Good evening everyone. Tonight we have interpretation in Arabic, Mandarin, and Spanish. You should see these interpreters names in the participant list and they will post their information in the chat. They will now share directions for anyone who needs interpretation for the
meeting. Could our Arabic interpreter please introduce yourself? Arabic interpreter, please introduce yourself. Back to you. Can our Mandarin interpreter please introduce yourself? >> Yes, sure. Good morning. Good evening.
This is Mandaring interpreter Zo. The following announcement will be in Mandaring for Mandaring conference line. ID rendering announcement completed. Thank you. Mandering announcement completed. Thank
you. Spanish now interpreter. Please introduce yourself. Oh, I'm sorry. Just getting the numbers. Numero. Gracias. Spanish. Please introduce yourself.
>> Can our Arabic interpreter please introduce yourself? You said roll. >> Yes, please. >> Yeah. >> Okay. Roll call. Sorry. John Ricellum >> here. >> Wen Ming Chen >> here.
>> Nalin is excused. Stephen Mahoney. >> Dear Stern, >> she's online. >> Here. Bless you. >> She's here. Ken Lee, >> he's excused. >> Kelly Clancy,
>> here. >> Alina Lewis, >> here. >> Elizabeth Chen, >> here. >> Fabiola. >> Um, Chen and Kevin Zho here. That's it. We'll call
>> now. We will share the agenda for tonight's calendar meeting. Kevin, can you please share the agenda on the screen? And we now share instructions for our public speaking sessions. If you like to speak, you can sign up on the Google form on our website and the link has been shared in the chat. If you are in
person, you can sign up using the sign-in sheet. >> Um, you could just come up if you're this one. >> And then we have somebody from Miss Higgin's office. Yeah. So the
>> one >> I'm good. Okay. Good evening everyone. Thank you for all that you do. I just want to start off by saying that uh the CC board, Dr. as always and the rest of the district 20. Um, tonight
tonight I'm speaking to inform parents of the power they hold to hold the state accountable for the increased use of technology in the classroom. You have the power to opt your child out of the statemandated computerized test. In
doing so, hopefully this forces the state to hear parents and their concerns about computerized use of education. I just want to make it clear. I'm not saying get rid of state tests. I'm saying bring back test. Every day,
educators feel an obligation to provide some instruction during the day on computers in order to familiarize the students with technology. They do so so that students don't feel unprepared for these mandated computerized state tests.
Not only is computer use in the lower grades developmentally inappropriate, studies show how it is ineffective. It's one thing to use a computer to supplement education, but it's another to use it in replace of educators. Instead of supporting students at a
developmental age, the city and state continue to purchase millions and billions of dollars worth of online computer programs. They say everything on computers, but what they're failing to see is the students are not learning to read and write by
using computers. >> They're not developing foundational skills in order for them to be successful in life. Although the city is trying to close the gap in fluency, computers are not the solution. Students who are struggling to even read and
write on paper are not able to transfer this to a computer. My son refused to go to school last week because he didn't want to write a response on a computer. He said it's hard to type when he has to find each letter key and remember what his answer was. He described it as being
frustrating and slow. We are al we are also asking students who are still developing a math brain to show their work on a computer. And you know what they're not doing? Showing their work on a computer. We are dumbing students down when we
replace pencil, paper, and books with a screen. Not only is it not develop developmentally appropriate, computer use is also not safe. Despite the safeguards the city, the state have to prevent students from accessing content they should they shouldn't see, children
are still able. Additionally, our children's information is not safe and secured. Every time they go on a device to take a test, a third party has has our children's intellectual data to do whatever they want with. I look around and I see
adults walking the streets holding their phones. Children walking the streets holding their home. I'm walking the street holding my phone right now. If we adults have had a hard work by managing our own addiction to these devices, how do we expect children who
are learning to manage their emotions, behaviors, and feelings not to become addicted to the same device? It is our job as educators, parents, community members to support and grow these children to one
day be functional adults. All of us here have learned how to use a computer later in life. And we did just fine. To think we are handicapping our children by not giving them access to a device is a completely false narrative. You created
the handicap by putting computers in the classroom. I ask the state and city to reconsider their approach to standardized testing and computer use in the school system. Thank you very much. >> Very good. >> Ask anybody else in person.
>> Anybody else is in person that would like to speak? Sawyer. I'm going to call Sawyer Raden up from the Assemblyman Lester Chang's office. >> Hi everyone, good evening. Assemblyman Chang asked me to share his greetings with the council this evening.
Unfortunately, he's in Albany for legislative session and cannot be here in person tonight. Uh he values the work of the community council and appreciates the dedication of parents, educators, and community leaders. Uh but you're open to dialogue and community engagement. Um I just want to tell you
about a couple of events. Um we have the community town which is happening uh regarding the uh plan battery energy storage system. So uh there's some flyers over here. You can get some from me. We also want to let
you know that there have been uh thefts of highend vehicles. Our office is actually involved and we're very successful. We haven't heard yet. We recovered a highlander. It was dis
um in a container. Um and that led to another vehicle, two other vehicles being discovered on another container nearby. Um so they're giving away the 6850 and the 6750 uh in conjunction conjunction with that
one. They're giving away one of the things in conjunction with that one. This is giving away um Um the I forgot what you call those lines. Help me out here. The clubs club. So you have to be like the owner registration. Um if you
come over to me photo share with you different events that are coming up. Uh stay safe, stay vigilant. Um if there's anything that I always can help you with. Um my contact information
um email me text me I'm sorry email and we're happy to help you any um state issues or direct you to the right government agency. Thank you very much. >> Thank you so much. Do we have anybody online?
>> Can I just one more quick >> also? So, >> thank you Assemblyman William Colton, can you please unmute yourself? >> He's not. >> Yes, thank you. I'm uh here in Albany.
We are in session today and uh but I did get an opportunity to get away for a couple of minutes though address you know the CEC20 meeting. Uh we're currently getting prepared to do the one house assembly budget uh which will
probably come out early next week and be voted on early next week. Uh basically the budget is going to contain an increase of monies for schools and that's a good thing. That's the assembly budget will have a bigger increase than the governor, but nevertheless that you
know we're now heading towards the final budget agreement as we negotiate with the senate. So by the end of March we should have a final budget agreement. Uh but it has been looking good for monies for education. Uh it also we also deal
with higher education and there there is somewhat of a problem. The governor's budget cut out opportunity programs. uh to help students get into college and do well in it. Uh we're probably I'm hoping we're going to restore those. Uh the
assembly definitely has and I believe the Senate also is doing that is recommending that. So hopefully we will reach an agreement with the budget uh in terms of the uh opportunity programs and some of the other specialized and capital items that the CUNI and Sunni
need. Uh but that we'll probably know by the end of March and I'll be reporting that to people and we may have to you know do a little pushing and pressuring but hopefully we will get that. Uh generally I am the uh on the higher
education budget conference committee and uh so we'll be dealing with that. I'll be dealing that negotiating the higher education months. Uh, also I just wanted to let people know that uh there is going to be a meeting on the 21105 86
Street homeless shelter. We're calling that meeting for uh March 22nd, which is a Sunday, at 11:00 a.m. Uh we've our office has received a notice, a call from the Department of Homeless Homeless Services, which indicates that they
intend to proceed with all these homeless shelter proposals. Uh we're very opposed to that. They do not do service to homeless people. They do not help homeless people. They put great restrictions on them. They do not provide services and uh they cost the
city up to now for the homeless shelters it cost like eight billion dollars. Uh a lot of affordable housing and programs for uh permanent housing for uh various treatment and and services could be used with that $8 billion. Instead, it's
going to building these shelters that really in enrich the developers and don't really serve the needs of homeless people. So, the rally will be about that and we may have some community actions planned to deal with that. Uh, also I
just wanted to indicate that uh we had a terrible tragedy a few weeks ago with the death of a 11year-old girl. She was actually a student of district 21, Cavalaro Junior High School. And I am demanding that the the city do a
complete study, an indepth study of Bath Avenue. Uh there are schools along there that the children walk on. There are many there's some places of worship. Uh the couple number of mosques, a number
of uh afterchool programs in in private tutoring programs. It's a very dangerous area for children to be walking as it's constructed now. And I think they have to examine the entire strip. >> We've lost
synchronization of lights. uh we may have some more information for the CEC's and we may need your help in possibly giving some kind of a letter of support uh indicating you know that we need to really take this seriously now and not
wait for another child to be killed or or injured or another accident to occur. There's been about four accidents uh that have occurred on Bath Avenue that have resulted in injuries and fatalities and you know in the area around it. So we'll give you more information about
that. Uh also uh we are uh having we are my office is and I think the office of Susan's Wang also is uh giving away school books, library books, books, various kinds of books that are free for children. Uh we
had stopped a little bit during this cold weather for the last three or four weeks. But on Friday afternoons, uh, from about 2:00 to 4:00 in front of my office, we're setting out these books and people can come, parents can come,
children could come and they can select a book of their choice that they want to take home and they can read it and they can keep it. It's free. Uh, we've been collecting books uh, during the last few months and we have a good supply of books now. So, we just wanted to let
that word get out. And, uh, most importantly, uh, I'm hoping that, you know, we're going to have a budget hopefully by April 1st, but we're going to have a budget that will provide a good increase of monies for the schools and hopefully that will get to the
schools so that your, you know, CEC20 schools will have the kind of things that they need in order to provide a top quality education for their children. Uh so uh we'll let you know that as in in the next few weeks as we see how that's
moving along. >> All right. Uh I think that basically covers it. Uh I you know definitely want to work with CC20 and CEC21 and especially those two that are in my district. My district encompasses
basically CEC 20 and CEC21. Uh so thank you very much for the opportunity to speak on this meeting. >> Thank you so much for some there's some notes in the chat if you could overlook the notes in the chat. >> I would like to have Councilwoman Alexa
Villis on mute please. >> Hello there. Uh good evening. Can you hear me? >> Yes. >> Amazing. Um thank you. I wish I could have been there in person but you know multiple meetings at the same time. So, thank you to all the CC board members
for holding it down, for um all the work they do for children. Um obviously this month is International Women's Day. So to all the moeres uh across, thank you so much all the women. Um we celebrate
you. We're running into St. Patty's Day. So um happy for that and spring. We I know after these snows storms, we're all very excited to welcome the spring. Um and I hope all those who celebrated Luna
New Year um had a wonderful year of the horse. Um and also those um uh celebrating Ramadan right now. Um just a quick uh couple of events that our office is hosting. We are in tax season.
So, for those of you who may be eligible, we are hosting free tax services in our office in Sunset Park in partnership with Brooklyn Grow. Um, it is free of charge. You can uh uh do a uh
oh my gosh, an appointment. Um, you can find that on our website. I would like to remind everyone we also hosting a proono legal clinic in partnership with the Asian-American Bar Association of New York. These are legal clinics that
have uh culturally appropriate, linguistically available, many Asian languages um uh for the community uh for free to engage in any kind of legal question that they may have. The next
clinics will be uh March 14th at the Chinese Planning Council um 4108 and I will double check that um 8th Avenue. Uh and the following one will be um May
9th. Uh so I will may I will make sure to send the flyer so that the CC can circulate it. Want to remind folks summer rising applications are open. I'm probably taking Dr. Prao's thunder here, but uh please make sure to apply. Those
applications will close March 27th and SYP was extended for to March 13th. Um, I want to note for those families who may have heard of the mayor's announcement around expansion of a,3k
seats that that included the zip code of 11214. Uh, which includes the neighborhoods of Bath Beach, Graves, and Bensonhurst. Um, apparently those those seats I don't know how many seats were allocated to
the zip code. We are trying to chase that down, but um it I am grateful that there is an expansion because we know child care is so important and needed for families in South Brooklyn. Um so more to come on that issue. Um we
recently at an immigration hearing uh we introduced a bill and heard a bill my bill around uh publicly posting know your rights information around um you know constitutional rights for uh immigrant New Yorkers. Uh at this point
we have 26 co-sponsors. The administration is is very supportive and essentially what we want to do is ensure that universally people understand our sanctuary city policy that is basically uplifting our um constitutional rights
that everyone uh who resides here regardless of immigration status um has uh protected under the constitution and the fact that we want to make sure that we continue to relay that immigrant New Yorkers are safe here and um this is
their home. Uh lastly on the city budget as as uh we heard our assembly member the state is in the middle of their city budget their their state budget. We are also engaging in uh today was the start of the city council's uh hearings
uh oversight hearings across all the city agencies. As you may know, uh, Mayor Mandani put out a preliminary budget of 127 billion with a 5.4 billion gap over two years. The city council now
is deeply diving into everyone into every agency's budget to really explore um both where are their efficiencies, where are their potential for revenue generation. Um and so the whole month uh will be
various committee budget hearings. You can find those budget hearings um on the city council website and I will also forward it to the chair um uh particularly the education committee's budget hearing will be March 23rd at it
starts at 9:30 a.m. but the public testimony is at 2:30. So, I will forward the whole list that'll have every city agency. If you care about sanitation, parks and recreation, if you care about housing, each of those agencies will
have a preliminary budget hearing. All of them have public testimony opportunities. Um, it's really important uh to hear your voices around the things that are important to you, uh, what we should be prioritizing as a city. So, we
really invite public testimony and I think I will end it there, but I will send materials uh to the chair so he can distribute to all the family members. Thank you so much. >> Thank you, Councilman. Is there any other elected officials
that would like to speak? I would now like to recognize several guests here with us tonight. Superintendent Dr. David Pto, Dr. Luchia Perez Medina which is a deputy superintendent family support coordinator Sylvia
Jazinski face representative Ena Kres Krziki President's Council President Josephine Kanglosi Okay, so that concludes the public speaking session. We're going to move forward to the student presentation on CPR and AED.
Miss Georgie, please step up. We're on Zoom. >> Hello. Thank you for inviting me here today. >> Um, can I share my screen? >> Can you share? >> Yes, you can do it.
>> Thank you. So, hello everyone. Um, this is my presentation on why CPR and AED training should be in effect in New York City public schools for middle school students as well as elementary school
students. Um, I am a high school student currently at Holy Cross High School in Flushing and I am also um a CPR certified and I have ran many CPR training events for Girl Scout students
um as well as high school students in Queens. So, I I have some experience with this uh topic. Uh, so first, why should elementary and middle school students know CPR and how
to use an AED? So, first off, important reason to to look at is how cardiac arrest and life-threatening emergencies can happen almost anywhere. One of the key locations that cardiac arrest and also other life-threatening emergencies
take place are mostly at home. Um, this might sound a little dramatic, but it is true. So, when students when children know how to react to a certain emergency like this, it boosts the chances of
survival. In fact, immediate CPR doubles or triple survival without even the use of an AED um immediately. So, that is a big plus. also 9 to 12 year olds the at the
youngest age of nine um they can perform CPR uh successfully um before that age it is a little bit more difficult but starting at age four as well uh children can be begin learning preparedness
skills such as what to do uh like calling 911 when they should call how do you know if an emergency is happening um and these are also all things that are covered in a typical course. Um, and lastly, this all leads to children being
able to better react to emergency situations like building confidence, making quick decisions, and most importantly as well, it has a low cost but a very high impact. Uh, so I know I kind of said a lot
there. So, how will this be achieved? So, my objective is that New York City schools can partner with the FDNY. Um, I've worked with the FDNY before. They offer free of charge CPR and AED
training classes for anyone. Um, a big audience is made for uh children and teens. And they have their own like trucks like in this photo. uh save a life, learn CPR where they have all
their mannequins that they bring to the school or the site where the training will take place and as well as the AEDs. They bring one AED to demonstrate how that is used as well. Um, so they come
to you whenever you are available and you can always book that online and also speak to them over the phone or in person to get more information about that. Um, next that leads to integrating
CPR into the school curriculum. So this would kind of be the next step after partnering with the FDNY as um and students will be Georgia >> do CPR and use an adshipip of the FDNY.
And last is tracking impact and outcomes as well as how we can >> Hello. >> We're having technical issues. Your Zoom was lagging. Maybe try turning your video off. >> Oh, >> yeah. See if that helps.
>> Okay. >> Um, can you guys hear me? >> We can right now. Yeah. Keep going. Uh at what point did um did it start lagging? >> Um it just the last few sentences. So I think you can just resume wherever you are.
>> Okay. Um >> so the the last thing I kind of mentioned was tracking impact and outcomes. So um this would kind of allow us to evaluate how successful this new implementation might be and how we can
move forward. Um, next I would like to explain how exactly the FDNY teaches CPR and AED usage. That makes it age appropriate for uh kids ranging from elementary to middle
school. Um, so first off, volunteers begin the class with a video about how to react if someone goes into cardiac arrest. So, this is like an introduction to before you know how to
do the actual CPR, like how do you know someone is going to cardiac arrest and what is actually um an emergency situation. Um, next, the volunteer teaches how to perform CPR on a mannequin and shows
another video about how to do that. Um, and also I'd like to mention that all I I'm saying volunteers because everyone who um these FDNY volunteers don't they
don't get paid for this and it is something that they do for the city. Um, and they all they were once like working on the field and now they just they they go out in the community and they share this knowledge. So, I just wanted to
touch on that. Um, and towards the end of the training, participants practice CPR on the mannequin. So, they can do that for about five to 10 minutes depending on how many participants there
are. And they also teach how to use an AED and um almost everyone gets an opportunity to uh practice that. Um and each class is typically 45 minutes if
there are 30 participants. It it depends but usually it's about that long. Um and it is just a training. So um there's no certification involved. That's that's another um process. But for this
specifically, this is the run of show usually for a class. Um I can also play the video, the two videos if you want me to. >> It shows. >> Yeah. Go ahead.
>> Okay. Uh Georgia, just you know there's no audio. Um, not sure why that is. >> Um, the Zoom page it says sharing options. It should be audio under there, I believe.
>> Yeah, that also works. If you want, you can put the link in the video. I'm sorry, the link of the video in the chat. >> Oh, okay. Can I just do that? >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Sorry. >> One second. Oh, here we go.
Okay, this is the first video and That should be the second video. >> I just one video is fine. >> Okay, >> we're going to play the first video you sent.
>> Okay. Emergency. >> A man just collapsed at the stadium in section F. >> Is the patient awake and breathing? >> No, I don't think he >> 911. What's your emergency? A man just collapsed at the stadium in section F. >> Is the patient awake and breathing?
>> No, I don't think he's breathing. >> Is anyone doing CPR? >> There's a guy doing CPR. He sent me to call 911 and get a defibrillator. >> Can you verify the location? >> The stadium near Roosevelt in section. Yeah, nothing's on the way. >> It's in the chat.
>> Yeah, let's do that. Okay, we can just proceed with the presentation. Okay sir. Uh lastly, the overall objective of implementing CPR and AED training in
elementary middle school students uh is to provide them with life-saving CPR knowledge and emergency response skills that is offered by the FDNY in all five bureaus. Um, I really do think it is
important that even the basics are taught to all ages because it could end up saving a life and also allowing students and giving them the opportunity to respond in better and more effective
ways. Um, because truly an emergency can happen at any time and any place. and by this skill alone and just one training once a year could really make a difference. So I hope that the the DOE
thinks the same. So that's really all I had to present. Um if there's any questions I can also answer questions if that is >> Thank you so much. Any council members have any questions?
Is there any age restriction on being CPL certified to get that taken? >> Uh so the question was are there any age restrictions to the training >> become? >> Yeah. Is there any restrictions to
become CPR certified? >> So to become CPR certified you need to be at least 14 years old. and that is a different class. Um to be in the CPR training class that you need to be at
least um the recommended age is at least 9 years old because that's when you're able to do the compressions successfully. Um and that would be free of charge. And because to be also certified that is
a whole other cost and a much longer process to be certified. Most of the time students become certified for um job qualifications and also if they take interest in uh healthcare fields. So that's a common
trend. >> Resolution. >> Thank you so much. Any other members have any questions? Okay, now thank you so much. Now it's time for our superintendent, Dr. David Pto, to
make his report. Dr. Pto, the floor is yours. >> Thank you. Uh, good evening. My presentation will be in two parts. First, I'll give some announcements and update. uh the second half I will provide the annual
>> I'll provide the annual fair student funding uh budget presentation. >> So first I I want to uh thank uh principal Angelo Sacko for welcoming us. I want to uh acknowledge obviously all elected officials uh and uh principles online uh and present in the meeting
today. Uh and in addition to all the celebrations uh Chinese New Year, Lunar New Year, uh Ramadan, uh Women's Month, Women's History Month, uh we it's also civics week this week. So, we're really excited as a civics for all uh partner
district uh to celebrate civics week. Uh is a big part of the uh instructional programming that we do in the district and is really connected to a lot of the uh activities that we do to really build civic awareness amongst all students. starting in prek and going all the way
up to eighth grade. Uh we hold an annual uh civics fair every year and we really highlight uh the soapbox NYC uh public speaking opportunity and competition that happens. And this year we have two finalists in the New York
City uh final stage. Uh so really proud of our our two students who are competing uh in the citywide uh soapbox presentation. Another big part of civics uh the civics program in New York City public schools
is uh participatory budgeting. So all of our schools across district 20 are allocated a a not super small amount of funds uh a couple thousand dollars uh who we we allocate to the students and they we teach them about the the democratic process and they engage in
identifying student leadership uh polling their col their polling their peers identifying uh projects of uh interest or need in the school community uh and conducting voting and ultimately allocating those funds based off of how
the school community votes on these projects. Uh it's a it's a really fantastic uh uh program and really kind of gets kids really uh really engaged in the uh the democratic process and understanding uh of how uh leadership
voice uh and uh building consensus through uh getting feedback is a big part of uh you know our our governmental process here in the United States. Um, so we're really excited to have uh civics week this week. Uh, next thing
that I just want to announce is that the New York City annual school survey is live. Uh, it was uh posted uh I want to say a couple weeks ago. It's still ongoing. I know schools are reaching out directly to families uh as well as teachers uh and students in the middle
school also complete the survey. So, I just want to really encourage families uh to complete the survey. We really take the survey results seriously. We use it to set annual goals. We use it to uh progress monitor. Uh for example, this year two of our DC goals are set
based off of New York City uh survey results. One in uh priority 2. Uh we have a huge focus on uh reducing bullying through the improvement of school culture systems and that is directly related to survey feedback that we get on the annual school survey uh from parents as well as from educators
and from students. Uh and then we also uh focus uh our priority five uh goals around uh school survey feedback in terms of uh parents uh feelings around their involvement in school. So we really have an emphasis on uh you know
strengthening and prioritizing uh parent leadership structures like SLTs, PTAs and title one parent advisory councils. So the these are really important structures for us and we have we'll really be pouring a lot of our work this year into uh lifting those up and
supporting them including at our upcoming uh April principal conference. We will be inviting uh all uh PTA presidents uh and title one parent advisory council chairs to the principal conference along with their principal as well as with the CEC uh to engage in uh
some goal setting around the uh those those uh governance structures in schools. So uh we so long story short, please complete the survey. we the the more people complete it, the more accurate the results are and we can really use it to uh do meaningful progress monitoring and see if we're uh
moving the needle with some of the work that we're doing in the district. I also want to highlight uh two events that are coming up this month uh opportunities to have uh to hear from Chancellor Kamar Samuels. So, uh,
commer, uh, Prince, uh, Chancellor Samuels has been on a listening tour across the city and he is visiting, uh, South Brooklyn on March 24th at John Dewey High School from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. So, I really encourage, uh, families to
there are flyers in the back. Uh, and I hopefully we can post the flyers in the chat and, uh, and showcase, uh, the chancellor's listening tour. It's happening at John Dewey High School on March 24th. There are other dates where the chancellor is visiting, but that would be the closest one to uh district
20 families. And then the next week on March 30th, uh the chancellor is visiting uh CC20 uh and district 20 for his uh town hall with CC20. That's on March 30th at 6:00 p.m. at Junior High
School 259 William McKinley. The next thing I would like to do is uh uh introduce uh district 20's new deputy superintendent uh Dr. Lucia Perez Medina to the council. Dr.
Dr. Perez Medadina has served district 20 for the last few years as the senior achievement manager. Uh before that, Dr. Dr. Pres Medina was the uh director of English language learners uh for Brooklyn South and supporting district 20 and prior to that has served in other
roles including as a principal uh of a school of course as well as a quality reviewer in the office of school quality. Uh so I just want to invite Dr. Presina up really briefly just to introduce herself and uh say a couple words to the council. >> You want people online to see you? It'
>> be best. >> You just come. You can come right here. Does everyone hear me? Yeah. Okay. So, first and foremost, first and foremost, I want to say um good good evening to all our CEC council members, um to all our families, our parents, our
principles who are here, who are also online, as well of all the staff members in the school um community. Um, the first thing I want to say, and I just I'll be brief, but I want to thank Dr. David Ptole, our superintendent, for the
opportunity to serve in this new role. I am not a stranger to district 20. I have been supporting um schools in district 20 since 2015. This will be my 11th year supporting district 20 in and like Dr. Ple mentioned in many different
capacities. I think now under this in this new role, I'm looking forward to working very closely with our parent leaders, with our CC members, our DT, our president's council, and our families across the district community
as well as our community members. Just know that um just a little bit more about myself and like Dr. Ple mentioned, I have had the privilege and the opportunity as I mentioned to serve in all these different capacity and my passion has always been my driver to
really um be an advocate for equity and social justice and ensuring that our students are always not only thriving readers and writers but really that they can go out there in the community and sell to their fullest potential. And my goal is to really be and partner with Dr. David Pto in ensuring that not only
his vision but the work of our our our chancellor's priorities but also the voices of our families and community members to to be heard. So I'm here to listen and support in any capacity that I can. Um and thank you again Dr. Prao for this opportunity to serve in this
new role. Thank you. Next, I just want to give an update on um uh some work that we've been doing promoting and celebrating the arts at the district level. District 20 has a long history and uh you know kind of
rich opportunities across the entire district in the arts including from the seal academy dancers today. I was really excited to see uh the dance performance from uh from principal Sako students. Uh so that was really exciting. So, in addition to all of the different arts opportunities that schools offer, uh
this year, uh the the central arts office has uh allocated some funding to district 20 as well as other districts across the city to be able to support uh and and enhance the the opportunities for students in the arts. Uh so, we I just wanted to share some of the opportunities that we've been uh
providing to students in some different ways uh in the arts. So currently uh we're supporting some interactive uh programming across 12 schools in the district reaching students across K to8 spectrum uh through live uh performances that are designed to promote
collaboration movement uh cultural awareness but also to celebrate positive school culture. uh uh each participating school is receiving anywhere from two to four live interactive performances and this is depending on how the size of the school
as well as the configuration of the grades. Uh these schools include uh Mont Junior High School, Dipmas Junior High School, Shallow Junior High School, uh Artsoft Third, as well as PS939, which
is a shared campus, PSIS- 104, PSIS 229, uh PS69, PS 204, PS185, and PS170, and PS91. And these range from arts in a game show format, which was a really interesting
but fun uh presentation that we felt like would not just provide the opportunity for the children to connect with the arts but also have it in a fun interactive format uh as well as the performances. Uh and in addition to that, we were also able to provide students from three uh schools, PS 205,
PS1 179, and junior high school 227 the opportunity to attend some Broadway plays. Uh, so we were able to send about 350 students to see Aladdin, Wicked, and Harry Potter. And I'm really and really really excited to be able to to send the students to uh to engage in these
opportunities and get the chance to see a Broadway play. And I'm glad that they went and not me. I I am ashamed to say that I am a reluctant musical uh viewer, but I love all the other I love the all the other artists, but I struggle with musical theater. And uh Miss Ruben from
936 always will uh will give it remind me that I need to change my attitude. So I'm trying I'm working on it. I have I can grow. Uh so we're really excited to provide these opportunities for uh the children in the arts. Uh and we're also using some of the funding to be able to design presentations for a lot of the
artwork that students design across district 20. There is a history of student art uh being uh displayed in the superintendent's office uh so that when families come and otherwise uh prospective parents as well as staff and colleagues, teachers are able to you
know see the art uh displayed in the superintendent's office. So we'll be using some of the funding to be able to you know display in perh perpetuity the uh student artwork from across all 43 uh district 20 schools and the prek centers. So this just a brief
presentation on some work that we're doing in the arts. I'm now going to uh shift gears for the presentation and provide the annual fair student funding uh presentation which uh is a part of
the the budget development process in New York City public schools. So part of that process is that the annual budget uh proposal is presented to CEC's across the city and that's the presentation that I will uh give this evening and for this presentation I am joined uh by
Jennifer Joseph who is the Brooklyn South budget director supporting district 20. Just give me one second. I'm going to share my screen. So today we're going to take a hopefully a simple and clear look at how New York City schools get their funding and how
that money supports students. Our goal is to help you understand how the school system invests uh in children citywide and in our district. And I'll also talk about what drives school level budgets and where families and community members can find more information.
First, I'll take a look at how New York City public schools budget works and what our district's share of that budget is. Then I'll explain fair student funding, which shapes most of each school's budget. And then finally, I'll show you
where you can find your school's budget online. So, New York City public schools has a $46.1 billion budget for fiscal year 2027, which is about $34,700 per student.
The money comes from the city, from the state, and from the federal government with the city providing the largest share. The the pie in the blue, that's the city share. This chart roughly shows how each level of government contributes. So the city provides a
little more than 27 billion. Uh the state provides a little bit more than 16 billion and the federal government provides $2 billion. So how is this money spent? What you're looking at here is how funding is distributed within the
system. And there's two sides of the column, one on the left, one on the right. So that side on the left, which is about 43% of the total budget, goes towards non-discretionary funds, funding sources. These are expenses the school system must pay every year, no matter
what. It includes things like employee benefits, debt service, and charter school payments. These costs are essential to keeping the entire education system operating. Schools don't make decisions about these
costs. They're set at the system level. The remaining 57% that's the side on the right is discretionary meaning the city can decide how to direct these dollars. Most of these funds directly supports schools including $20.3 billion for K
to2 instruction and early childhood. This is the money that most directly affects students every single day because it funds the people and programs families interact with. teachers, paraprofessionals, school aids, after school programs, arts and enrichment and more.
Then we have funding for school operations such as food, transportation and facilities supports and field support and central administration which together make up less than 1%. This is the amount of money total that funds New York City Public Schools
District 20 schools. So, a total of $932 million is allocated across the 43 schools and preK programs in district 20. Uh and so you'll see the allocation from the different funding sources,
city, state, and federal are also represented on this slide. So we have about $618 million coming from fair student funding. We have $52 million coming from states contracts for excellence, which is a different presentation that I will give
uh later in the spring. uh about $49 million in federal title one funds and then other state and local funds comprise the remaining 198 million. So who decides how money is spent at the school level? So each principal together
with the school leadership team decides how money is used in their school. The SLT works with the principal to set priorities based on student needs. Superintendents like me and support teams help schools stay aligned with the rules and the policies.
So fair student funding, most of a school's budget comes from fair student funding or FSF. I'll refer to it as fair student funding just to reduce the number of acronyms that we deal with. Uh and then after that I'll explain what fair student funding is,
why it matters, and how the formula works. So what is it? So fair student funding makes up about twothirds of each school's budget. Schools receive funding based on how many students they serve and what those students need to be successful.
Students with higher needs, such as English language learners or students with disabilities, bring additional funding to support them. Principles can use fair student funding flexibly to staff the school and create programs that help students thrive.
Very importantly, what fair student funding does not cover. All right, so some programs are funded separately and not through fair student funding. These programs include preK and 3K. So pre-K and 3K are not funded through fair student funding.
Mandated special education services like speech therapy or a 1:1 pair professional are not funded through fair student funding. District 75 programs are not funded through fair student funding. Charter school payments are not funded through fair student funding. All of these programs have separate and
different funding models. So, how does fair how does fair student funding work? So, it's made up of four main parts. The first part is called foundation. So, each school gets $225,000 off the bat.
Next, funding is allocated based off of collective bargaining, which helps schools cover negotiated staff raises based on the stu staff that are currently working in their building. Next is per capita which is uh that adjusts for the cost of the staffing.
And then finally student needs. This adds funding based on individual student needs. So students bring weights based on their needs which increase the amount of support a school receives. These are small but these are the weights. Uh and I'll I'll review them.
So, these are the proposed student need weights for each school year. I'm sorry, for next school year. They cover areas like grade level, academic support needs, English language learners, students in temporary housing, special education, and some certain high school
programs. The weights are the exact same as they were in the proposed fair student funding formula from last year. How do the fair student funding weights work per student? So, this is a graphic that compares two students that have
different needs and how the fair how fair student funding is allocated to support those specific needs. So, after the grade after the basic grade level weight, you'll see that each student has an orange bar at the bottom with a 1.0
zero that represents uh $1 that each student is allocated equally uh off the bat. Then after the basic grade level weight, additional need-based weights, which are the ones above uh are added. So these
come from characteristics such as a student's special education program, whether they're an English language learner, whether they need academic intervention, whether they are a student in temporary housing. In some cases, a concentration of need weight is added
when many students at a school have higher needs. All of these weights stack together like layers. So that means that no single weight replaces another. Instead, each need adds to the total amount of support a student receives for that support. And
this example here just shows how fair student funding is not a one-sizefits all. It is designed so schools get the resources required to meet each child where they are. So, how this works per student. This slide uses the real per student
amount from last year, $4,262 to show how the weights we just reviewed turn into actual dollars that school receives. You can see that even within the same school, two students can generate different amounts of funding depending on their individual needs.
This example helps to make the formula real. It shows how student needs translate directly into funding that pays for the people and programs students rely on every day such as teachers, paraprofessionals, academic supports, and other services that help them succeed. This example shows that
fair student funding is not one-sizefits-all. It is designed so stu uh so schools can get the resources required to meet each child where they are. The New York City public school website has an easy to understand overview of
the school systems funding. The info hub includes more detailed reports and the full fair student funding guide. You can also look up your school's budget, including how funds are spent and how many staff positions are funded. This is the page that shows how you can
find your school's budget. When you go on to the website under reports, you search for your school. You go to the reports tab, select budget and finances, and you can review the available reports, including fair student funding details and the new budget at a glance
page. This gives family families a clear picture of where resources are going. The fair student funding detail page. This page shows how a school's fair student funding allocation changes from the start of the year to the final enrollment count.
It also breaks down funding by the type of student need. It helps families understand why a school received the amount it did. And then this is the school budget at a glance page. So this is the onepage summary that's designed for families. This is also located on uh the New York
City public schools website for every school in the system. Uh, it shows total funding per student, how the school is spending its money, and key student demographic information along with city-wide comparisons. It makes school budgets easier to understand at a
glance. Okay. and we welcome your thoughts about the budget. You can share comments between March 9th and April 28th by email or phone. Please send email comments and feedback to
budgetpublic comments.nyc.gov or you can provide your feedback or comments uh by phone by calling 212-3746754. Feedback helps New York City public schools strengthen how we support schools. And I just want to thank you for taking
the time with me to to learn about the school funding system. Uh I appreciate your partnership and commitment to our students. And again, I'll leave the the uh the comment and feedback up for a second for the council and for families. P like this where we have a stack say
>> the $4,000 and based on need we add on top of it >> this one right >> the two this one >> yes >> so that $4,000 is it and I consider this is like every case has that >> that's right that every every school re
receives $4,262 for every student as a baseline and that represents the the orange at the bottom Mhm. >> And then in addition to the $4,262 based off of student needs that connect to the demographics, additional funding
is added. >> Okay. So that $4,000 is for one year or for one semester? >> One year, the full year >> Okay. And then the blue one is special education. It's tremendous different between >> Mhm.
>> among these two exam is an acade. Yeah, great question. So, I'm going to go to the weights for a second and just explain how that can work. So, the special education funding can al be allocated differently based off of the uh a combination of the intensity and
the level of special education service that the child is receiving. So, for example, a student could be uh in an integrated co-eing class >> uh and because that could be on their IEP, but they may not receive integrated co-eing for the majority of their
program. It was something that we call a low inensity IEP. So, that child would receive a little less funding uh for the special education services than a student who receives integrated co-eing on a full-time basis. So the IEP uh drives that in terms of like the
intensity or the amount of periods per week or the number or the uh the content areas that the child receives special education services in. Um and then depending on the grade level, it can also have a different weight. So, uh, a
student in, uh, with one of these less inclusive, we call them, uh, special education weights, they receive 1.18 amount in addition to the foundational piece, right? So, in addition to the 4,262, they receive 1.8% a 1.8 a 1.18
uh, weight on top of that. But for 9 to 12, they only they receive a 0.58 weight on top of the uh the baseline 4262. >> Now, uh and then for special education, I'm just trying to find.
And then you'll see on here, it gives the weights for if the child has one of these less inclusive IEPs or the more inclusive IEP. So if a child is in integrated co-eing and they have more than 60% of their program in an integrated co-eing environment instead of the 1.18 additional weight they get a
2.09 additional weight. >> I do have one more I'm sorry I have two more questions. >> Sure. >> Jo is okay. >> Um so based on this formula we can basically say that student how much money we are budgeted for that student correctly.
>> That's right. I mean this is excluded in the operating cost we need for the schools and the teachers salaries that coming from different buckets. >> No. So this this funding is the uh the
majority source of funding for funding the staff, you know, paying for uh materials and right. So this this uh this is paying for primarily for the staff in the school but also for some operating costs and
some of the programming that uh schools offer. >> Okay. I do see another number that 34,000 before and before this. >> Okay. I mean also in your slide I I think one of the slides say 34,000
>> this one >> before this budgeting. >> Yeah. Maybe >> maybe one more >> this one I think. Yeah. 47 717
student. >> So that's that's that represents the amount of money spent per student that is represented in the total budget. So in so New York City public schools is uh allocating $46.1 billion total
systemwide >> uh to the entire education system and that's translated into 34,717 per student. that this is approximately this number divided by the whole the whole budget divided by the number of students but like I was saying uh in the
slide afterwards >> you know 43% of that total is immediately uh is immediately allocated to non-discretionary areas like uh debt services uh employee benefits charters
non-public school tuition and these are things that are required by the budget and there's no choice of where those funds Is there any negative chart to tell us like how much we spend on each category for example I mean as a parent we more than say how much of this spending is
directly involved on the students teaching and because there are like you said there are something like a building maintenance which is which is related but it's not directly on the teacher and that kind of >> so I mean so when you look at these uh I'm going to go to the school the school
budget web pages this is where you're going to be able to see that level of detail. The number of teachers that are that are working at a school. This like these school web pages is where you're going to be able to see that there's the at a glance, but then there's also it describes being able to see >> uh the fair how fair student funding is
allocated in detail. >> I understand. I can see it in each school. >> I'm more I mean I kind of want to know that is for whole New York City or or whole >> It's by school. It's by school. Uh I don't know if there I think like this is the system level uh description.
>> I don't know if on you'd have to go on the web page to see if there's a similar you know funding breakdown but this is yeah but this is how they provided by school. >> I was just wondering if there's a higher neighborhood. I mean, let me go back to the Pi just to
kind of like show here how the whole thing is. So, here, let's go to this. So, here like, so here, like here's the highest level. >> I'm sorry. >> So, here's the highest level, right? >> Right. >> Um, >> that's the money.
>> This is this I'm sorry. This is how the funding sources come into the city. There's the one. So this is one that you're going to be able to see high level again how those funds are allocated. So 17.5 billion go
to schools. 2.8 billion is going to early childhood. 5.5 billion goes to school operations which includes food, transportation, you know, uh facilities, that type of stuff. 4 billion goes to field admin offices.
So that would probably include offices like mine, uh other uh other field offices like family welcome centers, uh other other places that are not schools that support families and the operation of schools. Uh and then the final.1 billion is uh central admin. So that
would be the central DOE. Beyond that, I don't like we could look you could look on the budget website and see if there's further detail on that, but this is the the breakdown for that. >> Okay. Yeah. Okay. Thank you. >> Yeah. >> I'm
the uh public speaking session. You could Michelle you could put it in the second and then she ask if you'd put it in the chat we can add it to >> yeah put it in the chat >> that concludes my presentation. >> Um >> any other questions?
>> Yeah. >> Do you want me to put it back up? >> Yes. >> Foundation a >> Yes. Yeah. It includes foundation aid, >> right? Yeah. >> It includes that. I believe but that's something what
about assembly and state senators you just spoken about I guess implying in a budget set >> I don't want to put words in his mouth but I I assume so yes I don't want to put words in his mouth about what portion of the state funding he's talking about that he was talking about but I but yeah sorry short answer is yes
I think so >> well bring a little bit of a I think the governor was speaking about for the first time I think in 2023 324 that they fully funded that. However, they're using the data from 2007 and
since 2007 a lot of them one thing in particular the regional cost index which is you know I guess that teacher salaries isn't reflected of any increase to the cost of say teacher salaries in
New York City and um >> but the changes were put in effect and the city got over 300 $100 million less. So the changes that the governor signed into effect had I guess you would say a negative impact and I think they
said that Rockefeller Institute had a 3104 recommendations but only a few bills um and that was always a perennial thing but New York City short came it's using a federal poverty guidelines
and it's not a true intellectual state of course in the city and also like children with different needs whe it's the homeless and forcing care and that's just something to have some awareness to our public elected representatives to
have the governor do it in a fair way but to fund something in 2023 it's 2007 prices you know it's the sound and like you said the city cost I think is uh it's not double it's I think close
to 60% of that you know the states should be provided, you know, I think is a little bit dubious. I want to thank you. >> Thank you for that. >> I'm good. >> I asked a question.
>> How much did you say uh district 20 gets? So the the district 20 budget is reflected in combining all uh 43 schools budgets together and that was for a grand total of 9 and wait
sorry get the number right 932 million combined across the across district 20 schools >> and um it seems like with the fairest funding that if your school is failing it seems like the budget gets bigger if you have more filling student because
like academically it's that if you need more help you get a bigger uh budget or allocated for the students money. >> So so there are weights for academic intervention. All right. And those weights include students who uh live
live under the poverty line. Uh students who are performing below standards and we separate that across fourth and fifth grade as one category. uh six to eight is a different category and then 9 to 12 is its own category and
then we also allocate additional weights for students who are performing well below standards in the same grade categories. Um and then in high school there are a couple of additional weights that are provided. One for uh stu uh schools with a graduation challenge.
It's the name literally the name of the weight. uh and another one uh li uh labeled over the counter which typically refers to schools that take in high numbers of students after the October 31st funding deadline.
>> Do we have any um schools that are kind of billing and are just >> it's not schools they go by student. So so all these weights are per student. So if a student is performing, you know, well below standards, you know, got a
level, then this point4 uh additional weight is added on to the $4,262 that the school is uh allocated just baseline for the student. Yep. John.
>> Yeah, you're all set. >> Hi everyone. Uh John invited me to give the president's remarks tonight, which I really appreciate. I always appreciate his support and leadership as well as all of your time and presence this evening. I was so happy to hear our new deputy superintendent talking about
listening to families because this is very much what's been on my mind these days. What would it mean for parent representatives on the CEC and in the community to have a genuine and not just performative impact. Before I share my thoughts though, I wanted to share some good news with you. Last week, my daughter's kindergarten class filled up
their good behavior jar. And as a class, they voted to have a special snack of Munchkins as a reward. and her amazing teachers, Miss Goldstein and Miss Wong, emailed us and explained the class's achievement and asked if parents had any concerns. They offered to share the ingredients list with us. Our class parent followed up in the class WhatsApp
asking for all parents to affirm they were comfortable with this. Everyone weighed in. So on Friday, they had a special class snack. Maisie loved it. And I'm sharing this not only because I'm proud of K126 for their hard work. Maisie has the best teachers around and I'm grateful to them for modeling for our kindergarteners what it looks like
to have a true informed consent process and collaborative decision-making. There was a class vote. Parents were notified, offered more information, giving time to think about whether Munchkins were right for us, and then a neutral third party confirmed that this was the right choice. And this isn't a one-off. I've had to sign permission slips for
popsicles and cookies as well. I have spent the past year, however, talking to parents across the district and city about educational technology. And I can assure you there's no parent on Zoom right now or sitting in this room that has been asked to give informed consent for their children to use experimental technology in the classroom. My question
is this. Why do we regulate a snack more closely than we do technology that's been shown to damage kids ability to learn? Um, I have five quick ideas that I want to share with you tonight because I know we all want to go home. So, I'm going to be quick, but John gave me my moment and so I'm gonna I'm gonna try to use it. My fir the first idea is that right now
there's a citywide leadership vacuum around the issue of educational technology. You've heard me at the past several CEC meetings trying to understand as a parent and as a member of the CEC who makes decisions about edtech more broadly and about AI in particular. And I will tell you that every single thing I'm saying in these
remarks tonight, I've heard from a parent or a teacher or principal. None of these are hypothetical. All of these are real. And you know, after my remarks, you'll likely hear like, "This isn't Dway policy or this isn't district policy or this isn't decided the city level or you should ask principles about this." And that's my point. Parents are demanding clear answers about tech use
in their schools and it's impossible to find those answers. If a teacher has to tell me the ingredients list on of of Munchkins, it defies belief that no one can tell me what AI is showing up in my kids' classrooms. We are all here because we >> Oh, sorry. We are all here. And so, I'm
going to take a little bit longer because I'm going to slow down. uh because we believe that all children in New York City schools deserve the best possible education. I started coming to CEC meetings because my son when he was in the fourth grade came home and said, "Mom, they took away my books." That was
the year HMH was rolled out across the district with no consultation from parents. HMH has structured its business model to take books out of the hands of your kids and maximize the amount of data it can extract from them. John D Angus, who teaches high school here in New York City, published an article in
the LA Review of Books this week that begins this way. On a city-wide Zoom call with organizers in the UFT, a chapter leader shared an organizing success story from her middle school. Her colleagues wanted to teach Lois Lowry's The Giver to her seventh graders. The book is about a boy named
Jonas who has chosen to inherit the pain, joy, and color of others. These memories kept from his society for the sake of maintaining stability. When realizing the unjustice of the situation, Jonas saves them from their ignorance by returning the memories to them. It is a kid-friendly sendup of
fascism, and the principal refused to allow teachers to teach Lowry's book. Apparently, this book has been banned in the past because of its political commentary, its violence, its occasional sexual references, and its depiction of euthanasia. The principal, a New York City principal, took no issue with none
of those things. Instead, she objected to the fact that it is a book. The school has adopted the reading curriculum hes into reading that excluded books in favor of test aligned excerpts. So the principal argued that teachers could not teach any books at
all. In the past year, students had loved the giver and the teachers wanted to give the kids the experience of reading a novel like Lowry. So the chapter leader spearheaded collective action. They wore freedom to read shirts and other shirts associated with book bands, raised the issue up to the superintendent and ultimately won. The
kids read the book and loved it. HMH, John argues in this piece, is willfully helping to cultivate a bookless world. As one parent wrote to me recently about HMH, I don't understand how we got here. I don't think there would be any opposition to changing the curriculum. There's no
controversy. Everyone hates it. Why are we letting ourselves be so miserable? I will tell you that the biggest shock in my parenting life has been that the leaders of our school system have spent hundreds of millions of our taxpayer dollars creating a situation where parents and teachers have to beg for
kids to read whole books. This is bananas. You'll be told that in district 20 book clubs and win periods now include books. And this is true. But the fact remains that the core ELA instruction for every child in our district and most in the city believes at its core that kids should be trained
to read disembodied passages and pass computerized tests that machines can grade. This company HMH, which has rebranded itself as an adaptive learning company, has begun sneaking AI products into their platform through the black door without permission from the
district or the city. It will not tell our superintendent whether our kids are being evaluated by AI instead of by teachers. Parents want their kids graded by humans, not by robots. The company will not tell our superintendent whether our kids intellectual property is being used to train its model and kids are too
young to consent to this. This is grim and this is not unique to HM. A child recently transferred to our school from another in the district. And when I was talking to his mom, his mom said it was because he was being required to do an hour of Amira and an hour of I Ready
every single day in kindergarten. That's 10 hours a week simply on the two programs of Amir and I Ready. And this is often required by principles and built into contracts with AMRA. Which leads me to idea two. Parents are being ignored. I want to remind you that in
December, this body overwhelmingly voted to pass a resolution calling for a moratorum on the use of AI in schools. AI is still used being used in our schools. Since then, CC's across the city have passed or in the process of passing similar resolutions. There's
also a massive resistance to the opening of an AI high school in the CC2 in Manhattan. Parents in this district and across the city are loudly using their elective representatives on CEC boards to tell their districts and the DOE that they do not want their kids being guinea pigs to AI. And in exchange, we've been
sidelined. The DOE has promised consultation that hasn't materialized. We're being told there's an AI playbook or guidance document or plan that parents will eventually be able to see and give feedback on. Maybe there will be like a 45day window. We don't know. But none of that has materialized. And in the meantime, they're expanding AI
anyway. And if you want to ask me what that looks like, you can ask me in the in the comments. I'll tell you what that looks like, but without asking for advice or consent from parents or children. And that brings me to idea three, which is that it's not just AI. New York City District 20 and schools, individual schools throughout our district keep ratcheting up the amount
of time kids are expected or required to be on screens. As Michelle talked about tonight, instead of writing essays by hand, which we know is linked to learning or cognitive development, kids as young as eight are forced to type them. Even though no one teaches these kids how to type, it is not part of the
curriculum. Like my kids still hunt and peck for all of the letters because of all of the time they spend on screens, no one teaches them how to type. Instead of a readathon, which would celebrate books in our community, we have an I Ready challenge where kids are asked to sacrifice evenings and weekends for more
time in front of a screen. And if you're wondering why we do I Ready challenges, it's because the incentive is to improve I Ready scores, not to help kids. because there's absolutely no evidence that I Ready improves learning whatsoever. And I would also be delighted to talk to you about that evidence base. And of course, it's a
self-fulfilling prophecy. When kids do well in class and poorly on I Ready or HMH assessments, they're told to do more I Ready, not to read more books. Even so, parents like me are told that they are forbidden from withdrawing their consent from their children being evaluated with I Ready, a claim I find
both morally outrageous and legally dubious. We know that the results of all of this screen time are bad. There's an increasing amount of research that says that this is the first generation of kids to do worse cognitively than their parents did. Our kids are failing tests that we ourselves passed. Researchers
are increasingly tracing this to screens in schools, not out of schools, screen times in the classroom. Uh there is an overwhelming amount of evidence that AI in particular leads to cognitive declines and major mental health impacts. Chat bots do unique harm to
kids and adults mental health. Magic school recently de disabled Raina its studentf facing chatbot because parents raised alarm that their kids were becoming emotionally attached to the thing they were required to do homework with. And across platforms character AI, Google Gemini, chat GBT, kids and adults
have entered into quote unquote relationships that have ended in psychosis and suicide. I read an article today that talked about character AI, which has been required in a variety of public schools, not New York City, has firsterson school shooter chat bots you can interact with, and nobody is
regulating them. That is a that is just shocking to me. Our chancellor is about to make what I fear is a generation defining error by unleashing AI in our schools, and it is against the will of parents. Idea four. This one's quick. How do we get here? At least part of the answer lies at the revolving door
between edtech companies and the DOE employees. A most prominent example is that former Chancellor Veis Ramos is now a lobbyist for HMH. Some of the most prominent superintendent, not ours, and DOE officials across the city are Google GSE fellows, which means that they are
lobbyists on behalf of Google. Idea five, the good news is that we can choose to do things differently. We've had a lot of good news, some let's say some good news about edtech this year, like the cell phone ban that passed. We're hearing from schools that kids are reading library books, playing board games, the lunchrooms actually loud
because kids are talking to each other instead of staring at their phones. And all of that is good stuff. Parents in Massachusetts have filed a lawsuit against I Ready. LA school board, the second biggest after New York City, is doing a comprehensive audit of screen times in schools to severely curtail the
amount of time that kids spend in front of screens. Multiple states are considering bills to significantly limit or ban screen use in schools for kids in ages K to five. We have conflict of interest laws on the books that could potentially be enforced to keep DOE officials from lobbying for big tech
with the promise of more lucrative job in the private sector when they leave the district. And we need parents to stay involved and stay angry. I'll put my email address in the chat. Please email me if you'd like to talk more about what we've talked today. Um, if teachers believe that you have a right to know what snacks they're feeding your
kids, and I believe that our leaders should certainly honor your right to opt out of technology your children are being forced to use. Thank you. And thank you, John, for giving me time today. And I want to add to what Kelly was saying about uh computer use. They studies show actually people that live
longer with their memory intact are the people that put pen to paper like physically writing. So that's a good effect for physically writing stuff. Thanks. I would just add too that um informally I've had a lot of conversations with a
lot of parents in the district who are increasingly concerned about the amount of time that their kids spend on screens. And despite bringing it up here numerous times, I it sounds like the time is only increasing and not decreasing. And I'll just double down on
Kelly's point. Um there's at least five top at least five I have all five of their names top deal officials. um one is a soup and the other four are higher than a soup who are Google ASB scholars. That means Google gives them money and
then you can look at all of their public facing um literature and they're all promoting AI use in school. I think that is extremely extremely questionable. They're public servants not lobbyists for Google. And of course the example of
the former chancellor taking this position at HMH just highlights u the corruption behind the edtech in the first place. So I really do urge all the parents who have talked to me and um that you know a lot of people from 185 we have one here tonight um keep coming
to me keep coming to everybody else on this council with your concerns about screen time edtech HMH um because we will continue to have this conversation in the district. Thank you so much, Kelly. >> Yeah, thanks for having me.
>> Oh, since we're talking also about all this technology, uh a parent actually yesterday was talking about how they wanted to be able to uh have the parent teacher conference in person because they couldn't know uh about um technology. So I I just want to
reiterate and keep talking about uh trying to push parent teacher conferences in person because some people don't have the knowhow to do use technology to reach a teacher and also I mean the teachers were all forced to come in during the the the blizzard you
know doing one or two uh PTA uh sessions in person will be helpful for parents in our district. Any other members want to add on? Now it's time for our second public speaking session. But before if you like to speak, you can sign up on the Google
form on our website and the link shared in the chat. >> John, do you want to cheat? >> Yeah. And I'll link it um at the bottom of the chat right there. A couple >> Yeah. If >> you are in person, you can sign up using the signup sheet. Speakers are limited to three minutes.
Anybody would like to speak in person, please step up. >> He's going to set you up over there. Amen. >> Hi, good evening everyone. Um, first off, one thing I've seen with AI recently, I'm not sure if you guys are familiar, the FDA wanted to do clinical
trials with AI. Isn't that crazy? our medication being determined by AI. But hold on one second because one thing that I see which is a big problem is we're staring very harsh away from the AI. Trust me, I was very skeptical at
first, but we have to have the children grow with the technology as the technology grows. If we scare them, of course, we need the safeguards. We need safeguards in place to protect our children's identity. However, we can't scare them. What I'm seeing is a lot of
outdated humans commenting on this new this new invention. We cannot scare the students away from it and can't. There's no escaping AI, guys. I'm sorry to say this is scary for me as well, but we have to learn how we got to use it. Somebody mentioned the kids don't even
know how to type. They don't know the basic things. I think we really have to rethink everything. We have to rethink the way that we've been doing education. If we don't do it now, it's just going to get more out of hand. I mean, let me use this example. I don't want to talk
too long. Uh NASA is going to the moon, right? So, you had some people who actually rethought the whole thing away. They said, "Get rid of the whole the old idea. Let's rethink it new, all the way new. Instead, we keep trying to use these old ideas, these old theories, and
go off these old theories when we have new technology. Whether you like it or not, AI is going to surpass us. So, let's teach the kids uh basic things how to dream. The kids aren't dreaming. They're all in their phone. They're all propagandized by this uh algorithms with
meta and social media. I think we need more discipline in the home. We need AI to go into the future, but we can put safeguards. We can put the safeguards in it. I've been working with AI on the FDA back and forth with somebody said it was
a document they have. I forget a development document of how you put those safeguards on there. Put a few different safeguards. I love it. I love how it works. Those safeguards are important. VPNs, all this great stuff. We have to educate our parents as well
uh how to help their children. Especially with the AI, we seen uh somebody from this district, the two subway surfing girls. Okay, those algorithms got that girl on top of that subway train. That's when AI becomes dangerous. But what happens? We have the parents come in and say, "Hey, let me
talk." We have the schools come in and say, "Hey, let's talk about this. Let's talk about these dangerous algorithms." All right. There's this girl two girls who are dead. So, we need to put the algorithms in place to do safeguards. Trust me, I know
a lot about the AI. And I'm not excited. I was scared just like you. But it's either you're going to move with it or you're not. And you're going to get left behind. We don't want our children to get left behind. We want them to move with the technology. Do what you want. Your parents are not. Thank you.
So online >> Elizabeth please unmute yourself. >> Hi >> just one second. Hello, >> Elizabeth. >> Yep. Hi, I'm here. >> No, I don't. It's not hard. Yeah.
>> Am I Should I talk? Sorry. >> One second. >> Trying to get the audio. Okay, you're good. >> There you go. >> Okay. Um, I will be very brief because I'm in the middle of putting my kids to bed, but I have three elementary school age kids and I just um I really am
grateful for all the points that Kelly made because I really am concerned about um the use of AI in elementary school in particular, but just I it feels to me like the unregulated wild west that's like, you know, not good for our kids'
brains and they um I yeah I just feel like it's not what our kids need to learn all the skills and human and foster human connection and you know develop all the things you're supposed to learn especially in elementary school but obviously in middle school also. Um,
so yeah, I just wanted to support and um the things that Kelly was saying because I I really appreciate it and it does feel like our kids are are kids and the system is vulnerable to I don't know all the money that's being made through AI
and with the edtech companies. Um, so yeah, I just wanted to make those points. >> Thank you so much. Lisa Anin, can you please unmute yourself? >> Hi everyone. Thank you. Kelly, thank you so much for all of your points. I am um
an author, an illustrator, and the parent of two elementary school age children. And I want to talk about both regular tech use in the class and AI. Um uh so one of the things Kelly talked about was how um we uh the science
behind uh that's being the research being done proving that kids are learning less from screens than they used to. And so our brains have evolved to learn from humans, not from screens. And my kindergartener, if I may tell you, when I ask her um if they read a
story at school today, nine times out of 10, her teacher has not read them the story. She's pulling up a YouTube video and having somebody a video read them the story from the screen. I don't need my kindergartener listening to somebody on YouTube reading them a story. I want my kindergartener, my kindergarten
teacher to be pointing at things in the book and to be connecting with my child. There is no need for that. And of course, if you're pulling up YouTube, the kids are then watching ads and it's not a paid account, so they're not able to get rid of that. Um, I also want to make folks aware that at PS 102, the
tech teacher is currently teaching kids how to use generative AI to create art. Um, generative AI is unethical. It's immoral. It has been trained on personally my artwork without any consent. It's illegal. And if you go into an elementary school and ask any
child if they are an artist, they will answer you, "Yes, I am an artist." We don't need to teach kids to have a computer generate pictures for them or generate images. What we should be teaching the kids, if you want to talk about keeping up with technology, the gold standard for art, digital art, is
Photoshop. And the DOE has a license for Photoshop. Why aren't the computer teachers teaching them how to use digital technology to make art? Not have the computer draw for them, but to actually use the tools we have. Photoshop is like having a digital paintbrush. It's not the computer
drawing for you. It is you as a person learning how to draw using a digital paintbrush. It is a very different animal. Um I really would like to see um District 20 take a hard stance against this. Um you know, the evidence is so
clear. Our kids aren't learning as well and they're just I mean the generations are getting stupider. That's what the evidence is showing. Um I want my kids learning from people and I don't want AI in their classrooms or in their schools. Uh, thank you very much.
>> Thank you so much. Anybody else want to speak? >> All right. I I want to say something before we finish up uh our meeting. Uh like Jesse Jackson just passed away during Chinese New Year. So, I just
wanted to take a minute for us all to save him because he was a prominent New York City civil rights activist. So, you know, he passed away this um Ramadan and the start of Chinese New Year. So, I just want to mention him because he was a prominent figure when I was growing up
and we haven't talked about him. And it was Black History Month last month. So, and he was a person that also advocated for equity and social justice. So CC20 and you know our district should mention him. Thank you.
>> Thank you. >> Thank you so much Elizabeth. >> Maro, are you on? >> Yes, I'm on. I'm so sorry. I'm I'm I'm having a lot of internet issues tonight. >> Did you want me to bring up the um >> Yes, please. >> Okay.
>> So, um last Friday we had uh um special education committee meeting. Uh we went over um some of the goals that we went over was um building uh a comprehensive um resource list for our families with
um accessible links in just one place to make it easy for our families to find um the information that they need. Um because we do know that one of the problems that many of us have when it comes to um getting information for our special education um students is just
locating the information. So, that's one of the goals we're working on. Um, we also have been working on um getting um presentations um dealing with um early interventions and English language learners when it comes to um special education
and um by be that presentation will be done by include NYC. Um we also have um a presentation that's going to be upcoming with the um special department um dial. So we So in the next couple months,
those are what we're going to um be presenting because we want to make sure we bring the information to the families and we want to um introduce them to the special um the DA team. So like in case any issues that they're having with the school that families feel that the
school isn't helping with, you know, they do know these are the people to go to that will help um resolve their issues and help them get like like like a real, you know, solution. So that's some of the goals we're working on. And
one of the things that was mentioned was um seeing if we could um have somebody from summerrising come on and discuss um getting to summerrising especially with uh students with disabilities. So some those are some of the goals that we're working on and hopefully we'll be get
those presentations and those people um to attend the committee meeting to really be able to answer the questions that our families need besides working on this resource list. So, if there are any of our families out there that have any resources that they have used that
have been really helpful for them, please email the CC email so we could um create like a comprehensive list and share it out to um our families on our website. So, that that'll be great. And please continue to advocate for um the families of special education because as
we see a lot of them um continue to not get the services that they need and we want to make sure that they do that. Thanks, John. Thank you, Tamara. That concludes the second public speaking. The last item on the calendar meeting agenda is approval of the minutes from
last month's meeting. Kevin, can you please share the minutes on the screen? Are there any changes to the minutes? If there are no changes to the minutes, they are approved without a vote. The minutes are approved.
This concludes our March CC20 calendar meeting. Is there a motion to adjurnn? >> Motion. >> Is there a second? >> All in favor? >> The me and journed. Our next calendar meeting is on April 15th, Wednesday, 6
p.m. at 229 Dika at 1400 Benson Avenue. Thank you everyone for attending. Thank you interpreters. Please stand by for the business meeting. Thank you. Do you guys want to go solid or you want to break?
>> You guys good with uh go forward? >> Keep going. >> Keep going. >> All right. Good evening. Welcome to March CC20 business meeting. Now Lynn, can you please take roll call attendance?
>> Okay. So we get start for the uh business meeting. John, >> thank you so much. here. >> Elizabeth >> here. >> May Steven >> here.
>> Excused. I'm here. Oh, he's there. >> Okay. Arena here. Kevin's off. Kevin. >> Okay. Tonight we have an interpretation in Arabic, Mandarin, and Spanish. You should see these interpreters names in the participant list, and they will post
the information in the chart chat, chart, whatever. They will now share directions for anyone who would need interpretation for the meeting. Could our Arabic interpreter please introduce yourself? I need water. >> Yes. Hello, this is Aler and I am the
Arabic interpreter for today. much. Can our Mandarin interpreter please introduce yourself? >> Hello, how are you? This is Sophia. Uh, the plan will be in Mandin. demanding announcements complete.
>> Thank you so much. Can our Spanish interpreter please introduce yourself? Spanish is on. >> Thank you so much. As a reminder to speakers, please try to speak slower than usual to allow interpreters to keep up. Now, we will
share the agenda for tonight's business meeting. Kevin, can you please share the agenda? So, old business approval of February business meeting minutes. Yeah. >> What? >> Business meeting minutes.
>> No. Uh, you didn't finish. I'm sorry. >> Okay. >> All right. Now, >> if you could overlook the business meeting minutes. Are there any changes to the minutes? If there are no changes, the minutes are approved without a vote.
Next is new business. Alina Kelly for the legislative refs. >> Yes, we have a date. It is confirmed for Friday, May 8th. So, everybody mark their calendars. The time is, what was the time again? >> 9 to 11.
>> 9 to 11. Um, and yeah, we'll be working on getting the invites out to the electeds. If there's any elected still on here, I'm sure they already logged off. Um, but save the date, but we'll reach out to them directly and um, yeah, make sure that all of you guys hopefully
can come. Thank you. Kevin, do we need to move any money at this time right now for the legislative graphics? Are we good? We're set. >> Okay, we're good. Yeah, we're good. All right. >> Any else? Anybody else? >> Anybody else have any other business
they want to bring up? Anybody else? Stephen, please. >> Should I mention this summer program New York City? There is a deadline at the end of March. So, anybody interested in it may want to apply. And for our
district 75 children and parents, there are two sites. There's one right within our CC20 over at location is 464. It's on I think believe it's uh 73rd or 15th Avenue. Um that's one site. The other one's on the other side of Brooklyn on
Hester Street. And a mistake that uh to avoid if you're a district 75 parent and you want your children to keep their summer service, you can. And then summer rising will be an enrichment program
from 2:30 to 6. So that's just an option because it seems some parents uh mistakenly opted out unknowingly of their district 75 services because they thought they would have to say take summarizing for the whole thing. So
that's just something to be aware of. And I had emailed you um a lady at like I don't know how that works with presentations, but I think that might be a good idea because it uh she spoke on the
state aspect of funding of our New York City schools and how the there is inequity. So that was just something that um I heard her presentation for CCD75 on first Avenue and I think that's something that members of our committee
here and also the families and the public should be aware of so that they can take it to their representatives to take that to all because New York City is still getting a short end of it. Thank you. >> Thank you Stephen. If you wanted to, you
could reach out to her and uh just include the next dates that we have going forward with the calendar meetings and you could just invite her if you wanted to. Just let us know myself and Kevin if you want to invite her. If you want to invite her, you could do so.
Just let me and Kevin know. >> I don't know how that works. >> Okay, >> I I'll do it for you. That concludes our March CC20 business meeting. Is there a motion to adjourn? >> Uh Fabola has >> Oh, hold on. Fabiola has some business.
Sorry, Fabiola. >> Oh, good. Proceed. >> I I have a question about >> Hold on one second. Hold on. now you're killing me over here. >> Is Fabula, can you try again?
>> Yeah. Can you guys hear me now? >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Okay. Thank you. Um I have a question for Alina. Alina, you say the date is April 9th. >> Um, May 8th. Friday, May 8th.
>> Okay. Okay. Thank you. Cuz I was worried that it might be April and that's a spring break. >> That's great. Yeah. Yeah. We went back and forth with the date. It's Friday, May 8th. So hopefully you can. >> Perfect. Okay. And let me know if you
need anything. Um, I can support. >> Oh, thank you. Yes, we will. I think that's it. That's it. >> Okay. This concludes our month our March CC20 business meeting. Is there a motion to adjurnn? Is there a second? All in
favor? The meeting is adjourned. Our next business meeting is on April 15, 2026 at PS229 at 1400 Benton Avenue. Thank you everyone for attending. Thank you interpreters. You are dismissed.
>> Thank you guys.