Transcript

0:00:00Luker >> here. >> Chavez >> here. >> Medler >> here. >> Quinn Linua >> here. >> Raj Paul >> here. Tamuading >> here. Anger >> here. >> Thank you. >> Like everyone to turn their attention to the screens for our land acknowledgement this evening. The Boulder Valley School District resides and operates on land that is the ancestral homeland and unjustly and illegally taken territory of the Ude, Pueblin, Arapjo, Cheyenne, Apache, Navajo, and 48 other tribal nations historically tied to this land who have called this land home since time and memorial. >> We acknowledge the atrocities committed here, including the painful history of genocide, forced assimilation, and efforts to alienate the indigenous inhabitants from their homeland supported by the policies of the United States government. >> BBSD is aware of the many indigenous peoples, past and present, and their dignified nations and cultures, who care for this land with strength and resilience.

0:01:28BBSD recognizes the histories of the land in Colorado and the survival of many nations that carried their oral traditions into the present. >> >> It is BBSD's responsibility to educate ourselves, our community, and our students so that we can embrace the wisdom and knowledge of indigenous peoples and actively stand together to address injustices. In offering this land acknowledgement, we affirm and honor the history, wisdom, oral traditions, and resilience of indigenous people, and recognize the responsibility to care for and appreciate this land together. I'd like to remind everybody that the mission of the Boulder Valley School District is to create challenging, meaningful, and engaging learning opportunities so that all children thrive and are prepared for successful, civically engaged lives. Good evening everyone. So glad to have you join us in person and remotely this evening. Um at this time, is there a motion to approve tonight's agenda?

0:02:37>> Moved by Jason, seconded by Jorge. Laura, can you please call the vote on the motion? >> Booker, >> yes. >> Chavez, >> yes. >> Medler, >> yes. >> Quinn Aea, >> yes. >> Raj Paul, >> yes. >> Tamuading, >> yes. Anger. >> Yes. >> Motion passes. >> The next item on today's agenda is a superintendence report. Dr. Anderson, good evening. >> Good evening. Board President Raj Paul, board members. Thanks everyone for joining us this evening. Uh so big news last week. Uh we were so happy to welcome back all 27,000 Boulder Valley students uh to our school district. Our la our first day was last Wednesday. It was a ton of fun uh being out in schools welcoming them back. I had the opportunity to be several schools uh and uh started the day at Emerald Elementary and Anna was dropping her dropping David off which was wonderful. So I believe we have a video to highlight the first day.

0:03:37Randy, why don't you go ahead and and roll the clip. First day of school. >> Woo! First day of school. >> First day of school. >> Yay. What are you guys excited about? >> Uh, just hanging out with my friends, PE, music, art, just everything really. >> Recess today and playing with my friends. >> I'm just excited to meet new friends. Just have fun. Just have a good year. I'm excited to make friends. >> Wait, the whole school hearing this? >> Seeing my friends. Yeah. Uh, learning, I guess. >> Um, just like seeing people like all my friends that I didn't see over the summer. >> Yeah. Being able to get my classes started. >> This is my senior year. I'm honestly just excited kind of to get the year over with, but mostly just to kind of experience the last bit of high school.

0:05:14>> I'm most excited about just seeing my teachers for the last time, you know, >> back to school. >> Truly a celebration. And you've got to love the honesty uh that our kids share uh with us as we go and ask them questions. And so thanks to everybody who participated in that video, thanks to our comm's team for putting that together. Uh and my last announcement this evening, board members, next week, as you know, we'll be meeting at a different time. Work session will begin at 3 p.m. and our team will be presenting the resilient schools proposal. As you know, aligning with the trend for school district across the nation, BBSD has been experiencing declining enrollment since at least 2018. And over the next 5 years, we project having 1,700 fewer students than we have today for a total decline of over 5,000 students since 2017. And we know we need to take action. And next week, we'll bring you that plan.

0:06:12Everyone's welcome to come to the meeting here at the Ed Center or watch from home. It'll be broadcast on BV22 on Comcast22, our live stream at BV22.cablecast.tv or on our YouTube channel, youtube.comboulder valley school district. And so we look forward to being able to present that to you all next week. And that is all I have for my remarks this evening. Board members, happy to answer any questions. >> Thank you for that update, Dr. Anderson. Board members, any questions. Seeing as there are none, we'll now move on to our next agenda item for this evening, which is public participation. The board respects the rights of the public to speak on matters concerning the operation of the schools. The board does not endorse the comments of individual participants and remind all those who speak that you are responsible for ensuring your remarks are suitable for an audience of kindergarten through 12th graders. Furthermore, this is an opportunity for the board to hear from our constituents. It's not a time for the board to engage with or react to speaker remarks. Speakers will each have two minutes to speak. You will see a yellow card when you have 30 seconds remaining and an orange card when you have 10 seconds remaining. If you run out of time or would like to share additional thoughts,

0:07:16you may always email the board. We do read all of our emails. board members. Um, just so you are aware as you're following along in our participation list this morning, we had a student who showed up this evening who is not on the speaker list. I did permit them to be added. So, there will be one minor deviation, but otherwise we will proceed through our speakers in our usual fashion. The first speaker of which is Clive Bernol. test. Um, I'd like to talk about the anti-semitic bullying that was brought up a lot last week from a student's point of view and especially what one of the big things that went wrong in our school. I have been a student at Southern Hills as long as Miss Murphy, Melinda Murphy, has been the um principal of our school and I have seen her mishandle a lot of situations of harassment, bullying, things like anti-semitism over and over. And I have seen like uh Mr. Jakamo is our vice principal and maybe on a smaller scale, but I have seen her also like handle situations a lot better, faster, and more equally I'd say. Um, Miss Murphy has just overall done a lot of things that I think have overall negatively impacted the school.

0:08:48Like for instance, the one that was brought up a lot, denying hallway monitors something that should be in place, even if bullying is not going on, just to make sure it's a safe precaution. Um, I just remember one of the first things that clued me on to this was in sixth grade there was a little fight when we were playing Forest Square and she grabbed the ball from a kid and said, "Go make friends." which may not seem like the biggest deal, but when you're fresh to the school and you're getting first impressions, it's a little bit scary to have the principal do something like that, as you know. Um, I'd also like to bring up something that was addressed a lot in the last board meeting, which is the ADL, of course. Um, but no matter how you feel about them, one important thing is that the ADL is not really, you know, partnering with the district. They're pressing charges against them and they filed a complaint to the US government. So, unfortunately, they can't really do anything about that because they're pressing charges. Um, thank you.

0:09:45>> Thank you. Our next speaker this evening is Nome Blau. Hi, I hope you remember from remember me from last week, but if you don't, my name is Nam Glow and I'm in seventh grade at Manhattan. I also hope you remember what I said from last week. I'm here for the same exact reason today. I recently learned that our school is taking a pause on No Place for Hate. I'm here to ask you to get it back to us as soon as possible. Last year, that pro program meant so much to me and many others at our school. We were able to create a much better school environment through No Place for Hate. I want you to forget about Israel and Israeli politics. The ADL may do many things politically that you disagree with, but this program is separate, unrelated to the political side of the ADL. This isn't a question of whether you agree or disagree with Israel. This is a question of making our school a better place. And as the board of our school district, on behalf of all of us students, you need to make our schools a better place. Thank you.

0:10:50>> Thank you. Hi, my name is Claire Seagull and I'm in seventh grade at Southern Hills Middle School. I want to begin by thanking you for taking anti-semitism seriously as it should be in BBSD. You all seem very dedicated about taking action and that means a lot to me as a Jewish student. Walking into Southern Hills Middle School last week for my first few days of school honestly felt weird because I knew so much about the anti-semitism was unresolved. But I felt hopeful because I knew you were working with the ADL on this project. At the board meeting last week, I noticed how many adults were arguing about politics and about what's happening in the Middle East. Whereas student speakers spoke about making the school better. Since school is about student education, you should continue to listen to students about how schools should be safe for everyone. Politics shouldn't be a part of keeping schools safe. I'm a student leader at my school. I have a leadership role on student council and I love making positive changes to my school. Last year, I tried to bring the ADL's No Place for Hate program to to Southern Hills. I brought in a Holocaust survivor to speak as part of it. I'm very passionate about stopping anti-semitism and I want to continue to

0:12:13work on this with you. This is why I'm back a second time to speak. I'm passionate and devoted and I know you are too. Please keep prioritizing action and promoting change. Thank you. >> Thank you. Our next speaker is Tanner Mayor. My name is Nate Meyer and I'm currently in high school. I went to Southern Hills Middle School about four years back. And during my time at Southern Hills, I broke my left ankle during the winter. During lunch one day, I was standing outside with friends when a large group of kids swarmed around me. My crutches were taken from me and I was pushed around and told to convert to Christianity. There was a person there was a teacher standing there who watched the entire thing and did not end up doing anything. I didn't I was too scared to speak to the administration or anyone else about it afterwards because of the complete incompetence of the principal and the rest of the school staff that was demonstrated with handling my brother and all of the problems that have happened that happened with him. My brother, who attended the school at the same time as me, was horribly bullied for being gay. He filed multiple complaints against the to the school and spoke to the principal on multiple accounts and nothing was ever done.

0:13:35Not only was there anti-semitism and homophobia present in the school, but the bathrooms had graffiti, including the n-word and swatas on the walls. Through my time there, nothing was ever fixed. After my experience at Southern Hills, I'm ashamed of Boulder Valley School District because no one should have to stand up here and say that nothing is hap no one should have to stand up here and say that there are still things happening after the years that have gone by that you could have fixed something. >> Thank you. >> Thanks so much and uh thanks to the student speakers as well. Um my name is Lisa Kungl. I'm the parent of two BBSD students and remain concerned about both the process and the content of the district's response to anti-semitism. You heard from multiple parents who do not want BBSD to partner with the ADL and disagree with their preferred definition of anti-semitism, which they spent millions of dollars lobbying to impose on public institutions. I appreciated the board's discussion of proposed policy changes, especially the need to get definitions right and to balance specific attention to anti-semitism with discrimination faced by multiple protected groups. However, to date, there's been no transparency about who the superintendent chose to consult with to formulate the policy.

0:15:10Several of us who reached out to be included in the process never received a response. Our twominute comments could not change decisions the superintendent had already decided to publish that day. Questions remain that can be addressed transparently and democratically. We want to know who's conducting the training referenced by the plan and what curriculum they are using. We would recommend the curriculum on anti-semitism from a framework of collective liberation by paro. We want to know how the title six advisory panel will be formed. We recommended include at least one Jewish parent who opposes the ADL and IRA in order to represent the diversity within the Jewish community. We also recommend it include parents who belong to other protected groups so that the district can advance intersectional frameworks for justice. It will take courage to stand up for solutions that are independent of the interest of the organization demanding a settlement, the ADL in this case. We ask that you be cautious about their political motivations and the consequences of acquiescing to their demands. We hope you will listen to the multiple voices that belong in addressing these issues.

0:16:25Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Our next speaker this evening is Tracy Burgerer. Hi, and thank you again for the opportunity to speak tonight. My name is Tracy Berger. I'm a tra I'm a Lewisville resident and a Jewish parent of two Cole Creek Elementary students. I am here to ask that any BBSD Title 6 advisory body that comes into existence to review anti-semitism complaints include people with different reasonable understandings of anti-semitism. There is clearly real anti-semitism and I'm horrified to hear homophobia and other time kinds of prejudice in our community and specifically among our youth. I'm upset about that and I want to make sure my children don't experience it as they go through our public schools. But I will stand by anyone's right, including my kids and all their classmates rights to wear a kafia or to say that Israel is a set settler colonial state or however else they may choose to express their burgeoning understanding of the world.

0:17:32Even if statements critical of Israel make you uncomfortable, and they would have made me very uncomfortable 20 years ago, they are free speech and not bullying or discrimination or harassment. Last week, a community member mentioned wearing a kafia as itself being an act of anti-semitism. It is not. Instances like this is are why I'm here to ask that multiple viewpoints and understandings of anti-semitism be represented on any title six advisory board or other body being established to review cases of anti-semitism in BBSD schools. The advisory council should include BBSD parents with nuanced understandings of anti-semitism and real awareness of the harm it can cause to young people in our communities. I am worried that the school board will outsource decision-making to the ADL. The ADL will, as they have at other institutions, both school districts and colleges, handpick or insist on the approval of members of advis advisory board.

0:18:32Please understand that I am not trying to make anyone's pain political. I am trying to protect our children's free speech rights while also condemning, addressing, and preventing real in incidents of anti-semitism happening in our schools. I hope we can all work together to make our kids safer, happier, and a deeper community with one another. >> Thank you. Our next speaker this evening is Gi Bay. Hi, I'm Gi Bay, a BBSD parent. My youngest son will go to Southern Hills next year. Last week, the open common period devolved from being about anti-semitism at Southern Hills to a trial on the IHR definition of anti-semitism. And this must be responded to. IH stands for International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. Pronouncing it IRA erases the word Holocaust. The definition is quote, anti-semitism is a certain perception of Jews which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Example, quote, manifestations might include the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity.

0:19:40However, criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as anti-semitic. What crosses the line? Quote, applying double standards by requiring of Israel a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation. That is what happened here in this room last week. Have we heard the free Palestine crowd speak about the Weaggguers, Kurds, Rohingya, Yazidis, Tibetans, or the many other people seeking self-determination. When the focus is only on Palestinian statehood, while the world's only Jewish state is uniquely singled out as illegitimate, that double standard crosses into anti-semitism. Have we heard the anti-Israel crowd speak about Turkeykey's occupation of northern Cyprus, Morocco's occupation of Western Sahara, or Russia's occupation of Ukrainian territory? Again, singling out only Israel's territorial disputes is a double standard that crosses into anti-semitism. If we can't define anti-semitism or spot it in action at a schoolboard meeting, how are we going to protect our children from it at school? Thank you.

0:21:00>> Thank you. Our next speaker is Rafe First. >> Hi, I'm speaking again about anti-semitism. Um, last Tuesday's board meeting left me conflicted. I felt on the one hand that uh you each have immense care for our children and I heard your specific commitments and thoughts about how to move forward. My concern is given the procedural pace of BBSD and also the politicization that is happening here. I'm worried that we won't end up with the right effective actions and the timeliness required to actually protect our our Jewish students in BBSD beginning now. So, as I uh wrote to you in my email in Sunday, the most important and urgent matter is to agree on the definition of anti-semitism and agree on one that explicitly calls out hate and violence against Jews as Jews. Okay? So, I'm requesting that you publicly commit to a date certain for when the definition will be finalized.

0:22:18Similarly, I'm requesting a timeline for the updates to the disciplinary matrix. And there's two further requests. The first one is to create a real-time public incident tracking system uh for the BBS for the BBSD website. This should be straightforward to accomplish since you already collect the data on your website for your annual report to the Colorado Department of Education. I'm just requesting that this be made public and it be made real time reporting. Uh the second one is to create a formal Jewish parents advisory committee. This should also be straightforward since BVSD already has one such formal advisory committee for Latino parents which meets once a month and is listed on the BVSD website. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Our next speaker is David Ray. >> Oh, >> can you push the little button? Make sure the green light turns on.

0:23:28>> Oh, thank you. >> David Ray. I'm a father of a middle schooler and an elementary age child in Boulder Valley School District. I'm new to the district. I've also worked as an educator for more than 20 years, working with kindergarteners to seniors in high school. If it was just a few students and they'd been properly disciplined, the harassment, and the adults in the community wholeheartedly condemn the harassment, I would be less sad and angry. But much more concerning, more disturbing to me as I arrive here at Boulder Valley School District is that some adults in this community who are very vocal online and have apparently even come to these board meetings seem to be presenting the message that Jewish children in Boulder should be held responsible for the action of a government 7,000 m away. I'm disgusted by Russia's war on Ukraine. And as a morally conscious adult, I would only treat Russian students with the same care and dignity of any other student.

0:24:19I'm concerned with the Iranian government's recent murder of at least 40,000 protesters this last year. And of course, I would only treat Iranian students with equal respect as any other student. It would be obviously sick if I held a Chinese student responsible for the actions of the Chinese government. But with Jewish or Israeli students, some adults have convinced themselves that they are fair targets of anger about a complicated conflict on the other side of the world. And that's appalling. It is not inherently anti-semitic to criticize the Israeli government, but denigrating Jewish or Israeli students because of that government is anti-Semitic. Again, as a longtime educator, I would never dream of treating a Palestinian or Muslim student with anything less than the highest dignity, compassion, protection, and care. The same moral standard should extend to Jewish and Israeli children.

0:25:09Children are not governments, and collective blame should have no place in our schools. I participated in an organization that gets Muslims and Jews to learn about each other's traditions and do service projects such as feeding the homeless together. It was wonderful. If you have hatred in your heart, reach across the aisle and collaborate for peace instead of contributing to the problem by fermenting with your ideas about the other. Your world might emerge bigger. Anyway, if our commitment to inclusion disappears when students are Jewish or Israeli, then our comm commitment to is a fraudulent sham. >> Thank you. Our next speak our next speaker is Scott Morlando. All right. Good evening. Uh my name is Scott. Uh I've lived in Boulder for 16 years. I have two students in elementary school. Um I sent some of these comments over to the uh to the board last week, but wanted to follow up here. Um, so trying to be a little more concrete on some of what we've heard. First, I think the actions to address anti-semitism that Superintendent Anderson sent out last week were encouraging and show progress. But we really need to do is have a plan to come back to the community with concrete timelines for implementation metrics that are tracking and reporting cadence to BBSD families.

0:26:32This must happen quickly. It can't take all year. And the and honestly, it's like an illness that gets worse before it gets better. We'll know if you're serious about tracking this problem because we'll probably see things get worse before they get better because we'll have real data of what's actually happening. Students will feel comfortable reporting incidents and believe actions will be taken to help them. There's nothing more demoralizing than thinking the adults in the room will do nothing. Second, uh this came up already too with the discipline matrix. I was looking at closely and I saw that the behaviors listed that address bullying and harassment uh in rows 18 through 22b all have all levels of discipline potentially applicable. So anything ranging from changing student seats to referral for expulsion. I think you heard some of the students reference that here where there was bullying happening a teacher stepped in very minor correction when uh perhaps it was a more serious incident. So I think that's something that needs to be carefully looked at. And I think also, as you've heard again today, uh, last week and again today, several voices came in here looking to center their political beliefs on the Middle East over our children's well-being. This loud minority complained about the ADL, ignoring the fact that we wouldn't even

0:27:42know about the grave violent assault in our school without the ADL filing a civil rights complaint. This minority has offered little to no alternative organization or programming and doesn't acknowledge that the ADL has been working on ending hate for all people since 1910, almost 120 years. We need to make sure we continue to work with them. Thank you. >> Thank you. Our next speaker is Marcia Seagal. >> Hi, my name is Marcia Seagull. I'm a mom to two BBSD students. Dr. Anderson, I want to publicly thank you for the plan you outlined. Um, and also the follow-up communication that you sent after the meeting. Um, I really appreciate it. A lot of this Jewish community really appreciates it. I know how much time and energy and heart you are putting into getting this right and it shows. Um, schoolboard members, I appreciate that you are committed to action as well as mediation continues. And I suggest two items to really formalize your actions.

0:28:43first make implementation of Dr. Anderson's plan, a formal part of his annual review. And then second, um last week we spoke about policies um to specifically address anti-semitism, amend and adopt those policies, and within that include the IH definition of anti-semitism. I encourage you all to continue to act quickly and as others have said, outline a timeline for your actions. And I want to conclude by saying what I witnessed at the board meeting last week was actually a general misunderstanding and a lack of knowledge of what the word Jewish means. Jewish is not just a religion. Jewish is a religion, an ethnicity, a peoplehood, a nation, a way of life. I think it is really important for you to know that Jews do not fit in one box and that's why this is so complicated.

0:29:46Let's not forget that a BBSD student endured nearly 2 years of physical assault, emotional assault with little to nothing being done. This hate would have never been addressed if the ADL did not file a complaint. I will not sit here and stand by idally while the mere legitimacy of the ADL's existence is put on trial at a public school board meeting. I invite the board members to increase your knowledge of what it means to be Jewish and to thank you. Our next speaker is Dina Rosenberg. Hi, my name is Dina Rosenberg and I am the parent of two Jewish BABSD elementary school students. And yes, I am back. And yes, we are talking about anti-semitism in our schools again, still continually. Thank you for acknowledging the harm that has occurred in our classrooms and our schools and for accepting responsibility for past mistakes during last week's meeting. As a Jewish parent, I appreciated hearing about the accountability going forward, but I was remained struck by the fact that the district's response after last week's meeting and at last week's meeting remained focused on what happens after a student is harmed rather than focusing on what we will do to prevent that harm from happening in the first place. No parent should wonder whether their child will be targeted at school

0:31:18because of who they are or what they believe. No student should have to be harmed before a school district decides it needs to act. BBSD must move from reacting to hate to preventing it actively. That means requiring evidence-based antibbias and anti-hate programming for students, faculty, and staff at every school in our district. Programs such as ADL's No Place for Hate or comparable classroom initiatives should be a permanent district-wide commitment, not an optional response to an incident that has come to light recently. This should be part of BBSD's anti-bullying, sorry, BBSD's bullying prevention curriculum that happens in all schools. A proactive approach would help foster respect, inclusion, and accountability before hate is able to take root while giving students and staff the tools to recognize bias and ch and to challenge it. The goal should not simply be responding more effectively when anti-semitism occurs. The goal should be to prevent it. Period.

0:32:17Since Horizon's K8 is on the docket tonight, I would like to thank them for their commitment to teacher education through the Western Education Equity Assistance Center and encourage them to expand that work to include classroombased antibbias and anti-hate programming as well. Thank you, Horizons. BBSD has an opportunity here to rebuild trust that has become torn in our community as evidenced by all of us being here again and to be thank you for your time. Thank you. Our next speaker this evening is Sunny Justice. I want to make a note in our speaker list. It looks like Josh Meyer had requested to provide two minutes to Sunny, but we don't um do that as a practice anymore. So, Sunny has two minutes. Yep. Great. Three and a half years ago, I stood before this board and told you that my oldest son had endured an entire year of bullying because he is gay. During that year, I communicated with Southern Hills more than 30 times asking for help.

0:33:21Before coming here, I met with administrators, counselors, and district leaders. I went back again and again begging for intervention, but nothing changed. The bullying became so severe that I had to remove both of my children from Southern Hills and enroll them elsewhere. At Manhattan Middle School, our experience was dramatically different. That showed me something important. Bullying is not inevitable. Schools can create cultures where students are safe. Southern Hills does not. This was never just about my child. This is about a school culture where students who are marginalized are not protected. In my experience, the district's response felt focused on protecting the district from accountability rather than solving problems. It wasn't until BBSD was sued that anyone is paying attention. The Boulder Valley uh police department said I should have reached out sooner. Anti-semitism is one form of hate. The larger issue is a culture of othering where students are targeted because they are Jewish or queer.

0:34:26Hispanic, black, Muslim, disabled, or simply different. Safety, belonging, and dignity should be available to all students in BBSD, regardless of where they attend school. In every school, students should be protected. Staff should be empowered to address bullying. And the district should stand up and hold students and parents accountable for hateful behavior. My son deserved that four years ago. All students deserve it today. And I will end where I began three and a half years ago. I came to this board asking for help. Not a single board member reached out afterwards. When I had welcomed you to talk to me about what happened to my family and what our experience was or what needed to change, I invite you to reach out to me. Be the change. Thank you. Uh, my name is Elias Lingren and I'm here to say that as BBSD considers how to address anti-semitic bullying in our schools, it would be a mistake to partner with the ADL in any capacity. In particular, I'd like to speak about a prominent incident in which the ADL utterly failed to address anti-semitism.

0:35:49At a rally last year celebrating Donald Trump's inauguration, the world's richest man, Elon Musk, performed a Nazi salute twice. This is somebody who was an open white supremacist, has accused Jewish communities of stoking hatred against whites, and has campaigned for the extreme far-right German political party alternative for Deutseland, whose leaders have used Nazi slogans in their speeches. So, here's what the ADL had to say about Musk's salute. This is a delicate moment. It's a new day and yet so many are on edge. Our politics are inflamed and social media only adds to the anxiety. It seems that Elon Musk made an awkward gesture in a moment of enthusiasm, not a Nazi salute. But again, we appreciate that people are on edge. In this moment, all sides should give one another a bit of grace, perhaps even the benefit of the doubt, and take a breath. This is a new beginning. Let's hope for healing and work toward unity in the months and years ahead.

0:36:46Is this an organization that we want teaching our kids what anti-semitism is and is not if they cannot identify it in a case like this? Use of ADL education materials cannot be separated from the ADL's political agenda when the ADL's commitment to fighting anti-semitism stops exactly where it becomes politically inconvenient to them. And so I urge the district to seek out alternative partners that are consistent and principled in their commitment to fighting anti-semitism. Thank you. >> Thank you. Our next speaker is Jason Blau. >> Thank you. I'm Jason. I'm the parent of two uh Jewish students in BBSD. Um I do truly appreciate uh everything you all do for our kids and taking this seriously. It means a lot. As far as I can tell, the timeline is this. First, No Plate for Hate has been working in BBSD for years, supporting a safe environment for all students. It is an evidenceback back program that the students who have stood before you today have said they like. Then, due to political debates about Israel, a movement grows to push No Place for Hate out of schools because it comes from the ADL. Then, horrendous acts of anti-semitism grow in Boulder, including murder, which the district is silent on for months. Then horrendous acts of anti-semitism grow in BVSD, which the

0:38:12district is again silent on for years. The message is clear. There is in fact a place for hate so long as it's directed at Jews. Now, for the first time, BBSD is considering recognizing that Jewish kids deserve protection, same as any other group. Good. But the district pauses and considers removing an effective program that supports all kids, even though I've yet to hear an argument that there is anything wrong with the program itself in BVSD. So, at the time when we should be building on top of No Place for Hate to be sensitive to the threats uniquely facing Jewish students, we are in fact removing a broad-based program led by a Jewish organization. I think most BBSD students would see the tension here. Removing No Place for Hate both reduces safety for all students and empowers hate and bullying directed towards Jewish students specifically. BBSD is sending the message that hate is fine so long as one can claim it's at least partially about Israel or Gaza, just as BBSD did in June 2025 when it was silent about hate crimes in our community.

0:39:16As a BBSD parent, my first responsibility is to my kids and others in BBSD. I care a heck of a lot more about my kids' experience at Manhattan and Pioneer than I do about US foreign policy or my views on the ADL. And I'd ask that you not guess what my views on the ADL are. I hope the board sees its primary responsibility as the same and supports our kids here in Boulder. >> Thank you. Our next speaker is Lauren Lambert Feldman. Uh, my name is Lauren Lambert Feldman and while I was not born Jewish, I am raising two Jewish children who may be entering BBSD kindergarten next year, depending on how you handle this situation. BVSD is facing a severe safety and civil rights crisis. Two months ago, the Anti-Defamation League filed a federal complaint detailing nearly two years of relentless anti-semitic harassment against a middle school student at Southern Hills. The ADL picked you out as one of the worst six districts for Jewish students out of 13,000 districts across the country. Does that break your heart? Cuz it should.

0:40:33For two years, the student and their family begged for help. They copied Superintendent Anderson on emails after police involved assaults and received no response. They asked for line-of- sight hallway supervision and were denied. Instead of holding the perpetrators accountable, the district forced the victim to bear the burden, having to hide in the principal's office, miss field trips, and ultimately leave the district altogether. Last week, the superintendent offered an apology and proposed policy updates. An apology is a start, but these are just words on paper. We need enforcable accountability now. Please implement policies that remove repeat bullies from schools rather than punishing and isolating victims. Enforce mandatory training on anti-semitism and anti-b bias for all staff and students. and establish independent oversight for district bullying investigations so families never have to rely on federal complaints just to be heard.

0:41:39Jewish children deserve to walk into school without hiding their identity. To date, we are unaware of any disciplinary action that's been held against the teachers, the principal, or anyone in BBSD. No consequences whatsoever. Apologies are not safety. Please take action now. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Hello. Thank you. >> Is Josh here? >> Oh, sorry. Josh, did you want your two minutes? Okay. >> Sorry. >> Sorry about that. My son was the victim of severe prolonged bullying at Southern Hills. The failure of BBSD administrators to address that bullying caused him unnecessary harm and trauma that he will carry for the rest of his life. Principal John White and counselor Chris Kjido had opportunities to protect my son. Instead, their actions made the situation worse. They lacked the courage to hold the bullies accountable. They chose to protect the privileged while allowing one of their most vulnerable students to suffer. And my son is not alone. Unfortunately, the culture of bullying marginalized students continues at BBSD today. So, I challenge each of you to reflect on why you are sitting in those seats and what you want your legacy to be.

0:43:09How many times can you look away and pretend this doesn't exist? How many vulnerable kids have to suffer while the system protects those it favors? Will your legacy be one of courage and integrity or one of apathy? I'm going to use the rest of my time to let you sit in silence and reflect on that choice. Hello. Oh, sorry. Hi. and thank you for the opportunity to speak here tonight. I would like to bring uh some of the Israeli voices because we're also part of this school and part of this community. I have a problem. One second. Can you hear me? >> We can hear you. >> Oh, okay. Sorry. I I think I have a problem. Can you hear me now? Yes, >> we can still hear you. >> Yeah. Okay. Already. Okay. Um, hate grows in the film.

0:45:22Anti-semitism, like any form of racism, grows when it ignored or left unspoken. I'm grateful that BBSD is taking step to bring it into the light. But this is not enough. After the last meeting, we let we left feeling terrified and shaken because our fear as Jewish and Israeli was not fully heard. Instead, the seriousness of what we are experiencing and the real danger we feel were deflected. And I don't underestimate any concern about the finish and the ADL, but this is not the main issue. The main issue is how our kids feel when they go to school and how we feel when we send them to school. And today, Jewish and Israeli families are telling their children to be careful about saying who they are. We send our kids to camps with armed security and police presence. events location are kept private.

0:46:35Families think twice about when and where their children should identify as Jewish or or Israeli. So I want you please to think about our experience and the fear and the shame we need to live for nothing. We just thank you. Our next speaker this evening is Vera Perez. Hi, can you hear me? >> Yes. >> Awesome. Hi, Ver Pres. I'm a BBSD mother of two. Thank you for putting forward a plan to address the relentless anti-semitism in our district. Hearing Dr. Anderson speak last week gave me a cautious glimmer of hope, a hope I deeply want to maintain as this plans into actions. While BBSD cannot single-handedly solve societal bias, the district's zero tolerance policy must explicitly protect Jewish students. Discrimination based on religion, ethnicity, or national origin cannot be tolerated or excused under the guise of political discourse and selective activism. The horrific incidents shared last week were blame anti-semitism, completely unrelated to Israel and its government. Yet the public session was repeatedly derailed by people stripping Zionism, a fundamental piece of Jewish identity, of its meaning and turning it into something evil to justify their personal bias. I urge you to let the voices of the brave parents and the students who share their profound pain remain the loudest echo in your minds and in your hearts. Moving forward, I

0:48:08ask the BBSD leadership to commit to three concrete actions. One, enforce real accountability. apply swift, consistent consequences, including removal and expulsion for repeat harassment rather than short suspensions that fail to protect targeted students. Secondly, build structured inclusion. Partner directly with Jewish parents in a dedicated safe setting to shape policy and safety protocols together. And lastly, adopt a adopt sorry, a clear baseline, resist political distractions, and officially utilize the IH definition of anti-semitism to guide training, reporting, and enforcement. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. Our next speaker this evening is Hillary Callisman. >> Hello. Can you hear me? >> Yes. >> Um, my name is Hillary Callisman. I have three children. and my two older children are in the BBSD system. Our youngest we hope will enter BBSD in another few years. My children have had an overwhelmingly positive experience as Jewish students in BBSD. My daughter probably wears her McIndevid to school and has never experienced any bias because of it. I am concerned that this situation is going to change for the worse, both due to the anti-semitism described in the Title 6 complaint and the consequences of the ADL's involvement. The school board and administration absolutely must address systematic anti-semitism in BBSD. No child should experience what the student in Southern Hills will experience. Um,

0:49:45sorry, that is my child who is two years too young for BBSD. Um, I have researched all of the programs suggested by the different constituencies, both those against the ADL and those for it. The No Place for Hate program in itself is an extremely strong program. It focuses on issues that students bring up, which helps keep it focused on the biases that the students in the schools are experiences. That said, research has shown that imposed antibbias training, particularly in the workplace, tends to increase bias. Moreover, ADL, as we have seen, is a controversial organization, whether people would like it to be or not. Because of the ADL's involvement, our school system has been a target of news organizations. >> Yeah. And hungry to like hundred three-year-olds. Um, to conclude, BBSD has a responsibility to keep all of its students safe.

0:50:49>> This is more important than appeasing outside interest groups. I urge you to listen to the voices of parents across the spectrum who care about their students. Thank you. >> Thank you. Our final speaker this evening is Jed Brown. Hi, I'm Jed Brown, a secular Jewish parent of two elementary students in BBSD. Last week, I mentioned ProPublic is reporting that the Department of Education has ceased investigating racial harassment cases. A whistleblower statement by DOJ civil rights attorneys was revealed today. It details the Trump administration's malfeasants in handling title six cases with quidd proquo false statements and a systematic strategy of targeting Middle East studies and Muslim faculty due to their identities and subject of scholarship despite no relation to the administration to the uh allegations purportedly being investigated. Staff were instructed to quote, "Invert the standard sequence of investigation, compliance review, and legal analysis, and instead work backwards from desired settlement terms, including provisions not directly tied to substantiated Title 6 anti-harassment or anti-semitism violations, to generate proposed findings that would support those terms." End quote. Documented statements from senior officials depict the investigation being quote for the purpose of harassing and intimidating institutions, not for the purpose of legitimately responding to Title 6 violations end quote. Closer to home, the Department of Education has appropriated Title 9 in a transphobic

0:52:16crusade against Jeffco schools based on outright false evidence that does not even involve trans kids. It is against this backdrop of illegitimacy that ADL has inserted itself seeking a settlement granting them curricular influence. the same organization that cheered Elon Musk's declaration of censorship of the word decolonization on the same day that Musk was boosting great replacement theory uh conspiracies gi uh given the ADL and IH definition unique curricular privilege is not the basis for a broad coalition on intersectional justice the no place or hate curriculum focuses on individual bias deflecting from systems of oppression and deliberately removes content on other forms of discrimination in defining anti-semitism we should embrace the jus Jerusalem declaration or nexus document both which were crafted by a coalition of human rights organizations and hundreds of scholars of anti-semitism studies resources such as the curriculum on anti-semitism from the framework of collective liberation as a component of a broadbased curriculum on intersectional justice. Thanks.

0:53:25>> Thank you. That concludes today's public comment. Are we able to take that down? That concludes today's public participation. On behalf of the board, I'd like to thank everyone who took the time to share their thoughts and experiences with us this evening. With that, we will now move on to our board communication agenda item. Board members, would anybody like to begin? I'll just say I had the opportunity to go to Boulder High, Fairview High, and Southern Hills on the first day of school, and it is always so outstanding to see our rising secondary students and all of the feelings that they display. um excitement, nervousness, not showing how to show up as a as the younger ones in a high school or in a middle school. So, that was really great. And thanks to the schools for letting me u be a part of those festivities, seeing as there are no Oh, they're just delayed hands today.

0:54:49uh Deian and then Alex. I went first last time. I thought I should let someone else go first. Um I've spent my week actually investigating different curricula because at one point in this district I was u uh part of the equity team and I worked for diversity. And I'm sorry the Meyers left here because I'd like to say to them that's why I'm in this seat. That's why I ran for this election is to make sure that the processes and attitudes that we were able to create at Monarch High School, one little piece of this district could spread. And that's why I'm here. Uh it's very important to me. I sleepless sleepless nights trying to figure out what the best solution is and I really appreciated all the continued conversation. It's very awkward for me to uh have these one-way diet tribes. I really want to sit down and and talk to people about what's going on.

0:56:01Um I um I have researched and taken a look at a lot of the things that were suggested that were clearly taken out of books and pasted in and there they aren't really curricula that are fit for us to get deliver to K through2 students. So I just want to tell you that I've really dug deeply. Um, one of the references is to the Zen Project, which is one of my favorite curriculum resources still. Um, but it it's not exactly an antibbias curriculum. It's really more a social justice curriculum aimed at um, high school and above kind of students. So, I just want to say that I want to be really thoughtful about this um juxiposition of the ADL as both the good and the bad. And I'm working very hard to reconcile those ideas as we move forward into changing our uh board policy and making sure that it works.

0:57:09And what happened here in the last couple of years did not work. and we have work to do to make sure that that doesn't happen to another child ever. >> Alex, >> thank you. Uh I also want to thank everybody for testifying and speaking with us and telling us their stories in particular always to the students uh who are so articulate and courageous in sharing and also so insightful. Um, I want to speak to a uh I look I am looking forward to the implementation of the commitments that we've made and I'm excited about making progress on these really important issues. Um, addressing bullying and the sense of othering in the district is one of the main reasons I ran uh for the seat and um I've always known we have work to do and look forward to us making more progress on this work. Um, I I do want to point out that progress is possible and that we have, you know, made benefit on some things. I I came in and when I got here, the website made it kind of hard to find where you would even make a title six complaint. And, uh, after talking with the communications team, they quickly put a button on the top of the first page that says, uh, make a complaint and

0:58:24another button for safety where right away, one click away, you can find, uh, those buttons. I myself made an OCR complaint on behalf of my uh LGBTQ uh student with a 504 plan who uh was being treated inappropriately uh by Fairview. Um so I understand both uh the things that some of the things that can go wrong and also the feeling that happens when you're trying to address something that's going wrong for your student or students like your student. I mean, and I think it's sad when I talk to LGBTQ parents about their understandings of which schools are good and which schools are not good. So, you know, Manhattan, I'm pretty sure, deserves its reputation and everybody else needs to know that they're not doing as well at that as Manhattan. So, like that's a real thing and school culture matters a lot. I also want to while while giving us some kudos for credit made on things like the website or on the strong commitments that are here, I just want to also uh explain some of the things to the public about how uh public education complicates some of this stuff. I myself am currently advocating that we develop fairly sophisticated tracking of uh measures of students sense of inclusion, well-being, um and sense of safety in our schools.

0:59:45Like we currently have two measures in our strategic plan that I believe aren't really telling us much. They're really important measures, but they I don't I'm not sure what they mean. Um and one is uh the disperate impact of on um out of school suspension or exclusionary discipline and the disparities between our white and Hispanic students. Another one is the percent of our students involved in disciplinary procedures that participate in restorative justice processes. Uh five years ago, those were really important measures. We we've made progress on reducing exclusionary discipline disparities. They're still there, so there's still work to be done. and uh we have a higher proportion of students involved in restorative justice, but that doesn't tell us very much about what's going on that led to the suspension. Uh is is there some kid who's perpetrated an act of hate or violence that might should have been suspended? And as a principal afraid to do that because they'd contribute to a disparity or just have the numbers go up. Um we likewise uh don't know how well our restorative justice practices are working. When I came in, uh, I asked that we study all our mental health programs to, see how they're doing. And our partnership in order to better understand the efficacy of our mental health programs has been, uh, to put it,

1:00:59uh, lightly like not as productive as I would have hoped. Um, so I think, uh, I also know from, uh, talking to parents of including of Jewish kids who've been the victims of bullying, LGBTQ, you name it. Lots of kids with different experienced othering. When you don't get this right, students don't report it. So, one of the most important things that um No Place for Hate does is developmentally appropriately talk to elementary kids about if you see bullying, tell an adult. Like, that's what we're trying to get to. Uh we're trying to get to six-year-olds telling a teacher that they saw somebody bullying someone else. Um and so we have the basic work to do uh with our kids and with our schools and we need to create the bandwidth and the ability of the teachers and the administrators and the paras and the subs to know what to do and to be able to act and to feel like it's good to act uh even if it might add to a number that doesn't look good. So, I'm really committed to us figuring out how to measure that because not because I think that that's a nerdy way to slow things down, but because I think it's a way to sustain effort to make it better.

1:02:06And um I'm going to keep pushing for that and I'm eager to partner with people on those things. Um, and I just know that uh we we will act on policy. Uh, and always it takes a long time for policy to impact the culture in schools. And there's a lot of steps along the way. And I look forward to the district's ongoing partnership with everybody that can get us closer to a point where kids aren't bullied. When kids are bullied, somebody tells an adult, some adult does something, and there are consequences that lead to less bullying that lead to an environment in which less bullying happens in the first place. So, I know that's uh there's this isn't a simple thing to fix easily. People have been working on parts of it for a long time. And there's lots of challenges with things like what we measure, what we prioritize, school culture, changing the way adults behave, dealing with the things in our communities that make things uh bubble up and become more severe. So, I just I share the commitment of everyone on this board to making our all our kids feel valued and included. And I recognize that uh we have great people on our staff who've working with us to solve those things. and we have people in the

1:03:12community that need us to do more and want to know more. Um, but some of the things people want for transparency are just like I've said this before, the we are constrained by the protections we have for student privacy and for human relations, HR, law and practice that we can't talk about everything. And so I beg your um talk with us about the issues, work with us on the solutions, know that people in authority in uh running big systems can't share everything and shouldn't share everything. Um so full transparency is not really the path that we're going to get to, but shared commitment to work together in the long run is. And I look forward to us acting quickly and slowly both at the same time to make long-term progress. >> Jason Um, I'm sorry I have to follow Alex, but I appreciate I really appreciate my colleagues. Uh, just, you know, great to hear everyone's commitment to getting this right, kind of doing the long-term and short-term work that, uh, we're, you know, we're committed to to making sure we address this issue and other things, a number of things Alex mentioned. Um, and I also just want to add my thanks to uh, the many folks who came to speak tonight, particularly as students. Um I think you know there's clearly a

1:04:28frustration in um timing and feeling like there's urgency and so I just wanted to emphasize the fact that you know there were a number of things Dr. Anderson announced last week which were you I can speak um I'm very appreciative of that don't require board action that are immediate responses to some of the things that happened um some of the things that were reported um and so just to be clear those things are in place or and I I'd love to get more about that um and make sure that our public understands what has changed since then and then there's a second track of things we talked about last week that will take a little bit more time I don't think much more time but I think the term Deian used was making sure we're thoughtfully getting this right in terms of our policies so we can so we can sincerely address this issue and have the policies in place so we don't um so we can work to to avoid hopefully these things in the future. But I just want to make sure folks understand the kind of two-track process here, the things that were done immediately that don't require deliberation and action by the board and then the few things the changes to our policies including adopting an

1:05:33appropriate definition for anti-semitism that do require a little bit more time. Uh but as I've said, I don't I don't think much more time um to be able to get these things right. So just wanted to emphasize those points. Again, thanks to everyone who came out. Um it is uh really hard to hear some of the stories um last week and again this week. Uh so thank you for sharing those with us and with the public. Um and thank you to the many uh to for holding our feet to the fire to make sure this gets done. Um really appreciate that. So thanks. We'll now move on to action items. Consent grouping. 6.1 Personnel item 6.2 approval of minutes August 11th, 2026. 6.3 renewal of Horizon's charter contract. Are there any items board members would like to pull from consent grouping?

1:06:29>> If I have a question about Horizon, I don't have to pull it right once the nomination happens. Second. Seeing as there are none, we need a motion to approve the items on consent moved by Alex, seconded by Lenia. Board members in discussion on the items. Alex. >> Uh Dr. Anderson, I I have a question about the Horizon charter contract. Um uh it's very nerdy in the weeds, but on the um on the waiver plans and the replacement plans, I guess, uh when I look at the waiver for the rules that handle our district and school accountability committees, um I was kind of disappointed in the lack of specificity in the replacement plan because it doesn't really speak at all to the things that go on in a sack or a DAC. And we really look forward to having our charter schools participate in the DACK as well. And that I I think of the SAC as one of the better tools for family parental and teacher engagement in talking about how the school is doing. And I know that Horizon as a teacherdriven school has a lot of opportunities for teacher input, but I'd want to make sure that if we have a structure that encourages parental input that they have something to replace it if they're going to wave it. And I don't

1:07:45really see a great replacement of the parental part of that school improvement discussion or that transparent accountability and I want to make sure that Horizon's voice is heard at our DAC. Um can you speak to that? And then and you know there's many things that don't go into the contract that then go into our relationship with the school and how we work with them. But I would like to encourage Horizon to participate in our district accountability process. And I'd love to see if they don't have it now, the development of a practical plan for the equivalency of a of a sack. Any thoughts on that, Dr. Anderson? >> Um, thank you, uh, board member Medler for for sharing that concern. I'm I'm looking to to What specific language are you speaking to? I have the item pulled up. Is it exhibit H, state statutory rate waiverss?

1:08:37>> It's in the district policy waiverss. Is that exhibit F? >> I think so. >> Okay. >> Trying to remember. >> Um I just want to review this quickly. >> It is exhibit F. >> Um it is the discussion of uh waiver AE and AE-R. And in both cases, I there's a link to some of their application answers, but they don't really address anything that a sack would do in the answers. And I'm not opposed to waving our policies like that. It's the quality of the replacement plan on something like that that I'm most interested in. I do think as a followup to to your concerns um that we can follow up with with Horizon's K8 share those concerns. Um I believe that they've been participating in district accountability committee. I have not heard that that is not what they intend to to do. Um so I'm not um I'd have to do a little more digging in terms of of the intent on this waiver. board members. As you'll know, these negotiations have been ongoing with uh with um our former legal cal council and um I will make sure that we follow up with her and follow up with the school to to share the the board's sentiment, board member Medler's sentiment in terms of the value of

1:10:01participating on district accountability committee for a school, especially a school like Horizon's K8, which may be disconnected from some district practices. I think that there's tons of value for that and and happy to follow up with them on that >> and and I'll just say that there is language about the accountability committees in the contract that is posted as well. So there is some language saying that it should be consistent with board policy and state law as far as membership and operations. So the contract says they need to have one even if the policy language might look a little bit different. One more issue. Um uh the other issue I have is more broadly um uh just in the timing. Um I would like us very much to be finalizing and improving contracts prior to their expiration and to not have schools operating with expired contracts where there hasn't been board action and school action. I think we're heavily exposed if something goes sideways or wrong. I think the school is exposed and it's generally not acceptable to have uh a break between you know operating contracts and I just want to make sure that we are creating our authorizing system in a way that that that we're you know backwards engineering enough um and what and I know that like contract negotiation is

1:11:26hard and it takes two to tango but we need to know that getting to this time of the year without a contracts really is a big deal uh to in terms of a failure of the process. >> I have one comment for anybody from Horizons that's watching, not a big deal, but in exhibit C, their bylaws, they use different dates for 2014 and 2019 for when the their bylaws were amended. And so some consistency there so we know what you're talking about would be great. Um, but not a dealbreaker. Just wanted to elevate that small little detail. Board members, any other comments or questions, concerns on items in consent grouping? Hearing none, Laura, can you please call the vote on consent items? >> Booker, >> yes. >> Chavez, >> yes. >> Medler, >> yes. >> Quinn Linua, >> yes.

1:12:22>> Rajpaul, >> yes. >> Tamuading, >> yes. >> Anger, >> yes. >> Motion passes. >> Next agenda item this evening is future agenda item requests. Board members, now is the time to bring up any items you'd like to pose for consideration during our board prioritization. I have one minor request. Well, we can I don't know if it's prioritization or not. So, but it's seemed like the right time to talk about it. We get a lot of core requests for student transcripts and if there is a way to have a button on the BBSD web page or something for students to access their transcripts that don't require an open records request on high schools or on the district website or all those places. I think that would be exceedingly helpful. Um this time year we just see a lot of that folks not knowing how to access their transcripts once they're no longer in the BVSSD system. it kind of disappears and I think it'd be a big help if we can find a way to make that visible.

1:13:30Seeing as there are no additional requests, we will now move on to executive session. As indicated on tonight's agenda, we have business to discuss in executive session. Do I have a motion? Jorge? >> Thank you. I, Jorge Chavez, make a motion pursuant to CRS 24-6-424F to convene into executive session to discuss personnel matters regarding the superintendent evaluation process, specifically establishing goals for the 2026 2027 school year pursuant to CRS 24-6-424B for a conference with an attorney for the purposes of receiving legal advice on charter school contract negotiations and pursuant to CRS 24-6-424B for a conference with an attorney for the purposes of receiving legal advice on current mediation efforts with the ADL and on board policies AC and JDHB. >> Do I have a second? >> Seconded by Lenia. >> Laura, can you please call the role?

1:14:34>> Booker, >> yes. >> Chavez, >> yes. >> Medler, >> yes. >> Quinn Linua, >> yes. Raj Paul, >> yes. >> Tuading, >> yes. >> Anger, >> yes. >> Motion passes. >> Board members, we will convene in the glacier room for the executive session. To the public, that concludes tonight's regular business public portion of tonight's business meeting.