001told [Music] did all board m you want it whatever you want to do yeah thank you good evening I would like to welcome you all to our Tuesday February 27th 2024 board meeting um calling it to order we're going to start out with a moment of silence followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Mrs Paige so let's please stand for the moment of silence thank you uh Mrs Wilson could you do the roll call please Mr Chad Thompson here Miss Sheila ug jetti here Miss Lori wood here miss Ronda page here miss Jill humph here Madame President all board members are present you have a quorum thank you Mrs Wilson we'll move to 3.01 approval of agenda but before we have a motion on it I would like to make a change in the
002format of the agenda and 9.0 action item 9.01 I'd like to move it to um right after the approval of the agenda if anybody has any right after right after the oh after the superintendent okay sorry I got it the wrong so it'll be right after the superintendent report so do I hear a motion so moved thank you Mr Thompson second second thank you Mrs paig so it's been moved and seconded that we are going to adopt approve the agenda as presented with the exception of moving 9.0 right after 4.01 all those in favor please signify by saying I I I oppose so it's a 5- z vote all right Dr McCord superintendent recognition award thank you madam president board members if you would join me um actually you could probably come to the side
003because our first recognition will be oratorical contest winners and they are going to perform for us this evening so for this report okay good evening everyone how are you I have cheerleaders in the room and it's good how are you guys there you go good well I got to tell you um this is always one of my favorite times of year uh we get to showcase our oratorical contest winners sorry Mr Macintosh uh we had three winners this year and we are going to highlight each one of them the first one is suway Vasquez come on up sway what grade are you in first first grade what school do you go to Highland Park woo who's that guy over there do you see him standing there yeah what's his name do you know M Mr
004faala who's he what does he do there he is the principal the principal well done well sway won first place for the kindergarten through second grade division and tonight he's going to perform do you want to use the microphone standard do you want to hold the microphone you want to use the stand I'll take that as a yes or you can just shout it out it's up to you buddy are you ready mhm all right good evening my name is Su VZ and the title of my speech is the Life of George Washington George Washington was born on February 22nd 1732 in West Morland Virginia his parents were named Augustine and Mary Ball Washington George Washington had had nine siblings Three Brothers Two Sisters three half brothers and one half Sister George Washington was married
005to Martha Washington they had no no children together George Washington died on December 14th 1799 the the age of his death was 67 years old the cause of his death was a throat infection as a child George Washington went to a local school in Fredericksburg he did not go to college he was mostly self-taught through reading and self-guided study his first career was as a surveyor a surveyor is someone who measures land in order to decide boundaries or ownership he then became a commander of the army he was also a farmer he earned a a gold medal for his leadership in his victory at Boston Harbor around that time is when he became the first president under the Constitution he is one of the four faces on Mount Rushmore in South Dakota George Washington's favorite
006color was green George Washington had dogs a donkey horses and a par he even had a buffalo that he thought would be good for meat some of his dogs names were tipsy mopsy true love and ragman two of George Washington's nicknames were father of our country and okay okay the Town Destroyer he is on the dollar bill and the quarter even though he had for 56 years George Washington did not like slavery so wrote with his desire to end the practice at the end of his life he transferred ownership to his wife Martha Washington who then freed all slaves on January 1st 1801 thank you for listening to my speech The Life of George [Applause] Washington one more time suway Vasquez next up from the third through sixth grade division um Ruby web I don't
007need one you don't need it you got this huh oh boy um what school do you go to Ruby Superstition Springs Elementary what grade are you in Fifth Fifth Grade wow wow does she look good look at her they both do oh are you ready yep you don't need this right no okay it's all you all the with her she [Music] do year was country 17 million can do it woman is not never any woman work [Music] fire all the americ these women were all [Music] woman open the door I that I can be anything [Applause] well done Ruby well done thank you for that the last of uh one of our oratorical contests this person came in second place and is it sushank aragam from Bert Classical Academy well Brooklyn where are you hi
008Brooklyn I'm just reading folks be thankful I can do that come on up do you need the microphone um sure all right is it high enough yeah that's good tell everybody where you're from and what grade you're in um I'm in eighth grade and I go to Highland Junior High School nice what do you want to be when you grow up um I want to be a social worker in child protective [Applause] services have you ever wanted something really really bad so bad that you talked to everyone about so bad that you spent hours and hours working on it so bad that you dreamt about it day and night well Martin Luther King Jr did in fact he wanted it so bad that he put himself in danger and eventually was killed trying to get
009it so what did he feel so strongly about that he was willing to give his life for it I'll tell you what it was equality Martin Luther King Jr dedicated his life to obtaining Racial equality for African-Americans you see he was born in 1929 and during his life things were very different for African-Americans than they are today although slavery ended in the United States in 1865 there were still many negative effects lingering on in the 1900s when he was a boy he was friends with a white boy whose father owned a business near King's home but when he was 6 years old he had to go to a segregated school for African-Americans and the white boy's father would no longer allow them to play together he also recalled the racial humiliation African-Americans suffered including one
010time when he was a junior in high school he had just won first place in a speech contest in Dublin GE Georgia and T and his teacher were taking a bus back to Atlanta on the bus ride home the driver ordered them to stand so that a white passenger could sit at first he wouldn't do it but his teacher said he'd be breaking the law if he didn't so he obeyed the driver he later said it was the the angriest I've ever been in my entire life you can see why from a young age his dream of equality became his lifelong dream he worked and worked and worked for this dream to become a reality but one of the greatest Parts about it was how he worked although the mistreatment made him angry he was
011never violent in his fight for equality instead he chose to boldly speak up for what was just and right using this nonviolent approach he followed his dream his most famous of these nonviolent protests was the March on Washington where he gave his speech we know today as the I Have a Dream speech it was extremely powerful and I would like to share some of this speech with you today so that you can hear about his dream in his very own words I still have a dream it's a dream deeply rooted in the American dream I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its Creed we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal I have a dream that one day
012on the Red Hills of Georgia sons of former slaves and Sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of Brotherhood I have a dream that one day even in the state of Mississippi a state sweltering with the he of Injustice sweltering with the heat of Oppression will be transformed into an oasis of justice and freedom I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they are not judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character I have a dream today that was Martin Luther King Jr's dream I also have a dream my my dream is that we will all follow the legacy of this incredible American that when we see someone being treated unfairly we
013will stand and fight against Injustice however we will not do with violence but with dignity that is what a true American would do that is what I will do will you join [Applause] me [Music] [Applause] just a little sample of some of the phenomenal kids we have here in gilber public schools please give them another [Applause] hand next up if I could have Susie kadana come up you won a million do no she's like I sign my cont that's right cuz you got one no ladies and gentlemen you are now looking at the 2024 School Social Work Association of Arizona lifetime achievement in school Social Work award Miss Susie kadana she is our K12 prevention coordinator each year our organization recognizes outstanding professionals who help carry out our mission to ensure positive outcomes for Arizona
014students the sswa aaz lifetime achievement in Social Work award is presented to a social worker who has contributed to the field over a period of time by providing exemplary service to Children and Families leadership in the organization and mentorship to students or new colleagues coming in into the field and has presented workshops or published articles in the field ladies and gentlemen your Lifetime Achievement Award winner Susie [Applause] kadana you know when they give lifetime achievement awards you've been around a long time I didn't say that I just it was a question uh Susie runs a lot of our programs here in Gilbert public school she does a phenomenal job works with some of our exceptional social workers and Mental Health Counselors and uh it's been something we've been doing in gilberg public schools for many
015many years now and we truly appreciate her so one more time for [Applause] Susie [Applause] could I have the palm and cheer coaches from Highland High School [Applause] up Hi how are you today oh fantastic you you excited to be in front of all these people so excited yeah you are hello how are you will you introduce yourself to everybody out here please yeah my name is James and I'm the cheer coach at Highland my name's Ashley and I'm the Palm coach at Highland my name is Maddie and I'm a palm coach at Highland well done look at that it's like they practiced well I got to tell you the reason why they're up here is Highland High and this is what they've written down for me so if I miss something please correct me
016but before I do that I need the palm and cheer from Highland to come [Applause] up no pyramid huh will you do me a favor and give everybody your name your grade and whether you're in Palmer chair I'm I'm a senior and I'm on cheer I'm Lexi and I'm a senior and I'm on cheer I'm Journey I'm a senior and I'm on cheer I'm Emily I'm a senior and I'm on cheer I'm Chelsea I'm a senior and I'm on cheer I'm Kate I'm a senior and I'm also on cheer I'm Gracie I'm a senior and I'm on cheer I'm Jersey I'm a senior and I'm on Palm I'm Leah I'm a senior and I'm also on Palm I'm Brooklyn I'm a senior and I'm on Palm I'm Emma I'm a senior and I'm on Palm
017I'm Amal and I'm a junior on Palm I'm Katie I'm a senior on Palm I'm kalista a senior on Palm I'm brenley a senior on Palm I'm Olivia I'm a junior and I'm on Palm I'm Carly I'm a junr and I'm on pal well done give him a [Applause] hand so pal here's what I have correct me again if I'm wrong division one game day state champions division one Palm state [Applause] champions open division large Jazz state [Applause] champions Second Place Palm UDA Nationals and third place Jazz UDA Nationals it's been a banner year for pal who would like to just say a few words about the pal um it's just been a really great season these girls work extremely hard and we're incredibly grateful to represent Arizona as state champions in Palm Jazz and
018game day we were back-to-back state champions in Palm and game day and um won Jazz this year and it's been a few years since that so you were very excited well done well done pal cheer here's their accomplishments division one game day state champions all girls stunt state champions 11th plate UCA Nationals show cheer at 11th PL place play you UCA Nationals game day congratulations cheer would you like to say a few words um I mean there's not enough words that really encapsulates how hard these girls work um something that we're really take pride in is game day especially because it's like the heart of the school um you can't go to a football game or basketball game without seeing someone on the sidelines so on top of all of their commitments to supporting others
019these girls are such incredible athletes and they work so hard hard and have competed the hardest routine in Arizona history they have gone back toback for all girl stunt and for the first time in Highland School history an entire cheer program um win at state with game day so it's just really exciting watching them progress each year and just really seeing them grow as not only athletes and not only as game day athletes but as people as well so congratulations congratulations pom and cheer if you would shake hands with the board stay up here and you'll have to arrange yourselves because we're going to take a picture of all of you together okay go ahead turn around conratulations thank [Music] you congrats some people may need to take a knee there you go come go
020ahead we got room over here a little bit you get in we'll fill in you're good ladies and gentlemen Highland pomet cheer congratulations next can I have mosquit high coach Mia friends to the front hi Mia how are you good how are you good would you like to introduce yourself and bring your team up and have them introduce themselves perfect hi my name is m France um I am the head varsity cheer coach at mosquite high school um yeah just me cool that's all right these are my kids come on up guys love I'm shy rush I'm a sophomore and cheer I'm Emerson and I'm a junior I'm Maddie and I'm a junior my name is Scarlet and I'm a junior and cheer my name is Amy and I'm a senior and cheer my name
021is Brinkley and I'm a junior on cheer my name is Presley and I'm a senior on cheer my name is Carson and I'm a junior on cheer um my name is Hannah and I'm a sophomore on cheer my name is Jasmine I'm a sophomore on cheer my name is Macy and I'm a junior my name is Maddie and I'm a junior we're recognizing mosqu he cheer tonight because and again correct me if I'm wrong uh they were third in three different competitions at State group stunt hip hop and show cheer give him a hand me would you like to say a few words about your team [Applause] I'm going here um just to add on top of that we are also the runner up for game day as well for State um this two weekends
022ago we came home with second in the nation In Crowd leader as well and fourth in the nation in situational sideline um our school is really small I have 13 girls in my whole program we don't get a lot of girls that try out so everyone who does they 100% commit themselves and buy into the process having girls who have never cheered a day in their life to girls who have cheered for 9 10 years it takes a village parents boosters Administration to make it happen and these girls make it happen throughout the entire year so big kudos to them well done Mia would you would you just conduct the rest of the meeting you did that well so I'm a terrible public oh she said she's terrible at this I don't think so give
023me a hand first time I did it you did well ladies we congratulate you and ditto to everything she just said about your hard work determination uh I my best friends own a dance studio their girls were in cheer I tell you what I I've seen first work and how difficult it is and how focused you have to be and uh I'm very certain you excel in the classroom as well so congratulations to all of you if you'd shake hands with the board [Music] congratulations conratulations thank all right guys there you go we'll fill in look at that hold on we got parents good job guys thank you m SK [Applause] high and and last but not least we have some A+ School of Excellence Award winners if we could have representatives from town Meadows
024and Canyon rim to please come [Applause] up that's all right we'll we'll let the crowd thin a bit it's like a state championship for schools well done it's all right the A+ School of x award is the highest state level award given by the Arizona Education Foundation the rigorous process includes an in-depth application and site visit this is the second time Town Meadows has been recognized as an A+ school and the firsttime award winner for Canyon Rim Elementary please give them a hand if you would introduce yourselves to everybody my name is Chip pet I'm the principal at Town Meadows Elementary my name is Sarah mantle and I teach second grade my name is Laura fernell and I am the librarian my name is Sharon Crandle and I teach fourth grade my name is Joe
025lat I the principal of the best school in Arizona and in the planet my name is Tracy Trello I'm the instructional coach I'm marily garbis and I teach fourth grade so give them a [Applause] hand chip and Joe if you would come out no second we're going to hug this out talk to me and same question for both of you tell me about what makes your school so special yeah get away no I hired Joe I get to go before him um I think the coolest thing is having someone from the outside come in and see what I get to see every day and um the first thing well the first thing a Jed just told me when we were meeting with them at the end was that they could feel the love and support
026that our staff has for the kids which means more than any award really so um I think that was the coolest part of this I guess I'd have to Echo what Mr Pettit said um I I tell the staff all the time and our students that we have the best people in the building uh we have the best families and to have an outside person like chip said come in and see that and and judge us and even if we didn't get the A+ banner I was proud of the way uh we conducted ourselves and the high expectations we have every single day at our school and how our staff and students rise up to those expectations ladies and gentlemen A+ Award winners if you'd shake hands with the board see you next week yes
027congratulations yeah you can't get out of the picture yes I would like to just say one thing um about how proud I am of this but this is what happens when you're in Gilbert for a long time I was her second grade [Applause] teacher who's you were so it's all your fault another Lifetime Achievement Award back here congratulations to neig we'll take a picture separ yeah whatever you guys prefer I'm just the superintendent and help run this meeting don't worry how do we post we need the come back in you got it handing around ladies and [Applause] gentlemen all right Town Meadows a plus School Madam president govering board members that concludes my recognitions for this evening thank you thank you Dr McCord I have one question for you what's the difference between Palm and
028cheer do you know um I don't know but they both work equally hard I like good answer thank you okay we will move to action item which was was 9.0 one appointment of Julie auster as the Director of professional growth and development for the 2425 school year do I hear a motion yes I would like to move that we appoint Julie auster as the Director of professional growth and development for the 2425 school year thank you Mrs wood a second second thank you Mrs humph disc discussion other than congratulations but let's vote and then we can really congratulate so all those in favor of Appo the appointment of of Julie sorry auster I know make sure I say it right as the curriculum or the director please say I I I opposed hearing none congratulations
029Dr mord I'll turn it over to you maybe she thank you very much it is our pleasure to welcome Julie AER as the new uh director of professional growth and development Julie if you'd like to come up and say a couple [Applause] words so I'm following the cheerleaders and the oratorical contest winners the A+ good I know especially Joe and Chip man that's that was just a small taste of getting 26 of those guys and gals in the room together it's a riot it's we have really good convers ations but it is so much fun so um I just want to thank you guys um members of the governing board and Dr McCord and for giving me this opportunity to serve the district in this capacity I also want to take the time to thank
030the community of of Greenfield Elementary it has been my home for the last two years and um like I told you guys and I told the staff yesterday even applying for the job was one of the hardest decisions I ever made because they have have made it such an amazing place to be and I feel so fortunate to have been um their leader for the past 2 years and so um it will always be my home and I look forward to supporting it in a different capacity and I couldn't be more grateful for this new opportunity um and I just want to thank you know my mom Renee and her husband David and my son Hunter for coming here to support and for Robert for hanging out uh long enough to uh congratulate me too
031all right thank you guys so much I appreciate it thank you Julie before we're going to take about a five minute break so we can congratulate you and anybody in the audience that wants to say so we'll convene back here at in five minutes so that would be 651 thank you that [Applause] and [Music] for Wishful am number one I remember yeah so they have the bar SE letter they have scholarship and they have scholarship yeah no that's okay so there's oh sure I was just going to tear off okay and what was the other one scholarships and oh right here Rhonda are you ready thank you um we will now move to 5.01 superintendent report Dr McCord thank you madam president governing board uh board members good evening and thank you for joining us
032last night I attended a community meeting held by the town of Gilbert subcommittee on teen violence three council members chair the committee Scott Anderson Chuck Bon Giovani and Jim torguson this was the third public meeting of the subcommittee and many community members spoke they shared some excellent ideas on how to curb teen violence and they gave other thoughts related to drugs and alcohol use among teenagers the subcommittee will have one more public meeting before they take the comments and suggestions back to the full Council they stated that the information they received will most likely help the formation of a town of Gilbert teen violence task force this task force will be able to place some of those suggestions and make them into action so thank you for holding that the town of Gilbert we have
033or we had two teams remaining in the boys and girls basketball playoffs the M High boys and the mosqu High girls basketball teams the number two ranked High boys played last night and unfortunately lost to number three ranked Deer Valley in a very close game we congratulate the boys on a great season tonight right now the number two ranked mosquit High girls basketball team takes on number three ranked Flagstaff High School at mosquit high good luck to our girls basketball team if they win they will play for the championship this Thursday evening at 600 p.m. at the Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum and lastly tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m. at Desert Ridge High School we are having our second School connect Cafe School connect cafes are designed to bring schools and businesses together for the betterment
034of students we're excited about this opportunity and look forward to the collaboration and how um and the opportunity for us to create those relationships with businesses thank you to our local businesses who put the interest of our children in our community first Miss Jetty that concludes my report for this evening thank you Dr McCord sorry one last okay sorry I want to recognize a few people first of all from the superintendent student Senate Emma Goldstein she's a student at stand up Emma Camp oie high school thank you for being here phenomenal individual and our Aspire program we have some representatives there our Aspire program is designed to help Uh current GPS employees who aspire to be administrators to um learn about all things related to policy related to interviewing and finding out what culture and
035climate is all about in Gilbert Public Schools Abby Wheatfield are you here there you are Abby stand up if I have to do this so do you okay uh Michelle Woods and Sarah art where are you Sarah oh she just left oh she missed her moment thank you guys for being here this evening we appreciate it thank you Dr McCord uh we now have the request to speak to the governing board and we'll start out with the um admonition request to speak to the governing board pursuant to ARS 38-43 1.02 the board may make an open call to the public during a public meeting subject to the reasonable time place and manner restrictions to allow individuals to address the public body on any issue within the jurisdiction of the public body at the conclusion of
036an open call to the public individual board members May respond to criticism made by those who have addressed the board may ask staff to review a matter or may ask that a matter be put on a future agenda however members of the board shall not discuss or take legal action on matters raised during an open call to the public unless the matters are properly noticed for discussion and legal action during an open call the board requests that speakers refrain from voicing complaints against School Personnel or any person connected with the district as it may impact due process rights policies K Keb and Ked are provided by the board for disposition of legitimate complaints including those involving individuals forms required for the use of these policies can be obtained from the Gilbert Public Schools website okay
037we have six calls to the public tonight and while I'm talking about this we actually also allow emails and we received three emails today earlier and call to the public and I know every board member is cognizant of that that we are recognizing the people that that email so I'm going to start with the first three if you'll come up Richard young Carissa Arnold and thara is that correct Tenny did I say that right thank you she just say your name and you have three minutes thank you yes Richard young thank you and good evening I I was here in October when um the father of one of their students complained about his son being told that he could not wear a shirt uh in school the shirt was a shirt honoring deployed Veterans of
038the United States military that is problematic for two reasons the first reason it's a disgrace blue lives matter firemen's lives matter service people's lives matter when we're seeking safety they're going directly toward danger for us and from public school they deserve honor not criticism not banishment the other problem is it is illegal you can't do it you can't do it uh I'm going to if anybody wants this liability under section 1983 that's 42 United States code 1983 was prepared by some very good lawyers for the Department of Education uh in Orange County and it exposes risk to individuals not to the taxpayers but to individuals when action is taken against uh certain protected rights such as First Amendment rights would wearing a shirt honoring our troops be one of those protected rights the answer is
039absolutely yes uh the Supreme Court decided that in 1969 in the Tinker case uh in that instance students were wearing uh banners or arm bands uh protesting the war in Vietnam and they were told to go out there was a suit and the Supreme Court said no you can't do that students don't lose their rights simply because they're students there are certain limitations Tinker uh discusses those if some if it's disruptive that's a different matter I mean seriously disruptive in your code you have a problem this is the Gilbert uh dress code uh you can't wear clothing that use uses or depicts hate speech or symbols what is that can anybody here Define hate speech I can't I'm a lawyer I can't tell you what hate speech is what it usually is is whatever somebody
040feels like making up for the occasion in this case I guess wearing something honoring American troops qualified almost as hate speech it does not what can happen from that is you can actually be sued you can be sued personally the uh administrator who uh takes that action can't be sued he can be found liable personally not the taxpayers with a judgment against him just as if he' pushed the student and has become liable it is not a risk that you want to take I have a cousin first cousin grew up with him who more nearly a brother than uh a cousin is a now a retired superintendent of public schools I discussed this with him and uh he said we had an inservice by our Law Firm on the decision thank you Mr young one
041last thing if any of you want this have it in PDF form I'll email it raise your hand if anybody would like it it's helpful thank you very much thank you is it carissia is that correct Carissa thank you Carissa Arnold so um some of you have heard my our family story um my daughter was sexually assaulted in January of 2021 um multiple times by a student at our high school um who actually does have connection back to the Gilbert goons um we had fought we had an order protection put in place which we submitted to the school in July of 2021 it was not given to anybody else besides the one principal she didn't pass it to the SRO nothing so then on Labor Day in 2021 our property my daughter's livestock property was
042vandalized on the high school campus and Mel jenit tell you was drawn on the property going from there because the school did not have working cameras on the exterior of the building that entire year we fought like crazy with this kid teasing my kid's livestock we are still dealing with that today on the high school campus one of the kids who is closely connected with the guy who assaulted my daughter is also part of the goons and is seen in pictures with the goons um as well as one of the kids who has been named in Preston Lord's death also got involved in going after my kids animals that same kid was also part participated in discharging a taser gun on our high school campus to which my knowledge they were never convicted of because
043the person who initiated all of that just happened to be a football player at our high school all that being said it has been a hard and long battle we've caught staff members and lies it is it has been a fight school property was destroyed on the campus by this group of kids they were doing donuts they were tearing up the grass like all of that stuff we we were watching Cars come and go from the farm at the high school campus which I got confirmation from a gilber PD officer was indicative of drugs being sold there um all of this stuff was getting reported back and it and it did not stop my daughter went through a ton of emotional trauma because of everything that happened to the point that she almost ended up
044taking her life that year and has just now come to a place in the last 6 months where she is finally doing better my challenge to you is this and Chad Thompson had talked at one of the teen violence meetings about how we need to start convicting for lesser crimes and we need to start taking those seriously and it will help out with the bigger crimes going on and so for me it has been very frustrating as a parent as I have sat and watched kid after kid the the kid who assaulted my daughter was forbidden from going down to the barn that we were at he was repeatedly down there I had him on camera going down there I was told I could no longer take pictures because it was a student violation issue
045yet he continued to go down he was never ever banned from being in the the program and there was no consequences implemented to any of these kids whatsoever through that time frame and it has been an extremely frustrating process Gilbert schools needs to get a definition outlined of what discipline should look like and start enforcing that with these students thank you Mrs Arnold um next Thea is that correct and if the other three Katie mcferson Christine brenon and cter Landry would line up for the next three please thank you um it's Tara Tera weird so uh I am Tara Tenny and I am an educator in Gilbert Arizona I have been for about 5 years I teach honors English uh High High School freshman so I'm here to present my thoughts on regarding uh our
046new the phenomena that we're address fronted with respect to cell phones in the classroom so I submit to you that humans are not able to uh multitask efficiently impulse screen distraction is destructing cognitive development in the classroom this is what I am observing when it is not addressed appropriately I call upon responsible District leaders to collaborate troubleshoot and formulate policy procedure and practices that Foster a classroom environment in support of the teachers role as sole Arbiter of their classroom teachers efforts to increase cognitive cognition void of impulsive screen distraction must um be supported by policy District leaders have the ability to set the tone and that's what you guys are doing so powerfully I could argue the negative impacts of cell phone from a different different premises as I authored and disseminated about a year
047ago a bill proposal that adolescent should not have the right to purchase cell phones without the consent of their parents for a list of reasons and some of which were I provided this to our state legislators um arguing that I wanted the State of Arizona to create constitutionally sound policies to support the parents effort to uh Safeguard their children against precursors of adolescence sex tortion adolescence drug exposure adolescence increase to Suicide I could argue with evidence we previous talking here the sensationalized media um addictive behaviors vulnerability of Youth to explicit material cyber bullying and the list goes on and on and on but let's focus on uh Benchmark testing because as Educators that's what we are um passionate about and The Landmark National institute's Health study that began in 2018 found that children who spent
048more than 2 hours a day on screen time activities scored lower on their Benchmark testing so these benchmarks is what we use to measure our success and what we use to legitimize the allocation of state and federal funds and so that in in itself is enough to motivate uh District leaders to create policy that is in support of the teacher being the sole Arbiter of the classroom I'm not saying a a technology should be banned But the teacher should say when it comes out to be used as a tool for education but not impulsive screen distraction thank you thank you very much Katie mcferson good evening um I'm here to also talk about smartphone use on school campuses um 2004 five school year I worked in Scottsdale Unified School District and literally watched childhood flip
049on its head so to speak with the Advent of smartphones coming to my campus um I think we're all aware that we've seen a tremendous decline in our youth mental health and a sharp decline as well in coping in resiliency issues with face-to-face interaction the psychological term mirroring when we mirror each other and look at each other in the eye and have a conversation is real our kids need more of it um the Gilbert goons is sharp proof of this as conflict resolution was not not part of their repertoire they took it to a physical assault level lacking the vocabulary that you get from having that mirroring and face-to-face interaction additionally as parents we one of the most anxious sets of parents and Generation Um we need to redefine safety for our parenting Generation Um
050giving a phone and giving social media is one of the most unsafe things that we've done for our children um phones do not save lives during an active shooting situation we need our kids to be listening to our teachers our administrators and our law enforcement officials um they actually impede those processes and we watched in Uvalde as a stark reminder of that how phones did not save lives and if those children had been running and hiding and fighting for their lives as they are trained perhaps they'd still be here um Snapchat most of our Junior High and high school students have that I would guess about 90% of them um the front page of Snapchat if you're not aware has pornography on it 41% of high school students report watching pornography while at school this
051is a real problem not only about sexting but also just in general the behaviors that come from that and the rage and sexual type aggression that we've heard about tonight um lastly I think just giving our kids a reprieve these brains are constantly being inundated with the screen time the notifications the academic pressures all of it is there they're looking for some boundaries around that and I believe we can offer that here at school um I've been part of a national effort on this front both in Michigan as well as Georgia there's an amazing program called away for the day that Scottdale unified is currently using with much success I'd asked you to look at resources like the book anxious Generation by Jonathan height and the book glow kids g w by Nicholas karus out
052of NYU um thank you so much I brought some information I've shared with Mr Thompson as well so I'll leave some copies with the wonderful Mr McIntosh thank you thank you very much Christine brandan hi there we go members of the Gilbert School Board um I stand before you to today to address a matter of grave concern the reluctance displayed in addressing our students and Community following the tragic loss of Preston his old excuse me his untimely death shook us all yet the Silence from our institution was deafening it's imperative that in times of trauma a swift acknowledgement reaches our students and Community demonstrating our solidarity and support we cannot afford to remain within our silence oblivious to the interconnectedness of our students lives the reality is that such events impact numerous young individuals within
053our schools clear communication is not a luxury but a necessity while we may not have all the answers we must extend our resources in counseling to those in need within days of Preston's death it became known that numerous teens from Gilbert were present at the same party as Preston we need to be upstanders and lead by example for our youth an acknowledgement of the trauma along with the needed resources should have been sent within that week instead parents were left flaing and filling in the blanks that should have been filled by in by the leaders moreover tragedies like press and death should prompt a comprehensive review of our practices and policies we must ensure that we are employing the best strategies to safeguard our students and address pressing issues such as bullying harassment and substance
054abuse technology and youth are Ever Changing we should be taking every opportunity to improve and be better for our students and Community it is disheartening to note that your silence invert inadvertently perpetuates the very problems we seek to combat now is the time to acknowledge the uncomfortable truths and actively work to address them this includes better collaborating with law enforcement when necessary and engaging in open dialogue with parents and Guardians people are innocent until proven guilty in the court of law but the school administrators and SRO should be made aware of students who commit extreme acts of violence you can't fix what you don't know in conclusion I urge that gilberth school board to embrace transparency accountability and more Rob robust proactive measures in the face of adversity let us Stand United in our commitment
055to the well-being of our students and Community thank you thank you very much cter cter will you um just here to support him is that okay yeah absolutely speak I remember when you were in Kinder hi it's me cter and I would like talk about my past expence with Gilbert and in 2017 I report being sexually assaulted to my junior first Junior High Principal I was told they were going to investigate and we wait waited 30 days without a response AC and so the abuse continued it happened in PE it happened in the lunch room and it I reported to the police and no one did anything we talked to the superintendent about it and I changed schools and so did the bullies due to closing and they continued the abuse despite the Ida Ida
056law I was not protected the gain grew bigger and bigger no one stopped them I was in high I mean and in high was in the mouth and PR the principal in 8th grade did nothing and and at Gilbert High I was shown in appropriate porn video pornography and surprisingly the kid boy admitted he did it I we told the police and they did nothing I got suspended for the report and for trying to change into the locker room in PE and the truth why I've learned about GPS is that they do not care about the kids and the schools aren't safe too many bully issues too too many small kids being beat up by big kids thank you thank you very much we will move on to 7.01 the 7.01 02 and 03 which
057are reports Dr McCord thank you madam president governing board members um next up we have a report from our monthly Finance report from our associate superintendent of Business Services Miss Bonnie Betts um good evening um Mrs jetti governing board members this is the report that gives you the status of our financial situation as of January 31st 2024 so as always we always share the district operating funds but we'll go through a summary of the Federal Grant funds state Grant funds other funds and then finally the bond fund so to begin the district operating funds so this includes our main Levy funds which um are the maintenance and operations fund as well as unrestricted capital and then classroom site fund is also a very large contributor note that the available balance we reported about $1 million
058uh last month note that the available balance has increased by about $2.5 million that is due to the fact that we're through um more than half of the school year now and we're seeing some un encumbrance of purchase orders um the other uh important note is on unders Capital note that we reported about $26 million of available balance uh last month and this month you can see the $33.5 million balance again the same thing um invoices are being paid and purchase orders are being unencumbered finally the classroom site fund wanted to share that that of that available balance it's about 26.6 million note that what we're expecting to receive in the current year is about $29 million and the ongoing spend you can see in that column is about $22 million so that gives us
059some opportunities as we move forward um with potential salary increases um but I also wanted to share uh some details of the fluctuation of the classroom site fund dollars and those remember that the classroom site fund allocations are are based on two things both the state uh Permanent Fund which is the um state land trust as well as uh sales tax revenues so if you take a look at this graph you can see the fluctuations that that have occurred over time we have seen some sizable increases since 2021 but again we're careful about ensuring that we know what our ongoing money is is versus our one time but at any point in time uh it's difficult to know whether those sales tax revenues are going to plummet so we're always very careful just wanted to
060make sure that you were aware of that before I move any further are there any questions about the operating funds great uh the Federal grant funds just wanted to bring your attention uh down to the bottom which are the eser 3 uh the two eser3 pots one is the normal eser 3 and the other is the % set aside that needs to be designated for learning loss I just wanted to point out um a quick change uh if you look at the adopted budget when we reported this uh throughout the year that adopted budget amount was $21 million about and as we were going through the budget revision process to share with you in January we went through a lot of the details reconciled all the numbers so please know that the adopted budget that
061was transmitted to the state was always correct but we had inadvertently doubled up on some of the um the monies on the adopted Budget on this grid only so we have since corrected that as we were going through the reconciliation process after you all have approved the revised budget in January are there any questions about that the other the other thing is note that the revised budget even though it doesn't look like it here looks well it does look like it here that's the whole Point um the the revised budget went up by $7 million or $6.5 million uh that is because of the carry forward amounts that were that have now been awarded and provided to the school district in all these Federal grant funds this wood did you have a question so so
062the correct amount is now on that revised budget number one 21 million right the um the correction was really on the adopted budget the adopted budget just just on this grid not the actual adopted budget um just on the grid was erroneously stated at 21 million the reason is if you look at the last row where it shows 300 to 399 what happened is that the 346 fund mes were also included in the 30399 because we pull those out for purposes of displaying the information to you all okay so that it's clear that we have these Esra monies and they are fully expended have to be fully expended by September 30th of 2024 and then now the um so that 21 million is actual yes y y thanks okay any other questions on that great
063and then uh on our state Grant funds just pointing out the Arts consumable Grant we have talked about that a couple of times uh we had started spending it and then we received an email from the Department of Ed indicating that we must stop spending the Arts consumable Grant so it's still it's just on pause we don't know if whether they'll continue to allow us to spend or not we have received a commitment however that anything uh spent to date will be reimbursed so we are holding purchase orders at this point in time until it's clarified what's going to happen with the Arts consumable Grant and then the school safety program uh last month we shared with you the available balance was negative talked about the fact that we were confirming what the final allocation
064would be for the school safety program Grant so we have confirmed that it is that $674,000 and that means that we will be we have actually moved that that over expenditure of about $10,000 back into the maintenance operations fund so that negative has been cleared out any questions on that I did have a question on the school safety Grant is that the the grant we have a number of school safety issues so is that the grant that covers SRO and social workers or this is the grant that's specific to the additional support for our SRO yes okay thank you okay and then uh other funds the only one we wanted to point out is the employee benefit trust you will be um approving the pharmacy Benefit Management RFP tonight under consent um however I wanted
065to let you know that the available balance is still healthy at about $25 million however over the last three months we have seen some significant claims coming in so we are not having as good a year as we had in the past but you all will be receiving a um a rate recommendation for the 2425 school year um by the end of March and then finally the only thing I wanted to share on the bond fund was the transportation so there was um and you approved this request to purchase additional buses and so that those dollars have now been encumbered you can see the remaining balance is 1.3 it's expected that director Trace tolby will be making a recommendation to purchase additional Vehicles probably a mid to late uh fall of 2024 for the last
066purchase and that's all I have if there are any questions I'm very happy to answer any of them for you any questions I I did have one question on the transportation what is the average age of the buses that we're replacing about how many years do we use those buses before they out so um Mr tolby I would consider a fleet expert and he is constantly looking at the repair records to determine whether it's worth it to keep it or whether we need to dispose of it so um the a is not always the reason why we dispose of them um but I don't have that that answer right off the top of my head but I will include it in this week's board brief all right thank you you bet anything else thank you
067very much M Mrs bets Dr McCord 7.02 Proclamation National School Social Work week March 3rd through 9th 2024 thank you Madame President governing board members we would like to do a proclamation for National School social soci Work Week whereas School social workers serve as a vital members of the Education team playing a central role in creating Partnerships between the home school and Community to ensure student academic success and whereas School social workers are exceptionally skilled in identifying and providing services to students who face serious challenges to school Success including poverty disability discrimination abuse neglect addiction bullying mental illness homelessness familial stress stressors and other barriers to learning and whereas local educational agencies Community Support agencies should continue to work in partnership with school social workers to address and access resources and support services in helping
068to meet students social emotional physical mental health and environmental needs so that students May achieve academic success and whereas School social workers maintain knowledge of school climate which are necessary for responsible School safety planning now therefore I Shane McCord superintendent do hereby Proclaim Sunday March 3rd through March 9th 2024 as school Social Work Week in Gilbert public schools and commend its observance to all in our district Community by highlighting the vital contributions of school social workers to the success of students in our schools thank you to all of our social workers thank you Dr McCord we'll move on to 7.03 teaching and learning learning academic Spotlight thank you madam president governing board members I will turn this over to our assistant superintendent of teaching learning Mr Jared Ryan Madame President governing board Dr McCord thank
069you so much it's a pleasure to be here this evening um specifically we're going to going to address the topic of ready Jen ready Jen as you will um hear more about is a um product that we contracted with years ago and timing was a bit of a challenge as Co hit us hard and uh really never saw through the initial training as it it was it was intended and uh Mr berer is here this evening and he's going to walk us through what the last year or so has looked like and the work of uh a number of people I'm probably most proud of the collaborative nature of this particular work um certainly led by our Ela experts with Christina Larson and Kristen McCord along with Mr burer um but but a number of
070folks from our special education services through um otm services and being able to get substitutes in classrooms and support on campuses our principal and our principes on all of our campuses uh Dr Martin so it's really been a collaborative effort to get us to this point in time and we wanted to bring to you the work that's been done and and what's going on in our classrooms today M president governing board and Dr McCord I couldn't be more excited to share with you the progress we've made on the ready gen refresh initiative this was uh something that was lacking J Dr or sorry Mr Ryan um yep um had tasked us with creating common unit assessments upon his arrival as assistant superintendent as we started looking at What It Takes and what uh the capacity
071of the teachers as we um started diving into creating common unit assessments we realized that we had to take a step back and look at the capacity of our teachers to use the curriculum as it was intended as you look at the second slide in the presentation we officially adopted so ready Jen is our comprehensive Ela curriculum um and it was for case six and we adopted it in 2019 I was a site uh principal at the time it was the 1819 school year was the first round of teacher trainings it was a Pearson product at the time and every teacher was designated to get five full day trainings from Pearson is part of the package for purchase everyone got training one at the start of what was it the 18 spring of 1819 school
072year and I got almost everybody through training number two uh when covid happened so 1920 school year not even kindergarten was able to tr to finish the second of the five trainings that were required to implement with fidelity um we tried to revamp this and bring it back out in the 2122 school year but we still weren't ready is um we didn't have the subs to cover the amount of absences that it would take to pull this off successfully so like at Settler's Point where I was principal at the time we started cuz teachers are Learners as well right is we told them why don't we let the the ready genen curriculum let's start with the whole group reading selection we would move on to the writing later right let's partition this little bit cuzz
073that's the part you'd been trained on so far um I can tell you I'm a little embarrassed to tell you but when I left Settler's Point to take this job we hadn't added the writing or the small group some teachers had learned via trial and error but we had never gotten to the trainings for the writing and small group instruction with ready Jen so the goal of this initiative was by investing in teacher capacity within the adopted curriculum Ela achievement will will increase at the elementary schools which then has a further effect it'll help out our Junior highs and high schools as the students roll up the initiative was daunting in terms of logistics and planning when we looked at getting all 752 Elementary School teachers in for at least one full day training on
074this initiative I have to give major thanks to office of talent management um I talked to Rachel very often and I was like what days can I do trainings um given the sub allotment that we had uh for the district special education department stepped up huge they were at every training special education teachers both self-contained and some resource were included in each of the trainings we either had their Department coaches or uh sorry coordinators there to answer any sped specific questions so we looked at diving into the interventions included in uh the ready gen curriculum additionally professional growth and development played a pivotal role uh they were very they were active they were in many of the trainings and we found that it it was extremely beneficial when it comes to uh training new teachers
075and what this curriculum requires additionally administrative Services huge thank you to Dr Martin uh he was instrumental in number one Finding Me locations where I could have trainings of 50 to 70 teachers at a time and he also has been instumental in bringing it up and uh quarterly impact checks with principal so that we can ensure what the teachers learned is being further grown at the campus level additionally Community Ed hats off we pretty much took over their um training room for uh almost a semester I also have to give a quick shout out so Christina Larson our Ela k6 coordinator and Kristen McCord Ela coach were instrumental they were the two presenters for all 21 of these trainings it was a heavy burden um and there were times when we were like yep you
076got to do it again sorry but we're getting close to the end um and I have to just kind of she's going to hate that I say this but Christina Larsson was actually given today our uh teacher our employee of the year for teaching and learning Department because of the amount of time and effort that she put into this and again the amount of comments we and teacher feedback we got I think I'm very excited about what this is going to bring for student achievement they created trainings the first one was called program Essentials and this was a full- day training for our teachers that were never thoroughly trained in ready genen you can only get too much or so much from a 4:30 to 6:30 training after school this was a full day where
077that we immersed them in the curriculum and how to use it um but we tried not to give them too big of a chunk so that they would be overwhelmed and we thought that they were more engaged having it be during the school day and then they came up with a readygen mindset and writing training so it was two trainings that they developed but they went above and beyond if you know them at all that shouldn't surprise you uh they created each of those trainings within particular grade levels so like the sixth grade ready gen presentation included sixth grade stories and sixth grade topics so that they could engage the teachers better okay o I went too fast sorry feedback from teachers some oh sorry I went way too far okay September during the month
078of September we had our first initial four rounds these were the new to ready gen teachers not necessarily first year teachers but it's anybody that maybe from 1920 when we stopped doing the trainings to current that we didn't give a real good indepth presentation so we had all four feedback was phenomenal this is when we started realizing that we might Beyond to something special uh the coaches loved it and all of a sudden the coaches came and came and came because of the amount of discussions it created within their their coaching Cycles at the classroom level October through December there were 14 trainings in which all veteran teachers came in uh and they got the ready genen mindset and writing training and then uh I added in February um we brought back all of the
079teachers that we hit in September we brought them back for one final and we felt that this was super important to assure that all of our teachers are trained up to a certain point by the end of the 23 24 school year in total 752 teachers were provided at least one all day training session between the 21 different sessions some of the feedback that we got from the trainings um one veteran teacher came up to me after one of the first ones we had done with veterans and she said this is the first training that's provided by the district where I'm walking out and I didn't feel like a bad teacher um we kind of started each training with the whole Maya Angelou philosophy that when you know better do better if you're not doing
080this correctly it's no fault of yours we didn't build capacity correctly due to constraints outside of our control you can see a couple comments that we also highlighted on this slide couple of mostly what we saw is reading and writing are so interconnected that when you weren't teaching the writing you were missing the rigor of the reading so I think now that we're doing it better and more cohesively we will see the gains in ela achievement k6 one presentation I remember fondly at Pioneer um I remember turning around for a second at like a lunch break and I remember a bunch of the instructional coaches grabbing Christina and Kristen and making them take pictures that's when I realized like they were rock stars you know in kind of the face of this initiative um um
081and like I said we were on to something special and when you've got teachers right that are passionate in helping kids and believing what we're teaching them you're on to something special Reflections what we've learned during the process is number one you need more than two presenters um we had 21 sessions two people um we hit a bump in about October where they were like I don't know if I can keep doing this but they are the consumate professionals and they just kept on going um we actually had a check off sheet in Christina's office and we were like 13 more you know 12 more and we kind of had little celebrations in between but that's led to next steps what's the math implementation going to look like this cannot be on the shoulders of
082our two math coordinators we have to have an implementation team that's ready to um take the conversation any way it goes and so Mr Ryan's been integral in that and we actually have a committee started with 33 members that were ready um to help carry that that load of the math curriculum additionally we establishing the why for the curriculum is just as important as the how this was a big takeaway and I know a lot of people are like well yeah duh but I really got to see that teachers make thousands of decisions during the school day instructional decisions that come second nature and they didn't realize that by removing this part of text out of the curriculum it would have an impact in lesson 18 in the lesson so now that that's how we
083add address the first part of ready gen is these are the components so that teachers can make um I guess better decisions on the ramifications that they're making in the classroom and then I again I I can't thank Dr Martin enough for he uh ensured that instructional leaders instructional coaches and site leaders principles Deans had to attend at least one and we think that that's going to be influential in ensuring ready Jen is carried on past these trainings it can't be a one semester and done next steps I think we have to continue to bring ready Jen into the Forefront of our administrators they have to uh we've got to train them better on what a solid ready gen lesson looks like and what it doesn't look like so that we can keep this momentum
084going the creation of the common unit assessments will allow us to have better Dialogue on who's using it with Fidelity and who is not and again give certain plc's smaller digestible bits of data that they can reflect on um and provide intervention enrichment opportunities for and then we want to continue what we learned through this with the math curriculum so that is my presentation any questions on the ready gen refresh questions I I do have questions first thank you for all that hard work I mean um that is a big lift and um so one of the things I'd like like to know is just um as we go forward using ready JY what are some of the expectations now that we're putting the reading the reading and the writing and thinking together what does
085that look like differently than what we had previously fair enough okay I think what we had um in terms of writing was each school was kind of taking what they had already done it might be thinking maps it might be uh response to text and they were fitting it into ready genen Stories the best they could I think what we've got now is within each module which is about 15 lessons in ready gen you have what's called a PBA a performance-based assessment that is a writing assessment that compares two sets of text most of the time fiction and nonfiction uh and you compare and contrast uh this mimics the ASA exam so I think you're going to see more common assessment and reflection opportunities uh with our teachers on student achievement with the writing piece
086so I'm I'm excited to standardize what we're doing in writing okay that's great because I mean um compare and contrast with those two different elements would be something they really have to think about again these are elementary kids sorry you're creating the critical thinking and again that's the rigor for the Reading part that we were missing by not implementing the writing with Fidelity okay great to know thank you very much any other questions or comments thank you Mr berer thank you thank you very much Robert okay we will move to the consent agenda do I hear a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented so moved thank you Mrs paig is there a second second thank you Mrs humre it's been moved in second and that we approve the consent agenda as presented all
087those in favor please signify by saying I I I opposed so on a 5- z vote it passes we've already done nine so we'll move on to 10 requests for future agenda items if anyone has anything that they would like to have as agenda item please get with either Dr mccort or myself thank you board committee reports 11.01 Insurance trust that would be me and I think that Mrs Betts already talked a little bit about it but the what we approved tonight in the consent agenda for the pharmacy benefit manager is going to save us a significant amount of money um and we will be bringing some more information to you I believe at the end of this end of March correct for decisions so that's all I have for that Mr Thompson legislative representative
088nothing tonight thank you thank you Mrs wood city of Mesa um we are looking forward to the school connect Cafe tomorrow morning and Council mon Summers will attend it's in that Desert Ridge area and we're looking forward to making connections thank you town of Gilbert the on an audit committee Mrs humph um so with the town of Gilbert um they had a wonderful event today they're looking for feedback on the parks and rec system and park planning that they're doing and today from I think 3: to 6 they had tacos so if you went and to their booths and talked to them you got a stamp and you could get a taco I didn't get a taco but I did get to give my feedback um also this month I've been down to the legislature
089on parent advocacy day and also on special education day on parent advocacy day we had three legislators that came out and spoke to the entire group there was a a large representation and then on special education day even though the legislature was on the floor we did have during a break we had about six or seven legislators that came out and spoke to us and I think it was a very productive day to know that people are concerned about meeting the needs of our special education students and our students overall so um and that's yet we haven't met recently on the audit committee but that will be coming later this month thank you Mrs humph Gilbert Education Foundation Mrs Paige thank you Mrs jetti um for any of those that are interested there applications are
090due on this Monday March 4th for the volunteer varsity letter award scholarships so if anybody's interested any students you have until Monday to get your appli or your applications in and that's it thank you Mrs Paige meeting dates Dr McCord thank you madam president governing board members uh next meeting is March 5th board work study and brief board business meeting that's next month and then um we hit Spring break for 2 weeks and then the final meeting for the month of March is March 26th which is a board business me thank you Dr McCord it's time for adjournment do I hear a motion to adjourn so moved thank you Mrs pagee second second thank you Mr Thompson it's been moved and seconded that we adjourn all those in favor please signify by saying I I
091I thank you very much