001Mhm. >> Mhm. >> All right, good evening Tucson. We're going to get our meeting started. Uh today is Tuesday, April 28th. On this day in 1887, the first auto race in the world occurred in Paris, France. And 114 years later in 2001, humanity sent its first tourist to space, Dennis Tito. So, big changes over the course of uh just over a century. Today is National Superhero Day as well as National Blueberry Pie Day. So, don your cape and enjoy the start to summer pie making season. Uh with that said, Miss uh Barboza, can we We have uh Miss Hein, can we get a roll call, please? I'm Miss Luna Robles. Present. Mr. Romero. Here. Miss Shaw. Here. Miss Ekstrom. Here. Dr. Robby. Here. We have all five members here. Awesome. And then we're going to
002go on to our land acknowledgement statement. And let me just grab the student bio here. Great. So, for our land acknowledgement statement as well as our pledge of allegiance, we have students from Holiday Fine Arts Elementary Magnet School. So, we'll start with Luis Valenzuela. Luis is 10 years old and is in the fourth grade at Holiday Magnet School. One of the strongest skills is composing music. Luis also enjoys listening to rock music and drawing. He loves learning about history and his favorite subjects are music, math, and science. In his free time, uh Luis uh Luis likes to rollerblade, jump around, and play outside. One thing he really likes about Holiday Elementary School is that the teachers are very nice, helpful, and supportive. Overall, Luis is proud of who he is and excited to keep learning,
003creating music, and having fun at school every day. Awesome. I understand you wrote this yourself, so that's pretty cool, Luis. Go ahead and lead us on the land acknowledgement statement, please. On behalf of the governing board of the Tucson Unified School District, I, Luis Valenzuela, acknowledge that the schools, buildings, and facilities of the Tucson Unified School District reside on the ancestral homeland of the Tohono O'odham Nation and the federally tribal land of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe. Awesome. Thank you, Luis. >> [applause] >> And for our pledge of allegiance, we have Kamari Christopher. Kamari is 9 years old and in the third grade at Holiday Magnet School. She loves staying active by running and dancing with her friends. At home, Kamari enjoys spending time with her turtles, organizing her bookshelf, and reading chapter books, especially her
004Pugs Books. Math is Kamari's favorite subject and likes practicing multiplication and division facts. She also enjoys sewing, weaving, and 3D printing on Magnet Wednesdays. In her free time, Kamari loves helping her mom cook and work in the garden. She loves going to her dad's house and playing with her baby sister. Kamari likes spending time with friends, going to the arcade, and learning new skills whenever she can. She is curious, creative, and loves helping others. Kamari is always ready to learn and try new things. That's awesome, Kamari. Thank you for being here, and can everyone rise who can for the pledge of allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you,
005Luis and Kamari. >> [applause] >> Dr. Toro, do we have any agenda adjustments for tonight? Dr. Shaw, board members, we have a few. So, I'd like to recommend our appointments, items 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, and 7.4 moving directly after the call to the audience. I know we've got families here supporting their loved ones. I also would like to move after the appointments, I'd like item 8.1 uh moved after the call to the audience as well, and then item 8.2 as uh we are uh welcoming the grandchildren of the late Robert D. Morrow, and I'd like to make sure we get their item at the top of the agenda, as well as numerous staff members and students from Palo Verde High School. So, those would be my uh recommendations. Can we also move uh 8.3, the ISBD
006uh discussion? Yes. >> Following that, as well as we had that earlier on, as well. All right, any objection, governing board members? All right, I'll take unanimous unanimous consent for that change to our agenda tonight. And Dr. Toro, the floor is yours for awards and recognitions. Yes, Dr. Shaw members of the governing board, it is always a pleasure to celebrate student and staff excellence in the Tucson Unified School District. So, it is uh always wonderful to lead with one of our most amazing learning communities, Manzo, which of course is no stranger to accolades. Uh I'd like to highlight uh Manzo because it recently received a generous $10,000 donation from Fry's Food Stores and Kroger Companies as part of their Zero Hunger Zero Waste Foundation in honor of Earth Day. This investment aligns with the powerful
007hands-on learning already happening at Manzo every day. Through an award-winning integrated ecology program, students engage deeply in sustainability, biology, and desert conservation, bringing learning to life through their school garden, greenhouse, and outdoor classrooms. This funding will expand opportunities for students to explore environmental science, urban farming, and food systems in ways that are both relevant and transformative, not only enriching their learning, but strengthening their connection to the world around them. After all these years, uh heading into my 10th serving this wonderful community, there's nothing more fun than visiting Manzo. Those that have been there, uh whether it's you're looking at the tilapia tanks or you're looking at their composting, or you're looking at the tortoise, or you're looking at the way that the students take care of the hen house, and they work in the photovoltaic
008uh gardens, it is an amazing testament to the district's commitment to sustainability, uh and ecology. And this $10,000 is going to go a long way in helping the school expand those efforts. And I know uh probably Miss Ekstrom and and Mr. Romero join me in uh celebrating their cooking show. That's my latest memory. Uh those garden salsa tacos that those kids made, uh the cooking show, the competition earlier on this year. So, how about a round of applause for the generosity of Fry's and Kroger for their support of Manzo? >> [applause] >> Education Enrichment Foundation since has been the premier nonprofit organization in support of the students and staff of the Tucson Unified School District, from scholarships for teachers to buy classroom materials to helping students meet their needs outside of the classroom, whether that's
009eyeglasses or helping students get medical appointments, or in this case, shoes, Uh uh EEF has been at the forefront of meeting the needs of our students so that barriers can be removed uh regarding access to classrooms across the district. Uh through its ongoing partnership with Skechers, students across the district uh are able to select a brand new pair of shoes along with socks and books to take home. This is more than a distribution of resources. It is a moment of dignity, encouragement, and motivation uh for our students to come to school. By meeting essential needs while also while also fostering a love of reading, this partnership helps remove barriers and expand opportunity. The foundation continues to serve dozens of students across multiple schools each month, and we're deeply appreciative of their consistent presence and support
010in our district. Uh these shoe shopping events are absolutely amazing. I try to make it to at least one a year. Uh through the generosity of EEF, they do like four or five. Uh and it is absolutely inspirational to see the excitement on students' faces when they tear open the new shoe boxes. Uh some of them put their shoes on in the store. They want to walk out uh into the parking lot with their new shoes. So, it's absolutely inspiring. I can't speak enough uh on the importance of EEF and how much we value them uh as a partner. Their marquee event, of course, is the in the um Educational Enrichment Foundation Ray Davies Lifetime Achievement Award Luncheon that occurs every October. Certainly want to thank all of our community members that support that event.
011Uh Wakefield, one of our emerging premier schools, uh is in the news for being designated as a 2026 Arizona School to Watch. This prestigious recognition reflects not only strong academic performance, but also a sustained commitment to meeting the developmental needs of students through engaging instruction and a positive school culture, and of course continuous academic improvement. Wakefield is a story of redemption. Uh once a point of pain in the community as it was closed uh through the recession era closures of 2009 and 2012, a community that once gave up hope that the school would ever open again, found itself reopened uh about 4 or 5 years ago and now thriving >> [clears throat] >> uh as one of our fastest growing middle schools, and a middle school that is dedicated to advanced learning experiences and uh
012project-based learning for the students of the of the Wakefield [clears throat] community. Uh the campus, renovated and modernized, now serves as a lab school focused on advanced academics, 21st century learning, and a unique judo elective that supports discipline, focus, and student engagement. Under the leadership of Principal Josephine Lane and her team, Wakefield has built a learning environment where students are supported, challenged, and inspired to grow. The school will be Nash will be recognized nationally in Washington, D.C. and at the state level later on this year, joining a network of exceptional middle schools across the country. We're incredibly proud of the Wakefield Knights for this absolutely amazing achievement. Let's give them a round of applause. Absolutely. I also want to highlight a meaningful literacy partnership supporting the students out at Maldonado Elementary. Through the Reading Pig,
013now celebrating 10 years of impact, students are gaining increased access to books and strengthened opportunities to build strong, lasting reading habits. This work is led by a local lifelong educator, Dr. Nicholas Clement, former superintendent of the Flowing Wells School District, whose commitment to literacy and student success continues to leave a lasting imprint in our community. In addition to his work with the Reading Pig, Mr. Clement, he is the founder of the legendary Teacher Day, a national movement that honors educators each year on the third Thursday in September. Together, these efforts underscore a simple but powerful truth. When we invest in literacy and celebrate educators, we strengthen the foundation for lifelong learning. We are grateful for his continued partnership and dedication to our students. And lastly, for those of you in the community, our employees that
014serve our kids and families proudly in schools, those of you that see these leaders out in the community, May 1st is Principal Appreciation Day. It's School Principals Day across the country, so we want to take a moment to recognize the importance of strong building leaders, our school principals. They're essential to the success of every single school community. They provide leadership, support their staff, and help ensure that every student has the important the opportunity to succeed. Their work is complex, demanding, and deeply impactful, and the impact that they have on their students and families reverberates across the years. So, as we enter into the final stretch of the school year, with just 18 days of instruction remaining and graduation season coming fast, this is also an opportunity to recognize the steady leadership that continues to guide
015our schools and to finish the year with focus, care, and purpose. Building principals, I know we view them as responsible for the school letter grade and we view them as responsible for instructional quality. They're actually mayors of tiny communities. And whether a school is 100 or whether it's a school like Tucson High of close to 3,000 students, each community is comprised of people with hopes and dreams and people that have high expectations for the educators in the building. It's a relational business and principals in a lot of ways are relationship managers. And it takes a very, very special character, a very special presence to to thrive in that environment. So, I think as we celebrate principal appreciation day, I challenge everybody to think about a principal or an administrator in your life, in your time
016in school that made a difference for you. So, we're looking forward to appointing a few principals tonight on this agenda as we go forward. And with that, Dr. Shah, members of the governing board, that does conclude awards and recognitions. Thank you, Dr. Trujillo. Next, we have board member activity reports. Governing board members, would like to get us started. Go ahead, Ms. Ekstrom. Followed by Ms. Luna Rose. Thank you, Dr. Shah. I will be brief. Um I was able to visit Mary Meredith campus K-8. Thank you to Principal Mitchell for the tour. I got to sit on a staff meeting and learn about the intricacies of that campus and I was really grateful to be able to do so. Next, I was at Tucson High School. Thank you to Principal Alonzo. I left that high school
017feeling so amazing that I'm like I don't even I can't even express my happiness that day. Um just seeing all of the classrooms and the students engaged and it was just wonderful. So, thank you to Principal Alonzo for the tour. That concluded my last high school tour. So, I'm just going to say to the public, if you're looking for a high school for your student, we have amazing high schools in Tucson Unified and you need to tour a all of them just to find the one that's right for you. Next, I went to Tap and Project More. Thank you to Principal Macias Reyes for the discussion. These are alternative education sites and I'm really grateful that Tucson Unified has these sites for for students within our district and I encourage you all to learn more
018about these two uh campuses. And then, last but not least, I toured Tully Elementary. Thank you to Principal Wilkind. I learned about their magnet program. It was just a great day. Tully is an amazing little campus on the west side. So, I was really thankful to conclude my all of my school tours at Tully. So, it's taken me four years, but I've visited all campuses and I'm proud to say that I get to start all over again. So, thank you to all of the principals who helped make that happen. Next, I had the Bond Oversight Committee meeting and then I'm not sure if I mentioned Right Flight at my last board um report, but my daughter was able to do Right Flight through Lineweaver Elementary and she got to fly a plane. So, thank you
019to all of the amazing volunteers through the Right Flight program. We got to go out to Ryan Airfield. They do in the fifth grade, they do this whole curriculum where they have to earn that this right to be able to fly a plane. And these are just some of the wonderful things that Tucson Unified has in in their schools. So, I suggest that if you're looking for a school, go to the website and see what they have available to you and to your family. And that concludes my report. Thank you, Dr. Shaw. Thank you, Ms. Ekstrom. Ms. Luna Rose. Thank you. And thank you, everybody, for coming this evening. Just a few items of note. Um I attended the Camp Cooper bond celebration um because of your generosity, thank you to the Tucson voters for
020uh voting in the bond in 2023. There's been work on the cabins um of Camp Cooper. And um they had an unveiling last weekend. And um it was um beautiful. They've done such a wonderful job out there. And if you haven't been to Camp Cooper, or you weren't as lucky or you were unlucky like me as a student not being able to spend the night there, um this is just going to be great for our students uh in the future. And it's such a wonderful uh facility and a real boon to um the TUSD community. So, thank you to Colin Waite for all his work and to Dr. uh Carter of our bond department and her staff for putting on a fabulous event. Um I also attended the Día de los Niños um event uh
021hosted by city uh council members um Celina Barajas and Vice Mayor Lane Kent Santa Cruz um over Admission Manor Park. We had a lot of families. It was a mix of Sunnyside and TUSD families looking for resources. And it was a uh it was a really good day to be out at the park um this past Saturday. So, I want to thank them for all their work um and to also a shout-out to, um, Alma Alvarez who who was, uh, worked at Miller Elementary for a long time and recently is now working for Councilwoman Barajas, uh, for coordinating that and making sure that we're, uh, included as a district. Um, I am also, uh, attended the, um, Save Our Schools Arizona Network School Board Alliance meeting. I am a member of that alliance talking about
022ways to, um, enhance school, um, uh, funding from the state and also a big campaign drive to, um, not, uh, to knock vouchers off, uh, um, uh, get a campaign on the ballot to, uh, uh, challenge the state and the voucher system. So, uh, thank you to Save Our Schools for the monthly meeting. I also like to acknowledge Council Councilman Cunningham that, uh, mentioned, uh, the board, uh, vote, uh, in terms of the Ridgeside Drive, um, which is on the east side, uh, and it's, uh, it's a quadrant of Speedway and Houghton and it's going to become a natural resource park. And last month, um, we voted in a 5-0 vote and he, uh, acknowledged us in their newsletter on Friday. So, thank you to them for that. Uh, and then there is a meeting
023this coming Thursday at the University of Arizona. I'm part of, um, I was asked to be part of a sign-on letter to President Garamendi, uh, in terms of the name change for the Cesar Chavez building. Um, they were going to the UofA was going to have this meeting without any input from the Latino community. So, um, I signed on the letter as a school board member and there was also members, um, our former colleague, Congresswoman Grijalva, Mayor Romero, um, and other members of the community that are alumni um, or current um, UA employees. It is this Thursday, um, April 30th from 4:00 to 5:30 at the Integrated Learning Center, the ILC, which is on across from the main library. It's a public forum and it's a discussion on how this community wants to see that.
024I know there's going to be some of our students there as well, so, um, I wanted to make note of that for the community who may be interested in attending. And lastly, um, attended the Rincon PTO meeting, um, for their teacher appreciation week that's coming up and I know teacher appreciation week appreciation week is next week. Um, so, um, obviously I would be part of that because that is my daughter's school, but all of you can support not just Rincon, but all the schools across our district, the PTOs, the teacher appreciations, um, just they want you, they want your they want your help. We love community and if you're a parent want to get engaged, step in and talk to your your child's principal on how you can help and be part of that process
025for your school. So, I'm always advocating for the PTOs as a former PTO president. So, that is my report for the evening. Thank you, Ms. Leon Ross. All right, go ahead, Ms. Sha. Good evening, everyone. I had the opportunity to attend the Superintendent's Collaborative, um, which is a meeting of all these school districts in Pima County. Uh, usually their superintendents attend as well as their some of their board members. Um, I was the only, um, board member from our district there, but, um, it was great to talk to other board members uh from other districts and hear about what's going on um in their district. Uh from that conversation, a member from uh the JTech board asked me to reach out to him and um later on I gave him a call um about a
026potential bond that they may put out to voters. Um they'll be discussing that at I believe their upcoming meeting in May. It's I think it's the first meeting in May. Um so if you're interested to hear about that um please check out their um their website for information on that. Um I also attended the Alternative Education Advisory Committee. I serve as the board liaison for that. We oversee all of the um alt ed uh programs in our district including uh DAEP and and TAP and uh Project MORE. Um Coming up uh the committee will be discussing um the possibility of recommending to the board um providing transportation to all students who are in um any alternative program. Right now, uh students who go into DAEP or uh Teenage Parent High School or Project MORE don't
027have transportation, unfortunately. So that is something that they do want to tackle. Um let's see. I also met with staff from um dropout prevention about some issues going on in their department and some ideas they have to um you know reduce our truancy and our chronic absenteeism um and other things budget-wise. And so I will just want to thank those staff members for reaching out to me. Um last week, a member of the public uh called the governing board office and asked that I call them about an issue with their student. And so um I do want to remind everyone that you could reach out to us via email, but you can also call the board office and leave a message. It gets sent to us. Um and so I I spoke with that parent
028about an issue at um her uh son's elementary school and um connected um her with um some folks. I do want to thank uh Ms. Anna Warrenbrand for responding um immediately and and uh working with uh the school site uh to help with the student's issue. Um let's see. I spoke with our CWA union rep, Linda, uh last night about um an issue with her um union, and I just want to thank her for her advocacy and uh giving the board some uh background information about um what their uh bargaining unit un- unit would like to uh see in the future. Um and then last I went over to TAP recently, and um just spoke with uh the uh vice principal about some of the issues facing their program. You know, transportation is one uh
029huge thing, and um you know, Teenage Parent High School is a program that we have that many people aren't aware of. Um and it's a fabulous resource. I know that a lot of our uh students who um who become pregnant or um are pregnant or who have children um are starting to go over to Tuva now, which is a great resource as well. Um but there's nothing like having the nurseries where you can visit your child in the middle of a school day, um and having the ability to focus on your studies. So, um I do want to promote um TAP for everyone who is not aware, um and hope that we can get uh transportation to the students as soon as possible. Thank you, Ms. Shaw. Mr. Mary, want to go next? Thank you.
030Go ahead. All right. So, couple more school visits. Uh Robert Snyler, Principal Bernadette Ford Elementary, Principal Vince uh VCK-6 met with Principal Jeff out there, Valencia, Principal Omar and uh he had mentioned that I'm um as as as a new principal there, I'm his first board member to visit him. So, uh board members, he's waiting for his second board member to go out to Valencia, just so you know. Uh Cabrillo Elementary met with Principal Carol, Innovation Tech with Principal Patricia, Gridley Principal Rosanna. Uh actually Calvin this morning and met with Principal Angela um helped with the morning announcements and she wanted me to say that uh she was my favorite Chevone. I don't know why she said that. >> [laughter] [snorts] >> And uh now for the highlight school of the month. You know, I
031could highlight all these different schools. We have great schools like Ms. Achterman said, too. There's so many great opportunities to visit some of these schools to find out a good fit and um you know, and thank you very much for getting to all your schools. It's it's a it's an accomplishment and that's a sense of satisfaction and and it makes us understand our communities that we have out there. So, anyway, so my my highlight school of the month, a special thanks to uh Team Booth Ficket. Uh what an exceptional uh visit with Principal Rob and Assistant Principal Yuri. What a difference and a change in leadership can make at a school. Uh it's my third time to Booth Ficket, but it felt like a new school. The energy was positive, welcoming from the greeting of
032the attentive office staff, fantastic monitor team and I got to meet them all. Teachers and student services personnel was fantastic. I was given my initial school tour by two second grade ambassadors, uh Daylen and Yatsi. They were very proud of the garden, the library, the playground. I got to visit mostly elementary classrooms and learned from them that the fourth and fifth graders were nice and not scary. Uh later during my visit, I had a conversation with an eighth grader that was talking about his time at Booth-Fickett and one of the highlights when we discussed the big difference biggest difference this year, and you can ask Robin Yury this to back me up, he said discipline. He appreciated the fair discipline. Uh this is obvious during my visit with the order on the campus and respect
033between students to students, students to staff, and staff leading by example. Keep up the great work, Booth-Fickett. And then also had a event uh at 10:10 in the Student Relations Department with Anna Warnebrandt and uh her uh her staff there as well. And that concludes my board report. Thank you, Mr. Romero. I always love hearing all my uh colleagues' board reports. Um I know it might seem like we make a lot of decisions in ivory towers, but I really do appreciate that we're all heading out to schools and campuses and meeting with the folks and learning about what's going on on the ground uh throughout our our very large district that we have here with 88 schools and 40,000 kids almost. Uh myself, uh I had a chance of uh attend as well with Miss
034Luna Rosa Camp Cooper ribbon cutting, she already mentioned uh what that was for. Uh and then Miss Shaw uh didn't mention the American African-American Student Services Awards that we both attended a few weeks ago uh over the U of A campus. Uh all of our student services departments uh have award ceremonies at the end of the school year where they recognize uh the amazing achievements of our students academically and and otherwise. And so we had a great chance uh shaking a lot of hands uh that evening and congratulating the students uh that achieved so much. Uh I had a chance this past weekend to visit the Palo Verde High School and their spring festival. Thank you to the PTA for inviting me. A great opportunity to uh connect with a number of folks on campus.
035They had a whole car uh classic car show, a lot of vendors, alumni baseball game, and more. So that was a great uh event this past weekend. Uh I visited the science resource center, which is in a warehouse near the our transportation central transportation area and it has materials that go to schools throughout our district from kindergarten all the way to high school for hands-on science experiments and hands-on science learning. So thank you to Heidi Aranda as well as Carol, Marlene, Becky and so many other volunteers and staff that showed me around that amazing center and all the cool materials as well as a lot of critters and bugs and other things that I'm a little squeamish about but I got to see from a distance at that center. As your board liaison to the
036audit committee, I attended our meeting last this past month. Our focus was supporting our new internal auditor. I also attended with staff our climate core team meeting as staff continues working with our consultant Cummins Group to work on how to reduce our footprint in the district to help make sure that we create a sustainable climate for the future. And then I also attended the teacher development academy dinner. So every year we have a dinner that recognizes this amazing program and this program takes individuals from our community to help train new teachers that didn't have that teacher experience or go through teaching school. They come in from different professions and they're coming in wanting to be a teacher. So we have a really focused program to help support individuals that want to become new teachers and
037help them get certified, help them in their first time in the classroom. And so I got to meet a lot of the individuals going through this program and say a few words on behalf of the board at that teacher development academy dinner. And then finally along with some of my colleagues and superintendent, I attended the National School Board Association conference in San Antonio. This is a really important job that we all have here as members of the governing board and one that none of us had any training, no education, no no really training about. So it was a great opportunity to go to a conference and learn from school districts around the nation on what they're doing to tackle some of the hard problems that we're also facing here in Tucson. I attended sessions from
038how to right-size and budgets in different districts and how they form collaborative relationships with unions and other stakeholders. Worked on closing gaps for at-risk students and measuring what matters in that aspect. I attended a session on preparing for the US overdose crisis and there was an addiction medicine physician actually from the Phoenix area who I'm going to be connecting with soon again about how to better serve our students at risk for addiction and overdose and maybe get some ideas on how we're using our dual money that we're using towards addiction. Also attended a session on literacy before third grade and how to make sure we have the teacher supports we need. That was all on day one. On day two, went to one on board accountability metrics and how we can work as a board
039to increase how much time we're spending talking about student success as opposed to other option uh things that we talk about. And also vetting math education materials. You know, we're we're we as governing boards make the final decisions on any curriculum that we adopt as as a as a district and none of us have any academic or really teaching experience or training and so it was a good session on on how to vet materials coming in for mathematics and how to make sure that those materials are being used when we go in for our site visits to schools. And then last, I was able to enjoy Ms. Lena Rose and Dr. Trujillo for our own presentation. My first time presenting at NSBA. We presented about our bond and our override that we achieved in 2023
040and 2025 and what we went into those two races. And so it was a great chance for us to talk and give ideas to other school districts that might be going in for bonds and overrides in the future on experience that we learned going through that process. A great chance to give back and make sure other districts get a sense of what worked for us here in in Tucson. That's my call to you my board member report and thank you everyone for your board member reports and I'll turn over to our board clerk to begin our call to the audience. Thank you. And um real briefly, Dr. Shaw, um I would be remiss um I also I just wanted to add um that I met with our new internal auditor, Mr. Paul Houston, um earlier
041in the week and we had a really great discussion and I look forward to working with him uh in his new role um and I think um my colleagues will um will be pleased, I think, with his work. Um so, thank you, Mr. Houston, for allowing me to come bug you for about an hour. Okay. Call to the audience. Members of the public may speak during call to the audience. The governing board clerk shall be responsible for recognizing speakers and for maintaining order where it may be appropriate. Those who speak in person or want to have their comments read shall email or call the board office to complete or complete a request to address the board form before the meeting. Speakers who have not completed the form are not permitted to address the board. The
042speaker must state their full name and topic prior to addressing the board. Speakers are encouraged to be brief with a maximum time of 3 minutes. While more than one speaker may speak together in the time allowed, speakers are reminded that they are not allowed to speak more than once and that they may not transfer or delegate their time to others. If there are documents for the board, please give them to the board office staff and they will ensure each of us receives a copy. Those attending the meeting and or speaking before the board shall observe rules of good conduct. Speakers shall refrain from inappropriate or slanderous remarks and because TUSD serves students from preschool through high school, please be aware that there may be children present and listening. At the end of the call to
043the audience, the governing board president will ask if any board member wishes to respond to criticism, wish ask wish to ask staff to review a matter, or wish to ask that a matter be put forth on a future agenda. No more than two members may address each topic. Second. Just wanted to confirm we have one that needs ASL interpretation. Do we have an ASL interpretator here? Staff tells me there is someone. No, okay. I'll make sure staff knows that we're still working on that. Okay. Okay. I'd like to check in with Dr. Salmon. We do have somebody on the way. Okay. >> Okay. All right. Thank you. >> Thank you. All right, our first uh speaker is Jonathan Cabellero. I can never pronounce your last this name, but Jonathan is student over at Palo Verde.
044Cabellero, I cannot It's cuz I can't roll my arms. I can't. I'm terrible. All right, Jonathan, are you here? Okay. Well, hopefully he comes and I would uh love to hear him speak. Uh next is Fatima. Okay. Yeah, we're going to get you one. You're on the list, so we'll make sure that happens. Thank you. All right, thank you. Okay. Fatima? Okay. Um Muhammad? Come on up, Muhammad. Oh. Is the mic not on? Hold on. Just a moment. Hello. Hello. Yeah, yeah. Uh good evening to USD governing board. My name is Muhammad Idris and I'm a sophomore at Palo Verde High School. I am speaking to you today to ask for you to approve the Palo Verde four-day week pilot. I believe that many people from our school would enjoy a three-day weekend, also an
045opportunity to come on Fridays to finish any work they are missing or get help from teachers. Right now, I take a lot of honors classes and next year I'll take uh three AP classes. I am a hardworking, confident, smart student. On Friday, I I could do all of this work because on Tuesdays and Thursdays I have soccer practice and I never have time to finish any of my work. Please approve this pilot for all of us. Thank you for your time. >> [applause] >> All right, thank you. Next we have Mawada. Mawada? A student also from Palo Verde? I know. Okay, well, if they do come, they um we'll try to make sure we get them in front of the governing board. Next is Cruz Silva. Good evening, uh President Dr. Shaw, board members, and
046Superintendent Dr. Duthilleul. My name is Cruz Silva. I'm a proud Davis to middle parent, PTA vice president, and community leading member, deeply invested in the future of our school. First, I want to sincerely thank you, gracias, for your responsiveness, dedication, and clarity during this difficult transition. The speed and care with which you acted reflects your commitment to our students and our community and we don't take that for granted. We are optimistic about the appointment of Mrs. Heidi Aranda as interim principal and we look forward to welcoming her into our Davis Romeros family. We also recognize that some frustrations exist within our community. Those voices matter, and they deserve to be heard through proper channels. As the PTA, we remain committed to being exactly what we were created for. A bridge between families and leadership, focused
047on solutions rather than demands. Our teachers are the foundations of our students' stability. They represent relationships, trust, and continuity. We look forward to working directly with Mrs. Aranda and any remaining questions around staffing and assignments, because we believe those conversations belong at the school level, where they can be handled thoughtfully and collaboratively. We are committed to being partners in this process every step of the way. Davis Romeros is a gem for this district. Let's make sure it continues to shine. Muchas gracias. >> [applause] >> Okay, next we have Katie Alexander. All right. Good evening, members of the governing board. I'm sorry for spamming your email the last couple days. My name is Katie Alexander, and I'm a proud graduate of TUSD. And my family and extended family continue to serve Tucson as members of the
048Pima Community College uh teachers, as part of the University of Arizona, and on the City Council. I'm also a graduate of Brandeis University and Columbia University, and could not be prouder of my TUSD education. I'm here today because a hiring process at Whitmore Elementary failed to incorporate the school committee's preferences and ultimately violated GCABR3, a regulation on hiring of school principals that was adopted on March 11th after being passed by you. And this is really awkward. I'm sure the candidate you're scheduled to confirm tonight is in the room. So I want to be clear, I have no idea who they are and I have no reason to doubt their qualifications. However, I know that they have been knocked to that for success because this HR process really broke trust between the Whitmore community and the
049district. Imagine an internal candidate that has served the school for years as an administrator and a teacher who has been principal designee for months at a time, who many members of the school committee independently told HR they wanted to hire, who the principal believed she was training as her replacement for years. Imagine that candidate being told they were qualified for the position and then not even getting an interview. How did that happen? As we're talking about steady leadership of principals and how important that is to student success, how is a qualified internal candidate who was told to apply, who has trusted relationships in the community overlooked? It just doesn't really make sense. And yet this isn't just an outcome at Whitmore, this is an inevitable outcome of TUSD policy for two reasons. One, because minimum
050requirements for principals require 2 years of admin experience specifying that must be as principal or vice principal, but most elementary schools in the district do not meet the minimum enrollment requirements for a vice principal. This means most elementary school principals cannot train their replacement and qualified administrators in elementary schools are arbitrarily blocked from advancing their careers in the schools where they have the strongest relationships. But this rule is inconsistently applied. In 2025, the current principal of Curio was appointed with 4 months experience as vice principal, but years of experience in other admin positions. Second, HR has not updated their guidance for hiring principals since the board passed GCABR3, which correctly puts school priorities at the heart of the principal hiring process. The remedy here is really simple. Delay. Refer the issue back to the school
051council so they can exercise their option created by this board to interview additional qualified candidates. This candidate who you're going to confirm today may still get it, but let it be from a fair process. And in the future, the superintendent should revise some of the requirements language to strike the parenthetical examples of principal and vice principal. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Next is Cheryl Lennon. >> [music] >> Good evening, governing board members, Dr. Trujillo. My name is Cheryl Lennon. I'm the payroll manager for TUSD. I don't want to be here. I like to be invisible, but I'm here in person to ask you to delay implementation of the Palo Verde pilot program until the 2027-28 school year. I'm here to say what others at higher levels are unwilling to say. The first time HR
052and finance teams heard about this proposed change was April 1st. We had many questions and in response, we were told we were resistant to innovation. That's simply not true. I see this schedule change as a potential way to help retain students and funding and move the district forward. Palo Verde may be just one site today, but if this works, several more sites could follow within a few years if it works. I've been told that the governing board doesn't want to focus on the operational details, that you only want to understand the economic impact, but you need to care about the nuts and bolts. Right now, what's being presented looks like a shiny new rocket, but there's no whole engine in it yet. Before we launch, we need to know how this will actually work. You
053first saw this plan just 2 weeks ago, and now you're being asked to vote tonight to implement for fiscal 27. HR and finance have had only 1 month to evaluate it, and we have barely scratched the surface. What we've uncovered so far is not readiness. It's a long list of unanswered questions. I reached out to Patagonia School District with only 34 employees. They took a full year to implement a similar schedule change, a full year. Yet, here with a much larger and more complex system, we are being asked to move forward after just weeks. That timeline is not just aggressive, it's irresponsible. With a full year to prepare by testing systems, building processes, creating documentation, this pilot program has a strong chance of success. No pilot's perfect in its first year, but we can get
054close. And early success matters. It builds confidence among principals, staff, students, and the community. But, if we rush this, and the first year success rate falls below expectations, what message does that send? How many future opportunities will be lost because we didn't take the time to do it right? We need time to build the infrastructure. We need time to put the systems in place. 2 months is not enough. 1 year is. I'm standing here saying what others won't because you deserve to understand the reality. The systems are not ready for the next school year, but they can be ready with time. And please, governing board, give us that year. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Next is um Andrea Espinosa. Good evening, members of governing board, Superintendent Trujillo, and community. My name is Andrea Espinoza, and
055I serve as the community liaison at Davis Romedo. I'm here to show my beloved school some love and support. First, thank you for your time, your leadership, and the care you put into supporting our schools. I know these decisions are not easy, and I appreciate the responsibility that you all carry. I'm proud to be a part of Davis Romedo. We have a very strong legacy rooted in bilingual education, relationships, and community. I see that every day in our classrooms. In kindergarten, Señora Evette Llanes and Señora Alma Armendariz have devoted their lives to bilingual education. They build more than early literacy in English and Spanish. They create belonging, confidence, and joy in learning. For many families, this is their first experience with school, and they meet them with trust, care, and deep respect for their language
056and culture. That kind of beginning stays with a child for years. Our art teacher, Señora Tessa Valencia, is a gem. It is rare to have a bilingual educator leading a comprehensive art program. She doesn't just teach art. She creates a space where language, culture, and creativity come together. Students are able to express themselves in both English and Spanish, see their identities reflected, and engage in a well-rounded program that reaches every child. That kind of access and representation matters deeply in a school like ours. And in second grade, Señora Sonia Castellanos supports students as they grow into independent learners in both languages. The second grade team has shown some of the strongest growth on our campus, and she has played a key role in that process. Señora Castellanos is a long-time champion of bilingual education in
057our district. That experience and commitment come through clearly in and and service. As for myself in my role as school community liaison, I work closely with families. Often that means walking alongside families through moments that can feel overwhelming, helping ensure families have food to eat, clothing to wear, and that school remains accessible to kids so they can fully engage in learning. Maintaining this role, even in a minimum capacity, and able to engage with the school is essential. It helps ensure that students and families remain connect remain connected, supported, and able to engage with school. As our community continues to evolve, this role is vital to keeping those supports in place so that students can show up ready to learn. I also want to recognize that our future interim principal is stepping into this moment with
058a lot to carry. I hope we can continue to support that leadership with the resources and stability needed to move our our school forward in a constructive way. Davis Romedahl strength comes from its people and from the trust we build every day. Thank you for your time, your service, and listening to our committee. In Lak'ech. >> [applause] >> Next we have Katie Callahan. Hello, I'm reading on behalf of Katie Callahan. Uh good evening Dr. Trujillo and members of the governing board. My name is Katie Callahan and I am a parent of a kindergarten student at Davis Romedahl Bilingual Magnet School. I would like to express gratitude for the Davis Romedahl teachers and staff including kindergarten teacher Irma Menendez, second grade teacher Sonia Castellanos, art teacher Tessa Valencia, community liaison Andrea Espinosa, and especially my daughter's
059teacher Yvette Lanz. Señora Lanz has been teaching at Davis Romedahl for over three decades and has been a driving force behind the success of the school's bilingual education program. She's an exceptional educator and a cornerstone of the school community whose experience and dedication are unparalleled. My daughter loves her and I hope that my younger daughter is able to learn from her when she starts at Davis. In Lak'ech. >> [applause] >> Next is Breanna Camping. All right. Um Good evening members of the board and Dr. Trujillo. My name is Breanna Camping. I'm an ELD, AVID, and creative writing teacher at Palo Verde High School. Much was said at our last meeting as to why the four-day week pilot would be beneficial to our school and to TUSD. Uh there's the student enrollment, the teacher retention, the
060work study opportunities, more flexible scheduling, time for appointments, and the list goes on. However, I'm not just here to speak with you as a teacher at Palo Verde. I'm also here to speak to you as one of Palo Verde's TEA site representatives. After the four-day week was proposed, our administration surveyed the students, the parents, and the staff. Overwhelmingly, each stakeholder was in strong support of the pilot happening. You can review the results of the student and parent surveys in the information provided to you about this agenda item, and you will see both groups surveyed highly in favor. Teacher and staff responses were also in steep support with 97% surveyed agreeing or strongly agreeing in favor of this pilot, and the remaining 3% surveyed neutral. This can't be just about the teachers though, it has to
061be for the students. Our teachers feel so strongly about this pilot not only for our own lesson preparation needs and work-life balance, but also because we believe that this pilot is a benefit to our students and their lives. I can give you so many examples of students whose lives would be benefited by the schedule. I have one student who struggled to schedule a job shadowing program with the vet culture that the vet clinic that I connected to with through AVID. I have another who comes constantly to my class after school to make up things that she missed because of J-Ted. And I can keep going on. There are so many situations in which Friday is dedicated to catching up or sometimes even just a little bit more time to relax and be with their families
062would change these kids' lives for the better. And that's why the teachers want this. In your resources on this agenda item, there are two documents that I'd like to mention. Uh an MOA and an MOU from TEA. Both of these documents state TEA's agreement to work with the district to make this pilot possible. TEA has shown only support for this pilot and regarding the details, the consensus the consensus agreement will not be a hindrance to making the four-day week pilot a reality. This is good news for me because as the TEA site representative, it is my job to advocate for the workers. When 97% of the workers say that they want something, I listen. And I hope you will, too, by voting to approve Pala Verde's pilot program this evening. Thank you for your time.
063Thank you. >> [applause] >> Next is Dawn Flores. Hello. Good evening, members of the board and Superintendent Trujillo. My name is Dawn Flores. I'm a full-time working mother with deep roots in the district. I attended Fort Worth Elementary, Carson, Santa Rita, in which two out of those three schools are now closed. Um I'm here tonight to urge you to approve the four-day school uh week pilot program for Pala Verde Magnet High School. Um I've had to navigate both sides of this. Last year, one of my daughters, I have four daughters in total, they all have attended TUSD high school or TUSD schools. Uh but one of my daughters last year graduated from a charter school. Because TUSD couldn't meet the needs of her IEP and her credit recovery. Like many parents, I had to look
064outside the district to find a path that would work for her. Maybe if a four-day school week was an option with the additional supports, she could have stayed in the district. Now, I have a junior at Palo Verde. We chose that school for the STEM program because she loves math and science. She's a straight A student, 4.0, taking many AP and honor classes. She works incredibly hard and I am very proud of her. But she is exhausted. She often spends her nights and her weekends buried in homework. Uh I'm not faulting any of the teachers for this. They are preparing her for her future. She has 45-minute conference period incorporated into our into our schedule, which is great, but it's just not enough time for her to get all the assistance that she needs. Hence
065the reason why she has so much work to do on her own time at home. Which makes me a concerned parent of her mental well-being, if she's okay. I also have to talk about the reality of being a working parent. We're at Palo Verde on open enrollment, which means for years I was hauling two high school students to and from two different high schools while working full time because the district buses weren't an option and the city buses just aren't safe. We all see the numbers that TUSD's occupancy is low. Families are leaving for alternatives because they're looking for something that actually fits their lives and their children's specific educational needs. There's that old saying, "What's the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting something different." If we want to
066stop losing our students that actually support um if we want to stop losing our students and actually start supporting the ones we have, we have to try a different approach. The 4-day pilot program at Palo Verde is a chance to do that. It gives kids like my daughter a chance to breathe and gives the district a chance to finally innovate. I know that change can be scary and there are always logistics to work out, but I believe Thank you. Thank you. Okay, Dr. Shaw, we have hit the 20-minute mark. Um so we have um still at least eight I'm sorry. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Yes, uh p- people to uh address us and then three to be read. I understand the ones to be read are directly related to items on
067our agenda tonight. Um They're all related to items on our agenda tonight. So, I'll move to continue call to the audience to complete the the ones that are there. All of them? >> All of them, yeah. Second. Moved and seconded. All those in favor say I. Any opposed? All right, we'll continue call to the audience. Go ahead and start Luna Rose. Thank you. Next uh is Rose Bratton. >> [applause] >> My name is Rose Bratton. I'm a library associate and cataloger for the Educational Materials Center, part of Fine Arts. I'm one of the few remaining central library staff and a former library assistant. Four years ago, this library assistant moved from part-time at Holiday to full-time at Booth-Fickett. I I sole responsibility for one of the best libraries in Tucson. I always thought it was
068when I was a student there from third through sixth grade. I organized and shelved books, checked them in and out, cataloged new materials, hosted visiting classes, all what I love to do well outlined in the job description and interview. Added on to that, I was responsible for $150,000 in technology. I distributed Chromebooks, bags, chargers, and headphones, troubleshoot the problems, assigned fines, made work orders, coordinated with TS, set up the computer cases, all on my own. The first and last 2 weeks of the school year in my library position, no books. Tech ate away at my time the rest of the year. One day in one class, we had six Chromebooks ransacked for an overall loss of $1,500 in district resources. In one single hour, we never found out who did it. And this was a
069common occurrence. I was never trained to troubleshoot and distribute technology as a library assistant. I tried my best. I was also the only adult responsible during library time. PLC makes library an elective just like Oma computers and PE, but with me as the teacher. Once while focusing on checking out books, a crowd had formed around the new kid. I broke it up to find him crying. He lasted a week before he was pulled out of the school. I was never trained to supervise and discipline students as a library assistant. I tried my best. I was called to a meeting to teach a supplemental math program. I drew the line there, asked why a classified employee is being asked to teach, and the word teach left the vocabulary of the principal and CSP. I wasn't teaching.
070I was delivering curriculum already prepared for me. Policy code GCABR2 states teachers are assigned only when quote the teacher is highly qualified and appropriately certified. I'm not any of that. Should a class held by this classified employee with no teaching certificate count towards instructional time? Absolutely not. After all, I was never trained to instruct and teach as a library assistant. I tried my best. And this isn't just my story. I ran a survey. Half of our library assistants feel their work is consumed by technology distribution. A fourth of that feel they teach. There are 73 elementary, middle, and K8 schools with libraries in this district. 73, and only one of them has a certified library position. The other 72, each one has one library assistant each with no librarian to assist. And the job description
071says, "Other duties as assigned." So, new hires have no idea they'll often be asked to act as office assistants, school site technology liaisons, campus monitors, reading interventionists, resource teachers, and of course, librarians. Woefully underpaid library assistants are forced to struggle under all of this. Policy breaking and borderline illegal practices that are ruining school libraries and the amazing staff that run them. The board needs to commit to conversations about this. They try their best every day. We need to do our best for them. Thank you. Thank [applause] you. The next is Lauren Aguilar. Lauren? All right. Next on the list is Cameron Rodriguez. Mr. Rodriguez, if you want to distribute, you can give it to the board office. >> [laughter] >> Yes. This is my eighth time speaking. You may remember that I assured you I'd
072be back to speak if it got worse and more expensive for the district, and I keep my promises. You see my letter. You've seen the handout I'm distributing tonight. The district's own accident report completed the day of my injury was never shared with the insurance company or the district's own outside defense attorney. Now, on the back is a illustrated diagram of the precise place I fell down last July at the fire hydrant in front of the school just down the block here while asking about the impact of construction on school operations. When I thought I heard something in my knee, I filed a claim and it was mysteriously denied. The denial said that it was, as you read here, off school property and on period break. Look at this diagram. Does this look like it
073was off school property to you? It's 1 ft from the front lawn and it was an in-service day. There was no period break. It's quite clear. Coincidentally, I received this denial in November exactly 1 day after I inquired with TUSD's general counsel about retaliation concerns I had about the school and I will let you decide how to interpret that. But regardless, workers compensation law was designed to solve the problem with employers over property lines because they always do. And it instead asked, did the employee's actions benefit the employer? Since I was out out there asking about school parking, I would say that is clear, too. But district lawyers are not workers compensation lawyers, so they offered their own generalized legal interpretation of the accident to the insurance company without any reference to this document and
074it just happened to result in a denial. Off property, off period break, no retaliation here. If any workers compensation law or actual claims adjusters saw this form, they would have accepted my claim immediately. But instead, 6 months without medical treatment for my knee, 6 months of board meetings, 6 months of the defense of the district's own document proves this unnecessary. And then, to top it off, the defense lawyer torpedoes their own case because they decided that they were done defending TUSD's legal mistake and wanted the district to know and just pay for it. If you were an insurance company and you paid for 6 months of pointless litigation based on a hidden mistake that generated immense regulatory exposure for multiple corporations, you would probably want the district to pay, too. That's what an indemnification clause
075in contract is for. And if it's the district's mistake, the insurer covers nothing and the district eats all the costs, everything. And finally, this document, I believe, was the insurer sticking TUSD with a very large bill and saying, "Wrap it up." Please retain independent outside counsel to review this file before you vote to settle this case for obvious reasons. An actual workers' compensation specialist this time, not just any old lawyer. And not on May 4th, this week. The hearing is May 19th. Higher insurance premiums, almost certain. The cost of a second opinion is trivial. Please settle this and let me go right back to being a teacher. I'm tired of this. Thank you. Next is Lillian Fox. I have your homework ready for you. Dr. Trujillo, members of the board, um If you turn to
076this page, please, you have 87 million 87.3 million dollars of unexplained uh furniture and equipment in your budget. This is a 6,720% increase over what it was last year. You have never had anything like this much there. They're This is unexplained. Now, if you turn over to the next graph, that amount of money is huge. It's enough to fund all of your all 36 of your elementary schools for a full year. It's almost enough to fund all of your 13 K8 and 11 middle schools. It also is enough to fund 10 out of 11 of your high schools. You need to find out what that money's for because nobody in this community is going to allow you to close schools when you have $87.3 million of unexplained money in your budget. Now, if you turn
077back over here, um you are the governing board. He is the superintendent. This is very much like a city council with a city manager. He is not the boss. You are the boss. It's in your name. It's in his contract. It's in board policy BBAA that you make the decisions. He handles the day-to-day work. He will give you advice and suggestions about what policies ought to be. He doesn't get to decide them. He's violating his contract. He's violating policy BBA. You have responsibility for TUSD's budget and money. In the 2024-2025 budget, you were never shown the budget. It wasn't even completed until November of 2024, five freaking months late. How can you oversee the budget when you've never seen it? CFO Hernandez put your name on it, labeled it as adopted. It wasn't adopted. You
078never saw it. Um he has repeat Dr. Trujillo has repeatedly failed to schedule agenda items you've requested even when three of the board members or four of the board members have discussed the same or asked for the same agenda item, he doesn't put them on. When four of you requested one agenda item, he said, "We'll see." And we did see, he never scheduled it. You can't do your job unless you can get agenda items scheduled when you want them so you have the information, so you get to vote. He scheduled 2.1 last on the agenda, announced the changes he was making, the deputy superintendent he was going to hire. He didn't have the right to do that. When Sadie questioned him, he said, "I do too. I have the right to reorganize the district and
079when I pick somebody, I'll just bring them up." >> Thank you. >> Okay. Please read the rest. All right. Next, we have Katie Senko. Um Yes, that's fine. Yes, 5 minutes. Thank you. Okay. Good evening. My name is Catherine Senko. I'm the president of the Arizona Association of the Deaf. I want to offer the perspective of both policy and practice to propose ASDB and Tucson Unified School District. Them in your model that you put forward. This model does not introduce services that recognizes Wait. Hold on. Let me just walk. Oh, the current plan one. Over here. Okay. Sorry. The services outlined such as the teachers of the deaf, the teachers of the visually impaired, related services and assistive technologies are already required under federal law through IDEA. The key question is whether services exist. The
080question is whether the model meaningfully improves access, quality, and outcomes. From the what is presented, that is unclear. What we see is a centralized site-based approach with limited dedicated space and a shared service structure. While this may increase coordination, it does not by itself create a specialized educational environment. That distinction matters. For deaf, hard of hearing, blind, and blind deaf-blind student, the access is not simply about receiving services. It isn't about full access to access to language, communication, and incidental learning through the entire school day. That requires more than providers rotating in and out. It requires an environment intentionally designed to support those needs. This proposal does not clearly define how that will be achieved. Additionally, the model relies heavily on general language such as collaboration, flexibility, and continuum of services. However, there are no
081clearly defined outcome measures tied to language development, academic growth, or social emotional access. Without that level of specificity specificity, it become difficult to evaluate effectiveness or ensure ensure accountability. I also want to acknowledge the broader context districts across the state including T Tustin Unified School District are navigating significant budget pressures. But from a system perspective, it is critical to distinguish between a model that is resource efficient and one that is student centered. They're not always aligned. When specialized populations are served through generalized structures, there is a risk that access become fragmented rather than strengthened. Those efforts must result in demonstrably improved outcomes, not simply a redistribution of existing services. At this time, we do not see significant sufficient evidence that this model achieves that. We encourage the board to further examine how this proposal will
082ensure language rich environment, meaningful peer access, and measurable outcomes for students who rely on those supports. Are you able to hold on? She said I want to say that we want to keep in mind that if you receive students coming from ASDB who may be a go to cop may not go to Copper Creek or may go to Copper Creek, it's important to that they have the support they need. And she want to share a little bit of her experience tonight. I'm obviously deaf. ASL is my primary language and I request for interpreter on Friday when I'd learned about this that this meeting was taking place. Your policy requires that agenda and supporting documents be uploaded two days before the meeting, but she'd learn that I have to request accommodation 10 days in advance. How
083is that accessible? And think about the parents of deaf kids who are coming. Who Many of them are deaf themselves. How is this board accessible? You represent schools from all over and the board recognize deaf hard of hearing. Are you open to deaf hard of hearing representation on your board? Sorry. Please know I have so much respect for Tucson Unified School District. You do wonderful things for the hearing of for the student. I feel to show up here with no interpreter. A room full of hearing people who don't know sign. Asking a friend to interpret for me. How does that make us feel comfortable that the deaf hard of hearing student that will go to your schools will not feel isolated? Thank you. Thank you. Okay, next is Thor Halverson. That's me. Oh, hi Thor.
084Thank you. >> [laughter] >> So. Okay. So. I'm also representing the rural students, like students from Douglas, students from Safford, students from other areas where the proposed plan for ASDB and Tucson Unified School District will leave them lacking. Because right now kids from Sierra Vista are having to get on a bus and go 2 hours one way to go to ASDB on campus. That's 4 hours a day. That means they cannot participate in athletics. They cannot participate in after school uh tutoring. And for the more involved kids, they're just going to say, "Oh, we can't help you." So, the concern here is that ASDB is supposed to represent the whole state. That means all of the districts. Okay, currently what's happening is they're shoving everybody into the mainstream and saying sink or swim. I can
085tell you that's not going to work. The reason why, I am a 14-year veteran educational interpreter for the deaf. I've seen this system already enacted on the East Coast. What ends up happening is the teacher of the deaf comes in, does a wellness check, and then leaves. All of the main instruction is done by somebody who is not a teacher of the deaf. The the supportive services like speech therapy, language therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and things like say development of ASL fluency, that's a hit or miss in those under those conditions. A lot of those positions were made contractually, which means hit or miss again. All the while the student is in is in an environment where their peers are not there. They just say, "Oh, your peers are the other hearing kids." Guess
086what? They're not going to take the time to learn sign. They're not going to meet this student where they're at. They're not going to be able to pick their friends based on who they want to hang out with. They're going to be stuck with the kids who have the patience and the consideration to try to bridge that gap. But, nine times out of 10, it's very isolating. They're going to fall behind in school because if they're not fluent in ASL and don't have the independent skills, they are not going to function just by throwing an educational interpreter at them. They're not going to be able to take it in and process it. They're not going to have the fluency. They're going to be playing catch up, and guess what? They're already behind. It's not going
087to work. The best place is right there on that campus at ASDB. And I'm speaking as an educator. Thank you. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Next is Kirsten Cummings. Good evening. Need to find my page. >> [clears throat] >> You have nice handwriting. Thank you. >> [laughter] >> My name is Kirsten Cummings. I work uh at the Educational Materials Center with Rose Bratton. We are with uh a few of our colleagues representing most of our schools. Um in fact, most of the people who responded to her survey were unable to come tonight probably because they fear retaliation for talking about their experiences. I've been with TUSD for 15 years and all but 6 months have been in libraries. We are bleeding talent from our libraries. And it's gotten exponentially worse since 2020. What you have
088heard and will be hearing from my colleagues is a cry for help for open communication and ultimately for respect. A therapist once told me, "Sometimes a wall is put up so you can lean on it." Boundaries aren't barriers to growth, communication, collaboration. They are guide posts to get us to a collective goal. What may come across as impertinence may actually be someone's expression of being near the edge. "I can't do this. This is too much. This is wrong." What I hear from my colleagues and what I have read in emails is emotional and physical exhaustion. If they weren't loyal and dedicated, all of them would have left before you would have uh Sorry. All of them would have left their positions. Uh they would have never bothered going through the various channels to finally come
089before you tonight. Please hear in their words, "The system we have is broken. Let's fix it together." Thank you. >> [applause] >> Next is Paloma Got- Gaskey? Good evening everyone. My name is Paloma Gaskey and I am the library assistant for Miles ELC. I've been working for TUSD for 5 years and I'm actually a third generation TUSD employee. Um and I'm here to share my experiences with the layered uh concerns that we have with the uh with the library services. I am very lucky to be one of the few library assistants in the district that works full-time, 40 hours a week. However, my hours, my library duties and responsibilities have been affected by the need and demand to fix student Chromebooks and address the overall technology issues that occur on a daily basis. I have
090no official training or education in technology, but as a librarian, I do a lot of research. Um which has allowed me to help my students and fellow staff members. And I think I did too good of a job trying to dissolve those issues because I was given resources by field technicians from TS to help eliminate the workload for TS. Um regardless of the joy that I feel in being that one person that can solve these issues at my school, it does have a downside. I have had to fix Chromebooks and other miscellaneous technology problems um in the middle of my library classes. Um I've had to work during my lunches because I serve both middle school and elementary school. And their schedule are not the same. During state testing, I had been warned about not
091clocking out for my 30-minute lunch that had been required by current labor laws. Um however, I thought it was inappropriate to tell the testing coordinator, "Sorry, I cannot help you or your student during your state-mandated exam. I have to go to lunch." Which especially with state um testing, time is of the essence and Sorry. Um I am a library assistant. I am not a site technology liaison, but I do the work of both jobs. And I only get paid and recognized for the one and it is the lowest paying job. My concern is our to is our title of library assistants. We have the same responsibilities and expectations of a library media specialist or librarian. And if you compare both job descriptions, they are almost identical. We are librarians. And unfortunately, not many know or
092understand what our positions entail outside of check-ins, check-outs, and story time. I had a peer once asked, "What do you actually do?" I had another peer uh tell me, "Why are you tired? All you do is stare at books all day." And that was said seriously. So, here are the things that we do as library assistants. We catalog books. We encourage literacy and reading for leisure. And then we also maintain our collections by site level because each school has different demands based off their student body. And unfortunately, I have not been able to put in certain books into my catalog because of the demand for technology. We were awarded two grants and were able to get a bunch of new non-fiction books, but I've not been able to put them onto the shelves. And it's
093due to the fact that cataloging cannot be done intermittently. It has to be done in one go. And I feel like I'm denying my students and my teachers that because of these situations. Thank you very much. Have a good evening. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Okay, that concludes our unless any of the students that I called earlier were able to attend? Okay, I don't see any. Um okay, so we'll go on to uh the e- uh emailed letters. First from Keana Montson. Palo Verde High Magnet School is a magnet school and continues to be part of the desegregation unitary status plan and the post unitary status plan. Yet, its magnet status and desegregation plan are not addressed in the administration's proposal. The key purp- purposes of a magnet school are student ethnic racial integration and
094improved student academic achievement. Neither are addressed in the plan. The plan states that there are varied funding that will be used, which is vague and does not specify the budget sources included the 910G desegregation funding. The proposed plan was not posted on the TUSD desegregation internet page, nor was it a public hearing posted and provided. The instructional tracks as described appear to shrink their offerings to three, which on the surface would take the magnet school offerings back to a time of ability and or racial ethnic tracking, contradicting the foundational concept of equality and the rationale for desegregation. The outline tracks are one track one community based instruction, track two life skills and social skills, track three activities using unique learning systems. The descriptions are slight and do not warrant instructional policy approval. No research based
095instructional evidence is provided to defend to what appears to be a giant leap backward and and a tracking system that minimizes the instructional opportunities, particularly for African American, Mexican, Hispanic heritage, and exceptional education students. While the proposed plan vaguely addresses stakeholder survey results, it fails to provide the actual population surveyed with the actual number and percentage results by race and ethnicity. The feedback appears to be TUSD administration employee based and without specific seems parents and students were not meaningfully included. Many Palo Verde magnet school parents know nothing about the proposed change, nor do parents of incoming freshman students. Some of the expressed concerns by parents and students follow. Several students who work after school under the current schedule will be unemployed under the proposed change in school hours. The extended school hours will make it
096most difficult to work. Several students are concerned about their social and athletic connections to in their sister TUSD high schools. Some low income parents are concerned about the loss of meals for their children on Fridays. Working parents are concerned about their children's well-being on Fridays. The costs outlined to implement severely flawed proposed plan is a unwarranted expense, especially during a budget crisis. The TLCC has a limited time and information to provide more thorough and useful feedback to the governing board. Still, given what has been provided, we request that you reject the Palo Verde Magnet School proposal based on its many deficiencies. On behalf of the TLCC, Dinamic Lori, Lorraine Richardson, Beth Putnam Sedaghat, Silvia Campoy, and Kiana Monson. Okay. Next letter. Uh from student Vincenzo Kristoff. Dear TUSD Governing Board, I am Vincenzo, a junior
097here at Palo Verde High School. I'm writing to persuade the board to vote yes on the Palo Verde 4-day school week. Going to TUSD schools, I've had countless friends and situations that would have benefit my parents benefit parents and my parents by having a later drop-off time on Monday through Thursday. I remember hearing as a kid, "This 3:00 traffic is ridiculous." more times than I'd like to remember, and had my family members stressed over getting me from school. A later time to get out of school can provide people who need their kids in an saying after-school program by keeping after-school program this time by keeping their child an hour later than usual. Some scholars may challenge this by not wanting to stay after school for as long as to do the sporting events or other
098responsibilities. This is when the school must become flexible, making sure that there are proper accommodations for a scholar's schedule who do extracurricular or sports. We've already been assured that programs like JTED will have accommodations at this time, and other extracurriculars will, too. These programs are beneficial to a scholar's working life. This 4-day week and school extension can not only help all families, but especially those less fortunate. Sometimes parents need that extra hour to make it from whatever side of town they're on time to pick up the kids after school. Personally, I wish it was more currently conveniently time for my family to pick me up as well. My mom gets picked up from work around 5:30, leaving my dad rushing to have me home to watch my siblings and to pick up my mom at
099an appropriate time. Having the school release at 4:00 would mean my dad would be able to not only pick me up, but also pick up my mom in one swoop. Along with the time that I'm gaining at school Monday through Thursday, if this pilot were to pass, I'm also gaining an entire week and day. My mom always feels as me and my brother should do more around the house, and school directly disables my ability with me having to do homework instead of watching a baby, making a project instead of a bottle. My parents need me as the oldest sibling, and this Friday would not only give me more time to help my parents, but give me more time to recharge and do more homework. Thank you, governing board, for your time and consideration. Sincerely, Benchanzo.
100To the governing board, this is from Sunny McCarthy. I submit this statement for the April 28th, 2026 meeting because a documented medical condition prevents my physical attendance. The reading of this statement into the record is a mandatory reasonable accommodation under the Title II of the ADA. Failure Failure to read this statement in full constitutes a document denial of access to a public program, which has been appended to my existing OCR and DOG filings. Number one, the notice ultra vires actions by human resources. The TUSD administration is currently engaged in ultra vires sanctions, acts performed beyond their legal authority. Under ARS 15-545, the authority to approve a teacher's resignation and the assessment of any associated penalties is a non-delegable delegable duty of the governing board. Currently, TUSD human resources, as you know, laterally withholding thousands of
101dollars in liquidated damages from departing teachers, including 15 0718 in my specific case, without bringing these contracts before the board for a formal vote. By allowing HR to usurp your statutory authority, this board is presiding over a lawful diversion of wages that violates ARS 23 352. Number two, fiscal mismanagement and the financial cliff. As the board discusses right-sizing to address a $33 million deficit, you must be aware of the mounting legal liability created by the current liquidated damages policy. Statutory caps the students the district's $2,000 or $2,500 penalty exceeds the recognized limits for improved damages. Dobson Bay precedent, per the Arizona Supreme Court Dobson Bay 2, these withholdings operate as unenforceable penalties, not damages. By continuing to defend these legal withholdings in the labor department dispute proceedings, the district is wasting taxpayer funds on a
102legal strategy that is fundamentally unconstitutional. Formal demand for oversight. In light of the current TEA contract impasse and the financial crisis, I formally request that the board direct the superintendent to provide a report on why HR is bypassing the board's duties under ARS 15-45 545, cease all legal liquidated damages withholdings that have not been individually approved by a board vote. The district cannot afford a balanced budget on the backs of teachers through unauthorized wage diversions. I await the board's public response and a resolution to my outstanding wage claim. Respectfully submitted, Sunny McCarty. And Dr. Shaw, that is concludes call to the audience. All right, thank you, Clerk Lunarose. Now, our governing board has the opportunity to respond to criticism, ask staff to review a matter, or ask that a matter be put on a future
103agenda. Reminder that no more than two members may legally address each topic, and I'll start really quick on saying I apologize for not having an interpreter Katie or Catherine. And Thor, thank you for interpreting. We did have someone designated from XSD to interpret tonight, but that person cited a conflict of interest and dropped out last minute. So that's why we didn't have an interpreter on site for that. But thank you for interpreting Thor, and I'll turn over to Ms. Luna Rose. Okay, thank you. Um I also wanted to address um Katie and Thor, thank you for coming this evening. Um and um I would hope that um this is the first time that we've had anybody uh a member of the deaf community come and address the board, but I do apologize for not having
104an ASL interpreter. And now that we are going to be um working with the students coming from ASDB, that we will make sure that there's an interpreter here every board meeting for parents. Um and um just a moment. Um and um and the community. Uh so again, my apologies on that. That this is um a new area for us as a governing board, um but we will make all reasonable accommodations possible to you. Um and then next um and also I want to say thank you to everybody that came. Um I know that um sometimes you sit here and there's a and it's you know, you're interested in what other people have to say. Um I really enjoyed everybody's comments tonight. I know that there's a lot of um uh interest in the Palo Verde
105Palo Verde four-day week pilot. So I'm interested to hear what my colleagues have to say. Um I would say that I would also like to make sure that and I know this is for a future discussion, but I just want to put it out there uh that um uh our students with disabilities are also being considered um for the Palo Verde um vote later this evening and that um I've already put this out there Mr. Ross that maybe perhaps looking at a um a PIA uh an an analysis on how that's going to work, but we can get into more discussion on that. But I just wanted to publicly um address that. And um and I again uh to uh Mohammad, I know you um spoke and thank you so much. I always always always
106um encourage our students to come and speak to us um because we are here for them and we're not here for ourselves. And so it's important that they let us know what's going on and um I appreciate uh his comments and if any other students are listening um I know school's almost over, but if you want something new to do exciting in the summer, you can come and address us in the board. Um but also just let us know what you are doing and how you're feeling as a student here in Tucson Unified. Um and that's all I have. Thank you. Go ahead, Misha. First I want to also apologize to uh Mr. Thoren and Ms. Catherine for our extreme error in not having translation services and if if you can um uh relay this
107to Catherine or if we can reach out to them, I don't know if we have their email address. Um you know, having an item about ASDB on our agenda to me would should make our staff already requested so that in the instance that there was a conflict, we would always have interpretation services. So we really need to do better as a district. I'm super ashamed and well upset about what is happening at this governing board meeting today, and I'd like to ask staff uh to or I'd like to add to a future agenda review of our policies regarding interpretation services. Um it was said that we have a 10-day policy, I believe. Um we need to reduce that um significantly. I believe governing board policy KBF um speaks to this, and so if we can
108uh put that on a future agenda so that we don't make the same mistake again, I would appreciate it. Next, I want to thank uh the Davis Romero community for your continued advocacy, and uh do let me know how things pan out um over this coming school year and during this transition. Um I'd also like to thank uh Rose Paloma and Kirsten for bringing the issues of our library and assistants um to our attention. Um you know, it's really sad that uh so much of your time is spent dealing with technology. Um that just doesn't seem like a proper use of your time. And then not to mention having to uh teach at times, especially when you're not certified to do so. It is a major liability, so um I would like to ask staff
109to um look into their scope of work, and if we can get the survey that has been taken um so that we can review it as a governing board, um and send it to staff so that we can prevent that from happening. I am hopeful that uh with our override money, we can uh fund um um librarians and help you get back to um you know, your no- normal scope of work. Um let's see. And then I would also like to ask staff to review the matters discussed in the letter uh submitted by Sunny McCarthy. Thank you. All right, so that will include our call to the audience. Thank you everyone for attending tonight. All right, we're going to be going to our action item 7.1 uh through 7.4. Dr. Turrill, we'll start with uh
110administrative appointments uh for Principal Doolen Middle School. Yes, um President Shaw, members of the governing board. Um tonight, uh we're always excited to present uh to the governing board for its consideration uh new administrators, especially those that are going to be new to the principalship. Uh and I want to thank the Doolen community. They've been a great partners in the interviewing selection process. But tonight, uh I'm proud to recommend a leader who has established herself as a very visible, very responsive, and a very uh influential campus presence for parents, for staff, and for the greater Doolen community. Herself, uh she is a GATE teacher and a GATE educator by trade, but has stepped into the assistant principal role uh with great effectiveness and great influence, and has done a wonderful job uh supporting the Doolen
111community. So tonight, our hiring recommendation uh to be the next principal of Doolen Middle School is current Doolen Assistant Principal Michelle Gower. Thank you, Dr. Turrill, governing board members. I'll move the item. I'll second. Moved by myself and seconded by Ms. Luna Rose. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Item passes 5-0. Congratulations, GOWER. >> [applause] >> AND SO WHAT WE'LL DO IS WE'LL HAVE YOU HERE IN THE AUDIENCE. We'll give you a moment to speak and welcome you or introduce yourself to our TUSD community. And at the end of these four appointments, we'll have a chance for pictures and make sure after you speak to go to the receiving line of our leadership team ready to welcome you. Is Ms. Gower here? Yes. Good evening, Dr. Chu Hio, President Dr.
112Shaw, and the governing board. Thank you for this wonderful opportunity to continue to on my journey to at Doolin in the role of principal. I'd also like to thank Ms. Santine, Mr. Sanchez, my family, and the Doolin community for their support throughout the process. I look forward to working with the parents, teachers, students, and staff to move Do- Doolin to the next level. Thank you. Congratulations. >> [applause] >> Dr. Chu Hio, next we have 7.2, administrative appointments for principal Mary Dell McCorkle Academy of Excellence. Yeah, President Shaw members of the governing board, those of us in in the TUSD administrative community really need no introduction to tonight's recommendation. He is one of the most seasoned, accomplished, and impressive administrative leaders in the district. I remember visiting Robison Elementary when I was in like my first
113year in the district and he was in the classroom at that point and he was absolutely lights out. And he's been ever since, you know, later moving into a dean of dean of students position, taking on a very challenging assistant principal assignment at Booth-Fickett and having an immediate impact with relationships with families and students and the teachers of that campus and really helping to steady the campus climate and culture there during a very difficult time. But his breakout performance has been as the principal of Bonillas, taking that school to unprecedented heights, academic accolades, magnet excellence, you name it. Enrollment increases and a steady advance towards A and B ratings through his years as serving as the proud principal of Bonillas, where he currently is in finishing his sixth year. So tonight, Mr. Frankie Schiavone is
114our recommendation to become the next principal and the next leader of one of the district's largest K-8 campuses, the Mary Belle McCorkle K-8 Academy, the school of excellence. So Mr. Schiavone is tonight's recommendation. Thank you, Dr. Trujillo. Let us Let us approve it first and you can clap. >> [laughter] >> I I will move the item. All right, item moved by Ms. Linares. And seconded by Ms. Ekstrom. All those in favor say I. I. Item passes 5-0. Congratulations. I'd like to invite Mr. Schiavone to say a few words. >> [applause] >> Good evening, governing board members, Dr. Shah, Dr. Trujillo, and Mr. Ross. Thank you very much for the kind words. I certainly love working in TUSD and I do love what I do. I want to I want to say that I look forward
115to learning and moving into the McCorkle community. I'm extremely excited and I'm blessed to be joining the Mustang community. I am also very very thankful for the last 7 years at Bonita. Um, they took a chance on me when I was a brand new young principal and they got me here to where I am today. So I'm very lucky and blessed and thankful for them. And I also want to thank my family and friends for the encouragement and support over these many wonderful years. So thank you everyone and I'm I'm very grateful. Thank you. CONGRATULATIONS FRANKIE. >> [applause] >> DR. TRUJILLO, NEXT WE HAVE UH 7.3 administrative appointments Principal Whitmore K-6 School. Yes, uh President Shaw, members of the governing board. Uh tonight's hiring recommendation uh has currently been serving for the last 5 years
116as an assistant principal for the Tucson Unified Virtual Academy. But previous, uh her background was as an MTS facilitator coming out of Roberts Naylor K-8 developing a passion for academic interventions and making sure that students get the resources and get connected to the interventions that they need. And her background as an instructional coach uh out in Decatur, [clears throat] Illinois where she hails from has certainly primed her uh for this lead instructional role that we're going to ask you to consider her for tonight. Uh so we are proud to recommend uh the current assistant principal for the Tucson Unified Virtual Academy, Karen Anton, uh to serve as the next principal of Whitmore Elementary School. Thank you Dr. Trujillo. Governing board members. I'll move the item. Moved by Ms. Shaw, seconded by Ms. Luna Rose. All
117those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Any abstentions? Item passes 5-0. Congratulations Ms. ANTON. >> [applause] [applause] >> I HAVEN'T SEEN THAT BANNER BEFORE. IS THAT A WHITMORE BANNER? It sure is. >> Awesome. Very cool. >> [applause] >> Good evening, Dr. Trujillo, governing board members. I'm incredibly honored and excited to serve as the next principal at Whitmore. Something that stood out to me as part of the interview process was having um some of the team members at Whitmore share what their favorite piece of the school was. And their answers were all the same. It spoke to community and relationships and a sense of belonging. And I'm committed to continue to foster that strong culture of collaboration at Whitmore and celebrate our shared successes. I also need to thank my family and give a special
118notice to the leadership, the staff, the students and the families of Tucson Unified Virtual Academy. I am so so proud of what we have built together over our last 5 years at TUVA. We have done something really special and I am absolutely privileged to innovate with them, to laugh with them, and to lead alongside them every day. But now as I transition into a school where the classrooms have mute buttons, I look forward to listening and learning and leading with heart. And thank you again for the opportunity and for putting your trust in me. Thank you. Congratulations. >> [applause] >> All right, last but not least, Dr. Trujillo with 7.4 administrative appointments, the interim principal of Davis Bilingual Elementary Magnet School. Yes, governing board members, tonight's candidate has had a very impressive and accomplished career
119uh the Tucson Unified School District. Uh for last uh 7 years uh she has been a key member of our own leadership team serving as a senior director for curriculum uh development uh curriculum and uh development and professional development and training for teachers. Uh prior to that uh she was vital for me coming in and learning all about the district's math curriculum. Uh I remember her uh her support, her knowledge being fundamental for me uh coming into the superintendency and really understanding the intricacies of Eureka Math and you know, what we're doing with K-3 Math and and really uh our partnership with the University of Arizona with the Center for the recruitment and the retention of mathematics educators. But long before she became a district office leader, uh she accomplished herself as an amazing principal
120at Ochoa Community School, where she served for over a decade from 2003 uh all the way through 2014. Uh led that school through unprecedented uh heights of of success and also was a steady and calm voice for leadership during some very difficult moments for that community. But one consistent theme under her leadership was community uh and was bringing staff together and making sure that the Ochoa community knew that they had a leader that they could trust and that they can believe in. And we're going to ask for that leadership to be on display for another uh potentially rewarding assignment uh pending governing board action. So, tonight our recommendation for interim principal at Davis uh Romero Bilingual and Magnet School is our current senior director for curriculum and professional development, Ms. Heidi Aranda. Dr. Short? Yes.
121Uh I would like to move that Ms. Heidi Aranda serve as interim principal at Davis Romero Bilingual Elementary Magnet School. Um You have a great person coming into your school and believe in her because she will work with you and she helped save Ochoa. So, I'm [snorts] I'm honored to make this motion tonight. Um I will second. Moved by Ms. Ekstrom and seconded by Ms. Luna Rosa. All those in favor say I. I. >> I. Any opposed? Item passes 5-0. Congratulations, Heidi. Thank you for TAKING THIS [applause] ON. BUENAS TARDES. Presidente miembros y superintendente Gracias por esta oportunidad. Antes que nada, me gustaría reconocer a mi personal actual y mis colegas del departamento de currículum y desarrollo profesional. Ha sido un honor trabajar conjunto a profesionales tan dedicados al servicio de nuestras escuelas, educadores y
122estudiantes. Me siento profundamente honrada esta noche de ser nombrada directora de Davis Romero Bilingual Magnet School. Davis Romero es una escuela con un legado orgulloso. Reconocida por su compromiso con la educación bilingüe, el orgullo cultural y generaciones de estudiantes y familias que han sido formados por su comunidad solidaria. Ser encomendada con el liderazgo de una escuela >> First, I'd like to express my gratitude to the Davis Romero community for being here tonight to express themselves. President, governing board members, and superintendent, thank you for this opportunity. Before anything else, I'd like to acknowledge my current staff and colleagues in curriculum and professional development. It has been an honor to work alongside such dedicated professionals in service to our schools, educators, and students. I'm deeply honored to be appointed principal of Davis Romero Bilingual Magnet School. Davis
123Romero is a school with a proud legacy, known for its commitment to bilingual education, cultural pride, and generations of students and families who have been shaped by its caring community. To be entrusted with leading such a special and respected school is truly humbling. This opportunity is especially meaningful to me because my mother attended Davis Bilingual uh as a student. 35 years ago I began my career as a bilingual teacher and I am proud to now serve a community that values biliteracy. I look forward to partnering with the Davis Romero community to build on the school's proud traditions and bright future. Thank you for your trust and confidence. Felicidades. >> [applause] >> We'll take a quick 5-minute break, governing board members, to do photos and quick potty break and we'll be back in about 5 minutes
124so we can continue our agenda. I think he's talking to you. Why is he talking to Congratulations. Thank you. Where is everybody else with me? Okay. can come in, right? Yeah, two three more. Okay, we got four. He's all right. He's right there. All right. All right. That's good. I'm so proud of you. You. You are amazing. >> [laughter] >> Oh, you're going to love our gifts. Um oh, yeah. Yeah. Okay. >> I'm going to get the meeting started again here, governing board members. Hello. >> All right, Dr. Trujillo, we're going to continue on with item 8.1. Request to name the new administrative building at 220 West 6th Street. Yes, President Shaw, members of the governing board. Um it's been almost 60 years since the Tucson Unified School District's longest-serving superintendent in history uh hung
125it up and went into retirement. But as they say, vision and innovation never go out of style. A true historical visionary for this district, his vision, his passion, his innovation still influence us today. Dr. Robert D. Morrow served as superintendent from the Tucson Unified School District from 1941 to 1968. Just the longevity alone probably would warrant uh naming our new building after him. But then when you go in and you look at the courageous stands that he took, the vision that he saw for educational landscape that would come very quickly, and for a new type of learner that would benefit from this vision, he becomes all the more inspirational. Robert D. Morrow not only served as the superintendent for the Tucson Unified School District. Prior to that appointment in 1941, he served as the superintendent
126for the Arizona State School for the Deaf and the Blind. And it was there that he developed not only a passion, but a vision for what education could be for students with disabilities. He became the first superintendent in Arizona history to pilot what we know now is the norm, inclusion. The idea, the concept that students with disabilities can learn alongside general education students in a general education environment. He would go on in his 10th year, 12th year, in the early 1950s to take one of the most courageous stands that any educator could have taken in that era. The stand to desegregate Dunbar Elementary School. Unforced, unpressured, voluntarily, moved by conscience for a vision for an inclusive educational experience for African-American students in a time where that was anything but the norm. In the face of
127criticism, hateful comments, and even threats, he stood tall and he defended his recommendation to desegregate Dunbar. And along the way, his administration in purchased 10 acres of land over in the Gates Pass area that would become known as Camp Cooper because he had a vision that the desert southwest that he grew to love, moving from Nebraska, could one day serve as the most beautiful classroom for thousands of students across the Tucson Unified School District. Pioneer in outdoor education. For 27 years, he watched a district grow and flourish, meet challenges, have its successes, and fail time and time again as he tried to innovate. When he came into office in 1941, the Tucson Unified School District was just over 3,000 students, around 3,200. When he left, the district was over 53,000 students in 1968. His leadership
128saw the passage of some historical bonds and overrides that provided foundational funding sources for the schools that we know and love today, like Borton, like Blenman, like some of the beautiful high schools that we see, Pueblo as well, and Cholla. And so, it is my honor this evening, uh governing board members, to honor the legacy of this amazing educator, this educator who has left a a lasting influence and legacy on the Tucson Unified School District that we know today. I couldn't think of a better way to honor that legacy than the transfer the name of the Robert D. Morrow Educational Center, as we know at 1010, over to our new building at 220 West 6. I'll close by saying like most people, when I came into the district my first couple of years as superintendent,
129I I like to refer to the district headquarters as 1010. I still do uh from time to time until I catch myself. No, say his name. Because that reminds people of who he was and what he meant for the district, and what he meant for inclusion, and what he meant for integration, and what he meant for outdoor education. So, I find myself more and more and more as the years go on saying the Morrow Center because his legacy deserves nothing less. So, with that, governing board members, I would like to proudly recommend that you take action to to name our new building at 220 West 6 Street in honor of Dr. Robert D. Morrow as the Robert D. Morrow Education Center. Thank you, Dr. Trujillo, for that introduction. Governing board members, Um I just like
130to thank you for that beautiful tribute. Many don't know all the amazing things that Mr. Morrow did for our district, and so I am um so happy that we are going to um I hope uh name our new building after um Mr. Morrow. With that, I'll move the item. I move the item. Uh Shaw seconded by Ms. Ekstrom. Any other comments? Go ahead, Ms. Luna Rose. Um thank you, Dr. Trujillo, for bring that to the board. Um I know that there has been a lot of talk in the last couple months since we approved [clears throat] the the buy over at 220 West 6th. Um who is it going to be? And I know a lot of names were floated, and so the fact to to continue with Mr. Morrow and what he did for
131this district, um I think shows, um real insight in terms of the things that he did, um that have laid the foundation. And, um I think that, um this is, um it's still needed. It's still needed for people to know who he is, um cuz without we would be we would look like a different district without his, um contributions. Um And I didn't know he started Camp Cooper, so um that's awesome. Anyway, uh that's all I have. Thank you. All those in favor? I. Item passes 5-0, and I understand we have family members. >> We do, and though uh I like to welcome and and say hello to uh Patricia and Deborah, uh Dr. Morrow's uh granddaughters. They're here with us this evening. I like to ask for them to rise and and be recognized.
132They're very uh proud of their grandfathers. >> [applause] >> Uh very proud of their [cheering] of their grandfather and his work, and and they're happy for the um the steps that we've taken tonight to honor their grandfather's legacy. I had an opportunity to uh meet, I think it was Deb Deborah, right? Uh we spent some time in my office and just uh hearing the stories and the memories of of uh her visiting her grandpa over there at 1010 and running through the halls. Uh very, very uh moving uh to hear those stories. So, I'm very proud of the action tonight and and look forward to to moving from the Robert D. Morrow uh building over to the new Robert D. Morrow building. So, thank you very much. Yeah, are there any statements or anything you
133want to say quickly? About your grandfather, the legacy he left? I'll probably put you on the spot. You maybe haven't prepared anything. Yeah, I did invite them to speak and they they did politely decline. So. All right. Well, thank you for being here and for honoring your grandfather's legacy. It's amazing amazing legacy and achievement for our district. Thank you. >> [snorts] >> All right. Thank you. We'll be moving on to item 8.2, talk about Palo Verde High Magnet School pilot program, four-day school week. Yes. Yes. President Shaw, members of the governing board, at our last governing board meeting, we did have a study item on the potential adjustment to uh for Palo Verde's school week uh to go from a five-day to a four-day. Governing board provided some really strong feedback, some really great feedback
134regarding some additional information and details. The Palo Verde team is here uh with that additional information. We also wanted to take some time this evening to focus on the financial and the staffing impact uh of the move to a four-day week. So, Mr. Hernandez will be speaking a little bit to those details. And then we also wanted to talk about the metrics that we're going to be looking at. Uh the action tonight is for a one-year pilot uh with the understanding that we're going to identify some metrics, discuss that with the board tonight um to identify for measurement for success. And then I know the Palo Verde team was prepared at the last meeting. We didn't really get to it, but I want to make it a focus of conversation as we present to our
135board members for possible action tonight, considerations for our students with disabilities and what options are going to be there on Friday for those students as well. So, with that, I will turn it over to Mr. Eric Brock, proud principal of Palo Verde. A point of information, sorry to interrupt. Dr. Shaw, the members of the deaf community have requested that we pull the item from this agenda. Um, I believe the ASDB reps have left and also since there's no interpretive services, I'm wondering if we can push that to a different meeting, too. Not this item. This is 10.3. You're talking about >> 10.3, just in case they don't want to sit through. Yeah, we can we can move that to the next meeting. Okay, any objection, governing board members? Okay. That Yes, go ahead. >> I
136just want to make sure that we do have interpretation services available um at our next meeting. Okay. We will. I I I want to talk about that at future agenda adjustments cuz I think we're dealing with policy, staffing, and maybe some contracted services support. So, we'll we'll I'll talk about how maybe we can do that in a future agenda, but yes, absolutely. Okay, cuz it's I mean, we have Miles ELC in our district, so it's not like this new thing that we need interpretation, so I appreciate that. All right, go ahead. All right, thank you for having me back again, governing board, Dr. Trujillo, and Council Ross. Um, I'm here tonight to clarify any additional information for you and to go over a couple of the things that were missed from uh the last meeting.
137So, the first thing that um I want to review is why Friday was selected. And so, in the graphic that's displayed in front of you, you can see that we have uh several days that are um already scheduled off on Friday. So, in examining that calendar, what I came to a decision for here is that if we chose a different day other than Friday, 7 weeks, almost a full quarter of the school year, would change to a 3-day week. So, to maximize instructional time, Friday was selected for that. There are other aspects of Friday. First of all, the stakeholder results. So, some of those were parents, some were students, and some were staff. And almost eight out of 10 people in the presentation given locally favored the support of a Friday. So, to follow up
138after the last board meeting, I used a polling feature on our Outlook for email and sent a request for our teachers to give feedback. Again, 98% of those responses favor remaining on Fridays or if they wanted me to explore other days. Um and then the main goal of moving to a 4-day school week is to improve our enrollment. So, the Friday marketing appeal for future students is something that is very tangible for them. You know, you have heard a few students talk about potential for having 3-day week, for coming in on Fridays, some parents in the past have talked about travel schedules, and so on. Um and so, that marketing appeal would give me an advantage over some of the charter schools that are within our our boundaries. And then, of course, appealing to teachers
139to be able to link the day of recess to a couple days on the weekend as well. So, that's why Friday was selected. Um I also want to talk about some of the instructional tracks that were planned for our exceptional education students that are at Palo Verde. So, we are very fortunate to be diverse, and some of our diversity includes exceptional education students. So, we needed to plan for what we would do for them on Friday. I'm happy to say that my with the help of those teachers and my department head, um every student's home was contacted about this potential move. This wasn't something that we left to surveys. The phone was picked up. Um and so, track one is community based instruction. That's a CBI. Track two, life skills and social skills. And track
140three, are activities using unique learning system. And so, what that is is actually very similar to um IXL, but for students with disabilities. So, go a little further in detail. Um the CBI track is uh job exploration and work readiness, um community navigation skills, uh practice in real-world um communication skills, and uh hands-on vocational experiences. And so, in in part of researching what would be best, um I worked with uh Dr. Salmon about coming up with some options for our students on Fridays. Um and so, we are actually able to increase what we could do during Monday through Thursday instruction with CBIs to also include Fridays for them to be out in the community and get these experiences. And then in track two, the life skills and social development, these are activ- activities of daily
141living, meal prep, financial management, organization, um sports, social communication and peer interaction, and independent living. And then, the structured learning in track three, the unique learning system, um has alignment to IEPs. Um it gives them functional academics and communication practice and transition, um and vocational preparation. So, there's been a lot of effort to make sure that we are not missing any student um at Palo Verde by moving to a four-day week. And this is uh work with special education department and our homes to coordinate these efforts. This is an example of what a potential schedule could look like. We could have those structured learning activities, community practice, physical activities, community partnerships, transitional support, resource fairs, and social engagements. So, the expected outcomes um would be to increase independence for our students in significant with significant
142disabilities, to improve their readiness, to expand community participation, to still continue to work towards IEP goals, and to have compliance with federal and state transition requirements. And then I wanted to talk about what how we could judge the success of a four-day model um a pilot. So, um things that I think I would be responsible for coming back to you to show uh how we're doing would be the course pass fail rates um in core content areas. That's English, math, science, and social studies. And um below each of these areas are the sources that we can use to pull data to get that for you. Credit attainment and credit recovery rates. One of the great things about being open for for students on Friday is that we will have not just the ability to help
143tutor them to get specific help from their teachers, but also to offer uh Apex credit recovery for students in a large block of time so that they can continue to recover credits if that's what they need. Um and so, those subcategories would also be reported to you. Um graduation rate and trajectory indicators. Um we would have FAFSA applications. Uh and that's something that my college and career readiness counselor is amazing at at my school, and we have continued to grow in those areas. Um but to be able to have a student come in to get assistance in completing FAFSA on a Friday, a day of recess is something that I definitely look forward to. Um if you've been in in my school in the past, you can see pictures of our graduates um in caps
144and gowns and in in schools that they have been admitted to and think that they will be attending and these fast applications are a big part of what would help them do so. Continuing further the metrics, attendance obviously is something that we're going to focus significantly on. In talking to many principals that have adopted a four-day week, they say that I should be able to expect to raise the numbers significantly especially in the first year and then specifically in most recent art news publication, I believe that was by channel 9 on Patagonia showed a 3.61% increase in their four-day model. Um for attendance purposes. And then of course our enrollment and [clears throat] in the last presentation you saw my counselor talk about the discipline and suspension reductions in fighting as well as bullying. So
145to be able to report those rates to you, to have the parent satisfaction scores for the school quality surveys and then of course to address any issues with teacher retention to show you how the model is working for keeping teachers. Okay, so that concludes the part that I wanted to make sure that I added for you from the last time that I met. I know that Ricky has a part of a presentation and I know that there's some information from TEA as well. Is there anything that I could answer for you? Do you have any questions, comments, feedback on what was presented to us just now? I'll say I'll say I think our metrics are good here. I'm really curious to see are you planning on coming back to us in the early part of
146like January with like first semester metrics? I do believe that [clears throat] I could probably get you more information quickly, but yes certainly at semester break there will be more inclusive information. Yeah, I think those are solid metrics. Did I interrupt you Mr. Ackerman? Were you about to say something? Um yeah, you talk about successes that you're expecting to see. What what are the source of failures that you're projecting um to perhaps happen? Okay. So, um in the last board meeting, some of the studies that I that I came across um showed that in uh suburban school that there was potential for math loss. And so, um I met with my department head in math um and came up with some safeguards in order to address that. So, the overall minute counts um for our
147school actually do not decrease. While we are having a day of recess, um we have increased the school day by an hour, um but classes are actually 5 minutes longer during the week. Additionally, to address the math issue, we're adding an elective grades 9 through 11 that's a math support class. So, if you had algebra, you would have an algebra support, geometry, and so on. Um so, we would actually double what ADE asked us for math minutes. Okay. I I remember you talking about that. I guess I'm wondering um about attendance. If there's, you know, attendance not happening on Thursdays or people not coming back to school on Mondays, what are you going to do to address that? >> Okay. So, uh we are fortunate to have a 7-period day. And so, our teachers operate
148in a PLC. Um in addition to given time to work as a department to attract students to come in for things that they've made up. Um in the last board presentation, we had invitations that we showed you that our departments would use both to call them in on Friday, but also to offer support services um through Zoom so that the students could access um tutoring capabilities remotely. Um so, the first thing is the two the teachers are going to address that issue. Also, before students attend on Friday, before we're open for tutoring, um the attendance and grades are things that we will address in the morning before students arrive arrive so that we can invite um, our students in but also work with our homes through communication. Um, I have an MTSS coordinator also that
149doesn't have uh, like a teaching assignment during the day. So he will run attendance and make sure that we're well versed in anybody that has chronic absenteeism or tardies so that we can bring that to the parents and work for a solution but to also utilize that day of recess to bring them in so that they're not behind. Often times we see in students at my school that are absent it snowballs and so being able to uh, point parents to Fridays for appointments for doctors and so on is going to be a big part of our campaign when we're educating parents on what to do. Those will be included in syllabuses as well but notices from our school. And then in call to the audience it was asked don't And I know that you addressed
150this last time but I just want to make sure that we're saying it again that food services will be available on Friday. Yes, ma'am. Um, and then how do how did you reach out to incoming freshman to let them know that this could potentially happen? So we did have um, a future freshman night and there it was well attended for our school and so I met with parents face-to-face in the library after they toured the school. Um, I offered two zoom sessions for people to attend. But um, I will say that I don't want to ever get in front of a decision-making um, ability of this board or my superintendent. So the information that I gave you were from our current um, students because I want to make sure that I have their support before
151I went outside of our school to do so. Um, and I did not believe that it was appropriate for me to suggest for any incoming freshman without your approval that we could be um, adopting a four-day school week. So, they weren't notified of the potential or were they? For the student for everyone that attended, they were able to to have me personally speak with them about what's going on and then we also published the Zoom meetings for them to attend. >> Okay. Um but I would not say that I talked to 100% of the fresh incoming freshman. >> I I wouldn't expect that. I just want to make sure that that was addressed and that you did let incoming you know freshman know. Yeah, actually that meeting went almost an hour I think past the
152conclusion of the tours to make sure that I answered questions for those incoming students. Okay, great. Thank you. Mhm. I'm Mr. Rose. Go ahead. Hi Mr. Brock. Hi. So, could you just expand a little bit for me? Um as I'm looking at the expected outcome slide, enhanced progress towards IEP goals. Um cuz I know that we've you know uh how's that going to affect the parapros that um are on your staff um as well as making sure I I know that you mentioned it, but I just want to make sure that the families that are at Palo Verde or perhaps there is a a family with a student with disabilities you know, that's in high school, they want to move their student to your school because it's become a four-day week. But they also want
153to make sure that services are going to be provided. So, can you go into more detail about that? >> Sure. I think I'm inferring your question to be two parts. First, I'll talk about the parapros. Um so, they they are an hourly employee and so we are not asking for any additional costs to move beyond what their hourly requirements are for to for payroll. So, um what gives us a unique situation is that we can sort of schedule them where we could have extra help in the morning to receive students, we could have help at dismissal, um and then we can also utilize them on Fridays, but they will just complete the the hours of work, um and then be able to assist those students that come in on Fridays. And then the second part
154of the question that I think I heard was um for the attainment of some of those IEP goals. So, we will be meeting what the requirements are for IEPs Monday through Thursday, without a doubt. Um and that's the law. But, what we will be able to do is to supplement and give them extra experiences on Fridays. And so, for the different tracks that you saw up there, they're actually in working with Sabrina, they're for different types of students. So, those that might have severe and profound disabilities, um and those might be more of the life skills. For those that we need to help with the transition skills, um get out into the community, counting money, paying for things, that's more like the CBI stuff. Um and then we have also have those students that can
155work um on a computer and to do the unique learning system, um similar to IXL. And so, those are just enhancements of some of the goals that they might already have, um that they're working on Monday through Thursday, but also give them an opportunity to to be enriched and have additional experiences on Fridays. Thank you. Thank you for interpreting my two-part question. No problem. Go ahead, Mr. Romero. So, I know in uh another board meeting, we kind of talked about the potential [clears throat] of the district looking at a year-round calendar. If >> [clears throat] >> again, hypothetical, say this were to go through as a pilot, and we adopted a full year schedule, would this um 4-day class thing be able to also be integrated into a full year? Well, I I I know
156you didn't plan that, you know, when you were planning everything, but the realistic realism of it, do you think it's possible? Um I think that I'm able to meet the instructional minute counts, which is a a main tenant before I could bring this before you for consideration. Um, as I understand a year-round calendar, and I'm not an expert on that, but my nephews are in the Vail School District. Um, the the fall and spring breaks are considerably longer than ours. Um, it creates an opportunity for them to be in session more, but with greater breaks. So, what I'll say is that I'm confident that I meet all the minute expectations in this model, and if we stretch it out over the course of the year, um, I have no I have no doubt that we
157meet all ex- expectations for that. Thank you. Um, let's go ahead with the presentation from Mr. Are you going to say something, Mr. Shall we go ahead, Mr. Then go to Mr. Hernandez's presentation. Thank you. >> about the proposal. Thanks for the presentation. Um, some members of the public have asked uh why this plan was not posted on the desegregation page, uh nor uh was there a public hearing called since this is um, you know, a magnet school and and technically um, under falls under the um, unitary status plan. And so, I was just wondering if Dr. Trujillo could speak to that. Yes, um, we didn't view this as a PI as a performance impact analysis qualifying change because there's going to be no material, no um, there's going to be no substantive or significant
158changes or any changes at all to the actual magnet program of the school. The magnet program is the only part of Palo Verde High School that is funded through desegregation. We're not changing the theme. We're not changing the focus. We're not changing anything about that program. We're not reducing its budget. We're not introducing a new staffing model. All of those moves would have, sure, necessitated a performance impact analysis. This is a free and autonomous district outside of court supervision making a decision on a maintenance and operations funded high school and it's proposal to potentially go from a five-day to a four-day work week. Now, that's not to say that a performance impact analysis isn't just a good thing to do in general, but in terms of it being something that is a traditional desegregation modification
159that we would bring for a PIA, we didn't view this one as a PIA qualifying project. And um sort of in that same vein, I know we spoke about this last time you were here, but um can you talk a bit about like the instructional time? Um I didn't see it in this presentation, but like what are the actual hours from Monday through Thursday? How much is it like by an hour that we're increasing each of the days since we're eliminating Friday? Um and then, you know, I know some people are hesitant um because um parents may worry about what their kids going to do on Friday or if they have food uh breakfast and lunch available, um but we have determined that, you know, students can show up on Friday. There's a myriad of
160opportunities and they can get breakfast and lunch, but could you um if you want to address that and my other question? Sure. So, if I miss any part of your question, please remind me. Um but first uh they are 60-minute classes and we have a seven-period day. So, in working with the director of transportation, what we determined is a begin time and an end time that was consistent with allowing the most amount of bus drivers to be available and the most amount of buses. So, that's an 8:10 to 4:10 programming um Monday through Thursday. And then, what we um are attempting to do on Friday is to make sure that we support our learners in the day of recess to have this extra opportunity to enrich them. But also specifically for those that need extra
161credit recovery, this gives them a 5-hour block that they can come in on Friday, get help from teachers, and recover credits. Yes, we are open. Food service is available. I did talk to Lindsey Aguilar about that. Students can come in and grab breakfast and then go visit their teachers. They can grab lunch. They can do both. And then they can be on campus getting extra help. Another thing that's really important when we consider what a letter grade involves for a school is the opportunity for work-based learning. And so to be able to complete that caveat, which is a part of our score in the CCRI index, a student must complete 120 hours. So I did work with Chuck McCollum, the director for CTE, to enhance to continue to not only um service our students that
162complete CTE classes. Those are also magnet classes. And so Aaron Collins have have helped with some of the course articulation through four years. But to be able to offer an opportunity for our students to go out into the community and to have these work-based job shadowing and internships are things that have been lacking at my school. And I'm excited to be able to tell an incoming parent that by the time they complete some of our CTE programs, our magnet strands, that our kids are going to be able to have this background so that they can tailor their college education to a career field that of their interest. To be able to complete that 120-hour internship and give them a a head start, a point of reference on their resume when they're asking for admission into
163these colleges in the future, and to give our parents something proud to send their students to Palo Verde for. Thank you. Dr. Shaw, I I You missed a question here. Go ahead, Ms. Hatcher. Um >> [clears throat] >> for your English language development, you know, each learner is supposed to have 500 minutes. How How's that going to happen? Um so, we have a 2-hour We have students with a 2-hour model block and students with a 4-hour model block. And so, by using those blocked classes, we're able to achieve the minute counts. Okay. Thank you. >> And I just want to make sure that you know that I did work with Ben, who came out from um Language Acquisition and sat with my uh coordinator locally and I and made sure that we verified the minute
164counts. Okay. Thank you. All right. Go to Mr. Hernandez. Let's go to your presentation and we'll have a chance to ask some questions about that and talk more about this proposal more generally. Yeah. So, there are There are two presentations. Originally, I had one that's just a financial review and then a financial implementation because I understand there were questions in regards to the original one. So, there'll be kind of two slideshows, but I will make sure to kind of go through them rather quickly. So, I know that um the district's payroll manager was up here talking to you about some of the concerns that she shared. And so, we've talked through some of these solutions essentially with Mr. Brock, with Shauna Rodriguez, and with HR and employee relations. And so, I'll kind of quickly go
165through them. Um all teachers are going to be paid on actual days worked. Um so, right now the consensus agreement requires teachers to have a 75-hour biweekly pay. It's That's how we essentially allocate their contract. Because they're salary, they're not paid by hour. They're paid by essentially effort, but the effort is essentially calculated at a 75-hour kind of pay period. You know, just think about it like an 80-hour pay period. Um teachers though, based on the schedule presented by the school, are going to be short every week three or it's actually be 1 and 1/2 hours, not 3 hours. They'll be short about 1 and 1/2 hours to meet their 37 and 1/2 hour contracted time. Right? Because their contract is still what their contract says. That is what consensus currently says. So, the agreement
166that we've established, um which is included in your BAI, is that these teachers are going to work 6 hours on a Friday within a 4-week pay period or within a 4-week time frame, which is two pay periods, to essentially make up that time. Because in essence, we're going to be overpaying teachers uh for work that they they haven't done, but they will do. So, the school administration is going to have to determine how they schedule staff to make up those hours that are required by the contract. Right? Because we're essentially paying you for a level of effort, and that effort hasn't been reached until after every 4 weeks goes by. Now, with other staff, when it comes to non-teaching salaried staff, so think about, you know, besides Mr. Brock and the assistant principal, but like
167curriculum service providers, the MTSS, people of that nature, they are going to be short by about 6 hours per week uh to meet their weekly totals because they're paid on an 80-hour kind of traditional 80 hours or 40-hour work week. So, they need to work 6 hours every Friday in order to meet that goal um or any combination thereof. And so, this again, the school administration we're we're not essen- we're not telling the principal how to schedule their staff. It's just this is what the math works out to be. And we need to figure out essentially how we're going to schedule people to make up for the hours because again, we're going to be paying you in advance of the work that you still haven't done. Um which technically, you know, we need to make
168sure that we're always if we're prepaying people, that the payments catch up to the hours. Now, with hourly staff, people who clock in and out, they're just going to be paid on clocking in and clocking out. Right? So, whenever they come punch in and punch out, those are the hours they're going to get paid for. Now, people are obviously up to a maximum. Office manager, for example, is a 40-hour workweek employee. So, as long as that person clocks in and out 40 hours between two Thursday, which is the start of a pay period, and Wednesday, which is the end of the pay period, they'll get their 40 hours. Um they can obviously, like, you know, make changes in there. Um and but ultimately, it's as you clock in and out, that's what you're going to
169get paid, because that's how we pay all hourly employees across the district. Now, other other things to consider is that we are going to require every single staff member, including salaried staff, which includes teachers, to clock in and out. And the reason we're doing is because of the last two slides, right? We want to make sure that this becomes a time and effort tracking system to say, "If we paid you for a 75-hour pay period, at some point in time, did you make sure you worked that 75 hours or 150 hours in a month?" Right? So, we want to make sure not only for the protection of the employee, but the protection of the administration of the school administration, right? Because if there is a debate on "I didn't get paid or my pay is
170docked or something," we can have a timekeeping system that says, "Well, you clocked in here and clocked in here or clocked out there." And we can keep track of those. Now, those teachers are not going to get paid on those hours, right? Because we're just using it simply as a timekeeping system, as just to track their time. Now, teachers are going to continue to use a separate system, which is called Red Rover, to submit requests for paid leave when they go out sick or take a personal day, to request daily subs. So, that system is still going to be in use. Teachers are are very familiar with using Red Rover. Um the school administration is going to have to determine whether they're going to be using daily subs for teacher absences when a teacher is
171required to work on a Friday. Right? Because if a teacher is assigned to a specific Friday and they're sick, it happens, the school will decide, you know, we're going to call in a sub or we're not going to call in a sub. That, you know, that's entirely up to the school. Just note that any substitute who works at least 4 hours is paid for the whole day. That that's kind of the rule with substitute teacher wages. Now, every employee is going to be assigned an individual work calendar, right? Because they're all going to work different Fridays, they're all going to work different hours Monday through Thursday. It's just going to be a mishmash of different different things happening across all 82 positions currently serving Palo Verde. So, there really is not going to be this
172flexing allowed, right? We want to make sure that people are sticking to the work calendar that they've been assigned and that they're submitting any approved personnel action form to change the work calendar, right? Like, "Hey, the first Friday of the month doesn't work for me because I've got X. It's got to be the second." We can make that change. It's just got to follow the protocol, which is what we would do in any at any other school where the individual is changing a work calendar. Palo Verde staff are going to be the only staff who are going to be allowed to submit paid leave requests that are more than 8 hours or more than 7 and 1/2 hours. Right now, paid leave requests are capped at 8, right? Because technically, you don't work more than
173an 8-hour day. Um but in the instance of Palo Verde, we're going to allow that to be more than 8 hours because if you're absent on a Monday, you want to get paid leave for the whole 9-hour day, right? So, we want to make sure that that happens. Holidays, they're going to get a little tricky. So, paid holidays are only going to be paid to employees who are assigned on a Friday that falls on a district paid holiday. So, per the employee agreements, employees need to be on paid status the day before and after to get paid for a work uh district holiday, and we have no concerns with that because everybody should meet that requirement. But the thing of it is is that let's take into consideration, let's just say that Veterans Day falls
174on a Friday and I'm not assigned to work that day, but I work Monday through Thursday. Technically, I've met my hours for Monday through Thursday, therefore I'm not going to get paid for that Friday holiday because otherwise I'm instead of getting paid 40 hours, I'm going to get paid 48 hours. And so we're overpaying somebody for a holiday a holiday. Now, if I'm scheduled for that Friday because I have to make it up, we will pay you for that Friday, right? Because you have you that is your assigned work day and it is a district holiday. So, we will pay you for your actual hours worked. And so that's going to be a case-by-case basis that we will need to track for every employee based on their own work calendar. The implication of all of
175this is that the processing calendar for the entire district is going to shift back by a full business day. So, right now thing you know, time clock entries for example, when people clock in and out, they're due Thursdays at noon. They will now be due Thursdays by 9:00. This enables us to be able to collect the entire district's timekeeping entries including Palo Verde's to process payroll. Right? So, we need those additional 3 hours, but there's processing that happens before it gets to payroll, which is in the human resources department before we get anything. Which is why we need to move everything back by a day. So, this is going to push schedules back for the for other schools just to make sure that we can accommodate everybody's processing. Um now, we can certainly move this
176back as we kind of get into it and we kind of strike a pattern and everything goes smoothly, but at this point we can't guarantee that we can process payments uh on time for payroll on the current pay schedule. Um we already have people in HR and payroll who work weekends um during pay weeks in order to make sure that we're paying you know, all 86,000 or 8,600 people. Um So, with that said, can you go to the one that says financial review, please? Two slides. That's it. Yeah, that one. >> [clears throat] >> So, we did conduct All right, I did conduct a financial review just to kind of What are What are the financial implications of this, right? So, in terms of savings, they're not substantive. We're We're not necessarily expecting additional costs
177from running a a 4-day work week. The underutilized buildings are going to have minimal savings when it comes to utilities, right? Because we still have to run water through the whole facility. Um now, obviously, as certain parts of campus are underutilized, you know, lights aren't going to switched on, toilets aren't going to flush as often, things of that nature. So, generally, there will be, but it won't be substantive. When it comes to food service, just as a reminder, USDA reimburses food service only for meals that are served and consumed on campus. So, having meals uh um uh having food service on Fridays is definitely important because if we don't serve those meals, we don't get paid. Um but, we you know, the net cost needs to be adjusted, right? Because if we're still paying for
178staff to be there the same amount of time that they would be any other day of the week, but we're not serving the same number of meals, then obviously, the cost can overtake the revenue, right? Cuz right now, technically, the revenue offsets the cost. I don't necessarily foresee that because will it you know, food service will adjust based on how they see the numbers tracking throughout the year. So, I don't necessarily see that there's going to be any net cost. There's not really going to be any net savings cuz we don't get paid on on meals we don't serve. Um now, one thing that is paramount is making sure that timekeeping for non-exempt staff, so hourly staff sticks to 40 per week. Right? So, overtime is calculated 40 hours Thursday through Wednesday. So, we need
179to you know, the school needs to make sure that people are sticking to that 40 hours, otherwise we absolutely have to pay overtime. Um there is no you know, there is no exemption to that. That overtime is charged to the school. So, at that point it starts ticking away at their budget. Now, one request that I have I have put in there um and this is something that I consulted with my counterpart in in HR with John Fernandez is that we are requiring or we are requesting that we need an additional position in each of our departments to manage Palo Verde. Um because of the unique circumstances that they're going to be encountering that are going to be separate from all other 87 schools and 40 departments, we want to make sure that we've got
180somebody dedicated when something hits the fan. Cuz we've never done this. Um and right now this I've got five payroll associates um to do 8,600 payroll lines and we process 26 million dollars. So, we have one payroll associate for every 1,500 employees in the district. They also have five. So, they have one to 600. Um so we're already processing what we do. We now will have to run a separate payroll just for Palo Verde. Um it it's just it's the nature of the system and it's the nature of the beast. Um and I can certainly answer questions about that request. Now, in terms of potential state increase on the flip side, one of the things that I talked to Mr. Brock is taking a look at freshman through juniors right now. So, this year there
181were 199 students in those grade spans that were in school for less than a full AT FTE. So, a full ADM. We got less than $5,113 for that those students. Either because they withdrew or dropped, they had excessive absences. Now, the I have excluded seniors from this because obviously seniors may have modified schedules where they don't go to school the full seven periods because hey, I only need two classes to graduate. And the end, right? But if we take those 199 students and we improved their attendance and therefore improve their ADM, you can see what the dollars would look like. Right? So, anywhere between $70,000 by increasing by just 5% to all the way to essentially doubling if any if essentially all those students became full-time, right? Like if they stayed enrolled and on time
182through the 100th day, every one of those those 199 students would generate an additional $712,000 for the district. So, there is a potential benefit that if this is going to improve attendance, there there are certainly are positive uh impacts to state aid. Um so, that is all of it. Thank [clears throat] you, Mr. Nunez. Uh Miss Ekstrom, would you like to >> [cough] >> Uh thank you for your presentation. So, I guess I my question was going to be about mistakes that happen with hours and how you were going to deal with that. Um so, I guess that would be the extra position that you're asking for. Yeah. Okay. And so, say that hours are miscalculated and someone's missing like 6 hours. How long will it take them to get reimbursed for those missing hours?
183>> So, if if it's an error on the district's side, so if it's something that we didn't do, we will run special pays. Those individuals usually get paid by Monday or Tuesday following that Friday payday. So, they get paid right after the weekend comes through. The only reason being is that obviously banks don't process on the weekends. Okay. Um Thank you. I have a kind of a follow-up question. I'm a little confused because your initial presentation uh talked about most of the staff at Palo Verde a lot of our district are salaried. And so it's the onus on Principal Brock and the internal team at Palo Verde to ensure hours are met. And if most of the work is happening internally at Palo Verde for that, I'm confused on what all that additional staff is
184needed on the HR and payroll side if the most people are salaried are still going to make their same salary every two week every pay period and it's up to the school to make sure that the hours are met. If you recall the timekeeping system is what we will be reviewing in order to essentially it's something that we do with others, right? When we run time clocks, we review every one of those line items. I mean, after the supervisors, the payroll department is doing that. So when it comes to Palo Verde specifically, we're going to require everybody to use time clock, right? So if you're a teacher, yeah, you will get paid on 75 hours, but remember based on the current scheduling, you're going to be short 1 and 1/2 hours every week. So you
185have to make up those 6 hours and and the agreement is you'll make up those 6 hours within that four period or that four week timeline. We want to use time clock to be able to see when a teacher clocked in and clocked out so that we can see are you meeting the 75 hours? Because even though they're scheduling them for specific time, I mean, I don't expect Mr. Brock to kind of be like managing head count at the end of the day, right? I we we expect employees to clock in and clock out like we do every day now. It preserves a record of making sure that they're being paid for effort that the board has approved in their contracts, right? So it's not so much that yeah, you're being paid for every two
186weeks, it's ensuring that you actually are working essentially 150 hours in a month, right? That you're not shorting yourself or you're not overworking, too, right? Because if people are overworking, then we need to make sure that we bring that to the attention of the principal to say, "Hey, you've got a teacher who's you know, she's working 155 hours, you know, she can do that. She's not going to get paid more, unfortunately, but we don't want that person working more for no compensation, either, right? Unless there needs to be a reason to do so. So, we want to do that for the protection of it, but that's not something that happens at the site. It currently never happens at the site. >> Right. So, I clock in and clock out at work as well, and so
187my pay period is automated through ADP. So, my supervisor knows exactly how many hours I'm working, payroll knows how many hours I'm working. And so, if it's just all automated in the payroll system and whatever system that um TUSD is using for all the clock in, it seems like you just get a number each pay period and it's easy to calculate the 150 hours for 4 weeks. I'm still confused on why additional staff for a few dozen employees need to happen to >> in addition to that, >> clock in and clock out. >> Right. So, in addi- It's not No one's looking at timesheets and timecards and calculating themselves in a calculator. It's all automated. Yeah, no, it that that's trivializing the work of the payroll staff, and that's not what they're doing. So, we
188don't use ADP. Uh we have a $550,000 ERP system that currently is not robust enough. I will tell you that. This is a message I've given to the superintendent. The system that we have now is 12 years old. We continue to have to buy ancillary software pieces in order to make it what it needs to do. ADP I've used ADP. I've been an employee that used ADP. It is a phenomenal piece of software. We don't have that. A lot of it is manual. But it's not just timekeeping. It is leave requests. It is when somebody goes on FML, we need to make sure that we're we're correctly correctly calculating family medical leave, paid parental leave. We need to make sure that people are including leave requests for days they actually work, that they're not working
189on the days they're not supposed to, that holidays are properly processing, that people are not flexing schedules because they're going to be assigned to specific schedules. The problem is going to become is at the moment that you five get the first email from the one teacher who didn't get paid on time to miss Mrs. Ekstrom's example, my department is held accountable. And so in order to minimize the level of errors that may happen cuz they will happen unfortunately, Dr. Shaw. We need that we need a person who's dedicated to that to that work. Moreover, if this kind of to Mr. Romero's point, if this is successful enough that in 2027-2028 you want to roll it out to Pueblo and Cholla for example, which are kind of schools number two and three, right? You already have
190somebody who's essentially established a process, a system that is able to accommodate a whole new set of people. Because if they see the success that is happening at Palo Verde, I guarantee you that other principals are going to want to jump on the bandwagon and we want to make sure that we're ready to do that for them. We don't have the bandwidth to do this. I I mean, I'm not going to lie to you. We we don't, right? We're already having, you know, we're we're already having to do that in the four years that I've been here. I've never asked for additional funding for any of my departments. Frankly, we've done everything we've been doing with the same number of staff. In fact, I cut one in my last budget. But the expectations are the
191same. I'm just giving you the reality of what I know needs to happen to make Palo Verde successful based on the on the constraints that I've got, which are payroll rules and consensus agreements or employee bargaining agreements. I need to make sure that we're balancing both of those. Ms. Lunarosa. Thank you. So, you actually just kind of answered my question. Well, you know, um and I I appreciate um Mr. Brock thinking out of the box. I really do. But, my concern is like um the implementation um I think the implementation is actually harder on the financial end than the actual being at the school end. So, would it make it any better to hold off until a 27-28 school year or is is that make any difference? I'll just This is a conversation I've had
192with everybody. Um It's frustrating. It is. I'm not going to lie. Um I had the same questions many of you. I can't wrap my mind around why the $330,000 a year Visions or $600,000 a year Visions, the millions we spend on it, okay, as our primary workflow software for finance and HR can't find a way to automate this function for 82 employees in a single school. Uh when we have all kinds of other employees in the district that are 9 months, 10 months, 12 months, variable hour, um crosswalk guards, we've got food service employees, we have daily subs, and we're here, and we can't figure out um one single school with 82 employees how to differentiate a payroll schedule because we have an antiquated system. It's very frustrating, okay? I think the sense of urgency
193around not waiting for 27-28 is because this district is in dire need of innovation. It is in absolute critical need of doing things differently, breaking through the mold, rethinking time, rethinking schedules. And waiting until 2027, 2028, I think it's just another year of sort of the status quo, sort of not breaking out of that mold, sort of being afraid to try something different. Uh I'm disappointed that we're not there's not any kind of a alternative solution here other than adding staff. I'm not a fan of adding staff. We just came through a very very difficult budget season where this board had to cut like $10 million. Uh uh the only thing I would say about adding staff is that if we do not see a return on investment in a year, this pilot should not
194continue. Um it if it if it is successful and we actually are increasing average daily attendance, because what I really like about the model is the focus on getting kids who have stopped coming to school with excessive absenteeism, re-engaging them. If we get the average daily attendance up and actually add enrollment on the other end, and the additional cost start to pay for themselves, I think that's something we could look at, but if after a year, it's not paying off, that that's not something that I think we could ask the board to continue to support. In the spirit of the commitment we made to try to go the other way with administrative staffing, which we tried to do and and even though it's a couple of positions, I still feel like, well, now we're we're
195adding administrative staff. So, it's it raises a larger question about visions and the need to really look at a different system, I guess, um and and being able to do that. In my own sort of non-knowledge of visions, uh to respond to what I heard the speaker say at the call to the audience and then even what I've discussed with Ricky, is that they found out about the scheduling needs in February. Well, if you would have asked me, I would have said, "Okay, so you've got February, March, April, May. You've got 4 months, like more than 100 days to differentiate a pay schedule for 82 people in a single school with a multi-million dollar visions? What could be so difficult?" We just heard it. So, it it it's frustrating. Um I would just say that
196if we are going to go 27 28, tremendously disappointing. Uh I guess that if that's the direction, we'll go there. But, if we're going to proceed with the pilot, I would say that any additional staff should be covered by a return on investment. And if it's not, then this probably just isn't the model that's returning our investment anyway. But, that those are my thoughts. So, one correction, April 1st was the first time my department was engaged by the school. Um nevertheless, it to kind of to So, to put it in in perspective, I I don't want my department to be the reason this doesn't go forward. I I really do not. Um if the issue and the concern is adding two entry-level staff members to the human resources and the payroll departments, we will make
197it work. Cuz we've done it in the past. Um you guys have come up with some really creative ways of doing raises and stipends and all kinds of things, and we've made it work. And people have gotten paid. Um so, if that is a concern, the $128,000, I mean, I'll speak for myself. John may be running in here right now saying, "Stop him." But, um >> behind you. You know, >> [laughter] >> look, he's right there. See? Spider-Man himself. Um you know, and but we'll make it work, right? Because that is the requirement of of that is the request of the board. We, like I said, we our departments do not want to be the reason why this doesn't work because to address Dr. Trujillo's points, we've figured out how we want to do it.
198I mean, obviously I just gave you five slides on how it's going to work. Right? And it is an and it's something that Mr. Brock um and Sean and Rodriguez were presented last week. They all said yes. Um you have agreements that Mr. Fried has laid out with TEA specifically and others that essentially incorporated a lot of this. What we're saying is we just need a set of hands to make sure that they're doing exactly what the agreements say because the other thing that the other districts did not have, and with all due respect to my colleagues in the employee bargaining groups, is they didn't have bargaining groups, right? So, we have to live within the constraints of the bargaining agreements because we have to respect those. Those are incorporated in the contract. So, we
199want to make sure that those live in there. When it comes to the system itself, I don't like it. I'm going to tell you that I'm going to be the first one and probably like the one CFO in this entire state that uses Visions. Everybody uses Visions. They have a monopoly on this. It is not a robust system. Am I looking for something else? Yes. I am going to be the one district that's going to get rid of Visions. I absolutely guarantee you cuz I'm really frustrated. Dr. Shaw. Who was that? Me. >> All right, Ms. Ekstrom and then Ms. Romero and Ms. Shaw. So, ADM and enrollment is is the success that we're looking for. I just want to make sure that that's the measured success. The financial success, right? I think that's the
200financial success. I think that's the success. The academics, yeah. You know, it's is that what our success is going to be? Like is that what's going to be measured? Or are we We're to look at student um you know grade improvement and you know things like that. Well, I think we have a bunch of metrics here. >> Right, but I still haven't been given the answer what will be the success that we're we're looking for. I'm not I think we need to employ an extra two people if we're going to implement this because like you said that was going to be another one of my questions if another high school or two high schools want to implement that, are you going to be ready to go? I mean, we'll be ready to go. If you
201have those people. >> If we had those people, they'll be ready to go, right? Because we've established a sense system essentially, right? Like some guardrails on how this is going to work. We the a pilot is what a pilot is supposed to be. We're going to tweak it and improve it along the way, right? We'll tell you where the pitfalls are and where the successes are happening to have that nice kind of feedback loop happening so that if and when in 2017 or 18 you get two more high schools jumping on board, hey, you want to jump on board? You just got to make sure that you understand this these are like the one through 10 that you got to do. Right? Because that's essentially what we've done in 30 days with Palo Verde. Yeah,
202I mean is student gains a success. I just No one can answer that question, so that's why I keep asking. Well, I think that's on us, right? To figure out what how we're measuring success. We have three food slides of what is it? 10, 15 metrics that Mr. Principal Brock is going to be looking at and I guess we need to decide as a governing board when it comes to us January based on all the data that we're presented is this a successful initiative or not. Well, I mean my dad always told me you got to spend money to make money, so that's where I'm at with the positions. I will support the positions if the will of the the is to move forward with it for this year. Because I can't see putting more
203work on five people. It doesn't make sense to me. It's not fair. A quick question before Mr. Mayor. Can we Can we do with the part-time staff? Can we do part-time payroll, part-time HR with 82 employees? I would say it's better than nothing. We can try to do with part-time. Um it You know, what And we'll make up with the others. I mean, speaking for my department, I don't know about John particularly right in his process. We'll accommodate how We'll accommodate it however you want, right? Like if if what you approve is two half-time positions in each department, then we will figure out a way to make the half-time work, right? Because that's the will of the board. Mr. Mayor, go ahead. All right. So, >> [clears throat] >> going back to uh um the
204um call to the audience where we're talking about that, you know, her uh recommendation on that will be to push her back to get it up into there. And from what I'm hearing from you, we don't current with our current situation have the bandwidth to do this. So, with her statement earlier, you are kind of in agreeing what she has said is valid, a valid point that we should look at. There's validity in in the fact that that a little bit more runway to plan this from the perspective of what we've been termed as the minutia would have been better. Right? I I understand that this conversation started in November and we didn't come in until April. I think that probably would have been a little bit, you know, given us a little bit more
205runway to not be as, you know, you got to have it, you know, a plan on April 1st and then a presentation on April 28th and you all have to vote. Um because ultimately the buck stops with me and you're going to hold me accountable the moment it doesn't work financially, right? So, I to a certain extent, you know, Mrs. Lennon, you know, she wants to she'll do the job. She's done it before, and believe me, she's giving me the dirty looks. She's like, "Oh my god." But but she gets it done. This is why she's been here for two decades. So, my my thing is is like, yes, it would have been nicer to have a longer runway, um but I think we can do it if we have the extra pair of hands.
206So, would that concern you think with with her if we had those extra hands, that would relieve her concern um from her request of the county attorney? >> It would it would relieve a a most of the concern. Yes. And not just her, but I'm sure other people in the department. >> Yeah. Yeah, because like I said, these these, you know, men and women that work in my in my payroll department, they already work Cheryl, Mrs. Lennon, she works Saturday of non-payroll weeks, and Jennifer, her payroll coordinator, works Saturday of payroll weeks. The My payroll staff works every Saturday just to do regular payroll. And I know and anybody that I've ever had with business, anybody in the county department, they, like she said, does not like to come out in front of the public
207on that. She did. There There is, to me, you know, big concern because she did um to come on out. But my concern is I want to make sure that we do not Again, I know we want to roll this on out. It's very important. We want to make sure that they have the tools to succeed. Now, to your point of adding two more people on, you know, to help soften that, maybe address that concern so that it makes a little bit more uh achievable uh so that when we hold you accountable, you [music] say, "Well, you didn't give me the right tools." Well, you know, of course you set me up for failure. That's not an answer we want, especially if you're only going to give it a one year type of thing. You
208know, and then for me looking at it from that point of view would be a bad optics, I think. If we're going to give this a shot, our first year is going to be rough, you know, no matter what. Any new thing that we did, even when we did Pase 6, you know, any type of pilot, you know, yes, we need to to look at the metrics, the data. Are we making money on this? Return on investment? Or can it potentially still do that because it's not going to be flip a switch and automatically we're going to have, you know, new enrollment and, you know, reduced absenteeism and tardiness. And I don't want people to think that this is some wonderful thing that's going to just flip a switch overnight and we're going to have
209a great thing. But we have to have the right things implemented. Now, also kind of going back into, I know Dr. Shaw had mentioned like the ADP thing. Do Does there anything that we can do where Is there better visions that we can contract an ADP just for our Verde High School and not hire extra staff and they can do the monitoring. It It would probably >> the same, damn. I'm just saying, you know, I'm not promoting them, but I'm just saying anybody that can do it. >> Yeah, like any payroll processing system. It would probably cost just as much to hire, you know, Paychex City, ADP, Workplace, you know, the the tons of systems that are out there. I think it's a I think that type of work that you're you're talking about is
210time well spent to do the entire system. Right? Let's find something because this isn't just just a challenge for Palo Verde, right? This is a challenge for anytime we want to do something kind of different and we're trying to make a square hole in a round peg in a system that is not evolving, that we're spending a lot of money to do, is not a good system. Right? And And this is something that I've I've grappled on with, you know, Mr. Hamati, with Mr. Fernandez, and we were kind of all in agreement like, maybe we need to go out and explore. And that's that's kind of a ball that's going to get rolling here pretty soon because we need to have the right systems in place that are going to do the kinds of things
211that especially we want from our school principals, right? Is this kind of innovation. Right. And then also kind of going along with this action's point, you know, uh spending money to make money, and I totally in agreement with her on that. But at the same time, a lot of these new programs when they evolve and get better, I know for a lot of my things and for my business, I can get better price products, you know, I got it 10 years ago or 5 years ago. Now they have a new better products that are less less expensive, you know, and and I think like you said, if we're being handcuffed because we have a archaic type of a system, um again again, I don't again, I don't know the intricacies of what's going on over
212there. Maybe again, like I said, I'm glad we're having this conversation now, but maybe it would have been something that we should have been looking at later because I know we're talking about with our bond money, you know, he controls, you know, from a central location. We have cameras that'll be coming on up. All these different things that we've done for when we had the the when Jennifer and I both got here with the takeover of our of our district. >> [laughter] >> You know, and but we found these things to make it work and make us better. So, if it's been what you say, 12 years that we've been on this program and we're not improving it, and we're trying to do that with all our schools, and as we like to be cutting
213edge or push that envelope, I think like you said, do that sooner than later. I don't want to see this project sputter or this model sputter, again, like you said, because of some minor details. Um I think what we have here is potential to do something great. I don't want to put a time on it of a year, personally. I would like to see 2 years after that first year of data and and and information, be able to adjust and pivot and look how it's going to still benefit us because we To to give it a year and then throw it away after that, I don't think would be Why do it at all? And we shouldn't even be having that conversation if we're only going to plan on doing it for 1 year. Michelle.
214I agree with Mr. Romero. I think 2 years makes sense, especially considering our other pilot programs have extended beyond 1 year, even when they weren't exactly successful. On the point about the two additional staff, Mr. Rockman, you have 82 staff members over there. Is that the correct number? Just about. Okay. And so, Mr. Hernandez, you said that currently payroll handles each of them handle about 1,500 staff. They don't They don't individually. That's kind of the breakdown on average based on the number of employees we've got. Okay. And so, yeah, I mean, I do see a need even though the 82 is within the entire like 1,500 per staff, but because this is so specialized, I do see the need for an a new pair of eyes or more hands, but I wonder why we're not
215dedicating two staff to payroll. Like why human Why does human resources get one? Cuz it seems like payroll is where the real need is. >> So, the the I I mean, I I won't speak for John, but a lot of the stuff come I'm the end of the road in the payroll process in the whole process. HR is kind of at the beginning of it. Yeah, no, good question. I think Ricky kind of explained They're all working in the same system and it's the same process. So, HR and payroll are kind of tied hand in hand. I think people at the end of the day, we want people paid correctly, but a lot of the front-end work to make sure that's done, the processing of personal actions, making sure that when we're bringing people on
216and are hiring them, they're in the right positions, they're in the right calendars, they're right in the right leave plans. All of that works hand-in-hand. And so, I I mean, I think I'm I would kind of share Ricky's sentiment. We don't come here HR hasn't come here in the past 3 years that I've been here asking for more resources. We tend not to because we're always, you know, I think we're always coming in the spirit of uh if we're going to have to do budget reductions, we have to take our share. I think this issue, I really like what Ms. Ekstrom said about if this pilot works, then the return on investment is going to be, I think, phenomenal once you start expanding to one, two, three, four schools, and you can see it just
217based on the one one school uh if if Palo Verde works. And I think we'd like to see it work, and I think it will pay for itself. Um but not putting the you know, the resources in to get it right in year one, I think, is a challenge. So, I just cut I've cut a payroll associate, I cut a coordinator just this last year, divided the work up, capped overtime, said everything we got to do, we got to do with less. This one caught everyone by surprise, and I think we want to see it succeed. It's just we got to go back to our team and say, put on the extra work, less processing time to get it right. I think, you know, having the capacity to be innovative as well would be helpful.
218Uh to follow up this are there any HR staff that work on Saturdays? They work on Saturdays. Yes, for absolutely, and they work in you know, they work into the evenings, and the only challenge this year was you said, you know, with budget reductions, we're really watching any additional time beyond 40 hours. We want to keep make sure that we try to limit overtime as well. So, we put a lot of constraints just to manage the current workload. Um so, we sat there with through with the payroll trying to find out innovative solutions to make this work. But I think it's just a reality. It's going to take a whole set of different processes. Um yeah, talk about part-time work. I mean, that's something we would consider. Um but it really there's a level of
219expertise that we want people to develop as well, making sure they are operating and understand the procedures and get it right as we go through this year so that if we do expand, we have that built-in capacity. So uh yes, they do work on Saturdays. Okay. Yeah, I just want to place the most uh employee time where it's needed most. So maybe we can I don't know if we want to look into like 1.5 FTE for payroll, 0.5 for human resources based on the amount of work needed for Palo Verde. Um and then to I think Ms. Ekstrom's other point about like gauging success, I think, you know, obviously enrollment is going to be a huge factor in how successful this is, but also um the quality of education that students in Palo Verde will
220have for this next school year, and then the quality of life that they will um attain via this new model. Thank you everyone for all the comments. I'll say myself um you know, I agree with Dr. Trujillo on our district really needs some innovation right now, do something different. Um I'm hesitant to wait another school year uh for logistic reasons. I think we need to move forward with something that's going to be giving the students and parents and talents and teachers, you know, what they're asking for and try something different to see if this makes a difference and uh as we look at enrollment, uh Principal Brock, I would also look at like where the students are coming from. If they're coming from other TUSD schools, that's not adding anything um financially, but you know,
221if they're coming from other places or in staying, um I I agree with my governing board members. I think we need to have a longer runway, Dr. Trujillo, than just 1 year on this return. You know, coming to us in January isn't just to see if this is working or not, it's to see what we need to pivot to make this work um next year and what we can do to change it or or find different things to make this work better. And I'll just say I'm saying this not like to play lip service to this um but you know as a as a parent of an incoming freshman next year I we're committed to be badger families uh no offense and we're already committed to that. Actually our friends are going to Tucson High.
222She's already got involved with the band people there and she's we're committed to that but when you were giving the presentation two weeks ago and I I was thinking like well how would she do in like situation like that at Palo Verde. Um you know I hear from my board colleague Ms. Luna Rose all the time about her daughter in color guard and how busy she is all the time. My other friends with high school students um just the long hours after school with with band with other activities, sports and and um just how hard it is to find family time to connect in the evenings to be able to do things outside of school and then activities and homework. And if some of that homework can be done on that day off to be
223able to catch up. You know I would love that for my daughter to be able to be busy after school spend time with the family, not have to focus on homework, get caught up on that Friday with homework, sleep in a little bit, get caught up in sleep cuz it'll probably be a busy Saturday and Sunday doing more activities. Um and I think a lot of other parents as they see this not just even as they're going into next school year but the school year after that seeing this succeed I wonder if a lot of other parents uh will feel the same way of of having that opportunity for their children to to have that day to just either do an internship and focus on homework and and um not have their evenings so so
224driven every single time so they can spend family time having dinner together, watching a show together and other things that have a lot of value on top of homework and that's coming from me who's a homework nerd and and all that for my life. And so um that being said um I will move the item to uh get us to that four-day pilot program uh with additional I'm going to put them in my motion additional 0.5 FTE for both payroll and HR to help implement that. Second. All right, we have a motion and a second. Governing board members any other conversation before we continue on here? I I do, Dr. Just want to Rose, go ahead. Sorry to belabor this little bit, but I just want to make sure these new employees that um well,
225I know they'll be treated well because you have great departments. But, my question actually is if this is successful program then well we want this to be successful program, but let's say it's not. What's going to happen to those employees? Is it are they just are they going to be hired knowing that that this is a pilot program and it's a one or two-year contract depending upon the succession? >> we can certainly disclose that to those employees, right, that they're part of a pilot program. I mean, we've you know, Dr. Carter who's our bond manager, I mean, she knows she's got a tenure. When the bond is done, she's done, right? So >> What? >> [laughter] >> You didn't know that? There's a lifespan to the bond program. Not to Dr. Carter, though. [laughter] But
226but yeah, I mean, we can in all seriousness we can certainly disclose that to those employees and tell them look, this is part of a pilot project and based on the success of this project, you know, your employment will continue. It's it's it's going to be subject to budget limitations, right? We would not want to keep an additional staff member that that at least for my department I I don't need at this time. Right? Um obviously if this is successful, which we hope it is then hey, you know, at least we've got somebody who's well trained in rolling it out elsewhere. Okay. I Thank you. I don't think I'm comfortable with just a 0.5 FTE. So, that would be the only reason why I wouldn't vote for this. Are you wanting a full-time I think
227a full-time person. I mean, if it down the road you come to find out that they don't need to work full-time, maybe that's also in in language as they're hired, but I mean, we want to set this up for success, so I think a point five without knowing is not setting this up for success. You're always welcome to amend the motion if you'd like. I'm [snorts] just making comments for right now, so I'd like to hear from my other colleagues. Go ahead, Dr. Trio. I'll just say like first year expectations are not like they're not that insurmountable like to cover the cost, it's literally 25 students. 25 students like in a school of 600, I have to think that that's very attainable. Like a combination of getting more kids to come to school that are
228excessively absent, that don't get included in our 40 and 100th day counts. Let's say we get 10 that way. We get kids reactivated and they come to school enough to actually be counted. And then Palo Verde picks up like 10 or 15 other students who see this marketed and see this promoted. And just like that, you can cover your cost. So, it's not I just want to throw that out there that it's not that insurmountable. Not the academic stuff. I think I agree that's a longer runway, right? I think if you want to see gains in credit currency [clears throat] and lessening course failure and standardized test results, I think that yes, that's another runway, but like the pure financial, I have to think like 25 students is very attainable uh for us to get
229that first year to cover these costs. And that $6 million price tag that's already there, that is currently there proposed budget. So, that's that's there now based on the enrollment they have today. Right? So, any students to Dr. Trujillo's point, any students that they add above and beyond, and I'm looking at them every 30 days, it's, you know, for lack of a better word, technically it's gravy, right? Like that's just more for the school, right? So, we will add teachers to the school if their enrollment grows, right? So, right now, I checked it this afternoon, they're at 698 um enrolled for fiscal year for school year 27-28, right? So, they're, you know, they're on their way up if this definitely rolls out. They've got, you know, obviously till August to kind of keep making this
230work. If they get more more students, we will give them more teachers, right? That's the way it works. Um in addition to anything else. Go ahead, Mr. Marrow. So, going back to Ms. Ekstrom's uh point on this of like the 0.5 versus the full one, is there something we can do cuz we don't know how long time it's going to take. We're guessing at this point cuz everything is brand new. Can we put something as far as part of our motion, minimum of 0.5, maximum of one, unless we find out we need more, you know, at least give cuz we don't know what the criteria is going to be, what how much time it's going to be, I guess and and have that as as a buffer because like I said, I don't want to
231pay extra if we don't need the effort, they're not doing anything, but maybe you have them do other things, but or is this person going to be specifically only for focusing on uh on Palo Verde? That's what it's sounding like to me. We That That's all they're going to do, but if they're going to be a a one and they don't have enough to do in that whole time, then we need to fluctuate their time. Yeah, and and that's essentially what it will be, right? So, right now their dedication is to Palo Verde, and as things evolve, I I we will we can accommodate from there. I will tell you that hiring half time it would be would be hard. Um, it would be difficult I you know to to say here's a half time
232job for a pilot program that goes on for two years. That you know, I don't I don't and it's already difficult enough to hire staff in the HR and finance departments that have school district backgrounds. So, it's Right and then coming up with Dr. Trujillo's point all we need is X amount of students to kind of make this a quick wash so that there is no financial burden on us. So, based on that I support what Ms. Exton has said and I like to amend Dr. Shaw's motion but to add it instead of 0.5 to do it a one. I'll second. All right, we have a substitute or not a substitute but amendments and a second any further discussion on this amendments? All those in favor say I. I. All those opposed say no. May,
233I don't pass this 4-1. Um, and any further discussion on now the amended motion? All those in favor say I. I. I. Item passes 5-0. Congratulations Principal Buck, looking forward to see what you do to us next year. >> [applause] [cheering] >> Okay. All right, we're going to go to our consent agenda. Uh, Dr. Trujillo, we have consent agenda items 6.2 to 6.8. Yes, President Shaw. Uh, the administration recommends the consideration and passage of the consent agenda items 6.1 through 6.8 as arranged and presented. 6.2 to 6.8 I want to pull item 6.6. Government board, anything else to pull or just to have further discussion about or questions answered? Yeah. Um I'm looking for the number for the holiday contract. >> It got removed. Oh, okay. Thank you. Okay. So, before us uh we have
234uh I'll make a motion to approve item 6.2 and 6.5 and 6.7 and 6.8 on the consent agenda. I'll second. All right. Item moved by myself and seconded by Ms. Luna Rosa. All those in favor say I. I. Item passes 4-0. Uh Dr. Chu Hill, I pull item 6.6. This is approve uh to use save cooperative contract for K-12 English language arts supplemental resource curriculum. Yes. Uh to walk us through item 6.6, I have assistant superintendent for curriculum instruction Dr. Flori Hewitt. And then also assisting us will be uh now the uh interim principal at Davis, but her day job through June is our senior director for curriculum and instruction Heidi Aranda. Thank you. Uh May I bring these up to the stand? >> Absolutely. So, my concern I'll say I um I want to
235pull this item. My concern wasn't the the materials the new materials or written materials. Uh my concern why I pulled this item was to talk more about the digital materials that we're approving in Saugus like this is what a million-dollar contract. So, a couple hundred thousand or so on on digital materials to teach um literacy for our youngest kids. You know, we've had a lot of conversations over the last some back and forth on this on on digital materials for our students over the last couple of months and I've expressed some concerns about digital materials especially for our youngest learners. Uh and so wanted to ask specifically about that piece of this. Yeah, absolutely. So, the digital access is it actually I did provide a backup presentation if you wanted it to have access to
236it. But what it does it supports instructional planning. It's essentially a repository of all the materials that teachers use for lessons. They utilize the the digital access for it's primarily for teachers and it provides them with the access to the lesson resources, planning tools, digital teacher materials, and instructional supports. It's not that they put students in a plug and play situation for example. It's more the digital access for teachers and and for students. So I see there are specific items mentioning teacher packages for digital materials and then some that don't. So for example on the first page of the benchmark quote, I'm not sure if we can get that on on the display. Not the presentation but the the actual quote that's in our material. >> [clears throat] >> I was trying to pull it
237up. So if we get it up that's great for so the other the other board members have their the PDF of the 26 to benchmark quote PDF that it was on the governing board material. Yeah, there we go. And then if you go to the bottom of the first page, so a lot of them have like these teacher packages and teacher digital like the first one's a a teacher subscription renewal digital, but if you go down to the bottom of that first page, the third from the bottom A subscription? Yeah, it's first to Yeah, so the third from the bottom is that benchmark phonics grade K I'm assuming kindergarten student digital renewal subscription. So student versus teacher. So is that spending $45,000 to have digital material for kindergartners to try to read on a tablet?
238Uh and then the two below that is grade one student digital renewal subscription for another $47,000. So my concern is not the teacher materials where they have access to everything, but for the student materials like I I'm hesitant to approve having more digital materials for students to try to learn how to read cuz I don't I'm not sure that works and I think we've had a lot of time over the years to see that it's not really working well. Yeah, no, we do. We Do you want to explain the the phonics piece for our students? Yeah, so there um there's a mix of for example, students' ability to annotate both in on paper and also digitally. So there are times when a teacher might have provide the materials digitally for them to annotate. There's also
239an entire assessment system um that aggregates data for teachers to be able to see how the students performed, what the trends are in their class, and how to use that assessment information for instruction and planning. Um and that is you know, that requires a student license for them to be able to do some of those assessments as well. So it's it is both some materials that sometimes especially you know, our students take all of their assessments digitally. So it's important for them to know how to do the things that they do on paper and with these materials, sometimes also digitally. There's also a lot of accessibility features digitally. Kids can have things read to them. They can, you know, like I said, annotate, highlight, um just have different scaffolds for accessibility. I appreciate that. Like
240I I'd rather have, you know, my second graders on this and I don't want them on computer screens trying to learn. I don't think they're learning on computer screens. I see them interact with computer screens. They're 8 years old. They're in second grade right now. And so right now with the information I have, I'm not going to support that item. I'm going to encourage my governing board members to not I I think our kids are having too many screens in front of them. I think we need to focus on paper and pen and not spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on subscriptions for digital materials at this point. Dr. Shaw. Go ahead, Ms. Ekstrom. >> My fifth grader is like, "Please take me off my I or the my laptops." So I won't support this
241either. Dr. Shaw. Ms. Shaw. I totally agree. I think, you know, as a district we need to move away from uh digital materials. I don't think there's anything in our history that proves that they've been beneficial to our students. And so I appreciate you pulling this and for your advocacy uh for printed literature. Just you wait, Ms. Shaw. I have a lot more on this coming up in the months ahead. >> Yay. Yes. Um Mr. Romero, would you like to say something? Oh, no. I Yeah, very encouraged. Um I know uh where my granddaughter goes to school, they still do their test via paper versus on the computer. And I had mentioned that we had still done it on our computers. He goes, "Just just seeing how she doesn't think that way on the computers.
242She thinks a lot better in here." So seeing that it's not just an isolated thing and and everybody else up here is seeing those types of things. That being just encouraging because this is we don't want this to be a lost art. I do want to just mention that our Tuba students access these resources as well digitally. So, we want to make sure that we are cautious because then not approving this tonight will mean either we pull the digital subscriptions. I think they have to be part This is our literacy curriculum. And without these materials and without us having the ability to purchase them, none of our schools will have any of these materials. So, so there is a risk of not approving this tonight. Dr. Turrill. So, I ask if we approach the vendor
243and say, "We just want the hard copy materials. We don't want the digital add-on." Will that lower the price? Question number two, we keep the digital add-on for the online, you know, platform that we have at Tuba. I mean or is it an I'm I'm I'm not sure if you're saying it's an all or nothing. Would they be able to knock off some of the price if we just said, "Hey, look, we're interested in the hard copy materials." I'm hearing support for the consumables and the text. And if we just strip away the digital add-on, what does that do to the price? And then you keep the digital add-on for the, you know, the 1,000 students that are at Tuba. If we we consider making sure that our teachers have access to the digital resources
244for lesson planning and able to display on the screen the resources so they can model. That That would be helpful as well. I'd like to hear your your feedback too. That's important, right? So, I think, you know, I'm I'm understanding students engaging with screens and with digital content as different from teacher-driven display materials like a PowerPoint or like an infographic or like a, you know, a Venn diagram. Dating myself, I used to use those in the classroom, but know, a a difference. I I understand that. Yeah, I mean, I'm I'm envisioning the classrooms that I walk through and teachers teach and model reading strategies by putting the text up there that the kids have, you know, copies of, showing how to underline key words and highlight and annotate the text on the sides and you
245just how to, you know, use their comprehension strategies. I think it it would be very difficult for our teachers to not have that digital access to be able to do what they've been doing for the last 7 years with um Benchmark Advance, which is their core tier one ELA adoption. Yeah, so I know so much work goes into these quotes and the work that you're doing and so I'm I'm sorry to derail this for us tonight, but I see board majority on holding off on approving a lot of digital materials. So, I hope this can come back to us. I don't I don't have a problem with teacher subscriptions, um but really looking deeply into those student subscriptions. Can we limit them to just two of uh and get rid of them for most of
246our kids? I think uh you know, a lot of us have young kids and we're just sick of the screens or or young grandkids and we don't think they're learning on them. Dr. Shaw. Yeah, go ahead. And I would also say, you know, during the pandemic we were able to provide uh computers to every student in our district and so I don't see how that would be dif- different to provide hard copies of literature to our Tuva students. They probably the most need hard copies, you know what I mean? And so, I know we invested a lot in smart boards and also those like cameras where you can have something like this and then it can be projected. Plus, you know, most of us or all of us grew up without all those things and
247those teachers managed as well and so, because there's other districts who are still doing the old school model, I know it's going to take a little bit of adjustment for us as a district, but I I'm encouraged if we can move in that direction. Okay. Well, Miss Luna Rosa's last comment and we'll move on. Thank you. Um, so I just want to say thank you to coming to us. I I know you put a lot of work into it and as the lone parent up here who's got a child that's just about to graduate in 3 weeks, um, I actually asked her about, you know, her time here and and the screens and all of that and I and I was surprised by her answer saying that um, obviously she feels, you know, she loves
248TUSD and she's happy to be a student here, but she would hope that um, the younger grades could kind of detach from the screens. And I know we put we implemented like the cell phone policy and all of that. So, I think we're starting to see a change with that Gen Z if they're coming to us and saying or Gen Alpha, like, hey, things are changing. So, but I also want to make sure that we keep our TUSD um, students successful. So, I I'm wanting to be able to see that type of hybrid. >> Yeah, what did she think about the high school experience? What did she feel about technology? And is it too much? Or did she want it to Um, I think it's too much. What does she think? >> Oh, what does
249she think? She thinks it's too much. She thinks that, um, it got to be um, more of a distraction. Um, despite, you know, you know, and and she's been a very good student, um, but even for her it's a distraction. Yeah. So, um, but again, I want to make sure that that our TUSD students are being served well. One last Miss Ybarra, go ahead. Is it possible because, of course, we're dealing with purchasing and timelines that we get the teacher digital and the physical resources at least approved so we can order and get the materials in time? Is that Sure, I'll move that I'll move that we can approve the digital for the teachers and then the physical resources. I'm not sure if you need to redo the whole quote or something for that, but
250We may have to, yeah. We will get a revised. Okay. Yeah. But yeah. We have a June 30th like we have to receive the materials by June 30th. Okay. So, you need to I need that piece tonight. I can I can make a motion for that. It Is there not enough time to have this at our next meeting just so we know exactly what we're voting on and the dollar amount cuz I'd feel more comfortable rather than having like to wait another year. My concern is for ordering purposes and the supply chain, making sure that we get it before June 30th is our is our challenge because it's a large amount of materials. Then why are you getting Why June? That's our fiscal year. End of the fiscal year. I can support your motion. Okay.
251So, we have a motion and a second. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Opposed. >> Opposed. All right. So, item passes 3-2 to at least approve the teacher digital materials and the physical copies. >> And we'll come with a revised. >> you. Thank you. Okay. Uh we're going to go to item 7.5, approval to appoint a new audit committee member for a 3-year term ending August 31st, 2029. Uh should I take the Dr. Triem? Yes. Yes. So, our audit committee, uh as a board liaison to the audit committee, we met uh a few weeks ago uh and reviewed the application. Uh let me pull it up here. Excuse me. I've uh John Wallace. Uh he's an individual uh who's retired and comes with a lot of uh business experience um and and
252leadership and business experience that will hopefully bring the financial acumen uh to help support the district uh in the audit committee. Uh it was supported unanimously by the audit committee uh in open session. So moved. Second. All right. Item moved by Ms. Shaw, seconded by Ms. uh Ekstrom. All those in favor say I. >> I. I. All right, it passes 5-0. If you're listening Mr. Wallace, thank you for volunteering to serve on our audit committee. We still have some openings. So, if anybody is looking to nerd out on financial items and support our internal auditor, please apply tonight. All right, Dr. Trujillo, we're going to go to item six 7.6 approval to award request for proposal enterprise security integration. This is part of our bond package. We have two bond items tonight, correct? Yeah, it's
253one of the two items related to our bond. Like to welcome our director for school safety, Joseph Hallums, to walk us through this proposal with some support by our bond manager, Dr. Charlotte Carter. All right, thank you Dr. Trujillo. And good evening, Board President Dr. Shaw, Clerk Linderose, and the rest of the board members. I appreciate the time to come in front of you and talk about this exciting opportunity that we have to move forward to ensure the safety and security for our district moving into the future. So, the purpose and vision of this was of course to modernize our district-wide security infrastructure. You know, we have some very antiquated, some legacy systems out there that we're trying to update to bring this into a more modern time to ensure that we have eyes and
254be that force multiplier for the for the individuals that are charged with ensuring the safety, which is in reality is pretty much all of our district personnel. We want to create a scalable system and something that we can, you know, take into the future, add on to, and ensure that it's not going to be outdated and by the time we actually get it installed. And of course the the intent is always to strengthen our security operations through this technology. Again, being that force multiplier, ensuring that our people have eyes on their district on their campuses at any given time and can react appropriately. And with that intent is to ensure the prevention. That's always our goal is to prevent something from happening. And the systems that we're going to look looking at tonight are going
255to be able to provide that to to us because again, it's going to give eyes across our campuses that in real time and be able to alert us when situations arise as opposed to just having to look at something after the fact. So, we started by kind of first evaluating where we currently stand. Currently, we have about 900 cameras across our district. Unfortunately, many of these are legacy cameras. Many of them don't even work and I'm sure you all received emails about some of these camera systems breaking down on an ongoing basis. 550 are those access cameras though and those we are able because they're newer camera systems are able to reutilize to be a little more financially responsible to ensure that we have better coverage with those existing infrastructure that we currently have. We
256also have access card readers. About 58 only about 58 of our sites. So, many of our schools don't even have a digital access control. We currently operate three different alarm panels. That means you have to have certifications or understanding how to repair repair all of those various alarm panels and parts for those alarm panels as they continue to break down because they're a legacy systems are getting more and more challenging to find. We have various door access cameras. So, you may go to some sites and you see some that displayed nicely on a computer. Others, you have a very small monitor that only one individual has an opportunity to see it in a given time to ensure that the person they're letting into that campus is somebody that should be there. We have two different
257camera platforms. Like I said earlier, we have the access cameras, but we also have some legacy systems. We don't have any kind of system to manage all this holistically. So, every system is unique and stands alone. So, if we want to look at our camera systems, we have to go to there. If we want to look at our access control, we have to go to that. If we We to go to alarm panels, we want to go to that. They're all different systems, they don't communicate. And then we have no consistency in our video cam video retention. Some cameras hold them longer. Some of them like our door cameras don't hold they have zero retention. So once once that situation is past, there's no pulling what happened pulling it up after the fact. And then
258no mobile access, meaning administrators can't, you know, securely have eyes on their on their campuses off hours or when they're not on campus themselves. This presides prevent presents numerous risks that we've kind of evaluated with these some of these antiquated systems that we may have across the district. We have uneven protection. Like I stated earlier, we have many sites with no no cameras and no access control at all. We have limited visibility even those sites that do have cameras weren't necessarily placed in the most you know They weren't placed in the best areas to ensure that they you know that the administrators or school safety personnel or the monitors have the sight line of sight that they need to ensure the safety of their campus. There's a reduced accountability because of that. You know, we
259can't hold those individuals responsible if whatever they're doing is taking place off side the camera view. And then also you know because there's so many various systems because there's unequal coverage across the district, we see an increase in potential liability associated with that. So what we wanted to move forward first and foremost was 100% camera coverage at all of our sites. We have numerous sites out there again without any camera coverage. We want to make sure that every every principal has the availability of a camera system that they can access to monitor their site appropriately. With that we're going to be expanding that we're looking to expand approximately 1,700 cameras total across the district. It's a lot of cameras to look at and we'll kind of get into how we're going to manage that in
260a few minutes. We're also going to be adding 1,100 door access card readers. These access card readers are something we can turn on and turn off, you know, give access to individuals with a with a touch of a button. Right now, uh you know, we have a we have a significant number of keys floating around in a significant number of different locks uh floating out our district, which is very challenging to to manage, especially when you're talking about employee turnover so on and so forth and ensuring those only those people that should have access have that appropriate access. Uh we wanted a cloud-based intelligent video management system. We really wanted cloud-based because in the discussion with uh our technology services, this is where the district wants to go, especially, you know, uh with our our
261recent cyber issues that we had a couple years ago, they really wanted cloud-based and an intelligent system. We wanted that ability for a an administrator to be able to view his or her campus from the, you know, during off hours uh if logging into a VPN to ensure security. And then we also wanted to have that instant door locking uh during a lockdown uh situation. So, our strategic approach was this. We of course wanted to, you know, we we first and foremost uh with the uh permission of the board and the the resources available to to bring in our consultant, uh we started to really identify what were the overall needs and what we currently had. A- and from that we were able to draw identify what our approach was going to be. We wanted
262to shift to an enterprise-wide platform. We wanted one system across all of our campuses, so it's easy to work on, easier to understand when when people are easier for ongoing training, and easier for our personnel that'll continue to maintain that going forward. We wanted to standardize systems and processes to again, uh you know, what I always refer to it as a Southwest Airlines approach, where they use one kind of airplane because they have to train their technicians on how to uh to repair that one aircraft. Um it's just more efficient uh for our district uh and it'll be easier for our technicians to to be able to maintain going forward. We wanted to focus on people, technology, and infrastructure. Again, uh the whole intent of this is to uh to ensure that our our administrators
263and our school safety personnel and our monitors and those in charge with with overseeing our sites uh had that technology to to improve the infrastructure and improve the safety. How did we do this? I think, you know, anytime you're looking at something as significant as this, the first first and foremost, you have to identify an appropriate team that's going to be helping navigate through this. Uh so, you know, within that team, it's going to be the school safety personnel and technology services. In fact, there were more technology services personnel. There was three compared to school safety personnel, which was two, cuz we knew this was going to be technology heavy. Uh we wanted to make sure we had their expertise to ensure security of the system itself and that it would uh operate appropriately within
264our current infrastructure. Uh we pulled in risk management. Uh of course, this was all done on the under the watchful eye of procurement to ensure that we did this appropriately. Our facilities or bond department, and of course, our consultant played a key role in this as well. Uh one person that's not listed in here is um our project management. Um you know, both uh Jewel Saher from project management and then also uh Dr. Charlotte Carter was able to help out with her project management because we knew this would be a significant project and we want to make sure it's going to go as smoothly as possible. So, we had to kind of evaluate what we currently have. You know, again, with the addition of the consultant, uh we put together that uh that initial request
265for proposal. Um the initial request for proposal was over 100 pages long because there was so much detail associated with that, and we actually had to whittle that down to about 10 pages. But we wanted to make sure that we're getting the best proposals possible going into it. Uh you know, with that RFP that we initially put out, we had 21 initial vendors. And then at that point we conducted walk-throughs at about 21 of our sites. Uh from that we were you know, received the proposals on an average of about 80 plus pages long. So when you have a pretty significant number of proposals, the team really went to work to identify the best uh the best that we could identify from that group. And from there we're able to select the top three. Uh
266we invited all those top three vendors to come in and provide us a demonstration, be able to have a question answer format. Um and you know, had various personnel from across the the district availability to come in and ask those specific questions. Uh and from that we were able to select the final vendor. So with this we're going to be able to accomplish uh our task, you know, our goals. First and foremost, we're going to go from about 30% to 100% coverage at all of our sites. Uh and ensuring all those cameras all those sites not only are our educational sites, our schools, but also our support sites will have cameras uh and and have that oversight that they need to ensure the security. Uh site administration was involved in every aspect of this. You
267know, we did walk-throughs with the site administration to help develop the maps of where they wanted to see the cameras placed, where they wanted to see their access control. Uh they've been an integral part in all those sites engaging those cuz they don't they know better their sites better than anybody else. Uh we wanted to make sure that we had the minimum coverage which which included our public entrances, of course, our perimeters or playgrounds and some of those key hallways and and so on and so forth within the individual schools. And we wanted to improve it monitoring and investigations. Now what we're actually getting from this is in addition to just the cameras and access control. Those are great again for historically for you know, evidence collection after the fact. But what we're looking for
268it is a more technologically advanced intelligent camera system that can kind of help draw our attention to situations as they develop or even before they develop. So, we wanted that real-time awareness. These systems are are outfitted with, you know, alerts that will basically you can program into where individuals should and should not be at specific times a day. So, if you think about at a high school, you know, during class time there shouldn't be certain individuals within, you know, buildings. Say it's Saguaro High School or Sabino Saguaro between the 100 and 200 building. We can program this camera into make that alert when an individual is identified. And that's the nice thing about this as well is that these systems don't just identify motion, which historically triggers a significant number of false alarms that we
269see across the district. In fact, it's our number one call for service, adding a significant number of miles and fuel burns that we have to travel across this district at any given time, especially during the night. This will greatly reduce the amount of time we have to waste traveling back and forth to ensure that somebody's not actually on our campus cuz it may have been a, you know, a cat going by or a loose piece of paper in a hallway that actually triggered that alert. Now, this will actually alert on individuals or vehicles and be able to draw our attention. I mean, imagine with 1,700 cameras an individual having to sit in front of a bank of screens and look at 1,700 thumbnails would be pretty ineffective. This one is actually going to tie those
270systems in and be able to draw our attention to those those individuals or those vehicles or those situations as they arise and be able to alert the person that's monitoring. And that will be, you know, at the site level during the day and at my command post at night or my dispatch center. Access control is also going to be greatly expanded. Again, we're going to put a significant number of badges out there because of the ease of use, because when those people, you know, no longer with our district or even more so, you can imagine during a lockdown situation, um you know, when everybody in a campus is locked down, who's going to allow the first responders in there to respond? This way we can kind of monitor that with the cameras, see those individuals
271coming up, and be able to remotely unlock those unlock those doors to allow access for them responders to address whatever they need to address. Or after hours, if it's an actual burglary or other kind of criminal damage or criminal event going on. We also wanted at least a 5-year licensing, but up to 10 years is what we were offered. Uh the licensing allows us, you know, to to stabilize those costs. We know what we're getting into for the next X number of years. Uh it's going to avoid future capital spikes, so this is not something we're going to have to re revisit every few years or have to renew. This is going to take us into the future. Uh we want to ensure that any updates that come with these systems, cuz we know how
272exponentially quickly um you know, technology is growing, we want to make sure that we as we progress through this, as we, you know, are within that licensing life cycle, that we have the most updated information, which will in turn kind of give us that long-term long-term stability that we're looking for. And then the operational impact is going to be, you know, much quicker response times, because we're going to know as these situations are unfolding, we'll have real-time information and how we can evaluate and be able to remotely evaluate it before we're even on scene, um which will help us make better decisions even before we get there. It's going to improve that staff confidence, understanding that, you know, they are monitored real-time by these intelligent systems that it can draw their attention if they need
273assistance. Uh and again, this will take place at the site during the day. We will train uh both administrative staff and our monitors to kind of utilize these systems to to be most effective. And then our uh SOC, which is our security operations center at night. So, uh, again, our intent was to establish, strengthen, and build. We want to provide that consistency across. We want to strengthen our safety, and we want to make sure it's sustainable going forward. So, uh, you know, as I kind of explained before, we went through all these various vendors. We would like to move forward with uh, CDW government, uh, and this will come in partnership with Occulens and Verkada systems. Uh, these are extremely advanced systems. Uh, part of the homework was reaching out to other, you know, school
274district and uh, other entities that utilize that, especially in our area. And so, you know, in communications with the city of Tucson, uh, Pima Community College, the University of Arizona, and even Deer Valley schools, who all went with these various systems, nothing but extremely positive feedback. The cost of this is going to be, uh, approximately 15,120,000 dollars. Uh, this is with a 10-year license and includes a I mean, yeah, it's a hurt, right? Um, that includes a 20% contingency. This is bond money. 15,000? [laughter] >> Huh? You said 15,000. >> Oh, I'm sorry, 15 million 120,000. It's been a long night. >> [laughter] >> As I'm sure you've all experienced it all. Yeah, so 15,120,000 including a 20% contingency. Uh, this will be leveraging the bond funds. This is why, you know, a big part
275of what that bond was about. The the bond was titled safe and secure schools. This is this is one of those systems that's really going to give the confidence to both our students, staff, and the public in general, uh, to kind of ensure the safety and security of everybody involved, and kind of carries into the future. So, with that, I'm sure there may be one or two questions. I have a plethora of individuals here who are all willing and, uh, will, you know, if there's anything that I can't specifically answer, uh, we can call on somebody to get you those specifics, so. Ms. Shaw. Ms. Shaw, followed by Mr. Romero. Thank you for your presentation. Um I know in the past we have made purchases to improve the lighting um at our school sites uh
276to address some of the security concerns, but in the absence of light uh will the cameras uh be able to be effective? Yes. So You want more information on that? Do they have night vision or >> Yeah, yeah. So they are low-light capable, so they do amplify the amount, you know, the ambient lighting that is available, so they they're able to get Now, not truly night vision like you'll see with like a flare device, uh but they are able to amplify the light to ensure that we have that capability. Plus, as part as we go to go through, we're going to can continue to improve the lighting as well across our campuses. Thank you. Uh here I go. I know. I know. >> [laughter] >> All right, so kind of did a quick uh look
277at CDW. One of my concern right from the get-go when you go onto their homepage. Um and then we have this price tag right up over here can include in our 20% contingency uh in a yellow highlight, "Due to supply chain challenges with some OEMs, CW CDW cannot guarantee availability or pricing for affected products until they're ready to ship. Your account term team will be here to help." To me, as a business, that looks as a disclaimer as your prices are probably going to go up, and we don't know when we're going to be able to fulfill all these needs, especially for all the amount of cameras uh that we have over here. That's my first concern right there. What have we done to talk to CDW about that on their website? Uh probably just
278talked to a Hold on one sec. Sir, you want to come up here? This is representative from CDW. Uh so I'll ask him to kind of respond quickly to your question. Thank you. Hello all. Uh Daniel Cisneros here with CDW. And uh essentially that is a very general statement. We do happen to deal with a a lot of hardware and software from all sides of IT. Luckily for here, we're talking specifically about Ricotta, which is the hardware, which we have Ricotta here as well. And they're very specific to what they have and they definitely have been provided and promised all the hardware necessary for this project. So, are we going to see because of this delays in getting product? Is there going to be again price increases because of this? Is this what this is
279anticipating? Again, like you said, we're on a kind of a you know, with with our how much money we're going to be approving or we're going to say, "Hey, it's going to come up more than this 20% contingency." Again, I just me being a good steward of our bond money. Yeah. According to Ricotta right here, prices are staying the same during this initial side of the uh the RFP. Okay. And then as far as um You had mentioned um Mr. Hallums about like pushing a button to open and close like type of situation. Again, can you explain that a little bit more for me just we went through quickly, but I just want to know is that where somebody at your facility is in control of that or is it at the school site? Yes,
280to both. Okay. Yeah, during the day we want to give the autonomy to the school you know, the schools themselves to be able to operate it and give them with appropriate you know, levels of security of course, identifying the key personnel that can kind of do that. But you know, it'll also be available remotely from my command center or my dispatch center. So, if again, the the best way to kind of describe that or the scenarios that kind of highlight the importance of that is let's say there's a burglary after hours and we have somebody on our one of our campuses. We need to be able to give access to law enforcement to be able to get into our campus to address that as it's taking place. The other more extreme uh possibility and something
281that kind of gives me nightmares is, you know, when individual when a school goes into a lockdown, everybody is in lockdown. That's administrators, that's security personnel, everybody. But, there may be an active situation on that that needs to be addressed quickly. Um so, it with that locked door, which are significant doors, you know, and they're difficult to breach, uh that's going to delay law enforcement or that first first responders from being able to get in there. This way we can kind of monitor it. Once we see personnel that we want to provide access to, we can provide them access. So, just again, always with the worst-case scenario in in this in the security thing. Again, I'm totally on with as much security as possible for taking care of our students. Just say worst a scenario,
282bad actor gets into one of our schools. They're able to close our school with a bad person inside. If they got control of this access button to do a shutdown, could we override it with our person at your facility that says this is not the right person that should be doing this or or whatever? Again, I'm just looking at what our safeguards uh uh that can be if we do have a bad situation. Yeah, exactly. You know, in in these situation these um intelligent access control devices will also be tied into our Sentech system. So, if anybody is, you know, if anybody activates a lockdown, all those doors are going to lock. Uh you know, again, I'll use one of the high schools where they can kind of keep them open during passing periods, but
283if their situation is able to, you know, come to fruition and they need to lock those down immediately in say a lockdown or an active threat situation, with Sentech or with one of our other systems, we can lock those down. Once first responders get there, somebody that's there to, you know, address that threat, uh we're able to monitor that through the cameras and remotely provide them the access they need. And you'd mentioned that with SentriGuard. So, is this system 100% compatible SentriGuard? Is there extra hardware that we needed of these other ones cuz we didn't get to see the other companies that were involved in here? Did SentriGuard have an option like this? I guess I just want to make sure the money that we spent on SentriGuard corporates with this so that it's again
284to use a word Ricky used later earlier on, a robust system that works together. That was actually outlined in our scope in one of our necessary requirements that it communicates directly with SentriGuard and has that availability once a lockdown is initiated via SentriGuard that those external those doors will lock down as well. And then you had mentioned like 1,100 door access control readers. So, is this meaning and then you mentioned locks? Are we changing door access or controls on a lot of our doors in our schools too? Is that what this is? Pretty much all of our current systems will be replaced when it comes to access if not all of them will be replaced when it comes to access control. Again, we're able to re-utilize some of the cameras, but the access control it
285will be all new the newer system. Okay, and then also cuz you're talking about placement on a lot of these schools. And again, I'm just going to kind of go out out in the future. Does this amount of money that we have over here cuz I know we're having a discussion of you know, say we have a school that may not be um we're not going to need to put these things on here. Do we have contingency where this cost is going down or we're stuck on this contract even if we don't have these cameras going into a certain school. No, and I'll ask Ms. Carefoot to yell at me if but that was one of the outline, you know, we wanted to specify that if the number of sites we have changes in the
286future that the cost associated with will change appropriately. Okay. That was something we wanted to make sure that was in there. Perfect. I want to make sure that myself. And then here's another situation. So say like we put up these cameras at VC and we've got a bunch of portables that are there at VC and we decide eventually with some money we can build permanent buildings out over here and we currently have the cameras in certain areas and now we're going to have to move them or relocate them. I'm guessing this is going to be extra charges for these types of things to do that or is there I guess what what was the plan moving forward with you know, this type of system? Well, the nice thing and the one thing that was very
287attractive with Verkada was how easy it is to expand. And and in addition to that, you know, again, the big part of this is the management the video management software. So in addition you know, to adding Verkada cameras, which is actually a very easy process to do. Very similar from my understanding is, you know, like we add a ring camera. Basically you almost scan a QR code install it and it's done. You know, and link it to our management software system. Of course, there will be some additional cost associated with that with the purchasing of the additional hardware. But in addition, we will be training our staff you know, how to maintain that and how to do those installations in the future. But of course, there will be you know, additional cost associated with the
288additional hardware. Okay. And then I know you mentioned cloud you know, being able to have this in the cloud and I was looking at their site and they had something are we doing the standard cloud there was something also called the hybrid cloud which on their presentation on that it was talking about eliminate sprawl, optimizes optimizes span, improve security compliance. So, are we looking at doing the hybrid cloud on this or just the general cloud where there's a lot of sprawl? >> Hybrid. I'm going to ask the individual from Verkada to come up here and directly answer that question. So, for us the term cloud and hybrid cloud is used very interchangeably. The way we we've architected our system is as we call hybrid cloud. Meaning a lot of that data is stored on premise
289while access is done via the cloud remotely. As well as some of the data can be stored via the cloud. So, we call it a cloud native system and that's where that whole, you know, term of cloud comes from. But that hybrid system kind of gives you the best of both worlds. The best of the low latency for on premise access while having remote accessibility from anywhere via your mobile device or your laptop and remote firmware and software updates. So, it's kind of a mix of both. Okay. >> That's where the hybrid term comes from. And I'll add to that, you know, when I was speaking with the director of technology from Deer Valley schools, he said the really nice thing about that it was less taxing on their, you know, their their infrastructure. So,
290it was, you know, it didn't bog down their data usage at the specific site as much because it was able to upload directly from the cameras to the cloud. And then also I just noticed not just noticed but looking at it also and it was talking about kind of school safety. You want to talk about there again, it talks about its four pillars, physical security, cyber security, prevention, social emotional learning on here and I know it did talk about cyber security. Does this any of this integrate to what we currently have with what we had with our with our breach way back when? Does this anything to do with that? And their four pillars of school safety. This is this this folks it the like on physical safety with the cameras, but on their four
291pillars it also mentioned cyber security prevention and social emotional learning. So, I just didn't know if this program is touching those other things also. Well, I think the social emotional learning, you know, social emotional learning is going to come from just individuals more confident in their safety while they're on our sites and and able to focus on their studies. Uh the cyber security again, you know, ensuring that we had, you know, I had three technology professionals on the team as we assess this uh to ensure that the cyber, you know, the the fact is that this is a digital device that communicates with the internet. So, we wanted to make sure that that was absolutely as secure as possible, especially with our, you know, recent history and and the issues we had to navigate. So,
292this supports all those all those pillars as well and of course promotes the physical security of everybody involved as well. And then also it talks about audio sensors. Do we have audio sensors on these? Correct. Yes, we do. So, one of the things it talks about in the AI tools use audio sensors so listening for threatening language, bullying, crying, or yelling, alerting school district administrators and resource officers about where issues are happening. Um sensors can be put in less common areas, for example, bathrooms, locker rooms, and classrooms. AI enhances safety in spaces monitoring activities where staff cannot be consistently present. Now, just by knowing that there's uh you know, not just eyes on you with these cameras, now there's ears. What prob- what things are we going to come across with bullying or kids being
293kids saying things in a jest type of a fashion. Um what kind of disciplinary things are we going to be looking at because of these audio sensors that are on these devices? Well, again, we're going to you know, so the audio sensors that you're referring to are more the alerts. So, you know, we can program these to do a myriad of things and what we're going to have to explore as we kind of get into it is what functions we actually want. The nice thing about these cameras and this whole system as a whole, where as you make those adjustments it'll advise you how many alerts would change. So say you have something where you want to program it uh for, you know, making an audio alert due to yelling or screaming or something. Um
294as you would adjust that, as you adjust that level, it'll say you're going to go from two alerts a month up to 400. Now we obviously don't want the 400, we got to find a balance in between. Uh but what we're also looking at with the audio alerts again is that, you know, it can alert us and all that's doing is drawing our attention to that. It's going to alert us if there's yelling or screaming, if there's shouting associated with it, if there's, you know, potentially gunshot detection, if there's noise where there shouldn't be noise associated, think of a school after hours. So again, these are all different programmings that we're going to have the opportunity to work with the administration as well as my security staff to identify in what levels we're going to
295set. Um the systems, you know, have a a significant number of options. We may not select those. We're going to have to find out as we implement these what's going to be best for our schools. Yeah, and I guess just things that like the public, they want to bring their kids here but they know everything that they're saying is being listened to can be a concern. I know here it also talks about parking lot monitoring and license plate recognition, which again, if you're not doing anything bad, you really don't have to worry about it. But again, it has more AI tools that can identify vehicles coming out of the school premises, cross-referencing license plate with trusted databases, flag unapproved entries. Um for example, one visitor gets out of the car, uses facial recognition to identify
296whether that person should have access to the premises. So a lot of these, I guess, um for lack of a better word, Terminator protocol, where uh you know, you're you're you're you're you're, you know, Big Brother's kind of watching on all these types of things. Do you think that's going to be a concern with our communities at our school sites? I hope not. And again, we're going to have to kind of identify and and we're going to have to establish policies and procedures of what we want to do. You know, there's potential for facial recognition, but I don't see wanting to implement facial recognition with these cameras as well, and that's going to have to be a policy we establish as a district going forward. Um you know, because that's not something we want to
297use on a day-to-day basis. However, you know, we have had numerous incidents where we've had people that we don't want on our campuses, and we have a vehicle description associated with that. So, can we set those cameras to alert that administration if a potentially dangerous person is coming on their campus or somebody they've identified? Uh that's absolutely we you know, a power that we want to give our administration. Um so, again, we're going to have to kind of understand and develop some very strict policies and procedures going forward. These are very powerful tools, but I'll also say that, you know, this is the reality uh basically of all the security cameras uh systems that we're looking at. All the systems that we looked at that we received uh information on all have these AI capabilities.
298Um that's just kind of the reality of the technology of today. I mean, in again, even my Ring camera at home, we can implement some of these. Obviously, we wouldn't want to utilize something like that because of the the the cybersecurity aspect of it. But, this is, you know, the reality of a lot of these camera systems going forward. Yeah, and then just one more thing on this when it talks about mapping and student tracking, almost every single student high school carries a smartphone. AI systems can use Bluetooth signals to monitor crowd movement or pinpoint point to the location of unauthorized individuals to intervene before um issues escalate. Again, all these things AI tools are great. Just my concern is the overreaching on some of these tools that are there. And then, I guess like
299you'd mentioned with policy, what do we decide as our policy that we're going to be using these tools for um that we feel is best for our communities. And I know on something like that it has to kind of be more of a blanket over everything and how we're going to do it. We can't say we can only do this in one school or this different at a different school. Um I just want I guess I'm bringing it up because a lot of people parents are probably not going to look into these types of things and not know what these things are and that's also part of my responsibilities look at some of these things. Um cuz these are some of the things that do interest me and I do care about and I do
300hear constituents that have concerns about these types of things. So I don't know if we approve something along the lines like this then at that point we then have to start working on policy on what these are going to be versus who decides on which one of these things are implemented on there. Again, I understand this technology is here. We have to embrace it in a lot of things and we have to be proactive in a lot of these things. But at the same time giving away rid of individual, you know, rights on a certain thing because you go into school and all of a sudden you are part of the being the watch state over here of every move that you're making cuz you're being tracked by your cell phone. Um I don't think,
301you know, again it it's It's It's It's a fine line that we should be looking at and having discussion before a full blown implementation. But again, that's just my a view on that. So thank you for your time. Dr. Shaw. Go ahead, Ms. Shaw. Um in line with Mr. Rasmussen's recent questioning, I would like to ask if you can describe some of the safeguards that will protect our security system including the cameras in the cloud um and even the the door access um in the event of hacking or like remote viewing from uh, certain bad actors. Yeah, I'm going to ask Chris Anderson uh, who's one of our technology services personnel or experts to to answer that. Thank you. Yeah, so one of the things that we looked for was uh, that that that it
302would be uh, security controlled uh, by a role-based security system similar to the way we protect all our other enterprise security applications, meaning that uh, if you don't have a uh, you know, a a district account that you wouldn't be able to get into it. Also, the cameras themselves um, and I'll I'll defer to um, some of the vendors here that can describe it more uh, eloquently, but we wanted something that would be um, you know, that would have encrypted data, that it would be encrypted uh, at rest, meaning when it data's static [clears throat] and me and also encrypted in transit, meaning when it's going across the internet to the cloud and or you know, from the cameras to the cloud. Okay. And then I think this gentleman mentioned that most of the stuff
303would be housed on premise on the premises, right? And then it's the cloud where you can access it and even that is Right, right. So, the cameras themselves um, would store a small amount of a limited amount of data and then it would be transferred to the cloud for uh, for the the management system to have access to it. Okay. Uh, thank you. And then you know, Mr. Romero mentioned uh, the uh, caveat on CW CDW's website about uh, supply chain issues and uh, the guarantee um, you know, they can't guarantee the price until uh, the item is ready to ship. And um, you know, I know with some of the cameras that we already have um, in our district, we were dealing with supply chain issues. And so, I wonder if we're able to
304make a bulk purchase of cameras so that we can lock in a price. And does this like um does this statement on their website I I assume it applies to us that they can't guarantee the price until it's literally ready to ship to us. Yeah, I'm pretty sure that that's just, you know, that is a and I'm not dismissing your concerns and I I appreciate you raising that. Um but that's kind of standard across doing anything when you're looking at technology right now because of what we've navigated over the last few years with supply chain issues and uh and significant uh inflation. Um but uh I don't know if Verkada, if you want to speak to that. Yeah. Thank you, Joe. So, I'm Pat. I'm also with Verkada and I'm on the sales side of
305it. So, due to this being a request for proposal, this is something that our corporation uh will address. And because it's a res- request for proposal, within that, there are lock-ins when it comes to pricing. Um you know, everything goes on with supply chain. We are uh multi-billion dollar corporation that is used to these circumstances, but specifically when it comes to the request for proposal and the concerns around price, we work very closely with CDW. So, when it comes to the pricing conversation, um we can commit to the price being based on the proposal, that that will be the price when you bulk order. Okay, great. Thank you. And then last, uh how long will this take to implement? Yeah, good question. Our goal is within 2 years. Um you know, there's a lot of
306sites to cover. Um and our kind of roll out, uh my approach is going to be at least initially, um you know, first and foremost, there's a couple stages that have to happen. We have to walk all of our sites with the the teams. You know, we initially did the 21 sites. We have to walk all of them. Uh we have they have to have a better understanding what they're going to be ordering and so on and so forth. Uh then they wanted we're going to implement like basically a test site. And and the hope is to do a non-educational site because what we don't want to do is implement something and then have issues with it and that school is trying to rely on that system. So, we're going to choose a non-educational site
307to implement this all initially and try to work out all the bugs. Uh and then start rolling it out. Uh the nice thing is with Accelint is a local company. They have a lot of uh resources here in town. Uh we've worked with them historically. They do large projects like the University of Arizona and others. Uh so, they have the resources and able to, you know, cuz a big part of this is running the cabling so on and so forth. Um and they have the resources to be able to expedite that and get that through. So, uh I think within 2 years is a nice comfortable uh goal to have uh with the hope that it'll be far sooner than that. Okay. Thank you. And with that, I'll move the item. I have a question,
308but I'll second. I I had a move by Ms. Shah, second by Ms. Ekstrom. Go ahead, Ms. Ekstrom. Um Mr. Ross, um I assume like with the license plate reader and the facial recognition, that um our uh policy covers not being able to hand this over to a law enforcement without a judicial warrant, correct? Uh either exigent circumstances, you know, somebody's immediate health and safety is at risk or a warrant. Okay. So, like >> Or subpoena. So, like if ICE shows up and they're like, "I want to see whoever at this school." We we aren't able to give that to them. We would not be We would not be able to without a subpoena or a warrant. >> Okay. Thank you. All right. Item moved by Ms. Shah, second by Ms. Ekstrom. All those in
309favor say I. I. >> I. Any opposed? Item passes. >> Abstain. Uh uh one abstention. Item passes 4 uh 0 1 with one abstention. Thank you all. All right, thank you. And [snorts] Dr. Trujillo stepped out, but we have our last item, item 7.7, approval to procure goods and services for Q4 um and Q1 uh bond project priorities. Dr. Carter. Good evening everyone. Good evening. So, can we go ahead and uh get the queued up? Okay. All right, to the uh president of the governing board. >> It's late, you don't have to do formalities. >> [laughter] >> It's good. All right. All right. All right, will you approve? No, I'm just Can we just move the item? I mean, bond oversight committee approved it. Yes, they did. >> [laughter] >> Okay. And so >> Yeah,
310I I I motion to approve. I'll second. Hold. All right, wait, what are we approving? >> Discussion. I'm getting pulled up here. One moment. All right. [laughter] Right? You want to do a quick description of what we're approving tonight? >> No, I And >> [laughter] >> Sure. Um as you can see on the screen, we have um the repairs and upgrades with uh Rincon, the uh health office uh water re-piping. We have the Saguaro um summer renovations with the auditorium LED lights and the audio improvements, as well as extending our um AED athletic expansion. The total amount uh for these improvements with a 20% contingency is $268,723. I would um motion to have the board grant the authority to the purchasing director in conjunction with the bond program manager to procure these goods and services
311um through the cooperative contracts for the next wave of bond projects not to exceed the 20% contingency where the single purchase may exceed 250,000 [snorts] or for the cumulative purchase with the cooperative contract vendors in excess of 250,000. Any questions on this item? All right, item is moved by Ms. Ekstrom, seconded by Ms. Luna Rose. All those in favor say I. I. I. All right, thank you. Item passes 5-0. All right. Dr. Chavarria, we have future meeting agenda items, dates and agenda items. Yes, uh President Shaw. One thing we do need to announce is we have the executive item five four that wasn't on the anything that we've announced before. So it's uh something else that's new since our last meeting. Oh, the May 4th? Yes, so we have an executive session. Um the the
312administration is recommending that the governing board convene for an executive session on May 4th uh to be facilitated over Zoom. Our governing board office did uh formally survey everybody's availability. Looks like we're going to be able to achieve a quorum. So we would like to propose a May 4th uh governing board meeting exact session. Any opposition? I'll take it down as consent for adding the May 4th executive session. Yes, uh President Shaw, May 12th uh governing board meeting, we will be back with the uh ASDB agreement and student support plan. And then we have a pretty sizable slate of principal recommendations for some of our schools that are coming up. So we will will busy. Dr. Shaw. Go ahead, I'm not trying to belabor this, but just for the ASDB, and I I know you'd
313sent us that email, but just to to make clearer to people still in the audience and listening and my colleagues, so we need to make sure um cuz I did work um disability rights for a long time. The ASL interpreters two are always needed cuz you need to um give a break every 15 minutes. That's why we couldn't really have somebody from Miles come cuz that one person cannot do it because it's a really taxing job. So, I I and I understand but I just meant that it's just wanted the yeah. I mean we have the public part of hearing people here, so >> Um and also if we can look into um making sure that we've got CART, which is communication access real-time translation, so there's a screen and somebody's These are things we're
314going to have to think about as we're getting into this agreement with ASDB. And lastly, for these contracts, there's Arizona freelance as our Arizona Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. So, I think they would be welcome to work with us, especially the Commission for Deaf and Hard of Hearing. That's what they do. Um and I think they would be willing to help out. And I have connections there. I'd be happy to make those. Yeah, we we will um ultimately we are responsible, you know, even if we have somebody lined up, we should be planning for contingencies. We will do so going forward, so thank you. Uh Dr. Shaw Go ahead, Ms. Estrada. Um during the summer, can we get an update on what we are doing uh for training for staff, teachers, and
315students on ICE, please? For the next school year. For like a summer item? Is that what you're asking? >> item. That way we have it um for the upcoming school year. >> even a report. We have a task force that's working on on this issue, right? So, it'd be good to have an update from the task force on Yes, but we still continue to get emails asking for um trainings for students and we haven't heard about that. School's almost going to end, so I would like to have that in place for um the next school year. All right, and that will conclude our meeting. Thank you everyone. Good night. And we'll see you on May 12th. >> [clears throat] >> Oh, wow. Thank you, friends. Sorry we kept you so late.