ASD School Board Meeting 10-18-22

001all right good evening everyone um so we're going to call the meeting to order the Anchorage School Board October 18th uh the time is 601 um Amanda I'm going to ask that you read the call the roll please [Music] remember Donnelly member Holloman member Jacobs president member lessons here member Wilson president Bellamy here can you hear me yes thank you member Higgins all right Julius and the Pledge of Allegiance and Regional line acknowledgment please foreign [Music] on behalf of the Anchorage School Board I want to take a moment to recognize and offer gratitude for the sacred ancestral lands of the denina people we acknowledge and appreciate that our offices facilities and schools on the sacred indigenous lands and we honor the traditional care that has been given to this land throughout Generations we are grateful

002for the opportunity to grow learn work and create educational communities on the sacred land we extend continued respect for the many cultures creativity and resilience of its indigenous peoples chanon thank you Michelle again good evening everyone we want to welcome you to our meeting and thank you for attending and supporting the work of the anchor school district and this board the board thanks students parents teachers staff School business partners in the entire Community for your investment in our district with your time your talent and your tax dollars next on our agenda is the approval of the agenda can I get a motion to approve the agenda as presented I moved to approve the agenda as recommended as presented thank you made by member Lesson seconded by member Higgins is there any discussion Mr President Mr

003Donnelly yeah I would like to move ASD memories memorandum 39 to an action item remember Donna that's part of the consent agenda once we get to that point I'll ask if any members want to pull an item from the consent agenda we'll move that to an action item okay any other conversation discussion regarding the agenda president Bellamy yes I I would like to To None tonight to the agenda and that is our um a member hololens [Music] um application to the uh aasb board of directors [Music] okay I will add attentively was there a second second thank you we'll add that as a action item um G2 apps than any opposition hearing scene none that amendment is passed any other discussion regarding our agenda tonight hearing seeing none any opposition to passing the agenda as

004amended the agenda has been approved foreign moving forward to community reports we have our student representative Michelle board or Sab had a meeting on October 11 2022. we started this meeting early with taking a group picture with Dr Bryant and then after that we started our meeting this was our first official meeting with middle schoolers so we had them do introductions in the rundown of what Sab is while high schoolers discussed how everyone's homecoming went then we had a guest speaker Kerry from youth vote come and introduce what youth vote is and how to get involved with it we moved on to reports where every school answered the question of what is something new unique and or improved that your school is doing this year I then gave my school board report member lessons spoke

005a little and our region for awesome rep spoke about the conference which is October 27 through 29th at Wasilla high school after our break we went through and broke down parliamentary procedure for those who are unfamiliar with it and then to end our meeting a Family Partnership Charter School School brought their resolution titled prioritize civic education for high school students to Sab after much discussion Sab as a group amended their resolution and gave Sab support so they will bring it to osog next our next meeting will be Tuesday November 15th from 8 15 a.m to 10 15 A.M [Music] for the report any questions for our student representative hearing seeing none will transition to our next agenda item goal monitoring C1 2022 2023 goal monitoring reading proficiency we'll start by reading a lengthy script so

006hang in there with me we are now going to have our goal monitoring conversation on the report that was given to you at our last meeting we will also review a technical report on our math goal tonight our primary conversation is our reading proficiency goal one and interim goal 1.1 goal one reads beginning September 2020 the percentage of third grade students proficient in reading on the state Summit of assessment AKA Starr Alaska system of academic Readiness previously Peaks will increase from 40 to 80 percent by May of 2026 and goal 1.1 is the percentage of grade K-2 students at or above the reading benchmark on interim assessments fast Bridge curriculum based measures will increase from 37.5 in Spring 2021 to 80 percent in Spring 2024. I want to confirm that all four components of the

007monitoring report are present number one the report clearly shows what is being monitored and that its focus is a specific and interim goal number two that the report shows data for three previous reporting periods the current reporting period and the target reporting periods number three the report shows a superintendent's evaluation of performance and number four the report shows supporting documentation that evidences the superintendent's evaluation via the tables provided it also indicates next steps with all the components present we're ready to begin our progress monitoring conversation so for the purpose of understanding the current reality for our students as compared to this goal let us begin with any questions that fall into the who what and why categories once the forward once the board fully understands the current reality we'll then move into the how questions

008to hear what the superintendent has planned in response to the data with that conversation logic model in mind if the floor is now open for the board to engage in inquiry regarding reading proficiency goal one and interim goal 1.1 the monitoring and Technical reports which members have questions for the superintendent member lessons we'll start with you I didn't even raise my hand I'll let I'll [Music] listen so I was when I first glanced at this uh two weeks ago I did my eye I was drawn to the growth for first graders last year so my question is really what explains the difference in growth patterns between last year's kindergartners who've dropped about a percent and last year's first graders who gained about 10 points in that same time period I have my own theories but

009I'll be quiet sure thank you for answering that question through the chair to member lessons uh the slide that she's referring to which I don't see on the screen essentially is a slide that uh slide one so essentially what she's referring to is a slide that shows uh cohorts of students uh compared to last year to this year and you'll notice for that cohort of students there was growth um so with that said I am joined by my colleagues in academic Services would you like to provide insights go ahead Diane all right so um the difference it could be but we don't know for sure but uh there was um so one thing that you can say is there are different cohorts so it's hard to determine uh kindergarten from kindergarten right but you can

010see that we're looking from the kindergarten then to the first grade uh possible things that could contribute to that was we did offer a summer school so there was a possibility for some students to attain to go to summer school and we had a very explicit systematic program in place for those students so um that was for first grade second grade and on all kindergarten did not attend that summer school so that could be part of it and then also um between the growth it can happen that those routines are not set quite um well enough so that those kids don't grow as much as they should plus remember those benchmarks get harder through the year so those teachers have to be teaching to make sure they're keeping up with that growth so it's hard

011to be able to really determine the difference between cohorts and how the things that happen through the year we had many challenges last year still too we had substitute absenteeism all things that were going on between the schools also this is this is Dr Stock uh Deputy superintendent I would also add to that that there's another layer of analysis that we have to do where we begin to look at patterns in the schools so for example if at the district level the fall first graders from one year and then the cohort of that group in the fall of their second grade year they went up 10 percent of the students were proficient at an increase of 10 percent proficiency rates then what the next step is we have to look at patterns within schools and

012within students because what can happen is in order for that to happen there clearly would be schools that didn't grow in other schools that may have gone up by 20 so then the next question is is we have to go in and do the analysis of patterns within schools and then within schools we also find significant differences in patterns among individual teachers so then the next thing is for principals to try to determine what their hypothesis is for why certain grade spans and or teachers got significant improvements and others did not so that's all part of our process at the district level when you're using theoretically the same materials but getting very different results we have to go and do another layer of questions so it's a very good question you quickly picked out the

013pattern that from K to 1 from Fall to fall that same cohort did not change much and then from one to two there was a fairly significant jump and I think what we're getting is if we could get that jump each year of those cohorts going years forward our chances of getting third grade proficiency would go up a lot so we still have work to do to dig into the patterns as to why thank you Dr Stock just for the record I want to note we've been joined by members Holloman and Wilson and then member lessons did you have follow any follow-up question or an additional question you'd like to ask sure and this wasn't presented uh but I was curious about um when we when we get this report it doesn't tell us what

014specific skills are stronger or weaker so do we have information on which specific skills that students in each of these grade levels are measuring as stronger or or more deficient in what are we doing well and what are we doing what are we struggling with from this from a skills standpoint okay so definitely we Dig Down Deeper into the district into the data that is uh our whole Focus during our mtss meetings and we help schools really dig into that data to look down and those sub skills our fast Bridge assessments do help us identify students and we look at those sub-skill tests they have that early composite score but then we're able to dig down into each individual student and look at is their phonemic awareness a strength or a weakness and so yes

015we do um identify and that helps us then determine how we intervene with those students if their skills aren't at the level that they should be at that time I guess I have a follow-up I mean so if phonemic awareness or one student is a problem and it's also a problem for 10 other students in their classroom then you have a trend right and so the question is do we have any Trends in the skills skill aptitude skill levels that we're seeing well each grade level is different and at this time I don't have a district view of per grade what skill is the most um in need again we really try to individualize at the school level because every school is different and that school needs to identify in that grade level where are

016the students strengths and weaknesses and how are they intervening how are they building their win time to identify those groups of students overall we know those essential skills that we must make sure the instruction is sound so that they are needing those little Milestones along the way for example in kindergarten we're really going to work on letter sound letter sound and phonemic awareness right and then in first grade we want to in make sure that phonemic awareness is solidified and then that nonsense word starts it's becoming a real big indicator of reading proficiency right so all that they build on top of each other so we're looking at very specific ones along the way making sure they're making those benchmarks that really Trend to that third grade reading proficiency thank you is there another board

017member with questions saying a note from Member Higgins member Donnelly I see her Mike is on do you have a question thank you member Donnelly we'll head online um obviously president Bellamy's hand is up President Bill only the floor is yours thank you so if we can look at page the slide five um [Music] I'm just curious as to I mean they're all we're all if I'm reading this correctly all of our all of our groups are um below Target except for um maybe six seven and and I guess what do we how what what do we account why is that I mean what about what's happening in and they um say not well I can figure out what's happening in the non-economically disadvantaged group they're they're doing pretty well so is our um our

018white students but so what do we have to do differently to get to get some Market Improvement here I guess and that might be a I might need to hold it to the end because maybe the superintendent has a plan uh let my colleagues share more about the strategies but I do want to clarify a very important point that you brought up about the last three rows the below Target the near Target and the On Target and above this will come up again when we go through the math technical presentation you will notice a market increase from 38 schools to 58 schools being below Target there are a number of reasons why that may occur but I do want to point out a technical aspect to why that's taking place which is that this is

019the only portion of this entire presentation where on the left we're referring to the legends from last year which was based on the targets from last year versus the three rows on the right that reflect the adjusted Legend based on where we expect to be for this year so in other words the the rigor is higher now that we are in year two of our Five-Year Plan if that makes sense and I'll let my colleagues speak to any strategies that I may have not mentioned so um I'll start with this the leadership strategy so in our general leadership meetings which are every month one of the the key points to moving the needle for our individual students in elementary schools is the Comfort level and the skills and the instructional leadership of our individual elementary

020school principals it is in the research it is absolutely the most key indicator we can get so from our level we have multiple strategies Diane and her team can talk about professional development and our need for getting our teachers on board with with the the strategies that we have but at the leadership level of strategies I can speak to what we're doing so Eric's team has outlined a very robust leadership development piece that they're working on and at every General leadership meeting which are administrator meetings every month uh I am leading a group with Diane and others where we are taking the strategies that you see at the board level that you see see on which page is that it's page page you'll see a series of strategies and we're developing individual self-assessment guides for

021principals to sit with their staff and go through those five buckets of curriculum instruction professional learning data discussions and the multi-tiered system of support for students they're going through and doing individual school-based assessments over the next few months with where they believe their team is at the school level so that's part of that what we call the through line to the classroom so it's one thing for the board to hold your superintendent accountable for presenting this data and engaging in the conversation then it's up to us to develop that strategy of getting it into the the leadership of this building and then to the principals and then through the teachers because another strategy that we're deploying because my experience is when individual teachers and principals have just in time ready access to the actual individual

022student data of how each student did on these tests and I'm looking at them right now kindergarten letter names word segmenting nonsense words Etc very discreet skills when individual teachers and principals have that data on their desktops daily they're able to better engage and be aware of that so our data platform is a district initiative that is rolling out this fall where we are trainings we start with Elementary directors well they will have be trained in using a platform that will get that data right to the desktop of principals and teachers for for their leadership examination so that's the leadership piece and I don't see if Diane wants to address anything about the teacher strategies that we're employing so there are many or we've been engaged in many professional learning uh trainings opportunities we have

023the new teacher training that we're continuing to train our teachers in series A's which is all about the essential foundational literacy skills and how the science connects to that and then how to implement reading and teach reading we have currently our learning walks happening right now where we're engaged in schools with principals and instructional coaches and going in and watching modeled lessons and coming back and discussing of how that implementation of that lesson is and what the strengths and weaknesses or how we are implementing the different components and we're really focusing on that phonics lesson because that's part of that goal that's so essential in reaching that third grade reading proficiency we have our instructional coaches in our building we continually do professional learning with them they're modeling and coach coaching in their schools we

024have our instructional coach and principal partnership meetings where again we're partnering that team together they are a strong team in a building to really help with that implementation science of those of our adoptive program and so we are digging into how this is aligned to the structure of literacy and where those components are in the program in our priority plans and along with that we have our mtss meetings which really dives into the data then and how and looking at where kids are how are we doing what do we need to do differently to make those instructional moves to improve those outcomes for students yes I would just for uh Miss Orr you said the learning walks uh can you uh just talk a little bit about that and and what I what I I

025think so so that I'm sure what I think I know um I know so does that mean adults or you or other adults come walk through or give teachers feedback what does that look like in a in a classroom sure so there uh we have a host school and then certain schools are invited there's 14 learning walks that are happening within the two days we have two national Consultants here also so each school has uh one school to host other schools come and visit that host School uh the the national consultant models a lesson and the instructional coach models a lesson there are no teachers that model any lessons they the classroom that we use they're in there observing but then um other other schools principals and instructional coaches come to that school so they

026are also observing and we have conversations around the lesson and the implementation of that lesson so it's learning it's teaching them how to coach other teachers it's teaching them best practices of how that lesson's supposed to be implemented [Music] okay yeah it's also a guy this is Eric Misty senior director for elementary and it's also coaching and guiding principles we have a lot of new principles in the ranks now and it's also guiding and supporting them and their professional development as as instructional leaders at their building too there have been a lot of Rich conversations around these days with both principles and instructional coaches and so that that's that really that that's kind of like a on-the-job kind of support for do do the teachers get like immediate feedback or the teachers are not getting

027feedback during that okay this is for principles and instructions okay teaching them how to coach teachers and so then they are able to go out and do um modeling and observing and then have those conversations with teachers okay so the coaching is for the teachers so that they can better Coach to their staff yeah yes okay all right all right thank you thank you uh thank you guys appreciate it uh I'll hold my questions and let somebody else ask theirs thank you president Bellamy next up is member Wilson your question please so with the switch from Peaks to Alaska's star how does that affect the data and our goal monitoring process so uh I can respond to that so our AK star data is not here yet we haven't had a chance to analyze it

028so we're not completely sure how that will respond to what our Peaks data was that will be coming out uh shortly our assessment evaluation department is is in contact with the state monitoring that there are trainings and there are workshops and things being done now around the state to help us understand that so uh not entirely sure how that will pan out but we'll keep you posted some data is just coming in with regards to some linking studies that that share you know how we would anticipate based on what we have now what might happen in this this Springs AK star we don't we haven't had a chance to analyze any of that yet member Wilson any follow-up question or additional questions not at this time thank you so much thank you across the dice

029here we'll go to member lessons you have another question sure I have a couple of maybe linked questions um what research do we have that proves that cengage and our priority plans are evidence-based and aligned with the science of reading I'd like to take a first step and then I'll let Diane fill in so the cengage materials and I was here when when our teachers I think there was 68 of them around 70 or so teachers that were part of that selection process that chose the cengage materials and they were copyrighted uh I believe 2016 and of course if you know how publishing works the the writing of those have happened years before that as they get it ready for publishing and at the time so that would have been in the early 2000s but

030uh early 2010 and on they were working on it uh the value at the time was to provide high quality uh non-fiction based uh reading materials for students and so that was the probably one of the more attractive features of the cengage materials is that they had so much Rich thematic based units that were built around non-fiction which was relatively new until that time everything was sort of creative stories if you will so that was one of the attractive features but we realized right away it wasn't 100 aligned with the science of reading and other pieces that we needed it was weak on some of the phonological pieces I know there were also some writing components and there were parts of what was then you know talked about a lot as a Common Core Curriculum

031pieces that had some basic skill gaps in it so I sat in on those meetings and watched them put butcher paper all over the wall and watched our teachers go through a very intricate weeks worth of writing where they were trying to realign better with what we knew our kids needed in Reading big part of that was what came out of that was what was called the priority plans I think if I remember right our teachers and folks estimated to do cengage the Way It Was Written would take about five and a half hours of reading per day that's definitely not doable and part of that is because when Publishers write those materials they want to put everything they can possibly think of at any adoption committee might like that's how they sell them and

032so our teachers had to go through the five and a half hours worth and to find things that we believed if we selected those items and made sure we did them in a scope and sequence our chances of kids coming out reading proficiently would go up that's where the priority plans were born they're written by our own teachers their best judgments of what we shouldn't leave out if you will they also wove additional writing components through that and that became known as the priority plans and for schools that were really struggling what was called priority plans plus so I think you'll find if you've been looking around you'll see that as science of reading has gotten a little bit more sophisticated you'll see uh newer programs that may have some of those components written into

033the program that aren't our add-ons we also have the Hagerty phonics pieces we've added to be fed up and so I'll let Diane explain any more details about it but that's kind of where cengage was born and I know we don't have any idea where that will fall on Deeds list of approved materials in the new reading acts but we have tried to beef that up with our own add-ons to make it more science uh reading friendly I think the only thing I would add on is that uh the science of reading may be a new term but it's still it's really uh what we had called scientifically based reading research sbrr and though the um the difference between maybe the national reading panel and the scientific and the science of reading is that now

034we have multiple studies across many countries in many languages and then Ida really termed that science of reading to be structured literacy and when we talk about structured literacy there are three overarching components of that right you have it needs to be systematic it needs to be cumulative explicit and then diagnostic so when we talk about what do we do in cengage with our supplemental pieces and that are overlaid on it that's exactly what we did to make sure we were following the sbrr which is now the science of reading is it systematic and cumulative absolutely that is a Publisher's job to make sure and now that it was published in 2016 after the Common Core State Standards they did make sure that was systematic and cumulative is it explicit well that's why we overlay

035the instructional routines those were reading First Direct instruction routines developed by some of the top di researchers in the country kamehame carnai we know those have the brain research backing to those di instructional routines the priority plans like Dr Stock explained they outline exactly those scientific pieces in that day of instruction that the must use not to leave out that pull poor phonics lesson is it I mean I I could really go into the weeds here and maybe I shouldn't so as we really think about our program and what we've done to align it yes we as we know structured literacy we are doing what we should yeah um it's a little off the cup but an educator recently shared that teaching with the priority plans and the materials is a little bit like the

036point of Benihana right you're doing this and you're doing this and you're doing this all at the same time and um I think that's important too just air and acknowledge absolutely I'd be interested in a what's next if there are other programs that have components included that might be um more in line with the direction of the state is going but my second question is really related to the question of evidence and um I'm unclear on the evidence-based and great appropriate resources that teachers of below proficient second graders are receiving because if you look at actually I think this slide it shows that the K1 start binders for K1 students but phonics for reading if you look at the description on the Publisher's website is designed for third graders but it's being used in our

037second grade classroom so what happens to below proficient second graders what do they get that's targeted at their needs below proficient second graders okay so yes we do use phonics for reading as an intervention for our below second grade readers I understand it says currently that it is for third grade and above however when you pick interventions and this intervention has been an approved supplemental intervention in Reading first and currently on the AK State website you have to look at what when you're picking interventions you have to look at what aligns best with your core program so the scope and sequence of phonics for reading aligns nicely with our reach for reading cengage so when you think about a second grader and their fall have fallen behind it means that they are lacking in their

038phonics or phonemic awareness so that's our job to figure out those diagnostic assessments and figure out exactly where they are and then take them back to that point that they need instructionally in that phonemic or in a phonics continuum phonics for reading allows us because of that really nice scope and sequence to be able to um know exactly where to place them to provide that explicit instruction that they need is it the only one probably not it's right now at the time when we were developing our reading plan it matched what we needed for that time thank you member lessons remember Higgins I see your mic is eliminated we have a question thank you yeah I'm looking at this from a standpoint of every kid and saying okay if you're in first grade and you're

039reading it kindergarten level you in second grade you're in third grade of at least advancing a full year and advancing and making progress towards it and I'm looking at the kids that are in third grade reading at fifth grade level that they're going to continue to grow when I hear the intervention issue but doing the classroom itself doing most of the week what are they getting are they getting uh different reading material that advances it are they getting higher level reading material for the same subject uh or is it just limited to the intervention time because from my stand I'm concerned about all kids academically advancing a full you and I'd like for them to obviously was we're way behind where we should need to be to help these students be successful but I also

040don't want to Focus only on that grade level I want to focus on advancement every year what data do we keep to show that they're advancing for you uh so that somebody in third grade reading at fifth grade level at in fourth grade they're at six uh is important and not just a his uh 45-minute segment of time but what are they doing doing the classroom time sure so for third grade and up we're really focusing on our standards right our comprehension vocabulary really helping them grow and if they are reading on grade level that teacher should be teaching that standard during that reading time but it doesn't mean that that child if they're reading above level they may read that Anthology story with the class to practice the standard but then they may go

041apply that standard to their reading level and uh show that they can uh demonstrate they master that standard in their own reading level so it does have opportunities for them to read at their level and then in win time we would be also enriching and having them grow and as far as the data your map data is what helps you determine are those kids that are even above grade level still growing because you're right we do need to continue to grow students that are on the higher end I recall I think it was achieved three thousand or something like that in which it was a automated system but when it when a student was reading at one level they gave them the same material at a higher level when they were ready for it so

042they moved up I I'm understanding they're all getting the same reading material but you think they're growing and skills of reading and applying it but are they getting different reading materials does that make sense um let me try it again if if I'm if I'm reading if I'm in obviously third grade and I'm reading a story about choo choo trains and it's going to be simple upon third grade it's going to be more complex in fifth grade you're going to be at a at a higher level of of reading skills and and one of the complaints or concerns I've heard from teachers is they're all happen to be on the same page and they're trying to catch kids up and they're trying to keep kids ahead and there's a frustration there and I'm trying to

043hear from you if there's a the legitimacy of that issue because I've heard it from principals as well uh that that's an issue and if that is an issue I guess all kids growing academically a full year with if there isn't getting the flexibility to do that I think we have to go back to what we need to teach kids and those standards the standards are our Focus during a comprehension you have to determine if they know how to find the main idea of a story that teacher is doing that gradual release the I do we do you do modeling that lesson and then having everybody practice and then they can go out and do it independently on their own so all kids are there during that model to make sure they understand how to

044do that find the main idea for example they work in a group because we know engagement and discourse among students is part of learning so then they're practicing finding that main idea then when it's the independent yes they can go and read a different book and find the main idea in a level that they're on so they're still growing it's it's really about making sure they Master the standards because that's what helps them to be able to really analyze and understand how to um evaluate and synthesize at the high school level they have we're building their Tools in their toolbox at the elementary level so that they can come totally prepared with all their skills and strategies to be able to be successful in high school I don't know if I answered your question I'm

045sorry we yeah it probably would be beneficial to have a meeting with some teachers and some others here that are giving me different information and what their frustration is and and I know that they're concerned about bringing kids up and they want and their type of material they don't want to teach the test obviously they want to bring people up to that level and and it like I said there was frustrations out there I don't know legitimacy but it would be great to hear a discussion with that group to kind of go back and forth because then um both sides can hear each other because I'm a little bit frustrated right now a member engage up through uh vice president Jacobs I also say um you know part of our earlier conversations with the three

046section schools the two section schools and doing a walk to model you know some of our smaller schools do have more limitations in terms of diversifying delivery and so part of the conversations even with some of the school closures is making schools more efficient uh to provide a wider diversity of instructional access for students too so I think that even dovetails into some of those conversations with those three section schools versus a one section school to help address some of that but in some of the schools walk to read models and those other pieces are another tool that we have available to help provide different differentiated programming for students and again this is this is Mark stock I would just like to just I think what we're talking about here this really illustrates the complexity

047of of teaching period And I think it really helps all of us to wrap our heads around how complicated you know someone has said teaching high quality reading really is rocket science and not the science of reading has really brought a lot of that out in the last several years have been particularly challenging for America's youngsters when it comes to those early grades and and what they were not able to get because of the lack of of in-person schooling and so on so I want to point out that most of the states that have standardized assessments like ours AK star now those are based on grade level standards what the state has determined a third grader needs to know well we all know that there are third graders coming in two grade levels behind and

048third graders that are two grade levels ahead and one of the challenges is we can't ethically not expose students to the grade level work that they're going to be held accountable to so at the same time we know that their students not quite ready for it and students that are well beyond it we still have an ethical obligation to to expose students to the grade level standards that they're being assessed over at the same time we have to remediate or try to catch up or fill gaps for kids that are way behind and we have an obligation to accelerate students that are well beyond that already so we have all three of those and what's happening is is that what it takes to be a teacher today with these expectations is really challenging so the

049whole school has to be part of that process and so they may have to go down to get some acceleration or to get some remediation to support the classroom teachers efforts and I just want to point out that we're solution oriented these are this is not about blaming the school or the teacher or the principals it's about us getting together and trying to find Solutions is one of those Solutions curriculum might be we've had one we're still struggling to figure out with all our ups and downs with the pandemic how much of it is actually being implemented at a level for us to say that's the problem or that's the success we you know we're still trying to determine some of that we did a random sampling of 172 classrooms and went look to see

050if we could determined to what degree there's you know there's evidence that and we're not doing it to look at the teacher we're trying to find as a district of those 172 classrooms all the things we think that contribute to Quality reading are do we have enough folks doing it well for us to say that's that's the curriculum's problem or is it an instruct nationalism is to get our people together and do solution-oriented discussions around that it's very complicated it's not fault of anyone but we all are aware that our students are not progressing well in reading and we have a we really have an issue that we have to get to the bottom of thank you Dr Stock and team member Higgins any follow-up on that my my only concern there is the necessity

051of that they don't mean as negative as bad as it's going to sound like but teaching to the chest you know we've got to make sure they're ready for the third grade for the test and and the emphasis there isn't necessarily in the best interest of the student his best interests of results that you can publish or something I I just that's I I really like the Achieve 3000 where you had a classroom everybody's reading the same story at different grade levels they're all advancing faster uh they were they were not held back the AI associated with it allowed it to assess the student where they're at and they got a chance to go up and the idea that we're just doing the intervention to catch to for those who are outliers without just doing

052the the whole classroom and the whole day and the whole week on that basis to me is troublesome and and that's where I'm healing feedback from from parents and I'm putting feedback from teachers in regards to it is that too much of it is to the page because we're worried about the test and I agree we need him at that grade level but I just don't want to uh not moving as fast as they can and give them every chance to keep on moving and that's a reservation I have about this and not a fun about it then to the degree that we have data showing how much every student how many students are advancing a full year academically every year I think that would be a most reflective number thank you thank you member

053Higgins not seeing any other oh yeah [Music] I do I I have quick question I think Diane touched on it earlier you know I'm I'm not a trained reading teacher um but I do know uh what teachers go through and I do know that if you had a room of 125 teachers they they will all have different wants needs and desires I think the purpose of our goals is to make sure that we can determine what kids know and what they are able to do and so I think when we are when when so I don't I don't necessarily um I mean I trust that the people who are that are staff who are doing the work are doing the best that they can uh is there room for creativity I was I I think

054so I hope so but uh terms like teaching to the test actually um it's not ethical to do that I would hope nobody is teaching to the test we we are not encouraging people to teach to the tests uh it's illegal I think and it's unethical most importantly but we are differentiating we're taking each kid where they are and getting them where they need to be so that they can demonstrate what they know and what they are able to do it is going to look different for every kid uh my question though is uh we learned a lot from summer school and so Diane if you can uh take us through that you know because I I you know I recall getting the little um the notices you know every week we knew where children

055were were at least in my house in my in the schools that I visited parents were given updates they were given reports they were involved in the data if how do we how do we duplicate what happened in summer school first of all what were the positives and can we duplicate that foreign what we did in summer school was a very explicit program we used our interventions just like we used them in Wind time here during the school year so we use the K1 Star binder phonics for reading and sips we highly we trained teachers on those interventions we're doing trainings for teachers and coaches on those interventions also during the year uh we also um made sure that we had data our program was extremely short it was only four weeks we knew the

056data of students coming in we knew exactly what they needed from that data we provided that extra instruction during that four week period and we assessed them before they left during that time so um and then really for a student who attended summer school we had their spring data then their end of summer school data and now we have their fall data so we really have a lot of data on those students to really see how well they did over that summer school period um we informed teachers even the school year the summer school prior to this last summer we did the same things it was longer so we got to actually send home progress reports more often because we had a longer summer school but um in informing parents of how their students are

057doing is important and that is something that we also do uh through our Universal screening on our queue currently parents can go in on cue and see how they've done on their fast bridge screeners and then of course teachers you know up to them send home progress reports and then we have our parent-teacher conferences coming up all those opportunities to inform parents of how students are doing again that will be something in the AK reads act that we will continue to improve on because that is part of the law is really informing parents of what interventions they're being provided and then giving them progress reports along the way to see how they are improving great thank you for that um do you uh is anyone from ASD involved in the um from leadership involved in

058helping to finalize the Alaska read accident uh uh processes and or policy law I am not I'm not aware um but we can certainly we can certainly look and I don't think there was a call that went out was there usually we see those when somebody reaches yeah I only saw training um opportunities for uh trainings and yes we do have staff members and others involved in Statewide trainings right now letters and other kinds of things that are going on at the state level yes and uh Mr Vista and uh Dr stock do you know of anybody in our district that is teaching to the test you know that's an interesting question because what I would say and you're talking to a guy who comes from Mastery learning background where we would never want to

059hold a kid accountable to something on a test that we didn't try to teach him that's the background I have you don't ever teach the test but teaching towards the skills that are on a test is an ethical obligation of employees that's what we want our kids to do if there's a certain math skill a student is supposed to know and we're holding him accountable and there's things like reports on it our new Alaska reads Act is holding the school accountable and telling us to make sure we let parents know where each child is in their progress towards third grade reading proficiency and so you know those are things so I am not aware of anyone actually teaching the test that's unethical and it's a and people would you know there's serious sanctions for the

060schools all of our Educators who Proctor assessments have to go through rigorous training and sign off that they understand those rules and and so there's a pretty rigorous uh example of what teachers have to do to Proctor our assessments so I am not aware of that and if there are Mr Misty's team would be dealing with that but we do have an obligation to teach the standards that the kids are being held in in schools I mean the board you have a board goal that says that we are going to hold this superintendent and his team accountable for reaching certain standards and so we're working towards those but no way would we teach the test I appreciate that um Mr Misty do you know of anyone that's that has that you that has complained of

061or accused anyone of teaching to the test uh president I know we don't we're not tracking any of those concerns at this point in time no thank you thank you Mr chair thank you President Obama last call for um non-how questions we've already got a few of those but want to transition to our second phase hearing seeing none um we'll transition to the second portion of our questions to make sure we capture any of the remaining how questions do any board members have that type of question at this point remember listens it's more of an R rather than how um so the FY 23 budget that's this year allocated about 11.7 million to learning loss initiatives including 1.2 million to 11 reading teacher experts 4.3 million to summer school this past summer and next 3.4

062million this year and next for hegarty professional development K3 instructional materials and each week after school reading intervention programs this is taken from our budget book are these allocations producing their expected returns and it was maybe a little bit of information about summer school we haven't really seen a report you know I guess my initial question your initial response to my first question said well maybe our first graders grew a lot because the Summer's well you know we're talking about 1100 first graders between these two years did we have 1100 first graders in summer school I mean I don't know what the scale of summersible was and so really the question is are the allocations that we've made towards learning loss initiatives um producing the expected rate of return or are there other ways to

063allocate remaining funds and this is getting towards our FY 24 budget that will induce more effective rates of growth because that's what we want to see is the growth um thank you member lessons uh through the president I I just want to point out maybe this is just a practical reality but just to point out no I'm not going to sit here and say we've had significant Returns on those Investments and I'll just tell you why we've had five years really of of implementation efforts around these things and of those five at least three have been interrupted by things like earthquakes and pandemics and other things what is really hard for us right now is to have an empirical view of what things have been impacting what and so we're still trying to study those

064things and you you heard for example research we've done on Mobility you know attendance and there the thing about schools is they are so complex in their makeup and the factors that impact them it's really hard for us in the science to to isolate things to specific causes so I cannot point to you know successes with a particular funding stream that we've used that we can say that's why that is better than it was so there there's a lot of work for us to do and so I can't really give that a positive answer any follow-up member lessons not at this time thank you we'll just go down the line quickly checking in member Higgins anyhow questions remember Donley anyhow questions thank you um checking online I don't see any hands up so then we'll

065transition just a one last call for any how questions before we um move on to our next agenda item president Bellamy I saw your camera come on did you have a high question I'm good thank you thank you Mr chair perfect thank you all right last call for any questions on the report presented before we move on just one update uh just I was notified we do have uh an Anchorage teacher on the AK reads uh we have an aea member who is on that state AK REITs uh committee thank you Dr Stock all right last call for questions appearing seeing none we'll move on to our next take a step back thank you so much Dr Brian the team for the presentation and hearing all the questions moving on to C2 the Dr Bryant

066will be presenting a briefly a math technical reports Dr Brian before Shores yes uh thank you uh Mr chair and the board so today we'll be having two presentations and the reason for that is because the delay in the AK star data has left us uh trying to catch up so today is a catch-up day so I do want to give a brief brief briefing if you will on the Tactical presentation for math proficiency goals so with that said looking at this first slide our North Star is our board goal that 55 of students in grades three through nine will be proficient in math by May 2026 as measured by the Alaska star the AK star data is slated to be available in late uh October uh to mid-november from the state last spring just

067so the public knows was the first time the state administered that assessment for that reason we'll be examining map growth data our board interim goal is that 60 of students in grades three through nine be at or above math benchmark this spring so taking a look at this chart right here today we'll be sharing our fall screening data in support of interim gold 2.1 the percentage of grades three through nine students at or above math benchmark on the map growth assessment will increase from 52 from last spring to 60 in Spring 2023. I'll be using the term Benchmark what that means is students meeting the 40th percentile you'll know um on the bar craft that represents the differences between spring assessment data though the assessment as you know is administered three times per year the

068interim Target for this year is set at 60 percent or more of our students reaching proficiency again as defined by the 40th percentile on that assessment this is something that I touched upon last year the map growth color legend that you see at the very bottom that goes from red to blue that adjusts our adjusted interim Target this year as you can see based on the bar graph the target is 60 when you saw this data last year the target was 52 so there may be some columns where the colors look different than what you remember last year it's because we've made those adjustments to the legend [Music] so with that said I I believe the 60 interim Target is within reach as you can see in that bronze I believe that's the car bronze

069colored Square you can see that we're at 56.7 percent proficiency as of that snapshot and that's within reach of our goal of 60 by the spring with that said going into next year our proficiency Target is 70 so we have a long way to go so there's a lot of urgency that we have to make sure that our students don't fall behind and they continue to succeed um and again note that last search Target was 52 percent so we can go on to the next graph this is the same data except you'll notice that it's broken down by grade level so on the left hand side you'll see the data presented for fall 2021 22 data for students in grades three two three through nine and then on the right you'll see the data for

07022 23. and again uh just as I shared before on the left side I you may remember the colors being slightly different and that's because we've since adjusted the legend to reflect the Benchmark of 60 for year two so with that said we can go on to a graph that will look familiar it's structured very uh similarly to our reading proficiency presentation that we just discussed this will allow the board to see when we move into our robust discussion at our next board meeting the breakdown amongst ethnic groups and special populations including students who are economically disadvantaged and also students who are non-economically disadvantaged so this provides really crucial data for us to analyze to make sure that we're elevating the academic progress of all of our students I do want to draw attention to

071the last three rows this came up in our discussion earlier this evening that on the left hand side um where it says below Target near Target and on target and above that reflects the one area in this presentation where we're using the legend from the previous school year so those colors remain the same from what you remember last year if you look at the 2223 data on the right that reflects the updated Legend uh and that would be one of the reasons but not necessarily the only reason that you'll see more campuses in the below target range at this time again that's just one of several reasons why that could be the case we'll discuss more robustly at our next session so when we come back to the table to have our robust School monitoring

072discussion we'll also have an opportunity to talk about where we're at in terms of next steps so if we could go to the next slide how that conversation will be structured will be around our high level pedagogical goals and on our Focus for K through 8 instruction as well at the bottom of this slide you'll see a high level overview of our continuous cycle of improvement which is based on Benchmark data like we were discussing tonight so that ultimately culminates into our second to last slide which is where we're at which is the implementation this is really the how whereas the board goals represent the what we're striving for our North Star these represent the strategies across a number of different dimensions that you can see below um one of which would be our multi-tiered

073system of support are data discussions professional learning instruction and curriculum and we believe that these tenants collectively will inform the administration's implementation strategy so I know that was a lot of data but the purpose of today is just to give you an opportunity to ask any clarifying questions on definitions or what particular columns mean this is structured very similarly to the reading discussion slides that we just discussed but at this point I welcome any technical questions in preparation for our robust academic discussion next board meeting thank you Dr Bryants board members are there any immediate clarifying questions on the report we just reviewed knowing we'll be having a full session of data and goal monitoring here in a few weeks not seeing any in the room and I don't see any hands raised I see

074member Wilson just raised her hand the member Wilson before is yours I I would like some um clarification not right now but um hence the request now to see if I can get the data for sixth grade math for elementary students and a separate separate data for the middle school students that are the sixth grade students that are in Middle School just so I could distinguish and see the difference since half of our students virtually are in the middle school and and of sixth graders and half of them are in the elementary school so I I just would like to put in that request absolutely thank you member Wilson any additional questions before we move on hearing scene none thank you Dr Bryant again and team for the data presentations did that include questions on

075matters other than the report where our agenda topics never done your your question is should it be limited to the report and we're on the topic of goal monitoring questions not assistant okay thank you all right moving on uh the section D public comments um we'll read an introduction to public comment welcome to the school board's first opportunity of the evening for public comment the board is set aside a one-hour time slot at the beginning of our meeting for public comment public comments and excess of one hour will be heard the second opportunity at the end of the meeting or comments can be submitted in writing during public comment board members will not answer questions or engage in a discussion with members of the public this is the Public's time to speak and the board's

076time 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 in civil ASD conducts public meetings under Robert's Rules of Order a set of rules for orderly meetings that have been used since the late 1800s those rules require the board and the public to be civil and respectful of each other's opinions and statements here are a few requirements under Robert's Rules number one do not attack a member or speaker's motives number two no profanity or fall language number three refrain from disturbing the meeting no cheering Applause outbursts or waving of signs or poster number four if you have handouts that you wish to share with the board please give them to our secretary Ms Foster who is seated

077to my left as the president of the as the chair of the board tonight it is my duty to enforce these Rules of Civility and decorum as such and consistent with Robert's Rules of Order I have the authority to rule any speaker out of order for violation of these rules or fail to failure to conduct themselves in a civil manner additional details and information can be found in the handout located at the door regarding audience participation and rules of our boardroom with that said our first Speaker who signed up in person is Lika McCauley so I apologize thank you Miss Foster we have one uh student speaker who gets to be heard first um it's um via telephone hi so I'm Vince I'm a ninth grader at West last Monday was indigenous people's Day a

078federal holiday and a state recognized holiday um I was originally going to come out here and ask why don't our schools get indigenous people's day off and business people's day is so important in the United States especially in Alaska our state is so rich in Native history and culture on the day is a celebration of diversity and inclusivity and a remembrance of the United States of treatment of past native during events like the Wounded Knee Massacre it's an opportunity to educate young people and adults about the people who used to live on this land and to never forget the brutality the brutality they face during assimilation um last Monday almost all of my friends and everyone I talked to did not know that it was indigenous people's day because we didn't get it off so

079they didn't really question what was so important about last Monday um so I reached out to board by email and I was supposed to reach out to the Sab so I did I was then told that we will get the holiday off next year which is awesome I'm very happy that the indigenous people's day will be properly celebrated and recognized in the coming years although it should have been done a lot sooner there's no point in holding a grudge so thank you for that [Music] thank you for your testimony all right moving on to community speakers Lika McCauley evening to Madam president Bellamy and members of the board my name is Lika McCauley and as president of APA I'm here to read a letter to you to enter it into public record dear Anchorage School

080Board the current contract between the Anchorage principles Association and the Anchorage School District is set to expire after June 30th 2023. while we believe there have been some delays and challenges during the last two negotiation Cycles we believe that you agree that ASD principles have come through to support ASD Administration and the community in a myriad of ways during the past few years showing unwavering commitment while leading schools through constant change and difficult circumstances we believe that this contract should be settled as soon as possible especially as we look forward to unprecedented budget shortfalls principals have continued to focus on supporting school safety and Student Success and setting up fair and reasonable contract is in the best interest of both parties the past few years have brought a spotlight on the importance of principles in

081every aspect of our schools and we understand that this Administration knows that we can meet our goals with a great teacher in every classroom led by great principals in every building we hereby respectfully request the Anchorage School District reopen negotiations with the Anchorage principals association with the goal of setting a new contract in advance of the upcoming school year we have established a representative representative negotiations team and we look forward to beginning this process thank you thank you Miss McCauley our next speaker is Danielle Kemp does not appear to be online moving on Michael Grunst in person good evening my name is Mike grunstein I am both a graduate of the Anchorage School District and a parent of two children in the Chinese immersion program an Elementary's kid and a school and a middle schooler

082like him and send my own and do not reflect in the official position of the Department of Defense the US Army of the Alaska National Guard I'm not going to add to the comments about the benefits of immersion programs or education or how awesome it is to help children learn a language at such a highly qualified level I won't comment on how our world is becoming smaller and the need for multilingual people is increasing every day instead I'm going to address my comments to the board in front of me and some of my college to the community behind me first the Board needs to address the entirety of the challenge in front of us we wasted a perfectly good pandemic to make the fundamental changes necessary needed to help our kids we didn't address changing

083the start times for high schoolers despite every single study showing that improves outcomes we didn't address school closures until now we need to look at every school how many people attended where those students come from and what we need to do to make those kids more successful we need to address the differences in Middle Schools as someone who attended k-6 I was scared for my kid to attend Middle School in sixth grade I could not have been more wrong I was told by a teaching friend that they need to leave grade school in grade in fifth grade and spread their wings what a difference a year makes we failed to address year-round schooling and the opportunities that it gives our students and Families now I need to address my fellow community members I want to

084pay more taxes raise your hand if you're willing to pay more for our kids to have a fulfilling and enriching learning experience I value not just the road memorizations of facts but also the need to teach our children critical thinking skills I value art music Sports and other programs that help our children be competitive on a global stage and we can put our hands down now because Alaska statute 14.17.490 specifically forbids communities of making up the difference for State funding failures yes the state of Alaska forbids communities from spending their tax dollars on fixing the problems that the state caused Alaska's communities that range from a few dozen residents to one community that has hundreds of thousands this one size fits-all approach is no longer functional we have the most diverse School District in the

085country perhaps in the world we need to continue to capitalize on this and fund not just immersion programs but all the art music sports clubs and cultural programs that make our children not just a participant of but a competitor in the world economy we cannot become a dystopian night where our students are simply taught to function as another Cog in the world please note that I'm an advocating for keeping schools open just to keep them open as someone who manages and builds millions of square feet of infrastructure I know that we need to look at closing and and consolidating our schools I have one more point to meet Alaska just pumped 2.1 billion dollars of bribes into the state economy via PFD of that 400 million dollars immediately have to stay in the form of

086federal income tax all right thank you for your testimony our next speaker is Karine McPhee my name is Corrine McPhee and I'm a retired ASD employee I'm speaking tonight in support of Elementary abandoned Orchestra one of my two ASD careers was being a music teacher mostly band and Orchestra with 22 years in ASD and before that two years in the valley I got my start playing in the band at Jester Valley continued at Clark and graduated from Bartlett because of the great music training I received I earned a full tuition music scholarship to college got my degree and came back to Alaska to teach many of your current and retired ASD music teachers have similar stories to mine I had the great joy of teaching at two of my alma Waters Chester Valley and Clark

087I play in the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra and I'm proud that some of my former students and many other ASD alumni also perform with the symphony and with many other music groups in town the award-winning ASD instrumental music program with multiple Grammy Awards and a recent performing arts school of excellence award has strong support in our community it's a point of pride it's highly valued because it's one of the best things we do for kids Elementary band and Orchestra are curricular subjects taught during the school day it's not a pull out the structure of Elementary band and Orchestra is key to its success at the start of each year instrumental music teachers meet with every sixth grade student in the school so let them know about the wonderful opportunity children choose the instrument they love the

088best and start on their musical Journey Through the sixth grade and on to middle and high school speaking of secondary school consider the fact that many of our secondary music programs have very large Ensemble classes intentionally with 50 students or more they can serve and do serve large numbers of students in the same room at the same time no other core class or elective is as cost effective as this any diminishment of the elementary program would negatively affect the numbers of students entering the middle school and high school programs it's very easy to see how that would end up costing more money in the long run over and over we find that some students who struggle in other areas excel in music for students who are like I was abandoned Orchestra is the best part

089of their day it becomes the reason they love school the reason they stay in school Elementary band and Orchestra have been an important part of the ASD curriculum for a long time in fact since the Kennedy administration let's make sure we keep it around for the benefit of our children in the future thank you thank you for your testimony our next speaker is Stephanie Cornwell vfo oh we can hear you you have three minutes please okay good hi my name is Stephanie quanarama former ASD employee uh was a Statewide special ed administrator parent and taxpayer in the district um it's really hard to listen to all this testimony and figure out what to use your three minutes for to actually speak um but what I want to do is what I intended to do tonight

090is to share a positive story I'm sure the board doesn't get to hear enough of these um since I left ASD and State stuff and University stuff I've become an advocate for families with kids with special needs um [Music] it's it's a challenging role and having sat in the general ed teacher the special ed teacher intensive meet teacher administrator and parent seat I understand what everyone's going through and my goal is always to find solutions that work for everyone it's not often going to be easy there's no easy button but we can if we can have those conversations the difficult conversations be real about the difficult situation we're facing there is a way to reach good things and last week I was advocating with a family and we got an email about a meeting that

091had six folks that were they had director or senior director in their title and in my 20 years experience having that many people with that title in their name showing up to a meeting with one parent it doesn't usually go well but this it didn't start out going well but at some point it turned and his parents myself and everyone at that table Zoom table was able to find common ground to have a real conversation about what we were really facing and good stuff came from it they were actually able to address the concerns the parent had that I brought up so they had and make a plan to address that in this next week and that's kind of what we have to do and you know this is a really awful time we can't

092deny the reality that we're facing it sucks but what's going to Define us is what we do with it how do we bring together the community the staff and everyone in between to work together to find Solutions there are people out there [Music] Ms Cornwall thank you for your testimony our next speaker in person is Corey ice [Music] thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight uh I really wanted to engage in that conversation about test scores because as the Anchorage Education Association president and teacher of the anchor School District I have the opportunity daily to talk with teachers what they're doing in the classrooms what they're not doing the classrooms and all the discussions that we're having it is not the proper place to talk about philosophy here teaching philosophy versus the research behind

093what we're doing in our classrooms but together we own those scores for sure but what we're doing in the classrooms every day is dwarfed by the problems where also those T our teachers are engaged in every day Staffing shortages constant behavioral concerns uh class size we're talking about increasing class size as part of our solution to the budget deficit but also the mental health of our families and our students and all the trauma that has taken place over the last couple years we talk about these test scores a little bit in isolation of all the other challenges that we're facing I think we should debate what we're doing in the classrooms with our students every day it shouldn't happen in this boardroom necessarily but I encourage all of you to get out there and talk

094with the teachers talk with the principals and see what is working and what is not working for our students your educators are out there they're they're working every day they're in the classrooms they're with their students they're working with families with a shortfall a shortfall of Staffing a shortfall of ta support our special education teachers are their caseloads are Rising daily as some staff resign as staff move around it is a struggle out there many of those students both special ed and gen Ed are not being served as some as more and more time is spent with behaviors uh classrooms uh being evacuated it it is a real struggle out there so I'll just remind everyone that when we talk about our scores we need to not talk about them in isolation of just what

095we're doing but the the entirety of the experience that's taking place in our schools and classrooms thank you for your testimony our next speaker is Lisa Foster in person I mean it's actually Lisa colors Pastor sorry um I just want to talk to you about ASD memorandum 39 and the uh proposal for the land acknowledgment I I so totally acknowledge that the history of the country the world has never been good and we all make mistakes we all have problems but the land acknowledgment from what I see is not necessarily a solution to a problem just heard that there are several behavioral issues that are inherent in the system and in our kids and I see it every day but to ignore that and say that let's go ahead and do a land acknowledgment you're

096kind of degrading the Constitution the United States I see and um the Declaration of Independence says we're all equal we're all working together we're all trying to be Unified that's what I like to see and that's what I want to see I sub almost every single day and I see these kids working together to to engage each other to get better to make themselves students who have the ability to go and be leaders in the community that's what I like to see and that's what I uh push for every kid that I see the land acknowledgment is what it I look at it and I'm like what is this doing to our kids what is this doing to um everybody together it is almost a divisive thing is what I see I see that you're

097putting one culture above other cultures well people can say well the whites have been above everybody else for a long time well that's not where we want to go I don't think that's where I want to go I want us all to work together and be a unified Anchorage I am so proud to be a person that lives in this United States I don't have to worry about fleeing from Venezuela or from Russia or from China because of the repressive policies I want us to work together and build consideration and respect for one another but that comes at the Baseline of the kids in each and every school when I walk through classrooms and they're saying good morning Mrs Foster or hello Mrs Foster in the hallways and then I walk through other schools and

098they don't see that respect and then I definitely walk through cars or Fred Meyers and I don't see that respect from the kids where's that coming from so I think it needs to come from us and I think we need to be working together to provide that Unity but I don't think this land acknowledgment is what it is because again it's putting one culture above the other and I see us needing to be unified more than that and not Diversified thank you very much thank you for your testimony our next speaker is Cindy fryer good evening my name is Cydia fryer this is my son axel and as well as a student at Inlet View Elementary um he has a couple things he wants to say what's the naming for your kindergarten teacher [Music] and

099do you walk to and from school yeah for sharing as a parent and an architect and a Community member I've written letters and spoken to the board regarding my strong support of the portion of the one-time funding to go towards the replacement School of the much needed replacement School of Inlet View and today I have questions these are questions that we ask around our debtor table uh how did we get to such an urgent moment as elected governance the board points to the finger of the points their finger to the voters and to the legislators and as voters we point our fingers to the legislators and the board and in turn the legislators went to the board and the voters and it's it's clear that little is accomplished this way what's the answer in an

100effort to find answers I turned to the ASD website did you know that the Anchorage School District will train anyone on how to write grants to benefit our kids random perhaps this is only one of many ways anyone can help these in many ways are outlined under the how can I help tab on the ASD development and Grants Department webpage available to anyone who has internet access what about the things I cannot do what will happen to the one-time funds if they are not used as the grantors intended and in the time intended I don't know will the state see it as an indication that the school district really does not need the funds is there if there is a next time will they be less inclined to award who is lobbying for an increased

101BSA what happens to the students if the school is closed which I think is the question a lot of families are asking today what building will we walk or ride our bike to what about the IB program at Inland view for these kids who have been afforded the international Baccalaureate program in their classrooms will this opportunity go as the school goes my family is concerned and invested who is taking action who is doing the hard work maybe you are maybe you're not as facilitators of the Anchorage School District your hard work in this term must ensure that our community is never again in the position we are in today we will continue will we continue to point fingers or will we all do our share again please consider the funding um for the school uh

102now is the time for Inlet View please find a path forward and help these deserving kids grow in the environment they are meant to be thank you so much thank you for your testimony our next speaker is Rachel berenbaum in person try Rachel one more time at the end our next speaker is Jay McDonald in person thank you my name is Jay McDonald and I've got something to read for everyone so two men can pleasure each other in a variety of fun ways handies perhaps the most important skill you will Master as a gay or by man is the Timeless classic the hand job the good news is you can practice it on yourself the bad news each guy has become very used to his own way of getting himself off learning how to find

103a partner's personal style can take ages but it can be very rewarding when you do sometimes or something they don't teach you in schools that in order to be able to come at all you or your partner may need to finish each other off with a handy a lot of a lot of people find it hard to come through other types of sex this is fine it's certainly not something you have to apologize for a good handy is all about the wrist action rub the head of his back and forth with your hand try different speeds and pressures until you responds positively a bad handy is grasping a todger and shaking it like a ketchup bottle employees oral sex is popping another dude's peen in your mouth or indeed popping yours in his there's only

104one hard and fast rule when it comes to blowies watch the teeth caps lock lips and tongue yes teeth no Mr McDonald point of water Mr chair I need you to follow our rules of decorum in our boardroom which is if you have testimony to us and we're not you're not just reading a script of some kind now would be the time to make your point to the board thank you I've been told by board members and by administrators at the school that these materials are not in our school this is actually directly from our school this is uh it's called this book is gay by James Dawson it's in Bartlett Romig Middle School in Polaris there's at least 38 checkouts on this book that are logged in the system online and like I said

105I've been told multiple times by multiple people at the school these materials are not in our school when they in fact are and this is just one example I can come up with dozens of them and I've noticed that there's been a big push to go towards um critical race Theory and gender critical gender Theory materials in our schools and when I read these materials I just have one question and that's what is the desired learning outcome from these materials when you're giving these to kids and to be clear Polaris school is an elementary school which is one of the locations of This Book thank you very much thank you for Testimony our next speaker is Michael Patterson in person uh hi my name is Michael Patterson uh that's a tough one to follow but

106uh I'm a I'm a graduate of Bartlett I have a son who's at uh in first grade at the Alaska native uh culture or charter school and I'm here to speak today in support of the land acknowledgment at the protocol uh you know I just want to say at first you know the someone I mentioned the Constitution makes someone equal the United States Constitution is a Lie the United States Constitution constitutionalized slavery it constitutionalized colonization and it literally created groups of uh second-class citizens in uh subgroups and so this idea or this myth that the constitution somehow you know made us all equal is not is not true and so a land acknowledgment I think is the most basic it is the most minimal thing that the school district can do is to start to

107promote these landed on it's more and more because as a parent of an additional student it actually makes me feel pretty happy that my son is becoming culturally competent in where he comes from and that the school district is making an effort to acknowledge the wrongs of the past and the things that these things are not in the past they happen all the time I was looking at the math and the reading results and there's a it's not a it's not a cultural thing it's not a community thing it's not a coincidence that the white students are doing are above proficient and students of color in addition to students are mostly struggling or below proficient that's not uh that's a that's a systemic thing that's oppression and so this idea that somehow land acknowledgment is

108going to make other people feel bad or other students feel less or uh or put one group in front of the other the entire history of the United States is putting one group of people above everyone else that is a historical fact and not at having these land acknowledgments is essentially historic revisionism it's and this is you know you're all Educators your job is to educate and if the simplest way you can educate about history is just acknowledging whose lands you're originally on I think that's a great thing and it doesn't cost anybody any money and so this idea so to close it's just it it bewilders me that some folks can think that other students will feel bad if they're not indigenous but I myself you know in Korean and African-American and growing up

109here in Alaska watching indigenous people fight for their culture fight to preserve it has inspired me to learn more about my cultures and to be a more culturally rounded person and just as important as math just as important as reading having culturally competent students is necessary for the 21st century of the United States is not on an island that exists by itself we have to understand what other cultures are and you need to understand where you come from in your culture because if you're not if you don't know where you come from you have no idea where you're going and I really appreciate the time thank you thank you for your testimony my understanding is Rachel berenbaum has returned to the room um in person thank you [Music] foreign thank you I apologize I was

110watching a finger puppet show from some first graders I want to thank all of you for your service and for taking the time to listen this evening my name is Rachel berenbaum my daughter is in first grade at Inlet View Elementary and my four-year-old daughter continues to impatiently wait until it is her turn at the big kids school I'm here today to do my part as a parent and Community member to ensure that the school board authorizes the funding to build the new school at Inlet View without further delay the conversation about addressing the needs at Inlet View has been going on for 20 years now the funds are available and while the board has authorized more than 60 million dollars to other schools across the district there continues to be no commitment to the

111students and teachers that in Libya it is no secret that great schools are economic drivers families consider the surrounding schools when purchasing homes or choosing a neighborhood to live and raise a family just like my family did Inlet View is also a great source of pride in our neighborhood not just for parents teachers and faculty but by all neighbors our community wholeheartedly understands the Great Value this school brings to our community and that is why they continue to show up time and time again yet there is no progress from the board at a time when most people are frustrated with partisan politics even for former mayors of Anchorage from both parties have weighed in and said it is time to build and live you because it is the right thing for our students and teachers

112as well as the broader community and economy I know this board has engaged in a lot of conversation about supporting Inlet View at this point the only way to truly continue to support our school is to build a school that meets educational and safety standards as a parent I have a responsibility to advocate for my children and their education and as a community member I want the same for every student in this District I reject the notion that we must pit our children and their schools against one another the best way to avoid this is for the board to utilize the funds they were given to fund Inlet View and finish the long seemingly never-ending process that we have bid on for our kids thank you thank you for your testimony our next speaker is

113Paulie Carr in person good evening um I'm here to testify and support a resolution on 39 but before I do that I wanted to just um say that with regard to the statements made earlier about um engaging the full community when it comes to testing and other programs I heard a lot of people mentioned but I didn't hear the students mentioned and I wanted to just say please talk to the students when you're making these decisions um I am a parent of a sixth grader in the Anchorage School District and um I want to support resolution 39 as drafted regarding the establishment of a land acknowledgment protocol for school district events I think this resolution is positive and an important step for the school district to take for a few reasons one it speaks to

114the importance of Consulting with a local eclutine tribe to establish a respectful resonant acknowledgment statement and guide when and why to issue land acknowledgments in an appropriate Manner and to have the school board then approve the statement this creates an intentional and thoughtful pathway for issuing land acknowledgments two it speaks to the reality that we are all on indigenous land in the Anchorage School District and establishing a protocol for issuing land acknowledgments at ASD events allows all students to understand the importance of the relationship to indigenous lands and to understand indigenous peoples as current present and thriving with half of the nation's tribes in Alaska we have a particular obligation to uplift this I cannot Envision anything negative about creating a thoughtful approach for how to offer land acknowledgments at events sponsored by the school

115district an institution dedicated to learning what I can Envision as a negative is what might happen without passing this resolution I can see the harm that comes from fear and the hate that stems from ignorance that ignorance was on full display by a Hatcher Pass resident at an assembly meeting last week in which he concluded that all homeless people are Alaska natives from The Villages and all they do is drink do drugs and other bad things this is a man who grew up here and did not understand that where he grew up is actually on indigenous land imagine how his perception and understanding of Alaska native people could have changed if he had been exposed to land acknowledgments as a child I don't want our children to grow up with that kind of ignorance and

116Hate the ASE has an opportunity opportunity to do one positive thing in helping more of our students understand the indigenous lands we live on and hopefully help them develop an appreciation of indigenous lands and communities through this simple resolution I also just want to um close by thanking Dr Bryant for your what I see as consistent and transparent communication regarding the budget crisis we haven't met yet hello it's some of the best communication I've received as a parent to truly let us understand what is going on so thank you thank you for your testimony our next speaker is Terry Davenport new person [Music] thank you good evening I'm here in support of funding for the new Inlet View I'm the parent of a daughter in first grade at in the view I also have a

117son who happily attended Inlet View from kindergarten through second grade he tested into the highly gifted program his first grade year but we were so pleased within the view that we kept him there until we realized that his special need was too great to be accommodated by any school and we made the difficult decision to put him at Rogers Park for this new school year and it's been a tough transition because he really misses in the view he misses his friend in 1965 and has an addition that is over 30 years old is a palace compared to in the bill he's expressed amazement that they don't have problems with toilets or stinky sewage that there's you know room for students belongings inside the classroom and there's not just a small multi-purpose room but there's a

118huge gym and a huge cafeteria um the school board recognizes the need for a new school which I appreciate but frankly that recognition is meaningless without funding and a solid plan we already know that the district's needs are simply too great to be satisfied by the pot of money this 37 million dollars that remains but the delay and and deciding you know how to use that money is only prolonging The Hunger Games uh style fighting for these limited resources and will most likely result in the Money Getting parsed Out Among schools to allow underfunded programs to limp along for a bit longer while the Inlet View the kids continue to be subjected to an unsafe and unhealthy learning environment that is embarrassing and frankly shameful in fact the disparity between Inlet View and the other

119schools is going to be even greater given that the board passed the remainder of the funding package which allocated funds to other schools and left Inlet View with nothing member Jacobs expressed his optimism that the new school will be funded eventually and by the current board the Inlet View Community has experienced ASC as kicking of a can far too many times to share his optimism but I would love nothing more than to be proven wrong I implore you to please do the right thing and vote to fund the Inlet View replacement program this December our children's health and safety depends on it thank you thank you for your testimony our next speaker is Eric Hawk in person hey guys thanks for the opportunity to talk thanks to the community for uh giving me a moment

120to speak on this I want to talk about the benefit of land acknowledgments uh I've been uh playing at a band called Portugal the man who's uh from Alaska we're from here and about five years ago uh we started rolling out doing land acknowledgments at all of our shows um we've done them all across the country all around the world and a lot of the the reason that we were compelled to do that and felt that it was a compulsory thing was being from Alaska somewhere that's so uh close to the native communities and integrated with indigenous knowledge uh I'm a fourth generation Alaskan and uh you know pioneering homesteading family here and I feel that uh you know the reason that we were able to thrive as a family was to in part to

121indigenous knowledge of which water was the good water to drink where the good food is and uh so much of Survival and why human life has been able to thrive on these lands is owed in great part to indigenous knowledge and expertise um I feel that land acknowledgments are absolutely the bare minimum um for truly acknowledging the people that were here for many thousands of years that have offered their knowledge in helping to survive in such a rugged incredible place one thing that we have found is the further uh that you go back in time from colonialism uh the more difficult it can be to have some of this storytelling um time is a huge eraser in this place is so incredible to be so close uh both in proximity to a thriving and existing

122indigenous culture and a patchwork of cultures but also to be close enough in time that the stories are still fresh uh they tend to get forgotten the further you go away it doesn't need to be that way and land acknowledge land acknowledgments are a great way to keep the stories fresh and to not let the origins be forgotten uh it should be the core of Education here it's incredible uh thank you so much for your time thanks for listening foreign thank you for your testimony our last speaker is Janelle Hartman in person [Music] hi I'm Janelle Hartman and I am a health teacher at Northwood Elementary School and I have the privilege of working at Northwood as well as Kincaid Elementary thank you for your time this evening and thank you for your continued communication

123with us as teachers in the district um with the budget cuts and the deficits it's been really confusing and um I appreciate the communication from Dr Bryant and letting us know what's going on as a teacher of Northwood Elementary I just am here to speak for the 311 students that we have and the amazing staff behind me um and also the amazing staff that are not able to make it here this evening um we are working in an amazing school with an amazing community and amazing children and students many of the staff who work there they do come to Northwoods who work for Northwood it's a unique school it's a small school but it's so diverse we have an extremely high transient population which can make it um difficult with our population of stability however

124over the last few years we have had instability with new Administration coming into our building as well as new superintendent and going through covid and we have an amazing staff working there now to be supportive and stable for our students seeing Northwood on this list just reminded me of why I got into education Wonder Park Elementary was actually the school that I started volunteering at after graduating from Bartlett High School so I am also a member of a community community that educated me I left Alaska and was also a member of teacher for America ended Americorps and taught my summer school in Houston Houston Institute so I was very excited to see the um thoughts and um perhaps Rejuvenation of our community with our new superintendent as well as with the school board that does

125support our community with Northwood Elementary those spaces there's 311 students who I've seen grow over the last three years as a student as teacher at Northwood um our population has grown within our school we do have a lot of students with multiple family members and it's wonderful to see those multiple family members walking to school having the students siblings have come as families and we continue to have um from kindergarten even preschool all the way up to the sixth grade um so as we go into our budget uh deficit and numbers I also want to remind the community that voting is the most important thing that we can do as a community uh November 10 or excuse me November 8th is our um our day to vote so get out there and cast our elections

126for for people who value education public education and thank you all so much for this time and for continuing to listen to us um and hopefully supporting our students in this community thank you thank you for your testimony now just a reminder to the board additional written testimony is attached to our agenda tonight uh what sets said that finishes our first opportunity for public testimony and we will take a brief 10-minute recess thank you all right it is 808s and we'll call ourselves back to order our next agenda item is uh letter e consent agenda I'm first going to ask if there's any items to be pulled from the consent agenda before we pass the remaining items as a slate remember Donnelly yes I'd like to pull memorandum number 39. we'll pull member memorandum number

12739 which is number E5 and add that is G3 under action items thank you member Donnelly member lessons could we please pull item zero four two thank you member lessons we'll pull memorandum number zero four two or E6 and make that G4 under action items [Music] not seeing any comments online or additional comments in the boardroom I would ask for a motion to approve the consent agenda as amended Mr chair Madam president I moved to approve the consent agenda as amended thank you madam president is there a second second by member Higgins thank you is there any discussion seeing on the boardroom seeing none online Amanda please conduct the votes remember Wilson yes member Jacobs yes yes member lessons yes member Donnelly yes member Holloman oh really looks like we lost him okay all right

128remember Higgins yes and president Bellamy yes foreign agenda passes six years with one not present which we'll move on to our non-action item slate these are items that are before us today um but we'll be back in front of us at our next meeting um in November are there any items that a board member wishes to discuss at this point Mr President member diamond I'd like to discuss memorandum number 45 the six-year Capital Improvement plan CIP projects I'll grab a list in case there's more and then we'll come back to that one thank you member Donnelly is there anything else from non-action that we'd like to discuss tonight not seeing any one else in the room or anyone online remember Donnelly on memorandum number 45 the six-year Capital Improvement plan or CIP so I'm very

129pleased to see we're getting around to re-examining the six-year Capital plan which is required by state law for all school districts to have um when we adopted the existing plan I was very concerned that included the tearing down and rebuilding of three schools um I have consistently supported doing major remodels that those schools needed um and we have a track record of very successfully doing major remodels for 10 to 15 million dollars less than tearing down schools and rebuilding them turning in is a perfect example of that it was built in 1960 which coincidentally is the same year as the elementary school I went to Willow Crest but um it given that we have fiscal limitations and a limited number of dollars by remodeling doing major remodels rather than tearing down and rebuilding we could

130have done uh many more projects that are on our key maintenance backlog boilers roofs safety vestibules and that was my thinking at the time so I welcome the opportunity to revisit the six-year plan and hopefully I'm going to Advocate again that we uh instead of doing tearing down existing schools and rebuilding new ones that we remodel those existing schools because I do believe they do need remodeling I strongly support it at that time and continue support a major remodel for Inlet View also because it desperately needs it and you know I think my you know I'd been a minute in that view many times over the years my mom was one of the served as nurse there and on the it was the very first school that I visited when I was elected to the

131school board and it is just a wonderful culture at that school I was so impressed I was so impressed that I took some of the the Flyers that were in the in the in the foyer there talking about the school's culture and took them back to my children's school and said this is this is something we need to be doing so I've always thought very highly of Inlet View and I strongly support getting that school a major remodel at least as soon as possible thank you thank you member Donnelly any additional discussion on F6 memorandum number 45 member lessons yeah thank you member Donnelly for bringing um for pulling this item I wonder if the administration could speak to the item regarding the items regarding Wonder Park and maybe I'm getting ahead of myself but

132it was one of the schools presented this afternoon for potential closure and here I see that there is we have the possibility of a design and replacement so maybe I'm two steps ahead but I am a little perplexed yes so the CIP predates our discussion that we had this afternoon on school closures are there additional comments that Chief Holland would like to make thanks yes uh thank you uh uh to the chair to um member lessons as uh Dr Bryant indicated the CIP has to be put together with with known information that's you know basically etched in stone it's plannable um and and we don't know the disposition of the schools that were discussed this afternoon uh hence another Point um of the importance of knowing that as Chief Anderson indicated here in the near

133future so that we can plan accordingly let's suppose that the board voted to using your example to repurpose Wonder Park and it was closed in its current form uh if it's repurposed it's quite feasible to to assume that it would still need some or all of the work listed on the CIP depending on the repurposed plan so that's point one but point two uh would be we also can like let's use the the case of a secure vestibule if we were to close the school and no longer need it for that intended purpose that would require a vestibule for for example we could move that and supplant it with something else because the CIP has a list of several items going out in time as a six-year moving window so those discussions have taken place

134pro forma that depending on action by the board that gives us actual disposition of those schools that we would make those appropriate changes on the CIP remember lesson is any follow-up comment is I guess the follow-up comment is um is it in the best interests for planning to adopt the CIP at the next board meeting if things could change in December or would it be better to defer decision on this particular document another six weeks or does it not matter because it's a living document and there could be an earthquake the day after tomorrow and we're back to square one well actually actually you just made a great point it is a living document and and as such it can be amended there is a point in time in the calendar when it does need

135to be submitted to deed and that's important so there is still time to act on that um please consider that we don't want to kind of cram all these decisions into a single board meeting like you know pushing it through a funnel um the CIP it's incredibly important that it be submitted on time but yes there is still time for further consideration any other discussion on memorandum number 45 the six year CIP not seeing anyone in the room or anyone online we'll move forward to section g action items the first of which is ASD memorandum number zero four zero um would entertain a motion to approve the memorandum move to approve memorandum zero four zero revision the school board policy uh BP 5131.43 harassment intimidation and bullying second thank you made by member lessons seconded

136by member Higgins and president Bellamy um discussion so I'll open things up um and explain the the board policy revision that's pending here what we have in front of us is a revision to 513143 harassment intimidation and bullying this was discussed in governance and approved unanimously the single line of change in essence requires that Administration facilitates the method of anonymous reporting for students staff and volunteers of any threats of harassment intimidation and bullying and I worked in concert with Administration during the developments of this board policy Amendment and to that end it's my understanding that Administration has identified a method to become in compliance with the new board policy at least in part as soon as next month and so at this point I'd ask Dr Bryant to take a bit of time to explain

137how we intend to implement this change toward policy thank you member Jacobs yes you're correct that the administration plans to adopt a tool called stop it and it is in strong alignment with the proposed resolution so at this point I would like to ask uh Chief Holland and team to present additional context foreign thank you um to the chair stop it is a platform it is available as an app a website and a telephone hotline now this platform is available to not only all of the students but also staff and parents so it's a platform that allows these communities to anonymously submit secure tips to school administrators and counselors these could be safety threats bullying alcohol or drug drug use depression thoughts of self-harm and many more as an anonymous reporting service it's a 24

1387 service uh for for these students family and staff it removes any perceived barriers because it's anonymous so staff and students feel safe reporting any potential threats they don't feel monitored or watched in in a traditional sense of say walking into an office The Crisis Support Service component of this is that students and staff can connect with actual trained crisis counselors using the crisis text line when they need support when experiencing mental health or Wellness issues stop it provides ASD staff and students immediate access to a trained professional that can't help so why you stop it to ensure students have a safe place to learn and staff have a sorry staff have a safe work environment stop it is used by over 7 000 school districts public school districts in the U.S out of roughly

139thirteen thousand it's recommended by the U.S Department of Justice it's proven to help decrease negative behaviors in schools and workplaces alike the best way to keep our schools safe is to provide students parents and staff a platform say something when they see something is the catchphrase used we already own this program and there's been training on this program we have a rollout schedule as you indicated uh chair Jacobs phase one is secondary and alternative schools so stop it we'll go live on 14 November it is being beta tested and there will be a a phased in launch between October 31st and November 11th phase two will be Elementary and Charter Schools we don't have a launch date yet for that but um it will be in the second semester of this school year we do

140have at this time if you'd like to view it the students have made a ASD students have made a video and this is the video that will be used as one of the launch Services of stop it to uh to promote the platform thank you Mr Holland that would be good excellent [Music] Anchorage School District believes that being successful in school starts with having a safe learning environment that's why administrators and staff continually evaluate District building and safety practices to make our schools as safe as possible although statistically school is one of the safest places we can be tragedies impact us all and it's important to have a plan for any situation that could arise our district leaders consistently work with local law enforcement officials to update safety procedures throughout our campuses our district counselors

141continue to implement new strategies to improve the overall health of our students and staff alike those safety measures have been effective in decreasing violence one of the greatest assets to stopping violence is us the students which is why the Anchorage School District encourages students to report suspicious activity using the stop it app when using stop it you have the ability to anonymously report any threats or concerns you've encountered about your school or the district for example you can use the app to report situations with bullying weapon possession sexual harassment inappropriate online Behavior or anything else you might consider threatening to download the app visitor either the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store and search for the Stop It app once downloaded open the app and enter the access code provided by your school

142district if you need to make a report tap the submit a tip button and type a detailed message of your concern if possible provide photos or videos for additional evidence and submit the report your message will be sent anonymously to an administrator who will promptly launch an investigation into the situation through the Stop and messenger feature administrators might ask you for more information if needed but they will still not know who you are it's completely anonymous you have the power to lessen the pain someone is going through or possibly even save their life by speaking up and the stop it app empowers you to help yourself and others while keeping your school safe remember this app is not a joke it is not a place for drama or pranking a friend this is a safety

143measurement to be taken very seriously if you are unsure if you should report a situation you've witnessed consider those who have been impacted by situations that could have been avoided if someone spoke up think about The Many Lives who have been lost and communities that have been affected by serious situations do your part by reporting Trouble When You See It [Music] thank you foreign does that conclude the staff's remarks that concludes the staff remarks pending any questions thank you so much and thank you Dr Brian for facilitating um I will ask a brief question then I'll um transition to my remarks and then we'll open the floor for others um could Administration provide a figure as to the cost of the district especially given the light of the conversations we've been having today and then

144are there opportunities for Grants or assistance with getting that cost reimbursed in future years uh thank you for the question uh chair Jacobs the cost to the district all in including the 24-hour uh counseling hotline is 55 000 per year there was some mitigation of those costs in the negotiating process in that those are locked in as a level rate for three years 55 per year for the first three years thank you Mr Holland um I'll just transition to some brief remarks it's been a privilege to partner with Administration to marry the process of updating our board policy with the rollout um but I it's definitely a personal topic for me that you know member Wilson and I are licensed Therapeutic Foster parents we see students who would benefit from having this tool obviously and

145we know that the the incidence of bullying harassment intimidation that we see reported in our very transparent data dashboard are but a fraction of the occurrences that happen every day in school and so um knowing that our student representative Michelle is on board and certainly helps um you know knowing that I is a you 30 years ago would have been uh blessed to have a hotline um to call when I was a new kid in my third first grade and so um you know those interactions provided a lasting impact on me and definitely were a catalyst to making sure that this board policy got updated definitely our support from my colleagues and before we vote I will ask for any questions or other comments on this support policy proposal remember Higgins thank you I'll just

146make a quick comment um um I recall there was a concern about what play about about a student threat or uh terrorists that kite deal they wanted to call it what they want whatever they did at South High School and at that time one of the students they made a comment and they said because the parents were talking to the Boyd Administration about it and the the child had just written something for some other purpose and it was being made up larger than what it was and one of the students asked and said what are you going to do about the people that were bullying this person that caused them to do this and I thought that was the they knew what was going on and that reflected a lot and then we had workplace

147violence people that came up with schools and said the key to keeping schools successful safe is not having police officers there it's identifying kids that are being stressed out bullied um uh they're they were in that category so I have applied this approach I think it's critical and um I think it I have a lot of confidence it will be successful thank you thank you member Higgins other comments in the boardroom and then well I'm sorry I see member Wilson's hand up and then we'll Circle back I just wanted to say that I really think it's important for um students to have an anonymous way to report bullying or threats or any information that they have so I and and accessibility so I mean most of our students have a phone the app is is

148their world so um that would be easily accessible to them so I absolutely support this thank you member Wilson um scanning through the border of don't see any hands raised no further hands raised online with that said Miss Foster we can call for the vote [Music] member Donnelly yes member Holloman remember Jacobs yes member lessons yes member Wilson yes member Higgins yes student representative Shaw yes and president Bellamy yes sorry my mic was out with a vote of six years and one uh presence uh EST memorandum number zero four zero revision of school board policy 5131.43 passage thank you everyone all right so we'll move on to a newly placed item G2 which was an amendment from the start of our meeting uh president Bellamy wanted to address member holloman's appointment to I believe the

149aasb board of directors [Music] I did uh and keeping with our bylaws for the uh Alaska uh School Board Association um we have to as a board approve member um holloman's application to that he currently is on the board which we approved a year ago but he only he was filling a one-year term so now he is up for a three-year term and has applied so uh we have to either we have to approve that application tonight officially and Madam president are you making a motion to do so at this time yes I I so move thank you Mr second second by member lessons is there any further discussion foreign or online Ms Foster we can call for the football member Higgins member Holloman member Jacobs yes Ember lessons yes member Wilson yes member Donnelly

150yes student representative Shaw yes and president Bellamy yes they've heard of six years and no Nays and one absence uh that motion passes Madam president is there any other business under this agenda item well no I uh specifically related to the aasb application oh no no no sir thank you thank you much okay we'll move on to um the one of the first of the two items pulled from our consent agenda G3 which is ASD memorandum number zero three nine uh resolution in support of creating a land acknowledgment protocol um first we'll ask for a motion to approve Mr chair I moved to approve memorandum number zero three nine uh resolution and support of creating a land acknowledgment protocol thank you is there a second second there are some Mr Higgins first we have our

151second um Madam president would you care to speak to the memorandum absolutely um so uh just to give a little bit of History do I uh uh we have in this District we have been using uh various land acknowledgments uh I know since I've been on the board uh so that would be since uh April of 2019. the board uh has it has a land acknowledgment there is a land acknowledgment on our website so I'm a little um confused as to why this is people are thinking that this is new what is new is that we want to be um we want to try to create a shared uh uh you know a shared uh uh Pro land acknowledgment and protocol um so that we can um be consistent in our district so this is

152not a pledge it's not an oath it's not a recitation uh it it re and I heard terms tonight like divisive degrading I would replace those words with respectful I'd replace them with uh supportive of our indigenous students and I would replace it with honor because we share this land uh it is not us against them it is not um uh the you know I mean when we go hunting and fishing I don't think we think twice about uh whether or not you can hunt or you can fish if you have a license so you know we we grow and we live and we um we we acknowledge the land for what the gifts that it gives to us and this is an an effort to show our students just as they take Alaska history

153just as they um you know they they share on this land that this is our land but it is it it it was it was it was but before we even came to this land uh to to honor the people who were the ancestors and who took good care of this land uh as part of our Collective history I think is very worthy and I think is um uh it's something it's a small thing that we can do uh when as we live grow and learn on these on these lands so uh I I'm I we read Atlantic noticement before each of our board meetings and that is is that's in unison that is not in division that's an honor that's not it being um disrespectful and and it's not uh an oath again it's

154not an oath it's not a pledge it does not compete with anything except our own uh Notions and I know that anything we do um we we do we need to explain why we do it uh but it is not those things not that that's not that was not the committee's um um motivation uh this actually came from our students just like we allow them to wear their uh regalia uh that the land that we share and that's this is why we are going to develop it um and develop our land acknowledgment um in in Partnership with uh the tribe and then when we get that acknowledgment we will decide how we will come up with the protocol as to how it's going to be used but it is not the Pledge of Allegiance it

155is not those other things so I think I'll stop there and let somebody else talk we and it did go through our governance committee um it's been going through governance committee for quite a while actually um so again it's not new it's about respect it's about honor uh and and this is where we are today um and so um that that's all I have to say thank you president Bellamy are there other board members who wish to discuss remember Donnelly thank you Mr President um so what this resolution now proposes to do which has changed from the original proposal quite extensively is to ask the superintendent uh the administration to develop specific language for a land use acknowledgment and to make a proposal to the board to adopt that language and the circumstances wherein it

156would be used and if anybody wants to correct that I welcome that but that's how I read it being offered today uh so at some point in time we would come back and consider whatever it was the administration developed um the United States is not like other countries in addition to being exceptional and great um it is a nation of both indigenous people and mostly historical immigrants and as such the ceremonies and Customs that hold us together as a nation are more limited than those of most other nations we're just simply not as homogeneous as oh Hungary or a France um our constitution our Declaration of Independence and our sense of a constitutional republic form of government our sense of fairness our national motto and our national anthem these are all customs and there's actually

157rather few of them that hold us together as a nation and Nations need Unity Nations need customs and culture to hold them together to be successful over time um I want to be very clear I'm not proposing revising one word in this proposed resolution and um and and and as it's related to developing a proposal for a land acknowledgment I think that's fine um however as such a proposal is developed it's very important to keep in mind that it'd be fair historically accurate and not political um our existing board policy for 119 prohibits activity designed or intended to promote or assist a position on any voting issue and of course the Alaska lands native land Settlement Act uh by Congress proved that the issue of land claims is political and has been voted on so

158subject matter of this purely indicates caution is appropriate to make sure this doesn't become a political statement rather than historical acknowledgment and unfortunately that concern is Justified and exacerbated by some of the earlier proposals of this resolution that specifically referenced documents that said it was a political s it was a political effort um but those are I Believe been addressed successfully in the committee process um the board policy this resolution would be modifying eventually is currently Court policy 6115 which is ceremonies and observances and that policy in part reads quote the school board encourages activities and instill pride in our country and unfortunately my opinion this board with a different membership previously [Music] rejected a proposal a resolution to ensure that the national anthem and the Alaska flag song was played at least once a

159month at our school so I'm going to repeat that once a month that's all it called for at least once a month now none of the members that voted against that are currently on the board however I want to be very clear about that it's a very different board today um so one of the reasons given at that time which I think is since it relates directly to the existing policy that we would be eventually modifying that was given was saying the uh listening to the national anthem once a month would just take too much time away from instructional time so to be consistent I think it's appropriate that that also be considered as we consider this proposal also so I would hope that the administration in considering this proposal would also treat it fairly

160regarding that so that in addition to developing a proposal for a land acknowledgment I believe it's appropriate that any such evaluation for modifications of our customs and acknowledgment ceremonies and observations policy include an examination under where the national anthem and the Alaska flag zone should be played in our schools it would seem unbalanced to me to limit the review of new ceremonies to only a land acknowledgment and not other important American traditions that instill Unity among Americans and alaskans so once again I don't support amending any of the existing language but I do support amending this resolution to include developing a proposal to uh men BP board board policy 6115 to include minimum standards for the playing of the national anthem in the Alaska flag song in our schools and had ceremonies and that's in

161addition to the acknowledgment that would be developed by the superintendent a land acknowledgment so I prepared an amendment to do that which has been distributed to the members and at this time I would move the distributed amendment to add to the land acknowledgment protocol development the development of a national anthem and Alaska flag song protocol remember darling thank you for your comments and your Amendment after reviewing the and I just want to confirm that the amendment is the document here in front of me correct okay thank you that is correct thank you after reviewing the document it's my determination as chair that due to the scope of the resolution and memorandum in front of us your amendment is out of order and is not appropriate at this time however I would welcome you to take

162the conversation to governance um as we have with numerous of your proposals and to further offender what provision of Robert's Rules of Order is it out of order it relates to the exact number one policy that said ceremonies and Customs your your amendment is out of order because a jerk is not germane to the resolution it relates to the actual amendment that would have to the actual policy that this resolution would require to be amended remember Donnelly I've made my determination with consultation with other Roberts rules experts and I'm comfortable with that you have an option under Robert's rules to appeal the ruling of the chair if you'd like thank you I appeal the decision of the chair we need a second if we're going to vote on that is there a second who wishes

163to appeal the ruling of the chair hearing and seeing none that motion fails Is there further discussion on memorandum number 039 pertaining to a resolution in support of creating a land acknowledgment protocol member Higgins thank you I um I want to point out a couple of things that I think will important I remember attending an ASB conference and listening to um a presentation from North Dakota and one of the things they did to help improve academic outcomes uh with the American Indians was to give a better sense and acknowledgment of the culture the people the a member of review we had on the board at one time and said that most the highest performing School based upon demographics was the Alaska native charter school and a friend of mines who were Alaska natives who had

164dropped out of school because they just didn't feel welcomed and the first year that uh at that time superintendent Bishop was there she pulled together everybody in high school custodial it didn't matter and they focused upon Alaska native culture and and did something there to try to get them connected to understand so that they feel welcome they feel supported uh and alike and when I sat at one table uh there were about eight of us uh two women white and Westwood Alaska Natives and they asked about asked each table to talk about somebody that was significant in their school and the two women talked about people that really made a difference every Alaska native talked about someone who was significant it was a negative I think that everything we do here to try to develop

165some appreciation and recognition of of of Alaska Natives and the relationship and making the culture more receptive to them is important uh and beneficial I don't disagree with the importance of promoting the the national anthem I don't know with the Pledge of Allegiance at appropriate times I just don't want to water down this particular issue by somehow connecting the two um it makes a difference for kids feeling welcomed appreciated and understanding I think if we had other groups all cultures and all groups need to be done but this is to me most appropriate and I believe it's good for the kids thank you thank you member Higgins member lessons sure I wanted to say uh that I appreciate the work that members Bellamy and Jacobs in bringing us uh before the board and working it

166through committee I know that I had a number of suggestions and some were accepted and some were rejected and that's part of the process um I am supportive of the resolution as it stands but I also wanted to speak to member Donnelly and say that separately I think that your suggestion that at some point we have a recommendation from that we move towards um that the last item that you set forth right that the board um that we would ask the superintendent to bring something before the board that speaks to a protocol establishing minimums establishing our protocols for when the anthem and the Alaska Flagship flag song shall be played so I'd be happy to work with you in governments on separate item that that kind of close things so I think that's valuable thank

167you member lessons looking for conversation in the for the conversation in the room I don't see any online I don't so well and wrap up I'll say this is that um I appreciate the dialogue today and appreciate the conversation which occurred previously in governance um I think it's it's best to go back and I won't attempt to better articulate why this is important and some of the speakers we've had today but I can't offer my support um a land acknowledgment is a formal statement recognizing the indigenous people of a place it is a public gesture of appreciation for past and present present indigenous Steward stewardship of lands we now occupy um to me that's that's where this starts and ends um any attempt to conflate this with the importance of the Alaska flag song or

168the Pledge of Allegiance um I think is has been why this this issue is which shouldn't be divisive um and isn't to the majority of the board may have become so but I can't um take ownership of of of those feelings and what I can do is make sure we're passing good policy and we're doing what's best for kids and this does that and I'll leave it there with that said and don't not seeing any other conversation I'm sure uh the uh at this point we'll be voting to adopt ASD memorandum number zero three nine resolution in support of creating a land acknowledgment protocol Ms Foster can we proceed to vote understood okay so I'll restate the motion for um our secretary to make sure we're complying with Robert's Rules of the full motion at

169this point is to approve a resolution by the school board that the superintendents shall promote the necessary collaboration between the concluding a tribe and the anchor School District to write a living land acknowledgment statement and bring that statement to the board for approval and ensure a required protocol for when and why to issue land acknowledgments and appropriate district-sponsored ceremonies and Gatherings made by President Bellamy seconded by member Higgins Ms Foster can we call for the phone please yeah remember Jacobs yes member lessons yes member Wilson yes member Higgins yes member Donnelly yes student representative Shaw yes president Bellamy yes ASD memorandum and resolution number039 pass passes six years no names and one not presents thank you everyone our last action item was a memorandum number zero four two um E6 which has been pulled to

170action items acceptance of the FY 22 continuation Grant award anchor School District pre Elementary can I have a motion to approve the memorandum I moved to approve memorandum042 acceptance of FY 2022 continuation Grant award Anchorage School District pre-elementary a second by member Higgins um I Believe Miss lessons you had pulled this item would you like to speak to while you support or don't support sure I am speaking in support of um receiving this grant but really saw pulling this as an opportunity to ask um a question about the data that's included in the in the in the write-up in the memorandum and really it's my question is how does the data that we have about these students um in preschool align with what we're getting from the kindergarten Readiness reports because from that we also

171submit to deed um it's my understanding that our kindergarten teachers fill out that assessment in the fall but here we have and they often historically and the historical data has not shown that all of our students are ready for kindergarten on all 13 Dimensions um and yet here in our in this data um sorry I'm not on the correct item um and the data included in this memorandum we are seeing some really positive uh results at least as assessed by our teachers so are we tracking this cohort of students in any way that is special against the broader entering kindergarten class like how are we using this data to show that investments in preschool are worth are worth it that they pay off in the end that they lower our special education costs down the

172road that they improve are entering kindergarten Readiness um I guess that's that's the essence of the question how is the data that's in here useful thank you through the chair to member lessons thank you for that thoughtful question uh we may need more time to answer the full breath of the question um but I will present an opportunity to Dr Stock if you'd like to provide insight thank you Dr Bryant so as you pointed out member lessons the this data is observational which is based on teachers going in and doing the observations and so it does look pretty good one of the things we need to do and this would be as preschool continues to grow and our kindergarten and first grade data as we continue to look we need to do some analysis of

173that moving forward of course you're aware of the national research on preschool and and that sometimes those gains sometimes Fade Into Upper Elementary and as kids go through but for those first primary years a preschool is is definitely significant so we will have to take a look at that um and so that's that's all I can say uh Chelsea Morrow our director for pre-k could not be here tonight we want her to be here to answer some technical questions but as Dr Brian said we'll get back to you and if you have specific questions about the data we'll have her respond important Act thank you and I realize that I can always email my questions especially ahead of time but um saw as an opportunity to have a conversation yep thank you thank you member

174lessons are there additional questions or discussion from the board not seeing any in the room or online we'll proceed to the vote but first I'll read the full motion it is the administration's recommendation that the school board approve and authorize the superintendent to accept a grant award from the Alaska Department of Education and early development or deed for 810 165 dollars this award is for the second year of a three-year Grant to continue implementation and support of Inclusive Preschool classrooms at six elementary schools during the 2021-2022 school year foreign Foster can we call for the vote member Wilson yes member lessons yes member Donnelly yes member Higgins yes member Jacobs yes student representative Shaw yes president Bellamy yes [Music] that item passes six years no Nays and one not present that concludes our action items

175thank you everyone we'll move on to item I superintendent of update Dr Brian the floor is yours thank you Mr chair I'll keep my remarks uh brief tonight good evening uh to the board in ASD Community I do notice some different faces than we had earlier today so I thought it would be prudent just to share some highlights from what I shared earlier today prior to our very difficult discussion on school closure recommendations before I get there I do want to note that it was refreshing to have a lively discussion this evening around our board reading proficiency goal and how we'll get there and I'm hopeful with the onboarding of our new Chief academic officer who's sitting right back there uh it's Sven thank you um for being here that we're on track to get

176to where we need to be um in addition to the operational challenges that we're all very familiar with including bus transportation and our ongoing budget development process but we can't lose sight of the core of our mission which is to achieve student outcomes so I think with this change we're going to be on track um but that said right now my attention is on our Grim budgetary situation it's a 68 million dollar shortfall and we had to engage in a painful conversation this afternoon about schools recommended foreclosure and over the coming months we'll need to continue to provide recommendations that will result in a balanced budget ASD has had difficult conversations about budget reductions in previous years but this afternoon's conversation makes this long difficult road for the community feel all the more real these

177difficult decisions have been years in the making in large part because ASD is consistently declining enrollment from 48 000 students in 2013 to about 44 000 students in 2022 additionally I discussed earlier today declining birth rates in Anchorage and smaller cohorts of kindergartners suggest that these Trends could continue for the foreseeable future but the other reason why we're here is because of many years of unstable and insufficient funding for our students let's say that asd's enrollment had not declined the cost of educating students will consistently increase think about how much more expensive it is to fill up a tank of gas now versus in 2017 and yet the state has continued to Flat fund schools year after year to Flat fund education is to cut education funding so while the district will continue to create

178a plan to reduce its expenses this is also the time to advocate for sensible reform so the time for our community to band together and to advocate for funding that accounts for Rapid inflation and the high levels of Need for our Alaska students is now this change happens at the state level and we as community members deserve to know where our elected officials stand on this issue the prosperity of Alaska is dependent on the success of our schools and the current state of affairs is putting that in Jeopardy so with that I will close thank you Dr Bryants are there any questions from the board member Donnelly thank you uh Matt um Mr President um Dr Brian I previously communicated with you about some concerns I had regarding the current administrative guidelines working with transgender

179and gender non-conforming students and employees and I pointed out three specific concerns um I'm particularly concerned that these guidelines which have never come before the board for approval don't provide any protections for non-transgender students at all there seems to be no means contained or referenced anywhere in these these guidelines for how an individual student that feels threatened in any circumstances by access to restrooms or changing rooms would would file a complaint or ask for protection in any way and and tonight I'm not asking you just as a board member I'm asking you as the father of a 15 year old ninth grade girl um so I'm again appealing to you to add something in here that gives individual students who may feel threatened by the results of these pages and pages of guidelines some access

180to requesting protection for them do you have any time frame for addressing that at this time I know you've responded to the administration was waiting on federal guidelines to come down but when it comes to student safety I don't think we should wait for federal guidance thank you for that member Don Lee yes that's correct that's the status of where we're at because it would be prudent to ensure that our guidelines align with the discussions that are happening at the federal level as they relate to Title IX so that's where we're at um if additional information would be helpful um we're happy to entertain the process do you request a request for information or perhaps a work session thank you member Donnelly any other questions or discussion for the superintendent member Donnelly thank you Mr

181President um I am also very concerned that these policies these not policies I keep saying policy they're not policies they've never come before the board for a vote they're not administrative regulations they're mere guidelines adopted by the administration um specifically say that notification of a student's parent about his or her gender identity expression or transition is unnecessary and that's a quote says generally notification of a student's parent about his or her gender identity expression or transition is unnecessary and that applies to secondary students I'm concerned Dr Bryant because a recent Federal Court decision um the judge criticized a similar provision in Kansas and this is a federal court not a state court um the case of Richard versus Gary County and the judge specifically said the court finds the plaintiff is entitled to a preliminary

182injunction based on her free exercise rights but the court went on to say that because the family educational rights and Privacy Act which is a Federal Law requires it the district should be notifying parents of these these events and the judge even went on further to say something I think is very profound he said because it is illegitimate to conceal information from parents for the purpose of frustrating their ability to exercise a fundamental right there are real questions whether the district's claimed interest in Communications with parents policy broadly written as it is would satisfy even the rational basis test which would not be the test that would be used for a fundamental right the rational basis test is for a less than fundamental right that would govern if the rule were neutral and generally applicable

183so given that language from this federal judge I'm very concerned about the language in our existing guidelines I'm just wondering is there a chance that we could review those given this court decision foreign again I I defer to the board's process to request information or perhaps to engage in a work session to discuss this more in depth when we have more time to prepare um thank you Dr Brian remember Donald at your point uh took two notes um while you were speaking um the first is our newly passed policy and the the program that the Administration has facilitating implementation of to comply with it um will it is intended to receive complaints or concerns from students who are feeling intimidated harassed or bullied in school and so um that seems like a really timely asset

184for our schools to have related to at least some of the items you addressed and then the other uh point I think that's relevant is we have our governance committee for a reason if there's some changes to be made I think um you should work with member Holloman might be a good starting point with that said Mr President remember Donald I would hope that the administrative guidelines should be modified then to reference the new um harassment policy so clearly giving students a guidance for how they would report or their concerns regarding any events that resulted from the guidelines again it I won't speak for administration but I think we've seen at least since our time on the board together that um after we pass a policy often the administration will review to see if an

185AR makes sense um and I'll leave that to them and I don't expect them to have an answer for us tonight seeing as we just passed the amendment with that said Thank You member Donnelly for the discussion or is there anything else before we move on to our next agenda item seeing none in the room or online thank you again Dr Bryant we'll move forward to school board and administration comments um we will start with the school board here I'll start at my left remember Higgins your final comments please [Music] I would say have nothing to say but nobody would believe that so I'm not going to even try um tonight is kind of a depressing school board meeting um looking at even discussion of of closing schools and I appreciate the superintendent's comments in

186regards to the funding issue about 10 years ago I met with a senator in his office and uh to discuss the goals of what the school district was doing and how the uh legislature could help and his response was before you start has the anchor School District made plans to cut 100 million dollars out of his budget and my response was no but if we do we'll probably be taking down walls to put more class spoons chairs in the classroom and his response was that's okay I believe in private schools and I believe in homeschooling and I believe today they're coming close to the goal of 100 million dollars given the inflationary factors a few couple years ago was up to 70. so I'm sure we're approaching that and we'll exceed that it's been a

187war on public sector but I got to tell you it starts with the public the public will vote as to who will be elected to go into the new legislature who will be the new governor and they will decide whether or not public education will be funded in this state because it is a Statewide problem not just strictly Anchorage School District and so I would encourage everyone one if you don't vote you're not supporting public education you're letting things continue and if you are voting find out where people stand on public education funding and just decide whether that is going to be an important factor for the future of our kids because that's where we are today we're even discussing the idea of these cuts at a time when a classroom sizes exceed those in

188the low 48 we've got all these other issues that are out there and we're just planning on reducing the capacity of the school district even lower classroom sauces is very depressing to me but that's what we are at this point in time and so lack of involvement by the public is a vote by the public uh in this issue and I would encourage that um I am real pleased with the motion in regards to the acknowledgment of land that's a real positive statement I'll say that for tonight but within it and the other issue is just from the educational outcomes uh because that's still difficult for me to accept well we are today um and um I will be furthering you know some of the comments that I get from teachers and principals and sharing

189that with the board in the future I know that I've gotten a bunch I've asked a question they said they aren't tracking it I'll begin tracking it and I'll begin sharing it because I do believe that it's impacting educational outcomes and I do believe that the frustrations I've heard are real doesn't mean that I got the true picture of it there are always two sides to every issue I acknowledge that up front but I do believe that discussion here to make sure that the voices heard is important the National School Board Association says the board is responsible for being the voice of the public including staff and students we need to provide directions we need to hold accountability and to do that uh listening and following through that process is something I'm going to be

190heavily focused on here at this particular point on the academic issues and with that I appreciate all the voices I have an idea that within the next couple of board meetings we may need some extra chairs in here that's just my guess uh the number of parents and students to be impacted by this action is tremendous I remember when they talked about making a change in the school district schools only on Bays and this place was loaded I almost felt like you needed to you know it was on addition coming in and it was rather vocal and so you talk about six schools giving them a chance to be vocal on this issue uh knowing that we we hear the issue of of immersion programs we're going to hear the issues of a lot of

191others out there um in regards to it and I think what they need to be doing everyone needs to be doing is recognizing at the root cause it's the state limits all funding the Municipality of Anchorage has given us the maximum amount they are allowed to do I applaud the assembly on that they are doing everything they can do and it just particular Point Tom is to State that's failing public education and we have to decide how are we going to respond as individuals in regards to it because all the public education Estates at risk thank you thank you member Higgins member Donley you're closing comments thank you Mr President first of all congratulations on conducting your first meeting as president I thought you did a great job and I greatly appreciate the lead way

192you gave me in presenting my arguments thank you very much I greatly appreciate the offer from Member lessons to explore further because it is actually specifically in our existing board policy that the board is supposed to adopt additional customs and ceremonies and the board just hasn't ever gotten around to it so I'm very I'd very much appreciate the opportunity to work with you on exploring that I'd really like to see the national anthem played on 9 11. you know every 9 11 I think it would be a great way to start a school day it would just it would just make my he'd be emotionally make me almost cry I think um you know usually we just ignore when things come up during public testimony that that are occasionally inaccurate um but tonight I'm gonna

193do a public service and talk about a few things um there is a common belief that the Alaska the Anchorage School District is the most diverse in the nation but new data and Analysis of that indicates that not necessarily true and if you just give it some common sense thought you'd you would realize that Los Angeles and some of the major metropolitan areas are frankly probably more diverse than Anchorage uh Anchorage is very diverse and we should always recognize that diversity uh but the evidence is that that that conventional wisdom originated in a single analysis or a single article that came from from one academic who who really didn't do a deep dive into that research [Music] um apparently the student Advisory Board did not adopt a new policy for us as to indigenous day

194being a day off from school and I think I confirmed that with our student Advisory Board representative um the question of that the well the statement that the board did not where there was no change that this District made no change in start times during the pandemic I believe that's inaccurate because there was a 30-minute shift in the start times for senior high school as the parent of two senior high schoolers I'm pretty aware of that so we did have a shift of 30 minutes and it was a lot of people supported because there is strong uh scientific evidence that our teenagers do better with later start times so I'm in support of that and thank you for to the administration for pulling that off um the question Inlet View how did we get to

195such a moment well the reason was is because the board three or four years ago um decided to package the design funds for Inlet View as tearing down the whole school rebuilding a new one and forced it to be included with the earthquake repairs and at the time I advocated for a separate vote on that I did not feel it was fair to voters to include that with the absolutely essential repairs we needed to do our schools following the earthquake so I never believed that that was a fair vote of the people because I for one did not support tearing down and rebuilding inlet's view I did support and I would have supported putting on there a major remodel but I I think it should have been voted separately to do it that way rather

196than forcing people into a Hobson's choice between fixing our earthquake damage to schools or having this provision for Designing the tearing down of a of a school and rebuilding an entire new one so that's how we got here that was the actual vote that occurred that led to the point we are today um and um I'm going to take the board's Indulgence here to read the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution neither slavery nor involuntary servitude except for a punishment for Crime thereof thereof the party shall have been duly convicted shall exist within the United States or any place subject to their jurisdiction the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution all persons born or naturalized the United States and substitutes jurisdiction thereof are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein

197they reside no State shall make or enforce any law which shall Bridge the privileges and immunities of the citizens of the United States so we do not have a pro-slavery United States Constitution thank you member Donnelly our student representative Ms Shaw do you have been closing comments yes okay so first with the land acknowledgment um I do know at South we say it before all of our assemblies um and Sab also says that before every meeting so it is being reenacted already in some schools we make sure we have someone with the native program at South who is the one saying it um and we even have our native counselor help with it too and same with at graduation we had a student who was graduating read it um and about the Sab thing it

198was the indigenous people's day was on one of the calendars that we voted on from the calendar committee it was an option to make it a holiday and that was included in the calendar the Sab overall voted on so we never made anything saying it's a holiday next year we just voted on that calendar that included having indigenous people stay as a holiday if that clears up some of the half and half but yeah we never made anything saying it's a holiday or it should be a in-service holiday but we recommended that in the calendar that we discussed and decided on and that's all I have [Music] thank you Michelle and thank you for delving into a significant more discussion with us that was appreciative member lessons sure I wanted to just share what I

199um relayed to some of my community councils last week the best three minutes of my week last week were sitting in at the Sab meeting when all the students lined up over here these are representatives from middle and our high schools and they shared good work that they are doing at their schools you know some of the things are pretty predictable the organizing dances and fall festivals and trick-or-treat street they're also organizing voter registration drives raising funds for breast cancer awareness um chuyak high school did a couple of things that really made my jaw drop they've got like a coat closet for students who are going out and looking for jobs and they are organizing like a birthday bag set up so if there are students whose families are struggling to have birthday celebrations you

200know there's little packages of cake and I don't know balloons and other things and they just thought good work kids we don't hear enough of the great stories I know the ASD shine bright is doing a lot of good things but um hearing history from the students was really heartwarming uh so I wanted to share that um and I guess I'll just be really transparent um the conversation tonight or this afternoon and tonight is terrible the shortfall that we're facing is devastating but it's not a surprise because that shortfall is here right now and as I've shared with a lot of people time and time again you know we are back filling our current budget I think as staff relayed earlier with relief funds that could have gone towards other learning opportunities uh but we're

201using them right now to maintain a status quo that won't be there next year um you know that we we heard tonight um that the survey results show a strong feeling to reduce excess building capacities by emerging schools and programs and that the community supports school closures over class size increases in program illumination and I think that's useful input but I'm concerned that it will encourage um silos Right balkanization comes to mind right a fancy term for we're going to get people fighting for for my school or my program not the community as a whole and I think it's really important for people Beyond this room to understand that the six schools that were discussed today it's not just about six schools it's about all of us and as we think about the budget that

202we want to move forward um I think we should keep the Hornet's Nest and consider passing a budget that will that reflects the reality of our funding and if that means that um who passed a budget that entails the PTR we can afford from our funding as terrible as that sounds I think that's a possible path forward that I don't know that we've ever tried before and I I know I it could be devastating but I also think it could be mobilizing in a really unique way so I'm looking forward to the conversations that are going to take place over coming weeks they're going to be uncomfortable but there's opportunity and um opportunity in that transparency thank you member lessons I'm going to jump in before we transition online so I did want to thank

203Administration for the months of preparation that went into um today's presentation uh the work isn't unnoticed so thank you um to the members of the community who came out your time has always appreciated um and I know we're going to be hearing from so many more community members over coming months because these are really challenging conversations um I will second the notion that um if the conversation tomorrow is um six cool six schools are closing um I think we um collectively in this room here have failed um for at least the time being and we have to work that much harder to correct um the understanding of the public um it might be six schools based on what happened tonight but the reality is it will we can't afford our current level of service with

204the current trajectory of Education funding in our state and we're not the only District of course but that's what we're charged with and so [Music] um closures and program changes and reductions simply will not be a thing of the past until the legislature inflation proofs a found a formula that was put in statute 20 years ago and should never have been set in stone but should have an automatic escalator in it to account for the fact that milk gasoline pencils and teachers all will change in terms of their cost to this district and we have to do better Juno has to do better and that's the message to our community transitioning online member Wilson [Music] well said member Jacobs thank you for that um I won't repeat it but I want to reiterate the importance

205of it um I also wanted to share that I had the great opportunity to tour the University of Alaska Anchorage Aviation complex it was an amazing example of a partnership between ASD and UAA King tax Aviation program has a satellite location at uaa's Aviation complex at Merrill Field there are two King Tech classrooms housed at the aviation complex in these classrooms our ASD students focus on knowledge areas required by the FAA Private Pilot written exam through this program some of the students will qualify to earn their pilot's license which is pretty darn cool for a high school student and it was pretty exciting to see King Tech and UAA instructors working together to prepare our students for future careers an example I was given was that 100 of the students that graduate the UAA aviation

206maintenance program are able to find a job in their field a hundred percent placement for that field which is pretty darn cool that our students they're choosing that career or being prepared for that choice I also wanted to acknowledge the many schools that have been coordinating fall carnivals and Trunk or Treats activities so that our students can have a safe way to enjoy activities so thank you for that because many of the staff that are coordinating that are volunteering their time to do so for their students so thank you for all that effort and the communication committee next week is next week on October 27th at 11 A.M we will be discussing the 2023 legislative priorities that we will be taking to Juno to advocate for our district so that that is fitting for all

207that is going on and unfortunately with our budget and and this of course includes our future funding so thank you foreign thank you member Wilson my understanding as member Holman still hasn't rejoined us and he was having connection issues so uh Madam president your last thank you so first of all thank you for a great meeting uh Mr chair I appreciate you Philip standing in the Gap tonight um I do want to uh reiterate to to everyone that these discussions are very difficult and they are but we have to have them uh we have not I repeat we have not uh recommended uh uh any cuts to to music immersion or anything else that is possible but at this tonight as of this date and where I am it's 1 28 a.m We have not

208we have not voted uh uh to to do to close anything cut it off or whatever but the reality is we've got to have the conversation and it is likely that some things will look different so you know the one thing we can all do including our parents our students yes we want to hear from you uh but we need to let the governor and the legislators know what we value write the email send a text if you will uh but we've got to let we've got to let our voices be known um whether you agree with our uh how we got to where we are we are here and uh it will be up to us to use our best thinking uh to trust our staff to come up with the scenarios that we

209can choose from so we can move forward so write the governor and the legislators gov Dot all legislators at alaska.gov gov dot all legislators at Alaska [Music] dot gov tell them what you value about education tell them what your wishes and hopes are for your kids we are focused on Anchorage uh member Wilson and I are with other school board members who are having the same kind of conversations and those their deficits are a whole lot deeper than ours in the hundreds of millions of dollars and so it's bad because when we are in have a deficit we can't do our we we we struggle with how to how to how to uh maintain our student outcomes but I am not willing to negotiate on those and I know that we've got to make tough

210decisions and I want to thank the staff for bringing all the options to the table and helping us understand if not a then B and if you mess with B then you're going to create an XYZ I mean it's just going to be that simple so I thank you guys and uh good night it's almost 2 A.M here I love y'all but I got to go to bed thank you presidents um any comments from Administration Dr Bryant no further comment thank you uh Mr Vice President thank you I'm seeing looking around the room I see no other comments I would entertain a motion to adjourn I moved to a chair it's made by Madam president second by member Higgins thank you everyone