001[Music] I [Music] I [Music] oh [Music] shop for Bullhead City School Board on Thursday February 8th at 5:30 p.m. roll call uh president Melinda saski Charlene Diaz here Fred rushon here Barb Zar ziki here Sheila Barnett here looks like we're all here um talking there's some draft letters yep we need no you've got them on you have them down below though don't you have them down below in the no you don't even have them they were attachments well let's not argue well that's fine we can bring them up now okay yeah we can bring them up now sorry y'all I did not communicate very well these letters we know we're all here physically but what about the mentally part tonight are we all um these letters were written Lance worked on them and then he
002and I collaborated on some editing and and these are to the legislators about some of the things that we that you all had said you wanted focused on if we left anything out you can add um and then the second one we did is a resolution we thought two letters might not be quite as effective might be more effective to have one because it had multiple pieces to it and then the a resolution relative to the other issue so um and and that's something we had the second one is something we had not discussed but I thought you might want to discuss it this evening okay thanks Cass let's go with the letters first yes can you make it bigger yes and we would do these as three separate letters to the you know to
003the three legislators but um essentially it'd be I mean it would be the same letter so um okay AG can you move it up a little bit okay is everybody ready to have it moved uhuh okay let's move it up a little bit oops done too far right there there you go thank you for are you ready Fred M yes ma'am okay said I love that last okay oh I see a after the ellipses and then we are then required we kind of have a we have then there twice so did you see it yeah okay for ready okay h are you sure our um legislators understand Latin C day oh yes they do it's in Latin it's c da most legislators call it sign a die it's Latin for without days and it's the
004term All State legislates use at final okay so the if there speaker Senate President sign okay Cen a day yeah a day okay what do you guys think looks good you see any changes except for the then then yeah other than the stuttering it looks great very well done okay would you like anything added did we miss anything that you all were talking about earlier I think can we put a line in there that says if you don't help us we're going to send our friend Guido to talk to yes oh that's a good point oh yeah what is that the October 1st deadline for counting sped students I thought I saw that no just after 100th day they were talking about we talked about the 100th day for the uh budgeting but the October
0051st is a deadline for budgeting for a sped so yeah can we what line would you we proposing December it's it's actually October 1st cut off it's a cut off for funding for the count of sped students that we have on October 1st determines our funding for the remainder of the year for you know any additional funding for for that for those students so um yeah how would you like how would you like Lance to because he can go work on this while we continue so um just had a short paragraph Okay Kess can you kind of scroll back up to where we talks about where we were talking about sped there we go yeah um yeah yeah that's a good place years right after that sentence appropriate funding sentence yeah maybe before the additionally
006it's it's tough to recruit so something about um U please consider changing the uh the October 1st cut off date for um current year funding for special end uh for for it's when they cut it's it's the number it's the count of students it's the weighted yeah count of students so uh Alles fober yeah something like thato frame to reasonable for the services provided to each student every year well because we got lots of students after October 1st so you know and and essentially you know those are unfunded alter option should be in there if we're telling them we don't like this we should provide well certainly to the 100th day I was going to say yeah you know it ties in with the rest of the budget if they would extend that count to
007the 100th day you know then we would yeah would would it would count most of those kids then um we certainly get a whole lot between October 1st and January 1st so you know extending it to the 100th day which is in which falls in February so um uh you know that would be that's probably appropriate yeah absolutely and then you could shoot uh when you do that would you um just um get uh send it as an attachment to Cass and then she can put it back up okay that would be good okay okay okay so um uh this is something you haven't discussed but um there is a resolution in uh that was brought okay there you go um there was a resolution brought forth by um representative Gillette U to have a
008pilot uh it's House Bill 2717 to have a pilot in in Mojave and laaz counties um for uh having one administrator in the county uh take over the um uh be the administrator for all the schools in that county so in other words the county superintendent would be the superintendent for all 13 public school districts in Mojave County and um so to centralize that and and then also uh Transportation HR Finance essentially any of the district office UH responsibilities would would fall then to the county superintendent's office and some curriculum uh yes and some curriculum decisions and um uh so um I anticipated that that might be a bill that you you as board members or as a board collectively uh might not particularly appreciate um U because it would essentially take away away your
009control uh local take local local control completely and um uh so um that's kind of the basis on which I had Lance uh draft this resolution from from you all um uh logistically and administratively I have real concerns um you know for instance uh you know if there's if there's a transportation director in Kingman since that's the county seat uh we have the little bus incident today you know How likely is that person to come you know to that in you know to that accident and be there and and be able to respond to whatever is going on you know our transportation director um got off the bus he was driving today and went you know went to the scene and was there for for whatever needed to happen um and that's a today incident
010you know um uh we have a we have a facilities problem be all of the yeah that's the way it reads pretty much that way I read it all public schools what is their reasoning for doing that um um what we've been told is saving money and and my you know and I'm not trying to be cynical here but I my question would be uh to these folks okay um pick not don't pick Clark County because that's not that's not a reasonable comparison into Mojave County for instance but pick one of the counties in Nevada because they have County School Systems pick a county in Nevada that has a similar uh number of students and a similar number of districts or maybe not even well probably similar number of of uh you know would have
011a similar number of local districts in Nevada and see what you know what does their County school office look like you know I I doubt that they have just the superintendent and one uh you know one purchasing pretty much like our business office you know I doubt that they have just one you know there I'm sure there are assistant superintendents I'm sure that there are multiple HR people I'm sure there are multiple purchasing agencies or you know purchasing people and multiple accounts payable people and multiple people in transportation and just because you would centralize that um uh doesn't mean that we would need I think maybe they were thinking about our our tiny districts like yucka and and uh Hackberry and Peach Springs and uh uh Wiki up you know well okay there might only
012be 35 or 70 students you know some number less than a hundred fewer than a 100 students in those schools they're one one site school districts and um uh so there's a superintendent well that superintendent is also the principal um um sometimes is also the bus driver certainly is uh does does the grant writing and some of those things um but even if those even if those other business things were pulled to the county level there still needs to be a person on that site a at least a principal there still needs to be an administrator there still needs to be a secretary um and and those kinds of things so it begs the question of what would the savings be um for Rel to their reasoning but beyond that the logistical stuff strikes me
013as just being a nightmare we are Mojave County is the fifth largest county in this Us by area you know um and uh how often would that superintendent ever get out to Colorado City or Littlefield or yaka or you know or even even like Havasu I mean you know if you're Ty or topac I mean pick any one of the 13 districts but particularly those north of the Grand Canyon um um probably would be slighted some in terms of you know of whatever but local control is a big issue to me and um School District school boards and City governments are really the last Bastion of local control in Arizona um so you know um I commend them for thinking about how to put more money in the pockets of teachers and employees I get
014that and I appreciate that thought um but I don't think it was well thought through and um all of the all of the unintended consequences perhaps were not were not discussed plus I don't think they talked to they certainly didn't talk to you as a board I don't know if they've talked with any of the other boards the other 12 public school districts or not um so um anyway this is a this is a draft and and the thing is you can say no we don't even want to weigh in on this uh or whatever but I wanted at least for you to have uh to know something about it and um to think about if you wanted to say something to our legislators about this bill Have you shared this with Crush at all
015or any of the other superintendents that close have I shared the the resolution no but I I would be willing to do that if you know I would be willing to say okay our our board uh has you know has has done this resolution and then I would share it but I didn't feel like I could share something that was just my idea until something happened superintendent shared anything with you no okay no now I I was involved in uh the superintendent Forum this morning which is uh formerly it was called something a little bit different it's it was that group that uh that was the ASA uh the state department of Ed and Grand Canyon University that when in my first year um uh you know had a a coach for me a superintendent
016coach and and was working with all first year superintendant in the state offering to work with them and then you know in second third and fourth year and continuing we could we could still participate in those things it's now Mor often to just pretty much any you know any superintendent in the state so I will tell you it was discussed in that meeting today in that webinar uh that web meeting today virtual meeting and um uh the superintendents from counties other than laas and Mojave were not particularly aware of this bill because it doesn't affect them it is only addressed as a pilot for these two counties uh and then if it works uh then then the legislature would look at at running it out to uh the other rural counties but in the meantime
017for five years we're sunk if they were to pass this and stuff because this is It's a fiveyear pilot program so you know and if it's not working they're not going to call it quits for five years so yeah yeah well let's read the rest of it okay 10% oh my God yeah wow they couldn't run it at this 10% well I mean for us that would be $1.7 million that we would be you know uh paying the county to to do this with our current budget numbers that means Charlene you won't get paid you don't get your raise this year don't get my raise okay let's see the rest finish this administrator and their staff get appointed or elected this County Superintendent is elected so there's a big possibility that that person wouldn't even
018be an educator no and there's a big possibility that there would be a lot of politics that suddenly descends upon the school and then you figure this this is supposed to be a 5-year program too that if it's elections midterm through this program we can end up with another superintendent that comes in and is totally un or clueless as to what's happening in the school districts and stuff well and that I mean yeah and truthfully that can happen anytime that you hire a new superintendent but uh you're right Barb that that could be a uh you know I mean the election cycle is four years years and this is looking at five years so yeah it could be there could be other things happening there and like you mentioned about hiring a superintendent but the
019school board you know interviews their superintendents before they hire them and you know can talk to them about the education and stuff and that but where when you're elected there's no way we could you know we have any choice in who's going to be running and stuff or who's going to be elected and there's also this I just thought of and it was probably pretty obvious and I didn't think of it is who is you all Reign me in you know you all send me down the path you whatever it is that needs to be done relative to this district is from the policies and the uh and the wishes of the school board who is going to fill that function of this person as the county superintendent um the question is would there would
020there be then a County Board rather than a local board well and part of that bill and my my concern would be is is Bullhead City School District is different than school districts in laaz and wherever you know and at the other ends of Mojave County and what's good for us may not necessarily be good for them and vice versa exactly so again that goes back to that local control yes we we kind of have the heartbeat if we will of Bullhead City and we understand most of us being Educators anyway understand what we're looking for what we want to achieve in Bullhead City I can't speak for somebody in another part of the state or County I can't I can't imagine being the HR person or people at the county level and knowing because
021let's face it it's not just qualifications on which we hire teachers there in the interview process part of it is how is this how does this person seem to fit okay and I cannot imagine being in the person in a position where I H where I know enough to be able to identify uh a teacher who uh would be good in and I'm just going to pick two at the opposite end in Littlefield and in topac you know the demographics are different the the needs are different I me the communities are different doesn't mean either one is good or bad it just means they're different you know or or uh identifying somebody to work in yaka um uh you know or Kingman and there they are adjacent districts but that doesn't mean that the people
022that will fit in those communities um uh you know would be the same and uh that to me that's part of the lis itical uh morass that this this would create is there any more to this Cassie is that pretty much okay all right how do you guys feel about this I think we should definitely do it yeah I I think we need to let them know absolutely Dr Stewart yes sir last few words oh uh okay the last uh let's see passed and adopted by the governing board oh no the um okay um that you're that you would direct me to send this to the members of the of our legislative delegation so the three legislators that are mentioned in the letter and all members of the Arizona House of Education committee um uh
023I want to point that out because right now this W this bill was presented to the education committee but it was not put on the agenda so no action is taking place on this that does not mean that it could not be brought back uh to that committee so I didn't know if you wanted to put that in there uh that we also send it to the other members of that committee or leave that out and just leave it to our legislators so to me that was kind of an optional phrase I think it needs to go them everybody needs to be aware of it okay I I would send it to the governor too yeah yeah I really would okay copies copy to the governor um they want Mojave County to stay in Arizona
024um jeez this is okay so Lance if you would make just maybe we could put a comma after delegation and uh all members of the Arizona House Education committee comma and the governor do you have to put the honorable Governor can you just leave that he knows how to word that okay all right I was just saying I at that than I am okay um and then what Lance will do is because this is on the these two items are on the agenda in new business so what Lance will do is go uh tweak them and uh uh come back with the version that you have said and um uh and and the word draft will be gone and then it'll be here for if you pass them to sign okay okay moving on then
025item 1.4 this was kind of important to me and I asked Dr Stewart to put this on the agenda when the the the fight happened at Fox assault okay EXC Assault The Assault The Assault happened at Fox Creek it was just right after I left you know um I went to to lunch and all of a sudden I should probably I I don't know but I think we we're going to take care of that through a hearing process and that we'll probably end up with an executive session on this assault um so that's pretty much taken care of but what bothers me a little bit was the the fact that the people taking Camera and Video and all those pictures that ended up on the net um I don't think that is right and I
026think that those people or those kids who do that kind of thing deserve the same punishment as the person who actually did the assault because they are they're perpetuating this assault they're they're putting it out there and saying see what we can do the question is is are you able to identify we are and I will tell you that those those students uh because our new camera system is pretty darn good and um uh uh the principes were able to identify those students uh and discipline was imposed okay okay um so it's not that they were you know it's not that it was ignored U Melinda did discuss this with me the other day when she asked me to put it on the agenda and so I did tell her that um so I think
027that I think issue if I can put words in Melinda's mouth is is um uh some word from you all on um the level of discipline to be imposed on students who video record incidents like this and um you know now um several months ago you approved a new policy relative to use of of uh yeah but we don't have to stop so um uh use of use of cameras for taking photographs and whatever so um uh this was during school time and students have been told that their phones are to be away and they're not to have them out between classes and and that's part of that that was part of what's very clearly laid out in that policy and the principles have been enforcing that um so um the other concern we have
028is that when students video each other video each anything but in this case something pretty serious when they video each other and then they post it on social media um po video other students at school and post on social media they are violating uh furpa which is they are violating a federal law regarding the privacy of other students so um that's part of the seriousness of this well I I personally feel that the the assaulter and if somebody's there videoing it to me they are taking part in it and it's the same as a crime where you have the getaway driver and the bank robber both being charged with the same crime and I feel that whatever discipline the perpetrator gets that the people filming it should have the same exact disciplinary action because they're
029they're just as guilty as as the other person they didn't maybe throw the Slugs but you know they're coaxing it on and adding it on and everything so I think there there is just as much to follow as the other person I'd like to find out if anybody knows what what the penalties are according to uh this fura thing what what what are the ramifications for people at a time like this on this situation I well if yes some if under furpa somebody could file you know file um charges against you know against people for violation of that and then what are what are the consequences I have no idea because I don't know of any case where that I mean I've not experienced any case where that's happened okay um in terms of in
030terms of the law in terms of what we do it's part uh Fred it's part just part of our disciplinary procedures and we use you know we use Progressive discipline and and um you know keeping in mind our principles keeping in mind that there are minimum consequences and there are maximum consequences so I will tell you that uh in this case the the person who committed the assault um uh clearly received um uh serious consequences from this from us and and that's in process uh but the family of the student who was assaulted also filed filed charges good and um and then you know beyond that um that family could also file civil uh you know civil U complaints against us against that student against those other students for violating privacy so there are all
031kinds of legal avenues that um well the person who is affected by the furpa thing doesn't even have to be part of the fight he might or might just be in the picture with no permission given exactly you know and so anybody anybody else in the audience if you will audience is not a the best word for this but anybody who's photograph you know who is photographed in that you're right Melinda who's who is photographed in that and then it's released on social media um uh you know those those students families could actually uh file civil suits against the the people who you know post the videos so um uh which it's kind of like an octopus I mean yeah that's that's all outside school yes you know so the question is which I think
032is what is being asked is what as a school district should we be what kind of consequence should the school district should be enforcing on on those kids there there's a lot of ramifications outside of school so yeah there's a lot of lawsuits and you know that kind of stuff that could be civil charges whatever but um I mean I don't know that's that's it's pretty serious because not only were they taking pictures of of the assault but it they the were however they were standing were restricting the the teacher from getting in there to take take care of the Assa break it up the other the other factor in this case is that uh the student who committed the assault uh had planned it in advance and had put the word out and uh
033and so when this went down students flew to the area because they knew it was going to happen so it was pre it pre it was premeditated and that's part of the reason for the seriousness of the consequences for that student you know do we necessarily do we necessarily have to bring every student to a hearing uh for U punching somebody I mean that is an assault do we always take those students to hearing no but the degree of the degree of the assault and in this case the the the added thing of it was pre- premeditated and planned um you know makes it much much more serious so you know any any discipline we impose as a school district has a lot of factors um involved in that you know in in the decision
034uh how many how many prior incidents does a student have of assaulting other students or punching other students or ining you know all of those things if we go back to the fact that maybe they should have equal consequences so is this a place where we can direct you to check out Fred's fura thing absolutely well I just I think it's mostly I think it's mostly social I mean I'm sorry civil I think most actions to furpa would be civil suits civil and it says here a fine up to $500 for each furpa violation on School District um although if the school district does it it's like a 10% of of an entity's monthly State funding dispersement so it's pretty hefty heft for us yes um but it looks like it's just says a breach
035of con of fura fura breach it would be up to a 500 fine and that would be if we did the if we violated the the furpa yeah it really is talking about more of if if if as a we had an employee that did that that if we had an employee or we as a district violated furpa um that that could be imposed on us but in terms of student to student it probably is a civil action yep and the thing with this one with it being premeditated and those kids there with their cameras ready to go you know they were in a on it with their friend and so you know it it was premeditated all the way around by I'm sure by all the students that were involved in it and you
036know anything that's premeditated to me should have maximum consequences my concern is if we don't I hate to use the word make an example out of this what's going to happen exactly I mean the kids these days do not understand the ramifications of putting things on the internet 20 years from now that can still be up there you know that the ramifications are not even thought of and and what what will happen if we don't if we don't impose some sort of of penalty that's equal to the crime because that they they basically obstructive Justice that's just not that's not right I will tell you that one of the things that in the conversation that I had with Melinda and I'm sorry Melinda but uh it was okay we have done what we have done
037with with the students in this case um I think it would be difficult and inappropriate to go back and pile on consequences for the students who were involved in this situation um I think you can direct us to what it is you want us to do in similar situations in the future but I also like an idea that Melinda presented to me and I don't know if you were going to say this or not um but um U you know perhaps uh two of you from the board representing the board go and speak with students at Fox Creek and and and because it's a learning opportunity also you know not only is it an not only is this a situation where there are negative consequences it can be a teaching and learning opportunity to say
038to students this is why we're put now putting in place this absolutely serious really serious consequence if you do these things again so that uh students know upfront not just that it's happening but why and coming from coming from the leaders you know the the the people in charge of the district um that's all for you to discuss but I I kind of liked the idea okay but I would like to start with let's let's let's have direct Dr Stewart to formulate a policy and then bring it to us at the next board meeting um or if there is a a meeting where we we're actually going to talk go into executive session you know an emergency meeting or a special meeting we talk about it then and then after we see the policy maybe
039formulate a a group of us that can go to each of the schools even the little kids need to know what's going on and how important it is so is that okay with you guys if we director to that I think that sounds perfect I do have a question do do we not have um existing policies we do we do that okay so I was going to suggest that rather than a policy because we have disciplinary policies that we that we have that I bring to you a procedure okay for for uh that could that could actually that could actually be related to that um that that to that policy that was already that you already approved earlier this year would like to see it it become part of the policy well so it could
040be like a regulation which regulations are usually the procedures we use to do that to do that yeah so I mean we can do it that way if you want would that become part of the schoolb yes absolutely okay yeah all right okay and the thing is is you know right now if you if you follow been following the Phoenix news at all down there in Chandler and Gilbert and Mesa they are having so many of these happening on the school campuses down there it's become out of hand and you know the thing is is we need to nip this in the bud so it doesn't become out of hand out here right okay thank you going to close discussion on that and I need to have the a motion to adjourn the workshop please
041I'll make a motion that we adjourn this Workshop I second it all those in favor I'm Melinda saski I Charlene Diaz I Fred rushon I zi I Sheila Bernett okay I'm going to call the regular meeting of the Bullhead City School Board on Thursday uh February 88th at 612 is it 62 612 62 okay at 612 says roll call President Melinda saski Charlene Diaz here Fred rushon here bar Zari here Sheila Bernett here okay would you guys all stand and say the Pledge with me I pledge algi to the flag of of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with libery and justice for all okay do we have citizens um this is the time where the public may speak to the governing board
042regarding citizens present oh citizens 2.4 citizens present is anybody citizens present please print your name and on the um the form at the be at the entrance please and I don't think we have any call the public we don't have any right so I don't have to read that you would read even though I started to read it you wouldn't read it anyway okay adoption of the agenda I need a motion to adopt the agenda please I make a motion we adopt the agenda as presented I'll second that motion all those in favor I Melinda saski I Charlene Diaz I Fred rushon I Barb Zar Zuki I Sheila Bernett again the community has stepped up and stepped up big time $1,000 wow nice yeah nice thank you very much to everybody out in the community
043who donates money or time or energy or whatever it takes we're do we're doing well and you guys are helping us thank you superintendent reports Madam president board members um you can see the written reports that I have there I'll answer any questions that you might have I will note if you had not noted that in the cumulative discipline report um that things have been a little crazy in January um not I don't think outrageously yet but certainly a a step up from uh from first semester um I Look to for that to drop back down I think it's a you know it's one of those we were out and got a little crazy and we came back and thought we could still be crazy but we'll see how that uh we'll see how that
044plays out uh Dr Stewart last month's meeting we we' mentioned that you'd be giving us a comparison of the discipline from last year compared to the discipline for this year so that we could Oh I thought I did that last time um so you know like we could look at each month and see how they've changed and stuff if it's gone up I'm sorry I should have attached that because I do I do have that document and I didn't attach it I thought I I maybe it wasn't last month it might have been the month before that I attached it um so so you can see actually from month to month so yeah I will do that for next month thank you for the reminder because we know it's some of them are down from
045last year but you know some like now we've seen a big jump and like to see how big the differen is and stuff years would be interesting to see if there's this big a jump last January if it's the month yeah okay I will make sure that uh I have that in my next report thank you thank you but discipline is still down compared where it was so things are doing things are going well roughly at the end of January uh the total is roughly half of last year's total and we we're through six months you know of a 10-month so it's still below so it it's still better yeah oh yeah um and then uh for if you don't have questions about any of the other things um uh the one uh item that
046I would like to share some data with you um now these data are from October uh when uh when teachers did their am I doing this right Jen no this is actually from rigger walks most recent one was lastek last week okay so this this is from last week this comparison so the gray one or the black one on the right is from the riger walks in the district last last week okay so uh keep in mind that our coaches are here uh from IE um if not every week it's about every at least every other week they're here they have become very much a part of our uh District family um and um uh you know we're out in classrooms and our coaching and all those things so anyway I wanted to point out
047uh some really good news here that uh conditions for learning rigorous standards uh from the beginning of the year uh to um or was that last year the blue one we did one at the beginning of the year one in October and one and one now okay so these are this year current school year sorry I'm this is one slide from about 40 slides that Kevin shared with us so some of the data was from October some of it was recent so anyway the conditions for learning rigorous uh standards uh has increased by over one point uh standards based student evidence has increased by 1.6 points uh a a teeny drop in activating student teams to achieve the standard um and um uh the other three have all raised significantly um and and I wanted
048to share this with you because keep in mind we're in year one of some systemic change in what we are doing in our classrooms and uh and to have this kind of a change I specifically asked Kevin if this was typical and uh and he said yes so um uh you know so we're we're on track we are on track um now you can see that the number we're striving for is 12 and um so it's really nice to see the first one at least halfway there and um uh and it's nice to see the others um um approaching certainly approaching six or whatever in the first year and we're really only talking about half of the first year we're not even talking about this entire year we're talking about half of the first year
049so um um this is these are good data good news to us that what we're doing is working well it's working for the teachers right yes this is teacher data yes this is teacher data how is this going to reflect on what we see the kids do on scores well that's what we're going to be seeing and and they're doing uh they've been doing Galileo uh this week um and it's midye and um we'll see where that what that looks like um we do have of course for this year a fourth Galileo scheduled for May and that's when that's when we're really going to see what's happened this year is when we see that end ofe data and then next year we will fall back to only three but it will but it will be
050uh August February and May so um uh that November one that you know was discouraging and whatever 3 months in uh will go away so um yes we're we're very conscious of that and also whatever happens on our state testing because one of the things that is key here is that um uh that our teachers are working very hard and are very focused on making sure that what they are teaching matches the standards and at the level of uh the knowledge level U that is expected in the standards that's what's going to end up paying off at some point because we're making sure that what we're teaching and what we're assessing match the standards um and and then that gets reflected on the State Testing so um it will be interesting to see those results
051this year as well but I also caution you that systemic change right now a whole lot of this is the Coalition of the Willing uh folks who are okay I can do this and I'm gung-ho and I'm going to do it and we all know that when we're making a systemic change that we have some folks who are going I'm not quite sure or okay I'll kind of try you know I'll put my toe in the water and then I want to see what happens with other folks um and and and part of that objective is to increase the Coalition of the Willing um um but it's also us saying this is not a choice you know the expectation is that you will be doing these things because these are research-based strong instructional practices and
052one of the things that I realized a week or so ago that I had not said because in my head it's an assumption but I realized that I needed to say it out loud is there is not one one teacher in our district not one who is not capable of doing the things that we are now expecting them to do the people we have hired are all capable of doing these things and I I completely believe that so that's the basis on which I can say I expect you to be moving in this direction is anybody going to go from zero to 100 in one month or 6 months probably not that's why we know it takes more than one year the research says three to five years we should see significant changes in the
053first year but they're not going to be where we want to be ultimately in year one so uh but I truly believe our folks can do it and um um so now it is let's do and it looks like they're moving in that direction C so I wanted to share some good news with you well we got three years and in most cases we're a third of the way there that's yeah yep it is so see okay uh and I think that's I think that's it for my updates tonight was there anything else on here when you guys read the agenda and did this no okay thank you thank thank you Dr Stewart sure board member updates item 2.9 I I went to uh one of the schools I was so excited to come and
054tell what I got to see it was really cool I popped up unannounced to Sunrise um and was greeted by uh the secretary Linda McLean and was blown away if I could give her an employee of the year award I probably would I was really impressed by her her kids love her and she loves the kids it was just amazing that we were walking around campus and they were all coming up to her hugging her and hey and hey and but at the same point in time hey what are you doing Johnny over there get back to class and they would just go Ahad and do it the respect there was amazing to me um and just seeing all of the the stuff that they have at the campus was really pretty cool um just
055seeing the little area where they have a path where if the kids are stressed out they can go walk this path and if they're done they can get off but yet they still have more room if they want to keep going and I was joking saying I'd like one in my office so that I can do the same thing um but it was just really nice and and they were extremely happy to see one of us there you know the principal was just like thank you for coming and showing interest and in being here and it was just it was a it was a nice almost a whole hour she took out of her day just to kind of take me around to see things so it was a very very positive experience yeah I
056heard all about that because I was up there the pretty much the day after two days after you were there oh cool um she said and I got to see a PE class did you get to see a PE class I got to see them doing some PE stuff yes and he was utterly incredibly fantastic yeah he was amazing arm like this throwing the basketball if somebody showed that me that maybe I could make a basket it was like he and he was showing the little wing nuts you know the little kids I mean little kids um how to do basketball it was really kind of fun to watch and you're right um Mrs McLean is just she amazing she's amazing she is I got into some classrooms too because I wanted to check and
057see what the sound level was because when we we took out all the carpeting and um because originally when I was in there in the fall um they were teachers were a little grousing you know like they took more my carpet it's going to get noisy in here you know um I think it was noisier but it wasn't to the place where it was out of line um I was kind of kind of impressed with that part I got to read to a couple first grader or kindergarten class kindergarten class yeah it was fun it was fun did how about the rest of you guys I didn't make it I spent uh I went to Bull the middle school next door oh cool and um and uh the staff there is very attentive but right
058away um miss vea the Pres uh principal came out and and uh she took me into an office and we were talking she was trying to find out what what I wanted to do there and all that and we actually I I intended to go out and see the the the students in their setting and stuff and I'll do that another time but we ended up talking about her goals and she was just bragging on her kids and showing pictures of how they all work together and explaining to me the team approach that they use for teaching and uh we we talked for about an hour and a half and it was really amazing and and like you I was really surprised that she took that much time out of her day but um she
059was just very appreciative of again a board member showing interest in coming over there and I want to go back she invited me back to come and actually go and uh see the classroom settings but she's uh when you do that when you do that fredd when you do that uh two teachers approached me at the farmers market go see special ed and uh sixth grade English they really want somebody in their classroom just to look so please do that um it was I think it was sixth grade special ed yeah but whatever it was just go in there and and make a presents I will I will this the uh English teacher was she says now don't come in this week because we're doing Galileo I like okay okay but if you could do
060that that would be really sweet I was really impressed with with just her enthusiasm and the more we talked you could just see her getting more and more excited about their process that they use in um she's got boards and Boards of things in her office that chart this out and chart that out and Fishbones and all kinds of stuff so uh it was very impressive to know that we have that level of caring and enthusiasm and and desire motivation to really provide a good sitting for our students it was a good trip and Fred you would see those boards and that planning in all of our sites because that's part of the IE process and uh and they have they have standup meetings for five minutes every morning to review what is what what
061are we focusing on what are our goals for these 45 days where are we going so um and I'm glad you noticed that and I'm glad that she shared that with you yeah it was it was well worth the time I also went up to Fox Creek the same day the assault happened that I missed thank God I missed it um and visited with a a student who had emailed emailed me and or and the school board about uh a dress code he wanted to wear Crocs to school and they weren't going to let him wear Crocs to school and and we finally came up to the conclusion that it wasn't the the Crocs it wasn't the shoes it was the fact that the shoes could come off so all he had to do was
062to put the strap you know how Crocs have the strap on the front and I was and he says but that's uncomfortable and I said well and then I saw two men today with Crocs on with the strap behind the and so they're AR anyway we had a discussion and invited him here to to talk with us but obviously he didn't think that was important but I did do a presence for us with the one of the kids too that's great um anybody else I just want to thank Fox Creek for every morning at 7:25 waking up to the Pledge of Allegiance they're my alarm every morning I lay in bed and when I hear hear them say the Pledge it's time for me to get my butt out of bed all right well part
063of our deal was to get into the classrooms it sounds like we're or not class but the teachers or the schools and it sounds like we're getting our feet wet so that's good um item three on the agenda or the consent agenda uh was there anything on here that you guys needed more discussion time on or can I have an agenda or excuse me a motion to accept the consent agenda I make a motion we accept the consent agenda as presented I'll second that motion all those in favor I Melinda saski I Charlene Diaz I Fred rushon I Barbara ziki I Sheila bernna okay there is no old business so we're going to start with item 5.1 staff appreciation planning Madam president and board members uh uh our prod person over here uh uh reminded
064me that it would be a good idea for us to start thinking about this now uh and instead of waiting later to start thinking about staff appreciation for me so um give her some pointers she certainly does an excellent job of organizing things for uh for the district and for you all and uh so she wants some ideas from you on what you have in mind for staff appreciation or at least to start thinking about it was it the May one last year when you had the food trucks and everything I thought that was great because then the teachers you know had a a nice choice of food and stuff and it was and I know it was very you know informal and it was very very relaxing and Stu to sit around and talk
065with the teachers like that if each one of us um this year takes a school and we go in and we actually go to the food truck get some food and go in well they had it everybody was over at uh Diamond Desert Valley we did last year it was at Desert Valley okay I was thinking the year before before before yeah Cassie how about reporting on the Bowling how did that go how many teams did we have we need to get a m microphone turned on it was well we had um how many nine teams quite a few Bowlers and some great prizes and food was a success I good cool good that's good that's good okay still so we did did you food trucks I guess that's it food trucks um item 5.2
066IGA with topac Elementary District number to Madame President and board members um excuse me um John Warren the superintendent in uh at topac and his special ed director approached us they have uh recently enrolled a high needs special needs uh special education student uh for which they do not have a program or a teacher and so uh they uh requested an IGA with us to um transport the student to our program we do have um we do have space and um uh so they we would provide the services they would provide uh they would make sure the student is transported so um this is a typical IGA with a with a sister district and uh so I recommend approval of of this IG their board did approve it earlier earlier this we week I think
067it's kind of nice that we can help each other yes absolutely what's the what's the travel time between here and topac it's probably close to 30 minutes 30 minutes yeah I'm guessing or more depending on what highway work is being done and and the buses don't are not supposed to go quite as fast as some of the rest of us drive um so I'm I'm it proably it might be 40 minutes okay okay I need a motion to approve the IGA with topac Elementary School District I'll make a motion that we approve the IGA with topac Elementary School District I'll second the motion all those in favor I Melinda saski I Charlene Diaz I Fred rushon I babra ziki I Sheila Bernett item 5.3 approval of letter to the legislators and or adoption of the
068Revolution and and or adopt resolution regarding legislation we talked about this in the workshop um do we have the the revisions the changes okay so so the change came this one what were we changing in the last yeah the only change was in the last SL in the off awesome perfect okay do we should we do these together or should we do them separately that's up to you you can we can do do them together do them together yeah and then the changes changes oh Lance was did you go ahead and finish the letter did Jette it's just changing the word then wasn't it it was just adding the well he actually what he brought up to me just before you were asking me about the superintendent's report was the paragraph for me to look
069at the paragraph that he had had crafted to go in there relative to the October date so he's going to go send it in uh and that way we would have it for uh for you to look at um while we're waiting is it possible uh Dr Stewart to maybe have Cass post these on uh the the board docks so that we can look at them afterwards absolutely yeah that would be appreciated yeah we can do that the changes with the changes yes right yes what is absolutely I'll link them in the minutes [Laughter] I'm notorious for that you all know that I I start up dates one day and then get busy and go home and then I you know the next morning this the update it for yesterday is still sitting there so
070um it helps if you hit send yeah I think we've all had that experience I suspect so doesn't change the fact that it's a bit embarrassing sometimes though what do you mean I didn't send that email to you what attachment it's like attachment it's like me sending something to the printer and I walk down there to the printer and it's not there and I go back and realize I didn't hit send y yeah okay okay okay so uh it starts with additionally oh okay please so the new paragraph begin with addition duplicate I think that's good yeah perfect I'll sign that okay we need a motion to approve or adopt um these these two items I make a motion to approve the letter to the legisl fees and adopt the resolutions as written I'll second
071that motion all those in favor I'm Alinda saski I Charlene Diaz I Fred rushon I BB ziki I Sheila Bernett Madam president I before you leave uh the copies of the resolution who need to be signed by the board president and the board Clerk and then the copies of the letter to the leg which will then copy for the house committee and the governor will need to be signed by all five of you okay tonight okay thank you Cass she's good at getting us to sign [Laughter] things uh item 5.4 approval to seek bids for artificial turf and installation on the field at Desert Valley School Madame President and board members excuse me uh both sunrise and uh diamondback have uh fields that are artificial turf um Desert Valley has an area that's designated as
072a field uh it's been there for many many years I started to say a century but that's hyper over 30 that's that's a hyperbole but uh uh and it has irrigation to it um and when we get ready to use it we try to irrigate it like a week before so that the grass comes back uh this is a river bottom in this area unlike sunrise and Diamondback and so uh frequently what happens is you water it the grass comes up you do your thing on the field and then uh and then we stop watering because just like the fields at at Fox Creek and at the middle school we only water them in advance of you know actual use so then they dry out the wind comes along you know we get rain maybe
073but we've irrigated the wind comes along and blows away the dirt and the fields now are rock MH so the next time you get ready to use it before you irrigate you have to go out and remove all the Rocks um and so you know it's just kind of an it's it's kind of like Copus you know uh it's not one rock it's lots of rocks and they it's kind of like it the field grows rocks so um uh besides the fact that the other two schools have turf uh we really would like to if we can figure out a way to put Turf on that field uh for Desert Valley um and uh in the process of talking with uh the city manager about the um the sale of Mountain View school we talked
074about that field and um and so he's the one who suggested to me and reminded me that the city has this rebate um of 50 up to $50,000 for U uh changing grass a grass yard a grass field to Turf and um so uh we do qualify I did apply to the city to see if we qualify we do qualify and um uh so I would like your permission to go out for bids to see what it might actually cost us uh to replace that field or a significant part of that field uh with artificial turf uh the dimensions of the field at the present time uh are 70,000 square feet um that's pretty big um but we certainly would like something that's um and it could be a bit smaller than that to be
075the size of a soccer field so uh I'd like permission to go out for bid because this will certainly be more than $100,000 and uh see what comes in and then uh then continue the discussion with you I'm okay about that do we have a motion I make a motion that uh we all give Dr Stewart the permission to go out for a bid to for Turf for the desert field uh Desert Valley Field I'll second that motion all those in favor I Melinda saski I Charlene Diaz I Fred rushon I barbariki I Sheila Bernett item 5.5 changes to policy exhibits gccc professional and support staff leaves of absence without pay uh Madam president and board members um this partly came about because we've been using the current documents for um uh FMLA family medical
076leave and um this one which is the one that the employee uses is not too bad but the one that we use to respond uh doesn't fit this format very well so what I'm proposing is approval to replace U th those two documents the one that is uh the one for the employee and the one that is for uh for us as the district with these documents that actually come from the US Department of Labor uh it's all the same information but if we do it this way and have it as an attachment to in the in the policies as opposed to an actual document um uh our employees can pull it up it's a PDF they can fill it in you know type it in they don't have to handr write whatever and uh
077take it to their physician uh for uh for additional information uh but it's a much cleaner cop Cy for them to use and then for uh for the one that we use to respond um it looks similar but once again we can I can do it electronically um and um uh match it up to the other one in the process we learned that there is also a third document that goes with this so that if in that additional in that original application there's not enough information I can request additional information from the employee and so uh we're proposing that this document now be added to the exhibits and um uh and that it become the gccc D EC uh and then change the change the designators on the other the other uh exhibits that are
078already there uh to add this document but put to put it next to the two that it really goes with um and then um then rename this one which is simply uh the rights that somebody has under FMLA and that's a pretty clean copy and easy for people to to read and doesn't require us filling in anything and then uh one other one uh that is currently e uh that we Chang that designation to EF these are regul these are exhibits so they are this is a a change that you can make tonight you don't have to have a second reading do I have a motion to adopt I make a motion we adopt the exhibitions for the change of uh family FMLA as presented tonight do I have to read them all off or
079can we just do General I second that motion all this all this in favor I Melinda saski I Charlene Diaz I Fred rushon I barbariki I Sheila Bernett okay item 5.6 GCO evaluation of professional staff members this is the first reading so we really don't have an action on it but we are going to listen for some information um as we were reviewing this relative to uh a situation that we were uh discussing we realized that when we changed the points on the teacher evaluation instrument earlier this year uh we did not go back and make the corresponding corresponding changes in the numbers in the policy so the only changes here are to make those two numbers uh correspond to the actual document everything else stays the same everything else stays the same okay okay
080any questions okay we'll see that one again 5.7 non-renewal of teaching contract for Maran Ramos of the for school year 2024 um did she decide not to do this in executive session um this is this is us uh considering renewal of her contract for next year and that does not require executive session um uh Miss Ramos uh Miss Ramos is on uh alternate assignment for the remainder of this year so this is not a dismissal or a resignation okay okay this this is just simply clarifying that we will not be offering her a contract for the next school year does that preclude offering a contract for the subsequent school year if she's on temporary assignment I mean if she comes back and wants to reaffiliation with the school district will she be able to do
081that or is this a permanent Severance ENT well it does not mean that she could not reapply for a position okay uh in the future but at this point we will not offer her a contract for next year thank you okay so do we need to make a motion yes you do okay I need a motion for non-renewal of of the teaching contract for Mar and Ramos for the school year 25 I'll make a motion that we non-renew the teaching contract of mar and r for school year 2425 I'll second that motion and I need you also I'm sorry to authorize me to present that information to her oh you want that in the to deliver it to her um add Cass add to that motion um to authorize Dr Stewart to present that notice
082notice to miss Ros second all those in favor I Melinda sabraski I Charlene Diaz I Fred rushon I Barb sariki I Sheila Barnett okay future topics anything that we would like to for Dr Stewart to research for us or to bring up next in the coming months if uh if there's any kind of a response to the letters that are going out I think think we would be all glad to yeah see what our legislators have to say okay okay is there any chance of maybe proposing some type of town hall with the other districts that might be in accordance with us in our our thinking of maybe banding together somehow to get some State attention that's just something that just popped into my head there's power and numbers and I'm sure we're not the
083only ones that feel this way well that's kind of why I asked Dr Stewart if she had been in communication with any of the other districts um it would be interesting yeah that's what I'm wondering I'm not sure I can I can share the now that youve approved the resolution I can share that resolution with the superintendant of the other public school districts in Mojave and laas counties um uh in fact when this came up um a couple of things happened one I received an an email from um Brad sales who is the U superintendent in Parker and uh and then the next day received an email from uh the lobbyist for uh ASA the Arizona School uh Arizona superintendent uh at um Association asking for information and he sent it to Brad as well
084uh from both of us about the impact the possible impact of this on um on our school districts and uh we both responded to him and uh I did not read Brad's response before I wrote mine but it was interesting when I read his that we hit pretty much on the same points so uh I know there is some you know I know there is some talk out there and so um I will reach out to him to share with the laaz superintendant but um this way we would find out if there's interest in in having some kind of a joint meeting or a town hall or something about that yeah good suggestion Sheila thank you any other topics okay upcoming board events is there a way of for Lance to put events that might
085be happening at like at any of the schools like science night or math night or whatever they have so that we might be able to attend one of those we can certainly try to do that they're supposed to be on our district calendar uh on the website uh sometimes they are sometimes they're not so I know they're on their board reports typically sometimes yeah yeah sometimes Lance has tried diligently to uh to get information from the sites uh to to talk with them or them to talk with him on a monthly basis about okay what are one or two or three things that are coming up in your next month um that would be good for us to share with the board and share with District administration um that has been uh successful in a
086spotty kind of way so uh we can certainly try again okay cuz there would be you know I usually don't get on the calendar online but I do keep this one sure you know and so if I have I'm sort of a paper person um yeah Retro Retro but it would be nice you know if if one of the Desert Valley or sunrise or someplace sure wanted a a a school board member there just out of respect or to to show respect sure something it would be really nice to have that we'll work on it and and what we know we can certainly include on this please any other people want to talk about this okay time and location for the future meeting it looks like we're set up for March 14th at 5:30 for
087workshop and 6 o' for regular meeting anybody not be able to be here what day was that Thursday THS I should be second Thursday of the month okay that's affirmed we got that spring break it is spring break I may not be present I don't know if I'm going to training in Orlando yet so I will know in the next day or two okay thank you for if if you'll let us know that would be really appreciate okay I need a motion to adjourn our regular meeting I make a motion we in the regular meeting I'll second that motion all those in favor I Melinda saski I Charlene Diaz I Fred rushon I barbariki I Sheila Bernett meeting is adjourned thank you [Music] all [Music] sh [Music] what [Music] h [Music]