thank you all right all right all right you have a full house already good morning every one good morning good morning morning hi guys good morning please mute
yourselves until your call thank you thank you okay I'm guessing you guys can see my screen yes thank you thank you good morning every everyone welcome to the March 13 2025 meeting of CPAC
Chancellor's parent advisory Council hoping everyone is safe and sound and healthy what a wonderful month of women International History Month the whole month but I celebrate every day as
everyone should why we celebrate this month I celebrate every single month strong women like us that we empower the world we break the barriers of Education from parent to parent one child at a
time uh we Inspire other women to continue the work with us that's who we are women everywhere we celebrate you today and every single day your dedication to our New York City Public Schools continue
supporting parent continue advocating and raising your voice for our children and we thank you and with that we are going to start the meeting at 9:33 a.m. thank you everyone for
joining today and we are going to do the CPAC procedures and standing rules and for that we have hopefully Miss Erica are you in the
line hi good morning and we're gonna go over our norms for today and uh first of all our dues make sure you raise your hand and wait to be recognized before speaking be
an active listener uh present and engage be respectful kind and professional and remember we have one mic uh don't unmute yourself unless you've been called on to speak and recognize no
side conversations in the chat no disrespect no followup on questions once your question is answered and for all our interactions you want to make sure that we will give you uh a warning on the first interaction you'll be muted
muted for the rest of the meeting if it continues and lastly you'll be moved from the current meeting which we definitely anticipate will not happen we have amazing uh parents and our school Community is here and we're so excited
to have you here all this morning and welcome again thank you so much wonderful Erica okay and today we are having roll call by uh Randy are you available
yes good morning everyone okay uh district one good morning here District Two good morning here District three District
three District Four District 5 District Six good morning president good morning district 7 District 8 good morning District 8 good morning
Erica District nine district 10 district oh sorry District nine is here District N9 is here okay good morning good morning 11 District 12 good morning morning
District 12 good morning District 13 district 14 hi good morning here good morning district 15 hi district 15 present district
16 good morning district 16 present good morning District 17 district 18 good morning present good morning District 19 District 20
here good morning Josephine district 21 morning present I'm sorry 17 is here sorry I couldn't unmute I apologize no problem Veronica good morning um District
22 good morning president good morning District 23 District 24 present good morning District 25 good morning I'm here good morning District 26 here good morning good morning
District 27 district 28 good morning president good morning District 29 good morning Priscilla here morning District 30 I saw
Becca District 30 here I can't hear anything sorry I'm the trains oh it's okay I saw you District 31 good morning presid good morning District 32 District 75 Brooklyn high school I'm
here um Bronx High School Manhattan High School rosadas here good morning morning Queens high school daret here good morning good morning in St Island High
School okay the attendance form is dropped in the chat so please make sure you fill it out and I give the floor back over to our chair Rosa Diaz thank you so much Randy okay we do have Quorum we have
like literally everyone here thank you so much talk about dedicated parents okay the agenda uh was distributed it ahead of time there uh will be a tiny
Amendment just because uh it is very urgent and also because I got stuck in my email somewhere and we just needed um to add this um one item to the agenda regarding
the budget they will be presenting around uh 1150 is um with that Amendment this is the agenda and um does anyone have any
opposition to adding the budget to the agenda otherwise we can continue okay thank you so much so um at 9:00 am obviously we already did the roll call we're going to do uh business and updates we're going to have a 940
New York state of office for new America am Cynthia Stewart she is on the meeting we already saw her at 10:00 a.m. we're going to have a presentation by the office of Transportation Omni cars we have a lot of questions when it comes to that and of course around 10:20 a.m.
we're going to have my amazing District Four family leadership coordinator Nancy Pera I am so excited even though I go to all the workshops I'm still excited to keep on learning I love love love all her workshops and training thank you so
much Nancy okay let me go around 10:50 we're going to have United federations of teachers President Michael mro with regards to the proposed legislation for the UFT um represented par professionals
around 1105 a.m. we're going to have the CCC elections presentation and the N uh overiew if any if anyone has any questions please please write it down in that chat or raise your hand after the
presentation please do not interrupt the presenter while they're speaking please put your questions after after they present and uh around 11:35 is family and Community engagement
our amazing Jesse moika and we are going to table the January and February 2025 minutes we do not have them and hopefully we'll have enough time for district updates I know
that everyone has so many updates we want to hear from um from everyone and with that we'll have an journ me around 12 1210 1210 okay we are going to go to our
first presentation okay sorry about that my computer fro so we first presentation is New York State office for New American Cynthia take it away you did oh my gosh ahead of time I love
it good morning everyone can you hear me all right yes great happy to be here I'll be presenting for about 20 minutes sharing introduction to the New York State office for new Americans and it's rire Jun initiative which increases access to
disability services for new Americans so I'll share you share with you all today about uh what services we have at the office for new Americans a little bit about who new Americans are and about our remirez June initiative and thank
you to Jacqueline Tomlin from opwdd who connected me with your group and my name is Cynthia Stewart and I'm the senior program manager for the Ramirez initiative at the New York State office for new Americans I'm at the Albany
location uh but our office covers all of New York State and we also have a New York City office as well so who are new Americans uh you may not be familiar with that term you can use that term the same as the term immigrants new Americans refers to all
people who were born outside of the US and then moved to the us to live here uh regardless of their immigration status but for new Americans we think of people who are all different types of immigrants people who have a green card people who you know weren't born a citizen but then they went on and became
a citizen also people who are undocumented or came here as refugees or they're seeking Asylum so all people who are new to the US and you know we say new Americans they don't have to literally be new to the US new Americans
can be people who have recently moved to the United States or people who've lived here for decades and you know like everyone some new Americans are people with disabilities and developmental disabilities and if you're not familiar
with this Stat one in four New Yorkers are new Americans and uh there's about 3.3 million new Americans in New York City and 4 uh five million throughout all of New York State one in four New
Yorkers so about our office we were founded in 12 and were the nation's first statutorily created immigrant Services office so basically were created by law and we assist all new Americans so regardless of their immigration status
um and also assisting you know new American family like maybe the parents are immigrants but the children were born here so the children are US citizens we think of the new American family as well and we assist new Americans with accessing and navigating a variety of our services which I'll
share a little more about out uh through our Statewide network of community- based providers so our services are all free and they're provided at local community-based organizations including in New York
city so sharing a little bit about our different Services we have services to help people become a citizen so if you're not born a citizen and you're going through that process it's a very long complicated process and you have to take a citizenship test and they're
going to quiz you on these questions on American history so some of our grantees and programs will help people prepare for that test so they know that American history can pass that we also have support uh Workforce Development we have
job coaches to help people uh with Employment Services in the US so for instance you know if you're from another country maybe you have a lot of skills or you've heard the story of someone who's like a nurse doctor lawyer or just has some skills from their country country and then in the US they're
driving a taxi or they're doing babysitting because they don't have like their skills aren't transferring here they don't have the certification so it's those type of services to help people gain employment in the US um and just for example there's just some things like in other countries and
resumés you might put on your resume for work that you're married or you might put your religion or a picture and in the United States you know we don't have that information on our resumés so little differences like that are good to learn if you're not familiar we also have mental health support our golden
door program has group therapy for immigrants in different languages and it's run by a licensed mental health professional so a therapist to offer that group therapy which you know is always important but important now more than ever especially important now is
immigration legal services so we have free legal support for immigrants through immigration attorneys that will give someone a consult ATI or assist them with their case so I mentioned people are undocumented before some people are
undocumented um and they might actually have a pathway for an immigration status so that they will no longer be undocumented that they can access a status or different pathway it's really good to get a consultation with an immigration attorney to see what your options
are um and our immigration attorneys also help with people who are facing uh detention or deportation um so all that support is really essential right now our services also include English language learning so learning English is a new language in a
classroom in person uh some of our services are also provided virtually all the information is on our website I can give you a quick preview of our website during this and then develop mental disability services through the ramire June initiative which I'll share
more about so through the rier June initiative it's at the state level increasing access to disability services for new Americans and we have a pilot case management program in Brooklyn that helps new Americans navigate disability
systems I'm going to share a little bit more about that program as I go on a little more about our Legal Services Statewide network of experienced immigration attorneys it's free immigration legal support you know regardless of someone's immigration status they also host uh know your
rights and Law related work workshops and they can also do consultation days where they see multiple people to help them with their immigration type questions and a good way to connect is that we have our new Americans hotline 1 800 566
7636 the hotline is the best way to call to get connected to local owner programs and we'll be sharing these slides afterwards too another program for English language learning this is a great takeaway and I can share on hand
out for this we have cell Ed which is free English language learning and training also skills building you can work on skills like employment Readiness skills um and you know learning English on your phone and it doesn't have to be a smartphone could be whatever you call
it basic phone um where people can learn as they go and it's a free uh program so we'd love to raise awareness about this for more people to take advantage of cell Ed and again here's our hotline number it
runs 9 to 800 PM it's confidential free and Anonymous and you could also call and get uh basic questions answered about immigration so sometimes when there's updates policy changes for immigration uh information we have uh
phone bank days where you can call the hotline and get that information and then assistance is available in 200 plus languages so you know if someone speaks a different language they call the hotline and they get that uh telephonic interpretation to help with the
call a little bit about the ramire June initiative uh increase access to disability services for new Americans of immigrants through Outreach training and partnership and the initiative is the first of its kind in our country and it launched as a grant from the New York
State Council on developmental disabilities the CDD we started in 2019 that's when I started my role and continue to build capacity to support new Americans with Disabilities and we started this initiative because we know that immigrants with disabilities face
additional challenges getting the supports and services that they need so what does the Ona Ramirez Jun initiative do we host workshops we create and share resources that are in different languages and we partner with
other state agencies with parent groups with new American communities and you know through partnership like no one person can do this work alone so partnering and sharing about different resources and services is really helpful to help this community we also provide practical
assistance so some support like when there's complicated cases can offer that support and make referrals and connections we also launched the owna bilingual coordinator program in Brooklyn New York which offers case management to the new American community
and that is led by the Chinese American planning Council in the Sunset Park area we also build capacity through sharing strategies and recommendations to increase access to disability services for new Americans and then the initiative you know we aim to help new
Americans of all ages with all different types of disabilities so it's called the Ramirez June initiative because it's named after two families the ramire family and the family of jun Loom so both of these families are immigrant families who came
to New York State and they faced barriers but they overcame these challenges to access the disability services that they need so on the left is the Ramirez family they live in the Albany area and they came to the United States from Waka Mexico they speak
Spanish um and English and amberta who's in the picture has stable paly and our director at Ona actually uh her sons went to school with Umberto and his sister Monica and their other siblings and our director Laura saw how you know
their family just face some challenges in the school getting the supports that they need so she was really inspired by his family uh to collaborate and create this initiative so that there's focus on having new Americans with developmental disabilities and other disabilities get
the services that they need then I'll share a little bit about June's story June is from Malaysia and she came to the US and her son uh was born in New York and he's on the autism spectrum and when he was a baby she was worried that
he might have a disability or developmental delay but June shared how when she was with her son's pediatrician that she wasn't really given the information that she needed she was kind of told like oh wait and see wait and see she wasn't referred to a program
like the Early Intervention Program or you know other support to get those early prvention type therapies and treatments early because the earlier you get that support the more you know effective that it can treat different um different disability symptoms and
improve outcomes so because of June's struggle with that early identification and early support we do have some resources on the early identification of disabilities and young children and J face other barriers as well uh connecting her son with some Disability
Services it took her about six years to be able to access Services you know and she was constantly trying and advocating and she was eventually able to help her son to access those services and she's a really Fierce advocate for other parents in that
situation and these two families that we both know you know the Council on developmental disabilities who helped launch this initiative they knew June from a parent advocacy group so that's how they learned about her story and these two families also represent the
two largest uh language groups in New York state spoken by immigrant communities so speakers of Spanish the Ramirez family and then June speaks canzanese which is a Chinese language so Spanish and Chinese languages being the top two non-english languages in New York
state so these are some of our achievements since 2019 we've hosted 161 workshops all around the state in New York City uh virtually and in person also in the North country and class B uh
in Syracuse UDA Binghamton and looking you know to do more we're not stopping we keep going to host workshops and different information to connect both immigrant communities and service providers parent groups with informational resources and we've had a
lot of Workshop attendees so [Music] 4,600 and we've mailed uh over 5,000 copies of our book Voyage which is an illustrated resource Source book on the early identification of
disabilities at our Workshop so we'll bring in you know one what are the community's needs like if the community wants information on Early Child Development and the early detection of disabilities or maybe they want information about special education or housing support for people with
developmental disabilities we'll bring in speakers who can speak about that you know maybe they're from a state agency or another partner group we bring in the speaker and then we also bring in language interpretation so at this picture at the left this was a group of
um Dari speakers from Afghanistan and then there were also a couple other languages in this Workshop so sometimes we have multiple interpreters sharing information in those different languages so a little bit about our multilingual resource book for New
American families voyage was inspired by June Story and we partnered with the New York State act early ambassador to the CDC who is a pediatrician who focuses on um treating uh young children with
developmental disabilities she's a developmental behavioral pediatrician then she also is that CDC Ambassador so she helps sharing the cdc's learn the signs act early information so what's in Voyage is our free resource book we have
multilingual information on Child Development from two months to five years and the early identification of disabilities each copy is bilingual so two languages all the content in Voyage um so every book of voyage has the
information in English and then a second language so even if someone's learning English they can compare and see the two languages and then they have access to that information in their language and it has the ages for developmental screenings starting as early as 9 months
autism screenings starting as early as 18 months and then other important things like wealth child visits developmental Milestones to track Child Development and activities for parents to support their child's development and you know celebrate their growth and development and then also have some
information about disability resources in New York state The Voyage is now available in 13 languages it's available um oh and actually need to update this slide make sure I have all the languages but um we have it in you know Spanish in
Chinese we have it in Ukrainian in Darian pasu for Afghans people from Afghanistan um we made it into those languages because we're having uh people coming over from Afghanistan in the past few years and we have a large Afghan community in New York we have Bali
Russian Korean um and then also Ken and for people from Burma and then also Somali and to get free copies of voyage and then some of our other informational
material from the CDC we have in order form I'll put this link in the chat too you can also scan the QR code and we mail out these free materials uh at no cost um to people who order them and we have some more resources is
on our website we have uh some information on new Americans with Disabilities learning a little bit more about who new Americans are we have a resource guide about all different disability services so I'll just Spotlight one um well in the resource
guide so I mentioned Early Intervention Program the resource guide has information on that for special education or Services through the office for people with developmental disabilities um also I'll reference you know the trade program is a really great program that I feel like not a lot of
people have heard about the trade program technology related assistance for individuals with disabilities I think is the full name and then they can help people they've been really helpful you know if someone needs something like a wheelchair ramp uh to make their
apartment accessible or or their house or maybe they need a device to help communicate with others um Hightech or low Tech disability um adaptive equip equipment to help people function in their day-to-day life and it's a free it's a
free service and then anyone can access the service of all ages even if someone's undocumented they can just they just need to be a resident in New York state that's the trade program and I can link to that program um and they also Shar an example like if someone is even visiting New York State and wants to go to a
theme park and they realize they need a wheelchair they can contact uh the regional trade center to get that service so definitely check out our website for more resources uh the owner website you can also learn about our different programs now I'll just share a little bit about
our bilingual coordinator program so we launched this program this is our case management program we launched it in 2023 uh with the Chinese American planning Council and it does serve the majority of its clients are immigrants
from Asia but you know they don't have to be from the Chinese American Community to get services from the program Chinese American planning Council in Brooklyn they also have staff that are Spanish speaking and they can use language access resources to help different clients we launched this
program because we saw that there was a large uh immigrant community in the area with who were you know parents of children with developmental disabilities and were facing a lot of barriers going through different eligibility processes um so
this program helps to bridge gaps and helps people to connect with the developmental disability disability Mental Health Services that they need and has a focus on connecting with opwdd services so one of the things that they do is they've helped uh a lot of their
clients to get a diagnosis of their disability because sometimes people who are immigrants coming from other countries they don't always have that documentation that they have a disability and you know sometimes people they might not even know they might not have had access to different disability
services in the country where they came from so getting that documentation we know is really important to be able to get eligibility for services like opwdd or other Disability Services they also have a resource guide I can share on disability
services um in Brooklyn and then in other uh bureaus of the city and it has information on different disability providers who speak other languages than or who speak Chinese languages or are part of that community so this resource
I can share out and if you're hearing about this program and you're thinking like oh this would be really helpful for a different community in a different area uh really welcome to that feedback hope to expand the program to serve more communities and they also host uh workshops to respond to the community
needs so just for instance you know really uh sadly just the community has been affected by a lot of uh fraud and scams um which is really a big thing right now you know just getting all the scam calls and the scam texts like I sell for one uh a few months ago and had
to change my stuff so it's just there's a lot of scams right now so the community unfortunately is dealing with that like identity theft scam of like using people's Identity or using their Medicaid or taking their food stamps like their SNAP benefits so in response to that they shared that with us and
then we connected them with the presenter from um at Department of State where office for new Americans is housed we have consumer protection so a speaker from consumer protection shared some information about you know protecting your ident identity
protecting against identity thefts and then you know that division consumer protection they can also do other uh workshops if that's something that's helpful for you as well hoping to respond to the needs you know through the owna bilingual coordinator program and through the
Ramirez Jun initiative what are the needs of immigrants with disabilities what barriers are they facing how can we respond to it and how can we help make connections and partners with other people to help overcome these challenges just some
resources cyth time right yeah hello thank you so much yes yes yes everyone should be scanning please send us all the slides because I saw in the chat already everyone was asking questions so you can present at their meeting this is
like extremely important because for me at least my daughter is on the Spectrum and it took me two whole years to get her Services it works we have to be persistent and this is this hits my my heart because I know what it is to
advocate for your own child um please send us the slides I know uh we're um and we need to send the the last month's uh slice too so we're going to include everything uh once you send us um all the slice and information thank you to
everyone if you do have any questions please put it in the chat we are running a a little bit over time thank you so much Cynthia please feel free to put your information down in the chat so people can connect directly but we will also send your information to every
single member so they can actually come and have uh you have you come to present thank you thank you thank you and now we have the office of students Transportation Omni car presentation
take it away yes uh good morning everybody uh my name is John Benson I'm the deputy senior executive director of opt I think most of you know me from prior meetings I've joined these meetings before um here with me today is also Lena Parker Moore she's our executive director of ridership support
and Citywide programs Lena is one of our stars in the office she oversees our transportation liaison our omnicard delivery unit are deliveries of uh a caregiver Metro cars for students and temporary housing uh and their their parents in addition to ensuring student
safety on buses so a really core team member here who does a lot of great work she's going to bring you through a brief presentation on Omni how it's different from the prior student Metro cards and then we'll take any questions uh you may have so Lena I'll turn it over to
you thanks John good morning everyone um so happy to be here to present about omy we um had an exciting roll out in partnership with the MTA so I just wanted to give some High Lev bullet points about Omni and uh walk you through kind of what we see for the
future with Omni uh so I'm going to start sharing my [Music] screen and okay so um Omni 2024 2025 school year rollout um our agenda today is uh what is our student Omni program what
changes were made this year and what's upcoming with student Omni and um I can take your your questions after if we have some time L I don't see the screen I don't see your screen shared I was going to say we don't see let's see let me let me try to do it again uh share
how about now beautiful good okay there it is perfect perfect yeah so 2024 2025 like I said um we're looking to uh let you guys know what our program what the program is what changes we made this year and what's upcoming for Omni so
what is our Omni student program Omni cards um will let students students um ride MTA Subways and MTA buses to get to and from school it's all students in grades K to 12 who live more than a half a mile from their school they're eligible for these cards unless they
assign yellow bus service um being that two uh two forms of transportation um um will be in play there um we provide Omni cards to roughly about over half a million students or more each school year and it still Falls within our
similar eligibility uh criteria the same as with metro card so this is just a a brief chart that visually will show you depending on the grade you're in students have the option of even take of either taking a yellow school bus or an omni card um we'll provide this deck after for those who want to look at this
more detail and also this information is on our family uh facing site what changes were made this year so Omni cars they replaced our old student Metro Car program eligibility criteria remain the same uh student Metro C has specific restrictions on when they could
be used the Omni car has fewer restrictions so allowing more access to students who need to travel throughout the city they can be used up to four tasks per day at any time of the day seven days a week 365 days of the year so yes they will work in summer um we've
also uh simplified the program said that there's a single card for students in all grades before there were multiple cards depending on what gray band it's just one card for for each student so here's some reminders um as we as we want to um continue our partnership with
the MTA and also increase student uh ridership and fair evasion um we wanted to have some reminders about the Omni cart use so it's strictly for the assigned student only it should not be sold or utilized by an unauthorized user if anyone other than the assigned uh
student is found using the Omni car it will be deactivated by the MTA if your student has a loss of stolen Omni card they should report it to their school if your student Omni car is damaged please return the damaged C to your school the school will replace it right away we send um um many cards to the school with
a buffer to ensure that schools always have cards on hand so what's what are some of the changes that are coming up with Omni so New York City Public Schools is working with the MTA to develop a virtual Omni car when this program is rolled out students will have the option to link
their Omni account to a device eliminating the need to to carry a physical card new City Public Schools is also partnering with MTA on various initiatives to encourage good ridership habits and reduce Fair evasion sort of like incentives for students to to continue to tap as Subways and buses so
very excited about the program very excited to continue our partnership with MTA and also looking into the virtual Omni car we'll probably be piloting something um at the top of next year and then expand to the whole school population thank you if there are any questions um I can take them
that was great and to the point uh let me see the time I think we have uh time to ask um a question or two we can I'm sorry see your screen um I stop sharing
yes thank you thank you um does anyone have any questions please please please raise your hand I see two hands up please keep it brief no followups and we still see your screen my dear just in case let to stop share
completely Ana we still see your screen yeah I'm piing it up ah okay no problem no problem okay so we have uh Chet from Queens and then Caroline and then banana
please please please no followup questions thank you thank you hi okay so I had a question for the Omni cards so the roll outs for the virtual is it for the devices if they want they would have to
say they want an actual physical card and then they put it on the device like you do now with like the goal stuff and or they will still have the card as well so just in case they can use both that's a good question actually so
there will be an option for uh students to select whether they want virtual or a physical card we all know not every student will have a physical device maybe parents don't want them to have a smartphone or things like that so they will still have the option of the physical card but it wouldn't be both
it's it's either or so we can maintain the Integrity of the tabs per student per ride okay thank you so much line uh thank you Miss Parker for your presentation um my simple question is uh basically we've had issues where um the
students unfortunately their card is made out of paper it'll get wet it'll get lost all of those things um is there any conversation around the material being used for these cards like the um the green Metro cards used to be yeah that's that's also a very good question
we we have noticed that because we are receiving uh the the returns and we you know it gets lost in the wash you know Mom puts it in the wash by mistake is in the pocket or kids juice and spilling so we are aware that the physical media of the car um has um risen in terms of what
needs to be deactivated they're getting damaged more um which is why we've we've um shipped multiple cars to schools so that they have someone hands to replace them but yes short answer yes we have been talking with the MTA and the the vendor Who currently makes the physical card to see if there's something that
can be changed in the media we're also hoping that if more students have access to the virtual car then that would eliminate some of those issues as well thank you so much absolutely does anyone have any any
other question Randy do you have okay District a ER hi good morning I just had a quick question our students in uh who have IEPs and have transportations usually have only the yellow but
will they also be getting the Omni card as well or is there something that they can get the Omni card especially for our students who are in high school and start internships that that's um you know we've been talking with the MTA about that as well but currently um in the
Chancellor's regulations a801 um students only allow one form of transportation so the idea that you're taking the school bus means that you wouldn't need to get to and from school but we do recognize the extended benefits of being able to travel outside of school hours such as activities and
extracurricular programs work sites so these are these are ongoing discussions this is a new launch and roll out so we we're thinking about what that looks like for for some of our students even some of our students who may even live closer to home but still want the the extended benefits of being able to travel on the weekends and at night and
over the summer and if I could just add on that as well we do have the option for schools to request for students even if they have yellow busing but there's an extracurricular activity or a PSA activity they can request two trip Omni cards from us which will be given to
students those are separate cards from the one the ones that are used for Am Pm travel so schools have a way to request those so that way if a student does have a bus but there's an activity that is not met by the the busing restrictions in the hours that buses run they can request those those cards can be given
to students those are two trip daily cards uh we give those out in pretty high volume to to meet this need yes thanks Sean yep [Music] Randy do you have any
question I do not have questions for um Mr Benson at this time Okie doie we have five more minutes guys we've like never had extra time like ever but this question I mean like we always keep on learning I didn't even
know that um if anyone if any student has busing transportation that they're able and and even eligible to get an extra uh Metro Car to support their travel you know I was not advised so thank you for that all these questions
um okay so if my amazing parent uh family uh leadership coordinator Miss n she's ready I mean the floor is yours I am ready hi Erica nice to see
your friendly face how are you um thanks thanks again for for helping us out that time when you came to support our our PCS uh they to that was a great takeaway um after you were done with them so thanks again um all
right so I was invited to um facilitate um I was given a variety of topics um and I was told I want you to do it all and I said what do I have all day um because everything you mentioned is separate PD so since we're in the
middle of a spring elections I you know we agreed let's do uh the uh Ros and responsibilities for the establishment of a nominating committee so that's what I'm going to do do I have share screen capability yes you
do okay okay can everyone see my screen okay yes yes okay so here we go let's start this presentation and make sure that you take copious notes because there will be pop
quizzes throughout ask Rosa she knows um and I have a couple of our parent coordinators on this call as well they can attest to that as well um there are quizzes whenever I do a PD so here we go let's get started um how come my
computer's not listening to me hang on [Music] okay all right yeah that's a waiting page and justful we always have a little waiting page with some music you know get give everybody a chance to log on
but you know this meeting is full in full swing so we don't need a waiting page so just make sure if if you feel comfortable you can we ask leave your cameras on we like to see with uh who we're speaking with um if you have any questions throughout the presentation uh just type your question in the chat
Rosie you're monitoring correct because I'm on a laptop I only have one screen with me today um a whole executive board here to support you don't you worry Nancy perfect thank you um and um to avoid any background noise let's stay on
mute um but you know again pop type in if you have any questions throughout you can type in your questions in the chat or just unmute yourself and use the raised hand feature and we will acknowledge whatever question that may come up today we're going to discuss scheduling the elections preparing for
the elections nominating committee responsibilities and conducting an election meeting either virtual or in person because the regulations still say you could do either or or combination of um so PTA
elections who's responsible for making sure that PTA elections get scheduled that would be the PTA or PA executive board members is their responsibility or your responsibility because you're all parent leaders in
your districts to make sure that that nominating committee is in place and here in D4 we start those conversations around February at the very latest March uh we start that's with our parent Leaders with our parent coordinators we start
these conversations in January so that they could begin supporting their PAs to make sure that they're following through and getting those nominating committees in place um we call rpcs on-site technical advisors um and we make sure
that our parent leaders know that they are there to support guide and assist they are not there to do because that's your responsibility you guys if you look at the Preamble of a660 the first thing you're going to read is that Pas are
self-governing and autonomous the only way schools or District get involved is if there's been a violation of regul bylaws or if a grievance or complaint has been filed and then that's when we get involved we investigate and move
forward accordingly um when should elections take place they really should take place between the third Wednesday in May and the thir Friday in June we have some of our schools here in District 4 that have their elections as
early as April why do they have their elections that early because it's written in their bylaws your bylaws basically tell you when you're nominating committee should be formed um and your bylaws should also say when your elections should take place if they
do not then you're bound by regulations and we all know that regulations can be a little bit ambiguous because they're not specific that's just a general overview of the operating day-to-day procedures for Pas um and of course we all know that elections take place on
school premises and regulations still say virtual or in person you could also do hybrid it's not something we recommend and the reason why we don't recommend hybrid for PA elections because I don't think there is a PA in the city that is that has the technology
to run a hybrid election um all right nominating committees that parent election guide is very relevant and basically provides a stepbystep guide on what that process is and what those roles and responsibilities are
that we're going to start reviewing um the first step once that nominating committee is formed is the a PA or PTA election notice that election notice has to state what the positions are on the executive board the date and
time of the elections if they're in person or virtual and must list all the positions on the executive board too often we see election meeting notices going out that just say uh join us for
PA elections date time either location and zoom link but it's not listing the officers it's and it's not giving um giving any more detail other than that um we all know that especially coming out of uh lockdown um getting people to
step up into leadership roles has become more difficult so the best way to entice and ensure that parents are showing up is to give as much information as possible when you're running elections um and that's a
conversation that is had with the PA executive board that outgoing board alongside the nominating committee who is actually responsible for ensuring that those that those elections take place any questions in the chat so far Rosa
no can I just no don't worry about the questions we'll do them afterwards all right I'm sorry excuse me just for clarification um the election meetings are in person or virtual not HRI either or right not
hybrid it's either or you have three options in accordance with a660 and then your bylaws your bylaws are specific your bylaws must state if your elections are going to take place in person if your elections are going to take place virtually or if you are going
to have hybrid elections and that all has yeah hyb HB elections are prohibited it's in the Chan's regulations that you cannot have elections in a hybrid format it's only iners or virtual what per I'm sorry you're right you're right I'm sorry you just corrected to clarify
because everybody's listening and and I just want to make sure that no no you're right you're just corrected me because I yeah I'm I'm looking at what you're just saying you're absolutely right okay I'm sorry I just want to make sure it was clear for everybody before you moved on thank you so much I'm sorry no no no yeah in person or virtual either or um
and that's probably why that was removed way back when when we first came back from lockdown because it became more it was more complicated um and many of our schools across the city were just not prepared technology wise to uh carry those out um so you're correct and
thanks for that all right any any any other questions yes no okay okay so let's talk about preparing for the election once that nominating committee has been established and we're assuming it's been established around February or March that would be ideal um
and we're going to go into the reasons why as we move forward um there are three important documents that that nominating committee should be provided with starting with the PTA election guide because that gives you that uh step-by-step guide on the their
role and responsibilities and the timeline to carry out elections the second document that all nominating committees should be provided with are a copy of the PA's current bylaws um because that uh is is in black and white what are the positions on that executive
board that are going to be elected um for example are there codes as your PA consist of codes are there codes in all three positions if you only have the three mandatory positions um or if you have additional VPS or uh what are those
uh specific responsibilities um many of our Pas still use vice president as an executive board position um and the regulations are pretty clear in regards to VP you have to um in your bylaws uh describe what the role and
responsibilities are going to be for that vice president otherwise it's assumed that they're just filling in for the chair or PA president um at meetings when they're unable uh to facilitate or chair their meetings um so I mean and and um when we provide our PD on
amending bylaws and what that processes we always provide uh suggested Provisions to include um in by laws which many of our Pas automatically do um including um uh what kind of mechanism they're going to use for
elections be a virtual or iners um and you know a whole bunch of other uh provisions and again but that's a that's a whole other Workshop that you will all be invited to during our summer Parent Academy because that's something that we delivered during the summer
third document is that a660 um the a660 is is your Bible uh we always tell PA's executive board members that your bylaws and the a660 that is your Bible that must accompany you at all times whenever
you are at a pa meeting so that you're able to troubleshoot any questions that come up the first document you're going to look at is that a660 um and then you're going to see what your bylaws say to support whatever concerns of questions are coming up so
those are the three documents that all nominating committees should have so that they are prepared to uh bring to fruition um your PA spring elections for inperson election meetings we have something we have like
a little toolkit that we put together and we provide our uh a nominating committees with and that toolkit consists of the if we're doing inperson elections what are we going to need what they're going to need on hand um to conduct an inperson election um and
that's a that's self self-explanatory I'm not going to read this for you but I will be providing this deck so you all have it as reference um Pop Quiz here's your first pup quiz what are the three mandatory
positions for a PA executive board you can type your answers in the chat or you could unmute yourself and call out president recording secretary and Treasurer that is correct
by when does a PA executive board have to form that nominating committee on or about when should nominating committees be put in place by April vanana that's our PA that's our
president's council president how are you vanana that is correct you're you're correct Sana at the very least by April and the and the reason why is because by April 1st the nominating committee or the P well
actually the PA president must let the principal know by April 1 when elections are going to be taken place um all right moving on for virtual elections uh again the toolkit that we
provide um contains uh the mechanism for person as well as for virtual and that toolkit um also includes the meeting notices that have to go out in both English and Spanish and any other language that that are
required nominating committee when you well once that notice goes out and once that nominating committee is formed and the reason why we recommend have your date scheduled for elections as soon as possible because you want to leave yourself a cushion in the event that you don't
reach Quorum um during your election meeting um every um if you don't have Quorum and you have elections scheduled for the second week in June and you don't reach Quorum then you're going to end the year
without having parent leadership in place um because there's not enough time left into school year to get another 10-day calendar notice out to the parent body to reschedule ctions if you have them that late in the school year so we
always recommend your first attempt should always be sometime around May um at the very latest mid mid to end of May so that you have um at least another three or four weeks to reschedule in the event that you do not reach warrant um
nominating committee once the notice goes out you guys are responsible for making sure that notice goes out and start circulating it to the parent body with the support of the school's parent coordinator and the currently current sitting executive board
um you are ensuring that any candidates uh if they are submitting nomination forms in advance or if you're taking nominations the day of the election meeting those are questions that are addressed in your bylaws um some of RPA
do send out when they send out their meeting notice they have a little tear off on the bottom for anyone interested in nominating themselves are nominating someone else and then the day of the election meeting all those names are part of the um part of the ballot and
confirmed um to ensure that the individuals being nominated are in fact accepting those nominations um the other part of the process is ensuring candidate
eligibility and not just candidate eligibility but voter eligibility um how do you think that happens um are we handing over an rbir to a nominating committee that are non
dooe employees and that rbir is a listing of every single student in your school along with personal identifying information here's a quick pop quiz
who does candidate who does candidate eligibility and voter eligibility during Ane elction meeting to support a nominating committee for that election meeting you could unmute yourself and answer or type your answer in the chat
that's a quick question AR in coordinators incorrect any other guesses the principal for their design that is correct it is their principal or their design and that
design cannot be the parent coordinator that doesn't mean the parent coordinator is not going to support with the nominating committee with soliciting candidates and conducting that Outreach but when it comes time for that election meeting there are there's only uh the only
individuals that can verify candidate and voter eligibility would be the Principal or their designate and as we all know for um election meetings any kind of election meeting a 10day notice is required visiting the candidates again
the nominating committee is going to send out those notices um to all members of the parent body and that'll go out either via backpack or it'll go out you know however it is that the whatever mechanism the school use is to communicate with families um School
messenger um gamma U backpacking any other number of ways um in addition to that um there are certain things that the nominating committee needs to sit down with the executive board to review and that is the bylaws because the bylaws
are going to talk about term limits the bylaws are going to talk about the positions on that executive board and the bylaws are always also going to address when nominations will be closed prior to that election meeting some Pas
leave the that nomination open all the way up until the date of the election meeting some Pas ha uh their bylaw state that by a week before the scheduled date of an election nominations will be closed but they're more specific than
what I just said but it all depends on what bylaw say which is why it's really important that that nominating committee is sitting down with the executive board to review what that election meeting process is like conducting an election meeting for
inperson or virtual elections the process doesn't change doesn't change as far as how the nomination meeting is conducted the only thing that is that's different is the platforms that are used in person or
virtual but the the process is the same the P the nominating committee introduces all of the members names um of the the candidate names and positions that each candidate is running
for um once the election meeting is opened if nominations are still open then that call is made as they go down position by position uh to open up the floor to accept
nominations um individuals attending a meeting kid are always told in advice that they can nominate themselves or they can nominate someone else but is you have to be C ENT because just because someone is nominated doesn't necessarily mean that they're interested
um in being part of the parent leadership in the school sometimes F you know parents prefer to just um volunteer and learn as they go um and then eventually once they feel comfortable they may say okay I think it's time for me to step up and take on that
responsibility and that's how you cultivate parent leadership in your schools um just because someone's not interested in being part of a parent body that does not mean you cannot Mentor them and teach them and guide them in hopes that moving forward when
your child's articulating articulating out of the school you've cultivated fresh new parent leadership that can that is interested in stepping into those those roles as um current parent leaders transition to their next uh to their next school with their child any
questions so far okay okay we mentioned um I mentioned um quum we all know that even for your PA meetings Forum consists of eight members and out of two of those members even
during an election meeting out of two of those members uh two of those members must be executive board members even if you're PTA um if you're PTA staff does not count towards quum only parents do um
now one of the things that we uh strongly recommend for virtual meetings is record your meetings and uh one of the members of the nominating committee even if it's a virtual meeting should always be uh taking notes especially of
any decisions and motions that are made um even though you're recording your meeting it's always good to have to take notes because you still have to produce those minutes and the sem those minutes um to your parent body um any questions
Rosa no I'll take yeah and N see yeah on the I believe on the prior uh screen that you share uh you mentioned um the verification of parents eligibility to vote
um I was not paying attention I'm sorry uh because um that parent coordinators are also able to uh verify and support no um yeah because yeah the only individuals that can verify voter and candidate
eligibility is the principal or their designate um that's not to say that PCS will not support the election meeting but when it comes time to verifying candidates that RB or alpha numeric
listing um uh or ATS report um is can only be handled by a doe staff member because it contains personal identifying information for students which is why it must be school Personnel other than the parent coordinator to verify voter and
candidate eligibility did I answer your questiona yeah maybe I did um Anthony do you wanna um chip in a little bit yes so um I do want to emphasize you are correct when it comes to to uh the
president I'm sorry the principal or the design that the principal assigns but it can also be the parent coordinator the parent coordinator can verify votes but that's the only thing that they can do not anything else in the meeting they're
just observers at after that point yeah the key word there is design the PCS cannot be the Principal designate that's the key word there very different from yeah not what that's not what the regulations say but we can have a sidebar conversation
happening um it's very clear every time you turn a page the the regulations say PCS may not be may not serve as a principal's designate um any any any other questions no that was it from the chat yeah okay
you okay all right so conducting the nomination meeting again in person or virtual um it's it's pretty straightforward and we make it as easy as possible for our nominating committees we provide a script and that
script not only contains uh filling in um the positions for your executive board um it also spring elections also consists of filling any school leadership team vacancies and it also should consist of
electing your new parent advisory Council and the script that we provide for nominating committees it it contains the um electing all three um committees at the same time during one
election meeting but you know there's a when you're moving into pack the nominating committee would this is the only difference the nominating committee closes the PA election meeting and then the outgoing pack opens the parent advisory uh committee election
portion of that of that meeting um because only the pack can uh only the outgoing pack is can elect the pack um the nominating committee is only responsible for electing a new executive board and filling any SLT um parent
vacancies um we always recommend when it comes to filling SLT parent vacancies leave at least one position open so that you can any new families that come to your school starting in September and may be interested in uh parent
leadership or becoming involved that's a perfect way for them um to begin um getting their feet wet so to say in parent leadership at your school um and then that would be the first order of business for that newly elected parent Association executive board would be
when you advertise for your September PA meeting you are also advertising that uh you will be uh holding an uh expedited election to fill um an so a parent vacancy um and that's uh and that's guidance and
support that's provided in in that event because we provide the we provide the the meaning notices and and the verbiage that should go on that on that notice when it goes out to families so when that meeting is when
the election meeting is taken place we provide if you can see we're starting provide we're starting to provide you little Snippets of the script on how to conduct that meeting you're calling for nominations we go position by position or you can do slates it's up to that nominating
committee um and it's all part of the guidance provided once they're elected you know we uh PCS meet with them or they can reach out to us at the district and we'll do those one-on ones with them as well uh we also deliver this deck um
during our president's council meeting so vanana get ready for for president's Council this is what's being delivered um and say for example the office of President nominations have been taken in advance
but the bylaws say that you can still call for nominations the day of your election meeting so here's your first position up you're do you're not doing slates this particular school is doing position by position first position is President you describe provide a description of the role in
responsibilities for president and it's all laid out on the script that we provide nominating committees um and by the way it's it's in English and in Spanish um it's translated uh you go through the description you go through your officers one by one and you
are asking for nominations and you're calling for nominations three times okay so Rosa nominated herself for president okay Rosa do you accept yes Rosa accepted any other nominees for the position of President crickets no one
else is interested so you call it out three times going once going twice going three times nominations closed then you move on to the next position um you want to give everyone in that attendance meeting ample time to think about
whether or not they want to nominate themselves and put themselves out there so that's why we we do the three count Rule and once the nominations again are officially are officially closed um you cannot add any additional candidates on
that ballot for that position unless unless and in you know someone is insisting that you know they we're late and I really want to be on that ballot and then yeah yeah what I've done in the past is I I leave it up to the families that are in that meeting because I'm if I'm conducting an expedited election
meeting I'm not making those POs I'm not making those decisions I let the parent body make those decisions do you want to reopen that nomination because we have a late arrival that's interested in this position um and then you know the the parent body decides
verifying candidate eligibility again for in-person or virtual elections we start by providing the definition of uh for parents and that's pretty self-explanatory and pretty straightforward um there are certain reasons that can make a parent
ineligible uh to run um and you know I've listed them here um if they've exceeded term limits that's like that's like really important some PA don't have term limits as a provision in their bylaws whereas some
do um and those term limits will decide whether or not any nominees are eligible to run if they've exceeded term limits does that mean that they could put their name in The Ballot no they can't because they've exceeded term limits however if no one else is
running um then and no one is stepping up to one for any to run for any of the positions then even though an individual has exceeded term limits then at that time they can put their name in for uh for a position on the executive
board um and and and and the other um caveat there is if there are a member of the nominating committee obviously they cannot um run for a position on the executive board because that would be a conflict of
interests any questions no okay for in person in Virtual before the elections as mentioned earlier by April 1st the nominating committee has to notify the principal um of the date and time of the election if it's a virtual
election obviously the uh the link that's going to be used um they have to review the bylaws the principal has to identify who is the staff member that is going to be um verifying voter and candidate eligibility and who's going to
be certifying that election once the election meeting is over certifying the election means signing off on that election certification form okay where am I all right go forward or back now ballot preparation is something
that is very important to review if you're doing inperson elections uh simply because um people make mistakes so one of the things that we're very cognizant of when inperson elections are taking place is modeling
what that ballot looks like how it needs to be filled out um and what to do with that ballot once it is filled out uh and the reason why I'm lifting this is because I've been in a situation many times when
someone has incorrectly filled out a ballot um and and that voids out that ballot when it comes time to start counting out those ballots that that vote is is voided out um there have been times when well can I
I can I have another ballot after ballots have been collected and deposited in The Ballot Box the answer to that question unfortunately is no which is why we're you know we're very thorough when it comes to and I we recommend this highly if you're doing
inperson elections you must model how to complete that ballot by putting it up on a screen holding it up and letting everyone know that they can only select one candidate for each position and if any mistakes are made
and we make sure everyone is aware if any mistakes are made in completing the ballot then your ballot will be voided and unfortunately you're not provided with a with another with another ballot so if you're doing inperson elections is really really important that you you uh
you take that into consideration and make sure you follow that process because you don't want any grievances filed because someone got an additional ballot that should not have been provided with an additional ballot for whatever reason any questions no Rosa
okay conducting the election continued um voter eligibility we talked about this it's really important that only eligible parent members receive those ballots I went far ahead sorry it's
really important that only parent members receive a copy of that ballot and how that's done for in-person elections is whomever from one person of the nominating committee is sitting down at a table next to whomever the
principal's design is with that with that uh listing of all the parents in the school and an attendance sheet and as families are joining walking into the election meeting they're going to that sign in table they're writing down their name their child's name and the deal the
principal's design is pulling up that list looking up that child's name confirming if that individual or or parent or whomever is there representing the child is actually the parent or Guardian listed on that rbir for that
parent which would make them an eligible voter what makes a parent and eligible voter authorization code 01 or 0 2 next to their name you will see a 09 you may see a 013 you may see a
08 um those those are other emergency contact members that a parent has listed on a blue card the only two codes that identify a parent or Guardian are 01 and 02 and those are the individuals when
they're signing that attendance sheet that are who are confirmed to have those codes next to their name on that listing and those are the individuals that would be considered eligible to for uh to vote as well as to
be a candidate if they are interested um and then when it comes time to give out the ballots those individuals are called up in the order which they signed in and then it will be handed a ballot and they would have to initial that they received that ballot
if anyone attending an election meeting is not coded on that listing as 01 or 02 then unfortunately they are not provided um with that ballot and um has come up during you know election meetings in person election meetings well why name
was not called and then you know we don't want to embarrass anyone we just someone from the nominating committee is prepared to take that individual aside to let them know the reasons why they're not being provided with a ballot Nancy
um yes is it okay to to pause for a couple of minutes because uh the Chancellor's cabinet uh is here and we had a couple of questions uh that we wanted to ask before they leave for the other meeting absolutely thank you I'll
I'll stop my share thank you thank you thank you um you have uh the questions Randy you wna um go ahead and um share the questions with the cabinet so we can have uh the answers live okay thank you
thank you um so the first question submitted is what is the typical wait time for a parent to have their d210 processed and accounted for good morning members I could answer that um always a privilege uh to be at your meeting um so the D2 for10 process
a complaint is acknowledged within three business days and a uh jurisdictional decision is made as to whether to proceed or close meaning that a a confirmation on whether or not this is an actual d210 complaint or or needs to
be addressed in another way um and the findings would be made within 60 days but I just want to note that each case is different right so findings have to be made within 60 days but sometimes findings can be made sooner than that depending on what the facts are okay thank you Jesse the next
question is in light of the potential Federal funding cuts does the New York does nycps have a contingency plan in place to address the possibility of federal funds being withheld particularly for Title One schools that heavily rely on these
resources H yeah um I'm Elijah I'm I'm here to just uh the finance team is actually at the city council hearing so I'm here to just kind of uh speak to their talk uh to kind of the things that they provided so let me just pull up the resp response that they shared and I can um read that
out uh okay uh so we're closely tracking the various Federal actions as of now we have not changed any of our policies and have recently reiterated our policies around protecting supporting our immigrant and lgbtq students consistent with the federal uh state and local law um for your awareness just to kind of give you a scope of like the federal
funding piece uh we received $2.2 billion and federal funding from the Department of Health and Human Services Department of Agriculture Department of Education um which is about 5% of our budget with our most substantial Federal Federal funding streams going to tle one uh idea School food uh and then
childcare and development block grants um uh those federal policy changes that like we don't know yet obviously but they could significantly affect our funding for title one and Ida um as I said more than 2.2 billion is supported by federal funding but we're continuing
to monitor this as of right now there has not been any changes um and as you can see there's uh uh we're kind of not moving changing any any uh policies as of right now so um again Finance should be on subsequent CPAC meeting so they can kind of go more into uh detail I'm
just helping here to support while they're out okay thank you Elijah um for that response um next question um would you consider updating the Chancellor's regulations to allow children from the same household attending the same school
to both qualify for yellow bus service if one sibling is already eligible and then there's a part two I don't see Kevin Moran and I I don't believe John Benson is here all
right so we'll move on to the next question maybe they can come back on or we could ask that at the next meeting um Randy I think I have something um that I could share uh on that with respect to we're talk about updating the chances of Regulation to
allow children from the same household to the same school is that the the question yes okay so just I can just go over just eligibility for yellow school buses is based on a students grade level um distance from home in school as well as existing accommodations like whether
it's medical housing status or safety assessment so families in any grade can apply for an exception and I can put where they can apply for the exception in the chat if that's helpful that would be perfect and then the other question is can opt make exceptions to
allow sixth to eth grade students to ride the yellow school bus if they are in dual districts I can help support on that one um I think that as they go through those exception requests they're looking through to see kind of like the um make sure that um it makes sense for the family obviously we still have our
transfers regulations and rules um but that's something that we uh is investigated on Case by case I can't speak to um individual but uh I think we have uh that where Jesse put in the chat is a great place to follow up thank you so much next question when
the Comfort dog program first launched as mrees many dogs completed training and were successfully placed in schools however when New York City Public Schools took over many of the dogs have been waiting for placement for over three years and schools and ptas have
invested over $5,000 annually to support them so this discouraged many principles and teachers from participating um are there any steps that can be taken to expedite this process I don't know who wants to take that
question I don't know if uh if Jay is on um but if he's not I I I I can share some information on this Randy so I I know when the um when the Comfort uh uh uh dog program first started as a pilot um the department col collaborated
closely with the NorthShore Animal League um and this collaboration uh included utilizing their um mrees um supplemental curriculum and relying on expertise to temperament test potential Comfort dog candidates um so at that
time there was a a waiting list managed by um the NorthShore Animal League for schools interested in obtaining a dog but since the pilot phase um the Comfort dog program has experienced some significant changes to align with the best practices and standards of animal
assisted interventions known as AI uh including the implementation of comprehensive safety protocols and intensifi training requirements for both the handlers and the dogs so each Comfort dog team must now certify must be certified um as a therapy dog team to
be eligible to apply for the program um program now opens annually for schools to apply interested schools have to meet um specific criteria uh including the ability to provide a school-based budget for the program as well as flexibility and space and scheduling and have a
staff member able to meet program needs so um I will put this in the chat as well Randy and members um so to learn more about the program schools May reach out to and I'll put this email address in the chat Comfort dogs schools.nyc.gov
hey Jesse it's Jay and I'm on and for what it's worth you did a great job of responding I couldn't add another thing other than those dogs are beautiful and we want to make sure that any school that wants to get involved is able to do so so the folks in our office that lead the work will will follow up
with any contact that they get thank you so much okay um next question New York City public school Educators students and families are anxious and fearful of the chatter from education secretary Linda McMahon following through with
president's upcoming executive order of eliminating um the US Department of Education is there anything that can shared hi yeah I'm Judy Nathan from the legal office and um just so you know the executive orders and the OCR guidance
documents do not have the force of law we know there's been a lot of firings um yesterday even secretary McMahon has acknowledged that she can't unilaterally um discontinue the US Department of Education it was created by an act of Congress so neither the president nor
the Secretary of Education can unil out Al eliminate it but we are following it closely for anything else that's happening okay thank you um I think you will also then have the next question um with the present pres with the present
presidential Administration cutting Dei what steps is New York City public school taking to protect the rights of doe employees and the continuation of hiring and retaining the diverse faculty in schools district teams and Central divisions and departments
we have not made any changes in existing policy the executive orders and the guidance do not have the force of law we believe strongly in the importance of having a high caliber and diverse staff that reflects the diversity of our student population and the families that
we serve okay I see that we have our next presenter on so I'm going to give the floor back to our chair Rosa and hopefully we can continue with questions after yes thank you Randy uh we're gonna
uh unpause Nancy for like uh two minutes and then we're going to head to um the president of the UFT to provide us uh information on the propose um par um propose I forgot the name already but
Nancy par Equity Bill there we go thank you so much you're muted Nancy okay sorry about that uh okay so believe we already discussed this which is voter um
eligibility um then there are two ways elections happen either they're contested or uncontested um uncontested means the candidates are running unopposed contested means you have to move into ballot election because
there's some opposition may not be for all three positions maybe only one of the positions perhaps maybe all three um even if it's just one then you're moving into ballot um uh ballots to elect your your officers come on
okay so if it's uh if it's a a contested election obviously you're going to need that Ballot Box verify that that ballot box is empty so no one is accused of having already U entered ballots in that box because that has happened um
instruct members on how to complete that ballot which is modeling that ballot and letting your your members know the voters know that um they can only select one candidate from each position um any mistakes on the ballot once it's
dropped into that Ballot Box will be voided um for contest and that's for contested offices is where you will use the ballots as as I as I mentioned once all the Voting is done um then you it's time to count the ballots going to have
those tally sheets um up on um a board or uh smart board and as ballots are pulled out of that box um and counted you're tallying those votes um once all the votes are tallied for each candidate and then you announce your winners um
pop quiz and then we're done um okay how many where's that question how many parents does it take to reach
Quorum at a meeting what is Quorum at a meeting at a pa meeting or election meeting or any type of parent meeting you could type it in the chat you can unmute yourself this is an easy question Rosa
answer the question chances regulation State eight but it is whatever your bylaw State no less no less than eight two executive members one second we're not unmuting ourselves please
Nancy go ahead I'm sorry okay um a quum is a total of eight parents um and it or whatever the B ballot say as long as it's not less than what the regulations say rule of thumb when it comes to bylaws and regulations if your bylaws do
not align with regulations then we defer to regulations not to your bylaws uh so you have to very cognizant you have I'm sorry um you have to be very cognizant when um you're you have Quorum at a meeting yes it is eight
but the regulations are very specific out of those eight six are parents and two are executive board members um and um that can be challenged at an an election meeting you don't want a grievance filed because um you didn't uh
you didn't acknowledge qu the way it's written in in in the regulations because again Ru of thumb if your bylaws contradict regulations we're going with what regulations say um okay we already discussed this so I'm
just going to bypass this um yeah we talked about tax after the election meeting this is really really important after the election meeting um all of the elected candidates must um exchange contact information because now you're representing your parent body and you
need to communicate with each other and all the if it's an inperson election ballots tally sheets attendance sheets minutes of the election meeting all of that is part of the PA's archive record that must be kept on file if it's a virtual election you recorded that
meeting but you're also taking minutes for any decisions and motions that are made that is also maintained um attendance for a virtual meeting you're creating that Google attendance sheet um and if you need support with that then that's where you tap into your on-site
technical advisor here's a quick pop quiz who's your on-site technical advisor at your school after this because I know our president of the USC is here also I would love love love all the the slid so we can uh
provide it with to everyone and also the amendment when it comes to the taking off the hybrid I already took it off while we were look at that look at that thank you so much Nancy has been a pleasure apologies for the delays guys thank you so much thank you so much uh
UFC president Mr Michael M I apologize late oh no no apologies please no apologies thank you thank you this information was awesome thank you thank you uh thank you and thank you for everybody was out there this morning and thank you for I I know you a a lot
of a lot of you joined us on Monday and in Albany lobbying and actually was a good day because it was a recognition by both houses that uh they need to do some more from New York City uh so I do appreciate everybody's support um look there's a lot of issues we can disc
discuss federal government this this and that but I I want one specific thing at this point is what we're trying to do for the power professionals and I want to put it in um really very simply what this is so you when we surveyed all the schools this year the biggest non-compliance issue was the ability to
have a power professional for a student um there's a whole bunch of others we all know them and we all are just as frustrated with the Department of Education but we said all right look this one we have the account we know what we need to do let's start hiring powers uh the chancellor due her uh
credit actually two days after we did a press conference with a lot of parents and with uh Power professionals and teachers uh the chancellor to her credit I received a phone call from the first Deputy Chancellor said uh it is now Priority One of the Department of Ed to hire power professionals great we hired
here for what we needed why the pay that's what it is it's the salary so people will say it's a collective bargaining agreement but but it's really not uh because of what the city adheres to when you're doing collective bargaining is a
practice known as patent bargaining and patent bargaining you can only give raises based off of percentages so over a 25y year period a power professional who was making $222,000 gets say they get a 3% raise every other year or something along that line but a teacher
who was making 75,000 also gets that 3% raise what it leads to is a pay in equity because the power professional then has less buying power because 3% on 22,000 versus 3% on 75,000 is significantly
different so we have in our collective bargaining over the years we have the other titles in the union have uh forone part of their raise to give more money to the pars but we cannot make up this Gap it's a very large gap now and it's
basically $110,000 would get them back to the same uh would get them to the same buying p power um uh difference they had 25 years ago with teachers we because of patent bargaining the city will say well we're not doing
it because we don't have to because the patent is set so I we've just said this is an equitable uh it's unfair um you wouldn't even agree if the other workers wanted to pay for the whole thing but it would be unfair to all of them because we're facing shortages everywhere so we
had to craft a bill uh which does not because it's illegal in the state of New York and the City of New York to say for a governmental body in our this case city council to pass a law that would change the terms and conditional patent bargaining so this is a separate program
that's like a stien the goal is for us in the long run is to tell the city this patent bargaining that you use is not a law it's not a regulation it's a practice and it's wrong when it comes to our low wage workers it's just wrong
because it causes inequity over uh over periods of time and we're and we've asked city council and we've seem to have a lot of support but the idea is we can't attract the powers that we need they're not taking the job and that title has the biggest churn rate if many of them leave um they leave for a lot of
different reasons but the major the number one reason is pay it's pay right we all know it's the pay so this is why I want to make sure everybody understands what we're trying to do because even with us recruiting and doing uh hiring halls in all five
burrows to get power professionals that was the UFT doing in conjunction with the doe we were only able to fill up half of what we needed and that and we also know that by the end of this school year we're going to lose a couple of thousand poers as we have the last
couple of years and that's not in retirement they just leave so we're trying to get this this is something we can fix um and of course there's a lot of people who are now going to try to stop it say it's a collective bargaining issue no it's not because you Rigg the
game when it comes to our low-wage workers and we need to get this fixed so that's it in a nutshell of what we're trying to do and just for you all to know April 2nd is power recognition day so uh let's make sure everybody's
celebrating our powers because just I I I posed this question to teachers in every school that I visit at all times I said what would happen if all the power Professionals in your school didn't come to work for a week and they get the same answer uh we have
a real-time functioning at all as a school and because you know we have 28,000 full-time poers but we also have 5,000 substitute Powers who are basically working as full they're working full-time so you're talking about
33,000 very valuable people and very important to our school system and to our to the students that we serve if you are a parent of someone with the power you understand how important is and I'm just you know I I've told everyone our school system can no longer function
without our powers they are pivotal and besides the fact that every Power we don't have means another child is in non-compliance in terms of their IEP so that's a big deal and it's just straight
up we need to get this done and hopefully that will allow us to be able to attract and retain some more Powers because the school system can't function without it absolutely uh thank you so much um thank you I April I think someone said uh is
it April 2nd or 21st April 2nd April 2nd yes and also I saw Randy thank you so much for uh putting it in the chat um thank you so much for being here we will definitely share all the information and we will continue to celebrate our Paras definitely the school cannot work
without them uh we are going to PIV to uh the CCC um elections presentations if you guys are ready take it away thank you so much good morning um Anthony can you please put up the
slides thank you good morning I'm constant McCloud Wills I am the CCC project manager and the CCE elections campaign manager next slide so just to remind everyone we are conducting elections to fill our 36
education councils Council seats are held for two years there was one for each district and four to represent special student populations next slide so this is our timeline for the
election we started in January our applications were open from January 13th and we extended the application period to close on February 27th the election results are announced in June and the new term starts on July 1st next
slide so for 2025 we received 1,346 applications that is a increase from our previous two cycles but we definitely would like to get numbers up so that every school is represented in this
process next slide um next slide so we are currently in the candidate form stage of our election um you can find information on the first page of the New York City Schools website and when you click it'll
take you to the um site that I'm showing um on this Slide the candidate forms give the applicants an opportunity to share their experiences and talk about why they're running so that people can make informed decisions when they vote we also have links to the recordings for
the forms for those who weren't able to make it and we also have um the profiles for each candida up there so people can also again view the profiles and make a decision so that it aligns with um what they looking for for their school community and now I'm going to turn it
over to Lynn Sanchez and she's going to talk a little bit about Nixa I'm going to touch up that hi super excited to be here with you guys and and and sorry I'm just like in multiple spaces so uh here it's I'm going to talk a little bit about Nixa um so Nixa is
also known as the New York City uh New York City Schools account which is very very different from my schools right when I talk to folks I often hear my schools my schools and I have to help folks understand that Nixa and my schools serve serve our children right
are there to support us but they're different platforms um but back to New York City uh schools account the account is crucial to have it's super important and I will emphasize this as much as possible um because not only do you use
your Nixa account or your New York City Schools account to apply to be a candidate during the application period that passed but you also use the same platform to go in and vote right so the voting period is done through New York City Schools account between a April
25th and May 13th uh Nixa Outreach will start uh so right now we're working on sorry that's the other meeting that I'm just lowering the volume to Nia Outreach will start this month um to get PE to get families
parents folks ready to vote right so we want to make sure there's going to be like um a small Nixa campaign some Nixa work to ensure that we're supporting flc's PC right that we're supporting families create Nixa accounts um there
will be a zoom support session uh where where we will um for some period of time there'll be a zoom uh there'll be Zoom links and um it kind of sort of like office hours where anyone that's needing Nixa technical support is able to join
the zoom link um we be sent into a breakout room and then you'll be engaged with someone that can support you troubleshoot um and then once you're on your Nexa account then you're able to like you know go into your own space because this is private and personal and
make your own informed decisions and vote um but we want to continue to emphasize that Nixa is something that everyone needs and it's not just for this voting process right or for this current election that occurs every two years
Nixa is used for many things you use Nixa to check grades you you use Nixa for attendance right so we want to make sure that we're consistently saying that and we are reminding folks hey use your Nixa join Nixa um we also want to make sure that we're encouraging families
those that do not have a Nix account that they're going to see pay a visit to your parent coordinator right because your parent coordinator is very important in this process they have the access to what's called an access code that the parent needs in order to create
the nixir account if you need a password reset parent coordinator can support you with that as well um so we want to make sure and we're going to continue to remind folks Nixa is super important not only for the election right now it's very important for our for this current
election but it's also important outside the election for folks to continue to use it get information see the things that they need to see on their account but then they get into a rhythm right and they maintain as long as they're in a rhythm and they're maintaining their password and their Nixa access Nix is
used for many things um so they'll have access for to it um next slide I think I'm done maybe so now we're going to open it up to Q&A I kind of rush through my portion so that I didn't want to lose time to um miss out on this opportunity I see that
we have one comment in the chat um sha are you able to expand upon it because the wording I'm a little confused so um I do see another question in the chat so it says what if the PC and FLC is unable to reset the nixer so if for someon reason you don't have the
capability um to do that we can connect you with diit so in general if you have any questions inquiries concerns issues with anything elections CCE elections related please email elections 2025 schools.nyc.gov and we will definitely
connect you to who you need to be connect to or resolve the issues that you're having but if I can add to that constant also have um we've done Nixa trainings in the past right um and there's there's Clips there's small
videos there's like small tutorials that we can share with with your FLC that then they can also share with their PCS um and they can do a small Nixa um just review of the tutorial of or of the video with the parent coordinators just
to like you know practice um so Ashley that's something that we can definitely support in addition to ensuring that right diit is providing some support thank you I appreciate it and also I just wanted to um add oh I'm sorry go
ahead from I just also want to add changing password the users can do it themselves this is in case they need assistance they can contact the school and PCs can help but uh a user who already has an account they can always change their own password at any time uh but if they need assistance they can
always go up to this thank you thank you and I also wanted just to address Chet's um question no shernette we absolutely agree um with regards to candidate form information there are flyers for each of the districts that are being shared um just to let everyone
know I know that we are also making um uh calls directly to each of the candidates you know to ensure that they attend so I definitely take your point shett about information being shared about the candidate forms we are we are sharing those flyers sharing that information out so that the um the
voters uh have an opportunity to be able to see the candidates and be able to hear from them so I appreciate the point and then I think ashle you had mentioned when will the website be updated to reflect names of all candidates currently running so I know we're we're actively uh doing that so if
there's any cases that um that uh you you see Ashley that you know candidate is not representative please feel free to connect with me directly or at our email elections 2025 at schools.nyc.gov um and we'll make sure if there's any any
particular issue we'll make sure to resolve that ASAP thank you uh actually my name is one of them and I do know there's two other parents here in district one that actually attended the Forum we spoke but our names are not reflected on the website so I appreciate it absolutely
actually we we'll make those Corrections right away thank you are there any so much yeah I was gonna say thank you so much does anyone have any other questions please raise your hand or write it in the chat we'll get to them
and have um Answers by uh next well via email we'll send answer via email um also uh Nick if you can write the uh survey uh of support in the chat there we go he already did it okay please
everyone if you can fill it out that'd be great we want to be uh supportive of our Paras um and their uh amazing work uh fill it out please and again anyone have any questions if now we're going to
move on okay no questions thank you so much constant and I know there has been a lot of information a lot of emails a lot of Outreach I see all the flyers I see the trucks we're going to do another round for voting with the banners I I love it
I am in awe I think that every every two years is like more a more uh Outreach so I I am in awe thank you we're definitely trying and thank you guys for your partnership absolutely thank you so much um I'm not sure if I see Nan or Randy
LaVine in the meeting so we are just going to go to Jessie from face thank you Madame chair um I also wanted to uh acknowledge that um at this point that um that March is women's
history month and I wanted to take this moment to recognize all the women at CPAC uh who lead this Council and Lead districts representing the concerns of communities all over the city which such dedication and integrity and I just wanted to let you know that it's a true privilege to work in partnership with
you um and just a few updates yes absolutely Applause to to to to all of you and Applause to the work that you do um um every single day um just wanted just to give a few updates and and take any questions uh members but uh letting
everyone know about our upcoming town halls um so our next town halls are on Tuesday March 18th we'll be having a town hall with the chancellor um with the city white Council and English language Learners followed by uh the Community Education council at District
19 on Monday March 24th uh then uh in District 29 with the CC on Monday April 21st and then followed by um Community Education Council 12's town hall with the chancellor on Tuesday April
29th I know that uh Constance um and Lynn were sharing on the elections but just you know wanted just to reiterate that um we have had um uh 1,346 applicants um apply for this
particular um CC election cycle and that is about um 22% increase compared to two years ago go so we wanted to thank everybody for your support and sharing information and sharing um um information about the campaign and we
look forward to you know our ongoing candidate forums and and having all of the candidate forums um uh occur and and and run well and and we really wanted to take this moment to really thank you for your partnership and all all aspects of
the campaign um uh also wanted to share that we have been during this process as well during the campaign process having an election working group and I know that there are some members of the working group um on this meeting currently so I wanted to thank all of you for your attendance to the working
group for your feedback to the working group our next sessions will be on March 20th uh followed by April 30th um then May 29th and June 16th um once again if you have not attended an election working group meeting previously you
know there you can attend any month's working group meeting everyone is invited everyone's encouraged to attend we really appreciate everyone's participation so I can definitely share um in the chat after I speak the links to the next uh meeting and all are
welcome um we spoke about the candidate forms also want to talk about the work of our homeschool Partnerships team we launched another science of reading series last week with over 1100 attendees um we look forward to upcoming search sessions and learning more about
the program's impact on the families we serve uh this school year nearly 3,000 parents have been U receive training in the science of reading and strategies to support literacy at home and in their communities and we're just very excited um about that um next week um on March
18th face will launch a new training Series in supporting early math at home providing families with practical tools to strengthen foundational math skills so these efforts you know reflect our commitment to empowering our amilies to continue to be active Partners in their children's
education and lastly our parent mentorship team continues to support the 2025 elections by hosting weekly PC office hours as a means of support for schools to increase future voting by sharing information about the upcoming candidate forums uh where families can
find information about candidates information about the elections these sessions cover best Outreach practices troubleshooting commonly faced obstacles and sharing practical resources and tools um all also wanted to share with everyone that uh our parent MIP team is
uh continues to support family facing staff through the planning of our annual parent coordinator conference which is scheduled for Wednesday April 16th um this dayong conference includes breakout sessions a resource Fair opportunities for PCs to network with other family
facing colleagues and our goal for this conference is to provide a safe and connected space where PCS can you know both in a sense recharge their batteries like it's it it it is like both personally and professionally we know that parent coordinators take on quite a
lot of responsibilities and the work that they do is is is not easy and so whatever we can do to best support them on help them um we are committed to doing and engaging in meaningful learning opportunities that Inspire and equip them with tools to continue their
incredible work and building a stronger sense of community with one another uh so various uh New York City public school offices and divisions will be there and face you know will be there and and and we look forward to a really successful conference um so with that
said I know I shared quite a few things um happy to take any questions and once again thank you for the opportunity members to be at your meeting absolutely Jesse thank you so much and definitely I do agree the parent coordinators have like so many
roles I I definitely definitely know that and can emphasize with that does anyone have any questions for Jesse if now we're going to go to the next presenter excellent excellent then BB just Dro in the chat the next election working group and I love that is
welcoming to everyone it's not just oh you sign up and you sign no it's everyone's voices I actually love that H part um Adriana you have a question yes thank you and it's not more of a question it's
more of very frustrated response and I love everyone here Jesse knows that and BB knows that but on my end for president's Council been very frustrated with the lack of not communication on the doe spot I'm not saying doe but learning times and everything our date
was changed more than once Adriana we and I'm really I was very frustrated because I just got the flyer officially this week and my president's Council form is next week so I'm just putting that out there listen I love everyone on this call but I think something has to improve because this is
not our first time in this rodeo and I'm just I'm very frustrated because I have an inperson PR C candidate forum and um can you hear me can hear you now ad yes I'm sorry you you know what is my um I'm sorry my my thing I think the internet
comes on and off yeah no worries about can it's all right we yes thank you I I'm just frustrated with the whole thing because it's a big deal for all of us the parent voice thing and I'm just very frustrated with the lack of I don't even know what the learn the wheels in motion
and I'm just putting that out there because Jesse's great I love be like I said everyone here I love but something has to improve because how am I sending out these notices to my presidents in my district three days four days before and it's nobody in my District's fault and
nobody on the calls fault I just think something has to improve so thank you for my rant for listening to my rant no I I appreciate it Adriana and and um and what we'll do is part of part of our conversations and our transparency here and sharing information is to get better
and be better so um I I take I take your point very seriously we all do what we will do is we will follow up afterwards specifically with you you know on on some of the issues that you've um uh uh raised here today and uh so that they don't reoccur in the future and we thank
you you know once again always thank you um for your hard work and your honesty because that helps us to be better so thank you absolutely and this is uh the Forum where parents ask their questions their concerns and you know like again we work
together we want to hear from you guys from every of our members because you represent your constituents right so we want to hear exactly what's going on because again we work together right so if we don't know what's going on in your District in your burrow then how can we
help you so thank you Jesse always so so nice in answering everything and definitely we'll you know Circle back and support you the best uh as best as possible and next we have our next presenter I'm gonna have her introduce
herself Kaiser did I say it hi everyone yeah my name is Kaiser um I'm the NYC Community organizer with the alliance for Quality education or aqe um and I'm also here on behalf of sea the Coalition for
Equitable education funding uh and in just a moment I'm going to be talking to you about the city budget and the state budget as it relates to education and the potential impact on our schools so um thank you so much for having me here
it's great to meet you all I hope you're having a good morning um I am going to launch into a kind of dense presentation so I'm sorry for at 11:30 in the morning really going deep but um please do as as we're discussing note any questions I'll
try to have time for questions at the end how long do I have you are um right on time so take it away you have maybe like 15 10 minutes is that okay I will do my best let's let's try to for 15
minutes so uh every for the members can have questions you know back and forth questions okay that sounds good thank you sorry it's a big presentation we sometimes do like an hour but I will I'll probably just skip through some things and minutes as much as we can
yeah no I understand you have lots to address okay so you should be able to see my screen now is that good great uh so this is SE the Coalition for Equitable education funding we are a coalition of over two 200 education related organizations that came together
last year um because many important education programs were at risk of ending last year because they were funded with expiring Federal stimulus funds and expiring City funds uh and they did the city did continue funding for many key education programs that
were at risk of ending as a result of our advocacy some programs were continued using one-year funding and other programs were continued longterm so the programs in the city budget that were continued last year through oneyear City dollars so they
were continued last year but now they are at risk of expiring again early childhood educ or most of them are early childhood education that includes 3K preschool special ed classes extended day seats and Outreach to fill those seats um if some of your schools have
prek 3K but they are under enrolled the Outreach element is really important there some are programming Arts programming commity Community Schools learning to work restorative justice teacher recruitment the mental health Continuum immigrant family Communications and Outreach high impact
tutoring and Student Success centers and here you can see the mayor um in his preliminary budget extended funding for two of them for one more year so learning to work and summer programming are not on the chopping block anymore for this coming year important to note
that's just this year but it's still something the following programs are once again at risk of significant cuts at the end of June all of those ones I read and here you can see the amounts important to note the amounts because obviously when I say like 3K is at risk of being cut I don't mean 3K is going to
not exist anymore it's 112 million of the 3K funding which is very significant but I don't want to be alarmist and make you think that that all of these are disappearing um so take note of the amounts I won't go through all of
them so so we're going to go through each program I'll do this pretty quickly but again if you have questions as it relates to your specific District about any of the programs we can have time for that um so for 3K and prek it's $112 million of the overall budget for 3K in
onee city funding last year's budget also included $25 million for extended day seats and $5 million for community outreach and losing this funding could mean that thousands of three-year-olds who would have had the chance to attend 3K this fall will instead miss out we
know that the mayor has promised that everyone every family that wants a seat in 3K will get one previously that has not actually been the case uh it has been kind of a story that has not come
to fruition uh seats seats were offered very far away uh also kids who have additional needs often don't get the seats they need in those programs so we're already operating at at a place where kids are missing out this is the
bare minimum we need to at least continue funding what we're funding right now uh I was just talking about preschool special education classes $55 million of that is at risk and ycps opened new preschool special education classes to help address the significant
for shortage sorry adding seats for about 700 children with disabilities like autism even with this funding hundreds of preschoolers with disabilties are still waiting for a seat in their legally mandated special education class so this funding would
allow us to keep those 700 seats not necessarily add any more unfortunately Community Schools $14 million schools partner with community- based organizations to provide students and their families with Comprehensive wraparound services like after school
programs medical and dental care and adult education classes expiring one-year funding supports more than 50 community Community Schools and I worked in a community school as a teacher so I can tell you firsthand they are proven to be successful especially for uh our
most vulnerable populations of students restorative justice $12 million this allows more schools to use alternatives to suspensions keeping students in the classroom while helping them build and repair relationships one-year funding represents the majority
of the city's investment in restorative justice practices uh I am grateful that in New York City we have moved away from the more punitive approach and so it's not as common anymore for schools to go right to detention or suspension for
minor issues with students instead you know it's encouraged that we address the root of the issue and try to use um restorative justice practices to solve the problem however we don't have a lot of resources in place at the school
level to support that and it's a lot of work it takes programming it takes um Staffing and that is not financially supported at this point except by this 12 million that is at risk of being cut mental health Continuum $5 million
this is not all mental health services this a very specific program it helps students with significant mental health needs access expedited mental health care it's currently serving thousands of students at 50 High need schools but funding will expire in June immigrant
Family Outreach $4 million immigrant Family Outreach strengthens communication with immigrant families many of whom would otherwise be left without immigrant sorry without important information about their children's schools it's critical for this initiative to continue given the
increase in the number of newcomer immigrant families in NYC as well as changes in federal policies we know our immigrant families are scared they're confused we need this funding to at the very least continue and really we need it increased
Student Success centers Student Success centers allow trained youth leaders to build a culture of college goinging and help their peers with the college admissions process and they are in more than 30 NYC high schools 3.3 million and
then there's more Arts programming $41 million teacher recruitment $10 million and high impact tutoring $4 million this is not everything that's at risk but these are some of the programs that we're highlighting specifically um I did also see a question in the chat what is
considered a community school it's a fair question it can be confusing because we talk about Community School Districts but not all of them are Community Schools um a community school sometimes you'll hear the name of the school with the name of the organization
it's linked to so I worked at ms50 El pente community school because there's this community- based organization that has been in the neighborhood for many years often and the school and the organiz ation work together very very closely to provide everything students
need sometimes that looks like a washing machine or a shower or um extra programs to get families involved so uh I can't give an answer for your specific District what Community Schools exist in your District but um you should be able
to find out even just by looking at like the list of schools in your District so our SE recommendation is to include long long-term funding for these important education programs in the executive budget parents students and
Educators need to know that they will be able to rely on these programs next year and Beyond the city should also make additional Investments that are needed to support students with a focus on those who have the greatest needs so we should not be fighting for these every
year uh this is the timeline of the budget the mayor's preliminary preliminary budget has been released in January the deadline for mayor to release his executive budget is May 1st that's why we're advocating very strongly right now so that he hears us and he can include these programs in his
executive budget and then the city budget deadline is June 30th so you can see that this is the perfect time for uh us to raise our voices together the city council education budget hearing is March 13th you may notice that is today we had a rally this
morning I just ran back home from there um you are you have perfect timing because you can still testify at the hearing today so if you go to council.nyc.gov testify you can testify in person which I'm assuming most of you can't do right now which is fine but you can also
testify on Zoom so if you sign up you'll just have to kind of hang out on your Zoom for a while but you're only speaking for two minutes um I always say it's like one of those recipes you know where it's like it takes eight hours to make the cookies but most of the time the cookies are in the fridge just have your zoom up you only speak for two
minutes um um uh and you can also submit test submit written testimony if you're not able to testify on Zoom it's okay you can write how this affects your District which programs are most important to you and why this is this really does make a difference the more
testimony they get especially from people like you who are the the conduit between families and the Department of Education that's really persuasive for them so anything you can write you don't have to be an expert on any of this
write about your experience in your community um and you can scan that QR code that's on the screen to register for the rally that already happened so never mind I'm moving on uh but you can scan the QR code on the left here to email mayor Adams this is one of those forms it's all ready for
you all you have to type in is like your address email address and it'll email mayor Adams for you and on the right we have a QR code that allow you to sign up for updates and to get involved so if you're thinking well there's no way I can testify today but this is really important to me and I want to learn more
scan the QR code on the right and we will keep you updated and like I said your voices are really important in this fight so we definitely want you involved um and I'm going to quickly
touch a little bit on the state budget this is important because a huge chunk of our New York City Public Schools budget comes from the state budget it comes from something called Foundation Aid Foundation Aid is the largest source of funding from the state
to New York City public schools and other school districts it's distributed to New York City and other school districts through a funding formula that provides funding for each student and it's currently being reexamined for the first time since 2007 how much funding does it provide
across the state it's $24.9 billion do to all the different districts and 9.9 billion to New York City public schools which is 25% of the entire budget of New York City Public Schools um the funding is used in many
different ways Foundation Aid funding is actually one of the more flexible streams of funding so schools can use it for a lot of different things from Staffing to curriculum materials to nurses I guess that's Staffing but a lot of it's really flexible funding um all
different things in school budgets and also education programs whether connected with school or even outside of school so we already went over some of the um previously previously funded sorry some
of the programs that expired previously they were funded with um Federal funding and now they are funded through long-term State Foundation Aid dollars like certain preschool special education supports um and additionally 500 School social workers and psychologists more
than 100 Community Schools 100 shelter-based coordinators literacy and dyslexia programming bilingual programming translation and interpretation services and career Pathways programs these are funded with Foundation Aid the formula is very
complicated uh like I said about the city level stuff you do not need to be an expert in order to speak up about it you do not need to understand every aspect of the foundation Aid formula to say that we need it fully funded um but I'll give you at least a little bit of
an idea um so that you feel empowered to speak up the formula sets the base amount per student That Base funding amount is then adjusted to account for inflation Regional cost differences and student need so there are some additional weights depending on student
needs and that includes students living in poverty students with disabilities and English language Learners so the base amount is multiplied by a small percentage depending on that extra need and then New York State determines what a District's minimum local contribution
is meaning uh the what New York City as an example is going to be able to pay from our local taxes that amount is subtracted and that's how that's the formula that gives them the amount they are going to give us for Education again
confusing don't worry you don't need to be an expert um I'm going to skip some of this history it is very important but I know time is short um but I will say that aqe the organization I work for was instrumental
in getting the formula implemented in 2007 and it is how we have Equitable funding across New York state for um Public Schools I was one of those parents amazing amazing so you can tell our history too um we appreciate that the governor
and New York State Legislature fully funded the formula for the first time in 2023 but the formula is outdated most Parts haven't changed since 2007 State funding for public education has not kept up with Rising costs and changing student needs um and New York
City is having to kind of make up the balance of um the amount from the state having less of an impact so just for a minute think back to 2007 what were you doing in 2007 Barack Obama launched his first presidential campaign first iPhone
was released Twitter was only year old I was one year out of high school it was a long time ago right uh what's changed in New York schools since 2007 co9 youth Mental Health crisis rise in student
homelessness increase in Community Schools which are proven effective but they do cost more new learning standards technology new class siiz law added 3K and prek two whole grades and more children have been
diagnosed with autism so the state is examining the formula after public pressure for the first time in 15 more than 15 years last year New York State the budget funded the Rockefeller Institute to study the formula and recommend changes so you'll hear me talk about some of the
recommendations and these changes will have a major impact on us the study is very long it's 300 pages and it included a menu of possible changes so the governor was allowed to choose which ones to include in her budget proposal Governor hokel proposed only a
few changes to the foundation Aid formula and these changes would would result in New York City Schools getting nearly $350 million less than they would without these changes the executive proposal um aims
to replace free and reduced price lunch metric with broader measure of economically disadvantaged students this is a good thing this change would bring more resources to New York City schools by better counting the number of low-income students the free and reduced price lunch count was just outdated it
wasn't effective anymore but in addition Governor hokel is proposing to replace the 2,000 Census Data with three-year average small area income and poverty estimates this change would decrease funding for NYC schools so the 2 Census
Data again that did need to be replaced it was outdate it's 2,000 data it needs to be replaced absolutely it wasn't counting correctly but the measure she's replacing it with it's called the sap small area income and poverty estimates
it's another census measure which means it only gets updated every 10 years it uses the federal poverty guidelines which currently say that just $3 32,50 for a family of four is the is the
poverty line we all know that in New York City that's like kind of laughable to think that a family of four would be able to survive on that much or you know even a little bit more it's just not it's nonsense uh it costs more to live
in New York City than many other places in the State uh the sape also includes students in public and private schools so it's just not an adequate way to measure student poverty so I want to be clear we're not just saying like we need more money for no reason right were
explaining that the proposal just does not accurately capture the picture of poverty in New York City yes students in New York City do all get free lunch and that's part of why counting the lunch forms isn't really helpful anymore that's exactly part of the
problem um yes that is what some families are living on yes but we want the state to understand how many of those families we have because we want to give them more support at school right if you're living on $32,000 at home you might not have
enough food and the state is measuring and saying $332,000 yeah that's good they should be good we know that doesn't make sense we need to be able to support them at a higher level impact on NYC schools overall NYC will see an increase in Foundation Aid
because of other parts of the formula so the overall amount this year will still go up but the increase will be nearly $350 million less than it would be with without the governor's proposed changes so if everything stayed the same in the
formula from 2007 we would get $350 million more the changes are harming us NYC schools would lose funding intended for low-income students even though 146,000 NYC students experienced
homelessness last year 700,000 n students are economically disadvantaged 44% % of NYC families with children had trouble affording food in 2023 it's terrible and again we want to be able to
provide for these kids at school so that at least there's one place they can go where there's everything they need and we can't do that if the state isn't measuring accurately nyc's needs are too significant we know we have around 50,000 newcomer immigrant students the
new state law requires us to lower class sizes we've been paying for 3K almost entirely on our own and federal stimulus funding expired in 2024 so we have some recommendations for State leaders overall we just need them
to fix the problem again we don't need to be experts it's not our job to solve the problem it's theirs we need them to implement changes that will not harm New York City and again we'll accurately count the poverty levels in New York City there are some more specific
recommendations we are recommending that they update the regional cost index the regional cost index accounts for differences in salaries in different regions of New York state but it hasn't been updated since 2006 so the amount that they think that we're paying our teachers now is whatever we paid our
teachers in 2006 which is just inaccurate as this update has been recommended by the New York State Board of regions and the state funded Rock Rockefeller Institute study the independent budget office estimates the this would drive $36 million to NYC
schools if fully implemented in one year and so you can see that this would not entirely but almost um make up for that $350 million from before I see a question in the chat I'm going to address it in one second it's an important question um add a weit for
students in temporary housing and students in the foster care system again I already say the statistics the formula does not include any added funds for these students consider additional ways of measuring poverty so in addition to the sape and
the count of economically disadvantaged students they could use higher weights for higher concentrations of poverty which was a recommendation in the Rockefeller Institute study uh they could also add a new cost of living adjustment or a higher poverty threshold for certain communities acknowledging
that that Federal threshold really doesn't make sense in New York City and and in some other places in the state as well uh there are also other changes that are missing from the formula we recommended that they increase the weights for students with disabilities
increase the weights for English language Learners include funding for students in 3K and prek and for students with disabilities through the school year they turn 22 because of the new law that requires us to um allow for that to reexamine the base amount for each student that the whole formula is based
on and to include funding for class size we also recommend ongoing review of the formula it hasn't been reviewed since 20 7 are we going to wait another almost 20 years and say oh you know maybe it's time to review it again they could Implement ongoing
review the timeline is similar to the city timeline it kind of Echoes that three-step process the governor's budget has already been released the Senate and assembly budget proposals were just released mid-march they were just released earlier this week and they do contain some of our recommendations but
it's important really important right now to keep up with the advocacy because between mid-march and April 1st the budget deadline the governor and the legislature the Senate and assembly are going to be negotiating back and forth to decide on the final um budget and so
we need to be really loud about the proposals that could fix that $350 million gap so join us in calling on the governor and the New York State Legislature not to Short Change NYC school our state leaders must make sure
changes to the foundation Aid formula do not negatively impact NYC schools there are two actions you can take similar to before on the left you can email governor hokel and key New York state legislator legislators it's just a forum type in your stuff click Send and you're
good to go takes like maybe less than a minute and on the right sign up for updates and to get involved sorry that I talked very fast I I don't know if you have translation on this call if you I apologize to the translators no it was perfect I think it
was perfect and it was much needed uh I remember also supporting and I am all for it just because um you know there's a lot of uh people that are in need and as you know this there's a lot of uh you
know inform misinformation out there too you know what I mean so um can you send us those lies so we can send it to parents as soon as the meeting is done so they can have a chance to yes I will absolutely send you the slides um and I did want to answer I saw two questions
in the chat um still confused so we will give them more meals at schools okay this is a great question because it really illustrates how the formula Works no we already give free meals so nothing about what we are doing necessarily is going to change that's the problem we
are already supporting our students the way we need to right we're giving them meals we have community schools we have excellent teachers who we pay a salary that allows them to continue teaching in our schools right those costs already
exist what the formula is supposed to do what it was built to do is measure those costs and then give us the money we need to continue with all of those supports that we give our schools with that we give our students it's not measuring it
accurately and so we're at risk that they will give us less money and we will still want to do all the things we're doing we will still have to pay the teachers the same salary right we can't just start paying them less we are going to continue providing free lunch the problem is that we won't have
enough funding for it and so then that money has to come out of somewhere right and that's when you start seeing cuts to individual schools cuts to the stuff at Central that keeps everything going right they they have to find somewhere to take the money out of so we're trying
to prevent that from happening by advocating for the formula to measure all of our costs accurately I'm just a really quick question I'm sorry yeah so the funding for the free School meals is that federal or
city the uh I believe School meals does not come from Foundation aid but again the the overall budget just has to cover all of our costs so when we're talking
about free lunch the reason that came up is because they're measuring they were previously they're not anymore they were previously using the free lunch forms to measure poverty so they would count the number of students who handed in the form that says my family needs free
lunch because we don't have enough food at home then they would say okay you have this many students who need free lunch therefore there's this much poverty therefore you need this much extra money so that's why the free lunch thing came up it's not about how having enough money to pay for that food it's
about counting the the level of need and then making sure we have enough money to support the students at that level of need is that clearer yeah I don't want to keep going I know other people with questions but
like yeah I'm sorry it's just follow up and everything just write it in the chat we'll follow up with everyone that has any questions uh see to yeah I can also stay on for a minute and if people write questions in the chat I'll respond yeah in the chat because I know um Randy and
I'm going to pass the Baton to Randy because we have a couple of other questions that we wanted uh that we receive from our members and just wanted to um have the answers live but thank you so much Kaiser please I'm looking forward to those um those slides so we can send it to everyone like right now
absolutely yeah I will absolutely send them thank you so much for having me of course we thank you Randy thank you Rosa so the last question that I asked was the Dei um cuts so the next
question is can New York City Public Schools provide a standardized PDF sign regarding the ban on lithium ion Mobility devices within the school grounds and six feet of entrances is that something Jesse you
can answer hi Randy I don't know if Jay is on I don't believe okay if he's not what what what I can do is I can get back to the council like we we definitely commit to reviewing the legislation with with legal and and and definitely seeing what
our role could be meaning like the advertisement or the PDFs that that you're um that you're recommending so I I'll um I'll definitely get back with uh to Jay and his office and we'll discuss this further and follow up with the council okay and then the last question
is how can New York City Public Schools address instances where School administrators uh exhibit unprofessional behavior towards parent leaders uh sometimes even in the presence of students and staff um when there's a lack of support from the district office in such situations what steps can be
taken to ensure more inclusive and respectful environment um where parents get valued and as essential Partners in the school community I'm not sure if any of our colleagues from DSL are still on um but I can I can
take um I could take this Randy um if our um one is um I'll take this in in different parts like so the immediate intervention is the superintendent should promptly investigate reported incidences and and address
unprofessional behavior by admin rators to prevent further harm to parent School relationships like and also clear accountability measures like Implement and enforce a code of conduct for school administrators outlining professional expectations and consequences for um
inappropriate behavior um also training and professional development uh require School administrators to participate in training and effective communication conflict resolution and parent engagement best practices um uh also strengthening District oversight
ensuring that the district office actively monitors and responds to complaints about administr administrator Behavior holding them accountable for fostering a respectful School climate um facilitating mediation and dialogue offering mediation sessions between school administrators and parent leaders
to address conflict and rebuild trust Um this can be done with the family leadership or family support coordinator they can also get support from their student service uh directors who are trained on restorative practices um engaging parent leaders in decisionmaking including parent
representatives and advisory committees or task force that address School culture and climate um Regular superintendent check-ins you know scheduling routine uh meetings between the superintendent parent leaders School administrators to maintain open communication and address concerns
proactively and lastly policy enforcement um and cultural shift the superintendent and their team should ensure they strengthen policies that promote respect and collaboration ensuring all School staff understand the value of parents as partners in education and provide the space and
opportunity for for for those events thank you Jesse okay so um that was all the questions that we received so please make sure that you are um filling out the questionnaire when it's sent out because this is how they um they get
answered even though the Chancellor's not here she sent her team she sent everyone prepared to respond so she's making sure that even though she couldn't be here today because she's uh at the hearing but um her staff is here well prepared to address our issues and
concerns um and the chat says what happens when there's a complicit reaction or issues ignored from the district office I think um I think similar to to any escalation protocol right like where where things get escalated then those issues get escalated to
Central okay thank you all right um so we also wanted to um speak about the PTA elections we really want to make sure that PTA elections are done before President council elections are done so president Council presidents
Representatives that are here today please make sure that you're having these conversations with your ptas across the city and you're letting them know that they need to make sure that they form their nominating committees if they're unable to form a nominating committee they can reach out to president's Council for support as
president's Council we are able to go in and help support with elections there are also election scripts so if someone should be nervous and not know what to say or do we can provide scripts for them um any parent at a at a school who
is a current parent so no honorary no alumni the current parent in the school can run the election also great when you have a graduating out parent member to run elections but president's Council can come in support and then after the president's Council your FLC or C can
come in support um you should be so according to your bylaws you should be forming your nominating committees as per your bylaws if you don't form it we start earlier because if you can't form it at the first month's meeting you can try again the second time um but having
your elections especially if you're a school that has trouble reaching quarum reach out to your parent coordinator and see if you can host like an event where you can bring out more parents so that you can get them in and engaged even if they're not interested running you can still have them there for farm and for
voting purposes so and of course if you're in elementary school you want to get your prek kindergarten parents in you want to get your in Middle School sixth and seventh grade parents and high school you want to get those ninth grade parents in because they're the ones that are going to be there the longest so we really hope to have we focus a lot on CC
elections and the city-wide um council elections but we also want to focus every year we do host our PTA elections SLT title one so we want to make sure that that gets done so that in June president councils can have their elections so this gives time to plan
over the summer remember your term ends on June 30th and starts on July 1 so July 1 you can hit the the road you know running get your bank account set up get all these wonderful things done speaking of bank accounts we had a very
productive meeting with diit the doe external emails are happening and they have a timeline they seem very organized the shared inboxes are going to also happen so we're going to be able to utilize those as well um
it was explained that the zoom will be linked to the personal doe external they did try to get it with the shared inbox but it was not happening but they did fight for us so we appreciate that very much um but they do have a timeline of how things are going to happen and they
are going to provide training over the summer and into um the fall so they know that our elections can happen any time from April until October 15 so they are setting up
a plan to just strategically plan to get parent coordinators on board help us transfer everything out of our at school's email addresses into our do external um shared inboxes and those will be able to be used to set up our bank
accounts so the zoom accounts will set up through the doe external so my my doe external R Gary 2 At Doe external that's what I'll use for all my zooms but my doe external will have access to a
shared inbox from CPAC from Brooklyn High School president's Council from my PTA and I'll have access to all those through Gmail they're going to explain how Gmail is going to work they're going to explain all the ins and outs they were um we shared all the concerns that
we compiled from the our membership had a meeting they addressed each concern and they're working on everything to take place starting April that's why it's very important to have your elections done the sooner your elections are completed the sooner you'll have your doe external emails and you can get
everything into place Veronica you have a question yes thank you um I've been getting complaints about um parent leaders trying to set up the e ma a lot of them is like a little push back
because they're asking for the date of birth so we were told a lot of people are not comfortable with that we were told that they can give any governmen issued ID so it can even be a library card so if you're uncomfortable sharing
your personal information go out and get yourself a library card and share that that library card number and that is that is good enough thank you I share that at my next meeting okay um also share so we're at
Burrow updates District updates Rosa yeah let's let's we have like three minutes uh do you want to go first I want to go second or whichever I just I'll just I being that I'm already here um just wanted to share so um our school
had a um catch program a catch Workshop for the catch program catch is connecting adolescence to comprehensive healthare and they give limited reproductive health services so if they're in 57 of our high schools currently it doesn't go by the age of
the child it goes by the grade so I'm a 6 to 12 school but they only are for the 9th to 12th grade students this is an amazing program the workshop last night was how to talk to your children about sexuality um it's like
the the conversation that most parents feel awkward or uncomfortable talking to their children about and it was so well received this program really should be in every school building I'm sure you all know it's about funding she did
share um so we had Bryce kov she is the health education supervisor for my area um I do have the list of the schools across the city that they are in so we did have some p presidents that were unaware that they were even in the
building so this is just about raising awareness so we just want to make sure that you're all aware of this program and if you are interested in it then we want to help get it into all our high schools and I will yield the floor to
Rosa yes thank you Randy and also just wanted to remind everyone if you haven't seen it already MH hatang High School's president Council will be we'll be doing a forum uh tomorrow March for 14 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. uh to uh interview the
candidates for the citywi Council on high schools it's very important that you come listen ask questions if time permits um because we want to know who will be able to represent us as Bor white um and also actually tonight
tonight we are having a PTA link is having a forum uh to support for ptas and everything that we need to know especially with with um the year the school year ending so everyone can be prepared all parent associations parent
teachers associations are welcome to come I know carolene already left but she will be um also in the Forum and myself I'm going to be supporting the Forum with district 21 Georgette is
going to be uh doing the Forum too so together will be able to uh support all parents and and and and what else I think oh yes I think that's it for me does anyone else uh
have a quick quick quick um District borrow or District update or borrow update please raise your hand before we adjourn the meeting okay so moving on I am going
going to share my screen is this where we live I already share this okay okay so these are just save the date our next meeting is April the 10th at 9:30 a.m. as every single
month and the CPAC uh committies we are working on them because some have not met and we will be together as a executive board we will be making decisions to uh have new chairs and also who is chancellor par advisory Council
what do we do right we're elected paring leaders representing all New York City public schools and students and families we are comprised of 38 president Council district and boros combined uh CAC ensures that parents voice is heard we're always striving for excellence
equity and opportunity for all uh we collaborate with different stakehold ERS as you can see today and we work together to provide the best and useful information please look at our website it is being updated um by us uh CPAC
nyc.com please let let us know there's also a uh L serve in there and women women thank you so much myself included um today and every dat we got to celebrate ourselves as parent leaders sometimes it is very difficult to take a
break I know that myself uh from all the responsibilities and all the roles that we have and everyone that we need to support but we need to take a break and self care and also CAC is truly grateful for your leadership and dedication to advocating for our children's or our new
yor city uh school students and families we truly truly thank you from the bottom of our hearts and with that let me stop my share uh members we ask you to please estate after the meeting if possible and
Randy we are good um for Rollo the last Rollo I um entered everyone as they entered the meeting I was adding them to the attendance form beautiful because I know a couple of them okay beautiful please sign the attendance sheet if you haven't already too uh with that we are
adjourning the meeting at uh 1218 thank you so much to everyone and please members do state as um I end the YouTube live thank you everyone for your support and collaboration