001All righty. Good evening everyone. The regular meeting of the board of ISD trustees is April 13, 2026. It is 6 p.m. We do have a quorum established. Everyone, please rise for a moment of silence. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Public number three, recognition. >> All righty. Well, good evening everybody. We have um some staff recognitions um for today. So, our first staff recognition, um, I would like to invite Mr. Himemenz to join me, um, as we recognize our assistant principal. Last week, we had assistant principal week. And so, we'd like to call Mrs. Holly Harris up to be recognized, leadership, and commitment to our student, staff, and school community.
002Your hard work behind the scenes and all over the scenes, right? and your presence on the front lines do not go unnoticed. From supporting teachers and guiding students to helping ensure each day runs smoothly, your impact is felt in countless ways. We thank you. [applause] So, thank you for being here today. Thanks. >> And then our next set of recognitions, I'd also I'd like to do it in two parts. So, first I'd like to recognize that with us this evening are some very special people from Grand Canyon University. So, if y'all will stand up and be recognized. Um, so last year about this time, these lovely ladies reached out to me. um they were doing some work with region 20 school districts and said can we come talk to you and so we did and
003we kind of got the ball rolling and I was like let's see how many people we can get involved and see how many people we can get back on that track to furthering their education and so they did a phenomenal presentation last year and so today it is a very special day for us because we're right about the one-year anniversary of kicking this program off and through their guidance and their university. We have several employees who have completed their uh several hours um during this last year with Grand Canyon University. So um I would like to recognize those people. If y'all will join me, I think that would be fantastic. Okay, right here up front. So, we're going to start first by recognizing Christina Valdez uh for continuing her. [applause] Um then we would like
004to recognize Dolores Garza who couldn't be here tonight, but she also is another one of our staff members who is working through her program. We would like to recognize Mr. Jesse Gonzalez. [applause] >> [applause] >> We would like to recognize Miss Ashley Sandival. [applause] We would like to recognize our very own Meron Ibanzi. [applause] We would like to recognize Miss Anua. [applause] And we would like to recognize Miss Rosio. [applause] These ladies have done a phenomenal job and we're very proud of them. There is one additional person in the audience today that we are extra celebrating because she didn't just finish her first year with Grand Canyon University. She finished her bachelor's degree. >> [applause] >> I know this is a sweet, but we're super proud of you. We're super We're super proud of you
005all. You balance your families. You balance work. You balance all the tasks that you're given from the district and from the university and you made it happen. So, thank you for being such wonderful role models for our students and for our district. We couldn't BE PROUDER. >> [applause] >> WE ALSO have an award for racing. We like to welcome you to the GCU alumni family. [applause] And if y'all will make, if your families are here, if y'all will make your way to the kitchen, there is cake and a whole celebration. Christina, you lead the way. [laughter] Sorry. >> All right. Ready? One, two, three. >> One more. >> There you go. >> I think we're good. very >> it was it was huge accomplishment. >> All right, we'll be moving on to item number four,
006consent agenda. We got the meeting from or the minutes from the previous meeting, March 9th, and then we do have two donations. The first donation was for FFA. It was from Tractor Supply donated to coral root veggie seeds and starter kits for a fundraising. So, thank you to Tractor Supply. And then the second donation was for uh extra entre from the First United Methodist Church, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church and they donated $37.22 for extra VID meals for those who don't have any money in their account or >> so we we put out an ad for the emergency fund because the funds have been exhausted and so we put it out on Facebook and we got it we've gotten a really great response from the community. So um as those continue to come in we'll we'll
007bring those for the board as well. But we've had a great response from the community by making donations for that emergency fund. So, thank you to the First United Methodist Church, St. Andrew's office. Uh, do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented? Jess makes a motion. No more seconds. Any special night? All those in favor? >> All right, moving on to item number five,formational items 5A, DIP, SIP, Miss Davis. >> So, in March, uh, we review where we are with our district and campus improvement plans. And so it's really, you can see now just a continuation where we continue to to move forward. A lot of it was that it is still working. We're still doing it. Um maybe some things have have changed. Um but basically, you'll see where we're
008where we are in regards to um getting that strategy fully implemented. Um there are some that are already fully implemented. If you look at like professional development, we're done with doing professional development for the school year. Um, strategy number two and one of the goals was adopt and align the instructional materials to be used by all teachers. Well, look, we're in March now. So, we've already adopted the instructional materials for this school year. They're using them. They're using them to plan. Um, so it was just a a progress measure. And then our last one will be in June um where we will either decide okay this was accomplished this strategy will roll over or this strategy will be taken off or new strategies will be put in I guess. Um could we or could you
009just that because this is um just telling us where we are in regards to the strategy. We do have the objective there, but it'd be helpful for us to see the um what the baseline is and what your current score is. >> So, you want a numerical score >> kind of like we had talked in the past about changing that circle into something a little bit more >> measurable. And so, I think we can even okay with it for 26 27 because this is a a template platform that we use. So, it's not something that we develop. We use um 806. It's called 806 learning. Um so, I can't go in there and make the change to have it include a number. But I know that um I believe it was Miss Bettis that there
010was another company that y'all could become aware of at the um at the training that may give us a better template to use for 2627. >> Does it allow you to edit the narrative site? >> The narrative site? Yes. on the narative. >> So like can you give me an example >> because it says provide teachers with accommodations. I just so you look at the objective and we looked at um based on reading indicators under goals based on reading indicators star reading renaissance and state required reading the percent of a through second grader to reading on level will increase by 5% current or baseline is x currently x so with the district improvement plan the the um strategy is the one that's being evaluated So if you look at strategy one, use fluency checks to
011plan for intervention. So it's the strategy that's being reviewed, not the goal, >> the strategies that you're using. >> Correct. >> But how do we know how do we know if the strategies are being effective? >> So that's don't you pivot if the strategy is not being effective? >> Yes. But then so that's the district goals that were part of my evaluation. So that's where y'all see that information. >> Not not in the campus. And it's not recommended to >> not in any of the templates that I see. So the campus improvement plans and now not to say that I can't go look to see other templates and see what what they have. I can definitely bring sample templates to the board to review. Um but the campus improvement plans and the district improvement plans,
012the evaluation is for the strategy, not for the goal. So where are we in regards to implementing those strategies? And I understand that but you always whenever you have a performance improvement you have an objective and you're trying different initiative but when you see this initiative it's moving the needle you know yeah we're completing the strategy but the needle does not we need to pivot and try something and and like I said I will definitely bring um y'all different templates um the goals of the district um or what the uh what we adopted as the district goals and those are done during my evaluation. The ongoing measures for the strategies, but I will absolutely bring different templates for you. >> All right, moving on. 5B six weeks attendance report, Miss G. So, similar to what
013um or what I've been bringing to y'all at the end of every six weeks, you can see in black is where we were at the end of the six weeks and in blue is the comparison. Again, you're not comparing the same kids. You're comparing grade level to grade level, not student to student. So, it's different groups of students, but the same um where that grade level was last year. Um, one of the things that is really causing us to take a hit is our four-year-old program. So, having that prepaid four, um, it's an at 82%, you know, and so um, I think that there's [clears throat] that needs to continue to happen that, um, informing parents that when you choose to enroll your child, the compulsory attendance law does go into place. I think again
014and I think I shared this before, there's a misconception that kinder not, you know, it's not required, you know, you're not required to come to school, but once you choose to enroll them, you are required to come to school. And so that 82% does impact the district um pretty significantly. Um, prek also showed um a drop. Kinder showed a drop. Uh, first grade was up, second grade was up, third grade was up. Fourth grade showed a drop. Fifth grade. And then you can see overall on the second page, the 6th through 12th graders. Um, and we're slightly above where we were at this time last year. At this time last year, we were at 94.35. This year we're at 94.6. We're at nextformational item 5C district technology vulnerability assessment. Miss Davis, >> so for this
015one, I just wanted to share with y'all that region 20 is offering a network vulnerability scan assessment. Um, and so I just put a a sheet in there that gives kind of the description of what it is. and it's basically to help us be a little bit more um proactive so we can identify if there are holes in our network. Um I'm sure you saw some things go out in regards to emails and you know issues that we were having not necessarily that it would fix that issue but if there are holes within the network that we can look at to improve this type of network scan may be able to give us some additional information to improve um It says it'll identify missing patches, outdated updates, configuration risks, and it'll give us a roadmap
016of what we can do to make our network system stronger. So again, this is a preventative measure to ensure that we're kind of thinking ahead of the game and saying what can we do to make sure that our network um is safe. Mr. someone else does take the lead, you know, on that um that we're getting on Region 20's list so that way they can go ahead and provide that service to us on the list or it's just time. Okay. Yeah, the it just the schedule. >> Next item 5B, director of special education, Miss. >> So, um, we of course have our special ed services through cluster 5. Um we don't have an in-house special ed department when it comes to a director of special ed diagnosticians um people that provide the um different services
017for physical physical therapy, occupational therapy. We go through cluster 5. Um all of that is managed by the director of cluster 5. Um she has informed the superintendent in that cluster um which includes us that she is retiring in December. Um so we have actually already opened her position. The superintendent met in Udaldi um last week. We developed a job description um tweaked what was already out there um and then made did a posting. Our goal is to hire someone by July 1. And while Miss Yan is still on board and that way then we could have some transition and and training time um it's going to be a little costly because it does mean having two people you know on board. um it would be through the special ed funds that we receive and
018that they envoice us um for. But with all the changes coming up with special education um through the new house bills um the new funding formulas, we felt as superintendent that it was important to have somebody well trained um that came in. So this is just letting y'all know that we will be having a new director of our district special. >> Are we still playing the majority of it. >> We're actually very close now um with Savannah. So I would say Savannah and us pay paid about the same amount. Very very very very close. I think we're because it's by number of students and we have 108 and Sabat has 99. >> This position is going to be sitting at the second. >> Yes. just like >> well I just know back um I don't
019know if it was before then bracket used to fall in the cracks services when it came when we paid the lion share >> cluster so when we had she made sure we had all the bag took care I hope we keep our app share services. >> Absolutely. So I would say Mrs. Price has taken a huge undertaking with that to make sure that that communication between our district and cluster is strong um and setting up specific days where they're required to be here for ARS and ensuring that the needs of our students are are met and that meetings are scheduled during times that are good for our teachers. because before they were coming they were telling us when they wanted to have meetings and then our teachers were being pulled out of the classroom and
020we didn't like that and so that was the decision of faith >> correct >> individually because we had look we looked at scene of having our own was cheaper than going to the cluster and then that's when they kind of pivoted and started taking care of a little more so >> I think they with us getting as much. >> So, we're still saving money with the drop. >> Yes. >> All right. Nextformational item 5, SB546, cost of excellence. Miss, >> so Senate Bill 546 requires um school district buses to have the threepoint seat belts. And so uh and we have to have that by 2029. Okay. And so um we I will be bringing a resolution to the board because we can we can plan for how we want to do that but we need
021to bring a resolution to the board to say how are we going to do that. Um we can ask for an extension. Um but again that [cough] something that the the board approves. what we're looking at right now to bring three buses um retro to retrofit three buses is a total of about 106,000 um dollars that we'll be looking at. So as we go through the budget process we will decide do we do it in 2627 do we wait 2728 or 2829. Um, so we'll be looking at all the different um, possibilities, but they are giving us until 2029 to meet this um, Senate Bill 546 requirement. You all know the longer we wait, the possibility of the prices going up. Um, there's been conversations of wait until after summer 2027 because that'll be a
022new legislative session again. Maybe will they do something to increase funding, maybe not. You know, we always are kind of waiting on the edge of our seats and then nothing, you know, um gets done. Um but we will be bringing a resolution with our district recommendation for how to meet the requirements of Senate Bill 566. on the subject of the next session. Uh I mean it's all it's all beating tu but the uh incoming state control is already signing that uh you know schools are already so I don't think that >> too much of >> I I I agree with you there >> maybe one bus a year >> and that's that's what we're >> bus >> that's what we're thinking. Um you know the only Sometimes, and again, sometimes you get a little bit
023of a better price if you if you take three at a time, but then we also can't afford to have three buses out at a time. So, one bus [clears throat] a year is most likely the recommendation. >> Well, if you're contracting with the one vendor to do the three buses, but you're doing that. >> Absolutely. >> It goes back to those unfunded mandates. the mandates there but we'll get it done in compiance next when I play this >> I'll go ahead and start first and foremost I wasn't at the meeting but I have written updates and I do know um that the play has been successful I think it's going back just to the principle of the initial play and understanding what that story was about. The story line I know was cleaned up
024significantly and it's been great. But it's always important to take take into consideration the community. I mean that it's a small community and everything's out there in the web. can't prevent things, but there's things that can be protected and with a high increase in mental health awareness, but yet there's a mental health shortage in professionals. Um, and it's just something to take into consideration. I do know that there was I didn't come to the meeting like I said, but there was a individual from the community that did their um community um talk or whatever comment. Yeah, community comment. And it's just some things that we need to be open to listening and understanding the bigger picture and the concerns. Kudos that it was cleaned up and that it's done as well as as been done,
025but it's just the principle. >> I got a question. What community outreach you're talking about the meeting here or was something pretty the complaint or concern? >> No, there was like Okay. on Facebook. >> There was one just community. >> Have you seen the >> I said I prefaced it with I know it's doing well, >> but it's the story behind it. >> Well, >> it's the story. >> If anybody's seen it, it's not what it some people perceive it to be. It looks very unfortunate. And the big picture is the school UIL and that's how I and sometimes people jump to conclusions but I know the entire situation >> it's not personal >> you're making it personal >> that's your opinion >> we all have our own opinions that's >> so I'm going to
026piggy back because I also asked for it to be on the agenda because of the mental health situation and we had an assembly in December during the Christmas time for mental awareness, where do you go if your kids in trouble, how to proceed with those types of things and to have a play back that up with the dark content was kind of questionable. I do want to give the one act play major kudos. I have heard they've done well. I also haven't seen it for the simple fact I'm choosing. It's my choice not to go. Some of these parents were not aware of the content. So they say they they did not know their kids weren't forthright because of their own fears. I feel like moving forward we need to be a little bit more
027on how we notify our parents. How we we have an opportunity here. We have an opportunity to include parents reactions, reviews. We have a list, possibly have a committee to go over what's appropriate, what's considered community standards because for some people it may not be a standard. You may not have a kid who goes through mental crisis or has a situation. I do know the plate was cleaned up. I have spoken to somebody who's worked one- on-one to make sure that the plate was cleaned up. So, best case scenario, those changes were made, those alterations were made. But before it gets to that point, I feel based on the community response, we should do a little bit more due diligence there, you know, and it's very similar to Brad Co talking about his project on
028how that can affect our kids. If your kid doesn't struggle with mental health, that's great. I'm happy. But if they do, you want to protect your kids. You want to make sure that school is a safe place and that parents are aware of what's going on. So my concern is moving forward, we need to have those conversations with the parents, make sure they're all on board and understand and we did make the adjustments. So again, kudos to the one at play, everybody working so hard forward, but moving forward, we need to be more mindful on the choices we can make for our community. And kudos to the um to Mr. Gonzalez for his openness. for the individual inside the entire teacher who assisted. Kudos to him for being open for that and working collaboratively to
029it. So for the parents to stay quiet and approve this, their voice is not heard until they come up here and say, "I like what's going on." me. So we if you complain is the only way we need to change things. So some parents that liked it that chose to stay silent were a little upset that we went this far to change everything without even seeing the play cuz I told them come up and say that you like it. It's a balance that those that like it just sit back and just let the school do the deal. But I guess now what we have to do is see who's the bigger outcry, those that don't like it and those that do like it to decide what we're going to do is by concern of this
030whole thing. I get it that there was a part at the end that people were upset with, but they like