Present: Pam Costain, Lydia Lee, Sharon Henry-Blythe, Tom Madden, T Williams, Chris Stewart, Emma Hixson, Mauri Melander, Bernadeia Johnson, Alan Giles, and Jackie Turner

Emma says that she has redrafted the resolution that “we” had prepared for the Board.  Emma says that they worked with Alan Giles on it because he was concerned that it needed to be clear about why the district was doing the resolution and about what the resolution does and doesn’t do.
Emma describes the resolution as having a number of points:
(1) Continue to apply for funding for the ATPPS program
(2) Continue to work towards full implementation of ATPPS
(3) Continue to expand the number of schools
(4) Try to get the state funding increased for ATPPS
(5) The resolution is parent parameters and authority for applying for grants and exploring an agreement with MFT, but it does not commit the Board or the superintendant into approving or entering into an agreement with MFT with respect to alternate compensation.

Pam asks what (5) means. Emma says that the main point of the resolution is to enable the administration to apply for funding to expand the number of TAP sites.  Emma says that the number of sites had been previously defined in a Board resolution.  Emma says that the resolution allows the administration to move forward on alternative compensation funding mechanisms, but it does not commit the district to entering into any contract language or agreement.

Emma asks if the resolution will be voted on at the general Board meeting following this executive session. Mauri says that based on her previous conversation with Alan, it is her understanding that the resolution is not to be voted on by the Board tonight.  Mauri says that it could be perhaps be presented at one of the regular meetings in the next couple weeks, which would give the public the chance to comment on it, before the next month’s second Tuesday Regular Meeting, when it could be voted on.

Pam asks if there is urgency to pass the resolution. Emma says that they need to move on some of the applications for funding and that this resolution is related to that effort, but she then says that the administration could probably move forward without the resolution being formally adopted. 

Pam asks if they could introduce the resolution under new business.  Mauri says that is not possible and asks Emma if the urgency is related to the “Broad funding”.  Emma confirms this.  Mauri says that the draft resolution could be used as “an intent”, because if the Board generally agrees with the resolution, they could leave it open for “public process” reasons, while the draft resolution is used by the administration in their grant applications to show the intent of the Board.

Sharon asks if the teachers would perceive the language in (5) negatively. Emma says that General Counsel felt strongly that that particular language needed to be there and that she thinks it will be okay.  Emma says that they need to move quickly on negotiations regarding alternative compensation and once they are once they are in negotiations that sort of language fits right in.  Sharon backs off quickly.

Pam asks the Board members present to offer a show of hands about who would support the resolution as written and there is apparently unanimous support.

Emma asks Lydia if she had some questions about the ATPPS resolution. Lydia asks about the number of schools being increased to 22, and she asks which schools have been given a chance to vote on it, and if they are targeting specific types of school. Bernadeia responds that they did target Stage III, IV, and V schools, but teachers in every school had to vote on it.  Bernadeia says that there were 13 schools that she approached about TAP and 10 voted to approve it, which brings the total number of TAP schools to 21.

Lydia asks about restructuring. Bernadeia describes the different things that “restructuring” means in Stage IV and V, noting the Stage IV is “preparing for restructuring” and Stage V is “restructuring”.  Lydia says that she is really, really concerned every time we fresh start a school. Lydia says that she thinks that smaller changes are much more valuable.  Bernadeia responds that they have a menu of options to select from during any restructuring and many things are considered.

Pam says that they need to clarify the timing of the resolution. Mauri says that if the majority of the Board likes the way the resolution looks, then “we” can present it at the next Board meeting, which “frees up” to administration to move forward on their funding applications.

Mauri wonders if the Board can vote on an item in the same meeting where the item is presented for the first time, because such a situation would not allow time for public input.  Mauri further wonders if they could just present a resolution as new business in a “short business meeting” where new business in not typically presented, and she asks Alan if something like that would be okay. 

Alan says that according to the Board’s bylaws, in any given meeting the Board can consider an item for the first time and vote on it, and as long as they have a unanimous vote.  However, he notes that the Board has traditionally always allowed the opportunity for public input. Pam suggests that if the Board’s lack of action would delay something the administration is doing, then the Board could expedite the process. Emma and the other administrators conclude the Board would not be causing any delays by postponing a vote on the resolution until the next regular Board business meeting.

Pam passes out something about core belief statements.  She says that “we all” have been talking on the phone and by email about these. Pam says that the planned action is that the Board approves these as a consensus document and then presents it to the public as new business at that evening’s meeting.  Pam says that the statements are the Board’s core beliefs around entering into the negotiations and that they are not meant to express beliefs about “everything in the world”.

There is a discussion about a statement that includes the phrase “parents and community”, which is towards the end of the list.  T suggests possibly placing this statement closer to the top of the list to articulate “that all that we do involves our commitment to families and children”.

Sharon asks Jackie if the administration staff has any opinion about the order.  Jackie says that she agrees with T about the position of the statement under discussion and she adds that belief statements typically don’t have numbered bullet points.  However, she concludes that the order of statements in the drafted document probably doesn’t matter.

Sharon wonders that if the purpose of the belief statements is to guide negotiations, perhaps the statement that includes the phrase “we believe that individuals at every level of the organization” should not be in the first statement, but rather there should be a statement about “teachers” in that spot.  Pam says that the “individuals at every level” phrase was about accountability, where as the first statement was about the partnership of the negotiations and valuing teachers as partners.

Mauri asks the Board about what they plan to do with these statements of belief.  Pam says that it makes a clear and bold statement about the negotiations, without getting into the “mechanics” of what will be negotiated.  Pam says that such statements give the Board “safe harbor” in that they can say that they have set the basic principles of the negotiations and that they are planning on the negotiation team to execute the mechanics of the negotiations.

Mauri asks what the Board members plan to say when asked for details about the belief statements from teachers. Tom reiterates Pam’s point that these statements would allow the Board to say that they have articulated general principals for the negotiations and that the details will be worked out by the negotiating team.

Tom wonders what would happen if a bunch of teachers “go off the deep end” in response to the Board’s statement.  Bill says that they know one person for sure who will be upset by the statements.  T says that if the statements make only one person unhappy, they should go back to the drawing board.  This provokes laughter.

Jackie mentions that “last Thursday” Bill met with about 20 “key African American communicators form the North side”.  Jackie says that these folks were generally supportive of the North side initiative and Dr. Green’s work, but one thing that came out unsolicited in the conversation was the desire to hold the “Board and negotiations” accountable for doing something different in the upcoming contract negotiations with the teachers.

Jackie says that Bill English stood up at that meeting and, to broad support, said that the negotiations should be public and that “they” wanted to be included.  Bill English said that the teachers should show their hesitancy to do something that is in the best interest in kids and not just in the best interest of adults.  Bill adds that the Northside leaders wanted to send a message to MFT in alignment with the Board’s position, cosigned with Parents United.

Mauri says that, speaking as a teacher, she thinks that community leaders should make their own statements and that the “we” should not align with outside groups like that.

Chris says that the community leaders want to know that the Board understands their sense of urgency and desire for significant changes.  Marui asks him if the belief statements under consideration speak to their concerns.  Chris responds saying that these statements are bold that if you look through the lens of the past, but they are not particularly bold from the perspective of Bill English (although they are a step forward). Chris says that the belief statements are nuanced and “messaged” to death.

Lydia says that she thinks the statements are bold and she thinks that they are a starting point.  Lydia proposes responding to a question “what does it mean?” about the belief statements by saying “we don’t know what it means”.

Bill suggests that people would be more likely to ask Board members just what their vote in support of the belief statements meant.  Chris says that a person could ask a Board member if they support a specific issue and if one of the belief statements indicates that.  Tom says that in such a situation, a Board member can respond by just saying that these are beliefs of the Board and that people who are advocating for a certain result or process in the negotiations can just say whatever they want. Tom says that the belief statements are “a good start for us and the challenge will be to stick to it”.

Sharon says that the first three statements should be rearranged so that the commitment to children and their education is stated first and then issues specifically related to teachers come next.  Bill cautions that what ever the order is, people will focus on specific items of contention.

Alan tells the Board that “you should keep in mind” that Emma is the chief negotiator, that “we” should speak with one voice, and that “it gets very, very complicated and difficult if it is not that way”.  Jackie says means any media requests should go through her and that Emma should be the spokesperson. Mauri says that in the past one school Board member has been a sort of spokesperson for the Board, because they are elected officials.  Mauri jokingly suggests Chris fill this role, but they agree on Lydia, although they laugh about the fact that she will be out of the country in Sweden for a while.  Lydia says that she will only say what the Board says she can say.

Pam says that she has recently talked to Steve Brandt since he had been “snooping around” about the upcoming negotiations, so she and Bill had preemptive conversation with him in order to better control that message.  She says that it’s our core beliefs and the mechanics will be left to negotiations.  Emma says it may be difficult to sort out questions about core beliefs from specific questions about other things, like Montessori programs.  Emma suggests that such specific questions should be funneled through Jackie for a response.

Sharon says that she has made her feelings about the negotiations very clear. Pam says so have all of “the candidates” and Tom concurs. Sharon says that if someone asks her a question, she is going to tell then what she thinks.  Mauri adds “on behalf of yourself” and Sharon agrees.