David Weekley (1min) — Urged the board to center students and maximize every student's potential, changing North Star if it harms non-North Star students.
Lily Milton (2min) — Representing committee members, she thanked the board for the process and recommended changing grade configuration and bringing compacted/enrichment curriculum to all schools, while urging urgent action on equity and broader structural issues.
Unidentified speaker (2min) — Argued that Bayside access data is misleading since many Bayside families already access North Star via choice/charter, that North Star is not broken and serves its students well at no extra cost, and urged focus on the 70% of students behind academically rather than altering a well-functioning program.
John Kinsel (2min) — Expressed strong support for North Star as a program that keeps students challenged and engaged, and suggested the focus should be on improving other schools rather than changing North Star.
Owen Webel (1min) — As a North Star graduate, described how he was disengaged at his previous school and thrived at North Star where he found peers at his level and learned more effectively.
Tony Webel (2min) — As a parent of multiple children in the district including one at North Star and one at Roosevelt, he emphasized that the primary objective should be the best equitable learning environment for all students, and flagged concerns about the Jamboard document as potentially misleading.
Jessica Nodi (1min) — As a Roy Cloud parent and educator, she expressed support for starting North Star at kindergarten, bringing enrichment programming to all schools, and offering enrollment by equal percentages from each school.
Katie Morello (1min) — As a Henry Ford parent, she expressed concern about the emotional impact on children losing friends when classmates leave for North Star in third grade and suggested middle school might be a better entry point.
Kaylee Vega (1min) — As a Henry Ford parent, she said her family chose the district largely because of North Star access, expressed concern about unmet academic needs at neighborhood schools, and urged the board to improve other schools rather than dismantle a highly ranked program.
Loan Hin (2min) — As a Henry Ford parent and former magnet school student herself, she said her family may leave the district if North Star is not available at third grade, and argued that magnet programs like North Star provide economic mobility through education and that equity issues can be addressed without eliminating the format.
Elle Kolekar (1min) — As a Bayside family with children at both Hillside and North Star schools, she argued that inequity is a deeper district-wide issue that North Star alone did not create, and called on the board to invest in vibrant, diverse Bayside community schools.
Alice Harkey (2min) — As North Star's parent club president, she credited North Star with transforming her children's education, supported equal access to testing and more Bayside outreach, busing, and after-school support, and asked the board to preserve the curriculum and enrichment opportunities.
Shonda Stewart (2min) — As a parent with children at both North Star and Orion, she raised concerns about North Star's fundraising concentrating resources inequitably, the school's culture being unwelcoming to lower-income families, and the limited Bayside outreach compared to Mandarin immersion community outreach.
Katie Goetz (1min) — As a North Star Forward Committee member, she argued that the district has an obligation to make enriched programming available to all students, not just those identified through testing as gifted, and thanked the board for its work toward greater equity.
Nicole Kowaki (1min) — Speaking on behalf of 20 co-signing district parents, she cited stark demographic disparities between North Star and the broader district and called publicly funded North Star as currently structured unethical, urging the board to support the equitable solutions proposed by the committee.
Daryl Norcott (2min) — As a Clifford parent, he argued that North Star reinforces achievement gaps through biased standardized testing, racially segregates school communities, makes children who don't qualify feel defective, and divides communities, and urged bringing enrichment methods to students rather than concentrating them in one school.
Heidi von Brielle (2min) — She raised environmental concerns about car trips to North Star, argued that all Redwood City schools share the same finish line, and called for implementing options that eliminate the 'musical chairs' caused by third-grade migration.
Mike Beebe (2min) — As a North Star third-grade parent, he urged careful evaluation of whether the issue is admissions process design or information and logistics barriers before switching to a hard percentage admit model, and suggested expanded information and shuttle service for Bayside families.
Ann Hinesek (2min) — As a North Star Forward Committee member, she highlighted bringing the Renzulli method to all schools and equalizing PTO/PTA funding distribution as key equity ideas, and supported changing grade configuration, hiring Spanish-speaking staff, capping per-school admittance, and possibly moving North Star to the Bayside.
Item details
Rationale: In early 2020, I formally recommended the formation of the North Star Forward committee to thoroughly study the impact of North Star Academy (NSA) on other schools in our district and on our community at large. On January 15, 2020, you approved to form the committee in order to address questions that were raised during the Planning for Our Future process of fall of 2018 when the community submitted many comments, both positive and negative, about the impact of NSA on other schools in the district. You approved for the District to study the impact of NSA on other schools on November 28, 2018, as one of the recommendations brought forth to you as part of the Planning for Our Future process. The purpose of the North Star Forward committee is to minimize the sense of division between NSA and other schools in the district by addressing and recommending solutions for specific areas where NSA is having an impact on other schools' enrollment, academic performance and school culture, and building understanding for the mission and purpose of the school. Specifically, the committee was charged to focus on the following areas: The exodus of rising third grade students from other schools. Admissions testing that leads to a sense of elitism and the social-emotional impact on students who attend as well as those who do not meet the qualifications. Lack of access from students attending Bayside schools. The committee came together in February 2020 after an application process that began immediately after your approval to form it. All parents and teachers were invited to submit applications to serve, and the district received 50 applications by the January 31, 2020 deadline. The Board Sub-Committee, consisting of Trustee Cecilia Márquez, former Trustee Dennis McBride, and myself, met in early February to review the applications. As discussed during the January 15, 2020 School Board meeting, the composition of the committee includes parents, teachers, and administrators from throughout the District as well as NSA alumni. The committee started working in early February of 2020 and met three times making much progress until March of 2020 when the work came to a halt due to COVID-19. The committee members set norms for their work, they studied the history and data of both NSA and the district as a whole, they looked into the impact of enrollment and School of Choice trends in the school district, learned about the mission and philosophy of NSA, and started on specific sub-committee work. As the committee's work was placed on hold in March 2020 due to COVID-19, the district persevered to guide and support our students and families through new barriers that arose along with the COVID-19 Pandemic. Through the pandemic, the district's commitment toward more equitable practices inspired district and site leadership, staff, parents, and students to keep equity consciousness alive during the most challenging times encountered in recent history in order to address the academic and social emotional needs of our students. This inspired the district to review and adopt its new equity and inclusiveness focused mission, vision, and values, which you approved in March of 2021. Many members, who made much progress on the committee in 2020, agreed to come back in 2022, and new members were added. In addition, Trustee Janet Lawson stepped in to fill Mr. McBride's seat, which was left vacant after his retirement in December of 2020. Parents: Maria Elena Arteaga Roy Cloud School Whitney Glockner Black Roosevelt School Carmie Chan Henry Ford School Katie Goetz Mandarin Immersion at Orion Alternative Michele Harkov North Star Academy Ann Hynecek Adelante Selby Spanish Immersion School Colleen Lewcock North Star Academy Veronica Luna North Star Academy Jim Martin North Star Academy Lilli Milton Orion Alternative School Stefan Meyer Clifford School Gerd Stieler Roy Cloud School Lilia Valdez Hoover School Liliana Zaragoza Taft School NSA Alums: Emma Chiu North Star Academy Christian Morales North Star Academy Teachers: Brian Cagle North Star Academy Sandra Covacha Henry Ford Elementary School Mariana Hernández McKinley Institute of Technology Administrators: : John Baker Superintendent Lupe Guzman Assistant Principal, Hoover School Anna Herrera Principal, Taft Community School Katherine Rivera Principal, Orion Alternative Elementary School Sara Shackel Principal, McKinley Institute of Technology and North Star Academy Liz Wolfe Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Board Janet Lawson Trustee Cecilia Márquez Trustee The NSA Forward Committee was divided into 5 groups to make each team an optimum size for group work and input. Besides the three charges from the Board, two groups were assigned to focus on the demand for North Star, and the impact of North Star on the whole district, which provide further depth to the three charges. The newly formed committee met 4 times, including an orientation for new members, sharing of updated data, group work dedicated to providing ideas to solve the charges from the Board, and on April 7, the group evaluated and refined the ideas in 3 sub-groups dedicated to each charge. The group used an application called Jamboard to provide individual feedback on the 25 ideas. A copy of the Jamboard notes is attached. The committee was presented with detailed data on a variety of factors that informed their analysis and the generation of the ideas that follow in this report. Some of the tables are included below. The full set of data used by the committee is attached. In addition, in March 2022 the district conducted a survey at the request of Group #4. The results of that survey are attached. Only one parent from Taft and no parents from Garfield or Hoover took the survey, so RCSD Community Liaison Michelle Remond reached out to families from those schools and identified 6 parents who were willing to be interviewed on the questions in the survey. A report of her findings is attached. Copies of presentations for each of the committee's meetings in 2020 and 2022 are also attached. The attached draft document contains further details on the structure of the committee and the work they have completed to date. Please note: the ideas in the attached document are not recommendations; rather, they are ideas being shared to elicit feedback from the Board and the community so that necessary modifications can be made before recommendations are formed. The Committee will make adjustments, narrow down and/or consolidate ideas and develop recommendations following the board discussion. Financial Impact: None at the moment. Submission for Approval Prepared by: John R. Baker, Ed.D., Superintendent Approved by: John R. Baker, Ed.D., Superintendent §