People give up their power is by thinking they dont have any. Section a. , General Information number 1. Accessibility information for the public, section two, teleconference information. There is none tonight. Section b. , opening items. As a heads up, i am moving up section h. Which is the discussion about the mural. I will give another notice at that time, but section h. Is being moved up. Lets see. Section b. , opening items, approval of board minutes, there is none tonight. Speaker cards for the regular agenda and for closed session are necessary if you wish to address the board of education. Members of the public are reminded that an individual can complete a speaker card prior to the item being called and presented present it to our executive assistant. Members of the public will have two minutes to address the board and or the time as set by the president , importantly, according to board rules and procedures, speaker cards will not be accepted for any item already before the board. Number 2, superintendents report. Dr. Matthews . Thank you. Good evening, everyone. I am pleased to announce that the acute e. E. A. Innovation award cohort of schools for the 2019, 2020 school year has been approved by the Innovation Award review committee. Ten out of 18 schools were awarded the opportunity to solve foreign equity challenge to ensure that each and every one of the students realizes the San Francisco unified School Districts graduate profile. They will participate in any facilitated process to design, pitch, and implement solutions funded by the act over the course of the coming year. The awarded schools are, thurgood marshall, john mclaren early ed, galileo high school, el dorado elementary school, Tenderloin Community school, balboa high school, John Oconnell high school, cesar chavez elementary school, star King Elementary Elementary School and jose ortega. Congratulations to all of these schools. [applause] for almost 30 years, our district and our district program, the lgbtq support services have committed to transforming schools into cultures of affirmation and inclusion for our lgbtq students and families. Tonight, i want to acknowledge that the San FranciscoUnified School District, with 250 members of our district community, will march in the lgbtq pride parade this weekend to demonstrate our solidarity and commemorate the 50th anniversary of the stonewall riots. We believe that harvey milk once said, all young people, regardless of Sexual Orientation or identity deserve a safe and supportive environment in which to achieve their full potential. Our participation in pride shows our ongoing commitment to create a society that acknowledges and celebrates lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender . Or and nonbinary people. All San Francisco unified schools will be closed on july 4 th. Have a great summer vacation, we will see you back for school on monday, august 19th, at the next board of education meeting will be august 13th. Have a great summer vacation. Thank you, dr. Matthews. Number 3, student delegate report, there is none tonight. Number 4, recognitions and resolutions accommodations, there is none tonight. Number 5, recognizing all valuable employees. Dr. Matthews . This evening we have one brave award special award winner this award goes to adriana vargas, she is a parent and Community Coordinator at the Education Placement centre and this will be presented by rosina tong who is the executive director. Good evening, superintendent matthews, commissioners, colleagues and friends. And executive director at the e. P. C. I am elated to present this award to adriana vargas. For the past six years, she has worked in the Early Education department and the Educational Placement Center serving each and every family with kindness, understanding, and care. Adriana warmly provides guidance and counciling to families around the Student Assignment process and school options. As the Community Member who nominated her stated, she has made a positive impact on people s lives. She understands how important childrens education is. She did everything for us to give the right information about the schooling, and the next steps that we should follow. Our district is fortunate to have an outstanding employee in adriana who communicates positivity and is professional in each and every way. In addition to supporting families well, adriana is also a helpful colleague. She steps into support her fellow team members when needed and is generous with her time and effort. Adriana, im so grateful to have you on our team. Congratulations on this very welldeserved award. [cheers and applause] [applause] thank you. Thank you. As i mentioned, we will be moving up section h. Mr. Steele informed me that the room is at capacity, so we have some people who are outside that signed up for Public Comment. So i will right a prepared statement before we get started and do we have. Section h. , special order of business. Number 1, Important Notice regarding Public Comment on item h. Two, recommendation to remove from public view the mural at George Washington high school. The board of education anticipates several speakers on this item in an effort to accommodate as many speak several speakers on this item. And it anticipation to address several speakers and the board will allow for one hour of Public Comment regarding agenda item h. Two, recommendation to remove from public view the mural at George Washington high school. The board will allocate one hour is public a Public Comment as follows. Thirty minutes of speakers in favor of keeping the mural in view, and 30 minutes for speakers in favor of removing the mural from public view. The board strongly recommends trailing her just speakers to collaborate and coordinate their messages in order to make the most efficient use of time. In the event that speakers do not coordinate the message, the board will call speakers individually and allow one speaker for up to 30 minutes per position as set forth above. Individual speakers will be called in the order in which the speaker cards were submitted. The board of education will not accept speaker cards via telephone or email in advance of the meeting. Speaker cards on this item must be submitted in person. So we will be starting with names of folks in favor of not removing the mural. When you hear your name called, please make your way to the podium and you will have up to 30 minutes total and one minute per speaker. Lets see. [calling names] we will start there. If you heard your name called, please make your way to the podium. Be sure to hit the button when you start. This first letters from gordon knox, president from the San Francisco art institute. The stricken of art never advances dialogue and never should be risk misconstrued of revoking facts of human history. I hear the deep part of students and others faced with painful imagery. Artists can help us see our world in powerful and disturbing ways. The second letters from the California College of the arts. This is the president. The injustices the murals invoke are difficult to look at and discuss and reckon with. This is exactly where their greatest value lies within the context of a high school where students are learning to exercise the powers of critical assessment and discourse, a space that respects each student s history. To some it up, as the George Washington is a George Washington alumni board member, we know it is hard to look at, but we really believe in education and history, and that is why we would like to keep the murals up. Thank you. [applause] we just got news today that thomas campbell, director of the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco has written thus to us , while i respect the concerns of the protesters and understand the problematic issues, i do not believe that San Francisco will be well served by the destruction of the mural series. The piece was originally intended to promote the whole discussion around these exact issues. And while intent does not allay impact, it could have incredible value as a teaching tool for the generations. Please listen to this. I would be happy to volunteer our staff to assist in the next steps following tuesdays meeting. Last week, they presented a reasonable defence for George Washington high school. A motion one today. Im shocked that the board is considering squandering public funds to cover over the murals. And i would expect the exact same point of view as the critics. The mural im further shocked at the board appears to lack the courage to rise to the occasion. Indeed i wonder how many of you actually have seen the murals. Please consider the sheer cost of the proposed solution. Dollars that could be invested in tutoring. Thank you. Teacher salaries, or native american center. Thank you. My mission neighbours are out [indiscernible] your time is up. [applause] next speaker, please. Thank you for the time. Every country has skeletons in the closet. I come from a country just like the United States that has genocide in its past. I come from turkey where Armenian Genocide happened and millions and millions of people have been decimated, but in turkey today, you cannot even say the word genocide. It is band. Anything that has to do with the armenians is band. Their art is band, the culture is band, anything, even in the states here when i am saying the word genocide, if i was in turkey, i would get 20 years because im outside of the country, i will get 35 years of prison for saying this. This is where it goes once the genocidal people start answering the art that depicts this history, depicts the genocide, depicts the killing of the people, and it goes down from there. Nothing thank you. Your time is up. [applause] the murals represent social history. It provides they provide us they provide an inclusive and truthful story of American History. They should not be removed. Removing them represents censorship, as well as reactionary a reenact reactionary moment in time. What i do recommend is that the school board establishes some kind of multimedia display in the entrance of George Washington high school that indicates the complexity and contradictions of George Washington, the extraordinary history of it and as well as a discussion about the role of them in the 1930s to try and provide an accurate environment for people in this country. Thank you. [applause] before we get started, i will read the rest of the names i have here. Please state your name for the record so i managed cards that i have appear. The remaining names that i have here are. [calling names] continue. My name is ben. I would like to have ten seconds of silence to recognize what the silencing of this mural sounds like. Im a projection artist based in San Francisco. Im a proud immigrant, citizen, an advocate of endangered euros. Advocated for californias oldest mural painted by artist in 1791 and were concealed in 1796. This board has made a deliberate effort not to consider alternatives to censoring the mural. I see a opportunity to animate and give context to the mural and i propose a feasible dynamic and inexpensive solution, a projected video artwork permanently projected onto the mural itself that will bring diverse perspective to the mural without adversely affecting his historic fabric. Figures inserted to the mural have thank you. Next speaker, please. Thank you. Speaker, please the timer is continuing to go, if you continue to speak, youll be taking up from the people behind you. Thank you. Next speaker. My name is jack, i am a retired member of the longshore users. I want to address my remarks to the students because i want to use this as a teaching moment because apparently the school board hasnt done their job to teach the students what these murals are about. In 1934, there was a general strike in this town. I dont know if the students are aware of that, but what provoked the general strike was our union and siemens unions were striking to have a Union Hiring Hall for jobs, and the Police Killed two strikers. That provoked the general strike that lasted for three days and it changed the whole atmosphere in the city of San Francisco. It is what made San Francisco a uniontown. It was really a very violent clash because the police and the National Guard were called out. At the same time, in 1930 thank you. Next speaker, please. My name is michelle. I am scared. I have been an activist in the city and for people around the world my whole entire life. I am 66. It is a very complex issue. The issue of the mural, whether it stays or leaves and what the images mean because we are under attack by our president and by the climate in the world today. It is one which makes you question everything, so the tendency to revise what actually is his is right out there, and the sides that you get on are pretty clear, but i think its because of all that that its very complicated, and i feel like theres several measures that havent been exhausted to, like contextualizing the mural, which i think some people have attempted to describe today, when it was made, what its intent was, and how it exists today, actually countering a lot of the things that people are speaking up for now. Finally, i think that. Thank you. Well as a reminder, we have 30 minutes total allotted. Each speaker has one minute. Please state your name for the record. My name is robert. I want to remind you all that there are 13 separate murals. Your agenda item speaks of the mural. There are 13 separate murals that make up the life of washington. They are all historic resources. They all fall under ceqa. If you are going to make changes to any of them or all of them, by covering them with a solid panel, you will be removing them as historic resources. You need to file an Environmental Impact report if you are going to do this, and it should include a discussion of the alternatives that you have considered, and why you have rejected each of the alternatives. I have not seen anything to suggest that you have done any of that work, so i think it is premature to be voting on anything. [applause] my name is toby from the world socialist website. I strongly oppose any removal or painting over of the murals. It has nothing to do with social progress or writing past wrongs. The murals have important historic and current value. If people dont want to see unpleasant or potentially offensive images, they should just stop studying history altogether. Despite the justifications that have been presented, this is no better than book burning or other reactionary forms of repression and censorship. Ultimately, it is aimed at blocking the population from understanding american societys contradictory social Development Something which has been and continues to be nuanced and complex. The past must be studied and must be critically thought about , it must be understood in order to improve the present. Ignorance never helped anyone. We cant erase history and i encourage people who are interested in speaking to workers around the world and youth to contact me. Thank you. [applause]. [please stand by] there are other things that could be censored. You have more right to censor these murals. Now what the board has to do here is to stand with the majority and oppose the censorship of the murals, oppose the painting of thank you. [applause] next speaker, please. Please press the button. My name is dean. Im a father of two recent graduates of Washington High School, which is incidentally, the best school. Im speaking with regard to victor who is, of course, the painter of these murals. He was part of the communist party. They were all american champions of the black Liberation Movement they defended many individuals wrongly accused of capital crimes. He would have painted murals celebrating the lakers legacy of slavery and racial oppression he was a committed communist, and none of these are crimes against people of color. There is evidence of his commitment to antiracism. We got it. Thank you very much. [applause] excuse me, excuse me. My name is carol. I was an art teacher at Washington High School for many years. I always took my students to you to discuss the murals. So they could know about the wta many of you know about the wta, the depression, we talked about the depression, the contributions of artists who created these murals and the development of our young nation as well as the mistakes we made along the way. I have followup discussions that include the inhumanity of slavery and the cruel abuse of native americans. It is all in the murals. Our hollow points and our low points it would be unconscionable to destroy or cover up the washington murals for all the points i have stated above peak these valuable murals are companions of the murals in many other locations in San Francisco and the cities throughout our country. [applause] you turned your make off. Im james davis, i am no alumni of George Washington high school, a lifelong citizen of