001All right, it's still quiet. So, we're going to go ahead and call this governing board meeting to order. It is Wednesday, April 22nd. It is 6:30. Lisa, could you please do the roll call? Patty Cuchary. Present. >> Carolyn Lopez. Lisa Garcia. Ben Owens. Present. Shontae Rothschild. Present. Thank you. And Mr. Sotomayor, would you please lead us in the pledge of allegiance? Thank you. And you guys did amazing. I could hear you all reciting it. Thank you. I love when we have the kids here. All right, uh adoption of the agenda. Do I have any motions or amendments? I move that we accept the agenda as presented. I'll second. Lisa, we have a motion and a second. Shontae Rothschild. Aye. Ben Owens. Aye. Patty Cuchary. Aye. All right, superintendent's report. Dr. Lotman. Thank you very much,
002President Cuchary. 40 students from Maricopa and Desert Sunrise High Schools, along with their parents, took part in a behind-the-scenes field trip with our neighbors at the Nissan Technical Technical Center in Stanfield. Through the Nissan Next Gen Driver event, students got a first-hand look at engineering innovation and automotive careers in action. Students observed high-speed runs on the nearly 6-mile oval, riding alongside Nissan engineers at speeds exceeding 130 mph. They participated in drifting and skid demonstrations, tested handling on real-world real-world road simulations, took part in safety demonstrations, and explored Nissan's latest models. Experiences like this one connect learning to real-world application. For some students, it sparked a new interest. For others, this day reinforced a clear direction. All of this close to home. MUSD Day at the Capitol highlighted the importance of parent advocacy. Members of our
003legislative committee and governing board came prepared to speak to the real impact that legislation has on our schools, especially when a one-size-fits-all policy might limit decision-making and affect our ability to meet student needs. I'm especially proud of our parents who showed up informed, engaged, and committed to keeping Maricopa students at the center of this conversation. The Desert Sunrise High School EMS HOSA students delivered [clears throat] an outstanding performance at the Arizona State Leadership Conference. Nine students represented Desert Sunrise, contributing to a gold chapter award, and earning multiple individual recognitions for leadership and dedication. The chapter was also recognized for hosting successful blood drives and meeting donor goals, as well as for fundraising efforts for the HOSA National Service Project. Students competed against peers from across Arizona. A special congratulations goes to Elise Vianova, who earned
004first place statewide in researched persuasive writing and speaking, and will advance to represent Desert Sunrise and Arizona at the HOSA International Leadership Conference this June. Next school year, the Boys & Girls Club at Almer Farrell Innovation Academy will expand to serve students in grades K-8, becoming the first location in Maricopa to include middle school students. This program will continue to serve elementary students while opening the new opportunities for our middle school students to stay connected and involved after school. Following up on her recent nomination, Maricopa High School senior Michaela Armstrong has been named the Arizona Republic's High School Athlete of the Week after a standout showing at a statewide reader poll that drew more than 29,000 votes. The uh That's impressive. >> [applause] >> Armstrong earned the honor after securing first place in the triple
005jump at the 72nd Annual Kiwanis Invitational with a mark of 37 ft 11 and 1/4 in, a well-earned recognition for her performance on the track and her leadership beyond it. Members of the Maricopa High School Alliance Club visited Desert Sunrise High School during lunch periods to connect students with certified therapy dogs. Students had the opportunity to interact with the dogs as a way to focus on wellness and reset during the day. The visit reflects how community partners continue to show up and connect with our students in ways that make a difference day to day. It's safe to say the wagging tails were a hit. And that's my report. >> [applause] >> Thank you, Dr. Lotman. All right, we're going to move on to our governing board member reports. Member Rothschild. No updates for this evening.
006All right. Member Owens. Nothing this evening, President Cuchary. Y'all slackers. All right, um I just have a couple. Um I was able to attend the underclassmen awards over at MHS um with member Rothschild. So, you did have something to report. >> [laughter] >> So, uh it's really nice to see um the number of kids achieving these academic successes. Um and I'm just so proud of everything that they they accomplished. And so, to be a part of that, this is coming into my favorite time of the year, even though it's the most insanity time of the year, but just to celebrate all of our students and their successes um is something I really look forward to. That's the bonus of being a board member. Uh and then um member Lopez and I were part of the
007Parents Day at the Capitol. Um and uh Dr. Lotman hosted did a great job. These parents were engaged. They were well informed. Um and it was really nice to be able to have the conversations directly with our representatives. So, I look forward to future opportunities um and uh for the Capitol to start hearing our voice here in Maricopa. Uh we do have I know we're getting close to summer, and I know there there's families out there that are going, "What are we going to do with our kids this summer?" So, for all of our elementary student families, you know, MUSD is going to have a unique summer uh break camp opportunity. Um there'll be uh themed weeks uh for the month of June uh for our K-3 5 students that they can participate in. And
008also um Boys & Girls Club will also have their summer camp. And that will start um May 26th and go through July 21st. So, here are a couple of opportunities if families are looking to help keep our kids engaged and active over the summertime, so maybe they're not sitting at home in front of the video games as much. So, we look forward to that. If you guys got any information If you need information about that, you can go to musd20.org or Boys & Girls Club of the Sun Corridor. All right. With that, we're going to move on. We have our spotlight recognition. Miss Terry. >> [applause] >> All right. Well, good evening, and thank you all for being here tonight. The Maricopa Unified School District is excited to honor spotlight recipients across three categories: MUSD
009employees, students, and student athletes. Before we begin, I'd like to thank our sponsors at Freddy's Steakburgers and Frozen Custard, Baskin Robbins, and UltraStar Circle Entertainment for making tonight special for our honorees. Our first honorees are spotlight employees of the month, and they're dedicated staff who go beyond above and beyond to meet the needs of our students and school communities. Congratulations, spotlight employees. As I call your name, please come forward to receive your certificate and give a quick fist bump to the governing board and Dr. Lotman, and then head to room 123 for a group photo. And Mr. Harmon, give us a wave. That is where room 123 is. All right. Congratulations to Ginger Walters, library aid from Butterfield Elementary School. Heidi Ashworth, librarian from Maricopa Elementary School. Diana Sanchez, behavior specialist, Pima Butte Elementary School.
010>> [applause] >> And Whitney Harden, library aid from Saddleback Elementary School. Jesse Gibson, resource paraprofessional, Santa Cruz Elementary School. Diana Lazaro Rivas, attendance clerk from Santa Rosa Elementary School. James Lair, sixth grade math teacher, Desert Wind Middle School. And Reed Martin, seventh grade math teacher from Maricopa Wells Elementary School. Mary Beth Garrett, receptionist, Desert Sunrise High School. Tamika Kimbrough, ELL teacher, Maricopa High School. Teresa Flint, administrative assistant from Ram Academy. And Danielle Davis, ESS program specialist, Exceptional Student Services. >> [cheering and applause] >> And Lisa Hahn, governing board secretary, Superintendent's Office. Congratulations again to these outstanding Spotlight employees. >> [applause] >> And next, we're thrilled to honor our Spotlight Students of the Month. Each month, school principals select these remarkable students for their outstanding commitment to their education, their school, and community. These student spotlights
011exemplify the portrait of the graduate by being communicators, innovators, resilient achievers, critical thinkers, principled leaders, and these students set the bar high and shine as role models for their peers, their schools, and our entire community. Congratulate Congratulations, Spotlight students. As I call your name, please come forward to receive your certificate and give a quick fist bump to the governing board and Dr. Lotman, and then head to room 123 for a group photo. Mr. Harmon, give us one more wave. There he is. Congratulations to Autumn Sumpter, preschooler from Butterfield Elementary School. Autumn is a resilient achiever who has grown tremendously while bringing kindness and curiosity to the classroom each day. And Caleb Sabalan, first grader from Maricopa Elementary School. Caleb is a principled leader who shows responsibility, treats others with kindness, and comes to school ready
012to learn. Maddox Wong, preschooler from Pima Butte Elementary School. Maddox approaches every new challenge with a positive attitude and the confidence to keep growing. >> [gasps] >> Anais Alarcon, fifth grader from Saddleback Elementary School. Anais is a resilient achiever demonstrating determination, kindness, and academic growth. Maria Rosales, first grader from Santa Cruz Elementary School. Maria is a principled leader whose positivity and strong character make her a role model for her classmates. And Riley Wall, fourth grader from Santa Rosa Elementary School. Riley is a critical thinker whose hard work and determination have led to achievements like GATE acceptance, honor roll recognition, and completing all math Navi competencies while staying active in her community. Charlie Rogala, eighth grader from Desert Wind Middle School. Charlie is an innovator and leader who uses her talents to make a meaningful impact
013on her school and community. And Aaron Cox, eighth grader from Maricopa Wells Middle School. Aaron exemplifies a principled leader through integrity, involvement, and the positive example being set for others. Travis Adams, sophomore from Desert Sunrise High School. Travis is a resilient achiever who approaches every opportunity with dedication and a drive to improve. And Michaela Armstrong, senior from Maricopa High School. Michaela is a communicator and leader who encourages those around her while making a lasting impact on her school community. 29,000 votes. >> [cheering] [applause] >> Linda Gagner, eighth grader from Maricopa Virtual Academy. Linda is a principled leader who consistently treats others with respect and leads by example. And Mark Montero Gutierrez, junior from Ram Academy. Mark is a resilient achiever whose perseverance and determination continue to drive his academic success. Congratulations again to these outstanding
014Spotlight students. >> [applause] >> And next, we'll honor our outstanding student athletes. As I call your name, please come forward to receive your certificate and give a quick fist bump to the governing board and Dr. Lotman, and then head to room 123 for a group photo. Congratulations to Chernor Benguerel, eighth grader. He's a soccer player >> [applause] >> from Desert Wind Middle School. Irene Bigbow, eighth grader, flag football, track, and basketball player from Desert Wind Middle School. Arizona Brower, eighth grade baseball and flag football player from Maricopa Wells Middle School. Olivia Venverloh, sixth grader, softball player, Maricopa Wells Middle School. And Aaron Sanchez, senior baseball player from Desert Sunrise High School. Cadence Stansfield, senior beach volleyball player from Desert Sunrise High School. >> [applause] >> Shane Johnson, junior boys volleyball player, Maricopa High School. And
015Valeria Coronado Rivas, senior tennis player from Maricopa High School. >> [applause] >> And finally, in partnership with the Maricopa Rotary Club, we would like to honor a deserving group of students. Rotary honors young people who are developing leadership skills and making a difference in their communities. Rotary students, as I call your name, please come forward and Ms. Kutrei will present you with a special certificate. And in addition, we will be sending a $50 gift card on behalf of the Rotary to your schools. A special thank you goes to John and Mary Lou Smith Education Foundation for their sponsorship that helps make tonight special for our honorees. Congratulations to Liam Begonia, eighth grader from Desert Windmill School. >> [applause] >> And Phoenix Cannon, eighth grader from Maricopa Wells Middle School. Kaylee Rigo, junior from Desert Sunrise
016High School. And Clayton Neals, senior from Maricopa High School. Toby Prince, sophomore from Maricopa Virtual Academy. >> [applause] >> And Mark Montero Gutierrez, junior from Ram Academy. >> [applause] [applause] >> Congratulations again to our Rotary recipients tonight. And congratulations to all of our spotlight recipients. Parents, we are going to take a 5-minute break to allow everyone who is All right, we're going to get back to our meeting. That was really fun. I love doing spotlight and that was our last one for the school year. So, I know. The next time we get to do all this stuff will be the for all the promotions and graduation. So, Um all right, so we have a We're going to do the information item, classroom spotlight, Maricopa High School, Principal Sotomayor. >> [applause] >> Good evening, Madam President,
017members of the board, Dr. Lopeman. Tonight, Mr. Struble and I are excited to pull back the curtain on a pedagogical transformation happening at Maricopa High School. Transforming mathematical student outcomes. At Maricopa High School, we are evolving our approach to mathematics to ensure every student is an active participant in their own learning. Previously, traditional math instruction often led to low engagement and a lack of student ownership. To address this, we've implemented different classroom initiatives including math solutions, Kagan strategies, and most importantly, a key element of this change is the use of vertical whiteboards. By encouraging upright engagement rather than sedentary desk work, we achieve three primary goals. Increased student discourse. Standing encourages students to talk through their logic and solve problems collaboratively. Amplified student voice. The vertical surfaces make student work visible to the entire room,
018allowing them to lead the mathematical conversation. And active ownership. When students work on these non-permanent surfaces, they are more willing to take risks, try new methods, and take charge of their mathematical journey. This shift in instruction delivery is about creating a classroom culture where every student thinks, talks, and owns the math they do. While the thinking classroom framework teaches many areas, primary engine is fueled by goal one, every student graduates. At Maricopa High School, we believe the most effective way to ensure a 95% or better graduation rate is to focus on maximizing tier one instruction, the first and most important layer of teaching that every student receives. By moving to a thinking classroom model and the use of vertical whiteboards, we are ensuring that percent of our students are engaging with grade level standards in
019a way that leads to true mastery, not just temporary memorization. To move from the dream to the become in our district motto, students must be active participants in their own cognitive development. At Maricopa High School, shifting the mathematical instruction framework is a primary instructional vehicle for achieving the goals outlined in our portrait of a graduate. It shifts the classroom from a place where students receive information to a space where they generate knowledge. At Maricopa High School, we are not just teaching subjects, we are building people. The thinking classroom model ensures that when our students walk across the stage at graduation in a few weeks, they aren't just holders of a diploma, they are the critical thinkers, communicators, and principled leaders our community needs. At MHS, we are moving away from the traditional model of direct
020instruction and moving toward a model where students are the primary thinkers in the room and giving them the opportunity to think for themselves in solving related and more complex problems. To move our students toward conceptual mastery, we must move them away from the isolation of the desk. On a vertical plane, students map out complex systems, whether it's multi-step calculus derivation derivation or literary thematic analysis at eye level. This big picture perspective allows them to see the architecture of a concept rather than just the individual steps, leading to deeper, more durable understanding. Cultivating high-demand competencies, by activating the classroom through vertical learning, we force students to negotiate space, defend their logic in real time, and pivot when they see a flaw in their teammates' work. We are simulating the agile environments of the world's leading tech
021and creative firms right here in our classrooms. When a student stands at a whiteboard, they become the owner of that space. They have the agency to lead the discussion and the voice to contribute visible ideas. In this environment, the teacher moves from sage on the stage to facilitator, empowering students to take the lead in their own inquiry process. By promoting vertical learning, we make student thinking visibly visible instantly. As we walk the room, we are collecting real-time formative data. We can see exactly where a misconception is forming and intervene in the moment. We are no longer guessing what they know, we are seeing it live on the walls, allowing for immediate, data-informed pedagogical adjustments. I'd like to draw your attention to our latest longitudinal data regarding student math performance. This scatter plot before you tracks
022student progress through IXL diagnostic scores, comparing our baseline August to our most recent check-ins in April. Uh to ground us in the data, the horizontal axis represents where students started in August and the vertical axis tracks where they stand today. Each blue dot represents an individual student's academic journey over the last eight months. Uh as we can see, the shift to an active vertical classroom isn't just about engagement, it's about quantifiable results. We're seeing a consistent upward trajectory across the board. By making thinking visible on those vertical surfaces, we've been able to identify gaps in real time, ensuring that every student, regardless of their starting point, achieves significant and measurable growth. Uh what this tells us is that growth is not localized with single demographic or high-achieving subgroup. Whether students start with a score of
023600 or 1,200, the trajectory moves in the same direction, upward. This is the rising tide effect. Our institutional strategy is yielding consistent gains across our entire cohort. Crucially, nearly every data point is higher on the vertical axis than its corresponding position on the horizontal axis. For instance, students who began the 600-800 range in August are now predominantly scoring in the 900-1,100 range. In many cases, this represents nearly two years' worth of scale score growth compressed into a single academic year. In summary, this data confirms that our math initiative is achieving its primary goal, sustainable, scalable, and visual mastery. Uh in this video that's coming up, um it's going to be showing me in my AP calculus class where we're discussing applications of integration. All right. Hey, I am Kevin Struble. I am the math department
024chairperson over at Maricopa High School, and this is my calculus AB class. It was a It was a new concept for them, integrating when we just have like a known cross-section, and I'm going to walk them through how to do an example from start to finish, uh talk about finding our cross-section, how it looks, making sure they understand why the math behind it's going on, how we're like taking pieces of paper, which are thin, but as we start to stack pieces of paper together, we get a thickness. So, we go from that thin area to a thickness, which is a volume. Um so, walk through entire problem for them, and then I flip my slideshow, and there's a problem for them to try, and then they're going off to their vertical whiteboards. So, this is
025our our thinking classroom in action, where now the kids are are doing hands-on, but they're also uh paired up. They can look around the room and see what others are doing if they've got stuck, and they can confirm that what they're doing is right. What the thinking classroom allows me to do, though, is that constant formative assessment. Like, oh, are they getting the thing or do I need to pull them back to whiteboard? So, there's been days when I've been been watching them work, and I've I've gotten one or two groups suddenly we've getting the same error. I'll pause everybody, we'll focus them on the whiteboard, and I'll quick do a reteach on that concept that everyone seems to be getting wrong, so that way I can send them back loose with that corrected information.
026We We are in some cases reteaching to our peers, in some case asking help from peers or or for me, and then my job at this point now is to to walk back around, take a look at what they're doing cuz I can like literally see what they're thinking as they write it on the whiteboard, and then offer them suggestions or or redirect them to try something else if they're not on the right path. Some uh student testimonials here talking about what they feel is um their benefit from the vertical whiteboards, the thinking classrooms. Um the biggest victory that I've seen, though, is with student engagement, which has grown significantly. Um as a math teacher, kids frequently look at me with blank eyes, especially at 7:00 in the morning. So, this opportunity to get them
027up working on their whiteboard is really helping them to start their day. Right? So, we get them out of like uh I'm going to have to do stuff in my seat to no, we're going to get up, we're going to talk, and now we're going to do some math. And we've seen um tremendous um academic conversations going between these peers. Um they're much more comfortable asking the person right next to them than raising a hand in front of the whole class when they don't know something. And what's nice is they're able to talk about it in peer-friendly terms. Like, I've just taught them the mathematical language, which can be here or here for some of them, and now they're able to kind of regenerate it and let their peer know what that means to them.
028And it's great because when when that student says to the next one, "Well, this is what we're going to do." Now they're reteaching it, right? We've shown that that that that Bloom's level taxonomy, like if we can teach something, we truly understand it. So, we're giving our students right there in that class that opportunity to um get that ability to immediately um practice what they've been working on. All right. So, our next steps at MHS include creating a repository of excellence. We will be beginning to video master lessons. Uh this digital library will serve as a permanent resource for new hires and veteran staff to see exactly what high-level student engagement looks like in practice. We'll provide targeted supports to ensure that this isn't this isn't just a one-off initiative. We are providing one-on-one instructional
029coaching specifically tied to the use of vertical whiteboards. This provides the safety net teachers need to take risks in their pedagogy. PLTs, our teachers will continue meeting in reflective cycle in reflective cycles to look at actual student work. We aren't just asking, "Did the kids like the lesson?" but did the framework improve the quality of their thinking? Culture of transparency, we are establishing open door observations. We want to break down those silos of individual classrooms and create a school-wide culture where teachers learn by watching their peers at MHS. In science, specifically chemistry, we are deploying mobile whiteboards. These tools allow students to model complex molecular processes and capture lab observations in real time. It shifts the lab experience from the follow-the-recipe to active scientific modeling. One of our most exciting developments is adapting these practices
030for English and history. While thinking tasks while the thinking tasks look different in these subjects, focusing on analysis, interpretation, and argumentation, rather than just solving for X, the core principles of student discourse and visible thinking remain the same. The bottom line is that by using classroom video and student growth data, we are moving into a deeper phase of data-driven refinement. We are no longer just trying the model. We are iterating it We are iterating on it to ensure it drives measurable student achievement across all core areas. We believe that by changing the way students engage with their learning, we are fulfilling our promise to help them dream, learn, and become. Mr. Struble and I are happy to answer any questions you may have. Board members? So, for me, quite a few years ago in school,
031I I was not a math student at all, right? Um so, it was really easy for me to zone out, uh especially in algebra 2. Um these kids are working with, you know, AP calc, I think it was what it was, right? Um I'd never seen equations like that before in in real life. So, um and that hats off to those kids and uh for understanding that. So, I've got a few questions for you. Um I love how you're kind of expanding this out to the other subjects. Where did the vertical uh whiteboard idea kind of originate at MHS? For me, it came from our academic coach, Josie Nichols. Um she started talking me to about it last year. And um I'm very resistant to change, so it took me a minute to buy in.
032But I remember right before um break last year, um I was going to be teaching trigonometric identities, which if you remember algebra 2, are not great. They're very hard. Very hard thing to come back from break with, definitely. And I knew the kid kids were going to need support. So, I'm like, I need to find a way to get them up talking and to be able to see their thought process. And Josie's like, "Dude, I've been telling you about vertical whiteboards. Now's the time to do them." So, she brought out her little thing and she stuck it on my wall. I'm like, "Wait, that's it?" I thought it was going to be a lot more um disruptive my classroom, but it's not. So, it was like, I don't know, 30 bucks for a roll and
033we cut it and slapped it up on the board and bought some whiteboard markers and we've been rolling ever since. Um and like this year, I started with it from day one and the students are like, "Whiteboard time." Like they're looking forward to it. So, it's great to see. Um especially cuz they not not like yourself, frequently need that help with that mathematics. And it's nice to be able to just ask ask a peer and like we encourage them to kind of look around and get ideas from their peers. So, they're not just sitting there doing nothing cuz we've all uh been there. We've all felt that when we've been asked to do a task and we're like, "I don't know where to begin." We feel that little bit of shame because we can't move
034forward. But now I can like I can peek around and like, "Ooh, I like that idea. Well, I see where they I see where they went from there to there." So, I mean, it's not just me telling them how to do it now. Now they're learning from their peers. Got you. I love it. Um How do you handle students that are resistant to that don't want to get up and or isn't that kind of a thing? Yeah, no, I mean, it still is a thing. And I'm not going to force a kid to get up cuz then we've taken away their safety. But what's happened is now that I have so few kids sitting down, now I can actually go stand and still looking at my whiteboards, see if anyone needs help. Now I can
035work with that one kid right in his desk. So, instead of having to cruise my cruise my rows looking at everyone's stuff, now I only got like one or two kids I got to I got to check in with. And now I can encourage them, "Hey, they're sitting too, why don't you guys work together?" So, I can still get that at least if they won't get up because they're scared or afraid or whatever, I can still get them to maybe partner someone. And if not, then I'm still able to just do a little one-on-one with them because the rest of my room is up and they're on the board and I can still stand there and and talk to this student and I'll be around like, "Oh, no, over there, we need to We forgot
036to move that there." So, it's great for me. Like I I can I can I can work the entire room now without having to miss things going on. What's the most challenging or difficult part of the integration, not just in your classroom, but this is also for Mr. Sotomayor, about integration across the entire school? So, I guess kind of a question for both of you guys. I think one benefit we're going to have is because almost the entire math department used it in some sense. Um they don't use it all the time, and we're going to work on that for next year. But because most of the kids are in a math class, we only have a few that have gotten through math already and they're going to graduate anyway, that the kids will be
037familiar with it. So, although they're coming into an English class or a social studies class or science class, they're going to have down the fact that, "Oh, there's vertical whiteboards. I'm going to go over, I'm going to grab my marker, and I'm going to work with my partner or partners and do as expected of me um cuz they've been doing it in math. So, we're going to benefit from that. I think uh the roll out that we've done has going to just going to make the whole school-wide roll out be a lot more successful. Good deal. Um I can see that smaller class sizes would benefit the most from this. Is that Is that an accurate or or would Is this easily scalable to a larger classroom? Honestly, I think it's scalable. I right now
038have nine vertical whiteboards up in my room. Um and I can do pairs or trios very easily. And then I can use my actual whiteboard across. So, I could really accommodate say maybe 12 groups. I mean, with with with that sort of thing, even at three person per group, we can handle that. Um like I've had some very full classrooms and some very smaller classrooms. Like my AP calc calculus class was only like 16 kids. Um but we we get we can maximize it in both scenarios. So, whether we're doing it in pairs or trios, everyone's still up and everyone's still talking. So, it's been great for that. It's really going to scale nicely to no matter what classroom size we have. And you saw in the video, we had kids side by side but
039working independently cuz they wanted to do it on their own and then they would talk. Um but like we've also got situations where I'll have three working together. And it's great to see that happen cuz one will get stuck and they'll kind of look and another one will chime in and then they'll look and they're like, "So, now we're getting group work and we're getting um collective thinking." And because I'm watching my partners work through, I got to know the next step or at least think I know the next step. So, I think it's going to scale very nicely to all our class sizes. Awesome. That's all I have. Thank you. I just have a follow-up question um cuz Mr. Owens had my question. So, the implementation into the vertical whiteboards across campus-wide, is that
040next year's school goal or are we are you um just bringing it in subject by subject? No, that's next year's school-wide goal. Uh we will roll it out a little bit subject by subject. It's one of the challenges like Mr. Struble was talking about was about that safe environment, not just for the kids, but for our teachers also. If they're not really used to doing that. So, that's where providing that one-on-one coaching experience, bringing them that release time to go see Mr. Struble's class. Here's the same kids that you have in your AP English class. Look how they're doing this. You can do this. Your Your colleague's doing this. And then possibly even providing some release time for Mr. Struble, some of our other teachers that already mastering this process, going in, providing that peer
041feedback. So, it's not we take away that administrative feedback a little bit cuz well, I write evaluations. So, and our coach also, she's one and there's a lot. So, utilizing our master teachers in what they're doing will help with that implementation. So, we'll do a roll out. It will be a little bit slow to begin with cuz um like if anything, change theory, you always start with you have some of those early implementers. You be able to do that. So, we'll start with some of them, let them see the success, let them talk about the success, and then that will still move on and start going. Mr. Struble was one of those successes of seeing it happen and going, "Oh, this is great." Now he's leading the charge and being able to help those his
042colleagues bring this in. And I love the fact of the putting some of these lessons on videos so that the teachers can have a catalog of looking at that. So, I really do like that. So, are any of our students having challenges? I mean, they're doing the work on the vertical whiteboards as a team, but the testing is done alone, typically on a computer. Are there any challenges from going from one type now to putting it into the testing? No, not really because the you know, when we do our testing on the computer, especially like final exams, that is multiple choice stuff. So, they're going to have to do the work on paper. So, if there's not much difference if I'm writing it vertically if I'm writing it down on a piece of paper if
043I've learned the material. Okay. So, um I don't and I have not seen in my classroom I haven't seen my students do well here and suddenly do Okay. It just hasn't been that. Like if they've got it here, then we're good once we get by ourselves and on paper. Okay. Thank you. Um just a couple of things that um I will add. So, um one from um the the career aspect, hearing the skills that they're developing in one of the collaboration, the real-time appreciation feedback, and peer or um kind of student teaching. Those are all things that I think of in the job world of people going through training and you may not get it, but having that peer help guide you through it. If I didn't get it, maybe you did did. Uh building
044relationships and things like that. So, I love that. Real-life application for math, yes, but into our personal lives and professional lives. Um also the fact that a great idea can come from within. You mentioned that someone brought this to you and it took you Miss Miss Nichols? Miss Nichols, definitely. I got her flowers. So, it's great when when peers uh give each other praise like that. But, the idea and even you um I heard master teacher. That's what I'm calling him cuz he is. Master teacher. Even you as a master teacher said, "Home, it's going to take me some time to process that." And so, one the thought of okay, just because an idea isn't implemented right away doesn't mean that it's not going to happen. The fact that you took that uh implemented and
045we were able to do that I must it sounded like with very little cost. Um it was easy easy to scale. So, for me the the takeaway from that is good ideas are always out there. We need to verbalize those, share them, and then you shared them uh large, you know, at a a larger scale. So, all great things um and just thank you for the presentation. I had my classroom ready during my prep hour. Like, I went from no verbal eye boards to white boards up ready to to roll during my prep. So, it was it was very simple to roll out. Thank you very much, very impressive. I'm looking forward to see how next year goes. All right. Thanks. >> [applause] [applause] >> All right. Our next item is a work study the
046uh fiscal year 26-27 budget preview, Mr. Harmon. Good evening, President Catlin, members of the governing board and Dr. Lowman. The purpose of this presentation is to give an updated preview of the fiscal year 27 budget projections. Staying on target with our budget calendar, we're doing our second preview of the fiscal year 27 budget tonight, getting us one step closer to the budget adoption on July 8th. Next board meeting, we will complete our final revision of the current year fiscal year 26 budget. Here's an update of our available funds to allocate allocate to our expenditure plan for next year. On March 30th, the Joint Legislative Budget Committee released the classroom site fund allocation. It increased by $41 per pupil. It brings our available funds, including classroom site fund, to just over 7.6 million dollars. We want
047to highlight some changes to our fixed cost estimates. At our February board meeting, we didn't know our health insurance rate increase for next year and we set our our estimates high at 14%. Our actual renewal is 9%, which drops our fixed costs by about 200,000. We met with the trust regarding our cyber coverage um and determined that we're we already have the appropriate levels of coverage and will not be increasing our limits to 3 million dollars. The last change is related to increases in fuel costs. We purchase approximately 10,000 gallons of diesel a month. With the prices that we're seeing, if they continue, that could be approximately $350,000 more next year. Overall, our fixed costs increased by about $100,000. This summary slide shows the available funds for operations. Fixed costs, 3% compensation increase, and positions
048approved in February. The total expenditure plan of 6.8 million dollars with about 847,000 remaining. This is the first look at the unrestricted capital outlay budget. District additional assistance or DAA is the formula for the amount of capital funding that we receive per student. We can add earn interest from prior year that gives us a total unrestricted capital outlay budget limit of 5.8 million dollars. Here's our current capital expenditure plan. Each school receives a capital budget based on enrollment, which includes the new furniture and equipment allocation. Each department receives a budget for ongoing expenditures. We're working on a number of growth-related projects and purchases. Um technology refresh cycles and upgrades, the majority of which is student computers. We currently have set aside $750,000 for uh transportation vehicles. This includes 184 passenger bus, 143 passenger sped bus,
049one yellow shuttle, and some major repairs of some existing school buses. $400,000 for curriculum refresh items. And we currently have $500,000 set aside for safety and security, primarily for upgrades to our bus camera systems and our electronic key card system. A summary of our capital plan shows uh that we've allocated pretty much the entire budget with about 10,000 remaining. That concludes my presentation and I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have. Board members? Um the fuel cost, that's a pretty significant fuel cost. Um is that so, you had $350,000 in there. Is there escalation or is that based on today's fuel cost or is that like a projection or what are you what are you what are you looking at on that? Yeah, so we took a a kind of a rough estimate,
050an average of the price per gallon that we uh saw over last school year and then compare that to the the prices we've seen lately. So, they jumped from about 260, 270 to 550 a gallon. We've seen them float It's it's uh it's not I think the last the last purchase that we just made was still in the high fours. Um the estimate that we put together this 350 um was not at the 550, but was closer to 5 dollars. We don't know what the future holds. So, if it if it comes down, obviously this that'll give us some grace in our budget, but if it doesn't, um we wanted to be conservative in this projection. Got you. Hopefully that answered your question. Yep. Yep, that was kind of one of the biggest kind of
051new parts, obviously, in there. Um Yeah, one bill for 3 weeks was like 40 grand. It's usually around 20 to 24,000 dollars. There's no nothing from the state additional from the state then that we can leverage on there, I'm assuming, right? Yeah, we're not going to get an additional, you know, fuel inflation budget increase or anything. It's worth a shot. Mhm. Uh that's all that I have. Thank you. >> [snorts] >> All right, thank you, Jacob. All right. Okay. And oh, you get to stay up there for the next one, too. Maintenance and operations override, Mr. Harmon. Yeah. Okay, once again, good evening, President Catlin, members of the governing board and Dr. Lowman. The purpose of this presentation is to give an overview of the district's M&O override. This November is the final opportunity to
052seek a continuation before we begin losing funding um during the reduction period. This presentation will discuss what is funded by the override and what will be what will be impacted if not continued. Both bonds and overrides are approved by local voters and paid by local property taxes. There are two types of overrides, a DAA override and an M&O override. Unlike bonds and DAA overrides that are used for capital items like buses and curriculum or constructing new schools, a maintenance and operations override is additional funding for people and programs. Districts are allowed to ask for as much as a 15% M&O override and a 10% DAA override above the state funding formula based on the number of students we have. In MUSD, we currently have a 10% M&O override. M&O overrides are good for 7 years,
053the first five being fully funded, and then years six and seven are reduced by 1/3 until um we no longer receive additional funds. The specific use of our override are listed in the voter information pamphlet. It included investing in technology, keeping class sizes small, and maintaining the RAM Academy. This table's from our annual annual report we give we gave last last October. It shows the kinder the kindergarten through fifth grade class size targets before and after the override compared to actual class size data to show we continue to honor the override commitments for for lower class sizes. This chart shows the projected budget for the fiscal year 27-28 school year, which would be the first year of the reduction um of our current override if not continued. It includes some additional detail of actual expenditures
054by category, showing where each dollar of the override is allocated. Almost $600,000 for counselors and teachers on assignment, $500,000 to technology, 7.1 million in teachers K-12, including four RAM Academy teachers. Approximately 83 teachers across the district are funded with the override. This slide shows the override allocation since year one of our override. As mentioned earlier, overrides are based on a percentage of our revenue control limit of the M&O budget, and as enrollment grows over the years, so has our M&O our M&O budget and our override. If we do not successfully pass the override continuation this upcoming November, next school year will be the the last fully funded year. We would begin a 1/3 or 33% reduction each year in fiscal year 28, 29, and 30, reducing over $2.7 million in each of those years. This
055is a hypothetical plan for reducing the people and programs funded by the override in the 3-year reduction period. Please keep in mind that this uses current ratios of students and does not project growth or changes in our school sites. Year one shows the elimination of technology, counselors, teachers on assignment, and RAM Academy first to limit the impact of K-12 class sizes as much as possible, followed by the reduction in teachers in teacher FTE, eight at the elementary school, three at middle, and two at high for a total of 13. Years two and three would reduce approximately 33 teacher FTE as shown for each group. This table shows how FTE could be distributed based on current staffing and student enrollment um by site. Thank you. That concludes my presentation. And I'll be happy to answer any
056questions you may have. Board members, questions? The last two um charts, can you um go back to those? I was a little confused on the difference. Was one kind of building out of the first, or what was the difference between the two? Thank you. They're the same same data. This second one was to take the FTEs by elementary and show where those eight FTE could be distributed I see. by school. I understand the text is very small. Thank you. That's it for me. What is the just looking at this graph up here right now. So, we've got $500,000 for RAM Academy. Is would RAM Academy like cease to exist, or would it be reduced in size and scope? Again, this exercise is a hypothetical projection. >> In theory, the entire RAM Academy is funded by
057the override. So, without the override, um there would be no funding for RAM Academy. No additional funding. It would still be RAM Academy was created when the override passed. Correct. If this should occur, Mhm. and I'm praying that doesn't, but if it should occur, the board will have some say on what reductions are made, but knowing that our budget is going to significantly be reduced. And we want to have the least amount of obviously impact in the classroom as possible. So, these are just kind of suggestions. Yep. It's not necessarily This is not how it's may play out. Yep. No, I totally understand that. All right. Thank you. Member Rothschild, any more questions? Um you mentioned that these numbers did not taken into account any uh growth in growth or decrease in student population. So,
058increase in student population, more federal funding, decrease in student population. It was more I ran uh these projections based on It's a 3-year projection, but it's based on students for next year. Mhm. For instance, Alma Alma Farrell Innovation Academy is going to grow over the next 3 years. I didn't build the growth into these projections, cuz this is just a hypothetical. This is what it could look like. In each year of a reduction, we would have accurate data, and we would make an accurate plan for that year, and we get clearer as we move forward. But, for this exercise, I didn't go through all of that work. >> Thank you. That's my Thank you, Mr. Harmon. Thank you. All right. We're at the call to the public. We do have one speaker card, so I
059must read this. Members of the board may not discuss items that are not specifically identified on the agenda. Therefore, pursuant to ARS 38-431.01, action taken as a result of public comment will be limited to directing staff to study the matter, responding to any criticism, or scheduling the matter for a future agenda. The board requests that all comments be limited to 3 minutes or less, and that the public refrain from the use of speech or language that is offensive or inappropriate pursuant to board procedure 3-203. And our speaker card is Rosemary Faranda. I'm here today because of an ongoing unresolved issues our family has had the last 3 years at Saddleback Elementary and within the ESS department of the district. My son has been a student since preschool and had an excellent year in 2021, and
060since then, we've had mounting questions. On numerous occasions, in meetings with the director of ESS past and present, and also the superintendent, and explicitly in our son's IEP meetings, I requested his student file. And I've been told by certain staff that I'd receive them. To date, I've only received attendance records and medical records that I have provided to the school. The lack of records at this point is certainly concerning and at the very least delinquent in nature. According to the Arizona Department of ESS website, records are to be maintained for four fiscal years after a student's final enrollment in a sped program and is no longer receiving services. Our son has not had an interruption of services nor final enrollment. The accountability in this school district when it comes to upper level positions is essentially
061nonexistent, and a true worry, something needs to seriously be investigated. And on that note, withholding records for 3 years, what is the reason? I'm here to demand answers. Perhaps an audit should happen of proper documentation practices. What else would it uncover? It's a stark reminder of when I asked for records from a well-known medical facility, and I was met with, "Why do you want them?" Which led to the discovery of billing for services never rendered, ethics violations, and medical malpractice, and a host of other things. It's no secret that there's a community here in Maricopa of parents who have enrolled their unenrolled their students from this district for many reasons and concerns. And while I've been strongly encouraged to do the same, I have felt a deep sense of loyalty, pride, and admiration for Axel's
062teachers and his paras, Ms. Claudia Avila Lopez, Ms. Amanda Small, and Ms. Jackie Pratt, his current teacher. And for his paras, the ground workers, the ones who weekly deep in the trenches, the individuals putting in the hard work lacking efficient support to ensure that our students are successful. The lack of teacher support, student support, and parent support, especially for the ones of us asking for it, is astounding. I've legitimately asked the same question for his records. If I don't receive all the proper documentation for his first, second, and third grade years, my next step will be a transcript request, and I will still be holding the district accountable. Because the lack of documentation is proof his lack of education as Dr. Lothman, you'll follow up? Mhm. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. All right. We move
063to the consent agenda. Do I have a motion? Motion to approve as written. Second. Lisa, I have a motion and a second. Shontae Rothschild. I. Ben Owens. >> I. Paddy Catri. I. All right. First action item, discussion and possible approval of personnel schedule. Mr. Beckett. Thank you, President Catri, members of the board, and Dr. Lothman. Uh you have the personnel schedule in front of you this evening, and I'll take any of your questions at this point. Board members, do you have any questions for Mr. Beckett? Not at this moment. Uh I don't believe so. Um other than how are you feeling as of right now? Do you have a sense after all the contracts have been you know kind of finalized, whether their uh staff is returning or not? Do you kind of have a
064sense of what we're looking at potentially going into next year? Thank you, member Owens. It's a It's always a challenge at this time of the year, uh but we're looking at about 23 gen ed openings right now, which is an improvement from the last report, I believe I gave to you. Uh additionally, every day there's a change. And so, uh we we have people accepting offers or declining officer officers offers from the district. Um so, it's it's a process, but again, 3 months until school opens, so we we have time. I'm I'm optimistic. But we have principals out there working very hard to make this happen. All right, very good. Thank you. Thank you. Do I have any motions? Motion to approve as written. Second. Lisa, I have a motion and a second. Shante Lawson.
065Childs. I. >> Ben Owens. I. Patty Cichrai. I. Thank you. All right, discussion and possible approval of the recommended food service meal charges. Mr. Harmon. Good evening, President Cichrai, members of the board, Dr. Lopeman. You have an action an action item before you to approve the uh recommended food service meal charges for fiscal year 27. Our recommendation is to raise meal charges for students not eligible for free reduced meals for lunch $3.75 to $4.25 and breakfast from no charge to $2. We were asked what the cost would be if we increased breakfast to $1 instead of two. Limiting break- Limiting breakfast to $1 would cost the district M&O fund a little over $160,000 next year. We seek your approval for the recommended changes and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. Board members.
066Again, nothing has changed since the last time we've had this discussion that was presented, correct? So, the first time it was presented, we asked questions, we reviewed it, and we're voting this evening. Correct. Just clarifying, so no questions. Do we have a sense, and this is probably more of a question for Dr. Lopeman and potentially some of the other cabinet. Do we have a sense of numbers of families that may qualify for free and reduced that don't actually haven't don't apply for it or that kind of thing? Um I don't I don't Let me Let me check. Do we have a sense of that? I I think that our participation has increased since uh certainly since I've been here, um but our our processes to um get families to fill out the application. It's an
067online application. We encourage everyone to fill it out. Um any other anything else to add about that? Where Where our our district percentage is over 60%. Do you know what it is? Yeah. Got you. And there's a range based on school. Not every school is at 60%. That's the district percentage, so there's a range of above 60% to um around 50. To follow up on member Owens' question, when we pulled them in, that means that they don't have to apply that if they've been awarded a category, then that transfers over here. So, there's no secondary process. >> There's no There's as students uh you know, are identified in certain you know, groups, um they're they automatically qualify for free and reduced lunch or reduced, usually free. Um I I have an issue with raising the
068breakfast cost. Um just because you start the day off with something to fill your stomach. I mean, this is me as an as an adult, right? Start the day off with breakfast, the day goes a whole lot better for me personally. And I'm not sitting in a classroom trying to learn, right? Um Is Is this something that we have to do this evening? Do we to meet a certain timetable or is this something that we're looking to put into the budget and do the planning for next year? Are there potential other funding sources or grants or that kind of thing that maybe you know, we could move just a little bit of money around to kind of help cover at least the breakfast component? Um you know, if if we increase the um the lunch,
069you know, it it is what it is, right? Lunch was a 50 cents increase, right? Yeah. Lunch was 50 cents, correct? >> Correct. Yeah. Um I'm just I'm just having a tough time kind of swallowing that that's a pretty big increase. Um and I understand that there's other factors, right, that go into this whole thing um that we're not getting funding from the state from the federal government like we're supposed to, right? Well, it's things like the cost of the commodities, the the aggressive and highly attractive raises that we've given. Um it's you know, it's it's costs that we bear. Um I think Mr. Harmon might be able to give you the chronology because uh the state did at one time uh help us in this breakfast this no charge breakfast. Originally, students paid for
070breakfast. Maybe you can >> free post COVID. Jason, wasn't it for a year? Yeah, which is why the impact would be on our maintenance and operations budget. So, it's a choice of do we include it in our budget and I I I'm on the same boat and same thinking as Mr. Owens. Um I think breakfast is the most important um meal of the day, especially when the students are coming into school and they're going to be sitting there learning. It would be interesting to know, and I don't know if this data is easily attainable or not, but at our different school levels, how many students do get the breakfast? By by grade level? What or you just elementary, middle school, high school? Just out of curiosity because um I I think for me, and I
071said this at the last meeting, I don't want to increase the breakfast. I think it's a 200% increase. Um thank you though for providing what it would cost if we um if we tiered it and um didn't do all at once, and I appreciate that data. Thank you. Um But I guess it's a point that yes, we haven't we have invested in um generous raises for all positions, and I'm I'll stand behind that any day of the week. Um is it going to cost us? Yeah, it might cost us. Um we want to be that that that gold standard district, and this might be something that the board may need to consider. Um Is this something that we want to put in our budget and fund going forward because we're not going to get the
072money from the federal, so it's got to come out of our M&O. So. I don't remember if this was asked last meeting or not. Do we have an idea of what the districts around us let's say Casa Grande um We looked. Um even, you know, possibly up up into the valley, that kind of thing. Yeah, Mr. Wood >> You guys are pretty smart about this. >> Mr. Wood pulled data of a number of surrounding districts. Many districts were in this ballpark, the the $4 we've seen, you know, mid-3s to to mid-4s. Um and breakfast was around the $2 um for most districts. It's highly dependent on all of those factors. If districts aren't giving raises, then they're the pressure's on on the the labor costs are not maybe as significant as what we've really done
073over the last 8 years as far as aggressive raises. On top of that, the uh the high inflation that we've seen um nationally. Do we know if any of those neighboring school districts are still offering free? Free breakfast, universal? I don't I don't know. It's a good question. Okay. Um there are several districts around the valley, and in Casa Grande, you know, the valley that are on what's called the community eligibility provision, which is if your district is a high enough percentage district, you can offer free breakfast and free lunch to all students. However, our district falls below the threshold where we would be sustainable. It's rare to see a a non-CEP district offer free universal meals because it's expensive. What was the cost before pre-COVID? Cuz during COVID, that that was when breakfast was
074funded, so what was the cost before? I don't That's I we can look that up. I don't know that. Cuz they could I mean there's a chronology here, yeah. So, just to confirm the um member Owens asked if there was a timeline cuz it sounds like we want to have more discussion. So, one, is there a timeline? Are we at the point where we must vote on it tonight or there's an opportunity for further discussion and we can Uh we're still in the budget process. Uh we we really don't adopt our budget until July. Obviously, the sooner we make decisions, the easier we can it is for for planning purposes, but we have time. So So, we don't have to take action on this. So, do we need to make a motion to move it
075to a future agenda or No, cuz the agenda says discussion and possible approval. It does not say that we have to make a motion or have to approve it. Sounds good. Thank you. So, are we good? We'll just wait till we get that additional data. Mr. Harmon, can you Great. Yeah, love to. Thank you so very much. I knew you would. All right. Uh our last action item is discussion and possible approval of our guaranteed maximum price for the Maricopa High School Workforce Development and Gym Renovation. Mr. Harmon. All right. Thank you again, President Cuttrell, members of the board, and Dr. Lohman. We have an action item for our approval of guaranteed maximum price or a GMP for the Maricopa High School Workforce Development and Gym Renovation project. Um happy to answer any questions you
076may have. This is for the demolition package um for that campus. It's an early GMP so that we can have the the demo package approved so we're ready to begin demolition um as soon as school concludes. So, this is a remediation of these existing uh HVAC units and no No, it's demo. >> the the 800 building? Yeah. The 800 building will be demoed and all of the additional portions of the of the historic gym and that's the first step of the rebuilding that will take place over over the course of next year for this for our Workforce Development and Gym Renovation project. Got you. Um so so, why isn't a complete calculation of the final GMP available? It's not uncommon for us to bring in early preliminary GMP for things like long the long lead
077items. We've seen that in the past. The timing of this demo package to get everything mobilized and ready for the end of May was uh necessary for us to get this pricing um approved, this GMP approved because we're still working through um the pricing of the rest of the schematic design and construction documents of our of the design of the actual um program buildings. Um so, this will roll into the final GMP that should be, you know, in the next couple board meetings. Got you. Okay. Uh if there's no questions, um make a motion to approve. Second. Lisa, I have a motion and a second. Shontae Rothschild. I. Ben Owens. I. Patty Cuttrell. I. All right. Our last item is a to adjourn. Do I have a motion? I move that we adjourn. I'll second.
078Lisa, I have a motion and a second. Shontae Rothschild. I. Ben Owens. I. Patty Cuttrell. I. Meeting's adjourned 7:54. Thank you.