Good. Good evening and welcome to the special board meeting of the, Oakland School Board. Mr. Reykstra, can we have roll call to establish form, please? On the roll call, to establish quorum, Student Director Simmons. Student Director Smith. Here. Director Latta? Present. Director Williams? Here and present. Director Hutchinson? Director Hutchinson? Director Townsend? Director Berry? Present. Okay. Director Hutchinson? Present. Thank you. Vice president Bachelor? Here. President Brohart? Here. Quorum, present. Thank you. And mister Seicho, can we have a inter oh,
sorry. Mister Hollis, can we have an interpretation check, please? Yes, madam president. For tonight's meeting, we have three languages available for live interpretation. They are Cantonese, Arabic, and Spanish. We also have a translation closed caption feature available on Zoom that you can use by clicking the closed caption icon on your Zoom taskbar. With that, we will move on to announcements for live interpretation. We will start with Cantonese. I will lower all attendees' hands on Zoom. Please only raise your hand if you need the language being announced, which at this time is Cantonese. And I will ask mister Yuan if you can come off your mute and give
the translation announcement for Cantonese. Thank you, Mr. Yuan. Checking the attendance to see if there's any hands raised for Cantonese interpretation. Seeing no hands, we will not start with Cantonese interpretation at this time. Moving forward to Arabic, I will lower all attendees' hands on Zoom. Please only raise your hand if you need the language being announced, which at this time is Arabic. Now I'll ask Mr. Turek if you can come off mute and give the translation announcement for Arabic. One moment, mister Turek, while we work out some technical difficulties to get you on a channel.
I'll ask you to go back on mute, and I will go to Spanish. Okay. Do you want me to do it now? And, just one moment, mister Andreas. First of all, we'll lower our hands on Zoom. Please only raise your hand if you need the language that's going to be announced at this time, which is Spanish. I will ask mister Andres if he can come off mute and do the translation announcement for Spanish. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, mister Dela Torre. Checking the attendees to see if there's any hands raised on Zoom. Seeing no hands, we will not start with Spanish interpretation at this time. Going back to Arabic,
I will lower all attendees' hands on Zoom. Please only raise your hand if you need the language being announced, which at this time is Arabic. I'll ask mister Tarek if he can come off the mute and give the translation announcement for Arabic. Arabic interpretation is over. Thank you. Thank you, mister Turek. Checking the attendees to see if there's any hands raised on Zoom for Arabic interpretation. Seeing no hands, we will not start with any interpretation at this time. That concludes the translation announcement at this time, and I will pass it back to you, madam president. Thank you.
The purpose of tonight's meeting is to get community input on the, request for proposal from the executive search firm. So there'll be a couple of things. One, General Counsel Lindsay will give a short presentation about what is an RFP, a request for proposal. We'll have public comment after that and Board comment. And then there are four questions, which they are very tiny, so I will read them out loud. But we'll take each question as we do it. Public comment for each question, Board comment, and then we'll move on to the next question until we've gone through all four
of them. Thank you. And with that, General Counsel Lindsay. Thank you, President Breaux Hart. So tonight's item is, open for public comment. It is the request for proposals for the Executive Search Firm. And that search or Request for Proposals is guided by Public Contract Code 35161. It does not only apply to school districts, but all public agencies, at least most. And it's a pretty standard process for search executive search firms.
School districts across the Bay Area have engaged in the RFP process, recently. And the process requires the district to post the RFP such that entities can bid, Then we have what's called a question period where those who actually put bids in may ask questions. And all of this is outlined in our RFP. In the table of context, you can see a very quick snapshot of the process. And I do have to give a shout out to our procurement department,
which is absolutely amazing. We do RFPs quite often across the district and they've made that process so seamless, by providing templates and a ton of support for leaders district wide. So, tonight we'll be looking at this RFP which includes a Scope of Work. All of our RFPs include that and for this particular RFP it's a Scope of Work for the Superintendent of Schools. I'll turn it back to you. And at this time we'll take, public comments.
Yes. For public comment, we have Salo Nabbala and Kim Davis. Two minutes each. What I think is, is crucial is what do you want? Because you made a decision related to the previous superintendent that that superintendent didn't meet certain standards or, conditions that you found unsuitable. And when you made the conclusion that you had to move on from the superintendent, you had you didn't have it as an inclusionary process. So you made that decision without input from parents,
staff, community. As is said in this document, you seek engagement from these in entities. So why why would I assume that you excluded me from a process where you remove the print the superintendent? So I'm just gonna say, what do you want? Make that clear to whoever you decide is this, is going to be one moment. Okay. Alright. Then the other thing that I'm concerned okay. Okay. Thank you, father god. The other thing I'm concerned about is,
there is no need tonight for a fiscal impact statement to be made, and that's absolutely necessary. What is the range of funds that you are providing to seek, this agency, whoever they are? That has to be a discussion item. Because anything that has a cost component in this district, we gotta consider that. We can't move forward without that being included. So I hope that becomes a dialogue of what is the range of money you are willing to spend related to having this done.
And I am concerned about the timeline. I'm looking at the city of Oakland seeking, a a contract, and they staff said it's gonna take a year for them to, go out and do the RFP and blah blah blah blah. But you look like you're gonna do this in a couple of weeks. So anyway, timeline is concerned. Spending of money is concerned. And clearly to the public, what are you seeking to say to this agency? This is what we want from a superintendent. And and don't don't engage the public falsely to say, oh, what you have to say is important because you didn't do that when you removed
the superintendent the previous one. Just so I understand, there's four questions. We're not answering those questions now. We're just kind of giving general comment. Is that the idea? Okay. Well, I think, you know, the RFP process is what it is. And, you know, the questions, you know, I I think I'm not I don't think there's a lot of difference between firms, and I think you're gonna find that if you go with, you know, x y z, it really what what it really comes down to is what you tell them you're looking for. So that's really the more important discussion to me is,
like, what do you want or not want in a superintendent? When we did this a number, you know, eight years ago or whenever it was, you know, at that time, superintendent Wilson had just left a surprise to all of us and a swirl of kind of negative consequences. And so it was very clear in some ways that what we didn't want was what we had done before, which was leadership associates and so, you know, it was very clear to me what we didn't want. I think our mistake at that time was not thinking about the impact of choosing
someone from within the district when what we needed was someone who could, you know, kind of upset some of the structures in the district and and I think that we've seen the consequences of that. But, so I think the more you know, whatever you decide to do and whatever firm you decide to go with, what you really need to do is be very clear amongst yourselves and with your your team that you hire about what you do not want, what your values are that you wanna stand on. Thank you. There's one comment online.
We only have two reserved speakers, but should we take the one that's online? Okay. And we have Meg that's online. If you can unmute yourself to speak. Just, one moment. Just just to know that we're having, some technical difficulties with KDOL. I would like to ask Meg if you can just continue to talk so that they can look for you online to make sure that you can be heard in the room. Random words, whatever it is, but just continue to talk. It's wonderful. Random works. We got you. We got you now. Okay. Great. You can, proceed with your comments. Yes. So I think the I would wanna know how much each of these search firms
are going to cost, and I think wanting to know that they have a track record of recruiting superintendents that have a profile for staying in their districts, not just hiring someone. I think there's a lot of proposals that can look very good on paper. But if they do not have a track record, I'm concerned about hiring someone for hundreds of thousands of dollars or more, and them not actually producing what's happening. And then I think also looping in parents regularly about where we are in the stage in the process and who's leading it and who are the decision makers because
the private meetings that happened in the spring where we had no say is deeply concerning to me. And I don't want a series of superintendents for my child who's just in kindergarten. I don't want OUSD to go back to a place where we have a superintendent every other year. So those are my main concerns. Thank you for accepting my chance to speak. I couldn't figure out the link and everything, so I appreciate you allowing me to speak on Zoom. Thank you. Are there any other speakers then? No, president. There are no public speakers. K. At this point, take the board comments.
And there are no board comments? Just one comment. I'm one consistent theme in some of the comments right so far has been a desire for the board to share vision around what we want and who we're looking for. And, yeah, yes, I think we should commit to that and I think we want to use these board meetings as an opportunity, one of many opportunities to engage with the public around what you see as as really important, like some of what we just heard from the last public comment. And so really wanna invite folks to call in and text a friend and have
folks share tonight and on future moments, when we'll convene around the superintendent search to hear what you all think. I, appreciate all of the comments so far. I just want to point out one component of the scope of work is the development of a leadership profile through a series of community engagements and engagements with the board. And so that will be a part of the work of this firm to support the board in that community engagement and get feedback from the community about what that
leadership profile should look like and get feedback from the board and then develop that posting that goes out, for that search, whether it be local or nationwide. Just wanted to clarify that if you like to see that in the RFP. It's under the responsibilities of the selected firm, and it indicates it'll include in bullet three those community engagement for the purpose of developing a leadership profile, report. Doctor. Panton? Thank you. Yeah, I think what's also really key is,
and as folks also mentioned, this RFP and this process is critical to the shape of what the district is gonna look like in the future. And I think that's something that, at least I really take to heart in thinking about how, my schools in my district, my constituency can be represented in this moment, but really thinking about it as a whole city approach as well. Like, who is going to be the best leader for every single one of our school sites, for our staff across the district, and who's going to provide the best future for our students. And so as we go through this process, I agree with Director Berry and,
with what the RFP says that this is not the only engagement opportunity in which we'll be able to have these conversations. And I hope to be engaged more with folks as we're going to back to school nights and other school events and campuses around what folks want their future want the future to look like for OUSD, and what are some of the qualities that we're looking for in the future later. For folks that came in a little bit later, we're gonna be taking public comment on each question that is posted in the agenda item. So if you would like to sign up in person for public comment, there is that, comment card that can be found over here by the door.
I I think you were also given that. So this will not be the first this will not be the only round of public comment that we'll do for this board meeting. Thank you. No. No. No. Right. Right. So if you address each question now, you don't have to sign up for each one. And I believe that's the same. Any other Board comments? I just wanted to add, I did have a question in looking at this. I do think that cost is important and I wasn't, I did want to talk a little bit about the cost versus quality that's mentioned in there. I do think we have to have a range of, yeah, what we're looking for,
what we can afford to do. And, I do agree with the timeline concerns. It is very tight. So I think that was part of the, I think one of the things in there was like did we want to guarantee that if we didn't find someone in the first round, that they would continue on? I was looking to see his hand. Thank you. Director Hensson? Yes. Thank you. As as I'm sitting here at at Thornhill Elementary, because this meeting was scheduled just on a few days notice and was scheduled at a time where, I was not the only director that said I was not available at this time.
And I think it it really highlights one of the many problems that we have going on. This process is not how this is supposed to be. I find it very disingenuous to have a conversation about finding the best superintendent for everyone when we just force that superintendent out of the district. We had a long term superintendent who had proven to be one of the best superintendents in the country. Then beyond forcing out doctor Johnson Trammell with no explanation from the board, then the board chose not to hire the second in charge already in the district
and chose somebody else who did not have a clear plan coming in. And now before going to the community to discuss the qualities we want in the superintendent, the board is cynically talking about an RFP and hiring a firm to even do the engagement for us. This is not how the process should be. This is not working together as a community. Calling a special meeting on just a few days notice guarantees the community will not be present at this meeting, and this could all be handled in a regular school board meeting. The dysfunction of this board and the path that they've taken us on has led
us to crisis where not only do we not have a permanent superintendent in place and no plan on how to find one, We also are in financial crisis, and the board doesn't even have a work plan for this year. So the reason I am not there in attendance at that meeting able to participate is because board leadership did not plan this ahead of time and scheduled it at a time where I was one of three directors who said we couldn't make it. And this is not the first time the board leadership has specifically chosen a time when myself, Director Berry, and Director Thompson said we could not be present.
So please let's not pretend this is all of us working together. Please let's not pretend that this is a good situation that we're in. And let's be honest and explain to the community the roles that we as a board play in leading us to this point. Thank you. Again, I I want to keep this on the RFP, discussion. But I want to really say to the community and to our staff that Doctor. Sadler does have a plan. And when you go to sites with her, as I did today at Highland, It's very obvious that she is connected to communities.
She's mentored many of the staff, principals that we came to touch with today. And I say this, I know that Doctor. Sadler can speak for herself. But as the Board President, I have complete confidence in the work that Doctor. Sadler has done in the past and continues to do and for her vision for the District. Director Bachelor. Yeah, I think it would be helpful to just get a little bit more clarity about how this has historically happened in the past. And Mr. Raikstra, as someone who has been in the district for over forty years,
can you talk a little bit about how these searches have gone in the past and whether or not we are following a prescribed model, for these types of executive searches? Yes. Task boards have both slightly engaged a search firm to work with the Board to recruit candidates for the superintendency. In working with the search firm, the firm at the direction of the board has developed a profile of the candidate with input from the community as to what you will see or what you seek
in terms of your next academic leader being superintendent as a chief executive of the district and primary function is to ensure the students are educated. So that is one of the roles, of the board. And I mean, in the search firm. One of the things that also occurs, the search firm working with the Board also has engaged in community meetings. And when it comes down to the final candidates, depending on how many candidates the Board wishes to screen as its finalists,
past searchers and processes have had those candidates go out and meet with community people and to see how the community reacts to their specific candidacy and proposals. And they state to the community how they propose to lead the district. And that feedback, not only do they hear the feedback of the community, but the feedback is is given to the board. And usually, there is also while the decision, in interviews will be done publicly and primarily in closed session,
passports have also interviewed finalists in a public session with questions from the Community. The stakeholders also have been given an opportunity to question the candidate, kind of like in the same forum. So, it's in the interest of everybody concerned to provide as many, vehicles, means, to select a new superintendent for the school. Wonderful. Thank you so much. And in that, I also heard student engagement. So looking to my student school board directors, to support with that work, if and when that happens as a part of our process.
Are there any other Board comments? Judge Williams? President Brohard, thank you very much for that. I I I do wanna continue to lift up, doctor Sadler, and the job that she's doing. I again, I have been to a couple more schools today, and I've heard nothing but praise, about doctor Sadler and her engagement. I am and they've all said she's been very present, provided some very good suggestions, leadership, and just really, positive engagement that the members of the community have had.
So I just wanna continue to lift it up. I think that we're in a time that there's so much negativity from, our negative I mean, from our national government, federal government, from the leader of our country, and many layers on down. And so, being negative in a space like this just does not help at all. I think we have to kind of step away from toxicity, that is just constant poisoning the process, but actually bring some new good ideas to how we can actually start to build,
strengthen our relationships. We, as a board, are examples for our students. We're examples for our staff, classified, our certificated, our administrators. And we just really have to, like, get beyond all the negativity and move towards, a a positive, collaborative, collective, engagement that is really surrounded around community, our community values. And I think that, you know, as we start to talk about, a superintendent that would be interested in the job, they would definitely like to see,
how we work together as a board and that the superintendent, whoever takes the job, won't be torn apart to shreds. That actually, we're just gonna lift people up, and we're gonna support them to their best highest selves to be successful in life then instead of tearing each other down. So I I I say that because if you're asking me what I'm looking for, I'm I'm looking for our board to do a really strong community engagement. I'm looking for our board to be positive,
to be restorative, to bring a healthy wellness mindset, and to actually support those individuals who are doing the work. We're not doing the superintendent's job. We don't know what pressures that entails. We don't know what it takes, but we're putting our faith in doctor Sadler. She's proved it over forty years. And I'll continue to put my money and support behind her. And thank you, doctor bro director Brohart for having this opportunity for us to actually, community will be involved as we continue to move forward. Thank you very much. Director Smith.
Sorry, guys. But, I just wanted to say that, us students have a common thought, and that is making sure that we have someone that relates and represents us truly, and showing that our leader, the next superintendent, whoever that may be, making sure that they take the time to connect and really get to know our district the same way that, miss Sadler already does, the same passion and joy that she shares, that's something that I'm definitely looking for and something that I know our students will feel connected to, so thank you. Okay, with that we're gonna start looking at these four questions.
We'll do public comment after each question and board comment after each question. So the one thing that the board has been grappling with is should the board conduct superintendent search nationwide or should we only look in California? Again, thinking do we want somebody who understands California schools, but could that also be somebody, nationwide? So, public comment. My first, determination of what would be nationwide or California would be what would be the cost? And that's the and like I said before, that's always gonna be at the top of the list.
Nationwide is, a whole lot with a short period of time needed to get this done. So, I could be comfortable with, California being the only outreach if the existence of the market exists. So can you determine before you make a final decision how many candidates do we actually have available that can apply if it's just California? And if that's a a broad number to say we can work with this number,
then maybe that can be considered. If we only have a handful of people, I I I would say that. I think California is a unique community. It's the most diverse community in the country. So someone who has had experience with diversity is that necessarily nature nationwide? So for instance, if you you would go to New Orleans, there's not a big diversity community there. New York, yes. Blah blah blah blah. So not so much nationwide, but maybe communities where superintendents
have had the exposure to diversity because that's the for me, that's at the top of the list. You you have a a a a need for someone who can relate to a whole lot of different people. We got a 100 and something different languages spoken, and and that's gonna be that that label of the capacity of a superintendent to meet the diversity component. And and with that, we have a high, Latino community, and that has to be considered because that's our dominant group.
Okay? Thank you. Thank you. I I find it a little bit of a strange concept because, I'm assuming that this job posting will go will and maybe there's two components to it. There's one which is like a public posting, because I know that that sort of thing happens, and so people will certainly see it outside of California. So I guess the question would be for me, are we then, if we decide if you decide to go down that road, does that mean that if someone is from another state but sees the posting and applies, that person would not be,
included just because they're not, in California. And, you know, and then the other component is probably them using whatever group you choose using their own, you know, connections and past searches that they've done, relationships that they've built to do direct outreach to individual superintendents. And then the other the piece that I also didn't understand is are we talking about do we want a California search firm or do we want a California superintendent? So I wasn't really sure what that question was. I do think that,
being familiar with with the landscape in California is important. And I think, you know, I have a bias. I love Oakland. I would love to to see us looking, closer to, Oakland because I do think that there is something special about this that you don't know if you're, you know, in the middle of nowhere. On the other hand, I think that, you know, there's been a lot of turnover lately, so I'm not sure what we're gonna be looking at in terms of of candidates. So I I feel I think miss Zolabal is right. We should get a sense of,
you know, in these recent searches, has there been a a big candidate pool, within California? And, you know, can can we invest in, a nationwide search without making it overly cumbersome by doing it as, you know, like an online search kind of portal thing that people do. They do that. So President Breaux, Degg and Coop Public speakers. Board comments? Director Smith? Again, we need someone that relates to our communities and has direct experience in our school sites, not someone that's just willing to do the behind the scenes work and,
like, the hard things, but someone that's actually willing to connect with our people. Agreeing with our public speakers, California is super diverse, and that's one of my main reasons why I love Oakland. Like, I was just on the bus. Someone literally just had an interview like, interviewed me and asked me a bunch of questions about why I love Oakland and all that stuff. And my answer was because it's so diverse. So having someone close to home would feel very, very comforting. And I just feel like they would do an amazing job at connecting with everyone and making sure that everyone is really heard, because that's what we need in our board right now. Director Baron?
Yeah, I think it's important for us to clarify and perhaps either Janine, you, can do that. But just clarify what we mean by nationwide or California based search. And I say that because it is probably true that there are some educators from Oakland, from California, who are living in other parts of the country who are eager to come back. So, you know, are we talking about candidates from California, from Oakland, or are we talking about where they are currently living and working? And then when I was reflecting on this,
I became more curious about the superintendent that Oakland sort of holds, in high regard and what their background and their profile was. So I'm leaving this today tonight's conversation more curious about doing sort of, like, a deep dive on their profiles just so I can become more aware of what they brought to the table coming in. I'm thinking about Marcus Foster specifically. He, because he was leading another school district state, but did a really powerful job here in Oakland. And so,
I'm just I'm leaving more curious and then also I think it's important for us to clarify tonight for the public what we're actually talking about when we stay nationwide. Sure. I can clarify, I think. So, it, for one, speaks to the timeline and I think that Ms. Assata, touched on this. A national search is likely to involve a little bit more, time. And that is due to the different platforms and, superintendent groups that might be engaged as a part of the search.
So, we have local superintendent groups, we have national superintendent groups, and various platforms that the posting would be placed on. So, I think that it could have a direct impact on the length of time, for one, and so and additionally the cost. And so, I appreciate the comments from the public with regard to that range as well because there would be an impact of cost. And I hope that answers your question, Director Berry. I think Sorry. Making one more comment about,
so when we say national search, it is we're looking for candidates not currently living in California. So the firm would actively be looking outside of California. I think that's the best way to put it. Including the state. Including the state of California, of course. Because they will be actively within the within California, but it's the intensity to which they will be looking outside of California, I think, is really what we're discussing. Any other board comments? Director Vlada? I'll just share that I was,
and continue to be supportive of having a national search. And part of the reason is that I think what, what was mentioned in some of the board comments and some of the public comments around what we're looking for in a superintendent, I wouldn't want to exclude somebody based on where they're currently living. And I think even though it may make the search more expensive or more, take more time, I think I would like to see what that is in the RFP before excluding a nationwide search from the jump.
Thank you. I concur because I think that there are very talented folks all over the country that either, again, have some connection to Oakland, but maybe are working elsewhere and want to come home, and or folks that will bring kind of a new lifeblood into our district. And I don't want to have to I don't want us to just lose the forest before the trees and just make sure that we're focusing on one specific area. So I would be supportive of a national search as well. One of the questions you might wanna ask the search firms as you interview them is,
what experience do they have in placing superintendent candidates in California? You'll find one of the more competitive national firms have a lot of experience of placing candidates in California. So you might want to measure that. Your predecessors did ask that question on occasion. Yeah. Actually, that is a really good question. But I do want to go back to something that, Ms. Holubal has said, and I think that it is important to me that they have experience in similarly diverse areas. I mean, I think of, like, New York,
New Jersey, places like that. Not necessarily to exclude, but I think to focus on, because I do think that was one of the problems with the previous superintendents. And I do think, I mean, I'm not going to name names. I get this list. I've had experience with many superintendents. But, yeah, I do think that's important to think about what particular area they do. Are there any other board comments? No. Is director Hutchinson okay. I keep looking for his hand. Didn't see it. Thank you. Director Hutchinson. Thank you. We'll we'll see this time if everyone needs to talk again after I speak to
try to just credit what I say and call me talk stick at all of these other things. I just have to say that, you know, this is embarrassing. I can see by watching on Zoom that there's nobody in attendance. I can see on Zoom that currently there are six attendees on on Zoom. And of the six attendees, four of them are the media. So again, there's no there's no community engagement. Like I tried to tell the board when this meeting was being called that this
is not a way to get the community to engage or a lot of people in attendance by calling a special meeting that people don't even know about. Now what we should be doing first at a as a board is deciding what kind of characteristics we're looking for. To me, it's not California or nationwide. We have to have somebody who's familiar with leadership in OUSD. And because people like misstating what I say, when I said that we hired an interim superintendent who was coming in without a plan, I was speaking very plainly and directly. There was no superintendent work plan as she was coming in,
and the board didn't even ask the interim superintendent candidates any questions about what work they would be doing this year. And so again, this is backwards and and really it's the board bearing their heads in the sand and hiding from the reality that the district is bankrupt. We're gonna have to make cuts in this year's budget just to get through. And with what was just done to our previous superintendent and what was done to the second in charge, it's gonna be hard pressed to find anyone with any qualifications who would wanna come and work for this board.
So again, if we're not gonna go to the community first and base our decisions based on what our constituents want in the next superintendent, we're gonna get ourselves in trouble. And as somebody who has been involved in superintendent searches before, this is looking exactly like what happened when Antoine Wilson was hired, when we had an interim superintendent and the board unilaterally made decisions to go find somebody nationally. And he was hired, and the first time the community met him was when he was brought in and introduced as our superintendent. And so this is gonna get us anywhere.
And if the my colleagues on the board wanna call this community engagement, then that really shows the problem that we have right now. Thank you. And I did I'm I'm sorry. I wanted to clarify one point also. For the RFPs, you can also, you're answering the question too, if you would exclude a firm who can only do a local search. So that's that's, just something for your consideration in deciding national versus local. Maybe more detail, would be, put into that. But whether you will exclude a firm if they will only do a local search
is another, thing to consider. One more round of board comments and then I know there's more public comments as well. Director Berry? I just wanted to acknowledge one of the comments that Director Hutchinson made, which is like I don't I agree this should not be the standard for community engagement, right? And I think we can all publicly accept that this is not how we want to do community engagement throughout the superintendent search process. Let's be very clear, because that is a good point. We will have missed a huge opportunity and completely failed on that objective if this
is what it looks like moving forward. The other thing, I think because of some of the comments that Director Hutchinson said, which do reflect real scenarios of our district, we are a high need district right now. There are significant challenges. There is some inner, you know, turmoil, so to speak, for lack of a better word. We need to acknowledge that and we probably it might be worth building into the RFP process or the interview process some questions that allow us to assess the extent to which a search firm has demonstrated track record of placing candidates in high needs districts
like ours in transition and have seen those superintendents then therefore thrive after their placement, just so that we can, you know, move into a decision with a little bit more confidence. Because we've actually measured the the firm's ability to meet the needs of a district like ours. Thank you. Are there any other board comments? I will take public comments. For public comment, we have Lorraine Pravas, Masa Alibala, and Kim Davis. We're still on the first question. Yes. I thought the thought that you had comment on put on nationwide.
He's doing the second round of First question. Yeah. Go ahead. Go ahead. Thank thank you, and thank you for allowing me. I'm sorry I got here a little late. But I'm just kinda sitting here wondering, actually, what's going on? I know this is supposed to be some public comment to listen, hear, or maybe for input to what you're doing. I was just gonna sit there and say nothing the whole time because when I go into a meeting, I like to know why I'm going and what I might want to say and all of that. But first of all, let me identify myself.
I am a grandparent of a student in the Oakland Unified School District. I just had a grandson to graduate, from high school in Oakland Unified School District. So I wanted to know. I didn't want any secondhand information from anybody because I needed to know for myself so that when I speak, I am speaking to represent people like me, other grandparents, and maybe parents of public persons. Now I'm listening to both sides of you saying, you know, about public comment, but did you really make, a sincere a sincere effort to involve the public.
I only heard about it, let's see, maybe last night very late listening to the news. And again this morning, I talked to my son who has the children that I'm speaking about now, and I think he had just heard it. And I went to a number of public events over the weekend. I heard nothing about this over the weekend. I perhaps heard that it was coming, but I didn't know that it was coming today, Tuesday. From events from either any of the events that I went to on Saturday. One, the NAACP meeting. Two,
black liberation in my neighborhood in my community. There might have been, an announcement made there, but I think if there was one made there, there should have been three made there at least. So I'm not sure. To me, it doesn't really sound like a legitimate, sincere effort, but, you know, I can't be all places. I'm not looking at all media, so I'm not sure whether, I'm making the best comments. But I just couldn't let it go by. But I wanna tell you that this is not the last time you will see me because I do have a particular concern about OUSD. First of all,
I think, you know, there's been a lot of bad things or a bad picture of OUSD. I followed the superintendents over some years of OUSD. You've had two good ones. Marcus Foster was one of my favorite that you mentioned earlier. But there were some others, I think, that I I I won't mention because I don't think it would be fair. But I think that there should you I think you probably, the school board, you, the school board, should have done more due diligence among yourselves before coming to the public looking like
you're not prepared or you don't know what's happening because that's what it's looking like to me. But I could be totally wrong. And if I am wrong, I apologize profusely for that because I don't want anybody to think that I came in for trouble. I came here to find out because the item or items that I'm concerned about, I won't even mention them tonight because this may not be the proper place for it. But I think that you should've you, not directed anybody in particular, should've maybe have gotten your house a little bit better together before you came out to the public to say what what the public is looking for.
Because you got a big public. You got a diverse public. I just found today that Oakland has a lot of Cambodians in the area that I live in. Most people think it's just Hispanics and mostly Caucasian. But we I know there are a lot of Asians, but I didn't know specifically there were a lot of Cambodians. So and, like, I didn't know that there are a lot of other groups out there that I don't know about and maybe you don't know about either. So that's why I'm saying that, I'm glad that I made an effort to get here tonight. I wanted to watch the Valkyries,
really. But I thought that this was more important since I do have a grandchild in the, OUSD system. He's a good student, so I can't complain about that. But I can complain about some of the things that I see surrounding him and something that he's gonna be interfaced with. And as a grandparent and it's my concern for other parents, that maybe whose parents may not have the time. If you're putting out something at the last minute and people are working every day, I mean, how they're gonna plan to be here? You know?
So I think that if indeed you just put this out last night or even on the weekend, I think that was not good enough due diligence for the public. So that's where I am tonight on this, and I promise no. I better not promise that. But I'm gonna try to sit and listen to the rest of your meeting without making any comment. But, I will be back. I don't know whether to be every meeting that you do, but I will be back to a lot of them. Because education is my business. Thank you. Especially my grandkids. Thank you. And congratulations to your grandson who graduated.
Let me say this. I think too much is being put on you to take responsibility for people not showing up. Some of that falls on us. I heard it on the TV. But every Friday, I go online and read the board's agenda for the next week, and I find out if I'm gonna be attending meetings. I have no child in the district. I'm 80 years old. But I have a commitment to this school district working at its best. And we don't have that commitment
from our parents and our community sufficiently enough to say that we got true engagement. Same thing at city hall. So it's not if I wanna know something, I I get involved enough to know. You did what you were supposed to do. You noticed it. You notice it. You you I think for an emergency meeting, twenty four hours notice is sufficient. The media put it out to the public. People could have been here. We are we gotta stop pointing fingers and look at how we not doing enough.
Just like with the black students in the district, we are not showing up from a climax. It's two or three people. And until we do show up, that's when the difference is gonna be made. Now going back to this topic, financial management capacity of the superintendent is an absolute must. Sanctuary city experience is an absolute must. You would be surprised. It's not that many cities of total cities in this country that are sanctuary cities. For a superintendent to come to this district,
you have to be of the mindset of understanding and supporting sanctuary city status. Okay? My time's up. Thank you. Excuse me. I wanna thank mister Riggstra for that little, sort of walk down memory lane. Because I I think and I my recollection is that we did just a local statewide search with, when we got superintendent Johnson Trammell. And I think that was in part because, superintendent Wilson announced he was, leaving in February. He announced it in November,
he was leaving in February or January, and so there wasn't a lot of times and there wasn't a lot of opportunity for engagement. But I wanted to say something to the student director that, you know, I hope is a lesson from that last thing. We went through the whole process. It was not transparent. We knew, you know, that they that the there were different groups that were interviewing, the candidates and they narrowed them down. And the the ACC and youth said, we want to interview we don't want you to tell us who they are.
We want to interview them ourselves. And the youth did that, and they said, we don't like any of them. We need to do something different. And it worked because the I think it was two or three sort of middle aged white men that had been on the list and, you guys said this is not the representation we're looking for. So I'm really, really excited to see you guys step into that power because that is super important. Representation is, you know, obviously, you need to have someone who has, a history of of being organized and and,
you know, administratively structuring things, someone who has a history in education. But if they can't connect with the students, then it doesn't make any difference. So I'm excited to see what you guys do. Thank you. Are there any other public speakers? No, President. If that can conclude public speakers. Okay. Thank you. The next question is: How should the executive search firm demonstrate its approach to and experience with engaging diverse communities? And I think that's something that Olabal touched on. So again, if we could have, public comment on that question. Sure. How should the executive search firm demonstrate its approach to and experience with engaging diverse
communities? Do they have the capacity to do it? The search firm, it's the wrong thing to assume that the search form itself has the capacity to look at a diversity component, and they can fully engage in making any determination about diversity because we live in a world where that's very challenging to have respect for difference. So we're so separated in our communities that, it's not automatic. Like, everybody understands the respect.
Okay? So, like, right now, I'm I'm talking about sanctuary city status and blah blah blah. And, I'd always talk about black this, black black black black black. But sometimes you gotta be able to go in another direction because, to understand everybody's perspective is is the right way to do it the right way to do it. So how do we know what company what firms have the capacity to work on the issue of diversity? Is and is mister Richaw, can we can we accomplish that?
Is that even from your past experience? I'm just gonna say that we should make every effort to do that and leave it at that. Thank you. How should the executive search firm demonstrate its approach to and experience with engaging diverse communities? Well, I think obviously you need to look at and see what other, districts they've placed students in, what experience they have, what kinds of leaders they've placed. You know, do they have a particular bias towards one group or another?
What the teams that they're going to put together look like, because, you know, when you go to these websites, because I just was curious as to what kinds of firms are out there, They're mostly older white men, some older white women, and then you'll often have, you know, a couple younger, people of color. Are they the leaders of teams or are they just there to provide that, you know, that image? What is it what does the team look like? Who are the people that are meeting with students and parents and families? So I, you know, I think that you need to really go beyond just the,
you know, the talking points that they'll be very smooth and, you know, I mean, obviously, you wanna have someone who has if you're going to the trouble and expense of hiring a professional, you want someone who is a professional in this field, and they will be slick. So you have to make sure that you are communicating clearly with them that it is, you know, business as usual is not what you're looking for. You we are committed you are committed to deep engagement,
not as Ms. Berry said Director Berry said, you know, clearly this is not engagement. But, you know, in your defense, board meetings are not the place to do that and you still have to have stuff to conduct your business. So, you know, just making sure be very clear that you are committed to doing this and they you expect them to follow the path that you're laying forward, not the other way around. They can they're the experts, they know some things, but you guys know Oakland. Thank you. Are there other board comments?
I mean, sorry, other public comments. Any public comment? Checking Zoom. President Breyer, no public comment. No further public comment. Are there board comment? Director Williams? Thank you, Director Bachelor. Director, real hard. So I just I had to like check and see if our communication staff is actually doing the work that you're supposed to do. Our district did send out a special board meeting invitation four days ago on Parent Square to 35,000
individuals, 34,000. So there is, that component that our media communications department did send something out. But what I'm really hearing from that is that and I know our communication goes through Facebook and onto Instagram also, but maybe there has to be a way that we can make sure some of the local community organizations are added to Parent Square. I don't know, if they are getting that. I'm I'm not sure how that works,
but maybe we can have that conversation because of the 34,000 emails that went out, we had 35 that appreciated the post. So within the district itself, if you don't have any children, you may not get this. So correct. If you don't have any children in the district, you may not get this. But if you're a staff, a student, or a parent of a student, you should receive this email, which is only the first step. So this is not the end all. This is actually the first step of a series of community engagement,
and I think that, this is actually a good test step for us to understand what else do we need to do. What other aspects of communicating do we need to do? So I do wanna, again, lift up the work. I wanna lift up the work in a positive way to say it was the first step. We can do better, and we will do better as we move forward to continue to engage local communities. I don't know how many, local community partners there are in Oakland.
I don't know if we need to send every single one an email, but we need to have that conversation of how do we communicate to the communities that are invested in what's going on in school. And I think that's an easy fix for us to do, which is to notify those community orgs that have after school programs. Maybe something in that regard, we can figure that out. So I don't wanna say that we're just bubbling around. We actually did the job that we were supposed to do.
We sent it out four days ago, and now we need to actually do a little bit better in taking this feedback and improving on it. I think but we also gotta really be be really understanding. We cannot stop because of FUD. Fear, uncertainty, and doubt. There are people that will constantly use that to control the narrative, and we just have to listen, take it in, and make adjustments. And I think everything will be alright. Thank you very much. Director Latta?
Sorry. We'll get something. I think in you know, I think for me as a, when I think about, you know, my you know, I remember several other superintendent searches, and I think the work that we need to do as a board is I do think we are committed, and I think this echoes what the community is committed to, is having a broad, responsive, you know, kind of, like and reflective of our community engagement. That includes translation, that includes online forums, in person forums, Zoom forums.
And so I think the one thing that I am very interested in is not just I don't really, I'm not that interested in what the firm will say to us in person. I would like to, see if we can get examples of videos of other engagements that they've done, rosters of kind of who has been in attendance at some of the other engagements that they've run-in other places. I, you know, specifically am interested in, you know, if we get down to one or two firms that,
you know and one thing I've done is reach out to other board members who have recently hired superintendents to get some input from them about what they looked for. And so I think, and I think even that would be something that I would encourage my board colleagues to do as well is to think about, we should talk to the boards that those search firms worked with to get some of that real, I think, specific feedback for us to, evaluate firms on. And then I think the only other the thing that I would be curious about
is, you know, I I think how what level of our staff and capacity could we also engage in this process? So for example, like, I I do think about some of our family navigators, our, translators that we already have. I I do actually think that it would be better for us to, see if the firm would be willing to use our own in house interpreters. Well, I think some places, they have their own, you know, so anyway. So I because I do think that they would, they know our community best and I think also have their own networks of parents
who speak other languages. So those would be my, my comments on that question. Doctor. Bear? I just wanted to I don't know how it translate in this context, but when you're assessing for track record of, like, commitment to equity, experience with diversity, one of the most tried and true ways to do that is in the same vein as what Director Latta said related to asking other board members. We should be asking superintendents that search firms have placed,
other stakeholders they engage within their process for direct feedback. It's part of, like, the reference check. And I don't know if that's already embedded in the RFP for us to have direct conversations. So not relying on what a search firm might say, but depend on the very real evidence from people who are directly impacted by their engagement and prior experiences. Director Bennett? I think to that point I really appreciate that because I think to that point it's also like asking them for a specific list of folks that they have placed
at whichever executive level, so that we can, you know, use our networks to connect with those folks so that it's not a list of references of people that they're trying to highlight, but just who have you placed over the last two years and where, so that we can actually try to do some of that, digging and and and asking on our own. I do think, I do agree with Director Latta as well of providing specific examples of how they've done community engagements, because I think a lot of times folks just say we just need an interpreter
and everything will be great. And that is definitely not the case, and we have such a rich diversity, of community here. And I would also want to make sure that they are culturally competent in having those conversations, so understanding why some families may not want to gather and talk, why it may be more one on ones or, virtual spaces. I'm also thinking of our families that have, like, trans, non binary, or queer students who may not necessarily want to identify as a family, as within a group, so trying to figure out diverse ways in which we are communicating with folks as
to, so that they can provide us the feedback so that it doesn't have to be, so clear cut. Because I do think, again, with the sanctuary status that we have, I think it's really important to make sure that we're talking about all of our vulnerable communities, especially in this political moment. Making sure that all of them are as engaged as they can be. I think providing specific examples and also, requesting a list of who they have placed over the last minimum two to three years so that we can do some of that work ourselves would be really helpful and important. Director Hutchinson? Yes. Thank you. This is embarrassing, I I have to say.
And it's clear that, this board is, nowhere near ready, to put out an RFP. You know, sending an email out to families to announce a meeting in four days, is very disingenuous. When the board has known since July 1 that this work was needed, this could have been planned out ahead of time. This could have been incorporated in a regular board meeting. Individual directors could announce it to their communities and take on the responsibility to do engagement. But that's not what we have here.
And and it really just sounds like a bunch of excuses, and it's really, frustrating that the board still doesn't really understand what we're even doing in our RFP for. You know, this long conversation about how somebody else is going to come in and engage with our community, I think is problematic. I know I don't need any outside firm to be hired to engage with the constituents who elected me. I see that as my responsibility. There's just a lot of dancing around all of these things, but it's it's clear that,
this meeting isn't gonna move us any closer to where we need to be. It's clear that this board as a collective doesn't have an understanding of what we're even putting out an RFP for. It's sad because only two years ago, we went through this process explicitly when we were looking for a permanent general counsel to practice for hiring a permanent superintendent. So we went through this process of issuing an RFP and selecting a firm. We should all remember what that was and remember how that works.
And remember that it is our responsibility through this process to make sure whoever we hire is representative of the community. And then it's our job to make sure whoever is hired as the permanent superintendent is the best choice possible. But when we drive out our very popular and successful homegrown superintendent to throw us into this process, this is where you wind up. So, the public comment who wasn't sure if there was, if she was right or not, she is very correct.
This board is disorganized, doesn't know what they're doing, and is not even respectful to the community. And to pontificate on sending an email four days ago on Parent Square constitutes engagement after you've been on the school board for almost five years is a shocking statement. So again, this is not moving us any closer to where we need to be. The board has no consensus on an RFP, and we never were gonna get it when the meeting scheduled at a day when three of us said we couldn't make it. So, we have to be able to do better. And this year,
if the board can't do better, there is no moving forward. Thank you. I want to speak a little bit about what Director Williams was saying. I think that, as far as the communication goes, I think that we do need to have, Board members work with, our Communications Director, John Sasaki, to develop a plan too for, different ways to communicate both to the community as well as to to parents and students. Director Berry, do you? I mean, I feel bad making this comment because it's not exactly on the agenda item. But just to be responsive, there is an opportunity like,
as a parent, I did have to get a babysitter last minute to be here. So I am mindful that more people could have been here, but I had resources and a little bit more head time to to be here. And one thing we can do, so that others who might be in a position like mine where, you know, you're solo parenting or whatever, and you just need to you know, it's just really hard to show up like this is if there is a way for us to see how RFPs I mean,
how search firms have planned processes, I think that will be helpful in this regard. Because then we know we could get our search firm who has experience and a demonstrated track record of doing something like sending out to a community advance notice about the three months of community engagement events. On the agenda topic itself, diversity and equity, I think director Lotta mentioned videos. I wonder also if search firms track who they get in front of and who
they speak to. Like, if there's a way for us to see the districts that they have helped, and what is their racial or demographic mix in that district. What percentage of of the community showed up for their events, and how they were able to resource those events. That should be information that if they did plan ahead and did have robust events that they should have on hand, and I feel like that kind of data would be helpful to us in that regard. The last thing that I'll say is the only, for, I think, the RFP process, Janine, it might be helpful. Because I think we're harping on the fact that this meeting was scheduled with a
few days notice. That was because that was a it was responsive to a very specific point in this process. We are trying to accelerate the RFP process so that we can very quickly get to future community engagement and future parts of the superintendent search process. We didn't lay out the vision for the superintendent search more broadly in advance of jumping into the conversation. And so it might be helpful to preview that so people can appreciate that, a, yes, that we this is kind of a last minute meeting. We do not plan to do this moving forward.
And there's a there's some context for why it happened the way that it happened so that people know that they can expect us to do much stronger comms in the future around our engagement and our meetings. I do want to add that it was moved up, and again this had been a repurposed teaching and learning committee meeting. And the reason we did that is looking at the calendar. We felt like if we started our community engagements in November or December that these are really difficult times. I mean, for students who have finals, for parents there are week vacations in there that we wanted to be able to
we wanted to be able to start them in October, which we had a full month. So again, that was really looking at the calendar, looking at the months when we felt that, they were most problematic to people being able to attend them. I'm going to go move oh, do you want to Yeah, sure. Thinking that the concept of diversity, I think we need to expand it. Because when we talk about diversity, we talk about, at risk, low income, communities. We have Oakland has a community. The average house in Oakland sells for over a million dollars.
The largest population in this city is, the white community, which I think is 30 something percent. They we only have 10% of our students being white. When I was in New Orleans, diversity included the economic high end community being engaged and pursued. We're not doing that. And, it and I don't think we we we need to have a superintendent that can engage that community and encourage them to be members of OUSD. And that that's a outreach that is not happening, and it needs to happen.
And I saw it in New Orleans. It it I don't think you can do what they did because they had magnet schools. Okay. But we got the Montclairs. We got, Oakland Tech, and we got some schools that we can but it it's not happening at all. And it that that's a group of people that need to be a part of OUSD. So, I hope you take that in consideration as well. Thank you. We're gonna take a look at our last and final question. I believe we have just a half an hour left. How should students, families, and staff be included in the process? And again, I think we've had some discussion around wanting to see,
videos of engagement as we look at the RF, the executive search firm, looking at who came to those meetings. So we've had a little bit of discussion on that, but, again, dealing specifically with the question of how should students, families, and staff be included in this process. And this is of the firm, So I think that's where a little bit of the unclarity has been too. This is not necessarily our qualifications for a superintendent, but what we're looking for, in the firm. Public comment? Okay. So let's have an honest conversation. Inclusion has been a part of OUSD.
This is a different level of inclusion. We have, SFC meetings. We have committee meetings. We got two on Thursday. And, we have, what we call those community managers at the schools that try to engage parents, to be involved. We have the, the group that's doing what our special we got a whole lot of efforts where parents and community can participate. With our projects for modernization, we have the community meetings that they can engage. And the bottom line is this. We don't have as much engagement as we should have. We had a we had a very serious school board meeting last Wednesday.
What I mean by that, the student achievement plan for every school was being presented. And we had a handful of people at the meeting. And what happens is people engage when something is threatening their school or they want a particular thing. So okay. I'm a I'm a tell you what y'all can do. You can have meetings at your schools. You have meetings at your schools. You can have the principals of the schools, coffee with the principal, bring it up. SSC meetings, bring it up. Let's see. All the existing meetings that are engaged at schools presently.
Okay? Football games are coming up. You can have surveys, people out there surveying people. We did that trying to get people involved at McCliman's. We'd be at the gate trying to sign people up. The McClymonds' picnic is coming up, mister Williams. We we can have something going on that day. So everything that you my time's up? Mister Williams, you know, it's it's always sometime in September. Yeah. It's come we'll we'll let you know. But, anyway, existing entities where you gauge parents use those to, try to get whatever you need from the public.
But I do not want this to be on your shoulders. We, as members of the public, need to step up. Parents, staff, teachers, principals, and get more involved. And that, when somebody tries to say it's on you, it's on all of us. Thank you. Kim Davis? I don't actually think it matters that much what firm you choose. I think what's more important is the direction that you give them. Obviously, you want a reputable firm. You want someone who's had experience. You want, you know, a diversity, within their group. So, you know, you don't want to just choose anybody. But I also think that,
you know, they're probably they all do things pretty similarly. At least that's been my experience, over the years. Experience, over the years. So, you know, again, I think the important thing is that you are clear amongst yourselves what it is that you're going to be asking them to do on your behalf. I think to sort of everybody's point, you need to have a clear plan for community engagement. And that is a variety of, forums. And I would suggest that you make a schedule and you put it out.
Because I think that that's that's the only way you're going to stop the conversation about, oh, this isn't transparent. You need to just do it, and you need to commit to it, and you need to follow through. So, you know, I think that, it's going to look different in different settings. And I think, you know, it's a little bit weird to be talking about, you know, the RFP and the engagements around that, when really what we want to talk about is who our next superintendent is going to be, what kind of person are we looking for.
That's where the focus should be. And that's what you want the search firm not to do for you, but to facilitate and help you do well. But ultimately, if you guys don't show up, if you guys don't, you know, set the expectations from the beginning, if you are not clear that this is your plan, then I think it's going to be it's going to feel not transparent. So it's really I am putting the burden on you guys to stop, you know, talking about things and start doing things. Thanks. Whoever you engage,
you should make clear to them the strengths and challenges of this district so that whoever's applying for this job has a clear understanding of the board might be a problem because they are not working together strong. Blah blah. Y'all know that's the truth. And so somebody comes in here and they get sit down and all of a sudden they see all of this combativeness going on. And maybe we'll work it out before they actually get here. But they need to know that. Okay? They need to know the financial struggles that we so whatever the strengths and challenges
are, the, the the firm will have that and will give it to every candidate to let them know, are you capable of dealing with these strengths? Will you enhance them? Are you capable of handling these weaknesses? Thank you. Any other public comments? We're laissez faire. But you do have two minutes. We're not laissez faire on that. Look at no laissez faire under two minutes. Imagine that. Mobile is expressive. Hello, board. Hello, beautiful humans. It is a pleasure to be here. I do apologize for the grand entrance in this small space. I was at Thornton Hill.
My name is Ms. Shelley Gonzalez. I am a co lead delegate of the Parent Student Advisory Committee and I want to give us an opportunity to do the thing we do when we start over, when we start fresh. When we realize the error of our ways, when we get in trouble for something that we knew we did, oh my goodness, but you know what, we realized, yeah, I got in trouble, I did something, I said something, I hurt somebody, I got hurt, and maybe we can start again. Maybe we can pick up where we left off because we meant well.
We all have a vested interest in the success of our school district. This is really our opportunity and it doesn't have to be full of pomp and circumstance, it doesn't have to be beefy, it doesn't have to be combative. I think on one of the orientations we heard somebody say, You got to learn to get along with people you don't like, you got to learn to work with people you don't like. That was our parliamentarian. And I thought it was hilarious when me and my kids were listening, and we were saying, oh my god. He's saying and and forgive me because I know I tried to get the voice in the cadence, but the point was it stuck out.
It was poignant. You got to learn to talk to I talk to my neighbors all the time. He understands the rules. This is what it takes. Sometimes we're not going to agree. Sometimes we are not going to see eye to eye. But what happens to the kids caught in the middle when the titans are fighting and slamming each other against the structure that is holding our space and time together, that rubble falls upon the head of our children. And of course we're going to throw our bodies over them, we want to protect them, we want to love on them, we want to do right by them, but if we can't get past the part where
disagreement turns into something so hostile that it stops our progress, then what good are we as the adults that are in charge? If the kids that get in trouble for the behavior that we've been exhibiting, if they're in detention, we might need to sit in detention with them. Whatever their punishment or consequences are, as we try to teach them emotional regulation, as we try to teach them we have to model it. So either we're going to discipline ourselves immediately or we're going to have to sit with them with grand apology. We apologize for making this public display of,
we have a real opportunity here. Your advisory committees are ready, your PSAC is ready, we are here, we are partners, our liaison is ready, D4 is doing their thing, at D2 we already started family engagement initiatives, we already did town hall together, like, we are here for all of the things. We just have to find, we have to find that moment in this space and time where we agree that however we get there is not going to be with hostility, because the children are watching us, so we have to model everything that is necessary for them to move up and
take over and be a part of the community. What are our LCAP alignment we want to be aligned with? Community ready, career ready, college ready, trades ready. If we're trying to prepare these humans, these young impressionable humans, we have to model it. We have to mean it. And then when we go home, we can, you know, go off, but not in the camera. That's all we ask. Thank you. Board comments? Director Smith? I definitely I definitely agree with our first public speaker. I think that responsibility is 100% split between the board and the parents themselves,
whoever actually wants to get engaged. But it it definitely it definitely is up to the board and the OUSD district themselves to put themselves out there. We all go to school sites. We're all there every day working, doing whatever. So you should be able to take that time and go to people and have these type of conversations, making sure that, you're giving students their space and asking them what they're looking for in quality leaders, what they wanna see. And not just students that are in leadership like me and director Simmons, not just our student directors, not just ACC, but kids that are in the background,
kids that we don't normally hear from, kids that sit in the back of the classroom. We need to hear from them too because they're still a part of our district. So making sure that you're not just using a student's as decoration and making it seem like you care, you need to actually take consideration into what we're saying. Because, again, we know what we want. We know what we relate to. Again, setting aside an agenda for what you do want these firms to look at for their candidates. And yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Any other board comments? Director Berry? I just wanted to echo the call to action.
I can't remember who it was. I think it might have been you, miss Davis, who said this everybody needs to embrace their role in this. Director Smith, you, reinforces in the comment that you just made. And I think as such, this is a big opportunity for Oakland. And so to the extent that we can partner, not just engage, but partner with our city, our mayor's office, our city council members to be deeply engaged in this process. On the comms front, the outreach front showing up in the room,
I think it reinforces the idea that this is putting Oakland on the brink of, like, greater things in the future, and making sure that we center the superintendent search not just as an OUSD thing, but an Oakland opportunity. And then there another comment that I wanted to double click on or like is a comment around transparency because I think the it is just about just do it, Nike. And I think part of just doing it is having a plan. We can't be transparent if there is nothing to be transparent about.
So us being not just one step ahead, but five steps ahead in this, that's also something we can depend on the search firm for. That's what we're looking for. We're not looking for them to do all the work for us, but to help us organize, to help us project manage, to scale and accelerate the work that we need to be doing and out in front of, but can't do at scale and at a fast pace without someone sort of like helping to organize, arrange, and coordinate that. So Director Latta mentioned earlier about deploying, like, the existing resources and infrastructure and assets of our communities.
And I think we need to see the search firm as engaging all of that to do this search and not doing the the community engagement on our behalf, but in partnership with us. Thank you. Are there any other board comments? Director Lotta? Yeah. I think, I the only thing I just wanna add was, I think it's in terms of the backward planning piece around getting to a superintendent, in place, in time for the, you know, kind of the upcoming summer, I one of the reasons why we are having and I think you said it,
but I just wanna underline. I think one commitment that we had as a board was to really lean in and do everything we could to ensure that when engagements were happening on a timeline to have, like, robust participation that we weren't doing it during that it wasn't falling over Christmas or holiday break, over the New Year transition, that we were really you know, that students weren't having finals and their projects due and, the December graduation season. So I just think that, this meeting you know, I appreciate,
the sacrifices that I know a lot of, folks, people who are watching, people in this room, all made to be here to, you know, to launch this process. And, and I just think that that intentionality we do need to carry forward in terms of how we're identifying those dates. And so I just think again, I just want to think this is a commitment that we're, that I think, again, I think we all share, that I just want to again just sort of underline as part of our work in this. Thank you. Are there any other Director Baszler? Yeah. I think this conversation,
brings up for me, the request that we could also make of, like, a sample plan that this that, these search firms have made, that does that backwards planning. Right? And potentially an evaluation of that plan. Right? There could be amazing plans and many, many hiccups along the way that you have to troubleshoot and solve. And so, and having a firm that also does that self evaluation to get better next time or to think about what it would look like, for our district to go through a similar plan, I think could also be helpful to us.
So I think that that's what I'm thinking about, as we, kind of walk through each of the steps that we have to do. But I agree with the comments, like, we have to just go ahead and start doing things. We can't be held back by other by the priorities that we have in our district. We have to be able to chew gum and walk at the same time, in this moment, and, and I think this to me, I appreciate teaching and learning for, you know, allowing us to have this space and and time so that we can have these conversations. I would be open to having a facilities meeting be repurposed if need be,
to also have these conversations as we move forward, because I do think, transparency is key and also making sure that, that we are engaging with the public in various ways, right? Like, this is being recorded, folks can take a look at this afterwards, they could see what the conversation was like. That may not be the case for some of the actual engagements that we do at SchoolSites, right? And so I think it's really key to try to have as many different ways and platforms for folks to get our understanding as board directors what we're thinking about, but also, be able to,
receive feedback from those folks as well. And again, I look forward to, you know, getting support from our students to be able to figure out how to best plug in, students right at the front end. Like Director, Broher and I were just actually talking about, like, could we have one of you all as student board directors join our, superintendent search committee team, right? So that you are plugged in at the front end and don't have to then fight, as Kim was mentioning, on the back end to get into that room and to get into those seats. So, just thinking about all the different ways that we can make sure that our communities
are, as involved as a part of this process as possible. Concept of inclusion keeps coming up. Let me tell you how you could have real inclusion. The search form will be given directions to submit a certain number of candidates before a committee of parents, students, board members, principals, teachers, blah blah blah. That's inclusion. And that committee will make a recommendation, not necessarily choosing a recommendation to the board. And the board can reject or send back for other recommendations from that group.
That's why the that's I'm getting that. That's nothing invented. That's how the police commission works. Okay? So don't think I'm brilliant. I'm not. But inclusion could have participation and some type of, decision making to at some level, not conclusion final conclusion. And and so if you just wanna let people talk, talk, talk. And if you're gonna have meetings, please don't have meetings where people write their questions down. And y'all go through the cards and read the question. Because people get very offended by that. They wanna have their voices heard. Thank you.
I 100% agree with that. Madam President. Yes. One of the one of the questions that the search firm will ask regarding community engagement is whom are the individuals, groups, others would you like for us to talk with in developing this profile? So I mentioned that just to say, now, board members, you should start gathering the contact information of those individual organizations, other groups that you want to have engaged in the process and engaged with the
search firm so it is ready, and the search firm can hit the ground running about talking to these particular important key stakeholders in the community. Yes. One thing I wanted to add is that, Public Contract Code does not require this step. And and so, for an RFP. And so when the board asks to support with preparing it as a draft to do this, you know, one might say, That's overkill! But I think it is, does demonstrate a desire to have that feedback even at this initial step before you
even engage. I don't think that this step of having comments on the RFP was has been done in prior steps. So I just wanted to just point that out, that you're doing above and beyond what the public contract code, but we're Oakland, so that's what we do. Director Smith. Sorry. I just wanted to 100% agree with Ms. Assata. Yes, I wanted to 100% agree. I definitely agree with that idea. I don't know how the hiring committees will work exactly, but making sure that it's a diverse hiring committee,
maybe it's a parent, maybe it's some students on there, maybe it's even a principal from a school. Like, it I think it needs to be just diverse. I'm not saying that it should just be a straight student committee, but it needs to be inclusive. So it should be different perspectives. Different perspectives of different people around Oakland so that they can give their thoughts. Even if it's not just for this superintendent search, it could be for future principals that we have put in place, future teachers, whatever, but it needs to be very inclusive and not just a certain group of people on these committees. Thank you. Are there any other further board comments? I will get changed. Okay. No. I don't see director Hutchinson.
Director Hutchinson. Yes. Thank you. And and on the last comment by the student director, we have a lot of those policies in place. It's just they're not being enforced. For example, there is a, principal selection policy which requires, a school based committee weighing in on three final candidates. The problem has been it's just not enforced and not enough people know about it. And in general, you know, again, I think tonight's meeting was actually, it's not going above and beyond. It was actually kind of a waste of time and and really showing how little we understand this process as a body.
We know how to do these things, so I reject the idea that we don't know how to do engagement. But when there's a meeting called and there's nobody at the meeting, that is a real failure. PSAC wasn't invited. Our labor partners aren't there. Students weren't invited. And so we wind up having a special meeting that really doesn't accomplish anything. And the idea of having an inclusive process is really hard for me to believe in it right now because as you can see from the attendance at tonight's meeting, board leadership didn't even make this meeting inclusive for all of our board members.
And if there's not an effort by the board to actually hold our meetings for important issues at times when all seven directors say they can make it, And if they can't all make it at the same time, to then have it at a regularly scheduled meeting, it makes it really hard to believe in any sort of larger inclusion because that's not how this process has been. And so we need to understand that we are in this situation. This is the outcome from our superintendent being fired one year into a three year
extension and the board having no plan. And so since that happened in April, the board was aware of this work needing to get done, yet nothing has been prepared. People don't even understand it how an RFP works. And I strongly agree, director Berry, with your comments about what role the RF, or the search firm should play, especially when it comes to supporting the board and doing engagement. I just don't think our colleagues on the board feel the same way. What I hear over and over is comments from directors looking for somebody else to
do the engagement for us and then being concerned that we'll hire the right person to do the engagement for us. I mean, just last year, we had a firm under contract to support the board in doing a series of engagements, and most directors did not take advantage of that at all. Whereas when I worked with those firms, I always led my engagements. I always, set the agenda for those engagements, and then the team that was hired was there to support and collect the feedback. That's how this process should work. So tonight, after two hours,
we've actually moved backwards, and there's none of even the key stakeholders in the room to actually allow us to move forward and actually call this genuine engagement. It's really frustrating, and I wish the board was I'm almost I'm almost done. This is really frustrating, and I wish the board at least would be fully prepared. So when there is a special meeting and people change their schedules, it's not a waste of time in the end. Thank you. Thank you, director Hutchinson. Are there any other board comments? Miss Shelley, we'll take our last public comment.
I wanna reiterate that miss Shelley is a co lead delegate of the parent student advisory committee. I am everywhere like the Lord. So we are everywhere. We have done this. We have served on principal nomination committees. Mike is my d four partner. We're Ares. We're we're gonna have a shot match about it later on. Like, we're gonna get into it. But but d four is gonna thrive one way or another. We are all assigned a partner in PSAC. We are all connected. And, of course, director Hutchinson is our liaison.
So we take great pride. Oh, I'm sorry. Hutchinson oh my god. Because I was just listening to director Hutchinson and acknowledging that that is my default partner. I'm sorry. Director Williams, please forgive me. Our liaison. We we are this again, I wanna push the issue. This is the beginning. So for the record, this is where we're starting. We're this is the opportunity for this is a little redemption with a little engagement, with the we are really going to put the effort in the right place this time. That's the hope.
The hope is that we understand we can't unring a bell. What has happened has happened. Much to our chagrin. Ms. Shelley is quite bothered about several things that have happened. I'm still in my feelings about it. However, there is an outward facing, public facing professionalism that is necessary for us moving forward. So whatever we're going to get into, whatever we're going to do together, we have to do it together. And if we're going to set a precedent because we are in very destabilizing times,
we have to do it. We have to fortify ourselves and our community, and we have to commit to the partnership that he has, miss Kimmy. You can come on up here with me if you want. Because Miss Shelley is determined to we can fight and be angry and shout and then what? The kids still lose, don't they? There is no victory in all of the infighting and the distable structure, the unstable structure. Where's the victory in that? Our children are still aging out without us preparing them because we haven't gotten our
thing together. So, I really want to publicly push the issue of us using our brilliance and our gifts and our patience and our talents, and put it in the right direction. Yes? Thank you. Any other last minute board comments? I want to thank people for coming. Again, this was our first attempt at, talking about how to make an executive firm search. I think the conversation tonight, the points people raise both in the community and, among my colleagues really, help clarify some of the things we're looking for in a search firm.
And I look forward to more community engagements over the next few months. Thank you.