Gilbert Public Schools Board Meeting 2/24/2026

001All right. Well, welcome everyone tonight to uh this uh regular board meeting. I'm go ahead and call the meeting to order. Uh we'll start with a moment of silence and a pledge of allegiance. Um, so if everybody stand and join me in a moment of silence. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Terrific. And we'll go ahead and have a roll call. Miss Wilson. >> Dr. Blake Robson >> here. >> Miss Jill Humphre >> here. Mr. Jesse Brainer >> here. >> Mr. Chad Thompson is not present at the time. >> And Shaina Murray is on her way. >> Dr. Robersonson, you have a quorum. >> Thank you. Um, we'll go

002ahead and move on to agenda item 2.01, approval of the agenda. Is there a motion? >> I move to approve the agenda as presented. second. >> I thought we were maybe going to change something on the agenda. >> We can do that. Yes. Um item number on consent agenda uh uh 7 under the consent agenda item number 7.06 where it says employee work calendars for the 2627 school year. Uh I still want to approve uh this work calendars ex with the exception of the support staff. We would like to pull that portion of the agenda item and look it over one more time and bring it back on March 3rd. >> We we can do that when we approve the consent agenda. >> So that would probably be appropriate. So we need a second. >>

003Perfect. We'll go ahead and uh address that with the consent agenda. Is there I'll go ahead and and second the approval of the agenda. Uh all those in favor >> I. >> Any opposed? All right. So, we'll go ahead and move on to I think the reason probably most of us are here tonight, the superintendent recognition awards. Dr. McCord. >> Thank you, Mr. Dr. Robertson. Uh if the board would join me in front of the DAS this evening, we have some people we'd like to recognize. Good evening everyone. >> Oh, very nice. Thank you for being here. Well, we have some uh teachers to recognize. We have some marching bands to recognize and we have some ortorial contest winners that are going to actually give their speeches this evening. So, uh let's start off with

004our national board certified teachers. The process of earning the National Board Certification is designed to collect clear evidence of accomplished teaching practice. Candidates complete compete candidates complete four rigorous components. A computer-based assessment measuring content knowledge and three portfolio entries demonstrating differentiating differentiation in instruction, teaching practice, learning environment, and reflective professional decisionmaking. The certification process can take one to five years to complete and requires educators to demonstrate a measurable impact on student learning. Hold on. That's got to be Chad. Gentleman in the back microphone needs to be on. What's that? >> Are you there, Mr. Thompson? >> Yes. >> Welcome to the meeting. >> Thank you. >> Thanks. Sorry, I was in the middle of just to catch you up on where we're at. Um, we were talking about national board certification. Um, [snorts] it offers

00525 certificate areas structured by developmental level and discipline, ensuring that certification reflects deep subject expertise and a strong understanding how students learn. With this year's newly certified and maintained educators, Gilbert Public Schools now has 37 teachers and staff members with national board certification, and we'd like to recognize those individuals tonight. Uh first off from Desert Ridge High School and this is an individual who's maintained his certification. Uh he's a physics teacher and AP physics teacher, Mr. Greg Stafford. Come on down. [applause] I'm gonna have you all at once. Next from Highland Junior High, who's a history and social sciences and honors history teacher and social sciences, newly certified Melanie Whitfield. Congratulations [applause] from Highland High School. She teaches practical applications of math, practical applications of science, and communication skills. Welcome newly certified National Board Certified

006Teacher Joanna Cole Painter [applause] from Gilbert High School. International international balora coordinator and newly certified national board certified teacher Megan GRAY [applause] from Plyad Del Ry Elementary reading specialist who has maintained her certification. MELANIE VS [applause] >> [applause] >> And from the district office in our special education department, instructional specialist maintained her certification. Please welcome Abby Wheatville. [applause] And and and yeah, and she was on the Price is Right the other day. Was that a requirement to be a national board certified teacher? >> Two amazing things happened this year. >> Isn't that awesome? >> I know how hard all of you have worked to either become nationally board certified or to maintain your certification. It's a long journey and I nobody sees you do this work when you're at home at night or staying late

007at school. and uh we just want to congratulate you and thank you for taking that extra step for your students here in Gilbert public schools. So, thank you. Give him one more hand [applause] if you guys would turn around behind Mr. Stafford and he's going to form a line and shake hands with the governing board and then we'll stay for a picture right in front of them and we'll kind of line it back right here. >> Yeah. Isn't that great? >> Come on in and we'll fill in around you. >> We need a seating chart. I know. >> I know. You guys get in the middle. >> Oh. Oh, >> there you go. >> Anybody else? Time for pictures. [laughter] Ladies and gentlemen, National Board Certified Teachers. Thank [applause] you. Congratulations. Next, marching bands. If

008I could have director Matt Kak up here from Camp Over Verie High School, that'd be great. You can bring everybody if you'd like. [applause] How are you? So every year for marching band there's competitions and if you've ever participated in marching band, if you've ever watched, if you've ever got a glimpse of uh these folks work extremely hard and it's not once a week, it's probably seven days a week. We're not supposed to do it on Sundays, but I'm sure some kids are at home doing some things. And I know as a teacher, you're always working it. And so this year, Camp Overdie High School finished first place at the Amba Class AA state finals, and they are state champions. Please give them a hand. [applause] Their director, Matt Kak, [applause] you want to introduce

009who you have here or let them introduce themselves and talk a little bit? >> Yeah, I'll let them introduce themselves. >> Hi, I'm Audrey. I'm a senior and I'm one of the color guard captains. >> Hi, I'm Jaden. I'm also a senior and I'm also one of the color guard captains. >> I'm a sophomore and I'm one of the saxophone section leaders. >> Hi, I'm Aaron. I'm a senior and I'm also one of the saxophone section leaders. >> Hi, I'm Samson. I'm also a senior and I was the meophone section leader. >> Yeah. um just appreciate all the support. I just want to uh give a shout out to all our students. They've done such a great job um picking up the ball every single year and and uh running with it. Um this is

010their fifth out of the fifth state championship in the last six years. So that's like kind of a dynasty that they've created and when we graduate a bunch of seniors, the next next group picks up the ball and continues. So we're just really proud of the leadership especially for continuing that legacy at Campo. One more hand. If you guys would take time and shake hands with the board and take a picture, you guys stay right there. We'll put this in the middle somewhere. >> Come on in and fill in. Thank goodness I'm taller than the trophy. >> Congratulations. [applause] And if from Mosquite High School, could I have director Steve Canana? >> There you are. >> Hi. How are you, sir? >> Good. Thank you for being here tonight. >> Thank you. >> Bring up

011your your crew. Here's some kiddos. Here they are. Well, let me tell you, or everybody else, you guys already know. Um, Mosqu High School first place finish in the Amba Class A state finals. Again, state champions. They are. Congratulate them. [applause] And as I uh reiterate what I said a couple minutes ago, these things don't just happen. It takes hard work. It takes a lot of practice, a lot of coordination, and you got to smile out there in the 110° heat and you're marching up and down the field. You're playing at halftime. You're doing all kinds of different things. And to be rewarded with all this for your hard work is a special thing. So, uh, would you like to have your students introduce themselves? >> Sure. thing. >> Uh, my name is Erica Caddyy.

012I'm a sophomore and I'm a woodwin section leader. >> My name is Kylie Sabbat and I'm also a woodwin sop or sorry, woodwin section leader. >> I'm Ashley Aguilar and I'm the drum major and I'm a senior. >> I'm Kira Brown. I'm a senior and I'm the guard captain. >> I'm Jasine Martinez. I'm a sophomore and I'm here representing PIT. >> I'm Logan Fischer. I'm here representing drum line. Not as easy as it [laughter] looks, is it? >> Representing drum line. >> Uh, I'm a junior and I am the equipment manager. >> Steve, would you like to say a few words about your kids? >> Um, they're they're really awesome. Um, in my five years at Mosquite High School, it kind of felt like a hard reset after the COVID and everything. And so we

013helped establish a new identity and a new vision for what Mosquite High School Band is going to be. And it is now a place to be for kids. It's a place for them to be at the beginning of the day, the middle of the day, end of the day, and in the late hours after school. >> Well, we appreciate all the hard work again that you guys put in. And again, congratulations. We're very, very proud of you. If you guys would shake hands with the board, please. Thank you. [applause] Well done. >> Thank you. Thank you. One more time. Mosquo. [applause] Congratulations, guys. Thank you. Well done. And now for the next set of entertainment. Okay. Um, the ortorial contest winners. Could I have now they're going to perform their speech for everyone so they

014get three minutes has to be on our American heritage. I go to this every year and uh Dr. Karen Coleman, please stand up. Dr. Karen Coleman uh organizes this event and it is something that many of our schools participate in and once a year we have a contest and there's a group for K through2 and then there's a group for junior high as well as elementary and there's winners from each one of those and then they able to go on to the state competition if they would like and uh when's that being held? a week from Saturday. And so, um, if you guys know how difficult it is to public speak to begin with and then memorize a speech and get dressed up and incorporate gestures and come with enthusiasm, um, it's it's it's a

015trick and it's almost a talent. And so, we're very it's one of the events that I go to each year that I I thoroughly enjoy watching these kids get up and and perform. And what you'll also notice is that a lot of these students continue to come through kindergarten through 8th grade. And it's amazing to see them mature and how their skills grow. So governing board members, if you would maybe find a seat, you can watch from there. And they're going to stand right up here and perform. Could I have my K through two division division winner? Is it Alisa? Come on up. >> [applause] >> We're going to get this set up for you. Okay. You got to speak right into the microphone so everybody can hear you. Is that about right? So, do

016me before you start, say your full name and what school you're from and who you are going to be speaking about tonight. Okay. >> My name [snorts] is Alisa Morelos. Alisa Yetszo Morales P. And I'm talking about Ameilia Airha and I'm from Spectrum Elementary. >> When you're ready, my dear. >> Do people ever tell you their dreams are too big? That boys or girls can't do certain things? Let me tell you something. Girls can fly, girls can lead, girls can dream big, and boys can, too. One girl from American history proved it to the world when she believed she could fly. when others said she couldn't. Hello everyone. My name is Alisa Merles Pñena and today I'm here to take you back way way back over 100 years ago with the story of a pioneer

017pilot Amelia. Amelia Hehart was born in 1897 in Kansas. One day Amelia saw an airplane in the sky and said, "I want to fly." But not just for fun. She wanted to fly across oceans and even the entire earth. And guess what? She tried to do exactly that. Let's go back to the early 1900s. At that time, people says only boys should fly airplanes. They told girls, "You can't do that. It's too dangerous." But the million says, "Why not me?" She was curious, brave, and adventurous. When she was just seven, she built a roller coaster in her backyard. She climbed trees, wore pants instead of dresses. She wasn't afraid to try new things. That's her story of flying began. In 19 in 1920, Ameilia took her first airplane ride with a pilot, Frank Hawk. When

018the plane landed, she told herself, "From this moment, I know I have to fly." So she worked hard, took lessons, studied, and never gave up. Soon she broke the world record for the highest altitude flown by a woman. Isn't that incredible? She also became the first woman ever to fly across the Atlantic Ocean all by herself. Can you imagine flying alone in a tiny plane, through wind, through clouds, and only the stars to guide you? That takes courage. That's Amelia, an inspiring woman, a true hero. She once says, "The most effective way to do it is to do it. Stop waiting for it and go for it. Once you choose to be brave, you just keep going because the most difficult thing is the decision to act. The rest is just tenacity. Now, let's stop

019and think for a moment. Have you ever been told you're too small or too young or not strong enough? Have you ever been told you can't? Amelia taught us how to be ground breakers. People told her that she couldn't fly by herself, but she answered, "Never interrupt someone. Think something you say couldn't be done." That means when people say you can't do something, show them you can. Ameilia didn't stop dreaming of being up in the sky. In 1937, she began her greatest adventure, flying around the world. Sadly, her plane disappeared before she finished. But her story didn't end there. She remembered in books, museums, and hearts around the world because she never stopped reaching for the sky. Amelia shows us that girls can fly, boys can dream, everyone can do anything. So from now on,

020let's be like Amelia. Be bold, be brave, be curious, look up, and go. Because as Amelia said, adventure is worthwhile itself. Thank you. [applause] Well, there you go. Right. There you go. Next up in our third through sixth grade division, Natalya Lang from Courtzill. HI. [applause] That good? So, tell everybody your name, where you're from, what grade, and who you're representing tonight. >> My name is Natalyia Lang. I'm from Courtz Hill and I'm in fifth grade and doing Dolly Parton. Well, hello everybody. I'm Dolly Parton. I was born Well, hello everybody. My name is Dolly Parton. I'm a country music artist, actress, and philanthropist. I'm 80 years young and the fourth oldest of 12 siblings. I was born January 19th, 1946 in a small one room log cabin in Locust Ridge, Tennessee. My first job

021was as a singer. I started on local radio when I was 10. I was scared, but I had to sing and I love to do it. Everyone loved my voice and that's how I started my singing career. I'm also an actress and my very first acting job was when I was 33 in the movie 925, which was where I played Dory Rhodess. I I I got the role because the producer, Jane Fonda, approached me because of my popularity and that they needed a country singer for the part. I also wrote a theme song for that movie, which later became one of my biggest hits. When I was little, we didn't have much money. But honey, we had freedom, and that's the richest thing here in America. Sometimes our neighbors would drop us off fabric. One

022time, my mama sewed a coat out of that fabric. I called it my coat of many colors, which later became another hit song. My dream was to be in the Grand Old Opry. This is a big show where very popular country singers perform. And I performed there when I was 13 years old. And I sang You Got to Be My Baby. As I said earlier, I was on local radio when I was 10. I also created a theme. I made an album of patriotic songs called Forgotten Country, which reached number 23 on country charts. I worked with a lot of artist artists over my career, including duets with Willie Nelson and Paul McCartney from the Beatles. Do you happen to know Miley Cyrus? I know her quite well, actually, because she's my godaughter. Isn't that

023neat? I was married to the love of my life, Carl, for nearly 60 years, who sadly passed away last year in March. When I was older, I created a band with my family. We traveled in a bus called The Coach of Many Colors. I also made my own theme park called Dollywood in my hometown of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, which helped a lot of people in the area get jobs. It's one of the best theme parks in America, and I often visit there to say hi. Y'all should come visit sometime. You would love the cinnamon bread there. I created a foundation in 1988 called the Dollywood Foundation. I saw many teens dropping out of school, so I gave them $500 if they finished school. With the success of the Dollywood Foundation, I started the Imagination Library.

024You know, I've been blessed beyond measure, and I believe that you ought to bless others. That's why giving back matters so much to me. The Imagination Library was founded in 1995 and gave over 200 million books to kids ages 0 to 5. It started in America and then expanded to Canada and even to Ireland. It just recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. When it started, I gave a speech that said this. When I was growing up in the hills of East Tennessee, I knew my dreams would come true. I knew there are children in your community with their own dreams. They dream becoming a doctor or an inventor or a minister. Who knows? Maybe there's a little girl whose dream is to be a writer and singer. The seeds of these dreams are often found in

025books. And the seeds you help plant your community can grow across the world. As an American, I learned early on that patriotism isn't about speeches. It's about doing your part even when no one's watching. One of my favorite things to do is support the troops. I'd visit as much as I could and hope that I could bring happiness and cheer to lift their spirits. And as I said in my website, I'm not a bit political, but I'm extremely patriotic. Because patriotism isn't just waving a flag. It's lifting each other up. It's believing that every child deserves a chance, every voice deserves respect, and every dream deserves a fair shot. I hope you now know my story. Thank you. God bless you, and God bless the United States of America. [applause] Do you know any of

026Dolly's songs? Would you like to sing one of them up here? Like, no. Uh, our seventh and eighth grade division. Is it Katia? Katia. Uh, from Gilbert Accelerated Middle School. Come on up. [applause] Is this high enough? >> Um, yes. I think it is. >> Okay. All right, it's all yours. >> Hi everyone, my name is Katia Gilla and I'm in seventh grade. I'm here to >> I'm here as a GAM student from Gilbert Accelerated Middle School. A touch of water was all it took for a woman to defeat all odds. This story belongs to Helen Keller. As an infant, Helen was both blind and deaf. This led to great irritation, anger, and confusion her early childhood. If it weren't for her parents reaching out to Alexander Graanbell, she might have stayed that way. But

027thankfully, Alexander Graanbell had referred them to Anne Sullivan. Anne Sullivan helped her create her first real world connection by placing her arm under a pump of water and gently tracing the words water onto her skin. This connection led to soon success allowing her to go to Perkins School for the Blind and Deaf. There she learned how to type with a special typewriter and read Braille. She was soon accepted into Radcliffe College where she started writing. She soon write sto students write started writing articles for popular magazines advocating for the blind women's suffrage socialism and world peace. 5 years later she became a very committed socialist. In 1909 she joined the socialist party where she started to take up the cause for workers rights. Her involvement allowed workers to get higher pay rages and better equality.

028She didn't just work for the workers. In 1920, she joined the American Civil Liberties Union with Aunt Jane Adams and East Crystal Eastman. There she was soon there. She was soon she soon declared as a founding mother where she traveled over 35 states using her global platform that the organization had gifted her. There she started addressing women's suffrage and free education for the blind. This sparked up a big commotion where she soon decided to to help create committees for the blind and free education for the disabled. She didn't just help America though. In 1948, she joined Japan where she was declared as the first goodwill amba goodwill ambassador of America. This title was given by General Douglas MacArthur. There she was. Over two million Japan citizens came to visit her and see her. This sparked

029a big commotion all around the world. It gave America a great strategic benefit and a very strong imitation of popularity, goodwill, and support. She didn't just break down barriers most people wanted, but she opened up to world to a better future. This is why a touch of water could just help you one day. Cuz all you don't know is maybe you just need a little push forward. This water sparked a big commotion in her heart that she led soon on to other people. Thank you, [applause] One more time for all three of our ortorial. If they could come up so we could take a picture and board members come on back up. [applause] Three great presentations about great women in history from three very talented young ladies. So congratul scoot over to the middle a

030little bit. So to your to your left. There you go. Right there. Perfect. And we'll crowd in behind you. One more time for our rhetorical contest winners. Thank you guys. [applause] Yes, please shake hands with the governing board. Come on, you go ahead and sit down now. Good job, board members. That concludes my recognitions for this evening. Thank you. [applause] So that's how I warm water. [laughter] >> Okay, that was good. >> Okay. Um, we are going to be moving on to the superintendence report. Um, Dr. Shane McCord, I'll hand it over to you. >> Thank you, Madam Clerk. Governing board members. Good evening. I want to welcome everyone joining us in person and online to the board meeting this evening. Just some announcements and a a little proclamation. Uh, fourth grade water festival. Yesterday

031and today, our fourth grade students went to the town of Gilbert Civic Center to learn about water conservation and water pollution. Through collaboration with the town of Gilbert, the University of Arizona, and volunteer students from Camp Overdie, this day was possible and it was incredible. Thank you to Barbara Tory and Michael Cowan in our district science department for making this possible. uh appreciate and everybody that was able to go out there and partake in that. It was a great day. Uh read across America week. Next week is read across America week. Our schools have invented invited many guest readers to their campuses to help spread the joy of reading to our students. Thank you to all of those guest readers and thank you to our schools for being so welcoming to our community. And please

032join me in celebrating our five new or our new four new A+ School of Excellence winners. Campovery High School, Gilbert Classical Academy, Highland Junior High School, and Playa Del Rey. A total of 48 schools were chosen this year for this honor. And we are so proud to have our schools recognized as A+ schools. And thank you to our families, our employees, and students who make our school such a wonderful place to be and to learn. And this is a proclamation, and I'm reading it here. We have another proclamation during reports, but I'll read this one. This one's from the governor uh Katie Hobbs and it is whereas February 2026 is designated as Career and Technical Education Month by the Association for Career and Technical Education of Arizona and the National Association for Career Technical Education,

033highlighting the transformative impact of career technical education on individuals and communities. And whereas career and technical education equips students with essential technical and professional skills through practical meaningful applications of core subjects like reading, writing and mathematics, fostering academic success, leadership and community engagement. And whereas the collaboration between career technical educators, business and industry drives local and national economic growth by preparing students for in demand careers and strengthening Arizona work Arizona's workforce. Whereas career and technical education provides lifelong learning opportunities enabling individuals to adapt to evolving workforce needs, achieve career satisfaction and secure economic independence. And whereas the leadership opportunities offered by career technical education student organizations such such as DECA, FBLA, FCCLA, FFA, HOSA, and Skills USA develop future leaders and innovators essential to Arizona's future success. Now therefore, I, Katie Hobbs, governor of the

034state of Arizona, do hereby proclaim pro proclaim February 2026 as career and technical education month. So, congratulations to them. We are very proud of all of our CTE uh instructors as well as our students and we always expect great things out of them and they always provide. And last but not least, you know what's coming up? Spring break. It'll begin on Monday, March 9th, and continue through Friday, March 20th. School resume on Monday, March 23rd. And I hope everybody finds some time to find some peace and relaxation and hopefully a little sun in the fun and uh enjoy your spring break. Madame Clerk, that's all I have for this evening. >> Thank you. Okay, we'll move on to um agenda item number five, request to speak to the governing bird. I have one request to

035speak tonight. I'm going to try so hard with the last name. Jonathan, >> we need to read. >> Oh, the ad admonition. Sorry. Um that's usually my job. >> Just one minute. We need to read the admonition. >> You're good. You can stand up there. It's all right. [laughter] >> Yeah. um request to speak to the governing board pursuant to ARS 38-431.02.h. The governing board may make an open call to the public during a public meeting subject to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions to allow individuals to address the public body on any issue within the jurisdiction of the public body. After an open call of the public, individual board members may respond to criticism made by those who have addressed the governing board, may ask staff to review a matter, or may ask that

036a matter be put on a future agenda. However, members of the governing board shall only discuss or take legal action on the issues raised during an open call to the public if the matters are properly noticed for discussion and legal action. During an open call, the governing board requests that speakers refrain from voicing complaints against school personnel or anyone connected to the district as it may impact due process rights. Please contact the office of talent management if you have specific concerns about any individual employee. Now, [laughter] [gasps] um, Jonathan, if you want to come up. >> Thank you. >> Okay. So, you'll have 3 minutes. There'll be a timer that pops up >> and it'll go yellow and red for you so you know on your time. >> Okay, got it. Think can everybody hear

037me? Okay. Members of the board, my name is Jonathan Pagnisat and I'm here with my wife Carrie as parents speaking out for a deep love of our son Andreas and from our responsibility to protect them. We are here to make sure that what he endured as a sixth grade student at Town Meadows Elementary is not dismissed, minimized, or repeated. On June 4th, 2025, we submitted a formal complaint to the superintendent detailing repeated immoral, unprofessional, and abusive conduct by three school personnel. According to our son in the documentation we provided, copies of which I just handed out, these actions and failures to act resulted in injury, severe physical injury, severe emotional distress, and disparit treatment. The district's response was inadequate. It took 5 months to receive any reply and only after two weeks of our repeated

038follow-ups. The process was slow, apathetic, and disconnected from the seriousness of the allegations. This is especially alarming given the recent Gilbert Goons [clears throat] incidents that raise community expectations around student safety and the district's duty of care. What should have been a celebratory final year of elementary school became a year of fear. Andreas, our son, faced harassment and bullying, not only from peers, but from adults in positions of authority. Despite repeated reports, no meaningful protections or support were provided. Andreas has attended GPS since kindergarten. He's always been respectful, compassionate, and and academic academically successful with no behavioral issues. When change in sixth grade was not our son, it was the environment around him. Under inexperienced leadership and insufficient oversight of two sixth grade teachers, that environment rapidly deteriorated. One teacher created a climate so hostile

039that Andreas could not bring himself to intend school on multiple occasions. He was threatened, humiliated, and stripped of his dignity. He was told he would be confined alone, placed in a lower grade classroom for an entire day without our knowledge, forced to give away school supplies, repeatedly screamed out in hallways, falsely accused of cheating, and denied basic instructional support. [clears throat] At the same time, Andreas endured severe peer bullying. He was thrown into a steel fence, struck repeatedly in a hallway, shoved to the ground, and suffered a lacerated arm while shielding his face from a thrown object. In one especially degrading incident, bullies forced him to clean smash fruit in the cafeteria with his bare hands while taunting him. These were not isolated events. It was a pattern of abuse that left them physically and

040emotionally scarred. We acknowledged the recent district efforts to improve safety with upgraded security structure on each premises. But where is the same urgency when abuse comes from peers and from those in powers policies cannot s simply exist on paper. They must be enforced, monitored, and embedded into captain's culture. We refuse to let our son's suffering be meaningless. Andreas is bright and resilient, and those who ignored us please believe we had no voice. But he does have a voice, and that's why we're here. We respectfully request that you review Town Middle's elementary failure to uphold the district's anti-bullying policy and place this issue on upcoming agenda so it can be addressed transparently. >> I just have one more sentence. >> Yeah, this three. Sorry. >> Thank you. >> You you could email it to the board

041if you wish. >> Yes. >> Actually, I was I was going to say I believe there's a copy of it right here. So, we've we've got it. Thank you. Um, okay. Are people who did I just see two people walk in with request to speak? >> They have to come. >> It has to happen later, right? Begin. >> That's what I thought. >> Um, they have they'll have to wait till next time, the next business meeting, and then they can they can speak, but you have to put your request in before the meeting begins. >> Thank you. Yeah. So, if you guys want to do that, we can have you come back for the next meeting or >> they'll need to bring it next time, >> right? That's what I mean. >> Yeah. >> Okay.

042Um, so we're going to have to move on to agenda item six for reports. Um, we have 6.01, the proclamation for National School Social Work Week, March 1st through 7th, 2026. >> Thank you. Um, as I said earlier, I'll have a second proclamation I'd like to read to everybody. Uh whereas school social workers serve as vital members of the education team playing a certain role in creating partnerships between the home, school, and community to ensure student academic success. And whereas school social workers are exceptionally skilled and uniquely trained in identifying and providing services to students who face serious challenges to school success including poverty, disability, discrimination, abuse, neglect, addiction, bullying, mental illness, homelessness, uh familiar stressors and other barriers to learning. And whereas local educational agencies, community support agencies should continue to work in partnership

043with social school social workers to address and access resources and support services in helping to meet students social, emotional, physical, mental health and environmental needs so that students may achieve academic success. And whereas school social workers maintain knowledge of school climate which are necessary for responsible school safety planning. And now therefore, I, Shane McCord, Superintendent of Gilbert Public Schools, do hereby proclaim Sunday, March 1st through March 7th, 2026 as school social worker week in Gilbert Public Schools and encourage all in our district community to observe this week by highlighting the vital role and contributions school social workers make in the success of students in our schools. Thank you. >> Great. Thank you so much. Um, okay. We're going to move on to 6.02, teaching and learning academic spotlight. >> Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

044I'll turn this over to Dr. Ryan, and he has some people presenting for him this evening. >> Dr. McCord, Madame Clerk, governing board, thank you so much for the opportunity this evening. I'm going to introduce Lisa Kaser, who's our coordinator of our alternative certification pathway program. Um, this program came to be a few years back and has turned out some of the strongest educators you'll find across our school district. And we're incredibly proud to share with you this the story kind of behind the scenes. And we have the incredible team here with uh, Miss Kaser tonight. And we're so uh, just proud of their work and and honored to have them presenting to us this evening. So, Miss Creaser, >> I don't know that I really need this. >> Yeah, you you do. Is everybody

045in can hear you? >> Oh, okay. >> It's on. >> Is it on? Yeah. Okay. Thanks. Um, so Dr. Mor, Dr. McCord, and Miss Murray and members of the board and cabinet who are here. Um, thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to be here to share about our alternative certification pathway here in Gilbert Public Schools. We are passionate about the impact that we believe we have had across the district and we're really grateful to be able to share this opportunity with you. So what is Pathway? Pathway is really the story of students who deserve great teachers. That's been the goal since its inception and that's what we work toward every day as we're working with our teachers. It is an opportunity for professionals who want to change careers to become teachers in

046Gilbert public schools to begin a meaningful career and we hope to have a meaningful career for years to come. That's important to us and we instill that in our teachers. It's more than just the 2-year training program. We hope that it's a relationship that goes on. Before we get started, I do want to introduce our team to you and tell you a little bit about them and thank them for their efforts because they are really pretty phenomenal educators. They are experts in their craft and they are also passionate about helping our teachers become as successful as they can be and help them then support our students student achievement and student growth. So, we're going to start with Miss Tiffany Bodman. Tiffany is our elementary expert as well as keys to literacy. Those are the two

047initiatives that she leads and she works with teachers in both of those situations. Next, we have Connie LRE. Connie is our elementary special education specialist. She works with teachers in all of our elementary specialed programs. She's an expert whether it is a spice classroom or an A skills classroom or elementary ESAP. She is an expert in her craft and she's able to support all of those teachers. Next we have uh Miss Sam Gonzalez and Sam is a secondary general education expert as well as a secondary special education expert. She is in science classrooms. She is in secondary ESAP classrooms and resource classrooms supporting those teachers as they begin their career working with our 7th through 12th grade students. And our last team member is Miss Heather Thud Orlowski and Heather is our expert with structured

048English immersion. So, she comes in and teaches that 45-hour course to make sure that our teachers are eligible for their standard certificate at the end of the 2-year program. So, that's our team and I do want to take a minute to thank them. Um, I cannot tell you how much I appreciate them and they are really the bread and butter of Pathway. They are really who makes it happen. So the eligibility requirements for some way to be for someone to be a part of pathway are that they must already have a bachelor's degree or a master's degree but they do not have a degree in education. These are professionals changing careers. So we have for example we have a research scientist teaching biology. uh we had who has graduated but we had a lawyer who

049decided that she wasn't really making a difference and she then was teaching some junior high English. So we have some career professionals who decided they wanted a meaningful career and they took the leap and have really never looked back. We're grateful for them. They also have to have a level one fingerprint clearance card. And those two things are required before we even interview them. So, it's really important that they are going into classrooms completely qualified for the work that they're doing. We make sure that we're not putting people in classrooms who don't have those things in place. Secondary teachers must either have a degree in the content that they're teaching or they must have passed the state NEES test in order to be qualified. So, let's talk about a year in the life of a

050pathway teacher. Our pathway teachers are busy. They have between 130 and 150 hours of training. And all of those hours are of training are provided by our pathway team here. It's all one-on-one training. None of it is done online. So, it's all very personal. And that is then carried out into [clears throat] 30 hours of personalized coaching. Our staff members are in classrooms. They are observing and then they meet with those teachers and they talk through what went well, areas they want to strengthen and working together. then they create goals which our pathway teachers work toward and show progress toward. We also make sure that we are using the expertise of our entire district. So we bring in for example our special education specialists. We bring in coordinators and specialists from teaching and learning. We

051bring in as well tech services and we also partner with our campus coaches. So, we make sure that these folks who have changed careers have all of the success or all of the support that they need in order to have success in our classrooms. The foundations for our training are the same as the foundations for any traditional educator preparation program. So, the standards we base our training on are the Intask standards, which are the interstate teacher assessment and support consortium standards. as well as the Council for Exceptional Children Professional Standards. And if you were to get a teaching degree at ASU, for example, your training would also be based on these two sets of standards. So, we are researching those all the time. We're making sure that our training is fully aligned so that our

052teachers are prepared, especially because they take the same state tests that anybody from a traditional program takes. We also wrap our training in the GPS instructional framework and we start with connect which is the first domain of our framework. We teach our teachers that connect is really the basis for everything we do in Gilbert public schools. And the first training that we provide is the value of connecting with our families, our community, our students, and how that impacts classroom atmosphere. And it [clears throat] impacts things such as routines and procedures and classroom management. In other words, we don't isolate routines and procedures in classroom management, but instead we bring them together and we wrap them up under connect and show our teachers how that is really a benefit for student growth. Our training then branches

053into the other four domains which are design, instruct, assess, and reflect. And these are the things that you would probably expect. We teach about standards, learning targets, success criteria. We also spend an awful lot of time on lesson design. And we look at lesson design based on current brainbased research for learning. We teach about active learning, formatives, and sumitives. And then we also teach the impact of reflection, both teacher reflection and student reflection, all for further learning. So we work with our teachers. Remember our goal is to put great teachers in front of our students and we know that all of these components really matter when we are talking about student achievement and student growth. There are two additional components of our training and these both happen during their second year. One is structured English

054immersion which is a 45hour course and the other is keys to literacy which is the reading foundations course and that is a 90hour course. Again both of those are taught in person. Um our keys to literacy is facilitated with a national consultant and Miss Tiffany Bodman. They work together and then structured English immersion is in person with Miss Heather Thud Orlowski. At the end of the 2-year program, in order for our teachers to qualify to convert their certificate to a standard certificate, in addition to passing the appropriate state tests, the professional knowledge test, they also have to have attended all of our trainings without exception. They have to complete all assignments, embrace the coaching process and the mentoring process. And for some of our teachers that's new for them and so we support them and

055help them see the value of that as we go through the process. They have to meet the individual goals that we set for them but we set those goals in collaboration with them. So our coaching is asking a lot of questions like how did things go in this particular lesson and what goal do you want to set moving forward and then we work together to help them achieve that goal. Finally, they have to show student growth which is equal to or better than the average in GPS. We are really proud because several of our teachers show higher growth than other teachers in their teams. So, for example, we have a fifth grade teacher this year in her very first year who middle of the year data bested everybody on her fifth grade team. Last year,

056we had a sophomore English teacher at a high school whose data was higher and showed more growth than any other high school teacher um on the campus, any other sophomore English teacher. and we have others as well whose data is in the top quartortile of their particular team and we're proud of that. Uh other things are our special education teachers. They have additional things that they have to show for proficiency. They have to show proficiency and specially designed instruction, differentiated instruction, writing individual education plans, and also developing and monitoring IEP goals. Our special education teachers have additional training on top of pathway training with our special education specialists and department here at the district. Our cohort enrollment you can see has gone down over the past four years and that's because the need for teachers

057has gone down. As our student population has shrunk, our need for teachers has shrunk as well. And so the uh four years ago when we started Pathway, we thought there might be a bigger need into the future, but we've seen the needs change. And so we have hired fewer teachers. But you'll notice that um with a few dips, basically we are seeing a trend in a higher success rate of our teachers in our program. We have approximately 72% of our teachers who have begun over the past four years who are still in classrooms today. That's kind of exciting because we've put these teachers who've been trained in Gilbert Public Schools, who've been brought up as Gilbert Public Schools teachers in front of our Gilbert Public Schools students. Um, which we think is amazing. Here's what

058it looks like by the numbers. Currently, we have 53 elementary teachers across the district who have been or are currently part of our pathway program. We have seven kindergarten teachers, three first grade teachers, and you can look through and see the other numbers. Fifth grade, I don't know, there's a lack of fifth grade teachers. We have nine throughout the district, and that's kind of exciting. Our special education numbers are also strong. We have seven teachers in spice classrooms who are being very successful with that special population. And then we have of course a number in all of our programs. At the secondary level, we have six English teachers. Uh one is in junior high and the others are at the high school level. You can look through there and see that we've had every major

059every major subject area touched by a pathway teacher. And the same thing is true in our special education programs. At the secondary level, we have 11 teachers um in a resource classroom. And so we're proud of those teachers and the work that they do because teaching is hard. There's no two ways about it. But these professionals have opted to change careers. They want to make an impact. And there can be no doubt that they are. This is our third cohort. They're going to graduate in May. They're pretty excited about that. Um, and we always tell them, we don't know why they're excited because we're a lot of fun, but they're ready to move on. And here's some feedback from them. I want to draw your attention to the third one at the bottom, and this

060is from a teacher who is in a preschool special education program. She said, "Pathway makes teachers and friends and changes lives. I have loved every second." She's a pretty amazing human being. Here is our cohort four. And we had some absences when we took this picture, but these are our current freshmen, our current first years. And I want to draw your attention to the top one on this. She said, "Training is aligned with the needs of Oh gosh, I need glasses. >> Thank you. Training is aligned with the needs of novice teachers." Let me just read my paper. That might be [laughter] better. Let me just read my paper. All right, here we go. Training is aligned with the needs of novice teachers. Intensive, always relevant, expertly designed, and remarkably fun. A constant reminder of

061what being an effective teacher looks like. And we were so excited to get that feedback because we work so hard to make sure our trainings are active and engaging and that we model the same strategies that we teach. Our trainings are not sit and get. They are busy. They are tired by the end. We have some principal reviews uh that I wanted to share with you as well. The middle column there is from an elementary principal and she said, "The pathway coaches have partnered with us every step of the way, cheering on our teacher and equipping her with valuable strategies. Pathway coaches are intentional about providing meaningful personalized support. Also, our goal to help our teachers be successful." This next slide, I want to draw your attention to the last one. This is a high

062school principal and he said, "Pathway teachers receive extensive support from the pathway team in regard to curriculum, instructional strategies, and management. The end result has been qualified, well-trained teachers. We're really proud of our teachers and their commitment to success. when they begin. Those first few weeks are really painful. And we pray that they're going to stay with us. We pray that they're going to stick it out. But what's more is we're in their classrooms. We're supporting them from the ground up so that they feel like they have the tools, they have the strength, and they have the support they need to come back day after day because it is such hard work. But they do great things for our students. And that's it. Do you have any questions for us? >> Does anybody have any

063questions? >> No questions. >> Sure. Of course. Of course I have questions. >> So, um, one of my understandings when we started this program is that they would receive a Arizona teaching certificate. Is it reciprocal to other states? because my understanding was that it would not be, but it sounds like if they're getting a regular teaching certificate, it might be. >> Yeah. So, that's a really great question. What they get is called a classroombased standard certificate and it's a little bit different than a standard certificate. Whether or not another state accepts it is up to the receiving state. And I think initially these alternative certification pathways were not accepted state to another state, but what's happened is the majority of states in the United States have equal programs. And so we've had two teachers move

064out of state and both have had their certificates accepted. One in Wisconsin and one in Texas. >> Oh, that's good to know. Thank you. I appreciate that. Yeah, I I know there's a lot of hard work put in and and definitely lots of hours. Can you tell us a little bit more about the structured English immersion? Is that a required part that everyone goes through um to deal with those English language learners to help them along as as we have those come into our classroom, those students? >> It is required and it's required by the state. And so in order to teach, those teachers must have an SEI endorsement on their certificate and they must have it by the end of the program. Now, if we have a teacher who their first year has uh

065eelss in their class, then we work to make sure they get that training that first year so that the state looks at them as qualified for what they're doing. >> Okay. Thank you. I appreciate that. >> Yeah. You're welcome. You're welcome. >> Yeah. I just wanted to say this is such a great program. So appreciate all the work um you all put into it and the presentation tonight and I think it's it's wonderful for the people who go through your program and and wonderful for our students as well and and really appreciate it. Thank you. >> Y All right. Thanks everybody. >> Thank you so much. >> Okay, moving on to 6.03 second quarter financials. Um I'm assuming Miss Bonnie Betts that's you. Yes. Good evening Dr. McCord. Governing board members um clerk Miss Murray.

066Uh this uh presentation's normally made to you at the end of January. So we're um we are catching up a little bit but it's very relevant today because it's part of the story that we will we will share with you when we share the budget revision later on this evening. So, this is a quarterly financial presentation. And just a reminder, normally we present the monthly financials to you and we're looking at month-over-month changes, but with the quarterly financial, we're looking year-over-year changes reflective of the same quarter in the prior year. Okay. So, year-to-ate revenues. So, operating revenue by source. So as you know the state equalization pro uh the state equalization formula involves both um both uh local property tax portion as well as a state funding portion. Um in addition before I go on

067a little bit further uh please understand that this report is based upon our district operating grids only. So it's not a global look at all of our funds and all of our resources here in Gilbert public schools. We're just looking at that first normal operating grid that we share with you in the monthly financial. So, looking at this revenue by source year-over-year comparison, you can see that the revenue received is 151 um million or 46.8% of of expected in the prior year compared to 156.3 million or 48.3% of expected. So note that uh when you look at the grid, you can see the federal is about the same year-over-year, but the local was only about $61 million in the prior year, and in the current year, it's about 69 million. So that's the biggest change

068reflective of that 46.8 versus 48.3%. So note that the state equalization, conversely, is a little bit less in the current year than it was um in the prior year. The biggest takeaway here is just a reminder that the the state revenues in particular are delayed due to that state aid delay um in funding that we roll over for Gilbert. We roll over about $38 million. We don't receive about $38 million by June 30. We receive the remaining the first week in July due to that state aid roll rollover. [clears throat] So um that's the big change for that. We always missps that goes back to like 2009 when the great recession and they have not re uh fixed that cut yet. >> Yep, that's right. That's exactly right. >> So, um again, this is just

069a different way to present it. Um you can see that the the local uh is is varied quite a bit. Uh that is what that's subject to when property tax collections come in. It's also subject to timing depending upon like some tax collections could come right at the end of the month in one year and at the beginning of another month in the next year which would would reflect that change. But again, this is a better look at that state equalization where in the current year we have $84.5 million out of an expected $184.3 million reflective of that state aid delayed payment. So always we share by source and then we always share by fund. So um note uh when you look at the revenue in unrestricted capital year-over-year you can see December 31st 2024

070unrestricted capital was 17.3 million. In the current year it's 16.3 million. Both of those reflect 100% of the unrestricted capital expected for the entire year. Just a reminder that was part of the strategies we instituted about three years ago trying to maximize how much revenue goes into the unrestricted capital fund because we are able to earn interest in unrestricted capital and actually increase our budget capacity to spend those interest earnings. Um note that uh classroom site fund is um $15.5 million which does represent half of what is expected. We're expecting $31 million. Classroom site fund is based upon prior year average daily membership. So it's set by the uh joint legislative budget committee in the spring of the prior year which means that the revenue is there and it's very consistent and comes monthly. So

071you would expect to see that. And [snorts] then you can see maintenance and operations um versus versus other. So that's the operating revenue by fund year-over-year um comparison. So before I move on to the expenditure comparison, are there any questions about the revenue? Okay, great. So again, the same the same conversation regarding classroom site fund um versus M versus other versus unrestricted capital. Um again the big notification here is about the uh the fact that in unrestricted capital we actually have 100% of the revenue. Note in December of 2025 on the right hand grid you can see that the revenue is actually greater than projected that's reflective of the interest earnings. Okay. So moving on to year-to- date expenditure comparison. So operating fund expenditures year-over-year comparison note that in the prior year expended encumbered 358.2

072million compared to 332 million in the current year. So that is a change of what is that 18 about $26 million. So note the unrestricted capital change in particular. So in 2024 we spent $37.4 $4 million in unrestricted capital. Large portion of that was due to our um curriculum adoptions. So in 2025 that dropped by um a little bit over 17 million down to 20.7 million in 2025. Okay. And then salaries, the salaries dropping from 209.8 versus 203.7. That's reflective of the drop of students and the decrease in number of teacher FTE. Again, [clears throat] just a reminder, we have been able to match up our teacher FTE with our drop in enrollment without having to go through any reduction in force process. That's been natural attrition as our uh teaching staff is retiring and

073we're just replacing those teachers that we need to replace based upon the student population. And so based upon that, that's all I have. If you have any questions, um, both, uh, Jackie, Jackie Matin and Amber Morgan are back there also, uh, available to help me as Amber Morgan and Jackie are the ones who actually prepare this report. So if that's any other questions, then that's that completes this report. >> Anybody else? We good? Awesome. Thank you very much. >> Okay, great. Thanks. >> Okay. I lost my spot. 6.04 monthly financial report for month ending January 31st, 2026. So yes, this is me as well. [laughter] So the big change here, this is that district operating fund grid that I was telling you about. So all these funds combined are what we're comparing year-over-year in that

074quarterly financial. Um, in this particular case though, this is year-to date January versus year-to- date December. So, normally we would present to you year-to date December along with the quarterly financial ending December. So, we are a month later. Now, what's important about all these grids that I'm going to share is that we've added a proposed revision number two column which later we will be presenting to you a presentation on budget revision number two. But we wanted to make sure that as we're talking about our available balance going into next year that we're reflecting those available balances [clears throat] against the proposed revision number two. So you have a a better more clear picture of where we are from a financial status uh for the remainder of the school year. So note in maintenance and operations

075we are now at a $13.6 $6 million available balance associated with that budget revision. We'll go into more details about what what's represented in there. But that's very good news for us because much of that $13.6 million available balance is ongoing which will give us an opportunity to balance our budget and hopefully ek out a 2% pay increase going into the 2627 school year. So, we're pretty excited about the fact that we were um so successful at beating significantly that um 1,300 student loss. Uh classroom site fund. Note the year-to- date expended encumbered. This is part of our conversation that we're having in preparing for our budget next year. So, note that the year-to- date expended encumbered is $33.4 million. Our revenue in classroom site fund though in the current year is 30.3 million. So

076that should tell you immediately that we are starting to draw down that classroom site fund fund balance. But again we're being very conservative um making sure that we have the money available and at this point in time we do not know the classroom site fund revenue for next year. So as soon as we get that from the joint legislative budget committee we will be sharing that information with you. And then finally, unrestricted capital outlay. Note that $63.2 million um proposed revision number two. Again, we'll go into the details of that at the uh the meeting later this evening. The year-to- date expended encumbered is 23 almost 23.1 million. Again, we budgeted for spending just over 30 million. So, we're still in the process of waiting for purchase orders to come in from technology services as

077well as operations to bring that spend up to that $30.1 million or so of expected spend. That's all I have on the operating funds grids, but all in all, everything is as as expected. The good news is that we have greater available balances than less um because of the good news regarding our student population. The other important thing is which I mentioned on the quarterly classroom site fund is based upon prior year average daily membership which is why you did not see an increase. So um maintenance and operations and unrestricted capital uh no actually maintenance operations only is based upon current year average daily membership. So we were able to see an increase in budget capacity because of the current year positive change. Okay. So um federal grants uh the only reason that that we

078are sharing this with you today is that IDA actually has three buckets that I'll go into when you're looking at the budget document. IDEA is the global all three of them together. So you can see that um IDA part B is includes 220 which is the basic grant and then uh 222 which is the preschool grant and then note underneath that we've included 224 which is the idea highcost um high-cost fund. So in the past prior to three years ago I believe it was three years ago Gilbert public schools was not eligible for that high cost grant. We didn't have the high cost. we did not have the demographic, but the last three years we have received some reimbursement for some of those high-cost students. So, we have shown um $100,000 budget there, but we

079have not yet received all of the funds, but at the next monthly, you'll probably see a draw down in that year-to- date expended encumbered. So, we're trying to match up the budget to what we expect to get awarded as we go through this current fiscal year. um enterprise funds. Just bringing up nutrition services. Note that um Amber has updated the beginning um the estimated revenues based upon the first six months of activity in nutrition services. Those beginning balances are reflective of the annual financial report. So note that at this point in time, we are projecting that our available balance at the end of this fiscal year will be about $4.2 $2 million, which is a draw down of over $3 million. If you remember, just a few months ago, we did make a recommendation to

080all of you to increase our meal prices at lunch by 10 cents, trying to um anticipate that, but also waiting for the the final USDA reimbursement amount, which we probably will not get until July. Just wanted to anticipate that uh with you all as well. And then uh finally other district funds. As you know we are engaged um in conversations with EVIT uh regarding our intergovernmental agreement. So to date we do not have a standing intergovernmental agreement. We had the last uh the last agreement by the CATED governing board was to extend the IGA through August 31st. So to date, we've only received two months of funding from EVIT. Even though we've still had all the programs, we're still collecting the average daily membership, we're still submitting our data. Um, but we wanted to make

081sure that we're reflecting the budget appropriately based upon uh that activity. And at this point in time, we're not sure whether this will be resolved before the end of the fiscal year. So, we wanted to be conservative, making sure that our budget or available resources are closer to being actual than assuming that we'll we'll catch up and receive the same amount of revenues or more than we received in the prior year. And then with that, that's all I have. So, I'm prepared uh any of us are prepared to answer any questions you might have. >> You answered mine as we went along. So, that was [laughter] great. one would pop in my head and then be like, "Oh, nope. There it is. We got it." >> I would say with four presentations on finances, I

082would say we're being very transparent. So, thank you. >> It's not as much as fun as Lisa's presentation, but it is what it is. >> I think it's fun. [laughter] >> I think it's fun. >> Okay. All right. So, we will move on to um number seven, consent agenda items. Is there anything for >> So I'll make the motion for the consent to approve the consented agenda items removing >> the support staff portion of 7.06. >> Okay, I'll add that in [laughter] and u and the rest is as uh presented. >> Second. >> Thank you. Okay. Um, so with that, we don't we're not discussing. >> Okay. Okay. Um, so then we move on to number eight. >> We need to vote. >> Just kidding. Move on. I'm going to vote first. [laughter] I'm sorry.

083I've had a very interesting day. So, it's just rolling into this here. Um, okay. So, uh, I'll call for a vote to approve the consent agenda items minus the 7.06, um, the employee work calendar, >> the support staff portion of it. Um, all those, sorry, I'm sorry. [gasps] All those in favor say I. I. I. I. >> Um, any opposed? All right, that passes with 50, right? Good. Okay. Um, number eight, action items. Um, we have the 8.01 fiscal year 2026 budget revision number two. Um, do we have to make a motion? >> Turn it back over to Bonnie Betts. But you got to she's going to Are you going to give a presentation on this, correct? >> Yes, there is a presentation associated with this action item. And um, Dr. McCord and governing board.

084I'm going to move down with um with Miss Matin and Miss Morgan uh to provide support. Uh they're they're primarily going to be giving this presentation. I just wanted to take the opportunity to explain why I'm getting up and moving around. Dr. McCord, >> I I've I've already given up on that. [laughter] >> Just as long as you end up at the podium, we're good. You are okay. Good. Not sure it's worth all that anticipation, but it is to us, I guess. Dr. McCord, governing board members. Um, I am Jackie Mattton, and I'm here with Amber Morgan, our budget manager, to present to you the revised budget number two for FY2026. So we'll talk a little bit about ADM and weighted student count and how that's changed for this budget revision. We'll talk about M

085and unrestricted capital budget capacities. A little bit about CATED funding and then finally average teacher salary. So the ADM and weighted student count, you can see here our average daily membership or ADM. Uh when we adopted in 2026, we anticipated a 1300 student loss. We actually only lost 777. So um we've resulted which resulted in a um student gain in ADM and then the weighted student count increased um by 732 students which really drives our budget capacity. Can I add something? >> Of course you can. [laughter] >> The only thing I wanted to add regarding that is I wanted everyone to understand that when we built the budget, we look at our cohort movement. So that means that kindergarteners going into first grade, first grade going into second, and adding up all those changes, that's

086what resulted in that um projected 1,300 student loss. But based upon the work of our marketing team, based upon the work of our of our schools in attracting really focused on kindergarten enrollment, um, and also I personally believe based upon our academic achievement results, we're attracting those kids back to Gilbert public schools. So we're expected automatically to lose 1300, but we attracted back 523 students, which I think is a big celebration associated with our budget. Just wanted to share that. So, here's our M budget capacity. Our revenue control limit increased um from adopted by $4.83 million as a result of that weighted student count increase. Uh when we adopted and revised, we did transfer $3 million to M. We've removed that transfer to maximize um interest that we can actually spend in capital. We'll go

087over that a little bit more in the capital slide. The 15% override, slight change there based on prior year final recalculation. The budget balance carry forward increase 2.75 million from our final spend from the FY2025 AFR. The tuition in amount we adopted um it was a it was a swag. Um we have adjusted that now slightly based on uh the revenue that we can anticipate for the current year. And then Prop 123 and the free and reduced price lunch add-on, the state advised uh districts to enter zero when they adopted and proposed. So that's why there's a $2.9 million increase from um adopted to revised number two. We have those final numbers now, resulting in a $7.48 million increase with an animation flyin, a 4.44 44 million budget increase in revision two over revision one

088which is uh what was reflected on the monthly report. >> And I have to say that is quite an accomplishment that we have this increase because I'm used to looking at numbers where we've got to figure out how to make that cut to make the balance but the the budget balance. So, thank you for the hard work and I appreciate how your conservative estimates have helped to build in that um reserve. >> Any other questions before we move on? >> Okay, on to the uh revised unrestricted capital budget capacity. So, the um DAA or district's assistance district additional assistance formula didn't change. Again, that's based on prior year student count. So that did not change. The second line there, we did took away that transfer. So that resulted in an increase of $3 million in

089unrestricted capital so that we can maximize interest. The one-time state aid, a slight change there of $50,000 uh based on updated numbers from the state. The budget balance carry forward increased by 11.7 million. Um remember that this uh is a result of the final spend um from FY2025 and the AFR. However, um much of that carried forward and was finalized over the summer. We'll talk a little bit more about that. And then interest earned, this is a celebration here. Uh we anticipated 1.3 million. We actually earned 1.74 million um year to date. So an increase of $440,000. And again, DA is based on prior year. The increase is due to the removal of the transfer to M. Uh the decrease in onetime state aid was revised from number one. Uh the budget balance carry forward

090um is reflective of final spend, but the increase um actually was budgeted and spent in early FY2026 due to um operations projects completed this summer and then the increase of $440,000 in interest earned that we can spend. And I'm going to turn this over to Bonnie. So she wants to talk about C TED and EIT and average teacher salary. >> Okay, great. Thank Take it away, Bonnie. >> So, I did share [clears throat] a fair amount about the CED change um in the monthly financial. So, this is just uh giving you the details. We had $4.47 million spend in 2025. Normally, we project that we would have a little bit more revenue in a in a subsequent year. [snorts] Um but just due to the circumstances again we're just trying to be more accurate um

091to make sure based upon information that we have to date we're not sure that that this will be resolved. Um so right now the fiscal year 2026 anticipated revenue which is actually actual revenue to date of 970 974,000. We have received that reflective of the first two months of operation. And then the revised number two amount includes the budget balance carry forward plus that $974,000. And then finally to go to how do I thank you couldn't find it. Thank you. So this is the time of year in which we update the average teacher salary. Remember that when we adopt a budget and we put the average teacher salary on there, whatever the pay increase is, we reflect that on the average teacher salary. So in October, that's when OTM does their school district employee report

092submitt to the state of Arizona. So we pull the October data at the same time. We believe that that represents some stability regarding new teachers coming in or teachers retiring, whatever the case may be. So at that point in time, we recalculate the average teacher salary in the current year because we did so well in our uh capturing additional students. We we and this was something that you all agreed to last summer, last June, that if we did uh achieve greater than 300 students coming back that we would award another half a percent pay increase. So in early February, um Morgan's um Amber's team, sorry, [laughter] [gasps] Amber's team pulled the data again so that we can capture that additional half a percent pay increase. So when you look at what we had last year

093and compare it to the current year, we gave a 2.5% pay increase, but the result was an actual 1.03% increase overall. That's due. Remember, we do not have captured [snorts] who's retiring, who's going to other school districts, who's moving out of state. We knew that we were losing students, so we were going to need fewer teachers. So, as you have teachers retiring, they often are more experienced and so therefore are higher wage earners than teachers that were hiring to replace them. That's reflective of that 1.03%. It's really important that we share that because we gave a 2 and a.5% pay increase. So anyone that was here last year and is still continuing with us this year has a 2 and a.5% pay increase. So this is only reflective of movement of teachers um during the

094school year and primarily at the very beginning of the school year that we captured in that February time frame at this point in time. So if there's any questions on that, it generally has been lower. In many ways, this has a really positive impact on Gilbert public schools because the money that we achieve in turnover savings is money that's ongoing that is able to be put back into our system for increased pay increases in the future. And just a reminder, I might as well stay here, Jackie. Is that okay? [laughter] >> Okay. So, just a reminder, action item 8.01, we do need you to vote on that action item and approve this budget revision and that we need you to please not leave until you sign the document indicating your approval. And if with that,

095I think that's it. We're all here available to answer any questions you might have. >> Does anyone have any questions? Well, just thank you. I know that it's very complex to have a current year uh budget and keep on top of it. So, thank you for the good work. Appreciate that. >> Yeah, ju just the same. Thank you for the work, the attention to detail, the transparency. Really, really appreciate it. Thank you. >> Yeah, thank you guys a lot. >> I have a I have a logistical question in regard to uh signatures, something that I can find [clears throat] when I get and back in person or is that something that can be sent to me via docu sign or some other method? >> President Thompson, you do not need to sign. It's okay. We

096have we have four signatures, so that's certainly appropriate. >> Oh, okay. Thank you. >> So, as long as you have a quorum, then we're good. >> That is correct. Yes. Thank you. >> Okay, great. The voice from beyond stared at me there for a second. [laughter] >> Someone is talking to me and I can't see them. Okay. Um, we have to vote. So, I'm do >> we have to make a motion? >> Yes. [laughter] Yes. Um, would anyone like to make a motion for the approval? >> Yeah. I move that we approve the FY2026 budget revision number two. >> A second. >> Great. Okay. So, we'll go ahead and take a vote. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? And that passes. Great. All right. Um, we'll move on to number

097nine, request for future agenda items. Does anyone have anything that they would like to put on for a future agenda? Nope. All right. I believe President Thompson usually says if you have anything you'd like to put on an agenda, please feel free to contact him and get that put on there. Um, we'll move on to number 10, board reports. And, um, we have the audit committee with Mr. Chad Thompson. Do you have anything you would like to contribute this evening? Do you have any updates? >> Nothing tonight. Thank you. >> Great. Thank you. Okay. City of Mesa leaison, that's me. Um I have nothing to report. And then employee benefit trust board member, Mr. Jesse Brainard. >> Yes. So, we um the EBT board recently met and we approved a rate change um involving medical

098and dental that will draw down just over a million dollars from the EBT trust fund. Um and I know as a board we're going to have discussions, you know, regarding some of those those changes. >> Great. Thank you. Uh Gilbert Education Foundation and Town of Gilbert leazison, Miss Jill Humphre. >> Okay. So, um, last Saturday we did have our Gilbert Education Foundation fun run and, um, I had never attended that before, but it seemed very well attended, lots of people running and [clears throat] then we had the community fiesta following and it was very amazing. And I would say um, if you have, especially an elementary kid, you could have had a lot of fun um, with all the activities there. But it it was it there was a really nice turnout. It was great

099weather. Um and I think everyone enjoyed it. So that's my report for the Gilbert Education Foundation. And then I'm sure most people are aware that the uh town of Gilbert had a council meeting council meeting last Tuesday night in which they had to go ahead and raise the water rates 25%. And I will say um the I think going online and looking at the town's website and understanding the presentations um we are in a difficult place because uh our cap water um is 40% of what Gilbert has to contribute to to give us water and the negotiations right now are not going well and Arizona has quite a lot to lose if if we don't get better negotiations cuz we're at the bottom of the totem pole, I guess you'd say. So, anyway, I hope

100people will go to the town's website. They have a great video that explains it. They have uh a lot of information and um personally my neighborhood, I've noticed two or three people redoing their yards to make it more um desert landscaping. That's my report. >> Thank you. Uh, last but not least, Legislative Representative Dr. Blake Robson. >> Nothing to report at this time. Thank you. >> Okay. All right. Moving on to meeting dates. >> All right. Thank you. Um, our next meeting is actually next Tuesday. It is a work study. Want to let everybody know that meeting will will start off at 6:30 with an executive session and regular meeting will start at 700 p.m. And then our policy meeting is on the 23rd of March when we come back from spring break. And then

101we'll have a regular board business meeting and that will be on Tuesday uh March 31st. Uh please note as I had uh sent to you earlier last well I think it was last week um that meeting will start at 5 with exec sessions. We'll have three of those exact sessions and the meeting will actually uh the board meeting will actually start at 6:30 p.m. that evening. But board members, we'd like you here at 5:00 p.m. that night. And that's it for the upcoming meetings. >> Okay. Um we need to move we adjourn from >> No, we just move into >> we just move into executive sessions. Okay. >> So item number 12 we're moving into executive session. Uh do I have >> So do you want to do both executive sessions at I'll just make

102the motion for both at the same time. >> I think yeah be easiest right? >> Yeah. Um, I move that we have executive session pursuant to ARS 38-431.03A1 for discussion or consideration of a new superintendent employment contract for new superintendent and also an executive session pursuant to ARS 38-431- sorry. 03 A4 for discussion or consult consultation for legal advice with the governing board's attorney and for the governing board to consider its position and instruct its attorney regarding a new superintendent employment contract contract negotiations and related matters. The attorney may appear in person or telephonically. >> Second. Okay, great. All right. So, we will move into We have to vote. Oh gosh, we have to vote. [laughter] >> All right. We're going to vote to move into executive session. All those in favor say I. I.

103>> I. >> Any opposed? >> I. >> Great. Okay. Thank you guys. And and