|
WAKE UP SONOMA BOARD REPORTS ON MEETING WITH JASON SUTTER - OUR TAKEAWAY FROM THE MEETING
Wake UP Sonoma met with the new Superintendent Jason Sutter, regarding our list of issues and concerns. We felt very well received with no hint of defensiveness but rather an attitude of welcoming of our input and encouraging conversation. We stuck to the 5 talking points below: 1. Pride Flag issue - The Superintendent is very interested in hearing input from students, teachers and community members on how to get to a place where all community members feel heard. He hopes to find a balance and solution that speaks to the intentions of inclusivity and community wellness in the spirit of DEIA. He is paying attention to what the rest of the county is doing around this issue, citing a recent School Board decision in Petaluma where it was decided that the flag would fly year round in all schools when school is in session - unless the US flag is at half mass, and then no other flags will be raised. The Petaluma School Board will vote at future school board meetings to create a policy to consider other symbolic flags be raised such as for Juneteenth, with no more than 4 flags at once. We encouraged Superintendent Sutter to bring this to the SVSD School Board as an example of what another district is doing, and we are in full support of. 2. Bullying and harassment was noted by us to be on the rise, per our information from current SVHS GSA students. This was noted by the GSA as becoming worse since the incident with the taking down of the pride flag and LGBTQ students are now being increasingly targeted. The Superintendent said that he will be also looking into this through student and teacher interviews. We shared with him the training that was done previously as a result of efforts by Celeste Winders, Wake UP Sonoma and previous Superintendent Jeanette Chien to ensure anti bullying and anti harassment policies were being followed and to promote greater understanding and growth around these policies. We expressed a fear that the Board may be targeting this policy for rollback as is happening in other school districts around the nation now due to the MAGA agenda. The Superintendent will review this information we provided and once assessed he will decide what actions need to be taken/proposed. 3. We discussed the independent action taken by Trustee Bell in removing the flag, and he did acknowledge that it was not appropriate and was a violation of board governance policies - no single trustee is in the position to make a decision for the rest of the board that results in the kind of action he took. He mentioned that the rest of the board has not yet weighed in publicly on this action either, and the June board meeting will give them that opportunity. We shared our very strong concerns about Bell's ethical code, what appears to be a racist and homophobic set of values and how that does not align with the overall values of our community. He listened carefully, was not defensive, but we acknowledge he cannot say a lot about any one trustee or freely give us his thoughts at this time while the issue is still unresolved. 4. We expressed concern about the statement made by Trustee Lehman about literacy scores at El Verano school, which we feel was uninformed and insensitive. Superintendent Sutter seemed to have similar concerns about the board being up to date on understanding the cultural needs of our community, and he is also concerned that judgmental statements not be made about any one faction of the community. He assured us that Trustee Lehman was given feedback on this by the teachers at El Verano School. 5. We discussed the appropriateness of a Charter school being put into place at a time when enrollment is down, and schools are therefore closing and we are in a budget shortfall. The Superintendent was also surprised at the outcome of that vote. It is now a moot point, but he hopes to help steer the course of balanced enrollment and resources at that school and others in the upcoming months and years. Overall it felt like Superintendent Sutter has goals that are in alignment with the values and good of the community. We agreed to keep talking as he becomes more familiar with the issues and collaborate when the opportunity presents. We are grateful for the opportunity to talk with Superintendent Sutter and we look forward to a collaborative supportive relationship where problems can be openly discussed and mutually solved or addressed as we work towards building and strengthening community. By no means do we feel like all of the School Board problems are solved, but we come away from this meeting feeling like we can at least have open dialogue and have an avenue for input.
Wake UP Sonoma Board of Directors
|
