Is that me? The other thing snow days. I think a bad decision was made on that. Thank you. Thank you. Next, Francis. Jessica. You all know me at this point. So, you know, at this point, myself and other speakers, we've been to five meetings over the last four months. We've had over 10 speakers, 15 guests. We spent so many hours looking into the ADL to give you well-researched testimony, find viable alternatives, and gain a better understanding of the district through talking to parents and students and learning more about our Palestinian student population. We've really, I think, been trying to connect with the board in good faith. But what we've received in return is honestly about 20 sentences worth of pretty bland email replies. We're not looking for empty platitudes, but rather meaningful engagement with the substance of the concerns we're voicing. Dr. Poole reached out for a meeting with us, and we had a really great conversation. And I would love to see the same from you, Superintendent Patel, and from other members of the school board who are interested in having this conversation. I'm looking for responses to the following questions. One, why is the Clayton School District partnering with a clearly biased political organization like the ADL, with a history of political lobbying and doxxing students and educators alike who don't agree with their political viewpoint when there are alternatives available? And two, where is the insistence on sticking with this curriculum coming from, despite all of the concerns that we've raised?

One, why is the Clayton School District partnering with a clearly biased political organization like the ADL, with a history of political lobbying and doxxing students and educators alike who don't agree with their political viewpoint when there are alternatives available? And two, where is the insistence on sticking with this curriculum coming from, despite all of the concerns that we've raised? This curriculum does not have a broad scope, as I'll hopefully get into if I have time. And it does bring politics and foreign policy into the classroom with students. The fact that the district has not made an effort to bring in any Palestinian, Arab, or Muslim voices and perspectives on this issue tells me that you recognize the political nature of the path that you've embarked on. And now, kind of circling back to the email communication, I just wanted to address a question from the district in response to testimony. In the last email, you said, politics and foreign policy are not included in the curriculum. That's not true. Equating a form of hate like anti-Semitism with criticism of a foreign nation like Israel as the ADL does is explicitly bringing politics and foreign policy into the classroom. In another part of the email, you said, as with other curricula, it will be reviewed to evaluate its effectiveness. I'd like to know what are the metrics for evaluation. Does that mean that there's a chance that it could not meet the metrics and the district would cut its partnership with the ADL?

I'd like to know what are the metrics for evaluation. Does that mean that there's a chance that it could not meet the metrics and the district would cut its partnership with the ADL? Another, actually the first email that you sent to me, you said, quote, the ADL No Place for Hate program that we are implementing addresses all forms of hate, bias, and bullying, including Islamophobia. This broad scope is why the program was chosen, end quote. So I was looking through the No Place for Hate website. They have their curriculum available. And there are no lesson plans addressing Islamophobia. There are only two lesson plans on LGBTQ history. The section on religious discrimination only includes lesson plans addressing Jewish identity. The ADL website even has a content update basically that they're narrowing their resource and they're not hosting a lot of their broader anti-bias resources. So yeah, it doesn't really have a broad scope like was communicated. So thank you. Thank you. OK. I believe that was all public comment. And again, we will follow up with each of you afterwards. I will turn it over now to Dr. Patel for a superintendent update. Great. Thank you, everyone. And welcome to our board meeting. So I'm just going to give a quick update on what's happening in the district. We had a recent board meeting. It feels like pretty recently, actually, two weeks ago. And then there was Thanksgiving in between. So still quite a bit is happening.

And then there was Thanksgiving in between. So still quite a bit is happening. So at the last board meeting, I highlighted some student performers who shine on stage every time. And I'm going to start off with doing the same thing again, because last week I got to go and watch the Clayton High School, Wyden Middle School, winter choir performance. And outstanding. Our students were remarkable. They make me proud every time I go to any of these performances. And it was standing room only in our theater. In our auditorium, I should say, rather. So if anybody got to see that, I think you would probably agree with me on this one. And what was really interesting to watch is over the years how our choir program continues to grow and grow. And I truly believe that's a testament to our two teachers who collaborate from the middle school and the high school and go and team teach each other's classrooms and really are present in that. And that was evident when I was standing in the back and watching all the students on the stage. I'm like, wow, in four to five years we have really grown that program. So just wanted to highlight them again and just remind everyone how amazing we have our students doing so many amazing things every year. Next, as we look forward into next semester, can you believe that, 2026, our second presentation in the Clayton cares community speaker series will be coming on January 8th.

So just wanted to highlight them again and just remind everyone how amazing we have our students doing so many amazing things every year. Next, as we look forward into next semester, can you believe that, 2026, our second presentation in the Clayton cares community speaker series will be coming on January 8th. It is free to the public. You can RSVP on the website. And we are going to be celebrating the voices and experiences of our LGBTQ plus community. We are going to welcome Missouri State Representative Ian Mackey. He's going to come to Clayton High School where he is going to share his identity as a gay man and how it has shaped his law, education and career. So it's going to be a great event and I hope many of you can be there to support this. Oh, and what's really interesting about this and very collaborative is we are co partnering with the city of claims equity commission to sponsor this event. It's a great collaboration between the city and the district as well. And so mark your calendars. January 8th will be here before we know it. Moving again, looking into next year, we are working on our reimagining our state of the art summer academy. We have our dates set for June 8th through July 3rd and recently, well, last week we announced that Angie Caracciolo is going to be our new director of summer academy. Angie has been with us since 2008. She has been our math coordinator for over 10 years.