The March 28th, 2023, Deer Valley Unified School District governing board meeting was called to order at 7:09 PM, with all members present.
- Jennie Paperman
- Kimberly Fisher
- Paul Carver
- Stephanie Simacek
- Ann Ordway
The motion to adopt the agenda is approved unanimously.
3. Action
3A. Approve Recommendation for Principal of Greenbrier Elementary School
The governing board unanimously approved the District’s recommendation to hire Cynthia Mills as the Principal of Greenbrier Elementary School. Mills is returning to DVUSD (she started her career in the district as a teacher and coach) from Tolleson Elementary School District, where she has more than a decade of experience as a Principal.
3B. 2023 Music In Our Schools Month Proclamation
The governing board unanimously approved a proclamation declaring March as Music In Our Schools Month.
4. District Reports
4A. Music In Our Schools
Following the Music In Our Schools proclamation, Dr. Galligan and Ms. Anna Backstrom presents a report updating and celebrating the music program in Deer Valley.
The district has fourteen different K-12 music programs, with opportunities at each campus. The programs have benefited from $2.5M in bond and Title IV funds, supporting the programs through supplies, repairs, curriculum, and more.
Students have had the opportunity to perform in various unique performances this year, from the first annual Show Off In The Desert choir festival, honor choir performances, singing the national anthem at the State Capitol, and more.
Teachers are supported with full-district PD day annually to plan and collaborate with colleagues, a Fine Arts Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment Specialist to answer questions and concerns, and department team leads working closely with the CIAS to ensure events, activities, and opportunities are being provided for all schools. Ms. Backstrom takes a moment to thank the board for their recent approval of the newly adopted curriculum resources, which will aid in providing excellent resources and opportunities to students.
Board Questions
Jennie Paperman: Says that this is a great program for students. She asks Dr. Galligan if she can explain the Title IV and Bond funds, and the important role they play in maintaining the Fine Arts.
Answer: The funding ensures that the programs have facilities, instruments, and music. It is very important that both title funds, bond funds, and other district funds are always identified for the music programs. Mrs. Backstrom is praised for ensuring that these funds are spread across all the Fine Arts programs at all the schools throughout the district. Backstrom gives examples of how the funding is spent, such as replacing choral risers that had been repaired many times, larger expensive instruments such as tubas, marching band equipment, and much more.
4B. Auditor General 2023-22 District Spending Report
Director of Finance, Heather Mock, presents the findings from the Auditor General’s ‘21-22 district spending report. This report is released annually and is required by law for Public School districts (not required for Charter/Private schools).
Deer Valley Unified School District spends 71.8% of its funds on classroom spending, which includes instruction (59.4%), student support (8.1%), and instruction support (4.3%). Non-classroom spending makes up the remaining 28.2%, including administration (9.6%), plant operations (10.5%), food service (4.0%), and transportation (4.1%). Compared to very large unified and union high school districts in cities and suburbs, DVUSD outperforms nearly all comparable districts and the peer group average of 57.8% for instructional spending.
For cost measure comparison, Deer Valley Unified School District is comparable in relation to the peer average for administration, plant operations, and food service. For transportation, DVUSD spends over $1.00 more per mile than the peer average; however, spending per rider is comparable. For this reporting period, administration costs changed from high to comparable, and transportation changed from very high to high. The 5-year trend, starting in 2017, saw DVUSD’s in-classroom spending increase by 0.6% and nonclassroom spending decreased by 0.6%.
Per student, funding has increased from $8,414 in 2020 to $9,553 in 2022. In 2022, the state average was $10,729 and the peer average was $10,005. When looking at the teacher comparison of comparable districts, we can see that DVUSD’s student-to-teacher ratio, average teacher salary, and average years of service are slightly lower than the comparable peer averages.
Overall, Deer Valley Unified School District compares positively among its peer groups and is even better on most metrics when compared to state averages. Although DVUSD spends fewer dollars per student than the comparable groups by 4.7%, the student achievement results are comparable to or better than some districts that spend more money per student.
Board Questions:
Ann Ordway: Asks Mrs. Mock to explain the impact of the administration cost per student being a result of a benefit-cost that not all districts have, retiree insurance.
Answer: There was a previously enacted retention plan retirement benefit that provided individuals who retired from DVUSD insurance until they became eligible for Medicare at the age of 65. This cost is about $3.88 million per year. However, it was phased out so that any employee hired as of July 1st, 2009 would no longer be eligible for the plan, but even those who remain eligible have to have been hired before that date, and employed with DVUSD for more than 15 years.
Ann Ordway: Asks for a projection of the number of employees left on this plan.
Answer: Will provide these numbers, as an actuarial study is conducted every other year.
Paul Carver: Acknowledging that it may not be the correct time for it, but thanks Mrs. Mock for her service to DVUSD (Mock has resigned, taking another position outside of the district).
Kim Fisher: Says she will send her questions in an email because her numbers are slightly different than what was shown, and tells Mock that she will be missed. She wants everyone to know that Mrs. Mock speaks German and that it’s always impressed her.
Paperman: Asks for Mock to explain to the community; DVUSD spends fewer dollars per student compared to the peer groups, are we getting a good amount of percentage from the auditor general? Do we need to spend less, or are we just putting the money somewhere else?
Answer: DVUSD receives less funding per district than its peers. That’s why we look at both the dollar per student and the percentage of budget per student – if you look at the percentage per student, Deer Valley is on par with comparable districts.
Fisher: Says that she read somewhere that there were errors in the report this year, and asks if there is any truth to that?
Answer: The district is not aware of this, but will look into it and provide information in the Friday update.
5. Call to the Public
There is one public speaker, starting at 1:21:00. The speaker is a paraprofessional in the district with over 15 years of experience; she discusses the poor pay for paras compared to substitutes that are filling the open paraprofessional positions.
Mrs. Fisher asks for a report for paraprofessional pay broken down by their term of service.
6. Consent Agenda
The motion to approve the consent agenda was approved unanimously.
- Approve Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Governing Board on March 7, 2023
- Approve Human Resources Changes
- Student Travel
- Approve Vouchers
- Approve Donations
- Approve Addenda Contracts
- Bids/Proposals – RFP #23-2201-009-5 Tier 3 Math Intervention Resources Grades 2-4
- Authorization to Enter into Additional Cooperative Contract Purchases for Fiscal Year 2022-23
- Approve the Voluntary Per Unit Payment Agreement between Deer Valley Unified School District and Taylor Morrison Homes for the Verdin Neighborhood
- Approve the Revised Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) between Deer Valley Unified School District and the City of Phoenix for Services of School Resource Officers as part of a School Safety Program for Fiscal Year 2022-23
- Approve Revision of Authorized Signers for Notice of Claims for Fiscal Year 2022-23
- Approve Revision of Authorized Signers for Written Agreements/Contracts for 2022-23
- Approve Revised Resolution for Authorized Signers for Certificate of Deposit for 2022-23
- Approve Revised Designation of Student Activities Treasurer for 2022-23
7. Action
7A. Approve Addenda Pre-Approvals
Motion passes 4:0:1, Mrs. Fisher abstains.
7B. Approve Employee Professional Development (Out of State)
Carver makes a motion to exclude item D, teacher travel to the HIVE 6-8 Math Conference in Atlanta, GA. Fisher seconds the motion, to begin the discussion. Paperman and Fisher try to move forward with the vote, and Ordway requests discussion to find out the reasoning for the amendment prior to the vote. Fisher argues against this request, finally saying, “do whatever you want to do, I don’t care… Ms. Ordway’s… if you don’t do it her way, we’ll hear about it.” Dr. Finch clarifies that it is correct to discuss the reasoning prior to the amendment.
Carver: Says that his reasoning for amending the agenda item is that HIVE is using “Open Up Resources.” He says that the resource is not problematic in itself; but when Open Up Resources was being considered for adoption in South Carolina, some parents had problems with their methods and curriculum and questioned the organization. The organization filed suit against the parents in that district, and he does not believe it is a good look to do business with a company that “wants to sue parents just for voicing their concerns.”
The motion to amend the agenda fails.
Back to the original motion, the board can now further discuss.
Dr. Galligan: Tells the board that Open Up Resources are the adopted middle school math resources in the district. Paseo Hills is trying to make sure their teachers have the opportunity for relevant professional development – this is not an unusual request for training for teachers.
Mrs. Paperman: Has a similar understanding to what Dr. Galligan said. From her understanding, from reading the email from a concerned parent and looking into it, is that the issue was related to the implementation (individual learning vs. group instruction) of the curriculum in the classroom. She says that as a teacher herself, she understands that teachers do group instruction and then give the students an opportunity for individual learning. She acknowledges that the organization sued a parent due to a statement they made, but that it happened in another state and we’re here in Arizona. She had only one parent email with a concern.
Mrs. Fisher: Says that her concern is with various curriculum that DVUSD has adopted, that the district has said, “well, it does have that in it, but we’re not taking that part, we take what’s appropriate for our district.” But she feels that now we’re sending our teachers out to learn not what is done in our district, but what other districts are doing. She says that this opens our teachers up to attending training to use things that are not in line with DVUSD or our communities. She’s curious as to why, if we’re tailoring the curriculum to remove anything that is questionable, we’re then sending teachers out to learn from others who may be using that curriculum that DVUSD has removed.
Dr. Galligan: There was nothing during the adoption of Open Up Resources that was identified as not appropriate and acceptable for DVUSD middle school students. She says they’ll look again, but it’s not an area that’s been brought to their attention for concern.
Paperman moves on to the next agenda item before she realizes this agenda item still needs to be voted on.
The motion passes 3:1:1, Carver votes nay, Fisher abstains.
7C. Approve the District Performance Pay Percentage for Classified, Administrative, and Exempt employee groups for FY 2023
This plan has been in place for 18-19 years, and mirrors the requirements for the performance pay from the Classroom Site Fund. 2% has been the norm nearly every year, with the exception of maybe one year.
The motion passes unanimously.
7D. Approval of FY23 Supplemental Revised Salary Recommendation
On December 13th, 2022, a salary recommendation was approved for this school year. It included trigger language for a one-time payment that required the AEL to be resolved. This is a supplemental recommendation that addresses and clarifies the increase in pay moving forward and how and when eligible employees who were on leave during this one-time payment can receive the payment.
Board Questions
Carver: Asks for clarification; if he was a para, would he be a classified employee?
Answer: Correct.
Carver: As a classified employee, he could expect a $1.40 bump in the hourly rate if he met all of the qualifications?
Answer: Correct. If you were an existing para working on February 8th, you would have already received that one-time payment. It would be included in the appointment issued next year.
Paperman: For the classified, is it $1.40 an hour? Or a one-time payment for them?
Answer: It is $1.40 per hour times their annualized hours/days of contract. If they were scheduled for 206 days at 7 hours per day, we’d multiply the $1.40 x 7 x 206 and pay them the one-time payment as the result of that equation. In future years, it’s directly added to their pay.
Paperman: There are challenges in retaining classified staff like cleaner, bus drivers… In the negotiation team, did we take into consideration giving them more in their pay? “Can we think out of the box? For example, why are we giving principles raises? Can we look at the top salary and then focus more on giving more to the classifieds so we can retain them?”
Answer: Yes, the NST has been looking at all those factors. The last salary increase that was part of the original FY22-23 school year did overweight the classified increases. Of course minimum wage and reclassifications of positions, we have realized the reclassification of targeted positions is that the entire classified salary schedule has to be increased. All of that was added to the hiring schedule. Next year, our lowest-paid employee will be $15.20 vs. the minimum wage of $13.85. NST is working on a proposal to bring it forward next month, and there have been discussions of overweighting the classified salaries again. The employee groups have been supportive of this.
The motion passes unanimously.
7E. Approve the 2023 Summer Pay Rates
The summer pay rates for the 2023 and 2024 summer programs are presented for consideration.
The motion passes unanimously.
8. Reports
8A. Governing Board Reports
Mrs. Ordway: “We’re into March, almost April. I am happy to say that ‘Calling All Fairy Godmothers’ had a great two planned afternoons where I had ladies from Deer Valley High School, Barry Goldwater High School, Mountain Ridge High School, Barato High School, and Peoria High School come in. It just is great. I’ve got more coming. Volunteers, Mrs. Simacek was there, a couple of retired teachers and front office workers, so it’s working out great. I had the opportunity to go to the Deer Valley Carnival, which was amazing. The cotton candy was just to die for.
“Boulder Creek High School Selena Huggins invited me to speak to her rising educators class, so that was awesome. There is a shoe and a sock drive and a shorts drive going on. I know that Mrs. Simacek will talk about the shoes. We’re trying to make sure that our food pantries stay stocked, so please, if you are on a campus that needs to be stocked, reach out and let us know so we can pair you with a school that will help.
“We’ve got state required testing, which means the transportation has been very flexible for their late starts. I know that students are looking forward to the end, and perhaps there are some employees that are nine months that are looking forward to it also.
“I’m looking forward to the last productions, the artwork. We’ve got a lot of end-of-the-year things to look forward to.
“Congratulations to all the West-MEC students who are embarking on internships, who are receiving.. or earning they’re not receiving, they’re earning their certification. And for those who that are signing up for their first year next year, let’s just remember that all successes are important, whether they seem big or small. They all add up in the end. And as our stellar students are working hard to finish strong, I am grateful to our parents, caregivers, community, staff, and their peers for keeping themselves on track to make sure that the end of the year ends up great.
“I was a little bit surprised that board ethics and etiquette, as outlined in the agenda for the February 25th board retreat, did not make it onto this agenda but I’m sure it will make on the next one. And this is just out there and I’m sure we have, but as our rentals are being, or our facilities are being rented out as they had been prior to all that stuff – I just wanted to make sure that we are enforcing or making sure that the rules are being adhered to such as no smoking, no firearms, etc. or whatever aligns with our rules on statutes.”
Stephanie Simacek: “I hope everybody had a great spring break. It’s nice to be back. I was able to attend the March 8th POP lunch at Barry Goldwater. This one was extra special, not that the end (audio cuts out), that was also very great. But this one was ran by our students at Barry Goldwater, the Culinary students, and they did an absolute phenomenal job on their food. It was absolutely delicious. So I’m just really impressed by those students as well as their teachers.
“A bunch of our schools right now are having their ‘Day of Awesomeness.’ It’s a fundraiser I was able to volunteer at Union Park for several hours – the kids raise money for their school and then they get this Day of Awesomeness, which is full of bounce houses. Everyone was saying it was really fun. The kids absolutely love it and it’s exciting and it just seems to work out really well.
“So I got to take part in one of those and then I had a great time setting up the prom dress shop with Ann, Mrs. Ordway, as well as volunteering on the 23rd. We had some great students come in and try dresses on and walked away very, very happy. So that was wonderful.
“I also wanted to mention that I’m a little disappointed in the fact that the ethics and etiquette was not put on this, today’s, agenda of March 28th that, had been discussed during our board retreat and then again at the last couple of meetings. So it’s still not on. Really I just want people to understand it’s just about ethics and etiquette, you know, what is proper? Like, what’s the best way to we need to be presenting ourselves as a school board leaders on social media? What should, what’s appropriate? What’s not, really? Not anything that needs to get continued pushback. So I hope I can see it on the next one.
“And then Paul and I have been working on our shoe drive for our Title 1 schools. We’ve been working with different schools. I wanted our community to know that there are drop boxes now at Sonoran Foothills, Norterra Canyon, and Union Park, and I just want to say if you’re out and about, let’s say you’re at Target or something, I’ve been able to go over there quite a few times and just get really great deals on shoes for kids that I’ve dropped off at some of our Title 1 schools in the past. And I would love to just see our community come together and do that. I also have bins set up outside my husband’s office, I had posted that on a few pages and then some of the schools are going to also be putting it out in their bulletin. But it does end on Friday. Our goal was April 1st to end, and so I really would appreciate if anyone in our community is out there doing that, just pick up an extra pair and drop them off at one of those schools. I am also more than willing to come and pick them up from your house. I am available to do that and I would be more than happy to do so.
“So let’s see, we have our DVUSD job fair that’s happening this Saturday, along with a wonderful, I’m so excited about this, our student art showcase, it’s going to be in the Innovation Center. So it’ll be nice to take part in both of those.
“And I know some of our students have already begun their testing for the State Testing, but for the month of April, it’s usually taken up by that. I just want to wish every one of our students’ good luck on their testing, grades three and above. You got this.
“Thank you!”
Carver: “It’s been a busy, busy vacation. March 8th, Mrs. Simaceh mentioned the POP Luncheon at Barry Goldwater High school 27th Avenue Cafe; it was my first opportunity to dine with the students there. And it was amazing, they had pork tenderloin and some marinated chicken breast along with the salad and green bans and it was amazing. And we had some good CTE discussions, wasn’t all about the food but there was some good information passed on. If anybody ever has an opportunity to attend one of these POP luncheons, I would suggest it. There’s some good information put out there in the evening of March 8th.
“I alluded to it at the last meeting, but there was a, there’s a STEAM teacher over there and a Makerspace classroom, Ms. Witt, and when I was on my tour last month and I went through Inspiration Mountain, she was talking to me about all the beautiful ideas that she had for her classroom. And Inspiration Mountain is well known as a new school and it was literally an empty classroom. And I asked her, kind of tongue-in-cheek, do you have a shopping list? And she said, as a matter of fact, and she walked over and grabbed a paper that had her wish list on it. I took it that to the community and our community is amazing. We filled every item on her wish list and so Wednesday evening, we went over there and delivered that to the classroom, to Ms. Witt and the students. And they are using everything and they have plans on expanding the scope of what they expose the children to, and it’s a beautiful thing.
“March 13th, as Mrs. Simacek mentioned, her and I partnered to do a shoe drive for our specifically Title one schools and we have a goal of 200 pairs of shoes. I know that there’s many drop boxes throughout the district and Inspiration Mountain was actually collecting shoes at their STEAM night the other day, and they collected over 60 pairs of shoes. And I’ve got roughly about 100 sitting at the house, including that 60 to add to it. So again, as Mrs. Simcek mentioned, to anybody that’s listening that used shoes they would like to donate, gently used or new kid-size shoes, reach out to either one of us, and we’re happy to come to you if you’re not able to drop off.
“March 17th, in tying in with our Shoe Drive, when I put the word out there that we were going to do this, little did I know that I had a close friend of mine that is a connection with the Arizona Rattlers. So the Arizona Rattlers has decided to do wave two of our shoe drive starting April 8th, running through August. They’re collecting shoes at every kick-off party, every away game party, every home game, and they’re trying to tie something together for the season finale game August 8th. Something to the effect of, everybody throwing their shoes on the field or something like that. And so, I already have a full box of shoes at the house that those folks have been raising. So we’re going to do that for the beginning of the school year; we’ll have that donation put together.
“March 22nd, I attended the grand opening for a TSMC feeder company called Tokyo Electronics. That doesn’t sound like much, but this organization is employing 400 to 450 people over off of 23rd and Pinnacle Peak. And we got to meet some of the folks that are working closely with these organizations to help the families assimilate to American culture and they need help and they need direction. And it was great to hear how well that they believe that they’ve been received and we’re developing a really good partnership with them to help them identify the things that they need so that they can feel welcome and functioning members of society out here. So it was a good experience.
“March 24th, again, was the STEAM night at Inspiration Mountain. The shoe drive I mentioned over 60 pairs of shoes. They focused on and showcased their choir, their band, their art, the stem classroom, and each class did a raffle – raffle tickets and then a silent raffle to help raise funds so that they can do the things that they need to do throughout the school year. We also had a 10 minute preview of Suessical Jr., and that looks like it’s going to be an amazing time. So if you guys get a chance, April 28th and 29th at Inspiration Mountain, buy your tickets. I know that Nick would like to see you there.
“That’s all I’ve got.”
Mrs. Fisher: “First, I want to welcome everybody back from spring break. Thanks for coming back, except for Heather. She’s leaving. Just kidding, Heather. I did attend the POP luncheon and the preschool event that was held here at the district office. I do owe an apology to Inspiration Mountain that I was on my way to go to your event, but there was a pileup on the I-10, so instead, I stayed there through your event. So I do apologize. I was scheduled to go as well.
“I did have a couple of things brought to my attention in the past few weeks from multiple schools. One of the things that I wanted to possibly ask for more information, I would like to get, if we have a club handbook or a handbook for our teachers and on to-dos; you know, I know most districts do have the handbook and processes. And if you can, also let me know whether it’s different for high school or elementary/junior high, because I am a little concerned. I’ve heard over the years, just different concerns, and I’m wondering if it’s, is it a training? Is it a manual? Is it, what type of issues they are? And then I would like us to have some kind of, either an agenda item or a discussion item where we actually talk about our clubs – the importance of our clubs and what we can do to help move them forward. Because kids who are engaged in clubs are more likely to stay in school, they’re more likely to get a good education. It is vital, just as the sports and music and other things, but clubs really make a difference with keeping our kids in our classrooms.
“Ironically, one of the concerns I got was regarding our dress code, and you would think it’s, you know, one thing or the other. I was actually a little shocked. I would to know, I mean I can see our dress code within our handbooks and whatnot… But I would like to know if, what our enforcement of those dress codes and I would like to know if it’s consistent throughout the district. I generally get concerns about, you know, spaghetti straps or too low cut or too high cut things like that. This individual’s concern was about students dressing like animals and refusing to speak in class, meowing or barking, and expecting to be responded to things like that – basic disruption within our schools. And I would like to have an idea. Apparently, it’s prevalent in two schools, as what was reported to me. I would like to know if that’s a problem we’re really having, because there is no teacher; they should try and talk to a student have them meow at them – that is to me just such a severe discipline problem. It’s… it’s just disruption so I would like to exactly how prevalent that is. If it’s a problem, how much of a problem it is? This was two different schools that were concerned.
The other concerns I got were from three different individuals, and they were all surrounding bathrooms. Yes, one of them was the standard boys in girls bathrooms, girls in boys bathrooms, but the other issues are also highly concerning. There was talk about drugs in our bathrooms. There is talk about fight clubs happening in our bathrooms, where kids are challenged to go to the bathrooms to basically fight each other. Just beat each other up, or see if they could take a punch… Which by the way, if a student punches another student over the heart hard enough, they could kill them instantly.
So these are, these are serious concerns and some of them are not unfounded. They came with good points of reference as to this occurring in several of our schools. And one of the concerns that a parent had that to me, was kind of a little heartbreaking, is their student is refusing to go to the bathroom. They’re withholding until they get home. And as a result, they’re getting sick, they’re having health issues, they’re having concerns. And so I would really like to have information from the district and what if, anything, is currently being done to address this type of issues. Is it consistent across the district? Are we doing one of the…. The person who expressed concern, their concern was that there was no consistency across the district and I kind of told them all we have the same handbook for everybody. And they said yeah, I get that, but not everybody applies it, not everybody really holds to it and so that’s concerning.
Mrs. Paperman: “I would like to congratulate all the students and staff that got awards today. Also, I attended Peter Pan play, and Guys and Dolls, and I was very impressed how the students were acting. They look like professional actors. I brought my stepkids with me and they were, they were like, wow, this is a great broadway show. So congratulations to all those students too, they did an amazing job and the staff that put it together.
“I also visited Deer Valley High School and Barry Goldwater High School. The goal of my visit was to see how the principals are doing, any support that they need from the board members. And also listening to parents’ concerns similar to what Mrs. Fisher is stating was happening within the schools.
“I truly believe, as an educator, we need to provide more support to the administration. They are doing multiple jobs, especially Title one schools like Deer Valley High School and Barry Goldwater High School. They need more bodies to support, to give them that support, so they can put their focus more on academic, to think out of the box. I looked at other high schools. Maybe hire a dean of students that can support with discipline. I maybe, you know, I looked, something of students, they have a teacher salary and they’re given a stipend for those positions that will support a lot to the principles with behavior so they can focus more on academics. And the reason I’m bringing more academic for the high school level, we need to consider our elected officials. For example, the Board of Education, they’re looking more with accountability. We may go back, we might go back to kids cannot graduate unless they pass an exam. So if the administration is putting more focus on discipline and not academic, that’s going to affect our students. So if we can think out of the box so we can get more support for the administration, because right now, what I hear from parents, and what Mrs. Fisher is saying, yes, there’s a lot of things going on in the schools and not enough bodies to provide that support.
“Another thing that, I was asking questions, of students. For example, I have dealt with students that have said that, when I graduate my parents are going to throw me out of the house. They said, I don’t know, I mean, I’m going to be homeless or I have dealt with students that have contact my kids and say oh my parents threw me out where do I… I try to support by finding resources or even CCV the church. So my question is, do we have a process in place for our students? Or how many students are going from home to home or sofa to sofa, sleeping at a friend’s house.
“To me, this is important to know, maybe we do need a social worker, maybe we need the high schools to have a social worker, because there so much under Administration plate that we need an extra person that these kids can go to get all those resources because on my part I realized how much time and effort I have to do during my research to help these students that have no place to sleep because their parents threw them out. They may be 17 or 18 or maybe a year later after they graduate 19 or even 20, they’re still kids. You know, Deer Valley, I see as more as a community. You know give our kids, no matter what, even if they graduate, to me, maybe if we have something in place if they’re, do I have a home Tuesday? They can always come back to a social worker at our high school to get some direction. So I do have concerns with that I think we need to come up with a process, you know? Because no matter what they’re all our students regardless, whether situation is at home. So I will be visiting other high schools, so far just Deer Vally and Barry Goldwater, and I will be asking the same questions, how can the principles get support from the governing board? Whether we need to do, like I said, they need more bodies, you know more support so they can focus more academic and I will stress to put more bodies because we need to focus to get our kids to graduate. If this comes in place that they need to take in order to graduate.”
8B. Superintendent’s Report
Dr. Finch: Again, board members too, if you can help send emails to us of details of the specific schools that you hear about certain things, or forward the emails that would help in there, helps us narrow the search because we have 42 schools… so that helps us a little bit from an administrative standpoint. Any help you can give us there is great.
“I just want to thank publicly, thank Mr. Carver, he helped me, through Senator Kaiser, get a seat at the table again, with the new administration at the State Land Authority, as we’re looking for a future school sites in the TSMC zone. It’s not if that zone is exploded, it’s when. And so we need to be in the front of that growth, not as an afterthought. So, Senator Kaiser is going to have, be able to get us a seat to start that discussion again.
“This morning, Tony Galietti from Sierra Verde received the GCU Principal of the Month. We surprised him and he was not ready, it was great. It’s always, always great when you surprise somebody that didn’t know they’re getting an award and obviously it was based on character, education, stem resources, and innovation for student success. So congratulations to Tony.
“This afternoon, Dr. Z and Mr. Migliarino, and myself met with GCU again on our project, it’s called City Surf. We’re trying to get resources to families and students, and our initial plan was to go the church route, and we just struggled with finding a church that would… was big enough but not too big to handle that idea. While they came up new idea, they’re going to have closets and so I think that will work for us. So we’re going to start working with them on a different concept and putting clothes closets and shoes in classes. This will all fit in that concept. So, looking forward to that relationship to continue. We weren’t working on it, really, for the last three years and now we might have a solution to the riddle.
“The, as mentioned, the art show is on April 1st and it’s at the Innovation Center. I believe it starts at 10:00, but you could come at 9:00, to this room (the Governing Board Meeting Room) and get a job because the job fair is at 9:00 and you can get a bus ride because there are will be buses here, you can get a bus ride. I don’t think they’ll let you drive it. You can get if you get a free hot dog as well. You can get a bus ride from the district office to the Innovation Center if you want. I don’t think they’ll let you drive it, though I know Mr. Carver’s thinking I could run a bus. Yes, you could.
“We have that NBCT celebration on Saturday, I believe. All of you are going, that will be a great event to celebrate our teachers that have accomplished that certification, which is a tough one.
“I’m getting close to my 500th visit, I’m in the 490s, I think now. I try to get to 500 classrooms a year and always about this time somewhere around here, I usually get close.
What else did I want to hit? Oh we have Mountain Ridge Baseball is currently ranked number one in the state of Arizona. Yeah, that is true. And on top of it I just got a text message that we have a student, an O.C., an O’Connor softball player, that’s going to be playing in the pen American games for the 15 and under USA team, in Peru starting next week or this week, that’s pretty crazy. They have kids making a national global impact. So congratulations to those students so I think that was it.
Next board meeting is Tuesday April 11th and on Friday, next Friday, next week, spring break day or, yeah, politically correct, spring break day. Say hi to the chocolate Easter Bunny. That’s it. Thank you.
