

117The only uh modernization high school that is swinging is Cleveland. both the other two high schools actually remain on site during the modernization. >> Okay. Yes. Then looking at the budget um so overall we are looking at saving you can't see it there. Oh yeah you can. Okay. 5.6 million. Um, and that's after going through recent value engineering, after having two professional cost estimates with the contractor and the third party cost estimator that was reconciled and um and then we went through the value engineering and and are at an attainable path to budget. Um, you can see where some of the uh budget has changed there. The soft costs include design, engineering, consultant services, permitting, um, and so forth. There has been some escalation that's already, um, affected the costs and, uh, that includes some

118redesign costs as well. Um, do we have any questions about that? I can get into details, but I don't know. >> Let's finish the presentation before we open it up to questions. >> Okay. So the next slide is just about the community engagement. Like all the schools, we've done a lot of community engagement. Um we do have uh after Bruce is our outreach consultant. They do a lot of outreach with a lot of the minority groups. We just had a community design workshop recently on October 22nd. That went well. Um and director Split was there could probably also give an overview. And our next community engagement will be December 3rd with our design advisory group meeting. We have ongoing information table events such as going to the farmers market or the back to school night

119was just a few weeks ago. Um we have a student design club that Bora goes and meets with a lot of students every other Tuesday for lunch and um it's a really great relationship with the students. We get information both ways. So, it's that's really fabulous. >> Thank you, Donna. Um, Dr. Armstrong, thank you so much for allowing us the opportunity to present this to the board. We're very excited to get going on this modernization. >> Thank you. Any other questions or >> just nice work with the value engineering or the cost reductions? It's >> Thank you. >> Seems like a significant chunk, >> right? I you know, I like to point out that we were the lowest anyway. So, [laughter] We did pretty well. >> The team did an incredible job. They really they

120really worked the the program not to have it affect student activities and the program within the building and really worked to to get us to budget on a pathway to budget. And so really kudos to the entire team and staff and the consultants that worked tirelessly to get us to where we are today. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> Congratulations. >> Yeah, I'll lift up the ID Wells planning team and say that um they are moving. I think at some point I think they even surpassed a couple times. Not that it's a competition. >> Well, we did kind of start over, too. So, yeah. Yeah. Kudos to us, right? >> Yeah. Just knows. We'll take it all. Yeah. [laughter] >> I do just really I don't want to belabor anything, but just big thanks. And um

121I've been able to step into the Divi design advisory group since it was resurrected after the bond passed. They were it was suspended for a while. Um, I bought brought my seven-year-old daughter, Silvin, who wants to be an artist when she grows up and was really excited to see like all the design and um, there was a model there and watching her engage with it and turn and just say they should put little people on these models and it was actually like a really good idea and I just wanted to share that cuz I know my kids often watch the schoolboard meeting and she got a lot of out of being at that event and it was I think she was one of only two kids there and the other kid that there was a

122PPS staffer that had her daughter with her. And I think these events are so cool for kids to go and like be able to like engage with where what their school will look like. And so I guess I just kind of want to put a not that a million people are watching our meetings, but like bring your kids to these meetings cuz now my seven-year-old daughter like suddenly understands what's happening with the project and the space and how it'll look and feel and is thinking about high school. And so, um, hopefully, um, other board members will consider dragging their kids along. It's really fun to see them, um, engage with the sort of manipulative. >> Thank you. And thank you, Director Split, also for coming to the farmers market with us. And I think that's

123the best opportunity we've had so far to get in to get with younger children. Yeah. Like I said, we have the design group for the high school, but the farmers market was an opportunity to just show a a nice model that they had um and give people a really good idea and a hands-on touchyfey kind of thing to get an idea of that topography because it is um challenging to explain. Um we also have a great team with Bora and Hoffman, so we're really uh grateful to have them on board. >> Thank you. I'm excited >> to get this on the table. >> Do I have a motion and a second to adopt resolution 7207 resolution authorizing amending of the IW Wells High School modernization master plan? >> So moved. Second. >> Director Split moves

124and director Sullivan seconds. Any board discussion? >> No arguing. No one wants >> no one wants to hamper this amazing progress. >> Um public comment. No. >> Right. We will now move Let's move on to vote. Yeah. The board will now vote on resolution 7207, resolution authorizing amending of the IW Wells High School Modernization Master Plan. All in favor, please indicate by saying yes. >> Yes. Opposed? >> Abstensions. Student Representative RTO. >> Yes. >> Thank you. Resolution 7207 is approved by a vote of 7 to zero with student representative Torto unofficially voting yes. Thank you so much for the wonderful presentation and the amazing work. So [applause] >> oh I I did mean to say sorry to be a little in the middle of the agenda. The reason we were trying to get that savings,

125I'm talking to our families with seismic is so that any of the savings that we can save on the high schools, the goal is to be able to put that towards seismic. So that's why we've all been pushing so hard for those savings um and why staff has worked so hard to get them. Just so you all know. I know some of you already know that, but just to make sure you all know that. >> Yes. Well said. >> All right. The next item on tonight is the approval of the 2026 27 budget calendar. Dr. Armstrong, I think I'm supposed to hand this off to you. >> Yeah, absolutely. Thank you, uh, Chair. So, this calendar, the calendar attached outlines the key milestones in our budget development process that includes opportunities for community engagement, board

126work sessions, and the formal adoption timeline. So, we want our budget process, of course, to be transparent, to be inclusive, and to align with our district's strategic priorities and board goals. Do you have any questions before moving to adopt? >> I I had a quick question. Did um Director Sullivan, did you My question was about the CBRC. It looks like we have um an opportunity to meet with them sometime in between January and March. Uh actually it's a CBRC work session and then we have another opportunity where we'll be convening as a as a budget committee as a board and the CBRC will be in attendance. I'm wondering if I felt like last year we could have used one more meeting with them. So I was just curious if if it was >> I I

127know they're trying to get them with us earlier. Um they really want that. Yeah, I think it would be helpful to our process. So, >> yeah, >> that was my only comment and kind of ask is that we have a little bit more time with them. >> Okay. And I knew that I can talk to Alexandra about it, too, because I know they want it. >> Yes, let's let's do it. >> Okay. >> I mean, we don't have to add a meeting. We could um maybe in this April 28th, 2026, if we needed it, it could it be a uh more of an interactive session? >> Okay. I'll I'll check with her. Okay. Is that it? Right. Um, do I have a motion and a second to adopt resolution 7208? Resolution authorizing amending. Sorry, my

128bad. Uh, resolution of the budget calendar. Is it 7208? Right. >> 7208. >> All right. All right, I got that number right. Um 720 resolution 7208 the 2026 27 budget calendar. >> So moved. >> Thank you. >> Second. >> Director Chase Miller moves director to pass seconds. Any board discussion? Public comment. All right. We will now vote on resolution 7208 uh the 2020 526 budget calendar. All in favor, please indicate by saying yes. >> Yes. Opposed. Abstensions. Student representative RTO. >> Yes. >> Thank you. Resolution 7208 is approved by a vote of 7 to zero with student representative RTOR unofficially voting yes. Thank you. Next up, we have the consent agenda. If there's any items, board members, if you would like to pull for a separate discussion, please state that. Now, >> u I don't

129have anything I want to pull. I have a question though on the expenditure contracts. That would be uh resolution 7209. >> Okay, let's wait for that. Let's put on the table first and then we'll have questions. All right. Do I have a motion and or sorry, Miss Pow, are there any changes to the consent agenda? All right. Do I have a motion and a second to adopt the consent agenda? >> So moved. >> Director Sullivan moves. >> Second. >> Director Lefort seconds the adoption of the consent agenda. Board discussion on the consent agenda. Yeah, >> I just had a quick comment um on the uh it would be on the expenditure contracts. One is that Alma advisory group um in the certified business it's checked that they're not a certified firm but they're actually a

130womanowned firm. I just wanted to make note of that. And then also had a question about sorry the CMGC um uh Kus Hoffman collaboration I can't remember it's not called a collaboration but wouldn't they also be considered a minority owned business >> it's a joint venture thank you that was a >> okay and it's an LLC >> yes it is a it is a I'm [clears throat] all in okay it is a joint venture and yes so there would be yes there would be um some accommodations there as well. Yes. >> Okay. I was I was um hoping that we could count that as um it's a joint venture, but it has a minority 505. >> I think it's a 51. >> Oh, it's 5149, >> I think. So, yes. Okay. I I can double

131check. >> Yes. So, then we would get I guess credit or that would count towards our utilization of minority womenowned businesses. >> Yes, ma'am. >> So, that's it. >> Thank you. >> Good catch. and I'll I'll find out more about why the alma group wasn't at it. I >> I think it was just a clerical oversight. >> Okay, got it. Thank you, >> Director Englesman. >> Yeah, thank you. Um obviously at the last meeting, I made mention of amending the proposal of the um the field trip policy. And I just want to say like what I'm seeing here, I don't know how much of it would not be created if there was no board oversight, but I'm guessing the majority of it would be created. And so I just this would be great. I don't

132need anything fancy in the amendment. Just the idea that we could have this to look at and just um look at. But I also just really want to highlight I think it's so cool that we have I mean we saw the picture of the um the cross country winners, both girls and boys. Um feels pretty monumental. And then we have more band which is it's really cool to highlight that how important band is to PPS and how many kids are involved in band. Uh so that's all just wanted to say that. >> Thank you. >> Great. If there's no further discussion the board will now vote on resolution 7209 through 7211. All in favor please indicate by saying yes. >> Yes. >> Opposed. Absentions. Student representative Rardto. >> Yes. >> Thank you. The consent agenda

133is approved by voter 7 to zero with student representative Vardto voting yes. All right. Next up we have future board meeting topics. Board members. If there's any items you would like to request for follow-up or consider for agenda item, you may talk about that now. >> Um I have I was hoping I was hoping to get one more thing. Um, I have two things that I wanted to uh talk about, maybe talk about talking about more. One, obviously being boys volleyball, it wasn't on today's agenda. There was a lot of people in the room. I know there are a lot of people out in the community who are really interested in trying to figure this out. And so, I would like to put it for a longer, better long um discussion figuring out if there's

134something we can do. Um, and it sounds like the funds that would need to be raised collectively could is it's not insurmountable. And so maybe we could figure out if that can be done, if it's a policy that would bar that, is there an exception that could be made, if it's collective and all of something. So I just would like to to have an actual board work session conversation about this since there was like I just want to recognize that the room was packed with >> high schoolers who feel really strongly about this and we all know how important um and I think Jack the first the first kiddo, >> huh? >> Yes. just did a great job of highlighting all of the reasons that we all know about how important it is to have

135kids involved in sports. Um, I also really want to highlight because I know a lot of us are feeling um, where is it in my email? A lot of us are really feeling the intensity of the SNAP benefits in our communities right now. I know that one of my schools that I'm involved with is doing individual fundraisers where a counselor is connecting families in the community to families in the community anonymously so that their benefits can be supported by other families who have the means. And I just wanted to point out that um the fund for for public schools fund for PPS has sent out a direct ask. And so if you're feeling if you're sitting out there in the community and you're feeling like this is awful, I know that there are families out

136there who can't feed their families, can't feed their pets, can't feed their their elderlys, that that there is an opportunity through the fund to support those families and to donate directly through the fund and that they the fund will be finding families who need help because we need to be able to feed our families. It is goal number one. Um so look at it. You know, this fund needs some support. And then the third thing, I was really hoping to have some answers, but I don't think there's any election results out right now. That's all. >> The parks is winning. The parks fund is ahead. Is that what you're excited about? >> I don't know yet. >> Yeah, it's the results started posting. It's up. >> Not by a lot, but it's up. >> My

137political husband says it will win. [laughter] >> He's listening now and he's probably talk about me. Um, I just wanted to I uh second Stephanie's uh comments about um men's volleyball. I would like to have a larger discussion about that. I was looking at OSAA while we were uh discussing that tonight and it looks like it's the only um OCA sport that we wouldn't be offering. And uh I would love to have a larger conversation about that and see if there's existing policies that maybe we need to tweak if there's some way we can collaborative work collaboratively work together and versus just you know initially saying no if there's any way to to make it happen. Uh I think it's worth a discussion and then also um on the agenda tracker I saw that um

138I brought up last time about having a discussion about our board goals and I saw that there was a conversation about there about pushing it till next summer. Um I just wanted to feels like pretty far away for the strategic planning board goals to initiate the conversation. I just wanted to see if we can actually start talking about that. None of us are ready to start doing it tomorrow. Pushing out till next summer seems pretty pretty far out in the future. [snorts] That's all. I just actually I I just remembered I have a quick question and this is particularly to you. Um, Director Wong, do you remember last year? Because I think I was at um the meeting uh last year, the district student council approved some new bylaws. Um, but we had some people

139from uh from FACE say um they couldn't find that was that the that the most up-to-date version of the bylaws from were from 2022. So, I'm uh so I'm just wondering if we could find where that went because I definitely remember it coming before the board. um something about updating the DSSE bylaws. >> Yeah, I remember that. I remember we voted on it and JJ wasn't here. >> That's right. >> Because we said we wished he had been here. >> I wonder if uh JJ would would have or if they would be in board book in board book. Yeah. >> Yeah. I mean I I have the doc updated like the Google doc that we were running but yeah but I just don't know what the what it is on the policy side. So I

140was that was that that's my only inquiry. >> I I can look for that. Uh yeah. Thank you. especially since DSC is going to be looking at some some like bylaw review perhaps next meeting or the meeting after. >> Um I have just two things that I wanted to add to the list. One of them is um and I haven't I haven't talked to my fearless buddy on legislative matters over here saying this, but it seems like we may we might want to consider taking a position on legislation in February in the short session. We don't always do that, but I just want to make sure that if we talk to each other and decide that we think that would be a good thing that we make that happen even though we don't normally adopt

141an agenda for short sessions. The reason I'm bringing that up is because um we do expect the legislature to be making serious budget cuts and it might be good for us to have a uniform message on either legislation or budget decisions. Um it's uh it it'll I don't know what's going to happen with the school the state school fund. Um but I just think we should be ready to be nimble and make sure it's not a we didn't put it on a board agenda and we can't do this thing because of it down the road. I uh heard my favorite words, legislative agenda. Uh this [laughter] is Deborah Kapori uh chief of staff. Um and just as a point of um to know about this topic is that on Monday I will be participating in

142a phone call with KOSA where we will learn about what OD's cuts are because I think you know as we're talking about 50 million um of budget cuts for next year it could actually be more and it could be now. So um we are going to be They're [clears throat] going to be going walking through all the cuts, the 5% cuts the OD is proposing. Now, that doesn't mean it's a done deal, but I'll be reporting back on to what what those look like when I get that information. >> And I think it's just good big picture context, so you're not like, why are they cutting education by 5%. Every single state agency budget is preparing a 5% cuts list. So, it's not just the Oregon Department of Education. My agency, for example, is going

143through the same process. And there'll be conversations at the legislative days. That's when the legislature convenes between sessions. Um in uh November 17th, 18th, 19th, I'm not sure which date the education subcommittee of ways and means meets, but they will be having a hearing where they're going to be talking through those cuts um in depth. So for folks like student representative RTOR with a very significant interest in the legislature, it might be good viewing. Um you don't have to watch it live, but you can watch it on delay um and you can hear what they're saying. They also had a conversation, my understanding is I haven't watched it during the se September legislative days. That committee met the last week of September and they talked significantly about the [clears throat] um QEM, the quality education

144model and debate about stepping back from that and having lower, if you will, like lowering the expectation. Um, so I think that that might also be interesting for folks to look at as far as the context we are we are in when it comes to education in Oregon. >> I mean, you guys all know my position on state school funding. Um, so I'm definitely in favor of making some, you know, some public gesture as a board. You know, hopefully that will mobilize, you know, more parents to get involved. Um, because, you know, I don't know how many more of these, you know, massive cuts we can take, you know, as as a district. So, >> how good are you with Tik Tok? >> What? >> How good are you with Tik Tok? >> Uh, >>

145JJ used to make us do stuff before we left for the night. >> You know, that's it. >> That's a great question. Maybe maybe that'll be something I'll I'll get on. But we'll see. >> Our most youthful board member is really good at the socials, so maybe [laughter] she can help us out. >> Maybe you. >> Well, that's you. >> DSC elections are coming up. So, one of the people we'll be electing is a media person cuz I'm not the most media savvy person, but I can make do. We'll see. We'll see what happens. So, >> someone in your network is really good. >> Yeah. All my >> Yeah, I'll I'll do my best to try and get get kids out there and get kids involved. So, and stuff like this cuz it really matters,

146you know. Um, I also just um uh wonder how we're going to approach the Jefferson Rising decision-m um and when we'll have an opportunity to talk together to kind of help with making sure that the staff recommendation takes into mind what the board might be thinking or wondering. So, I don't know how or where that could happen. and it could happen at TL, the teaching learning and enrollment committee, but I just kind of wanted to put it out there that um I think it would be great for us to have those conversations and have a bit of a two-way street. I I think that could make sense. So, just put that out there and it's up to the staff to decide on approach, but I think it'd be cool for us to collaborate. >> I

147just want to respond quickly and say yes, we actually have that queued up. Aside from TLE, there'll be some board engagement in December and then there'll be an opportunity for the board to um have a listening session, if you will, [clears throat] too. So, um more information to come at the teaching, learning and enrollment uh committee. >> Is that this week or is that next week? Next Thursday. >> Okay. Is isn't there a um Zoom tomorrow? >> Yes. Yes. Tomorrow is the final district-wide um Zoom for information or at least for the area. And then there's another engagement at SEI for our black and brown communities specific to them hosted by SEI and that's on Friday or Thursday. Sorry, that's on Thursday. >> Yes, I believe that's >> Yeah. And then this may be a

148request for Roseanne. Could you forward us the link for that Zoom meeting? See in the update it said November Thursday, November 5th. I didn't know which one to believe. Thursday or November 5th. So >> it's actually tomorrow. Sorry, it's November 5th. Tomorrow is the virtual Jefferson is rising and then Thursday is the SEI specific event. >> No, I was reading the update so I was like, yeah, I didn't know which one to believe. So thank you. Yeah, I'm looking forward to that. should be on our calendar. >> Anything else? >> I would just like to give us all a pat on the back for ending only 17 minutes behind schedule, which I think is truly impressive for for our board meetings this year. So, pat on the back for that one. >> You're right. >>

149All of us. >> Maybe one of these days we'll end on time. Who knows? >> Yeah. 17 is >> with plus or minus 1 hours on time. All right, with that this meeting is adjourned.