Berkeley High Petition Update Thank you so much to the 365 (and counting) of you who have signed the Berkeley PTA Council Executive Board’s petition asking for greater accountability from our school district regarding the abrupt placement of Berkeley High School Principal Sam Pasarow on a leave of absence, as well as for the many personal and positive stories you have shared of your experience working with Principal Pasarow as a student, parent, or colleague. Those of you who are on the Berkeley High e-tree will have received a message from Superintendent of Schools Dr. Donald Evans stating that BUSD “hope(s) to update the community again in mid January” regarding the leave. The BUSD School Board of Directors will be meeting this coming Wednesday, January 11th at 7:30 p.m. in their Board Room at 2020 Bonar Street. (Enter on Addison Street.) The PTA Council Executive Board will be delivering your signatures and comments to the School Board, as well as to Superintendent Donald Evans, and Assistant Superintendents Javetta Cleveland and Pasquale Scuderi in advance of that meeting. In addition, we will be addressing the Board during the comments period of the meeting. We welcome and encourage your active participation; make your voice heard by speaking in the public comments portion of the meeting. Signs are welcome. TO TAKE PART IN PUBLIC COMMENT, PLEASE TURN IN A COMMENT CARD BY 7:00 p.m. As we have previously stated, many of our team have had the opportunity to work with Mr. Pasarow as parent volunteers, and we have been consistently impressed with his leadership, his passion for equity, his focus on safety and community building, and his empowerment of our teens to do more and be more. We enthusiastically support the way he always puts our students first, and we believe that our school district should do the same. We encourage you to write directly to BUSD leaders about your opinions and feelings regarding this matter. We further encourage you to come to the Board meeting yourselves to express your opinions and feelings. Again, comment cards are due to the meeting clerk by 7:00 p.m. Here are their names and contact information: Board of Education: Directors Alper, Appel, Leyva-Cutler, Hemphill, and Daniels: boardofed@berkeley.net (this mailing address will distribute your letter to the entire board) Assistant Superintendent Pasquale Scuderi pasqualescuderi@berkeley.net Assistant Superintendent Javetta Cleveland: javettacleveland@berkeley.net, Superintendent Dr. Donald Evans: donaldevans@berkeley.net Sincerely, Berkeley PTA Council Executive Board Christine Staples, President Ramona Coates, VP of Equity and Inclusion Tracy Hollander, VP of Legislative Advocacy Maria Rohlsson, Secretary Mimi Pulich, Treasurer Tom Killilea, Communications Chair