Never met a native person. The majority of representations of native person are prejudice or stereotypical. And ive never met president cook thank you. Thank you. Good evening. My name is mary ellis. I stand here of something, i stand here that you people still want to keep this mural in place, you heckled us. You bring your speakers to speak louder than us. You threaten lawsuits. Where is the respect . Where is the dignity . Its in our people, its our advocacy. You call our children it. How dare you. How dare you. I want to remind this board about the Indian Education act. We will bring the paint, we will bring the brushes. It wont cost you a penny. [applause] good evening, commissioners. My names michelle antone, and im here to reiterate again, paint it down. This is just so wrong for our community on so many levels, and were tired of we advocate every day for our community. Yesterday, it was a budget committee. Today, were here for the murals. I dont see how anyone can see that its okay to have those murals in our school, in our public school. If you want it so bad, put it in your home or make it to a museum. We dont need it in our schools. We dont need those images. We know exactly what our history is. We know exactly what our history is. We are here, still here, continuing to fight for our generations. This is our 7th generation here, and we are becoming more. We are becoming a society that we are sufficient. [applause] [speaking native language] in my native language, i say hello, and good evening. I am a Tohono Oodham tribe. Im trusting that you all understand that this is worth it because we our students deserve better. We dont need to see ourselves portrayed as dead indians every single time. We dont need that. We know our history already. Our students dont need to see that every time they walk into a public school. This mural has no place in a public school. Its not teaching anything. All its doing is hurting a population. The American Indian students in this country already have one of the highest dropout rates of any ethnic group. We dont need to see this anymore. [applause] my name is michelle. Im the lead organizer at coleman advocates. My nieces and nephews are half chinese and half black, and almost every day, they call me and tell me that theyre bullied in school, called chitters. This mural normalized and institutionalizes this. To say that removing this mural says that you do not understand what racism is. [inaudible] [applause] hi, commissioners, president. I am amy anderson, registered American Indian, metis. I think its important for all of us to understand that colonization of this Turtle Island has been happening for over 100 years. When we speak of reparations, what that means to me is where can get a chance to recognize where there has been great harm done. And to say that white religion, White Supremacy can end, to say that the white walls can be a brandnew fresh start. Thats reparations. Th that says what we have done in the past as a society is wrong. [applause] my name is kelly walsh. Im a parent here at School District unified School District and im of yaqui heritage. My son asks me often why the characters he plays and why the books he reads doesnt have people that look like him. You should take a studentcentered approach and uplift our student voices and experience and take these murals down. Thank you. [applause] hi. My name is mariposa villaluna. I have known a lot of you all for a very long time, or maybe a very short time. I have spent lots of time talking to all of you on this school board, and i beg of you, please paint down those murals. You all come from ancestors that fought so that we could be in this position today. Please let it be unanimous. I know all of you want to paint it down. Go into your heart space. Look at those people. They died. Please dont make one more student walk by the dead indians. Please paint it down. No cover ups. [applause] i couldnt agree more. My name is brittany markman. Im a parent of a child at souter elementary in the richmond district. I never want to hear anyone say to him, ill meet you by the dead indian. One of s. F. School districts core values is challenges. This is pride month. Where would San Francisco, where would the lgbt be if gavin newsom had given in to the racism and denied same sex couples the right to marry in love . This has been denied twice by the board of supervisors and by the board of ed today. Aaron peskin has said washington will never get a landmark designation. When youre in the business of doing something symbolic president cook thank you. Thank you. [applause] linda lewin. Im a retired substitute teacher from San Francisco unified School District, and i live about a black awock away, ive seen these murals. I believe this is not the way to teach history by displaying these murals which display racist imagery, and i do believe children need to be educated, particularly nonindigenous children, need to know about the history of native americans, and which is why i wrote and produced an Award Winning d. V. D. Called growing up indian and im of jewish descent. I just want to president cook thank you. [applause] my name is huda, and im one of the youth leaders at a branch of the Grassroots Organization called aroc. Violence of this mural reminds me of the history of my people and the french colonization of morocco. Im here with all the represented communities. The actions taken in this mural are unjust, racist, and illegal and dont belong in a high school in San Francisco or anywhere. Im kelly, and im with arab youth organizing. As a palestinian living in the United States, i have faced too many racism ato count. This mural at George Washington high school continues to oppress black and indigenous students. Taking down this mural sends a message to racist students that targeting students on the basis of race is unacceptable so future students wont have the same negative experiences i had. [applause] president cook before you get started, as a reminder, you have 9 minutes or 8 minutes left. Good evening, commissioners. I want to say to the Opposing Side is how to tell if a white person is racist with one simple question. If you want to quickly determine if a white person in the United States is comfortably racist, id recommend a single question. Ask them, should our nation pay reparations to black, indigenous, etc. People for the enslavement, mistreatment and economic exploitation of them and their ancestors over the past 400 years . If they deny that, you can be fairly confident that you identified a racist. There is a white supremacist culture, and that is what were really talking about here. Not art, not the destruction of art, but the realization that we live in a white supremacist culture. President cook thank you. Hello, board of directors and superintendent. My name is stephanie irvin, and im here in solidarity with the students. Im so proud to see so many students speak to you today, and im also in solidarity with sfusds core morals in justice and fearlessness. I wore this shirt to be the change that i wish to see in the world. Thats why i showed up. Im also a proud graduate of oakland street academy, Emiliano Zapata street academy. I to be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic, it is based on the fact that Human History is a history not only of cruelty and i can send you the quote, or you can find it. President cook thank you. [applause] hi. My names dr. Shelley piri, and im a licensed psychologist and mother of a native child who is slated to go to George Washington. My daughter i just it makes me shudder to think of her facing these images every day, but im here to talk to you as a Mental Health professional. I want to let you guys know, ive been an Expert Witness in several courtrooms, and everything that people have been talking about here today, tonight about the trauma, about the very real making of invisible, about the impact that it has on our children, is scientifically validated. Theres no question. Dont worry about a law, a case, a legal case, because, you know, the science is on your side. I want you to know that the mural completely normalizes the colonial image, and they make it as something its not. Take it down. Im tracey gallardo. Im here as an art advocate, but art is used to spark discussion. We do that all the time in the mission. This mural does not provide this. In this particular case, the mural is over 50 years old, and does not fit, nor does not represent the districts vision to provide safe and supportive schools. The mural depicts violence and triggers Emotional Trauma which may get in the way of student learning. This mural has no teaching significance at all and should be removed. It belongs in a space that educates and promotes discussion. Violence in any form has no place in any of our schools. My husband and my kids worked for the district, my mom worked for the district for 39 years. No violence in the schools. Take it down. [applause] hello. My name is Martin Rawlings fine. Im here representing myself. Issues of concern of native americans of San Francisco was borne out of inviting people to share their stories. Some of their stories were the Human Rights Commission produced a report, and it said students feel burdened and marginalized by racist images that are evoked in school. This is in 2007. Children in schools routinely hear a variety of antinative american statements. This is a very important issue. People are talking about lots of things here, but it really just needs to come down. And president cook thank you. We have three minutes left. [applause] my name is alita fisher. Im an adoptive parent of four African American sfusd students. My kids go to mission. I grew up in cincinnati, ohio, and the maplethorpe exhibit. That was a huge, huge exhibit in cincinnati. It is exceptionally disruptive throughout the city, and it happened over works in a museum. This has been and continues to be a disruption for students for decades, and its time to get rid of the disruption one way or another. My African American students do not need a mural to remind them of the past injustices. Theyre still experiencing them today. So thank you. Paint it down. [applause] hi. My name is shivon foster, and im an incoming 11th grader at lowell high school. In my first year at lowell, ive seen many microaggressions toward me and my human beings. Imagine how many microaggressions are triggered at Washington High School when they walk into this. Also, they talk about this moments diversity, but when you see the people that are negative or affirmative for keeping the mural, its usually white males, old males that arent in the school system. Also [applause] also, we always learn about our histories, we get the turns, the comments about learning of slavery. Also, if this was a story of whites being beaten, the tables would be turned. My name is Julie Roberts fung. Im hear on behalf of an Organization Called showing up for racial justice, and i want to emphasize the showing up. I want to thank you for your courage. I also want to take a minute and speak to white folks who are concerned about being called racist or worried that theyre upholding White Supremacy, and i want to emphasize the showing up. This is not where our hearts are at. If this weekend if trump was threatening to round up immigrants, you were threatening to keep another racist mural that folks in South Carolina and other parts of the country have upheld racist monuments, its time to weighin. I want to end with a song tonight to make you think about. President cook thank you. [applause] president cook that concludes Public Comment. So we have number 219625so 1, recommendation to remove from public view, the mural at George Washington public school. Lets see, im going to call for a motion and a second. Motion. President cook can i have a second . Second. President cook superintendent, you have a do you need to read the item into the record. Yes, sir. Our chief facilities officer. Commissioners, our recommendation is this authorize staff to did he right la lane develop a mural at George Washington high school that utilizes ceqa material or comparable material. President cook any comments from the board . Yes. Id like to authorize the board to say that, that the board develop a project for ceqa review that authorizes a mural by painting over the mural, or staff shall develop a project that removes the mural from public review using solid panels or comparable material, so im moving that as a substitute motion. President cook okay. Is there a second . Second. President cook any discussion on the proposed amendment . Superintendent matthews . I would just like the chief to because thats one of the areas that we looked at previously, so i just wanted you to have staff comment on that as youre considering whether to add that amendment. Thank you, superintendent. So respectfully, commissioners, the presentation that i shared at the committee of the whole on the 18th and the recommended action, the original action that was shared tonight does represent at this point staffs analysis and recommendation formed by two goals. One is to permanently remove the murals have public view and two, to do so in the fastest and most Cost Effective way possible. So i dont think this preliminary analysis has been completed, and the recommendation has been made, and it seems unlikely to shift based on time or another week or two. President cook okay. Thank you. Other comments . You want to sure. Can we get clear on what were voting on . President cook so theres a proposed amendment, and we are going to vote to pass the amendment or not. Thats how i hear the commissioners motion. I have a motion ive spoken a lot on this topic. Im interested to hear from commissioners that havent spoken, because i think its important that we all talk about it, and i think its important that we hear from all folks. Just on the proposed amendment, once we do, i wont be supporting. Im going to support the staffs recommendation to cover the mural, so just thats where i stand on the item right now. If you can tell us what the process is. Sure. The e. I. R. Stands for Environmental Impact report, and also to evaluate alternatives in light of a project goal, so to really look at several different ways that you can accomplish a goal while then evaluating the impacts to the environment associated with each one of those alternatives. So your first step is we would hire consultants to help us prepare the e. I. R. , and then we would craft those series of alternatives and begin to evaluate those alternatives in terms of their impacts, particularly with respect to historic resources. You conduct studies, research, analysis. You prepare a draft report, you actually before that, you notify the public that youre going to pursue an e. I. R. To analyze a project. You prepare your draft report. You then have to solicit and receive Public Comment on your analysis, and you have to respond to each and every Public Comment that is delivered it has to be delivered in written form, and then you have to respond to those comments. You finalize your draft report into a final e. I. R. That then the board of education would have to certify. And in that certification process, which the certification focuses on basically saying that the e. I. R. S analysis was lowthorou and correct. But one of the ways to accomplish your project goal, you have to also adopt something called a statement of overriding consideration which says we have a specific project goal. This alternative or this particular option will allow us to achieve that project goal in ways that other options dont, and so because of that, were going to override the considerations of the impacts to the environment and proceed with, you know, the preferred alternative. So its a complex process. Ive done a few notable ones, and i have never been able to complete an e. I. R. In less than a year, and thats again, just to get the report ready for public consumption, and then, theres also a series of appeal processes that are also available to the public after the board makes its certification finding. Thank you for going through that process and timeline. I just want to state how i appreciate the work and testimony thats been provided for many weeks and months and years and decades of it. I want to express that i absolutely support having the murals out of sight so that it does not cause, continue to cause the trauma for your students, and so i will also be supporting the recommendation from the staff this evening. I have a statement here from commissioner norton. She asked me to read it, so bear with me. Im sorry that i had a longplanned family trip that has prevented me from being present at tonights meeting. I want to thank everyone who was engaged on this very emotional issues on both sides. [please stand by]. You know, these are peoples lives. I had to explain to my son today, you know, you are a someone and a mexican in San Francisco. You cant just be walking around, thinking that youre not. So its hard for me to have this conversation with him around racism. It was hard. He said daddy, i didnt do anything. I said exactly. So these conversations that i have as a person of color with my kids, its very real, and so, you know, if weve got to go to court, then we have to go to court, you know . But i dont want to go to court. I dont want to go to court. I dont think we need to go to court, but if it comes down to it, then thats what we have to do, right . So im behind a community that would like to, you know, support safe spaces, right . And so where i stand tonight is i would like for these murals to be painted down. [applause] i just want to mention, i wanted to comment on this this conversation around litigation because when people say its expensive, the reason its expensive is people are saying theyre going to sue in order to keep them up, and theres costs. Everything we do in the district, it has to go through a certain process. It just takes time. But i want to be clear, people are choosing to sue, and theyre raising money to sue, and theyre also showing up here. I do find it very disheartening. I watched a video last year, on january 23, 2018 you should look it up, the native american pack came, and they presented. Lets just say the room was not this full, okay . It was considerably less full, and so when i think about, you know, whos really showing up to support native American Communities, who really cares about their history being represented properly, you know, all of you guys should be there. You should be at you know, when the ali team shows up, and they say we want to have representation in our schools, we want to have representations in our schools, those meetings are not this full, either. So it just feels really dis disingenuous when people say they care. When we talk about Mental Health, thats another thing were going to be talking about. And yet right now were spending a lot of time about their right to defend washington murals as if it were a person. When i see the people who spoke tonight, i see i see people who went to washington and have strong memories of washington, some of which are disturbing. People have said oh, you know, we used to meet under the dead indian as thats a reason we should keep it . Thats normalizing violence. I do want to be clear for folks, history is important. A long time ago, not too long ago, native americans have consistently been depicted as a vanishing race. That is a stereotype assigned to a community. The poem, ten little indians is a poem used to teach number sense to children. It is about each American Indian dieing off until there were none. That is a history that native American Communities hold, and they know that. Its different than just seeing somebody lying there. A native american that is dead on a wall and having people walk over him, that has cultural significance, and that history is not something that painful history is not something that needs to be consistently in childrens faces . And then, just, you know, violence in general. My kids cannot believe that that kind of violent imagery is on their ways. They keep asking me i think if i put a dead indian mural, you know, on my shirt, as a kid, theyd tell me to leave and take it off, so i dont understand why its allowed on a mural. So i guess my question is i mean, were not supposed to have disruptive environments. Our kids cant come to school with gun earrings, we cant have pot paraphernalia. I just want to know, who are our handbook rule what are our handbook rules on even in a classroom, what can we put up on the walls and what kind of imagery is considered acceptable . Well i think as many of the commissioners and many of the speakers have pointed out, for years, this has been pointed out as historical significance and not violence, so normally, we would not have teachers depicting violence scenes on the walls. So i guess i just want to point out that people keep saying that its art, and it can be art, but it can also be racist. It can be both. And i want us to hold it, and i want to know that people who created the art may not have intended it to be harmful, but that doesnt mean that it isnt harmful, right . [applause] and so any way, i just i want to ensure that people dont have to view this this harmful imagery, and i want to make sure that we do it in a way that is healing and supportive of the communities that have most been harmed. So i will be voting to cover them up as soon as possible, and i dont want children to ever have to see these things. I think the other thing is people are saying that this is a learning tool . Part of the recommendation was to take photographs of the murals. And theres no reasons why kitkids cant continue to have these conversations with photographs and not be forced to view them without context because without context, these types of art become dangerous and they become harmful. Just like mamie dolls or mamie salt shakers are in museums, or birth of a nation is widely considered a classic, but it is also widely considered harmful and racist. So that is where we have to put this mural, and also we have to recognize that it is harmful to a school. So i will be voting to remove the mural from public view and also remove it permanently. Thank you. [applause] president cook right. So i do want to briefly acknowledge supervisor matt haney and supervisor shaman walton, board alumni. So we have a oh, commissioner lopez. So ive been listening to the arguments for months, like i mentioned before, and in the article that are sharing the narrative of what weve been talking about for years now, every single one puts trau traumatizes in quotes. The people that keep pushing to keep them up in no way can call out the trauma that other people are facing. [applause] and we keep using art and history as this argument, but its only when its convenient. Wheres the fight for the murals in the mission when theyre being threatened to takedown, and that also threatens a history of a people we need to be seeing more of. Its only when its an attack on White Supremacy values. So i will be voting to take it down, and i appreciate commissioner sanchez fearlessness to bring this to the board. We would still have slavery, and women who still not have the right to vote if we went with the majority. [applause] president cook miss houck, can you speak to what the implications would be for painting over the mural . So as usual, im going to avoid giving you legal advice in open session, but i do want to emphasize for the board the primary component that i think weighed into our analysis and why we came out with recommending panels, and i think the subject might want to weighin on this, as well, is that the option of painting over the mural will necessarily take much longer than the other options. And we understood part of the direction from the board and the superintendent was to look for a more expeditious resolution so our children were not continuing to walk past these murals and viewing them every day. So we can certainly undertake the effort to do more analysis around painting the mural, but it will take longer. And as you heard the chief just tell you, it will likely take a year or more. President cook so youre saying, we can vote on the recommendation now, and it will cover it up sooner, or we can do an analysis to paint it over, and that analysis will take a year . Thats exactly right. What were saying is if you accept staffs recommendation tonight, we can fully implement that recommendation much sooner and within the year if you v. E if you vote to do more analysis and a fullblown e. I. R. , in all candor, it will take more than a year. So we followed your advice to us which was to find a more expeditious resolution. President cook okay. Can we also speak to what the cost implications would be to painting over the mural. Because i think the first was 845,000, and the second was 600,000. So if i could, what would be the cost to paint over the mural . Its a good question. The painting cost that i presented in the slide was 600,000 plus. Because as commissioner collins pointed out, most of the cost is not associated with the painting per se but with the Environmental Review report, which is actually both its production, the analysis is costly and time intensive. Id have to look at my notes to break out the two different costs, but in my experiences, ive had a number of e. I. R. S that came in at 500,000 and more to prepare and move through the process. For the solid panels options, theres actually a range of 645,000 to 825,000, and that range is there to reflect the wide variety of materials that we could pursue for the panels, right . So theres a lot of different types of materials and approaches to using and installing those panels, so we wanted to reflect that range. And included in that cost is also an estimate for completing a mitigated negative declaration, which is a different type of environmental analysis that takes much less time than an e. I. R. In general, and i think would be sufficient based on my preliminary review and appropriate kind of environmental analysis for this level of intervention. President cook okay. And what and where where does the money come from . Commissioner, that is an excellent second question. The Funding Source is not we you know, our Funding Sources are pretty constant, right, in terms of how facilities work is funded in the district. That decision does not need to be made tonight, but the choices are pretty standard. Again, you have our deferred maintenance program, right, so the same Funding Sources that fund our facilities design and construction work, the same shop that was going to do the starking, paving, their Funding Sources. Theres also the general Obligation Bond program, and then, lastly, a general fund. And so we those are kind of our three biggest more stable Funding Sources that would be available for this kind of work, but how we would reallocate those funds, and in what combination has not been determined at this time. President cook okay. So if we were to move forward, paint it over, it would take longer, it would cost more, and theres not an identified source to cover something thats already going to be incredibly expensive i mean, thats a leading question. Thats a good summary of our analysis. Yeah, and i think its a push, and a justified push to permanently cover the murals is understandable. What i think about my role as a public official and trying to do whats right and manage the public dollars effectively and do what we know, what i believe is going to work best for our young people, thats thats whats sort of pulling me in this other direction of not trying to do something thats going to produce an unnecessary price tag when the objective of covering the mural will be accomplished with the recommendation that we have in front of staff. So thats thats so thats where im at right now. Commissioner collins, and then, commissioner sanchez. Okay. Do we have options of exploring both of these at the same time . Because my choice is children dont have to view it sooner rather than later, but im wondering what would be the what would would we be able to do an analysis of both . [please stand by] i am hearing there is a community feel, a need to write that wrong and also, in terms of White Supremacy culture, which i didnt call anybody anything, i am naming a dynamic that we are kind of experiencing right now which is that when black and brown folks assert themselves and say what they want or what they need, that they are, if it conflicts with the dominant culture, which is White Supremacy culture, that they are basically just denied or overlooked, and so if we want to show how we are living our values, what we need to do is listen to people that have been harmed, and so for black families that say, i want black history celebrated in my school, then that is what we need to do. For native americans, i want to say to the media, you know, when you use the word activist to describe parents that are here, you are participating as well in marginalizing their voices, and there are parents that are members of the native american pact that for years have been talking about this, the leaders, they have had meetings, this is not just some random decision to start a ruckus or something, and so because of that, i think if we want to live our values, we should listen to folks when they say what they need. [applause] can you give us the cost range of the panelling over and painting over of the mural. The solid panels had a range of 645,000, so it had an endpoint on at where as for the Environmental Impact report and the painting, there was an entry price threshold of 600,000, but also that it could be far in excess of that. So that is what we are dealing with. Essentially, the face value right now is not the same. We know any order could entail further costs. They are both expensive. We have been hearing that it is not an undue term to use right now, that this is reparations. Basically, if we can do our small part after ascending these cultures with the set of murals, it is about time that we stood up and paid for it. This is one way we can do it. The cost factor, to me, although it is always an issue, is not insurmountable, and we should do it because it is the right thing to do. [applause] dr. Matthews . I just want to make sure im clear, because of your last comment. The amendment actually says that it looks at not just the cost, but if it is a time element, and i want to say, as many of you know, i was a student here, and we actually came down and we played washington again, and then we would have back up after we won. [laughter] that is not accurate. Washington always killed it. I did have the opportunity to go into the hallways at washington until earlier in the school year , and i had the opportunity to see the murals and Oprah Winfrey describes racism as the everyday wearing down of the soul. When i walked in and saw those murals, it wasnt even the wearing down, it was like a chunk of my soul was pulled out, but i will say, my First Response was to paint them over, as many people in this group have said, that was my First Response. As you just heard from our chief facilities officer, what i thought about when i stood there and when i looked up is what was happening to me, but i also thought about the tens of thousands of students who walk by those murals every day over and over and over again and for me, what is critically important is removing them from site. I understand that there are different viewpoints here, but i dont want another student who doesnt have to see those murals to have to see them. So the recommendation that came to you was a much more around removing them as quickly as possible, and it is much more around time as your amendment talks about the and unduly amount of time, then moved to the first one and and the second piece that you said actually talked about money, so i wanted to be clear that if the amendment is about and unduly amount of time and we are going to if that is what passes and we look at that, i will say that that will most likely come back a lot sooner. I just wanted to make that clear after rereading the amendment , it does allow for both options. Lets see. Painting over the mural, or an adjustment to staff, painting over the mural would result in undue delay. Staff to develop a project that removes the mural from public view using solid panels or equivalent material. I cant support that. Any other comments or questions . I have a question. So the amendment that is standing now is one related to time and panels first and then if or painting first, and unless it takes undue amount of time. I guess, i want to know what you consider undue amount of time. I think painting it over will take three years, then that is what staff analysis will be, then i dont know where it will go. I just want to you i dont want young people having to face and see those murals. I saw them in person and similar reactions as my colleagues. I also have a daughter in high school. She practices out at wash regularly there, and i just do not want those murals visible to our students in the broader school community. I will just say, before we call a vote, thats similar to last week, i appreciated all the comments and the passion around this issue and, you know, when i was coming up to San Francisco, i lived in public housing. A group on food stamps, i went to schools in the city where we had educators that told me about a future that was possible, and the schools that these teachers house are more transforming lives and what we see happening over and over again is the outcomes of our district along racial lines that arent changing. I ran for school board for school board to change that. And all the media attention, all the public outcry over this particular matter, you know, this is democracy, we are free to say whatever we want, but i am happy to be voting on this tonight so we can get back to the business of transforming lives the way that i was when i was coming up in the city. After we heard this issue, you know, everybody left, and people had to go. I understand. But we heard our support of the School Resolution update which was super which was supported by supervisor haney which showed continued growth and chronic absenteeism, which we want to see minimized