Yay. [Applause] Oh, he he came up. I haven't even announced his name yet. How did that happen? I knew who I was. Oh. Uh, okay. The words received. We'd like to recognize the Anamun High School District 2024 counselor of the year. Nominations are submitted by past and present students of AUSD as well as families, staff members, and community members. A selection committee then had the very difficult challenge of reviewing the nominations and selecting district counselor of the year, who exemplifies the best of the best. Helen Chan of Kennedy High School. You don't look anything like Helen. Okay, then we'll have to go with Michael Sultzer. Okay. Gilbert High School, 27 years a special contributions include Mr. Seltzer has been dedicated to his work and to the development of so many counselors. He has been a mentor to the teams and a reliable resource to many counselors in the district.
The decision to use a food pantry was not one my family made lightly. It was one made out of necessity because my salary as a teacher is no longer stretches far enough to cover basic costs. The cost of living has continued to rise. While teacher compensation has remained relatively flat. This growing disparity has placed a tremendous burden on educators who are trying to serve their students while also supporting their own families. Many are working second jobs, cutting back on essentials, and still falling short. We are not asking for extravagance. We are asking for fairness. Teachers deserve compensation that reflects the levels of professionalism, commitment, and care we bring to our work every single day. Without it, we risk losing not just talented educators, but also the morale and stability of our schools that are needed to thrive. Please understand that this is not an abstract or distant issue.
But this is looking at from the square footage perspective. And when you look at the number of students by square foot, we are everything in red is over capacity. Everything in blue is pretty close to capacity. And you can see as you go down, both middle schools and the high school for this year and moving out five years are where we have the largest amount total of over capacity, meaning that's where we need the most space. Um, let me go back to that for one second. Sorry. Preschool has two numbers because preschool is measured in different ways and I had mentioned in a previous meeting that our study is actually being rewritten to address some of the different ways that you can measure preschool. The blue is only certain types of classrooms. The red is looking more at the universe. So what does all of this mean?
She's going to sing for [Applause] us She's going to sing for us a great big band uh chart called How High the Moon. So, here is that with Alex. [Music] There's music, how faint the heaven, how high the moon, there is no moon above. When love is far away [Music] too, till it comes true. That you'll love me as I love you. Somewhere there's music. It's where you are. There's heaven. How near how far the darkest night would shine if you would come to me soon until you still [Music] [Applause] [Music] by moving up. Somewhere there's music, it's where you are. Where there's heaven, how near aart the darkest night would shine if you would come to be until you will. How hallelujah. [Music] [Applause] Back to you. Okay, we have two coming up for you. Uh, first one we're going to play for you is called Cantaloupe Island.
Next up, remarks from the public. First up, Lily Tate, and she lives in our district. Sorry. Good evening, board members, MSD administrators, and community members. I'm Lily Tate. I teach ceramics at Torita Middle School and I'm a mom to an autistic kindergarten kindergartener in MUSD. April is autism acceptance month and I often struggle with how to share our story. Part of me feels like it isn't my story to tell. It's my child's. But he can't still can't really tell this part of his story either. So here we are. After my son was born, I was so excited to do all the mommy and me things. And then the pandemic hit to an extent. I loved the extra time that I got to spend with my little family. We navigated through a really tough time fairly well, and we were lucky that we were healthy and employed when others were not.
To say that I could do band and to be like cheer captain and to also be a track star all at once is just something that I could never imagine. I always thought I had to choose one, but they made it an option. They made it possible here and I just love that. Like whether you want to do fine arts or you want to do, you know, sports or academics, there's a spot for you here in Crawfordville to shine. I'm so proud to graduate as an Athenian. I wouldn't want to graduate as anything else. Thank you. All right. Uh I'm my name is Max Brummit. My I'm the son of Kyle and Stephanie Brummit. Uh these three have summed up our experience at CS pretty well. Stole a lot of my talking points. So um you know one of the things that I have valued most about CHS and and Ellie put it perfectly is the culture of success.
250 is phenomenal. Um Miss Maggie [Applause] Miss um she achieved that goal last year. She's achieved that goal this year. And we are super proud of you, Maggie. Really proud of you. To be able to shake her. You should go around the table. She's done an amazing job. And we'll want a picture with everybody. Congratulations. We have several students here to recognize. Congratulations. Do you want to be a nurse? If you think about it, let me know. It's never too early. You want to be a teacher? [Laughter] [Music] Good job. We have another student, Miss Haya King. [Applause] 2.8 points as of this afternoon. Well done. [Applause] Well, m you want to be a cop. Earl, she likes me better. [Music] And one more to recognize tonight, Miss Hannah Moy, 410. Isn't that incredible? It's amazing. 100 points really is like a super super really You should be proud of 100 points.
Which before they both were A's. So, but the AB must have come out. Is that more uh yeah, I don't know. There was just some some back and forth about something, but yeah, happy to. So, I'll make a motion to approve that letter as drafted with the AB change for Kate. Right. Very efficient. Sounds good. I wasn't present on that. Um, you're noted as an ex absent. Yeah. And again, also I guess the page changes because I signed this. You just don't sign. I think so. So I'll again make a motion to approve it as is with the AB change. Second. And a roll call vote. So you don't know if you can Oh, if you can vote. Oh, that's right. You skip it. So I can vote. I abstained on that, but that doesn't mean I'm abstaining from voting on the letter, I guess.
I'm an English teacher. I'm also the boys soccer coach. I'm a drama club director. I'm the class adviser for the juniors. I do the trivia team. I do a lot of things there. And I'm also a PhD candidate at UMass Ammerst. So, I work a lot and I do a lot specifically because I think about these kids in this school most of my day. I I care a lot about what goes on here. Um, I'm not originally from Greenfield. I'm from Chabe, but since I got to Greenfield, I have felt very welcomed by this community. Uh, the parents are amazing. Uh, the kids that I work with are incredible, Shane and Nate being two of them. Uh, a lot of I love a lot of my co-workers. I get along really good with them. I think there's a lot of really awesome things that happen in this district.
At that meet, they delivered their best performance of the season and placed third in all of New England. Additionally, three members of the team earned all state honors. Congratulations to Coach Emily Funk, who unfortunately couldn't be with us tonight. She didn't want to fly back from Japan for some reason. Um, and our dedicated assistant coaching staff and of course our talented student athletes on a truly remarkable season. You got to get into a formation. Squeeze in. [Applause] away. [Applause] All right. Lastly, I am proud to recognize coach Barbara Heden of our girls outdoor track and field team who is receiving national recognition for a career of excellence and impact. This June, Coach Heden will be inducted into the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Barbara has served as our girls outdoor track and field head coach since 1992, following five years of coaching outdoor track and field at Mercy High School.
He does a great job when working with students and parents, and his approach is always supportive, caring, and hold students accountable in the most supportive way. He consistently works to advocate for all students, families, and counselors in the district. He has made an impact that stretches far and wide across Anaheim, touching the lives of all he encounters. Congratulations, Michael. [Laughter] [Applause] You want your family up there? I'm going to sit here and make sure he knows you are important. [Applause] Can you do the national board certified? Just so you know, her name is said hy. Hasty. Hy. Okay. Okay. Thank you. The crowd is thinning out. Anaheim High School District National Board Certification. National Board Certification is designed to develop, retain, and recognize accomplished teachers as well as to embed ongoing improvement in schools nationwide. National Board Certification is a voluntary process developed by teachers, school counselors, and other education stakeholders to recognize experienced educators for the quality of their practice.
It is personal. It is urgent and it is impacting the very people who are the heart of the district. I respect respectfully urge the board to take meaningful action to assure fair compensation for teachers. Our students depend on us and we need to know that the district stands behind us in return. Thank you for your time. [Applause] Up next is Tamara Aguire and after Tamra tomorrow will be Karen. I don't recall. I respectfully stand before you today to highlight the invaluable role teachers play in our community and to advocate for the recognition and support they so rightfully deserve. As a proud parent of students attending Vanguard Preparatory School, I have witnessed firsthand the profound impact that dedicated educators have in our children's lives. My husband, who was born in this very city, is a shining example about what our local teachers can inspire. He was the first in his family to attend college, a milestone achieved thanks to the guidance and encouragement of his teachers right here in the high desert.
As I just said, capacity is based on the LRFP looking at both something called the facilities efficiency standards as well as district practices. So the facilities efficiency standards already show that we are over capacity in the majority of our schools. When you go into district practices, this one is harder to quantify because it has to be adjusted every year. and district practices is how rooms are used based on class size and specialized program. And that does vary yearly. And these are some of the things that make it vary. Over the last 5 years, our special education population has increased from 2100 students in 2021 to 2498 this week. our those special education classes, the majority of them are self-contained classrooms where you need a full-size classroom for a class that is capped at only 6 to 12 students depending on their classification. Our multilingual learners have gone from 651 in 2021 to 152 also this week.
And this is a Herby Hancock chart that he actually recorded twice, but our version's uh the second recording. And uh and if you're around my age, you may know this tune as Canal of Loop Island if you guys have early 90s. So the first time I heard this song was when I was their age and us three played it as Canal Loop Island. So we hope you guys enjoy this one. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] Hey. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] Heat. Heat. [Music] Heat. [Applause] Heat. [Music] [Applause] crew and Ladies and [Applause] gentlemen, okay, we're going to bring up our vocalist Avery again for our last song of the evening. This one is called Save the Last Dance for Me.
When the world started to reopen, I found myself with a toddler. I felt a little cheated of all the adorable adoring coups and the little baby things that everyone got else got. Um, and he started to learn how to speak through masks and the our time at home. It's just because when he struggled with speech, I was told over and over, it's just because of quarantine and masks. It'll get better as he interacts with more kids his age. Oh, I wanted to believe that that was true. But then the biting started and I knew we needed help. I couldn't believe the excuses anymore. Everyone tells you that biting is developmentally appropriate. It's communication. Luckily, there were enough red flags to get an assessment through MUSD and the early childhood center and PALS. Finally, someone saw us and helped me and and they helped write him an IEP that spelled out all of the things that his this teacher mom knew in her gut were a problem, but was so overshadowed with guilt and shame that so many parents of neurody diverent kids struggle with.
Um, I have been able to develop and grow as a leader here at CHS unlike anything else that I've I've ever experienced. I'm a captain on the soccer and cross country and track teams. I'm class president. I'm president of student council. I'm the president of our new youth civic engagement council. I I've gotten to uh start my own uh community service organization through ESL Extending Education and all of these different opportunities that I've been able to take advantage of and grow from are just so unique to to this tight-knit of a community. Um, you know, I'm not going to take you through all the same things that they already said, but it's just been such a wonderful opportunity for me to to grow in in every single area of my life, in the classroom, in my academics, in my athletics, uh, in my community service, my community leadership.
And these kiddos are just I don't even know what to do with them. I love that she brought She brought a bookmark. That's a good picture. All right, we'll go right over here and we'll grab a picture. Look at Tracy's first because that one's more important. Good deal. Good job. How proud I am of her. Mrs. Lens and Mrs. Rice, I just want to say thank you to you and all of your staff. I see Mrs. Hill in here, too. Um, for all your efforts for literacy. Brush Creek has just grown leaps and bounds in literacy. And I know that there's embargo test scores we can't even talk about, but we want them. But thank you for all your for our kids. Thank you so much. How fun was that, right? Well done. Well done. And we have more fun. We do. While our middle schoolers are coming in, I will just remind everyone after that wonderful prek presentation, we are enrolling right now for prek um for next year across the district and we have certified level four preschools throughout the county.
So, Katherine Dersikai, Anna Tesmani, I and Trisha Kendall I. So, excuse me. Okay. So, we will be signing that after. I have the just the pages. Is it just one copy or is it multiple copies? For this, it's three copies. We can always leave one on the town cleric. Yep. Oh, whatever. Yeah, we can just pass them down. Uh, no, he's on the last page, so I can just update it the other way. Okay. Y I'm good. popping these right on you. Not like what I'm doing. been had a very busy week I assume. Thank you. Okay. So, that is the public hearing section. Uh, item I guess the other one was too. Okay. Item six on our agenda is 60 Waverly Street, the comprehensive letter um that we want to get to the zoning board of appeals. Was anything done on that Elvall? No.
Uh, frankly, I wish that I was taught the way that a lot of the teachers in this district teach. I I don't regret the education I got, but I appreciate a lot of the education that happens in this district. And I know there's a lot of teachers here that work really, really, really difficult hours and put in a lot of work. And um it kind of just does not feel like the community sees a lot of that. And I don't feel like the perception of the schools is what it should be based on the way that we do a lot of the things in this district. Uh we had a rap party for the the play which we had over the weekend which was incredible if anyone saw it. And uh while I I was getting some food for the rap party and while I was at Big Y, someone was asking me like what I had going on and I mentioned I was with the high school and this person just kind of goes like ugh Greenfield High School and like that really sucks to hear when you're someone who puts in a lot of work in this district and it feels like there's this perception of our schools from people who don't know what goes on in the schools.
In that time, her teams have compiled an incredible record of 279 wins, 75 losses, and two ties. At Cheshire High School, she's coached two state runner-up finishes, three division championships, four league tournament titles, and four league championships. In addition, while coaching at Mercy High School, she read led their cross country team to two state championships and two runner-up finishes. While her win loss record is impressive, it's her coaching philosophy that truly stands out. When asked about her approach to mentoring student athletes on and off the track, Coach Heden shared, "I have dedicated my coaching career to helping my athletes and teams fulfill their potential, strive to be better athletes and people, and give back to the team and community. Even with teams of 70 individuals, each individual mattered. Each held a special role. Coach Heden, congratulations on your upcoming induction into the National High School Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame.