001Good evening. At this time, I will call the meeting of the DAART governing board to order. Let the record reflect that all board members are present. And we'll start with the uh pledge of allegiance. Dr. Curtto introduce it. >> Thank you, Madam President. Tonight, uh, we have the privilege of having our Asante kindergarten students here to do the pledge for us. So, we're very excited. So, when you all are in and ready to go, you can start us off. If everybody would please rise and remove your hats if you're able. >> [clears throat] >> I'm going to scoot you just a little bit. There you go. Keep going. I al to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and
002justice for all. [applause] >> That is a great job. Thank you for being here. >> Very impressive. Thank you so much, students. So cute. >> [snorts] [clears throat] [laughter] [snorts] >> I did too. >> Wow. As most of our families have exited, we will um resume. And next we have item A2. And I move to adopt the agenda as presented. >> Can I have an item uh removed from the cons? I make a request to um for section G consent agenda item 9 2022nd amendment to uh donation agreement be removed from the consent agenda for further discussion. So we move it to the action discussion please for clarification that's the donation agreement between Daert Unified and Sunset. Okay. >> I know. I'm sorry. action discussion. >> Correct. >> Yep. >> We need a second. I
003can second that motion. Yeah. Motion carries. Moving to item B1 and I will hand that over to Miss Bowen. Okay. Good evening. Pursuant to policy 113 and ARS 15321, the governing board must elect a board president and board clerk annually in January. The process will provide an opportunity for each member to make a nomination. Each nominee will have an opportunity to accept or decline the nomination and each nominee will have the opportunity to give a brief statement. At this time, I will accept nominations for board president. >> I'd like to nominate Steve Ska as board president. >> Mr. Ska, do you accept or decline? >> I accept. Do I have any other nominees? Okay, Mr. Sivera, do you wish to provide a brief statement regarding >> No, that's not needed. >> And I will stand
004for a motion. [snorts] I make a motion to elect Steve Ska as governing board president. >> I second. >> All in favor? >> It's got to be roll call, right? Yes. >> Has to be a roll call. >> Raise your hand if you say yes. Perfect. Motion carries. Mr. Scava, at this time, do you wish to change seats as the board president? >> No, that's not needed. >> Okay. Thank you. So, we will follow the same process for the use of election of the board um the same process that we use for board president for the election of the board clerk. At this time, I will accept nominations for board clerk. I would like to nominate Denise Des for board clerk. >> Miss Dishes, do you accept or decline? >> I accept. >> Do we
005have any other nominees? >> I'd like to nominate Mary Jane Zola for board clerk. >> Members, do you accept or decline? >> Accept. Okay. I any others. Okay. At this time, I will stand for a motion. I motion that Mary Jane is board clerk. >> Please raise your right hand if you vote yes. >> Second. >> Oh, a second. Did who's gonna anybody in a second? >> Second. >> Okay. >> And now raise your hand if you vote yes. >> And raise your hand if you vote no. Okay. Motion carries. Okay. Um congratulations to our new officers. We'll talk about that and President Scavara, you take over. Um on C on um Yeah. C >> item C, uh recognitions and celebrations. >> Thank you very much. >> Did you turn it over to me? >>
006Yeah. Sorry, >> Dr. Crow. Go ahead. >> That's okay. Thank you. Tonight, uh we have some special guests here to perform for us and Mr. Mui will introduce our guests. >> Thank you, President Scavara, members of the board. Dr. CTO and guests. Uh we are very excited this evening. Uh we have the choir with us from Canyon Ridge and uh they're going to perform for us tonight. They're under the direction of Mr. George Hammermith. And so I think we're all expecting this, but we're going to stop. It's hammer time. Ready for the choir to perform? >> It would not be the first time we've heard that. >> Good evening everyone. Very proud director of the public or the uh Kenya Ridge choir. Um, this is one of my groups and we have a younger ensemble
007that also meets at our school as well. Very proud of all their accomplishments over the time we've been together. And this evening we just want to perform one of our pieces we've done. Uh, some of you in the governing board have heard uh the piece uh we're going to do. It's called Imagine a World. And the piece really kind of helped us keep in mind of things that we should be thankful for, but also things don't take for granted. Imagine a world without beauty. >> Imagine a world without emotion. >> Imagine a world without family. >> Imagine a world without the military. Imagine a world without your parents. >> Imagine a world without friends. >> Imagine a world without love. >> Imagine a world without arts. Imagine a world without nature. Imagine a world without
008music. Imagine [music] a [singing] world. Imagine [music] a world [music] of beauty [music] for all to share. [music] Imagine a place that's [music] ours to discover. Imagine a place where children [singing] are free. Imagine [music] a place where dreams are created. Imagine [music] Like a song in [music] the airround. Make [music] a wish and it all can be done. Can be done. Imagine [music and singing] a [music] time for you and for me. [music] Imagine a time [singing] [music] forever. Imagine [singing] [music] like a song me [music] [music] and it all [singing] can be [music] can be done. Happy [music] of the [music] legend and [music] happy Happy. [music] >> [applause] [applause] >> Thank you. Very nice job. Thank you very much. Now we move to item D. Address the governing board audience with individuals.
009Do we have any? Nope. All right. Item E, superintendent and governing board updates. Uh, start with number one, student update. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Um, tonight we have our student um, speaker here to update the governing board and I will have Mr. Misi update or introduce her. Sorry. >> Thank you, Dr. Croto, President Skavara, members of the board. Um we have uh here from Daar High School tonight uh the student body president who's part of the uh you know the district student council and this is uh Dana Sakaros and she's going to give us an update of what's happening. >> Thank you. Good evening president Skavara members of governing board Dr. Cotto and cabinet. My name is Dana Sakaros and I'm a senior the student body president of Daart High School and uh a
010member of district leadership council. At our most recent district leadership council meeting, students from across the district shared updates from the campuses as we move through the month of February. It has been inspiring to see the continued school spirit, strong sense of community, and commitment to service demonstrated by our students. At Shadow Ridge High School, students are looking forward to a paint night on February 13th and a dodgeball tournament March 27th. They have also been preparing for AASC, Arizona Association of Student Council state convention this week, as well as the rest of the high schools. At Valley Vista High School, students have recently celebrated a successful winter formal spirit week and assembly. They will be hosting a positivity day and penny wars to promote kindness and school spirit. Students are also excited that the prom
011date has been officially released. At Willow Canyon High School, students enjoyed hoopcoming with the winter wonderland theme on January 24th along with the spirit week. They're planning on appreciation day in February preparing for ASC State as well and recently hosted a blood drive to give back to the community. At Daart High School, students participated in the demon classic. HOSA is hosta is hosting a blood drive on January 30th and the student council is preparing for live love week from 9th to 13th. A spirit week and winter dance are planned for midFebruary along with the staff versus staff volleyball game. essential uh additional ESS prom will take place on February 6th. Finally, at sundown, students have been active with donut and rallies fundraisers, a spirit week in February, and a blood drive on January 21st. They
012have also been they also have an upcoming house competition wrapping up at the end of of January. Across all of our campuses, students allow and continue to show leadership, school pride, and commitment to supporting one another and our community. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to share these highlights with you this evening. >> Thank you very much. Next up, number two, superintendent update. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Uh just some quick updates tonight. This week, the auditor general uh issued their school district financial risk analysis um which is based on a review of financial data across 10 risk measures. Uh the measures evaluate indicators such as budget limit compliance, cash and reserve balances, recent changes in weighted student counts, and operating and capital budget capacity. Um the purpose of the analysis is to identify
013districts at risk of being unable to operate within available budget and cash resources. And I'm really pleased to report that based on the assessment by the Arizona Auditor General, the district is not identified as a high-risisk district and has no high-risisk measures uh flagged in the report. So, as always, our finance department will continue to monitor these indicators as part of the um their ongoing financial planning and and budget development. So, congratulations to our finance department and the district and and the governing board. So, great great news on that front. Uh continue with the great news. For the fourth straight year in a row, uh Daert Unified School District was voted a favorite public school district by the community in the West Valley Favorites Competition. So four years in running, Daert's an A-rated district, as
014you know, and won additional accolades in several uh other categories, including favorite music and favorite festival for the Daart Festival of the Arts for the third straight year in a row. Uh, Daer Growing Minds Preschool won the favorite preschool for a second year in a row. Uh, Shadow Ridge High School was named the favorite performing arts school. Uh, Luke Elementary School, fourth grade teacher, Bonnie Ar, excuse me, Bonnie Armstrong, one favorite teacher, and Valley Vista's High School's Brandy Harris won administrative assistant and receptionist. um as well as Valley Vista um high school social studies teacher Amy Jensen was a runner runner up in that favorite teacher. Uh Sonorin Heights Middle School band teacher Deborah Forest was named a finalist. Uh the Vista Center for the Arts, as you know, we just opened back up and
015won the favorite event and music venue for the second year in a row and those shows will be coming quickly. And additionally, uh the Desaart Education Foundation, which is the nonprofit that supports the district through scholarships for our students, uh won the favorite, uh philanthropic organization. So, some great uh great measures for the district. And lastly, I'd just like to thank President uh Denmore for her service um on the governing board and welcome um our new president, Mr. Skavara, and our new um clerk, Mary Jane Zola. So, looking forward to it. Congratulations and and thank you. >> Thank you very much. >> That's all I have. >> Yep. Thank you very much. Next item is governing board update. I'll I'll begin. I do not have one tonight. Want me to go? I'll go. Okay. Um
016you want me to go? Okay. Sorry. Okay. All right. Sorry. Good evening everybody. Um, for my update, I just want to let everybody know that on the 12th I attended Mountain View's a breakfast. Congratulations to Mountain View. Um, and thank you Debbie uh, principal Debbie uh, Cruz for allowing us to come and celebrate with you. Then I attended um, Western Peaks um, school visit on the 12th. Um, [clears throat] just want to say thank you to Principal Brown for allowing us to come and have a dialogue [snorts] um with your teachers, staff, parents, and students. We had a great time. And then from there um we went to Kingswood's um a lunch and I just want to say thank you to Principal Miller for allowing us to come and celebrate with your school. And then
017today we attended um Simmeron school visit. So thank you Dr. Fowler and assistant principal Hastings for allowing us to come and have a dialogue with your your staff, teachers, parents, and students. We had a great time. So thank you. And that's all I have. Um, I also attended the Simmeron Middle School for an on-site visit today and we listened to teachers, staff, parents, and students um, speak about their school and I heard a lot of positive comments, especially about the new principal, Dr. Fowler, and assistant principal Jack Hastings. It was great to hear about the um, eighth grade algebra honors class, and I thank them for for their hard work. That's all I have. No update from me, but I would like to just uh say congratulations again on all the accolades mentioned by Dr.
018Croto and it has been a pleasure working with you. Thank you. >> Good evening. I just wanted to mention that I did attend the Marine Corps ROC site visit at Willow Canyon High School and I'm really hoping that they're going to pick us up for soon to get an ROC program out there and hopefully we can have more. Um, I did want to say that the Canyon Ridge choir was excellent. I appreciate them coming and playing for us and the kindergarten. I love the pledge of allegiance by them. Other than that, congratulations to the finance department and to Daart schools for doing excellent things. Thank you. >> All right. Thank you everyone. Next item, uh, section F, item one, motion to approve consent agenda items as presented. >> Second. Okay. Sorry. I vote. Yes. >>
019Yes. >> I abstain. >> Yes. Just one moment. All right. Next on the agenda is uh section H information discussion school spotlights. Dr. Croto. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Uh, tonight we have two awesome schools here to to uh speak to us about what's going awesome on their campus. And I'll have Dr. Asai introduce our guests. President Scavar, members of the board, is my pleasure to introduce Lisa Parachchini, the proud principal of Willow Canyon High School, and her team. >> Good evening, Mr. President. Members of the board, Dr. Croto, cabinet, and community. Tonight, we are excited to be here and to share a little bit about our international balora program at Willow Canyon and how our IB English PLT uses the PLC process to support student learning and long-term success and how our vertical alignment
020across grade levels strengthens both instruction and the IB program overall. International Balora is a prestigious program that promotes an elevated learning platform for students who are collegebound. IB provides opportunity for students to earn college credit based on exam scores. At Willow Canyon, we often partner our IB courses with dual enrollment providing a double layer of college credit opportunity. Here to share our plan for success in IB are our IB coordinator and English co-lead Britney Martin, English co-lead and IB teacher Aaron Hicks, and our IB teachers Payton Shelby, Lindseay Hunt, and Trish Brown. [clears throat] >> Good evening. Uh in regards to uh our particular IBE English 9 through2 vertical PLC, our IBE English PLC spans grades 9 through 12. Uh and it's intentionally working toward a cohesive 4-year pathway of college literacy. Uh rather than
021each grade operating in isolation, we align skills, uh expectations, and assessment language so that students don't experience uh gaps or sudden jumps in rigor. uh a ninth grader and a senior are working toward the same core outcomes just at different levels of complexity which allows us to build on readiness instead of remediation. Uh so in far as what we want our students to be able to do, our goal is not just to cover texts. Uh it's to develop students who can analyze, evaluate, and communicate at a college level. Uh so students learn to closely read, support ideas with evidence, and express their thinking in writing and in discussion. uh because these skills are built progressively from grades 9 through 12. Students arrive at their IB assessments already trained in how to think and how to
022communicate at a high level. So how do we know our students are learning? Uh we do use common rubrics and shared criteria and a timed writing to measure that student growth. With these tools, they give us a shared definition of proficiency and they allow us to track progress over time. Uh we don't just collect data, we analyze it together to identify trends uh to find gaps in knowledge and determine next steps which keeps instruction aligned across classrooms. All right. And then how do uh what do we do when we know our students aren't learning? So when students struggle, we don't wait until they fail. Um, we look at our common assessments to see where students are getting stuck, especially with our analysis and using our evidence. And then from there, our teachers adjust instruction by
023giving targeted feedback, retaching key skills, and providing scaffolded practice that supports students without lowering expectations. Because we are working toward a stronger alignment across grades 9 through 12, our students receive consistent support no matter which IBE English class they're in. Um, what do we do when our students do learn? When our students show that they've mastered a skill, we don't just move on. We actually push their thinking further. That might mean asking them to compare texts, analyze more complex ideas, or extend their thinking through deeper writing and discussion. Um, this keeps students engaged and ensures that high performing students continue to grow as the work becomes more challenging. So alongside PLC work, I support the growth and the sustainability of the IB program. As the IB coordinator, this year, our focus has been on informed
024enrollment, strong academic supports, and smooth transitions between all grade levels. We're already seeing the impact. Um, this year we have 12 of our seniors that are diploma candidates, 22 juniors that are diploma candidates, and during course selection this year, over 50 sophomores were invited to that IB pipeline. That means that we are building intentionally, not reacting at the last minute. We've also improved how families understand IB through parent night, clearer guidance, and an all students testing model that increases access to college credit and reduces barriers. At the same time, we are building teacher training and PLC alignment across grades 9 through 12. So growth doesn't come at the expense of quality. So when we are looking at next steps and key reflection, um our IB English PLC is collaborative and continues to grow stronger every
025day. Uh this year we've really focused on being intentional with building a cohesive vertical team across grades 9 through 12, welcoming new members and developing shared systems for planning, assessment, and instructional alignment. While we definitely have um a long way to go and we're still work in progress, it is already helping ensure that students develop skills more consistently and enter IB assessments better prepared for college level reading, writing, and thinking. Um and just a moving forward together, last note, PLC's have allowed us to move beyond individual classrooms and ensure that every student benefits from increasingly aligned instruction, shared expectations, and meaningful support. Thank you. I will stand for any questions you may have. >> Any questions? [clears throat] >> Thank you for providing us this opportunity. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Good
026job. Appreciate that. And our next spotlight presentation is with Miss Jill Hoppy, the proud principal of Canyon Ridge. Good evening, President Scavara, members of the board, Dr. Croto and cabinet. I am Jill Hoppy, principal of Canyon Ridge. Tonight I have with me, she's sitting assistant principal Jackie Older and our amazing TLS Justine Palmer. Thank you for coming. We have our sixth grade team ELA teacher Mrs. Peterman, math teacher, Miss Corsy, science teacher, Mrs. Benazeski, our social studies teacher, Mrs. Oglesby and our special education resource teacher, Miss Karen Bizwell. So, tonight you will hear from each member of this team because they are a high functioning professional learning team. This grade level has shown an increase in ASA ELA proficiency every year since 2021. During the 2024 2025 school year, 84% of students were proficient or
027highly proficient in ELA and the students increased proficiency in math by 24% moving from 53% to 77%. This team has high rigor, expectations, and a belief all students will learn at the highest levels. Throughout the presentation, they will show examples of how they collaboratively plan standards focused lessons and innovate to maximize learning. The next two slides show vertical and horizontal data aligned to ASA. We track cohorts of students. this cohort. By looking at the bright yellow uh vertically, you could see that the students had significant growth in ELA, growing 12% from fifth to sixth grade. The horizontal data also shows continued improvement. Mrs. Peterman and this team were elated to finally break over 80% of the students showing proficiency. This math data shows similar success. A 14% increase in proficiency is seen from fifth to
028sixth grade and an increase of 24% from the 2324 school year to last year is seen in math. The team will explain how they use the PLC process to maximize student learning student by student. Aaron Corsy will explain how the team addresses question one of the PLC process. What do we want students to know and be able to do? >> Good evening. There are many things that we want students to know and be able to do that begin with the essential standards set out by the state and mapped out cohesively in our district scope and sequences. These standards are at the forefront of every lesson. As a team, we spend a great deal of PL time dissecting these standards to determine what mastery looks like and how we will go about ensuring that we are
029all on the same page. We look at student work samples and use the state performance indicators to help us be as objective as possible. Next, if you walk into any of our classrooms, you will see our standards, objectives, and success criteria posted for the daily lesson. We collectively believe that students should know what they are expected to achieve by the end of a lesson and how they will know if they are on track. Time is also spent in PLT sessions reviewing assessments. We often take the assessments ourselves to decipher areas where our students might struggle, paying close attention to where we might need to provide additional support andor enrichment when necessary. As a team, we know that we are stronger together. Unique to our process is the incorporation of our amazing ESS teacher in the
030classroom as part of our teaching model. She scaffolds lessons and provides inaction support to students. Team teaching is another strategy used to ensure that we are guiding students with standards mastery with consistency. Science and social studies both support ELA with science also stepping in to support mathematics. Two final outcomes that we hope to achieve with our students are the ability to develop into strong writers and communicators. Our students write across all disciplines daily using consistent strategies. We know that the expectation they know that the expectations do not change from one class to another. Students also engage in highlevel academic conversations as they share, defend, and build upon one another's thoughts and ideas. Um, the slide above shows a small glimpse into what collaboration looks like in the mathematics classroom. You will notice the vertical whiteboards
031hung around the room with students passing a marker back and forth as they work through problems together. A specific protocol is followed which requires all students to participate in the learning process. Next, Stacy Peterman will describe how we plan using learning cycles. Good evening. We use a simple planning method to help track student progress and allow us to collaborate as a team on collective goals. Currently, our focus is the writing process as we incorporate writing across the curriculum. We have come together to develop what we want the students to be able to do. How we will grade their work using the AAS essay writing rubrics to create continuity across our grade level and developed a plan for when and how they will practice this skill. We will gather data periodically and revise the focus as
032needed. Mrs. Oglesby will now discuss question two of the PLC process. How will we know if the students have learned it? Good evening. We have our formative assessments which are given more frequently. Many are given in the middle of a lesson or as a check for understanding at the end. In this picture, I had students answer a question about the social hierarchy in the civilization of ancient Egypt to make sure they understood why the pharaoh was able to wield so much power and where his power came from. Spiral reviews allow us to monitor if students are remembering previously learned skills and applying them into their current learning. The assessments are much more focused on standards and skills. We have our rubrics such as would be used to assess writing skills and proficiency skills. The students
033success criteria is posted for each lesson so students can see for themselves how they are progressing through the lesson. What's also important is that this data is shared with the students so they can see for themselves the progress they are making and in which areas they may need more help in or more practice to ret to reach that mastery. And then of course we have our summitative assessments such as the best benchmark results and the standardsbased unit assessments. As students progress through each grade level, we track trends from the AASA data. We compare AASA data to how students perform on the first benchmark assessment, looking for areas of growth or regression. With this data, we are able to group students from minimally proficient to highly proficient in order to provide personalized instruction. Then each of
034us track the standard for our content area and share that with each other to see how we can support each other, especially with the standard students do not show proficiency in. Karen Bizwell, our resource teacher, will explain how we answer question three of the PLC process, which is, "How will we respond if students do not learn it?" Hello. [clears throat] A little page here. Our team utilizes focus tier 2 and ret re retach when necessary and small groupoup instruction is done across the curriculum. Tutoring is offered before or after school. As the resource teacher, when I am co-eing in the classrooms, I ensure that the ESS students receive their specially designed instruction, but I also support any student who may need assistance throughout the class period. This is very beneficial to students as they are
035able to clarify questions when they arise. It is very valuable to students to be shown a different way to look at a problem by someone with a different teaching style as not all students learn the same way or at the same speed. When students do not understand the lesson, adjustments are made to ensure all students are mastering standards. Teachers consistently require feedback to check for understanding. This often looks like the teachers asking for verbal responses, walking the room to look for written answers, asking for volunteers to share, or other physical gestures that allow students to share their level of understanding of the taught standards or concepts. Next, Kristen Benazesi will address question four. How will we extend the learning for students who are already proficient? Good evening. Um, in sixth grade, we have a large
036extension menu that allows students opportunities to explore present and future topics as well as their creativity and imagination. All extensions support standards through enrichment. In ELA, there are choice menus that include extensions based off of the current unit, such as letters to authors, creative writing opportunities, write your own play, and alternative endings. In math, there are opportunities to preview upcoming grade level standards and connecting seventh grade standards. In science, extensions are based on current and future content, which includes coding, virtual field trips, FET simulations, and computer aided drawing. In social studies, extensions are connected to the lesson, such as making inferences based on the reading or lesson covered, and making connections to current events. Next, Stacy Peterman will address staff collaboration and shared efficacy. Our team prioritizes frequent collaboration through both uh formal professional learning
037team meetings and ongoing informal discussions guided by the belief that collective effort strengthens our impact. We operate from the shared conviction that all students can learn at high levels and that student accountability is essential to academic success. Strong communication with families is a cornerstone of our practice. Parents receive detailed weekly newsletters through Parent Square that outline upcoming events, instructional standards, assignments, and assessments. In addition, we maintain three-way communication through studentritten weekly Monday grade check emails and proactive positive outreach to celebrate student progress. To further support a positive and accountable learning environment, we hold monthly class meetings focused on reinforcing expectations and recognizing student achievements, including our sixth grade superstar celebrations. School administrators are invited to participate as needed. And Miss Biswell regularly joins us, strengthening the connection between classroom practices and schoolwide support. Next, Mrs.
038Oglesby will discuss how we motivate students. So at the beginning of the year, we wanted to find a way to motivate our students to want to do well in school and to meet the expectations for middle school students that was different from previous years. So we came up with our sixth grade store. The goal was that the students themselves would eventually pretty much run every aspect of the store, which is what they are doing right now. They are stocking the items. They are selling the items. They are training other clerks. They are setting the prices. They are making decisions based on sales such as what is selling well and what isn't selling well. Is the item itself not what students want or is it the price that is off? Now, Mrs. Benazesi is going to
039finish up with the areas in which we want to continue growing. The areas we want students the areas we want to continue growing in are attendance, growing professionally, and balancing tech use. Our team wants students at school daily for learning to take place. Even one day absent can set them back. To address chronic absenteeism, we create an attendance contract between student, teacher, parent for success. Additionally, we have focused professional development opportunities where we learn strategies to take back to our team to discuss and implement with our students. Though technology is important for things such as research, we are always striving to balance tech time with non- tech strategies such as talk to the text, writing summaries, and completing constructed responses. This concludes our presentation. Are there any questions from the board? >> Thank you very
040much. I do have one um I guess suggestion. It's not so much of a question on the staff collaboration. I really uh like the fact that we have student accountability and parent communication. I would also add parent accountability on it as well. And the reason I say that is um I know it's difficult to get all parents involved in, you know, making sure that they're working with their kids all the time, but um something that they did at Freedom that I really enjoyed was um they would send home like a progress report, but it was just an informal progress report where my child would have to sit down and discuss with me what was going on and I had to sign it. And I thought that accountability on the parent and the child was top-notch.
041So, uh just, you know, food for thought. Thank you again. Excellent presentation. I just want to thank you all for that. Um, I really love that you included that you that you are doing a pre-screen by taking the test yourselves to see what pitfalls your students might come up against. Um, and just really happy to see Miss Biswell. You had a profound impact on my family, my students. So, I just want to thank you for being here. Thank you. I appreciate that. I also want to say what a great presentation. Your numbers are phenomenal. You guys are doing a wonderful job. Um on your parent communications, what type of feedback are you getting off of that? >> We've had really positive feedback from our parents. They love that the emails come from their students and
042um uh they we encourage them to respond back to both they send it to their home room teacher and also to their parents. So we encourage at the beginning of the year for them to respond back and we love to see the messages that come back. Uh the little bits of encouragement, the hey let's fix this up. Um it's just great to see the parents pull in that piece too. >> That's awesome. >> Thank you. and um the store. I think that is phenomenal. It teaches the kids just a variety of things and it holds them accountable. You know, they have something to to look forward to every day. I love it. So, great job, ladies. >> I was going to say I do love the student ownership because that's so important. They're only going
043to learn to own it and be accountable. And I was with uh board member Drake on the school uh the Yeah, the store. [cough] That's incredible. Thank you. >> Great job. Thank you. Appreciate all of you. >> Have a good night. >> Next item on the agenda is section H uh number number two, information on Spalding pilot program. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Uh tonight we bring you again an update on Spalding. As you know we have been working uh with a pilot on Spalding also looking at different ways to continue growing this program in our district. Tonight we bring you an update and I will have Dr. Asai introduce it. >> Good evening again. It is my honor to introduce our director of K curriculum and instruction assessment Connie Wilfrid. And accompany her accompanying
044her is Rebecca Willie our literacy director for K5. Good evening, President Scovara, members of the board, Dr. Croto and cabinet. Today I'm going to be providing updates on Spalding. One minute go. So I'm going to start with what Spalding is and what it is not. So spelting is a structured literacy approach grounding in the science of reading. It is an explicit instruction in I'm sorry explicit systematic instruction in handwriting, phonics, and spelling. What it is not it's not a scripted program. It's not a replacement for all literacy instruction. It definitely requires supplemental especially in the areas of phological awareness and transfer to text. And it is definitely not a quick fix. It requires extensive training in con and consistent implementation. So what have we done to to date? So Countryside is in year three of
045implementation. They have all but two teachers that have been officially trained by Spalding. Those two teachers that have not been spalding are scheduled to be trained and there was some unforeseen circumstances on that. So, uh, but they do have, um, they have plans to get them trained, um, with Spalding coaches and then along with Rebecca Willie, they have conducted observations and then they have followed up with training. So, so far this year, we've had two trainings right after the observations um, along with one that's scheduled in February. And in order to figure out what other districts are doing with spalding, how they're implementing it, we went to Alhambor and observed their traditional school. We also went to Maricopa and observed a non-traditional school. And then we also had a phone call with Lavine on how
046they were implementing Spalding as well. [snorts] So as for kindergarten, I'm going to talk about the data. Uh so we know that all schools either use 95% or they use Spalding. Um two of which use Spalding. So when comparing schools who use 95% Thompson had the highest growth from beginning of the year to middle of the year with 48% whereas with the schools who are using Spalding Freedom had the highest growth with the 19%. for first grade. This is where we historically see a dip midyear and Miss Willie has done a phenomenal job about adjusting the scope and sequence to make sure that that students are exposed to text earlier in first grade to prevent this from happening in second grade. when we're looking at countryside for uh they've had a 3% increase and this
047second grade group of teachers this is their first year of implementation and this is the highest that they have been in three years. So what supports are in place at countryside? So Rebecca our K5 literacy coordinator has um definitely supported countryside this year. Um she like I said before she and Spalding has have created two sessions uh training sessions um with them along with uh feedback in walkthroughs. We also have another one in February coming up. Uh, Miss McNise has done a mid-year data analysis and after analyzing the data, she met with each of her teachers and they planned um they created an action plan event individually for each of those teachers. Um, and uh she also had u plans to monitor growth as well. Um and then obviously we're we'll continue to do classroom
048walkthroughs with feedback and then the teachers whoever come newly hires along with it the two that need to be trained will be trained this summer. So whenever we were talking to freedom teachers who are highly effective and have had multiple years of experience to spalding the two elements of Spalding that they say are the most important is the oral phonogram review and the written photogram review. So, OPR and WPR. And between those two, it really creates automaticity. It's kind of like math with the fluency. They really need it um to be able to be successful and automatically recall. So, with that, our next steps, we are um we're going to have two schools that have volunteered to have more of a modified Spalding pilot. So, what what I talked about was OPR and WPR. They're
049going to incorporate that into what they're doing right now. Um they're going to roll it out to um kindergarten through third grade and they're going to be receiving training in May and then anybody who is new to Daizert, we're going to make sure that we get the the training as well. And then we're going to constantly look at their data comparing this year to next year obviously uh beginning of year, mid year, and end of the year. So that concludes my presentation. Does anyone have any questions for me? >> I do. Um, can you provide clarification? Um, you said that with the Spalding that there's >> [snorts] >> um, supplemental components that are really required. Was I correct in hearing that it was the phonogram type of uh, supplementals that you guys need? >> It's
050phonological awareness. And I I'll turn it over to Rebecca. She's the guru of K3. >> Thank you. So the piece that often times we see and we also saw this um in Maricopa as well as Lavine is that um Spalding doesn't explicitly teach all of the components of phonological awareness. Phonological awareness is a big umbrella of many many skills um and it teaches a few of them but not all. So we find that we often supplement that skill as it is a a foundational prerequisite skill to all the other phonics. So what percentage are we supplementing with? >> Uh I don't have an exact percentage but I would say um we have mapped out and I do believe that about three of the 10 um phmic awareness skills are addressed explicitly in um Spalding. So
051we address the others through supplements. >> Okay. So seven of them. >> Okay. Okay. What is the cost of the supplementals? >> The cost? Well, we we already own um 95%. So, um I know Freedom uses pieces of the 95% um and it's it's those are the components that we would use. So, there's not a cost right now. >> Okay. Great. And for the automatic um [clears throat] sorry, I got to put my eyes on the rapid sound recall. Do you guys use like the Shirley method or what type of method are you guys using for that? >> So, Spalding calls it the oral phonogram review. Many other phonics programs call it visual and auditory review. It's basically the rapid recall of letters and sounds and then the ability to take a letter or a
052sound that a teacher is given and the student is transferring it to writing. Um, and so that's a a standard practice in many um other element in other um programs. Okay. Thank you. >> How is the training working? Um when you're or when you say Spalding coaching in February, is that training or is that coaching? >> So, it's both. So, we are working with the Spalding representative and she's come out um two separate times on a Monday afternoon to train um the teachers on the the different components. So we started with OPR and WPR and then followed up with walks to um observe that with the principal. Um and then the second part was word analysis and then the next part will be sentence construction. And so after that we've got two visits in February.
053She'll come out and train one day and then we're going to do um coaching walkthroughs with that same trainer on a separate day. >> Okay. Okay. And then with the teachers uh being trained in the summer, do we have a approximate cost with that. >> It's about $1,800 a person. >> Okay. Thank you. Um the other question I had, I know we mentioned um you know, phone calls with Lavine and uh I think it was Alhhamra. Um do we have where you know we rank in comparison for state assessments whatever we we're looking at? >> Okay. So I did compare schools that use Spalding and where we've gone and we are by far higher. That's with that's with freedom, >> right? >> Um the Maricopa school that we went to, they implemented full implement implementation
054and they went from and I don't know if this is directly related, right? But >> um it was noted that they went from an A to a C. Um, and then Lavine, they never told us. >> Okay. Okay. So, >> and then I'm sorry, one more thing. I apologize. U, we did ask Alhamra about their dibbles. They use something comparable to that dibbles and there was no increase or decrease. >> Just stayed the same. >> Yes. >> Okay. And do you happen to know like how long they've been using it? Like are they fairly new? Have they been using it a long time? Is this a transition period? >> Al Hamber has been using it many, many years. >> Okay. >> Maricopa, it seems to me three years, >> I think. >> Three or four
055years. And Lavine, I'm unsure. >> Okay. Thank you. I appreciate it. >> Can you tell me what the other two schools are that you're going to start using Spalding in? Do you >> It was Sunset in Marley Park. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> And we have a possible third of Riverview. >> Um when you guys stated that you conducted observations in house and with the Spalding coaches, what were the results? What did you see? What did you find? So the um one day that we did the observations with um our Spalding coaches, the feedback was basically keep going like they're they're new to it. They encourage them to um follow the sequence to follow many of the procedures that are laid out um the direct feedback and the indirect feedback. Um and and
056just like roving your classroom so that you're monitoring all students in the classroom. Um, and then the recommendation for Countryside was that we do additional training component by component so that teachers could get really, really good at one piece at a time instead of trying to take it all on all at once. And so that's what we've implemented based on their feedback. >> Okay. And what type of feedback are we getting from our teachers regarding it? Are they noticing I don't know any discrepancies? Are they I don't know. Go ahead. >> I'm looking at Principal Mcnes back there because they're her teachers, but I believe it's been generally very positive and especially with the training, the increased amount of training, I think it's hard to master everything. I'm going to look at you if I
057say something incorrectly, but I think it was a little bit overwhelming at first and now that we're taking it bit by bit. I think they're experiencing more success. Um, and when we're successful with something, we want to expend more energy to do it. Would that be Yeah. Okay. Thank you. >> Any more questions? No. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Next item on the agenda is section H number three, information on math curriculum. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Um I'll have Dr. Asai introduce our um math presentation. >> And thank you again, Mr. President. Uh, Miss Wilfford is going to stand as if she is and she is going to be joined by Mr. Frasier who will kick off our math updates. >> Well, good evening, uh, President Scavara, uh, governing board, Dr.
058Croto, and cabinet. Thank you again for having us here to talk about math updates and where we're at in our current process, uh, with the project that we're doing. So, what we're always continually doing, no matter what content it is, we're always reviewing data, seeing where we're at, and seeing how we can do better. And so when you look at this four-year trend, you can kind of see that we flatlined. We have a little bit of min minimal progress here and there, but overall you can see that we're basically remaining the same. So with that, we have to start figuring out what to do next. That continuous growth process. So some of the wise behind what we have found um from gathering from observational data talking to teachers talking to admin um and just what
059we're seeing is is some of these things in our practice our current practice with IM and just some of our teaching uh models is we're need we're needing to have strong management in the classrooms from the teachers. um the knowledge and the depth of knowledge of the standards that the teachers need. Um also a lack of explicit modeling by those teachers. Uh lack of spiral review inside of our practice and a lack of fluency built in. And a lot of those things should be going on on a daily basis. So what have we done so far? Um just like I said, we always observe, we get feedback from the field, and we figure out what to do next. And so the next piece that we did is we uh brought uh teachers, highly effective teachers,
060experts in the field, people that are doing uh that practice on day in and day out. And we talked to them. We brought them in and started to say, "What are you seeing? How are you getting those results? What are you adjusting?" And these are the things that they mentioned right there. Spiral review. They're building their own spiral review or working in their PLC's to build their own spiral review, making sure that kids continue to uh understand those concepts moving forward. fluency practice. Just like we were talking about with reading, we want to make sure kids have that basic fluency from grade level to grade level, especially as as they're building up in those primary grades. And then that modeling, it's that I do piece um where that teacher is explicitly sharing and and um
061verbally stating and demonstrating and modeling it for them visually uh the students on how they're to solve or to work through those problems. And then that check for understanding not just at the end of a unit or end of a lesson but through those different parts. So showing that the kids are actually ready to go to the independent piece and move on. The other things that we uh did as well uh we talked to uh teachers at Freedom. They're using Saxon which has some uh similar components um inside of it that are up there. It has that fluency practice. It has that spiral review and it has that direct model. So we carry those elements into our design and that's really where we're at now and the work that we're doing internally to move forward
062um to build this uh you know gradual release model this direct instruction model which Connie will talk about uh here right now. >> Okay. So our first step is we revisited the scope and sequence and you know that we have two benchmarks. One benchmark is in the fall and then one in this is in the spring. So next year our first benchmark is going to be in November and we wanted to make sure that 50% of essential standards are taught prior to that benchmark in November and then we wanted 100% of those essential standards taught um prior to the end of February. Um so we rescoped everything and then we designed a common template from kindergarten all the way up through high school uh based on the direct instruction method. And whenever I say direct
063instruction, it's I'm going to show you how to get from point A to point B, and I'm not going to have you try to discover it yourself. Um, and then we invited highly effective teachers to come in and uh and do the work for us. And um every so often, maybe every unit or two, we give it out to the field and give and have them give feedback because the teachers are the ones that are are are using it and they can they can tell us what we need to adjust. So here's an example of a fifth grade lesson. So on the left in the middle, you'll see if you clicked on it, uh there is a lesson. On the right, it's guided notes. And the guided notes are pretty much this student worksheet. So
064whenever the teacher is teaching, the student always has something to do. Um in the middle, um I'll go through just each component of the lesson. So the first one obviously is the lesson number and then you have your standards and and know in math sometimes you're going to see more than just one standard because a lot of the math will overlap. Um and in order to be able to teach all the standards throughout the whole year, you have to do that as well. Um then you have the learning target which is the goal of the lesson uh materials and then fluency as Andy was talking about. So fluency is something that you need to know um takes two three minutes and it helps get through the lesson. Um and then you go into the hook
065and this is kind of to grab the the students attention and then it goes on to the I do. So this is where the teacher models. They tell you exactly um what they're thinking, how they're going step by step. It's a whole metacognition strategy that they go through. Um, and then right after that, they'll stop and do a processing check for the students to make sure, were you listening to me? Do you understand where we gotten so far? And then we go on to the we do. So, as a teacher, um, I will, as a class, I will go through another problem with them. Um, and then once I'm walking around and I'm understanding, yep, they I think they understand, it looks like it, then I'm going to give it to maybe pairs or small
066groups. and it's you're going to do in another group I mean another problem um and then I'll do a check for understanding and at the very end is whenever the student will do the work by him or herself um so we can make sure that because we obviously know that on a state assessment there's only one person doing that assessment so we have to mimic that and then at the very end you'll have the exit ticket so we can use for our data what we need to do different in next uh the next next day's lesson um and then we also have the spiral review which is very imperative. Um, this something that I learned from Saxon is that it does not allow a student to forget. If you put spiral review in there from
067everything that I've already learned, there's more chances that I will always remember. And we know that as we grow older, we forget math very quickly when we don't use it. And this helps prevent it. And then here is an example of the guided notes. So this is what you'll see what the students will see in front of them. So they're always taking notes. um if the teacher is doing something, they're doing it. So there's no time um for um any of the students to be doing nothing. There's is always expectation that they need to be doing something. I'm going to pass it on to Andy. >> So as Connie mentioned, uh we're building a format and template that is basically K through 11th grade. Um where we expect our students all the way up through
068ACT to have a similar type of format because we know that they need this all the way through. And obviously for our teachers to be able to jump from one grade level to the next, they can take a look at it and it's the same kind of format. So it's a nice um template and flow that you'll be able to see all the way across the board. And so you can see this is an algebra 34 which is in our junior level typically. Um you can see that's the exact same format um as well. And we'll be building in a spiral review also in that grade level and some of our other grade levels that also builds in some ACT practice and gets them some of the gets them ready for that that assessment moving
069on. There are some of those key components again. So, what are we doing next? Uh, well, we have a couple different pieces that we're doing currently obviously to finish up this year, continuing to build and review um put them out into the field and uh have people practice with them um and making sure that they are ready to go. We'll be doing some trainings at the end of this year as well. But one thing that we will be doing uh for sure just like we have been where I started with on the uh first slide was we're going to analyze data. We're going to, you know, take it from you quantitative pieces and observational data. Um, hear and listen to our teachers. What are they, what are they seeing? What are we experiencing? Looking at
070our unit assessments, are we making progress from where we were in the past? So, we can compare year-to-year. Um, so we'll be doing that. Um, the other piece that we're looking to do is building preassessments. So, obviously each unit has a end of unit assessment, which we call a post assessment. We're also looking at building preassessments that teachers could utilize. And this helps drive um intervention but helps drive inter uh differentiation as well. And so you can determine is there any misconceptions that kids may have or is there information that kids already may know that maybe they that student could skip and advance and move on. So it helps us um know where our kids are at before we even start and that it can help us with pacing. Maybe there's uh lessons that we
071can just do a mini lesson on. Maybe there's something that we need to expand and dive a little deeper and maybe have some small group with. So those pre-assessments can be very helpful. The other pieces that we're looking at doing is we know our teachers um will have these lesson plans for their main lesson for all students, but at the end when we are finding that some of our students aren't able to do this with the instruction that they uh received in the whole group that there needs to be some remediation. So we're looking at designing some remediation lessons that would be a different approach um to instruction for those students. So a teacher could pull a group in the back of the classroom at the end, teach a different way, and hopefully those students
072would be able to grasp that concept. So having something at the teachers fingertips that they could utilize moving forward. And just like I mentioned earlier, um you know, about those pre-assessments, we're also looking at building a math screener that teachers could utilize um at different points in the year and see where our students are at. Just like I said, we always remediate and intervene um to move kids up and grow, but obviously we have advancement is always a key piece, too. So, how can we accelerate students moving forward? Just like you heard some groups earlier talk about, you know, we have kids in eighth grade taking algebra, right? Well, how can we continue to move kids in other grade levels forward to those next standards or a a higher level uh concept within that standard?
073>> Any other questions or anything for us? >> Thank you. Can you advise when you guys might uh plan to start seeing some of those results from this program? Well, I would say we're going to start monitoring right away in the beginning of next year. We can compare those, like I said, those unit data of one unit to unit. I think we're going to have to make sure that we're observing. Obviously, we're working with the schools and making sure that instruction is changing and compare um is this teacher utilizing this model compared to what we have been doing. Um so, really have those some of those comparison pieces, but I would I would hope we would see that pretty quickly in some of those classrooms if we know that they're implementing it uh with fidelity.
074>> And I'm gonna expand on that a little bit, Mr. Frasier, all of our test items are the same. We're just reordering them. So, we should have a really good read by unit one. Did our did our teachers do better. It is going to require our team to go out in the field a lot and kind of saying, "Okay, is this teacher green? Are they implementing it with fidelity?" The I do, we do, you do because it's really easy for teachers to skip over a part. You heard Connie say like part of what makes Spalding successful is it forces that I do, we do, you do, which is what we're mimicking here. So to say, okay, you know, campus X, here's where your teachers are. You might need to do some more PD around this.
075You know, you might need to do more walkthroughs to make sure we're enforcing that. And then we would, our hypothesis is if we are doing good modeling, then we should see an uptick within the first unit. >> Roger. Thank you so much. >> I just want to say thank you for your guys' hard work on this. Um, I'm I'm glad that we're focusing on our math curriculum now because I mean like you said this the numbers have just been stagnant. So I appreciate it. Thank you. >> Just want to say thank you. Um, you know I think we've, you know, continuously been focused, you know, on our results, but just seeing um, uh, what Dr. Asai said, you know, mimicking some of the things that have been successful in some of our more successful schools.
076maybe not, you know, mirroring the curriculum exactly um but mimicking those um approaches that have worked well. So, thank you for that. >> I also want to say thank you for your hard work in this. This is wonderful. I absolutely love Saxon math. I'm huge advocate for it. So, are we combining Saxon with the math that we currently have? Is that how we're doing this or? >> So, we are using as we're using it as a resource. So, there are times that we'll pull in Saxon and sometimes we won't, but we definitely go back to Saxon and make sure that we're kind of mimicking it. Um, so there you'll see kind of both. >> Okay. And I just want to make a comment. I talked to uh Dr. Asai about this. Um, I actually went
077into and I was working these examples because I I have no idea. I think it's like slide seven where it's 215* 14. When I was growing up, you just do it had, you know, the, you know, the five time four, carry the two, whatever. But this other way that's on here, I've never seen anything like that. I can see why kids are confused. that that to me is very confusing, but I understand that it's it's a standard that the state has and the kids have to learn it that way. Plus, they're [clears throat] going to learn it the way I grew up. But I don't know. I just thought that was very confusing. But I was told that it's a state standard. [laughter] >> Yes, it is a state standard. um with whenever you look
078at any curriculum, I mean with this one or even Saxon, they usually will do um a quick review of the previous grade level. And so in this particular case, I know exactly what you're talking about all that. >> Um in fourth grade, it does require all the extra of how to multiply. Fifth grade, you just had the standard algorithm. This lesson eventually gets to it, but um it also incorporates another standard of place value. So it's like those two standards being taught all at once while reviewing but also trying to get to a fifth grade standard. Yeah. >> So >> yeah, I can see the confusion. I could teachers too. I can only imagine [laughter] having to teach that but okay. Thank you. >> I if I could press um couple things. So this shows
079you and it's a great point member Drake on that. This shows you the complexity of what students need to do. It's more than adding numbers or multiplying numbers or being able to read. It's far beyond that in our state standards. Um and and second [snorts] and all the board has has picked up on this. Um they've made it look smooth and they've made it look pretty. You have no idea the difficulty of what sits in front of you and what experts in the field uh Dr. Sai, Connie, Andy, and all the other people involved in this. The complexity of what they put together is impressive. So, I can't say thanks enough um for their dedication, their hard work, all our expert teachers. Um there's a lot of work to in this. There's a lot of
080work to do, but I am excited about using this model and going to it and um and seeing the results for our kids, and that's what's important. So, I just want to shout out to everybody and say thank you for all the hard work. Appreciate it. >> Yes. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. Next um on the agenda is section I number one action discussion. So, it's approval of policy monitoring cycle revisions. >> Thank you, Mr. President. This comes as a uh as a governing board requested item at the last governing board meeting. Miss Destish, I believe, requested this on moving the policy cycle instead of every year to every three years. So, I will stand for any questions or board discussion. >> Yeah, I I'm not a fan of moving it to every
081three year. I think as a board member, you need to review your policies every year. So I that that's just my opinion. Um we should we should know our policies and I think reviewing them every year is a should re remain I I do have a question. Um because the way it's written it says with with additional reviews conducted as needed to comply with federal and state laws. Would this allow the board members to bring up a policy to get it reviewed if they wanted? Because the way it's written it's not really saying that. >> Mr. President. Um yes, that's the case. So obviously a board can request a review of any policy at any time. Um so that is still an option and policy is reviewed. what this refers to, I believe, and Miss
082Destich, if you want to um chime in on since it was your item, but um reviewed bring to the board any reviews or policy changes that are suggested by our legal team or law changes that may occur that those come to to the governing board every year. >> Um just some clarity on the the three-year cycle. I know in the past before we went into a one-year cycle, we it was for for lack of a better term almost like a lectionary where you would have, you know, parts of section one in year 1, parts of section one in year two, parts of section one in year three. So, it was still reviewed on an annual basis, but you're only but each policy or each portion you're only doing every three years. Is that h what
083how this is intended to be? >> Yes. Like we've already reviewed section policies one. >> So next year we would do the next group and it would be a rotation each year of like policies one, policies two, policies three just so that and any board member that gets elected, the first thing they should do is review the policies anyways. So to me for us to have to get 22 policies to review again just to verify that hey nothing else has changed. I mean that's up to you guys. I just personally thought if we could rotate them instead of every year looking at all five sections of our policies. >> I believe we've done one, two, and three this year already too. >> Any more discussion? All right, I open it up for a motion. Motion
084to approve the revision of the policy monitoring cycle to a standard three-year cycle with policies reviews review as needed to address federal and state laws. >> I second. All right. Next up on the agenda, action item or a for action discussion. >> Did that motion pass or >> No, the motion did not pass. It failed. >> We will continue on with section >> chapter 4 at the next meeting. >> Correct. Thank you. Next on the agenda, section I, action discussion, recommendation to approve appointment of elementary school principal for the 2026 2027 school year. >> Thank you, Mr. President. So, um I believe that's why our audience is out here. We've come to a exciting time in our agenda and uh Mr. Manley will introduce uh these items. >> Thank you, Dr. Crotto. Um Mr. Mr.
085President, governing board members. Uh there's four recommendations for principles here. Before I announce anybody, I'd like to just share that this was a competitive uh application process. It was very thorough. Uh as the principles that are being recommended tonight will tell you, it's probably a little stressful for them. Uh it included paper screening and in basket. Uh two different separate interviews with two different committees. Uh I will share with you the committees involved were teachers, support staff, other administration, parents from the community and it also included a support I mean excuse me a survey sent to all staff members at each of the schools that needed a principal. So there was a lot of information collected to make this important decision. It was extremely competitive and uh we had some quality quality applicants and uh
086I'm excited to announce the four tonight for you. So with that, uh the first uh recommendation uh to the governing board, I'd like uh it's my pleasure to introduce Guadalupe Alleos. He will be You have You have to stand. Sorry. It could be worse. I could bring you up here, but I'm I got a ringing this mic. It's killing me. Um uh Mr. Leos, uh what's really interesting that I want to share with you, he actually is a product from kindergarten to 12th grade of this school district. It's really exciting. Uh so um he's been uh with us for a very long time and uh he also has six years under his belt as an administrator in this district as well. Uh so uh we are recommending that you hire him for Elmarrage Elementary as
087the principal starting July 1 of 2026. Uh thank you. >> Thank you. I move to approve the appointment of Guadalupe Allejo as elementary school principal for the 2627 school year. Second. >> I I second it. >> Motion carries. Congratulations [applause] Mr. President, uh, governor board members, the second recommendation we bring to you tonight is Alicia Ashby. I'd like to share with you she started with the district in 2020 with administrative experience. I say that because I remember overseeing the interview process. It was a very competitive process and I remember her being one of our top candidates. And so I'm here tonight to share with you. She's got eight years of experience in administration and we are recommending to hire her for the principal ship at uh Rancho Gabriella. Will she have tough tough shoes to
088fill? >> So uh with that I'll I'll stand to the the board's uh decision. Oh, you got to stand up too. I would like to >> I move to approve the appointment of Alicia Ashby as elementary school principal for the 26 27th school year. >> I second. >> Motion carries. Congratulations. [applause] Mr. President, uh, governing board members, uh, the third recommendation we bring to the governing board, I'm excited to announce, uh, Cali Cashette. Uh, she has four years of administrative experience. Uh, our recommendation is to appoint her as the principal at Surprise Elementary starting uh, the new school year of 2026. And I would like to share also that Cali is a national board certified teacher as well. And she's standing without anybody prompting her. Very good. >> I motion to approve the appointment of
089uh Cali Cashette as elementary school principal for the 2026 27 school year. >> Second. >> Motion carries. Congratulations >> [applause] >> Mr. President, governing board members, the final uh recommendation uh where we're going to bring to you tonight is for Thompson Ranch's principal ship. Uh that is Ralph Kintana and uh he has four years of experience under his belt. I would also as a veteran myself recognize uh his service in the United States Armies as well as a veteran, numerous years with the army. So, I am proud to uh announce to the board uh and ask for uh an approval for his placement as principal at Thompson. >> Motion to approve the appointment of Ralph Kantani as elementary school principal for the 202627 school year. >> Second. >> Yes, >> mine went away. Yes. >>
090Thank you. Yes. >> Motion carries. Congratulations. [applause] >> Yeah, I see it. It is on. >> Yeah. So, the next item is the amendment to the donation agreement between the Daart Unified School District and Sunset Tortesso LLC. Uh, the reason that I asked for this to be pulled so we can have some discussion is I just I just want a little bit more background on it, honestly. Um, and I apologize for the extra effort, but um, to me it it just looked like that it's we're changing some dates and um, we may be giving the land back to the developer, but I just need clarification. Thank you, Mr. President. Um, yes. So, um, I will have, uh, actually Mary Del Spidel talk about it, but you were right in line. So, we signed a agreement
091roughly 10 11 years ago. Um, we have not developed that land, and by the agreement in 2014, I believe, um, if we had not moved and built a school site on that land, we need to give it back to the developer. And I will let Maryell um, Miss Spidell fill in anything that I missed. >> Yes. Thank you, Dr. Cotto. Yes. Um, President Scavar, that is correct. So, that is one where um, essentially Elliot Homes, they have that land and so obviously now since we don't have as a district any immediate plans to build a school in that community, obviously instead of having that sit as an empty parcel within their already developed um, home and community area, they are looking to exercise that repossession right. So, that has already been stated in that agreement.
092All this a final amendment does is just really um finalize what those specific um time frames and those dates are in the agreement. Um which is what the the amendment is for. It's just really finalizing what those agreement dates are. >> Quick question. Were we uh responsible for paying taxes on that land the entire time? >> No. So we have um it was it was in our name. So I'd have to look back and see what specific tax records there were. But um in the meantime, we had also been receiving uh parcel donations as well offsetting that as we owned that land. And so um I'd have to specifically look up any spec, you know, historical tax records. >> All right. Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Any other questions? >> Quick. Yeah, quick question.
093Just generally speaking, when we have developer donations of land, do we traditionally pay taxes on on those parcels? >> If it's a land that that we own, I mean, it is in our name. So, we do pay tax, you know, we do have property tax statements that we do receive for the various parcels of land that we do own. >> But this seems to be like provisional donation, like we're, you know, it was donated if we built on it. Am I understanding that correctly? So this specific land had already I mean it had been donated in our name. So we did already have that and recognize that as one of our donated land sites. So once that is really in the the name of the district, it is exercised as one of our properties. Um
094so essentially we do now have to revert this property back to to the initial homeowners or the developers. >> Got it. Thank you. >> Welcome. >> No further questions. Um, I motion to accept the amendment to the donation agreement between Desaart Unified School District and Sunset Tarteso LLC and authorize the assistant superintendent for business services to sign the agreement and any affiliated documents. >> Second Motion carries. Next on the agendum is our agenda is section J, request for fur future agenda items. Not hearing any. Um, next on the agenda, section, executive session. I call for uh an executive section pursuant to ARS 38-431.03 A1 [snorts] >> second. Motion carries. Yep. All right. Next on the agenda item is reconvening of the regular meeting. The governing board administration will return. Um action to discussion continued. action
095regarding a written summary of the superintendent's uh per the superintendent's mid-year performance evaluation for the 2025 2026 school year. I make a motion that the superintendent is satisfactory progressing towards achievement of the approved goals for the 2025 2026 school year. >> I second. [snorts] I'm going to vote yes. I can't get in. >> Motion carries. >> A motion to adjourn the meeting. >> Second. Motion carries. Meeting is adjourned.