001Oh my god. Oh my goodness. All right, we're going to go ahead and get started. Is my mic on? Yeah. Can you hear me? Okay, we're going to go ahead and get started. We'd like to welcome everybody to uh our board meeting tonight. Our regular board meeting. It's Tuesday, April 29th. This is a full house. Thank you everybody for being here and everybody that's joining us online. Um we're going to go ahead and start. I'll call this meeting to order and we will start with uh a moment of silence followed by a pledge of allegiance led by Miss Jill Humphre. We would uh invite you to uh remember uh Jude Flores and Andrea Jung. Um, Andrea Jung was a teacher uh that recently passed away. Um, and Jude Flores is uh a a student uh
002in Gilbert Public Schools. So, we'd like you to invite you to remember them during our moment of silence. If you'd please stand. If you'll join me in the pledge. 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. Thank you everyone. Uh I will ask Miss Wilson to uh perform roll call. Mr. Chad Thompson here. Dr. Blake Robersonson here. Miss Jill Humphre here. Miss Shaina Murray here. Mr. Jesse Brainard here. Mr. President President, all board members are present. You have a quorum. Thank you, Miss Wilson. Uh, agenda item number 3.01, approval of agenda. Is there a motion to approve tonight's agenda as outlined? So moved. Thank you, Miss Humphre. Is there a second? Second.
003Thank you, Miss Murray. All those in favor of approving tonight's agenda as outlined, say, "I." I. Any opposed? Thank you. That passes. And moving on to uh our favorite part of the evening uh superintendent recognition awards. Dr. McCord. Thank you, Mr. President. Governing board members, if you join me in front of the dis, we will uh introduce some great people to you. [Music] Good evening everyone. How are you? Look at that. You guys did well. Well, you did great, Chad. Um, so we have a obviously a lot of people here tonight and it's important we are going to recognize a lot of things that probably happened in the winter uh sports area, but some other things as well. Um, so we're going to kick it off. Is coach Candace Gonzalez in the house? Where are
004you? There you are. How are you, Candace? I'm good. Thank you. It's not your first rodeo up here, is it? No, I've been here a couple times. You've been here a couple times. Um, how many wins did you have total for your career so far? 600 and something. [Applause] She uh something. Sorry. It's all right. We're going to give you 600 just because you said it. I'm okay with that. But I I see it in the future. Candace, you're here tonight. And is are any of your is any of your squad here or is it just you? No, just me and my husband. Just Where's your husband at? He's back there in the corner. Where? Ra Oh, he's filming so I won't make him come up. People here, so I How are you, Mr. Gonzalez?
005Good. Well, Candace is here because she won an award. Um, she won the 2025 Spirit of Cotton Award. This is through the Phoenix Suns Charities Foundation. Is that correct? Uh, the award is an annual recognition that honors legendary former Suns head coach Cotton Fitz Simmons by highlighting an outstanding Arizona high school basketball coach for their leadership, dedication, and service to the community and helping guide and mentor student athletes. Now, Candace didn't have any clue she was getting this award. We brought a bunch of students and a bunch of other people into the gymnasium there at Mosqu High and we had Cotton Fitz Simmons wife and she leads up this foundation. Correct. As well as the Phoenix Suns gorilla and um who's the Mercury mascot? Do you remember that name? I didn't mean to put you
006on the spot. It's all right. The gorilla was there for sure. But um I got to tell you, she was surprised. And you got a check. I did. I got $10,000 to go towards my program. $10,000 for the program. Um, Candace has been a a uh a legendary coach at Mosquite High School for how many years now? I just finished up my 27th. 27th years. How long has Mosqu High been around? 27 years. 27 years. Uh rarely do you see a high school coach stay in a position that long and Candace has done that by not just producing a lot of wins but producing a lot of student athletes that contribute long after they leave Mosquet High. And for her to receive an award like this, it it means a lot not just to her
007or her husband or her family or Mosqu High, but it means a lot to just education in general because she has dedicated her life to students and student athletes and this award just exemplifies that. So, please give Candace a hat and congratulate her. Well done. Would you stand in the middle? My son's jersey. You got your jersey on it. Love it. Thank you. Well done. Next up, can Okay, cheer and palm. You guys ready? I can't hear you. You ready? Yeah. Okay. You did win an award or two, so we need to hear from you. Let's start off with Highland High. Ashley Parcell, Palm Coach, are you here? Come on up. Bring your [Applause] team. And uh cheer coach, is it? Oh, James, say your last name. Geelhoffer. Now you know why I had him
008say it. Bring your squad up. How are you [Music] [Applause] guys? Wow. Oh, you don't want to stand behind me. That could be No, I'm just kidding. You're all right. So, for Palm, help me out here. Okay. Um, you guys were the UDA. What does UDA stand for? Um, go ahead. Well, we competed at NDTC, which is the national dance team championship under UDA. Uh we won the championship title in small varsity palm and then we won the second place national title for varsity game day and then we got third place in varsity jazz at nationals and you were and statewise and then statewise we won state in varsity palm we won state in game day dance and then we are um state runner up in jazz. Wow. Now, I'm going to pass the microphone
009down. Would you guys introduce yourself, first and last name, and what grade you're in? Okay. All right. I'll start with you. I'm Eliza Garner and I'm a junior. I'm Ellie Duffin and I'm a sophomore. I'm Delaney Taylor and I'm a junior. I'm Macy Pullman and I'm a sophomore. I'm Ameilia Bonham and I'm a sophomore. I'm Brighton Nelson and I'm a junior. I'm Ellie Zaha Harris and I'm a junior. I'm Milan Padulla and I'm a I'm Chloe Bailey and I'm a sophomore. I'm Delilah Hess and I'm a sophomore. I'm Satie Price and I'm a junior. I'm Breen Sparks and I'm a sophomore. Give him a hand. Congratulations to Highland High Palm. Now on to cheer. James, you want to rattle off the things you guys have done and let these folks introduce themselves? Sure. So, this
010season we were really fortunate to have a rather successful season. We went undefeated throughout our regular season. Um, we and we finished in state runnerup for our traditional routine by less than a tenth of a point. Um, we ended up winning game day state and we were runner-ups when it came to all girls stunt as well. going to Florida for our nationals which which is UCA nationals for the Universal Cheerleaders Association. Um we were super fortunate enough to get sixth in Super Game Day and we also were the highest Arizona traditional score in the medium varsity division. Wow. And these are my captains. I'm Emerson Bneer and I'm a senior. I'm Liberty Wilkins. I'm a senior. My name is Reese Turner and I'm also a senior. Ladies and gentlemen, Highland High Palm and Cheer. Way
011to go. Congratulations. If you guys Now just turn around this side and then walk down that way, shake hands, and then come back and then we'll take a picture with everyone. [Music] Well done. Thank you. Y time. So, some of you are probably going to have to get on a knee. You guys know how to do this. We'll fill in behind you. See? Yeah. Maybe. Yeah. Middle row down on your knees. There you go. Look at that. Well done. Now, moving on from palm and cheer, we're going to do a little wrestling. All right, Camp Overdie. Coach Bishop, come on up and bring your bring your squad with you. [Applause] We got to run all split up. That's all right. Campovery boys division 2, they were state runnerups. Give them a hand. And girls, division
012two, do Oh, Bella's not here. We do have Bella in the back. And Coach Norton is over here. Coach Norton and Bella, come on up. [Applause] All right, Coach Norton, I'm going to let you go first. Absolutely. You We have Bella here. Why is Bella here? Oh, I don't need that. So, Bella Bella is here. Yeah, you do. For the record, I got lost. There we go. So, so for for the record, um so the girls ended up winning the sectionals uh to go on to state. um all five tournaments in Arizona, we took first, took third in New Mexico, all by the leadership of this young lady here. Um and she's been at it not for just four years, she's been at it for 6 years. And it and it's every single day. Um
013it's not just practice. She goes from practice, she goes to the weight room afterwards, she goes and runs afterwards, then she sits up all night and does her homework. Um she is not a 4.0, right? What's your What's your GPA? Come on. 4.0. There we go. Right. So, she works not only hard in in the classroom, um she puts it out there in the wrestling mat and she leads by example. Um all the other girls follow her ripples that she puts out there and it's all by um her hard work and her success. Excellent. Bishop, this is yours. All right. Thank you. We Yeah, we were state runner up this year and in the last I'll brag on our program a little bit. In the last 14 years, we've been the top eight every single
014year and always meddling a handful of kids. I think we're up to about 75 state places in that 14 years and and 10 state champions. Let me introduce everybody. Um right here, this is Trey Kessinger and he had a dominant year. Uh he was a state champion for us. uh 38 38 wins and zero losses. Um he's our first lightweight state champion that we've had and he's he's only a junior. Uh the max amount of points you can score at the state tournament is 30 and this guy scored 28 and a half and he took us from sixth place into second place just by his points alone. Um this about a month ago he wrestled in a national tournament was this close to being all-American. And in a in a year we'll be talking about
015him being a two-time state champion and all-American. And thank you. This this is Trey Clarkson. He's also a junior. And as a sophomore, he was uh fifth place, I believe. And then this year, he was a state runner up. And it was a really really close match. It could have gone either way. And again, in in a year, we're going to be celebrating him being a state champion in one year. Micah Serrano, he's he's right here. He's a senior for us. He was a he was a two-time uh state champion for us and and a great leader in our program that we're really going to miss. Tristan Terza was four years football and four years wrestling on our campus and coach Ragazel started this. It was called the tough guy club. It's amongst those are
016the toughest kids in the history of our of our school. We've had about 30 of them and he's a tough one. He was a state runner up for us and as a heavyweight and he was a blast to coach this year. We loved coaching him. [Applause] And the last one is Wyatt Bergs here. He was a varsity wrestler for us and wrestled for us at sectionals and he's going to be wrestle at the next level as well. So you're a senior. Yep. And you've wrestled for how long? Six years. Six years. You've been in high school for six years. I'm just kidding. Just kidding. Just kidding. So, why wrestling? Why do you like wrestling? Um, I like wrestling so much because it teaches me a lot about our brotherhood and leadership and just gets me
017closer to people. Literally closer to people. Congratulations to all of you. Congrats. Please give them a hand. you shake hands with the board. Thank you, gentlemen. Thank you. And then we'll take a picture. Then we're going to shift back to cheer. I didn't forget about you guys. You thought I did, didn't you? Here, you guys get in the middle. We'll get around you. You're probably gonna have to Y. There you go. [Music] Well done. [Applause] And we're going to mix it up a little bit. Now from Mosqu High, Coach Mia [Applause] Look at that. Isn't that great? Stand over here, coach. We all can see you. Do you want to bring uh your girls up? Oh, come on up. [Applause] Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce to you the division three state champions in cheer from
018Mosqu High. Coach, you want to talk a little about your team and then we'll have them introduce themselves? Perfect. Hi. Um, my name is Coach Mia. Um, I've been at Mosquite for the last seven seasons. Um, this year we had a great in-state competition. We placed top two at every single competition that we went to throughout the season, including runner-ups for game day as state as well. Um, we did go to UCA this year and we did place ninth place ninth in the nation at our first time at UCA Nationals with I think 72 teams in our division. So, that's super great for our kids. Um, our kids, we have a very small program. I think we're the smallest cheer program in GPS. But, our kids come in, they work hard. If I told them
019to run through a wall, they would. So that is why they have been so successful this season. Great. Well done. If everybody can introduce themselves, your name, what grade you're in, that'd be great. You can introduce yourself. Come on, Cara. Super senior. I'm Cara. I'm the assistant coach. Um, my name is Henny Vital and I am a junior. My name is Jasmine Parker and I'm a junior. My name is Madison Rodriguez and I'm a sophomore. My name is Brinkley Bills and I'm a senior. My name is Maline Stevens and I'm a senior. My name is Madison McKinley and I'm a senior. My name is London Davis and I'm a freshman. My name is Britain Arenbez and I'm a freshman. My name is Delila Elder and I'm a freshman. My name is Emry Carter and I'm
020a sophomore. My name is Aaliyah Hampton and I'm a freshman. Yeah. My name is Macy Baldwin and I'm a senior. My name is Carson Glasco and I'm a senior. My name is Scarlett Wilson and I'm a senior. Well done, Mosqu High cheer state champions. If you guys would shake hands and we'll take a picture. Thank you. Congratulations. [Music] Well done, guys. Yeah, just Yeah, you can. I don't know how they can bend down or on their knees. We'll fit in. You guys just There you go. [Music] Think that works. Yeah, you're good. Yeah. Well done, Mosquite. Thank you guys. And now back to wrestling. Desert Ridge High Coach Travis Jackson, can you and your wrestlers come up? Hello. How are you? Good to see you. So, Desert Ridge High Wrestling, um they took fourth place
021in the boys division. And coach, would you like to talk a little about your wrestlers and let them introduce themselves? Yep. First up is Dallas Robinson. He's a three-time state placer. Really has only wrestled four years. So he's he's only a junior state runnerup. To him is Remington Jud. He's a freshman. Took third at state. None of these kids but maybe Aaron at the end are satisfied. So they probably don't even want to be up here honestly too much. They have Valenuela. She's a junior. She's a three-time state placer, two-time runner up. And Aaron Calleros is a senior. He's the only senior that we're losing from the team, but he's a three-time state placer, two-time champ, and a state runnerup. But more importantly, it's not even about the wins and losses to me. These guys
022are the epitome of what it takes to be a high school student. They all have 4.0's or above a 3.7. They're all leaders in the classroom on campus. We travel the country wrestling as a team all through the year and these guys represent Gilbert Desert Ridge everywhere we go. So I'm just blessed to coach them. Excellent. Well done. Desert Ridge High. If you guys would shake hands with the board, we'll take a picture. All right, ladies and gentlemen, right up front here in the middle and then we'll kind of form around you. Nice job, Des. And from Gilbert High, Coach Wyatt Richardson and Landon Loya. Are you guys here? There you are. [Applause] How are you guys? Good. How are you? Good. Thanks for being here. Of course. Thank you. So coach, you got a
023wrestler. You want to talk about Landon a little bit? I would love to talk about Landon. So Landon has been a big part of our program growing the last three years and he has worked incredibly hard to become the first 100 win wrestler since 2005 for Gilbert High School. And he is the first male to become uh a state finalist since 2013, which is huge for our program. and he has been a big leader in getting our program to where it's at today. He has uh finished his season, his career, high school career with a 101 and 32 record, becoming a 100 win wrestler, the first one for Gilbert High since 2005. Um, which is a huge accomplishment for us. And he has earned himself the right to go wrestle in college, division 2 at
024the University of New Mexico of Highlands. Wow. Landon, what do you want to accomplish there in college? Uh, be a national champ. Be a national champ. He said that like that was a dumb question. I like that. Well done. What do you want to study? General business. General business. All right. Well, you see that lady? She's over our business department. When you graduate, she'll find a job for you. Landon, we're proud of you. Congratulations. Congratulations, coach. Thank you, guys. If you shake hands at the board, take a quick pick. Right here in the middle, gentle. Well done. And now on to girls basketball. Would coach Savannah Bix and the Gilbert High girls basketball 6A state runner-ups. Please come over. Give them a hand. There you go. [Applause] So, Gilbert High, they were the state runnerup.
025Now, that that title does not give it any justice in my opinion. I saw that game and I got to tell you, you want to talk about drama with how many seconds left did we tie it? Was it 1.5? Uh, it was like 1.2. 1.2. And you guys have seen it on TV. Someone takes it out. They're dribbling down. It's a halfcourt shot. It goes in and it goes to overtime. This wasn't a half court shot. This was more like a 3/4 court shot. And I'm sitting there going, "Well, you know, cuz I'm old and I'm like, well, all right. How do I get home? How quick can I get? We're downtown Phoenix. What route am I going to take?" And I'm kind of not really clued in or thinking that this is going to
026go to overtime. and all of a sudden, boom, the shot gets hit and we go to overtime. If you didn't see it, you got to go look it up on YouTube. It is dramatic and it's really cool. Um, then you guys went at overtime and you barely lost by two points and they fought so very hard. They played Hamilton Huskies and and this I'm not a basketball guy so but like from sitting in the stands it looks like Hamilton had control of this game all the way up towards the end and they they had one fatal mistake almost and that was underestimating the Gilbert Tigers and their will to win and they never stopped and so heartbreaking but at the same time so fulfilling to know that we had a team of athletes who just
027didn't know when to say when. And so we're very proud of you. If you would I talked a lot about the game. It's like Sports Center tonight. Um but if you want to talk a little bit about your team and then let them introduce themselves, that'd be great. Yeah. Uh I'm coach Savannah Bix. This is my first year at Gilbert. Um super proud of my team. We're missing quite a few. We have the seniors playing Powderpuff. We got a couple kids at club tournaments right now. Um, but the to kind of piggyback off the game, uh, they I mean we were down by about 18 at one point and most people if you know you're down by that much. It's really really difficult to come back and try to make it a game. Um, but
028it's just a testament to my team's resilience and how hard they work. Um, it's nothing that was a surprise to me or anybody that would followed us all season. We have a super resilient and hardworking group of girls. Uh, incredible student athletes, um, leaders in the community and just incredible young women. Um, and so state championship, I have to kind of shout out uh Isabella Ivy. She was the one that hit that shot. Um, I've been Yep. I played sports for a long time. I've coached for a long time, but that was hands down the craziest thing I've ever witnessed live. Um, and although we lost, I, you know, nobody was really talking about that. They were talking about the shot forever. So, um, you know, incredible moment and hopefully we're back next year. And
029so, here's here's some of my team. Uh, my name is Isabella Ivy and I'm a senior. My name is Ray Love and I'm a junior. My name is Contessa Ivy. I'm a freshman. My name is Kayn Ramos. I'm a freshman. My name is Milan SA. I'm a sophomore. My name is Summer Johnson. I'm a junior. My name is Adriana Mumbberry. I'm a sophomore. [Applause] Um, again, you what a great season. It it like you said, people aren't going to remember what the score was. They're going to remember the shot, but like I said, they're going to remember the fact that Gilbert High Tigers, they don't give up. And so, that scares people more than anything. Congratulations to you guys. Do you shake hands with the board? We'll take a pick. Well done. All right, guys.
030Center up here. Let parents get their shots. High Tigers. Well done. And last but not least, um is speech and debate. Is Joey from Gilbert High here? No. Oh, thank you. Well, Joey's not here, but let me tell you about him. Joey from Gilbert High qualified to compete in the National Speech and Debate Tournament, United States Exemporius Exemporaneous Speaking, placing sixth at the Arizona District Tournament at Brophie College Prep this month. Um, when you see Joey, congratulate him even though he's not here. Uh, Mr. Blackburn, make sure that he knows that we're thinking about him. If you want to bring him back next month, we'll recognize him publicly. Is that like the mayor? Oh, he's at the mayor. So, the mayor trumped the superintendent. I get it. I get it. I I I understand. Ladies
031and gentlemen, that concludes our recognitions for this evening. Thank you guys. Appreciate it. [Applause] All right, congratulations to everybody that was recognized uh tonight. We are moving on to uh shifting things around a little bit. Instead of the superintendent report, we're going to uh move to an action item for this evening. 5.01, appointment of Eric Cruz as principal of Desert Ridge Junior High for the 2025 2026 school year. Is there a motion? I move that we approve Eric Cruz as Thank you, Miss Humphre. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Miss Murray. All those in favor of appointing approving the appointment of Eric Cruz as principal of Desert Ridge Junior High for the 2025 2026 school year. Say I. I. Any opposed? It's unanimous. Congratulations. Come on up and say a couple words. [Applause] Thank
032you guys. Should be it's always the microphone. There we go. All right. And so one I want to governing board Gilbert governing board and superintendency. First I want to thank you guys for the opportunity. I'm very excited. I hope you can see the smile on my face and uh it's uh I'm really looking forward to this uh next few years. So, this is going to be a great opportunity and thank you. Um, my family's here and so I want to thank those that were able to come here and be here tonight and for their love and support and so my lovely wife Chassity over here and Cooper and Riley and Hayden that are here and then those that couldn't be, but they are uh unwavering in their support and so thank you guys so much
033for being here and uh I'm I've got to go out and meet the staff earlier today and I'm super excited to be there. uh they have a a wonderful foundation and it's it's I couldn't be prouder to be able to uh be the next principal at Desert Ridge Junior High School. So, it's been one wonderful thing to see happen here. And so, I'm I'm again, I'm super excited. I'm just going to keep saying it over again. you know, they uh um you know, I've been at Mosqu High School the last couple of years, and as uh as proud and excited as I was to see uh Coach Gonzalez come up here and all our cheer team looking like young adults and and coming up here to uh receive their reward u their award, I'm I'm
034super excited to see the Desert Ridge Junior High School students next year and what they're able to accomplish. So, thank you guys very much and thank you for the opportunity again. I thought I thought you were going to turn that thing all the way around, 3C. It was good. You're doing good. We'll get you one for Desert Ridge Jr. You can walk around with it. All right. Moving on. 5.02. Appointment of Kristen Fleming as principal of Augusta Ranch Elementary for the 2025 2026 school year. Is there a motion? I move that we appoint um Kristen Fleming as principal of Augusta Ranch Elementary for the 2025 2026 school year. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Brainer. Is there a second? A second. Thank you, Dr. Robersonson. All those in favor of approving the appointment of Kristen Fleming
035as principal of Augusta Ranch Elementary for the 2025 2026 school year, say I. I. Any opposed? None. It's also unanimous. Congratulations. Congratulations, Kristen. Come on up. Which way do I turn this? That's it's it seems like it's up to you. I don't know. I guess so. I'll kind of try to work with it. Mr. President, governing board, Dr. McChord, Superintendency, I am incredibly grateful. Thank you so much for this opportunity. Um, I am completely overwhelmed and so I'm trying really hard not to cry because I am incredibly humbled and honored and grateful. The experiences that I have had throughout my educational journey have been such a ride. And there have been so many people that have poured into me, that have spoken into me, that believed in me before I believed in myself that led
036me to this spot. And I know that um I take all of that learning with me into this new endeavor. And I want to thank all of those educators that have done that. I want to thank the people specifically that poured into me in leadership. Um I was under um Tia Hansen was my mentor and Chris Bergen continued that. And then these last two years I've gotten the great opportunity to be at Meridian Elementary under Chris Straoud and KMOS currently um Canyon Rim under Jolo Pat and uh the things I have learned are invaluable and I will take them with me and I'm grateful to my my family and to my Augusta Ranch new family that's here. I'm just so honored to represent you, to lead you, to walk aside you, beside you, and I
037got the opportunity to be with you today in our sit planning and it affirmed everything for me. I just you welcomed me in. You were um engaging and ex experts and just so well-versed in everything. you have such great plans that you have put into place already that I'm really looking forward to continuing all the traditions and and practices that have made you the A+ school you are and then coming alongside you and helping you to grow and succeed even more. So, I'm so grateful for you and this is where it gets tough because my family, there's some watching online and there's some here today and my mom and my stepdad. I know my dad and Sandy and my sisters and nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles are all watching online. Um, and I'm so grateful because
038they've been along this ride with me. I mean, since I was in second grade and got a chalkboard for Christmas. It was the best. I'm sorry to my sister and cousin for having to be my students. Um, to my boys. Um, they're all products of Gilbert Public Schools, Nathan and Bryce and Jace. Um, Jacece is still in high school, but um, Bryce and Nate both graduated from Highland, and Jace will follow suit. I am so grateful for you because you have been there for all of it, right? You've seen the tears, you've seen the successes, and I'm just so grateful that you loved your mom even on the craziest days. And you've been my cheerleaders, and I appreciate you. to my loudest voice who told me I could before I knew I could. My husband
039Ben, thank you for being my biggest cheerleader and for carrying me when I needed carrying, for pushing me when I needed pushing, and for loving me and celebrating all of the successes. I hope that I make my former family, my current family, my new family. I hope I make you all proud. I'm proud to be a Gil Gilbert public school employee and now a Gilbert public school leader. So, go [Applause] Rattlers. Congratulations. We're going to go ahead and take a two or three minute break to say congratulations to our new principles and then we'll reconvene. Heat. [Music] Heat. Heat. Heat. X superintendence report. Dr. McCord. Thank you, Mr. President, governing board members. Good evening to everyone for joining us here in person and online. Um, this is kind of a long report, but I I
040think I need to say a few things to kind of help explain and and and um acknowledge the past couple weeks we've had. The past couple weeks in GPS, uh, we've been met with guns on campuses, a student suicide on campus, and the passing of one of our longtime teachers. These tragic and alarming events shake a school, a school district, and a community to the core. First, for the family and friends of Jude Flor as a student at Highland High, we're so very sorry for Jude's passing. Uh we can only imagine what you're going through, but please know as a school district and as a school, we are here to help you get through anything you need and we will be here for you. Suicide is a very serious concern in Gilbert Public Schools, we've
041implemented suicide prevention programming as part of our signs of suicide prevention program since the school year 2012. It is implemented and delivered to students in grades 5 through 12. The program is delivered in collaboration with the school site's behavioral health team members, social workers, psychologists, nurses, and counselors. The BHT members also present the information to staff members prior to students receiving the information and a process for referrals is discussed um is discussed uh should students or staff need to speak to a social worker, a psychologist or a counselor after the presentation. Communication regarding the presentation goes out to parents at least two weeks ahead of time before the presentation date so parents can review the PowerPoint presentation videos website and ask questions. The presentation dates uh need to be made clear often to parents uh
042with the dates of the presentation including the permission slips along with campuses names and a link to the uh signs of suicide web page. Gilbert Public Schools utilizes the parent opt- out permission slip as this is a critical topic impacting the safety of our students. In addition to the school year in school year 2021, um Senate Bill 1468 was enacted was enacted and required school districts to provide suicide prevention education awareness training to school personnel. The law requires school personnel receive a suicide prevention training that focuses on the identifying of the warning warning signs and learning about appropriate interventions in the referral process. Gilbert public schools has implemented the program act on facts which is one of the programs identified by the Arizona Department of Education um that may be utilized by school districts. However,
043Gilbert Public Schools began including formal staff training with the SOS program uh when it was initiated back in the 20112 2012. Again, all of our thoughts and prayers go out to the Flores family. And again, we are here with whatever you may need. And then sadly on Sunday, Andrea Young, sixth grade teacher at Town Meadows, passed away after a hard-fought battle battle with cancer. Mrs. Young taught at Town Meadows from 2003 through this current school year. Andrea taught kindergarten, multi-age, second, and third grade, second, fourth, and sixth grade, and significantly and positively impacted hundreds of students. She was an incredible and devoted mom of two daughters, Riley, a Highland High School grad, and Payton, a Highland High senior. Andrea was a fantastic wife, sister, friend, aunt, and educator. Andrew was passionate about decorating and help
044and helped redesign the lounge in the workroom at Town Meadows. She was also an incredible floral designer, decorating for multiple events around the valley. Her compassion for children and people in general is a legacy she definitely leaves behind. She'll be dearly missed. I ask you to keep Andrea's family, friends, students, and community of Town Meadows in your thoughts and prayers. And lastly, over the past couple of weeks, we've been uh alerted to guns being on campuses of Highland High and Mosquite High. Through anonymous tips from students, we were able to locate the guns that were in the possession of students. Thank you to those students who were mindful enough to alert administration. This is extremely concerning. Fortunately, we are in the process of procuring weapon detectors for each of our high schools. And in uh
045November 2024, we updated our uh community that we were considering adding weapons detectors at our high schools. Following that update, we began researching and procuring a detector solution that would deliver the best results for our community. That process culminated in March 2025 when our governing board approved the implementation of weapon detectors at all seven of our high schools here in GPS. We've been working with Mesa Public Schools, which has already implemented detectors on our high school campuses, and our vendor to learn about implementation best best practices to ensure ours runs as smoothly as possible with our students and families well informed and any potential disruption to students and visitors minimized. Our original timeline was to implement the detectors at many high school campuses as possible by the end of the school year and remaining and
046the remaining high schools at the beginning of the 2526 school year. We have since expedited that roll out based on some of the things that have happened in the last couple weeks with support from our vendor and other community partners so that all high school campuses will be fully trained and have detectors operational on their campuses before the end of the school year. We've already rolled them out at Canyon Valley uh high school uh on April 25th. Desert Ridge High, Highland High, Mosquite High, their first day detectors on campus will be Monday, May 5th. And Campo Vvery High, Gilbert Classical Academy, and Gilbert High will be on their campuses and rolled out on May 7th. I'd like to thank our high school administrators, security personnel, teachers, support staff, and the vendor and school specialties for
047making this happen on this expedited timeline. This is a very involved process with many different moving parts. The first few days of a roll out on our campus will take more time for students to enter the school, but this will decrease as students and staff become more familiar with the process. And we apprec appreciate everyone's patience and support as we implement the weapons detectors. And lastly, to everyone and anyone who is listening, if you own a firearm, please do all you can do to lock up your weapons. Please make sure children do not have access to your weapon. We must keep our students, our staff, and our community safe. Mr. Thompson, that concludes my report for this evening. Thank you, Dr. McCord. Agenda item number seven, request to speak to governing board. Can we have
048the admonition read, please? Yes. 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 may 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 prop if the matters are properly noticed for discussion and legal action. During
049an 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 any specific concerns about any individual employee. Thank you, Dr. Robersonson. We've got a number of individuals that have requested to speak to the governing board tonight. Our first request is from Mike M. Uh Mike, if you would make your way up to the podium. And for you and any anybody else that's commenting tonight, um this screen up here will have uh a running clock on it as well as uh a colored red, yellow, and green uh green, yellow, and red visual on it to help you. Thank you. Uh today I want to talk to you. I
050watched the presentation uh at a p from a past meeting regarding the expansion of gifted services uh within GPS by Brent Gardner. Um I was very impressed. Uh my children have gone to school in GPS um though they are not currently in GPS. Um and I was very happy to see that you guys are looking at expanding gifted services. However, I felt that the presentation was on one side of gifted services and that leaned heavily on the uh high achieving side of giftedness. Uh gift giftedness is very much a spectrum and many children while being gifted are not not necessarily high achieving like many people would would think. Um they don't score 100% on everything. Uh they are very smart, they are very intelligent, but they learn differently, they score differently on tests. Um, and
051my kids especially are both 2e gifted. Um, so they are twice as twice exceptional. Um, my kids are currently in grades uh 2 and three. They at their time at GPS, they were in kindergarten through 2 grade depending on the child. At that time they went to five different schools at GPS. Um, that was due to the district sending them to different schools uh saying that they needed to go to this school for this program or this school for this program. None of those programs were for giftedness, unfortunately. Uh no matter the amount of testing we did, that just wasn't the focus. The focus was on the behavioral issues. Many gifted kids have behavioral issues. Uh but that was never looked at. Uh so today, I just want to, you know, kind of bring that
052to light and really hope that that's something that you guys look towards. Um that giftedness is more than just academics. It's behavioral as well. Um, I would love for my kids to be in GPS. Um, I live in GPS. I, you know, that's where my money goes. Uh, that's where I want my kids to be, but unfortunately there's no support for them in in this district right now. Uh, so they are in a different setting. Uh, that has been great for them. Um, it speaks to their giftedness. They, my one of my sons went from B's and C's to 100% grades within two months. Um, they do great at that school. Uh, and I would love to see that. Unfortunately, like I said, I think the focus for giftedness as a GPS right now is
053on academics and high achieving. Um, and I'd love to see that expand the spectrum. Um, unfortunately, most gifted service also do not start until fourth grade. Uh, kids need this much much sooner. Um, our both my kids were identified by kindergarten as gifted, but again, there was no services for that. Um, they were sent to special ed instead. That that's not the right place for them. um many of them were disciplined for those behavioral issues that were again not necessarily behavioral issues. Um so again I I just want to bring that to light and and hope that that's something you guys look at as part of giftedness. The last thing I want to leave you with is two quotes from Linda Silverman who is founder of Gifted Development Center um and a renowned uh licensed
054psychologist. This says uh and I'm paraphrasing Thanks, Mike. Our next speaker is Lauren Eaton. Please come up to the podium and whenever you're ready, you can go ahead and get started and you'll have three minutes. Okay. Good evening, governing board. So, I would like to express my concern about GPS's decision to eliminate certified librarians. I teach at Camp Overde High School, and I am devastated upon hearing the news that our wonderful librarian, Sarah Flity, will not be returning to Campo next year because her position as a certified, experienced librarian will be eliminated. Sarah has been Campo's librarian since it opened, and a walk through the library space she has created would spark joy and enthusiasm in even the most reluctant readers. With her clever displays of books curated to reflect the trends seen in popular
055literature while honoring various ethnicities and identities and her time creating programs to spark reading doesn't end with the school year. She also hosts reading contest over the summer and holiday breaks. It's heartbreaking to realize that GPS district finds Sarah and the other librarian positions at the secondary high school level that have never been refilled after librarians have retired dispensable without getting any faculty, staff, parent or community input. And as a parent of kids who attend GPS schools, and I love having my kids attend GPS schools, I worry about this silent phasing out of librarians, especially during times when literacy scores are suffering, when math scores are suffering. This year, I have sat through many professional development trainings and meetings that all stress the importance of data. What does the data say? My administrators ask, "How
056can we use data to make the best decisions for kids?" We ponder during PLC sessions. Yet, the district doesn't seem to be using much data or if they are, it'sn't been transparent to us about this decision to scrub out certified librarian positions. The school library impact studies have analyzed robust data over the past 50 years to compile strikingly optimistic conclusions about the correlation between fully certified librarians and student perform performance. And here are some conclusions drawn from their data. One, a certified school librarian impacts student achievement more than per pupil spending, teacher per pupil ratio, and the adult education level of that school community. Two, standardized test scores in reading and math improve and show greater growth when a certified librarian staffs a full-ervice library. Three, improvement in standardized test scores and performance especially improves
057among minority students, students with IEPs, 504s, and low socioeconomic status. Uh, I must recognize that I am completely ignorant of the hard decisions this this district has to make because of such a limited budget. I know teachers in the past and this year have had their contracts put on hold or have been told their positions won't be renewed. And I know the district would love to do more with their funding and budget and that that's largely out of control of how much you guys would like to spend. Um but but the slow and silent purging of librarians is something I would like to raise more attention to before decisions are made that completely alter the cultures of literacy and lifelong learning GPS aims to inspire. And as a final note, something interesting. Arizona requires its
058prisons to have full service media centers or libraries. And the majority of the county prisons choose to have these libraries or media centers staffed by certified at least. What does it say about the state? Thank you, Miss Eaton. The next speaker is Adriana Haapala. Oh, it's just one. Ha. Okay, got it. whenever you're ready. All right. Thank you very much. Um, hold on. As school board members, I am I am certain the people of Gilbert elected you because they believed you would serve the best interest of Gilbert's students in mind, that you want to improve the educational experience of the students in this district and make the best choices possible to see them to succeed. So, I wonder why, even considering budget constraints, you would cut a position as important as a school librarian, a
059valuable resource to your students and hardworking staff members in the district. Personally, I have not lived in Gilbert for a long time. The school district I used to live in only had one high school, limited extracurriculars, and no school librarian. that district was more focused on getting kids the bare minimum of credits and shoving them to the finish line rather than encouraging students to thrive. So I was delight So I was delightfully surprised when I moved to Gilbert and attended Campo Verde, a district that valued the arts, education, their staff and opportunities for students. It was there when I joined book club, a club that wouldn't be possible without my librarian, Miss Flarity, and became even more engaged and applied myself more than I ever did at my old district. I read more during my
060free time. I pushed myself and I began to thrive. I don't think I would have made this much progress as this quickly without the guidance of figures like Miss Flity and the general culture at Campbo Verde that encouraged academic rigor and valued resources such as a school librarian. I'm sure you already are familiar with these statistics, but only around 41% of Arizona's students are reaching a proficient reading level and our state is consistently ranked on the lower side of education. What message are you sending by cutting a resource that could help improve this problem rather investing even more in district libraries and librarians? Think about why the people of Gilbert chose you to serve their children. Do you want Gilbert students to thrive or would you rather roll them to the finish line? Thank you
061very much for your time. I appreciate it. I have 47 seconds left. You're good. Unless you have something else. You don't have to go the whole 30. I don't. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Apollo. Our next speaker is Lizzie Stone. Whenever you're ready. Miss Stone. Good evening again. Yes, I am back because I want to reiterate and add on to what I said at the last business board meeting. While I was re-watching myself, I realized I spoke a little fast, so I apologize if it was hard to follow along last month. I am a naturally fast speaker, but I'll try my best to slow down. As I introduced myself last last month, I am Lizzy Stone and I'm the book club president, but I'm also involved on campus. For example, I'm in concert
062choir, link crew, NHS, and creative writing club. And that's just my extracurriculars. I feel I can make cample proud through all my many AP courses I've taken and excelled at. That's why I hope these words here tonight don't just feel like they're being flung around at whim. I hope to establish that I try to come from a place of logic and reasoning as well as moral integrity. While at the last meeting, I resonated with the idea of increasing student achievement. We pride ourselves in promoting academic achievement through gifted status and advanced courses. But what does it say about us when we are cutting down a vital part of our community? I find it ironic. The library is a place where we gather knowledge and increased our mastery of topics that interest you or me. But
063how would we even know where to look without a librarian? I would like to walk you through what I've noticed keep keeps the library functioning and thriving as I've spent my time there. The first thing that arises to my attention when I walk through those library doors is the front desk where the librarian sits. Sometimes that's as far as a student will go into the library if they're just there for Chromebook help. But not everyone uses the library for technical issues. The library at Campo expands both left and right, each side having places to sit, including tables and chairs, which are filled up every day at lunch. Campo's libraries also offer printing for students, which is used often. For example, when a student needs to print an English paper, they'll go to the library. The
064library has many purposes, but at its heart, it is a place for books. It's a place for the students who'd rather stay inside during the hot summer months. It's a place for students who are aren't into the recreational activi activities that are put on in the gym during lunch. It's a quiet place for students to study and get caught up or ahead in their classes. So, besides the tables and the book displays, why is the library important? And why is it important to have a qualified librarian? As someone who has close communication with the librarian because she's our club adviser, I've been partial to the work that keeps the library operating behind the scenes. For one, the librarian acts as a book raider without um there they look at new book releases and add to
065the book collection. Without a book raider, there would be no library and no book collection. Without Without a librarian, who will have the ability to order new books to replace those that are falling a apart from years of usage and damage? This brings me to the point, the librarian repairs books that are falling apart so they can so that they can live a little longer and service more readers and students. Outside of checking out books, a librarian is able to help teachers by being qualified. The librarian services every student. Whether it's for Chromebook help or assisting a student in finding the right book for them. We should not throw librarians to the wayside. We should be more careful in what we decide to cut as it does affect student. Thank you, Miss Stone. Our next
066speaker is Kristen Stone. Whenever you're ready, Kristen, go ahead. Hello, I'm Kristen. My that was my daughter, Lizzie. I am a mother and all my kids have gone through they are uh through Gilbert public schools and I'm al I got a degree in elementary education so I understand the importance of literacy and the importance of education in our children. I also am the choir booster treasurer at Campo of Varity High School and I so I understand budgets a little bit and I understand a little bit about how much things sometimes cost and more than we expect and so I understand sometimes you guys need to make hard decisions and those hard decisions are hard. Um, I am a little concerned though that some of the librarians position is going to be cut because of funding
067and I see that may see some of the consequences might happen where there we have we've seen consequences of other decisions in the past uh during co we can't help co sometimes but consequences of some of the students were behind because they weren't at school. My kids were the anomaly where they actually were not behind because they studied and they had someone like me at home. But not every parent, not every family has people at home that are able to do that. Not every one has somebody at home that has a library to help them make sure that they achieve what they need to achieve. Some some need those librarians to help them move along. So I am that was part of my concern. Um, I also know that literacy covers all subjects. It's not
068just reading. It covers math. If you are going to do a math problem, you need to know how to read. And if so, I I am concerned that once librarians are gone, the the motivation to read, the motivation for literary will go down and then all subjects will will not do well and then we'll see it in our test scores. And I'm wondering is that worth it to try chop that one position because our students may decide you may see those repercussions later on that you don't expect and I hope you can reconsider how and do other problem solving as a way to find to fund that because I know it's hard to fund that but I I hope you can find a way to reconsider that. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Stone. Megan Kog
069Kio. All right, don't don't be mad at me. That was a tough one. Okay, fanatic. And we all know how important phonics are because of our librarians. So, um I'm in an interesting position and I would like to say that I don't envy the one you guys are in. I know much like Kristen said um and even Miss Eaton, I don't I don't know the budget for the Gilbert public school system and I but I do know what it is like to have to make budget cuts, really hard, heartbreaking budget cuts um that do sometimes end in losing valued team members. So, I understand that where you're coming from isn't easy. I am in a unique position because I only became a mom to a 17-year-old uh a year ago, a little over a year
070ago. Uh, I have no children of my own, but I always took the time to do the research and make sure that I was appropriately voting for schoolboard members because I've always known the importance of education. And I know that an educated public is our best hope for the future. So, I've always been aware and always paid attention even when it would impact me and not directly through my children. I voted for continuating continuing budget overrides to make sure that the school district had the money it needed. And now I'm grateful that I made those decisions because I do have a junior in high school. Um, everybody hit all the statistics. I don't think that that part's important, right? It's a proven fact that certified librarians and quality school libraries improve overall test scores, right?
071It's not a tangible fact that you can see. It's not like, oh, I worked out and now I have a six-pack, right? It's a little bit harder than that, but it's very, very real. I want to talk about a different side of the library and that is for children who don't necessarily have the best lives for me. Books were an escape. They are the reason I am a successful businesswoman today because I buried myself in books. I read the dictionary. I read everything I could get my hands on in an effort to escape the life I had. And I know that there are children in the Gilbert public school system that could benefit from the exact same opportunity. And they're the kids you would never expect it from. I promise you, most of the teachers
072that were at my high school had no idea that I needed the escape I sought in books. I was just an exceptionally bright child. So yes, there are the statistics and there are the benefits to a certified librarian on the overall performance of your district and the overall performance of your job as schoolboard members, an elected position. Right? Don't hurt the children of Gilbert, either by lowering their test scores or by taking away a resource that can guide them to a book that can prevent suicide, can guide them to a group of people that they can connect with and deter another school shooting, right? We can't just focus on the palm and the cheer. And I did all those things. I think they're amazing. I love them. But the academic piece, libraries, they're just as
073important, if not more so. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Miss Kio. All right, moving on to agenda item number eight, reports 8.01, fiscal year 2025, monthly financial report and third quarter financials, year-to- date ending March 31st, 2024. Dr. McCord. Thank you, Mr. President, governing board members. I will turn this over to Miss Betts. Good evening, President Thompson, governing board members, Dr. McChord. I just wanted to let you know that if you have any other questions, um that both Miss Miss Jackie Matten and Lauren Tusk are out in the in the audience to be able to answer any questions that you might have. Um we are in we are at the end of the third quarter in Gilbert public schools. So we do share both the monthly um report as well as a quarterly.
074So I'll go through that. Uh so on the monthly financial report we'll be talking about the district operating funds, the state grant funds and some of our school-based funds. So to begin you we always share the district operating funds. That's our main uh grouping of funds that we have the most flexibility using. So note that the available balance in maintenance operations is about $8.7 million which really should be close to how we end up. We are in the third quarter and all of our maintenance and operations um purchase order deadlines are passed now. So everything that is going to be um expended is encumbered through June 30 at this point in time. Um I've also wanted to highlight civic center. That particular fund is used to account for our um rental income. So much of
075that rental income is shared back to our schools, is shared with um with our district athletics. And then uh in addition, it's operated through the community um school uh department. And then finally, unrestricted capital. Please note that again, the available balance is about $25.6 million. And again, um there might be a few more um incumbrances that will occur through um Mr. Dutchover's work over the next uh month, but generally speaking, we do expect that that $25.6 million will be the budget balance carry forward that we will propose when we come back to you in June. So, that's all I have on that. Are there any questions before I move on? Okay, great. So, the state grant funds, the one I wanted to highlight uh this evening is the college credit exam incentive. Uh this is
076very timely. We have received all of the revenues from the state of Arizona. The revenues, however, have been drastically reduced. In the past, we have been able to provide um our teachers who are advanced placement teachers for every for every um test that that is passed based upon their metrics. Uh the teacher receives $150. That does include the the payroll benefits. So, they receive about $135. Um and then we take payroll benefits out. and then the other half goes back to the school. So none of the money is held at the district office in this particular school year. However, they have drastically reduced it. So the teachers are going to get somewhere in the neighborhood of 94 or $95 and that will take up the entire dollar amount of what we received from the state
077of Arizona. the leadership team had made the decision that all of the revenue that came uh that came to us for this particular fund would go out to reward the teachers for the success of their students on the AP exam a year ago. So that's all I wanted to share on that. Yes. Is that the state of Arizona that reduced that or who reduced the the it's the state of it was one of the budget reductions um for the current year. And then uh also all of our teachers, we expect they'll have um their bonuses at the end of May. Okay. And then uh finally the schoolbased funds. I wanted to share about our auxiliary operations funds. So auxiliary auxiliary is like tax credit in that both of these funds account for fees that our
078families are paying. Um in addition uh there is a technology fee that's paid to support the Chromebooks that we are providing to every student. Um and so um all those fees go into uh an auxiliary operations fund and 80% of that available balance that $9.3 million about 75 80% is actually held on behalf um at the schools or on behalf of students. So this the money that's held at the district office for that are field trip field trip fees um that are passed through and the dollars are they go to transportation to offset the cost of field trips. Um in addition I said technology services. Um and then uh the other one I'm going to cheat here. Oh yeah and then um also the district athletic fees. So that the junior high that's held at
079the district athletic department and then uh that department makes the decisions on how that those monies can be spent along with paying for the for the um field trips associated with junior high athletics. So um and then finally the purchase order deadline for all these cash funds which is on this prior grid. Um that deadline uh is May 9th. we generally allow schools to spend a little bit longer when it comes to their cash funds. So given that I don't have anything further on the monthly financial report. If there's any questions I can keep going. Okay, great. So, um, just a reminder, uh, when we share the quarterly financials, what we're doing is we're looking at our year-to- date quarter as of today or March 31st, and we're comparing it to the year-to- date quarter
080a year ago. So, usually we're looking at changes that occur monthtomonth when we show the monthly report. In this particular case, we're looking at year-over-year changes that have occurred year-to- date every quarter. So, we always start with the year-to- date revenues. So, this is operating revenue by source. Again, the year-over-year comparison. Note that in both uh 2024 and in 2025, we have to receive total revenue of about 64.4%. Well, I shared that we're in our third quarter, so you would expect it to be closer to 75%. This is what we have shared um every year in that the state if you look at the state we've received 64% of the state revenues in both years that's due to that uh end of year rollover where the state keeps back about $31 million for Gilbert and
081then they pay it out after the fiscal year is over so like the July 3rd or 4th and so that's the delay there in addition you can see that the the local funds are also So, um lower and you would expect it to be um 75% of everything that we're supposed to receive. But again, those are primarily property tax collections and those mostly come in March and April. So, it's a timing issue that we don't receive 75% of it by the time that we are at the end of our third quarter. Note to the negative um county so county equalization was um eliminated two years ago by the state legislature as a tax reduction. However, there are still tax assess assessment judgments that are going on and so they they're actually taking money out of
082the county equalization to pay back some of those um judgments. Um it's not known to us how they're going to balance out those negatives in the county equalization fund. Um but we're just reporting it here for for you all today. Um the next source is just simply um a comparison of the in a in a um column um representation. So you can see directly how much money was expected to be received versus how much was actually received. So, as an example, uh the whole the whole revenue that we would have expected should have been 246.2 million by this time. And of course, you can see we've only received 211.4 million. Again, the biggest contributor to that is the state aid rollover. Okay. find out that that goes back to the great recession that the legislature
083was balancing the budget by um with making one of those payments after the new budget year and they have not rectified that yet. Yeah. So about 2009. It's been since 2009. [Music] Um, so the operating revenue by fund, the year-over-year comparison, as you would expect, you can see maintenance and operations, um, is the largest piece of the pie. I wanted to point out um, Whoops, sorry. Um, I wanted to point out the the unrestricted capital year-over-year. So, if you look at the revenue in 2024 in unrestricted capital, it was 24 million. And this year you can see the unrestricted capital is 30.4 million. That was a direct result of you approving us to move $11 million out of M and putting it into unrestricted capital so that we can maximize the interest earnings. So just
084wanted to point that out. And you can see that if you u I'm going to go to the next slide. This is the comparison of what we expect to what we've actually received. So if you note um what's happening in classroom site fund you can see that that we do receive classroom site fund revenue monthly and it's 111 12th every month. So we would expect 22.5 million in classroom site fund. We've actually received 23.3 million a little bit more. So the reason for that is the interest earnings. So that's also goes back into that fund. So just so you're aware of that. And then unrestricted capital. If you look year-over-year, you can see that we've also to date have $30.4 million. Um, and you would expect that we would receive only 75% of that, but
085that is a decision that we have made within the finance department that we're going to fully assign the revenues to unrestricted capital as early as possible again with that strategy to try to maximize those interest earnings. um since we are able to increase our budget capacity because of those interest earnings and we're not allowed to do that in the maintenance and operations fund. Okay. So, finally uh the last slide is the year-to- date expenditures and this should be very clear um this should represent very clearly the decisions that you all had made um year-over-year. So you can see in salaries uh just poking at salaries in 2024 we had 20 $24.2 million spent encumbered by this time in comparison to to 28.3 um million in 2025. That's a direct result of the pay increase that
086you all approved. Well some of you actually all approved last spring. Um the other thing I wanted to point out was the unrestricted capital spend. So note that in 2024 it was about 21.8 million. Note that it's up to 41.6 million. This is directly related to the fact that our bond dollars are completely spent and we still have facilities that are in their 25th year that are now in need of capital uh renovation. So that's a direct result of the of the funding circumstance to date. Unfortunately, we have been able to um save enough unrestricted capital where we're able to meet those needs right at this point in time. And that's all that's all I have. If there are any questions, I'm very happy to answer them. Or Jackie or Lauren can help me out.
087Can you remind me why it was $11 million that was moved? Why not more? um mostly to make sure that we were not going to put ourselves into a situation where we um where we'd have to move it back. Um so it seemed like an appropriate um amount given the timing, but that's a good question. We could have moved more with uh if you could go back a slide please. the increase in unrestricted capital because of the um the need that our basically our our our facilities have to be up updated. Um can you do you know what some of them um what some of those needs are and how immediate they are? Sure. So, um, as an example, um, let's talk about the, uh, high school tracks. So, there are three, um, high school
088tracks that are in great need of, um, being replaced because they present a potential safety issue for our um, track athletes. There's cracks and issues and they're going to be running on them. So, that became a very high priority. We I think we also recently approved the uh expenditure of about $2.3 million in parking lots. Um so that is just bringing down the parking lot asphalt down to to the ground or just doing an overlay. Those present safety risks to us as well. Uh where there are fall um fall risks for those that come to our schools. um ADA issues associated with our special education students that need to use wheelchairs, those type of things. And then finally, um a great deal of money has been spent on HVAC equipment. So, one of the things
089that that Albert and I have been targeting is to make sure that we are spending the money on keeping students safe, on keeping them dry, so we have to worry about roofs. And the third thing is to make sure that they are comfortable, either warm or cold, depending upon the time of year. So those have been our priorities. Um and um so those are some of the examples that we've we've um made those decisions on. And so we've we've moved $20 million into unrestrict unrestricted capital to cover those expenses. Do we anticipate I know that a couple years ago we hired a group to come in and do an internal audit of all of our facilities. And according to them, we needed to spend, you know, 20 to $40 million a year every year in
090perpetuity to to maintain our facilities. Is is are are we going should we expect that we would continue to need to have this increased balance and unrestricted capital every year moving forward? That's a a tough question which is why we are talking with the leadership team on a regular basis as to what our priorities are. Um and so we have $5 million 5 million square feet of facility underfoot and um 30,000 students and all of our most of our facilities were built in the mid 90s and the early 2000s. So they're all at that 20 to 30 year life which means a lot of stuff are failing right now. So um obviously we can't expect to have available to us up to 30 or $40 million a year. We just have had savings that we
091were fortunate to have. Hopefully that can get us through the next couple of years. Um, but I can tell you that we had been spending about $25 million a year since 2018 on top of the normal unrestricted capital spend. Um, and so just to maintain our buildings, we're going to have to just be very careful with our prioritization as we move forward. Um, do we ever get an opportunity to kind of see a list or a chart of what the priorities are and where we're going to be spending the money coming up in the next year or two? Just, you know, which schools, how much money per school for that HVAC system, so on and so forth. Yeah, that's a great question. Uh, so, um, Albert's team has fully updated asset planner now, which is
092the tool that, um, Mr. Thompson was talking about. that is our database for our facility condition. So we are totally updated to reflect all the work we've done um through about February 28th. So we're fully updated. Um and so that one we're now scrutinizing every line and every element to ensure that it's it's accurate. So it was done by an outside firm who doesn't have all the knowledge that Mr. Dutchover has. And so we actually took the the next five years and Albert and I are going through every line item to make sure is this a real need? And we're making decisions even such as well when do we have to totally bring the asphalt down to the ground versus when can we just do an overlay that'll give us another five or six years.
093So we're making those types of decisions as we go. Um the plan is I'm talking with the finance team. We're going to share with you uh next week when we do the final budget revision how we have spent our capital dollars in the current year, how we've encumbered or spent in the current year so you have an idea of the areas that we're spending it on. And then in addition, when we propose the budget, we will do a complete budget um um proposed budget for unrestricted capital so that you all have an idea of what those priorities are. And then finally, in uh August, I talked to Dr. Accord and we hope to do a work study just on our capital needs looking at the data that's in asset planner after we've gone through and
094cleaned it up so that we can give you a really really good um estimate and rationale as to why these next five years are our highest priorities. Thank you. You bet. Any other questions? I tried to ask questions that would get Jackie and Lauren involved, but Miss Betts handled everything. So, I'm just wondering what kind of questions we have to ask to get them involved. Well, the next time I will just go ahead and give it to one of them. Perfect. I mean, they're here. So, thank you very much, Miss Betts, Dr. McCord. Um, all right. Moving on to 8.02, 02 our teaching and learning academic spotlight. Dr. McCord. Thank you, Mr. President. Governing board members, I will turn it over to Mr. Ryan, assistant superintendent of teaching learning. He's going to introduce his folks
095and the topic for this evening. Very good. Thank you, President Thompson, Dr. McCord, governing board. Thank you so much. Uh it's that time of month we get to provide you some insight into the inner workings of our uh academic programs on campuses. As you know, we're we're proud to offer a number of options to our families in Gilbert public schools. Uh among those options include traditional education at three of our elementary schools. Canyon Rim Elementary and Spectrum are both uh partial traditional campuses. Uh both traditional and conventional are offered on on those campuses. And then our fully traditional campus is nearly uh traditional. So um this evening uh the presentation is focused on math and focus which is the adopted math curriculum within our traditional programs and um this was adopted a few years back
096and as we have discussed we'd like to bring back information related to our curriculum adoptions and this is a piece of that this evening. So um Robert Burcher is here with us this evening. He is the elementary um director of curriculum instruction and assessment and uh with him is Crystal Ud Doll who is our elementary coordinator of mathematics. Turn it over. Good evening. Um Mr. President uh Dr. McCord and uh governing board we appreciate your time this evening. Is Mr. Ryan was talking about we this is at Canyon Rim Neely and Spectrum and this represents about 8% of our school population for our elementary schools. Um this came about Sorry it's delayed. Nope. Go backwards to three. It worked once. Try throwing it against the wall. Right. I'm sure Mr. Macintosh can help. Where do
097you want? Right there. One. There it is. Okay, perfect. So, to give you a little bit of a a background, our traditional schools had Sax and Math um for a long time. Sax and Math was published in 1983. A lot has changed in mathematics since 1983, including multiple versions of the standards. Um, in 2023, we were notified by the publisher that Sachs and Math would no longer be available for purchase for schools or districts. They were hoping to capitalize more on the homeschool um market. The adoption that started the adoption process. Um through the adoption process, we brought together um stakeholders, we brought together parents, we had actually several parents um from the tra traditional community. We had math experts, we had teachers, paras, and administrators from all of the sites. We were looking for
098something that had alignment to standards, alignment to rigor and standards of the mathematical practices, instructional support, usability, and assessment. We wanted assessment to align with current standards and we wanted to offer a multitude of resources um all while maintaining what our traditional parents were wanting. It was quite the task. Um yeah, we ended up coming to the governing board in spring of 2023 with a unanimous decision that our committee unanimously wanted math and focus to be their curriculum. Okay, now we're on track. Thank you. Okay, with Math and Focus, we are currently in year two of implementation. During implementation, the first year um we had several we had we had three trainings for all staff um to get onboarded. It was quite the jump to go from Saxon to math and focus. Even just when
099we were talking about there were no digital elements, no online for Saxon to move to math and focus which even had an online component was a significant jump for these teachers. We offered again three trainings that first year and we offered a number of different options um for teachers to come in and get additional training. We also brought in outside consultants to come in and help. A lot of math and focus is based off bar models and so we really needed to build teacher capacity on why we're doing the bar models and the visual representations of the math. Then we brought in teams of teachers. I think each teacher brought or each campus brought in principal, instructional coach, an intermediate teacher and a primary teacher. and we brought them in for multiple days of training
100trying to build capacity in the instructional leadership teams at the campus so that they can then plan PD for this following year. Miss Ud Doll is here the math coordinator for our elementary schools to talk about what we are seeing in implementation this second year and what third year could look like. Good evening, Mr. President of the Governing Board, Miss uh Dr. McCord. Here we're looking at an assessment that is given three times the year. Beginning of the year, middle of the year, and end of the year. We are currently in our end of the year cycle. So this is current as of middle of the year, meaning February of 2025 is where we have this data from. Um once the end of year finishes, we would be happy to support getting other further data
101to you, but this is up through February of 25. The students are measured in five categories. the domains of numbers, operations, and algebra, measurement, data, probability, geometry, and where appropriate fractions, ratios, and proportions. When the student data comes out from this, the data is intended to support teachers greater needs in determining appropriate content, lessons, and particular programs for their students. Here we see the scaled scores from the beginning of the year the blue to the middle of the year which is the orange. You can see the above level has doubled in size which means our levels of far below below and approaching are definitely shrinking in those areas. Here as you can see the impact is for just half a year. How much greater will it be by the end of May? So, we're excited
102to see the growth measure final lies at um in May to get the final results on that. ED is the online platform for which students use um teacher assignments, assessments, classwork and those kind of things. The online platform allows teachers to have flexibility so that it's not just only on paper or pencil but there's an online component so teachers can have that uh flexibility as well. The national average is to see students working in 1.5 to two times a week. And out of our 754 students, they're using it 1.6 times. So, this is not an additional program. This is the online component of math and focus. Um, you'll see some dips in that data. Those are our natural school breaks right there. However, some kids were still on the program during the breaks. They chose
103to jump on and do whatever assignments they needed to do. So that's actually encouraging. I know it's very tiny and very little, but that is encouraging that students would want to go on and be utilizing that. So that data to me is super exciting to see. Um down towards the bottom, you'll notice the amount of students that are utilizing the program. Neely being fully traditional, you would expect to see that that those numbers would be naturally higher. So ED is the online component of math and focus. Waggle is the supplemental component that helps with the growth measure. So wherever the students kind of lie, it helps develop their um intervention pieces and their enrichment pieces. So it kind of fills holes and gaps and enriches at the same time. Here we're looking at bas um
104the assessment the student growth measure that I spoke about on the very first slide. How students are looking at utilizing data. Remember this is back in February. So, as of the school year to date, you would expect to see about a 50 around there. So, you can kind of see some schools are kind of dancing around that number. Um, students are suggested to be on there 15 to 20 minutes a week, two to three times a week. So, really not a whole lot of time, but just enough time to cover lessons. If you look at the average weekly sessions, you would like to see two to three sessions on there. That's their suggested amount of time. So, we're kind of in that ballpark with that two amounts of time a week. And as I said,
105um they students usually should work about 15 to 20 minutes. During that time in February, it dipped down a little bit for the 30 days, but in the year to date on the very last column, you can see we're pretty much making that mark around. Um next here, average days of usage. Um kudos to grade one. Grade 1 is utilizing this program throughout our district in these three schools immensely. You can see that they've covered 91 topics and completed them. Um, shout out to kindergarten. Do you know how hard it is to work with kindergarteners on a math program? Woohoo teachers. I huge shout out to them. That is fantastic. All in all, you can see that average daily use is being utilized in the district as of February, and we're looking for that to
106grow more where topics are harder in those grades four, five, six, which are grades five, six, seven in mathematics, therefore harder topics kind of needing to kind of having the teachers more hands-on with them. So, I feel like the teachers in their lessons are working more with the students there than they are in the Waggle program. So therefore, our teachers are with our students as me as much as they're needed to be. That is the end of my portion. Do you have questions for either of us? Have you seen um like any data on the growth from moving you transitioning from Saxon to using using this curriculum now? Has there been a like a change in like the students like achievement on on in that area? It's something we're carefully monitoring. Um, again, we are
107in year two of implementation. Last year, we would expect there to be, you know what I mean, not a ton of growth as students or or sorry, teachers or learners, too. Um, we noticed that things are kind of consistent. We're really excited to see what the end of year as you see that people are on more and using what's available to them. Um, we're expecting big things this year. Something we're definitely evaluating. So my question is I know Sax Saxon was very loved. Um do you feel like math and focus that we're we're more able to target the standards that we're trying to do than we were with Saxon? Actually both curriculums targeted the standards. It was the Saxon going away information that we got that drove us into looking at different material to adopt.
108So with looking into further material, there was not a Saxon to look at. Um it's provided by the same company. HMH provides both com uh programs, math and focus and saxon. And talking to our representative, they did not have something to put forward for that. Okay. So yes, they do both focus on standards and um all our district documents make sure that there's an alignment between our program and the Arizona standards and priority standards for the district. All right. Thank you. Mhm. Yeah. I I love Sax and math. My kids all did Sax and math all all through elementary school. So, and and my understanding is that Saxon and and Singapore are kind of opposite approaches to to math teaching. Um is is that correct? Whereas Saxon is is heavy on repetition and slow on
109on new concepts that Singapore's a lot of new concepts and not as much repetition. So with that has have we is that true as is that what we've seen in implementation and are teachers adjusting their style to I guess give the repetition that's not provided in the curriculum. There are two extra components that go with the program and one is the fact fluency that teachers have to help build um foundational skills to helps that conceptual piece build and the other piece is let me get it right extra practice and homework. So there are continual components that is something that we looked at as a committee that saw that the program had needs. But what are other some scaffolded needs that we need to complete with having further repetition and further building components and those are
110two additional pieces that we did purchase in making sure that students have that access. One is available online, one is an extra book available. And so yes, the teachers do have access to those materials to help support them as well as teacher trainings within the teacher material to help support how do we foundationally make sure they are really honed in skills as we oh sorry move through the grade levels. Great. And then are on our our campuses where um we have some traditional and some that aren't traditional are they taking the same beginning of year and middle of year tests? They are taking like tests. We call them diagnostics. This program happens to call them growth measure. Both are a diagnostic and they're both adaptive to measure where the student is. So the students come
111in on grade level and it kind of dips and grows up according to how the students answer, how quickly they answer. And so they take all that assessment data and from those domains of mathematics and they put them into placements of need for their every student. So every single student would have a program tailored to what their needs are in the mathematics. Additionally, they do take DNA benchmarks that are ASA mimics. So they take the exact same test three times a year. Um so that's a great chance to evaluate where our progressions are. So again to kind of summarize is they've got a curriculum component that's more diagnostic and how can we fill gaps or enrich in certain areas per kid. And then we also do ASAB benchmark mimics um that kind of allow us
112to evaluate programs. Yeah. We have those numbers. Yes, we do. Yeah. Okay. Can I get with you later to see those? Absolutely. I think we're meeting next week, too. Not about this, but I can get some for you. Terrific. And then we have those same things from a couple years ago with Saxon that we can compare to. Absolutely. Yeah. Terrific. Um Thank you. Are there any other questions? I just have one logistical one for you. Um, I understand how hard it is to have an hour math block and get all of that stuff in. So, my question is, are the teachers able to get those extra components in the extra fact fluency? And the other part of it is the online component. When are teachers able to utilize that? Because I know you were saying
113they're expected to grow that. So it just becomes when because I just don't want to see any other area suffer just because we're trying to trying to cram it all in and I just know from a logistical standpoint it's definitely one of the biggest roadblocks in education. You know what that is something that we did to carefully consider and as a committee we talked about how would we do that. Um thankfully in the master scheduling um the schools have what's called a win time or an intervention time slashenrichment time and that is a time period where they use the the waggle the extra practice the fact fluency and or other materials that are needed to help support students to make sure those foundational skills are solid and making those scores go up. Perfect. Thank you.
114You're welcome. question. It is early in the adoption period. Have we gotten feedback from teachers, from parents on on how it's going? So, this is good objective data. Do we have subjective data just on comparing this to Sax and math or what's the feedback we're getting from teachers and parents? Initially, it was interesting. Saxon was so beloved, you know what I mean? And that was across our East Valley. Um, as I know Chandler made a similar move, you know, we couldn't help that the publisher took it away. Um, however, we heard less negative than some of our surrounding peers. Um, it is something that our elementary CIA team does send a feedback survey to all teachers and administrators um, on a semester basis. So, it is something that we are constantly asking for feedback. Are
115are our pacing guides doing what they're supposed to or should we adjust? Is our curriculum meeting this need? Are you able to use this as a team? So, we're constantly asking for feedback. Um, and it's actually gone fairly well. Um, I think it's up to us now as we look at year three. We're already planning since we're doing some stuff on I Ready July 17th, which is the when our veteran teachers return. Um, Dr. Martin was great in bringing up like, hey, we should probably do something for math and focus as well to ensure that we're on the forefront. So, we're already in talks with a consultant to ensure that we're meeting the needs um of these teachers in year three as well. Thank you for all the hard work. I know it's a big
116push and the other math adoption is a big push, too. So, we got a lot on our plates. Yeah, we're hoping to not adopt anything next year for math. Crystal is we've got a lot on our plates and we love where we're at. Thank you very much. All right, let's move on to our consent agenda. Uh, is there a motion to approve to approve tonight's consent agenda as outlined? So moved. Thank you, Mr. Brainer. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Dr. Robersonson. All those in favor of approving tonight's consent agenda as outlined, say, "I." I. Any opposed? And that passes. Thank you. Moving on to our action items for this evening. 10.01 policy development first read of policy 3-102 banking and accounting. Is there a motion? So um so I move that we approve
117policy 3-102 banking and accounting. So this is so we're not approving the policy tonight. This is the first read. We're just we're it's a first read. So Well, we're approving the first read. Approving the first read. Thank you. Okay. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Briner. And thank you, Miss Humphre. Uh, is there any discussion amongst the board regarding policy 3-102, banking and accounting? Well, can we let uh Dr. McCord just go over what that was since it is a first street for our I guess constituents. Yeah, it's it's essentially it says the governing board may establish bank accounts as permitted by statute of the uniform uh financial records USFR. Uh pursuant and I'm skipping down pursuant to ARS uh 15-1121 uh the governing board shall option a student activities treasur and assistant
118treasurer if applicable. The governing board shall approve student clubs and student organization fundraising events annually by type. And so this is where the change is changes in this uh and then it says see attached exhibit of potential types of fundraising events. In addition, the governing board shall receive monthly student activity fund reports of cash receipts, dispersements, and uh transfers as well as cash balances. And so adding that section in of of the governing board will approve uh these fundraising events annually by type is is what we wanted to emphasize. So would these just go on the the first consent agenda of the year? Be a consent agenda and then if things if things that come up that weren't called out in those types of fundraisers then we would bring them back on a consent agenda.
119Okay. But we believe we can get it all covered based on in a general sense. Is there any other discussion? Well, this this is new because we hadn't done this prior, so it is something that we've had to update. So, when would this go into effect? uh you will take it back to policy May 12th for a second read and then we'll bring it back here at the end of May. So once it comes back on May 20th, it will go into effect. Thank you. Any other discussion or comments? Okay. All those in favor of approving uh the first read of policy 3-102, banking and accounting, say I. I. Any opposed? Thank you very much. 10.02. Uh is there a motion to approve the first read of policy 3-110, employee benefit trust reserving policy? So
120moved. Thank you, Dr. Robersonson. I will go ahead and second that. Uh Dr. McCord, do you want to Yep. Tell us about this. So when we transferred from the ASBA to the trust policies, um we knew then that there might be some policies that were missed for whatever reason. And this is one of those that should have transferred over to the trust. And this is the employee benefit trust reserving policy. And I'm not going to read the whole thing cuz it's it's kind of long, but essentially uh I'll read the first paragraph. Gilbert public schools trust accounts for the activity associated with governing board approved health plans. This is different than the trust in terms of what we use for policies. GPS is responsible for paying administrative costs and direct claims under governing board approved
121self-insured health plans. The district additionally purchased specific stop-loss coverage to protect the trust from catastrophic events associated with its self-insured plans. And again, it goes on to explain all of those uh intricacies related to that. But again, this is here because it should have transferred over and we missed it. And so along with the think the next policy we're going to talk about, we just want to make sure it's included. All right. Is there any discussion amongst the board on 3-110? I just wanted to mention that in the under the first heading it says it is affirmed that any reserves of the trust shall not be subject to a transfer out of the trust for any other district need. I think that's really important that we're leaving that there specifically for our employees health insurance
122that they've paid into. So I really appreciate that. All right, I'll call for a vote. All those in favor of approving the first read of policy 3-110, employee benefit trust reserving policy, say I. I. I. Any opposed? And that passes 10.03. Uh, is there a motion to approve the first read of policy 3-11, employee benefit trust investment policy? So moved. Thank you, Miss Humphre. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Miss Murray. Dr. McCord. Thank you, Mr. President. Going board members. This is another one like I explained a minute ago that um should have transferred over but didn't. And um we put both of those policies to the trust so they can assign a number. So we had it in the appropriate spot in our policies. And this employee benefit trust uh investment policy. The
123purpose of this investment policy is to aid GPS in making managing and reporting investments associated with employee benefits trust uh with the available cash reserves. And Bonnie, you can kick in any further on that one. Okay. Who do we Okay. So who do we consult with on the investment of these trust funds? So um as part of an exhibit that's a regulation underneath this policy there is a investment matrix that that you all approved that gives us the limits of what kinds of investments that we can invest in and how long. So we can only invest for no longer than 12 months. And then a second exhibit actually specifies that it's not really a consultant, but he's um he's with Wells Fargo and he he just works with me generally and just said, "Here's the
124situation. Here's a type of investment he's been lading them." So, as an example, he might have one investment that goes out for 9 months and another that's out for 6 months and one that's out for 3 months. And then when they come due, then we ladder in another one and we and he always is conversing with me. Um and then just giving me a couple of recommendations and then based upon that and knowing that it follows our investment matrix, then we move forward um with those investments, but they're that so far they've only been agency um bonds and treasuries. Okay, that was my next question. Thank you. I don't have any other questions. Does anybody have any questions or anything to discuss? Okay. Uh then I'll call for a vote. All those in favor of
125approving the first read of policy 3-11, employee benefit trust investment policy, say I. I. I. Any opposed? And that passes. Thank you very much. Uh agenda item number 11, items for future agenda. Is there any are there any agenda items that any of the governing governing board members would like to add to a future agenda? Okay. If there is anything, feel free to get in touch with me or Dr. McCord and we'll uh make sure that those are addressed on future agendas. Thank you. All right. Moving on to our board reports. We'll start with Dr. Roberson, our town of Gilbert Leon. Nothing to report. Thanks. Thank you. Uh I don't have anything to report from our audit committee. Uh Gilbert Education Foundation, Mr. Brainer. Nothing to report. Thank you, Mr. Brainer. And City of Mesa
126liaison, Shaina Murray. Nothing to report. Thank you. Uh and our legislative representative and employee benefit trust repres uh legislative representative and employee benefit trust representative. Miss Humphre. Well, I had a couple things to report on the legislature. Um, some of the big things going on right now. Um, the governor did sign a law that has to do with cell phone usage in schools. So, we will be um, educating everybody about what that is and how it's going to look for Gilbert public schools. Can I kick in on that real quick while you said that? Um, I have consulted with our attorney. they will be uh putting together um policy language related to what that is signed. So I doubt I'll have it by our next policy meeting, but I'll have it at subsequent meetings and
127I'll get it to you guys as soon as I get it so you have an idea. Can I just ask uh on timing on that? So if it's not at the next policy, it would be the do we have a June policy meeting? Um I Yes, we do. I'm looking at Gabby. Is that going to give us enough time to have the second read and have it implemented prior to really discuss this uh because it's not on the agenda. It's just a part of the report, right? But along with your legislative update, I would say as it relates to policy that we have a mechanism that lets us to automatically go. Great. Thank you. Okay. Um secondly, uh there was a huge discussion uh for the children with disabilities and some funding there. Um and
128that issue became resolved when they finally came together and passed. um so those children get the additional funding that they need for the rest of the year and then they are working on the budget and we're just waiting to hear about that. Um on the other side I just wanted to talk about a couple things that I attended. I was able to go to um a tour of our preschools at Superstition Springs Elementary and um see what they were doing and I just was really impressed with all the learning that's going on and um just what those um it's just amazing those kids were learning about vowels and consonants. I'm pretty sure I didn't learn about vowels and consonants until I was in second grade. So these are preschool kids um who were able to
129have that concept. Um, also we had a community event. The board was invited to uh an open house at Northrup Germit having to do with the Halo event and that's a human and logistics operations. Um, they have received and are going to be building out a I I guess you'd call it a capsule that is going to go into orbit around the moon. So, be in deeper space. the I had to learn this. The space station is about 40,000 miles out and this will be about 240,000 miles out. Um and it won't be always um they won't always have astronauts there but they will um at sometimes throughout the year and they're getting ready that um facility will be get they will get it ready to to launch. it'll get ready for launch here in
130Gilbert and then they'll send it to Florida to be launched. So, it's pretty exciting um to see what you know just close to us the kind of um really uh STEM careers that people have and and the the things that they're working on. And then of course we had some A+ celebrations and those were very fun and positive to go to and I know some of you have been able to make some of those A+ celebrations. So that's my report. Thank you, Miss Humphre. Uh meeting dates. Dr. McCord. Thank you. Before I get to the meeting dates, can I acknowledge a couple people in our room who have been sitting here patiently? Of course. And uh from our Aspire program, uh Melissa Mlen and Melissa Deanda, raise your hands. Not like there's a lot of
131other people there. That's Tom. That's the Stones over there. So, we're It's all family. Thank you guys for being here. Our meeting dates, uh May 6, we have a uh board work study and brief board business meeting. May 12th, we have a board policy committee meeting at 4:30. And May 20th, we have a board business meeting. And then I think the next night or two nights later we have graduation. So yay for all of our seniors. That's it. Thank you very much. And now time of our meeting that everybody everybody hates adjournment. I will call for a vote. Uh actually I will ask for a motion. Is there a motion to adjourn tonight's meeting? I move to adjurnn. Thank you Miss Humphre. Is there a second? Second. Thank you, Miss Murray. All those in favor
132of adjourning tonight's board business meeting, say, "I." I. Any opposed? And we are adjourned. Thank you.