Alright. Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to our instruction and curriculum committee. Very excited to have you here. Just, so you know all know, the curriculum and instruction committee is our overall focus. What we have decided as a committee, that we're gonna do this year is we're gonna ensure that students and especially our vulnerable population see their whole selves reflected and celebrated in the curriculum and the instruction and the classroom culture.
So we wanna ask ourselves, how do we make this happen in every single classroom? Right? So as we are having these meetings, these are the questions that we're continually asking ourselves because we wanna make sure that whatever learnings we have in these committees are something that we can scale up in out into the district. Our plan for the year is this first half of the year, we're gonna focus on ideas. Ideas around curriculum, around instruction, and classroom culture that support and honor the whole being,
the whole child and their identity. The second part of the year, which will begin in January, we will be looking at what are some of those barriers that prevent us from being able to do these great things all over our district. And our goal is to come up with two sets of recommendations, one in February and one in June. These recommendations are things that we're gonna bring to the board that hopefully can become policy in our district. So we are gonna be working hard on this, between now and the end of
the school year. So today, I'm very excited. We have some presenters. We have educators. We have a student. We have some folks who are doing the work in our district around the FAIR Act. And, so why are we talking about this? You will be learning about that more, but just to give you a brief, synopsis, the FAIR Act, it stands for fair, accurate, inclusive, and respectful, and it went into effect in 2012 as part of the Ed Code that was already there.
But they in in, 2012, it was expanded to include new language around, the study of the role and contributions of both men and women, Native Americans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, European Americans, lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans, persons with disabilities, and members of other ethnic and cultural groups, to the economic, political, and social
development of California and The United States Of America with particular emphasis on portraying the role of these groups in contemporary society. So this FAIR Act was expanded to include all these populations, and it is the law. This is what we are to be doing in our schools. So it's very important and it is very important that we make sure that all of our our educators are aware of this so that they are able to implement. And it's very important that we as a district also are very much aware of
it so that we can support our educators in implementing this. So it is up to the district to determine how the instructional content is included in k 12. Now just briefly, many of us have heard about the Supreme Court case, Mahmood versus Taylor, and I want you to know that there's a difference. This is not connected to that. The that case offers parents some options around storybook greetings that touch on LGBTQIA issues. However, the FAIR Act is in effect, and it is the law that all of
us should be allowing should be following to build fair, accurate, inclusive, and respectful teaching about the contributions of LGBTQIA people and movements in California and The US. So today, we're gonna be pondering the big questions. How are educators and schools working to implement the FAIR Act and build LGBTQIA inclusive curriculum? What further supports are needed? How does LAUSD support schools and educators to implement the FAIR Act and build LGBTQIA inclusive curriculum?
And lastly, how can LAUSD support educators and schools to meaningfully implement the FAIR Act and to engage the whole school in LGBTQIA affirming curriculum, instruction, and culture? So today, we're gonna have presenters. I'm gonna go ahead and introduce them. I'm very excited about, to hear what they have to share with us. I will ask that we be lean because I'm we wanna create space for questions and answers after the first presentation, and then we wanna leave space for the committee
to discuss as well as, ask questions of the presenters and, you know, and also come up with some ideas that we want to present to the rest of our board in our district. Right? So, I can give you some reminders if you're getting close to time. But before I present our, first, group of presenters, can we go around the days and introduce ourselves as a committee? And if you can let us know your name and the role in, or your connection to LAUSD, that would be awesome.
Why don't we begin there, Trevor? Hi. My name is Trevor Ladner, hehim. I am on the committee as a community member. I work as the director of education at ONE Institute where I lead LGBTQ history programs for, educators and youth, primarily in LAUSD. Hi. My name is Cecily, and I have an eighth grader at Irving Middle School and a seventh grader at the Girls Academic Leadership Academy. And so I am a mom. Over there. Right there. Hi, everyone. My name is Amina Couture.
I also have two children attending PRC, oh, PRC. Yes. Attending LAUSD school at, Porter Ranch Community School. And I'm Carla Griego. I am the board member for board district five, former, special education teacher. Hello. My name is Vicky Martinez, she, her, Eya, and I'm a mother of two current LAUSD students, one in seventh and one in tenth at Franklin Dual Language Magnet Academy. Everyone, I'm John Belotovic. I'm with the division of instruction. I'm one of the executive directors, and I'm supporting, doctor Francis Baez, who's our chief
academic officer. Hi. My name is Laura Vasquez Webber. I'm a fifth grade teacher. I've been with LAUSD for twenty six years, teaching fourth, fifth, and sixth grade. My name is Delmi Loy. I'm a teacher, and I'm a dual language teacher, so I'm representing teachers. Alright. And, we have my staff, Rebecca Solomon, that some of you know, and then more district staff. So thank you again. I'd like to introduce you to Danielle Torres who is a social studies teacher at
Roosevelt High School with her student, Katie no. I'm sorry. Danielle is the student? Or you're the teacher, and Alexa is the student. Yes. Alright. Thank you. Welcome. Thank you. Are slides up? Okay. I'll start by just introducing yourself. Hi. My name is Danielle Torres. I use sheher pronouns. I'm a social studies teacher at the Math, Science, and Technology Magnet Academy. I'm also a pride club co adviser, and I'm a liaison through HRDE for, the LGBTQ liaison program.
Hi. My name is Alexa Mejia, and, I'm a student at Roosevelt, a junior, and I, am a part of the youth ambassador for queer history at one institute. Sorry. Cool. Alright. I just wanted to ground, this presentation in some things I thought were really important, which were my students' thoughts and feelings about what inclusive education means to them. On the screen, you can see some responses from my pride club students. The very first meeting that we had this year when I asked them how they felt when they hear students use homophobic slurs, a lot of them shared they felt
sad. They felt disappointed. In this one in particular, they said I feel invalid because homophobic slurs are used to dehumanize the community. When I asked them what inclusive spaces could look like, sound like, or feel like, a lot of them share that they feel accepted, they feel safe, they feel comfortable. And then lastly, I ask them when my identity is affirmed, how do you feel? And they shared that they felt accepted and seen confident and hopeful. And I wanted to share that because I think, with creating inclusive curriculum, it's not something that is just like, I wanna do this because this is what I wanna
teach. It's responsive to my students' needs and what makes them feel safe and comfortable and wanting to learn in the classroom. So I wanna share a couple of ways that I do that in my tenth grade world history class. I try to think about my curriculum as more, like, inclusive and part of the whole narrative of history rather than adding it on. I it's not something where it's, oh, it's LGBTQ history month. Let's teach about queer history. It's something that I try to use as a through line throughout the year in my classes. And so this is an example of the way I do that in my world history class.
We learn about the two spirit people of the Zuni, and we learn about wewa, and basically what the world was like and gender was like before colonization. Another example of how I do that is, in another unit when we learn about the revolutions, we talk about, the challenge of gender norms in the Mexican revolution. So we learn about the soladeras, but we also learn about Emilio Robles, who was one of the first transgender, soldiers in the Mexican revolution. And so trying to just highlight, different narratives that maybe students haven't heard of.
And then lastly, this is an example of something I do in my world history unit on World War two. We teach about the forgotten victims of the holocaust, so not just the Jewish population, but also, disabled folks, black Europeans, and LGBTQIA people who are also persecuted in that, in that event. So I try to, infuse it in my course throughout the year. Some other examples of how I do this and implement the FAIR Act in my, US history class, this is actually a lesson plan from one institute, written by Miguel Covarrubias.
It focuses on the, 1920s, black feminist lesbian singers, Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, and kind of breaking down, different norms around sexuality, and we look at some of their lyricism. This is an example of a student's speech that they wrote for my US history class. We do a project where they get to research and write a speech from the perspective of a revolutionary from the nineteen sixties or seventies, and so this student chose Sylvia Rivera. And so while they get to learn about a lot of different movements, the women's movement, the black power movement, the Chicano movement, they also get to learn about the
LGBTQIA movement and different, notable figures in that time period. And then lastly, this is a lesson plan that I created in, connection with one archives or one institute. It was about an event in LA history called the Biltmore Invasion in which, the Gay Liberation Front, formed a protest in response to a convention that was promoting the use of electroshock therapy to cure homosexuality. And so just showing, again, a piece of local LA history and, the way that
queer history in this protest has existed throughout throughout time. My last example that I wanna share with you all is, actually from a former colleague, Carla Ayala. She wrote this again also with one institute, and her lesson plan focuses on how LGBTQ immigrants push for more inclusive policies in the seventies and eighties and focusing on these two, figures in particular, Richard Adams and Anthony Sullivan and, the different legal and, like, political ways that, not just, like, queer folks but, like, queer immigrants have tried
to fight for a more inclusive society. So I know there is a question about how we confront pushback, and I think that's inevitable when we're teaching LGBTQIA history and especially in the past, like, year. I think it's come up a lot more pushback from, students. And so, we actually adapted a lesson plan, from one institute about the FAIR Act. And so, every student at our school, grades nine through 12, learn about the FAIR Act in their advisory classes just so they know, like, this is something that you
could be learning about in your classes and, something that we have a legal right to learn about. And so that's the question that students have to answer after they jigsaw, reading through the fair act, and they have to answer what are the students' rights to LGBTQ representation in the classroom. So I think it's important that school wide, there's, this sense that this is not something just happening in one classroom or with one teacher. It's something that's expected in all all classrooms and in all spaces. And then in particular for my classroom and for most, classrooms on campus, just reminding
students of expected classroom norms and guidelines. And, I think that's really where admin support can be really helpful if if there is homophobia or transphobia or really any form of oppression that comes up in the classroom that, students are held accountable for that, and it's not just, again, one teacher calling it out, but it's it's a culture in the school. I also want to share some support that I've gained along the way in creating this, LGBTQIA curriculum. Shout out to Frances Marion who's going to present in just a bit, but, she
came to present to MSTMA, towards the beginning of our semester. And I think, again, in terms of creating the culture of this is something we all do and something that all teachers can do, that professional development really helped ground our staff and, like, what it means to be, like, like, SOGIE affirming and even just breaking down the, terminology for staff who maybe weren't aware. And then just time to collaborate. I think that's the biggest thing for most teachers is just finding time. And so I think having that is really useful for us. I'm gonna pass it off to Alexa who's gonna share a little bit about how
this, has impacted her. Okay. Thank you. So to me, learning a little bit about, like, the LGBTQIA, history. Oh, that? Oh, okay. To me learning about the LGBTQIA community or history, matters to me because I feel it's important to know, what the community has gone through and done for us. So it's done a lot. It's made people like me feel accepted, seen, heard, and even feel safe in anywhere.
But it I also feel like it's really important because, our history is just as equal or yeah. Like, it's important as any other topic of regular history. Something I think that schools or, teachers can do to make the curriculum inclusive is just, like, either making it mandatory or sort of, like, an a requirement. Obviously, not force it, into it, but just, like, sort of ease it in there
so it's not, like, heavy on the class. Lastly, it makes me really happy to learn about the queer and trans history in classrooms and especially through the youth ambassador program, and it makes me very curious to know more. So the last question, I think, was about how, or what it would take to kind of scale up the implementation of the Fair Act. And so, some thoughts that we had talked about were just, paid professional development from organizations like, one institute.
I think I know a lot of teachers who have attended that and gained a lot from it, and so, providing teachers with compensation and built in time to attend that would be amazing. Kind of like Alexa said, just like the expectation that, all teachers are teaching about this that and that admin also expect that as well. I think it's something that we say, like, you can do, but no one really says, like, we should be doing this. And then lastly, something that came up from the PD that, Frances gave was just a lot of teachers that were in a space of, like, like, feeling like novices
with this. And so just like maybe some form of instructional coaching that teachers could gain support because I think there's eagerness, but there's also, a need for guidance and mentorship. So, yeah, that was it. Wow. Thank you so much. We're gonna hear from Katie O'Hearn, and then we will are you gonna be able to respond to questions, Danielle? After after Katie? Okay. Great. Alexa. And Alexa too? Okay. Great. Thank you.
Welcome. Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for having me today. My name is Katie O'Hearn. My pronouns are sheher. I teach fifth grade ELA and social studies at Lake Balboa College Prep, which is a k 12 span. I'm also an HRDE liaison just like Danielle mentioned. And I'm also the UTLA chapter chair at my school and a member of the LGBTQIA plus task force through UTLA. So my work with the Fair Act and inclusive curriculum, really started in 2023. Because I'm on HRD's Schoology groups, I spent a lot of time looking at some
of the curriculum and lessons that they had put out that year, and also knew it was important for my students, who I was I was hearing them using the word gay as an insult a lot. And there was a great lesson that really tied into that that I, decided to teach. So I started off with a Padlet and some one of the questions I asked is up on the screen, which is how would how would you feel or have you felt if someone used the phrase that's so gay about something you like or something you are doing? And one thing that was really important was for students to be able to read one another's responses.
And it was anonymous, so they didn't have to include their names. But I think as a classroom community, we all really realize, like, a lot of students have been bullied. Whether this is their actual sexual orientation or just perceived, they have been the target of comments of homophobic slurs as young as second grade is what kind of came out. And that was really illuminating for me, really sad, but very important for me to have that knowledge going forward. The, thing for this oops. Sorry. The item for this to the left on the slide is a written reflection that I gave students, and that was just something, you know, for me to read, but,
we ended up having really robust discussions, in both of my classes. And, it really became apparent that this was a topic that a lot of students didn't feel they could talk about at home or with their families or had questions about. Like, I as, you know, these are 10 and 11 year olds, and some of them were like, well, what does it really mean to be gay? What does it really mean to be lesbian? What is trans? And a lot of them just really appreciated gaining that information. But most importantly, I think, I had several students and one in particular, really open
up to me during, my teaching of these lessons as well as later on about their their struggles with their own sexual orientation and with treatment that they were experiencing, not just at school, but at home. I'm gonna the student ended up going through a very significant mental health crisis, later in the school year related to the bullying that they were experiencing. And, because I taught these lessons, they knew that I was a safe person for them to come to, and I was able to be there for them. And I'm thankful that they knew that they had support when they felt like they
didn't have any other adults in their lives who were there. After I taught these lessons and particularly the discussion part of it, my students expressed that they felt like they had more knowledge about, okay. I know what these terms actually mean, and I really understand why it's inappropriate to use these words to insult someone. So now if I hear it, I can say, hey. That's not what that means. Why would you say that? So I think it was empowering for them, giving them that knowledge. And then the other item on the slide, there's something else I did that same school year. So, I because I teach social studies, I try to incorporate all of my students'
identities into the curriculum, and I do some kind of project every month. September, I do I do a Hispanic heritage month research project. So that that year, 2023, I did an LGBTQIA history month brochure for the first time, and it was very cool seeing my students, some of whom were not super enthusiastic about doing the project, start to research like, oh, there's LGBTQIA plus individuals in all of these different industries or different spaces, like, including sports, entertainment, things that they are interested in.
So I think it was helping them to connect a little bit more, to the curriculum. So I will not spend the time, going into it here, but I experienced a lot of pushback and a lot of hostility from students and from parents, when I taught those lessons. So in terms of thinking about how LAUSD can fully support the FAIR Act and its application in the classroom, I really tried to think about my own experiences and what would have made a difference for me. So the first two things I listed are mandatory professional development to, echo some of
what Danielle said. I think that there is and and also what Alexis said, I think that there is, for many educators and administrators and parents, the idea that, oh, this is optional. Some teachers are gonna do it. Some teachers aren't. And teachers who do it maybe have some kind of agenda, when in reality, that's not the case. It is the law. So that is why I think the professional development needs to be mandatory for certificated staff, classified staff, administrators. The third item I put on the list is clear messaging to families about the FAIR Act. I found in my experience when I had conversations, I went a little bit deeper
with some parents and explained, this is what I'm actually teaching. Like, this is the worksheet we're doing. I had a parent say, I'm absolutely fine with that. I had no idea that's what you were doing. So I think really concise messaging could maybe quell some of the misinformation that exists about the FAIR Act. Number four, clear written guidelines for administrators on how to handle pushback and, students and families trying to opt out of this curriculum. Unfortunately, what ended up happening at my site was that students were essentially allowed to opt out of these lessons I was teaching.
And I can't really fault my administrator specifically for, you know, letting that happen because I don't think he knew exactly how to handle it. So I think a lot of what is needed is support for administrators and how they need to respond to parents, to students, and how they can support their teachers. And then finally, systems of support for teachers who are using LGBTQIA plus curriculum who experience pushback, hostility, or harassment. I will share that, and this is me being fully transparent and honest.
Doing this in 2023 was very hard for me and very taxing on my mental health. The just the anger I felt coming at me from my students who I deeply care about, it's still affecting me. And especially today, I know how important an all inclusive curriculum is, but it's very hard. And I'm I'm not a brand new teacher, but I work with new teachers who I know want to do more inclusive curriculum, and they're scared. They're not scared of how their students will react necessarily, but they are afraid if there is pushback, no one's really gonna be there in their corner saying, like, telling
the students or the parents, this is actually the law. This is part of social studies curriculum, and you you gotta learn it. You can't opt out of it. So I think it's also important to remember that it's often educators who are part of the LGBTQIA plus community who are largely doing this work right now. And the pushback, the negativity, and in some instances, even harassment feel deeply personal and hurtful and then can really, unfortunately, impact, us teaching these lessons in the classroom.
So I I think that, you know, there's a lot that needs to happen, but, I'm really optimistic that the folks in this room can help make that happen. So thank you very much. Well, thank you so much. That was very beautiful to hear both educators and, and Alexa, the student, share how, they benefit from this, the curriculum. So, before we go to section two, the district resources and support, I will open
up space to ask our educators some questions. Anything that you all any or any words of of support and gratitude, everything is welcome. Go ahead and just let me know. Tell me. So I wanted to ask thank you, educators and students. I wanted to ask the educators because I know that, Katie O'Hearn, in her slide said that she would like, the systems of support for teachers using LGBTQIA curriculum. And do you feel that there's a curriculum? Because I personally as being an elementary teacher, I've heard about the pride club, and
I I I went to the pride club online on Zoom one time with my elementary kids. Don't fill this out curriculum for elementary school. And I I know that you mentioned that you worked with the, was it one one institute? And I think clarif I would like clarification of it if you came up with the lessons and if you would like, you know, LAUSD clear curriculum for everybody to follow instead of you coming up with your own lessons.
I can answer that just at the elementary level, and I completely agree with what you're saying. There really isn't an official curriculum. So things that I've been able to utilize are largely the wonderful things that HRDE puts out on, you know, on Schoology and online, for educators. But I do think and I'm like, oh, I should have included that on my slide, an actual, like, written curriculum from the district would be extremely beneficial and make it a lot easier for educators who might be reluctant to, like, have an entry point into this curriculum. Similar to what Katie said, there isn't really a set curriculum or anything.
Everything that, I have created has been from, like, crowdsourcing, you know, friends who also teach queer history or from the ONE Institute because the ONE Institute puts on this professional development almost every year. And so they come out with I think now they have about 26 lesson plans that are specifically for, like, k through 12. And so, I've gathered from there. I've I have written, curriculum for them as well. And so sometimes it comes from there. But, yeah, there's no, like, prescribed set curriculum.
And I'm sure for those teachers who are, like, novice and maybe would need support, like, that type of curriculum would be useful. And I also, like, would love to, like, just trust our teachers to create the curriculum that works best for their students and be given time to collaborate and plan for that. So yeah. Alright. Yes. And then you I'm gonna I wrote down the phrase, this is something we all do. And I wanna thank the teachers who are here because thank thank you for your time and your energy and commitment to doing something that is emotionally difficult and when
you know that you're pushing through. So my question to you is about support for admin. And it's so interesting because at my son's school, I did an anti hate survey, and across the board, kids and adults just wanted clarification for, okay, what are the expectations and then what are the consequences? So I am wondering in your, experience, what do you think would help administrators? What do you feel they need? And then are there consequences, whether it's restorative justice, transformative justice, or just practical things
in the moment? Do you have recommendations of sort of tools in their toolkit that administrators could use? Question. I I totally agree with what Katie had put up here about the mandatory professional development for all administrators on the Fair Act. I feel like that's at least a starting point for admin. Yeah. I I'm I think I'm in the same place where I'm in that like, I'm not sure. I don't know what that looks like, and I hope that that's something that this, like, committee can think through a little bit because I feel really grateful that I do have a supportive admin at my school.
Shout out to Patricia Hansen. So I feel grateful that my admin is supportive, but, I know at other schools that is not the case. And so I think there does need to be some sort of, like I I I know I mentioned this earlier when I was talking to Rebecca, but, like, I don't I don't know if it needs to be evaluative or something, but it's just something where, like, teachers and admin can, like, have some accountability for what they're doing. And not even just for LGBTQIA curriculum, but it's like all of our curriculum really should be responsive and grounded in the students that we serve, like, period point blank.
That's what we do as teachers. So I just think, like, if that's through LGBTQIA curriculum, yeah, but it should be also anything that we teach in our classrooms. So yeah. That's a really great question and I think a hard one to answer. I different situation, it sounds like, than Danielle. I don't wanna say my administration is not supportive, but I wanna say more they don't know how to support. And, really, the only consequence that I felt I was able to give and I I did give was I said, I'm not gonna excuse these assignments for these students.
They're gonna be marked missing just like they would be for any other assignment. And my administrator was, supportive of that. But in terms of, you know so what essentially, what happens to me is students literally physically walked out of my classroom while I was teaching these lessons. And, the first time it happened, we weren't aware it was happening, so, they weren't really, like, supervised or anything. But then it became, okay. My administrator's asking me, well, can you tell us the next time you're gonna teach this? Because we need to be prepared if all these students are gonna walk out of
your class. And I said, I I don't have to tell you or parents or students when I'm teaching this because it's I'm following the law. But it came it became a logistical issue. Like, we there I mean, in total, both my classes, about 10 kids walked out, so they did need to be supervised. And I went to my admin and said, are they going to be given a consequence for, like, walking out of class? And the answer was really, we don't know. And I it ended up going to my local district, and, I had a meeting with the higher ups there. And then the conversation became about what what is the definition of student protests and
let you know, like, what is allowed. There wasn't really a clear resolution or definition in that conversation. I mean, there was a definition of student protest, but whether or not walking out of a mandatory lesson is an allowable form of protest, At least at the time, no one really seemed certain about that. And so I think that was why my administrator was kind of like, I don't know if I can really discipline these kids, if they're taking a stand for, you know, what what they believe in. And I get it, and it was very complicated.
But all that to say, I I don't I definitely don't have all the answers. I think a restorative piece and, some conversation would be helpful. But in my experience, some students and some parents are not really willing to have those conversations. And so I don't know the best way to really, communicate that, you know, this is not something extra that this teacher is doing because they have a woke agenda that they are just teaching inclusive curriculum, which is mandated in our ed code and
in state law. I think that that is what there's a lot of misunderstanding about. So I think starting there would be good. Thank you so much for your input. Thank you. Thank you, educators, and thank you, Katie and Danielle. I mean, honestly, it's really heartbreaking to hear that there's so much pushback and hostility towards something that is, like you said, it's mandated and required to be taught. My question is, do you feel like it's more of external influences that are intentionally misinforming parents to kinda get them riled up that, oh, there's indoctrination happening within the
curricula or or specifically within this topic? Or do you think that it's the lack of messaging even on the administration's part to the parents letting them know, hey, this is what we're teaching? Because, again, coming from a parent's perspective, right, I would have no issue at all if it's like, hey. This is what it's it's like the same thing as sex education. It's like, hey. The are your kids are gonna be taught this and this and this. And then so as a parent, you say, okay. Well, yeah. Either I opt in or or opt out. And not to say that parents should necessarily have the option of opting in and opting out, but the whole point is I think parents feel concerned about indoctrination.
So how do you mitigate that? You know? And would it be over communicating to parents? Like, look, this is really what we're trying to do. We're trying to get these kids to stop, God forbid, committing suicide because the bullying is so severe for the LGBTQ community. And so I'm just wondering, have those steps been taken to communicate to parents? Like, look, we want inclusivity for all. We want the bullying to stop for everyone. And so I'm just wondering what steps have been taken either on the administration level or even for teachers. But then I feel bad because why should the burden be placed on the teachers?
So Yeah. I was gonna say that and don't feel like you have to answer any question because some of this is, you know, you're it's it's above, you know, your your pay grade here. But, so we could also there are gonna be some folks from the district who will be speaking and some you know, we have an administrator here who can also share thoughts on these things. So you don't have to answer it now. And, you can also if you have an answer, mister Pladimir, we're welcome to to respond.
But before that, I'd like to welcome any questions for our student, Alexa, who, any questions for her, any comments or feedback, because I do have some. May I will direct a question towards Alexa. Please. But it could be, I she may have the best insight, actually. When you say that, the the students but now I'm talking to Alexa's the person who's was not Alexa's teacher. So I'm gonna ask in general. When you say the students walked out, I know there was a question about whether
it was, you know, outside influence, but I think you mentioned that it was 10 year olds. Right? And so, I I just want to, disambiguate, if that's a word. Are we talking about they were walking out and saying, being being exposed to a social studies lesson which covers people of this description, that's what? Against my religion? That's, something I don't condone? What was the what was the reason given for walking out?
I mean, if I don't, if somebody doesn't get along with a certain ethnic group, you don't walk out of class if that topic is being covered. So I'm just wondering what was the justification given? That's a really good clarifying question. So Specification I was given from students and then from parents who messaged me was mostly the religion, the religion piece, or also just, like, very broadly, like, we don't agree with that. Yeah. But what? So, you know, I think a a lot of what students were saying to me because I really was trying to have conversations with them.
Like, why do you feel so strongly that you can't be in here for this? It was like, my parents told me I I can't my parents told me I can't learn this. And a question I pose to parents and to students and to administrators was, would you allow a student to walk out of a lesson on black history life? Right. And no one was able to really This is a social studies lesson about people. This is not a sex ed lesson. Right. This is a social studies lesson. I just wanna say that. Yeah. No. Thank you. So you have a question for Alexa?
Okay. Go ahead. Hi, Alexa. Thank you for being here and sharing with us. Really appreciate it. I have a question about the last statement that you have or the last bullet point where you refer to youth ambassador program and how that helped you. Can you speak to me a little bit about that? Because to me, it's the first time I hear of it. Oh, yeah. So, I was in the, like, situation where I did not know anything about his or the LGBTQIA history. I I knew a little to, like, none, but, thanks to that program, I am
learning more than I do, like, anywhere. It's also, like, very I feel, like, very, safe, welcome there. And it also just shows, like, that there's it it also goes through, like, more than just the history. It also shows, like, inclusiveness with, like, different ethnicities of people. Like, how would I say it, like, also being a part of it.
It's kind of vague. Thank you. Do you think that every school should have a youth Yeah. Definitely. Yeah. I feel like it's it, it can open up, like, a lot of people's, like, eyes to something new that they can learn. But, yeah, I feel like it is. I feel like it should be, like, there for everybody. Thank you, Alexa. And do you have a follow-up? Yeah. Okay. So is that a, a a club that you have after school or during school, or, like, who started the youth ambassador program at your school?
Oh, it was like, it's, well, kind of like a club, but it's more of a it's more of an after school type of thing. You go during, like, Saturdays every other Saturday, and you're there for, I believe, like, four or five hours. And it's like, you you do, what's it called? A research project towards the end, and you, like, put together, like, all of these,
I guess, information that you've, like, accumulated. So did you I'm sorry to interrupt you. So did you, did you get a letter, like, inviting you and then your parent had to sign and sign you into the club? Kind of. It was more of like a well, I got it through Schoology post. Oh, okay. Like, offering it. And so, yeah, you're I you do have to go through, like, like, parents' permission and all that. Okay. But yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Alexa. Really appreciate. I just wanna thank you for coming here and sharing your perspective, your experience, how
having these your amazing teacher who has gone out of her way, which honestly, it shouldn't be like that. Right? Everything should be right there for you and for all of our educators. But, you know, if you were my daughter's teacher, I'd be so happy. And so it makes me happy that you have, you have you have this support and that you have you're part of an organization that you're an ambassador for an organization for young people. And I just wanna give a plug in. Last semester at the end of the year, we were able to win.
I say win because it took some organizing and some and some, demanding of $2,000,000 for LGBTQ plus supports, which will fund liaisons. The the two educators who were here are liaisons. Right? And also GSA clubs. So we are really excited that we are able to do this, and we want more and more funding so that this can be spread throughout our district. Thank you so much, Alexa. Trevor. Thank you, Alexa. I have a question for Alexa, but also for the teachers, if that's okay.
Alexa, I was wondering if you could you talked about Youth Ambassadors, which is a program at one institute. So it's a nonprofit, philanthropically and government funded, grant program, for students. They apply, and we have a cohort of 14 students from across LA, that participate. But I wanted to ask you, you talked about learning about, LGBTQ people and LGBTQ people of different ethnicities in, in history.
I was wondering if you could just talk about, like, something specific that you learned about in queer history that was really impactful for you or that you think other, students should learn about. Well, at the top of my head, I can, like, remember, like, the where do we go to? It was close to the LGBTQ plus center where, we went through, like, a little gallery walk of, like, I guess this this it was a a topic about, like,
how, I guess, that community was treated and accused of having, like, it was it was an AIDS. So a lot of people were affected. Like, it was it wasn't just, like, straight or no. No. My bad. Not straight. Like, gay white men. There was also women in there. There was people of color.
There was, like, also different ways that they had, like, to promote, for people of color to get, like, vaccines, I guess. So it wasn't just like, oh, it's for only white people. It's it's for everybody. So, that's kind of, like, what I've learned from the program. Something specific. Yeah. And I wanted to ask our teachers. Yeah. Thank you, Alexa. I wanted to ask our teachers. I know you both talked about wanting, mandatory professional development for educators and administrators.
I was wondering if you could both talk about, like, in your experience, what do you think prepared you to be able to teach these topics in the classroom? Whether that's, like, pre service training, programs you participated in, whether it is, like, departmental planning meetings. Like, what, for each of you as teachers, makes you feel equipped to to be able to do this work? I can share first. I think one of the biggest things is is my preservice program.
I did UCLA teacher ed program and was specifically part of their ethnic studies cohort. And so within that cohort, it really focuses on, the history of, all marginalized groups in history. And so, that program itself had provided me with, like, the confidence, skills, with, just access to curricular resources with the community that I had there, the cohort that I worked with, to be able to teach queer and trans history, and then also attending
professional development like the one I did with the ONE Institute. Something I was just talking about with Trevor before we got here was just how I I am a queer teacher, and so teaching queer history is something that, like, I do care deeply about, you know, because I'm like, this is what I would love to have learned about when I was in high school. And so I know that's not the same for every single teacher in the classroom, but, I think having, spaces like the one institute professional development, even if LAUSD were to offer some sort of space like that or, offer time in their professional development
on Tuesdays to really think about how can I, like, queer up my curriculum, how can I incorporate more queer and trans history or topics into my curriculum, that would be a starting point? So That question really prompted me to do some reflecting, and I was smiling to myself because, really, I I have no nothing formally has prepared me to do this other than being, a queer person myself and having a lot of people I love
who who are part of the LGBTQIA plus community. But also in 2023, when I, you know, really started doing this, I was thinking about a particular student, and my school is very unique because it's a span school. The student is now in high school. And the year prior to that, they had come to see me at, open house. So they were in I don't know. They were in middle school at this point. And they looked around my room. They're very quiet. And they I have a really big, pride flag in my room, and they they started, like, tearing up. And I was like, what? Are you okay? And, like, I just miss how I felt in this classroom. And them coming back and sharing that, I was like, I gotta do more than
just have a pride flag up. Like, there's there's more to this work than that, and there there has to be more that I am doing. I wish when I was a kid that I had been taught this in school, and I wasn't. And so I really just thinking about my students' identities and what they need, is what prompted me to do this. But I would love more formal professional development training, even time to just, like, collaborate with other teachers, some of whom may not really feel ready to to teach this
and may be very nervous about it, confused about what exactly am I supposed to be teaching. I think something like Danielle has mentioned several times is that we need time, and that's obviously in short supply for all of us. But we need the time to really, like, talk through these things with our administrators and with each other. Alright. Thank you. I'll go ahead and yes. Mister Vladevic, why don't you respond to the question? We'll move on to the next presentation. So the the FAIR Act in and of itself, we know that it was placed into law in 2012, and, we since had an adoption of, since that point, which was required of all our history social science materials.
So in '20 I believe it was 2017 and 2018, was incorporated into the new adoption that we took across the district. But, the other thing that that we do with within our district, is that we provide, resources within the, Schoology page in a specific folder for our teachers to access regarding, the Fair Act and how we can support them. And I know that those are gonna be addressed in in just a little while by some of our other two divisions, from the school district. But continuing to hear from what our educators are saying, particularly, with regard to the
communication and the awareness. And so definitely, you know, noting that and then how can we get that out there? And how can we make sure that everyone's aware of the resources? And how can we continue to collaborate and continue, to hear from these great, presentations that you only provided? How do you incorporate in that your fifth grade classroom? How do we get resources and then put that in that repository so everyone has access to them? The same thing with regard to, what was shared over at, Roosevelt as well. So, in any case, I I just wanted to make those a couple of comments with regard to it, but I know we're gonna share some additional resources.
Alright. Thank you. And I would add support. Right? Support when there's that pushback. Our teachers, our educators, our administrators need that support and that education and that knowledge. And I'm thinking, you know, you all said mandated professional development. We have an annual every summer. Principals go to a four day, five day professional development. That should be a space where we have, a session, not an optional session, which there was. HRDE was there this summer and but it was an optional.
There should be a mandatory one. A whole, like, the plenary session, right, where it's all about the fair act, all of the resources that we have, and also that man there should be a mandated PD for Tuesdays. You know how we have mandated PD for a a lot of stuff? This should be one of them. A man that because you're right. It can't just be only some folks doing it. It cannot only fall on the shoulders of our queer educators. It cannot just fall on a few people. Everybody should be doing.
It's this is how we are inclusive. So thank you for sharing because your, your thoughts and your ideas that you shared today have, I think, have prompted some things that we could definitely push for, in the for the next year. Thank you again and appreciate all that you're doing for our students, the the space that you're creating for them, that safety, and I can see it. You do it for the love of our students and the love for justice and the love for inclusivity.
So I'm really grateful to you for doing that, and thank you, Alexa, again. I have a question about in in our committee, so, like, if we have ideas on how to, like, start something, when will be a time to kinda share? To start Like, if I have a comment of, like, you know, like, something that we might be able to do? Yes. We can well, we're gonna remember, we're gonna have our recommendations meeting. So at that point, we can all come up with our recommendations. So write it down so that when we meet, hopefully, in December, we're gonna have
not a committee meeting, but more reflection of what we want to, recommend in February. Oh, okay. So that's when we're so take notes right now. Get your ideas going and write them down so that we can, go ahead and do that in But just a comment for, like, I know you said that, the social study curriculum has, the in elementary school, we don't touch it at all. Social study curriculum book does not have anything about other people. Not even tolerance is taught.
And and I'd just like to piggyback on that. I hear I'm hearing things like PDs and support, but to me, it seems like at the end of the day, the onus is on the teacher whether or not they choose to incorporate something that's not in the book into their curriculum. And I think at the end of the day, we need, curriculum in social studies perhaps also in health. Health curriculum covers everything from cigarette smoking to family to friendship to anxiety. There are there's there's a lot in there.
I'm I'm kind of just spitballing here, but when I hear PD, I think of, let's say, restorative justice. You get trained in it. You know kind of how to do it, but that doesn't mean you will or the teacher next door to you will or the teacher on the other side will. I think there needs to be something where it's we have it chapter seven in the book, and all the the teachers are expected to do it. That's my opinion. Yeah. I agree. Because as a teacher, I know those resources exist. I have known about it for a long time, yet there is no time for
those resources. So it's it's not I think that as LAUSD needs to do more besides we created something and it's here for you to do, but it's not part of the curriculum. I think we need to put it all in, mix it in there. Otherwise, it doesn't get out. Totally agree. Totally agree. Alright. So let's move on to our next presenters. We have from the district. I'm thinking about Abbott Elementary. I always call the district. From the district. One of my favorite divisions in the district is the HRDE department. Right?
Is that who we're hearing from next? So, we have Frances Marion, Christina Vigil, and Keeley Jackson. Alright. Hi. Good afternoon. My name is Elsa Rosado. I'm gonna introduce our HRDE team if it's okay. So our human relations and diversity and equity team is part of the student support and attendance services branch. So I think everyone is here or are aware of many of our departments, including HRDE, PBIS, pupil services, VSAP, PSA, and student support programs. This is our human relations diversity and equity team.
I think many of you have heard of, doctor Judy Chasen. She, was the coordinator. She, retired a couple weeks back. And so right now, we have Julie Panameno as a specialist, and hopefully, we'll be hiring the coordinator soon. And these are our mental health consultants that support our district wide district wide. The mission for human relations diversity and equity team is to create these welcoming, learning, and working environments where people of all identities are seen and welcomed.
So this includes building educator capacity, so really to strengthen those inclusive identity affirming and responsive practices. They're leading our LGBT advocacy bullying prevention, which includes a lot of those inclusion and anti bullying initiatives that promote safety and well-being for our students. They also support our LGBT plus liaisons and where they train school based liaisons and provide guidance on resources and collaboration opportunities. They support with fostering inclusive environments in our schools. They collaborate across many systems that you'll see here, including our division of instructions, family
schools and community organizations, and they provide these resources and tools. So with that, I'm really excited to welcome two of our amazing team members, miss Christina Vigil and Frances Marion, who'll provide you a little bit more of this work. Alright. Nice to, be here. Thank you so much for serving on this committee and for inviting us. I've been a licensed clinical social worker for almost eight eighteen years. And in this role, this is our sixth school year.
And Frances Marion, sheher, I come from a school social work background before I was in this role. And you all already spoke on the Fair Act, but one thing we wanna do or, point to is that in addition to the Fair Act, our our California state law affords many, protections for LGBT students that have to do with making sure they have access to the they're in a welcoming and affirming environment free from discrimination, from
harassment, from bullying, that has resources, that, honors and recognizes students by their firm name and pronouns and access to all activities. We also have, you know as you've talked about professional development, one thing we'll mention is that there's new state law that is going to require professional development. Our district, you know, we wanna make sure that we're really meeting the needs of our our communities here so it will be a part of what's needed and and
an important step. And then on the bottom, you see of our slide a little screenshot of one of our handouts, which just, reflects our many policies that we have in the district that are based on the Ed Code, that are based in state law, that give that additional guidance. What we've learned this is is that, you know, getting that information, as many people have touched on. Right? A lot of these resources exist, but really making sure that we get that information out and that it's clear and that the resources and the support are clear as
well. We get questions from teachers and from families around, you know, where where just what have been asked today. And so to speak more about our approach and what we've seen effective, I'll have Christina. Hey, also. I'm Christina Vigil, she, ella. And, like Frances, also LCSW background, PSA a through g, been here for a long, long time, six years in HRDE, and, have schools in Region North and some schools
in Region West as well. And so what we try to do with our small but very mighty team, we take on a school wide approach, and these are some of the things that we do. We do staff PDs for not only certificated but classified as well to make sure that everybody on the campus knows the same message, that everyone belongs. We include everyone. We also do parent workshops, caregiver workshops in Spanish and English across the district. We like you like you saw, we give you some swag like like the you
know, we have the awesome badge that we, give out and we have lanyards and buttons and all those things and bookmarks and all those things. We also support clubs. Not only GSA and Raybonne clubs in elementary schools, but also Latine clubs, BSU club. We, you know, we want all inclusive clubs to be on campus because the data tells us that that is a wonderful thing to have. And we also provide both book lists on our website and sample lesson plans and
toolkits that we come out in our in our Schoology page so that, teachers and staff can use. And for the past few years, the LGBTQ plus liaison that we noted that we are just one sometimes with over a 100 and some schools, we're like, if we had one person in each school that has you know, that we've we've trained and can have direct contact with us, you know, have my cell phone and can tell me, hey. You know what, Christina? This school needs needs a PD. Something is, you know, missing here.
You know, they don't know about the Fair Act. They don't know about this other policy. Come and talk to them. And so to have the eyes and ears, in the schools is our goal is to have at least one, liaison in every school. And so these are just some pictures of some wonderful things that are happening across the district that we support and we, are so, so excited about, you know, of course, having events. We have, supporting the the Raybel clubs like I like I told you. We have also have a yearly event called National Day of Reading where we, this
is a national event and LAUSD takes takes part of it. In National Day of Reading, we, in elementary schools, we model a book, an inclusive book, and had and to read it in class and to do a lesson in class. We show it across all the classrooms that that want to join in via Zoom. And, we've had this for how many years? Like, four? This upcoming one is is the fifth. Because we have found that especially in elementary school, you know, sometimes we need to
do that extra step of modeling, the lesson so that teachers or teachers can see that it's a normal thing to read an inclusive book in the classroom. Murals all around that promote everyone belongs here. Beautiful. So one thing that we really try to do, right, is we know as as educators, it can feel daunting to feel like it's one additional thing, one extra thing I have to add to my plate. We really try and communicate to our schools that they're already doing so many of the things that we that we want to see, but there can just be a
little more support, a little more, modeling for them about how to be really clear. Right? That everyone belongs here. So we have some banners that we've created that are right there out at the gate so that every parent who walks onto campus, every student who walks onto campus sees the expectations that every single identity that, makes our district incredible is appreciated and valued and that no one's identity is a taboo topic that is a bad word. Okay? We have some posters you see of students who've taken that message and made, affirming
posters for their own schools. We table at events to, again, help kind of break the stigma because what we're talking about is stigma stigma and prejudice that exists, that makes children, staff, and their families not feel welcome. So, one thing I wanna lift up is Region East has a pride flag flying out there, and they've shared that they do. It teaches them a lot about what we're asking schools to do and what we what conversations come from that.
So here you have some more of the books that, each year we've worked to get more and more inclusive books into our school libraries, our national day of reading as Christina mentioned, and then our clubs. Oh, yes. So I've mentioned that. So we provide guides to the clubs. Not that not that the clubs, you know, the clubs are student centered and but if students are like, hey, you know, I need some ideas, we we provide ideas if they wanna use art activities. The favorite activity is making posters that are inclusive or writing chalk messages, you know,
you be you, love who you are, accept all of you. The activities like that is what our kids are doing. And, of course, we support the other clubs and schools like BSU's and Latine. And this is a little bit more information on our LGBTQ liaison. I covered it. Right? Didn't I? Okay. Maybe they can ask questions. And we know that we cannot do this work without parents. So that's why it's important to do the workshops. And and really once we, this morning I had a workshop. Once we explain, hey.
You know what? What we promote here is for your child to love and accept all parts of them because that's what the data tells us that is the best. When you love who you are, that's gonna decrease bullying because you're not gonna attack someone for who they are if you love who you are. And that's what we're doing, parents. We are ensuring that all parts of your child's identities are accepted here and affirmed and that they accept and affirm all the other identities and that it's gonna be natural and normal for them to meet people that are completely different than them, that
have different religion, that have different family makeups, and this is what makes LA so beautiful, to learn about all these different families. And so parents, when you explain that, it's like, yeah. That makes sense. Everyone does belong here. Mhmm. And this is just an example of how that might look, especially at the elementary level. I I'm brand newly an LAUSD parent myself, myself and just getting to have that perspective firsthand as a parent and, that it is there is so much work to
do to make sure that all kids feel like they see themselves. An example would be a book like this where we talk about lots of different types of families. But one thing we wanna acknowledge is that there is, there's fear that exists. Right? We heard about some of the very real challenges that educators face when they are brave and say everyone belongs here. And we know that that disproportionately falls on queer and trans LGBT educators to do that work, and it takes the biggest toll on them as well.
And so I really wanna emphasize that if it it needs to be everybody's job that we're reading books like this, that we're talking about diversity. Because when we do that, as Christina mentioned, we don't have the types of conflict that happen when there's the stigma and taboo. When we really have honest conversations about who are you, what makes you you, what makes you special, what makes you different, and then let's talk about each other and learn practice ways to talk about difference respectfully. Everyone's on board.
It's not a tough sell, but it takes a lot of effort. So I'm wondering if anyone would be willing to read this quote. Maybe for me, please. Participation class participation. Oh, thank you. Among educators, there has been an acknowledgment that any effort to transform institutions so that they reflect a multicultural standpoint must take into consideration the fears teachers have when asked to shift their paradigms. There must be training sites where teachers have the opportunity to express the concern while also learning to create ways to approach the multicultural classroom and curriculum.
Bell Hooks. Can't say it better than Bell Hooks. So this shift is this okay? Yeah. Supporting this shift really requires this is what we hear over and over again because as Christina mentioned, we all support a 140 some schools. Over and over again, we hear that they really need resources provided that are from the district so that they feel that support. The teachers feel the support like someone has my back, and if I'm gonna do something, it's gonna be, a little intimidating because it wasn't modeled for me that I have support. Professional development, we, we really like going out and being in person because we give
plenty of time for people to ask questions and to practice and to collaborate. And then modeling of the LGBT inclusive language at all levels and throughout the entire district. Right? It's not something that, a classroom teacher should have to feel like I'm out alone on a limb doing, but that it's part of the fabric of our district. And then support for administrators in understanding all of these expectations and communicating them to their school communities. And one way that we've been able to practice modeling this for schools is through, a program we've developed called everyone belongs here.
Now we're not teachers, so it's not a a curriculum in in the same way that you would think of it. But we know that this has to be a whole school conversation, so we developed a PD, parent workshop series, and a series of five lessons for for elementary students about how we respectfully talk about identity and difference. It also includes being an upstander. It defines, you know, expectations around respectful language and how to speak up for each other. And we piloted this in Region North where we trained school site teams.
Over 40 schools sent teams to get trained on how to have these conversations. And we found, that even our our one morning of training had a huge impact on their comfort level. So this is teachers' responses before and after they attended the workshop about their comfort talking about all these different types of identities. And you see that the one that they felt the most discomfort was, before had to do with, SOGI and, that just one conversation, one workshop had a big impact
on that. For the teachers who then had those lessons implemented in their classrooms, they said, you know, the modeling was really, really important and having just, like, something provided centrally that they could use. And then, of course, the kids' information themselves is the most powerful. And I don't know if you can make it out, but if you have any that you wanna shout out. I like the last one. It says, I like how I got to learn about each other's backgrounds. I also like how it was not, like a normal school lesson. And we go and we got to be included in the lesson, not just learned.
Yeah. And I got another page for you. How soon does every school get to do this? This was an amazing lesson. Yes. We did try hard to make them fun. If I can just add, from the previous one, I I liked how we dug deep into who we are, and it was nice to talk about it. Yeah. We find over and over again, that once we provide a safe opportunity for kids and adults alike to share about who they are, what makes them tick, and to get to learn about each other and do that community building.
We don't have the issues that, unfortunately, sometimes come up when we don't make that space with that support. But we are, like Christina said, a small but mighty team. And we see a lot of opportunities for, as I've kind of already mentioned, but really making sure that the the guidance, the support, and the expectations are very clear and known for all and that we're providing instructional materials and professional development for folks
at all different places. Right? Like, our teachers who have taken time to get trained out outside of work time on their own, they deserve challenging and rigorous professional development just as much as someone who's starting. But then really making sure that the, oh, I lost my train of thought, but the instructional materials and and the opportunities to build community with parents. Right? Because these are we we, teachers will mention fear of a parent complaint if they
say something maybe that's surprising to the parent. We get lots of complaints from parents who say, I don't see my family reflected. My kid doesn't see themselves reflected. This needs to be modeled so that my kid knows that they belong. You can say you belong here. Show it. Right? So thank you so much for everything you all are doing, and we're happy to have had this chance to talk with you. Thank you so much. Wow. So good. You see why they're, like, one of my most favorite divisions? I'm just gonna be very honest. You really are. You do amazing work, and I know you're a very small department.
And, you know, beyond these wonderful opportunities that you've placed here, one of the things my goal is to increase your budget so we can have more PSWs who can do this work so that we can spread this beautiful work across the whole district. Because one of the things that I hear from folks is that they want whatever we present here, they want it at their school site. That this is the very first time they've ever heard of anything happening. And I know that we're probably gonna hear the same thing about this. So thank you. I'd like to open up some space.
We did take up a lot of time in the earlier section, and we do have public comment. So, I wanna give we were gonna speak for forty minutes, but, I think where's Rebecca? Is she gone? I think we have how much time do we have? Oh, we have Kylie as well. Yes. Okay. Thank you. So why don't we have Kylie speak and then we will go ahead and do discussion. And you keep me on time, Rebecca. We lost our, our slide deck there. But I'm not sure that we need it, necessarily. I can just go over a few things. Good afternoon, everybody.
My name is Kylie Jackson. I'm the history social science coordinator in the division of instruction. And I just wanted to provide a little bit of of context from from the history social science point of view. So as we we've mentioned several times, the FAIR Act was enacted in in 2012, and then we had a new history social science framework for California public schools was adopted in 2016, and incorporated all new legislation including the Fair Education Act. So all instructional materials adopted in California public schools after the 2016 framework, had to
meet the criteria outlined, in the Fair Education Act. And this is a law of inclusion. So what might that look like? Well, in in in elementary school, when students are learning about California history in fourth grade, that might include a lesson about Harvey Milk. Or in in high school, it might include a lesson about the work of Bayard Rustin and his role in the civil rights movement or the importance of the Stonewall riots, in, the fight for LGBTQ rights. As I said, the most recent adoption, in LA Unified, took place in 2017 and
2018. And as I said, those those, the Fair Education Act was incorporated into all those materials. Alright? It has been included in district wide history social science PD since its adoption or passage in 2012, and in all history social science PD related to the most recent iteration of the framework, including a very recent PD in the last two years of new teacher new teacher PD for history social science teachers and in the district wide summer PD that we have done. Supplemental instructional materials related to the FAIR Act are available to educators in LAUSD via
the elementary, middle, and high school history social science Schoology groups. And I also wanna touch a little bit on health education. Health education is considered a social science, but uses the principles of behavioral science, psychology, sociology, and other health sciences to understand and influence behavior, change, and outcomes for an individual and for communities. It includes a range of health related related topics using biopsychosocial, biopsychosocial approach. A core component is to influence health related attitudes, skills, and behaviors through education.
The health education framework was adopted in 2019. And by 2021, new health education textbooks and supplemental resources were adopted in the district. And PD has been provided on that health textbook adoption, dating back to 2021. All health education textbooks and supplemental instructional materials approved or adopted by the district are in alignment with the Fair Education Act, and we've listed some resources in the deck there for you. Thank you. Alright. Thank you. So, any so this is a a moment for us to have a discussion.
Any ideas, you could bring them up here. We'll write them down. We heard a lot from folks about what they need. Right? And what are some things that we could do. But as if there's anything more. So, Cecily and anybody else, Dremia, I would you like to speak on anything? Let me know because I know you came in, but I wanna make sure everybody has an opportunity to share. So go ahead, Cecil. I wanna give the hugest shout out to Frances. I think it is hilarious how many people in this room are like, well, I got a resource from Frances, and I got a resource from Frances.
So I got a resource from Frances. The IQEE, interrupt it, question, educate, echo, which I think is a great strategy that could be promulgated. So we need more Franceses. And it's so cute because I met Frances through Talia Guppy. I cannot believe when I look at that list, small but mighty. I mean, so that's just a key thing that if these two wonderful people could train find and train other wonderful people and scale up, because really the impact that they had was huge. And so I just wanna reiterate to say it needs to be everyone's job.
And so when you have humans helping humans because, you know, families also have fears, and, of course, educators have fears. So I've seen Frances do the, like, okay, I do, we do, You do. Right? In, like, helping adults do this work. So if we could just give them lots of money, please. Yeah. Thank you. I just wanted to respond to both of the last two speakers. I really liked the the book that was shown. I wrote it down and I put it in my notes. But I was remembering back about twenty years ago, we, had what was called a
million word campaign, and part of it was every school had a book of the month. And every class read the book of the month and, did a response to literature that was posted in class. So this doesn't so this would avoid the, are you doing it? Are you doing it? Is should I do it? It's every if the whole class is if the whole school is doing it, is reading said book, and responding to it, I think then it it it teachers won't be afraid of being thrown under the bus if something happens because that happens a
lot with teachers. The second thing I wanted to say was that, with regard to the the I'm glad you mentioned health. I had mentioned that earlier. I mean, of course, health also includes things like bullying, depression. So there are a lot of tie ins. However, we currently, have had all our health books taken away. I used to love our health textbooks because they covered so many issues. And now we just get a packet, like a 10 page packet once a month. We don't have any control over the topic. The one I just got this week was on lungs.
So I don't I can't turn to the chapter on bullying. I can't turn to the chapter on safety. So I would like to know more about where the health books are, and are we gonna get them back. Thank you. So I I thank you for all you guys gave me a lot of ideas. So I think I think we can do, like, very actionable things right now, and I think that we LAUSD, like, as a teacher because, like, we have the teacher perspective, which is not like we don't want to do those things. But I think that in it first of all, it needs to be top down.
I think, like, right away, LAUSD could, like, send parents a letter. So, like, hey, everybody. We're all doing this. This is a fair act. Now we all know. And then the teachers right away could start, like, teaching, the resources right there. They could be big copies of and give everyone pass it out to all the classrooms. So here you go. Whatever the this and and then tell the administrators here here it is. Mandate it. Here it is. This is your mandated resource that you're gonna have to use right now so that we have the time.
Because what I'm saying is I didn't mean to say that I didn't wanna do those things. I said, teachers, I have training. I have had the training. The problem is not that I don't get trained or that I'm afraid because I actually am not afraid. The problem here is that there is no time. The curriculum is like you have to be doing math. You have to be doing this, and then you have to be doing the other thing. And everything is all the minutes are taken. So that's why I'm thinking we needed, like, an overhaul is what I'm saying because I do see those resources. Yeah. I mean, I wanna use the resources, but I I'm like, I'm teaching math.
I can't like, you know, where is this? And so we need these things, and we need to give a space. Like, we need administrators need to give the teachers space to be like, this is your sanction time to do this. You are given the time to do it. Because if we are not told that, then we are told why aren't you doing this? And your time this is the time for this this other thing. So I think that's where we can start, and we can actually start right away if this happens right away. And I think one of the things that we can actually do at LSU is these type get every school a flag because that makes it welcoming.
You know, it's like visual signage everywhere. You just see the sign and you know, hey, I am I'm spoken for here. It's like why is it so obscure? We need to have every school needs to have a flag flying out there. We need to have signage. Where is the bathroom? Like, I feel bad when I see my kids. It's like, what bathroom do I use? I I don't I don't know if I have any kids that are LGBTQ plus. I don't know. But I know as a person that I don't like those options. I was like, okay. Well, go here. Go there. There's only two options here.
Why do you only see two options? They should be like and if you're a child, like, in elementary school, and you already know right away your identity. It's not like obscured. It's just not said and the kids are stressed out because they can't share their being. And so if I just see here's the restroom that I go to, then I feel like I am seen as a person. Like, why do you have to search for your bathroom? So these things and these posters, rainbow club needs to be out there, like, in the posters everybody in all the schools, not like obscure signage.
Like, these things are actionable. These things can happen right away, but I believe that it has to start with LAUSD sending out something about the affair act to everybody so that we don't administrators know and teachers know there's not gonna be a backlash of, like, the parents that don't like it because there will be parents that don't like it. Thank you, Delmi. I do wanna say that there is policy, and I too have a friend's story. Because when I taught at Buchanan Street, she was our PSW. And you read a book. I don't know if you remember this. And I had a student in my class who had two moms.
So when we went back to the classroom, there were students who were asking me about, you know, two two boys and two girls. Can they like each other? And I said, yes. It's very normal. And so the next day, my principal called me in, and she was really scared. And she said, oh my goodness. Did you say this? And I said, yes. I did. And she was like, oh. But I had already spoken to Franny, and Franny said there's LAUSD policy. Let me give you all these bulletins that say that you have a right. And so I shared those with my principal. She was like, oh, okay. Share them with the parent, and the parent was like, okay.
That's it. So I agree that, some of the things that have come, through here is that we need to communicate with our families. I think what they shared about stigma and and isolation and discrimination, I think when you share that with anyone and especially when you are part of the population that has been discriminated, you can connect because that's what it's about. And when we're talking about our students, we want all of our students, even those students who have two moms, those students who have two dads, those students who have
only one, those students who don't know or don't don't, identify as binary. We want all of them to feel welcomed. So I have a question. These banners are really awesome, and I'm just wondering, how do we get them? How do schools get those banners? The big ones. No way. Wow. I was gonna say I'm gonna put it on my social media and say, you can email and get this banner at your school. I love it. So, yeah, these are very important. They may seem small, but like you said, it does add to that welcoming environment.
Can I add something? So I feel like I like that I can email, but I feel like nobody should be emailing. Get those banners out to all the schools. Here's your banner. Put it up there. Like, here's your school. Like, he like, why should we be emailing for them? You, Deline. I think that's something that we could definitely push for. Thank you. I wanna give space to someone. Trevor, it looks like you wanna say something. Yeah. I I wanted to show appreciation for the teachers and for the folks from HRDE for just highlighting the impact that inclusive learning has on the students.
And I think that is really part of it is about teaching honest history and sort of the integrity of academia and understanding that there are all different types of people that have contributed to our history. But another really important part of that is that it literally saves the lives of queer and trans kids, and saves them from future trauma to be able to see themselves reflect in their classes and to be considered serious participants in society.
And I think it's important that we acknowledge that we're in a time right now where we've had an entire national political movement where the highest leaders in our government have, made it a priority to attack queer and trans youth and educators and their families and to target, teachers who are saving the lives of their students, even if that might be in conflict with what their parents want, which in many cases, LGBTQ
students are facing hostility at home and school is the place where they can seek safety and their the students' rights are extremely important as well. And so I I think the context in which the framework was produced in 2016, in which the FAIR Act was created, we live in a different time now. And it's important for us to acknowledge that. Ten years ago as a queer kid growing up in Mississippi, I felt like the world was moving, towards progress in terms of being able to be an out queer
person and have the same rights as everyone else. And now I believe that queer kids in Mississippi have such a more hostile experience than I did growing up there, even in the 2010s. So, I I think that Katie's story really highlighted the, impacts on teachers who are doing this work. And when it's not a district wide commitment and a commitment of a whole school to teach LGBTQ history and contributions and perspectives, then it does appear to be an
agenda of an individual teacher. And oftentimes, these are LGBTQ plus teachers who understand the importance of this work, who are doing it, and then are the ones who are most vulnerable, to receiving that backlash. So I think it's critical that we ensure that teachers are supported by, having the whole school and the district on board with this policy, and making sure that when those teachers do receive backlash that they they have the support.
And, I really appreciate, Amina's point about, parent engagement and parent communication. Because if parents and families are not aware of what's being taught and they're just hearing, political noise or cultural noise around these issues, and they're not familiar with the FAIR Act and with the history social science framework, then I think it, worsens the environment for for this to be done. So I think that community and family engagement in a way that's culturally responsive, we're
an incredibly diverse district with many different, racial, ethnic, religious backgrounds. That's also just a really critical point of this, and I really appreciate the work that HRDE is doing, around that engagement, and and providing full school support for LGBTQ students. Thanks. Thank you, Trevor. Anybody else? Yes. I I I really appreciate the feedback that that we've received not only from the committee, but also working within the division of instruction from our presenters, particularly our our
two teachers who were here, as well as the, the student. And we'll continue to grow. We can need to continue to take this feedback so it does become, everyone is aware. Right? And how can we leverage all the tools that we have, that are available? But I thought also think it's important to acknowledge that as a district, you know, our our efforts to model LGBT Have gone on for some time. And we as a district, you know, have been providing training for years, and we continue to leverage the the feedback that we receive.
I mean, we have one of the few, like, when when we originally wrote the course, a high school course, which counts for twelfth grade English called LGBTQ lit. Actually, it's an honors course. It receives augmented point. And from the field, we then created another, a through g course called LGBTQIA seminar. So it's it's having these discussions, but it's also getting the awareness out there, so that these resources are available. But appreciate the feedback. Oh. Yes. Go ahead. Oh. Yeah. I mean and this really is gonna be a multifaceted effort, you know, from the
top down level. But, again, I still really emphasize, you know, getting parents involved because I'm speaking as a parent who's dealt with parents who've made really, you know, just misinformed and, unfortunately, they've been so I don't wanna say brainwashed necessarily, but just like you said, the noise is there and they don't understand. Like, we need to humanize these kids, and that's the saddest part. It's like, just like these parents worry about their kids or whatever. They don't wanna be indoctrinated. Like, we need to remove that terminology because it's not about indoctrination because at the
end of the day, that's their biggest fear is, oh, my kid's going to school and they're gonna learn to be gay. Seriously, and I've heard this from parents, and I've had to, like, sit down and be like, what are you talking about? Just like we care about African American students, just like we care about Muslim students, Jewish students, antisemitism, the you know, LGBTQ communities also being marginalized. They're also being discriminated against, and we need to these are children at the end of the day. And I think it's just really important to leverage, if possible, at the schools, especially PTAs and PTOs, to have an ally, to have a parent that can serve as
an ally because the administration can say all they want and, you know, do a top level approach. But I'm telling you, you're gonna get parents that are gonna push back, and they're gonna push back even more because now you're gonna say, oh, well, this is manatee and this is the law. They're gonna say, well, we don't care. Right? But if you can get parents to humanize, to have this conversation, be like, what is your concern? Is your concern that your kid's gonna be indoctrinated? Because that's not the case. Case is these kids are getting bullied. These kids are getting attacked. And how do we stop that? We don't want your getting your kid getting attacked just like we don't want our
kid getting attacked. And I think there's this discourse for some reason, unfortunately, because of the hyper politicization of everything that's going on, is not happening. And if we can just somehow have that allyship within the PTA, within, you know, the administration level, I feel like that can really make an impact. Because I think the administration has been doing a you know, the district has been doing a really good job in getting it out there, getting the banners. But I'm already telling you right now, again, I'm playing this is not my feeling. If you're gonna get banners out there, parents are gonna get be like, oh, see,
look. They're putting banners out there. They're trying to brainwash my kids. And we need to be preemptive about that. Like, why are we doing this? Why are we putting these banners out there? Because this is happening. The bullying, the rate of bullying is happening. The rate of suicide is happening. The rate and this is social science. I mean, this is history. This is part of our history. So why are we gonna dismiss that? And I think we need to be prepared to answer that. So that's just my comment. Super grateful for that, Amina. I really appreciate everybody's, contributions today. We've Rebecca's taking lots of notes.
I want you to know that back there. Jerimia. Right? Okay. We're gonna end with you. We'll give you the last word. Oh, you wanna say okay. Well Real quick. Real quick. After Vicky will be the last word. I had a question, but I wanted to read the, the comment that the child made because I feel like this is kind of appropriate. It says, I think everyone in the world has the power to do something. And I think as a parent of black children, I feel like we all have a collective, work to do as parents because I feel like this is about identity.
And when we can hit the identity of our kids wherever they are, as parents, we can actually make so much change within our schools. And having a collaborative approach with it and it not just being, well, this is just black student student achievement or this is just, Muslim students, or this is just this. But if we're collective in doing it because we are one, and that's a slogan in LAUSD. Right? We are one. And if we work together, I guess my question is, how can parents bring these
types of, materials? Because I probably missed that part. How can we bring these materials to make sure this is inclusive for everyone at our schools? We love parent workshops. And, again, there's, you know, only so many of us, but we love having these conversations with parents where we read books together, and we talk we talk about what what, what comes up in your community, what comes up at the family picnic, what comes up at the holidays, how do you talk to your kid about who you are? We do art activities, where the parents can draw pictures of the identities they hold
and then practice talking to each other about their similarities and difference. So we model it with the parents as well as in addition to incorporating it into the bullying prevention and the school climate, the PBIS, the positive behavior, the mental health. Right? What I miss? Team. Yeah. We need we need the conversations with the parents 1000%. Would you guys be coming specifically? I'm up. Let me come. I will come. We love coming. Oh, dear. Yeah. And, and there's practicing, reading the books and reading the books at home.
Thank you. You might be very busy, Franny. Alright. Vicky? Thank you. So as a parent in the district for fifteen years now consecutively, if not more, I've seen some of this inclusion, but I've seen it more with administrators and educators and, you know, your daily, campus staff, perhaps. But I fail to see it always with auxiliary staff, your coaches, you know, anybody that comes in contact with children after, and that's my biggest concern and issue. And time and time again, that has not been addressed.
Even parents, we have to sign this thing with so many bullet points or numbers of what the things we're gonna do when we sign up to volunteer. There should be one about this as well. Mhmm. K? Everybody that goes on campus needs to be aware and be one, as you said. That's it. Thank you. Man, some great ideas came out of this meeting. Oh, I love it. Alright. Well, that is, going to be the end of our discussion. I'm gonna hand it off right now to, Mike to open up public comment, and then we will close. So and then we will end our meeting.
Thank you so much, presenters. You can stay here for public comment, and because we're gonna have some closing remarks. Thank you. Go ahead, Mike. Alright. We have folks lined up for in person and remote public comment. I'll call on the folks listed as in person first, and then we'll go to the folks who are calling in remotely. So Sakivu Hutchinson is the first, then, Jessica Santiago is second, and then Justine Compledo is third. So come on up, Sekibu. You'll have two minutes to speak once you begin. Okay. Good afternoon, committee.
My name is Nakibu Hutchinson. I'm with the Women's Leadership Project, RECLA, and students deserve. And I just wanna say I do see a lot of tokenism and a lot of piecemeal efforts in the district when it comes to keeping queer and gender expansive kids safe. And I'm here to demand that the district fully implement the FAIR Act. I'm a parent of a non binary child in Hamilton. I'm also a mentor to black and POC queer youth, and I've seen how the lack of LGBTQ affirming representation negatively impacts black queer youth specifically whose social histories and
lived experiences are nearly invisible in this curriculum. These young people often have few resources or mentors who reflect their intersectional identities navigating racism, sexism, anti blackness, homophobia, transphobia, and gender based violence especially in South LA. LAUSD students have repeatedly raised these issues at our Black and BIPOC LGBTQ youth institutes which we've held for the past six years. Here's a little image. These safe spaces provide our youth with mentoring support and mental health resources, expose them
to anti racist queer cultural history and arts education and give them an opportunity to talk about conditions on their campuses with other black and POC queer youth leaders. This past spring, our youth led a PD training at King Drew that elicited backlash, which centered black queer identity in the contributions of queer social justice authors and organizers, amplifying how culturally responsive queer affirming spaces help keep LGBTQ students and schools safe and thriving. And I'm also part of a Black LGBT work group through BSAP and HRDE. Our group is advocating that this training be expanded to BSAP school site practitioners, but
I've got to tell you and break it down that we have had delays, we've had snags, and we need the board to step up and provide us assistance to move this forward. In addition, there must be community accountability for how the 2,000,000 funding for LGBTQ aligned programming is allocated. Similar to VSAP, the district should create a steering committee composed of parents, students, CBOs, and district leaders to ensure that decision making is transparent, timely, and collective, period. Thank you for your time.
Fair curriculum implementation could be reinforced by field trips to LGBTQ community events as well as parent trainings that provide families of queer youth with support resources, and dedicated funding for these initiatives is crucial. Again, the district How much for your time? Beyond tokenism that contributes to the silencing of queer voices, specifically black queer voices and social histories in this curriculum. Thank you. I'm, Jessica Santiago. You have two minutes to speak once you begin. Okay. Hello, everyone. My name is Jessica.
I've attended LAUSD schools for my whole education. Now now I work with a nonprofit that advocates for LGBTQ plus communities. And from my experience in all of that, I think the district needs to step up to support our queer and trans students and families. Students are not getting the resources, that you so presented here. There are some students that are falling through the cracks. Teachers as well. They don't feel supported. The liaison program isn't a 100% successful. There isn't a liaison in all schools like there should be, like, that plan, was
to have. And those teachers that are there, they feel unsafe and not protected to uphold the law, to uphold the Fair Education, Act. We work a lot with high school students that couldn't be here, but they have negative experiences in LAUSD schools. We have a a 2023 report of LGBTQ students all within LAUSD that say they feel unsafe. 50% of them, or more, I think it was 52, said they feel unsafe in their school campus, and that they can't turn to anyone for support in school campuses.
Families, we work a lot with families that don't know how to support their students. They don't know who to turn to in schools to get that support. And I think the district needs to step up to really uphold the Fair Education Act and be transparent about that $2,000,000 increase. What are you using that for? How is it being, broken down and being, really maximized to help support our students, teachers, and families? And there needs to be, an overs oversight committee of only LGBTQ, plus, advocacy to
really maximize our policy within LAZ like it, so is the law, like the law says. Thank you. Thank you for your time. Justine. Justine, come on down. You have two minutes to speak once you begin. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Jason Compledo. My pronouns are shethey, and I am representing the Rainbow Education Coalition of Los Angeles. I'm here to uplift the importance of district wide LGBTQ plus representation and support within our schools. As part of the ongoing effort led by members of RECLA, several of whom are here today Hey, guys.
We've been connecting with educators and counselors across LAUSD who are doing vital work to ensure that LGBTQIA plus students are seen, supported, and accurately represented in the classroom. This includes but also extends beyond the implementation of the FAIR Act and into the broader culture and climate of our schools. I want to applaud the individual educators and school staff members of LAUSD for the progress already made to uplift LGBTQ plus students and for creating the space for continued
dialogue. We know that the Fair Act is more than a compliance measure. It's a tool for belonging. It allows every student to see see themselves reflected in history, literature, and leadership. But this work cannot stop at curriculum alone. It's also living lives in counseling offices, student clubs, and everyday interactions where young people look for safety and affirmation. This is why it's of utmost importance and urgency to establish long term leadership for the HRDE position previously held by Judy Chaisson to ensure consistent oversight and implementation of
queer and trans support district wide. RECLA is also celebrating the recent budget allocation for these resources, but we believe these funds could reach schools more effectively with a clear distribution timeline and designated oversight, both of which have yet to be finalized. We encourage the district to continue investing in professional development, community partnerships, and curriculum resources that center LGBTQIA plus stories and mental health. Thank you for your commitment to equity and inclusion. Thank you for your time. Victor Morroquin. Victor, come on down.
You'll have two minutes to speak once you begin. And after Victor is Diana Guillen. Hi, everyone. My name is Victor Hugo Morroquin. My pronouns are he, they, el, e, and espanol. Anything is proper works with me, and I'm a youth justice coordinator at Reach LA. And I'm here also with my peers, Kibu, Jessica and Tracy and Trevor for Rainbow Education Coalition. So just a little bit about our organization. Oops. Sorry. I didn't mean to do that. But Reach LA, we were an organization that was actually started during the LA uprising, and we're specifically established in gang neutral territory in Los Angeles. So we're, like, in the Fashion District where you go buy your pinatas and party
supplies. And so it's, like, a very special part of Calais. It's District 14. It's also a very neglected part. It was started by three women artists and one community organizer. And the intention was specifically to uplift black and brown, Latino, queer, and trans youth at the time. And talking a lot about the Fair Act, I really got to appreciate that we got to hear, from you all, like, on the elementary school because a lot of the policy and advocacy work that I do with queer and trans youth is through CHIA, the California Health Youth Equity Act. That just like the Fair Act, it's also an act that is mandated that California
schools teach inclusive sexual health education that touches upon teen pregnancy, HIV prevention. You know, in LA, we are very blessed that not a single person is born with HIV. That's one of the forms of transmission. But currently, right now, across the country, the two largest populations proliferating in HIV transmission are black and Latina women with and I'm gonna use a little bit of clinical terms y'all because a lot of my background is in public health. But the two populations with the highest cases for HIV transmission are black and Latino MSM. MSM stands for men who have sex with men, so gay men, bisexual men, and
there's also men who don't identify as queer and have sex with men. But with that being said, I think it's super important in, like, also our policy and advocacy work that we're doing for queer and trans youth or just honestly for all students that they get the opportunity to actually learn about HIV and how to take care of their health. Because Trevor brought up something very important earlier that we can all have the responsibility to avoid for their trauma for queer and trans youth. As myself, as a young person, when I first started getting exposed to a lot of this, it's just super important. $2,000,000 to the transparency. I'd love to be able to connect more about that.
And, yeah, thank you for supporting us. Thank you for your time. And, again, please come on up. You have two minutes to speak. Miss is gonna speak in Spanish. So if you'd like to hear what she's saying in English as she's speaking, please put your hands up for the translation headsets. Okay. Good evening. Today, I'm representing the parent because of the school workshop, I'm representing parents. And I wanna say that we are in against we're against, any discrimination, sex, race, and everything that the law says. We do agree that no student, no person should be discriminated. But as parents, we also have a lot of questions.
And one thing that we would like to know and for this district to continue with and, like, keep recognizing, based on the Supreme Court's decision, they determined that there is a case against Taylor, that they need to inform parents and tutors against any legal disposition, exclude voluntarily their students from reading books that are being used in in language arts.
And this was made in the Supreme Court where parents need to receive a notification that they can exclude their children from these topics. We are also seeing what they said today, and I believe that this is very irresponsible on the district's part knowing that they still don't have an instruction curriculum, but they are giving this information. I have received, talks from parents saying that they are teaching their their students sexual things. And parents are saying that there are organizations where they put all the students in that room and students feel intimidated.
Why? Because they are boys and girls and they're teaching them and showing them photographs that are not appropriate for their age. We also know that a child's brain doesn't develop until they're 25 years old. Therefore, that is what parents are thinking. And, obviously, we think that the fair act is, there, but we also need for you to promote so that that parents that don't feel safe because they don't have the information because what you should be training parents on in regards to curriculum is when you have it because we obviously don't have it now, but how is it
that you're promoting all this without having something official? Therefore, every teacher, every person is giving what they think is correct. Therefore, our children are at danger. Thank you, and have a great night. And David Tokoski, come on down. You'll have two minutes to speak once you begin. Thank you very much, committee. This is the first time, I guess, in fifteen years that we've had an open meeting on this, legislation from Mark Leno. And, I appreciate the staff. They did a great job on district support and resources and what's going on. So let me say a few things.
Today's great news. We're in November. The tax revenues coming into California exceeded $2,000,000,000 just in the month of October. This is the good news. There is revenue coming. And when you look at what can you do with the monies, here, you brought this forward. So there is also the extended learning opportunity program, $500,000,000, nearly twice as much as the district gets in title one monies, twice as much money. It is very open what you can use that extended for the professional development, for
the classes that you've been talking about. One that has not been tapped at all is the Children Youth Behavioral Health Initiative, which is not in the education budget. It's in the Department of Health, and and care services in the Sacramento. And that provides for mental health and behavioral health issues. Much of what you discussed today pays for LCSWs. It pays for PSA counselors. It pays for counselors, nurses, wellness coaches, and all you have to do is submit it. And, of course, this district is now a year and a half behind losing 60
to a $100,000,000. Count up how much that would be in LCSWs. Finally, the bad news. The bad news is the leaders that we're presenting here today are being told to cut 40%, maybe 20% out of their budget. So some of the wonderful people that you spoke and heard today are probably on a list of last hired, first moved. And so that juxtaposition of the new revenues growing and cuts doesn't make sense. Gavin Newsom has brought ELOP. Gavin Newsom has brought children, youth, and behavior. Gavin has moved the economy back up with the AI monies.
Let's behave with hope. Let's behave with vision, and let's put the money in the fiscal stabilization plan to make sure we're stable and hopeful. Thank you very much. Thank you for your time. Alright. The next person is remotely calling in. Maria Luisa Palma. I see you're on the line. Please press 6 to unmute yourself, and you'll have two minutes to speak once you begin. Maria Luisa Palma. Good evening. My name is Maria Luisa Palma, and I heard here that everyone belongs. That is great news. But where do parental rights fit into today's presentation?
That is the focus of Olada, an organization which I represent. The perspectives of parents are not noise as was mentioned here by one of your committee members. There was a comment that this specific presentation is about the Fair Act only and not about other parental rights. But parents don't know the difference between this. They need to hear about the entire package around this very sensitive topic of diverse viewpoints are held by many parents, their cultures, their ethnicities, their religion, Other missing law
citations not mentioned here, for example, education code five one one zero one, her parents have the right to review the curriculum. Education code five one five one three and the pupil, protection rights amendment in federal law give the right parents to opt out of surveys, including surveys like the school experience survey, which asks the student's sexual orientation. It appears to me that that starts even in the fourth grade now. Education code six zero zero zero two, which in it's to involve parents in selection
of instructional materials. I have never seen that brought forth. In addition to the opt out, notice is now available under Mahmood versus Taylor. So where is culturally responsive messaging to parents in all this? Empathy for the parents' concern. We need transparency above all. There will be negative impact to district enrollment if we breed secrecy and distrust by not providing this information to parents. So if everyone belongs as equal partners, including parents, that's great.
But I also heard mentioned here potential for workshops where parents would be asked to drop drop pictures as a presenter mentioned. That would be incredibly disrespectful. We're looking to see the citations of the law, the parental rights, and have the curriculum be transparent. So please consider parental rights in this discussion. Thank you. Thank you for your time. Ruby, I see you're on the line. Please press 6 to unmute yourself, and you'll have two minutes to speak once you begin. Ruby. Good afternoon. My name is Ruby Torres. I'm a former LA USC student.
I work at an LA CBT based nonprofit. I'm here because I believe every student deserves to feel safe, seen, and supported in their schools. And right now, that's not the reality for far too many. Last year, the district announced a $2,000,000 allocation to support LGBTQ initiatives, including the expansion of GSAs and the creation of LGBT liaison positions on campuses. I was encouraged by that commitment. It signaled that LAUSD recognized the importance of affirming spaces for queer and trans youth.
But a year later, we still don't have clear information on how that money has actually been used. Without transparency and accountability, it's impossible for parents, teachers, or community partners to know if these funds are making a real difference or if they've even if they're even reaching the students who need them the most. Right now, only about a 100 schools have LGBT liaisons out of more than a thousand in the district. Many of those liaisons have very little support and just a $500 stipend less than
what many, educators spend out of pocket at their GSA clubs. This is not equitable, and this is not sustainable. Our students deserve more than symbolic gestures. They deserve investments that are measurable, visible, and transformative. I'm asking the board to release a public itemized report showing that $2,000,000 that, has that, have been allocated or that will be allocated and at which and which schools have already benefited from this, allocation. Number two, to commit to having a concrete plan and expanding funding so every school
has a trained compensated LGBT liaison. And three, ensure that future district budgets include clear metrics to track impact on student safety, belonging, and well-being. I see how much it matters when students feel supported for who they are. LGBTQ students are more likely to thrive when their schools have included staff, active GSAs, and visible affirming policies. Thank you for your time. Has the power. Okay. Let's see. We've got one more caller on the line. Jessica Parral. Jessica, please press 6 to unmute yourself, and you'll have two minutes to speak once
you begin. Jessica Parral. Good evening. My pronouns are she and hers. My name is Jessica Parral, and I'm speaking on behalf of the Los Angeles LGBT Center. We're also a proud member of the Rainbow Education Coalition in Los Angeles, and we strongly urge the board to create a steering committee for the $2,000,000 LGBTQ plus budget allocation, consisting of LGBTQ plus district personnel, parents and guardians, students and community members. We need oversight on and advisement about the development and implementation of the school site programming we've been promised as well as curricula, professional development training, and policies pertaining to
the district's commitments to LGBTQ inclusive practices. This body is necessary because there's currently ambiguity and lack of transparency around the allocation of these funds. We also ask for, the culturally specific PD trainings for all school site reps, culturally specific parent and caregiver trainings via parent centers and or LSLCs, district wide LGBTQ plus task force with multiple stakeholders, a line item, for school sites for LGBTQ plus affirming
field trips, and dedicated LGBTQ plus youth advocacy mental health resources and trained staff. The Fair Education Act was passed over a decade ago, and we still do not have clarity on its implementation in one of the most progressive school districts in the country. We do not have time to waste. We are facing down the very real possibility the Supreme Court instituting a nationwide ban on protections against conversion therapy. Just one example of the many attacks our youth are facing, and we need LAUSD to take immediate action. Please, please provide clarity and institute the recommendations for the reckless coalition.
Thank you. Alright. Actually, the last signer I mean, speaker just signed in. That's, Luis Vasquez. Luis Vasquez, please press 6 to unmute yourself, and you'll have two minutes to speak once you begin. Luis Vasquez. Hi, everybody. My name is Luis Vasquez. I'm cofounder and managing director at Rainbow Labs. Pronouns are hehim. Rainbow Labs is an l LGBTQ mentoring program that serves kids all over the county. I'm calling in today, one, to just to confirm and validate all of the things that folks have said before me, we are a member of RecLA, and all the
great work is $2,000,000 is not a lot of money, but how do we intentionally put it forward? We we do programming mentoring programs across different schools across the district. And as we know, I I think numbers are closer to about 50,000 students that identify as LGBTQ. And while training's important, professional development's important. They should not be in competition. What I think is most important at this very moment in time is to create spaces where kids feel safe. Kids feel safe when you give them autonomy, when you give them leadership, and when
you build these safe spaces at their school sites. And so really advocating to ensure that we can create more programs like the ones that everyone's talking about today, Reach LA, LEA, Rainbow Labs, these programs that we are creating at the school sites, with intentional curriculum, with intentional leaders, with intentional facilitators, and mentors that can come into a school site and help bring it. Curriculum in in school is very important, again, but I'm advocating that some of these $2,000,000 are actually put into practice by creating these programs because that's really how we
make change. And in this time, as we talk to more and more youth, isolation, loneliness, depression, anxiety is very real. But when you think about, like, life skills and leadership development, this is how we can really enhance and give confidence to the next generation, mentoring programs to give kids enough opportunity for success. So, again, my call to action is these $2,000,000, we need a committee to ensure that these dollars don't just end up in training again, but that we can create programs, just like the ones we're talking about today.
Thank you. Thank you for your time. That concludes general public comment. Alright. Thank you so much. I wanna, again, appreciate the committee for participating, sharing your ideas. Today, I wanna thank our presenters for sharing all the great work that you're doing. I wanna thank our folks who come and give public comment. You not only share your your feelings and your emotions, but you give us ideas And I want you to know that everything that comes through here, we are listening to. So appreciate all that you bring, to this.
I wanna remind us that, you know, this work that we're doing, I think somebody mentioned it's intersectional. Right? We all have many identities, and we must keep that in mind as we are addressing any, any supports that we have for our students. And the other thing that I heard very very clearly here is how much our, staff and our educators need support from the district. Right? When they are doing this work, they need to know that we are right there
with them and we're gonna back them up. They are not alone in this. And so I want you to know that we will be working hard to make sure that this is that this is something that you do feel because it's very important that all of our students, feel are are exposed and receive this curriculum because we know, like everybody shared here, that this is part of making our students feel safe. And, again, we do wanna include parents in this conversation. Thank you for sharing those ideas. And so, we will continue meeting, between now and hopefully January, this committee, and we
will review all of our notes and see what recommendations we have for the board. Right? All of this will be seen and reviewed by the seven members of the board and hopefully we can create some policy. And I just want everybody to know that it was very clear that folks want oversight over that 2,000,000 million dollars. And, part of that oversight, includes creating a committee that will do that and a committee that can oversee the work that we do for our LGBTQ plus students.
So that has been, noted. Thank you again. Have a wonderful evening. Bye. Thank you.