001Good evening. At this time, I'll call the meeting of the DART governing board to order. Let the record reflect that all board members are present with one um being on the um telephone tonight calling in. And we'll stand we'll stand for the pledge of allegiance. Thank you. All right. First up, we have item A2. Um, for the adoption of the agenda, I move to adopt the agenda as presented. >> I second. Motion carries. Next we have item um B1. Motion to approve consent agenda items. I'll entertain a motion. >> A motion to approve consent agenda items as presented. >> Second. Motion carries. Bear with me just a moment. Okay. Um, moving to item D1, information discussion. Dr. Croto. >> Thank you, Madam President. Uh, tonight we have, um, a report for you on our summer
002learning, uh, that our amazing staff has gone through this summer in preparation for our kids on Thursday. So, I will turn it over to Dr. Asai for our summer learning report. >> Good evening, madame president, members of the board, and Dr. Cto. It is my honor to present to you tonight on the summer educator preparation. Those who have worked for me for years, know that I am fond of saying that we can always be better tomorrow than today. That is a philosophy I've learned here in Desaert. When I came here 20 years ago, maybe 20 plus years ago, it was often known that people went to Desaert when they couldn't get a job elsewhere. The scores were low and it was not an attractive environment. However, the relentless work of people, the support of board
003members like you and administration have helped Daert grow to be a premier district. We are an A-rated district for the second year in a row, home to a blue ribbon school, and have outstanding graduation rates. Tonight we will be talking about four investments the DAERT has made in making our people better. All of which occurred this summer. Our curriculum workshop or summer workshop which was held May 27th through the 30th. The professional learning community at work conference held June 23rd through 26. Daert leadership team held July 7th through the 10th in our new educator orientation. I turn this why the investment in summer training because it is an investment. It takes money to compensate people and to get new learning. However, in DAER, we believe our most valuable asset is our people. Competent people trump
004programs any day of the week. When we invest in summer learning, we carefully plan it out. We plan collaboration opportunities for teachers. We identify which skills we need to grow in and what the data says we need to improve on. We know that when we in uh we know with this by allowing teachers to collaborate and by focusing on where we need to that it also helps to return for teachers to return which is a great return on our investment. I'm going to start tonight with curriculum workshop. This was our third year to do curriculum workshop. It happens the week after school is out following Memorial Day. We had 900 staff members attend four half-day trainings. This year it was focused around the four essential questions of PLC work. What is it we want students
005to know? How will we know they know it? What will we do for those that get it? And what will we do for those that don't? The Department of Education recently released new essential standards. We are so happy for this and it was a gift because previously we really didn't know what the focus was. The Department of Education has outlined essential standards in each area and we needed to make sure our curriculum mapped these in an appropriate time and sequence. That answered the question, what is it we want them to know? From there, we looked at our exams to ensure that we were appropriately measuring a standard. It's hard to get a read for a standard with only one question. That helped us to define how will we know they know it. We also worked
006with teachers to develop checks for understanding aligned to the essential standards and a focus on the vertical progression that helps us to define what will we do for those that get it and those that don't. We need appropriate data points. We need to know the skills below our grade level to know if we need to go back and remediate. We also need to know whether the skills above our level and the essential standards above so we know how to extend. Lori Johnson, fourth grade teacher at Marley Park, was supposed to present tonight, but she was had to cancel at the last minute. I had invited her to share her words on summer workshop, and she asked me to read them for you. I can't see close with my glasses. I'm sorry. She said, "First and
007foremost, this workshop provides a powerful opportunity for teachers from all schools to come together and collaborate. We often work with only our grade level teams during the school year, but summer workshops allows us to unite, share perspectives, build a shared understanding of what truly matters, our essential standards. Together, we were able to dissect the standards, not just read through them, but really break them down. We ensured we all interpreted them in the same way, so that no matter what school your student attends, they are receiving a consistent, highquality instruction rooted in a common understanding. Another critical part of our work was to look at the progression of each standard. Understanding where a student is coming from and where they need to go to is key to intentional planning. This insight empowered us to better support
008learning at every stage. We also used our time to develop clear grade level expectations for writing. Writing is a foundational skill and aligning expectations across schools ensures a coherent path for students as they grow into confident communicators. Equally important in summer workshop was our focus on assessments. We work together to establish common expectations for both formative and summitive assessments. This alignment helps us to measure more effectively and ensure we're providing all students with a fair and accurate reflection of their progress across campuses. Lastly, we developed meaningful checks for understanding quick, effective strategies to gauge how well our students are grasping the material in real time. These checks are key to adjusting instruction before misunderstandings become learning gaps. In short, our DAEART summer curriculum workshop is about alignment, clarity, and collaboration. It's about doing the hard
009work now so we can enter the school year confident, united, and prepared to support every student who walks into our classroom. Thank you, and I'm excited for the important work we will continue to do. is very very eloquent and I'm sure she would have presented it a little bit better than I did but we all get the picture. Our next emphasis in summer training was the PLC conference. I wanted to start by talking about the history of professional learning communities in DAERT. I've been here a long time and under other administrations uh the PLC system was deployed as really a here you go here's what it is and it was left to individual sites to implement it really made it depend the success dependent upon site leadership if a site had a principal who went
010to conferences themselves and read that site prosper prospered and we saw the scores go up other sites were left behind as the leader didn't invest in that resulting in inconsistent ies. Under Dr. Croto's leadership, we've established a systemic plan to train our leaders so that no one's left behind. We've developed tools to measure the effectiveness of our PLC's. And we've invested in training. I've invited some of our staff to also talk to you about the summer conference and PLC's on their campus. And we will start with Chantel Mcnes, the proud principal of Countryside. Good evening, Madame President, members of the governing board, Dr. Croto and cabinet. It is my honor to speak on behalf of Countryside Elementary School and share our journey with professional learning communities over the last three years. One of the many
011reasons why I am so proud to be part of the Daart team is that we plan for sustainability within our systems. Our PLC framework is a critical system for improved student learning. To truly lead instructional improvement, principles cannot do it alone. As Duour and Marzano emphasized, the most powerful strategy for improving teaching and learning is building the capacity of our teacher leaders. When we invest in developing teacher leadership, we create sustainable systems like PLC's and that directly impacts student success. So next, I'll share a snapshot of our PLC journey. Over the past three years, we've had the privilege of attending the solution tree PLC conference, an experience that has been pivotal to our school's growth. So year one, principal teams attended, laying that solid foundation for PLC leadership and understanding. Year two, we expanded to
012include our assistant principles and our TLS's focusing on how to support and empower our teams more effectively. In year three, this past year, we brought our guiding coalitions, our teacher leaders. We brought them together. We shared the planning, the goals, and the shifts for our campuswide PLC's. We needed to invest in our teacher leaders to truly understand the impact of PLC's on every DART campus. This in this returned um everyone coming back energized and inspired. We were ready to lead the charge in advancing both our adult learning and our student achievement. Their excitement wasn't just about what they learned. It was about how they could take ownership in moving our school forward. And this is the kind of leadership that sustains real improvement in our systems and our outcomes. So, next I'll share a little
013bit about the planning before the PLC conference and then beyond. We believe as Charlotte Danielson noted that deliberate instructional planning is a strong predictor of student success. And our teams didn't just attend. We prepared with purpose. Each school aligned their IEP goals and their student data to strategically select conference sessions. And the learning didn't stop when the sessions ended. Each evening, our DACART teams met for an additional two or more hours, identifying sight specific obstacles and building concrete action plans to bring ideas back into practice. And these sessions helped us bridge that gap between learning and implementation, ensuring that every teacher team had clear next steps rooted in shared knowledge and student growth. At Countryside, we have seen a direct impact of empowered teacher teams on student achievement. Fourth grade ELA data, we reduced the
014percentage of minimally proficient students by 11%. We increased percentage of highly proficient students by 16% and our cohort grat or our cohort data growth was especially strong. Um that cohort third to fourth grade we reduced minimally proficient by 22% increasing highly proficient by 16% and increased that overall percent passing by 15 compared to last year. In math we saw gains across all performance levels. We increased proficiency by 19%. We increased overall percent passing by 24%. And our cohort growth outpaced even those gains. We reduced minimally proficient by 13%. We increased proficient by 16%. And we achieved a 24% increase in overall passing, outperforming the state average by 8%. So, additionally, we celebrated our strongest Azela proficiency gains in school history, which is a testament to our teachers commitment to the PLC process. So, to speak
015more about what this journey has looked like from the classroom's perspective, I'd like to introdu introduce our fourth grade team lead, Mallerie Stradley, who will share how PLC's have transformed collaboration, instruction, and outcomes on her team. Good evening, Madame President, members of the governing board, Dr. Croto and cabinet. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you tonight. Over the past year, our fourth grade team experienced a remarkable transformation and it was largely due to the implementation of professional learning communities or PLC's. The impact touched every aspect of our work. How we collaborated, how we instructed, and most importantly, how our students performed. Before PLC's, our team often worked in isolation. We shared resources occasionally, but there was no consistent structure for deep ongoing collaboration. Planning was fragmented, and instructional decisions were often based on
016individual preferences rather than shared goals. But once we committed to the PLC process, everything began to change. We met regularly with a clear agenda focused on the four critical questions. What do we want our students to learn? How will we know if they've learned it? What will we do if they haven't? What would they we do if they already have? These questions guided our discussions and brought intentionality to our planning. We developed common formative assessments, analyzed student data together, and adjusted our instruction based on real time evidence, not assumptions. Collaboration became purposeful. We no longer just shared ideas. We made decisions together based on what the data showed us about our students. We supported one another through challenges and celebrated our collective wins. It truly became a team effort, not just in name, but in
017practice. Instruction improved as well because we were identifying essential standards together. Our lessons became more focused and consistent across classrooms. We shared strategies that worked and helped others each other refine those that didn't. We became more responsive and flexible, adapting our instruction based on what students needed, not just following a pacing guide. And most importantly, we saw a measurable difference in student outcomes. Our benchmark scores improved, yes, but beyond that, we saw increased student engagement, stronger confidence in problem solving, and more ownership of learning. Our interventions were more targeted, our extensions more meaningful, and our students thrived because of it. PLC helped shift our culture from my classroom to our students. That shift made all the difference. We are proud of how far we've come and we are committed to continuing this work. Thank you
018for supporting the structures and time that makes PLC's possible. They've transformed the way we teach and more importantly how our students learn. As Rick Dor once said, the very essence of a learning community is a focus on and a commitment to the learning of each student. That commitment has become the heart of our team and it's making all the difference. Thank you. Now, I would like to introduce you to the principal of Luke Elementary School. Good evening, Madame President, members of the governing board, and Dr. Croto. My name is Cara Ser, and I'm the very proud principal of Luke Elementary. Tonight, I'm honored to share how our district is advancing in the professional learning community process and how it's transforming teaching and learning not only at Luke but in our district. At the district level,
019our guiding coalition provides oversight and collaborative support support across all sites. The goal is to establish district-wide tights or non-negotiables so that effective practices can be replicated based on student achievement data. This ensures consistency in identifying and and teaching essential standards across the district. We know from research that when the PLC succeeds, one of the reasons they do is because a tight framework and clear expectations is provided. We operate under a clearly defined district PLC framework including common def common definitions. We are a PLC. We function in collaborative teams. We have an aligned focus. All schools prioritize our state and district essential standards using these as the foundation for meaningful goal setting and instructional planning. At Luke, we've experienced a powerful cultural shift. Our team is truly on a mission to ensure that every student
020masters grade level essential standards. Due to our school size and departmentalized structure in third through 8th grade, we originally worked in grade level teams. However, to strengthen alignment and deepen impact, we transitioned this past year to vertical content teams in third through 8th grade. For example, our third through 8th grade ELA teachers collaborated as one vertical team. Together, all of our collaborative teams, including our horizontal kinder through 2 grade teams, deconstruct standards by domain to build clarity on mastery for every single grade level essential standard and proficiency on that standard. They analyze student data, not only by domain, but standard and student by student to identify instructional practices that lead to student achievement success. and they target areas of weakness with strategic interventions and support. This ongoing process represents our relentless pursuit of improvement. Knowing
021where every student stands standard by standard, the results have been significant. We've seen steady increases in both proficiency and growth according to state accountability labels. Even more notably, our collaborative team structure is yielding transformational results. For instance, 8th grade ELA saw a 25% increase in proficiency and 67% of our students were in the high growth category compared to to peers across the state of Arizona. Fifth grade math had just 9% of students in the low growth category and increased um cohort proficiency by 21%. These outcomes are not by chance. They are a direct result of teacher clarity on deconstructed standards, aligned instruction and assessment, strategic intervention and extension based on real-time student needs and most importantly collective action by collaborative teams. This is a cultural shift from isolated planning to an ongoing neverending cycle of
022inquiry. Which students learn and which students didn't? What strategies worked and what are we going to do about it now? not waiting until a benchmark. Thank you for your time and your continued support of the PLC process. Together, we are ensuring all students learn at high levels. I would now like to introduce Miss Taylor Rich. Good evening, Madame President, members of the board, Dr. Croto and cabinet. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you tonight about something that has not only profoundly shaped the way that I support new educators, but the way that I see the future of education in our district. I began my teaching career in Daart at just 20, fresh out of college and really eager to make a difference. And 16 years later, I've had the privilege of growing as
023an educator, a leader, and a parent. And for the past three years, I've served as the teaching and learning specialist at Luke Elementary, supporting teams and instructional best practice. As a parent and educator, I deeply believe that no family should have to feel like their child's educational experience depends on luck. And that's the reality for too many, hoping their child lands in the right class with the right teacher. But when we build strong, professional learning communities, we remove that gamble. Every student, regardless of the classroom, benefits from a team of educators aligned in purpose, strategy, and support. But the same lottery also applies to teachers. A brand new educator could start their career on a collaborative, high functioning team or on a fractured one. And I've seen both. Teachers on strong PLC teams thrive. They
024grow and they stay. Those that are placed in isolation or dysfunction often leave. And that loss has a direct impact on our students and our system. Before our district's commitment to the PLC at work process, I experienced teams that weren't truly teams. There was no shared clarity, inconsistent expectations, and wide gaps in our student outcomes. One teacher might soar while another struggles in silence. Data was siloed and instruction was often inconsistent. Students grew, some but not all. And then came the shift through the PLC at work framework. We began doing the right work together. The four questions that guide our PLC's, these became our compass. We were no longer hoping for success. We were building it side by side for all of our students. Teaching is hard, but the most valuable resource in any building
025is not a program or a tech tool. It is collaboration. I've attended countless trainings and been a part of many district initiatives over the years, but nothing has had the same sustained impact on student learning as when we committed to collaborative teams focused on learning that is grounded in data and guided by this framework. Because when adults learn, students learn and that's not just a saying, it's what I have lived. So today in my role supporting new teachers, I see firsthand how high functioning PLC's can fuel morale. confidence and student achievement. And when teams truly function as PLC's, new teachers don't just survive, they thrive. And when someone leaves a team, the team doesn't collapse because we aren't relying on individuals. We're anchored in a process. This is why investing in PLC's at work is
026different than chasing one-time initiatives. It's a sustainable system that outlasts people, programs, or fads. And it's the kind of investment that truly pays dividends in student learning, teacher retention, and school culture. Looking back on my journey in Daert, I can say without hesitation that the last three years when we began to truly embrace the PLC process have been the most impactful, not just for me, but the teachers and the students that I serve. I'm not here because I had all of the answers. I'm here because I was a part of a team that believed in truly learning and growing together. Thank you so much for your time. I'd like to hand it back over to Dr. Assai. >> I'd like to thank all our staff that came to speak about a process that they truly
027believe in. I believe they covered the points on my next slide. It addressed what we learned at the PLC conference. We focused on the why and the foundations of effective PLC's. Emphasized that effective PLC's are only effective if they produce results. Reinforced how PLC progress is measured in DAERT. All schools set goals for the PLC their PLC progress and attending the session in Vegas allowed staff to choose from multiple sessions that wouldn't have been available elsewhere. All schools left with a PLC deployment plan of what they're going to do this year to increase student achievement on their campus and leadership teams provide were provided time to collaborate developing not just administrative leaders but teacher leaders as well. I've been to conferences before where you go and it's one and done. Let me tell you with
028Dr. Cotto, that is not the case. You were in a room meeting with the entire district uh district for two hours after. We're putting plans in place that will guide us throughout the year. So, we have to ask ourselves, was the attendance of the PLC conference really a $447,000 gamble? Our conclusion is no. We gambling wins are by chance. And although we have produced big wins for kids, we based ours on research. We heard about research in the last meeting, an isolated study out of the University of Arkansas, and I wanted to take the time to address that study. That study was done with a randomized control trial, which is normally considered the gold standard of research. I used it for my own dissertation. We use this type of study when we aren't sure if
029the intervention, in this case, the PLC, works. In my dissertation, I ask, does reflective conferencing with teachers, is reflective conferencing with teachers more beneficial than simply providing them with feedback? Feedback's much quicker. It doesn't invest as much time. I wasn't sure. So, it made sense to give the intervention to half of the teachers and not the other half. There is a plethora of research that shows when PLC's are implemented correctly that they drive student achievement. In this case, it would have been unethical in our district to give a great intervention that we know works to half our schools and tell the rest, "I'm sorry, we're not going to let you participate in this training." That would have bordered on malpractice. There are conditions and some studies show that there's little that there's little impact, but
030usually that's when PLC's are done light, not when PLC's are done right. And all these studies offer us parameters, even the University of Arkansas study about the conditions that create effective PLC's. Effective PLC's need a a clear focus on student learning. Really drilling down to the standards and what it is students need to master. You heard from our staff that this is the case in DAERT. You have to use data and you have to have a cycle of inquiry. We do that here. You've seen countless data presentations. There needs to be strong leadership. Earlier I talked about old leadership that just said, "Hey, do the PLC's." It didn't work. We have Dr. Croto leading this initiative that has given us focus. That has had he's had us measure. He keeps asking, "What can we do
031better? You need time and structure. Our teachers have time every Monday to meet with their teams." They have experiences like summer learning. Schools have worked to ensure they have common prep periods where they can be pulled to talk about data and what they're teaching, what was effective, who got it and who didn't. Effective PLC's a key element is building capacity. That is what we have strategically done with our investment in the PLC conference over the past three years. Our next one shorter is Daer Leadership Training. Uh Daert leadership training does take place on July 7th through the 10th. We get all of our administrators, principles, assistant principles, and directors. And it's three to four days of training. We have the fourth day for extended training for high school assistant principles and new administrators. Each day
032is really themed kind of to an assistant superintendent in a way. Uh the first day that was my day, academic focus and state of the district. We really looked at our data where we're doing well where we can improve because like we opened with we can always do better tomorrow than today. We focused on how to continue to grow our PLC system focused on essential standards and DAERT values. Day two was safety and professional expectations. Day three human resources with all the fun stuff like evaluations, title N and investigations. Um we believe it's important to empower our admin staff at every level to be great leaders. Finally, we have new educa uh new educator orientation which happened July 14th through the 24th. We start with a kickoff at Valley Vista so our new teachers can
033get to know what DAERD's all about. We used to only do three days and we heard from staff that wasn't enough. They needed more time with their content. They needed more time to understand what really it takes to set up a good classroom. The first four days are dedicated to content and applications teachers will use and campus culture. The next four days are focused on positive classroom climate and effective lesson planning. And Jen Shernikov, who is our coordinator for new educator orientation, will come up and tell you a little more about it. >> Good evening, Madame President, members of the board, Dr. Cotto and cabinet. Oh, so I'm I am so sorry. Good evening, um, Madame President, members of the board, and Dr. Croto and cabinet. Thank you. My name is Jennifer Shernikov. I am
034your new educator coordinator and I'm pleased to provide an update on DAART new educator orientation and our new teacher induction program and the ways in which we are equipping our teachers and in turn our students for success. This year we welcomed over 200 new educators to DAART. Our two-week noon teacher induction began with a July 14th kickoff event where new staff connected with district leaders, learned about their supports, the PLC process, and began building community. This has been a significant shift in the last two years. Our new teachers traditionally only had four days of training and this has increased to eight to better prepare them in their first year of teaching. Following the new educator kickoff on July 15th through 18th, teachers worked closely with our dedicated teaching and learning specialists, teacher leaders, and our
035curriculum specialists to review scope and sequences and explore approved resources with dedicated time for collaboration and planning, ensuring that teachers felt prepared to embark on a successful year with aligned instruction and state standards in mind. During the week of July 21st through 24th, our first year teachers and teachers new to the Desaart Unified School District participated in Spark Start where they engaged in training, learning how to implement strong classroom procedures and lesson design, all aimed at setting high expectations in the classroom and to maximize instructional time and increase student success. Meanwhile, our second and third year teachers engaged in professional development. And we refer to this as step, which is supporting teachers educational practice to deepen their understanding of dicearts instructional protocols and best practices um for effective teaching. This year, in alignment with our
036PLC work, a large focus was on on wrapping the standards aligning and aligning checks for understanding. We know that a strong teacher induction program directly supports teacher recruitment and retention along with accelerating teacher acquisition of skill to accelerate student learning. When teachers feel supported, prepared, and a part of a professional learning community, they are more likely to stay and grow in our district and produce student achievement. One powerful example of this impact came from a teacher in our ready to teach program. He shared that he had recently been offer offered a position with an IT company which paid more. But because of the level of support and encouragement he's received in Daart, he decided to remain with us in the classroom knowing that here he can make a real difference. It is clue sorry it
037is clear why new teacher orientation programs play a vital role in our schools when we invest in our teachers when we invest in the success of our students. As Dr. As I said earlier, there is no place where student learning is high, where adult learning is low. This is why in DAART, we are all committed to be better tomorrow than today. Thank you for your continued support and as we work together to make DART the best place to learn, grow, and teach. Thank you for your time. >> Thank you, Jen. And as we close out on our presentation on summer learning, I want to share a quote by our own Dr. John Croto. Our intentional investment in educator development is directly tied to improve outcomes for our students. We began our PLC focus in the
03822 23 school year and since then we have seen a powerful rise in the number of A-rated schools in our district. I've always heard in the business world which I'm definitely not part of that it's all about return on investment. Looking at this, our investment in sending our leaders to the PLC conference, investing and paying our teachers for summer workshop, our new educator orientation. When we look at 2122 school year without the PLC framework, we had 12A rated schools 10B and two C's. In the first year of implementation, we raised the level of A's to 18, four B's and two C's. In 2324, for the first school year, oh yes, sorry. In 2324, for the first time ever, we had no C schools. We had 18 A-rated schools, six B schools, and we remained an
039A district, which also increases property value in the Surprise Elmarrage area. 242, we have our scores back, but the state board has not met to do cut scores yet. If they if they maintain the same cut scores as they did this year, we anticipate an increase in our A schools once again. and no C-rated schools. So, did we get a return on investment? It would appear so. And I will now stand for questions. >> I don't I don't have a question. I just have a congratulations. I I appreciate you guys sharing everything that you guys do during the summer. I know I had this conversation with Dr. Croto earlier in the summer um that a lot of parents don't understand that teachers are actually working during the summer. They're doing stuff to prep to get
040the classrooms ready and that's something that I really want to make sure we share with our community going forward. But thank you very much >> Mavarin. Thank you so much for acknowledging all that our teachers do in the summer. I do think people don't realize everything that goes on. Thank you for the opportunity. also want to congratulate everyone on all the results. Um, and thank you for all of the hard work that you put in all throughout the year. Um, it's definitely disheartening when we we hear um, feedback based on national narratives and but when they don't really understand what's going on in our diceart schools um, year round. Um it's it's definitely an unfortunate situation, but I'm so grateful for this presentation by everyone tonight. Um thank you all for being present and just
041to make sure that we're again all on the same page, all hearing the same message, all having the same goal. That's so important. Thank you. >> Thank you, President. >> I also want to say thank you for the presentation and all of our speakers. I've been to two of the PLC conferences and the excitement, the collaboration, everything that I experienced in the first two. Unfortunately, I couldn't I I didn't go to go to this one, but the first two, you could see the excitement in their faces when we were when we would come back from the conference and we would all sit around our tables and collaborate. Um the first year, yeah, it was just the principles and you could see the excitement that they wanted to take all this information back to their their
042schools and then the next year it was, you know, the assistant principles and you could just see the excitement again um collaborating. So I know how important this is to the district. I know that it's made a difference and I just want to say thank you. Thank you. And on the behalf of our entire staff, I would like to thank the board for continuing to support professional development in Desaert. And to Dr. Croto, without his leadership, we would still be doing it probably random and creating an educational lottery from school to school. Any other comments from the board? I just have a couple from um the new teacher orientation. Do we have any feedback from them on um what support uh that they want going forward in their first year? Have they expressed what else
043we can do to make their journey successful? Thank you so much, board member Drake. Um yes, we um often collect feedback at the end of our um of our sessions with our new teachers. Um some of the feedback is is that a new teachers are very overwhelmed. Um they which is a true statement. there's quite a bit of information that we provide for them. Um but with the support of the content specialists, the teaching and learning specialists, teacher leaders, administrators, um they're ready to teach um specific teaching and learning specialists, we all rally around them to support them. Whether that means um you know asking questions via email or going to their classrooms to directly support um just knowing that we are there every step of the way to guide them and support them in
044their journey. So yes, we collect frequent feedback. um they're excited to be in the classrooms but a little nervous which is typical. Yeah, thank you for that question. Board member Justice, >> I'll ask another one. >> Does anybody else have any questions? >> Hold on. I think that can you hear me? >> Yes. >> I just wanted to reiterate the importance of supporting and giving our teachers the means and the ability and the collaboration so that they can continue to grow as well as ensure that our students are getting the absolute best. So I appreciate everything that Dr. Kto has done for the PLC and with Dr. Isaiah and the teachers, everyone this year was incredible and to see the enthusiasm and excitement and how they just were so exuberant and wanting to get back
045and implement. So, I just want to say thank you guys very much. >> Thank you, board member Drake. um with the PLC implementation. I know that it's been extremely successful in our district. I just want to know what our district wants to use out of the PLC um success besides the collaboration to move forward to continue in the district to continue being successful. >> That's a wonderful question and I think you'll see this as uh our schools present on their IEPs this year. where we've gone through all of their their continuous I'm sorry their continuous improvement plans. Our next focus is really f zoning in on daily checks for understanding. Um with it, you know, what do we want them to know? How will we know they know it? The unit test, we've set unit
046goals before and we've actually usually set year-long goals. You see them, it'll say we want to increase by 3% next year. That's a long span between August and May. So, we've really asked principles to work with their staffs and lots of them came up with us uh at the PLC conference about setting unit goals around essential standards and really breaking that down and then transferring that into daily checks for understanding of you know who get who got the lesson I taught today and who didn't and then how can I remediate immediately the next day so I'm not creating such a gap and leaving kids behind. So, that's going to be our main focus this year as we go down our PLC road. >> Wonderful. Thank you. >> I just want to thank you for the
047presentation also and I liked hearing the percentages of increase in the English, you know, the different subjects and stuff. It sounds like they're making improvements. So, thank you. >> And members, we didn't get a chance to highlight this, but we have outpaced the state growth from 22 from 22 23 till today. So, we've outpaced state growth in both ELA and math. So, the gains that we've gotten have outpaced whatever the state got. So, we're proud of that. We still have lots of room to go. Um, you know, we won't be happy until all of our schools are up here. Uh, but we have a committed staff who continues to make progress. >> Thank you. >> I just want to say thank you on behalf of um district for that awesome presentation. I think um the
048words on everything we do to prepare to make students the best in this district, I think it speaks for itself. So, um, like, uh, President Densmore said, it's unfortunate when halftruths are told or they don't take the time to look into what's really happening in our district and the things that go on. So, um, congratulations to all the faculty and staff. I am proud of you. I am proud of your commitment and what you do to, uh, make this district an A district and and make our kids successful. So, on behalf of, um, the district, I say thank you. Thank you for your commitment. All right. Um, next up we have item B1, address the governing board. Yeah, this is the time for public to comment. Members of the board may not discuss items that
049are not specifically identified on the agenda pursuant to ARS 38-431.01H. 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 decision at a later date. In order to facilitate accomplishing the business of the district in a timely manner, a time limit of three 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 Ever. Good afternoon, evening. My name is Lisa Everett and I am just here in support of Daart. I saw the media coverage as many of you have and I want to tell just a brief story. I was at a meeting where Superintendent Tom Horn spoke. He spoke highly
050of Daart but he said the number one reason teachers leave the profession is lack of support. You guys are doing an amazing job. teacher turnover is a problem. And when you do things like this, offer this training, offer this support that puts a stop to the turnover, which in turn helps our students, which will help our cities. I just want to say thank you because you've gotten some bad press and I think you need to hear the words, you made a good decision, but you don't need me to tell you that. You just need the public to hear it. So, thank you. >> Thank you. Next up, we have Susan Wetzel. >> Good evening and thank you for your time. I could have brought a big support group with me tonight. However, it does not
051change the fact that my concern is either legit or not. I'm a very involved grandparent of a Daart public school student. I have gone from volunteering in the classroom to actually getting my substitute teaching certificate in 2023. Along with that, I've also been on the PTA in the past. My concern this evening is to address the dress code of the Daer Public School District. The part of the dress code I'm referring to this evening, and I didn't do a print out or anything, but it happens to be regarding the girls um with their tops and their shorts. Um, they must not include spaghetti straps, halter, backless, strapless. I'm just kind of briefing through it if you don't have it in front of you. Um, narrowly cut in the back, under the arms or front to
052expose cleavage. Must not expose any part of the midriff or undergarments etc. for the top. for the shorts. Um, they must cover the entire buttocks when sitting or standing and must not expose undergarments. It also says extend to a reasonable length. I guess I'm questioning what a reasonable length is. Um, the incident I came across was at the close of this past school year. It alarmed me. There was a video on the school Facebook page of eighth graders marching through the hallway, which was the last harrah, which is wonderful. Um, before they go on to high school, keep in mind this is a K through8 school. Nonetheless, the dress code should apply to all the schools. Is it not the responsibility and I did give a handout of the the photo. Is it not the
053responsibility of the administration to enforce the dress code? Should this kind of dress be allowed? The younger students are very influenced by the older ones. Along with that, there are male educators that don't need to be confronted with this kind of dress. After seeing this, I addressed my concern with the principal through an email and I am well known at the school. I have always been respectful. Um, the response I received kind of shocked me and I shared it with a few educators and parents that I knew and they all were kind of surprised by the response. Is this a >> Thank you. Yes. I I have your information. I'll pass it down to Mr. Croto. Thank you, Dr. Croto. Sorry, ma'am. Your time is up. >> Yeah. No, that's okay. Thank you. >> Thank
054you very much. Did we have any additional speakers tonight? >> Okay. Moving ahead uh to item F1. Dr. Croto. >> Thank you, Madam President. Uh tonight I bring to you uh the approval of superintendent's 2526 goals. uh they have been um revised as per our discussion in the last meeting. So um I do not need to go through them again. I will stand for any questions or comments or or ask for a vote on the goals. >> Um I just want to thank you for putting the effort into uh and listening to our recommendations and implementing those. And with that, I move to approve the superintendence 2526 goals and objectives as presented. >> A second Motion carries. Right. I don't have. >> Okay. Okay. All right. Moving to item F2. Dr. Croto. >> Thank you,
055Madam President. Tonight, we bring to you an awesome opportunity um about our ASU universal learner course and Dr. Asai will present this to the board. >> All right, we'll do it from down here this time. Good evening again. It is my pleasure to present to you this time on ASU Accelerate program. Uh, the ASU Accelerate program is an opportunity brought to us by ASU that offers students access to college level courses taught by ASU faculty. It allows our students to obtain a transferable college credit while still in middle school. So, this is different. We've never done this before. We've had dual enrollment at high school, but never at middle school. Uh, when we found out about this opportunity, we talked about why bring it to DAERT? What's the benefit to our community? Uh we talked
056about the advantage of taking the online class and how it would equip students with real world skills through college level coursework. Regardless of if students go to college or not, at some point in their life, they're most likely going to have to take an online class. Having exposure to it early would help them navigate any situation in college or career. It enhances their readiness. And most of all, it provides a lowcost options for families to receive an ASU credit on their transcripts. We are proposing to pilot this this year at Freedom Elementary. Uh it would be an opportunity given to eighth grade students who have all A's. If they're struggling in their coursework, a college level class probably isn't what they need to be doing uh during eighth grade along with everything else. So that
057would be our target audience. We would send literature home explaining the opportunity and have a special information night that would go out by invite by using Infinite Campus to query our eighth graders who have A's. This is totally an opt-in program. It would not be anything that students are put in unless their parents sign them up. Parents would need to sign our students up through the ASU portal and they would be supported by ASU in that registration process. There is an initial fee that we'll talk about. Students would work on the C course during their intervention time and at home. And if students are successful, they have the option to pay for this to be posted to their ASU transcripts. The cost of the program, if parents choose to enroll or guardians choose to enroll
058their student, is a $25 enrollment fee. There's an ASU professor facilitating the class. So, of course, ASU has to pay the professor. Uh, the $25 enrollment fee covers the course in curriculum access. Uh, students who are in a C or higher in the class can opt to add this course to their ASU transcript for a $400 transcription fee, uh, which is actually cheaper than it would be if you took the course at ASU. Parents could also opt not to do this. So, if your child got a B or C, they could decide not to add it onto the ASU transcript, which could have advantages. It's really designed as an independent online study model. Uh we would provide students at Freedom time during tier 2 unless they needed to be pulled for an intervention group. Maybe
059they had on their benchmark it showed they weren't understanding a standard like OA5. They wouldn't have that time to work on their ASU class. They would need to do it at home. Uh, and students needing extra assistance can receive online tutoring at no cost. The course that we're proposing to offer is CIS- 105, computer applications and information. There's a dual focus on organizations in business and another focus on individuals who work for them with talking about such roles as IT and business, IT concepts, digital citizenship, um developing the product uh the skills needed for Excel world, word and powerpoint and interpretation of data. We would follow this program and evaluate it. Uh, one of our key questions is how many students that start this program actually finish? If we have 50 kids that enrolled and
060finish with 10, it's probably not a program that's going to be beneficial for our population. We plan to look at what was the average grade earned by the student. If it's something our students really struggle with, then it wasn't it wouldn't be something that we want to continue in the future. And last, we would do a parent satisfaction survey. And I failed to add along with the student satisfaction survey. We want to know did parents find it was easy to help their kids and support if needed? Did students feel they got something out of the class? How hard was it to balance with their regular classes? >> And I will stand for question on the ASU program. >> I have just one question. I know it's going to be a pilot program um or considered
061as a pilot program, but I was just wondering why did we uh settle on A students only and not like AB students? We wanted to make sure because we aren't familiar with it. Kids that have all A's right now um tend to keep up with their coursework tend to be excelling. We don't need to meet uh do remediation on a lot of standards with them. So, we wanted to create time in the schedule with that intervention period when they wouldn't be pulled for intervention as much. >> If uh this pilot program was adopted, would we be open up to considering it to AB students in the future? >> I think we could definitely do that. I you know each student has their own threshold and what they could do. We just wanted our first time
062out to be really cautious and kind of shoot bullets before we shoot cannonballs. >> No, I I completely understand. Thank you. >> I have a question. Um >> this the program is it going to promote college and career readiness for the students? Are they going to get are we going to get credit for that or is that only if the parents pay the $400 to get the credit? ASU will only post the credit if you pay the college tuition, the $400 to post the credit. >> Okay, gotcha. >> Is this just for one year and then you leave out? >> It would be for one year and then if we have success, we can bring it back. I I can't tell you if it's going to be successful or not. Uh because ASU's term typically
063wraps up before ours, we should have information by the end of the year to know if we want to expand it next year. >> Thank you. I move to approve the ASU universal learner course agreement by and between Daart Unified School District and Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of Arizona State University. Motion carries. Next up, we have action discussion three. Dr. Croto. >> Thank you, Madam President. Tonight, we have an extension on the easement agreement between Daer Unified and Octagon Towers. It is a cell phone uh tower renewal. Um it's been in place since 2005 or 2006, I believe. Mary Dale will take this. Miss Spedell will um take this item. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Croto. Uh Madam President, members of the board, as Dr. Croto stated, we are bringing for your
064considering an extension of the ement agreement um for just continued operation um on of that telecommunications facility that has existed on the Marley Park Elementary School property since 2006. Um and the agreement is attached for your review. The proposal includes the extension of the agreement for up to three additional 5-year terms. Each term includes a scheduled revenue increase to the district. Um, we have run this through legal council review. Um, and we've, uh, and they have approved the agreement for your consideration. So, at this time, I can answer any questions you may have. >> Um, thank you. I have several questions. Um, some of them I'm not even sure if we can answer because, you know, this was put on the campus back in 2006, so I know none of us was around. Um but
065for the agreement um what type of revenue is the district receiving to have the cell tower on the campus? Madame President, member Drake, they it does vary um with the various agreements. This particular one generates about $1,700 a month. Um so about 21,000 or so in annual revenue to the district. Um it goes into our school plant fund on the USFR chart of account. So that's the fund that is intended to um collect any revenue received through the lease of property which in this in this case this would apply to um and that can be used for capital purposes or other needs of the district. >> Okay. Um one of my concerns with having the cell tower on our campuses is for health imp implications. Has the cell tower ever submitted any type of study
066statistical information about health implications? Madam President Merrick, I can't speak to if this particular um company has I know that especially with cell tower agreements becoming more common really in the last few decades um last two decades specifically. There have been numerous studies I think you know there's nothing in what I've also seen has indicated that there's any direct correlation. However, they also say, you know, there's still long-term effects that we can't u determine at this point in time. But we did reach out to the company themselves. Um, and really they indicate they are operating within well below those limits that have been established through the FCC. Um, and so we do ensure that they are abiding by those terms as well. Um, but really those are set by those regulatory bodies such as the
067FCC that they are required to to be in line with. Do we have any documentation that when this cell tower was put in, was there any input from the actual district um like employees, parents of the students? Uh what about the community around Marley Park? Because I know that I don't know how developed Marley Park was back in 2006, but I know that when I moved here in 2002, Greenway was a was a dirt road. So, I know that there was lots of opportunities instead of the cell tower being placed on our campus next to our school with our kids, there's other opportunities for the cell tower to be placed, >> right? >> You know, there's land available. >> So, why the cell tower company is insinuating that it be on our campus? I know
068we have other sale towers on other campuses too, which is very concerning to me too. Um, because I have been I I have been really researching this and the statistics I know it might be below the the threshold of what the FCC is recommending, but this there's studies out there that are just it's concerning uh being close to these things. I know that I can't say that the cell towers are causing any issues. I don't know. But we got to think about our kids. They're still developing. Their brains are still developing. You know, I know that they're exposed. They probably have cell phones. They probably have little watches. They have iPads. You know, now they have Chromebooks. You know, now they have a cell tower in their in their place. They go home, they have
069Wi-Fi. They're exposed all day long. So, I'm I'm very concerned about this and the research that I came across. There's a ton of school districts that are starting to ban the cell towers. Um I know um sorry, Higgley um Unified School District, they were just getting ready to have one installed at a elementary school and the the school board was very concerned. So, they tabled it and they want to have a town hall. They want the implement of the community, the the parents, which I think that's probably what should be do should have been done with ours personally. >> Right. And Madam President, member Drake, um, we did and, you know, we'd have to pull back to the historical records, but at the time that it was put in, there was quite a lot of
070input because of those concerns. At the time, it was obviously very new, too. So, there was questions and concerns. And so, at the time, that did require public comment. There was a lot of open discussion with the community. um we'd have to go back into the records and compile what that looked like, but it was definitely open um to the public to give to give comments and concerns at the time as well. >> Okay. >> Thank you. Welcome. I'd also like to comment on this um topic also and it says I found out that there was a uh Supreme or a I'm sorry a landmark decision on August 13, 2021 where the court declared the FCC's decision to retain its 1996 safety limits for human exposure to wireless radiation was arbitrary and capriccious. This ruling
071came after the FCC ignored extensive evidence of non-cancer health risks associated with uh the radio frequency uh radiation um evidence of uh including impacts on children environmental harm and testimonies from people injured by wireless radiation. The court mandated the FCC to provide a reasoned explanation for its outdated guidelines and address the implications of RFR on health and the environment. So, I think there's been some updated cases or research done about this radiation from these cell towers that maybe wasn't available, you know, when this was first implemented. I would like I would like to maybe table this topic for another meeting instead of voting on it tonight. >> I' I'd like to ask a few questions. Um, and and I'm okay with tableabling it too, by the way. Um, but just for my own knowledge, when
072we were talking about the cell phone towers, I know that there's a difference with the different G levels, but since this is such an older cell phone tower, I'm assuming that it's not 5G. And I are your feelings and just to any board member, are your feelings any different based on whether it's 5G or not? same. >> Okay. I have no idea any about >> there's nothing in the contract. >> Well, and and Madam President, just to clarify, they are they do get upgraded as as there is improvements. So, they all are >> they're upgraded. Okay. Okay. Well, that answers that piece of it. >> You hear me? >> Board member deskish. Go ahead. >> Okay. Well, that answers that piece of it. You hear me? >> Go ahead. Thank you. >> What I was
073going to say is I I too have concerns with the EMF and such coming off of these towers, especially around our students and just in our neighborhoods in general. So, I agree with tableabling it and I think that there should be some type of study because the FCC requirements aren't always necessarily at a safe level for our community and we really do need to look at this a little further. So, I appreciate it being brought up. And just to clarify, Miss Bidell, if if we were to um but for this obviously it would just continue business as usual. If we were to table this, come back later and we decide that we don't want to move forward, what does that look like? Are we responsible for the removal of that cell phone tower and what
074does that cost look like? So um madam president so just to answer the first question we certainly can't table this particular one was just extending it an additional 15 years. So there is still it's still in in the agreement is still in effect at this point in time. We do have that being said we do have some that are coming to their end of term and so we will have to make that decision but no if we meet that end of term we would not be responsible to um remove them from the property. Now if we broke the agreement that would be um you know a different matter. we'd have to work through legal, but if they do become end of term, um it wouldn't be the cost of the district. >> Okay. And it
075sounds like we might be tableabling this. With that said, when um when it comes back, can we get maybe a broader presentation on on where we're at with all of our cell towers? >> Madam President, absolutely. >> Okay. >> Yeah. I have a question, too. So when the rest of them come up for contract to renewal, will will it be coming um to the board to to vote on that? >> Yes, Madam President. Okay. They do all come. In fact, I think we just um had one to the board in December, I want to say, as um was a more recent one. So they do come to the board um absolutely. It has required board approval to extend and or enter into a new agreement. >> Okay. Thank you. >> And Madam President, if they're
076good. >> Mhm. Um I I don't believe as a school district we are going to do the study. Um we have no expertise in obviously cell phone towers um and doing that. So um we will turn it over to the companies that are asking us to renew the lease and let them come present if they so choose and if they do not choose then we won't renew the the lease. So we don't we do not have the expertise in the cell towers. So, um, for us to do that presentation to you would would not be, um, not be good. So, >> and >> my apologies. I didn't mean a presentation on the cell phone towers and like, you know, >> all of the harmful effects and things like that. I'm thinking just a presentation. How
077many do we have? You know, what does this look like if we don't extend a contract? Is it is it going to cost us anything? Is it going to >> We can do that. That's That part's easy. You were scaring me before. Sorry. We don't know much. >> But the presentation from them would be great, too. So see see what kind of magic you can make happen. >> Madam President, I think that would be great because we do provide them to you, but no, I don't think there's been a general just a broad this is how many agreements we have in place. These are the sites they're currently at, what are the agreement dates. So we can certainly do that. >> Yeah. >> Can I ask that if we do a um just like a
078simple study for Marley Park to see how the community feels as well like for the school, we don't have to reach out to everyone who lives in Marley Park. Sorry, we should be speaking to this I suppose. And then if we want to get ahead of it ahead of it, I guess we can use the same study for the whole district or the schools that have SA towers now. I mean that would be a simple ask I believe. >> Absolutely. >> All right. With that said, I will move uh move to table this item. Do I have a second? Second. Okay, motion carries. >> All right, next up we have item G1. Dr. Croto. >> Thank you, Madam President. Just a quick uh update tonight. Uh we are excited for the new year. Today all
079our faculty and staff reported back uh to our schools and so um you have some awesome leaders out in the audience that joined us and teacher leaders and uh people on the campus and today was that first day back and always an exciting day. I know they are dead tired right now um because that day is uh very um taxing. So just thank you. Welcome back. Happy new year. We're excited. School starts Thursday if you can believe it. We are at it again. Um and we're ready to rock and roll. So, um, happy new year and and let's do it and here's to a good, uh, 25 26. So, thank you. >> Thank you. Next, we have the governing board update. I will start. Um, I feel like a lot of this has already been
080said. Um, but although many of you have been working and preparing over the summer, welcome back. It's always an exciting time as we prepare a new year of leading, teaching, and learning. Also, a pre-welcome to our DART families with students starting back in just a couple days. Uh this morning, I attended a very special event honoring Principal Jill Hoppy of Canyon Ridge Elementary School. Miss Hoppy was presented with the exemplary principal award from Maricopa County Superintendent Shelley Bogs. We are so grateful for your leadership in Daart and so proud of the work that you're doing to lead your professional learning community, guide student growth, and maintain your amazing results. I also want to mention a current event involving our district. Again, I'm sorry everything's probably already been said, but I wrote this this morning. Um,
081as some of you know, there was a recent media story involving our use of funds towards professional development for our staff. What you may be missing is that this is an initial investment in our staff and a lifetime investment in our students and in our community. When student achievement state test results are all under scrutiny, we chose to invest dollars into strengthening these results. One common theme in local, state, and national narratives is that students can't read or do basic math. This is not our narrative in Daart. instead of making purchases on woke curriculum like our partners or our neighbors do. Um partnering with unethical outside parties, bailing out school districts outside of our own school district. We work with our existing programs, our existing materials, customizing them, mapping them to the Arizona state standards
082in professional learning community structures. As a result of this, we are beginning to make huge strides in data driven results. Thank you. Thank you, President Junmore. I also attended this morning um Miss uh principles uh Hoppies Jill Hoppies from the exclinary uh principal award from Shelley Bog. So, I just want to say congratulations to you and your school. Great job. And I also want to talk about the PLC incident. I know I've been there twice, like I said before. Unfortunately, I didn't get to go this year, but um I'm incredibly proud of the dedication our educators show by engaging in the professional growth opportunities like the PLC conference. These conferences are more than just events. They are vital spaces where we go to collaborate or I'm sorry where we go to for collaboration, innovation, brainstorming
083and continuous learning um comes to life. At the heart of every strong school district, it is a team of empowered teachers and a professional learning communities are the key to that strength. When our teachers come together to share best practices, analyze our student data, and support one another's department, our entire district benefits, especially our students, and it's showing within our district. Our school labels are phenomenal. Um, and then our student achievement on the AASA student assessments, um, they've steadily increased in both ELA and math, and we are performing above the state average. The impact of this work is longlasting and directly supports our mission of ensuring high levels of learning for all students, not just some. Like Dr. Croto always says, I'm grateful for all of our educators commitment and will continue to support the
084efforts that build such a strong foundation for teaching and learning. So, thank you all for everything. Miss Destish, do you have any governing board updates? Yes, that's you. And um board member Drake said it beautifully. I cannot even add to that and I appreciate it because our teachers are the most important asset to ensure our students will have an incredible um life and be successful in life. So I do appreciate it. Thank you. Okay, I'll move ahead to item H1, request for future agenda items. Hearing none, I move to item I1. Did you I'm sorry. Did you have something? >> Okay. Moving to item I1. Uh I move to adjourn the meeting. >> Second. >> Third. Motion carries. We are adjourned.