Upcoming Board of Education Meetings

Three SFUSD Board of Education meetings this week. Monday the Buildings, Grounds and Services Committee meets, Tuesday is a regular board meeting and Thursday the committee on Personnel Matters, Labor Relations and Affordability meets.

Buildings, Grounds and Services Committee meeting: Monday January 22 @5PM in the Board Room at 555 Franklin Street.

Agenda for the meeting here

Topics to be discussed include:

• SFUSD process for bidding and hiring with respect to contractors, construction, architect services etc.
   
• Update on local landmark nominations for George Washington High School, Roosevelt Middle School, and the former Sunshine School
   
• Update on teacher-educator housing project
   
• Update on the new Mission Bay school

Regular meeting of the Board of Education: Tuesday, January 23 @6PM in the Board Room at 555 Franklin Street.

Agenda for the meeting here

Topics to be discussed include:

• Commendations to Willie L. Brown, Jr. Middle School (WBMS) Steel Pan Ensemble, the Galileo High School Varsity Football Team, and Robert Hernandez, a teacher at Leonard Flynn Elementary School

• Student Advisory Council and Title VII Indian Education Parent Advisory Council reports

• Vote on resolution introduced by Commissioner Matt Haney to support the needs of homeless children, youth and families. Some mandates under the resolution would include:

  • Require SFUSD to create annual reports on outcomes for homeless students

  • Review policies and processes (including enrollment) that may disproportionately impact homeless students

  • Enter into a data sharing agreement with SF Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing and collaborate with the city to provide rapid rehousing services and training to SFUSD staff

  • Provide additional funds to schools with higher concentrations of homeless students

  • Develop services for preschool aged homeless students and strategies for college/career access for older homeless students.
     

• Votes by the board to approve new or revised board policies including:

  • A policy on science curriculum that would:

    • Require that SFUSD's science curriculum meet or exceed requirements of California's Next Generation Science Standards.

    • Also incorporates grade-level based goals for computer science education, including offering AP computer science courses at all high schools and doubling participation in such AP classes.
       

  • A policy on history/social science curriculum that would:

    • Require that the district meet or exceed state standards and encourage use of biographies, original documents, period literature and personal testimony

    • Incorporate content adopted in past board resolutions including teaching and materials related to:

      •  Fred Korematsu Day of Civil Liberties

      • “Comfort Women” of WWII under the Japanese military to educate the community on the harmful effects of sexual trafficking

      • Children with incarcerated parents and the impacts of incarceration more broadly

      • The Korean War. 
         

  • A policy on extracurricular/co-curricular activities that would:

    • Assure that such activities may not have prerequisites that are not show to be "essential to the success of the activity."

    • Provide that activities shouldn't be conducted separately on the basis of any characteristic that is a "prohibited category of discrimination" under state or federal law (eg. race, sex, age, national origin, gender identity, medical condition, etc.) 

    • Require that no fees may be required to participate in an extracurricular or co-curricular activities or for needed equipment or materials (unless specifically allowed by law). 

      • In particular, the policy provides that "students shall not be charged a fee to attend student performances, recitals or exhibitions of student work except that students may be charged a fee to attend student athletic competitions"
         

• Full text of all of the new policies is available under Item "E" of the board agenda.

Ad Hoc Committee on Personnel Matters, Labor Relations and Affordability Board of Education: Thursday, January 25 @6PM in the Board Room at 555 Franklin Street.

Agenda for the meeting here

Topics to be discussed include:

• Administrator Staffing, Evaluation and Development

Public Comment

There is always an opportunity for public comment at school board meetings. At regular meetings, speakers may speak to any item being voted on or may give general public comment during the time reserved for "Public Comment on General Matters." Speakers must sign up in advance, either by calling the board office at (415) 241-6493 or filling out a speaker card at the meeting and handing it to Esther Casco, the executive assistant to the board who sits next to the podium. Speaker cards must be turned in before the agenda item being spoken to is officially "called." Members of the public are typically allowed two minutes to speak, but time given may be shorter if there are a large number of speakers.

Recording and Live Coverage of Meetings

You can access recordings of regular and committee meetings.

Video recordings of regular meetings (not available for committee meetings)

Audio recordings of committee meetings (click where it says "audio recording," under the meeting agenda)

Recordings are usually posted a few days after the meeting.

Regular board meetings are also broadcast live on KALW, SFGOVTV2, and via live webcast.

#BoardWatch: PPS-SF live tweet coverage

Follow PPS-SF's twitter feed: this week we plan to cover the Board of Education meeting on Tuesday night. You don't need to have a Twitter account to follow! Just log on to Twitter and search @ppssf #BoardWatch.