San Francisco Youth Commission
Education, Health, & Wellness Committee
Held jointly with Student Advisory Council Representatives
Minutes
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
5:00-7:00 p.m.
City Hall, Room 345
1. Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Pl.
San Francisco, CA 94102

There will be public comment on each item.

YC Members: Anna Bernick, Luisa Sicairos, Joyce Wu, Ariel Yu,
SAC Members: Liam Thirtyacre, Rain Talosig, Elizabeth Jones

1. Call to Order and Roll Call

The meeting was called to order by Commissioner Yu 5:05pm.

Commissioners Present: Bernick, Sicairos, Wu, Yu

SAC Representatives Present: Jones, Talosig, Thirtyacre

Staff Present: Allen Lu & Sal Lopez-Barr

2. Approval of Agenda (Action Item)

Commissioner Sicairos, seconded by Commissioner Bernick moved to approve the agenda for the meeting. The motion was approved by acclamation.
There was no public comment.

3. Approval of Minutes (Action Item)

A. Wednesday, November 20, 2013
(Document A)

Commissioner Wu, seconded by Commissioner Sicairos moved to approve the minutes from November 20, 2013. The motion was approved by acclamation.

There was no public comment.

4. Public Comment on Items not on Agenda (Discussion Only)

Mohamand from San Francisco State University introduced himself and mentioned that he was here observing, because he is writing a paper for his political science course regarding student government. Kevine Boggess from Coleman Advocates also briefly introduced himself.

5. Business (All Items to Follow Discussion and Possible Action)

A. Check-in
The Committee members shared their favourite thing about the holidays.

B. Presentation from Coleman Advocates – Solutions Not Suspensions
Presenters: Kevine Boggess
(Document B)
Mr. Boggess provided a background regarding their campaign “Solutions Not Suspensions” as a part of the nationwide Dignity in Schools Campaign. Specific to San Francisco, while 35% of the student body are made up of Black and Latino youth, these students make up 75% of the school district’s suspensions. The campaign aims to end the disproportionate suspensions of African American students and other students of color, hold the district accountable to releasing data about suspension rates, informing students and parents about their rights, have all schools practice PBIS (Positive Behavioral Interventions & Supports) and Restorative justice practices to create more accountable school climates for everyone, and end all suspensions for willful defiance and “off the books” suspensions. For this to happen, the school district must adopt and implement clear set of guidelines, so that all the students, teachers, and staff understand the same rules. Next Tuesday (12/10/2013), Coleman Advocates is going before the Board of Education to campaign and voice this resolution (together with Commissioner Matt Haney).

Commissioner Sicairos observed that Pacific Islanders, Persians, and Middle Eastern youth were also targeted for suspensions and asked if the policies would also apply to them. Mr. Boggess responded that while the primary targets are Black and Latino students, it would apply to all students regardless of ethnicity.

Mr. Lopez Barr asked if this would apply to private schools. Mr. Boggess responded that it would not; private schools have their own rules. This would only apply to schools under the School District.

Mr. Boggess also presented data regarding the number of students being suspended. Other goals include trainings for teacher and administrators with the protocol of exhausting all remedies available before they suspend. Also, the recommendations would eliminate “in-house” suspensions at schools. If a student is going to “in-house” suspend a student, then the school must generate the paperwork with approval from the School District’s central office. Thus, this campaign will lead to eliminate the disproportion of suspensions at SFUSD. Coleman Advocates is seeking this committee’s endorsement of this campaign.

Commissioner Sicairos asked if there were data displaying the correlation between those suspended with students who experience ADHD, ADD, and other “mental disabilities.” Mr. Boggess said that they did not have access to that data, though the school district might.

Commissioner Yu asked if PBIS and Restorative Justice Practices will be implemented the same across elementary, middle and high school. Mr. Boggess responded that the concept will be the same in the sense of the goal of these practices; however the approaches will vary depending on the situation. Age range will play a minor factor.

Mr. Boggess then went through the recommendations on the resolutions.

Representative Talosig and Jones shared their experiences with a teacher at their school, questioned if the teacher’s behavior was appropriate, and asked if anything could be done about that. Commissioner Bernick also shared an experience she had at school of a teacher saying inappropriate things to the students.

Commissioner Sicairos asked if continuation schools and charter schools would also have to abide by this ordinance. If passed, continuations schools would have to; charter schools would not.

Representative Jones expressed her support in exploring all options before implementing suspensions for African students, and that it would be better if it was for all students. Mr. Boggess responded that this would indeed apply to all students.

Commissioner Sicairos, seconded by Commissioner Bernick moved that the committee endorse the “Solutions, not Suspensions” campaign. The motion was approved by acclamation.

There was no public comment.

6. Staff Report

Item 6A was called out of order since Chair Yu had to leave and had asked the committee to spend the last part of the meeting brainstorming and researching.

A. Programmatic updates, review upcoming events
Mr. Lopez Barr reported back to this committee that this year SFUSD has not used their defibrillators this academic year. However, based on the last couple of years, coincidently last year during an athletic event, a defibrillator was used on a student whom was unconscious. Defibrillators are typically never used at all. They are analogizing defibrillators to fire extinguishers, each school is equipped with theses tools, but seldom use them, and hope hope that they do not have to use them.

Mr. Lopez Barr also noted that Special Education staff member Deidre Durling will be presenting an overview of Special Education at the next committee meeting on December 18, 2013 (from 5:30pm to 6pm).

Mr. Lu reported back to this committee regarding whether Peter Lauterborn’s presentation of “Taxing Sugar Drinks” could incorporate the monies taxed for Special Education and/or Defibrillators.

Mr. Lu reminded the committee that the “Our Children, Our City” Youth Town Hall is happening at St. Mary’s Cathedral on Thursday December 5th from 4:30pm-7:30pm. This meeting is important, because it is the space where youth will have input regarding how the Children’s Fund and PEEF is distributed and how the city should prioritize the type of youth programs and services.

There was no public comment.

5C. Committee Debrief and Updates

Commissioner Yu updated the committee: she sent out the email that she drafted and had the committee look over to a key staffer regarding Special Education in Baltimore, Maryland. As of today, she has not heard a response.

Committee Suggestions regarding the used of expenditure of the “taxation of sugary drinks”. The committee updated the list of questions for next meetings Special Education presenter.

The committee prioritized a list of suggestions on how the tax on sugary drinks should be spent. Representative Jones, seconded by Representative Thirtyacre, motioned to send the list of suggestions over to the Supervisors’ offices. This was passed by acclamation.

There was no public comment.

7. Items to Report to Executive Committee (Action Item)

Commissioner Sicairos, seconded by Commissioner Bernick, motioned to report to the Executive Committee the presentation they received from Coleman Advocates, which resulted in the committee’s endorsement of the “Solutions, Not Suspensions” campaign. They will also report on the List of Suggestions for use of the soda tax, and their upcoming presenter. This was approved by acclamation.

There was no public comment.

8. Executive Committee Report (Discussion Only)

There was no public comment.

9. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 6:57pm.

Any materials distributed to the members of the Youth Commission within 72 hours of the meeting or after the agenda packet has been delivered to the members are available for inspection—along with minutes of previous Youth Commission meetings and all supplementary information—at the Youth Commission office during regular office hours (9am to 6pm, Monday—Friday). The Youth Commission office is located at:
City Hall, Room 345
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone: (415) 554-6446, Fax: (415) 554-6140
Email: youthcom@sfgov.org
www.sfgov.org/yc

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