So um that's what a lot of that work is. This shared back in January. So um with all those areas of focus kind of looked at all right, what's our plan of action? We have that tier one. That's our core curriculum um that um we really want to focus on strengthening. Um what we know from research and data out there in the field of education is that um having vetted curriculum is a key piece to the the recipe. It frees up teachers to um be working on actually um adjusting things for the kids in front of them. So done a lot of work in that area. Obviously, I'm not going to read through all of this here, but um I just wanted to highlight um there were a couple of different um curriculum rollouts going on at the beginning of this year. What we've done since then is create a detailed plan for all content areas and also cohesion in terms of how it's rolled out.
My parents have been supportive of me my entire life, and I am going to miss my friends as well. They would always come to see me and find me at school if I were was out for a day or got sick. I really love to joke around with my friends. I love to make people laugh. Um, I've had such a great time at PDSD. I'm going to miss sports um, moving forward, but again, thank you all for coming and I love you all. [Applause] Thank you so much, JJ and Jazelle. And thank you for everyone who has taken a turn here on stage. What an inspiration you are with all of the energy that you bring. Thank you. I will miss you so much, but I know that I will see you again. Are we ready? Are you ready for your diplomas? It's getting hot.
Um so with Brad and Teasdale middle school teachers um as a group have recognized the distinction of how much he has grown academically, emotionally, socially and personally. Um so we congratulate him and we know he is on to better things as he goes on to high school. So congratulations keeping it together. So, thank you, Brody. So, this year, Brody has shown remarkable growth as an eighth grader. Last year when I met him, he was quiet and reserved. He used to keep to himself and avoid drawing any of attention. He has stepped out of his comfort zone and become an active participant in his classes and with his peers. He has a genuine interest in history and getting a 99 on his civics test. [Music] Last year, I wouldn't have imagined him speaking in front of a large group, but now he does it with such courage.
We've done several meetings on that with the governing board. Um and uh we've we do an annual risk analysis with a committee to ensure that we are not saving too too much and not putting it in salaries and benefits, but we also need to make sure that we save enough. This is an auditor general spending analysis. This is very interesting when you compare the statewide results compared to Kraton. It is a a piraphph which means there's some rounding and some issues that do affect this. This is also public information on the auditor general website. So if you say district spending auditor general website, you can go compare all districts uh in the state. I do want to just really quickly talk about student outcomes focused governance. Two years ago we uh adopted this process. The budget went through uh an alignment with SOFG and what happens now in the budget if there are any new expenditure requests.
Kyle Glor, Kelsey Dumis, and Melissa Omi. There you guys are. Give them a [Applause] hand. In instead of a report, I I've got a poem. Nobody roll their eyes or you do this. No, this is this is all me. All me. Uh, and it just kind of sums up the year. Beginnings have endings and our end of the year is here. Leaving some memories foggies and others crystal clear. We accomplished so much and left a few things to do. There's never enough time for our students or for all of you. We celebrated milestones and conquered mountains some thought were too tall. We honored and mourned those we lost. They had an impact on us all. Our community passed the override, something we are especially grateful for. Our families know how well you educate their kids. You respected, loved, and adored. We added weapon detectors to high school safety and security mix.
So we're excited and um we had a Louise White psych resign recently. I think that was last month. And we have a potential Drew this is new news um for a psych over at uh Louise White. So, it's been a really successful season, and I'd like to think that um we've worked hard and partnered and been very creative with uh both BEA and BESBA uh to meet the the staffing needs uh here. And um certainly the collaboration and the the cooperation that we've all uh done together, I think we're seeing some of the fruit of that um in the last couple of weeks. So, it's been good. So, thanks for asking. Thanks. Any more questions? I have a question about the field trip. Are those typically fully funded by the music buffs? They are not fully funded, but the students participate in service and fundraising to help their account.
All of that is available for free. The only purchase that the district will have to do is the actual teacher manual which is a spiralbound book. Those are about $56 I think a teacher. Um, so that's the only thing we have to purchase. All the other materials um are out there and free for us to use. So, and their manuals come with K1 and two within the one spiral bound. So, if you have students who are, let's say, behind, you can actually drop down to kindergarten to see what they would have learned to try to close those gaps. If students are performing beyond, they can skip to second grade to see what they can do to extend the student learning within that tier one instruction. So for more information about UFly, there is a link here for families that want to delve deeper. You just click on it.
And I look forward to um having some students um perform their speeches for the board and community at next month's meeting. Very special thank you to Mrs. Lucish and all of the volunteers who helped out on that day and made it a successful event. Um just a reminder to the Kerry community that the work will will begin at three of our schools this summer. Briergate, Three Oaks, and Oaknull as part of our summer projects that are part of the referendum work. As we begin these um projects, I just am reminded again of the generosity of our community um and and the um importance that they demonstrate and place on our students education and safety. This past weekend, our human resources team led by Mr. Daroo and district administrators hosted a job fair here at the junior high. We had over 20 interested educators attend and they were able to speak with representatives from various schools and departments.
Okay. I'd like to see potentially if we have uh a surplus that maybe it's brought to the board that we forgive some of the lunch fees for some families that maybe need an extra hand. Um maybe that's something we can look at. I mean, I know we've done it in the past. Um you know, everybody's going through tough times, so it would be nice to if we can give back a little bit to those families. Anything else? Thank you. All right. Next up, we have the security camera installation bid. Mr. Shepard, this is your show tonight. I know, right? It will uh soon be the the Mr. Martin show because the next uh the next series of bids that we have Mr. Martin will be making his uh debut uh in in public speaking to the board. So um uh this just gives the board something to look forward to.
You should do this." And in the same sense, they would recommend summer school. Yeah. And they're re No, but they're reaching out, right? It might go ahead. You shouldn't necessarily have to only take for credit recovery summer school. Correct. Correct. During the school, some some students, I'm sure, want to advance or or be ahead or do something further in that subject or of a requirement. If the guidance counselor says if you're going to go into this program in college, you should really have x amount of years of this. And if they only had three from the beginning and they need a fourth, that's I'm assuming the guidance counselor is going to be humongous. uh tool and and and help because and they've been really great at the high school. Yes, they they do a wonderful job with reaching out to those families and students and making sure they get that credit and or if there are opportunities for them to have an elective like Spanish.
Walks them. Pockets all the way back to the back stop. Just going to bring up Mlesia. Not everybody. Who's catching? That's Padilla. Okay. And that's in there for a strike. The switch to catcher was uh to put Padulla in. Ball's high. reaches over the what another great catch by uh shortstop there Colton Gorman used his height ranged back and got that ball right at the tip of his glove. Still got runner at second. We have a new batter up that I don't unfortunately don't have his name. runner at second. Still third on that on that pitch. Ball right back to the pitcher. Pitcher gets the runner at first base. First baseman goes home with it, but it's too late and Hawkins is able to put another run on the board. But, you know, if you can hold that runner there on third base, that's what you definitely want to do.
Um and one of the big things that have couple of things that have come up through this process, it's been key to have teachers a part of the process from the beginning helping to select the materials. Um the other piece is where science was the next content area up. Um Brian and I have worked really closely to pilot um a process. We've looked at different processes out there and kind of pulled together what makes sense for us here that we're going to be able to take and replicate in other areas going forward. Um so that's that piece. Now there's a lot we could talk about here but I want to highlight um just a couple of specific things. These are we're very early on in implementation. Math has been um is the furthest along um and we're starting to see um some progress already. So we wanted to share that with you.
Let's get this thing moving. Okay, can our seniors please stand and line up? I would like our folks who will help with um presenting these diplomas to make your way to the stage as well, please. What you want to do? One more time for the class of [Applause] 2025. Salvador Barakas Flores [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Gel Barera. [Applause] Yeah. Thank you. Alyssa May Clark Decair [Applause] What's up? [Music] [Applause] Joel, Andres, Diaz, Ayala. [Applause] Isaiah Anthony Gonzalez. [Applause] Adriana Valentina Gutierrez Lopez [Applause] You suck. [Applause] Isach meat. [Applause] Jonathan Luis Munoz Jr. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Brittany Marie Norquist. [Applause] India Cameron Rivera Padilla Yeah. [Applause] Ethan Elias Sautello [Applause] Juan Jose Thompson. [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Christian Joseph Yuzon [Applause] Thank you everyone. The next day, [Applause] Class of 2025, would you please be [Applause] seated? I would like to introduce our superintendent, Annette Reichman. if you have any words to our graduating class.
He has also started to come out of his shell and finding his voice both in and outside the classroom. Along with his growth, he has demonstrated kindness, compassion, and sincere willingness to support others. His transformation has been inspiring to watch. Sorry. And it's for that reason that sorry we knew that was gonna happen that Brody Smith is being recognized with the most improved award. [Applause] Next is the Green Valley Kuanas Club Awards presented by Mr. John Steve. [Music] [Applause] Well, first off, I have to say it. I just have to say it. Aloha. Got here. Um, first off, I am not Pastor John Steve. Pastor Pastor Steve had a grandson at a promotion at another school today. So, you've got me. I am Warren Sergeant, the president of the Kuanas Club. And we have with us uh by our news member Tamara Remath. She is the Okay, we're going to call two students up here.
It goes through an SOFG lens meaning that we have to talk about how is it going to affect student outcomes and how are we going to measure that it's going to affect student outcomes. who just don't take our word for it. We say we're going to watch this data and see does this get better when we spend the money in this area and if it isn't uh what's working, what's not working. So we stay very flexible under the student outcomes focused governance um umbrella. And then there again, as we talked about at the beginning, there are legal um submissions uh requirements for our budget. So we have to adopt it in June. um we have to revise it at certain points of the year and then there's a a legal dates of when we have to uh file our annual financial reports and then this is our budget calendar and this is what happens uh throughout the year in order to set a budget.
Teen violence is an issue we all have to work together to fix. We will graduate close to 3,000 students this year in GPS. They are remarkable young men and women that we will surely dearly miss. And then there's you, the employees of Gilbert Public Schools. Smart, diligent, and loving. You are the district's most valued crown jewels. To our retirees, thank you for all your dedication and devotion. May your future be filled with fun and laughter and much less noise and commotion. To everyone, thank you for making my 30th year in education nothing but great fun. You have no idea how much I appreciate appreciate you. But alas, next year will be my last one. Finishing strong, doing what I know you do best. Make time for yourself, play hard, and then get some rest. Enjoy your summer, be safe, and we'll see you next school year.
Okay. To fund those trips. So, it does get funded. I'm just thinking if are there accommodations for students that financially can't Yeah, they take that into account. provide opportunities. I had a question about the FOYA too, about the one that was denied. What was if there's any more information that could be provided about why a FOYA request might be denied? There are only certain reasons as prescribed in state statute that you can deny a foyer request and that one is related essentially to safety where we don't disclose those records because it could compromise our ability to surveil the campus. People would know where the positions of those cameras are and it doesn't work out well for us. I actually have a question. uh 5.14 the text approval. Uh if you look in the comments, there's student quotes. I was wondering if Dr. Newkerk could just sort of explain like the process of how students might have access to a text that hasn't been approved yet or Sure.
It will take you to the University of Florida Literacy Institute which breaks down some more information regarding like how does this work? What specific skills are targeted in the program. Um and as you continue to explore the website, you as well will be able to see the teacher resources. They're all available on this website right here. There's no hidden secrets. Um, so you would just go here and then all the resources are under resources. So what I just did, okay, we're going to continue forward. I'll figure this out.
So, thank you to Mr. Daroo, Miss Hman, and our administrators who made this event a success. Parents and community members will have until May 2nd, 2025 to complete the communication survey that was emailed out, and you can also find it on the district's website. Goal four of the strategic plan outlines ensuring we have successful communication streams with our various stakeholder groups. This survey will provide valuable feedback as we look to continue to improve how we communicate with our families and the greater Kerry community. And just a couple date reminders, May 9th is a half day for students and a professional learning day in the afternoon for our staff. and then we are out of school um for Memorial Day. Therefore, that moves the board meeting on that week to May 27th, which is a Tuesday. And that's the end of my announcements. Thank you. Dr.
Mr. Martin has been doing a wonderful job since he's uh been on staff uh since January. Uh so the security camera installation bid two years ago we know that we installed security cameras here at the junior high. It was part of uh something that the the admin team was requesting to help with uh uh student environment and really the uh keep students and staff safe while while here at school. Uh the district at that time did not have the funds to go beyond the scope of CGH. I seem to remember we were going to pair this uh with a roof at Oaknull. At one point we had to do just the roof. Then we went back and did the uh the the cameras. So, with the passage of the referendum being that a big focus was security improvements, the district is now looking to expand and upgrade its system, uh the schools that we proposed this year are Briargate, Three Oaks, and Oaknull uh are the focal points for this summer's security projects.