Kim Knox's account of the closure debrief
Kim kindly allowed me to repost her notes from the closure debrief meeting I mentioned bellow. Thanks Kim!
Commissioners Mar and Sanchez met with 18 parents and education activists on Thursday, Feb. 2 to listen to their concerns about the school closure process. (Lipson was asked by President Yee not to attend due to concerns with Brown Act-two or more committee members can't meet to talk about school-related business without proper notice). Parents from John Swett, New Traditions, Rooftop, Peabody, Monroe, JBBP and other schools were at the meeting. There was also a teacher from John Swett. There was also a parent of a potential student at Daniel Webster, Sandra Holladay of Parents for Public Schools and a representative from the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association. The initial discussion centered on Sanchez's proposal (co-sponsored by Sarah
Lipson and Norman Yee). Mark said that the resolution calls the District to create a five year and ten year plan with a Community Advisory Committee. He felt that this would allow the school closure to proceed in a more equitable manner. Mark mentioned that Supervisor Mirkarimi is creating blue ribbon panel where the Mayor, Supervisors and BOE would appoint members and Mark has been working closely with Mirkarimi on the Supervisor's legislation.
Mark felt that the chair of the Community Advisory Committee should be prominent person as the chair in order to gather publicity and support for the Community Advisory Committee. Mark also felt that a benefit to working with the City is that a staff member could be assigned to the Community Advisory Committee to create timely minutes and agendas. Mark also acknowledge the help of Rick Reynolds, a parent from Aptos and a member of the PAC, in crafting the resolution.
Both Mark and Eric acknowledged that it was the Parent Advisory Committee who had recommended a Community Advisory Committee for School Closures last spring and that the BOE didn't move on it. They also reminded that the Board doesn't have to adopt the recommendations of the Community Advisory Committee-and that the community must ensure that the Community Advisory Committee's voice is heard by all seven members of the School Board.
Ali Blum from New Traditions stated there should be an advisory position for parents on the Board of Education-similar to the Student Delegates. Mar explained that there was a similar resolution that had been introduced several years ago and it was defeated with a 4-3 votes (the ayes voting to have a parent serving an advisory position was Sanchez, Lipson and Mar.) Mar volunteered the information that his daughter is a kindergartener at a SFUSD school. (More information: Lipson's children (2 & 4) are still too young to enter SFUSD.)
Ali Blum also pointed out that during her public testimony in front of BOS, President Peskin stated that he would get the BOS to approve funds for the District to hire a crisis manager, since it appears to the public with the school closures, that the District is in crisis.
The parent of Peabody pointed out that the benefits of small schools are well-documented and she questioned why the District was emphasizing school closures rather than increasing its enrollment. Much discussion was then centered on how the District should market schools and the District to potential students.
I brought up that in Round 2 in this year's enrollment, schools can market themselves to parents/students who didn't get their first choice. Sandra Holladay promoted the Parent Ambassador program where parents talk to other parents about their school during Round 1. Eric Mar volunteered that he was a parent ambassador for his daughter's school.
The JBBP parents asked if there was a decision about how Dianne Feinstein Elementary School would be used in SY 06-07. Both Eric and Mark said that there hasn't been a decision-so the default would be for Feinstein opened as K-3 school in SY 06-07. Eric noted that he was opposed to opening a elementary school when the District closed three elementary schools this school year and another two schools last school year.
There was a great deal of agreement when Stephanie Cheng, a member of the Parent Advisory Committee, stated the list of the schools slated to close was too long. She stated that the long list made a severe impact on children and also made it difficult for the school community to study the criteria for each school.
Several people raised that the School Board did not have all of the research that has recently been done about the increasing numbers of school-aged and pre-school children in specific neighborhoods. Stacey Bartlett pointed out as an example that the District was willing to close one of two schools in Potrero even though the research showed that the Potrero Hill's population was to triple.
Ann Connery brought up that there are other factors that the District should consider. She brought up John Swett as an example. Swett's outstanding art program may not included in Swett's merger into John Muir. The art teacher is leaving and many of the teachers who have taken training in infusing/incorporating art into the school's curriculum are unsure on if they will move to John Muir. Ann also pointed out that the staff at John Swett have created a "mini-United Nations" atmosphere where students respect and honors the diversity of everyone. Mark Sanchez acknowledged that John Swett Elementary truly reflected a desegregated school environment where students of all colors learned together.
Kwan Wang, district liaison of the Second District of PTA (and mother of a successful alumni of SFUSD) stated that the school closure process should involve a two-way communication between the parents and the District. The discussion about the process with the community prior to creating the list would allow everyone to know that we (District, parents and community) are all in this together.
Pauline Vela, a parent and a member from Coleman Advocates, raised the idea of Mayor Newsom and the City asking corporations and large businesses to put more resources-volunteers, equipment and staff hours-into public schools. (A point that I brought up later to Pauline is that the City and County of San Francisco should step on to the plate first-and encourage the union is that get paid parent time to use it at their children's schools).
The final point was that a good deal of the District's financial problems is due to the reduction in state funding and the District as well as the community need to go to Sacramento to lobby for more funds for education..
Commissioners Mar and Sanchez met with 18 parents and education activists on Thursday, Feb. 2 to listen to their concerns about the school closure process. (Lipson was asked by President Yee not to attend due to concerns with Brown Act-two or more committee members can't meet to talk about school-related business without proper notice). Parents from John Swett, New Traditions, Rooftop, Peabody, Monroe, JBBP and other schools were at the meeting. There was also a teacher from John Swett. There was also a parent of a potential student at Daniel Webster, Sandra Holladay of Parents for Public Schools and a representative from the Hayes Valley Neighborhood Association. The initial discussion centered on Sanchez's proposal (co-sponsored by Sarah
Lipson and Norman Yee). Mark said that the resolution calls the District to create a five year and ten year plan with a Community Advisory Committee. He felt that this would allow the school closure to proceed in a more equitable manner. Mark mentioned that Supervisor Mirkarimi is creating blue ribbon panel where the Mayor, Supervisors and BOE would appoint members and Mark has been working closely with Mirkarimi on the Supervisor's legislation.
Mark felt that the chair of the Community Advisory Committee should be prominent person as the chair in order to gather publicity and support for the Community Advisory Committee. Mark also felt that a benefit to working with the City is that a staff member could be assigned to the Community Advisory Committee to create timely minutes and agendas. Mark also acknowledge the help of Rick Reynolds, a parent from Aptos and a member of the PAC, in crafting the resolution.
Both Mark and Eric acknowledged that it was the Parent Advisory Committee who had recommended a Community Advisory Committee for School Closures last spring and that the BOE didn't move on it. They also reminded that the Board doesn't have to adopt the recommendations of the Community Advisory Committee-and that the community must ensure that the Community Advisory Committee's voice is heard by all seven members of the School Board.
Ali Blum from New Traditions stated there should be an advisory position for parents on the Board of Education-similar to the Student Delegates. Mar explained that there was a similar resolution that had been introduced several years ago and it was defeated with a 4-3 votes (the ayes voting to have a parent serving an advisory position was Sanchez, Lipson and Mar.) Mar volunteered the information that his daughter is a kindergartener at a SFUSD school. (More information: Lipson's children (2 & 4) are still too young to enter SFUSD.)
Ali Blum also pointed out that during her public testimony in front of BOS, President Peskin stated that he would get the BOS to approve funds for the District to hire a crisis manager, since it appears to the public with the school closures, that the District is in crisis.
The parent of Peabody pointed out that the benefits of small schools are well-documented and she questioned why the District was emphasizing school closures rather than increasing its enrollment. Much discussion was then centered on how the District should market schools and the District to potential students.
I brought up that in Round 2 in this year's enrollment, schools can market themselves to parents/students who didn't get their first choice. Sandra Holladay promoted the Parent Ambassador program where parents talk to other parents about their school during Round 1. Eric Mar volunteered that he was a parent ambassador for his daughter's school.
The JBBP parents asked if there was a decision about how Dianne Feinstein Elementary School would be used in SY 06-07. Both Eric and Mark said that there hasn't been a decision-so the default would be for Feinstein opened as K-3 school in SY 06-07. Eric noted that he was opposed to opening a elementary school when the District closed three elementary schools this school year and another two schools last school year.
There was a great deal of agreement when Stephanie Cheng, a member of the Parent Advisory Committee, stated the list of the schools slated to close was too long. She stated that the long list made a severe impact on children and also made it difficult for the school community to study the criteria for each school.
Several people raised that the School Board did not have all of the research that has recently been done about the increasing numbers of school-aged and pre-school children in specific neighborhoods. Stacey Bartlett pointed out as an example that the District was willing to close one of two schools in Potrero even though the research showed that the Potrero Hill's population was to triple.
Ann Connery brought up that there are other factors that the District should consider. She brought up John Swett as an example. Swett's outstanding art program may not included in Swett's merger into John Muir. The art teacher is leaving and many of the teachers who have taken training in infusing/incorporating art into the school's curriculum are unsure on if they will move to John Muir. Ann also pointed out that the staff at John Swett have created a "mini-United Nations" atmosphere where students respect and honors the diversity of everyone. Mark Sanchez acknowledged that John Swett Elementary truly reflected a desegregated school environment where students of all colors learned together.
Kwan Wang, district liaison of the Second District of PTA (and mother of a successful alumni of SFUSD) stated that the school closure process should involve a two-way communication between the parents and the District. The discussion about the process with the community prior to creating the list would allow everyone to know that we (District, parents and community) are all in this together.
Pauline Vela, a parent and a member from Coleman Advocates, raised the idea of Mayor Newsom and the City asking corporations and large businesses to put more resources-volunteers, equipment and staff hours-into public schools. (A point that I brought up later to Pauline is that the City and County of San Francisco should step on to the plate first-and encourage the union is that get paid parent time to use it at their children's schools).
The final point was that a good deal of the District's financial problems is due to the reduction in state funding and the District as well as the community need to go to Sacramento to lobby for more funds for education..
posted by Rick Reynolds at 7:43 PM
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