001Good evening. At this time, I'll call the meeting of the DAART governing board to order. Let the record reflect that all board members are present. And uh we will start with the pledge of allegiance. Oh, >> by Rancho Gabriella. Turn that way. Okay. Turn that way. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, for liberty and justice for all. >> [applause] >> Wonderful job. Thank you so much students. All right, moving to item A2, the adoption of the agenda. I move to adopt the agenda as presented. >> Second. Motion carries. Moving to uh recognitions and celebrations. Dr. Croto. >> Thank you, Madam President. Tonight we have Sunset Hills Elementary uh here to perform and uh Mr. Mui will introduce our guests.
002>> Thank you, Madame President, members of the board. Dr. Croto and guests. Uh tonight we are very happy to have the choir from Sunset Hills, the Bobcats, here to perform under the direction of Mr. Randall Badgard. [applause] We appreciate the invitation to perform for you this evening. This is our seventh and eighth grade choir. This is our afterglow choir, our our varsity uh choir. We're going to perform a piece for you called Kaleidoscope, which was featured at our fall concert that we did in connection with Shadow Ridge High School. >> [singing] >> Don't [singing] look away. You'll [music] miss the show. We're changing what you think you know. [singing and music] A brighter world that we define with every [music] change. We'll show you what [singing] we got. We're like a kaleidoscope. [singing and music]
003We're like a kaleidoscope. We're like a kaleidoscope. And everyone [music] know [singing] you'll see how beautiful it [singing] can be. We're so connectetic and real, [music] you and me. We're like a [singing] kaleidoscope. We're like a kaleidoscope. We're like a kaleidoscope. [music] Come on, let's go. Let's go. [singing] [music] Let's go. Here in the space [singing] we [music] occupy transforming like a butterfly. We're taking [singing] on another form. You'll see. But don't expect the norm. Each one [music and singing] of us will build a larger work of art beyond. [singing] We are [music] exceptional. Exceptional. We're like a kaleidoscope. [singing and music] We're like a kaleidoscope. We're like a kaleidoscope. Oh wo. And everyone that we know [music and singing] is all a part of the flow. And now we're ready to go. Oh wo.
004Just take a look and you'll see how [singing and music] beautiful we can be. We're so free. Yeah. You and me. We're like a kaleidoscope. [music and singing] We're like a kaleidoscope. We're like a kaleidoscope. Come on. Let's go. >> [singing] >> Let's go. [music] Let's go. [applause] [singing] We feel the motion and changes. Our lives are [singing] going through stages. We want to shape a world that portrays us [music] each [singing] [music] going through stages. We [singing] want to shape a world that us [singing] are like [singing and music] everyone [singing] ready to go. Just take a look and you'll see [singing] how we [music] can be. We're so kinetic and real, you and me. We're like a [singing] kaleidoscope. We're like a kaleidoscope. [music] We're like a kaleidoscope. See us changing [singing] around.
005This is a generation. >> Let's go. >> [applause] [applause] >> Excellent performance. Thank you. [clears throat] Next we have item B2, National Merit Scholarship. Dr. Croto. >> Thank you, Madam President. Uh, tonight we have a very, very special guest joining us, uh, Mr. Nicholas Schneider. Uh, Nicholas, could you stand up, please? Thank you. We're going to have you up here for a picture in a second, but let me let me tell you about Nicholas a little bit. Nicholas is a senior at Shadow Ridge High School and he's been named a National Merit Semi finalist in the 2026 National Merit Scholarship Program. Um he's a third-year engineering student who aspires to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Um okay, so what about the national semi-finalist? While only the highest scoring students in the state are named
006semi- finalists out of over 1.3 million high school juniors uh that take the PSAT National Merit semi-finalist qualifying test each year. So 16,000 out of that 1.3 million or less than 1% of all high school seniors in the US advance to be semi- finalists. And uh we have one of them standing right there in front of us. [applause] So, congratulations, Nicholas. Nicholas is going to be go on to be a candidate for a finalist. They will uh name 6,930 U merit scholars, which is worth a lot of money. So, I'm sure mom has a big smile on her face there, too. Um, and that's going to be awarded in the spring. So, we will keep you uh posted for that. But, uh, Nicholas, congratulations. Thank you. Um, good luck to you. Um, you're going to
007go a lot of places. I know they want uh national semi-finalists at every college. So, um, thank you for being awesome and we're going to take a picture with you. So, if you come on up, uh, we'd love to take a picture with you. All right. Next up, we have U item B3. And I'll go ahead and introduce this item. Is that okay? >> All right. The board is going to recognize this evening the city of Surprise City Manager, Mr. Bob Wingenroth. Bob, thank you. As the city manager of Surprise, you have been an invaluable partner to our district, consistently demonstrating your commitment to public education and community well-being, your support for our school resource officers and school safety officers. Your strong leadership in the transition of the Vista and steadfast advocacy during our override
008and bond efforts have all made a lasting impact. Bob, you have supported critical safety initiatives, including the Hawk light and improved traffic controls at our schools. You have ensured the district had access to vital city resources. Your dedication to school safety and your role in strengthening the relationship between the school district and the city have been truly instrumental. I am grateful for your unwavering support and the difference that you have made for our students, staff, and community. Thank you, Bob. If you could stand, please. [applause] Well said. Then Bob, I I will ask if the other board members have any comments before I make mine and we'll take a picture with Mr. Wing and Roth. >> I know we really do appreciate all you've done. So, thank you. >> Um I I will say Bob's
009relationship um with Desaert Unified School District has made a difference to uh thousands of lives of kids. Uh Bob, as you said, President Densmore um ha has been there for us at every turn uh no matter what we need. Uh he is a great resource. He is a friend of this district. And Bob, we are sad to see you go, but excited for your new opportunities. So on behalf of the district um and everybody involved, I want to say thank you. Thank you for your dedication to this city and thank you um for what you've done for our district. So thank you very much. We have a uh plaque here for Bob. If Bob could come up, it says, "Thank you for your dedication and support for the Daart Unified School District to Mr. Bob
010Wingroth, city manager. All right. Next, we have uh item B4, the special recognition. I'll hand that to Dr. Cartto. >> Thank you, Madam President. Um, in my update tonight, I will talk a little bit more about our bondo and override uh efforts that uh just went through recently. Um, but we'd like to recognize a gentleman um who made a huge difference to our district this year. Uh, he spent countless hours advocating for the Desaert Unified School District. Uh, worked hard, gave up work opportunities. Um, his wife Margaret had set aside many things in order for him to uh dedicate a great amount of time. So, we are definitely in debt um to Mr. Mike Panetta for all your efforts and everything you've done um to change the lives of the kids in this district. So,
011Mike, if you could come up uh we just want to recognize you, take a picture and say thank you for all you've done. Um we can't ever repay you. So, thank you. Mike's plaque reads, "Thank you for your dedication, time, and hard work in support of Daert schools. Okay, next up we have a public comment. This is the time for the public to comment. Members of the board may not discuss items that are not specifically identified on the agenda. Pursuant to ARS 38-431-01 section H, action taken as a result of public comment will be limited to directing staff to study the matter, responding to any criticism or scheduling the matter for further consideration and discussion at a later date. In order to facilitate accomplishing the business of the district in a timely manner, a time
012limit of 3 minutes will be imposed for each individual or group addressing the board. When you approach the podium, please state your name for the record. Lisa Everett. [clears throat] My name is Lisa Everett. Good evening, board members, staff. I'm here to speak about something that happened at the last meeting. At that meeting, board president Don Dinsmore brought forward a resolution opposing BNSF interotal hub in Woodman. The resolution was properly introduced. It was seconded was fully within the authority of this board to consider. On November 5th, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors voted against BNSF's comprehensive plan. The city of Surprise has passed a resolution in opposition. Pora, Showa, and Natabberg school districts have all taken a stand publicly, and our own senator Jana Champamp has been outspoken on the issue as well. These are not
013fringe voices. These are elected leaders, governing bodies, community organizations directly responsible for safety, traffic, infrastructure, and well-being of the families in the West Valley. Yet, when this board had the opportunity to join them in taking a stand for the health and safety of our students, three board members chose not to. During the discussion, one board member asked, "Who authored the resolution?" That question was telling. It revealed an assumption that because I have been active and vocal in opposing BNSF, the resolution must have come from me. It did not. In fact, the question made the motivation behind the no vote particularly clear. When the votes were tallied, three of you voted against the resolution designed to protect students from increasing traffic dangers, air quality concerns, emergency response limitations, and one thing stood out above everything else.
014Your personal dislike for me was more important than the safety of the children. Let me repeat that. You allowed your personal politics, personal grudges, personal animosity towards one individual to outweigh your duty, every child who rides the bus, walks to school, breathes the air, or travels on our road. That is not leadership, and it is certainly not what parents and taxpayers in this district elected you to do. You cannot bring yourselves to vote in the interest of the students. And if personal revenge means more to you than public safety, I am asking you to resign. Our students deserve board members who can set aside their grievances. Vote based on facts, safety, and the well-being of children entrusted to them. If you cannot or will not do that, stepping aside is the most honorable thing you
015can do for this community. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next up, William Conium. >> I had comments prepared. However, Dr. Crotos offered to meet with me to discuss those uh issues privately. So, I'm going to, you know, table my comments for now. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Did we just have those two? Thank you. Next up, we have um student update. >> Thank you, Madam President. Tonight, we do have a student update and uh Mr. Mui will introduce our student representative. >> Madame President, members of the board, Dr. Croto, uh tonight we have Ben Trong coming back to join us. He's from Shadow Ridge High School, a senior, and uh working with our our district student council, student government, and all the work they're doing around the holiday season. So Ben, thank you for
016being here and we look forward to this update. >> Thank you. Um, good morning madame president, governing board, Dr. Croto and cabinet. My name is Ben and I'm the senior class president of student council at Shadowidge High School and the president of DLC. At our most recent meeting, we shared campus updates and celebrated the strong involvement and creativity students are bringing into this upcoming winter season. Shadow Rage has had three extremely successful events. starting with their trunk or treat, an event that is well- loved by our community. Then with a canned food drive, which had had the most participation in school history with multiple classes having more than 15 pounds of food. Lastly, our annual talent show had a record amount of people almost packing the entire auditorium. Willow Canyon reportedly had an extremely successful
017homecoming with over 1,000 tickets sold and celebrated National Psychology Week by creating staff goodie bags and personalized posters. while looking into more ways to engage with the community by attending volunteer volunteering events at Phoenix Children's Hospital for the holiday season. Val Vista also celebrated its homecoming spirit week with a Dr. Seuss themed dance and spirit week and also a successful powder puff games and a color wars event which is always an awesome hit among their campus. Also, along with an ESS Thanksgiving event and and strong ticket sales, Daizart High School celebrated a homecoming with over 600 students in in attendance and continues building a service-driven culture through community events like their golden retriever volunteer day and angel gift program and their upcoming hoopcoming dance. Sundown M Sundown Mountain is engaging students through their canned food
018drive, home room competition games, and an upcoming November field day and a campus career day. And to end it all, all four of our schools also hosted multiple eighth grade tours and future freshman night for the middle schools within our district to showcase each of our schools unique features to encourage the upcoming generation to be involved and active in school programs. Districtwide, students continue to lead with purpose, enthusiasm, and service as we are preparing for the end of an extremely successful and eventful semester. Thank you. [applause] >> Good job, Ben. Thank you. All right, we'll move on to item D2, superintendent update. >> Thank you, Madam President. Uh, just a few um few quick updates. First, I want to uh inform you and and and let the public know that Francancy Walsh Bowman, our director
019of finance and Mary Dell's department, was appointed to the school finance advisory committee by the audit auditor general's office and AD to serve uh one of their seven district member representatives. So, this is a four-year appointment and committee members get to impact potential uh USFR changes and provide district financial perspectives to the state agencies. So we are very very excited about that and want to send a congratulations to Francancy for that. Um also um as I mentioned earlier when we recognized Mr. Planetta that um you know we we just recently uh most of you know went through a bond and an override election. So we are very pleased to to uh have a successful override election. Eight we won that by about 1,800 votes. So, thank you very much uh to everybody that participated in
020that voting. Uh that is a very uh important piece of this district and um I just want to thank everybody that uh participated in that. Additionally, um we did have a bond um question on there and that failed by about 573 votes unfortunately. So, uh, coming up real soon, um, after the holidays, we will get busy on trying to prioritize what we're going to do to, uh, set, um, set a plan to address some of those needs that that we have and try to figure out a way. But, um, I just want to thank everybody again, Mr. Planetta, city council, all of our city councils, uh, which and we have, uh, Mayor Sarter here tonight and Councilman Jud. Um, the city of Surprise has been amazing. our firefighters association, this governing board. Um, everybody went
021all out to make a difference for this district. And I can't thank everybody enough um for everything they've done um and the efforts they put in. And I'm sure I'm missing some because there were many, many, many, many people um that participated or um and I just want to say thank you on behalf of the district. Thank you. And uh that's all I have. >> Thank you, Dr. Croto. Next up, we have item D3, governing board update. >> I just want to take the time and mimic what Dr. Croto said. Uh, I appreciate the support we received from the community for the override. That's it. >> Good evening. Um, I want to I have a few things that I attended, so I apologize if it's a little long. Um, on November 3rd, I attended a
022or actually I visited uh Butterfield Elementary School in Maricopa. Um, we we went to observe the Spalding program in action. And during the visit, we observed kindergarten through fifth grade classrooms where teachers demonstrated the implementation of the program. And this visit provided valuable insight on how the Spalding approach supports literacy development, phonics, and writing instruction across all grade levels. I just want to say thank you to our district for allowing me to go and attend and the opport and thanking the um Butterfield School um for having us and we had great feedback. Then on 11:5 I attended the band jam where all four of our high schools uh showcased their incredible music talent. Each performance highlighted the dedication, skill, and school pride of our student um musicians. It was a fantastic evening celebrating the outstanding
023band programs across our district. And on 11:10 I attended the veterans parade and just want to thank everyone for their service. It was an honor to be there. And let's see uh today I attended um the school visit at Freedom Traditional. Just want to give a shout out to Principal Crowe and uh assistant principal Lundberg. Thank you for a wonderful visit. It was wonderful dialogue with the teachers, staff, students, and parents. And let's see. And then this afternoon, I attended the purple star celebration at Valley Vista. Um, I just want to say thank you for letting me be part of this special celebration. Um, it's really inspiring to see our school come together to support military families and show what being a Purple Star School means. Um, Valley Vista is our third school that's participating
024in the program. So, I just want to congratulate them on the on a great uh celebration. And then I just want to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving and enjoy your time with family and friends. So, that's all I have. Thank you. On uh Monday, November 3rd, I visited the Mountain View Elementary School and we had a great visit. Uh it was nice to hear from the parents, staff, teachers, and students. And today I went to the uh for a school visit at the Freedom Traditional Academy School. And I also want to thank uh principal Amy Crowe and assistant principal Amy Lundberg for the great job they are doing as new leaders of the school. And I enjoyed visiting the traditional type of classes that Freedom provides. And it's nice that DICE, our district has different
025types of schools for parents to choose from. Thank you. >> On November 4th, I attended our election night uh watch event. Um just very grateful for all of the voters that supported the budget continuation or override. While our community chose to not support the bond measure, I do remain hopeful that we'll continue to seek out creative alternative funding to fulfill at least some of our higher priority asks. Uh on November 5th, I attended the Desaart Band Jam as well. Always an amazing evening supporting our students and DART's incredible marching band directors. On Veterans Day, I attended the City of Surprise Parade. It was an honor to be part of this event honoring and celebrating the sacrifice of all of those who have served. And this morning I also attended the uh visit with Freedom Traditional.
026I do appreciate all of the staff, student, and parent panels who provided valuable insight. And that's all I have. >> Sorry, I'm probably going to be a little long because I had to write it all out. I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to the district for maintaining our A rating and [snorts] to Dr. Croto, the cabinet, our teachers and students and administrators for their outstanding hard work and dedication in achieving this continued success. I had the pleasure of visiting Mountain View Elementary and Freedom Traditional Academy where I truly enjoy hearing from our teachers, students, school administrators, and parents. Their perspectives on how our schools are doing are invaluable, and I sincerely appreciate all they do to support and ensure student success. I also had the privilege of attending Canyon Ridge Ridg's Veterans Day
027ceremony and Marley Park's Veterans Day assembly. It was truly moving to witness the commitment the principles, the teachers, and the students who worked so diligently to honor our veterans through such meaningful and heartfelt ceremonies. Watching Band Jam was an absolute blast. And we are fortunate to have incredibly talented high school marching bands in our district. And I also attended on Friday the district honor choir concert which once again showcases the strength and excellence of our district's arts programs. And a special hats off to the master of ceremonies, Logan McDonald and Amanda Mouti. I hope I said that right. If not, I apologize. >> [gasps] >> Lastly, it was an honor to attend the Valley Vista Purple Star Celebration. As a military child myself, I know firsthand how challenging it can be to go from school
028to school. So, to see our schools working so hard and it's so meaningful to these families. So, that's all I have and I appreciate it. Thank you. Okay, next up we have the um item E1, the consent agenda. I will entertain a motion motion to approve consent agenda as items as presented. Motion carries. Sorry, one second. Okay. Uh, moving on to item G1. Dr. Croto. >> Thank you, Madam President. Uh, tonight we have uh two school spotlights and we will begin um with Sundown and Shelley will or Dr. Asai will introduce um our schools for us. Dr. Asai. >> Madam President, members of the board, Dr. Croto. It is with great pleasure that I introduce Sundown Mountain under the direction of Prince Musi. [applause] Thank you. Thank you. Good evening, President Densmore, members of the
029governing board, Superintendent Croto, and guests. My name is Anat Musei and I'm the very proud principal of Sundown Mountain Alternative Education Program. Thank you for the opportunity this evening to share a little bit about Sundown and what we do to help support Daart students. We are a small but mighty program of one administrator, one counselor, four classified staff, and 12 teachers. Our program exists in order to get students caught up on their high school credit. We also host host middle school students that have been referred for behavioral needs as well as house the district's high school program for our credit recovery student referrals. There's many reasons as to why a student uh may have failed classes and lost credit during high school along the way, but primarily our referrals come from um students with the
030reasons listed. Our high school students are predominantly 11th and 12th graders, although we do have a few sophomores this year as well. What makes us unique is that our classes are only nine weeks long versus 18 weeks on the traditional campus. Our students are able to earn four uh credits four times a year at the end of each quarter rather than two times a year at the end of each semester. A typical Sundown student will take four classes a quarter with the ability to earn two credits per quarter or eight credits total for the year. That's compared to a student on a traditional campus that would earn six credits for the year. Here's some data from last year regarding the number of credits earned on average per student per quarter. Many of our students take
031advantage of other opportunities such as zero hour that we offer and they're able to earn much more than two credits a quarter. With Daart uh having their own credit recovery program, we're able to not only assist with the graduation rate of the home campuses, but we're also giving these students the opportunity opportunity to graduate with their own class. We were able to graduate 114 students last year, which may otherwise have had to return for a fifth year of high school, which can affect the graduation rate, or they may have dropped out completely due to feeling discouraged or overwhelmed. How are we able to achieve this success? One of Sundown's amazing teachers is going to explain some of the things we do at Sundown, both in and out of the classroom. Hi, my name is Julia
032Coutell. I'm an English teacher at Sundown Mountain and I'm really honored to be here to share some things about the school with you. What we have here are some fundamental differences that we believe between our program, for example, and maybe what you might see at the home school. We have frequent and individualized communication, incentives for positive reinforcement. There's an advisory that we refer to as houses that supports our positive culture and gives us an opportunity for many lessons for success. There's real world connections with our senior experience and field trips etc. And then of course our teacher team collaboration as Miss Muci said there's only 14 of us. So we wanted to talk a little bit about our PLC because that looks really different at our school site. So we started um with the framework
033over on the left hand side. This is a diagram of our our process so to speak with the research the top 10 skills preferred by employers because that was a way for all of us to address a common goal that was really important. So we broke those 10 down as a staff and looked at them and you can see that active learning and um learning strategies is highlighted there and we chose that one with asking ourselves those questions like what skill would have the most impact, greatest student need, be measurable, etc. So once we determined the active learning and learning strategies was our goal, we broke that down under those subsklls you see there and we really honed in on the organization skills which we know is a foundation for academic success. So we took
034that to say let's focus first on the calendaring the prioritizing to-do lists etc. So we launched that in our classrooms as well as in our advisory. And one of our recent lessons in our mini advisory for example was just learning to use your Google calendar. Um calendaring certain academic things and then we gave them the option and kind of the encouragement personal things, workrelated tasks etc. So this is what a day in the life looks like for us which is a lot of circles up here. So we can use our regular bell schedule as an anchor if you will. And you'll see that zero hour um starting with what Ms. Musei mentioned was optional and our instruction which is traditional you know and and group work and then we have some courses like our electives
035which are individualized and and self-paced and so forth. But then you can see that 10-minute that's that advisory those houses over here on the right side with the students. It helps us to build the personal connections that we have found so critical to our students success and their buyin. You can see on the left hand side almost like a border those are our house posters where each student chose a name. It was a retro theme. So you see team titans and friends and Looney Tunes and so forth. So they chose team colors and they made a sign. So in in uh home room we utilize those mini lessons but we also have friendly celebrations and competitions you see on the lower right once a month we do minute to win it or could be dodgeball
036or other kinds of things to build the camaraderie and positive morale. So on the bottom hand side, this is going to relate to our AE that 30 minute block and it's anchored by that orange list which our teachers meet once a week um to determine what students their grades their behavior and their attendance. So those orange bars you see denote students who would have all three of those things positively in their favor. C's are above, no referrals or any other kinds of infractions and um perfect attendance for that particular week. We revisit it every week. So the students who are on the orange list, they receive they're called up for an orange lanyard. It's big honor. Then they were able during that 30 minute block to go to the breakout rooms for pingpong or other
037kinds of fun types of things. While on the left hand side of the circle that 30 block is 30 minute block is used for tutoring for makeup work because those would be students who would have missed school or would be below our you know our academic threshold of the C's or above. So ultimately we just feel really fortunate, really thankful that we're able to have our small class sizes. we feel like we're able to experiment and implement some of these smaller types of programs that we feel are um really important for our success. >> Thank you. And we just wanted to thank you again for having us this evening and allowing us to celebrate and share um sundown with all of you. We're happy to answer any questions you may have. >> I have uh
038one question. I see that houses is capitalized. Is that an acronym for something or >> Well, it started we we kind of brought this back but um kind of some years ago before COVID and and so forth. Um it was one of our teachers who's here that had the ideas that how can we make a home room more personal and so it was based on like the Harry Potter houses. And so even though we don't make that that connotation a big deal anymore, it's just the idea that we aren't just in a group, we aren't just in our advisory like we're connected as a family or a house. So we kind of it's not really an acronym, but it's kind of our special word. >> I appreciate that. Thank you. >> Be cool if it
039was. [laughter] >> Yeah, we should work on that's our next contest. >> I love the framework here, you know, with the the the the skills preferred by preferred by employers. I think that um is really going to get those students thinking about, you know, their future and how they can sell themselves, you know, to potential employers going going forward. So, that's so cool. Um I really love your presentation and um just thank you very much for all you do. I'd like to thank you also for helping these students get a second chance. So, it's great great work. I was going to say 114 graduates last year. That's really impressive. And so, thank you guys because these are kids that would be left behind. So, appreciate all. >> I just want to say thank you. Thank
040you for what you do. Uh you're a very special group over there and you make a difference, a huge difference. And every year I look forward to that graduation ceremony where we get to celebrate all those kids where you change their lives. And so you have a special staff and and you guys do great work. So thank you for all you do every day. Appreciate that a lot very much. >> I absolutely love the orange list and your breakouts. This is wonderful. I can only imagine the the type of feedback you're getting from this. This has probably been a very positive thing for the kids. >> It has been. At first, you know, it's like we're doing what competition and then now It is like >> I bet it's great and it absolutely is motivating
041them. We are seeing the grades go up turning orange every week >> and so it's been really exciting >> and from the perspective of being in the classroom when they make those announcements at the certain point it's every Tuesday because every Monday it changes and you know if their name is called for receiving the orange list there is a lot of excitement. It's fun. I bet. >> And they actually wear the orange lanyard. You know, that's kind of the pass to go to the breakout room. So, yeah, it's cute. >> It's great. Good job. Thank you. [applause] >> Continuing on Dr. side. >> And our next school to present under the principal I'm so sorry Mr. Andrew Greel is the pres principal I promoted you obviously of Sunset Hills Elementary and his team will now
042be present. >> Here we go. I'm Andrew Gus. I'm the principal of Sunset Hills Elementary. Um good evening madam president, members of the governing board, Dr. Croto. Uh tonight we are going to talk about the PLC process. Um I'm going to introduce my third grade team. I have uh Miss Angela Rocky, Miss Tracy Satcher, Miss Jennifer Sneezik, and Miss Sheila Kaiser. Uh this team puts students first every time. Uh their consistency in the past for four years, they've shown great prof uh let me go to the next slide. How about that? There we go. Again, it's being my first year there. It's been difficult, but it's been it's been a learning experience. And again, when you come in and you meet people like these people, it makes your it makes your life a lot easier.
043So again, that's why I have them here. Um, and I want them to share the what how they run their the function of the PLC. So without further ado, I have Miss Kaiser. >> Good evening, Madame President, Governing Board, Dr. Croto, and the rest of our guests. I get to be the lucky spokesperson for this team. Um, I guess I was voted it. I didn't do this quick enough. Um, so this is my team, but this is definitely not a onewoman show. These guys are the reason why I am the teacher that I am today is working with these extraordinary professionals. Um, so we're going to talk a little bit about our PLC and how that works. We focus on those four questions. The first one, what do we want our students to know? Part
044of what happens before we ever walk in the door on the first day of school is that we form a pacing and planning guide for all of our subject areas for the all four quarters. And obviously that is up for change because life happens. But this is what we do before even day one of school happens. Um we also if you'll see in quadrant 2 there's a data sheets that we fill out for every um major assessment that we give. This drills down our assessments down to questions, individual questions per students so that we can look at the actual individual question that the student has either uh been successful or not successful on and then address what it is that we will do in the future to remedy that situation. You'll also see in quadrant
045uh four that is a priority planning around essential standards. Planning is critical. It seems sometimes that people think that planning is the easy part. But it is uh quite a commitment to plan and plan strategically. So you'll see there a desk when we plan we have we all take a different subject area and we share it but we'll have everything out on our desk from our scope and sequence to our curriculum to the DART uh uh priority standards to the Arizona standards to even the ASA specifications on different questions as we plan each and every day that our students uh come to our classes and what we want to accomplish in those uh classes. Our next one is what do we what form uh formative assessments do we use? One thing we've noticed on our
046team is that we can get most of our kids to reading at grade level by the end of the year for the most part, but that is not often showing up on our AASA scores when they take those comprehension pieces. So we found that our curriculum is lacking in some of those DOK 2 and three area questions. Those are those higher level questions. So we develop um a weekly skills test that they take. We use what the curriculum gives us, but we add other DOK2 and higher questions that our kids are exposed to throughout the year. We also create uh Luminate, which now I think is called Renaissance CFAs that are based upon essential standards in ELA. So when they take one of those, it might be one or two essential standards and then we
047can track those kids through that time process on what they have accomplished and what they still need work on. In math, um I'm going to skip to the second part. Um our curriculum offers cool downs each lesson for our math which is one practice question. we found that that's not quite enough on [snorts] so several days a week we add to that on a schooly assignment which our students have are given additional practice. One of the things that I think has made us exceptionally um successful in math is that we do something called a cumulative review. So our students might be getting questions in quarter 4 that they learned in quarter 1 so that we're constantly rotating those skills and making sure that they have not forgotten what they've learned. Um, our next question would
048be, what do we do if they've learned it? What do we do if they don't? If they do not learn it, especially in the reading, we send home fluency folders that our students are participating in with parents to get those reading fluency scores up. Our small group is uh directed by those assessments. Matter of fact, in in math, it's immediate feedback. Since our kids are taking those assessments on assignments on Schooly, we immediately know what they have uh success on and th and those who have not had shown proficiency are pulled over immediately into a small group and that is addressed at that moment. Um if they do know it, we have a teacher that designs these beautiful choice boards that are extension activities that our kids um participate in. The EXL program which I
049believe is purchased by you guys if I remember right is um a huge asset for us. We use it both for our kids in intervention and we also use it for our kids in enrichment and that has proved a very very valuable tool for us. [snorts] Um growth over time is something that we value in third grade. We all of our kids these are graphs that our children have made. They graph their progress. They set their own goals. But one thing we want to focus on is their growth and not always proficiency. Because if we have students that come in that are already two grades below, they're not going to show proficiency right away. But they do show growth and that should be celebrated because that affects the students willingness to continue to try and
050put forth the effort. So we find that is uh very important that we track those and that we keep our student needs. This also help us challenge students that already have reached those goals. Oh, and this is my favorite slide. This is the important part. What makes our PLC work? So, we're going to start with our we have a common goal and our common goal are those standards. We are laser focused on that. We spend all of our time working on figuring out what kids need to know, how we get there, and what we need to do as teacher. We are teachers. We are very organized. We work coherently and cohesively. We share a Google doc for our lesson plans where we all input up on that. That's a live document. We share a schooly
051group where all of our kids are exposed to some of the same assign assignments. Everyone does their fair share in our our team. And so that's important. But I think the most important thing is the commitment. The ladies that are standing behind me are committed to their kids and they're also committed to each other. Oh, did we say yes? Oh, sorry. And the gentlemen, too. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Mr. Gracel. But these these guys are just they're solely committed to what we do. And PLC's take time to perfect. So, what you're seeing here in the four ladies is almost 70 years of experience in teaching. You're seeing um at least two at least a decade at Sunset Hills alone and some of us almost two decades. You're seeing a team that has worked together, some
052of us for 10 years, together on the same team in the same grade level. That is extremely rare and extremely important in keeping the the level of performance that we're able to do. That teacher retention and the teacher us being able to keep teachers that know what they're doing and so that we outnumber those newbies that are coming along so we can take them under and help them become what we are. is is just I I can't tell you how invaluable it is. So, that's the end of our presentation. I thank you for letting us share what we do at Sunset Hills, especially on my team. And you can tell I kind of like these ladies. My husband calls us the pink ladies. I'm not sure if it's a compliment or a a diss on
053us, but that's what we are. So, if you have any questions, uh we would welcome them at this time. >> I just I just have one question first on the intervention part. the reading home fluency uh folders that you guys send at home. That's an awesome idea. I've I've always had um been a advocate for parents getting more involved in education and whatever we we as a parent can do to help teachers. It's an excellent program. >> That would be this lady here. She does. Every one of those have a part in that stuff up there. But thank you. >> And and so here's one question on that though. How do we know that the the parent is being involved and they're coming back? >> Has to be signed every year. Signed every day. >>
054All right. And if it's not, then we use some other methods to help because some kids will not have that support. And we have some kids that English is their second language. Their parents aren't able. >> So, we do have um tutors that come in from our NJHS that can work with those kids. Sometimes we have to pull them over and do that work for them because they can't get that done at home. But it's checked every day. >> Awesome. I appreciate that. And being third grade, I know third grade is a huge building block year for the students. So being able to have a good PLC and that team that you've just expressed. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> I have a question regarding the weekly skills test. >> Yes. >> And
055your um and the math where you're given additional questions. Are you seeing a an increase? Are you seeing progress with those? >> So our math has been very successful. We've been doing that for a few years. Okay. we just added the um the higher do and our kids are struggling a little bit with it. So, we're we're um adjusting and trying to help them walk through that process of what do those words mean and how do we so we won't know until AASA this next time and then it's hard because it's different kids that we're comparing to so we still won't know for sure but I think that we will see some growth there >> because I think that's a great idea the the additional information that you can provide I think helps especially going
056over it weekly like that so it keeps it in their minds. So, I think that's great, too. And then I'm just going to piggyback off the fluency folders. I absolutely love that idea. And that the fact that the kids can also track their um their growth and their proficiencies. I love that. So, because it keeps them involved and they want to know how they're doing each time. So, I'm just a big advocate for that. So, thank you. I appreciate you guys doing that. >> Thank you. Mr. Gracel, I just want to thank you for starting off saying how difficult it was. Um, I know that everything kind of comes with some challenges, but sometimes we don't hear that. Um, but you've had a lot of success despite that difficulty initially. Uh, that's amazing. And just
057thank you so much for your transparency on that. I appreciate you. >> Yeah, no problem. [laughter] You got to have fun at school. That's all it is. It's just having fun. >> Okay. And I do love the fact that you included the fun photos in here just to you know to share that you are having fun um while inspiring um you know our future leaders. >> Take them out if you notice that. [laughter] >> I appreciate them. Um, and just thank you to the to the whole team for all the work that you do. Um, just incredible tools that you're using. Um, as everyone else said, this is just um, it's it's really neat seeing how this all works together with the intervention and the enrichment. Um, really excited to see what you can do
058next. Thank you. >> Thank you for what you do. Thank you for uh it's it's not a secret why you're very successful in what you guys do. So, I appreciate the teamwork and and the commitment and the drive to make our kids um the best. So, thank you. [applause] Next up, we have information discussion item G2. Dr. Croto. >> Thank you, Madam President. Tonight, we get to celebrate the district and our schools a little bit. So, um, our director of accountability is going to come up, Dr. Ashley Longoria, and share some great news on our letter grades for our schools and our districts. So, I didn't say anything in the update because I didn't want to spoil this, but we have some good news. and a lot of you already know. So with that, um,
059Dr. Longoria, the show is yours. >> Thank you. Good evening, Madam President, members of the board and cabinet. I'm excited to be this here this evening to share our school and district letter grades. First, we have our K8 school letter grades for the past six years. Uh, we have got some great news up here. As you can see, we have the highest number of A's we've ever had. And for the fir for the second year in a row, we have zero C schools. Now, we'll take a look at each school by their letter grade for the past two years. This year, we had two schools move from an A to a B. Three schools moved from a B to an A. And you'll notice that one of those B's up there has a star next
060to it. And that's because we've submitted an appeal for that specific school. So, best outcome, that B turns into an A. Worst outcome, it remains a B. Next, here are our high school letter grades for the past six years. Also, great news here. As you can see, uh, for the past three years in a row, all four of our high schools have maintained that A label. That makes this slide really easy. Here's all four high schools for the past two years. No surprises there. All A's up there. And that brings us to our district label, which remains an A. And then finally, how do we compare to our surrounding districts? Um, as you can see, three of our surrounding districts are also A-rated, while five are B-rated. Two districts have a UR for their label,
061and that indicates under review, which um signifies that they've submitted an appeal as well for one of their schools or multiple schools. And with that, I will stand for any questions. >> I have uh some additional information to share with you, too. So, um, each of you tonight, uh, received a folder of this size. Um, these letter grades don't come by chance, um, and by accident. They come with a lot of hard work of our staff. As you, as you've seen tonight, the teachers and that keep come up here every week, the school visits we go on. We have a very dedicated staff to making a difference for our teachers. So, it's not by accident. through the professional learning communities, through collaboration, through analyzing data. Um we have amazing leaders in this district who um
062are driven to make a difference and work very hard with their schools. We have amazing support staff. Um so these letter grades that you see, yes, we're driving to get 24 A's uh with 19 A's, possibly 20. Um I just want to say it's not by a mistake. So um use have in your hands um all the data that we review. Um this was the last data review that the principles come into my office along with Dr. Sai Dr. Longoria and we spend 45 minutes uh roughly going through their data. They have to prove to us that they can analyze the data. They look at the data. Um we make plans based on the data and there's a lot of work that goes into that. And I know we don't see that behind the scenes,
063but I wanted to share that with you tonight so you can take a look at the indepth analysis that really goes on by the professionals in this district. Um, and I just wanted to share that, you know, we will get to 24. You can see up there, um, with with all the success we've had that we are making a difference. Uh, this governing board is driven to make a difference and support the things we do in professional development um, and all the activities. And I hope and I know you have and you can see um based on the reports that you're receiving the culture is changing. The culture is changing for the kids in the city of Surprise and Elmarrage um and the surrounding areas. Um we're making a difference. So be proud. We are
064an A district again. uh no C schools and and I just want you to know that uh it doesn't come by accident and many many many people work very very hard to get this done across our district on all levels. So I can't thank everybody enough. Uh we will celebrate again with a breakfast that has become a tradition. So we will have a lot of eggs and bacon in the next few months. Um but what a sweet celebration to go to that school and celebrate uh the awesome work they've done. So, thank you to everybody involved in this. Thank you to the governing board for the support. Um, and uh we will we will get to 24A's and we'll have a huge celebration, but we are going to celebrate u with 19 at this point.
065So, um with that, we will stand for any questions. Ashley will stand for the questions and I'll be glad to answer them too. >> I already stole the thunder. I apologize for that. But this is excellent work. Again, Dr. Croto the cabinet, teachers, student, parents. It's it's a community effort to get there and hats off to everybody. It's wonderful. Thank you. >> Yes. Thank you, Dr. Croto, for all this work you did and for all the teachers and principles and schools, all of them. Thank you. Yeah, I just want to piggyback off that. It's been awesome to see the success that our district has has done over the years since I've been on the board. It's an absolute honor to be up here and um to see all the the progress. My only question is
066the this the schools that are, you know, gone that are at the B level. Um do we have resources? Do we have, you know, the help out there to help them succeed, >> keep succeeding? Okay. >> Yep. And they um each of those schools are also aware of where they might have left points on the table. They've already created plans to work towards those to ensure that they continue to grow. Um every principal and I would venture the entire staff is aware of where they need to work and how to get there and they have the support they need to do that. >> Good. Okay. Thank you. I just want to say thank you for the binder with all the data because that's actually I'm kind of excited about it. So, appreciate it. >> Just
067want to say thank you to everyone in our district for making this happen. Um, but I don't think that it would have all happened without your leadership, Dr. Croto, and you building um such successful teams and your placements of leaders in uh certain schools. um you just have a it's kind of magical. So, I appreciate you and your leadership and all that you do for our students. >> Thank awesome team. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. Thank you. [applause] >> All right. Moving on to item H1. Dr. Croto. >> Thank you, Madam President. Well, tonight we come um to a kind of a I guess I will use the word historic moment for the district and the city. So, um back a few years ago um the Vista Center for the Arts, we operated that providing
068shows for the community. Um, and we did so um with a staff that was very dedicated. Um, but it was taxing our resources a lot. Um, we are not in the show business um, arena. That is not what we do. Um, we've had that discussion before and we needed help. So, I turned to uh, the city of Surprise, Councilman Jud, um, and um, Bob Wingroth um, and said, "We need help. We need a ton of help to continue to offer this uh awesome resource to our city. Um and we need help to make it work. Um they have been gracious to launch a feasibility study. So I want to thank first of all um Mayor Kevin starter, Councilman Jud, all the councilmen um John Cavalto, Da Marinelli, Kendra Pettis. Um it has taken a tremendous
069amount of people. If you remember when we first went back and visited um out in the East Valley, they have a very successful model and we said, "Well, let's go see what's going on out there." It seems like eons ago that we all set out and drove out there, but um everybody has been an amazing partner um in coming to you with an agreement tonight to figure a way to offer and continue to offer shows to our community and this resource to our community. So, I want to say thank you to all those people. Um, we have some here. Mayor Sarter, Councilman Jud, um, they have been instrumental. Councilman Jud has been there for the first time, um, off a lunch when I was begging him for some help that, uh, I don't want to
070really take this away and I don't want to be that person. And he, you know, he stuck it through and and said, "We will find a way." And then Bob stepped up as we talked to him. And then as everybody I mentioned before was like let's figure a way to do this. So um I am excited to be at this at this point um tonight and uh D Marinelli who has been instrumental um along with Kendra in pushing this through and getting it done by all the attorneys and everything that goes into the work of of an agreement like this. Um D is going to um outline some of the facility use agreement with the city of Surprise. So, with that, um, DA, the show is yours. >> Thanks. I've never had to move the
071mic up. Thanks, Ashley. [laughter] Good evening, President Denmore, Dr. Croto, members of governing board, and cabinet. Tonight, I'll be sharing with you a brief history of the Vista Center for the Arts and highlighting key points of the facility use agreement with the city of Surprise. Located on the Valley Vista High School campus, the Vista Center for the Arts is a 1300 seat precenium theater paired with the enjoining 200 seat lecture hall. Completed in 2008, the Vista was built through voter approved bond initiatives that demonstrated strong community support for the arts. Designed as a shared use facility, the Vista serves both Daart Unified School District students and the broader West Valley. Since its opening, it has hosted a wide range of student performances, community events, and cultural programs. Over the years, the Vista has hosted national
072and regional talents. It also serves as an educational center through workshops, artist talks, and outreach with touring performers. This dual mission to inspire the performance and educate through collaboration remains central to the Vista's identity. In 2024, Daart schools recognized that the Vista Center for the Arts needed more dedicated support than the district could provide on its own. To ensure its long-term viability, we began exploring collaborative partnerships between the city of Surprise and Daart Unified School District. Together, we hope to create a sustainable operating model that ensures the Vista thrives for years to come. Getting to the agreement now. This agreement outlines the partnership between the city of Surprise and the Desaart Unified School District for the Vista Center for the Arts. The purpose of the agreement is twofold. First, to allow the city to operate
073a presenting program that brings live entertainment and cultural experiences to our community. And second, to create a shared used partnership that supports both the district and the city through coordinated operations and future capital improvements. The agreement is effective upon full execution and runs through June 30th of 2031. It automatic automatically renews for an additional 5 years unless terminated within 18 months notice. Either party can terminate this agreement with or without cause through written notice. Instead of paying rental fees, the city will fund agreed upon capital improvements to the facility. All improvements become district property once completed. These upgrades will enhance the VISTA for both district use and city programming. A joint board will oversee the approvals and insurance compliance with the city's procurement laws. For the city use of the VISTA, the rental rate is
074$6,830 per day. However, that rent may be waved if the city provides approved capital improvements of equal value. When it comes to income, each party retains what it generates. The city keeps revenues from its presenting programs such as ticket sales, concessions, and sponsorships, while the district keeps all income from district programming, and third-party rentals. Finally, the district ensures that the facility is clean, safe, and fully functional for every scheduled use. The Vista will continue to serve as an essential venue for DART Unified School District programming. Daart retains full control over scheduling, management, and all revenue generated from these educational and district sponsored events. It is important to note that this facility use agreement does not change or limit DAART's access to the Vista for instructional or student related purposes. The district also offers the Vista
075for third-party rentals. Fully separate from both DAART programming and the city's use, DAART manages all thirdparty rental bookings, contracts, and operational logistics independently. The district retains all income from these rentals, supporting community engagement and contributing to the venue's financial sustainability. Each year, Daiso will provide the city with 25 available weekends for its programming. The list of dates will be shared by July 1st of the upcoming fiscal year. The city must then confirm or release those dates nine months in advance, ensuring clear planning and a balanced schedule between the city and district events. A joint management advisory board will be created with one representative from each party. This board will oversee calendar coordination, sponsorships, capital improvements, and conflict resolution. If any issues arise that cannot be resolved at that level, they will be elevated to the
076superintendent and city manager for final resolution. In terms of staffing and operations, the district employs the theater manager and is responsible for maintaining the facility and upholding professional operating standards. The city on the other hand provides the front of house and back of house staff needed for its presenting programs. The city may also install security systems badge access or network connections at its own expense. Both the city and the district are required to maintain liability insurance through the duration of the agreement and to indemnify one another for any neg negligent or willful actions. Each party must also comply with all state and local laws. This agreement is structured as a license rather than a lease, meaning no property interest is transferred. This partnership brings several key benefits to Daart Unified School District. It enhances our
077performing arts infrastructure through city- funded capital improvements and expands community engagement by bringing more cultural programming to the Vista. Daart maintains full ownership and control of the venue while also strengthening our partnership with the city of Surprise, promoting greater visibility and shared use across the community. With that, I'll stand for any questions. I have one question. Um on I I want to say it's slide 13, district responsibilities, it says uh employees a theater manager for overall facility operations. Is that a position we already have here today? >> It is currently here. >> Yes. >> Thank you. >> And just for the the budget piece of this, would this be into like the general budget? um the the rental income or would that be through community education or something else? >> I will defer that to
078Miss Spidel. >> Madam President, yes, this does this is outside the district's maintenance and operations fund. It is entirely through the self-sustaining cash funds um either through facility rental or auxiliary operations. >> Perfect. Thank you. You're welcome. You have anything? Okay. I move to approve the Vista Center for the Arts facility use agreement between the city of Surprise and Arizona Municipal Corporation and Desaart Unified School District and allow the superintendent to sign the agreement and any affiliated documents. >> Second. motion carries. Didn't pop up for me. [applause] >> Thank you. Congratulations. Now it's your turn. [snorts] All right, moving to I1. Uh, do we have any requests for future agenda items? >> Yes, I would like a future agenda item on looking at the history, surveys, pros and cons of school uniforms across the district
079to include time that teachers spend in addressing dress code violations as well as students time away from classes to address their violations. Thank you. >> Okay. Any others? >> Okay. I move to adjourn the meeting. >> Second. Motion carries. We are returned. Thank you.