Live Blog: Board of Education Regular Meeting, January 31, 2023

Summary:

The SF Board of Ed has new leadership as of tonight. 

Congrats to President Kevine Boggess and Veep Lisa Weissman-Ward. 

Elections have consequences. By beating Ann Hsu last November, Alida Fisher gave progressives a majority on the board.

Per tradition, I don’t think it’s a rule, the previous VP becomes the next President. 

So Weissman-Ward could be Prez next year, but there would still be a vote. 

She was elected VP by unanimous consent (no objections) after Lam nominated her, seems like a deal was worked out.

Livetweets:

Hi, @noahsloss here, I'll be live tweeting the SF BOE meeting starting in about 5 minutes. Let's get ready to rumble. 

The commissioners are getting seated. There were some issues getting the translators set up. 

And we're under way. Childcare is available for people attending the meeting. Good to know. 

Going over votes for settlements on lawsuits (?). Students are mentioned by initials. 

Jenny Lam starts with an expression of grief over the recent shooting incidents. 

Lam announces the upcoming vote for President (!)

No further nominations. 

Public comment begins. Lam limits public comment to 20 minutes total for in person and online. 

First commenter "there is no good reason to replace her (Lam)" 

Second commenter: "she's a mom, she has kids in SFUSD". 

So are at least two other commissioners (?)

A kid makes public comment and also mentions "she's a mom". 

Meredith Dodson from SF Parents is next. "It's disappointing to see this board return to adult drama" 

Next speaker raises the memories of distance learning, asks for stability, with some anger in his voice. Two Chinese-American parents speak in support of Lam. 

Next speaker "as a fellow mom..." 

I personally think this talking point is supposed to be some kind of criticism of Alida Fisher whose kids are adopted. 

Former supervisor candidate Leanna Louie speaks in support of Jenny Lam. 

The next two male speakers express annoyance that they have to be there. They also support Lam. 

A few speakers have highlighted the votes of the two student delegates for Lam at the last meeting. "Listen to the children". 

Per the rules, student delegates can vote for President but their votes don't count. 

A teacher from Dolores Huerta expresses support for Boggess. Says Lam has never reached out to his school. 

Public comment is over. 

Commissioner Alexander expresses support for Boggess for President, but talks about options for who the VP should be, mentions Sanchez. 

Commissioner Motamedi thanks Jenny Lam for her service. 

Reminds me of a Larry David episode. 

Roll call! 

For Lam: student delegates, Motamedi, Weissman-Ward, Lam

For Boggess: Fisher, Sanchez, Alexander, Boggess

Boggess is elected President 

Now there will be nominations for VP 🤔

Lam nominates Lisa Weissman-Ward and sings her praises. 

There are no other nominations, so Weissman-Ward is the new Vice President of the BOE. 

Jenny Lam thanks everyone and expresses gratitude for the opportunity of serving as President. 

Not wasting any time, the transition of power happens immediately: Boggess and Weissman-Ward move to the Prez and VP chairs. 

President Boggess thanks people who didn't get a chance to make public comment, and tries to reassure folks that the board is there for everyone. 

As first official act he reads the land acknowledgment. 

And now the superintendent's report. 

A hearty Gung Hay Fat Choy from Dr. Wayne. 

He has pictures from his visits to John Muir ES and Washington HS. Tries to play video of auto repair class. 

Touts 90.2% graduation rate, highest in last 6 years. 

Student delegate reports: upcoming district wide student council meetup

Student delegate wishes to clarify their limited role in votes for president (their votes don't count) and asks for their role to be respected. 

Supe Wayne comes back to report on the Empower payroll system (debacle). 

"We're bending the curve" with the "state of emergency" 

"What does it mean to be fixed" Says it's 25 open tickets or less. 

Seems like we're a ways away from being fixed.

Consultant now speaks to this slide about the causes of the Empower issues

We are now "below 8,700" tickets. (yikes) 

Timeline for next 90 days. Doesn't look like we will get to "fixed" by then. 

That's it for the report. 

I will now step away and let one of my esteemed colleagues take over. I hear they're an SFUSD Mom.