001e e are you guys good evening I would like to call this meeting to order Mrs Richard may I have the roll call please miss Anderson president Anderson like the record show that all five board members are present thank you I motion that the governing board adjourn to Executive session question for discussion or consideration of matters relating to school safety operations or school safety plans or programs pursuant to ARS 38- 43103 A8 second Oo we get that Anna seconded all those in favor I I motion carries 5 to zero e e e I motion to convene in regular session second Amanda seconded all those in favor I I 4 Z Tiffany will return soon um next we're going to do a moment of silence in the Pledge of Allegiance but I would like to ask
002that we keep Sheila ug's family in our thoughts and prayers she was the uh Gilbert School District's governing board president e next we have approval of the AG of the agenda I motion to approve the agenda second Amanda seconded all those in favor I I motion carries five to zero all right Mrs Richards we have the superintendent Report with the higgle Adventures points of Pride and upcoming events thank you president Anderson in tonight's higgle Adventures we have some very exciting news because we have state champions again so we want Mr Daryl stangle there he is [Applause] thank you guys for inviting us here tonight to celebrate this great accomplishment of our track and field team um this was truly a team championship last spring they scored points in in every every facet of the track
003and field events in the Sprints in the relays in the hurdles in the vertical jumps in the horizontal jumps in the distance in the in the in the uh and what's the other one throws throws thank you okay so in order to capture the 2024 uh division 2 state championship so I present to you the 2024 division 2 state champion williamsfield Blackhawks [Applause] there e good to well done everybody [Applause] Miss Richards yes I going a microphone and let you stand up would you like to I I I'm good I just wanted to point out too uh they overcame a lot of adversity through the year because their track was under construction the entire time and so not just did they perform outstanding but they also came over and practiced at higgle high and did
004all that and so we thank Higley for hosting them but what an outstanding accomplishment by our division 2 uh track and field state champions all right Mr lsen Hauser take this away now so I have the pleasure tonight of recognizing Mr Daryl Sangle the athletic director from williamsfield high school because last I think it was last Monday we were at our AI AAA conference AI Tria is our association for athletics directors and um throughout the course of last year we do a uh athletic director of the Year award Mr stangle was nominated by his peers from our uh Santan region of the 5A and from there he became eligible for the state 5A athletic director of the year and so last Monday um he was announced that Mr stangle is the 5A AI AAA athletic
005director of the Year thank you Mr stangle [Applause] stand [Music] [Applause] all right president Anderson members of the board next we ready for points of Pride I want to introduce Katie Harris principal from Gateway point along with Angie Walker assistant [Applause] principal so I first wanted to say thank you guys so much providing the opport for us to come we look forward to this every year to recognize four amazing individuals and the first one is miss Lea Fisher will you come on down give you a okay so Lea's classroom is a vibrant and nurturing space where students are encouraged to explore learn and grow her ability to connect with her students stud on an individual level is remarkable and she consistently goes above and beyond to meet their diverse needs she designs her lessons to
006be engaging and interactive creating an environment where students are excited to learn and participate one of the standout qualities of Lea is she creates a positive inclusive atmosphere that allows each child to feel valued and supported both my kiddos have had the chance to have her and I can tell you they love her from the bottom of her heart of their hearts her dedication to her students well-being is evident in the strong relationship she builds with them and their families ensuring that every student has the best opportunity to succeed her passion for teaching her commitment to her students and her ability to inspire those around her make her an invaluable asset to gwp I have no doubt that she will continue to Excel and positively impact the lives of countless students in the future furthermore
007thank you for all that you have done I said for my two kiddos and for Mrs Walker her youngest is in there you make them fall in love with school over and over again and I'm forever grateful for filling my mama heart on a day-to-day basis so thank [Applause] you and you have some special people in the audience would you like to recognize them sure I brought my boyfriend Zach and my team and my other co-workers so thank you for coming and some of my students thank you for coming and then you get to stay over here thank you all right next we get to recognize our amazing student can I please have Benson Zimmerman come on down you budy are gonna stand right here by us we're so excited all right Benson is a
008sixth grader at Gateway point and he is a remarkable young man whose kindness determination and positive spirit have made a lasting impact on our school Community Benson is the student that every teacher hopes to have in their classroom he approaches his studies with unwavering perseverance and a very strong worth ethic he never gives up always striving to improve and seeks help when needed his determination to succeed is truly inspiring and a testament to his resilience what truly sets him apart is his genuine kindness and the joy he brings to those around him he is always willing to lend a helping hand offer a word of encouragement or simply share a smile that can brighten anyone's day Benson's friendly and inclusive nature makes him a cherished friend and a positive influence on his peers he has
009a unique ability to make others feel comfortable and valued creating a welcoming atmosphere wherever he goes Benson also has a wonderful sense of humor that brings laughter and lightness to any situation he has a natural talent for making people smile and his upbeat personality is contagious whether in the classroom or on the playground his presence makes a difference so thank you for all that you do at Gateway we really appreciate [Applause] you and you have some special people in the audience do you want to recognize them who's here I have my mom my little sister and my little sister's friend with me today [Applause] you want me to get and then you can come stand over here Mrs Bishop I'll all right next we have Mr C Curtis kerubin for our volunteer [Applause] all right
010Mr Curtis is a dedicated parent PTO president and substitute teacher here at Gateway Point Curtis has made significant contributions to our school Community demonstrating exceptional leadership commitment and a genuine passion for Education as PTO co- president Curtis has been instrumental in fostering a sense of community among parents teachers and students his ability to organize and Lead events manage fundraising efforts and advocate for the needs of our students sorry has greatly benefited our entire Community Curtis is a proactive leader who listens to the concerns and ideas of others ensuring that the pto's initiatives are inclusive and beneficial to All In addition to his role with PTO purtis has a I'm sorry you're totally I got you I got you um has served as a substitute teacher where he has here you go consistently impressed us with
011his professionalism adaptability and ability to connect with students whether stepping into the classroom in short notice or planning engaging lessons Curtis has shown that he is more than capable of managing the demands of teaching while maintaining positive productive learning environments Curtis's dedication to our school goes beyond His official role he is supportive and involved parent who is always willing to lend a hand whether it's volunteering for events assisting with classroom activities or providing thoughtful feedback on school matters what truly sets Curtis apart is his genuine care for others and his desire to make positive impacts he brings energy creativity and a collaborative spirit in everything that he does inspiring those around him to get involved and contribute to the betterment of the school so thank you Curtis and who did you bring with you oh
012who didn't I bring with me well first I brought my co-president that also helps me with a lot of this stuff um I brought pretty much all my family if you all want to just wave and most importantly I brought my grandmother who I've had the pleasure of being her caretaker for the last couple years so thank [Applause] you okay and next we have Miss Nicole Potter she is our classified points of Pride this [Applause] year thank you of course thank you all right Nicole has been a dedicated and valuable member of our school Community for several years consistently going above and beyond to support our students teachers and staff Nicole's commitment to her school role as a par educator is evident in everything she does she approaches her work with a level of professionalism
013compassion and enthusiasm and is truly truly commendable Nicole has an innate ability to connect with students understanding their unique needs in providing the individualized support that they require to succeed why they're working one-on-one with a s with a student assisting in the classroom or collaborating with teachers Nicole consistently demonstrates a deep understanding of educational practices and a genuine passion for helping students reach their full potential one of Nicole's greatest strengths is her adaptability and willingness to take on new challenges over the years she has stepped into various roles and responsibilities often going beyond the expectation of her position to ensure that our students receive the best possible support Nicole is always willing to learn and grow participating in professional development opportunities and applying new strategies to enhance her Effectiveness in the classroom thank you [Applause]
014Nicole and then who did you bring with you thank you I've brought my wonderful Gateway Family my extended and humble Sansan family thank you for also showing up thank you thank you and of course I have my mother whose wonderful Legacy I have to carry on Mimi at SanTan we love you thank you [Applause] so so thank you Gateway Elementary we celebrate with all of you what an amazing group of individuals all right next Santan Elementary principal Ray marado assistant principal Lindsay Reeves [Applause] and one more one more thing that's not on on the slide I am Mr Marcado just received the GCU principal of the month award for the whole state of Arizona so thank you thank you couldn't have been done without my team and now they give me the mic so turn
015the lights off let's get the music going here we go congratulations Gateway president Anderson superintendent board members cabinet members community members thank you for this opportunity we absolutely love taking time to celebrate the amazing people on our campus that every day come and and just spread the magic and so um we truly feel this is a blessing to recognize them because they make a a positive impct act um in all parts of our campus so here we go our first um let's see here is I got new glasses sorry literally today um certified staff member April sanven please come [Applause] up congratulations Miss s is a dedicated and passionate educator at SanTan she consistently challenges herself to provide engaging experiences inside and outside the classroom she develops positive connections with students staff and parents she
016contributes tremendously to our DLI program and overall our school culture and recently she just came back um during the summer where did you take a group of students oh Panama Panama on her own time a group of DLI students and Par parents and so that was an amazing trip and experience for our kiddos and and once again it's that inside and outside the classroom this was from a staff member April is one of the most positive people I know she does everything with the smile and the epitome of a team player she has worked so hard researching and learning the leader and me goal process so that we can Implement at SanTan and help students progress and grow with their goals April is a superstar and I'm so glad she is at sanan another employee
017besides April being an excellent teacher with aasa scores to prove it she has helped create and lead the first Spanish club on campus she Al she has also been a pivotal member of the lighthouse helping to give staff a complete understanding of wig development within our classrooms and as grade levels April goes beyond what is expected of her and as staff we are all better for it another staff member April is a standout educator at santen going above and beyond for the DLI program and the campus supporting student goals campus-wide as a member of the lighthouse team she sets ambitious goals for the program and tirelessly Works to improve both the school and Student Success April's collaborative Spirit has made our school a better place for everyone April truly deserves this recognition and one last
018one April is such a team player she manages to jugle DLI Jen Ed and Lighthouse with ease she is such a kind person to work with and always willing to pitch in when needed she's a great addition to our school we are lucky to have her [Applause] congratulations April who did you bring with you well sandan family along with my kiddos my husband and my dad thank [Applause] you next is our classified employee Miss Jenny Young will you come up here Miss Jenny [Applause] Young congratulations awesome Miss Young is a positive addition to our resource team she has high standards of students she works with daily she provides support and motivation to students on a minute-to-minute basis I believe Mrs Young has a positive impact on our campus a staff member wrote Jenny is an
019incredible par professional who works not only amazing with students but with the teachers that she works with she has a way of connecting with students that encourages them to believe in themselves and push themselves to reach their potential Jenny is always helping out other staff members in their classrooms and is always some somewhere and someone that she can people can count on on our campus she wants to see all kids succeed and always does what is best for and the good for Santan another educator said Jenny is an amazing par educator that provides positive consistent support to our struggling Learners on our campus she has worked with some of our most challenging students and always brings calm kind support to any kid in need while keeping her expectations consistent to help students reach their potential
020on top of helping all the students Jenny also works tirelessly to support our teachers with anything that they need to be successful as well Santan is so lucky to have an amazing person like Jenny on campus and last person said Jenny is such a pleasure to work with with she is positive dedicated and helpful the students and staff she's willing to jump in and help as needed she has great relationships with the students she works with offering help and support but also challenge them as needed congratulations thank you thank you and who did you bring with you I have here my husband my son Ethan and of course my Santan family thank you awesome congratulations thank you all right I get the pleasure of recognizing our student point of Pride DJ shery come on up
021[Applause] DJ so DJ is such a positive leader at SanTan he's kind he's caring positive compassionate to staff and students and it has just been an amazing journey to watch from a kindergartener to now a sixth grader you are a true leader at sanan DJ and you had some really nice people saying great things about you this kid I don't know if anyone loves Santan more than he does he's an eliter in and out of the classroom and he's even made more of an impact at SanTan since joining the student Lighthouse team he's a wonderful student tour guide when we have guests that visit campus he's always a positive light while at school and it's been incredible to watch his confidence and Leadership skills flourish throughout his years at SanTan then this one had to
022have come from Mr Murphy DJ is an excellent leader in the music classroom and music Club he constantly helps other students with singing and drumming and is always excited to participate DJ brings his positivity and engagement to everything he does another staff member said I can't think of a student on campus who is more invested in the good of Santan and spreading leadership around like confetti as a member of the student Lighthouse last year DJ took initiative at every turn designing badges for students to wear participating in all Lighthouse events and even working extra shifts he was the first one there and the last one to go home he gives tours he speaks in he came and spoke in front of the district and community members at one time and when he was re-interviewing for
023his lighthouse position he came dressed professionally and early because what your favorite saying if you're not early you're late and he even asked for special interview questions because he wanted to make sure he was prepared for his interview he is always working hard to show his leadership to others and an a wavering commitment to following the habits and helping others on campus and then recently he took his own allowance and bought a compass of kindness to commemorate his first day of student Lighthouse leadership meetings this year and it matches the one that Mr Marcado has in his office from the Franklin cvy Foundation he just has s such a vested interest he's the epitome of Santan a positive spirit and willing to do hard work and gets good results congratulations DJ I could stand up
024here and talk all night who did you bring with you tonight I bought my mom and dad and my Sant and family my staff members and teachers who have helped me along with this JY aesome job thanks buddy stand right here and then for our volunteer we have Miss Danny [Music] [Applause] hayen when we need something done at SanTan the first person we typically call is Danny she has come back to Santan as a long-term a couple years ago and then again most recently this week so um we keep her very busy and when we don't have her in a sub position she can be found many days in the library um last year she helped out in the library she helped um Miss Baker complete the Monumental task of sorting through the books inventorying
025she helped add new books to the library um she's the first one that she calls to sub because she knows the library so well and we are just so grateful for the amount of caring she has for our students the high expectations she has and how she's always willing to support in addition to subbing and volunteering in the library she spends countless hours volunteering in our robotics program I know personally as a mom she was the parent coach for or supervisor for my child's team many Saturdays last year and I loved that cuz it gave me the opportunity to just be a mom and so she volunteers she does goodie bags she makes sure they know what they need to be and we just appreciate all the positive difference that Dany makes on our campus
026who' you bring with you I brought my husband Brent and my daughter's Clara and Lily thank you I guess I have to give the mic away you e thank you Santan Elementary and all you that came to cheer them on we appreciate you guys okay president Anderson are you ready for upcoming event absolutely I don't think anybody's paying attention but fall break is around the corner oh yes I hear a few woohoo all the cheerers just left that's from September 30th through October 11th we have a board business and work study meeting here Wednesday um October 15th and the Wednesday is that's okay we'll correct it I just was checking myself okay correction Tuesday October 15th at 6: pm. we have a great school visit plan to Cortina Elementary on Thursday October 24th and governing
027board we'll look for you there that's it for events thank you Miss Richards next we have the request to speak um can you please go ahead and play the video for us we value input from our constituents this time on our agenda has been set aside for anyone from the audience who wishes to address the board those that wish to speak should have filled out speaker cards which are due prior to the start of our meeting members of the board may not discuss comment or take action on matters raised that are not specifically identified on the agenda therefore pursuant to ARS 38-4 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
028at a later date also we ask that audience members practice proper public meeting deorum 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 BH public participation at board meetings if considered necessary the governing board president shall set a time limit on the length of the comment period in order to ensure that each individual has an opportunity to address the board the president May also set a time limit for individual speakers thank you for your cooperation all right uh we will have the standard three minute time to address the board first up we have Kathleen Richards just kidding good evening uh thank you for the opportunity to speak and
029tonight my hope is that there are some parents who are either currently watching at home or here or might watch this um at their own convenience over the last couple of weeks we've had not unlike lots of other areas in the country a lot of scary things going around about safety in our schools I know that there was an executive session that dealt with this as well um and I want to encourage our parents as much as possible um this district has already asked us to do this to have conversations at home this was a scary moment for me as a Middle School Parent it was our first real encounter with the rumor mill of safety and how all of that got handled um and as a parent myself I learned a lot through that
030process and I cannot encourage families enough to make sure that they are reaching out to people here in our schools whether it be because you hear something that your kiddo always talking about and you're concerned send that concern to the school and let the school decide what to do with that don't text it to your neighbor um don't encourage all of that every parent that contacted me and said have you heard do you know I tried as much as possible to encourage them to contact our principal at kie Middle School is a treasure Mr kentell if you are watching or if you watch us later we just thank you so much for your genuine openness to communication with parents and that has been my own experience as a parent here in this District that our
031administrators are willing to listen and want to hear from our families but we have to actively take them up on that offer and I hope that going forward we do a little bit more of that I do hope that the district is able to provide a little bit more clarity perhaps in some of the steps that get taken when things like this occur um knowing full well that there's limitations to what you all are able to provide to families and not wanting to fuel Flames that may not need to be fanned on a case by case basis um but just to encourage our families to make sure that they know what the channels are and if you don't know what the channels are please go ahead and find them ask the questions because the people
032here in our district are amazing and they do want to answer and they do want to help and ultimately we all want safety for our students parents teachers Administration all of it and we have to work as a team so thank you next we have Jessica D Ambrosio good evening thank you to the governing board the cabinet and superintendent Miss Richards for the opportunity to speak this evening my name is Jessica dambrosio and as a parent teacher and student advocate here in the Higley Unified School District I'd like to voice a concern at the August 27th board meeting three advanced placement seniors from Miss O'Neal's Multicultural honors class spoke to the governing board during public comment to voice an injustice that was taking place in their class this Injustice was widely known to the class
033because a student actively shared that his parents hated the teacher and were trying to get the teacher fired as well as Pres criminal charges against her over books following public comment one member of our school board against legal advice and correction used her voice to attempt to shut down and to minimize the concerns and the thoughts of the student who spoke these very students are the same students who she should be advocating for and thanking for their insights when this board when this board member called them teenagers not adults was she trying to minimize their value when she went on to say coaching is having students show up to a board meeting to act like activists on behalf of a teacher and I find it inappropriate was she trying to imply that our students don't
034have their own thoughts about the world around them as a teacher in the Higley Unified School District I have a deep sense of pride in the work that I do the students and families I serve the teachers I work with and the administrators I work for Higley Unified School District has a set of core values that are evidence throughout the district we value our students we value our families we value their ideas their voices and all of their potential I want to say thank you to the board members who do the same who listen who support and who encourage to the candidates running this November for the three open positions on our school board I want to encourage you if elected please how value our students here in Higley remember if they ever take the
035time to write a speech to stand before you and to share their truth please just listen thank you moving to consent agenda a motion to approve the consent agenda items 6.1 2 6.9 second Tiffany seconded all those in favor I I motion carries 5 to zero next we have our information items with 7.1 the advanced placement and dual enrollment presentation uh Mr Len Heiser what do you have for us all right president Anderson members of the board thank you for allowing me to present tonight on some options that we have for our students in terms of College and Career Readiness and what I'd like to do is highlight for you the outstanding work by our students is it kind it's kind of hard to see with all the it it does do you want me
036I'll go go up there okay I I'll go up there I I would hate to be hidden I know normally I'm a couple seats down Tyler's gone today so here we go so we're going to talk about advanced placement and uh dual enrollment tonight all right uh so uh we're going to first talk about a comparison between advanced placement and dual enrollment I know that's questions that a lot of people have we'll talk about the offerings that we give for AP the results that we've had over the last 5 years I want to explain something about the advanced placement Scholars Program and then we'll jump into dual enrollment so that's our agenda for the presentation tonight so the first question that people often ask is AP or dual enrollment what's the difference and so I
037want to talk about both of these programs specifically advanced placement is given through the College Board uh it's a national test and so when you take an AP test for a specific subject you're taking the same test that's given Across the Nation credit is determined by the score that you give on the test you can get between a one through a five five being the best and the deal with credit with an AP test is that you get the score between a one through a five three is considered passing but when it turns around to uh talk about what credits are accepted by universities it's very University driven each university has their own separate set of rules about what AP course exams they accept and what scores they accept in order to get credit a
038lot of that depends on the University and depends on your major so when people ask hey can you tell me if I got a three on the AP Lit do I get credit for it my response to you is talk to the university that you want to go to and they're going to be able to give you specific guidance on that when we take a look at what credits are are applied in general fours and fives students get credit for it but not all of the time it very much depends however we consider a three to be a passing score uh on an AP exam when we talk about scholarship opportunities we have the AP Capstone program with built within Capstone are uh ways for students to have acceptance into universities if they complete the
039Capstone additionally through the AP School uh Scholars Program it's a great way to highlight and set yourself apart when you're applying for scholarships and that's what the AP programs allow for it people ask what do teachers have to do to be able to teach an AP course to be able to teach an AP course you have to be certified in that subject area and then we send you to an AP Institute in order to be able to teach that course the AP institutes are typically a week long it's a very intense uh week of learning curriculum learning how to prepare kids for this college level test and when you think about a high stakes exam you take it once and you actually take it at the same time everybody else in the country takes it
040on a specific day at a specific time there is a lot of pressure to do that and to be able to perform on that exam and so um that's kind of what AP is in a nutshell when we to look in terms of cost AP tests for us we charge $99 per test and so so that's um that's a little bit about AP let's switch over to dual enrollment dual enrollment uh we give through our educational Partners such as Chandler gilberg Community College and then when uh Mr Pearson was talking about CTE we also have dual enrollment with Scottdale Community Mesa Community and Embry Riddle through our CTE programs as well dual enrollment means the course is not just a high school course but it is also a college course at the same time credit
041is determined by the grade you get in the course so it's not on this one high stakes exam at the end of the year that you prepare for it's what you have shown the entire time and you're going to get a a um a grade determined by that teacher and credit for that course you actually are starting your college transcript at that point that you take a dual enrollment class we call it dual enrollment because you're dually enrolled between our high schools and our educational higher education partner um through Chandler Gilbert the credits transfer to our instate universities and that's really the pipeline that we're trying to do is develop that so that those credits transfer do they transfer out of state again I would ask if anyone's listening and they're saying how do I
042know if that's going to do that's the specific institution specific University you're going to and the specific major you're in and have those conversations when you're applying for um colleges and being accepted into those colleges uh the teachers to teach this they actually have to be qualified and adjunct uh professors of the school that we work with so it's not that they go to a training it's that they have an advis additional Advanced degree I know you have to have a masters and when you take a look many of them are in their subject area or a specific number of higher um 500 level and above courses graduate level courses within that subject area and so that is a process that our teachers work with with the educational partner to make sure that they're dual
043enrollment certified currently if you were to go on to Chandler Gilbert's website and say how much does it cost to take a course it's $95 per credit hour and so when we look at both of these options both of them are both of these options are ways that we can provide to our students opportunities to earn college credits before they get to College a lot of times when I talk to parents about it is we know the college is expensive it's kind of nice to take advantage of it maybe spread that out a little bit over while you're in high school and so that you can have these uh credits that roll up when you go to the university and so when we look at AP or dual enrollment really it's a choice that's going
044to be between that parent and that student when they want to uh whether they want to do some classes within AP and then we offer even more classes within dual enrollment so before I jump ahead what questions do you have here president Anderson I don't have a question but this is one of my favorite subjects yes it is we know it is one of my favorite subjects um we have such an offering and I know you're going to get into more of the the um courses but our students truly do have the ability to earn their Associates degrees from Chandler Gilbert Community College before they graduate high school I think there is one class that's required for an associates degree that we do not offer and that's the public speaking and I know that they've
045been talking about it and working on it but our kids literally can graduate from college from a a two-year College before high school yeah and fantastic for what I would encourage parents if you can afford it do it your kids sitting through the class and the material anyway I mean it's the dual enrollment um a lot of our classes are dual AP so they have the option to kind of double down there um but your your students sitting through the class and learning the material just the same as another and if you have the means to do it get those college credits because then if they choose to go on to a university then their prere are are already made um what I found and again yes check with out of state universities but what
046I have what I found when we were looking at universities was if theat state university has a partnership with a community college in their area and they do also do dual enrollment then they're more apt to take them and the other important thing with that is keep your syllabus because they do ask can you provide us the syllabus and we'll see if matches up with our class if they'll give you credit so um I love that we have this offering because it is a saber for sure so I could go on forever because I love the opportunity here but I just wanted to to point that out those were some of the things that I learned looking at at a state universities I found that most of them if they had a partnership with their
047high schools or Community College they'll take them and yes AP you may not get a credit for a dual enrollment class but if you scored a certain score on AP they may take that as well so if you have the ability you can double down and you can also get financial aid even for dual enrollment through the Gilbert Community College thank you board member Ree and you stole my thunder so we can just no and and I think when we talk about opportunities and Limitless opportunities that we want to provide here within the Higley Unified School District this is just one example of them so if you take a look at the AP exams that offered and then we proctored last year we had 26 different offerings for our students and that's just a phenomenal
048thing you know and and obviously you can take a look at the list I won't read it to you but when you take to the list it spans so many different subject areas that we can have an AP course in next what I'd like to do is just show you I have to I had to break this down by school we're going to show you different School summaries for our two high schools um but this is the last five years and I want to thank our our ASI department for helping me have this data from uh college board but if you take a look at from 2020 to 2024 this chart represents and shows our total number of students and we've taken a little bit of a dip but we're back on our U moving
049up for Higley High School but if you take a look at our number of exams last year we gave 525 exams the one that I think I'm really proud of is the AP students with scores of three plus that means they one of the tests they took they at least passed one of the tests that they took a lot of students and especially it seems like junior year when you're Advanced are probably taking four or five tests okay but our percentage of students uh total AP students with scores of a three plus you'll look at that increase in 2020 we were at about 70% and now we've been able to raise that up to 87% and so this next slide just kind of highlights that in graph form and I think you can see that
050growth and while we might have given a few less tests we are seeing much more success from our students while we are doing that so that was Higley High's data if we take a look at Williams Field over the same amount of time if you look at a uh williamsfield over that same amount of time from 2020 to 2024 you can easily see the comparisons on that we gave 251 students we gave a total of 43 exams and again when you look at our percentages from 2020 we were there 65% of our students had at least a three on one of their exams now we're up to 78% of that again showing the growth showing the commitment I really want to applaud our AP teachers for helping support the students to be successful on those
051tests president Anderson sorry Mr lawon there's something else to keep in mind considering the fact that I taught it during this time frame uh 2020 we also had to do these tests online uh and that was absolutely miserable so I think it is remarkable amongst our students to be dealing with what we did and then that new way of doing the test in 2020 was pretty remarkable I was trying to block 20120 out but I guess yes we I can remember some of those challenges we faced at that time and so again this was williamsfield and so I want to talk to you a little bit about uh an award for students who really try to achieve through AP and so this is the AP scholar Awards program I'll let you go ahead and read
052as I explain it to you if you uh received a score of three or high three or higher on three or more AP exams you're considered an AP scholar but then we keep going more and we're going to talk about the number of students who reach this on our campuses an AP scholar with honor is students who have have an average score of at least 3.25 on all the AP exam all of their AP exams taken and three are higher on four or more exams and then if you want to be an AP scholar of Distinction they have to average at least a three five on all of their exams and get a score of three or higher on five exams and so this is phenomenal think about it there's five different exams that taken
053over their High School career and they've scored at least a three on all of this is AP scholar with distinction additionally we do have the Capstone program on both of our campuses and you'll see the Capstone there we have AP seminar um to receive a Capstone diploma you do AP seminar you get a three in year one AP research is year two you have to earn at least a three and for the diploma you have to have four AP exams that you earn a score of three or higher on that's phenomenal to accomplish that and students going through that that is a lot to be able to do if you're not able to do all of the AP exams you do get the AP seminar and research certificate we do acknowledge these in the programs
054when you take a look at graduation and you see all the little symbols and squiggles or whatever is next to it some of those represent these AP scholar Awards and so if you take a look this is just 2024 just 2024 and these are our students and how they performed and how many students uh scored these and so when you take a look at that you know we have higgle high and blue uh williamsfield in red and you can see the number of students that we did with the awards 116 award Wards at Higley High 75 at williamsfield these students need to be commended this is an outstanding accomplishment this is very very rigorous material and they're preparing for these high States exams and they with along with their parents support and the teacher support
055are really able to show that they've that they've learned that um that curriculum and so congratulations to all of our students who award uh these AP scholar Awards they've earned it this is a big earn and I know you know from personal experience I've having our students and I think a lot of us in here as parents have had students that have taken these courses they know how challenging they are and just congratulations to the success of our students and to the support of our teachers through this program so that's going to finish up what we're going to talk about with ap for dual enrollment I'm blown away at all the opportunities we have and so for this slideshow as I was talking to Mr Burkshire like what's the best way that we can do
056that yeah we could have a summary sheet but I wanted to list for you all the different courses that we offer for dual enrollment and the number of students at each high school and we're going to go after a couple slides we're going to see this grand total at the end and you guys are going to be really impressed you'll notice that not every school has the same dual enrollment as the other a lot of that depends on the teacher and when we can find dual enrollment certified teachers who are able to teach it sometimes we can't so then we don't have that opportunity available and we do the best that we can with the um the teachers who have been willing to go and above and beyond to get the certification and be able
057to get provide these opportunities and sometimes someone leaves and we don't have anyone to replace them and that's just the reality of what we do but we do offer so many opportunities for our uh parents you'll notice on this first page all of these ones that are listed as AP and so this is these are the courses like board member ree talked about where students have a choice they can take it for AP and prepare for that test well they're going to be preparing for the test take the exam or they can take a dual enrollment or they could actually do both if they wanted to cover all of their bases that's up to that parent remember these are opt-in courses where students have the opportunity and parents have the opportunity to take them they're
058not required courses we do have an onlevel uh curriculum that would meet their needs as they're going through but if we wanted the opportunities for the college credits these are the opting courses and so you'll take a look what impresses me so much and I know you guys were impressed at our CTE presentation um by Mr Pearson I think it was last month it seems like a long time ago but um all the different opportunities that our CTE programs so we're talking about our career ready programs are also providing College ready in order to be able to help them because it could be going directly to the workforce or it could be going to higher education at the same time but they're providing those opportunities and again I want to thank those teachers for getting
059the certifications necessary to be able to offer this so once again you take a look a lot of our different ones you'll see our honors courses come in there um there's a generalization that says hey if you take an AP or dual enrollment credit it's automatically awaited that's not necessarily true most of them are weighted GPA but not all of them are weighted GPA and then let's get to the kicker right here at the end if you take a look at that total right down on the bottom um we had 1,362 courses that were taken by our stud students last year in 2024 that's phenomenal the amount of commitment by the parents commitment by the students that we can the kids are getting college credit right there it's not 1,362 kids because many students take
060multiple of these but it's how many different opportunities they had to earn it and you you know again when you look at this list I think it's very impressive about all the different options and you know we have our saying about Limitless opportunities this is another example that we provide those opportunities you know one of the questions that I kind of get asked when I take a look at this they're like oh well it said Higley High had more AP and williamsfield had less and then you take a look at higgle High's dual enrollment in williamsfield and it it's about the exact same when you add those together and so I think that's really need opportunities for the kids at both schools to be able to earn this college credit so um it's just a
061a short summary we wanted to come back to you and highlight the programs that we think were really challenging our students from an academic standpoint give kudos to the students because it's tough give kudos to the teachers for help preparing them so with that I'd like to say thank you and if there are any more questions I'd be happy to answer those for you the number of offerings that we have is impressive but it's it's to me even more impressive that we have the teachers that are qualified and willing to step up and and and take on that very tedious feat and and do well at all so so congratulations again to the the parents students the teachers the admin everybody that supports this um I've had kids and it's funny because I I I
062haven't had the opportunity to teach AP and I don't think I ever want to um but whenever you know I tell and you know you push it not push it but you recommend for students hey you know maybe next year you need to look at doing like I said AP Kem and I took that year off to heal and I came back and the kids were running up to tell me just hey we did it and this is what I got on the test so like they go into it with fear but they come out just so excited for their success and that and that they made it and I know it's it's it's a lot of work but my questions are is this offered to online students or or for online um opportunities uh
063we do not do dual enrollment through online their platform Chandler Gilbert uses a little different than the platform we do and so they were not the same and so we have not offered it through them we do have some honors courses and we would allow students online to take EP if they needed to and um do you have minimum numbers for these especially for like AP like you need to have like 10 15 kids that have want to take the class and if they don't meet that numbers then you don't offer the class or is it you could have eight students and we're moving forward uh I sometimes with some of the very higher level ones we do allow smaller class sizes in it because we do know that it is an opportunity for the
064students who have pushed themselves ahead I think when we get down to the really small numbers those are always conversation that our principles are having to see what we can and do and that's just a reality of where the enrollment goes but typically we're able to make our courses perfect um that's all thank you so much thank you everyone okay next we're going to move on to our action items it I motion I'm sorry 8.1 is the discussion a public meeting regarding cell phone Tire U Towers in the district are there any questions or comments before I motion president Anderson I do have a comment um so I understand that um while you know we're we canceled the agreement um and the cancellation of the agreement is influencing Administration to recommend that we cancel the
065the community meeting Town Hall um but the concern is we still have two other Towers within our district and the community has questions um and for the sake of transparency I think it's important that we continue to have the town hall to allow um community members to ask their questions um such as you know how much are we getting for those Towers how are they approved when were they approved how much do we how long is the contract um where they most likely approve through consent um and I understand that nobody in the district is equipped to answer questions regarding ing health risks um and I'm I'm not sure if Verizon or AT&T I think we have one of each um I don't know if they were asked if they had any experts to attend
066and be able to speak and they just declined um because they're not equipped to answer those types of questions um but I think that the meeting should still happen to allow the community to be able to ask the these questions because we shouldn't expect that every single person to do a public records request to be able to get these answers so if we don't have a town hall how can we communicate all this information to the community and allow that dialogue for them to be able ask questions anybody miss Richard do you have a response for that administrations questions centered around who would facilitate this discussion um and what the ultimate goal was we of course will follow the direction of the board and what you guys tell us but um based on the fact
067that that Verizon agreement for the sa saam and campus was um cancelled then we weren't sure where to go with this so I don't know what a discussion looks like maybe our attorney can weigh in but um I I hope my questions make sense like who facilitates um and what's the ultimate goal of the discussion Madam president members of the governing board so it the I it before you is whether the board wants to schedule a town hall or really just another public meeting at which you could accept public input regarding the cell phone towers on your campuses um you all are eligible to accept public input at any time and certainly there has been at least at one board meeting that I attended public input on this process so the question is really whether
068the board feels that a special study session so to speak is warranted on this issue president Anderson uh superintendent Richards is it possible like as a parent should I have some questions about the current Towers to ask them like I know for example the parent that we have that is you know reached out in those types of things I know that like Tyler has talked with his parent in that type of of scenario I guess so my question is considering the fact that we are not moving forward with the new one any question referencing the old one that we are capable of answering or we can refer them to either T-Mobile or AT&T Whoever has the tower kind of deal um is that not possible to do and are we not already doing that for
069the things we currently have board member Wade I know one individual asks for specific information which I believe we're in the process of collecting um and I respect the St statement of not everybody wants to put in a public records request but we do try to answer questions um when we received them so president Anderson um I my concern is how do we share that information publicly so that we're not getting multiple public records requ for the same thing and then we leave it up to that individual to then share the information on social media and we know how that goes so um if we can maybe figure out how to to be able to share this information so that whether it's on the website or you know putting out a statement with all these
070questions being answered I mean we could have further Dialogue on how we see this happening um and and I don't know if we'll figure that out tonight um considering Tyler's not here and he has pretty much most of the information um but aside from that my my biggest concern going forward is ensuring things like this never get put into consent again and that we consider you know I don't know what five years from now looks like or 10 years from now that there might you know Verizon might come back and be like okay we want to Tower again so at that time that we consider having public input um instead of putting it in in consent but again these are many questions that um people have and how do we answer these going forward I
071was would it be detrimental would it be okay would it would it be comfortable to the district to put it on the website is that something that you feel like would be a good source because I think that would be better than um trying to hold multiple meetings and maybe only having a couple people show up um and that information is readily available um president and Anderson I'm going to ask the attorney make sure I'm not getting off the agenda topic as this just ask for a public meeting so um Madam president miss Richards um you are your concern is well founded this is an action item um as to whether or not the board wants to schedule a town hall it's not an action item where you could instruct the superintendent about how to
072communicate but certainly she has heard your concerns okay so we're just going to vote tonight on public meeting Town Hall yes or no all right are there any other comments or questions we'd like to add towards this item um president Anderson um I'd like to make a motion to table this to allow um further conversation as to how we move forward to determine to be able to talk to Tyler and figure out if these are if we can do that publicly if and then we can maybe come back to this vote once we determine um how that would look like and and how we can answer these questions um so to to just to clarify is this to vote to cancel the one that we had scheduled is all no we did we voted to
073have okay I'm reading the motion up on here and it says a motion that the governing board cancel the scheduling of a community meeting regarding cell towers it's what was provided to me so that's not what we are moving forward with it's just any meeting over this topic is that correct Madame President I Believe Miss Van Hook has made a motion to table so um we should see if there's a second on the motion to table and vote on that and then if that votes depending on the outcome of that vote we can discuss what this this proposed recommendation is well I was questioning exactly what we'd be voting on to know what exactly I'm tabling so that's what I'm trying to clarify so my understanding is that there is not currently a town hall
074scheduled and the administration is Seeking a vote from the board on whether you want to move forward with having a town hall or whether you want to cancel the prior Direction to host a town hall president Anderson um for some clarification we talked about this previously um we had talked about doing one a a community meeting when we were there we tabled that agenda item which was the specific cell phones and then last month we canceled that agreement which is why the original meeting never happened because the table superseded that and so that's where we are at at the last meeting when we canceled the agreement the reason this got put on the agenda was whether or not we still hold the meeting because we had at least an individual who was emailing that they
075desire to still discuss it and so that's why that's here I appreciate it I I I understood that it's just the the language that I have in front of me wasn't matching up so I was totally confused what was happening so we have a motion to table do we have a second okay so motion fails I motion I see this is so there is no cancelling okay I understand okay no I what we tabled in our original meeting was the contract is what we tabled and there was some discussion about exploring potentially doing a town hall is what we had talked about yes in s estate specifically so my understanding is this recommendation is in general that we still hold a town hall meeting or we not still that we do hold a town hall
076meeting regarding all of the Verizon or all of the cell towers in our district is what my understanding that this particular motion is if we want to hold a town hall regarding cell towers in our District any over any cell tower before we were specifically talking about San and the new one and we tabled the vote for the agreement with Verizon to see if we wanted to if we wanted to explore a town hall then when that agreement was was cancelled because we were specifically talking about s and Estates there was no further need to move forward so now this would be for any cell towers within our district um I spoke to several community members in different areas um several that have kids that attend williamsfield who live by Will williamsfield um and the
077community members I spoke to don't support a town hall in this fashion they don't think it's a good use of our district time admin um that they really their sentiments were it would be a waste of time for our district to hold um a town hall meeting for uh a a very small population of questions so um regarding the specific Town Hall I mean I I listen to our community members um and everything that's not to say we can't come back and um see if there's another Avenue for for information but um I would not support our our admin holding a town hall on on our cell towers based on the community input I heard president Anderson board member Reese um I think it's unfair to say for a small community because there's quite a
078bit of people that are that are very concerned um and I've spoken to many um and I know um that there was a survey done just in San alone and there was majority of the community there was concerned um and so I don't know how many people you've spoke you spoke to but to say that the people that you spoke to get to counter what the people that are concerned about it isn't fair um because I know that there is quite a bit of people that are concerned about cell phone towers um and so how do we get this information out then if if you know that's something that we got to figure out um because these people want answers um they were never given the opportunity to hear about these um Towers going up
079and so um it is a concern and so we need to figure out how to move forward if we're not doing a town hall and just to be fair I didn't say the small community that's the feedback I received from people um and if there's a survey out there where was the survey how do we get the results for San I was unaware who conducted a survey it was a private survey done by um um Mark Garcia okay so there's not been a a full survey I think through through maybe their HOA um so it wasn't done by the district but my understanding is he conducted a survey within his his community which is s in States and um majority of the community wasn't a fan and had concern Madam president I think we're straying
080a bit from the topic which is what the board wants to hear um certainly the community's uh uh questions weigh into what the board wants to do but the question before the board is whether you want to hold a town hall or a community meeting or a special meeting or whatever you want to call it um that's the question before the board I was just going to say I think the information goes needs to go out there but I think right now A meeting is is not not the direction that needs to be taken but again that information does need to get out there so so we need to have a motion made on the floor so that the board can vote on this item and the recommended motion is that the governing board cancel
081the scheduling of a community meeting regarding cell phone towers I'd like to make a motion that we cancel uh a town hall meeting not that we do not have a town hall meeting regarding cell phone towers in our district Amanda seconded all those all those in favor I I all those oppose nay president Anders yes I just want to say that I also Echo that putting the information out there is is important you know if people have questions questions um I don't know if the town also has information on their website for the different cell phone towers we have in the entire town um but a town hall just with the resources as Mrs ree said doesn't make sense for our admin when we have a ton of other things for them to do and
082this would take a lot of resources for that to happen president Anderson one last thing as well for any individual in the community who does have concern you absolutely can email and you people have and we have responded so I think it is important should you still have questions or desire those types of things you can email the district office and and receive the information that you are seeking as far as the information we can give you AT&T T-Mobile whatever those types of things obviously we are limited in that but from our perspective we absolutely can president Anderson I don't even know the answers to these questions for me to be able to respond to anybody that would email me so you know obviously it would be nice for this to even be shared with
083the board I don't know how you know when they were approved for me to go back and watch that recording or how much they're paying the district I don't have any of that information so not only the community but also as a board member I I would like this information so that's a lot of public records requests yeah everybody should have these answers so um okay moving forward all right motion carries 4 to one with moving on to 8.2 fiscal year 2025 classroom site fund plan are there any questions or comments before we move on President Anderson I had asked uh so with the classroom site fund for the six fifths um this typically and part of the answer generally it's six fits are related to um classroom teachers um and so now we're being
084told that you know school counselors School psychologists um speech language Pathologists occupational therapists physical therapists and certified District instructional coaches are also included in this and when I asked you know typically with teachers it's because they're given an additional class um but my question was not answered what qualifies all these additional roles um to be included as part of the 6 fths um I'm not sure who could answer that question uh president Anderson uh Vice President Van Hook excuse my voice tonight I'm a little ill um I can answer that question for you six fifths is when a teacher takes on one additional class the classroom site fund portion is paid to all of those employees but not six fifths six fifths we have currently 35 teachers that have taken on one additional class so
085what the proposal is is that we pay them not we normally would calculate the additional class payment at the base rate of a starting teacher what they asked for was if we could include that $8,100 one of that could be included for those teachers that are taking on that additional class so it's giving them a little more additional money out of the classroom um the classroom site fund it is not giving anyone else more money unless they are teaching a class one additional class according to their normal load so that's why it's called called 6 fifths the only people in our district that are getting that currently are teachers teaching one additional class none of those others those other people listed they're getting the classroom site fund at the $ 8,110 but no additional dollars
086beyond that okay does that help yes thank you so that was my messengers misunderstanding so this is to vote on the 6 fths that only cover the class the the teachers okay so yeah so the response back kind of was confusing but okay thank you so much difficult to explain sometimes so I apologize for it's okay president Anderson before we vote one thing I would like to express is uh gratitude for this um I know my time on the board has been short but this shows ways in which we are making efforts to help our teachers in our staff um teaching 65th is really really hard so the idea that we are not only doing something and again at at base salary if I'm a 20-year teacher I am not getting my salary for that
087additional class I'm just not so the idea that that you know we are making efforts to do that is is pretty awesome so thank you okay I motion the governing board approve the classroom site fund performance plan as presented for fiscal year 2025 second give that one to Tiffany for a second sorry I have to say it out loud all those in favor I motion carries 5 to zero now we're on to Future agenda items um is this where I could request there to be conversation or a future agenda item to talk about if we're not going to hold a meeting for cell phone towers the process where we can get the information to the public as they are do that information well this is the point Madam president this is the point in time
088which you could act for a future agenda item on that topic yes if you want to have an agenda item to discuss how you're going to communicate out the cell phone tower information yes you could ask for that everything she [Laughter] said president Anderson I'd also like to uh have a discussion related to the novel committee selection process anyone else president Anderson sorry if we can get a discussion item um on I guess an additional process or protocol at one point in time we received um a summary of our board meetings and we have not received that so I'm asking that we go back to that discussion a summary used to go out after the board meetings to all the staff and we used to get that as well um I'm seeing a lot of
089um questions coming through on the superintendent report that were covered in the board meetings so I don't know if having a a recap so I'd like to have that discussion on potentially going back to that a discussion on just some follow-up process after our board meetings on how we get summaries or or things like that like I so how's that okay anyone else I motion that we adj that we adjourn I'm sorry Anna Anna what Anna oh I apologize it's okay you were W me to go um I know I had previously talked about this and we were we send it in status but I think if we could have an open discussion um as an informational item just talking about our cell phone use in schools and what that looks like across the board
090and that would be great I'm done now M president Anderson we had a motion and seconded for adjournment all those in favor I I I motion carries 5 to Zero have a wonderful evening everyone e [Applause]