001I like to wait till I know what I'm voting. Good evening all. I It's so loud in here. I don't know. No. Good evening. I would like to call this meeting to order. Thank you all. I apologize. It's loud and it's been a minute since I've had to use my teacher voice. Miss Richards, may I have roll call, please? Yes. President Wade, let the record show all five governing board members are present. Please join me in a moment of silence followed by the pledge of allegiance. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. I motion to approve the agenda. That would be Miss Van Hook seconding. All those in favor? I I motion carries. 5. Miss
002Richards, you're up. All right. Upcoming events. We have a lot of exciting graduation ceremonies next week beginning with HVA. um at Williamsfield High School at 7 PM. Then we move to ASU on Tuesday at 2:30. We will be celebrating Higgley High School graduates. Same location, 7:30 Williamsville graduates. Then on Wednesday, we have our HTAP student graduation at 10:00 a.m. at the Higgley Center for the Performing Arts. And nobody cares about the last one, or I think they do. Our last day of school is Wednesday, May 21st. That concludes upcoming events. All right, we're moving on to Higgley Adventures. All right, this year on April 12th at Williamsfield High School, we held our HUSD Fine Arts Festival. This exciting event showcased the incredible visual and performing arts from our students across the district. Here's a very
003short clip of this entertaining event. [Music] About pop music about [Music] I want to dedicate it. Everybody infiltrated activated. All right. Next, I want to congratulate and recognize our outstanding Higgley High School students who have been awarded the prestigious Star Talk Chinese Pathways Federal Scholarship to study Mandarin at the University of Arizona this summer. They're going to earn college credit when they're there. So, Miss Pana and your students, please come forward. We want to take a picture. [Applause] So I just ask how many hours of college credit and Miss Pana said one for a week. Okay. Wow. And these guys are already beyond proficient. Correct. Hey. Yes. Congratulations. Or nihow. Hunhow. I don't know. Very good. Say it. Very good. Honh. That's what I said. That's what I said. Thank you [Applause] guys. All right.
004Kulie Middle School. Their visual arts has been honored as a skills USA model of excellence, a prestigious national recognition awarded to only 24 chapters in the United States. Kulie is the very very first middle school to earn this distinction in the program's 11year history. As part of this incredible achievement, two of the students will represent Kulie at the Skills USA National Leadership and Skills Conference in Atlanta, showcasing their project skills before a national audience. Great job, Culie Cougars. [Applause] very first introduce yourself. Who you are? My name is John Lepock. I'm the adviser for visual arts at Kulie Middle School. And why did you why did you push your middle middle school students to do this or encourage them? Skills USA is focused on preparing um students to be prepared for jobs on day one.
005And this is an opportunity to set a foundation for them to bridge to the high school visual arts programs and prepare to have real world skills that are embedded with the essential elements what they call them. They worked with CEOs as well as did some research to say these are the critical skills students should have and we embedded that into projects that they did using not only classroom skills but the essential elements. So that's where you are recognized for models of excellence. Congratulations [Applause] Your principal should be up here. What's he doing? Mr. Cantrell, this is exciting for you guys. You pick. [Applause] All All right. Next. Congratulations to WGAZ State Champions. This is your Purple Percussion Ensemble. The students have grown significantly throughout the year. The group performed at three competitions throughout the season
006to qualify for the state championship. Once there, the ensemble had a great performance to bring home a WGAZ state championship. We're so very proud of your [Applause] accomplishments. Mr. Edgar, is this a yearly tradition? because I feel like it is as much as we can make that happen. Yes, we like that very much. Congratulations. Thank you very much. This this group is comprised mostly of seventh grade students. We have just just one eighth grader in the group and super proud of their accomplishment this year. So, Purple Percussion Ensemble. All right. [Music] two. Thank you guys. Yep. All right. Next. Congratulations to the Williamsville Ron. What happened? They're just on the same page. Oh, I'm so sorry. It's all good. It is confusing. Now I just need to go backwards. No, I just need to stay.
007One more guard. I'm trying [Applause] there. Mr. Gregor, too many groups for me to wrap my head around. Congratulations, Scott. So, this is our purple group. They are comprised of mostly seventh graders with some eighth graders. Um, a lot of them are at the theater show tonight, so we're missing a bunch of them, but they Pam and I think that they're probably undefeated for the last 12 years. They have about 10 groups of their division and they work really hard and show up really early and we're really really proud of them. So, good job guys. [Applause] All right. Next is Kulie Color Guard Black. [Applause] You want to highlight this group? I totally can. So, this group of young ladies, this group was mostly mostly eighth graders. We had one seventh grader. By the way,
008my name is Beth Carlson. I'm their coach and I work with Pam Edgar. Um, they their show was title entitled Powerful Women and they were massively powerful. Uh, nobody wants to compete against them. So, they go out there and they bring in the crowd every year. That's their goal to fill the house and they do and they are a great group of kids to teach and they too work really hard. They keep me on my toes and it's great. So, good job parents. I do not want this. I'm going to give you [Applause] Now we are ready to move on to Williamsfield percussion ensemble. Congratulations [Applause] These students had a great season. They placed first in every competition they entered. The group had a strong performance and defended their WGAZ state championship title. So now,
009Mr. Edgar, how many times are you coming back here? She got it. It was good. [Applause] Thank you guys. Always appreciate it. Thank you. Have a good one. Thank you very much. All right. Recently, Higgley High School brought home another state championship. Mr. Hall, Mr. Cook in their criminal justice students, please come forward. They beat an impressive field to win the crime scene investigation state championship. Please join us in congratulating them on this outstanding accomplishment. So if you went to our business partner breakfast, you saw how they lifted fingerprints, right? So they took it even further. So congratulations everybody in this room. You have been fingerprinted. [Applause] All right. Oops. Williamsfield. Williamsfield High School wins gold. Recently, 11 Williamsfield High School students from the criminal justice program brought home gold medals from the state championship
010in a variety of leadership and skills events. These 11 students will be representing Arizona in the national competition in June. Do I have individuals from Williamsfield in the audience? We learned about this this one late. So, congratulations to these students in the program. [Applause] Now, everybody in this room has on the same shirt, right? So, if you're part of the Higgley Leadership Academy, please come forward. I think Mr. Walker wants to brag on you guys. [Applause] Yeah, tonight we're here just to acknowledge and celebrate uh the completion of the Higgley Leadership Academy for this year. So, this is the majority of our our class. We had over 32 participants um pretty much divided between classified and certified staff members. And so throughout the year, uh, they had a chance to be exposed to different areas
011of the school district, uh, and and acquire some leadership and and, uh, basically discover and explore some of the parts of the school district that they don't necessarily get a chance to see. Um, we do have a couple people that just wanted to say some words. And so I'm just going to pass the mic around if you guys wouldn't mind introducing yourself. And then where you going? Oh, she had prepared. Okay, you ready? I've got another one if you want to. My name is Jen Miller and um coming from my own hidden corner of community ed. Each meeting filled me with new ideas and excitement. I would regularly shoot a text off to my boss Kim before even leaving the parking lot. Her immediate response was always, "Great. I can't wait to hear about it
012tomorrow." The leadership academy has opened my eyes to the endless opportunities that Higgley has to offer. the amazing people that I've met and shared with and allowed me to learn about what is done behind the scenes. With the book study, reading radical cander, I've learned the importance of effective and open communication with sharing my goals with my co-workers and supervisors. It has allowed me to share my thoughts with another perspective. It's given me the opportunity to offer input on ways to not only grow our program, but introduce all that community has to offer to all of our district families as a whole. Finally, the program has given me time for self-reflection. I found a new confidence when walking throughout our district and speaking with all levels of employees and knowing who and where to reach
013out for whatever my needs may be. During last week's final session, it was said that the inner circle of HUSD is a small one, but an open circle for communication. I truly feel that the circle just grew larger with everyone around me completing HLA. Thank you for this amazing experience. It's actually sad to see that it's ended, but I look forward to next [Applause] year. My name is Renee Roberts. I'm a teacher at Bridges Elementary. I would like to take this opportunity to share a few words about the Higgley Leadership Academy. This year, it has offered valuable professional development by helping me gain the skills, knowledge, and confidence to take on leadership roles within my school and district. It has provided a supportive environment to grow professionally through collaboration, experience, mentorship, and exposure to real
014world scenarios and challenges that prepare us for future leadership roles. The academy has fostered a culture of continuous learning and encourages us to work together to find solutions to the challenges education brings today. It also creates a network of professionals that share a passion for student success and school improvement. By investing in the leadership potential of its educators, the Higgley Leadership Academy has strengthened the overall quality of education through collaborative learning, mentorship, and targeted training. We have enhanced our ability to drive instructional improvement, foster positive school culture, and implement strategic initiatives. I'm grateful for the opportunity to attend. I'm Michael O'Neal from Higgley High School. Uh they say it takes a village to, you know, build a child. I, you know, I'm a dad, so but I also think it's that way for a leader.
015And so we need each other to kind of build ourselves up. And so I was fortunate enough to be matched with uh Miss Richards as my mentor for this. And she was able to kind of show me uh around the district, which I thought I was very grateful for. So thank you for that. Uh I met with Mr. Armstrong as well. He was also uh gracious enough to give me his time to take me around some elementary schools and meet with people. And there are other several members of the cabinet who also took their time to meet with me. So it's uh a great pleasure to be a part of this program. Uh, I thank um everybody who's involved and particularly Mr. Walker. Thank you for doing all the work and putting it all together.
016Uh, so thank you. Okay. I am Beverly Peyton from Williams High School and um I got a different I got all the stuff they got out of HLA. But what I thought was really cool is that we are as teachers the in the minority of this group. This group is mostly um classified staff. And I thought it was really cool to get a different perspective of all the different jobs that everybody does to make schools really successful. And I think there's no way our kids could be as successful as they are in our classrooms without the help of every single other person up here. And so that's the one thing that I got out of it was it really does take a village like Michael said. So thank you for that. Okay. Thank you. Thank
017you. And this uh these these individuals took time eight sessions out of their their nights to come and and learn about Higgley. So everybody's uh self motivated and self- selected to be in the program. So congratulations everybody. Thank you for all your participation. Uh and that will conclude the presentation. We'll take a picture and we'll we'll call the night. Thank you. [Applause] question. Good. Thank you HLA for coming. We appreciate it. All right. Next, we're moving on to our superintendent student advisory council. This is our first year to do this and what an incredible experience it has been for me as a leader. We actually have 19 students in this group. They all have multiple activities going on. So, we got a few of them tonight to come and explain their experience. So, when we
018put this together, the goal was, who are our customers? It's our kids, right? They're the most important people in the school district. And guess what? They're a lot smarter than I am. And I learned that every time I was with them. We brought them together. We brainstormed what we were going to do. We went to Chandler Gilbert Community College. Took a tour. I think they learned some things that they didn't know. We talked about those things and the value of seeing what's out there. Not every community has multiple community colleges or universities surrounding them. So there's quite quite a bit of competition. So sorry last week we went to the ASU mix center in downtown Mesa and I think I was shocked at how much there is to offer. If you want to go into
019film school, go there. You want to learn about virtual reality, go there. So, we learned how to diagnose a sick dinosaur, treat it. We also walked through the world of Indiana Jones. The one thing I was good at was using the torch to burn down the crazy what were they, Michaela? Cobwebs. So anyway, we've had an experience and this is their turn to talk and tell you guys about it. So I'm going to turn it over. They're all going to introduce themselves. Hi everybody. My name is Michaela Fowler and I'm from Williamsfield High School and I'm in 11th grade. Hi, I'm Khloe Thomas. I'm in 11th grade and I'm also from Williamsville High School. Hi, I'm Avery Kaiser. I'm in eighth grade and I represent Kulie Middle School. Hi, I'm Sydney Resmond and I'm a
020senior at Higgley. Hello, I'm a freshman at Higgley High School. My name is Ellie Fuentes. Hi, I'm Slade Coxin. I'm an eighth grader and I also represent Koulie. Hi, my name is Alejandra. I'm a sixth grader at Bridges Elementary. Okay, so as I said, my name is Michael Fowler and I've had the incredible honor of serving on the superintendent's advisory council this year, representing Williamsfield High School and working alongside these beautiful students from across Higgley Unis Higgley Unified School District. Over the past few months, we've met regularly to reflect on what makes HUSD truly special and also to thoughtfully discuss where we believe there's room to grow. We started with a powerful conversation around the portrait of a graduate, what it really means to be a student who leaves HUSD prepared for life beyond high
021school. And then we also used AI to create our own portraits. Um here are oh here are all of the leaders um who helped and support this council. And then on the next slide here are all of us the students who are part of this superintendent advisory. So yeah, we used AI to make these like Pixar thingies and we all created these ourselves. Um, what makes this journey so meaningful is that we've had real conversations with students from all grade levels about what we love about our schools and what we hope to see in the future. Working together across campus across campuses and ages has shown me just how powerful there how much power there is in student voice. The fact that we've been given this platform proves that our district doesn't just talk about
022listening to students, it actually does. So, thank you for this opportunity. Thank you for showing us that our voices matter. And thank you for always striving to make HUSD better. Now, we'd love to share with you some of the highlights from our experience and some ideas we've come up with for the future. First, as a council, we all in our discussion talked about how you guys are always willing to improve. Whether it be problems in the district that students notice or even just behavioral situations, everyone always finds a way to make different situations have the best outcome. Another thing we feel that the district really does well is providing support and opportunities for students at all levels and providing different types of opportunities. When you look into Higgley, as we saw today, you don't just
023see athletes, you see students in criminal justice programs, you see students in performing arts and they also have amazing student council and other leadership opportunities. And then academically, they do a really good job of meeting students where they're at. They have programs for students who are right where they're supposed to be and for students who need a little extra support and then they even have some for students who are above their grade level at middle school, high school, elementary levels. They just do a really good job of providing support for everyone. Um, we also talked about AI and technology and how it's growing in our society and our district is really good at embracing change and finding innovative ways to use it as a helpful tool instead of a negative aspect it's known for. With
024that being said, we want to talk about the growth opportunities. All right, first thing that we want to talk about with growth is teaching the significance the significance of GPA and state testing. First off, when we were talking to the younger generations, a lot of them did not know what a GPA was, especially like the middle schoolers, which is a little concerning just because they're going into high school. And that is a huge part of high school and as you go further into college. It's how you get scholarships and it's like really just matters what they're looking for in college and how you get into them. Then we also want to highlight state testing because a lot of kids do not try in state testing. But that's purely because they just don't know how it
025affects our district and how doing well in state testing is actually a positive thing instead of a negative thing. I do feel that if they knew the significance of it, they would try harder. Okay. Next up is emphasis on post-graduation opportunities. So, a lot of students like freshman and sophomores um don't really get or understand the significance of college um and we all kind of only know about the traditional ways um like going to college instead of like trade schools. And I feel like EVIT does a good job with that. So, we could all um so the students who go to EVIT can already be like experienced and know what they're going into after high school. But a lot of students don't know those opportunities. Um, and we are told things like in like sixth
026grade or even in middle school about college, but in like freshman or sophomore year, we kind of forget and not they're not talked about as much, which I think is needs to be expressed and um important. And then going to CGCC and ASU mix facility made us realize that going to these places is such a unique and cool opportunity. And it's sad that a lot of our students in the district don't get the same opportunities. And yeah. All right. Then our next thing is support on extracurriculars. We have amazing extracurriculars at Higgley, but I do feel that they are not highlighted as much as they could be. A lot of our sports, like especially at Higgley, football is highlighted like crazy, which they totally deserve because they're an amazing program, but a lot of other
027programs are doing just as incredible things and do not get the recognization they deserve. Like our best buddies at Higgley is a great program. And then Wish Makers at or Make a Wish at Williamsfield does huge things for that program and I feel like they could be highlighted more. our JRFTC, our like army class at Higgley has won state I think like three years in a row and I feel like they do not get any attention and they truly deserve it cuz they work honestly the hardest out of all of us. And I just think that more support with that and more organization could just be great for the community and just like the district as a whole. And then also when it comes to support like teachers, I feel like a lot of the
028clubs are not supported by teachers, but that's just because they do not get the support they need. When a club is a lot of extra work and a lot of teachers are not willing to put in the extra work because they are not being supported through a club. So they are just expected to know how a club works, how it's ran. But as that's not how it should be like they should be taught and should be helped. And I just feel like that'll be a huge benefit to the schools if they were just more supported all around. Okay, next up is teaching life skills. Um, a lot of students, we all agreed on that in high school maybe adding uh more curriculum or even a class if that's possible. Um, teaching financial literacy like bills
029and taxes. A lot of students after school, high school like are have to jump right into it and they don't know everything. And I feel like that is something that uh could be very bene beneficial for our community. And yeah, then another thing is we had mental health awareness. A lot of the younger kids, especially in like sixth grade, we're talking about that kids are already struggling with mental awar mental health. And it is unfortunately a thing that we need to come to reality with. And in middle school, they do something called sword and they do a little lesson about mental health. And it's unfortunate that we have talk that we have to teach it younger. But I do feel that it would be beneficial because a lot of kids like all the kids in
030sixth grade are saying that they think it would be beneficial for the kids because they just don't know how to process emotion even though they have it and it's a very serious subject and I feel like if we as a district choose to tackle it instead of hide away from it is another forwardinking kind of mindset and like I said it's becoming a huge thing in society to talk about. So starting those conversations at a younger age is just creating more open-mindedness and could honor honestly be hugely beneficial for those kids. Okay, next up interactive learning. Um so a lot of us agree that when we went to the ASU mix center, it was a very interactive learning lesson and kind of like unique experience where we got to experience learning through VR. Um, and
031that was very, we kind of opened our eyes and we saw that um, interactive learning is way more beneficial when we're able to uh, remember it or like have fun with it. Um, instead of just being handed papers cuz we will just forget it and there's just a billion papers and it's not really beneficial. Um, for me like fourth and fifth grade were my favorite years even though I was really young. But, um, I was those years I did a lot of like interactive learning, hands-on activities. And I think that's helped me and like I've grown with that and I've remembered those lessons and I think uh, if we apply that to older and like high school years that that could be beneficial. And then the last point that we want to touch on is
032professional development opportunities for substitutes. Um, especially at Williamsfield and Higgley, we have a lot of long-term subs, but they're kind of just thrown into a class with no guidance on the class and no understanding how to do classroom management. just we just think that maybe providing them with a short lesson on how to run the class or just giving them extra support would be really beneficial and create a lot of like um differences that we see because I feel like a lot of students just don't feel supported because they are having a sub who doesn't know what they're doing and I feel like the subs don't know what they're doing because they've never taught the subject. They've never majored in it. So I feel like from a district we could support subs more by just
033giving them the support they need because they matter just as much as teachers do. And now I'm going to pass it back to Michaela. And if you're wondering, here are all the pictures that we have from all of the places we went to. We talked a lot about um the ASU mix center and um CGCC. We learned a lot and got to see a lot of really cool, unique things that we wouldn't really get to see if we weren't a part of this council. So, with that being said, thank you so much for taking the time to listen to our reflections, ideas, and hopes for the future of Higgley Unified School District. Being a part of the superintendent's advisory council has truly opened our eyes not just to how much thought and care goes into
034making this district great, but how much our voices matter as students. We've learned that growth doesn't just happen through policy or curriculum. It happens through collaboration, through conversation, and through truly listening to the people your work impacts the most, which is us. What makes HSC special isn't just the academics, um the opportunities, or even the amazing programs. It's the heart behind it all. The fact that students from elementary school to high school can sit at the ta the same table and be heard, that's what sets our district apart. We hope our insights today encourage continued growth, innovation, and student- centered thinking. Thank you for giving us this platform, for valuing our perspectives, and showing us what it means to lead with purpose. We are so proud to be students of Higgley Unified School District, and
035even more proud to help shape its future. Thank you. [Applause] So, Mr. Armstrong, will you come up? And Miss Thomas, will you come up because you helped with this team? And I want to say great job. Did you guys want to say anything? You kind of got thrown up here. No, no, but I do remember we got asked who's a creative and you raised your hand. I remember it because this is our musician. So, all right, we'll take a picture. Thank you. [Applause] For anyone who is here and wishes to fill out a request to speak form, if you have that, it's the last call to turn it in. We will now move to a public hearing to discuss the fiscal year 2025 budget revision number three. Mr. Moore. Yes. Good evening, President Wade, members
036of the board. Uh tonight we'll be presenting our final revision for our fiscal year 2025 uh budget. This will be our third budget revision. Um, as I just mentioned, this is kind of uh the the culmination of our uh current fiscal year's budget timeline. Uh we are now in the May part of our revision process, which is the final uh deadline in which we have uh an opportunity by statute to revise. So, uh, tonight will be a reconciliation of our, um, 100th day ADM and, uh, our reconciliation of some of our accounts and legislative, uh, onetime supplemental funding. So, with that, here are some of the highlights. So, like I just said, we are uh, within this budget, we are reconciling to our 100th day ADM. Our last budget revision, budget revision number two, was
037done in December. uh that was prior to our 100th day ADM which uh concluded around uh January 10th. Um the one-time funding adjustments were also taken in consideration during this uh final budget revision. So there's a law that was passed in this legislative cycle that included uh two one-time supplemental funding sources. Uh one includes a an additional group B weight funding supplemental for free and reduced price lunch. um that totaled for Higgley 181,000 um just above 181,000 additional funding and then the same law also provided a one-time capital supplemental for 2025 and that total 325,000 just above 325,000. So those are both taken into consideration into this budget. And then lastly uh as as the board has been well aware of this is the um final year in which our override is fully funded. So
038next year we'll begin the phase down and the board has already been previewed a phase one reductions and has reviewed the phase two survey. Looking at the too far budget implications for the maintenance and operations budget. Um from left to right this looks at our budget categories. Our revised budget number two which was again in December, our revised budget number three which is currently on the agenda tonight. And then the differences. So from December to uh May or really our 100th day, we saw a slight increase in ADM of 13.8 students. Um that's equated to a revenue control limit increase of about $457,000. We increased our transfer because as we reconciled the one-time supplemental funding from capital which is noted at the bottom um we projected 300,000 in the budget revision number two that total
039was actually 325,000 so that's the difference um in that additional transfer again that legislative one-time supplemental funding is just for 25 that will go away in 26 and next year so we'll actually see a budget reduction um in that sense the override uh we tred up and reconciled uh that total override number that 14 million represents a fully funded override and so next year you'll see a one-third of that or a third of that uh reduced as we start our phase down and then our budget balance carry forward in December we um reconciled that so there's no change in our carry forward from prior year and then um some small reconciling for our prop1 $123 $3 um totals budgetary change for maintenance and operations of $423,000. Looking on the capital side, uh far less changes
040in terms of capital because this uses a prior year funding model. Um so we had a small reconciliation to our capital funding formula which is also known as district additional assistance. uh we increased that $16. And then like I stated before, the transfer from the onetime capital supplemental uh is reflected as a negative on M because we're transferring that to capital. So it's reflected as a positive on capital. And so the only really increase to the capital budget is a reflection of that onetime supplemental funding of 25,000. So with that, looking ahead, we will now start preparing for our 26 uh budget. And so uh as again tonight, we're presenting our final revision for this fiscal year. Uh that will kind of close out our budget conversation again for this current year. Um later on
041the agenda, we do have a resolution for an ML override and a resolution for a land, sale, lease, or exchange of real property. uh that will definitely um play into the conversation as we prepare for our proposed FY26 budget coming to you shortly in June. And then we immediately in June 24th will adopt that proposed budget. Um I can I can notate that right now there doesn't look like there's going to be any sort of legislator closure uh closure uh in terms of a K12 budget bill. So, we'll probably be um proposing and adopting our 26 budget on preliminary budget forms, which has been the standard and status quo for the last three years as the legislative process is taking um a lot longer than it typically has. So, uh nothing new there, but uh
042we'll be on preliminary budget forms uh again for that proposed and adopted budget. So, really a quick budget update. Um with that, I'll be happy to answer any questions. President Wade, Mr. Moore, the DAA supplement that gets applied to capital, correct? Yeah. So, the U President Wade, member Van Hook, the district has the um uh discretion to apply it to either M or capital. We have chosen to apply it to capital because we um have a capital need within our district. So um yeah and that is reflected again in this transfer on the transfer line. And then as far as the um the free and reduced lunch amount um that can be applied to either M or unrestricted capital. That's correct. Yeah. And we have chosen to apply that to the maintenance and operation budget.
043Thank you. You're welcome. Does any member of the public have any comments or questions regarding the fiscal year 2025 adopted budget? With that and if no other board members have any comments, uh we will now reconvene in open session. Thank you, Mr. Moore. All right, great. Next on the agenda are the requests to speak. Please play the video. We value input from our constituents. This time on our agenda has been set aside for anyone from the audience who wishes to address the board. Those that wish to speak should have filled out speaker cards which are due prior to the start of our meeting. Members of the board may not discuss, comment, or take action on matters raised that are not specifically identified on the agenda. Therefore, pursuant to ARS 38-431.01i, action taken as a result
044of public comment will be limited to directing staff to study the matter, responding to any criticism, or scheduling the matter for further consideration and decision at a later date. Also, we ask that audience members practice proper public meeting decorum, refraining from either negative or positive responses, including clapping or verbal outbursts to ensure fairness to all points of view. Those that refuse to follow these rules may be asked to leave. In accordance with policy beedh public participation at board meetings, if considered necessary, the governing board president shall set a time limit on the length of the comment period in order to ensure that each individual has an opportunity to address the board. The president may also set a time limit for individual speakers. Thank you for your cooperation. [Music] We have a Stephanie Giddings. Do I
045have a time limit? Three minutes. I would like to preface this by stating that despite what the district has claimed through their attorney, there are currently open investigations with Queen Creek and Gilbert police into the school staff and into Gilbert SSO for their failure to make a mandatory report. I won't say how I'm connected to this because I need to protect the students involved, but I know exactly what happened and every single parent needs to pay attention. On March 27th, 2025, a student at Higgley School District campus was accused through an anonymous report of raping another student. That alone should have triggered immediate action and a call to local law enforcement. By law, school staff are mandatory reporters. Their duty is crystal clear. Report it to law enforcement. Do not investigate. Do not interrogate. Do
046not decide guilt or innocence. But that's not what happened. Instead, two school officials with the knowledge of the principal and the SSO pulled the alleged victim into the office and questioned them alone. They asked this child, for all they knew, to relive potential trauma without prior notification to their parents, without caregiver support, without even documenting the conversation. They treated a felony rape allegation like a minor rule infraction and then sent that child back to class like nothing had happened. No safety plan, no call to appropriate police, no trauma-informed care, nothing. Left to process the shock and confusion of such a heinous inquiry in the middle of her school day, the student turned to their friends. Within the hour, students were buzzing with whispers about the details of a rape allegation interview. This wildfire of rumors
047ignited by the school's reckless handling spread with no way to control it and no end in sight. Then came the unthinkable. The district blamed the alleged victim for sharing what was so casually asked of her in that interview. Not the staff who violated their duty of care. Not the adults who failed both students. No, they pointed fingers at the alleged victim. The district maintains that they had a right to conduct this interview despite the fact that even uniformed patrol officers do not name suspects nor conduct these types of interviews without extensive training and certification of interviewing alleged victims of sex crimes. Even worse, school personnel took it upon themselves to declare this allegation unsubstantiated. Let that sink in. Non-law enforcement school personnel without proper training, without legal authority, decided a rape allegation was false based
048on a couple of questions. A dean of students whose job is to investigate, quote, "From your job description, minor school code violations played detective in a sex crime allegation." This was not just a mistake, it was a catastrophic failure. The truth is the allegation wasn't real, but the damage is a student now lives with the trauma of being wrongfully accused and publicly shamed. Another student was questioned about rape in a school office by people unqualified to do so. Both were failed in devastating ways. And I'll see you at the next meeting. Was an aggressive timer. Okay. We have no other requests to speak. So this moves us to the consent agenda items. I motion to approve consent agenda items 6.1 through 6.11. Miss Van Hook seconded. All those in favor. I I motion carries 5.
049Oh goodness. We would like to thank Uru Otto and Higgley Achievement Foundation for their donations to our teacher of the year celebration. And at this time, I'd like to turn to Karen Johnson because she has an announcement, I guess, since we just approved it. Are you unaware of this? Introduce Mr. Fields. All right, great. I am aware of this. I'm sorry, President Wade. Mr. Fields, would you please stand up? I'd like to recognize Mr. Fields. He is our new executive director of secondary education and athletics and we welcome him. He is currently a member of our Higgley family, but now he will step up and be part of our cabinet. We're very excited to have him this evening and to have him join us July 1st as a cabinet member. Thank you. [Applause] This brings
050us to uh policy GBB, staff conduct and students first read. Mr. Walker, you are up. Good evening, President Wade, members of the board. Um bringing forward an update to policy GBB, staff conduct with students. Uh there was a change to the legislation from House Bill 2310 that addressed um basically an extreme form of grooming that would culminate in what would be defined as child enticement. And so we've added uh the reference to the statute that's been updated 13-1430 to the references on our existing GBB policy. Um it is noted that the policy already uh contains language that says staff are basically required to um comply with with any any laws. And since this law is in relation to the policy, we've added that as the uh reference to the policy. President Wade. Um, I just
051want to point out this bill was introduced and um by former Representative Grantham um because of an incident that happened in our district and um one of our students and I asked to bring this policy forward um to ensure that we add any new language from this bill to the policy. Um, and I'm quite disappointed to see that we're only adding the statute at the bottom. Um, I would like to see uh language regarding communication to lure or entice a minor to share explicit images committing any act intended to facilitate the sexual abuse of a minor. Um, and I I do have um policy update recommendations if I can share that with you. Um, and I hope that second read would include some of this language. Um, one of the recommendations is to um, clearly
052state that the um, that the staff is forbidden from requesting or encouraging students to share explicit images whether through electronic communication, written messages or in person. um clear definition of electronic communication device and visual depiction um to ensure there's no ambiguity. Um the policy should inform staff that violating these provisions is not just a violation of district policy that it's a criminal felony offense. Um, any suspected violations must be immediately reported to law enforcement and staff should be trained on how to recognize and report such misconduct and that staff um must receive annual training on this policy um to ensure that they understand the responsibilities and legal consequences of the violations. Um, and I think it's important to add this language to the policy to ensure that um, we protect our students um, and that
053we never experience that in our district again and that it makes it very clear what the expectations is of our staff um, and that we demonstrate the commitment um, to a safe educational environment for our students. So, if um that's the only thing that I if I can give you the language if we're willing to be able to add that. Um, President Wade, board member Van Hook, absolutely. Please feel free to share recommended policy language and we'll be glad to bring it back for a second read. Thank you. Can we get that shared with us after? Great. Wonderful. Any other further comments? All right, great. This moves us to 7.2 policy JL if sex offender notification first read. Mr. Walker, you again. President Wade, members of the board, uh bringing forward an update to policy
054JLif and that is a recommendation for when there is a sex offender that is part of our school community. Um thankfully that's not something that happens frequently, but however, it is something that has happened before. So we do have a policy in effect to address. There's been an update statutoily regarding the levels of sex offenders. Um, in the past that sex offenders are classified in three categories, uh, one, two, and three, with three being the most egregious offenses and the most, uh, potential danger of repeat offense. Um, the new policy is bringing forward the recommendation to add level one offender who has also been convicted of certain crimes against children to be included into the policy and that our schools must be notified if an offender has legal custody of a child who's enrolled in
055our schools. All right. Thanks, Mr. Walker. Oh, wait. No, go ahead. President Wade, Mr. Walker, is it possible to add that the notification in the statute says notification um is should be within 45 days of their presence in the area. um to the second paragraph um where it says local law enforcement agency to notify the community um if we can add within 45 days of their presence. And then um also it said notifications must include offender's photograph, address, and a summary of their criminal background. um notification must be um diss disseminated in a non electronic format. Um electronic notification may be used only if recipients opt in. And then um the statute language um the school in which the juvenile is in um this is a second page um the school in which the juvenile
056is enrolled shall make the information it receives um persuant to this section available to teachers parents um guardians and custodians on request. Now, how does one know and I know that that's the language in the in the statute, but um can we go above that and notify the community uh or and all you know everybody without um a request just being proactive. We'll be happy to discuss that with legal and with uh with cabinet. I mean, anything we can do to make our school safer, we're happy to consider it. Um, some of the notification uh doesn't come through us. It comes through the police department or jurisdiction. So, I'd have to look into see if we can update the policy to talk about the 45day. Um, I don't I don't know at this point, but
057we're happy to look into that. So, as a as a district, if we can just take that extra measure of notifying community, um, if that's something that, um, we can do, um, I'd appreciate seeing it in the policy. Um but again, I'll send you um my recommendations and see where we can go from there. Sure. Glad to take any recommendations. We'll bring it back for a second read. Thank you. All right. Thanks, Mr. Walker. This brings us to action items. We are on 8.1, approval of fiscal year 2025, budget revision number three. Any questions or comments from the board? I just have questions about uh increases uh that I saw. Um there's a notable increase of 12.3% in special education spending. Um which rose from 18.2 million to 20.4 million. Um, and I understand that
058it's essential to support our students with special needs. I just would like to get more context um, as far as the factors that are driving that increase. Um, if we can get a breakdown of that. Um, there's also a 18% increase in student support services. Um, and I I don't remember I thought I asked at the last board meeting if we can get a breakdown of what that covers. Um, I'd like to see that as well. And then, um, instructional support staff, that went up 20%. Um, and it looks like majority of that is, uh, salaries and benefits. Um, but I'd like clarification to know that is is it in fact salary and benefits or is it a adding additional um support staff? President Wade, member Van Hook, um, please remember this is not actual
059expenditures. What is presented is the budgeted expenditures that we anticipate spending. So, but you have to remember when looking at that page, I believe it's page uh one, the M salaries page that you look you referenced, we also they don't provide a line for our contingency. So, the $21 million we have to put into these numbers as budgeted funds because they don't give us a separate line item to break that out. I believe we talked about that before. So, but I can certainly um provide some more context in regards to our um increased uh anticipated budgeted expense for SPAD. Um we in we continue to um see increased sped costs across the board and Miss Miller could provide that, but we can certainly follow up and provide that information for you. That'd be great. Thank
060you. and also the the doubling of the debt services expenditures which goes from 10 million to 20. Um is that part of the line item that you're talking about? I can speak to that. President Wade, member Van Hook, that that is a um exact replica of us preparing for our debt payment. So our debt payment fluctuates every year and that's just a larger payment in which uh we have this year. Uh we anticipate that um we have a couple years of high payments and then those will they'll go down after we pay off some outstanding debt from the 2013 authorization. So Okay. Thank you. All right. I motion that the governing board approve the revised expenditure budget number three for fiscal year 2024 2025 as presented. Second. I'll give that to Mr. Glover. All those
061in favor I I I motion carries 5. This brings us to 8.2 approval of M override resolution. Any questions or comments from the board? Okay, Madame President. Uh this question I think it's um Mr. Moore or uh Miss Richards. Is it safe I'll look at you and ask it to you. Is it safe to say that aside from uh the required minimum raise uh required by state statute by law uh that a majority of classified and certified teachers received no raise this year in Higgley? President we member Glover yet we did not do any raise for classified or with the exception of the classroom site fund increasing certified did not also get a raise. Okay. And then my second question is um if we if we put an override resolution on the ballot, is it
062reasonable to expect since 70 to 80% of a school district's budget is M and 70 to 80% of that goes to salary and benefits? Is it safe to assume that we would be able to then offer uh raises to classified and salary people if this override passes? Yeah, Mr. Glover, that would certainly change our financial picture in regards to our Mino budget and would certainly potentially allow that flexibility to bring back raises. Thank you, President Wade. Um, I'd like to say that as a newly elected board member, I take my role in representing our community and and steward the taxpayers funds very seriously. While I understand the importance of considering an override, I find myself needing more clarity before I can confidently support placing it on the ballot. The district has recently approved salary increases
063and currently holds carryover funds that could potentially be allocated strategically. At the same time, I recognize the ongoing concerns about financial oversight and long-term planning with our in our financial department. As someone who values fiscal responsibility, I want to ensure that any decision we make reflects strong stewardship of taxpayer dollars and clearly communicates to our community that we are both responsible and grateful for their continued support. Thank you. Over the last several months knowing that this was coming, I have had many conversations with community members and they've all had a clear message. They do not want another override. Just six months ago, the majority of our community voted no on this very issue. And here we are barely half a year later asking them once again to approve something that they already rejected. This is
064not just about budget override. This is an issue about fundamental um this is an issue um about a fundamental issue of trust. I have listened to community members and I understand their frustration. Many have told me that they have lost trust in the district. They do not feel heard. They do not feel respected. They do they are deeply concerned about the direction this district is heading and the decisions that the majority of this board continues to make. But instead of addressing their concerns, instead of making a sincere effort to rebuild the broken trust, the majority of the board continues to make progressive decisions that further alienate the very people we are elected to serve. Decisions that have led to growing disconnect between this board and the families in our district. I have voiced my concerns
065many times. I have called for for meaningful change time and time again. Those calls have gone unheard and as long as this board and district continue to move in the direction that community does not support, we cannot expect them to trust us. We cannot simply ask for more money without first earning back the trust and confidence of our taxpayers. Um, that's it for now. Go ahead, President Wade. Um, we all speak to the community and maybe we're speaking to different community members, but the community members that I spoken to want our teachers to be compensated well. They want our schools to thrive and they know that we're not asking for funsies for an M override, but something that we need that's a necessity. We've all sat in the meetings and listened to Mr. more talk
066about what it looks like next year and the survey that went out and the community members that I talk to speak with on a regular basis know how important the M override is to our district and something that we need and it's not something that I take lightly asking people for money but it is what we need in order to thrive um look from my perspective our job as board members is to do what is in the best interest of district. That is literally what our intent is, right? And we do so while listening to the community and any efforts that we do that the community is unhappy with results in not getting elected again should we choose to continue to run. Right? I think we we sit up here all the time and talk
067about how there are members of the community who feel one way and there's members of the community who feel another way. And that is the nature of politics. That's how these things routinely shake out. You have people who are in support and people who will be against. At the end of the day for our district, this is a direct benefit. Without having the override, we lose programs. We have already sent out to the community a notice to give an idea and get feedback. I struggle when we have board members who express things that the district is not making efforts to rebuild trust. I've been on this board for now almost two and a half years. In the time that I have been on this board, we've created committees that were asked and demanded of the
068community because they felt that there was no trust or no ability to talk. And we have done that repetitively. We have done several of these committees to come forward and do that. We have had several meetings in which we have gone out and offered for the community to come here to learn about some of the things that we are doing. We are making those efforts of trust. And while that may not be enough for some people, continue to reach out, continue to talk, and we will continue to make efforts to grow and reach out and find that for you. But to say that we aren't is disingenuous. It's also disingenuous to express that we haven't done enough to meet where we are at right now for this district. Like so many districts in the state
069of Arizona because how we structure funding, we know what happens when we don't pass an override. Right now we have $14 million as part of our budget and we have financed for our next coming year for that one-third that we had to figure out where we're going to do and we've already made some cuts um for that. We've removed certain positions and the place that felt it the most would be the the administrative level. Okay. And we worked really hard to try to avoid anything else which again I am grateful for and I've expressed it before because we have centered staff because as Mr. Glover pointed out staff is a large part of this. We cannot do this without the people who come up and show here every day to do these types of things.
070We have just spent 45 minutes celebrating all the different extracurriculars and programs that we have that are direct result of having funds to be able to divers diversify and move beyond just the classroom because at the end of the day, kids come for more than what's just in the classroom, right? They come for those connections. They come for their areas of interest. And what gets hit the most when overrides do not pass are those areas of interest. We've looked at cutting the programs and if you forget, please go back to your email and look at that survey at all of the things that were there. There was a meeting and I do not sorry I do not know what month it happened or day in which we talked about how many of those items we
071would have to cut in order to meet that next twothirds that will go the year after. With respect to having money in our carry forward, this is a true statement. And while that can solve our problem for one year, what happens the year after? It is really hard to expect greatness from a district when you pull the rug out from from under us. Our district is routinely shown and we have several records to prove that that we are doing everything we can with respect to finances and being as smart as possible when it comes to these types of decisions. I struggle with any board member who is going to say that it is not in our district's best interest to support this override because for our students, for our staff, to continue to have Higgley
072be amazing in all of the ways that we are amazing requires a lot a lot of work. And while I recognize that there is hardships across the board, for those individuals who do not have students and do not feel the direct benefit of that, you still benefit because your property value shows you so when our schools do phenomenally well. People come here, people wish to bring their kids here because of the programs and the offerings that we have. And that is only done through continued support. And so to Mr. Glover and Mrs. Schultz's point, I agree at the end of the day that we have done as much as we can to be as fiscally responsible as possible. And the idea that we have 14 million less to continue to budget unless we do something
073about it. And if you are upset as a community, I am here with you. Demand more of your state legislators. Demand that the state of Arizona structure things differently so districts do not have to vive for what should be provided for our kids. It should be and it's not and instead we have to do this. This is literally part of the structure that has been written into our law for decades now. If you have desires, if you want to know more, sorry, Mr. Moore, I'm giving up more of your time. He is a fantastic individual to direct your questions to to offer these types of things if you struggle to understand why we have to do this or how how we are impacted by it. And I greatly encourage you to to to follow through
074with that. Again, Mr. Moore, I'm sorry about that because it is it is eye opening to kind of recognize what our state has to deal with. So, I'm appreciative of you. I'm sorry about your time. President Wade, I recognize the importance of funding our schools as do the individuals that I have spoken to within our community. But the issue is they continuously see the direction this board continues to go. And if you truly cared about what the community should do in order to support this district, then maybe changes need to be made when votes and and conversations happen on this dis in order to make the change and allow our community members to trust us because they see the votes. They see the conversations on this dis and it's not something that they want to
075support. So, I've said it before and I will say it again. If we want our community members to trust us and and be able to fund the district appropriately, then changes need to be made instead of pushing things into the district that don't belong. And that's the biggest problem. All right. With no further comments, I motion to consider, discuss, amend, if desired, and if deemed advisable, to adopt a resolution ordering and calling a special maintenance and operation budget override election to be held in and for the district and declaring the deadline for submitting arguments for and against the election to the Maricopa County School Superintendent as August 8th, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. Second. Miss Schultz seconded. All those in favor? I I I All those opposed. I abain. Oh, I did not write that appropriately.
076My bad. Uh motion carries. Uh 31 with one abstension. This brings us to 8.3 approval of land sale lease or exchange recommendation. Any questions or comments from the board? Go ahead, President Wade. Members of the board, um if I may, the comment that we um had last board meeting with regards to just identifying lease language. Um if I may make one clarifying message, the recommendation is to include all three, sale, lease, and exchange. But in the pamphlet, we can specifically identify that site um and and very specifically uh explain our direction or the board's direction to lease that property. But um it would be a um foresight or it' be a miss if we did not include that language because um with voter approval, if a resolution pass and voter approval passes, that gives us
077a permanent authority. And as of right now, we have no um leads or per you know timeline. So it would give who knows what's going to happen in December, January. So it would give us um the ultimate flexibility and ultimately that sale, lease or exchange would be brought back to the board um for approval. But in the pamphlet is where we would be able to uh express the direction um of strictly leasing that piece of land. Uh and we can use that language throughout our factual information. So, I just want to make that clarifying. Thank you, Mr. Moore. I thought I we did talk about that, but it wasn't on my thing. I should have introduced my bad. President Wade, Mr. Moore, um Arizona law requires that the school um school district cannot ask for
078voters to approve both a sale and a lease in one single ballot measure. So please explain to me this isn't this vote is to decide to do one of the three but on the actual ballot it'll just be one or you're asking that the ballot measure have all three options. Yeah. Yeah. According to our election council, our this is the language that um will be on the ballot uh sale, lease or exchange of district property. Um it is not again the authorization to do all three or is giving voter voter voters a pass that gives authorization to do one of um either sale, lease or exchange. Then ultimately the board would be um bring back that final um approval to either sale, lease or exchange. This language is referenced um in the statute that's referenced
079in the resolution. Okay. I'm sorry. So on the actual ballot that goes out to to people, we will decide which one will be on that ballot or you just said that all three would be on there. Yes. As individual or combined? One question authorizing providing the district authority to sell, lease or exchange. Okay. But so according to statute 15-1101A that says requires a ballot measure specifically for selling property, 1102B says requires a separate ballot measure specifically for leasing a property. So combining two options into one measure is is not clear and it's I mean how do we leave that open-ended for our voters president that that's all under the same statute those are subsections under the same statute is how I understand but it still requires separate ballot measures and then there was an Arizona
080court case versus city of Tucson on requires that ballot measures be clear, precise, and specific about the government action being authorized. And by not being specific as to what we're going to do, whether we're going to sell, lease, that's not very clear that I mean, how do we expect our voters to say, "Sure, do whatever you decide instead of having a clear decision on what exactly we're doing. And if if we want to be able to have either a cell or lease, then we should have two separate b separate ballot measures on the ballot. We should not be combining them. President Wade Memorook, I our legal counselor for elections couldn't make it tonight. So, if the board wanted to table this so we can answer those questions. Um, I'm I'm not I don't know if
081Miss Mlullen couldn't answer that, but Madame President, Miss Van Hook, I'm checking the resolution. It is written by uh the legal council August Rosenfeld. I'm assuming it was Jim Gil who wrote this. Um, in my experience, um, it is common place for a school district to ask for all strands of authority with regard to legal property. Um but I am not an election law expert. So um I I am familiar with the Cromco decision. It doesn't address specifically this the issue that you are raising which is whether there need to be separate questions. Um so without Mr. Gil being here, it would be my advice that you table this item if it's not going to affect the district's ability to call for an election at a later date. Is that correct? Correct. it would not
082affect our timeline in which we can get this on the November ballot. So, if the board wanted to table this one to which our legal council, Mr. Gil, can come back and answer those questions. Do you want a motion the table? I'll I'll motion. Um, I move to um table uh action item 8.3 second. Mr. German seconded. All right. So, we have a table with Mr. Sherman seconding Miss Zimmerman. All those in favor? I I live your life now. All right. Motion carries. 5 to zero. This brings us to 8.4 approval of policy IHA basic instructional program second read. Any questions or comments from the board before I motion? This is I think this is the one we have. Do you have a statement? I think all right. Great. I motion that the governing board
083approve policy IHA basic instructional program. Second. I'm going to give that to Miss Van Hook. Seconded. All those in favor? I. Motion carries. 50 8.5 approval of supplemental notes. Miss Davis, good evening, President Wade and board members. Um, I was here in March and presented the process that we used to review and recommend our 6th through 12th grade novels. And today I'm here to go over our results of the public feedback. Um, and I'm excited to say that um, we had 15 parents provide um, feedback um, across all our grade levels, 6 through 12. 93% of those parents agreed that our novels align with the Arizona State standards. 93% of those parents agreed that the novels promote critical thinking and meaningful discussion. and 87% of those um parents agree that the novels provide opportunity for
084rigorous learning. Um so the feedback does affirm the work of the novel committee and reflect strong alignment between our parent community and the work that the um committee did. So with that I will turn it back over to you. Any questions or comments from the board before I motion President Wade? Um it is disappointing that only 15 parents uh completed the survey, but I will say that um the structure of the survey was a bit complicated. It would have been nice that under each item there was a place for comment instead of having to do it individually per item. Um and uh I tried to just follow and um I I do have to say it was it was a bit complicated for the survey um and more time consuming I think. Um and um
085but I uh as far as the um the the books itself um and where are we? We're on 8.5. Um I'll just read my statement. Um I'm deeply concerned that the committee did not reject a single book. um which raises serious concerns about why um adults in a school setting feel it's okay to put such content in the hands and minds of students. We should require um a written explanation for why each book was approved um including any concerns that were raised and why those concerns were ignored. As board members, our primary duty is to ensure that our schools are safe, supportive, and academically sound environment for our students. This responsibility is undermined when we allow inappropriate books into classrooms, books containing graphics, sexual content, explicit language, violence, and other mature themes unsuitable for minors.
086Our obligation to protect students is grounded in long-established law, including a 1986 US Supreme Court ruling that declared lewd conduct inconsistent with the values of public education. This is not a political issue. This is about protecting children from being sexualized and groomed. research consists consistently shows that exposing um exposure to explicit content at a young age can harm a child's mental health, emotional development, and academic performance. The American Academy of Pediatrics warns against exposing minors to sexually explicit media um because it is linked to risky behavior. As board members, we cannot ignore this evidence. Our goal is not censorship, but safeguarding children from content that they are not ready to process. How does exposing them to such material improve student achievement or outcomes? At the last board meeting, um board member Glover mentioned that um
087with policy IHA um regarding 911 that um the content was too explicit for for minor students. um yet here we are um allowing our students to read such such books and I I just I don't understand how um we can continue to allow this to happen. That's all. President Wade. Um I am I'm kind of frustrated that this only says sensitive content. I wish it said sexual content. That way it really um helps parents know what's what this entails. This is very frustrating. Um because in all uh I am I'm an advocate for learning and reading and good literature, but I just don't understand this pivot. There's other good options out there and I just don't understand why we need to kind of throw these extra ones on here. Um there's a quote by Socrates.
088If you want to destroy any nation without war, make adultery or nudity common in the young generation. I am an advocate for protecting the sanctity and innocence of our youth. There is certain topics that are more need to be addressed at home. And so again, I just want to pivot and make parents aware if this passes tonight, be very mindful and watch for everything and have those conversations with kids at home. And I I'm just really bummed out that this I'm really disappointed um that we need this um that the district thinks we need this when we could have found alternatives and very we have so much rich history and literature and I I just don't see the point of putting this on and that it's not clearly the sensitive is kind of misleading. It
089needs to say sexual content on that. So, I just want to express my grievances. Miss Davis, for clarification, how many people were originally on that book committee? Um, I believe we had 28 originally. Sweet. Thank you. I just could not remember. Um, for any individual who is listening and has concerns, uh, it is important to note that when your child is given a book that potentially could have content that you may personally disagree with at home, there are permission slips that are given out before the book is there. That is a policy we even updated the permission slips and what they looked like last summer. Um, and so at the end of the day, what this does is choice. I'm appreciative to this committee even though we didn't have to do this. This is something
090we chose to do as a district. Again, trying to be transparent and respond to committee or I mean constituents concerns and that individuals could come they could look at this and the fact that every single individual in that committee who are different human persons with different thoughts, beliefs, etc. uh all felt that at the end of the day it was more academically rigorous and while the novel itself may have a you know a few paragraphs of a subject that may be something that you do not wish your child to read again that was within your control and it's still within your control at all times um and I think that is important opting out is always available uh so I thank you for the the people who did the committee the 15 folks who who
091took the time going through that survey Um cuz it matters anymore. No. All right. Okay. President Wade, uh and I've expressed this before, but um yes, parents have the option to opt their children out. Uh but the unfortunate thing is those children that do opt out um can't be in the classroom when the book is discussed. And that's not fair in a school environment. We shouldn't even have have these books, let alone force the kids that opt out to be in a separate classroom, in a separate environment. Um, when we can make options or or choices that is all-incclusive instead of segregating kids based on opt outs because their parents choose not to clutter their minds with explicit content that first of all shouldn't be in schools to begin with. These children are minors. I
092don't care if it's a college course. The bottom line is these kids are minors and they're getting their minds full of garbage that should not be there because they're not mature enough to be able to absorb this information. And that's all. President O. I just want to say that these books create are real world scenarios and historical events and things that have happened. It's we're not asking children to read porn or anything that that could clutter their mind. actually things about the world and things that have that have happened. Um and many of them are about ready to go out into that world. Yeah. Um President Wade, yes, beastiality is real world information that we need to teach our children about. Again, I would like to express that parents, you have the choice on whether
093or not you agree. I also think it's important to express that we as a school, that teacher, as a district are not segregating children. That would be the choice of their parent and they are made aware of what will happen for their child when it comes to being able to discuss and those types of things. And so parents, again, if you are concerned about what that looks like, you have choice. You sign off on what your kids are choosing to sign up for in terms of classes and those types of things. Um because again it matters you as the parent. We believe in parent rights within our district and we create more than enough opportunities to make sure that that right is within each parent's control. Uh so you can choose for yourself. I motion
094that the governing board approve the listed novels recommended by the 6th through 12th grade novel committee for instructional use beginning in the 2025 2026 school year. Second. That would be Miss Schultz seconding. All those in favor? I I I. All those opposed. Motion carries three to two. This brings us to 8.6 approval of supplemental instructional materials. Miss Davis. Hello again. Um so also in March I shared um similar process but for our prek12 supplemental materials. Um and we received 11 public feedback responses. Um, again, all from parents. 100% of the parents agreed that the resources align with our Arizona state standards. 91% of the parents um strongly agreed or agreed that the materials promote critical thinking, discussion, and essential skills. And 82% of the parents agreed that the resources provide rigorous learning opportunities while 18%
095indicated partial rigor. Um so once again there is a strong alignment between the community's input um via the public feedback survey and the comm community I'm sorry the committee's work on the review President Wade um how many did you say did the survey 11 11 and then how often is our supplemental material list um reviewed and updated. Um I it looks like we have 21 pages of supplementals. It is updated annually um like the novel list. Okay. And is there do we ever decide like nobody's using this and we can get rid of it. Correct. Um we didn't delete any this year. We wanted to focus on testing the new process, but next year we will go through with a committee and see if there are any that we can remove from the list um
096and go through that process with the committee um in the school year 2526. And when uh these supplementals are brought forward, is it like specific teachers that ask for them or just the district decides to implement them? Um so both options will happen. So teachers might find out about a supplemental material that will enrich their um instructional um time or the adopted um materials that they have or um a district employee will bring that forward um in order to help their um department that they support. And do we ever, let's say something's brought forward, do we um ever look and see if we have something that's similar that can be used versus getting a new one? Absolutely. And that did happen with this committee this round. There was one that we had something similar to
097it and the option that we already had approved was the better option. Okay. Thank you. Of course. I motion that the governing board approve the supplemental materials listed as recommended by the prek through 12 supplemental materials committee for instructional use beginning in the 2025 2026 school year second. Miss Schultz seconded. All those in favor I I I motion carries 50. This brings us to 8.7 approval of overnight and andor outofstate student travel with Williamsfield Stuco. Any questions or comments for the board before I motion? Um, do we know um as far as a the curriculum used at camp um what that entails? So, board member Van Hook, I did meet with the one of the sponsors for student council that is going. She has requested the agenda and said she would send it over when
098she gets it, but I know it deals with leadership, development, collaboration, skills of that nature. Okay. Um, I went on their website and there was a a Google link that directed you to their um curriculum. Um, and there was two that, um, I found extremely concerning. Uh, let me bring it up. Um, one of them was called gender activity and the other one um was called identity circle. Um and both of these are um absolutely inappropriate. Um the gender activity um has separates the boys from the girls and um they ask them questions. It says, you know, there's no talking and you just have to sit there and listen. Um, and they ask the boys questions as to, "Have you ever taken a drug or alcohol to make yourself seem more like a man? Do
099you carry condom in your wallet in anticipation of having sex? Have you ever believed that whether or not you were going to have sex was solely dependent on the woman?" That's just some questions for the boys. Um, and then for the girls, have you dressed provoc provocatively to attract a man? Have you said yes to a man because you were afraid to say no? Have you ever been afraid to show affection towards another woman for fear that you would be called a lesbian? These activities not only violate the principles of privacy, respect, and parental rights, but also conflict with state laws and state and federal laws. Um the other curriculum the identity circle um again it tells them that they can't talk and then they go through the criteria and they ask you know are
100it's funny because at the top it says maturity is important because the nature of the activity and then it says you know they ask are you a senior are you a sophomore and then they walk according to these categories. Um, dancer, singer, uh, middle child, innocent questions. Um, and then it goes into religion. Are you Christian? Are you Jewish? Are you Buddhist? Are you Baptist? Um, and, uh, bald, short, thin, tall, chubby. I mean, talk about putting students on the spot. Um, and make them feel weird about their appearance. Um, do you have a learning disability? Do you have a physical disability? Do you have an emotional disability? Do you have a hidden disease? Um, are you are you raised are both of your parents in the house, single parent household? Are you a virgin?
101Are you heterosexual? Are you trans? Are you gay? Um, are you middle class? Are you poor? Are you an immigrant? Are you undocumented? Are you a refu refugee? These are inappropriate questions to ask students and these are the curriculum that is listed on their website for the StuCo camp. Um the pre I'll just read my statement. The gender activity pressures students to answer invasive personal questions about their behavior, beliefs, and experiences related to gender and sexuality. Questions about intimate behavior such as carrying condoms or altering appearances for attraction are unsuitable for school sanctioned events. They risk embarrassing students, pressuring them into uncomfortable disclosures and creating feelings of shame. The identity circle activity goes even be even further compelling students to publicly identify themselves based on per personal characteristics such as religion, sexuality, family structure and
102socioeconomic status. This approach can divide students rather than unite them making them feel exposed, judged and isolated. forcing students to publicly categorize themselves in a way is an emotional and social risk without any legitimate educational purpose. Legally, these activities raise serious questions under Arizona statute 15-117, which requires schools to obtain informed uh written informed consent from parents before administering any type of surveys se uh that solicit personal information about students. This includes information on sexual behavior, religious practices, and mental health history topics directly addressed in these activities. Conducting these activities without parental consent could could expose the district to legal penalties. Moreover, these activities may infringe upon students civil rights by pressuring them to reveal deeply personal aspects about their identities in a group setting. This is not only a risk um emotional distress, social
103stigma, but also may violate federal protections under the PP, which is designed to safeguard student privacy in educational settings. Our district has a responsibility to provide a safe, respectful, and supportive environment for all students. Leadership training should focus on developing essential skills like teamwork, communication, and problem solving, not on exposing students to ideologies, ideological exercises that force them to reveal private information and engage in identity based labeling. Parents entrust their children to us with the expectation that their values and privacy will be respected. The inclusion of these activities not only undermines parental rights by exposing their students to controversial content without pre parent acknowledgement, but I don't even parents are probably um unaware that this is even part of the curriculum. Um and if they knew, I wonder how many would rightly object. giving these
104given these significant concerns ethical, legal, and educational, I can't support our students attending this camp unless we can demand that these two curriculums be removed from the activity. Um, and we have to ensure that the programming reflects our communities and our district's values and respects student privacy. Thank you, Miss Richards. for the students that are attending. Is a parent permission slip required? Yes, President then. Thank you. Sorry, Wade. No, you're fine. Um, the only thing I wish to express to that is just an alternative view. Um, I'm not here to change anybody's opinion. You get to feel how you feel about this. That's totally fine. Um but as in an individual who sometimes is part of categories that are not always expressed uh having other people part of that creates groups, it creates inclusion. Um
105and having been a part of certain types of trainings in which your job is to go out and speak to larger whole communities and how you interact with the people around you. The purpose is to get people to understand differing perspectives, right? And so when I can better understand different perspectives, I can better represent the student population that I serve or whatever the situation might be. Um I look forward to seeing whatever the agenda is as they they share that. Um uh but I appreciate the question. I I was assuming we gave parent permission slip. I just wanted to make sure. Well, and President Wade, I did want to clarify that the sponsor said the resources on the website are archived resources, which I'm not sure if that's the ones you're referring to, but that
106they're not things that were currently being used. So, I ask her, hey, can you get the agenda? So, yeah. I just can you point me I mean, I'm at the astco.org website, Miss Van Hook. Where where exactly are these things that you're talking about? Cuz I'm looking. I I would like to see them. Um there was I looked in the Google Drive and there's a Google Drive um that I found when I went on there. Um I can't do it now because I I'd have to dig again, but there is a Google Drive. Um I thumb through the Google Drive. I'll look again. I can find the link and send it to you. Thank you. But I I and I can share the um the two curriculum as well. Okay. Thank you. I I also
107would like to see that link because I didn't see it as well. When I Sorry, I don't have it in front of me. One of the date this is a June dates for this. Is that right? Is it June? Okay. So, in order for them to be able to go, we'd have to vote on it today. I can make sure though that the survey information is included as an additional parent permission component and that I mean not only would we see the agenda but the parents would. So yeah, and President Wade and and that's my concern is parents when they sign a permission slip that their kids can attend. I would have never assumed that a StuCo camp would would have this type of curriculum involved in it. There's no reason for it. Um it's
108not the the purpose of student council. Um and there's there's no reason to include it. So, um, so yeah, parents sign that their parents can go without knowing any of the curriculum. So, it would be nice that with a permission slip, parents are able to see what their kids will be um, participating in um, in future um, uh, permission slips. That would be great to be able to provide to parents. And then that gives them the opportunity to say okay no you can't go at all or you can go but you you can't participate in these activities. All right. I Yeah. Go ahead. I motion that the governing board approves the overnight and out ofstate student travel request for Williamsfield High School student council. Can we make an amendment to that to just say that
109as long as it wait as long as it includes the agenda? I mean that's what we were talking about. We're going to send the say that in our vote so that I mean do I have to is that possible? Madam President, uh Miss Schultz, Miss Wade would need to amend her motion. Okay. Thank you. I'd like to amend my motion and remotion. I motion that the governing board approves the overnight and outofstate student travel request for Williamsfield High School Student Council with the agenda going out with the permission slips. Thank you. Second. There we go, Miss Schultz. Thanks. All those in favor? I I I just have a quick question. Um, the permission slips have already gone out, haven't they? Yes, board member Van Hook. Yes, but we will send another one. Okay. With the
110survey permission and the agenda and will the agenda include the ser those two uh assignments or what their agenda? It's unclear to me whether that's actually part of this camp. So, whatever is on the agenda, we will share for sure. Okay. Um, I'm going to have to abstain because I I can't vote yes or no without knowing um what the agenda is. All right. Motion carries 3 to one with one abstension. This brings us to 8.8. Ratify payroll and express voucher uh 1130. Any questions or comments from the board? Um so I had uh two items on this voucher pulled. One of them is the um was a book. Um and we were told that um each year um uh we recognize outstanding students with a book at senior awards. Um but I can't support
111another um giving our student a book containing again explicit content. Um, unfortunately, it's too late um to change what has already occurred since um our I I don't know whether it was Higgley or Williamsfield, but Williamsfield's awards were tonight. Um but I'm generally troubled by um the fact that a teacher would choose this book to give to a student as a gift. Um the the book contains highly inappropriate material including depictions of rape, sexual assault. It also includes references to incestous relationships. Additionally, the book contains references to beastiality. Um, and I don't understand why this would even be considered as a gift. Um, and so, um, I just I I hope that in the future that we can carefully consider literature that we give to as a gift to to our students and choose books
112that have clear educational value. Um, because this isn't it. Um, the other one again is the expense for the um, StuCo camp. Um and so unfort because they're on the same voucher. Um I unfortunately have to vote the same. I motion that the governing board ratifies the payroll and expense voucher 1130. Second. Miss Schultz seconded. All those in favor? I I I all those opposed? Nay. Motion carries three to two. This brings us to future agenda items. Items for future agenda. The uh does anyone have any requests for future agenda items? Just what we talked about earlier for the Perfect. Great. Nobody else. All right. I motion to Oh, wait. Yeah. No. I motion to adjourn this meeting. My bad. That would be Miss Van Hook. Seconded. All those in favor? I. Motion carries. 5-0.
113Have a good night, everybody. And congratulations to the class of 2025. Oh, yeah. Look at you. All the vice president and stuff. Yes, indeed. Graduation's coming up everybody. Good luck.