001to the regular meeting of the governing board. We're going to go ahead and call to order the regular meeting of the governing board at 6:00 and we're going to begin with the pledge of allegiance and a moment of silence. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Up first is discussion and possible action to approve the board meeting minutes dated March 3rd and March 17th 6. So moved. First, do I have a second? >> Second. Everyone, all in favor? Aye. All right, that brings us to construction update, Amber Bordes and Bob Lawson. President Davis, members of the governing board, uh tonight's presentation aligns under effective operations and systems. We have
002several projects scheduled over the next few months that support our sites. We'd like to take time this evening to review those as we know that we have several that are going to support the next um six campuses and so we're going to take time to review those. Um just an overview of our school district, we are 48 square miles. We are currently serving 15,600 students and growing. For planning purposes, we look at our district in three regions. We have the northern portion, which is the Eastmark area, central portion of Queen Creek and then the southern portion of Queen Creek in the blue. Um tonight's presentation, we have uh projects scheduled in the in all three regions supporting six of our campuses. All of these projects um are largely due to the schools facility division. We've
003been awarded funds, which is allowing us to complete projects along with our adjacent ways levy, which allows us to provide safe ingress and egress on our campuses along with bus lanes and fire Bob Lawson's going to talk about those three um uh sections of projects that we're going to review. Thank you, Amber. Tonight, we have updates on our adjacent ways paving projects and some summer construction and renovation projects that are being scheduled. This past month, we started paving and resurfacing work at 11 of our school bus and fire lanes. Currently, we have already completed the asphalt paving at Queen Creek Elementary, Queen Creek Junior High, Queen Creek High School and Jack Barnes Elementary School. Six other schools will have their resurfacing on their bus and fire lane starting this month and running through June. These
004include Desert Mountain, Francis Brandon Pickett, Gateway Polytechnic, Katherine Mecham Barney, Newell Barney, College Prep and Silver Valley Elementary. The last school scheduled for the bus and fire lane resurfacing is Faith Mather and that will be completed over the fall break. For summer construction projects, we have several that are being scheduled uh that include work at both Crismon and Eastmark High Schools. At Crismon, we will be paving the student parking lot near the west side of the gym and pending board approval this evening, we will be installing exhaust hoods in the science classrooms and also constructing a hit space in the gymnasium. At Eastmark, we will be finishing the buildout of the showers and locker rooms in the gym and we're also going to be paving the student parking lot near the west side of that
005gymnasium. Lastly, pending board approval tonight, we will be installing exhaust hoods in the science classrooms at Eastmark as well. For summer renovation projects, our updates tonight uh will include uh projects at four schools. This summer, we will be replacing some of the rooftop units at Queen Creek Junior High as well as Newell Barney College Prep. We will also be replacing all of the carpet in Queen Creek Junior High School, Jack Barnes Elementary and Francis Brandon Pickett this summer. And with that, that concludes my update and I'll be happy to answer any questions that you might have. Looks great. Any questions? All right, that brings us to our superintendent's report, Dr. Barry. Uh good evening, President Davis, members of the board, community members, thank you for being here. I always give the board a uh superintendent
006update and I do it through the lens of our strategic plan. We have five priority areas in no particular order. I'd like to take you through and highlight one or two areas in each of our priority areas, starting with effective operations and systems. Um we remain committed to being fiscally responsible uh demonstrating operational excellence. The Arizona Auditor General School District Classroom Spending Report, it's we call it the Classroom Spending Report, once again, reflects that commitment. This comes out one every year annually and it reflects the spending a year in arrears. Uh Queen Creek continues to prioritize classroom instruction with approximately 68 cents of every operational dollar spent directly in the classroom. Additionally, and I want you to pay close attention to this statement. I don't want to read it twice, but I want this is
007very important. Our administrative costs remain well below comparable districts, demonstrating our focus on efficiency and ensuring resources are directed to where they have the greatest impact. That's supporting students and teachers. So, we're well below administrative spending in Queen Creek and that's really important for our constituents and people in our community to understand. Priority two is safe and healthy environment. As we move to safe and healthy environment, we continue to prioritize the well-being of every student and every staff member. And this month, Bob Lawson led comprehensive safety training for our entire maintenance and operational teams, resulting in implementation of a more cohesive and proactive safety plan. This work strengthens our preparedness and reinforces our commitment to maintaining safe, secure and supportive campuses across the district. Thank you, Bob, for doing that. Priority three is effective partnerships.
008Again, that's something that's echoed throughout our strategic plan. We do a lot of things in our district to uh to to create positive school-to-community relationships and we know that these connections within our community create meaningful opportunities for students and that is why it's so important to have effective partnerships. For example, Crismon High School partnered with the organization called JustServe for a massive uh food packing event. It brought hundreds of students and volunteers together in service, including board members Jen Revolt, Patty Campbell and members of the Queen Creek Fire and Police Department. They packed more than 90,000 meals, which will serve local food banks and here's a quick video clip so you can see it first-hand what it was like. The proud principal of Crismon High School. Um today we're collecting over 600 volunteers to pack
009over 89,000 meals as um we try to turn the one of our core values into life. Our three core values here at Crismon is character, humility and service. So, this is our opportunity to put service in action. We partner with JustServe, which is a local nonprofit organization and Harvest Pack so that we have meals that we will provide to our local food banks in the community. Um we also have stations where students will be making cards to add to each meal. Um and we're very excited to partner with local fire and police um to host this event. That is so many meals and of course you have so many volunteers helping you with this effort. Why did you all feel it was so important to do this? I wanted a chance for students to really
010be exposed to community service and the importance of giving back to the community that raised you um and they jumped at the chance. And so, it was an opportunity, like I said, for for us to take one of our core values of service and really implement it into action. That's awesome. Thank you, Elise, and thank you, board members, for being a part of that. Also within the effective uh effective partnerships, the district uh also had our final cafe event. Cafe stands for community and family engagement and if you were to come to a cafe event, you would see 120, 150 people surrounding their respective principals. There's nonprofit organizations. There's faith-based community members. There's educational nonprofits. There's parent groups all at every single table collaborating and trying to find ways to better support their local school
011and it's a great event. We've been doing it for years. In fact, we're the first district in these valley to do it. We have people come from out of state to watch our cafe events and observe and I'm very proud of this event because it's a testament to our strategic plan and direction from the board that's put into action that really gives the people a platform to better support um their students in our school system and I just wanted to say we just had our last one this um past week. So, anyway, um under priority uh the next priority is exceptional personnel. None of this is possible with uh without our exceptional personnel, the individuals who make Queen Creek a destination district. Two weeks ago, we surprised our awards of excellence recipients with the recognitions
012and I wanted to share um their excitement. My favorite time of the year is giving away these things. So, let's watch this video. Oh, I don't know. I'm going to cry. I'm speechless. [laughter] I'm without speech. >> [music] >> Let's give her a big round of applause. >> [applause] >> She's been nominated as the teacher of the year for this brand new Mountain Trail Academy. Let's give her a big round of >> [music] [music] >> Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. [applause] Thank you. Well, I appreciate it. Thank you. This is Mrs. Wayland and she has been nominated by all of her colleagues as the teacher of the year for Queen Creek High School. >> [screaming] [music] >> Yeah, this is so exciting. Yay! So very proud of you and thank you for all that
013you do. >> Oh, yeah. I can't remember the date of the event. When is it? April 30th, there will be an Awards of Excellence dinner. It's a formal event and they get to bring a significant other. We have a keynote and it's a great event just to recognize the values that we value in our district, dedication, innovation and a commitment to student success. And these are all great examples of the type of educators we have in Queen Creek. Anyway, the final priority in our strategic plan is student success. And it centers around celebrating achievements that define who we are as a district. And today I want to congratulate Queen Creek High School senior Dane Foley for receiving a Hidden Gem Scholarship Award. Dane was recognized as a Hidden Gem for his leadership, humility and commitment
014to serve others. This award highlights students who lead not for recognition, but for impact and Dane exemplifies that spirit. Queen Creek High Oh, let's give him a quick round of applause. He's not here. Also recognizing Queen Creek High's Bulldog JROTC program proudly represented um the district at the Carvana met Mesa Cup where the color guard demonstrated exceptional professionalism and pride. Let's give them a quick round of applause. Just a few more. Special congratulations to senior cadet Ella Nearmyer for her outstanding performance of the national anthem. Our cadets continue to model leadership, discipline and excellence in all that they do. And we're also proud of Crismon High School senior Isabella Merdik Lopez for her participation in a regional leadership summit focused on empowering young women. Her leadership reflects the confidence, voice and purpose we strive to
015develop in every single Queen Creek student. Every attendee left with a certificate of completion worth six hours of leadership credit for college resumes. And then last but not least, I would like to recognize the Eastmark High School nursing students who put in the extra work during the spring break. Students giving up free time during the spring break by attending the CNA boot camp. These students are putting in extra effort as they prepare to take their state exam and become certified nursing assistants. So let's give them all a big round of applause. That concludes my report. Awesome. Thank you. That's great news and we're going to move on to some more great news with our employees and our students of the month. We'll start with our employees and I apologize if I mispronounce anyone's name tonight.
016Um the Power of One awards are given during the board meeting each month to selected recipients at each school. For this award, a person is selected from among those eligible who has clearly demonstrated the outstanding qualities and efforts in making a difference that we look for in our Queen Creek schools. We would like to invite the following individuals up that were selected by Queen Creek High School. Gabe Gone. >> [applause] >> Tatum Willoughby. >> [cheering] >> Brian Crow. Quincy Nelson. And Joseph Johnston. We would now like to ask uh Mr. Scott Lovely, the principal of Queen Creek High School to say a few words about these individuals and how they were selected. Okay. So, um I'm Scott Lovely, proud principal of Queen Creek High School. I couldn't be more honored to be a Bulldog principal.
017Um these individuals right here, I just want to say real quickly, if you think about a visualization, if you take a rock and you throw a rock into a still pond, the ripples that happen there. The Power of One award, I believe, is symbolized in that motion. And these individuals here were nominated by our administrative team on our campus and every single one of them has done that for Queen Creek High School. What they have done has sent ripples through our school in such a positive way that there's no way we could go throughout the whole school year without recognizing these people as our Power of One award winners. So, I want to let them know that we love you. We appreciate everything you do every day for us and congratulations. >> [applause] >> Congratulations.
018If you guys could meet us in the back of the room for pictures, that would be great and then we'll finish with the students. Okay, the Student of the Month award recognizes and promotes the successes of QCUSD students. Recipients are chosen based on the characteristics identified in the PBIS program such as be kind, be respectful and show integrity. The Student of the Month student is conscientious and exhibits a determination to learn while demonstrating these positive traits. We would like to invite the following students from Queen Creek High School who are examples of these characteristics up for recognition. Corbin Fox. >> [applause] >> And Ari Zhang. >> [applause] >> They're probably Oh, there we go. Give her another round of applause. Congratulations, Ari. Thank you so much for being here and being such a great example
019to students in our district. If you could meet us in the back of the room for pictures, that would be great. We'll take a brief recess for pictures. >> All right, we're going to go ahead and resume our meeting. We have no call to public tonight, so that will bring us to our consent agenda. I can take this in its entirety. I move to take our consent agenda in its entirety. First and second, all in favor? Aye. All right. >> who was the second on that? Matt. Matt, thank you. Action items, presentation and possible action to accept the 2025 financial and compliance audit reports. Jessica Johnston. Good evening, President Davis, members of the governing board. Tonight we have for your review and acceptance the results of our fiscal year 2025 financial audit. Tonight's presentation falls
020under the priority area of effective operations and systems. All of the work that we do within our office really focuses on optimizing the use of our funds as the district continues to grow and change and manage our effective systems. Tonight we're going to talk about the importance of financial audit, the different responsibilities of the participants in that process and the timeline. We'll go over some of the reporting components and then next steps for you this evening. All public school districts in Arizona are required to have a financial audit for districts operating with under $2 million per year in their M&O budget, they have a biennial audit review process and for anybody operating with more than $2 million, which we do fall into that category, we have an annual audit. Each year that audit is conducted
021by a third-party audit firm. Our firm that has been doing our audit for the past several years is Heinfeld Meech. That firm was selected through a formal RFP process and then approved by the Auditor General's office after that procurement was completed. All of our audit documents are required to be submitted to the Auditor General's office within 9 months of the close of the fiscal year. And these audits are performed in accordance with the US generally accepted auditing standards and the goal is really to determine whether the financial statements within the district are free from any material misstatements, that's what's known as the audit opinion. The audit has many benefits. One, it provides guidance for the district as far as our internal procedures. The Auditor General's office each year provides updates to different guidelines that we're
022required to operate within. It helps us align with our critical governing board the critical governing board role of approving the annual budget. This is really the one of the key components of the role of the governing board is to approve the budget each year and this ensures that our financial operations are in accordance with that adopted budget. The governing board then reviews and accepts the audit and that provides feedback not only to you as a governing body, but it also reports our financial status with our community and really supports the transparency within the district. There are two main roles. The district and our staff is the auditee. We're responsible for the financial statements within the office and we're required to present our financial statements in accordance with those generally accepted accounting principles. The auditor's responsibility
023is to provide an opinion on the financial statements and they're required to conduct within the generally accepted auditing standards. The audit process is really a several months long process. It begins in June as we're getting ready to close down the fiscal year. We provide a detailed general ledger to the audit firm as well as software security listings, student enrollment data, all of those pieces are part of the annual audit. In July, the firm is on site for a minimum of 3 days. They provide us with a selection items based on what we submitted to them in advance and then they provide they um participate in test work and verification of all of those selections. Once we close our annual um accounting in October and complete our AFR, the audit firm returns back in November. We
024provide them the finalized general ledger and then they make additional selections. They're on site for 3 days. They interview site staff, business office staff, and they interview governing board member each year and so we are grateful for that participation in that process. And then throughout the month of December and then into the beginning of the new calendar year, those annual reports start coming out and then we bring them to you in the spring for acceptance. There are four main components of the annual audit, the public annual financial report, the annual comprehensive financial report, USFR compliance questionnaire and the single audit reporting package. And each of these reports serve a specific purpose and report in a different manner or on a different component of our accounting processes. The public annual financial report or the PAFR is
025a community-friendly document. It's um really promotes and shares great things that are happening within our district. It's very community-friendly. We publish it on our district website and there are also printable versions that we make copies of and have available within the office for the community. The annual comprehensive financial report or ACFR is a very detailed and technical report that includes statistical selections. And this is submitted to a variety of entities for review once it's completed. It goes to the Maricopa County School Superintendent's office. A copy goes to the Arizona Department of Education. We use it within our Emma filing, that's our continuing bond disclosure that goes up in February. It we also submit to both ASBO International and the GFOA or the Government Finance Officers Association for review and potential awards of excellence for that
026document. The single audit report applies to any non-federal entity, so largely that's government entities or not-for-profit profit organizations. School districts fall into that category as well. And any of those entities that expend $1 million or more in federal funds are required to receive a single audit report as well. And that report really assesses all of the federal awards. That's our child nutrition fund, special education funding, any of our title funds, title one, title two, title four, all of those pieces. There are additional compliance requirements that are a part of those federal awards. And this report really focuses on two pieces, on internal controls and on compliance on all of our major federal programs. This report is also submitted to the County School Superintendent, the ADE, the Arizona Auditor General's office, and also to the Federal
027Audit Clearinghouse for availability to the public. This last piece is the USFR compliance questionnaire. This is really where all of those selections come into place. This report really focuses on the internal controls and the operational procedures within the school district. This is done during those field work visits when the auditors take a look at all of their selections and they do test perform test work on those selections. This is where the staff interviews come in. Sometimes we're asked to provide additional documentation or backup for different selections that are pulled. And this gets submitted to the school superintendent, the Department of Ed, and the Arizona Auditor General's office as well. This particular report has about 150 questions and they're yes or no questions. Um, there could be 10 five to 10 to 15 selections for each
028one. And um, it covers all of these areas within the USFR from governing board and management procedures to budgeting to payroll to financial reporting and um, even transportation support. So, um, all of these documents um, have been attached for your review this evening and pending um, your acceptance this evening um, the audit reports are submitted to all of the applicable agencies. And this is um, when you do have this item um, coming up here, this is um, acceptance by a roll call vote. Recommend approval. Perfect. Any questions? Okay, so with that we can take a recommend or a motion. I recommend that the governing board accept the FY 2025 financial compliance audit reports by a roll call vote. Second. I'll second. Second. Second. Any discussion? All in favor. Samantha, I. Jennifer, I. Matt, I. Kelly,
029I. All right. Next up, discussion and possible action to approve change order number four with Core Construction for the EHS science hood install. Amber Burgess. President Davis, members of the governing board, Queen Creek Unified has expanded the scope of select project using schools facility new school construction funds to ensure facilities are completed as planned. At Eastmark, the science lab classrooms were completed without the science hoods to help remain at budget. For for clarity, the schools facility division holds 3% of an award until we reach substantial completion. Then we're allowed to add scope back to the project. Based on the current balance, the district has worked with the architect and contractor to install the science hoods to complete the master plan of the design classrooms. Schools facility funds will be used to complete the installation and
030we will not be using district funds. We're recommending approval. Awesome. Any questions? I can get a motion. Move to approve change order number four with Core Construction for the EHS science hood install. First. I'll second. Any discussion? All in favor. I. I. All right. Discussion and possible action to approve change order number four with Core Construction for the CHS science hood install. Amber Burgess. President Davis, members of the governing board, similar to action item B, um, this would allow us to add um, the hoods at for the science lab classrooms at Crismon High School in their academic wing. We had to remove those part of the initial installation to remain at budget, but based on the current award, we're allowed to add those back in. Schools facility funds will be used. We will not use
031district funds and we're recommending approval to move forward with this project. Okay. Any questions? I can take a motion. I move to approve the governing board approve change order number four with Core Construction for the CHS science hood install. First. I'll second. Second. Any discussion? All in favor. I. I. Okay. Discussion and possible action to approve change order number three with Core Construction for the CHS exterior hit area addition. Amber Burgess. President Davis, members of the governing board, when reviewing all of our comprehensive high schools, Crismon High School does not have the outdoor hit space that Eastmark and Queen Creek High have to utilize um, to support their students. Um, this project will allow the district to provide this space to Crismon students in alignment with the other high school settings. It provides another academic
032space for our students in the um, physical education arena. Uh, schools facility funds will be used to complete the project. It is considered academic space and approved by the SFD. Uh, district funds will not be utilized and we're recommending approval. If approved, we'll work on this this summer and it'll begin um, it'll our students will have access to it by the start of next school year. Awesome. Any questions? Just a quick comment. I just want to clarify the hit space is really a high intensity training area. Thank you for that. >> And open agility space outside of the gymnasium. It's not a baseball or softball hitting. Yeah. Thank you for that clarification. Outdoor workout space. Any questions? All right. I can take a motion. I move to approve change order number three with Core Construction
033for the CHS hit area addition. Do you have a second? Second. Any discussion? All in favor. I. I. Okay. Discussion and possible action to designate Amber Burgess as the board's representative for negotiations, settlement discussions, and in Queen Creek Unified School District at all vs. East Valley Institute of Technology. Dr. Berry. Uh, President Davis, members of the board, on March the 30th, 2026, the court issued an order requiring each district and EVIT to designate a single representative with full authority to participate in negotiations regarding the allocation of CTE funding. In compliance with this order, Amber Burgess has been recommended to serve as the district's designated representative and will be required to attend daily in-person negotiations following the April 21st, 2026 hearing. In this role, she will work collaboratively with representatives from other districts to collectively reach
034an agreement in terms of the IGA. While she is authorized to negotiate, she is she serves as one of nine voices in the process. By granting this designation, the governing board is conferring the authority for any agreement reached through the court-directed negotiations to be binding and the board will be required to approve and uphold the IGA as negotiated through this process. We're recommending approval. Okay. Any questions? How often will we get uh, updates on what's being discussed? Good question. I should have included that. We will provide uh, frequent updates with that negotiation as soon as we get them back from Amber. Uh, we talked about that and we will be providing uh, relevant board updates as soon as we get them. So with this action, if there's something major that comes about with the IGA
035that would signify a major change from any previous IGAs, is that something that she would just have full authority or will we be briefed as well with any for any input? That I want to be very clear on this that she you're this ask is offering her full authority to negotiate on behalf of the district. That's very important to understand. >> one from each district, right? Yes, one from each district. Yes, so the judge said no one else to do it. Yes, so the answer is uh, you will get informed of what that negotiation looks like after the fact. Okay. Do they have any idea how long she'll have to show up down there? >> [laughter] >> Well, we don't know. This is one of it's kind of unheard of. This very rare for this
036to happen to get to this point where it a judge court order actually directs this. Um, so we're hoping it's very efficient and fast, but um, Amber might be staying Likely multiple days. Yeah. It it's stated that we report April 21st and then I'll report April 22nd, 8:00 to 5:00 p.m. until an agreement has been reached. There's really no idea of how Yeah. Okay. It's still on a jury. Yeah. Any other questions? >> thank you for the question though. Okay. I can take a motion. I move to designate Amber Burgess as the board's representative for negotiations, settlement discussions, and in Queen Creek Unified School District at all v. East Valley Institute of Technology. Second. >> First and second. Is there any discussion? All in favor. I. I. Good luck. Thank you. Yeah. Come home with
037a good result. Okay. That brings us to personnel. I can take this in its entirety. Move that we take personnel in its entirety. First. I'll second. Second. All in favor. I. I. Uh, President Davis and members of the board, with that approval of the personnel section in its entirety, I just wanted to recognize Corey Brenner in the crowd. She is going to be um, taking over and filling the big shoes. Erica Copeland is taking a superintendent job over in Superior, Arizona Superior School District and Corey uh, you just approved her um, as the replacement for Erica Copeland, so congratulations. >> Both of them, by the way. One more thing. I will be I think I mentioned this earlier. I'll be later date once we get all of our coordinators and coaches hired, I'll have them
038come in for an informal greeting so that you guys can see the new people that you approved through the reorganization of our um, Ed Services later probably in the next month or so. Okay. Great. Announcements. Upcoming board meetings. Tuesday, May 5th, 4:30 study session, 5:30 retirement years of service reception, and 6:00 p.m. regular session. Tuesday, June 16th, 4:30 study session, 6:00 p.m. regular session. Tuesday, July 7th, 4:30 study session, 6:00 p.m. regular session. Calendar of events. Thursday, April 9th, QCSEF movie night at the Arizona Athletic Grounds at 6:00 p.m. Friday, April 10th is the realtor breakfast. Wednesday, April 22nd, PTO brunch. Thursday, April 30th, business partner breakfast. Thursday, April 30th, Awards of Excellence Night. And Friday, May 1st, volunteer appreciation lunch. And with that, I can take a motion to adjourn. Motion to adjourn. Second.
039First and second. All in favor. I. And happy birthday, Jennifer. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. Come home with a good result.