[00:00:04]
USUALLY THE BADGE COMES UP WHEN WE'RE LIVE, ACTUALLY, MEDIA, CAN YOU CONFIRM WE'RE LIVE? WE ARE.
[Call to Order]
I'M, UH, TRAVIS COUNTY, COMMISSIONER BRIDGET SHEA, PRECINCT TWO, AND WE ARE CONVENING THE, UH, AUGUST 25TH MEETING OF THE JOINT SUBCOMMITTEE.UM, I'LL LET THE ATTENDEES, UM, INTRODUCE THEMSELVES BRIEFLY AND GET STARTED HERE.
UH, JEFF ILIAN, COUNTY COMMISSIONER, PRECINCT ONE.
JOSE QUEZ, CITY COUNCIL, DISTRICT EIGHT.
ALISON ALTER, COUNCIL MEMBER, UH, DISTRICT OF
ARTIE SINGH, A I S D, TRUSTEE.
I'M A LIEUTENANT WITH THE SD POLICE DEPARTMENT.
MATTIA SEGURA, INTERIM SUPERINTENDENT, A I S D.
MICHELLE MILES, AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICE OF VIOLENCE PREVENTION.
EDNA BUTTS, DIRECTOR, INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS AND POLICY OVERSIGHT.
AUSTIN, I S D, PILAR SANCHEZ COUNTY EXECUTIVE HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES AT TRAVIS COUNTY.
STEPHANIE HAYDEN HOWARD, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
AND WE HAVE, UM, ANOTHER COUNCIL MEMBER JOINING US.
COUNCIL MEMBER, IF YOU WANNA JUST INTRODUCE YOURSELF BRIEFLY.
[I. Public Comment]
WE ARE POSTED FOR PUBLIC COMMENT, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF ANY ANYONE IS HERE FOR IT.SO WE'LL MOVE ON TO THE NEXT ITEM,
[II. Approval of Minutes]
WHICH IS APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM APRIL 21ST.DO I HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE? SO MOVED.
UH, APPROVED BY COUNCIL, UH, COMMISSIONER TAVIAN AND, UM, TRUSTEE, UH, OPHELIA ZAPATA.
UM, IS THERE ANY DISCUSSION? NO DISCUSSION.
UH, ALL THOSE IN FAVOR SAY AYE.
[III. Discussion of possible subcommittees (Part 1 of 2)]
DISCUSSION OF POSSIBLE OUTCOME, UH, EXCUSE ME, DISCUSSION OF POSSIBLE SUBCOMMITTEES.BUT, UM, ACTUALLY BEFORE WE MOVE ON TO THAT, UM, TRUSTEE SINGH, UH, BOARD TRUSSING HAS ASKED, UM, FOR POINT OF PRIVILEGE, SO PLEASE GO ON.
SO, UM, AS MANY, AS MANY OF YOU MAY HAVE HEARD, WE'VE HAD TWO TRAGEDIES IN AUSTIN.
I SS D IN THE LAST COUPLE OF WEEKS.
UM, AND WE'VE LOST TWO STUDENTS.
AND SO I JUST WANTED TO ASK IF WE COULD HAVE A MOMENT OF SILENCE TO THINK ABOUT THOSE STUDENTS, THEIR FAMILIES, UM, AND THE COMMUNITY THAT IS IN PAIN RIGHT NOW.
UM, MADAM CHAIR? YEAH, IF I COULD.
UM, CERTAINLY WE WANT TO, UH, TO PAY ATTENTION TO AND ADDRESS THE NEEDS OF THE ENTIRE FAMILY.
UH, WHEN WE HAVE A LOSS LIKE THIS.
UH, THE SUPERINTENDENT AND I HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT HOW WE ADDRESS MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES.
WE, UH, THE COUNTY HAS DIRECTED THROUGH INTEGRAL CARE SIGNIFICANT, UH, NUMBER OF RESOURCES.
I THINK THE LAST ALLOCATION WAS 2.9 MILLION, BUT WE SHOULD HAVE A DISCUSSION ABOUT, UM, HOW WE ADDRESS MENTAL HEALTH CARE ON CAMPUS, NOT JUST FOR THE STUDENTS, BUT SOME OF THE TEACHERS WHO HAVE BEEN UNDER FIRE AS WELL, AND PUT TOGETHER A PROGRAM THAT REALLY ADDRESSES, UH, THE, ESPECIALLY AROUND THE, THE SPECIAL ED AREAS, THE DIAGNOSTIC NEEDS OF STUDENTS, AND, UH, MAKING SURE THAT WE ARE USING THE RESOURCES THAT WE HAVE ACCESS TO EFFECTIVELY.
UM, I KNOW THAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT IT, BUT, BUT, UM, I AM, I'M IMPRESSED WITH THE WORK THAT THE SUPERINTENDENT HAS DONE, UH, TO SEGMENT, UH, THE SPECIAL EDUCATION POPULATION AND BEGIN TO MAKE SURE, UH, THAT STUDENTS HAVE THEIR NEEDS ADDRESSED TO ASSESS THEM AND MAKE SURE THAT THEY'RE GOING TO THE RIGHT RESOURCES.
UM, BUT I MUST, I WANT TO ENCOURAGE US TO DO THE SAME THING FOR TEACHERS, BECAUSE A LOT OF THEM ARE UNDER STRESS OR IN A STATE THAT HASN'T DETERMINED THAT IT MIGHT TEACH ITS OWN HISTORY.
SO, UM, HOW DO WE WORK TOGETHER TO MAKE SURE THAT WE MAKE, UH, A, A, UH, A BETTER PATHWAY FOR OUR STUDENTS AND OUR TEACHERS AND EVERYBODY INVOLVED IN THE SYSTEM.
SO WE WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE COMMITTED TO HAVING THAT CONVERSATION AND WORKING
[00:05:01]
TOGETHER.HOPEFULLY WE'LL HAVE SOME DISCUSSION OF THAT UNDER THE, UM, UH, SAFETY UPDATE, UH, AND ALSO THE UPDATES ON SPECIAL EDUCATION.
UM, SO THE, UH, ITEM THREE ON THE AGENDA IS DISCUSSION OF POSSIBLE SUBCOMMITTEES, UM, COMPOSITION AND OBJECTIVES.
UM, AND I'M NOT CERTAIN WHO WILL LEAD THIS.
WE, UM, THAT THE, THE MEMBERS WOULD WANNA HAVE A FOLLOW UP CONVERSATION TO WHAT YOU ALL TALKED ABOUT LAST TIME.
WE ADDED A, A SECOND PAGE TO SHOW THE TOPICS THAT HAD BEEN FOUND TO BE IMPORTANT TO YOU ALL LAST TIME.
PAGE, IT'S 11 AGENDA AND FOUR, OH, I HAVE A PAGE 11 ON THE AGENDA.
UM, THIS WAS THE EXERCISE THAT, UM, WE'D UNDERTAKEN TO REALLY KIND OF REVISIT THE, UM, THE PURPOSE OF THIS JOINT SUBCOMMITTEE AND TO SEE IF WE COULD, UH, IDENTIFY ADDITIONAL ISSUES OR ISSUES WHERE PEOPLE FELT, UH, PARTICULARLY STRONGLY ABOUT THE NEED FOR US TO FOCUS ON A SUBJECT AREA.
UM, DOES EVERYONE HAVE THAT, THAT PAGE, UM, WITH THE LIST, IT GOES A THROUGH N OF, UM, SUBCOMMITTEE ITEMS, UM, POTENTIAL ITEMS. UM, AND I DON'T KNOW IF FOLKS HAVE ANY PARTICULAR THOUGHTS THAT THEY WANNA WEIGH IN ON WITH REGARD TO THIS LIST.
I CAN READ THROUGH IT QUICKLY.
CHILDCARE, AFFORDABLE HOUSING, SPECIAL EDUCATION, UPDATE ON POSSIBLE BOND ELECTIONS, AFFORDABLE HOUSING BRIEFING, WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, CAREER TECHNICAL EDUCATION, MENTAL HEALTH, MULTI-GENERATIONAL SUPPORTS, UH, AND MORE COORDINATION IS THE NOTE ON THAT.
COMMUNITY SCHOOLS HEALTHY EATING AND ADDRESSING FOOD INSECURITY, OPIOID PREVENTION, SUSTAINABILITY, CURRENT COLLABORATIONS, AND UNDER THAT, A, B, AND C SUMMER YOUTH EMPLOYMENT, B AFTER SCHOOL PROGRAMS, PRIME TIME, AND C PARENT SUPPORT SPECIALISTS.
AND I THINK PART OF OUR DISCUSSION, UM, THAT WE HAD LAST TIME IS ON PAGE EIGHT AND NINE THINGS THAT WE DISCUSSED, UM, EACH CATEGORY, BUT THEN ITEMS THAT WERE LISTED AND DISCUSSED UNDER EACH CATEGORY.
THAT'S A, THAT'S A GOOD REMINDER.
IT'S GOT A LITTLE BIT MORE DETAIL.
AFRAID I CAN'T SEE DOWN THERE.
UM, SO, YOU KNOW, PART OF THE REASON WE HAD THE DISCUSSION LAST TIME WAS THAT, UM, OVER THE YEARS I KNOW THAT I'VE BEEN ON THIS COMMITTEE, WE'VE, WE FELT LIKE THERE WERE SOME OPPORTUNITIES THAT WE WEREN'T SEIZING.
UM, 'CAUSE WE WERE MEETING VERY INFREQUENTLY, AND THAT WE NEEDED TO CREATE SOME SPACE BETWEEN OUR MEETINGS TO HAVE SOME CONVERSATIONS ABOUT PARTICULAR TOPICS.
AND THIS IS A BRAINSTORM OF THE TYPE OF TOPICS.
UM, WE DID CREATE A WORKING GROUP, UM, NEAR THE TIME THAT WE HAD THE, IT WAS BEFORE WE HAD THE, A RPA FUNDING, BUT RELATED TO CHILDCARE, UM, IN COVID.
AND WE WERE ABLE THEN TO MAKE COMMITMENTS BY THE CITY AND THE COUNTY, CONSIDERABLE COMMITMENTS TOWARDS, UM, SUPPORTING CHILDCARE, IN PART BECAUSE OF THE WORK AND THE CONVERSATIONS WE HAD COLLABORATIVELY THROUGH THAT, UM, COMMITTEE OR SUBCOMMITTEE OF, OF THIS GROUP.
SO I THINK THE IDEA FROM LAST TIME WAS REALLY TO TAKE A LOOK AT THESE LISTS AND SEE IF THERE WERE ANY NUMBER OF THESE THAT PEOPLE WANTED TO, UM, ENGAGE DEEPER ON.
AND IF SOMEBODY WANTED TO KIND OF TAKE THE LEAD ON, UM, PARTICULAR ITEMS, WE MAY NOT DO ALL OF THEM AT ONCE.
WE MAY COME, COME BACK TO THEM.
UM, SOME THINGS MAY CHANGE WITH THE CONVERSATION OF THE VIOLENCE ISSUES, UM, TODAY AND KIND OF WHAT WE'VE BEEN EXPERIENCING.
UM, I, I WOULD BE HAPPY TO, UM, BE LEADING ON THE CHILDCARE, UM, PRESCHOOL FRONT.
I'M ALREADY ENGAGED IN SEVERAL DIFFERENT PIECES THERE, AND I THINK WE HAVE A, A PIECE THAT WE COULD ADVANCE TOGETHER.
UM, MY OFFICE IS WORKING ON AN ITEM TO DIRECT STAFF IN THE CITY TO BE READY TO REALLY ADOPT, UM, THE STATE INITIATIVE WITH RESPECT TO, UM, THE TAX EXEMPTION FOR CHILDCARE OPERATORS.
UM, THERE'S A VERY SHORT WINDOW ONCE IT PASSES WITHIN, WHICH WE HAVE TO ALL ADOPT THAT ABILITY FOR THOSE GROUPS.
UM, AND SO, YOU KNOW, WE'RE GETTING STARTED ON THAT, BUT THERE'S NO REASON WE CAN'T ALL KIND OF PIGGYBACK TOGETHER AND MOVE FORWARD, UM, IN ALL OF THE ENTITIES FOR THOSE TAX ABATEMENTS, UM, TO BE PURSUED THAT THE STATE HAS ENABLED US TO DO.
THERE WILL BE AN ELECTION, UM, IN NOVEMBER, ASSUMING THAT PASSES.
AND THERE'S, THERE'S SEVERAL OTHER THINGS THAT WE'RE, MY OFFICE IS ALREADY WORKING ON THERE, SOME OF WHICH YOU ARE LISTED HERE.
[00:10:01]
UM, SO IF THERE ARE OTHER FOLKS WHO ARE INTERESTED IN ADVANCING SOME OF THESE CHILDCARE ISSUES ACROSS THE ENTITIES, UM, I KNOW WE'RE GETTING READY TO HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH A I S D MORE SPECIFICALLY, UM, WITH SOME OF THE FOLKS WHO'VE BEEN WORKING ON THE BALLOT INITIATIVE TO, TO THINK, UM, THINK MORE DEEPLY TOGETHER ABOUT WHAT THE OPPORTUNITIES ARE AND PUT THOSE PIECES TOGETHER.SO, UM, IF OTHERS ARE INTERESTED IN JOINING IN THAT DISCUSSION, I WOULD WELCOME THAT.
I'LL BE WORKING ON THIS STUFF ANYWAY, BUT WOULD LOVE TO HAVE, UM, PARTNERS ACROSS THE UNITS.
DOES IT MAKE SENSE FOR US TO, UM, SCHEDULE THIS FOR A FUTURE MEETING, FOR AN UPDATE? IT SOUNDS LIKE THERE'S A LOT OF MOVING PIECES HERE.
UM, OR, OR, UH, WOULD IT BE MORE FUNCTIONAL TO HAVE A SORT OF A SUBCOMMITTEE THAT, THAT WORKS ON THIS AND, AND, UH, REPORTS BACK? WELL, I THINK, I THINK THAT THE SUBCOMMITTEES DON'T TAKE THE PLACE OF GROUP MEETINGS, BUT SOMETIMES YOU NEED TO DO SOME WORK OUTSIDE OF THE CAMERAS AND REALLY, UM, LAYING OUT WHAT THE OPPORTUNITIES AND THE CHALLENGES ARE.
UM, AND, AND, AND THINKING THROUGH THINGS THAT WE OFTEN DON'T HAVE TIME TO DO IN THESE MEETINGS WITH WHAT WE HAVE SCHEDULED.
UM, WE MAY BE READY AT THE NEXT MEETING TO BE ABLE TO, UH, PRESENT SOMETHING ON, ON SOME OF THIS WORK.
SORT OF DEPENDS ON THE, ON THE TIMING OF THAT.
UM, BUT I'M NOT PREPARED TODAY TO SPEAK TO, TO MORE DETAILS, BUT, BUT I WOULD THINK THAT WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS DO STUFF THAT'S OUTSIDE OF THE COMMITTEE, UM, SO THAT WE CAN ADVANCE THINGS FURTHER THAN WE CAN IN THE SHORT TIME THAT WE HAVE FOR.
WELL, SHALL WE TENTATIVELY, UM, PUT THIS ON A LIST FOR ITEMS FOR THE NEXT MEETING? SURE.
YOU CAN TENTATIVELY DO THAT, BUT I, BUT I THINK THE GOAL RIGHT NOW IS TO SEE IF THERE'S OTHER PEOPLE WHO WANNA WORK ON IT.
I'M INTERESTED, TRUSTEE SAYING HAS RAISED HER HAND, PILAR, YOU'VE RAISED YOUR HAND AS WELL.
ANY OTHER INTERESTED, JUST SO WE CAN KEEP A LIST OF PEOPLE WHO ARE INTERESTED IN BEING PART OF THIS DISCUSSION? SO I'M, I'M INTERESTED IN, UM, AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS, AND I THINK CHILDCARE IS A PART OF THAT.
WE'RE INTERESTED IN PRE-K THROUGH 12 AND, UH, AND HOW WE WORK TOGETHER WITH SCHOOL DISTRICTS, WHETHER, UH, A I S D, WHETHER MAIN R I S D, DELL VALLEY, PFLUGERVILLE, THE IDEA IS HOW DO WE PUT EFFECTIVE, UH, PROGRAM EFFECTIVE AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS IN TITLE ONE SCHOOLS.
I THINK, UH, THOSE ARE THE SCHOOLS THAT HAVE OUR GREATEST NEED AND, AND SOME OF THE SCHOOLS THAT AREN'T PERFORMING AS WELL AS THEY COULD POSSIBLY, UH, PERFORM.
SO I'M INTERESTED IN CHILDCARE, BUT THE WHOLE AREA OF AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS, UH, BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE TO DO EVERYTHING THAT WE CAN DO TO HAVE KIDS PREPARED TO WORK BY THE TIME THEY GET THROUGH 12TH GRADE.
UM, COMMISSIONER TRILLIAN FIRST, UM, ON THE PRIORITY FOR MENTAL HEALTH, I THINK, UH, IF WE HAVE TO INCLUDE THAT IN EVERYTHING THAT WE DO, BECAUSE, UM, IF WE DON'T, WE CAN'T GET STUDENTS INVOLVED IN ANYTHING AFTER SCHOOL BECAUSE RIGHT.
THERE'S THAT ISSUE THAT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED.
SO I, I'M, I'M WITH YOU ON MENTAL HEALTH.
THE CAN NETWORK IS DOING THAT AS A PRIORITY.
WE HAVE THAT AS A PRIORITY AS A DISTRICT.
SO I THINK I'D REALLY LIKE THIS TO MEET AND JUST TALK SPECIFIC ABOUT THAT ONE.
THE OTHER THING, THE THREE, THE THREE THINGS THAT WE'VE BEEN PARTNERS FOR MANY YEARS, BECAUSE I WAS INVOLVED FROM THE BEGINNING OF PRIMETIME, THE AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAM, YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT, UH, SOME YOUTH EMPLOYMENT.
IT WAS AN OPPORTUNITY TO REDUCE GANGS AND, AND, UH, AFFORD, UH, FAMILIES TO HAVE KIDS PARTICIPATE IN ENRICHMENT ACTIVITIES SO THEY WOULDN'T GET INTO THE JUSTICE SYSTEM.
UM, AND ALSO THE PARENT SUPPORT SPECIALIST.
THANK YOU, COUNCIL MEMBER VELAZQUEZ, FOR YOUR LEADERSHIP AND HELPING EXPAND, UH, GET US MORE FUNDING TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE OUR FAMILIES THAT SUPPORT THAT, UH, OUR ADULTS ALSO NEED.
UM, SO, UH, I'M INTERESTED IN THOSE LONG-TERM RELATIONSHIPS AND PARTNERSHIPS THAT WE HAD FOR HOW WE CAN GO DEEPER INTO THAT AND HOW, UM, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS THE PROCESS.
BECAUSE FOR SOME TIME AFTER THE COMMITTEES HAD DISSOLVED, THERE USED TO BE A COMMITTEE THAT WAS A REPRESENTATIVE FROM EACH ENTITY.
WHEN WE WOULD TALK ABOUT THE DIFFERENT PROGRAMS SO THAT WE'RE ON TOP OF WHAT'S GOING ON AND HOW WE MEASURE STUDENT OUTCOMES, STUDENT GROWTH, UH, COMMUNITY GROWTH, LEADERSHIP, ALL THOSE THINGS, THERE ARE, THOSE COMMITTEES DON'T EXIST ANYMORE.
SO IT'S BRINGING BACK SOMETHING LIKE THAT SO THAT WE CAN REALLY GET A PULSE ON A MONTHLY BASIS, HOW WE'RE DOING, UM, AND TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THOSE DOLLARS AS WELL.
SO, UH, I'M INTERESTED IN, IN, IN THE LONG-TERM ONES AS WELL AS MENTAL HEALTH.
SO IT SOUNDS LIKE THERE'S A CONNECTION BETWEEN AFTERSCHOOL AND CHILDCARE.
I DON'T KNOW THAT WE COLLAPSE THEM
[00:15:01]
OR, OR CONNECT THEM, BUT, UM, CLEARLY THERE'S, THERE, THERE IS OVERLAP.WHO'S GONNA COMMENT ON THAT? NO, SEVERAL.
THESE ARE ACTUALLY CLOSELY RELATED.
WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT CHILDCARE, I, I MEAN, WE'RE TALKING ABOUT SKI, UH, KIDS IN OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS AND WHAT THEY DO BETWEEN THREE AND SEVEN.
ARE WE ABLE TO GET THEM TUTORS? ARE WE ABLE TO GET THEM A THIRD YEAR? IS THE POSSIBILITY FOR ENRICHMENT AVAILABLE? BUT THEN WE HAVE TO LOOK AT SPECIAL ED AS WELL, BECAUSE THE QUESTION BECOMES, UH, YOU KNOW, UNFORTUNATELY, HISTORICALLY SPECIAL ED HAS BEEN MORE OF A DISCIPLINARY DESIGNATION THAN A DIAGNOSTIC GIVING KIDS ACCESS TO THESE SERVICES THAT THEY NEED.
HOW DO WE TURN THAT INTO A DIAGNOSTIC PROGRAM AND MAKE THE SCHOOLS THE TYPES OF PLACES WHERE KIDS WANT TO BE? WHEN I GREW UP AND WENT TO SCHOOL, UH, I WAS ONE OF MY FAVORITE PLACES TO BE.
A LOT OF THE KIDS THAT I KNOW IT'S NOT THEIR FAVORITE PLACE TO BE, BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, IT'S MANDATORY.
HOW DO WE MAKE IT A BETTER EXPERIENCE? UH, AND THEN WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT IS RELATED.
MENTAL HEALTH IS RELATED, COMMUNITY SCHOOLS ARE RELATED.
AND THEN THE COLLABORATIONS THAT WE PUT TOGETHER FOR, UH, FOR, UH, YOUTH, SUMMER YOUTH EMPLOYMENT, AND AFTERSCHOOL, UM, EMPLOYMENT AS WELL.
SO IT SEEMS THAT THERE ARE A NUMBER OF RELATED THINGS.
UH, HOW DO WE SEGMENT THEM TO MAKE SURE THAT WORK IS, THAT SIGNIFICANT WORK IS DONE IN EACH OF THEM.
SO DOES IT MAKE SENSE, 'CAUSE ONE OF THE, THERE'S TWO TASKS UNDER THIS AGENDA ITEM COMPOSITION OF THESE, UM, INTEREST AREAS AND OBJECTIVES.
DOES IT MAKE SENSE TO CONNECT, UM, CHILDCARE AND AFTER SCHOOL, UM, AND, UH, HAVE THAT BE SORT OF A WORKING GROUP AREA? WELL, I'M WONDERING, UM, SO FIRST LOVE THE CONVERSATION AND, AND THE GREAT THING ABOUT THE INTERSECTIONALITY IS THAT YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.
UM, COMMISSIONER TRILLIAN, ALL OF THESE THINGS IMPACT OR INFLUENCE EACH OTHER.
UM, SO KIND OF GOING BACK TO THE ORIGINAL QUESTION, UM, I, I AM INTERESTED IN THE CHILDCARE, PRESCHOOL KIND OF WORK THAT'S BEING DONE.
I THINK I GRAVITATE MORE TOWARD THE, UM, AFTERSCHOOL ISSUES, UM, AND AS THEY RELATE TO OTHER, OTHER ITEMS ON THE LIST.
SO I'M WONDERING IF MAYBE IT'S, UM, SOME, INITIALLY SOME FOCUSED CONVERSATIONS, ONE AFTERCARE, ONE CHILDCARE, AND THEN HAVE LIKE A, A, UM, CONVENING AND THEN BRINGING THOSE ISSUES BACK TO THIS GROUP.
UM, WHAT THE COMPOSITION WOULD BE, I DON'T KNOW.
BUT, UM, UM, AS A PARENT, I'M JUST KIND OF THINKING, OKAY, IF I'M THINKING CHILDCARE, I WOULD REALLY WANNA BE ABLE TO FOCUS ON PRESCHOOL AND ZERO TO THREE.
AND, YOU KNOW, THERE'S SOME THINGS THERE.
AND IT ACTUALLY DOES ALSO TOUCH ON MULTI-GENERATIONAL SUPPORTS VERSUS AFTERCARE.
OKAY, I'VE GOT AN OLDER CHILD, I NEED TO KEEP THEM BUSY WHILE I'M AT WORK.
THANK GOD I'VE WORK FROM HOME.
BUT MOST FAMILIES DON'T HAVE THAT BENEFIT.
RIGHT? AND IT'S NOT ALWAYS UNTIL SEVEN, SOMETIMES IT'S TILL 11:00 PM OR MIDNIGHT, DEPENDING IF YOU'RE DOING SHIFT WORK.
SO, UM, SO THAT, THAT WAS ONE WONDERING THAT I HAVE IS IF WE COULD HAVE FOCUSED CONVERSATIONS AND THEN, UM, COME TOGETHER, UM, I THINK THAT MAKES SENSE.
AND, UM, I THINK IT'S A WAY TO MOVE THIS ALONG AND BRING BACK SOME SPECIFIC ACTION ITEMS. THE THING THAT WE TALKED ABOUT PREVIOUSLY IS THIS IS A REALLY POWERFUL GROUP.
IT'S THE ONLY TIME THAT THE CITY, THE COUNTY, AND THE SCHOOL DISTRICT ELECTED OFFICIALS SIT DOWN TOGETHER TO TRY AND FIGURE OUT WHAT WE HAVE IN COMMON AND WHAT WE CAN COLLABORATE ON, AND THEN LEVERAGE OUR RESPECTIVE RESOURCES AND KNOWLEDGE, UM, AND INTEREST AREA TO DO MORE INSTEAD OF, I MEAN, NOT THAT THERE'S A PROBLEM WITH BRIEFINGS.
I THINK WE, WE WANTED THIS GROUP TO ALSO HAVE MORE ACTION ITEMS ASSOCIATED WITH IT.
SO, UM, INITIALLY WE HAVE, UM, TWO MEMBERS, UM, UH, WHO EXPRESSED INTEREST IN THE CHILDCARE AREA AND TWO MEMBERS WHO EXPRESSED INTEREST IN THE AFTERSCHOOL AREA.
ARE THERE ANY OTHERS WHO ARE INTERESTED IN PARTICIPATING? RYAN, UH, COUNCILMAN BALTER? YEAH.
SO, UH, ONE OF THE GREAT BENEFITS OF THIS IS THAT E OUR, EVEN THOUGH OUR OFFICES ARE RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER IN CITY HALL, WE DON'T ALWAYS KNOW WHAT EVERYONE ELSE IS DOING IN THE BUILDING.
AND, UH, WE TOO HAD BEEN ACTUALLY HAVING VERY INITIAL DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION.
SO, UH, I WOULD LOVE TO JOIN YOUR, SOUNDS LIKE Y'ALL ARE FURTHER AHEAD THAN WE ARE, SO, UH, JOIN YOUR WORK ON THAT.
AND, AND I DO THINK THERE IS A, WELL, YOU KNOW, EVERYTHING ON THIS LIST IS RELATED, RIGHT? WE COULD END UP STARTING TO TIE EVERYTHING TOGETHER.
AND THEN WE'RE BACK RIGHT HERE WHERE WE STARTED ONE, ONE GROUP TALKING ABOUT A LOT OF THINGS.
UH, I THINK CHILDCARE ZERO TO FIVE DOES HAVE DISTINCT
[00:20:01]
ISSUES.AND, UH, THERE ARE ELEMENTS TO IT THAT ARE VERY DIFFERENT FROM THE AFTERSCHOOL ELEMENT.
AND SO EVEN IF WE DO KIND OF HAVE IT BE ONE GROUP, I DO IMAGINE AS, UM, TRUSTEE MENTIONED, YOU KNOW, HAVING SEPARATE CONVERSATIONS WITHIN THAT GROUP BECAUSE THEY ARE, THERE ARE DIFFERENT LEVERS AND YOU KNOW, WHETHER SHE'S JUST FUNDING OR THE POPULATION IS, IS DIFFERENT, RIGHT? YOU'RE, YOU'RE DEALING WITH KIDS IN SCHOOL OR NOT.
SO THAT, THAT'S ALL, ALL THAT SAYS, I WOULD LOVE TO JOIN THAT GROUP.
UM, AND THEN LOOKING THROUGHOUT THIS LIST, I WOULD ALSO REALLY LIKE TO HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH ANYBODY WHO'S INTERESTED AROUND SUSTAINABILITY.
ONE, IF YOU LOOK AT THE LAND OWNED BY THESE THREE ENTITIES THROUGHOUT THE CITY OF AUSTIN, IT'S SIGNIFICANT AND WHAT WE'RE DOING WITH THOSE LANDS, HOW, AND, AND THE BUILDINGS ON THOSE LANDS, UH, AND THEN THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WE TOUCH, WHETHER IT'S THE SCHOOL DISTRICT OR THE CITY THROUGH, UM, OUR EMPLOYEES OR, OR MORE REMOTELY, WE HAVE A, A HUGE OPPORTUNITY TO IMPACT THE, THE CLIMATE IMPACT AS A CITY JUST AMONGST THE THREE OF US.
SO THAT IS SOMETHING I WOULD LOVE TO, UM, WORK ON, ON WITH ANYBODY WHO IS INTERESTED.
AND IF NO ONE IS, DON'T, DON'T FEEL PRESSURE, I CAN, UH, KEEP ON KEEPING ON.
SO ANYONE ELSE HAVE A PARTICULAR INTEREST AREA THAT THEY, UM, WOULD WANT TO, UH, FOCUS ON? AND I THINK, I THINK THE GOAL, ALTHOUGH THE, THE TWO, UH, TASKS LISTED UNDER THIS ARE COMPOSITION OBJECTIVES.
I DO THINK PART OF THE GOAL WOULD BE TO BRING BACK ITEMS TO THIS BODY, UM, WHERE WE MIGHT CONSIDER TAKING ACTION OR, UM, LOOKING AT A, A POLICY POSITION, UM, BUT TO HAVE IT BE SOME KIND OF MEANINGFUL ACTION THAT WE CAN TAKE COMING OUT OF, UM, UH, OUT OF YOUR THINKING AND COLLABORATION IN THE ISSUE AREA.
ARE THERE OTHER ISSUE AREAS THAT, UM, ANYONE WANTS TO IDENTIFY AN INTEREST IN? YEAH, I HAVE A QUESTION ACTUALLY.
SO, UM, WE TALKED ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH, UM, COMMISSIONER TRIVIAN AT THE TOP OF THE MEETING.
UM, IS THERE, UH, WOULD IT BE HELPFUL FOR THERE TO BE A SUBCOMMITTEE OR, UM, ARE FOLKS FEELING LIKE THERE NEEDS TO BE A LITTLE BIT MORE PRE-WORK DONE BEFORE, BEFORE WE CAN, UM, ASCERTAIN WHETHER A SUBCOMMITTEE WOULD MAKE SENSE? RIGHT.
I NEVER WANNA GET IN THE WAY OF WORK THAT'S ALREADY PROGRESSING, YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN? I AGREE THAT, UM, WE PROB WE NEED TO HAVE A PROBLEM STATEMENT.
I MEAN, I DON'T, I DON'T KNOW THAT WE CAN SOLVE ANY PROBLEM THAT WE CAN'T DEFINE MM-HMM.
SO WHAT IS IT THAT WE WILL BE WORKING ON? AND, AND, UM, AND UH, AND ULTIMATELY WHAT ARE WE SOLVING FOR? IF WE CAN, IF, IF OUR COMMITTEES CAN INITIALLY GET TOGETHER AND DEFINE WHAT IT IS WE'RE AFTER, THEN I THINK WE COULD BEGIN TO PUT AN ASSET MAP TOGETHER OF THE RESOURCES THAT ARE ALREADY WORKING ON THAT.
BUT IT ALL STARTS WITH THE DEFINITION AND BEING ABLE TO PUT OUR HANDS ON THE TYPES OF PROGRAMS THAT ARE WORKING NOW.
UM, SO, UH, I DON'T KNOW IF MAYBE, UM, THERE CAN BE AN INITIAL CONVERSATION WITHIN A I S D.
I KNOW SEVERAL OF THE TRUSTEES, UM, INCLUDING MYSELF, WERE, WE'VE BEEN, YOU KNOW, THAT'S BEEN ONE OF THE, THE KEY TOPICS, UM, DURING OUR TERMS. UM, SO THOUGHTS, UM, SUPERINTENDENT.
SO I HAVE LOTS OF THOUGHTS ABOUT ALL OF THESE.
UM,
AND SO WHAT STAFF IS GONNA BE AVAILABLE TO SUPPORT THE WORK.
AND SO REGARDING MENTAL HEALTH, YOU KNOW, AIS, D'S, YOU KNOW, HAD PLANS, THEY'VE BEEN MODIFIED, THERE'S BEEN DE BUDGETTING OR DESCOPING, AND WE'VE BEEN BRINGING VARIOUS ELEMENTS BACK IN.
BUT HOW DOES THAT ALIGN WITH WHAT RESOURCES ARE AVAILABLE THROUGH TRAVIS COUNTY OR THE CITY OF AUSTIN? JUST OVER THE LAST COUPLE WEEKS? WE KNOW THAT THERE ARE GAPS, BUT THERE'RE THEY'RE NOT GAPS THAT WE ACTUALLY OBSERVED.
WE THINK THERE'S COVERAGE, BUT THEY'LL LIVE THE EXPERIENCE OF THE INDIVIDUALS GOING THROUGH IT, PERCEIVE IT AS A GAP.
AND SO ACCESS AND, AND THE SERVICES ARE NOT BEING PROVIDED.
SO I, I THINK THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, MENTAL HEALTH, I THINK, UM, CHILDCARE,
[00:25:01]
YOU KNOW, ZERO THROUGH THREE AND THEN THREE THROUGH FIVE, UM, WOULD BE A REALLY GOOD PLACE TO START.UM, AND THEN, UM, AS LONG AS WE HAVE THE RESOURCES TO SUPPORT THE WORK IN BETWEEN, I THINK WE SHOULD PROGRESS.
I'D BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO SUPPORT AD'S PORTION OF IT AND ALLOCATE RESOURCES.
WE JUST PASSED OUR, OUR TIME ALLOTTED FOR THIS, SO IF THERE'S ANY OTHER WRAP UP AND THEN I, I WANNA COMMENT ON ONE THAT I'M INTERESTED IN.
UM, I WANTED TO JUST ADD THAT, YOU KNOW, ANOTHER WAY THAT THESE COMMITTEES CAN BE HELPFUL IS WHEN WE DO IDENTIFY THOSE GAPS OR WHEN SOMEBODY IN THIS GROUP IS GOING FOR RESOURCES WITHIN THEIR GROUP THAT HELP US COLLECTIVELY, UM, TO BE LEVERAGING THE PEOPLE IN THIS ROOM TO HELP US GET IT ACROSS THE FINISH LINE.
UM, COUNCIL MEMBER VELASQUEZ HAD A COUPLE AMENDMENTS THAT BOTH COUNCIL MEMBER ALDER AND MYSELF WERE CO-SPONSORS ON.
ONE OF THOSE WAS THE PRIME TIME.
AND GETTING THAT BACK UP TO THE FUNDING, UM, ON AN ONGOING BASIS OF WHERE WE WERE, UM, CLOSER TO PRE COVID, WHICH IS SOMETHING, YOU KNOW, WE TRIED TO DO LAST YEAR, ET CETERA.
UM, WE WERE ABLE TO GET SOME ADDITIONAL FUNDING FOR PARENT SUPPORT SPECIALISTS, UM, BUT THE ASK WAS HIGHER AND WE DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH WELL COORDINATED, UM, COOPERATION AMONGST US TO, TO MOVE THINGS AS FAR AS WE MIGHT HAVE HAD WE BEEN, UM, WORKING TOGETHER IN CONCERT TO SAY, THIS IS, UM, SOMETHING THAT WE THINK MAKES SENSE MM-HMM.
UM, SO I THINK THAT'S ALSO SOMETHING THAT CAN, THESE TYPES OF SUBCOMMITTEES CAN HELP TO DO, JUST LIKE WE DID WITH THE ARPA, WHERE WE WERE ABLE TO SECURE DOLLARS FOR THINGS THAT WE COLLECTIVELY CARED ABOUT, UM, FROM THESE DIFFERENT AREAS.
IN ORDER FOR US TO BRING THAT PRESSURE TO BEAR, WE HAVE TO BE WORKING, WORKING TOGETHER, UM, AND HAVING THOSE CLEAR, CLEAR GOALS.
SO I THINK THIS, THESE COMMITTEES BETWEEN, BETWEEN THE SESSIONS, I THINK COULD BE REALLY HELPFUL.
UM, SO I THINK, UH, THERE CLEARLY ARE STAFFING, UM, NEEDS.
AND THEN I THINK IT ALSO, UM, IS INCUMBENT ON US IF WE'RE INTERESTED IN THESE AREAS TO INITIATE THESE DISCUSSIONS AND MAKE SURE THEY, THEY HAPPEN BETWEEN NOW AND THE NEXT QUARTERLY MEETING.
UM, I WILL JUST SAY THE EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS, UM, SLASH RESILIENCE ITEM, UH, WASN'T ON THE LIST FROM OUR LAST DISCUSSION.
UM, I'M FINE TO COLLAPSE IT INTO SUSTAINABILITY.
UM, COUNCILOR ALTER, I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S, UH, OF, UH, OKAY WITH YOU, BUT I WILL JUST SAY WE NEED TO BEGIN PREPARING, UM, OUR CHILDREN FOR THE REALITIES OF, OF WHAT THEY'RE, THEY'RE EXPERIENCING AND WHAT WILL BE HAPPENING IN THEIR FUTURE.
UM, EVERYONE IS, I THINK, EXTREMELY CONCERNED ABOUT THE, UM, UM, THE HEAT DOME AND THE IMPACT OF THE EXTREME HEAT THAT WE'RE ALL LIVING WITH.
AND THE REALITY IS IT WILL CONTINUE TO GET WORSE.
UM, OUR REGION IS ALSO FACING, UM, A PROFOUND DROUGHT CRISIS, AND THERE'S SIMPLY NOT ENOUGH AWARENESS, UH, OR EFFORTS TO EVEN BEGIN TO PREPARE PEOPLE FOR THESE KINDS OF IMPACTS.
AND I THINK OUR SCHOOLS MAY BE A PLACE TO DO IT.
THIS IS SOMETHING THAT ALSO HAS A PROFOUND IMPACT ON PEOPLE'S MENTAL HEALTH, AND YOUNG PEOPLE KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON.
THEY'RE NOT UNAWARE OF THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE.
THEY'RE PROBABLY MUCH MORE AWARE THAN MANY ADULTS.
AND SO I JUST THINK THESE ARE, ARE PROFOUNDLY IMPORTANT QUESTIONS.
UM, THEY'RE, THEY'RE HAVING VERY REAL IMPACTS ON PEOPLE'S LIVES, AND WE DON'T HAVE AN, WE DON'T HAVE AN ABILITY TO HAVE MEANINGFUL CONVERSATIONS ABOUT IT.
AND I THINK THAT'S PART OF THE FRUSTRATION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE AS WELL.
WHY AREN'T ADULTS DOING MORE? SO FOR ME, THAT'S A REALLY IMPORTANT PIECE OF THIS.
I'M NOT SUGGESTING THAT WE, YOU KNOW, ADD A WHOLE NEW CURRICULUM, BUT I DO THINK SCHOOLS ARE A PLACE WHERE SOME OF THOSE CONVERSATIONS CAN BE HAPPENING SO THAT YOUNG PEOPLE AT LEAST HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING THAT ADULTS ARE PAYING ATTENTION AND ARE TRYING TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
UM, WE HAVE A NUMBER OF INITIATIVES AT THE COUNTY.
THE CITY HAS A TREMENDOUS NUMBER OF THEM WORKING ON ADDRESSING REVERSING CLIMATE CHANGE AND PREPARING PEOPLE FOR THE IMPACTS OF IT.
AND I THINK WE NEED TO FIND A WAY TO, TO INCORPORATE IT IN ALL LEVELS OF WHAT WE'RE DOING, AND PARTICULARLY WITH THE PUBLIC.
UM, SO I'M, I WOULD LIKE TO ADD THAT TO THE, UH, SUSTAINABILITY CATEGORY.
MADAM CHAIR, I, I AGREE WITH YOU FULLY, BUT I'LL SAY THIS.
UH, I SERVED ON A BOY SCOUT, UM, COMMITTEE, AND WHAT I'VE FOUND IS THAT YOUNG PEOPLE ARE BETTER PREPARED THAN WE THINK THEY ARE.
UM, BOY SCOUTS AND GIRL GIRL SCOUTS, WHAT SCOUT, UM, GIRL SCOUTS, THEY, I MEAN, THEY TEACH KIDS ABOUT, UH, LIVING THROUGH EMERGENCIES.
[00:30:01]
FOR EMERGENCIES THAT THEY OFTEN EITHER GIFT OR SELL TO OTHERS.I GUESS ONE THING WE COULD DO IS LOOK TO THOSE ENTITIES THAT ARE WORKING WITH YOUTH, UH, AND, AND INVITE THEM INTO THE SCHOOL SETTING OR INVITE THEM INTO WHATEVER SETTING.
UH, WE CAN MAKE OTHERS AWARE OF IT, BECAUSE THIS IS A, A, UH, CONVERSATION THAT, THAT YOU THEY'RE HAVING AND THEY ARE, UH, FOR EXAMPLE, PARTNERING WITH OUR PARKS AND REC, UH, OR WITH OUR PARKS FOUNDATION TO, UH, TO WORK IN THE SUMMERS AND TO BE BETTER INFORMED ABOUT WHAT WE ARE DOING TO GET RID OF BRUSH AND WHATNOT.
BUT I DON'T THINK IT HAS BEEN, UH, TAKEN TO SCALE.
IT HAPPENS IN POCKETS RATHER THAN TO SCALE.
AND WE SHOULD BE TALKING ABOUT HOW WE GIVE THEM THE RESOURCES TO TAKE IT TO SCALE.
UM, SO WE ARE, WE'RE OUT OF TIME FOR THIS SEGMENT.
UM, BEFORE WE MOVE ON, I, I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT I VOICED THE IMPORTANCE OF REVISITING AND LOOKING.
AND I KNOW I'VE TALKED MISS, MS. HAYDEN AND SOME TRAVIS COUNTY, UH, SUMMER YOUTH EMPLOYMENT THAT WAS ALSO, UH, AN INITIATIVE TO HELP OUR STUDENTS REALLY GET REENGAGED IN THEIR EDUCATION.
UH, IT, IT'S, IT'S STRUGGLING IN THE SENSE OF OUR, OUR ORIGINAL COMMITMENT AS PARTNERS WITH THE CITY AND COUNTY.
I THINK IT'S CHANGED A LITTLE BIT.
UM, AND SO I'D REALLY LIKE US TO BRING THAT, BECAUSE THAT WILL HELP US TO REALLY HELP OUR STUDENTS BEGIN TO KNOW WHERE THEY'RE GOING AFTER HIGH SCHOOL, AND THESE JOB OPPORTUNITIES HELP THEM BEGIN THINKING MORE OF THEIR FUTURE.
AND, UH, SO I'D REALLY LIKE US AND I WILLING TO LEAD THE, I'M LEADING THAT ALREADY, SO I WOULD BE HAPPY TO, TO LEAD THAT AS WELL, BECAUSE, UM, UH, A I S D THIS YEAR, UM, HIRED 56 STUDENTS WHERE THE CITY HIRED 10 STUDENTS.
AND, UH, SO I THINK THAT WE ALL CAN MAKE A, A RECOMMITMENT TO WHAT WE WANT THAT TO LOOK LIKE.
AND, UM, I REALLY WANT THAT TO BE ON THE AGENDA.
COULD THAT BE, UH, INCLUDED IN THE ISSUE AREA AROUND AFTER SCHOOL AND PRIME TIME? DOES THAT MAKE SENSE TO HAVE THAT BE PART OF WHAT YOU DISCUSSED WITH, UM, MS. UH, SUPERVISOR LUGO AND, UM, COMMISSIONER TVI, OR UNLESS YOU WANNA DO SOMETHING ON YOUR OWN, I'M WILLING TO TALK ANYTIME ANYWAY,
I MEAN, THOSE ARE ALL THE SAME FUNDS, CITY AND COUNTY, SO, YEAH.
COMMISSIONER SHAY, DID WE SAY WE HAD A WORKING GROUP FOR MENTAL HEALTH? UM, OR IS THAT EMBEDDED IN SOME, I DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER TO THAT.
UM, I, IT WOULD BE USEFUL IF STAFF HAS ANY INSIGHT ON THAT.
SO WE HAVE ENGAGED, UM, DAVID SMITH AND EMMETT HAYES AT INTEGRAL CARE TO, UH, HAVE, BEGIN TO HAVE THE DISCUSSION ABOUT, UH, MENTAL HEALTH AND YOUTH.
SO, UM, WE CAN PULL THAT TOGETHER MORE FORMALLY IF, IF YOU WOULD LIKE, UM, I MEAN, I WOULD, I WOULD LIKE, I CAN'T DRIVE IT, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO BE A PA SUPPORTIVE PASSENGER IN, IN THAT WORK.
AND I THINK INTEGRAL CARE MIGHT BE AN ENTITY TO HELP DRIVE IT.
UH, BUT I THINK THEY NEED TO HEAR DIRECTLY FROM THE COMMUNITY AND THE SCHOOL DISTRICT ABOUT WHAT IS NEEDED SO THAT THERE'S NO QUESTION ABOUT WHAT'S NEEDED.
YOU CAN TELL US WHAT'S ON THE GROUND.
AUDREY, DID YOU SAY YOU WERE INTERESTED IN THAT AS WELL AS A PASSENGER? YEAH,
UM, YEAH, THIS IS A HUGE ONE, OBVIOUSLY, AND THE COUNTY HAS INVESTED ENORMOUS OF FUNDS AND TIME AND EFFORT INTO CHANGING THE INCARCERATION MODEL AWAY FROM A FOCUS ON INCARCERATION AND MORE ON DIVERSION, PARTICULARLY FOR PEOPLE SUFFERING FROM MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES.
WE'VE GOT A TON OF STAFF, UM, AND, UH, CONSULTANTS AND OUTSIDE ENTITIES, INCLUDING INTEGRAL HAIR CARE WORKING ON IT.
I DON'T KNOW THAT THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT.
UM, SO I FEEL LIKE IT IS SOME, I MEAN, I, I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S ANYBODY HERE WHO WOULD LIKE TO KIND OF OWN THIS TASK.
UNFORTUNATELY, I DON'T HAVE A STAFF
BUT I CERTAINLY WOULD BE SUPPORTIVE, UM, OF ANY EFFORT IF THERE IS SOMEBODY WHO WANTS TO TAKE THAT.
I THINK JUST PULLING TOGETHER THE GROUP MORE FORMALLY, I REALLY LOVE THE IDEA OF LIKE, LET'S DEFINE OUR COLLECTIVE PROBLEM STATEMENT.
SO, UM, MAYBE SUGGESTS THIS AS A POSSIBLE, UH, ITEM FOR A FUTURE AGENDA TO GET AN UPDATE FROM THE FOLKS AT INTEGRAL CARE WHO ARE FOCUSING ON MENTAL HEALTH AND YOUTH.
I DON'T MIND TAKING, I DON'T MIND TAKING A LEADERSHIP ROLE ON THIS.
'CAUSE OTHER, IT, WE CAN FLAG THAT FOR FUTURE AGENDA.
AND I WANTED MAD CHAIR, IF YOU CAN ADD ME TO THAT ALSO, PLEASE.
UH, I WANTED TO JUST LET YOU ALL KNOW THAT AFTER, UH, WE LOST
[00:35:01]
OUR SECOND STUDENT THAT INTEGRAL CARE AND OTHER, AND CITY AND COUNTY STAFF REACHED OUT TO ME, UM, TO HELP IN ANY WAY.AND SO I CONNECTED THEM WITH OUR MENTAL HEALTH, UH, COUNSELORS AND SO FORTH.
SO THERE'S ALREADY A GROUP, UM, THAT HAS COME TOGETHER INFORMALLY BECAUSE, BECAUSE YOUR STAFF'S REACHED OUT.
SO I, I THINK THAT THAT'S PROBABLY A GOOD PLACE TO START.
UM, FOR, FOR THE, THOSE THOSE FOLKS WHO REACHED OUT GETTING TOGETHER WITH OUR, UM, SCHOOL COUNSELORS.
CAN WE START WITH AN ASSET MAP? JUST YEAH.
WHO WE, ALL THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE BEEN CONTACTED, AND THEN WE CAN, SO LET'S TALK ABOUT THE WHO, AND THEN WE CAN BUILD THE WHAT, AND THEN WE CAN BUILD THE TIMELINE, UH, AND, AND GUIDE RAILS.
UM, IF I MAY, I THINK, UH, COMMISSIONER FILLING, THAT'S, THAT'S PRECISELY WHAT PROBABLY NEEDS TO HAPPEN FIRST.
I THINK ONE OF THE CHALLENGES THAT WE HAVE IS, YOU KNOW, ALL OF US HAVE RESOURCES, AND RIGHT NOW EVERYBODY WANTS TO HELP, BUT NONE OF THEM ARE GONNA BE ABLE TO DRIVE THE COLLECTIVE WHOLE.
IT'S GONNA BE ONE OF US THREE, LIKE, AS YOU KNOW, TOGETHER COORDINATING ALL OF THIS WORK.
SO I THINK THAT'S AN APPROPRIATE FIRST STEP.
AGAIN, UM, PRESIDENT DEAN DOESN'T HAVE STAFF, BUT I HAVE STAFF.
AND SO, UH, WE WILL PUSH THIS.
UM, BUT I THINK JUST REALLY UNDERSTANDING WHERE WE ARE, I THINK IS A GOOD FIRST STEP.
'CAUSE THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF ACTIONS OVER THE LAST 18 MONTHS, AND PRIOR TO THAT, THERE WERE A LOT OF ACTIONS, UNFORTUNATELY, IN THE WRONG DIRECTION.
SO WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT.
SO WE TRULY FIGURE OUT AND ARE IN ALIGNMENT REGARDING WHERE WE WANT TO GO.
AND, AND, UH, SO I'LL WORK DIRECTLY WITH YOU.
WE ARE, WE ARE WORKING, MY OFFICE IS WORKING WITH TWO FOUNDATIONS NOW ON FAMILY STABILIZATION ISSUES.
AND I THINK THIS FITS PERFECTLY WITHIN THAT CONTEXT.
SO IF, IF WE CAN, UM, PUT OUR ASSET MAPS TOGETHER AND IDENTIFY WHAT IT IS WE FEEL OUR PRIORITY PROBLEMS ARE, THEN I'LL, I'LL ASK THE FOUNDATIONS TO COME DOWN AND SIT WITH US AND TALK ABOUT RESOURCES AND ALL OF IT.
UM, SO IT SOUNDS LIKE WE'VE GOT A PLAN FOR WORK TO BE DONE IN THE INTERIM.
AND THEN I THINK WE NEED TO HAVE THIS ON THE NEXT AGENDA, UH, FOR AN UPDATE.
UM, EVEN IF IT'S, WE'VE DONE THE ASSET MAP AND WE ARE NOW COORDINATING WITH THESE OTHER ENTITIES, WE'RE NOT EXPECTING YOU TO FULLY BAKE THE CAKE BETWEEN NOW AND THE NEXT QUARTER.
[IV. Safety update]
THE NEXT ITEM.AND I SUSPECT THIS WILL ALSO INCLUDE SOME OF THE, THE MENTAL HEALTH DISCUSSION.
UH, SO I'LL KICK THIS, UM, MATTIA SEGURA, INTERIM SUPERINTENDENT, A I S D, I HAVE LIEUTENANT COX TO MY LEFT.
AND THEN THE BUTS, UH, WHEN WE ORIGINALLY PULLED THIS TOGETHER, IT WAS REALLY, UH, FOCUSING ON HB THREE AND SOME OF THE THINGS THAT, UM, HAVE OCCURRED WITHIN THE STATE AND HOW AIS S D'S RESPONDING TO IT.
SO I THINK THIS WILL HAVE, UM, COMPONENTS THAT'LL TIE INTO MENTAL HEALTH, BUT I REALLY GENUINELY BELIEVE THAT A COMPREHENSIVE CONVERSATION AROUND MENTAL HEALTH IS GONNA BE WHAT'S APPROPRIATE.
UH, BUT I WANTED TO KINDA SAY THAT BEFORE WE GET GOING.
AND SO AS WE MOVE THROUGH THE FIRST SLIDE, I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS THAT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE IS THAT A I S D HAS ITS OWN, UH, INDEPENDENT POLICE DEPARTMENT.
A LOT OF ORGANIZATIONS DON'T REALIZE THAT.
AND MATTIS, CAN I JUST ASK YOU TO REFERENCE THE SLIDE? WE'VE GOT A SUMMARY OF SELECT EDUCATION.
THAT'S NOT WHAT YOU'RE REFERRING TO IN THE FIRST SLIDE.
NO, COMMISSIONER, I HAVE A, IT'S THE SEPARATE ONE.
AND SO THE TITLE SHOULD SAY, YOU SHOULD BE ON SLIDE TWO.
AND THE, UM, THE SLIDE HEADER SHOULD BE IZED POLICE DEPARTMENT, EVERYBODY THERE.
SO, UM, YES, WE ARE, WE DO HAVE AN INDEPENDENT POLICE DEPARTMENT, AND THERE ARE A VARIETY OF REASONS WHY WE DO.
UH, ONE OF, OF THE THINGS THAT WE OFTEN TALK ABOUT IS THAT SUPPORTING COMMUNITY AND COMMUNITY POLICING IS VERY DIFFERENT THAN CITY POLICING.
AND, YOU KNOW, OUR OFFICERS ARE ENGAGING WITH YOUNG PEOPLE, AND THERE IS A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT TRAINING REQUIREMENTS, UH, DIFFERENT, UH, I WOULD SAY VALUES THAT WE HAVE, UH, THAT MAKE THIS DEPARTMENT VERY UNIQUE.
UH, CURRENTLY WE HAVE 80, 82 FULL-TIME OFFICERS AND 43 SROS.
YOU'LL HEAR SROS MULTIPLE TIMES, BUT WHAT IT MEANS IS A SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER.
IT IS AN OFFICER WHO IS PLACED AT A CAMPUS.
UH, CURRENTLY THE CONFIGURATION IS TWO SROS FOR EVERY HIGH SCHOOL, ONE FOR EVERY MIDDLE SCHOOL, AND THEN FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, RE ROVER AND PATROL AS APPROPRIATE.
NOW, WE'LL TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE CHANGES AHEAD OF US, BUT THAT IS OUR CURRENT, UM, PROGRAMMATIC STAFFING.
UH, AND IT'S BEEN THAT WAY FOR QUITE SOME TIME.
I WILL SAY, AS WE MOVE INTO THE NEXT SLIDE, THAT, UH, OVER THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS, IT HAS BEEN DIFFICULT TO STAFF.
WE'VE BEEN OPERATING WITH MULTIPLE VACANCIES.
UH, WE HAVE MADE, UH, STRIDES, UH, TO ADDRESS THOSE VACANCIES PRIMARILY AROUND, UH, THE COMPENSATION CHANGES WE'VE MADE OVER THE LAST YEAR.
AND SO, AS WE MOVE TO THE NEXT SLIDE, ENTITLED, UH, DISTRICT EMERGENCY OPERATIONS, IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT WE AS AN ORGANIZATION, UM, OPERATE OUT OF A CULTURE OF SAFETY.
LIKE WE TALK ABOUT IT ALL THE TIME.
UH, IT'S, IT'S NO SINGLE PERSON'S RESPONSIBILITY.
IT'S ALL OF OUR COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE THAT OUR STAFF AND OUR STUDENTS ARE SUPPORTED.
[00:40:01]
MULTIPLE WAYS THAT THAT SHOWS ITSELF, UH, WITHIN OUR SYSTEM.UH, WE DO HAVE A SAFETY SECURITY, UM, UH, COMMITTEE THAT CONVENES.
WE ACTUALLY JUST HAD A MEETING TWO DAYS AGO.
UH, THIS GROUP OVERSEES DIFFERENT POLICIES, PERHAPS RECOMMENDATIONS.
THOSE COME TO THE ADMINISTRATION AND TO THE BOARD ULTIMATELY FOR APPROVAL.
UH, WE DO HAVE MULTIPLE SCHOOL SAFETY RESOURCES.
AGAIN, THIS IS SPECIFICALLY AROUND PHYSICAL SAFETY.
UH, BUT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE DONE OVER THE LAST SEVERAL MONTHS IS PULLED TOGETHER A, UH, RESOURCE FOR ALL OF OUR EDUCATORS, LIBRARIANS, PRINCIPALS.
UH, THIS FLIP BOOK, WHICH YOU SEE A IMAGE OF ON THE RIGHT, DID NOT EXIST IN JANUARY.
AND THE IDEA THERE WAS WE WANT TO UNDERSTAND HOW EACH INDIVIDUAL ON OUR CAMPUS, LIKE NEEDS TO RESPOND.
EVERYTHING FROM A GAS LEAK, WHICH HAPPENS TO A, UM, YOU KNOW, PERHAPS IT'S A, IT'S A, YOU KNOW, SOMETHING INVOLVING A STUDENT.
WE CAN HAVE, UM, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A VARIETY OF DIFFERENT THINGS THAT OCCUR.
BUT I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT TO NOTE IS THAT EVERY SINGLE KIND OF IDEA OF A POTENTIAL, UM, OCCURRENCE ON A SITE HAS BEEN THOUGHT THROUGH.
WE BROUGHT IN PRINCIPLES, AND THE IDEA IS THAT OUR PRINCIPALS AND STAFF UNDERSTAND WHAT TO DO IN EVERY INSTANCE.
UH, WE HAVE OVER 5,000 OF THEM.
THEY'VE BEEN DISTRIBUTED TO OUR, UM, CLASSROOMS, AND WE PROVIDED TRAINING OVER THE SUMMER FOR THAT.
THE OTHER THING TO NOTE IS THAT THIS ALSO INCLUDES SEVERE WEATHER.
WE KNOW THAT WINTER WEATHER EVENTS ARE GOING TO OCCUR.
THEY HAVE, IN THE PAST, UH, THERE'S BEEN CONFUSION AT A SYSTEM LEVEL AS TO KIND OF WHAT HAPPENS FIRST, WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.
A LOT OF THAT IS DETAILED IN THESE PLANS AS WELL.
THE OTHER THING THAT I'LL POINT OUT IS, UH, FORTUNATELY FOR US, UM, BECAUSE OF THE SUPPORT FROM THE COMMUNITY, WE'RE WELL POSITIONED, UH, THE PASSAGE OF THE 20, UH, 22 BOND PROGRAM, UH, HAS ALLOWED US TO TAKE A LOT OF THESE COSTLY EXPENDITURES OFF OUR GENERAL OPERATING BUDGET AND MOVE INTO OUR CAPITAL BOND EXPENDITURE BUDGET.
AND SO YOU'RE GONNA BEGIN TO SEE A LOT OF THESE IMPROVEMENTS TAKE PLACE, UH, ACROSS ALL OF OUR CAMPUSES.
AND AGAIN, IT'S IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT EVERYTHING THAT WE PRODUCE, UH, THAT'S PROVIDES SAFETY AND SECURITY.
UM, YOU KNOW, ROUTINES, SOPS FOR OUR CAMPUSES IS BUILT WITH OUR EDUCATORS.
OUR, UM, OUR, OUR TEACHERS ARE IN THIS SPACE.
OUR PRINCIPALS ARE IN THIS SPACE.
UM, OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, UM, UH, OVER COUNSELING AND MENTAL HEALTH IS IN THIS SPACE.
AND SO IT'S A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT.
AND, AND THESE PRODUCTS ARE A, UM, A DELIVERABLE OUT OF THAT COLLABORATIVE WORK.
AND SO, AS WE MOVE TO THE NEXT SLIDE, I THINK IT'S ALSO IMPORTANT TO NOTE SOME OF THE DIFFERENT THINGS THAT OUR CAMPUSES, UH, COULD EXPERIENCE OVER THE COURSE OF ANY DAY.
UH, YOU CAN SEE FROM THE LEFT TO RIGHT, WE HAVE HOLD, SECURE LOCKDOWN, EVACUATE, AND SHELTER.
UH, EACH OF THESE RESPONSES IS, IS KNOWN BY THE SYSTEM.
THE, THE COMMUNITY UNDERSTANDS WHAT TO EXPECT IN EACH OF THESE INSTANCES, UH, AS WELL AS WHAT THE, YOU KNOW, LEADERSHIP'S ROLE IN THIS, THE BOARD NOTIFICATION, COMMUNITY NOTIFICATIONS.
UH, AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, THERE ARE A LOT OF THINGS HAPPENING VERY QUICKLY.
AND SO IT'S IMPORTANT THAT WE PRACTICE IT, UH, AND THAT WE IMPLEMENT WITH FIDELITY, UH, WHEN THAT TIME COMES.
AND UNFORTUNATELY, IT, IT DOES OCCUR MORE FREQUENTLY THAN, THAN YOU MIGHT IMAGINE.
AND SO, UH, AS WE MOVE TO THE NEXT SLIDE, I'LL ACTUALLY HAND IT OVER, UH, TO LIEUTENANT COX TO TALK ABOUT, UM, SOME OF THE, UH, TIERED SYSTEMS THAT WE HAVE IN PLACE.
AND THEN WE'LL HAND IT OVER TO, TO ED TO TALK ABOUT SOME OF THE CHANGES COMING UP LEGISLATIVELY.
UM, SO AS WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THE MENTAL HEALTH PIECE EARLIER, I THINK THE, THE, THE SAFE AND SUPPORTIVE SCHOOL PROGRAMS, ESPECIALLY THE, THE SCHOOL BEHAVIORAL THREAT ASSESSMENTS THAT WE UTILIZE, UH, IS A, IS A LARGE PIECE OF THE MENTAL HEALTH FOR US.
UM, TO GIVE YOU A LITTLE BACKGROUND, THE, THE A S D POLICE DEPARTMENT IS ONE OF THE ONLY, IF NOT THE ONLY, UH, POLICE SCHOOL DISTRICT, POLICE DEPARTMENT IN THE STATE OF TEXAS THAT HAS THEIR OWN MENTAL HEALTH UNIT.
UH, WE HAVE FOUR OFFICERS, UM, OUR CRISIS INTERVENTION TEAM THAT ARE DEDICATED SOLELY TO MENTAL HEALTH AND MENTAL HEALTH RELATED CALLS.
UH, WE ALSO HAVE A, A CERTIFIED OR A, A LICENSED MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONAL ON OUR STAFF WHO COORDINATES SERVICES BETWEEN OUR AGENCY AND, AND THE CITY AND COUNTY SERVICES FOR ANYONE THAT, UM, THAT WE ARE HELPING.
AND, AND THIS IS STUDENTS OR STAFF, UM, EVEN PARENTS OF STUDENTS AND STAFF.
UM, SO AS WE LOOK AT THE, THE, THE BEHAVIORAL THREAT ASSESSMENTS, UM, THIS IS AN EVIDENCE-BASED APPROACH FOR IDENTIFYING ANY INDIVIDUALS ON CAMPUS THAT MAY POSE A THREAT, UM, TO, TO ANYONE ON THAT CAMPUS, STUDENTS, STAFF, PARENTS, OR OTHERWISE.
UM, PARTICULARLY IN, IN THE ASPECT OF STUDENTS, UM, THE, THE BEHAVIORAL THREAT ASSESSMENTS ARE DONE AT EVERY LEVEL IN, IN THE SCHOOL, FROM THE TEACHERS, ADMINISTRATORS, THE COUNSELORS ON ON CAMPUS, OUR LICENSED MENTAL HEALTH PROFESSIONALS, AND AS WELL AS THE OFFICERS.
UM, AND DEPENDING ON, ON THE LEVEL, UM, THAT, THAT THEY PERCEIVE DURING THAT ASSESSMENT, DEPENDS ON THE LEVEL OF, UM, THAT WE TAKE IT INSIDE THE AGENCY AS FAR AS GETTING ADDITIONAL HELP OUT TO THEM.
UM, IF THEY FEEL IT'S LOW LEVEL AND CAN BE HANDLED ON THE CAMPUS, THAT'S WHAT THEY DO.
UH, IF WE NEED TO PROVIDE MORE RESOURCES ON THE LAW ENFORCEMENT
[00:45:01]
SIDE, THEN, THEN WE HAVE THOSE TWO PROVIDE.UM, BUT YOU KNOW, I, I THINK WE ARE UNIQUE IN THE SENSE THAT WE HAVE THOSE RESOURCES INSIDE OF OUR AGENCY, UM, WHERE, WHERE MOST OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT POLICE DEPARTMENTS DO NOT.
AND WE'VE HAD THAT FOR, FOR SEVERAL YEARS NOW.
WE WERE, WE WERE TRYING TO BE AHEAD OF THE, YEAH.
AND DOES THE ASSESSMENT INCLUDE REFERRING THE STUDENT AND THE FAMILY FOR, UM, FOR COUNSELING OR, CORRECT.
AND, AND THE PARENTS ARE INVOLVED, UM, IN THE ASSESSMENT AS WELL.
AND, AND WHATEVER LEVEL OF, OF CARE NEEDS TO BE THEN, THEN WE TRY AND COORDINATE THAT.
SO WE PROVIDED IN YOUR MATERIALS, UM, A SUMMARY OF SELECT LEGISLATION THAT RELATES TO DISCIPLINE, UH, HEALTH AND STUDENT SAFETY AND SAFETY.
AND SO HOUSE BILL THREE IS THE BIG SAFETY BILL THAT WAS PASSED THIS SESSION.
IT'S ON, IT STARTS ON PAGE 17.
UH, UH, I LOOSELY CALL IT A SUMMARY, BUT IT'S, IT'S VERY, IT'S VERY DETAILED.
SO, UH, BECAUSE I THINK EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW WHAT, UH, WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE AND WHAT THE CONSEQUENCES ARE, WHAT THE EXPECTATIONS ARE.
SO YOU'LL SEE ON PAGE 17, UM, I'VE, I'VE SUMMARIZED THIS IN TERMS OF, OF WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT.
AND SO OUR BOARD OF TRUSTEES, UM, IS RESPONSIBLE FOR DETERMINING THE APPROPRIATE NUMBER OF ARMED SECURITY OFFICERS FOR EACH DISTRICT CAMPUS.
UM, AND THE STATUTE SAYS THAT THE BOARD MUST ENSURE THAT AT LEAST ONE ARMED SECURITY OFFICER IS PRESENT DURING REGULAR SCHOOL HOURS AT EACH DISTRICT CAMPUS.
UM, THERE IS A GOOD CAUSE EXEMPTION THAT THE BOARD MAY CLAIM, UH, IF THE, UM, IF THE GOOD CAUSE EXEMPTION IS DUE TO THE AVAILABILITY OR NON-AVAILABILITY OF FUNDING OR PERSONNEL WHO QUALIFY AS A SECURITY OFFICER.
UM, SO I BELIEVE THE BOARD IS GOING TO TAKE THIS UP AT ITS MEETING THIS MONTH.
UM, AND THEN WE CAN HAVE AN ALTERNATIVE, UH, STANDARD.
BUT, UM, HOPEFULLY YOU CAN, YOU KNOW, DIGEST THIS A LITTLE BIT ON, ON, ON YOUR OWN.
BUT THE MAIN THING IS THAT ARMED SECURITY OFFICER ON EACH CAMPUS.
AND THE PREFERENCE IS THAT IT BE A, UM, A COMMISSIONED PEACE OFFICER OR SKILL SKILL, UM, A SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER.
UM, AND FOR THE REASONS THAT, THAT OUR SUPERINTENDENT AND LIEUTENANT COX SAID IS THAT WE HAVE SPECIALIZED TRAINING IN MENTAL HEALTH AND IN WORKING WITH STUDENTS.
AND SO I BELIEVE, UM, THAT THE INTENT IS TO TRY TO GET MORE OF THE SAME OFFICERS.
AND THE RECOMMENDATION FROM THE ADMINISTRATION IS TO HAVE HIGHLY, HIGHLY TRAINED INDIVIDUALS, UM, PROTECTING OUR CAMPUSES.
AND, AND, UM, THE LAST BOARD INFORMATION SESSION, IT SOUNDED LIKE WE WERE, THE BOARD AS WELL, WAS COMMITTED TO THAT.
UM, BUT WE'RE GONNA VOTE ON IT ON THURSDAY.
SOUNDS LIKE A REALLY GREAT PROGRAM.
AND I KNOW THAT OTHER SCHOOL DISTRICTS HAVE HEARD LOTS OF STORIES ARE STRUGGLING 'CAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE ENOUGH OFFICERS.
THEY'RE, UM, THE COMMUNITY DOESN'T, DOESN'T HAVE THAT SUPPLY OF PEACE OFFICERS AND, UM, THEY'RE NOT ABLE TO MEET THIS REQUIREMENT.
AND SO AS WE MOVE TO THE NEXT SLIDE, UM, THERE ARE A COUPLE THINGS THAT ARE IN HB THREE THAT I THINK ARE WORTH NOTING.
AND GENERALLY SPEAKING, IT'S AN UNFUNDED, UNFUNDED MANDATE.
THERE ARE SOME, UH, ALLOWANCES PROVIDED, BUT THEY ARE, THEY DON'T REPRESENT THE WHOLE COST OF BUILDING UP THE RESOURCES NEEDED TO SUPPORT ALL OF OUR CAMPUSES.
AND THAT'S A POINT THAT SHOULD BE MADE BECAUSE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SESSION, UH, THERE, THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN WHAT, 10, $15 PER KID, PER CAPITA, AND IT ENDED UP BEING 38 CENTS PER KID.
AND, UM, SO, UM, THE STATE GOVERNMENT DID NOT DO WHAT IT SAID IT WAS GOING TO DO.
IT HAS CERTAINLY NOT ADDRESSED THE MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES OF KIDS AND HAS ONLY ADDRESSED HARDENING, UH, SECURITY OF CAMPUSES.
UH, WHICH IS NOT WHAT THEY SAID THEY WERE GOING TO DO, IS CONSISTENT WITH WHAT THEY HAVE DONE SINCE OF ALL DAY AND IS A DISGRACE AND NEEDS TO BE POINTED OUT.
UH, BECAUSE WELL, WELL, I DON'T WANT TO CUT.
TODAY IS NOT LONG ENOUGH TO GO INTO ALL THE FAILURES.
BUT THIS IS ANOTHER INSTANCE IN WHICH THE BOND ACTUALLY HELPS US.
SO THERE, THERE WASN'T A LOT, YOU KNOW, 38 CENTS PLUS 15,000 PER CAMPUS.
I, I CAN'T THINK OF ONE WORD THAT'S NOT AN EXPLETIVE
[00:50:01]
MANY OTHER SCHOOL DISTRICTS THAT ARE GOING THROUGH THIS HAVE TO ACTUALLY ALLOCATE THOSE FOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS.AND SO, YOU KNOW, THERE ISN'T A LOT OF FUNDING, BUT WHAT WAS PROVIDED WILL ACTUALLY BE ABLE TO MOVE TOWARDS STAFF.
AND SO AS AN, UH, UH, MENTIONED THERE ARE EXPECTATIONS, RIGHT? A I C HAS VERY CLEAR VALUES ON WHO WE ARE GOING TO ALLOW INTO OUR CLASSROOMS AND WHAT TRAINING THEY MUST HAVE IF THEY'RE GOING TO ENGAGE WITH YOUNG PEOPLE.
AND THAT WAS THE BAR THAT WE SET AS AN ADMINISTRATION.
IT'S BEEN ALIGNED WITH OUR VALUES.
AND SO THOUGH WE'RE GOING FORWARD WITH A, UM, BUDGET DEFICIT LINE ITEM, UH, IT IS A COMMITMENT THAT WE HAVE AS AN ORGANIZATION.
AND SO WE ARE GOING TO BE BUILDING UP THE POLICE DEPARTMENT TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE THE ONE-TO-ONE AT ALL OF OUR ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.
UH, EVERY OFFICER WILL BE TRAINED, EVERY OFFICER WILL BE AN A I S D EMPLOYEE.
UH, IT'S GOING TO REQUIRE HIRING 83 ADDITIONAL, UM, UH, SROS.
AND SO THAT NUMBER IS BECAUSE WE HAVE 83 ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS, WELL, 74 ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS AND FOUR SPECIALIZED CAMPUSES.
AND THEN WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT BUILDING OUT THAT STAFF, YOU HAVE TO HAVE, YOU KNOW, SUPERVISORS AND THEN YOU HAVE LIEUTENANTS AND SERGEANTS AND SO ON.
SO, UH, THERE IS A, A COST ASSOCIATED WITH IT.
UM, WE HAVE MADE THE RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD, UH, AND WE FEEL CONFIDENT THAT THIS ALIGNS WITH OUR VALUES AND WE'LL MAKE THE BUDGET WORK ON OUR SIDE, BUT IT IS GONNA BE, UM, DIFFICULT.
UM, SO, SO ONE RESOURCE THAT YOU SHOULD BE AWARE OF IS, UH, THE TRA THE TRAVIS COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE, BECAUSE IT PROBABLY HAS THE BEST DEESCALATION PROGRAM AROUND THAT IS RELATED TO, UH, RUNNING OUR JAILS BECAUSE, YOU KNOW MM-HMM.
SO YOU HAVE TO TAKE A CERTAIN APPROACH, AND IT IS NOT RAMBO,
UH, AND, UH, AND, AND WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE HAVE TRAINING AVAILABLE BECAUSE, UH, DISCIPLINE IS CARRIED OUT BY HUMANS.
AND, AND WE KNOW THAT THERE HAVE BEEN ISSUES, UH, AND, AND THOSE ISSUES HAVE, HAVE TOUCHED ALL OF OUR ORGANIZATIONS, AND WE HAVE TO BE HONEST ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON AND MAKE SURE, UH, THAT, THAT SOME OF THE SINS OF EVEN RECENT TIMES ARE NOT REPEATED.
NO, YOU'RE, YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT.
AND JUST, UH, COMMISSIONER CIVILIAN, WE, WE DO, YOU KNOW, PARTNER, WE DO COLLABORATE WITH, WITH ALL OF THE, UM, OTHER DEPARTMENTS, UH, WITHIN CENTRAL TEXAS.
UH, GIVEN THE STUDENT POPULATION AND THE AGES, THE, THE TRAINING IS, IS FAIRLY SPECIFIC, SO THERE IS OVERLAP CERTAINLY, BUT, BUT YOU KNOW, THE A I C POLICE DEPARTMENT IS VIEWED AS AN EXEMPLAR.
UH, WE DO HAVE A LOT OF OTHER SCHOOL DISTRICTS WITHIN THE STATE OF TEXAS THAT ARE ACTUALLY COMMISSIONING THEIR OWN POLICE DEPARTMENT DUE TO HB THREE.
UH, AND MANY OF THEM ARE REACHING OUT TO US, UM, TO PROVIDE BEST PRACTICES.
UH, JUST RECENTLY WE HAD FOLKS DOWN FROM COLORADO AS WELL.
SO, UH, I THINK THAT WE'RE WELL POSITIONED.
UNFORTUNATELY, IT IS A, A COST THAT WE'LL HAVE TO INCUR THAT WASN'T PREVIOUSLY BUDGETED, BUT WE ARE, UM, IN A VERY GOOD PLACE.
AND, AND I THINK WITH THE COMPENSATION ADJUSTMENTS, THE BOARD APPROVED, UH, IN JUNE, WE WILL BE, HAVE A BETTER CHANCE THAN MOST TO ENSURE THAT WE'RE FULLY STAFFED.
THAT'S, THAT'S REALLY ENCOURAGING.
AND PARTICULARLY THE INFORMATION ABOUT THE, THE MENTAL HEALTH KIND OF SPECIALTY STAFF THAT YOU HAVE THAT GOES ABOVE AND BEYOND WHAT THE LEGISLATURE'S REQUIRING.
AND IT, AND I THINK IT'S CLEAR THAT'S, THAT'S A BETTER USE OF FUNDS IS TO HAVE A PEOPLE WHO REALLY CAN HELP WITH THE MENTAL HEALTH.
WHAT HEALTH CRISIS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE.
SO IF I COULD SPEAK TO OUR TRAINING FOR JUST A SECOND, UM, WE, WE UNDERSTAND THE, THE SENSITIVE NEEDS OF OUR COMMUNITY AND OUR STUDENTS.
WE, WE OFFER OUR, OUR OFFICERS 80 HOURS OF TRAINING EVERY SUMMER.
THE STATE MANDATES THAT EVERY PEACE OFFICER GO THROUGH 40 HOURS EVERY TWO YEARS.
UM, WE, OFFICER EIGHT, WE OFFER 80 HOURS EVERY SUMMER TO INCLUDE DEESCALATION MENTAL HEALTH.
WE HAVE A GREAT RELATIONSHIP WITH TRAVIS COUNTY MENTAL HEALTH UNIT.
UM, WE'VE PARTNERED WITH THEM MANY TIMES TO, TO BRING THEM IN TO, TO CROSS TRAIN.
UM, THAT'S ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE TRULY FOCUSED ON, IS PUTTING THE RIGHT PEOPLE IN THE RIGHT PLACES AND NOT JUST PUTTING A, A BODY IN THERE, UM, TO, TO FILL THAT SPACE.
I'M GONNA DO A QUICK TIME CHECK.
WE'RE AT 1231 AND, UM, WE'VE GOT ANOTHER HOUR AND 15 MINUTES LEFT BEFORE WE HAVE TO WRAP UP AT ONE 30 ON OUR SCHEDULE.
SO IF IT'S ALL RIGHT, CAN I MOVE ON TO THE GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION PORTION OF IT? UNLESS THERE'S A, A REALLY IMPORTANT THING WE NEED TO GET IN ON THE CANVAS SAFETY.
BUT THE THINGS THAT I'M TALKING ABOUT, I, I, I'LL DO A LOT OF WORK WITH THE NAACP AND I'VE GOT SPECIFIC THINGS YEAH.
WE WON'T TALK ABOUT HERE, WE CAN TALK ABOUT LATER.
JUST TRYING TO BE MINDFUL OF TIME, PEOPLE'S TIME.
UM, AND ARE WE READY FOR THE, THE GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION PORTION OF THE AGENDA? AND MICHELLE, I THINK, DID YOU INTRODUCE YOURSELF WHEN WE WENT AROUND THE TABLE OR? I DID.
[00:55:04]
ALL RIGHT.I HOPE YOU ALL CAN HEAR ME OKAY.
I LEAD THE OFFICE OF VIOLENCE PREVENTION WITH AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH.
AND I'M HERE TO PRESENT AN, UH, A BRIEFING OF THE SECOND ANNUAL, UM, GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION SUMMIT THAT OCCURRED IN, UM, JUNE, UH, JUNE 8TH OF THIS YEAR.
UM, ON THE DAY OF THE SUMMIT, WE DID, UM, UH, WE HAD TWO PROCLAMATIONS, UH, THROUGH THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND TRAVIS COUNTY, BOTH BROUGHT FORTH BY, UM, COUNCIL MEMBER ALLISON ALTER AND COUNTY JUDGE, UM, ANDY BROWN.
AND, UH, FOR THIS YEAR'S SUMMIT, UH, THE GROUPS THAT ORGANIZED IT WERE, UM, A T XPS.
UH, THEY PROVIDE COMMUNITY VIOLENCE INTERVENTION, UM, PROGRAMMING FOR, UM, SOME NEIGHBORHOODS IN AUSTIN.
UH, THEY ARE LOCAL, UM, AND THEY'RE JUST WORKING COLLABORATIVELY TO REDUCE VIOLENCE IN, UM, IN NEIGHBORHOODS SUCH AS THE GEORGIAN ACRES NEIGHBORHOOD, AS WELL AS IN, UM, PLEASANT VALLEY, RIVERSIDE AREA.
UM, IN ADDITION, THE COMMUNITY OF JUSTICE ACTION FUND, THERE ARE A NATIONAL ORGANIZATION DESIGNED TO, UM, TO BRING OUR FUNDING AND AWARENESS TO THE IMPORTANCE OF INVESTING IN GUN VIOLENCE REDUCTION STRATEGIES, UM, IN COMMUNITIES OF COLOR AND CITIES UNITED.
UM, THEIR MISSION IS TO REIMAGINE PUBLIC SAFETY, TAKING A PUBLIC HEALTH APPROACH, UM, TO REDUCE GUN VIOLENCE.
NOW THIS SUMMIT BROUGHT TOGETHER LEADERS FROM ALL THESE SPACES, FROM LOCAL GOVERNMENT, FROM, UM, NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS DESIGNED TO, UM, ELEVATE THE UNDERSTANDING AND AWARENESS OF GUN VIOLENCE AND, UM, LOCAL COMMUNITY LEADERS, UM, TO REALLY LEAN INTO THE INVESTMENTS AND STRATEGIES NEEDED TO ADDRESS, UM, UH, COMMUNITY LEVEL VIOLENCE.
UH, NOW THIS IS FROM CITIES UNITED, AND WHEN CITIES UNITED IS, UH, SPEAKING ABOUT REIMAGINING PUBLIC SAFETY, THEY'RE LOOKING AT INVESTING IN ALL OF THE DIFFERENT ELEMENTS TO BUILD OUT A EFFECTIVE ECOSYSTEM THAT INCLUDES HOSPITAL BASED INTERVENTIONS, WHICH WILL BE PRESENTED, UM, NEXT, UM, IN THE, ON THE AGENDA HERE, UM, WHICH IS A HOSPITAL BASED VIOLENCE INTERVENTION PROGRAM UTILIZING TRUSTED MESSENGERS OR LIVED EXPERIENCE TO REACH OUT TO INDIVIDUALS WHEN THEY'RE IN THE HOSPITAL, UM, AFTER THEY'VE EXPERIENCED, UH, A VIOLENT, UM, ACT SUCH AS A GUNSHOT OR A STABBING OR SOMETHING OF THAT NATURE TO GIVE, UM, AND PROVIDE SUPPORT AND SERVICES TO HELP THAT PERSON STABILIZE AS WELL AS THEIR FAMILY UNITS.
UM, OTHER THINGS WITHIN THE ECOSYSTEM ARE THINGS RELATED TO STREET OUTREACH, UM, DIVERSION PROGRAMS, HAVING A COORDINATED CRISIS RESPONSE TEAM, WHICH IS DESIGNED TO, AND WE DO NOT HAVE ONE HERE YET, UM, BUT IT'S DESIGNED TO, WHEN THERE IS A CRISIS TO GO OUT, A COLLECTIVE TEAM TO PROVIDE SERVICES AND SEE HOW YOU CAN COOL THE SITUATION DOWN.
UM, BUT THIS ENTIRE ECOSYSTEM IS REALLY DESIGNED TO BUILD OUT ALL OF THE THINGS NEEDED TO CREATE A SAFE AND HEALTHY COMMUNITY.
NOW, DURING THIS, UM, THE, THE GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION SUMMIT, UM, THERE WERE FOUR PANEL DISCUSSIONS, AND THE FIRST PANEL DISCUSSION WAS LOOKING AT, UM, ON THE COMMUNITY LEVEL, WHAT HAD WE DONE AND THE, YOU KNOW, TO ADDRESS GUN VIOLENCE IN, IN, IN AUSTIN AND TRAVIS COUNTY.
NOW, WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THIS WORK, UM, AND, AND THIS IS THIS EVEN NATIONALLY, COMMUNITY VIOLENCE INTERVENTION PROGRAMMING IS, IS, IS REALLY A PROGRAM DESIGNED TO REDUCE VIOLENCE IN NEIGHBORHOODS, BUT IT'S JUST PART OF A LARGER WHOLE, WE NEED MORE THAN JUST COMMUNITY VIOLENCE INTERVENTION PROGRAMMING.
OFTENTIMES WHAT WAS FOUND NATIONALLY IS THAT WHEN INDIVIDUALS ARE COMMUNITIES INVESTED IN COMMUNITY VIOLENCE INTERVENTION, THE THOUGHT WAS THAT WAS ALL THAT WAS NEEDED TO REDUCE VIOLENCE, AND YOU NEED MORE THAN THAT.
SO WE TALK ABOUT AN ECOSYSTEM, WHICH I MENTIONED EARLIER, UM, AND THE ECOSYSTEM IS REALLY DESIGNED TO TAKE THAT HOLISTIC APPROACH TO PROVIDE ALL THE SERVICES, ALL THE INTERVENTIONS NEEDED, THAT THAT WILL LEAD TO A HEALTH HEALTHY, PEACEFUL COMMUNITY.
BUT HOW DO YOU GET TO THAT ECOSYSTEM IS TO HAVE A PLAN, RIGHT? SO YOU HAVE TO HAVE THE PLAN TO KNOW WHAT TO INVEST IN, AND YOU HAVE TO HAVE THE STRATEGY BEHIND IT TO LEVERAGE ALL OF THE RESOURCES TO LEVERAGE, UM, ALL OF THE,
[01:00:01]
IN THE INVESTMENTS, TO LEVERAGE THE PEOPLE TO, UM, TO BE ABLE TO INFORM WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND TO DRIVE AND MEASURE THAT SUCCESS.AND, AND THAT'S WHAT'S MOST IMPORTANT BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE PLAN, YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE WORKING TOWARDS.
AND WE WANNA KNOW WHAT WE'RE WORKING TOWARDS.
AND SO, YOU KNOW, DURING THE, UM, THAT PANEL DISCUSSION, WE TALKED ABOUT THE, YOU KNOW, MEASUREMENTS FOR SUCCESS AND ALSO OBSTACLES TO REDUCING, UM, GUN VIOLENCE.
WE, IN AUSTIN, UM, HAVE CONTRACTED WITH THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM TO DEAL A GUN VIOLENCE PROBLEM ANALYSIS.
UM, AND WE'RE STILL IN THE PROCESS OF GETTING THAT DONE.
SO THERE'S BEEN SOME PRELIMINARY DATA SHARING BETWEEN A P D AND THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM TO DO SOME INITIAL DATA ANALYTICS, AND THEN THEY'LL COME DOWN AND TO DO, DO A SITE VISIT AND COLLECT MORE DATA.
UM, THE SECOND, THE SECOND PANEL, UM, WHICH WAS MODERATED BY, UM, UM, THE DA, UM, GARZA WAS REALLY LOOKING AT THE SAFER TRAVIS COUNTY, UM, RESOLUTION UPDATE.
AND SO THAT WAS, THAT WAS WHAT WAS UP FOR DISCUSSION DURING THAT.
UM, AND ALSO TO REALLY EXPOUND ON THE, THE VALUE OF HAVING ELECTED OFFICIALS REALLY, UM, PART OF VIOLENCE PREVENTION WORK, TO HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE AND THE, AND THE, THE BE ABLE TO SET POLICY AND, AND HELP WITH THE ADVOCACY OF THE WORK, BECAUSE WE CANNOT DO IT WITHOUT Y'ALL, OR WE CANNOT DO IT WITHOUT EVERYONE.
IT IS REALLY A COLLECTIVE EFFORT TO REALLY WORK TOWARDS ADDRESSING, UM, COMMUNITY VIOLENCE, UM, IN OUR COMMUNITIES.
UM, ONE THING ALSO THAT WE'RE WORKING ON, UM, COLLECTIVELY, IS BRINGING A TRAUMA RECOVERY CENTER TO AUSTIN AND TRAVIS COUNTY.
AND THIS IS GOING TO BE A COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND TRAVIS COUNTY.
NOW, A TRAUMA RECOVERY CENTER PROVIDES, UM, TREATMENT TO INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE VICTIMS OF VIOLENT CRIME IN THEIR FA FAMILIES.
AND THIS IS REALLY IMPORTANT TO HELPING TO PROVIDE THAT STABILIZATION WHEN SOMEONE HAS EXPERIENCED A VIOLENT ACT.
AND WHAT IS PROVIDED IS, UM, TREATMENT FOR P T SS D AND OTHER MENTAL HEALTH CONDITIONS THAT COME OUT FROM EXPERIENCING THAT VIOLENT ACT.
UM, NOT ONLY DOES A TRAUMA RECOVERY CENTER PROVIDE TREATMENT FOR, UM, UM, P T S D, BUT P T S D, BUT THEY ALSO, UM, PROVIDE WRAPAROUND SERVICES THAT COULD BE, UM, CASE MANAGEMENT, UM, IN THE COMMUNITY.
UM, THEY, THE GOAL IS TO REACH PEOPLE WHERE THEY ARE, AS WELL AS, UM, ASSISTANCE WITH RECEIVING VICTIM COMPENSATION AS WELL AS LEGAL SUPPORT.
WHATEVER A PERSON NEEDS OR FAMILY NEEDS, THE TRAUMA RECOVERY CENTER WILL PROVIDE THAT.
AND RIGHT NOW, UM, WE ARE WORKING WITH AFRICAN AMERICAN YOUTH HARVEST FOUNDATION, AND THEY WILL BE OUR TRAUMA RECOVERY CENTER PROVIDER.
MICHELLE, CAN I, UH, ASK REAL QUICKLY MM-HMM.
'CAUSE COUNCIL MEMBER FUENTES AND I COORDINATED ON GETTING FUNDING IN THE BUDGET FOR IT.
UM, AND, UH, THE LAST I HEARD, UH, THE CITY HAD INDICATED THAT THEY NO LONGER WANTED TO COLLABORATE WITH THE COUNTY.
AND I'D LIKE AN UPDATE ON WHERE THAT IS.
I DON'T WANT TO SPEND TOO MUCH TIME ON IT, BUT IF WE HAVE A BRIEF UPDATE THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL.
UM, STEPHANIE HAYDEN, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER, UM, OUR STAFF, CITY AND COUNTY STAFF HAVE A MEETING THIS FRIDAY ON SEPTEMBER 1ST TO GO OVER SPECIFICS, UM, WITH THAT AGREEMENT.
UM, I, I UNDERSTAND THAT THERE WAS, UM, AN INITIAL CONVERSATION ABOUT THE NEED, UM, FOR THE COUNTY, UM, TO BE ABLE TO HAVE THE CONTRACT WITH THE, UM, ENTITY.
BUT THIS MEETING IS TO COME UP WITH A WAY TO LEGALLY HAVE A JOINT CONTRACT WITH THE CITY AND THE COUNTY TO PAY FOR THOSE SERVICES.
SO THE PLAN IS, SO WE'LL BE COLLABORATIVE.
UM, UH, THE SECOND PANEL WAS TALKING ABOUT, OR THE THIRD PANEL, THE INTERSECTION BETWEEN INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE AND GUN VIOLENCE.
AND, UM, WE'VE, WE HAD AN EXPERT ON THE PANEL FROM THE BATTERED WOMEN JUSTICE PROJECT, AND THEY ARE A NATIONAL ORGANIZATION,
[01:05:01]
UM, THAT DOES WORK AROUND DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND, UM, TO BRING RESOURCES TO INDIVIDUALS AND COMMUNITIES, UM, REGARDING REDUCING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE NATIONALLY.UM, IT JUST SO HAPPENS THAT, UH, WE ALSO HAVE A GRANT THAT WE RECEIVED FROM THE OFFICE OF, UM, OFFICE ON VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN TO BRING A FIREARM SURRENDER PROTOCOL TO AUSTIN AND TRAVIS COUNTY AND THE BATTERED WOMEN JUSTICE PROJECT.
THEY'RE THE TECHNICAL ADVISORS THAT'S GOING TO BE LEADING THAT.
SO IT JUST WAS KIND OF NICE TO HAVE, UM, ALICIA COME AND, AND SIT ON THE PANEL, UH, TO DISCUSS THAT INTERSECTION BETWEEN, UM, INTERPERSONAL VIOLENCE AND GUN VIOLENCE.
WHAT WE KNOW IS THAT WHEN A GUN IS PRESENT IN A DOMESTIC VIOLENCE SITUATION, A LETHALITY INCREASES BY FIVEFOLD.
UM, AND ALSO WHAT WE KNOW IS OVER THE PAST, SINCE FROM 2019 TO 2021 REPORTS OF, UM, INCIDENT PARTNER VIOLENCE HAS INSTEAD IT STEADILY GOING UP.
SO THE NEED TO REALLY LOOK AT THAT INTERSECTION BETWEEN DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND GUN VIOLENCE IS CRUCIAL.
AND THAT'S WHY IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT FOR THE WORK, FOR THE FIREARMS SURRENDER PROTOCOL, WHICH IS GOING TO BE, AND IT IS THIS COLLABORATIVE BETWEEN THE CITY AND COUNTY, ALL LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT AND JUST THE CRIMINAL, LEGAL, UM, SERVICE AS WELL AS SURVIVORS, UM, OF, UM, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND ORGANIZATIONS THAT WORK IN THAT SPACE.
SO, UH, YOU KNOW, JUST HAVING SURVIVORS REALLY BE PART OF, UM, UM, DEVELOPING PROTOCOLS OR INFORMING STRATEGIES AROUND, UM, WHATEVER WE'RE DOING IN THE COMMUNITY IS CRUCIAL BECAUSE THEY ARE THE ONES THAT KNOW AND THEY WILL HELP INFORM US AND ALSO HELP US TO BE ABLE TO IDENTIFY THE GAPS IN SERVICES.
UM, AND THIS PANEL REALLY WAS, WAS LOOKING AT ANY KIND OF, UM, STATE LEGISLATIVE UPDATES.
AND, UM, BASICALLY THERE WERE NO, UM, LEGISLATIVE UPDATES OR, OR, OR BILLS THAT WERE PASSED THAT WAS IN SUPPORT OF THE WORK.
UM, BUT THIS ALSO REALLY, UM, REALLY INFORMS US TO REALLY LEAN INTO, UM, HOW CAN WE LEVERAGE, UM, OUR COLLECTIVE KNOWLEDGE TO HELP THE LEGISLATURE UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF INVESTING IN THIS WORK.
UM, AND ALSO HELPING, UM, AND ELEVATING THE VOICE OF, UH, INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE DOING THE, THE VIOLENCE INTERRUPTER WORK TO, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, GO TO THE LEGISLATURE OR JUST GO TO DIFFERENT, UM, UM, GOVERNMENT, UM, LEVELS TO ADVOCATE FOR THE WORK OF, UM, VIOLENCE PREVENTION.
UM, SO AT THE OFFICE OF VIOLENCE PREVENTION, WE ARE WORKING TO BUILD OUT THAT ECOSYSTEM.
WE'RE WORKING TO DEVELOP THE PLAN WITH THE NATIONAL INSTITUTIONAL CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM TO HELP INFORM THE INVESTMENTS RELATED TO, TO, UM, GUN VIOLENCE, GUN VIOLENCE REDUCTION, AND JUST BRINGING, YOU KNOW, PEACE AND, UM, AND SAFETY TO COMMUNITIES.
UM, SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE'RE WORKING ON, UM, AND THAT WE'VE INVESTED IN, LIKE I MENTIONED EARLIER, IS A TRAUMA RECOVERY CENTER, WHICH IS A COLLABORATION WITH BETWEEN THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND TRAVIS COUNTY.
UM, AND THAT MURAL RIGHT THERE THAT'S BEING CREATED IS AT AIKENS HIGH SCHOOL.
AND WE CONTRACT WITH MEXICO CARTE MUSEUM TO DO COMMUNITY ART PROJECTS.
UM, AND SO IT, IT, IT'S, IT'S A BEAUTIFUL MURAL.
I MEAN, THAT'S THE START OF IT, BUT THE FINISHED PROJECT IS, IS REALLY PRETTY.
UM, WE ALSO WORK WITH LOCK ARMS FOR LIFE, UM, WITH OUR SAFE GUN STORAGE, SAVES LIVES, UM, PROGRAM, AND WE PROVIDE, UM, GUN LOCKS AND GUNLOCK EDUCATION TO COMMUNITIES.
UM, AND WE ARE VERY PROUD OF THAT PROGRAM AS WELL.
LIKE I MENTIONED EARLIER, UM, WE ALSO, UM, INVEST IN A T XPS, WHICH PROVIDES COMMUNITY VIOLENCE INTERVENTION PROGRAMMING.
UM, AND THEN WE HAVE OUR ADDRESS, YOUR STRESS CAMPAIGN.
AND THAT CAMPAIGN IS DESIGNED TO NOT JUST BE A CAMPAIGN, BUT ALSO TO INFORM INVESTMENTS AND, AND WORK IN THE FUTURE.
AND IT'S, FOR US, WE SEE THAT STRESS AND MENTAL HEALTH IS KIND OF A CORNERSTONE OR FOUNDATION OF THE WORK, THAT IN ORDER TO HAVE HEALTHY COMMUNITIES, WE HAVE TO HAVE HEALTHY PEOPLE.
AND IN ORDER TO HAVE HEALTHY PEOPLE, HAVE HEALTHY FAMILIES, WE NEED HEALTHY PEOPLE.
SO BY LOOKING AT THAT NEXUS WHERE STRESS IMPACTS BEHAVIOR AND HOW THAT BEHAVIOR CAN LEAD TO INDIVIDUALS, UM, DOING THINGS THEY MAY NOT NECESSARILY
[01:10:01]
WOULD'VE DONE IF THEY HAD THE FULL, THEIR FULL CAPACITY.UM, SO WE WANNA INVEST IN THOSE STRATEGIES AND THOSE INTERVENTIONS AND THAT KNOWLEDGE AND, AND, UM, TRAINING TO HELP PEOPLE HAVE THE SKILLS THAT THEY NEED TO BE ABLE TO BE THEIR BEST SELVES.
AND, UM, HERE ARE SOME WEBSITES.
UM, THE FIRST TWO, UM, IS FOR THE AUSTIN OFFICE OF VIOLENCE PREVENTION AND OUR ADDRESS YOUR STRESS CAMPAIGN.
UM, THE NEXT ONE'S FOR A T X P, SO COMMUNITY VIOLENCE INTERVENTION PROGRAM.
UM, THE BIG MAMAS SAFE HOUSE, THEY, UM, CAME DOWN FROM SAN ANTONIO, WAS ONE OF THE PANELS.
AND, UM, THEY'RE ALSO A COMMUNITY VIOLENCE INTERVENTION PROGRAM.
AND, UM, TEXAS GUN SENSE WAS ALSO, UM, PART OF THAT, UH, OF THE, UM, THE SUMMIT.
AND THEN HERE'S, HERE'S SOME WEBSITES FOR CITIES, UNITED COMMUNITY JUSTICE ACTION FUND AND, UM, BATTERED WOMEN'S JUSTICE PROJECT.
ARE, ARE THERE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? UH, OR ANY QUESTIONS? UH, AND ANA, ARE YOU HERE TO PRESENT ON THIS AS WELL, OR FOR THE NEXT ONE? YES, MA'AM.
I'M THE DIVISION DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND MY COLLEAGUE, CORY DARLING, PLANNING MANAGER, UH, FOR RESEARCH AND PLANNING AT HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES.
YOU MIGHT PULL THE MICROPHONE A LITTLE CLOSER TOO.
IT'S A LITTLE HARD TO HEAR YOU.
IS THAT BETTER? THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
THE TRAVIS COUNTY COMMISSIONER'S COURT ON NOVEMBER 1ST PASSED A RESOLUTION CALLED THE SAFER TRAVIS COUNTY RESOLUTION.
THIS IS SPONSORED, I BELIEVE, BY COMMISSIONER ILIAN AND JUDGE ANDY BROWN.
AND OUR DEPARTMENT HAD, UH, THREE ITEMS THAT WERE DIRECTED TO US.
UM, I THINK THAT WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO IS FOCUS, UM, YOUR, YOUR ATTENTION RIGHT NOW IS ON IT.
SO LET ME JUST SAY IT'S WONDERFUL TO GO BEHIND MICHELLE BECAUSE SHE DOES SUCH A GREAT JOB THAT WE'LL BASICALLY FILL IN THE BLANKS, BUT SHE DID THE MAJORITY OF THE HEAVY LEFT ON THIS ONE.
UM, SO IT'S TO REVIEW, UH, BEST PRACTICES IN, IN, IN, SO, SORRY.
ITEM NUMBER TWO IS TO DIRECT US TO WORK ON A CREATION OF TWO TWO YEAR PILOT PROGRAM ON HOSPITAL-BASED VIOLENCE INTERVENTION PROGRAM.
THIS IS TO HELP DISRUPT THE CYCLE OF VIOLENCE BY CONNECTING SURVIVORS OF GUN VIOLENCE WITH SUPPORT SERVICES.
WE'VE DONE BEST PRACTICES RESEARCH, TALKED TO POSSIBLE PARTNERS, RECOMMENDED, WE'RE LOOKING AT RECOMMENDING LOCATIONS, COST ESTIMATED, AND A PLAN FOR EVALUATION ON THE EFFICACY AND IMPACT OF GUN VIOLENCE REDUCTION.
SO THIS IS ALL GONE ONGOING AND ITERATIVE.
THE MARCH 1ST, 2023 WAS PART OF THE RESOLUTION, BUT BELIEVE ME, WE'RE KIND OF BEHIND THE BALL ON THAT ONE.
WE ARE JUST WORKING THROUGH A LOT OF LEGAL QUESTIONS RIGHT NOW.
AND DOES THAT, DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH HAVING PEOPLE IN THE HOSPITAL, UM, WORKING WITH GUN VIOLENCE VICTIMS? 'CAUSE I, THAT WAS ONE OF OUR QUESTIONS INITIALLY WAS WHICH HOSPITALS WOULD WE BE WORKING IN? AND HAVE WE ANSWERED THAT, OR IS THAT PART OF THE LEGAL QUESTIONS THAT ARE UNDERWAY? THAT'S PART OF THE LEGAL QUESTION.
AND SO, UM, IN, IN, UM, SO I'LL ADDRESS THAT IN A MINUTE.
UM, SO I THINK, UH, MICHELLE ALSO ALLUDED TO AN ENTITY THAT'S WORKING ON MAKING, UH, GUN VIOLENCE AND OTHER ACTS OF AGGRESSION, UH, THAT CAUSE INJURIES TO GO FROM BEING AN INDIVIDUAL PROBLEM TO A PUBLIC HEALTH ISSUE THAT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED AT A PUBLIC HEALTH LEVEL.
UM, AND THEN, UM, WE WERE GIVEN, UH, OR ALLOWED TO USE $500,000 OVER TWO YEARS TO INVEST IN THIS PROGRAM AS A PILOT TO SEE, UM, ITS EFFICACY AND HOW IT WORKS IN OUR COMMUNITY.
SO, JUST TO GIVE YOU A SENSE OF WHAT IS THE HOSPITAL-BASED VIOLENCE INTERVENTION PROGRAM? UM, THEY'RE MULTIDISCIPLINARY PROGRAMS THAT COMBINE THE EFFORTS OF MEDICAL STAFF WITH TRUSTED COMMUNITY-BASED PARTNERS TO PROVIDE SAFETY PLANNING SERVICES AND TRAUMA-INFORMED CARE TO VIOLENTLY INJURED PEOPLE, MANY OF WHOM ARE MEN AND BOYS OF COLOR.
AND THEN, UM, LET'S GO TO THE NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
SO, HOSPITAL PARTNERSHIPS ARE NATURAL BECAUSE IT'S HOSPITAL BASED, RIGHT? SO YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO NOT ONLY HAVE THEIR BUY-IN, BUT THEY'RE REALLY THE, THE DRIVERS OF THIS, OF THIS PROGRAMMING.
AND WE ARE TALKING TO, TO THE HOSPITALS IN TRAVIS COUNTY THAT HAVE A LEVEL ONE OR LEVEL TWO TRAUMA CENTER.
AND THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT IS AN IDEAL SETTING BECAUSE THE, THE, THE, THE PERSON IS TAKEN THERE BY PUBLIC SAFETY INDIVIDUALS OR BY E M S.
AND, UM, SOMEONE NEEDS TO TALK TO 'EM ABOUT THE INCIDENT, FINDING OUT, UH, WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON IN THEIR LIVES, INFORM THEM OF
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SERVICES AVAILABLE IN THE COMMUNITY, AND TO DISCUSS THE IMPORTANCE OF MOVING FORWARD AND AVOIDING ANY TYPE OF RETALIATION AT F Y I, THEY SAY FOR EVERY SUCCESSFUL H V ENCOUNTER IN CONNECTION WITH SOMEONE AVOIDS FOUR OR FIVE OTHER, UH, SHOOTINGS.SO, UM, AS I SAID, UNDERSTANDING THE ESSENTIAL ROLE PLAYED BY THE HOSPITALS, WE'RE MEETING WITH LEADERS FROM BOTH ASCENSION, SEATON AND ST.
SO, YOU KNOW, I THINK MICHELLE DID A REALLY GOOD JOB OF COVERING THE COMMUNITY VIOLENCE INTERVENTION ECOSYSTEM.
IT IS AN ECOSYSTEM BECAUSE, AND NOT ONE ENTITY AND NOT ONE PROGRAM CAN ADDRESS ALL THE ISSUES, BUT, YOU KNOW, I LIVE AND DIE BY THIS STATEMENT THAT RELATIONSHIPS ARE PRIMARY AND EVERYTHING ELSE IS SECONDARY.
WE ESTABLISH RELATIONSHIPS THAT ALLOW US TO, TO DO A WARM HANDOFF OF AN INDIVIDUAL INTO SOMEPLACE ELSE THAT THEY'RE GOING TO DO, UM, THEY'RE GOING TO THRIVE.
AND SO THAT'S THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ECOSYSTEM, MAKING SURE THAT THERE'S ENOUGH ENTITIES AROUND THE TABLE THAT ARE GOING TO ADDRESS THIS ISSUE.
AND THE MODEL ON THE RIGHT IS BASICALLY, WE KNOW THAT WHEN SOMEONE IS SHOT OR, OR INJURED, UM, LIKE A STABBING, THE DOCTOR AND TRAUMA NURSE ARE GOING TO SEE THEM AND THEY'LL BE A SOCIAL WORKER.
BUT THERE NEEDS TO BE TWO OTHER PEOPLE.
UM, THERE REALLY, AND IT'S SOMEONE THAT IS A VIOLENCE SURVIVOR, SOMEONE THAT, THAT HAS BEEN THROUGH THIS PROCESS AND IT IS TRUSTED MEMBER OF THE COMMUNITY AND, AND THEN THE PATIENT AND, AND SOMEONE THAT CARESS ABOUT HOW THEY GO, WHERE THEY GO FROM HERE.
SO THIS IS REALLY TRULY A PUBLIC HEALTH INTERVENTION MODEL, AND THIS IS WHERE I LIKE TO SAY, NO ONE CAN PUSH THEMSELVES AWAY FROM THE TABLE AND SAY, I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THAT.
RIGHT? WE, YOU CAN, YOU CAN SEE ALL OF YOUR AGENCIES HERE, AND WE COULD MAYBE EVEN ADD MORE, RIGHT? AND SO IT'S UNDERSTANDING THAT ALL OF US IMPACTS THE PRO THE ISSUE AND THAT WE ALL HAVE A ROLE TO PLAY.
SO ANNA GAVE SOME BACKGROUND ABOUT WHAT THE HOSPITAL-BASED PROGRAM LOOKED LIKE, AND MICHELLE TALKED ABOUT THAT TOO.
I'M GONNA GIVE JUST A BRIEF UPDATE OF THE WORK THAT WE'VE BEEN DOING, UM, TO KIND OF GET THE FOUNDATION LAID FOR THE PILOT PROGRAM.
SO WE HAVE, AS YOU HEARD IN MICHELLE'S, UH, PRESENTATION, WORKING, BEEN VERY, WORKING VERY CLOSELY THE CITY AND THE COUNTY.
UM, THE HOSPITAL-BASED VIOLENCE INTERVENTION PROGRAM IS ONE PIECE OF THE GUN VIOLENCE, UM, PREVENTION ECOSYSTEM.
SO IT'S VERY IMPORTANT THAT THINGS ARE COORDINATED AND WE'RE WORKING TOGETHER.
WE'VE ALSO BEEN, UM, WORKING TO LEARN AND SEEK SUPPORT FROM OTHERS WHO HAVE BUILT THIS KIND OF PROGRAM.
UM, LOOKING AT BEST PRACTICES AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.
UM, WE'VE BEEN LOOKING AT WHAT, UH, DATA IS AVAILABLE.
UM, SO THERE'S A LOT OF NATIONAL MODELS OUT THERE, BUT LOOKING AT HOW, UM, WHAT DOES THE DATA LOOK LIKE HERE IN TRAVIS COUNTY SO WE CAN BE SURE TO TAILOR THE PROGRAM TO MEET THE NEEDS OF OUR COMMUNITY AND THOSE MOST IMPACTED BY, UH, GUN VIOLENCE.
AND FINALLY, AS ANA MENTIONED, WE'VE BEEN, UM, IN CONVERSATIONS WITH HOSPITALS.
UM, SO WE, THERE IS A LOT OF WRITTEN MATERIAL AVAILABLE, INCLUDING KIND OF A STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE FOR HOW TO BUILD A PROGRAM LIKE THIS IN, IN A LOCAL COMMUNITY.
UM, WE'VE HAD SOME REALLY GENEROUS COLLEAGUES THAT WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO SPEAK WITH IN OTHER COMMUNITIES.
HARRIS COUNTY HAS RECENTLY IMPLEMENTED A HOSPITAL-BASED PROGRAM, AND SO IT'S GREAT TO LEARN FROM THEM ABOUT WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE IN TERMS OF THE OPERATIONS WITHIN THEIR COUNTY.
UH, WE ALSO SPOKE WITH FOLKS AT, UH, IN BALTIMORE AT ASCENSION ST.
AGNES, REALLY SEEING WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE TO HAVE THOSE, UM, HOSPITAL RESPONDERS, I THINK THEY CALL THEM, EMBEDDED IN THE HOSPITAL TEAM AND REALLY PART OF THAT TEAM WITH THE DOCTORS, THE NURSES, THE OTHER HOSPITAL STAFF, AND WORKING REALLY TO RESPOND, UM, KIND OF AT THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT LEVEL WHEN A GUN VIOLENCE VICTIM, UH, COMES IN.
AS MICHELLE TALKED ABOUT, THERE'S A LOT OF GREAT NATIONAL TRAININGS, UH, AND WEBINARS AVAILABLE THAT CAN HELP US BUILD THIS PROGRAM.
UH, THE, UH, THE COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR IN BALTIMORE IS A FORMER ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER IN AUSTIN.
CHRIS, UH, CHRIS SHORT, I REMEMBER.
UM, SO THAT WOULD BE A RESOURCE THAT WE SHOULD DEFINITELY HAVE THOSE TO.
I ALMOST CALLED HIM A, I JUST CALL HIM CHRIS.
I DIDN'T REMEMBER HIS LAST NAME.
SO, BUT, UH, THANK YOU COMMISSIONER.
UM, WE ARE LOOKING TO, UH, UH, SEEK TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
[01:20:01]
AND WE'RE HOPEFULLY WE'LL HAVE THAT IN PLACE SOON BECAUSE OF, UH, THE, KIND OF THE DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF THE, THE COMMU THIS PROGRAM AND THE COMPLEXITY, KIND OF PULLING ALL THE PIECES TOGETHER, HAVING THAT OUTSIDE EXPERTISE IS GONNA BE VERY HELPFUL.UM, IN ADDITION TO HAVING THIS TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO HELP WITH THE PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT, UM, ONE PIECE THAT WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO IS HAVING THAT SUPPORT TO LOOK AT THE ONGOING FUNDING STRATEGY AND SUSTAINABILITY PROGRAM TO HELP CONTINUE BEYOND THE PILOT BASE.
AND SO, AS ANA MENTIONED, THE PROJECT IS REALLY ONGOING AND ITERATIVE.
UM, A LOT OF THE PIECES ARE, ARE FINALLY STARTING TO COME TOGETHER.
UM, SHORT-TERM, NEXT STEPS, WE ARE GONNA HOPEFULLY GET THAT TA IN PLACE.
WE WILL, UM, WITH THE SUPPORT FROM THE CONSULTANT, WE'LL BE LOOKING TO BUILD ON OUR PLAN FOR ENGAGING WITH COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS.
WE'VE BEEN PART OF SOME CONVERSATIONS.
WE'VE HAD A FEW INTERVIEWS, BUT THAT'S A PIECE THAT IN ORDER TO REALLY ENSURE THAT THIS PROGRAM MEETS THE NEEDS OF THE COMMUNITY, UM, WE'LL, WE'LL USE OUR CONSULT CONSULTANTS SUPPORT TO HELP WITH THAT.
UM, WE, UM, ARE WORKING WITH AUSTIN PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICE OF VIOLENCE PREVENTION AND OTHERS TO LOOK AT DATA, AS I MENTIONED, AND, UH, WORKING TO KIND OF FINALIZE PARTNERSHIPS WITH, WITH HOSPITALS.
IS THE ASCENSION, UH, HOSPITAL IN BALTIMORE CONNECTED WITH, UH, THE NATIONAL ASCENSION THAT SETON IS PART OF? YES.
SO THAT MIGHT, MIGHT MAKE IT EASIER TO HAVE, UH, DISCUSSIONS WITH THE HOSPITALS.
IS THAT STILL AT AN EARLY STAGE, THE DISCUSSIONS WITH THE HOSPITALS, OR IS THAT IT IS BECAUSE, UM, RIGHT NOW WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO SEE IS, UH, THE LEGAL RELATIONSHIP ALLOWED THROUGH THE, UH, USE OF FEDERAL DOLLARS.
AND SO WE CAN'T, UH, GET MORE IN DEPTH UNTIL WE RECEIVE A RESPONSE FROM OUR LEGAL REVIEW.
IT'S, IT'S COMING UP PERMIT ISSUE.
WE WANT TO PARTNER WITH A HOSPITAL AND PROVIDE THEM L F R F FUNDS.
UH, WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE, WE GO THROUGH CERTAIN STEPS BEFORE WE CONTRACT.
I DIDN'T REALIZE WE'D BE GIVING MONEY TO THE HOSPITALS.
I THOUGHT WE WERE BRINGING IN THE, UH, VIOLENCE PREVENTION SPECIALIST, HAVING THEM AT THE HOSPITAL AND NEEDING TO HAVE AN AGREEMENT WITH THE HOSPITAL.
BUT ANOTHER MODEL IS TO HAVE THE PERSON BE AN EMPLOYEE OF THE HOSPITAL SO THAT THEY'RE, THEY'RE FULL-TIME AND SO THEY HAVE ACCESS TO THE MEDICAL RECORDS.
SO, YOU KNOW, IT'S, THEY'RE PART OF THE SYSTEM.
THEY HAVE ALL THE TRAINING AND THEY KIND OF HAVE AN IN.
AND DO WE THINK WE'LL GET A, UH, SPEEDY, UM, ANSWER ON THIS? I KNOW IT'S BEEN HARD TO GET INFORMATION FROM RE TREASURY, BUT WE'RE, WE'RE JUST ABOUT THERE.
THIS IS REALLY, BASICALLY, WHAT IS CHARLES COUNTY DOING, UH, FOR ACTIVE SHOOTER TRAINING IN THE WORK SITE? WE HAVE SOME STAFF WHO ARE WORKING DIRECTLY WITH THE, WITH THE PUBLIC.
AND SO, UM, IT'S, IT'S BASICALLY REQUIRED TRAINING TO RESPOND TO AN ACTIVE SHOOTER SITUATION, UM, AND TO, TO, TO MANY PEOPLE LEARN HOW TO RECOGNIZE THE SOUND OF GUNSHOTS, REACTING QUICKLY WHEN GUNSHOTS ARE HEARD.
AND I'M SPEAKING TO, TO OUR EXPERTS.
I HAVE NOTHING MORE TO SAY ON THIS EXCEPT TO SAY THAT THESE, THESE ARE THE COMPONENTS THAT OUR TRAINING IS TAKING ON AT THE COUNTY LEVEL.
UM, I THINK WE'RE, WE'RE RIGHT AT ONE O'CLOCK AND WE'VE GOT 30 MINUTES SCHEDULED FOR THE NEXT, UH, TO UPDATES ON SPECIAL EDUCATION AND MENEZ MIDDLE SCHOOL.
AND THEN WE MAY NOT HAVE TIME FOR MUCH DISCUSSION ON RESILIENT SUBS, UM, OR THE NEXT MEETING DATE.
BUT, UM, IF THERE'S BRIEF QUESTIONS, WE HAVE TIME BRIEFLY.
IF NOT, WE CAN MOVE ON TO THE NEXT ITEM.
THAT'S WHERE GOES, UM, HOW MUCH TIME IS SPENT WITH EACH INDIVIDUAL IN THE HOSPITAL, OR WHAT IS BEST PRACTICE FOR THAT? OKAY.
UM, I THINK IT, SO I THINK THE INITIAL, UM, KIND OF MEETING DISCUSSIONS DO HA HAPPEN AT THE HOSPITAL, BUT THEN ONCE SOMEONE IS DISCHARGED, THEN THOSE, UH, THAT SERVICES CONTINUE IN THE COMMUNITY.
SO THE HOSPITAL RESPONDER WOULD FOLLOW UP WITH THE PERSON ONCE THEY'RE DISCHARGED.
SO HOW LONG SOMEONE'S IN THE HOSPITAL WOULD BE DETERMINED BY SORT OF THEIR MEDICAL NEED, WOULD THE SERVICES WOULD CONTINUE BEYOND THAT AS PART OF THE HOSPITAL-BASED VIOLENCE? OH, YEAH.
AND I WAS JUST CURIOUS LIKE HOW MUCH TIME, UH, WAS SPENT WITH THE INDIVIDUAL AT THE ACTUAL HOSPITAL.
I MEAN, I KNOW YOU'RE SAYING IT'S LIKE, I'M JUST CURIOUS WHAT THAT INITIAL MEETING IS LIKE, OR HOW MUCH TIME IS SPENT IN THAT INITIAL MEETING TO SEE IF THEY'RE, IF THEY'RE AMENABLE TO, TO THE SERVICE.
AND WE DON'T HAVE THE ANSWER TO THAT.
I, I MEAN, ONE, ONE THING WE DO KNOW IS THAT IT'S SOMETIMES MORE THAN ONE MEETING, RIGHT? WHERE YOU JUST OH, ABSOLUTELY.
BRIEFLY INTRODUCE YOURSELF AND THEN YOU COME BACK.
AND, AND THIS ALSO INVOLVES, AS, YOU KNOW, UM, WHEN SOMEONE IS SHOT OR WHEN SOMEONE GOES TO THE HOSPITAL, THEY GENERALLY DON'T GO BY THEMSELVES.
YOU KNOW, FAMILIES CALLED IN, FRIENDS ARE
[01:25:01]
CALLED IN.SO IT'S ALSO TALKING TO THEM TO ESTABLISH A SENSE OF, UM, YOU KNOW, SAFETY.
AND, AND I'M HERE IF YOU WANNA TALK KIND OF SITUATION.
AND, AND I HAVE ONE MORE, AND I DON'T KNOW IF IT WAS IN THE SLIDES, AND I APOLOGIZE IF I MISSED IT.
HOW MANY OF THOSE INTERVENTIONS ARE, ARE CONSIDERED SUCCESSFUL? YEAH, IT'S, UH, IT'S VERY, VERY, UH, SO THERE'S A LOT OF LITERATURE, UH, THAT, THAT SHOWS VERY HIGH EFFICACY OF THIS INTERVENTION.
UM, CAN I ASK THAT WE, UM, PUT THIS ITEM ON THE AGENDA, MAYBE NOT NEXT QUARTER, BUT THE QUARTER AFTER, UM, FOR AN UPDATE.
WOULD THAT GIVE, WILL THAT, WILL WE BE FAR ENOUGH ALONG BY THEN? YES.
SO TWO, TWO CYCLES FROM NOW TO GET AN UPDATE ON THIS.
'CAUSE IT WOULD BE IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHERE WE ARE WITH THE HOSPITAL PROJECT.
I WANTED TO JUST MAKE A, A QUICK, UM, COMMENT OR OBSERVATION.
SO I'M, I'M REALLY PROUD TO SEE ALL OF THE CONFLUENCE OF THE VIOLENCE PREVENTION EFFORTS THAT WE ARE TALKING ABOUT.
UM, IN 2020 WHEN WE LAUNCHED THE OFFICE OF VIOLENCE PREVENTION, IT CAME AFTER A TASK FORCE THAT WE HAD, UM, TO LOOK AT HOW YOU COULD PREVENT GUN VIOLENCE IN OUR COMMUNITY.
UM, AND THE TWO MOST CLEAR RECOMMENDATIONS WERE THE OFFICE OF VIOLENCE PREVENTION AND THE HOSPITAL, UH, BASED INTERVENTIONS.
BUT THEN OBVIOUSLY, YOU KNOW, THE WORK THAT YOU'RE DOING IN THE SCHOOLS AND THE TRAINING AND THE THINGS THAT ARE HAPPENING ARE ALSO REALLY, REALLY IMPORTANT.
UM, THE WAY THAT WE MOVE FORWARD AND PREVENT THE VIOLENCE IS BY CREATING THIS ECOSYSTEM MM-HMM.
AND IT'S NOT ONE GROUP OR ONE ENTITY'S, UM, ABILITY, YOU KNOW, TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM.
IT'S ALL OF US WORKING TOGETHER AND TRYING TO SOLVE, UM, THE ISSUE AND LOOK WHERE THOSE INTERVENTION POINTS ARE.
UM, SO I THINK IT'S, IT'S REALLY GREAT TO LEARN ABOUT THE OTHER, THE OTHER PIECES.
AND, UM, YOU KNOW, MAYBE NEXT YEAR AND WE HAVE OUR NEXT GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION, UM, SYMPOSIUM WILL BE ABLE TO BRING IN AND, AND REALLY BEGIN TO SEE, OKAY, WE, WE HAVE MADE PROGRESS IN BUILDING OUT, UM, THIS ECOSYSTEM IN, IN DIFFERENT PIECES IN DIFFERENT WAYS.
AND, UM, AS WE DO THAT, I THINK WE'RE GONNA START TO REALLY SEE SOME SHIFTS IN OUR COMMUNITY IN TERMS OF HOW, HOW, HOW, WHAT THE LEVEL OF VIOLENCE IS, AND THE NATURE OF THE VIOLENCE, AND BE ABLE TO PIVOT AND KEEP BUILDING THAT ECOSYSTEM WHERE WE NEED IT.
SO I JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT I'M, I'M REALLY GLAD TO SEE THIS CONFLUENCE OF WORK AND THE COMPLEMENTARITY ACROSS WHERE EACH N N D IS KIND OF DOING THEIR COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE.
AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR LEADERSHIP ON, THAT'S ONE.
ANY OTHER QUESTIONS ON THIS? ARE WE READY TO MOVE ON? UM, I JUST WANTED TO SHARE THAT ON SEPTEMBER 9TH AT TRAVIS HIGH SCHOOL, I AM DOING, UM, UH, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE AUSTIN POLICE DEPARTMENT, RIVERSIDE, RIVERSIDE TOGETHERNESS PROJECT, WHO HIS, I'VE BEEN WORKING WITH FOR A YEAR ON DOMESTIC, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN MY DISTRICT TWO AND THREE THAT HAVE THE HIGHEST, UH, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND HIGHEST C P SS REMOVALS.
AND I'M CURIOUS IF SOME OF THOSE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CASES ALSO HAD PEOPLE WITH GUNS, YOU KNOW, SO I'M CURIOUS IF THAT DATA IS THERE FOR THAT.
BUT NOW THERE'S A NEW GRANT, IT'S ABOUT GUN PREVENTION, AND SO WE'RE PUTTING THIS EVENT TOGETHER, IT'S HEALTH, WELLNESS, AND SAFETY.
SO IF YOU ALL WOULD BE WILLING TO HAVE SOME PREVENTION TABLES THERE, THAT WOULD BE VERY HELPFUL.
YEAH, WE'VE GOT KIRSHA HALA HEADS UP OUR, OUR DOMESTIC VIOLENCE, UM, WORK WITH WITHIN THE COUNTY AND HAS DONE AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF WORK FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS ON, UM, ALL KINDS OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE EDUCATION AND PROGRAMMING AND, UH, POLICY DEVELOPMENT.
SO, UM, AND I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WORK WITH HER, I ALWAYS FORGET WHICH DEPARTMENT SHE WORKS UNDER.
I THINK IT'S UNDER JUSTICE PLANNING.
UM, BUT WE CAN, UM, FOLLOW UP WITH HER TO LET HER KNOW ABOUT THIS OPPORTUNITY.
MAYBE A C M HAY HOWARD, YOU CAN, UM, MAKE SURE THAT MS. SAPAS IS CONNECTED THAT WITH OUR VICTIM SERVICES GROUP, UM, THAT WORKS A LOT WITH DOMESTIC VIOLENCE.
IF THERE'S NO OTHER QUESTIONS, LET'S MOVE ON TO THE, THE FINAL SECTION THAT WE'VE ALLOTTED TIME FOR DISCUSSION.
I DO WANNA MAKE A BRIEF COMMENT ABOUT RESILIENCE HUBS AT THE END.
AND, UH, LAURA PATINA IS ON, ON HOLD, BUT THIS IS
[III. Discussion of possible subcommittees (Part 2 of 2)]
NOW THE UPDATE ON SPECIAL EDUCATION AND PARTICULARLY MENDEZ MIDDLE SCHOOL.ALRIGHT, THANK YOU, BY THE WAY.
THANKS, EVERYONE WHO'S PRESENTED EARLIER.
UH, I WILL MAKE IT BRIEF AS IT SAYS ON MY, THE AGENDA ITEMS. SO WE'LL GO QUICKLY THROUGH IT.
I'M THE INTERIM SUPERINTENDENT FOR A I S D.
UH, ONE ACKNOWLEDGES THE SECOND WEEK OF SCHOOL, UH, THE END OF THE SECOND WEEK.
AND AS WE MOVE THROUGH THE FIRST SLIDE, YOU KNOW, JUST WANTED TO COMMUNICATE TO YOU ALL KINDA THE EXPECTATIONS WE HAVE AS AN ORGANIZATION.
FIRST, WE'RE ASKING, YOU KNOW, ALL OF OUR STAFF TO, TO REALLY TAKE CARE OF THEMSELVES.
UH, IF IF THEY'RE NOT TAKING CARE OF THEMSELVES, WE CAN'T ASK THEM TO TAKE CARE OF OUR STUDENTS.
[01:30:01]
A LOT OF TIME WORKING WITH THEM, THINKING ABOUT MENTAL WELLNESS, MENTAL HEALTH, UH, FOR OUR STAFF.AND, AND THAT'S BEEN A FOCUS FOR US BEING BALANCED.
YOU KNOW, I, I'M SOMEONE THAT STRUGGLES WITH THIS, UH, BUT WE ARE WORKING AS AN ORGANIZATION TO ENSURE THAT WE REMAIN BALANCED AND STAY FOCUSED.
THERE ARE A LOT OF AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT WITHIN A I S D.
WE CAN'T TACKLE EVERYTHING AT ONCE, THOUGH SOMETIMES WE TRY.
SO BEING HYPER INTENTIONAL ABOUT WHERE WE'RE GONNA ALLOCATE RESOURCES AND HOW WE'RE GONNA GET THE WORK DONE.
AND I THINK MOST IMPORTANTLY, AS YOU SKIP TO THE NEXT SECTION, IS JUST BE OURSELVES.
I, I THINK WHAT WE'VE KNOWN AND WHAT WE LEARNED ABOUT OUR ORGANIZATION IS THAT WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO BE UNIQUELY O AND OSTENTATIOUS IF WE'RE GONNA GET THINGS DONE.
AND I THINK JUST EMBRACING THAT FACT IS, IS GONNA HELP US BE SUCCESSFUL, AND WE'VE ALREADY SEEN EVIDENCE OF THAT OCCURRING.
UH, BEFORE I MOVE INTO THE SPECIFIC UPDATE AROUND SPECIAL EDUCATION, I DO WANT TO, UH, PROVIDE A, A THANK YOU.
UH, THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF ONGOING WORK BETWEEN I C AND THE CITY OF AUSTIN REGARDING AN AGREEMENT AND A LOCAL AGREEMENT.
UH, IT'S ONE THAT'LL SET THE, THE, UM, REALLY THE STAGE FOR ANY IMPROVEMENTS OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DECADES.
A LOT OF WORK HAS GONE INTO IT AND, UH, I'VE NOT CONVINCED THAT WE WOULD'VE BEEN HERE IF IT HADN'T BEEN FROM, FOR MANY OF Y'ALL, UH, SUPPORTING THE WORK OVER THE LAST MANY MONTHS.
UH, IT WAS KIND OF A SLOW START, UH, A YEAR AND A HALF AGO, BUT WE'RE WELL ON OUR WAY AND JUST WANTED TO SAY THANK YOU PUBLICLY.
UM, WE GOT THE PLANNING COMMISSION LAST WEEK, AND SO AS WE, AND WHAT IS IT, WHAT WAS IT YOU GOT LAST WEEK? AND, AND THIS, IT'S, IT'S AN AND SO, UH, INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT.
SO WE PASSED A $2.44 BILLION BOND.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE HAVE TO WORK THROUGH IS HOW ARE WE GOING TO DEVELOP WITHIN THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
UH, SCHOOLS ARE UNIQUELY, YOU KNOW, UNIQUELY DESIGNED.
THERE ARE SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS, SETBACKS, HEIGHTS, AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE STRUGGLED WITH OVER THE MANY, MANY YEARS IS JUST HOW DO WE RECOGNIZE THAT THESE INVESTMENTS ARE COMMUNITY INVESTMENTS? AND ANY DELAY IS GOING TO HAVE AN IMPACT ON OUR TAX BASE, ON OUR STUDENTS' ABILITY TO ENTER THESE SPACES.
AND SO WE DON'T HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO OPEN SCHOOL A WEEK LATE.
IT MIGHT AS WELL BE A SEMESTER LATE IF THAT'S THE CASE.
UH, SO WE TRY TO MANAGE ALL OF THOSE RISKS AND PUT 'EM IN AN AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
THERE'S BEEN ONE SINCE 1992, BUT IT'S ON ITS EIGHTH AMENDMENT.
UH, IT IS NOT WHAT IT NEEDS TO BE AND DOESN'T ACTUALLY REFLECT CURRENT CODE.
SO A LOT OF WORK HAS GONE INTO IT.
UM, AND JUST WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT WORK HAS BEEN ONGOING.
AND THIS IS RELATED LARGELY TO A D A COMPLIANCE DESIGN.
IT'S, IT'S THERE MISSED SOMETHING IN THERE.
I MEAN, REALLY EVERYTHING UNDER THE SUN, UH, THAT HELPS ENSURE THAT WE DELIVER THESE PROJECTS ON TIME AND ON BUDGET AND MEET THE EXPECTATIONS OF OUR VOTERS.
THAT'S WHAT THIS HELPS US ENSURE.
UH, WE'D HAD IT IN 2017, BUT IT WASN'T COMPREHENSIVE.
THAT'S WHY THE REWRITE WAS ACQUIRED.
AND WHEN IS THAT COMING TO US? IT'S COMING TO Y'ALL IN TWO WEEKS.
UH, WE'VE GOT THE PLANNING COMMISSION ON THURSDAY, AND SO I BELIEVE IT'S GOING TO BACK UP THIS MAYBE TODAY.
SO MOVING ON TO SPECIAL EDUCATION.
UH, YOU KNOW, IN, IN MY ROLE AS INTERIM SUPERINTENDENT, UH, THE, THE BOARD IS VERY CLEAR AS FAR AS WHAT THE PRIORITIES WERE.
UH, I TALK ABOUT IT OFTEN AS PRIORITY ONE A, UH, REALLY ENSURING THAT WE'RE PROVIDING THE SERVICES FOR OUR STUDENTS THAT NEED THEM.
UH, AND TO BE HONEST, THE DISTRICT HAS NOT, UM, PROVIDED THE SERVICES NEEDED FOR QUITE SOME TIME.
AND WE'VE JUST REALLY STRUGGLED FROM A RESOURCE ALLOCATION PERSPECTIVE, SYSTEMS PERSPECTIVE TO, TO GET THE WORK DONE.
AND THAT HAS CREATED THE ENVIRONMENT WHERE THE STATE HAS, UM, INTRODUCED, UH, CONCERNS.
AND, AND WE'VE RECEIVED THAT, UM, THROUGH A VARIETY OF WAYS.
AND SO, IN THE SPRING, I WAS HERE BEFORE YOU PROVIDED AN UPDATE REGARDING THE T E A LETTER AND THE, UM, THE, I GUESS THE, THE FOCUS FROM THE STATE AND PERHAPS PURSUING A CONSERVATORSHIP.
UH, AND I WANTED TO WRITE AN UPDATE REGARDING WHERE WE ARE IN THE WORK.
UH, SO EARLY ON IN THE SPRING SEMESTER, CAME ON DEVELOPED SYSTEMS, IDENTIFIED THREE PRIORITIES WITHIN SPECIAL EDUCATION, IDENTIFYING CLEAR OWNERSHIP.
THIS IS NOT SPECIAL EDUCATION.
THIS IS AN ACADEMIC SYSTEM THAT HAS TO BE IMPROVED.
AND THERE'S OWNERSHIP BETWEEN THE FINANCE DEPARTMENT, THE HUMAN CAPITAL DEPARTMENT, YOU KNOW, THE OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT.
UH, WE NEED TO IMPROVE OUR SYSTEMS AS WELL AS, UM, EVALUATION, UH, REQUIREMENTS AND, AND, AND REALLY COMPLIANCE.
AND SO WE PUT TOGETHER COMPREHENSIVE PLANS.
UH, THOSE OF YOU THAT KNOW ME KNOW THAT I'M, I'M LIKE, LIKE RELENTLESS IN PURSUIT OF DEFENDING THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING.
AND SO, UH, THAT'S WHAT HAS ALLOWED US TO ACTUALLY, UM, IDENTIFY, UH, YOU KNOW, KIND OF ACTIONS THAT HAVE, THAT HAVE OCCURRED FROM THIS, THIS PLAN.
SO A COUPLE THINGS THAT HAVE BEEN ONGOING.
UH, WE HAVE, UM, UH, ADJUSTED OUR INTERNAL TRACKING SYSTEMS. WE'VE MADE ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGES.
WE THINK ABOUT, UH, YOU KNOW, THE, THE RESPONSIVE TIME QUALITY AROUND IEPS AND EVALUATIONS, AND REALLY RECOGNIZING WHAT SYSTEMS HAVE TO CHANGE IN ORDER FOR US TO, TO BE COMPLIANT, BUT ALSO PROVIDE INCLUSIVE, UH, SERVICES FOR ALL OF OUR STUDENTS.
AND SO, BACK WHEN I WAS HERE BEFORE YOU, WE HAD SET A TARGET FOR THE SPRING OF HITTING 1500 EVALUATIONS.
OVER, OVER THE SUMMER SEMESTER, OVER THE, THE COURSE OF THE SUMMER, WE HAD SAID, UM, 2000.
[01:35:01]
UH, AND ONE OF THE WAYS THAT WE'RE ABLE TO DO IT IS BY BEING VERY AGGRESSIVE, UH, IN BOTH OUR COMPENSATION STRATEGIES, BUT ALSO HIRING STRATEGIES, UH, AND CREATING A CULTURE OF TRUST.YOU KNOW, A LOT OF FOLKS THAT LEFT US A COUPLE YEARS AGO ARE COMING BACK AND THAT'S AN INCREDIBLE SIGN.
AND SO AS WE MOVE TO THE NEXT SLIDE, YOU CAN SEE, UH, THE NUMBER OF L SSPS AND DIAGNOSTICIANS.
AND IF YOU CLICK THROUGH THE NEXT TWO, UH, THE ONE THING I WANNA POINT OUT IS WE HAVE 72 NOW.
LAST TIME I MET WITH YOU, WE HAD 21.
AND SO, AND SAY WHAT AN L S S P IS.
SO, UH, SO L S S P AND DIAGNOSTICIANS ARE THE ONES THAT, THEY'RE THE ONES THAT PERFORM THE EVALUATIONS AND DETERMINE WHAT SERVICES OR WHAT NEEDS OUR STUDENTS HAVE.
UH, THERE ARE SLPS AND THERE ARE OTHER FOLKS THAT ARE PART OF IT, BUT L SSPS AND DIAGNOSTICIANS ARE THE, FOR LACK OF A BETTER WORD, LIKE THE, THE U UTILITY KNIFE.
UM, THE ACRONYM ISS LICENSE, UH, SPECIALIST SPECIALIST SCHOOLS.
I WAS TRYING TO FIGURE IT OUT AND I WOULDN'T COME TO THAT.
UM, AND SO IT'S LIKE BEING IN THE MILITARY.
UH, AND SO THERE ARE ONLY 200 AND I THINK 18 IN CENTRAL TEXAS.
SO WE HAD TO BE, UH, VERY AGGRESSIVE.
UH, WE BROUGHT MANY OF THEM IN.
AND THEN OVER THE COURSE OF THE SUMMER, WE HAD TO BE CREATIVE.
WE, UM, RECOGNIZED THAT WITHIN THE STATE OF TEXAS, IF YOU'RE LICENSED, THEN WHY NOT TAKE A VACATION TO AUSTIN? UH, WORK WITH US OVER THE COURSE OF THE SUMMER.
AND SO WE WERE OH, BRILLIANT, DOING EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO GET SSPS AND DIAGNOSTICIANS, UH, INTO AUSTIN.
UH, WE HAD FOUR HUBS OVER THE COURSE OF THE SUMMER, UH, TWO NORTH, TWO SOUTH.
AND, AND THAT ALLOWED US TO REALLY MOVE THROUGH, UH, THE EVALUATION BACKLOG.
NOW AGAIN, THAT'S JUST ONE ASPECT OF IT, LIKE THE INCLUSION MODEL, PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, THE TRAINING, ALL OF THAT CONTINUED ON AND IN A MUCH MORE AGGRESSIVE FASHION.
BUT IF WE DON'T HAVE THE COMPLIANCE RIGHT, WE'RE NEVER GONNA BE ABLE TO BE WHERE WE NEED TO BE WITH THE STATE OF TEXAS.
AND SO, UM, THE CONVERSATIONS WITH THE STATE HAS CONTINUED, UH, TO DATE.
JUST FOR CLARIFICATION PURPOSES, WE ARE NOT UNDER A CONSERVATORSHIP.
I KNOW THAT THERE HAVE BEEN, UM, BECAUSE IT'S BEEN QUIET, YOU KNOW, SOME FOLKS HAVE SAID, OH YEAH, THAT MUST HAVE ALREADY HAPPENED.
WHAT'S HAPPENED, I THINK, IS THE STATE HAS RECOGNIZED THAT WE ARE MAKING TREMENDOUS PROGRESS.
UM, THERE'S EVIDENCE OF OUR PLANS WORKING AND WE'RE CONTINUING TO COLLABORATE WITH THEM.
WE THINK WE'LL HAVE UPDATES HERE BEFORE TOO LONG THAT WE'LL SHARE KIND OF PUBLICLY AND, AND WITH YOU ALL, CERTAINLY.
UH, BUT THINGS ARE MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION AND WE'RE VERY PROUD OF THE WORK AND REALLY THE OWNERSHIP OF THE BOARD AND THE ADMINISTRATION TO TAKE THIS ON.
I KNOW THIS HAS BEEN A VERY DIFFICULT THANK YOU.
SO, UH, AS PART OF THE BRIEF UPDATE, WANT TO GIVE AN UPDATE REGARDING MENEZ MIDDLE SCHOOL AND OUR 1882 PARTNERSHIP.
AS YOU MAY KNOW, UH, MENDEZ HAS NOT MET ACCOUNTABILITY FOR QUITE SOME TIME.
UH, IT'S BEEN AN F OR NOT RATED SCHOOL FOR MANY YEARS NOW.
AND BECAUSE OF THAT, THE DISTRICT ENTERED INTO A PARTNERSHIP SEVERAL YEARS AGO.
WE'VE SINCE SWITCHED PARTNERS AND NOW WE HAVE A NEW PARTNER, UH, THIRD FUTURE.
AND, UH, THIS PARTNER IS, UH, GIVEN THE AUTONOMY TO, UH, IMPLEMENT CURRICULUM AND KIND OF THEIR, YOU KNOW, THEIR PHILOSOPHY AS THEY SEE FIT.
UH, THERE'S LIMITED OPPORTUNITY FOR THE DISTRICT TO INTERVENE IN THAT SPACE, BUT WE DO PROVIDE, UH, OPPORTUNITIES TO ENGAGE AND, AND SAY, OKAY, HOW CAN WE HELP? 'CAUSE THEY'RE ARE ALL OF OUR STUDENTS AND WE WANNA BE SUPPORTIVE.
THEY PROVIDED UPDATES TO THE BOARD IN THE SPRING, AND THEY'LL BE PROVIDING AN UPDATE TO THE BOARD HERE NEXT WEEK.
UH, OUR GOAL IS TO SUPPORT, UM, THEM TO, TO MOVE OUT OF A PLACE WHERE THERE IS THE, UM, THE CONCERN AROUND ACCOUNTABILITY TO GET TO A, UH, C RATING OR BETTER.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE, YOU KNOW, PRELIMINARY INFORMATION SUGGESTING THAT THEY HAVE MOVED IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION, BUT BECAUSE WE DON'T HAVE THE FULL, UH, I WOULD SAY CUT SCORES AS WELL AS OTHER METHODOLOGIES FROM THE STATE, WE DUNNO PRECISELY WHERE THEY'LL LAND.
UH, MORE INFORMATION WILL COME TO THE BOARD, UH, AS WELL AS, UH, THIS GROUP HERE IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
UH, BUT WANTED TO PROVIDE AN UPDATE, UH, REGARDING MENDEZ.
I'LL CONTINUE TO PROVIDE UPDATES TO THE BOARD AND THEN WORK WITH TRUSTEE SABATA, UH, TO, TO ENGAGE.
BUT AGAIN, UH, JUST TO BE CRYSTAL CLEAR, THERE ARE LIMITED OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE DISTRICT TO KIND OF INTERJECT INTO THE CURRICULUM AND LIKE IMPLEMENTATION ON CAMPUS.
WE, WE HAVE TO BE KIND OF SUPPLEMENTARY, UM, JUST BECAUSE THE WAY THE AGREEMENT IS, IS BEEN DEVELOPED AND ALSO RECOGNIZING THAT STATE ACTUALLY HAS A ROLE IN ENSURING THAT THAT AGREEMENT TAKES PLACE BECAUSE OF THE THREAT OF, YOU KNOW, CLOSURE AND, AND KIND OF ALL THINGS AROUND MENDEZ.
SO IS, IS 1882 A NEW, WHAT IS THAT? I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT 1818 MEANS.
IT'S, IT'S AN, IT'S A PARTNERSHIP THAT WAS, I THINK I FORGOT WHICH LEGISLATURE ACTUALLY APPROVED IT.
SO THIS IS A LEGISLATIVE BILL REFERENCE FROM YEARS AGO? YES, CORRECT.
I THOUGHT IT WAS A NEW, UH, ENTITY THAT WAS BROUGHT IN TO RUN MENDEZ.
'CAUSE YOU HAD, YOU WERE REQUIRED BY THE STATE CORRECT.
TO CHOOSE ONE OF A LIST OF, UM, UH, CH ESSENTIALLY CHARTER
[01:40:01]
SCHOOL OPERATORS.AND THEY HAVE NOT HAD SUCCESS IS MY RECOLLECTION, ARE ARE THEY CONTINUING? SO THAT IN THIS NEW SCHOOL YEAR, WHEN I REFERENCED THE FIRST ONE, THERE WAS A PARTNER THAT WAS BROUGHT IN THROUGH 1882.
UM, AT THE TIME THE ADMINISTRATION FELT LIKE THEY WEREN'T MOVING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.
AND THEN THIRD FUTURES, THIRD FUTURE, WHO IS THE PARTNER NOW WAS BROUGHT IN.
SO THIS, THEY'VE HAD ONE YEAR OF OPERATING, UH, AND THIS YEAR WILL REPRESENT, WELL, NEXT COUPLE WEEKS WE'LL GET THE, THE RESULTS FROM THEIR FIRST YEAR.
UH, THE BOARD DOES HAVE THE AUTHORITY, UM, TO, TO TERMINATE OR TO MAKE ADJUSTMENTS.
THE CHALLENGE WE HAVE IS THE STATE HAS APPROVED THEM AS THE PARTNER FOR MENDEZ.
AND SO WE HAVE TO BE VERY KIND OF, YOU KNOW, MINDFUL OF THE FACT THAT, YOU KNOW, WE NEED TO BE SUPPORTIVE AS WE ARE, UH, AND COLLABORATE WHERE WE CAN, BUT WE ARE LIMITED IN WHAT WE CAN DO.
IS THERE A WAY TO OFFER AFTERSCHOOL, UM, SUPPORT, UH, THROUGH THE DISTRICT, UH, TO, I GUESS, IMPROVE ON, UH, YEAH.
WHAT THE CHARTER SCHOOL IS DOING AND INCREASE THE LIKELIHOOD OF SUCCESS AMONG THE STUDENTS? THAT'S ACTUALLY ONE OF THE AREAS OF FOCUS THAT TRUSTEE SABATA HAS BEEN WORKING, UM, WITH, UH, TRUSTEE ANDREW GONZALEZ ON, UM, YOU KNOW, THEIR, THEIR MODEL'S VERY SPECIFIC.
AND SO WHO'S THE CHARTER SCHOOL? THEIR FUTURE? YEAH.
AND SO ANYTIME THAT WE TAKE SPACE ON THEIR CAMP, ON THE CAMPUS, IT IS OUR CAMPUS, BUT TAKE SPACE OR WE REFER THEIR, IT NEEDS TO BE VERY COORDINATED AND THEY NEED TO UNDERSTAND KIND OF WHERE THEIR OBLIGATION ENDS AND OUR OBLIGATION BEGINS IN SUPPORT.
UH, YOU KNOW, TYPICALLY YOU WOULD HAVE LIKE A REFERRAL BASED SOLU PROCESS WHERE STAFF WOULD REFER, BUT YOU HAVE TO THINK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THEIR FOCUS RIGHT NOW AS INSTRUCTION IN, IN A SPECIFIC WAY.
AND ANYTHING ON TOP OF THAT, UM, COULD BE VIEWED AS, UM, BURDENSOME OR MAYBE US NOT IN A LANE.
SO WE'RE, IT'S REALLY SENSITIVE.
WE'RE WORKING THROUGH IT, BUT WE ARE WORKING WITH JUDGE SABATA AND TRUSTEE ANDREW GONZALEZ TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL SUPPORTS.
WELL, THE STATE'S MINDSET IS VERY CLOSE TO THAT MINDSET IN 1882 ALREADY
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE TO BE CAREFUL THAT WE, UH, THAT, UM, THAT WE ARE OBSERVING WHAT THE CURRICULUM IS BECAUSE SOME OF THE PRINCIPLES THAT THE STATE HAS BOUGHT INTO LIKE A, LIKE NO NEED FOR DIVERSITY, HAVE NO PLACE IN, IN, IN THE PUBLIC SQUARE.
AND WHILE WE SHOULD GIVE, YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE TO GIVE THEM THE, THE RESPECT THAT YOU GIVE TO LEGISLATURES.
UH, WHEN THEY TEACH B******T, WE SHOULD SHOUT B******T.
SO, UH, I MEAN, THAT'S AS, AS A TAXPAYER, I CAN SAY THAT AT THE END OF THE DAY, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'RE, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT, THAT, UH, THEY'RE DOING THINGS AND HELP US BUILD OUR COMMUNITY, NOT MARGINALIZE US AS THEY ALWAYS HAVE.
WELL, AND ALSO THE, UM, EXAMPLE OF THE FAILURE OF THE FIRST CHARTER SCHOOL, UM, I THINK SHOULD BE PART OF THE DISCUSSION IN THE SPECIAL SESSIONS BECAUSE THERE WILL BE ENORMOUS PRESSURE TO PASS, UM, CHARTER SCHOOL, SO-CALLED REFORM.
AND THEY'RE NOT AT ALL A MAGIC BULLET.
AND THERE'S VERY LITTLE ACCOUNTABILITY IN THIS, IN THIS CURRENT SYSTEM.
SO PEOPLE JUST NEED TO UNDERSTAND THAT THERE'S, THEY'RE, THEY ARE NOT, THEY'RE NOT THE SOLUTION.
WELL, LET, LET, LET'S, LET'S CUT TO THE CHASE.
THE STATE IS HOLDING RESOURCES FOR THE ENTIRE SCHOOL DISTRICT HOSTAGE, UNLESS THEY SUPPORT VOUCHERS IN AN OMNIBUS BILL.
PAY RAISES THE TEACHERS HOSTAGE, MEANING TEACHERS CAN'T GET WHAT THEY NEED UNTIL YOU BUY INTO A VOUCHER SYSTEM.
THEY'RE GONNA, THEY'RE GONNA HOLD TEACHER PAY RAISES HOSTAGE.
THIS IS REALLY NOT THE BAPTIST TALKING HERE.
WE'RE JUST GONNA, I'M, I'M A TAX PAYER ALSO, BUT I CAN'T RESPOND TO
ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ON THIS? I'LL JUST, UM, WANTED TO BACK UP.
WE HAVE BEEN, UM, REALLY HAPPY WITH THE PROGRESS AS WELL, UM, THAT MATTIAS HAS BEEN MAKING.
YOU KNOW, WHEN WE HIRED, UM, FOR THIS POSITION, WE WERE VERY CLEAR THAT THIS WAS OUR TOP PRIORITY.
WE, YOU KNOW, GETTING A LETTER THREATENING CONSERVATORSHIP FROM T E A IS A HUGE DEAL.
AND, AND IN MANY SENSES IT WAS JUSTIFIED BECAUSE OF SOME OF THE, THE HISTORY.
WE DID HAVE A REALLY BIG BACKLOG.
AND SO WE ARE, YOU KNOW, WE, WE EMBRACE THAT SUPPORT.
UM, WE ARE WORKING THROUGH THE BACKLOG AND WE AS A BOARD JUST LIKE PRIORITIZE, LIKE, HEY, FOR SOME REASON ABOUT A YEAR AND A HALF AGO, THE SUPERINTENDENT THAT TIME FIRED OUR ENTIRE SPECIAL EDUCATION
SO THAT, THAT DROPPED US DOWN.
UM, I DON'T KNOW HOW MANY WE HAD BEFORE THAT, BUT WE HAD PROBABLY A LOT.
[01:45:01]
AND THAT'S WHEN IT DROPPED DOWN TO ABOUT 20, UM, IN THE TWENTIES.WE'RE LIKE, WE GOTTA GET THE PEOPLE THERE.
UM, YOU KNOW, YOU GOTTA PUT MONEY WHERE LIKE, IF YOU NEED CHANGES.
AND SO, UM, THAT WAS A REALLY CLEAR INVESTMENT.
AND THE REASON THAT WE'RE, WE'RE CONTINUING TO UPDATE THIS BODY HERE IS BECAUSE, UM, BOTH OF THESE, BOTH THE MENDEZ SITUATION AND THE SPECIAL EDUCATION SITUATION PRESENTS SORT OF AN EXISTENTIAL THREAT, CORRECT.
AND SO WE JUST WANNA MAKE SURE THAT OUR PARTNERS IN THE CITY AND COUNTY ARE BROUGHT ALONG EVERY STEP OF THE WAY.
BECAUSE IF, YOU KNOW, IF WE DON'T MAKE THE PROGRESS, IF WE DON'T PROVE TO OUR PUBLIC THAT WE ARE TAKING THIS VERY SERIOUSLY, WHICH I BELIEVE WE ARE, UM, THEN THE STATE WILL INTERVENE EVEN MORE.
AND, UM, AND WE JUST, WE GOTTA SERVE OUR KIDS.
AND, UM, AND I, I PERSONALLY HAVE BEEN VERY PLEASED WITH WHAT I'VE SEEN, BUT I ALSO THINK WE'RE JUST AT THE BEGINNING, RIGHT? LIKE THAT STABILITY, YOU KNOW, IN YOUR FIRST SLIDE, LIKE WE ARE FINALLY LIKE GETTING TO THAT POINT OF STABILITY WHERE WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO MAKE THIS PROCESS.
I WANNA THANK THE SUPERINTENDENT AND ALL OF YOU FOR JUST BEING SUPER SUPPORTIVE AS WE GO THROUGH THIS.
I MEAN, WHEN WE FIRST GOT THE UPDATE ON THIS, IT WAS, IT WAS FRIGHTENING THE, THE LIFT THAT YOU HAD TO, UH, ACHIEVE.
AND, UM, AND I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT FOR, FOR PEOPLE TO UNDERSTAND THE STATE PUT A LIMIT ON THE NUMBER OF SPECIAL EDUCATION, UH, CASES THAT YOU COULD WHAT PERFORM OR ULTIMATELY HAVE.
SO THE STATE, THE STATE BEGAN THIS PROBLEM BY PLACING THESE LIMITS, UH, ON THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS, AND THEN TURNED AROUND AND SAID, NOW YOU, NOW YOU HAVE TO DO ALL OF THEM.
AND, UH, AND WE'RE GONNA PUNISH YOU FOR NOT DOING ALL OF THEM, EVEN THOUGH THEY HANDCUFFED YOU IN THE, IN THE EARLY STAGE.
WELL, IT SHOULD BE POINTED OUT THAT THE, THAT THE SUPERINTENDENT IS A TEACHER'S KID AS WELL AS AN ENGINEER.
DID YOU HAVE YOUR HAND UP? I DID.
I JUST, UM, WANTED TO APPLAUD THE PROGRESS.
UM, I KNOW IT'S DIFFICULT CONDITIONS AND JUST WANNA REALLY UNDERSCORE THE NEED, BUT I, I HOPE THAT IN WHATEVER SPECIAL SESSION THEY HAVE, THEY ALSO PROVIDE THE FUNDING THAT OUR STUDENTS NEED.
GENERALLY SPEAKING, UM, WE'RE SENDING OVER 800 MILLION, MAYBE OVER 900 MILLION YEAH.
THIS YEAR TO THE STATE TO FUND RECAPTURE.
AND THEY HAVEN'T INCREASED OUR ALLOCATIONS.
AND, YOU KNOW, YOU'RE DOING THIS WORK WITH YOUR HANDS TIED BEHIND YOUR BACK.
UM, I UNDERSTAND THAT THE DEFICITS THAT YOU WERE RUNNING ARE NECESSARY, BUT THEY, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE $900 MILLION THAT COULD BE INVESTED IN OUR SCHOOLS IF THE STATE WOULD STEP UP TO THEIR, UM, RESPONSIBILITIES HERE.
SO, UM, I DON'T WANNA LEFT, LEAVE THAT UNSAID.
WE HAVE A SCHOOL FINANCE CRISIS IN OUR STATE AND THE STATE NEEDS TO STEP UP AND FIX IT.
AND SO FAR THE PLANS ARE, ARE NOT A SOLUTION.
THE PLANS THAT WE'RE HEARING, PARTICULARLY FROM THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE WHERE HE'S THREATENING TO HOLD TEACHER PAY, INCREASE HIS HOSTAGE UNLESS, UM, UH, A MASSIVE AND I THINK, UH, HORRIBLY, UM, UH, ENVISIONED A VOUCHER PROGRAM IS PASSED AND HE'S PUTTING A LOT OF PRESSURE ON RURAL REPUBLICANS WHOSE COMMUNITIES DO NOT WANT IT.
SO IT'S, UM, IT'S A BAD SITUATION GOING INTO THE LEGISLATIVE SESSION.
I GOT SOME MORE WORDS IF YOU WANT.
I KNOW WE'VE HAD
ANY OTHER COMMENTS ON THIS? THANK YOU SO MUCH AND REALLY CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN FOR, FOR THE GREAT WORK YOU'VE DONE.
[V. Resilience Hubs - Written Report]
LAURA PATINAS, UM, UM, ON VIRTUALLY THE RESILIENCE OFFICER FOR THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND SAID SHE WOULD BE, UH, WILLING TO MAKE A FEW COMMENTS.I WILL JUST SAY, UM, I'VE BEEN TEXTING WITH HER AND SHE, UM, SAID THERE'S A WRITTEN REPORT IN, IN OUR AGENDA, BUT SHE SAID THEY'RE CREATING A STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE DOCUMENT FOR THE RESILIENCE HUB PROGRAM THAT THEY WILL, UH, PLAN TO SHARE WITH COUNTY AND SCHOOL DISTRICT AS, UM, WE ARE ALL COORDINATING ON PREPARING OUR RESILIENCE HUBS.
UM, AND I THINK MOST EVERYBODY HERE'S AWARE OF, OF WHAT THIS EFFORT IS ALL ABOUT.
IT'S A PLACE TO CREATE SAFE PLACES WHEN WE HAVE EXTREME, UM, WEATHER RELATED EVENTS, UM, OR, UM, EXTREMELY DESTRUCTIVE WEATHER EVENTS.
AND WE'RE SEEING ENOUGH OF THEM AROUND THE COUNTRY AND IN OUR OWN COMMUNITY THAT WE KNOW WE NEED TO BE BETTER PREPARED.
UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I, I MENTIONED TO HER IS THAT I THINK THE RESILIENCE HUBS, AND PARTICULARLY BECAUSE A NUMBER OF THEM WILL BE IN SCHOOLS, CREATE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO TALK HONESTLY WITH YOUNG PEOPLE, UH, ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE AND ABOUT WHAT WE'RE DOING
[01:50:01]
ABOUT IT.UM, AND SO SHE SAID SHE WOULD BE, UM, WILLING TO, UM, UH, LOOK AT THIS BEING PART OF THE TRAINING BUDGET THAT THEY HAVE THROUGH THE ARPA FUNDING AS SEED MONEY AND THEN TO BE COMPLIMENTED BY OTHER AGENCIES.
UM, SO THAT MAY BE THE BEST SUMMARY.
I DON'T KNOW, LAURA, IF YOU WANT TO ADD ANYTHING TO THAT IF YOU'RE ONLINE, AND I DON'T KNOW IF OUR MEDIA HAS YOU.
CAN YOU HEAR ME? YES, WE CAN HEAR YOU.
I DON'T KNOW MEDIA IF YOU'RE ABLE TO BRING HER UP, BUT WE CAN HEAR YOU.
UM, WELL VERY QUICKLY AGAIN, THANK YOU FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY TO PROVIDE, UM, THE REPORT OF OUR PROGRESS ON RESILIENCE HUBS TO, TO THIS COMMITTEE.
UM, THERE ARE QUITE A FEW, UM, HIGHLIGHTS THAT I WANTED TO MENTION.
AND THIS IS IN RELATION TO TAKING THE, THE LEARNINGS FROM, FROM THE PAST YEAR AND A HALF, UM, ALMOST TWO YEARS OF ENGAGEMENT, UM, THAT WE'VE COMPLETED A CITY AND UM, WITH THE SUPPORT OF THE COUNTY AND THE SCHOOL DISTRICT FOR BUILDING RESILIENCE HUBS.
AND SO I'M HAPPY TO SAY THAT ELECTRICAL UPGRADES WILL BE COMPLETED, THE FIRST SIX PILOTS AND THOSE WILL BE COMPLETED BY DECEMBER.
SO THEY CAN RECEIVE, UM, THE BACKUP GENERATORS THAT ARE BEING PROCURED AT THE MOMENT IN ADVANCE OF COLD WEATHER.
UM, WE'RE NOW LOOKING AT FOUR ADDITIONAL SITES TO EXPAND ON THE CITY RESILIENCE HUB LENS.
UM, AND THEN WE'LL ALSO IN PARALLEL TO THE STANDARD OUT STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES THAT WE'RE CREATING TO BE ABLE TO SHARE HOW TO RUN, OPERATE THESE UNDER DIFFERENT CIRCUMSTANCES AND WHAT TYPES OF SERVICES THEY CAN APPLY.
UM, THERE'S ALSO A RESILIENCE HUB TOOLKIT THAT'S BEING GENERATED THAT WILL BE LAUNCHED BY THE FALL, THIS FALL, UM, TO BRING IN PRIVATE, UH, PRIVATE FACILITIES AS WELL AS FAITH-BASED ORGANIZATIONS INTO THE RESILIENCE HUB NETWORK.
UM, THE MINI GRANTS PROGRAM HAS ALSO BEEN COMPLETED AND SO, UH, WE EXPECT TO ANNOUNCE THE RECIPIENT OF THE MINI GRANTS BY, UM, THE END OF SEPTEMBER AS WELL.
THESE MINI GRANTS ARE BEING AWARDED SO THAT WE KNOW AND WE CAN UNDERSTAND WHAT COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS AND COMMUNITY LEADERS NEED BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER A DISASTER AS THEY RELATE TO RESILIENCE HUBS SO THAT WE CAN CONTINUE LEARNING AND UPDATING THE TYPES OF PROGRAMMING THAT EXIST AT OUR RESILIENCE HUBS.
UM, AND FINALLY, I JUST WANTED TO SHARE THIS RELATES BACK TO, UH, WHAT YOU MENTIONED IN TERMS OF PREPAREDNESS TRAINING IS WE ARE KICKING OFF, UM, WITH THIS, WITH THE HOMELAND SECURITY AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICE, UH, PILOT PREPAREDNESS TRAINING, UM, AT THE END OF SEPTEMBER.
AND THIS PILOT PREPAREDNESS TRAINING WILL BE, UM, REALLY THE BASIS OF HOW WE AS A CITY WORK WITH COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND WORK WITH OTHER COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS TO TRAIN INDIVIDUALS OF WHAT TO DO, HOW TO PREPARE FOR DISASTERS, HOW TO RESPOND, AND HOW TO RECOVER FROM DISASTERS WHEN THEY DO TAKE PLACE.
AND SO THERE IS ALREADY THIS CURRICULUM IN A WAY THAT WAS CREATED IN THIS FOUNDATION, UM, THAT WE CAN UTILIZE IN THE BASE THAT IF WE WANT TO EXPAND AND WE WANT TO LOOK INTO HOW DO THAT, HOW DOES THAT TRANSLATE INTO SCHOOLS AND CHILDREN FROM K TO 12, THAT THERE IS A BASIS THAT WE CAN START.
SO I'D BE HAPPY TO EXPLORE THAT AND HOW TO MAKE THE TRAINING THAT, UM, THAT WE'VE CREATED MORE, UH, KID FRIENDLY IN A WAY THAT WE CAN ENGAGE CHILDREN AND NOT ONLY, UM, MAKE IT, UH, MAKE IT FOR AN OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN ABOUT DISASTER RESILIENCE ITSELF, BUT ALSO ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE AND SUSTAINABILITY AS A WHOLE.
UM, UH, BUT ALL THE INFORMATION IS IN THE REPORT.
THOSE ARE SOME OF THE MAJOR HIGHLIGHTS AND HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS VIA EMAIL OR FEEL FREE TO CALL ME.
I'M HAPPY TO MEET WITH ALL OF YOU, UM, AT A SEPARATE TIME.
DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR, OR COMMENTS? UH, I, I DO THINK THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY AND A, AND A NEED FOR, UM, SOME DISCUSSION IN THE SCHOOLS.
THE SCHOOLS WILL BE A NUMBER OF THE RESILIENCE HUB LOCATIONS.
UH, SO OBVIOUSLY CHILDREN AND FAMILIES WILL NEED TO KNOW ABOUT IT AND I THINK THIS CREATES AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO HAVE MEANINGFUL CONVERSATIONS ABOUT WHY THESE ARE NEEDED AND WHAT'S HAPPENING AND WHAT, WHAT WE ARE DOING AS GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES ABOUT THE ISSUE.
[VI. Establish Next JSC Meeting Date]
UH, ESTABLISHING THE NEXT MEETING.I BELIEVE THAT THE PILOTS ARE ALL IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN FACILITIES AND NOT IN SCHOOLS.
I MEAN, I THINK THEY WILL EVENTUALLY, UM, GROW OUT TO BE IN THE SCHOOLS, BUT I THINK ALL OF THE PILOTS WERE CITY OF AUSTIN.
OH, THANKS FOR THAT CLARIFICATION.
MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT THE, UH, IN THE FUTURE THERE IS AN INTENT TO HAVE ELEMENT, ELEMENT THERE IS, I ELEMENTARY JUST WANTED TO CLARIFY THAT ELEMENT.
[01:55:01]
THE PILOTS ARE, ARE CITY OF AUSTIN FACILITIES.ANY OTHER COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS ON THIS ONE? IF NOT, WE'VE GOT, UH, JUST TO FIGURE OUT THE DATES FOR THE NEXT MEETING AND IF WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT, WE CAN WORK THROUGH OUR STAFF TO COORDINATE IT.
DO WE HAVE SOME DATES IDENTIFIED ALREADY OR NO? YES.
SO THEY'RE IN YOUR PACKET ON PAGE 60 POINT BACK, UH, NOVEMBER 3RD DECEMBER 1ST OF THE AGENDA.
JUST A REAL QUICK ANNOUNCEMENT ON BEHALF, WE'RE GONNA BE PROVIDING THE BEST MEETING.
DECEMBER 15 WHEN WE FOUND OUT TODAY IS NOT AN OPTION BECAUSE THE FACILITY DOES NOT, THE SPACE IS NOT AVAILABLE.
THE OPTIONS ABOVE DECEMBER 3RD, DECEMBER 1ST AND DECEMBER 8TH CHAMBER, CHAMBER, IF ANYONE HAS A PREFERENCE NOW YOU CAN, YOU CAN SPEAK TO IT.
SO JUST ONE CORRECTION THAT CAME IN PROBABLY AFTER THEY TALKED WITH YOU.
THE 15TH IS AVAILABLE BUT WE WOULD HAVE TO BE IN THE CHAMBER INSTEAD OF THE, UM, INSTEAD OF THE BOARD AND COMMISSION'S ROOM.
UM, AT OUR USUAL TIME AND FOOD WILL BE AVAILABLE, FOOD WILL BE OUT THERE.
SO I'M NOT ACTUALLY, I THINK I'D SHARE THAT AND I'M NOT IN TOWN ON THE 15TH, SO.
WE'LL, SO WE WON'T USE THE 15TH
ANYBODY HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE THIRD, NOVEMBER 3RD THAT MAY NOT WORK FOR, THAT'S PROBABLY NOT GONNA WORK FOR ME, BUT I COULD DO THE DECEMBER.
ANYBODY HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THE FIRST? LET'S MAYBE DO THE, UM, DO THE TRY FOR THE EIGHTH SINCE WE HAVE A COUNCIL MEETING ON THE 30TH.
AND I SHOULD BE, THE 8TH OF DECEMBER WOULD BE BETTER FOR ME.
SO TENTATIVELY WE'RE LOOKING AT DECEMBER 8TH FOR THE NEXT.
I REALLY APPRECIATE ALL THE STAFF THAT PRESENTED AND ALL THE STAFF WHO WORKED ON THIS.
UM, I DO THINK THIS IS A, A REALLY POWERFUL BODY AND THAT, UM, WE, I APPRECIATE THE LEADERSHIP OF, UH, PRESENTING AND, UH, COUNCIL MEMBER, UM, ALL IN PARTICULAR IN FOCUSING US AND LOOKING AT HOW WE CAN USE THIS MORE EFFECTIVELY.
I THINK WE'RE ADJOURNED WITH THAT.
APPRECIATE EVERYBODY BEING HERE.