Board Recap: February 28th, 2023 Deer Valley Unified School District

All board members are present at the February 28th, 2023, DVUSD governing board meeting. 

• Jennie Paperman
• Paul Carver
• Kim Fisher
• Ann Ordway
• Stephanie Simacek

To kick off this meeting, Sandra Day O’Connor High School’s Air Force JROTC Color Gaurd performed a presentation of colors. Earlier in the evening, DVHS and SDOHC Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps groups were both recognized for achieving an overall assessment score of “Exceeds Standards” during recent unit evaluations. This is the highest rating attainable for these units!

The agenda is adopted unanimously.

3. District Reports

3A. National Board Certification Report

Dr. Tseunis, Alexis LaDuca, and Stefanie Ewbank offer a presentation on the supports, progress, and goals of the Deer Valley Unified School District National Board Certification for Teachers (NBCT) program.

The National Board Certification aligns with DVUSD’s mission to provide extraordinary educational opportunities to every learner and the core values of respect, accountability, integrity, student-driven, and excellence. It’s an investment in both teachers and students. The process is rigorous, but earning the certification allows teachers to hone their practice, demonstrate their professional knowledge, and reinforce their dedication to their students and career. We see the benefits no matter where in the process teachers are because of its continual progress.

The NBCT program helps address educational challenges and strengthen educational equity. It’s impressive to see the overall impact on education as a whole, as every NBCTS brings knowledge to the campus they teach at. Ms. LaDuca says that when she started the process, she was already a teacher of 20 years. But every moment of the training has inspired her, made her reflective, and challenged her. She says the benefit has been phenomenal, and sharing that benefit with others helps to bring new teachers into the program.

Earlier in the evening, DVUSD recognized four new NBCTs – Tamara Chavez, Annie Craig, Holly Schrade, and Tia Wilson. Also recognized were five NBCTs who maintained their certifications – Katie Brown, Lissa Borchers, Lisa Hoelzen, Alexis LaDuca, and Sharon Read. Each certification is good for only five years. After this time, teachers can maintain their certification by going through an abbreviated version of the training. At the end of the training, candidates demonstrate their knowledge through a video recording.

In the presentation are pictures from Golden Balloon Day. The golden balloon is a symbol of the accomplishment of achieving the board certification, so it’s exciting to be a part of that celebration.

In The Last Year

Deer Valley Unified School District has expanded the candidate support meetings to three locations throughout the district. Three times a month, candidates can meet with a Deer Valley Candidate Support Provider (CSP), who are trained to support candidates and get dedicated time to work on their certification components. Five of the DVUSD CSPs attended the Statewide National Board Leadership Academy in June, where DVUSD was showcased as a leading cohort in Arizona. The DVNBCT network and Mrs. Ann O’Brien and Dr. Tseunis served as a panel where other districts looked to replicate our work. DVUSD conducted two National Board workshops last year, and two this year.

In January 2023, there was a Winter NBCT Workshop where candidates could get one-on-one time with coaches, participate in additional video coaching time, and were provided formal tech support for things like creating their video. The next workshop will take place on March 25th, and an informal National Board workday will be held on May 1st.

There is a National Board Secret Support Network that helps give candidates motivational support through written letters. It was explained that these handwritten letters are extra special because of the love and care that go into them compared to an email.

DVUSD NBCT Goals

DVUSD strives to meet the goal of 60 National Board Certified Teachers in the district by the ’26-’27 school year. So far, DVUSD has doubled the number of certified from ’17-’18. We currently have 29 NBCTs, with another 20 candidates working through the process. To stay on track for the goal of 60, DVUSD needs 30 candidates and eight new NBCTs for the ’23-’24 school year. In Arizona, there are 1,711 NBCTs and 768 candidates for certification. DVUSD makes up 5% of the total new NBCTs in AZ. We’re getting national recognition for this work, ranking 5th in the state overall.

The presentation shows what regions the NCBTs are in and how many candidates are in those regions.

Future Plans for DVUSD NBCT Network

• Provide more opportunities for current NBCTs to get involved in mentoring and supporting candidates.
• Find solutions for struggling candidates.
• Pinpoint the most effective delivery and timing for district pre-candidacy classes.
• Continuing to add more business partners to offset the investment.
• Inspire more teachers in the district to consider National Board Certification

The team plans to focus on administrators to promote the NBTC program. Certified teachers benefit the whole school by becoming a leader at their campus.

Sponsors of the program include Arizona K12 Center, Discover, and Deer Valley Education Foundation (DVEF). Thanks to these partners, many teachers can have most of the cost of the NBCT program covered.

Board Member Questions:

Mrs. Ordway: Says that the program is very impressive and that she loves the data presented. Her question is, “when you go through this process, do you learn that it’s more about the student learning than the teacher teaching?”

Answer: Yes. The statement certified teach by is “Because I know, I do, which impacts students.” The students can better understand concepts because teachers can create concrete examples of the learning. It’s not linear; it’s cyclical. It’s a continual improvement process, looking at how you philosophically bring learning alive for students.

Mrs. Paperman: Says that with the funding, and the teacher salary in Arizona, it would be fantastic if this was a free program. She believes teachers would be more likely to go through the process.

Mr. Carver: He commends the candidates and certifieds for everything they’re going through to achieve excellence. He believes that their desire to succeed and bring success to the classroom is very admirable, and he is grateful for their investment. He thinks the goals set are attainable.

3B. FY 24 Budget Committee Report

Mrs. Mock and Mr. Miglarino present the 2023-2024 budget committee report. 

The Budget Committee is formed yearly to gather representative stakeholders to set priorities for the upcoming school year. The committee is co-chaired by Mock and Miglarino. The committee is made up of all stakeholder groups in the DVUSD community. 

The committee for FY24 began meeting in December, with a finance 101 meeting. This was an opportunity to teach committee members how school budgets work, as this can be foreign to many participants. The first survey was conducted around the same time and reviewed by the committee at their second meeting in January.

The first survey is focused on the narrative – what are the top keywords from the responses? The survey asked stakeholder groups what the top priority should be for the next year. Over the last couple of years, it has weighed highly toward salaries. This year was no different. Considering 1531 responses, including 927 parents, the suggested budget priorities from the first community narrative input survey were student support, student/campus safety, and salaries, in no particular order.

After reviewing the results of the first survey, the committee developed a second, forced-ranking survey. It was open for just over one week and was distributed through various channels, including direct text messages. There were over 3000 responses; 2,139 parents, 958 employees, 365 combo parent/employees, 34 community members, and seven others participated. This year, salaries and wages were the #1 response regardless of stakeholder group in the first survey. In the 3,000 responses, ‘providing a uniform salary increase for all staff’ was the number one result. Additionally, the priorities were decreasing the student-to-staff ratio, improving student and school safety, and increasing academic support, social-emotional, and special programs (in that order). 

Mr. Miglarino speaks to the group specifically – recognizes Dr. Smith for all his data analysis and support. The committee had to look at data more granularly, so they broke it down by stakeholder group. Parents wanted certified staff to get a higher percentage salary increase. Uniform salary increases for all staff were the top result for all other stakeholder groups. 

Outside of salary responses, decreasing the student-to-staff ratio was the highest priority for all groups. Student and school safety was number two, social-emotional programs were three, and special programs were ranked the lowest priority for most groups. 

At the third and final meeting in February, the committee reviewed the data. They came up with the following recommendations:

• Fund competitive salary and benefits packages for the retention of all existing employees.
• Continued focus on School Safety to include physical campus security as well as staffing to have the appropriate personnel to effectuate a safe environment for our students and staff 
• Ensure recruitment practices are targeted to fill vacancies, to include a competitive salary and benefits package for new hires 
• Develop strategies to address the concerns of the student-to-staff ratio by reconvening the Student-Teacher Ratio Support Team (STaRS), with a report from this Team by no later than December 15, 2023 
• Focus on providing academic support for students in addition to classroom instruction (tutoring, academic intervention, remediation, more instructional time)

Board Member Questions

Mrs. Ordway: What are the next steps and timeframe?

Answer: First, we’ll present the recommendation from the benefit committee. The NST meets each month and is working on looking at financial predictions for next year, to recommend salary change for next year. We also need to wait for the legislature – we know we’ll get 2% increase, but we don’t know if anything else will be added to the state budget. The AEL is lifted for this school year, so the salary increases going into effect will continue to be included for next year.

Mrs. Ordway: The process is being put on the district website?

Answer: Yes, correct. If anything specific is requested, we’re happy to put it on there. All of the committee information is on the committee page.

Mr. Carver: Since his time on the board, Carver says he has been informed that it is a general practice that when a teacher leaves a district and joins a new one, they lose the portion of their salary that is essentially a bonus for years of experience. He asks that, in the recruitment phase, if DVUSD can ‘buck the trend’ and adjust our pay scales, giving teachers coming to DVUSD additional credit for years of experience (I.e., if they get five years max now but have 15 years experience, can we give them a 10-year max instead)?

Answer: This is something the NST is working on and considering. Most districts honor a minimum of 5 years of service. We’ve collected peer information, so reviewing that to be competitive. This will likely be wrapped into the proposal for next year.

Mrs. Fisher: Says that years ago, when they started the budget committee, they discussed having the committee and NST come together at the last meeting to work together. She asks if there has been any more thought put into this idea?

Answer: We won’t have the NST recommendations that early in the cycle because we gather stakeholder feedback and committee recommendations earlier in the cycle. NST works with the reality of the resources we have to work with, and the committee recommendations are more of the big wish list. So the timelines won’t line up for these two groups to come together.

Mrs. Paperman: Asks for clarification from the Friday update. She wants to ensure that when the board votes for budgeting and salary items, they support administrators, teachers, and classifieds. She says Dr. Finch stated that the rise in teacher pay has been twice as fast as that of administration; it creates compression and discourages staff from becoming administrators and other unintended consequences. So do we have this problem in DVUSD?

Answer: It is indeed an issue on both sides. Our current administrators, who have worked for many years, have not seen the same pay increases our teachers have. Their rate of increase at times has caused admin staff to move over due to base salary. It has also been a pain point for current teachers looking to move over to admin because their earnings exceed the base pay of admin. The pay increase this year was very helpful. It is something we always have to pay attention to, though.

Mrs. Paperman: On the survey, it says salary for all; who created the survey? Was this just the district, or the committee?

Answer: The committee created the survey. It was guided by the initial narrative survey, which was an opportunity for stakeholders to input whatever priorities they wanted. This stakeholder input was used to create the second forced-ranking survey.

Mrs. Paperman: Is there an open-door policy for these committee meetings for the public?

Answer: Yes. It is an official district committee, so it is open to the public. Dates and times are posted on the website. Reconvenes next fall.

4. Public Comments

No public speakers were present at this meeting.

5. Old Business

5A. Approve 2023-2024 Deer Valley Unified School District Pathways Calendar

Passes unanimously.

5B. Approve Recommended Contract Language for Certified, Administrative / Exempt, and Deputy Superintendent for the 2023-2024 school year

Passes unanimously.

5C. Approve Governing Board Policy GCQC – Resignation of Professional Support Staff Members

No changes to the former presentation – recommended as presented two weeks ago.

Board Questions:
Mrs. Fisher: Any pushback, any concerns? She’s not concerned about it but wants to make sure the staff doesn’t have any concerns.

Answer: Any concerns have been more situational, not broad like last time. People are experiencing the pain of vacancies and positions being left open. There are questions about the what-ifs, so the policy covers all of those.

Passes unanimously.

6. Consent Agenda

Passes 4:1, Mrs. Fisher votes nay.

6A. Approve Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Governing Board on February 14, 2023

6B. Approve Human Resources Changes

6C. Student Travel

6D. Approve Vouchers

6E. Approve Donations

6F. Approve Addenda Contracts

6G. Authorization to Enter into Additional Cooperative Contract Purchases for Fiscal Year 2022-23

7. Action

7A. Approve Employee Professional Development (Out of State)

Passes unanimously.

7B. Approve Addenda Pre-Approvals

Passes unanimously.

8. Preview

8A. Preview School Year 2023-2024 Governing Board Meeting Dates

Similar to what was discussed at the last board meeting retreat, corresponding dates for next year. In addition, four additional meetings for study sessions. Would push reports into those meetings to make regular meetings more business oriented.

Board Questions:
Mr. Carver: May 28th, is that memorial day?
Answer: No. All board meetings are on Tuesdays.

8B. Preview the 2023-24 Certified Performance Pay Plan

Prop 301 passed in November 2000. It’s a .6% sales tax increase dedicated to public education. Funds are distributed to school districts on a per-pupil basis. Prop 301 expired at the end of the year in 2020. It was modified and renewed in ‘21, which changes the base salaries and certified employees. It now includes student support services and other professional staff as qualified in Classroom Site Fund base and performance pay. 

The committee comprises four teachers, four admin, three parents, and two facilitators. There were four meetings with committee members. The committee is tasked to develop and manage a plan, understand relevant laws, and make sure of the communication of the plan. 

Committee norms include making sure your voice is heard and represents your constituency, owning your individual depth of knowledge, supporting/implementing all decisions made, and communicating as a group. The committee is influenced by plan history, legislation, and board direction. 

There are three components, split and calculated each component separately. Evaluations are 50%, responsibility hours/PD is 25%, and the overall average district letter grade is 25%. 

The presentation covers state law for teacher evaluation. The law also covers the classroom site fund and how those funds can be used from a legal standpoint, what it must include, and other specific requirements of the developed plan. The law does state that if all money is not used, it must be rolled over into the next year’s plan. DVUSD utilizes all the funding as best as possible to ensure that money goes to the staff, not rolling over. 

Proposed Performance Pay Plan

DVUSD proposes a 50% evaluation, 25% responsibility/PD, and 25% district letter grade.

Evaluation is conducted through the MLP OASYS system, calculated at the school level. It’s based on a 4-point standard rating model ranging from highly effective to ineffective. Takes the average of these ratings for six standards and is given an evaluation score. Examples of the ratings were presented in the presentation. 

Responsibility and professional development hours are 25%. Staff is expected to have 20 total hours of either professional responsibility and/or professional development. This must be logged outside the normal work day, outside professional expectations. Must not be compensated for these hours, and any cost is the financial responsibility of the staff member. 

School letter grades are driven at the state level. All eligible teachers receive the same proportion unless prorated for the time in the job and FTE. This component causes two payouts – one after we know the evaluation and hours and one when we know the state accountability letter grades. 

There is an appeal process for the evaluations portion of the performance pay plan. Several items can make a staff member ineligible for performance pay, including formal discipline, termination, non-renewal, or an abandoned contract. 

Board Questions:

Mr. Carver: Asks that if this part of the teacher pay is paid out two different times, is it artificial inflation of the pay scale so they don’t get taxed as a bonus, or as a bonus?

Answer: It is processed as additional pay but not as a bonus for tax purposes. 

Mrs. Fisher: The language change, the school letter grades at 25%; it’s district letter grades, correct?

Answer: It is an average of school letter grades, all 40 of them. How many are A’s and B’s, divided by 40.

Paperman: Do we have retention stipends? 

Answer: We have in the past, but we haven’t recently done anything regarding employee retention compensation. We have allocated additional monies as they become available, like Thursday of this week, for the AEL payment, and will receive a significant one-time payment. 

Paperman: There are grants for retention stipends if we apply for them.

8C. Preview the Proposed FY24 Employee Benefit Recommendation

There is a lot of information the benefits team looks at, and it is not commonplace for their normal job. For new members, it can be a little overwhelming, so we take as much time as necessary to look at the data. Representatives from Valley Schools and Brown & Brown joined the meetings to provide additional insight. Three meetings were scheduled, starting back in November. 

As a general background, the current experience ratio is 107%, expected to be $1.94 million. So every dollar we reserve for claims is costing $1.07. We shoot for under 100%. Being self-insured, our VSEBG reserve as of June 30, 2022, was $14.2 million (with a 25% minimum operating reserve). 

In ‘18-’19 and ‘19-’20 saw an increase in the employee contribution for dependents; in the last two years, there was no increase, and DVUSD is picking up the 1.75% increase for the ‘22-’23. 

For ‘23-’24 the changes are:
The 2023-’24 renewal rate for employee benefit medical plan is 8.06%, or $1.9 M.  In lieu of this full increase being charged directly to premiums, the Benefits Committee is recommending the plan changes outlined below to include $700,000 of additional M&O funding and the use of $2 million in reserves from the Valley Schools Employee Benefits Group (to be able to reduce the employee contribution for post-2012 hires that elect the PPO plan). These changes also include the following:

• Increase the employee contribution for the PPO plan from $20/month to $40/month for employees hired before July 1, 2012, and decrease the employee contribution from $150/month to $100/month for employees hired on or after July 1, 2012
• HDHP deductible increases from $2,800 single coverage/$5,600 family coverage to $3,000 single coverage/$6,000 family coverage – this is to conform to IRS rules. 
• District pay life coverage is increasing by 5%, and short-term disability, voluntarily paid by employees increases by 5%.
• Add non-benefited employees to the Wellstyles program at a cost of $1.75/PEPM
• Arizona State Retirement System (ASRS) contributions increased from 12.17% to 12.29%, with the Alternative Contribution Rate (ACR) increasing from 9.68% to 9.99%

Board Questions:

Mr. Carver: We’re going to realize a cost of $2.7M for the plan in out-of-pocket cost for PPO folks will still rise to not pass any of it on to the employees. Correct?

Answer: Yes. If you look at the $1.9M at the top, a portion of that is wrapped up in the savings for the post-2012 hires. The total employee contribution is going down for the entire population overall. The net impact to employees on the PPO plan is a decrease.

Mr. Carver: The $700k is the additional requirement out of M&O to fund this, and $2M out of valley schools to offer this?

Answer: Yes, that is what is being proposed in this recommendation.

Mrs. Fisher: The 107%. Is that an average of all groups, or is that any specific group (i.e., Cobra)?

Answer: Yes, that is an average. Cobra specifically, which is a very small percentage, would probably be in the 300% range.

Mrs. Fisher: So we’re increasing the 8.06 similar to ‘18-’19; how many high-cost claims to hit the stop loss? (for the current year).

Answer: The number is 8. The number was 16 last year.

Mrs. Fisher: Minimum reserve to meet obligations in that trust?

Answer: It would be about $6M at a 25% reserve. Valley Schools uses a number 17.63%; we have always deferred to 25% due to the size of our group.

Mrs. Fisher: Understands the underfunding and utilizing the funds so that it doesn’t hit the employees – but the trust seems to be very healthy as one of several trusts. Is there a reason we’re not utilizing the entire funds? The current economy is declining; we’re in a rough spot; we need to look for where we will be, not now, but in the new… Is it better to utilize it now and reserve the M&O funds? 

Answer: There are three levers we have to operate – to pay the freight of the claims we have, change plan design (increase deductibles), and use reserves as being self-insured. The work team looked to balance the three options, specifically because in the last three years, we haven’t taken an increase. Because of the vacancies and having to outsource some positions, it was to balance the three levers so we did not create a funding cliff.

Mrs. Fisher: They had told us in 2019 that the ASRS increases would stop – however it hasn’t occurred. Is it fully funded, or is it in trouble?

Answer: It’s not even close to being fully funded or nor is it in significant trouble. It was said to go down in 2019, but that didn’t happen. The nominal rate should be closer to 9%, but here we are increasing it. They have their own studies that create those percentages, and it’s kind of hard to argue with. As contributing members, we all hope to draw from it, so we want it fully funded. It is based on their earnings, so things like the marketplace can contribute to percentages being established.

9. Reports

9A. Governing Board Reports

Mrs. Ordway: “We had a first in our district; Boulder Creek’s choir had an invitational choir thing, something similar to the bands that have rumbling drums, and so on and so forth. From what I heard, it was excellent. I also know that we had our Barry Goldwater culinary arts teams… They ran away with the show and they’ll be going to national. So it’s great that we have the opportunity to host. I think we’ve got a bunch of basketball teams going, ladies and gentlemen, to the quarter-finals, and it’s just awesome.

“I will say that for clarification purposes, I was not at the board retreat on Saturday due to a funeral which was set two weeks ago. I would also ask that any board member restrain themselves from posting, replying, commenting, or anything on social media that is misleading and misrepresenting what someone is doing because I’m beginning to find it rather disrespectful.

“I will also read to you our policy BA, ‘The governing board is responsible for the people of the district and therefore should be aware of the opinions and attitudes of the community and of identified district needs. As representatives of the people who own and support the schools, the board accepts the responsibility to identify community attitudes and opinions and district needs and to identify short and long-range strategies that are responsible within the budgetary limitations of the district. These things are things we believe:
An educated, alert, informed citizenry is essential for our way of life. By improving schools, our community can build itself up more quickly and surely than any other way. Conversely, lack of wisdom and action on the part of the governing board can cause school morale and efficiency to quickly deteriorate from the top down. The individual board member is obligated to become informed on matters of school administration as time permits. It is effective governance to obtain data from and work collaboratively with district administrators and consultants to fully understand proposed actions. The board should be a governing board providing oversight and not an operating board. No member of the board will be asked to perform routine or clerical work that can be assigned to an employee. Any administrative function shall not extend to those beyond the officers by policy. The board has a greater responsibility than merely to conduct the housekeeping of the district. Daily school operation involves executive and administrative function better delegated to district employees.

I would also ask that any board member restrain themselves from posting, replying, commenting, or anything on social media that is misleading and misrepresenting what someone is doing because I’m beginning to find it rather disrespectful.

– Ann Ordway

“And we adopted this, almost eight years to the day, on February 24th, 2015. So I’d like us to keep that in mind as we carry out whatever we say we’re going to do.

“I would also ask, that on the March 28th board meeting, that #9A, which was board etiquette, and 10A, which was board ethics, discussing, regarding social media and email discussions be put on the March 28th meeting. According to our policy BDEBA, when an agenda item is to be moved to a future meeting, there will be a motion that happened, it will be placed on the next agenda or another date. If two or more board members request an agenda item, so it kind of falls in between both of these, or under both of these, it will be placed on an agenda in 60 days. So I believe that Saturday meeting, when I emailed that request to the Superintendent and the Board President, 30 days is probably enough to get that on an agenda.

“Tomorrow we have our student summit which is going to be a collection of intriguing, inspiring students. We’ve got read across America…”

Carver cuts Ordway off at 5 minutes, based on a discussion during the board retreat – this is not official policy.

Simacek: “I want to start by saying Happy Public Schools Week; this week is our opportunity to celebrate our extraordinary public schools here in DVUSD, including our teachers, administrators, students, and parents, who all work so hard for our DVUSD community. So thank you. I encourage our community to share their positive stories about public education on social media and you can use the hashtag #PSW23.

I think we really need a reminder to ourselves of why we were elected here to serve.

– Stephanie Simacek

“I had the pleasure of meeting Inspiration Mountain’s newest Knights on February 16th. Mrs. Australorp kindergartners showed me their new baby chicks that had hatched – I talked with Ms. Weible and she discussed kind of the process that they went through. The kinders were learning about the life cycle of chickens and they observed them for 21 days in their eggs and incubators before they hatched. And you can actually log on to, you can go to Inspiration Mountain’s homepage and there’s still a video there that shows the baby chicks hatching – it’s pretty cool.

“And then, on February 21st, I attended the new school board member orientation at Maricopa County with Superintendent Steve Watson – he put that on for all the new board members, which was great. It was informative and we were able to dive into topics such as finance policy, ethics, and open meeting law. As well as meet some of his great staff he has there.

“The Barry Goldwater dance program held their dance showcase last Thursday on February 23rd. Students chose their music, edited their music, picked out their costumes, and then they choreographed their own dances. And they all performed very beautifully and they should be proud of themselves because it really was quite wonderful.

“I’m looking forward to attending the Student Advisory Council that meets tomorrow and that’s at Goldwater. And then on Friday, Union Park will be celebrating their Las Fallas, the beginning of it, with a parade and an assembly so I’m looking forward to that.

“Finally, I would just like to take a moment to thank our community members who have taken the time to email the board with their questions and their concerns about the behavior they witnessed at the February 14th meeting, as well as some of the behavior witnessed at our retreat last Saturday, held over the weekend. I encourage you to please keep those coming – we hear you, and we’re listening, and I want everyone in our community to know that. My hope is to bring a discussion to the board in the next month regarding etiquette and ethics, as Ann had mentioned, I’d also like to second that we add 9A and 10A from the previous retreat agenda back on to the March 28th meeting. This will allow some time for us to discuss the etiquette and ethics in social media usage and posting and things like that. I just want to apologize because I am deeply concerned with the behavior that’s taking place on this board, especially when there is so much that needs attention for our communities – what we all kind of ran for, which is to help our students and our staff and our teachers. I think we really need a reminder to ourselves of why we were elected here to serve. So my goal with that discussion of ethics and etiquette, maybe we can get a little closer to the understanding of that. Thank you.”

Carver: “Thank you, President Paperman. So on February 17th, I swear sometimes I’m just following around behind Mrs. Simacek. My wife and I went out to Inspiration Mountain to see their newest addition, the chicks in the kinder classes. We visited both of the classes and did a little Q&A with the students and found out that they use this experience to learn a lot more about the chicks than just that they hatch. It’s been science, a lot of different science. It’s been math; it’s been health, it’s been everything for them so it’s great. We had them show us the right way to hold them. They were really attentive and helped my wife hold one of the chicks, she really enjoyed that.

“Dr. Schwarting gave us a tour around the rest of the campus, and I’ve got kind of a special place in my heart for the STEM and STEAM classes, CTE, I’m really big on those sorts of things. And so we went to go visit Ms. Whit in the Makerspace classroom. And she’s doing amazing things with almost a relatively empty room. And she was telling me all about her great plans she had and all the things she needed and I just so happened to ask her, do you have a list? And wouldn’t you know, she did. So I had her send me the list, and just as, just as an active community member I started seeking help filling the needs of that list and by end of business on the 11th, that next week, I plan on making a delivery. We’ve had a huge response from the community and we’ve probably filled 90% of that list, her wishlist that she had for her classroom. She was looking for tools, for PVC pipe, glue guns, just normal everyday things that don’t individually cost a lot of money that shouldn’t have to be a burden on her to try to fill that or to wait for the wheels of government to find a way to fill that for her. So just reached out to the community and the answered resoundingly. And so I’m hoping to be able to take that kind of community interaction and involvement and just multiply that and be able to do little things like that for the district.

“Again, on the 21st, followed Mrs. Simacek to the board orientation and training with the county Superintendent. We did a little bit of training on school budgets, which is awesome because your average everyday individual does not understand the, in the business I’m in, we call them Geo Codes, basically what all the money is for, what buckets it’s coming out of, why it can’t be used on certain things, why it has to be used on things it’s being used on. We received a lot of education on that and just some common ground rules on what a board should do, shouldn’t do, what that looks like, how to conduct yourself, and how to interact with the Superintendent, and that was really beneficial.

“Tomorrow, Arrowhead Elementary is having a literacy event, so you’ll be able to see me there. And then attending the student summit – those kids will be leading that event and they have given the board members pretty pink shirts to wear so we can stand out and everyone can see us coming in a crowd. So that’ll be a good time. Anyway, I appreciate the time; that’s all I’ve got.”

I’m hoping to be able to take that kind of community interaction and involvement and just multiply that and be able to do little things like that for the district.

– Paul Carver

Fisher: “Okay. I also spent my morning on the 14th with the chickens; I actually watched Paul and his wife drive out. She had a nice lovely mix of Rhode Island reds and, I’m going to totally slaughter this, Australorp chickens. So I still owe Ms. Weible some research, and I haven’t forgotten I am going to send it.

I do have a few questions from various areas. Since we are on time, I’m going to go ahead and ask them quick. 

• What schools are currently under-enrolled? 
• Do we have statistics on our turnover rate in the last couple of years?
• How many principals are we needing to recruit at this time? 

My questions from the Friday update:

• It was noted that the Governor will veto most bad bills, but could you please provide the list of remaining bills that are concerning and their impact to DVUSD? 
• It was expressed that TSMC may be considering working with Basis, and it could cost them. How often does the TSMC Foreign Trade Zone exemption come before the board? I think that the $6-20M tax credit being held over them would most likely deteriorate relationships, and it doesn’t seem like a good way to go to me. So I’d like to know if that trade zone is going to come back. 
• I would also like to know why the board was not made aware of the arrest of an employee prior to the community member or media notification. 
• Why do we keep allowing these individuals to resign versus terminating child predators? 

“In the review of the positions that you brought forward, I’m glad that they are going to be part of the job study. I also want to make sure that we’re looking not just at the title but the work. Because there was some talk, I just heard some talk, the title is one thing, but the position, the actual work, is something different. So I just want to make sure that is occurring. 

I’m concerned we have parents against parents.

– Kim Fisher

“I would also like to know if we are using our internal resources prior to seeking external resources. So in other words, if we already have a staff member that does that, and has time, I want to preface that because I don’t want to overwhelm our staff, but if we have someone, then I would hope that we’re putting the work to our individuals which are highly skilled versus seeking external.

“Finally, I would like to request an executive session in the next month or two with our attorney to ask our attorney a few questions regarding process. 

“And then I would like to thank the parents, who have also provided a lot of wonderful feedback, and who have, who are very much watching… I am a little concerned in that I see both sides, and I’m concerned that we have parents against parents. And that is just… A couple of years ago, it was proposed, well it was more than a couple, that we have an exclusive parent advisory group. And I don’t know whether that occurred or did not occur, but somewhere within, I don’t know, 2018 to now, we have two very distinct parent groups that are very separated. And I don’t know if we have a strategy to pull them together, but that would be nice. Like I said, Mr. Carver and I have both talked about how Vail did it; it may be good to reach out and see what they did because it worked. I mean, they were like in the news fighting, like throwing their board out and re-voting in the hall. And they managed to pull their community together, so I think it would be great if we could, maybe, steal some ideas. Liberate some ideas, and try them.

“Also, there is no offense in answering the community’s question. We were told that Mrs. Ordway would not be available for any Saturday; that’s the only reason I responded to the question that was directed toward me.” 

Ordway: “I do want to clarify that Mrs. Paperman, it was said at the February 14th meeting, and I don’t know why I have to defend going to a funeral, but I did say that no Saturdays were available, and then when I tried to acquiesce to that, I told you I was going to a funeral. So there you have it.” 

Paperman: “Okay, mine is going to be short and sweet. Congratulations again to all of those that received awards. 

If you don’t want to see what she posts on social media, don’t look at it.

– Jennie Paperman

“I would also like to make a statement. I did receive emails from, I don’t know, three community members, four community members, regarding Mrs. Fisher. I assume this is with the social media and this and that. I think, from my observation, I think we need to stop being fixated on Mrs. Fisher. She’s been on the board for how long? 8 years? She’s been posting on social media for this long. You know, I had stated to Mrs. Fisher, you know, pray and leave it up to god, but she is her own person. So I just want to tell community members that Mrs. Fisher is her own person, and she communicates with her group on social media on some topics of concerns. And I haven’t heard anything if they’re open meeting laws. So once again, we need to stop being fixating on her, oh, you’re posting this on social media. If you don’t want to see what she posts on social media, don’t look at it. You know, I have been, I have ran for state Superintendent and governing board, I have been attacked by individuals. Do I respond back to them? I just, I do not even look at it. And I, you know, was treated badly when I ran as State Superintendent, so certain individuals they want to be nasty or put things that they’re going to be hurting feelings then don’t look at it. You know we are elected officials. This is what we deal with. And once again, my observation is that we need to stop being fixating on Mrs. Fisher and move forward. Thank you, Superintendent report.”

[Editor note: Mrs. Fisher has been on the board for seven years total, unconsecutively – she lost her 2018 election to Mrs. O’Brien and Mrs. Read.] 

9B. Superintendent’s Report

Finch: “I’m going to spend a couple minutes of my time going through the play-by-play of the game that you missed. I was there, and it was, actually the seismic win needs to be exaggerated a little more… Replayed… Just to set the scene, we are at Mesquite; we’re ranked #8, and they’re ranked #5, so we’re not close to them anyway. They have a better record and yada-yada. Deer Valley had already beaten the #1 team, ALA, the week before, so now we’re 8, playing at their house, Mesquite’s house, packed house. In fact, Deer Valley had more fans then they did, I thought. And we are down by six with three minutes left. In the next two minutes, we made four three pointers and three of them were crazy! Like, impossible shots. And they kept making twos. Well, with 1:40 left, it’s a tie game. So exchange, exchange, we ran out of time – without the AIA installing the shot clock, this game would have been over. But thanks to AIA, they put that in play. That totally changed the game and how we play it today, so I want to thank them. So we’re down now to four seconds, they call a foul on us, so they go to the line shoot one, we have a lane violation. No! They get to reshoot it! They make it, now they’re up one, 65-64, and so, call a timeout… place is going nuts. Kid shoots the next one, misses it, and our kid gets the rebound, dribbles the length of the floor – remember, there’s four seconds left – about mid-court, throws a baseball pass, while going 100mph, to a kid who catches it and puts it in at the buzzer! We win by one! The place went nuts! Deer Valley students ran and mobbed the floor, it was awesome. And then, obviously, it was a big-time celebration on that floor for the next 30 minutes it was incredible. Now they play Peoria for the State Championship on Thursday. So that’s downtown at the Collesium, I think we call it that, at the fairgrounds. No, Veteran’s Memorial. 

“We have Boulder Creek playing Brophy in the semis. And I think we have beaten them before, that’s on Thursday. I think our girls, Wednesday, tomorrow, I’ll be at that one. But that’s at Brophy because they are ranked higher than we are from a game perspective. I think our girls, Deer Valley, lost tonight up in Flagstaff, but make sure you get out to see Deer Valley on Thursday at Veteran’s Memorial at 7:00 I believe, for the State Championship against Peoria, our friend’s next door. They have gotten us a couple of times this year, so it’ll be hard to overcome. 

“Wanted to remind everyone that it’s Read Across America; I stuck Dr. Suess’ hat on today and read a couple of books; it was a lot of fun. Desert Mountain and Mirage, and I’ll be at Copper Creek on Friday. So just challenge the students and parents to continue to read – reading is the secret to school, period. Reading is everything. So if you can successfully read, all the rest will come easier. 

“Our next school board meeting is next Tuesday, so they’re coming fast. Spring break is the week of March 12th, so hope everyone is looking forward to that. Just have to dodge the rainstorm tomorrow; sorry about that, seems to come on every student summit about every three years. So looking forward to that. That’s my report, thanks.”