001president Anderson let the record show that all five board members are present thank you please join me in a moment of silence followed by the Pledge of Allegiance oh thank you e okay I motion to approve the agenda all those in favor I I I motion carries 5 to zero all right Mrs Richards you have the superintendent Report with Higley Adventures first thank you president Anderson members of the board we're excited this evening we made it through day two yay what a great start but now we want to s celebrate what's going on in Higley Adventures so I need my media uh individuals to help me Christine I need help one moment there it is every time we have a board meeting we celebrate the amazing things that are going on in the school district
002and we call this higgy Adventures so this is your first episode of 2024 all right this is your incredible PR and marketing department they recently won two Awards of Merit from the national school PR Association one for social media and for the Higley helps campaign or initiative and one for our principal Spotlight videos in addition we won an award of Excellence for David nuttles teacher of the year video way to go PR and marketing we are so very proud of the work you [Applause] do and Jessica's right there you should wave you're famous right we're very excited my team yes very excited to have Jessica leading this team all right we had new teacher orientation last week and new teachers gathered at middle school for this orientation it was four days of professional development new
003teachers learned about aspects of working in Higley the best District in the nation and they prepared to start the school year welcome our new teachers to the husd family they had quite a bit of learning going on as you can tell and it's great because we have support systems and we got them ready to go went they went to their schools and they were supported there as well our new teachers have mentors which is critical to their success all right here we have our welcome back rally on Thursday July 18th husd welcome backed our employee groups from summer break Higley and Williamsville band and chair were there to welcome all of the employees along with our black buzard band in addition we had some awesome raffle items provided by our business partners it was a
004great great kickoff to the 2425 School SCH year on the next slide you're going to see a video of the excitement whoop [Music] a [Music] [Applause] [Music] good job PR and marketing once again nice job Jessica and your team all right as you're well aware yesterday was the first day of school we're so excited to have our students back because that's why we're all here right so this is our 2425 school year where Limitless opportunities are given to our students and we can't wait to see them learn learn and grow here you see some first day of school videos and notice the little sign the kindergarten sign that's getting placed in our front yards what year will these kids graduate 2037 I can't do the math on that that's that's a lot for me so
005we're excited it was an amazing day and today followed up in the same way all right next we have Higgly High School football kicker um Lorenzo with us this evening he was recently F featured in a local news story Lorenzo has worked to overcome some challenges and we all have challenges but this guy I know personally I've been so impressed with his hard work and we want to share his story with the community if you're confused about Lorenzo on the left and Lorenzo now in high school it's the same kid I'm in that picture with Lorenzo on the left but I've aged a lot so we're not going to look at that all right we're going to try to watch the video and then I'm going to have Lorenzo come up for a moment I
006was lucky enough to meet Lorenzo a few weeks ago at a Cardinal's kicking camp and he immediately inspired me Richard after just spending a few minutes with my man I realized that even though life has thrown Lorenzo some curveballs there is nothing he can't do he was uh non-verbal uh severe sensory um and his fine motor skills and everything uh needed attention I mean from every angle Lorenzo needed key individuals to help him spark forward growing up Lorenzo was met with many challenges even just going to the park to play wasn't always easy he would always have to wait till the sun went down to a certain spot because he couldn't handle wind on his arm or the moisture and so we had to wait for a certain time for us to be able to
007go down to the park and kick with him being severe sensory uh it's not just a ball it you got to think about the color the textures there's a lot that goes into it but no matter the obstacle in his path Lorenzo has persevered the impact he's had on my life is like it's incredible man like there's no obstacle that this kid cannot overcome and that's a testament to who he is kicking is his passion Lorenzo is set to kick for Higley High School's varsity football team this fall to see him out here busting his butt just like everybody else else and having to go over more hurdles and more people it's very inspiring lifted up by his Circle of Love Lorenzo feels the support of the community behind each Kick so so good love
008we just look out to each other we are know like all out s Circle and we H each other like just like to get rid of like all the negativity Lorenzo dreams of kicking at ASU and for the Cardinals someday and his number one fan will be there to cheer him on every step of the way she just like she she's an inspiration to me she just take care of me she just work out for me she just like my number one one Mom it's an incredible accomplishment for Lorenzo to be where he is today but the impact he's had on those around him is priceless what excuse am I going to have when somebody like Lorenzo might have a seizure or two the night before we go out to kick and to train and
009there's no excuse on his end that's one of the things I appreciate most about Lorenzo he helps me see the world how I should see it uh it's a beautiful world and and some of the people that we have as part of Lorenzo's success has been the results of what you see today I'm going to [Applause] clap and I met Lorenzo when we opened Bridges Elementary School and what a blessing he was back then but look at him now and he's a young man that we all aspire to have the courage and determination that Lorenzo has so I'm going to have him come up here very quickly what are you [Laughter] doing okay you make a presentation yeah uh hello I'm I'm going see at Hig High School uh might well know me on the
010news so so that's all I have to say so uh why not we're just getting ready for the season uh we just we have like a bunch of teams just like want to defeat other just want like just had good challenges but like I really love like T of each team we have but like yeah but but like sometimes get S but we learn from it like every every mistake is is a purpose like we don't be afraid of like making a mistake just just keep on grinding hard like no matter what it it just life sometimes not fair but like we we learn from it with okay so so right now uh okay so right now uh I got my mom and my dad over there so uh so so I just want like
011appreciate them just like for my supports throughout my throughout my lives especially my mom and she really knows like what is going on with me but she uh has inspired many others too she's been like he she's I just seen her like as like like INSP inspiration to me she just really helps me out with others too it's including me too I just have have with my friends and [Applause] stuff do you guys want to come up I wasn't expecting to get flowers that was very kind of you thank you no we're not just [Applause] out you know what I think I'm gonna have to send him up here I won't be able to see you guys right beautiful all right president Anderson are you ready for upcoming events all right Monday July 29th we
012have kolie preschool curriculum night Wednesday July 31st we have Middle School's curriculum night August 1st I don't know how it got to be August but it's here our elementary schools will have their curriculum night August 5th sasman preschool curriculum night and we'll be back again on August 6 for our governing board meeting that will be a work study thank you Mr Mard next we're moving on to request to speak Oh I thought you 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 disc discuss comment or take action on matters uh rais
013that are not specifically identified on the agenda therefore pursuant to ARS 38-43 1.01 I action taken as a result a public comment will be limited to directing staff to study the matter in 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 to Quorum refraining from either negative or positive responses including clapping or verbal Outburst to ensure fairness to All Points of View those that refuse to follow these rules may be asked to leave and accordance with policy bedh public participation of 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
014may also set a time limit for individual speakers thank you for your cooperation our first request to speak will be Kathleen Richards just kidding hi good evening governing board and administration um I just wanted to come up quickly number one to congratulate the um public relations team on the launch of the new website my husband works in technology um I have seen sort of the back end if you will yes that's an actual term of how that goes and how hard that is uh to get up and running and it was no small feat for that group to Just Launch it um this is not to say that there are not things that will need fixing and finessing as we go on um but that was definitely a beast and they had given themselves an
015aggressive timeline and I think it's really awesome that they were able to meet that and do it really well and so far the interface that I have seen I've been really impressed with as a parent so congratulations um I also just wanted to take the opportunity at the beginning of the school year um there was a mention of Higley helps there was a great um news piece on this back to school moment yesterday on ABC 15 that um highlighted my favorite school here Higley Traditional Academy and our very fancy very old Bell um but it it did also highlight the higgle helps here initiative within our district something that allows our students to be a part of the community to get that sense of volunteerism early with our youngest kiddos doing this which is something
016that as a parent and as a volunteer at the school I've always been super impressed with that initiative of giving back that starts so young our kids carry that with them further than I think we realize and as the parents and adults in the room I hope that we can start the 2425 school year with a little bit of that sense of community of going out and singing the Praises of Higley School District again Arizona is wacky in terms of how Education Works in our space and so much of what happens in education happens because of Word of Mouth you hear other teachers you hear other parents excuse me talking about the teachers that they have about the great experiences that they're having in their District so to those who may be watching at home
017because of a slightly later meeting and a crazy week um hopefully you guys are out there sharing the amazing things that we're doing here in this district and encouraging your friends and neighbors who may or may not be participating in things here in our school district to do so and that we can go forward into this particular school year with a sense of unity and team Higley and Higley helps all of the amazing things so thank you guys so much looking forward to the year okay next we have Mindy brocker thank you for the time today I stand before you today to advocate for a more balanced and thoughtful approach to the oversight of literary materials in our schools the current restrictive novel recommend ation would severely limit our children's access to literature in an
018absolutely unnecessary bowing to a screeching pressure from a very noisy minority when I push back against these ideas and stand firm in my right to decide for my child what is appropriate and what is not they call me low class and mentally ill no wonder normal parents don't want to speak up it's a terrible experience but I don't like to back down to bullies so here I stand adding this further a necessary restriction as is on tonight's agenda undermines our Ro of fostering an enriching and thought-provoking educational environment we're limiting our students intellectual growth and their ability to engage with complex and sometimes uncomfortable topics that are part of our shared Human Experience our current permission slip system is a balanced and effective approach it empowers parents to review and decide on their children's access
019to potentially controversial or sensitive books this approach respects parental rights and ensures that individual values and beliefs are taken into account the success of this system demonstrates that the additional blanket restrictions imposed by the school board are unnecessary the permission slip system encourages an open dialogue between parents and teachers and students about the content and themes of books this dialogue is an invaluable part of the educational process helps children navigate and understand complex issues with the guidance of both their parents and their Educators it ensures that parents are actively involved in their chents in their children's education while allowing students the opportunity to explore our wide range of literary work given that we're having this conversation because of a permission slip it's clear that we can trust parents to make informed decisions about their children's
020reading materials also parents please take note the idea of the committee as will be recommended here is deceptive because while the committee can make recommendations ultimately the governing board would be taking control of restricting what our child reads this process doesn't allow for broad access to books it's an end run around parental rights while giving actual parents a figurative pat on the head I urge parents to reach out to the board and I will help you to do so to Halt this march by the moms of Liberty types towards a restrictive oversight of literary materials let us place our trust in parents and the existing permission slip system which has already proven to be balanced and effective in this way we can continue to ensure that all students have an opportunity to explore a wide
021range of liter literary work enriching their educational experience preparing them for complexities of the world beyond the classroom let us continue to work together parents with teachers to ensure that our students receive the best possible education one that is both Broad and respectful of individual values thank you next we have Stephanie Evans hi my name is Stephanie Evans I'm a mom of four and I actually my kids um they go to some charter schools and Gilbert Public Schools um I'm with some other moms I wanted to lend my voice to what they are going to speak further on um but that is is that we have been reading the book um the anxious Generation by Jonathan hate um if you've heard of it it goes into depth of the research the social research and science
022that has been done on the connections between um smartphones and our youth and the anxiety and depressive disorders that are connected um I a former fifth grade teacher and I substitute in Misa and Gilbert public schools and I've noticed the difference between the teachers that require the phone to be turned in before they enter the classroom and the work that gets done and the distractions that ensue when they are able to have their phones at their desks um I believe districtwide if there is um a policy that phones should not be out during school hours that that helps enforce an environment where teachers aren't making making that decision on their own and being labeled um permissive or fun or the mean teacher because of their own policies on this um I I just wanted to
023support my friends that here in the Higley school district and lend my voice to theirs of um our desire to have a district that um would protect our kids in the classroom and allow them to focus on their education as opposed to watching sports under their their desks as I see so often or or worse unfortunately thank you so much okay next we have Don Litwin hello my name is Don Litwin and I've been a part of the Higley Community for many years starting out as a parent of twin boys at Cortina on its opening day all the way to higgle High graduation I've been deeply involved with our schools from volunteering to substitute teaching and now to beginning my 12th year teaching full-time um fifth grade at Santa Elementary and I also have been
024running a robotics club for nine years at SanTan I'm very invested and committed to our students and Community I have observed a growing issue of concern uh the increasing presence of smart watches and cell phones as distractions in schools while the issue is most prominent in middle and high schools we are seeing more students with devices in fifth and sixth grade I'm here to urge the Higley School Board to review and consider revising our electronic devices policy I believe our current policy lacks the clarity to effectively prevent unauthorized device use phrases such as May in relation to rules leaves room for interpretation and inconsistency phrases um sorry the term not displayed for use still leaves devices accessible to students the directive to keep devices out of sight is also problematic as it can still allow
025for students to keep phones in a pocket or jacket and then possibly misuse them in less visible areas on your school campus establishing a firm device policy early on in elementary will set up students for a smooth transition into middle and high school with the understanding and expectations that devices are not a part of their school day there are also concerns regarding privacy and safety as incidents in the news and some schools reveal unauthorized recording and sharing on social media platforms of teachers and students this creates a risk of unwanted attention to staff and students research cited in education week underscores that for a policy to be effective phones and SmartWatches should be securely stor securely stored and inaccessible to students throughout their school day this approach helps minimize distractions and behaviors and ensures a
026focused learning environment for the policy to be successful it must be uniformly applied across all schools in our district with clear guidelines for our teachers parents and students while recognizing that families have varying rules at home regarding devices and internet usage schools play a crucial role in shaping consistent expectations within the educational Community by establishing clear and comprehensive rules we can better protect our students attention and their privacy during school hours in closing I respectfully request that the Higley school school board collaborates with administrators are upper grade teachers and families to riew and refine our current cell phone and Smartwatch policy thank you for considering this important matter next we have Camila Porter good evening members of the board I'm going to speak a little fast but it's on purpose just so I can get
027my words in the evidence demonstrating how increased use of smartphones and social media has devastated the mental health of young people is indisputable there's been a significant rise in depression anxiety eating disorders and suicidality among young people since smartphones became ubiquitous in the early 2010s but do we know what Smartphone access during the school hour does to students scientific Studies have shown that even having a cell phone in your pocket or your backpack as opposed to it being in another room led to worse performance on test me measuring memory and intelligence whatever rules a school may have in place against it students check their phone a lot during class their focus is easily derailed by interruptions from their devices all day long but smartphones don't just pull students away from schoolwork they pull them away
028from one another too just ask any seasoned teacher how much quieter lunchrooms are today versus the past kids don't even bother talking to each other or pestering each other or connecting with each other it's just easier to stare at your phone four years ago in 2020 cell phone bands were in place in 77% of US schools but this High number seems to refer to a pretty low bar it includes any school that tells students they shouldn't use their phones while in class sort of what Mrs litn was discussing a second ago that's not really a ban it's more of an unenforceable wish it places the burden on teachers to police phone use during classroom time when they should be teaching for many teachers it's simply not worth the fight to combat phone use in the
029classroom administrators need to put their feet down they need to be brave they need to go to bat for the kids in their District it is my opinion we need to transform Higley into a genuinely phone-free District how we've seen that policies that allow students to keep phones in their backpacks are in effective what is effective there's two options that I see lockable pouches or phone lockers these are the only two policies that can create phone-free schools they are the policies most likely to lead to educational social and mental health benefits because they're the only approaches that give students six or seven hours a day away from their phone if your mind is immediately going to counterarguments you expect parents or students to make I will be emailing an article to you guys of members
030of the board after this meeting to that addresses those topic it's written by the author of the book that Mrs Evans discussed uh the anxious generation I read that book a few months ago and what I learned there was so eye openening as a parent of three young Higley student students I felt I needed to take matters into my own hands I created an organization for kids and parents who want to avoid a phone-based childhood and return to more of a play-based childhood I created a pledge for kids and parents who agree to withhold kids access to smartphones until 9th grade or later and access to social media until the age of 16 or later we've had so much support from families right here in our district many parents at Higley schools are begging for
031the administration to take action and do it soon I encourage you to look at our website to learn more and to view or sign our pledge and I put it here at the bottom of my little poster oh I plead with you to take this topic seriously um to read the book and article to create a committee to consider this uh cell phone ban that we're proposing and hear the voices of concerned parents and teachers just a little peer of pressure here are some states that have already gone the distance in some districts in their states thank you you yes thank you next we have is it Megan Jarvis hi I don't I have multiple kids in the district I have three little ones now one in s and two in elementary and I also
032have an graduated high schooler that went through Higley and I didn't really prepare a lot of info versus what has already been said but I just really want to agree with all of that I have seen it in my older one the anxiety the depression all of that growing up in the era where I mean we didn't know just gave her a cell phone and you can see it you could see it and I see a huge difference and reading that book and learning so much more it just makes so much sense and I would love for my children starting Junior High and younger as they go up having that ban especially in junior high school um to not have to be like deal with it and and hear see the ramifications from it and
033I just wanted to reiterate for what they're saying next we have Whitney all red good evening I am a concerned parent as well in the Higley school district and I agree with everything that these fabulous women have said um if you're anything like me this is the first thing you look at in the morning when you wake up and the last thing you look at before you go to bed um and unfortunately we do a whole lot of looking at it in between throughout the day whether it's texting emailing social media Direction phone calls looking up recipes for cooking Etc let's think about for a minute what our lives were like without it specifically for me I used my creativity I didn't look things up on Pinterest or Instagram or heaven forbid chat GPT to
034give me ideas it all came from here I made jewelry I hung out with friends in real life I read books I went to and graduated from college without it I thought of ways to serve people around me I did not worry about what my makeup looked like or what my nightly face routine was I went to events where people socialized and people weren't distracted by the latest text or Instagram post I experienced awkward silences and yes it was okay I could sit in complete silence and I could actually Focus but most of all my mental and emotional health was thriving if I could go back to the day without smartphone if I could go back to the day without smartphones I would do it in a heartbeat lucky enough for me I've experienced part
035of my life before cell phones existed and I know when it's time to put it down and step away these students for the most part don't they're involved in all aspects of social media most of them and it has them wrapped around its fingers sometimes until 3:00 in the morning ladies and gentlemen to quote MIT Professor Sher turl with smartphones We Are Forever elsewhere how are kids supposed to create learn participate work through problems have confidence focus and receive inspiration at a time when their brains are trying to develop if they have this thing constantly in their pockets in their backpacks or hidden underneath their desks simply put it's impossible I certainly can't listen to my toddler when he's tugging on my shirt and also try and text at the same time I believe that
036kids should learn what life is like without their smartphones specifically in the classroom um I imagine most of us have experienced it without them and I'm willing to bet that your education was much better without it don't you want your students to do better on classwork and tests and receive higher grades and overall GPA but even more don't you want them to succeed in life beyond the classroom if they can't learn what life is like outside of this phone they may never figure out how great it can actually be parents and teachers let's make our students do a hard thing and give up their phones just during the school hours after all we lived it and survived did we not thank you thank you for those of you that would like to leave this as
037a good breaking point if you want to go home get some dinner um finish up your evening but we're going to move to the consent agenda item now I'm not asking people to leave I'm just saying it's a good time to leave if you would like okay let's move on to the consent agenda I motion to approve consent agenda items 5.1 through 5.21 second all those in favor I I I motion carries 5 to zero I believe Mr Armstrong has some introductions to make this evening yes ma'am president Anderson thank you guys uh tonight you just approved two outstanding Educators who are joining our wonderful District I i' like to First recognize Miss Mandy balii I believe she's here she could stand give her a huge round of applause Mandy is going to be serving
038as our assistant principal at HTA the Higley Traditional Academy she has served in a variety of capacities and education serving as a teacher instructional specialist director of curriculum math coach but most recently serving as a DEA students at in Queen Creek unified higgle traditional and Mrs bacon are super excited and very grateful to have her join the HTA family so we welcome you and we are so glad that you're furthering your leadership in our district [Applause] congratulations I like to also recognize Mr Eric Rogers Mr Rogers isur returning back to Higley Unified School District after serving as the DEA students in Chandler Unified he served as a teacher at chapparel elementary serving that wonderful uh community and he is super excited because he gets to be back with Miss day for this upcoming school year
039serving as the assistant principal at Centennial we're super excited to have you back we're glad that you made the choice back to the best District in the state um in the nation I'm sorry but we want to go ahead and say thank you and we're glad you're here to help Miss Dave and that amazing Centennial [Applause] Community thank you and welcome to both admins and yet another one from Queen Creek let's move on to the information items we're going to start with 6.1 on the Human Resources quarterly ESI Report with Mrs Johnson good evening president Anderson members of the board I present to you the information of the final quarter of fiscal year 2324 are there any questions thank you thank you okay 6.2 the special education private day a school report um for fourth
040quarter of fiscal year 2024 with Mrs Miller president Anderson members of the board thank you as this is our fourth quarter report for our private day schools um as you can see we continue to come in under the allocation um and do you have any questions looks like we're all good thank you okay moving on to information item 6.3 the novel and supplemental material committees process by Mr lsen Heiser just ask question sorry uh we have a question um for 6.2 uh yes okay um I just real quickly the the money that wasn't used does that get to carry over or do we lose that I'm going to defer to Mr Moore on that one yeah Vice President Van Hook yeah that carries over that'd be essentially in a budget balance carry forward for M
041perfect thank you okay Mr lsen Heiser please just waiting on a PowerPoint ah there it is president Anderson members of the board uh tonight we're coming back to you to present information about our novel and supplemental material approval process and the reason we've brought it back to you today is at our last board meeting we presented three different policies for first read IGA igd and JJ um when we brought those to you for the first read we realized um that we needed to uh change the language within these three policies to meet State Statute so that we made sure that we had governing board approval and met open meeting laws with the processes through how we select novels or supplemental materials within our district and to do that um we uh you ask for more
042information about the process behind what was going to happen remember how this typically works is the policy gets approved then the process gets implemented and so what we're coming to today is here's what the process would be once you have approved the policy so if you'll notice in action you'll see the three of them are coming for a second read to look for approval uh in action please understand that we currently have a policy of which we uh approve and we have examined novels and supplemental materials by site and District personnel and so we currently have a 24 25 supplemental and novel lists that are being used by our teachers we are not replacing those those are going to continue for the 2425 school year uh we we're meeting District policy when we follow those
043now as we update the policy and here's what our goal is we're going to update the policy and that'll allow us to U implement the revised procedures and uh processes so that we can make sure that we're meeting State Statute and we've developed this additional process with a lot of different input um but the goal is throughout the next year collect anything that we need to add to the supplemental and to the novel approved list and bring those to you in March and why March you ask because if we bring it in March the whole goal is that we have a uh first information item where we'd present it to you then there'd be a 60-day public review and then we would be able to come back and be approved uh in the end of
044May beginning of June so when new things get added to the list we have time to procure them so that when our teachers prepare over the summer or come back at the beginning of the school year those resources will be available to them our goal is to create a cyclic process where at the beginning of every year uh the teachers will have the approved supplemental lists and the novel list for the year we'll work on adding or deleting as we go through the entire year bring it back for governing board approval and we'll just kind of continue to do this process to modify what we need to do uh for our um for our teachers to make sure that they have what they need um when we take a look at uh the three different
045policies IGA there were no changes from the first read to now for igd it was asked that we reference ars1 15-1 120.0 3 sexually sexually explicit materials and we have listed that as a reference within igd and for JJ we also added that as a reference as well 15-1 12.03 you know our goal in all this again is to create a process that is going to be cyclical so that you can know and expect when then we can have things coming for approval I need to give a huge huge shout out to Mary Davis as she has led this process along with uh members from both of our high schools and so Mary's going to explain a little bit more about how the process was developed and she's going to walk us through uh the
046process today so I'm going to go ahead and turn it over to Mary um good evening um president Anderson and governing board members um so like David said I'm going to um take us through the process and what our committee structure will look like going forward so I was able to go through a nice collaborative process with um some members of our High School uh teaching staff from both sites and dig into this process and also review um the novel process from Seven Valley districts to see what they have and also um four supplemental processes from local districts as well and just take a look at what their successes were and and even some things that didn't go so well for them to build our process um for this going forward and also kind of
047take a sneak peek at what their lists were to see where we align as well so with that I'm going to give a quick shout out to those teachers um because they did give up some of their Sumer to work with us on this process to make sure we are advocating for teachers and putting them first as we go through this process um so thank you to the Higley and Williams Field teachers I greatly appreciate you um some of them might be here tonight um and just to reiterate um what we are doing is aligning with State Statute to add in that board approval and that 60-day review for supplemental materials and our novels um this list is going to keep popping up as we go through you might get sick of it but it's
048our guidance as we go through this um the first step in this process is forming our committees and we want to make sure that we have a diverse representation across our district so starting with that we will have these four groups so office staff site Administration teachers our parents legal Guardians and community members so both committees so the novel committee and the supplemental material committee will consist of these groups and then I'm going to start with the novel group they will have a hopefully a larger group that we can then break into grade level or grade band groups so that we can read more novels um because it would be kind of hard to say hey let's all read these 20 books where instead we can say your sixth grade group let's read the sixth
049grade these sixth grade novels hey you're seventh grade let's read these seventh grade novels and work through it that way and then come back to the whole group to make um presentations on what we recommend and why um and then that whole group would then stamp that recommendation and then same thing for the supplemental committee we would have a prek six or prek 5 group and then a 612 group that would meet in this larger committee and then can break out to review those supplementals as they come in is that making sense okay and then I do want to add that because these are committees we would operate under um open meeting law for both sets of committees and to form these committees they will be application based and then from there ed services will
050review those applications and make selections we want to make sure that we have that representation across the district so we're diverse in who we're selecting um they need to be um willing to be active participants and attend meetings in per person um at various times throughout um the day it could be every four to six weeks for novels and then also being willing to read complex novels outside their usual preference so that's for our novel um committee and then for our supplemental material committee again application based and then that representation across the district and willingness to be an active participant and attend meetings in person at various times as needed so our supplemental materials might come in different waves so we may not need to meet on a consistent basis but probably once a quarter
051to review those materials as they come in and then the next step in this process is opening up our forms for teachers to be able to um submit their requests so it's a um a complex process to make sure that we are seeing what they need from these materials and getting that research in so that the Committees can hop in and read the novel and review those um supplemental materials and ensure that we are doing our due diligence with um either the novel or supplemental material you'll note that on the 612 novel review request um we do have a ke ey on State Statute 151 120.0 3 which is that sexually explicit content and we are also asking that they um the teachers are reviewing our instructional best practices guide that we have as a
052district um I do believe that's in your board doc um packet for you to review um and the same thing for our supplemental material review and then once we get all the reviews or requests the committee will meet and go through them it is a first come first serve and once we have the novels we can break into our grade level or grade band groups and start reading through them um on that four to six week basis and as we have those um supplemental materials we can figure out our meeting pattern as well once they are oh I don't think I clicked once we're in our subgroups um I'll take for example um a sixth grade group they have their novel that they're going to read each person on that subgroup they would read their
053novel individually and then record based on a rubric how they would score it and we are evaluating on a rubric um our both rubrics for the supplemental and the novels are very similar um so it takes them through a series of questions um to evaluate the appropriateness authenticity instructional value literary merit that's specific to the novels and then sensitive content again with that Keen Eye on state statute 12.03 and in the rubrics we have direct links for the reviewer to that state statute and then here's just a quick preview of two parts of the rubric again it's pretty rigorous rub rubric so this one outlines the literary merit and then the sensitive content and then once that small group or grade level group makes their um recommendation together they would go and make a presentation
054to that larger group to say yes we recommend this book or this supplemental material um to go forward and then that larger whole group with all the grade levels would stamp it to move forward um for that list to go before the board um any questions there because I know I just gave a lot of information and a lot of group grade level group and then whole group so I want to make sure that's clear um forgive me if you already defined it can you remind us of examples of supplemental materials yes thank you so that is anything District site department or grade level sets as an expectation for all students to utilize um so that this District or site would be purchasing for the students so then um like we said once a year
055we'll take that list um about March the both sets of committees will have their final list of either of novels and supplementals that they would like to be added um after taking it through all the rubrics it would go then to the superintendant for her to review with um the cabinet and then that would get added onto the board board agenda and from there it would go for the first read and then onto a 60-day public review and then comes back to the board for an approval um after hearing what the public comments are we come back for the approval and then after that we would add the approved novels and approved materials to the list for our teachers to be able to access and then for site Administration to purchase whatever new materials that
056they would need for their campus then and with that I will note that we have a district permission slip forgot to turn my pages to keep up um so when a novel has any sensitive content um a teacher will give parents at least parents or legal Guardians at least a two- week notice on what that novel is so they can go ahead and read the novel or be able to do some research and then you'll note on the second page there is built-in parent choice to be able to opt out of that novel and have an alternate assignment if the parent chooses and then also in your handouts oh I wanted to highlight um in this parent consent we are having it so that the teachers will again identify the title and the author and
057then what the sensitive content is and context around that sensitive content um and then the standards that will be addressed through the novel so tying it back to the instruction and then the last thing I think that's in your board docs for this is our professional practices for the responsible use of instructional resources and this is kind of our Guiding Light for teachers as they are selecting a material to use ensuring that they've gone through this and also have talked to their site Administration on what they're going to be using especially if it does have that sensitive content in there any questions president Anderson Miss Davis um when we met I had um asked about um on the parental consent form adding um also a box for um sexuality just to be able to let
058parents know that you know a book could possibly contain something about anything related to sexuality um and I know um oh my gosh I just went blank um I was going to say Sherry but I know Miss Richards uh reached out to Legal um and um I uh I know you were going to reach out to to get a second opinion um so I don't know if you've done that yet or not but I'll let you so Vice President Van Hook members of the board I was able to make contact today it's kind of hard short notice um and I explained the request they reviewed uh what we had proposed and gave me input that we should stick to what we have here with the understanding that this is common this is common across the
059State of Arizona um and just possibly the difficulty in explaining what sexuality meant and so we went back and barely had time to do all this before the meeting but as District administration we would like to trust the committee process to bring anything that they are uncomfortable with or they don't feel as appropriate based on all the criteria Miss Davis shared um and follow what we presented here so that's kind of how it ended up right before the meeting started so okay yeah I just um I hope that um we don't run into a situation where you know there is something you know a book that discusses anything you know with any type of sexual activity or whatever whether it's explicit or not um that it again doesn't create an an issue within the district
060with upset parents um and you know at that point they could come back and say well the permission slipped didn't mention it um and that's just what I'm trying to avoid um but I I will trust the system and um see where that takes us thank you oh actually I'm sorry um and I do want to mention that um for our discussion this will apply to in classroom libraries along with um online um libraries such as Pebble go so this does apply to digital content for the supplemental materials but the state statute does not cover classroom libraries um but we have asked teachers as they are purchasing because they are purchasing their own classroom libraries those are not District purchased um that they use that best practices guide that we put in your packet which
061is the professional practices for the responsible use of instructional resources so so there so there is a policy that they need to follow for those classroom there's an expectation and it's in your packet up there um and also all of our teachers review that and Vector every year so you know we were brainstorming what are what are examples of this and you know it might be something they're reading it might be a primary source document that they pull or I want to show my kids a video on erosion okay well I have to vet that and I have to make sure that it's aligned to the standards and that it's appropriate so that kind of all fits together thank you you're welcome president Anderson um Miss Davis just for clarification for a couple of things
062for me a as I understand it these all the updates that we are doing to these existing policies um are because State statutes require that we legally have to include these things so the aspects of our policy that we have changed are the aspects that we are requiring for State Statute um I view it as we're taking it a little bit of a step further with respect to the committee that we're creating and that the state statute doesn't require the committee that's our choice in that we already do that for textbooks or is the committee also part of that um board member Wade it is my understand I don't have the I don't have that particular ARS in front of me but is my understanding that um it is a committee um for that state
063statute okay so all aspect of this new policy then correct it is the 60-day review that gets the May and shall in there that gets it a little wonky but it's the I'm going to double check right now no wores but I'm yeah okay I appreciate it um and as far as making sure that we understand um there's a couple things thing one per the the parental consent form that you have my argument or maybe I'm misunderstanding board member van Hook's concern in that sexual content is what is on there in terms of that would be anything that is of an explicit nature in which you have some mature content that a parent can be aware of I also understand it that that parent permission slip is a twoe time frame in which you are
064given it so should none of the boxes or the boxes that are checked that cause concern whatever as appropriate responsib parents or Guardians it is our responsibility then to follow up to we can see where our frustration or those types of things align um I would be very resistant so I'm happy to know that essentially our libraries aren't subject to this same thing in that what children may read for fun or their own choice those types of things aren't necessary neily curriculum oriented and our libraries are age appropriate and how they structure things how they put stuff we also have that long list of books and things in terms of being in compliance with books and how we are because I understand we've done all of those things I just I think it is important
065as parents and individuals I am a parent of young children I have a child who is 10 but his reading level is far higher and it's really difficult sometimes to find content that he is interested in uh for example hunger be pretty dark um and we have to talk about these things we read it as a family in terms of having conversation and I think I recognize and understand there are some concerns and I think it is important for us as parents to be involved but I still think it is important to create that aspect of choice so what you know somebody else may disagree with I still get the opportunity to make that decision because as a parent it is my belief for my children that exposing them to things um different different opinions
066different existences different circumstances and what they might know uh helps them grow as a person helps them be better more productive individuals in a diverse group so I am appreciative of the fact that while we are always mindful of what the state statutes are that we are also mindful of what our overall goal is for students so yeah thank you for clarifying those things board member Wade I just want to clarify one thing so we do have a policy where when we purchase new books for the library we have to put them on a list for 60 days and I'm not sure everybody knew that but that's something we follow as well so thank you thank you for clarifying that Mr Richards did you have a oh I just want to thank them for doing
067this work and I know it was ahead of it usually we do the policy and then you create the process and implement the process so I appreciate you kind of working in tandem there and getting this together because it definitely um makes me feel more comfortable knowing what's happening after this policy um and I I know our permission slip has changed but there's been a permission slip in the past um I am I am that parent that when my kids were in high school and reading certain books I spoke to the teacher and asked for my child to opt out she was an early entry and she was almost two years younger than some of the other kids in the class and I didn't think the content for me was appropriate for her age so
068the teacher had no issues had picked out another book and she did just fine so um we do have we do have Parents Choice um and we need to as parents have our own responsibility and when we get a two we notice of a permission slip and and see what that is that we need to do our due diligence if we are concerned about what our kids are reading we need to do our own research so instead of the day before going oh wait what is this so we do have some time but parents need to have some responsibility in there and and I appreciate that parent choice so thank you for all your hard work president Anderson Miss Davis will an email also go out to the parents just letting them know that this
069was sent home CU there are the kids that don't open their backpacks when they get home um yes we were able to I believe build this into Synergy um so a notification can go out through that or the class list Ser um that is a detail I own that I don't quite know yet but yes it will be an email that goes out and I'm going to turn it over to Marcus to finalize my answer perfect I it's the expectation whenever we communicate with families that we are using all of our communication tools at our disposal so cergy mail obviously is one of our primary tools so I would assume that our teachers would be communicating with our with their families in that way thank you and one more question um so what if a
070student uh picks a book that their family is okay with and they're being asked to do a vocal book report in front of the class what happens in those situations um if a child has to report on that book in front of the classroom that other parents might find inappropriate objectively I'm going to I'm going to pop in real quick just because I have a I'm a history teacher and I've had students have to opt out of situations and things before um so for example we had a uh survivor of the Holocaust come speak and we had the kids do it they had a whole reflection on it when the time came to talk about it I that student I sent to the library um because it is not fair for them to be in
071this conversation their parent already did not want them I reached out to the parent ahead of time um to say hey this is the situation my interest is understanding are you just removing them from this specific instance or everything related to this assignment um but ultimately when it came to talking about that specific situation because the parent did not want it I the kid chose the library that's where they wanted to go thank you so Miss Davis um do you have something in mind for that or um I I think it would be unfair to send a classroom a a student outside of the classroom just so a presentation could be made uh talk about singling a child out um that would be completely inappropriate you know I think it's the a professionalism of our
072teachers dealing with these situations and obviously there's increased communication with students and families when they're opting out of an assignment and I would trust that our teachers in the audience would have that communication with the parent about just like Miss Wade was saying how we're going through and how we'll manage that assignment for that individual student and so I know in the past yours is a great example example teachers that I've had in the past when we have opt out has worked individually with that parent to make sure that when those times came up that the student was placed appropriately and that is an expectation of the teachers with the communication yeah I just I think that singling a student out um could potentially open that student up for bullying um and I I would
073caution on um doing that to any student uh you know then being picked on about their parent parents not allowing them to read a specific book and then them having to leave class um and and being singled out so um I that's definitely something to um put further thought into to see how how that would um happen um cuz that is a concerning issue thank you Vice President Van Hook I think if we had the Liberty to have some of these teachers go to the microphone and I'm not going to do that okay but they are very skilled and thoughtful about how they approach conversations and so I if kids are reading all different books they might not be standing up giving a report on their book and I'm not the teacher in that classroom
074but I'm also hearing what you're saying about being sensitive to kids and I can tell you for sure ours are really good about that so when they structure conversations or whatever they're keeping that in mind because they are very professional and thoughtful about that so and I wish I could call them up but they're not on the agenda and I'm not going to do that to them but I know that they work really hard to ensure kids are supported and empowered and encouraged so I apologize because I didn't do you guys service but I know how you operate so um as an educator that was that definitely crossed my mind but I I would say um to Anna's point it's good to ask just to make sure there is consistency but it it does we
075absolutely it does cross our mind to make sure that we don't make that student feel like they're um being singled out and there definitely should be consistency across the district for communication back and forth to make sure that everybody is is on board with whatever process that takes place and I would say 99.9% if not 100% of teachers definitely already but it' just be good to have something in place to again enforce some consistency so absolutely also uh board or sorry president Anderson to be clear in these situations it is the parent who's making that choice in terms of when at least my experience for the process that I have had when a kid opts out of something that the entire class is doing and it would be something in which the entire class is
076talking about I go to that parent and inform them what the entire unit looks like with respect to this so the parent is aware of what it is that they are including their child in or not so I hear you with those concerns and I think it does matter and as a teacher and for every other teacher that I know that has had this situation it's part of the reason why we discuss it in that manner because I can't tell you how to raise your kid but what I can tell you is the things that they will not be included in by doing these specific events or choice so when it came to sending that kid to the library again that was the Parents Choice to have them not only miss that that speaker when
077they came but missed every subsequent group discussion because the parent didn't wish them to be in that situation so I I think it does matter and I think that's part of the reason why we communicate that when those things go this is the assignment this is what the expectation is so when you're signing that as a parent and you are doing your parental responsibility you are aware of what it is you either including or not including your child in are there any other questions or comments from the board okay thank you everyone for the work thank you so much for communicating the process and we appreciate your time and value okay we're going to move on to the action items I'm beginning with 7.1 I'm going to read it before a motion um the approval
078of the salary schedule and rate adjustments are there uh any questions comments before we move on okay I motion that the governing board approve the adjustments of the salary schedules and base rates as presented in the attached document effective for the fiscal year uh July 1st beginning July 1st 2024 second all those in favor I I I I motion carries 5 to zer okay 7.2 this is the second read and approval of policy IGA curriculum development are there any any discussion we'd like to have okay I motion that the governing board approve policy IGA curriculum development second you get got Amanda all those in favor I I I motion carries five to zero 7.3 second read and approval of policy igd curriculum adoption any discussion from the board I motion for the governing board to
079approve policy igd curriculum adoption okay Anna thank you all those in favor I motion carries 5 to zero 7.4 second read and approval of policy JJ textbook supplementary supplementary material selection and adoption any discussion questions I motion that the Comm board approve the policy I JJ text foot and supplementary material selection second oh that was Anna all those in favor I I I motion carries 5 to zero 7.5 approval of the Arizona CTE curriculum consortion agreement between Pima County Jed and hgle Unified School District do we any discussion for this one president Anderson I had asked this to be pulled but they ended up answering my question so I don't have anything else anyone else all right I motion of the governing board approved the Arizona CTE curriculum consortion agreement between Pima County Jed and
080the heina F School [Music] District all those in favor I I motion carries 5 7.6 authorization of expenditure for the Renaissance uh the DNA and fastbridge or renissance DNA f is there a discussion for this U president Anderson I do have um a statement I'd like to read um last year I voted no on this program due to several concerns um Mr Burkshire um had mentioned last year that um it's a web-based screening and Di agnostic assessment tool used to identify students in need of additional support in reading or math and pinpoint the specific skills or areas of need um after going through the um website uh there seem seems to be a a pretty strong emphasis on um social emotional Behavior with in um interventions um and recommendations on how to um handle those
081types of situations and so I wanted to find out um how in fact this is used um for uh any type ofcl intervention um and if this does in fact um then gather any type of you know data um on any students physical and mental health and then if somehow that data is used by um counselors so fastbridge has within it a tool called Sabers and my saers uh that is not enabled for our staff to use uh and that is theal screening tool within fastbridge we don't use that tool um there are uh teacher resources in terms of intervention so uh just like any uh situation where you have certain behaviors and you go to a specialist to within the district they provide some additional suggestions for teachers to to work with students that
082are exhibiting certain behaviors in the classroom but those are resources within the Tool uh there are not there's no data to say these particular students should be receiving this there's nothing like that it's just a resource that teachers could turn to just like they would with Google um a and so what we're using B Bridge for specifically to screen students in reading and math okay thank you um I yeah so my my concern was mainly around that and just to ensure that we're not um overstepping our intended Focus which should be academics and not you know putting the focus on that part of it but if we're not using those um parts of fastbridge then um that answers my question thank you anyone else okay thank you both for clarifying on that part I approve
083or I'm sorry I have motion jump right to it I motion that the governing board approve the expenditure to the ren to Renaissance second all those in favor I I I I motion carries 5 to zero okay this is 7.7 it's the approval of an employee termination um this is the point well I will invite uh Miss Henderson to the podium if she is here she would also like to speak okay um I motion that the governing board approve the termination of M Henderson effective July 23rd 2024 second all those in favor I I I motion carries 5 to zero okay we are at Future agenda items um are there any requests from our board tonight yes president Anderson I'm sorry I'm very loud right now I apologize um I we had some speakers to
084tonight and maybe it's just something on what our current policies look like right now um if there is anything you know a committee or something that um we could look at or explore and see what might make sense for our students um and just kind of an update on what we do I know that I have a daughter at wait am I allowed to say this I don't remember okay well I just didn't know what I get confused if I can talk yeah I didn't want to get no I don't I just wanted to say I know williamsfield and what they've done and they've changed their um cell phone policy this year my my daughter said it's very strict so um I am glad for that for what Mr Dolan is so just if there
085what the policy looks like across the board on all grade levels um and explore that and what other districts are doing I know AJ AJ and other schools have have done those type of things if there's a policy so Bo board member Schultz members of the board I will uh be depending on Mr James Walker since this is part of our handbook but we can also provide if we start with an update in status and see where we are Mr Walker acceptable [Laughter] acceptable and then if we need further information or steps we will definitely do that okay thank you very much yes thank you um president Anderson I'd like to also um find out if we are going to be having this town hall for um the cell phone tower or what the next
086steps are um for that um not necessarily A a board meeting agenda um Sorry Miss hook but Verizon pulled out is what so I don't think that there is any I I last I heard is they might not be interested but I wasn't sure what was happening I can just answer that real quick um the we're just waiting for Verizon to officially give us a letter of notice but the their intentions are to um remove themselves from the discussion of this the proposed T Tower so um I have been in communication just playing phone tag with Verizon so just trying to get that that letter because I would like an official letter so I we can share that with our community as you mentioned and get some closure to that cations perfect thank you so
087much um and then the only other thing is the um policy jld um I know uh we are waiting for a legal opinion um and obviously wouldn't be for the next board meeting maybe the one after that I don't know what day that falls on um Vice President Van Hook it may be after that my memory might have been August 28th that sound right the 27th 27th wow that was close the board meeting though yeah I think that decision I have to look that was either the 20 26th okay yeah sorry out we will definitely update you on that memory test in here um and um and ultimately because of within State Statute um whether I mean as far as the legal opinion the opinion doesn't necessarily override what the state law is and the
088policy is based on State Statute so um it's my understanding I'm sorry it's okay that the Attorney General is going to weigh in on this and so once we have additional information we'll get it to you guys as quickly as possible and then I guess we'll know where to go from there all right perfect thank you uhuh okay thank you moving on to 10.1 the adjournment I motion that we journ this meeting all those in favor I I I motion ches uh I sorry my motion car Oh I thought you said it 5 to zero thank you everyone good night and welcome back to school a little late but welcome back to school and that was Amanda yes Amanda