BRUSD - Regular Governing Board Meeting, Tuesday, April 14, 2026 @ 5:00 pm

001We'll begin this meeting uh this evening by a pledge of allegiance and I've asked high school principal principal Mr. Grace to do that. Lead us in that pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Like to thank everybody for being here this evening. Appreciate the the attendance. Uh first off, I need to excuse Mr. Roloff. He is at a conference. Won't be back for this meeting tonight. So we'll proceed with the agenda as written. First thing we have is recognition of the April students of the months and principles. I don't know you want to start with the elementary and work your way up or high school and work

002our way down. Let's start with the elementary and go up. Good evening. I'm Dan Robinson, assistant principal at the elementary school, and it's my pleasure to introduce Edith Nowman. Come on up, Edith. So, Edith is our student of the month, and she's gonna be introduced and um some kind words spoken by our classroom teacher, Mrs. Smith. Hello. Well, this is Edith. And Edith is a one-of-a-kind student. She is a kind-hearted student who likes to look out for others. She likes she works hard and she likes to be challenged. And when she is done with any work, she will always ask what is next. Edith makes teaching easy. If I can say that, I can teach a lesson and she has the ability to let me know if she understands it or if I need to

003go over it again. With that, she can also tell her fellow classmates that they need to listen because I already explained the lesson again. She is so softspoken and outspoken at the same time. Her growth this year with reading, writing, and math has amazed me. She really does deserve this award because she she is also the student not looking for attention, but she is in the school. She is in school for herself and wants to do her best for herself and her family. >> Okay, Edith, congratulations. There you go. Come on. Let's go get our picture taken over here. >> Congratulations, Edith. That is quite the accomplishment. And I think it's really neat because Edith, your your name is my grandmother's name. My grandmother's name was Edith, too. And for the junior high, I'd like

004to welcome up Evan Everz. There he is. And uh here, come stand over here, Evan, so I can see you. So Evan is a he's an outstanding student athlete. Um, one of the things I I recognize most in him is that, uh, he just quietly goes about being awesome. Um, and he kind of falls under the radar sometimes that way because he's not one of those kids that's out front, but he's always doing the right things. He's always um, you know, making the world around him better. Um, in fact, I'm sure he's probably embarrassed right now and expects no recognition ever, right? Yeah. Um, he's an A student and, uh, he's a two sport athlete. He played football and was in wrestling. um he was the center on the football team and those of you

005that have coached well and played football know that uh he's the guy that's the captain of the offensive line and uh we we ran a pretty advanced offense for a junior high team and Evan always knew where to block back, where to reach, helping everybody know what to do and uh I think he underestimates his value as an athlete and as a student. I want to make sure he gets this award and he understands that he's awesome. And uh and I want to also note that his teachers said that uh they were happy he got this award because he is nominated for almost every single character award we have every single time. And uh I just think he's a fantastic young man. >> Congratulations Evan. >> Good evening. All right. at the high school. Our

006student of the month is Miss Leah Gaffne. I was just going to wing it, but I know Miss Thompson's going to want to know what she wrote is being read. So Leah is probably, and I probably shouldn't say it, but one of my favorite students on campus. She is one that that can give sarcasm as good as she can get it. Um, we joke around that she's slow. We all know that she's not. Um, as far as her speed in running, um, because I keep telling her that I could beat her in foot race. Also, not true. Um, but Leah's just always around. She's always happy. She is just that kid that when she walks into a room, she makes things better. So, Miss Thompson wrote, "Leah is awesome. She goes above and beyond in

007student council. It's hard to believe she's only a freshman. She consistently checks in by asking, "Miss Thompson, do you need anything else?" or "Miss T, what can I help with?" Her initiative and willingness to serve truly sets her apart. Leah is always engaged and excited to bring spirit into our school, and her positive attitude makes a difference. I'm excited to see the many amazing accomplishments she will achieve throughout her high school career. All of it absolutely true. Leah is super deserving of this award. Thank you. Congratulations, Leah. Next item on the agenda is the uh recognition of the April athlete of the month award. And Mr. Kluff, are you going to do that? I think looks like it. >> Yeah. Our our student of the month, athlete of the month, is not here today. He's

008currently playing baseball in Hullbrook, but I'm going to talk about him like he is here today. We selected, the coach has selected Hawk Harris as our athlete of the month. He's an incredible athlete. Does a really good job this year currently. He is going to letter in four sports this year. So, he's lettered in football, varsity basketball. He's also playing varsity baseball right now. And he's also being a a high jumper uh in track and field. So, one of the nice things about being a baseball player and a track athlete is if you're in the field events or a relay, you can, you know, practice at odd times. Um, one thing I can tell you about the Harris family that I think is amazing is that they're completely invested in our community and in our

009school. They're down here all the time. Uh, they they live on our campus. All three of their kids, Noel, Maverick, and Hawk, are all invested. They're all multisport athletes. Great academic honors kids. Um, they never sherk from a challenge. Their parents are always very loving and supportive and kind. Hawk is one of those kids that um I think it's easier to get water out of a rock than it is to have him actually speak. Very soft-spoken, very shy, but when it gets into a competitive environment, Hawk's there to compete. He's there to win. He loves sports. He loves his teammates. He respects and honors his coaches. Works really, really hard. So, we're just very grateful for kids like Hawk Harris. Our next item on the agenda is a recognition of our teacher of the month

010award. There we go. Is he here? There he is. Come on up. So, uh there's a theme here. So, Mr. Wot is also one of those who's quietly awesome and amazing. Um I try to I embarrass him by once in a while going by his room and telling him so and he just kind of offshes and tells me to get out of his room. But um he is one of those teachers who um goes about his business every single day. Kids are always learning. It's bell-to bell. Um has great relationships with kids. And he is one of those teachers that you don't pay attention to because nothing ever goes wrong. and he's just the glue that holds it all together. Um, anytime we have any need, anything we need help with, um, he's the first

011one there to show up. Whether it be help with sound systems at dances or whatever we need, he I I I'm pretty sure he just wanders around looking for ways to help. So, um, I just really appreciate him. I know the kids and all of our staff do, too. So, good job. And congratulations. For some of you old-timers here, >> there are none. >> There are no old-timers. His father and I carried out groceries in Nick's market when we were in high school. And look at him now. That was before he was even married. I mean, his father was married, to put it that way. >> And I had Brian in uh youth soccer, too. >> We're glad to have you, Brian. >> He's amazing. Okay, the next next award and I don't know who's

012giving this but it's our recognition. Okay, for the employee of the month, Neil, could I have you come up, please? Speaking of quietly awesome, I asked Mrs. Neil if she'd rather I present this in song, dance, or poem, and she declined all of them. So, I'll just talk about how great she is. Uh, Mrs. Neil runs our our student information system and so there is not a day that goes by where I am looking for some kind of a report and I'll ask Mrs. Neil do you do you know where I could find she delivers it within minutes. Um she is she knows our system inside and out. Um, but she's also she also oversees our um our health departments and so all of our health techs, she oversees that. Um, she also was instrumental

013in writing a grant that got us more AEDs, defibrillators on our high school campus for all of our athletic events. So, that was a big deal this year. I'm super grateful about that. She's also helping with our 21st century grant. She runs all the attendance and the reporting for all of that as well. Um, but just she is not all of the things that she does are not seen by everybody on a daily basis, but are vital to how things run in our district. And so we are so grateful for Mrs. Neil and everything she does. So, thank you. >> All right, the next item is the uh recognition of our April Volunteer of the Month. And I Don't. Oh, here you go. There you go. >> So, she said she might be a little

014late. So, if we could maybe >> we'll move that to later. >> See if she >> when she comes in. >> We'll let her know. Okay, >> sounds good. Thank you. >> All right. Uh, moving through the agenda. Next item is a presentation of the district spending report and that's double duty for Miss Hotmeer. >> We'll turn the time to you. Yes. And now the fun can start on the all the district financials. Everyone loves to hear about that. All right. So this is our um this is recapping our district spending for FY25. So this is last year's spending report. Um and this is this is published every year on the Auditor General's website. And so you have access if you're ever interested in looking in the history of all of our um all of

015our spending, you can look back years on the auditor general reports. Um so we'll just go through FY25 and this is just explaining thanks what it is. Uh just analyzes our school district spending at the state and our individual district level. So, when you go on to the auditor general's site, you can pull the state all of the state spending, you can pull every district in Arizona, um, every school in Arizona and compare schools, um, and you can compare them with different, uh, peer groups. And so, we'll go through a little bit of that as well. So, our first is the state results. Statewide, um, the school district spent 13.4 4 billion in FY25. Um and so that was a $4 million increase. Um dollars spent in instruction and per student spending continue to increase

016from the prior year. And that's something that we see on an annual basis. Um this provides an analysis and breakdown of statewide district uh spending and again by operational area. And so I'll talk a little bit more about that. Um and we'll also give details on the state's average teacher salaries. So the first comparison that we have is looking at the state spending versus Blige results. Um and just a couple things to bring to our total operational um total operational spending. You can you can take a look at the so state demographic information versus um district demographic information. You'll see a couple things I want to point out on this is students attending. Oops, sorry. So students attending. if you could go to the other side um sorry Chris there you go thank you so

017students attending um in the state and you can see that this is a 6% decrease decrease and then if you go down to Blige you'll see that there is a there's a more significant decrease in Blige so we're um at 1537 as of the date as of this report we are currently our um current student attendance is 1573 we check it daily. So, we're at 1,573 students. Um, but you can also see the special education population, how we um how we compare to the state with a special education population, the ELD population, which is our English learner. Um, and then you can also see our poverty rate. Um, so our poverty rate compared to the state poverty rate uh for 20, and this is going to be for the prior year from this report. So

018this is FY25. We'll see FY24 poverty rate and then graduation rate is the same. We only see um we only see that from 2024. So the poverty rate in the state is 14% versus 21% in uh Blige. And then at 89% graduation rate, I I was not able to see the they didn't have the state graduation rate listed. Oh, I take that back. 78%. Sorry. on the other side at the top 78% is the state graduation rate. So um so much higher than the state average which is great there. We'll also we'll take a look um on the next slides on our total operational spending. So this is just looking at this next slide shows our peer groups. Um and so this is all of the schools and if you are able to can you

019zoom in a little bit on those schools? This just gives you an idea of the schools that are in our own operational peer group. And so they list these these are schools that have similar demographic uh similar population sizes. And so but you can see that we I mean there are a lot of differences between all of these a lot uh some of these that are much more rural than we are um but all within that same operational peer group. And so a lot of the comparisons that you see are within this operational group. Okay, this is going more specifically into the district uh into our district results and we'll show a comparison too on the on the um percentages as well, but classroom spending 63 uh% with instructional spending being 49%. Um and then

020non-classroom spending 36.8%, administrative cost 10.6. plant operations. That's everything to do with all of our uh our building and you know our maintenance um and building our facilities. Um and then our transportation and food services 5.6 and 5.2% on our spending. Um this will show the district results as far as our change in classroom spending and non-classroom spending. So from FY24, uh we went we uh went down 2% in classroom spending um and then up 2% in non-classroom spending. Okay, this is uh this page will show the operational the areas of our spending. And so this is the same thing. You can find all of these reports on that auditor general's page. And that's what all of these are just I have just taken all these straight from the auditor general's website. Um but this

021will give you a breakdown of the state average spending cost when administration our operational peer group which is in that middle column and then what the district spent in um each one of these categories. So it's broken down by administration plant operations and food service. And then it shows how we are spending on the right side um how we're spending relative to our peer average. Right? So in all of these areas we are showing as low or very low in spending. This page we are we're working uh transfer we had the same issue last year in FY24. It shows as very high and there is a discrepancy in our route miles. So, we are working right now with the Department of Education and their transportation department to um to rectify some of these miles. We've

022lost some miles as far as as there have there are some reporting errors um that we're trying to uh we are trying to work on correcting. And so, u Mr. Benardino and um Miss Denny and Miss Ryder in the transportation department are all working really well with Department of Education to figure out where those discrepancies are and correct that so that hopefully we can see this. So this is not an accurate report um on the spending. The way it's reported is showing is very high. Um but we are not the way that we actually have it on our side. We just need to see where that discrepancy is so that we can show that that we're actually a much lower as far as our spending in that area. Um, at the last board meeting, Mr.

023Merrill, you had asked about some of the spending we have for transportation. Um, and so you can see a comparison and this is just one, this part is not on the on the state uh the auditor general's website. Um, this is just one that we pulled from our own counting system. Um so last year in supplies 370,000 approximately and as of right now um as of today 238,000 is where we're sitting in supplies and then total spending last year in transportation was 1.2 million and we're we're closing in on 900,000. So we're really close to where we were last year in spending. >> Do they have charts that show the difference? >> They do. Yeah, there is a there is more um there is more broken down. There's actually it's um is a different report

024that they have where it breaks it down by route and you can actually see where those are and I could I can look for that information and pull it if if you're interested in seeing that just to see where the and we because we do have those route miles. Um the discrepancy that we're having is there was a there's a discrepancy between the ending miles in um FY24 and then the beginning miles in FY23 and you know in the in last year's miles. And so as they started digging into it, they realized there could it could it's potentially going further back. And so now they're doing a deep dive into all of the miles since 2022 that have been traveled to make sure things are aligned and make sure that all of our reporting is

025correct. So they look back at the logs um that the bus drivers are keeping making sure that they match to the reports that we have. And so there's a there's a bit involved in that. And so it takes a little bit of time, but they're doing some really great work. This uh this next one is actually showing um this is going to be our um comparison to FY24 in our spending. And so you'll take a you can see on this one this will every area. Um, so starting from classroom spending and instruction, student support and instructional support, um, how many dollars were spent um, our pupil per student dollars were spent in FY24 compared to FY25. And so that right hand column will show you that one-year change. Um, and so you can see where

026we have either decreased or increased in those um, in that spending. Um and if you take a look at that bottom, so on the bottom you'll see that total per student spending between both um between both classroom non-classroom and then total operational um total operational spending per student. This is our FY25 operational versus nonoperational spending just so that you can see a comparison between our local districts. So you can see the spending differences between Blue Ridge, Xolo, Snowflake, and then the state of Arizona. And so I mean as far as the non-operational spending um I mean lower than lower than Arizona very close um to the state of Arizona and operational spending averages um and then lower much lower than the state of Arizona nonoperational spending. >> Yes. What uh would equipment under nonoperational? We

027know what equipment might be like. >> So this is going to be nonoper is going to be like our our land and buildings, right? This is going to be the equipment would be like our um some of our maintenance equipment, right? So our our tractors and our right our um some of those kind of different yeah different pieces. Um, I do want to uh recognize that on So, this is going to be showing you our average teacher salary. And before I we go through this, I want to show you that there is a there's a mistake that was noted and it we've already been in touch with the auditor general on this. Um, and it's a a change that has to made be made in our AFR. Um, so we had to make an AFR

028revision. If you notice on the right hand side um under the percentage of teachers in their first three years, it shows $31,777. That is not correct. It should be uh it's I want to say if I remember the dollar exactly $36,872 thou872. So that was a big change that is not our accurate um first year teacher average. That is a correction that's being made through our AFR. It was a reporting error in the codes. And so we recognized that as soon as we saw this report and got in touch with the auditor general. But um if you go to the left side of that screen, thanks Mr. Doogie. Um the district average teacher salary that is that is um that is accurate. Um and then the um the CFF CSF that is our classroom site

029fund and that's our 301s that are um that are given to teachers. I do want to recognize though uh the average years of our teacher experience. We've got one of the highest teacher uh indexes in the state of Arizona still. So um that is a kudos to Blige um and the teachers um that is that's a big deal. This is going to show you the district average teacher salary compared to the state average. Um and then so you'll see that there is there is a discrepancy and that is something that we continue to strive for and continue to work on. Um but this is giving you from 2017 through 2025. This is showing you that uh that average compared to the state. Um and then again a comparison with between um Arizona, Blige, Xolo and

030Snowflake. So you can see those comparison dollars. And I don't know if you can um zoom in just a little bit more so that we can see that a little bit easier. Sorry, the numbers were a little bit smaller. Um but just so you can see the I need to do that better next year. Make the numbers a little bit bigger. Um but you can see a comparison then between Blige and our local our other local districts. Um and then this is just um this is another graph from 2017 through uh 2025. So you can see it kind of more line uh linearly district average teacher salary from those dates. Um and then you can also see the average base salary in their fourth year or later. And then this is the the what I'd

031like to draw the attention to though is the student students per teacher in that middle column. Uh this is going to give you that average of students that we have per class and again average of students per teacher. And then average years of teacher experience. Sorry, my Allrighty. Um, and then students per teacher breakdown, which we just we've already another another way for you to view that. Okay. Okay. And then we go into this is going to give us our passing percentages in FY25. And so this is a breakdown between math um at the district level, math at the um our peer group level, and then at the statewide level, and then ELA and science. And so it looks like as far as our um with our peer groups um you know it look we

032are um average with the peer group and and falling below the um the statewide. Okay. And then our our student achievements since 2019. We'll show just a progression of our this is going to be um by slide math um this is going to be a math and then our ELA and our science um on each slide. So again, from 2019 through 2025 and you can go ahead and go to the ELA and then if you want to go to the science. Okay. And then this final slide is going to show you the state assessments passing percentages. Again, with our um with our local we I mean we if we were to look at all of our operational peerroup data, we would see very similar numbers between them, but what people always want to know is

033how are we doing though compared to SH and Snowflake? I mean, that's always a big question. And so, we just want to make sure that the information is out there so that you can see a clear comparison between those numbers. Okay, what questions can I answer with all that information? This is probably more of an observation, but in a in a sense, our our years of service is kind of a negative as far as the average teacher salary because you would think if we have a higher average, you know, teachers who've been here a long time, our salary should be higher. Um, so I was kind of interesting when you pulled up the the Xolo Snowflake there, uh, average years of service is less than ours, but their salaries are higher. >> Um, and so

034I think that's something that we should probably pay attention to and try to uh remedy as much as possible. I know that's not that might take some magic wand stuff, but um, >> we're working on that, >> but certainly something to to consider, >> right? >> Um, and obviously those state testing scores are are concerning as well. I I know that in uh we changed testing at the for the high school at least um we went to the ACT. So I don't know and I'm sure that's why there was a drop from what was it 18 to to 21 but >> when compared to everybody else we're still not not quite measuring up. So, and I know there's a lot of other factors in there, but it's >> yeah, >> it is definitely something that

035we are >> all very aware of though and working hard to to remedy. I mean there are you know a lot of factors you're right um both internal and external factors that um you know that we are working on and I think um you know I think everybody is working well together and I can actually I mean I can attest to the um you know as far as the testing is going um our everybody is it is amazing to see you know as the district test coordinator I get to kind of see it from a bigger picture um and the amount of work that goes into making sure that we're getting 100% of our students tested and making sure that they have a quiet environment to be testing and you know that part is that's

036um it's been incredible. But you know it's really is um identifying the factors that are leading up to that that are you know that's the part that we are we're we're working really hard to identify. >> Test scores aren't the end all be all but a lot of people will use them as comparisons for other schools in the area. So >> right >> just just for clarification for folks that might not understand operational spending and nonoperational spending. Can you define those two? >> Sure. So our operational spending is going to be everything that's everything that's going into our our classroom spending. And actually can you go back to that slide? Let me pull that back up again. I'm sorry. Almost there. There we go. Yeah. So, if you take a look at the top of

037it, you're going to So, everything that's our operational spending is listed on that lefthand side. So, that's our classroom spending and our non-classroom spending dollars. So, instruction, student support, the instruction support, and then non-classroom spending, but still in that operational side, is all of our administration dollars, plan operations, food service, and then our transportation dollars. And if you slide to the other side of it, land and buildings. So, this is going to be all of the this is our um this is our you know our buildings all the the bricks and mortar um as well as the equipment and then interest on um bond dollars from you know previous um on on previous bonds any kind of interest that we have um that's all of our nonoperational spending and so relatively I mean we we

038have our non-operational spending is is low um >> do we still have to count the old elementary school in those figures? >> Yes. Yes. >> Any other questions from any anybody? Questions or clarifications? >> I have a question. Can you tell us or are you able to tell us what people look for when they come in to talk to the school? When they move into the area, which part of this report would be the most significant for them choosing >> if they're house to live up here or somewhere else? Um I people always look at our they look at our assessments, they look at our scores. Um you know that is something that is that is something that's important to people when they're moving in. Um but I think a lot of it also is

039the area you know here um you know they're looking at cost and affordability as well. Yes. >> Um but a lot of a lot of questions that we this is just as a you know as a previous principle. A lot of questions we get are what kind of off what kind of offerings do you have for our students? what kind of participation, right? What kind of extracurricular things do you have as well? Um, and I think that's something that we're doing really well is um is do we have a lot of offerings in our sports and our afterchool programs? There are there's a lot going on. Um, and so I, you know, I know that we they do want to see that our academics, you know, our academics are strong and I and I agree

040with Mr. Go that there are a lot there's more to it than the test test score is going to show, but it's an important piece, right? Right. And that's something we need to keep working on. >> Do they spend Did any of them come in and ask if we have AP because some schools don't. >> I have you know what I could probably um I I would imagine I'm sure that that comes into play not coming from the high school. Um I think it's possible that Mr. Mr. Grace could speak more to that piece on you know if that's the question that they're getting. I know that is I you know I know that the families who have it you know the it is a big deal for that we have AP in our high

041school. It is a and it's extremely important. Um and I think that's a big selling point for Blige is our AP programs as well as our NAVIT programs. I mean there's so we have so many programs um and so many offerings for our students. I think there's there's a lot we can market for our school district. >> Thank you. That brings up a question and you might not be able to answer that, but you could come back some other time and answer it. How many college credits can a student at Blige High School obtain before they graduate? >> I may see if >> over over 30 probably over 30 credits. >> 30 credits. That's pretty cool. >> Some of some of them go in almost as sophomores if not at the sophomore level. my my

042own boys graduated with >> my own uh kids graduated with 30 uh 30 credit 30 additional credits going into college. So yeah, it's a big deal and and it shaves off a lot of their their college time. Um yeah, and especially I mean and and my oldest son went through the uh the Nav program in fire science and that was and I mean he um it led into a great career for him. I mean that's he's with Phoenix Fire now. So I mean that it goes in there and there are that's one success story. There are hundreds of success stories with our kids that and that that um those college credits are a a huge uh it's a a huge asset for those kids that are graduating >> especially in the welding program too. >>

043Absolutely. >> Yes. >> All right. Any other questions, comments? Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you for answering our questions and making that presentation. Sure. >> Making things clear. Next item on the agenda is the consent agenda. Uh board members have as you've looked through the consent agenda. Are there any items that you'd like to take out and vote on independently or we accept the consent agenda as presented? Items 2.0 2.1 to 2.4. >> You might see everybody's here on the fundraiser. >> Correct. I think it all good. I just had a a quick comment as I'm looking through 2.3. We like we don't need to vote. It's not a voting issue, but there's obviously a lot of teachers who are leaving or retiring. I'm mostly interested in the ones who are leaving if we're

044doing any kind of exit interview with those teachers. Um >> yeah, I noticed that too. Quite a few from the elementary school. >> What's that? >> Quite a few from the elementary school. And I know there's been some consolidation going on. I think it might be important for the building principles to to also do that. Maybe they could get a sense of some stuff. I don't know. Just something to throw out there, but I know it's not a voting issue. >> We have a form, Mr. Grineal, and then I meet with them. >> You do. You you meet with them individually. Okay. >> Yes. Thank you. >> Great. >> Yeah, I noticed that, too. We have quite a few teachers that are leaving the district in the elementary school and I understand from conversations I've

045had that they're doing some consolidation uh where their classes only had like maybe six students in there. Those teachers are leaving. So, all right. Any other questions or anything? Maybe maybe item 2.4 with uh >> Yeah. Is there anybody here that would like to talk about the fundraisers that are going on? That would be item 2.4. Um, council hat day, penny war, track concessions, graduation le lay. Mr. Ryan, I mean, Mr. Ryan, Mr. Grace, Mr. Ryan Grace. >> All right. I haven't read through this paragraph yet, but give me just a second. Um, so I think several of these are the junior high. They're going to be things like hat days, the concession stands. Y'all are doing uh lays for final lap, right? So that'll be that would be that one. Um the high school,

046we did a wrestling clinic. I think we're still in the process of doing that wrestling clinic. Is that right, Coach? Club just finished. Um and that was just to support the wrestling program. We had uh it's both to build the program from the younger age as well as to put some money back into the program for new things. I mean, I mean, there are stuff that wears out. uh mats and dummies and and and whatnot that needs to be replaced. Um let's see. We are doing Trackets, which is a really good fundraiser. The kids love it. Um the high school kids probably love it as much as the elementary kids that come over for it. Um so that's going to be what is it, Dustin? The last week of April. >> Yeah. 27, 28, 30th.

047>> Okay. So, that'll be a Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday for that one. And what it'll be is is we will have our high school track athletes that lead um our elementary students in multiple events. And then on the last day, we do a mock track meet where they get to do everything from throwing a javelin to running the 100 meters. Um, not the real javelin. That was that that was a question that I had to um and then we did have our cars and coffee which benefits our pit crew which you guys saw earlier this year had tremendous success down in Tucson. Um so that's done something that that Mr. Fencster maker does and has a great turnout for it. Um his students are all there. They also typically, and I didn't I don't know

048if we got to it this year or if it it'll happen in the fall, but they do uh like a five car or a five-point inspection on cars and they do brakes and fluids and everything like that. Maybe that's going into the winter. I have to follow up with them on that one. And then we do have our spirit line which is going to go back into cheer. Um, so we've had cheer clinics going on for a number of weeks leading up to our first round of cheer tryyouts that'll happen here soon. Um, and so this is to kind of put back into that for whatever they need or whatever camps they want to go to. Thank you. I know we voted on quite a few things like that in the past and I went

049through this list here and I thought, you know, that sounds familiar. We've done this in the past, so nothing new. Anything else that uh we might want to discuss or take out and vote on independently? If not, can we have a motion to accept the consent agenda as presented in the in the overall agenda? >> Move to approve consent agenda. >> A motion by Michael. I have a second. Second from Margaret. All in favor say I. >> I. Thank you. That looks to be unanimous. Okay. Item uh 3.1, recommendation to accept the audit report for fiscal year 2025. Hotmeer. Yes, >> we'll let you do that again. >> Yes, please. This is an annual uh an annual requirement to um so more of a housekeeping item, but we do have to go through um present

050the information on our FY25 audit and then um have a a roll call to accept. And so I just want to go through um our audit. We had our uh we had a great audit for having um so many new people in the district office. We were thrilled when this came through. I mean, we just, you know, we're we're very diligent and and I will say that this um Kimberly Dougdale left us in really great shape for our audit for um FY25. So, I this is all credit to the work that she did. Um and I mean, she was um she was amazing with all of her financials. And so, um so anyways, uh financial audit, single audit, and then the USFR um compliance audit. So, those are the three areas that uh we have

051audits on. We received an unmodified opinion which means we passed. So that was great news. Um highest opinion we can get. Um it's not so it does you know I want to be clear not a statement of perfection but it's focused on compliance and you know are we are we reporting correctly and so we are um they do look at federal programs each year. This last year they looked at title one and impact aid and um we did not have any findings on any single finding a single audit findings on those two federal grants which is great news. Um last year we had 14 audit findings uh excuse me in FY24 we have 16 audit findings uh this year in FY25 but out of 140 areas um and so that's still that's still great. We

052of course always strive to have zero findings, but um very difficult to for anybody to get zero findings. Um and so uh we recognize we've actually as a district office gone through and reviewed the findings that we had looked at some areas that we you know any some improvements we need to make um and are working on that for next year. Any questions >> for anybody that would like to look at that audit? Is that available for them to look at in the district office? >> Yeah. So, it's actually online. >> It's online. It's been uploaded to the Department of Education and so it is available for anybody to see if they are struggling to find it. Um, they can email me and I will send it right to them. >> Great. >> Y >>

053Thank you. >> Y >> Okay. This this item on the agenda requires a roll call vote. That means an individual vote. And we'll start with Michael. And uh a yes would be I. A no would be name. So Michael is an I. >> Bridget. I >> I >> Sylvia I I myself is an I. So that would be unanimous for item 3.1. Item in 3.2 recommendation for out of state travel for FBLA which I've seen a lot of good things about here just recently. Uh Bridget, do you want to fill us in on some of the details of that? Yes, I'd love to talk about FBLA. We have a great group of of young people that are super passionate about business and all things FBLA. We took 13 uh members to state. There were 2500

054FBLA members from across the state. We compete against the biggest schools in the in the state and eight of our students made it through to the final round in 12 different events. So, they really showed up and did well. And I have two students that qualified to go to nationals, uh, Cooper Flake and Carter Evans in Intro to Social Media Strategies. So, we are asking for permission to travel to San Antonio, Texas. Um, from June 26 to July 2nd. Navit will contribute $1,000 per competitor. And we've been fundraising all year through concessions and also through the student store. So, we have the funds to pay for this trip and it's going to be a great experience and we really hope that you will allow us to travel there. H >> how many students are going

055like How many students will will you be taken to national? >> Just two. >> Just the two. >> Yeah. >> Great. That's what I thought. I just want to make that clear. >> Yes. Just two students. >> Sweet. Any questions? Nothing. Can we have an item? Can we have a a motion to accept item 3.2 as presented? >> A motion from Michael. I need a second. >> Second from Margaret. All in favor say I. >> Any nays? Nope. also is unanimous. >> The kids looked really nice in those pictures. >> Yes, they dress up well. They did they did really well. So, every year we're getting better, but this is our fourth year representing at nationals. So, I'm very proud of that streak and want to keep it going. >> Yeah. For a school this

056size, that's pretty impressive. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Next item is a recommendation to approve uh out of state travel for Rebecca Evans in our theater group. Would you like to come up, Miss Evans, and talk to us about theater and what what this trip involves and and uh how important it is? I mean, it's it's a cool trip. Anytime you go to New York City, >> I don't have any like anything like planned, but um I'm really excited about this opportunity. Um as you know, I'm supposed to uh attend professional development training every year, and I've been trying to find um professional development that is specific to stage craft, which is really quite difficult actually. Um so during one of our advisory councils um it was brought up that there is this

057workshop in New York City and I've been able to visit with three other people who've been able to attend to it into in the past and it's really exciting. um my friend that went last year, Lyn Manuel Miranda was there and he was talking about how to direct and how to get the best out of your students and um just so it's it's a what three or four day workshop where they talk about directing and how to be a better theater director specific to high school students. So you can build these kids that especially those that want to do this as a professional career in the future. There's also a day of technical training which I am very excited about. Um because again I am largely a a student of YouTube with a really big

058imagination. Most of what I do I think of at 2 o'clock in the morning. And so I'm very excited to be able to go and learn from the best in the business and hopefully bring that back to Blige so we can be the best in the state. Um as you know we've been competing in the ASU Gamage High School Musical Theater Awards the last couple of years. We've been top five in state for the two years that we've been competing and um we will find out Friday if we are final finalists in what categories this year. So I'm hoping that we can really push and uh we won four out of five technical categories last year in state and I really really really want to win best in state. So anyway, that is why I'm

059hoping to be able to go to this workshop and learn and grow as a teacher so I can then >> So you don't have any competitiveness in you. It's just all for the students, right? >> Not even a little. I I did do a lot of sports in high school. I did track, cross country, soccer. I actually didn't do a high school musical because I was competing on the field and blew out my knees. So now I'm like taking it out on the stage. Hey, we have an excellent program and and you need to take that our our pleasant our please our pleasure for what is how how am I trying to say that our uh extreme good recognition of our program our theater program and it's it's for because of you and those people

060that help you with that. So thank you. >> Any questions of >> All right. Can we have a motion then to accept uh the item for out ofstate travel in item 3.3 in the agenda? >> Have a motion from Sylvia. Need a second from Margaret. All in favor say I. >> I. That appears to be unanimous also. Okay. Next is a is a recommendation for out of state travel to uh Las Vegas for our soccer team. And I notice our soccer coach is here, our girls soccer team. Mrs. Hamlin. Would you like to talk to us a little bit about that or designate? You're here. We'd love to hear about the details a little bit. And this is a big undertaking. >> One of the details is going to be hot. >> Yeah. I was

061saying I was looking at time of year and I was hoping maybe they're going to do it indoors. >> I don't think so. It's at Chapperel High School in Vegas. So, I'm pretty sure we're outside. >> Um, we're just trying to get creative with our soccer program. Our fall league has about 12 teams. I want to say we are jumping up two more teams came over to the fall this coming year, but we don't have a great opportunity to play unknown teams. We're just mostly playing each other. So, we've gone to PAC for several years. We've gone to Chino. Last year, you did approve for me to go to New Mexico and play, which was awesome. We found this tournament in Vegas, and right now it's nine teams. they're trying to get it to 12

062where we'll do some playing games and then they'll set up a bracket based on your skill set and how those um competitions work themselves out so that you're all kind of playing at your level of difficulty. But it's just a great opportunity to kind of see the girls adapt their skills to teams they're not used to playing and learn to adjust in the game versus we play Snowflake and Xolo and Round Valley. We kind of know who to mark and what our strategy is going to be. It's just another way to improve their skills and give them another opportunity. We're also trying to build our program. Our program, um, I was gone for a year, I came back and it's just shrunk. So, we're investing a lot of time in our junior high and elementary

063kids with a spring club right now. We're inviting all of those kids to join us in our summer workouts when we're just getting together to play. But, this is something else that just really gets the girls excited about playing soccer and having more opportunities. It also gets them out there to see coaches from other areas. A lot of coaches will come and watch these tournaments to just give them a second look if that's what they're wanting to do after high school. So, we're just trying to get creative to get them some more games and unfortunately in Arizona by itself since we're the only ones who play in fall, we have to go out of state to kind of find these tournaments and competitions for them. >> You said there were some other teams coming into

064the fall league. >> Yeah. So, Paige has come in and we've been told Safford has come in. We're trying to schedule a Safford one though and having some trouble. So, we're trying to verify that right now, but that's what we've been told so far is that Paige and Safford have come into the fall. >> Way to go. >> That's long way to go. But Paige is a long way. Safford's a long way, but you got to do what you got to do. Yeah. >> The rest of the state, for information, plays spring soccer, and we as Hamlin fought the state to keep our fall program going. Uh, thank you. >> Yeah, you're welcome. >> Thank you very much for all that effort you put into it. Only concern I have is there, is there enough

065funds to take everybody? Nobody's going to be left out because they don't have enough money to go. >> No. So, this for tournaments, we only take varsity. So, anybody who's made the varsity program gets to go. Um, for our two tournaments, our club pays for a tournament and then athletics covers a tournament. And this tournament actually ends up being $150 cheaper than the PAC tournament that we usually go to. And they happen to be the same weekend. So, we're opting out of PACE to go to the Vegas one. And and yeah, we've got plenty of funds. We're actually trying to get into a summer camp. Um, we're trying to do some really fun things to get the girls excited and more girls playing soccer. So, >> cool. Have fun keeping track of them in Las

066Vegas. I'm just kidding. You'll do a great job. Any other questions? All right. Thank you, Britney. So, uh, we need a a motion to accept item 3.4 as uh, presented. A motion from >> a motion from Michael. Oh, the second from Sylviana. All in favor say I. >> I. That looks to be unanimous also. All right. Next item is uh recommendation to approve the principal's assistant and counselor's contracts. And I believe all of us had an addendum with those people's names and the amount of money that the school was paying those individuals. Any questions or comments about that? >> Um I don't I don't know. I didn't see that. Did we get that list? >> You didn't get the list? I didn't I don't I don't think I maybe I did. Maybe I didn't. Do

067we just know >> Mary? Do we need to read those individuals? >> It's It's presented. Yeah. It was one of It was one of the attachments in the 133 page attachment. >> Is that what you're saying? >> Yeah. >> We voted on teacher contracts last month, but the the the salaried individuals we had to vote on separately. We couldn't >> the um roughly What's the percent? Is it roughly the same percentage increase as the teachers? Do you know? It's It's the same amount. >> Yeah. It's a contract. >> Okay. >> The contracts. >> It's their contracts. Yes. >> I'm looking for it. >> I know. I >> Do you want me to get it for you, Mr. >> I should probably I should probably delete some of those >> books for the high school. >>

068It's before. >> I don't know. >> Well, we're not social media right here. We're trying to get the we're trying to get the and this this month had a lot of uh information. So that was >> how many 33 >> 133 >> I read 130 of them. >> If the I mean if the percentage is the same then I mean >> it is the same Mr. Gil >> that we gave everybody else. >> All right. So we as presented in our addendum the contracts for principles, assistant principles, counselors uh for 2026 and 27. Can I have a motion to accept item 3.5 as presented? >> So moved. >> Have a motion. Need a second. Second from Britney. All in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? Nay. >> Oh all of I. So everybody

069we're unanimous. Okay. Uh the next item is uh 3.6 which is an IGA for u our CTE courses. And uh Mr. Grace, do you want to kind of brief everybody on what that is and why we do that? It's the same as we do every year, but it's a real benefit to the school. And I wonder if you could just explain the benefit or have somebody else do it. >> I will give it a go. >> Um So, our CTE is going to be our NAV and our CTE courses. Um, they're a huge thing for our school. We use them as electives as well. Um, and so we have a a massive enrollment. I think that this year we are at 578 kids that are enrolled, which is like 30 more than the kids that

070we actually have enrolled at the high school. So, we have multiple kids that take multiple uh CTE classes. Um, and so this just gives us that ability to work with them, work with Navit. Um, keep working with uh Oh, now I just went blank on his name. >> Matt Weber that was here the other day. Um, this just gives us that ability to work with them um and share as needed. >> Yeah, I think Matt told us how many millions of dollars has given the school district over the years and I can't remember what that was, but I was flabbergasted that we have received that much money through through NAVIT. That's what this is basically is NAVID. >> Yeah. It's and and for the CT classes it's six figures a year. >> Yeah. >> I

071mean I think it was close to half a million dollars. >> This this helps pay for the teachers that do that teach on campus here. Plus it uh >> for the kids that have to travel. >> Yes, sir. So I did notice covers them and and uh covers those teachers. And then Navit covers pretty much all the equipment that they use. So like we're getting uh new computers in the graphic lab. Those come from Navit. They pay for the whole thing. Uh, keep them refreshed and all of that. So, >> cabinet making, construction, >> auto. >> So, we have >> welding, >> stagecraft, cabinet, >> a nursing program. >> Yeah. So, we have two different forms of the nursing program. We have a one-year CNA program. We have a two-year um med program. We have

072welding, fire science, uh, sports med. We're one of the only schools that has sports med here and doesn't send them off there, which is um great as well. So, we have a lot of programs. We put a lot of kids in. We're We try to be really competitive for when they open up. Uh it requires a GPA of like two 2.5 2.6 something like that. >> 2.6 I think is what >> I think that's what it is. >> All right. Thank you. Any questions, comments about this? All right. So, we need a motion to accept. Yeah, it's to our benefit. Uh item 3.6 as presented with the IGA uh for u our CTE classes. I have a motion to accept item 3.6 as presented. >> A motion from Michael, a second from Bridget. All in

073favor say I. >> I. >> Are there any nays? >> No. All right. You said that. I didn't say that. You know, >> we're going to do we're going to interrupt the regularly scheduled agenda because Anna Cox is here and we want to recognize her. I did I missed you when you walked in and I missed your husband. Like he's he's hard to miss. He's hard to miss. So, we'd like to recognize you right now. Yeah. He can't hear anything. So, >> so I can say whatever I want to. >> All right, Anna Cox, come on up here. So, Anna was nominated by a staff member. Um, Anna every Monday does our jocking jackets program. She has hundreds of little kids of varying ages. And she does so much for the jogging jackets program. She

074does work at home after hours to make sure that they their time is logged and they have the medals that they need and she does a lot for for the jogging jackets program. Um they the kids are just excited to to have something to do after school. So we're grateful that she does that for us. Um, I asked a couple people just some some synonyms about about this awesome lady and it goes with the the theme tonight that she does not like to be recognized. So, she she does not want to be up here. I know. Um, she's dependable. She's willing to help out with anything that's asked of her. She donates snacks every year for testing. So, um I I just call and they're there. Our snacks arrive in big boxes and Mr. Cox

075helps bring them in every year because they're heavy and there's lots of them and both of them are are great with that. So, every year testing snacks because of these guys. Um she's so patient. She's loving um she cheers our kids on in this jogging jackets program every week. Um, she makes kids feel like a million bucks. That's that was the final comment. So, thank you for all you do for for Blige Elementary and for our district. Thank you, Anna. I know the Cox family is part of the backbone of this community and we appreciate you and everything you do, the hours spent. Thank you very much. Okay, right back to the agenda. Uh item 3.7 a recommendation to to to approve the junior leadership program the JLA program goes on every summer and uh

076Beth Shiml is here to explain what that is and how well it's been run over the years and I know it's been run extremely well. One year they brought tears to my eyes with all the things that they had done. >> Well, good evening. My name is Vicky Solomon, executive director of Nexus Coalition. And uh this will be Beth's 19th year that she has been running this program. If I >> I started at 20. So just >> Yeah. She doesn't age at all. >> Yes. When she graduated from high school, she started this program. >> Exactly. We got her when she was a junior in high school. Phenomenal program. It's amazing to me, too. Tears come to my eyes every time I think of everything that she does and what she does for the youth.

077Some of the highlights that they do, um they have bottle rocket, team building. Uh we do keep a clear mind with drug prevention. We do yoga and mindfulness. We have field trips to Redhawk Ranch. We have um connecting with the elderly at Sulttera. We have choices, coping and safety. And just a plethora of crazy amazing things. Hawking with or hawk hike with a hawk. There we go. Hiking with a hawk. >> And that's one of our Blige graduates, too. >> That's one of our Blueridge graduates. He actually is the one that does that hiking with a hawk. Um goal setting. Um lots of different things. But I'm going to turn the over to her because I want her to say just a little bit about the program. I love the fun side of it, but

078there's so much more to that program. Thanks. No, and just a thanks to the Nexus Coalition because it would have never happened without them. So, right back to you and we appreciate you guys um supporting it through the years because it is our 19th year. Um what we really try to do is kind of target some of those kiddos that don't have as many opportunities um as well as the ones that have leadership. So, just a cool experience to see two weeks with the kids and challenging them a little bit in their thinking. Um, making sure what their thoughts are and what might be kind of preventing them from being in leadership roles and noticing the quiet leaders as we did tonight. Trying to get those kids to step up a little bit. Um, kind

079of a cool side note, we read or go through a a book. I think it's been part of the program all the years of it. Um, Linda, she's the author and she wrote a new edition of the book. So, this book takes the kids through just challenges in life and her own personal challenges. Many years we've gotten to meet with her and she talks with the kids, but she did a new book and in that book is mentioned our junior leadership academy. And so, kind of a cool thing for our kids this year. We'll give them that book. But anyway, the educational part of it really is just trying to get the kids to set goals in academics as well as community sports. So, we kind of just tie all that in as well as

080just being good leaders within their school, being a part of the programs as they go up into junior high, high school, um, and just being the best that they can be of what they have in life and opportunities. And we always see that kind of come alive in two weeks through some really silly things but also some ch some challenging thinking. Our counselors Becky Montoan Jonathan comes in and talks with the kids as well. So well-rounded, lots and lots of fun. Um but I feel like we do touch each kid's heart in a different way. So that's it. And what we'll do is I will make sure and email Mary the itinerary and we want to invite anybody anytime. You're welcome to just drop in. If you have 10 minutes, if you have 30 minutes,

081you have an hour, whatever you want, you're always welcome to come and join. They do a phenomenal program at the Red Hawk Ranch. And we we have some cool things happening with a lot of fun on that day as well. So then we have a closing. So you guys are welcome to any and all of it. >> Just one question. How are the kids nominated to do this? Who nominates them? >> Um, do you know what? A lot of times we do it through the teachers or the counselors and as well as the kids that I work through the the school year with. So, that is the way that's nominated. Probably a little bit more through me with the students that I work with through my title reading. >> Great. >> But we do open

082it up to everybody. >> How many kids do you usually have? >> Pretty consistently about 28 to 30 kids. Yeah. >> Great. And this is what days in summer? I can't I missed the dates. >> It will be April 27th to May 8th. We were in the summer at one point and then attendance started falling off so we moved it to after school. This is our third year and it it's been great. They're there every day. >> Great. Thank you. Any other comments, questions? Any questions from the board? >> If not, can we have a motion to accept item 3.7 for the JLA program? >> I have a second. Second for Michael. All in favor say I. >> I. Thank you. That looks to be unanimous also. >> Okay. Recommendation to approve the junior high

083and high school course content books for the 2026 and 27 school year. >> Um, did you have a chance to read those booklets? >> Actually did. >> Yeah, I actually read through them, too. And I I didn't see anything. What? Everything that was in yellow is new. And if it was in yellow and crossed out, it's been taken out. So, I didn't really see anything change that was dynamic. >> I had one question on the junior high one. I don't and I don't know if this is intentional. Is student council just for eighth grade next year? >> Because it it just it doesn't list it as for seventh and eighth as far as I could see, but and so that could just been like a typo or whatever, but >> yeah. And I'll double check

084with Miss Pollock who runs it and make sure it's correct. >> Yeah, that's that was my only thing I saw that was >> okay. >> Question. >> I'll make a note. So, so when we vote on this, we need to make sure that that correction is open to seventh and eighth grade if that's not already in the book when >> I can add and I can add that it wasn't changed from last year. So, if >> Oh, >> so we have made no change there. So, I'll make sure what we have is correct. >> Okay. Okay. All right. So, can we have a motion to accept the course content books for the junior high and high school with that one correction or observation? I'll move to accept content with the addition of >> I have

085a second for that. >> Second by Bridget. All in favor say I. >> I. All right. Our uh superintendent report and he's absent. So Miss Hoffmeer, would you do that for us? >> Absolutely. Just a couple updates. Uh uh first is we are having a bond and override study session uh next Thursday the 23rd at 5:00 pm um open to the public and we welcome um anybody who wants to come and be a part of that discussion. >> Let me now that's an open meeting so there won't be any votes in that. That'll just be give and take between the people that are there and the and the faculty administration board. >> Right. And um there questions they can, you know, anybody can ask questions. We can have discussions. >> And will that be streamed

086as well? >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Um also the just um I believe you received all of the upcoming events coming up in the next month and so there are a lot of things coming up. Um and so that's it's a page per school with all the events coming up in the next month. So a lot of things to get through. Um but those will be um those will be shared out by the schools as well as those events come up. And then finally just uh testing. We are more than halfway through all of our state assessments. So um completely done with our ASI um almost done with AASA which is going to that'll be finished up tomorrow with some makeups happening um at the end of the week. ACTs with our juniors

087all done. Um and then we have ACT Aspire coming up next week with our freshmen. Um but I it was a a huge effort on I want to just recognize our technology team because they did so much preliminary work ahead of time to make sure that we all the computers were working, all the platforms were working. It was it was um it's been knock on wood. It's been it's been a great year. and our and our site coordinators have all been uh amazing as well. So, a lot of collaboration uh and that's gone very well. So, that's all I have. >> So, the the technology team, how many are on your team? Four. >> And you do the work of a hundred. >> Is that what it feels like >> at least? >> Yeah. Thank

088you. You guys do an awesome job. And I think you're underappreciated too many times. >> People don't know them because they don't stand still long enough. >> Yeah. And they keep their mouth shut when they meet. So appreciate you very much. >> They struggle silently. >> Yeah, they struggle. They're going, I wish I could say something. I wish I could say something. I will say something sometime, but thank you very much. Okay, the next item on the agenda is called to the public, and we invite anybody that would like to address the board at this time. You'd like to keep your comments to approximately three minutes. There is a form at the back of the meeting we need you to fill out so we know who you are. If you'll hand that to Mary Ford,

089then we know who you are so we can log that into the record. But we would love to hear. Keep your comments to about 3 minutes and hopefully you can keep them so they're not personal towards anybody. If if they are, then we'll have to ask you to be quiet. But we can't we can't discuss anything that's discussed tonight other than uh if it's on the agenda, we can normally what we can do is is uh direct the staff to look into that so that we can have a report maybe in the next meeting. Uh but yeah, we'd welcome anybody to come up and take the take the mic and stand there and address the board at this time. >> All right. Good evening. My name >> comment card. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Sorry. I

090guess I'm really not >> I was gonna hand it to you afterwards, but I won't run away. >> All right. Uh so good. Good evening. My name is Sada Chadnoff. I am a parent of two Blige elementary students. I volunteer at the elementary school and also at the junior high. Tonight, I'm here to address or touch on what I perceive as some of the biggest challenges that our school district is currently facing, which includes financial hardship, which I believe we're going to beat to death in next week's um uh meeting on the bond and override. uh declining enrollment, lack of family caregiver and community participation and/or attendance at board meetings, and what appears to be a mass exodus of teachers at the elementary school. Touching first on declining enrollment, uh Courtney hit on it, we

091were 17% uh declining enrollment in five years between fiscal year 21 and 25. Part of that is due to our birth rates in the state. We are um in between let's see 2000 or 1990 and 2022 we went from 82.1 births per thousand women to 55 per thousand in our state. So because of our declining birth rates, open enrollment at other schools in the region, increase in charter schools, private schools, micro schools, and the availability of the ESA, we will continue to see a declining enrollment unless we become creative. But before we jump into that, there's many things that we need to address to write the ship. We have new leadership at our district and all three schools. This is an opportunity to walk away from the previous administration's reputation and showcase what is being

092done differently to improve our school and what are we doing to have a strong family and community involvement and provide a great K through2 education. Some things that I believe could help would be moving the start time from the board meeting from 5 to 5:30 or 6, which is much easier on working families. Personally for me, my husband works for the Forest Service. At 3:30, I was scrambling to find kid coverage because fire season is here. This is going to be the next few months for me and I know for many other families. Um, I like to give credit where credit is due. I think the school is doing a great job publicizing the work group for ne or the working group for next week for the bond and the override. I do wish we

093could start it at 5:30 or 6 to get critical public involvement, but at least we have ample time to prep for that. Um, one other thing that I think would be helpful is getting that agenda out as quickly as possible. It can be a draft agenda, but as I sit here and decide where I'm going to spend my evenings, how much am I going to pay a babysitter, and what I need to do to be present and to get these comments ready, I would like to have a chance to review that with plenty of time. Um, the mass exodus that was touched on today when y'all looked at the agenda and saw how many elementary teachers are either retiring or resigning. Uh, on the agenda, there's six. If you look back at the March agenda,

094there was an additional three. And in the February agenda, there is an additional two teachers. So, we're up to 11 teachers from the elementary school. We have 29 teachers. We're looking at a third of our elementary staff leaving. This is quite concerning. As a parent, I strongly believe that the core of our school are teachers. They are here every day to educate and counsel our children. They likely spend more time with our children than we do. We have wonderful teachers. They go above and beyond for our kids. They dig into their pockets to ensure classrooms are fully funded. And beyond the classroom, they spend many hours prepping, grading, and planning. We need to ensure that they are happy here. I believe we can accomplish that by having competitive pay. We reviewed that tonight. that allows

095for our teacher to live and thrive in a high cost of living area. We can administer anonymous church teacher surveys. We all know this will lead to better survey. Currently the surveys are being collected and funneled up to one person. And unfortunately for many that's not anonymous. That is one person who might just tell one other person who tells one other person. We're not going to understand what is going on until we have true anonymity in that um program. My understanding are teacher contracts were due last week. Are there other elementary teachers that are leaving that were not on tonight's agenda? How about resignations and retirements at the junior high and high school? What is the plan to replace these teachers? We were also informed at one of the superintendent advisory council meetings that there

096have been another five positions that were cut. What are these positions and what are the implications? What will we be facing next year? We need to make sure our teachers are happy and supported. This kind of turnover is unsustainable and the perception is not great. Um I went back I'm a scientist so I like to nerd out on data. I went back and looked at February, March, April agendas to see what type of teacher resignation and retirement we had in 2025. It was five for the K through 12. Our K through 12 as of right now is at 14. One way I think we can include and build our reputation, work with the community is the inclusion of ESA families. These are children are that are educated, are still part of our community. In October

097of 2024, in a bid to get ESA families to return to the school, the superintendent decided that ESA families could no longer participate in extracurricular unless they enrolled full-time or did not take an ESA. What has happened since then is that another students have left our school district. At this time, we should look at serving our community children who are being educated with ESA dollars. Many public schools including PACON, Heber Overgard, Yuma, and Mesa have all figured out a way to accommodate and accept ESA funds for extracurricular. And in fact, Mesa has taken this a step further with the Eagle Ridge Enrichment program. Starting in the fall semester, Xolo will also start accepting ESA for extracurricular activities. All of these public schools have figured out a way to do so, and I think we need

098to follow in suit. bring these families and students back into somewhat of our orbit. And who knows, maybe a kid that's participating in an extracurricular will really like it and will reenroll in Blige. Thank you for your time tonight. >> Thank you for your thoughts. Um, next. >> Hi, I apologize for being rushed. I have a baseball game that I'm pretty late for. Um, my name is Elaine Smithson and uh, I've worked at the elementary library for four years. I run the backpack snow backpack snacks program which provides uh, bags of food for kids. um over the weekend when they don't have breakfast and lunch at school. We feed about 170 kids between Blue Ridge and Xolo. I have five kids and our oldest Gracie graduated last year. She attended Blue Ridge from um grades

099K through 12 and graduated and was the recipient of the Flynn scholarship which is the most prestigious um Arizona scholarship. I'd like to speak in favor of uh as uh Miss Chadnoff mentioned a pay-to-play uh model for homeschool students. I am a firm supporter of public schools. That's why I work so hard to um be involved. Um in a small community like ours, extracurricular programs are not just optional activities. They are the lifeblood of school culture and student connection. Allowing ESA and homeschool students to participate through a reasonable pay-to-play model strengthens these programs um and our programs by increasing numbers, competitiveness, and sustainability. More participants means more viable teams. I saw this with Gracie as she went through her school experience. During the years in high school, she participated in um choir and our amazing

100theater program. And both programs were boosted in those years by participation of her homeschool peers. Her involvement in these programs enriched her high school experience. And although it was her good grades and test scores, it was also her participation and leadership in these extracurricular activities that enabled her to receive her scholarship. If we investigated, we would find the marginal cost of adding new students is relatively low and there's a significant um benefit of keeping programs alive and we can offset costs with coaching um costs such as coaching time equipment and and others. In the past, our district only allowed homeschoolers not taking ESA funds these opportunities. I believe this is a grave misstep. Let's make a clear distinction. Choosing homeschool is what removes funds from the public school, not taking ESA funds. If the district

101does not allow those who use ESA funds to participate, it creates a discrimination that impacts lower income families. I do not believe this reflects the values of our school district. I believe in public schools and I believe in their mission to serve the children in our community and that's why I support this policy. My kids have received a good education here and had exceptional experiences at Blige and part of that is when they've been able to participate in great programs that were also involved with their homeschool peers. I believe that this is bal about balancing stewardship with community. A thoughtful policy such as pay-to-play fees, eligibility, and space-based participation can protect the district resources while still allowing all local students to contribute and benefit from the school activities even while boosting programs and adding funding

102funding. Thank you for your time. Thank you for those thoughts. Anybody like to There we go. Hello, my name is Lana Cip and I would like to advocate for my siblings, my friends, and the many the many others who have been directly impacted by the current policies that are um restricting how they can use their ESA funds. I have two younger siblings. They're both homeschooled. And the the current policies have been okay wait the these policies have taken away opportunities that were once available to them. Instead of encouraging social engagement, this policy effectively excludes a group of students who are still part and invested in this community. Homeschool and ESA student ESA students should not have to choose between their educational funding and their ability to participate in extracurricular activities. These pro these programs exist

103to support students learning in flexible ways and many families rely on them to meet their children's specific needs. I would like to propose the idea that the district could allow partial ESA contrib contributions, activity- based fees, or another compromise that supports school programs without placing the entire burden on homeschool families. Solutions like these would allow students to stay involved while still contributing while still contributing fairly. It would draw more people to the school instead of pushing them away as it is currently doing. I have always been told, "If you see something, say something." This saying is promoted by our school district. Please consider how these current policies are hurting members of this community and making them choose between a well-rounded education and social interaction. I believe these things should be open to everyone. So, I

104hope you please take it into consideration. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. Any others? Well, good evening. My name is Christy Cip and I'm a parent of three children, one of which just spoke. She's a ninth grader here at the high school and two younger children who were previously part of the elementary school here. Um I do want to make it known I do value our public schools. I am not against the system. Um so my family's decision to homeschool doesn't really have anything to do with that. Um other than my son especially had very unique needs. Um his needs were not met in an effective way in a public school setting. So, we did make that choice. Um, as parents, we do the best to meet our kids' needs. I'm sure you

105all know that. Um, under the current structure, families like mine who use ESA funds are effectively shut out from participating in the very community that we still belong to. Our children lose access to extracurricular activities, sports, and even opportunity to take individual core classes within certain um within the the district. And that's even though we are willing to pay for those classes. I'm here today to ask you to reconsider that barrier. So allowing homeschool ESA students to pay the the district for access to extracurriculars and select classes would be a win across the board. First, it strengthens community in inclusivity. These are still your students. They live here. They grow up here. And they want to stay connected. participation in sports teams, music programs, clubs, and even part-time classes. It fosters relationships, builds social skills,

106and it keeps families engaged with the district instead of pushing them into the margins. Second, it supports students success. Not every homeschooled parent can teach every subject at the same level, giving students access to specialized teachers, labs, structured classroom environments for certain subjects. It enhances their education without requiring them to fully reenroll when it doesn't suit their individual needs. Um, third, it benefits the district financially. These families are not asking for free services. We are asking for the opportunity to pay into the system. Opening the door to part-time enrollment or extracurricular participation creates an additional revenue stream for the district without the full cost of full-time students. It's a practical, sustainable way to increase funding while serving more students. This is not about dividing public school and homeschool families. It's about bridging the gap between

107them. We all want the same thing. Kids who are educated, supported, and connected to their community. Right now, the system forces families to choose one path or the other, but it doesn't have to be that way. By allowing ESA homeschool students to participate on a payto access basis, you create a model that is flexible, inclusive, and forward thinking. I urge you to consider the policies that welcome these students back into the fold. >> Thank you. Hello, my name is Casey Flake. I personally went to Blige K through 12. Longtime Blueridge lover. I have four children in grades 3 through 10. Um I also coordinate exchange students for Blige at the high school level and love that. Um, I am the head coach at the junior high level for cross country as well as the boys

108head coach at the junior high level for track. I would like to bring my perspective as a very non-interested in homeschooling my own children perspective to this ESA fund. As a coach as well as a parent, um, I attend the coaches meeting at the beginning of every school year. In that coach's meeting, we are strongly told you must share the students. There are not enough Blige students to go around to say you must choose track or this or theater or this. We are told as the people operating these that we must share our students. We must make it possible for them to do all these activities because if not, we do not have enough students to fill these. Uh specifically with cross country at the junior high level, I have had some highlevel athletes. I

109have coached Jet Gerardi, who's currently number one in the state of Arizona as a runner, as well as many other extremely successful students. However, we can never place as a team. We have to have seven runners in that division in order to get a team score. So even though I'm consistently putting pulling number one kids, we do not get team scores because we do not have enough kids in the program. I have had to turn away ESA kids because under no circumstances will the school allow them to contribute their funds and their body to the team so that Blueridge could be winning these banners and filling the school with the successful programs. I feel strongly that the programs that we have at Blige is what a lot of what will attract families to come and

110want to be part of this. Again, I have been to Blige K through 12, but when my oldest children were in elementary school, I was at a very wealthy area in Gilbert where the public school had a lot of money to have incredible programs. I have chosen to raise my kid in a small community, my children in a small community because I want a sense of community. Many of my children's best friends are kids who are using ESA funds. My son, who was actually mentioned tonight, Cooper Flake, one of the only two kids that is going to nationals for FBLA, also starred in the play. His best one of his very best friends, attended every single night of the play, hoping to be able to someday be part of that program, but currently cannot as

111he his family takes ESA funds. Um, sorry, my notes went away. Um, I also feel strongly as far as living in a small community of having it be about choice. If I did feel like one of my own children best learned in a home environment, it would be very hard for I have all boys to have to choose between sports and school. I can tell you specifically if it came to my second child who insists on getting the all sports award every year. if he was having a hard time performing in school and I thought it was best for him to be homeschooled, but it came down to telling him you would not be able to be in those sports, he absolutely would choose sports over his own academic ability to keep up with with

112that part, which we know all comes first. Blige is an academics first school. I'm sure my son would say, "We're throwing academics out the window. I want to be where I can be playing sports." Um, I also want to bring up that oftentimes we kind of struggle to feel fill these positions of running these programs that make people attracted to Blige. I did not ask her permission, but my co-coach, the girls um, coach at the junior high level has, I believe this is her ninth year coaching. She's only been paid the last two years. The seven years before that, she did it as a volunteer status. If we do not have these parents and and people who are willing to make these programs run, we simply won't have the programs. She chooses to homeschool. So

113essentially, if things don't change, someone who has donated 7 years of making a program run at Blige that's turning out incredible athletes, but we're saying that her children would not be allowed to participate after she went seven years unpaid. And again, sorry Tony, if I'm embarrassing you, I did not ask her permission. Um, but that's just astounding to me that in this community where we ask people, come out, let's make the school work, but also we would not benefit her own children. She's not rolling in the dough. She's not doing any of this for money. She's doing it all about community and is also a former Blueridge student. So I would ask from my perspective as a parent of four Blue Ridge students, a coach as well as a community member that is dedicated to

114making Pinetop still be the place to live. I would ask that you would consider having ESA students be allowed to financially contribute to our program and to have these students so that our programs can be risen. Um, I don't know what all the motivations are for not allowing them, but if we ever worry that Blige students would suffer by having more students involved, I just would like to say I strongly disagree. Um, just as an example, um, at the eighth grade level, my son was on the basketball team. If anyone's familiar with Jackson Reek, he's an incredible, incredible athlete. By far and away the best kid on that team. What if he was an ESA student? Would he be taken away from Blige students? I absolutely disagree. Anyone that knows him would know it made

115the whole team rise. All of those kids were benefited by being on the same team with a kid, even if that kid is head and shoulders above everyone else's ability. So, most of these sports are going to be tryyous. You know, I think that that would still apply to all students. And if they're ones that are just everyone gets to participate, that is usually because we need the kids. So I don't see any cons in allowing ESA kids to financially contribute and to be part of our Blueridge teams. Thank you. >> Thank you. Anyone else? Hi, my name is Stephanie Bergo. Um, I have a son in the eighth grade who attends Blige and I'm also here to um advocate for the ESA families being able to participate in extracurriculars. I feel like if we

116want the community to pass a bond to support Blige, then the community needs to feel like they're going to benefit from Blige. And at this point, if we're asking the community to vote, and if I was a parent of a homeschooled child, I would not vote for a Blue Ridge Bond if it was not going to benefit my child. And if we want them to join board or join forces with us, then we need to do things that are going to support them, that they're going to want to come and participate with us. Um, I feel a little bit like Blige has declared war on the ESA families and they've drawn a line and they're like, you are not part of us and we need to correct that. We need to invite them in. And

117as has been stated, it will make Blidge stronger. I um have lived here about five years. In my previous state, I was a ballroom dance coach and half of my team was homeschool kids and I was a public school coach. Half the team was from homeschool and they made our team 100% better than it would have been without them. We could not have had the quality of of program that we had if we had not accepted those kids who were participating in the home school. So, as like has been stated, I request that you consider revising that policy and allowing ESA kids to participate in a pay-to-play situation. Thank you. >> Anybody else like to address the board? Thank you. Um, this is something, you know, and we can't have an open discussion about that,

118but I do believe it's something we need to put on the agenda and discuss. Actually, I even think we probably before we put it on the agenda, probably ought to have an open meeting. We uh we're kind of overwhelmed with this bond thing right now. So, I'm looking at uh July. July, we will have made the decision whether we're going to go to bond or not. Let's have an open public meeting so we can get both sides of this uh this argument so that there's there's somebody advocating for either side. Let's have an open meeting in July if you'll put that down for us. And uh also with the time change perhaps uh we can we can vote on that put it on the agenda also because that has to be something that's voted on

119by the board. If there's nothing else this is going going one more time gone. All right. So I need a motion to adjurnn this meeting. >> I have a motion for Margaret to adjurnn. I have a second from Sylvian. All in favor of adjournment say I. >> I. That looks to be unanimous also. All right. Our our next meeting will be May 12th at this location at five o'clock and uh we'll adjourn till then. Oh, also just information the 23rd next Thursday we are having an open meeting regarding the B bond. So we appreciate everybody that would come so we can have and and we can stay till midnight. I mean there's not going to be any time limit on that. That'll start at 5:00. We'll start at 5:00 and we'll be over when everybody's

120through talking. So, thank you. That's the 23rd at 5:00 in this location. This meeting is adjourned.