Thread by @berkeleyside

Tonight's school board meeting is covered by education reporter @allymarkovich. The school board is voting on a vaccine-or-test policy for students in advance of California's stricter vaccine mandate. Agenda here: agendaonline.net/public/Meeting…
Follow the meeting 🧵:

The school board will also discuss how the district should deal with a decline in enrollment (known throughout the state as the 'ADA cliff') and share an update about a new, anonymous reporting hotline for sexual harassment, bullying, etc. Stay tuned more on both of these.

During public comment, the president & VP of the Berkeley High say they support a vaccine mandate. "With frequent testing, continued mask wearing, and a vaccination mandate, we can combat COVID-19," say Chloe Burke and Hanim Nuru.

A group of students came together during public comment to share Loren McErlane's story. When Loren tried to report her sexual assault, she says she met with 4+ administrators in one day, none of whom supported her or helped her report. No one followed up with her after reporting

"I'm complaining because you have created an environment where no person in their right mind would tell their friend to report something to you, because it will increase the harm rather than support them," Loren said at the board meeting.

Loren's complaint is about something she says occurred her freshman and sophomore years. Loren is now a senior, but the students with her, including Abby Lamoreaux, commissioner of women's rights and equity, say such problems with administrators persist.

"We're talking about safety in regard to vaccinations. But so many students have been harmed throughout the history of our district. And it's disappointing that the district has still not found a better way to solve this issue," Sam Kaplan-Pettus, chair of the youth commission

Many of the public commenters, many of whom are speaking on a wide range of issues, commend Loren on her bravery for sharing her story, and urge the district to 'listen to the students' to better address sexual harm.

"I must tell you how sorry I am that after seven years of intense effort to improve the district's approach, students are still harmed vulnerable and unsupported, as evidenced by the narratives that you heard," says alumni parent and advocate Heidi Goldstein about sexual harm.

Referring to an email sent by BHS principal about steps the district is taking moving forward to improve handling of sexual harm, Heidi says, "This is like the fire department saying, we will be ready to fight fires next Tuesday, when your house is burning down today."

On another note, long-time special education teacher Josh Austin asks the district to solve the special education teacher aide shortage. The extent of the shortage means students aren't getting the services they're entitled to, and special ed teachers are stretched thin.

Berkeley Federation of Teachers President Matt Meyer calls the district's proposed vaccine-or-test policy "a common sense interim solution while we wait for the full mandate to kick in." (Meyer supports the full vaccine mandate for teachers and students announced by governor)

Student director Anjuna Mascarenhas-Swan makes good on her promise to focus on sexual harm in BUSD. "In my opinion, the fact that the board has yet to have any formal discussion surrounding sexual harm this year is irresponsible," she says, asking for a discussion on Oct. 20.

"When we think of safety... we need to be comprehensive in this definition," says @Ana4SchoolBoard, responding to the public comment testimony about sexual harm "I am so sorry that your experience in our schools has been so painful."

In regard to COVID-19 policy, @Ana4SchoolBoard emphasizes that the district is not acting in isolation but working with "public health officials at the state, county, and city level here in Berkeley" when creating its public health response policies.

"I'm sorry that not only did you have this experience and Berkeley High, but that you continue to have to talk and give testimony," @julie_sinai says, addressing Loren, "and we haven't succeeded with having the kind of cultural and systems change at Berkeley High."

@julie_sinai said she supports Anjuna's request for an update on sexual harm reduction on Oct 20, even if it's not comprehensive. "I do feel that the utmost importance right now is... getting the information out... and that we create a safe environment for students."

"I apologize that you have to do this, but thank you for continuing to sound the alarm on things that are not right and not okay," says school board VP Ka'Dijah Brown. @tyschoolboard says he, Brown, and Stephens will discuss amending the agenda for upcoming school board meetings.

Superintendent Brent Stephens also thanks the students for speaking, saying the district will look at the concerns both as "individual concerns" and "look forward to the patterns that may exist that continue to impact students as they come forward to report instances of harm."

There are "sort of frustrated feelings that come with the pace of change, and the scope of the desire among the community for change, and yet there are many many people throughout the district who continue to labor day in and day out, and are producing small accomplishments."

Stephens lists several examples of progress that’s being made. Here’s a more complete list of progress being made on addressing sexual harm sent to students by BHS principal Juan Raygoza on Monday:

Next is a discussion of the proposed vaccine-or-test policy, which requires vaccination and offers a testing option. Vaccination mandate for attending indoor extra-curriculars and Berkeley Adult School students. Full policy: agendaonline.net/public/Meeting…

The school board is working on ramping up a vaccine education campaign, partnering with Berkeley High teachers, the city of Berkeley, and potentially community orgs. The campaign would attempt to dispel myths about vaccination.

To make vaccination easier, BUSD is planning vaccination clinics at Longfellow Middle School and at Berkeley High in October, dates TBD. One free vaccine clinic coming up this weekend at 1901 Russell St. Register here: patient.carbonhealth.com/?%24web_only=t…

After clarifying questions about types of testing available/required and how exemptions are determined, the board unanimously approves a vaccine-or-test policy + Berkeley Adult School vaccine required.

Small amendments will be made the policy to clarify:
-surveillance testing will continue to be an option
-testing will be mandatory for unvaccinated students
-exemptions will be decided in the same way for students as for teachers and staff

The Berkeley school district might need to cut $9.6 million in part due to declining enrollment, including $4.5 million cut for 2022-23 required by Alameda County Office of Ed. That office of ed is asking for a list of budget-balancing solutions by Dec. 15.

Board members consider potential solutions: @julie_sinai points out that the decline in enrollment is for elementary students, not for the high school. Could it be COVID-related? she wonders. @Ana4SchoolBoard suggests enrollment fairs.

"What is actually causing us to lose so many students?" Laura Babitt asks. Does the district give exit surveys that could provide clues. Is it just students moving out of California, or something else?

@tyschoolboard offers one solution: enrolling more out-of-district transfer students, who can bring in more ADA (attendance-based) funding. Ka'Dijah Brown also thinks this could be a good idea to bring more students of different demographics.

Laura Babitt says that the budget cuts could change, based on actual enrollment numbers, the Governor's education budget, etc. "I don't want to alarmist," Babitt says, not wanting to spend "too much time on something that might actually be real."