001These are a lot of People last four days. 500etflix and then on my list Not Siri. stupid months. [Music] So, I'm out of that now. Kathy, how are you? Yeah, life has been busy busy but doing so many cool things and I was telling my first time service attorneys they give me these bles information like please repeat and let me know I've been doing more reading the last three weeks than I've ever done in my life but I wanted to really get into it because the next one's going to be easier I can get to the the key points but I didn't want to read anything I want to read it like when I got hired here you got read the board policies. I can't just not read the policy. Good seeing you. Oh my
002god. Oh my god. Oh my god. [Music] Why is this pull up my agenda? It's guest, isn't it? It is guest. Why is it not letting me? It's tea. It's gas. But it's not. I think I keep getting kicked off. How are you? I miss him so much. Of course. So they don't down here. Hello, Mr. Carlson. How are you? I'm doing well, thank you. How are you? It's good seeing you. Thank you so much. Is today your birthday? Yes, it is. Happy birthday. Thank you. Happy birthday. Thank you. Yeah, we have Yeah. Um the only ones they need right away from you are three congratulatory. Then the rest can wait until you're Okay. And then I'll grab those for you. And that's a permanent so it'll dry fast. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. Okay,
003Kathy. You want me go Oh yeah. Yeah. Thanks. Thanks. Let me know when you're ready. [Music] I think we're right. [Music] It's 6 [Applause] o' We're going to get started. Um [Music] Can we get a roll call? Miss Mcronis here. Mr. Carlson here. Miss Raymond present. Mr. Mr. Hazel. Thank you. Can I get a motion to adopt the agenda? I move to adopt the agenda as presented. Second. All those in favor. Motion carries. We all stand for the pledge of allegiance and a moment of silence, please. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. recognition and presentations. Dr. Join me. [Music] All right, we have uh we have a action-packed night of recognitions. This
004is gonna it's going to be a lot of fun. We're going to start tonight with Mr. R.J. Romero. R.J., I'm gonna have you join me up front, please. Perfect. Right here. So, our first recognition this evening, we get to highlight the accomplishments of Morirana High School senior. I'm gonna just go RJ. Is that better than Richard? Yes. Okay. R.J. Romero. In Feb. This past February, R.J. earned the title of the 2025 20 pound division one state wrestling champion. Yes. Now, in addition to the to that uh amazing accomplishment, R.J. has had uh numerous wrest wrestling accomplishments. This includes 121 varsity wins. That is 11th most alltime in Morirana wrestling history. A senior record of 58 and five. A mile high invitational second place finish. a Doc Wright Invitational Champion. Brad Jones pack invitational champion and
005outstanding wrestler division one section one second place two-time state qualifier 2020 uh four 120lb division division one fifth place first time all region and threetime varsity letter winner. There's been a clear uh not just career of excellence but a trajectory as well as you guys have have noticed. After high school, R.J. has several opportunities to continue his education and wrestling journey at the collegiate level. Coach Highly states that R.J. has been a privilege to coach over these past three seasons. I don't think he has missed more than two practices in the past three years. R.J. is dedicated to the sport of wrestling. He wrestles all 12 months of the year and only takes time off when he's forced uh so that his body can heal. Uh we want to congratulate R.J. and we wish you
006the very best in your future R.J. congratulations again. So hang on R.J. We're going to do I'm gonna give you a card you certificate and then we're gonna do a photo. Go ahead and stand in the middle. So you hold that too many things. Congratulations. [Applause] Okay, we're going to move from students to teachers. All right, so we have uh uh two great recog recognitions. I've been uh looking forward to this for a long time. I would like to have Michael Forester and Michelle uh Machado join me up front, please. [Applause] So, Michael, who's one of our outstanding teachers at Quail Run Elementary School, and Michelle, who's uh my neighbor over at Estus Elementary School, uh are our our newest National Board Certified Teachers. Uh this is quite Yes, please. So, National Board Certification was
007designed to develop, retain, and recognize accomplished teachers and to generate ongoing improvement in schools nationwide. National Board Certification is an advanced teaching credential in which teachers have met the profession's highest standards and have the knowledge and skills necessary to advance student learning. Teachers must exhibit a deep understanding of their students content knowledge, use of data, and assessments in teaching practice. The certification process requires that teachers demonstrate standardsbased evidence of the positive effect that they have on student learning and alignment with the five core propositions. The National Board Five Core Propositions and Standards describe what accomplished teachers should know and be able to do to have a positive impact on student learning. The certification identifies teachers who have met those standards through a performance-based peer-reviewed series of assessed components. And as someone who's had the opportunity
008to be in both of these uh folks classrooms, th it is teaching at the highest level. Uh welld deserved. Congratulations as well. So currently there are 19 nationally board certified teachers and three nationally certified school nurses in the district. Attainment of national board certification is one of the most prestigious and respected professional certifications available in K12 education. We are incredibly proud of our staff and recognize the extensive amount of work involved in this rigorous multi-year process. Please join me in congratulating Michael and Michelle one more time. card. Card certificates coming. Let's make sure I didn't mess up the order here, Mr. Force. Thank you. And photo time. We'll get our direction from Ally. Congratulations. [Applause] Okay, we did students, we got teachers, we're going to school level now. So, I am going to ask the
009Rattlesnake Ridge team to join me up front, please. You don't have to clap. We don't know what they did yet. So tonight we are proud to recognize Rattlesnake Ridge Elementary School for earning the prestigious A+ School of Excellence Award from the Arizona Education Foundation. The recognition covers a 4-year period with Rattlesnake Ridge earning the 2025 through 2029 designation. It has been since two It has been since 1983 that the A+ School of Excellence program has served to identify and recognize educational excellence in public schools throughout the state and to identify which Arizona public schools would be recommended for the US Department of Education's National Blue Ribbon Award. Hundreds of schools apply each year to obtain this highly sought-after designation. Qualities that the judges look for include strong leadership that inspires collaboration and embraces professional development.
010Highquality teachers and staff who create engaging learning experiences and help students thrive academically and socially. A rigorous standards aligned curriculum that encourages critical thinking and problem solving. engaged parents and community involvement in a student centered learning approach with extracurricular activities and a safe nurturing environment. Matt Uden, the principal, stated, "This recognition is a reflection of the entire school community, our teachers, staff, administration, parents, and of course, our students." The process included a rigorous application process which formally began in the early 2024 school year and culminated with a two-day visit or two-day site visit to campus where every classroom stakeholder group and aspect of a typical day at Rattlesnake Ridge was showcased and observed by A+ judges with a wealth of experience leading and teaching at schools across Arizona. We are overjoyed that the judges recognize
011the incredible culture that has been created and maintained consistently by our staff, students, and the community at large to earn the distinguished A+ designation. Please join me in congratulating our outstanding Rattlesnake Ridge team for being recognized as one of the very best in Arizona. We do a photo. We going big banner and we'll go little certificate. Slide. Will you slide that way a little bit, Matt? That's great. Congratulations, guys. I need the rest. force communications. Anybody comments I do. Um I was fortunate enough to attend the 2340 L uh lunchon which we honored our uh district support staff, teacher, and administrator of the year. It was a wonderful presentation. Uh plus all of our wonderful students that received those scholarships. Um, I had the unfortunate experience of having to go to physical therapy for breaking
012an arm and it turned into a great one because my physical therapist was telling me he went through the sports medicine program at Morirana High and his teacher who was Ashley Dicki at the time set him on his path for his career and he's now a doctor of physical therapy and that was very exciting. I also had the opportunity to meet with a a student at uh Mountain View High School who was competing in the state FCCLA uh competition for uh public policy and one of the requirements was to meet with a a board member and ask questions and I'm happy to say that he qualified to go to nationals. So, it's been a great experience being a board member. I have a few comments. I want to thank Dr. Strereer and my fellow board
013members. I too have the pleasure of attending the 2340 lunch with Mrs. Raymond and Mr. Alexander and I attended the National School Board Association National Conference in Atlanta, Georgia with President where I attended many breakout sessions, met with a couple prospective vendors and heard an amazing IB school in the Atlanta school district. I encourage everyone to support our school students and staff. Thank you. Next up, remarks from the public. First up, Lily Tate, and she lives in our district. Sorry. Good evening, board members, MSD administrators, and community members. I'm Lily Tate. I teach ceramics at Torita Middle School and I'm a mom to an autistic kindergarten kindergartener in MUSD. April is autism acceptance month and I often struggle with how to share our story. Part of me feels like it isn't my story to tell.
014It's my child's. But he can't still can't really tell this part of his story either. So here we are. After my son was born, I was so excited to do all the mommy and me things. And then the pandemic hit to an extent. I loved the extra time that I got to spend with my little family. We navigated through a really tough time fairly well, and we were lucky that we were healthy and employed when others were not. When the world started to reopen, I found myself with a toddler. I felt a little cheated of all the adorable adoring coups and the little baby things that everyone got else got. Um, and he started to learn how to speak through masks and the our time at home. It's just because when he struggled with speech,
015I was told over and over, it's just because of quarantine and masks. It'll get better as he interacts with more kids his age. Oh, I wanted to believe that that was true. But then the biting started and I knew we needed help. I couldn't believe the excuses anymore. Everyone tells you that biting is developmentally appropriate. It's communication. Luckily, there were enough red flags to get an assessment through MUSD and the early childhood center and PALS. Finally, someone saw us and helped me and and they helped write him an IEP that spelled out all of the things that his this teacher mom knew in her gut were a problem, but was so overshadowed with guilt and shame that so many parents of neurody diverent kids struggle with. I'll forever be grateful to the team at PAL
016for all the support and care they that we received during his time there and all of the efforts on his the part of his team at Quail Run. In the midst of all of the things that happened and all of the struggles that went alongside that, I am ever so grateful for our team of people here in MSD and all the efforts that are put in for our students uh that of varying needs and neurody divergence. Um in a time when words like diversity and equity and inclusion seem to be questionable by some folks. Um, I encourage this district to continue to support and come alongside those parts of our community and our students who need our services and need our help and to continue to to provide that excellent five-star service that we have
017been known to for for those students. So I urge this board and and the administration of this district to do as much as possible as those things such as inclusion are become questionable to protect them for our students, for our staff, and for our community. Thank you. Association. Good evening, Vice President Mcronis, members of the board, Dr. Strereer, senior staff, and community members. My name is Chelsea, and I'm the vice president of the Miranda Education Association. As we approach the end of the school year, MEA would like to take a moment to recognize the incredible work happening across the district, not as a formality, but as a sincere acknowledgement of the daily effort and care our educators, administrators, and support staff pour into our students. Our schools are not winding down, they're sprinting to the
018finish line. Teachers are guiding students through state tests, final projects, and major transitions. Counselors are helping students cope with anxiety, trauma, and planning for the future. Support staff are keeping campuses running smoothly and building the kind of trusted relationships that often make the biggest difference for a student. Administrators are managing all of it. Student needs, staffing shortages, school safety, family concerns day in and day out. And we're doing it all without adequate funding. Educators are doing more with less. Again, they're holding the system together with passion and creativity, but we cannot continue to rely on their personal sacrifice to make up for a lack of public investment. Meanwhile, our state continues to expand the school voucher programs that siphon hundreds of millions of dollars away from public education without accountability, without transparency, and without serving
019the vast majority of Arizona students. Every dollar diverted to these programs is a dollar that doesn't reach our classrooms, our students, or the professionals working tirelessly to support them. Right now, we are at a critical moment. The state budget has not yet been finalized, and federal funding for our most vulnerable students is uncertain. Decisions are being made in the coming days and weeks that will directly impact how and if we can continue to meet the needs of our students. If there was ever a time to act, it is now. So tonight, we're not just asking this board to stand with us. We're calling on everyone in our Morirana community, educators, support staff, families, and neighbors to contact your legislators. Let them know you believe in strong, well-funded public schools. Tell them our students deserve more
020than what's left over after vouchers are paid out. Tell them we need a budget that fully funds public education because our kids are worth the investment. Thank you. [Applause] [Music] [Laughter] Okay. I move that the governing board approve the consent agenda as presented. Second. All those in favor? I. Any discussions? Motion carries. Uh unfinished business. None. New business. J1. Uh Miss Good evening, Vice President Mcronis, members of the board, Dr. Straer, members of senior staff, and our inperson and virtual audience. This morning I am not this morning, this evening I am bringing um a statement of work agreement to you for consideration of approval. That is an extension or an additional project that our district would work with the Arizona Board of Regents and the ASU Helios decisionmaking center on. Uh earlier this school year,
021you all approved the personalized admissions project through um this organization. This particular statement of work would provide an opportunity for our school district to share data, deidentified data, um with the ASU Julio's decision center in an effort to look longitudinally longitudinally at our students and where they go after they leave our middle schools. So, how do our kids do in middle school? Where do they go to high school? Where do they go to college? Where do they go to any form of postsecary? And what majors do they have? What classes do they select? How are we preparing our kids for post-secary? This research study would provide us with the opportunity to really evaluate the quality and effectiveness of our programs as well as to look to other school districts to identify what programs they might
022be having or what re what um what pathways and programs that that they have implemented in their districts that are where students are experiencing success. So this project is called Vista uh not to be confused with our VISTA but it is to really ensure that we are constantly evaluating our programs and looking ahead to see what we need to do to be the best that we can be. Uh as a part of our strategic planning conversations and I know that Dr. spend talking with you all that we are in the process of discussing not only how many quality programs we have but what are the results those programs are getting and this program this being a part of this project would help us to be able to evaluate how we're doing and how we can
023be more effective. Some of the questions for the audience that this research study would help us to uh get some results on and visualize some data on are how do middle school students perform in high school? Where are the academic what are the academic trajectories of our students based on their performance in the district? How do groups of students differ in their trajectories? What factors impact those trajectories? our students being prepared for rigorous high school classes that eventual and eventually for college or other education needed for their future. We are excited to examine this uh the data yielded from this study in an effort to be the best district we can. Can I get a motion? I move that the governing board approve statement of work number one for longitudinal student performance vista with the
024Arizona Board of Regents, the Arizona State University's Helios Decision Center for Educational Excellence and Miranda Unified School District. Can I get a second? Second. Any discussion? I have a question. So, I didn't know deidentified was a word. Um, so what does that mean? That means that no personal information involving students. So no all of the information that we provide would not be able to be tracked back to an individual student. So we would send information to them that is that is not tracked back to a student's SIS number or a student's name or personal identifying information. Okay. Paragraph C here says the spe the specific confidential data including PII protected blah blah blah um and it gives a list. So, are we sending them PII or are we not? You're not sending them personally identifiable
025information. But this paragraph C here is allowing for that. Just I'm sorry. Thank you for the clarifying question. It's only the personally identifiable information, directory information available under through FERPA. And so any parent that has requested that directory information not be released that student information would not be included. Thank you for clarifying. Okay. All right. Thanks. Yes sir. Any other discussion? All those in favor? I opposed. Motion carries. J two, Miss Rey. Thank you. My second item for you this evening is a followup to our study session topic where I discussed a reorganization of the educational services department in order to increase some efficiencies. moving full-time staff members who are currently specialists to coordinator roles as well as shifting uh the instructional technology coordinator position to a new title, alternative and innovative learning coordinator. A
026motion. I move that the governing board approve the educational services department reorganization request as presented. A second. Second. Is there any discussion? All those in favor? opposed. Motion carries. Thank you. J3, Miss Lada. Good evening, Vice President Mcronis, governing board members. Tonight, I bring before you a request for additional staffing. We are requesting additional staffing for next school year due to the anticipated increase of special education students at Play and Learn Preschool and the opening of Tangerine Farms K8 and due to increased population projections at Torita Middle School. We're asking for one special education clerk that will be split between PAL and Tangerine Farms, one nurse for Tangerine Farms, and one half-time Spanish teacher at Torita Middle School. A motion. I move that the governing board approve new staffing of one special education clerk to
027be split between PAL and Tangerine Farms K8 school, one nurse at Tangerine Farms K8 School, and one halftime Spanish teacher at Torina Middle School effective for the 2025 2026 school year. Can I get a second? Second. There any discussion? All those in favor? I motion. Thank you. J4 Street. I'm gonna try this maybe. Uh Arizona school boards association recommends updated uh policy language. So in your packet you have policy AA which is the district uh legal status. Uh this just provides uh simplifies the language around the the district's legal boundaries. policies ABA and policy ABA both it's just simplifying and clarifying the language of those existing policies and then policy A uh is is being removed from the policy manual because it's redundant information that's already listed in policy a motion please I move that
028the governing board approve revisions to policy AA school district legal status policy ABA community involvement in education policy AAA parental involvement and policy ad education philosophy/school district mission as presented. I get a second. Second. Is there any discussion? All those in favor? I I opposed. Motion carries. J. Okay. J5 is executive session. Can I get a motion, please? I move that the governing board conduct an executive session pursuant to ARS 38-431.03 for the purpose of consulting with andor instruction instructing the board's representative regarding negotiations. I get a second. Second. All those in favor? I. We'll be going to executive session. We will return. If you'd like to leave, you're free to leave. We'll return when we come back. Just letting you know our next meeting is on May 8th at 6 p.m. here. We'll go
029to executive session. Oh, we might be able to stay here. How are you?