##VIDEO ID:U-_W2ewudsU## e e e e e e e e e we're going to begin good evening everybody fortunately we found out a few minutes ago that the speakers are not working tonight so we're going to just be projecting our voices I apologize for this out few moments ago um do you wanna I'm going to call this meeting to order my name is Craig suon welcome to Community Education Council uh District 2 going to ask in the absence of secretary vice president to order the roll call forth in December 204c healing Savage so being a is absent so on S oh MERS okay thank you so we do not have a forum and unfortunately we do not expect to have forum tonight out apologize we don't have a forum there's a limit to how much we do we cannot resolution tonight vot as such we will not be revie will not be hearing or voting on either resolution that was I apologize we will have uh one public a public session we will have the report of the president we will have the report of the community district superintendent but so many people absent the construction Authority will happen in J let me back up can you hear me in the back I need my okay is this better if I is this better okay keep me honest if you I start going down sleep last night just keep me honest if you if you don't hear me uh we do have microphones on the stage that is for the folks on the zoom uh tried to upgrade our technology a little bit so we're g to try this out and hopefully we can keep us okay so I'm going to start off this meeting I do each meeting by asking for civility for one one another and respect towards each other we all have a very diverse set of opinions and that's okay and the last meeting we again had an outburst of profanity and there were also unfortunate moments where folks got physical I would ask that we refrain from that not only is it beneath all of us and the example we want to set to our kids but it's also important to remember that we have students in this meeting and potentially students watching us last meeting several students came to speak about the shat resolution and other issues pertaining to their kids Unfortunately they felt physically unsafe to be in this space we can't have that nobody should feel physically unspace physically unsafe to be in this space you may not like what another person says but that we should at least have the respect enough to let them say this is a public meeting anyone can speak and as we know many many people have you don't have to agree or even listen to the other people but everyone does have a right to speak their mind on issues that are important to them I will also ask that comments in the chat be kept respectful as well over the last few meetings we've noticed some vicious back and forth and that shouldn't happen either if it continues we will reserve the right to shut off the chat function okay so we're going to I guess I'm gonna do the we start off with the president's report I'm going to keep it brief this evening I had the pleasure of attending this month's School Spotlight at 75 Mor our Middle School in the West Village I was joined by council member Bowen who was the CC 2 leaders onto the school the school has had its fair share of challenges over the past few years but it's clear that with the current new leadership the school is on the right track to success we had a wonderful presentation by the students about their peer counseling program thank you to Claudia rera wisdom fa and her team for being wonderful hosts and the principal V saying that she thinks she has the world record for the longest last so you know congratulations to her uh on Tuesday I also have the privilege of attending the first ever legislative breakfast at B Tech our District's fourth through 8th grade school at centers around dance I was joined by New York City council member Carina rera Ballet Tech is a small school but it's clear that it has a Vibrant Community and we're excited about his plans to essentially double in size over the next five years we retreated to a ballet for performance from the kids thank you to new principal Veronica York who I've known for something like 15 years and to their team for their Hospitality two weeks ago District Two leader I think it was made last sorry last week District Two leadership in conjunction with cdc2 of the Whitten wisdom family engagement session we have been hearing many concerns and early comments on Whitten wisdom for the families and we wanted to be able to communicate with families about how Whit wisdom works and how it's en rolled out super tenant wire a great minds develop the curriculum were clear and gave good overviews and details but I think what was most impactful for May were the various principles and teachers that gave real world examples of how the program works there's clearly more work to do as this is the first year of our District's full roll out but we'll get there there are two more sessions scheduled and the next one is Friday Fe January at 9:00 am these are on Zoom they're virtual but they are recorded uh we will get them we will get the one for the first last week up on the CDC websitea be on District to website as well I just have to get the URL superintendent tonight the panel for educational policy is voting on The shat contract that's a contract specialized high schools uh test for C BR science six other last month this this Council passed a resolution urging the pep to vote to approve the contract since then we've received a significant number of emails I think about 200 to the pep that cc2 was copied on urging the passing passage of this contract um meeting started 10 minutes ago I don't know you're hearing it so some dates that I wanted to bring up for everyone keep l Middle School application deadline is Friday December 20th that's Friday have kindergarten applications are now open and the deadline is January 24th this includes General kindergarten programs as well as kindergarten g&t programs workers are released on or about April 2nd 3K and 3K applications will open January 15 and close on February 28th offers released on or about May g&t applications grades one and four will open up in late April as we get closer we talk more about that the application will open January there will be emails sent out with further details New York public with that I'd like to wish everyone a happy and a safe holiday season um hello uh good evening everyone uh thank you for having me cc2 I appreciate it um happy holidays to everyone and uh my announcement tonight or my report tonight is going to mirror many of the same things that um our CC president uh slutskin just uh shared with us but I'll also be here and available for questions as well um I did want to start with just we had a fantastic Spotlight visit to Ms 297 uh 75 Morton Middle School uh in the past year and a half 75 Morton Middle School has dropped the number of suspensions and serious incidences at the school uh by over 50% um they have also turned in many many data that are related to student perspective of the school teacher perspective of the school family perspective of the school that are in a very POS positive place and increasingly moving in the right direction so thank you again to the staff and team over at 75 Martin Middle School they had two areas that they really wanted to focus on one was school culture uh and the other was how it is that the principal is developing grade teams uh to uh help to improve the school overall we have our next school Spotlight visit coming up in January and that will be held on January 16th at lab middle school I know that principal Adams and her team are busy preparing for that day and everybody's invited um I also want to congratulate the Clinton School that was accepted into the middle years program of the international baloran program uh I met today with principal John Levan uh an exciting thing about being accepted as a middle Year's program School uh is that there will be continuity from 6th through 12th grade uh there will be continuity around building language building culture uh appreciation for critical thinking uh and Innovation um the school is working to uh make sure that uh there is calibration amongst exams portfolios and projects across the school in grades six through 12 um so we're really excited about that as an a new uh offering here in District Two as president sukin uh mentioned we held our first New York City reads Whitten and wisdom parent workshop last Friday um we were joined by uh teachers principles from ps183 ps42 ps-130 uh and they just did a fantastic job of sharing their work with us uh in the school uh we're very thankful that they are able to provide this on the ground uh opportunity and we're looking forward to additional steps including uh many school-based offerings um our schools are looking to open up their buildings even more to allow fam's opportunity to see the work in action uh as uh President slin also mentioned um our second Workshop will be held on January 24th and our third on February 28 um we are going to make sure that we get that recording uh to um the CC so that they can put it up on their website we'll have it on our district 2 website as well so they can check out um what we offered last Friday I also want to report out a little bit on our second big initiatives here in the district which is our NYC solves initiative um this past month we did uh work directly with our new Visions Partners uh and our Middle School teachers and principles uh and we hosted a workshop for them on how it is that we can teach illustrative mathematics effectively or most effectively um in an integrated co- teing classroom as many folks know um integrated co- teing is one of the structures by which we serve uh general education students and students with disabilities and learning differences alongside each other in a grade level uh standards based program uh the workshop consisted of making sure that we are all on the same page with what the basics were around the six different C- teing models and then we zoomed in on three uh three different Cod teing models station teaching parallel teaching and alternative teaching in which we really want to make sure that we are uh making the most effective use of all of the resources we have uh in the classroom to meet the very uh many and diverse needs of our students we're also very happy and excited to announce that we're going to be opening three new prek classrooms um here in District 2 uh right after the the New Year actually a little bit later in January but uh in January 2025 uh those three new classrooms are going to be a part of the prek center um but that prek Center site is going to be at pexp so PEX the pexp school ps343 has their uh General Community School that serves students in grades prek through five uh and then there also is a portion of the school that is set aside that specifically uh as a part of the um prek Center um in that prek Center we're going to be serving students in three different classes um three different special classes so these are really for prek students with disabilities uh we're going to be hosting two new classes with eight students each and one new class with six students each uh in both of these classrooms there will be a teacher there will be two teaching assistants uh working alongside the students uh we're very excited to be able to expand our offerings to students with disabilities uh in our in our district uh and being able to make sure that we are uh fully meeting the needs of students that are are here in District 2 uh we anticipate serving primarily students that are in District 2 but if these seats are unfill we also will serve kids um from other parts of Manhattan primarily and then uh the city uh as a third option if we are unable to fill those seats but we anticipate being able to fill the seats um there is a lot of need in our district uh and in our city and so we're excited to be a part of uh offering more diverse options for students in um District Two so again that's going to be opening later in January uh and this is something that uh our Deputy superintendent Reggie Higgins has been working on uh with the team for several months and we're it's a a big kudos to him to get this um through the door and uh opened up just as a final note um tomorrow our Middle School applications are closing um our schools are off uh starting next week through January 1st kids are coming back on January 2nd um and schools are also closed in January for Martin Luther King Day on the 20th and for uh the Lunar New Year on January 29th and with that I will end my report thank you [Music] um Al so so my question is at the last meeting I had asked about the um about students with disabilities um who have busing mandated on their IEPs and because you had sorry can people in the back hear me okay okay all right so so last um month I had asked about um students with disabilities who have busing mandated on their IEPs and um we had heard that um District 2 has a 94% 94% I think compliance rate for providing IEP services but um that doesn't include um the the busting the mandated busting on IEPs um and and that's information that would come not not directly from from your office in the dist dist that would come from from the DU Central with the office of um I believe Emma Emma Vera this the deputy Chancellor whose office over CA so I wonder if we could maybe by by next month we could try again to get that information from um du Central so we could kind of take a look at that yes um we weren't able to get that information uh ahead of tonight's meeting um but we will work on it again ahead of uh the January meeting thank you I appreciate that I have on the prek centers there a f s how does that work in terms of priorities words and I apologize for CSUS at my school if you're in the dis you're in this Z how does that work it just whether you're Intown yeah so in general um prek seats uh District 2 prek seats and 3K seats um are the first priority is for um students who are in District 2 but people um from outside of District 2 can apply to those seats um the classes that are opening at PC slip um as a part of the pekk center are a little bit different um because they are specifically for students with disabilities um again there will be priority to make sure that we are um serving as many of our students as uh uh need that service um of a prek special class um but should there be additional seats that are opening up then those will open up to the broader Community both in Manhattan and across the city okay so it's not that folks who live TR are going just to them as opposed to F might need it on the side when parents yeah when parents complete uh an application for prek they get to list the schools that they would like to uh and my second question and I know this is not being handled super school do you have some sense how many of your many I know that not yeah um so it does close on Friday the application uh it is over half for sure um I would guess closer to 30 um of our schools that are applying for uh the funding to be able to come into compliance with the reduced class size bill yeah just as a note on that there is um the application requires schools to maintain the certain the number of students that they're currently serving they can't uh put forth a plan um that uh reduces the number of students that they are currently serving um in their building they are trying to repurpose space uh in order to continue to serve for next year the same number of students that they are currently serving yeah but I uh but I just want to make sure that people are aware that we're not sending kids to schools other than their Zone school or the schools that they're currently attending um for next middle scho teachers have their own dedicated classrooms class is uh no um in fact I would guess that there are fewer middle schools proportion of middle schools that are applying for um this funding um I would guess that it is more elementary schools and I think that part of the reason for that is that the enrollment um uh projection is a little more constant um because it uh relies on the Zone from which kids are in which kids are living rather than um a choice process um and so it's a little bit trickier in Middle School um but some of our middle schools are applying and we've had conversations with some of our schools um because we want to make sure that while they may be putting forth a strong application and that they are listening to and meeting the needs of their Community um that they are not um doing too much to create a real difference in the kind of programming that they're offering in the building requirement does class class is there a hard definition what that is or you for example have to cohort at a teacher and have that that be you know meeting a requirement because you know ratio have the same set of walls is there the possibility or the space for that um that is not the way we are working on this uh with this legislation in our in our schools or across the city um it is uh reducing the number of students that are in a classroom it's a little bit different from elementary school to middle school because middle schools can reduce sections of students um versus yeah yeah so a um you know a seventh grade teacher that might teach you know four sections of science um um if there was a way to reduce two of those suctions then a school could get credit and the city could get credit for reducing uh that class size um for those two sections versus an elementary school um they would need to reduce The Home Room class um as a part as a uh a requirement to get credit for a reduced class size it's not no we we we thought about that yeah yeah that's a great question um sure sure sure sure yeah yeah no no it's a good question um the question was uh is there um one thing I just want to note is that the three classes going in at pexp are um prek special education classes so all of the students are um students with disabilities there is a model by which we do something kind of similar to ICT where there's general education special education students in prek but these three classes are not um that um service um there is uh there is not sibling priority for this group but an interesting question that I don't know the answer to um I'll find out for you is uh if students um would there be sibling priority that would go along with students who are um the next year particip or this January participating in the pre- classes would their siblings who might be rising up have um priority for either those programs or for the community school um that I don't know um I know that if you live in the zone then you have that priority but uh this is something that would be might be helpful to people to find out especially if they're coming from outside of the district um and you know if you live in district one and you have a child who's in the pre-ap program and you want both of your kids in the same building that makes a whole lot of sense um so could you have your child who lives in district one who's not a part of these special programs join the kindergarten class in the pre in the P community school it's a it's a good question that I can find that on do you what the plans are for future or additional SE whether it's whether it's special education it's general education we have sense as how many more may be getting over school year 25 school year 26 what is the how how what is the gap between yeah I'm smiling at um our Deputy superintendent here um because this is a conversation we just had and we are always trying to get more 3K and prek seats in the district we don't know yet but um anything that would impact that is a concern how many seats do you think yeah I don't know if I don't know for sure I do know that the the additional seats helped a lot this fall of course um but I don't know if it met all the need questions Council there there are certain things I I have control over and certain things I unfortunately do not the air conditioning is not want um okay uh thank you uh we have the speaker sign up and's see how many people we have and actually we should have our both we're just gonna wait to see how many uh4 speakers so do one suc session and because we don't have any resolutions on the agenda we'll allow for a minute first person uh I'm going to ask vice president sorry Buy does do you want so the order of speakers tonight just so everyone gets ready so we can here is Antonio then Josie bar Maya Perez and August Enz first four speakers so e e so sorry about that uh so if I I if I can get my a little bit of time back thank you I rehears uh I hope that's a a value a shared goal um and I'm appealing to these shared values um I'm directing these comments at the ambivalent and undecided among you the folks who are wondering what's the harm of entertaining this conversation hearing both sides please let children play we are talking about elementary and middle school kids having unfettered access to the rights that were granted to them in 2017 after significant research Care Community input and that are grounded in best practices of every major child and family serving professional body in the US and I brought some resources and reading to share the call to investigate this doe policy raising the question of whether children in this District can have access to the same rights and opportunities as their peers is not a ual question by entertaining resolution 248 you are giving a platform to people claiming that advocating for Trans kids is grooming a form of abuse questioning the very existence of trans children this is exactly the kind of misleading disinformation and rhetoric that the American Psychological Association has stated causes stress confusion and poses significant harm to Youth and families please understand that there is no neutrality in the face of Oppression like this by allowing this are perpetuating and participating in harm of children to those of you abstaining whether it's because you don't fully understand maybe you're afraid to put your position down on the official record or maybe you just don't like us in the way that we're showing up I would just ask you to recognize that you are putting your own Comfort pride and reputation ahead of the well-being of the children you've been elected and appointed to serve I would ask you to reflect on how this reconciles with your values and your purpose for being a part of this committee it's never too late to learn it's never too late to change your mind or your vote it's never too late to put children first and affirm their rights and so when this does come up for vote I would ask you to vote Yes on 266 it should already be on yeah yeah hi I'm Josie and I'm calling for the council members to resend resolution 248 I've worked with youth as an Athletics coach and I myself I'm I'm a transwoman I can say working with kids has been one of the most enjoyable things I've ever done even when you're really really exhausted and the kids just want to keep playing and keep playing it's still such an and I feel so grateful just to be a part of their lives even in a really small way I would love to see you show at hands who else in the building has worked with use before yay so many people and then keep your hands up if you're trans yay so many and then last one put your hands up if you care about kids and their well-being and that they feel safe at school okay some hands not up but that's okay it's okay we're working on it we're working on it sometimes it can feel like we're up against a lot there is of course the rise of more and more anti-trans legislation and through concerted effort and a lot of funding anti-trans anti-er people have successfully pinpointed trans girls and women playing sports as the inroad for increased legislative attacks on trans people trans women and our allies are asked to concede just this one issue and pick a different battle I know I'm really not going to wait around for moms moms for Liberty to cook up something else that we have to defend against so the time to defend our rights is now and in reality our goals are very achievable despite the millions of dollars being funneled through moms for Liberty the voter turnouts are in the single digits it's very very low so if we could rally together this turnout is absolutely amazing find some great parents to replace the unfortunate board members we can really start to make some change thank [Music] you should that should hello council members I have a few things to say about resolution 266 it suggest resolution 266 that it's insulting the coaches to suggest that they wouldn't be able to maintain fairness in sports if trans identifying boys were allowed to play in girl sports that suggestion isn't in isn't an insult it's reality no matter the changes we make to policy or the intentions of these coaches to maintain fairness there are things that coaches cannot control like the advantages biological boys have over girls no matter the sterilizing hormones we give the pre-stent boys differences like bone density and muscle mass will always have a major impact on the single on on Sports the sing the right to Single Sex bases especially in sports is not optional it's necessary to preserve the safety and fairness of all students according to what the infamous AC law chaso said during a recent supreme court hearing a person who is trans can later identify with their biological sex if being trans is immutable then creating permanent policy to be inclusive to a temporary identity makes no sense Duram previous meeting a council member said something extremely troubling or someone who is supposed to be a leader that all opinions do not deserve respect what message is that sending to the girls of New York who do not want boys in their spaces in sports the message is to ignore your instincts create new boundaries and be silent if you disagree with their spaces and rights being trampled ironically this is a message from the same side that told everyone just a few years ago to believe and listen to all women I guess that rule doesn't apply to women's boundaries in the face of trans identifying men it's also extremely intellectually dishonor to claim that we've heard all voices as councilwoman M Mary mentioned in previous meetings people who want to attend and have have been detered from attending these meetings due to disrespectful theats occurring in these past meetings but I'm here to tell you it's a new day we will not be silenced into submission at the end of the day this reality drama has a little more than one month left till it comes to ATT with new with the new government coming into place it wouldn't matter what resolutions his council members attempt to push it will be a day of reckoning for those who consistently have supported the attack on girls Sports it's never to to do the right thing girl for the record I think that everyone in here matters as opposed to just people in certain rows so take about what you will I've got pizza we've got snacks if anyone wants them if anyone wants to have a conversation with us but I'm going use my time to say a poem a message for Trans kids there are many who come before you we are shining bright holding you in our warmth we are working to make the world a place where you can smile live and play and be celebrated until then tend the flame of who you are in your wild creative Hearts find us and those who will walk beside you together we will overcome the world needs your light do um I'm rice and I go to ston high school and I'm a sophomore and after being there for two years I've realized that everybody has an identity and we all have this specialized identity that is defined more than just their bodies and the culture that I hold may not be the same as yours or might be similar but there is no one who is genetically made to be the way that they are now for throughout our lives we are taught all different sorts of things and experience all different kinds of things that affect us and certain ways and even so it shouldn't be all that defines them there needs to come an understanding in which we learn to accept and acknowledge that we are all different to acknowledge that we are all different and to understand that everybody's wishes deserve to be heard including ours what is your excuse for denying rights that we have and deserve as a human right to be ourselves I screed it up yes hello my name is kianis I'm a junior at cyon High School here in District 2 and I'm a co-leader of the gender and sexuality Alliance there and really no different from any other psych I try to manage The Impossible Triad we off to deal with the Sleep grades in my social life life I spend my free time with my friends chatting and doing work in the hallway I'm in the choir we actually we just had our concert last Friday uh and in that class I have a wonderful open and accepting Community I take all the aps I can and I cry when I don't get an A+ I do well for a while I break down I get myself up again just like any of my classmates do my goals aren't any different from theirs and yes I am a proud trans woman that's an undeniable part of my identity but I'm not in high school so I can cheat at sports or creep on CIS people I'm here for the same reason as the other 3200 students I attend school alongside to learn and to thrive and it's only thanks to the do's gender inclusive policies that I have been able to do that it was nice to know that my basic rights were secure that's one of the things that made me comfortable enough to come out last year but resolution to fre has completely shattered that security I should be worrying about how well I'm going to do on my math test are not about whether I'll be able to get changed for gym I should be wondering about what colleges I want to apply to next year not about whether some out of touch politicians will decide I can't be bad at sports with other girls I should be stressing out at home because I still have to catch up on some missing environmental science homeor from last week I shouldn't be here where I have to plead for my right to use the bathroom but I am here and I will come back here for as many times as it takes and I am begging you with all of my heart to repeal resolution 248 let every student in this District Thrive thank you good evening more board members of District 2 I am y y it's a Hebrew name I know it's hard for you but I'm a Jew and we're GNA do this on the way we we Jew do we're gonna argue and we're gonna reason so that that's why I'm gonna start that being is said I'm a born New York a raised through all my life and I was I'm a child of first generation immigrants escaping the USSR I am also an Orthodox Jewish woman a trans woman I complex I contain multitudes and bar hasem I am proud to be so today I stand before you an early high school graduates a life long students of the Torah and someone who speaks five languages and that resolution 248 is toly anti-Semitic not just hands it is my first amendment to religious right as a Jewish woman to express my gender the Mish mentions six M platforms for genders that is something that you might struggle with being that many of you are not Jewish right and that you may have not known this that it is my right to be who I am the second thing is in the RAB discusses how in the past life a woman who was infertile had the soul of a man who was a proper scholar and reincarnated into her body yes Jews too believe in reincarnation we too believe that a soul can have more than one purpose this is the foundation of my argument although before you I religious I wasn't always I was raised secular attending Public School in southern Brooklyn an immigrant Community I was showing signs of Advance Le and in capacity in an early age but I was relentlessly bullied and blamed for this was despite the city's zero tolerance poliy at the age of 12 I came out over the years as my Consciousness developed so did I my identity I always knew I was a woman but the Educators in schools always told me I was ridiculous and they didn't know what I wanted or they wouldn't they couldn't respect me after asking for a separate bathroom my principal needed a letter from the ACLU to get F I graduated early to escape my princi who relentlessly bulled me for exposing her in my 11 years in public school education no we teacher groomed me but One S straight male had done so to a class night matter of fact it took that happened three times in five years this is to show you that you can deny us and opportunities and we will still Thrive like the PMS that tried to kill my ancestors we Jews will survive this and for the trans folks who spoke be those for neighood I bless you with the same blessing the rabbi gave but I will add to it may have bless you and keep you far far away from us trans people and if you don't get you and I ask for all the trans stand time is off thank you okay okay good evening my name is Jay and I'm the parent of two kiddos in the doe that are eager to join sports teams that are inclusive of all children I would like to ask as a New York City taxpayer protective of public school funding what funding out of the district 2 budget will be spent enforcing resolution 248 if it won't be rescinded I would like to ask the council to publicly outline please for its constituents how funds will be diverted to pay the Educators who will be tasked with investigating the gender and biological sex of students signing up for sports teams at schools as a p who has watched budget cuts and the extracurricular activities available at my child's school last year consider it an outrage that your district has passed a policy that would require it to spend taxpayer time investigating children's gender or biological sex when I try to understand the needy greeting of the enforcement of 248 it gets very creepy and disconcerting I expect my children's teachers to be paid to prepare lessons to support students academic and social emotional needs to expand their expertise in professional development alongside running clubs and sports who are you tasking to enforce resolution 248 have you accounted for the budgeting of their labor your council is now prepared to instruct the Educators in your District to spend time and money on this or will the resolution depend on accusations based on perceived gender identity have you enacted a resolution that relies on the volunteer service hours of bullies and who do you think those bullies will come for just the trans children I hope your board is more than a monthly megaphone for hateful ideologies because it seems you've decided to deduct time from educator duties to perform gender and biological sex investigations if that's not upsetting enough let's consider the incredible number of hours we witness Educators spend helping families submit emergency blue cards to the Middle School applications that are due this week it's immense are you ready for a public response to District to educator time being reallocated to gather documentation for the purpose of restricting some children from participation in public program coming at their own schools the enforcement of resolution 248 will require the policing of children's bodies all District Two children's bodies What If instead we were send 248 next month and spend that time and money on something else like education thank you hey Council happy holidays cist all I want to take a minute to talk about one of the political groups backing the original resolution 248 moms for Liberty described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-government extremist group that uses social media to Target teachers and school officials advocates for the Abol abolition of the Department of Education and advances a conspiracy agenda they have referred to the teachers union as a cartel and their members have openly spoken about quote gunning down a school librarian recently a tragedy occurred in Wisconsin the Monster Liberty Wisconsin chapter was rapid in their response now their response wasn't to offer Aid or condolences or help it was to make unsubstantiated claims that the one perpetrating the violence was transgender and there is no basis to this claim their agenda is clear here in this Council mom for Liberty moms for Liberty speaks of just asking questions and having a conversation my grandfather is nearly a hundred years old and as a child he would speak to me about his experiences as a child dealing with the quote Jewish question now I'm not saying that everybody in favor of 248 is that politically important I've had some lovely conversations with people who are in favor of 248 what I am saying is that this innocuous Banner of just asking questions has been used to cause terrible harm and the rhetoric for Monster Liberty speaks for itself be careful who you align yourself with especially with those who are weaving the false Flags when they cannot even bother to show up in December who you align with is a matter of public record thank you yeah that's right hi I believe everyone in this room cares about New York City students everyone in this room we all care about the most vulnerable among them those who don't fit in who get bullied feminite males masculine girls autistic traumatized socially awkward sensitive and anxious so what's the question here how do we protect vulnerable children and teens like this do we protect them do we protect them by pretending they're not the sex they are by pretending a boy a girl or girl is a boy do we protect them by assuring them that their healthy bodies are all right and that they need to use chemicals and surgery to fix them do we protect teenage boys by putting them on sports teams with teenage girls maybe we protect vulnerable kids by accepting and loving them just as they are by being honest with them by telling a feminite boys masculine girls and quirky teens they don't need to change their ways they can express themselves however they like but they Remain the sex they are and there's nothing wrong with that they don't need chemicals and surgeries to alter their appearance some of you think it's wrong to question whether boys who believe they're girls should participate in competitive Sports on girls teams sorry excuse me we're gonna give her the same same respect we to everybody else gonna give her the sameon give gonna her respect okay not do that there there are students in this room there are students in this room please have respect for that there's at least one student that I know young student who listening at home please respect some of you think it's Roy to question whether boys who believe their girls should participate in competitive Sports and girls teames I can't I think it's think it's wrong to to chemically and surgically castrate healthy boys split open their penises and turn them into F vaginas to fill healthy girls bodies with steroids shop off breast and sew a chunk of their forarm flesh onto the genitalia I think it's wrong to tell you gonna I think it's wor to tell vulnerable youth that they AR sex they are and that their bodies are wrong don't you at least think we need to talk about this do you really think everyone who questions what's happening in girl Sports [Music] we're not excuse me this is a public meeting she has every right to speak okay thank you she every right to speak bad Interruption you I said the same thing for other people everybody has the right to speak you may not like it don't have to pay attention to her but you have we have to let her speak I didn't really have anything prepared I just wanted to say thank you again for passing resolution 248 I know it can be very difficult to do the right thing and stick with it uh and I feel so terrible that there are so many parents that come to these meetings and feel like they aren't safe to speak out uh to those parents I say please come find me if you can I'm sorry that you have to deal with this and I'm trying to organize ways that you can get around that that's all good evening Laura Bell here our proud lesbian since 1990 Athlete on my whole life played multiple sports soccer lacrosse basketball made it to college basketball only division three but still made it still play sports actually co-ed now love my trans gay lesbian straight friends love my nieces and nephews all 11 of them but see a big difference between their brain development their emotional development their physical development their biological realities that come into play different times in their lives especially puberty Noti a big difference when all of a sudden the boys started beating me on the track Fields without even doing extra running extra training and just feel it's really important to give girls boys trans gay straight people the right to have single sex Single Sex uh single sexual orientation single Choice spaces does anybody talk to the little girls who are being beat out because I don't see any little girls fighting to get into boy Sports why is that think all voices need to be heard I wish people were able to have more respect here yes wish people were able to have conversations think is important to see all sides I'm all for co-ed Sports I'm playing co-ed Sports now I run a team of co-ed people including trans and non-binary but I still think it's important to have the option to have the other and I've never seen anybody of trans not having the same rights as non Trans in the school districts here and other states where my nieces and nephews attend everybody's allowed to go to the bathroom there's never any problem with that there's bathrooms everywhere so I just want to encourage people up here to listen to their Common Sense pay attention to science pay attention to reality pay attention to delusions pay attention to mental house thank you [Music] it our district to leadership thank you okay our next speaker be hi can you hear me oh e e e see on e e e 248 is just a a resolution to start the conversation well this is my response I was there when Chase strangio said we'll keep coming back month after month with more people we did and we will he's no longer coming here as he's got to fight in DC but here we are and when they come for me when I'm not here anymore we will keep coming back we all we all know the Playbook it starts with a sports ban and tumbles forward just asking questions about problems that aren't there behind skewed speaker speakers lists the blockers Behind Closed speak lists bathroom bands behind closed doors barreling and fumbling towards erasers but we will keep showing up responding to the conversation you started because we can't be erased we'll just keep showing up but you're trying to erase us and we just won't go away eraser isn't possible actually because we're in your families and we'll keep getting born this way if you don't figure out how to love on us we'll leave we'll find a new family eraser isn't possible actually because your transphobia is in me ain't nothing you can say to me that I haven't said to myself Decades of drinking your poison Brewing it consuming it until the light until the glow could be seen it's not going to go away you know what like I'm cool like I'm okay like this is this is great and I'm sorry that you have to sit with that poison I'm so sorry thank you thank you and I just want to remind you that there's folks who have proven and convicted of harming children not us hello council members hi everyone my name is Olivia Blake um I serve on the board of transformative schools um and I'm a mother of three and you know I'm really grateful for what Lucille just said because I want to remind us why we keep showing up because 50% of trans youth last year considered suicide and 20% attempted it and I want to remind us why that is because as a transwoman I can speak to this it has to do with feeling excluded because like everywhere we turn we are excluded systematically in our schools and housing and health care in every conceivable category in our society is set up to exclude us and so to feel that as a use is incredibly crushing trans students deserve to belong they deserve the camaraderie and learning how to work as a team that comes with being on sports teams social emotional learning is a critical aspect of the work we do in educating our students and this resolution uh is just institutionalized bullying and it's antithetical to the social emotional uh goals of uh educating our students so I'd ask for you to resend 248 and I'll see youall next month hi everybody my name is Ali Blake uh I've been here before it's great to see you all um I am a trans educator I am a trans education researcher and I like most the vast majority of folks in this room right now and here in support of resending 248 and a in trans youth in the district and trans folks in public life but what I will spend most of my time tonight sharing around actually really magically follows what we've heard recently from Chrissy from Lucille from Olivia around the fact that we will continue being here despite efforts from the council to limit and restrict the ways that we are able to be present in this space with the proposed ability for the council president to take away the second speaker session we even saw a version of that today an attempt of that today in trying to limit the time and an already shorter meeting we're already going to get out of here earlier and we no matter what we'll keep coming back whether it's here whether it's right outside whether it's all over the city we come from long long lineages of folks making it possible for each other to survive in harsh conditions and we will keep doing that whether that's here in this exact room and the rooms of these meetings or elsewhere primarily hopefully both in this kind of space and more and more in all sorts of spaces of public life despite this Council and I and I say this Council and I know most of the folks here do not have this position and so my apologies for that but the council as a board despite their attempts to restrict our access to this space and to public life we will continue to show up we will make it possible for us to survive we've done this before and we will continue thank you right sorry to break up the party Chang subject a little bit um yeah I want to talk about the resolution 267 so my name is ALU president of cc26 in Northeast queens and I represent u a district that has many many parents whose children speak uh language other than English at home so I thought this resolution uh I'm speaking on behalf of the parents uh and they're aware of this and they have some questions about it uh if Rel to the resolution paragraph number five uh there's a couple statistics uh about the number of students in Europe City Public Schools dat 12 and then there's a statistic about the number of elll students in District 2 and then you jump down to paragraph s uh there's statement about the number of Ells in specialized high schools accounted for only 0.026% so that doesn't seem like a right comparison because it's really comparing apples to oranges it doesn't really make sense to compare a limited number of students in specialized high schools to the entire student body in all of New York City or all of all of District 2 so so there's some faulty logic going on over there on the second part of the second page of this resolution uh paragraphs about uh saying that these ssct is offered in alternate languages uh such students would perform an acceptable scores on SSAT so the question is where's the proof there's nothing provided here uh so we like to see that uh next paragraph uh let's see here it's about the gift and talented programs right and it's stating that uh the gift and talent test is offered in multiple languages and that makes sense because this is really a test of um IQ for the children so it makes sense to offer the test in different languages however it does not make sense to offer the SSAT in multiple languages because these students are expected to uh be profession in English so just assume that uh students get in speaking a different language do you expect these students to teachers is speak teach kids in Chinese or bang or Korean Etc it doesn't make any sense so uh in some this resolution contains faulty logic uh and we like to see something proposed that really makes sense which just doesn't thank you hi um my name is Jennifer dkes I'm a teacher at the Clinton School which is a district 2 6 through 12 school um I'm here just to affirm my support for resolution 266 um and repudiating um resolution 248 um I don't really have anything prepared or anything else to say besides to say that I think that this is a resolution that is detrimental to students in my school um detrimental to students that I see on a regular basis um and it's something that I'm sort of uh very disappointed to know is happening in District 2 thank you good evening my name is Dr Megan Pamela Roose Madison and tonight I want to speak directly to the district 2 parents wherever you are where are you I attended my first c meeting about a year ago I'm an author of books that right-wing parent groups like moms for Liberty have been trying to ban across the country my first our skin explains the social construction of race and language even preschoolers can understand Mod's friend Daniela who went to Harvard by the way started going after my work back in 2022 for me it's really scary and it hurts when people try to ban my books but honestly what hurt most was watching the people in power and the people around me do pretty much nothing to try to stop her so last year I decided that if no one else was going to try and show up for me I could at least show up for myself and that's how I came to my first c meeting scared and alone since then mods focuses shifted away from Banning books and toward attacking trans girls and we've mobilized this beautiful response we haven't yet resined 248 but I'm no longer scared and I'm certainly not alone the problem is most of us aren't actually District to parents we can't vote in the upcoming elections and get these jerks off the council for good some of us actually really wish that we could have been parents but that's just not how things worked out we're just the kind of people who show up for other people's kids because we know that all the kids are our kids and we're responsible for one another so District 2 parents wherever you are I need you to know that we need you here in this moment when we have attacks on trans kids across the country from the capital it's important that trans kids know that somebody cares that someone is trying to help and we need you to be that someone trans kids along here exactly as they are and we need to hear it from you I can keep testing can we hear me online can we hear me online that it says off so I'm talking now where it says off can you hear me now can you hear me now I'm still talking can you hear me now I'm on now you can hear me now yeah Co good evening everybody thank you um I attended my first cc2 meeting almost a year ago to support Dr Megan Addison and her fabulous books that tell true stories about racing gender um there were only about six of us present as M told a story that just asked questions and convinced this Council to pass resolution to 48 I'm a teacher so I know the ways that M's hateful story attacks hateful story and attacks trans girls makes it hard for them to read to write become scientists because they don't feel safe at school and as a woman who's visibly trans I too was afraid when Mom's story when M's story labeled me as a dangerous rumor just for teaching math or for existing in this room no no excuse me excuse me we're gonna we're gonna stop we're gonna let this Daniels have time okay okay yeah yeah we got it okay we're all gonna let okay I'm gonna let you start over with life okay okay um thankfully I didn't have to stand alone at this microphone Megan was standing next to me and every month since then more and more of you have joined us however every month mod her mom's for Liberty friends on Twitter her place NYC friends on this Council and her mouthpieces the New York Post and the New York Times tell the same contradictory story because they think it's strategic they say that trans kids don't really exist let's be clear trans kids have always existed and they've always known who they are they just want to feel safe enough to tell us they tell the story that they're only two kinds of bodies I an I biology teacher and I can tell you that it's impossible to divide us into two distinct categories by so-called biological sex are we asked because I started okay every month Craig lenon PR claims that none of this matters and that everyone should just be quiet or just stay home um personally I think that all NYC students matter and I think our kids deserve Schoolboard members to agree month after month mod Place NYC and monom for Liberty saying that they're being bullied well in fact we just get up here at this microphone and pull out our stories of fear grief anger and hope we sing we dance we care for each other we support resolutions like 267 which makes access to the most like schools more Equitable um you know in fact that more parts to her story but I will stop for now and say in in fact mod her friends didn't even bother showing up tonight is that the way that saders who care about Shades act know it's time for us to start telling a new story a story where people who care about kids and Community organizers organized together not them oh we stopped it like four times okay here's what I got people well I will end fast we need to tell a story where people who care about kids organized together a story where a bunch of Brave District Two parents agree to join me in Seeking a seat on this Council a story where every member of this Coalition talks to their friends about what's happening and brings them to the next meeting and a story where all kids get to feel safe seen and loved it's a story where we win say it together please together we will win thanks by letting say you are implied I like to hear real Qui can we just take like a breath can everyone just like breathe in it's not miss Pena breath out yeah I would just like row forah thank you yes thank you Sarah no um I'm R and every time I prepare to come to another cc2 meeting I open up the notes app in my phone and I begin to write and sometimes as I try to piece together all of the frustration and hope I feel through my tiny keyboard I think about all of the things that I'd rather be writing you see my notes app used to be filled with incomplete grocery lists ideas for new children's books uh potential names for a puppy I do not own but one day uh my dream from last night and of course silly quote from my students that months later I will inevitably will inevitably make no sense but I promise it was funny when it happened um I'd rather be writing anything but a series of pleas to some of the misguided folks on this panel this Council many of whom are not here today I wonder why to understand how much trans kids deserve happiness how much they deserve to be seen to learn to feel safe and how much trans kids deserve to just be whole I'd rather be writing a series of bad poetry and entitled it trans Joy because that's what it because that's what it is but at least until 248 is descended or at least until this council is made up of mostly nice people my not toap will continue to be this an invitation to those not yet convinced those not yet moved by our incredible community of unwavering commitment to show up for our trans siblings we will keep on showing up to cc2 meetings because trans kids are magic and they matter and they have always mattered and I matter and you matter thank you on all right everyone can hear me all right so if my brains all soggy and laggy it's because unfortunately I have leukemia and I decided to Raw Dog it without chemo so my brain's kind of f messed up messed up messed up I don't want care for the kids um and speaking of my diagnosis it made me realize how short life is and you never know how fast your children can be taken from you children get diagnosed with things far worse than I have every day and I have very little time left both on this m and in my life and so it makes me think that if there anything children deserve it's a safe space while they're still alive they deserve a school that is accepting Pro promotes their self-actualization their autonomy their Humanity whether they're trans or CIS or whatever in a safe space to express themselves whether it be in sports in the classroom after school and on board meetings and I believe that section sorry is it section resolution I'm sorry again brain because of leukemia that's what happens you don't do chemo because a resolution 238 it makes them feel as though they don't have a voice and they don't have a space in the schools that their parents tax dollars pay for them to go to and no child deserves that you don't know how fast your kids can be taken from you and so you need to appreciate them while they're still here and everyone's children deserves everything your children the children that I might have might have had the children that you have they deserve everything including a place to play equal opportunity access to wonderful high schools such as stent we by stent re love y'all and I just wanted to say that we should promote all equality based resolutions and demote resolutions that promote bigotry including resolutions such resolution 238 um that's all I have to say because again luukia brain fog is really getting to me I'm really sorry concludes the public speaker session your name all right you sign the spe Maybe hi my name is SAR Medina kamoli my pronouns are sheers I'm an attorney I work on children's rights in New York City and I'm an assistant professor of law of constitutional law and education law double click on everything my friend shared here today what I would like to bring to your attention though is that there are a couple issues of procedural Injustice that you should look into as DC board member the first is that there was disperate treatment here of transgender women this women were allowed to come up to the mic and talk about genital mutilation and other violent forms of sexual misconduct secondly the people in the group here were allowed to make allegations against people that under tort law in New York please make ey contact with me while I'm speaking so I know you're listening are forms of slander and liel I suggest that the record show that this board allowed decorum to be un unwieldy with one group and another along the lines of sex the second thing I would like to share is that we have two wonderful young people here you're both young people yes okay great and I would like to say that it is an enormous miscarriage of justice that there are eight people sitting before us here we are talking about a use issue voted on by adult cisgender people who do not attend schools and yet you are very concerned about reviewing the gender of a child tennis player but you are not concerned with reviewing the Democratic processes here on your CC pleas use some of the time and money and intellectual capacity that I know that each and every one of you regardless of how conservative or Progressive you are has to think about self-determination autonomy and local government in a moment where our federal government is questioning if you should even exist please take a moment and think and provide to them the Voting Rights and the power on this board that you have because soon enough you're going to lose it thank you uh looking at both resolutions next month as well as the bylaw bylaw amend proposed bylaw Amendment uh I again I apologize that we did not make form tonight it's out of my control uh I do expect that next month we should make Forum again again I do apologize that uh and for that this meeting is adjourned right the work business okay gonna go right into the work business thank you have a good holiday everybody we're gonna do a roll call for the working business meeting I e e e e e bu over excuse Excuse excuse sorry over out okay thank you say you just so been [Music] [Music] I don't ask School somebody who works in high school [Music] okay I'm I'm gonna the thank you oh sorry it's not it's not it's not pretty s I'm