2023/09/19 School Board Meeting

001e e e good evening everyone we'll call the September 19th meeting of the ASD School Board to order it is 6:01 p.m. um we want to welcome you to our meeting and thank you for attending and supporting the work of the anchor school district and School Board the board thanks students parents staff School business partners in the entire Community for your investment in our district with your time your talent and your tax dollars with that said Miss Foster would you please call the role president Bellamy present member Donley here member Higgins member Hollman here member Jacobs present member lesons here member Wilson present student represent ative pack here thank you Mr pack would you please lead us in the flag salute and land acknowledge we acknowledge that we gather here today on the traditional lands

002of the denina people of the upper Cook Inlet for thousands of years the denina people have been and continue to be the stewards of this land ASD is committed to diversity and inclusion and it is with honor and respect that we recognize all indigenous people who live and learn in our community thank you Mr PE uh for any um students in the audience please note the board does try to reserve its front row for um students so please feel free to sit toward he was looking for a move to approve we accept a motion to approve the agenda yes sir move to approve the agenda second made by member Higgins seconded by member lesons any any objection hearing none we have an agenda thank you everyone first up B1 military report we have a military

003report tonight miss Foster okay with that said B2 student representative report Mr PE for Jacobs if I may introduce magaggie cin our stent Advisory Board vice president and up to the front M and I will also be there so I have two things to present today the first of which is our a update or recap of our first student Advisory board meeting which we held last Tuesday in this very B very room and it was a very packed meeting to say the least there were 21 schools present and at least 40 delegates my anchor school district and in this meeting we held an introductory or introduction to what sa is and we went over our Roberts Rules of Order and our Constitution and the mission of sa as well as the resp responsibilities and we

004also had students share the goals of these their schools this year and I will read a [Music] couple here we go so Bartlett for example wanted more active Community engagement and they plan to attend the fall Conference of the Alaska Association of student governments diamond high school also plans to keep their school speared up and henu is RA planning to raise $4,000 throughout the school year and that was just of the 21 ambitious goals of our schools and it was very excited exciting to see the spirit and ambition of our schools and in other news both Maggie and I she is our vice president as I said the student Advisory Board we are both called to attend the in the association of Alaska School boards panel or student panel that took place in the safety

005and wellbeing Summit on September 13th and 14 and we were the two delegates from the anchor School District out of nine student panelists and it was held in The Egan convention center and I believe the students came from schools school districts ranging from chac West Valley and um I think Jun know a Kodiak yeah and in the panel we stood on a stage of the main room and we ask questions on what we believe are the strengths and I guess downsides of our schools and Educators and what is holding us back and what adults and Educators need to hear in our school boards and there was a general theme of a need to Foster meaningful and long-term relationships between teachers and students which calls for a a um need in retaining teachers which seems to

006be a problem throughout the state and a general lack of resources was shared throughout a student panelist and a need for more funding and Maggie if you have anything else to add yeah I just wanted to highlight overall the student panel was actually it was a really fun opportunity just being able to share my own input and my voice but also hear the um hear what other students from different school districts had to say and also one thing I really like to highlight is that like even though we come from like very diverse places from Al um from Alaska with with our different needs and um for each of our school districts we were able to unify and sort of like collectively understand that like we may be different in um tones but we do

007have similar things that we struggle with and that's something that we can unite and like improve on together that concludes our report thank you thank you both do we have board member questions for our Representatives member lessons this would just be a request if you could possibly email us a couple of summaries from that meeting I think it's really valuable to have that student input um front and center in our minds as we uh really engage with a school year all right thank you both Mr chair member raise your hand late and then we'll go to president Bing better late than never right um I I just wanted to share that I had the pleasure of attending the student Advisory board meeting and it was wonderful to see all the participation from all of the

008students rep student representatives from each of the schools I really enjoyed the format that you use teaches each student quite a bit um in regards to moving forward to as as they graduate high school and move on to formal meetings like this so so they're going to be so well prepared but I really enjoy that each of the students had the opportunity to to share their goals and and have that input and and practice that public speaking so really enjoyed that [Music] meeting thank you member Wilson president belly sure thank you Mr chair I just also want to thank Josh and Maggie actually we had uh three uh students that were interested in participating on the panel but there was only room for two and so um I want to thank them and their advisors

009for really making sure that uh we had representation at that uh safe safety and wellness uh conference that was in town and focused on Educators I also would like them to consider and the advisers to consider uh participation uh leaders the the youth leadership Institute that will be coming up in November uh that also provides an opportunity for students to develop their leadership skills uh and to share ideas and dialogue with um other students from around the state so Josh and Maggie you make us proud thank you for your hard work and we love hearing from you guys thank you thank you both all right we have no goal monitoring tonight so we'll move on to item D public comment welcome to the school board's first opportunity of the evening for public comment the board

010has set aside a 1 hour time slot at the beginning of our meeting for public comment public comments in excess of 1 hour will be heard the second opportunity the end of our meeting comments may also be submitted in writing during public comment board members will not answer questions or engaging conversation with the public this is the Public's time to speak and the board's time to listen the school board welcomes the public to observe and contribute to our meetings through their comments however to be productive our meetings must be structured and civil ASD conducts meetings under Robert's Rules of Order a set of rules for orderly meetings that have been in use since the late 1800s those rules require the board and the public to be civil and resp respectful of each other's opinions and

011statements here are a few requirements under Robert's Rules do not attack a member or speaker's motives no profanity or fall language refrain from disturbing the meeting no cheering Applause Outburst or waving of signs or posters if you have handouts that you wish to share with the board please give them to miss Foster who is seated to my left as the chair of this meeting it is my duty to enforce the Rules of Civility and deorum as such and consistent with Robert's Rules of Order I have author the authority to rule any speaker out of order for violations of these rules or failure to conducting themselves in a civil manner additional details and information can be found on the handout located at the door regarding audience participation and rules of our boardroom with that said we

012have two student testifiers who have signed up tonight the first is Lola Whitman and that's via phone yes hi my name is Lola Whitman I'm a I'm in seventh grade I heard that there might be some people coming to your meeting tonight that are going to say really disgusting things about lgbtq kids and families like mine I just wanted to call in and say thank you for standing up for kids like my brother who are transgender and my lgbtq friends I feel like people are trying to make my brother and our friends feel different and scary from everyone else like like they're scary or something's wrong it feels like they want to separate us but we're not different I never saw myself as any different from my brother until people started talking and making a

013big deal about about it we like a lot of the same things we are basically the same person we like macaroons gaming food sleeping in and hanging out with our friends but I can go to the bathroom without people giving me uncomfortable looks and I didn't have to walk to a different bus stop to avoid harassment by kids I could go to pee and hang outside with my friends and eat lunch with my friends and I don't even have any people coming up to me and saying gross and horrible things this is hard um grand kids aren't scary they don't parents kids AR scary they don't want to talk try and turn anyone against their parents they just want to talk go to school and have friends and play sports and not be harassed um

014all of my all of the kids that like to tease and make fun of my brother are way too interested in his body and his identity that's what's scary I I and adults should be the ones helping not making anything worse thank you for your time thank you Miss Whitman our next student testifier is Charlie Banning in [Music] person welcome Charlie you have three minutes when you're ready um hi my name is Charlie and I'm a freshman at Stellar secondary school I'm excited but like a little bit nervous to be speaking in front of you today but as Audrey lord said when we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard or welcomed but when we are silent we are still afraid so it is better to speak so I'm here to speak

015up I'm a military kid I came out as queer and trance in fifth grade while living in Ohio over the next two years I was bled for my identity when I was in school other kids constantly called me slur and made derogatory comments this happened during class in between Class during lunch after school it was endless while I had a couple of teachers who supported me the majority of the teachers and and administrators did nothing the whole culture of School along with being a Target led me to struggle with body issues self harm and anxiety on top of my gender dysphoria over those two years I lost multiple friends as I Found the courage to express my true self despite how hard Ohio was I was terrified to move here because I didn't know what

016to expect my family and I had researched schools and spaces where I would feel safe and we landed on Stellar Stellar has been the first first place outside of my family where I was finally able to be myself without worrying how I would be treated I was finally Charlie not Charlie trans kid I for the first time in my life found people who understanded what it's like to be a kid like me the reason I'm sharing that with you today is because over the past few months my family has been very aware of the anti-tr legislation and policies that if put into place will change my school experience I have watched what what has happened in the Matsu Valley and I feel very anxious and afraid of this happening in Anchorage feeling safe and affirmed

017at school has allowed me to feel free more engaged with my classes and able to focus on on things outside of my trans identity I hope that you will continue to stand up for kids like me everyone deserves to read books play sports use the restroom and confide in trusted adults everyone deserves to feel safe valued and affirmed at school thank you for your time thank you for your testimony our that concludes our student testimony we'll move to community speakers our first Speaker signed up is Kaylee Loven via phone have can everyone hear me yes you have three minutes please uh so my name is Kaye Laughin and my children are proud students at Eagle Academy Charter School the academic Powerhouse not only of our district but also of our state uh Eagles Academy's Foundation

018is built upon a commitment to maintaining a smaller class sizes ensuring that no class exceeds 26 students regrettably this year's fifth grade math class consists of a staggering 33 students violation of our school's own bylaws what's even more troubling is the division within this class one group receives live instruction like the remaining of the rest of the school K through five while another group consisting of advanced students is relegated to watching pre-recorded covid era videos and working independently this division disrupts a learning environment and deprives our Advanced students of the teacher student interaction they deserve the root cause of this problem lies in the prioritization of Middle School electives over the needs of our elementary students students Eagle Academy recently expanded their school to move sixth grade to 8ighth grade this past year without the

019space accommodating all of our students it begs the question why are Middle School electives being given presidence over core educational requirements within the elementary school why is the quality of Education compromised for a group of dedicated Advanced fifth grade students I must emphasize that myself a large group of families have brought this issue to the attention of the school's principal and the academic policy board is is perecent to see the academic board focus on trivial matters while fundamental disparities persist ignoring their own bylaws today I implore you members of the school board to be champions for all students who rightfully deserve equal educational opportunities I urge you to take immediate action one conduct a thorough review of these practices and bylaw violations two Rectify these issues promptly by addressing staff hiring classroom assignments and priorities

020within the school three allocate the necessary resources to ensure Eagle Academy Charter School m Ms a tradition of academic excellence and dominance active in collaborative efforts within the academic policy board and the families of affected students to urgently find a solution our children's future should never be compromised due to an oversight and providing the quality education they undeniably deserve we look to you to ensure that Eagle Academy remains a beacon of educational Excellence not just in our district but in our state I appreciate your time and your commitment to our children's future and your pivotal role in creating a just and Equitable educational environment thank you thank you for your testimony our next speaker is Jim miny welcome Mr mening you have three minutes please begin when you're ready hi my name is Jim miny

021I'm the president of group called Alaska family Council we're a public policy organization that represents um alaskans uh thousands of alaskans across the state I went to Lake hotas Elementary school went to wler Junior High and graduated from East Anchorage High School in 1983 lived here my entire life we're here today basically um including lots of people that are in the the room right now to ask the anchor School Board to consider a policy that's being adopted across the country I'll read it to you quickly the rights of parents guardians of District students include but are not limited to the following to be notified within three school days when their child request to be identified as a gender other than the child's bi local sex or gender request to use a name that differs from

022their legal name other than a commonly recognized nickname or to use pronouns that do not align with a child's biological sex or gender request access to sex segregated school programs and activities or bathrooms or changing facilities that do not align with the child's biological sex or gender notification shall be made by the classroom teacher counselor or site administrator such notification shall only be delayed up to 48 hours to fulfill mandated reporter requirements when a staff member and conjunction with the site administrator determines based on credible evidence that such notification may result in substantial Jeopardy to the child's safety that last sentence is really important because the way we've um uh progressed quote unquote in our culture today is If the parents do not actively affirm proactively affirm that child's transition to another sex supposed transition

023then that's considered abuse in fact many of you may know that there are two states that we know of now Washington and California that will actually um uh report parents to the equivalent of OCS as abusing that child if they are not fully supportive and affirming of that child's transition and so of course that is what many schools I believe including the anchor School District are doing now and holding information from parents we're here to say enough is enough the reality is I just interviewed someone today on my podcast a group called gays against grooming it's only members of the LGBT community so if you happen to try to tell yourselves that this is a conservative versus a progressive thing it's not it's a parental rights issue fundamentally you don't have the right to keep

024information separate from parents of course if there's some kind of a danger in the home no one would want that child to have to be um you know subject to that this is not about that this is whether or not schools have the right to keep information separate from parents usually what we've seen in three different um I guess I'm out of time here thank you for your time I appreciate it we're going to be relentless and the people are awake thank you thank you for your testimony our next speaker is Timothy Mar good evening I'm Tim Barto from Eagle River and I am also with Alaska family Council I'm here to speak on the topic of parental rights tonight government institutions which include Public Schools do not have the right to keep information about

025a child from that child's parents a government that intervenes in the moral UPR of a child by asserting or even encouraging values that are contradictory to those of a parents is putting the government above and in place of the family and family is the most important structure in the society when tyrannical governments want to subjugate a population they drive wedges [Music] between am I on okay sorry about that in the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany children were encouraged report support family members including their parents if those me family members beliefs were not in line with Marxist or fascist ideologies there's a very telling scene in a movie called The Killing Fields which shows the brutal oppression of Cambodian citizens by the communist cimar Rouge the scene takes place in in a re-education camp and a

026young girl is called up to a Blackboard and on the Blackboard is a drawing of stick figures a father a mother three children holding hands the child knows what she is supposed to do she puts an ex through the parents through the mother and father and she erases the line the holding hands of the mother and the daughters and the symbolism is obvious State and party ideology have authority over the family now these are extreme examples of governments exercising their authority over families but the basic principle is the same these governments want above all else to have Universal unquestioned allegiance to the ideologies and the key is an indoctrinating youth these totalitarian governments were convinced they knew what was best for the greater good and they not the parents not the families would be the

027enforcers of morality for the collective and this is what is happening when school districts exclude parents from knowing what is going on with their children it's a gross usurpation of parental rights children belong to their families not school districts or teachers parents in a free Society make the rules and set the moral standards for their families it is certainly not the job of schools to impose sexual morals on students and it is never proper for public schools to keep important information about a student's mental or emotional health from parents it is fully understandable to have a confidential conversation with a child when there's obvious reason to believe that physical or even sexual abuse is occurring in the home but the fear that a parent might not agree with a child's decision to identify as a

028member of the opposite sex is not a valid reason it is not abuse for parents to expect their sons to act like boys or their daughters to act like girls and it's no no business of a teacher school counselor admin ministrator superintendent or board to act as if it is thank you thank you for your testimony our next speaker is Judy Ellen okay um so folks to in order to get through our list of speakers most efficiently we need to withhold Applause for now um our next speaker again is Judy ellich Judy are you still here great welcome you have three minutes please begin when you're ready thank you uh Mr President and board members for this opportunity to testify tonight on what parental rights means to me and I hope to you also most

029of you are familiar with the terms Dei which of course is the acronym for diverse equity and inclusion my definitions might somewhat differ from yours but in respect for all parents I hope you will consider my testimony when deciding on policy that affects the children in our schools as a former school teacher and principal as is President bamy I assure you until recently Educators understood the importance of parental rights and tonight I will discuss those rights using that same Dei model the first word is diversity I am sure that we can all agree diversity is much more than the color of one's skin diversity should also be the consideration of one's thoughts based on their culture and beliefs when writing policy are you considering all parents that have children in your schools many of us

030here tonight do not believe your diversity scope has been as inclusive as it should be but rather narrow in scope and who defines that diversity a parent an activist group or an elected official our diversity is who we are as people secondly the word equity which means to have seems to have replaced the word equality in our world This concerns me greatly because I I see Equity as it is used today as a very racist word itself as a classroom teacher of many years I tried I strive to treat every student that walked into my classroom equally my expectations were the same for all equity on means the minute I would mean the minute I saw a child of color low socioeconomic background or different walk into my classroom I would somehow see them not

031as capable as the others and immediately lower my expectations what would be more bigoted than to think that of course I did everything in my power to ensure every student reached their potential and felt safe and never did I make excuses or lower expectations because of who they were or where they came from finally is the word inclusive it seems to be everywhere today but in efforts to be inclusive to one group have we not been inclusive of others are we in inclusive and respectful for all uh respectful of all our diverse thoughts beliefs and cultures who are we to say who those uh what those beliefs and thoughts should be who decides my beliefs and those of the children of my children how do you decide they are wrong it is this not the

032number one responsibility of parents as many of you are aware myself and others who have stood up for our diverse values and beliefs have been labeled some very unkind words so I leave you with these thoughts these questions tonight what makes your definition of parental rights correct and those thank you for your testimony Miss ell our next speaker is Gregory balam finished my sentence that would be Qui thank you you can provide your full comments to miss Foster if you'd like my welcome you have three minutes you can begin when you're ready sir I hope you're doing well the last time I was up here I was um trying to get Northwood Elementary going and I had a lot of support from the school board tonight um I've been part of the district for 27

033years after I got done as a teacher and got done as a principal I uh have spent the last five or six years as a substitute I believe in what the Anchorage School District does I really believe in being a part of whatever way I can um I've thought that education properly done was a three-legged stool with the teacher on one side and the student on the other parent on the other I know some principals sometimes see the parents and the teacher looking at them like that you know it's not we're we're all equal Partners in that education and um the most important one I ever had was not as a teacher it was as a parent I was a parent of four kids and four kids gone through the school district at this time

034uh any school district is a challenge but I was on my knees a lot and I continue to be I've got one grandchild and I've got another on the way um these are the Delights of my life I uh am striving for to see the Anchorage School District uphold their definition of parent parental rights that says parents are full Partners in their child's education and um are involved as appropriate in decision making to a assist in the education of their child what is more I as I was a principal you could not give out an aspirin uh without involving the parent uh much less um something that is going to impact their life forever so I'm um asking you to consider some type of language that will help protect um our parents ability to know

035what's going on in their kids' lives um so that's my my comment from tonight thank you for your testimony our next speaker is Joshua Smith okay Joshua Smith following Joshua Smith will be Lindsay Banning absolutely Joshua please begin when you're ready so we've heard from a lot of parents tonight and that's really important but honestly a perspective we haven't heard from uh is actually queer people and the two uh students that spoke up I have to commend them on their strength because that's not an easy position to be in but my perspective is I was that queer kid that barely made it to adulthood because what so many people are missing is being that queer kid I grew up in a small town here in Alaska as a queer kid and there was no safe

036place at home there was no safe place at school and that is such a profoundly lonely place and so not being able to go to school and have that safe place I just isolated myself further and it resulted in me going to bed most nights hoping I never woke up and that's something that now being an adult and after mult after several attempts on my life the fact that I'm still here is honestly remarkable but the fact that it's 2023 and kids are finally finding their safe place because realistically schools don't have the power to control home life with these kids every student's home life is unique but what they can control is creating a safe learning environment for every student where they feel safe and where they belong and so in 2023 it's so

037encouraging as that queer kid that barely made it to adulthood seeing these kids find that safety in school and so we keep hearing parents need to hear about when uh something changes with these kids as that queer kid if somebody would have outed me if I would have if my school would have found out and told my parents I would have walked off into the woods and nobody would have ever found me it's something that kids when they are different they know that they're different but they may not always know that it's okay that they're different and so um the fact that the schools are creating a safe environment for these kids to know that they belong and guess what when the kids are ready they will talk to their parents and so the real

038question to the parents out there is you're worried about your kid going to school and coming home with a new pronoun or a new orientation well you're worried about the schools creating a safe environment for these kids to be themselves because something they probably known about themselves a significant portion of their lives but if you're worried about your kid going to school and learning something new about themselves maybe you should be promoting more of a loving affirming uh environment at home so your kids come to you and talk to you first because as that queer kid it's not easy I didn't come out to my parents until I was 2020 or until I was 22 and my parents loved me but I grew up in that small community so in I my challenge to parents

039is maybe check your biases check what like what you think you know maybe some of your ignorance do some research and maybe promote that tolerance and that loving environment for all kids regardless of how they present or who they are because if worse comes to worse your kid knows that you love them from the bottom of your heart and that's it but realistically if there is a trans kid or a queer kid that could save their lives so blaming the schools for creating the safe environment that is misguided I am thankful that the anchor School District continues to support the all kids and the inclusion of all kids and the safety of all kids so and for all the queer kids out there just know that we are proud of you you belong and you

040are going to change the world in the most amazing ways so thank you thank you for your testimony our next speaker is lindsy B after Miss Benning will be uh Daniel leblan um Lindsay you can begin when you're ready you have three minutes thanks good evening thank you for allowing us to speak tonight my name is Dr Lindsay Banning I'm part of an active duty military family and a licensed clinical psychologist I'm the parent of two kids one of whom is trans and you heard from tonight both of my kids are students in Anchorage public schools before I begin I want to just acknowledge how hard it is to be a parent of a trans kid sitting here and listening to other people um question the decisions that we make to my lgbtq peers and

041especially my trans kid and friends and family I see you I hear you and we're going to keep fighting for you I'm here today to gently remind the board that Alaskan families like mine particularly those of us with trans kids need your continued support in 2023 there have already been 568 anti-trans bills introduced across 49 States including Alaska these bills are designed to prevent trans folks from receiving basic health care education legal recognition and just simply the right to exist these are dark times for families like mine Every Day brings another attack on our our kids human rights and dignity as parents we watch politicians and community members chip away at our child's right to access health care be called by their pronouns use the bathroom that aligns with their gender play sports read books

042and when we show up to fight for their rights we're forced to drink from a fire hose of vitriol spewed spewed by folks who use slurs and misinformation to debate the very existence of my child Meanwhile my kid just wants to go to school hang out with their friends use the bathroom you know the basics it feels both endless and hopeless and yet I've seen how one supportive Ally one encouraging coach one safe classroom can dramatically shift the moment the week the year for my kid I've watched my child walk into a new school in a new state as a military brat and be utterly transformed from an anxious heavily guarded shell of a person to an expansive confident engaged leader because of one affirming teacher I've watched my child move from being a victim

043of bullying to advocating for their peers because of the tone set in their school by one affirming principle I've watched my child shift from a place of fear isolation and exclusion to one of Pride wonder and joy because of one beautifully written affirming queer novel all of this matters all of it the bathrooms the schools the sports the teachers the books the policies the tone it all matters particularly to kids like mine every student in the Anchorage School District deserves to grow and Thrive and it's crucial we actively work to create environments that allow all kids trans kids included to feel safe supported seen and celebrated thank you for working diligently to ensure this happens thank you for your testimony our next speaker is Daniel LeBlanc followed by Kim miny welcome you have three minutes

044please begin when you're ready thank you Mr President and board a tough job you guys got appreciate it my little girl just uh started kindergarten and it was with great joy that the other day she read her first sentence to me that's uh exciting to me what's exciting to me is school education and I appreciate the anchor School District I was born in Anchorage went to to Clark Ric and west and what concerns me is that parents have the right to be informed you know I don't want to beat up people I don't want to you know condemn people I don't want to belittle people and I don't people have the right to choice right to choose what they want and that's what I'm Desiring as a parent just the right to know what's happening

045to my little girl she's precious very active in her education very active in her development and I would appreciate it's the anchor School Board what the parents know what's happening not hiding stuff from us there are kids I've invested remember the first time she she ran over to me like a 2-year-old and she grabbed my food like that was something totally different to me you know I thought about it you know what she gets the best that I have gets the best food I have she gets the best time I have you know as a parent I'm concerned and I love her and I just desire to be informed that parents be informed what's happening with their child thank you for your service thank you for your testim our next speaker is kenary followed by

046morning Crumley not sing Kary Morin Crumley our next speaker followed by Kathy beroy hi thank you my name is Moren Crumley um I'm a mother of four kids uh raised here in Anchorage they went to Huffman golden View and South um I was very happy to see Greg Bal here uh he was significant we moved up here from Northern Virginia in the middle of the year and a um difficult transition and um his teaching techniques and being in his classroom really helped my son who was in the fifth grade at that time um really not only get a good education but be exposed to a math um um lesson plan that helped him and I thought was absolutely when when I found out about it I was I was really pleased so it was a

047great um experience coming in in the middle of a year experience of that in the Anchorage school um being a mother of four kids has been the greatest privilege of my life and those relationships are beyond anything I could have ever imagined I would ask you please to respect the parents rights to know what's going on in their kids life whether it's good or bad accepting the policy that informs parents of of of a child you know what are they going through they're going through a hard time and for me the most important I mean it's a god-given um it's god-given rate it's a natural it's part of natural law to want to love your children to be part of their life to care for them and whether it's good or bad because it's not

048all good I mean I had four okay I had four kids I know it's not all good and there's hard times and I would be heartbroken if I wasn't able to be there for them and sometimes it was difficult even when they went away to school there was times that I would hear about things that I would just so much want to be there and today even you know telling them that I was going to be here coming to talk to you and and it's really the driving force of being a mother and wanting that relationship with children that I think is universal and it's it's it's built in all of our souls and it's here you know it's there for us so please consider the informed consent to parents um it is it is

049a difficult time I can understand that but I wouldn't want to be deprived the good times or the difficult times with my kids so thank you so much for your time I appreciate it thank you thank you for your testimony our next speaker is Kathy bero followed by Jay McDonald you have three minutes please begin when you're [Music] ready I'm Kathy beroy I was born here in Anchorage I have three children they're all adults the youngest turned 18 last month um I am here to support parent rights and I agree with prior testimony from Jim miny and Greg Balco 25 years ago kids were taught to not trust people who want to keep secrets from parents now in some school districts parents are the bad guys and information is being withheld please trust that parents

050know their kids very well and have their best interests at heart they are our kids to raise according to our values according to our the best job we can parents want to do the best job they can with their kids they are our kids not yours and don't keep secrets from us thank you thank you for your testimony our next speaker is J McDonald followed by John fenningham you have three minutes you can begin when you're ready good evening my name is Jay McDonald and I'm from the unseeded American land known as Anchorage I'm here tonight to put you on notice you may be complacent in the knowledge that Alaska state courts are biased in your favor but your policy of secretly transitioning children and hiding it from parents was just tested in federal courts

051in the case of marabelli versus Olen the court observed that and in quote the United States Supreme Court has dored ly and repeatedly declared that parents have a right grounded in the Constitution to direct the Education Health and upbringing and to maintain the well-being of their own children in Troxel V Granville from 2000 the court remarked the quote it's another quote the custodial parent has a constitutional right to determine without undue interference by the state how to best raise nurture and educate the child the parental right stems from the Liberty protected by the due process clause of the 14th Amendment end quote the court went on to conclude that the school's policy is a trifecta of harm and this is a quote it harms the child who needs Parental Guidance and possibly mental health intervention

052to determine if the in congruence is organic or whether it is the result of bullying peer pressure or a fleeting impulse it harms the parents by depriving them of a long recognized 14th Amendment right to care guide and make Healthcare decisions for their children and finally it harms teachers who are compelled to violate the parents rights by forcing teachers to conce steal information they feel is critical for the welfare of their students violating teachers religious beliefs end quote the school district that fought your fight was found responsible for 850 billable hours at a rate of $1,200 for a total of $ 1,20,000 make no mistake my friends there are many eyes at law firms that are hungry for Easy Money these eyes are turning towards you they see you they see what you're doing and

053all the case workk has already been done for them what you're doing is unconstitutional you're violating your oath of office you're betraying The Trusted parents and you're causing a great harm to the children in your care and you're running on borrowed time thank you thank you for your testimony our next speaker is John Cunningham followed by Linda Bird Mr Cunningham either one you have three minutes you can begin when you're ready hi my name is John Cunningham sorry I'm late I had to walk up here hey Pat hey um so I noticed a couple of folks call in and testify and they've mentioned that they were part of the lgbtq community as kids and uh they were able to go through this process with the support of their parents their Educators and the administrators around

054[Music] them so this is a a bridge between two cultures so what we're supposing now what this body may be supposing as I understand it is uh one group is going to get uh the parents are on board the administrators are on board the UC educators are on board with this changing culture the student is engaging in uh that's not everybody's culture right there are hundreds of different languages spoken in the school district several uh different variations of culture some of that culture is religious in nature some of it is secular but all of it belongs to the parent the parent and the family dictate the culture of that family unit if the child is being diverted then the parent should be known should be made that should be made known to the parent um

055the same way it was for these students that came up here and testified that they are part of this community those parents got that uh they got that luxury they got that courtesy we are now presupposing that parents that do not buy into that culture that are not part of uh do not want a part of that Heritage that want their own culture we're now presupposing that they're not allowed to have this information right up front they're guilty until well they're guilty before they're even uh given a chance to work with their kids work with administrators you don't know what you're going to hear to the guy who left would be here 20 something years old you finally came after to your parents and it turns out they loved you all the time what a

056sad thing to figure out when you're 20 I get it it's rough this is complicated this involves humans but at the end of the day the humans that you need to be looking out for right now are the parents the parents are the leaders of the family unit it's a no-brainer so instead of simply presupposing that the parents do not deserve this information up front it would probably be wise for these uh this body to instead understand that the parents need that information right away same as if you had to give the kid an albuterol inhaler because yeah has having chest problems or if you wanted to throw him an aspirin it's a no-brainer that's it thank you for your testimony our next speaker is Linda Bird followed by Sandra Bloomfield welcome you have three

057minutes you can begin when you're ready thank you for allowing me to be here and thank you for the work that you do and come to support the school board and and want to support the students and want to support the teachers especially um uh my background is 35 years in higher education I was at the University of Washington for 10 years and University of Anchorage I Alaska Anchorage uh for 25 years and I started at Apu when I first came up for um about six months or so and then I went over to the University of Alaska uh I've served as um um Vice Chancellor of student affairs the professor of Graduate School of Education taught graduate school Education and Leadership and um this to me is all about leadership and I don't think

058leadership comes from passing um um new um reasons to do stuff I think I think I I heard the kids tonight and they're pleading for help and I think we can um support our students whoever they are by helping them learn their values and relationships and um nurture that with love and stuff that you don't talk about in the schools necessarily but I know that that works and the literature that is going on with the this agenda is not right you you can't remove parents from um having any say in their their children's education and and personhood um it doesn't work that way and it would be a real sad thing I would really be sad if anything like that happens because it's not right I think there's other ways to attack all of this

059and not the way we're doing it with this with the agenda so I don't uh approve the uh removing parental rights I I believe in relationships and values and rights of the students and there's natural laws that provide that if we just get down to looking at who we are what we want and then to come together in love and in Justice not Injustice in Justice um so that we have uh the students working together so thank you for allowing me to be here and um Good Fortune thank you for your testimony our next speaker is L uh Sandra Bloomfield followed by Ray Crockin good evening and thank you for listening to all of us my name is Sandra blumfield and I'm here to tell you that parental rights are about trust when we send

060our children to school we trust that they're going to get an education Reading Writing mathematics and social studies but that's the only social issue that you need to concern yourselves with these kids come from a home and if teachers are truly worried that kids that are LBGTQ plus are going to be ostracized in their home or treated poorly there's a mechanism for that and that's the opposite of children's services it is not the responsibility of the school board so the trust has been violated here for parents and that's the way most of us feel here this evening I was born here before Alaska became a state I went to Lake Godus Wendler and East High School I'm not going anywhere and you might take a look at the legal case of 1994 blomfield versus asaa

061ASD and the Department of Education because when you violate our trust we're not going to put up with it so I want you to think clearly about what you do and the decisions that you make because these parents aren't going anywhere thank you for your testimony our next speaker is Ray brenberg followed by Gabby I good even welcome you have three minutes please begin when you're ready U my name is Ron kenberg as you got the message and I'm a longtime resident of Alaska Fairbanks anre mostly anre I've got three boys love them all I got a beautiful wife from UM a different country it doesn't really matter I know what diversification is I'm hoping that you guys remember what diversification is and I'm hoping that you guys remember what's going on here we have

062concerned parents because we are concerned I'm awake I want to give my kids hugs I want to give them uh the God's hands that he gave me to to bring people in but it's also knowing that I can push away with it too when you're not doing the right thing and I feel like I need to push on you guys right now you need to make the right clear decision about our children an old joke you know if you don't have parents you won't never have any kids and I don't know if that's really a good joke because without parents there are no children that's where we are on the pecking order on top we are the parents we care what you guys do been doing a good job for a lot of years in

063the past I don't know so well about the last few it's been terrible the last few and I want to let you know that I'm awake I don't need to say too much I don't really have a a plan of what I need to do I just have my values and my core beliefs in God we trust thank you thank you than you for your testimony our next speaker is Gabby ID followed by Marie Rena welcome you have three minutes you can begin when you're ready good evening thank you um my name is Gabby Ed I have three children in the school district a ninth grader a seventh grader and a first grader um I am deeply concerned about the the way that the Anchorage school district has created um inside of policy and outside

064of policy separating children from their parents and so I'm here today to address some of the concerns of people not just um sitting here on the School District board but also uh children who fear um for for safety about those who may not may not agree with their life choices um I think every child should feel safe should feel loved um should have a um a safe place to go at all times um I don't believe that that includes comfort and so sometimes we have to have difficult and uncomfortable conversations in order to do what's best for our children and as a parent I do that on a very regular basis and I do that with love I do that with Clarity um I do that with um curiosity and uh I do that with

065a plan and I do that with my community I'm asking the school board to do the same thing you have a community a very very healthy community of parents who want the best for their children they cannot provide that if they don't have information that comes to the school before it comes to us I grew up in this town as a I I grew up in the school district um I graduated from service high school and I can tell you my mother and father were very loving I my they were divorced when I was young and they were both very loving parents and I definitely didn't go to them first and I am so grateful for the teachers who stepped in on my behalf to create an environment where my parents understood what was going

066on with me so that we could have good conversations so that I could get clear direction from my loving parents whom as a child I didn't trust at the time and I can tell you uh raising a teenager now that my son doesn't always trust me because he hasn't learned everything there is to know about trust he doesn't have the same um life experiences that we do as adults and as adults in these children's lives we need to bring information that um the school district may get to before we do to the parents because we're raising we're with them day in and day out we spend infinitely number of hours more with them than the school does we know them we love them we care for them and we deserve to know what's going on

067with them thank you thank you for your testimony our next speaker is Mary Retta followed by Teresa waser either one welcome you have three minutes please begin when you're ready hi thank you everyone this is only about the second time I've done this so I'm pretty nervous about being in front of people speaking but I wanted to weigh in to the topic uh I was an engineer at Boeing and retired with them if little bit of my background grew up in a military family I moved up here a year and a half ago from Los Angeles where I retired and I would like to um say that I'm married a man who has several grandkids that we have several grandkids and and I want to I also got a master's degree in Psychology where I

068worked as a substitute teacher in in Los Angeles so I was in the school district and I did see where kids that could be sixth grade could go and get an abortion with their teachers permission and there's their grandkids for the parents they won't even see those grandkids because they aborted them I mean that's some of the stuff I did see in Los Angeles that was going on there I don't want to see that kind of thing where there's that much of a a a degreg of the family here um as a master's degreed person in Psychology and family child counseling the family unit is the fundamental of our society and we really need to keep that intact and that's what I have to say about it that I want to keep the parents intact

069with the children thank you thank you for your testimony our next speaker is Teresa waser followed by Dustin Dart welcome you have three minutes please begin when you're ready thank you hi my name is Teresa wager um my husband and I have two children who went through the Anchorage school district one of them graduated in 2017 the other in 2020 uh from East High School um I'm here today just to talk about the wonderful experience that our kids had in the Anchorage School District they developed friendships with teachers and staff members and administrators that they still have today it was a wonderful amazing experience for our kids it wasn't always wonderful and with some of their behavior but it was good it was a good process we were always allowed the opportunity to know when

070our kids were sick when they were Hardy for class when they weren't showing up for class we had the the communication with the teachers and with the administration when our kids were struggling with a class with another teacher with with other students we were always informed about that we were kept a breast of what was going on in their in their lives at school so I find it kind of strange that when children are struggling with their Identity or with their their feelings their their feeling different that the schools the teachers the administrators the nurses wouldn't want to involve the parents in those conversations the home is the foundation for a child I know not all homes are great believe me my husband taught in this school district for many years there's a lot of

071diversity and a lot of anger and abuses that go on but to keep that from overpowering we need that we we as parents need to know I don't know if it's our right to know necessarily but we need to know so that we can provide what we need to for our children and our families kind of a sidebar here real quick um our daughter was unfortunately exposed to a student who was a male in the locker room in middle school and it devastated her it she was fearful it was awful and it's not like we want to diss on people people who have different feelings about who they are and what they're what they're aspiring to but it shouldn't be at the expense of the of the other children that are there also thank you

072thank you for your testimony our next speaker is Dustin Garden followed by Ryan Maxwell hello my name is Dustin Darden um thank you uh for your service congratulations on the new appointment Mr Barrett for the a new position so I do have some um current information I wanted to brief you on uh fizer uh launched its Cod vaccine which was called a vaccine which never was uh in March 30th 2021 months after the public roll out of the so-called Cod vaccine the United States and the United Kingdom fiser emitted its vaccine was still being studied long-term effects of the vaccine were not known efficacy of the vaccine was not known and the possible adverse effects were not known there's a a document I encourage everyone to look up it's the fiser manufacturing Supply agreement very

073current and it's recently released you look that up 5.5 page 21 it says purchase acknowledgement purchaser acknowledges the vaccine and materials related to the vaccine and the components constituents materials being rapidly developed due to the emergency circumstances of covid-19 pandemic will continue to be studied and the provisions of the vaccine purchased under the agreement further acknowledg that the long-term effects of the vaccine are not currently known and that there may be adverse effects the vaccine that are currently known further to the extent applicable the perch acknowledges that the products shall not be serialized now earlier in time you may recall that Mr Carl Jacobs and others were served a ceasing assist of the administration of the biological weapons that you're marking as a vaccine this was served to you live on camera August 3rd 2021

074which anyone can search carrying on you were then issued a private person arrest form live on camera with the case number 21- 29176 in the furtherance of your conspira uh activities now with the knowledge knowing that this so-called vaccine which was falsely represented as a biological agent from the bottom of my heart I come to you in peace and ask for you to wholeheartedly stop cease and assist all coercive op uh opportunities you are making on these children for judgment is coming like Mr uh forest was saying earlier um I've been hanging out in the federal courts and the state courts and I'm coming for you thank you for your testimony our next speaker is Ryan Maxwell followed by Sarah heden yeah uh thank you for the time to speak um as others have said

075I am very nervous right now so I apologize for stuttering um yeah for those uh who spoke up earlier um um from the lgbtq community um talking about being ridiculed um I of course that that is not okay and I'm sorry that that has happened no one I don't think anyone in this room believes that that is okay that we should be ridiculing people for whatever reason um having said that um I would think some of my um perspective could be very helpful um I actually have lived over in the Middle East for several years of my own accord not not military but as a student over there in countries that are uh by and large are recognized as terrorist countries so places that even like church buildings and things get blown up um by

076terrorists um but in this Region's like one of the things that I saw that was absolutely shocking to me was as I walked around in the neighborhood and you know make friends with the locals like you see little kids is like 5 years old walking around without parent supervision at all and they're just going up to the B the to store and they're um you know giving money to buy stuff and what I'm getting with that is the level of trust in these communities is UN unparalleled compared to America right now America our trust is completely dissolved there is no trust anywhere which is why in Anchorage there you will never ever see a young child walking around by himself for fear that that child will get raped or get kidnapped or whatever so what

077I'm saying is yes there are issues there are issues with you know families we people people have issues so of course there's going to be um you know there's going to be parents that are going to be not nice to their kids as there always has been um since the beginning of time but um breaking down trust even more by not informing parents that that in my view that leads to more destruction of trust more disunity more yeah dissolving of the trust barrier which makes up strong communities um so again I would I would say that we really need to look at these countries that have been known as terrorist countries and say actually they have something that we don't which is strong family units um that are um that they do trust each other

078um so yeah that's what I have to say so thank you for listening thank you for your testimony our next speaker is Sarah Hedman followed by Stacy and all we have is the last initial of C Sarah you have three minutes please begin when you're ready welcome thank you for this three minutes for me good evening L and gentlemen I hope my voice is okay and my English that you will understand if I turn my uh original original language for this three minutes I don't think everybody will understand so my question was I first of all I'm Asian ameran I original from Hong Kong and I moved here it been 18 years so far let me ask you guys question what is kids I am also a independent child care provider myself um I believe

079God create only two gender men and male I mean man is male right female is woman I think that is all simple I don't know what to organize my speaking right now I'm kind of nervous but I do not B down for what I stand I'm supporting parents right that do not support the LGB lgbtq I a so it's long alphabet for me and it's hard to understand what is exactly less to be gay and whatever the rest of those term for me but um I have one minute left and this three minutes is cherish for me to speak to all you guys as a grow up adult in this room I don't want you guys confuse the little kids I don't have children my own but doesn't mean I don't like children and I

080don't love them I cherish them all as individual boys and girls I don't want they get confused by the adult misleading them you are not who they are and I understand the struggle if they have a trans transgender kids that they want to survive in this Society but the point is I am also a TX [Music] prayer um myself and I'm not just focus on children benefit I'm also asking you guys taking care of my test daugh prayer con Constitution to you as a school system I personally did not did not agree to support the agenda for this uh transgender will be take place in school thank you thank you for your testimony our final speaker tonight is St all we can make out is the last initial of C welcome you have three minutes

081please begin when you're ready hi thank you for allowing me to speak my name is Stacy Lang l n g I am a mother of an elementary age boy and the purpose of my being here tonight is to express my support of parental rights and my deep concern regarding the promotion of gender ideology that is permeating public schools Across the Nation including ASD and 2017 the American College of Pediatricians stated that gender ideology harms children and urged healthc Care Professionals Educators and legislators to reject all policies that condition children to accept as normal a life of chemical and surgical impersonation of the opposite sex the ACP went on to state that conditioning children into believing that a lifetime of chemical and surgical impersonation of the opposite sex is normal and healthful is child abuse endorsing

082gender Discord through public educ and legal policies confuses children and parents leading more children to present to gender clinics where they will be given puberty blocking drugs this in turn virtually ensures that they will choose a lifetime of carcinogenic and otherwise toxic cross- seex hormones and likely consider unnecessary unnecessary surgical mutilation of their healthy body parts as young as adults what compassionate and reasonable person would condemn young children to this fate knowing that after puberty as many as 88% of girls and 98% of boys will eventually accept reality and achieve a state of mental and physical health gender ideology that is currently being promoted by ASD has no place in this district and yet it is in this district and it it's because of the policies that you all have passed that there is gender

083dysphoria amongst children as young as five as young as five and now you are telling us that we have no right and having conversations with our children over the past year I've been getting emails from the superintendent asking are there ways suggestions that you can provide feedback on to increase enrollment yes stop with the indoctrination of gender ideology and CRT in schools and get back to the basics thank you thank you for your testimony that concludes our public testimony portion of our agenda we will move on to section e consent agenda uh board members is there anyone who wishes to pull an item from the consent agenda for discussion Mr President member Donley I'd like to pull um memorandum 037 that's item number six all right we'll move that to action item F2 is there

084any other member who wishes to pull an item from the consent agenda hearing seeing none is there a motion to approve the consent agenda as amended move to approve the consent agenda as amended second made by member Hollman seconded by member hickin is there any objection to passing the asent the consent agenda as amended hearing seeing none the consent agenda has been passed we'll move on to action items uh F1 student hearing what is the will of the board would accept either a motion to approve or a motion to uh table I move to table a second second made by member leson seconded by member Wilson will there be objection okay um absent any objection the motion to table passes [Music] unanimously moving on to action item F2 two memo number ASD memorandum number 037

085approval of aasb B smart resolution um is there a motion to approve for discussion move to approve the motion second made by member hman seconded by member Higgins uh member dony you pulled this item do you have discussion thank you U Mr President um I appreciate the work that was done in committee on this resolution regarding um gun safety and gun violence um and I appreciate the Amendments that were done in the committee level but there's one remaining uh item of concern for me and that's on the first page uh at the very last paragraph where it reads in Alaska violence due to Firearms is the number one cause of death for children and teens ages 0 to 19 in Alaska I don't I I believe once again the same issue that I raised at

086the committee level I don't think the violence is due to Firearms it's due to people misusing firearms and I would move to amend to remove the due2 and replace that with involving so that the new sentence would re violence involving Firearms is another one cause of death for children and teens um ages 0 through 19 in Alaska is there a second second made by member Don second by member Higgins just a moment to confirm with Miss Foster we have that [Music] change yes remove the words do to and replace with involving to read violence involving Firearms is the number one cause of death for children and teens Etc is there additional discussion member lessons yeah I'm going to object to that uh Amendment nationally four and 4.6 million American children live in households with at

087least one loaded unlock firearm every year more than 700 youth under the age 18 die by gun suicide and 350 unintentionally shoot themselves or someone else the number of Children's deaths by firearms which is tracked by the CDC um a figure which includes firearm homicides and Firearm suicides is larger than the annual number of Children's deaths by Motor Vehicles cancer or Suffocation 34s of School shooters acquired their firearm from the home of a parent or close relative um in Alaska Firearms are the number one cause of death for children and teens age 0 to 19 an average of 20 children and teens ages 0 to 19 die from Firearms every year about one in 10 adults live in a home with an unlocked and loaded firearm in 2019 when Alaska had the highest gun death

088rate in the US the second highest rate of death by firearm suicide in the nation and the 11th highest homicide rate in the country 24 yous aged 0 to 19 died by Firearms 17 of those deaths occurred by firearm suicide again these are CDC terms a 5year average from 2015 to 2019 shows that American Indian and Alaskan native males ages 15 to 24 are at highest risk for dying from fire armed suicide in Alaska and the latest 2019 youth risk behavior survey in Alaska as we stated a year ago in our unanimously 7 to z pass resolution uh pointed out that 48.9% of Alaska's high school students reported they could quote get and be ready to fire a loaded gun 25.3% of Alaska's high school students said they had seriously considered suicide within the previous

08912 months um and 8 and a half% of Alaska students reported having to carried a weapon which includes a gun knife or Club to school on at least one day in the previous 30 days so I will not support the amendment thank you member lesons um just an inquiry for member Donley and the potentially president Bellamy um this amendment appears to be in line with the change the minor changes that occurred in committee could one or both of you speak to that um thank you um Mr President I think it is consistent with the changes that were made in committee um I think that it's simply inaccurate the way it reads now it may be true that some of the firearms deaths um for children in teens uh were related to improper access to Firearms

090um it may be true that many they were all probably related to improper use of firearms but the violence was not due to the Firearms the violence was due to the people who misused them or the improper availability of the Firearms um every firearm is not a culpable cause of its misuse um it's just inaccurate I think it's it it's not even good grammar I mean um it's not accurate the statement but I do think that violence involving Firearms is is very very concerning and is is the number one death for children in heed in Alaska and I think the resolution should accurately reflect that thank you member Donley we'll go to president bamy then member Higgins thank you um first of all the uh resolution the aasb resolution is for uh recommends that the

091aasb board really uh you know develop a partnership with B smart and so um any data uh any additional data would be a part of that partnership so the rationale they the rationale as I explained in committee is is there to give more information not to Give opinions about the information uh totally concur with member lessons uh statistics and if you look on our website you will that you will find that her research is consistent with our uh resolution that we unanimously approved uh and I agree with member Donley that we captured his initial changes uh in at in I think it was a a par the first paragraph um under rationale so I will not support the uh the amendment because I think um I I don't I I think it it's member Donley's

092opinion it is it does not represent the data as we know it to be both from be smart and from the work that we have done uh um with them to gather the research so thank you member Higgins the Flo is yours you know I I I I viewed this first as almost grammatical at first and I understand that everything else that uh member lessons read none of that's changing and I don't think anybody's disputing the fact and I don't know whether it's better to say that access to Firearms is the number one access number one cause if you wanted to say that I've just see violence due to Firearms indicates that violence happened because there are firearms and I I don't think that's grammatically really correct uh in saying it so i' see that

093i' see the change having value for that purpose and you could would say if you wanted to access to fin arms is the number one cause of death for children and the other and that that's accurate and that may be the direction to go into change it that way to go uh if there's interest in that saying access to firearm that's really what we're talking about the Firearms are out there that we have to recognize what's happening with kids uh there are a lot of contributing factors to it we've got to do more with mental health we got to do more with access to the things but access to firearm Ms is the number one cause of death of children I think that's accurate without watering it down if that would be amable to others

094member par um I don't want to minimize in any way the statistics that member Wesson brings up but I agree with member Donley the the semantics are wrong on this it it's not that the presence of a firearm cast some magical spell it is the behavior of people um that have access to a firearm but but that access and of itself again doesn't isn't the cause of behaviors um I I think involving makes it very clear it makes it clear to me and I hope clear to other people that they have to be handled carefully and they have to be handled with the respect the of the damage they can do um they're going to be omnipresent in Alaska well into the foreseeable future because of the lifestyle here uh in in our living situations

095all the more reason I think to to not vilify them but also to emphasize they need to be secure they need to be kept in a way that that may be accessible but only by people that that have the understanding and the self-control to use them appropriately and whatnot uh there definitely is a Feeling by some people that that we trying to vilify guns themselves um I think we ought to avoid language that suggests that um and simply say yeah they're involved in a tremendous amount of damage that warrants um our attention and concern uh when we had more electives in the Anchorage School District under safety was part of it which included uh substantial uh segment on gun safety uh with mockup guns in our middle schools I'm not sure how many times the

096elective was taught in high school but but that's faded as we've lost Staffing and uh lost the number of electives that we used to have but it's it's about the recognition of the damage they can do and the safe handling of them um we're going to be involved with them we just have to be involved with in the correct way so I I support the amendment thank you member Hollman I'll um second that um I see this change as I mentioned in line with other minor and grammatical changes that were made in governance um the underlying data member lessons um quote it is indeed compelling and why I'm glad ASB is taking the matter up um with that said I don't see any other um members wishing to speak so uh Miss Foster can we

097have a Voice vote on the amendment to ASD memorandum number [Music] 037 member Higgins yes member Hollman yes member Les no member Wilson yes member Jacobs yes member Donley yes president Bellamy no that Amendment passes 52 we have the underlying motion to approve as memorandum number 037 as amended Is there further discussion hearing seeing none then um Miss Foster can we have a Voice vote on the memorandum as amended [Music] you don't forget the student V member Donley yes member Higgins yes member Hollman yes member Jacobs yes member lessons yes member Wilson yes student representative pack yes president Bellamy yes that motion passes 70 with our student representative voting yes that concludes our action items for this evening we have section g non-action items does any board member wish to discuss discuss a non-action item

098before they come in front of us at our next meeting hearing seeing none we have us our next section is H public comment we've completed public comment this evening our next section is I superintendent update Dr Bryant the floor is yours Mr chair thank you and good evening ASD Community uh I'll keep it um pretty short and sweet tonight uh the staff is focused on the big six major initiatives that are aligned to our board goals um really my focus has been on touring classrooms with principles and trying to get staff um you know focused on that and um really minimize distractions at all cost to ensure student learning so right now the big ticket items CCL College current life Readiness Ela our new um Ela curriculum and our rollout of professional learning communities I

099happen to have attended um my fourth PLC personally myself where the schools are developing their vision and Mission with their colleagues as they um begin the pivot to focusing on student level academic data um next month we we'll resume our Cadence of discussions on goal monitoring um as I've shared before the state is still delayed in releasing AK star scores but continuous Improvement still needs to happen in ASD regardless so we'll be looking at fresh mclass data next month on reading achievement data um to guide our discussions the work doesn't stop um and then just reminder our College current like Fred convening uh is on October 12th um that's rapidly approaching uh and a major thanks to United Way for being our convening partner for this effort and amplifying our voice and uh lastly um

100let's all work together um students staff parents board members myself to keep students safe if you see something it's important that you say something uh we need to take all threats very seriously um and when we're aware of any sort of threat um please know that um minutes later we're coordinating with local state federal agencies um to figure out what are the next steps we're working with content experts to help the district conduct a threat assessment um today there was an incident it turned out to be not a credible threat as determined by um law enforcement officials um but in urban districts Across the Nation um anonymous threats are all too common and um today was low credibility by as determined by the experts so we need to be vigilant um we really need everybody's

101eyes and ears out there and please um if you see something say something it could save a life and that concludes my report tonight thank you superintendent Bryant are there board member questions for the superintendent hearing seeing none we'll move on to school board and administration comments we'll start at on my left member Higgin the floor is yours shs I like being last and you have this unlimited amount of time I thought why they did this um I want to start by just saying I know we heard both sides of an issue tonight and what I appreciated was the Civil discussion and we in in a democracy kind of situation both parties feeling like they can express their concerns they can do it in a proper way and I feel like that was done tonight

102and that by itself is is what democracy should all be be about and I appreciate that um I wish we had time to actually start with a problem statement this is what the issue is these are both sides and go back and forth because then it would be a little more meaningful uh I think to everyone in line with it because there are issues on both sides of every issue there's always both both sides and both sides learning from each other is important but I appreciate the Civil discussion that took place it's the way all the discussion should take place and so my appreciation for everybody who spoke tonight means a lot um don't have a lot more to add but I got a lot of time left over so it's real tempting uh with

103that though I'll go ahead and yield early tonight and just uh thanks again thank you member Higgins member dony the floor is yours thank you uh Mr President i' like to thank everybody who testified tonight also um the particular issue that seemed to be the dominant issue here is a administrative guideline that was adopted a few years back that indicates that for secondary students it's not necessary or required that parents be advised of when of these specific issues um that's nail an administrative guideline is not a board policy only the board can adopt a formal policy and there are then administrative regulations based on those policies that the administration can adopt the thing that was questioned by many people tonight as far as the information being provided to parents or not is neither one of

104those it's a a guideline that was adopted um some years back by the school district it's never come before the board for a v vote one way or the other um I think it's due that it be that it come before this board to be considered whether that guideline that very narrow part of those guidelines is appropriate or not um I think it's very concerning that parents uh we would have something in place that implies that parents uh do not need to know about these very important things uh occurring with their children thank you member Donley Mr pack do you have any um closing comments I would like to also Echo the St Sentiments of member Valley and member Higgins on thanking everyone who came here today to testify and I hope that we have

105more opportunities for civil discourse where we can all come to the table and come to an open conversation where both parties are recognized and I hope that we can find a solution to this issue where both parties can agree and that All rights of both parties are respected thank you thank you Mr pack member Wilson the floor um I just want to say again I really enjoyed the student Advisory board meeting you guys did a phenomenal phenomenal job so kudos to to all to president pack and all of the the other board members that are um involved in that as well as our staff um that that helps with that so teachers are are amazing too um also looking forward to the CCL convening the uh college career life Readiness work is is near and

106dear to me so I I'm really excited about that and we have see if you haven't um if you aren't signed up to receive ASD Communications please check out our website and sign up for Blackboard ASD connect and more speaking of communications we've launched our attendance campaign this week week and you may have seen one of the messages on TV you will see more throughout the school year also also launched the new reading Communications check out the videos on social media you will be seeing and hearing more about these topics plus more about B I'm sorry PBIS Middle School move school start times CCL which is Career College in life Readiness finally check out the latest weather lab story from begic middle school and our next Communications meeting I wanted to announce is on October

1075th at 1M thank you thank you member Wilson member lesons the floor is yours um I wanted to start by um thanking people for taking the time out of their lives to come to the school board tonight um I think you know I spent some time recently thinking on the importance of Civic Readiness as an important component of educating all students for success on life um I appreciate the Civic Readiness that uh community members demonstrate when they engage with the school board when they engage with their schools um I think that the concept is really important um I hope that we can maybe do more to Grapple with it um with the skills and competencies that that are a part of Civic Readiness though I think that they're harder to measure than literacy or numeracy

108but when we have students um you know like Josh and the other students in the room they demonstrate they're capable of so much achievement and growth um in that area so I think that's an exciting prospect um I wanted to share that I continue to love visiting our schools and um taking advantage as a parent to to pay attention to extracurriculars as well um these visits watching teaching and learning collaboration and I'll be frank grit uh in Spades continues to leave me uplifted and inspired so you know as a Schoolboard member I have the privilege of kind of going into any classroom I want and spending however long I want to or care to do in the orchestra class and they can show me what they are capable of doing and it's beautiful to see

109you know only a few weeks in they're not just playing their instrument they're playing collectively as that body um it's really inspiring to hear students in an applied technology class reflect on failure what went wrong what do they do to make it right how do they work together that teamwork uh to improve it um frankly it's really humbling to just sit back and watch Calculus class because it's me a long time since I took that class um but there's an Artistry there um and an interrogation and um I think that's really exciting um I think it was really a privilege to be in a school on September 11th there was um teachers were using that opportunity to um engage their students at a deep and very personal level one one teacher um you know brought

110in a picture of himself as a child in front of the the twin towers as he gave a a discussion led a discussion on the science of the buildings themselves another teacher shared her memories they were looking at a passage I didn't see the passage but it was an English class um and asking the students about the word choices used and then they they went off into a discussion of her experiences on September 11th it's engaging and it builds those relationships we talked about or we've heard people talk about the importance of that teacher student relationship so it is just such a joy and privilege to spend time in our classrooms um and it's really impressive to attend some of these sporting events where kids are slogging through mud and some terrible rain and weather

111our Alaska kids are tough as they come um so good on them thanks thank you member lesons member Hollman the floor is yours uh yes I wanted to say first of all thank you to the community for all the comments tonight um one of the things I've always admired about Anchorage and and and I'm one of the people that moved here by choice is that we can talk and take different positions but still be very civil tonight and and I think everyone was um speaking as a classroom teacher I do want to say that that these issues come from the outside into the classroom and they come because it is a second home for students they do need to feel comfortable um we want every child in the room to be safe to be comfortable

112enough to learn and historically that hasn't been the case it hasn't always been a friendly place for children of color for for kids that had a different sexual orientation in talking about it it's not so much that I think any teacher wants to normalize it but they do want them to be treated as other kids in the class um and simply say our goal as classroom teachers is to Simply get through the role and get to our subject material and teach that that's that's what we want to do that's what we think about as we're planning for class every day there may be some people in the system that go beyond that and they shouldn't um and so if you if you feel like someone is really pushing an agenda I I hope you'll contact

113the principal first and hopefully they would react to that and review it and really look at it um and but if they don't then please keep pushing up up the ladder to let people know but that is sort of the natural Order of Things teachers are supposed to stick to their subject area and teach um it is the case that we have a lot of students in our schools that come from very dysfunctional places that's not most homes but it's just some and and I'll say from working with students and also having friends on the police department that actually spend a fair amount of time in homes that you probably don't want to visit in Anchorage there are some incredibly bizarre Lifestyles that children are coming out of and home is not safe home is

114not a place where they're listened to home is not a place where they're respected as an educator you don't necessarily know and uh the regulations that member Don only cited uh encourage contacting parents at the elementary level at secondary it makes it a little more um of a judgment call uh and and first all it indicates that parents should be consulted but the kids can request confidentiality and and as a teacher you don't necessarily know what the reaction would be um certainly if you think a child's about to do something unsafe or do something that is going to cause long-term harm at some point you do have a responsib ability I think teachers have a responsibility to contact parents but in trying to have a working relationship where students do have a safe place you

115kind of have to respect that initial request for confidentiality unless it crosses some kind of a line that forces you to get there again I'm speaking as one classroom teacher and and someone that has been in a lot of classrooms when I did technology work uh I know a lot of teachers work with a lot of teachers but there may be exceptions and there may be people that are doing things that are inappropriate I like to think that that those are individual cases that we need to deal with individually having been in situations where you had students that were either passing as a gender that they weren't born as um first of all they didn't always let teachers know so I hope people understand your kids keep us in the dark just like they keep

116you in the dark sometimes they're not telling us everything and they're not always telling us the truth um but when you discover these it's a a very difficult situation to navigate and I say this from being a high school teacher in the 90s this is wasn't something I experienced a couple of years ago this is something I experienced a couple of decades ago it's been going on for a long time and has been handled in a lot of different ways I wish we had had administrative regulations that put the whole staff on on One path and that created a policy that you could look at and agree or disagree but the reality as a staff member and especially for the student it was just a different world as you move from one room to the

117next and you had a student would have no idea how the next teacher was going to react um the the guidelines give direction to all the staff uh so that students have some degree of stability in what they can expect but I would emphasize again if you read the regulations it leans to parental involvement um but in the case of secondary where student uh exerts it that's not safe for them or not a good option for them you would hold back I I will admit I don't know what the case would be uh if a parent called and asked Point Blank if a if a student requested confidentiality and a parent called to say hey what's going on um and I would ask that the administration consider perhaps having uh someone from counseling uh in

118a work session outline to the board and by the same time to the public uh what are some of the issues that come to schools along these lines what are the general expectations uh what would be the reaction um I've had conversations with people from the public that literally felt like we were taking kids to the hospital for transgender operations and I'm going to say it's not I almost got the Feeling people felt like we were doing it in the building during the course of the school day I'm sure that doesn't happen um but I also don't think anyone's encouraging kids to go that route or trying to be understanding of kids that are expressing confusion or um expressing whatever they're trying to figure out it would not be the same thing as endorsing that

119action or pushing kids into that action um but I think some uh daylight on how counselors do handle this I I do think that anyone that talks to counselors at any length will be surprised at the range of issues that kids come to school with um I mean we we have kids that show up that do not have enough to eat they're not taking a thing they're not getting fed they don't have an Avenue outside of school to get food um and we we deal with that um but there's such an a broader range of issues that kids are being impacted by and it's we don't have resources and it's not that we can stop everything else we doing and and work with families on this issue we do what we can but it's it's

120a confusing and difficult thing um I I assure you that no teacher invented social media if teachers did not invent the idea of cell phones in schools or or unlimited access to the internet and different things like that we're simply trying to deal with it also uh and to be able to we we have to have some level of trust by your students that they can talk to us with some level of confidentiality not complete by any means but but some level so I hope people understand the position that we're in um people that feel like we're advocating a path for students that is dangerous I I hope you'll investigate that and if you know it's happening I hope you will let someone know um if someone is really encouraging students to feel uncomfortable with

121the way they feel or to to pursue a dramatic action that needs to be told um it it needs to be addressed and if you don't I hope you will stop and wonder if it really is in fact the truth and investigate that because I I do think there are people there are people that wish to to cast a lot of Doubt on public education they make up some rather fantastic stories I won't for a moment claim that public education is perfect there are some bad stories out there and and we need to fix those things when they happen but if there's a whole lot of static of things that aren't actually happening it makes everybody's job tougher than trying to do that so I do hope people will pursue the truth um pursue solid

122examples of evidence we would expect the superintendent to take action on that um and make it a place where you know we want kids to feel safe we want parents to feel safe dropping their kids at school granted it's the general population is not an exclusive thing we can't enforce a whole lot of rules your kids are out in the world in that way um and that that leads to difficult situations but I um was in the classroom for a lot of years uh this was not what we wanted to be dealing with we absolutely wanted to be dealing with our subject matter and advancing how much kids knew and understood about the world um I don't think the policy the the regulations rather that that we have in place are actually doing what a

123wanted people feel that they're doing and uh I I think if our counselors talking about that a little bit it might shed some light for everybody on the situations we face at school with kids that have nowhere else to turn at times so again I I really do appreciate everybody's testimony tonight I it's heartfelt and it's done out of a sense of concern and um we'll keep trying to go forward in a way that all of Anchorage can find acceptable thank you thank you member Hollman all um Echo support and appreciation for those who came out to testify on our weekday evening it's always appreciated and I also appreciate the members of this board continually focusing on improving student outcomes and supporting students our parents and our Educators um with that said president bamy has

124no closing comments Dr Bryant any closing comments uh no further comments thank you Mr chair with that said that concludes our business tonight I would accept a motion to adjourn move to adjourn second made in second no objection we are adjourned thank you [Music] everyone recording