All righty. Here we go. Good morning, everyone. Uh, good morning colleagues, district staff, and members of the public. I'd like to call to order the committee of the whole for Tuesday, October 7th. Today's committee of the whole brings us together at a moment of
urgency, responsibility, and unity. Across the nation, harmful policies and rhetoric are creating fear and instability for immigrant families, stripping away essential education and health supports, and threatening the
dignity and safety of our students and their families. As chair of this committee, I want to be unmistakably clear. LUSD will never stand idle by while our students and families are
under attack. We will confront these harms directly, defend our communities with urgency, and strengthen the partnerships that make our schools sanctuaries of dignity, equity, and justice. This morning we are honored to
welcome Miss Anelica Casales, executive director of Chila and Council General Carlos Gonzalez Gutierrez, whose leadership in protecting immigrant communities reminds us that our schools do not stand alone. We are part of a
broader movement of justice and solidarity. We will also hear from our district leaders on how we are strengthening our we are one campaign and expanding multilingual supports and ensuring that every child and every family feels protected, valued, and
supported. Before we move into our presentations, I'd like to thank our labor partners, city officials, and community organizations and students who join us here today. Your presence grounds our work in the realities of our
communities and reminds us why this fight matters. With that, let's uh begin uh the meeting with remarks from our labor partners. So, if you have labor partners here present, we'd love to hear from you. We have here UTLA. Hi,
Venezuela. I'm the director of the political action and community organizing division at UTLA. Uh this morning I'm accompanied by Ils Escobar, an organizer with our political action and community organizing team. Um, we actually planning, we were invited to make a presentation during the cow
meeting today. Later on, our officer Maria Miranda, which is our point on immigration, our immigration justice work at UTLA, but she fell ill and couldn't make it. So, Elsa and I are going to do our best to at least um lift up a couple of issues that we thought were important not to uh not to ignore.
So, um I'll get started. So these are intense and dangerous times for our students, families, and educators. The community is counting on all of us. The current administration has at least unleashed horrendous violence and
inhumanity upon our immigrant communities for nine months now. These attacks have caused a negative impact on our LUSD students, families, educators, and communities as a whole. And it only promises to get worse. Our school communities need us right here to come
together and to collaborate on best ways to support them. Now more than ever, the community is counting on all of us. It is critical for us to work together to fight the Trump administration's attacks on our communities and defend our constitutional rights to ensure that our
schools are safe for our children and their families. 2025 started with the fires. Our educators were there. UTLA was there. We fundraised for members and community. We advocated at city hall and at the board of supervisors for common sense rent
protections and supporting our communities in their time of loss. Then it was ICE in our streets followed closely by the military. And we've been there. We've been in the streets and we've been in the classrooms and will continue to be there empowering our educators as we organize to protect our
students and our communities. We expected attacks on our immigrant communities after no last November. So for almost a year now, we have been actively working to support our immigrant communities. We've trained our members on district policy. We've trained and encouraged our members to
participate in their local school leadership councils, develop and enforce safety plans to keep ICE out of our schools. We are currently training our members to establish campus-based sanctuary teams to ensure that our community school uh that our school communities develop systems and structures to communicate and mobilize
accordingly wherever there's a presence of ICE and or other mercenaries or federal agents looking to kidnap our kids and separate our families. On the first day of school, August 14th, we organized welcome back to school activities across the district. Educators together with parents and over
60 community organizations joined us early in the morning to welcome back our students and families with the promise that we will fight to keep our students safe. We have been fighting and we will continue to fight. We have offered trainings to our members in the community at large covering know your rights trainings, family preparedness
plans, and social emotional supports. We include updates on immigration issues during our monthly chapter meetings to ensure that all of our members are up to date on policies affecting our communities. UTLA is part of Chile's LA Rapid Response Network and support and support our our members in participation
in voluntary community patrols led by community self-defense coalition. All of this to protect our to protect students, families, staff, and our community. We have done this and much more, but there is so much more for all of us together
to do. Since February, the district and UTAL have engaged in contract negotiations. We've seen a little, unfortunately, we've seen very little movement. We need an agreement now because our protections are needed now, not months from now. In addition to the breadandbut issues that
we will always negotiate for, right? like our salaries, protection or health care benefits, smaller class sizes, appropriate staffing, and much more. We have presented important contract language that lift the common good for our students and communities, including housing rights, investment on black
student achievement and community schools, supporting our LGBTQIA communities, school greening, and immigrant justice. Our proposal calls for protections for our educators who are in the front line supporting our students. They also include supports for our students and
their families directly. We need to ensure that these protections and supports are available for all. Just a couple examples with our contract calls for regarding immigration justice specifically protection of safe zones for students, parents, community members, administrators, and all staff. Expansion of partnerships with legal
clinics, organizations that will facilitate the provisions of low to no cost legal services to immigrant students and their families. continued professional development for all educators to help implement, support, uplift, and enforce our sanctuary policies, and much more.
As I'm sure you can tell, we here today are largely aligned on the work to protect our students and educators. We are working with community organizations and labor partners across the district to support and protect our school communities, and we hope to continue to
be able to do that work with LUSD. It's time to do the right thing for educators in LA USD. We need to settle our contract and let's focus on the work that our students and families are expecting. This work is too critical, y'all. This work is too important for
our students and community to do nothing less to focus and put our minds and hearts on defending our communities. But we need to settle settle a dignified contract. Next week, you'll be voting to ratify a contract extension for Superintendent Carvalo.
UTLA members contract expired in June. Other educators contract expired in 2024. Come on, G. Let's get to it. Let's settle these contracts. We call on our We call on you to work with UTLA and other labor partners to address the immigrant justice. We call on you to
work with UTLA and other labor partners to settle just and dignified contracts for all educators. Let's stop threatening at the bargaining table. Let's stop threatening our funding for community schools. Stop threatening to take away our members health care uh healthcare coverage.
Let's support community efforts to establish safe passages and community patrols. We will establish them. We are working with our community and our members. We're going to establish them with or without LUSD, but we hope it's with LUSD because I know we can do better together.
Let's provide legal supports for all youth on all issues. It's time folks. We call on you to work with our labor partners in settling dignified contracts for educators, for students, and for the community. You have our commitment to work on this. We are asking for yours.
>> Okay. Thank you, Mario. Um I will continue on with just like to put a a few finer points on some of the statements just shared uh for the return of the school um adoptive school August 14. I know a lot of you here in the audience as well and and um in the day
is were out there making sure that on the very first day folks and little ones and their families felt safe just coming back to school. If you were out there on August 14th, let me hear a snap real quick in the audience. Yeah, if you were out there on August 14th because you knew that we are going to like not we
have to be on every platform to tell families that we want them in our schools, that these are our schools first of all. and um that they can be as safe as possible. So um appreciate hearing that because you know we we did see Chila's here, Gessence here, some of
the community orgs that were that adopted more than one school y'all um to make sure that there was Chila staff out there with the shirts next to um uh school site uh the school shirts. So like you could really feel um that it is
a really a community message, not contrived because it's not like some script someone's following. It's because everyone knew it was the right thing to do for kids in LA. Um, real quick, since I was in elementary school, I wish that when I graduated high school, there'd be immigration reform. And, um, there
wasn't. When I graduated in 2006, then when I went to Pasadena City College and was going to graduate at UCLA, I graduated 2011. I had hoped that there'd be immigration reform, and there hasn't been one that affected me since. And now it's 2025 and um the major immigration
policy we've needed for so long to change hasn't and in fact it's backsliding a lot these days and um with the current federal administration. So some things we've learned from being part of the rapid response is a change in landscape. So there was um for folks
that experienced a fire before and after January 7th and then for in addition for us in LA we had that and then 6 months later you add in before and after June 6. Uh there uh June 6 the escalated raids there's been raids before June 6
and there will continue to be even post the troops being here but post June 6 there's been a change in what it means to train people on know your rights. um before June 6 we could do um we had a good understanding of what the constitution could offer but it's been
you all seen it severely deteriorating so to explain that in a know your rights uh training for both parents students and then we have to explain even more that I know this may not feel like you have constitutional rights right now and it because that's the truth it just doesn't feel like there's any
protections from the courts legally um and what we've what's come become true is that we are going to prot protect each other still even plob we need some legal like record of what's happening so we're going to continue to explain that
to folks as we're doing again post know your rights trainings post Jan June 6 uh to uh on the issue of being a good employer um you've been a model of resistance for people all in the nation and I would argue uh globally as well
because in the summer um we had a summer of resistance here LA a bunch of things happen globally to protect our rights from um Nepal, Indonesia here. So we we're influencing a global movement. Um but it's on behalf of the workingclass
people. Um, and so as a as a model, um, we're pushing on the fringes. And as a DACA recipient myself, I ask that we please have, um, one you, one of the biggest employers, consider our proposals to protect folks with immigration issues, if they're
kidnapped, ab abducted, detained, our educators should be able to return to work. There should be a grace period. We've offered a range like about five years to come back to work. unpaid days, 10 unpaid days, um which if they're unpaid, you should be paid, but 10 days
to handle immigration issues, citizenship issues. We've offered that at the table. We haven't heard back. Um and um on the issue of retaining uh and hiring staff on board, the federal government is making job offers for
awful jobs to with bonuses to hire and terrorize our families with mass vigilantes. you instead have the chance to commit to retain and hire for other better jobs. Educators, let's use our funds in every way to choose that over
uh not so great jobs really. Um and so lastly on the point of these sanctuary teams and safety plans, we've been working with you all on um just using some of the school's existing structures structures. The schools can have um safety plans on um all types of things
and they do depending on the school. One of those could be on immigration enforcement and we should encourage schools to use their um uh LSLC's, SSC's, their safety committees to go through their plan to bolster the um ref
uh reference guide uh guidelines in 6767.4. So there's really good guidelines there on and it's what pro protected us during Russo and Lillian last year, but there's some gray areas in that in that in that um guideline. And so that those gray
areas around what do we do if the they show up and they it's an open campus and these agents come in. Do we have a designated area to contain and deescalate um immigration enforcement agents? That's not clear in the current guidelines. So we think that the safety
committees could really come up with good plans for their schools. So um we we hope that together we can encourage schools to create sanctuary teams, community sanctuary teams uh and then have safety plans um with your support because if the principles need to hear
from you all uh so so that they know that the plans um you agree with that with that policy because it's not so clear in the reference guide. That is it. Um maybe I'll end one more time. Um, if you all support immigrants and this is and LA, if it's a safe place for
immigrants, make some clapping. Yeah. All right. Gracias to thank you so much. >> Thank you so much. Thank you for um your words and your remarks and for highlighting the dedicated work that our teachers are focused and dedicated to,
which is our LUSD students. Every day, our educators do far more than teach lessons. Alongside our administrators, our principles, they create safe and welcoming spaces for students. We see teachers and administrators stepping up to support children who are anxious
about immigration enforcement, helping families navigate difficult situations, and making sure every student feels protected and valued. These are challenging and uncertain times. Federal actions and policy shifts are stoking fear and disrupting the sense of
security our schools work so hard to build. Now more than ever, we must close ranks as a district and stand united against overreach that threatens the well-being of our students and ensure our schools remain places of trust. We
know that safety and support depend on everyone. Our teachers, administrators, counselors, classified staff, plant managers, and so many others who care for our children every single day. To our labor partners across the district,
know that we are committed to you and stand with you to working together and to building the safest, strongest learning environments possible. We will continue the work side by side to keep our campuses welcoming and safe for all
students and families. We value the efforts to create school-based sanctuary teams and will collaborate to ensure students feel secure and safe and supported in sanctuary in our sanctuary schools. We now turn the very heart of
today's agenda. Dignity and justice for all, defending students, families, and schools across Los Angeles and across our nation. Our communities of color, our immigrant communities are under attack. We see it in efforts to strip
away resources from our schools and attempts to silence immigrant families and polic and in policies that cut health care, nutrition supports, and rhetoric that fuels fear and division. Our response must be unwavering. When
our students and families are targeted, LUSD stands firm. We will not allow fear to dictate who belongs in our schools. We will not accept efforts to weaken the dignity or safety of our communities. We will defend our families with clarity,
with urgency, and without compromise. To ground us in this work, I'd like to now invite our superintendent Carvalo to share some remarks on how we as a district continue to act decisively to ensure every one of our schools remains
true sanctuary where students, families, and communities are defended. Mr. Superintendent. >> Thank you very much uh Vice President uh Rivas and good morning to everyone uh who's here uh in the audience and everyone in our community who in a very
decisive manner um has chosen to pick the right side of history and the right side of law particularly when it comes to the protection of our students, the protection of our workforce and protection of families in our communities. Let me begin by acknowledging first and
foremost the resolution approved by this board reaffirming our principles, our values, and the protections that as a district we offer to our students, our workforce, and the families we serve. We do this not only as a matter of
professional responsibility, and that is a heavy professional responsibility, but also based on a morally compelling reason to do what's right. In addition to that, we do so because we are legally required to do so. And I
want to be very clear about this as some in our state and across the nation challenge our position on the basis of its legality. The Constitution of the United States of America guarantees without any doubt under its equal protection clause guarantees a free
public education for all students, all young people in this great land of ours regardless of immigration status. That has been a protection that's been in place since the early 1980s. It has been tested in the US US Supreme Court under
the Plyer versus DOE case. The law has not changed. Therefore, we have a professional, moral and legal responsibility to protect our children. Secondly, our protections are well grounded on a basis of confidentiality
and privacy rights extended to our children and their families. We do not ask for nor do we maintain immigration status information our school district. Therefore, we have never been in the position nor shall we ever be in a position of providing such information
to any entity local, state or federal. In addition to that, there is the so-called inloas requirement. In Latin, that means that in the absence of a parent, we as educators stand as
the protective entity on behalf of those students. We would do all that we can to protect students under our care. What parent would ever allow a federal agent to knock on one's door and interview a
child or put their hands on a child or rip a child from the protective walls of a school or the loving arms of a family. So on the basis of those three legal standards, no, we have never nor shall
we ever be in a position of breaching the sacred contract we have with our students and their families. The protective protocols we have taken, I'll speak about some while leaving some alone uh for uh for the purpose of
continuing to ensure uh the protective measures we have for some of our families. Let's begin with the training and the affirmation of what we stand for done last year in October of 2025 when we launched LUSD 2025. We are one. Back
then, we affirmed the tenants of the resolution approved by this board and unanimously approved by this board. In addition to that, we began the process of developing packets of information, the red cards explaining rights to our
parents and students in a multitude of languages, collaborating with entities who are being recognized here today, such as Chilea and yes, our labor partners, bringing everybody under the same tent for the purposes of being coherent and effective in the training
of our workforce and the training of our parents. We didn't stop there. We developed close communication protocols, rapid communication protocols. We extended the presence of safe passage entities, not only to deal with gang issues, vehicular
safety uh issues in our community, but also to be um watchful eyes, particularly in certain communities that have been so targeted by federal immigration actions. We didn't stop there. We created a compassion fund that
has stepped in to provide legal support through third-party entities through the effective collaboration with our office of general counsel. And no, we did not stop there. We partnered with cities uh
across uh our jurisdiction, not only the city of Los Angeles, but a number of other municipalities to ensure that no coordinated police action involving those city cities would be done around our schools or anywhere in our
community. And then yes, we declared to the federal government that there were additional steps that needed to be taken such as no enforcement of immigration actions by any federal agency within two blocks of any school one hour prior to
and 1 hour after the dismissal of students. We do not have sidewalks for immigrants and sidewalks for everyone else in our communities. Everybody walks the same sidewalk to school, the sidewalk of hope and opportunity. These
are the right steps to be taken. We continue to monitor and have been successful in releasing one of our students from one facility. We continue to work with legal entities and we don't discuss this much to have the release of
one of our students was apprehended for the simple crime of walking a dog on a Saturday morning. That is not our America. Our America does not consent to or condone or accept the handcuffing of a child with
disabilities with communication issues in front of one of our high schools. even if it's a matter of mistaken identity. That is not our nation, that is not our community, that certainly is not our district. We remain committed as I close to partner with our labor
entities. There are issues that we will continue to have discussions and conversation about. But let me be clear. There is no daylight that separates no daylight that separates the willingness, the strength, the desire,
the values and principles embraced by every one of our labor partners and those embraced by this administration and this school board. Period. That is the one place without a doubt where we stand in unison. We stand
strong with arms locked in protection of our students and their families. As an immigrant myself, I understand the journey. So for me, it is with honor and pride, honor and pride that I wear the
mantle of an immigrant to this country. And if this nation has served me well with the education that I possess today, it is my personal responsibility alongside this honorable board to ensure that that opportunities is granted to
every single child in our community. This is who we are. We are one. We are Los Angeles unified. We are the future of our community. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, superintendent, for
your words. It is now my honor to welcome Miss Anelica Salas, executive director of Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights LA, also known as Chirila. Miss Sales has been a tireless leader in defending immigrant rights, building rapid
response networks, and ensuring that families have the information, support, and protections they need to withstand these threats. Her voice is essential in reminding us that the struggles of our students and families, what they face are not abstractions. They are lived
realities that demand urgent action and strong advocacy. Thank you so much for being here. The floor is yours, Misales. >> Um, thank you so much for having me. Again, my name is Anelica Gas Sales, proudly executive director of the Coalition U for Humane Immigrant Rights, whose mission is to create a just
society fully inclusive of immigrants and to advance the human and the civil and labor rights of immigrants. Um I want to begin uh first and foremost by thanking each and every one of you uh for your leadership. Superintendent Alberto Carvalo uh we deeply appreciate
your moral um stance, your voice in these um very difficult times. So I want to begin with gratitude. I also want to thank all teachers, counselors, all school administrators who have stood with us. I want to thank UTLA for
fighting alongside us for our students um in every way. Um this is a moment where um I want you to understand um given the attack that we had confronted, you are heroes. You are on the right side of history. Um and we need to
continue to partner in order for us to to move forward. So thank you. I want to begin there. Um so a little bit about Chura. Um, Chura was founded in 1986 um to advance, I said, um, the human and the civil rights of immigrants and refugees. We
organize our immigrant community. Um, so we work directly with low-wage immigrant workers. We work with students in high schools and in colleges. Um, we also are one of the largest legal service providers. So, um, currently we're also, um, representing individuals who are
facing detention and deportation. Um we are um we're um we work directly with um our families also to find protection uh in terms of legalization if if there is family unity opportunities if they can become citizens of the United States any
way by which to protect them. Um we um also do mass education of our community. Um and I really want to say um we are so proud to be part of the we are one program. Um since its inception and since um we began after November 5th of
uh actually of of last year in doing our know your rights programs we have educated over 105,000 individuals and trained over 250 organizations. We are proud partners with you and Karesen and others in know extending that know your
rights information to our communities. And I want everybody to understand how critical this information is around constitutional rights. And we can and this is not just about know your rights uh for immigrants. It is about know your rights or your constitutional rights,
your labor rights, your rights in this country for all people irrespective of your immigration status. So we need to extend these know your rights programs to all parents to all families because we are seeing the impact on a whole. Um
we also run the rapid response network um that includes over now um 80 organizations and over a thousand300 volunteers throughout the entire Los Angeles um region. Um we are working with you as well to advocate at the
state level at the local and at the state level and have been able to win um pro further protections for our community including passing AB49 which extends further protection for our schools SB98 that requires um
notification if ICE is anywhere near a school facility. We will work with you on that. I'm also here to ask to extend uh further assistance to pass AB495. This is the caregiver affidavit program um um that has been around for over 30
years um that is used in order for parents to then uh ensure that they can have a a caregiver of their designation without losing parental rights. um so that if they are detained or deported they can then um make sure that there is
a caring and responsible adult to take the child to school to take them to the hospital. Um we have seen significant opposition uh on the right side uh on what I would say um irresponsible
um opposition on the uh on this on this bill. We ask you as you have supported us in this to double down. Um this um bill um is now passed the state legislature is now on the governor's desk. We need to make sure that we get
we are we uh we support it and it gets over the finish line. Um I want to give you also a report on what we have actually witnessed um and um and what continues to happen. So, um, while a lot of attention has now focused in Chicago
and Illinois, New York and Portland, I want you to understand that we still have ICE, Border Patrol, FBI, DEA, um, HSI, and so many other federal agencies still in our communities. Um, there uh, we continue to witness mass violation of
constitutional right rights, um, extrajudicial arrest, warrantless arrests. Um since um uh the time since June, we've received over 17,000 calls on our rapid response h hotline. Um we
have actually now um have witnesses of arrests by our community confirmed 822 um enforcement actions. And I need you to understand that from June to the present um and this is only a subset of all the arrests in the in the region.
But that means that somebody witnessed uh uh their neighbor, their coworker being arrested. 822 um uh of those sightings. Um right now working with immigrant defenders, GDS public council and many others. Um we
have a list of over,500,563 uh families um who have reported to our hotline that their family member is in detention. Majority of course are live are um live in LA city and LA County area. Um it is important for us to note
that um what we do through our rapid response network is quickly connect people to legal support and what we have um noticed as we have engaged directly with the families is that um in many instances they're taking um the main
bread winner of that family. Um but they're also the kind the manner in which the individuals are arrested is so violent and so significant that it really causes significant trauma for the family. And of course, um, not only are they now dealing how they're going to
continue to provide for their families in terms of advance in in their livelihood, but then, um, they're also dealing with how are we going to together ensure that my, um, the individual is able to be reunited with their family, which is so difficult.
Inside detention centers, the detention center situation is deplorable. Again, abuse of every single kind. um coercion in having people sign their voluntary departure. Many times the families outside are the ones that are saying
just stay strong, stay strong. Um we're getting help. Um do not sign away your rights. Um you'll hear more from our council general in terms of some of the what he has also witnessed. Um and and also the arrests continue to be at garment factories, day labor centers,
nursing homes, car washes, um metro stations. to so many uh situations in which people have been detained walking or in um putting gas in their car uh or vending in the sidewalks. Um the other thing that I want to share with you is
the the massive level of racial profiling. Um so we have um actually um collected the data of all these enforcement actions that we that have come through our hotline. Majority of the enforcement happens in zip codes
where um there's a high percentage of Latino population, black population. So, it's people of color communities in the region. So, they've very targeted as to where they're going to uh enforce the law, but in or enforce uh do this type
of enforcement. Um, but the other thing that I also want you to note is that in many instances, the places where they're targeting are also cities that are run by um, black mayors, Latino mayors. So, it's important for us to understand that they're also looking at who's in
leadership at all levels. So, believe me, they notice who's in leadership at LUSD Unified. Um, so this is something that I think we continue to um, uplift. Um so uh I want to go into a little bit more in terms of impact on youth. Um so
our children are living with fear of family separation. Um seeing active military in places like of course in their parks um and other um ne and throughout their neighborhoods. Um a lot of our students um state they are it's have they're having a very difficult time concentrating and our students are
also balancing family responsibilities and school. Um students are have um having to take uh the role of caregiver. They're now responsible for econom economic responsibilities. Um students that we work with um have um in in their
family with uh undocumented and citizen children have to step up uh for their parents. Um many times they're the the only ones especially if they are they have undocumented parents and they are the US citizen child. They're the only one that can visit the person in detention. So then they're also dealing
with that interaction as well. Um they have to juggle school work and and just support their respons and other responsibilities. Um I also want to um speak a little bit about our newcomer populations. We work together in receiving um so many children and
families um who had come who had just recently arrived from South America, Central America, Mexico. um you were part partners in that re uh regards. Um in many of our dream resource centers where we have so many newcomers um we have unaccompanied children, recent
arrivals who are just scared. Many of their parents are losing work permits and are losing statuses that they thought um was was protecting them. Um so cheerless youth work, we work as I stated uh and our program is called WiseUp um in our high schools. We're in
18 high schools in in the district. We also run the California Dream Network um center. And so together it extends to over 40 student high school and college groups across California. And I really want to just say that this is um the reason we organize our youth is because
we believe that they are leaders today, not in the future, but also because we want to make sure that they take full advantage of all the um programs that we have won in order for them to continue their education, which is instate tuition, access to financial aid, access
to resources so that they can fulfill the dream that their parents had for them when they came to this country. Um I also am really proud to say that Chura um has been responsible and passed legislation in order for us um to have our dream resource centers. First we did
it in the colleges um where we passed legislation to have dream resource centers. We also worked with a legislature to have an allocation a budget allocation so any dream resource center in the college campus could also um have a dream liaison paid for by the
state. Um we then passed legislation in order to have um dream resource centers in high schools. We're so proud of our partnership with you on that. Um we have not won the allocation yet. We are still fighting for $15 million so that you any district can draw down state dollars in
order to pay for these dream resource centers, but that didn't stop you. You allocated district funds in order for us to have the dream resource centers that that we currently um uh have. And I just want to say that it is incredible partnership that we've partnered with
you at Belmont High School, Bernstein High School, Vanise High School, Monroe High School, and we're ready to expand dream resource centers throughout LA USD. I want to commend this board and Superintendent Carvalo. You are the first in the nation to do dream resource
centers. This is so important for you to understand. You're setting, you're at the vanguard of this support. And why are these dream resource centers so important? Because children and their parents can go to a place of safety. They can talk to the advisor on all of the issues that we I'm describing
without fear of being outed or misunderstood. They matter. We have to continue this process and we will work to get more resources to our district so we can continue to do this. Um finally, I will conclude with the following. Um we we need to continue to work together.
Um we need to support financial support for our students. Our kids need school supplies, school clothes, all of these um that we we we just need to understand the basics is what our community needs. Um we support UTLA and asking um uh all our schools to
be protected. We um support safe passage, safe zones, um more legal services in our community. We are there's so much impact in our communities that we need more support in terms of legal services because not only are we responding to the newly detained
but also people who are going to court just doing the the work that they're doing. Many people who were non-detained who were facing removal um uh situations and deportation defense. Um and so just our our volley the volume is so huge. Continue the training with our teachers
and our counselors. Um they are the people that our children run to. Um we will continue to work on cash assistance um accessible to all undocumented populations and Chura is part of the immigrants RLA. We were able to win $30 million in the county for rental
assistance work for us work with us in order to ensure the parents have access to that support. And then um finally um I just want to say I I'll conclude with this. Um I was a child uh when I was in my my public school in elementary school
when my mother was detained at a garment factory. Um I'm the oldest in my family. My mother was taken alongside her co-workers and my aunt and my uncle. Um and they were taken um from their work site and deported back to Mexico. Uh I
was a child then and I didn't understand anything about immigration policy or law or any of the things that I know now. All I knew is I could go to my teacher um tell her what was going on. But I also um with my father um who found an immigrant organization, the immigrant um
the uh international institute of Los Angeles was a founding member of Churla. Um and we were able to go get help and eventually my mother was able to come back. We were able to legalize our status. Eventually, I became a US citizen. Um, I just want that for our
children. So, I double down on the on on this moment. We have to work together, but we also have to work together so our children have legal status, their parents have legal status, so that we can ne we will never again be this vulnerable um to the attacks of people
who just cannot affirm our human dignity. So, thank you so much again for all your support. Thank you so very much, Miss Anelica Casalas, for being here, for being an inspiration and motivating us and doing the right thing and being on the right
side of history. And know that yes, we will continue to work s alongside with you. And I also want to thank all of your staff and personnel because they have been right there as well. Also, I know we have a few of your um staff members here and we've worked with them
also closely. So, I want to thank you as well for being that those fighters and those luchadores. Thank you so much. Um you reminded us of the this fight is for dignity and for justice and the lives of their day of
the struggles of our parents and children our communities um are facing with fear exclusion and harm. And I just want to um share something that you mentioned um right now that happened to me as well with my mom. My mom also
worked at a um a garment factory when I was small and because my mom didn't have babysitter. she would take me with her and I remember playing with the um the loss elos and she would she would sit me on the side and I would play with the
things and then I remember one time everybody was running and my mom just grabbed me and I was running with her. I didn't know what was happening. All I know that there was fear. I must have been about four years old and um and then there was a truck that was blocking
the exit but somebody had left the doors open. So they slid the doors and I remember I would never forget this ever that we ran we we jumped on and on that van and we ran through the other side and we were just running and I never
knew what that was about until recently. There was La Migra was there. They came and and my mom just grabbed me and we just ran for our life and that's something that has stayed with me and never forget. So I just so this this is personal for you and for me and for so
many of us that are here. We are fighting because the trauma continues even after you're an adult. It triggers you and you're back to that fear. Um and so when you mention that, it just
everything just replayed in my head right now. So, um thank you for your courage and I want to thank our board and everyone that's here present for your courage as well because we're here to protect our children. We're here to protect families. We're here to protect
our city. Um, and this is something that we will never forget ever here in Los Angeles in our nation. So, thank you. Thank you so much for your courage and your clarity and your vision. Um, with that, I want to uh continue with our next presenter and I will leave after
him for some comments or questions that our board may have. But I want to um is my privilege to welcome our Mexican council general, Mr. Carlos Gonzalez Gutierrez up to the podium. Our council general's presence here today underscores that the defense of our
students and families extends beyond our district and beyond borders. His office provides critical protections from legal aid to documentation to crisis support that directly strengthens the stability of our communities. Our council general
here will deeply gre grateful Madame Vice President, um I want to say first and that I'm very proud, I'm deeply honored to be speaking um in front of
the LA Education Board, in front of uh your superintendent, in front of you all and sharing the floor with my friend Anel Casales. Um, I'm going to be brief. I want to
make three main points if I may. Just as Angelica did. My first point is just to express publicly on behalf of uh the Mexican consulate and I think I speak on behalf of Mexicans who live in Los
Angeles. uh the largest concentration of people of Mexican origin overseas. I want to express my gratitude for the strength of your voice in defense of your students.
Um, I think that uh, Superintendent Alberto Carvalo and the whole board have become a crucial voice of moderation and a crucial voice of defense
uh, of the right um to a quality and free public education to every student in Los Angeles, regardless of their immigration status. As our friends from UTLA
mentioned, I do believe that you have become a model for the rest of the nation. My second point is that for us at the Mexican consulate and I'm joined by my colleagues consul Sylvestri Rosco and
consul Miguel Sto and uh that represent uh the staff of the Mexican consulate in Los Angeles. for all of us. It's been truly a pleasure to work with uh you with your team at the school district in
many projects um almost on a daily basis. We have become friends of people in your staff, Mr. superintendent such as Lydia Costa Stephens, Antonia, Antonio Placencia, Alejandra Ramid,
Sarate and many others who have helped us in serving the community uh that we both serve in a school district in which 80% of your students are of Latino
origin, the vast majority of them of Mexican origin. It is incumbent upon us at the Mexican consulate to develop a special relationship with the district with each one of you. And that's going to be one of our top
priorities in the next few months and years. And just to make sure that you all have present what we have done uh in the last few months. Um although this is not the main purpose of our meeting, I just want to highlight and thank your
support for the first college university fair that we have done steps to college that we did in January of this year 2025. very difficult time to organize a university fair at the premises of the Mexican
consulate, but we did it thanks to the support of the LA Unified School District. And we will do it again in 2026 and 2027 and 2028. And we will make sure that it becomes an institutionalized in Los Angeles, that
it becomes a tradition and that the consulate serves also as a sanctuary for people for parents mostly who might believe that it is better to attend a university fair at the premises of the
Mexican consulate rather than at a university campus. This year as well, 2025 was also the first year in which we launched in great part thanks to your support and your help a new initiative
called Beas Alas. through Beasalas, the Mexican consulate with the support of many uh sponsors from the community will grant 200
uh scholarships of $1,000 each to graduates of high school uh institutions in the area of Los Angeles, 200. The vast majority of the people who won these grants and we will make public
their names uh tomorrow uh are graduates from your schools. So without your help we would not have been able to recruit them. And I'm sure that if we were able to offer 200 grants of
$1,000 each this year, we will we will be able to offer many more in the next few years because this is another of the projects that we want to institutionalize and to make sure that it become tradition in Los Angeles.
The third example that I want to mention real quick is an institution already created uh before my arrival in February of uh 2024. And that's the laia de lio leala
that promotes in such a strong way uh the bi bilingualism and Spanish as a language to learn and to use and to read through. And the the success of Leila is made possible
because of the support of the school district and the fact that you um bring to the Federia literally thousands of students from your school district to realize that it's not only okay but it's
a matter of pride to read in Spanish and to speak Spanish and to be bilingual. Um so we want to uh express our commitment to continue in these and many other projects that we
have already launched together and make sure that they grow um over the years to come. A fourth project that I'd like to mention uh has to do with the different webinars and know your rights workshops
in which both the school district and the um Mexican consulate have worked together in order to educate our communities in these very difficult and uncertain times. We want to multiply
those workshops. We want to partner with you in any time that you consider it um uh appropriate. We want to do our share and help you educate our community in
these uncertain times because the only defense against panic and against fear and against uncertainty is information. And with that I would like to finish with my third point. And my third point
has to do with sharing with you some of the statistics, hard data that we have been able to gather since June 6 when um immigration uh operations started in the
area of Los Angeles. As you know, thanks to the Vienna Convention on Consular uh relations, we as diplomats have full access to all detention centers in Southern California.
By instructions from uh President Claudia Sham and from the foreign ministry, consular staff have visited those detention centers daily. The most important one being ISB18 which
is located in downtown LA. We have visited them every day including weekends in order to provide direct assistance to Mex to Mexican nationals who have been
uh detained by immigration authorities. based on those visits during the first four months um of these operations from June 6 to October 6 of 2025.
We have interviewed 900 and 19 919 Mexican nationals. I'm only talking about Mexican nationals who con which constitute the largest national group of
immigrants. 919 Mexican nationals interviewed by the Mexican consulate since June 6 to October 6. Of those 83, 87%
are men. 116 12% are women. The vast majority of the people who have been detained are male. Of the 919,
386, which represent 42% have already been deported to Mexico. of the 919 only 28
which represents 3% let me repeat that in order that it sinks in only 3% of those who have been detained since
June 6 have been able to secure bail or uh obtain their freedom. As a result of a change of mind by immigration authorities, only 3% have
been able to get released from detention. The majority of them have established roots in this country. And how do we know that? Because 51%
of them have lived in the United States for more than 10 years. Many of them have lived here for two decades, many of them for three decades. And we have half a dozen who have lived in this country for four decades.
Almost 38% around 38% almost 40% around 38% of the 919 have children born in this country. Um
those who have um come from the construction sector are the vast majority of those detained. 15% worked in the construction sector before they were detained.
Uh 14% worked at a car wash. 11% were agricultural workers before they were detained. 8% were landscaping uh professionals, gardeners.
7% were um employees at the service sector. 6.5% were horneros, people who offered they their day labor at a Home Depot and so on and so forth. As you can see,
we are talking about people who have established roots in this country, who are at the peak of their uh productivity age, who are mostly male
and who are doing uh manual jobs. We will continue to do our works with our daily visits, including weekends, as I just said. We will be interviewing each Mexican
national that is detained and that accepts to talk to us. Um our job in each one of those interviews is in general to provide consular assistance which means one to connect with their
family members so that we could accompany them the family members throughout the whole process. Secondly, offer particular services such as recovery and return of belongings as
well as um advocacy efforts in case they have medical needs that have to be cared by um immigration authorities, taken care of by immigration authorities. And third, and more importantly, make sure
that each one of the Mexican nationals who have been detained have legal representation. Under certain circumstances, the Mexican consulate can offer legal advice and even contribute with funds to pay for the legal rep to
pay at least partially for the legal representation of these Mexican nationals. I want to stress that throughout 2025 we have offered 968
individual legal consultations paid by the Mexican government to Mexican nationals who have asked for our support. I want to end madame vice president to thanking again the board for inviting me and stressing that we
are here to our share and work closely together with you. Graciasim [Applause] gracias. Thank you so much um our
Mexican conser general for being here with us and for providing all of this information. Exactly. particularly the statistics of those who have been detained which demonstrates that those who have been detained are not criminals. They are out there they're work they're
here to work earn a living raise their families to do uh to be lawabiding citizens as much as possible. They're not citizens, but you know, they they're here to to honor our city and with their work
and all that they do. And um I want to thank you also for all that you do for our students as well from um you know the the scholarships and the college fairs and continuing to work with us and
in um advocating for u bilingualism and reading in Spanish. So, thank you for your advocacy and thank you for working handinhand not only with Chilea but everyone here um in our within our district and our city. Your presence is very important and the work that you do
is even more important. So, thank you to you and all of your staff for all that you do. Um, so I do want to take a moment now if we can take a moment for a world welldeserved round of applause for both Aneli Casales and our cons Mexican
council general Gonzalez Gutierrez for your voices for your courage and truth and to to continue to guide us within our strength and our collective fight for dignity and justice. And so before Miss Sales and our council general Gonzalez Gautes
depart, I would like to open the floor for any remarks or questions that my colleagues may have uh to continue with our reflection and engagement here today. Does anybody would like to start? Miss Hendy Nub.
Good morning and thank you again. Um your words obviously resonate with so many of us. um appreciate just being able to make it real um for us and um uh Dr. Rivas even just reminding us how we
can go back to our own sense of courage to be able to remember exactly the effects that are happening to our families and our students today. And um as we think of courage and it's not just physical bravery obviously it's uh
speaking out against injustice and being able to um connect with some of our own fears that creates us to act in times when it seems that you can't. And so just appreciate that. And as mentioned before, I know many of us can relate and
I know I've shared my story as my family was here as well. And every day I would think as a child coming home, would my parents be there and who would take care of me? And so it's real to know and to
then it become a reality. Um because there was a time I came home and my brother was gone and to not see him again for two decades um and he was not able to return. And so it's real. It's a real story. It's real for us to be able
to connect with the families. And as we go out to our school sites, those have been some of the conversations that I've had with students. And unfortunately, it's the reality of today. And so I just appreciate your work, your courage, um, and for you coming today and just sharing the statistics, the facts of
what's happening and for us to continue to support as this board, as this district, as we come together as one, especially a time like this, um, to just join arms together and to become stronger together. And so just again appreciate both your sentiments, the
facts that you brought to us today. So appreciate that. Yes, Miss Scott. >> I have a question for Cheera. So, um, unfortunately, we're seeing a higher number of people impersonating agents from the Department of Homeland
Security as well as from ICE. What are what are some of the telltale signs that the public should be looking at to know whether someone is actually a federal agent or simply just playing off as one? And I understand this may vary from
person to person. Uh it could be challenging to detect, but is there anything that our communities can use to determine if a person is not actually a federal agent? Are you able to answer that for us? Thank you.
So this is this has been a major issue and that's why um passed SP 805 which is actually asking uh the no vigilantes act which is making sure that um all officers not just federal agents but everybody actually has usually it's you
have a badge number or badge. It clearly identifies that you are what agency you are um representing. And so part of our concern has been that many of these agents um and I witnessed it various
times as we uh responded in rapid response is that they don't have any in you know maybe they have um their uh police gear but not demonstrating u what agency they are from. Um and so um you know they're covering their their face
but also they're not willing to say I am from the ATF. I am from Border Patrol. I am from ICE. So what we're asking is for further accountability. We have had incidents where individuals have impersonated um uh have impersonated ICE. Um we've
also actually have um uh we've have a legal challenge and have actually been successful in that legal challenge in which ICE or the Border Patrol cannot pretend to be another law enforcement agent. they cannot say that they are
LAPD or the sheriff or a parole officer in order to coers a person to come out of their home. And so, um, what I would just say is that's what we always say, what agency do you repress? What's your badge number? These are typical things
that any officer should be able to um tell the individual that they're arresting. But see, all the rules are out of the door with these agents. they fail to identify themselves and properly denote what agency they are from. Um and
so um the pressure from the public, the p pressure from civil society is what we need in order for them to be accountable to the public. So just keep asking um each and every time uh who they what agency they are representing. >> Thank you. Thank you so much. I have
another question but I'll wait till we go around. Okay. All right. Thank you so much um to both of you for presenting here um not just for presenting but for doing the work on the ground leading in such a way from
the moment um that um that elections happened. you were prepared and um and you led so many community- based organizations and including our own district in this work. So, I want to thank you for being the leaders for
bring being the foundation and the ones that we lean on for guidance in this work because you have been doing that. And I also want to thank all the other community- based organizations and including our own uh folks who are on the ground, our educators
um both in the classroom, outside of the classroom, students and community organizations who have really been advocating for us to be this courageous, to be this bold. And it's it's this work. I want to acknowledge the work
that both people on the ground do and people on the inside do to make this happen and why we need to continue doing this because it can't be done alone and it cannot be done in silo. And so with that, one of the things that I have
heard from folks um is a concern around our unaccompanied minors. And I personally worked with unaccompanied minors when I was a teacher at Mallister High School. And um and I know the fear
and I know um what that sometimes teachers may not know, right, the situation and um because it's very scary for for people to to identify themselves as an unaccompanied minor. But we do know that we have some somewhere in
schools. And I want to ask you um Anelica, what you recommend are ways that we as a district can support when we know of an unaccompanied minor. How can we support them? >> Um so just so everybody is on the same
unaccompanied children um come with by themselves um often to reunite with family members here or often on their own just they don't have um family either. So I think that the first thing is to to um really understand who their
sponsor is and who's actually supporting who's supporting this child because one thing that has happened under this administration something we had corrected in the previous administration is that um the Trump administration has decided to go after sponsors as well and so many times the children are not just
fearful about what's happening to them but who you know will my sponsor often is it a parent, is it an uncle, is it an aunt, is it somebody who's caring for you, will they go after um that sponsor? So, I think it's really important when
you're engaging with unaccompanied minors to really also understand that the the the sponsor is also in danger, not just the child. And and so unaccompanied minors um the they're um actually placed under the Office of
Refugee Resettlement. Right now what we're fa finding is that many are being pressured to give out up their rights to continue here in this country with protection but once they're about to turn 18 they're usually removed from the
program. So what this administration is doing around 16, 17 etc. they start pressuring this child or at least um this idea of um uh there will no longer be under the protection of uh the office
of refugee resettlement. So I would also say to you um be very mindful especially because these are our high school students. Um actually um I remember on January 6 when the fires broke we were at one of the dream resource centers with some of those unaccompanied minor
some of the students um and I just really want to say one of you know their fear they have a lot of hope they have a lot of dreams for themselves but they're also fearful of um losing that protection once they um are 18. Um and so this administration has tried to
pressure children um who don't understand sort of their own legal rights. So please I think work with us, work with Chires and many of our legal partners so that the children and the sponsors understand their rights and understand um that um they should not be
coerced into then departing from this country and um and basically being deported. So this is very important in this moment. >> Thank you. I just have one more question. Your expertise on this. I just said earlier that it was, you know, the the work between community- based
organizations and people on the ground as well as people here who are in government um is what really supports all of the work in general. And so what are some um ideas that you have in terms of how we can um make this work uh
greater so that it can reach uh many areas of our city in particular when it comes to safe passages because I what I've heard from parents is that they they are now feeling like our schools are safe and they feel safe uh sending their kids to school but it's that
passage between the school and the home that is very worrisome. What are some ways that we can work with community- based organizations, people on the ground to support this? >> Um, well, this morning actually I was talking to my colleague from Chicago, um, who who's now dealing with many of
the things that we we were dealing early in in June, but actually even I would say at a even more violent way. Um, they have introduced the idea of um, ice-free zones. um this idea of um many of the sightings that I described um where people were just witnessing them getting
ready to do operations. And I think if we can um really partner with our county, I had conversations this morning around with the county, the city really to go beyond that, which is the safe passage is so important, but to go beyond that um because if you see um
cars, ICE or border patrol trucks, cars, vans parked anywhere, your safety is is compromised. So I think that the further we can limit their presence I think it will really support your efforts around um safe passage. Safe passage matters so
much um because um what you have done is given um um the parents or caregivers the op the sense that you know that um they're protected and their children can get to and from school. We just need to expand the circle uh the geographic uh
scope of protection. >> Great. Thank you so much. Appreciate you. >> Um, thank you both so much. Uh, it's it's an honor to have you both here and I'm so grateful for all the work that you've done on behalf of our communities. The community I represent in the northeast San Frernando Valley
has been one of the hardest hit by the ICE raids. And I think that you um, and Helica, I think you've been I think you referred to us as heroes, but I really think you have been a hero in standing up for our communities and providing such essential supports and protections. Um, you know, it's something that is so
deeply impacting the families in my community and and I'm personally very grateful. Um, I board member Grigo stole a couple of my questions, but I do have two more. I know that you also lifted up, you know, beyond the trauma and the violence and the need for legal supports, the need for basic economic
supports and supplies that so many of our families are facing. It's um those who have lost a family member whose family members have been kidnapped, but it is many of our families who are sheltering and and trying to keep themselves safe. I wonder if you could um speak to what ways the school
district can be a part of that effort to provide for those basic needs in a more comprehensive way, including the rental assistance. I think that that is a huge resource for our families but we know that oftentimes our families don't know about the resources that are available and as safe and trusted places our
schools are we have an ability and a connection to our families. So if you have any thoughts on what we could do um to expand our supports in terms of basic needs but also get the word out to our parents around around rental support and assistance.
Um so one of the things that I think we can continue to partner is actually food food food distribution. So we have partnered um with um the Breezy Center. We have um partnered with um labor community services um with many food
banks to actually um do food deliveries but logistically it's it's quite overwhelming. Lots of families. I think the school sites, which you have also done, um because we've witnessed it, um being a place where people can also pick up groceries, um and and and if they're going to go drop off their children,
that that's a place where they can also get the the um food support. Uh it matters a lot uh at this time. So, I think those are things that really matter for the students themselves as well. Um that they can um just take groceries um groceries home. I'm
inviting Tatya um and Garcia who actually does uh our student services manager who works daily with our um immigrant uh youth and the children of immigrants in our dream resource centers but throughout um LA USD. So I just wanted to also give her an opportunity
um to also answer that question from the vantage of the students. >> Um thank you Anelica. So one of the things that we actually have had the uh the pleasure to work for example is city 13. Um we have collaborated with that
district and they have given those uh bags of food for the families. Um and having the dream centers at those four high schools has been really a blessing because it facilitates uh for us to create a space where parents and students can come and actually feel safe
to come and receive those services. So I think um using those centers to make sure that we're able to bring more resources whether is with your own district um and you know like bringing donations uh in Bernstein we have a closet for students where they can come
and actually get uh clothes um in case they don't have clothes at home right uh we're trying to create food pantries as well uh but it is a lot of work uh cheer is doing so much right and I think we need collaboration with all of you to make that happen. But those are some of
the basic um I think needs that we have seen and some of the stuff that we're trying to uh do to make sure that we're helping students and their parents uh meet that need. >> Thank you both so much. And um I think that that's a that's a great idea and we
have our dream resource centers as um as that safe space where our families can come. Um, another reason why the $15 million allocation from the state would be so helpful because we need continued support and funding for those programs. Um, we would also just say you can refer
um individuals to us. We do have some um cash assistance um that would be available especially if you have a a family member who is detained and in support. Um we're trying to also um be able um as the council uh general
explained um a lot of people um it's difficult to get bond right now which is I mean there's so many things a lot of these individuals should have qualified for bond to be able to be back with their families. Um but um one of the things that we're also seeing is an
increase in bond fees. So that one of the things that we're trying to do if they are granted bond um and they are able to at least pay that bond, we try to also help the family with the bond payment in order for them to be reunited with their families. It makes a huge
difference um because um it means for the kids that the that loved one while they're still fighting their case, at least they're at home fighting the case. >> That's a huge difference. Thank you for for uplifting that resource. And then the one other question I have, I know that our our UTLA partners lifted this up. You know, our employees are every
day putting themselves on the front line of protecting our students and yet we know that many of them are in vulnerable statuses themselves. Um so I I wonder, you know, what are supports or resources we can offer our employees who are documented, who are TPS holders, or who otherwise are not yet citizens? Um is
that work that Juda is doing and and how we can help support our our staff? Um I do believe that LA USD has the largest number of documented teachers which I just want to say thank you for that as well. um because when the students also can relate to their teacher matters so
much in in that way but um I do think that we have seen actually uh egregious attacks on documented individuals and so it's important um that you offer um individuals and I want to say again all your employees should actually have
constitutional right trainings um how they protect themselves um often let um we see people who are witnesses of arrest or other things happening their rights are being violated. So I really want to say just in general for all your employees for all the entire workforce
um uh to continue that training but also for individuals of mixed statuses. So there are individuals uh whether it's documented or or any other um temporary status or in the process of you know immigration is is complex. So I
do think that it's important for them to also have a resource um that they can go to and ask questions about about their particular situation in a confidential way. Um many of them are also our clients just because we know that they're teachers who are come um to
support but they can go to services at Chira at um Gesen at many of our um uh immigrant rights organizations in LA. So having referral points um but more importantly I just think to to really note um that um that they uh can
continue to have employment. A lot of there's a lot of misinformation about um that we you know that we're dealing with around DACA. Is it is it going to be opened? Is it going to be closed? Um what's happening? And often um and I'm not going to say that anything has
happened at LA USD, but we have seen other employers um that actually um are actually uh saying, you know, you can no longer work here, prejudicing that person because of their documented status. Um and obviously doing it erroneously,
illegally. But I just think it's important that they everybody understands what their rights are as an employee and um and make making sure that uh anybody who has uh who's an immigrant has rights as a worker and so making sure that those are uplifted as
well. >> I just also want to you know extend my thank you and gratitude to you both and others who are doing this work. I want to give a special shout out to Salvador Familate who has done several uh immigration clinics and a couple of our board districts and another one coming up and it is so powerful when people can
see that there is a pathway to citizenship for so many people who haven't yet accessed that and so I want to lift up the work you're doing um as well as all the direct resources for folks who are so far away from that pathway and we know we have a lot of work to do as a country to get more folks on that pathway as so many of our families benefited from. So thank you so
much. My last question I I would make sure I want to thank uh the we are one people. We talk about them all the time but who actually are the we are one people who put all this together. And I was looking the the division of school operations.
We thank you so much for doing that. And and uh the critical uh incident case managements and the family hotline and the uh you present Okay. Okay. >> Yeah. And because when we have these uh
meetings like the council general was speaking about having um incidences uh of uh conferences at the uh consulate. I always wondered if we ever provide families with um information about
voting. family members who are American citizens, let's be factual, American citizens, teaching them about voting and making their vote count. And I just hope that we do that to make sure that at these great gatherings of people that we
issue that information to them. That's all. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. I do have um some questions for our council general if Garc um how there was a question on unaccompanied
minors. What supports or protections um do do you our council general um provide for unaccompanied minors? Yes. Um, of the 919 Mexican nationals that have been detained since June 6,
um, we have identify the problem of unaccompanied minors on in on a few cases. Perhaps the most relevant one were the riots that took place in the area of Oxnard at the glass house in
which um several workers um mostly indigenous workers from Wajaka have their minor kids with them when um ICE detain them. In those cases,
um, our job has our job has been first to contact the family in the US. Um, that in the three or four cases I'm thinking right now were also undocumented.
Um, we contacted the father of that per all all all the persons detained were women. We contacted their father, the respective fathers and when we had uh
what once we had made sure that the kids were with close uh relatives in the US, once we had um the formal authorization from their fathers as well, not only
their mothers, then we contacted child protection services And we made sure that we accompany those kids to Mexico in order to deliver them to their
mothers who had been already deported. Usually that's what we do. A consular official always uh takes a plane or drives to the border with the minor. Um he or she the consular official is never
alone with the minor. it she has to be um at least accompanied to the airport from with a family member and has to get all the authorizations. That's what we do in the case of unaccompanied minors. Assure them their
return to their their their mothers and their fathers in Mexico. Here in the US, um, our main challenge is sometimes to convince the judge that if we have found
an accompanied minor whose mother and father are in Mexico, uh, make sure that they have their first right to get them back regardless of their migratory status. Fortunately, in Southern
California, judges are well trained um in these type of cases and they we work mostly in the same direction. But some of my colleagues in the consular network of Mexico in the US, we have 53
consulates all around. Um, in other states of the union, they have a much serious challenge in terms of convincing the judge uh of returning the kids to their parents if they were undocumented. >> And that was thank you for that. And my
that was my next question is how closely are you working with other con consulate generals from Venezuela, El Salvador or different parts of Central and South America? >> I I see them very often. um the
consulates from El Salvador, Guatemala, um um Costa Rica, Peru. Uh we exchange information very often. Um the challenge for them is that immigration authorities
are moving people almost um every day from detention center to detention center. Here in ISB18, they they last one or two days at the most, sometimes more, four or five days,
but eventually are moved to Adilanto or to Atlanta close to San Bernardino or to other states, Louisiana, Arizona, Teas. And not all these countries have consular officials um in the different
states that represent a significant challenge. Um another big challenge that we have is the A number. Uh people don't realize that um these facilities are
being used beyond their limits. uh when they make massive operations, it takes between five and 7 days for uh those detained be registered at the website at the ICE locator so that everybody could
know where they are at. And a crucial job by us is to work closely with immigrant author immigration authorities in order to make sure that a numbers are
correctly imposed in people whose names usually are or many very often are misspelled. I rem I I mentioned this because we on a regular basis we're working with our colleagues from Latin American countries to help them contact
um immigration authorities in other detention centers beyond Los Angeles in areas in which they are it's much more difficult for them to uh to get a consular officials to interview them directly. >> Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you.
So, thanks again for for both of you um for being here. Yes, Miss Ggo, >> thank you. I know. I'm sorry to delay. Um but I want to also recognize because we did hear from Ael Casalas and the console, but we also did hear from UTLA.
And to me, they represent the the frontlininers, the frontline workers on the ground um in our schools, our teachers, our counselors, and our PSWs. And I want to thank you for doing all of that work that people have been asking
for, training them. I think you uplifted the need of training our own employees on knowing their rights. And I know that students have been asking as well for training on their rights. And it isn't just about immigration. It's about your
constitutional rights and are in this moment when our students are witnessing how people's rights are being violated. they are stepping up and asking that we do this for them. So, I want to thank um our labor partners UTLA for uplifting
all of the issues that our counselors and that our uh PSWs and our teachers are are dealing with and are making an effort and calling uh for training of themselves so that they can be supporting our students. And so I want
to thank them. We will take um a fiveinut break just to take a quick picture before our our guests leave. So I would like to invite uh my colleagues and superintendent to go up front and take a quick picture
with the consulate. Miss Sales My pleasure. My pleasure. My pleasure. I told you. I told him to come over. Your turn. That's why I was trying to get him in. Okay. Okay. Okay. Let me see if I can Thank you.
[Music] Hollywood, Korea Town. [Music] Okay, if everybody can come back up, our board members, we do have some more presentations and uh and conversations to have on this topic.
So if you can all can please come back up. >> Okay, thank you. Uh so as folks are coming back up to the days, I would like to also want to acknowledge our partners from other government offices uh that are here today also in support including
Miss Jasmine Garcia de Gado, health deputy for LA County Supervisor Hilda Solis. I don't know if she's still here, but I did see her earlier. She probably had to leave. Well, I guess she unfortunately she had to leave. Uh, so now I would like to
welcome Mr. Alonso Webb, senior director of division of school operations and also Mr. Antonio Placencia, senior director of engagement. and they will share how we are one campaign and district sanctuary policies are strengthening trust with families,
expanding resources, and ensuring that every school lives up to our promise of being a true sanctuary of dignity, justice, and safety. So, Mr. Webb, the floor is yours. >> Thank you. >> Colleagues, I'm Alfonso Webb, senior
director, division of school operations. Uh, and I'd like to thank you for allowing us to speak today to highlight some of the important work that our district is doing to ensure that every student feels safe, supported, and welcomed. Uh, at the heart of our efforts of the we are one initiative.
Uh, there's a clear commitment um that our schools are places where all students, no matter where they come from, can thrive academically, social, socially, and emotionally. Um this commitment has shaped a comprehensive approach that includes targeted
resources for schools. Uh inclusive welcome back outreach um in terms of uh at the start of the new year uh and re responsive critical case management for students and families in urgent need. Addition additionally we established a strategic coordination workg group that
brings together key stakeholders to align our efforts across departments. Antonio uh Placencia will share additional highlights of the family academy uh where we're equipping families to with the tools and knowledge to navigate our system with confidence.
And through civic engagement initiatives uh we're empowering students and families to understand their rights as well as find their voices in the broader community. So this work is not just about programs or policy. It's about people. Uh it's about making sure every
child, every family who walks through our doors uh knows that they belong and that they matter and that their future is valued. With regards to uh the resources for school teams, we refreshed our trainings. We updated the uh trainings
this year with uh the latest policies and protocols. Uh we wanted to make sure that our school teams and non-school teams were consistent um to create a consistent, informed and safe environment. We also provided principles with coffee with the principal
presentations for parents or pizza with the principal. Um in these partic particular settings, it provides an opportunity for folks to come together to build trust and open lines of communications uh between school leadership and families.
Uh we've also provided weekly updates uh to region uh to principles with the latest guidance on policies, legal developments and available resources. We also include community resources with regards to updates and we will continue
to do so on various efforts to support families and this ensures consistency and messaging across the school district. Uh with regards to messages for school communities based on protocols, uh we've developed standardized communication templates
that are designed with uh clear and reassuring uh information that help schools and to communicate effectively during sensitive situations. Uh last but not least, we've updated the we are one posters. Last year, we provided posters to each school. uh in
these newer posters. They will be rolled out very shortly with the latest uh um political uh with the latest legislations that reinforce a district's inclusive status. Uh what you are seeing here is the
family welcome back outreach effort in which we uh conducted nearly 77,000 outreach contacts uh with regards to families across the district. This outreach ensured that families, especially those new to the district or those facing barriers or due to
immigration status, felt welcome, uh, informed, and supported from day one. The purpose of this was to include phone calls, text messages, home visits, and in-person conversations uh, tailored to meet the families where they are and
also in their preferred language. Um information that was shared uh included school start dates, enrollment assistance um as well as a available services and points of contacts at each school. Beyond the logistics, this uh this
outreach helped to build trust and strengthen relationships between schools and families. So the impact of this is that this large-scale effort um reflects our district's commitment to equity and inclusion not just in policy but in
action with regards with regards to supporting families in uh that are experiencing critical incidents. Uh we've established a critical uh incident case management. Um this when families experience a
crisis or critical incident such as detention or deportation risk um the district responds with a coordinated and compassionate respon approach. Our region operations teams uh work close in close coordination with the family
hotline staff to provide immediate and comprehensive support tailored to each family's unique situation. This regional model allows us to surround families with the right combination of services quickly and effectively, whether it's emotional support, school-based
coordination, uh, or logistical needs like transportation or enrollment challenges. Um, referral to the foundation's compassion fund is the other that's also made when needed to cover any of those emergency expenses that might otherwise
prevent students from attending school or uh from accessing urgent care uh services. The strategic coordination working group was created to ensure unified uh district-wide response to immigration
related issues impacting students and families. Um this brings together internal as well as external partners uh to streamline efforts uh eliminate silos and improve outcomes through collaboration.
Internal uh agencies or internal uh groups or divisions include the division of school operations, the office of government relations, communications, uh school mental health, LA school police, office of general counsel. Externally, we work with safety
collaborative partners, neighborhood councils, community based organizations, and city and county agencies. This broad network ensures uh policy alignment and real-time community informed decisions. The SCW is responsible for coordinating
and tracking um data related to immigration enforcement activities near or affecting school communities. This allows a district to respond accordingly uh to share accurate information with leadership as well as to ensure
transparency in our response. The ongoing protocol um of this CCW is to evaluate and refine our district protocols. So we look at how we can improve the supports that are provided to families. Look at what's going on in the communities. We look at what um
legal preparedness can be provided and it also looks at what we can do to not only provide legal and sound advice but to also be a human- centered organization and responsive to evolving community needs. Through this crossf functional effort, we are building a
system that is proactive, coordinated, and rooted in equity so that every student and family, regardless of immigration status, feels welcome, safe, and supported. And now at this time, I'd like to welcome Antonio Placencia to bring in the remainder of this
presentation. Greetings and thank you for the opportunity uh to be here with you today. What Dr. Webb has spoken to is the foundation that has been put in place around safety and security for our families. Through our engagement, our communications, and our civic engagement
work, we've complemented this work to engage our students, families, and our community partners. through the family academy that infrastructure that is in place currently uh we've ensured to think about the variety of resources that are available uh for our families that speak
to know your rights health housing and immigration resources. One of the resources that I want to highlight for you as we get started today is our family preparedness care package. Superintendent Carvalo came to us with the concept of this care package and immediately we jumped on the
opportunity to work with student interns who reviewed a variety of legal documents including the immigration legal resource center family preparedness plan and they modeled what is today's family preparedness care package ensuring that families and students had an instrument that could be
discussed and dialogue during at the dinner table. students spoke to the importance of having documents that were easy to interpret, easy to digest and discuss to prepare the household. To complement our family preparedness care package, we have also continued our
know your rights model. We engaged principles around developing a model that was very mindful of the demands of the school site and the day-to-day operations. And as a result of that, as you'll see um in the graphic here, we have the graphic of the image in our family preparedness care package where
the office of student, family, and community engagement coordinating with development and civic engagement. We offer weekly know your rights workshops. The content has been curated and is routinely updated. And I want to highlight this as an important fact. We are routinely reviewing our family um
academy know your rights workshop PowerPoint and the facilitator guide so that we're aligned with what our legal experts are bringing to our families. They are seeing high demand in terms of the demands of the day-to-day requests for assistance. So as a district we have
district co-presenters that are personnel that are leading weekly know your rights presentations. I have to say that my most preferred segments are in the morning when we organize watch parties through our parent and family centers. This allows our families to connect to the comfort of the school to
be able to engage in a webinar presentation um and offer interactive dialogue with the presenters um in real time about the information included in the know your rights information. Um the evenings also offer working-class families to connect with us and as I
share these are offered weekly with our families. Beyond our weekly know your rights workshops, we continue to arrange with our colleagues and our partners with family academy webinars in the evenings. Uh most recently we offered families the opportunity to review the
we are one resource guide which is a more extensive I call it like your catechism booklet of broad resources that can be digested in a parent and family center and all of our parent and family centers received a classroom set at the beginning of the school year.
We are also very grateful to our partners that have come in to give general information. For example, the Mexican consulate who was here with us earlier today. They helped us to facilitate a general 101 family academy presentation on the role of consulates and the services they offer in our
school communities. In addition, our family academy continues to offer options and just additional resources to our families from promoting the virtualmies, transportation supports, connections to mental mental health and the teleaalth services that we're offering at the
district um and a variety of other services that we offer through the district. Our civic engagement is fundamental to we are one. Every month we convene our partners either in person or virtually where we're able to discuss topics that
are top of mind for them and we facilitate an exchange of learning that informs our practices for we are one. Our monthly convenings um bring in have brought in over 400 participants. Many of the partners that you see here today engage with us on Zoom or in person and
they provide us with valuable insight on what they'll bring up examples for example items where they want to help us to promote we are one. So as a response to that we developed a partner messaging toolkit. This allows our f our partner organizations externally to uh share
graphics messages to families on the various resources that we have for we are one. They also brought up the conversation of to the conversation the communitybased rapid response instrument. It is a one-pager now that is in our we are one website at lausd.org/we1 org/we1
and it helps partners to understand how they can connect to us as we're assisting families in our communities and it has also allowed for there to be alignment of the various resources that we have indigenous language videos general know your rights videos to help
simplify the conversation but I want to highlight here that our civic engagement work is a full LA unified effort we have a small we are one working group that is what we call that working group that facilitates and coordinates with school operations, communications,
multilingual, multicultural education, division of instruction. And we also have a larger working group that meets weekly that encompasses all of our district departments that are serving our school sites and communities. Additional supports. Um, I'll just have
you glance through this slide here. In particular, it highlights the various opportunities that we've made available through the virtual academy, our coordination of transportation assistance that was arranged through the school site. Um, these are items that we have been promoting um within our
engagement of we are one and always inviting our families to go to our SEPA centers, our school enrollment placement and assessment centers to help new enrolles and new Americans that need this additional support. I have to acknowledge the work of the family hotline. With the support of
school operations, the 21344313000 family hotline number is now facilitating 20 24-hour assistance to families 7 days a week. We have protocols in place so that if there are emergencies, those are coordinated with district departments and we triage to
offer assistance with anyone facing a real-time immigration related incident or just any other wraparound support. We work as a unified team. Uh we are one in getting assistance for our families. Um as we highlight the we are one web
page, uh want to just refer to our our board uh members and district leadership to the main page. We've simplified that main page to include the gist of resources so that families are not overwhelmed. And we are putting in layers of support within that we are one page to allow our partners, civic
leaders, and others to see vital documents that might not be maybe as important to families. The family documents are at the top of the page, but all of the resources that are in there are also included at the bottom of the page so that they see what are the guiding documents that we utilize to ensure that our students feel safe,
welcome along with our families. So, please join us for those of us uh you joining us at home the in the public. Um I referenced the family preparedness care package that was designed with our brilliant scholars over the summer. It includes a very
simple easy to the eye review of a family preparedness plan. It also offers information about our know your rights we are one workshops that we offer weekly and the importance of the red cards the community based rapid response we wanted to our partners to see what it
looks like. It was designed by the just the the brilliant minds within the development and civic engagement team and it offers a step-by-step approach of how partners can work with us to assist families. And the partner messaging toolkit wanted to offer these as resources that we're continuously
promoting within our partners and the community abroad. And thank our partners. Our partners have been instrumental. Uh all of our we are one content is informational. Most of us that are leading the engagement work, we are not attorneys. And so we
make it very clear that the we are one content is made available forformational resources only and we direct our families to our legal rights organizations that are included in the resource guide available for we are one. So we thank the courage of our superintendent, this um school board and
this community for helping us truly be one with our our partners. Thank you. >> Thank you Dr. Webb and also Mr. Antonio Placencia for your presentation. Before we move, if you don't mind holding just a little bit longer, um before we move
on to any questions my colleagues may have, I do want to bring up um a very patient and a special group that is sitting here with us. There's Sonia Dores Unidos from our community school, Wilson High School. So, if you can
please come up. I know that there are some words that you want to say and here uh representing um one of of the district's um dream centers and this is a dream center that was established by the students in collaboration with our
community school coordinator um and also um other staff like Mr. Dyes here with us. So go ahead. We have here Miss Paola Bummen Cuentes who is going to give some words on behalf of these student leaders
who embody resilience, hope and determination. These students are living proof that when schools provide safety and belonging, young people rise to lead with purpose and pride. So Paola, go ahead. Floor is yours. >> Hello, good morning and good afternoon
everyone, ladies and gentlemen of the board and the audience. As Miss Dr. Dr. Rivas mentioned my name is Pa Bumi Fuentes. I am the president of Woodro Wilson Senior High School Dream Center and student le um organization of Sunos.
A little bit about myself is I am a first generation graduating student senior this year. And during this recent presidential administration, the situation for families like mine whose parents have been living in the United States since there were my age
undocumented and now threatened to be possibly deported back to their country of origin even though they've set roots and made lives for their families here is disheartening. To see families separated and god forbid it could possibly happen to me while I'm unaware
at school is honestly terrifying. And you might feel that sense of helplessness, that sense that you cannot do anything. That's why we are here. That's why we have attended very graciously taken your invitation to be here to help with the hysteria and
anxiousness in our communities. The mission of a dream center, for my school at least, is to develop a safe space where students and families and community members can come and get resources or be connected to them, whether it be legal, personal, academic, or medical services.
It's one of the reasons why I'm involved. Our Dream Center is part of the Dreams Allies Network, which connects us to Dream Centers in Lincoln High School and Alhamra High School. And I will emphasize that not every Dream
Center is the same. We as our as our first previous members who created the concept of a dream center through the youth practitionary action research process that attended KARP the community action
research program in 2022. They assessed and conducted a needs assessment survey for the student population of Woodro Wilson which showed our students needed these resources that they wanted a clinic, clothing and hygiene products as well as a dream
center. This isn't an easy process and I but I am honored very honored to say we have come a long way from that original concept. Syoma Unilos has advocated to establish the LA County Medical Clinic along with hosting know your rights workshops to
inform our students that their rights through series through a series of community school events, helping manage our Wilson mule closet which provides clothing and hygiene products for students and families in the region of East as well as obtaining our room and
managing our dream center. Both organizations and center is studentled facilitated. We host cultural events such as Day of the Dead, Lunar New Year, and a series of other events called Coming Out of the Shadows, which most likely because you
guys have been here for a long time in the district, most likely know what these events are, which has helped us promote cultural and creative um expression in our communities to bring union in our communities. not only
just with our Hispanic communities, but our African-American, our Asian, our Asian communities. This process has helped us understand the world around us. Let us know that students were able to make a difference no matter how small.
I know that our example that we are an example for other schools who might be thinking to do a dream center as well, and we will gladly share our experience and gladly advocate for them. This is why we call for action, ladies and gentlemen of the board, not only to fund our dream center, but all stream
centers, present and future. Those funds would would go into helping and helping create and expand their presence throughout the entire district. So all students are able to get the resources that we were able to get by ourselves, no matter their race, nationality, income, or sexual orientation, but also
help maintain the existing ones who are still building from the ground up and need extra push and need an extra push for funding. Currently, our dream center is not open every day for the week. We would like to expand our services to parents and host
more programs and services for our students and families in the community. As a first generation student graduating, as I mentioned, it is has been an honor, a great honor to be part of this process and part of this movement, to be part of the right step
of history. And I know that once I graduate, this project will be handed down to these amazing students and future leaders. Thank you. It's been an honor. [Applause]
Oh, be don't sit down yet. We just want to speak. >> Yeah. I just noticed that uh the adults here are just bursting with pride >> and I I saw those smiles. I hope you would introduce yourselves.
>> You want to mic Semens? Yes. >> My husband wouldn't say I need a mic. >> Elizabeth Semons and I'm the community schools coordinator. >> My name is Rudy Dingas. I'm the intervention support coordinator at
Wilson High School. >> And I also want to mention that they have strong support with the principal, Miss Mr. Vera. Go ahead. Sorry. Uh Lee Eurumoto. I'm the executive director of Urban Visionaries and the lead facilitator of Dream LA Network.
>> And I am Francisco Adoto and I'm the coordinator with this awesome group that I have here with the kids at the Dream Center. >> You can see how proud you are of that. We can see that. Thank you. >> Yes. And I'm very very proud of Wilson of being that example of you know of a
dream center that is was born organically from other students. You you mentioned the needs assessment and also the strong support of um not only your community school coordinator but also Mr. for doing and your principal and yes
know that everyone is looking towards you Wilson um to lead the way in future dream resource centers that the district is going to be working very hard in establishing I already have some of my schools other high schools that want a
dream center so it definitely is work that is a lot of work that is going to you know that is uh ahead of ahead of us and definitely you will we will be reaching out to you and I'm sure that districts has already visited your school to learn more about how the
history of your dream center um but also just the history of the student leadership and what it takes to make a dream center come alive and thank you for the students that will follow Paola and so many other students to continue this legacy of our dream centers and
also here in Wilson High School. So, thank you so much for being here. Um, I do want to open it up for um questions that our board members may have. >> I'll leave off for I made a mistake before. >> Thank you. Thank you so much. >> Thank you. I was afraid uh we are one
people that you were going to get by before um your presentation because I read the booklet and I'm just so proud of you and and thank you for all all that you're doing for for our district. Hardworking, very very much appreciate it. The parents appreciate it. The kids
appreciate it and we appreciate it too. So I just want to make sure you didn't get away without a thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Rosil. >> Definitely the information you provided here, all the outreach efforts, you know, it would not go it is not going unnoticed of the work of school
operations throughout our district and all the regions. Uh I know for myself when you know we reach out to region Gil Gilberto Martinez and all of you for supporting whenever we hear of something we reach out to you and and connection with our rapid response. I do have a
quick question in regards to um uh data I just data for our school operations on um on a given day or week. What are the number of incidences uh that are occurring in our communities where ice is detected or when you have to, you
know, um um sort of activate the protocols and procedures that are in place. >> Exactly. Thank you for those kind words about our school ops team. We work very hard to support our schools and our principles and more so the the children. We want to make sure that they feel safe
and welcomed in our schools. With regards to the uh specific data, uh we are seeing uh on average um we have different amounts and changes on various weeks. Uh we can give you the specific data um afterwards. Uh but we are seeing
more incidents occurring in region south and in region east or in in terms of border districts, BD2 has the highest number of incidents. So uh we can provide you with the actual specific data uh after the the meeting. Yes, it would be helpful um to know within the
regions and our board district. What does it look like overall in the entire district because I know I only hear from my board district, but I'm sure you know it's happening in Miss Gonz, Miss Cordrego and all of us, Miss Ortiz Franklin and um Charlotte as well. Handy
new bill. Um so, thank you for that. Thank you for all that work. And quick question for Mr. Antonio Placencia. Thank you for to you and everyone that is working with our uh with our families with our community and parent uh representatives as well in our family
centers. Um and I you know I receive on a daily basis notifications of the webinars that are holding and it just when I see that I'm like that's that's amazing. That's amazing work and I know it's it's information and resources and services that um our communities
definitely definitely need and I know of several parents that attend them because just to refresh the information and get more information and also are inviting other parents as well and it's it's helpful because parents who are working they know they have another opportunity
if they missed one to to um to join a webinar with all this wonderful information particularly the ones on mental health um and um and yeah you know mental health and supporting the children the assistance for parents to
you know uh support their children at home. So I thank you for that. Really quickly so you did mention um the I just wanted to know on the calls for the hotline do you know how many calls have been made on a daily basis like how many you know how many how often or
frequently are parents calling or or community members calling? Well, we have a system that that u maintains just general records of the flow of information and we can get that information arranged for the the board members. >> Great. Wonderful. And also on on the um
the community based rapid response, you mentioned that this is you know um information to collaborate. But how often do you connect or work with the rapid response networks particularly with Chila? Like how often do you connect with them? um just to compare
information if you've particular if you if you know a family and want to you know connect with them to you know continue providing resources and and support when it comes to content it's frequently as changes happen both locally in the state of California or
nationally we huddle and discuss what information is uh projected for engagement purposes for example we as we started this year and some of the policy context was changing we with kadesen to know a little a little bit what their engagement content look like ch as well
um and we also meet with them monthly so it's it's as needed they're readily available we are mindful that their capacity is stretched at the moment uh we're building like you saw here a platform for engagement to be continuous right and getting general knowledge out but we at least meet monthly with them
to discuss what's happening in the field and learn about what are the key themes of needs that they're capturing as they're engaging families as well >> and also thank you for the central office working group. I know my staff has joined uh those convenings and the information that's shared. So I'm I'm grateful that it's it's open for all
that you know want to uh be a breast and also share information and resources. So thank you for all your work. Uh yes. So I'll open it up to our board. Miss Gonz thank you so much and I will echo the gratitude. I I think the district is is doing a lot of work and it takes people to make that happen. So we're grateful
for everything that you're doing. Um I do have a couple of follow-up questions. one, the community-based rapid response document is really helpful. I actually did not know that this existed. So, I I appreciate you letting us know about it. Um, I just wonder, are there ways in which we can help get this out to the community? Because on a regular basis
when I'm out at community meetings, I often have community members, um, leaders and our community say, how can we help? And it's not always, you know, they don't always quite know what's the best way to support our schools and and providing that safety for our schools.
Um are there ways that we can make this more widely available um to folks who want to assist us? >> Well, we invite um anyone and you know of our partners like they are doing a fantastic job of engaging with us. You know, when you see the attendance of the various organizations that were on the
slide, they have access to the information. We'll um maybe make a more intentional call to action at our last convening to just explain and give them examples of maybe an exit ticket of how they have shared the information. um they we c we have their attention and their support but we can definitely
discuss with them what are some ways to expand and amplify that message and the tool. >> Okay, that sounds helpful. Um and then around the topic of amplification, I think one thing that um I've observed in engaging with families, you know, we have a standing we are one cabinet in my board district where we're meeting with
teachers and principles, students, region staff, community based organizations all together in one setting. And one uh one of the things I heard as I was going through the resources we have available is that many were not aware of a lot of the resources the district is offering. I would highlight transportation um so access to
buses and um our food distribution partnership as two major ones and two you know speaking to we know that safe passages is a a challenge and maybe the utmost fear for a lot of families right now. So those transportation resources are essential. Um but if families do not
know about them, they cannot access them. Um and then similarly, a lot of our students are taking on the needs to go grocery shopping for their families because they are the only ones for whom it is safer to go outside. And so I think that we need to uplift these
resources. We need to get it in the hands of all of our students and families. Can you speak to our efforts to do that? >> Definitely. Thank you for bringing that up. Uh, one of the things that we initiated this year with our transportation services division was to provide non-rine transportation for
families that were identified in our welcome back uh outreach. And so through that effort, we highlighted uh the specific needs that were brought forth from families that shared that they were concerned about their safety of getting their students to and from school. Um
and so what we did was develop that plan uh to uh provide those uh the transportation from home to school and back. Uh so that is in effect. We did promote it within our weekly update uh for principles to get the word out to their uh school uh communities. Uh, so
that is something that is available for all of our families that require >> and I'll just add in talking to the team, but we'll definitely amplify that and send out some districtwide messaging, but even being able to leverage our KLCS with the bottom scrolls um to provide information there
as well as our homepages as well and expanding that to school-based um websites so that there's a we are one link there with those types of resources so that families have immediate access. Yeah, I think our um our community members were really seeking that direct
messaging to families and I think leveraging our BBC system. I mean that directly to people's phones would be really helpful. We also heard of social media as being um an essential tool for getting the word out. Um was just curious, you all didn't really speak to
it specifically, but kind of what is our social media strategy to ensure that um we're utilizing it to amplify these resources? Well, we are uh always in the queue um pushing out um social media messaging through the office of student family and community engagement. You know, reminding families that we have our
weekly know your rights um presentations. Uh want to remind everyone for um I know as we were presenting today, we highlighted our messaging toolkit. We developed a messaging toolkit for our school sites specifically and we also developed a template for partners. That template has
been provided to all of our partners who have been attending and joining us in our monthly meetings. It includes social media graphics for we are one um brief email messages, blackboard text messages that 300 character limit that we have to follow, right? Uh but they do have all
of that packaged into one document at the beginning of the year and we keep on circling that item at each one of our partner meetings. So the QR1 code that we presented here today um visiting lausd.org/we1 /we1 you will find those resources packaged there. Um any
questions about those items they can call the family hotline or you can call the office of student family and community engagement and we will gladly assist partners to getting comfortable and acquainted with those resources. >> That's helpful. I think you know we've heard from students that they are consuming and that a lot of the
obviously a lot of the videos of what is happening is on social media and that if we can be present and a source of accurate information empowering information in that space that's the space where we're going to reach a lot of folks and I think if we could engage our students as well in in that content
creation effort um they they're just better at digital media than than a lot of us. Um, and then on on amplifying the resources, I think the updates on the website are much appreciated. This is something I've been advocating for. Like, let's make this as clear and accessible as possible. Again, on the
transportation and food distribution, let's make those like little buttons on the homepage so that families don't have to navigate to a different site to access them, but they are right available as soon as you get to the We Are. I have more questions, but I'll stop there for right now.
>> Um, thanks. Thanks, team. I want to start on slide three just to add some context. Um the outreach calls data is that um inclusive of early ed and adult or TK through 12. What's the universe there? >> The universe is the uh TK through 12 and
in terms of early ed uh that also includes early ed. >> Okay. So when it says number of schools and number of campuses, what number are we talking about there? >> In terms of the number of campuses, I think I believe it showed up the uh over 700. Um all right so uh what's the
denominator because this is uh what we've reached right so are we talking about a thousand schools 1300 because sometimes we talk about magnet schools or magnet centers um so I guess I'm wondering like what's yeah what's the bottom number >> so the bottom the total campus count would be the 767
uh which in terms of the outreach calls it was 697 um in terms of the numbers of schools so denomin out of 600 or sorry, out of 767 schools, 697 schools were reached and that includes early ed through high
school. Is that accurate? >> Oh, I'm sorry. I get what you're saying. In terms of the overall denominator, let me let me get that information from uh SAS to get the specific denominators that they that were used. So, it should be roughly about 800. All schools um um
should have participated, but I know that we need to get those specifics to you. So, I can get that to Yeah, that would be really helpful. Um because then also when we look at the number of schools for the regions um that that would also be helpful as a follow-up. So in region north for example, are there
189 schools total or are there you know 200 schools total? Yeah. So just so we know how many and then for the schools that didn't have any outreach, is that because this is not a concern for them? They didn't have staffing for it. Um and it's, you know, is it like one or two schools that didn't get outreach or is
it dozens of schools that didn't get any outreach? And so that's really like where my questions are coming from here. Um so if you can get any followup on the the data that would help as well. Do we have um a norm day enrollment number we use yet? Because similarly you know 76,000 students were reached. Well first
let me ask is that unique students or would the 76,000 include multiple calls to the same student >> based on what was shared with me is those were unique contacts with families. So then similarly out of what denominator for the enrollment? Do we
have a a norm day that we're using yet? I'm also looking at Carla Estrada if she has one. It's okay if we don't. I'm just curious if we >> not at this point, but we will be having that settled soon. >> Okay. And then so if you can send that to us and then usually when we do norm day, we count it for TK through 12. So
if we were including early yet, if we can just add those numbers, it's usually about 30,000 or something. We can um yeah, just to give a little bit more clarity, that would be helpful. I do recall that the primary focus um a lot of the focus was to look at those that had chronic absence chronic absentes and
so on and in addition to those that were having difficulties with uh or potential challenges or barriers to uh coming to school. So we will get that get you that info. >> Um and then I' I've shared this internally a little bit but I I want to just share it in the space as well. Um you know I love that we're hearing from
our community about ICE activity and presence and letting our school staff know. currently when we record it um ICE act ICE under law enforcement could be deportation of our student it could be a van at a Starbucks and right now I think it's really hard to
understand at a macro level when we look at the overall numbers the nuance in that right so I don't know if that means we need to change the way we code things or I know Chief Zipperman is doing some of this with his you know particular workg group um but it just seems to me you know so many of us are hearing these
qualitative stories and they're so like vast, right? And so, for example, in my district, we had um ICE vehicles at a coffee shop across from a middle school and got multiple calls about that. And so, it sounds like, oh, in this community, there's heavy presence. But
then another community, we actually had students who were immediately deported and they were not recorded as heavy activity because people didn't talk about it. People didn't know about it. It was sort of flown under the radar during the summer when not as many staff members were on campus. And so I think just for our own data collection, I
think we need some tightening up here um to really help us understand the severity of the incidents that are happening. Um so I' I've shared it internally but I want to share it in this space as we continue to improve our systems. >> Definitely. And then we do take the reports that come in and we advise part
of our protocols is to file an IER if there is a reported incident. Um in terms of verifying uh that's one of the things that we've been working with uh uh Chief Zipperman on various uh ways to look at what is it that we're documenting look at how we can improve
some of those processes to identify whether or not it's ver you know if it's unverified then or if it's a different agency sometimes we may have local agencies that may be serving a warrant and it may appear as though it's ICE. So there are certain things that we will uh
uh definitely tighten up within these next coming weeks. >> I appreciate that. Um and then my last piece, I've also shared this internally, but I'll share it for this space here too. You know, this is one area where our charter school partners really do want to collaborate. And I don't know if any of their students or families are being impacted to the same degree that
ours are. Um but I think there could be an opportunity to share information. So, for example, if a charter school parent sees ICE presence in their neighborhood, how do LA Unified families know about this in traditional schools, you know, and vice versa? So, I I think the team is working on this. Um, but we don't
always have areas of um alignment and uh coordination with the charter schools, but I think this might be one. Um, and so I would just offer it to the team to to consider how to tighten that up, too. >> Thanks, Dr. Rus. >> Miss Hendy Newville, did you have any comments? Um, thank you for the presentation and I
wanted to ask a few questions with the um the information that is being recorded that's uploaded. Uh, is there agendas or is it the same topic every time that we speak about the know your rights?
>> The know your rights workshop begins with uh the focus on rooted in resilience and it's more conversational. it does introduce a concept of root resiliency um psychological first aid and that facilitates sort of like a dialogue to build greater awareness. So we have various learners coming in. So
that is the beginning. We continue with immigration, health, housing, education rights. The workshop is set up so that as we present information we um invite participants to activate prior knowledge one but then two think about what additional knowledge they're capturing.
We're being mindful that this flow of data of uh resources and information flow is very overwhelming. And what we try to do is help families come and get these like snapshot moments to build their own capacity and and existing capacity and learning. Thinking about that adult learning, but it is the same
deck that we present um with being mindful of the facilitator moves that allow for greater learning and additional learning to be captured over time. >> Got it. Um so is it possible to have like segments of it that's particular to
certain things as mentioned earlier he talked about civic engagement and is also mentioned here some of the new things that are coming forth like certain bills that may be coming forward that our families need to be engaged and know and knowledge of is that also an opportunity to be shared there
>> yes so we our family academy hosts the weekly know your rights workshop model every Friday morning PM in addition to that we have our family academy um catalog. Last week, I believe it was, we had a pull out segment where we specifically went into um the gist of what's in the
resource guide and highlighting items that were top of mind based on what we're seeing and hearing in the community. Um we also brought up the conversation about the role of consulates. What is a consulate? What resources do they provide to us? So, we introduced that concept in a resource
that includes all of the consulates that are located in LA County. So, those are pullout moments that we do have in addition to our know your rights workshop. And we're currently working with partners to update our public charge um presentation and our parental right conversation and engagement which
families are asking a lot more questions about at the moment. So, we do have those weekly items as you're highlighting in addition to special spotlight topics of interest that are aligned to what families would like to know more about >> and those are to be seen on the website. they can see it, click on it, and know where to find it within not having to be
able to spend if they don't have that amount of time to spend, but they can go directly to that in that moment. It is on the main website. We have a very simple short videos for families on the go. Under immigration tab, you will see our um our presentation on resilience
rooted in resilience and psychological first aid. You will also see the public charge conversation, the parental rights special webinar, one click away. Thank you. >> Okay. Um and I think I had one more question on
I think she asked the question about the numbers because I had question on the numbers as far as um the participants on our academy. It says an average of 272 participants. Now are we tracking new participants as they come so we can grow
that number because I know that's something that we want to do and what exactly is the mechanism to track and then what is it to grow? >> We have our um zoom usage reports whenever because these are webinar presentations we're able to see the unique unique users on the back end
through that zoom usage report. We're also doing our um our system uh that we have in place of inviting parent and family center personnel to complete a simple form to let us know who is in the watch party. Many of our families, most of our participants were able to see them um because of the energy that the
parent center builds. And so as families turn on their camera in the parent and family center for example, you can see that they have 15 18 persons in that audience space. We're trying to build that mechanism of inviting them before we get started with the presentation to capture the attendance uh through the
watch party model which families are saying they they appreciate they prefer going to their school site versus a regional or like a centralized in-person location. >> And how many numbers are at school sites now? Do you know >> in in terms that we will have ranging between 20 and like 50 watch parties
that we capture and learn about because what that does is that it helps us be mindful of the audience and also allowing them to like share questions that they might have in real time. Okay. Thank you. >> Okay. Thank you. Um so I want to echo the
gratitude for all the work that you all have been doing for our families. um and just jumping right into it um when you were called to do so. So, thank you very much. Um regarding the hotline, I'm wondering um is there a particular way
that families are supposed to um say what they need in order to get support when it comes to immigration? So, can they just say, "I need transportation from home to school or I need, you know, um the compassionate fund. I need
support." like what is it that they're supposed to say to get that information when they call the hotline? >> Yes. So, um we meet with our family hotline personnel twice a week. On Mondays, district leadership we meet um and we have a check-in phone call to discuss what are the items that have
been coming through for the hotline. Uh letting our personnel know what are the triggers that might create you to say, "Hey, what assistance might you need?" Um that's sort of the Monday um weekly meeting. On Fridays, we offer training for the family hotline personnel. Uh
we've arranged scripts that allow them to see that customer service flow and they have stems of acknowledging like well can I offer you the resource guide or um what type of emergency are you experiencing? But one thing that we're observing is that families when they
call they are highlighting I have an emergency that's about my immigration status. So they're very comfortable with LA Unified even in in the engagement. They feel very comfortable um just sharing what is happening with them because they've seen the messaging from the district and they're compelled to
share what is happening in their livelihood. And that has been very helpful because when we coordinate the follow-up call support, we have a general sense of what's going on. Like we can share further guidance and details offline, but just want to share with you that families have demonstrated feeling comfortable sharing what their
needs might be at that moment. Yeah, I ask because what I've heard is that sometimes they've called and asked about specifically about the compassionate fund or the hometoschool transportation and the people do are on the hotline are not aware of those particular supports.
And so that's why I was wondering if people actually have to say or leave a message saying I need help with this because of immigration or I just need help with compassionate fund and then somehow it gets to the right person >> and we have added additional training
specifically for that. Um we also added training. What we also learned is that most of our school personnel call the 5200 line. Um so that is one factor. So we have increased working with IT training and specific details for the 5200 line so that we're able to assist
them. Um in addition to that we have also continued to meet with the 1300 line that is a main line for families and we've discussed various scenarios of of um instances where families are not receiving what they may need and how to be more customer serviceoriented in
helping resolve the concern and the need the family might have. But do note that that is an item that we continue to follow weekly. >> Okay. Thank you. And then regarding the training, um, one of the feedbacks that I've been receiving is that educators at the school sites, including classified
staff and certificated staff, are still not quite comfortable or confident in understanding or knowing the exact protocols at their school site. Um, and so for example, if they get a message from a parent that there's been an ice
sighting, they don't know like, okay, where what do I do with this information? And um, do I let my colleagues know? Do I let my parents know via class dojo? What do I do? So things that may seem very um, common
sense in that moment, you know, may not feel common sense if you haven't been told exactly what to do. So that's one thing. The other thing is um even for for example our community reps right they've created um like a WhatsApp with the parents because parents are like we
need to know if vice is around so let's communicate but never did they think oh okay we we also need to let the principal know right so again it's having these explicit conversations with staff about step one if this happens if this happens you do this if this happens
I feel that people are hungry for that because it feels so insecure and unstable and unsafe right now and they want that step by step inside the school. >> Um so can is that possible? Can we make that happen?
>> So what we are proposing is to actually create a new or refreshed uh training in addition to what we've done early in August. So, um to incorporate some of the latest uh uh uh policies or state u state not mandates but state u bills
that were recently um passed. But in terms of what to do um that part is actually pretty clear for the staff. We can make sure we can retrain them. They can go to the principal ideally. Um if there's word on the street or rumor that
there's ICE enforcement, immigration enforcement somewhere in the community, uh they are to advise the uh the principal or or administrator. And once they do that, the principal would then contact ops and cops, operations and cops or LASPD. That's where we get the
ball rolling where we actually follow up with general counsel. Um, we also follow up to see if it's actually verified that it's a actual um operation that's taking place that would possibly impact school. There are some schools that may have an operation that's right across the
street, but it may be a huge street. Um, and so we ask folks that if there are if there is uh operate if there are operations taking place somewhere near campuses, how far are they from the campus? What's the specific location? Um, are they still there? Those types of
things are very helpful to us uh in following up. But with regards to the training um all personnel uh the school site personnel non-school site personnel we have had personnel here in Bodri train um as well as other school sites M
various facilities that they they've uh been trained as well on what to do should you be on campus because the biggest thing is that we have closed campuses but if we have someone making a delivery um it's important that the the gates are closed right behind them if and that's for physical security anyway.
So that's one of the things that we have really stressed to our school communities and so that kind of forces folks to come to the one entrance to the school and then we can kind of block we can kind of address it at that point. >> Exactly. Yeah. And I appreciate you
laying all that out. I just think that a what I've the feedback I've received is that it's not happening everywhere, right? That it's it's still that message is still not everywhere even as simple as tell your principal, right? Um, so I just feel like when we're coming up with
a new refresher, if we can also encourage our our schools to make time in in the busy schedule that they have for PD, but to dedicate, you know, 45 minutes of this because people are going to have Q&A. They're going to have a lot of questions and we're going need to
have responses and people are going to have like, well, what if this happens? And I think we need to honor that because the the the times and the moment calls for people to to have that conversation for a while, dedicated time. So, just want to um recommend that
for when you when you're uh working on the refresher. The the last thing I want to bring up is I was looking at the partners list and I noticed that there are no labor partners listed here and I just think that they would be such a critical partner all of our labor
partners as they are representing all of our employees everywhere and and some of them we are asking a lot of right like our principles and so I think that they would be instrumental in helping guide some of the work so just wondering why we're not
accessing their their knowledge, their expertise, their not only in in terms of of uh rolling this out, but even when it comes to advocacy, I mean earlier we heard from Ael Gasales asking us to partner in advocating for a bill that is
at the governor's desk and they would could help with that, right, with advocacy and lobbying. So, um what are we doing to bring in our partners as as part of add them to this list? Yeah, we'll well we'll go back to the we are one Tina and discuss that further. Thank you.
>> Do I have one last question for Mr. Antono Pasencia and then I do have some questions for Sonor Dunidos because want to take advantage that you're here to get your your voice in. Um a question here. Um I know many of our families are supported through we are one are facing
real trauma and real are are very aware of that because of displacement and fear of family separation. How are we expanding on traumainformed, culturally responsive mental health supports for um our students and also our our parents
across schools in our district. >> Oh, okay. Miss Dr. Web, >> we can both we can both handle it. Yeah, John. No. Uh actually what we are doing is uh with the coffee with the principles as well as with our efforts um um to engage
families whether it's the monthly safety meetings. Uh we want to make sure that uh all of the school resources are available. Our mental health team at our schools are solid. I mean, our PSWs are right on it um to handle a variety of um
supports uh for for families, but specifically around immigration needs, um we do communicate very regularly with principles to make sure that if there are specific uh identified needs for our family, then we we route that directly
up to ops. And that's where our team comes together to um almost like a cost where we coordinate our supports um for those families. So we want to make sure that if it's a mental health support that's needed, if it's a food support, whether it's a um you know a compassion
fund support, that's where we look at what those specific needs are and target those um resources to those families so that it can best suit their needs. you working in conjunction because I've been I I go regularly to coffee with the
principles throughout my district and you know it's at most 20 parents that are there so I know that's so how can we expand that like you know back to school or open house and also really quick on I forgot to ask about you have the posters on legislative actions for other schools
but how are we extending that information also to families? Well, the the communications effort, I think, will be one of the biggest ways that we get the words out to our school communities. Um, our BBC's, not only just sharing about various um reported incidents in
the community, but also um sharing valuable information for families to um know about the opportunities. We also have on our website that's um updated with um information. The W1 website has tremendous amount of resources. They
have short videos, longer videos. Uh the main thing we want our parents and families to know will be more so the know their rights. We want them we want our school students to know their rights. What are they allowed to do? What those red cards that helps um to give information as well. So we want
them to be really aware of um the opportunities for them here in the district and what their rights are as an individual. a mental health support. >> Oh, absolutely. The mental health component. Uh we we we've leaned on to
it and we're very grateful for school mental health in the rooted and resilience work that we are doing and um psychological first aid talking about first aid for your health and well-being. That is a a central component within the we are one resource guide. All of our parent and family centers like I shared received a
classroom set a beautiful cover of the resource guide. So that there could be guided reading, small group reading. There is a section on health and wellness resources that gives families a direct link to our wellness centers, all of our clinics and acknowledging that what we're asking families to digest in
this moment of fear anxiety is to become empowered with learning. So the resource guide, it's downloadable. It's also in that parent center, but all of our clinics from Monroe all the way to um San Pedro, families are able to see the clinics, the resources um that we offer.
Um, and one uh point that families are starting to share excitement over is the teleaalth services that we're offering for students. The family academy is also pushing that out through parent portal um specifically, but also in our engagement, helping our families get direct access for those services. So
that section in the resource guide is what we have leaned on to in addition to our engagement that we facilitate with school mental health. >> Thank you. Thank you very much on that. So now I would like to ask a question to our Wilson Son Dorises Unidos if you
our spokesperson Paola can come up or any other student that would like to chime in. You know right now we've been having conversations on supporting our families and and and specifically our parents. But what about students? What do you believe are are your peers in
terms of all the conversation we've been having on um knowing our rights, right, and supports and services. What do students need right now from your perspective? >> I believe students most likely from my own standpoint because I have been in
your shoes as well of like um or a lot of your superintendent of possibly coming home and not knowing if your parents are going to be there. So, we were able to get funding for two new PSWs at our school, but I think a lot of
our students even from different um high schools might need that support, that mental health support or like how some of the present the presenters have shown us of using our red cards as well or as
how you guys have mentioned social media, how sometimes it might flow under the radar of students getting deported even though we're focus on one area. So, I feel like a lot of students should be using their social media standpoints to try to post stuff of like, hey, like
I found this cool like scholarship for like undocumented students or hey, I know that there's like been ICE sightings over there close by by downtown. Be safe, be aware. Um, I'm not that sure. Would you guys
have anything as well to add any >> other insights or did you want to chime in? >> Any insights? Yeah. >> Uh being um DACA myself, uh I know there's a talks about um bringing letting new students or new new um
people to apply for the um DACA. Again, I know it's a there's a fear behind it. Um so I guess also getting information and making sure it's going to be the right thing to do for the future of these kids who are trying to do more in their future. Um, I know DACA really uh
helped me out a lot and I know it'll help them out a lot as well. Uh, you know, I just finished my M's program in December. Um, it took me a long time, but I, you know, the the the lucha, I mean, you know, I kept going. So, um, I know that's going to be something
that's going to be important for them or or even their their um, brothers or sisters who are maybe uh, undocumented in our DACA is going to be something that's going to help them out. So I think also getting resources behind that um for whatever decision the government
ends up ends up doing and the and the lawyer and the judges. Um but if it does happen, you know, I know there's a fear behind that that I'm seeing and in and in and some people that I know and and and um yeah, and things like that. So I know that would be very important to
know uh to see if it's to do it or not to do it. You know, it's just the fear of that. But yeah, I just wanted to share that. >> Thank you. So I hear mental health support and communicating with students via social media. Um, one thing that I was very honored to have participated is
was uh living under the shadows which was um us sharing my experience as an immigrant um and in my family and I know there were other teachers um and personnel who also shared and the reason for that was to so us adults can share
that we we reexperienced the same and that you're not alone. Um I think that's very important um for other schools to also um you know share that um or have that event at their schools. So there's that conversation particularly you know
when we have to share our experiences because it it helps understanding that definitely you are not alone and there's so many so many of us who have experienced or continue to experience that fear and that trauma um and living
in a mixed family or whatever the case may be. I think it's important to have those conversations and it was something that was organized by you the students and I think it's important to have continued student leadership in in all of our schools. And my last question is
what advice would you give to um a school that wants to or to students that want to um open their dream centers or anything from your experience um your trajectory and in having your dream center? What advice would you give for those that want to have their own dream
center? For me, it's don't give up. It's been a very long process. I consider myself all of us consider ourselves as third or second generation leaders of this group of this project. I was able to talk to an alumni who wants to make a
high who wants to make a dream center at their high school. And I told them we could always connect you with people such as yourselves, such as Urban Visionaries Lee Lee and a lot of our other experiences and be like hey like we did the coming out of shadows like we
have people who will be willing to give out information who is willing to come and share our stories and to always know that we are here for you. We will always be here for you. Even no matter your race, your nationality, we are always
here for you. As student advocates, as adult advocates, and to always find a way, always find a way. We didn't know how we were going to do it, yet we were able to succeed. And we still ask like for help from from you guys and everything, but for student for schools
that want to make it, our doors always open. Our dream center is always open to them to see how we run things along with other dream centers. We can gladly contact them if they're closer to them. >> It's also important to record your trajectory as well. So you can share
that. I've been to your dream center where you're you show exactly the timeline right from doing the needs assessment to what it took to open and all the events and how you've been able to organize um and and being inviting to all students. I think that's also
important for y'all to uh record that, put it in writing and share it with all with all particularly with um our lady our wonderful lady Costa Stevens who is undertaking this work in and um in the dream you know strengthening the
infrastructure of dream centers and also for the expansion of our dream resource centers. So thank you very much. I know that you've been very patient and it was really important to have the voice of students particularly those who have been leading the way uh for so long and
also for Mr. Duyas and Miss um Miss Seammens uh for being here and bringing you here forward on on the on our board before our board. So, thank you. >> An honor for you guys to invite us as well. >> Thank you so much. >> Thank you. Thank you. >> Thank you.
[Applause] So now uh we are moving on to our next presentation, our last presentation. Um it's now my privilege to welcome Miss
Lydia Costa Stevens, executive director of the multilingual multiculture education department. At a time of critical support such as Title 3 funding and more are under threat, it is essential that we reaffirm our commitment to our multilingual learners,
Lydia will speak on strengthening supports on for multilingual learners, ensuring that language is never used as a barrier but uplifted as a strength. And she will also highlight how policies such as the Exito and Promemesa resolution are being implemented to
expand access, improve outcomes, and build opportunity for English learners across the district. So, Miss Aqua Stevens, the floor is yours. Thank you so much. >> Thank you and good afternoon. Um, thank you for bringing the students here. That's what we're all about. Also, thank
you for the Exito and Promesa resolution. I believe that this resolution is really part of our district-wide commitment in terms of unity and the heart of this resolution is the unity and being there for our students.
So, as we dig into this resolution, I'd like you to think about the key resolves around it. High quality materials and instruction, ensuring A through G, right? All of our kiddos can meet it, whatever spaces, whatever languages.
ensuring that our families have all the opportunities to be able to communicate with people on campus and outside of campus and how we address that in a nurturing environment. Also, building employee capacity is critical. Building those partnerships with academic
institutions and our community based organizations. And in addition to that, what additional supports are we providing at the school site with our teachers, with our students, and for our families? So as we look at family communication, you you heard many many pieces of this
and the heart of it does happen at the school. That is where our families connect with educators and leaders at the school site. So we are part of and participate in all the parent workshops and trainings and we co-c collaborate with Antonio and his amazing team and
also with the region teams. So there's a tremendous amount of coherence and constantly cascading the messaging. um so that people can capture all the key points. As you consider the multilingual resources, we do publish and update our
website as often as possible. We are um constantly transforming it based on the feedback. We are preparing our multilingual newsletter that will be quarterly to connect all of those different pieces as well, including guides, professional development, and all the different spaces that we work
with, not just with teachers, but also working with instructional aids, also working with the office teams at school sites and providing them resources in terms of how we greet our our families when they finish completing a home language survey. Wow, congratulations.
you're going to be an emerging bilingual versus the deficit thinking around some of that. And of course, um, Chila was here and I'd like to call out Pedro Trillo and Sharon Park. And honestly, it's not me who's doing all this work. Dr. Proada is sitting somewhere back
here. He has led this with a passion and works very closely with UTLA and with Allah with Maria Miranda and with Chira with Garasan and we're doing and fostering our relationship with Cello as well. So as you continue to look at all the
community- based organizations here they are. It's constant. It's ongoing. It looks different in different spaces. is we pivot and adjust as needed depending on what the need is, what the need at a school is or the community is
as we look at highquality education and I want to take you back how this connects to graduation A through G and what we've been tackling in terms of the deficit mindset and assetbased mindsets for our emerging bilingual students also
known as English learners. Our first phase was piloting 78 schools that would implement what we call grade level EL. We no longer have what's called LTE, long-term English learner courses, PLTEL, um, deficit based BA labels, and
now we have grade level English language development. We have international newcomer courses for our novice students approximately, you know, 12 months or less. And that work began in 2324. Then we went into phase two where we
went with district-wide implementation. Now every school, every high school in the district and middle school provides grade level EL and you're allowed to accelerate through it and there's no you have to take this level before that level before that level. You just move
knowing that you've received a quality rigorous instruction in a very nurturing environment and you're meeting right everything you need to meet in terms of the standards. So then we go to phase three, which is where we are now. How are we going to work on double rostering
and supporting potentially students who are labeled LTES? And we're looking at what other districts are doing and ensuring we can give B credit and that A through G. The challenge has been B credit. We have a wonderful partner, Brenda Pensno, and the division of
instruction because you have to go to the people who know it, right? and how do we create that? How do we go through UCOP? And that's been finalized. We've also restructured the policy in elementary so that there's 45 minutes of
targeted English language development. That is a protected time. I would beg you when you all visit schools, may I visit the protected time of English language development in elementary school and may I visit your grade level
ELD courses in secondary and then the last piece is we monitor in that CR better. So in all of that monitoring pieces, one of the thing Dr. Bosada gets is he gets a list of all of our students and where they are in graduation.
Just please note that sometimes our graduation data is not fully accurate in the sense of ESSA requires the state to do certain things which means a four-year cohort but many of our students depending on when they join us
might need that fifth year and my understanding and I'm not the expert at it it's not qu it's it's not counted and I know Martha's helping us work on those pieces so just know we're tackling that as well because we have a large amount of students who do take advantage of that.
How do we build capacity? These are just a few of most recent institutes of higher learning that we work with. UC Davis, we worked with them with math, integrated math. What does that look like for language learners? We also looked at what LMU, we're
constantly consulting with them, but I would also let you know that we're also consulting with CSLA, CSUN, and CSUD. also the international newcomer academy network because we do need to reach out to different groups of people for their
specialties. Um we often reach out to Northridge for the Armenian support and what might our students need in that space. So we need to consider those kinds of things. This digital resource guys check it out. Give us your thoughts and tell us how we can improve. We always want to make it
better. Who we collaborate with. If we're not talking to everybody, we're in a silo and the work doesn't really get done. So the reason the work is effective and we're getting the results that we're getting is that under Dr. Estrada and
Superintendent Carvalo, we now have some coherent systems where everybody's going, where are we? What's the overlay? How do we cascade this? What is our part in this? The names here, you all know them. They're like superstars. Latasha, Matthew, Elsie, I mean, you know, text
is best. And then what do we do for schools? So this is like what we're doing here, what we're doing at the region level, the things we do in the community. Now it's about who are the implementers and how are we helping them. So it's great to have all these wonderful ideas and move
this. So part of this is ensuring that we have staff at schools. It does always start in terms of this work with the EL designate or the TSP coordinator at the school. That's like that one of those main pieces. Every school has that. But
in addition to that, there are coaches, there are instructional aids, there are many, many supports. And I'd like to call out like things like Apollo, AsianPacific, and other languages. As we look over our supports, our international newcomers,
I ask you to think out of the box of what our students might look like. We have many requests for Russian supports and we ensure we provide that. We have many requests also in our Armenian community for to support. So we ha we have to flex to what our students and
families need. We use data and we are just there getting it done. We get a call, we go out, we support in any way we need to support. All of this connects to our wonderful resolution. And as you think about this
resolution, our core commitments in that resolution were honor the whole child. This is about humanity. Apply an acidbased lens. Humanity again. Celebrate multilingualism. Humanity again. Ensure high quality
rigorous instruction. Why? Because cognitive justice is what we should be doing in how we serve our students. Make sure we're doing it in nurturing environments. And you can't start without partnering with the family and whatever that family structure might look like. And it looks differently for
everyone. And lastly, how do we integrate the all of these systems of support that happens with the kabaliberation with other departments and our regions and our community- based organizations. So, enough about me, who it's really
about. You got to hear this kiddo. Just one of our superstars. This is our why. This is the heart work that makes the hard work. You just do it. Um, I don't know how to turn this on video. Does someone do that?
Thank you. Sorry. to know about college and the psychologist that can help us and what we need. One of the programs I would love to have it would be a program that helps us to know what kind of a job we could have where we're studying and what we're doing and it's not so forced.
Hi, my name is Eileene and I am from Guatemala and I am in 11th grade. One support that the school provides for me is about Chila that gives information about immigration and at the same time they give you support with lawyers and
also with your documentation. And one of the things that I would love to have is to learn a different language because here it's just Spanish and I would love to have another Spanish, Korean, Portuguese or something like that. just interpret the video.
>> So these are kiddos who participate in our dream centers. The work that do Dr. Posada has led in our internationalmies. And hey everybody, it's not about being bilingual. Sorry if you're bilingual. It's about triilingual and multilingual. Um the kids are doing it. They're
getting the awards. They're doing it in kindergarten and first grade. So let's celebrate our beauty and thank you very much. Thank you so much, Miss Lydia Costa Stevens. And yes, a big shout out to Dr. Pada and the entire team of MMED. Thank
you for all the work that you do in uh making um the dreams of our multilingual learners come alive by learning not only their um a second language or a third language, but it it is it is this is about language justice. It is about
humanity, but it is definitely about language justice that is so long overdue here in our in our state and in our country. So, Miss Gonz, do you would you like to start us off in some questions? Oh, thank you, Dr. Rubas. Um, so kind of you to to include me. Um, I I was a
little unprepared, but I am excited. Thank you so much um Miss Costa Stevens and to the entire med team for all of you all of the work you do every day and then the work that you have been doing on the implementation of Exito Promesa. Um I also want to acknowledge our community- based partners who have been
advocating for our multilingual learners um for their academic success their well-being um for justice and equity for our communities for a very long time. Um I know some of them are in the room with us. Alliance for a Better Community, Inner City Struggle, Promesa Boil Heights, and Betsedk. Um, so thank you
all so much for being here as well and for advocating for our multilingual learners and our immigrant students. Um, and I think that the the important part of of today's presentation is we're reflecting on a year of implementation um and and also it's an opportunity to renew our commitment towards our
multilingual learners. Um, because this resolution passed in I believe it was May of 2024. So, it was before um we knew about all the events that would occur in 2025 before these relentless attacks on our communities. Um and yet we know that there was more work to do
to ensure that not only are we taking an assets based approach to our multilingual learners um but that that extends to access to rigorous course work. It extends to ensuring they can access electives, the kinds of courses that bring joy to our students um and
that they should have access to as well as ensuring access to translation services and the kind of specialized staff because we know it takes people. It's not just about programs or policies, but to actually make those real, we need the specialized people on school campuses to provide that direct
support to our students and families. So I'm really heartened whenever I meet our mamal um our international newcomer aids at our school sites because these are the the caring adults who can help support our students and our families on this journey that they are on and to
ensure that they get whatever dedicated resources they need. So I am really grateful. I think those are huge signs of progress. Um, and I and I just wanted to ask if if you could reflect on one year of implementation, where are we seeing really positive progress and maybe there's a a few particular schools
that come to mind and kind of what are lessons and challenges that we are grappling with moving forward? >> Um, definitely our international newcomermies. We're seeing amazing progress. I can also tell you that the ELPAC, we had more students this year go
from level one to level four than we ever have in the past. It was pretty amazing. Um, when you just look at those pieces, I think the other success is what you called out. Our our malt coats, these coaches, um, their heart is in the
work. You know, these teachers know what it is and how to service. And one of the key successes of it is they push in. The former model which was called the title three coach position was only coaching on instruction and model lessons and
professional development. still needed, but 60% of their time is they are in classrooms working with students going through six week rapid cycles of PDSA monitoring which students they're working with who can they let go of who can they bring in they participate in
the small group instruction and they reflect with the teacher and then if the teacher says hey can you come and model this lesson for integrated um EL and math I'd like to see that they can also find the feedback but the relationship's already built with the students so they have key schedules. We review those
schedules. I have to tell you um that my region coordinators are amazing in the way they service them and that work is also being led. I just think we have to call people out. Anna Guzman is sitting back here. I think she's been leading that work for us and that's why it's
quite successful. I would also say the other key point is if you look at our data on pathway awards and seal of biiteracies um 80 languages and pathway awards 80 I can't even think of 80 languages. I always have to look at the list. And
approximately 50 in seals of biiteracy. That is that is the work where we need a little bit more support because of the changes that have been occurring in our cepa mentality and our heart. And this is where we can
all get emotional. We are reooking at what it is to create dream centers and resources and those supports for our different communities in a variety of needs um and understanding the different spaces. So Dr. Pada went out and saw the Wilson
model. It's actually amazing. It really is. And that students did it. Bravo to you guys was amazing. So, we're refining based on that learning and we're setting up a trajectory and a plan and we're working with Dr. Estrada and
we'll be soon meeting with the superintendent on that. I think that's where the next heavy lift is and also um my reclassified babies. Where are they? But they're doing really well, but how can they even do better?
>> Thank you so much. >> Thank you, Lydia. Thank you um for reminding us and centering us always why we're here. Right. And with that, I want to thank the Wilson students because I want you to know that you are the reason
why we're here. You are inspiring us to continually make decisions that are based on what you need. And I want to encourage you to continue advocating and to continue speaking up and continue pushing all of us here to make those
decisions that benefit you that are what you need and not only you but everybody else in our district. Right? So I want to thank you for being here for your advocacy and remind you that you are an inspiration to so many of us. Your
courage um really moves us every day. So, and also thank you um Lydia for always bringing us back to that because that is that is why we're here. And one of the things that I heard the students mentioned um was that they they need
more support right at their in their dream centers that um they're great but I heard from one of the students say that they're only open two days a week and or only after school and only when you know the the staff who was a
full-time employee at the school can open it. And so there is um there is a great need for that um for us to be able to to really um to to make these dream centers um open all the time and accessible to our students all the time.
So as we're thinking about the next step, right, and we're building these dream centers, let's think about how we we make that happen between now and um before the end of the school year. Um but another thing that I heard um a need for our students was mental health
support. And so I'm wondering um regarding newcomer students and student in schools that have a high concentration of newcomer students, what are some of the mental health supports that they have? For example, do they um have a PSW? Uh do they uh have a
dedicated uh PSW for newcomer students? That's one of the questions I have. One of the opportunities that Dr. Posada led for us approximately three three or four years ago is applying for Cal new funding with that Cal new funding at our
international newcomermies and an um at RFK as well. We ensured that we were able to support the funding of PSWs in that space. So we continue to apply for that. The other thing that we look at is
our 18 schools that 15 to 18. It can vary by year depending on need. We ensure that we have a coach that's assigned to provide those supports to connect with us as well on what may be needed. Um the 18
medf funded coaches at these 18 high schools, I'll go with that right now. They participate in monthly meetings. So we bring people like Garasan, we bring the division of instruction. We've also under Anna's leadership developed social emotional um learning lessons in espanol
and actually in Armenian and all these other target languages that can also be leveraged. So we're looking at the different ways to enter the space. How do we make it available for everyone in multiple languages? They are a little
more elementarybased, but I will say we do have high numbers of students that come in third, fourth, and fifth grade. So, we're trying to make those social emotional supports available there as soon as possible. So, those are some of the things we're working on. >> I see. So, there isn't a dedicated PSW
for newcomer populations. It's we're trying to do the best with what we have >> for my themies we work with. there is in some of those spaces. In terms of the um community schools work, I believe they also do some funding that was mentioned.
That's how the dream center I believe is supported. I can't speak to the PSW piece. I would have to defer to um I don't know if Elsie or Horwell are here, but I'd have to defer to that. >> That's okay. >> But I do think as you brought up, I mean, this is the opportunity before us.
We're going to assess and learn from the programs that we've had. We've listened to different community members to also know how they're feeling and hearing what else is needed. Uh so I think it's a great time to just reassess what do we want to be able to ensure is being provided through our centers uh knowing
the population we're serving. So this is all good information as we're considering the the next evolution. >> Thank you. And then the 15 to 18 schools are those the schools that have a MALK coach or um are those >> it's a variety depending on the school.
English learners are not a monolithic group. So be as we look at the different typologies and language needs we assign based on that. So it could be a mulch but they're also servicing international newcomer students within that depending
on the population. It could be an international newcomer coach, but they might also be serving the reclassified students who have been international newcomers. So the formula that we look at is who are the students? We look at it every year and then based on that we
assign the appropriate staff and by working with the region I should say the position and then the region looks at the appropriate support person. >> Okay. So it's a combination of Yes. Okay. Got it. And then you mentioned the
um for the ELTLS. Um so I see here that ELTLS will be double rostered in grade level ELA in comprehensive English course with a B credit. So one, what is the B credit? And then two, um is this the same as it's always been though or
um No. >> Okay. Because I before they would have two English classes until they reclassified, right? ELTELS. Now explain how that works. >> Thank you. That's a great question. I know it's a little weedy and technical. So when we do that ELA slash the getting
the EL and ELA credit, the B credit is what's mandated in A through G for graduation. The G credit, and someone correct me if I'm wrong, is the elective piece of it. So at some point the EL courses at certain times especially the
novice would only count for G credit >> which would mean a student enrolls in 10th grade has to take nth grade English and then this other EL course that's the two
courses right by providing this grade level ELA courses now they can go from a year of grade level EL let's just say nth grade The teacher determined when consultation with others should they move to this ELA course where they
no longer have to take a separate EL. So their schedule opens up. >> Mhm. >> Which allows them now to take those things that they're interested in at school. >> And that's only for ELELS for long-term English learners. >> That's all. >> That's even for a new
>> That's everybody. That's everyone. Grade level EL. So I'll take you to in fourth grade you get everything of every typology. An international newcomer enrolls one day. You've got the e who was born here. Then you've got the kiddo
who um oh gosh is now a pl because they've been in. So that model of what happens in elementary is what we're doing for secondary. Students move in and out of all of these spaces. So trying to create
these specific courses, this is your ELTEL course, this is your P this course. We believe that all students can achieve with the appropriate supports and instruction and that students can pass those courses. And I believe that's why we're seeing that students don't
feel, I'm going to be honest, oh, I'm in grade level ALD versus I'm in the long-term English learner class. It says two different things for you as a student. When they finish that course, then they can go to the ELA course.
>> Got it. Thank you. >> Sorry. No, there's a policy. Clarify that. Thank you. >> Yeah. I think what's important here with the policy that Lydia's team did pilot is we wanted to be able to say how can we ensure that any student in our system, whether you're a newcomer or
not, that you are on a pathway to high school graduation and A throughG opportunities. So when you graduate from LUSD, you have choices on which path you want to go. Even if you need that extra year, fifth year, that's a okay. So what she's been working on is making sure
that the course options we have are not just driven by the fact that the student has language development needs in English, but more importantly that they're also getting the courses that they need to graduate to have those choices. And that's really what she piloted to see what are some of the
courses we can do that with English being one of them as well as the G course you're absolutely correct elective piece but also making sure that as they're going on their path the students and that's the beauty of the work that the the coaches do. They're helping the students stay goal focused
on what's your next step, what's your next coursework, what's your next opportunity. So as they're getting closer and closer to graduation, there are more choices for our kids. She's also been engaged in partnership with DACE to ensure that our students also
get those internship opportunities, those certification opportunities because especially for our international newcomers, we also know some of those choices need to be to work. And so we know that that's some of the choices. So we want to make sure that they are getting those high school experiences just like any other kid as they should.
If I can just say one last thing and to emphasize what um Kelly mentioned about the need for the supports, right? The people who know this in the classroom. Now more than ever, especially at secondary, we're going to need the instructional assistants, the translators, folks who can really
support the students, especially if you are a high school student and a newcomer and trying to move through this. We're definitely going to need those supports. >> Just two things. First of all, Lydia, as someone who taught ESL in the early 80s
in middle school, there was no flexibility. You are the most flexible person I have ever met as far as kids taking courses as they need them. It was so rigid and you follow the curriculum and it was very sad. I remember my my ESL, we call it ESL, my ESL kids, they
couldn't even participate in the shops because they had to take an extra class, a reading class. It was this is so much so much better and so much better for the kids. So, thank you. Number one. Number two, I'm a little nervous about the um
uh the virtual uh courses because of the rate maybe being cut. So, what are we what are we going to do if there's any disruptions in our virtual academy? >> Any plan? >> The virtual academy piece. I think I saw Latasha here. I might want her. >> She she did step away, but
>> I did see her leave. Yeah, I was trying to catch you. >> That's okay. Um, I will check in with our IT team because I know that they've been trying to be creative. But for our kids who are on virtual academy, it is part of their course uh for basic instructional tools that they need to
access virtual academy. So, we do provide those resources as needed. But I do think it's one of those things that over time it becomes harder and harder. And I know with that um Soel's team and Pedro's team have been trying to problem solve how we go around that.
>> Thank you. >> Thank you so much, Miss Lydia Costa Stevens. Thank you for your presentation. Appreciate it very much. >> Thank you. >> Thanks. And thank you to your team. >> So yes, there you go. >> So now we uh move to the next section of
uh the our committee of the whole which is public comment. Uh, so Mr. McClean, you take it away. >> All right, we have 15 folks signed up for public comment. I'll call on the people who listed themselves as speaking in person first and then we'll go to the
folks who listed themselves as being remote. So the first uh person is Josephina Quintterero. Come on up. Josephina Quintterero, are you here? Um, and then after that is Maria Sanchez. So, Josephina, are you
here? >> Oh, great. >> Espanol. Okay. Miss Kero is going to speak in Spanish. So, if you'd like to hear what she's saying in English, please put your hands up and we'll get you these translation headsets. Okay, >> good evening. Good afternoon. My name is
Josephina Quintterero. I'm a mother of two author uh artistic students at at different levels and different supports. For me, education is very important. Education does not represent
sex, gender, race, color or immigration status. For me, what's important is the education. I believe that all students in this country or every child deserves education, high level education. We live
in a first in a great country and the minimum I I expect is good education. And I want my children to go to school without fear. Fear shouldn't paralyze us. This is the worst that can happen to us at this moment. I cannot allow for my
children to to to even have a family separation. How will I explain this to my autistic student if one day I can't pick him up? He will not understand this. Therefore, we need to work together. the board of education, the parents,
school, students, we should all work together to ease this situation. Uh, one thing I wanted to let you know that charter schools uh about two years ago, they we are already working with
immigration issue. This is something that worries us for a long time. Unfortunately, the district is just seeing this, but we it's been 2 years that we've been doing this and I believe what helps us a lot is be voice educate
parents. Parents should we also need the education to say where I can receive services as well, academic services and see where our students are at or doing. Something very important is that we are
forgetting about everything. We're forgetting to teach parents how the finance uh gets here. We are we're talking about enrollment assistance is because we receive funds because of enrollment. We need to
educate ourselves on that. >> Okay. Maria Sanchez, are you here? Maria Sanchez? Maria Sanchez? Not here. Okay. Ian Kirxy, I think I saw you out there. Come on up, Mr. Kirsy. You'll have two minutes to speak once you begin. Then
after Mr. Kirsy is Stephanie Tapia and then Jennifer Cano. All right, you'll have two minutes to speak. Why don't you begin, Mr. Kirsy? Thank you. Um, good afternoon members of the board. My name is Ian Kirsy and I am an
organizer with Students Deserve, Reclaim Our Schools Los Angeles, and the Policefree LUSD coalition. I am here as part of a community that cares deeply about our schools and our students. First, let me acknowledge the work this board uh has done to hear the voices of students, educators in the community.
The investments and programs like BSAP, Dream Centers, and supports for LGBT LGBTQ plus youth during the last uh school year are a powerful example of the commitment um that this board is willing to put forth in protecting its students and creating community based
safety. The possibility of that example is also the source of my disappointment and contrition with the board today. The decision to renew Superintendent Carvalo's contract for another four years made behind closed doors and without meaningful community input sends a troubling message about who this
district listens to. When decisions of this magnitude happen without transparency or participation from the public, it undermines the trust of the public. It tells students, parents, educators, and the community you serve that their voices don't matter in shaping the direction of their schools.
Plainly put, public education should be governed in the open, not decided in secret. And it is deeply disappointing that when authoritarism, authoritarianism is on the rise, you are not striving in every area to make LUSD an example of democracy and action. It is also disappointing to see the
favoritism inherent in the handling of this process. Currently, the district is in negotiation with UTLA and SEIU Local 99 to create fair contracts for the workers who educate, guide, and support the students of LA USD. They have not gotten the Kush treatment and the consideration that the superintendent
has. While the superintendent may be a capable person and has a compelling story, he alone cannot protect and educate the students in LAD. How this process has been handled by the board does not give me faith that the board will show up for the needs of students with students. As the threats that face our students from police and
hostile forces increase daily and as we make statements about courage and the need to act, this is unacceptable. But it does not have to be this way. We are calling on the board to do better. You can do so by one creating a transparent process that includes students, parents, employees, and broader community in
evaluating and reviewing the superintendent's contract. Two, you can create you can settle fair contracts with all bargaining units, our teachers, counselors, and staff, so that those who make our schools thrive are treated with dignity and respect. >> Thank you. >> And three, you can continue to invest in real safety. That means uh things like
safe passage. That means like things like uh more counselor Thank you for your time. All right, Stephanie Tapia, are you here? Come on up. You have two minutes to speak. And then after Miss Tapia is Jennifer Kano or Kano, I'm sorry. You have two minutes
to speak. Why don't you begin? >> Ano? >> Uh, good afternoon board members. Uh, my name is Stephanie Tapia here with Alliance for a Better Community. I'd like to share the remainder of my time with our partners from Promesa Bo Heights and Bet Zedek.
>> Hello, my name is Claudia Lara and I'm here today with Promesa Bo Heights and in support of Alliance for Better Community. Thank you board member uh Gonz for your continued support and leadership and strengthening support for multilingual learners and uh all board members as well. I'm here today to
highlight the need for more dual language immersion programs at the middle and high school level to ensure that the promise of biiteracy sparked in the early learning years is brought to fruition in those secondary um years and that more students are graduating
with seals of biliteracy. I would also like to thank and uplift the work of the Wilson High School students and the dream center. We need that in all of our schools and I urge you to continue to monitor for the full implementation of the exit promesa resolution. Hello everyone. My name is Leslie
Mendoza, an immigration and kinship attorney at Betsetic Legal Services representing unaccompanied minors. Betedic also has an attorney at Helen Bernstein High School uh who helps unaccompanied minors and we're also looking to hire another fellow to be placed at another LUSD high school uh
with a newcomer program. I'm here in support of Alliance for a Better Community. Um, and I want to first thank uh the board member uh Gonz for your continued leadership, the board, the community organizations and community members. Research shows that culturally responsive responsive educators play a
pivotal role in addressing social barriers that contribute to disparities and achievement. With Exito Promesa, MLL students will have more equitable learning environments where they can feel empowered to succeed. I urge the district to continue to provide know your rights workshops to ensure that
parents and caregivers understands their children's constitutional rights to education regardless of their immigration status as superintendent Carvalo highlighted in his opening remarks. U empowering our community is so important till today I urge you to continue to monitor for the full implementation of the exito for promesa
resolution. Thank you so much. >> Thank you for your time Jennifer Kano. Good afternoon, board member Rivas, esteemed board members, and superintendent Carvalo. My name is Jennifer Kano, and I am the senior policy and advocacy manager for
education at Alliance for Rebetto Community, ABC. ABC is a Latino Latina advocacy organization advancing social, economic, racial equity, and justice for Latinos and Latinos across LA County.
First, ABC would like to acknowledge board member Rivas for today's robust agenda on the community response plan to protect LUSD students and families at this moment. ABC would also like to acknowledge board member Gonz for her unwavering leadership in elevating the
array of multilingual learners specific needs as recent Supreme Court decisions have reinforced racial profiling on the basis of race, language, and employment. ABC is here today to reiterate respectfully how important this moment
is to ensure that parents, staff, and students feel safe speaking home and heritage languages on school campuses. Further, ABC would like to acknowledge the hard work of the multilingual multicultural education department in
completing the multicultural multilingual master plan this year. We just heard about the incorporation of the exido promesa resolves into the current work. As the co-chair of the consortium for multilingual learner success, ABC expresses its full
commitment to standing alongside LA Unified to advance best practices to accelerate the full implementation of the English learner roadmap. This includes joint advocacy before those state- elected officials who have indicated to us that they understand that parent and family perspectives are
missing in the key policies and the design of the key key policies affecting their children's education. Together, we can urge for more investment in highquality multi-iteracy programs, more bilingual teachers, more dream resource centers, and muchneeded improvement in
the English learner reclassification process. Thank you. Thank you for your time. Maria Daisy Ortiz, come on up. And then after Miss Ortiz is Alma de Jesus. Miss Ortiz is going to speak in Spanish. So if you'd like to hear what she's
saying in English, please put your hands up and we will get you these translation headsets. Okay. Gracias. Good afternoon to everyone. My name is Maria Dei Ortiz and I believe each one of you received
an email on my behalf regarding the anomalies, irregularities, and violations of the state law of California. paying an administrator
that manipulates and lies to parents. I will read it because perhaps I I don't know. I'm going to pretend I don't know. The parent committee on a district-wide
level of California says the parent committee districtwide by parents, personnel, and members of the community This forms the district committee. But I also have ELAC. ELAC is a legislative
committee in which yesterday Mr. Antonio Placencia did not honor or respect. I am a member of ELAC of Franklin High School. I was elected by the parents to be the delegate and the on behalf of the
district east. And here on the state law it states that parents or legal guardians of English learners must constituate the majority of the committee 51%. Okay. So elections the parent committee
also known as ELAC of every school must have the opportunity to elect at least one representative to be a part of DAC. Here it does not say that it has to be of an English learner. It has says
nothing because once a committee is formed with a component mentioned it is a committee an actual committee acting committee. That's why here there has been violations that are atrocious that need to be corrected and have
disciplinary action taken place and a multitude of schools from the east and only 54 had representation 70% has no >> thank you very much for your time >> and this like many others with our taxes
that's why there is a Thank you for your time. Uh Am Jesus, come on up. You'll have two minutes to speak once you begin. Good afternoon, board. My name is Alma de Jesus Ramirez and I am a parent of Rammon Cortinez uh school visual arts,
performing arts student and a member of reclaimer schools. We are here today to express our anger and concern about the decision that this board made on September 17 when you voted anonymously to renew Superintendent Carvalo's contract for another four years. That
was a consequential decision that will shape our schools and communities. We are deeply disappointed in every single one of you who was elected to represent us because right now it feels like you are representing him. you renew his contract. But while thousands of workers across the district
are still waiting for a fair contract, safe passage, something families have to be have been demanding for years, is still not fully implemented. And the district still hasn't taken real concrete steps to make our schools through safe zones, especially in the
light of all ICE attacks on our communities. Most of all, we are disappointed in the process. The way this happened was unacceptable. The very people most impacted by district decisions were not complete were completely left out and not included. We
demand that you make public commitment to change this process moving forward. Create transparency process that includes students, parents, employees and community involvement. Um and if you are going to stand by this superintendent and then hold hold him
accountable st start delivering for the people who make this district our workers, our families and our students. negotiate and set of f fair dignified contracts while with LA USD workers to recruit the dedicated educators, counselors, school staff that make our
schools thrive. Continue to invest in a vision of school safety that is rooted in community, not police, which includes school police. We don't feel safe. If you ask my son to call police when he encounters ICE, he will say no because he doesn't feel safe. make sure that we
are protecting our students not just the with statements and proclamations of century schools but with tangible concrete actions that are fail on the ground because we still have families that are telling us that they don't feel safe. Um we deserve a district that
listens to us, protects us and invests in us, not one that lifts us out of huge decisions like the one you made on September 17. >> Thank you for your time. Okay, Rebecca H, are you here? Rebecca H.
>> If you want to tutor me on how to say your last name, I'll I I'll take it. >> Uh my name is Rebecca, Dr. Rebecca Hennice. >> And nice. Thank you so much. >> Wes, thank you for the opportunity to speak on such an important topic such as dignity and justice for all, defending
families, students, and schools. Um, I serve as the principal at City Language Immersion Charter, Click, a Spanish language immersion elementary public charter school located in West Adams. At Click, we serve TK5 students through a progressive constructivist 9010 model.
Our students grow into creative, curious thinkers who learn to ask questions and express ideas fearlessly in two languages. We're proud to serve many immigrant and multilingual families who entrust us with their children's education. For us, dignity and justice
means creating a safe and afferving school where language, culture, and identity are celebrated, not treated as barriers. Bilingual education is for all students. And while we have a large Latino population, 12% of our students
are African-American. By attending Click, they too are benefiting from bilingual education. Our test scores show that our African-American students are outperforming the district and the state in ELA and math on state's test scores. When families feel secure and
valued, students can thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. I'd like to share one story that captures what this means in real life. One of our families came to Click specifically looking for a school with a secure campus. Their family had been
happy, has been happy at Click because not only do they feel safe and have a sense of belonging, but their son is now speaking Spanish. Today, that child proudly communicates with peers, family, and community members and is thriving
academically in both languages. We appreciate LUSD's leadership in uplifting immigrant communities and strengthening supports for multilingual learners. As a charter school, we are deeply aligned with these goals. Our model is designed to support bilingualism, biculturalism, biiteracy,
and a sense of belonging. Thank you for shining a light on this important issue. >> Thank you for your time. Da Guen, are you here? Da Guen, come on up. You have two minutes to speak. Won't you begin? Miss Guian's going to speak in Spanish.
So, if you'd like to hear what she's saying in English, please use the headsets you already have or put your hands up if you have not yet received one. Okay, gracias. >> Good afternoon, members of the board. My name is Diana Gillian and I've been chairperson five times over in the
parent committees all over the district. the truth. Today I had a stomach ache seeing so much nepotism because the the the ones you should be friends with is justice because everybody here shakes hands and hugs as if we're family and
friends abusing immigrant families creating a great big program. Two and a half hours I was listening at home about this meeting about all the wonderful things you're doing for the immigrant families. I live in MacArthur Park and I have the right
to speak on behalf of the families that live there. We are the most affected and no one's going to come to tell me that I cannot say this and I'm glad these organizations are doing their jobs because that's what they should be doing. But you you are
leaving the academic achieving so low. And Miss Lydia Costa came here to speak 35 minutes about what you're doing for the English learners. And she didn't even bring data. She didn't talk about the academic progress. Nothing. And that
is your job. Bring data about how you're going to help our kids not just create dreams or dream centers. How will that help our kids progress academically? Parents are afraid of you because they
don't trust you because you don't give that trust. Immigration is something that will happen, but you are the ones that are killing the dreams of the kids because they don't progress academically and you leave us parents out. You're not educating us in a way that we
understand. We've told you thousands of times and you still do the same thing. The same same And it doesn't concern you. This education, the funds that you're not going to get because of all these kids whose parents are being sent to their country of
origin, do you not care if they're deported? No. You care about the money you'll stop receiving in their absence. And for the first time in your life, please start thinking about education and not political campaigns because right now you're run re running for re-election. That's all you care about.
Not oh, we're the saviors of the immigrants. It's a liars. >> Thank you for your time. >> Okay. Amir Kazmir, are you out there? There you are. Come on down. You'll have two minutes to speak once you begin. >> Uh good afternoon board members, uh public members. Um I want to take a
second to acknowledge and value this space of public comment. Um, I've been coming up here for like the last eight years as a student, being able to express myself, my opinions, help uh build community with the board, bring things to students such as safe passage,
such as community based safety, um, such as right um, know your rights assemblies and immigrant justice assemblies, right? So that folks can know what's on the hearts and minds of students. Um, this space is immensely valuable for that. And I'm also deeply disappointed and
concerned about what this space looks like and the actual value for this space because of um Alberto Carvalo's uh contract uh reapproval uh without having the opportunity to address it here and public comment with community members um
and generally without being able to assess what has been successful so far. Last year we had an agreement from the board that we would be investing in safe passage that we would be investing in community based safety and BSAP and liaison programs for uh different cultural uh different students of
different cultural backgrounds and I'm hearing even in this meeting right a lot of investment towards student safety but I'm very confused and very concerned because what I know happened and the work that has been done was to make sure that we could have this superintendent
come back again. And it's very important to me that we make sure that we have community based safety coming back again next year, that we have BAP coming back again next year, that I have we have the teachers and educators that are fighting for their contract right now coming back next year. It's not very important to me
that Carvalo specifically sits in that seat. What's important to me is that we as a community sit in that seat and are holding one another accountable to the things that we say is important and the things that we want to see in our schools and communities. Thank you. Thank you for your time. All right,
Maria Louisa Palma, I see you're online with us. Please press star six to unmute yourself and you'll have two minutes to speak once you begin. Maria Louisa Palma. >> Wow. Support for immigrant students and families. Clear information on parents
rights. a commitment to education excellence for all children with a focus on immigrants, our most vulnerable students and families. I've noted your words and I've recorded them because I, Marisa Palma and Ola Inc., the nonprofit
I represent, completely agree on these points. I work on these every single day. Sadly, the parent perspective was not in today's presentation. Let me give you an example of reality. yesterday at the elections for the parent committee and these elections are coming up all
this week for the district English learner advisory committee, the office of students, families and community engagement who is supposed to facilitate those meetings. There was absolutely no record on any of their websites, not a single flyer advertising that this
meeting was happening or any of them for the rest of the week. Do a Google search for yourself. Obscure little bits of information come up at certain regional offices, but region south that flyer is not posted anywhere anywhere on district website. Are these secret meetings?
These are open meetings under the law. So what is so important about the DELAC? Well, this is a state required committee that is supposed to provide clear information on the district finances through the LCAP, the local control and accountability plan, which has never yet
been provided. When will that be provided? So, how will we ever get to true respect, a true partnership with immigrant parents? Are they just a compliance checklist item for you? Do you want them to just be a passive, silent, thankful recipient of your
benevolence, of your good intentions? is the parents that we support at OALA continue to await an invitation from all of you for a seat at a decision-making table which does not exist at this district for parents where you would hear them where you would take action on
what they want for their community for their families and not just parents handpicked by unions and special interests but true authentic parents who speak for their community. Make parent decisionmaking at the district level a priority especially for immigrant
parents or else all of this is just a sham. Thank you for listening. >> Thank you for your time. Okay, Aurelia, I see you are here. Apologize for missing you initially. Please come on up. We'd love two minutes to speak once you begin. >> Good afternoon everybody. My name is
Aelia Valdivia. I'm the executive director of Reclaim Our Schools Los Angeles. We're a coalition of parents, students, educators, and community members here in LUSD. I'm here on behalf of our members to share our disappointment at this board's decision to unanimously renew Superintendent
Carvalo's contract in a rushed process that involve no community engagement. It is shocking to me who has worked with board people on this board to propose small pilot programs that only impact a handful of schools and we had to go
through a long process where we had multiple opportunities for public comment and public engagement. Right? that this decision that impacts all the schools in our district was done behind closed doors with no opportunity for
interest holders to weigh in. I'm here to ask you to fix this process moving forward so that this doesn't happen again. create a transparent process that allows those that are the most impacted, students, parents, educators, and
community members to weigh in to consider metrics that are not just important to you all, but that are important to the community. Also, if we're going to be having Carvalo as our leader for the next four years, hold him accountable. make sure that he is
settling dignified contracts with our educators and our SEUI99 members. Make sure that we are fully implementing community-based safety and following through with the resolutions that this board has passed. Lastly, I just want to
speak on immigration. As an organizer, I know that two things can be true at the same time. And I can acknowledge that this board has done a tremendous amount to try to protect immigrant students. I can also acknowledge that it is not enough. That as a person who is on the
ground talking to parents and students every day. You know, even board members here today during the presentation said, "I did not know that was a resource." If you did not know, how do our parents know? How do our students know? They don't. And they do not feel safe and
they do not feel protected. And so we need to work together to make sure that what you're saying here is more than just words, but it's actual concrete actions on the ground that are keeping our folks safe. >> Thank you for your time. >> Thank you.
>> All right, the next listed speaker is Marcela Garcia, listed as speaking remotely. I do not have you online right now, Marcela Garcia. Okay. Uh and then we have Luis Lopez is online. Uh Mr. Lopez, please press star
six to unmute yourself and you'll have two minutes to speak once you begin. Oh, he is gone now. >> Oh, there you are. >> Sorry, I came first. >> Good afternoon, board members. My name is Luis Lopez and I'm with Alliance for a Better Community, and I'd like to
transfer my time to Jessica Castillo. >> Thank you. Good afternoon, board members. My name is Jessica Castillo from Inner City Struggle and I am here today with the Consortium for Multi-Lingual Learner Success. The Consortium for Multilarner S I'm sorry,
Multilingual Learner Success is a regional collective of researchers, policy makers, and advocates, educators committed to building an educational system that fully supports the needs and embraces the assets of multilingual learners. We focus on accelerating
learning opportunities and success for 210,000 multilingual students served by LA County's public schools, many from immigrant and mixed status families. We want to thank board member Kelly Gonz for her leadership in bringing forward the Exito and Promesa resolution. This
resolution represents an important step towards educational equity for multilingual learners. Today, we join our partners in urging LA USD to continue implementation and renew its commitment on this promise to all LUSD communities and families by investing in
dream centers, expanding dual language programs, and ensuring that all families receive information and support in their home language. At Inner City Struggle, located within Dr. Reebas School District 2. We work with families in East LA and Bole Heights. Communities
rich in language, culture, pride in their heritage. Yet many of our families face real fear and uncertainty as immigrant parents and children navigate schools where language and immigrant status can still feel like barriers. We want to uplift the specific needs of
immigrant and multilingual students, especially their social emotional wellness and safety. Um, Inner City Struggle has done a lot during the last few months to make sure that we can protect our families rapid response. We
provided safety supports economically, know your rights workshops and today I just want to continue the conversation and I believe the conversation has been very impactful. I hope it helps to strengthen and connect and advance and advance a stronger implementation. Um,
so we just urge that you continue to support our immigrant and multilingual families and to let them grow and thrive with sorry with safety, dignity, and home. Thank you. >> Thank you for your time. >> All right, Karina Lopez, come on down. U, I'm only calling you last. You were
listed as call-in, so I see that you're in person. Please come on up. You'll have two minutes to speak once you begin. >> Okay. So, if you'd like to hear what Miss Lopez is saying in English as she's speaking Spanish, please put your hands up and uh we'll get you a headset.
Okay, gracias. >> Hello. Good afternoon. My name is Karina Lupa and I want to tell those people that are expressing negatively about the school police and about the community that they are gravely mistaken because
when something happens I don't see any other one aside from blue uniforms. So I cannot I can defend and I can say and many people think like me and that's why there is that's why they're there.
School safety is important. Double the security in our around schools so as students are safe and so are families. It's so important that the department in the uh interpretation also intensifies the number miss
you promised this during their campaign. There has been no change about Chira. My mom Guadalupe Lopez and my daughter Miss Rasgado Guadalupe was a spokesperson for Chir for a long while. Carla Razgado who is my daughter.
Between them and Chira, they work for the driver's license and also for writers uh uh homemakers rights. It is so what is happening to Heidi Perez who tried to help Miss Guian and I to be
American citizen. They discriminated against her. I am Mexican and she they're from Honduras. But that should not be happening. How can they offer help when it's something that they can already have and does not help? They did not know any aelas. Aeli Casala is a
director and has been the Chile director for so many years about Miss Daisy Ortiz. It is in unacceptable. They you have violated her civil rights. You have violated a legislative body. I don't
know why Mr. Placencia took this action. We don't know if this man has the license to do this. Miss Ortiz, you can go right and report this to the appropriate authorities. Thank you. >> Thank you for your time. That concludes
public comment. >> Thank you to all um those who made public comment today. Before we adjourn, I just want to say a few words as we close the committee of the whole and return to the theme that carried us through this morning and this afternoon. Dignity and justice for all defending
students, families, and schools. What we have heard today confirms that what we already know. The attacks in our communities of color, our immigrant families, and our most vulnerable students are real and relentless. But so too is our commitment. LUSD will not yield. We will not be silent. And we
will not retreat. We will defend. We will protect. And we will lead. We may not know the new attacks the future holds, but rest assured that we will meet them together in community. And we will fight back. I want to thank our guests, our partners, our students, our
educators, our administrators, my colleagues, everyone here who is joining this call to action. Together, we are showing Los Angeles and the nation that our schools will always stand as sanctuaries of dignity, equity, and justice. And with that, today's
committee of the whole is adjourned. Thank you all.