Being done. It is my pleasure. First, my name is Greg Faulk and I'm the chair of the Panel for Education Policy. And I wanna welcome you all back to a brand new year, and we're happy, of course, to be in Staten Island at that, uh, recognizing our first meeting in the, of the new Year. Um, and so with that, I'll call this meeting to order and ask the secretary to please call the role. When I, when I call your name, please indicate, please respond. Um, Deborah Altman. Um, Adriana Ali? No, she's here. I know, but not here. Here, no. Um, Aaron Boad. Joe Borelli.
Camille Casa. Present. Marjorie Deseg. Amy Fair? Um, not yet. I Shirley Ban. There you go. Sorry, say Again? Actually, you may be right. Young Cataracts. Um, Anita Garcia Present, uh, Tony Giardano. Tony Ano present. Dr. Angela Green present. Bji Hannah Jones. He is on his wife, Navid Hassan. Alice Ho. Present. Rema is Quiero. Excused. Excused. Absent. Yeah.
Yadira Jimenez. Dr. Sharon Owin. Present. Alan Ong Present. Bernita Parsons Present. Maisha sap. Present and has, is Adriana here yet? And Chair Faulkner Present. And we are joined by our new Chancellor, Kumar Samuels. And I don't know if anybody is, that's first here represented. Seriously. Um, anybody here for comp controller? Mark Levine? We will be joined by someone.
Um, okay. So we're, we have Adriana. I, okay, so we have 1, 2, 5, 6, 7 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17. We have 18 voting members present, so we have a quorum. I also, before I turn it back to you want to have our student members, um, indicate their presence. Isaiah Jun and Dalia Diaz Chan. Thank you. So we have a quorum chair. Great. We can officially conduct business.
I'm, uh, very happy to, again, welcome all of you back. Um, in the school, this school year, like we've had a lot happen in the last month. Um, we suffered a blizzard and, uh, act actually making note of the blizzard. I wanna take a moment to just thank our school, custodial staff. I was watching and I, as I was thi I was going somewhere and I watched and I said, you know, I'm so glad I don't have to shovel snow. And, and I see these people out there shelving snow and really making the school ready. We also have warming centers. We have a couple of warming centers, um, that we've set up and those folks and,
and they kind of work in silence, um, sitting and, and really making, making the, the building ready to not only receive our students, but making it ready to receive people in the community who might need an opportunity for the warming center. So I just wanted to give the custodians and the custodial staff a shout out for that. And I wanna thank the folks here at Staten Island, at the school here for their efforts and for, you know, inviting. We, we come back here regularly. This is our, this is our home when we come to the island. So we're just grateful to be able to be here and, and, uh, you know, um, um, engage in some of the important discussions that we're gonna be having, I'm sure tonight.
Um, I see, you know, a lot of people in the audience. I'm sure we're gonna hear a lot of, uh, good comments. Um, let's jump right into it. Um, our first order of businesses, we're gonna hear from our student panel members, and these two students actually are veterans. So, uh, you know, uh, Isaiah Jun and Dalia Diaz Chan were student panel members, um, last year. And so we're really happy to welcome them back to the panel. And, uh, they always, you know, it's interesting when the, the student panamas, they always say things and bring things to us and, and are right on target.
So I'm really excited always to listen to hear what our student panelists and they were already pulling out their papers to, uh, listen to what the student panelists have to say. So, um, I dunno why you're first Isaiah, but Isaiah Town, you must be the senior member. So I'm gonna call on you if you'd like to say a few words. Yeah. Um, good evening everyone. It's a pleasure to be back on, on stage, sharing student perspectives and elevating the voices of students across our city. I'd first like to welcome our new Chancellor Kumar Samuels, and thank him for stepping into this role as such a pivotal moment for our schools. I hope you enjoy your time in this role,
and I'm sure you'll bring positive change to our school system. I'll now like to pivot into the sensitive but important issue of ice. As a student, I have seen and heard firsthand how ICE can have a direct impact on our city and in our classrooms, regardless of a student or family's immigration status. Especially with recent events in NYC in Minneapolis, it's vital that schools remain places of learning and community rather than sites of insecurity. We all know the dangers of ICE has imposed onto our classrooms, ranging from students' attendance to even separation of families. However, it's imperative that we continue looking out
for one another by letting unity be the heartbeat of our resilience during this emotional and worry some time. Lastly, I'd like to comment on the recent announcement regarding class sizes. In November, 2025, New York City public schools reached 64% compliance with the state class size mandate. Now questions remain about what happens with large and overcrowded high schools who receive exemptions. Smaller class sizes have a profound influence on the classroom, especially with both student and teacher engagement, cultivating a more enjoyable and grounded learning environment. As a student of a very large high school of over 4,000 students, I understand
how large classrooms can pose challenges and obstruct class engagement. From my experience on the pep, I understand how complicated and difficult it can be to accomplish these mandates. And I hope we can continue our focus on annual benchmarks while also keeping in mind the wellbeing of our students. Thank you for your time, and as always, I look forward to participating in tonight's meeting. Thank you. Thank you. Panel member Tan and now panel member. Um, Dalia Diaz Chen, panel member. Thank you. Hello everybody. Good afternoon. With this being the first meeting of the school year
with student pep representatives. I would like to take a closer look at our agenda item and discuss some issues occurring this year in our schools. It's very clear that with the mul, the various multi-year contracts we have in place, our schools are heavily investing in a lot more technologically integrated classroom. Knowing that I want to underline the critical importance of understanding how these various online interfaces manifest themselves within our current infrastructure. This is why I would like to look at contract item one, which I'm in great favor of while focusing on updating infrastructure as a whole. An aspect of contract item one is
for an update in the provision of technological devices as well as connectivity systems across the DOE students are taught on devices, whether that be a Chromebook or a 2019 ACE or laptop five 11 missing a space bar. We face disparity in the quality and accessibility of devices for all students, but beyond that, schools across the board are also facing connectivity issues. What previously was an issue rapidly mitigated by using a hotspot is now affecting students' ability to complete their work in school. Connectivity issues translate to either wanting,
waiting five to 10 minutes for an assignment to load in to having laptops buffer for periods at a time. This contract item addresses both problems. Contract item one provides students with the technological resources needed to across the board to successfully manage online classwork and directly addresses a large issue within our public school system. I would also like to voice my support of the recent decision to hold off on the implementation of AI use within New York City Public Schools until there is a strong policy in place from concerns about data security, occasional content and accuracy, and exposure to biases within its algorithms,
AI needs some time to work out the kinks before being taken seriously as a learning tool during that time. As we create policies safeguarding its use in schools, it's important to understand the various ways in which students interact with ai. From what I see in the case where a student would interact with ai, there are three types of archetypes. I'd say that first, there are students who will use AI to complete the bulk of an assignment, potentially editing the result afterwards. And I would also say that these students are mainly concerned with getting a result from little effort. Then there are the students who will use AI during the creation process as a tool to provide outlines,
explanations or ideas. And these students might generally have concern about the quality of work that AI delivers, but find that it makes works less difficult. And lastly, students who do not use AI full stop due to ethical concerns or otherwise, these students may find issues with AI's environmental impact, how it could decrease from their originality and independent thought or feel that it makes them less transparent with their teachers altogether. Student AI usage can portray itself in a myriad of ways, and how it is provided in the classroom from the top down is a crucial step in fostering behavior regarding AI
that aligns with one's personal beliefs. And lastly, I want to uplift students' voice importance within the policy making spaces such as these by involving students in the creation stage of policymaking. We provide valuable insight that only improves student experience with these policies once they're in place. I'm very excited to see community involvement at these stages in upcoming times, and I want to continuously encourage that policy makers seek out the student perspective. Thank you. Thank you very much. Um, You, you guys have only gotten better from, uh, you know,
over the years, so I really appreciate and value, uh, what you both had to say. DI was really listening to the technology piece because I was wondering if maybe you could help me fix my Walkman. You know, what a Walkman is? I maybe I remember Walkman, I, my, I still have a working Walkman, so, uh, you have to be over 50 to understand what that is. So, uh, maybe you'll, maybe you can help me out with that. Okay. Our next sort of business is we're gonna have public comment from student public comment. Oh, oh, I messed up. Yes. Okay. Already, um, as I alluded earlier,
this has been a new year. You know, we're coming into 2026, a brand new year. We've had a, we got a new mayor, and more importantly for us, we have a new chancellor. And I want to really take this up opportunity to welcome, this is his first panel meeting, so be nice. First panel for education policy meeting. And we're really, we're really, we're really excited to work with him and to be part of your administration. We're excited about all the things that we know, the great things that we know are gonna happen. Um, we know you're long history with the department. Um, as a superintendent, as a school principal, I got to visit with you. Uh, it was kind of a homecoming, the school
where you served as a school teacher. And, uh, you know, I actually saw the picture of when you were a teacher and the picture went, you know, um, you look younger now, so, uh, so, but yeah. So, uh, so we're really happy to have you here. We look forward to being part of your team. Ladies and gentlemen, let me allow me to welcome to our meeting and to, uh, uh, this important work that we're all engaged in doing. Chancellor Kumar Samuel. Thank you. Uh, thank you, chair Faulkner. Um, I'm so excited to be here. I, you know, one of the best things it seems about, uh,
being chancellors and is that for the first time I am in, uh, Staten Island twice in one month, and I think I'm, I'm having a really good time. So thank you all for, um, having me. And, um, it's really wonderful to be here, uh, for my first pep as Chancellor. I've had many experiences with the pep, you know, over the years there, I've done it in the capacity as principal, central staff and superintendent. And I've seen firsthand how thoughtful, uh,
de dedicated and the kind of care that goes into each of these meetings and each decision that the pep makes. Thank you all so much for your time and your expertise, your dedication to public service, and your critical partnership. I want to specifically thank you Chair Faulkner and Vice Chair Dr. Green and, and the, and the rest of the panel members. Um, our hosts here tonight at the Michael Petti School with principal, uh, Tabita and Superintendent Pelton, as well as, uh, Richard, the, um,
Richard r Hungerford School and Principal McCue and, uh, superintendent McCoy. Thank you so much for hosting us and welcoming us into your home. I wanna acknowledge that yesterday was International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Um, we will also, we also celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King there a few weeks ago. Uh, this month is New York State's first ever Muslim American Heritage Month, and we begin black history month next week. All of these moments presents present opportunities to reflect on our shared humanity
and on the importance of promoting justice, equality and fighting hate and intolerance in all its forms. And, you know, something our, some of our youngest students were upset with me about, um, was the fact that we were pivoting remote to remote instead of having, uh, a snow, a snow day. And one of, one of the reasons for that is because we're such a diverse city, we celebrate more holidays than any other city in, in the entire country. And so we, we, because of that, it limits our calendar
and we're not as flexible. Um, but I hope everyone stayed indoors and safe during the storm. You know, our schools are such a huge part of the ecosystem of our city. We provide just in one month. I'm completely realizing that we provide shelter for, for families when there are fires. Um, we provide warming centers, as you talked about, and just to see the work of the custodians food, our food and cafeteria staff who come in on the weekends when we need
to provide those foods. I just wanna give it up for all of our staff that are in schools, our custodian staff. They are doing an amazing job showing up for everyone. Um, and so to everyone that makes us go run, I say thank you to our educators and principals who pivoted to remote to our custodial staff, our facility staff who helped them reopen buildings to our school food workers, our nurses, uh, give it up for our nurses. Uh, they have a lot going on right now. Give it up for our nurses, our SSA agents and so many more.
I just say it's a, a warm thank you and to our families. I appreciate your flexibility and patience as a parent myself. I know whether events like these can be significantly disruptive to the daily routine. And I'm grateful for your partnership because of, because this is my first meeting with us Chancellor. I wanna start by sharing a bit about my own story and my priorities. I've served New York City public schools for over 20, for over two decades. I look younger. Yeah, that's that. I, I, I I like that. But it has been over 20 years.
I started as a New York City teaching fellow in the Bronx, and since then I've been a principal superintendent, a central office staffer, and, uh, across the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Manhattan. And I'm the parent of two public school children. And so, family and community empowerment is essential to me, and that's why this body is so important. And as I refine and roll out my priorities for schools, I want deeply, and I appreciate all the feedback and input that I can get. There are three areas I want to focus on as a system. Three criteria for, for what?
For what I believe strong schools should be strong, schools should be safe, they should be academically rigorous, and they should be truly integrate in integrated, let me start with safety. This is about not just physical safety, but also a sense of belonging and I, and supporting our most vulnerable students, students in temporary housing and foster care and immigrant students, and many more. And as I go throughout the city, what what really strikes me is the fact that in our schools, if you really want a measure of whether a stu, whether students feel safe
or not, is the idea of student voice. If you go into a school and you see Stu and you hear student voice, and you see students really taking ownership and also, um, are a part of the decision making process in your school, you in that school, you can make some assumptions, some assumptions that the staff has put so much in place to ensure that that students feel affirmed, safe, and, uh, they're well cared for, cared for. Second, I wanna make school, make sure schools are academically rigorous. And academic rigor, to me means high expectations,
strong instruction and targeted support student. We need to meet our students where they are. I am committed to ex expanding and enhancing, uh, New York City reads and souls and, and ensuring that these initiatives work for all of our students, all of our learners, including, uh, students with disabilities and multilingual learners. That's why, you know, I talk about MTSS all the time because I think it's one of the most important things we do, but I know a lot of families don't necessarily get it.
And so I want to, I want to say, um, clearly MTSS is really all about ensuring that your child is getting what they need, and the school is putting structures to ensure this. I have been doing this for 20 years, as folks keep saying, and I've never been clearer about interventions and understanding the purpose of intervention and when to do those interventions. I as your chance, I guarantee you, um, our principals are clearer, our teachers are clearer schools in general.
Our superintendents are clearer. And that is what's going to move the needle that, especially for, for children who are in third, fourth, fifth grade, sixth grade, who are not, um, reading on grade level. And finally, I, I want to make sure schools are truly integrated. Stu School students, uh, the student experience should reflect the beautiful diversity of our city. True integration is about, it's not only about student demographics, it's also goes beyond that and includes learning experiences that are providing our kids with a holistic experience.
Meaning we, we have already invested in hi Hidden Voices curriculum that really brings culturally responsive, uh, teaching to life in our schools. And that is where we're gonna have our students really be empathetic CI citizens in this polarized world. I know I have, um, I know you have a relative light voting agenda tonight, but, um, that doesn't, that doesn't take away from the many weeks and months that it takes to bring voting items to this body. There's a massive effort that gets, that gets us
to this moment as we ensure the PEP has the information that they need to help support our students, teachers, principals, and families through access to key services and contracts. Thank you to everyone who is involved in that process. I wanna make sure. And, uh, and finally, tomorrow, I'm heading to Albany to testify before the state about the governor's proposed FY 2027 budget. I'm excited to advocate for our shared goals, more resources for our students and classroom,
and more equitable approach to supporting schools. I want to thank you for pushing forward those goals every single day. This work could not happen without you. And thank you for your partnership. Thank And thank you very much, chancellor. We are now gonna pivot to open comment for students. We have, you know, we adjusted our agenda some time ago to allow students to have an opportunity to speak first. But I wanna read, um, the rules that we'll follow during this portion of the meeting. Uh, during public comment, everyone who has signed up
to speak will be allotted two and a half minutes for public comment and two minutes for open public comment. The clock will indicate the amount of time remaining for each speaker, and a light will flash when there is one minute remaining. So the speakers know when their time is about to expire. Additional time will always be provided to help facilitate comments that might require translation. At the end of each speaker's time, we will move on to the next. If a speaker is not present when the name is called, we will then move on, of course, to the next speaker. Once that has happened, you will not be able
to redeem your place in the queue. This portion of, um, public comment is only for agen. Well, since we're doing this with students, that rule doesn't apply. You can, the students are allowed to make general public comments. Normally when we do public comment on items relate that are, you know, agenda items you'd have to speak. So if we're talking about contracts, you'd have to restrict your commentary to discussion of contracts, but that wouldn't apply during the general student public comment. Um, if you accidentally signed up to comment during this section, but wish to comment on other matters,
please see one of the staff members was stationed in the audience, and they will, they will direct you to the right section of the agenda. Comments during these sections should only relate to proposals being voted on this evening. That portion applies when we move into debating specific resolutions being discussed. Um, in the case where we're gonna call students, students would be allowed to make comment on, um, just general comments, but not on items on the agenda, not on, you know, so you can talk about contracts and things, correct? Any student? Yeah. One student speaker. Um, Vinny Dong. No, I was gonna
say, I thought that was you, Vinny, if I had known it was just you. Vinny, I wouldn't have read that 'cause I know you have it probably memorized by this point. Vinny, I think you go to the School of Science in Queens. Queens high school for the sciences at York. Okay. Which is located in Queens. Go ahead. Good evening. Uh, my name's Vinny Dong and I'm a sophomore at Queens High School for the sciences at York College. Today I'm here to discuss the importance of student input in educational policy. And a good example of why student input matters
is the, what's the previously recent snow slum that happened when, on Monday when we decided to pivot to remote learning, there was about a lot of snow on the floor. And when Tuesday, when we received the okay to return to school, I could clearly see that no student input was taken at all. This was a photo of my bus ride on Monday, filled to the boom. I was one terrible emergency stop away, or one terrible bad breakaway from falling on about 20 other people. This was the weight lit, the line for waiting for about
about 20 to 30 people waiting for a single bus for a prolonged time at Dale temperatures. And personally, I'm five foot six, the snow reached up to my ankles. This was one of the schools close by to my house. Filter the Bri with snow. When situations like these arrive, it's important to also consider student input and students experience. As students experience this, it always has what the weather report says, two inches, three inches, six inches, whatever. But most importantly, for a lot of small schools
or more importantly, satellite schools, this is how our school food get arrives every single day. When situations like these snow emergencies happen, food delay, there's food issues, transportation issues, this is our food, sitting on the ice for a good long time because we couldn't shovel out the snow wastes. It's important when we have the opportunity to fix issues like these and take student input. It's important and vital for the panel to consider student input and make decisions upon what students experience.
Personally, I as a student at Queens High School for the sciences, we experience a issue where we have these is issues just simply being at a small building to next pep meeting, I'll have the honor to bring about 20 to 30 students to speak before the pep as I have done for the past few Months. I hope you take their input next month. Thank you. Thank you, Vinny. Vinny, stay at the microphone for a minute. This, this young man has come, this is your third meeting, or I'm sorry. So that's gonna make my point even better. Uh, normally when pub members of the public come to a fourth
and a third, you know, a, a meeting, I find a way to engage them in the committee. And we heard our panel member talk about students being involved in policy. So, Vinny, we need to connect 'cause I wanna appoint you to one of our committees. Um, we'll figure it out. Not only, not only does he come and, and I got to visit the school, I got to spend a day at your school. Um, I think he should become a lobbyist, by the way. So, but he, um, he, he was well prepared, walked us through the building, um, was well prepared, very knowledgeable. And so I'm thinking, I'm looking over at Al-Anon
with Intergovernmental, and I'm also looking at where Dahlia might find a way, but, and so this is a message to students. I see students out there in the audience also and other parents. Once you hit the fourth meeting and you come with suggestions, I feel entitled to bring you up and get you involved. So here's the first example, and will you accept, first of all? Definitely. Okay. See, that's what we want. So, so, uh, we're gonna have you involved. We'll figure, we'll talk and we'll figure out a role for you. Um, but, and we want you to continue to, you know, one of our tenets is civic engagement because one of the antidotes to
what we see happening in Minneapolis, and one of the antidotes to what we see happening nationally is to have a well educated, well prepared young people involved in governance. Because if we, because if we can allow not to get morbid, but some of the things that are happening in America today, I never thought that I would ever see. And so we need to really, um, get civically involved. And, and so you're an example of that. And other young people who come here are an example of that. Um, you know, it's just horrible what we see going on. So thank you very much again for coming, and we look forward to seeing you in your 20 compatriots.
See, 20 to 30, hopefully. Say it again. 20 to 30 students. 20 to 30. Okay. And they all want two and a half minutes, right? Okay. We look forward to it. Thank you. Thank you, Chair. That is the only student who signed up to speak. Okay, thank you. Um, our next item on the agenda is the approval of the December 17th minutes. Um, is there a motion for unanimous consent to adopt the minutes from December 17th? I heard, uh, a motion. Second. Is there objection to unanimous consent hearing? No objection. The minutes from December 17th are adopted.
I'll now move to the first item on the agenda, which is the consideration of contracts. I'll ask the secretary to read The, uh, resolution. Resolution up for approval is entitled Resolution to Enter into Contract Agreements. Is there a motion to adopt the resolution? Is there a second? Second. We'll now move to public comment. Did, Uh, Dr. Cala Nalo, Rosario Shanik, Malana Maldonado, and Jimmy, MOD, You can start. Thank you. Good evening and Happy New Year to everybody.
Um, I think once again, we just wanna continue to bring up the fact that we have several outsourcing here in terms of support, several contracts in terms of support for our teachers. Um, and there's no real evidence, again, of efficacy of some of these professional developments and different outsourcing of support. And we continue to divest from our teaching workforce. And so being really cautious and careful about the types of contracts and the length of the contracts that we have, um, with these different types of institutions. I also wanna echo our student's concern.
And I've come several times to talk about the concerns of any sort of contract that is connected to any AI platform, um, whether it be closed or not, um, that we'd be di really diligent and careful. Um, we've been waiting for several months for the AI playbook. It still hasn't been brought out. We don't have guardrails in place for our students as well as our teachers when engaging with these different platforms. And we still have some contracts here that have some AI embedded in it. And so we just wanna be really clear that we are protecting our students and that we actually have a very clear, transparent policy
for both parents and teachers to be able to protect children that engage with these kinds of platforms. Um, as of two months ago, a study was released by MIT, um, basically showing in a basic essay writing study, um, looking at people's brain scans, um, that people that engage with AI just writing an essay, have dramatic reduction in neural activity in language centers and centers for critical thinking and centers for higher order cognitive thinking. And that, in turn, can lead to lots of deficits in terms
of cognition and development. And we are in the business of developing young people and developing minds. And when we introduce these tools without any sort of guardrails, we impact their ability to engage and become productive citizens in society. And I don't think that's what we wanna do in our schools or in our classrooms. We definitely don't want that when they get to me and they become physicians and then become reliant on these platforms and put people's lives in jeopardy, I always think about that long-term effect. So hopefully you are too. Thank you. Hi. Oh, thank you.
Hi, good evening. Uh, my name is Nila Rosario and I'm here representing, uh, New York City Kids Pack and class size matters. Um, I'd like, I'm gonna be, uh, electronically presenting a petition to the chancellor and the pep chair that was co-sponsored by several groups and signed by over 540 parents, teachers, and concerned citizens. That's calling for a moratorium on the use of AI until rigorous. Uh, guardrails are established to protect student learning, privacy and safety, safety
and social emotional health, as well as the measures, uh, as, as the measures to ensure that all the use of ai, um, does not contribute to even worse climate change. Um, I'd like to urge the PEP members to vote no on today's contract for the kiddos digital products. Uh, this is, uh, which is identical to the pro, the contract that was voted down last month by the pep, um, um, a single, uh, news. The only difference with this one, um, is a, a, a sentence
that just reads, uh, kingdom does not offer any student facing, uh, or teacher facing AI on their product, uh, listings, or DOE uh, use otherwise is exactly the same. Um, this product is, uh, is listed and advertised as not using as using ai. And according to experts, it is not a simple matter to extract the data mining AI out of the programs that's designed for that purpose. It's even harder to confirm that the,
that node data mining is being done. Uh, moreover, the doe's lacks attitudes towards, um, towards, uh, student privacy has shown, uh, by repeated data, um, data breaches and the fact that, um, many of their vendor contracts still feature, uh, language, uh, compliant with student privacy law. And given this, I, we really believe that kiddo's contract should be voted down, um, again, until and unless the following conditions are met.
Uh, condition number one is the specific product to be purchased should be listed along with detailed, uh, descriptions of how they are designed and used, uh, and how do they use ai. And second, uh, kinna should also be required to commission independent security audits and privacy impact assessments for these products with the audits assesses. Um, so we just want these conditions to be met and these products, um, should be, should not be brought up for another voter. Thank you. Thank you. Speaker I on the right
Be. Before you introduce the next speaker, I wanna say that we've been joined by the panel member representing controller, our new, uh, city controller, Jordan Stockdale, the Stockdale, welcome to the Panel for Education Policy. Good evening. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. I'm here today as a parent leader and advocate for PS 22. I currently serve on the school leadership team, the PTA and the title one parent Advers Adversary Council. 'cause I believe deeply and improving safety and access for our students. I want to address the serious safety and operational impact of keeping school doors closed
until 8:15 AM every morning, students are waiting outside and freezing temperatures. Bus students are often forced to remain on buses for extended periods because engines cannot idle. And building access is not allowed. Earlier this year, a student became physically ill while waiting and was still unable to enter the building. This should never happen in a school system that prioritizes student safety. This policy also creates avoidable traffic, congestion and transportation delays when doors open and arrival begins at the same time, buses, families,
and staff all arrive at once. Streets become blocked, students arrive late for instruction and working families experience unnecessary stress. Earlier this month, the principal sent out a family interest survey asking if parents supported earlier door opening. The majority of the families responded, yes. However, we're being now informed that early entry would not be offered to all of the students because it would be, quote unquote too much. I wanna be clear that staffing capacity is not the barrier. PS 22 currently has five administrators on site. In addition, parent volunteers
and out-of-classroom staff have expressed willingness to adjust schedules to support early supervision. PS 22 successfully offered early drop-off before COVID and many NYC schools have already restored early entry models. Teachers have also requested that breakfast be served in the cafeteria, which reduces classroom disruption and allows students to begin learning on time. This is not a logistical inconvenience, this is a safety issue, an instructional time issue, and an equity issue for working families. I respectfully urge the Department of Education to support restoring early school entry at PS 22 so
that no child is left waiting in the cult. Thank you for your leadership and commitment to our students. Thank, thank you for your comments. Uh, good evening. Thank you panel, um, oral for your time. And thank you Chair Faulkner. I've been to a few of these meetings. I respect and admire how you, you, uh, operate these meetings 'cause it could be tough at some times. My name is Jimmy Amadeo. I'm here representing Consolidated Bus, borough Transit and SNT Bus. And I just really wanted to speak to the panel and anyone in the audience, uh, if anyone has any problems with our transportation, past or present
or any issues you feel you need to share, um, or even a complaint or compliment or praise for any of our drivers or assistance, please tell me your story. We're here to listen. I'll be in the back and I'll be at these meetings going forward. So thank you for your time. Thank you. And, and, and I, and I wanna say that one of the things that nor normally this, this is reserved for student panel, I mean for student comment. Um, so I know that there's some who have spoken to are not students. Um, but I wasn't sure in the bus comment because I think one of the things we're trying
to do going forward is how we improve the service. And where we had a, you know, a meeting and there were lots of conversations. We really wanna begin this dialogue so that we can really work on what do we need to do to make sure that our bus service substantially improves over the coming year. Um, and I think that's very important. So I appreciate it and would welcome other bus providers and folks to be here. We're in the process of organizing a, a committee that's gonna respond to how we actually now move forward and make sure that the bus service contracts, uh, or the bus service improves even more.
Thank you. The next group of speakers are Rashida Brown Harris, Reverend Letitia Thompson, Amelia Cason, um, Lashay, no. Yes, Lashay and, um, someone named Danny. That's fine. If you get down to the mic, you can begin speaking. If I called your name Hello Pet Panel. My name is Amelia Cason and I'm on the new Thank you. I'm on the New York City Kiddom team. We had quite a few educators in the city reach out to the pet panel with letters about their
experience with Kiddom. It is being used at a large number of districts already via New York City reads and solves. And I wanted to take the time to read one of these letters. I'm not gonna say his name, but you ha you all members have this in your email. I'm a sixth grade mathematics teacher in District 11 in the New York City Department of Education. I am writing in Supportive Kiddo Kiddom is a unique curriculum that far exceeds the norm and expectations of educators in the New York City Department of Ed. Their commitment to excellence and building a platform that works for all students and educators is exceptional. Their attention to detail is greater than any company I've
ever experienced in my entire career in education. In order to understand kit, board members must understand the platform itself. Students receive the same lessons as and Curriculum Im Math, which is also a print book that we provide regardless of the platform it is accessed through. However, what makes Kiddo truly special is its ability to group students based on their performance, create assignments that benefit students, and help them access grade level content regardless of their academic level. These are called custom cooldowns. Kiddom lays this out in a way that's highly user-friendly
and easily accessible to students in my classroom. I have witnessed the ease in which students can access their assignments through routine they have learned to access and complete their homework assignments without the teach need for teacher guidance. This allows teachers to spend more time to reteach key skills. Students may be struggling to grasp lead small group instruction and reduces time spent helping Children's log in and access their assignments, which has been a major issue in past curriculum platforms. Throughout the school year, I've been able to experience the great many benefits of kiddom on the teacher side. Using the platform, it makes it easy for teachers
to access lesson plans, which are built around the most important aspect of all the students in the classroom. With kiddom teachers can access content, plan effective lessons, create custom assignments for each individual student, and access student performance. I'm just gonna skip ahead 'cause I see I have not much time. Um, I'd like to say that KIN has made a true effort to reach out to teachers, find out what's working and what must be changed and make changes to the platform based on teacher feedback. I've worked in education for almost 10 years and this is the first curriculum platform company I've experienced reaching out to teachers, asking for feedback
to create impactful and real change in my classroom. Thank you. Uh, I, I wanna say what, you know, what's, what's interesting? I received a lot of letters from, uh, um, of teachers and from folks about the work that kid is doing, and I was, I was really discussing with the vice chair how I would be able to read that letter in the meeting, but, and so I talked about turning the chair over so that she could preside over this portion. So one, I don't have to do that. Um, and so I appreciate that letter. Need To take it away from you. Well, I'm glad. Well, I'm glad because it was kind of complicated how I'd be able to do that, but, um, you know, we've had conversations
and a lot of the questions that have come up, so I, and, and what I've heard particularly, particularly in the Bronx districts, uh, where a number of superintendents, a number of schools are using this program and it's benefiting kids and actually moving them forward. Um, so I appreciate your, you know, picking that letter because I think it encapsulated everything that we're talking about, um, in terms of moving forward. So thank you. They add, Speaking of districts in the Bronx, district 11 has posted a 23 point gain using these programs since 2022. That is huge. That's great. So thank you very much.
Thank you. I appreciate it. Hello, good evening. My name is Lashay Daniel and I'm a former and forever special education teacher, but currently I have the privilege of being a customer success manager at Kiddo, like my colleague Amelia. I'm also going to be reading an email from one of the teachers that currently use Kiddo. This is actually from a sixth grade math teacher, an ICT teacher in District 11. He would be here himself reading this email, uh, if he wasn't making sure that his lesson was ready for students tomorrow. Dear Pep members, as a sixth grade math ICT teacher in District 11, I wanted to share a few reflections on
how kiddom is supporting instruction and student learning in my classroom. Kiddom has worked closely with teachers in my school and district to create a platform that truly works for both teachers and students. Kiddom provides insight and data about students' mastery of specific standards and creates personalized work to address misconceptions. This allows me and my co-teacher to identify supports on a student to student basis, creating targeted groups and pulling small groups to close gaps on those specific standards. Our HQIM is streamlined into one platform from generating standards aligned practice problems
to creating custom exit tickets. Based on that day's lesson, kit is able to support consistent routines in rigorous instruction. Students walk into his ICT classroom knowing exactly what to expect, and that that structure will support their independence and engagement. Curriculum assessments and student work all live in one place with daily feedback and insights that inform our instruction the very next day without, within his 15 years of teaching, Michael said that he has never worked with a company that is this responsive to teachers. Kiddo meets with him, listens to their ideas,
and makes real changes to better serve students and educators in New York City. As an educator, he believes that Kitum elevates teacher vo teachers' voices and supports higher achievement for their students. And his teacher voice grounded in daily classroom practice reflects, reflects the impact that I'm able to see a class across classrooms and districts, and why this impact matters to me so deeply. Thank you so much. Good. Thank you. My name is Danny Auerbach and I'm a customer success manager at Kiddo and former New York City teacher and district leader in the Bronx.
I'd like to read part of a letter submitted to your committee by a seventh grade teacher in District 11 about the kiddom impact it has had this year in his classroom to your PEP panel. As a seventh grade teacher at PSMs 1 94 in the Bronx, I've seen how kid has meaningfully supported student learning in my classroom. This platform has not only improved my teaching practice, but has also supported my student's growth. Kiddo has made grading and reviewing student work much faster by helping me quickly see how students are performing and group them based on their needs. Without kiddom, this process would take me at least
an hour to do by hand. While Kiddom can do this in seconds, this time it saves, has allowed me to spend more time working directly with my students who need extra support and to help meet their needs. In addition, the kiddo support staff has been incredibly responsive and helpful throughout this launch. Their ongoing support has helped me learn the program and given me the confidence needed to integrate into my everyday teaching. As a result, my overall teaching has been much stronger As an educator, QM is an important resource for me, and I strongly hope to continue having it as an option moving forward. Thank you.
And the last two speakers who've signed up to speak on contracts, and you can make your way to the microphone if I call your name. Uh, Kelvin Smith and Abbas Manji. Hi, good evening. So, um, good evening Chancellor, members of the PEP and my fellow educators. My name is Calvin Smith. I'm a New York City public school teacher, and I was a founding math teacher at Innovation Diploma Plus, also known as IDPA transfer high school, serving over age and under accredited student since 2009. I want to speak tonight as a teacher who has been a,
a long-term partnership with kit. Before kiddom even existed, I'm actually talking about a co-founder of Kit Mr. Manji. Abba and I helped found IDP together. We taught together, we authored regions aligned curriculum together. And what mattered most to him even then, was that math felt real to students' lives. While building true conceptual understanding and procedural fluency, he believed students who had been failed by the system deserved rigor and relevance. Between 2009 and 2012, habas built a grade book and forecasting tool specifically for our school not
to sell, but to, so to solve the problem, we were living with students with chronic absenteeism who wanted to succeed, but with disservice by the system. His tool helped us to keep students connected, helped teachers see Pathways forward, and helped us our school function better. Other New York City teachers adopted it because it was built from classroom reality. His DNA is forever woven into IDP and this is why I believe we are successful. When Theba later co-founded Kiddom, one of the very first places he returned to for feedback was, IDP teachers were handed a finished, weren't handed a finished product.
Pardon me, we were asked to shape it. That's kind M's. Foundation. Sustained partnership with teachers over time, grounded in trust. Abbas is here tonight because he's a New Yorker who wants New York City to lead the country in literacy and numeracy. He knows that that only happens when we invest in tools built with the city's educators. My friends here tonight and watching online, we are lucky to work with a founder who is authentic, deeply rooted in New York City classrooms, and committed to serving teachers for the long haul kid is the real deal. Thank you for your time.
Stop that. You're not going to speak. Okay. Okay. Back to you, chair Faulkner. Okay, we'll now open the floor for panel member comments. Anyone wish to be recognized? Yes. Panel member Casser. I Thank you so much. Uh, Camille Brooklyn Borough President Appointee. Uh, first off, I'd like to, uh, welcome Chancellor Samuels and thrilled to have you here with us. I have watched and appreciated your work for many years back when I was CEC 15 CEC member
and then president. And I feel like our work, our collective work has been so aligned and so I'm really excited to see what you can do with New York City Public Schools. Um, so I, I wanna talk about item 31 and 32. When the New York City Department of Education dismantled the Office of Teaching and Learning. Two years ago, it was more than an internal reorganization. It sent a message about priorities that office existed to focus on the core of schooling, what students are taught,
how teachers are supported, and how learning happens in the classrooms. Its absence matters even more Now as new tools like AI enter schools without a clear instructional leader at the center, decisions about curriculum, technology and AI or spread across departments, leaving no single group clearly accountable for how these tools affect teaching and learning. Citywide parents and educators feel the impact. Schools receive mixed messages about what matters most. Test scores versus deep learning. Short-term initiatives versus long-term stability.
AI is often introduced in the same fragmented way. Some schools adopt new platforms quickly, others cautiously, many without clear guidance, teachers are asked to adjust constantly, which fuels burnout. Inequities grow as well because schools with more resources can evaluate and manage AI tools thoughtfully, while others are left navigating risks on their own. As a result, a child's experience with AI and with learning overall can depend more on their school than on a shared citywide vision.
Um, at its core, this is a values issue saying we value great teaching, joyful classrooms. Culturally responsive learning and strong support for educators isn't enough. Those values must guide how AI is used or not used in schools. That requires clear leadership, funding and accountability to ensure technology serves learning rather than driving it. Putting teachers and learning back at the center doesn't require recreating the exact same office, but it does require restoring strong, centralized instructional leadership, especially
as AI becomes more present. If the system is truly committed to students, it must organize itself around what happens every day between teachers and children. With technology playing a clearly defined limited role. While structure matches values, schools function better for everyone. Um, with, with those values in mind, families and educators have raised legitimate concerns about AI in schools. We've received hundreds of emails. Um, student privacy must be non-negotiable. Strong guardrails, strict limits on data use, transparency
and meaningful family consent are essential. Children learn best from human teachers who know them, care about them, and respond to their emotions. AI cannot replace that. Families deserve to know when I AI is being used for what purpose and with what limits. Without clear system-wide guidance from the DOE Trust erodes and until that guidance exists and until AI clearly strengthens, not undermines real teaching and learning, I will be voting no on contracts with all learn learning intelligence technology vendors,
including these items 31 and 32. Okay, thank you. Panel member. Any other panel members? Yeah. Uh, yes. Uh, Matt? Yeah. Mm-hmm. Oh, okay. I, you know, this is just clarity. I wanted to know what the gentleman was saying, um, from the bus companies. He said it's very fast and I didn't get a chance to hear Can we do it offline? Oh, was that offline? Yeah. We'll do it. We'll, we'll follow up with The bus. Okay. Absolutely. Yeah. Okay. Yes. Pam moho. I'm gonna be addressing Cadences
31 and 32. I'm going to read from the first implementation. The first time Kiddom was introduced to the system serving as an SLT member to ISO 70 oh, which is in district two. Um, we were like the second school in the district after Clinton High, um, middle high school that implemented the KIDDOM curriculum using Illustrative Math. Um, our literacy and math program at the time was called Math Equity. Again, this is the SLT. Uh, and thanks to ai I was able to locate this again since
May, 2022. Um, so we were piloting, um, with teacher prompts, um, and student responses and my math identity, a timeline was the product and the student reflections helps the students see their progression as a learner. This will be customized for age appropriateness, for all grades to apply for October, September, 2022. The ultimate goal is to build connections and determine what data comes from the pilot. As has similarly been applied in the humanities professional development on a list of math,
forgive me if I'm pronouncing that incorrectly. Um, began in February and is ongoing through the summer. CCT two has adopted into using this accelerated curriculum rolling out sixth and seventh grade classes. Lab Middle School will take out extra practices for sixth and seventh when needed. And District Leader Nette will provide additional training and oversight in eighth grade. Algebra. Standardized curriculum will include also e math instruction and site licenses were purchased. The student survey has been put aside as we collect more data. And again, Clinton six through 12 already used.
I illustrative math up to geometry. Sixth grade accelerated Illustrative math. Baseline intervention was also purchased an extra time on material and more materials were added for seventh grade, as well as the accelerated illustrative math and supplemental art of problem solving into high level mathematics. Accelerated seventh grade math is the baseline, the accelerated version of Illustrative Math coupled with e math are being applied towards eighth grade Algebra for all. What Algebra for All was at that time was to give every student the opportunity
to take the Algebra Regents something that hadn't been done six years prior. My first kid went through the system. Um, so overall the math curriculum would provide anchor points, teacher zoom in training, and have a district leader like Yanette come at least twice that spring. I took the opportunity and contacted the principal again as we were having these great debates on whether or not to use or continue to use. She looks forward to going into this her fourth year and using, I am hoping I'm saying this correctly, imaginative learning.
So thank you. Those who are here, um, again, they look forward to, again, using this and want to really emphasize the professional development time it takes, not just signing this contract, but then get onboarding it for the professionals at the district level and then at the school level. So as we've delayed this over and over again, this is cutting into the professional development time of our teachers and our faculty. So I just really wanna emphasize that we've done this enough
that we've put off, and this is not about AI at this point. This is using an already historically been there for three years program. So I'm going to vote yes to 31 and 32. Thank you. Yes. And Altman. Yeah. Good evening everyone. Um, I just wanted to say, I, I still feel like there's like misinformation or we are not on the same page. Yes. It was turned down 31 and 32. I'm just gonna address those contracts specifically. Um, because this panel as a whole had made it very clear
until there's protocols and, and uh, um, to address student data privacy along with ai. 'cause we have to have protocols regardless of data breaches existed before, the more use of ai. Right? Um, so they will not present any contracts until that policy. There's a name for it. I can't remember the name. I'm having a brain fog. But, you know, a policy regarding ai, specifically how we track. So kiddo here, um, was willing to not only disabled
'cause it was disabled when it was presented to us before they actually removed it, um, remove it. So you couldn't even turn it on because this platform that they redid for us, it is not out of the REM that they can do that. I'm gonna give you an example about Zoom. We use Zoom, but it's the one that's fitted for Department of Education, right? We are not using the regular Zoom. They created Zoom specifically for us because of security, uh, protocols and breaches, right? To help secure that. So kiddo is there, um, kiddo did that for us, right?
Um, in regards to ai. So we were promised no AI contracts, uh, until we get our, oh, it's the playbook. That's what they're calling it. The playbook, uh, regarding ai. Um, I also wanna go with the, you know, to elaborate on, um, panel whole when it came to Illustrative Math and they are using the platform. Before ai, they were using kiddo platform for professional development. I actually had participated in those professional developments for New York City for the algebra, um,
at the high school Queen, south Queens North, um, PDs to see how the teachers were being taught and how. And I also went to the schools and see how it got translated into the classrooms, right? And if what was being professionally developed was practicing into the classrooms. So, um, so in regards to 31 and 32, my main point is there's no AI part of this platform. They had it no AI before. So it is not out of the rim not to have ai, um, on this platform until, you know, DOE decides
how we're going to go move forward on, um, um, artificial intelligence. And remember, I almost wanna yield you more time to repeat that one sentence. No AI in this, in this, There's no ai. Thank you. I know that, you know, some of the experts says, but I, you know, I usually don't make guarantees because I'm not the Department of Education, but I've seen the platform used without AI existed. They just enhanced their platform with AI because this is what's, how the world is going towards. But they made the exception and removed it completely from 31 and 32.
Thank you. Any other panel members wish to be recognized? Yes. Panel member Altman. I felt like I should speak 'cause this is my borough. Um, hi everyone. I'm Debra Altman, uh, representative for CEC Staten Island. Um, so AI's the big ticket item, right? So I do wanna talk about that. Um, we all know that tools can create, but they also have the potential to destroy, right? It's a fine balance. A hammer can build or can also destroy something, right? So we gotta be really careful in how we yield that tool. Um, look at how the phones, right when phone technology came out, and it was in the hands of children, that technology, right?
With, even with adults, the addiction that came out there were benefits, right? Where you had, um, you know, infinite, uh, information at your fingertips, but also there was an onslaught of problems increasing anxiety and depression among a lot of other issues. It came without any kind of control, and the school system didn't just put in, uh, implement policies in place. They straight out banned phones completely in the entire school system for the entire state. So I don't want AI to follow the same issues that the phones, we didn't just limit the phones,
we completely banned them. So if we're going to implement ai, I agree that the playbook is absolutely crucial and critical to come out first to ensure that we don't make the same mistake with new technology that's unfolding in our curriculum. Um, so it's working in some districts, which is proving to show some potential, but when you open it up to the entire New York City school system, it's gonna open up like rapid wildfire, and then you're gonna start to see it, the both benefits when it's being controlled right now by specific schools.
But then you're gonna start to see the problems, and that's what I fear. If it happens too fast without under the parents being involved, without the students being involved, without the teachers being involved. We need to have more conversation to make sure everyone with the transparency, there's a lot of misinformation out there, which we are trying to unfold as a panel, and also try to bring that out to the community with those conversations, with that transparency about kinna. And I'm grateful that Kinna was here to discuss more information about their products. I think that's helpful going forward. Um, we are not gonna stop the culture of ai.
It's in our world, but let's try to control it. Um, our children deserve that. We get it right the first time. Thank you. Thank you panel member. Uh, any additional comments? I see you or did you wish to comment? No, I thought you were moving forward, like going to the mic, like, just gonna everybody recognize you? Anybody else? Okay, let's proceed to a vote. Did I see a hand? Let's proceed to a vote. Secretary, please call the role. Uh, there are no refusals. Um, when I call your name, tell me how you wish to vote. If you wish to vote differently on any particular contract item, please indicate
as much when I call your name. Um, member Altman. I'm First, uh, hold on. Wait, wait, wait. We have the chancellor Who wants to speak first? So, I just wanna clarify, I've been on the briefings and really been trying to get up to speed with, uh, the AI content and, and what we're, what we're working on, which will be, uh, released soon. Uh, specifically on the contracts here, I do wanna reiterate that the function on the central, um, m platform, m being our service, I've used, um,
the function on the central m pla platform does not involve any of the AI products, right? So we've removed the products from the central AI platforms. It's important to think about that in this way because, um, we, we want schools to have access to the central platform because if they're able to use it on their own, if they're able to purchase it on their own, they will be able to, um, uh, use the AI function. So the, the reason this is critical is
because we're trying to get to what you want, which is not to have the AI platform available. And if we, if, if, if we are not able to do that, as you know, schools have their own functions, they have their own funding, and they can, uh, purchase this on their own. So if we give them the opportunity to access it to the central platform, they won't have access to the ai ai piece. Thanks. Thank you. Um, I wanna make note, uh, panel member Hannah Jones is arrived. Oh, did you already? Yeah. No, I didn't. Okay, thank you.
And we'll proceed to a vote. Okay. When I call your name, um, please indicate how you wish to vote. Um, member Altman? Yes. Two agenda items. 1, 2 30. No. 1 31. No. 1 32. Yes. On 33? Yes. On 34, No. 1 31 and 32. Correct. Okay. Um, member Ali, say Abstaining on 31 and 32. Yes. To the rest, Uh, member Albin? Yes. To all. Uh, member Boad. Uh, member Borelli? Yes. Member Casre.
No. To 31 and 32? Yes. To the rest Member Deans? Yes. To all Member. Fair Member Garcia? Yes. To all Member Giordano? Yes. Across the board, Um, member Green Vice Chair Green? Yes. To all, Uh, member Hannah Jones. No. To 31 and 32. And yes. To the rest. Um, member. Um, member Ho. Yes. To all. And Member Jimenez? Yes. To all Member Owin? Yes. To all Member Ong?
Yes. To all Member Parsons? Yes. To all Member sap? Yes. To all. And Chair Faulkner? Yes. To all. Um, all the items. The resolutions pass. All items pass for items one through 30 and 33 and 34. It is unanimous. 19. In favor. For items 31, I have to count Three nos. Three nos, One abstention, and 15 Yes. Votes. The items pass. All items pass. Thank, thank you very much. And I wanna especially thank you to Kitten
for hanging in there with us, and we expect great things will continue and hopefully expand throughout New York City public schools. Thank you very much. That's the vote in front of the first, I'm, I'm pausing because we've reached the end of the voting portion of the agenda. I'm like, oh, okay. Um, sure. Panel may have a quick question. Um, so just, uh, for planning purposes, when will we expect to see the guidance document? Is that the playbook? Yep. Did anyone, Um,
I'm gonna call on, uh, all right. Chief Academic Officer, um, Dr. Pate, Can I add an addition to that? Because I feel like Dr. Pate may be able to answer my question as well. So do you want want me to call you separately or you want ask right at The same I'd to go right after? I don't wanna, Okay, sure. I Was waiting for the second question. You wanna to add it in or you wanted me to answer the first and then the second? Yes. Okay. So thank you for the question. Um, so we have engaged in over 120 days at this point of
intense, uh, revisions, advisement, insight, guidance, foresight, and an opportunity for several, um, stakeholder input. We are nearing the finish line. We are waiting for some last minute reviews, honestly, from legal and other, uh, divisions and departments. We, the hope, um, is that by the 1st of February, we can anticipate, um, being able to share the, uh, guidance.
Did you give a brief? Um, yeah, Adrian heard here, the Queen CECs. Um, my question in addition to that is, when can we expect a comprehensive opt-out process for parents for anything related to or part of part and parcel with ai? So we are considering and thinking about that as a process. I do not have a specific date, uh, or if it will come to fruition, but what I can say is that the guidance will provide opportunities for communities and families on every single page, a QR code
that will allow everybody who reviews it to provide feedback from that feedback. It will set guardrails for what we do next, but it is really, really important that we provide opportunity for feedback for everyone to give us insight to weigh in, because this is about a collective journey that we're taking, not a journey that is done in silos. So for that, uh, with respect to the panel, I don't have an exact date. I don't even have a matter of fact answer. The matter of fact is
that the guidance will provide opportunities for real authentic feedback, real authentic cycles of, of input, so that when we land this plane, when we get to a playbook, which we're not at, we're at guidance that everyone will feel that we've done this together, which is, I believe a school system as large as we are. That's the most critical part, is that families take this journey together with us in a way that we've never done before as AI evolves rapidly every day. Yeah.
I'm reluctant because lemme lemme just finish. I don't want this to morph into a briefing. Well, obviously only gonna grant one, but you want Can we, can we No, very quickly No, I, I think we need to, we need to hold this for a briefing. This is inappropriate for a briefing as it's following the line of conversation right now. And it is a piece of information that would be extremely helpful for parents and families. This is not in personal interest, this is in the interest of parents and families in the wider school community. So, uh, just to to clarify and confirm, we're expected to receive the playbook on the first
No, I didn't say the first. I wanna stand corrected. I said at the start. You Did Say February 1st. I said within the, you didn't, I didn't say February one. You did. This Is exactly what I did. This is all, all older for parents. Hold it. Hold it. So let me stand corrected that that's the didn't start of February, please. This is what I did not want. Let please who To argue. Excuse me. Excuse me. The other question I have is for parents interested in opting out. How can they do that? Thank you. Again. As I said before, we are in a process where gathering feedback is our number one priority
because the input of families even around the possibility is critically important. We want to hear family voices, we want to hear the voices of community. We want feedback on the guidance that we've created so that we can collaboratively create what comes next as AI evolves rapidly every day. So there is not an opt-out process? That is correct. Okay. Counsel? No, Not Dennis. Just real quickly, I, I take this issue of, um, AI
and the guidance very, very seriously. I've been briefed, I wanna be thoughtful about this. I wouldn't want, I certainly wouldn't wanna commit to, um, a February 1st date, but I would say we will continue to. So I'm saying we will continue to, um, really look at this and look very closely at it. I've heard so much of the feedback, uh, given, and we wanna make sure that we're thoughtful. So I would say, um, sometime, you know, within the month of February would be, would be, would be reasonable, but we're gonna continue to look at it.
Okay. Thank you. You are welcome. Okay. At this point, we'll, in the agenda, we move to open public comment and have the people signed up for that? Yes. Um, the first group of speakers are Jen Levy, or Levy, Amy Crane, Jill Caruso and, and Fran Garish. No, Gar people. This is gonna be all about, I called the first four names. I called, um, and then Sean Ramos as the fifth name. So you can start speaking Well, hi.
Hi. Good evening. Yes, we are. Mm-hmm. We prepared a speech that I'm sorry. Please, you can begin speaking. Okay. We pre we, we have a speech that we're gonna read together. Okay. Well, you as like, I called the first five speakers, and so the first five people can speak and then I'll call the next group of speakers. But we're, we're in sequence and, and so can we do it in sequence please? We all separately signed up. I'm okay with that. You can, although each part of the sequence has two minutes. Yes. Each person has two minutes. Okay. Give your name then so we can just keep track of who's speaking To Leanne per mentor. Dear members of the pep, we are the PTA
and the SLT at the Center school. We are here to set the record straight. We were never informed before January, um, am year 2.5 weeks ago that the center school will move to the PS 1 99 building by September, 2026. Even so, district three leaders instructed us to keep quiet about the details of working group meetings, ideas, not proposals in their own words. Now that they are gearing up to Force Center School to move by September, hear our family voices, we want time to thoroughly plan this move. When the class size law passed in 2022, the center school did not flinch. We are a hundred percent fully compliant already then came
to doe's working groups on capacity through all of 2025. We attended meeting after meeting, um, each time hearing the same assurance, no plans to move the center school, which makes sense. Center has no capacity issues, and the colitic located school PS nine at the current enrollment, as well as multiple rooms used for music, art, robotics, et cetera. Seemed like they could, uh, figure things out. I mean, Centra provides IEP services in broom closets and converted that are converted to offices. Shirley PS nine. With their annual 750,000 plus fundraising from their
parents, dearly could figure things out with some creativity. So when the superintendent, uh, Kumar Samuels asked our principal, Mr. O'Reilly to see the Manhattan Country School space, he went along with it because he was asked Center is a successful school by all accounts and has no capacity issues and a city suffering from low enrollment and plenty of overcrowded schools who imagined the DOE would focus its efforts on fixing what very clearly isn't broken. Moreover, Manhattan Country School was not a viable option. The school construction authority deemed that the building,
uh, wasn't a fit. Um, it does not meet DOE specifications and there is no funding for renovations. Going to look at a building that does not meet DOE specifications is not a serious exercise. Beginning January, 2025, central school reps, including two parents, met with now Chancellor, uh, Samuels and Deputy Superintendent Mariela Graham at working groups to listen. Time is fired. Daniel, go to the next person in the, uh, my name is Isabel Koro. What was discussed at this working groups, every single working group attendee at from center school is
prepared to submit a declaration that there was zero mention of relocation center school between January two, June, 2025. Uh, and that Mr. Samuel repeatedly assured that there was no funeral relocation plans through December, 2025. And did they inform us that we were there to, uh, bring information back to our parent community? At one meeting in October, 2025, when a senator attendee took a screenshot of the presentation slides describing PS nine's enrollment numbers, they were instructed by, by Mr.
Samuels and Mr. Ham that the working group info information is internal and not to be recorded and not to be shared. You might not, you might note a transparency issue here. So we do. We it was in the context of that. In April, 2025, center reps US space in, uh, 1972 Broadway, a commercial building recently renovated and fitted with knee high toilet and a local and a location with zero outdoor space entirely unsuitable
for middle school children. In fact, as you might know, that the space will not now host students for which the renovations were clearly intended pre-K. By June, 2025, the district working group meeting had involved only beg discussions about the class size mandate and an impact on schools. There was no mention of a potential displacement of center. And at 20 24, 20 25 school year, drew to close center school, even made plans to purchase upgrade in our current building. Does this sound like parents reps
who had a relocation on the horizon? On October 8th, Mr. Samuel and Mr. Graham joined this SLT meeting as their request. Some of you here have seen recording of that meeting. Mr. Samuel clearly state no decisions have been made. Speaker, your time has expired. There is no plans to move center school. I have Flavio ever back. Mm-hmm. Uh, a week later on October 28th at a mid district working group, PS and I presented their plan to increase K enrollment from 85 to a hundred students in 26 and up to a hundred per grade over a period of five years requiring 31 classrooms
and 10 additional rooms for music, science, robotics, and et cetera. This was the first time the concept of center not fitting in our building entered our consciousness. Does this mean center is moving as the center attendee? Mr. Samuels replied. This is a conversation about PS nine's capacity issues. Then we are instructed that the working group info is for internal purposes only, not to be recorded and not to be shared with non attendees. PP members in the coming months as the DOE attempts to blow those through other reeding s and mergers. Ask parents to come before you. Were you instructed to keep working group meetings, info private, you'll see a pattern emerge.
It was in this context that center working group attendees walked around PS 1 65 after the October meeting, a building which does not have a gym, a silly option for a middle school with many indoor athletic teams, including a championship basketball team. We asked Mr. Samuels, is this a proposal? No, no, just an idea. All the while the conversations remain very casual, uh, and occasionally would be reminded that, uh, Mr. Samuels was committed to keeping fifth grade even if the OE is not in November. Much to our surprise, our invitation to the meet district working group meeting was rescinded and we're invited to attend the
Southern District Working Group meeting. At this meeting, Mr. Samuels presented three other scenarios, which contain many surprises. Uh, a quick personal note with the remainder of my time. Uh, I'm a parent of twin fifth graders at Center School. Last year we were perfectly happy at PS 87. Always assumed they would finish there. Then we learned about center school. This progressive quirky school that only in New York were public school system support. We attended info sessions, toured the school, did our research, and decided this pedagogically innovative nearby school was worth pulling our kids out of 87 and the middle school process and putting them on this path offer by the DOE
or trusting the DOE is reflexive then at the CSC meeting on January time expired. Alright, thank you. Evening. My name is Micah Ichi McClellan. I'm the parent of a fifth grader at Center School. It's our first year in the building, but I'm here to lift up the voices of our parent leadership. There were three scenarios presented to Center of School parent Leadership in November last year. The first took away pre-K from 1 91, 4 52, and 87, and consolidated them at the Broadway location. Mentioned before PS nine kept. Its pre-K. The second scenario removed one section of pre-K from 1 91 truncated.
The 1 91 middle school moved center into its place. The third scenario, after the dust settled, there was no more 1 91. The 1 91 parent coordinator was shocked and outraged. Are you saying this is an erasure of 1 91? No, this slide wasn't meant to be seen by you. It was just an idea we had. It wasn't supposed to be shown to today. Mr. Samuels replied, is this a proposal we asked? No, just an idea. A moving discussion following October's reprimand to keep quiet. Were we supposed to note to share this information with our parent community? When Center met PS nine at PS 1 91.
On December 17th, the next Southern District Working Group meeting, we were shocked to learn that 1 91 parents were learning that day that their middle school was being erased and their middle school students dispersed around the city. Again, a parent asked Mr. Samuels point blank, where are we in this process? Is this preliminary or definite? Mr. Samuels repeated. This is preliminary. We are discussing options. Members of PEP 1 1 91 Parents come before you. Please ask them. Did the DOD did the DOE engage you in their decision? Ask them if District three sends one message at the working group meetings, but another behind closed doors. Ask them if they feel a pattern emerges about a lack
of transparency or a lack of parent engagement. But you can imagine Center, center parents' surprise when in January of 2026, the mayor declined to relinquish mayoral control over public schools selects Mr. Samuels' Chancellor and the Center School begins receiving sudden and increasing pressure from the DOE to accept relocation to 1 91 by the end of this year. Thank you for your time. Sorry. I'm so nervous. I'm so nervous to speak. And then suddenly my child doesn't get into high school, so please don't punish us. So starting January am mere two and a half weeks ago, suddenly the DOE was
all over Center school. Get your parents on board or you may lose fifth grade. They threatened behind closed doors away from parent eyes to our please for additional time. So center can prepare and parents can be engaged. The response was, why? What good would that do? So you can spend that time complaining. Chancellor Samuels, I've been at meetings with you. I know you wanna hear family voices. You always call on me. Does this sound like listening to Family Voices? Is this transparency and engagement? Now, the DOE accuses us of not communicating that impending relocation to our parent community. What in the midst of multiple assurances that there are no relocation plans?
Were we supposed to communicate to our parents how when instructed to keep quiet, were we supposed to communicate with our current parents? And what were we supposed to communicate? There might or might not be a move where we don't know when. We don't know. There definitely will not be a move. In September, 2026, Mr. O'Reilly, our principal, did keep our parents in the loop about everything we could and knew at the time there may or may not be a move for putter. There are capacity issues. So is it true that the DOE uh, entered multiple locations only to be rebuffed by a petulant and spoiled school?
What did we see? District three Leaders show showed our principal three sites, one deemed not school worthy by the school Construction authority. One recently renovated for preschool children, one for middle school children. These are soon an appropriate site would emerge from the bunch indicating that a relocation center members of pep, as you know, the center school was founded on a particular philosophy based on that special time between prepubescent and pubescent. The Center school is intentionally fifth grade intentionally
co-located with an elementary school, intentionally mixed grades and inclusive. We do not track by performance or abilities. And our curriculum is intentionally theater arts based and neighborhood based. There is a list of curricular needs for center school to thrive, much less rock labs Where my time starts. I wanna just say, um, congratulations on your new position. Can't hear you. Congratulations on your new position before my time starts. Mm-hmm. Okay. I'm really bad at this. Okay, so in hindsight, we were played, we were naive. We did not know the sites that we saw.
The unserious options were meant to be check box marks painted that paint us as difficult spoiled parents meetings that we were told to keep private were check boxed as parent engagement based on the history of PEP votes and re on rec sightings, mergers and truncations. We know now that these PE Bates PEP votes go in one direction. In the past several years, how many times has the PEP approved A DOE proposal? Despite parent objections, please reference Wes Prep
as a perfect example. In the next few weeks and months, you'll see that the de DOE will work in a fashion that suppresses most voices until the final hour. Our only hope of rectifying hasty closures, mergers, and reciting is to slow down, move forward, and in a general partnership with families, hold our new administration to their world, to their word. We want time for the DOE to engage with us. We are frustrated and we are angry. As you might have seen, our concerns are being completely dismissed. I will say, like Mike said, many parents were very disappointed when the new mayor
reneged on his promise of relinquishing mayoral control over public schools. We are now holding you to your word. Listen to us. Listen to parents, listen to teachers, and most importantly, listen to children. The center school has a legacy of greatness. It is a gem in the DOE that everyone should be looking at as an example of excellent to mimic. Do not ruin this school over an optic thank you. I I will say that we, you know the panelists listening. I came to your LIC town hall meeting. Thank I I wanted, sorry. I should have thanked you in the beginning.
It was such a pleasure to see you there, and we really, really appreciated your engagement. See, Other thing is we are Listening. Thank you. Bye bye. Good evening, members of the pep. My name is Amy Crane and I'm here tonight to ask for your help. We are fighting for our school community at the Richmond pre-K Center. Cohort B. This school was built on shared values, mutual respect, and a sense of belonging that lifted every student, family, and staff member. Dr. Joy Abrams has weakened that foundation over the last five years.
Chancellor Samuels, you stated publicly that you value joyful early childhood educational programs. We share that commitment deeply. However, we are concerned that Dr. Abrams actions are undermining the very foundation required for such programs to exist and thrive. In 2015, many of my fellow UFT siblings and I were founding staff members of a school based on the foundations of sound Early childhood education. Under Dr. Abram's direction, the school climate has become increasingly strained due to micromanagement, disrespect, inconsistent communication
and unpredictable decision making. This environment often leaves educators questioning their own competence and absorbing misplaced blame Opportunities for collaboration and staff comradery have diminished, replaced by a culture of fear and hesitation that affects even routine interactions within the school. Effective leadership requires shared vision and collect collective decision making. Currently, consensus building is absent and decisions are made without meaningful input from educators. The Department of Education has witnessed a culture of toxicity take root in our school by granting unchecked authority
to an administrator whose actions fracture rather than strengthen our community, the consequences of any inaction are deeply felt by our students, families, and the staff. Chance Samuels, please take a deep look at the culture and climate of the Richmond pre-K centers. Your intervention can safeguard our, safeguard our community, and set a precedent for protecting other schools facing similar challenges. We stand firm in our un waver and commitment. We stand together here tonight out of responsibility to restore a community that once thrived and to ensure it does so again for present and future pre-K students.
Thank you. Good evening, members of the panel and Chancellor Samuels. And congratulations, chancellor Samuels. Good luck. Um, for 21 years of my career, uh, I've worked at NDO High School with district 30 one's icon and visionary principal Deidre de Angelis, who was one of my mentors. Imagine a UFT rep saying a principal's, one of her men, one of his mentors. Um, Deidre reinforced the importance of building a positive culture and climate. Uh, she stressed the importance of clear,
respectful communication and she forged the foundation of sacred trust amongst stakeholders. Juxtaposed this with the situation at Richmond pre-K. Over the past five years, Dr. Abrams has neglected that that sacred bond of trust required to lead an academic community. She has poisoned the culture and climate, and her version of communication has forced chaos in what should be the educational sanctuary for our youngest learners. Please speak with the community stakeholders, the parents, the educators, the members of bargaining agents outside of the UFT who have experienced
the challenges of working with Dr. Abrams and District 30 one's leadership. I believe that district 31, uh, leadership has provided training and feedback for Dr. Abrams, but she has not shown growth from these reflections. If one does not learn from mistakes as an educator, then one is in the wrong profession. This lack of growth after years of opportunities for self-reflection leads to the conclusion that Dr. Abrams is not the right fit for this learning community. Everyone standing here tonight, despite the weather conditions and our evening duties to family
and planning for tomorrow's workday still bring us here. There is a compelling reason for this Chancellor. We are imploring you to take a deep look at this leadership crisis and review all of the details and the evidence, our youngest learners and our stakeholders, they deserve better. Thank you. Good evening everyone on the pep and welcome to our new Chancellor Samuels. My name is Fran Garish and I have a 4-year-old son enrolled in the Richmond pre-K Center at the Teleport. This is my second time addressing the pep and regarding the treatment of the students, the families,
and the staff by principal Dr. Abrams, my son, is excelling in this school and due to the truly amazing teaching staff that is standing behind me, and in spite of all the chaos created by Dr. Abrams, and now I'm truly embarrassed. I chose this school because I'm embarrassed by her behavior. I'm grateful this is his last year in the school. But as an incoming kindergartner, what else will he have to overcome? Is this the way to deal OE operates throughout New York City? The UFT has voted a 96% no confidence vote. In Dr. Abrams parents have spoken out about her actions.
What do we have to do to get the DOE to now hear us? I was terrified while investigating kindergarten programs that I will encounter another administrator like Dr. Abrams. How can I have any faith now in myself to choose a program for kindergarten? Knowing that principals are allowed to treat their staff terribly prohibit parents from even discussing matters with their teachers and ignore parents completely when valid complaints are brought up to her. I truly hope tonight will make you question why Dr. Abrams has even been permitted to behave this way. And why, as a mother do I have to fear that if I speak up,
that there'll be some sort of retaliation? How many staff members are so fearful to speak out due to her viciousness and to protect their livelihoods? And how brave of the staff who are speaking out and shame on the DOE for not immediately investigating so many direct safely complaints that have been made? I hope you can reconsider Dr. Abrams position as the principal of the Richmond pre-K Center, even though it won't directly affect my son after next year. I don't want the wonderful teaching staff that has made such a difference in this child in my child's life to suffer any longer. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Can I ask you to, we, we wanna hear the next list
of speakers I suspect might be coming from your Group. The next group of speakers are, I don't think so. Amanda Gilmore, uh, RA Salas, Rhoda a Ana, Julianne Parer and Max Miller. You can begin. Thank you. Good evening. Again, I just wanna remind each and every one of the parents in New York City public schools that it is in our parents' bill of right to opt out of any platform, any assessment, any instruction that we don't deem is appropriate for our children.
So if the DOE would kindly provide some way, some documentation to ensure that our children are not engaging in something harmful, that would be really great. I asked for this four months ago at a CEC President's meeting, um, with a Chancellor Avius Ramos. Um, and I have consistently voiced this as a parent that is actively, uh, advocating for the opt-out movement of state test, which again, another thing that we can actively opt out of. Um, the other thing that I really wanna bring up in this
space is that I really don't understand when the panel became a space for vendors to come and advocate and lobby for their own contracts and not a place for communities to voice their concerns and their opinions. And so I really don't understand Why at some point, the contracts committee was done away with another forum where people could actively engage with contracts before coming to the pep. Another opportunity for panel members to question and investigate what these contracts were about.
And another opportunity to debrief panel members as well as the public on what these contracts were about and how they all ended up coming here and reading letters as a company and not listen to the 541 people that signed a petition to not have AI platforms in our classroom, or the educators that consistently come to the meetings to advocate for centering children in our classrooms. So I really wanna say that this space has become really disappointing and I hope that we transform that with a new chancellor and a new mayor.
Thank you. Good evening. My name is Amanda Gilmore. I have had three children enrolled at Richmond pre-K over the past six school years since 2019. I currently have a child enrolled and my son is scheduled to attend next year. I am speaking tonight because I have serious concerns about enrolling him in a school that has come to be marked by poor communication, lack of transparency, inconsistent decision making, and a leadership culture that prioritizes attacking staff over protecting children. Because I have experienced Richmond pre-K under different
leadership, I want to be very clear the teachers and the classroom staff have consistently been excellent. The concerns I am raising about leadership judgment and the culture being created at the top. Over the past two school years, under the leadership of Dr. Joy Abrams, the environment has changed dramatically. What was once a warm collaborative child-centered school has become tense, unpredictable, and hostile. Parents and staff now hesitate to communicate outta fear of being dismissed, misrepresented, or spoken to disrespectfully. A recurring issue has been Dr.
Abrams refusal to communicate directly important decisions about my child were repeatedly relayed through third parties agreements would be reached only for me to be told minutes later, she said no. While Dr. Abrams sits back and refuses to join the conversation herself. There have also been serious transparency issues, including false claims about teacher certifications and instructions to staff not to speak with parents in order to cover those claims. Most alarming are her repeated laps lapse in judgments, allowing irate parents into classrooms to film
with children present, but not allowing other children to attend the same events. So I ask why are siblings being treated as a threat while angry adults are welcomed into the classroom? What message are we sending about whose safety truly matters? I've watched her be parade teachers, Paris and staff in front of parents, what happens behind closed doors, if that's what we're seeing. Thank you. You can begin. You, you can begin. Thank you. Um, my name is Max Miller. I have a fifth grader at Center School. We are asking for more time and real parent engagement.
We need a collaborative approach to any plans for center schools relocation. Two minutes is not enough time to speak to everything tonight, which feels on the nose for how this whole process has unfolded. The DOE is rushing behind closed doors to a crippling relocation resolution and has failed to engage in listen to our community. You've received many letters detailing our concerns and our willingness to move this process forward together in a way that secures student, parent, and faculty buy-in and gives any relocation plan the greatest chance
of immediate and sustained success. Let's be very clear that while there has been no meaningful parent involvement, we are engaging so that real, restorative, honest, forthright, and positive work can take place. I hope that the DOE is willing to take a step back and learn together with the community that is here for the work without the time to go into details. If it's about center's core philosophy, onsite theater and theater tech, onsite yard space for all school, recess, onsite sports programming, co-location, neighborhood as co-teacher, safe
and easy access to subways class size law compliance, student retention, diversity integration, positive student outcomes, DOE optics. Then there is a strong case to slow this process down and refocus our efforts together. Center school has been a pillar of this, of success by every metric for over 40 years, which has been achieved without the kind of financial benefaction that some other successful public schools in our district enjoy, including PS nine. We could be saying no, but we aren't. We are active. We are here. We are saying let's find a solution.
The leadership of our city and the DOE of espoused community activism as a means to positive growth. We are modeling that for you and our children. We ask that you honor that commitment and get this right. I'm sure. Good evening. I would like you to understand that the situation at the Richmond pre-K Center is critical. I have been with the school for four years as my oldest has gone there as well. I started to see the deterioration about two years ago, but it's now far worse. The final straw was last year's graduation. Dr. Abrams allowed a parent to enter the building without her child present.
She knew there was a situation with this parent and the teacher, but it was unbeknownst to the rest of us parents in the room. Why was this individual allowed in the building? Shouldn't security have been made aware of other staff members to prevent the events that transpired in the middle of graduation? The parent was screaming in front of our children, recording our children in a private setting without our consent. My husband and I have tried so hard to get the video removed on so many sites, but once it's out there, it's out there. Why would Dr. Abrams put our children and us in that position? I tell you why. Because she has no foresight and lacks in integral skills for the position she holds.
She couldn't even handle the situation as it transpired and scared all the children in special education classroom. Where are her judgment skills? She has none. And she sure certainly failed to deescalate the situation this year. Didn't start well either. She canceled the meet and greet with teachers the day of myself and a few other parents had arrived and security had to come out to tell us to, it was canceled. And then the chaos of the first day as we didn't know what teacher, what classroom, what room then pile on that the special education teacher quit two days in. Not enough. This was communicated to parents, no transparency whatsoever.
We trust you with our children. And this is what the administration felt was the right course to take. Keep the parents in the dark, fill the spot with an unqualified individual and keep it hush hush. How does this make any sense? And where is the logic behind this decision? This is not a leader. This leads me to my final point. The atmosphere at the school. I have seen the staff yelled at for nothing and treated so poorly. A true leader does not have to belittle someone to feel superior. Due to all of this, I can no longer recommend the school to other parents. I have left brave reviews about the school in the past and recommended it to several families, but that has stopped when asked, I say, I do not recommend it because of the administration.
I truly wish you would really listen to what we are saying. We have receipts. Please make a difference for our children and the staff. They deserve it. The next group of speakers are Shanik Maldonado, Selena Bebe, James McKean, Peter Devlin, and James McKean. Oh, I, that's name is there twice. Um, Rashida Brown Harris. You can make your way down to the microphone and begin speaking. Good evening. My name is Shanik Maldonado. I was here before, spoke about PS 22 when the fact
that they don't open their doors till eight 15. There's a lot of bus drivers that are very nervous. They're scared that once the kids run across the street, they're going to get hit because the door's open and everybody gets out of their cars. The the buses are open, people are walking their kids and there's people driving. It's a safety concern. I brought it up many times to admin at PS 22, and I'm begging you to please look into it. We don't know what's gonna happen. One day, one kid might get hit by a bus and this is something that could be prevented. They did offer early breakfast before COVID.
Now that COVID is over. All the other schools have this policy in effect where they opened the doors early. I don't understand why this can't happen for PS 22. Our students are really young and they should not be left out in the cold unsupervised. I myself am a DOE employee. I have to be at work, but I can't because I have to drop my daughter off at eight 15. There's many, many people that said that they would volunteer and that they would be willing to go and open the doors early. There's people that would agree to change their schedules and open the doors earlier.
A lot of schools have, um, a drop off service where the staff members come to the cars and open the doors and greet the students. I was yelled at instead because I was letting my daughter out and blocking traffic. I don't know what to do anymore. I've joined the SLT. I've joined the PTA and I've joined the Title one. I'm exhausted because I am a single mom. I am a school counselor and I'm still joining because I'm fighting for these kids rights. I don't want anybody to get hurt. I don't want anybody to be called. I don't want these kids to be unsupervised
and I have to get to work so that I don't get fired. So please, I'm begging you to look into it and have PS 22 opens the door a little earlier. Okay, So we're gonna do something a little bit now. Um, trying to do panel member You wanted to speak Garcia, were you? No. Okay. So what we're gonna, we, we wanna make sure that we have your information and connect you to public safety. Well, yeah. Could you tell us bur and district? Is there anyone here from public safety? I, I'm sorry, I can't hear. Okay. Yeah. Okay. So, so, so here we're gonna connect you. We're gonna have public safety involved in this
and really be able to follow up. So connect with each other and we'll follow up. It's not you, but I'm just really, honestly, I fear for my own job because I am a DOE employee, but I can't see this One. There's no reason to affair. No. You're bringing us useful information. I just about impossible safety issue. We're connecting you with folks that can possibly help you to resolve this issue. We want to try to resolve the problem. So I think this would, this will help to do that. Um, trust us. We'll, we're we hear you. Thank you. All Right. Thank you. The speaker on my left. Pete Devlin, CSA. I am here representing CSA President Henry Rubio
and the 18,000 in-service and retired school leaders. We serve at an increasing number of PEP meetings. This forum is being used to air disputes that originate inside individual schools. Teachers now publicly organize when they seek to challenge management decisions, leadership styles, professional expectations, and or accountability measures. And they inappropriately bring these gripes to you as a strategy to achieve their personal goals. Let us be clear. School staff have the right to raise concerns, file grievances, and organize if they believe their contractual
rights have been violated. Our system is built to protect those rights. How? By distinguishing between formal grievances and the informal tensions that arise in any demanding workplace. These distinctions exist to ensure fairness, due process, and stability for our students and educators. However, a troubling pattern has emerged when a superintendent in DOE Central support a principal as they drive instruction to improve student outcomes. Informal frustrations are aired at pet meetings. This prioritizes escalation over resolution
and public visibility over process. These actions prioritize adults over children. To make matters worse, some dangerously amplify their emotional responses through coordinated press, outreach and social media campaigns. This cycle must stop. But what will turn these critical pet meetings into performative theater and distort our city's understanding and opinions of our public school system? Thank you. Thank You. Okay. Jim mc? Yes, sir. May. Okay. Uh, I'm ask say for the public, for the folks in the audience when you were given an
opportunity to speak and there was an interruption, I'm gonna ask you to show that respect to the other speakers, Jim Mcn. You can begin 32 years serving a DOE 10 years as principal. I'm also here representing CSA and President Henry Rubio and our members. I would like to imagine if our union organized 50 principles within one district to read a statement after statement, highlighting our concerns about one superintendent That man's here tonight. That's something we would never do to him. Would it be appropriate? No. We'll, not.
We understand that it would be detriment to every other district in the city. It's a bad precedent to set. The pep plays a vital role in policy. It's not designated to adjudicate workplace disputes or personal matters. When issues like that are brought here, they cannot be meaningful or addressed. They divert time from the PEPs intended work affects the school leadership requires making decisions that will not always be popular because it requires implementing thoughtful changes to support our students and families when those decisions are reframed
as public controversy, the focus shifts away from students towards adult gripes. Again, the question, question is not whether the concern should be heard or addressed. We recognize every one of the people that came up here today with their concerns and they should be addressed. But the question is whether or not the proper forum for them is here. Meeting after meeting. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Hey, y'all. Peace and blessings. My name is Rashida Brown Harris. My pronouns are she, her, hers.
And I am a parent leader with new settlement pac Parent Action committee. And I was late on GPS have me gone all around the world and back again, but I'm here. And so I missed all of the contracts, um, that I signed up to speak for. But I will just say nobody wants an AI contract of any kind without a clear playbook and guidance. And we want clear guidance and info on how to opt out. Um, when will we, when will the busing situation actually be finalized? Like, because we're in the same boat that we were in back in November and no one has said much of anything, um, about it,
and there hasn't, you know, been much discussion on any media coverage, um, on it any longer. Um, y'all approved contracts for literacy, professional development and coaching after we just got rid of our literacy coaches will make that make sense. Um, and just overall, I want it on record. Why do we keep you, um, approving five year contracts? Um, five year terms in general? Like, I know it might be, um, less work, but it doesn't always make sense. Um, also the contract on food deliveries. We need to make sure that the food is delivered. It's inspected to make sure
that the quality is maintained throughout delivery and that the kids are receiving edible food. Um, welcome Chancellor Samuels annuals. Um, thank y'all. Pep and always, I mean, you know, we're not always gonna get along and agree, but we want to continue to try to work together and let it be a true collective, um, and really hear the voices of the community members, the parents, the school staff, and the students. Also wanna give a shout out to Curtis High School and their football team and Coach Gamble and, um, their sports department. And we all need healing center schools.
So let's work on healing centered and restorative practices in all our public schools. Thank you. Good evening panel. Uh, good evening Chancellor. Uh, my name is Amy Dowd. I have appeared, uh, twice to read my own statements. Tonight I'm reading a statement on behalf of Solina Burnaby. Um, I'm just gonna quickly say that if a superintendent was abusive to every principal in their district, I hope those principals would also unite and speak to you about that treatment. From Salina Burnaby, I accepted a position at Richmond, pre-K, cohort B under principal Joy Abrams with Hope.
Hope that I was joining a school community rooted in compassion, professionalism, and care. Hope that I would be supported as an educator and respected as a human being. For a brief moment, that hope carried me into the school year with optimism that hope began to unravel. When my life was forever changed by a devastating loss. My brother took his own life. In the midst of overwhelming grief, I did what I was permitted and protected to do. I took approved time through my union to grieve and begin the painful process of healing. I returned to work, still holding onto the hope that I would be met with understanding. Instead, hope was met with hostility.
When I met with Principal Abrams, upon my return, I expected empathy, or at least professionalism. What I received was berating and dismissal. She told me I should not have accepted the position if my attendance was going to be a problem. She ignored my union representative's explanations that my time away was allowed. As I sat there in tears, she escalated the situation, threatening to write me up and accusing me of abandoning my job. In that moment, whatever I hope I had had, had left, began to slip away. I returned to my classroom that day. I held on to hope for the children, for my colleagues, and for the belief that doing the right thing still mattered. But the experience did not end there.
I was called into another meeting that offered no resolution, no support, and no compassion, only further criticism and demands for respect without any acknowledgement of my grief or humanity. Principal Joy Abrams describes herself as a fearless leader, but leadership without compassion extinguishes hope rather than inspires it throughout my year at pre-K. Are you, I'm inspired. I've never seen hope so consistently. I'm sorry. You, I'm inspired from a stand. Can I, can I just point out, did you speak already prior today? No, no. I spoke to you in October and November. Okay.
The next group of speakers, Reverend Letitia Thompson, Jackie Iye, um, Amelia Cason, Lashay Daniel, Danny Auerbach, Calvin Smith, and Abba Mji. I think some people probably signed up in two places, but you may speak. Good evening. My name is Reverend Leticia Thompson. Um, happy New Year everyone, and, um, welcome Chancellor Samuels to the mix. Um, I wanna first say, um, thank you for your courage
to all of you who continue to consistently show up. Um, it means a lot to parents. Um, and so, um, we commend UFT chapters that are bold and courageous and who stick up for our babies, who we put our children in their care, to be quite frank. We don't put them in the care of administrators. We know that is the teacher that is an extension of ourselves in the classrooms. And so we trust that they are going to be cared for, that they are going to be supported, that they are going
to be developed and not berated, undermined or abused. So again, I commend you with your courage. Um, I unfortunately can hear them very loudly because I had to put in a mayoral complaint in order to get my one little school in the South Bronx to be heard. I had to go to the mayor's office just to get heard. So what I wanna say in this forum is that this is CSA. That's what did it. 'cause I, I was gonna yield my time.
But, you know, uh, CSA notice, be on notice. We will say what we need to say to make sure that district school leadership does their job. You are paid too much money for you to come into a school and abuse people who are serving our community. We are done being silenced by your intimidation tactics. Your suit and your tie, and your lawyers don't matter because the public is going to always have the power.
Thank you. This Okay? I'm gonna ask you again to please, uh, come to order. Yeah. But I, I, I would hope that you would be able as a teacher to please come to order and respect our process here. Uh, the next speaker, just, but please respect our process. Good evening, pep. My name is Heather Wolf and I'm a three K teacher at the Richmond. And pre-K I don't come up here to make a statement for myself. I'm reading by proxy, a statement for a parent who is too afraid to come for fear of re retaliation, retaliation from the principal.
And I mean, how do I follow that, that lady? I mean, I don't know, but good evening. I'm making this statement in On behalf of a parent who is not attending this evening, she is the parent of a child who has attended the Richmond pre-K Center and has directly felt the impact of Dr. Abram's actions and mismanagement of the Preschool Center. A place that is a child's first introduction to the world of education. While the teachers and staff seek to foster an environment of learning, inclusivity and social emotional growth, Dr. Abrams has instead created a culture
that can only be characterized by persistent administrative roadblocks, obstacles, and adversarial and hostile environments for both the staff, parents, and families. Chancellor. You recently stated in an email to the DOE personnel that you believe deeply in transparency, accountability, and meaningful engagement. That the doe's work will be strongest when families know their voices are heard. In practice, Dr. Abrams recorded actions over the past years do not align with your mission for the DOE. Specifically, Dr. Abrams has gone so far as to block communication between teachers, staff, and parent.
She instructed our child's teacher and paraprofessionals not to speak with us during arrival or dismissal at school. Even though an open line of communication is a cornerstone to collaboration and needed for the success of our children and to address their needs, I ask who suffers the repercussions from her actions? The children, Dr. Abrams told the parents that a special education teacher was hired to cover a vacancy, and that the teacher had a special ed license. We then discovered that that was not the case, and Dr.
Abrams head lied about it. Who suffers? The children? Dr. Abrams consistently, consistently fails to return phone calls, emails, or requests from me. I'm sorry, your time has expired. Okay. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Chair. That is the end of the signup list for speakers. Okay. Thank you. Thank you very much. Uh, ho Hold it. Hold it. Did I call your name? What did your name, what's your name? Can't hear. They didn't sign up. Hold on. Speak. Sign. Up. They didn't sign up. Yeah. You, you didn't sign up, but come, come hold it, hold it, hold it.
Come on. We're gonna let you speak. Speak. I'm pretty good at this. Oh, yeah. She didn't put, um, I see your name, but it doesn't say what you wanted to speak about. Okay. Is, which is fine. Okay. So please. Tiffany Rodriguez and I don't, your name one Mike Robles. Thank you. Okay. And, uh, congratulations again, Mr. Thomas. I'm here as a proud parent of two beautiful special children at PS 180 1. And I'm here also in support of the parents at the center school who wanna keep their school rightfully so. But I'd like to just keep our school open. I'm not quite sure what the statistics
or the rationale for why you would close a school like this, but is it unfair for kids who are learning to find their identity to suddenly be without a school? My daughter, who is also special needs, has been having a hard time finding any sort of special needs options. And the fact that I found a community school that can, can serve her properly and now lose it simply because of numbers that they're probably not in her control, seems both, quite frankly, disappointing. Lastly, the transparency, knowing that we weren't even on the list to talk today, but the fact that we didn't even have conversations about
where we would go, where our children would go, and how we could speak up, speaks volumes about how our representation is not taking into consideration. Thank you. Good evening, chancellor. Members of the pep, I'm a little nervous. My name is Tiffany Rodriguez. I'm a proud parent who a sixth grader at 1 91 and a senior at LaGuardia High School, who is on his way to Morehouse in the fall, but graduated from 1 91 just three and a half years ago. Chancellor Samuels has spoken about the importance of integrative schools. PSIS 1 91 Riverside School for Makers
and Artists is exactly that. An integrated community serving, serving multilingual students, children with IEPs and families across our district. What happened to our school did not happen because of our children, families, or our teachers. It happened to them January of 2023, IS 1 91, and PS 1 91 observed absorbed nearly 300 non-English speaking students. With this, without the staffing or infrastructure required to support that growth. We experienced a turnover of approximately 50 teachers in three years, and the loss of four exceptional assistant
principals in just a year and a half. That level of instability would impact any school. Parents and staff Raised concerns early. We went to the then superintendent, come on. We asked for intervention resources and support for our teachers. What we received was an action. And now truncation is being presented as the first and only solution. Most of our parents and staff were only informed of this possible proposal last week. Chancellor, Sam, you, you shared with me. You believed our school could be fixed, but that your concern was that it might take too much time. Respectfully, time should be invested in fixing harm,
not used as a reason to walk away from children. It is not equitable to compare our school to any schools that are able to deliver a full 50 minute lesson in one language when our educators must teach through an electronic translator leaving roughly 15 minutes per language for instruction. We may not be as affluent as the PS nine parents, but our, our children deserve an adequate high quality education. Lower income does not mean less parenting, less advocacy, or less potential. This proposed solution doesn't feel like a loss, but instead, like our land is being stolen, if we truly believe, excuse
Me, I'm sorry. Your time has expired. Thank you. There's some name, other names. I wanna make sure that we've covered them. Um, Flavio bu um, Jimmy Ammo. Okay. Hi. Thank you. Uh, I'm a parent of twin fifth graders at Center School. Last year we were perfectly happy at PS 87 and always assumed they would finish elementary school there with their friends and apply to Booker t for middle school as our first choice, along with other middle schools. 87 typically feeds into, then we learn about center school, this progressive, quirky in the best way, school that only in New York City with a public school system support.
We attended information sessions, toured the school, did our research, and decided this pedagogically innovative nearby school was worth pulling our kids out of PS 87, forgoing the typical middle school application process and putting them on this path offered to us by the DOE. We were thrilled to have been admitted and planned the next four years of our lives around the idea that our kid would attend, our kids would attend school there, especially with middle school being the major attrition point for NYC public school families. Our trust in the DOE was reflexive. We have been loud fans and advocates of NYC public schools, always telling anyone
who would listen, how happy we were with them and their role on us to build an affordable life here. Then at the CEC meeting on January 20th, I was astonished to learn that it appeared that from the very beginning of the whole above process, the DOE had been withholding from us the crucial information that they had been planning to evict this place. And per the environment as the third teacher philosophy fundamentally change center school's unique and prove a model, this breach of trust was frankly, shocking and heartbreaking. I ask that you please reject this abrupt move
and start over with a deliberative, thoughtful, and inclusive process, including to build back the trust of those of us who believed in and relied on the DOE in committing to New York City to reduce attrition and increase enrollment. Families need to know that the school application process is transparent and honest and have the confidence to make important life decisions without worrying that the rug will be pulled from under them. Thank you very much. Thank you. I, I was reminded by panel member reti that, uh, for those of you who may wanted to make extended comments,
or if you feel that you didn't really get a chance to speak tonight, you, you can email your comments to us and it's, and you should, should use the email. Actually. You get a response and we read them. Um, so, um, please take advantage of that opportunity that doesn't, um, forego you. I mean, somebody mentioned, um, getting here a little bit late and some of the items had already been covered. Um, you can still in advance of speaking at the public meeting, you can use our email. I think it's being displayed. You can email us and, and present your comment. Those comments are then forwarded and then read, and then I believe get a response.
Family member ca ready. Thank you so much for elevating that. I just wanna also add that on the DOE pep webpage, there is a another link for written public comment, and you could submit through that link as well. Um, if you wanna write to us individually or collectively, our emails are also on the pep website on the member page. Thank you so much. I am discovering that they have found my email, so Yeah, I get tons. I've get a lot of 'em. So, um, but no, it's important.
I re and I read them, um, and try to respond as often as I can. Uh, okay. We've reached a point in the agenda now for a panel member comment. So if any panel members wish to offer comment, I see panel member Hannah Jones, your hand first panel member. Dr. Speed. Dr. Speed. Yes. Yep. Oh, man. I've been waiting for this. Oh, man. First off, um, to the, um, parents, the teachers and, uh, community school community of the pre-K school. Uh, I stand with you. Uh, I too have gone through the same thing
with my principal in district 13. I too stood where you stood to advocate. Uh, I will say I too sat with this man, chancellor Samuels, who were then Superintendent Samuels, who stood with me, sat with me while I made the, uh, the, uh, grievances of our community known. And I will tell you that, uh, this man is the real deal. Uh, I will tell you that the battle scars that I have suffered, he's also sat with me.
I've also watched him go into public housing in his little rinky dink car and sit with mothers and community all night with PTA Presidents PAC members. And I will tell you that you are in good hands with this, this chancellor. And I will say, my brother, I'm really, uh, proud of you. Um, I'm not gonna get too emotional 'cause we have a whole lot of work to do before I get mad at you. Uh, but I will say
that I am extremely proud, uh, and I'll tell the rest of the panel members is I told you, uh, this school district, our school system needs steady leadership. Someone who can help guide the ship, someone who's going to speak, uh, truth to power and speak the truth regardless of what's happening in our country today. Uh, someone who's not afraid to say the word integration and tell you what it means. Someone who's not afraid to say restorative justice. Someone who's not afraid to say black. Someone who is not afraid to stand up
and put the priorities of our D 75 students, our students who are in public housing, our students who are part, part of our, uh, um, our shelter system. Who, who, and I'm, I mean, I'm not telling you to butter him up. This is a man who sat in the trenches with me and will sit in the trenches with you. And if you stand tall, we will stand tall with you, especially the ones who here, who have been, will press him when, when needed. And, uh, I want to say sir, uh, welcome is a very well deserved. Um, and we in it together. I'm glad we're in it together.
Uh, district 13, he was a superintendent of district 13 when the cha uh, when Chancellor Banks at the time, uh, caused all the superintendents to reapply for his jobs. And at the time that we were doing that, we had equity work that we were po that we were doing before COVID. And this is the man that did it. And he had to reply, apply for his job, which actually delayed some of the work in District 13. But he pressed on and he pressed on and, and, and persevered. And I'm happy that he's sitting in that seat. And I'm happy that he's gonna teach a few of us, uh,
that have been on the status quo on how to do this real work. And, uh, I'm, I'm going to, uh, uh, quote the great, uh, Jay-Z, uh, let's show them how we do this, son. Let's show them how we do this. Um, let's show them how we do, how we make history. Um, I want to, uh, first, um, just acknowledge, um, a school that's in a D 75 school in, uh, district 13 who had an event today. Uh, that school is PS seven seven K, uh, that's one
of our D 75 schools. The principal there is Ebony Russell. And, uh, today, uh, they had a documentary, uh, showing called, um, tomorrow Starts Now A Story of Food Justice by Josiah, uh, Jesse. And Josiah Jesse is one of their students, these 75 students who created this documentary about, uh, uh, doing a, a garden in his school. And, uh, I encourage everyone, uh, to look at it.
So, PS seven, seven K has officially been awarded the 2026 Waterwise Garden Grant. This incredible support will help, uh, PS seven seven K expand their garden, enhance their outdoor classroom, and strengthen their student run cafe, their student run Farmer's market and their vocational programs. Uh, so I want to let them know that we are, I am very excited and proud to have, uh, had the opportunity to tour it. I didn't get a chance to see the documentary, but I will. Um, but I just want to, uh, express that and also say that to our pre-K, um, parents that, uh,
we stand with you and, uh, we're gonna continue to stand with you. Keep coming. Uh, those who are also sitting in the back who got here late, I too got here late 'cause of, uh, other parent parental duties. Uh, I do believe in really acknowledging the ones who sit in the back. The ones who get here late. Not everybody that comes here first or afforded, uh, the price of admission is sitting in the front row should be heard first. I really believe the ones who get here late and the ones who sit in the back do get hurt,
should be heard first. And their priorities should be elevated. 'cause there's a reason why you get here late. There's a reason why you're in the back. And there's a reason why our ci our seats are empty. They're not empty 'cause parents don't care. They're empty because they have other area things that the city and our society does not allow them to be here and sit here to do. So when we have to carry our business, let's carry our business for those empty seats. Let's keep it in mind that we're not doing the business of those who are just present, but also that the ones that are not here. And we're not going to criticize you for just showing up to one or two meetings.
We should be celebrating you for showing up. And the ones who don't show up, we are not going to, we are our, it's not our position to criticize why you're here. Now. We are happy that you're here now. So I will end that and say Happy New Year. Uh, chancellor Banks, I, I'm sorry, chancellor, uh, Samuels, uh, let's do this. I'm happy for you and, uh, I'm a I'm gonna be on you. And, uh, yeah. So it's all good. Uh, I also want to say that the, the, the, the, uh, the two guys that were in the suit that was in support
of principals, I, they're not here to, for me to say this, but I, I do want to say shame on you. Shame on any union if you are representing, if you are part of a union. I know they do. Listen, folks, I'm gonna say this real quick. I'm gonna say this real quick and leave it alone. I'm, I'm a, I'm a big supporter of unions and I, I am apor, I'm, I am also on my union. But I also believe in holding leadership accountable. And when you have poor leadership and no confidence in the leadership in your school, that is more than a red flag. That is a cry for help. And there should be something done immediately.
So when you have a whole teacher body, 90, over 95% of the teacher body that does not have confidence in the school leadership, that in itself is a problem. And, you know, who suffers The cohorts that are in that building, those are the people that, those are the little ones that suffer because they don't get to the other grades. Because some of the, some of our schools that have poor leadership don't have kids that are able to get into those pro those, uh, uh, those elite programs because of poor leadership.
And I've been there, my child has been there, and there's other cohorts that has also been there. So those, uh, I'm, I'm saying that not to just sit up here in Babylon, 'cause I'm talking some real truth here, but I'm really letting you know that we are in support. Those who are sitting here in the panel are not going to tolerate bad leadership in these schools. And it's time to clean it up. Thank you. Okay. I saw panel member minutes, first Panel member Ano, then Penman Alban. Um, I, I will make this brief. Um, as someone who has had to speak up
for her own child's injustice at the hands of a pre-K center, um, I want to commend the parents, teachers, and advocates that came to speak out today. Um, it's not easy, but we hear you. We hear you loud and clear, and thank you so much for coming out today. Um, it is really hard to do and I really appreciate you all advocating the what you have. So, happy New Year, everyone, um, fresh and clean, starting off the year, fresh and clean with the new, with the new Chancellor. And also want to, uh, acknowledge, uh, Jordan Stockdale coming from Control Levine's office.
And I wanted to talk about some ancillary business of the pep that most people don't really understand this board, everyone on this board sits on the New York City Board of Education Retirement System Board. That's a 12, it's $12 billion fund. Um, in fact, yesterday, uh, with Chairman Faulkner and supported by Maha, we, we worked hard to divest a hundred percent from for-profit prisons. And so there is an element, education should theoretically lead to economic, develop economic mobility. And I want to tell the, although we have their new chancellor here and our,
and our new representative of the controller's office, that through the pensions, we can actually provide economic mobility. Right now for many communities, there's a program called ETI that's been on the books since the eighties. And it's been underutilized. There's been seven deals in this program. 2% of the $300 billion can be allocated to neighborhoods that need support right now. That's benefit that couldn't happen right now. And, um, and it's been utilized and we've, the controller's offices in the past have perpetuated the Wall Street status quo.
65% of public employees are people of color, yet 8% of the assets are managed by firms, owned by people of color. That's a disparity that we should not be able, we should not stand anymore. And I don't wanna talk to any more students when I ask them, what do you wanna be when you grow up? I wanna be a rapper or an NBA player. Well, you're too short and you got no bars, but you know what? Wall Street's three stops away from where you live. We need to perpetuate the Wall Street and Finance as a, as a real potential for our students and really focus on, on this industry being important to them. Um, so I wanted to lift that up.
I want to thank everybody because I know a lot of people don't even know they're on the pension board when they become a PEP member. I actually got on the PEP because I wanted to be on the pension board and influenced us because I think it's so important. And we really could, through the power of the pension through that $300 billion, that's collective. And we specifically say this board has influence on 160 billion of that, do those dollars, um, should really work hard to develop an overall strategy on how do we, how we use that. Thank you very much. It, Thank you, pier. Yeah, I normally try to keep the two boards separate,
but I really appreciate your comments because there is so much that happens within that, those meetings, um, that really, um, could affect our communities for a lifetime. When I, I was reading some of the, um, resolutions and past bills, and I saw that we invest in private prisons, and I just thought that was a contradiction for the Board of Education of the city of New York to invest in prisons. And, um, it's, it hasn't been easy. We're getting some resistance, but we're gonna fight through it. So I'm gonna encourage you, if you haven't come to those, come to those meetings, we need your voice there because there's a lot happening and it happens in secret.
And we're trying to, with Tony, bring it out and really have conversations. I, I will say to our new the controller's rep, I'm excited to have, um, a new controller. Maybe I'll just leave it at that. Yeah. You know, And check your LinkedIn, Mr. Stockton, and Then we'll, we'll follow up later. Yeah. Yes, Adam, that I'm sorry you don't, you can go first. I'm okay. I appreciate that. Maybe we need to echo this throughout the rest of the boroughs. I just, you know, I would like for
parents, particularly black and brown parents, to really understand that there are two paradigms that are going on right now. There's the things that happen in front of the door, and there's the things that happen behind the door. And in our society, we are trained to react to the things that happens in front of the door, which keeps us in crisis, which keeps us of scarcity. And on a line of what panel member, uh, Tony and, uh, chair Greg Faulkner, there is literally,
I don't know if there's, you know, we, we share passion for music for a lot of things in a black and brown community. And it really is a privilege to understand that if you were the artist in the booth singing that the rules that you don't see is what the engineers are doing, the levels that are changing to create a sound that they wanna hear, to add, to turn things up, and to turn things down.
And so what I'm asking for people who have historically been so resilient, as my auntie used to tell me, live for surprises. So you won't die of shock. I want you to be able to really understand that you're really being messed with. And it is our job to pull a curtain back as parents historically, just to see what's going on behind the curtain. Because you'll understand that all of this, you know, we walk on the streets, somebody created those streets. Somebody said, there's, there's a difference
between a street and a beach. And then we're gonna have you thinking that the shoes that you purchased is your choice. Somebody created the street, somebody created the difference between walking in the train station and what happens underneath the train station. So for all of historically black and brown people who has systemically felt that something was a little off, it's off. It's off. And so you come so far standing on the shoulders of the ancestors,
we are their greatest dream that our ancestors, we are it. And what they gave us historically is the capacity to think a little different, to hold two realities, because we've been doing it anyway. But can we benefit from one, can we benefit more? Because everyone, I can't be in scarcity all the time. Like that, that reality starts, it feels funny. So I just say that, that what we have to do in this new time is to deal with
what we have in our left hand, but understand what the right hand is doing. And I commit, this is challenging because a lot of these policies have gone with such shame. People don't know what to do because the system is, is, doesn't have the, the, the, the, uh, blueprint to solve the issues that were created hundreds of years ago. And so we just have to be courageous. And like some of the panel members said, sometimes it's best to listen and, and to hear what other people have to say
and not be the first to speak, because you have to listen to the stuff that is not being presented to you. What is not being presented to you requires a different set of ears. And we have the capacity to do both. And I will leave it at that because we definitely have work to do behind the scenes that you need to be aware of. Because I don't like being messed with. It's True. I yield And, you know, thank you. And I also wanna thank panel member Casare, because they have been very outspoken on the issue
of prison investment. I, I read your communication, letting them know this is a broad direction coming from the panel. And it's not just something from myself or something coming from my, uh, my panel of sap, but it is something that is coming organically from the entire panel and believe there is resistance. And so we need to just be vigilant and keep pushing it. And that's what we're doing. So, yeah, I don't for sure it yielded. So I wanna go to PanAm of Alban. I, so sorry, we're not supposed to do this. And I really a apologize, just that this, um,
this topic is so absolutely and critically important, and we cannot bury it over and over and over again. It has to be at the forefront of these conversations. And, um, I just wanna thank the chair, thank the entire panel because my very first day on this panel, I don't know if you all remember, we voted on that contract, um, for, uh, using products that were developed through prison labor. And, um, and it was a unanimous no. And I feel like that was such a, um,
such a strong, um, period that like bound me to this group and just felt so powerful that we had, uh, I think it was Emma Vera who had spoken and said that the DOE is in this challenging situation because by law we have to do this. And so we need more people to speak out on this issue. And so just thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. And thank you to Shirley for letting me speak. And now I will be quiet and thank you so much.
Now, Colin, Pamela, um, Alban, She, Oh, you're yielding again, Again. I'm gonna go right this way in a second. Yeah, we're cooperative. Hello everyone. Adriana Ali, she her here for Queen CECs. I'm so happy that we're talking about burrs and TRS stuff. Um, so in the spirit of this like positivity and transparency, um, and since the door was opened and we had conversations about the right hand and the left hand, knowing what each other are doing, and what's interesting about the core craft contract is that while, yes, we unanimously voted no, and there was a series of conversations after that, wouldn't you know
that in the DOE central office, when you go into the bathroom on the second floor, which is right next to I think the chancellor's staff's office or maybe teaching and learning staff's office, one of their offices, the soap dispenser clearly displays the core craft logo. Um, but my burrs, TRS uh, question, comment, uh, and, and it's really just something I hope to leave all of the rest of the panel members with, is while we are divesting from, you know, prison related, um, investments, I think it's really important that we consider divesting from Palantir.
My understanding is we have like $60 million currently invested in Palantir or something like that. And considering the current administration, considering the friends of that cabinet, considering, considering, considering this is New York City, I think it's really important that we consider divesting from them as well. Thank you. Sure. Um, Anybody else wanna, you wanna Take? Yeah, does anybody want else? Okay. I, I'm evolving. I'm gonna like, try to kind of wrap up like what everybody's comments. Um, first, um, happy New Year.
My name is Shirley oban, Queen's BP Appointee. Um, education is a fabric that is woven through our communities. It's the glue, it affects every single our lives. It affects our, uh, economic status. It affects our health. It, it affects our knowledge, but it also leads to empowerment. So, 'cause without knowledge, there's no empowerment. So this is gonna lead to my ask. I had this ask for the past three years, and, you know, it takes money. Everything takes money, right? We need funding.
And, you know, every year we come up to that vote regarding the fair student funding. So have been asked, could you please, and I, I, for us, for me, I feel to do our actual due diligence to know how the weights are calculated because we are not approving how calculate how we cap use the fair student funding to calculate budget, but we're using the weights. That's what we are applying, uh, uh, approving. So I need to see how we calculate those weights. Most of them, except for the two that has been changed recently, uh,
haven't been changed since decades. I would like to know how those numbers came about, right? Because that is what we are approving, is those weights, is it enough? Uh, we are dedicating enough funding to the appropriate, uh, areas, right? And there was other questions. I asked about this in July, um, coming into the third school year, and I asked to be, you know, by December 1st, right? I was reasonable. Asked to July, had a lot of months. Someone said, no, we'll give it to you in 30 days. We approaching February 1st. And I haven't gotten that information. And there was other questions
regarding the fair student funding. I really need to know because, uh, I personally can't feel like I'm doing my due diligence if I don't know where these numbers are coming from, right? I need to know where the numbers are coming from to see if it makes sense. We are not getting enough funding as it is, but we gotta make sure that those weights are appropriate or enough for, you know, for our scholars, right? Um, that's, that's the business part. I would like to say that. Um, chancellor Samuels, I want to congratulate you again for being here, uh, being appointed to the Chancellor.
I am looking forward to a fellow math geek so we can, uh, see well how we gonna, um, improve and, um, evolve New York City solves. But I also, of course, New York City reads and New York City cares. Again, I want to send my congratulations and I'm looking forward, uh, working with you and, and empower and remember empowerment. We want to be empowered, not just engaged. Thank you. Absolutely. Thank you. A any other panel members feel inspired or motivated to, to say anything?
A lot of, a lot of great stuff been said. Can I, can I, um, would you yield? Yes, go ahead. No, no, no, no. You go ahead. You go. Well, I didn't wanna interrupt you. No, no. Uh, okay. Just in the spirit of collaboration, I think it's important to say that we really need to try to figure out this hybrid meeting option to get the public more involved, not just kind of drag them out in a snowstorm. I pretty feel pretty confident that almost every person that arrived here today had trouble getting here.
And we'll have trouble getting home, Right? They're here from the Bronx. No, I know. Um, but I, I think that we do have the power to shift the situation here by updating our bylaws. There's an emergency. Um, the governor put out an emergence state of emergency, and so that would theoretically allow us to move to hybrid, but we don't have it in our bylaws. So I think, um, you know, I know we're, we're not able to come to terms on the idea of a full hybrid option,
but I think that we should add something to our bylaws that allow for an emergency situation, because we could have conducted this meeting tonight online. Although of course we wouldn't have access to Chancellor Samuels in this way. Uh, but long story short, I just wanna say tomorrow is a, uh, state hearing and Chancellor Samuels will be speaking, and please send your support and prayers to him. 'cause he's gonna need it with you. All the best.
Panama Castro, it's really good that you're sitting next to Alan, who's the chair, um, who works with us of engagement and panel member Na Hassan, who's not here, right? Um, is the chair of governmental ops. So you guys ought to have a collaboration. Any panel member can introduce an amendment to the bylaws, okay? And just works it and it then gets voted on by the panel. Thank you. And so there are conversations that we can definitely, yeah. And follow, you know, law. And we need to lobby, by the way, to maybe change the open, you know, change these laws. I've been saying that some. So, so
that would be an important step also. So we need panel member who's not here today, unfortunately, panel member, Navi Hasan. Also, we need to bring in the engagement with the CECs and those folks and really then come back with a program that we feel, um, would work better. Same with the, um, con contracts meeting. This is your meeting. If you got folks decide you wanna move in a certain direction. The power to present resolutions, we've been doing that. Resolutions amendments, rest with the panel. Um, I'll just put in one additional word before iur the meeting about the, uh, burrs, uh, um, resolution to, um, restrict investment in,
in, uh, private prisons. I would ask if you have time, anyone, if you could send in and agree to co-sponsor the reso. Yeah, just call in to, um, burrs. Cool. You call or, or you can email, email. Karen, Karen Wong if you don't have it. I'll send out the email tomorrow and just say one line. I wish to be a co-sponsor of the, um, the divestment from private prisons resolution. Thank you. So that they see that it's really coming from, you know, broad based support coming from the entire panel. Thank you chair. Yeah. What, because the, the reality is that there, there has
to be a point where the public, who is us, oh my word, this is us, right? There is no disconnect. I don't care how high people try to put people. We are people, we share the space and we share the schools. So when we're talking about the prison su the prison system and investments in the prison system, who in the hell do you think is getting locked up? Who is in the prison? It's my uncle Johnny. So we have to be able, I know, I do understand
this is a lot, but this was something that I'm, I'm, I've learned how to be quiet and make my actions talk. But this particular prison system conversation, we've even held hostage fiduciary duties. You'll get sued, you'll go to, you'll be losing whatever it is that you work for. If I, I have like 12 lumps on my head, that's why I wear the hat, because people are beating you over your head with the fear. You have no idea how dear you disrupt
what we have done systemically to ensure your members don't take money out of their pockets. And we'll talk about, wait a second, did you recognize that sometimes some people pull money out of their retirement to build their relatives out of jail? Do you realize that? So this is new talk because they're not connected to the problem. And so here it is, we get uncomfortable having these public forums. We are gonna have to get even more uncomfortable.
We're gonna have to not only disrupt in our words, but disrupt in the spaces. So when people say, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be there because this is your people that they're gambling with. So you have all this diversity at the top where you have this person coming from here and this person coming from here. But there is a very particular formula that sits in the prison systems. And at some point in time, all this diversity turns into criminalization. There is something that happens and policy that changes the rules engagement.
Then all of a sudden the same black and brown folks are sitting in the jail. They're not the ones that are hires in DOE or or, or diversity. They're not the ones that are being hired for managers. So when we talk about landers, who's proud to, you know, say we got a whole bunch of people that look like me, as he said in first person that looks like him over 90 something percent. And I was like, no wonder black folks are sitting. Oh, she, so I know it well. So to be able to just understand the urgency
that you're messing with people's family members for decades, and that itch on your shoulder that you feel something can't be right. Why is this struggle so struggling for certain type of people? And why does it seem so easy for another type of people? And it's all formulated. So we have to start not just asking questions, we have to start examining. If you're gonna examine here, then you're gonna have to examine on a finance level because things start making sense across industry.
It just starts making sense. The patterns start making sense. And that's what I would, we, we need to, to express with all the parents at every borough that there is a systemic crisis that we now just seeing because we understand what's going on behind the curtains and you don't know what you don't know. So please, let's have a real conversation, a real conversation where we're asking better quality questions. I yield and
See how lucky I am when I go to these meetings to have, she's got my back these meetings. So when they start coming, you know, she's right there. So I appreciate that and she knows it, but also when I'm slacking off, she's on, you know, she lets me know it too. So I appreciate, you know, your effort. Um, guess what folks? It's been a great meeting and you know, when anybody says this is the same old pep, they just haven't been coming to our meetings, because we talk about lots of things. We deal with real issues. We're not perfect. Um, but we try to engage with families, we try to engage with parents. That's the way we're gonna do this more and more often with the support of our chancellor.
This is the direction that we're gonna be taking sometime we're gonna hear some difficult dialogue. It's difficult to sometimes sit out here and hear people who might see negative, but not, you could sometimes maybe question things, but never question our motive. Our motive is to really, and I believe that's true for everybody, even those we may disagree with. I am convinced that the motive is to produce a better educational, quality educational system for all children. We may have different ways of trying to get there, that is to be respected and to be listened to. And we are not gonna always agree. So again, we get to do this all again next month,
on February 25th. I know you all cannot wait, um, to be there at Long Island City High School in Queens. We already know that we're gonna have at least 40 students, 30 students we heard from our first speaker. So, so well that, that, okay. So with that, folks, thank you for coming out tonight. Please get home safely. This meeting is adjourned.