001Nelson here. Okay, if we can all stand for the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Okay, we're going to have a moment of silence. And if you haven't been able to silence your cell phone, I ask that you do that now. Okay. Is there any board member statements, Mr. Nielsen? Yes. I've got uh two opportunities here. I'd just like to share with you last week I had the opportunity to go down to Country Place Leadership Academy and participate in their career day. I think there were 30 or 35 different careers that were presented that day. We each got to go into one room and three different classes
002came in, but it was interesting to see all the ones that were there. I was the only one that represented the engineering group. The rest of them were all kinds of other people. But I thought that was fun to be with them and the questions the kid asks were interesting. And the second item is last Friday, Aida and I had an opportunity to participate in an Arizona schoolboard ASBA uh training session uh downtown and it was free. There was no cost to it, which makes it even better. Uh gentleman by the name of Jimmy Hart gave some instruction and direction on some of the things that they've been using and training down in Tucson with uh behavior and other such things. But the the nickname for the thing was Ry R AI. Respect, affirmation, and
003inclusion between leaders, between staff, between students and staff. I thought it was really an interesting presentation. So, appreciate it. Thank you. Mr. Seneras, be kind. Okay. Um, I have one. I'm embarrassed to say I can't remember the date. So, I had the pleasure and opportunity to go to Cyer during their camp read a lot. And let me tell you what, in all my years, I don't know that I've ever seen a literacy night that was so amazing as this one was. Um, from start to finish, when you walked in the reading, I mean, it was all about camping and reading. You got to go in and read under with little flashlights. There was tents everywhere. You could make s'mores. You got to take them with you. The PTA sold um hot dogs and a little
004bundle with chips and everything. There was some work in some of the rooms that I attempted and sadly to say I embarrassed myself because I couldn't do my main ideas and details to go with them. But I tried. I I gave it a good try. It was just like, you know, Miss Heddings, it was just it was so over the top amazing. Like I had the best time. I stayed for the whole time. Like I didn't even know it was time to go until she was announcing on the intercom that you know we all needed to get out because everyone wanted to go home. So thank you Collier. I like it was great. Okay. Um so I had the privilege of first um representing the district at the um national board certified teachers um dinner
005and it was great to be recognized. Littleton was recognized as one of the top 10 districts in the state that financially supports teachers who go in and take on this endeavor of becoming a national board certified teacher. So, we received a beautiful cla um plaque to recognize um that we support our teachers and um are committed when they go for national boards. One of the conversations that kind of evolved at dinner was how could we better support this endeavor by our teachers, I know when I first got on the board, we had many, many, many teachers every year getting their national boards. Um, and that number after COVID and other things has just kind of gotten smaller and smaller. So, I was really excited to hear some of the ideas that um Miss Armstrong had
006that ways that we could do and re put this back into our professional learning communities and kind of supporting that. So, I know speaking for myself, I'm really interested in how we can do that in the upcoming years. I want to see that happening. As a teacher myself, national boards is this huge thing that I don't even know I want to take on. So I respect anyone who's willing to and the reflection that goes into it and the analysis of what's best for students that is done by the people who go through that is amazing and it can only lead to the best things for our students. So if there's anything beyond finances that we as a district can do to better support that, I am all for it. And thank you to all of
007the staff that are currently doing it and supporting it. Um, and just please let us know how we can better support you and what you need. Um, because I really do, um, one of our neighboring districts was got the award for the best district for national board certification and that irked me because we are better than them and we need the award next year, maybe two years from now, but I would love for it to be next year. Um, I also was able to attend the district math challenge and get to see all of our amazing math students talking about math and just living math and just hearing the conversations that were had was amazing. And math is not something that I ever want to teach. It's not something I'm really that great at. So,
008I love that we offer this for our third graders up to our eighth graders. And it's something that our students look forward to. And thank you to everyone who put that amazing thing off last week. I mean, the bus drivers coordinating it. The third through fourth graders are here and then five minutes later, the fifth and sixth graders are here. And I know that there's got to be planning going on at the schools to get that all done. So, thank you to everyone from bus drivers, custodians setting it up, teachers, administration. Um, thank you for supporting our students with that. And lastly, I was able to attend um, Freeman Fine Arts Academyy's Lucky to Have You Dance. And I think that was like the best school dance I've ever seen in 20 years of teaching
009and being a parent. It was kinder through 8th grade. And there were activities for every grade. And the middle schoolers left thinking they had a dance. And the little kids left thinking they were at a middle school dance and they got to participate. And moms and dads were there. and it was just such a fun environment for our students and it was great to see the whole school community there. So, thank you to the Freeman Fine Arts Academy for hosting that. Anyone else have anything? All right, moving on to item number six. Um, superintendent report. Dr. Smith. Thank you. Thank you, President Sik, members of the board. Good evening. It's an amazing It's amazing that in a month and a half only six weeks uh the school year will be coming to a close. Our
010schools however are not showing any signs of slowing down. I can tell you uh they continue to provide many learning experiences for every child and learn Littleton district community and uh I am very I just I'm going off a little script here but I'm very impressed with how serious uh our schools take the testing and how serious the environment is out there. Uh I know I went into one school and they said we're testing today and like okay I'll stay out of classrooms. you know, there's, you know, it's that's good. They need to be able to tell a superintendent, don't go in there. Um, so anyway, I just I'm really I'm very impressed. Uh, prior to our last board meeting and not too long afterwards, our last two signature field trips concluded. As you know,
011eighth graders had the opportunity to enjoy the sights and sounds in Washington DC over spring break, while seventh graders traveled to San Diego to experience learning at Camp Surf. Both trips continue to be a success with many students and chaperons providing positive comments about their adventures. At Countryplace Leadership Academy, we held the seven habits night which uh students took the lead by sharing how the seven habits helped them to become leaders of tomorrow. Steers students planned, prepared and facilitated hands-on leadership learning activities and it was a great opportunity for the students to take on even more leadership roles in the school. And my understanding is that it came as a result of the kids the parents the kids are saying the parents don't really understand the seven habits and I said well let's do a
012night and let's do that and have the kids do that. So that's wonderful. A week a few weeks ago as Miss Snnik uh mentioned u she and myself and a team from our district attended the national board certified teachers dinner to celebrate our newest inductee Miss Elena Jones along with our continu continuing board certified teachers. along with recognize our teachers. Our district was presented with an award as you mentioned and um this is the second straight year that we've been recognized for this accomplishment and we are having conversations like your you described about how we can support uh that program in the future. Collier Business Academy held a spring carnival filled with lots of fun and excitement to continue to build their community spirit. Cotton candy, popcorn filled the air while families enjoy karaoke karaoke.
013I would have been there for that. a photo booth, face painting, and much more. At Quinton STEM Academy, it is dissecting season, and many levels are exploring different creatures. Most recently, fourth graders dissected squids, and I was able to see that. That was quite an exciting experience. With the end of the year approaching, we look forward to celebrating our staff's accomplishments. We're able to get a head start as um on this as Miss Samantha Armstrong. I believe she's in the audience. um principal at the straight of Vista STEM Academy was announced as a finalist for the school connect catalyst for education award. Perhaps we can give Miss uh Armstrong a round of applause. Have a stand up. We look forward to hearing more. The award recognizes the community collaborations and contributions of a principal has
014made to spark change and growth within their school campus. her work with ASU, Westmech, and Phoenix Raceway um to continue to grow learning at EV highlight just some of the great work that has inspired this wonderful recognition. On May 1st, Miss Armstrong along with other finalists will be recognized at the school connect awards in which the official award will be announced. So hopefully at our next board meeting, we'll be having you stand up again and get some applause. Last week, our district math challenge, as you said, it was a lot of fun. I agree. Um I was thrilled to see the excitement, engagement of all participants across uh the district. Estraa Vista STEM Academy took home first place. They were very excited. Uh and third place, wait a minute, first place in the third and
015fourth grade group. Quentyn, I believe our principal is there too. Um let's see. Quinton STEM Academy won the fifth and sixth grade group, while Country Place took home the victory for seventh and eighth eighth grade group. We look forward to seeing all three teams represent our district in the upcoming Westside Impact Competition. And I agree with you, well organized timing is split-second timing to get all those kids in here and out and so on. Um, in continuing the theme of celebrations, we want to celebrate the recent news of our preschool program receiving a fourstar rating from the state of Arizona. That's quite an honor. This recogn recognition lasts two years and is a testament to the work and effort that our preschool staff has put into the program. Every staff member that continued to to
016this rating should be that that contributed to this rating should be proud of reaching uh the level of recognition and will be taking every opportunity to let our community know the early learning gem that we have right in our district. I do love seeing those preschoolers. And as a district, we also want to celebrate that we've had over 80% of our teachers sign contracts um to return for the 2526 school year. I believe it's a little more than 80% now. I think 85 or so. Um and um we're hoping to see even higher amount. In looking forward, our annual art show will be starting tomorrow, April 9th, and going through uh until April 23rd at the Aenddale Public Library, right located right off of Aendale Boulevard. The district reception will take place on April 15th.
017and we invite everyone to take time to visit the art show along with the reception to help us celebrate the incredible artists that have we have across the district. We are also looking forward to celebrating our teachers of the year in May along with educator appreciation week in May as well. It's a great time to reflect on the impact and difference each one of our employees makes to contribute to the success of every child in our community. And as I wrap up this month's superintendent report, we want to take the time to thank our recent donors. I would like to thank Melissa Diaz and Lorraine Lopez with the Countryplace PTA for their check donation of $1,800 given in support of a field trip. Secondly, thank you to Arizona Community Foundation for their thousand check donation
018to Lake Academy. And lastly, I want to reiterate how appreciative I am for everything each staff member does to contribute to the overall success of every child in our community. It indeed takes a village for great things to happen, and I am very proud and proud to be a part of the Little Little Littleton district village. Thank you. That concludes my comments. Thank you. Um, next we have a reading of a proclamation. Mr. Nielsen. Thank you, Madam President. Uh, this is a proclamation for National Student Leadership Week. Whereas the future success of our nation depends on the leadership skills of our youth. And whereas Littleton Elementary School District recognizes the importance of school staff, parents, and community members working together to develop sound leadership skills for our young people. And whereas we as a district
019are committed to providing opportunities for our students to expand their capacity to perform in leadership roles that support uh development and refinement of key proficiencies to support success both now and into the future. Whereas student leaders are positive influence on their peers and serve as role models both in and out of the classroom. Whereas National Student Leadership Week is an opportunity to recognize and celebrate the contribution of student learners in our schools and communities. And whereas all members of the Littleton community are leaders in learning, caring, and growing. Now therefore, be it resolved that the governing board of the Littleton Elementary School District hereby proclaims that our schools will stand with the nation recognizing April 21st through 25th of 2025 as the National Student Leadership Week and urge community members to celebrate the leader in
020every child. Thank you, Mr. Nielson. Okay, moving on to item number seven, program showcase. Miss Garrison. Madame President, governing board, at this time I'd like to invite Miss Samantha Armstrong, principal from the Estraa Vista STEM Academy to present tonight's showcase. Before the year started, she and her team engineered a solid plan to support their staff, students, and emerging partnerships. You will see highlights from the work they're doing with Phoenix International Raceway, ASU, and Westmech. She'll also be recognizing her dedicated volunteer and kids at Hope soon in the month. Miss Armstrong. Good evening, President Zosnik, members of the board, Dr. Smith, members of the executive team, and Littleton community. My name is Samantha Armstrong. I am the principal of Estraa Vista STEM Academy for Engineering and I am proud to share with you our annual showcase.
021Tonight I will be showing the continuation of our work that began last year with our focus on increasing access and opportunities for hands-on learning with an engineering focus, deepening our community partnerships, and growing our students academically. Instead of me standing here telling you about it, Dan and I have put together mostly Dan um a quick video to show you guys some of the things that we have been doing. So, please enjoy. In working on our plan for the year, we were wanting to ensure we created a solid plan to support our staff, students, and authentically engage with our partners. Working with Phoenix Raceway allowed for this to occur with supporting our EV kickoff and style to promote our engineering focus as well as our work to create a vision of what work with our focus
022can look like. Creating a way for staff to engage with our focus, have fun, and learn set the stage for our kickoff and our year-long work. And they got to have the run of the track, including having the opportunity to learn about the history of the raceway firsthand in their pace car laps. We are currently partnered with Westmech, Phoenix Raceway, NASCAR, and ASU West Valley. These partnerships have been the cornerstone of our ability to provide learning for our staff in engaging and exploring in engineering building. They have been instrumental in all of our work this year. And we are not only proud of our connections, but are committed to ensuring they grow as we expand our focus in providing hands-on activities and learning within our engineering focus. In connections with our work with Phoenix Raceway
023and NASCAR, we had the opportunity to be one of three schools to attend an engineering event hosted by ASU West Valley, thus beginning our collaboration and partnership with this campus. Selected fifth through 8th grade engineering ambassador students were able to engage in various activities using the NASCAR curriculum and had a blast with the cars. Sparky. And one of our students even won second place overall and received tickets to the fall championship. Students also did learn about force, motion, friction, and drag, but would probably tell you first about being on TV and/or all the great food that they were able to enjoy on that day. We strategically planned our use of Westmech grant funds to build out our plan for the year. This began in the summer with all teachers engaging in the NASCAR learning which
024allowed us to look at how to set this up for our students and provided the teachers the experience to be successful in supporting and racing cars of their own. We continued to work to build out our endofear goal of the STEMfest using the materials and funds to ensure that students were able to connect to their learning from the car builds designing revising and testing their cars. We have been successful in building engaging opportunities and spaces for our staff and students to explore engineering. But that is not the only focus we have. In our work together, we have been able to grow not only our program focus but as a learning community as well. By being connected with ASU West Valley, visiting University High and Westmech, and being awarded the designation of PLC Promising Practices School
025by Solution Tree. This shows our growth in student scores, systems on campus to extend and intervene, and processes for teachers to collaborate to grow their learning and skills to better our students and community. We would not have been able to pull off such an amazing and large event without support. To ensure we are connecting and partnering with all possible, we had a ton of support from district operations department, district leadership, districttosas, administrative assistants, staff, and parents all here to ensure our students were able to have a fun and engaging learning experience that day. We were also thrilled that Latasha Kazy, the Phoenix Raceway current president, and our education outreach coordinator, Chantel Carlson, also joined to kick off each session. This set us up for a successful STEM event. We are now at the end, well,
026mostly. Student teams who were in the top 30 were able to receive tickets to the NASCAR race on Saturday and will be engaging in a field trip to the track itself to continue the learning from this year and deepen our focus. We are working now with our partners on next year's itinerary, which will include another STEMfest, more opportunities for staff to learn and support engineering, and continuing to strengthen our partnership by working collaboratively with NASCAR and the Raceway to build out curriculum for our future events. We know from the feedback from all involved that the event and learning was a hit. So, we will ensure that iteration 3.0 is worthy and we are ready for the challenge. We are proud of the amazing work that we have done this year and in sharing this with
027everyone this evening. This is our current iteration. We are definitely looking forward to, as shared in the video, our next one, which will include additional opportunities for students to continue to grow and make connections within various angles and aspects of engineering and to continue to grow with our commitment to improving students scores and overall access to any and everything to make them good humans and successful people. If there are any questions or items I can clarify, I would happily do so at this point. I have a question. How do we get a chance to take a spin in the cars? You got to be nice to me. Oh, well that's easy. The kids don't know it yet, but the field trip I'm working to set up, they too get pace car laps. So, that was
028not a sad moment for um the teachers. No one said no. In fact, other people are, can we come? Sure. I am not hiding it. So, they're excited to go back to the track again this year. So, I guess I'll let you know when our preserve is and you can join us. Thank you. All right. I am thrilled to introduce our volunteer, Miss Tara Greger. We will show a quick video and then welcome her up. Greetings, members of the board and Littleton community. I am thrilled to announce the Australia Vista Volunteer of the Year, Miss Tara Greger. She is a true support for all our Hawks teachers, students, and families alike. Miss Greger has been an instrumental part of our PTSA and its success. She works diligently to ensure all voices are heard, valued, and
029there are opportunities for positive interaction with our community. From our fall festival and spring carnival to raising funds with Peter Piper pizza nights, dress down and schmenmezel sales, she ensures our staff and community are recognized. She does it all. Not to mention, there is rarely an event or field trip she isn't a part of. And did I mention she subs for us, too? This year, her work with our PTSA, she was instrumental in working to ensure our families in need had a little extra joy in their holidays. All home room teachers were provided a $40 gift card to share with a family in need. This is due to the work that she spearheaded within our PTSA. She is a bright smiling face on our campus and for this reason we are proud to have Miss
030Tara Greger as our Australia Vista STEM Academyy's parent volunteer for her commitment to our students, parents, and staff as well as being a wonderful example for our hop community. and now I am happy to go ahead and share a couple of words or people watching the video. Okay, I'm fine either way. Um, I have a few words to say about Marley before we watch the video. So, it is my privilege to introduce our EV Kids at Hope student Marley Madrid. She is definitely a shining exampleable try that again. Shining example of what it means to be a dedicated and compassion student. We are proud of her and wanting to share some of her um contributions today. She's not only diligent, but a creative and caring individual. She is currently taking time out of her lunch
031to help her peers succeed in their classwork, demonstrating her selflessness and compassion. She has done that on her own and asked the teacher if she can have time and space in the room and helping to tutor them on their math work to make sure that her peers are successful and that is not something you commonly hear from an eighth grader. So, we are thrilled that she has taken that upon herself. She is unique and thoughtful person who truly deserves this celebration. In addition to her academic achievements, she's very aware of the world around her. She aims to be socially and politically active as possible and she loves music, enjoys listening to songs that resonate with her and discussing that in connection with her beliefs about the world. She is known for asking tough critical questions
032with the intention of becoming better informed and showing her desire for knowledge and understanding. She's not afraid to be herself, has a great sense of humor that enders her to those around her, and moreover, she helps people recognize and grow into their individuality, making her a true inspiration for her peers. And if we could watch this quick [Music] video. Hi, my name is Marley and I'm the Australia Vista Kid at Hope. My support team at Australia Vista have impacted me all throughout my journey. First, we started with Mr. Schultey. He is a seventh grade teacher and I go to him for musical advice and happiness to get advice. Then we start off with Mr. Schul or from Mr. Gigos. He is my math teacher in 8th grade and he made me fall back in love
033with math. Now I am able to prolong my grades in math thanks to him. Then we have Miss Kimmy. Miss Kimmy has been here ever since kindergarten. She has been here ever since my sister was in school. and she she's almost like a second mom to me at Estraa Vista. She really helps me feel happy when I'm really sad or when I need somebody to talk to and I'm not able to talk to my mom. Thank you for choosing me as the kid at Hope. Please join me in congratulating Marley Madrid. I can go. Okay. Um, and our next thing I believe is signature field trips. Thank you, Madam President, members of the governing board. Thank you for allowing me to share some highlights from our signature field trip for this year. And first, I'd
034like to say thank you for your continued support of travel for children. Field trips give students the opportunity to learn in a natural environment and experience things firsthand from our primary resources rather than texts, real objects rather than photos. Our Littleton Elementary School District students attended field trips that allowed them to touch, feel, and listen to what they're learning about, which helps them build on classroom instruction, gain a better understanding of topics, build cultural understanding and tolerance, enhance critical thinking, and expose them to worlds outside their own. For some of our students, these field trips were also the first trips the students attended without their parents. So, travel can help build independence as well. In Littleton, we offer three signature field trips for sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. Sixth graders have the opportunity to head
035north to Prescott, Arizona, going just a little ways away. Seventh graders, we go a little bit further, have the opportunity to head to the beaches of California. And our eighth graders can fly across our country to the nation's capital. Let's start with sixth grade. Our sixth grade students attended Campway in Prescott, Arizona. The camp location was founded in 1941 by Bud and Isabella Brown and became accredited through the American Camp Association. It is now the longest running family-owned camp in Arizona. It is still family-owned and operated and continues to turn childhood moments into life's rich memories. The camp is situated on 130 acres of wilderness land backing up to the Prescott National Forest and the Bradshaw Mountains. The camp is well-maintained and our students enjoyed the amenities with newly renovated log cabins, activity rooms, and
036outdoor wilderness experiences. Our sixth grade students attended Camp Way for a three-day twoight experience when the weather is just perfect in Prescott. The schedule was full with daytime and nighttime activities. And on the screen you see a list of activities our students participated. Nature hike, ziplining, archery, campfires, and team building to name a few. Science camp centers around getting students out of the classroom and learning. and their staff delivers the staff there delivers the NGSS aligned science lessons in fun and engaging outdoor classrooms by interacting with the curriculum through play exploration and experience. Students leave camp with a memorable education-based experience that is sure to last a lifetime. As you can see, the kids had a lot of fun outside. Moving on, um our seventh graders attended Camp Surf in Imperial Beach, San Diego, California.
037There's nothing else like it in Southern California. 45 acres of beautiful campgrounds right on the Pacific Ocean. YMC M YMCA Camp Surf is one of a kind. From Pirates Cove a Amphitheater to Mckin's dining hall to their beachy cabins. Um it's pretty unique and there was a quarter mile of open beachfront for our students to enjoy. Our seventh graders attended YMCA Camp Surf for a 5-day fornight experience this March. We were able to extend the same prices last year thanks to the foundation who paid for the transportation to and from on a nice comfortable charter bus this year. Students spend five days participating in hands-on classes such as marshes aren't mellow kelp connection hop into habitats jetty rocks CSI which is critter skull investigation and others listed on this slide. Days are jam-packed with activities
038and lead to tired students and chaprons too, I would guess. Evening act activivities provide fun and fellowship for students and teachers. Students build trust and confidence through high energy challenging experience in a safe environment. Activities emphasize the development of student perceptions, sensitivities, and awareness of the natural environment. They are designed to build basic understanding of ecological principles in the relationship between individuals and the rest of the natural world. Current research indicates connections with the natural world increase students ability to learn and improve health and social behavior. Meaningful outdoor experiences are powerful tool for lifelong impact and learning. Recent studies show that the average youth spends more than seven hours in front of an electronic screen right now and only seven minutes outside daily. So, we were really happy to have the kids out there. For
039some of our students, this was their first opportunity to touch tide poolool animals, put their feet in the ocean, or walk on the beach. These can be experiences that last a lifetime, and offer tremendous impact for our students. Here you see ex our students exploring and having fun on the sand. And let's go to eighth grade. Now, our eighth grade students attend a trip to Washington DC in Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia. We have partnered with World Strides for six years now for our district's annual eighth grade trip to Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Washington DC. They are consistently one of the best student travel companies. From the ease of working with our rep to the consistency of communication, traveling with World Strides makes our district trip amazing. Our students enjoy the itinerary, the tour leaders, the hotels, and
040of course, the food stops. Our eighth grade students attended a 5-day, four-night experience. This trip has a busy itinerary that is set up by experts with World Strides. They set the schedule, hire the staff, obtain the tickets, make the reservations, and work directly with our parents to collect payments. So, this one has a third party involved in organizing of this trip. Our students, staff, and parents experienced rich history in both locations. And some of their activities included touring the US capital, um observing uh the laying of a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery's tomb of the unknown soldier, and exploring the amazing exhibits of the Smithsonian museums. Our itinerary also included a visit to Williamsburg, a 200-year-old fully functioning town restored to its original colonial design and Jamestown, the first colony. On this educational student travel
041program, students discovered the roots of American story all the way up through the present day democracy. The connections to classroom learning were vast and rich and students all received a journal to capture their memories. Um to name a few experiences, they explored uh some replicas of ships and um they experienced 18th century colonial life as they explored the revolutionary city and met people of the past such as wig makers, blacksmiths and tinsmiths. They saw World War II, the World War II memorial and the FDR memorial. Here you see just some more of the amazing pictures of the things that the students explored. For the first time in all the uh in all the years the students got to witness the changing of the guard and while they were there they also witnessed a funeral in
042session that included a 21 gun salute. It was just timing like great timing for them. And and also new this year they were able to go inside the cap. So these were a result of awesome timing. Some of it was just good luck and World Stride's efforts to make things even more special each year. So they just keep upping their game as we go along. And of course, I'd have to end with huge thanks to the Littleton Education Foundation for their continued support of these trips and of course to our dedicated staff members and chaperones who were willing to go. Um you see names listed here, sixth grade, seventh grade, eighth grade. Uh we have some in the audience. I see some chaperones out there. Some chaperones at the DAS. Um and really we couldn't
043do this without the support of the adults who are willing to go away from their families and escort the students to where they're going. Um so thanks to all of them listed here as well as a special shout out to Miss Rosa Martinez who's my assistant who works tirelessly all year long to make these trips possible. She's super organized so that things can be um seamless, quick in and out. I'm glad to see you. I mean, checking kids in, checking kids out, as well as um she considers everything to help keep our kids safe while they're traveling. So, this team on um April 16th, this team has been invited to come together for a debrief of the trips during which we'll brainstorm some ideas for future travels, and I'm sure you'll be hearing from us
044again with what they come up with next week. Any questions or comments? Just a comment that what a great opportunity for these kids that I mean Littleton has just grown so much since like my child was there. Like it's just I'm just really like thank you. I just wanted to say thank you for taking my feedback after I came back with sixth grade. um and making it work for our chaprons for seventh and eighth grade. I did notice that on the flyers. I figured you would. Yes. And we'll continue to look for opportunities. World Strides sets their price, but we'll continue to look for ways to because we can't do it without you guys who are willing to go. Yeah. Really appreciate that feedback. Okay, that concludes our showcase for this evening. Okay. Um, moving
045on. Doesn't look like we have any call to the publics. All right. So, moving on to um item number nine, consent agenda. Is there anything that needs to be pulled? I would like to pull item number three, the long-term suspension appeal case. So, is that B3? B3. Yes, ma'am. All right. Um, anything else that a member would like to be pulled? Okay. Do I have a motion to approve the consent agenda minus item 9B3? I motion that we approve the consent agenda minus item B3. Okay. Seconded. U Mr. Neielson. All in favor say I. I. I. Um, consent agenda passes with the exception of item 9B3. Rachel, do you want to speak to that item? Yes. Um, I I would definitely want as a board to um gain some more insight. I feel like there
046was not a level of transparency, so let's just be really clear what we're doing. Uh, Miss uh, President Social Solik and members of the board. Um, this is a um a recommendation to support my recommendation which supports the um the um hearing officer's recommendation for a long-term suspension of a student. Okay. Sorry. administration did not find substantive procedural or due process reasons to uphold the hearing off not to hold uphold the recommendation. Therefore, I recommend upholding the hearing officer's recommendation for long-term suspension for the student if necessary. Um, we cannot speak to the details of this because the student's information is confidential. Uh, but I am I am confident that everything was done to give due process to the student. Um so I I hear um that Mr. Suneris would like to journ to executive
047session to discuss. My understanding is though we did not notify anyone that we were going to be talking about this and we have to notify within 24 hours. So I don't think that us going into executive session right now it would be a good use of our time because we can't really go into details. I could be wrong. Please clarify. Correct me. I'm not there. So, we can go into it twice. It is Mr. Senator Sarah Smith board. Yes, they uh parents were notified that this would be taken up tonight. There are two items uh that you can go into executive session. One would be for advice from legal attorney uh which we can't do tonight because we're not prepared for that or to review records. So, if that's what the board wants to do,
048we can do that. Um, it's up to the board, but we can't talk about the specifics in a public meeting, right? And so on. So, then I would motion us to move into executive session to discuss this. Is there a second? I'll second. Um, all in favor of us adjourning into executive session to review records, say I. I. I. I. Um, any opposed? I'll abstain. I abstain as well. Um, so we are going to go with three eyes's and two abstains. We're going to go into executive session to review records. There will be action afterwards. Um, we're going into executive session at 6:44. Yeah. And I'm going to have Miss uh Sue Garrison. I don't know if I trust you. Sorry. Oh my god. Okay. Well, This is No, I think Did it do tricks?
049It's beautiful. I actually'll know. meeting reconvene at 709. I am having us reconvene at 709. Do I need a motion? Do I have a motion to to reconvene? Yes. To rec? No, I don't need Okay. Thank you. All right. Um, is there a motion for item 9B3? I'll make a motion. Oops, there to go. that we uphold the superintendent's recommendation as been stated in the consent agenda. Um, Mr. Nielsen, is there a second? I second. Miss Stellard. Um, all in favor say I. I. I. Any opposed? I abstain. No, I abstain. So motion passes. Two yay, one nay, two abstains. Me moving on. Moving on to item number 10. Um, Mr. French compensation for fiscal year 2526. Thank you, Madam President, members of the governing board, um Dr. Smith, Littleton community. Tonight, we brought item
05010 and we brought it in a um two items uh for you, but they kind of go together. Um we typically will bring this when though we know a little bit more about the legislature and what they've done with the budget. We don't have a lot of information yet, but I'm going to give you what we do know uh and what we do want to bring forward. And if anything changes between now and the end of the school year when the legislature gets out and they provide more money for school districts, we will definitely bring this back to you um for additional funds for their employees. Um so we we're estimating inflation funding at 2%. That's the that's the bare minimum by state statute that they can provide to school districts. We know that inflation
051is going to be more than that. they're going to be able to get away with 2% to the base. That is what we're recommending we pass along the entire 2% to staff. Uh we do also know that uh JBC came out with classroom site fund estimates and they increase that classroom site fund dollars for school districts by $50 uh from 8 uh from $792 per weighted student count to 842. We presented to the board prior that our benefits are solid in a in a good uh financial state. So we are not having to increase rates for employees which is fantastic. So none of their raise is going to be going to increasing increased benefit costs. We also know that the ASRS contribution rate is going down slightly uh from this year. This year it was
05212.27%. is going down to an even 12%. And the alternate contribution rate, which means that you've already retired, you're receiving benefits from ASRS, and you're back into the system, is going from 10.19% to 9.75%. So the ASRS contribution rate, that's a quarter percent raise for the employee that they don't have to put into their ASRS contributions is also a quarter% savings for the district because we match every contribution that goes to the uh to the employees. So administration is proposing the following changes for the upcoming year. 2% increase for all returning staff utilizing the anticipated inflation funding increase to the base support level. We would like to the board to authorize continuing the longevity stipen using the M& carry forward. This was something that the the governor provided to school districts last year. It was
053a one-time lumpsum payment. We put together a funding plan that would last us at least three years using that one-time funds and this would be year two. So, we're asking the board to approve that. We still have those funds available. We're asking the board to double the performance incentive to admin support staff and related services. This has cost the district approximately $180,000 and we'd be paying for this out of position savings that uh of positions we didn't fill this current school year. And we'd like to add an additional $180,000 like last school year to teacher compensation which includes doubling the classroom split amount and adding an amount that will be split among all returning teachers. Madam President, can um you remind me and everyone else what is the longevity statement? the longevity stipen. Uh, madame
054president, we had approximately $1.3 million that the governor gave us that was onetime funds. Um, we had a conversation with the board and the topic got brought up about providing compensation to our staff for the years of services that they provided. I do not have the longevity schedule with me tonight, but we are going to be using the we we plan on using the same schedule that was approved last year by the board and paying off of years of service and it would be a tiered system. Um if memory serves it's starts at five years and then works its way up to 30. Um that's fine. I just wanted to have it like heard that like staff could go find this longevity chart and be able to determine how much they should be receiving. Yes,
055I don't need exact numbers. Thank you. Thank you, Ryan. Um, for the double the performance incentive, what is the current performance incentive for admin and separated to support staff and then related services? member senero it's the same amount um spread across all groups uh it is 05% of their base pay and there's a calculation based on letter grade that each school receives. So it's a weighted average based on if a school receives an A, B, C or D or I guess an F. We don't have any D's or Fs in the district. Um, but I believe it's 3.125 right now multiplied by 0.05% times the employees base salary. And is that a average percent for our neighboring elementary school districts? Is that similar? Member senos, this is something unique to Littleton. This not all districts
056do this. Um, just to speak to that. Um, this this is that check that we got like at the beginning of the year, right? So, I remember when they started it, this is, if I'm not mistaken, the only, if not one of the few districts that actually do it for classified. It's always given to teachers, but classified were never a part of the letter grade money that was given out. and the LEAP committee had a meeting and we sat and discussed it and the district felt that um classified played an important role also in you know what happens in the school with the support all the way down to the custodians um that it took all of us to reach the letter grades um I remember I was in the district when we got our
057first check and you know it was a nice it was a nice thank you I mean it's not enough, you know, to go pay your mortgage payment. But when you're coming back and classified on a different pay schedule and you're not getting a paycheck, it's a nice, you know, little way of, you know, them saying thank you. Thank Well, thank you for that. Could we um we really really are what I understand we're are we super struggling with support staff and related services renewals for this year. member Senos. Um, are you referring to signing their contracts? I'd have to refer back to Robbie and then our admin one. And then so if we could do a pie chart between admin, support staff and related services because my concern is admin probably makes substantially way more
058money than support staff and related services. So if we were to instead of double do they not? No. In my experience, related services because there are not very many of them and they are highly educated tend for the average in our district. I'm just saying related services, SLPs, things like that, they they make a very nice salary similar to what a teacher makes. I'm not going to say that they're making an admin level, but in my experience, they have similar contracts as a teacher would have in salaries. members and we're going to be looking at placement schedules in in item B if you'd want to and we can open those up and take a look at those if you'd like. Okay. So, for item A, uh members of the board, I'm just looking um if
059everybody feels confident and looking for a recommendation. I move the governing board approve a base salary increase of 2% for returning staff for fiscal year 2025 2026 and a one-time compensation increase for retention of staff performance enhancement and recognition of additional work performed. I second. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Um item B. Thank you, Madam President. Um item B, um Madame President, members of the governing board, are the four placement schedules that the district has when we're hiring new staff. Um if you notice on uh the certified placement schedule, uh Jim, if you open that, we do have a couple of items that have changed. Uh if we look down at the bottom, each cell is going to also include $8,100 of classroom site fund money. that is up $1,500
060from the prior year. Administration was able to look um at the classroom site fund account and add $1,500 to teachers only certified only staff's base pay for the coming school year. We also added 1% to the cell one and reindexed every line going down. So instead of the 2% that we're providing returning staff, we added 1% to the placement schedule to avoid any type of compression issues. Be happy to answer any questions about the certified um chart. If not, um Madam President, does member Senos, would you like us to open up the other placement schedules as well? Just a curiosity question. Um, for performance pay, this could be a future item. Could we get data for the performance pay of um how many performance pays have actually been given out? I'm curious if those are
061commonly given out every single year like on the average. Member definitely we can provide you that information. Is everyone on the board? Okay. Moving on to another salary, another schedule to look at. Okay, Madame President, I just wanted to help Ryan out because he's taken this over, but when performance pay is is given, there's a number of people um at the time that it's given sent uh put on the consent agenda in the supplemental pays. So, it would be a place to look as if you want to know right now before he gathers that. I'm just pointing you in the right direction. Thank you. All right. Um, do we want to look at related services salary schedule? Okay. So, Madam President, we did um we used the same methodology here. We added 1% to the
062first uh cell schedule and indexed it all the way back down to cell 40. Happy to answer any questions. And then just out of curiosity, how many people are in 30 and up? Would we know that? Members, I don't have that information. Um, and this is a placement schedule. So, at the time of hire, we look at these things as education and prior experience and we place them. Um, I do not know if this is ever recorded anywhere in our financial software as to the actual placement cell we place them in. Um, so I'm not sure I can get you the information you're requesting. Okay. Okay. member Senos, what we can probably do is tell you based on their job position, how many make over $100,000, if that's your question. Okay. Any other questions about
063related services? Okay. Um, just going to the next column. Um, classified placement Is this the same? Yes, ma'am. Same methodology. We did also look at uh anticipated minimum wage to ensure that cell one met the anticipated minimum wage as of January. Okay. And then everything else is indexed from there. Any questions on this one? Okay. And then the last one, um, admin, I'm curious to see where does the auto allowance come out of M budget. Members, uh, the auto allowance for administrators does come out of the M budget and that covers um just the car payment or gas reimbursement. Would that also cover car insurance as well? Members, there's no restrictions on how they receive it. It's just comes in as part of their paycheck. Um, but administrators are not reimbursed mileage when they go
064to other districts or travel between school sites um or for conferences with when they're within 50 miles. So, that's where the stipen comes into play. Okay. And if they don't use all of that auto allowance per year, does it go into just a buildup or does it just go back to the IMO budget? Member Sinosero, the auto allowance is a um is split amongst 26 pays. So it goes into their paycheck every every pay period for a year. Okay. So there's nothing left over if that's your question. Okay. Yeah. And then is it are those common numbers compared to our neighboring elementary school districts? Is that about average? From what I've seen, those are common numbers. Yes. Okay. Thank you. We had been dexed it to inflation for the last couple of years. Um, and
065from what I've seen, this is very typical of school districts in the state. And then add up all the administrators, that probably would take up about 20 $30,000 probably per school year from the MO budget. All the auto allowances. Add it all up from the administrators. member senero. Um I can take a look to see because they're broken up. If you take a look at the schedule, um administrators, so principles receive assistant principles will receive an auto allowance and then administrator instructional administrators receive a different amount. I could take to look to see how many we have of each category and get you a dollar amount if you'd like. Yeah, please. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Any other questions about the administrative schedule? All right. Is there a motion on this item? I'll make a motion,
066Mr. Neielson, that the governing board approve the placement schedules for fiscal year 2025 2026. Is there a second? I second. And thank you, Mr. French, for being so good with numbers. Miss Stellard. Um, all in favor say I. I. I. I. Any opposed. All right. Motion passes. Mr. French. Number 11, our Seymar award. Thank you, Madam President. Uh, this evening, I would like to present to the board the Seymar that we have recently issued for the um operations building over on the Littleton campus. We've gone through this process. It's been an extensive process. We had a committee that uh interviewed two contractors uh before they made a determination of an award. The committee found that the Chase building team was uh the most res the most responsive contractor to the Seymar process. What we'd like
067to do is have the board award the Semar to Chase, which would then allow me to enter into negotiations with Chase building team on a guaranteed maximum price for that building. Um, the award itself does not guarantee Chase the work. Um, I would have to take a look to see what the cost of the project would be, make sure it's within the budget of the school district, if there was any changes that we wanted to make at the time, and then I would bring a guaranteed maximum price back to the board before we any work did begin. There is also a possibility of negotiations not being where we want them to be and we would have the possibility of reentertaining any other contractors that bid on the Seymar and asking them for a price as
068well. Happy to answer any other questions any questions the board has. Um this is for the maintenance and operations building at the Littleton site. That one that's I forget half the time is right there. That is correct. Okay. That's essentially the one building on Littleton's campus that hasn't had a lot of work done ever. Um, and it's it was part of the bond that we had passed a couple years back. We have some money set aside to uh renovate that building for our support staff, our operation staff. Have there been um has there been any discussion about the possibility of potentially installing electric vehicle chargers at that for future plans? Member, we didn't have that discussion um about adding any type of uh vehicle charging to that site. We could take a look at it.
069Now that that facility is fenced and and No. So I'm not sure. Are you referring to potentially adding if we had any white fleet in the future vehicles? Yeah, we would have to take a look at electrical capacity on that site. The only electrical capacity that we have looked for is at the DO when we brought forth the um buses to the board a couple months back. Okay. I just curious to see just to plan for the future. Yeah. If I could just I just want to make sure I understand. It's one it's one thing to to like charge cars. It's another thing to charge a bus. I would imagine. And the buses are here. So, I'm not I just want to make sure we're clear on that. I'm not sure how that would work.
070You know, you'd have to take the bus over there to get charged and come back here. For cars and so on. Okay. Yes. I know. Yes. I think that's I think it's possible. building. Member member Senoseros, the white fleet that we house over there are typically the work trucks and the utility vans uh that our electricians and our plumbers and our maintenance crew uh drive on a daily basis. I appreciate that. Yeah, I appreciate that too. Any other questions? If not, is there a motion? I move the governing board approve the award of CMR RFQ at25-00002-27 to Chase building team for the remodel of the operations and maintenance building. Mr. Seneras, is there a second? I'll second. Miss Barnett. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Item number 12, Mr. French, student
071fee schedules for fiscal year 2526. Thank you, Madam President, members of the governing board. Um, Dr. Smith, Littleton Community. This is an item that we brought uh before the board annually for the last couple of years. Um, I do want to take a moment and provide some context. There's some history to this item and what the board action has been in the past. Um, to preface kind of what we're going to be talking about this evening. So um back when COVID uh we were just coming out of COVID and we had the er funds administration brought to the board um idea to wave these fees for um for parents. We knew that inflation was an issue and they were dealing with uh increased costs. So we supplemented what would have been the participation fee with
072esser dollars. When we brought when we ran out of ESR dollars, we brought this back to the board and asked the board to essentially take it back to a pre-COVID number plus the pre-COVID amount plus $5 um per activity. What the um the board had taken action at that point and made it instead of $30 which was requested made it $15 per activity and asked us to stair step this um going forward. And so last year we brought this back and and the board approved a $20 per activity. Um this evening we're coming back to the board and asking for a $25 per activity per student um amount. Um this helps these dollars actually help the schools. They go to the schools and help them purchase uniforms for the students. The district is responsible for
073paying for referees, transportation, um stipens for coaches. the school and uh equipment for games. The school is responsible for paying for equipment for practices as well as uniforms. That's where this money goes and helps supplement. Um what we're also asking the board to consider this evening and we brought it to the board's attention last year is we're really trying to align these fees to the ability that parents have to take advantage of the Arizona tax credit. So in years past, we had a very complex system of how we designated per sports versus per student versus per family dollar amounts that we were maximum amounts that we were charging for sports. Um what we would like to do uh with the board's permission is index that to the tax credit amount. So, if you notice under
074current fees, uh Jim, if you scroll down just a tad, uh under current fees, it says $20 per student per activity with a $50 student annual maximum. So, typically the the employee the student has four opportunities to play sports in a school year because we have four seasons. They would stop paying essentially once they hit $50 is in our current model. uh if a if a family had more than one kid playing sports, they would stop paying once they hit a $100. We're asking the board to consider changing that model to $25 per student per activity with a $100 student annual max and a $200 family annual max because they these all these dollars are tax credit eligible and those families will receive dollar for-dollar back um when they pay those student fees in their
075Arizona state taxes. Happy to answer any questions for the board. Um Well, first of all, thank you, Ryan, because I know last year we had a this was a this was a fun item last year. We talked we had a long discussion on this one. Um, and thank you for acknowledging the stepping and keeping it going until we get to that number that's needed to constrain our financial needs with it. Um, I was just curious, I know we brought up that the coach or I think the principal can wave the student fees. H, did we get a numbers on how many of that happened last school year since our last meeting the year before? Member Senator Sos. Um, I do recall the conversation. I do not have the number for you this evening. Um, but
076I can get that for you if you'd like. Um, so I'm I'm speaking on behalf of myself and all the other parents um who have kids who do athletics but also do other activities and pay other activity fees. And I know I brought this up last year, so I'm just going to say it again. Is there a way that we could say that their activity fees, the band activity, the dance activity fee, whatever that is, could also be met with the annual max. Like if I'm paying athletic and then I'm paying the band or the dance, could I make my max, my family max still be the 200? I mean, can we incorporate that? That's my question really. President Sonik, uh we had that discussion today. Um specifically in the cabinet meeting about that type
077of a situation. Um those items are still tax credit eligible, right? So they're after school activities. They qualify for that. The really the athletic fee that we're presenting to the board this evening is a districtrun activity that we have a lot of control over these the dance program at fine arts and some of those other things are really school controlled and not very much district controlled. So, I would be hesitant to put it under the cap, not knowing what they need for their program and then trying to come up with money on how they're going to spend it because we really use these funds for uniforms. And if I have to split it now amongst instruments or items like that, I'm afraid that we may not have enough. And I understand that. I'm just speaking
078for the fact that if I'm going to meet my family max at 200 and I can only claim the 200 and I still have to pay for my daughter's dance or my son's band or whatever else like that's money that I can't get back in my taxes. President Soick, I do want to point out the Arizona tax credit program. Um we did 200 specifically for any parents who are single that are claiming taxes single or had a household. that is the max that they're able to contribute. But if you have a dual um dual parent, then you're able to do 400, which 200 of it could go to sports and then you would have money left over to do programs like that. Great. Well, thank you. So, first and foremost, thank you so much for
079your hard work. Um Mr. Wrench, you always do a great job. In the past, I've always been very conservative about the fees increasing with the, you know, mindfulness that a lot of our families have multiple children and I would hate for anyone to have to pick and choose. You can do a sport and you can't. But that being said, um I have since our last meeting about this heard that um Chicago Portoa are actually willing to if we asked for it, give us a pretty substantial amount of money different districts because they got a really really really big grant at the end of last year specifically for things like this. So um I I definitely will be for this you know I'll be you know I have no inhibitions about it but also with the
080mindful that you knowness that we maybe look into that if we have um a surplus of students or anybody for that matter so maybe we don't have to necessarily wave the fee we're still able to get that money within our school because there are funds available specifically for that member Barnett I would love if you could send me that information we'll take a we'll definitely take a look into it and then um when we send out the forms terms for kids to sign up with. I know I can't remember if I asked it last year. When they get the number like they've paid this much amount of money, is there something on there like in bold caps like you keep this money, keep this in mind for your taxes, you can reclaim it that's like
081on the form. Member Senos, um Jeff, did you want to I think it's probably better that you answer, but I know the tax credit process is a little different than that what is being described. Um so member Senator Sos I you're talking about the flyer itself. $25. Oh, I can taxes. Let me keep this. So, my understanding, member senator, is when they pay the $25, they're doing that school through school dude um or um my school bucks. They're doing that through my school bucks and that process triggers a donation form sent out from my office to the family. Yes. And it Yeah, that's exact. So, the form itself says that this is for your taxes to keep this form. It comes in the mail in about mid January because I didn't know what it was
082and I was like, why is Ryan sending me? Yes. It said like use this to file with your taxes with your tax. Does that have the school number on it and the name and everything that's necessary for the tax purposes? It'll have the CTDS number which is required to file for Arizona state taxes. Thank you. many uh if I just might you know many families and many schools do different levels of uh there different levels of success let's say with tax credits some are more adept at it uh asking aunts and uncles and different things like that or um so I I do believe that if we can bring up the level of contributions to the tax credits it could help everybody and certainly if a parent's you know spending hundred or $200 I certainly
083hope they're doing the tax credit to to get they get because they get the money right back. Thank you. All right. Is there a motion on this item? I move the governing board accept the change in extracurricular sports fees for the 2025 2026 school year. Miss Stallard. Is there a second? I'll second that. Mr. Nielsen. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. All right. Item number 13, math curriculum adop math curriculum adoption. Dr. Hay. Thank you, Madame President, members of the board. Um the academic achievement uh group has spent a lot of time um doing this and I am so grateful for Dr. Lonnie Fe who's coming up to present the work uh that has been done for the recommendation this evening for the math adoption. So Dr. Five, thank you. Good
084evening, U President Sosnik, um board members, Dr. Smith, and the Littleton community here and online. I have the pleasure of talking about our math adoption recommendation to the board. So, this first slide that you'll see here are all the members of our committee. Um we refer to them as the CIA committee and that stands for curriculum, instruction, and assessment. We have 24 members on that committee and they range from site administrators, district administrators, teachers from every campus, we have special education teachers, we have teachers in every grade level. Um we have reading interventionists on the committee. We have members of the LEA. So we have everybody on this committee because it's really important that we get different varying perspectives, especially when it comes to curriculum. So this is the process that we went through. So
085our CIA committee reviewed lots of different math programs. We g began this process early in the school year around September October and it's a very timeconuming process as you might imagine. And so the committee reviewed these math programs using a rubric that they helped develop. Once they evaluated all those programs, the top three were selected and those were sent for community review. So we had the curriculums, we had I ready, envisions and HMH into math and they were available for community review at Thress Rio Service Academy, Collier Business Academy and here at the welcome center. And we had beautiful little QR codes that allowed our community to provide feedback. We asked for feedback from our community. So parents, um yourself. We also asked for student feedback and for staff feedback to include any teaching staff,
086administrators, classified staff, anybody and everybody that wanted to provide feedback. We were open to have that for them. In fact, we typically have it available for 60 days as required. We extended it because we really wanted to receive as much feedback on this curriculum as we could. It is a big undertaking and we wanted to make sure that we were all in alignment with our possible future math curriculum. So during that process we were able to narrow it down from our top two to our top or excuse me from our top three to our top two. Once we had those top two we asked the vendors to go ahead and provide us a quote. What were they going to offer us for our district in terms of materials for students, materials to for teachers um
087to include our special education teachers and what were they going to offer us in terms of professional development at all levels from the teachers all the way to district administrators. So once we met with those two sales representatives from HMH and Savas, so into math and Savas, then we met with the CIA committee again. We wanted full transparency and we wanted them to know what was going on and ensure that their voice was communicated here for the board. And so we reviewed with the CIA committee a sidebyside comparison. So we discussed everything. What would our students be receiving with this curriculum and what would they be receiving with this curriculum? And we did that for our students, our teachers, our instructional coaches, our site administrators, our district administrators. We tried to cover the span. So
088we did that with materials. We also did that with our uh professional development, which was really important to teachers. They wanted to make sure that they understood the program and how to best support their students. And so we did all that. And then after we shared with them, we asked them to vote and they voted live at that moment. So we weren't able to see their names, but we were able to see as they voted the tally marks come up. And I'm happy to say that after this long process and this we just did this um last week in April, we had a 100% of our CIA committee agree on HMH into math which is huge because they are the voice for us. So they are the ones that are going to go and actually
089they kind of let it from it was a grassroot effort. So, we typically don't have a lot of involvement with these big items, but this CIA committee was really active and they were advocating and communicating with their staff saying, "Hey, get out there and have your voice heard. Have the make your vote, make it count." Um, and they did the same thing with their community and their staff. Um, and you can see there that 39% of the votes from the community review were in favor of into math and 35% of teacher votes. um were in favor of into math. And so again, we had those three curriculums. And so if we do some rough math, it'd be about 33% and so HMH was the one that came ahead with 39%. Some of the reasons that
090the CIA committee wanted to continue with HMH into math was the professional development. As I mentioned, that's really important to them. They wanted something that was going to support them not just in year one but all the way through our adoption. And so one of the things that they really liked about HMH was all the different levels. So HMH offers both virtual and in-person professional development. They also offer ondemand professional development for both teachers and leaders. And so that's that's really interesting because you don't always see that for administrators. They also offered us a dedicated in implementation coach. So the site would have their own HMH person that they'd be able to call on if they needed support. Um we also included site days. So HMH would go to each school site and provide that
091support that teachers need. So they'd be in classrooms ensuring that teachers are utilizing the curriculum well and having their answers um having their questions answered. We also have implementation meetings because if we're going to spend money on a purchase, we want to make sure that we're doing it well. We want to make sure that the data is showing us that we're doing it well. And so HMH offers us um three implementation meetings beginning, middle, and end of the year. But they also offer us Dave. Dave is our data analyst that is free to us for the life of the adoption. and he would come in person or virtually and facilitate some of those um sessions with administrators on how we're doing as a district or how our individual school sites are doing in terms of
092uh math usage and the results of their assessments within the platform. We also looked at the instructional materials and so what was really great about this is that HMH offered materials for students at all levels. So those students who are a few years behind that are struggling, they offered a program, a math 180 program to support them. Students that might just need a little bit of support, there was a program for them to waggle. It's adaptive and it's personalized. So the students can go on and receive instruction in just that thing that they might just need to hear it a different way. And so that's what Waggle would do for our students. And then for our students and everybody else who is right where they need to be, we have the the general curriculum that
093they'd be able to access. And so they really loved that we were covering all our bases. No child was left out. Not only that, the instructional materials also also supported teachers. they were scaffolded in a way that if we have some teachers that might be alternatively certified or came to us from a different path, they'd be able to pick up the material and understand it. Of course, knowing that they do have that professional development support throughout the life of the adoption. And then lastly, there have been changes in how we think about math in the education world. So, I'm going to age myself, but the procedural learning is how I learned. You memorized the formula, you plugged in numbers, and that was your answer. And and that's it, right? Like you solved it. A, move
094on. So now we're starting to think about, okay, we got the formula part, but why does the formula work? So that's the conceptual part of math and into math has been updated to bring that in. So now students are being able to enjoy that productive struggle. I say enjoy because it's might be fun, but they enjoy that productive struggle. I was like, "Okay, so I know that this is this and I know that long division does this, but why do I get that answer?" And so they get to struggle with that piece as well. So the program really is able to marry both pieces, the conceptual and the procedural together for our students and our staff. And so I'll be honest with you, this is my first adoption, right? And so I didn't know what
095to anticipate with money. And so I reached out to a few other people and some finance people in other places, other districts, and they're like, "Oh, you're going to spend about three million, three and a half million." And so when we saw this number, we were pleasantly surprised. We were well under what we anticipated. And again, as you're looking at these numbers, please keep in mind that that 2 and a half million is for the life of the adoption, which is seven years. So we're not paying that. It is we're not paying that every year. It's just one large amount for everything. You can see there that we have teacher and student materials. You can see where they supported us in reducing shipping fees. And so that is something that we would have to pay
096every year because we get new consumables every year. So that's a positive. And then you can also see the savings and discounts that they provided us. Typically we don't always have licenses unless we purchase them. So, if a district or site administrator needed a license, we'd have to pay for it, which can get costly. So, luckily, we're able to get these at a discount andor free um through HMH. And so our recommendation on behalf of the administration and on behalf of our robust CIA committee is that the governing board approve Hutton Mifflin Hardcourt into math for grades kindergarten through 8th as our district math core curriculum beginning for the school year 2526. And at this time I'd be happy to answer any questions or take any comments. Yes. Um, who's the publisher of our current
097math curriculum? It is um, H.M.H. I was just going to ask like the transition from one to another. Is that going to be great? But hopefully since it's the same company, that won't be that hard of a transition. And it is updated, President Sosnik, which is huge. I just had a quick question. I I heard you right. Did you mention that it comes with math 180? Yeah, members Stalard. Yes, it does. Have you heard of it? Read. I actually use math 180 and read 180 with my resource students. Yes. Yes. A lot of members of our CIA committee, their eyes lit up when they heard that and when they saw that because a lot of them had experience with that program and our students have shown success in in other districts when we've used that
098program. So, they were excited that we were possibly bringing it to the Littleton School District. Oh, yeah. It's an amazing program. Oh, no. Thank you, Dr. Y and thank you to everybody on the committee. Um this is amazing. It was really really good to see just the amount of um discussion and the robust work that went into it and all the work you guys put into it over the last I think you said uh six months, seven months um at this point. So, uh, no, thank you so much for all the work that you did, you and your committee on this. Um, and no, no, so for the for the cost, um, over the seven years, this would come from the MO budget or the the instructional our override budget. Yes. Okay. So, member senators,
099we put money aside from our capital override um for adoptions and so um, Dr. Fe has the funds to make the purchase. That was all I had. I guess I've just got the one question. I'm still old mind, you know, whatever it is. I got to have a book in front of me to see what's going on. I assume that there's no books associated with it's all on laptops or whatever you call them. Member Nielsen, um it is both. So students will have um a book that they can take home. So they call it a math and homework journal. Yes. So we will have that, but they will also have one that they get to use in school to participate as well as well as digital access. So, we made sure that we had both
100because it's important that our students are still grounded in handwriting and and figuring stuff out on paper, but also experiencing the digital. Thank you. I appreciate that. You do need that touch, the ability to still move a pencil and paper around a little bit. Of course. Thank member Neielson. It's also um oftentimes our middle grades don't get that. They might get a hardback book, but they get this homework math workbook K to8 every student. Thank you. Um and then for the votes um from the community review I remember seeing it on the billboard and then seeing it on social media. Was there like a substantial amount a handful of like uh do we know if like parents, students, teachers like I know the teachers are there but like percentage of who responded? Yeah, we unfortunately
101did not members in the centers we unfortunately did not have a huge parent turnout. We had 19 um parents who voted for the curriculum. um we did not have students. Students had the opportunity. Teachers, especially members of the CIA, took their students to the library and so the students were able to engage in the material. They just didn't want to do that clicking because it was a QR code. They didn't want to click the QR code and answer um the questions. But yes, teachers turned out and parents, we had 20 or excuse me, 19 parents. And then that's amazing because I was at the um Tulsson Union just adopted their new I think Spanish uh Spanish curriculum um this past month and they had zero parents participate in their adoption. So that's amazing to hear
102that we at least 20. We also I failed to mention we had two evenings in February that um we attended because we know that not all families can make it during business hours and so we did have two late nights one at Threst Rios and one at Collier to support that as well. I know one of your um CIA members teaches my daughter and my daughter came home going, "You have to go do this because I want you to tell them what math I want to do next year." And I was like, "Well, I was already planning to go, but she was passionate about it and she had heard that we were deciding and she's like, "Mom, you have to go." Um I don't think she knew she could vote because she's that type of
103kid that would have voted. So, but next time maybe. me president so but that just speaks to when I say that CA CIA committee was really that effort that pushed it and I mean it got to our students which is wonderful and so we couldn't have done it without those 24 individuals definitely I will is there a motion on this item I move the governing board approve the Hton myth and hardcore into math for grades kindergarten through 8th grade in the as the district math mathematic core curriculum beginning um school year 2025 2026 Miss Barnett. Is there a second? I second. Miss Stallard. All in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Motion passes. Thank you. Dr. Pip. All right. Moving on to item number 14. Is there any future agenda items from the board? Um
104not really an agenda item. I guess more of an like information item. Um I want to say thank you Dr. Smith for getting us the information back regarding the the drug dog sweeps. Um I think I would what I would want to like have a discussion around is like the robustness of it of having like of like I know from my understanding is administrators are allowed to decide what they want to do on each site. That's the clear and fair clarification if the sweeps come in or not. The principal gets I want to make sure I'm answering the question correctly. I think it was a collaboration between the administration to say this is how often we want to do it. I'm looking over here how often we want to do it and uh I think
105it was well anyway I don't know that we can get into a big discussion about it if you know what I mean but the question what is the question and maybe we can answer the question the question is could the discussion of whose decision was it to allow that it would only be the administrators selecting when the sweeps would happen because I think my concern would be is just cherrypicking which sites and how many sites get to go per site. So I think the question I wanted to to be is more of like how many sweeps are happening per and could there be a way to make it be equal to where two sites happen at two sweeps happen at one site and then two sweeps happen at the same time and then could the
106board always be notified every single time a sweep happens the day of be notified and then get a report that day of if there was anything found because I think I I found out that these sweeps happen over Facebook so I think I want to find out the day of just so I'm aware. I appreciate the question and I and I'll work on an answer for you. Let's just put it that way and then we'll put it in the in the update and I'll give you all the information we have about it and what we're able to do. And I want to add that too. Um I think it's important to let the community know some way in the going out forms that that these are not free sweeps that we they are taxpayer dollars
107are paying for the sweeps. if something could be added in that just so we're being super transparent with them. I just want to make sure I understand that last point you made. You're saying that the communication to who would say the letters would add a point that these sweeps are back and that they are being paid for by their taxpayer dollars or something around that they're with their monies. It's not it's not free sweeps because I think there is miscommunications about the the sweeps are free if the if the whatever the drug dogs are doing it for free or if we're paying for the sweeps. So I think I want that to be communicated to families somehow. Okay. I'll see what we can do with that. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Sinister. Is there anything
108else? Um just real quick, Dr. Smith, what we had talked about about tax credits, you said that will be on the next one. Okay. All the ways you can use tax credits and so on. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Is there a motion for adjournment? I motion we adjourn. Mr. Stallard, Mr. Neielson second. All in favor say I. I. I. We're adjourned at 801. Ada, do we have things to sign? Don't go anywhere. Thank you everyone. I mean, I think he