001Good evening everybody. Welcome to the uh March 26th uh governing board meeting for the Glenda Elementary School Board. I will start us off with a joke that I heard today. What do you call it when a banana eats another banana? Can a banana ballism. All right, there you go. I'll be here all week. All right. Uh, Missata Jones, are there any changes to the agenda this evening? >> Good evening, President Bernz, [clears throat] members of the board. No, there are not. >> All right. If with that, is there a motion to adopt the agenda? >> Move to adopt. >> Second. >> Mr. Harm, how do you vote? >> I. >> Miss Wilson, how do you vote? >> I. >> Miss Bartell's, how do you vote? >> I. >> Miss uh Pimentel, how do you vote?
002>> I. >> And chair votes I. Thank you. Please join me in a moment moment of silence followed by the pledge of allegiance. >> Please rise. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the stands nation. and justice for all. >> Moving first into our special rec uh recognition, Mr. Ga Jones. >> Yes, President Martinez, members of the board, if we can all step down from the de and we'll begin those presentations. [clears throat] Are they in order? Come stand right. All right. Good evening everyone. We want to go ahead and begin. Um, thank you for coming out tonight. We are going to first begin with our spelling bee awards and Dr. Jerry Peterson Corvia is going to announce the student and when the student is announced, student,
003please come forward and accept your certificate. >> Good evening, President Martinez, members of the board, Superintendent Sagata Jones, and all of the community. We are here to celebrate some amazing accomplishments from our students tonight. Um, we have, uh, every year we have an annual spelling bee that's actually, you might know it, it becomes actually very famous once a year because it's on ESPN every single year um, in the springtime. And so that's what um, local spelling bees feed into actually. So um we had a spelling bee um back in January and three of our students u made it to the regionals and so those students are first Karia if she is here and I don't know if she came [applause] she did not make it tonight but we'll make sure that she gets some chocolate
004and some and a certificate. Uh secondly from American school, Tiana Vo. Um please come up. [applause] [applause] >> Congratulations, Tim. >> You'll just go down this way and shake hand. Well, how about we just have you stand over here? >> Are you going to do all at once or individual? >> Okay, go ahead. >> And then from William C. Jack School, we have Briana Perez Martinez. [applause] >> Congratulations. Do you want to do the um dual language ones as well with this or separate? Okay. So, we also in our school district because we have a signature program of dual language at Jack and Horizon schools, we do a Spanish spelling bee and we uh make it look and feel like the other spelling bee as well. And so we have students come and spell in
005Spanish and it's really exciting to watch and see that uh experience. So first off from Horizon School, Abel Abel de Jesus Lang Larinaga Perez please. [applause] Congratulations. You want to come on down this way? >> And then uh finally we have from William C. Jack School, Tiffany Hernandez Sanchez. [applause] Congratulations. >> So, let's hear it for all these amazing spellers. [applause] >> Let's do a group picture and then have them do their family picture. Okay. Could we please have from the audience, excuse me, sweetheart, if we could please have the families come up and um the school families also come up and let's take individual pictures with them as well, please. All right. Stay here. [applause] Okay. So, let's move out of the way and let's >> All right. Right. All right. You guys can
006go back. >> Oh, I missed it. >> Oh, come on. Come back. >> Sorry. All right. Can we have the principal next of the another next student, Miss Connley? And family. Do you have family? Okay, great. >> All right. Next. Anyone come up? family. [clears throat] School family. All right, next family. >> Oh, we have enough. Yeah, there you go. Still school family. >> [applause] >> Thank you spellers. You did an amazing job. We're very proud of you. And thank you families and staff for the work that you do to support our students. The next award that we're going to do are the just because awards. So the just because award I'm going to do it has someone that I'm going to do just because um just because order right now are awards. Let me
007just explain that a little bit. So each year, for those of you that are new here, each month we select um a GSD student and a GSD employee, randomly select those students. Um and then we just go out and honor them and we want to just say thank you for choosing GSD. We appreciate you being employed by us and we appreciate you have receiving your education by us. So we're excited to do that. I'm going to be begin tonight with our student just because we would you please come up [applause] with our just because awards through our foundation education foundation. Um, Gustto gives each of our winners a $50 gift certificate. So, they've already received a $50 um, Walmart gift certificate and then we give them extra things here. So, Waqen, I did not get
008to meet you the other day. I believe Dr. Jerry Pearson and Kaya did. I was out at a conference that day. So, welcome. And did did Dr. Jerry Pearson and Kaya tell you how this goes? How this works? He didn't tell you. Okay. Well, we're going to have to tell you about it. All right. because this is a yard sign. So, you can place it in your yard. All right. What time do you go to bed? >> At 9. >> At nine. Okay. I'm up by nine still. So, here's the deal. I'm going to drive by your house. I'm going to honk three times. All right. You're going to run out, put this in the grass, smile, and wave at me. Sound good? All right. You're easy to convince. We're so happy that you're here.
009I really won't drive by and do that, but you know, I like to I like to say that because [clears throat] I'm afraid if I do drive by sometimes they run out in their chronies, and I'm a little concerned about that. So, all right. So, we're very proud of you, Waqen. And these are things uh could we please have family come up, please? >> Yep. [clears throat] >> Hi, how are you? Come on up. Got it. >> Great. walking. Oh, [clears throat] >> walking, we have one more surprise for you. So, if we can give this I can carry this over here. I promise I'll give it back. Okay, if you'll come over here and you get to choose something from the treasure box basket, you could have whatever you would like on behalf of
010our Gusta Foundation. Thank you so much. You may have that. >> Thank you, Aim. Thank you for coming out. [applause] Okay, next up we also, as I said, we not only do a student, but we also do a staff member. And this month's staff member is our assistant principal, Tomorrow Washington from Discovery. [applause and cheering] [applause] So, tomorrow, thank you for being here. We appreciate you choosing GSD and the amazing job that you do. >> And then let family get pictures and then family we're going to have you come too and take a picture and can we have is this discovery? Okay. >> You're good. >> All right. You're still [laughter] >> All right. [applause] It works the same way. She goes outside and she puts it in the grass. You take a picture. You
011get it to me. All right. You have cute pajamas. [laughter] >> A little bit early. >> Stop on the way. Get her some cute pajamas. >> That sound good? >> All right. Thank you so much for coming out. We appreciate it. [applause] Next, I want to do um the Kowanas student of the month. And what we do each month through our um partnership or relationship with the Kuanas Club of Glendale, students are nominated at their sites and then Kowanas comes out and honors them. And so, Mr. Pat, would you please come up and do the honors for our students? >> [clears throat] >> First of all, I want to congratulate all of the spelling winners. That's awesome. Good evening. My name is Patrick Kaiser. I'm with the Kowanas Club of Glendale. Tonight, I am honored
012to recognize the Kowanas Club of Glendale Superintendent Student of the Month for the month of March 2026. The reason this award is so special is that this student has been chosen by the Superintendent for their hard work, passion for helping others, and helping to make our community a better place. This month's winner is Margarita Ariano. [applause] Congratulations. Now you get to be thoroughly embarrassed. Good. Good. In a good way. Maggie truly embodies what it means to be the student of the month. She is so thoughtful and deserving of this recognition. Maggie consistently demonstrates a positive attitude, maintaining an enthusiastic outlook on life, and a friendly, welcoming demeanor. Maggie treats everyone with kindness and respect, always striving to make others feel valued and included. She is highly responsible and the most soughtafter junior teacher because of
013her Because of her kindness, thoughtfulness, helpfulness, and reliability, Maggie takes great pride in her school work and the campus, off often volunteering to help classrooms or other or other areas without being asked. She shows genuine compassion by assisting classmates and challenge by assisting classmates with challenging problems, supporting teachers when needed, holding doors for others, and warmly welcoming new students. Academically, Maggie's achievements reflect her deep dedication and love of learning. She works consistently hard and is committed to growing both academically and personally. As an eighth grader enrolled in in a before school program to earn high school credit, math credits, she challenges herself to exceed expectations. In the classroom, Maggie is diligent and engaged, actively participating in discussions, asking thoughtful questions, and contributing meaningful ideas that elevate learning for everyone around her. Maggie also goes above
014and beyond in her contributions to our school community. She shows tremendous school spirit by enthusiastically participating in dressup days and spirit events, proudly representing our campus through her family's business, La Puricima Bakery. Maggie and her family generously support our teachers throughout the year with burritos, tamales, and bakery items for monthly coffee talks and teacher appreciation events. >> [applause] >> That sounds pretty popular. Last year, Maggie personally took the initiative to prepare an additional hundred special treats for our Sunset Vista staff, including beautifully decorated chocolate-covered strawberries and chocolate dipped pretzels designed as pre as pre as pencils. An incredible example of her generosity and initiative. As her principal, Miss Aolie shares that Maggie is always happy and wears the biggest, most genuine smile on her face each day. Her positive energy is contagious and brightens our
015campus. Just last week, when a dog was rescued from the bus bay at Sunset Vista, Maggie was asked if she knew any families who might be missing a pet. She followed up the next day to ensure the dog had been safely reunited with its owners. That small but meaningful act perfectly reflects Maggie is caring, responsible, and deeply committed to looking out for others. We are incredibly proud to honor Maggie this evening. She is truly one of a kind and so deserving of this recognition. Congratulations from the Kowanas Club of Glendale. You get a $50 Walmart gift card and a certificate from the district. Keep up the good work. Congratulations. Congratulations. [applause] [applause] Could we have Maggie's family home and school family come up, please? >> You too, Armando. back up. Back up. Thank you. Thank
016you so much for your generous donation that you always give to this. We greatly appreciate that. Thank you so much. Thank you so much. Maggie, you do get to go to the treasure basket as well. school. >> Oh, yeah. We do. >> I didn't get anything. >> It's on there. Okay. All right. Thank you. We thought we had a school attendance this month, but we don't. So, we will next month. The month hasn't finished. I guess I'm already in April. So um but it's still March. The next award we have is a new award or um recognition that we have not done before and it is that we've really been promoting student attendance and our teachers and staff have done an incredible job of making sure that students are here every day. And so we
017took every student that had been here from the day one of school to the hundth day of school. So from August to January, I think there were over 232 students that were here in the district for a 100 day uh for perfect attendance. [applause] So, as we do everything, we just randomly put those 230ome students into um our little I guess electronic thing we do and we spend and it tells us who the lucky student is. And tonight with us, that student is Mark Ruiz from Discovery. So, Mark, if you'll come up. [applause] >> [applause] >> Mark, I couldn't be more proud of you for being here for a hundred days and not making, you know, any absences. That's incredible. Um, we we really do push that we want our students here every day, but
018if you are ill, you do need to stay home and your students do stay home. So, please know that. We understand everyone becomes ill and we we understand that. But you have been here uh for those first 100 days. You didn't make any absences. We're very proud of you. And so on behalf of Gustill, and that's our education foundation, we have a special surprise for you. You also get chocolate. Okay. And you He's pretty happy with this chocolate. I'm going to take the chocolate for just a minute. And this is the first You're the first one that ever has received the hundth day student award. All right. So, what we're going to do is it's in this bag. And again, our bag says kindness champion. And we would like for you to open this and
019share with us what it is. >> Headphones. Can you show the audience? >> Headphones. New right away. Studio headphones. All right. [applause] There you go. And is your family family please come up? Mom, come up. And school family, please come up >> and let's take some pictures. >> Yes, they are Beats headphones. Thank you. [applause] Thank you so much. Congratulations. With that, that um concludes our presentations of awards this evening. Um parents and families and staff, thank you for coming out and supporting our students. and means so much to us and we couldn't be proud more proud to be able to say that we are humbled that you choose us to educate your children. So again, thank you so much. And with that, parents, I'm sure you're hungry and want dinner. You're welcome to stay,
020but you're also free to go at this time as well. Thank you. We don't have you just told me we didn't have >> Oh, okay. >> Okay. I'm sorry. We have one more award. One [clears throat] more award. Sorry. I'm struggling with my voice and my hearing and apparently my reading as well. Today we do have one more award and that award is our school attendance award. So we do this every month and the school that has the highest attendance is uh receives this traveling trophy and this month um this trophy goes to Discovery. [applause] So, can we also have Mark? Would you come back up because you're one of the reasons I got this trophy. [laughter] >> There you go. Come on, Mr. >> [applause] >> All right, that does really conclude our presentations
021tonight. Thank you again for coming out. Be safe. some reason I thought that was a travel. All right. Congratulations to all our award winners this evening. It is welld deserved and we appreciate you and thank you for showing up this evening. Uh moving on in our agenda, we have a call to the public. The public is invited to address the board on any issues within its jurisdiction subject to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions. Governing board members are not permitted to discuss or take legal action on matters raised during open call to the public unless the matters are properly noticed for discussion and legal action. However, the law permits board members to do the following at the conclusion of open call to the public. Respond to criticism made by those who have addressed the board.
022ask the staff to review a matter or ask that a matter be put on a future agenda. Those wishing to address the board should complete a call to the public form and submit it to the board secretary prior to the start of the meeting. Each speaker will be provided three minutes to address the board unless provided other direction by the board. At the outset of the speaker's remark, the speaker should state his or her name. The board now recognizes Amber Johnson. Good evening members of the school board and superintendent Sagata Jones. My name is Amber Johnson and I have been in GESD for five years as a fourth grade teacher. I am also the vice president of GA, the board recognized represent representative group for employees. You may have noticed that we've been making more
023public comments this year. That's because we take our representative role seriously and view this as an important opportunity to share context, concerns, questions, and appreciation. We owe it to our members and our co-workers to magnify their voices in all areas. So, that's what we are doing. We are here tonight to share reflections on benchmark testing since it's on the agenda. Over the past year, we have seen the addition of new gap assessments alongside existing benchmarks. While we understand the intention to gather more data, we are concerned about the growing logistical burden and increased testing time at some sites. This impact instruct impacts instructional time, student stamina, and overall school routines. Many members have shared frustration with the increased testing load and how it complicates data anat analysis. We also received concerns about the alignment, appropriateness,
024and design of some assessment items in both ELA and math. Teachers noted instances where passages appeared above grade level, were not clearly aligned with the question, or were reasonable where reasonable answers were marked incorrect. These concerns were shared across many schools and grade levels. We have encouraged members to share fe feedback with administrators, but we also believe an effective solution would be to involve master teachers and AAS in creating benchmark assessments as we did for many years. As professionals who work closely with students every day, educators bring unique insight to how students interpret questions, where confusion may arise, and how rigor can be balanced with clarity. This would also serve as meaningful professional development allowing teachers to engage deeply with standards, question design, and student thinking. Lastly, when we shared this feed feedback with district
025leadership, we were asked to provide names, grade levels, or school sites. This has been an ongoing pattern this year, and we feel that instead of focusing on who had the concern, we should focus on what the issue is and how we can resolve it. It is important that employees have safe, confidential spaces to share concerns without fear of repercussions or being treated differently, which has unfortunately happened this year. Let's refocus our perspective on continuous improvement, not scrutinizing people who have concerns. We should value employee input always, even if it's anonymous. We hope this provides helpful context for tonight's discussion. Thank you for your time and your continued commitment to our students, staff, and community. Thank you. Moving on in our agenda, we're moving into the consent agenda. Are there any uh comments or concerns on
026the consent agenda items? >> Hearing none, is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? >> I move to approve the consent agenda. >> Second. >> Mr. Harmio, how do you vote? >> Uh I. >> Miss Wilson, how do you vote? >> I. >> Miss Bartell, how do you vote? I, >> Miss Pimementel, how do you vote? >> I, >> and the chair votes I. Moving on to reports andformational items, uh, the benchmark assessment results. Miss Sagata Jones. >> Yes, President Martinez, members of the board. I'm proud to present the benchmark results. Um, we are very proud of our students and staff for the work that they've done. in particular our students um that have worked very hard uh during this time and they are well prepared because of our teaching staff. With that, I'll
027turn it over to Dr. Jerry Peterson who >> Good evening, President Martinez, governing board members, Superintendent Scott Jones community. Um I'm really excited actually to share the benchmark 3 results with you. I was just here a month and a half ago sharing benchmark 2 results and explained a couple of the things that we were doing moving forward with that. Um, I'm going to share benchmark 3 results with you now. And what you're going to see, and this is actually the first time this has ever happened, um, since I've been here, is that we had the same benchmark from benchmark 3 last year to benchmark 3 this year. It's the first time we've actually had that. So, we can actually compare a um AASA aligned benchmark um from our company that we've hired um Renaissance DNA
028to um see how our third graders, for example, did last year to our third graders did this year. So, it's a different cohort of students, but you should see some growth. And what you're going to see is some amazing growth from last year to this year and from benchmark one this year to benchmark three this year. So you'll see three um vertical tables, I guess you could say. And you're going to see um the red go down between the first one and the third one and the second one and the third one. So I'll show you that to you right now so it makes a little more sense. So, this is third grade ELA, and we've talked about third grade ELA before and how we're um working through that as a K8 system. But what
029you'll see on the left hand side is benchmark three results from last year. And if you compare that to the um uh third table um or cylind cylinder, that's probably the better word, is you'll see a decrease from 69.7% of students being minimally proficient from last year to a different cohort of third graders being 64.6% minimally proficient this year. So we have reduced minimally proficient um with our third graders, which is an awesome thing to have. um with the accountability system. We've also increased teachers did a great job of this in helping to increase the partially proficient proficient and highly proficient from last year to this year. And then you can also see from the second cylinder to the oh sorry third cylinder the difference between um October and end of February. So that's a
030really great thing and that's what you should see. There are a couple anomalies and we'll talk about a couple of those um uh to discuss that um tonight. Uh third grade math, similar kind of idea um that you'll see, especially in third grade math, you'll see a huge difference between um the second cylinder and the third cylinder. Math is a little different than ELA on how it's assessed. English language arts, when you look at the standards for English language arts, they're very broad. They're humongous. You could never teach one standard in a day. Not that that can always happen in math, but the math standards are a little bit more um specific. Um and um so math looks a little bit different than ELA does. Um fourth grade ELA, you can see that same pattern
031um that has happened over the last year, which is really nice to see. And just so um you're aware and I think this has been in maybe board updates or said publicly before is that the third assessment um the third benchmark is very highly correlated to AASA. It's a 73 to a 85ish reliability. And all that means in statistical language is you want as close to 100. Nobody ever gets to 100 in reliability because it's it's nearly impossible to do that. So anything above 70 is highly reliable um with uh the the benchmarks and those um we do have. So fourth grade ELA, fourth grade math really shows this. Um two anomalies you're going to see is fifth grade ELA and math and seventh grade ELA and math. and we're still diving into those to
032really look at why that is. Um some uh concerns with ri the rigor of the test items. And I say that and here's that example of fifth grade ELA. I say that but the reliability on the state level because remember these these are not assessments that are just written for us. They're written for everybody in Arizona who has this company that's aligned to AASA. So it's not just us. So um I think Alhamra uses them, Pendergas uses them, um uh Daert uses them. Um so with the same cut scores and so you'll see that um whenever there is an anomaly like this, we right away contact the company, we ask them, has anybody else experienced this anomaly? And we work from there. So um so that they know as well. there is a feedback loop
033with that. Um, math is similar in that way. Um, we do know that the benchmark one in math um the standards and how they were assessed were um uh at different uh depth of knowledge levels. So that means a little bit less complex than it is in the benchmark 3. Um so that may be one of the things that happened here. Um but we're still finding that out. Sixth grade goes back to the other um uh pattern that we would like to see um throughout the year. Sixth grade math. Look at that benchmark three sixth grade. That's really nice to see. Um and again this is proficiency. So this doesn't show growth. So this is 30% of the accountability model in the end. And so when we see that it's aligned, our benchmark 3 is
034aligned to AASA, we can almost start to see what is our proficiency points going to look like um if if and when the students uh perform in the same manner. Seventh grade, this goes to my anomaly that I was talking about and that we have reached out to other districts and the company with um and then seventh grade math. eighth grade ELA and eighth grade math. And then the next slides are the rankings of the schools which uh we present uh to the board in the community. you'll see the rankings for benchmark 3 ELA and these are all I know posted on the um board agenda uh currently too. So um if you want to look at those they are posted online. Math I do know um that a lot of our collaborative teams have
035really focused on math really hard this year too. Um, math is a different, like I said, is a different kind of thing than ELA. Um, math there's finite sometimes skills and content that you can attempt and work through, whereas ELA is a little bit more broad. Um, a little bit more esoteric in some manner. Math grade four, ELA five, math grade five, grade six ELA. And if you remember, even with benchmark 2, the upper grades ELA's were looking a little bit different than the lower grade ELA. And we talked about that uh math grade six seven ELA seven math and you'll know um and I know again I keep saying we've mentioned this before but I think it goes to say it Again, seventh grade math standards change drastically within the vertical articulation of the
036standards in math. Um, seventh grade math does change drastically. Eighth grade ELA, eighth grade math, and some next steps. Last time we talked about some next steps programmatically about what we're going to do. This is more probably more state level um FYIs that are going on because right now this week, thank you everybody for all your work with testing. I know it's not an easy thing to always do. Um a SAI has started this week for almost every school. Um that's the science test in fifth and eighth grade that uh they take. There's three sections to the science test. So each one of these for the most part except for ORF, have multiple sections to them. So keep that in mind as well. Um a size started this week. We're all working very hard. AASA
037ORF, which is oral reading fluency, uh for third grade is coming up. AASA ELA part one, part two, math part one, part two, um are all coming up. um and we get them done within the next few weeks. Um at the end of uh implementing benchmark 3, everybody worked really hard to um implement some exemplar uh treat we called them triage lessons for really um focusing on the essential standards that we know are highly tested. And here's what I want to say about that is that I don't want to just say that it's all about testing because it's not and that is only one data point and and I get that. So, it sounds like I'm all about it right now. I'm I'm not. I'm about the whole child. I really am. One thing I
038don't want though is for a child to get in front of a test in front of a computer and not know what it is. And I don't think anybody wants that. They want the best for the child and for their own efficacy and confidence. And so I want to make sure that when they approach a problem that they see, they have some tools to conquer that problem that's in front of them that they have to do because the state tells us that we have to do it. And so I think it's just one data point, but I want to make sure that they're ready for that data point. Um, and be and I want to make sure that we're all ready for that. So that's kind of what we do when we put in our
039whole system of support in place is to make sure that that happens. >> Dr. Dr. Peterson, if I may, please. [clears throat] Thank you. That that is a a critical piece for us that we want children no surprises. Like none of us like surprises. Um unless they're good surprises, you know, like you know, >> chocolate, and money or whatever it might be. But [clears throat] um children shouldn't be surprised. They should be prepared. And what we um just did on Tuesday through our student advisory committee, Dr. Um, Peterson did a presentation on, hey, it's ASA time and um, here are some tips that will help you during testing. We are very proud of those students because they already knew the tips. In fact, they taught us one of the tips. So, it was very, very
040nice to hear that from our students. Also, we had Aiana [clears throat] and Carlos were there and kids were doing testimonials and and what they were stating was about ASA is coming, but here's some tips and it was through the students perspectives that these are the best tips to help you get through um benchmarks and also through ASA. Um so again, thank you for that. It's important that um for us, our students are wellprepared. We believe they are well prepared and there should never be a surprise for them. Yeah, those kids they I I was like, "Oh, I'm going to teach them something, you know, something that they might not know yet." No, they knew it all. And um they they um something as simple as the radio buttons versus the checkboxes that we've harped
041on for years and years um because the new way new wave testing is that it's not a simple multiple choice anymore. And so if you know how surveys work, radio buttons are the circle buttons. And if you get those as a choice, there's only going to be one answer. Only one answer. But if you get checkboxes with the the answers, there's always going to be more than one answer. Always. And if you only mark one, you're going to probably get it wrong. So, um, that that seemingly simple tool can really help a student and it helps them stop from guessing sometimes and just know, I need to pick another one. And that's when some of them are actually like, "No, my teacher taught me this. My teacher taught me that." It was so it was
042so great to see everybody. So, congratulations and good job with that. [clears throat] Um, third grade reading scores will be available in Mid Bay and the reason why those are done earlier is because of the move on reading statute um for third grade and so um because there's some procedures that have to take place right after that um whether a student is um held back or not in third grade that we take care of um over the summer. And then all other scores will be available in late May. Um, and just again, I can't say this enough, the RFP process for the state is happening right now for a new state assessment. Um, that will be done supposedly by the beginning of the summer and be implemented in the 2728 school year. So, AASA as
043we know it won't exist anymore as we know it in two school years, which usually means they're going to probably pilot something next year. But with that and I want to iterate this is very important is that when you read that RFP the difference about this RFP this time is that they put in that they would like to see a company that has a benchmark system assessment system in place already. So um there are very few companies with that. So it'll be interesting to see how that plays out. Um, and if that happens, I my guess is we don't get a choice in what that looks like. Um, so if you're part of public comment at the state level, u make sure that you're giving comment. Um, I know they've asked for comment from the
044public. Um, so that's always a good thing to do, however you feel about that. Um, but that's a really important thing. So next year, AASA as it is will be in place maybe with the pilot. The following year it'll change to the new um assessment system that will be approved by the govern or the sorry board of education. With that I'll take any questions or concerns. Dr. Per Nicar, I just want to also say about you know surprises is that with you know we've been doing this a very long time and thank you for your work and your team's work. Um that we know the reliability to third quarter benchmark. we know what it is and you know we are really not surprised when we see letter grades come out because we've already do projections
045of what they might be and we're pretty darn close to what they are. So that's why it's important that we have these systems in place that you and your team monitor that administrators at school sites monitor that collaborative teams monitor that and the reason is so they can quickly go in and intervene and get into exactly what is where is a child or where is their grade level particular students whatever it might be content and intervene to get those supports in place. We call it triage so that we can get that triage going prior to ASA so that students are well prepared and we make sure that we're correcting any misunderstandings that they have. So you're looking at third quarter benchmark. Um we've looked at it at in at services executive team looks at that
046and we feel very good about AASA at this time. So, thank you and everyone out there, your your teachers, your administrators, and you know, families and services support team. Thank you for the work that you do every day. >> Thank you. >> All right. Thank you. I will open it up to the rest of the board if you have any questions or comments. >> Boy, testing is testing is just so different now, you know, than when we were young. But, uh, yeah, that triage is so important. It not only gives them tools but makes them I think feel more comfortable and uh definitely takes away that fear that like I used to have and I was terrible at testing because I had that fear. Um and so I don't think there is that so much
047of that anymore. Um I was pleased with uh you know a lot of what I saw and um yeah so um you know congratulations to teachers for working so hard and and students too. So, it's, you know, they're doing an amazing job. >> Board member Wilson, members of the board, what's interesting, well, it's not interesting that you said that it's changed so much since we've taken it so long ago. But what's funny about that is that I brought kind of brought that up with the students the other day and I was like, testing's changed so much since we've tested. I said, there used to be things called scantron and they didn't they knew, but they understood bubbling in. They did understand bubbling in and so I sit them. So, guess what one of the tools
048were back in the day? They told us to pick C. Always pick C when you didn't know, and that would get you through. And I said, don't do that. And then I said, and then they would say, make a pattern on your Scantron form and maybe or if it's too many A's in a row, don't pick A, you know. And so I said, don't listen to any of that. None of that's true anymore. It was funny though. >> Hario, >> um, I just want to thank all the staff for, you know, working with these state standards that sometimes, you know, when you understand how a child develops, it seems out of place in the education world, as I know we all understand. So, I really want to thank like the educators and the admin for
049working through what the state forces on us. And um you know, I wonder how else we can improve that process with the uh the assessments and the benchmark tests and to hear out teacher concerns um so that way we can meet those state guidelines um a little better. But that was more of a comment, not a not a question. >> Thank you, Mr. I can appreciate that. Anybody else? >> Um, no. I also want to thank all everyone that's been involved. You know, it's the the teachers, it's the educational assistants, it's the administrators, it's the students themselves, and it's their families that, you know, really have to kind of help pull together, but also, you know, reach out when there's some an area that they're being, you know, they're struggling on. Um, but it is
050nice to see those upper two tiers gradually getting bigger and bigger for, you know, we've watched some weird anomalies over the years, but it is nice to see it steady progression. It to me it says that we are making progress and we're getting things aligned so that our kids are set up for success for, you know, all the way through, you know, high school and beyond. So, thank you. >> I do have a question. Being a person who is not an educator is it how does it impact our teachers when the test is continually changing? >> Can I ask a clarifying question? When you say the test, do you mean like the benchmark test? >> Yes. When I I mean going back to again when we were kids and the scantron and and it seemed
051like >> I think it was called Iowa testing or something. We're going way back in the 70s here. So half of y'all weren't even alive yet, but we were going back and and and it seemed for a long time that's what it was called, Iowa testing, if that's what it was. But now we have so many different testing programs. And I think it's probably because, as Mr. Hario said, whatever program they're forcing on us now um through the state is is how is that impacting how our teachers are teaching our students? because I don't know that it would be our students having to learn something different so much. Maybe it is, but I don't know how I'm trying to ask this question. >> No, I get I think I understand, Miss Pimeinel and members of
052the board. I think one really concrete example and I would think people would agree with me. You don't have to, but I would think people would agree with me is the difference between our I Ready assessment and our benchmark assessments. So I ready is because um you said things that were mandated. So we have the third grade move on when reading mandate from the state um which requires us to have a a reading assessment um K3. We do ours K8, but we it's mandated by the state. It has to be K3. And there's only certain tests that the state approves that you can purchase to implement into your district. Got it? >> And so think about all the things that go into that. Um but then on top of that, same thing kind of happens
053with benchmarks is that you have to have some sort of benchmarking system. We're going to give you AASA, but you're you have to now have your own benchmarking system that aligns to AASA. I guess it wouldn't have to, but I don't see the point in that though. But um you would want it to align. Um but um the benchmarking system and AASA is based on standards more more or less at versus reading uh the the the standards within specifically reading and um fluency and uh comprehension is not always as strong as it is in a standardsbased test the comprehension piece. So, I think that it's just it's hard. It's very hard because okay, we know that I Ready is coming up. How do I prep my students for I Ready? We know that Renaissance DNA
054is coming up. How do I prep them for that? ASA is coming up. How do I prep them for that? A Zella, very different assessment um especially in the writing for a Zella. So, how do I prep my students to do well on a Zella writing when it's not the same kind of skills as the DA or the AASA writing? So, you're constantly having to analyze and work in collaborative teams to figure out how are we going to go about this? Thank goodness they're not given every the same day every year, all of them, because I think people get whiplash as they probably already do because it's like every month now. But um it it is a lot. Yes. So I would agree with that. >> My hats off to every single person, our educators
055or anyone who helps our students because probably just at the point where you get comfortable. It's changing and I see a lot of nodding heads out there and that's my concern. But that's not within our that's it's coming from up here and it's landing right here. So my hats off to you because it it just it's it's a bit to understand for me and as a parent when my kids were in school I used to use the term we are teaching our kids to pass a test and um that was that was just me thing as a mom with my kids but uh hats off to our teachers who do that and more every single day. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh and I will end with uh ditto ditto ditto ditto. Um when I
056met with Miss Sagata Jones last week when we were discussing the agenda, she says how she had told me how proud she was of the district and the staff and how good the benchmarks looked this quarter. And she was how very happy she was and being able to see those results up on the big screen. Uh I can only echo that sentiment. I'm very happy to see the positive results they are. I and I know it's exhausting for everyone that ask out that is out there that has to be in the classroom and everyone that has to support those that are in the classroom and what a almost a brutal timeline it is to from test to test to test. And I understand from a parent standpoint it's like didn't you just have testing last
057month? Didn't you just have testing the month before that? What are you testing for now? And it there's all these acronyms we throw around. AASA, um, Iowa, whatever, Scantron, it doesn't it doesn't even matter. It's it's it's exhausting for all of us. And, um, I appreciate how well everyone, to be honest, puts up with it. Uh, it it's a lot to go through, but at the end of the day, I like being able to look at those charts and say, we are making positive progress. And as a as a taxpayer, as a community member, I was like, hey, there's a large amount a large amount of tax money that's going into schools. I like being able to see that sort of benefit coming out of that tax money and I can appreciate uh what we
058are doing and I know we're all in a financial pinch and I just say, you know, bang for the buck, public schools is where it's at. I don't care what charter school and what private school you're at. Um if you want value for your money, your kid is in public schools, period. And I appreciate everything that you guys have done for us. Thank you. >> Thank you. And thank you, staff. All right, we're going to go ahead and move on in our agenda to item uh 6A, action item, the board meeting calendar for next year. Just a reminder, this is a general um just sort of calendar items for the upcoming board meetings for the upcoming school year. Uh obviously calendars will change, people's schedules will change. Maryanne will go on vacation to some island
059somewhere. Brenda will also go on vacation to another island far away from Maryanne. Um, >> in a different place. >> Yes. And Yes. And and me and Monica will be here by ourselves and like wondering where is everybody at. So, uh, just as a general rule, this is we're just kind of setting out the calendars and blocking away dates. It's just the same as we always used to. It's Thursday. It's like every other Thursday. We're block it out. Um, unless there's anything absolutely traumatic and specific about it. um let us know. Uh otherwise, you know, if there's an issue that comes up with a date, we'll get there when we get there and we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. >> With that, is there a motion to approve the board calendar for
060next year? >> I'll move to approve the board calendar for the 2627 school year. >> Second. >> Mr. Harmio, how do you vote? >> I. >> Miss Wilson, how do you vote? >> I. >> Miss Bartell's, how do you vote? >> I. >> Miss Pimentel, how do you vote? >> I chair votes I. Moving on to action item 6B, uh, direction to legal council regarding Whit versus Grand Canyon Council Incorporated. Boy Scouts of America. Mr. Scott Jones, if you could fill us in, please. >> Yes, President Martinez, members of the board. As it reads, the case of Whit versus Grand Canyon Council in Boy Scouts of America at all superior court of Arizona Marco County has become active for the national boy schools case was res once the national boy scouts case was resolved earlier
061this year and banks bankruptcy courts in Delaware. The governing board directs the superintendent or a design to have Canelian Brown PLC file any necessary notices, motions, and take all appropriate actions in defense of the district in the reference Supreme Court case. We're bringing this to you just because of some court changes um decisions made by judges not in this case but in other j and other cases and we want to make sure that you have been notified and more importantly this um and order for us to dismiss this. We have a timeline uh that's next week that is due so that we can go ahead and file motions to dismiss and that's why it's brought for you tonight. So like several other options that have come before the board, we are designating a delegate of
062the district to make those decisions on our behalf. Um just like we have so many other things. So there are things that come across that have a very timely manner that in which those items must be filed and we want to make sure [clears throat] that we are meeting those timelines uh in the best interest of the business interest of the district uh going forward. So that's with this particular item. As you see there is uh an executive session following this. It is entirely voluntary. If we have more questions that are followup after this, we will we can go into executive session. Uh but for now, we're just uh laying out our delegate so that Miss Sagata Jones and her staff can file any motions on uh the district behalf. Any questions, comments? Is there
063a motion to approve action item 6B, direction to legal counsel? uh direction for legal counsel um regarding Wit A versus Grand Canyon Council. >> I'll move to approve. >> Second. >> Mr. Harmo, how do you vote? >> I. >> Miss Wilson, how do you vote? >> I. >> Miss Bartell's, how do you vote? >> I. >> Miss Fmentel, how do you vote? >> I. >> And the chair votes I. >> Motion is approved. Moving on action item or to 7A. Uh if requested, the governing board may adjourn to executive session. Motion to res uh to recess to regular meeting to in order to convene to executive session for the following purpose in accordance with the Arizona Revised Statutes 38-43103 A3 and Arizona Revised Statute 38-43103A4 for discussion or consultation with the attorneys at the public
064body to obtain legal advice and to consider its position and instruct its attorneys regarding the public body's position relating to pending litigation CV 2020 017452. two. Is there a motion to adjurnn or recess? Sorry. >> Are we going into executive session? >> That's what I'm asking right now. >> Okay. >> You can choose not to motion. >> Okay. There is no motion for executive session. So, we're moving on to action to items 9A, future meetings and agenda item requests. Mr. Gata Jones, what do we have coming up? >> Yes, President Martinez, members of the board. If you look at April 23rd, the next meeting um is meet and confer salary recommendations, certified pay for performance plan and administrative pay for performance plan. Um that's what you'll see on the 23rd. However, next week [clears throat]
065we will request a telephonic more than likely we will request a telephonic board meeting uh because we do have a principal vacancy and we will be conducting those interviews and we'd like to um if possible get through that interview process and make a recommendation so that we have Miss Barnaby from Smith. That's [clears throat] the vacancy. We'd like Smith staff to know who their principal is before contracts if if we can get through the interview process. So, it would be simply a quick telephonic um meeting probably April 2nd, Miss Valadez would be able to do we would be able to do an April 2nd recommendation and that way staff knows who their principal would be for the next school year. >> Okay. Uh any board members have and we're talking about like a 5:30 meeting
066on April 2nd. Uh we can do it earlier because it's telephonic if that works for people. It I can't that will be the only unless I'm incorrect with team. Do we have one more item? Mr. Beran. >> Uh Mr. President, members of the board, Superintendent Guy Jones, we may have uh one more item on anou with a neighboring district >> onou that we're currently working on with legal. Yes. >> So I know I am blocked off until at least 5:00 on April 2nd. Um, any other board members have any conflicts with April 2nd? If we do a telephonic meeting, >> okay, I think we're good for April. We'll we'll nail down the time >> five or 5:30. >> Okay. >> Is it 5:00? Did you say 5:00? >> 5. >> He's blocked until 5. >>
067Blocked until 5. Maybe two. I >> I recommend it be telephonic. It's not going to last more than I can't imagine more than five minutes. Okay. Yeah, we're good for that. >> Sounds good. >> Uh Liz, if you can go ahead and send us an updated invite for that, we'll get that on our calendars. Um any board members have any comments regarding upcoming agendas and it's going to be like a month till we see each other again. So if you have anything to say, say it now. All right, we are moving on to uh item 10, summary of current events, starting with our superintendent report. Missagata Jones, what has happened lately? >> Yes, President Martinez, members of the board, I think, you know, the presentations tonight say it all on the awards that um were
068given. You know, that's been going on. The really focus is on we're in the testing mode. However, I would like to um also share we're still uh Mr. Bergen and I meeting with SFOB uh through hearing processes trying to um you know come to some settlement agreement and we will begin that again in May next week. He and I will be meeting with legal again to prepare for that. We've also continued to work with ROI which is our realtor which you've seen the article in the star and we're looking at um potential deals on those those um sites that are for um lease or sale. Um today um we always whenever I have the opportunity to talk about how proud I am of the GSD trust board and um being able to make sure that
069for the last 12 years considered 12 years we have not had an increase uh to our premiums. Mr. Bergen and I today presented at um Valley Schools and we presented um self insurance and the benefits of that and you know the the message simply is you know um have local control, keep the money within the district so that you can provide the resources that you uh need to for students um academically to grow and meet their outcomes. And by being self-insured, we know that's sustainable. We know that we can do that and we know that um those reserves are important to us but they also need to be protected and so uh that was a message we shared today and some people um have never really considered self-insured. They don't understand it. Um Mr. Beran
070is the expert in that and I think he moved some of them the needle a little bit today with that. They asked a lot of uh good questions and it's really about being good stewards of our resources and self-insured is good stewards of our resources and so again u Mr. and thank you for your work on that. With that, also I just wanted to acknowledge back there that the art display are from Jack and Menszendic and it's great work. So stop by and see it. Welcome back everybody from spring break. We hope you had a great time and um we look forward to the remainder of the year. I know it's a long call but u we'll get through it together and so again appreciate all that you do. >> All right. Thank you. Moving
071on to our governing board report. We'll start down at the end. Uh Mr. Harmia, do you have anything to share with us? >> Not much. I just wanted to thank the our public commenter. Um thank you for using public comment. I really appreciate input from our staff in the community all the time. Um and also stay cold. Uh stay stay out of the heat. Um I witnessed three kids project stuff out of their body this morning. uh because they were in the sun all day. So, make sure you tell your kiddos to drink lots of water and stay in the shade um because that was not fun to see. >> Uh Ditto. Um Miss Wilson. >> Um yeah, not too much. uh just coming off of spring break. So, uh there wasn't a lot going
072on during that week, but um just uh you know, also uh uh just thank you to all the staff uh for your hard work. Um the uh testing there just you know, showed how much um you you put into it and the students as well and their families. Um yeah, the heat uh I don't know what it is about my [clears throat] teenage grandchildren that seem to get mixed up. They leave the house in hoodies when it's going to be 90 and yet in the winter they're wearing shorts and tank tops and all. So, um, yeah, just watch your kids when they leave the house. So, >> all right. Thank you, Miss Bartell's. >> Oh, well, welcome back from spring break, although you walked into summer pretty much. Um, but uh, no, I I know
073we have the testing season upon us, you know, and it's like the most hated season of the school year, but I'm more excited for the the wonderful events that are going to showcase, you know, the talent that our kids have and the staff that inspire them. Thank you. >> Thank you, Miss Fmentel. >> Congratulations to everyone that mentored and taught our students and made a difference in those benchmarks. They are amazing. I actually a couple times literally out loud said, "Wow." Uh, so thank you. Your your dedication and your hard work to all of our students really shows. Um, as Mrs. Bartell has mentioned, there is some great events coming up. My favorite ones coming up, well, one of my favorites, and it's the art show at Landmark, I think. And uh, so I get
074excited when I see the art in the back. You know, maybe our kids don't like to read out loud, but they like to express themselves through art. And that says a lot. And so that's truly my favorite thing. And if I could give every single one of them an award, I would. I beg for more awards every year to give. >> And they won't give them to us. So when someone else doesn't show up, I beg to take theirs. But we have some talent out there. And uh that's probably one of my favorite things. So um as Mr. Mr. Harmo said, "Please stay hydrated. You yourselves, your two-legged kiddos, your four-legged kiddos, and everybody else, just please drink your water." All right. Thank you, uh, fellow board members. Um, first of all, thank you to
075all of our staff throughout the district. It takes a village and you guys have really shown up based on these patch benchmarks and I am super proud of you and it honors me to be able to sit up here and talk to you and have that sort of viewpoint saying you are doing an amazing job and love you all. You guys are doing great. Keep at it. Keep on working on it. Just a couple more months away till promotions and the end of the school year already and you don't have to sit at another board meeting for another month. I mean, I don't know what else gifts I can give to you guys. This is this is all I got. So, enjoy it. And like everyone else says, keep drinking your water because it is
076ridiculously hot. As my kids say, hydrate before you dehydrate. Um, if your pee ain't clear, then death is near. U and there's probably a couple more that they that they probably not safe for boardwing, but I appreciate you all. Have a great weekend. Have a great time. Um, and opening day for baseball today. I think opening day with the Diamondbacks is next week. Heck yeah. I am ready to move on with some baseball. So with that, >> move to adjurnn. >> Motion to adjurnn. All right. All those in favor? I I Thank you. Have a great evening, everybody.