Seattle Schools Board Special Meeting Mar. 18, 2026

001Heat. Heat. Try that again. Good afternoon. This is President Topp. I'm calling the board special meeting to order at 4:31 p.m. Please note that this meeting is being recorded. We would like to acknowledge that we are on ancestral lands and the traditional territories of the Puget Sound Coast Salish people. For the record, I'll call the role. Vice President Briggs >> here. >> Director Lavali >> here. >> Director Misrai >> here. Director Ranken >> here. >> Director Smith here. Director Song. >> Director Song >> here. >> And this is President Top. It is nice to have folks back again after last week's long meeting. Um I have just a few housekeeping announcements and we'll jump right into our our agenda. The first one comes from the student representatives. Um, I want to mention that applications for

002stu school board student representatives open Monday, March 23rd and will close Monday, April 20th. We're looking for two upcoming juniors and one upcoming senior to join the board as student representatives. This is a great way to ensure uh student voice is heard on important decisions that we make for Seattle public schools. Uh the student representatives will be out in schools helping to recruit student future student representatives and I know last year board directors had a role in helping with that recruitment. Um we've asked our student representatives if they would like our help again this year and if so there may be some asks coming out in that short time frame to board directors. So be on a lookout for that um to help us recruit. Um the other sort of housekeeping item I want is

003we have selected our June retreat and I know it feels like we just had our retreat um but our June retreat date. So it is in folks's calendars is June 13th. Again June 13th will be our our June board retreat date. Uh just flagging that. you should have a calendar invite as well. Um the next thing is just I am very appreciative of uh our dialogue we had at the last board meeting. I think it's really great to uh to actually I think delve into a few more discussions uh at least from my time on the board. We actually had an more discussions than I've seen previously. Um it did require additional meeting to get through some of the content but again one of the reasons why um as board officers we do try to

004set an agenda that we can get through. So it's important if there is something you want on the agenda you get it to us as soon as possible. Um with that we are going to do just go through our agenda today but um when we're starting with uh the adoption of the K5 English language arts instructional material um I um appreciate the amount of work that has clearly gone into this process and the time staff, educators, families and committee members have um invested in getting us to this point. This is a big decision for us for the district. um it touches every K through5 classroom. It con it in includes a significant financial investment. So I am looking forward to a uh good discussion from board directors here. Um and I with that I'll pass

005it over to Superintendent Shelner for introduction. >> Well, thank you. >> Hello. Well, thank you so much for those uh wonderful words. um a ELA curriculum adoption is one of the most important things that a school board and a school district can do. It's really important that we set uh the stage for learning and for teaching in the community. And I'm really honored to be part of this night today because um before I invite the great CNI department up to sit next to me is I just want to explain to the community uh as well as the wonderful people uh in the audience is that Washington has a special rule around how curriculum is adopted. And really the idea is that there needs to be an instructional committee. What's interesting is that instructional committee and

006how it's devised and how it's created, the superintendent can in fact have roles. But I think anybody who's been paying attention knows I'm new here and I just got here. And so I actually had zero say in how it was uh created. Um but I was really impressed by the wonderful people on it. You had teachers, uh you had administrators, you community, like there's so many people that had a say in this. And what's also interesting that you'll note is that the way this works is that the committee is going to make a recommendation to the board. The superintendent actually has no say in the matter. Uh which is a kind of fascinating uh situation, but in some respects it makes a lot of sense because if all these amazing people are putting all of

007this time and effort into this, why should necessarily the superintendent uh be able to kind of block that? And so I'm going to be watching the presentation along with the board and the community because I know uh how much wonderful and hard work has been uh put into this and I really uh am happy to introduce up our wonderful curriculum team. Uh Dr. STSki, you're behind me. I love it. Please come up uh if you want to, you know, sit next to me and if there's anybody else that you uh you will refer to, please do as well. So board, thank you again for this time and I'd like to turn uh the the microphone over to the head of the curriculum and instruction division. >> Uh thank you uh Superintendent Scherer. Um with me

008uh tonight first of all I'm Mike Steroski, assistant superintendent of academics. Um, with me tonight are Kathleen Vasquez, who is our ELA and social studies program manager, and Cashelle Toner, executive director of curriculum and instruction. Um, I'd just like to give a a brief statement just to uh kind of set the stage for our discussion uh this evening, which we are really excited to share. um the the review process, but also the the discussion. Um the board action report that uh has been written proposes adopting a new English language arts instructional material for our kindergarten through fifth grade students. Uh this adoption serves as our district's commitment to highquality, equitable, standards aligned literacy as well as informed and grounded in the science of reading. In tonight's discussion, we will cover why our system is looking

009to shift to a new instructional material. We will incorporate an overview of the adoption process uh where appropriate, including community engagement and how the selection committee reached a re a recommendation and illustrate the key features of the pro proposed material. Um, one thing that is very important for our community to know, um, is that we want to acknowledge what was guiding the instructional committees, adoption committees, uh, work. Uh, first and foremost was policy 0030, which is our educational and racial equity policy, and policy 2015, selection and adoption of instructional materials, which uh, Superintendent Shelner uh, referenced. um just by his his uh role or no role in the process. Um what we want to make sure is that when we're talking about uh policy 2015 that it provides the framework in which our system identifies

010materials and that they are aligned to state standards and are reviewed through a formal committee process. Uh we formed the adoption committee um last March uh uh consistent with board policy 2015. Uh one of the things that we want to make sure is that uh you're comforted in the fact of the details of of all the policy meetings which are are public and are on our website. But I would also like to acknowledge um that there's been some thoughtful concerns raised um in community uh both inside and outside of Seattle public schools um about just literacy in general which we are thankful and grateful for. Um there is broad agreement on some very important issues. One is that the importance of teacher training and professional development for our educators and that a a pivotal part

011of that or an important part of that is literacy coaching uh and a comprehensive reading plan and a curriculum that allows our teachers to be able to uh have the supports and the tools that they need to address the learning needs of all of our students. So, since we've been meeting in uh throughout this last month and in our 2 by twos and you've asked some great questions uh of our team, I think there's some things I just want to make sure that we're uh centering uh since even the last time that we met. First is that uh the curriculum that the committee is recommending is evidence-based and it's aligned to two very important things. one is first and foremost the science of reading and it's also aligned to House Bill 1295 uh 1295 as

012we were referring to it the the basic requirements of that and we can speak um and uh some very specific terms uh to both of those also for our teachers that the teacher support is embedded within the curriculum and that we are committed to our teachers having all the resources and and supports that they need uh that scaffolds their skill and the interventions and progress monitoring available for their students um throughout the uh curriculum is also embedded. The also uh we've referred and because this process is very processdriven um we uh can say is that our teacher-led pilots um in the district review process was followed the strategic timing of why now we will uh address but also this is essentially from beginning to end an 18-month process um for us and at the time

013that we started we didn't even have uh a new superintendent yet But we anticipated the need uh which we will um discuss in detail here in just a few minutes. But I think the the most important thing is that the impact on students currently right now for our students uh approximately 60% of our students in Seattle public schools are at or above grade level in reading in elementary. And we need to do better uh by them. And one of the things and how we can do that is giving our educators the the support and the tools that they need to be able to do that very important work with our students. And so uh in short uh we believe um and are very thankful for uh the committee's work uh the educators the community's work

014uh in helping guide this process and make the recommendation. Um so with that um uh we are here to answer your questions and be a part of a uh what we uh anticipate is a very important discussion. >> So we're going to open it up for discussion. Um one of the things I hope directors saw a little bit differently is that we didn't get a full presentation of of all the materials. I think that I think that was by design and ask um only because we want to get into discussion. We want to be able to spend maximum time being able to ask some questions. I think we all had an opportunity to review the slides and also um uh have a 2 by two uh if if we wanted. So with that, I want

015to open the floor uh for director questions. Vice President Briggs. >> Okay. I guess I don't have any any questions about the um the curriculum itself that hasn't hasn't already been answered. But as I communicated in the 2 by 2, I I think my concerns about adopting this are um just how brand new it is. um the relatively short pilot window um that we had to test it out in our schools and the fact that um that our new superintendent wasn't in any way involved in the process, which is nobody's fault. It was the timing is what it is. Um but I would personally feel better if I would I would feel way more confident in in voting yes to to spend this money and adopt this new curriculum if none of those things were

016were the case. So, I guess my question is um is there any what what what is the um what does it look like to just like wait a year to do this? Like what if we just stuck with the curriculum that we had and then revisited this when there's like at least a year of data around um the use of this curriculum in other school districts? Is that is that something that's possible? What would what what are the pros and cons of that? and and is that doable? >> I I can speak to some of that and and uh welcome others uh as well. So, um yes, it's possible. Um what we would know is that we would have to go back to the instructional uh adoption committee and they would have to begin their

017work a new again. So, that would be not just a year from now, it'd be we'd be resetting and going back 18 months. um would be um just the reality of doing that. Um we'd also um you know could have some advantages of being able to uh do more longer field testing. Um but I think you'll hear some of the the uh feedback that we received from the teachers who were doing the field testing uh during this current process uh felt very confident about what they were uh seeing and learning from uh the various curriculum. Um so those are uh uh that's one issue. The other issue is um the the time and effort that the people who the 30 plus people who spent um on this um would be um very difficult to go

018back to. It doesn't mean it's insurmountable. Um, but the people who did uh put those time and and effort in to make the recommendation, I think we would um and I'm sure certain we would come back with clear answers about um why the why we're doing it. So, it's a possibility. >> Yeah. Hey, um I'm just have a question. Would you like additional information that we do have about the material or its vetting or is that would that be helpful? >> Um, >> no. I mean, I think I think the the thing that I really want to see is the thing that we can't show. So, but thank you for the offer. The the one thing and Superintendent Scherer might uh disagree with this um but um I'll put it out there is his involvement

019in the process uh as currently as the policy is constructed would still remain pretty much the same. his involvement um uh in our leadership helps guide us and makes us know that how if we're aligned the things that the the committee should assume on the front end um that could give help give direction but as soon as that process begins uh he's he's out of that process until they make their recommendation so I don't think that would uh change necessarily so much but he would be able to um help provide the the the uh direction that all staff are are going in under his leadership. >> Actually, can I just ask a a clarifying question about that? So, I understand that yeah, that he wouldn't be able to be part of the process, but is

020he allowed at any point, including now, to weigh in to the board and tell us what he thinks of the curriculum, or is that also not allowed? And if if so, that seems so weird, honestly. So, so I'll answer the question of I guess what I'm allowed to do. Um, look, the nice thing is I can say whatever I want and then you guys can fire me or not. But the way that it works is I will happily give my kind of thoughts to the board. Um, but the issue is that I'm not part of the the process itself, but to what Mike was saying, where a superintendent usually has a lot more say is when they set up the structure and the direction. And that's why I I definitely do not disagree with with

021what Mike said. It's but but if a superintendent is in the in the room at the beginning, the entire structure can be led by um the superintendent. So I think the point and I very much appreciate the trust that this board has given to me and yes if we started a new the the thing might look different the scale the way that we're looking at the the gradings all of that is a possibility that I could help discuss with the the team but I I think that you had 30 incredible people that worked really hard. Um, but I just want to be transparent about how the process works. And so I am legally allowed to say whatever I want. Uh, you know, but but I don't I I don't have the vote. You do. Um,

022the the the the wonderful people on the committee, they're the ones that make the recommendation, not me. That bypasses me. So, like you all know with bars and stuff, um this would be one of those things where it doesn't matter if I sign it or not, it would go to you. Um so, Mike, you agree with Yeah, >> I I would personally still be interested to know what you think. >> Yeah. And and and I think that um you know, when the vote is being taken uh next month, uh it's probably very appropriate for me to weigh in. I might I'd be more than happy to weigh in a after even the conversation today, but I don't want my um my beliefs about it to be uh affecting the questions that people might have on

023it. But I'm happy certainly if the board would like for me to talk about uh the curriculum. But I think it's important for the board to ask the committee and the team questions so that you feel comfortable with the work that they did because I would never want to take, you know, kind of the legs out from underneath all the hard work that was done. So yeah, but thank you and I'm happy to talk about it afterwards. >> We go director Ranken. >> Hi. Can you hear me? Okay. >> Yes, we can hear you. >> Okay, great. Um, when does the kind of related to what Evan was asking, when does the current K5 adoption expire? >> Can I would you like me to address that? Um, hi, Director Ranken. Um, so we adopted our

024current instructional material in 2017. Um, and typically school districts adopt or refresh instructional materials about every seven, eight years. So, we're definitely at the end of that um cycle. Technically speaking, the um publisher of uh our current material does not produce it anymore. And so, this year we have a one-year extension for them to continue to give us access to it. But let's talk >> and that's sorry, that's the current school year. >> Yes, that's the current school year that we're in right now. >> And you know, things have changed since 2017, right? So, the current material um we've outgrown it as a um as a district in in a couple of ways. One, it doesn't um it doesn't necessarily have the features that current instructional materials have. Um it isn't as aligned to science

025of reading as we would like it to be and it would probably um present some challenges with the new expectations around 1295 um with our ability to meet those expectations. Okay, thanks. That was more of a curiosity and and yes, we un unlike maybe years past or in other subjects, we we do want to have curriculum that meets the current needs, not the needs of a decade ago. Um, but I was just curious about that. Um, so I saw in some notes that were provided to us about um piloting this the Spanish language portion of this. Would that be an additional purchase? And that's I mean I'm assuming so this is a new curriculum for um this company but it's not they didn't just spring up out of nowhere. It's a it's a replacement of

026a curriculum that they've they've had. Um but is there development of the Spanish component just behind the English component? And if we are participating in piloting that what does that look like? And then would that be an additional purchase? And then what about other languages that we say we provide dual language instruction in? >> So that's a great question. We are we asked the publisher if we could sign on to the pilot and that would not um incur an additional fee because it's a pilot. How pilots work is they try to get districts to sign on, field test it. um they benefit from it. Uh so they provide the professional development, they provide the resources, so it wouldn't be an additional cost. We've also spoken to um Michelle OT um who's in agreement that it

027would be great to pilot this resource. The nice thing about um it's called Huntos, which means in Spanish together, right? Huntos um emerge and it it dovetales it aligns beautifully with its um with with what we're using in K5 and in dual language you know they have an hour in English and an hour in Spanish. So our teachers would get professional development in English in the English version and also professional development from the publishers in the Spanish version and that would be that would not um cost the district anything else. Did I answer all questions? and then ongoing would so if we pilot it for one year and we purchase the English curriculum for nine years seven years >> um beyond the pilot this the Spanish would be then get to continue using it >>

028I I believe so because they'd be providing all the materials for the full year so I don't think um just as they did with this current adoption all of the vendors provide materials gratus because they want us to test them out um and they don't come and take them back. >> Right? So, something I think is important for people to know that we may not all know is that our current curriculum for dual language is mostly created by the teachers themselves. We we haven't adopted um multiple language curriculums in the past is my understanding. So, dual language schools are basically modifying and um translating the English curriculum. So, just having a Spanish curriculum would be really nice. Um, and I'm still wondering what about the other languages and then um our ALES. I think the

029only ALES that we have that are K5 is the online component for Cascade and then of course the inperson component for Cascade. Um, they are an AL. They have a totally different model and the online is a totally different curriculum. I just want I guess confirmation that um they still as an alternative learning experience uh have the flexibility to do the curriculum that people go there for and that meets their schedule. they don't meet every you know those classes aren't every day and the online and then I'm also wondering about our students in um distinct classrooms who typically are not accessing the general curriculum they still do need curriculum K5 students with disabilities need curriculum at school and I don't think this provides that so what is our district going to provide to those classrooms

030>> I can I can address that um director Ranken. So, um, our typical practice is to purchase the instructional materials for all of our students, um, regardless of what what school or classroom they're in. Um, and so just some nuances there with that. So, we do purchase for everyone. And then if modifications, you know, your uh question for distinct, um there still are uh funds available at the school level that are designed and their purpose is for um teachers who are working with IEPs and such to be able to make um decisions around specific materials that specific kids might need. So in summary, we purchase materials for everyone and teachers have the um opportunity to use them. And generally speaking, we talk about, you know, teaching them as they're intended for most of our classrooms.

031And then we have some flexibility where that makes sense, you know, in the um like the classroom or the situation you were describing with distinct and we have a combination of opportunities to do that with sitebased funds. And then um you know, uh if it's appropriate to use some components of the uh curriculum, then the teachers have the flexibility to do that. >> Okay. So this is maybe more of a comment for our superintendent. um that what I'm hoping that you heard from that was that programs and schools with students with higher disability needs don't get support from the district. They have to buy separate materials and curriculum from from building funds. And we control where those students get to go to school and who places them where and and that should be supported centrally.

032And it's really a shame that it's not. And then same with like why I don't we shouldn't purchase a curriculum for Cascade when they're purchasing a digital curriculum for the remote program that it's a very specifically an alternative program. We also shouldn't purchase it for them for the inperson because they have a separate curriculum and they are designated as an AL. >> Duly noted. Thank you very much director Ranken. >> Thank you >> Director S. Three questions. One is a process question, one is a more of a curriculum student population question, and then a finance question. Um, just so I'm clear on the process, it is we as a school board are voting to approve this particular curriculum. So, it's not necessarily an option that we could choose a different finalist. you're approving what uh

033the committee is bringing forward. So, it's a it's a a yes or a no on emerge. >> Okay. I just want to make because when she was asking it sounded like if we voted no then we would have to restart the entire process. So, that's what I wanted to understand. Okay. Thank you. Um what um I think for the public's understanding um what was it about emerge that you felt like it was going to serve our special education students and our multilingual learner students in a way that other curriculums are not able to um because when we look at the data that is really where um we need to accelerate. So I I mean a couple several things. one. Um, the committee really looked hard at foundational skill instruction because we knew of this pervasive

034problem that we've had over the past few years, over the past for a long time around moving students in those early grades and getting them very strong in reading in order to move into third grade where they are not we're not teaching reading so much. We're not teaching kids how to read. They are um reading to learn for the most part. So, we've known about the problem. We've um been addressing phonics and phenemic awareness for quite a while. But what the committee knew is that the district was very interested in focusing on early learning um opportunities for kids. And the committee also, you know, I want to say a word about the committee. We had we were very fortunate to attract a very highc caliber group of teachers. We had reading interventionists. We had reading

035specialists. We had special educators. We had um literacy coaches. And so people the the folks on the committee were deeply vested in ensuring that we got the structured literacy part right. And so what Emerge does have is um explicit and systematic instruction in foundational skills. That's something actually our old curriculum also had, but it was not taught whole group. It was taught um in small groups, which means that some students never really got to catch up at grade level. And so this is a whole group foundational skill instruction model. Um there also this is also a curriculum that dives deeply into multi-ensory routines which support students at risk of having dyslexia. Um it is uh it has teacher corrective feedback. Our old curriculum did not have teacher corrected feedback. It has um supports immediate supports

036for um students who are not accessing the lesson that particular day. So when students are not, you know, when a teacher is doing their formative assessment really quick, they can um then take a group of students and move into what is called um study groups or focus groups to provide more intensive support. What we do know is that students who are struggling need multiple exposures in order for the learning to just take hold. And our old curriculum did not have that. It didn't have multiple exposures. Um the curriculum also um has learning routines. Um they hear it, they um see it, they say it, they write it over and over. And there's something about that in combination that helps students learn um to decode autom automatically, right? And so it has that um it also

037um has evidence-based practices with um with assessment. So there are um assessments that occur daily um at the end of a unit that will provide teachers with the a um the information they need for next step instruction so that we're not waiting um too long before we're addressing it. um also a lot of other things. It's a knowledgebuilding curriculum. It is um culturally responsive text. I mean that was definitely a a a big target point. Um authentic texts. These were real writers uh writing um about multiple topics. the topics are very much aligned to the science and social studies instruction that kids are getting now and that is in the design of other the other curricula as well. I really want to be honest and say that many of the things I've mentioned were true

038in the other curriculum. I'm not going to say this is just you know an outlier because it's not. It's but it's very strong and it did receive the highest highest point value of all three but they were all very strong. Um there also I'm just going to go on with dual language supports. There's scaffolded vocabulary instruction, sentence frames and structured language supports for um multilingual learners, embedded oral language routines um that support that uh those students as well. And so we there's oh there's also um a multi-ingual um framework at every grade level for every single unit so that teachers can provide more supports or even know what to do to support to better support multilingual students. My last question is um we're going to be using capital funds to pay for the curriculum and

039that would have been true for any of the three finalists but can you help me understand um I guess is it a whack or a budget provisor like what is the mechanism that enables us to uh use capital funds to pay for curriculum and were there criteria that we had to meet in order to be able to do that financially. >> Do you want me to start or do you want Okay, I'll start. Um, so several years ago when um folks were planning for that uh specific levy ask um language was um developed to allow for um purchasing curriculum. the intersectionality is that the digital component gives us a little bit more flexibility to be able to purchase um curriculum that has a that has a digital component in it. So that's the several years

040ago the planning was put into place to say you know um it's um challenging to hold nine or so million dollars of general fund right um and we've had we had some challenges in the past with going down you know the adoption process and then not being able to have the funds you know several months later 18 19 months later and so um it's not ideal for a district to be using you levy funds to purchase instructional material. That's sort of our reality right now. Um but hopefully in the future uh we'll be able to have a more predictable budget and budget cycle. Um so that you know we wouldn't need to do that. So it's kind of a good opportunity for us, but it also is challenging that a school district, you know, this

041is could be our most one of our most important responsibilities teaching kids how to read. you know that we we need to make that purchase outside of general fund dollars. That is unfortunate. >> Yeah. And I I wouldn't add too much more except to say this isn't the first curriculum that we've uh done this with this and um so there's precedent for it. And also that was one of the the things that we did on the very uh first when we were thinking about the potential ideas like we're in a a budget deficit. How can we possibly be doing this? What are the flexibilities that we could be doing? Um, and trying to get creative and consistent. Um, and meeting the spirit and the intent of funding uh sources is what we want to be

042consistent with and also uh aligned with uh Ben's uh charge for all of us. So it's really just having a digital component that enables us and um that point taken that other curriculum adoptions we've been able to leverage capital money because there is a digital component. Um, I think in this particular curriculum, what gives me a little pause is um the kind of discomfort, I guess I would describe it, of kindergarteners, first graders learning on a iPad. And so I'd love to hear from this team like what is the curriculum look like for our youngest learners that is not digital? Here comes some passion. Do >> you want to go? >> Go ahead, please. >> Sure, I'll start. Um, so I used to teach kindergarten and first grade and and second grade. Like teaching kids

043to read is really, if you've ever had that experience with your own children, it's pretty exciting. And there's something about that, getting to, you know, help kids learn um that skill that once you have it, you it's yours your whole life, right? And it's yours to do with what you want to do. You know, it's really exciting. And so I'm super passionate about that and I could not agree more that um our youngest learners we really need to be intentional about their screen time and what we are asking kids to do on screens. So, um, Kathleen can elaborate on this a little bit more, but from the outset of this project, you know, I we had to grapple with that and say, "All right, this funding source is a digital and it has a digital

044component, but let's be real about what that actually looks like and what we requested in the RFP, which is the request for proposal, which is how we go about buying things in a big or organization." And we were really clear from the beginning that we needed hands-on real materials for kids to use, right, for the majority of the time that they're using or that they're learning in our classrooms in the early years in particular. And so we um inside of this instructional material, you'll see very familiar things. Anchor charts will be on the walls, you know, um manipulatives for kids to use. The digital component in the early years is um pretty limited. It's not the main instructional approach. But here's something that's really important to think about that, you know, when I was up

045at TOPS visiting, uh the DHH classroom that was one of our field testers um and the teacher was utilizing actually emerge. Um and the digital portals that the teachers have access to inside of this instructional material is uh is something we don't have right now for our teachers, right? And so there are mechanisms for teachers to keep track of what kids are learning in real time and that offers a real opportunity digitally for collaboration especially for a team of teachers that are working to support specific kids right so you can follow along and see you know has Ben learned all of his uh initial sounds right inside that portal. So that is the digital component that will be could be really powerful um to promote collaboration um for te for groups of teachers that work

046with and support kids. So in summary, at the early years, most of the time kids are going to be using, you know, manipulatives that you would expect kids to be using and teachers will have anchor charts and the support tools um available to them that you would expect and the digital part is is pretty limited and it's for um it's for monitoring student growth at their individual level. Right, Kathleen? What what else would you add? >> I think the biggest thing is the the consumables. What consumables have changed, by the way, you know, because it used to be that consumables were kind of like a workbook, but now consumables um at least in this curriculum are actual the actual text that students are using. And so what you what kids get every student in the

047classroom gets a consumable for every unit and the text is inside. And what's wonderful um and this is true of this curriculum and not the other ones was the annotation that kids are being asked to do as they're reading. And I think about myself as a learner. I am a big annotator in order to hang on to things. We circle, we underline, we do things to make sense of text. And so the nice thing is there's a consumable for every unit. At the end of the unit, the students take those home and the parent can continue to work with them. Those consumables are also available online if for example, goodness uh forbid that we ended up in a pandemic or something like that. We also have those materials available digitally. Um what Cashelle was talking

048about is very real. kids are not on an iPad. Um, for we have a two twohour literacy block. All but 20 minutes of that literacy block, students are working with teachers using physical text all the time. 20 minutes of the literacy block is something that I described to you just a moment ago, which is the study um group and the focus group time. And so when a teacher is pulling small groups of students, other students are on um the digital platform which is an adaptive learning platform really designed to target the individual students needs um at that time. So it's only 20 minutes of the day if that. >> All right. Uh, director Lavali. >> Oh, I think Mahi is next. >> Okay. >> Um, thank you, Director Misrai. Um, I I wanted to follow

049that tech question up. I had a very similar one, so thank you for answering and I'll try not to repeat it. Um, is So, there's kind of a two-directional thing on this and I'm really glad you brought up the point of like if there's some sort of crisis where we need to have kids learning from home. um the system is able to deal with that in a more tangible way than it potentially did in a past crisis. Um, now on the reverse end of that, if there was some sort of directive from the school board or the superintendent to limit technology usage in classrooms and especially in younger classrooms, um, would this be flexible enough to be able to be used without access to technology like that with for students? Yes, in fact it would.

050Teachers will receive physical um instructional uh workbooks, right? Like or teacher guides that teach the students. Uh there are a lot of cards associated with the curriculum in order to teach those early foundational skills. They would receive that. Um there are visual aids that come which is probably included the consumables. Um and uh so students would have access to everything with the exception of the adaptive learning module. And then and with assessments, assessments can be taken online, right? Teachers can log that information online or they can be handled in just in physical form. >> Okay. Thank you. Mhm. >> Um the next question that I have is that there this is for a period of 9 years. I believe a lot can change in 9 years. Um, and I think that's part of the problem

051that we're having right now with our current curriculum is that, you know, near nearly a decade ago when it was, you know, brought on to Seattle public schools that our knowledge of how we were teaching kids to read was fundamentally different than it is and our understandings of it today. So if there is more shifts and learning, is there flexibility in some of this and how that can change and grow or will we just be stuck with something that's out ofd very quickly that we still are paying money for? Can I just take one moment with this one? Sorry. And I don't mean to um monopolize, but one of that's one of the questions we did ask for McGraill and it was the question that we asked when we adopted 68 ELA. Um, so we

052have written into our contract that if they make changes to the curriculum, we always receive those changes because that's what we didn't do in K5. So, you know, our current curriculum did move on. They reinvented themselves a bit. We do not have access to that and they've they've cor corrected, I would say, or um improved what they've done, but we don't have access to that those new materials. Um so we got smart about that in the last adoption and asked in the contract are they willing to provide us any um revisions. Well our 68 ELA adoption has started to revise and we've already have access to those materials piloting them right now um because it is written into the contract. So, uh, it was, uh, hindsight is 2020. Authentic. >> Um, the the next two,

053and I'm going to try to keep this as quick as possible. So, um, within the process, um, we actually I'm going to skip that one for now. Excuse me. um we have a long history of not having um any science of reading sort of knowledge within our district. What that's and that's not just from the curriculum and but this is also within kind of the expertise within the district. Obviously we have some but we can improve that greatly. So if this curriculum is science of reading aligned and our current one has a lot of gaps in that area. I know the superintendent as he's been doing school tours, we've all been able to see um classrooms that are actively using queuing systems and queuing strategies within their classrooms. So, within just changing the curriculum, c

054is there efforts within here to also bring in more science of reading expertise both within the trainings that we're giving them and within the district as a whole as a strategy. And this is slightly curriculum also might be more directed towards our superintendent here. >> And uh I'll defer certainly to Mike uh first, but what's really good about most of the modern uh curriculums that I think we're looking at is there's going to hopefully be a lot of professional development around it. And so, you know, my hope is that I if and when anything's approved, there's going to be a tiein. And in fact, I'll tee Mike up. I think there's some ways that we can actually utilize some wonderful people that we have currently uh in this. But I will say as you all

055know because it's been great to visit schools uh with all of you uh our teachers and our uh principles care so much about our children's deep learning is that they out of their own budgets have been p uh purchasing science of reading curriculum that's not our current curriculum. and I'm okay with that if you're actually moving towards uh really good stuff. So, you know, the hope is that whatever is approved will actually do that, but that it'll be tied to high quality professional development that will then be able to kind of bleed into social studies and science and history. Uh because the way that we teach reading, the way that we teach knowledge, understanding um is in all of our uh you know, subjects. But, you know, uh Dr. Do you want to talk about

056some of that stuff? >> Yeah. Um, that's a perfect segue. Um, I think we do definitely have some uh strong uh leaders both at the the school building level, central office level uh who are um uh expertly trained in the science of reading who we can build off of. Um, and for many of our educators uh this is a welcomed focus. Um, but also as uh Ben was talking about, I was thinking about our sixth grade math goal um and the opportunity for us to be able to scaffold the reading strategies that our students are learning um for um their early learning, the foundational reading. Um how that's going to could be impacting intentionally, if we're doing it correctly, our math teachers in ways and our science teachers in very specific ways. And then also

057if we're looking for our life ready goal um and are preparing our students for advanced coursework um with a solid foundational science of reading background. I know some of our educators who are outside of the elementary um uh level are yearning for some strategies. They're learning uh yearning for some uh guidance. I think that's that would be a great districtwide um strategy and focus that could cut across any content area. Um and I'd love I'd love that our uh elementary uh teachers, principles, educators, our students could be leading the way on that. If I could just follow up, um our plan is um you know, if we're moving forward with implementing this new instructional material, then what we've learned over time implementing new things is that we need to give our educators the support they

058need and the training they need to be able to to do the new thing well. In this case, that would be shifting from a balanced literacy to structured literacy. That's a huge shift and we're going to need to support our educators to give them some velcro to stick that new thing onto right and so u we've been talking about um some required science of reading training for K5 teachers oftentimes you'll see folks just do K3 but really that needs to be a full shift right at K5 and it needs to be required so that we have kind of a ground floor that we can expect that you know everybody has working knowledge around some basic some shared learning, right? And then that way when adults are trying something new, they have a mental model to

059be able to understand what those shifts are in the instructional material to be able to teach as intended or teach all of the components of the material. Um anyway, so we have a three-year professional development plan that does include standalone science of reading um training, but also embedding and sort of signaling to when we're even doing initial use training. This is the kind of why behind this component of the new material, right? And linking back to science of reading principles. um we have plans to train not just our educators but if we're really going to be successful with this implementation it needs to be more of a collective effort right so what is the central office component tr of training look like what is the training look like um for uh school leaders right so

060that they can support the change right so those um plans are in the works anyway if that's helpful thank you >> can I make one comment add on that um just very quickly How powerful would it be that when you're doing these uh uh walkthroughs with the superintendent um board members that if you knew what you should be listening for and looking for in a classroom because uh you're alongside with us uh uh knowing about what our educators are learning about and what they're supporting and how you can support them by walking into a classroom and and and recognizing uh if the science of reading is alive and well or if it's not um what what is going on. So I think that's the opportunity for all of us. It's not the elementary teachers role

061in this and I just want to say this publicly. Um Ben and I were having a discussion he was saying so who's responsible for making sure that happens and I just think it's all of our responsibility for making sure that it happens. Um, and one of the things that we have right now, uh, what we haven't had in a good long while is just a focus on supporting instruction at the classroom level is what matters most. And how do we do that uh, in a systemic way? If it's not this curriculum, it's got to be another curriculum. We got to give our teachers the tools that they need for our students. This is about process, about what we're talking about. But this is also about um our vision about how to support our educators um

062and our students effectively, consistently, and in in budgetary times. This is the most important thing. So, uh we're all responsible for doing it. So, um just uh uh I'll get off my soap box on that one, but you made me think of it, so I blame you. >> But thank you. >> Thank you, Director. Mahi. Yeah. So, I think um first of all, appreciate all the time you spent meeting with us one-on-one and answering questions over email and in those meetings. Um I wanted to ask about process. Um, one thing I noticed when we went from feedback round one, the McGra Hill scored the lowest at 74% and then in feedback round two when it was with the smaller adoption committee, it was sort of tied with the amplify or whatever in in roughly the

063same position. So wondering what the reason was for that delta between those two phases. Yeah, I know exactly what what the reason was. Um at least I I think I know. Um what happened was in the RFP we asked for every grade level. We asked the um the publishers to send every grade level because um one year like when we did K5 a long time ago, we used to do physical text and we couldn't send us everything. So, we just used to just ask for grades one and four just to give a sampling. Well, what we didn't see was the rest and some of the rest caused us some problems um in terms of the texts that were not authentically written. Um and so we knew we wanted to see everything and unfortunately there was

064an old line from probably the past one that said uh submit one grade level. So that there was a contradiction in that verbiage. McGraill only sent third grade and that was part of the problem. Our our our committee couldn't see it all and finally we just kept asking and asking but it was the very last day that we were able to see everything and they weren't able to catch up. So, I think that some of the problem was definitely that I could attribute it to that because they just couldn't see it all. And so, they couldn't score it high enough because they couldn't trust that it was there. Um, and that probably is on our end in terms of just not scrutinizing those documents well enough because there were two different messages. Every other curriculum

065provider provided everything. And so I think that's why um the other thing that happened definitely in field testing was that McGra Hill soared. Um I think our teachers, you know, all 10 of the field testing teachers rated it the highest. So during the um testimony where our field testers provided specific information on what happened, we use that to as evidence um in the process and I think that their testimonies kind of increased those values as well. Is that if that's is that helpful? >> Thanks. >> Any other questions? Director Masari. All right. Uh, Director Smith. >> Okay. I have a few questions. Um, and actually just following up. I think it's a Sorry. I don't like the stand. Um, following up on sort of the process of getting the community feedback and the different rounds.

066Um, I've also heard some questions around the bias screening. um both in terms of you know some calls for more transparency around that which um I know that there was an email shared with that had some more information for us directors but I think it would be helpful for the public as well and then also just how that fit in um it was really great to hear that there was such strong positive feedback from the pilot teachers um so it's not like the bias screening was the only thing you were going on but I think that there's maybe we could use more clarity on on how that worked just >> sure >> for transparency >> absolely Absolutely. Um and and just in terms of transparency, I just want to say on the K5 ELA adoption

067website is uh our minutes from every single meeting. And so when I answered that question, I just went to that to that um meeting and pulled the information because we really worked hard to be completely transparent. That said, um the website is very hard. you have to kind of scroll scroll scroll scroll scroll till you get to the very bottom to find it. So I do understand that. Um in terms of transparency and how that process was run, we began with um just reading articles with the committee began by reading articles about bias and sensitivity in children's books um just so they could all be grounded. One of the challenges is you have to get people on the same page in order to see what they see. We then turned to OSPI develops a very

068lengthy tool and what we do is we work with the instructional materials committee to truncate that so that the tool only um uh reflects what is uh what you can see in an ELA adoption because the the tool that they develop is for every curriculum. So you really have to work to make sure that it's truncated. So um we worked with the instructional materials adoption and and I sent that to you. You you can see that it's sort of um uh uh blessed by them and then um we move into screening and every um every vendor or submission was reviewed by two different groups. we and so that after they reviewed each vendor they the two different groups came together they shared their scores um and then uh they did some calibration and then they

069reported out to the whole committee it's at that point at the at the whole committee shareout that the committee made a decision as to whether or not to um eliminate two. So there was a a a very lengthy process and um and then in in fairness uh there were two that we were concerned about. We had a hu a longer discussion. Um, some of the concerns had circulated, but we really felt that one of them had a a dual language component and we thought we need to continue to evaluate it to make sure um that, you know, maybe we're just being reactionary. So, we were cautious um when we eliminated just two. So it it does sound like the bias screening was part of the process, but it wasn't just a we screened it with

070the bioscreener and in a vacuum that eliminates things. It was considering everything altogether. >> No. No. Um so let me be clear that um Seattle schools um has recommended we begin with bias and sensitivity screening so that we focus on things that we would potentially adopt. What I will say is in the two eliminated I would say the bias and sensitivity issues were egregious. Um, and so I want to make sure that, you know, it wasn't just, oh, there were a couple of articles, right? All of that when when we don't we're not looking um a at two or three things. It had to be patterns that we saw and so we did see those patterns and they are removed. We don't then um apply the rest of the criteria to those Thank you. So,

071another question. This is kind of following up with Director Lavali's um concern about how will train teachers um or you know provide professional development and support. And so, um, I thought that it was, um, nice to see sort of like specific numbers about how the purchase of this curriculum translates into funding for training and development. Um, and then also to add on how we'll ensure and track the fidelity of adoption. Um, what checks are in place? >> Sure. I can begin with that one, but my team the team might want to help too. Um so we we uh when we implement a instructional material of this scale, we need to have some sort of mechanism for continuous improvement. And so typically what we do is partner with a research and evaluation team um to to

072study our implementation. And usually that's about a three-year um research study and we learn as we go, right? So in um after our first year there will be some lessons learned and then we'll take those le take that learning and incorporate it into a continuous improvement cycle. It might be that teachers are taking up some part of the material right and not taking up another part and then we would ask ourselves why is that happening try to get to the root cause of that and then make an action plan to address it. So that that's one part. The next part is to think about how do we support, you know, if we're asking folks to do something new, we need to give them the right level of support to be able to do it, right?

073So, that gets into the three-year required professional development um space. Uh and then also, you know, thinking how can we partner with the school leaders to be able to make sure that they have the tools they need to be able to support implementation um as intended, right? So that there we're really kind of taking an approach from lots of different um points of influence. Right? So that's that's our thinking at this point. But I'll be honest with you, we don't know all the things that we're going to need to know, right? In this process, we're going to need to learn them as we go through and then be honest with where we are with our implementation or what we're learning and then be able to have a mechanism for course correction or continuous improvement. >>

074Thank you. Um, I just want to sort of close with a comment um, in response to Director Bridg's Brig. Sorry, I just mispronounced your name. Director Briggs um, your initial uh, question about whether like what is the C like can we delay the adoption? And I just I I don't know if anybody else has a kindergarten, first, second, third grader, but as a parent of a kindergartener, I definitely feel a little bit of that urgency that it's like, well, if we delay the adoption, that is, you know, for my kindergartener, but you know, for all all kids at that level, it is one year delay before they get a hopefully better curriculum for better learning to read. So just >> appreciate that. Director Song, did I see you had one more question? >> Yeah. I

075um is there a reason why it needs to be a nine-year contract? >> Is that typical for curriculum adoptions that we do nine-year contracts >> or maybe there's like a like a systems reason for why it should be nine years? I don't know. >> Yeah. where I think we're all doing the math in our head of our most recent adoptions. Uh Cashelle or I'll defer to you just because of how we came up with the the the nine years if there is an answer. Um my best answer to that would be uh setting our kind of system expectation that this instructional material will be used in whatever it is we the committee picked that we would use it for a duration of time. Is nine years the right duration? I'm not sure. Um that's the

076that is what we landed on in this particular process, but we're open to feedback moving forward in the future if that's um a decision that we'd like to change. Um I think it's to set the expectation that this will be the uh we've had some challenges with of um making sure that all teachers use the instructional materials that we purchase. Right? So just setting the system expectation that this is the adopted material and this is the duration of time that we're committing to it to be uh you utilized in Seattle schools. I think that was the thinking and um seven you know I said before seven to nine years is somewhere you know usual adop adoption refresh so I think that that was part of the thinking as well like one last comment um so

077in our language immersion schools we're not providing direct instruction in the target language and so I would just say that the fact that there's Spanish curriculum available is not something that I consider are like um terribly that's not like a bonus in my opinion because the kids when they're spending time in their target language are learning in math. They're not learning direct in instruction their language. So um I'm pretty sure that there wasn't a dual language immersion teacher on the adoption committee. So, I just kind of felt we that this conversation kind of went there and I just wanted to clarify for my colleagues that I don't I don't think that that's something that should make this curriculum an edge. >> Can I just add that there was a dual language um head teacher from

078Concord that sat on the committee and was a very strong advocate for dual language schools. So, just just so you know. Other questions or comments from directors? All right, seeing none, thank you to the panel for being here. We'll take a five minute break here, five minute recess, and we'll >> hang on. >> Thanks. Um yeah, I my understanding was that um our superintendent was going to weigh in with his thoughts when our conversation was over. If that if if you're willing, I'm I'm all ears. >> Well, first of all, no, of course. Um thank you. uh you know I have to recognize however odd this might sound the uh responsibility that I have when I speak here because I do think at least in the one month and 18 days I've been here people

079are starting to uh believe that I might know something about education. So there is a wait here with what I'm going to say. So, I want to give a lot of credit to the wonderful educators that spent 18 months putting this together. And I think that that alone uh has to be a huge part of any sort of decision because staff are the people that are doing the work. And if staff comes out with a belief that one uh curriculum is better than all the others, that has to be part of the calculus in deciding it. I also think that certainly from what I have seen there is an understanding that this c this uh curriculum does hit the kind of legal requirements that I know some people were worried about when it comes to

080things like science of reading. Um, I also know that McGraill has been in this biz longer than I have been alive and they've certainly have had a good run of some solid curriculums throughout uh their years. Uh, and they've had some, you know, stinkers, but you know, that's happens to all of us. Um, and certainly the fact that they're a well-known name that has uh a great track record and the staff uh picked them, I think that's important. That being said, I think there are some concerns that I have. Um, you know, I think you wonderful board members hired me to always be transparent and always be honest and always be open. And I think that the reason why I appreciate that this was the introduction so that now we can have this debate uh

081and discussion to then have a couple of weeks to really kind of talk about it and think about it and come back to the table uh will allow me to feel comfortable uh with wherever we go uh because again since I was not part of this I wanted to make sure the presentation was public so that we can talk about it. So what are uh my so the strengths I think is that it uh the teachers liked it. I think there is science of reading. I think that it is well structured. I think that it understands kind of what a curriculum should be. My concerns are some of the ones that you've mentioned. One, a 9-year contract is very long. that is uh not typical uh in uh kind of education because the world changes

082really really quickly. I'm not sure that buildings of schools are going to exist in nine years in the current state uh that they are. I think a 9-year contract is quite long, but I think that again in the next three or four weeks to understand why and then are there outs, right? A lot of times you can sign a 9-year contract with the idea that after two or three, you can say, "Thank you. We're both going to move on." Uh, if there's a problem. The problem with that is that you don't want to do that because you really want folks to buy in. So, I'd wonder about that. The second is certainly the Spanish language issue is that I appreciate that we're going to pilot it. I think that's terrific, but if it's piloting, that

083means that's not the curriculum. And since we do have a relatively large multil- language learner uh population as well as dual language programs as well as sheltered language programs etc etc. I just want to make sure that the um the non-English part of this is strong. The other concern that I've had is for HC or advancement. Um, one of the things that I think we have to be really attuned to is that if we are going to create a curriculum, then you want to make sure that the curriculum has advancement. And if this is a K5 curriculum, uh, if we have kids that are doing, let's say, two grade levels above or one grade level above, then if you're in fifth grade, well, what is the sixth grade curriculum? So, that's something to to to

084think about. And certainly if you're in um you know a third or fourth grade, what does advancement uh look like? Again, I think that the curriculum probably has an answer, but you know, you were asking kind of my thoughts on this. Um the other thing, and this is really the the concern I would have just as a as a consumer, uh you know, is that there are certain organizations out there that do reviews. And in my experience in the 25 years that I've been uh you know in education leadership, it is really helpful to have other people tell you if something is good or not. Um the probably the gold standard where it comes to curriculum is something called ed reports. Um everybody's uh loves ed reports. Uh they're kind of like the consumer reports

085of education. Um, and I think the concern I would have is that this uh curriculum has not been vetted yet by ed reports. Now, that doesn't, and I want to be very very clear here, that doesn't mean it's bad. It actually might be the single greatest uh curriculum ever, right? And I think our teachers and our curriculum folks are telling us that it's really good, but you hired me as a superintendent to kind of uh almost be the person to talk to to point out what might be a problem, right? And so the fact that there isn't a real review in the kind of normal sense of things just means again we have to rely on the teachers which I'm always happy to do and the and the committee. So I do wonder about the

086question that you had around you know can we wait and I think the issue of course is I don't want to wait of course for director Smith's child as well as every other child. Uh I want to make things better uh for everybody and I think that what uh Dr. Stroski was saying, you know, would we have to go through the entire uh process again or is there a timeline that we could say we'd like to get some other reviews of this uh or we could, you know, pilot again or something like that? I think the answer is probably no, right? And I think that the issue from me as a superintendent is we have to make a decision for our children today which is good for our children today. and I have no indication

087is this not being a good curriculum. My concerns again are, hey, there isn't necessarily this third-party validator that in my experience I would just always use, right? Like if you had said to me, hey Ben, what kind of requirements would you want out of a curriculum that we're picking? I would have a conversation about making sure that Ed reports had a report about it. But we're also in some respects lucky. We got to a curriculum that might be unbelievable and we wouldn't have been able to choose it if that was one of those rules. So I think over the next three uh or four weeks, our board meeting is in April sometime is that we want to really uh think about those um those topics and to make sure that we feel really comfortable when

088this does come for a boat. What I love about this process is instead of being up there, we're here. We're colleial. We're talking about this. I have amazing colleagues to my left and to my right. And I think they did a really, really good job addressing your concerns. And I think what you're asking me is like what are the things that I'm thinking about? Those are the things I'm thinking about. How does it deal with language? How does it deal with HC? How does it deal with uh the fact that we don't have kind of thirdparty validators? I of course want to give uh you know uh props and and and respect to everybody that brought up around uh special education. Um but again you know I think that there there was a a robust

089answer there other than the fact that this central office should probably do a better job and I appreciate Director Rankin's point and we'll get there. So, you know, again, I think that we're in a really interesting position, which is a decision should really be made because time is nigh and we got to make it uh positive for our kids. But are we positive about this curriculum? And I think that it has a lot of really good things to it because our teachers who are going to teach it said it did and I think that that has to weigh on us. But as a superintendent, I certainly will have my concerns just like I have my concerns probably with other ones. So, I mean, I appreciate the question. I think certainly um we should spend more

090time discussing it and really make sure that there's a good solid strong answer by uh April because we want to make sure that there's training for our staffs uh that we'll be able to get them to rock and roll uh by September 1st or whatever the first day of school is for that. So, thank you, Director Briggs, for for teeing it up for me and for allowing me to to give my opinion. Uh, but I really the most the best opinion I can give you is I am really proud of our team. I'm proud of the teachers. I'm proud of the community that voted on this that had their saying in it. And that the fact that we're being more transparent, we're being more open about what we're doing and and and showing that we're

091taking in the community's advice around, you know, science of reading, about being transparent, about uh articulating these things. So, I think we've got a great and wonderful three or four weeks ahead of us and then I look forward to uh being back here taking a vote. I don't get to vote, I will watch the vote. Uh but thank you. So, >> director, so follow up from directors and I see director Rankin has her hand up. >> Thank you. Um yeah, I just want to quickly um appreciate the thoughtfulness of this conversation. really appreciated the questions of um my my colleagues and our focus on um the process and the oversight role and not diving into you know every little um piece of the actual curriculum which which none of us are experts in. So I

092think this was a really healthy conversation. Um, I wanted to just ask uh Ben, following up on your comments in the next three or four weeks, something I would like to know um in that time at some point is as you are refining our your recommendations for our goals and thinking strategic planwise, um I would like to know if you feel like this curriculum will be a a helpful tool in making progress on our goals and if it's something that can um be a success uccessful piece of the of the whatever you're thinking in terms of strategic plan. I wouldn't want us to adopt something that is going to be run counter to um the overall what we're trying to do. So I just wanted to put that out there. >> Absolutely. Thank you. It's

093a great question. >> Thanks Director Lavali. Yeah, based on what you were saying as well, I want to clarify and this is a, you know, a general question to the vote we'll be taking next month on this curriculum. Are are we approving the the committee's endorsement of this curriculum and the money that's proposed for it? And then can the superintendent or anyone else still renegotiate that? So if something's happening, can there be, you know, any sort of changes of like, hey, we'd actually like seven years and this flexibility with that contract or is exactly this 9-year set with this exact option that's being presented to the board. >> I'll I'll take a stab at it. I I think um based on the feedback that we received tonight, some of the the ideas that are coming

094tonight, I think uh we would definitely be and I'll have to defer to the committee uh chair um about how they're going to communicate with McGraill about what are the opportunities for flexibilities and give McGraill opportunities to address some of these concerns and ideas. So I think the question is really well taken which is what are we in fact voting on? Um and that will be up to how the vote is taken and what is written and so as it stands it would be to approve the money and the whole process and what have you. Um but again the great thing about a board is you can always amend anything you want uh you know from the deis or or previous uh unless of course it is a board policy which then there are other

095times for uh so uh right now you know what is being introduced is certainly uh the approval of what the committee is uh sending to you and the nine years and etc. But I think again over the next uh three or four weeks we can we can see what is possible. Um we can have that conversation. But I will say that if the board does approve any um curriculum, I would want it to be for a long enough period for two reasons. One, you want to give a indication to the staff that this is what we're really believing in and we're going to believe in it for a long time. and two, it allows us to budget in the time of a difficult budget crunch. Um, but I do think that there is always ways

096to negotiate things like uh ways to get out of things or different tax areas. So, I appreciate that. >> Director Miseri, >> just very quick point on that. So reading what what the recommended motion would be, it might be helpful if there were an amendment to say right now it says not to exceed nine years or or $9 million and then lays out the year for you all to get information from McGra Hill to say, "Okay, what was it? What would a seven-year contract look like? 8-year contract because I imagine it's not just 1 million less. Maybe it is, but that's not always how contracts work." So like what that amount would be should it be a eighty year, sevenyear, whatever contract. What I will uh point out which is um is is true is

097the contract that the I think the last page uh as uh director MRA is is correct. It says 9-year bundle at this unit is this year. It is unclear if it was seven would it just be seven nights of that or would it be something else? So it's a exactly Right. Looking to other directors. All right. Thank you again. I appreciate that. >> Just a re a helpful hint to my fellow board directors as well. If you're looking to do an amendment, our board staff is there to support you and help you in the process with the correct timing and posting of things so that we are all aware um of of those things and we're not, you know, clashing up to deadlines and making sure all everyone has the information. So, they are there

098to support that process. So, thank you all. Okay, we will take a quick break. We'll be back at 6:05. Heat. Heat. Oh yeah. Heat. Hey, Heat. Heat. Heat. I'm clearing. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. I'm going to call directors back and our superintendent Right, we're going to begin. Director Misrai has joined us online. Um, but the second item on today's agenda is the annual approval of schools. And again, I'm going to hand it over to the superintendent for the introduction. >> Thank you. Thank you so much, President Top. Um, it's always an honor to bring up staff and so for this, uh, wonderful board action report, it is going to be Ted Howard. Uh, Ted, if you want to come on up. Thank you so much. Um, I will certainly let him do almost all

099the talking. Uh, but these are one of the the roles of the board where you kind of every year it's an annual approval. Uh, you know, I want to make sure that certainly new board members kind of see these kinds of um, you know, actions that we have to take. There's, as you can imagine, a ton of bureaucracy when it comes to uh, public education, especially in large districts. Um, but this one, in my experience, is not too difficult. Uh, but please, please feel free to ask lots of questions because this is one of those things that we're going to have to do every year, and I want everybody to feel very comfortable with it. So, without further ado, uh, Mr. Howard. >> Good evening, President Top. Good evening, uh, board directors and superintendent Scheliner.

100Um, my name is Ted Howard, chief accountability officer. I'm here to introduce to you the annual approval of schools whack 1816 uh-220. What we really are approving is five things. The first thing is all schools in Seattle public schools are authorized to operate for the 2526 school year. The second thing is each school has uh required school improvement plan what we call the CSIP or SIP uh is required by state law and schools with alternative learning experiences AL designated also to meet approval requirements. The fourth thing is the district is in compliance with the Washington state administrative code. And then the fifth thing that you are really approving is the district has verified uh the required planning monitoring and document documentation exists. Exactly. And actually, you know, because uh Ted is such an expert at

101this and do you want to just give a little bit about what this is? I mean, I don't want to belver the point because I know we have a lot of things to go through, but I I certainly want board members to feel comfortable kind of with what we're doing here. >> Okay. Uh so the CIP is really the continuous school improvement plan that sits down with the BLT uh with the communities and the families and they align their budget. They align their time, their interventions, what they're going to do to make a difference and help close that achievement gap if there is a gap in certain areas uh to help students succeed. Um this is not an easy task. Uh you work on this throughout the year and you uh review data on a

102regular basis to take a look at that. When we get to a point where we're doing it excellent, you'll see triangulated data and you'll see that every 30 to 45 days to make shifts and changes throughout the system. Right now, you probably see what we look at, which is the map data, which is a lag data, and we're making decisions that way, but there's room for improvement. We'll we'll get to that point where we are actually shifting that practices uh across the system, uh the whole system, K through 12. >> Yeah. And and these are just kind of the bureaucratic things about asking the board to approve these. But, you know, not that I will ever try to make my job even more difficult. Um, but just as a reminder, these five things are about

103which schools we have. Um, and then are we doing our um, you know, all the rules and regulations around that. Um, so yeah, and you know, it's pretty prefuncter, but I want to make sure that people, if you have any questions, ask, but we're certainly asking for your uh your approval so that we can in fact run a school district because if you don't approve it, uh, we cannot. So, >> questions from board directors, >> director Ranken, >> thank you. Um, I mostly just wanted to thank um Oh, Ted, I don't know what your title is. Uh, Chief Ted, Dr. Mr. Ted Ted, >> Mr. Howard, former principal, Principal Meritus Howard. >> Um, uh, for continuing to to work on this. As you mentioned, Superintendent Schner, this is one of those preunctery required items. Um

104it's something that uh uh I don't know 10 or so years ago I noticed as a community member like there's this thing we have to approve and it was very much treated as oh this is just like don't worry about it this is just thing just this thing that we have to approve and I started asking a questions about well if the state is insisting that we approve it perhaps there is something that could be useful from it um and if it's something we have to do anyway why don't we try to align it to um you know, why don't we try to make it relevant? Is it is it possible it could be relevant? Um and so I just I wanted to both um uh point out that TED has done a lot of

105work in this area as have others, but also to you superintendent that as um you know, I'm sure there's something similar in in Michigan. I don't know what it looks like, but >> again with this with the strategic plan and as we do monitoring that this is one of those structures that we already are required to do >> and I imagine it could become even more useful and aligned to what we're doing in terms of progress monitoring and that hopefully it it it continues to evolve to be something that is useful and it's not just like oh yeah we do we do our real work over here and then there's this other thing we also have to do. um if there's ways for us to look at data and look at um evaluation and things

106that are tied to the CIPS, you know, more meaningfully. Um I think that's that's a good thing to do. So I just kind of wanted to highlight it for you that it looks it looks different even now than it did five years ago, 10 years ago. >> Absolutely. And I appreciate you saying that and that's the thing is is the reason why I wanted uh Ted and even just to engage in a little bit of conversation is to highlight that these are actually and can be important things but they're treated preuncter right they're treated as like just vote on it because if you don't you can't have a school district right but the idea is that I think the more that we might have conversations about what continuous school improvement plans look like and how

107they can be more useful you're exactly right that as we have our goals and we have our our mission and we are really moving the district forward. This is one of those tools that's kind of rarely used but can be used to move the district forward. So, I appreciate that point. >> Well, and I think it can also be a useful communication tool if if we sort of help parents understand like when you look at a why should you care about looking at your continuous school improvement plan and what might it tell you about what's happening at your kids's school as well? Thank you. >> Other directors. All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Moving on. Moving right along. Our third item for introduction today is amendment to board policy number 6215, warrant certification,

108approval, and cancellation. And again, Superintendent Shelner, you have the floor. >> Thank you again. Uh so I assume assume this is uh the next on the docket which is going to be Dr. Kurt Buttleman. Uh who I assume I can see behind me. All right. Wonderful. Uh thank you Kurt. Uh again not that you need me to introduce any of these things. Um but one of the big things for me uh and we actually did this in Lancing is really moving towards the modern way of paying people. Um the fact that we literally write millions of dollars of checks is not what a large school district should be doing. And so if we can uh make our uh systems a little bit more modern and move things forward, uh I think there's some really good

109things here. But again, I am not the head of budget and finance. So >> I think you did a great job. That's the introduction. I am Kurt Edelman, assistant superintendent for finance. With me is Christy Maguire, our director of accounting. Uh to riff off of Ben, how long Christiey's been with us? Six 716 days. So she has made it her part of her work to move us into the 21st century on payments to vendors and eventually to employees. So today we have this introduction item to allow us to do that per board policy. I do want to note in the packet of materials that was presented the existing board policy is not in there. I have copies of that if people want that further discussion. We'll make sure to include that when this comes back

110for action at the next meeting. and we're happy to answer any questions. Like I said, Christie is immersed deeply in this process and um we can answer anything you want to know. >> Director Smith, >> is there any reason why we wouldn't want to make this change? >> From my opinion, no. Unless you like paper checks in the mail. There are people that like paper checks in the mail. All right. Exit stage left. >> Thank you so much. Appreciate that. >> All right. Moving right along. The ne the fourth item on today's agenda. Nope. Yeah. The fourth item on today's agenda is approval of the Seattle School Board sponsorship for proposed Washington State School Directors Association WASA positions. And this is uh sponsored by Director Ranken. So I will pass it over to Director Ranken

111to give a little bit of an introduction. >> Thank you. Um yeah, so every year uh we have the opportunity as members of WASDA to submit um positions to the membership um that we would like the full body to consider. Um a couple of years ago, individual board directors could submit things and as you can imagine it they were things that were really they could be things that were really not in align with what you know even one board really wanted, much less the boards of Washington. And so it just created a lot of positions. So they changed it to um uh requiring board approval and submission on behalf of a board uh to consider um new positions. And that has worked out pretty well the last few years. So, um, once we submit the

112positions, uh, WASDA collects collects all of them and if there's ones that are submitted from different districts that are really similar or duplicative, they will the resolutions or the um, uh, legislative committee of WASDA will look at them or reach back out to sponsoring districts to see if people are willing to combine. Um and then once that's done, all members get an updated catalog of of positions that are um available for WASDNA members to vote on. And then we send um a delegate. It's um our our representative is director Song. So our delegate goes to general assembly in September and votes on our behalf and and uh positions that receive majority vote become new positions and influence um what WADA as an organization advocates for in the next legislative cycle. Um, so I had one

113given um what we've been experiencing recently in Seattle and is unfortunately experience of way too many communities in our country is um what happens when children have access to firearms. And so WASDA has an existing position to advocate for um gun violence prevention. And my uh proposed position would add uh well it cleans up the language a little bit to align it with some of the other um existing positions. But the most um critical piece is it adds language specifically about um advocating for uh children not just not to have access to guns um in that gun violence uh prevention position. Um, I didn't put it together yet, but in the time since I submitted this, I had some people reach out to me about um, being interested in a cell phone position. Um, which

114I said I would be happy to take suggestions and put it into something for us to consider. Um, which I could add to this before the next board meeting when we actually take action. Um, and I know also that we have concerns in our community about AI and just screen time in general. So, um, I just have for no introduction on paper the the gun violence prevention one, but I am going to try to, um, do some word smithing to bring um something from our community members on those two other topics before we take action. So if if anybody only one or one or two other people so you don't have a quorum but if anybody's also interested in working on that um that would be great and then of course if anybody has any

115other total totally other positions they want to add to the motion um and that's it and if there are no well yeah I'm happy to take questions if there are any. >> All right questions from directors. All right. Thank you, Director Ranken. Those were >> all right. >> Those were the items for introduction. We're going to move now to some just updates and and discussion. So, the first one is a grant process update. So, I will pass it over to Superintendent Shelner to lead the discussion. >> Absolutely. Well, first of all, thank you again. Uh I will say that uh a week ago at the horseshoe uh we had a really wonderful conversation around the way that we are allowed to spend money. And one of the things that was tasked to the district was

116to change our website and to make things more clear. And I'd like to bring uh Dr. Butleman back up here. Um, but what I also want to point out and this we will try to take a bow for is I know historically the district might not have moved with great elacrity uh when the board has asked for things uh or when the community has asked for things. And so I want to give Kurt the ability to tell you what we've done in the very brief time uh that we have been working on this and also just to say how much I appreciate this board being so clear about what it needed. It allowed us to do what you wanted us to do. So uh Kurt, if you want to just tell everybody what you've been

117working on and what you've already done, uh that'd be great. And then I will add to that. >> Sure. Um, as Superintendent Schner said, we did update the website late last week to include some more clear information, more succinct information around this topic. Um, today we communicated to all the principles sort of how the process might work. and we sent them the information. We sent them sort of the background on what's going on and we sent them a template for them to work with their PTAs to fill out to bring things forward to this group if they have um donations of over $250,000. Um so the first chance that we'll have to do that is April 22nd. So we ask school principles who could do so to work with their PTAs to get those to

118us by March 31st in order to meet your deadlines. As Ben was introducing me just now, I was communicating with the BFD BFDA PR or PTA vice president. So, she has some concerns around this April 22nd. So, trying to assure her that we can entertain these requests on another timeline. We're just trying to get that first round that is pending through as soon as we could. So, there will be opportunity for more types of things like this in the future. Um, and we're working in the staffing arena process currently. So having schools sort of estimate what they think they're going to get from their PTA, which is what we typically do. And so if there are schools who do have capacity to raise more than $250,000, we're working with the principal to make sure that

119we can take advantage of that in the coming school year in September. And I think in one of my notes to one of the PTAs, I reminded them and all of us that school doesn't start for another six or eight months. So we've got some time to to get this sorted out if we need to. So, >> and I I just want to again thank uh Kurt, his team, and the board and the community is the board makes policy and the district enacts it and makes it so. I have seen in the one month and 18 days I've been here is that that doesn't always happen. And so I just hope that people are seeing that the board, the district, the superintendent, all of us are trying to work really collaboratively to listen to the

120community, but also the will of the board and moving quickly. Um, the reason why this would have to be at the next board meeting is because the board would have to make an act. But of course, and to be very very clear, a PTA, like I said last time, is not a school district entity. So, a PTA, if they wanted to, could raise $200 million. If you could do that, please let me know. That would be amazing. Uh, I would like to make sure that we distribute that around the district. However, the fact that you could raise that is on you as a nonprofit 501c3 entity or whatever, however you're you're you're um designated. the dish the issue is if you want to give that money to the district if that money is over $250,000

121in order to accept it the board would have to vote on it. So, you know, if there are uh PTAs out there that want to do things, feel free. I cannot I'm not supposed to tell you what to do. You are the PTA. You are your own entity. when we accept the money, if you so choose to give it to us, um then that's where this kind of starts. So, I think there's just been a lot of misunderstanding. Um they're nobody's fault. These are complicated things. And so, the more that we can just all be in alignment, the better. But, you know, within a week, they were able to create a new system, a new structure, a template. The principles are being told today and we think that we will be uh re ready and

122and able to accept anything if the board so chooses in April. But again, this can happen every month because you can bring it and we can bring it to the board and it is then of course up to the board because of course the district gets grants all the time over 250,000 that we would still bring to the board. So thank you to Kurt and to everybody and to the board and I will not belab the point. dire questions from directors and we'll start with director song. >> Um just a question two questions. One you've got this template and so from there the principal submits it to the grants office and then at what point does it get put like what what's the movement to the board agenda? >> They'll work with their regional executive

123director and Dr. Torres Moral's office who will present them to the board. sort of follow our typical bar process with the grants office sort of providing support along the side. >> Okay. >> Um my second question is um I kind of vaguely think there's a deadline for displacement. So what is the timing of the displacement and us being presented grants etc. >> Sure. So I what certainly defer to the great Dr. Pritchette. Uh, but I think it is May 15th. It's May 15th, right? >> You want to come up? >> Yeah, come on. So, I I will I will uh invite the uh the head of HR to give you that answer. Um, but you know, there are union uh requirements in terms of when somebody would be informed of something and then there would

124be uh about how displacements works. But the good news is that we're always able to kind of override it. you know, is like that's why you have those reassessments in June, in August, etc. But I'll turn it over to to to Dr. Pritchette to answer specifically. So, >> and the question was on displacements specifically. So, we are in the process right now of budget and staffing arenas. Um those will finish next week and that is actually the deadline that we need to know um when schools are displacing their staff so that we can then do an analysis to see how many vacant positions we have versus how many displaced staff we have and start making matches in that way and then also provide them the opportunity um provide staff the opportunity to um start to

125do internal hiring. Um we have phased hiring that we do um before we open positions. We want to make sure that we have no one that needs to go into an actual position in that particular category. For instance, so if we have math teachers that are displaced, we need to make sure that we don't open any math positions until we dis put all the folks into jobs that we owe jobs to. Um what the May 15th deadline is if we were to non-renew a teacher. So if we were looking at um a reduction in force, we would actually need to notify staff before the May 15th deadline. And as both uh doctors are saying, um I'm the only one without a doctorate here. Uh is that you know if the school is telling us they

126think something might come, we can certainly budget accordingly. Um and certainly the board would tell us one way or the other. Um but there is some some flexibility. But to what HR's point of course is going to be is as we do these budget arenas, we're starting to staff them for next year. So if we don't know that they might need keep these folks, then we would have to ex tell them that there's a displacement. But there is there is flexibility here which will allow us to do it. But of course um what HR would want is as clean a process as possible. And that's why the two doctors to my left and my right talk all the time so that they're like, "Oh wait, not that person. Oh, this is coming, etc. So, >>

127just just as a reminder, too, that um if a staff member is displaced, they have the right to return to a position. So, if money comes later on, then we can also ask them if they'd like to return to their position. So, they would have that right to return. >> Yeah. And I think and I and I think that's the great safety net for all of this, right? So, it's what a year and a day or something. >> Yeah. Yeah. it's, you know, basically you have a right to return for a while and so in this case if it's a vote in April or whatever, they should be fine. If they want to come back, it's up to them. So, >> Director Ranken, >> thank you. Um I want to appreciate um the the swiftness

128which with this was responded to to as you pointed out that um we're not known for moving very quickly as a system and um I really appreciate that. Um and also the the your statement that um you know our job is to write policy and the problem that we're having in a lot of places is that the policy is actually okay and it's not being followed. So PTA isn't even mentioned in this policy and somehow at some point in the system PTAs were treated differently than other grant making organizations in a totally inappropriate way. And so I don't think it's, you know, worth trying to figure out how that happened or why that happened as much as it is worth making sure that it doesn't continue to happen. Um because there's nothing in here it

129that is the board's direction that says, you know, grants and awards and revenue producing agreements will be handled in this way unless it comes from a PTA. It it just simply does not say that. Um, but I do want to point out too that it also doesn't say that just because anybody raises money, we have to spend it the way we I if the con if the constraints on any kind of a gift are such that that you, the superintendent, find it at odds with our goals as a district. It doesn't matter what the amount is. you have, by my read of this policy, you would have the right to say, "Thank you so much for the offer, um, we will not be, you know, training, uh, McLaren Middle School students in hand-to-hand compound or

130something, you know, I don't know. I'm just making up something ridiculous." But like um so I want to make that clear too that uh this to me matters a lot for all grants because when we accept the money we're also committing to the expenditure and all grants have been treated very much outside the rest of our budget which is bizarre. So, as we kind of continue like I think this is a good fix for right now and this policy needs to be continued to be worked on um so that we're very very clear about uh just what's what's in line with what we're doing and what's not and and it's not a mystery or a surprise. Um and and I I I always have concerns when staff is being hired outside of our budget system.

131So I would really like to as we move forward um you know we should be considering all grants as part of our budget um and see that in the approval of of the board's approval that we're also approving the expenditure of grants within the budget is is my opinion. But um I appreciate the quick fix to this for now. >> Thank you. >> All right, other questions. All right, thank you. We moving right along to our board goals. So this was an uh deliverable from our retreat. Our board goals actually don't have a vote. Um but we get to discuss them align along with them and I'm going to pass it over to Director Smith to run through their our proposed goals. Great. Um, so we have the goals proposed. Um, and we also have

132just to start um, in our discussion about the goals. Um, the self assessment that we did before the retreat, it was a nonownorous process for the directors. Um, I I didn't see the planning side of that. Um, and it seemed like a very effective way to assess where we were. Um so we were also kind of recommending or proposing that we continue with that same self self assessment going forward next year. Um and then with the new committees we also chose to kind of propose some goals would be led by the different committees um kind of aligned with what we think they might be doing. Um again this isn't something that the board will be voting on and adopting. So, it's kind of up to the committees if they agree with that and say, "Yes,

133this fits with what we want to be accomplishing." Um, and so kind of falling to the policy committee perhaps as well is looking at our um self-governance policy in order to update it to align with what we're proposing here. So, the goals that we chose um from the self assessment, there was um a very low standard deviation on what our weaknesses were. Um, so that shows that hopefully we're aligned on these things. Um, and there were a lot of them were related to communication, um, budget and accountability. So, we're trying to cover those topics. Um, the goal that we chose for the full board would be publicly recognize the efforts of schools in improving student learning. Um, the goal that we chose for the policy committee is ensure the public is well informed of the

134Bull's um, roles and responsibilities. The goal that we chose for the operations committee um was ensure a high degree of coherence between the district plan and school improvement plans which um it's kind of interesting that it we just had the intro item on the approval of schools including the continuous improvement plans. So that's and cool. Um and then finally for the finance committee we proposed um provide guidelines for budget development including a clearly defined expectation for a reasonable ending fund balance um and kind of additionally but also possibly a choice depending on how how the finance committee chooses to proceed um would be that the process includes seeking public input. So, um, those were things that we thought would be, um, would make us very happy if we could improve on and hope that that

135might align with the committees. That also kind of lets us get a few more things in that we'd be improving instead of the board alone like as a whole having to tackle a lot of different items. >> Thank you, Director Smith. I personally really like the publicly recognized the efforts of schools in improving student learning. I think that's something we'll start to see in April and maybe a little bit more performative way. Um, but I know that uh uh Superintendent Schner has discussed how we'll really try to focus more on academics as we move into the fall. Um, so that is something I'm particularly interested in. I got to participate in the creation of these and really we were looking at where where did we score the lowest on this self assessment and where could

136we see some you know improvements quickly so I thank you thank you director Smith um but looking to other directors for questions discussion general agreement like this sounds good I'm seeing some shaking heads director Miseri did have to jump off but he uh gave me a sort of thumbs up on his uh policy the committee as he's chairing that committee. So, all right, seeing none, I'm excited. We have some goals and things to work for, and I look forward to seeing if our scores improve on these things at our next assessment. Um, so thank you. And that's the last thing on our agenda. Um, so our next meeting is April 22nd. We have spring break in the middle of that. So I wish everyone a wonderful spring break and there being no further business on

137the agenda. The meeting stands adjourned. Well wait just a second before that I know also a lot of committees are meeting in between that time. So you should have all directors should have all the calendar invites for all the committee meetings. Obviously you don't need to attend all the committee meetings. You can attend any committee meetings that you want uh to be part of those discussions. So if you don't have those please see the board office. But with that, there being no further business on the agenda, the meeting stands adjourned at 6:38 p.m. Thank you everyone. Have a wonderful evening.