001You're welcome. Good evening. I'd like to call this meeting to order. It is Wednesday, January 14th at 6:30. Lisa, please do the roll call. >> Patty Coutrey, >> present. >> Carolyn Lopez, >> present. >> Ben Owens, >> present. >> Shante Rothschild, >> present. >> Fantastic. Mr. Owens, would you please lead us in the pledge of allegiance? Thank you very much. And we go to item 1D, adoption of the agenda. Do I have any amendments or motions? >> Motion to approve as written. >> Second, >> Lisa, I have a motion and a second. >> Shante Rothschild. >> I. Hi Ben Owens. Hi >> Carolyn Lopez. Hi >> Patty Coutrey. >> Hi. >> And we move on to the superintendence report. Dr. Lopeman. >> Thank you Vice President Coutree. Recruitment season is here and our annual job
002fair is right around the corner. Big opportunities can start with one conversation. Join us on Saturday, January 24th from 10 to noon at the Maricopa Unified District Office for on-site interviews and the chance to connect with district leaders. University representatives will be available to answer certification questions and help candidates navigate next steps. And in true MUSD fashion, our high school students will be there to assist with check-in and applications, gaining real world experience along the way. Come say hello, learn more, and see where a career with MUSD can take you. Congrat Congratulations to Mr. Nerwin Balu of Desert Wind Middle School, who has been named a special educator rising star award recipient by the Arizona Council for Exceptional Children. This recognition reflects Mr. Baloo's ongoing commitment to serving students with exceptional needs. Mr. Bellu will
003formally be honored at the Koi Education in Phoenix with the award presentation shared during the Arizona Council for Exceptional Children's annual statewide conference on March 27th. Way to go. Maricopa Wells Middle School blended learning students recently stepped into the future through the future cities competition using creativity, engineering, and big ideas to imagine what cities could look like 100 years from now. This year's challenge pushed students to rethink food waste and design solutions that strengthen sustainable communities. Eight Maricopa Wells teams will advance to the future city state competition on January 24th. We wish them the very best as they take on as they take their ideas to the next level. Desert Wind Middle School will host its own future cities competition on January 20th with top teams also moving on to the state competition, giving even
004more students the chance to collaborate, problem solve, and bring project-based learning to life. The Maricopa High School marching Rams took center stage at the 53rd VRBO Fiesta Bowl parade, marking the fifth consecutive year the band has been selected for this highly competitive event. This continued recognition speaks to the talent, discipline, and dedication of our students and staff and to a marching bag band program that continues to set the standard in the state. The MUSD GED boot camp continues this spring, opening doors for individuals ages 16 and older who are ready to take the next step towards earning a high school equivalent equivalency credential. The 12-week hybrid program runs February 3rd through May 7th, combining in-person instruction with online learning and focused test preparation. Classes meet Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5:30 to 8:30 at the MUSD
005district office. with a with a $100 program fee, including curriculum, practice tests, and the GED exam. By expanding access to an alternative pathway to graduation, the GED boot camp aligns with the spirit of goal one, everybody graduates. Good attendance is essential to success. Tonight, we're celebrating three schools whose extra efforts have paid off. Each school will receive a certificate and $250 to invest in strategies that promote strong attendance. When I call your school principles, when I call your school, please come to the dis to receive your certificate from vice president Coutree. Congratulations to uh go to Santa Rosa Elementary School for best second quarter attendance. Come on up. This is This is you. >> Congratulations. >> And stay right there because Santa Rosa Elementary School also received most improved second quarter attendance. What do you
006know? And we have runnerup awards. Runner up for best second quarter attendance goes to Pumute Elementary School. Come on down and run. Come on up. Sorry. I'll let you have your moment. >> Awesome. >> Congratulations. Thank you so much. >> You're welcome. >> Runner up for most improved second quarter attendance, Maricopa Elementary. >> Yes, she was. That was that was definitely in her fashion. Congratulations. >> Thank you, Victoria. Right. You did a good job of embodying. Yeah, she would have been very proud. Cute. Before I conclude my superintendence report this evening, I want to acknowledge an important update regarding our governing board. Miss Lisa Garcia has been officially appointed to the MUSD governing board. Miss Garcia has deep ties to MUSD and our community and will be formally sworn in prior to the January 28th
007governing board meeting. We look forward to officially welcoming her at that time. Welcoming a new board member also gives us the perfect opportunity to pause and thank the entire governing board for their leadership and the commitment you provide to our district. As I conclude tonight's report, I want to recognize that it is National School Board Recognition Month and thank our MUSD governing board. Serving on a school board requires significant time, leadership, and a genuine commitment to all students and staff. Your service is often unseen and always uncompensated. Um, but it has a very lasting impact. So, thank you board members for your dedication and your leadership. Your service is sincerely appreciated. As a small token of our gratitude, you'll find an embroidered jacket at your seat this evening recognizing your important role on the governing
008board in Maricopa Unified. Another round of Yes, please. Another round of applause. You are very >> Yes. And that's my report. >> Thank you, Dr. Lopeman. All right, we're moving on to governing board member reports. Member Rothschild, a happy new year, everyone. Uh nothing to report, just looking uh forward to another year of working with our parents, teachers, students, everyone uh to make our environment for our students even greater. So, thank you for being here tonight. Thank you, member Owens. >> Uh, nothing this evening. Vice President Cooter. >> Thank you, Member Lopez. Uh, I don't have much. Hope everybody had a good holiday season and, uh, off to a great start for a new year. A new calendar year, not school year. That's it. >> Thank you. It was really nice to have the holiday
009break, although I spent most of it sick um thanks to that super cold. Uh but uh it's really great to see everybody back in back in action. Our I know our winter athletics are moving and grooving and I hope to get out to some of those events. Um and I also wanted to thank the governing board. I really enjoy and admire all of you um for serving um sharing your difference of opinions and um it really sometimes sparks my questions a little bit more and makes me think a little bit deeper into what we discuss and so I really appreciate all the information you share and the discussions that we have on the dis. So thank you very much. Right. We do have one call to the public, so I must read this paragraph. Members
010of the board may not discuss items that are not specifically identified on the agenda. Therefore, pursuant to ARS 38431-01, action taken as a result of public comment will be limited to directing staff to study the n the matter, responding to any criticism, or scheduling the matter for a future agenda. The board requests that all comments be limited to three minutes or less and that the public refrain from the use of speech or language that is offensive or inappropriate pursuant to board pro board procedure 3-203. Um, and so we have one speaker card, Zulimma Avis. Good evening, um, Dr. Lom Lo Lopeman and members of the board. My name is Zma Avis. I am a parent of a senior at Maropa High. It's been brought to my attention that the graduation date for Maropa High is
011not going to be on Thursday, May 21st, 2026. In all of our years of living in Maricopa and having two children graduating from Maricopa, graduation night has always been on a Thursday night on the last week of school. Not sure who decided to make this change, but four and a half months before graduation, this is crazy. This has yet to be announced to parents at Maropa High. And once they find out, there might be others who might who may not be happy with this change as well. At the beginning of the school year at meet the teacher night for Maricopa, I asked that question if graduation would be held on the 21st of May. We had a couple staff say that it's always on the Thursday and that it would be held on the 21st
012of May. Then I called the school, not sure who I spoke to, but asked when graduation would be. This was around the October time frame, and they told me May 21st, 2026. I also recalled seeing this mark at one point in our Maricopa High calendar, which is no longer marked. However, when I looked at Desert Sunrise High School calendar, guess what? Graduation night is marked for May 21st on their schedule. Someone needs to be held responsible for not letting the families know of this important date change or it needs to be just left alone and keep as is. Make the new change up for the new year so that the parents are aware for the next year of 2027. If you're planning to do a rotation of years or better yet, why change something when
013it's not broken? I just had save the date invitation cards made that are being shipped to me with this date of May 21st on them. I've already told family members who have already booked flights and reserved hotels. Now, who's going to be paying for these invitations that I've had made up? They are set to arrive sometime this week. I'm happy that this will be our last year to be part of this district. I will forever be grateful to the teachers, paras, therapists who played a role in our boys' development. Without them, they would they wouldn't be where they are today. It took a village for them. Thank you for your time, ZMA Avis. And these are the invitations that I had made up for our boys or for my son. and the receipt I have
014right here of what I paid for those invitations that should be arriving probably this week sometime. So, thank you. >> Thank you. We move on to our consent agenda. Do I have any motions? >> Motion to approve as written. >> Second, >> Lisa, I have a motion and a second. Shante Rothschild. >> Hi. >> Ben Owens. >> Hi. >> Carolyn Lopez. >> Hi. >> Patty Catra. >> Hi. >> All right. Our first action item, discussion and possible approval of the personnel schedule. Mr. Beckett. >> Thank you, Vice President Coutray, members of the board, and Dr. Lman. You have personnel schedule in front of you tonight. I'm happy to answer any questions you have at this point. >> Mr. Beckett. So, we've got some uh some resignations here. Um just kind of curious, is there are
015we able to cover these uh with long-term subs or do we have um you know, kind of a reserve uh pool or how we're what's the what's the plan to to make sure that all of our our students are a that that we're still maintaining the small class size, right? That's that's one of the most important things. And then making sure that our students have qualified teachers. >> Thank you, Member Owens. I appreciate that. Each of our principles are working right now to secure either a substitute or full-time replacement. So, yes, we're working on those. Again, it's always a challenge. I'm not going to lie about that. But again, I believe our our principles are proactively looking reactively, excuse me, is to get somebody in there as quickly as possible. >> Gotcha. All right. Thank
016you. >> Did exit interviews happen? >> We'll be working through each one of our exiting employees are contacted for an exit interview. Yes. >> But not when they handed in keys. >> Not necessarily at that point in time. >> Okay. >> Actually, member Lopez took my question. And I was wondering because anytime we have um somebody that resigns um especially in the classroom, it does disrupt the education. So I was curious if those exit interviews had taken place or if they had been scheduled. Um, I know that we're going to start going into our budget discussions shortly and um, you know, having all the data um, from exit interviews to see if there's trends um, to see what the retention plan could be and how we as a board can support that and what resources
017are going to be needed for that is um, is crucial. So, I look forward to um getting some of that feedback um so that we can see how we can support moving forward. Anytime you lose somebody, it it disrupts not only the classroom, but even the operations of the district because we have some of these um that are not even in the classroom, but it will disrupt the um the operations. So, >> thank you. >> Is there a motion? >> Motion to approve. Second, >> Lisa. I have a motion in a second. >> Shante Rothschild. >> Hi. >> Ben Owens. >> Hi. >> Carolyn Lopez. >> Hi. >> Patty Catra. >> I. >> Thank you. >> Item 6B, discussion and possible approval of above threshold amount purchase of furniture for the Alma Feral Innovation Academy.
018Mr. Harmon. >> Good evening, uh, Vice President Coutree and members of the governing board and Dr. Lman. Um, we're excited to bring our furniture order for the Alma Ferrell Innovation Academy. Um, we're seeking your approval for the above the threshold. Any purchase over um over 100,000 actually comes to you and we're seeking your approval. Any questions you may have, happy to answer them. Can you uh can you just kind of put a little substance to what what this above threshold approval is? >> Uh yes. Statute requires governing board to approve any any cumulative purchases for any vendor over $100,000. Um this is over a million dollars of furniture for a new school. So we're clearly over that threshold. uh the purchases through um two cooperative contracts, the Mojave and the one GPA contract. Um Soul
019Source is the vendor. Um we we purchase furniture from a handful of vendors. As a growing district, there's always furniture needs, you know. Um School Source is one of our trusted vendors. First time we're using them for a full um school build so far. Very thrilled. Um so we're excited to to trust them in in such a great project. >> Okay. I have one so far. >> Do you want to go first? >> Yeah, I'll go first. Okay. Okay. Mr. Harmon, out of that million dollars that we're going to spend on furniture, which I know is going to be amazing and versatile. Um, how much of that is covered in our bond and how much is actually coming from SFB? >> So, it's a great question. Um, we have two two GMPs or guaranteed maximum
020price categories for the the construction of alma. One is the adjacent ways and the other is non-adjacent ways. and that covers our state grant and our bond funds. So all of the expenditures in that category we split evenly based on the percentage of the bond or the state grant in relation to those purchases. So it's about I think it's like 72% to 27% between the bond and the grant. Um, so out of that $1.3 million, about $350,000 is from the bond and the other 934,000 is from the grant. >> Okay. >> And just to confirm, um, these vendors went through the RFP process. >> Um, they were selected from a cooperative contract. So procurement um has been done based on those on those contracts. We did not go out for a formal RFP. We selected
021them from a cooperative purchasing contract. >> Got it. Thank you. >> And just for clarification, so this isn't over budget. It's just over threshold, meaning you need our approval because it's over that threshold, not over budget. >> That is correct. >> Just want to >> Yes, we are under budget. >> Clarify that. If there's no other discussion, I'll make a motion to approve. >> Thank you. >> Second, >> Lisa. We have a motion in a second. >> Shante Rothschild. >> Hi. >> Ben Owens. >> Hi. >> Carol Lopez. >> Hi. >> Patty Coutrey. >> Hi. >> All right. So, our next item is discussion and possible approval to reschedule the February 11th board meeting. Um, I'm sure you all have heard that the state of the city is happening on the 11th and it's actually
022being hosted at Desert Sunrise. So, it would be probably in our best interest to be there instead of here. Um, so, uh, we need to kind of look, it's important that we help have that first meeting in February because of deadlines. Um, and a lot of that will um, teacher contract language, all that kind of stuff. So get out your calendars. Well, I Okay, so we could do the 4th. We could do the 10th, which is the Tuesday, or the 12th, which is Thursday. I do have a conflict on the I I may have a possible conflict on the 4th. Um >> the 18th is too late to get this information that we need done. that I was looking at the 10th. The Tuesday works best for me. Okay. >> To Thursday, Friday off. Oh,
023unfortunately I work on Thursdays for sure. Um >> Okay. So, Shante, you said the 10th worked for you, >> correct? >> Then, how does that work for you? >> Uh, I can do I think I can do the fourth or the 10th. I could probably I might be able to make the 12th work. Um, it's just going to require a little extra uh actually a lot extra family outside family assistance. For those who aren't able to make it in person, do we have a virtual option for those? >> We could call in. Yes. >> Okay. But >> she wouldn't be able to call in on the on that Tuesday, right? Yeah. >> That's okay. I'll try. I could go. >> No. No. We want you to be >> the one thing the one thing that
024um you can be rest assured is that agenda will probably just be those items that we need to address. >> If that's it, then I'm good with the or the >> Yeah, the t Tuesday the 10th >> as long as there's not an executive session. >> No. >> And do we have a proxy option if people aren't able to attend in person? >> No. No. >> No. It's just um as long as we have three members, we have a quorum. Okay. And that's the important thing to do is to have a quorum. >> That would probably be something similar to what we have. >> So I motion or I move that we change the February 11th meeting to February the 10, 2026. >> I'll second. >> Lisa, I have a a motion and a second.
025>> Shante Rothschild. >> I. >> Ben Owens. >> Hi. >> Karen Lopez. Hi, >> Patty. >> Hi. All right, we're really booking through this. I like this. All right, so we're at the the part of the meeting every January that we get to elect a board president to serve for this calendar year. And in tradition, we always go down and ask each member um what they feel they would like to serve at. So, I'll start with you, member Rash. I am happy serving as the member that I am. >> Member Owens. >> Um, if need be, I if the board needs me to step into a vice president role, I could do that. I am unable to step into a v into a president role. >> Okay. Member Lopez. I do not want the president
026role. Um, but I would like to try the VP role. >> Okay. Um, I always like to serve in whatever capacity the board wishes me to serve in. I've had the opportunity to serve as vice president for the past almost three years. Um, I have served as the board president in the past, um, as Mr. Owens has as well. Um, and I am happy to do so. In fact, I would really be honored to represent our governing board if the board wishes. Somebody has to make a motion. I move that Vice President Patti Coutree serve as the president. Um, >> yeah. Second. End of motion. >> Lisa, I have a motion and a second. >> Shante Rothschild. >> I. >> Ben Owens. >> Hi. >> Karen Lopez. >> Hi. Pattrey >> I thank you very
027much. I appreciate the vote of confidence and hope to serve you well. >> All right. So, we're going to move on now to the elect the vice president. So, um seeing that we already just did this and both of um M member Owens and member Lopez indicated that they wouldn't u mind serving as vice president. >> If I may, Vice President, President Coutino, >> thank you. President Coutree. Uh I'll nominate uh member Lopez to the VP role. >> Second. >> All right. >> Lisa, we have a motion in a second. >> Shante Rothschild. >> I. >> Ben Owens. >> Hi. >> Cameron Lopez. >> I. >> Patty Cadray. >> I. Congratulations. Member Lopez. You are now vice president. >> All right. And with that, we are on our last item, adjournment. Do I have a
028motion? Motion to adjurnn. >> Second. >> Lisa, I have a motion and a second. >> Shante Rothschild. >> I. >> Ben Owens. >> Hi. >> Karen Lopez. >> I. >> Patty Coutrey. >> I. This mot this meeting is adjourned at 6:57. >> That's all.