001Good evening, everyone. Welcome to the regular meeting of the Kyrene School Board. Today is September 16th, 2025. Item 1.1 is convened to order our regular meeting. Our regular meeting is called to order. It is 6 p.m. At this time, if you wish to speak to the board during the call to the public portion of the meeting, please turn in your blue card. You would have gotten that at the sign-in table. For folks that might be in the overflow space, if you're still filling out your blue card, please bring that down as soon as you're able. As always, our board meetings are open to the public. You can also watch the meeting live online. We also make a recording of our meetings available on our YouTube channel immediately after every meeting. All of our board agendas
002are posted at least 24 hours on our district website as well as our district office. Our superintendent, Ms. Laura Tenius, as well as community members and school leaders are here with us this evening. Item 1.2 is roll call. Will board members please state their name for the record? Cedric Collins. Bunny Davis, Amy Seatry, Trina Nelson, and Kevin Walsh. Let the record show we have five board members present this evening. Item 1.3 is a moment of silence and pledge of allegiance. I'd like to call on a school leader at this time to lead us in the pledge. And I see him. He's right in my line of sight. The assistant principal, Alejandro Vasquez from Cairn de los Lagos and Cairn del Norte. If you could please lead us in the pledge, that would be appreciated. To
003the flag and to the republic for which it stands. Thank you, Mr. Vasquez. All right, item 1.5 is our Kyrene Promise. This is the promise that we read to all of our board meetings that we make to all of our families. All right, we promise to provide welcoming, inclusive learning environments in which every student is honored, valued, and feels a strong sense of belonging and purpose. We promise to provide rigorous, responsive learning environments in which every student is given what they need to develop knowledge, skills, confidence, and a passion for learning. And we promise to provide a vibrant, world-class learning environment in which every student believes they're empowered, prepared, and make a meaningful impact on a rapidly changing world. Item 1.4 is our district land acknowledgement. The Kyrene District does acknowledge that our community schools
004is located on the ancestral lands of the Othman Peeposh peoples. And with this land acknowledgement, the district formally recognizes traditional care and keeping of these lands by Native peoples allows us to be here today. Item 2.1 is preview and approval agenda. Board members, any comments on the meeting agenda for this evening? All right, seeing none, would someone like to make a motion to approve? Motion to approve. I have a motion from Vice President Nelson. Is there a second? Second. A second from Member Davis. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? The motion passes 5-0. All right, item 3.1 is our Superintendent Report. Superintendent Tenius, I'll turn it over to you. Yes. Thank you, President Walsh, governing board members, staff, and community members here this evening, either in person or joining us online.
005I am excited to share my superintendent report. Give us just a minute. There we go. So yesterday marked the official beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month. In Kyrene, we are proud to honor the rich histories, cultures, and contributions of Hispanic and Latino Americans, not only this month, but every day. From art and music to leadership, innovation, and education, these stories have shaped our communities and continue to inspire our students. This month... And always, we celebrate the voices and traditions that reflect the diversity and strength of our Kyrene community. I am also really excited and proud to announce that yesterday, Kyrene officially launched Speak Up Kyrene, an anonymous reporting system available 24-7, 365 days. This tool is a partnership with Sandy Hook Promise and Navigate 360 and provides licensed crisis counselors and a safe way for students.
006families, and community members to share concerns such as bullying or threats. You should have received an email from the district with more information when the system went live with a wealth of information including different tips including ways to submit tips anonymously. Also excited, and I got the chance to be here today right after this event, I believe. We had our Cardinals Youth Football Camp. It is always exciting when our students can connect their hard work in the classroom to fun, healthy activities. And today, thanks to our Arizona Cardinals, about 100 Kyrene Del Pueblo students participated in a youth football camp. featuring a Cardinals player, members of the cheer team, and Big Red. What makes this event extra special is that our students earned their spot by using PBIS points, showing that positive behavior pays off
007in more ways than one. This is a wonderful example of how community partnerships can inspire kids to stay active, set goals, and celebrate their achievements. Our next positive parenting event is this Thursday on Zoom. Presenter Katie McPherson will share tips and strategies for raising children from whom technology has always been present. Also, just a community reminder that I would like to share a very important date. October 6th is the last day to register to vote in Arizona before the November 4th election. Community members can visit vote.org slash state slash Arizona to verify or complete their registrations online. And it's hard to believe, but this is our last governing board meeting before our fall break. So I just wanted to remind everyone that there will be no school from September 29th to October 10th. October 13th
008is a teacher plan day and there will be no school. And we look forward to kicking off another quarter of growth and learning on Tuesday, October 14th. So I hope everybody has a very safe and restful fall break and look forward to seeing you when you're back. And that concludes my superintendent update. Thank you, Superintendent Tanyus. Item 3.2 is board member statements. Do any board members have statements this evening? Member Davis. You want me to go first? If you'd like. Sure. Hi, everybody. I have a little bit of a lengthier statement than I usually make. I want to welcome you all here, first of all. I first want to just say to you all that. Nobody here at this district wants anything but success for all of our kids. No one in this room wants
009anything but success for all of our children, all of our students. But the circumstances of inadequate funding of public schools by the state legislature and enrollment issues and demographic issues are forcing all of us to make decisions that nobody wants. And we need your help through this. So that's what I'm asking you for. So my remarks are a combination of my own words and those of a Substack author who produces a podcast called JoJo from Jers. Okay. As in New Jersey. With everything that the Kyrene community is going to be dealing with in the coming weeks and months. I thought it might be helpful to take a few brief moments to look back at someone who many of us will remember for some guidance to help us through these difficult times. I'm speaking of Fred
010Rogers, Mr. Rogers, to my daughter and I suspect to many of her age peers, as well as my daughter's age peers, and even some of my grandchildren's age peers. Mr. Rogers' neighborhood was a daily viewing for many, many folks in this country. His make-believe neighborhood was very real to our families. He made thousands, if not millions, of children feel safe, seen, heard, and accepted, as he worked to teach that each and every one of them mattered. As JoJo from Jurors wrote, quote, Fred Rogers spent his life and career defending childhood itself. Children. Children's innocence and their sense of safety, their belief in one another, their ability to feel deeply, to care boldly, to trust that kindness is not weakness, but power. He defended the world-changing idea that children matter and that if we protect them,
011we protect all of our futures. Mr. Rogers talked to kids about being mad and what to do with that mad. The key was to stay connected to each other, to see ourselves in others, and let others see themselves in each of us. To keep that as a lodestar, to fight being disoriented and angry and afraid. And to remember to be kind, compassionate. and grounded in our shared humanity." End quote. And so here's the real questions in my mind that we're all facing. This is it. How do we all protect all our children and all our futures as we embark on a cooperative venture to keep our public schools strong and successful in creating adults who contribute constructively to our American society? Well, JoJo talks about what she saw as Mr. Rogers' answer to that question.
012And she said there are two things that we need to do. We need to choose and we need to remember. Quote, we need to choose connection over cruelty, presence over performance, and to be a neighbor in a time when everything seems to be telling us to look the other way. And we need to remember. what Fred Rogers' mother told him. Quote, when I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping. I believe this is our Kyrene community's opportunity to show ourselves, our children, and everyone else. And believe me, they're watching. That we choose as individuals and as the Kyrene community to work together, to wrestle with hard problems together, and that we choose
013to be helpers. That we are the helpers that we've been looking for. So thank you all for coming tonight. Thank you, Member Davis. Do any board members have statements this evening? I mean, I don't know how I can follow that. I just want to say to the Long Range Planning Committee, thank you guys for coming out tonight. Thank you for all your hard work over the past few months. Trust me, I know it's not an easy decision, so I do appreciate all the effort all of you guys have put into that. And, yeah, just appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you, Member Collins. Vice President Nelson. Yes. So first of all, I know we are winding down with some of our quarter one sports. So congratulations to all of our athletes. I know this week we
014have the JV Jamboree for our wrestlers. I know. Yes, I will be at the JV Jamboree and our girls volleyball. So congratulations to all those athletes. I hope it's been a very successful quarter. I had the opportunity over the past couple of weeks to visit at some of our schools. And so I just want to take a minute and thank those school leaders for having me out. I was able to meet with Principal Perry at Ninos with her superheroes. And it was so great to hear about the work that they are doing there with their reading lab and the success they've had with increasing the Dibble scores at that school, as well as she was honored at the night for Kyrene with a... a principal's grants to create coding robots for the kids to use.
015And so it was really fun to kind of talk about that in that community. Also with Principal Lamp at Millennial. I was so impressed. While I was there, I saw Miss Harrington with the English Learning, the ELD program. And teaching hybrid, it's really challenging. But she, her setup was so professional. And the kids on the screen, she sits in millennial, but she teaches kids at four different sites at the same time. And all of the kids were engaged and they were interacting. I have tried that with college students and it was very difficult. So the fact that she had these little kiddos just rapidly engaged was really, really impressive. And then spent some time with Principal DeGraven-Reed at Lomas with the Eagles. And if you haven't had an opportunity to check out their house system,
016I know Menides has a similar system where they have sister houses. Just the pride in the school and the way the kids kind of... gravitate towards that and take a sense of ownership and identity and provides mentorship opportunities is really really impressive and then principal soto at norte great time talking with him and all of their learners as well and then principal ross esperanza i know this is his first year there but you know he's he's been with the district for a while and the culture that he he's created wherever he's gone has been really impressive and he's just very grounded in you know, creating a culture of collaboration, of kindness, of welcoming. And I just was really grateful to be welcome to each of these campuses this past week. Thank you, Vice President Nelson.
017Member Setri. Yes, I just wanted to welcome everybody. It's really amazing to see so much of our community out here tonight, and I'm looking forward to having meaningful discussions with you. So thank you. Thank you, Member Chaitry. I'll echo that. Thank you to all the family members, staff members, community members who are here, who are showing up for their kids, who are showing up for their schools, and for giving us feedback on such an important decision that this board's been asked to make. So thank you for being here. We look forward to hearing your feedback tonight. All right. Item 4.1 is our consent agenda. Board members, any changes to the consent agenda? I see none. Would someone like to make a motion to approve? Motion to approve. I have a motion by Member Chaitry. Is
018there a second? I second. I have a second by Member Collins. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes 5-0. Item 5.1 is the presentation on the Long Range Planning Committee and their recommendation. I'll turn it over to Superintendent Tenius. Thank you, President Walsh. Tonight, members... Whoops, we'll wait until the presentation comes up here. There we go. Tonight, members of the Long Range Planning Committee are here to present a recommendation to the board to address enrollment trends and maximize the use of our schools. You will hear from them about their process and their recommendation for school facilities, as well as from members of our district team about other ways that we have been addressing declining enrollment. But I want to begin by acknowledging the weight of this moment. For the first
019time in its 137-year history, Kyrene is considering school closures. We have said that a school is more than a building, and that is true. A school is defined by the students and the staff inside that building and the community that surrounds it. However, we also know that schools are places where children make memories, where families connect, and where communities take root. The possibility of closing any Kyrene school is deeply painful, and I carry that weight with me, as does everyone in this room. We have arrived at a difficult crossroads as a district, and it is our responsibility to face this moment with honesty and with courage. As hard as this moment is, it has been a long time coming. For many years, Kyrene has been public about our declining enrollment. We have shared the data
020openly, openly, sorry, and the trends have been consistent. Our schools were built for 20,000 students, yet today we serve just over 12,000. And that number is projected to fall even further in the coming years. The last time Kyrene had 12,000 students, we operated only 14 schools. Today we are stretched across 25. This means that our classrooms are sitting empty, resources are spread thin, and it is becoming harder to sustain the things that make Kyrene exceptional. Kyrene has delayed this conversation as long as possible with exceptional fiscal stewardship. Through administrative cuts and the careful use of attrition, we have stretched every dollar and prioritized classroom spending. Through choice programming and strategic marketing, we have remained competitive. And through partnership, we have forged one of the strongest communities in Arizona. Even so, we likely would have faced
021this decision years ago if COVID had not come along and temporarily changed the landscape of public education. Kyrene is facing forces beyond our control. Declining birth rates, an aging population staying in their homes, the rising cost of housing for young families, the growth of charters, and now the expansion of universal vouchers, which unfairly incentivize families to leave traditional public schools. Arizona remains near the bottom in the nation for education funding. That underfunding is infuriating, but even if our funding suddenly increased, it would not change the fact that too many of our classrooms sit empty. More than a year ago, I came before the board with the recommendation to form a committee to study this issue in depth and determine whether facility adjustments were needed in response to our declining enrollment. The board agreed and voted
022to form the Long Range Planning Committee. In building this committee, we studied how other districts locally and nationally have addressed enrollment decline for long-term sustainability and found that many moved from recommendation to decision in very short time frames, with committees serving more as sounding boards than decision-making bodies. In Kyrene, we pride ourselves on transparency and strong community engagement. So the district designed a process to reflect those values, issuing an open call for applicants and ensuring broad representation among every geographic region and all stakeholder groups. The committee was made up of nearly 60 parents, staff, and community members from across Kyrene. For seven months, they immersed themselves in the data, held courageous conversations, and weighed the ripple effects of every possible scenario. The recommendation they are bringing forward tonight reflects a system-wide approach, considering not only
023the needs of each individual school, but the strength and success of Kyrene as a whole. So I'm not going to read through these first couple slides, but they are there for reference and the presentation will be posted at the end of the meeting for the public. But I do just want to take a minute. I mentioned this in my statement over a year ago. I came to the board since that time. I just want to talk about the process and where we're at in this process. And when I talk about transparency and community engagement, what we mean. Again, phase one was all about committee formation and the work that occurred between August of 2024. October of 2024, I apologize, and August of 2025. We are now in phase two, which is our community engagement phase.
024This is an opportunity. By statute, we're required to host one public hearing. Kyrene is hosting seven public hearings. In addition to the public comment, we're taking either in governing board meetings, in addition to all the avenues we have set up for either online submission of questions or comments. And so again, we'll host six regional public hearings that we'll talk about a little bit at the end. And we will have a public hearing here in the boardroom as well on October 28th. So we are spending a couple months in this community engagement phase, in addition to the community engagement that occurred during the committee meetings as well. Phase three will obviously be the board's discussion and action. And that is anticipated for December of 2025. Just also, again, around the committee formation, as you can see,
025these are all the formal either board meetings or communications that have gone out since October of 2024. That was the very first meeting where our demographer, Mr. Brammer, was here to report the in-depth enrollment and demographic trends. As previous board members are aware, we do an in-depth. demography report every other year. We do a little shorter report on those off years. This year on 2024, we did a very in-depth. Of course, then there was a board retreat to talk about forming the committee, which then... ended in November 19th, the actual vote to form the committee. Some of those members have actually served on the committee as well. And then, of course, in December, we started the process of inviting people to join the committee. And then, of course, the committee's first meeting began in February
026of 2025. This slide just shows our historical enrollment and projections for the next five years. You have all seen this slide numerous times. You can see that projections show that in the next five years, we can be expecting about 1,100 fewer students. The loss of that enrollment equates to approximately $7 million in reduced revenue. The cumulative effect of declining enrollment and the reduced revenue impacts our ability to sustain current programs, staffing levels, and services. Without intervention, this trend will necessitate difficult decisions that could impact the quality and breadth of educational opportunities we provide in Kyrene. Kyrene uses four levers to address the challenges of declining enrollment and funding. Levers one through three are getting harder and harder to utilize with our resources stretched so thin. We are now at a pivotal point. Without leaning more
027strategically into lever four, we will be forced to overuse levers one and three, creating deeper negative impacts on students, staff, and the Kyrene experience. Here to talk about levers one and then also lever two and three, first is our assistant superintendent, Ms. Lisa Gibson, and then Mr. Chris Herman as well, our CFO and associate superintendent. Good evening. Staffing assignments within the district are reviewed and aligned with student enrollment each year as part of the annual budget process. When reductions are necessary, they are managed primarily through attrition, but there are times when staff at overstaffed sites are reassigned at the end of the school year or even after the 10th day of school to school sites that are understaffed. In support of our commitment to the K-REAN Strategic Plan Early Literacy Initiative, class size targets have
028been lowered in grades K-2 to strengthen early literacy outcomes. Additional reductions in class size are also in place at Rise Up schools, ensuring greater support where it is most needed. The chart on the screen identifies current class size targets for all grade levels, including class targets at Rise Up schools. I will now pass the presentation over to Mr. Chris Herman, who will discuss strategic levers two and three. Thank you, Lisa. Strategic lever two relates to Kyrene's annual process to create and develop a balanced budget. And I spend almost six months talking about specific areas impacting this process in the spring. So there are a lot of areas abbreviated on this slide for the sake of time in tonight's presentation. Because school funding in Arizona is based on student enrollment, each year for the last decade
029we have been faced with having less money in our budget to support our day-to-day operations than what was available the previous year. This means we have to make difficult decisions and choices on how and where to spend our limited resources every year. Kyrene is very aware and also intentional on how and where we spend our operational budget. And we have developed and used what's called a timeless spending model as a way to help guide our decisions on where budget dollars are allocated. The concept of a timeless spending model is to determine how and where to spend our budget, regardless of how big or how small that number might be each year. And when we talk about our budget, it's also very important to mention that state funding has legal restrictions on how operational versus capital
030funding can be spent, which means we cannot spend capital funding towards our operational budget, nor can we balance our budget by shifting that funding around or by simply delaying or canceling capital projects. And those capital projects would be things like playground equipment. furniture, roofs, air conditioning systems, computers, assets of those nature. If we could do that, then creating a balanced budget would be much simpler and less complicated than the requirements that we must operate under today. An important part of the timeless spending model is to continue spending a high percentage of our overall budget on classroom spending areas. And this has always been a point of pride that Kyrene has had for many years. And we never want that to change. Kyrene targets 75% of the total operating budget towards classroom spending areas, which is
031a very high percentage. And in fact, last year's number for Kyrene for classroom spending, that percentage was the 10th highest in the state of Arizona. And we typically are in that top 10% every year. When you talk about classroom spending, just briefly, people might ask or wonder, again, we spend a lot of time in the spring talking about this, but there are different categories. The first category of classroom spending is instruction. That relates to classroom teachers and others who might be delivering and assisting with student classroom instruction. Student support is another category, and those are areas for supporting students such as counselors, nurses, health assistants, speech pathologists, and even front office staff at schools for positions like attendance clerks. Instructional support would involve those areas that support our curriculum and instruction areas such as library,
032teacher facilitators, and also teacher coordinators. The non-classroom areas that you see include administration, transportation, and plant operations. Now, I previously mentioned that we make decisions on how to reduce spending across all of our areas in our budget in order to maintain those extremely high levels of classroom spending. However, if we continue to operate 25 school sites going forward, we will have some major challenges on how to reduce spending in that plant operations category. And again, that plant... operations category does not include capital expenditures because the challenge we're going to face is about 91 percent of the costs in that plant operations category are completely dependent on the number of facilities that are operated within our district. And that includes things like electricity, custodial costs, insurance, water, grounds maintenance, and also the employees who are responsible
033for managing the condition of our buildings and facilities. So now we are at the point with our limited resources that we have to make difficult decisions on how we spend the money that we receive. And unfortunately, that means having to make tough choices like whether to keep operating 25 facilities or spend that money in classroom areas instead. If we continue to operate 25 facilities, it will absolutely mean that a larger percentage of our operating budget will be spent on that plant operations category, which will mean that we will no longer be able to sustain the historical levels of classroom spending that Kyrene has maintained for decades. One of the questions that I'm often asked is, well, what has Kyrene done to help right-size and balance its budget during these times that enrollment has been declining?
034And it's very important for our board and community to know that Kyrene has been making many difficult decisions over the last nine years to keep our budget balanced every year while also maximizing the supports to our students, teachers, and classrooms in order to preserve the Kyrene experience for both our students and families. This is one of the big reasons why we have been able to push back any conversations about closing schools from a financial perspective for so long. And to quantify that statement, our enrollment declines since the 2017-2018 school year have equated to $24 million of decreased state funding. And over that same time period, the last nine years, Kyrene has been extremely fiscally responsible and responsive to those situations by also reducing its operating budget by $24 million. And again, I cannot say this
035enough. Our operating budget includes all the day-to-day expenses that relate to operating our schools and does not include capital. I think a lot of times that gets confounded in some of the thoughts. We are not allowed to balance our operating budget by simply delaying or stopping any capital project work. On this slide, you can see a wide range of areas that have experienced budget reductions over the last nine years. And what this means is that Kyrene looks at every area where our maintenance and operations money is being spent. This list and the corresponding dollars that are associated with each of these areas was discussed in detail on April 23rd during the Long Range Planning Committee. And so I'm not going to go through it line by line, but I do want to say that any
036decisions on how we... on how to reduce expenditures in these areas were made based on the timeless model that we just talked about in order to ensure that we spend 75% of our operating budget towards classroom areas. And another point of context, I just want to mention that Our budgeted M&O revenue for 2025-26 current year is about $110 million. So when I talk about a $24 million reduction in funding, that's about 22% of what our current year expected revenues are from the state. Strategic lever three relates to... programs and supports for our schools. And a lot of times we talk about what's at stake in this conversation. And supports for schools can and do come from a variety of areas, and many of them are listed on this slide. And each year, we must consider
037how to prepare a balanced budget while we receive less funding every year and also provide the best and most support to our schools and students. And people often ask, well, what does your plan be when it comes to preparing a budget? And strategic level three is really part of that conversation whenever levels one and two that we've just talked about cannot generate enough budget reductions or produce a balanced operating budget. There are a lot of items listed on this slide, and none of them are popular for a variety of reasons, but we do have to make that clear on the things that would be considered and have to be considered every year. So if there were more and or deeper cuts to any of these areas, we must consider any potential enrollment loss in those
038changes because, again, we would be impacting the Kyrene experience for our families and students. Some of these items would obviously be more impactful than others from a financial standpoint, as there are vast differences in scope and magnitude for all these different categories. And also, any potential changes to these areas would not be an all or nothing situation, meaning that any changes might not happen all at once, and any options or potential changes would be reviewed each year as part of our annual budget process. However, we do need to be aware of how those changes would impact that Kyrene experience over a longer period of time. You can see also, and I wanted to point out, the first three bullets on this slide have an asterisk explaining that there is also a connection to Kyrene's maintenance
039and operations override. The continuation of the current M&O override will be on the ballot this November. But the future budget projections that were shared with the Long Range Planning Committee only focused on enrollment changes and assumed that voters would renew that override. And if that does not happen, then changes to these areas would absolutely need to be considered because hiring's maintenance and operations override funding goes directly to hiring almost 200 more teachers in order to keep our classes smaller, provide expansive special areas and electives for students. and also provide additional student services. So with that, I'd like to welcome our four committee representatives to the podium to talk a little bit more about strategic level four and also the other work that was performed by the committee. Good evening, Superintendent Tanez, Kevin, and members of
040the board. It's kind of weird being here, I've got to say, from this side of things. My name is Michelle Fay, and I am a past parent, a past employee, a past board member, a current community member, and a member of the Long Range Planning Committee. Hello, Governing Board. It's nice to be here. I'm Margaret Wright, also a community member, parent. I've had three students go through Kyrene schools. My kiddos work at Wagner and Kyrene Middle School. And two of mine are currently at Corona right now. And I also am a former Governing Board member, served until 2024. Hi, Governing Board. My name is Allie O'Rourke. I'm a current parent to two fourth graders, and I am a current employee. I'm a resource teacher at Australia Elementary. Good evening, President Walsh, members of the Governing
041Board, and Superintendent Tonjes. My name is Gregory Larson. I live in the district. I have children that currently attend Kyrene schools and was pleased to serve on the Long Range Planning Committee. There we go. Well, we wanted to start out by telling you kind of what the charge of this long-range planning committee was, focusing on strategic leverage for our jobs, really, to learn about all of the things that Mr. Herman just presented to you, all about the budget and the enrollment trends and a lot about just kind of where our kids are coming from. And then our job was to make a long-range recommendation to you to optimize the use of our buildings and also find $7 million. Second to that, we also served as a committee to recommend whether or not to go out
042for the M&O override. And you guys have already heard that presentation and voted on that, which is why we're currently on set for the election this year. I also wanted to point out that the work of these board committees, as you guys know, is... critically important because it provides valuable insight into how our community wants you to lead in your elected role. And when I was serving on the board, I always felt more confident in my decisions when I knew that a group of our committee had gone through all of the information and were able to come to the board with a recommendation. So I just wanted to point that out that these committees are a big deal, as you know. One of the things the committee focused on throughout the time that the committee
043met was five guiding principles. And I'll go through each of them briefly. The horizon, the long range that the committee looked through was two to five years. We observed a lot of presentation about the timeless spending model. and maintaining a balanced budget and how to responsibly spend the funds that the Kyrene District has. The committee was really focused on facilities and focused on stability of the facilities and how it was drove financial responsibility. We focused on multiple solutions. We looked at many different options. We observed many different presentations. We processed an immense amount of material and resources. And this really was quite a difficult balancing act to determine which... which decision can we arrive at that will have the least amount of impact to all the students in the whole district. We focused on the
044students and in arriving at a district-wide forward-looking decision, considering forecasting trends and what we expect enrollment to be was quite challenging. And we also considered a healthy transition through the change that we're all faced. So the problem statement, the reason why we all came together, right? So you guys voted to have this committee formed. And the problem that was brought to us was that Kyrene was built to serve 20,000 students. And now we serve just over 12,000, as we just heard. We are expected to continue to decline based on all of the data that we have and the birth rates and things that we talked about earlier as well. And it's not just that demographic shift. The district has done a really good job, like we just heard, pulling from a lot of other strategic
045levers. But the next five years is still estimated for us to have a funding loss of $7 million, which... is still a lot. Preserve the Kyrene education and the Kyrene promise and why people come to Kyrene. We were tasked with finding that by optimizing our facilities. In addition, for the maintenance and operation override, that currently provides us with $14.6 million annually, and it's essential to continue doing what we're doing. I mean, I think we kind of all saw it. It allows us to pay our teachers a fair salary and it allows us to continue to do the things we love and give the resources to as many kids as possible. It's vital to all of our students' support in the classroom and in their personal lives. the district would face a wide variety of challenges
046like we talked about, losing that $7 million and, in addition, losing the almost $15 million from the M&O override. We talked a lot about this. Being a teacher in the district, I get to kind of see the benefits of the timeless spending model, which I didn't truly fully understand until I joined this committee. But knowing that Kyrene fully supports their teachers and puts 75% of their funds into classrooms is huge. Like we heard, it's one of the top 10 highest in the states, which is amazing. We also talked about in places that Kyrene is the lowest. And that's a good thing. Being in the administrative costs, being where we've cut certain things. Like Chris mentioned, he went into a lot of detail about where we've been able to make cuts, but maintain quality. And I
047think that that's really important to note that we have done that. The committee went into that. That was a whole meeting, a whole three hours that some of you guys know and watched, where we kind of got to talk about that. And, but if this enrollment continues to decline, like we fully anticipate that it will. it will mean a larger percent going into non-classroom expenses. And that's really going to impact our children. This is already affecting so many staff members and so many of our kids. And the impact will just continue to grow if we're not able to make this change. So keeping our timeless spending model is a huge proponent, in my opinion, after serving on this committee that we maintain the Kyrie promise. So after we learned all of this information, which was
048a lot, we realized that there's kind of a big weight in this decision. And so we really had to think about how are we going to approach the decision. And so we considered these different. consensus models and ways to make the best decision. So we looked at minimal change, which would mean as few boundary changes as possible, as few maybe closures or differences as possible. We looked at capacity-driven, meaning you would really optimize every school site by filling them up. We looked at redesign, which was sort of an opportunity to reimagine the configurations in our school district. And then we also looked at the regional model. And we landed on the regional model for a couple reasons. First of all, although the redesign and reimagining, Kyrene, sounded really kind of exciting, I think the committee
049felt like that was too much. Like, we can't do all of that now. We've got to make some decisions before we do that. And I think by what we had learned, we realized that minimal change was probably not possible. So we landed on the regional model for a few reasons, partly because we already had a regional model and parents and students were really comfortable with that. They knew what middle school they would attend if they went to a certain elementary school. And that became sort of a smaller community within the entire Pyrenean community. And so that was what we did by looking at regions. Okay. Oh, yeah. Thank you. So where we landed on was the regional model for the regional model and five votes for redesign. And so that was how we moved forward
050in the process. Thank you. The next activity that the committee went through was to come to a consensus on grade level configurations. And the committee's choices for grade level configurations were elementary schools serving K through five and middle schools serving grades six through eight. There was a strong consensus, a very strong majority for this grade level configuration. This grade level configuration had six. First place votes with one second place vote. Very strong majority. The other consensus activity was the number of regions. And we evaluated the first choice was four regions. Second choice was five regions. Okay. Just to clarify, in case you have any questions about. these votes that we're explaining and the consensus. There are eight tables in the committee, over 50 people involved, and each table would come to a consensus and go
051through. I don't want to say argument, but discussion about what we wanted to do. And then the table would get to make a vote. So our final consensus activity was about boundaries and facilities. All of the information that we had come to consensus before this point, specifically regional model, that information and guidance was taken by our... demographer who then came back to the committee with some potential options and potential models that we could choose. Because we had chosen four regions and then second place by the five region model that we could choose. The committee had zero votes in favor of that five-region model. So it was pretty quickly eliminated, and a lot of them based on the options we had for four-region models. So we were given two options on the west side and three
052options on the east side. And you can see the votes broken down by numbers, a total of eight. Seven were for west option A. one for West option B, and then on the East side, options zero for option A, five for option B, and three for option C. I'm not going to go into huge detail. I am... confident that everyone in this room knows what the maps look like. But committee consensus was West option A and East option B. So we are going to put up the consensus map. And I just want you to know that our professional, very professional and experienced demographer, put this together for us. And the committee was able to discuss from that. And the data that was used to build these maps is based off of our 2024, 2025 40th
053day headcount. So it is very current enrollment data. And then he took into account. um, our instructional capacities. So at every one of our buildings, we have a certain number of seats available for instruction and capacity. So those two factors drove, um, our demographer as he was making this. Um, so It was our job to go through these options, come to consensus, and present this to you. But our demographer also had other recommendations, some of which came directly from the governing board and other guidance from district leadership. So I want to mention the parameters that were considered in making these options and highlight what a difficult process this would have been as they balanced out. and all of these options and things that we wanted him to do. It's like we gave him this huge
054laundry list and then he was able to provide that. So on behalf of the committee, we definitely want to thank our demographer for giving us these options and doing the work that we were not qualified to do. So some of the requirements in making these maps, one, to use a regional approach that came directly from this committee. School utilization, basically reducing the number of schools. Some guidance that came directly from the governing board, maintain the dual language program on both sides and create a dedicated gifted academy school on one campus. Other factors that were taken into consideration, things like natural and man-made geographic barriers like South Mountain and the tent. other railroads, things like that. We also asked him to please minimize the number of boundary changes to please preserve or create. balanced feeder patterns
055into our regions and our middle schools to advance equity across all of our communities and to look at the proximity of schools within the entire Kyrene boundary as to whether or not there were some located in each generalized area. So not to concentrate them all in one area. That goes along with maintaining the presence of schools across the district, keeping it as balanced as possible. He needed to account for shared infrastructure and dependencies. We have certain campuses that share things like power and utilities and other systems. And then hopefully to analyze impacts for transportation and also to consider which facilities might be best for repurposing sale or leased on. the opposite end of this process. So I just wanted to say all of that so that you know how much thought went into it and
056how much work behind the scenes went into these maps ahead of time. So the only thing I want to point out on this map are the utilization rates. So since our task was to make a recommendation on the number of facilities that would help maximize capacity, you can see the capacities that are estimated on this map. And I do want to point out that the utilization rates that might look a little high, this is the highest that they will be. And as soon as this process happens, they will decline from here. So any number that looks a little high will only get lower, unfortunately. So yeah, that's the map. So with the committee's work complete, we are now entering the community engagement phase, which will last three months. During this time, while the board is
057considering feedback. Kyrene teams are doing preliminary planning to operationalize the recommendation. This includes everything from staffing to transportation. In fact, we plan to bring transportation information to the board in October for discussion. This planning ensures that should the board ultimately decide to consolidate schools, the district will be ready to ensure a smooth transition. With a recommendation of this magnitude, we already know that it would have to be a multi-year role. out. As much as we don't want to prolong transition, there are logistical challenges that make it impossible to consolidate this many schools in one year. It involves things like staffing reassignments, moving furniture and supplies, transitioning before and after school programs, and redesigning bus routes. To ensure that we get this work right and to make the transition as smooth as possible for students and
058staff, I believe we will be most successful doing three or four schools in a single year. What we have proposed is to start with the Westside Elementary Schools in 26-27, then in 27-28 we would change the Westside Middle School boundaries and begin the Eastside Elementary School consolidation. Our final transition would be in 28-29 with the Eastside Middle School boundaries and the consolidation of the Norte campus into Wagner. Depending on the board's final vote, This timeline could change. But if the recommendation is approved as is, it would take these three years to implement. So I think we're going to spend a minute hearing some committee reflections, and then I will wrap the presentation up for us and give you a chance to ask any questions. Okay. I kept my reflection kind of short. So I was
059on the board that voted to form this committee, and then I wasn't on the board. So I joined this committee. And I can't say that I'm happy to be here and making this recommendation, but I can say that I understand the reason why. And I understand... Just how difficult this process must be from the chair that you're sitting in. And you have my empathy for that. So throughout my time on the school board, I have been consistently impressed by Kyrene's forward-thinking approach to the district's future. We are constantly looking five years into the future, and that is what we're doing right now. And while challenges lie ahead, I have learned that the Kyrene community is... very much up to the task of facing this challenge and that we can draw on our own key value
060to this. And the key value that just kept coming to my mind the entire time that I was serving on this committee was courage. And in Kyrene, we define that as possessing the moral to do what is right, even when it is challenging. And I see that courage. throughout all of our community, among our district leaders, parents, community members, and especially our students. And anyone who gets up tonight to comment has that courage. And regardless of what happens, at your school that we can draw on our courage to move forward. And so my last thank you is just to our courageous governing board. Thank you for your leadership and your commitment to doing what's right, even when it's difficult. Thank you. I want to say a quick word about the committee. I just have to
061say I have such great respect for the people that were in the room because they literally were able to kind of put their emotions on the side. There are people who decided to close their child's school or their school that they work in, and that was really hard for them. But people understood the job, and so I just really appreciate them. Now, I want to take a minute to talk to you, not as a committee member, but as a former board member. There was a time when I thought it would be me sitting up there making this decision. So believe me, I know how you feel. It's overwhelming. It's hard. It's emotional. And it's a great weight put on your shoulders. Sometimes doing the right thing also means doing the hardest thing. I'm not going
062to lie. This is big. It's huge. It's going to take a lot of work and a lot of people to make it happen. I also understand why all these people are in the room here tonight and outside protesting and at home watching tonight. It's because they chose Kyrene. They love their schools and all the amazing programs that each one has to offer for their children. They love their school communities. I chose Kyrene too, and I want Kyrene to be successful for many years to come. Tonight you're going to hear a lot of blue cards, and they're going to tell you why you shouldn't close their school, why theirs is better, why theirs is the best, or their program is only at their school or whatever. And some voices will be louder than others, but just
063remember that it's not always the loudest voices that you should listen to. I think it's kind of like picking a favorite child when you're talking about closing a school. You really can't pick because each one is special in their own way. So I really am kind of posing this not just to you guys, but to everybody in this room and online. I think we need to change the conversation away from not my school to we're all amazing. I can hear the passion in their voices. I can see the energy they're spending to protect their school. I say we need to harness that energy, all of this energy, to work on finding ways to bring the programs that they love to the schools that remain open and help reimagine all of those schools when those communities
064come together. So I ask you to be brave and courageous and to make the best decision for Kyrene. Thank you. Here are my reflections from serving on the committee. We dedicated a lot of time. There's all volunteers. And since February, from February to August, we showed up. We went to the meetings. And it didn't just stop when the meeting was over. We took those conversations out to the communities. We talked to our neighbors. We talked to our other kids' parents. We shared the challenge with each other. The committee members focused really very intently on the problems, the information, the data, the challenges, and looked at the materials in a lot of different formats in a lot of different ways. We had an opportunity to process all the information visually in writing. It was audible. It
065was even tactile. We had markers. We had big sheets of paper that were sticky. We could write on them. We could stick them up on the wall. We could walk around the whole room and look at it and talk about it. We had all kinds of opportunities to see the information in so many different ways. It wasn't just on the board. Here's what it wasn't spoon fed. It wasn't shoved down our throats like that. We really thought very critically and hard about this. Not easy. What makes Kyrene really great is not the buildings, but it's the people in them. We had a robust discussion in this building, in this room, about all the data, all the issues. We had an extraordinary display of critical thought, critical feeling, and we didn't always agree on everything. Group-wide,
066table-wide, we had all kinds of different... positions, opinions, and we heard them in all different kinds of ways. We had microphones that we passed around the room so we could all talk and hear each other. We were consistently focused on resolving a very challenging problem. And this is a heavy topic. This is not pleasant to think about closing schools, especially your own kids' schools and the schools that you kids are anticipating they will go to. It's just not pleasant. We had an opportunity to ask questions, to give feedback, to speak into a microphone to the whole room. We had access to leadership. We had access to the superintendent. The CFO, legal counsel, the demographer, we were on camera the whole time. Live streamed and recorded and it's up there now. You can click on it
067and see. We had a really great opportunity to connect with the other committee members in the room, at the tables, and in a group as a whole. But we don't want to do this again. And again, in piecemeal, like we see some other communities having to do. Kyrene is a big team of like-minded people who are dedicated to the Kyrene promise and the key values. It takes extraordinary courage to be up here and to overcome this great challenge. But we all embrace the opportunity that we have to continue providing phenomenal public education that the Kyrene School District does. Hello again. I chose to apply for this committee because I wanted to be a part of the decision-making process, and I really wanted to better understand the challenges that our district is facing. I'm deeply rooted
068in Kyrene, both professionally and personally. Like I said earlier, I have two daughters. I'm currently attending a Kyrene school, and I work at a separate campus than them. Like many of the people here who are going to talk to you tonight, I deeply care about not only my children's education, but ours. And I'm deeply committed to the future of our district. My experience as a parent has been nothing short of amazing. I see many of their teachers in here. I see past principals. And my girls' school has provided them with a home. Sorry, I found my experience as a teacher has been nothing short of amazing either. But I've also seen firsthand the struggles that declining enrollment is providing us. I see part-time assistant principals at schools. I see teachers that don't have common prep
069time. I see children who don't really know their specials teachers because they travel every day. I see reduced academic interventions so that we can provide and focus on our 85% and focus on why we're here. These are challenges that not only affect our students, but the people teaching our students. When I joined the committee, I knew that these were the issues that we needed to address. And if there was any way to strengthen our school, I wanted to be a part of it. After months of studying these numbers and a lot of discussion, I believe that the recommendation before the board reflects what is best for our students and for the long-term health of our district. I'm not blind to the cost of our decision. Two of the campuses proposed are my children's school and
070where I work. This is really overwhelming and sad. My girls will need to transfer schools multiple times in the next two years. and I will have to adapt to a new community, new admin, and new staff. None of that is easy, but even with this personal impact, I support this plan because I know that it will mean more consistency, collaboration, and support for the 12,000 kids that we service. I want to remind our community that we're not defined by our school buildings. We're defined by Kyrene as a whole, and our children are listening to what we say. They're listening to how we respond. This proposal is not about punishing any schools, but it's also not about choosing which are best. And every campus in Kyrene has its strengths. It has a unique history. It has
071wonderful people that I've gotten to know over many years, and it provides a lot of value to its own community. This recommendation was based on facilities and enrollment trends, not on the quality of teaching or the worth of any one campus. Every member on this committee spent hours talking, listening, and working with people that we had never met before. But now we get to have long-term friends. I will continue to know my table after this. We have already communicated, and that's important to me. The burden that we had was really heavy, and none of us took it lightly. But now is the time for us to come together as a community. I think I was really touched by Member Davis' speech at the beginning. We need to ask questions and problem-solve and determine a best
072path forward. We need to remember that if we choose not to close other schools, the district will continue pulling from other resources, and that impact will be felt in our classrooms. When you advocate, I urge parents that it should not just be rooted in the desire to keep your building open, but be in what truly serves the greater community and all of its students. Change is always difficult, and grieving the loss of a school community is so valid. But I urge us all to move forward with compassion, remembering that our shared promise is to give our children the strongest possible public education. And this plan gives us the opportunity now to continue and fulfill the Kyrene promise. So while these conversations are painful, When I think of where we could be in three years, I
073do also feel a seed of hope. Consolidation means stronger schools, assistant principals and other staff being able to serve full time at one campus, class sizes that can continue to remain small, parent organizations with more volunteers and greater fundraising capacity, and larger communities with the ability to provide richer experiences for our students. Above all, it means that we can continue to invest in what matters most, our children, our teachers, and our programs. The committee's recommendation is not about closing schools just to balance a budget. It is about protecting the Kyrene experience and ensuring our schools remain strong for generations to come. As I shared in my community message last week, Kyrene's greatest strength is not in its buildings or its boundary lines, but in its people, our relationships, and our shared commitment to our students.
074Governing Board, the decision before you is not easy, and I know you will give this close consideration over the next few months. That said, if you have any questions about tonight's presentation, our committee representatives, our district team, as well as our demographer, Mr. Brammer, is here tonight to answer. Thank you. Thank you, Superintendent Tenius. Thank you to each of our presenters, not just for your presentation tonight, but for all of your work and the full committee's work over these last seven months. As you know, Board, no decision is tonight. The earliest we will be making a vote is December, but we do have an opportunity tonight to ask questions of our presenters, and following that, we can share initial feedback, if any. So I'll open it up. Does anyone have questions? I'll kick us off
075with some feedback. Thank you so much for the presentation, especially for your words at the end. I know I'm a broken record here as part of the committee, but it truly was such an outstanding group of individuals who are very focused on the work and often put their own feelings and needs aside when talking about very, very weighty things. So thank you. Thank you for being here and sharing with us. My question is more for, I think, it would either be for Mr. Herman or perhaps Superintendent Tenias. I know when we've created the phased implementation, have we given any consideration to what might happen to certain schools or title monies while we're trying to manage supports during a three-year phased approach? I guess I'm wondering, so we know that our budget is also not just
076dependent on things that the state gives us, but also federally. So for those in the room who don't know, we often have Title I schools. They get money from the federal government year after year. That money has also been getting cut, and it becomes very precarious for some of our most vulnerable learners. And I'm curious if... When talking about a phased implementation, we've kind of considered some of those pieces to not put those schools in an even more vulnerable situation. Yes. So that is part of our implementation plan that we're working on sort of behind the scenes right now, should this plan be the plan that is ultimately decided on by the board. So some of that, of course, we won't be able to know until December. So with our title, we get a district
077allocation that then all of the percents that are used to identify which schools receive title would obviously then change and shift. So as our schools are transitioning, We'll have to rerun the numbers at every school to see where our students qualify. So the money will follow the students. Okay. I just wanted to make sure that we were kind of keeping track of that. The next question, kind of along these same lines, because I think what I hear about is not so much about the decision. I think it's the, and I get it, the anxiety of the unknown. So, you know, one thing, you know, about. If a school is listed on a site, but my child attends a preschool at that location, what happens to that program or that CCD room or that CCB room?
078And so just making sure we have real clear communication on that, I think would alleviate a lot of anxiety for families that have to make a lot of those kind of. the more complicated educational choices. And truly, you know, as hard as it is to wait, some of those decisions can't be made until we actually know what the board's ultimate decision is, because there are some certain requirements, say, for preschool programs. And so until we know exactly, right, you're not going to you don't want to necessarily bring a site up. to those codes if that doesn't end up ultimately being the site that we're going to use. So some of that will roll out pretty quickly right after January. So we're working, like I said, behind the scenes on should this plan move forward as
079is, we would be ready to roll out all of that information come January, February and have all of those locations. But I can assure you that the teams are, those are the exact discussions that are happening right now. How did you know? You just looked and sawed in my face. First of all, that was an awesome presentation. Thank you guys for presenting that to us. I'm going to put on my educator hat here for a second. You know, being a teacher, everything is always measured, right? So given this plan, how will we measure the success of this over time? Or do you guys need me to ask it in another way? I'm going to let our committee members answer first, and then I have some answers to share with you as well. I'm going to
080try to answer this question. I think as far as the committee goes, like what a lot of us talked about, we were tasked with utilizing those facilities appropriately, like utilizing our schools. So I would say that we hopefully would be able to maintain those utilization rates and that we wouldn't be back here. Because I think To my fellow committee members' point, Greg, he mentioned that we don't want to be back here in three years. And I think that's a huge part of understanding if this was successful, that we can maintain those utilization rates. And then to Mr. Herman's point, maintaining the timeless spending model. If we can do that, then I think we've... pulled. He's already pulled from every other lever. The district has done those things. So if we can maintain the timeless spending
081model as a committee member, I feel like that's what would make this successful. That's a personal opinion, not a whole committee opinion, but I think I captured it. Okay. I think I'm going to see if she's interested in maybe shadowing me for a while and doing an internship. Yeah. So I think you hit it right on with the timeless spending model. The other we talked a lot about is, you know, When we talk about our service rate, what we are talking about, for those that aren't aware what that means, it's the number of eligible students in our district that are actually choosing to stay in our district. And, you know, we showed some data early on in the committee meetings that showed our service rate has slowly declined over time. And there's been a couple
082times in history where we've seen some pretty steep drops. I believe that, you know, it's very clear we're not going to solve the enrollment decline when so much of it is due to birth rate and, you know, the aging population in our neighborhoods. But what we can impact is our service rate. And so back to that conversation about utilization, you know, if... If we can see that we're maintaining that utilization, then that means our service rate is either starting to go steady and not continuing to decline. Or if we do a really good job and we're able to maintain those great resources and in some cases maybe even find some value add in our schools and actually increase our resources, then I think a really strong measurement would be that we start to see our
083service rate climb. creep back up slowly, meaning it doesn't mean that it's, you know, again, it's not, that's not related to the birth rate. That's related to keeping the kids that live in our district choosing to stay in Kyrene in a public school. I had another question too. Greg, correct? Yes. No, no, no, no. It's not, I was just saying your name, make sure I had it right. Cause I hate when people mess up my name. They call me Seth, the one in Cedric. But as Greg mentioned, we don't want to be here in another three years. I believe you said that. Am I saying that accurate? With that, you know, we have a lot of parents that come up here and say, you know, they'll leave the district. People, they'll transfer. Do we have
084and maybe I'm forward thinking here six years, but do we have a contingency plan in place if that happens after decisions are made? So. I know we've talked a lot before Mr. Brammer's gotten the question from us probably about 30 times, maybe. What can we expect, right? There is no question that when a district goes through something... related to school closure, you will see some level of enrollment impact, but it really depends. And it's hard for a district like Kyrene, and please jump in, Mr. Brammer, if I don't get this quite right, but one of the things that makes us so unique is the amount of open enrollment we actually already have in our district. So when half of our enrollment is either students choosing, they live in Kyrene, but they're choosing another school, or
08525% are coming from out of district, it's hard to say. I think he may have some good data to share that just kind of tells what we can expect. Thank you very much, President Walsh, members of the board, Superintendent Tineas. Unfortunately, this has become a big part of my job. in the early part of my career, including here in Kyrene. It was all about opening new schools. It was very exciting. But over the last five or eight years, I've been involved in numerous closures across several districts in Arizona, including my own, and including in my own neighborhood. So I understand how the process works. One of the things I'll go with originally is everybody needs to understand one of the difficulties in generating these numbers is that in the K-5 group of the students we
086actually serve, a full third of those kids go to a school other than the one they're boundaried for. So open enrollment, a third of the kids from in the district. Then you realize we got 20% of our enrollment coming in from outside of the district. So they're not even originally assigned to an attendance area at all. And so one of the things that makes it so difficult is choice, choice itself. I'm not saying it's bad. I'm just saying we don't, it's much harder to tell where the chips are going to fall at the end of this process when you've got such an incredible amount of movement. Now, it does give you another lever because, you know, open enrollment is a big thing. Open enrollment is under your control. And so to the extent that we
087do need to make adjustments and balance schools, you know, open enrollment is one of the levers in particular schools that we could look at. And we really tried to make sure that we maintain in parts of the district, at least, you know, ample capacity. And knowing that, as we've said, you know, projections are that enrollment will fall. So kind of the idea was if we have enough seats or if we would have had for 24-25, our last official data, that it'll be, you know, better going forward. Thank you, Mr. Brammer. Mr. Collins, any further questions? Yeah, just one more question. I feel like, I don't know, I feel like we're in, like, Congress or something here. Another question. I've seen school closings before. in other places that I lived. And then I was an influx
088of students or kids that came to the district. So what does that look like for us? Say, you know, whatever option is chosen, what will that look like to, will we have the option to be able to open it back up, a couple back up? Am I making sense with that question? Yeah, well, I can start. I think Mr. Herman might have something to say about it too. One of the ideas is that I look at provision of public schools as an in perpetuity thing. And so in the districts that I work for, we rarely ever will sell a site. We might enter into a 99-year lease of the site, but we don't know, as you're pointing out, what this area is going to look like, you know, 50 years from now or 40 years
089from now. And it's important that we keep that capacity. And I worked for several inner city districts, you know, downtown Phoenix, where the original population moved out. They actually sold sites and then new people showed up and then they're buying sites at retail price. And that's just, you know, nothing that you want to do. So I always think preserving ownership, control of the property is important, even if it doesn't have a school on it at the moment. Thank you. That's all the questions I have. Thank you, Madam Collins. One more quick thing. Mr. Brimmer is right, right? We do have control to. figure out what that situation might look like. But also when we looked at capacities, you know, this is getting a little bit into the details of how that was calculated and how
090that was determined, but we have preserved many rooms at every school, be it an elementary or middle school, that when we say 85% or 77%, we're not talking about 100% of every single classroom being filled. We've preserved handfuls of rooms to keep specific programs alive. community educational programs, sometimes for our special education students. So if there was an influx, you know, classrooms of students that would be coming to a school unanticipated, we would have the space and the flexibility to do things like that and accommodate them. Member Satri. Yes, I also wanted to thank the members of the Long Range Planning Committee. I was actually part of that committee as well. I do have to repeat that it definitely was a lot of work. It was a lot of time. And being here today is
091so very brave. And I really appreciate it. And thanks for making me cry. I do have just a couple quick questions. I'm not open to anybody. I'm not quite sure who can approach it. But I just want to make sure that the changes that we're proposing, the schools that we've listed, have we done a financial? analysis to ensure that this will cover or help us avoid that seven, the entire $7 million? Like how, how are we making sure? Mr. Herman, do you want to take that one? Yeah, I would say absolutely. The committee did not show the slide tonight, but we had that slide showing what is involved with operating a school site and what money you might save if you close the school site. And that's some really in-depth discussions. And I'm probably sure
092all four of them could recite this as well as I could. But there's personnel costs, right? There's people that you have that are associated with the building and you need because you have a facility. And then you have personnel costs that would move with the students, right? Most of your classroom teachers or counselors, right, fall into that category. So when you talk about a school site not being operated, we're not talking about 100% of the staff going away, right? It's only those that are tied to the building. So we had a lot of discussion about what that looks like. And then also what it costs to operate a building, the utilities, the facility costs, custodial costs. insurance costs and those could go away right and so it depends on whether you operate a building or
093not and so we talked about timing what that looks like if you hold on to building for multiple years obviously you're not going to recoup that savings if you make a quick decision to not operate a building then you would recoup recoup those costs so we had a very in-depth discussion about those areas if if you did have your personnel and your building costs fully fully realized it would be about $800,000 for an elementary school and about $1.3 million for middle school and Kyrie. So those were the numbers that we talked about in great detail. The committee did a great job of asking questions about what that means, but in a short period of time, that's kind of the summary of how we covered that. And that factors in the costs of all the transitions,
094all the support we'll be providing for our teachers. All that moving costs are all included in that as well. Yeah, and there would be. So this really depends on what winds up happening, right? I mean, there could be some additional things that, depending on what you do with the facility or how that move happens. Our goal would be to put together a transition period that would be as seamless as possible. And if there are additional supports that are necessary for those students in those transitions, we will provide it. Right. So it depends on what that means. That's the things that our superintendent was talking about that we're working on. But we will we will. make sure that our budget does accommodate if there might be an additional cost for moving or support or things like
095that. And we've had some recent discussions about how we can support our teachers and our staff in that migration, and we would make sure that we would have the funding available to do that. Okay. And then just one more time, can we cover the items that, by doing this, how our classrooms are going to be improved, how the Kyrene experience is going to be for the better? Because some of the changes that we've made to avoid this from happening, can we reinstate, in other words? There we go. So possibly, yes. But, you know, again, it's a three year phased implementation. So we're not going to realize the full benefits right until the end of the third year. But we also don't need to realize them all immediately the first year. Right. This was five years
096of declining enrollment. So that is a conversation then that we would have to have as we do the annual budget process as to. So, for example, I think, you know, I shared. full-time assistant principals. Right now we have many schools that are strapped with a 0.5, which is very difficult. They're traveling. We have a lot of special area teachers that are having to travel. Could we then have one full-time special area teacher for each of the areas at an elementary school where there's not traveling teachers? Things like that. So we might have some real small. things at the beginning, and then we're able to identify some bigger things, such as how do we bring more programs into some of these schools that would all like to have bigger programs? Or as we're merging schools, you
097know, which is the program that becomes the new program at that school? There may be some investment in there. There's also things like last year, right? We had to make the really hard decision about not having certified librarians. That one is pretty personal for me because that's where I started my career in education was in the library. I think they're critical. So if we could start looking at being able to bring some of those positions back, that would be lovely. It's just, but again, until we actually see what plan is adopted by the board and how many and what we decide, you know, the next phase of this after this is all done is to start talking about what are we going to do with the buildings. And so that will be starting next semester.
098That may have an impact on that as well, that conversation. The response to that, the timeless spending model with 75% of the funds spent in the classroom and 25% elsewhere, if we don't do something with the facilities, if we don't right-size the facilities, we jeopardize that ratio. And that ratio protects the classroom and keeps the resources in the classroom. So I'll just add that. Thank you, Mr. Larson. Member Davis, any questions? No, I just would like to extend my thanks and great presentation also. Very clear. And I appreciate the long hours and emotional input that you've given to this process. I think you've served your community, our community, very well. So thank you. Thank you. Mr. Herman, I have some questions I think are for you related to transportation. So transportation has been a challenge
099in all districts in Arizona, really across the country, and we felt it in Kyrene lately. I'm assuming that given the school closure, we're going to have more students that will need transportation. Is that right? Yes, that's correct, because you have students today that live within a certain radius of the school boundaries that don't receive transportation. So if that school is closed, then in addition to all the other transportation that you're providing, you would need to provide transportation for those students as well. Have you given any estimate to the number of drivers that we would need to have if the recommendation was fully implemented after three years? Yeah, that's one of the things that we've been working really diligently on, trying to figure out how that would work. It takes probably three or four weeks to
100do a... detailed route analysis. So it's hard to know exactly what numbers those are. One of the things that we're working to launch for next year is a way for parents to opt in for transportation, which would help kind of clarify out of all those new students who are eligible, how many actually would require transportation, right? So there are some variables that are hard to know at this point. You know, there might be... Up to, you know, 10 to 15 types of buses. That might be more. That would be like 100% of our students that are outside of the transportation zones today requiring that. But again, we're working really hard to come back with some proposals. I think what we'd like to do during the October 14th board meeting is talk about some of those
101options and some of those ways to lower that number significantly from what we do today. So the number I talked about was just today's circumstances and the way we operate transportation, some of the things that we've looked at historically. But some new opportunities and some new ideas might allow that number to actually be much smaller than. what those estimates are right now. Okay. Yeah. I appreciate you trying to find those efficiencies. I think you said 10 to 15 additional drivers. I think at this point, that would be a good estimate. You know, um, again, it's hard to know exactly what that number is. We're still in the middle of trying to figure that out, but I think that is a reasonable place to, uh, to, to guess at this point. And how many drivers do
102we currently have right now? I know we have lots of roles approved, but how many do we have right now? Um, today, well, the day I'm hoping it's still the same as it was a day ago. It does tend to change almost day to day. We have 33 drivers that we have as employees and that we contract for 11 more drivers currently today. Okay. So we'd be talking about. Just a little shy of a 50% increase potentially in new drivers that we'd have to hire if we're going from 30-ish to an additional 15? Well, we have 33, but we need 54. So just we need 54 right now is what our current need is. But we have 33 and then the contracted drivers. So the additional 10 or so drivers would be on top of
103the 54. So we would need an additional 10 to 15 drivers on top of the 54 that we currently need. And we presently have 33 that are on staff with contractors. 33 on staff and 11 contractors. But we are going to, as we said in October when we come back, have some proposals to talk to the board about that actually reduces even what we would, if we were to implement it today, what it would actually do to reduce today's need, which would then impact reduce. the need in full implementation of this model. So we have some nice proposals coming. But again, as Mr. Herman said, part of this is complicated because it takes a while to run all those routes. Sure. So as they're doing that right now, we are anticipating, we think it's going
104to end up around 10. And I know you've done a fantastic job in recruiting and retaining bus drivers. It's just that we, among all the districts in Arizona, are competing for a limited pool of drivers. That is absolutely the case. I would gladly make a call to our community if anyone knows of someone who would be interested, if someone themselves would be interested, it would be amazing. I cannot take credit for recruiting. I believe Michelle Parmley is out there somewhere in the audience. She goes above and beyond to try to find people everywhere she goes because it's a real problem to be able to bring all those folks in. Absolutely. I just think we should. And I know you have been, but I think this board needs to be cognizant of when we're thinking about
105adopting a proposal here that we're able to provide transportation to our families when the dust settles on this. So I want to make sure we're thinking about that and working with you. The other question I had relates to some of our choice programs. This might be for you, Superintendent Tenius. The way that the models are currently proposed by the Long Range Committee, does it allow and set up those programs for growth, or are they currently close to being capped? So are we specifically talking dual language at the dual language? Yes. Or dual language programs. Yes. Gifted does dual language. You know, I shared with the board that our recommendation was to consolidate the programs because that gave us the best opportunity for growth and putting them in a single building and the best opportunity for
106resources. So running. two programs in two schools that are pathways, I think we could actually, you know, it's hard to say what's going to happen. I think you could actually run into two different scenarios. One has a significant, almost double the number of students. And when you look at the projections, we'll be about double. So yes, there is room for growth, but when it's running as a pathway, right, you have to balance the fact that one of two things could happen. you know, if enrollment starts to go up overall in the district, are they choosing the dual language? Are they choosing not to go into the dual language? So it's hard to say what could happen there. I, you know, just being really frank, I have a little bit of concerns about the program over
107at Lagos being so small and merging with a much larger conventional school. So what that does to the program there over time remains to be seen, but it could be at risk of more families because again as we saw the Lagos families are coming from their neighborhood so it could end up being more families just choose Lagos and now that they have an option to not be in dual language they choose not to be in dual language it could be they still continue to choose dual language it's hard to say nor tastes more unique because so many kids are coming from outside the district to choose that program. Merging Norte with Wagner will be a little bit tight for growth of Norte because it's already sitting at 500. Again, you could consider keeping Norte as
108an open enrollment only school. That would be one option and try it on each side of the freeway to see what happens the next two years. You know, Norte is not slated for three years down the road anyway. or two years down the road and you could watch that, that would be one recommendation you could do. But I think there's less opportunity for growth at a Norte Wagner, unless more general ed students, if you will, choose dual language. It's still the same number of kids in the school. It's just more kids choosing dual language versus non-dual language. So it's a little more complicated when it's a pathway. Understood. Thank you. Any further questions? Any feedback? All right, I'll offer mine. I already thanked the committee. I want to thank you again. I looked at your
109mandate, the maximizing the use of schools and facilities, and I think you did a fantastic job with that focus in mind. I really, really do. And you made the hard decisions and hard conversations. And I respect immensely the recommendation that you came back with. I don't want to close schools. You don't want to close schools. But I also don't want to find ourselves in a position where we're putting our community back. through this process in three years or five years or whatever the case may be or what we're pulling money out of our classrooms. I think it would be irresponsible for this board to do nothing given the data that's been presented to us because it's only going to cause more and more money to come out of our classrooms. That being said, I'd also
110like this board to consider an option that keeps more schools open. And to be clear, Because I respect the recommendation of the Long-Range Planning Committee, I'm not interested in swapping schools. If you're one of the 16 schools that has not been identified for consolidation, I'm not suggesting that we add them onto some list. Those schools remain. Of the nine that have been identified for repurpose or closure, I'd like to at least have a conversation as a board. about what that might look like and whether it's possible to do it in a way that keeps the timeless spending model, that keeps the money in the classroom. And if the answer is no, we'll have a tough conversation. This committee did exactly what we asked them to do, and I applaud them for their recommendation. But we
111have a broader mandate, and I think I'd like to at least have that conversation. In doing so, I'd like to avoid... subjective conversations about what school is better or what school is worse. I think that's divisive and harmful. What I think we can do is look to objective, measurable criteria that we can consider. Enrollment at a particular school, capacity at a particular school, transportation impacts. Those are things that I think we can collectively compare. and see if there's ways to minimize disruption. And there's always going to be disruption. I think we have to have these conversations. I think we have to right-size this district. But I want to have the conversation. And if this board is interested in doing so, I'd like to do it soon. I think we would do it in a public
112retreat for the community to see and hear our feedback. I think we can do that and give direction and feedback to our superintendent and her team. on what we would like to consider. And if the board chooses to stick with the recommendation, I will respect that, but I'd like to have the conversation. President Walsh, we could do that in our study session or retreat, whatever we want to call that. One of the things that I can do with Mr. Herman, and of course, we may need Mr. Brammer as well, but we can bring some data that looks at the summary of the costs. You know, I know that Board Member Satri, you talked about that. That shows exactly what it would take in order for us to stay consistent with the timeless spending model. So
113that way you have a really clear understanding of what it would take. So, for example, if the board came back and said close six less schools out of the nine, in all likelihood, we're not going to stay in line with the timeless model and we will be looking at some of these what's at stake. But I can get you those dollars and Mr. Herman and I will work on being prepared for that conversation so that you have some real clear criteria. We'll also, again, you know, depending on how the board wants to see some different models run, I really appreciated you saying not going school by school. Again, this isn't about. our A-plus schools. It's not about our letter grade schools. We have no failing schools in Kyrene. All of our schools are highly performing.
114And A-plus, just for those that don't know this, I just want to put this out there. Many of our schools, the reason they're not A-plus is not because they're not A-plus schools. It's because they had a change in leader and you have to sit for three years before you can even apply again. So there's just a lot of nuances and all of our Kyrene schools are highly performing. Taking that part out of the conversation and really focusing it on the key criteria that you talked about. I think, you know, if the board was to say after looking at the numbers, you know, we think we could do this with two less schools or three less schools, whatever it is. then I think that's where Mr. Brammer can help us figure out the best way to
115maximize the utilization rates by running the different boundary scenarios. That is not my area of expertise, nor do I ever want that job. But I know that he can take that and bring back a couple options. I will tell you, if we have that conversation, even this week, he probably needs, I'm not going to speak for you, but you probably need a good few days, week, to run those models. at least a week to run whatever you would recommend just to be able to bring back to the board. Thank you. Any other items for discussion on this? All right. Thank you again to our presenters. Item 6.1 is the request to speak to the governing board. So as per our board policy, the Kyrene Governing Board invites viewpoints of citizens throughout the district. In-person members
116of the audience can fill out a blue card. It looks just like this. It's at our sign-in table. Those just need to be turned in prior to the start of the meeting. You can also submit electronic public comment. That's through the link that's sent out to all of our family members prior to the meeting. Click on that link and the board member receives each one of your meetings and comments in full. Those are going to be read into the formal meeting minutes of the day. State statute does prohibit the governing board from discussing items that are on the agenda, but we listen and can request staff follow-up on any concerns. Because we want to allow everyone the opportunity to speak, we do have a time limit based on the number of speakers here. If we
117have 1 to 15 in-person speakers, each person will be given 3 minutes to address the board. If we have 16 to 30 speakers... two minutes. And if we have 31 or more speakers, each person will be given one minute to address the board. Superintendent Tennyson informed me that tonight we have 92 in-person public comment. Buckle up, everyone. That means each one will have one minute to address the board. When you come up, I'll call your name. Come on up to the podium. There's going to be a timer on the screen. It looks just like that. and it'll turn red when your time is up. I appreciate how important these comments are for you, but I also appreciate that everybody that came here, and 92 people, wish to speak. So please do respect the timer. I'm
118going to call each speaker who's up, and then I'll call the persons on deck. So if you are up in our overflow room upstairs, and you're watching this on the projector, if you hear your name as on deck, come on down. You will be up next. Excuse me. I'm sorry. Could we have a short break? Yes, we'll do a short break before we start up the blue cards. So I'm going to give a five minute recess and let's start back right before 8 p.m. And we're back. We are reconvening our board meeting. It is now 8.01 p.m. At this time, please take your seat. So because it is after 8 p.m. and because it's a school night. I received a request, and I think it's a good one. If any of our student speakers would
119like to go up first, you are welcome to do so. You don't have to, but I cannot necessarily tell which one of these is a student. So if you're a student, please come on up and just state your name into the microphone. And you can just go one at a time. Whenever you're ready. Oh, that's perfect. Yes. Let's put the microphone down there for our students. Thank you. And before we start off, I want to thank each and every one of our students who is here today. I'm so glad to be hearing your feedback. And I know one of our committee members talked about courage earlier today. It does take courage to speak. So thank you. I'm going to start us off with our first student speaker again. Please feel free to state your name
120for the record and then your timer will be up on the screen. Hello, my name is Finley Toastburn. For my siblings and me, Mariposa is an extension of our home, a place where we feel welcome, safe, and dearly loved. We watched as the Long Range Planning Committee carefully considered geographic placement of schools, occupancy, and a multitude of factors. But tonight, I urge you to consider something far more important, but ever so simple. My amazing principal, Mr. Fogator, often says children should be at the heart of every decision we make. Every child displaced will face challenges. It will be hard for each of us. Please make a choice that will affect as few of your beloved Kyrene kids as possible. Each option A allows 200 more students to stay at their school. Mariposa could easily welcome
121every student from Monitas, keeping them together. A major disadvantage of East Option B is that Mariposa students would be split in between two campuses and Monitas Inn. Murata students will be split into three between 30 new campuses. Please don't needlessly move and separate students when you have a better option that keeps your strong sought after A plus school Mariposa open. Keep the children at the heart of the decision you will make in December. Thank you. Thank you Finley. Do you mind if I move this back up here? Okay. Go right ahead. Yes, thank you. Hello, my name is Kira Lee. I am a former Murata monarch and a current Pueblo Bulldog. I'm here today not to convince you not to close my school because I know something has to change if Kyrene is going to
122survive as a district, but to show the effects of what it would be if you closed a school. So say you close Pueblo, for example, and you moved all the kids from Pueblo Middle School to Apprendi. Does anyone want to guess what capacity Apprendi would be at? 96% capacity. That would not only boost class sizes, which the average class size for a 6-8 school is 30-32 students, and classes at Pueblo already exceed that, but you would be closing space for open enrollment students who would want to go to Pueblo or Appendix. And I know I'm going a little bit over time, but just a little suggestion that maybe you should change the air conditioning just a little bit. Because, like... You would save money and prevent us from turning into human ice goals. Thank you.
123Thank you. Thank you to the Governing Board and Long Range Planning Committee. My name is Allison Huang and I'm a fifth grader at Mariposa. I also have a little brother in second grade here. Mariposa is a unique school because when we learn computer science and how to code. I have been coding since preschool and it is really fun. Coding is becoming so important so what we are learning at Mariposa is so impactful to the future. Also, 43% of Mariposa's families are economically disadvantaged. Mariposa is providing its students with computer science skills, which can help lead to high-paying careers. It would be harmful to Kyrene to close the high-performing A-plus schools. Keeping Mariposa open with East Option A will help Kyrene stay strong and competitive with all the school choices and options in Arizona. Thank you
124for your time. Hi, I'm Betsy Zencraft. I went to Murata last year. I graduated last year. I go to Apprendi now. But I learned the eight habits at my school. They taught me how to be a leader. Be proactive. I take charge of my learning, but if Murata closes, others won't have the same chance. Begin with the end in mind. My goal is to save Murata for my younger brother Zach and all future Monarchs. But first things first, kids should come before money or buildings. Think win-win. A true win-win recognizes that strong. Kyrene begins with Monarch strong. Murata strong. Seek first to understand. Help me understand how this plan makes Kyrene stronger. Families deserve to know why this is the best plan. Synergize. Working together, we can find better answers than closing Murata. Sharpen the
125saw. Murata helped me grow in balance through learning, leadership, and fun. Find your voice. This is my voice. Please don't quiet our voices by closing Murata Leadership Academy. Thank you. Buenas tardes. Mi nombre es Henley y soy una orgullosa estudiante de sexto grado en el programa de doble idioma en la escuela secundaria en Ockyemal, AL. Senator Walsh, gracias por visitar nuestro campus recientemente. When you came, maybe you noticed the unique history of Okimo with indigenous communities. It is also possible that you have visited our gym with banners of championships and listened to our band of 132 members who continue to win prizes. Pero de lo que estoy más orgullosa es nuestro programa de doble idioma. Mis compañeros y yo comenzamos en Caimán de los Lagos y ahora en Akimó. Senator Jones nos enseña cada día
126por qué aprender un segundo idioma es importante para nuestro futuro. If Ocky Mott closes, you won't just close a building. You'll be closing the door on hundreds of students and teachers who believe deeply in the why of learning another language. Please, don't take the opportunity away from us. Gracias por tu atención. My name is Olivia Murphy and I'm here tonight because I am deeply concerned about the potential closure of Ocumal. Our school is more than just a building. It is a community. It is a safe place where students can grow, connect, and thrive. But for some of our students, it is much more than that. We are only... We are only a middle school on the west side of the tent that has a CCD program for our students with special needs. This program is
127not optional. It's essential. I'm in the AVID program, and every Friday we spend this time with CCD students through our Best Buddies program. This experience... has been one of the most meaningful parts of my education. We build friendships and understand the meaning of inclusion. Closing our school would mean uprooting these kids from a place where they are supported, understood, and given the tools to succeed. These students deserve the same opportunity as every kid in the academy, and that is where they are getting at Occamaw. They have teachers who know them, peers who accept them, and an environment built for access. I ask you to think about the five middle school option because those students are thriving at Ocumel, along with 800 other students. Ocumel is a place where everybody belongs, and learning is a possibility
128for everyone there. Thank you for your time. Hello, my name is Lincoln, and I am here to protect Ocumel AL Middle School. There's a lot of reasons why you should not close this place. There's a lot of amazing teachers here who can teach you amazing things. This place is a home for many future Rattlers who will become exceptional people and maybe big businessmen like you guys. Speaking of businessmen, let's talk business terms. Aki Mall is the middle school with the highest grades and the highest attendance rates. Let's say we close Aki and we move the kids to Altadena and Centennial. This would put those two schools at very high capacities and make it harder for the other teachers. Plus, estoy en el programa del lenguaje dual. En este programa tiene maestros asombrosos como señor Jones,
129señorita Orozco y señor Ana. Con la poder de dos idiomas, tiene la poder de dos mundos. Por favor, don't close Akimaw. Hello, my name is Abby and I'm a former student of Occamaw. When I first came to Occamaw in sixth grade, I was immature, caught up in drama, disrespectful, and I didn't care about anyone's feelings but my own. But the teachers here didn't give up on me. I still remember Ms. McCarthy, my principal, and Ms. Wood, my assistant principal, taking the time to sit with me even though they barely knew me and helping me work through everything. That effort built a relationship that changed me. Over the years at Aukimaw, I grew. I learned how to focus, how to communicate my feelings, and most importantly, that other people's feelings matter. I built friendships, I built
130maturity, and I became someone who takes responsibility for my actions. Freshman me still has room to grow, but I know I'm a better person today because of Aukimaw. Without this school and the people here, I wouldn't be who I am today. Please don't take away that opportunity from the students who come after me. Thank you. Have a good evening. Good evening board members. My name is Trevor and I'm a former Kyrene student specifically a proud Rattler from Aki Mall. Middle school was a difficult time for me and I was picked on in my previous school. But when I transferred to Aki I instantly felt welcomed. The atmosphere was different more different than I ever felt before. I felt like I was accepted for me. The staff is one that I'd never encountered before. The teachers
131who emailed me on weekends to see if I wanted to come in for practice and upcoming tests. The school psychologist who took the time to check on me during passing periods and the principal and assistant principal who noticed when I was having a tough day and would sit with me just to talk. The support I received at Aki made all the difference in my success today. My family is deep roots at Aki. My mom teaches there and even bought a house just 900 feet away so my sisters could attend. One of my sisters is now a seventh grader, and I'm hopeful my youngest sister will be a Rattler someday, too. I ask you to please reconsider the decisions regarding middle school options. The support and community at Aki is invaluable, and I want future students
132to experience the same opportunities. Thank you. I'm Lillian Wallace, a student at Kyrene De La Mirada, and today I am here to give my thoughts about why to keep Mirada open. First, it is my second home and has my family. I've been a student there for five years and have had an amazing experience. The teachers are so nice and they will lift you up when you are sad and they see to the best of your abilities and work with you to be the best person that you are. We are also an A-plus school, a Lighthouse school, and a Leader in Me school, meaning we have the eight habits and more activities than some other schools. And as an A-plus school, we also represent the district. I also have a little sister in second grade, and
133she is gifted, so if you use this proposal, she will not be with most of her friends. She will also lose most of her student and teacher family. Also, why should you close one of the best schools in Arizona? That is why you should keep Murata open, because it will hurt not just the students, but the district and important families. Everyone's voices matter. Thank you, and have a good rest of your night. Hi, I'm Ava, and I was a former student at Lagos, and now I'm an eighth grader at Akimaw. Closing Akimaw is not the brightest idea in the world, I would say. And sending these kids Centennial or Altadena raises questions on what's going to happen about the kids in Maricopa. You can't expect these kids to move to a different school and fit
134right in. You say that you want to cause distress, but you're causing an avalanche of stress for these kids, especially sixth graders now realizing that they have to switch to a different school. Plus the new subdivision opening up nearby, Altadena, that's also going to increase the amount of kids coming into Altadena. But you also have to realize that more kids coming in could also realize that it could cause distress for learning. cause distractions and more stress on the teachers. And I don't blame them. I mean, you're having to deal with lots of kids distracting. The population of schools, yeah, Estrella, Ockey Mall, and Desert Vista are all right next to each other. It's like a natural feeding ground. And closing those schools could cause less enrollment for the high school, such as Desert Vista or
135Mountain Point potentially. I would say it's a great mistake, closing the hockey mall, and I hope you fix it. I mean, I've been in Kyrene, in the Kyrene district for 11 years. Two in preschool, and then throughout. And I would like to say how you're breaking your promise about being inclusive for those students who make a commitment. to wake up at 5 o'clock in the morning, to travel all the way down here from Maricopa, and the kids who have disabilities, the special needs kids, you're not making it fair to them. So I would say you guys are breaking your promise, which is not good. I'm disappointed to see that, too. But I hope you guys fix that, and I hope you guys are inclusive and put your thoughts in. I mean, I was about to
136say something in Spanish, but clearly somebody took my idea. But please don't close Okimaw. It's an amazing school, and I learned a lot going into my seventh grade year and facing very difficult changes. Thank you. Hello, my name is Ryan Joukowsky, and I am a student at Okimaw Old School. I would like to inform you that Okimaw is an A-plus school, and the population is one of the highest middle schools in enrollment by choice. Plus, the AVID program is amazing, and we connect from that, too. So many students have grown so much. The students have made such an impact on the school, on me, and the people around me. I love all my teachers, and they have been so nice, helped me grow so much, and I am a student that has required certain support.
137which have gotten at my school, and I'm not willing to give that support up, I will ask you to please reconsider the recommendation to close Occam Hall. Thank you. Hi, my name is Emily Grimmer-Cohen, and I'm a former student at Ocky Mall Middle School. It would mean the world for me if the school doesn't shut down. Ocky Mall has an amazing dual language class for Spanish. Lots of us in the Spanish program will struggle to find a good school with good dual language class. Moving into... Another school just for one more year would be difficult, especially having new teachers and classes since I'm a seventh grader. We would have to learn the directions of our new campus. Aki Mall is the most beautiful campus and it would be hard emotionally to close it down. This
138campus has many years of history. It would be sad and heartbreaking to see it disappear. Aki Mall is all about students making friends. learning, having fun, making memories, and being in the awesome school community. The school holds memories, joy, and a sense of belonging. I met a few of my best friends at Aki Mall, and our teachers are so welcoming and help make our school feel safer. All the teachers here make learning more fun, even though they push us further than our limits. but they do it for an amazing reason. So please take this speech in consideration and make a good decision for the right reasons. Thank you so much for your time. My name is Rita. I'm a first grade student at Verada. Please don't close my school because I need to get to
139feel the love and respect in my school. Be happy if you let me feel the love of my school. I'll be so proud of you for not closing my school. I have been going to Murata since preschool. That is more than half of my life. Murata has taught me to be a leader. I heart Murata. Thank you. Hello, my name is Sabrina and I am a 7th grader at Pueblo Middle School. I live in the Mariposa neighborhood. After touring the school, my parents moved me from a charter school to Mariposa, not only because of its A-plus rating, but because of its sense of belonging, strong leadership, and proximity to our home. Kyrene East Option A not only keeps Mariposa open, but allows the most high-achieving schools in Kyrene to stay open, keeps the most families
140in the district, and builds long-term stability for Kyrene. In terms of my middle school, Pueblo, I would be over the moon if it was able to stay open. But with the current options given for Kyrene East, Pueblo will be closing. What I would love for Pueblo would be for Pueblo's teachers to be insured jobs in Kyrene. That the unique opportunities like the focus on the arts provided at Pueblo are able to be carried on to other schools. My hope is that when this change happens, it is a smooth transition for all involved. Lastly, when Pueblo does close, I would like for its legacy to be carried on. And when me or my peers say we went to Pueblo, it is remembered. Thank you for your time. Hello, I am Finn Reck, and I was a
141former student at Murata, and I am now in Pueblo Middle School. I know that Murata is an A-plus school because I graduated from there last year, and it was a really good school for me to end out on. And I know Pueblo, my current school, has a really good band program. Also, come watch our concert tomorrow night. And that is why Corona's marching band and band is so good. So we should keep those open and running. If we do, the people can stay in the preferred school they choose. Thank you for your time. Hi, my name is Tegan and I'm a sixth grader at Auquimalt in the dual language program. Keeping Auquimalt open is important for the dual language program. Haciendo que Auquimalt sigue abriendo es importante para el programa dual language. If Auquimalt closes,
142the friends I have been with... in dual language since kindergarten will leave Kyrene. Si Akimol cierra mis amigos que tiene porque de la programa dual language, a ese kinder va a salir Kyrene. Akimol with Principal McCarthy and dual language teacher Mr. Jones opens doors in my future because I can speak Spanish. Keep Akimol doors open! Hello, my name is Connor Scott and I am a fifth grader at Kyrene Daly Murata. I have been in Murata for four years and counting. And here's just a couple of reasons why Murata is an amazing school and why it should be saved. Firstly, Murata's teachers are amazing role models and are kind to every student. All the teachers I have had have been amazing welcomers and opened me with open arms. and with all my needs. Secondly, Murata has
143been an A-plus school of excellence since 2016. That is a legacy that will carry forever. Lastly, Murata is like a second home to me and my friends, and we want to see our siblings be able to go after we graduate. So this is why Murata is a strong and sturdy school and why it should be saved. Please don't close Murata. Please don't close my community home. I think that was all of our student speakers. You each did a fantastic job. You should be very proud of yourself. We are now going to proceed with our grown-up speakers. I'm going to do my best. If I see somebody that I know is a student, I'll pull them out. But if you hear me call a student's name and they've already read, just let me know and we'll
144go on to our next one. Our first speaker, grown-up speaker, is going to be Miss Katie Sturbins, who will be followed by Russell Parker. Following kids is rough. Okay, good evening. My name is Katie Sturbins. I'm a parent of three current Kyrene kids with a fourth starting kindergarten next year. I'm also a Kyrene alum and the daughter of Kyrene educators. We are a Kyrene family by history, but also by choice. In a state that promotes school choice, we've looked at the alternatives and we've chosen Kyrene year after year. Murata and Pueblo are not our home schools. They're schools we intentionally chose because they're the right fit for our kids. But if this plan moves forward, my family and many others will be forced to reevaluate that choice. Not because we want to, but because the
145very programs that make Corrine excellent are being dismantled. Under East B. Murata would be the only school split three ways. This is a glaring oversight in my opinion the result of a rush decision where more weight was given to the lines drawn on the map rather than the students this affects. I'm asking you to just pause and thoughtfully reconsider. Please don't move forward with a plan that risks losing the very families who have chosen Kyreen and want to stay. Thank you so much. Thank you, Ms. Sturbins. And Ms. Sturbins, you did a great job staying under time. I just want to make sure for our grownups, I will remind you if we get to the minute mark, I wanted to hear all of our student speakers in their entirety. So please go ahead, Mr. Parker.
146You'll be followed by Kristen Spikine. Thank you. Reviewing the August 27th meeting minutes and presentations, it is clear that key factors, equity programs, demographics were not fully considered alongside location. Murata serves as a highly diverse population, the second highest English learner enrollment in the district, high numbers of students receiving free and reduced lunch, and robust preschool programs. It is one of Kyrene's anchor schools with other programs other schools do not replicate. Kyrene schools are more than buildings. Closing Murata would fracture a thriving, diverse community. We respectfully urge the board to slow the process, account for all the data more fully, and protect Murata as a unique and vital school for Kyrene families. We thank you very much, and we also thank the Long Range Planning Committee for all the work that everybody has done. Thank
147you. Thank you, Mr. Parker. Our next speaker is Kristen Spikine. She'll be followed by Meg Astudillo. Good evening. My name is Kristen Spadkeen. I'm a former student of Aki Mall and I currently drive my two kids from Levine to Aki Mall in Lagos every day. Aki Mall is the largest middle school in the district because of families like mine. We choose it, not by accident, but because it works. We feel safe there. The administration maintains clear expectations, positive control with minimal drama, and that stability matters to us. I know that the demographer focused on geography and boundary lines, but our schools are more than maps. Please consider... the student and family choice, school climate, enrollment trends, and demonstrated success of current staff and leadership. A five-middle school option better reflects where families are choosing to
148enroll and preserve the culture and safety our children and our parents rely on. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Fikim. Our next speaker will be Ms. Meg Astudillo. She'll be followed by Councilmember Berdetta Hodge. Hi, I'm Meg Astadio. I was also on the Long Range Planning Committee. I have an eighth grader at Akimau. I have a fifth grader at Lagos. And so I also was in the position of voting to close my own kids' school. I just think that we have to do it. I think that we could stand up here and I could fight for any one of the Kyrene schools and tell you why that school should stay open. Akimel is no different. I'm very upset that Akimel is going to be closing. It's really going to be changing a lot in our household,
149but I can't in good conscience say not my school. So I know the Arizona State Legislature, they're the ones who don't value public education, but we in this room, we do. And so I know this change is going to be hard, but we've got to do the hard things because it's what's best for the children. We're putting our children first. I really urge the Kyrene community to focus what we can do to make this transition better for everyone. Thank you, Ms. Estudillo. Our next speaker is Councilmember Vedetta Hodge. She'll be followed by Betsy Joy Zengraff. Okay, thank you. Board members, superintendent, committee members, and community. I am Berdetta Hodge. I'm Tempe City Council member and also governing board member to your sister district with Tempe Union. And I know right now you guys are faced
150with a very hard and tough decision to make because this is not easy. And superintendent, she's going to weigh in. more than anybody else on this because she's the leader of the district. As a community, I understand every one of you guys' passion because I've been in those situations. Passion is going to be going to, it's one of the hardest things because you're connected to that community. But also what I have to look at also in this conversation is we need to know what's going to happen for the future of Kyrene. Kyrene itself. is going, no matter what we do tonight, no matter what we decide, it's going to affect what happens to the future. And you want your kids and your grandkids to be able to go to this school. We've got to make
151the right decisions. I thank you, and we'll be there to support. This is Vice Mayor Garland here with me, and we had Council Member O.D. Harris-Von Chandler. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Bessie Joy was a student, so she already spoke. Thank you. Is that right? All right. Thank you again. I think our next speaker will be Mr. Greg Lindsey. Go ahead. And Mr. Lindsey will be followed by Vanessa Smith. I didn't even talk yet. Our district does face a looming budget crisis. However, we believe the proposal voting process was too rushed with roughly an hour total of discussion and voting time with no larger discussion or debate allowed. While we believe there are data and methodology issues with the enrollment study and proposals, they mentioned that Kyrene's service rate has gone from 78% in
1522010 to 57% today. This shows that we primarily have a marketing problem, not a birth rate or housing development problem. Mr. Brammer stated there's a big enough gap between school-age kids and current enrollment that even a 5% to 10% boost would make a pretty big difference. That equates to 700 to 1,500 kids. In that same study, there was an enrollment projection given through 2030. Since then, we've received final enrollment data from the state. And as you can see in this chart, we're already 822. Oh, man, it was upside down. We're already 822 enrollments higher. than where we were projected to be seven months ago. If the gap is already this big, how much wider will it continue to get? Are we ready to make a permanent decision to close nine schools on this data alone
153and upend the lives of thousands of families? Please pause the vote, get a second opinion, let this amazing community pitch in with you to bend the service curve back up. Thank you, Mr. Lindsay. Our next speaker will be Vanessa Smith. Ms. Smith will be followed by Melissa Galarza. Good evening, board members. I am the parent of two children at Murata, and my family chose Murata not because of location or convenience. I live across the street from Cerritos and passed several elementary schools on the way to bring my children there. We chose Murata because of the community and environment that has been carefully and thoughtfully cultivated. I toured many Kyrene schools, and as a parent of an autistic child, I quickly realized that most schools could not provide the care and support he truly needed. At
154Murata, he is not only supported, he is thriving. He found a school family, and my daughter has as well. Not all Kyrene schools are created equal. Closing Murata would take away a safe, nurturing space that allows children like mine and so many others to succeed. Please don't take this away from our kids, our families, and our community. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Smith. Our next speaker is Melissa Galarza. She'll be followed by, I think, is Lillian Wallace a student? Yes. Okay. So she'll be followed by Jasmine King. Hi, everyone. Thank you, Superintendent Tenius, President Walsh, governing board members and guests for allowing us to speak today. As a former Kyrene student, a Kyrene parent, and now a grandparent of two Kyrene kids, and one of my daughters is now a Kyrene teacher. I want to
155tell you that I am so proud of the governing board members for your commitment to the Kyrene school district. You do this for free. I want to remind everybody, you do this for free. And your commitment does not go unnoticed. I thank you so much for all of your time and commitment. I also want to remind people that ESA vouchers are the ones that are... hurting our public schools. The legislature matters. Who we elect to our legislature matters. So I want to remind you that. And then my last one is, don't forget to vote this November. Yes on all of the bond overrides. Go, Kyrene. Thank you, Ms. Galarza. Our next speaker is Jasmine King. She'll be followed by Sherry Johnson. Hello, I'm Jasmine King. I'm a millennial mom, an Aki auntie, and from a
156Kyrene family spanning two generations. I think what our Kyrene community collectively needs is more time for review, reflection, and more robust data collection. This decision will undoubtedly negatively impact so many students and families. teachers, other faculty members, and staffs at our schools. Our children are more than bodies in a building. Our teachers are the precious hands in the field raising our community. Our faculty members are the people we entrust with our kids day in and day out. All of them deserve to not be uprooted and to have this decision made with evidence-based and factual information, and most importantly, patience. Pause the vote. Go Falcons and Rattlers. Thank you, Ms. King. Our next speaker is Sherry Johnson. She'll be followed by Ron Romo. Thank you. My name is Sherry Johnson. I'm a community member and former
157Kyrene student and parent. I want to thank the Long Range Planning Committee for the extensive time and effort that they put into their proposal. As a parent that moved from Levine to Ahwatukee, I can sympathize with the parents that are feeling sad, frustrated, and angry about the possibility of their school closing. However, I understand that this is not and should not be a surprise to anyone. Kyrene's enrollment has been declining since the early 2000s for reasons that have already been discussed. After the last board meeting, I had questions, too, about why certain schools were chosen to be closed, including my neighborhood school, Kalina. versus others. And I took time to review the website in depth. And what I learned from my research is that the committee took a regional approach focusing on maintaining programs and
158services while making equitable recommendations that impact as few students as possible and doing what is in the best interest of the district as a whole. For me, the best explanation came by looking at the map that showed how the schools were spaced out in relation to the middle schools. Buildings aren't what make Kyrene special. Thank you, Ms. Johnson. Thank you. Our next speaker is Ron Romo. He'll be followed by Aaron Tamayo. Good evening. At the August 5th board meeting, President Walsh clearly stated that both dual-language schools should remain intact on either side of the I-10. He also pointed out that Kyrene Del Norte brings in more out-of-district students than any other school at nearly 300. Why was that input ignored by the demographer? What changed in 20 days? Why close Norte just because of maintenance?
159Were full building inspections conducted and are those reports public? It's clear the long-range planning committee that isn't here wasn't empowered to create solutions. They were given seven preset options and told to choose. That's not collaboration. Our best option is to preserve our larger and or higher performing schools that attract families and strengthen our district. I urge you. reject this recommendation, go back to the drawing board, engage the community. Let's come up with a more equitable forward-thinking solution together. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Romo. Our next speaker is Erin Tamayo. She'll be followed by Mr. Nick Collins. Hello, Honorable Board. My name is Erin Tamayo. I'm a local faith leader, bilingual educator, and a parent of two Norte dual language academy students. As a bilingual and bicultural family, we chose Kyrene District because of Norte. This
160academy places bilingualism, biliteracy, and cultural awareness at the heart of every classroom and event. With dedicated staff and a rigorous English-Spanish curriculum, it draws families from across the valley who seek this kind of excellence. At the August 5th board meeting, President Walsh, you called Norte a flagship program, and rightfully so. Norte is both a model and a multiplier of dual language education, attracting educators who come to learn from its success. You also noted its prime location for out-of-boundary students and warned that Norte's success could easily be gutted if we are not purposeful. I urge you to remember these words. Please keep Norte open as the flagship dual language program that strongly contributes to the long-term success of Kyrene District. Thank you. Thank you, Reverend Tamayo. Our next speaker is Mr. Nick Collins. He'll be followed
161by Jennifer Montenegro. Hi, I'm Nick Collins. I'm a parent of a previous student who was at Altadena. So I'm not as invested as some parents and kids are here, but I sympathize with them and I sympathize with you guys for having to make this decision. And I know that I saw the data, the slides that you showed before about how this has been years that you've been trying to prepare for this and get this going. And I think that's... I mean, that's all you can do, right, is look forward and prepare for this. And I see that you've done that and you've had committees look at this. It's not going to be painless for anyone. I understand that. And just the fact that you had, you know, declining people moving in with families that contributed
162to a lot of this, but also point out, like someone else did before, about the ESA voucher decision that probably accelerated some of this. And that was sad to see that we went in that direction. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Collins. Our next speaker is Jennifer Montenegro. She'll be followed by, well, Kira Lee is a student. She'll be followed by Alicia Perez. Good evening. My family has been part of the Murata community since 2013, with two graduates and one child still attending. We chose Murata even while living outside its boundaries for its strong academics, unique leadership program, and close-knit environment where every child is seen and valued. That culture of care has been constant. Many families choose Murata, and our data shows enrollment here has not declined. We even bought our home because of the
163school, and when we leave another... another family will take our place. Murata is the heart of our neighborhood, connected by paths, bridges, parks, with Intel, a major Kyrene partner, just across the street. It gives children a safe, welcoming place to thrive. This year, my oldest, a senior at Corona, will return to Murata for the Senior Clap Out to inspire younger students, a tradition worth preserving. closing Murata wouldn't just disrupt classrooms, it would fracture our community. And it is the only school proposed to be split into three separate schools. I urge the board to preserve Murata, our community, and the friendships we've built by choosing alternatives to closure. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Montenegro. Our next speaker is Alicia Perez. She'll be followed by Samantha Smith. Thank you. I have two kids, one a Murata, one
164a Guerrero for Pueblo, and one that she's going in Corona right now. Here's an idea. Maybe survey the parents to collect more input to inform your decisions. That way you don't have four-hour meetings here because everyone wants to share their opinion. And there's another idea. A lot of parents go to Phoenix for arts education, but Hidden Chandler at Pueblo offers excellent art programs that many don't know about. So maybe spend some time telling our stories. We have a lot of stories about success. A lot of students from Pueblo were selected for the All-State Band Festival last year, including and my daughter. That's advertisement for Kareem District. That's coming from Pueblo. We have a lot of programs in there. The art program, culinary arts, the amazing choir. A lot of the students are in the gay
165program and they continue very well in high school in the band programs and the art programs. So it's a very good, rounded experience in there. So consider making Pueblo the art school that already is at heart. And we're ready to share our story. Just have to ask for that. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Perez. Our next speaker is Samantha Smith. She'll be followed by Veronica Foner. Hello, my name is Samantha Smith. So I'm representing the KTA community who feels very forgotten about at this point. I was kind of driven home tonight when we weren't even mentioned as a choice school. At the last meeting, I did ask that you considered thinking of our choice. We are in Arizona. We're all about choice. It's very different from where I came from. So taking away one of
166those choices, it feels like we're being replaced for the same reasons by a different choice school. So we. have talked to our community and in our polls, over half of the families said they would want to stay with the traditional model by leaving the school district and either going to a charter or another school that's three miles away from ours that's a traditional model in a different district. And of those, almost half of that we talked to live inside the GTA. boundaries, and also the number of kids that would be displaced from the apartments that are right next to us that we would have to bus across the street to Brisas or Paloma would cause even more of a transportation issue than we already have. So just things to consider. Thank you. Thank you, Ms.
167Smith. Our next speaker will be Veronica Foner. She'll be followed by Christy Wolford. Hello. I just wanted to say thank you to all of you, especially the long-term committee, with all your time that you guys took in putting in. However, KTA was not given the opportunity to show you guys what our school actually has to offer to our community. Arizona is considered a choice school. So many people are leaving with vouchers because they are going to these schools that compare to KTA. have 100 voices that parents gave their opinions on our model. And if you look at it, everybody that's in this model has specific reasons why they chose KTA over a regular Kyrene school. And I know Ms. Fay said that there's no favorites, but KTA does feel like we've been left behind. Not
168one person has come to visit our school. Not one person has been able to see what our kids are living up to. The dual academies got that. They got that opportunity. Our kids did not. And it's not fair. We're asking that you guys consider at least going to our school and evaluating before you consider cutting that choice out. Thank you, Ms. Foner. Our next figure is Christy Wolford. She'll be followed by Jennifer Guzzi. Okay, guys, I've talked here for the last couple of meetings. I'm not going to bore you with any more details on why Akimol should stay open, except they do have amazing programs. But if we are just talking about numbers and enrollment, Akimol is your largest enrolled school in the entire Kyrene district. That's going to cost more, not just financially, but
169emotionally to relocate your largest number of students. So if this is all truly about numbers, your number one school in enrollment is set to be closed. That doesn't make any sense. It's the number one choice school on the West side, 220. 25-plus families from the Centennial and Altadena regions are choosing to go to Akimal. And these borders are going to now force them to go where they... don't want to be anymore, it doesn't make sense. So please consider actual numbers and actual engagement that goes on at Akimol. Another thing, I have 16 seconds. Another thing is all the sports championships happen at Akimol's fields. So how odd and optics would be weird if suddenly the championships happen next to a vacant building. The news channels are going to have a field day with that. Well,
170let's not do that. Keep the numbers. Number one, Akimol is your school. Thank you, Ms. Wilford. Our next speaker is Jennifer Guzzi. She'll be followed by Carrie Haas. I'm from Murata, and my kids are in the self-contained gifted program. The district never asked any of us if we even wanted a full gifted academy. So we decided to survey the families at Murata. We heard back from 85 of our families representing over 100 students in our program. We found that... 93% of the families support the current gifted model at Murata. That's 93% of us supported what we currently have. Only 3.5% prefer a gifted academy at Millennial. If the current proposal gets approved, about 44% of families said they're likely or very likely to leave Kyrene altogether. That is a lot of students that the district
171will lose. The full survey results are included in this report, which I'm about to hand you. And you'll see that the overwhelming majority of families support keeping the gifted program at Murata. Please consider the kids who are currently in your care and let us have access to these amazing services in Tempe, Chandler. Thank you, Ms. Guzzi. Our next speaker will be Ms. Carrie Haas. She'll be followed by Kristen Cox. Hello again. In reviewing the demographer's data, I noticed significant errors in the assumptions driving these closure plans. He stated enrollment was balanced between east and west of I-10, yet his own numbers showed 5,709 students on the west side and 6,640 on the east. That is a difference of 931 students. He cited utilization rates as a driver for why he left out a particular school
172from any closure list. Yet again, that information does not appear factually correct. The demographer's input should have been just one step in this process, which should then be refined and vetted with community collaboration. I understand it's easy to outsource such a large task like creating this plan, but the biases and the errors in these plans are abundantly clear. When four schools on the west and five on the east are slated for closure with 4,555 students being displaced, I urge you to verify the facts and base that off the data. Thank you, Ms. Haas. Our next speaker is Kristen Cox. I believe Lincoln Monforte is a student. So he'll be. And I think Jody Cohen's a student. Jason Barrett. Jason Barrett, a student. OK, you're a grown up. You'll be followed. You'll be following Miss Kristen
173Cox. Thank you. The proposed Kyrene closures are based on models that need closer scrutiny. Our community includes experts in dynamic modeling and demographics, and their reviews highlight two major concerns. First, in the East models, Cielo's boundaries never change, yet projections do. from 697 students in option A, 677 in option B, and 592 in C. These shifts are subjective. They force open enrollment patterns to fit each option, and it also dismisses families' possible preference for Ameriposa and Murata in option A and B. Second, while it's true that open enrollment within Kyrene cannot be formally modeled, other districts' data show what happens after closures. Our quality-assured leakage model estimates Kyrene could close at least could lose at least 500 students with 700 to 1,000 most likely. If Murata closes, my family will be leaving, the modeler's family
174will be leaving, along with many other families that I have spoken with. We are glad to share our data to help you to ensure decisions are based on the full picture. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Cox. Our next speaker is Jason Barrett, who will be followed by Kevin Byrd. Hi, I'm sorry. I was called. I'm Jody Cohen. Oh, sorry. Go right ahead. Not a current student. Yes. Thank you. So hello. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Jody Cohen and I... a Kyrene parent with a seventh grader at Akimau by choice. And the Kyrene mission, as you stated, emulates rigorous, responsive education. And we need to make sure that that's extended to our research methods as well, going into these high-stake decisions. So I want to echo the sentiments for more time
175for consideration and evidence-based methodologies. We need multiple sources that embed diverse perspectives, things that are woven into the Kyrene mission, in particular when it comes to the demography on which all this is based. Because in other situations, we know like medicine, we get second or even third opinion. And we need to do that here to ensure that we have decisions that are optimal that minimize the consequences and disruption. And data collection is important. It gives validity and integrity to our results. And we need objectivity. So this is part of a comprehensive, rigorous process of balancing viewpoints and ensuring equity. It's not supposed to be fund biased or based on models questioned by their own purveyors. So thank you very much. Thank you, Skondra. Our next speaker is Mr. Jason Barrett. He'll be followed by Kevin
176Burt. Good evening. I just want to acknowledge the long-range committee as well as this board in making these decisions. I know that this is not a popular thing to be dealing with. I really want to thank the team responsible for looking into East Option A. They have presented the packet to the board with compelling data supporting East Option A as the most suitable and practical choice for families and children within the Kyrene School District. The data indicates that East Option A not only meets but... in most cases, exceeds the objectives established by the board. It also demonstrates a reduction in student displacement, contributes to maintaining the high quality that makes Kyrene the most desirable school district, and remains the optimal choice for retention than the other options. I recognize that there are budget cuts in
177schools and necessary, but I want to see if there's an ability to expand outside of the demographics. I wonder, though, if this option and the packet that we provided will have any bearing on this, as it seemed early on in this discussion, and I know I'm over, that only option B is presented on your website. Thank you, Mr. Barrett. And all of the planning is going into option B. Thank you, Mr. Barrett. So I wonder if we have an option. Our next speaker is Kevin Bird, who will be followed by, was Trevor Sherlock a student? Is Trevor Sherlock here? Trevor Sherlock. All right. If Trevor Sherlock, student. All right. Okay, Mr. Bird will be followed by Matthew Sparks. All right. I would like to thank the Long Range Planning Committee as well. Thank you guys
178for listening to us. I know it's long-winded. The Long Range Planning Committee has created a demographic options based on the regional models as three viable options and solutions to serve the Kyrene District. My goal today in speaking to you is to urge the board to apply now key considerations such as minimal impact, educational sustainability, and impact on communities. These are all part of the guiding principles that were outlined. As part of the packet that Mariposa has provided, I have kind of set a rubric essentially based on what they provided, and I hope that you guys will look at it. I'm not saying that these are the key factors, but we should identify the key factors that meet the rubric's qualifications and judge them impartially based on those options to consider what's most important. One key
179point that I'll point out is in option A, schools retain more students. 32% less students will be displaced. Roughly 300 fewer kids will be forced to go to different schools that are based on their homeschool assignment today. That keeps students and communities aligned. Finally, thank you, Mr. Bird. Thank you. Our next speaker is Mr. Matthew Sparks. He'll be followed by Amber McDormand. Thank you so much. This decision will ripple through our community for generations. It's going to affect our businesses, our homes, and most importantly, our children. No matter how you frame it, you are the ones within the power to make this choice. Please do not make our friends, neighbors, and community members your scapegoat. You are the leaders. It seems like the cart has been put before the horse. You said tonight that you
180don't even have the actual long-term plans or financials in place for the facilities you are looking to close, yet you want to shutter assets without knowing what to do with them. That is why I'm here. Closing Kyrene De La Colina will betray both logic and the principles set by the district regarding how the shutdown facilities will be used. Kalina shares facilities with the school to stay open on the list. Removing half the site's functionality will leave the district with an indefinite expense to maintain the full facility, or worse, force a lease to the only plausible candidate, a charter school. This is not a solution. Please pause before deciding to close an A-plus school. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Sparks. Our next speaker is Amber McDormand. She'll be followed by Mindy Olson. Good evening. My name
181is Amber McDormand. I have a student at Kyrene Del Norte. My family lives outside of the Kyrene district, and my husband and I decided to send our child to Norte because of the 50-50 model of dual language instruction. Over half of the families who send their children to Norte are from outside of Kyrene boundaries, and I am concerned that if Norte has moved into another school, there will not be enough capacity to grow the program. There are currently almost 500 students enrolled at Norte, which makes it the fifth largest elementary school in the district. I understand that you have a difficult decision to make, but I do not think that closing a valued program that brings in so many out-of-district families is good for the district long term. Overall, I have lots of questions about
182how the dual language program will be integrated with another school and continue to thrive. All of the families at Norte value the dual language program and want to ensure its continued success. Finally, I ask that if the board does decide Norte must close, it does not happen for at least two years. This will give the administration, staff, and families time to figure out how to combine our program with another school program and integrate more seamlessly into their already established community. Thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you, Ms. Cotorman. Our next speaker is Mindy Olson, who will be followed by Mark Marshall. Hi, thank you for your time. Good evening. I'm here to speak due to my disappointment of the potential closure of Kyrene Day La Mirada. Mirada is an amazing school with teachers
183that care, academics that thrive, and I believe has the most open enrollment. I believe that we should be looking at that instead of just the boundaries. I also want to say that we chose this school because of the proximity of our house to it and our kids can walk. My son goes to Pueblo, and the bus is late 90% of the time. And you guys are going to have a transportation issue that is crazy. And I think you need to really consider that before you do that. I understand the needs and everything you're saying about the schools needing to be closed and your financial things, but I think that we just need to be taking other things into consideration other than just boundaries and making a map of it. There are other things we need
184to consider, like transportation. And splitting my children up between three different schools. schools. My kid's going to Marauder. You're going to split them up, three different schools. That's crazy. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Ms. Olson. Our next speaker is Mark Marshall, who will be followed by Crystal Chow. Thank you for your time. I've been a property owner in the Kyrene District for, sorry, forever. For 17 years, sorry about that, I bought my property with the intention of tending my kids to Kyrene schools, in particular Murata. I lived in the area previously and was very fond of that school. I'm very blessed to have been able to send my children there, and they are actually through there. I got 11 great years at Murata. That being said, I want Murata to continue. This process
185that was done... was done based on geography. The middle of the east side of the district was just completely gutted. The A-plus schools are scheduled to be closed. There's no schools in the middle of the district. We're going by corners. And just based on geography, I encourage the board to look at the actual numbers in schools. Look at the test scores. Murata has test scores of 60% proficiency in math and reading. Some of the schools that we're talking about changing to have scores half that. That's going to change with school choice. Parents are going to choose different schools. Please keep your eyes open. Our next speaker is Ms. Crystal Chow, who will be followed by Shanasha Davis. Hi, everybody. Thank you so much for having me tonight. I, like you, volunteer a ton in my
186community. Been here with Pueblo, Corona, Menidas, and now I'm here with Aki Mall. As you move forward with these difficult decisions, I urge you to rely on real school data and recognize that not all programs are the same, not all administrators are the same, and not all environments are created, can be recreated, or relocated without serious risk to our students' educations. You will not be able to uphold the Kyrene promise by assuming every school can deliver the same outcomes. I've seen this firsthand. Despite incredible educators, my child and many, many others did not receive that promise at Menida's. We owe it to our students and more that it's just that's more than just a space. We owe them quality, stability and leadership that works. So please. Take your time while you make this decision going
187forward. And thank you for asking for a second opinion on all of this. Good evening. Our next speaker will be Shanshasha Davis. She'll be followed by Achat Shashata. Good evening. My name is Shanisha Davis, and I am a parent of KTA Ian Stewart. This child is a very gifted individual who was blessed to have the K-8 traditional model. This has been life-saving for us. We walk these sidewalks from the moment. He could walk. He just knew he was going to KTA every single day. Kyrene District allowed him early entry to school. And K-8, the last amount of changes for this gifted child has been tremendous. He has soared. He is way above natural average for all of his testing. This school model is a choice that you guys are going to take away from so
188many individuals. so many amazing citizens of Chandler and of Arizona. Okay? The traditional model is life-saving. Please consider it. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Davis. Our next speaker is Achuch Reshka, followed by Stephen Murda. Hi, thank you, governing board members. I am a parent of Mariposa. I have a daughter going into elementary, and I also have a son who graduated from Mariposa as well as Corona. I would like to request... As my daughter, she loves the computer program. And as we know, we are entering a very competitive world. And from what I see, having a kid go to this high-performing school will make them not just a very skilled workforce, but also they are capable of generating jobs. So I would like to request to reconsider. and have these high-performing schools continue and have our
189kids. And I have been living in the community from 2010 and would like to live more. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Mr. Stephen Morota, who will be followed by Kate Zengrat. Is Mr. Morota here? Okay. Our next speaker will be Kate Zengrat, who will be followed by Jackie Wallace. While the Kyrene School District undoubtedly faces financial challenges, the final proposal selection process has been far too rushed. Decisions of this magnitude require adequate time, data, and care. The Long Range Planning Committee was given only one meeting to hear presentations with an hour for table discussion. not true deliberation. This hurried decision resulted in an unbalanced result. The Eastside proposal overships the district's own capacity recommendations and displaces many more students than any other option. Forty 3% of East Kyrene students will be displaced
190from their current school choice. Additionally, Kyrene has one of the highest rates of boundary movement in the state, with 34% of families choosing schools based on personal criteria. The demographer himself admitted, we can calculate the population with accuracy, but choice is unpredictable and depends on family decisions at the dinner table. This rushed process pushes families away. We ask you to pause and pursue a more thoughtful, data-driven approach. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Zingratt. Our next speaker is Jackie Wallace, who will be followed by Mark Wolf. Good evening. My name is Jackie Wallace. I'm a parent of a fifth grader and a second grader in the self-contained gifted class at Murata. From an auditor's perspective, the proposal to close nine schools to save $7 million over five years lacks the financial analysis needed to justify it.
191Kyrene families understand the need to address the $1.4 million annual shortfall, but this is an extreme solution. Slide 26 of the April Long-Range Planning Committee meeting slide deck shows ongoing expenses like utilities and maintenance that are tied to buildings, even if they're closed. Without property sales or leases, these costs remain. Where is the data proving the district will actually save $7 million over the next five years? There is also no analysis on potential enrollment loss, which could further reduce revenue. This proposal risks damaging what makes Kyrene special, pushing more families away. Without clear, verified financials, the $7 million savings claim is incredible. I urge the board to pause this process and perform a complete and transparent financial analysis. Thank you. Our next speaker will be Mark Wolf, followed by Ms. Greenberg-Cohen. Was Ms. Greenberg-Cohen a
192student? Okay. Tegan Schafer was a student. Catherine Peters. Is there a Catherine Peters here? Well, we'll see. After Mark Wolf will be Catherine Peters. Go ahead, Mr. Wolf. I've been a Mariposa parent for 15 years. In 2007, my family moved to Tempe. The decision on where to live was driven by finding the absolute best school for my older daughter, and we moved into Festiva Tempe so that we would be districted for Mariposa. My older daughter attended Mariposa and then Pueblo, and my younger daughter just started first grade at Mariposa. Mariposa is one of 10 schools in the state to receive an A-plus School of Excellence rating five consecutive times. Both KTA and Murata are three-time A-plus schools. If Mariposa is closed, we're going to look for the absolute best A-plus school like Mariposa, including schools
193outside of the district. If we want to address declining enrollment, the solution is not to eliminate our highest rated schools. The solution is to keep our A-plus schools so that we can attract and retain students. Don't close more schools in three years. Thank you. Our next speaker is Ms. Catherine Peters, who will be followed by Lisa Leiden. Hello and good evening. Sometimes great people get bad advice. And ladies and gentlemen of the board, this is bad advice. Closing any schools within Kyrene is just plain wrong. Kyrene school districts are not just education to us, they are traditions that we're passing on from generation to generation. In 1998 and in 1999, two mothers made the decisions to uproot their families and move them into the Kyrene school district. One started at Kyrene down Norte, and one
194started at Millennial. The Millennial student was my husband, and I was the Norte student. You guys say that this is an issue with a problem with birthing children, but I have a nine-month-old that is looking to go into the preschool program, and I know at least five other mothers who are here today or were here today that also have students that will also be going into the Kyrene School District. So make it make sense. Again, great people such as yourselves sometimes get bad advice, so please don't take this bad advice. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Peters. Our next speaker is Ms. Lisa Lydon, who will be followed by Michelle Kay. Good evening, and thank you for your time. I have many concerns about the proposed changes being considered by the Kyrene School District. The one
195I would like to address tonight relates to the demographer's proposals offering zero options for the committee to keep Kyrene De La Colina open. Just as many other Kyrene parents have voiced, I love my children's school. I understand changes must be made. I am asking that additional time be allowed to determine what changes are most appropriate and truly in the long-term best interest of the Kyrene community. The plan to close my neighborhood school seems short-sighted. In listening and re-listening to committee meetings, all I have heard is that once a school is closed, the savings depends on the land and site use after closure. And to know this, we will have to dive deeper. A public vote is required to sell or lease property, and it is a timely multi-year process. Please allow time to fully entertain
196alternatives. Oh, excuse me. I think I'm hitting a batch of overflow blue cards, so I'm going to start calling the next two on deck. We're trying to get down here quick. I didn't mean to make you run down a flight of stairs. So our next speaker is this Michelle Kay. I believe Kelsey Wolf-Danae is a student. No. Oh, you're still. Oh, perfect. Kelsey, you're here. Kelsey, you don't have to run downstairs. And then followed by Veronica Juarez. Please go ahead. Good evening. I'm Michelle Kay, a former employee, mom of two incredible daughters at Kalina by choice, and the proud Kalina PTO president. Closing Kalina is a huge mistake. A second look is needed. Kalina has an A report card ranking from the state of Arizona since 2017. Kalina is an A plus school of excellence
197since 2018. And Kalina's school-wide behavior system is implemented with fidelity at the highest awarded level. Superintendent Tanya's, these things do matter to parents. Instead, some of the Westside elementary schools are staying open, have lower state scores, are not A plus, and are not as effective in managing behaviors. But above all, by closing Kalina, you... would be requiring the most sensitive and largest CCD population on the west side to move locations. Kalina has three CCD classrooms. You say you want the best possible situation for our students, then don't disrupt the students who already have the best location for their program that cannot be replicated anywhere else. I know this board sees our Kalina kids. Thank you, Ms. Kay. We'll back our pack and save Kalina. Thank you. Our next speaker is Ms. Kelsey Wolf today, who
198is not a student, followed by Veronica Juarez and then Mr. Andrew Murphy. Thank you, governing board members, Brenton and Tinius. I was a Kyrene kid, so at one point I was a Kyrene student. I am here tonight to represent the amazing community of Kyrene de la Mariposa, and I have to say that it has been wonderful the past couple weeks to learn more about the other Kyrene schools that we all are here and passionate about supporting. I wanted to stand here as part of the Mariposa community for our 389 students and amazing 50s teachers and staff who couldn't be here tonight because we do have that privilege to be here, to be working all evenings and weekends and all of this work. And so we want to recognize that privilege. And we do want to
199work with you. We did our homework. We have a packet for you all looking at EASE Option A. Granted, the statements tonight threw a bit of a curveball in terms of what you're thinking and moving forward, but we look forward to partnering with you on making a data-driven decision. Thank you. Have a great night. All right. Our next speaker is Ms. Verona Cujares. We'll be followed by Andrew Murphy and then Abby Owens. Hi, everybody. Veronica Juarez, a Pueblo mom. We moved here four years ago. With our four kids, we came from Texas, a top district in Texas. So I did my research for five weeks, looking for the best that Arizona could offer me. We started at the top, choosing Corona del Sol, buying a house there. It went Pueblo, Marada as well. I did
200care about the A by the school significantly. I was also, I would thank you. I was also looking for a well-recognized, I mean, great top-notch band program because the arts, the scholarly research says it's highly tied to academics. I think a lot of this is a story that strategic marketing has not covered in Kyrene. Pueblo Band, for instance, superior with distinction for 10 years. At the Arizona All-State level, 16 were from Pueblo. Who does that? Out of that, five of them, first chair. That is not normal. That's extraordinary. And the story is not being told. We chose Kyrene for excellence. Thank you. Our next speaker is Andrew Murphy, who will be followed by Abby Owens and then Karine Inouye. Good evening. I'm Andrew Murphy, father of four Kyrene Del Norte daughters. I'm here to speak
201in strong opposition to the proposed closure of the Kyrene Del Norte Dual Language Academy. Unlike most schools in the district, Norte is projected to maintain steady year-over-year enrollment. In a district where total enrollment has fallen nearly five percentage points in just one year, steady demand is something we cannot afford to turn away. Families are choosing the school because of its dual-language program, its culture, and its results. Norte is also a magnet for families across the valley, approximately 60 percent. Excuse me, are you even listening to me, ma'am? No, she's not. That's true. 60% of the students are out of district. Many of those families will not simply transfer elsewhere in district. They will leave for charter schools or neighboring districts, taking millions of dollars of funding from them. I really do, as many have echoed,
202ask you to pause and really consider whether or not you're making the best decision. Thank you, Mr. Murphy. Our next speaker will be Abby Owens. Who will be followed by Corrine Inouye and then Kenny Wolford. Is Abby Owens here? Oh, student. Thank you. All right. Our next speaker will be Corrine Inouye, followed by Kenny Wolford and then Brandon Kimball. Okay. Good evening, guys. Thanks for, it's me again. Appreciate you guys listening to us again. I had a speech, but I'm not going to use it. I really appreciate you guys. Especially for you letting the students go first. You guys are showing us. You're saying the right things. You're listening to us. Member Davis, your opening was great. We have shared a ton of data with you guys. We are coming from a very data-driven... approach
203to look at all the options that we had. Please use us. We have found all the nerds at Mariposa. All of them. And we have been in all kinds of modeling and data modeling here. And we urge you guys to use us. We hope you guys look at us like a team, like we look at you guys. We want to help our team win. We want Kyrene to stay strong. So please look at the packets. Use us. Reach out to us. We are accessible to you guys. Kelsey is our president, so please use her first, and then she'll filter it out. I promised not to do a dance. So thank you guys. Thank you, Ms. Inouye. Our next speaker is Mr. Kenny Wolford, who will be followed by Brandon. Is Kenny here? All right. We
204have no Kenny. Our next speaker will be then Brandon Kimball, who will be followed by Alice Scott. And then, need I go? Hold on this. All right. Good evening, board members. I speak to you tonight not only just as a community member, but as a parent who has three kids in this district. I have one in Australia, one in Alkmaar, and one in Desert Vista right now. Just to see them go through their lives right now. These schools are not just buildings. They're lifelines. Enrollment is rising. They're all A-plus schools. The families choose them because they offer the gifted programs at Australia, the arts, the music, the special... education support. Hockey Mall has the dual language, AVID, college readiness, and the real-world learning like its agriculture program. Side by side, they all create a seamless
205path into the Desert Vista, giving these families stability and strength to provide stepping stones to adulthood. Closing them would not just shut the doors, it would tear the heart of a thriving community. Please just reconsider. Not just an option A, option B, but an option to keep more schools open. Our children are not just dots on a grid. They are the future of Kyrene. Once the foundation is gone, it can never be rebuilt. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Kimball. Our next speaker will be Alice Scott. Hello. Good evening, governing board members. I urge you to please pause and base your decision on retention and net ADM, not seat counts. There's no attrition-adjusted ADM analysis showing Kyrene would gain funded students by closing Murata. Murata is thriving and is a retention engine. It's an A-plus school
206of excellence, offers a leader in ME Lighthouse program, and self-contained gifted classes. With about 60% open enrollment and about 20% from outside Kyrene, it brings in about $650,000 a year in added revenue. A recent survey of over 80 gifted Murata families shows 93% prefer self-contained gifted inside a general school, not at an all-gifted academy. Close Murata and many will not shift within Kyrene. They will leave and ADM falls. Without contrary proof, the fiscally safe choice is to keep a high-demand A school like Murata open. Please pause, reconsider, and keep Kyrene de la Murata open. Thank you. President Walsh, I'm so sorry. We had another student who wanted to speak. She didn't come during the student section. Could she take a moment to do that? I would love that. Thank you so much. This is Phoenix
207Kimball. Thank you. Please go ahead. To everybody. Thank you. Well done. Our next speaker is Ms. Lina Hernandez, and then she'll be followed by Representative Stacey Travers. Hi, thank you all for the hard work that you've done. We know this is a hard decision and that changes are coming, though we're not sure exactly specifically what they'll look like. I'm here as a North Day parent. to urge you to consider holistically what dual language offers to our communities and to communicate clearly with families, both in district and out of district, how you'll be able to preserve the amazing holistic bicultural awareness that is currently baked into the Dual Language Academy with any potential changes. And so we know that a lot of people are choosing Kyrene because it's offering something extra. in terms of the dual
208language programming in comparison to neighboring districts. And we really implore you to continue that record of excellence in terms of dual language education that goes well beyond just a vocabulary list, as we all know. Thank you. I come to you with two hats today. First, as a parent of Kyrene kids, I am a proud KTA parent, and I can tell you that I love that model. I'm disappointed that no one on the Long Range Planning Committee really wanted a K-8 because they wanted their kids to have the middle school experience. I can tell you from my experience, middle school sucked. I'm very proud that we are one out of 212 elementary schools, the most diverse, the most diverse out of 822 middle schools. I just, we want to expand choice in the school, and I
209think this is one of the choices, and I do hope that you will consider it. Very quickly, as a legislator, I can tell you I have had an overwhelming number of correspondence and phone calls about parents who said, if I had known that the Long Range Planning Committee meant closing schools, that I would have applied to be on the Long Range Planning Committee. Because this matters. I hope you will indulge me for a few more seconds. So people didn't know and people are just finding out and we need. you, as you have shown the grace, to want to consider the options more. Now that we do know and now that we are engaged about what's at stake, I hope that you will allow us to continue the conversations. A little bit of what I heard
210today have been sort of mixed. I hear on the one hand that this is kind of a done deal, and then I also hear like we still want to do more and we want to have input. And so I'm asking you on behalf of parents that have that have written to me and called me and I call every single one of those people, all these people back that reach out to me and say, you know, we came here because all the parents that you see here came because they chose to be at these schools. I can almost guarantee you that more than 90% of these are choice parents. And so, you know, we need to make sure that we consider them, consider every other input, look at all the other choices. And I just thank
211you. Thank you so much for your time. And I will say one other thing. I am in the state legislature and I do care and value education more than anything. And you have people there who do care and we are fighting for you guys. And this is absolutely heartbreaking for every single district in the state that has to make these hard choices. We are fighting for you. So please. call, write, make sure that the people that you don't feel are advocating for you are advocating for you because that is their job. That is my job. My job is to represent everybody here, not just as a parent, but as constituents, as citizens who believe in the power of education and what education can do and the future that it can create. And so thank you
212all for not having all the decisions in your head, looking at other options, being able to work with other parents. I will stop now. I've gone way over my limit. But thank you to every single parent that is still here, every single parent that is still listening, every administrator, every staff member. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you, Representative Travers. Our next speaker will be Aubrey Bloom, who will be followed by, let's see, Ryan. Looks like he's a student. Nika Wadzik. Thank you so much. I'm going to make this very quick. I'm a parent of a student at the Bilingual Academy at Norte. It is the crown jewel in terms of bilingual academies. It is truly unique. And we have a lot of concerns about why you would want to close down such a
213unique program and merge it with another. Norte is one of the highest performing schools. It brings gifted students in from other parts of the valley. And so to open up another gifted program, why are we doing that? We already have one. It's happening today. We also would like to know if we can go back to the drawing board. Many of us, as you've heard, feel that the process is rushed. We would like to give Norte specifically because of its unique program status more consideration. We know that Norte is expected to be one of the largest elementary schools in the district by 2031. But the data that we've been shared does not really reflect that. So, again, we have some concerns with how the data has been looked at. And thank you. Thank you, Ms. Bloom.
214Our next speaker is Ms. Nicole or Niko Wachik, followed by Peter McElvain. Hi, my name is Nikki Wojcik. Like, whoa, check that out. Kyrene Dela Morata is uniquely positioned to serve students and retain families. With a service rate as Kyrene's greatest challenge, Morata stands out. 78% of boundary families choose it, the third highest in the district. 60% of students enroll from outside of the boundary, bringing in nearly $650,000 in out-of-district revenue and proving that it is a destination school. State data shows Murata's enrollment has remained steady since 2022. As the only Leader in Me Lighthouse certified school in Chandler, Murata carries a prestigious distinction earned over years and at no cost to the district, funded entirely by the PTO and principal support. Murata integrates a self-contained gifted program, one of the district's largest CCD programs,
215strong English learning services, and a preschool of inclusion. It is more than a school. It is a model of equity, choice, and programming. Under the current proposal, Murata is the only school slated to be divided among three campuses. This disruption is inequitable and unnecessary. We urge the board to pause, consider all data, including tonight's points. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Rochek. Our next speaker is Peter McElvain. Followed by Peter here. Peter left. All right. I think is Eva Maneja a student? I know we had an Eva speak among the students. So if Eva, you're here. Otherwise, Finn, I know is a student. Stacy Huerta. Our next speaker will be Miss Stacy Huerta. Followed by Sabrina Pratt is a student. Followed by Cesar Torres. Is Stacy here? If you're upstairs, you can come on down. We'll
216move on to Mr. Cesar Torres, who will be followed by Matthew Cox. Hi, I want to thank all of you for all your work to my daughter and Kairinda Norte. The parents at Norte have many questions about the integration onto Waggoner. And like the superintendent said earlier, this consolidation of Norte into Waggoner. But the one question that I had the most is about numbers. We are 500, and Waggoner right now is 400. And that adds up to 900. demographer put 710 students on the calculations. And that either means that some of our parents are not going to be going to Waggoner, and we want to know if that's the case, especially me, that I'm an out-of-boundary parent. Thank you. Is Ms. Stacy Huerta here? All right, Ms. Huerta. She'll be followed by Matthew Cox. Hello,
217I'm here representing Akimal Middle School. We are the highest enrolled school in the entire district. Families choose us because of our strong reputation as an A-plus school, our exceptional fine arts and athletics programs. our status as an avid school and our well-developed electives. And you just got a live presentation of what our dual language programs can do. By the way, those were all sixth grade students. We have the right people. in place and our enrollment numbers reflect that success. Currently we have 852 students including 455 inbound, 177 school choice, meaning these are Kyrene families choosing Aki Malazar as their home school. And we have 217 open enrollment students who commute to attend. Despite district-wide declining enrollment, families are still calling weekly about enrolling at our school. Given these facts, it is deeply concerning that Aki
218Mall is being considered for closure. Closing the middle school with the highest enrollment and the proven ability to attract and retain families does not make sense. It seems that the decision was based heavily on one demographer's boundary study. Thank you, Ms. Huerta. Okay, thank you. Our next speaker is Mr. Matthew Cox, who will be followed by Carly Fleek. Hello. So the district is facing a serious challenge. Declining enrollment combined with the number of schools currently operating creates a complex situation that deserves careful consideration. Throughout the year, the Long Range Planning Committee reviewed enrollment and geographic data. The message was clear. Enrollment is down and budgets are tight. But when options were presented to the board, I'd say the clarity faded. The approach was a little too high level, overlooking important school and community level factors.
219Take Murata, for example. While district-wide trends show a decline, Murata has seen 13% cumulative growth from 2010 to 2024. According to the Arizona Department of Education, as well, cohorts from 2010 to 2019 averaged 13% growth, with 14% overall growth with the addition of the current cohorts who haven't made it all the way through fifth yet. This suggests that factors beyond birth rates and boundaries, like open enrollment, play a role. And as an out-of-district family who chose Marada, not Car- Ah, dang. Our next speaker will be Carly Fleeg, who's going to be followed by Benjamin Greenberg. During the last meeting, I shared the deeply personal reason I chose Murata for my son, but I didn't get to finish. The impact of leader in me is powerful. Reduced bullying, stronger self-regulation, fewer discipline issues, better attendance, higher
220engagement, and academic gains. Skills and protective factors that can be life-saving. Even if you launch a new program tomorrow on the east side, it would take four to seven years to build what Murata already has. You can't just replace that, and you can't rebuild trust with families who feel pushed out. Marada families chose to be here. 42% from within boundary, 18% from outside of the district. And within our neighborhood boundary, 78% of eligible families chose Murata. Families deliberately chose this school, this program, this principal, these teachers, and this community. You can't recreate that by splitting up our kids across three schools. When service rates have dropped from 78.6% to 57.3%, closing a desirable retention magnet like Murata is going in the wrong direction. It will drive more families away from the district, away from public
221schools, and into the arms of charters and private schools. Pause the vote, please. Thank you, Ms. Fleeg. Our next speaker is Mr. Benjamin Greenberg. He will be followed by Bethany Benesch. Your committee stood here tonight and stated to you that they performed a detailed analysis to present a complete budget, yet failed to present to you and these families and students here the facts. National data shows that after multiple school closures, the five-year budget shortfall for a typical affected district is $37.4 million because of the loss of property taxes. Your proposal does not mention the diminution in property values to the Greater Kyrene community, exceeding more than half a billion dollars of residential losses of generational wealth to these children. Kyrene and these schools drive property value. Every percentage drop in home value from school closure
222is matched by a drop in property tax revenue to Kyrene. Examples of your proposal include Kansas City, $237 million in lost school revenue from closures in just six years. Toledo, $13 million annually. Cleveland, Ohio, $9.2 million annually. Thank you, Mr. Greenberg. Our next speaker is Ms. Bethany Benesch, who will be followed by Catherine Parker. Hi, my name is Bethany Benesch, and I have a kindergartner at Mariposa. Previously, I worked on the bankruptcies of Sears and Toys R Us, where both companies chose to close stores rather than fix their failing business model. That said, I encourage you to stop dismissing school quality as a metric. High quality, highly utilized, and highly enrolled schools are the strong business models. Please keep the schools that make our district strong, because there are people, like myself, that toured 18
223schools and won't just send my kids to any building. but instead desire the best school for my kids. Kevin, your comment helps restore my trust that the board will now consider the metrics beyond geography, and we are all here to help and want the best schools for our kids. Lastly, I invite any of you board members to join us in our walk to school to witness the magic of the classic neighborhood school that we still have at Mariposa. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Benesch. Our next speaker is Catherine Parker, who will be followed by Nick Walker. Hello. I have three children attending Murata, and so far one of those children is being qualified as being gifted. The other two we don't know yet, but frankly it doesn't matter. Our family would never separate our children
224into different schools if Kyrene proceeds with changing Millennial to be a gifted-only model. It goes against everything that we hope to instill in them by growing up in a mixed environment of different backgrounds, strengths, and skills. It's a precursor to how the rest of their adult lives will play out. We would have never been a Knox or Aspire family, but we are a Murata family because it offers the best of all worlds. It meets all of our students where they are at. I find it incredible that Kyrene is considering a risky gamble on trying to replicate some gifted programs that have already been well established in other districts. instead of continuing to build up these very successful and proven gifted cluster schools. These programs are a feature. They're not a bug of this district. They
225are anchors in the community. They draw on families across boundary lines because those families like us choose this program. Starting from scratch and attempting to siphon students who have already chosen a different path while disregarding families who want this path will not fix the enrollment or budget problems you currently face. It will only risk more displacement and loss of funding and loss of trust. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Parker. Our next speaker is Mr. Nick Walker. Is Nick here? Nick left. You may speak on his behalf, please. Thank you. So, yes, Nick just had to leave and his wife. Oh, I'm Kristen Bierling. I am the PTO president at Kyrene Del Norte. So I just know that Nick and Courtney are big supporters and wanting to make sure that you guys know what Norte is
226and what we care about is our dual language program. And what matters to us is maintaining that program. We understand we're in a terrible position to have to shut down buildings and we understand that. So what we stand behind, what I stand behind is. is maintaining our program. We have an amazing community that we've built with that culture and that language and that love, and that's what we want to make sure we maintain. We can understand buildings. We can recreate buildings for us, for me, what I believe, but we cannot recreate our dual language that's been built, and we can't recreate our community. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Kirkwood Buckman, who will be followed by Veronica Morales Castro. Is Kirkwood here? All right. Thank you. So a lot has been said and
227what's not being talked a lot about that I haven't heard from you guys is about culture. I wanted to talk about the culture of the school. So this is when you want to know someone, you got to get up close and personal to get to know them. And when the committee. that gives out the A-plus ratings, gave out the A-plus ratings, they didn't just look at test scores. They actually visited the schools, visited the faculty, the staff, and students before giving out the A-plus schools. So what that tells us is they could have just sat back in an office and given out the... A-plus ratings, but they actually wanted to understand what the culture is. And that's something that we want you to consider because anything can be replicated. But the one thing that you
228cannot replicate and transfer anywhere in making these decisions is the culture. Thank you, Mr. Buckman. Our next speaker is Veronica Morales-Castro, who will be followed by Paul Decker. Hi, good evening. My name is Veronica and I have my five-year-old son attending Cairn del Norte. I'm just going to start. I mean, everyone has the same information, so I'm just going to start with this. Just some of my experience. My mom was born in 1947, and I speak better Spanish than she does. And my Spanish is far from perfect. Her story shared many of being physically abused by teachers for speaking any type of Spanish at home and actually at school as well. I was lucky enough to be taught by my grandparents, and I was praised for speaking Spanish. at home by my grandparents. I chose
229to send my kids to Spanish-focused schools, Cariño del Norte, for diversity, language, and most importantly, to belong. But now it seems as though we once again are fighting for the right to speak our language and celebrate our diversity. Closing Norte will create an uphill battle that was fought for. Pathway is not the way. We need to keep the academy, even if we are given a new school. Thank you. Thank you. Our next speaker is Mr. Paul Decker. He'll be followed by Chris Whalen. Hi, I'm one of the Mariposa nerds you talked about. I have a degree in computational mathematics and have recently worked as director of data analytics. As parents, my wife and I chose Mariposa specifically for its computer science focus. You've heard some of this already, but we've analyzed this data so much
230it bears repeating. When comparing East Option A with Option B, they both close the same number of schools, but Option A spares over 200 children from being displaced. That difference isn't just the stat. It's 200 friend groups, classrooms, and families disrupted. Option A preserves 256 more children in their home schools, a 30% increase compared with option B. Families stay connected, kids keep their routines, and there's inherently less risk of pushing families to charters and neighboring districts. And if the board is open to discussing... closing fewer schools. The data I've shared just shows one way how we can pursue the discussion thoughtfully, minimizing disruption, preserving our strongest anchors. The closures are equal, but the impact is not, the data shows. East option A better serves more Kyrene families. Thanks for hearing this. Thank you, Mr. Decker.
231Our next speaker is Mr. Chris Whalen. He'll be followed by Hannah Engholm. My name is Chris Whalen. My daughter Nyla is a third grader at Murata and my son Asher, a prospective kindergartner. Their future is now under threat. Nyla's Murata experience has been incredibly positive. That being taken away because of utilization metrics is deeply upsetting. You'll hear similar personal impact statements from countless affected families and plenty more about what sets Murata apart as a shining light in our community. I hope those stories are being given the consideration they deserve. But if it really does boil down to numbers, Murata still stands strong. The problem seems simple. Declining enrollment in the same number of schools equals unsustainable finances. The solution must be to decrease the number of schools, but that's wrong. The underlying statistics show that
232declining enrollment is not a constant, but a variable that needs to be part of the overall solution. Demographic trends are supposedly sending fewer students through Kyrene's doors. However, census data shows that the number of children within district lines has remained relatively constant. Any response must analyze both variables. Please capitalize on the exemplary schools already flourishing instead of disbanding them. Murad is an advertisement for Kyrene excellence. Many of its students come from outside the dotted lines, all because they saw our Lighthouse Academy shining from afar. Please do not snuff out that light. Thank you, Mr. Whalen. Our next speaker is Hannah Hung, who will be followed by Shanna Easterbrook. Hello, I'm Hana Hong. Thank you for the opportunity to speak and taking time to listen. I'm a proud parent of two children who attend Mariposa Elementary
233School. I want to express my deep appreciation for the diversity and dedication that our school community defines. Mariposa's student population reflects a diversity of backgrounds, including my own children who are South Korean. This diversity is one of the school's greatest strengths. I feel very fortunate my children are... able to have a better school experience than myself as there are only a handful of minorities when I attended elementary school. It's important to recognize that part of this diversity includes students who are economically disadvantaged. Mariposa has 43 percent of students that receive free or reduced price lunching versus the Kyrie district at 27.3 percent. These numbers reflect the need for continued support and thoughtful decision making to prioritize equity and stability. My wife is also a graduate of the Kyrene School District, and we chose our home
234because of that. Mariposa has built a strong school culture with great diversity, so East Option A is an ideal course of action. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Hong. Our next speaker is Shana Estabrook, who will be followed by Karen Seelock. Hello, my name is Shana Estabrook. Thank you, Governing Board and the Long Range Planning Committee. I am a Mariposa parent. Please choose quality over convenience. Math and ELA proficiency, concrete measurable outcomes. Research from the Chicago school closures in 2013 found that students only benefited academically when moved into the top performing schools. These studies also state it can take three to five years to rebuild a positive school culture with high academic achievement. That is time Alana, Sienna, and their friends do not have. Please reference the packet. Bottom line, East Option A expands, strengthens our
235top-performing schools. We have the opportunity to welcome more families into the thriving culture of Mariposa for the future of Kyrene. Please choose quality over convenience. Thank you for your wisdom. Thank you, Ms. Destenberg. Our next speaker is Karen Seelock, who will be followed by Jesse Gerhardt. Good evening. I'm here as a support of the KTA community as a parent who chose KTA for three reasons. Its traditional model is one of only two National Blue Ribbon schools in the Kyrene District and is the number one ranked school as the most diverse public elementary school out of over 1,200 schools in Arizona. We are concerned that the traditional model is being overlooked and undervalued as a choice model like dual language and gifted, which we've heard a lot of speaking about tonight. We are asking that the
236board reconsider the impact of removing one of these choice models because of its focus on its academic rigor. We recently gathered data showing that 42% of our families are within KTA boundary, also minimizing the cost of transportation that you mentioned earlier, Kevin, as being a factor. we would have to bus nine apartment complexes to two different schools to be split up. 20% are within Kyrene boundaries but chose KTA for the traditional model, and another 30%, including myself, attend KTA from outside district boundaries for this choice model. Over 60% of the parents that we surveyed indicated they would leave the Kyrene district and move to another district in order to pursue the traditional model. That's more than half that plan to leave the district which will further lend to enrollment decline in Kyrene We just ask
237that the model remain as an option for the entire Kyrene district instead of being Discounted. Thank you Thank You miss. See lock. Our next speaker is Jesse Gerhardt will be followed by Bethany bench Evening, guys. My name is Jesse Gearhart. I'm a father, and my kids attend Kyrene Traditional. Our home district is Chandler, but after a bad experience in a dual-language school in the Chandler district, I made the choice to move my kids to KTA and make the daily drive. I have a daughter in third grade and a son in sixth. The traditional model was very important to me, and both my kids are now thriving at KTA. I chose KTA because it is one, a Blue Ribbon School, which is a national honor awarded to schools that have shown outstanding performance in closing educational
238gaps between lower performing and higher performing students. Nearly 20% more KTA students are meeting math and reading standards than other students in the state. KTA is the only school in the district that allows traditional curriculum model and a K-8 model. If you close KTA, I would have to move my kids back outside of Kyrene Traditional to find the traditional model. KTA is a choice school. Please do not take away the choice. And I support East Option A. Now that I wrapped that up, these guys never mentioned the traditional model. Like, please look at the traditional model. Our next speaker is Bethany Benesch. Oh, all right. Somehow you got in here again. Followed by Ms. Lindsay Arendt. Is Lindsay here? All right. So our next speaker with me is Lindsay Arendt, followed by Holly Robertson. Hi.
239Thank you. I can go on longer than my allotted time talking about how amazing Murata is and how important it is for the model there to continue. The model where everyone thrives, from the self-contained gifted classrooms to the special education program to the leader-in-me lighthouse leaders. They are all integrated into one school. that families repeatedly choose. This is so important in efforts to promote inclusion and equity. The proposed plan would fracture this Murata community into three different schools. However, I do want to take this time to urge you to please slow down this process and look at all the information available. In the few weeks since the Long Range Planning Committee voted on the recommendation, I've seen the amazing parents in multiple communities band together to look for solutions based on all the facts and
240data available, not just geography and capacity. These remarkable parents have and will continue to be sharing all the data and facts with you. I ask you to pause and consider all that data. Collaborate with us for solutions before you would choose an option that would displace thousands of students, disrupt many neighborhoods, and divide numerous families into different schools. Thank you for listening. Thank you, Ms. Arendt. Our next speaker is Holly Robertson, who will be followed. Let's see, Olivia Murphy is a student. Rena Mulder is a student. Connor Scott. Is Connor Scott a student? Yes. Connor is a student. Holly Cook. I think Holly Cook is not a student. So Ms. Robertson will be followed by Holly Cook. Thank you, Superintendent. Thank you, Board and Long Range Planning Committee. Thank you to our police who are
241here today. I am a proud KTA parent who has chosen KTA for 12 years. We are out of boundaries, so I drive my kids every day. Blue Ribbon School of Excellence is important to me. An A-plus School of Excellence is important to me. A K-8. School is very important to me. I don't know how everybody else does it, but as a working parent, it's hard when your kids get out at 12, 15 on Wednesday and having kids in multiple schools is challenging. So it was extremely important to me. We chose Kyrene because they had a KT8. through aid model, and I wanted a traditional academy for my children. I wanted that experience, and I, along with the other KTA members, feel like that model is being discounted. I also have concerns about Murata being split
242into three different schools. That's just crazy, let's call it for what it is. So please support the traditional academy and retain it in the modeling. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Robertson. Our next speaker is Holly Cook. And Henley is a student. Ms. Cook will be followed by Elizabeth Bolton. Hi, I'm asking you to choose equity in the dual language redesign. A super boundary doesn't work. It overloads one campus and underserves another. A pathway model doesn't work either. It creates inequity within the same building. Unbalanced class sizes and older students without the option to participate. You can't put an exclusionary program at a neighborhood school and then tell families everyone is welcome when only certain children can access what makes that school special. Students with dyslexia, developmental language disorders, or other language-based disabilities struggle to thrive
243in a dual-language environment. Dual-language should instead be an open enrollment choice with readiness determined like the gifted model, using screeners such as DIBLs to ensure students aren't at risk for language-based disabilities. With open enrollment, the district could also allow flexible options, including parent-paid transportation, to expand access without straining resources. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Cook. Our next speaker is Elizabeth Bolton, who will be followed by Jenny Teich. Applied economics has framed Kyrene's closure discussions around declining birth rates and unaffordable housing. But investigative reporting shows their studies often miss key data points and apply a cut-and-paste approach to school closures across the valley. What stood out in the April 23rd Long Range Committee meeting was how strongly the conversation was led towards closing schools. A vendor-affiliated member from Grace suggested selling schools for corporate use, even
244noting Intel and other major industry leaders are in our backyard. As an employer of Grace, a firm that profits from school construction, this member stands to benefit directly from the very outcomes he's recommending. The concern is transparency. If the committee is being led toward a predetermined outcome and vendor voices are shaping solutions they stand to benefit from, how can the community trust this process? This is why I urge the board to pause and bring in an independent second assessment so families can trust every option has been weighed fairly and transparently. Thank you, Ms. Bolt. Our next speaker is Jenny Tai, who will be followed by Rachel Peary. Jenny Tai, mom of three Kairan kids and wife of a Tempe high school teacher. I understand schools need to close, and we recognize this is heartbreaking and
245difficult no matter the outcome. But given the decision of this magnitude, I urge the board to seek a second independent opinion before voting. Many families do not agree with the process, the way votes were gathered, and especially the blatant promotional language of your demographer to settle on inadequate models. As you know, closing schools won't just affect kids inside those buildings. It'll ripple across all of Kyrene, impacting our district's long-term reputation, and future enrollment. Remember, once you begin closing schools, you risk losing strong teachers and discourage new talent from applying. You displace families, pushing them towards charter schools, private schools, and other districts. You diminish property values of both homes and businesses, which leads to a crumbling infrastructure in our cities and discourage future families from moving into our district. Therefore, this isn't a numbers game.
246It's certainly more than dots on a map, and it has to be more than buildings. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. T. Our next speaker is Rachel Peary. Is Ms. Peary here? And then our next speaker will be Elizabeth Rooney. My name is Elizabeth Rooney, and I'm a proud Norte parent. I have concerns about Norte's dual language program moving to Wagner. At the 827 committee meeting, the demographer said that Wagner's boundary doesn't expand because it has to take 350 to 400 students from Norte and that the capacity of Wagner would be 85%. Nortay currently has almost 500 students and is projected to continue to have 500 students through 2031. Where do the additional 100 to 150 students from Nortay go in this option? Additionally, the projections for enrollment at both Nortay and Wagner don't add up
247to Wagner being at 85% capacity moving forward. Current total enrollment for both schools is 901, which would be 107% capacity. and that continues through 2031, with total enrollment at 883, which would be 105% capacity. Based on the current and projected enrollment numbers, this option would limit the capacity for future enrollment, stunting growth, any growth possible for this program. Carmen needs a dual language academy, not a pathway, and Norte's enrollment numbers support this. Thank you. Thank you. That does conclude the 92 in-person public comments. Well done, everyone. Thank you again for everyone who came and provided their feedback. And your passion is evident. Your care for your school communities. Is this a hint? This is like closing time. That'll conclude our in-person public comment. All right. At this time, board, we're going to take a very
248brief recess. Thank you all again for coming. The meeting will commence back again in about five minutes. All right. We're reconvening. It is 10.05 p.m. We are almost there, board members. Item 7.1 is board goals. So you remember at our last board meeting, we talked about the need or desire to have a board goal. Based on our conversation, a draft was shared with each of us prior to this meeting. I'll read it now. It's one goal. By the final meeting of December 2025, the board will consider solicit community feedback and potentially take action regarding the recommendations of the Long Range Planning Committee. Board, if there's any feedback or proposed revisions, we can suggest that now. Or if we like it, we can adopt that as our board goal. Any comments? I like it. You like
249it? I like it too. I move to adopt. All right. I have a motion by Vice President Nelson. Is there a second? Second. Second by Member Satri. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes 5-0. Item 8.1 is Board Committee and Conference Reports. Do any members have updates? Member Davis. Yes, thank you very much. I attended the Arizona School Boards Association Legal Conference, and it was a three-day, very intensive experience that I enjoyed tremendously. They have a new executive director, I think she's called. Ellen White, and she's been with the organization for many, many years, and everyone was very excited that she got the position. I volunteered to be on the legislative committee for next year. We will see if that happens, but I am more than willing to do that.
250And it was very interesting. There were a lot of representatives from all over the state. from many different districts with many different viewpoints about public education, interestingly. And I had the opportunity to sit at the lunch table for the Maricopa County School Superintendent. I didn't recognize her, and I just sat down because there was an empty seat. And it was actually a very good lunch. I enjoyed meeting her and talking with her. It just was good networking for everybody, I think. A lot of different viewpoints, a lot of different conversations. And having been a lawyer for a school district for a lot of years, it was very enlightening for me. So thank you for the opportunity of giving me to attend that, and I hope it continues. Thank you, Member Davis. Thank you for going
251to the conference and for the update. Appreciate that. Any other items or updates on the committee reports? I see none. Item 9.1, items for future consideration. Do any board members wish to list items for future consideration? Yes. Member Davis. Thank you. When I was looking through our consent agenda, I noticed something about the curriculum committee. And I realized that I would like at some future time, if the board could get together and discuss the possibility of maybe having one of us as a representative on that committee, on the curriculum committee at some point. So that's what I would like to bring up some other time. Very good. President Walsh, I'd just like to say it'd be no different than the Long Range Plan Committee, where we had board members appointed to that committee. We could
252look at appointing. Now, that is just our curriculum council is what it's called, which is also a board committee. And so a board member, if they were to sit on that committee, would be in a similar role as on the Long Range Plan, more of a liaison and to come back and report out in meetings to the rest of the board. They would not be a voting member on the committee, just as the Long Range Planning Committee board representation didn't do. Right. But the board members would have a vote on curriculum when it comes to the board. Because they have a vote on curriculum when it comes here in the boardroom. So the supplemental curriculum that runs through the curriculum council, though, the board member, or if you wanted to have two, you could represent,
253you know, if two members wanted to, one or two could serve on that, sit through the council, and then share feedback in the board meetings. Okay. And we would be, whoever was appointed or whatever to that committee could participate. They just. Let's have some of the conversation when we agenda size this. We could do that. That would be a good idea. We'll agenda size this for a future consideration. Great idea. Great. Item 10.1 is meeting dates. Our next regularly scheduled meeting is scheduled for October 14th, 2025. That's right after fall break. Item 11.1 is adjournment. Would someone like to make a motion to adjourn? Motion to adjourn. Motion by Vice President Nelson. Is there a second? Second. Second by Member Satri. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes 5-0. We
254are adjourned at 10.10 p.m. Have a good night, everyone.