001governing board meeting of the lake hav Unified School District March 13th 2025 brok call here here here here we will now have a moment of Silent prayer and private reflection amen would you now please stand for the pledge of leers un States good evening we want to thank all of you for being here tonight um we have some uh great celebrating of teachers tonight we are super excited about first I want to welcome our dignitaries and colleagues that are in the house and if you would help me welcome them we'd like to welcome this evening Lake Habu city mayor Cal [Applause] shei Mojave County Supervisor sunny burelli [Applause] like have Su city councilwoman Nancy [Applause] Campbell and Lake K city councilman David Diaz and I believe uh vice mayor Michelle ly is here so is
002on our way okay awesome thank you all for being here this evening um as we get into tonight's meeting we are so grateful that all of you are here um later on in the meeting we are going to have a call to the public um if you have signed up for the call to the public this evening I'm going to ask that you would be respectful um if you choose um to personally attack anyone um you will be asked to stop speaking and then if you continue you will be asked to leave this meeting um as we come together we are going to respect one another um we can have a difference of opinions that's the great thing about America but we are a city of greatness we are a great City a great community
003and we need to learn to have great respect for one another despite our differences so we're going to ask you to show that tonight we have students in this room that need to be able to see that we can come together as a community with differences and still respect one another that's what they need to see from this Our Generation so we ask that we conduct ourselves that way tonight in this meeting um we are going to start out tonight with CTE early childhood and professional development presentation we are so thankful tonight to have a student from Miss hendry's class with us this evening and we are going to ask Leah Vega to come at this time for her presentation [Applause] okay hi I'm Le Vega I'm a junior at L Havasu High School um
004I've been in the CDA class for three years now and edpr for one year I recently went to state with FCCLA and won Gold with my partner um today I'm talking about the classes and what they are and what they offer um so early child education is a class where you really get to learn a lot about like whether or not you like working with kids kind of their development and everything you kind of need to know with that um it really helped me with getting out of my shell I was really nervous freshman year and since then I have become a lot better with like public speaking which is why I'm here now and I've done a lot more um presentations which I found to love um as professions I've only been in this
005year and I've gotten to go to schools and work with kids and it's been really re I've been in FCCLA for 3 years now also I didn't get to compete the first two years cuz I was too nervous to but this year me and my partner put on an event um National preschool health and fitness day where we um had our preschoolers come and we worked with a lot of like people in the community and they came um it was a lot of fun the preschoolers had fun and we definitely learned a lot we went to State last week and presented in front of a board where we one gold I've definitely learned a lot from CBA um I learned a lot about like kids brains and how they work I've learned about different classroom
006types from Ed Pro um um I'm in my CVA class with Early Childhood now which once I graduate next year I'll have it and it'll help with me working with kids in the future um do you have any [Applause] questions before we move this evening to item 2.2 I would like everyone here to help us welcome our new inter superintendent Dr Melissa [Applause] Skinner well first I want to thank the board absolutely just for giving me this amazing opportunity to be able to serve the scholars the staff families and communities so it's just an honor to be here to be able to do that I can't wait to learn more about the traditions of lake kabu and then obviously get to know each and every one of you at a de level it's important for
007me to build relationships so I'm just so blessed and thankful to be here um yeah just gonna serve and support any way I can um just to ensure positive student outcome so I'm again truly blessed with this opportunity and it's just been such a welcoming day going around the campuses seeing the kids meeting some of the staff administrators so thank you it was very very very um nice so very grateful to be here [Applause] all right item 2.2 Human Resources report m a little shorter all right um good evening Mr President members of the board and our community members and all of tonight's honor ree at the Cav Unified School District we proudly acknowledge the exceptional contributions of our teachers and staff who work tirelessly each day to positively impact the lives of students students
008in Lake havu City to honor their dedication we invited community members parents colleagues and students to nominate individuals who they believe deserve special recognition from these nominations each School site selected its teacher of the year a committee was then formed to conduct a blind review and scoring of the support staff rookie teacher and teacher of the year nominees the results of that scoring process have brought us tonight's distinguished honoraries that we will be celebrating before we proceed however I would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Our Community Partners who make this event possible first we would like to extend our thanks to our wave program tonight's reception was provided by our culinary students from Lake havu High School thank you [Applause] wave and in addition to that our rookie teacher of the year support
009staff of the year and District teacher of the year honores will receive gift packages was graciously donated by local businesses and organizations tonight's gifts were provided by the London Bridge Resort Anderson Water Sports mud shark Brewery concierge Health magic fanes EV Aesthetics wild coffee movies havu Southwest Outfitters the lake havu Chamber of Commerce K12 foundation and various parent teacher organizations [Applause] we will begin this evening's presentations by recognizing our support staff member of the Year Mr Brian Jacobs from Lake havu High [Applause] School it is our privilege to recognize Mr Brian Jacobs the in school suspension monitor at Lake havu High School as our 2025 support staff of the year in his role Mr Jacobs works with students in a more refle setting helping them understand the behaviors and choices that led to the violations
010of the student code of conduct he emphasizes the importance of learning from mistakes guiding students to become responsible citizens and avoid setbacks that could affect their long-term success Mr Jacobs creates a structured high expectations environment that supports students as they transition back to their regular classrooms he has built strong meaningful relationships with our atrisk students becoming both a mentor and a role model to them going above and beyond Mr Jacobs reaches out to parents to strengthen the connection between home in school providing crucial support both in and out of the classroom his efforts have led to fewer students serving time in in school suspension or after school detention and have motivated many of our students to improve academically we deeply appreciate Mr Jacob's outstanding contributions and the positive impact he has on students who need
011it the most thank you Mr Jacob for your dedication and unwavering commitment to fostering growth and transformation in our [Applause] students next we will recognize our rookie Teacher of the Year miss Rena Cesar from smoke trees developmental preschool we are thrilled to announce this is Rowena Cesar a special education preschool teacher at smok Tree Elementary as our 2025 Teacher of the Year miss Sear's teaching philosophy is grounded in a belief that every child is born with unique potential and qualities that can be nurtured and developed through thoughtful educational placement guidance and support in her preschool classroom she Fosters a holistic approach to learning that prioritizes the development of physical and gross motor skills social skills emotional awareness life skills and cognitive growth students in Miss Cesar's classroom are given a solid foundation in literacy and
012numeracy while also being encouraged to build confidence critical thinking and resiliency as they navigate challenges while Mrs Cesar remains attentative to short short-term goals and Milestones she keeps a clear focus on the big picture preparing our students for a future of Independence her ultimate aim is to equip her students with the skills and confidence they need to become contributing members of society as they progress through their educational journey and Beyond we are deeply grateful for Miss Cesar's commitment to fostering lifelong skills in our youngest Learners and thank you for the positive impact you had made on their early [Applause] development going to turn a little next we recognize um Miss towns a dedicated first grade teacher from Havasupai Elementary this town consistently goes above and beyond to foster a positive and supportive learning environment where
013students are empowered to tackle difficult tasks she regularly spends her Lunchtime with students using this time to build relationships celebrate achievements and strengthen the classroom Community her commitment to connecting with students extends beyond the classroom ensuring every child feels valued and supported Miss Town's classroom reverberates with an energy and excitement for learning that is felt by all who enter her room in addition to exemplary work as a teacher Miss Town serves as Havi stem Club adviser inir inspiring students to explore science technology engineering and Mathematics through engaging Hands-On activities her enthusiasm for stem fuels curiosity and problem solving skills setting students up for future academic success in all her Spare Time Miss towns is also pursuing her national board certification reflecting her dedication to ongoing professional development and educational Excellence she continuously refines her teaching
014practices to provide the highest quality learning experiences for her students a true champion for her students Miss towns leads with passion dedication and a student centered approach havai and lhusd are fortunate to have her example and leadership in our schools next up from Croc country tonight we will be recognizing Mr Lee White it is with great pride that we announce Mr Lee white as Jamaica Elementary's 2025 Teacher of the Year Mr White has dedicated his career to educating students in LH USD having taught Middle School social studies and more recently fth grade he has Faithfully served our district for 24 years often saying that he returns year after year not for the recognition or the pay but for the connections Mr White believes that while all Educators St to impart knowledge the truly exceptional ones
015Inspire students in ways that go beyond the classroom each year he adopts his lessons to meet the unique needs of his students tailoring them to build on strengths and address challenges his approach is both intentional and flexible always always focused on students needs in this classroom high expectations are paired with unwavering support Mr White's tough but fair approach holds students the high standards while offering the compassion and encouragement they need to succeed we are deeply grateful for Mr White's dedication to his students and the lasting impact he has made on their pursuit of Excellence his commitment to fostering growth and inspiring success makes him an invaluable member of our educational Community congratulations Mr w now we will welcome um our high school teacher of the year Miss Teresa escuro Lake Havasu High School is proud
016to recognize Miss Teresa asuro Spanish teacher as their teacher of the year for Mrs buo teaching is not just a profession it is her passion she strives to create a costom environment built on trust and meaningful relationships which encourages her students to take the risks necessary for learning a new language in her classroom students are empowered by a nurturing environment where she skillfully balances inclusivity engagement and efficiency Mrs spau goes above and beyond continuously modifying her Spanish lessons to meet the individual needs of her students ensuring they make progress and feel confident in tackling challenging Concepts her impact is evident in the number of students who make a point to stop by her classroom to say hello before or after school or invite her to attend their extracurricular activities Beyond her exceptional work in the
017classroom Mrs spau has been an invaluable member of the leadership team at Lake Havasu high school she played a pivotal role in guiding the foreign language Department through curriculum adoption and lesson design and implementation we are truly grateful for Mrs brough's Vision her expertise and dedication and we are very fortunate to have her as part of our leadership team and teaching our students at Lake Havasu High School our next Honore is from nas Elementary Miss so po special education teacher Miss Powers believes that great teachers are always students themselves continuously learning and growing alongside their students she views teaching as a powerful tool that can transform lives and should only be pursued by those that are truly passionate about that calling at the heart of her philosophy she believes that every student has unique strengths
018that every student can learn and make progress and that every student deserves the chance to feel successful through patience empathy positivity and dedication Mrs pow strives to be an outstanding teacher and role model for her students she takes great pride in using highly effective research-based practices always tailored to meet the individual needs of her students whether working with special education students or others she is constantly adapting her lessons and teaching strategies to meet the diverse needs of all ensuring that everyone has the support they need to succeed collaboration is a Cornerstone of Mrs power's teaching philosophy she believes that working closely with fellow teachers par professionals administrators community members and most importantly her students and their families is key to creating a supportive and effecting and effective learning environment we are grateful to have Miss
019power's expertise and compassion guiding our students at [Applause] modelist next it is our pleasure to recognize Miss Sarah Luther fourth grade teacher from or Grande Classical Academy Miss Luther believes every student deserves a safe supportive environment while they feel comfortable being themselves and confident enough to take academic and social emotional risks to create this atmosphere she dedicates time to get to know each student individually and maintain strong communication with parents to align school and home goals these relationships help build students confidence to face challenges and grow Miss Luther encourages her students to set achievable goals and raise regularly checks in on their progress she is a flexible and dedicated team member Miss Luther has played a vital role in transforming student lives through interventions accommodations and modifications she approaches each challenge with a positive attitude
020fully aware of the impact her actions have on her students Miss Luther holds herself to high standards and maintains a positive outlook knowing her approach influences her students their families and the entire orande Community we are truly grateful for Miss Luther's individualized transformative approach to teaching and we are proud to honor her as or classical Academy's teacher of the [Applause] year next we will honor Miss Sarah Shaw reading interventionist from Smoke Tree Elementary Mrs Shaw's teaching is Guided by the belief that learning should be consistent exciting and safe while supporting the growth of the whole child calm and consistent in her interactions she creates opportunities for her intervention students to reflect on their learning understanding that not all children naturally love math and reading she designs lessons that are engaging and tailor to each students's
021interests she celebrates their achievements fostering a sense of pride in their progress which fuels their motivation to achieve both in and out of school in addition to her exceptional work work with students Mrs Shaw is a valuable collaborator within the learning community at smok tree Mrs Shaw is a willing partner to parents and assist parents in understanding their students academic goals and needs she also actively participates in grade level meetings sharing student achievement data to help design effective instruction and intervention strategies her leadership and teamwork have had a tremendous impact on the students who need her support the most we are deeply appreciative of Mrs Shaw's expertise dedication and positive influence she's having on Smoke Tree students thank you Michelle Starline Elementary is proud to name kindergarten teacher Mrs Rachel nut as their 2025 teacher
022of the year Mrs mat has known since middle school that teaching was her calling inspired by the teach teachers who made learning fun and engaging during her own school years she believes students learn best from those with whom they have strong Rapport Mrs nut takes time to get to know each of her students understanding their individual needs and strengths she also Fosters strong relationships with students families creating opportunities in the classroom to connect personally living in a small community she enjoys seeing her students outside of school and building deeper connections with them and their families as a kindergarten teacher MN thrives on the challenge of bringing students with diverse backgrounds together some never having been in a formal educational setting prior to her class she skillfully creates multiple learning opportunities in various modalities to ensure
023each student's success Beyond her classroom Mrs nut is frequently consulted by teachers and staff as a problem solver and sounding board offering guidance across campus and the district Mrs nut's dedication expertise and ability to Foster meaningful relationships make her a truly deserving recipient of serin's teacher of the year award our next school Thunderbolt Middle School is excited to announc seventh grade English teacher Mrs Christina bonsing as their teacher of the year Mrs boning excels in working with teams and pre-teens recognizing that a middle school teacher is not only an educator but also a mentor to both students and their families as they navigate the many trials and tribulations of adolescence she bases her instructional decisions on understanding each student's unique needs and perspectives using this in site to become their greatest supporter she believes that
024inspiring young adults Begins by earning their trust and respect before fostering higher level thinking Mrs bonsing quickly individualizes support for her special education students and any student needing extra help or a challenge to reach their potential as both an honors and general education teacher she adopts her strategies to fit students learning styles and promote critical thinking outside the classroom Mrs bonsing collaborates with her team and department chair to streamline planning and feedback she sponsors many extracurricular activities and offers professional development to staff and families as a love and logic trainer above all her passion for Education drives her to make decisions that positively impact her students their families and the entire School Community thank you Mrs bons sing well we are incredibly proud of all of those who have been recognized tonight we do select
025a district teacher of the year to represent us at the state level this year's winner was selected by a committee of previous winners in a blind screening of candidate qualifications our recipient will receive a staycation gift package inclusive of a weekend stay at the London Bridge Resort watercraft rentals spa treatments a night out for dinner in the movies and much more this recipient will also have a um dish at mud shark named in their honor this year the committee by unanimous decision did select Mrs R from St [Applause] Elementary I know Mrs not and beautiful family will greatly enjoy their vacation congratulations Mrs nut and we will now welcome mayor shei to the podium with a proclamation for Mrs nut followed by a brief pause in our meeting to allow for pictures congratulations uh good
026evening thank you for the opportunity uh president Rose vice president Houston member ran and member Tinsley uh members of our community faculty staff administrators for Lake hav Unified School District it's an honor to be here to help celebrate you and all of the honores you know Great Schools make great communities like havu city is a great Community because of the work that is done in these walls and we appreciate you educating our youngest Minds to grow and prosper within our beautiful community and I am so grateful that I get to be a part of this but it's your time right now and we're going to honor you I wish we could have done it a little bit earlier so you could have celebrated the whole day because today's your day we're actually proclaiming it as
027Lily cavis Unified School District Teacher of the Year Day March 13 2025 whereas today we recognize and we proudly recognize and celebrate Rachel nut as the lake Havis Unified School District's teacher of the year for 2025 over the past 133 years as a kindergarten teacher in the district Rachel has touched the lives of hundreds of students making a lasting impact on our community's future and whereas Rachel is a nationally bored certified teacher and serves as a mentor teacher at Starline Elementary her colleagues administrators and parents alike commend her unwavering commitment to the academic and Social Development of her students achieved through strong relationships both in the classroom and at community events and whereas Rachel embodies the ideals of an exceptional educator and consistently goes above and beyond in her professional role she is the Cornerstone
028of the district's professional Learning Community as a grade level Lead Teacher Mentor for new educ ators and Coach to those pursuing the national board certification and whereas Rachel creates an inclusive and welcoming classroom environment where students of all backgrounds and abilities are supported her thoughtful instructional planning addresses various learning styles ensuring that every child has the opportunity to build a love for Learning and whereas on behalf of Lake havu City I express my sincere appreciation to Mrs N for her unwavering dedication and service to the children of this community now therefore I Kel Shi the mayor of L Kavu City Arizona do hereby Proclaim Thursday March 13th 2025 as Lake havav Unified School District Teacher of the Year Day Rachel nut in Lake Havasu City and I urge all citizens to join me in congratulating
029Rachel nut on this outstanding achievement with the Lake Havasu Unified School District and Lake congratulations [Applause] all right at this time we are going to give a couple minutes if you would like to dismiss and not stay for the rest of the meeting we want to give you a few minutes to be able to do that before we continue on thank you all right we're going to continue now now moving on to item 2.3 please welcome Lake kisu City education Association kolowski all right good evening president Rose uh members of the board Dr Skinner and and everybody that's here it's wonderful uh congratulations to to each one of our at Tois and extra congratulations to Rachel nut uh and our rookie of the year and staff of the year um welcome Dr Skinner and to
030havu and our recently winter storm um for some of us that it's cold outside um uh we have a great Community as you can tell and a staff that's very dedicated uh to serving our students uh we hope you were able to see this in your visits uh on campus today um back up here just we are going to continue to watch those bills that I shared with you last uh month uh they have crossed over and so we will just continue to watch them in their in the new committees and then um once they hit Committee of the whole and I will keep you on a breast of all of that and then the recent um uh changes at the US Department of Ed um we're going to continue to watch that we're a
031Ral community roal R district and federal funds impact us and so as we can as things change there things could change here and that is our biggest concern and so we'll just keep our eyes on everything as we always do right thank [Applause] you all right now moving on to item 3.1 the call to the public you will have three minutes and I just want to inform everyone I know that there are some policies on tonight's agenda um and the board is going to be discussing those um this is a first read so we will not be voting these policies in uh tonight we will be discussing them and we're actually are going to be getting with administrators and our schools our coaches staff to see um how we can uh make sure that we're
032not negatively affecting um day-to-day business we're not affecting our athletic teams disrupting uh the things currently happening and that it's all smooth selling from there so and and get feedback and then we will come back um in next month's board meeting I'm moving on to a second reading if they do um pass this evening so at this time uh call to the public so when she calls your name you'll come to the mic and you will have three minutes thank you I don't know how I ended up first up here but I would just like to welcome Dr or uh Miss Skinner into the district and I hope that you receive a warm welcome and I would just like to ask that we all try to harmoniously work together on and amongst our board members
033and um represent Lake Havasu School District well and um we have Ed three new board members in our community um and I just hope that we can incorporate some of the changes that the voters of our community have wanted to put into place and we are here to support you and Welcome to our community and thank you very much [Applause] hi welcome I I I know you're a good choice I just know because I know you were highly vetted so that makes me very happy and you wore appropriate clothing you're like the only one in the room oh there's a lady in purple back there yeah I wear my purple boots um I just want to say thank you for doing the jobs that we elected you to do thank you for doing and following
034through on what you campaigned on and I think it's excellent and I can't wait to see what else is to come and um yeah it's you have a lot to do and I appreciate that and so to all of my friends who voted for you and all of my non-friends who voted for you too all across the board both sides you know everything so and I just want to thank everyone for coming this is a great event um great school board meeting and I'm sure we're gonna you're all going to get a lot done now and continuing on and thank you for working together so [Applause] preface my remarks by letting David know that I do have some uh critical comments and all the statements I made are from publicly available information it's ironic that
035the MAA school board members are railing against quote Dei end quote they got their roles not by Merit but by but through identity politics despite claiming to be transparent they've worked in secret and precluded public participation in policy and hiring decisions their deeds and actions under their own Effectiveness and credibility the MAA board members are proud to be endorsed by a political hate group intent on destroying public education now they are trying to embed their MO ideolog ideology into Schoolboard policy including a Prohibition of quote gender ideology and quote whatever that is these new policies true intent in my opinion is to single out and punish children or staff who have identities of which the MAA school board members do not approve this is in order to create AIP favor with MAA leadership I believe
036that d D is using his position on the school board primarily to seek higher office in the Republican Party rather than to improve educational outcomes the MAA members have no experience education or qualifications for running a government sport nor in pedagogy nor in school administration and know being a parent doesn't qualify qualify you any more than having a broken leg makes you an orthopedic surgeon what they do have is the audacity to imply that the US operates as a meritocracy clearly if that is not the case with the MAA board members themselves is proof I believe all three MAA members should be recalled given their words and deeds to date they do not seem to know how to manage governance and David is a felon who didn't even graduate from high school and when he
037was in prison he didn't bother getting his G here's a quote from one parent who helped running out of time so um a parent in the district Miss Skinner came from said the lesson is culture Warriors don't make good board members we need business people people that are well educated that know how to run a school district and aren't here just to fight for things like Banning Books thank you good evening and welcome Dr Skinner um what I'm about to say really has nothing to do with your selection but I would just like to talk about the process of selecting the the superintendent um I'm here to voice my concern about the way that the selection process had occurred since my kids have been students in the district we've had three superintendents three uh the
038previous boards have honored the requests of the community to keep all administrator positions open and transparent during the hiring process there had been a Review Committee where candidate backgrounds could be reviewed and judged solely on Merit and achievement and this narrowed the interviews to two candidates who were interviewed then interviewed by members of the board staff parents and community members um it does not Foster trust and transparency when a formal announcement about the superintendent was written and shared on the on the school district website and on in um on social media prior to the executive session and hiring and contract signed occurred um although I know that Dr uh Skinner has had a great deal experience I question relocating from Oregon to Lake havu City for an interim and not a permanent position um further
039if this is truly an internal position I question why we could not have used an internal administrator who is familiar with the district and saved um our taxpayer dollars that way thank you I pretty much um hi my name is Debbie fedock excuse me I just want to thank all the board members um all four of you for um having the best interest of our community and our schools and our student and um and I I appreciate the fact that you hired someone who was vetted and um well recommended for our our community so thank you very much [Applause] superintendent Skinner president Rose I just want to speak tonight in support of you and the board for taking Swift action on some of theend items that you'll be talking about tonight these are of local
040importance to the school board um to the school district the parents and the teachers and the fact that you're willing to hear from the public the teachers and the parents just shows that you're committed to an open and transparent process um once these uh actions are determined and you put policies in place I believe it'll be serve the students to thrive in a positive environment these are our future leaders and that's ultimately our goal is to make sure that we have Future Leaders Who Um can thrive in a safe open and caring environment so just want to commend you for taking on these actions and hearing input from everybody that's all thank you my name's Robert fiser um I I don't have children in the school here locally but I do have 10 grandchildren so
041I'm concerned about public education overall and I'd like to express my appreciation for the school board and what they're doing to improve the education here in Lake hav um I'd like to offer an opinion though um one of the things that's coming up shortly is a event down at the London Bridge where our constitution will be exhibited uh in some uh large format display those documents are written in cursive and unless the students can write and read in cursive they won't be able to read our founding documents and history is a pretty good thing for them to know how we got Where We Are and what it means so I'd encourage uh Professor Skinner to be sure that our children here in this town can learn to read and write with c and thank you
042very much so first off David I want to thank you um I appreciate what you guys are doing even the members that I didn't actually vote for I still appreciate the work you guys are doing together um that being said we moved from California a few years back I have young kids in this school district it's been an issue for me we moved from the state we were in because of the school district and Dei policies we also have an issue with the fact that when we do have people saying that parents are not the best opportunity for school Bo members that is 100% false you are the best possible ones because you know what it's like to raise children I'm raising kids is not an easy job you guys are doing this I apologize
043for all of the garbage you guys get all the time I know it's a lot however this is what you were called to do and you're doing a great job even the people I disagree with you're doing a fantastic job and I appreciate that as far as the Dei I'm sorry we didn't vote for that that's why we voted you guys in the country didn't vote for that that's why president Trump is in and it's MAA that doesn't work it's magga and not all of us are Mega I'm not I'm a Christian and I got kill kids at home that look up to me look up to my church and look up to their teachers and I got a great one sitting right back here miss Rockwell is one of the best teachers I've ever
044seen and I'll tell you right now politics needs to say the hell out of school period because these kids need to learn ABCs one 123s and economics not politics if they want to learn politics we'll teach them that'll be fine we'll do that as parents thank you [Applause] um Dr Skinner president Rose board Community thank you uh I have a seven or eight th000 word essay I'd like to read to you I don't know if I can give them a f um Food Service along with many other support staff groups uh we interact with about or or we have about 3500 interactions a day with students they're rockus rapid intense kids are getting out of intense learning and they distress and they make a lot of noise and they joke around and they play and
045we try to play with them we try to meet our students one-onone as our customers uh and I encourage my staff to avoid patronizing them or talking down to them and to treat them as full individuals of our society um so so if a staff me if a student says to a staff member um if a staff member says to a student excuse me sir and the student says I I go by day them my staff don't have the time or the capacity or really the appropriate station to challenge it they're supposed to serve their customers and address them in the way that they prefer to be addressed we just don't have that mindset a manager recently told me that a group of girls were chiding a young student male that he was cutting in
046line and they said ladies first and he said I'm a lady and my manager said are you really my concern is that that is now a conversation according to this and um my people mean well we work very hard to get 3,500 meals served every day across the district in 10 or 20 minute increments they don't have time to even remember a lot of this let alone find an administrator report it make sure a parent is notified um so I would I worry about that language I understand the intent and I think the intent is good to protect our children our students um these same challenges May extend to maintenance groundskeepers fsps janitors lunchroom AIDS and others who have these quick short interactions with students and we're not wow just 7,000 [Applause] I just want
047to say wel welcome to Dr Skinner and thank you for your willingness to come and serve us for a few months while we need you um I also would like to thank our board for their efforts to focus on getting our kids in this community educated and able to cope with the real world um I I saw a post on Facebook yesterday it was the world's most intelligent family and it was a black family and they were the smartest the kids had graduated high school at 9 years old um some of the things that our public school system has pushed lately has discouraged people from achieving their best selves uh the best that God made them for uh and has taught them that they can't do it because somehow uh they can't measure up uh
048unless somebody help or gives them more of a hand than other people get and I I think everybody has a god-given potential and I don't think that Dei accomplishes that uh the intention may be good but in practice it's discriminatory and discourages excellence um the other policies that are coming out about uh not grooming you know we don't need inappropriate conversations initiated by adults I mean obviously if you're a teacher or a counselor or someone that kid trust they might come to you with a question and you should answer to the best you can or find the right resources but those conversations should not be initiated by teachers or administrators or coaches um the and and God help us our girls to a to be safe in their spaces um I I I feel for
049it because you know for those that this is a genuine issue of feeling like they don't belong in the body they were given that's got to be tough but when you open the door uh to mixing the genders in the same spaces you open the door to fraud so it it's it's not wanting to harm or uh offend someone who truly has an issue it's protecting girls and boys from those who would take advantage of the situation and unfortunately we're human and we do people will take advantage start over I we started [Music] yet you there have been a lot of comments in here uh in of course people want to talk about the politics and make America great again was actually I remember that phrase coming out of Bill Clinton so I'm going to
050quote something from a someone from the Obama Administration who is an adviser for President Obama Rah Emanuel he's perplexed some kids in the classroom are debating which pronouns apply and the rest of the class doesn't know what a pronoun is that's a crisis quote unquote we started off this meeting recognizing people for their individual achievements what these teachers have done we we praise I praise this District when I was in the state senate I fought against the Teachers Association and the red fored people when they wanted us to vote no on a budget for a 20% pay raise they voted they wanted us to vote no I'm putting more money in the classroom site fund these are things we fought for you in Phoenix and we talk about Merit I moved here I retired from
051the Marine Corps in 1999 and moved here in 2000 I remember taking a part-time job at the London Bri Resort and I met a young lady a mom single mom who literally worked and put her thr s through college got herself a degree and as a principal in one of these in the elementary school I won't say her name because I don't want to embarrass her but that's individual achievement that's Merit that's Merit trying to have when we have teachers because a curriculum coming down from someplace else dictating how a adult a teacher is supposed to tell a kid and indoctrinate him into a certain way that goes against her even their own core principles that's a family is issue schools need to stay out of that far too long parents were being undermined by
052the system and now that you guys are all got guys in gon um now that you're here as a school board newly elected and Dr Skinner Welcome to Arizona we uh are different weather here than Texas you don't like their weather in Texas wait 10 minutes it changes um here's I'm going to leave it off with one Texas joke you know Tell Texas just can't tell them much I can say that because I live five years in Texas so uh Welcome to Arizona welcome to like Cav City number one let me guess what we outperform the schools in Phoenix by far on funding our teacher pay and curric curriculum and academic achievement and I salute you all thank you very much all right moving on to the consent agenda item 4.1 we need a vote
053a motion for V I move to approve consent agenda I'll second yes yes yes yes all right there's no discussion items this evening um we're moving to 6.1 first reading of a new grooming policy the governing board proposes to the following policy no grooming policy establishes clear guidelines to prevent inappropriate interactions between students and adults ensuring a safe and separate learning environment free from exploitation uh I will now open it up for discussion to the board yes first off I it is critical to have these tax of policies especially in a culture as a prosecutor uh there's far to many sex cases that come across where the children are is where the Predators will be this is something that is known and the very first thing that a predator will do is typically start a
054conversation so having a having these policies in place uh is incredibly important and I miss Skinner as going forward I'd like to see u a plan for training and awareness and just a a report on what training uh we have in the district for these topics uh Chris thank you for bringing that up that is a that is a great Point how do you deal with it when a student is bringing it Forward I I do think that we need to tailor this a little bit more uh precisely for that Nuance um how that individual responds I think that's something we can discuss before the second reading but uh I'm glad we are putting our forward and getting this policy in place and moving in this direction um I did print out so we we
055have some existing policy on appropriate staff student boundaries I printed out a copy for all of my fellow board members if you would like a copy I didn't print out enough for everyone but you can always take a picture of this or you can look it up on your phone um you would go to LH usd.org and then it's policy 4-22 I am not going to read all of this but I will hit some of the highlights and just to re reiterate this is already policy that we have in place um so this govern tell teacher or any staff member would interact with a student so um these are all the behaviors that you are not allowed to engage in no ious communication um no banter jokes or innuendos of a sexual nature no confiding
056in a student um and that is except in the case of counselors counselors have a protected relationship with students that um that requires trust and confidentiality that part's I'm paraphrasing or I'm not paraphrasing I'm ad living on that that is not spelled out in policy it does say except in case of counselors but I add live my own comments um um there's no socializing with a student outside of school um you're not supposed to give or receive personal gifts you're not supposed to ask students to keep a secret you're not supposed to engage in peer-like language or behavior you're not supposed to have private contact you're not supposed to be alone with a student behind a closed door or in a confined space um no physical contact uh you're not supposed to send students on
057personal errands you're not supposed to provide tobacco alcohol or drugs I feel like you know that one hopefully that's not happen me ever anyway um not supposed to transport a student in your private vehicle unless you have approval from the administration not supposed to share a room with a student on an overnight trip you're not allowed to go to students homes or um let's see or have them come to your home unless you have permission from the student's parent and from your own supervisor you're not supposed to share photos um or ask students to share photos with you no special with students and no pet names or Terms of Endearment so it does sell out specific behaviors that we do not want our students to engage in and I will tell I will say the
058end from the beginning um I agree with almost everything in this policy I do not want our children to be at risk or inappropriate contact with students I don't want our staff to be at risk for um accusations it's better to just avoid the appearance of wrongdoing in that regard the only part that gives me pause is the sentence where it says um it's strictly prohibited for any school district employee volunteer or contractor to have any conversation with a student about their sexuality or gender ideology and so that's one thing that I would like to clarify prior to the next meeting so we heard an example from one of our food service providers if a student makes a remark like um you know I I prefer to go by B them or um even if
059they're exchanging just like a basic biographical fact about themselves like I'm gay or something like that does that then become a sexual conversation where then our staff member has to like it's a mandatory report situation where the staff member has to shut the conversation down and report it to the parents so I I would like to hear my my colleague's thoughts on that part of it yeah and and I I agree with you that that this is where we need to get this more refined and I tend to say there's positions who do need to nip it in the bud teachers administr who have a more Hands-On personal relationship with the students whereas Cooks can say that's nice what would you like where it's it's not really they don't engage now if it's something like
060you said they're being bullied I would recommend that we have you don't need to address it right there but hey let it let it recommendation no to the staff this individual we saw was getting bullied for their ideology that's something that can become a a a further problem so I would like there to be some way that they have a channel for communication but I don't want to make this a police state where every single individual is reporting on every single thing kids are kids they're going to talk about this stuff regardless of what policies are in place and so we need to protect our staff from being in those sticky situations so I think in the next month as we get to the second reading we need to turn that out maybe have an
061executive session on this get this brass tax or or a a community session where we can get teachers administrators to kind of pie out yeah and and the point of this policy isn't to handicap our teachers and our staff we want you to have healthy relationships with your students um you're with them a good part of the day and you are influencing them and some of you become mentors to them so we're we're not trying to handicap you we're simply trying to protect them and and so yes no I agree we need to work on that language the other um change I would like to to add in and having conversations with teachers as in part two I'm just making sure that teachers understand um where we had talked about um not being alone with
062a student and we want to add language where if you're tutoring a student um as a teacher as long as your doors open you know th those things we want you to be able to continue uh to be able to do that and not interrupt education um that is the number one goal of this district is to educate our students and so we want you to be able to continue in that and so I feel we need to change some of that language as well I'm really glad you brought that up Matt to be able to reach out um to more the staff like Chris I'm totally thankful that you did bring that up because that does open up other you know um um conversations so took that there so let's do this I guess
063at this point I would move to move this to Second reading can't I just oh sorry um so just so that we can end with a little bit of clarity on this would you consider a student making a statement about themselves where they initiated isn't asking them but a student a student making a statement about themselves like I'm straight or I'm gay there's no like distress attached to it they're just saying something would you consider that a sexual conversation that needs to be addressed by this I think there's context between the individual stated to and right so if it's a teacher where did that conversation originate from that I I see a student walking up to the teacher just declaring hey I'm dead okay why are you why is this important you to tell me
064I mean it does seem that relationship versus in the cooking a food line hey I'm gay all right chicken nuggets or pizza you know I think difference there and I I do think there's a higher level of scrutiny to our teachers and administrative staff and staff that are directly engaging with our students more personal level versus support staff janitorial staff bu things like that um I think in general it's probably doesn't rise to the level of that but I don't want to say absolutely not and does it make a difference to you if the statement is I'm gay versus I'm straight doesn't matter either like if a student came up and said it requires a phone call home or might require a phone call home it depends on it is is that student trying to
065engage that teacher in relationship hey Mrs so and so I'm straight just so you know you know whoa boundary needs to go up so there I think it's very context dependent um I think this policy needs to empower our teachers to make that all of the teachers that are in our district are well educated are smart intelligent people I don't want policies that kind of limit their discretion but I do want policies to protect them and students yeah and I think maybe we can add language that gives the teacher the opportunity um to know when that needs to be reported and and this language is very is very strict so I think we need to roll back the language more to a discretionary stance where hey you choose as as the teacher that this doesn't
066rise to that level you are taking that into your you know into your ballark to get in trouble whereas you say if I just report this up I'm always covered the teacher is always covered if they report if you decide in your discretion that you're not going to report and it becomes something that's a problem and I can see very similar to the cafeteria you know a student walks into a classroom hey I'm G all right well go sit down get and get your homework out you know so we just we go use wisdom we don't want to handicap our teachers the last thing we want is for our teachers to constantly be reporting and not be teaching so we need you to to be able to do your job and not feel that we
067are making you now another mandatory reporter another areas that is distracting you from doing your job and so we need to use wisdom in that language and you know the principle I bring to this is is small unit leadership in the Marine Corps when you're on a battlefield you have five guys if your leader gets taken down the next guy in charge steps up that's small unit leadership each person in the unit is responsible for the person above and below those tasks and to know what needs to be done that comes with discretion our teachers are excellent professionals they're intelligent and I think that if we Empower them discretion to make those choices they will make the right choices and obviously that's caveat with this policy you make the wrong choices there will be consequences
068um so yeah going forward I think we need to T that out bring that language back to discretionary um and create a reporting system does that yes okay I feel like that's a good stopping point and kind of gives me a little bit more okay I do think we need we should set up either exec session or S work session I think a work session would be great does the reporting mean like just tell um the administrator or do I see this here um do you have to write it out or you just tell them I I'd say verbal report is probably verbal report now as the administrator you would probably want a written statement so that it's on a file so that we have some sort of tracking system but we'll probably put that
069work on the administrator rather than the teacher or the the person reporting your the administrator make a report so that we have a tracking system of what's going on um so yeah so I guess after this conversation I move this to a second reading a second yes yes yes yes all right item 6.2 first reading of no Dei policy uh the governing board uh proposes the following policy no Dei policy prohibits diversity equity and inclusion initiatives ensuring that educational success is based solely on Merit academic performance and individual effort um we have received um part of what has um opened up opportunity for this policy is the dear colleague letter that has come from the Department of Education uh giving us 14 days to make sure there is absolutely no Dei in our school system
070and if there is we lose Public Funding um so I need you to understand this isn't um for me we care about all people um and we want children to learn we want to equip students to be the best individual that they they can be and and it's not a one-size fits-all for students whether it be um their race or whatever if are special ed students we want to equip every student in this District to be a scholar to be the best that they can be and not be handicapped or told oh because you're this or you're that um we're going to have to lower educational standards that doesn't work um and the last thing we want is is we've seen Dei can create victims and victimizers and we we just can't stand but the
071biggest thing is losing Federal funding this is not just a federal mandate these are mandates that are also going to be coming down from the state of Arizona that this district is going to have to follow and currently now has to follow um to continue Federal funding so I'm going to now open it up for discussion with the board so there's a few different things that up um when I was talking to some teachers and and some parents um special education teacher is wondering if they can still provide accommodations framed around equality and are IEPs affected that's a great question this is not to affect our special ed Department um we're still going to be able to provide and and I'm not sure if if our special ed coordinator is in the room if she
072would actually like to speak to this awesome thank you please welcome Ellie nman um so in reading through the policy it does not affect special education in any manner as far as the way IEPs are written 504s are written implementation of accommodations that supports for students it is not taking away any of the rights that are guaranteed by idea Ada or section 54 those are still fully implemented and designed to support our students do that answer kind of um another one was clubs um a couple of parents hit me up about that and they were unsure um if those were going to be affected as well some of the same Fage was kind of um in the okay thank you for bringing that up um we are actually going to be removing um clubs from
073this policy um here's the thing th this is based on what we're teaching in the classroom the last thing this board will ever do is a fridge on a a students rights and their freedom you have the freedom of speech you have the freedom to believe what you want to believe um I'm very well aware that at our high school we have an lgbtq club and that club is going to be able to continue on like they always have and they will be supported um they will not be stopped from doing what they're doing they have the right to GA and this board will not prevent that so that part of this policy will be um taken yeah and I I would just say as long as we're not providing monetary funds to that organization
074and we we students have the right to assembly you have the right to believe what you want us stepping on that even if it's something I don't agree with I believe that you have the right to assemble with people that you view as like-minded discuss topics you want to as long as our funding is not going to that you have that right and I will support you in that right um regardless of the topic so I we had discussed I do believe striking that is appropriate besides that uh you know I I spent for the last about 10 years in high Ed as a student in law and Communications classes and it is nefarious how far this Dei stuff has gotten into our schools into our logic into our reasoning uh many of the students
075coming out of the Marine Corps and going into college and seeing how these kids think what they think based on you know critical race there Dei uh is astounding and so it is something that I definitely want to in the bud in this district and will not uh be supporting any way shape or form so I'm glad this policy is going through um with do need a couple modifications but I think you can PCH that out um I think teachers recently were how do you say it they were not clear on the guidelines in general and they're questioning themselves um to where they may fear that they're overstepping or they end up avoiding um support pro programs just to be safe are we going to be having training sessions or whatnot so that way we
076can make sure that we're both on the same level I think that's a great idea anytime you implement anything new you should have trans we doing these I I'd hope you'd be thinking okay how do I implement this and how what training can I do if you could present what training you're going to be pushing forward and and I can just so everyone in this room is aware when this dear colleague letter came from the Department of Education it was sent to our administrators and um there was no Dei reported back um to to the superintendent or to the board so um thank you to our administrators for being your willingness uh to work um on the recommendation or I'm sorry on the Mandate uh coming from the Department of Education to keep our district
077in compliance I commit you for that so I believe all of our clubs are self-funded and there might be someone who can back check me on that but I believe to my knowledge every single Club is self-funded so um you're talking about taking out clubs are you taking out the entirety of item four or is it just I prob the whole thing okay so um if you don't have the paper in front of you item four is student programs and activities um okay so I really don't have a with items two three five or six the one thing that stands out to me is curricular content um with diversity and so we do have textbooks that I I wouldn't call them Dei textbooks I mean they they were stakeholder approved they were actually unanimously recommended
078by a committee from very from well diverse um to use that word um a diversity of opinion in our community and but they do that textbook does draw from authors of different backgrounds so you have different races um different religions all those different backgrounds would that fall under Dei again we need to review the what it's saying but Dei is the idea that you are specifically targeting individuals to be brought up based on their inferiority it's the critical race theory that has essentially said that minority groups are unable to rise themselves up in our culture and they must be given handouts and help to rise up to normal status that is what we are targeting we are T having a diverse community of understanding and bring in different ideas and Views that's the American Melting
079Pot but what is not and what is Dei is saying that we need to be pushing the the idea of outcome equality of outcome rather than the Merit based who's doing the best so that is really what this is and this is and I don't think a textbook that is just has has diverse perspectiv is what this is no it's not and we want our students to learn diverse perspectives that that is important um in in one of our our Classical Academy they were learning all kinds of diverse perspectives and history um and it's super important and and our oral Grande staff does an incredible job with that um it simply comes down to we are not going to begin to take students and say you belong in this people group and you belong in
080this people group and you belong in this people group and that's how we are going to identify you they are individual students with and we are going to identify our students based on Merit based on character based on their personal identity and not the color of their skin or what nation they're from they are a student in Lake ABS Unified School District and we are proud to have them and we want them to be the best that they can absolutely be and we're going to equip them to do that so and we don't care what sexuality they are none of that matters we are glad to have them in this District we are thankful um to have the opportunity to teach your students and we're going to make sure that they succeed based on Merit
081and not anything else not political identity nothing and and so we're very thankful for that thank you and then just one more piece of um I guess maybe a suggestion for our next session when we talk about this so if there are items that you would like I'm having the same problem by the way um if there are items that you want to discuss I think that Leo basuchi last month gave us a really good framework for how to tackle a big topic so if you weren't here at the last meeting we talked about Ultra processed food and instead of just proposing something that said you shouldn't allow Ultra processed foods which I feel like we would still be here in that same meeting discussing the definition absolutely yeah instead of doing that he listed
082out I think it was 11 or 12 ingredients that he was looking for and so we got to discuss those ingredients if we had disagreement which we really didn't we could have focused it and pinpointed what is it exactly that we don't agree about um and it was a way of giving really clear guidelines to our food service um team and so if there are things I guess instead of just saying like we want to ban Dei I would rather have a list of I don't like such and such book or I don't like such and such program and we could talk about the merits of that program or book or you know material or whatever it is and pinpoint where exactly our disagreement lies instead of having sort of qubing over words and I
083can see that being useful so again it is a very large broad topic so to to be able to narrow down exactly what it is um I I can see we need probably need to Define what we mean by Dei better and I think with a better Dei definition that will the guideline a little bit more impact and provide a little bit more Focus for teachers and administrators and staff uh to understand what we mean by De so I'm definitely fine with wearing down a definition I don't know if pinpointing exactly what is again the district said there's no Dei here in large part this is in compliance with the their colleagues letter and getting ahead of the ball what and state law there is also state law coming down that is going to it's
084going to be a Statewide ban um as well just to P you back off what the the federal government is as well doing so we just want to make sure our district is in compliance um and also protect our students from harmful ideologies and make sure that uh we're equipping them like I said to be the best they can be and that's what we promised I promised I would do is protect our students and I'm going to hold to that promise so um and I'm thankful to be able to work with a board in unity um and we may disagree on some of the language but can work through those things um because we're here to serve this community so all right I'm uh ready to close discussion now move for a motion um to
085move this to Second reading a move to have this go to Second reading a second yes yes yes yes all right now moving on to item 6.3 of the first reading of new safety and locker rooms rooms and sleeping quarters policy um the governing board proposes the following po policy safety and locker rooms restrooms sleeping quarters clearly defines the use of these facilities to promote privacy security consistency for all students um the point of this policy number one is to protect um our sons and daughters in private spaces um and also to make sure that a student is in the uh locker room the restroom that defines um their sexuality um of how they were born and uh so we're going to open up for discussion for that at this time there has been some
086changes um just so you know that I've added and of course as we move on and in discussing this um and speaking with some of our coaches um just ensuring this does not apply to our teams uh when they are playing um especially if they're in a a visiting uh Team another school and most of the time the visiting team is put like if it's our boys basketball team or football team they're put in the girls locker room so this does not apply to that just so we're aware this does not apply to our if we have any coaches in the room um this does not apply to you let's just make sure that the boys stay in with the boys and the girls stay with the girls so and for me what I want
087to narrow down and again good Contracting better definitions Prov you know they're like good fences they make um reasonable accommodation it to me is too vague um you know a teacher or somebody who's having this request for a restroom what is a reasonable accommodation um I want to make sure that we're we're protecting staff and protecting the employees so that they don't feel that they can get bulldozed just because someone's making a demand and that might be considered reasonable accommodation um I so part of I'd like to bring this one to that work session obviously and to to work with staff and see how how will this this policy be actually implemented what are the facilities that we have the nurses bathroom the employees bathroom what's the real situation going to be like so I
088I would like to do some work session on this but besides I think that number two um yeah um on number two B uh reasonable accommodations may include either of the following um and I I've just kind of done some work on this um use of an employee restroom or changing facility and we have um cross I've crossed out employee restroom um I I I believe I did have a teacher that reached out to me it's like I'm not sure I feel comfortable and and that's totally understandable so we have removed employee restroom language from this policy and then added or nurse's office um I was speaking with Miss Barney and she shared with me um at the middle school students in these situations are already using our nurses office which is totally fine so
089um again we want to come into a work session uh meet with our especially our physical education teachers and making sure that we're not making your job harder um and just making sure that uh we can implement this policy have the language um down to where it's not making a headache for you and that we can protect our our students and have the language where you feel comfortable implementing it confident that your decisions are are not going to be challenged or going to get you in trouble that's my goal and then on section one um at the bottom the paragraph um I did just in my myself right up the district reserves the right to request medical verification to help determine what accommodations may be reasonable um so we the last thing we want is
090a student to just oh no I you have to follow that policy and so we want to equip our schools to uh make sure students aren't just trying to waste their time and uh play games yeah you know Hippa just maybe talk with dinker make sure that that we have the ability to request those medical records it's not some sort of violation obviously if somebody's trying to gain the system and it's apparent we need to be able to address that but there's definitely an hip I'd like to talk with our attorney just to make sure that that's a kosher I think that's a good idea um um we might want to walk that back to just apparent verification and at some level it has to be if it's clear that it's being an we need
091some way to address it well not like that parent verification okay okay any other discussion I I agree with this policy um I one of the people who spoke during the um Call of public um I think said it very well when she was talking about how um you have sort of competing interests right you have um the the expectation of children that they will go into a locker room or have or go into a restroom and have their privacy respected that they were if they're a girl there there will only be girls in the bathroom if they're boy there will only be boys in the bathroom um so you have that interest and then on the other side of the equation you have transgender students we do not have that many transgender students but
092even if we're talking about one person um the goal of our school district is to make sure that every single student feels welcomed and valued and that sense of beling and so how do you balance out those competing interests and I do think that um having transgender children use a single um stub bathroom like the staff bathroom or maybe the nurses the bathroom at the nurses office is a reasonable solution to that I I do not know what it's like to be transgender but I know what it's like to need to use the bathroom and so I feel like that's you know a way of of providing the accommodations yeah I move this to I I move to have this go to Second reading a second yes yes yes yes all right item 6.4 Governor
093governing board first reading of update policy 3-21 facilities um fac and first reading facilities will be presented for review discussion and possible action the governing board proposes the following language be added to policy 3-21 facilities negotiations for sell or lease of any District facility may only be done by the governing board or their design um this policy has been brought forward um in discussion with some of our board members um we have great opportunities um in Partnerships with our city um to do great things as a district moving forward we've just um did some great things with our parts recreation department and we're super excited about the partnership the intergovernmental agreement between us and Lake Abu City uh on our ball fields and I believe that we have more of those same opportunities in the
094future um the district also has vacant land um in the community uh there has been conversations of a swimming pool and um so these are conversations that our board would like to begin to have and negotiate and I just want to make sure that it is the board that that we are just defining I believe is the point of this that we have the final Authority on our property um the negotiating power and that we can also um if we so choose to um assign a des to handle that for us on our behalf as well rather it be our attorney or superintendent or director um I know that Mr Murray has has been very involved in some in our facilities um because not always is the governing board available um to come together to
095to do those things so we just want to be able to clarify that and I'll open it up for discussion I support this the only um sort of caveat that I would add if if we have negotiations done by a board approved design um I would ask that first of all that design is discussed and approved by our board before being named as a design and then even after the the negotiations take place it would still be up to our board to approve the final maybe a clause of final approval always rest theard okay can we add that into the language please second I move to move this to Second reading a second yes yes yes all right item 6.5 student achievement with LHC for Emergency Medical Services I'm going to let member Raman read
096this because she her and I are both super excited about this and this was actually on our consent agenda and she reached out to me and asked me if I would remove this so that we can make this a special moment part of tonight's meeting and I'm very excited about this so member Raman yes so I am excited about this I I'm also excited to see um our fire chief Pete palus in the back hello um I know he shares enthusiasm for this so um I will read the memorandum of understanding the purpose of this between Lake Havasu Unified School District and Lake Havasu City Fire Department is to enter into a partnership to provide career exposure and exploration in the area of Emergency Medical Services to participating lhhs students this initiative will Encompass two
097instructional courses emergency medical responder and emergency medical technician basic the EMR course PR prepares students to provide immediate life-saving interventions for patients of all ages awaiting Emergency Medical Services areas of study include an introduction to EMS systems roles and responsibility responsibilities of EMR anatomy and physiology medical emergencies trauma and special considerations for working in the prehospital setting successful students will receive two certification cards uh the National Registry for EMR and Heart Association basic life support this course will be a prerequisite to advance to emtb the emtv course is designed to provide students with the requirements to be eligible to test for the National Registry emtv certificate EMTs provide ad of hospital emergency medical care and transportation for critical and emergent patients who access the emergency medical care system EMTs have the basic knowledge and skill
098to stabilize and safely transport patients EMTs function as part of a comprehensive EMS response system under medical oversight and perform interventions using the essential equipment found in an ambulance using CTE fund lhusd will provide $112,000 each semester to Lake havsy City to be used solely for the emergency medical responder program their needs including but not limited to instructor wages and benefits teacher CER certification fees DPS fingerprint clearance card mment Fire Station Rental Material supplies and equipment Lake havu City Fire Department will provide fire instructors who will follow the Career and Technical education standards and prepare students for industry credentials as laid out by the Arizona Department of Education upon approval of this mou by all parties the course will begin in July of 2025 students will use a classroom at Lake Habu high school and
099also have access to off-site fire facilities for lab activities approval of the attached allows the Medical Services Program to continue until May 31st 2027 either party May terminate this mou with 90 days notice and completion of semester grades for students has has been approved by District Council and City [Applause] Attorney at this time I'm gonna ask our fire chief and our CTE director if they would please come and um just take a moment to give some comment um in regards to this and would you please give it up for um Mrs Becker who's doing an amazing job with C thank you um president Rose nice to meet you Dr skinnard um members of the board thank you for giving us a a brief opportunity to speak about this program a few years ago we started
100uh the fire program uh at Lake Habu high school with this partnership with the city because we couldn't find teachers um so working with Chief office has been just uh really really good for our students good for our city um and this program will be doing the same uh we Chief PL has a vision he has a need for uh for uh the EMTs and we have the students we have amazing students that will be able to go out there and get get it done so I'm I'm really thankful for this partnership thank you president board members uh Community uh first I have to say is I have some council members here is I still have to get this approved through our Council uh so I just wanted to just make sure I appreciate this
101partnership we have I'm very confident uh that we will guys to get on that please we we will get this approved usually we go first so uh but that that's perfectly fine yeah I I again I can't tell you how important our relationship is with the community uh these are going to give high school students the opportunity we give them for their the fire side but they're going to get credential as emtbs if they're successful and we want them to be successful because we want them to serve our community we are are are finding the career path for them to be homegrown here employable productive members of our society and and our community so again I couldn't do this by myself I couldn't do this without the support of Mayor city manager and all council
102members but also Marsh Marsha has been excellent with the CTE program uh it's a great program and we have more to come to so this is just the beginning so I appreciate the support appreciate the support of the community so thank you so [Applause] much all right moving on to item 6.6 oh sorry we got to vote I'll make a motion to approve 6.6 as presented I second I'm sorry wait 6.5 as presented I said wrong number I second yes yes yes yes all right move now moving on to 6.6 human resources employee benefits Mrs bitman Mr President members of the board um I'm going to share our employee benefit packet for the 2526 school year tonight um just a little background Lake hav Unified School District has been a member of the northern Arizona
103employee benefit trust since 2020 the trustees met in February to review the Actuarial data at their annual benefit renewal meeting there the results were overwhelmingly positive the actuary shared this year's book of business plan increases um averaged approximately 11% the trustees um were informed that our trust naabt continues to remain well below the book of business and the following recommended rates were adopted at that meeting the annual benefit premiums changed accordingly a 5.2 in uh% increase in the EPO exclusive provider organization plan and a 3.1 1% increase for the health savings medical plan so you can see both of those are well below less than half um that 11% which is kind of the going increase for the 2526 plan year um our dental and vision costs did remain flat both plans are available to
104our employees and their qualified dependents tonight it is recommended that lhusd continue to cover 100% of the employee premiums for the EPO and HSP plans and subsidize our dependent premiums as we have done in the past if an employee elects our health savings plan the district will contribute $1,000 to the employes personal health savings account provided they establish an HSA account our other plan changes for the 2526 school year include an increase to the deductible of the health savings plan to comply with Federal requirements it was minimal um right now that deductible for employee only is600 it is required federally to go up to 1650 and if you're on the family plan with the HS P it will go from 3200 to 3,300 again Federal mandate um the district paid life insurance this is pretty
105exciting um we were able to increase that coverage from 50,000 to 100,000 unfortunately in the past um school year we have lost three staff members and it has been very eye opening working with their staff to see that $50,000 which has been that going rate for decades just simply doesn't cover really what a family needs to get by during their loss um so this adjustment would result in an average increase to our employees of approximately um70 cents to $2 per month to double their coverage our um retirees that are um grandfathered in on the retire only rates um their rates were also relatively stable and our retied plan participants can expect to see an approximate increase of $10 to $30 per month dependent upon their plan election um I do have detail of the district
106and employee contribution attached for your review and and I join I think it's this is amazing plan I mean I work for the county and I'd rather have this um we would like you to join us one of the things that we we brought as this board is teacher retention and this is if if you're not looking at the benefits of your employment benefits one of the main reasons I'm with the county um so I think keeping this as is this is is wonderful um thank you for presenting it but I think this is a great plan to have that extra U benefit to our employees say Hey you have coverage here you have medical coverage here at a minimum cost uh come work for our district so I think this is fantastic I do
107have a question just looking in the future um do you have an estimated idea um if we look in the future potentially of adding our an employee spouse to also be 100% covered what potentially that cost would be so you can see up on the screen here tonight um the employee spouse the total cost combined is $1 1,842 um on our more affordable plan the health savings plan so you can see right now the district is paying $1,490 for the employee and the spouse leaving the remaining 6351 for the employee to pick up so I don't have exact numbers in front of me on how many of our staff have their dependence but I could run those numbers and bring that back to and even if we could look at 50% okay coverage so increasing
108our contribution to the okay I can bring that back to our next meeting if you'd like yes thank you yeah I believe we're fine with approving as is and we can amend in the next meeting so I think our employees would like that if we could do that for you all right yeah all right we need to look at and we'll look at that and we'll get with Finance as well is a big depending on how many people are active that could be quite a so I would uh move through approve 66 as is a rock paper scissors I'll second that yes yes yes yes all right thank you Mrs bitman moving on to item 6.7 Business Services um athletic participation fees Mr Murray thank you Mr President board members the governing board will discuss
109and possibly take action on Sports fees for the 20252 school year just prior to the passage of the voter approved M override in 2016 athletic participation fees were as high as $800 to participate in High School athletic programs Lake hav Unified School District currently charges up to $200 to participate in sports programs at Thunderbolt middle school and $400 to participate in sports programs at Lake havu High School the participation fee is collected each school year Sports programs rely on funding sources such as tax credit gifts and donations auxiliary and maintenance and operations to provide athletic opportunities for students summaries of Revenue beginning fund balance and expenditures for fiscal year 24 are attached to the agenda item thank you Mr Mur and this these are C numbers so if I'm reading this correctly you provided the
110Lake havu High School and fundp participation there is 418 student athletes that participated for a total of $167,200 and in Thunderbolt you had looks like 79 athletes at $100 $62 athletes at $200 for a total of 4,300 which to me shows that they bring in $27,500 from these fees now when looking at the total our total budget that brings so just looking at the tax credits that we get that cover if we lost that that covers that so it's $212 12 or $212,000 and12 of tax credits which completely covers the the the cost of what our parents are bringing in if we were to short that even more so it looks like we have $741,000 in carryover in our athletic budget as is so if we subtract the $27 27,500 that still leaves us over
111half a million dollars in our fund um so Mr Murray do we need I mean how much do we need in carryover to be sure that our Athletics the next year are solvent so we can see by here this is the total so in 24 fiscal year 24 we had $741,000 in expenditures the fund balance going into 24 we were at a million so a million 48 we spent 400 or 741 we brought in 4 28,000 that's tax credit auxiliary all of that is based on those the fees that you just you just um so us about $200 something, the participation fees are included in that Revenue scen yes so the grand total um is $735,000 that's remaining so we started at a million4 and million you know 48,000 we are now ended we ended
112fiscal year 24 with 735 so we actually lost 300 and something 300,000 is going from where we started to where we ended 24 and that's including all the revenue that came in so currently on this trajectory we're spending more than we're bringing in so that that becomes the the big question so in if we continue to spend if we spend the series spend 741 th000 again uh this year then again that number that GR total will probably go down to around 500,000 4 to 500,000 at the end of this fiscal year so we probably have if we continue that's keeping Sports fees the same for this year obviously because we're almost done you probably have a couple years um taking it depends on how how far you dial it back so if you take them
113completely out you may have you may have a a year where you can sustain that um but then M will be the backfill we've talked about that before m is um funding Athletics right now to the tune of 321,000 in fiscal year 24 so when you reduce participation fees M the general fund is going to have to pick up for it so that that becomes the question and with travel with travel being the variable um we we compete in the Phoenix area most of our away games if not all their away games are in Phoenix so usually half of the games played are at home and the other half are on the road to Phoenix so our situation is kind of unique because we we travel a great distance and our teams generally are pretty
114good uh they do make it into playoffs and that means as as they continue to improve and as they continue to um show their their skills and the in the great teams that we do have how far they go into the playoffs it's just additional trips down in the Phoenix absolutely and my just be I I think we cut this in half I mean sitting on more than half a million dollars in a fund when we're asking parents to to to upfront that cost 400 bucks a pop for a student in High School athletics to me is so important it it changed my life in many ways the sports that I was able to play and you know there was no Sports fee in the high school I the idea that you had to pay
115to be participating sure you had to get your uniform or whatever but uh but I feel as a district it is our responsibility to try to get Student Activity up in sports so I would like to cut it in half uh for the next fiscal year um and see where that goes I'd like to have a report on that see where our numbers are if it's not sustainable we can address it then but I I I think cutting this in half and seeing where we are uh to me is a a large benefit to the parents and the students in the district and I actually have a question for our athletic director Mr zon if he could come it's not a hard question he was like what question um when it comes to recruiting for
116students in our in our school how do you feel the current fees have negatively affected um our teams for recruiting students I can be uh totally honest I oh Dustin Z hello um if I'm totally honest I don't think much if I'm being completely honest we have scholarship there there's so many ways to have our kids get their their fees paid for I've never denied a scholarship that's ever come to us the rotary uh clubs in our town have been fantastic in helping promote and support uh the scholarships that we use to help pay so I've never had somebody come to me and say my kid's not playing because of the fee and anybody that's come to me asked for help or support we've always supported thank you right now we'll open it up for
117board discussion at this time I mean I'm supportive of the idea especially if it's kind of with the idea that we're doing a trial year to see how it goes find a half or you know a sports SE a single Sports season you know football coming up we cut it in football see how it effects how it lays out get a new report um I feel like the cleanest way to do it if we're going to cut it is to cut it for off sport for the entire year um and and that does help bring things kind of down to earth as correctly if I'm wrong so we have a cap of right now it's at the high school a cap of $400 per student and we have a family cap too is that right
118or not no 400 is 400 is you can play in as many sports as the season or the year will allow okay do we want to add a family cap or are we okay with the existing system as long as we cut things in half I'd be fine with just cutting in half flat without of family half okay if you know if we see that it's not sustainable I'd like we can work that in but um you know to me it's even if it's it's wonderful that we are providing scholarships that seems to everyone they have I'd be interested to see how many people don't bring that up that they can't afford whatever reasons to the the the monetary boundary to me just it strikes my heart that I think it's something that needs to
119be reduced so I suspected you're right I you know I appreciate our community for its willing willingness to cover Sports fees but there probably are students and families who don't even ask for a scholarship because they don't want to you know reu that that money is a hardship for them so um yeah I I am in favor bring down the cost Down to Earth at least for the for the 25 26 school year and reevaluating then I would move to cut the fee schedule in half for the 25 26 year I second yes yes yes yes all right moving on to 7.1 remarks from our superintendent I'm super happy to be here I was just making a joke I'm just I'm super H super happy to be here it's my first board meeting so I
120don't have anything to officially put on the agenda but just thank you again for this opportunity and I just can't wait to serve in this capacity so thank you all right item 7.2 closing remarks from governing board members I'm good I just I don't want the I know we just had calendar discussion for 25 26 but I don't want it to get look that we need to also talk about 26 27 sooner rather than later and and we we will be working on getting a um committee survey out as well and a committee um in regards to that and uh so we're we want it feedback from everyone it will be a large much more detailed survey um than the previous one that was sent out and so we will be working to get that
121out through it families teachers staff everyone as soon as possible POS so and Ben any other remarks I just want to thank everyone for being here tonight um we may not always agree on things on policy we may not always agree on ideas but we need to respect one another and I hope moving for we can continue that I've really enjoyed um remember Raman and myself people did not think when we were seated that we would be able to work together and it's been great building that relationship and and just being able to be an example of what you can look like when you lay aside differences and do great things for kids that's what's important the children of this district and we just want to continue to work with everyone we represent everyone in
122this room I don't care what side of the aisle you're on that doesn't matter to me you're a Community member in your voice matter so thank you for being here tonight and have a great spring break and thank you to all our teachers again congratulations to our teachers of the year you deserve it um a motion to adjourn at this time I second yes yes yes yes