Special Meeting of the Governing Board – Public Hearing – December 13th, 2022

Starting with a special hearing about the third revision of the 2021-2022 expenditure budget and the first hearing for the 2022-2023 expenditure budget. No speakers were present for this public hearing.

The final budget revision was made in May 2022. However, due to a delay in the legislature passing the budget, the final numbers came out in November. Deer Valley Unified School District learned there was an opportunity to capture additional budget capacity. A little over $800k was captured from last year’s carryover. Districts are required by law to complete a December revision if they experience an increase greater than 2% than what is planned for in July – DVUSD did not have to do this revision by law but did in order to help things line up more cleanly for the Arizona Department of Education when they publish the budget later in the school year. 

Regular Meeting of the Governing Board – December 13th, 2022

3. Board Member Recognition

3A. Out-Going Board Member Service Recognition

Dr. Finch is speaking to thank Mrs. Read and Mrs. O’Brien for their service (1 term and two terms, respectively). We’re in a better spot than we were, part in thanks to them. 25 of our 40 schools are A schools, we won 50 state championships last year, the most we’ve ever won, and we’re the epicenter of education.

As TSMC moves into our neighborhood, it will change our district. As these board members transition back into community members, he asks that they help remind our community of the importance of supporting our district and its growth. TSMC has tripled its investment, which will result in big changes. Asks that they continue to help DVUSD and the many variables coming our way.

Dr. Finch thanks them for their service, presents the Golden Apple memorializing their service, and the golden pass that gives them lifetime access to sporting events and other events in the district.

4. District Reports

4A. Finance Report

Enrollment Report: Ending November 30th, we’re seeing a slight increase in enrollment compared to last year. A .2% increase from this time last year, 32,831 students.

Finance Report: We’re still waiting on the AEL solution, but our budgets are in check. We’re not projecting any remaining/carryforward balance at this time. We’re holding on to any unspent funds to go towards the $46M budget cap that DVUSD will face if the AEL is not overridden by March 1st. They expect the legislature to handle this, but maybe not for a month or two.

There is $13M in extra funds if the AEL is passed, and the negotiated solutions team has been working to determine where that money is best allocated.

Questions: Mrs. Paperman

So the $13M is being discussed where it is being allocated? I’m hoping that the committees will be looking at staff retention – we need to support salaries, especially in this economy.

Answer: That is the direction we’re going; it’ll be discussed later in this meeting. (It’s on the agenda)

4B. Futures Report

The futures report was presented. This process began in September 2018 and continues to this day. During the discovery period, 424 one-on-one interviews were conducted, and 287 parent responses to a survey were received. Throughout that discovery period, the three broad areas of findings and opportunities were: organizational considerations, continuum of supports, and financial review. Three work teams were established to develop a five-year timeline to address the specific needs of their groups. 

The academic section was focused on consistency and momentum for the academic programs. In 2023, the goal is to increase momentum to support students’ social behavior and academic needs. The futures team identified the need to build a culture where MTSS is embodied at the classroom level and not viewed just as a vehicle for Special Education. Progress has been made in MTSS-B, but in May of last year, the campus leaders asked for emphasis on the behavior portion of MTSS. This year, those supports are being provided. District staff will continue to work with campus leaders to establish stronger support. 

The Behavior/Service Delivery team has been focusing on delivering the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) for students. They’ve been working to develop specialized learning centers and self-contained instruction for students in the LC or inside the general education classroom for less than 40% of the school day. They have focused on developing perspectives and supports specific to students’ needs. They’ve also emphasized PIC (Positive Intervention Classrooms). In 2023-2024, DVUSD will expand the offering to Specialized Regional Programs (SRP), where the IEP team and entrance/exit criteria will determine students’ placement. The goal is to develop even more specialization for students who are on IEPs and need more support in a very structured environment. 

The Building Team Leadership (BLT) is made up of a committee that represents all building leaders in DVUSD. The goal of this team is to use principal and parent input to convey the needs of campus and students to DVUSD leadership. This work started back in September. They met with Dr. Finch and presented the topic of progressing forward in this next phase of regionalized programming. They set up a work team and began to advocate for the next step in the future’s progress. Communication has been the focus of this team. 

Focus groups were put together to gather data that the district could use to act in a timely manner for our staff and students, quickly implementing the concepts of the futures team. Focus groups involved a wide variety of staff, students, and community members. 

For the school year 2023-2024, Barry Goldwater High School and Deer Valley High School have been identified as potential schools for specialized programming (Boulder Creek, Mountain Ridge, and Sandra Day O’Connor High Schools will be added in the spring and fall of 2024). They need to consider staffing, develop the specialized program locations within the regions, further develop the programs, and communicate plans to all the stakeholder groups. The work team also focused on the partnership with Vista Peak, CPI, and Boys Town, all being implemented for the 2023 school year. In 2023 – 2025, DVUSD will continue to monitor, evaluate, and expand the CPI and Boys Town programs throughout the district.

In addition to the impactful work done to support students, Deer Valley Unified School District has also implemented a program called “Growing Our Own Teachers.” This program was started this year and is designed to fill the vacancies in our district through training and support. Cohorts are being added each semester. In the Special Ed cohort, 13 teachers are impacting 11 schools. The next cohort will have ten teachers impacting seven schools. 

Board Questions

Ordway: ​​Dr. McCusker, looking at BGHS to start – does that only include students in that region, or throughout the district? 

Answer: When we look at identifying the regions, we are looking specifically at that region – providing support to students within that region.

Ordway: So with our open enrollment, if we only provide services to BGHS, would you not think parents would open enroll to receive services? 

Answer: As we look at OE, the students that qualify are going to be IEP team decisions – they’ll make the decisions that best meet the needs of those students. It would be based on the capacity reservations like any student in DVUSD.

Paperman: ​​So we have Boystown, and SEL, do we have the curriculum on the website for parents to review? 

Answer: Yes, they are on the ALS website for parents to review.

Read: Remind me, when a school uses Boys Town, parents are a huge part in that being successful – we’re still including parents in that process, correct? 

Answer: Yes, parents are integral to that success – it is inclusive of parents being part of the process and participating in the training.

5. Public Participation at Governing Board Meetings

5A. Public Comments

There were four public speakers for this meeting. Their comments can be found between 40:55 and 52:20. Two speakers participated to thank the governing board for their services. An LD27 GOP precinct committeeperson and ex-board member, Ron Bayer, delivered comments referring to Mrs. Ann O’Brien as “Cruela O’Biden,” with his legislative district censuring Mrs. O’Brien for supporting board candidates that were not registered republicans. An LD2 GOP precinct committeeperson, Mark Beach, delivered similar comments about his legislative district’s censure. 

6. Old Business

6A. Approve Proposed 2023 – 2028 Strategic Plan

The proposed strategic plan was previewed at the November 29th, 2022, board meeting. The district offered clarifications on the process of developing the strategic plan. There were 20 total focus groups comprised of members from stakeholder groups, and these focus groups were open to anyone in the district. In total, there were 279 participants – 70 employees, 35 employees/parents, 89 parents, two parent/business partners, two business partners, and 81 students. Stakeholder groups were looped out throughout the process and given the ability to provide feedback on the conclusions of the study. Overall, the strategic plan did not change significantly, but certain phrases were changed to be more meaningful to those impacted. All of the changes to the strategic plan and the portrait of a graduate were based on feedback and input from the community. 

Board Questions:

Fisher: Wanted to make sure she wasn’t unfair in how she read it – she said she posted it in several social media groups. She got two responses from the opposite side of the aisle that supported it. She received comments from “her side of the aisle” – won’t read all of them because some aren’t kind, but the one that hit her point was, “It certainly doesn’t sound like what they’re doing, they make flashy graphics all day long, and want students to be open to multiple perspectives – but if a student expresses conservative viewpoints they’re shamed, censored, bullied, by teachers – so maybe they think it sounds good, but it just isn’t the normal status quo.”

She continued to read comments about this being all EQ, being snowflakes, etc..

Mrs. Fisher says that the previous plan encompassed all kids, including LGBTQ and others, without using the “trigger words” of our society. Says this verbiage will encourage students to take students to a district with values that better align with their views. She says the plan is overall good but wishes we didn’t use the trigger words. She received a final comment from a student that said, “if we don’t support modern society, we’re not allowed to speak up.” Claims to have heard this way back in 2017 as well. Wishes we had a strategic plan that encompasses all students, not just some.

Ordway: This is the time of year when students and alumni are in town and start to chat – she’s been hearing them talk about wishing they had learned more soft skills – how to be tolerant of many different people and to keep an open mind. Those comments are from students that graduated, those who are in university, working in the world, etc. It seems that this improvement to the strategic plan and portrait of a graduate is right on target. She then asks Mrs. Fisher what word is igniting people or shocking them. 

Fisher: “Mrs. Ordway, you already hit those words – teaching tolerance is a good thing, but it comes from our schools.” Says kids can be kind, but if they don’t join in, they’re ostracized. Says students have said, “we have to be bi-sexual because if we don’t, we’re against LGBTQ.” Says students have said, “if I support my heritage, then I’m a racist against other heritages because it’s not allowed for my race” – So, while yes, we need to teach these things, we need to teach respect. Talks about her best friend, who is a liberal democrat, and they avoid these trigger-point conversations. That’s what our children need to learn. “We shouldn’t teach our children to be tolerant or to accept things that are contrary to the beliefs of their family values.”

“We shouldn’t teach our children to be tolerant or to accept things that are contrary to the beliefs of their family values.”

Kim Fisher

Ordway: “Well, I guess if we add the word respect, we’re good.”

Read: Yes, parent involvement is important. Says she was talking to a student who was critical of their administration for not handling a bullying situation swiftly enough. After digging deeper, the student was upset with the administration; the student was upset with the other student’s parents. Because the parents weren’t disciplining the kids, they weren’t telling them, “when you see someone, you probably should say that.” Her daughter was called racial slurs – she wants them to be tolerant – there is a difference between being tolerant and allowing hate speech – you don’t have to believe the same things, but you have to show respect. Her daughter is 3/4 white. We don’t live in a whitewashed society. We have multiple cultures and religions, political ideologies, etc. We saw that in the election. Things are changing. It doesn’t mean you have to be a member of the LGBTQ community to be tolerant and respect them. These are not trigger words. Parents have to be a part of this too.

She asks Mrs. Fisher, “didn’t you sit on the board with the last version?”

Fisher: Yes

Read: Doesn’t see much of a difference other than the way it’s categorized. The world has changed quite a bit since 2015. Whether we agree or not, the world is changing, and we do need respect – respect needs to be shown on both sides. Trigger words. That’s what this is over? She says her company is probably one of the most conservative in the country – part of her job is teaching cultural intelligence. One of the pieces they talk about is how to treat members of the LGBTQ community with respect. Do they need to be a part of the lifestyle? No. They are our customers, and we love them when they’re in our store. It talks about treating the homeless with respect the disabled with respect – teaching everyone with respect and how to get along. She would love that our schools do these soft skills because business owners want that – 16 year olds don’t have those – their parents should be teaching them, teachers should be reinforcing, and the community should be reinforcing.

Mrs. Read does not understand the woke part, the trigger words, and says this is beautifully done. Thanks to everyone involved – reminding them that everyone was invited to participate. If they choose not to participate, that’s on them.

O’Brien: Wants to share a conversation she had – asked by a community member if she thought it was more important to teach the academics of students – she explained that we do teach those standards, and we grade our students in those subjects, and they get report cards, and we teach them, so they graduate. She views the portrait of the graduate as the soft skills being talked about tonight. When she went to school, it was her parent’s job. Today that doesn’t happen all the time – schools shouldn’t be a substitute for parents, but in her role as city council, business leaders wanted to know how we can focus on standards for soft skills. When students leave school, they’re not ready to work in these businesses.

She thanks everyone for all the work they’ve done for those who have contributed to this. Encourages folks to get involved. We do grade our children on academics. But we’re also making sure they have the opportunity to learn other schools – we’re not a replacement, we’re a partner.

O’Brien calls for a vote…

Fisher: Thanks the board for displaying to the public her point…

O’Brien: “Vote has been called.”

Motion to approve the 2023-2028 strategic plan is approved four-to-one; Fisher votes nay.

7. Consent Agenda

Passes unanimously.

8. Action Items

8A. Approve Employee Professional Development (Out of State)

Passes unanimously.

8B. Approve Addenda Pre-Approvals

Passes unanimously. 

8C. Approve the State Farm Stadium Agreement with SMG for the 2022-23 Graduation Ceremonies

This is the contract for the graduation ceremonies on May 17-18th at State Farm Stadiums. The stadium is now requiring DVUSD to pay for security and metal detectors.

Passes unanimously.

8D. Approve Revised Negotiated Solution Team (NST) Salary Recommendation for Fiscal Year 2022-23

The NST team made the recommendation to increase all employee pay, classified and certified, by 9-10%, including a previously approved 1.5% increase. This is dependent on the Arizona Legislature overriding the aggregate expenditure limit – if the AEL is not resolved, the employee raises will not come to fruition, and DVUSD will be responsible for a $46.7M budget reduction. If resolved, there will be a flat dollar increase for all employee groups received as a one-time payment this year and included in future contracts. 

Board Questions

Paperman: So the 1.5% is a one-time payment, not part of the base, and separate from the $13M?

Answer: The 1.5% would be overridden by the flat dollar amount that is being proposed.

Paperman: And this is what the team agreed to?

Answer: Yes, unanimously.

Paperman: So, classified get $1.40 an hour? Why do we have the admin getting more than classified? Is it necessary to include admin?

Answer: On a percentage basis, they’re very similar. They’re within a 10th of a percent. We felt it was necessary because it is a broad category of employees – from principals and deans to lowest-level supervisors. The flat dollar amount means that it’ll be less of a bump for the admin. Because of compression, we’re struggling to recruit teachers into admin because it’s not advantageous to move into admin.

Paperman: Says that the classified staff is concerned that in the economy, we need to make sacrifices, and the admin would understand.

Answer: Mr. Miglarino clarifies that the admin has taken a concession compared to the normal percentage increase based on calculations.

O’Brien: Thanks, everyone, for listening to the board; this is a huge win for all of our staff…

Calls on the legislature and Governor to immediately go into special session to fix the AEL, as it’s a travesty this has not been fixed.

Fisher: Thanks, Mr. Miglarino and says she understands the admin has to be included. Was there any consideration for actually reviewing some of our classified staff at the lowest level? When we have some of the positions that are cross-category into other industries, we’re going to lose them because they’re not even in the ballpark of other industries. 

Answer: Yes – we looked at a lot of information. Initially, they started trying to find target areas, but that list became too large. The reality is that there wasn’t a relativity problem; there just wasn’t enough money to fund ANY of them at the appropriate level. There is room to do a more formal analysis. Looking at other districts, this would take our lowest starting wage to around $1.50 over minimum wage. This will help the bottom over the top.

Fisher: Wants it to be on the record she believes we need to do that formal analysis. Paras are important, and other staff – teachers will be unhappy when they don’t have the support staff. When they can take a job with less stress and responsibility, we will lose them.

The motion to accept the NST recommendations for salary increases passes unanimously. 

8E. Approve the Revised FY23 Classified Hiring Schedule

It is required by law that we increase this – but the admin is recommending that we’re increasing the beginning pay for 14-16. Brings it up to minimum wage.

Passes unanimously.

8F. Adopt the Fiscal Year 2021-22 Expenditure Budget Revision #3

Passes unanimously

8H. Approve the Revised Tax Credit and Fee Authorization for 2022-23

Previously we had homeschooled students enrolled for part-time – we were being funded for partial attendance. Some of those students are now receiving ESA – the district cannot submit them for partial enrollment, or they lose their ESA. So they came up with a revised schedule of fees for those students to participate. This calculation used what they believe the cost to be to educate a full-time student in any of these courses.

Board Questions

Read: Just to clarify, if a student is not receiving ESA, they can still participate without fees, correct?

Answer: Yes

Fisher: So we can submit for ADM for those students not on ESA?

Answer: Yes, correct.

Fisher: But they are not paying tuition?

Answer: Yes, correct – it’s just a shift between ESA and ADM.

Fisher: So if a student applies, ESA or not, is the price the same?

Answer: That is correct. That is the current rate per semester, per course. That is for credit advancement or credit recovery – ADM students are attending at $0 cost out of pocket at Aspire.

Fisher: Her concern is that ESA families only receive 90% of what a district receives. That we’re punishing families for being on ESA by charging them 100%.

Fisher: Are we taking into account what other ways those students may be weighted?

Answer: It’s strictly the three weights – we don’t consider group B or other weights because those services aren’t provided.

Fisher: So if one of the students paying this tuition if they need a para or other support, would that be covered through this?

Answer: We have not come across it yet, but that is something that Student Support Services would work to determine and provide services for if necessary.

The motion to approve the revised tax credit and fee authorization is approved unanimously. 

9. Preview

9A. Governing Board Policy KB – Parental Involvement in Education

Board Questions: 

Ordway: We already have procedures for this, correct?

Answer: We have many procedures, but we’ll add and change policies as necessary.

Fisher: Asks that this not be put into the consent agenda in the January meeting to make sure the new board members can comment.

10. Reports

10A. Governing Board Reports

Fisher: Wishes everyone a very Merry Christmas, Hannukah, New Year, Kwanzi (spelling of her pronunciation), whatever. Doesn’t know all the holidays between here and the next meeting.- celebrate it happy, celebrate it with your family, and celebrate it with your dog if you have one.

From the Friday update, Wants to clarify that ESA students CAN pay for coursework such as extra curricular. Wants to be clear that some students get well funded for ESA, up to $30k for students with disabliities, but the standard students gets around $7k. For the parents who submitted that question, there’s your answer.

The other question for the Friday update was for students in sports receiving a D or high D – yes, they could still potentially play. Talk to your administration, and if that isn’t resolved, go ahead and escalate it.

Wants to note that she brought forward concerns about a school’s administration – and that other board members have brought the issue forward about that school too. There was discussion on her Facebook page that they were made up – she would like these issues addressed. The Friday update said everything was OK, but it’s not Ok. Our employees need to be able to let us know when there is an issue without being berated for bringing it forward.

Wishes everyone a happy holiday season – but most importantly, enjoy your families, enjoy the rest, and enjoy life.

*Mrs. Fisher stood up and walked out of this meeting after her Governing Board Report, choosing not to listen to the reports from Mrs. O’Brien and Mrs. Read at their final meeting.

Paperman: Happy Holidays to everyone. This is her first year where she will experience the board transition – respectfully says thank you for your services and looks forward to the new team.

*Mrs. Paperman also chose to walk out of the meeting in the middle of Mrs. Read’s final board report. 

Ordway: Asks everyone to keep Mr. Bonds’s family in mind.

Fine arts, athletics, DECA, and Avenue 27 are in full swing.

DVEF and Julie/Ann- thanks to your staff, and outreach – we’ve been so fortunate to feed and buy necessities and wants for over 3-400 families.

Prior to O’Brien starting on the board, they were on some fun committees together. Years ago, they decided they would always use a four-letter word to make their decisions – FACTS. Mrs. Ordway gives a very heartfelt tribute to Mrs. O’Brien and Mrs. Read. Thanks to them for their hard work. Looks forward to working with the new board come January.

Read: Last week, it was an opportunity to come together as a community to welcome TSMC families at O’Connor. It was magical. She was there as a business partner for the district. One of her team members said, “We didn’t all speak the same language, but we all knew how to smile, give high fives, and dance.” The Chic-Fil-A cow taught everyone how to chicken dance! Thanks to everyone who put the event together and the business partners who participated!

She had the opportunity to go into a classroom and judge for Educators Rising. Was a neat opportunity – it was her last official classroom visit as a governing board member.

Last week they put together their community angel tree. They sponsored over 50 DVUSD families ranging in all sizes. All that the kids asked for, they received – thanks to the community, DVEF, and the community partners.

Since this is her last board report, she wants to recap:

Came on in 2019 – it was an amazing year – she was super involved in attending schools and events. She took it for granted; that’s just what you do. 2020 changed everything. It shut everything down. It took her board service in a direction that she didn’t anticipate. It wasn’t a pleasant surprise to have a global pandemic and have to make the decisions.

But some amazing things happened:

– Union Park

– Inspiration Mountain

– Aspire

– Belaire Traditional

– Expansion of the Mandarin immersion program, even though a board member was questioning it – we didn’t know TSMC would be coming in a couple of years. And that was one of the key reasons why they came here. So thankful we had an admin that say the value in that and fought hard to keep the program.

– We brought another immersion program to Union Park.

– Passed an FTZ to allow TSMC to come here.

– Passed a bond and override to take care of buildings, and staff, raise salaries, buy tech, and take care of our students.

– Managed to pass raises every year, no matter what – we didn’t have to cut positions.

– Adopted new curriculum, including much-needed gifted curriculum.

Wants to briefly mention – this is our school district. It doesn’t belong to the republican party or the democratic party. It doesn’t belong to any group or religious affiliation. It’s our community, and it’s a beautiful community. It’s made up of great diversity, backgrounds, and beliefs. It is what makes us unique. When people believe what their party, church, religion, or group tells you what to believe is going on schools, ask our schools. Most times, it’s not. Ask teachers, staff, admin, etc..

This is our school district. It doesn’t belong to the republican party or the democratic party.

Julie Read

She’s learned a lot in 4 years of board service – so did her family. They were impacted quite a bit. Having students in the district you’re a board member of, unique circumstances arise. Her children have suffered the consequences – they’ve lost friends, and been bullied about COVID things – it wasn’t called for, but her kids handled it in stride – they were proud of Mom. She closed off a lot of friends and people because of the hateful things online and the emails she got. She’s going to refresh, rejuvenate over the next few weeks, and come back where needed.

Says she’s been called a lot of names – The mean girl of DVUSD, Regina George, Lady in Waiting, one of Finch’s girls, AOC Jr., a district Cheerleader, a disaster, dumb, dimwit, slanderer, fake, bully people in the community, a liar, dishonest and nasty. It’s been said she has evil in heart, liberal (derogatory way), anti-American, rubber stamp, board member for free travel, will destroy all things in the district, clueless, regurgitates what she’s told, a political posturer, and that her qualification for being a board member is that she sleeps with a firefighter. That she only votes the way O’Brien tells her to, that she harms special needs kids, is deceptive, only uses this for political gain to push her liberal agenda, her teaching record is shoddy, her knowledge of special ed is a joke, and she’s been accused of committing fraud. Accused of creating fake accounts to attack a member of the board, making back door deals, hurting children in our district, believes in comprehensive sex education in Kindergarten, and won’t protect children from being groomed by child predators. She’s been accused of being anti-christian, of gaining personal position, lying to the community, of ballot harvesting, and victimizing special needs kids by undermining the futures study.

Says she’s been accused of pretty much being Asian because all Asians look alike, because “uber-liberal Julie Read is at the McSally event, because of course she has been political posturing” (clarifies she’s never been to a McSally event). She’s also had her personal relationship and walk with Christ called into question – apparently, she’s not a real Christian and pretends to serve the lord – that she’ll have to stand in front of God and face him for her stance on things. “Wake up, Scottsdale Fire Captain gets department to pay for election of Julie Read – her only qualification? Sleeping with him.” Says that in fact, she has eluded to her sleeping with a fireman online 4 or 5 times now, so she must be really good at it. “God help any child you influence. Between dishonesty, bullying community members, and crooked politics, they will learn bad lessons.

Her personal favorite. On 9/10/19, the anniversary of her Mom’s death by suicide. She had a board meeting, but it was also international suicide awareness day. She mentioned something in her governing board report something about mental health and making sure everything was ok. Posted online later, “The people this week talking suicide prevention are the very people that treat people in a way that they surrender.”

(Editors note: all of these things were said publicly by board member Mrs. Fisher about Mrs. Read.)

None of these things really hurt her. They were annoying, they were distractions, and made her feel sorry for the person that said them. People say that in order to make it in public service, you have to grow tough skin – and they’re right. But the consequence of that is that you grow tough skin all areas – you push out all of the good and get out of touch. Why mention it and put it on record now? Because she tells her kids that if they see something, say something. To stick up for what’s right. In DVUSD, we hold kids accountable for their actions, and their words, and behavior, and have consequences for bullying. However, we live in a double-standard society. As adults, we show our kids that adults can attack, defame, and bully other adults without consequences. We are telling our kids to do as we say but not as we do. If she doesn’t stick up for herself and her friends, who are constantly attacked, how can she expect her kids to go to school and stand up for the same?

She found helpful information on the stopbullying.gov site. It talks about what bullying is, and what the federal gov decides bullying is – these are the things that were happening. Since she was repeatedly called “the mean girl at DVUSD”, she wants to end it with a quote from the movie:

There are two kinds of people in this world; Those who do evil stuff and those who see evil stuff being done and don’t try to stop it.

Thought about recreating the speech in the auditorium, “Raise your hand if you’ve ever been personally victimized by….” but didn’t want to stoop to that level. “Because, in fact, we do have a mean girl and a bully in DVUSD – and it’s not me, and she’s certainly not hiding.”

“Because, in fact, we do have a mean girl and a bully in DVUSD – and it’s not me, and she’s certainly not hiding.”

Julie Read

O’Brien: Tonight is bittersweet. It’s been a privilege to serve this district for eight years – to make it a better place for students, teachers, families, and the community. Hopes that she will still be called on to visit classrooms and be part of the district as a city council member.

She’s incredibly proud that her daughter returned to teach in the district she grew up in. So proud of her.

Mrs. Read covered a lot of highlights, but she wants to cover a few more:

– When she joined, they were cutting budgets – they weren’t cutting programs, thankfully, but from other places. We’ve spent many years recovering from that – and she’s proud of everyone working together to give so many raises over the years.

– Loved helping with Angel tree, food boxes, and DVEF golf tournaments.

– Proud that we have PLCs

– Overrides, bonds, all the new schools

– BGHS Culinary school, the restaurant

– Going to high school graduations

– Working and getting to know all of the staff and community members in the district.

Would like to provide a bit of advice for the board members – Schedule a classroom visit or school visit the week you have a school board meeting – so that when you have a rough meeting, you remember why you do this work.

In today’s society, it can be hard to speak up – even if your voice shakes, say something. If it’s important enough to say to someone, it’s important to take it to the person who can do something about it. We can’t just have anonymous complaints. Speak up. Make your voice heard in good times and when things need to be looked at.

In today’s society, it can be hard to speak up – even if your voice shakes, say something.

Ann O’Brien

She believes we have the best district in the state.

“I love you all. It’s been an honor and a privilege to serve you. Please don’t forget about me for school events and when you need judges. And it’s been a true honor to serve with you two ladies (Ordway and Read – Fisher left immediately after her report, and Paperman left in the middle of Reads.)

10B. Superintendent Report

“When you were talking, Mrs. Read, about you being attacked by a board member, I thought you were talking about me.” Says he has boxes of those same attacks.

Quotes Lincoln: “If I were to try to read, much less answer, all the attacks made on me, this shop might as well be closed for any other business. I do the very best I know how ­—the very best I can, and I mean to keep doing so until the end (of my term). If the end brings me out all right, what is said against me won’t amount to anything. If the end brings me out wrong, ten angels swearing I was right would make no difference.”

Thanks to both Read and O’Brien for staying true to themselves. It’s not paid; it’s highly scrutinized. You’re always going to make 50% of the population mad.

Thanks to all the teams, hundreds of people, and thousands of hours, for the Futures Report, Strategic plan, NST, and all the hard work that’s been done.

Calls on the Governor to call a special session for AEL.

Thanks, Marie from DVEF, for the bingo night; a great success.

Wants everyone to enjoy their break, get recharged, and be fired up for the new year!