So we now have 14 voting members present, so we do have a quorum. So the meeting can be called to Order, and we can now, uh, get officially underway and I can share what I was gonna share, but I forgot. Um, so yeah, so what actually, what it was is we would wanted to mention that this has been a busy week, uh, busy month actually for the panel. And especially last month was also a very busy month for the panel. Um, there were a lot of meetings and briefings and, and other things that were done to prepare us for the meeting tonight. And so I want to thank the panel members for their engagement.
I wanna reference one thing in particular. I don't know how many of you participated in the read out loud, um, uh, process, um, but there were several of us that, um, last month participated in the program, read out loud. Well, we went into an elementary school and we just read books to children, and I had a chance to participate in that. And I wanted to, to mention the school that I was at, uh, PS two nine in the one in the Bronx, uh, principal, Jennifer, uh, Rivera. Uh, they really did an amazing job, and it was really, um, impactful and helpful to actually get to see and talk to those students
and see why we do this kind of work and, uh, realize that it's really about the children. Um, those, those, those teachers did an amazing job. They converted portions of the school to reflect topics in the books that the kids were reading. So, um, I just wanted to mention that. And, uh, sometimes we get caught up in a lot of the that. Thank you. Yes. Sometimes we get caught up in the, um, a lot of the discussion on policies and things, and we forget that this is really all centered around, uh, children and making sure that we're doing the best for our kids. So in, in reference to the fact
that this was a January was a particularly busy month, we had two meetings, and therefore we have two sets of minutes to approve. Uh, so the minutes of, uh, January 22nd and also the minutes of January 28th, is there a motion to approve both those sets of minutes by unanimous consent? So moved. Is there a motion for unanimous? Well, wow. Okay. Thank you. I assume, is there objection to unanimous consent approving the minutes of January 22nd and January 28th, hearing? No objection. The minutes are approved for both those, uh, dates. Um, again, okay,
We can go home that next class. Um, right, and I guess the timing is good for that because I'm gonna, um, sort of pivot to our student panel members who, who are joining us. As you know, we do have student panel members who are part of our panel for education policy, and it's always a great value to hear what our students have to say. Um, and, uh, so I, I want to welcome them and, uh, uh, call on them and ask if they have any comments. First, I'll turn to Delia Diaz. Chen, would you like to make any comments to the, uh, group? Certainly. Um, I wanted to take this opportunity, um,
to first echo appreciation for some brown making decisions in last monthly meeting that I believe will create a wonderful positive change. I wanted to express my support of the Queen International School, which is the first public international middle school in the New York City Department of Education. And this is a huge win for multilingual learners, and it's a greatly needed institution because the younger the DOE starts English instruction for ELL students, the more successful students will be in learning English. I reckon the school will benefit students' populations in Queens immeasurably. Thank you. In addition, I also wanted
to share my perspective as a student on two relevant subjects for of discussion that may reach the pep. And this may not be discussed further today, but it is an area of contention for many schools across the DOEI would first like to touch upon, um, governor Kathy Ho's proposed statewide cell phone ban. And I understand how creating a cell phone ban from Belt to Bell can appear to have positive effects on students. However, I don't believe that it is the prerogative of the state to decide that for all schools, each individual school has its unique culture, student body, and number of policies already in place that work for them. And a schoolwide ban limits student usage
of phones based on a school's best judgment. But a statewide ban limits the freedom of schools to decide what's appropriate for their individual student body. In addition, I worry that the statewide ban on a commonly used device might perpetrate familiarity with draconian mindset for youth. In lieu of these points of contention, I would like to suggest that education systems employ a stricter approach locally. Locally, leadership within schools know their populations, um, student wise best. And I would encourage schools in the respective local leadership to do census research on the student populations and craft a policy tailored to them.
I also want to note that from a student perspective, it's difficult to encounter administrators that aren't understanding of a policy, that it, when it's already in place, is dysfunctional, or a policy that promotes dysfunctional behavior or divides the student body. Whenever you encounter a policy such as that, it is always better to remove the policy than to keep it just on the basis of maintaining a unified friend. Um, in addition, I would like to note that schools are free to create their own policy. They don't need to wait for a memorandum or legislation to pass. They can create their own cell phone policy
now, starting today. Um, and I understand that another area for discussion is the use of artificial intelligence in schools. I think here it is imperative to keep in mind that AI is not reliable and it is not surefire. And as a student, I wish to caution against its use regarding grading or any evaluation of the quality of a student's work. Ultimately, today marks an unprecedented time in technological advancement, and being cautious and thoughtful in how we proceed with the use of technology in classrooms is the best thing the DOE can do for its students. Thank you. Thank you very much. Um, panel membership. I not, I noticed drew your attention. Did you wanna comment?
Yeah. Um, panel member Diaz Chan, I want to thank you for your comments, uh, especially as they relate to, um, the governor's proposed cell phone ban. Um, uh, I have introduced a resolution that we're going to, uh, be considering soon, um, opposing the cell phone ban. Um, the primary reason for me and a lot of members in our community is given everything that's happening right now, um, with our schools, uh,
with the feds, uh, suggesting that our schools are no longer safe places, and, um, the ability of, you know, law enforcement to be able to like go into our schools, et cetera, um, that it may not be appropriate to do it right now. And I wholeheartedly agree that schools are perfectly capable because they know their individual student populations best to determine, um, like the appropriate use for devices. So I really wanted to thank you for, um, a thoughtful
and like student centered response to, um, that major question. Great. Thank you. Um, our next student panel member Isaiah, tension. Isaiah, would you like to make any remarks at this time? Yes. Good evening, panelists, students, parents, and teachers. My name is Isaiah Tan June, and I'm proud to attend my second PEP meeting as a student representative. I attended my first meeting last month where I've had the pleasure of learning the dynamics of an effective panel, and I'm excited to engage in today's discussion, making sure the voices of this city's youth are not only heard, but valued.
In regards to the governor's proposed cell phone ban, there seems to be a growing policy where schools would confiscate phones for periods of a day. Schools absolutely should not be able to confiscate cell phones for an entire day or beyond the time students leave school. Outside of school. Cell phones serve as a crucial avenue of communication between students and their parents, providing a direct line for coordinating transportation, discussing afterschool responsibilities, and most importantly, responding to emergencies. An event of a medical emergency, such as an allergic reaction, asthma attack,
or other urgent health concerns. A student may need immediate access to their phone to contact their parents or emergency services. Additionally, some students rely on their phones to monitor medical conditions such as diabetes, using apps or alerts that notify them of potential health risks taking away their advice could lead, could delay critical intervention and jeopardize their wellbeing. Furthermore, beyond medical concerns, phones are essential for personal safety, particularly in cases where students feel threatened, unsafe, or even in moments of imminent danger or impending violence.
If a student is being followed on their way home receiving threats or facing an unsafe situation, they need the ability to contact a trusted adult or emergency services immediately without hold, withholding their phone for an extended period, strips them of this crucial safeguard, leaving them vulnerable in situations where every second counts. Instead of imple implementing strict compensation policies, school should focus on enforcing reasonable phone use guidelines that balance discipline with safety. While it's understandable that schools want to minimize distractions,
completely withholding a student's phone beyond the school day is not only unnecessary, but can un hold, but can hold dangerous consequences. Okay, thank you. I want to thank our two student panel members for, um, for your testimony, panelists. Shannon Endang, thank you for, uh, always, and I say it all the time, and I, and I know may become, um, something that's repetitive, but I wanna thank you for representing the almost 1 million, uh, public school students so effectively and, uh, keep keep up doing the work that you're doing. We appreciate it. Um, at this point, I'm happy to welcome
and introduce, uh, our chancellor for comments. Chancellor, Good evening. Every Right, Let's take two. Good evening everyone. Thank you so much for being here with us tonight. Uh, chair Faulkner. Uh, thank you so much and to our incredible students, thank you so much for being here with us and for your comments. Um, our host from Clara Barton High School, principal Foreman and Superintendent Prayer. And from, uh, PS 7 53, led by Principal Pierre and Superintendent Louisan and the Adult Learning Center under Superintendent Esperance. Uh, I hope everyone had a restful midwinter break.
It's been a busy month at New York City Public Schools. We celebrated Black History Month with a terrific event at Tweed Courthouse with incredible student performers from PS 1 0 3 in the Bronx and the Urban Assembly School for the Performing Arts. We also just celebrated respect for All Week right before Midwinter Break, and I wanna thank the hundreds of schools who led activities that highlight critically important New York City, uh, New York City values, diversity, acceptance, respect, and inclusion. Uh, and as we, uh, close out Black History Month, remembering that black history is American history, uh,
we also, um, we also have Dominican Heritage Month, and we are also preparing for Ramadan. So happy Ramadan to those who are celebrating. We also had World Read Aloud Day and a Climate Action Day, and our CEC election applications close tomorrow. We have made incredible progress. We thank you for hearing us every single time we get in front of you to talk about our CEC elections and our applications. I'm staring directly at Deputy Chancellor Melendez, uh, as she and I continue to talk about CEC elections. So thank you all, uh, for your participation.
Um, I also just want to make a note, um, about some of the current issues. So in our current environment, I wanna continue to reiterate that New York City Public Schools is committed to serving every student regardless of immigration status, national origin, or religion. And I am grateful to our partners in the Panel for Education Policy who are in lockstep with us. In this commitment, we have provided Know your rights training for staff, including principals, superintendents, social workers, school counselors, and parent coordinators. These trainings are of vital part of our ongoing efforts
to ensure that every member of our school community feels informed, supported, and safe. To that note, I also wanna say that our support also extends to our LGBTQ plus students and staff. Please know, we welcome every student at New York City Public Schools. We stand behind our commitment to ensuring that every student can participate in sports, and we will not exclude any students from any programs. In short, at New York City Public Schools, we do not condone or tolerate hate of any kind. Our values of respect, acceptance,
and inclusion remain strong. We have sent out communications on both immigration and L-G-B-T-Q-Q to reiterate to our families that our policies have not changed. And you can find those letters on our website, PEP members. I look forward to continuing our partnership and pursuing our shared goal of serving the children of New York City. And with that, I wanna turn it back to Sheriff Waner. Thank you so much. Thank you very much, chancellor. Um, you know, I always feel proud to know that New York City, please do thank you. It it's always a great field to know that New York City leads in many of these questions in terms
of inclusion and openness and creating the kind of environment that says to all of our students that you are welcome and you're appreciated. And I feel really proud and honored to be part of a, of a community and a board that, uh, says that. And, uh, I think really sets a model for the nation in terms of these areas. So, uh, thank you Chancellor, and thank you, your staff, uh, for the work they're doing in reinforcing that message that we are a, uh, community, and that we're a community that's welcoming and appreciative of everyone who's part of this community. Thank you. Excuse me, chair.
We're now gonna move into the, um, excuse Me, chair Walner. Yes. Um, may I just say one quick thing to the chancellor? One very quick thing. Thank you. Um, chancellor, thank you for your comments. Um, we are in a very difficult and trying time right now for our communities, especially our, um, Latino and Hispanic students, our, my, uh, our immigrant students, um, and our L-G-B-T-Q students, right? Um, what I will ask is sometimes we have to be prepared to fight for a thing, perhaps in court.
And when we are in a place right now where systems that we hold dear are being dismantled around us, um, now is not the time to cave in any way. Like, if we put it on paper and we commit to it, then we have to sometimes just be willing to say, when the feds come down and say, we're going to do this, or we're going to dismantle that, like to say, no unacceptable. And not only is it not acceptable, if you try to withhold funding for us, we'll see you in court
and actually fight them, like, like tooth and nail. So I just wanted to say that because, um, a community like looked at and appreciates your statements, as do I. Um, but we really, really, and we're willing to fight with you. Um, we just need to make sure that at the end of the day, our communities know that it's not just something that we wrote on paper, but it's of like a value that we stand by and we are willing to defend. Thank You. Okay, thank you. Okay.
As we, as we we're now getting ready to move into the business portion of the meeting, and, um, and at that time we'll be, um, having public comment on the items that are on the agenda. So I always like to read this specifically so I make sure I get it correctly. So I'm gonna read the, uh, rules of procedure going forward. Um, what we'll do is we'll call people up. I'll ask Secretary Nathan to call forward speakers from the signup sheet. Um, you'll be called up in groups of five during the public comment, everyone who has signed up to speak, we'll be allotted two and one half minutes, uh, for your presentation.
The clock will indicate the amount of time remaining for each speaker and a light will flash when their time is at one minute, um, remaining. So the speaker will get an idea as to when they would, should really begin to wrap up their comments. Additional time will always be allotted and provided to help facilitate comments that require translation. At the end of each speaker's time, we will move on to the next speaker. If a speaker is not present when their name is called, we will move on to the next speaker. Once we've done so, you won't be able to redeem your spot in the queue.
This portion of, uh, public comment is only for agenda items being voted on at tonight's meeting. So it's only for the agenda items and the resolutions that are being considered for tonight. If you accidentally signed up to comment during this section, but wish to comment on other matters, please see one of our staff that are stationed in the auditorium and they'll put, they'll move you to the appropriate section for your comments. Comments during these sections should only relate to proposals being voted on this evening. Um, and there will be a section available for people who have other comments. But, um, this initial portion is the items that we're gonna be considering for vote at this meeting.
Um, the first group that we'll bring forward and they will be able to make this group will be able to make general public comments or our students, uh, we moved them earlier in the process to allow students an opportunity to speak first. Also being mindful of the fact that students need to get home and possibly do homework. And, uh, so we bring students forward and I know that we do have some students signed up to speak to us. So, secretary Nathan, would you please, uh, Sure. I'll count the student. I'll call the students. Um, there are a number of students signed up tonight. Um, so Jimmy Rosario, Carasco
Amarie, Miguel kl, Minot, Ethan Murray, and Emia Bert. And I apologize for all of those. Mispronunciations. Uh, are those students present? You should make your way to the microphones in the front. Um, hello. Um, good evening. Um, my name is, um, ISIS, August, and we are representing, um, science Skills Center High School right now. We're up here because we are currently discussing, um, the lack of a gym. So, um, in our school, we have this makeshift room that's,
um, currently being used as a gymnasium gymnasium, but it doesn't really do its job. Um, really every student in our school deserves equal access to quality physical education, but really that's not happening. According to the New York City Public Schools, um, wellness policy. It states schools will make appropriate accommodations to allow for equi, um, equitable, um, participation for all students and will adapt physical education tasks, curricula and equipment as necessary. Yet, our makeshift gym does not allow us to have this prop proper, um, participation
as there is a risk of injury and infrastructure damage. This, this gym will not only be for our school alone, but it will also be for the schools and inside our schools, such as Brooklyn International and Urban Assembly School. It is also acknowledged by the, um, New York City DOE that we do not currently have a gymnasium according to the Building accessibility profile. So, um, right next to our school, we have this plot of Land 63 Flatbush Avenue extension. Um, I feel like that would be a really great use
to build this gym for our school. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, good evening Panel members. I am also representative of Science Skills Center High School, and I'm also here to advocate for the same plot of land that my colleague here mentioned at our current school. We have a makeshift gymnasium, which doesn't support our current in school athletes to the fullest capabilities. We have an active boys basketball team, an active girls' soccer team, and an active girls' tennis table team. Each of these teams would like to request their own functional, um, gym
and workspace to train for their own games and activities, because outside of school, that's where they mainly have to practice and work on their plays, their skills, and hone their craft. And here at Skills we really like to hone in on keeping our school passion and our school community within the school building. So having to go outside the school building to get the same necessity for our activities and skills isn't really the support that we want
to give to our student athletes. So I personally believe that with the help of View Panel members, we may be able to give the athletes the support that we all deserve. Thank you for hearing me out. Good evening. Um, panel members. Um, so I'm here to advocate for additionally an auditorium as well. We, our school science skills does not have an auditorium. Um, so from a personal experience from a person who came from arts through to middle school, when I came inside the school, the first thing I thought was, huh, I can't wait to start, you know, doing plays and start, you know, acting and stuff.
But with the lack of an auditorium, there's really nothing that we could have done. Now, our school hosts a lot of events, right, for the community and also for our students for academic purposes. One academic, um, you know, one academic, um, event that science skills hosts is elevate, which one of my colleagues will elaborate more on. But instead of having the proper adequate space or elevate, they come inside of our classrooms and sometimes they even let us go into the cafeteria, which can get noisy.
And it really hinders our academic, you know, purpose and ac our academic, you know, engagement. So we are also advocating for an auditorium because with, you know, arts people love to act. People love to sing. They can pursue that career instead of only pursuing academic careers. Thank you. Great. Thank you. Good evening panel members. Yeah, there I'll Be Good Evening panel members. I'll be speaking for Science Skills Center. I'll be speaking for Science Skills Center. Advocating for the vacant land on 63rd Flatbush extension
that is right next to our school. I believe it could be very, a very good space for our auditorium as well as our gym because it, if we have no space to do activities for our, for anything like our clubs, like our student council, like our teams, like our other members brought up. And it is very, it's, it's very, it's very inconvenient for us to have to find space after school, during school, or have to figure what we're doing out while in class. And it's not, it's not what, it's not what we need in,
in a proper learning environment. We need space to actually do all these things because whenever you're, whenever you go somewhere and you have a, it, it's a proper, it's a proper establishment. They have proper space set up for everything. So we need the space so that we can set up proper events so we can set up proper events, proper times, and we can actually have the space we need within the building, not within the building for all our clubs and members. And also, this could, this could bring up our school morale,
because right now when we, when whenever you look around the school and you don't see a gym, you don't see an auditorium, it really like, it's like, oh, but when with, with this space, it could really bring up your mood. Because when you see that we have all, all our other, like, scientific programs as well as the gym and the auditorium, it could, it could really like bring up your hopes and bring a lot, a lot more people to our school. And it could also increase people's willingness to participate in the clubs. Clubs that we have, like the basketball club
and the table tennis club. And with that, it can also increase the members of members of the student Council. Go ahead. Are you, did You can finish. You, you have time. Time. Thank you. Okay. Good evening panel members. Um, I'll be advocating for our auditorium. Our school needs an auditorium because it would provide a space for school events such as this one. Um, talent shows, award ceremonies and spirit rallies. This, this would improve our school spirit and morale, fostering a sense of community and belonging among
Students. Students. An auditorium would allow our school to feel complete and be considered a normal school in this district. That's all I Got. Thank You. Thank you. Good evening. Panel members. I will be advocating for the same thing as them. The auditorium, uh, as they have said with the Elevate, we, uh, it's very rowdy and such, but I don't like how it is there. 'cause most of the students, they come there expecting it not to be the Elevate. They think it's like, uh, social gathering
or what, uh, most of them, the, the seatings for it is somewhat facing the person speaking and some are just back turned. If we have an auditorium, all of them attention on one center, it's perfect. And that's it. Thank you for listening. Great. Couple of things, Jenny dch, you're gonna have to step every game that was among the best testimonies students provided, uh, here today. And, uh, you know, concise and, and right to the point.
And, uh, you know, so I just want to compliment you for your, um, you know, it's kind of hard to, to do this and I think it was really great for you to come out and to do this. So, um, I believe our student panel member has a question on this. Oh, okay. Um, yeah, if I may, um, with this, yeah, go ahead. With this plot of land, um, I did want to ask about ownership. Is there a specific ownership situation in the question? And also how is it developed? Like, is it a grassy field?
Is it gravel? Would there need to be further the development like laying of turf, um, within this space? And also, um, you guys are doing a great job on advocating about your school. Um, your building's unique situation is something that should be talked about. And I really appreciate you guys coming to a space like the Panel for Educational policy. And I encourage you to go to not just the Panel for educational policy, but also regional and district meetings as well. Those are very important and continue doing what you're doing. Great, thank you. Um, I believe the chancellor also had a comment.
Uh, I just wanted to say how incredibly proud I am for this moment. Not only your presentation, but the interaction with our student representatives up here. Um, you're the reason why we do what we do and the fact that you came out at this time to advocate for your school so articulately, you have certainly compelled me to visit your school with my team. Uh, I certainly don't know what the situation is with 63 Flatbush extension, but you have me taking notes up here and making sure that I fit this visit into the school. Um, and I, while I'm there, I I,
I just wanna learn more about the instructional programs because something, something great is happening in that school when a group of you are showing up so articulately and well represented, um, to, to advocate for yourselves. And the last thing I'll just say is for all members of the audience, um, and for our, our students, please know that this is, these are the forums where you should be showing up and voicing your opinions in such a way. This is what we talk about. This is what we mean when we talk about civic engagement and community engagement. So thank you so much. You really make me very proud.
You all get an a plus. Mm-hmm. Okay. Is our, we have, we have additional speakers. Are you with that? Are you with the, are you a teach? Yeah. Good evening panel members. I just wanna say thank you for listening to my students. I am Dalia McGregor, the principal of Science Skills Center High School. Yeah. Thank you. Okay, we we're gonna continue to list now of additional speakers. A few more. This one working? No, there are a few more students who have signed up to speak. Um, I'll call their names.
Um, Lamar use Theo Bio, um, Otis Williams, LAR Giron, and Ryan Ryan Guzman and Lila Torres. Please make your way to the microphone and if you, it would be great if you would also introduce yourselves before you start speaking. Thank you. Okay, Daddy. Good evening, PA Panel. My name is Nyla Goodall. I am and I am a Stu student
in second grade at MS 3 94. I am asking you to keep our school open for, because I want to be able to graduate in eighth grade. I have learned a lot in Ms, in Mrs in Ms. Brown's class, and I want to, to learn a lot more. We get to learn a lot of, of things such as art, writing and reading.
We, we, no, we also get to go swimming on Fridays, and if you close our school, we will have to go to a new school and parents will be frustrated. Please take us off the, the agenda for April and save our school. Thank you very much. Thank you. Very good job. Good evening. Me members of the panel teachers, parents
and fellowing students, especially the chancellor and deputy chancellor who visited my, my, my school on Monday. My name is Otis Lynn Williams Jr. I am a seventh grader of MS 3 94 KA school. I am proud to call a second home as I look my, as I look proud. My school is not only a building with classrooms and hallways,
but a community has shaped that, has shaped the lives of students, including three of my siblings and many of my cousins. MS three 90 4K is Mor Morbidly a school. It is a part of the community. Many, for many years, it has been a place where dreams and friends were, were made, and futures were built. It has helped students like me learn
and grow and be successful. The closer of the school would be devastating. It would be tearing, tearing apart a community. The the teachers here are mentors who go above and beyond to ensure we are success. They understand our strengths and weaknesses, and guide us with care. Please take us off the agenda for April 30th. Thank you.
Good afternoon, pep team and chancellor. My name is Lamar Seyo and I am here to express my concern about the proposed closure of 3 94. Currently, I have been in the school for about eight years, since kindergarten. I've had an amazing connection and experience with all the teachers and my principal, Dr. David. One of my favorite teachers was Ms. Franklin. I always had a good relationship with her. She would treat me like I was her own son. May I ask you, how would you feel if you heard
that your school was on the closing list right after your assistant principal passed away? May I tell you about my assistant principal, Ms. Peters. Ms. Peters, who sadly passed away this school year. Ms. Peters was an amazing assistant principal. She showed me and my peers a lot of love. Even though she was sick, she was sick, she still stayed strong, came to work, and still had a smile on her face. This made me want to come to school every day and do my best. My attendance this year is at a hundred percent.
I come every day. I come every day to learn and be with my friends. My mom moved us closer to the school, and if the school closed, I would have to travel further and my mom won't feel safe with me traveling by myself If you didn't know, my school has many academics and programs for us. One of the programs we have here is i-Ready, i-Ready helps us improve on what we need help on in certain subjects such as, such as EELA and math. I have improved a lot from the beginning of the school year.
I was in fifth grade. I was in fifth grade level, and then I took the test again a couple of weeks ago, and I'm now placed in seventh grade level. This school teaches us how to be more responsible by giving us classroom jobs such as teacher's, assistant, computer tech and homework monitor. Sometimes us seventh graders support the little kids downstairs, and we also do community service sometimes as well. We have student electives here, like theater, African drumming, and dance twice a week.
I'm currently in African drumming and I'm doing a solo for June. I am here to propose that you should let us graduate together as a class and not get split up into different schools. This would involve going into the eighth grade with the same group of friends and being in the same school. I don't think I would be able to focus in another school building, like how this school has taught me. Please consider this proposal. Thank you for taking the time to hear me on noise. Mm-hmm. Good evening. My name is Lila Torres.
I'm the fifth grade student council president in my school today. I would like to say something about school lunch and buses. Did you know that we spend over $1 billion every year on wasted food? So one of that cause is school lunches. We're serving foods that a lot of kids don't like. We should do a survey or something to show kids foods that they can have that they would like. Then we don't have to throw out 90% of the food that we're serving, at least at my school. We're serving wet vegetables, undercooked meat, and hard bread complete, to be completely honest here, who would want to eat that for lunch?
Some parents can't afford to send their kids lunches to school, and it's not fair that their tack dollars are paying for the lunches that we're serving and their kids don't even want to eat them. If we finally put out a survey that's not on a QR code on the wall, which kids can't use their phones in school, it's common sense. Um, then maybe kids would actually eat the school lunches. And now for buses, I'm in fifth grade. Um, I've been in my school for seven years. I had a bus for two years. My brother graduated. I don't have it anymore. My brother's in a new school for seventh grade. He does not have a bus yet. He will get one eventually,
but he, OPT said that he's not eligible for rideshare or reimbursement. I just don't understand how it's fair that my parents have to pay for cabs to go to school, which is a mandatory thing. I feel that it would be necess, I feel it would be necessary to say this point. We should change the bus busing rules specifically for kids that switch schools or if they live even like maybe mile or so out of the school, out of the school district. Thank you. Have a great day. Good afternoon. Pep panel counselor,
teacher, and students. My name is Ezekiel Thompson and I am currently enrolled in MS 3 94. And I am here to like, to express my concern about the proposed closure of overtime of my school. I've been in this school since pre-K and now I'm in seventh grade. Even though I, I will be given a chance to graduate next year, I'll still have a sister and brother that will not have, will not get
that opportunity. Please say about our school and give us more time to improve. Thank you can, thank you counselor Chancellor for visiting our school on Monday, and I hope you'll have a change of mind and let us grow. Thank you. Did all the student thinkers come to the mic there? We have another young one. Young boy. My name is Ryan Guzman and I am a student at PS 25.
I am asking not to close our school. We really like to the school. Please, please give us a chance. Thank you. And you probably now have the record as our youngest presenter. Okay. We have others. That is the end of the list of student speakers. Okay. So, um, I wanna thank the students for coming out and, uh, providing us with some really excellent, uh, testimony. We'll now move to the, uh, business portion of the meeting. The first item for consideration is the consideration of contracts. And I'll ask our secretary to please present the contract,
um, resolution for consideration. Sure. Uh, the resolution up for approval is entitled Resolution to Enter into Contracts Back at You. Okay. Is, is there a motion to consider the resolution? Is there a second? Second. Okay. We'll begin with, uh, public comment. Um, Martina Meyer, um, I'm gonna recall the student names because they did sign up for, um, speaking on some contract proposals. Amar Miguel and Ethan Murray, who also signed up to speak on contracts.
Hello. Oh, once again. Um, just to answer, um, her question, um, PR previously, what are the, um, I hate, I hate to do this, but at this point we're limited to discussion of contracts. Okay. But, but follow up with the question, but, um, uh, we'd have to, this is about, you want to sort of respond about where the location of Yeah, unfortunately we have to move. Um, but we'll follow up with you. Okay. On, on that. Thank you. Is this about contracts? Yes. Good evening. Can you hear me? Yeah.
Hi, my name is Martina Meyer. I am a DOE employee Proud teacher. Uh, but in this, this evening, I'm speaking in my own capacity as a concerned citizen. Um, I'd like to speak, uh, as usual about the hundreds of thousands of dollars that we seem to, uh, spend on, um, on a monthly basis. Uh, there seems to always be contracts about network architects and data management analysts, and I know, um, uh, Tom Shepherd will attest to the fact that, um, this can be done in house. We do not need to be spending hundreds of thousands
of dollars on these contracts with peop when there are people who are fully capable of doing that inside of our own home base. So let's honor the hard workers that are here in the DOE. Let's honor the work of the DIIT. Let's invest in their work. And let's really pause the excessive amounts of spending. I I cannot understand why we're not investing, um, this money, uh, in other ways. The DOE has a limited budget, and I could tell you many different ways that this money could be spent in our own, uh, districts and our schools across the city.
I'm full of ideas. I'm happy to sit with you if anybody wants to talk about other ways to spend this money. Um, but please stop giving huge contracts to people who are doing it work that can be done in house. Uh, I hate to see the privatization of public education in any form. And, and this is certainly one of those forms. Uh, I also want to speak up about, uh, the, uh, education software contracts that are being laid out as a 17 year year veteran of this profession. Um, I've seen the projection from two decades ago of,
you know, ed tech being the future to now living the reality that I'm being told by contractors who are consultants at our schools, providing professional development in our, um, mandated, uh, reading curriculum. That AI is the way to educate, uh, students who are multilingual learners. As a bilingual educator, I can probably say that humans teach other humans. And, um, the mystery and, uh, allure of ed tech machine needs to wear off. Like we have human beings that need to be invested in. There are ways that we could spend as money again on real,
um, human supports. For example, these programs are here to support phonics learning. Like, I don't want my students on a computer with phonics. I understand the allure, like, oh, I can work with a small group. All the kids are on screens. The average 2-year-old has now two and a half hours of screen time get these kids off the screens and talking to people. That is the end of the, um, people who signed up for public comment on contract. Okay. Uh, we'll now, uh, uh, turn to panel member comments. Panel Member Shepherd. Hello. There we go. Thank you Chair Faulkner. Um, uh, first I wanna say to, uh, Martina, thank you for,
um, raising that issue. Um, uh, my biggest concern has historically been, um, the fact that what we pay this kind of money for, um, it can better be invested in, um, doing these things in-house, even if that means, um, spending a little more upfront to build that capacity within a system. Right? Um, years ago when we spent what was well over a billion dollars on technology
during the pandemic, it was with an understanding that part of what we were spending that money on was developing the kinds of infrastructure that would allow for us to be self-sustaining long term, right? So for us to, um, spend 400, $500,000 like a pop per year for, um, very specific folks within DI mean, uh, very specific consultants to do very specific work within DIT, um,
I do believe that it is money better spent building capacity, um, within DIT in a way where we can have, uh, a robust, um, and flexible department with robust and flexible, uh, employees within that department to be able to do the work. Um, the, I also share your concerns, um, around these educational software programs. Um, there is a lot of concern about,
one, the effectiveness of these of these programs, um, but also a bigger question about, um, data privacy and security. And, um, you know, I will concede straight away that, um, I was dealing with a couple of health issues this month and was not able to attend the contracts briefing, but, um, you know, the, the, the questions still remain right? Because, you know, I think if we have solved for them, we wouldn't be seeing them, um, show up like this month
after month and year after year. Um, so I really do want to, um, one better understand, um, whether or not, like outside of the, the, the basic cookie cutter answer that we get about, um, you know, these programs, uh, complying with the DOE'S rules. Um, I think that we need to do a better job in making sure that one, we don't have to rely on them as much, but also that they are not just compliant,
but like hold data privacy and security at the center of the way that it does things. Especially because we are talking about in many cases, student data. We're talking about family data and we're also talking about education data. Um, but those are my concerns and thank you Jeff Ner I yield back, You know, thank you, uh, panel member chef for your comments. I know it's related to the data privacy. You know, we we're, you're joining that committee. We're gonna be working on that in our first meeting of the data privacy, uh, review group next week.
And we'll have a chance to address some of those, uh, concerns specifically. Um, you know, I want to thank the chancellor and the staff for their willingness to create this task force to really, really dig into the issue that you're raising here tonight and, uh, with data privacy and hopefully maybe also there may be some future discussion of how, um, those concerns you've raised around the contracts we can move forward to see what areas we would have to work or what particulars we would've to do to, to do, you know, resolve some of the issues you've raised. Thank you. Chair Faulkner. Uh, I will say one thing. Um, you know, being a technology professional,
having been one for many years mm-hmm. Um, to create the flexible, robust, you know, team that I'm talking about that, um, Martina was talking about when we talk about, um, these things, it requires investment and it requires an investment in people not like external consultants. So I think it, a good place to start would really be just like evaluating where we are as a department in terms of DIT and investing in people. Well, that's What I'm suggesting. Let's, let's,
maybe you can come up with a draft or something and we can, uh, have that conversation in a more specific way. Uh, are there any other panel member comments related to contracts? Yes, Possible. Um, the issue of that was addressed, um, with tech in young develop developmental areas. Um, and I think it is very important to note that the use of screens and education, especially in very lower education, shouldn't be that prevalent if it is in fact true
that the average screen time for a child that age, it's more than two hours. It seems to me that that's a bit concerning because when you're thinking about childhood education, right, and all of you we're in a room full of, um, childhood development experts, right? The more time people get to discuss and interact with children on a human to human basis is how they get exposure to language and they, how they learn to process their emotions and be a human themselves.
And if we're so focused on teaching children with all of this volume of technology, we might lose sight of the fact that they require human to human interaction just as much. Okay, great. Thank you. Or any other panel or comments? Yes, panel member Alexia. Thank you Adriana, Lisa, she her here for Queen CECs. Thank you Martina for bringing your concerns and for your statements regarding investment in people over products. I really appreciate that. And thank you Panama Diaz Chen. I also appreciate your comments and I would like to also note that AI is not infallible.
AI is programmed by people and AI follows patterns and we understand that. And we know that the folks who are inputting the information are the most powerful people in that room, right? The room where they're creating the ai, whoever's feeding the info is creating the brain. Now we also know that ai, along with most tech, has the potential and the inclination to be racist. And the only way that we can effectively protect our students from that and effectively protect ourselves from that as we ourselves interact with AI more
and more is by figuratively touching grass, being with one another, having conversations with one another, discussing books, not passages, not synopsis, not chapters because you do not understand the story if you haven't read the whole thing. Um, I'd also like to note that we should never be using AI to grade a student's work. We should never be using AI to, uh, attempt to understand a student's writing or their ideas, right? A few months ago we had a member of one
of the education councils make a comment about how students maybe should be going back to being tracked. Um, and if you don't know what that is, that means that the students in a classroom based on their academic ability. Now remembering what I said earlier about how AI has a tendency to be racist. I would like for us all to consider opting out or demanding a very detailed explanation of how our children are interacting with AI in their schools on a daily basis. Thank you. Thank you panel member. Any additional panel member comments? Okay, I guess the silence means we're ready for the question. Um, I, is there a feeling, is there agreement
that we would do this by unanimous consent or do you want to have a roll call? If so, if somebody would make a motion for unanimous consent Motion. And before we do that, I do wanna know that we've been joined by Anthony Giordano. So we do have 16 voting members. Great. Um, um, and me, Oh, I think I said got Venus already, but Venus already, I'm sorry. Okay, Thank you. Is there objection to unanimous consent seen? No objection to unanimous consent. Um, the contract items for consideration are adopted. Thank you. Okay.
Uh, the next items, uh, for consideration are the proposals for school utilization. Um, the resolution up for approval is entitled Resolution to Approve Changes in School Utilization, which comprises Items the Proposed Closure. PS 25, UB Blake School 16 K 25, in Building K 25 at the end of the 24 25 school year. The Propo two, the proposed grade ation of JHS 3 83, Philip s, sky,
Phillipa, Skyler 30 2K 3 83 from a five through eight school to a six through eight school in building K 3 83 in the 20 25 20 26 school. Year three, the proposed 54 1 site of PSK 1 41 70 5K 1 41 from building K 54 to building K three and co-location with PS three, the Bedford Village,
13 K three in building K 0 0 3 in the 20 25 20 26 school year for the proposed opening and co-location of P 360 8 K at K 1 45. A new site of existing district 75 school, PS 360 8 70 5K 360 8 with PS 1 45, Andrew Jackson 30 2K 1 45, and building K 1 45 in the 20 25 20 26 school.
Year five, the proposed grade expansion of John Dewey High School, 21 K five 40 from a nine through 12 to a six through 12 school in building K five 40, beginning in the 20 26, 20 27 school year and seven, the proposed opening and co-location of P 36 K at K 3 45. A new site of existing district 75 school PSK 36 70 5K 36
with PS 3 45, patrolman Robert Bolden, 19 K 3 45, and building K 3 45 in the 20 25 20 26 school year. Back to you Chair Faulkner. Great, thank you very much. Secretary Nathan, is there a motion to, uh, consider the following items? Is there a second to the motion to consider? It's been motion to seconded to consider the, uh, proposals being presented for school utilization. Before we move to public comment, I'd like to invite superintendents who are present to please, uh, come up and, uh, provide testimony. Are any of the superintendents here?
This, it might. Alright, You can begin. Good evening, chancellor Viles Ramos, deputy Chancellors Cabinet Panel for Education Policy, families, educators, and Community Stakeholders. Mm-hmm. My name is Brendan Mims and I've been the appointed superintendent of Bedford Stuyvesant, district 16 since July, 2022. I would like to thank Principal Hilton and all of the teachers and staff members at PS 25 for their hard work and efforts at the school. I would like to thank all the parents for their support and continuing to send their children to PS 25
and entrusting the school staff with their learning and their needs. I would like to thank the P-T-A-D-S-L-T and CEC 16 for engaging in dialogue about the health of PS 25 and this proposal. I would like to thank the Office of District Planning who have also supported with this process. I appreciate the opportunity to address you this evening regarding the proposed closure of PS 25. This is not an easy decision nor one that we take lightly. Our primary obligation is to ensure that every student in District 16 has access to a high quality and well-rounded education.
According to the Office of District Planning over the last five years, enrollment at PS 25 has steadily declined, dropping by 20%. In 20 19, 20 20, there were 74 students. Currently only 53 students are enrolled in kindergarten through fifth grade with just seven students this year in kindergarten, making it the smallest school in New York City since July, 2022. Upon my arrival as superintendent to address enrollment across the district, we have coordinated elementary school and early childhood enrollment fairs, both virtual and in person.
We have an open door tour policy across the district. We've collaborated with the welcome center. We've collaborated with consultants to support with an enrollment strategy for the district. The fair Student funding formula limits funding for schools with 53 students, thus reducing its ability to offer robust academic programs. This reality of funding and resources places a strain on what is available to provide a well-rounded education education. As a result, PS 25 has been unable to fully staff academic positions to meet the academic needs
of students such as special education and e and l teachers. Along with extracurricular and Arts. All students deserve access to schools that have the resources and staffing to support their academic, social, and emotional growth. All students deserve access to the best possible education, one that includes comprehensive academic programming, extracurricular activities, and essential student services. Unfortunately, given its small student body, PS 25 has not been able to provide the same level of educational opportunities as other schools.
In District 16, beginning in June, 2024 and to date, we have been engaging with CEC 16, the PS 25 SLT staff, parents, as well as elected officials to discuss this proposal, take questions, review relevant data, and collect feedback. We have had over 20 meetings that has included community meetings, joint public meetings, briefings with CEC 16 and elected officials. Officials. I want to acknowledge the deep connection that many families
and communities members feel towards PS 25. As a community, we will continue to engage and prioritize the best learning experience for our students and support our families. If this proposal is approved by the pep, every student currently attending PS 25 will have top choice to be enrolled in a district 16 school. With greater resources, expanded academic programming and stronger support systems, we are committed to ensuring a smooth transition, offering personalized enrollment assistance to help families find the best fit
for their child's education. Additionally, the New York City Public Schools team is working closely with the Bedford Stuyvesant, district 16 and the broader community to determine the best use of the PS 25 building, ensuring it continues to serve the educational needs of District 16, collaborating with the Office of District Planning and CEC 16. In the fall, we engage in a process to use a survey to capture parent and community voice about how to best use the space at PS 25. If this proposal is accepted tonight, I ask you
to join me in making the best decision for our students. Thank you. Begin. You can begin. Good evening. My name is, uh, Kaler Lewis Saint and I'm the superintendent of District 75. And tonight I have, uh, the privilege and the great honor to speak on behalf of the true the three proposals that we have on the docket, uh, tonight. Um, first off, I'm,
I wanna speak in support of the reciting of K 0 54 and we are, we want to grow K 0 54 to an eight section site in K 0 54. We have been on the top floor for many, many years and, um, this floor where we are, uh, currently cited needs significant, uh, improvement. So this move to a nearby building will be a facility improvement
for this student and support su sustainability, uh, improvement as well. Secondly, I would like to speak about what, um, the colocation of p of P 360 8 in building K 1 45. This was be, as you know, an eight section in a fully accessible building. And, uh, currently we only have two district 75 site in district 32.
So if this proposal is approved, that will significantly increase opportunity for district 32 students who need district 75 support to remain in district 32. And finally, um, we, I am also asking for your support and approval for the proposal to co-locate P 36 K with K 3 45.
This will be an eight classes elementary site and this location will help, will help reduce travel time for district 75 students. I didn't come here tonight with just piece of paper and talk. I am here to state that for the past 10 years I've been coming in front of the panel to advocate for space for student in district 75 space
that they not only need but space that they deserve. And so, prior to coming in here, I have spent time myself and my team to go to every joint public hearing, to go to every community meeting I have left my personal cell phone. So people from those different three communities can reach out to me if they have question. I have answered every possible question
that have been asked of me. And explain why our student in district 75 need to be in those three location. And, um, based on analysis and all evaluation that have been done, even when the three district 75 schools are co-located in those three district 1, 2, 32 school, there will absolutely be sufficient space left for those three school
to function normally and optimally. I am asking you tonight to support those three proposal and to ensure that our student do not have to leave their community and be on long school bus rides. They are entitled to those spaces. They want to be educated with their friend in the same community where they live. And, um, we are not coming alone to, with these proposals. I have the support of my colleagues here.
Any issues or concern that may arise. I have, uh, I, I have great collaboration in partnership with the three superintendent, and we can walk out every possible issue that may, uh, come up. So I am asking you to please have you have done many time before to support those three proposal to co-locate those district 75 schools into those different communities.
Thank you. Good evening, panel members, chancellor and deputy Chancellor. My name is Ales pci and I'm the acting superintendent of District 32. And I'm here because I fully am full support of the proposal to truncate the fifth grade at junior high school, 3 83 as it aligns with the enrollment trends and the community's, uh, preference for middle school entry at sixth grade over the past five years, junior high school, 3 83, Phillipa Skyler School has consistently experienced low fifth grade enrollment with an average
of only 18 students per year. This has led to budgetary challenges and the inefficiencies in resource allocation. Currently, there are no registered fifth grade students at junior high school, 3 83 for this school year. The data shows that approximately 94% of fourth grade students in district 32 remained in their elementary schools for the fifth grade during the 2324 school year. This highlights a strong community preference for students transitioning to middle school at the state, at at, for the middle school,
for the standard entry point for sixth grade. So the students are staying in fifth grade until they go into the sixth grade by truncating fifth grade at junior high school, 3 83. We ensure that the school is better aligned with New York City standards of grade structure while optimizing the resources to support students more effectively. This proposal reflects the commitment to meeting the needs of our students, families, and schools. And I strongly am an advocate for this proposal. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening panel. My name is Michael per superintendent of Brooklyn South High Schools, representing John Dewey High School.
It is a pleasure to introduce the proposal for the annex on the John Dewey campus. It represents an opportunity for middle school students to have access to not only middle school programs that are gonna be high quality, but also to our high school on the same campus. If this proposal's passed, middle school students will have access to high school students, high school programs, and a well-rounded campus altogether. John Dewey is that campus? Is that school with great educational leaders? And District 21 deserves this opportunity. So thank you. Thank,
Thank you very much, superintendent. Thank all the superintendents for your, uh, comments. We'll now move to public comment. I will first call the people who have signed up as education council members. Um, Mr. Quan McLean, Christina Raymond, Terrance Johnson, J Brown, and Daina Rodriguez. Okay, you can begin. Can begin. Good evening, pat Panel. My name is Daina Rodriguez. I am the CC President to CC 32 as well as a parent leader. I believe PS 1 45
and D 70 five's proposal on colocation should be passed. As to I am a parent that has to take parents to enrollment office to have them transferred to another borough and feel horrible that the school in my communities don't offer this program. Also believe this program should be offered within all districts as to these are students that already live within our community, where we play with students within parks. Eid ethic. This would, this would help the families and Bushwick, um, alleviate the transportation time
and as well alleviate the parent being overwhelmed with their child being hours and hours on the bus. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening. Thank you panel members. Uh, I'm here speaking. Uh, my name is Jay Brown. I'm CEC 21 President. Speaking in my own capacity about the Dewey Great expansion. Like so many districts, so many communities across the city, district 21 Southern Brooklyn is in great need of additional school space with housing needs and development, both in the past and ongoing obtaining school space, uh, for new buildings is immensely challenging. We appreciate the work of all involved in making this space
the reality, and we're glad to see the proposed plans maintain the invaluable resources provided to district 75 students at PS 7 21. As this new facility will be integrated into the community with respect to the surrounding community, immediately north of the K five 40 complex is the Marlborough houses home to over 4,000 NYCHA residents comprised of two super blocks, city blocks 7 1 3 7 has nearly 700 residents and city blocks 7 1 40, nearly 1100 residents. Families from these two super blocks are currently zoned for two different middle schools,
with one being about a mile away and the other about a mile and a half away. These zoning islands, which are not contiguous to their own schools, were intended to mitigate the clustering of students from economically disadvantaged households. A goal that is still important today, and if the zoning for the new middle school Anns were based solely on geography and proximity, it would undermine those intentions. However, with the proposed plans, middle school admissions giving only priority to all district 21 students. We are faced with the prospect that some families from Marlborough houses who can literally look out their window and see the new middle school building across the street may
be locked out after applying to it. Adding an admissions priority specifically for NYCHA residents would preserve the opportunity for Marlborough NYCHA families to continue to choose their currently zoned middle schools, while also providing a more fair opportunity to gain entry into the new middle school very near to their home. For those who would like or need that, and for some NYCHA families in Coney Island who are zoned for a middle school over three miles away, a NYCHA priority would also provide a better opportunity to attend a closer middle school. As K five 40 is significantly closer, the proposals middle school admissions provision should be amended to include a more fair and equitable NICHA priority.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank You. Good evening, chancellor Ramos, chair Faulkner, and distinguished members of the Pen for Education policy. My name is Quan McLean and I serve as the CCC President for District 16 in Bedstuy, Brooklyn. I'm here tonight to support the closure of PS 25. I can give you history. There's about three or four of us that's in this room, that of PS 25, and I'm one of them. I've lived in Bedstuy for 40 years. Um, born in, in the New York City Public School. In that district, we have fought for years to get
resources in our district. We have fought for years to get what we need. And it hasn't happened today. Seven years ago, we was in the same place having the same conversation about PS 25. And they had, at that time, less than a hundred students. Tonight we are here and they have 53 students. It is not sustainable. This is not a reflection of the leader. This is not a reflection of the teachers in that building. This is not a reflection of the families. This is simply the way that the Department of Education Fund public Schools.
And until we change the way that we fund public schools, we're going to continue to find ourselves back here. District 16 is the smallest district in the city of New York. We are here tonight for PS 25, but next year we'll be here for 57 and a year after that, we'll be here for another school. We have 23 schools in district. 1617 out of the 23 schools in district 16 are under 220 students. We are in a crisis and we need leadership to step up to help us in this. So you're gonna hear from some of our colleagues
that's gonna read some resolutions into the record, but we are here and if we don't come up with a plan, we're gonna be here again, again and again. Thank, thank you for your comments. Good evening panel and attendees. Uh, my name is Terrance Johnson. I'm a council member with, uh, qua and I will be reading resolution in support of the closure of PS 25, UB Blake School 16 K 0 2 5, sponsored by Nicole Bra, Victor Iro, and Quan McLean. Whereas the community education coun District 16 is
committed to ensuring that all students in District 16 receive a high quality education in school that are equitably resourced and sustainable. Whereas PS 25, UB Blake School 16 K 0 2 5, located at 7 6 7 Lafayette Avenue, has faced persistent challenges with enrollment and demand, despite sustained interventions from the New York City public schools. Whereas PS 25 has seen 20% decline in enrollment over the past five years, outpacing the 14% decline across
district 16 elementary schools, and currently enrolls 53 students making it the smallest K through five school in New York City. Whereas despite having 25 available kindergarten seats for the 20 24 25 school year, PS 25 received only 12 Applicants indicating sustained low demand and limiting the school's ability to provide a real robust educational environment. Whereas schools receive funding largely based on student enrollment through the Fair Student Funding Formula.
And PS 20 five's low enrollment has led to budgetary and programmatic challenges, restricting resources for whereas PS 25 serves a high need student population, including 90% students identified under economic need index, 15% students receiving special education services, including integrated co-teaching and special education teachers support services. 42% of students identified as English language learners requiring specialized language instruction and support.
Whereas New York City Public Schools has committed to individualized support for all current PS 25 students to transition into schools that can offer a broader range of academic enrichment and intervention programs, ensuring continuity of services. Whereas closure PS 25 will not impact current programming for students during the 20 24 25 school year, allowing them to complete their education and stable environment while planning for a successful transition in 20 25, 26.
Whereas the closure will allow students to enroll in more sustainably sized schools that provide greater access to academic and extracurricular opportunities, addressing the challenges that come with extremely small student populations. Whereas CEC 16 in collaboration with New York City Public schools successfully completed work on a plan to rezone PS 25 area to ensure that families have designated zone elementary schools and with sustainable enrollment, whereas Kate,
I have to remind the speaker, your time has expired. Sorry, sheriff Ner. Thank you. Yes. Um, hold, hold, hold on. Yeah, Because, um, I'm gonna ask because the, this is a member of a CCC presenting an approved resolution from that council that they'd be allowed to continue to present the resolution to us. I just think it's good for 'em to do so. Well. Correct. There's another form if you could present the resolution in writing to us, that that also will put it on the record, But we're about to vote on it right now. Yep. But was the resolution sent out? Yes, the resolution was mailed out. Um, it is, it was posted.
Um, the concern I have is if we make an exception, we wanna gotta make that exception for everybody. So, um, there any, um, If we allow superintendents to take all the time they need, then our parent representatives, that rep, you know, that literally represent our students and parent interest in a community should have the same opportunity, especially when they're presenting an official document. Okay. And that's a point well taken. So if is it much more that you have, uh, if you wanted to complete, it's almost done. Thank you. Whereas K 25
building shared space, PS 25 Success Academy, Lafayette Middle School and Brooklyn Brownstone School is currently underutilized with 53% utilization rate for the 20 24 25 school year. And the closure will create an opportunity to repurpose the space to better meet district needs with future plans subject to community input and a separate proposal. Whereas extensive community engagement efforts engage, including multiple meetings with parents, staff, local elected officials, and other stakeholders have ensure transparency and
provided opportunities for feedback in decision making process. Therefore, be it resolved that Community Education Council for District 16 supports the closure of PS 25, UB Blake School 16 K 0 2 5 at the end of the 24 25 school year as necessary, as a necessary step toward ensuring that students have access to robust educational opportunities and appropriately resource schools, be it further resolved that CC 16 urges the
New York City Public Schools to ensure seamless transitions for all current PS 25 students by providing individualized placement support and continuity of special education and LS services. Proactively work with CC 16 and engage the District 16 community upon approval of the equitable rezoning plan, prioritizing the needs of District 16 families, commit staff and resources to a transparent community-driven process
to determine the future of the K 0 2 5 building, ensuring that any repurposing aligns with the educational priorities of District 16, enhance communication and resources to families maintaining clarity and emphasizing support through the entire transition process. Be it further resolved that this resolution be submitted to the Panel for Education policy, the New York City Public School, local elected officials, and all relevant stakeholders to affirm CC 16 support
and commitment to the success of students in district 16. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening. Yeah. Do you, I I can hear you. Alright. Can you hear me now? Yes. Hi. Uh, good evening. My name is Christina Raymond. I am a proud and grateful parent, uh, of a student who attends a Title one public elementary school in, uh, community, uh, school District 16. I'm also a member of the Community Education Council for District 16. I'm here to show my support for the proposed action with regard to PS 25,
and also share with you, uh, a related resolution that was passed by the CC 16 earlier this month. Uh, resolution number 0 2 1 0 2 5 B, calling for comprehensive enrollment assessment and support plan for District 16, supported by my CEC, uh, rather sponsored by my CEC 16 colleagues, Victor Iro, uh, Nick Juani McLean, and Tanisha Gaskin Christie. Whereas community education councils are required under section 2 5 9 0 E 13 of New York State Education Law
to review the district's education programs, assess their effect on student achievement and provide input as deemed necessary. And whereas District 16 has the lowest student enrollment in New York City with significant portions of family opting out of schools outside the district, or rather opting for schools outside the district impacting school funding, program availability, and long-term sustainability. And in the 20 23 24 school year 4,480 District 16 students in grades three K
through eight attended schools outside of the district with 47% enrolling in traditional public schools and other districts. And 50 or percent enrolling in charter schools, 24% in district 16 charters, and 30% in charters elsewhere. And only 21% of kindergarten students in District 16 attend their zoned school ranking. The district last in New York City for zone retention compared to the citywide average of 46%, with 24%
of kindergartners attending schools in other districts, and 34% enrolling in charter schools and or as independent studies such as the Harlem and El Barrio project. And the District 15 participatory action research par project have demonstrated the value of data-driven led research and identifying enrollment challenges and best practices for strengthening school communities. And whereas the Community Education Council, where District 16 has previously called for an independent assessment to investigate the factors influencing enrollment
and develop initiatives to revitalize district schools. And whereas a data-driven community-centered approach is essential to understanding the needs of District 16 families and ensuring equitable access to high quality education within the district, therefore, be it resolved that New York City Public Schools allocate funding for an independent comprehensive enrollment assessment and support plan for District 16, which shall include a thorough analysis of enrollment trends, student retention, and school choice patterns, including why families opt
for schools outside of District 16, a review of programs and curriculum offerings to ensure they're competitive, engaging, and responsive to student needs. Community engagement efforts to gather input from families, educators, and stakeholders on barriers to enrollment and school retention recommendations for policy changes, resource allocation and targeted interventions to strengthen enrollment and improve family confidence in District 16 schools. Be it further resolved that this process be conducted in collaboration with the district 16 community superintendent,
community education council, school leaders, and community organizations to ensure transparency and alignment with local needs, be it finally resolved. New York City Public Schools commit to using the findings of this assessment to inform long-term strategies that will enhance the stability, the quality, and the appeal of district 16 schools for current and future families. Thank you. Thank you. I will call the other speakers who have comments on the school utilization proposals,
Harrison Park, YLI Saez, Maria Kar and Eden Moray Barron, you can begin speaking if you're at the microphone. Good Evening. Uh, my name is Harrison Park. Uh, I'm the physical education teacher at PS 25. It is my second year teaching at PS 25. Um, and in my two years, I've had two different principals. Um, three, if you include the one that hired me, um, it's very easy to understand the numbers. Um, 53 students declining population over the course of the last five years since the last proposal.
Um, with PEP, granted, I must, um, I've only been here for two years, so I can speak to the last two years. Um, I've had two principals who are resourceful, who are, um, good, strong leaders and who are hungry for change. And I, in, in my opinion, they deserve the opportunity to make that change happen. Um, I miss, miss Hilton deserves that opportunity. Uh, the principal that was not chosen to return deserved it last year as well. There is a narrative being spun
that the students are not having a robust experience at PS 25. Um, I had came here from our, uh, a basketball game that we just had, our PS 25 basketball team that started this year. Um, I'm not surprised that Mr. Mims doesn't know about, uh, the album that I produced with the third through fifth graders, uh, music production project that spent the course of the fall semester. 'cause he hasn't asked. Um, in my opinion, this is not a school leadership problem. Is no coincidence that the chronology goes, that
the three K was removed, the pre-K was removed, principal was removed, another principal was removed, and then here we are. Um, this is disruption that is being caused in order to build the case for getting rid of our school. This is a district leadership team that does not believe in a school to regrow. Um, and I can just advocate for the day to day, um, teachers that live and bleed PS 25. Um, they've been there for much, much longer than me.
And, uh, I just ask that we have a chance to build it back. If the district put half the effort they've put into closing the school, into building it back up. We'd be up and running by the end of the year. So I hope you consider that. Um, thank you. Good evening. Good evening. I'm Adina Baron Murray, and I'm a proud parent that, uh, that my children attend PS 25. I actually had them transferred the PS 25 this past September. And since then, my children have been happy.
They have been comfortable. They get the experience to interact with several children of various grades. They have the opportunity to have to be in a engineering group, to be in a basketball team, to have, uh, um, opportunity to act in a play. I think there were three, two or three plays or something already. I missed two, so I go to work. So it was, they're doing a whole lot. Something that I've, I'm learning more and more I've learned about last year. I've learned about the year before, and I've heard stories, ton of stories.
So I understand when I'm putting a child in a school and some, no, don't go there. They're closing. No, don't go there. They're about to close. You think I'm gonna go? That's what probably been happening over the past three, four years. So now we are, we are where we are. So now I'm saying if that is an effort, that was that an that occurred? There could also be an effort to say, well, you know, we can market and we can do things. Let's, let's show, let's put up the flyers and pictures of us playing basketball. Let's put the play and the dance that we showed on, on,
on the, on on stage. Let's do, let's talk about all the, the marching around school for, for, um, let's, breast cancer awareness, all the different things that they're learning. They're also experiencing the interaction there is significant and good interaction where, and in their small classrooms, we don't need 25 children in a room. I took my children from that. I don't wanna, I don't want them to go back into that. So we can do what we did. Whatever happened to break it down, to build it back up there. Since I've been there, I think there's about four or five students that came in, came into the school
that joined the roster. So why not be able to have more time from now until June to get a bigger RA for the upcoming year? I think it's possible. Is it? And you know, also, these children are happy. These children are a family. They're all together with their families. The families have support and the family support is strong, and they advocate about that constantly. I wanna thank you and I pray that you all are able to get what you need, the understanding what the school is there for everybody. Thank you,
Maria. Okay. Uh, is it, uh, is that the interpreter? Okay. So what I, what I like to ask, that was a lot. If you need to have a conversation so that you can interpret, uh, what was being said. So if we need to take the additional time so we can, Um, Um, a mother of district 25, we are, um, Latinas, we're Ecuadorian, we're immigrants. Um, and I wanted to express, um, my gratefulness for the teachers in district, uh, 25. I'm very grateful for district 25 for them to give us the opportunity shine.
Our children are happy to assist school there. If, what would it serve for me if the school is full of 250 students, if those teachers aren't gonna have time to teach them to our children. Mm-hmm. I live in Coney Island on, on 9 25 Coney Island. And I come all the way to leave my son here at PS 25 because I like the school. I like how they teach. My, uh, child has gotten used to it. It's would be something new to happen to start over to me.
Um, new classmates we're very used to the school. My son is happy to be at that school. I long lived PS 25. Okay. Is that it? That is the end of the public comment on school utilization proposals. Okay. Great. Thank you. Um, we'll now move to panel member comments and we'll first, uh, begin with panel members from Brooklyn. Um, who wishes to go first panel member ca or panel member panel Please? Should we, I'm sorry. Um, did you wanna, Like, what's the best way to Oh, why don't you begin? Okay. Um, I guess I'll just go one proposal at a time.
Like one, We presented them in one. I think they were presented in one resolution, so they're all open for discussion. Okay. Okay. Um, okay. So I have some comments And then I also have some questions. Well, we're, we're not, it's not a briefing. We're just, you're gonna make your comments as it relates to Okay. The proposal. Okay. So, so thank you everyone. Uh, Camille Cas. I'm the Brooklyn Borough President appointee for the pep. Um, I wanna thank everyone who came out today to share their feedback. Thank everybody who has been attending the public hearings,
the community meetings, um, lots and lots and lots of meetings. Thank you to the CEC members who have been working with me directly. And, um, basically everybody, this is, uh, a lot of, um, engagement to make sure that everybody is having their VO voice heard and understanding the complexities of the school utilization proposals. And so I just want to, um, share my gratitude with everybody that's been involved. Um, I will just go one proposal at a time
and I, um, did, Did the district 13 Proposal get taken off? Did, was the D 13 superintendent here? No, there was a District 13 proposal. Okay. 13 K 0 0 3 co-location Right. With Z 75. Okay. So, um, Regarding the proposed reciting of P 1 41 K at K 0 5 4, and the co-location with PS three, the Bedford Village, um, school 13 K 0 0 3, I do support this proposal,
um, as did the CEC 13, um, and the families of D 13. We wanna create schools where all children in the district have appropriate programs and facilities to meet their learning needs. And this proposal will successfully do that. This is a great opportunity for collaboration between both schools and allows D 75, the ability to increase its capacity. I attended the Chancellor's Town Hall recently at PS three, and the, um, unfortunately the building is not a DA
compliant, although the D 75 program is not geared, um, towards children with limited mobility, I do hope that the DOE will explore upgrades to this building to ensure that access is available to anyone who wants to enter the building, whether it be a student, staff member, or parent visiting. I as a CCD 75 co-president Christie Angel had said at the joint public hearing, we need therapy rooms and sensory rooms and space for everything the children might need outside of this proposal.
I wanted to share that if anyone has reasonable accommodation requests or ideas for any school building, they can write to the Office of Accessibility planning@accessibilityatschools.nyc gov. Um, lastly, regarding the facilities, this building is in need of electrical and bathroom upgrades throughout the school. And so, can we please have the school construction authority and the division of school facilities prioritize this request? Um, I would ask that my fellow council members
consider voting yes to this request. It, it is definitely very much needed. Um, regarding the D 16 proposed closure of PS 25 UB Blake School, I wanted to thank the principal Hilton and Superintendent Mims and CE six 16 members, president McLean, member Johnson, and the Borough President Appointee, uh, Raymond for, um, taking on this very challenging decision
to close PS 25, principal Hilton has done an admirable job of maintaining this tiny school. Um, we know that with schools under 200 students, you really can't afford to have a science teacher, music class, art teacher, special services. Um, as we were reminded, the school is the smallest one in the city with less than, um, 60 students. 53, I think was the number after school becomes almost impossible. Students are not able to grow socially in such a small environment.
And as much as I, I hear that there's a lot of love in this building, a lot of support for the children, um, when we talk about small class size, we, we are not talking about seven children in a classroom on three grades. That that is not the intent of what small class size is about. Um, it actually limits students' abilities to grow socially and emotionally on many levels. Um, I also wanna point out that just looking
into the funding for PS 25, there's a reason why this school is able to offer the limited services that it does in a strong way. And it's because the DOE is funding it almost three times as much than what a typical school would be funded. And that isn't really something that we've been talking about, but I think that, um, it is important to mention that the students are centrally funded over $65,000 a student
beyond what the fair student funding is. And so when we're thinking about how we can keep this school open, and, um, you know, just looking at the district as a whole, we have to consider the amount of money that is being spent that theoretically could be shared throughout the district. Um, the CEC and the community have been asking for this closure for many years now, and have been consistent in this request. Um, we are, I think at our fourth term of the CEC, since PS 25 was slated to close.
And, um, although President McClain has still been with us, there has been turnover of the CECs. And they have consistently steadfastly believed in this community driven, um, plan to engage the community. Um, they are following the state education law 25 90 E and have been transparent and vocal about the needs of all of District 16 and see the value in a collaborative outreach process
that engages the entire community. Um, in the redesign of the district. President McLean and his team have done a stellar job around this work, engaging with elected officials and working with the former and current superintendent to create a data driven community led, um, research project to identify the enrollment challenges and create best practices for strengthening their schools. They said repeatedly that they don't want, um, another school or anything to go into the PS 25 space
until the community collectively decides what they need and what they want to occupy the building. Lots of information about all of the meetings that they've had with the community over these years are available on the CEC 16 website. And I'm looking forward to the results of the community survey that has been shared, um, with, with all of district 16 families that was shared in early January and will be coming to a close soon. Soon. Um, the strength of this community
and the desire for lasting change will allow the community to drive this process and decide what would be best for all of D 16 students and their families. Um, from what I can see, this has been a locally grown parent leadership opportunity, um, to engage as many members who want to be part of this process. And so I look forward to the future of D 16. Okay. Um, Regarding D 19, uh, the proposed opening
and co-location of P 0 3 6 K at K 3 45, the community was apprehensive at first, but has recognized that the children who would be attending the new program are already residents of the district. There's still some anxiety around the co-location, but I feel confident that these concerns can be resolved. Um, I just wanna elevate all of the work that superintendent Louis San has done to, um, engage with the communities in all of these districts to explain, um, what
D 75 programs are like, what they're about, that these are our children, the children that live in our neighborhoods, the children that are zoned for these schools. And there were not programs in the schools to allow the zoned children to attend their zoned school. And so, um, the DOE needs to make more efforts to help our communities understand why and how colocations like these work and are what's fair for all children and families in the district.
Um, this is gonna be a small program with only eight rooms used for K to fifth grade. So, um, it, it feels like a no-brainer to me. And, you know, as many of you know, I have been a strong advocate for D 75 programs in all of our schools for many years. And so I appreciate this work and ask you all to Oh, yes. Uh, regarding the D 21 proposed grade expansion of John Dewey High School, I am also in support
of this great expansion and excited about the new building and collaborations with D 75. Um, CEC 21, president Jay Brown, who spoke here tonight, and VP Randy Garre, have done a spectacular job engaging with the community and the John Dewey administration to build this school. The CEC has asked to have a new name for the annex. I hope that will be considered. Also, the DOE has said that they will work with the CEC on possible admissions priorities specific to D 21 students.
There's a full school year before the middle school opens. So, um, I feel confident that all of these details can be worked out collaboratively and with public feedback. Aside from the expansion, um, I wanna mention that oftentimes the six to 12 school that lives under the high school superintendency can sometimes have obstacles with CCEC representation, meaning the middle school parents who would normally work with their local district, CEC, are now represented by the Citywide Council for High Schools.
Um, but unfortunately, CCHS was not represented during the joint public hearing, nor have they provided feedback in the case of this expansion that I know of. Um, I don't have a solution for this disconnect, but I do see it as an issue that we need to address. So I just wanna elevate that to you all. Uh, D 32, uh, proposed grade truncation of Felipe Skyler. So the truncation from a five to eight school to a six to eight school makes sense and will not impact current
or future enrollment in the middle school. Grades 3 83 can focus on strengthening their position in the district as a six to eight school, and they have the support of the Bushwick community to do that. Um, in the next two years, they're gonna be celebrating their 50th anniversary. And so, congratulations. That's something to be very proud of. I support this truncation. Um, and then secondly, in D 32, we have the proposed opening in co-location of P 360 8 K at K 1 45.
So many numbers. Um, very excited about this opportunity to expand service to the children and families of D 32. When young children have to leave the district to have their needs met, it creates a burden on the family and on the child. Unnecessary commutes create anxiety and take away from sleep or family time. It's harder for families to attend school events or connect with their PTAs. The opening of P 360 8 and K 1 45 comes at the right time. And I'm very happy with the community outreach that was done
and the assurances that children will be welcomed. The children who will attend P 3 86 live in the district and deserve the same access that other children in the neighborhood have. And collectively, we found a way to accomplish this. So, congratulations. Um, I've been working with President Rodriguez of CEC 32 for a number of years. She understands deeply how important this new school will be to the community. Having sent her own child to the Bronx year
after year to get what he needed. Um, she knows how necessary and life changing the school will be to many of the D 32 district children. A few things we need to prioritize for all families. There needs to be a better understanding of what programs are offered. In a D 75 school. There's a stigma that exists around this program, and it's built on misunderstanding. We wanna ensure that, um, these schools are fully funded resource rooms, therapy rooms, sensory rooms that both schools can use,
and of course, prioritizing a DA compliance for this building and all of our school buildings. And so, um, Thank you. That's all I got. Thank you. Thank you. Thank You. Uh, chair Paul. Yeah, I, I wanna go to the other Brooklyn members. I know that we have a vacancy in the CC rep, but I wanna recognize any other panel members from Brooklyn. Yes. Our student panel member Regarding the school closures. Firstly, I'd like to acknowledge that no one can fully grasp the di the diverse ways disclosure may impact students and parents. However, I do know what school means to me
and to so many others. School is more than just an area of educational growth. It's a focal point of character development and drives a sense of belonging. Some may even call it a second home. When a school closes, it disrupts a student's education, social lives and academic progress. One of the most invaluable facets of this decision is the student perspective. Too often, students are unprepared and learn about such events. After this, the decision has been made, even though we are the ones directly impacted. While it's clear that schools like PS 25 have faced challenges in enrollment and financial sustainability,
I think we can all agree it is equally clear that the student's wellbeing must be held paramount. Change is never easy, but what matters most is how we move forward. As we continue, I hope we can all bear in mind the voices of those who are impacted most, and to recognize the importance of not making decisions for the students, but making decisions with the students. Okay. Thank you. Uh, any, lemme get more. Brooklyn, you're from the Bronx. Lemme get more. Uh, Brooklyn. Brooklyn here. Look. The Brooklyn people. Uh, thank, thank you Chair. Uh, Faulkner, uh, I wanna thank, uh, panel member ca uh, for the very thorough, uh, work done on this,
and for inviting, uh, the entire panel to come to a walkthrough of the MM 25, uh, K 25 building. Uh, and to see all of the thoughtful work over many, many years that has gone into, uh, engaging with PS 25, uh, and, and the ccc, uh, and in the district. And, and the plans that are in place to engage authentically with the community to ask them what they need going forward out of their schools. Uh, this is really heartening to see happening, uh, at a district level. I hope we can emulate this model across the city, uh, as,
as a way to really listen to the people that are benefiting from the schools, both parents and kids, as opposed to imposing solutions on them that come as a surprise often. Um, so I, I will be supporting Panama Cas on that decision. Uh, also I'd like to speak about, uh, John Dewey High School. Uh, I, I'm a district 21, uh, public school graduate, uh, from a long time ago in the eighties and nineties. And, and actually my family lives just across the train tracks from John Dewey. Uh, and, uh, I was lucky enough to catch the email inviting us to the groundbreaking ceremony for their new middle school building. Uh, super excited to see that coming up so quickly.
Uh, the last time I was in the neighborhood, which was only like, about a year after I went to the groundbreaking, the structure's almost completely done. So, uh, that is not usually what I encounter when working with school construction authorities. So this is nice, uh, that a project is moving quickly and we're on track for an opening, uh, as they schedule. Um, and, uh, the school community there was very warm, welcoming and had a, some good ideas around offering a middle school and, and a school that is traditionally for decades has been a high school. I have friends that went to Dewey. Um, and I will also be supporting that great expansion.
So those are the two that I really have direct. Uh, And did you move to Brooklyn? Uh, I moved, I, I, I grew up in Brooklyn. I'm from Midwood, So, but I want to hear to Brooklyn panel. I was, you know, trying to get the panel members. I You go first. I'm, I'm Brooklyn panel. Okay. I'm, I'm done. Thank you, chair. Thank you. Alright. And we have authentic Brooklyn panel members Born and raised. Um, be recognized. So panel member sat and then, we'll, here We go. Go ahead. Um, I just wanted to just shout out to all of these young students,
these young people who are working on their, their speaking skills and has so much to say, so much agency. The agency in this room today was thick. You can cut it with a knife. And can we do, do you understand agency is telling people, I hear what you're saying, but I have a voice. Do, do you understand how powerful that is for a, a second grader to stand up and say, I hear what you're saying, but my mama and papa said I have a voice. Do not be silenced.
Because people wanna throw numbers at you. They wanna throw terms over your head. And, and, and that's supposed to be impressive. The only thing that can tell me is that you're, you're really not trying to communicate with me right now. 'cause you're throwing things at me and I only have two hands. So for any, any, any young one who came in here, what you did today is so transferable. School is not always, school is not always, you're gonna be doing this quite a few times throughout your lifetime. So let's get into practice when someone says, you shall not exist, you exist.
Thank you. Panel member. And, and now we will move to the Bronx Panel. Member Shepherd. Thank you Chair. Thank you, chair Folkman. Um, I want to tonight just address, um, the, um, uh, district 16 proposal, the PS 25 proposal. And I wanna speak to, um, the proposals involving our district 75, um, uh, schools and programs. Um, I went to, um, PS 25
and I walked through the building and I met the principal and we looked at the, um, classrooms that, you know, the, the, the students were in and looked at the teachers and looked at their interaction. And, you know, I want people to understand that I saw love in the building. I saw care, I saw like everybody trying to make do with a little bit, right? So I wanna start there because this ain't about whether
or not we love or care for or want to help our children, right? You, you show up every day and you do that because you love and care about them. Parents, we bring them to school every day. We make sure that they're in class because we love and care about them, and we wanna make sure that they have the best. What I what is being submitted here is that what we are giving them does not represent our best. What happens if you have a school that is literally capable of having several hundred students in it,
have 53 kids, 53 students. The school itself is not sustainable. And I want people to understand what the history of this is. See, 'cause we are having a conversation right now with no historical context, give it. So back in like 2002 or so, when we went to a system of mayoral control, they got 'em two words again. We had a mayor that decided that the best course of action was to literally come to black and brown communities and chop our schools up. So what we are dealing with now with a school
with 53 students in it, in a district where half the kids go to school outside the district, and the other half go to charter schools, is a result of policy from 25 years ago. We are dealing as a community now with the results or the impacts of decisions that were made decades ago. And we have to reckon with that. So this is not about whether or not Principal Hilton is doing a good job. I went there, I saw for myself she loves these children. I saw the teachers, they love these children.
I saw the, the, the children themselves. They work absolutely enjoying themselves. But this ain't about that. What it's about right now is creating an environment where our children can learn what they need to, to be able to step out into this world as adults academically, as well as socially. And if we are not providing them with that academic foundation, we set them up for failure. That might be difficult to hear because we want to make sure that our children are in school and they're happy and they're connecting
and they have small classrooms. Like we want those things. But what we value foremost is that what they take out of this system is a public school education that allows them to prosper and succeed as adults. And that means sometimes reversing decisions made 20, 25 years ago that create the environment that we live in right now. So that's what this, that's what tonight's vote represents, and that's what I think we need to understand. The last thing I want to add to that is we have had assurances from the superintendent that
what happens to PS 25 moving forward must will include the community. The community's voice is what's important when we talk about what the future of that school building is. And I encourage District 16 families, the families that live in the neighborhood of PS 25 right now, chil like the families that are, you know, like the community needs to decide what is in the best interest of District 16 to make sure that we are not dealing with the smallest school district
or the, the smallest community district in the city. That we are in fact providing opportunities for students and families to come back to District 16. So that's what I have to say about that one. And the, the last thing I wanna mention about our district 75 programs, I also want to thank Superintendent Louisan, um, for his work. Um, I have been on this panel long enough to know that there was a time when we would introduce,
or, you know, the DOE would introduce a district 75 proposal, and the community would say, look, we got no problem with district 75 and all just not in my school. And it was people like Superintendent Louisan, it was people like, like panel member ISO and many other like, people from the community that came up and said that that is completely unacceptable. And that we have to not just change the way that we think, but we have to understand that who we are talking about
as it was said before, our students or our neighbors, or our friends and our families. So I want to say thank you Superintendent Luan for your work and making sure that we are having a different kind of conversation when we are talking about including district 75 programs and like recognizing that our students with disabilities have just as much, right? So this ain't about what we deserve, it's about what we have a right to. And coming into this space month after month and year
after year and rising up and saying that, no, we demand that our students in district 75 programs and our parents with students with disabilities get the, the quality education as best as we can give them and do right by them. And make sure that they too can step out into this world or move in this world in the future in a way that allows them to realize success. So I just wanted to say thank you for that and I intend to support all of these, um,
uh, proposals tonight. Thank you. Okay. Are the under panel member comments? Yes. Panel member cia. Hey, I here for Queen ECS again. I can't hear you. Can you guys hear me? Yeah. Okay. There we go. It's working. Um, I just wanna ask that anybody from the Chancellor's office or anybody from DOE please work with, uh, 25 to capture any families who may benefit from a dual language program or benefit from enrolling in an international school. Uh, when one of the parents spoke this evening, she had me, uh, in tears and the interpreter did her best to do that in real time. But the impact of, of her statement, um, please connect
with them and just make sure they don't fall through the cracks. 'cause the cracks are widening. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Panel member. Okay. I'm trying to, um, yes, panel member guo. And then, So I, I wanna start with, I I I am in support of all the proposals. Um, while some are difficult and, and, um, we've had a great deal of engagement around particularly 25, um, we're committed to making sure that those 53 families get everything that the DOE promised them. So I wanna start there. Um,
and then I wanna move on to district 75. Um, so I, I am very glad to see, um, three district 75 proposals in one meeting. Um, that's phenomenal. 'cause I think at one point we were probably looking at three a year. Um, and I, I wanna say that well, we're not completely outside of the environment where we still get that pushback about being in the building. The conversations are definitely more amicable and more of an educational, um, conversation when we're able to educate the community
and really explain what you think we are versus what we actually are. Um, and we are your neighbors upstairs and downstairs and, and across the street and in the park and everywhere and in the supermarket. And so we're all just trying to be in the same place and stay in our own communities with each other. Um, we call it district 75, but they're district 13 kids. They're district 17 kids. They're district 19 kids. They're district 32 kids. Um, so, so they're all our kids.
Um, the district is, is not even a place. It, it's just a program that funds students so that they get what they need and it doesn't strain whoever we're co-located with, but actually increases the support they get by adding these resources in the building they otherwise wouldn't have access to. In addition to the training that can be crossed over. And I hope that these communities practice put into practice is training all the teachers together so that everybody can handle every student and have a deep track, uh, bag of tricks for any student you get in your classroom. That said, um,
district 75 enrollment has increased. Everyone has been talking about decreases in enrollment and losing students, and the system has lost hundreds of thousands of students. Our enrollment numbers are increasing. We have 29,144 students right now. Last year we were looking at like 27,000. And if you consider all of the students from 2020 that missed out on early childhood, um, early intervention CPSE, were only looking at that number growing over the next five years when these children get to either great teams or third grade
and they get to testing age, and then people start realizing that we need support. So I just wanna say that thank you for expanding and, you know, supporting your own communities because now we'll all have access to everything that District 75 offers. And hopefully with the increase in programs, it will decrease the amount of issues that we have with Office of People Transportation and busing students, decrease traffic in certain areas and increase access for all to the school across the street from your house. Thank you. Thank you. Uh, panel member. Um, hello. Um, I, I have general, um, comments to the process of, uh,
crossing school based on actually this case. I'd like to ask counselor and, and team to provide next time also, um, uh, proposal, how utilize this space to not waste the time. Again, the space will be empty or even temporary or permanent. Could be space center, could be any robotic center, any, all the options who all districts, all district nearby could use as a, as education part of this. And I'm encouraged to make decision as soon as possible
because everything is connected to the budget, to the money. So as soon as the decision is, as if decision would closing, it's coming together without, without pending something else. That's, that's, that's the good idea to proceed. Thank you. Yeah, I understand there was a request of the community that was discussed in the briefing. It was requested by the community that, that, uh, remain vacant. Any other comments? Wait, Rebecca, forever. Well, obviously not forever, but it was the request of the community that in the immediate, you know, to give the community an opportunity. It was discussed tonight to give the community an opportunity to have some input. Um, and, uh, so that was discussed.
But, um, who were there any other comments from, okay, I think we're ready for the question then. Is there a motion? Let's see if, would there be a motion for unanimous consent? Is there objection to that? Yes, there is an objection. Okay. So we'll proceed to a roll call. Uh, I will call the roll. And if you want to vote differently on any of the items within the resolution, please indicate as much. Um, member Ali, have you vote yes to all. Uh, member Ali, say yes to all.
Member Ban. Yes to all Member Boad? Yes. To all Member Casre? Yes. To all Member Fair? Yes. Member Giordano? Yes. Member Es? Yes. Member Hassan. Yes. To all member Who? Yes. To all member Meme? Yes. To all Member Ong? Yes. To all Member sap? Yes. Member Shepherd. Yes. To all member Sang Yes to all.
And Chair Faulkner? Yes to all, uh, that the resolution is passed unanimously. Um, 16 in favor. Great, thank you. Okay, we'll now move to the period where we offer the opportunity for public to, uh, make comment during the open public comment, uh, portion of the meeting. Um, I'll start again with the, um, CEC members who have signed up for public comment. Um, Quan McLean, um, Terrance Johnson. Jay Brown, Daina Rodriguez. That, that's the, no, they've signed up
for public comment as well. They're passing. They're passing. Okay. I think The form was a little confusing. So I'm passing. Okay. Thank you very much. I just had you signed up for public comment. I will start then with other public speakers. I will call Rodriguez will pass as well. Thank you. Okay. Um, okay. Fred Tenzer, Christina Exline, Merwin Ranger, Nana and Ken Zing. If I called your name and you're at the microphone, you can be.
Thank you. That's let people leave People leaving. So we'll just wait. People leave? Yeah. Yeah, we'll let people leave and then you can begin your comments. I'm Hoping to catch everyone who might be leaving. I need help and I'm not sure what direction to go in, but Yes. Um, good evening. Okay. Thank you for your time. My name is Merwin Granger. Um, the scale and magnitude of what's being discussed here, um, today far surpasses, um, the issue that I have, uh, with my own child. I think it's is impactful for us as it is for you. Um, I'm not sure where else to turn. I am trying as a last ditch effort to avoid, you know,
seeking, um, getting attorney and getting counsel and trying to pursue this, uh, legally. My son Reagan, ranger Winkler attends a community roots charter school. Um, thus far we've had an amazing experience. He's always been supported in his, um, neuropsychological evaluation. One of the recommendations that they had made was that I remove him and put him into a private program and it was not something and is not something that I wanna do. However, at this moment I'm having a challenge with dealing with, um, our CSC representative. And can I, can I just stop you? I wanna offer you the opportunity to have a one-on-one.
I don't know how much. Yes, please. Yeah. So if somebody, John, handle, somebody could And John Hammer? Yeah. If you could talk to her. I make way. Um, thank you so much. Yeah, that would be, yeah. Thank you. Sure. Yep. Next speaker, Boom. Me? Yeah. Okay. My name is Fred Tenzer. I am a concerned member of the public. My granddaughter is a student in the New York City Public School system. I call upon the New York City Department of Education to order and persuade general education teachers and other people.
Hold on a second. Hold on. Yeah. Some of these items, if you would, if would be better, if you would feel more comfortable talking with somebody individually, as opposed to talking about, um, information that might need to be confidential in public. So I wanna offer you that opportunity as well to sit down with somebody from the department so you can have an individual conversation. Oh, well, we'll have somebody come over. Can somebody, I, I also, Dr. Va, could you speak we're, I've given them the option. I didn't say to require, I said it's an option if they would prefer to speak, but, um,
if they would feel more comfortable having a one-on-one, I would say that's an option available to you. My, uh, comments are generalized though. That's fine. That's fine. Okay. I didn't know what I was supposed to say. Okay. I call upon the New York City Department of Education to order and persuade general education teachers and other people to cause, encourage and promote friendships between children and teenagers with disabilities and children without disabilities. This kind of friendship is mutually beneficial, both children and teenagers with disabilities and children. Teenage without disabilities need
and ought to have diversity in their circle of friends. I call upon the public to join me. Member I call upon the public to join me in my mission of Mercy. Please give feedback and please reply. Thank you very much. Thank you. Okay. Next, next speaker. Oh yeah, sorry. The chancellor. Thank Oh, chance? Yeah. Hold on. I'm so, I'm so sorry, sir. I just wanna, sure. Yeah, sir, I wanna thank you so much for your comment. And I believe we still have Chief Rampant here with us, and we also have Deputy Chancellor Melendez. So there are a couple of folks here who can meet with you. I'm gonna ask members of my team to please connect
with this gentleman. I just want you to be aware of some of the programs that we do have to support this, and if there is a specific issue happening, um, with your granddaughter. We just wanna make sure that you're aware of the programs for support, but also if there are any things that need to be, um, tailored, specific to your grandchild, we wanna make sure you're getting those services. So please, if you would just meet with members of the team, they're coming over to you, sir, and we appreciate that. We just want you to be aware of, of some of the, you raised such an important issue and we wanna make sure that all children are supported. So, thank you, sir. Okay. Yep.
Proceed. Yeah. Okay. Good evening panel. Thank you so much. My name is Christina and I am a, a public school parent, uh, of two middle school kids. And I urge the DOE to treat all kids equally. District or charter. They're all equal yet. The, uh, HSLA Manhattan, uh, where we have 27 kids in a class, and our co-located school only has 16. The bup is seven years old. It's time to dust it off, look at the enrollment and adjust. I don't wanna, I don't wanna be here this evening. I love all of you, but I'd love to be home with my kids.
But unfortunately, I have to come out here because I'm fighting for this additional space for our high school. Uh, we have, um, we have no other option at this point. We have kids who are performing, uh, choir and band in the hallways and in closets. And my kids wanna go to this high high school in two years, and yet there is not enough space available to them. So I urge you and I urge the DOE to re-look at that space. It's on 33rd and Park Avenue in Manhattan. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Good, good. Be seat. Uh, good evening panel.
My name is, uh, Ken Zang, and I am the principal at said high school, HSLA Manhattan. Um, and, um, what we are doing here is really trying to bring awareness to, uh, this spacing issue. Like many others, we are talking about spacing, and we are all here donning this fair is fair shirt because fair is fair. Uh, our kids deserve just as much space as any other scholars and students in New York City. Uh, and when you look at the numbers, 27 to 16 is not fair. Um, we have, uh, robust talent programs, theater, choir,
dance, all that require, um, plenty of space. And that doesn't include the academics either. We are a full AP for all school, uh, and we need classroom space. We need classroom space for regular instruction, and we need classroom space for small group instruction. Um, it is our belief that those types of interventions are, are extremely useful, uh, and really help kids grow. So the spacing that we're asking for is not additional, is not extra. It is what we believe is fair, given the numbers and given the allotment. Mm-hmm. Um, we're gonna hear a little bit more from some
of our other colleagues, but really, again, this is about awareness. And, uh, when we have these meetings, it is really important to all of us as educators that we say what we need to say and we have our voices heard. Regardless of what school we are from, we are all here to fight for kids. So, thank you. Interesting. I got it. Yeah. Good evening panel. My name is Nana Lai and I'm a parent of a scholar at HSL at Manhattan. 20 minutes ago, my daughter just finished a class, A class
that I believe should be happening during the normal school hours. And this is a class bearing class. She's getting class credits for this, and it's ending at 8:20 PM This is just, this is because we do not have the space and the room to accommodate class to happen during the time that I, as a parent deem as, as normal school hours. Every Wednesday, I have to stay out till 8:20 PM and still take my child home for her to complete her assignment.
This is unacceptable because there is space in the building that we can use to have classes during the seven, between 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Um, the, I'm also the business operations manager for the school, meaning I handle the day-to-day operations of the school. It's ridiculous to see teachers reaching out to me on a daily basis, asking where they can have a class. And at this point, after two years, I tell them we just have
to make due with what we have. Take them to the staircase, take them to the hallways. I have spots running in the hallway, which is unsafe for them. When we have a gym in the building, there is space in the building. The bump is old. We need to look at it again, as my colleagues have said, and allocate space to the schools. We are population is, um, three times the where we, the, the three schools in the building. Their total population does not add up to our school population.
So I'll urge you guys to again, look at it and let's bring this to everyone's attention. Thank you. Thank you. No problem. Mm-hmm. The next group of speakers is Ariel Schweitzer, Beatriz Escobar, Luke Miller, Evelyn Guzman, and Emmanuel GFI car. Good evening panel. I really appreciate having this opportunity to speak on behalf of my child. My child wanted to be here today, but he's also coming, leaving school now at 8:30 PM Um,
he, uh, has experienced a rigorous, wonderful education. As a 14-year-old, he took two AP exams and got a four in a five respectively. Now as a 10th grader, he is taking four AP classes on top of this rigorous education. We all understand that the real value to students is to have a well-rounded education. So my child is taking French Ho and trumpet and plays the piano, and he's enrolled in a dual program
that gives him a Saturday piano experience at the very prestigious Manus Prep school. And, um, he has both choir and piano as well. He tells me that there is one piano, one closet for the instruments. And I asked, well, where do you play? And he says, well, one to three students could fit inside of this closet. So I don't really fit with a French horn, but sometimes with the trumpet, there are between. And I will, don't quote me on this. He says, somewhere between 150
and 200 students just taking band. There are choir programs that are incredible. They are singing in the choir in the stairwell because there is not enough space for him. In addition to all of this education, he also is part of the Success Academy Rowing team. And he would love to have the opportunity to lift weights and get stronger so he could become a stronger rower. He comes home every day and does pushups on my kitchen floor so
that he could become a stronger rower for the regatta. So I implore that you give the space that is needed Of the panel. My name is Luke Miller and I'm the Dean of Arts and Athletics at HSLA Manhattan on the corner of 33rd and Park. Um, I have ran the program for four years now, and it's disheartening to see what our artists and our athletes have to go through on a daily basis. In regards to our space concerns. We are the largest school in our co-located building, and yet we get the smallest gym space.
Our gym space doesn't even have official basketball hoops while the smallest school gets the regulation size court. Imagine how sad it is when I watch one of my favorite seniors, Cameron Ortega. He can pop a three. Like nobody can, um, not even get to play or practice inside of his own building. Even his fitness class during the day is held in a classroom because we are not allowed to use the big gym. One of my instrumentalists, Janice Chung, is an insanely good instrumentalist. She has been in the Manna School of Music.
She just got invited to the Manhattan School of Music, was one of the most prestigious pre-college programs. And yet, just like one of our parents said she has to practice inside of a closet because we keep getting denied space for our band. We have been requesting fair space and a fair share for years and nothing has happened. And what's sad is the space exists and it exists inside of our building, and we watch it be underutilized day after day. And it simply is not being allocated fairly. So I urge the DOE to treat our kids fairly
and to redistribute classroom space so that all kids can learn because fair is fair. Thank you so much for your time and for listening to our concerns. Um, I'm Ariel Schweitzer. I'm an assistant principal at the Manhattan High School as well. I've been at the high school for four years. I started as a teacher and then moved into an admin role. Um, and since I've been there, space has been an issue with classes full. And now classes are overflowing and it's a problem. So from an academic, from an academic standpoint, uh, teaching a 40 person class is just not sustainable.
Again, we have this space and we need to give that education, that education to the kids that they deserve. Um, my teachers right now are trying to adapt to this situation and pull small groups into classrooms, and they're struggling 'cause there are none. So I have them in the hallway on like laptops trying to instruct and it's impossible and it's unfair. And our kids deserve better. We love them. They deserve the education that we wanna provide to them. So please help us get that space. Thank you so much. The next group of speakers is Rayhon Richardson. Beatriz Escobar, Donna Kala
Yari Michelle and Anna Perez. Um, since, since my name was called Twice, oh, I'm really sorry. I just wanna make one comment that's just very brief. There is a school, yeah. Unity Center. I'm, I'm sorry. There is a school, Murray Hill Academy. It's at 39% capacity. The Manhattan Academy is at 61% capacity Success Academy is at 100% capacity. Thank you for your time. Okay. Um, hold on. Um, I believe the chancellor that the end of the speakers from that school, do you have anyone else from the
school that's gonna be speaking? No. Great Chancellor, chancellor wanted to make a comment. Thank You so much. Uh, we appreciate all of you coming out and, uh, our team has taken note of it and we will look into the matter. Thank you. Alright. Good evening everybody. My name is Yadi Michelle. I'm a teacher at Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School. And I am a delegate at the United Federation of Teachers. That's a teacher's union. Now we have 350,000 students in the New York City public schools that speak languages other than English at home
right now, our students are scared and many of them have stopped coming to schools since Trump was elected. Trump's orders and attacks on immigration, on immigrants and our immigrant community have been intensified by Adam's memo, uh, that has since been restructured from, if you feel threatened by ice, let them in to don't interfere with ice. In other words, let them into the schools. Now, apparently the word is that this doesn't apply
to the public schools, but these words haven't come directly from Guess who Adams. There's been widespread confusion, anxiety, and fear amongst our students and their families. Now, chancellor Vili Ramos is here. She issued a statement reaffirming that ice is not allowed into our schools, into our buildings without a judicial warrant signed by a federal judge. Alright? The PEP also passed a January resolution. That ICE is also not allowed to enter our schools without a judicial warrant. Okay? But in that resolution, it also included
that there would be collaboration with school safety agents. But guess what? School safety agents don't answer to the DOE. They answer to the NYPD because they're division of the NYPD. And who does the NYPD answer to Adams? Okay. So my question to the path is, where do you stand? Are you going to allow ICE to take our kids even, even if they come in with a warrant? I would like a response. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Donna Polo
and I am the U United Federation of Teachers District Rep for the Brooklyn West Alternative Learning Center. The Brooklyn West a LC has five sites, three in Brooklyn and two in Staten Island. These sites service students who are in middle and high school. Altogether, there are about U 36 UFT members. The Brooklyn West a LC does not run like a traditional school as the students are there for a short time. Some students are there for five days. Some students are there for 10, others for 30,
I am here on behalf of the staff members of the Brooklyn West a LC, and we are asking the pep panel tonight for your attention and support. Regarding tremendous leadership concerns in January, a vote of no confidence in the leadership of interim acting principle in Nicole Quail was passed by the staff with a result of 90%. The vote of no confidence created by the staff is a nine page document citing evidence
of ineffective leadership. I have it here with me today. If you would like to see it yourself and read the specific concerns. Since I'm limited on time, I will tell you the general concern shared by the staff members, and there are, they are that there is a lack of consistent communication. Policy changes are made unilaterally. Veteran staff ideas are ignored, policies being implemented, make working with students more difficult as they do not align
with the transient population. One specific example that I will give due to, uh, time is that the communication concern is when a staff member emailed. Okay, I need to interrupt you. Your, your time has expired. I have three seconds left. I just need a specific just to give a specific clarification. Well, Please. The clar. So the teacher asked for clarification on a policy and instead of clarifying in an email, she directed the APS to tell the, to email all the staff
that they should not email her. That they should only talk with them. I'm asking the panel again for you to address these concerns, which effectively will result in a leadership change at the Brooklyn West a LC. Thank you. Um, okay. The next group of speakers is Iris Knowles, Alicia Nunez, um, Dalia McGregor, sheriff Parker and Martina Meyer. Good evening. My name is Iris Knowles and I'm a biology teacher here at Clara Barton.
The doe's response to the threats to our immigrant students and families has been completely inadequate. 40% of New York City's workforce are immigrants, and we've had almost 40,000 new immigrants students since 2022. They build our cities. They are the backbone of our city. The Department of Education has stated that we are providing equal of access to education for all. This is not possible if our students, families, staff, and community members are constantly being threatened. We've seen TPS being stripped from many immigrants,
including recently Venezuelans and Haitian immigrants, which makes up a large proportion of the student body here. We've seen attempts to have the police work with ICE and remove removal of sanctuary status from our cities. Despite what level of deportation happens, even if Trump cannot complete what he's threatening to which we should take seriously, there are so much fear and the schools, which are pillars of our communities, are not being given the resources to make sure our immigrant families are safe. And welcome here. You're giving Know your rights training
to principals and staff. What about the families? What about the kids? What about the people who live in our communities? Keep ice out of our schools. Keep them out of our communities. We have to protect them. They cannot take our kids. Good evening. My name is Martina Meyer and I remain in mourning for the reading of whole entire books due to the, uh, curriculum mandates. Lots of messages tonight. I'm here on behalf of a coalition of hundreds of community organizers and mutual aid volunteers supporting diverse families throughout our city. I'm asking the chancellor to share a statement in support of our Muslim students.
After anti-Muslim incidents and threats in our Brooklyn schools, we are entering into the holy month of Ramadan. What is our city and chancellor and PEP doing to stand up for our Muslim community? Migrant students are being bused all around the city as they're shuffled between shelters continually closing. A lot of families are being lies lied to, and as a result, they are losing access to their EDU education. Here the mayor is consolidating shelters. While subcontractors and shelter staff are telling lies to get families to leave the city, they're ignorant. The shelter staff of these subcontracted agencies are
ignorant of the McKinney-Vento protections for students in temporary housing who is standing up for these students and their education. We have a federal executive order that any recognition of the diversity of our students, the city, the history of our country, any recognition of that is considered propaganda. What defense is the city? The pep, the Chancellor, the UFT who left, uh, going to put in place to protect teachers from being charged with propaganda. Federal government is purposefully defacing our community's history and who will defend the history of our students in their communities.
More and more immigrant students, as has been noted, are not going to school. The fear of ICE is causing a drop in attendance. What's the plan? What policy is being put in place? There's mass confusion. Are we going to call a hard lockdown? If ice enters a building, they're armed, and some people impersonate ice and then commit sexual offenses. The chancellor is the last woman standing and holding the line against ice entering sensitive sites. We need to stand behind Chancellor Avi Ramos. Finally, the mayoral appointees to the PEP should be investigated. The man who appointed you has served up immigrant families on a platter in exchange for his freedom.
We wanna know why you were appointed. If the feds are investigating the mayor and his appointees and you've been rubber stamping his contracts for years, then it calls into question your own propriety. Uh, Sean Ritz Pierce McCaffrey, um, Lamar use Michelle Soton and Stacy Kendall. Good evening Chancellor Avili Ramos and members of the pep. My name is Sean Rockow and I am the Staten Island UFT Bur Representative. I'm here today to discuss the alternative learning centers, specifically the Brooklyn West.
A-L-C-U-F-T. President Moru was part of the design of the ALCS 15 years ago, and we have the data to show the success of that design centered around education, instruction, and developmental goals. Under the present principle at the Brooklyn West a LC, that design and its goals are not being met, nor is it positive in tone with communication that can be described as authoritarian. And one way I acknowledge and appreciate today's visits to two of the five sites in the organization by the upper echelons of DOE candid conversation was had resulting in another
month for the DOE to work to significantly improve ways in which the B-L-C-B-W-A-L-C is being run and why the chapter has chosen not to speak here tonight. Some members are with us here and others are watching tonight's PEP online. Uh, UFT President Mogo is fully apprised of these latest developments and will be meeting with the chapter to assist them and support them. Following the overwhelming vote of no confidence you've already heard about that was held last month, he will then reach out to DOE leadership about members' concerns
with the principal's leadership and their discuss how to move the Brooklyn West a LC forward. It is our hope the DOE and UFT can work together to achieve a positive outcome in this regard. Thank you. Good evening. Um, my name is Stacy Kendall. I'm school counselor at MS 3 94 in Brooklyn. And I think tonight, um, with all the discussion of school utilization and the passion, I I really applaud the passion for New York City Public Schools. Um, I just wanted to say thank you to the panel for not just hearing, but really listening to our stories in terms of the proposal
for our school, um, closure. But like I said, hearing is just having an ear. But listening was really to take in the stories brought by our families, by our students, by our staff. And I especially wanna thank the members of the panel and Chancellor Ales Ramos who came to visit our school. Just thank you so much is being thrown at you. And I just wanna say thank you for really doing the part that is about people over policy, which is where Chairman Faulkner began, um, by coming to the school, by hearing our stories, sharing in the community,
and giving us consideration. Um, so thank you very much. And now, after years of being a educator and a teacher of children in public schools, when I get to that question, there's always that question about Panel on education policy. And to be honest with you, I would answer, I don't know or not applicable, but I feel like I've really been educated and I will be, um, honored to say that you do work for the people in the communities of public schools. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Hi, I am Pierce McCaffrey. I'm a history teacher here at Clara Barton High School
and a member of our UFT Chapters Immigrant Defense Committee. While the chancellor's words about providing education for all students regardless of immigration status or sexual orientation are good, the truth is the mayor's words are much different. Our mayor has recently announced plans to allow ICE officers to enter the school building after having a meeting with President Trump. If we are going to truly protect our immigrant students, we need full throated support from our local electeds and city bureaucrats against the president's racist threats against our students lawsuits
and legal battles will do nothing for the immediate needs of our immigrant communities. We need the chancellor and the mayor to publicly stand up for our immigrant students and form a plan of action to protect them in real time. This very school has a large Haitian and Caribbean population that hear their culture being ridiculed and threatened on national tv. I saw a student being bullied with taunts about his family getting deported by ice. I hope the DOE takes this moment to be even stronger in our support toward immigrant students
and stand up to any infringement, either from ice, the president or our mayor against our students right to an education. Thank you, Hakeem Mohammed Harrison Park, Tam Reed, and Leon Giran. Good evening panel. Good evening, everybody in this auditorium. My name's Leon Giron. I am a parent leader of PS MS 3 94. Um, I want to start off by saying it's actually refreshing for me to be back in this building
'cause I am a graduate of this school over 20 years ago. Welcome. Um, I want to start off with, um, the proposal for our school, which is to phase us out over five years. I strongly oppose that 'cause my heart goes out to PS 25. We all see what just happened today. And I feel that this phase out is the ultimate setup for our school as well. And it is not right. Everybody want to talk about numbers. Sometimes you can't measure things by numbers.
When will you guys measure things by happiness? Happiness goes a long way sometimes with our school as well. You guys love to harbor on enrollment. There's numerous determining factors as to why our enrollment decreased that I feel you guys do not speak on. One is the community is changing. Gentrification exists. If you guys don't know that. And the people who are coming into our community, it's not nothing personal with our school. They don't want their kids in public school, period. It's not just our school. But I feel there's more solutions than there
is determining factors. And if we are given the opportunity, we can exploit these solutions. We can access them, we could improve our school. If you guys work with us instead of against us, it would get a whole lot better. A whole lot more would get done. I strongly oppose the phase out of PS 3 94. Thank you. Thank you. And the last two speakers signed up, um, Ebony Benton and Frederick Monon. Good evening. I am Frederick Monon. Good evening to the chancellor, the chairman and the panel. I'm here to reiterate what I said in the Bronx.
At the last meeting, this black history month, I was pleased that the chairman began his opening remarks by mentioning the word reading. And that New York City leads New York City leads because it should develop intellectual autonomy through my suggestion. He also, one of the panel members mentioned community engagement. I own from the community. I spent 26 years a New York City school teacher. And I served the city of Brooklyn
for more than a hundred years. My 70-year-old daughter said, daddy, how old are you? Well, it's not that, but I was in so many different communities. Committees we're in a crisis in reading only the two. The second grader mentioned the word reading. And that lady just Ms. Mendez Martinez. She said, reading is dying. It's not dying. I've given you an infusion of intellectual autonomy through my book. It's called Empower Your Child's Reading and Knowledge through Black History Readings. I was embarrassed. I I was,
I I was shocked when New York Post embarrassed the the Department of Education by saying, uh, those awful things that you spent so much money on each child. That's about a month ago. You must have seen that. Uh, my 12 volume set only costs 300. If you spend 36,000 on a child, why not spend 300 on a set of 12 books? We must vigorously seek to inculcate this concept of intellectual autonomy, which is teaching young people how
to read and how to decode everything they read, their community and everything else. Thank you very much. Thank you. Yes, sir. Put in within an hour a synopsis. Yeah. You know, Your time has expired. Uh, that is the end of the public Speaker sign up. Okay. Got that last word in? Yeah. Okay. Well now, well, I wanted to offer an opportunity for the Chancellor to, uh, comment. Thank you so much. Uh, so many things have been, uh, brought to the table tonight. And the first thing I wanna say is I wanna thank the panel. Um, every single member on this panel engages regularly,
brings thought provoking agenda items, pushes us to give briefings, pushes us to clarify. And it is that kind of productive partnership that holds us accountable and that makes us better as a school system. Are we perfect? We are not. We never claim to be our least. I certainly do not. And so I am proud to sit up here with the panel and thank them for their partnership. I also want to revisit the comments around immigration
and our support for our immigrant students. We have worked with our legal team to make sure that our policies remain intact. We understand them. They are rooted in state and local law. We are confident that these are going to remain in place. We are start, we have begun those trainings in the past. We are going to continue those trainings. Most importantly, I need everyone to understand that our ssas, our school safety agents are part of our training.
Yes, they do report to NYPD, but we have worked very, very closely thanks to the leadership of Deputy Chancellor Vara and Chief Mark Rampant, to make sure that we are working collaboratively across agencies with CBOs, with advocates, with family leaders, to make sure that our policies are advertised and understood by all. And that is the commitment that I give to you as the chancellor. That is the commitment that my team gives you. And that is what we are operationalizing. That is what we started operationalizing and what we will continue to operationalize.
My heart goes out to the community of PS 25. I understand how difficult it is. I truly do. I was a principal in my heart. I will always be a teacher and a principal. It was a very difficult decision. But I wanna thank everyone who took part in that decision. And we are committed to making sure that every single child in that school is going to get what they need. And to PS 3 94, I wanna thank you for welcoming me to the school. I know the principal is still here and the staff. I wanna thank you so much to our parents. It was truly an honor to be in community with you.
And as I mentioned to you, I am a mother myself. What I want for my daughter in this public school system, I want for your children. And I understand that we, that was not on the agenda tonight, but I hear you and I see you, and we are going to continue the conversation. The other piece that I want to say is that there are a lot of concerns around our DEI and our curriculum work, work that we have stood very hard to stand up Our Hidden Voices,
our Black studies curriculum. Eventually, the development of oure curriculum thanks to funding through City Council are going to continue. We have actively been working with schools and districts to promote our black studies curriculum. We will continue to do that. Yes, that work does not stop. And I understand that there is a lot of fear. I understand that attendance might be dropping and has dropped in several places across the city. We are paying attention to that district by district
and school by school and working in close partnership with superintendents and principals. But I will say this, it does in fact take a village. And so we are bringing together the support from our CBOs, from our advocates, from our principals, our teachers, our unions have been tremendous partners, both the UFT, the CSA and DC 37. And so we are making a plan based on the context of the school. There are some attendance issues that are for myriad reasons, not just fear
that is happening in this current climate, but we are also acknowledging that the fear is also going to cause attendance issues. What I am saying is that we are working with our schools to make sure they have the resources they need to pay attention to attendance issues, because attendance has been an issue for many, many years. And it is a national issue. And rather than tell schools, go and get children back into buildings, this administration is asking what are the barriers
that are keeping kids from coming to school? Because we believe that every single parent wants to send their children to school. But things happen. There is housing insecurity, there is food insecurity. There are a number of things that contribute to attendance issues. And so we do not want our parents to feel punished. We do not want them to feel marginalized. And we do not want our principals and our teachers to do that heavy work alone. So we're asking the question, what's keeping our kids from coming to school and what can we do to support parents to get our kids
and our families back into buildings? That said, I will end the way I started. I will not sit here and tell you we have all the answers. I will not tell you that this is a perfect system. What I can tell you is that you have a group of people before you both on the panel, my team and myself, who are committed to finding the answers. And there are best practices in this city. There are wonderful things happening in this city. And rather than come here with a deficit mindset, I choose to come here with a growth mindset and say, where are the best practices?
How do we share them across the city? And how do we start solving some of these issues that have plagued our children and the education system for many, many years? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Chancellor. I I also wanna thank everyone, uh, folks who've come out tonight. Um, and, uh, you know, also thank the panel for the work that they've done. We're now gonna transition to, um, panel member comments. Um, but, but before we get there, I I'm gonna ask that the panel, please limit your comments to two minutes. We've had a long night. Um, so, and this portion of the meeting, as you know, is something
that is not, you know, it's in the bylaws, but I would like to just appeal to you based on the lateness of the hour that we limit the comments. Okay? So, um, I saw you panel member Shepherd. Thank you, chair Faulkner. Um, so yeah, it is Black History Month, right? Um, April 3rd, 1968. And Martin Luther King in Memphis, Tennessee on the night before he was assassinated, gave a speech to a very nervous audience. And I think the part that most people remember about that is when he said, I've been to the mountaintop
and I looked over and I seen the promised land, right? But I think the part that stood out is what he said about two and a half minutes before that when he said, America, what we want is for you to be true to what you put on paper. And there's a lot that this school system has done in terms of putting things on paper. And what we ask is for you to be true to what you put on paper. So when we talk about, oh, I don't know unless they feel threatened, right? So when we change up words where people can rock
with the exception instead of the rule, be true to what you put on paper, right? When as a black man, I understand how changing those words has a devastating con can have a devastating consequence for me and people like me, right? Be true to what you put on paper, right? When we talk about, you know, a president that has said that schools and hospitals and places of worship are no longer safe
places in our communities. Be true to what you put on paper. If we say we gonna protect people, be true to that. Let's stand by it. Let's defend it, right? When, you know, there have been attacks on our immigrant communities when this administration has even gone as far as to by the stroke of a pen, kind of canceled TPS status for Haitians, right? When we are dealing with anti-Muslim, um, rhetoric be true to which put on paper, and I'm just gonna close by saying that
there are like a lot of things that we've done. For example, the month before I became a member of this panel, this panel actually passed a culturally responsive and sustaining education framework, right? And everything we do after that, we filter through that lens. So when we have an administration trying to dismantle and erase black people, be true to what you put on paper, right? Stand up in the face of that and say, nah. Like I, I got on my shirt for as long as I am black. I'm historic. And we have to stand up and defend that
and defend who we are in this space, and make sure that all of our children realize that themselves and can move in this world as adults, where that is a given and not something that they have to think about. Okay, thank you panel member. Appreciate it. Yes. Panel member cas ready? I am gonna be under two minutes. Thank you. Um, okay, so I, I'm just gonna make one comment, which is about public comment. Um, there was only one written public comment submitted to the PEP for the entire month of February.
If anybody's checking the spreadsheet, uh, it is unclear if the Google form is not being operational or that community members just don't know that it exists. But I am still hearing about people writing to the email panel@schools.nyc.gov. That email is not for public comments. Whatever you're sending does not come to the PEP members. Um, like I, I, I guess we have to just keep reiterating that this meeting is not the only forum where people can
send public feedback. Uh, if you go to the PEP website, there's a written public comment form there, and all of the PEP members have access to whatever's being fed into that form. So I would, um, implore our, the members of the public to write regularly. You do not have to wait until the pep meeting occurs. Um, but that is a space where everyone has access to your comments here on this panel. Um, and uh, lastly, I just wanna say, I really think that
as a board, we need to consider a hybrid public comment, period. I feel like we were able to do this in the past. There's a way to make it work. It doesn't have to go on until midnight, but, uh, but I think it's really important. We're missing a lot of voices because people can't get here. So thank you. Thank you, Jessica. I'm hesitant to promise that I'll be under two minutes, but I will try my best. I'm gonna try my best get out. Evening everyone again. Adriana, I'll and you in the two minutes. Thank you. I think the beep thing will remind me too. Thank you again. Uh, Adriana, say here for Queen CEC, she, her, uh,
first I wanna say happy Black History Month. I look forward to the day that every single New York City Public School has fully integrated the Black Studies curriculum into every aspect of our children's educational experience. And perhaps you chancellor props to you, props to you. I wanna take a second to shout out the incredible work that's being done here in Brooklyn by CEC 14, specifically by the truly awe inspiring former president of that CEC Taj Sutton, who MCed this amazing event last night. Last night was the sixth annual Black Lives Matter at School Student Arts Showcase at the John Erickson Middle School 1 26.
The students are incredible. I mean, obviously they're New York City Public School students. Uh, I also wanted to quickly thank the Chancellor for a couple of things. Thank you Chancellor Ramos for your statement earlier this evening. This, both of them. It's truly how we build trust with each other and rebuild trust with our communities that have been harmed. The second thing I wanted to thank you for is the reminder that the Citywide and Community Education Council election season has begun. If you're a parent or a guardian of a New York City public school student and the DOE Central office has your email address, you've probably received at least a hundred emails about this cycle of the CCEC elections,
and you're gonna receive a few more, including right now. Here's another reminder. If you're interested in applying, please submit an application. If you have read a book in the last calendar year, please consider submitting an application. If you respect your neighbor, regardless of their race, nation of origin, or the language that they speak, please consider submitting an application. If you think that all children deserve to feel a true sense of belonging and deserve to enjoy every opportunity this magnificent city has to offer, please consider submitting an application. And if you believe that we should never comply in advance,
and we should always be asking questions, please submit an application. You can change your mind later. You can rescind your application, you can remove it, you can say no, but you cannot submit an application after the deadline. The current deadline to submit your application on nsa, which is your New York City School's account, is tomorrow the 27th of February at 11:59 PM student. Uh, that, that's it for that. I have two more things. Thank you. I'm gonna try to, you You're active over time, please. You know, just I'll be, I'll be quick, I promise. Go ahead. Important information though. Yes, but please Thank you. Students
from Science Skills High School earlier this evening spoke about the need for a GM and an auditorium at their school. The second speaker, and I'm sorry that I didn't catch the student's name, um, spoke about something that caught my attention and that was the want for dedicated space for their clubs. With the corporatization of New York City, we've seen a sharp decline in third spaces generally, but especially those that are tailored to teenagers. Further to that, and I want to say this part out loud, and I may be alone in this, but when I enter a school and the auditorium is run down or it is completely unusable, I cannot help to question why we collectively don't believe in the talent,
the imagination, and the potential for magic that exists within those walls. So to make this actionable, please submit your RESO a funding applications as soon as you can, because the deadline for reso a funding applications to be submitted is Friday, the 28th of February. That's in two days. Second to lastly, as a former charter school student, I'm gonna ask you to wrap up. Okay? Uh, please. I'll save those comments for later. Lastly, if the chair will indulge me in a moment of silence, I would like to ask all of us to take a moment of silence and honor the life of Sam Nordquist, whose life was taken and cut tragically short by a group
of violent and ignorant cowards. We can do better. We should. Thank you. Thank you. Um, well, maybe we should do that, maybe at the end, towards the end of the meeting. Yeah, we can, we recognize you. And I also wanna thank you also for, um, heading up our utilization team. And they had a really successful, she got that they had a very successful meeting, I think. Thank you. And we had some community participants, and I wanna thank you for taking on that additional responsibility. Thank you very much. Sure. Um, who's hand that I remember Alban. And then, uh, Um, good evening everyone. I am here representing the Queensborough President's office.
I think I could, could sum up what everybody saying or the feeling with this. We started, we are in the second month about Saturday, we're approaching the third month of the year, and the celebrations of recognizing Independence day, um, heritage cultures, black history, we're gonna go into her history month, et cetera. All of this is great and is good all here, if we remember here what they mean. But if we feel it here as a village, we'll be strong.
That's what the saying goes. It takes a village. But if the, if village don't see me in you, or I don't see her in myself, or we don't, are not accepted, empathetic, or sympathy to, you know, tolerance, acceptance, we're gonna fail. I feel right now we have a lot of little villages. We need to be one village so we can move productively and help all our scholars, because our scholars and our ourselves, our communities is a reflection of us. Right? We are as good as the next person next to us, right?
We as good as the next school next to us. So if we keep in mind that we celebrating, of course, it's not just January and then we forget, it's a everyday thing to appreciate one's heritage, cultures, ethnicities, differences. So they, these are our neighbors. Again, these are our children, our children, friends, you know, it's very appreciative if we feel for one another. And that will help us act and see the other person's foot. And I just, I can't, um, I ain't gonna share this.
So just in case you forget, the black queen is the most powerful piece in the game. There you go. Okay. Thank you. Panel member. Governor, will I Thank you Chair. Um, I have some more forward looking comments to share. Um, next month, this panel will vote to approve the DOE estimated budget for fiscal year 2026. An exercise which the comptroller's office and others have noted in past years is problematic in two important ways. First, it makes no sense to vote for the DOE budget
before approving the fair student funding formula, which informs the budget. There is no reason that this body could not vote on the formula first in March, and the budget in April, which is still well before the final handshake in late spring. The second concern is even more difficult to understand, and that is this panel is charged with approving a budget that is not final or even close to final. The budget includes an estimated $1.4 billion.
That's $1.4 billion that is missing from the DOE budget. Meaning it is not included in the budget that this panel will vote on a deficit of $316 million for three K and pre-K, $194 million for school nurses. $55 million for preschool special education seats, 14 million for community schools, 41 million for arts programs, 10 million for affinity schools, 2 million for civics, for all 4 million for high impact tutoring.
These are effectively cuts which would negatively impact thousands and thousands of students. Why would this body approve a budget that harms our students? So given the welcome reinvigoration by Chair Faulkner and Government Affairs Committee Chair Hassan, of this panel's power to impact policy at the state and city level, this panel has the opportunity to use your vote next month to tell the mayor that he cannot cut these programs. That he cannot use our children's education as a bargaining chip in the budget process.
And that this board will not stand by and look the other way if he does. Thank you. Thank You. Panel members. Mm-hmm. Um, Oh, cept where your head raised. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I'm super excited. But I do wanna acknowledge the fact that we can hold space for many things that are happening right now. When we talk about immigrants are the backbone of New York City. We must talk about what backbone, how many other backbones are there.
See, we don't get a chance to dissipate because there's another issue that is about that is taking place today. We still have things that we're still trying to resolve from yesteryear, so we have to also be able to celebrate each other's wins. I'm super excited for this black curriculum because it's been a long, long, long time coming. And the one thing that we can do when we say it takes a village is we have to hold space for other people
who have come before you. And the issues that burn my ears sometimes, because I'm old enough to recognize the patterns of systemic oppression and what it sounds like. And if you are old enough to live through a cycle of what it sounds like, then, you know, it's not new. And we have to be able to say, as I pray on my immigrant brothers and sisters today, and still hold space for the fact that black boys are still gunned down and they're not treated fairly
and still hold space for my young black African American sisters who are, who are adultified and they're not seen as young children who, who are, who are worth the innocence that everybody else seems to be able to have and still have love in my heart to understand that there is a better tomorrow. So we don't get a chance, I don't get a chance to play the game of, well, who's up next and who devalued because somebody, it's somebody else's terms. We have several backbones that this, this,
this country, that this city is depending on and has been depending on. And you have to be able to be able to hold more than just one narrative. Thank you. Thank you. Panama. Did I miss anyone? Is that everybody had a chair? Oh, here. Yes. Panel member. Um, I would like to first thank you counselor that she's here, here to the end and listen us listen. And, um, we are different. We have different experience. And I'm thank you to listen all of us.
Um, regarding to Genal, regarding to gymnasium, I would like to say that for example, PS uh, 14 K 34. This is public school. They're one of the oldest in the Brooklyn. They don't have auditorium. They didn't have also, uh, gym. So should we focus on, on that? Which school don't have any access to this and make some, you know, uh, least which school need this support. We will be very, very, very, very good to know how to allocate this, uh, manage to build
or run this space for this children who don't have access to any of these spaces. Also West End Manhattan. So I think only one school who don't have a real gym, they have like two classrooms instead of Genitalium. This is middle and high school together, let's find a space for them to, to, to grow to. Um, I, I would like to, especially thank to our member Chile and, uh, members of, uh, CPAC, uh, who, uh, support multilingual students and pass resolution to, uh, update, uh,
regulation, uh, council regulation, a 6 63. And I just, uh, ask, I just back counselor to move forward with this request. We all ask, uh, to be at least a 12 language permanent communication like state. Do all the city say, yes, let's go. So please, we'd like to ask for, for support for multilingual better. But, um, it's right now. Okay. Thank you. Panel member. Panel member Ali. Hello. Okay, thank you. Chair Faulkner.
Uh, Marielle Ali, Manhattan Borough President, uh, appointee. Uh, just wanted to kind of, just a couple of reflections and I think several panel members have already captured some sentiments, but I also just wanted to add my, my 2 cents, if that's all right. Um, as the chancellor shared with us earlier, you know, um, our students recently, uh, you know, celebrated respect for all week. And as I reflect on it, just kind of hearing how my son's school, you know, how they celebrated it and, you know, what he was telling me how he was doing. Um, it just reminded me of the, the beauty, the, you know,
that we have in this city. The diversity that we have in the city, and, you know, just the reminder to all of us as we engage in these really difficult conversations. Um, we're in trying and challenging times. Um, you know, and, and as we kind of talk about budgets and school utilization proposals, that we're all often having that lens that we continue to have that lens of diversity, of equity, inclusion and accessibility in the forefront of how we engage with different people. And I think, you know, just, just a reminder to have grace
and empathy with one another as we tackle these really tough conversations, um, as they address, as we know all these intersectional issues for our New York City public school students. So I just wanted to remind us of all that. Thank you. Thank You. Thank you for your comments. Panel member. Yes, panel member Scurto. Um, thank you. So just wanna mention, um, it was brought to my attention, um, and I would be remiss if I didn't talk about it in, in Her Home Bar Luck in Brooklyn, that I'd be remiss to mention, um, that, that I've, um, been in contact with t
and in her home borough. I'd like to uplift, um, that there has been an increase in threats anti-Islamic, anti-Muslim, um, activity in, in the Brooklyn communities. And I also just wanna say, if we watch social media, um, there's a lot of anti-Semitic, um, activity going on as well. And we are about to go into Raman and Passover. And so I just wanna elevate for our communities that this brings a lot of attention to a community that tries to kind of not be in the forefront
because of all of the, the anti everything that happens with them. And so I just wanna uplift that. Let's try to be really intentionally, um, gracious to our fellow communities because we need them all. And to the CCEC election point, our cycle always coincides with Ramadan and Passover. Can we please change it? Because it's really difficult for us to try to schedule anything. And then we have this huge chunk of time where it's, it's disrespectful that they're supposed to come out
of fasting from all day to eat, to pray. And there's so much involved and it's at the time where our forums are happening and our meetings are happening. And so it would just be helpful if we looked into changing the election cycle so that we don't line up with it every single time. And I'd just like to elevate that last year when we voted for the budget, I voted yes with the condition that we would be engaged sooner on the budget. That has not happened. Our briefing has not happened. Just wanna say that out loud. Our bus contracts are up June 30th,
so please start paying attention. 'cause we wanna know how to improve schools. Let's get the kids to school. And then I'd like to reiterate the moment of silence that Adriana asked for, but I'd like to add to it the student that was stabbed in front of Kennedy High School today. In the Bronx. Thank you. Okay. Are there any additional, uh, Thank you Chair Poner? Uh, I would like to thank everyone who came to speak out today. Uh, it's always, uh, one of the most, uh, uh, amazing times to actually address immediate issues that people are having. And there, it's, it's very heartening to hear, uh, the same things that I've been hearing
amongst parent leader circles, uh, that, that, that, that we need to focus on. Uh, thank you to New York City Public Schools for standing firm and state policy in support of all of our students, regardless of national origin, immigration status, or religion, in the face of increasingly insane federal announcements regarding immigrants, including the order to immediately find and deport hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied minors, as well as the creation of an alien registry that will criminalize immigration, civil legal cases by default without any congressional legislative change. We need to make sure, uh, that we do more,
we take concrete steps to actively support our families in the face of federal, state, and city hall, conflict of interest, political motives, or any other weakness on this front. Our students are being bullied by real or pretend ice and each other. This is a terrible shame and a betrayal of respect for all. We must do better on this front as adults in what we provide as teaching resources and teachable moments. Let's make sure we keep the urgency of this work in mind on a daily basis. And I look forward to working with anyone in the audience on this. Uh, and let's connect if you're still here at this late hour. And finally, to our observing families, uh,
a happy upcoming Ramadan Mumbar and have a blessed month. And thank you very much. And thank you pen member. Uh, you know, I just need to say that, you know, the panel owes a great debt to you for your work in bringing these issues to us on a regular basis. Your, your advocacy and, you know, promoting I, I, any, anytime I read about this issue, I see you right in the forefront. So I want you to know that we recognize the work that you're doing. I wanna let you know how much we appreciate it. Thank you. And, and it's a group effort. I, I really appreciate all of the support from all the panel members on this and, and the Chancellor's office. Thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it. Uh, any additional panel members who I missed? Okay.
I wanna re recognize panel member. Alicia, if you could, um, rein, remake your suggestion, but also maybe give us a little background Yeah, if you would. And also the same, if you wanna do them together, if you could talk a little about the incident also. Yeah, go ahead. Uh, good evening. Good evening again. Um, I am going to limit the amount of details because it was a heinous and violent crime that took place over a number of, if I'm remembering correctly, days, if not weeks. Um, so I will limit it to that. I, if the chair will indulge me for a moment. I want to formally request that we take a moment of silence
to acknowledge and honor Sam Norquist, whose life was cut tragically short by a group of violent and ignorant cowards and to Rima. Um, so I would like to elevate the 16-year-old student that was stabbed today on his way to school at 8:45 AM am near or in front of John F. Kennedy High School in Marble Hill. Um, a a another act that that could probably be avoided if we did a better job in schools to foster relationships and build programs. These kids could have been eating breakfast in school and, and not outside en engaging in, in these activities.
And this has become extremely prevalent in the Bronx this year. We have had so many stabbings and so many shootings, and, and so please, let's just take a moment of silence to honor our students, to pray that we don't hear as much of this in the second half of the year, and that we can come up with policies, with your help, with the support of ev, anybody that's willing to help us to create policies to prevent these things from being our story. Thank you. Thank you. I wanna thank both panel members for are, you know, uh, bringing that moment to us. Um, you know, it's regrettable,
especially when you hear about, especially young people that, you know, lose their life in a tragic way. And I think it's something that transcends, you know, there's a lot happening in the city, a lot happening in the nation that, you know, um, I literally stopped listening to the news because you had to be panicked to hear what, what is next in this country? Um, but this all brings it home when we hear these kinds of tragedies. So let's, you know, collectively during this season, pray that we can bring an end to all of this, no matter, you know, what our political positions are, whether
what we may different differ on, on certain issues, but that there are some things that will unite us. Um, and that these are the kinds of things that we should really all be focused on and, and really speak out against and do what we can. So, um, thank you for, you know, leading us to that moment of silence to both of you. Um, well, we've reached the end of our, our meeting and we get to see everybody again on March 12th at, uh, Bayard Rust in high school in Manhattan. If there is no further business to come before the panel, I will entertain a motion to adjourn. Is there a second? In favor, acclimation.
Thank you every, thank you all very much.