Vermont Legislature SmartTranscripts:

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: We're live.

[Seth Bongartz (Chair)]: Alright, Senate Education Committee on March 12. We're doing a few things this afternoon. First, we have a group of youth from Outbreak Lamont in leadership day. I got asked, I can't remember how long ago whether to come in and give us some testimony. I said yes, so it will definitely work out this day. And then just for the committee to know what's going on, we couldn't get legislative counsel until 03:30 and then 03:45, the most covered bills that we could potentially get out. So we're gonna end up having a little bit of a break after this for half an hour or something like that. So don't need to follow the order on the agenda. Whoever wants to go first can go if not it is Theo?

[Rafael Boddy]: Oh it's actually got to be switched over.

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: That is fine. That's fine.

[Seth Bongartz (Chair)]: So what you do is come out of the seat, introduce yourself, tell us what school you need, how do you live in all the school you go to.

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: Yes, okay. Well, my name

[Rafael Boddy]: is Rafael Boddy. Thank you for having us today. I'm just going do a quick introduction about what Outright is and why we are here today. To start off, I am 17 years old. I am a junior in high school. I am actually homeschooled, but I do live in Orwell. And I am a second year youth organ

[Mayla Landis Maranello]: So, I'm going to Fair Haven South. But I'm a

[Rafael Boddy]: second year youth organizer intern with Outright Vermont. And what Outright is, is it is an organization, a statewide organization that provides resources and opportunities for queer and trans youth to build hope, equity, and power in the state. So we provide a lot of resources for queer and trans youth, specifically relating to gender affirming care, but also programs and connection. And within Vermont, it is it's often difficult for queer and trans youth, especially those in rural areas, to find connection and community. So Outright Vermont really strives and strives to provide that to parent trans youth in Vermont. And so it's really changes the lives of many of the young people who come into contact with Outright and get to work with it. I know I am a part of the organized training program, I'm an intern, but I know so many young people in the state of Vermont whose lives have been so impacted by the many programs that we offer. So some of those look like between a teen group that meets in Burlington. We also have Gender Creative Kids, which is for young people who are questioning their identity and looking for community in that sense. And we also have the Outbreak Camp Outbreak, which is a very, you know, it's a very like an incredible camp opportunity for a Korean trans youth to have community that they might not find in other camp opportunities. And we actually have a space in, on the, you know, Orwell Benson border, so that's a little bit in Addison, a little bit in Rutland, but we have that space now for our Boy Scouts camp, and we also have our facilities in Burlington that are also used for other events. I know that Education Justice Coach Hemmerlock hosts a annual social justice camp there. So it's a really collaborative work for a lot of organizations within the state and community are also accessing resources from Outreach Vermont. But this is a, this specifically Leadership Day works to bring queer and trans youth and young people from across the state who are working in policy, as well as social justice work, to come to the Steakhouse and talk about the policies that they are working on and really care about. So today is just, it's an incredible day. This is my second time working with Leadership Day, but it brings so many young people to have to speak with legislators such as yourselves and also have press conferences and lunches to talk about policy that folks are working on.

[Kesha Ram Hinsdale (Member)]: We talked about sanctuaries. We did, we

[Rafael Boddy]: talked about sanctuary schools. There was also a group talking about gender affirming, accessing gender affirming healthcare. There was a group talking about youth voice in schools and how young people could

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: be better represented within their schools. There was another

[Rafael Boddy]: group talking about hates and harassment and bullying policies within schools. Outright is really focusing on empowering queer and trans youth, as well as other young people across the state and empowering them to, you know, find their voice and, you know, really take action within their communities. And so that is what is so important about Advocacy Day. I know that it's like providing so many resources to so many youth who would not have these access to these opportunities, and it can really change a lot of lives. Hopefully that the work that we're doing is going to be spread out all across Vermont. I know that we have so many within the training program, we gained so many skills for leadership and advocacy, and that is really what we see culminating here today as Leadership Day. This is something that we, as youth organizers, organize and work towards throughout the year. So we are all really happy to be here, and thank you for having us.

[Seth Bongartz (Chair)]: I hope that answers some questions, though. Do you operate just by, through funding, is it all student led, or how do you, what's the gravitas?

[Rafael Boddy]: I generally answer the funding

[Mayla Landis Maranello]: specifically, I know

[Rafael Boddy]: that we do get a good amount of funding and we are very well supported as an organization. I don't know if Eliza or Tayo, if you want to

[Seth Bongartz (Chair)]: speak Is to it student run?

[Rafael Boddy]: It is not. It's run by some amazing, incredible employees, it's not, so it's not a student run organization, it does focus on empowering youth. And so we do have almost, you know, it works with youth directly. It's an organization for youth and we have a lot of youth organizers who are putting together a lot of programming.

[Seth Bongartz (Chair)]: Got it. Okay. That's helpful. Can

[Annabella (Bella) DeBerrier]: I just say more like a choice?

[Seth Bongartz (Chair)]: No, first you have to say before. Yes.

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: And then I was thought we could go

[Rafael Boddy]: through and everybody would introduce themselves, what school they go to, grade, and where they are from, even if you're not testifying.

[Seth Bongartz (Chair)]: Do you want to just jump ahead and throw something in? Go ahead. Name?

[Annabella (Bella) DeBerrier]: Annabella. Here. Okay. And I was just gonna say we're a nonprofit organization. Just to add that again. To make that clear. Biology.

[Seth Bongartz (Chair)]: We're all nonprofit. Yeah.

[Kesha Ram Hinsdale (Member)]: And many of us have been part of huge fundraising efforts on Church Street, like fire truck all raising hundreds of thousands of dollars.

[Seth Bongartz (Chair)]: That's great to know. Yes. So glad to have

[David Weeks (Vice Chair)]: So most of the money is raised by Individuals. Fundraising? Yeah. A lot of is fundraising. Yes. You must get some donations as well.

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: Lots of donations, fundraiser, right? Got it. All right,

[Seth Bongartz (Chair)]: so you want to send us a tour? We can do that, have everybody. Yes. Emma, do you want to start?

[Emma Wiggins]: Yeah, sure. I'm at Wiggins, I'm Franklin County, and I'm a college freshman, so I have grade 13. What year are you in college? I'm going to Community College of Vermont, then transferred to UVM.

[David Weeks (Vice Chair)]: Are you doing that while you're in school, or you're out of school and going to

[Annabella (Bella) DeBerrier]: Out of school. Yes. Yeah, okay, great. Alright, thanks. Sure.

[Seth Bongartz (Chair)]: I'm going to go again.

[Annabella (Bella) DeBerrier]: I'm Bella DeBerrier, and I go to Stetford, I live in Kirinsburg, Massachusetts.

[Asher Walker]: Asher Walker. I am in eleventh grade. I go to Einsburg Falls next year.

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: I will be a early college student at

[Seth Bongartz (Chair)]: Randolph.

[Mayla Landis Maranello]: I'm Mayla Landis Maranello. I'm a senior at Efinity Q High School and I live in Middlesex.

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: I'm Chloe Moll. I live

[Mayla Landis Maranello]: in Brandon and I go

[Chloe Moll]: to Otter Valley Union High School and I am in twelfth grade. I'm Alice Langmauer. I live in Colchester. I go to Colchester High School

[Kesha Ram Hinsdale (Member)]: and I'm in ninth grade.

[Katie (contractor, Outright Vermont)]: I'm Katie, I'm a Burlington resident. Just independently contracting for Outrig today. I'm Eliza Davidson. I'm the school transformation manager at Outrig Vermont, and I'm always proud of these wonderful people. Hi, everyone.

[Tayo Saucier]: I'm Pei O'Souci. I work for Outright, not the GSA network coordinator.

[Annabella (Bella) DeBerrier]: So our next person. Yes. Thank you.

[Kesha Ram Hinsdale (Member)]: And just some history, even if, you know, for you all may or may not know this, but mean, outright was in the building when we did marriage equality in 2009. I still have pictures of you visiting with my friends there. So, you know, it's a very long standing institution. Bill Lippert has been involved. Many legislators have-

[Mayla Landis Maranello]: Yeah.

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: And it was founded in partially by Bill Lippert. Yeah.

[Rafael Boddy]: And I don't it was founded in 1980.

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: Hi,

[Mayla Landis Maranello]: so I'd like to add I'm Mayla. I'm a senior at E22 high School. I'm also here as a member of the Vermont State Youth Council. I am on the education committee for that. So thank you for taking the time to listen to our testimony today. I'm really excited to be here with all these amazing youth advocating for youth voice in education. I'm here to express my support for H640, an act that would require voting student members on school district boards. This bill is currently still in the House Education Committee, but I would like to share why it's important to me for when it comes to the Senate. So, I'm a representative of the Vermont Students for School Board Representation Advocacy Group, which was started this summer at the Governor's Institute for Global Issues and Youth Action, where I took an educational policy class. I had the opportunity to learn about what's happening right now with Vermont's education system and the transformation work that is being done with Addison District specifically. So at the Governor's Institute, I visited the State House and we had a mock education committee session, which was co facilitated by Representative Parkhold and Representative Twenby. And this was an amazing opportunity where I got to advocate with my peers for the importance of including viewpoints in current discussions around education. So in our mock committee, we ended up actually drafting the first version of the bill, H640. And then our group of young people followed up with representative Harpole and she brought the bill proposal to legislative council. So that's kind of the history of how the bill started. And I'm excited to be here today expressing my support for H640. So since I was in elementary school, I have engaged in democracy in a variety of ways, educating myself about issues I care about, attending climate rallies, and participating in activism clubs at high school. I'm 17 still, I'm not yet old enough to vote, and yet I've been taking action to stand up for the cause I believe in for years. And as a young person, it's often been frustrating for me because it's hard to advocate for these issues I'm passionate about when I cannot yet vote. Specifically regarding education, lawmakers are currently making many important decisions that will decide the future of our state's young people. I strongly believe in the importance of uplifting our voices and experiences as youth, which should inform your decisions about the future of our education system. H-six 40 vote recognizes and take concrete action to incorporate youth voice into our systems of decision making regarding education by ensuring voting student representatives on school boards. This is, this bill would require voting student representatives on district school boards from each grade of high school, as well as non voting members in grades seven and eight. This requirement was designed intentionally to introduce students to the school board process in middle school, where they can contribute and engage and then earn their vote in high school. The ability to vote as a high school or a student representative on the district school board is the most important part of the bill to me, because it does not tokenize student voice, but truly values what we have to say as many people. And I just want to add that our requirements of having four members is something that they've been talking a lot about in the House Committee, and we've been talking with Representative Parkle about because depending on the size of the board, that could cause issues. And so we've talked as a group of young people who started the bill and we're completely open to amending that to make it more likely to pass with like a junior and senior representative. The most important part to us is just ensuring even if it's just one voting student representative on the school boards. So, all my life I've been told by my adults that they want to hear young people's voices. I've spoken at public comment during my school board meetings and met with legislators, and every time I'm thanked for sharing my opinion as a young person, but it often can feel like my opinion doesn't hold much weight. Since as I said, as a young person, I do not have opportunities like adults to vote yet and directly engage in democracy. H640 would not only involve youth in the democratic process of voting, but would make a clear commitment to the importance of youth voice in these decisions. I'm grateful to all the legislators, school board members, administrators, and community members who put in the work every day to develop a plan for the future of Vermont's education system. But the ones who will be affected most directly by these decisions are the students. It's crucial that we're given a stay in these decisions. And by giving us an opportunity to vote, you will be giving us a real voice. H640 will provide a systemic pathway to youth engagement and participation in our school system and democracy, which is critical in order to ensure that Vermont youth are represented as we continue to tackle education reform at the state. Thank you.

[Seth Bongartz (Chair)]: Have they taken it up?

[Mayla Landis Maranello]: We are working, advocating. I'm gonna reach out to Representative Convin today to ask them to bring it to the floor. I was in there at the January testifying with a group of some other students who have to write the bill. So, it's anything they can write down.

[David Weeks (Vice Chair)]: Senator Hooker? So, how do you decide which, if you wanna get senior or junior, how are you gonna pick who should, you're gonna have an election

[Annabella (Bella) DeBerrier]: at the school to

[David Weeks (Vice Chair)]: pick who's gonna be representing?

[Mayla Landis Maranello]: Yeah, yeah, so I'm not completely planning that right now, because that was something that went to legislative council because of like the rules for the elections and stuff, which I don't know all of the information about, but I know there was some legal complications of that. Something that we talked about in our group when we were writing the bill was how to ensure that it's not a popularity contest. Because as students, it feels like sometimes that's what happens with student council and other groups that are like, kind of used as token to novice sometimes in high schools.

[David Weeks (Vice Chair)]: But isn't that a democracy if you have poor people, race, the, if it is, unfortunately, sometimes it is a popularity contest in politics, which is

[Mayla Landis Maranello]: Yeah, I think what happened was legislative council was saying that as minors, we maybe weren't allowed to vote yet or something. I'm not completely sure on the details of that, but I think the idea, it's in the bill, whether it would be an appointed position or elected by students. And I am in support of the students having involvement in that. I think ideally, it would be a combination of the students have to apply and put in some effort to express their interest, and then it would be an election by the

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: students or something like that.

[David Weeks (Vice Chair)]: Good idea.

[Mayla Landis Maranello]: Yeah, it's still, that part's still in the process,

[David Weeks (Vice Chair)]: You got an interview for the spot and

[Annabella (Bella) DeBerrier]: pick four or five that they get to vote with.

[Kesha Ram Hinsdale (Member)]: Well, said I don't know very gracefully and that's a lot of what we do in our job. You don't have to know the answer to this question either. I've worked with a lot of the student school board members in Chittenden County in my area. We have a lot of students on the school board. My understanding was they could vote on almost everything except things that were going to contribute to the budget decisions that we're gonna go for the voters because then they're making a question of constitutionality of who's up

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: the age of majority vote.

[Kesha Ram Hinsdale (Member)]: I don't know if that's come up yet, but it there's probably a lot of votes students could take, but it does run into some questions of balance

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: and age Yeah, of

[Mayla Landis Maranello]: I think that did come up around satisfying in the House committee about specifically with budget, especially since that's, in my experience, a very sensitive topic, at least in my school. You are correct. But I think generally in Vermont right now, for me, the importance, like, I'm not super set at the details, this is speaking for myself, not representing our whole group, but like, even if we can't get our goal of four representatives on each school board, or like, we can't get them voting on the budget, I think the important part is like, working into the system of our government that students have a voice in this, and like cementing youth voice into the system in this really concrete way is what's important to me. And I think I'm not a student rep at my school, so I don't know how it works from the Rutland District, but I think it's really great that they can do that in Chittenden, and what I would hope this bill would do is ensure that students across the

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: state have the opportunity. Absolutely. They agree.

[Seth Bongartz (Chair)]: Thank you.

[Mayla Landis Maranello]: Thank you.

[Seth Bongartz (Chair)]: Thank

[Annabella (Bella) DeBerrier]: you so much for having me. I guess I'll introduce myself again. I am Annabel's career, drunk current for most, and I've been deaf or had a bit. I unlike Mayla, he's an excellent testimony, I don't have a specific bill or anything like that, but what I want to do is I want to focus on the issue of housing and how it intersects with education. Vermont has the fourth highest rate of homelessness in the nation. Of the more than four and a half thousand unhoused people in Vermont, at least 1,000 are 18. And it's easy to view that number as unrelated to education, but we must acknowledge the academic disadvantage that being unpaused creates, which is especially important considering that the path out of that kind of extreme poverty requires education. On a personal note, have someone I know personally who lost their housing a few years ago. Their family was evicted with no cause, and for the year after that, they could not attend school just because of how their housing situation developed in that year. It was not possible for them to attend school regularly, and they, by no fault of their own, not because of any actual failing, they ended up being held back a year and have to graduate a year late now, only because of the, like, effectively bad loss that their family encountered. And even after that last semester, they were again they were in the hotel program, which was better. They were able to attend school consistently, but a tent they were in a tent for a while and then a hotel, and it was more stable than it had been when they were initially homeless, But in a tent with their mother and their sister, or in a single hotel room with their mother and their sister, they couldn't focus on school. That is not an environment where you can effectively complete homework and focus on schoolwork. So their grades were not they slip. And again, it was not their fault. It was simply that they were in a situation where they could not perform as well in school as they otherwise would. Now they have my family's actually taken them in, and they're doing much better now, which is good, but don't again, I don't have a specific pill or anything like that, but I urge you to remember this intersection, to remember that housing and education are not unrelated issues, and that supports in education for homeless youth can be all of the difference in the trajectory of that child's entire life. And I think that we must remember the role that housing plays in education and the role that education plays in housing, If we don't, we will be leaving behind Vermont's most vulnerable kids. Thank you.

[Kesha Ram Hinsdale (Member)]: Some of us sit on the housing committee and it's music to our peers. People link housing and education and poverty. Thank you.

[David Weeks (Vice Chair)]: Answers. Yes.

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: Oh, we have one. That's so great. But

[Seth Bongartz (Chair)]: thank you. That's of course good. That's that's testimony. On the one hand, I think it was fair to say. You all know it. But it's also good to hear it especially from you. Sam, have it be enforced. So thank you. Thank

[Annabella (Bella) DeBerrier]: you.

[Seth Bongartz (Chair)]: Normally, we go to a lot of clapping. I remember. But today, I would say, today, it's okay. That's gonna be easy. But so in fact, it is okay to think. So

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: who's next? Okay. Chair, if you will hear one more.

[Seth Bongartz (Chair)]: No, we've got time. Have time. We're actually, we have a gap.

[Mayla Landis Maranello]: We were thinking we were over time.

[Seth Bongartz (Chair)]: We have a gap, so it's okay.

[Mayla Landis Maranello]: Excellent.

[Alice Langmauer]: If that's you, I'm Falcon. I think like we said. It's so expensive. So, my name is Alice Langbauer. I go to Colchester High School, and I'm originally from Harrison. I want to talk to you about easing harassment and delaying policies. Specifically, currently, Bill H130 is still at the house, but I'm hoping that soon it will get to you, and I want to get back to your minds now. Moving to Vermont, I assumed that it would be a very safe, feeling place to live. I'm a queer, disabled, AFAB person, so very easily targeted. And I assumed that I would be a lot safer in Vermont than other places I've lived. But coming to Vermont, I experienced extreme bullying and harassment for all sorts of things. A big issue that I had was the school really didn't take it seriously. You may know that the law states that if it's classified as harassment, they have to do a full investigation, but if it's bullying, they do not. So And my school, what they would do is they would, I would report something and they would say, Oh, sorry, that's just bullying. We're not going to do anything about it. We don't have to.

[Rafael Boddy]: Because they didn't want to do

[Alice Langmauer]: the paperwork, they didn't want to have to call home, didn't want to do any of that stuff. So they would say it, probably called a slur, and they would say, Oh, that's just bullying, even though that is very clearly harassment under anyone's terms. And so, bill H130 is about expanding the duties of the AOE and specifically the HHB Council. They really are doing nothing right now. They met, like, for the first time since October, a week ago, and they're supposed to meet monthly. So they're already not doing their duties, and they barely have any. I, as a person who has been targeted and is still targeted, need support from the government to come and push my school and say, you need to do something, And to push them to listen to me, push them to have effective consequences and restorative justice. But that is currently not implemented. And once the school gets away with a lot of things that it should not. And I really want to bring attention to this as an issue. I think a lot of people assume that because there's a law that they have to do the investigation on harassment, they do. When in fact they have found this loophole that they can just say it's not harassment. And so I just want to bring attention to this and let you have this in your minds for when Bill H130 or any other bills related to hazing and harassment warning get to you so that you know my story and know that it is very, very important that there is intervention. Thank you.

[Seth Bongartz (Chair)]: Yeah, thank you very much. So

[Steven Heffernan (Member)]: we have had a couple of hates and harassment boy bills come through the committee and we always think of giving due diligence and provide the right type of testimony and analysis and what have you to the topic. Maybe you could help us out a little bit.

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: Yeah.

[Steven Heffernan (Member)]: The distinction between harassment and bullying.

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: Yeah.

[Steven Heffernan (Member)]: Help us try to find where you think the distinction would be so that the next time we have, or if we need to modify current law, we can kinda live with this example.

[Mayla Landis Maranello]: Yeah.

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: Bullying is a repeated behavior meant to harm someone in some way, whether it is mental or physical. It can be online, in person, it doesn't matter. But the important part is that it's repeated. Harassment does not have to be repeated, and it is about a protected group, So you can find lists of protected groups, LGBT people, AFAB people, disabled people, BIPOC people, those are all people that are protected. And so if they are targeted because of that specific minority that they are a part of, that is harassment. It can be one comment, can be one word. A slur is harassment. It's really just about it, they being targeted for a group they're a part of. Bullying is not about the group that they are part of. It is just meant to cause harm. So if, for example, I'm sometimes, this is really stupid, I'm called four eyes sometimes because I wear glasses, it gets really dumb.

[David Weeks (Vice Chair)]: You feel your

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: I feel the Why do you think that's harming me? It's not that But you're that bullying, because they're just trying to make me feel bad about myself, they're trying to harm me, but I've been called the F star before. That is harassment. They're, yes, trying to harm me, but they are doing it because I'm part of a group that's minority.

[Nader Hashim (Member)]: Yes, go ahead. Just a quick clarification, clarifying question, because of my old ignorance. You said AFAB, I haven't heard of

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: that Assigned female at birth.

[Nader Hashim (Member)]: Oh, thank you. Sorry.

[David Weeks (Vice Chair)]: So, yeah. So, harassment is saying if you get a slit alert, now, have you ever said, I take offense to that, and if you say it again, now I consider that harassment and will file a harassment charge against you?

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: Yeah. I think it's harassment the first time. Oh, it is. It is. But, But I definitely, I don't fear my peers at this point because they've been doing this for so long and I know that they can't harm me at this point. And so, at this point in time, if someone says something like that, even if it's not to me, I will turn around and I will say, If you say that again, you need to file a harassment report. And I also, I encourage other people to do this as well. I will say, Do you understand why that was offensive? And if they say they don't, I will explain it to them. Very good. I think that's a big issue, is people don't know what the They f slur don't know what these, what these things they're saying. They don't know why it's offensive. They've just heard other people say it. And so, if you, if you say, hey, that's, that's harassment. Let me tell you why. Let me explain it to you. I think a lot of people are very receptive to that, and that's not necessarily expected, because you think they're doing it just to harm you when they're really just ignorant. Sometimes they do know what they're saying. A lot of time they do what they're saying. But, I think I do that very often. And yeah, I've had, I've definitely had conversations like that with every group.

[Seth Bongartz (Chair)]: That's a really remarkable immature part.

[David Weeks (Vice Chair)]: You said nice to go through.

[Kesha Ram Hinsdale (Member)]: Yeah. So, you've come from Arizona. Yeah. I grew up in Los Angeles. We've had conversations in the state about how big is too big, how small is too small for a school. Yeah. You know, Colchester's on our list of schools that is on the smaller side for a whole district. Yeah. We're having a conversation about do students have enough opportunities to find community or to find safety or a trusted adult or a friend group if their school is pretty small. Do you have any thoughts on how the size of your school or district has played into being able to compare experiences across different settings?

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: Yeah, I think the community in my school is actually really good. I think that it makes it difficult with fusing harassment and bullying because there's less administration, And so if one administrator says something, it's kind of like, that's the end of it. Interesting. But I think you, you have less ability to say, Oh, I don't want be friends with this person, because there's not many people. And so you talk to a lot more people than you would if you're in a big school, because you don't really get to pick and choose. And I think that really is part of what makes so successful as a community. I think the main divide in Colchester as a community is there's queer people on one side and now queer people on the other side. And I think that's the main split. And I have talked to so many queer people that I've been able to connect with all through Colchester. I've talked to people of different ages. I have a little sibling, so I've talked to their friends too. And there's that connection. And then there's these people who are straight and I guess are scared of gay people, I don't know, but they just don't want to talk to us. And it's very difficult to merge those two communities. But separately, they're actually very similar, and they're all very strong. But I think it's a very interesting point, and I- I know, but we will. I do know someone from CDU who actually, that's like a lot bigger of a school and they actually really struggle with community. It's just so big and I think an issue with, specifically, like bullying, is the bigger the school, the more harm can come from bullying, because

[David Weeks (Vice Chair)]: How big was Arizona? How big a school were you going to be?

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: It was bigger than Colchester, but it wasn't too big. I went to a charter school in Arizona because the public school sucked. So, it was, it was a little bit bigger, but I think we had less issues because of the racial diversity. We were literally twelve minutes away from the border to Mexico, so it was very much a white people were the minority, and I think that helped a lot community wise, because these were all people who were not gonna target people for their minorities, because they'd all been targeted already, and so I knew how it felt. Yeah, but I definitely Colorado, I also lived in Colorado. I had a lot bigger of a school district, really big. And I'd say that was probably, like, the hardest community to be a part of. It was very much You just didn't get an opportunity to talk to other people. Like, you were stuck in a class with these, like, 30 people and that was it. And I think it was very difficult because at this point I was in fifth grade in Colorado, And I think at that point, that was when everybody kind of started solidifying their beliefs about other people and started saying, oh, you look different from me. Oh, you believe different things in me. I'm just not gonna talk to you. And so I think that was a really hard time especially. But yeah, I think definitely having a bigger school really impacted it. Like, classrooms too. If you're in a bigger classroom, it's hard to talk to everybody in your class. But I have, like, classes with like 15 people and I'm here in Colchester, and I get to talk to everybody and I get to be in a group with different people, and teachers really encourage people to talk to each other and encourage people to become friends with people they didn't know before. So I know a lot of people and I get the opportunity to see a lot of people just because the classes are smaller, so I get to actually talk to them.

[Seth Bongartz (Chair)]: Have you had a chance to talk to administration about what it feels like when you feel like you're not being supported? Have you talked to them about that?

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: Oh yeah, all the time. Have been, at the middle school, I was going straight to the vice principals because the system was reporting that was terrible. But I talked to the vice principals, like, weekly. I met with the principal, like, five times in my career at the middle school. And then here at the high school, I've, at this point, am going in daily to report things and to try to make things better. My mom is sending emails. And at this point, whenever I go in to the teacher I'm supposed to report things to, she has sent me straight to the vice principal because she knows I'm serious and I'm not gonna just sit there and let her say, Oh, are you okay? Is it gonna be okay? I'm gonna say, No, you're actually asking me something. So, yeah, I'm very involved. So,

[Seth Bongartz (Chair)]: I learned something that I didn't know. I didn't know that if you're, if they consider it bullying, that that's okay. Yeah. If it's harassment, you know, you know, I'll ask the committee maybe, you know, because when we talk, we talk about hazing, harassment, and bullying. If we just told made a policy to tell AOE that any of those things have to be reported. Yes.

[Kesha Ram Hinsdale (Member)]: They're not even investigating civil rights. Yeah. They're not even investigating civil rights complaints at this point.

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: It's a really big It's

[Seth Bongartz (Chair)]: a real problem. Well, it might be something as simple as Yeah. Doing a bill that says the simple policy.

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: Yeah. Yeah. Yes.

[Seth Bongartz (Chair)]: Because it's

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: not okay. That would be that would be so helpful.

[Nader Hashim (Member)]: Yeah. Senator Hashim. Just a response to you, senator Billamines. I think I think in our very first year on this committee, we took that issue up, and I can't remember the definition off the top of my head, but what I do know at the moment is there's actually more protections for adult employees for aging and harassment.

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: In the labor committee.

[Seth Bongartz (Chair)]: Oh, okay.

[Kesha Ram Hinsdale (Member)]: Yeah. We did a seat change in workplace harassment class,

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: so it doesn't have to be severe or pervasive.

[Annabella (Bella) DeBerrier]: Severe and pervasive, yeah.

[Kesha Ram Hinsdale (Member)]: Was just

[Annabella (Bella) DeBerrier]: something I remember from the In first

[Kesha Ram Hinsdale (Member)]: fact, sometimes when you do those things, they say you have to leave schools out of it. That's a totally different HR system and world, and they won't let us touch schools. Yeah. It's

[Seth Bongartz (Chair)]: not okay.

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: Yeah. That's been Oh, okay. But, yeah, cyberbullying. When they say, oh, it's outside of school, so we can't do anything. And it's very terrible. Yeah.

[David Weeks (Vice Chair)]: Well, I wouldn't know you if it weren't for school.

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: So, really.

[Seth Bongartz (Chair)]: You. Thank

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: Thank everyone. Thank you. You're welcome. Thank you.

[Annabella (Bella) DeBerrier]: Champion. It's a real on top, breaks of flavors.

[Terry Williams (Committee Clerk)]: That's how you can help us to come here.