Remarks by Mary Blanco
213 remarks on the record, newest first · Page 8 of 9
- Play at 7:20:40
“I have to say I feel somewhat the same way, although I fully understand your desire to communicate from your office. I've actually never done one. I don't know if, rather than find someone else to do it, I don't know if there's a way for us to think about how you yourself could do it. I've been in your predicament three times before. And I know there are going to be moments and days that the last thing you want is to be in front of a camera. But I can't help but wonder if there is a way you could record yourself at home and not be in the studio. I don't know, just throwing that out. And…”
Personnel, Student, School, and Community Support Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 7:22:10
“She may not when the time comes. Board member Santos.”
Personnel, Student, School, and Community Support Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 7:22:55
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
Personnel, Student, School, and Community Support Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 7:25:39
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
Personnel, Student, School, and Community Support Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 7:29:22
“So thank you. And just to kind of put this into perspective, some of it is a big one time upfront fee for installation and things like that. And then some of it is a recurring fee. When I first brought the item and started doing my research, one of the companies was willing to divide up those upfront fees over five years. And I know the budget situation we're in. I'm always the one that's asking, well, how much is this going to cost? But we're looking at something like $2 to $3 million. And yes, that is a lot of money. But when we talk about safety and security of our students being number…”
Personnel, Student, School, and Community Support Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 7:31:58
“Thank you. I appreciate it. That's what I wanted to hear. Thank you. So I'll look forward to a response in two weeks or so. And I think I believe the two that have done pilots, we already have agreements in place with them for other things, right? And it'd be interesting to see, too, how much they're willing to work with us, right, and see what they can do with pricing once we have an idea of what may or may not be available, because it's been over a year since they quoted us some prices, and we don't know how things may have changed.”
Personnel, Student, School, and Community Support Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 7:32:42
“Okay, thank you. All right, I believe that has exhausted everything on the agenda. If there's nothing else to be discussed, I'll take a motion to adjourn today's committee meeting. Thank you.”
Personnel, Student, School, and Community Support Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 2:58:43
“Thank you, Mr. Chair. I don't want to spend a lot of time saying some of the things that have been repeated, but I think because so many times people go back to the record, right? I need to go on record saying that this is absolutely one of the most important decisions that I have been asked to make and probably will make from a financial standpoint when we look at the impact that this has. And then on top of that, the personnel side. And I want to make it very clear because in doing my homework and meeting with various people from all sides to try to do my best to understand this, a lot of…”
Fiscal Accountability and Government Relations Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 3:02:46
“Through the chair, some of those programs end up being cost beneficial down the road. And so again, there's just so many factors at play that my own mind can't handle. that I have some level of concern. And so with some of the other providers, are all of those things included in the fixed fee, or are they also a la carte? Because that information I didn't get to in my homework for the last few days through the chair.”
Fiscal Accountability and Government Relations Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 3:03:23
“Would it be through the chair, would it be possible before the board meeting to get some of that information? If it's pages and pages long, at least some idea of what's including and what's not, because I've already heard the expression, and it's one that I've been using for the last four or five days, apples to apples and oranges to oranges. I feel like I haven't been able to get an apples to apples comparison. And I know that that's where we're relying on our consultant And I understand one of them couldn't be verified independently, but there's a potential at a huge savings, right? So it's…”
Fiscal Accountability and Government Relations Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 3:05:28
“But just as a follow-up, the numbers we're looking at are the proposals and what was considered by committee is looking at both through the chair. So to really get an accurate...”
Fiscal Accountability and Government Relations Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 3:05:48
“I don't think I have any more questions at the time.”
Fiscal Accountability and Government Relations Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 3:28:02
“We all have to take this opportunity. So as we were running through the meeting, I looked up and I saw him and I thought, why is he there? So actually, sunshine no longer applies, right? So I texted him and I said, I'm so happy to see you. We need to catch up. But honestly, truthfully, I'm so happy to see you there. And I was going to say this to you, but I'll say this publicly. I've truly learned so much from you, the wisdom, the knowledge that you bring, the eloquence with which you speak, and the advocacy. that you do, truly have learned, and it's been a pleasure working with you.”
Fiscal Accountability and Government Relations Committee · Jun 10, 2026
- Play at 3:46:31
“Yes. Oh, let her go first. That's okay. Sorry, you just weren't looking this way, so I wanted to make sure I got your attention. Yeah, through the chair and through no fault of our own, I haven't been able to have an official briefing on some of the items, and this question I sometimes am able to ask during the briefing, but I didn't have that opportunity. I mention this whenever we get one of these D19s, and I look at the percentage of schools that had... You know, with no deficiencies, we're looking at 54%. Just kind of, I've been asking every time this comes up, a breakdown. What was it,…”
Personnel, Student, School, and Community Support Committee · Apr 15, 2026
- Play at 4:43:19
“Sorry, I didn't want to, I think several months ago, maybe even a year, used a word and it was like to extend this, right? But too much mental health is going on tonight, make a comment. I've lived a lot of these situations. And I can tell you that when students, sometimes even if they've already been identified as having any kind of concern, their special education, when these happen, usually one of the first things that happens is a psychoeducational evaluation. Those cases are expedited when the student goes to an alternative site, and I'm sure we follow that same thing. One of the most…”
Personnel, Student, School, and Community Support Committee · Apr 15, 2026
- Play at 5:16:53
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
Personnel, Student, School, and Community Support Committee · Apr 15, 2026
- Play at 5:23:31
“Through the chair. Yes, through the chair. And consider it, right? And I don't know if it's appropriate to specifically what your item and what your intention was. But in Recommend 2, where it says, ensure timely and appropriate notification to the school board, including for situational awareness. Sorry, I'm losing my place. The board member representing any affected school and or land, property. I'm not sure. It came to me, honestly, as you were speaking, and I was thinking of situations where maybe I didn't receive notification of something.”
Personnel, Student, School, and Community Support Committee · Apr 15, 2026
- Play at 2:00:13
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · Apr 15, 2026
- Play at 2:01:21
“Thank you. All right, our next order of business would be to move the G items to the floor. May I have a motion? Move it.”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · Apr 15, 2026
- Play at 2:01:29
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · Apr 15, 2026
- Play at 2:01:55
“Any board members have any questions? No. Okay, so next order of business would be to, I'm sorry, can I get a motion to move to the board meeting, the G items?”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · Apr 15, 2026
- Play at 2:02:08
“Thank you. All right, so our next order of business, to move the H items to the floor, can I have a motion?”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · Apr 15, 2026
- Play at 2:02:15
“All in favor? Aye. Thank you. Our H item, we have H6, Vice Chair Colucci.”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · Apr 15, 2026
- Play at 2:03:07
“Thank you, Madam Vice Chair. Any questions or comments? Yes, thank you very much, Madam Chair.”
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · Apr 15, 2026
- Play at 2:04:57
Not quoted here: it may name a member of the public. Hear it at the meeting.
Academics, Innovation, Evaluation, and Technology Committee · Apr 15, 2026