001e good evening I would like to call this meeting to order Mrs Richards may I have roll call please pres president Anderson let the record show that all five board members are present this evening okay I motion that the governing board adjourn adjourned to Executive session pursuant to ARS 38- 43103 a three and four regarding legal issues and regarding pending or contemplated litigation and or settlement discussions in order to avoid or resolve same and regarding legal issues related to vendor selection issues second that's Amanda with a second all those in favor I I motion carries 5 to zero e e e good evening at this time we will reconvene an open session uh please join me in a moment of silence followed by the Pledge of Allegiance e okay I motion to approve the agenda
002second uh Anna got the second all those in favor I I motion carries five to zero okay Mrs Richards it's time for the superintendent report good evening president Anderson members of the board tonight we have our next segment of Higley Adventures which focuses on our kids all right now I want to focus on our students and I want Mr Allan fields to come up and help me is he here there he is I'm in the back so congratulations to these Higgly high students for achieving exceptional School SC on the preliminary SAT National Merit Scholarship qualifying test the National Merit Scholarship Corporation recognized these students for their academic promise based on their PSAT the nmsqt scores these students scored in the top 3 to 4% so I'm going to let m Mr Fields um introduce these
003kids and have them come up I know is it working it's light on it hello hello there we go all right I know that Carson Winger is not here Carson is on his way back from China participating in a uh International Mandarin speaking comper Ed and he's also our point of Pride I'm going to talk about him again in a minute but he's still not here so is uh jiren jiren here jiren come on up Ace Tiff nice job Jaren Kaden Pope kayen Adam Alibi Ryan [Applause] Edom nice job Ryan Lucas Bradley and Sierra Grandy all right well we're extremely proud of these students and how they performed on the assessment uh qualifying as commended students and then we can do the other one right now we are so don't let them run back to
004their seat check okay uh oh went too far Let's see we also want to congratulate higgle High student Cassidy Berg for achieving semifinalist status with the score in the top 1% of the preliminary SAT National Merit Scholarship qualifying test so as C here cassid is here come on C great job great job you guys want to get a photo I do I'm to you do yeah sorry we're stay [Music] [Applause] yes y'all are gonna have to don't go back next we want to recognize the Lea [Applause] Reeves and I'm going to need I need the athletic director from Higley High School no he said you he said Aaron Dilly has to come up here so bisa capped a terrific track and feel season this Spring by winning gold in the AIA division one or two
005sorry state track and field championships Reeves set school records on her path to the championship the current Junior also plays volleyball we look forward to two more awesome years from Miss Reeves so let's give her a round of applause [Applause] Mr Dilly do you want to say something um yes police is a special young lady her impact on the school and Community is seen by all the people who came to support her here she didn't even did you know any of these people are coming no that's pretty cool um and she's only a junior so we're going to have a couple more of those to celebrate as well [Applause] this [Applause] try oh my God yeah demonstration yeah all right we're ready for points of Pride and we're going to start with San middle school
006I know we have our Dean Lesley cook our assistant principal Brandon keing here this evening now we'll give you this all right uh governing board members members of the cabinet thank you so much for having us here this evening um and to give us an opportunity to celebrate some of the amazing people um that help make sasman an a-rated school and so um we want to um take pride in everything that they do and so we are all here um for the students and so we want to start with our student Michael why don't you come on up and join us so we can tell you or tell everybody some great things about you so Michael is a quiet leader on our campus that has a kind heart and has received the most Thursday thank
007yous from staff and our other peers teachers describe Michael as honest energetic and driven as a student giving 110% every day to his learning he is hardwork working determined and an excellent self- advocator he consistently stays focused and actively participates in whole group discussions his Positive Growth mindset set serves as an excellent example for his peers making him a valued Spartan of our school Community something that stands out is every single day Michael holds the door open for his peers at every transition at lunchtime and he gives a lot of fist bumps along the way we appreciate your respect and accountability as one of our Spartan students good job Michael Michael Michael Michael you get to come back for a picture [Music] buddy Michael do you want to tell us who you brought with us
008tonight celebrate family family lots of brothers and sisters Mom Dad right all right next up we would like to celebrate our parent volunteer it took a lot of coaxing to get this individual here because they don't love the Limelight but she's fantastic so Michelle Morris will you please come up and join [Applause] us she's goingon to be mad at me the rest of the school year all right Michelle has been a tremendous member of the Spartan Community for a number of years she's served as the ptso treasurer for the past two her unwavering desire to support the students teachers and administration of sasman does not go unnoticed she played an important role in helping to put on our annual fall Carnival this past Friday night and even bake cookies for our teachers during the parent
009teacher conferences whenever Mr Potts comes up with an idea to make San feel more like a family Michelle's answer is always the same how can I help Michelle you have helped tremendously to build the culture and success of sasman and we are blessed to have you as part of our family [Applause] and Michelle who did you bring with you tonight uh three of my four daughters so McKenzie Taylor and tan are here we would like to bring our next points of Pride who is our classified staff Jill Mendes come on [Applause] up Jill started as a at saaman deciding to join our team as our media center specialist Jill is a ray of sunshine displaying a positive attitude and ongoing energy every day she's always looking for ways to support students staff and clubs on
010campus Jill does an amazing job at organizing all the athletic uniforms and handling parent questions to support their child at home she has created a student centered Media Center helping with our Tas and providing a safe and calming environment she is a problem solver that will always find the answer even if she doesn't have it and goes above and beyond in supporting all teachers and staff on site Spartan Nation would be a little less bright if you were not on our campus thank you for all you [Applause] do who did you bring tonight I brought my family with me thank you guys all right and last but certainly not least um Miss Kelly Taylor is our our certified awarde come on up [Applause] Kelly so I have had the pleasure of knowing Kelly for just
011about 10 years um and she is a math teacher on the Spartan campus and she began making her impact on the Spartan campus when she joined the family when the school opened so she is what we call an OG Spartan and she's been impacting our campus in a positive way ever since although she's already a phenomenal teacher with amazing experience Kelly continues to pursue professional development opportunities to broaden her skill set to better serve her students it is her desire to support her students and her ability to care for them and to come along the the I'm sorry to come along the side of Staff members that makes her such a tremendous leader on our campus she is currently working on our national board certification continues to train in building thinking classrooms and serves as
012one of our department chairs as if that wasn't enough she's hardworking passionate and a truly great person to be around we are so blessed to have you on our campus and look forward to several more years of you positively impacting the students staff and families of the Spartan Nation thank you Kelly and and you have a couple guests here too right I do I have two out of five kids showed up thank you co and AJ and and I have my co-workers there too thank you Lexi and Rebecca Lexi Rebecca did you want to talk no okay [Applause] spe we're going to need Higley High School back up here so Administration from higgle High Mr Allen Fields you could have just stayed up here they W it's a great day to be a night right
013so um one of the the great things about uh higgle eyes it's filled with phenomenal people uh achieving great things day in and day out um many of the people that we are honoring tonight are busy out achieving those great things right so I mentioned before that Carson Winger is not here he was just in a competition in China uh an international compe competition for speaking Mandarin and he's on his way back but he placed third place in that competition uh with people from all over uh the world an amazing feat uh super proud of him but Carson is one of those kids he's awesome at everything he does um Carson's he's the perfect choice for Higley High School student points of Pride one would be hard pressed to find another student at any school
014in the state who's excelled at the level Carson has in the classroom he's aced every class he's ever taken at Higley even classes not on his schedule last year he scored a highest score possible a perfect score on the AP exam and a class he didn't take um yeah wow in addition to classroom Excellence Carson has represented the Mandarin program at local National and now International competition and he's been selected to travel abroad multiple times as part of his Mastery in the program additionally Carson's also represented hickley high in state and National robotics competitions Carson always brings his programs his family and the Higley Community pride in everything he does um hopefully Carson can come and talk about his experience in China we uh will be inviting him because we're super proud of him and
015so excited all right then our uh volunteer Miss Francine Lopez is busy volunteering as you would expect U but I've been principal for sever several years almost 28 now um and I have never encountered someone who dedicates her time to so many different booster club franc works with almost every single booster club on our campus there's scarcely a day or night that she's not volunteering at an event for one of those booster clubs when she's not running an event she's helping with their fundraising their books and their paperwork that they have to file I know several of our booster clubs have expressed how grateful they are for her service and we agree we're equally grateful for her efforts on behalf of our staff and students at Higley High then our classified staff also not here
016uh Mr Ethan Haney Ethan is the defensive coordinator for our girls flag football team who has a game going on uh right now at this time so he he's busy uh e it's it's amazing when you get to see a future star in the beginning of their path to success Ethan is that future star Ethan is a Higley High School alumni and now he's a parah he he became a Pera the year after he graduated he's also a coach on our campus and he's very effective and professional in both of those positions the thing that makes him unique is his personality he finds a way to get to know each student and what motivates them it's clear that the students know he cares about them and their success that effective leadership is rare in someone
017so young we're grateful he's on our team and hope we get to continue working with him throughout his bright future Ethan is now working on his special education degree uh and hopefully someday we'll become a teacher at Higley High all right now our our point of Pride who is here Jen AKA can you come up [Applause] please every year I try to get a a higher of the year uh when we hire JY JY probably was that hire of the year you uh since arriving to higgle high as a last minute replacement in our CT Department jyn's done an incredible job of leading and growing the graphic design program at Higley High in addition to producing highquality yearbook with her students Jenna's dedicated countless hours to supporting our swim and dive team she's the head
018coach uh as well as taking on the role of lead adviser for our student council we just had homecoming last week and JY was at the school hours and hours and hours making sure that that was a great event in a very short amount of time Jim has JY has established herself as a tireless staff member who makes innumerable sacrifices to ensure that our students are provided with the superior academic and extracurricular experiences they deserve we're grateful for all that she does for our students in our campus thank you and you brought some people with you my husband and my youngest of three thank you [Applause] next is hi Le Virtual Academy and we have Miss Tommy bird here to acknowledge her award recipients okay so I also have a thin crowd tonight um Jacob
019hildbrandt is our nominee um for student he's actually one of our Higley Learning Center students um Higley Learning Center is our a credit recovery program so he's unfortunately not here tonight Assuming he's working he usually works night so um okay so Jacob hilderbrandt is one of hlc's most promising success stories after overcoming some very difficult obstacles he made the decision to continue his education and graduate high school through the Higley Learning Center since he started an hlc this past summer he has demonstrated renewed dedication to his academic success and a commitment to his future goals as a result of his work in hlc Jacob has recovered enough credits to be back on track to grad high school on time with the class of 2025 this may After High School Jacob is considering serving in the
020military and is interested in pursuing a career as a police officer and he has and his family have much to be proud of so that's exciting to see somebody come that far sorry okay next is Montana Flores um she is our um classifi staff and she is my assistant and she is amazing because I could not have done the last three months without her um her contributions have been pivotal to the success of Higley Virtual Academy as we transition to new leadership this year she has stepped up with unwavering commitment and exceptional customer service and communication skills her intelligence and problemsolving abilities have been invaluable guiding us through challenges with a Forward Thinking mindset Montana's dedication to Excellence is direct impacted my own success in my new role as principal not to mention the fact
021that she keeps me laughing throughout the week even when the chips are down it is with immense gratitude that I honor Montana today thank you Montana Wherever You Are for your hard work and your sense of humor I look forward to the rest of our year together and I actually know where she's in she's in class because she's also getting her another degree so she's amazing okay sorry back okay now we have someone who is here jasine rice come on [Applause] up gota frame it jasine rice is an exceptional teacher who has transformed The Learning Experience for her students at Higley Virtual Academy she's not just a math teacher she's a source of compassion for her students she guides her students with patience enthus enthusiasm and clear communication she's created a welcoming atmosphere in her
022classrooms where students feel safe to share ideas and take risks Jazzy is very purposeful about helping her students connect in the virtual evi environment with each other through Collaborative Learning and with her through inperson and virtual tutoring her ability to relate to students and understand their academic needs ensures they feel fully supported which is so important in the online en learning environment the hickley Virtual Academy is successful because of the unwavering commitment of teachers like Jazzy thank you Jazzy for your dedication creativity and heart oh and you have to say who you brought with you today oh I brought my mom yay mom [Applause] [Music] [Applause] rest do what pres president Anderson members of the board we have some upcoming events as everybody knows or I think everybody knows election day is next Tuesday November
0235th that's a big day for our country and our school district for sure um next Thursday uh November 7th at 6:00 p.m. is the best buddies talent show at the hcpa and Miss Miller will tell you that's one of the favorite events of the whole entire school year so we encourage you guys to attend if you if you can Monday November 11th is no school for Veterans Day the 12th Tuesday there's a parent event an Aran harm reduction virtual meeting for parents and then last on Thursday November 14th there's a parent and student event social media um production here at the district office I thought we had one more about the visit to Higley Traditional Academy huh it's coming okay all right those are the events thank you Miss Wade was clarifying that it's also
024on the 14th the visit it is it okay Thursday November 14th at 9:00 a.m. School visits to pigley Traditional Academy we'd love for you all to join us thank you okay um I think those have left have left but it's a good time if you'd like to leave so if you go home and get some dinner and do some school work for our students next on the agenda are the requests to speak um can we go ahead and play the video please 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
025comment or take action on matters raised that are not specifically identified on the agenda therefore pursuant to ARS 38-4 31.0 1i action taken as a result of 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 bedh 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
026address the board the president may also set a time limit for individual speakers thank you for your cooperation also want to read a statement that the district is prohibited under state law from using public resources to influence the outcome of an election accordingly we ask that all speakers refrain from discussing candidates or issues that we'll present in the upcoming election our first to speak is Jessica Smith hello do I just go ahead and start all right my name is Jessica Smith I am a mom of four kids um two who have graduated from williamsfield and one at kolie and one at um chapparel I'm also a um certified teacher and currently working as an Arizona for the Arizona Aces consortion um adverse childhood experiences that stands for and I am here to speak on the
027need for more mental health support in our schools um the American School counseling Association recommends that um um that we have a 250 to1 student ratio and currently in Arizona the rate is 677 to1 students um our teachers are currently teaching in a state that um we have this really low teacher to student or high teacher to student ratio um we are also teaching at a time where we have a pediatric Mental Health crisis um and a parental Mental Health crisis that was just issued by the Surgeon General last um at the beginning of this month um additionally um I have a personal story that goes with this um my daughter Clara who is at cooling Middle School um has a congenital heart defect she has complex medical trauma and has suffered many has been
028through many um heart surgeries and other surgeries throughout her life um luck um just recently there was a social media gun threat at kie that really scared a ton of the kids um it has been a huge um effort to get her into school and this these social media School threats and the things that are going on have made it even harder luckily gratefully um Colleen Crockett was there at her school that day and was able to pull her aside work through it she's worked through things like this with her several times before and instead of me having to pick her up like I had to do several times when she was at chaperal I she she stayed at school and she continues to go to school all of the research shows that our students
029need to feel safe in order to learn there is nothing like if you look at any of the research it shows the kids need to be in the cortex part of their brain or anything that we're trying to teach them is a complete waste of time um we do not have enough mental health professionals in Arizona to support our students luckily we do have some great counselors at Higley um recently was also brought to my attention that there was an issue with the counselors doing the work that um that Colleen did for my student and I'm here to um add advocate for counselors continuing to do this work I also brought in a couple papers that I gave to somebody to pass out afterwards showing the statistics that I just went over showing that we
030are literally number 50 out of 50 in the number of counselors that we have in our school and additionally I brought in um the um the list from the American counselor Association on what counselors are appropriately supposed to be able to do thank you thank you thank I don't know forgive me um the next is it s e a k seek seek Smith thank you and I apologize guys thank you board members for the opportunity to speak my name is sik Smith I'm the founder of mom Army we are a National Coalition of moms and survivors fighting to protect the innocence of children and to end exploitation as Educators you bear the responsibility of guiding students while respecting parental boundaries assigning books laid in with vulgar I'm sorry assign assigning books Laden with vulgar and
031sexual themes undermines your duty to maintain a safe and appropriate learning environment I ask you would any teacher feel comfortable reading these passages allowed at a public meeting or with their neighbors children if not why is it deemed acceptable for minor children to read them we must prioritize children's emotional and intellectual maturity over fleeting literary trends I am shocked and appalled that A Book Like The Kite Runner which graphically depicts rape is part of the district's curriculum how did this book make it through any form of District screening this concern is not merely personal it reflects a broader issue impacting every family in the district it is absurd that parents who expressed concerns and exposing about exposing their children to such violent Conta content are met with threats and harassment children are being forced to
032engage with literature that lacks education Merit and we must demand better for their Futures furthermore I'm troubled that the only book on Muslim culture in Afghanistan included the curriculum features depict depictions of rape incest and sex slavery what message does this send to students about Muslim culture this approach appears counterproductive and potentially harmful fostering islamophobic sentiments among impressionable young minds in conclusion I urge you to reconsider the inclusion of these explicit novels in the district's care curriculum there are countless books that meet educational standards without subjecting students to graphic and inappropriate content schools have a responsibility to provide literature that en that is enriching and educational without crossing the line into material that is harmful to children thank you thank you next is Donna Carlson thank you for the opportunity to address the governing board
033I too am deeply troubled by the educational material being given to students it's clear the teachers have been allowed to select books without a documented approval process or clear guidelines to ensure their appropriateness this is especially alarming when these books contain explicit content that requires parental consent instead of attacking parents who are rightfully concerned about protecting their children we should be holding Educators accountable why isn't the focus on the appropriateness of these materials instead we see parents being bullied for advocating for their children's innocence while Educators push graphic content this has to stop as a district um well I want to specifically address the approval process for these materials who approved these novels in 2022 and what steps were taken to ensure they were appropriate I have serious concern concerns about the thoroughness of the
034review process even more disturbing is the fact that the district has stated it won't review these books unless specifically requested these books should have all been vetted and removed when the first complaint was made at the end of last school year as a district you have the responsibility to provide educational materials that not only meet state and federal guidelines but also protect minor children whose brains have not do not fully develop until their mid 20s perhaps some research should be done on the damage this kind of content can do to the young minds the claim that Higley does not teach critical race theory is misleading many of these books contain significant CRT themes the district cannot afford to overlook the importance of parental consent and the need for a comprehensive review of all materials every
035book assigned should meet educational standards and I hope that the committee reviewing the books will keep these priorities in mind it's also deeply disturbing that teachers and individuals are attacking parents on social media and even the only board member who is standing up for the innocence of children we should all want better for the district and work together to protect minor children regardless of our political beliefs thank you thank you next we have Sheena and is it Glock yes thank you hi my name is Sheena Gluck um I have two daughters in the Higley district one at kolie middle school she's a former points of Pride recipient and one at chaperel elementary um I wanted to come in today to talk to the board about the social media shooting threat that affected Middle School um
036prior to fall break um this was a very emotional and uh difficult time for parents students teachers admin everyone however uh I do have a respectful criticism of how things were handled with the student body uh I was informed by our school administration that the school would not be addressing this in any way formally with the students and that the correct approach that the district had chosen was uh to let time pass and for it to just be forgotten I know that my students have been in the district since kindergarten they have not had a year go by where they're not doing lockdown drills or um something related to school shooting awareness uh we cannot ignore school shootings we don't do that as a district in the first place so I would challenge everyone to
037consider going forward that when these types of invasive social media trends come into our school districts that we take a different approach and we actually do speak with our student population I do think that with the proper help of school counselors and other resources that we can put together an appropriate messaging for children to understand how to report these types of issues what happens after they report them um and and really make sure that all of the students know what is going on I was told that uh pulling the children into some type of an assembly which was what was recommended by the gobert police department was inappropriate as students would feel um publicly threatened bringing them together that could be something that they may have felt but I do think that we could have
038as a district recorded messaging or started some type of curriculum that could have been shared in Home Room classrooms or something of that effect uh these children have become desensitized to school shootings and they do throw these words around very flippantly and we need to especially with our middle schoolers and high schoolers re them back in and teach them the appropriate ways to handle this they are mature enough at 11 12 13 and Beyond to have these important discussions about what's going to happen how to report it who to report it to um and I do think that it would reduce the reposting and sort of the Hysteria that uh took place um to that end I also would like to share that because that this went completely unchecked for a week uh we had
039multiple families that did leave the school district and and that's really unfortunate I do think the kids are mature enough to hear public discussion on this and be coached on how to move forward thanks [Music] everybody thank you okay moving on to the consent agenda I motion to approve president Anderson yes is that the end of public comments okay can I just ask can we get in status like what our policy is for in the case of what did happen or what our policy is just so we're clear going forward I'd appreciate that yes Mrs Richards could you also speak with the parent and just let them know too so it's could you also speak with the parent and let them know that spoke just so we it's not hearsay information things that she has
040the information thank you yes I motion to approve consent agenda items 6.1 to 6.11 Amanda seconded all those in favor I I I motion carries 5 to zero um at this time I'd like to thank all of those in um involved in the gift and donations that have so generously donated to the district and its schools thank you very much moving on to information items 7.1 the special education Day School report for fiscal year 2025 first quarter and U Miss Miller you have some information for us yes govering board president members of the board this is just the quarterly report that we bring to you at the end of each quarter regarding um our students that are placed in our private day schools um we have a budget that's approved at the beginning of the
041year for 2.5 and as you can see as of right now we are within that allocation any questions thank you moving on to 7.2 the quarterly ESI report um that will be given to us by Mr Moore y board president members of the board this is much like Sha's report the the quarter report for our um ESI education servicing because our contracted substitutes and also contracted employees who have um retired from the district questions or comments thank you Mr Moore 7.3 the construction update presentation um with Mr Moore yes president Anderson members of the board um this was recommended to bring forth uh an update uh from a governing board member just on on where we're at in the last couple years of construction and kind of highlight some of the projects um that we've
042done uh Cavo landeras our director of Maintenance and construction will help uh be helping me in this presentation so just a little bit about the district I think sometimes this goes unnoticed and what we have to maintain and and upkeep um on on a daily basis um Higley Unified School District was established you know in 1909 that was with HTA and a small uh pocket of students um the oldest building is coincidentally on HTA uh that building uh was built in8 1985 uh that not going on 39 years old HT does have multiple buildings of a varying age that campus was built in kind of phases and and so um but there is one building on there that is from 1985 that we still occupy today um approximately 10 school buildings were built from 2005
043to 2008 during higgy's years of hyper growth um during that time a lot of the almost all those schools were built by school facility sellers um at the time uh higley's enrollment was so rapid that it fastly exceeded the occupation um the capacity of the district at the time and so um all those schools including you think of Gateway chapparel um what am I missing Santan S no Santan was do one Cortina that's the other one um were built during that time and so uh again those were funded by a school facilities dollars by the state and um that state formula to allocate dollars is based on capacity um I do want to point out though that that is now approaching our our 20-year window um and with the slew of schools being built at
044the same time that does create some different uh circumstances with also maintaining those schools on the similar time our newest building um this most of this board was here and approved this um construction of this building was completed July 2023 um that is on Higley High campus and that is now over a year old already hard hard to believe um some other highlights um the district has a little over 50 plus buildings in modular we actually still have three modular that we're maintaining um where our best program is uh Miss Miller's best program is still in that um we have 1.7 million square feet of building square footage um and our average age of all buildings is 18 years so just a little bit on on how projects are selected and and when I talk
045about projects I'm referring to this is this is our our everyday um budget that Gustavo has in terms of maintaining or replacing equipment that has failed we're talking about projects that are um major projects is the term that we've of have often used in board presentations and in the capital budget um priority number one is is safety and so we look um at school safety we have um a standing bi-weekly committee where we assess and we constantly revisit um safety concerns um Mr Walker is a part of that uh he has good relationships with gber PD as well as Queen Creek and so we are um constantly involved in in making sure that we are addressing any immediate concerns and then also prioritizing um maybe uh concerns that we have um or projects safety concern
046projects that we have that may require phases for example our security cameras right it'd be nice to replace those all at once um right now with budget constraints right we're we're considering we're phasing those in on uh the highest um priority first right so our exterior buildings our entrances and then we'll look to expand that um so we work D to address and fund those capital projects and support our safe School environment that again that's our number one priority after we've achieved uh some immediate sense of that and there is no immediate safety needs um again we do have phased projects uh we look to work on our Capital maintenance plan and so that's a that's a five to 10 year plan uh where we look on our annual maintenance needs such as um large
047HVAC units we have a lot of school districts that are in Central plants so that means they have a chiller and or cooling tower and uh they don't have package units per se they have a large central plant um those typically need to be replaced every 20 years and so we look at a lot of those timeline schedules and try to be proactive in replacing and budgeting for those items it also includes Roofing weatherization flooring playgrounds tur Sports field just to mention a few um we all we also and later in this presentation we we try to leverage as much State funding for these projects um as we can um but sometimes the state doesn't either have the funds to to appropriate to um a lot of these needs and then we utilize either our
048capital budget if it comes to a point where uh it's either failing or or we absolutely need to replace this to continue to address um and and move our maintenance plan forward or else it'll continue to stack up those those Capital needs don't go away right they just continue to grow year after year looking at some of the projects the major projects of the last two years um like I mentioned earlier uh Higley highs had a number of different uh campus construction projects including the building Edition and camp and some various campus improvements as I mentioned earlier the building Edition was um completed in July 2023 um we also completed a modified traffic flow uh which addressed the safety concern with backing up traffic on posos um I know Mr Fields is here we've talked
049to him multiple times um that after some time parents got used to it and are now utilizing that um traffic flow and it's getting people off of posos and keeping our students being dropped off on our campus not in the middle of the street um a part of those completions when you modify an area um the town of Gilbert had has modified the the traffic F light so anytime you make an improvement in an area that hasn't been touched in a while um typically the ADA compliance or any sort of Code Compliance that has been changed during that time we're obligated to update or bring that area up to code um one of those included the Ada modifications to the light the Higgly light uh which was adding um some various crosswalks for um uh
050Ada and some different push buttons um and so when you anytime you again when you renovate or or construct a project um if you leave it as is you're not obligated to bring that up to code but once you touch that then um that becomes subject to you know town of Gilbert or any Ada you have to bring that up to code um so those are some underlining expenses that come into play when we do um large construction projects uh we were aware of that one early with our relationships with the town of Gilbert um a lot of these funds we we utilized uh were not just our Capital dollars so um a big part of that traffic flow in the town of Gite was adjacent wayte funding um I think two years ago the
051board approved leving additional funds for Jason ways and so that's where it's being used in these areas where they're public RightWay uh and they're being put back into improving those areas um we also completed the weatherization exterior painting this summer um I've mentioned several times that was a grant uh Mr landos worked on as well as myself for two years uh that total Grant funded from the school facilities division was1 $1 million and so that was a big win for us um and I'll mention how many more applications we have in the hopper later in this presentation um in 20123 this summer uh we finished the ca flooring replacement uh we have some pictures later in the presentation highlighting that uh that was the original flooring of that school and then we mentioned earlier that
052was built in 2007 um 2023 San Bus Loop expansion we utilize a number of adjacent ways to um expand that Bus Loop and create some additional parking um as well as a safer drop off for students in 2024 uh pre we had some preschool Renovations um again I some of the highlights were that were um one of the preschools had not age appropriate toilets um so we actually got age appropriate toilets for the littles um and created uh uh some different office to space uh for the preschools for that we utilized the capital lease funds that were returned to the district um that was now three years ago uh where we refinanced those buildings and the U lease or returned about $1.6 million back to the district so again um a lot of these project
053we are leveraging uh a number of different funds to complete um 2024 Williams fill track and field was replaced that was utilized in capital dollars um as as field and tracks are not subject to school facilities dollars so so let's highlight a few things uh Mr lose is going to talk about some of the before and after improvements and how they've improved some of the efficiencies within the maintenance department good evening everyone um so this is the restrooms at Higley High School um as you can see the top two pictures um you can see they look outdated they look dark um so we came in um new flooring new lighting U tiled the walls all the way up new partitions new sink uh made sure they look modern and nice and it seems like um
054the students have been loving it they've been taking care of them we haven't had any major issues as far as them tagging anything or breaking anything which has been really great to see um this was kind of an initiative that they wanted to see happen so it was really good for us to be able to make it happen for them and and bring all those bathrooms um looking to that the good condition that they do now and I want to make a point to a few of you attended the community meetings when we were going through this process and and the students this was their number one area where they did not feel safe if you look at the top um they did not feel safe using the bathrooms these were verbatim uh quotes from
055surveying the students um and so actually you know creating a space um that the students feel safe to use um and and they do have pride in keeping them maintained I was um I was not optimistic that they would stay in the shape they are but um Mr Fields can speak to it too they are taking um you know honor in in having a nice facility and and and not like said um breaking it you know and tagging it or like a traditional high school so so this is our weatherization project that um we did here at Higley High School um you can kind of see uh from the top picture the buildings kind are old and you can start to see the age and the wear on them um this process um goes through
056an assessment um they do some testing on the buildings to make sure um that moisture isn't able to get back into the buildings um while we did this project um we took advantage to add logos and add as much branding as we could to the buildings um some of the issues that we encountered with this were um some of the stem walls to the buildings when the dirt was pulled back uh had de water damage to them so we took advantage of that to come in and make all the proper repairs that we needed to do to get everything um back to normal uh we also had some issues with the windows on the campus a lot of the window seals had failed already so this was another opportunity for us to come in and
057replace a ton of windows at that campus and um just get everything sealed and and make sure that that the building looks looks in good condition right the other thing that goes into this is all the hardware for the doors all the seals get replaced to try to keep as much moisture out with the winds and the rain and all that so um ultimately I think we're very happy with the results yeah I'll just add two points to this too like weatherization doesn't mean just painting um it's weatherizing the building to um ensure that's inergy efficient and that it's you know holding air there's a number of different things that it goes through we also get independently assessed sfb does not just allow us to sign off on on you know the job complete there's
058an independent assessor that also says yes this checks all the state's needs in terms of being an uh meeting the weatherization priority uh if you notice on the far right we took advantage of also making some safety enhancements with the fencing if you remember the parking lot was actually fenced at at higgle High um we were protecting the parking lot um so we actually repurposed a lot of that fence on the campus and and fenced on the on the bottom right you can see that that's actually an exterior exit to that building so we took the opportunity to create some um additional safety measures and secure areas where there could be um like that was really open to the public and so now that's secure um and creating uh safe entrances um across the campus
059so this is another one of Higley High School weatherization um on the right you can see the new coping cap very modern look to the building again uh Stam oil issues on this building um and it just took took a lot of extra um looking at and assessing it just because of those issues right we wanted to make sure that we addressed all of the needs that we had there and so I I feel like um you can see the the nice logo on it um Turned out turned out great so this is the hegley high school Marquee um we were really proud of this project and uh being able to to make that corner look really nice right and to be able to have that communication with the community be able to post those
060things on there um we brand new electrical to this um it was mainly funded by Higley High School which was another um great point to this project and um it it's an awesome sign I mean I think we've we've had tons of compliments on it a lot of people have been really happy seeing that um we did training for the staff to make sure that they knew how to use the sign and um make sure that they could get the most out of it this is Cortina Elementary so um you can kind of see in the media center there's tape on the floor holding down the carpet so we made sure we came in replaced all the um old carpet with new carpet um did polish Concrete in the common areas like hallways and front
061office um we did V uh VT in the gyms to try to get a better flooring it looks really nice we were able to paint Court lines on it and um the the biggest thing with with flooring at least in in my perspective is being able to reduce the amount of time that it takes to clean it that it takes to maintain it um we had tile and on all of it and so every year we're having to come in and wax it it just it was a lot of extra work and a lot of extra cost that that we didn't want to have to keep doing so this is kind of the the new standard that we want to set for the district as far as carpet in in the classrooms and uh polished
062Concrete in the common areas also point out carpet scores provide a an easier if a if a singular carpet SP has a bill it's a lot easier to replace um we also have attic stock now with the the plant formant on site and so if if it there was a spill on the the current carp or the the prior carpet right we have to cut a strip out seam uh the carpet in um this allows us to maintain if if there is a spill that we can't either vacuum up or clean up um to easily replace those carpets and and kind of create a um a seamless kind of uh environment so this is our San Middle School Bus Loop um San was having some issues with parking um there wasn't a ton of space
063in the front of the school for staff uh there's there's a requirement that we have to meet to to have um a certain amount of parking spaces open for the pre- school as well so those were some of the challenges um so we came in and we added um I think it was over 40 or 50 spots in the back lot here you can kind of see where the renovations happened in the middle there um we expanded the driveway to make it easier for buses to get in and out of there and we also added a ton of sidewalks so that kids didn't have to unload in the dirt um all the buses can pull in they all fit and we can offload all the kids right onto a sidewalk which obviously is is addressing
064this the safety um making sure that they're not crossing the road when when they're not supposed to this is our all-inclusive playground at chapparel elementary um the the top part was funded through through a grant that uh Miss Kim landed for us um and the bottom one um we paid out of our Capital but it turned out to be amazing it has a shark right so it's the kids love it it's all inclusive which means that you could take a student in a wheelchair and bring them all the way up into that playground and let them play with the rest of the kids which is something that that we're aiming to do at all the campuses chel is is a larger crosscat program and so um that was is part of the priority from not
065only admin but some of their staff at that at that campus to make sure that they have that inclusivity and this is our willfield high school track and turf um this is one of the projects that I'm pretty proud of um it turned out awesome um when we started planning for this project uh we knew that there was going to be issues that we ran into that we probably didn't see coming and uh one of the big issues we had there was the soil once we took soil samples there we realized that the the soil was really unstable and any work that we did there would probably end up failing if we didn't take the right precautions to prep right and so we came in and stabilized the soil and made sure that that this
066is going to last as long as we possibly can with um for the students right um it came out really cool with the um track with the two separate colors um we ended up going with a a higher end infield mix to be able to keep that field as cool as possible um we did upgrade the water cannons as well to ensure that that they could provide the water all the way to the middle of the field and and make sure we had the right coverage everywhere um and yeah just something we're really proud of and I want to highlight too this was already on our radar CU this um turf fields last anywhere between 8 and 10 years this one being older technology as it was in installed uh what was that prior to
0672016 right that's my math yeah um and so this was onor we did several tests they have impact tests um that are done by independent people um and they test the impact by by dropping basically a ball from various Heights and kind of simulating maybe what a football player would go through or a soccer player if they were to fall from a certain height um this field failed on on nine of like the 11 areas um and so it reassured that we were on the the timeline to replace this field um and so likea said a part of that was also just making sure that we did it right um with the soil moving we've had several cracks along um the track um where basically the track is creating a crack now it becomes a
068safety concern with students being able to to run that um and so we addressed a lot of that um in this project um proactively to make sure that this is there for at least 10 to 15 years um and and not have to come back in here uh we do have a video time lapse which I'd like to play see if it can play that [Music] not play it again sorry we're trying to do better at documenting our projects um and and sharing and I thought the time lapse was a really cool um project you have to start that from the start and so we did that and we maintain that through so um looking upcoming um we have uh the williamsfield student Park out to drop off um we're still looking at um leveraging
069a stronger queuing space to get people off of Higley Road and onto that Higley High campus uh I want to thank Miss Schultz for working with her connections with the town of Gilbert and basically confirming that they have no intention to put a light basically at the pool entrance um so we are moving forward um right to date we have uh a PO in place for civil engineer Mr L is working with them and we're evaluating options uh to them bring forth to uh bid out in a contract um uh we do anticipate leveraging adjacent waste funding for that um that is a a public RightWay space that would be considered a fire lane um that parent drop off and so that would be eligible for Jason waste funds and so um hopefully that will
070cover majority of the costs but we'll again we're in that um preliminary phase trying to really identify how much capacity or how much C they call it queuing space uh we can get in that parent drop off more than what we're currently doing um the Cortina water main repair um that is on the agenda for later tonight that turned out to be about 33,000 um that is uh we are just waiting for the final approval for sfb but um they will we fully anticipate them funding that um just again another thing that was uh immediate and we had to address it um Power Ranch roof replacement um back in 22 there was an assessment done for 22,000 um some time and the time between no forward progress was made on that so we are been
071picking that up and trying to move forward with that that power vent roof is 20 years old um a general timeline for roof R2 and so um we're working with sfb to let us move into that next phase which is um procuring a bid to replace that roof uh higle intercom replacement um that is also right now sitting with sfb waiting for funding um they have approved the application um basically the intention of funding it now they just need to come through with the money um a lot of our projects sit in this we don't know the timeline um but their intercom replacement is an intrical part in how their campus communicates um and that is recognized by the school facilities board as a as something that will fund and so again we're trying to
072leverage uh that Grant as much as we can I also wanted to highlight a couple of the grants that that you know in our everyday projects we are also still applying for Grants um and trying to pursue other funding sources um we submitted a grant uh twice now for it's called the cops Grant this is a Federal grant um that basically funds security enhancements uh we applied for 500,000 um we were denied both times um that Grant unfortunately with our district um and our free and reduce population uh that is uh often hindered us in a lot of these Grant applications um they considered free and reduce percentage um one of the main criteria and and basically whether the campus is safe or not or it's one of the matric criteria and so being a
073low free reduced percentage um puts us at the tail end of a lot of these Grant applications um that would and that was one of the reasons why we were denied in this this former application process um wifa um the water conservation grant program we we're working with a $3 million Grant um for over a year now unfortunately this last legislative cycle the wifa was cut $130 million in funding and they pulled all Grant applications um so that Grant was going to fund the conversion of power ranch is a large footprint of turf uh or excuse me grass and uh we were going to utilize that money to um eliminate a number of that grass fields either convert them to Turf or make a desert landscape to reduce water impact basically that was the grant
074was for uh fortunately again the legislative cycle cut that funding the grant they pulled that Grant immediately um and that was denied um I want to also highlight like Miss Anderson highlighted earlier pto's make a number of donations to our district and we're very thankful for them um just recently a couple of the projects that I think uh immediately are the Santan um drop off they provided shade structure and and misters um uh just just tonight you you approved a 39,000 furniture donation from a vendor um in addition we are constantly working with SRP on on rebates um they approve up to 350,000 in rebates for energy efficient initiatives and projects um we are working and we've rebuilt those relationships to leverage um that rebate application and and and so gustava is doing a great
075job with uh uh uring that are any lighting replacement or any energy efficient um thing that we do that's eligible for srp's rebate that we're we're getting we're capturing that and so um moving on to um pending sfd uh construction projects um much like the the grants I I mentioned earlier there's this is the the main grant that we have available to school districts for pend uh approving construction project s we currently have what is that seven applications in the hopper um I estimated basically award based on um what was recently approved um price per square foot on Higgly High um so that that number is is a is an estimate um but again we we are doing our best to utilize the school facilities division grant program um a lot of these grants have
076been in the queue for for multiple years I have a notes section on on there um unfortunately it's just subject to their their funding ability and every District uh has multiple applications in there and so this comes down to um priority and and they have a scoring Matrix as well um they use to prioritize projects they did recently start to honor projects that have been in the hopper for for a longer period of time so projects like um the power ranch roof that's been in there for three plus years will get greater priority than a than an application than submitted more recently so that that was a a great enhancement this year to their scoring rubic with that that is a quick update on some construction that we've done recently and we'll be happy to
077answer any questions Mr Moore thank you for the update on Williams Field I know I've been pushing that because as you mentioned about higgle students being dropped off in the middle of the streets then I see every morning williamsfield students being dropped off in the middle of the street and and the backup so hopefully we have a solution soon since the town wasn't able to help us with that and then thank you for the grant updates I know I had asked for that a couple months ago on grants and the things that we apply for trying to get the most funds that we can so I appreciate that and all of the construction looks beautiful too it's the the williamsfield a teacher said to me when we did the the ribbon cutting that she felt
078like it she had just got her laic because it's so pretty beautiful out there and I know that was a necessity with the track field and us being able to practice on it but it looks really nice thank you president Anderson I was just going to piggy back off uh board memb Schultz in that we just went on our Cortina walkthr and their gym looks fantastic awesome and all of the updates and stuff that you did it looks really nice it was great to see thank you okay any other comments or questions thank you thank you both of you for your information putting this together okay we are moving on to 7.4 policy DJ the bidding and purchasing procedures first read um Mr Moore is proposing changes to the policy yeah president yers members of
079the board um me and mrman talked and it was just easier to to strike through the old policy and just add the new but I'll highlight the major changes include um the the last paragraph uh which is the registered sex offender um prohibition proh imitation I butchered that but there's a couple statutes that were added um and this this those statutes are now outed to the policy and the language um regarding that um those statutes is in now in the um recommended board policy I do want to point out though that we do require all vendors to check in with our our system and so um we also have that layer in addition to this sport policy thank you are there any questions or comments regarding this President Anderson Mr Moore so there's no changes
080to do any of the other language it was just or there is additional changes other than the sex offender one sorry I didn't compare it like word for word yeah I can I can provide in stats a better comparison but like some of these updates include just um bringing it up to date with what is currently in um the procurement threshold so um the required bidding u in the old policies is 50,000 and the new one it's 100,000 that's that's currently what's in statute and that's what requires bidding um so the policy itself was just um outdated in terms of there's another thing that uh list that requires anything above 10,000 you may have veral quotes that is not allowable anymore you have to have written quotes so some of those smaller changes but I'll
081be happy to highlight um all all those changes in status if you would like um that's okay I I wanted to um look into adding possibly adding additional changes um to the policy while we're working on getting it updated uh one of the issues um was allowing contracts to exceed 5 years without stringent yearly reassessments um of funding uh which could lead to possible Financial strains um and changes in the budget availability or economic downturns um that could impact uh those types of contracts um I've got several and I I won't um go through all of them um but there's also um the policy consolidate significant procurement Authority Under uh the superintendent without requir an independent oversight and uh with you know this comes up often but with our previous history um know I'd like
082to make sure that um there is oversight and that uh the board is not Rel relinquishing um our um approval Authority um there's also uh the issue of contracts um that are you know over $100,000 um I'd like to be able to see um some sort of U amendment made that all service contracts that exceed over 10% of the approved amount come back to the board for possible you know possible re-approval um there's issues with Joc contracts um and the fact that if we hire a contractor and then they subcontract out to um you know J any type of J contracts that we have no oversight in that um and it could potentially be a contractor that we have a problem with um but because of the way that it's written we technically wouldn't have
083a say on who our contractors hire as subcontractors um so I'd like to be able to see something written in there and then the biggest one is um the you know I just talking to community members uh the trust between uh taxpayers and when it comes to things that like bonds and overrides and bond packs um the fact that we have uh contractors who heavily fund the bond packs um and then it it creates this uh payto playay type of um image um amongst taxpayers and so I'd like to potentially consider adding some sort of provision um that if any Corporation or individual or any contractor uh that donates to a bond pack that uh whether it's a set limit on how long that they can't bid on a project um or that they can't
084bid at all on a project that um they've attempted to fund through the bond pack um and I think that that's necessary to um get the trust back of the community um because this is a huge concern um those are just a fre few but um I can send you uh what I have and then um we can discuss it further from there yeah that' be great if you can thank you uh president Anderson point of clarification as far as I understand it the PEC is separate it is a separate everything so as far as what this is and what business we do I I hear you with respect to your concerns and I think they're valid I argue that is laws beyond what we can deal with in terms of financing and how that
085stuff works um so I don't see how if we go forward with whatever these changes are and how some of this gets commun communicated to us as we progress um I mean we can't change some of the laws that exist with respect to how businesses can give money to packs and what those things are from I mean that's that would be Citizens United and that's a larger issue than this so if that is something that is pertinent maybe when when we get communicated on it next kind of include part of that but as far as I understand it those would be separate from where we are at I'm sorry we can get legal advice to make sure we understand everything um but we Christine's taken notes of what Vice President Van Hook shared and then
086she'll provide something in writing to Mr Moore so we'll go from there president Anderson I I've got it all typed up so I don't want her to type too much up cuz I can give it to her all in in writing um but as far as uh laws um there really are no laws um but we as a board can create policy um as long as it doesn't violate law um and so nothing prevents uh companies from donating to the to the pack and um yes they are a separate um considered a separate organization uh but ultimately uh what happens is these contractors um donate to the pack hoping that if the bond and override passed that then they're going to be given a contract to do the work and so that's where the whole
087pay to playay comes in um and that's what the community um is concerned about and so if we had something in place uh to say okay well if they're going to fund it then there's an opportunity um or there's there's a provision um that would prevent them from being able to bid and that this pay to play type of scheme wouldn't be involved then um then maybe we can regain the trust of the community and possibly uh get more people to vote um to pass bonds and overrides um but anyway I I'll send it to you and uh we'll go from there a president interesting question again because this is not pertinent to what our policy is so how the pack functions and that process is separate from here I would like to ask that
088when whatever these issues are at least we are made aware of it so when this comes through for a second read things aren't just included and we can go through that in terms I don't know what that looks like for you president Anderson and and Miss Zimmerman when you put that stuff forward as far as like what suggestions are there what is in policy in place and all of that jazz because again I think it gets uh I would be grateful for legal's assistance with respect to campaign financing and things that are separate from us because this is a process that is part of and ingrained in the American system um and so being frustrated that schools are participating in the system that everybody else is already participating in puts us at a severe dis
089advantage in terms of functioning and again this would be things beyond our control because these are private businesses this is a pack that is separate from what we can do as an actual organization president Anderson oh yep I was just going to ask if maybe whatever U Miss man hook sends to Christine if the rest of the board could look at it too CU it sounds like there's quite a bit and I think it could get convoluted if we try and add that to what we have so if we can see what what you have and what you're suggesting kind of separately um then we can kind of see where some of that might mesh together um I'm trying to think of a good process cuz is typically um in policy there's not that many
090changes recommended to that extent it's usually a word change or maybe something a little bit different a dollar amount to something like that member so I I can there's no really hurry to bring this back to address the main reason because like I said we have things in place that we already practice to to um uh for vendors um to catch you know if they are registered sex ofenders so um I can bring this back as a second reading information um and kind of omit our typical practice of going right to action but we can continue to discuss this because I feel confident that we have procedures in place uh to address the major changes in this policy so if it needs more time um we can do another information session well yeah I think
091giving us some time to see what what Miss man Hook's recommending and and then um also for you guys to look at it because I was trying to listen and follow on how much of that perhaps would go into this policy maybe some things belong somewhere else um and so just understanding where that would all go in what it would look like so um then obviously we can have like you said Mr Moore another conversation on on what would go into this policy so board member Reese um because there are questions about this if she sends it we could share what Miss Van Hook shares with you and Status yes and she has she said she already has it typed up then just so we can all just look and follow along absolutely so and
092then we can work on how we proceed president Anderson um and obviously like I I wouldn't expect like for any of this to happen without legal looking at it so um yeah so we would you know take all the necessary steps to ensure everybody's sees it thank you and thank you for everyone's input on that okay now we're on to uh 7.5 policy B Eda notification of board meetings first read with uh Mrs Richards with some changes thank you president Anderson this is a first read of updates due to legislative changes to be da notification of board meetings except for a meeting through technological devices the agenda for the public meeting is required to include notice of the time the public will have access physical access to the meeting place so for example tonight it
093was 4:30 because of the executive session normally when we start at 6 it's 5:30 but that's being posted so the public knows as you just stated that's we are already doing this we're just updating the policy yes thank you any comments or questions president Anderson is there any way we can clarify because it says um as is reasonable and practicable um I don't know if that can be clarified where are you at when you're reading um a statement shall be conspicuously posted oh I see and then um Vice President Van Hook I think there's some uh exceptions like if the website is down for example and that never happens here but let's just pretend like it did uh there's some exceptions we need to you know acknowledge um that 24hour notice is important and it
094can include Saturdays but Sundays and other holidays are it doesn't include those so I mean I may be not interpreting it correctly but I feel like as you read through the rest of it it's it kind of defines reasonable and practical okay um president Anderson and then also there's uh designated public places MH um I don't know if we can we specify like district office or specific locations cuz like how are people supposed to know what those places are it Christine correct me it says district office right on the agenda or did I make that up yes it does if you look at the I believe that it does and online I think we even give the address like I think it's there online when you do it like I to be clear I've read
095this like once in my life because I just click on things but I'm pretty positive the address is also on there too that it says the district office I could make that up butre and just as a note of clarification I think it says that because there are times that we will hold a meeting at a school um a a general board meeting could be done at one of our schools it could be done at hcpa it it's not specific typically it's at the district office but hasn't always been so I think that's where it's talking about public meeting spaces not miss Richard's home so absolutely not we're coming over uh you're right board member re because in the past we have had them at schools and and it's not as easy as you would
096think especially when we're trying to make sure YouTube's involved in everything else so thank you and just one more um where it says uh 24-hour meeting notice is maybe I'm reading this sorry lost my spot um and I don't know exactly where in this policy it states um as far as where to find the agendas but is it possible to include a link um to where the agenda's minutes and the q&as can be located um in the policy in the policy so like online when they find the policy there's a link that they can click on kind of like the statutes [Music] um that's true right um but the the q&as aren't on board dos right so is there a way we can include a link that will direct them to where that is yeah
097PR Jess wouldn't they be on the website to get to board talks right but if they're in board dos looking at the policy then they just clicked one more that will take them directly can can I just add if we if we add a hyperlink to the policy if the link ever changes then we'd have to bring the policy back for uh review and that might not be a practical place to put a hyperlink Mr Walker that's a valid point so because I think with final site all that up dat that would be an example of where we would have potentially lost the link so we just switched over our website if we put those in there that we would have had to have gone through all of our policies again is what you're telling
098us that's what that is sweet president Anderson uh why would we have to re-approve for a hyperlink change Vice President Van Hook any changes to policy are to be brought to the governing board for approval so I don't think we do that when we do the links for like the AR statute so so that I don't think that would apply in this case right cuz I even clicked on several of when I was going through this I clicked on several of the AR statute and they don't work um so if and they they actually link to um AZ ledge website so if they move it we're going to have to reapproved to have the link in there if we're in there looking at policy if we're in there looking for agenda is there a way
099to put the link for the Q&A in there to Q&A being wherever it is in the website am I following along instead of throwing it in a policy I need somebody that's expert on this to answer and I'm looking across the room I I I don't I don't want to complicate things I just want to actually make it easier so that when anybody's pulling up the policy and looking at it that they can where it says you know you can find it here that it um allows them a quick link to to be able to find it this something we're considering under when we're in board docs we have welcome meetings agenda policies and library is that something we could add under Library I don't are we getting off topic also for this anyway just
100an update to the policy that's all I'm asking um just some sort of a link whether it's under cross reference um you did bring up a valid point though because if we're bringing this to you in the links aren't correct we need to double check them before we bring it to you so we're taking notes on that I I just our Q&A is not in policy so I'm I guess I'm just kind of struggling why a link on the policy to go to the Q&A when the Q&A is not part of the policy I I I I get you're trying to find ease of connecting dos but they would start at our website they would go to board member or um well they they go to governing board to find board docs and under governing
101board is where our agenda um or Q&A and stuff is under the governing board tab of our website and that's how you would initially get to board docs to begin with so they're they're already passing that area to get to the policy and the Q&A piece is not part of our policy yeah I think we're still we're straying from this policy right now so let's we can bring that that's okay I don't want to complicate things I was just trying to make it easier so that when somebody's looking at the policy they can easily access everything but no big deal okay 7.6 policy baa evaluation of school board board self- evaluation first read and Mrs Richards again thank you president Anderson this is the first read of updates to baa evaluation of school board or
102board self evaluation the language noting an annual meeting for the purpose of a board self evaluation where is being recommended to be removed because it's not statutorily required so the language allowing the board some discretion was included instead so you'll see it it goes from the board shall meet to the board may meet should it choose to do so uh and it takes out at least annually not late later than November 20th so it goes to should it choose to do so for the purpose of appraising its functioning as a board and to evaluate board performance and one reason I mean we learned of this update through asba but then we also wanted to bring It Forward because our next board meeting you guys are scheduled to do your board evaluation so so if could
103we approve this tonight and then we can make changes to that future board meeting we have it as an action item for you to decide what you want to do you know in terms of um updating it and or scheduling the self- evaluation so thank you right now I'm just asking you to evaluate the language change gotcha okay no uh any questions or comments for this one uh president Anderson I'm curious to know if the ar ar reference is incorrect uh what's listed is 15- 321 and I'm wondering if it should be 15- 341 well we can double check that but Christine you looked at that already right I I pulled it up and it didn't seem like it had anything to do with board evaluations but my understanding is these aren't required and so
104I'm not sure why it's referencing that if it's not on topic okay yeah if you can just double check that please okay any other questions or comments all right I move on to 7.7 policy jld D guidance and counseling first read uh Miss Miller Mrs Miller has some proposed changes for US president and Anderson governing board members that we wanted to um revise this policy to more closely align to some of the guidance that we've received from the Arizona Department of Education as well as align more closely to our expectations of that the role of a school guidance counselor within our on our campuses um so you can see some of the things that we've taken out we've also added some information at the bottom that just aligns closely to the expectation that students that
105do participate in um small peer groups that they have informed parent consent before they participate in those groups to make sure that parents are being given information on those groups and completing the permission slip um as well as we do know that some of our guidance counselors do have degrees that allow them to be certified by the um Board of Behavioral Health and while they may hold that licensure we wanted to make sure to include in the policy that when acting as a school guidance counselor that they will not act in the scope that that lure allows them to any questions president Anderson um and I I just want to clarify that there was um um there was changes um by the Board of Behavioral Health um where they you know our our coun school
106counselors are just certified by um their aiz own Department of Education they don't necessarily they don't have the license to practice Behavioral Health um which uh these changes were made um by by um by the board um stating that um you know they they can't provide any type of uh Psychotherapy and there's a ton of things that fall under Psychotherapy so uh any Mental Health Services um cannot be provided um and that if if a school counselor crosses that line um that they can actually go in front of the Board of Behavioral Health um for uh pretty much violating the law and um Arizona statute says that if you practice mental health without a license it's a class six felony um so I wanted to ensure um that uh you know our our counselors are
107staying within their scope um and also you know not violating state law um especially due to recent changes um and I thank you so much for um putting the time um into all this and um and I do uh want to uh run a couple more things by you I know this is just First Rate as well um so um same thing with with this policy um I'll send this over to you for review thank you okay um in the second paragraph which says the program is also integral in CRI crisis is it supposed to be crisis yes response thank you okay thank you uh president Anderson I I guess I have a question based off of what board or Vice President Van Hook expressed the whole Mental Health Services cannot be provided which I
108agree with you counselors are not giving therapy that is different um but counselors are also crisis responders which I I I wish to ensure that our policies are making it very clear to counselors that when a kid is in a mental health crisis you are doing what you are supposed to for that kid I.E if we get notice that a kid is suicidal if we've had a death at that school if we've had situations in which like a school shooting and people are having panic attacks that is by extension a mental health service to help a person when they are in crisis and that is literally what our counselors are supposed to be for so is our policy protecting their ability to be crisis responders on campus when they need it now to be clear
109this does not mean they're providing therapy beyond that this is we're providing Services while they are here we are capable of giving them resources we often routinely give parents resources and things to go to to assist depending on the situ situation but like I I wish to ensure that that these which are extremely important we even had public comments just today about the importance of current mental health crises these things happen frequently um so is our policy ensuring that can still happen yes board member Wade so we have spent quite a bit of time this year with our guidance counselors in explaining their role in responsive Services which would be such things like like you described you know those suicide risk management processes the threat assessment process um and students that are in those acute
110crises in the moment um but we've also worked with them to help them understand when that crosses over into that mental health psychological support and what their process is and providing resources to families outside of their the district thank you I just want to make sure our counselors feel empowered to you know do their job and help the students in those moments cuz it's literally can save lives yes thank you all right thank you any other questions or comments or 7.7 yep I'm sorry one more thing um all the legal references weren't on it so that was the only other thing thank you okay let's go on to our action items 8.1 is the approval of emergency procurement procurement Cortina water main break uh other there any questions or comments for this before a motion
111I motion that the board approve the emergency procurement in the amount of $31,500 all those in favor I I I motion carries five to zero moving on to 8.2 this is the discussion regarding board self- evaluation yeah I motion that the governing board not hold a board self- evaluation this year second that's Tiffany second all those in favor are we not having com discussion yeah no no we're moving on you're in or you're out I'm just kidding jeez no the way I understood this is if the board's going to hold them yes not necessarily just this year and I I get the policy can change from a shell to a May and and you can take take out that time but I would strongly caution not doing one or not having an expectation of doing
112a board self- evaluation um that's we don't get much time to interact with each other and and it's a way um that board members can have that time to discuss and so I mean if you're just talking about this year I I just I took it as with this new policy are are you going to look at scrapping them all together or but my motion was just this not do it on the November this year yeah okay that's not how I read it sorry president Anderson Bo memories I I vote I seconded too because I believe several people were going to be gone at our next meeting so it wouldn't probably make sense this year a board evaluation in the November meeting president Anderson I will not be here um but I I was just
113because the way your motion was was just for this year so that it's something that we can decide each year because I agree with you it is is good but it didn't make sense this year all right so we have Tiffany second it um all those in favor I I motion carries 5 to zero a .3 is the selection of a superintendent search form firm not form let's open for discussion president Anderson Just GNA give a couple two cents here um we did get some we had some part of a discussion regarding legal advice with our a superintendent search firm and there was a couple different options that were presented um um one of those options was that potentially we were asking if it could be done in-house um during my experience on the board
114we have done it both ways we have done an in-house search and we have used a firm um there's pros and cons to it um I know Miss Johnson was talking about you know if there was any concerns with bias and when you have a firm that kind of takes any early bias out um but on the other hand when you have a firm they don't have a stake in what happens either um and when you do it in house um those people have definitely um vetted interest on trying to make sure we we do it correctly um I personally prefer the in-house method just because I think that um everyone that talking to these candidates they they have a vested interest in in who comes and what happens um and we have some control
115on what our candidates look like if you will um versus we've we vetted these and here these are the ones we believe based on your criteria um that are your top ones and then with the last one we had a whole list of people who were excluded and I'm not saying they shouldn't have been excluded um but just didn't necessarily check the box and I know for me looking through some of them I didn't understand why it wouldn't have checked a box and thought well that candidate might have been maybe a good candidate so just giving my two cents I I think when you do it inhouse I think you you have more um you just have more interest and I know Miss Johnson that that is very difficult and we had some of those
116conversations um typically it can be done at a slightly lesser cost um there are definitely costs associated to it um but typically you can do it a little bit um less expensive that way so that's been my experience I did I liked the the in-house process better um certainly better than this last process so um this last process was very frustrating and I know as board members we there were several times we felt caught off guard and it was like okay well we're going to talk about this and then it was all of a sudden we're not just talking about this we're making decisions about this and it was like this is the first we're seeing this so I think it also helps with that communication I know there was some conversation um if we
117do an inhouse about having some committees with board meeting or board members on that um I would caution that because I would save that your board members need to make that final decision um and so I would definitely have committees um of made up of different um stakeholders but I would not include a a board member on those committees because they're seeing different they're seeing different things so I think let letting the board members see that candidate for the first time collectively is very important but um that I just said that when we were talking about it that's been my experience so president and Anderson board memories when we talked about it I was worried about the time and you know having the staff and making it happen but I love all the points you
118made about the vested interest sorry I like all the PS I I don't know remember we didn't like that but um I like the points that you made about a vested interest having more control those type of things and your expertise in the F your your longevity on the board and um doing it both ways because we were frustrated with the process previously um and I have the confidence in Mrs Johnson that she can definitely you know make this happen I know we talked about staff and the overtime hours and what it would take a bit um and now that you've had that to sit with for a second do you think that that's feasible for you president Anderson members of the board yes I think that's feasible for our department to take that on
119yes thank you and and I agree with you on the board members on the the Committees because it would um create Prejudice as well presid Anderson um as far as I agree with the board members not being part of the Committees but it would be a um they would be subject to open meeting law correct the committee if a committee is oops sorry if a committee is created by the board then yes they are subject to open meeting law uh however there's other things because it is because of personnel um there are certain aspects of that as well just the same as we are yes that we would need to check with legal counsel to see what that would look like as far as what information would be shared again remen REM remembering that a
120committee and when you're doing a a screening hiring process is confident itial to the members of that committee and they're not able to reveal any information before during or after process right and it's they would be of staff is that what you're for hiring committees they would it would be staff members they would create certain okay that's correct there is that confidentiality piece as you remember that you had to sign that confidentiality agreement um during the process of that hiring so please note that anyone who would be part of this this call it committee or whatever it it needs to be confidential it's not going to be something that someone can people can come in and be part part of only if we decide to do those open forums would that happen like we did
121in the last process and I guess maybe a committee is not the right word it more so a panel a hiring panel um versus a committee that you would have people who screen them and then what I would recommend is that there is a panel interview with um whomever you guys de deem appropriate um and then that can help kind of I don't want to say screen out but potentially screen out um some of the candidates it just depends on how many we have President oh go ahead um so look uh you've brought up some very valid arguments which is why I laughed earlier because it's just the same same feel the same something else that I think is a benefit to doing it in house and again sorry Miss Johnson for the uh gargantuan
122task a foot um should we decide to proceed with that one of the things that we talked about is if you recall uh our last process and the number of meetings that we had to have just so they could understand who we are and what we're about and considering we're starting where we are good news you know us uh so that makes it I think a little bit easier in that process again sorry for the you know labor but I do think look it's a valid argument the buyin um and maybe my limited singular experience has left quite a bitter taste um but I like the idea of people caring about how we progress um please don't take any of this as I'm opposed um to what is being proposed um I just want to
123bring out some of my concerns if it were to be done in house um it is the the reach of applicants um these firms do have um a relationship with um other school districts and um other entities Nation wide so I think that that's an advantage um the capability of our staff and I'm not talking about being a not their knowledge and skill I'm talking just about just being overextended um you know have you know the vacations and and everything else I just want to make sure that you know that that's taken into account um I was in the audience during one of the last times I believe you were on the board whenever we went from uh Birdwell and then we went to Thomasson I believe um and so sometimes it feels like friends
124get picked or asked to apply um and it it it feels for lack of a better better word icky um that you know was was that a choice that was truly in the hands of of the board and things like that and not and we are a completely different Administration so I'm not honestly I'm not worried about but these are just things if I'm thinking of it other people are thinking of it and I just wanted to State it out there but you each and every one of you and have brought up excellent points of why inhouse would make sense at this point in time but I just wanted to publicly State those thank you president Anderson uh I agree those are all valid points one of the things on I think there could be
125bias as far as search firms too if they have certain candidates and that they would like to bring forward or you know some of the candidates that we didn't get to see I don't know I'm not accusing but I'm just saying that that could happen with the surge form as well sure sorry just to counter that it's just they don't get to work with them right but it so it be here something else to to your point president Anderson and we discussed is to and I think this is definitely worth the money to advertise nationally I think that also was a big part and I don't know last time did we stay to the state or what I literally didn't live here so I did not care but I do think that is a valid
126point and I think that I don't know if it necessarily absolves your concerns president answering I think they're valid but I do think it at least helps if we are casting a broader net um in that process at least rather than just keeping it you know to the state I just wanted to make sure we had that reach we had that capability to really reach like another firm could that's Aid thank you and think I agree all your points are valid that it's not the lack of their ability it's it's time and we were talking about timing we are on a a tight timeline um and we were talking about some differences working backwards regarding when an offer would need to be made and and there's also things you can also do letter of intent
127to you know if we're having to wait a little bit on a on a time frame but um and I think that I don't think there's any escaping it cuz I know that they're um everyone reaches out to people they know and say hey this position's open apply for it and so whether they're applying through us directly or a national firm and I agree um but like you said we are a completely different Administration and I think that where we've come and the documentation we do now and um the tracking and who who spoke to who who touched it who reviewed it who and I think that that makes a difference because everything's documented and we are a completely different Administration so do we have to Mo yeah yeah so um I motion that the
128governing board um use in house to conduct a superintendent search second that seconded by Tiffany all those in favor I I I I I motion carries 5 to zero [Laughter] congratulations so president Anderson I'm assuming at this point between Miss Johnson and Mr Moore they'll have to come up with a a proposal on cost to come before the board thank you uh board member ree can you say that again because Miss Johnson didn't hear oh just that you work with Mr Moore to try and come up with a cost that comes before the board future agenda items for 9.1 um any requests uh we mentioned the the link got brought up if we want to have discussion on the website and anything with regarding making it more efficient but I figured now let's um I
129think there might be a better way to handle that if there's nothing else let's move on to uh adjournment I motion that this meeting adjourn second oh that was Amanda all those in favor I I I motion carries 5 to Z good night everyone