001of town as a city council member but he's now on on Zoom with us today but I will be heading the meeting um so let's can we all please stand for the pledge pledge aliance to the FL of the United States of America and to the repic for it stands one nation under God indivisible liberty and justice for all thank you call please your president Presa present Christina CL member present La member present Lisa member present we have AUM thank you 2.1 comments from the audience we don't have any you don't have any great 2.2 SMS science competition recognition [Music] suon this a song right yes good afternoon governing board members um Mr Castillo M Mr D um we are here we're gathered here here tonight uh to present the accomplishments of um some outstanding
002cobras so with us I have Miss Salter and Mr Vasquez if you can join us please so Mr Vasquez and Miss Salter will be presenting some uh recognitions but before we get started uh we do have a short clip for you [Music] that's what that was our science night um back in December so as you can see we had um our cobas displayed uh their science projects so um we uh spent about 2 hours you know going over uh r bricks and gring each and every um single one of those projects and then we have um we also had Miss uh Suarez first stand with some games in the uh cafeteria and you'll see some clips [Music] selecting our best project projects was a very tough decision we had um some outstanding projects but um
003you'll see the best of the best in just a few seconds that's uh Austine Sanchez [Music] and that's Miss Suarez on our stem class um basically what um our students did they created their own uh Christmas video games um they worked for uh several hours and um I do I I can tell you that I got first place so um I did compete against my students but I got first SP I am competitive and that's um sarf Mr Vasquez and Miss Salter have more information for you oh and that's uh I'm sorry Fiona Bel mojares she received a first place at the Yuma County science fair in Expo so um she's also here with us tonight thanks yeah that's awesome thank you um you know there people says that it takes a village to actually
004raise a kid and this year I've been very very fortunate to have the support of the parents the support of the students the support of the administration the support of my team who actually finally work the way that I wanted to work with science okay and push for the science science projects uh have a schedule an agenda and I'm actually seeing the the results of this okay uh like I got with this with the group of teachers and I start pushing for you know let's let's help our students create a project let's stay on top of that let's give them a grade for their work and why not let's train and I even said you know what you can even end it up in the Nationals there is actually a national so hopefully next year
005we we may actually go back again to the National this time with SAR so with this in mind um has been like a roller coaster helping here there um but has been very very positive response from my students so with this in mind I would like to recognize one of for SMS cobras that also believe in me and and the parents for the support and I 100% I believe on my student that that she had all the chances to actually go all way to to u to the end with this and I would like to recognize J A Royo for proudly representing okay and how many judges do you do you see this four different ones okay she went to four different judges Unknown People in a in a video conference from tucon and I
006think it was very very very a uh good moment for all of us to see how well she performed so congratulations for the awesome job that you have done y [Applause] also um I would like to recognize another very very special student and this one because she was award the the the first place at the Yuma County Science Expo and engineering and and the thing is uh she actually worked twice okay most of my student well all the students actually produce one project but I told her if you actually want to uh have a chance to win at the human County Science Expo you know I will change your project for something that is actually U not that she didn't do her project well but I wanted to I know the capacities of uh of
007uh my next student which is uh F Fel Fel Marez uh I know that she can do great things and with the support of both of the parents who are actually here the meses they also believe in that so during Christmas I I guess instead of being like a normal kid you know spending time and Christmas thing that kids do she start actually rewriting a new project and she did it so well okay that for me I was like yes definitely this is this is it so she wrote two projects one for my grade and one for the county and I'm very very proud to say that I would like to recognize with this certificate to Fel Marez in the in the year 2025 y County Science Expo for representing the cobras in the first
008place goes to our letter from Feld to phield congratulations Fel Marez and I know this kid since she was actually very very very small she joined the you know um they're also conratulations I'm also very proud of it okay the next one um this one is also a recognition because Fel also decided to participate with the support of the parents and all the work that is behind to participate at the star set in 2025 so this certificate I would like to present it again to Fel Marez for proudly representing suon Middle School in the interview in the in the uh 2025 annual s St in tuon Arizona so I know when she goes to high school she's going to do awesome projects my faith is on her congratulations Fel [Applause] one congratulations good job up
009next we have Miss Salter with the recognition support for cobras good evening thank you for having me tonight um I can't tell you how proud I am I'm sorry and how much fun we had on Sunday um these students work so hard and they were so diligent and passionate about what they were doing and um I'm I'm so proud and I know that they're going to motivate their peers next year because next year we're going to we're going to take over sarf yes know now that I know what to do so um the first one I want to recognize she is such a trooper you know hanging out with these four boys all day on had and she just met them where they were at and they had such a great time [Applause] mon keep
010the drive oh and we got DNA necklaces we all got DNA matching neckl thank you you did a great job and the next one I'd like to recognize yes um Leon Lim your name well this student is just remarkable he has such a fascinating mind and really dedicates himself to everything he does and um I don't see him and we'll present this in the morning to him at during announcement if we can okay and the next one Diego Diego Salazar so one thing about Diego is I have to tell you he makes me laugh every day he has such a great personality he keeps the seriousness and the subject but the fun in the classroom so I'm very proud of you and thank you for such a great day oh that's awesome do you have
011your D name and um this student is again remarkable um I got the pleasure of being able to hear the interviews during um with SAR and there the way these students asked answered the questions they to me they sound like they were in high school the maturity and the way they answered their questions it was I was getting chills just sitting you know in the other room and um but I could hear them and I would check on them and they were calm and I think I was more nervous than they were and I'm super proud of all of them in that aspect that was gave them the the motivation to you know give that positive and more refreshing uh presentation to the interview interviewers but but Augustine is um again he has a great
012personality he's always smiling he comes to class happy and with the seriousness he still you know takes a subject serious but science is fun and I didn't really realize how much fun it is until this year so I want to present the certificate to him for um outstanding and being outstanding and winning and um everything that we did on Saturday [Applause] yeah so I have to tell you something don't don't leave it stay there he shows up in this cowboy hat cowboy boots and this Blazer and I was so impressed and even the judges made a comment to him when he got on stage you know and and he carries himself very well he was very respectful and um again he's great and I know that um you you are have one of these already
013but I wanted you if you would show the board um what I made for you guys if you would yeah um this is his project and um so I made one for for Augustine um myself of course Mr asone and Mr Vasquez that we can have um and so that's the the slide that they have to present all the whole project on one and um that in the paper um but I wanted to preserve this for us you know of course because I'm proud and for Mr rone and um Mr Vasquez being there and for you and I put on there your name and your grade in the year and your Awards and we were shocked that we were really surprised that he um he got the one award we're so excited but then he
014ended up getting two and then behind each certificate we found a check behind each of $100 each so um he's going to work on his uh go-kart now so I want to thank Mr esone for giving me this opportunity this year I've had a lot of fun and now that I know these processes we're going to we're going to take it by storm next year how about that awesome thank you thank you Miss alter so up next we have two uh special recognitions and for this I do need Mr rason so uh Mr Vasquez and Miss Suter thank you for your commitment thank you for helping our cobras and um thank you for um everything that you do um you know for for us and for them so um we have a special recognition for
015Mr V oh [Applause] nice thank you well do serve Mr Vasquez and Miss Salter I just to let you know thank you of course can we get a picture with it with everyone yes good job guys congratulations yes M did you want to say something M wanted to say something just before um just wanted to share that SMS um part of our journey with science it started in November um in November we started with a sneak peek of what the our our our actual science would look like and then in December that's when it really came came came to life um not only Marez but also the science team came together and they did an awesome job um but then they moved on to the county fair um and that I mean the the Yuma
016County and that's when um uh Fel was able to bring back um that first place for for our school and and we're really proud of of the family and also you uh but then they also took on an additional challenge to go to Tucson and that's where you guys hear the sarf um competition so that is a Statewide competition where all the it's it's a stem Expo but a um brought back again those two Awards to to our sumon community so we're really proud of our staff um also our staff is also um looking out for additional grants um we started in November with Miss Miss Suarez she was awarded um um $2,000 from the aps Grant um also to enhance um her classroom in in um stem um but also some of our teachers
017here present Miss Miss alter um she was awarded she did a GoFundMe account um and she was awarded by one donor $4,500 with by one donor um donor truth I'm sorry uh so that's that was part of um her bringing additional uh enrichment to to the science but also her after school program um she's currently doing forensics um she's doing gardening and she's doing a lot of other stuff right so I'm just asking her to take it a step at a time like before you run you have to walk but but we're very grateful that she's doing so um recently she was awarded another Grant um and that is the extraordinary license plate Grant that's also by the state and she was awarded 1,400 and [Music] change but she she she was also she's the
018one um looking out and and seeking these opportunities for our school don't forget about the that was the first one $1,000 I missed that one okay and then uh also President we have Dr mades Dr mades was also awarded part of the um license plate Grant um she was also awarded $1,500 um for her project also to bring bring that enrichment to to Summerton Middle School um so we're very grateful for our staff um our science team not because I was a science teacher before and I'm not pushing for science um but it it it is awesome what our community and our kids and our families are able to do um so we appreciate the support from District we appreciate the support from our teachers and that's how we're going to move um SMS and
019in our community forward so so we're going to take a picture with the students and staff students see [Music] for [Applause] yeah than you parents thank you guys so much for being here it means a lot that you guys are here supporting your your children it's very telling of of the students uh work ethic at school by the support of the parents you guys are welcome to stay perfectly fine so okay I just have a comment um thank you very much for the staff principles uh community members parents students especially that have dedicated their time and their effort um science is a big thing and and it seems like more and more and more Sciences is fading away but with the principals and staff's assistance to make sure that that stem doesn't fall through our
020school district and our schools I really want to commend you it takes a lot of time a lot of dedication um and a lot of free time of the of the teachers to stay after and and dedicate that time not only to make sure their lesson plans and everything's ready for their regular classes but also dedicate more time for the extracurricular and I really appreciate that time it's very valuable and please know that your time is valuable to us as well and we thank you for that dedication with that said any other comments I also wanted to um thank um I I saw some grandparents here so I know they're already on their way out but um but no the the the grandparents support is is just as valuable even more sometimes we know the
021grandparents get the parents there and then they get the the the grandkids there too so um I I just love to see the the multi-generational support and um so I just wanted to say thank you I they're not paying attention let's move on 3.1 Mr Ur yes uh good afternoon or good evening everyone um like clockwork every month you guys are Cally invited to the Summerton thriving Achievers we're down to two we have one this month which uh it'll happen on Friday at 9:00 a.m. here at Desert no Manas ELC this month is ELC we're really excited to to hosted for this month again this is a great opportunity to celebrate our students not only from our district but also from our community uh I want to thank those of you who have been able
022to attend Miss Clark Miss bores we got two more two more guys and I know it's hard because it's during the working day but if food entices you then please join us CU breakfast is delicious but aside from that you know it's just great to be in the presence of students who are doing such an amazing job um I also want to take uh this opportunity to um introduce to you our HR Specialists we have Lorena Lorena Martinez look they're so brand new I can't remember the last name and then funny Gonzalez so they're doing an amazing job Lorena has been in her post for two months and funny just one month and uh there's been some adjustments in our department right now and so they're they're working really hard to ensure that we get
023the work done um I do want to also acknowledge the work that Mary has been doing with them she's been instrumental so I do want to give them a round of applause yes uh I have to acknowledge the that the work hasn't stopped and it's not going to stop um and so you know like I wanted to make sure that publicly you guys are acknowledged for the hard work um you are working for a learning community so obviously we celebrate the learning not only from students but also from our teammates so thank you guys for for doing so appreciate you guys all right awesome all right all right so moving on as you guys know we attended the ni National Conference earlier this month it was a great learning experience it was amazing to be
024able to travel with all of our leadership team we were about 22 of us traveled all of our principles instructional strategists Ana Manis Miss Kim and myself and also Chantel and in reality just to expand on making sure that we are learning strategies to better support our teachers in the classroom and also to support our instructional strategies to become better coaches for our teachers and you know as it happens in conferences we also had the opportunity to enjoy some downtime where we got a chance to really Bond as a team we had a couple of uh tours we went to Washington DC so we obviously had to visit some of the monuments and thanks to miss annaya our instructional strategist from TDS she was able to set up a very special tour uh of the
025capital um Miss Anaya has a niece I believe that works there for Bernie Sanders and so we were able to uh visit even the little office that they have there for for uh Mr Sanders so it was a really really nice experience so I hope that you guys enjoyed it cuz I surely did um another invitation um we have our special education Olympics happening next uh Friday uh March 21st it starts at 9:30 it's in uh uh Summerton middle school it's a great event um I was able you know they had one in November it was an amazing opportunity to just really enjoy a day with our you know ESS population I would love for you guys to also try to make it I know it's a lot but you know when you come to
026these events I I'm telling you you come out really rejoiced with with energy from just the happiness that these students just have all right so that's that and last but not least other more celebrations we started our letter grade celebrations uh we have our first lunch in with our desert Sonora team tomorrow can more food more food this is going to happen at 12:35 I believe um and so you guys are invited in this is you know an opportunity to celebrate the aid that they accomplished for this school this year um but also to go Ahad and motivate them to do a great job for for the coming testing season uh the other dates for the other schools Mary will be sending you those stes via an email all right what School Mr uh tomorrow
027is going to be deser son at 12:35 please please please stop by I think it's yes I will be there awesome I love that thank you so much for for attending and then a good time to celebrate them 12:30 right 12:30 yes I'll be there that is it for me thank you so much thank you Mr D any comments for Mr dudon I have one um I did hear a lot of great things about your conference in DC and um and I also did hear about the great um not the downtime I mean the downtime yes but you know the the the collaboration the bonding that you guys had and I think it is important that you know uh principles even though you meet here and have meetings here it's very different that is and
028environment is different when you're away and you're able to disconnect and connect um together as a team as a family but I did hear really good things especially the conference so thank you for for taking um staff I know there was a lot of amazing I wish I was in the airplane with you guys as well it was fine it was fine could have gone but um I'm I'm so glad you guys went thank you appreciate it um is Miss she's not here today okay uh let's continue 4.1 board member reports I'm going to begin with Miss um um going back to SMS their those teachers man their love and dedication for those students is re resounding and um just the fact that you're um the female teachers so emotional it just made me you
029know it's hard when the students get older and they're recognized in that fashion and I look forward to what these kids um achieve as they grow older and become you know young adults and and uh thank you so much for showcasing you know their achievements and their accomplishments and and and um persuading them to continue on thank you good things are happening at the middle school and I appreciate that um the thriving achievers to February thriving Achievers thank you it was here it was at Desert Sonora here at Desert Sonora very ni um those things are very are a lot of fun guys it's nice to see the families you know with their kids and eating with their principles and their families and it's it's always a nice event to attend um I want to
030thank uh ELC for inviting me to the um read Across America Dr Seuss books are no joke they're hard hard and I was not prepared and it was like it was a I can't remember the name of the book but it was about sleeping and I was like don't fall asleep I me kid cuz this is a long one but I truly enjoyed my time there it was it was a lot of fun and I got to read to my nephew so that was a lot it was very special and I look forward to attending um TDS I think next week um but yes thank you so much I I any invitation please send it to me and I will respond and if I can make it work and I will be there trust me
031I will be there thank you thank you m that's awesome I was I had the pleasure and honor to visit SMS on Valentine's Day it was very interesting just it was very interesting but you know to to have kids at that age um working together I just saw that piece in that school you know just just going there and paying that bsit not to go see like I got you moment it's more like I want to see the culture I want to see you know what you it's that on oh you guys can hear me sorry and just to see the cultures in each different school for me it was an honor to visit it because junior high is a special grade for me so just to have that connection with the teachers and know
032that you know I see you I see the hard work and the principles and I know it's not e task especially that at that age and having these teachers like Mr Vasquez Miss um Suarez and Miss Suter ignite that passion in science and plant that seed as a former teacher now as a four woman I don't like to say for Man Four woman a for woman I was able to see what we teach in the classroom out in the field and it's amazing because now I have students teaching me so let's keep up that science and you know being able to ignite those different curiosity that it's not just teachers it's not just police officers being plumbers having their own business I have students that have their own business out there it's amazing it's amazing
033so thank you for taking our kids in that direction because it's very important for the future of our community and for them they make a lot of money out there a lot okay sorry um good evening everybody um yeah going back to you know SMS is doing great things it's really it's really cool to see and you know I follow on social media and um big kudos to Mr Vasquez and Miss Suter you know are through my through my job um my team has had the opportunity to work you know hand inand with them this year um with their top program so it's it's neat to see that um the excitement build you know and and then to see the fruit of their labor and just um you know it's it's cool to to get
034that lens and that perspective um but you know again the the cheerleaders did an amazing job you know recently too and and so there's just great programs happening at um SMS and you know however we can support you you know let us know we can continue to support um and um yeah just you know huge huge shout out to to our custodians I saw the the post um thank you you know for for all of your hard work and um and then all the students who got recognized I recognized a lot of tigers there you know my my daughter was classmates with them so it was nice to see um our our ogs represented there as well so um thank you for always being here you know Miss rush and Miss garcy always showing up
035and being front row and I know that um you know Miss Middleton you're doing a great job leading at that school so thank you all just you know nothing but thanks and and gratitude and um you know the the seasons are changing so I know lots of people are again getting sick so my message stays the same wash your hands stay hydrated you know uh get some rest take care of yourself um definitely self-care you know you cannot pour from an empty cup so I hope you all are taking the time to pour into your own cups and um that's it for me thank you Mr Castillo well you know congratulations to the middle school you know I I do want to say that uh we attend I attended and and I saw you know
036most of the board at the State of the State with Governor Hobs about two three weeks ago um we were able to have a small conversation with her and and and uh you know she did say that how uh with the new Administration and everything things are really uncertain so we we try to get some information uh from her directly and and uh she just says she just says that that that she didn't have a straight answer for us um I do want to apologize for the read Across America I know I confirmed with some of the schools um I wasn't able to to make it uh these last two weeks have been a bit chaotic um I also want to go ahead and and uh and just kind of mention that um I know
037we all received an an anonymous email um and I just want to uh uh you know reiterate that you know as board members we cannot uh respond um and we will not respond to any Anonymous email um if any staff if if anyone has something to uh to address you know with the board or with Administration um you know it needs to be done through the proper channels um so I just want to I just wanted to make sure I mean I I I know Mr Don shared a policy with with all board members um and just we we just won't will not respond to to any of that um I also wanted to say that uh the summer Leadership Institute um that is uh scheduled from June 5th to the 7th so um if
038you guys can you know can can make it um you know let Mary or Mr Ro know and um also I mean thank God for technology right because I'm uh right now like Miss Delo said earlier I am inbc right now uh fulfilling my uh my my city duties that's why unfortunate I can't be there with you all and uh you know and really that that's really all I have I mean uh I I join virtually and I have I've had my camera on so I want to uh you know make sure that you know whenever we join virtually we also have our cameras on too to uh make sure that we're uh that Antonio making sure that everything is working properly and that's all I have I mean I've been able to hear you
039all very very well thank you I too want want to iterate that we um Mr Castillo and I wearing our city council hat did visit the governor's office and did um we were a bit concerned about the new Administration and and cuts on the federal government and the Department of Education and obviously I mean they're they're still up in in air I mean we we don't know what's going to happen uh the funding and I mean we're just really worried because of our small community we are a rural community and so that impact is going to affect us greatly um but you know I I just we just wanted to make sure that she understood and where we were coming from because we also represent the school board uh in our district within our city
040I want to thank ELC as well for inviting me to the read Across America it was pretty funny because I had second graders and um I just clicked and my hat went on as a teacher and my friend who was in charge of that program just like hurry up and I'm like but I was talking to them and telling them how was a teacher at Desert Sonora and fourth grade and I just went on and on and I forgot I had to begin to read and and so I had you know she was in the fact boping her fingers and telling me to hurry up and so she can do that to me but um and it was pretty funny but I did and I enjoyed it and thank you so much forc for inviting
041me and I also want to thank TDS for inviting me as well but I will immed that day at 8:00 and I'm praying it gets cancelled because I I do I really do try to go um to these events and I know I've never been to your thriving I'm going to make it somehow I'm going to make it and and I don't know how I'm going to do it but I'm going to try to do it this this Friday um other than that thank you so much again for SMS um it's come a long way and you know seeing the social media for all schools it's it's great to see it it's wonderful to see and I thank you for your dedication again one more time thank you so much with that said we're going
042to continue let me turn on my computer here um with let's go on to consent agenda does anybody from the board want to remove an item from consent agenda or has a comment I do have a comment on the consent agenda for um is it 5.7 for all those um retirement oh my goodness when I looked at it I'm like wait a minute I came in the same time this person but okay um thank you for all that you do and I know you're retiring but really you just like slapped it in my face face when I read it any comments I need a motion please so Move Motion was made by Miss Clark second second by Miss Torres all those in favor signify by saying I I anybody opposes motion carries uh 6.1 discussion
043and possible action to approve work calendars for fiscal year 2526 the motion is to approve the work calendars for all positions for 2025 2026 there's a motion um and these are the changes for these are all every role has its own calendar and we have to make sure that we approve them okay you need a motion pry so Move Motion was made by Miss clerk second second by miss arola all those in favor signify by saying I I I I anybody opposes motion carries 6.2 approval to contract the following employees through Education Services Inc for the Summerton School District so some of those retirees are coming back uh the recommendation the recommendation is to Mo uh motion to approve the contract the following employees through Education Service in for the Summerton School District uh fiscal
044year 2526 as stated thank you I do want to make a note that when I saw it on the consent agenda I quickly scroll down to actually to make sure it was there um I need a motion so Move Motion was made by Miss Torres second second by Miss Clark all those in favor signify by saying I nobody opposes motion carries thank you thank you thank you thank you discussion in discussion consideration and possible action to approve or deny the release of teacher from this contract uh the recommendations to approve the release of teacher from contract fiscal year 2425 resignation will be effective March 11 2025 today that is today yes and board members you have your executive content hopefully you read it and so I need a motion and this is only to release
045motion to approve the release of teacher from contract FY 2425 resignation effective today 3112 2 motion was B by Miss Clark second second by Miss Torres all those in favor signify by saying I I nobody opposes motion carries 6.4 discussion and possible action to wave or fine 1% to the teacher for release of contract for fiscal year 2425 which is the one we just approved so based on policy right motion uh the recommendation is to um approve the fine of 1% of the teachers fiscal year 425 contract there is a motion to approve the fee of 1% um for this individual and you also have your executive contact hopefully you reviewed it and I need a motion mot I'll make I'll make a motion to find 1% of teachers FY 2425 contract motion was made
046by Mr Castillo second second by Miss Clark all those in favor signify by saying I I I anybody oppose nay Miss arola n we have 4 to one motion passes 6.5 approv of outof town field trips so the recommendation is easy right to approve the outof town field trip for students um it's for the ELC robotics team uh traveling to SeaWorld which I kind of want to go I took my fifth grade students at desertai every year to se world it was amazing they'll love it I need a motion so Move Motion was made by Miss Clark second second by Miss ARA all those in favor signify by saying I I I nobody opposes motion carries uh 7.1 any recommendations from the board for future agenda items please make sure we email Mr Castillo in
047time in order for him to put it on the agenda uh 7.2 Teacher of the Year banquet will be Thursday May 1st uh please see uh Mary if you will be attending and the tickets I don't know how much the tickets are but I think it's $25 $25 yeah please make sure that you purchase your own ticket if you wish to attend um with that said if there's nothing else on the agenda thank you everybody for attending meetings adjourned at 6:17 bye f i safe trip