001Yeah. Yeah. seeing if there's any live uh streaming from the event. I don't have >> no from uh oh >> I can get the baseball game. Direct TV, baby. Here you go. >> This guy, >> Otani. best baseball player ever to exist >> and to do what he's doing in this era. >> Even though I know guys strike out a ton more, but man, the power they have, the speed Well, Nobody. >> Isn't that cool? Did you guys get pictures? >> It's fine. >> So, what's going on with CT? There you go. Hello. >> Hi. How are you? >> Good. How are you? >> Doing all right. >> Good. >> Yeah. [music] >> Miss Humphre, can you hear us? >> Yes, I can hear you. >> Thank you. We're going to be a minute. You
002guys can keep chatting. So, who watched the game last night, the baseball game? Did anybody who stayed up for all 18 innings? >> You You only made it to 17. >> It was really 18 innings. longest game in Super uh Super Bowl World Series history and the Doyers won. My turn. All right, we'll go ahead and call this meeting to order. We want to welcome everybody that's here tonight. Uh some of you are here for recognition, some of you are here to speak to the board, but we appreciate all of you being here uh tonight in in in whatever capacity. Uh we're going to start with a moment of silence and pledge of allegiance led by Dr. Blake Robersonson. Please rise for the moment of silence pledge. Thank you very much. We will now ask
003Miss Wilson to do roll call. >> Mr. Chad Thompson >> here. >> Mrs. Shaina Murray >> here. >> Dr. Blake Robersonson >> here. Miss Jill Humphre >> here. >> Mr. Jesse Brainard >> here. >> Mr. President, all board members are present. You have a quorum. >> Thank you, Miss Wilson. Uh we will uh move to uh approve the agenda, tonight's agenda as outlined. Is there a motion? >> So moved. >> Thank you, Dr. Roberson. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Mr. Brainer. All those in favor of approving tonight's agenda as outlined say I. >> I. >> Any opposed. Thank you. Miss Humphre, did you I didn't hear you. >> I did say I. >> Okay, perfect. Thank you. All right. And moving right into uh the next agenda item, the superintendence recognition
004awards. Dr. McCord. >> Thank you, Mr. President. have any board members if you'd join me in front of the dis. We have some recognitions for this evening. There they are. Good evening. >> Good evening. >> Oh, come on now. >> Good evening. >> Good. Well, at least you're not here to talk about your water bill, right? I can say that because everybody's down at the town right now, so we're good. [laughter] Um, we have we have several people to to honor tonight. And uh this is always, no offense to the governing board members, the best part of the evening because we get to honor our students and our staff and those in the community. And uh first up is from Greenfield Elementary. If Anne Kelly could please come up. [applause] So Ann Kelly is a
005K through6 general music choir and handbells teacher. She was awarded the Carl Now if I say it wrong correct me okay cuz I I do that a lot. Carl Wiltsy >> Yeah. >> um scholarship at the Bay View Week of Handbells Convention in Bay View, Michigan. Kelly attended the convention connect with advanced bell ringers to better support her students at Greenfield Elementary. The Bay View Week of Handbells is an intensive 5-day event held on the shores of Lake Michigan. Kelly was selected for the Carl Wiltsy Scholarship in part for her expertise and extensive experience in a role as chairlect for Handbell Musicians of America. The scholarship gives Kelly an opportunity to continue collaborating with advanced handbell musicians from around the world, which will provide her with knowledge and inspiration. She will bring black black back
006to her classroom at Greenfield Elementary. Now, if you haven't seen these kids perform under her direction, you're missing it. Uh, I've got to see him numerous times over the years and I got to tell you what, it these aren't just elementary kids banging around bells. This is truly music and art at its finest. And uh, and they wouldn't be able to do those things without your expertise and your guidance. And thank you for being willing to do that of our students. So, please give her a hand. Thank you. [applause] Congratulations. Come back to the center for picture time. This is how it's going to happen for all of you. Some of you try to run off one more time for Ann. Thank [applause] you. [applause] Now, is Matthew Dudy here? Ah, Matthew, come on up.
007>> [applause] >> How are you this evening? >> Good. Good to see you. >> Matthew is a student at Camp Overdie High School and um your principal says he's sorry he's not here. He sent us an email. He ran into some issues that he couldn't avoid, but he's with you in spirit. Now, Matthew is a National Merit Scholar semi finalist. We awarded, not awarded, we recognized some of these students last month, but these kids are busy and they have a lot of things going on in their schedules and so he wasn't able to make it. So, here he is tonight. The students across Gilbert public schools have been named semifinalists in the prestigious National Merit Scholarship Program, a highly competitive competition that recognizes the top 1% of US high school seniors. These students representing Camp
008Overdie, Gilbert Classical Academy, Gilbert High, and Highland High each took a unique path to becoming a semi- finalist, excelling in a variety of academic disciplines in participating in diverse extracurricular activities. And Matthew is one of those semi finalists. So, please give him a hand. Congratulations. [applause] Well done, Matthew. [applause] Congratulations. Next up, can I have Mrs. Kesha Sweeney up front? [cheering] >> [applause] >> Sweener. Sweener. So, I've known Kesha for God, how many years? >> 25 years. Her family's over there. Look. Hi, guys. >> And the babies >> and additions to the family. Grandbies now. Our kids went to elementary school together. >> Your wife taught? >> My wife taught with you and some of them. >> Yeah. Uh, you guys are lucky I didn't teach you. I'll tell you that. Well, let me tell
009you why Kesha is here tonight. She's a an art teacher at Islands and um she was nominated and selected as this year's Arizona Art Education Association's Elementary Division Outstanding Art Teacher. Give her a hand. [applause] Kesha, how long have you been teaching art? >> Uh, 21 years. >> 21 years. And that is amazing. >> Islands and others. >> And others, but all there. >> All there. >> Um, this this she puts her heart and soul into what she does. She's a consmate professional. Um, I could say a lot of things about her. Yep. But the best thing I can say about her is um she represents education extremely well. She is a phenomenal parent. Uh raised some exceptional just children. I I don't see your husband there, so I was going to say nice things
010about him. >> He's in Colorado. He's like, "You get an award? I'm going out of town." Um but Kesha, this is an award that is welld deserved and extremely earned. So, we're very proud of you. Congratulations. Thank you. [applause] Congratulations. [applause] >> Make sure my eyes are open. Let's [laughter] be serious. >> Everybody get them. [laughter] Good. >> All right. Kesha Swingy. [applause] Can I have Tina Ray come on up? Hi, Tina. [applause] Good to see you. >> How are you? >> Good. >> All right. Well, it's that kind of night for art teachers. Uh Tina's an art teacher at Settler's Point. And how long have you been teaching art, Tina? >> Uh this is only my second year at art, but I've been at Settlers for 11 years. >> 11 years at Settler's second
011year at art. So, you go from the regular classroom teaching what grade? >> Fourth grade to teaching art. Now, usually fourth grade teachers take their students to art, drop them off and, you know, hang out and let their brains scatter and then the art teachers get them. Uh, but you you role reverse that. >> Yes, I did. >> Wow. Good for you. You love it. >> Love it. >> You love it. And you know why we know you love it? Because you were nominated and selected as this year's Arizona Art Education Association's outstanding new professional art educator. That's a [applause] All right. Tell me, what did you bring from the fourth grade world into the art world? >> Um, >> this is like an interview. It's like um I would have to say um well,
012behavior management of course, but um I just love art so much and I really wanted to give the kids something to enjoy because some of them get so frustrated with the academics. So, I wanted those kids to have a place to go that they felt safe and successful. >> That's awesome. Do you do you teach them any art songs? Are there like art songs? >> There are a few for the primary kids. >> What? Well, just a couple bars for us. >> R is for red, O is for orange, Y is for yellow, and G is for green. Blue uh B for in B for blue, I for indigo, and V is for violet. And that spells Roy G. >> [laughter] >> I was like, I don't know that word. Well, we're very proud of
013you. Congratulations again. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Y Not much of a song, but it's like you got to have lines. You got to have lines. You got to have colors. Colors. Got to have shapes. You got to have texture. Got to have lines. Color. Shapes. Space. Texture. Do you sing that song? >> I'll come teach it to your classes. Don't worry. It's good. story >> and and Yeah. Yeah. I guarantee you. Yeah. You guys are really good at art. If someone like me could remember a song like that. Next, can I have Mr. James Lojac come up? [applause] >> How are you, sir? >> How are you? >> Good. >> Mr. Blacc is the assistant principal slathletic director at Desert Ridge Junior High and he is up here today. Um, but before I
014tell them why, this guy puts his heart and soul into his school. He he he goes above and beyond an athletic director. He if he wants the school to be beautified, he will spend his entire summer painting walls inside the junior high. remember that? >> Oh yeah. >> Yeah. You Yeah. And but nobody made him do that. Nobody asked him to do that. He wanted to do that for the pride of his school. And it those are just the little things that he takes care of. But that's one of the reasons why he is the recipient of the junior high athletic director of the year by the Arizona Intercolastic Athletic Administrators Association for the 2425 school year. Congratulations, Jim. Please give him a hand. >> [applause] >> Thank you very much. >> Are you going
015to bring home some championships there in the >> Did all a Oh, see I got them going. What'd you get so far first quarter? >> Uh, seventh and eighth grade boys volleyball. They won both titles. So, yep. Very impressive. >> Well done. Well done. >> Congratulations. Thank you, Jim. One more time for Jim. [applause] If I could have Mr. Rod Houston and the entire VIK team come on up. Come on up, guys. [applause] Come on. >> Come on. >> In the back. Come on. This is your award. I >> come up. >> Anybody that works VIK, get up here. [applause] >> So, Rod Houston is the director of community education. And what falls under that umbrella, one of the things, many things is the very important kids club, which started probably back in 2001, I
016believe, my first year as principal at Houston Elementary. And they be they provide before and after school care for students on those campuses. And I gotta tell you what, um, being a former director of community education, um, the services that you guys provide every single day, I think, um, sometimes go unnoticed by those who don't utilize those services. But I've seen what you've done and have done for since 2001. And I truly appreciate you providing activities, care, snacks for kids. And I know the parents truly appreciate it because there's not a lot of places to where you can go because parents work early in the morning and they work till late in the afternoon and Vik is there to help protect their kids, help them with their studies, help them continue to be active and
017be in a really, really safe place. So, I appreciate everything you guys have done and um you guys have won the commitment to quality award of excellence from the Arizona Center for After School Excellence and that is a huge achievement. Please give them a hand. [applause] VIK serves over 2,000 students across its programs. The Very Important Kids Club is designed to support working families by providing a safe, fun, and enriching, extending learning environment for students in kindergarten through 6th grade. All 25 VIK program sites earned accreditation through the Access Pathway to Accreditation and the program won the commitment to quality award of excellence. The process of accreditation requires continuous quality improvements where every site must evaluate practices and develop action plans. The accreditations as well as the commitment to quality award are grounded in VIK's
018commitment to utilizing data and industry best practices to deliver excellent highquality out of schooltime programming for Arizona students. So this is what they do every single day. Now, Rod, I introduced you, but I want you guys to just pass this down and introduce yourselves. Uh, what your title is and where you work and all that fun stuff. Uh, my name is Ryan Rearen. I'm enrichment specialist over at Comment and I oversee the Superstition Springs, Canyon Rim, Augusta Ranch, Meridian, and Boulder Creek elementaryaries. Hi, I'm Norma Herrera and I am enrichment specialist and I oversee Burke Islands, Oak Tree, Playa, and What are we missing? Oh my gosh, Neilie. [laughter] Sorry, Sher. >> I'm also an entrance specialist. My name is Ruben SCS. I oversee Ashlin, Gilbert, Courtzill, Sers Point, and Spectrum. >> My name is
019Cheryl Renelow. I am the site lead at Finley Farms Elementary. My name is Ray Martin. I'm also an enrichment specialist. I oversee Mosquite, Finley Farms, Greenfield, Highland Park, and Town Meadows. I am Matt Phillips. I'm also an enrichment specialist. I oversee Car Patterson, Pioneer, Sonoma Ranch, and Vista Lakes. >> Hi, I'm Ingred and I am a senior site lead at Mosqu Elementary. I'm Erica. I'm a senior site lead at Superstition Springs. I'm Siana. I'm the senior site lead at Gilbert Elementary. >> My name is Raina Gonzalez and I'm the site lead at Soma. My name is Maisy Pulfer and I'm the student worker at Carol Ray. >> My name's Emily Swero and I'm an activity leader at Finley Farms. [laughter] >> My name is Sher and I'm a senior site lead at where was that?
020Norma Neie. [laughter] My name is Daniel Click and I am a student worker at Finley Farms. [applause] >> Again, on behalf of myself and Gilbert Public Schools on our governing board, I I I truly appreciate what you do every day. So, thank you so much and thank you for always taking care of our kids. If you'd shake hands with our board and then stay up here for a picture, please. Thanks. Oh, really? >> Well, you're here though. >> Congratulations. All right, those that are a little more vertically challenged like me up front [laughter] >> and then the taller ones around the back, she'll tell us what to do. Where's the one that didn't want to say her name? Make sure she's [laughter] >> You know it. [applause] Thank you all for coming this evening for
021the recognitions. Governing board, that concludes my awards for the evening. Thank you. >> Thank you so much. >> So sorry. Thank you. All right, moving along. Uh, agenda item number four, superintendence report. Dr. McCord. >> Thank you, Mr. President, governing board members. Before I start, I'd like to recognize um uh individuals from our superintendent student senate, Maisie Pulsifer and Cosner DC. Uh both from Highland High. Cosner's a junior and Maisy's a senior. If you guys could stand up. [applause] Thank you. They meet with us every month and we ask them to come to some kind of uh district meeting and we have phenomenal kids. I just got to tell you, thank you guys for being here. And then also uh from our Aspire program, Augusta Ranch Elementary, Leanne Bowman, please stand up. Ah, thank you
022for being here. The Aspire program is those that are maybe thinking about becoming an administrator one day. Hopefully you can say words better than me in a microphone when it's your turn. Okay. All right. Well, it's that time of year again. The Gilbert Days parade. All 39 of our schools will be in attendance and march down Gilbert Road. Thank you to the students of Desert Ridge High School for constructing our float this year. I know it's going to look remarkable. The theme this year is called Out of This World. Did you know, and I said this last year, did you know the parade started over 40 years ago, and I think it was 1954, celebrating the paving of Gilbert Road. And they liked having so much fun doing it that they decided to have a
023parade and they've continued it on until today. And as superintendent Gilbert Schools, it's my goal to have as many people in that parade every year. Just ask my administrators. They love that. Um, this is a family tradition and so if you'd come out and just celebrate the town of Gilbert and Gilbert public schools, we'd appreciate it. The parade is on Saturday, November 22nd in downtown Gilbert. The parade starts at 8:30, but get there early to find your perfect spot along Gilbert Road. And then uh coming up on November 12th from 6:00 to 9:30 at the Double Tree is the 29th annual Gilbert Community Excellence Awards. This year's winners from GPS are for the Dr. Deleki Educator of the Year award at the elementary level is Morgan Party PE teacher at Mosqu Elementary and secondary is
024Stephanie Campbell band director from Desert Ridge High School. The Miss Sharon our support staff of the year award goes to Miss Chen, paraprofessional at Mosquite Junior High. And the Miss Sheila Eugetti Volunteer of the Year award goes to Marissa Andred, vice president at MS the Mosquite High School football booster club. Congratulations to them. But wait, there's one more. There is also a youth uh young hero award winner given out by the Gilbert Independent and the Independent News Media. And we have a winner here in Gilbert Public Schools from Gilbert High School. Zadeie Perkins will be the recipient this year. And again, on November 22 or on November 12th, all of those will be honored on that evening. So, congratulations to all of our winners. We look forward to celebrating you. And Mr. Thompson, that concludes
025my report for this evening. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. McCord. We're going to move on to agenda item number five, request to speak to the governing board. Uh we've got two requests, but before we uh invite you up to uh the lect turn, uh I'll ask uh Dr. Robersonson to please read the admonition. Request to speak to the governing board pursuant to ARS 38-431.02H. 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 to 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
026may ask that a matter be put on a future agenda. However, members of the governing board shall not discuss or take legal action on the issues raised during an open call to the public if the matters are not 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. Thank you, Dr. Robersonson. Uh, our first speaker tonight is Isabelle Guzman. If you'll come up to the podium. While you're making your way up here, I do want to uh make a note that there were two um two written uh >> online >> two written
027online uh requests, comments. Thank you. And we wanted to thank those that took the time to write in. Um, Miss Guzman, you'll have 3 minutes and there's a clock on the screen on the screen up here >> and it'll change colors to yellow and red when it gets close and we'll Yeah, we'll cut you off at 3 minutes, but you're welcome to start. >> All right. Thank you. Good evening, members of the board. My name is Isabelle Guusman and I live in the Gilbert Public Schools District. I'm here tonight to talk about book bands. I've grown increasingly concerned over the moves made in some public libraries and in schools across the country to censor books or to take them out of our classrooms and libraries altogether. I don't want that to happen in my school
028district. So, I'm here to do something about it. People who want to ban books from schools and libraries often use scary words like pornography, explicit content, and grooming. It's easy to hear those scary words and feel a lot of fear and then take books away from our children out of fear over the words in those books. So, I think it's helpful to talk about the facts when we talk about bookbs. According to data from Pen America and the American Library Association, many books targeted in bookbs are written by people of color and LGBTQ authors. These books often discuss race, racism, immigration, coming out as LGBTQ, navigating puberty and dating, mental health struggles, and more real life issues that many GPS students can relate to and that are important for them to learn about. But instead
029of giving our children books that can help them develop a healthy understanding of these topics with guidance from their parents and teachers, political interest groups want to take those learning opportunities away from our young people. Data from the American Library Association says that 72% of requests to remove books from school and public libraries come from wellorganized political pressure groups and from government officials, not from parents. I'm not a parent, but I am a member of the community that GPS serves. My neighbors are GPS parents and students. I vote in our schoolboard elections. I want the kids in my community to have the best possible education. And that means making sure they and their parents have the choice and the ability to read the books they decide on. Books that spark their love of learning with
030characters they can relate to. Books that make them ask challenging questions, teach them critical thinking skills, and prepare them for the world after school. But there's another reason I'm here tonight. Growing up, the library was my second home. I devoured every book I could get my hands on. My family made decent money, but we couldn't afford to buy every single book that I ever wanted to read. So, my library gave me the gift of learning, exploration, and discovery. Because of my library, my ability to learn didn't depend on whether my parents could pay for it. Every child deserves to learn, to find joy and excitement in reading, and no child's access to books and learning should be controlled by political interest groups. So, I'm asking you, the members of the board, my local school board,
031to respect the parents and children of Gilbert public schools and listen to our community instead of to political pressure. Keep books on our school library shelves and let parents, not pressure groups, decide what books that their children can read. Thank you for your time. [applause] >> Thank you, Miss Guzman. Uh, our next speaker will be Liz Castanzo Lee. Did I get that right? All right. >> Thank you. >> If you'll come up to the podium and same as Miss Guzman, there'll be a timer on the on the screen up here and you're welcome to start whenever you'd like. >> Yes. Good evening board members and thank you for this opportunity to speak to you tonight. My name is Liz Castanzo Lee and I'm a parent of student in Gilbert Public Schools. I'm also a librarian
032with 25 years of experience and I'm here tonight also because I strongly believe banning books doesn't protect our children, it limits them. When we remove books from shelves, we're making a troubling statement about whose stories matter. It's no coincidence that many challenged books feature authors of color or characters from marginalized communities. When we ban these books, we tell students that certain lives and experiences are too dangerous or inappropriate to acknowledge. And that's not education. That's eraser. Our children already live in a diverse world. They go to school with classmates from different backgrounds, different family structures, and different identities. Books featuring LGBTQ plus characters, people of color, or difficult difficult historical truths don't impose values. They reflect reality. When students can't see themselves or their families in the books they read, we send a damaging message
033about their worth. Consider what we're actually protecting children from. Take for instance 19 minutes, the book by Jodie Pico. This appears on multiple challenged book lists. However, there have been over 160 gun violence incidents at school this year alone. Our kids practice lockdown drills. They know what school shootings are, but we tell them they can't read a book that explores why this violence happens and its devastating impact. We're not protecting them. We're leaving them without tools to process the reality we failed to fix. Many challenged books deal with racism, identity, and real historical truths students already encounter in school. Books provide safe spaces to process complex issues with guidance, empathy, and critical thinking. Removing these books doesn't make these issues disappear. It just abandons students to face them alone. We trust our teachers with our
034children's education. Why don't we trust them their professional judgment about literature? These teachers understand child development, know their students, and choose curriculum materials carefully. Furthermore, restrictions breed curiosity. Students will find these stories either online, through friends, and other places, but without the educational context, and then we lose the opportunity for guided reflection. The real danger isn't in books that make us uncomfortable. It's in teaching students that discomfort means something is wrong. Growth comes from encountering different perspectives. Critical thinking develops when students engage with challenging ideas, not when we shield them from difficult questions. I urge you to resist these challenges. Trust our educators, trust our students, trust our parents, and trust that exposure to diverse stories makes our community stronger, not weaker. Thank you again. [applause] Thank you, Miss Castanza Lee. And all right, we
035will move on to agenda item number six, reports, teaching and learning academic spotlight. Dr. McCord. >> Thank you, Mr. President. Governing board members tonight, I will turn this over to uh Mr. Ryan. But I think we got some career and technical education information coming your way. Mr. Ryan, >> we do. Thank you so much, President Thompson, Dr. from Accord governing board members. Uh I will invite up three of our our three CTE leaders in Gilbert Public Schools Career and Technical Education Department. We have our director, Mr. Doug Daly, our coordinator of analytics, Dr. Michelle Kra, uh Michelle, side note, was the Arizona CTE administrator of the year this last year, and Miss Reita Miller, our coordinator of program development. um they're going to share with you some specific work that we have going on in
036all of our career and technical education programs. Uh we have exciting things going on uh across all grade bands, kindergarten through 12th grade. Um we have exciting things going on in the world of of community outreach and internships, program development, and everything in between. So without further ado, I'm going to turn it over to them. Mr. Dailyy, >> thank you. >> Mr. Thompson, governing board members, Dr. from accordance superintendency. It's a pleasure for us to present to you an academic spotlight on career and technical education. And before even starting this presentation, I just want to first thank the teachers, the students, and the stakeholders that make career and technical education a success in Gilbert public schools. If it weren't for them and their involvement, we would not be able to show you some of the
037data and information that you're we're going to be presenting this evening. So, first I get the easy part. I get to do the introductory. They're going to get the hard part and give you the data so and information. But we just want to briefly remind you about the purpose of CTE and that is that we are helping students to become college as well as career ready. And we do that through applied learning, exploration, technical skills, employment skills, and probably one of the more important is we help to emphasize the academics that they've learned in other courses where students actually get to put that to use. Um, but also more importantly, we want to make sure that we're ensuring that we have a workforce for the future. And that's the purpose of career and technical education.
038And how we do that is we have a four-pronged approach and that is this is where the teachers are mainly involved and that is there's classroom instruction. So the students are learning about skills, jobs, how to do things in a classroom or a laboratory experience. Then it moves on to the hands-on instruction where they actually get to apply that learning. And I'll go back to when I was teaching. It was probably one of the most shocking things when a te student would finally say, "I get it because they were actually doing it and applying what they were learning in other classes." The other part is work-based learning. So what we do is prime is based upon actual whether it's simulated or actual working and they students get to do that part and the other is
039the leadership development and that's where students are getting the workbased skills those skills for soft skills for going in and working. So just real quickly a little more emphasis on this. As I said, the classroom instruction, that's where they're in a specific area. They're applying and they're doing the academics as well as integrating critical thinking and problem solving. As far as the hands-on, it's the laboratory approach. They're in a lab. They're in on a computer. They're actually editing photos. they're in the kitchen cooking or they're working with children in the toy box lab. So, it's that handson. The workbased learning is that's when we get it relating to the real world, whether they're going on a field trip, whether that's a guest speaker coming into the classroom and so forth, or whether it's just a
040simulated lab. But more importantly, it's where they're starting to get that real work experience. And we're really emphasizing and Reanita Miller will talk a little bit maybe about the internships where they're paid or unpaid that students are applying the learning. And then of course those soft skills they're learning through involvement in leadership development activities. All of our CTE programs are aligned with what's called a career and technical student organization. And this is where students can take what again what they've learned and apply it in a competitive field. They're involved in public speaking contests, scholarships, all of those type of things. So, in Gilbert public schools, we currently have 21 CTE programs. And I want to emphasize program because the programs are made up of 108 different individual courses. So, each of these programs are either
041three years in length and I shouldn't say each. The two three-year pro programs are aggra science and automotive because the technical skills in that area you could not teach in two years. It takes three years to cover all of those standards. And these are standards that have been validated by the state. All of our other programs are two years and that's where students come in. First year they really start to get that basis. Second year they get more applications and that's where we get our program completers. So, what we want to do is make sure you're aware of some of our work in progress. We want to emphasize how we're supporting our school grades, our A to F grades for the schools, how our students are been earning industry certifications. We want to talk about
042some of the career exploration and STEM development pathways that are involved, and then how we're working with industry to support the schools and so forth. So, it's my pleasure to introduce Dr. from Michelle Kra, our analytics co coordinator, who's going to continue the presentation. >> Thank you, Doug. So, I'm going to give you a few statistics to start off with. So, currently the graduation rate for students who complete a two or threeear CTE program is 96%. Which is much higher than the state average. As well as 78% of our CTE concentrators go on to working in the military or post-secary education. So, they're all doing something post after high school. 79% of our completers earn an industry credential, and I'll talk about that a little bit more in a minute. And then currently, this this
043school year, we have about 52% of our student body that are currently enrolled in a CTE course and program. So, as you've heard from Dr. Cox on other presentations. CTE plays a portion of the 20% for CCRI for the A throughF and on part of that is completing the CTE program and passing the Arizona technical skills assessment. So you'll hear that during the presentation, we call it the TSA. So just so you know, it's a technical skills assessment as well as completing the industry certification and dual credit and the other pieces that Dr. Cox has mentioned to you before. Oh, and I also wanted to mention coming up. So 70 for the class of 2025, 79% of students took at least one CTE class. So you'll see 42% took one credit, 37% of the graduating
044class took two or more CT credits in a single program. And of those 37%, 52% also took an AP class. So these students are taking college and career ready. And that is a very similar um AP percentage to the nonCD students. So, like Doug said, all of our each of our CTE programs have at least one industry credential. These are industry recognized credentials that students would normally pay for outside of education. So, for example, in aggra science, the Arizona certified landscape professional, the serve safe manager, whenever you go to a restaurant, you see this little certificate has like two like blue cloud and a white cloud. That is the serve safe manager. And they have to have someone on staff with that. And that is the certification that our culinary students are taking. Adobe F,
045Photoshop, Fusion. So, this is just a sample of some of the certifications our students are earning. And when we talk to some of the teachers, students when they earn these certifications, it helps them get a job. Sometimes it gets them promoted. They get a pay raise. And some students have even told us that it increases their self-confidence because now they know they can they know the skills and they've passed this industry certificate, not just like a classroom test. So, when I was hired, we were tasked with a couple initiatives. One of them was increasing industry certifications because as we know it helps students get jobs and it's part of CCRI. So over the last seven years we've increased industry certifications 2,700%. And this has been a team effort working with the teachers in the classrooms
046helping them learn the different plat platforms because as you can imagine each industry has its own software and platform and testing. So working with the teachers in the classroom, tech services working and helping installing some of the software as well as the career centers have to help proctor because some of them the teachers cannot proctor their own or they need additional proctors. So the career centers have helped with this and as well as we've put in places to collect and report this data for CCRI and AD. So that's some of the work we've done with that. So in the last five years alone, another initiative was to streamline data processes. So we wrote a program to determine which students were eligible to take the TSA assessment. So this replaced a manual process of someone going
047in and looking at one kid at a time. So we streamlined that so it's much quicker as well. It looks at previous attempts. So if somehow we missed a kid, we can see that they need a test. So this has led to a 56% increase in completers attempting the TSA. Um we have also all of our teachers have worked so hard to create scope and sequences for each of their CTE programs outlining the two or three years how all those standards are taught among the sequence which has led to a 55% increase in completers passing the TSA and then in the last five years the 244% of completers earning an industry A throughF credential. And so I'm just so proud of all the work the teachers have done implementing all this and taking on this
048additional work. And all of this work that teachers have done has contributed positive positively to that 25% average increase in the CCRI points in that same five-year timeline. I'd like to return turn over to Reita Miller now. Good evening. So, the the information that you see in front of you is the most recent 10-year uh career cluster forecast for Gilbert. And I do want to say that while this is for Gilbert, it is very consistent with the long-term economic growth that we are going to see in the entire East Valley and also very representative of Maricopa County. So, looking at this information, um I'd like to point out four different areas. Uh the first is health care. As you see in the next 10 years, we are looking at a major growth in the health
049care industry and that is due to the aging population that we have. You'll also see that there is an increase um in job opportunity in construction and that is fueled by residential and commercial growth in our area. You also see that there is STEM and advanced manufacturing growth and that is that is a representation of accelerating growth here in the East Valley and the East Valley is known and recognized nationally for this particular career cluster. I would also like to point out that agriculture is up there as uh forecast for high growth. And so I just want to point one thing out to you. The nature of this field has changed a bit. So my understanding is that the town of Gilbert that Gilbert is known as the hay shipping capital of the world. Did
050you know that? So the hay shipping capital of the world. But there has been some change. And so given what the East Valley is looking like right now, uh this area is really concentrated more in high-tech uh food science and supply chain areas. And so it's more representative of the aggra business um of aggra business part of agriculture. So that I just wanted to um explain a little bit of the agriculture piece. So when we talk about those 14 career clusters and so within each career cluster then you have all of the jobs all of the different career paths and in CTE we look we are really preparing students for H3 jobs. H3 jobs are your high wage, high-skll, high demand jobs. And so we can see in this for our forecast for the next
05110 years that we do have the positions that you see, the different occupations are representative of the different career clusters. So what I love about coming into this is my first year in CTE and what I've loved about this is really looking at the program development piece. So yes, we have these wonderful programs in CTE, but we are looking at extending how do we prepare our students in elementary and in junior high for these courses and to really to give them opportunities in all of the different uh clusters. So the first thing that I would like to talk about is the chief science officers. So we have this year 16 GPS schools that are part of the chief science officers uh program. It's a globally recognized program where students serve as STEM ambassadors between their
052schools and their communities. Uh they let us know that our delegation of 16 schools within one district is the largest delegation in the United States. And so it's very impressive what our what our schools have stepped up to to do. So I want to just point out two um two specific areas. We have elementarymentaries that are participating with chief science officers and STEM and then point out two different uh junior highs, one South Valley, one Desert Ridge Junior. Both there are two of our junior highs that are implementing or that have STEM courses. And those courses can be designed to really help prepare students and to give students the knowledge of what is next in CTE. And so when you look at South Valley, they can they bring in the biomed piece um into their
053STEM courses. While out at Desert Ridge High School where we have Desert Ridge Junior, Desert Ridge High School in the School of Innovation, we're looking more at the engineering and computer science um the computer science pathways. This is an example from Desert Ridge Junior High of excited about STEM. >> Canrell. I'm the science and STEM teacher here at Desert Ridge Junior [music] High. This is our first year doing STEM. Uh we are trying to introduce these kids to all of the aspects of STEM, [music] engineering, art, math, sciences, and get them to have fun and be hands-on doing it. We're doing these [music] mini classes that are a quarter long, and the students get an exposure to all different types of STEM activities in hopes of building them up to >> [music] >> uh being
054excited about taking a year-long program next year. This class simply would not exist if not for the generosity of Meta. We are able to do all kinds of amazing things because of that. Thank you very much. You have the ability to expand this program up to a full year. I'm hoping to eventually see an advanced STEM class and engineering classes combining with digital art, combining with industrial tech to make a [music] complete program. And then eventually our students will go up to the high school where they'll be able to take an even more in-depth [music] program with robotics, with STEM and engineering. >> We played with some robots. We did some coding. We're building roller coasters right now. I thought it was fun. The te the teamwork part of it is really fun. I like
055working with other people and completing the projects. >> The kids are having fun at school. They get excited to come to this [music] class and that's a big deal at this age. >> Another piece of quality CTE programs. Um we can see here uh are all of the things that our business industry andu and community stakeholders I'm suffering from the same thing that their community stakeholders can all um share with our CTE programs. And so a couple of things that I want to point out is one advisory councils. Advisory councils each of our CTE programs has an advisory council which is made up of business industry postsecary alumni of the program etc. And they all review there's a rubric that is utilized where they review the program. They tour the space. They tour the labs.
056uh they businesses industry partners can provide feedback to what it is that we have what the students are working with to to align them with real world um real world items that they're using in their actual um in the actual industry. So advisory councils we um we currently meet once a year moving next year to twice a year uh so that we're able to see some really actionable growth uh within the advisory council participation within the advisory councils. They do all of the other bullet points for us, right? So they are able to then hey come to come see our um come to our business, come check this out. They can donate equipment. um they are able to provide work-based experiences which is the other emphasis that I wanted to um to talk about. So
057work-based experiences are shadowing opportunities, internships, uh we have students who are currently working within the pathway or cluster that they are taking classes and they can get paid for it or unpaid and still receive credit. Um, and then we do track and see what the students are doing postgraduation. Um, and so there we're always looking for work-based um, experiences for our students to just really grow that that piece of the program. >> Questions? >> Any questions from the board? Just a couple questions. Thanks so much for the presentation and for all the work you're doing. Um I I guess my first question is just more for for parents like me. Um prior to being on the board and involved and learning more. I didn't really know about the certification process and things like that. I
058I saw these classes as more exploratory, which I think is important as well, but I just thought, oh, go take, you know, a class for fun to to do this and do this and didn't really know about the certification and the persistence and following in a program. Um, so what are we doing to educate our families and students about those opportunities? I think like many opportunities within Gilbert public schools, they're there, but people do not know about it. And what we do is we've been working with marketing and communication. We're also as we're developing our course description book as well as the website, that information is continually put on that. Um, we work with the career centers and they help to also inform the students of that. But I think it's a matter of we
059just constantly have to continually promote the opportunities available in G Gilbert schools whether it's CTE, fine arts, applied or excuse me, AP courses, honor courses, gifted everything because it's like everything we I joke about sometimes I get get in the car and I start driving and it's like that wasn't there before and it's been you know that's been there for 10 that building. Um, we just don't know. So, we just need to continue to promote. >> Do we do we have some sort of like road show where we go around to the schools and and we're doing presentations like this at schools? Is that happening? >> Yes. So, um, we do work with marketing and communications and we do have the, you know, primarily these are happening at the high school. the high school programs.
060Do you go to the junior highs and make presentations? We've also developed a guide about the CTE programs that includes the industry certifications that was specifically done for the junior high counselors. So when that they're working with parents as well as students um our not only do we work with marketing communications but then we've also had the schools themselves the programs themselves will sometimes go down and work with you know aggracience will go into a science classroom and make presentations. We've had the family and consumer sciences programs the different programs there will go to the junior high and also talk to those courses. So, we're doing a lot. We know we can do more, but again, we just need to continue. >> Doug, if I may, also, a couple largecale initiatives that have been hugely
061successful are our level up and next level uh programs where we have our sixth graders going to seventh grade and junior high campuses and our eighth graders going to the high schools. Um, their open door, their willingness. I've been able to attend on a few occasions where the students are going through each of the career and technical education programs to be able to view those. Um, I also thought hugely successful are the banners and the hallways of each of the schools and and outside of the doors of the programs which speak to I think I understand also the the difference between the one elective course versus this program of study where now I'm employable, right? Two huge uh differences in the in the conversation there. So, um the the awareness is there. Um another piece
062over the last couple years are junior high counselors spending the day at the high school campuses. We know that they're spending time individually with students to have that discussion. As far as parents being in um in the campuses and really seeing those pieces, uh it would really be uh the preview nights that they're there before they begin their freshman year. um as well as as well as in the packets that Doug was speaking to which walk through the program of study. They've done a really nice job do Dawn and her team of putting that together. So, and those are all on the website as well. >> I think another and probably [clears throat] one of the most prominent marketing tools is that teacher of the CTE program, right? They're the ones that are going to
063sit there and um promote that program to those children and let them experience it. and then they're going to ask them, "Hey, do you want to take culinary 2 next year cuz you can experience this again?" And so I think that's where a lot of it comes from, too. And and I know that they continue to do that each and every day because they want to keep those kids in those courses and keep them interested. So, >> yeah, I think we just have so many amazing programs and I think we're we're trying to get the word out and and I don't know exactly what the answer is, but I I hear from too many juniors and seniors uh or parents of juniors and seniors, I wish I would have known about this. I wish I
064would have known about this. And so, I'm not sure the best way to get that word out because because we're doing all the work and we're providing the opportunity. just want to let everyone know about it. >> If you have suggestions, we're always open to suggestions. >> Yeah, I I don't but [laughter] but I I think I the desire is there. So, the support is there. So, whatever we can do. Um I guess along well, not along those lines, but but similar I guess with the advisory council. Um how are you recruiting or or letting people know about that opportunity to participate in that? So I work really closely with the chamber the um chamber of commerce and uh with them I will reach out and with our post-secondary institutions both trade uh community college
065and our university reps um and with business and industry connections that I've made on my own through this position and [clears throat] really I have looked at our past participation on advisory councils and then identify the needs maybe we need large industry at a couple of them maybe they we have community college representation but we don't have trade representation etc. So really looking at each of those and then reaching out directly. Um a recent example that I can provide is meeting with um ASU and really looking at our different programs and very willing they're very willing to provide us with um representation should that need be there. But really it's just communicating communicating our needs. Uh what I have seen so far is that when we present our programs to our partnerships or potential partnerships
066when we present our programs, what it is that our students do that a program, you know, looking at one of these uh program pathways that it's a two to three completion, what kind of certification they get, what it is that they're working on, invite them in, go into their places, and once they actually speak with the students and really start seeing the student work, they're very engaged at that point and they want to participate. And so I think you have a lot of um we have stakeholders out there that want to participate but don't necessarily know how. And so I've really been working to our whole team has really been working to bridge that gap working with our college and career liaison and also with the CTE teachers and trying to help them in as
067many ways because there's just so much that that our teachers are doing. >> Thank you. One more if I may. So we have awesome programs that are sometimes at just one of our high schools, right? So are we is it logistically possible to allow other students from other high schools to travel? Have we have we looked at that and what what would be involved in in that? We do have certain programs, for example, ROC, the egg processing that's at Gil at Gilbert High, egg processing at Gilbert High, biomemed at Campo that if a student were interested in that, they could either open enroll at that school or depending upon the scheduling if they could work it in where they for example the a processing and ROC, they're there for like first hour, a hour or
068first hour. Um you know logistically we pro we know we can't offer every program at every school um because it just thins out the total numbers but it also you know we are a very expensive program to run. Um so we'd have to you know evaluate and do that and that's part of the pathway development is where you're going to see some more spec specificity. Thank you Dr. McCord. It's it's the microphone itself um as to what a high school may be offering. >> Um you know, thank you for the presentation. I think it's amazing what you guys do and everyone involved in our CTE programs. Um my only question is how is it decided what school gets what type of program or how do you indicate that need or that student interest um at
069a particular school before that program is created? And I want to the honest answer is when we built schools, we built them and we brought programs in because they were at other schools. Then as we have now been going through evaluating, you know, the importance of what's there, student interest, those type of things. That's how we've developed some of the other programs. Um so for example game development which falls under software and app design. We had a very specific teacher at a school who hey this is a great idea. They developed the curriculum. It aligned with the state standards. They recruited and had students come in. Um so a lot of it comes through the course description book process. Um, so example like last year we you as a board approved digital animation and that's
070an outgrowth of things that are happening at Desert Ridge Junior High that now will be available and are currently being taught at Desert Ridge High School. >> Okay. Thank you. Thank you. >> Also, if I may, uh, the slide, if you can, not that you need to go back, but just remember what Reita was sharing with regard to 10ear projected job growth. So, one of the big pieces right now is analyzing where's our community going and where's the need. Um, like most universities, we don't want students finishing with a certificate that they can't put to use. And so, a piece of the analysis and the data that we're pulling from each of our programs is one student interest, but then also what's the employability and what is postsecary option look like for those students. So,
071you pair those together along with exactly what Mr. Mr. Daily is saying with with the teacher qualification and new we have uh facilities also dictate a little bit of what we can and can't offer. Um Mr. Dumis can't call us and say that he wants a meat processing uh facility down at Camp Over High School. We don't have a spot, right? So some of that is dictated, but the 10ear projected job growth is really going to be the target that we're that we continue to aim at as that evolves over time. Can I go um real quick? So, I'm glad you brought up the um certificates because my question is when they graduate with those certificates, do our students generally go into that field or do they just have it? >> It's a it's a
072variety. So, like I said, 80% almost 80% of our students go on to post-secary, military or working. So, it's a variety. It depends on the program, honestly. Some programs like engineering, software, they go more post-secary. But for example, like early childhood, we had a student who earned the pair of pro, so they're qualified to work in a title one or high needs area. So they're doing that while going to school as well. >> Implement those right away. >> Okay. And um from the data slide, you said there was 52% um of students are in a CTE course right now. Do you know if what the makeup is of that? Are they mainly first year students? Are they a mix of first and second year? Like >> that's a mix of everything. >> Okay. Is there
073a way we could get a breakdown of that? >> Absolutely. Cool. >> I can get that for you. >> Thank you, >> Miss Humphre. Do you have any questions or comments? >> Well, I think other board members have have had wonderful questions. I just want to thank the uh CTE staff for all you've done to grow these programs and get students interested. the statistics that you've shared have been phenomenal. Um the growth that you've shown. So, thank you very much and I appreciate sharing this with the community so that everyone has an opportunity to learn more about it and I know that um those who take the CTE courses really enjoyed them and gained from them. So, thanks. >> All right. Thank you. I'll echo Miss Humphrey's comments. This was a fantastic presentation and thank
074you for all your do all you do and I would also um along with Dr. Robersonson I'm curious to see or hear some ideas of what we could do to advertise these programs more in our community and get more students involved and get more families involved. So, thank you very much. >> Thank you. All right, moving on to agenda item number seven, our consent agenda. Is there a motion to approve tonight's consent agenda as outlined? >> So moved. >> Thank you, Mr. Brainer. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Miss Murray. All those in favor of approving tonight's consent agenda as outlined, say I. >> I. >> Any opposed? And that passes. Thank you very much. Moving on to our action items. 8.01, policy development, first read of policy 5-201, flag display, US
075Constitution and Bill of Rights, Moment of Silence, Declaration of Independence. Is there a motion? I'll move that we uh approve the first read. Is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Dr. Robersonson. >> Uh Dr. McCorton. >> Thank you, Mr. President, governing board members. Um for tonight, we have one policy to talk about. Again, this went through the first read with our policy committee. It is here for you for the first read. Policy 5-201. Uh the most dramatic change is uh well to begin with is the title. uh it has been shortened uh from that long list of words that you just read out uh to patriotic exercises and observance days. And then the addition to this policy is at the end where it defines what observance days are. Uh the first one is
076one 911 education day says September 11th of each year shall be observed as 911 education day. On 911 education day, the district shall provide age appropriate instruction for grades 7 through 12. uh on the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. And then number two is Saturday Oconor Civics's Celebration Day. September 25th of each year shall be observed as Saturday Oconor Civic Celebration Day. On Saturday Oconor Civic Celebration Day, each school shall dedicate the majority of the day to civics's education. If 911 education day or Saturday Oconor civics day celebration or civic celebration day falls on a day when the district is not in session, the observance shall take place on the preceding or following school day. The superintendent is directed to emphasize the use of the resources developed by the state board of education relating
077to civics education that aligns to the academic standards in social studies pursuant to ARS 15-71 and 15-71.01. 01 and those are the changes to this policy. >> Thank you, Dr. McCord. So, what what does dedicating the majority of the school day to civics's education look like? >> Uh from a practical perspective, >> I think from a practical perspective, let's just let's just figure on six hours a day, right? Um, and let's take an elementary for example. I think it's it's it's a great day to be able to integrate these types of things into whatever lessons you're doing throughout that day. So, if you're teaching science, you might be able to integrate something related to 9/11 related to science. Like for example, when the towers fell and there were all these toxins that came out from
078all the materials, you can talk about those things. Or in mathematics, um, those types of things, I think you integrate it throughout the day. It doesn't have to be something that you totally disregard what your curriculum is for the day. You integrate it throughout your curriculum. >> And do do our teachers have the autonomy to come up with how they want to integrate these civics lessons on their own or is there going to be suggestions or will departments decide? How is that going to work? >> Yes, all the above to a degree. And like it's noted here, there are some um there are some um designed lessons within the department of ed, but also our social studies uh coordinator Woody Hodes will be able to communicate with our social studies departments as well as our
079teachers at the elementary level for those types of things. >> Are there any questions from the board or discussion? Miss Humphre. >> No, I have no questions. Thank you. >> Okay, then I'll call for the vote. All those in favor of approving the first read of policy 5-201, flag display, US Constitution and Bill of Rights, Moment of Silence, Declaration of Independence. Say I. >> I. Any opposed? >> And thank you. And that passes. Uh 9.01 01 request for future agenda items. Are there any agenda items that any board member would like to add to a future agenda at this time? Okay. If anything does come up, please let myself or Dr. McCord know uh and we can make sure we discuss that and get that on an agenda. Thank you. Board reports. Uh the town
080of Gilbert liaison, Dr. Blake Robersonson. >> Nothing to report. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. Robersonson. Uh the audit committee, Mr. Chad Thompson, that's me. I don't have anything in regard to the audit committee. Um but I do want to comment that this time of year there are uh lots of choir concerts, orchestra concerts, band concerts. Our schools are doing a ton of stuff this time of year. So, uh, if you have kids, uh, that are participate in these things, get out and, uh, support them. If you have neighbors that have kids, get out and support them. And we look forward to, uh, we look forward to this. My wife and I look forward to this time of year every year because we get to go and see these performances and how celebrate how hard
081these students and their teachers have been working. So, uh, Gilbert Education Foundation, Mr. Brainer. Pretor Jesse Brainer. >> Uh, nothing to report. >> Thank you. City of Mesa leazison, Miss Shaina Murray. >> Um, I don't have anything to report on the city of Mesa right now, but I actually was able to attend a couple of those events over the last couple weeks. I went to Spooktacular at Meridian and I also went to the one at Neie and they were both awesome. I had a really great time. I got to take my kids around Meridian. They had just the kids, all of them were so engaged in all of these really great activities and it was a lot of fun. It was just all the teachers were fantastic. It was great. Um and Neie was also
082awesome. They did a great job with their trick-or-treating. They had a really cool haunted house um the sixth graders put on and um I wish I could have stayed for the blowup costume teacher race because that was probably wildly entertaining. So, next year it's on the calendar to make sure I'm there later. But yeah, no, good job. I wanted to shout out Neely and um Meridian for those two events. >> Thank you, Miss Murray. Legislative representative and employee benefit trust, Miss Jill Humphre. >> Um we have not met so I don't have a report on that. Um and I will delay my report till next time because I'm not in person. So just uh I wanted to say that the reason Miss Humphre is not in person is she is in New Mexico with her
083daughter who just had a baby. So Miss Humphre has a new grand uh a new grandbaby. So we wanted to say congratulations to her and best wishes to uh the baby and mom that you absolutely um all right. Agenda item number 11 meeting dates. Dr. McCord. >> Thank you Mr. President. governing board members. Before I do that, I just want to point out Jesse Green over there. Are you awake? She's also in our Aspire program, too. I neglected to point her out, but I'm sure she's thankful that I did now, right, Jesse? Thank you for being here. Uh meeting dates coming up, uh November 4th, which is next week. If you'll notice, our uh meetings in November are a little bit different um just because of the Thanksgiving holiday. Uh November 4th, board work study
084and brief board business meeting. November 10th, board policy committee meeting at 4:30 p.m. And November 18th is our regular board business meeting. All right. Thank you, Dr. McCord. Uh, now everybody's least favorite time of the night when we vote to adjourn our meeting. Is there a motion to adjurnn? >> So moved. >> Thank you. Uh, Dr. Mr. Robson, is there a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Miss Murray. All those in favor of adjourning tonight, say I. >> I. Any oppose? >> Thank you very much. We are adjourned.