West Contra Costa Unified School District Board of Education - Regular Meeting

No, it was of Turn off.

and I thank everybody. Laur figured out we have to be at the the problem though. It looks like Oh,

there's Okay. Oh, no. Okay. Does that work? No, we're still Yeah. Yeah. Okay, just go through

Yes, we're on Zoom. Oh, you now

Oh, yeah. You need to turn it off your phone. Turn your sound all the way down. Okay. I was trying to see because I'm on Sure. You want to see? Yeah. And what I can do is I can leave the room and jump onto the Zoom and make sure that the sound is working. So, okay. Okay. Okay. And I'm gonna just check the sound. Okay. Thanks, Elise. Okay. Yeah, it's working now.

Great. all over. Yeah, it's working.

Want to say now? Yes, we good. We should I'll call you if I need you. Okay. I'm a little closer from home. I'm sorry. It's okay. Thank you. They all ready to start again? Let's begin again. Um,

good morning. Welcome to the January 31st, 2026 West Country Unified School District Board retreat. The meeting is called to order at 9:19 a.m. Um, the board is about to go into close session, but before we do, we are here to listen to any public comment on close session items. Individuals wishing to speak on close session items listed. If you are in a auditorium and you haven't already, please submit a WCC public comment card to find at the end table or you are participating via Zoom. Individuals will need to raise their hand in the Zoom app. If you are accessing the meeting by phone, please press star 9. The time allowed to speak are the time allowed to speak is two minutes. The total time allowed is one hour. Speaking time should not be determined for one person to another. There is also no position of speakers. We alternate between group comment and inperson comment. The public comment period is a safe space where diverse viewpoints may be expressed civily without interruption or intimidation. Please listen attentively to each speaker's comment and respect their time as if it were your own. be open to another viewpoint if one is offered. Due to the Brown Act, board members cannot discuss items that are not on the agenda and do not usually respond to items presented in public comment. The items listed on the close session agenda for today are public employee performance and evaluation. Is there any public comment?

No public comment at the time. Okay. Well, we will um adjourn into close session and we shall be back at 10:00 10 a.m. We should be fine. It's back to recording.

We are back. Uh, good morning. Welcome to the January 31st, 2026 West Coast Unified School District board retreat. I am calling open session to order at 10:15 a.m. In a few minutes, we will begin public comment um on the agenda item. Members of the public are invited to speak to the board on any matter that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the West Country Unified School District, but it's not on the agenda. Please prepare now for public comment. If you are here in the auditorium and would like to make public comment, please fill out and submit WCC USB public comment card. You can find the item on the table and the entry hallway. If you are participating via Zoom, please raise your hand in the Zoom app prior to the beginning of this item on the agenda. If participating by Zoom, press star 9. After your comment card has been turned in, the cards are placed in order received and we will call speakers one at a time alternating between public comment here at Obama and one on Zoom. Public comment generally lasts one hour. The time allotted for each speaker is 2 minutes. In the meantime, we are moving on to the rest of our opening procedure to the pledge of allegiance. If you're willing and able to rise to the people to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all

to the land. We recognize that we were presently on the maths of the Cheno or what must hurricane Colonia peoples and acknowledge them as the first inhabitants of the land we currently occupy. Labor and body acknowledgement. I acknowledge that the burden of environmental exploitation and systematic injustice falls upon the labor of black and brown bodies in the building of this country and it its institutions. I remember that black and brown bodies were born and died working with land against the will for generations. I also acknowledge the continued contributions of the labor of survivors over the centuries of to today of all immigrant labor including voluntary involuntary forced and undocumented peoples of the building of what we refer to as the United States. Our author Dr. Ro Cheryl Rogers Art. The West Country Unified District School Board anti-racism statement. The governing board is committed to the work of anti-racism, the conscious and active effort to identify challenges and correct racial inequities in the system and institutions within our schools and community. Racism explicit or implicit stands in direct competence to fundamental principles of district education. to carry district education into the future. We recognize that we must continue to review and play on the roots of racism and develop new ideas to meet the time. Unjust ideas and policies and the racial inequity they produce have shaped this our schools and society. The board strives to uncover unconscious biases and practice anti-racism as individuals, as a board, and as board members. We challenge ourselves to persist through the discomfort necessary for growth and learning. We deepen our listening and our examination of racism, oppression, and develop strong understanding of how personal experiences and failings fit

into a larger picture of continual oppression. Each member of the governing board individually and collectively is responsible for creating, nurturing an anti-racism learning environment where student staffs and community partner is respected and valued member of the district community. The governing board is uniquely positioned and it is our responsibility to identify and dismantle racist ideals and equity policies in ourselves and across the district. Therefore, we commit to supporting anti-racist policies, programs, and practices for our children's education and well-being while building strong and inclusive school communities. The board commits to holding each board member accountable towards these goals and moving the work of the anti-racism forward. We also commit to holding the West Coin School District staff, students, and community to living these standards as anti-racism in our school. Board approved March 28th, 2020 board. Um could we go to roll call?

Yes. Trust the false. Good morning. Everyone present. Trusty. Good morning. Trusty Hernandez. Good morning. Cler is good morning. President or president. Um good morning everyone present. And we'll be um changing some things on our agenda to add um item um um report ratification um of close session. Is there a report out for public from close session? There's no report.

Thank you.

And we'll be adding um public comment as well. So members of the public are invited to speak to the board on any matter within the subject matter jurisdiction of the West Country Unified School District, but not on tonight's subject agenda. Public comment will last approximately 1 hour. The time allotted to each speaker is 2 minutes. Should additional speakers remain at the conclusion of one hour. Public comment may be extended. The time allowed per speaker after the first hour is generally one minute. Individuals wishing to speak, please submit a WCCUSD public comment card or if participating via Zoom. Individuals will need to raise their hand in the Zoom app prior to the beginning of the item on the agenda. If you are calling by phone, press star 9. Speaking time should not be transferred from one person to another. There is no substitution of speakers. Speakers can also make public comment again for each um discussion item or action item on the agenda after staff presentations. The public will have 10 minutes per idol and one minute per speaker. The same protocols recited above. The public comment period is a safe space where diverse viewpoints may be expressed in a civil manner without interruption of intimidation. Please listen attentively to each speaker's comment and respect their time at the podium as if it were your own. Be open to a different point of view if one is offered. Due to the brown egg, board members cannot discuss items that are not on the agenda and do not usually respond to items presented in public comment. Is there any public comment?

No public comment at the time.

Okay. So, we'll be moving on to um agenda review and adoption. Um is there anything that you guys do want to move on the agenda? Okay, seeing none, then we will proceed with the agenda as following. Um, now moving on to item C, uh, West Country Custo Board governance. Um, item C1, approve appointments of the board of trustee to committees. And I think that's my item. So, um, would you mind putting it on the screen or So, um, I sent out an email la earlier this week asking for responses from our trustees around committee that they would be interested in participating in. Um, Rosa tatti the responses up, added them onto the screen, and I have faced that to make my appointments. Um, so my should I go through my appointments? So my appointment goes as follows. Um given the the answers we received. So for the ASAT um African-American student advisory team, we have Trustee Gonzalez Hoy um CAC Community Advisory Committee for Special Education, Trustee Hernandez,

the DLCAP the District Global Control Accountability Committee, um Smith BS, MDC, the Multilingual District Advisory Committee, um Trusty Anyana The DLI no specific all student congress as student trustee mentor Smith BS CBOC citizens bond oversight committee regular and alternate Ernnandez CBOC application review committee we have Ernnandez and we have an alternative Vinyana, the citizen oversight committee for parcel tax. We have Gonzalez Hoy as appointed regular as an alternate district budget engagement committee. We have Ernnandez and we have alternate Ayana Contraosta County School Board Association. We have Ayana alternate Ernandez Community Schools City District Partnership Committee. We have Ayana alternate Gonzalez Hoy. Okay. Ayana and Gonzalez Hoy 71 committee we have Ernnandez and regular solutions Smith BS and Hernandez. Governance committee we have Gonzalez Hoy and Reckler. and anti-racism committee we have and Ernandez um trusty reg committee I I haven't seen them meeting I don't know I may not be in there with me and I

but do you want someone to we would want to fill every off committee we just didn't have any responses to that Okay, I'm happy to take that. So then can um we move could we put um trusty regular as the DLI

and Gonzalez as a we can talk about my appointments because of where I didn't send anything in. Well, I think based on previous conversations, even though we didn't receive a response, we president is at purview to appoint and if you decide that you choose not to be, then you're welcome to speak up and then we are able to find replacements for you at this point. Right. So that's we can either talk now or we can talk on about it, but we could talk now because we can

So you need to find replacements for the committees that I'm on. I attend all of these meetings anyway. Every last one of these meetings I attend. So but you can find replacements for the committees that have me named for I'm so trust

same thing I did last year. I didn't serve on any committees last year, but I attended all the committees and I'm going to do the same thing this year. I didn't serve on again, it's the same thing that happened last year. This one committee that we were that we were both on last year never started the solutions committee. So again, being on or not on these committees doesn't prevent me from showing up to them and I show up to them anyway. So no, I don't need to be on any other committee. What I think that's the whole purpose that if we know that there's a representative that's going to show up, then that kind of divides the work between versus not having anyone appointed to any specific committee. And if you're showing up anyway, then what's the hesitation from?

It's it's it's my decision. I don't want to be on any committee, but as again, I show up to all the committees. Yeah. challenges as workload. So they're going to be there. I mean we had this challenge when you were in leadership sign up and we had to do more. So

and we had to go to every committee and for the past five years I've been doing the same amount of work and going to every committee showing up to everything. But this locks me into having to do something. And if I have something that I have to come up I'm not going to let something fall. so somebody else can sign up to do it if I'm there. That's a great thing. And I typically do show up to there, but I have personal commitments that I have to attend to this year that I'm going to attend to, including my health, including my children, my one of my children being a senior. So, this for me, and I'm going into more detail than to warranted, somebody can be someone else can sign up to be on these committees. And again, I typically attend all of them. I'm complete justice from every committee. So um so um I'm happy to send it on the cap if somebody wants that.

Okay. So group trustee regular and the OK caps and then we have trustee regular for the day all student congress and student trustee mentor I see um the student congress can I have an sometimes I can't what's the time commitment on that and then once a during the day which has been my challenge.

There's two meetings. It's it's one evening meeting with the executive group and then an all day meeting during the day. Do you know where everyone's working?

No, but they're at about 6 o'clock. last an hour and a half when they have all the students there and they are now working on they're once again in those meetings they're working on with UC Berkeley they're having a work in conjunction with UC Berkeley to do a Y plan so it's really interesting time while does a Y plan somebody else in the district that does a Y plan but they're doing a all student congress w at the same capital building next to HMS they'll do a mini conference during the day. That's not every month, but they'll do a mini conference where they'll have somebody come in from the state, but it may not be the same. Come in and do their mini lesson over, you know, attend that. And that's usually from 9 to 9.

Well, I probably better than you. So, go ahead for the hospital in Congress. Yeah, it looks like they meet this past for January. They met um Monday the 12th from 6:00 to 7:00 and then they had a full day meeting at the St. Hel community center Thursday the 15th all day from 9 to 9 to 3. And we need um an other for solution.

No interest. It's just an old day meeting. It will not be all day. A couple of hours. Well, we can talk about it later because I do want to bring solutions back and I've been trying. Okay. Done. Right.

Refused. Our you a couple of our unions refused this fall. So, we may be in a place for spoken. Okay. So I think we're good with those changes everybody regular.

Yeah. I just wanted to make one comment on 711 which is do we think we can really do that with staffing and facilities? I just hope so. Um if we could bring that I think that we can finishing up that's the goal. There are there are obligations in the key waiting for people to come onto the 7-Eleven committee. Moren Toms is one. there is uh I can't call the name out now that I remember but I had a meeting right to

I had a meeting with that kind of offshoot of the housing committee and they are they have applications in the queue from last year. So if you if those applications are processed then you may have a quorum to be able to restart the seven committ 71 committee but it would be a restart. Yeah and people reached out to me too. I don't know if they ever submitted applications, but I could or you know I could re reenourage those people to Melissa I know have been working on it. I have had conversations recently with Ellen and she's ready to step into that role and see it through from and hopefully it's not a big lift. I spoke to Mr. Sanders a few weeks ago. He said you just need one meeting with Corum.

Yeah, that's it. So it shouldn't be a big lift because then they already have everything done. It's just that they need to just vote on the recommendation to send to the board which they were never able to do. So well they have to have their community. Yeah, there may be some retreading that they have to do unless you get seasoned people who already know the out there's level setting that has to be done from the recommendations of the student that came in and said this is what I believe the property should be should be done with the property. So there is some more things that need to be done but it's not yeah it's going to take some work

but as we've seen how long this process has taken. Hey, just just to get it started. Yeah. Step one, get the application process and those who were in those committees if they want to come back and have them reapply. I'm not sure how I respect that. I'm just really hopeful that there's anything I can do to move that ahead. I'm happy to Are you guys able to share this document with them?

I think we could print it out. Could we send out a spin out version so it doesn't have all this out version and just um I know we also have the graduations at the bottom. Um could we move the screen up so that we could go through the graduations in case anyone needs to make some adjustments. So this year most of the graduation will be happening at um Contra Costa College. So they're all going to be not at all. So the majority of the graduation will be at Contraosta College. Do we know which ones now or

So I'm on the graduation committee. So Dianz is going to be a CC. Is going to be a CC. Um, sorry. So, Danza, Danza, Hercules, Penol, Richmond. Okay. Can you send us that in a better format? I have it as a picture. So, yes, I can get it to you guys. It'll be on this and that's just a a screenshot of it. Um, yes. Yeah.

Oh, it's on the um Okay, that's that's incorrect. Yeah. So, over here just a screenshot. But if you see the area four, area one, area two, three, right next to it. So Elisa will be at the Enza High School College will be at P Valley as well.

For the most part, yes will be at El.

So they had also for transition. No. Um there was a morning event and they can't show up. So could we change the trustee to

transition the transition program and that'll be at transition. Yeah. And then have all the dates been publicly announced? No, not yet.

No, the way the graduation committee meets is they we meet back in October and then there's a premeating with all the uh principles or their design and then they flesh out the dates that they want and the time that they want. Then they have to go back to their sites and when they go back to their sites they have to ask their sites are they in agreement with that there's any conflict and they come back where again another meeting in November then we have a meeting in December it has to be board approved before then it's then published so this would be that they they have a conversation with the superintendent this would be that approval once that goes through then they start publishing out to their entire committee some schools jump the gun but it has to wait it's supposed award approval. So now you should be seeing very soon everybody posting on their PTA pages, their site pages, what have you the dates cuz they locked in once we make the

I don't remember these ever coming from board. Yeah, they come like this. That's the board approval appointee because we lock in the dates. We lock in the dates and we lock in. They came a couple years ago as just a in the agenda. When we started the three years ago,

does the board need to take action? Yes. So, do we have any um questions for the board? Do we have any public comment on this? No public comment. to the motion.

Uh I move to accept the committee leone assignments as shown on the spreadsheet and I further move that graduation schedule and trustee assignments are approved by the Lord. Second move by regular, second by Gonzalez toy. Trusty Bonzo. Yes. Sorry. Trusty Hernandez. Yes. Trusty regular. Yes. Both. Yes.

Trusty. Yes. Our motion passes. Um, now we'll be moving on to item C2 adopt revis 2027 school year. like that is we have so many paper but I'm not sure I don't

yeah I'd like to put a different motion on the floor that move to just one meeting with the CBOC in September and so many seconds I can tell you

second just a So I think that that would give them time to get organized around the things that they need to get organized around. Website, finishing annual reports, um, uh, reporting within the district. And I feel like that amount of time would give, um, you know, enough space to get those things accomplished. and that um as the liaison I can work with the superintendent on any issues that there are and just to be efficient with staff and um you know short handed and you know there's not a lot of manpower back there maybe it's just one less thing that people have to do so that was my suggestion also that in the policy the new policy that we approved which I still love to update. There are no there two required meeting. There are no two required meetings anymore.

Thank you. Do you think that the CBC would be okay with that? I'm sorry. Do you think that the CBC would be okay with that? I don't know. I don't know. I want Do I have to put up a budget to retain the original?

Yeah. So there could be just ask for you know you just ask you know you know the probably die so you could just ask for a vote. If nobody votes then you know or they can vote no. Um second we have the one on that one and then one original if you want to do your motion you can just do your motion. My motion would be to to stick to the twice a year and if I didn't second it then I will tell you and I was like in your motion just like

um I I believe that having the two meetings a year if used correctly will give us the time to actually have a checkin and I think if we let if we're doing the one meeting right now the CBOC already isn't um managing their time effectively with how they should be moving. So I think if we could start standardizing some of this thing like hey we're meeting here and where are you in the process because you know that we're going to meet over here and by that time things should be where they need to be so we can start some of those conversation versus just meeting once a year then there's no room to shift stuff if needed and I think that's my hesitation if I have to wait the whole year to then have another conversation then To me that's see it's like a problem.

The CDC is an independent body so it's very we have to be very careful where we tread in the kind of oversight management part of that. I think that CDOC has a meeting once a month they get thorough meetings. Those meetings are open for everybody to attend, not just the person that's the leazison on the board, but if you attend those meetings, you can kind of see where they're going in their path. They've had some hard times making forum sometimes when it comes to a vote. So, they have their own way that they need to navigate. I don't know too much what this two meetings would do. I brought back the two meetings with the CDOC because I thought that was been our compliance. But if that's not in our compliance and it says that compliant compliant wise, we just have to have one Then I think that that one needs to be very clearly outlined and expectations when those agendas are made. The expectation is very clear. This is where we start and this is where we want to end when that meeting is done. That can be done with two meetings or that can be done with one meeting. I think the joint meetings have to be tightened up and the we spend too much time in those joint meetings trying to find out where everybody is instead of this is where we need to go. Yes. So it's my feel I don't know if the COC feels or what anybody else feels but it's my feeling that the the the you know what the two bodies should be doing is they're supposed to write an annual report as to whether the district complied with Prop 39. That is their purpose to do that. And um you know we h we haven't seen it. We can't really force them you know I we can't force them to do that but that is their charge. And so the last few meetings

have just been not on that. And I just feel that they need the time to get that together and and then to check in. But you can have your liaison do the check-ins and communicate with the superintendent on the reports on the website, you know, like that's and to me that's the job of the liaison to let the superintendent know, hey, this still isn't happening. What are you doing on your side to get these reports going? you know, who's working with them? Um, website, what are you doing? You know, like so to me that feels like the the job of the lesson on and then the two bodies are like, okay, did the district meet their obligation under the law. Um, and so the last few meetings I felt have just been like the short, you know, problems that that do need to get solved for sure. And I think everyone needs to report back to the board. That's the whole point of having go to these committees is to report back to where everybody is understanding what happens in these other junctures. I think that's something that's been missing in this board. Nobody reports back either to the superintendent or to the board itself. I think that's a recalibrating of the board and how the board works. And we could put in to follow up on that. We could put in our quarterly. This is what we did. This is what they need. This is what we have. Sure. So, we'll vote on the second motion. Um,

but yeah, the second motion was the year um started with so I'm going to say because I am not sure 18. So, I'm just gonna ask

Oh, yeah. Yes. My committee is good. Simple as this is my my failed. Um now we're back to the first motion which was one committee meeting the year. Um was that his toys or not? Yes.

So my mine was to cancel March and to only have September. Yes.

And I'm guess so that you know like this can always be represented if there's an issue or a schedule. The CDOC also has an opportunity come and speak at the standing reports. The standing reports are another way for the COC to come and speak to the board outside of these joint meetings. So that again was brought back. We are

um for the March meeting. I won't be here this I couldn't join online but I'll be in Mexico. So the criteria that you can just ch Oh, you're trying to get No, no, I'm just Yeah, because I'm so love you. But are there still opportunities for hybrid meetings now or is that completely gone? Okay.

So, yes, you can have hybrid meetings, but we should read closely what the new Brown Act update is. Majority of us have in person. More majority have to be in person. I guess that's still the same. Yeah. So only two could be missing.

Is it still the same one that regular sent to us? I ordered you all.

So the emergency criteria or all the other criteria has a little bit. Yeah. But I ordered that from He was one of my last acts and but we got a digital copy from Donald Smith and I think I said that location.

Um okay. So now are we ready to move on or do we anyone want to take Okay. So um before we move on to the next item um let's take a five minute break and then we'll come back to um item 23 at 11:00 at 12:00.

Turn

We're getting ready to It's on. ready to mute. Mute your audio for us. Mute and then good.

Well, thank you everyone. We are bringing this meeting back into what's wrong back into slide went back to there goes okay perfecting

well good morning everyone we are bringing this meeting back into session uh we are starting off with item C3 the anti-racism training and understanding in the local content. Um and we will begin this by maybe having quick introductions um around the table. So um I I I will start around my board president. Um yeah. Hi, good morning teachers CEO of national project also with the nationality project director at school climate trustee lucky Blake, director of family and community engagement.

Jimmy listens WCC USD trustee elected out of area 1. Hercules penol and a liber superintendent of West Country Unified School District. I'm Nancy Ortiz, administrative technician. Thank goodness for you already. Well, thank you everyone for joining us um this morning. So um I think we can get started. So we'll move on to the presentation and thank you for being here with us. Yes.

Can I just do just a quick brain? Um I'm so excited um that the um executive regional director from the national equity project were available and able to join us for this conversation. I hope that this will be the start of the conversation. Uh my student boy approached me recently and said you know I think during the retreat we should talk about racist antibbias and training for the the board. And I I said absolutely and let's think about how do we connect the work that the board is doing to the challenges that we are facing as a district and to the ways that we support our students, our staff and our community. And so I'm really excited about the very thoughtful work. We have partnered uh as a district partnering with National Equity Projecting and pulling in our K12 operations, our family and community engagement as well as our our uh positive school climate teams to really look at this more deeply. And so I'm just so appreciative and so excited about this story and look forward to this being the beginning of a conversation, the beginning of work forum.

Thank you. So um yeah, I'll just reiterate that it is our honor and delight to be with you organization. The National Equity Project has actually been known for quite a long time. We have had several formal engagements going to 2017. Um, and many of your educators and leaders have very fast professional opportunities over the years. So, and very excellent. So, we um care very much about I just have to add one more thing.

Yeah, please. I actually worked with National Ethel Project. So this was work that I did many years ago. Yeah. A long time ago, but and had the the opportunity to work closely with both of these amazing leaders. And so again, I'm just having my moment over here to be able to to know that this work has come full circle and the potential to have national evolution project expertise and experience and bring achieving the work that we need to do our challenges that we're facing right now. Just Okay, I'm done. I'll stop. I won't I won't

you can interrupt anything. So we are here together today, right? Yes, one o'clock and you know maybe we'll finish at um 12:58. No problem. Okay. Um but promise um um I like to I'd like to advance the slide. Sorry. What was your eye there? Oh crap. to ask um Superintendent Cotton to read this quote out loud. It's a very well done today.

The future doesn't take from irrationally take I'm sorry. The future doesn't take form irrationally even though it feels that way. The future comes from where we are now. The future won't change until we look thoughtfully at our present. We have sufficient human capacity to think and reflect together to care about one another to act courageously to reclaim the future. Margaret Wheatley turning to one another. Thank you.

That um that just represents the spirit in which we come to you today. We have um I am a one of two regional directors for um the state of California. Um, and we also have a a team that works out of Chicago in the Midwest. So, we really are a national organization and that just means we have the honor and opportunity to be in lots of systems across this here land right now. And so, um, we understand, um, the moment that you're sitting in. We always tell folks you are very special but you're not unique

in um in the challenges and the opportunities that you're sitting in and the leadership that's required. So um we have brought a packet of some things we want to refer to um today. Um after today we'll um we'll email to you the um the agenda, the deck, the there's links in there. There's there's more resources than you um than you probably want at this point. But well, anything um that we refer to today, you can you can have um and um the second thing I'll say is we come to you with great humility and respect for who you are, what you know, the leadership that you are currently and have provided in the past. So everything we have is really an an offering um and some considerations that we think might be helpful to you in this moment as um as you as a board are and staff are faced with some really grueling decisions you have to make. Right. Um so again very humility and respect for who you who you are and uh what we have is a set of provocations and an invitation for you to do your own thinking. We're not trying to push anything or sell anything. Okay. Okay. That said, extra extra do an invitation, personal invitation to you to think about, boy, if your system had a headline right now, what would it say? And I'll give you a a hot minute to think about that and just invite as the spirit moves, you just say it out loud. What's the headline?

as the spirit moves you. I think the headline would be somebody. Thank you for getting us started. You want me to go deeper in this video?

Oh, that's a great headline. Thanks for getting us started. More circus. More circus. We love to soul. We love to sound. Change must happen. change happen. Yeah. I'm going to invite um the staff members also to join in this conversation at any time as well. But um and I'm just looking at Is that Foxy Castle behind you?

Okay.

All right. So, let me let me continue on. Um in full disclosure, this is who you're sitting with today. Um, we are the National Equity Project and we've been around for 30 years in one form or another and that's what we are up to. Um, and we have turned ourselves inside out many times including late um to say all right national equity project what is ours to do in such a time as this? And so one thing that has not changed is our commitment to changing the trajectory for young people and families who have been underserved, not served, and indeed harmed by many of our institutions, school being this level, right? Um, so we we we we stay strongly tethered to a a vision and a set of commitments and then our strategies as yours shift and change and morph um depending on what we're

supposed to add one one thing to that part of what we hope even in this very short conversation that we're going to have with you is that you experience um some like deep full of beliefs that we operate with. Um, and a couple of them to name I think both because of this time and context that you all are actually trying to lead and navigate through. One one core belief of ours is that the change that creating more just and liberating systems is possible. Right? It's a it's a it's we raise a deep hope that people actually can transform the environments so that they actually serve every child well, right? And our bet I think historically for all of our 30 years, our bet has always been our people, right? And so um we come I say that because um it feels important um in this moment for us actually really assume some agency that we can actually do this thing. It's hard, but our our history suggests we've done hard things before. Um, and we have always actually managed to move the ball forward toward a more just and more equitable system. And so, I just want you to know that while this is what we're up to, there is a a way approach working with folks um that is actually in service of their agency to create self-development communities. So that one was important. I think the other one is that our our faiths are linked. We really do need to understand that we need each other and I like that and I'm not not leaving anybody behind in that. We need each other all of us right to actually move and create a more just world. So just wanted to underscore like the value that we are that we come with when we try this work.

Thank you. By the way, at any time, slow us down, stop, interject, ask a question. No, we'll follow uh your lead. Otherwise, um we'll just keep going. Full disclosure, I'm a New York guy is a California, so I can get going pretty fast. Um um but we really intend for this to be both interactive. Put some ideas out, ask what you think about them. Um, but please ask as we go along. Here's what we're up to. I guess how we um we want to help you all think together um about your leadership and responsibility as a in this moment. And I know you've been spending a lot of time thinking and talking about that. So, we are honored to join this conversation. We want to also framework that might help both um or at least guide some of the immediate decisions that are in front of you. Right? I know right now there is a fiscal reality that they that's you get that there's a fiscal reality but a pressuring that's my word pressure in some of the big decisions that you have to make with that. Um, and then hopefully there's some time for you to squeeze your conversation with my supplement and how you're gonna all of your rationally move forward together. Okay? Even as you might have different opinions, priorities, ideas, you can still move forward together. And we would say as we get to travel around and work with discrimination systems that that's what that's what your people are looking to you for is Are we moving together?

How's that sound? Yeah. Does Does this have a set of um agreements or norms or anything that you have worked together on and um and you find helpful? We started with 70, right?

Well, maybe I'll ask this way. This was not Well, say we do look over this. I don't think maybe updated before. Okay. So that's something there. Yeah.

Um in the in the work even that you do together or in other parts of your life um is there any agreement or norm that you have found helpful um in uh having you know tough conversations. Is there any norm anything you want to offer that you think would be helpful for this particular conversation? Okay. Okay. Well, um I think one is is be open to the conversation. Okay.

And in my experience, again, this is my moment when friends are meeting friends, right? Friends, not friends even friends you guys are meeting. Like knowing them helps you know who I am as well. being able to um be open to the conversation and my new friends on the board are not afraid of conversation just so everyone knows that. Um but to to be open to using your voice in this space. Okay. Thanks for the example. So yeah, please.

For me, I think it's really important that we agree to disagree. Like um so it's just like, you know, I think we're all here, you know, whatever brings us to the same purpose, right? Um and we're not always going to see eye to eye, but I think, you know, really focusing on being solution oriented and knowing that our voice does have a purpose. So like, you know, voicing my opinion and contradicting what everybody else might say might pop a light over somebody else or just push that to, hey, I didn't think of it that way, right?

But I think, you know, acknowledging that we all do have a faith sometimes can seem intimidating and knowing that, you know, we're not disagreeing with the person or, you know, behind it like we do all have opening. So if it's not personal, it's just here, right? And being able to walk out of the space, numb, taking it with us. So that's important. Yeah. Thank you. I heard a couple in there. One was agree to disagree. Another was don't take it personally. Another great one that appreciate all of that.

But I think important to understand the power dynamic that's in this room. Yeah. And it's important to understand that politicians in this room and this is record. So the what you the answers that you get now are not the answers that you would get in closed session when it's not recorded and then the match can drop and people can say what it is. For me

the greatest the greatest authenticity that board members can hold the fact of their positionality is codified. Put it in policy. If you care about it then it's going to be a level of accountability not just a level of conversation. So that's where I would like to end up. If you're having any conversation about racism, antilackness, equity, all of the buzzwords, put it in paper. Put your put your mouth with the policy. Put your values with the policies. Put everything with policy that can then be held accountable and then people know who you are and then there's a there's an actual conversation to completion.

Yeah. Thank you. and then you can act on it as well, right? Yeah. So, we we've seen your um your slate of policies are anti-racist and stuff. So, that's um super helpful. And then the work is how do we move into that? What's the Yeah. How do we act on that? How do we and how do we move into that? So, thank you for that.

Check chat. All of those things. I um we um we're offering you a set of these aren't necessarily um norms or rules um but they are a set of u behaviors again taken from Margaret Wheatley um which she frames as behaviors that help take conversations to a deeper. So I think we printed that out in your packet but it's also up here and I will I'll just highlight a couple for you. um acknowledge that the power dynamic notwithstanding that is always present. Thank you for bringing that up. Acknowledging whether one another as equals is also possible because everybody's an expert in their own experience. Everybody has opinions about things. Everybody has triggers about things. Right? So in uh when you're working through as you know when you're working through tough you're working towards tough decisions you have to make um this can be really helpful right um and so can this staying curious right curious about each other that's I think connected to the staying open so how would I demonstrate that I'm curious about you how would I demonstrate that no question.

That's questions. What do you mean by that? Where does that come from for you? Why is that so important? Where does that right? You could ask. If you don't ask, I'm filling in the blanks about you. Not always conscious, but I'm doing it. I'm filling in the blanks. And uh they may or may not be correct. Does that make sense? Yeah. Okay. Uh how about this? we actually um need each other's help to become better listeners.

Slow down. This isn't we're not living in a world that's having us everything is everything in your world is telling you to hurry up and make these decisions and get on with it. Right. So, um, except the slowdown like you're doing today, quite frankly, it's only going to slow down when you think, "Oh, God, I didn't think of it that way." As I said, right? Or, "Wow, did we consider that?" You know, you know what I mean? Hard to do. Conversation, natural way humans think together. Come to find out, it's not email or text, actual conversation. And then, how about this one? It can be messy at times. I think you are feeling and sitting and waiting. I'm swimming in that right now as assistant leaders all of you just to offer that uh again it's aspirational. Sometimes it's helpful if you're having a meeting or a conversation to have a couple of things to refer to. aspirational. We think if we behave in these ways, we get some good work done, make some decisions, have some truth truth. Okay. Offering again, take a look at that. Then I'm going to turn on show. Take a look at that and tell me if that reflects Yeah. Tell me what you see there. and and and and what that uh brings up for you.

That brings up a lot of the confusion that there is about some of our decision. Yes. So it kind of brings up sometimes information that we are predominantly aware of that can't be spread out to the community that brings up all that reckless right now. So it just, you know, really feel like we're not like we're at Fox,

you know, having like how to, I think, navigate that from, you know, four members all different directions. You know, we have board members who've been here for many years versus I've been on the board now for a year, right? Trying to find my way from a community member in the red. Yes. to now kind of standing at that door. Yeah. Because it feels like you're not totally in and you're not totally out. So, it's just that I've been confusing for it.

You know, you're not sure, but I feel Thank you. Keep going. Anybody else? What do you see here? What does somebody else say? So I see it as the red squiggly lines are information and you've got people in a room with the least amount of information that makes the biggest decision

and that's what it's the most dangerous way you could be. So that's what this thing does for me. So, but the leadership, good leadership in my opinion, you're not in a box. You are inside the you are inside your information.

You need to have information to make informed decisions. And if you box yourself in, that box becomes your shield and your protection. And that is not leadership. Leadership is holding the information and holding the accountability of some decisions to make it. Not just saying that there's very little linear uh happening out and around. It's but we are always looking for a linear response. If we do this happen, I guess outside of that box, that's not how the world functions and that's not how information flows.

Thanks. Yeah, about about the red squiggly legs. I now see that I was thinking about energy more than that. And yet it's it is actually all connected even though it's not connection. Yeah. Thank you. Yeah. I appreciate it. Just that whole eye is shaped like a brain. If you see the the middle line and then on each side it's the

best analysis of this um this graphic that we've had as far as love energy flows and Yeah. Um, you know, have you ever seen does does um West Coast Unified School District have a board of church? you know, it's usually like the board and the superintendent and then these teams and right um it's helpful because then you could kind of see it but um in a living system a right that's actually not how right or organizations are like organisms

right like living they're living things and they're it's it's a web of relationship connections information flow or lack thereof, right? Um yeah, so yeah, thank you. Um we're sharing this to to highlight, acknowledge, appreciate and affirm the complexity that you are sitting in navigating complex challenges. The world is acting on you, on us, right? Um and I think um yeah we are asked as leaders to go into this room and come up with this plan and uh may have some information and not a lot but even to again we see it all the time very smart well-intentioned people going into a room certainly if we do a that will lead to be let's go out and tell people now

right and the minute you step out that doorway you know that that's not It doesn't work that way again to uh acknowledge and it also feels a certain way when you are leaders in that acknowledge and affirming it because people want certainty don't they? they want and families in our community are those people deserve it some level of certainty for three and yeah it's it's that that's that last tenant around the okay thank you for thank you for that some really good nuggets out of there we love us a good metaphor always um all right um here is one definition of of equity leadership Those who practice leadership or equity must confront, disappoint, dismantle and by the way at the same time will you energize inspire empath. Does that does that resonate with with the leadership you are? Yes. Yeah. Did anybody did anybody put that in your job description? Tell you that was your job?

Yeah. Right. Um, by the way, that picture is not Sharon Parks. That is Miss Irma Parker who met a few years ago as she was a parent with both the Unified School District and is a parent leader, started a family abuse. It's just sort of a we just had her picture because she's been glad that we've seen her do it and the other side and that's no joke, is it? to do those things at the same time and that's what you signed up for and that's that's what we mean by equity.

Yeah. And acting from your what you care about what your principles and your values and the rights that you want to share.

How about that? I'll just make one one connection to Arma Parker because I was an educator in Ber and Arma Parker was one of the parent leaders um when I was there because of journalism. She was actually raising her grandson um and chose because she had the time chose to lean into the the high school a high school which had at that time and in some ways still at this time had deeply deeply disparate um outcomes for young people. Right. group has a huge high school um and very predictable um patterns of achievement in that place and began organizing parents right and actually there's a center if you go there now she she has since retired retired retired two times over but if you go there now there's a parent center in which she actually both held vision and is actually um riding that is cross um community um or or that represents the parent leaders represent all aspects of that community and that it's it's an incredible place. What I what I what I want to offer though about this as you all consider what the leadership has to be for you all to navigate the current context that you are in right now is those words are very very difficult to actually both embody and demonstrate. Right? Like this is I love this book. It's like one of my favorites, right? But this is actually hard to do.

Yeah. And it's super hard if you're trying to do it by yourself. And part of what we can offer is that there is a risk, right, in this moment with all the things that you all are up against. There is a risk and something at stake for not acting together, right? For not actually sharing some leadership. And so, so some of the both the provocation and education is what does it look like for us us

right to actually stand and lead in ways that have us truth, right? Both confront and disappoint and arguably potentially for folks who who have been um um voted in to represent some part of your neighborhood. the disappointing. Yeah.

Right. What what I know as an organizational leader of 20 years, like leaving and knowing that I'm disappointed tonight is a very difficult thing to say. So, we're not offering you just like platitude here, right? Leaving first is like not a it is not for the part, right? and inspiring and energizing them. How powering arguably feels a whole lot better than confronting disappointing and actually trying to dismantle something that folks have been accustomed to experiencing. Right? So part of what we we're just here to say is like those two things are are situated that way because those are really ends of a continuum um around leadership and season um and and we say we have a lot of experience and a lot of testimony that is like you can do that together if you kind of like one of the really Um, Monica, if you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together. Um, and what food is inside that is choice. We get to choose, right? You get to choose every day, every board meeting, every interaction that you have, you get to choose who you're going to be. And so the the thing that I ask you to um connect to right now is if this is if this is an offering about what leadership what equity leadership what brave principled leadership needs to look like in um for west contrast right and we're seeing it in some ways like the world is hard right now but we actually are starting to see what what power um looks like when people are actually sharing a power of vision and willing to do hard things together, right? And I feel like I'm like them motans motans trying to offer us a little something right now, right? Trying to offer our communities some hope that actually you can you can be a

stand. You can offer and be about principled leadership and move the dial, right? Move back, you know, um dismantle barriers or try and keep people from being harmed, right? And so this is this is this is hard work, but it's also made easier when you connect it to what you care about. So that's a nice social nice bridge. Thank you for listening to all of that. So give you a rest from from my voice. Um the invitation to turn to somebody ne next to you. Can I just say a few things out loud? Where does your commitment? There is some reason you said yes to this opportunity or committed so much of your time and energy and your heart to this job you call trustee. So please turn to somebody next to you. Where does your commitment serving students and families in this community come from? I need the staff to do this.

Few things out loud. There's no right or wrong answer. Most of my commitment will come from the community where I grew up in school. I came here when I was 12 years old. I think the big part of it that I have in regarded to stay here in school district and continue to do the work that I do think it fulfills me to be part of that and not only my kids that's my commitment to put that outing My family else. Yeah.

You want to talk to the work being able Where did you come in? So again here but I have to admit I found his son. It's a safe point.

Let's do it. Get it.

One minute. A lot of people move out and they leave and but I think very fulfilling was to grow professionally and just provide that back to everybody very you know and you also teach your kids as you saying that part of you and then I grew up with them. They just follow the steps. I know exactly what's exciting because once they graduate from high school, they don't know what They're like, "Okay, I want to do this." And then they go back and interrupt us.

Thank you for that. Thank you so much for that. By the way, you deserve to connect to that now. And again, the you know, why am I doing this? And I don't need Oh my gosh, why am I Why did I say yes to I mean like really what where is this coming from for me? Because it's what it's what drives us, right? So you deserve to connect to that and to say it out loud. now and again. I appreciate you saying yes to that.

We were talking about agreements earlier and I'm I was looking at these posters all around this beautiful school and I'm like right that's right and tight. Three areas from behind. We're responsible and couple of behaviors on your that's all that's all you need. Yeah. Speaking of agreements, yeah, we make some we make things more complicated and difficult than they have to be. Okay. What you got going on? You ready? Sure. Would you like to say out loud a commitment or two

or a why? What's what's what's Yeah. Let's bring in where's your commitment come from? um specifically for my role uh that I am I'll consider myself homegrown because I'm in West Her Costa District. So my commitment was I am the community. I grew up in this community. I understand the community because I was that student in those classroom and I was in high school while it was one of the worst times for this city of Richmond where it was gang

gangs everything that have to do with it. So it's just my commitment comes from I want the child. So what do I want for my children and then come after me. What was interesting in my conversation is um I was a teacher when Cynthia was um and a lot of the investus that fueled her I also saw and it my leadership journey and so it's interesting that you can come from different positionality but be fueled by and be motivated by the same injustice. Yeah.

Absolutely. else want to say there's also so you know my commitment to my children's education I think that's what fueled the way that I started moving um around education but I think what kept me going was then the effect that I seen at the community had on my children. So just ensure um acknowledging that you know I could do this on my own create you know future bright futures for my children

but really ensuring that that's as far as I would be able to go and protecting them was just ensuring their future but acknowledging that in order to really protect my children I needed to focus outside that box and ensure that the people around my children. I know every other child or every other adult or every other person in the community that came in contact with my children had those same um resources and those same um potentially the same things that I for my children to safeguard them. So I wasn't just focusing on their

um future but focusing on everybody else's. So that wouldn't generally protect my children um as we grow into adulthood knowing that you know my children's um life depended on everyone else because this is the community that was feeding into. So

you know that I think my commitment changed from just focus to see me narrowly into like what it meant my family but really ensuring that I was present within the community and then taking it as a whole to be able to feed that into the outer community and ensure that everyone else was alo offered the service. Yeah. I think my commitment is is service. Um, having grown up here, you know, my my dad moved here in the 40s and my family settled here in Richmond. Um, I haven't been around since the 40s, but since the 70s, but but being able to really see how this community has grown and changed here through the crack epidemic here through just all the the um just to kind of see it in our schools and you see that you see what happens within a community in our schools. That's where we see all of our children coming. see all of our needs that each um kind of generation has.

That has been powerful for me as an as an educator, but then also to be able to come back to this space now, being able to serve in a way that I it feels it feels more meaningful than any other kind of place and space I've been. in a lot of places and spaces. This feels the most meaningful. This is home for me and it matters. Um the stakes are high for this place in space. This isn't something I could walk away from. This is home still.

Yes. And so, um, I don't think I've in a position I've ever worked as hard as I have these last eight months in any other job that I've ever had, any other work that I've ever done, professionally or personally. And so, this is I feel like I'm I'm all in. You guys get all of me. And it's at a time when my kid has gone through this school district as well and has moved forward. He's he's starting his first day of work today, you guys. I'm telling you,

but being able to just um see the impact that public education has. But West Contra Costa had keep lifting that up. Good stuff comes out of this community, every single year, every single day. And just acknowledging that and knowing that that it's not, you know, I used tell people I was, you know, in my 20s, I'd go to a disco club and, you know, someone's like, "Oh, where are you from?" Did you just say disco?

But I But they would say, "Where are you from?" I'm like, "Oh, I'm from Richmond." They're like, "Oh." and knowing that this is not a throwaway place. This is an amazing place. This is a community of amazing folks who have come into through stayed here or went I wouldn't went beyond. And I just want to lift that part up. If I could rep that all day and let kids know that yes, education is your pathway to doing some amazing things in your life and we are here to support you. All of us are here. So that's done. I love hearing this anymore.

I think that my commitment has has changed over time.

I'm going on my sixth year on the board and um when I first started, I came at it from a teacher lens because that's what I was before. Didn't have children in the district. Um so I was going at it as like, you know, all kids in the district are my kids and I care about them academically. But now that I have children and one of them studies uh in one of our schools next year um I have now seen that everything that comes to us like I try to put my perspective like how would that affect my child? How would I feel as a parent if that affected when I go to a school or like what if my kid was in this classroom? Um, and I think that kind of like what was saying like it's very different. Um, when you have that shift, uh, but I think it's also important to remember that even if your child's not in that classroom in that place, um, it's going to affect someone else's child. It's going to affect someone else's family. Um, and I think that's what makes I think live the book that you love live it every time, right? Because you are going to discipline someone in every decision that you make and hopefully you'll empower someone as well. Try to change a decision to empower someone. Um but I think my commitment has shifted to always ensuring that every decision that comes in front of me it's always with that perspective

and some means it's hard to do that when you are opening the door to the sound and the red lines all around you because also the loudest voices are sometimes go voices and sometimes they have very different perspectives. Um so all the time they have very different perspectives. So I'm um yeah, we really appreciate you all sharing this and um it's it it is reminding me um Margaret Wely talks about um everybody has a story.

Everybody has a story and everybody wants to tell it to connect to someone else, right? That's that's kind of us as humans being human, right? Um, and so one of the one of kind of the the I think both hard, crazy, and extraordinary jobs that you all have is how do you hear the commitments of your families and your young people and the adults in your system? How do you hear their commitments in sometimes their anger, their rage, their complaint of this system, right? Their disappointment and their pain, right? How do you hear? How do you either invite and or how do you hear what their commitments are inside of what they're saying to you and

that's and that is that's something we kind of tune ourselves to be able to do because they have commitments too even when they come here and they disagree right how do we understand what what what your constituencies across race across neighborhood um here across like how do you understand what their commitments are because that's what you're asking asking them to join you then right in this work. So, we got to um so thank you for that, right? And and we we wrote the we wrote your commitments down and we might not see you for a while, right? But the thing about listening, which you all are I know that the staff has come forward with some with some work to actually listen to community, right? Listening is a way to actually understand and hear what people's commitments are. Listening also is an important like we talk about as an equity practice because it's important actually for you to listen to the pain to the expectation to the demand to the to the upset to the disappointment right um and to be and to be responding but that that the listening is an important part of that. So your listening to each other about um about where each other is coming from, where your commitments lie.

Um uh helps to actually make us great. And the truth is I kind of can't unhear what I heard you say, right? So you carry

and I think part of one of the best parts of our job and Lisa and I have been doing this for 20 plus years together, right? is that we carry thousands thousands of stories at this point at this point, right? Thousands of ways that people have acted extraordinarily powerfully in service of what they were trying to do. Um, and those stories help me be brave when I'm in other places that they're not right. And so how do you let your stories, your commitments help you stay brave um when you're in these spaces, when you're out in your community spaces, when you're so there's there's some power in that. We're going we're going to keep going with that power. And I I'll say this as Lisa, she knows I will not do well with it, but she'll have y'all on something else.

I'll tell about centering and intentionality. Yeah. Yeah. I center students that don't have a choice. This is their district. They don't have a choice to go to charter school. They don't have a choice to go to private school. They don't have a choice to go to home school. This is it. Yeah. So when I wake up every morning, I wake my children have choice. I'm a whole teacher. I homeschooled. I can do I have have choice. I'm not working for those that have choice.

I'm working for those who have who don't have choice. And everybody benefits from that. But it's understanding the structure of it. That's right. It's very clear about if you create systems where black children achieve, everybody achieves. That's the data. Nobody can argue with the numbers. That's the data. When you create systems to where those without choice have the greatest access to benefit and resources and and all the things that help them be the best version of themselves. Everybody benefits, but I think too many times we work from the outside in instead of the inside out.

How do we create an educational system? in WCCUSD for those who don't have a choice and those are our most marginalized students and those are our black students those are our brown students those are our student those we know who they are because the data is there the courage or the bravery comes in to where you can listen and hear all of the other stuff but you stay centered and intentional about what your role is and that's that's where I leave That's my That's my seat of leadership. And I'm always able to answer any community member, any constituent, any colleague, anybody else with the answer of what about the people that don't have a choice?

How does this look for the people who don't have a choice? What is their experience and exposure going to be? Because they don't have a choice. And for me, that builds my steps in leadership.

I'm complete. Yes, we coming we we coming we coming to it directly. I appreciate that. Um and we actually are coming to it. I want to say we're going to we're going to move into three questions and in between those questions are are going to be some resources and some provocations to to help you think about um and take with you as you all continue to do to do your good to do your good work. Um, okay. We're gonna start with a place that actually might feel hard for you to start, which is you. We're not meeting you all at the beginning of something. Y'all are already all all in the thing. Y'all are already deep in the y'all on the deep end of the pool, right? We're not meeting you at the beginning of something. We are not assuming that you have not heard equity definitions or you don't know what antibbias or anti. We're not coming with any assumption like that. you know, coming meeting need meeting meeting you exactly where you are right now. And um sometimes in the in the in the privilege or the benefit of getting to slow down a little bit, make some meeting together, do some money together, um we talk about just kind of assessing like where are we right now? We're going to go through three questions um with some in between uh content and those questions are focused on like what are we feeling like we're doing well and I'll just say this is I this could feel like a throwaway thing and I want to encourage you to actually like call something forward that you really do feel proud of right now

in your work as a board. Okay.

Um the next question that we go to um in between some content is what are the tensions that are coming up? What are the tensions that we're facing as we try to make the sets of decisions that are in front of us? And then the last one is going to be how do we want our community, our young people, our families across all the ways that they're situated, how do we want them to feel and experience the decisions that we have made between now and that's kind of that's the that's the arch of this part. And I I want to confess this is not an antibbias training. So we will talk about the phenomenon

of racism at multiple levels so that we can connect it right because for us the challenge of leadership is a challenge I mean the challenge of equity is a challenge leadership

and so that content is important content for us to know and understand but the lever that we're going to be actually looking at and doing some of the assessment is through leadership that fair so just so that yeah we didn't we can really trick you. But we were like, what if that's not that's that's not the only thing like that content of antibbias is not the only thing that um this team should be considering. So we want to we want to offer you just a little bit more expanded um field for us to make some millions around. Okay. All right. So the first the first um question is what are most what are we most proud of in terms of the work we've done together as two? I'm going to give you a couple minutes because I want you to to really be you feeling either you feel like okay this was hard we did it well or I feel really proud of of this that we're doing. Okay. And it could be a stance it could be an action. It could be the policy. What what are you most proud of right now? You work together.

Give you 60 seconds. Listen. So, I want to um just a rapid rapid fire around, right? Um everybody throw something out there. What are you feeling most proud of right now in New York? I'm most proud that we elected our first permanent black female superintendent to the district. I'm most scared of the exact same thing because of the glass clip because the system tends to have black females in leadership and

have them come in and clean up a mess and then push them over the edge at the same time. We've seen that in this district over and over and over and over again. So the thing that makes me the most proud is also the thing that keeps me up at night and in the most fear

because it's not done it's not done explicit it's all of the things that we don't see. It's the invisible things that move when it comes to racism and when it comes to black women in leadership. It's the quiet things that move closer and closer to that edge. That's the thing. And black women in general and especially black women in leadership, we're so busy trying to hold everybody away from the clip that we don't see we're being pushed over. So again, my most proud moment as a board member and the thing that keeps me in the most fear.

Yeah. still standing. Um, and then I see in this in this packet some things that are important to me. I see the immigration policy. It wasn't only immigration policy that had tentacles.

It went into visitor outside policy. It went into use of brands policy. I mean, so there a whole bunch of other things that were related to this which I'm proud of. the non-discrimination I think we did that to this one this fall I think we did review this the non-discrimination and the anti-slip policy we also passed an anti-semitism resolution we passed antiophilia resolution the was can make them feel engaged and people say some of their governance work, right? And to protect the the rights and interests um and and place and safeguards for your young people and families. Somebody else knew we're on rapid fire. Let's hear the director think

me. Um I got to echo what uh director said. Um you know our policies in regards to integration reinforcing them um being able to groundbreing them a new a new school um in the near future. I'm writing my first drive as a first time board member.

Um I think the board that that I wrote um stated from the community changing our policies to really protect our students. Um, I was thinking really about like what are the systems that we as a body really believe in together. Um, and I think that both those areas are what I think most part each other and can center ourselves in building those values. Um, yeah. Um, I think to me was the process around hiring

the superintendent. I think being new on the board and you know really having to go through the process and learning to like agree to disagree right and coming to consensus and really having those conversations of who was going to be the next leadership and being able to like really have their direct conversations and being you know okay I think that to me the profits of that um action from the board was one of the bigger um accomplishments I think that we've done. I think, you know, the last for retreat, I think we were able to also really be just we were able to be, you know, have conversation. you know, some, you know, a lot of what you're saying, you know, we were able to kind of bring down some of those doubts that are put up and really have conversation. So, to me, that seemed like a positive moment with the board like really getting to understand, you know, each other as

um outside of the direct, you know, board that, you know, working on the DAS, right? Um I think showing up for each other um really you know some of those like waffles that we did as a board and supporting each other's actions um earlier on to me that was you know really something that we did together. Um, so just those things I think that sometimes we don't see because we're, you know, we base it all on what we the work that we're doing on the diet, but you know, none of the I think work that we're doing when we're, you know, just, you know, doing the walkthroughs or, you know, really sharing space. Um, I think to me those were bigger wins, you know, earlier on that I wish we could kind of get back to. policy now. I think we passed it out the last agenda, but there's a update that's pulled off. appreciating that.

I think the the piece that I've observed with the board and I've been a part of is the way that this board shows up for the committee. That that part um is most impressive to me. I have folks who show up at every folks who um are there to support student performances community. I mean it's the way that this four shows up to support is amazing. That that that to me is something that I'm very proud of. It matters.

It matters.

Thank you. Very easy.

Yeah. You can do it. I appreciate that. So, I appreciate that. Um because all the things that you all said are are both seeds and examples and thing and places that you can go back to as you continue to do your work, right? as it gets harder and harder as you write, you you have some memory and some and some muscle, right, for doing really powerful things together. And you've created a number of policies. We've been looking at we've been looking at um your things and just in preparation um for being here um with you. you named and and um assumed some considerable leadership already, right? Um to advance equity and policy by stating publicly what what these commitments are um from yourselves as a district and not just as a district. Like y'all name yourself like can somebody read that? There's a line in here. The board strives to

The board strives Oh, the board strives to uncover unconscious biases and practice anti-racism as individuals and as board members. Okay. Oh, we challenge ourselves to persist through the discomfort necessary for growth and learning to deepen our listening and our examination of racism and oppression and to develop strong understanding of how our personal experiences and feelings fit into the larger picture of racism and oppression. Who does we have not seen board put that out in that way to and make that public commitment. Good for you all as leaders. As leaders,

right? And the system talks about the system will we will, right? But for you all to kind of name yourselves explicitly as like this is our work and this work is in service of the things that we we thought about advancing for our community. That is incredible. You've done that and we see your intention even in your impact statement. your intention right now, right, for all of the the the redesign and all of the hard choices that that are imminent um for you all your want to make those choices, make those decisions while centering um equity for those in your system who are least well served. Right? So, we see you naming and and operating and moving in these commitments. And the one thing that we wanted um we wanted to just place this here as something that might be helpful and I just realized I didn't put the full two pages. So we'll we'll get you um this sheet because it also has some really good guiding questions. Right. One one um uh one concept that we operate with to support leaders to have a broader analysis of the ways that we talk about systemic oppression. You can kind of insert any ism here. You can insert racism here. You can insert um sexism here. You can insert right um you can you can insert any ism here because we think that um that oppression is actually a social phenomena. But it's important as equity leaders that you understand how it operates and how how things reinforce each other to get to to get to some outcomes. And so part of um and in some ways it's like trying to see your whole system as a as a system of interactions, right? And so we see um systemic oppression operating at multiple levels at the individual level, at the interpersonal level,

at the institutional level and then gets reified at the structural level. Right? And so one thing that I would ask you is as you just kind of take a look at what's up there on the board is like what do you what do you notice and at what levels are your policies targeting? You notice about what's up there? What are the levels your policies are targeting? And where do your conversations as a forward tend to tend to focus? What do you notice about this? And is it helpful in any way to kind of think about um the impacts of um racism on other forms of of bias that the in this way have Where are your policies targeting? What levels are your policies targeted?

We have a lot of racist policies. We just have a lot of racist policies. We are five cities, unincorporated areas. We are huge. And with that, we are zip code. You will get a different experience if you cross one street from another street. So you can go from one zip code over from Hercules to Polo and get a different education. You can go from Elserto to Kick or Richmond and get a different education. We are zip code. we are zip code because the policies and the procedures and the practices and the quote unquote tradition and all the stuff is still here.

So when we start to attack those policies and procedures and protocols even the statement that you read when we were like this statement needs to be read at all of our meetings that we shared it was push back just from words there was push back. So I think that to dismantle What exists in WCCUSD is the challenge. But it's the challenge because even that dismantling only comes with racism.

Well, we going to make sure this is before this is and this is going to be different than this is going to be different. But it's all under the umbrella of change. But if that change is through a lens of racism because it's who's going to scream the loud, who do we need to accuse the most? How do we and again we have leadership in place now who is actively tearing that down. But in that tear down there is the push. There's the push back. There is the there is a not me but them. You don't touch me but touch them. Well do it over there but don't do it over here. It has to be done but I don't want it to affect me and my kids or I don't want it to be over Miss. So all of that sits on her shoulder. And the problem is the board doesn't make it easy.

So when we set a vision, if we don't support the implementation of that vision, then we are just doing the we're going to talk about it and not be about it. And that's where all of it then turns into pointing fingers at the closest people and that's the district where the superintendent is instead of holding the accountability where the vision is set. that we want to be an anti-racist district, which is what the board taps as an anti-racist. We we are headed towards the journey of anti-racism. That we have to hold the accountability. We have to hold the the vision. We have to be able to step in front and take the hit and take the bullet. Yeah. Because it's on us.

And I would imagine part of part of that work is for you all to actually be holding some shared analysis about what you think is actually, right? have to be able to talk about, right? This is a these are well in political scen politicized crimes. You're dealing with very racialized outcomes and experiences for families and students. How do we how do we actually talk about what we think is at play and where we might actually be supportive um in in either dismantling something that is really harmful right to um to young people and or families who are already um being harmed in the system. How how do we talk about that? Right. one one one of the reasons that we use this is so that we we understand like multiple things are always at play all the time right um and where our hopes are for our policy which largely like some of the policies that we've reviewed are at the institutional level right you all are like talking about that you have an antibbias policy which often has us talking about um things at the individual and interpersonal level

part of we offered you a there's a reading that I definitely strongly encourage because because I think it it helps um to have an understanding of how you could start with this notion of unconscious bias um and but that that's not sufficient to explain what's happening in your system and the outcomes and experiences that people have that's not sufficient right it's like understanding that unconscious bias those things

matched with like structural ual racism like all of those stereotypes and assumptions and and um and associations that we've all learned all right there's no getting away from unconscious something that the brain does um like that bias is a discriminating factor for our literally for our survival um but we can mitigate the harmful effects of the unconscious bias that we've learned either through stereotype either through association either we've learned that stuff And we can have a we can have a a training. There's like a whole sets of there's sets of things to actually know how this how this operates so that you're not you're not having this conversation just casting blame. We're trying to have this conversation in a way that helps you understand this is how these things operate, but this is how if we let that operate, if we don't if we don't have a way to analyze this together, um we can in fact reproduce the kinds of outcomes that we're trying to change and make and and um and by um not examining more fully the impacts of of institutional policies. We thought this was going to change. Did we check, you know, did this in fact make anybody's experience and condition better or did we worsen something inadvertently? And we've got to actually talk about that so that we can undo it. when when um Superintendent Cotton earlier said this work is not a straight line. It's not a straight line, right? And setting policy doesn't guarantee equity. You all already know that, right? Um so it means we have to be constantly watching, seeing um calling on the data, right? Looking for evidence that we're moving in the right direction andor correcting things that have unintended consequences, right? But we can't do that if we can't have some good discourse about what we think is

operating, right, without taking that or somebody said without taking that too personally, right? We have to be able to have an analysis so that we can actually help people do something different, right? And so this was is was just an attempt to kind of offer a more holistic frame about this. It's not like unconscious bias or or racism or one thing or like all of that is operating at multiple levels of the system and our work as equity leaders is to get more acute in our discernment about what's happening so that we can actually talk about it here and make movement. I would also add that lens is a is a kind of a tool you can use in New York Times. to trust you anymore. You just did it earlier when you talked about um this students who don't have choice, right? And you know a lens is is it's kind of a you know a filter you kind of look through and ask a couple questions as you. So one question when you're using this lens is to say who is going to be let's play it out. Who is going to be most advantaged and perhaps disadvantaged by this thing we're about to do by this policy we're about. Right? So you can do a little anticipatory thinking in real time. It's kind of a discipline to ask those kinds of questions about everything you do. and then do it and then watch happen. So you don't have to wait until something happens and realize, oh that's not what we're meant, right? You can do it. Who is going to be most advantage and disadvantaged by this thing we're about to do, this policy, right? Um and it'll give you some insight um and some direction.

That's helpful. Sorry. That's helpful. we we will make sure that we include the shape because there's there's some good strategies and practices there um on the shapes. So, we'll we're going to we're going to move on. Remember, we're we're just offering you a set of things that can help you in your work together, right? And we are happy to come back with you, but um we're going keep moving.

I'll keep moving. All right. Um, so this next exercise is gonna allow us to um chart some things, stand up and and put some things somewhere. As soon as our our I get that going. Um, again, we know that we're not meeting you all at the beginning of things. You are like in in the deep end of the pool. And so, one of the things that we're going to ask you, give you just a couple minutes to think is what are the tensions that are coming up? What are the tensions that are coming up? um what are the intentions that will or already have um make some of the immediate work that's in front of you and the decision- making really challenging. All right. So, here's what I'm going to ask you to do. I passed around some markers. There's some there's some paper. You can use the big postit or you can use smaller postits. Um but one tension per postit, right? One postit. So, we're just going to give you a couple minutes. Um, you can do as many or as little as as you're feeling right now, but one tension for both. Okay.

Yeah.

There's something will experience. So, you don't want that. Yeah. Not that. No, just the tensions right now. What are the tensions? One tension proposal. It's going to give you 10 two minutes.

Oh, no. You do it. Do it. Please, please, staff. Um, add your announcements. What are the tensions that's going to make the immediate work in decision making function? Oh, just here. Got it. That's first. So the darkness possible.

I need a ton of patience, huh? That's two minutes. So, we're going to I'm going to um ask you go ahead and finish that finish that thought about and then I'm just going to we're just going to introduce you to one more thing, one more um I think tool that you could use as an analysis to help you in your decision making um and and problem solving. Um and then we're going to do one last thing before before we before we today. Um so, So you you have named and have identified some tensions. This model um has been hugely um useful to organizational and system leaders um as they think about how they are actually advancing change. And it's a living systems model. It's not mechanistic. It's not linear. It doesn't suggest like if I tell you to go do something everything you're going to go do it. It helps you have an analysis of your system um and where things might be missing where you might um where you might actually want to focus some attention and it is likely that some of the tensions that you have written will actually align to some of these areas. So this is called the six seven circle model. Um it suggests that the organizational work of change Um,

that's so funny. I'll have to like go back and do a whole analysis of this of this because this is a long-standing organizational model and it suggests that there are um that as you are trying to actually um move your organizations to be more effective, more just, more equitable, right? Um that there are aspects in this living system and some of them are technical. There's technical stuff that has to be done. Um and you'll see it like program strategies and structures and processes and all that stuff around side all of that operates in the technical domain right

but under the green line this this um model used to affection affectionately be called above and below the green line right that there's work that we have to do in organizational change that's both above and below the green line right and that's kind of the blue the light light blue kind of represents the stuff that's like less visible right it suggests that there's relational or cultural things that have to be attended to in your organization in order for you to have some success, right? And that's where that's where relationships live. It's where information and information flow lives. And now remember, we're holding an organizational lens, like a foster organization, an identity lens, right? Who are we? Who are we as an organization, right? Um and what's our relationship to one another? what's our relationships across um our our interest holders in our community? Um what's our relationship to the things we say we're trying to do, right? Um and so as you take another look as you take a a quick look at your tensions, the exercise here is for you to potentially align where your tensions might live in one of those where your tensions are on one of those circles.

Does that make sense? All right. So, you take a look at there. Take a look at your attentions again. And what I'm going to ask you to do is get up and place your attentions um under the circle that you feel like it best. And truth is, they might go they may as have you take a look at them.

We're not gonna we're not we're not going to solve all of them today. This may be a way for you to think about what how might I begin to address some of the below the green line

is a place of forms. It's a place of power dynamic. It's a place of commitment and value. We're not sharing information, right? The information's not flowing. Well, what do people do? They just make up stories. Okay. So, how is right? We make up something in the absence of information. We make up what we think reality is. So, where would you place the whisper? Take a read. Take a read of one another's as you look. We will make sure that we take pictures of these so that you all have them.

Part of your work, not taking your attentions with us. We were on a big

five years. watching this. And out of all, I learn One of those things that you have to have mentally kind of like that. America.

I thought it was back to you. I didn't learn the 15 creepy starts to flip the lights on at a club. Along invite you to come on back to the table. We are gonna we are gonna get you all back these tensions in alignment with the 67 circle model. And I'm just going to invite Superintendent Cop to say like

this will you all will see this again, right? um and to kind and and and potentially to kind of work with this with this process to help you maybe address some of the things that you all look at and see some of the things that you have written down here that actually feel like these are going to be really high leverage in order for us to make some progress together. Um so we are going to we're going to leave you to those um but really really invite you to to to bring those back so that you can actually work with them. Okay. because you want uh it's kind of like a diagnostic of the system where

obviously by the way tensions we're using that on purpose because tensions problems are to be solved tensions are to be managed right and so and that requires membership just to say um but it's a d it's it's if you go in here right we think We you you we don't have a structure for that. You put a lot in the structure. We don't have a structure for that. Ah, we can go in there. It just gives you a little bit like a little more precision about where to go in. Caution. You cannot go after relational challenges with a technical fix.

Does that resonate? And that's often where we go. people have something to say about our plan or our policy. Well, we'll just tell them what it is. It's like, no, we didn't we know what it is and we still have You see what I'm saying? Okay. Yeah. Check. All right. Uhhuh. Okay. Okay. We have all is 10 minutes left and I'm gonna show you this quote from show.

Um, no, we're going to give you these slides afterwards. So, we'll link them in. I think we want to leave with one um final framework and this is a framework for decision making. Um there's a uh we printed out a primer for you. You can read more about it. Is anybody familiar with targeted universalism, the concepts of it?

Yeah, it came out a lot of um yeah um there's a lot to read and unpack about it. So I'll give you the very brief overview of it in our in our 12 minutes. Um as has been stated several times and we know this success is not a random act right it's orchestrated structural it's systemic uh there is a predictable set of of of we have structures that are doing out an unequal distribution of benefit inverted

the results of which are patterned and racialized. Bam. That is just that's that that's the truth. Patterned and racialized. That's because our systems are done in this, right? Okay. Because of that, um, if you use I guess another sort of lens, I keep going like this because you all live on the balcony, right? And then you go down to the dance floor with your walkthroughs and you're listening to teachers and and effect. So you're kind of going back and forth. But when you come up to the policy level, you're looking at your system as a whole, right?

Okay. So when you use this this um this when we use language of structural rationalization, we're looking at we're coming up and looking at the arrangements. How are things connected? Um where are the linkages or where are the linkages broken? Right? And what are our policies and practices, norms, ways of working together? What are they actually producing? Not what we wanted them to be, but what are they actually? Because um folks are situated differently relative to opportunity, zip code, right?

I have to go to this school. I live in this neighborhood. I have to take three buses to school. I had to get I had to help get my little sister's school first and then right all of that um you is about where you are situated relative to quote unquote the good school the after school tutoring but right are you looking okay so that's situatedness is just a term for um to recognize we are situated differently relative to our right so this sort of frame way of thinking about it uh is it called targeted universalism um goes like this. Our our jobs in uh as leaders and and trustees in school districts school districts is to tend to the experience and achievement and success of all students. That's why we set universal goals. Yes, standards and goals. Everybody, everybody, everybody. Because not everybody is situated the same way towards those goals. The targeted part is that we need to know who doesn't have choice. And and the way we frame it is your equity work is really about having honest talk and keeping an eye on who are our most vulnerable student.

Whoever they are. whoever they are in whatever data you're looking at, who are our most vulnerable students? Arguably, in many systems, your your students with special needs are amongst your most vulnerable, right? Patterns might be racialized. They might be by neighborhood. However, that is we need to keep an eye on who are our most vulnerable students, right? Because we've already set universal goals for everybody, but we know we have vulnerable students who are situated maybe furthest from opportunity to achieve those goals. That's the targeting problem. Universal goals, everybody. Not targeted. We're not targeting people. That's important. Nobody wants to be on the receiving end of that. We're going to target our attention, our care, perhaps some of our resources. towards particular groups of students because we know they're most vulnerable. Both and everybody everybody and because we're saying this is for everybody. Some of our young people are furthest from those goals. That is a wholly insufficient explanation of targeted universalism. So I encourage you to to read more about it and wish Yeah.

Yeah. I I'll I'll just offer a really quick quick example because the t because two things that was said are critically important. Not targeting young people, not not targeting the black children. I'm trying to understand where black students in our system where they are, what they're experiencing, and I'm targeting my strategies, which might be prioritizing a resource. It might be actually and it might have something to do with pace and urgency and resource or right what I'm going to do is target that strategy based on where they are. I have to know something about where they are,

right? Not just the data. I kind of need to know something more, right? Because there's a lot of assumption that we just looking at the data. So you actually some part of your strategy might be I have to go find out a little bit more about the experience in this future young people actually having right less my strategy that I choose based on where I sit and what I see may not actually be meeting the need the real need that they're they're having right so really quick like different um metaphor is if you all are harbor masters you all are har masters you're sitting at the you are sitting at a dock right You're you're like looking out at the ocean. There are people coming in. You are at the dock at the shore and 200 yards out you see a ship.

You see a boat and you see people on hanging on to a plane, right? The ship, maybe the engine fails. There might be 100 plus people on the ship. The engine fails, so the ship can't get to the shore, but there's power on the ship. There's there's people there. The rowboat doesn't have any ores. There's some people in the rowboat, but they're in the boat. Don't have any ores. The other where you see some planks, you see wood and heads like the the boat has capsized and people are in the water hanging on to a plank. What is your universal goal, harbor masters? What's the goal? Bring everybody in. Everybody in and everybody in what?

Safely. Safely. Right. The universal goal is to get everybody to the to the dock. Yes. Well, what might I do? What is the targeted strategy based on how I see people situated? What am I going to do? What might I do first? Who might I prioritize? Who's going to get the folks who are in the water, RIGHT? I'MMA GO GET THE folks in the water, right? Because I can't now now and like like really get this because this is so critical. I'm not going to look at I'm not going to take my binoculars off and be like, "Well, now I don't know why we told those folks don't buy that boat.

I'm not going to actually blame the people who are in the water. I'm going to go get the people out of the water." Yeah. Massive. Right

now, here's the thing. I I have limited resources, too. I may have one boat. So, we might go first to what? Get the people who are in the water. Right. I'm going go get the people on the water. But when I go to get the people on the water, I might drop off the mechanic cuz that might be engine failure. We don't get that. We are able to bring everybody to the shore, right? But how and when I do that really matters and it depends on our assessment of who is the literally the most vulnerable or in way of danger or you see what I'm saying, right? Um and so targeted universalism has us step back and say okay we have these goals and we know that people are situated differently and if I prioritize this it does not mean that the rest of the folks are not going to actually be brought to shore. We're not going to leave anybody out in the ocean. Right? But we have to understand the impact of of somebody hanging out in the on the plane and dangling in the water. Right? We have to really talk about and make commitments about going to get them first. I'm still going to go still going to handle the ship and I'm still going to give some ores and some paddles to the people people in the robo so they can get on it. And so as we talk about prioritization and as we t as we make these hard choices, right, with limited resources and maybe sometimes limited capacity, um we make them clear we're going to be unequivocal about the universal goal. And the universal goal, by the way, needs to be powerful and compelling. And the thing that we know we going like that's where we're going to be Chucky, what you said earlier, we going to be 10 tones down because the universal goal is that powerful for us, right? So, I'm I'm I'm clear none of us are going are going to be that. But our strategies, we we got to actually work

with those, right? Um and those are going to change. and the and the people on the planet. That's just a metaphor for the numbers of folks who are not being served in your community, right? Those are sometimes going to change too, right? So, how can we actually work with this thing in a way that gets us one? And as you read more about targeted universalism, you'll read about something called the curve cut effect. Yeah. Which goes like this. Americans with Disability Act. Do you know what curve cuts are around? Right. That was meant for right or for folks in wheelchairs. Guess who else benefits from those curb cuts? Who else benefits from a curve cut?

People with strollers, people pulling a grocery.

You see what I mean? So it's when you target Yes. Right. That's called the curb cut effect. When you target again your care, your attention, your resources, some innovative strategies towards particular groups, it will benefit everybody. It will it will it will. Now, sometimes you have to convince people that, right? But it's true. Um it it it just is true. So, we encourage you lean into this notion of targeted universalism. I think it can be a I know you're sitting you're sitting in front of decisions about uh uh collapsing schools and moving students to it'll just it it might help you with some additional considerations around this really tough decision specifically around that middle school

redesign. We have two minutes. So, do we want to experience or sorry, are we okay? How much do you think how much time if we want to? So, this is a public board meeting. So, we need to make a decision. Do we want to extend our time or do we want to close now? is so the the question that board president is asking the board we'll ask you guys as well a couple minutes do you have some time to extend and then you the board has to take action on it the meeting

if they if you can extend 15 minutes we can do a a proper closing the proper thoughtful close thank you I'll move that we extend back 15 minutes to 115 Okay. Do we have a motion to um extend for 15 minutes? Second by record by Gonzo. Yes. Yes. Regular. Yes. Miss B. And say yes. So we are extending for 15 till 115. And you may continue. Thank you so much. Oh, I'm sorry. Continue. I I don't know. You were saying something.

I'm saying middle school. But I'm gonna let them do this because we can also pick up this time. This is an ongoing conversation. So, do you want to make your point? Okay. My point. So, as we think about targeted universalism, when I when I talked to um Lean and Lisa about today, I was looking for something that presented a problem of practice and allowed us a way to kind of get through what are we doing? What are we trying to accomplish? Because of that, our middle school redesign is in our face right now.

It is a decision making. It is going to draw a lot of energy and emotion and positive and negative around that. That is the the targeted universal and then we need to reclaim our our middle schools. We needed to do that before we started having budget challenges. We need to rethink our middle school souls. We have urgency now. And so now it's looking at this as a problem of who's who's in the water, who doesn't have ores, who's sitting on the cruise ship, but the engine's broken down. What are we going to do?

And that's really that just to give some context. And that's also why I I had all everybody come out just to give that context and that understanding of this bigger issue, this problem. And so then how do we thoughtfully as thoughtfully and quickly as this board making as a decision-making body, how will that move forward and what can we do? Yes, that was that was kind of the frame for this and what I was hoping us to get to. But again,

none of this we're going to get to and solve in a day, in an hour, in two hours. We've got to take but we do have to solve this. Solve is that it you have to make a you have a decision in front of you. It doesn't mean you can't make the decision. As you're making that decision, lay it out. Who is going to be most impacted or disadvantaged? Because we have to make the decision. If you can name that, then you could say what kind of care, attention, love, resources, help do we need to put that as we make this decision. See, it's it's not a don't make that decision. Lay it out

and do some anticipatory thinking. What's going to happen next? What do you think is going to happen next?

And I think we have to be clear about what kind of cup we are. If you have a cup and I have a cup and you're looking at mine to see if I have anything or do I see if I have more than you and I'm looking at yours to make sure that you have something. We different. So we don't have to figure out what kind of cup what kind of district are we looking at you to make sure you have something and are you looking at me to make sure that I have more than you? Who are we? Because those are different types of leadership. Those are different type approaches. Those are different type of things. And I think to Dr. her to sit on that cotton. She said with one WCCUS that means I'm looking to make sure you have some. It doesn't mean that you looking to make sure you have more than me. So we have to be clear in this universal targetism of what we're doing is we're making sure that people have something.

Do you have something? Do you have something? And then to your point as the harbor master, we're understanding you ain't got a whole lot. That's not a lot of sustainability that you're going to have. That's not going to nourish you. That's not going to fill you up. that's not going to get you to where you need to go. I'm like, but we are in a cycle as not one WCCUSD that we look over and be like, she has more than me. Yeah,

that's not all right. That's not fair. That makes them sad. That we go by feelings instead of the fact. Everybody got something. Now, let's make sure that those people who don't have as much as they need or don't have access to getting more that we take care of and we protect. I'm complete. Um I was wondering um responding to spring cons issue about middle schools if you could put a little bit more in perspective for what I understand is that our goal if our if we going by the example uh if our goal is to improve middle schools

and we're driving by our financial picture by low test scores by small schools and lots of sports spread out um resources. What we are what staff is presenting as a possible way to go and rescue the people on the water is ensuring there's more resources for our middle schools. Ensuring that we can centralize how we support every kid, not just the ones that are benefited by a small class size in a kid. like is that am I understanding that example right okay just want to make sure that you bring it back to

yeah and I think it's also you're understanding that right and it's also about I mean if we take the example of who are our most vulnerable students and who are we really trying to serve if we're able to get our students into these middle schools that we then redesign and push in the resources based resources at all of our schools, access to supportive services, access to uh electives, access to programs that aren't available in vital areas. We would then be better able to equip all of our site with again that base level of support so that our students who are furthest from opportunity would now have access

that they would not have if if we continue to to structure our model this way and the staff Oh, sorry. No, go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. I I you know the staff I've been involved with Saskin for years. It is necessary. And she hard, you know,

when I had my first child, I'd go in there and their staff would go, "You need a room. You've been on the road all morning. Come have this room to go pump." And they're wonderful, wonderful things. The staffing that they will get next year isn't what they have this year. So what I don't think people understand when they picture the change is the reduction of resources for every site. They're picturing the status quo. And so versus what Shante's talking about that boat engine failed. There's people in the water. We're going to make a better boat that has something for everybody.

I think it's all too about communicating, right? communicating this expectation to the greater community because I think doing our due diligence means also not just being in spaces where we can have these conversations like right now we have that direct line of communication to like hey I have this doubt how what does this look like but I think the community has been sold options right this isn't something the K8 model that we've done for 50 years this is something that was sold to the community as a better model to support student achievement, to support student education. And now we're coming back and saying, "Hey, you know that model that you guys adopted that we threw on you with the week's notice?" Well, we're taking it out the same way we're putting it in with the week's notice.

So, I think those things have an effect on the community that we're trying to serve. So it's all about not the pushing from a angle of I don't understand but really communicating of hey you know we know what this looks like and we are doing good by maybe acknowledging hey this isn't you know this is where we're at. We're not able to service and saying the truth, saying our truth, right? But like we're not able to service these schools the way they are. And in order for really to be really able to ensure our students education and their service that they're entitled to, this is the model that we now need to move to

for all students. So I think it's the how do we communicate that to the greater community because we've done so many changes and we can't keep selling models that we're now asking people to flip over to and you know what is this going to be something that you know a new board comes into. You know, we talked about it earlier like somebody came in, they decided to change stuff. Now you're here, you know, you're wanting to change like depending on who's sitting here, that model should still we should still have a wall of consistency of what that looks like. So, and then hopefully you'll be able to talk.

I'm appreciating that. And it does go back to I really I want to work through because it really does go back to this the six seven circles. Where do you actually need to give attention as you are designing and managing this change process? Right? And so if the information, the communication sometimes the mayopa like oo we got this wrong community and here's where things are right like the the clear and transparent communication about what's happening. Well, what I would I would just encourage as we like close with this quote, you all to not lose the opportunity to re-engage your community about the the vision that you are trying to make possible now. Right? This is not it's it's it potentially is a model issue, but I'd say make sure that you're working that universal goal has to be compelling for a reason, right? your your community has to believe if we're going to give up this stuff because y'all are saying it doesn't work or we don't have enough money you please I either want to contribute or you please tell me what it is that's going to be better how is my how is my young person going to be better served better prepared better right what is that goal right and so to not get caught in the strategy because strategy right the what we have to change is not an endgame. That's just a mechanism. What are you doing all of this redesigning to ensure for your families and your community that you have to communicate that as loudly and as compellingly as you have to the strategies that y'all are going to have to use and the decisions that you're going to have to make in order to get there. So the communication is a right key and we talk about that is like how you lead the change is the change. How you lead the change is the change. So we were asking you, we skipped over asking you like how do you want people to experience this? At the end of the day, this board, this superintendent in this moment

is going to be ushering in some fast change. What is the experience that you want people to have with that at the end of the day and being happy back from that intention, that shared intention about what you all want? So we will leave you with this kind of less was you'll leave, right? Our greatest challenges to creating ecosystems of of care in which every young person thrives will not be soul.

Instead, the challenge before us is how to intentionally design change efforts in ways that weave people their fears and pain as well as their hopes and dreams together in service of a shared vision for you. how we change is the change. Thank you so much.

Honest people and if you have people hanging on boats that are not well served because they don't move. We have all of these things. We also have to be we can be the harbor master but if we the one that pushed you in the water and we the one that didn't resource your boat and if we the one that left you over there y a lot of people ain't going to follow that so we have to be honest with that first and then ask for that trust through the transparency through the honesty but the community at some point would be a fool they'll follow the harbor masters that put their children in the war that's right so I think that that's part of this too and sometimes if apologies don't fix what betrayal has create.

Yeah. Yeah. That'll happen over relationship and it will take time, right? You all will take time. The engagement strategies that that I know that your your team is lining up is going to take a level of courage, a level of staying with a level of you all being in relationship. And yeah, sometimes the apology is not going to it's not going to match the the impact of what has happened. Um and so you'll have to keep coming back, right? You got to keep coming back to community and in doing so this is the New York talking you can ask the trust like you can demonstrate your trust

you can demonstrate that through all the things we're talking about the listening the transparency the communication the thoughtful strategy the the shared stance all of those things demonstrates and and and by the way communicates in confidence This is a hard time, but we This ain't nothing but a thing. We got this. We got this. We're going to move through this with some care, some honesty, strategy. It is. It's It's a big thing, but there is hope. There is hope. And that's that's the piece.

Want to look at you talk about when there's hope in life. There's hope. about hope for hope. Here we go.

About people speak of hope as if this was delicate inal made of whispers and spider webs. It's not hope is dirt on her face, blood on her knuckles, and the grit of cobblestone in her hair. and she just spat out a tooth as she got back up and went up another go. That is the kind of hope that we need. This persistent relentless hope. We must have the courage to love the hell out of this world because love is the only thing that can save us. And with that, we are closing out our meeting at 1:15. I call this meeting to adjourn. Thank you for joining us. It is