001Mhm. >> Order the board meeting, please stand 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. Item three, recognitions. 3.1, academic achievement Hello, good evening President Acton and governing board members, Superintendent Islas, and the amazing Alief ISD community. We're excited tonight. We are wrapping up this year's Superintendent Superstar initiative. We're very excited. This year has been It's been so fun. As you guys have heard each month as we recognize our students. We want to take a moment just to reflect on what we have celebrated this year. So far this year we have recognized our national merit students, our portrait of a graduate superstars, our top 5% as well
002as our top ACT scores. And so this evening we are excited to celebrate our top 1% students across the district. In March we honored 25 of our top 1% students at our superstar supper, which was very fun. It was our inaugural event and so we had a great turnout there. Tonight we have asked our principals to select an MVP of our top 1%. First I just want to congratulate all of our top 1% students the hard work that they put in throughout the year. We're very proud of them. They have exemplified excellence through academic achievement, leadership, and a strong commitment to the school communities. And so congratulations. I would like to start tonight by asking a Principal Autumn Daniels to come forward from Alief High School to recognize her top 1% MVP. Good evening President
003Acton, members of the board, Superintendent Islas, and our fabulous community. I would like to invite Breal Romero to come up to the podium with me. We can clap FOR THIS ONE. ALL RIGHT, BREAL IS AN EXCEPTIONAL student at Alpharetta High School and is currently ranked first in her class with a 5.27 GPA as our valedictorian. So, we are so excited to celebrate that. She pushes herself by taking some of her the most rigorous classes and is in AP journey with AP testing this week and next. She is an exceptional AP student achieving a passing score on all of her AP exams and is incredibly active at Alpharetta High School. She's the president of National Honor Society, historian of National Hispanic Honor Society, vice president for psychology club, co-president for Owl Closet Club, historian for Earth
004Club, treasurer for Be a Leader, and is Key Club volunteer and student mentor through Link Crew. Now, if that isn't a outstanding superstar list, kudos to her. Brielle has left an incredible impact on Alpharetta High School and is not only a brilliant student, but kind and thoughtful. She has made our campus a better place and then when she first came to us and we're grateful for her impact and all of her hard work. Thank you, Brielle. And now I would like to invite up Canyon View Principal, Lynn Reed. Good evening, President Acton, governing board, Superintendent Eastham and cabinet. I'd like to welcome Mia Kleinau. >> [applause] >> Mia Kleinau is not just top 1% she is also the Campo Verde High School valedictorian with a GPA of 5.19 um for her graduating class. She has
005earned an impressive list of academic honors including the fine arts seal, the Obama scholarship, and the New American University Recognition Scholarship. She was also accepted into Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State University, and the Clark Honors College at the University of Oregon. Beyond the classroom Mia Kleinau has been dedicated a dedicated leader and musician. She served as treasurer for both the freshman mentor program and National Honor Society. She participated as a FAFSA peer coach and was deeply involved in marching band all four years as a section leader and band president. Her musical accomplishments include performing with the Arizona All-State All-State marching band in the Fiesta Bowl's parade, participating in honor band for 2 years, earning first place at the WGAZ Percussion Championship, competing at the WGI World Championship, and touring Europe with Arizona Musicians
006Abroad. When I asked Mr. George, who also happens to be here, tell me a little bit more about Mia. He laughed. He said, "Honestly, she is the leader everyone relies on." And he he shared the story that often times she would just complete Mia, you would just complete something. He wouldn't even know he had forgotten about it. It would just be done because Mia Kleinau is that just that kind of leader leader that the leader that everybody can rely on. Um he is going to greatly miss you. I know that we will greatly miss you. And we want to thank you. After graduation, Mia plans to attend it sounds like ASU. Barrett Honors is the choice um where she will major in landscape architecture or biology. Biology. While continuing her passion for marching band. THANK
007YOU SO MUCH. ALL RIGHT, AND NOW WE'RE GOING TO HAVE PRINCIPAL LYNN FROM Goodyear High School come up to talk about his top 1%. Good evening, President Acton, members of the board, Superintendent Eastless, and the Agua Fria community. Uh it is with great honor that I get to present Alexis Davidson from the Goodyear High School. Uh Alexis Davidson is an exceptional student whose commitment to academic excellence is reflected in her impressive 4.5 weighted GPA while taking rigorous courses including Honors Algebra 2, Honors Biology, Honors English 1. Currently ranked number one in the class of 2029, she consistently demonstrates determination and curiosity, especially in mathematics, where she thrives on tackling complex complex concepts. Alexis aspires to pursue a future in engineering or a helicopter pilot, building strong foundation through her interest in robotics and advanced math.
008Her ambition to graduate early uh speaks to her drive, discipline, and dedication to achieving her goals at the highest level. Congratulations. >> And then our final superstar tonight from Verrado High School, uh we would have uh Principal Matt Weas coming up. Good evening, President Acton members of the board, Superintendent Eastless. I want to uh thank you for giving me a chance to brag about Manuel Ramirez Chavero to this evening. Manuel ranks number one in his class with an impressive 5.22 GPA. He's earned recognition as an AP Scholar with Honor as demonstrating strong academic dedication through rigorous coursework. He's actively involved in leadership serving as treasurer for both FBLA, the NSTEM Club, and participating in organizations such as SkillsUSA, NHS, and the Ace Tu Joaquin Bustos Math Science Honors Program. His commitment to growth and hands-on
009learning is evident in both academics and extracurriculars. He plans on going to ASU to pursue a degree in civil engineering at the Fulton School of Engineering. I want to share a couple things I talked to your teachers about today. Ms. Barnhill says that Manuel is an excellent student who works very hard. You appreciate the positive behavior example he sets for the underclassmen, especially the behavior and positive attitude he uh shows in NSTEM for the future officers in that club. Ms. Crow in physics says that Manuel is a hard worker. He is kind, compassionate to his classmates, and he's able to receive constructive criticism, and give it when necessary. He's a good classmate, and a good friend to others. Manuel is a natural leader. This is from Ms. Baloo. Uh Manuel is a natural leader in
010AP Lit. He sets a high standard through his work ethic and engagement. He brings depth to discussions, listens well, and communicates thoroughly. Mr. Bodt says that Manuel is a dedicated engineering student and SkillsUSA competitor who has grown into a skilled, dependable leader. He communicates well, collaborates effectively, and contributes to his team's success. My favorite one probably is from Ms. Iznusa who says, "On top of his academic ability and acuity, he is humble, kind, funny, friendly, and socially well-rounded. In short, I want to be just like him when I grow up." Thank you. God bless you. I APPRECIATE IT. IF I COULD HAVE THE STUDENTS COME FORWARD JUST FOR A QUICK GROUP photo here with the governing board. Would you stand over here? We can head back over to the summer. Um we can head back
011over You can just gather in here. All right. How about one final round FOR OUR STUDENTS? >> [applause] >> GREAT JOB, GUYS. MOVING ON TO 3.2, CTE program highlights. All right. Good evening, President Acton, members of the board, Superintendent Eastless, Ambassador Bateman, cabinet, and members of the Agua Fria community. I am excited tonight to introduce one of our newest and possibly one of our most important pathways that we have in the Agua Fria High School District. It's the education professions pathway. This is a program that is at Desert Edge right now. I'm going to introduce their teacher and advisor and some of our students. So, I'd like to invite the students and Ms. Jennifer Cole to the podium, please. Let's give them a ROUND OF APPLAUSE. >> [applause] >> GOOD EVENING. THANK YOU FOR HAVING
012US this evening, Superintendent Acevedo, Madam President, Governing Board. Um my name is Jennifer Cole and I teach at Desert Edge High School and this year I took on a brand new program, uh Education Professions. We are small, but we are mighty. Tonight I have two of my students with me. This is Sam Dinges and Destiny Burton. Um we have taken on this tremendous task this year and it has been so incredibly successful. So, I have a few pictures here really fast. Um first thing I would like to say, we have had a tremendous amount of support and we're so incredibly grateful for that. I would especially like to thank my principal Gretchen Han, our academy's coach Colleen Kvlinsky who has been there for us through so much and Dina Chavez for supporting us here at
013the district level. So, we took our girls to camp this summer or this fall. These are my officers. Sam is currently my president. And we belong to the CTE program of FCCLA, which is Family, Career and Community Leaders of America. So, this program is near and dear obviously to my heart. I've been an educator for 26 years and we know that this is the time when we are in desperate need of more people coming into the field and I'm so excited that we have a few students who are interested. We're going to wrap up this year with 10 girls in our program. I have enjoyed having every single one of them with me. We are hopeful to gain a few boys in the future, but for now we're really happy with the crew that we
014have. This year, we have participated in the fall leadership conference. We did have one gentleman, but he moved at the semester. We've had the opportunity to work with some of our ESS students on our campus, as well as we got to go down and do some observations at Michael Anderson Elementary School. We have done a ton of community service, which I'm really excited about, and the most recent one was our students participated in a bicycle drive. We did recycle your bicycle, and we collected bikes. You can see the two opposite corners there for the um Arizona Association of Foster and Adoptive Parents. And we've had a lot of fun. Um we have been to Grand Canyon University to check out the College of Education. Like I said, we went to Michael Anderson Elementary School. There's
015Principal Lori Gosler up there. My girls have learned they've become quite adept at bulletin boards, which I did not realize was such a huge part of this class. And um they then when we went to our state competition, we had to have a little fun and team building at Golf N' Stuff. So, this was our Spring Advisory Council, and that's almost all of my students. We were missing the one who had joined the class that day, and I told her it was not necessary to show up the first evening that she was a Desert Edge Scorpion. And when we went to state, we earned a bronze um chapter award, which is the lowest level, but for our first year, we felt pretty good that we were able to accomplish that. And of the six girls
016I took with me, every single one of them placed. We ended up with two bronzes, three silvers, and a gold. Glory Shanahan not only got the gold, she took first in state. And these two students both received a silver. Sam is not even intending to become a teacher, and she was one point away from a a I think that we need to encourage her to maybe reconsider. And Destiny received a silver in a star event. She's the only student who took that on, and that is an event that it would potentially qualify for nationals. She did the entire thing by herself. None of us had a clue what we were doing, and she was one step away from going to the national competition. So, I just want to say thank you again for the support
017that we've received this year. My students have been an absolute joy to work with, and I'm so grateful for the crew that I have because there is a very steep learning curve, and they have been with me ALL THE WAY. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. THANK YOU. 3.3, celebration of retirees. Good evening, President Acton, governing board members, and Superintendent Easles, and then all of you in the community. Tonight, we gather to honor to honor and celebrate 12 outstanding retirees for the Our Fria Union High School District for the 2025-2026 school year. Together, they represent an incredible 142 years combined. This evening, we take a special moment to recognize and celebrate each of our retirees who is here today. Joining us honoring these retirees are principals and our directors who will share a few words. Now, I
018would like to ask Ms. Daniels to come up. >> And it would be my honor to bring up Fern Harrington. >> [applause] >> Fern was actually a mid-year retiree, so it was really nice to see her tonight and reconnect and give her a warm hug. So, thank you, Fern. We wish you all the best in your retirement as you begin this new chapter of your life after several years of lifelong service to our Freya High School. Thank you for all of your expertise and service to our owls. You didn't just manage a library, you made it feel like home. Often times Fern would say, "My library." And we're like, "Our library." But that's how much ownership that she had over it and the passion that she had. Your passion was evident in every detail from
019the organization of books and journals that you gave the space such a welcoming feel. Just like Barnes & Noble's is what we nicknamed it eventually. You did engaging research lessons that you led for our students. You brought so much to our school community by bringing in book fairs and author signings. She even ran an advisory as our librarian and connections and relationships with those students. And you were always a go-to techy expert who helped us with Chromebooks year after year. Your dedication, creativity, and willingness to support others made an impact. We're grateful for all of the relationships you built, the care that you showed to our students and staff, and we wish you the best of luck in retirement, hoping it to be filled with joy, relaxation, and wonderful adventures. Enjoy this special time, especially
020with your husband, your family, all the grand babies, and special moments ahead. Thank you so much. >> [applause] >> Thank you, Ms. Daniels. Ms. Daniels. Can I please have Ms. Reed please from Canyon Ridge High School? This time, I would like to ask Mr. Randall George to come to the front to join me. >> [applause] >> Mr. George has been a part of the Canyon Ridge community school since the very beginning. He joined us in 2018 when we opened Canyon Ridge View, and actually is one of not just our original Jags, but one of our original arts teachers as well. I like to tell a story that whenever we were starting band, I was worried you have to have a marching band. You have to have a marching band. And but we had just the
021one class, and so we didn't have a full line. Who are we going to find? And out of It sounds like out of retirement. Not quite. But with a military background, came in, joined us on part-time, was willing to help build a build a band, and here we are with a strong Jaguar marching band um as as a a big big part of our community, and I know that has to do with Mr. George. Alongside And then a fun fact, Mr. George and our students actually helped create and compose and write our fight song, one that echoes every day Friday night every Friday night after a win, and is played countless at countless events, um bringing our community together. Beyond music, Mr. George has built a true home for our students who share a passion
022for music and the arts. His impact runs deep. So deep that his drum major and other band members chose to paint a mural in the band hallway over spring break as a tribute to him, a reflection of the lasting impression he's made. Mr. George is an essential part of Canyon View and the legacy he leaves behind will continue to inspire for years to come. We will truly miss him, his quiet humor, his steady positivity, and his unwavering support, especially his hope for Ball State to win. Thank you, Mr. George, for leaving such a meaningful piece of yourself with all of us. >> [applause] >> Thank you, Miss Reed. Next, can I please have Miss Bonnie from Alief High School? Good evening, President Acton, Superintendent Eastless, and our wonderful Alief ISD community. Um I would like
023to invite a invite up Miss Julie Bastine. >> [applause] >> All right. So, as you can kind of see from our slides up here, Miss Bastine um has been with us for a very long time. Um as I look at this paragraph, I find it hard to believe that one paragraph um can summarize 30 and a half years um in education at Alief ISD. District at Millennium High School. So, um I'm going to read this, but I know that there is much more that we could talk about and and say about Ms. Bastien, but we'll do this. Julia has worked in our district for 31 years, 30 and a half. She is an original tiger and continues to show others what a tiger is. Coach Bastien is revered by her peers both in the classroom
024and on the courts. Her impact on the students, staff, and community of Millennium High School is immeasurable. She is a leader in every sense of the word who sets high expectations for her students and her athletes. The void her retirement will leave in our science department, athletic department, and campus is not describable. We hope she enjoys every moment of her retirement and is able to go even to even more national parks. That's one of her goals. It's fun to watch her on social media and all of the different places that she's going. Congratulations, Ms. Bastien. You are going to be missed. >> [applause] >> Thank you, Ms. Bundy. Can I please have Mr. Lease? Good evening again, President acted members of the board, Superintendent Eastless. If I could call up Ms. Karen Carlson up here,
025please. >> [applause] >> In the relatively, you know, short time Karen has been with us, I've witnessed the giant impact she has had on our students and of Her classroom always feels warm and welcoming with students fully engaged [laughter] in their work. And she creates a space for students to feel comfortable and therefore succeed because they feel safe to try and safe to create. Karen made great connections with students and really showcased their work with pride. She worked great with her visual arts team and immediately embodied all things we strive for at El Dorado. We're very lucky to have her while we did. She will greatly miss her campus, but we're excited to see what her next chapter holds. We're excited to see the beautiful art she will continue to create. >> [applause] >> Thank
026you, Mr. Ellis. Can I please have Miss Peggy Overton, please? Transportation. Good evening, President Acton, board members, Superintendent Eseles, and our wonderful Ivernia community. Um it's nice to be last. Save the best for last in transportation. Um I'll give you guys a little bit of trivia first. So, statistically, school bus transportation is the safest mode of transportation in our country. And to be a school bus driver is very challenging. And it is my honor to call up Miss Angela Lacy. >> [applause] >> So, Miss Lacy has she began her career with Ivernia Union High School District in 2008. During her 18 years of service, she has served as a bus assistant, campus safety, and lastly a school bus driver. Angela has driven all routes and field trips during the work week and on many weekends.
027She has uh serviced our ESS students as well as our regular ed students. She has assisted the department in servicing specialty field trips such as the NFL Super Bowl in 2023, the Patriot All-American Golf Tournament during winter break, and the Luke Air Days Air Show. Ingla is a part of our fun committee. So, she cooks for the drivers, she bakes for the drivers. Um if you guys are hungry when she retires, give her a call. Um but more importantly, she tries to motivate our team and tries to maintain positivity throughout our department. She will be dearly, dearly missed. Um thank you for your many years of service to our students and community. Congratulations on your well-deserved retirement. PEGGY AND PEGGY IT'S OKAY. I I KNEW this was coming. I got a chair. She has a
028plan of attack. Yes, she does. Thank you. Congratulations. THANK YOU. CONGRATULATIONS. [applause] AT THIS TIME WE CAN TAKE A SMALL BREAK. Anyone who was recognized, if you wish to go on and do something else with your evening, you may be excused. You do not have to sit through the rest of our board meeting. But thank you so much for being here. We're proud of all of you. >> All right, we're going to go ahead and get back to it. Um 4.1 Hilltop School for the Arts and Theater updates. Good evening, Madam President, members of the board, Superintendent Eagless, members of our entire community. Uh on the screens you see a uh video of some of a drone flying at the Hilltop School for the Arts, uh the theater and concert hall. Uh this was taken
029on April 28th, so it's just about a week old or so. Um I have some new pictures today that it's amazing what they've gotten done in a week, but this will uh give you an idea of where we stand on the project as of this moment, uh we are still on schedule for uh, occupancy of the school on July 17th and the theater on October 2nd. Um, every day the team, which is an awesome team on this project, fights through new challenges. Our most recent challenge was is that um, after about 100 years in business, the company supplying the fabric for the seats in the auditorium just magically went out of business. So, we're scrambling on some updated details there and everybody's fighting to keep us on schedule and keep moving forward there. But, uh,
030I just want to thank everybody for the work they're doing to keep us uh, moving along. Uh, Alex and Julie are going to give a couple quick updates on their areas and then we'll see if you have any questions. President Acton, governing board members, Superintendent Eastless, and the Litchfield community, thank you so much for allowing me the time to speak tonight to share a little bit about the theater. The Hilltop theater and concert hall is officially moving from planning to implementation. Guided by the idea that more is more is more, meaning more art more often is better for more people. And over the past several months, we've really focused on the building's operational structure while keeping the students' opportunities at the center of our focus. The work has included learning from successful theater models such
031as our friends at Chandler Center for the Arts. We have been building relationships with them and their contending presenters and arts leaders, but their team has mostly helped us shape practical decisions around guest experience, staffing, volunteers, artist needs, and front of house operations. And overall operationally, we're really moving from ideas into systems. So, we're working through a key essentials like ticketing, rentals, concessions, safety, accessibility, tenant coordination, and event support while also attending weekly meetings with the City of Litchfield Park, McCarthy, and an Group so that we can ensure construction progress is connected to how the building is going to function day-to-day. Programming is very exciting and it's becoming more concrete. I'm developing the first season framework so that we build a calendar that works first and foremost for our students, rentals, community partners, professional performances,
032and our district events. Uh conversations are underway with our promoters, civic partners, arts organizations, and alumni. So, I'm hopeful that we'll be able to announce some incoming uh book shows officially. From here, the focus is really just bringing all of these pieces together by so confirming the systems, people, partnerships, and calendar needs to make sure that the theater is ready for our students, guests, and community when the doors open on October 2nd. Thank you. Thank you. And good evening, President Acton, members of the governing board, Superintendent Eastless, and our Agua Fria Fria community. Uh where I have been living the last month or two is really been in the curriculum, the students, the auditions, the applications. Uh we just did our second round of auditions on April 25th. Uh spent the Saturday gaining about 23
033to 30 more kids that came in since our originals in February. Uh we're continuing to accept applications uh all the way through the month of July. So, we're averaging about three applications per week right now. Uh it seems like there's a lot of chatter going on, which is great. And so, every day we're getting a phone call where somebody's asking a kid. Yesterday, we were at Canyon View and they're like, "I think I'm going to apply." Just because we're out and we're talking with everybody. So, that's been really exciting. Uh we just did parent meetings uh with our ESS, Mr. Becker, uh and Mr. Blackner, and uh Bronca Shepherd, who's going to be our counselor, met with uh all of our special support families to make sure that we were able to meet their needs
034as well as we're meeting with parents for freshmen who are coming in on that fast track or that honors area. So, we're really just trying to make sure that we're meeting the needs of all of our kids no matter where they are within our programs of study that have been designed. So, I've been spending time on that. We also been working with our curriculum specialist here at the district office and they have been wonderful working on pacing guys because we will be a block where everybody else is a full year. Textbooks and supplies and what just making sure that when our kids enter the door we're ready to make sure that instructionally we're prepared. And then on our LNC day, which was amazing, I was able to have all my fine arts teachers that are
035coming over to the hilltop and they worked on the Christmas show. And it was such a great time and the energy in the room of designing this because it's all homegrown. We have created it ourselves. Everything where they're writing music, you know, they're picking out the costumes because December is going to be here before we know it and if we don't start our preparation and getting that show ready to go for our very first big school-wide production, we just can't wait and so we're working hard at that. So, everything's been very very student centered right now, teacher centered as far as making sure we're ready for our instruction, our shows, and kids when they come to us in about 90 days. So, I just hope that we'll have the keys and we'll be all the
036move in and if not, we'll figure it out and it'll be okay. So, thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Any questions? No, thank you. Thank you for the update. Very exciting. Can't wait. 5.1 we need [clears throat] to convene our public hearing. Do you have a motion? It resolved the governing board convene the public hearing as recommended. Second. So yes. Neither yes. Colton yes. Adams yes. Acton yes. 5.2 the instructional time model. >> [clears throat] >> Yes President Acton, members of the board, Superintendent Eastless, and the Alvord community. As you know, we are required to bring in ITM or instructional time model to you twice for public comment. I will entertain any questions in regards to our Alvord online program and the instructional time model. Thank you. 5.3 public hearing Mr. Shepherd going to review
037revision number one of the expenditure budget. Here we go. Good evening President Acton, members of the board, Superintendent Eastless, and the Alvord community. This public hearing item is regarding a revision to our current year budget. School districts have until May 15th each year to do a final revision to their current school year budget. So we typically take a final revision to to you all every May, which gives us a last opportunity to kind of make any final adjustments. Typically revolving like we project a student enrollment number that fluctuates throughout the year. We we kind of take this opportunity to tie out those ADM uh them up from what our projections were. So, um attached to your uh item was the full budget revision, but I wanted to also just highlight these these few um uh
038main uh highlights of of what the budget adjustments uh are for. So, if you uh recall when we first proposed this budget back in June, um the state of Arizona did not have a a budget in place at that time. So, we had to um build a budget um on the prior year's base uh level amount. Um we knew that that was going to be inflation adjusted 2%. Uh that that did come true. That's what you're seeing and that that's that increase of $100.15 per per student. Um like I mentioned, the ADM number is a projection. Uh we the actual ADM is about 43 and 1/2 students uh above that projection. Um and then all of our students receive various weights in the formula. Um the largest of which are are in our ESS population.
039So, when you factor in all those weights um with all of our students, um it it's a slight increase of our overall weighted ADM of, you know, just under 11 students. Um so, pretty pretty close to what we proposed uh back in in June and adopted in July. Um the final numbers that you see uh are our M&O uh base M&O amount. That's really just exactly the increase in the formula times the additional students uh provides just over a million and a half dollars on our M&O. Um and then the final two are really as part of the when we propose our budget, we project a conservative carryforward amount into our budget. Um at this point, we know what those carryforward amounts were, so we plug those back in just to make sure we're capturing
040all that budget capacity. Uh but everything uh that is in the budget revision um is really in line with what we were expecting to see in the final budget. We've been operating throughout the school year with a lot of these um factors already kind of taken taken into account um as we operate. So, um there will be a a an agenda item later on um this evening for you to approve that budget revision. Um but at this time in the public hearing, I'm I'm happy to try to answer any questions that you might have for this item. Thank you. Any questions? All right. Thank you very much. All right. A motion to adjourn public hearing. Be it resolved that the governing board adjourns public hearing and returns to the regular session. Second. Sophia, yes. Nailer,
041yes. Colton, yes. Landis, yes. Acton, yes. 6.1 consideration of approval of the minutes for the April 8th, 2026 study session and regular board meeting. Be it resolved that the governing board approves the minutes of the April 8th, 2026 study session and regular board meeting as presented. I second. Sophia, yes. Nailer, abstain. Colton, yes. Landis, yes. Acton, yes. 7.1 action items, consideration of approval of revision number one to the expenditure budget including maintenance and operations and district additional assistant budgets for fiscal year 2026. As we had no questions, um does anyone else have a comment or can we hear a motion? Be it resolved governing board approves revision number one to the expenditure budget including maintenance and operations and district additional assistant budgets for fiscal year 26 as presented. Second. Silk, yes. Nailer, yes. Colton, yes.
042Landers, yes. Acton, yes. 7.2 um is to consider, discuss, amend if desired, and if deemed advisable to adopt a resolution ordering or calling a special budget override election to be held and for the district declaring a deadline. Okay, I'm not going to keep reading all that. Mr. Chapman, please present. >> [clears throat] >> Uh thank you again, President Acton. Mr. Shepherd and I are uh pleased to be up here to have a brief chance to discuss the status of our override. Um we enjoyed last month having a a more in-depth discussion with the board in the work study session, where we're able to go into kind of the history of the override, what our current status is, and what the future looks like going forward. Um at this time, we would like to bring forth
043a recommendation to call for an override election um for this November. Um and uh Mr. Shepherd's going to mention a couple brief points on uh some of the details around the override. Thank you. And again, appreciate uh the work study session uh last month. Um just to kind of highlight a few of of the details around our current M&O uh override fund. It funds about 15% or exactly 15% of our maintenance and operations budget. Um for this school year, that's 11 and 1/2 million dollars. Um as said before, this has been in place for 22 years, and over that time we've come to to rely uh quite substantially on that funding. Um this is is not a new tax for our community. Uh it's a continuation of an existing tax that's been in place uh
044throughout that time. Um and a reminder for the board, uh these M&O overrides, once approved, um need to be renewed every 5 years. If not, they will phase out in the final 2 years. Um, so our current M&O override would need to be renewed uh either this November 2026 or next November. Um, otherwise the the following budget that we prepare, we would have to reduce um around $4 million out um and then do that again the next year if if we're not able to renew it. So, um with all that said, uh we bring forward to you a recommendation uh a resolution calling for the election um to renew the maintenance and operations override this November. So, as I'm looking here, um cuz you guys always give us the background. Thank you so much for
045that. Um, so this continuation of the 15% override would keep funding CTE programs, advanced placement courses, fine arts, junior ROTC, summer school programs, athletic programs, Coldwater Academy, and New Directions, and continued increased teacher pay um helping to provide smaller class sizes. So, if this doesn't get passed by our community in either '26 or '27, we're looking at a phasing out of those programs, correct? We would be losing those funds, and we would have to make some very difficult decisions as a district. Um, I like to tell people that the override is um what covers the funding for everything that makes high school awesome and special, right? Yeah. Right. Anybody have anything to ask, comment to make? No, I think we're all very proud of these programs, and and and it's always difficult um when we
046talk about funding schools and the difficult conversations we have with communities. Um, but our community has been very supportive of our schools, and um we just see the amazing things that they do. So, um I'll I'll show my support in a moment. Do you have a motion? Yes. Yes, sure. Be it resolved the governing board adopts a resolution ordering and calling a special budget override election to be held in and for the district and declaring August 7th, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. as a deadline for submitting arguments for and against the election to the Maricopa County School Superintendent. >> Second. Clerk, yes. Miller, yes. Poulton, yes. Landers, yes. Acton, yes. Thank you. All right. 7.3. Thank you again, President Acton. You know, we've been honored to have a chance to talk about the improvements at Millennium
047High School a a few times over the last several months and some of the critical needs to address their learning spaces there. What we're bringing to you tonight is a final GMP or guaranteed maximum price for that project. At the March meeting, we brought an initial GMP which was largely for long lead items and then we wanted to get a kickstart on the project over spring break. The cool thing about bringing this GMP back tonight is is we actually had a projected final GMP that was on those forms back in March. That number hasn't changed. It's been a bit of work and our team here at Chase Building Team can be congratulated on that that they've done a lot of that work to make sure that price didn't change. So, we're bringing forth a GMP
048tonight, a final GMP for this project at the same amount that you saw last time. All right. Again, this was we're going to be doing this project at Millennium using the 2024 bond, correct? Yes. >> was for? Yes, this was from the 2024 bond and this was the number one requested project by Millennium staff, administration, students, parents, and community members. Yes. I think a lot of those community members have known how long those buildings have been there. Yes. It's time for a redo. So, all right, that sounds great. Thank you so much. Shall be it resolved that the Does anyone else have any questions? So sorry. Be it resolved that the governing board approves the guaranteed maximum price for the renovation of Millennium High School with Chase Building Team. Second. So, yes. Nailer, yes. Colton,
049yes. Landers, yes. Acton, yes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you guys for being here. All right, moving on to our consent agenda. Is there anything anyone would like to pull, discuss, comment? Good. Be it resolved the governing board approves the items of the consent agenda as presented. Second. So, yes. Nailer, yes. Colton, yes. Landers, yes. Acton, yes. I know. All right, moving on to 9.1, a request to address the governing board. >> [cough] >> We have nothing this evening. Moving on to 10.1, comments and or information from Superintendent Eastless and or cabinet. Thank you, President Acton, members of the board, our free community. I have seen a lot of you all of you at some of our events for the end of the year. I really appreciate the support. Also wanted to say thank you
050to to Miss Nailer for We had an email the other day come through regarding your support for the launch that you and I were at at Goodyear High School. Very much appreciated your presence there as the only board member actually with all the school districts that we were working for. So, thank you for that. I've have also had an opportunity to um uh go to a lot of programs and concerts and things that have been happening at the end of the year. So, that's been a lot of fun. I'm sure that some of you will will talk about that. Um also want to congratulate the retirees. I mean, how cool is it for somebody to be able to put in a great career. Some of them end their career or being here at Our Fear
051for their entire career. Um but we have a great culture that was set by a bunch of great leaders and it starts with you guys as the governing board and that has made this um place a great uh place to have a career. And and to to be a part of something special. So, congratulations to the retirees that were here. Um this was staff appreciation week. So, we've been out at the schools all day seeing people. My executive cabinet and cabinet members have been out at the schools appreciating all the staff and providing them a lunch. It's been nice for us to get out there and see everyone and and just say thank you and and tell them to hang in there for a couple of weeks for the end of the year. So, that's
052been really nice. And and finally, I think it's it it I believe it's one of the it's probably the best day that we have as a staff and I'm sure the governing board looks forward to this because all your hard work and all the the effort and energy you put into our to our school district, you get to see it on display at the graduation ceremony that's coming up in a couple of weeks. So, looking forward to that on May 14th at the arena to see some of you. I know we have two board members that have some children of their own that are going to be crossing our coming up and crossing the aisle with them and that's going to be very special for for all of us there. So, looking forward to that
053graduation ceremony uh everyone. That's all I have. Great. Thank you. 10.2 Governing Board Member Members Summary of Current Events. Silk. Okay. So, very excited. I have I had a busy month. Um so, I got to attend the Just Ask Outreach Fundraiser Luncheon, which was amazing to see all the different nonprofits and municipalities and just um other um organizations, including the police and fire. Everybody come together. Great organization. I also attended the Gathering Buckeye, which I'm very happy to say that they made their goal of donating $100,000 to the All Faith uh Community Center in Buckeye. So, that was a great That was an incredible um event that night. I did also get to come and see the Leadership Cadre 2 celebration, which honestly, the coolest part about that was being able to see the projects
054that our teachers were working on. And those projects directly affect the schools that they are at, and it was really incredible to to see this extra work that they're putting in on top of everything else that they're doing. So, I'm glad I got to see that. Uh and then I got to go to a couple of the teacher appreciation lunches. So, thank you for the district putting that on. It was great to talk to some of the teachers, and yes, they are barely hanging on, but they're going to hang on. Um but, it was great to see them just kind of relaxing and and chatting with each other and having a good time. Lots of energy, so it was it was neat to see. So, thank you for inviting me to that. Um yes, again,
055the Wash event was amazing getting to um collaborate with so many different leaders from across the valley was an awesome opportunity. I was grateful to be part of it. So, thank you for the invite on that. Um I think a huge piece, the Hilltop remodel, uh Chase, uh you guys it's magical to me that you can uh manage to try to stay on that deadline. I'm doing a remodel at my house right now and it it is light years behind. So, I don't know how you do it with a project that big, but thank you so much for for being committed to those deadlines and getting our kids in the classrooms. Um also wanted to thank Karen for expanding our Helping One Woman to the Buckeye chapter as well. It's such a beautiful um statement
056testimony to um our our community partnerships and charitable, you know, philanthropy. So, I really appreciate that we've um that we're buying tables at both of those um both of those events as well. And then um just teacher appreciation week and staff appreciation week um hearing about these these teachers that are retiring from our district after 30 and a half years, that's a lot of years to stay with the same district, which speaks volumes about the culture that you guys are building as leaders. Uh it keeps teachers um wanting to be here and also um when students are building murals for you, that says a lot about um the culture we're creating creating in classrooms as well. So, thank you to all of the staff members that are that are sweating it out through May-cember. Uh
057we're close. So, thank you to everyone for all your hard work. Well, it's a great end of time uh for our school year, uh sentimental times, exciting times to see parents, grandparents, siblings, uh friends of the family, um some crying at graduations, some glowing with happiness and excitement, some thrilled that their kid got through and graduated, and a whole variety of different fun uh experiences to see people. So, what a neat time for us. And yes, a couple of us have our students graduating from high school. And uh I won't say that might be emotional, but it might. Um let's see. Had a neat opportunity to go to staff recognition event uh both at Millennium High School and Canyon View High School for their baseball teams where the baseball players actually invited their teacher, favorite
058teacher, to come out and actually be with them for those games. Um in addition to that, it was very interesting watching Mr. Islas throw out the first pitch, a curveball that cut the outside corner. So, nice job with that. Um we had at Millennium High School the annual band competition and that was very enjoyable to watch to see uh schools from all over the state come and compete and participate and of course our schools did quite well, competed well. Uh but again, just uh thanks to our our band teacher and his team of boosters uh that are out there supporting that event. Um attended a variety of different events and meetings. Um the attendance at our senior awards have been really really neat having attend Agua Fria last night, Canyon View on Monday, uh and
059more to come uh this week and next week. Um boy, I've been at at the uh Hilltop Arts Academy and the uh Peacock Theatre. Oh, I'm sorry, it's not named yet, but the theater and um just to see it come and process and grow. Um it's just really neat. So, if you get a chance, please uh see Alex cuz I know she would love to show you around out at the theater. Um did I will say thank you to our community relations department, um Melinda Marcheese and her team, um for allowing me to come in and learn more about all the different ways that our district communicates with our community, our parents, and our students. I was amazed to see all the things that they do. So, thank you so much. Um I just want
060to conclude and say this. I know we don't often say this. So, I'm speaking as an individual, but we as board members appreciate very much that you have entrusted us with overseeing and working with our superintendent. We have an amazing school district and I know it's an honor for me to serve and I won't again speak for anybody else. I kind of know how they feel, but it's an amazing thing to be a part of such a great great organization providing safety and quality education for our students creating pathways for their future on graduation. So, I just wanted to conclude and say that cuz I appreciate our community trusting us to do that. So, this month I was able to represent the board at with the Rostosi Foundation and College Promise where Michael Anderson third
061graders are all gifted a free ride to college if they graduate from there Avondale Elementary Michael Anderson school and then attend one of our high schools. And what was really exciting and I took a picture of is there was a set of triplets. We all know how expensive college is, but full rides for all three of them and they were beaming and it's just a great opportunity, a wonderful celebration to get to be a part of and when I went up and talked to Mr. Rostosi he said, "Yeah, and I remember when this started and I was a teacher here and he's like, "Yes, and you took my place on the board and thank you for serving." So, it was a nice little connection there to have with Mr. Rostosi. Happy Teacher Appreciation to all
062of our teachers who are hanging on and good luck to our retirees and I heard Corby say May cember. I've heard it referred to as 100 days of May. Boy, May is busy. Thank you all for covering all these events. There's multiple multiple events going on, multiple people covering all of these things, and so many important celebrations. So, thank you all, and we're almost there. Thank you. All that is so good, you guys. Thank you so much for all the work and time you you put into being around our community and the events that we are participating in. I got to represent the board last night at the Friends of All of Us Free Foundation event, getting to thank the people who helped make our district run in and out was great. I also want
063to acknowledge LaToya de Jesus for receiving the Innovation in Education Award by the Be Kind Project. We're so proud of all the work she does in with our CTE program. And then just to just take a little bit from what Corby said about the Hal events. I think it's really important and I'm so proud that we continue to be a part of that. Um you know, one of the honorees this month, both all three of her kids were a graduate of one of our high schools. And just because the kids are no longer in our school, they are still a part of our community and giving back to them and to all of our community is what we are all here standing for and working for. So, anyway, I just wanted to bring that to
064light. All right. Anything else? We will move on to future agenda items, 11.1. Any requests? I have a request. Um whenever I was at that event and I was sitting with Miss Hand and Miss Daniels, and we were talking about I wonder how many kids make it through. I wonder what schools they're going to. And just wondering it doesn't have to be a big event or anything, but could we get an update on the Rose Dossi Foundation and how many kids are being successful, where they're going, how we track them in high school, um and the kind of ways that our counselors are supporting this group of students as they're going through school. That's great. I would love to know that. Right. Thank you. Anything else? All right, so we're going to move on to
065um executive sessions. So, if I could have a motion to convene Be it resolved that the governing board convene in executive session as presented. Second. Sophia's Naylor, yes. Colton, yes. Fernandez, yes. Acton, yes. >> Mhm. >> Resolved the governing board adjourns the executive session and returns the regular board meeting to a second. Second. Silk, yes. Nailer, yes. Colton, yes. Maness, yes. Acton, yes. 3.1 Do I have a motion? Okay, I'll I'll take this. Um be it resolved uh the governing board adopts the notice of intent to terminate and statement of charges relating to the employment of Joey Ortiz, authorize the dismissal of the employee, and authorize the selection and appointment of a hearing officer in the event of a timely appeal pursuant to statute. I'll second. Silk, yes. Nailer, yes. Colton, yes. Maness, yes. Acton,
066yes. 3.2 Do I have a motion? Be it resolved the governing board designates Superintendent Easley and Deputy Superintendent Huffman as the district's representatives to negotiate with the town of Witchfield Park concerning the Loma Hilltop property. I'll second. Silk, yes. Nailer, yes. Colton, yes. Maness, yes. Acton, yes. And 4.1 Be it resolved we adjourn the governing board meeting of May 6th, 2020. I'll second. Silk, yes. Nailer, yes. Colton, yes. >> Maness, yes. Acton, yes.